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Belgium Video Blog 1 – Catching the train to Zuid
Saturday, February 21st, 2009Belgium Bound Once Again
Monday, February 16th, 2009After a great weekend of GQB, Valentines Day, packing and TXRD Derby, it was off to the airport at 5:50a this morning. I hopped a ride with Jeff, who gave up his uninterrupted sleep on his day off to take me to the airport.
For the first time, my clothes at the airport presented a problem for me. Not for setting off the metal detector, but for being “too baggy”. The agent wanted me to take my sweatshirt off, apparently to see my ripped abs (ha!) but I didn’t have anything on underneath it. Instead, she offered to have me patted down – joy. But the supervisor told her I was fine and sent me on my way.
After a quick stop for Round Rock Donuts, I made my way to the gate to find it practically empty – YES! Getting all comfy and skimming my book, at a totally empty gate mind you, this old guy and his wife decide to sit right next to me. Don’t mind the 5 other empty seats on this row… nah. Sit right up on my lap please.
We board the plane, and I am row 31 of 32 – but it’s bulkhead so I sprawl all out in the space and take a 3 hour nap.
I’m sitting here in O’Hare with a 5.5 hour layover waiting for my plane to Brussels. I arrive local time Tuesday morning at 7:30a. Don’t you know I’ll be a happy camper!
I found the place I am staying at is about 45mins outside the city, so I have a little drive ahead of me when I land. I’ll update when I get there – pending they have Internet!
Don’t forget – there is still plenty of time to support me in my Hill Country Ride for AIDS going on in April. Check out the page at http://www.hillcountryride.org/goto/matheny for all the details. We got our jerseys this past week and I am going bike shopping when I get back – watch for pics coming soon!
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Grammy Fanatic!
Sunday, February 8th, 2009Some random ramblings while watching the Grammys tonight…
- Coldplay was decent live… I love them!
- Really? Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift? I can take one at a time, but not both. I’m not that gay.
- Jason Mraz – so cute in his little hat!
- Jonas Brothers! I can’t wait to see them in April at Atlantis!
- Blink 182 is back together!! Yay!
- Katy Perry live…. not so much.
- Kanye has won 10 grammys? He’s such a pompus ass… but I love Estelle!
- Yay! Adele won for best new artist… but honey, spit your gum out – it’s the Grammy’s.
- I used to be a fan of Allison Krauss, but I think Adele, Coldplay and MIA were more deserving… and the tool she cut the album with won’t even let her speak!
- MIA is performing pregnant! She was due today, and didn’t go into labor with all that dancing??
- I question karma… John Mayer, while a good musician, is a tool and not as good as Jason Mraz, but still won Best Male Pop Vocal.
- Sugarland and Adel do a duet of ”Chasing Pavement” - I want the single!!
- JT looked good, but the TI duet wasn’t all that…
- Neal Diamond? Really? Nana isn’t watching The Grammy’s – I am.
- Robin Thicke with Wycleff in a song for New Orleans – very good! Wycleff rocks, and I’ve always loved Thicke
- Record of the year… MIA – NO. Leona Lews – NO. Coldplay – NO. Adel – NO. F*cking Allison Krauss again.
- Side note – Bonnie Hunt still has a show? Only in Missouri.
And don’t forget the Hill Country Ride for AIDS – Donate at: http://www.hillcountryride.org/goto/matheny
I need your help!
Saturday, February 7th, 2009Well, in conversations with a friend the other day, the Hill Country Ride for AIDS came up, and he was joining the ride. Having never done a bike ride like this before, I decided to join him this April and hit the road for a good cause.
All money raised goes to support those with AIDS or HIV in the Central Texas Area. It’s a great cause that can help many people in our lives and community. My goal is to raise over $500 for the charity, and bike all FIFTY miles.
How can you help? Jump over to my fundraising site and toss in a few dollars for the cause. I’ll keep the blog updated with all the details, and pics of me and Jeff in fashionable attire the day of the race.
Thanks as always for all the support you provide in my life – it’s much appreciated and loved!
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DTV = Dumbass Television Viewers
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009Dear America,
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Digital Television, and thanks to your incompetance, you will not be seeing me across all channels for another six months.
You see, our fine goverment has given you money to upgrade your antennas for those of you without cable… unfortunatley, more people than we thought were without cable, because the program ran out of money.
So guess what – you still don’t have a tv that works. That’s right… your’re still rolling with that console unit you got at Montgomery Wards before they went out of business and Circut City looked like the emporer of electronics (note to readers, Circuit City is going out of business, imagine the irony).
