More Travel Ahead.

I've been using my time in Ann Arbor as an opportunity to take loads of mini trips. It's no secret I love to travel, talk with locals and discover the hidden gems of a city. Each city is unique -- whether it's the people, food or traditions.

I've spent 2 weekends in Chicago, 1 weekend in Toronto and 1 weekend in Las Vegas.

I'm heading back to Chicago this weekend. I think I'm going to Washington, D.C. the weekend of Dec. 14th because my old boss, Brent, is having a Holiday Party. The weekend in between is open game, but I'll probably keep it local because I have my Company Holiday Party on that Friday.

I'm planning on returning to Los Angeles on Dec. 20th and won't be going back to work until January 2nd, 2008. I only need to take 3 vacation days to get all of that time off, so I'll be taking advantage of it. :)

After Christmas, I'll probably head back to Northern California after spending some time with the Fam and Friends in So Cal. I want to check up on my apartment and just get back into my groove.

It's possible my time in Nor Cal will be super short. But I'll talk about that later if and when I find out any news...

Here's a story... of a lovely lady...

So a few weeks back I mentioned how I absolutely adore my housekeeper. We had a pretty long conversation about the single life and just random talk. She's just so full of spirit.

I had the pleasure again today of chatting with her. I left work a bit late and knew she would be coming by. We chatted about Vegas, trashy celebrity gossip, shopping and our Thanksgiving plans. She's had a lot of life experience and just goes with the flow. I love that.

I finally 'formally' introduced myself and got her name. Her name is Carol and she's a wonderful woman.

So Thankful

I've come to realize how excellent my life is right now. My gripes are pretty minor. Because I'll be traveling this thanksgiving to Las Vegas for a little R&R, I'll write what I'm thankful for now. These are in no particular order, just train of thought:

• My Family - Even though I haven't lived in LA for just under 2 years, my family still makes it point to keep in contact with me. It might not be as often as it used to, but such as life. I talk to my Mom, Dad and Sister often.
  
• My High School Friends - I've been trying to do a good job to keep in touch with as many of my High School friends as possible. Even though I say 'High School' some are really grade and middle school. At this point, I've known many of these people for over a decade. That's a long time. We've been through a lot and I hope our friendships only grow stronger.
• My College Friends - You know who you are. We've all diverged and went our separate ways to some extent. But we make it a point to have semi-annual 'reunions' and keep in contact by phone and email. You guys are all super smart and doing very well for yourselves. Considering it's been only a little over 2 years since we graduated, I think we're all off to wonderful careers. I have no doubt we'll be lifelong friends. I mean, who else can hold up a pinky finger and burst out laughing like we can? We left college during a bad job market and still managed to carve our name into the business world.
• My New Friends - Over the past few months, I've been lucky to meet new people by living in the Midwest and doing a bit of traveling. I've made new friends in Ann Arbor, Chicago and Toronto. From my Irish roomie Kevin to my new friends, such as JD in Toronto and Matt in Chicago, I hope that we'll be able to make future memories together. I've had a great time getting to know people in different cities around North America and I hope to make many more friendships to come.
  
• My Career - I've worked my way up at Google a good amount. I've tried to make a long term impact that will shape my division for some time to come. I started out as a temporary contractor, converted into an Account Associate and was recently promoted last week to an Account Strategist. I worked really hard to get ahead and I'm happy that everything is going well. I've gotten to work in Ann Arbor, MI and I hope this opens the doors to new opportunities in the future.
• My Co-Workers/Friends - Working at Google, It's hard to separate the distinction between friends and co-workers. Never in my life have I been surrounded by such sharp, motivated, and down to earth people. I love all of my fellow Googlers and Gayglers. I hang out with you all the time and I couldn't ask for a better set of people to spend my life with on a daily basis. Even when I moved to A2, you've done a great job keeping in contact. I appreciate it. :)
• My Online Friends - Don't think I forget about y'all. I still read your blogs and posts from time to time. I haven't met many of you in person, but I feel like I know you.
  
