Sunday, January 28, 2007

Chicago Zero

No, the title of this posting is not a prediction of the Superbowl score next week and it's not a weather forecast for the city. Instead, it's what the owners of the Chicago Uno restaurant chain should have called their restaurant. I was so appalled with our service last night, that two hours after we ordered our food and still hadn't received it when the manager finally came out to see our table, I had no words to describe my anger. To their credit, the manager did comp our food, but he tried to bargain with us about what should and shouldn't be on the bill. I'm sorry, but after two hours of waiting, then receiving your food and it's 1) cold, 2) the wrong order or 3) admittedly been sitting out for over a half an hour, there should be no discussion of what will and won't be taken care of. Needless to say, we will never eat there again. Ever.

...and since when did the kitchen being slow also become an excuse for the drinks to take 20 minutes to get to our table. Sorry waiter, I'm not buying it. Literally.

Friday, January 19, 2007

There IS a reason

For the two, maybe three of you reading my blog, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I know I said I would write every day, but let's face it, no one sticks to a new year's resolution. I think resolutions only exist to help people get through New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. You realize you haven't done shit in the past year, and you resolve to start doing shit next year. But then you get lazy and realize, shit can wait.

Anyway, onto the reason why I haven't written in a while. I'm starting a new job. The past two weeks have been interviews, HR negotiations, sleepless nights and endless decision-making teeter-tottering. It wasn't fun, but now that it's over and a decision has been made, I am happy and ready to move on. There are lots of reasons why I decided to change jobs, but what's becoming clear after the fact is that I am still young and able to take risks and try new things. Knowing this excites me and helps me realize that I made a great decision.

So, there IS a reason why I haven't written and I'm hoping there IS a reason why things happen the way that they do. I'm hoping this opportunity will bring good things to my life. I'll keep you updated...

Friday, January 5, 2007

Wait...It's January right?

I just went outside at 9:00 p.m. and it's 60 degrees. Now this would be normal if I lived in Florida or California, but I don't. I live in Maryland. And this is just weird.

Tomorrow, we might break a record. It's supposed to be 72 degrees. Again, I must reiterate that I live in Maryland, which is not a place known for it's tropical climate in the dead of winter. We've had 25 days in a row where our temperature has exceeded our average high temperature, some days by more than 20 degrees. I also just read that it was the first December in 130-some years that New York City didn't have one day with snow. In the words of Joe Schmo, "What is going on?"

People at my office keep saying how great the weather is. In a way it is nice to go outside and not worry about freezing to death. But when it's winter, I kind of expect for it to be cold outside and frankly, I'm bothered that it's not. Is this something that we should just start expecting? 70 degree days in January? Rain instead of snow? Thunderstorms and tornadoes in winter?

I just recently watched Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and it's scary. What are we doing to our climate? Can one person really change the situation? It seems like we're digging a hole that one day we won't be able to get out of. I for one am not ready to accept 130 degree summer days. I can't imagine winter without snow.

Maybe I'm just being dramatic. Maybe it's just El Nino and next winter will be back to normal. And with that thought, I'll leave you with this. Don't forget to use public transportation and conserve energy.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

On Randomness

I've been thinking all afternoon about how random this world is. I don't mean to say that I do or don't believe that there is this master plan or that everything is pre-destined...I'm not trying to be that deep today. But, really, have you ever just had a day where the most random stuff happens? Today I had to deal with a "baud-rate" issue, was complimented on my web design from a company who saw my work site through a blog (a company that just so happens to be based five minutes from my work) and read this story which has to be the most random way for a civilization to end and the most random idea for a scientific study I've heard of in the past week. I'd love to hear the most random thing you've heard or thought of today...

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

One in a googol (Google it!)

In addition to writing more this year, I am also determined to embrace all of the technology at our disposal. For that, I turned to Google and what a right turn it turned out to be.

Google naysayers beware...this is a Google-friendly atmosphere (me using Blogger, owned by Google since 2003, should have been your first hint). While a wee little part of me is secretly scared that Google is collecting all of my data and will one day sell me to the Iraqi army, the larger part of me just plain loves the services that Google has to offer.

Let me start first by praising Google calendar. I finally have a web-based calendar that shows me what events are upcoming without having to export this or input that. It's just so easy and it has helped me remember meetings that I would have otherwise forgotten. It even informs me of the weather for the next four days right in my calendar..."Do I want to go to the movies in DC this Friday? No, I don't. It will be raining."

Of course, I couldn't have used Google Calendar without signing up for a gmail account, which I also love. No more deleting messages and then regretting it four days later. Now I can just archive my messages and be on my way.

But wait, there's more. Check out Google Docs and Spreadsheets as well. I can create a document, just like in Word, and then publish it to the web. I can even add collaborators. If Pete and I aren't writing a screenplay together by the end of this year, then we're just plain lazy. Google Docs does all of the work!

Lastly, there's Google Checkout. I purchased a DVD as a Christmas present through Buy.com and learned that I could go through Google Checkout and receive $10 off. The DVD arrived on time, there were no frustrating issues to deal with and as far as I know, my credit is still in good standing. Maybe the $10 was just a holiday thing, or maybe it's just another example of the greatness of Google. I'm hoping it's the latter. Not only are the best things in life free, some of them actually GIVE YOU MONEY!

The moral of this entry is that you should really be using Google. I already have plans to upload my pictures on Picasa, another Google innovation, and see how that goes. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this later.

Oh, and if anyone actually does get sold to the Iraqi army as a result of reading this, I'm really sorry.

One Day Late

I've vowed this year to write more. Step one in that process is this lovely blog. I hope to include humorous anecdotes, bizarre what-if scenarios, my view of the world and a daily account of life as I know it. I might even try posting some of my music on this site. Think of this site as a hodgepodge of Sprouse.

My goal is to write everyday about anything and everything that pops into my head. I figure if I can check my email 10 times a day, I can spend five of those minutes writing a blog entry. While it may not sound like the most constructive use of my time, I'm hoping that this site and my entries into the blogosphere will make me a better writer, inspire me to write more and lead me down an exciting new path. We'll see what happens...