What does this mean? Well it means that you still are not going to see my glorious deliver of millions of colors in HD quality for another 6 months. It means you’re still going listening to things in stereo, and not the surround sound delicacy to your ears you could be experiencing.
Do I blame viewers soley? Absolutley not. Education is partly to blame. Look at your friends at PBS. The ones that educate you on the ways of the world with all their lovely programming to keep you top of mind and so, so smart. They’re not ready. Nope. Still not broadcasting in HDTV. In fact, they were one of the reasons, to the tune of 22Million dollars, that DTV has been delayed. Thanks a lot Snuffleupagos.
This means that we have another 6 months of annoying ass commericals begging you to upgrade your tv. This means we have another 6 months of crappy analog programming cluttering our airwaves. This means that crappy cable companies like Suddenlink who server the booming suburb of Pflugerville get to skate by on crappy technology and a weak infrastructure. This also means that our dear friends Fox 7 can hold out even longer from upgrading to an HDTV News Cast… not that were watching them anyway, but still. Dave Cody wasn’t ready for the clarity HDTV was going to bring to his make up job and receeding hairliine.
Bitter, party of one, your table is now ready.
Special shout out to my girl Kay Bailey Hutchison for helping delay the start of DTV. Guess she’s rolling with her console from Sears & Roebuck & Co.
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Havins House Party 09!
Sunday, January 25th, 2009So my dear friend Heather was gracious enough to invite a group of us out last night to her home for dinner and drinks. Lots of celebratory things going on.. our friend Melanie is the new Press Secretary for the First Lady of Texas, and Mike and Mark are celebrating birthdays this week! Heather made an awesome roast with salad and potatoes, Joanna brought an awesome cake and we had plenty of drinks to last us well past the 4a when we all called it a night.
It’s so nice to sit around and enjoy the company of your close friends… to laugh and share and learn. Who knew a Socialite and a Dirty Martini could hold conversation for so long.
Thanks to Heather for opening her home to all of us – and to my friends for opening their hearts and lives daily for me to be a part of.
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The maiden voyage of Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009Tonight was the maiden voyage of the Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria – our new bowling team, with:
Me as Nina – the young one.
Mike as Pinta – because he needed a name.
and Roy as Santa Maria – because he picked it.
We lost the first, won the second and lost the third and pins total. I did good, better and horrible. My 2nd game was a 171, and that’s all we’ll say.
Next week – matching shirts. Damn we rock.
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If this is what 2009 is going to be like…
Thursday, January 15th, 2009So I’ve been traveling this week on business and keeping busy of course.
Yesterday was our all company meeting, with everyone from US and Int’l operations in the same room to catch up on company business. During our meetings, which are quarterly, we recognize a member of the development team and a member of our consulting group as developer and consultant of the quarter respectivley. This meeting, as it was the first of the new FY, we recognized a developer of the year and consultant of the year – which was a new concept to me.
If you know me, you know work ethic is engrained in me. I give 200% to my job and my company – which is why I find most of my enjoyment in work and focus less on (lame) attempts of a personal life. I do this because it’s fulfilling and I think I’m pretty good at what I do, not expecting anything other than a smile and the check that pays the bills. That said, I almost passed out when they announced I had been selected as Developer of the Year for 2008, and continued to list my accomplishments within the company in my past 20 months with the organization.
I was speechless – yes, me, with no words to say. Over 24 hours later, I am still speechless for the honor and recognition. What can I say, I just love my job and do the best I can.
If this is what 2009 is going to be like, I’m more than ready!
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Is this thing on…?
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009Well, a belated Happy New Year to you all, from 37,202 ft above ground. The past month has been so busy, it’s taking a four hour flight from Manhattan to give me a little time to sit down and update our little space on the dub dub dub. And while I have a succeeded in keeping with my current trend of crying at movies on the plane, I figured it was time to break out the ole lappy to finish some work and hammer out an update… So keeping your hands and feet inside the car at all times, here we go in bullet fashion.
Ainsley Turns 7!
Ainsley had her birthday, and this year I was able to be there for the party! As you can imagine, it’s tough having a birthday on Dec 27 and having a party with all your friends from school there. This year, my mom and I flew up to Charlotte on the 18th and surprised Ainsley at her Yellow Belt Graduation Ceremony. Ainsley is now an Orange belt and is well on her way to learning self defense – which is good since she’s not 50 pounds soaking wet yet!
While there, I was proud to be the Mystery Reader for her class and surprised everyone by showing up with two books to read before lunch. Ainsley was so excited, she had no idea I was coming into school. From there, we had lunch in the cafeteria, and boy have things changed! You now have a PIN number for your lunch card and can pick from vegan options, a salad bar and more – all in elementary school!