• My Health - To some extent, this is what I'm most thankful for this year. I never realized how much good health has on the quality of my life. Before about a year and a half ago, I weighed nearly 300 pounds. Today I weigh close to 180. Yea, I lost an average woman. I sometimes cry when I look at older pictures. I can't believe I let myself go so much. I'm happy I'm healthier in mind, body and spirit. I'm not totally where I want to be, but I'm damn near close.
• My Love Life - This is something I don't talk about much. I guess I'm relatively private about dating and relationships. But I'm thankful I've gained a lot of experience in dating over the past year or so. I've grown by getting to know other guys at a deeper level. I went from zero experience to more experience than many people I know. By no means am I an expert, but I now have people I can lean on to to give me advice. To some extent It was a whirlwind. I'm starting to look into settling down a bit more in the near future. I'm talking with someone, but It's hard because it's long distance. I hope things work out alright.

Soon I'll have a post about what I want to accomplish in 2008. 2007 has been a HUGE year for me. Hopefully I'll have a list created before the holiday rush.

Last Minute Trip to Toronto

I love to travel. I'm not very seasoned at it, however. I have NO international travel experience. Actually, I've never been abroad. That includes Canada and Mexico. I don't have a passport either. Sad, I know.

I was talking with John, my A2 ex pat extraordinare, and we were looking at our calendars for future travel while in A2. We both realized we have NO weekends left left to travel. None. We're both booked to the brim with other travel or personal plans. We both realized we did however have this weekend free. Ohio State is playing Michigan this weekend, so It's gonna be crazy in A2 anyhow. It's the biggest week of the year as far as college football is concerned.

I looked at Hotels, John looked at Travel options and we booked everything in about an hour. We somehow got some KILLER deals at the last minute for this weekend, Friday to Sunday.

We're driving to Windsor, ON, the closest part of Canada to Michigan. It's about half hour away, right across from Detroit. From there, we're gonna take the Canadian Train, ViaRail. The train takes about 4 hours to Toronto. We'll be arriving around 9:30pm. Just enough time to get to the hotel, change and hit the Nightlife. As it turns out, ViaRail has a 'youth' discount. It's 25% off for those who are between 18 and 25 years of age. Sweet! John missed out cause there wasn't a 'middle age' discount. Hehe. j/k

I booked a room at the SoHo Metropolitan in Downtown Toronto. It's right near the Harbor and in the middle of everything. We were able to score a good deal for about $125 CAD (133 US) a night. That's very good for a 4 star hotel in Toronto on the weekend, especially at the last minute.

We're not really sure what we'll be doing, but our Train leaves at 7:00pm on Sunday Night. We'll be back around Midnight. Yay! So if you have ANY tips or places to visit in Toronto, let me know. :)

I'm looking forward to a clean Metropolitan city! Yay!

Top 10 Best Resale Value Cars

I'm thinking in 2009 I'll probably look into getting a new car... if only to establish some credit for myself. I'm pretty practical, so there 'Top 10 Resale Value Cars' will most likely be on my test drive and research list.

These are the Top 10 for 1007, according to CNN/Money:

• Chevy Corvette, 50% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Honda Civic Sedan, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Infiniti G37, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Mini Cooper, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Scion tC, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Scion xB, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Toyota Corolla, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Volkswagen Eos, 52% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Volkswagen Jetta, 51% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years
• Volkswagen Rabbit, 51% Predicted Retained Value after 5 Years

The only cars on this list I haven't thought about are the Chevy Corvette and the Infiniti G37.

John Travolta for A Night

It was truly 'Saturday Night Fever' for me. This past Saturday I made my way to Detroit for a bit of clubbing action. As you might know, I go to dance, experience new music and meet new people. I don't go to drink or hookup. Cause I'm a good guy like that.

Anywho, I made my way over to Backstreet Nightclub. I couldn't find the club at first because It was located in a hidden part of a strip mall. I was like, 'Oh crap. What did I get myself into?'

I get there around 11 and there aren't too many people around. It wasn't until 12 until the party got jumping. It's probably the most unique club I've been to in the Midwest. It has an elevated 1970's lightup dance floor that No One gets on until like 11:45. Before that, It's a complete stare showdown a la 'The Abbey' in LA or 'Sidetrack' in Chicago.

You can kinda tell the place is a work in progress. There is exposed wood in some areas that is meant to be finished. Despite that, the place has a great dancefloor, fun music, and a cool lounge in the back meant to get away from it all. There are Cabanas with Curtains if you want that 'Private' moment as well.

