Yesterday was one heck of an expensive day.  Lost my phone... bought 4 new pairs of dress shoes and 2 new suits... unknowingly blew away nearly $300 on alcohol.

So... we go out to a club/bar on Division for my buddy's cousin's birthday.  I'm pimpin out one of my shiny new sapatos and sportin' a striped blue tie.  As Rudes says: overdressed as usual!  The night started off a little slow, because we got there at 9 pm.  It was an all you can drink for an hour and, well... we took advantage of it.  But somehow (between having several shots with the birthday boy, some out-of-towner girls, and the bartender, in addition to my bottomless glasses of Tanqueray and tonic) I got very plastered.

I don't remember a whole lot but I do remember getting asked to leave.  I requested if I could at least let my friends know first, and they allowed me to.  So, I tell Rudes that I'm getting kicked out and he just told me to sit down and chill for a bit, and if they ask me again then we will leave.  They never came back for me.  But I think that's around the time I lost my phone.

Rudes didn't really know how messed up I was until he saw me dancing!  That's right dancing!  and with a group of ladies that we didn't know.  I don't even remember any of this so I have to take his word for it.  First of all, it's so unlike me to dance (drunk or sober); at least not lately.  The other thing is, it's unlike me to dance with strangers.  Anyway, Rudy started looking around for me 'cuz I disappeared.  He had to do a double-take 'cuz the last place he was expecting to find me was on the dance floor.  Needless to say, Rudes, being the good wing man that he is, shuffles over to the dance floor to help out.  The ladies were part of a bridal party and I guess I just went up to them and started dancing with them.  I swear, I remember NONE of this.  Rudes just told me all about it later (when I sobered up in the morning).

I woke up this morning face-down and sprawled out on his living room floor.  The contents that were in my pockets, I found scattered across the floor and there was a special bucket just for emergency use, which I definitely put to use.

Considering I lost my phone, and I'm a lot broker, I'm in a pretty good mood today.  I will be going to a wedding tonight, but I think I'm just gonna chill with a bottle of high quality h2o!  ahhh!

I just ordered one of these to cheer me up (though it made me even more broke):

Treo 650

with a blue tooth wireless ear piece

Bootcamp this morning was a biatch... and admittedly so was I.  Second day in a row with a headache/migraine... actually felt like passing out this morning... barely made it out ok.

yes i struggled doing situps.

yes i struggled doing pullups.

and yes i struggled during the runs.

but man i love how it feels after.

Started playing volleyball again... lost our first game - but won our 3rd set... ended the game with a kill from yours truly.  Second game is tonight, we may be short a player.  I tell ya though, for some reason I become really competitive whenever I get involved in a sport.  So I recently started my creatine loading cycle and I'm working out again... particularly my shoulders so I can pound the ball for v-ball.

Also, started reading the Brian Greene book.  Very interesting!  In the first chapter, he explains general relativity and special relativity and gives excellent examples.

Two cars travelling at the same speed, appear to be motionless in relation to each other.  So, if you could travel at the speed of light, would you be able to see stationary light?

update:  lost game 2... sad but true... we're 0 and 2. 

Saw Episode III on Memorial Day with the fams.  Awesome movie!  Without giving too much away... I loved how it fills in the missing pieces and binds the 1st trilogy with the second trilogy... particularly how Vader came to be.

Lord Vader is a bad-ass!!!

Considering he sounded like he was dying of lung cancer, General Grievous was pretty "handy" with the light sabres as well.

Queen Amidala, portrayed by Natalie Portman.
What makes Natalie so sexy is the fact that not only is she beatiful, it's that she is also very intelligent, scoring 1400+ on her SATs and a straight A student at Harvard.

Made it to and through boot camp today.  Rated 7/10 in difficulty with 1 being easiest and 10 hardest.  The hardest part was probably getting up at 5 in the morning.  Got dehydrated... got a headache... followed by nausea.  Sounds like how I was during OJ and Joelna's Wedding.

On a side note:  I would like to dedicate a small portion of my time studying Quantum Physics.  The rest of the time I would like to spend travelling all over the world (and not just for work).

Currently on-order from Amazon:

IN case you've Confused Prison vs Work

Just in case you ever get these two environments mixed up, this should make things a little bit clearer.

IN PRISON..........you spend the majority of your time in an 10X10 cell.
AT WORK............you spend the majority of your time in an 8X8 cubicle.