That weekend, we went out to a small ranch and took Ains and 5 of her closest girls horseback riding. Now I know what you’re thinking, but this was far from walking a horse in a circle. Everyone had their own horse and things got interesting as Ainsley’s horse decided to JUMP a puddle of mud, and my horse was spooked by something and thought he’d see if I could hold on for eight seconds. Both incidents ended with us keeping control of our horse and me hoping no one was thrown on a 7 year old birthday party trail ride!
We wrapped things up with an early Christmas and watching Ains eagerly open her gifts from Texas. We had a great stay with her mom and step-dad, and got to see her new little sister in person.
New Years
Continuing my tradition, I had my annual New Years party, which was quite successful. Ending up asleep in my closet at 5:00a New Years Day should be enough to highlight how much fun we had. Many thanks to the best friends I could ask for – Roy and Natalie – for all their help in setting up and keeping my OCD in check. Thanks to Roy, Natalie, Jeff, Jason (grr), Sean, Joe, Brandon, Ryan, Andrew, Sheerin, Brooke, Libby, Maggie and everyone else for starting the New Year off with me!
I met WonderWoman…
A dear friend of mine, Kathie, showed me in 2009 the definition of strength, determination and love. January 6th, at 6:30p she lost her best friend and husband to an uphill battle of cancer. Steve and Kathie are the couple you want to “grow up” to be like, with their two adorable daughters – Delaney and Alby. In the midsts of caring for Steve, raising her daughters and running a house, Kathie was quite possibly the strongest person I’ve seen in a long time – and even managed to carry out every one of Steve’s wishes despite some less than ideal in-laws who gave her hell from 1400 miles away every day. If 2009 is good to anyone this year, Kathie better be on the top of the list.
89 is not just another year…
My great-grandmother, Violet, hit the “one year away” mark this month, as she turned another year more fabulous and celebrated 89 years. My grandparents, Nana and Dada, along with my Dad, threw an awesome lunch for MeMaw in Kerrville, with grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren in attendance, along with one of two living siblings. At 89, MeMaw is the oldest of her siblings and enjoys her days with other residents of her senior community and a nice cold Dr. Pepper.
Do you hear what I hear?
No, not Christmas bells, but the pitter patter of little feet. My Step-Brother Jason and his adorable wife Cecilia are getting ready to welcome a little boy to the world this spring/summer. With all the excitement, it makes me wish my brother Allen were here to raise his little one (Allen Evan) and see these two friends who grew up together raise their boys together. Another reason to cherish every day you have with someone – you never want to have to wish you would have called one more time just to say hi.
Home is where my head rests…
After a wonderful week and a half off from work over the holidays, I started back on 5Jan and hit the ground running. I’ve spent most of my time since then traveling and visiting marriotts from Houston to Manhattan. It’s exciting and rewarding to be part of such an envigorating company with an unbeatable product offering, outstanding team and confidence in what we do. In todays economic times, everyone is thankful for their career… If the economy were at the top of its game, I’d be just as thankful for all the opportunities I have every day.
If you’re still reading…
You deserve some sort of award. I told you a lot has happened… and well, when you put your homepage on your Christmas cards, and have some friends that keep track of you through this and Facebook, you kind of need to download everything, even if it is mundane.
While I don’t resolve to do anything other than the best I can this year, there are a few things that I’d like to see happen. I won’t bore you with the list, and some of it is just cheesy, but I will say keeping in touch with you more is on the list. So help me out, drop me a line or pick up the phone, and I’ll try more to do the same.
With everything this life gives you, it’s the people in your life that fill your days with the joy and fulfillment that make the journey a memorable one. Thanks for being part of the ride.
Fast lane to grid lock
Sunday, December 7th, 2008So I picked up my rental car today… and for everyone who ever laughed at me for only driving standards, well, that’s all they drive here – so HA! I have a 6 speed diesel, thank God with GPS. The GPS is spot on and everything was fine finding the office I’ll be working in next week. The highway was decent enough and I was just trucking along about 150kmh and then I hit the ciry limits, and it was a screeching halt.
If you think driving in NYC is bad, you have no idea what bad is. It took me almost an hour just to get to the hotel, where the parking garage was blocked by Christmas markets. I had to park down the street in a public garage… which actually works out better. Parking at the hotel is 27€, but parking in the public garage was only 14€ – so I think it was in my favor.
I tried looking for a different hotel, but I couldn’t find one that was in the suburb, even though I drove around a while… It may be best if I stay here and just commute, but we’ll see how that commute goes tomorrow.
I’m taking to ains on the computer right now, and she’s getting SO big. She’s counting down the days till I go visit her, and waiting for her European surprises
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