IN PRISON.........you get three meals a day.
AT WORK...........you get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it.

IN PRISON..........you get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK............you get more work for good behavior.

IN PRISON..........the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK............you must often carry a security card and open all the doors for yourself.

IN PRISON..........you can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK...........you could get fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON.........you get your own toilet.
AT WORK..........you have to share the toilet with some people who pee on the seat.

IN PRISON..........they allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK............you aren't even supposed to speak to your family.

IN PRISON.........all expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required.
AT WORK............you get to pay all your expenses to go to work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON..........you spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get
AT WORK ...........you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

IN PRISON .........you must deal with sadistic wardens.
AT WORK...........they are called managers.

It's funny when you meet people for the first time but you've been conversing with them over the phone for a while.  You can't help but put a face to the voice at the other end.  For some reason, their voice automatically triggers an image that you think they would look like.  In most cases, they looked nothing like I imagined.  One guy from the NOC that I pictured would be a younger white male with dark brown hair turns out to be an older asian man with silver hair.  A guy I thought would be skinny turns out to be quite hefty.  One lady has a "Fran" (as in the Nanny) sounding voice, so I pictured she would be a tall, mature lady with graying hair and glasses.  When I saw her this week, she was a short young lady... and well... she was very attractive.

I wonder how they pictured me?  I wonder if they think I look like a kid? At least I know I can pass as a college kid, sometimes.

Bummed out... wish I had more time to go around and check out the Big Apple.  Alas, I was there for biz and had to return to the Windy City.  I did get to walk down broadway... Times Square.  Bright lights!  Makes me want to visit Japan!

I stayed at the Ritz... beautiful room... beautiful view!  They even had a huge telescope in the room for all my vouyering pleasure.  I used it to spy on the "Lady" outside my window.  I had a view of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty.  They even had a courtesy limo service that will drive you around (within the Financial District).

I wanted to take pics of the NY Stock Exchange, the Wall Street signs,  as well as Times Square but I felt a little self-consious and decided not to bring my camera.   

New York trip was approved.  I go for Voice Over IP training next week and get to stay at the Ritz.    I will also get to meet one of the VPs in person... the same guy that approved the travel... the same guy that hired me as a consultant and wants to bring me in full time.  I've been working as a consultant for the Bank for over a year now; yet, I have never met this guy.  My interview was done over the phone, including the technical one.  He drilled me pretty hard over the phone but I guess he was impressed.  My only correspondences with him so far have been by phone and email.  It should be interesting.

Three nights in a row of all you can drinks.  My liver is complaining.  Why do my friends have to be such alcoholics.?  Tonight, I'm just gonna chill with my glass of water.  It was different back in the days.  We used to start Tuesday night and finish it off Sunday night.  Monday was rest day but probably only because there was nowhere to go.

Happy 4th Birthday Ethan!

Boot Camp Day 2:

Woke up at 5 am today with rain pelting against the window.  It was COLD and WET and too early in the morning!  People still showed up.  Didn't realize how sore my legs, gluts, and abs were until this morning's workout.  At one point we broke up into two teams and raced each other... I saw some people going 5 times faster than I have seen them run previously.  Perhaps it was the spirit of competition... or maybe the fact that losers would end up doing more pushups that inspired us to push ourselves.  I was running so fast I couldn't stop... and I practically knocked over one of my teammates.

I'm actually trying to eat healthier again. 

What an awesome day yesterday!

First day of bootcamp... great workout!  6:00 - 7:00 am every Tuesdays and Thursdays for 18 weeks.  I'll get back in peak shape before I know it.

Stayed a little late for work... but it was all good.  I'm being exposed to a lot more of the complicated networks within the bank.  I feel much more involved and engaged.  I'm actually putting my knowledge and certs to good use.  Four weeks ago, they flew me into New Jersey for NetCache and Load Balancer training.  Next, week they want to fly me in to New York for VOIP (Voice Over IP) Training.  I might get to stay at a Ritz Carlton and not have to pay for it. 

Also a friend ended up with an extra cubs tix so he called and asked if I wanted to come out and see the game tonight.  I gladly accepted.    As I predicted and due to my good fortune, the cubbies won!  Cubs vs Mets 7 - 0.  Free lunch for me tomorrow!