Most of the night was spent observing and taking pictures. At one point I did dance with Ziggy, a younger (I believe latino?) guy in which I'm still wondering as of today if he is of legal age. Yowza. There was this cute late 20's/early 30's guy I've seen at Necto who kept looking at me, but still never went up to me. Maybe next time.

There was a drag show. It was quite scandalous, with a guy who I think got breast implants. I would share pictures, but I want to keep you sane. Instead, here are some tamer pictures.

Here is a YouTube video of the Dance Floor in Action at Backstreet. It's to the music of 'Show Stopper' by Danity Kane.




I ended the night with a quick stop stop at White Castle, just to say I've done it. I got a diet coke and a cheeseburger. I can offically say the Diet Coke tasted better than the burger. Lol.

Yes, I'm Me

After A wonderful week, My Sunday evening turned into one of major bad luck.

I wanted to be productive, so I did laundry. Sounds good, right? Until I realized I left Chapstick in one of my pockets in the dryer. Dun Dun Dun... That means a whole grip of clothes now has petroleum stains all over it. *Le Sigh*

Okay, so that's kinda bad, considering I only brought a limited amount of clothing with me to Michigan.

I go to Meijer, the local 'we have everything, plus we're open 24 hours' store, to grab some laundry stain remover. I also realized I was low on gas, so I headed to a gas station I knew would be open.

I then see the flashing red and blue lights. Now I'm confused because I have no idea what I could have possibly done to deserve to get pulled over by the A2 coppers.

The officer approaches my car on a dark empty major street, and this is what happens:
Officer: Good Evening. Do you know why you're being pulled over?
Me: I have no idea.
Officer: Did you see that flashing red light back there?
Me: I don't recall.
Officer: Do you know what that means?
Me: I'm not from here. I haven't seen that very often where I'm from.
Officer: Where are you from?
Me: California. I'm not used to those in all honesty. I wasn't sure what to do.
Officer: Where are you staying?
Me: Near the mall.
Officer: Ah. Can I see your license and registration?
Me: I can try to find the paperwork, but this is a rental car.
[Hands over License and Registration]
Officer: Is this you?
Me: Ya. I lost about 115 pounds.
Officer: You look great!
Me: Thanks.
Officer: I'll be right back. I'm going over to my vehicle.
Me: *sighs* as he can see the officer writing the ticket in his rearview mirror.

So basically, I'm not all that bothered with it. I panicked at first... only because of insurance issues. Turns out you can't do traffic school in Michigan. The fine for 'not yielding for a flashing red light' is $130 and 3 points on your record for 2 years. It kinda blows. Now I know about flashing red and yellow lights and what you're supposed to do.

So the only real cool thing about the evening was the compliment about my weight loss. Yes, I'm Me...

Let it snow!

Today was the first day I saw a bit of snow, even though it didn't stick. It was just cold enough that flakes would fall from the sky above. It was magical. You know. I've come to realize that it's nice to have snow. Sure it's cold... in the low 30's, but it's something different.

Once I saw the flakes coming down kinda hard, I ran outside with Dina to take a picture. My manager kinda thought I was crazy, but whatever. :P


Snow in front of the A2 GOOG Office

Dinner at Cafe Zola

I went out to one of my occasional 'sit down' meals in Ann Arbor last night. Dina, a policy specialist based out of Mountain View, has been in town for the week. We decided to celebrate at Cafe Zola, one of the swankier places in town.

The food was good, although a bit overpriced for carbs (pasta's, etc). I had to add protein ($7) to my dish because it was basically pasta and a lemon sauce for $18. Don't get me wrong, it was tasty... but throw in some meat for that, bitches.

Here is a group picture:


Foreground: Dina, Me, and Sarah
Background: John, Jane & Britt

The Mystery Maid

In Ann Arbor, I have a housekeeper who remained a mystery... up until this morning. I left a bit late for work, around 9:15am instead of 8:55am. I'm kinda glad I left late, only because I finally got to meet my housekeeper.

Every Thursday, she comes to The A2 Apartment de Kevin & Will and cleans up our non-mess. We usually only have a few dishes in the sink, some trash to throw out, and some linens to clean. I must admit, I love not having to clean my bathroom. That's the one thing I don't like doing and usually delay.

As I'm about to exit the shower, I hear a woman in the distance say, 'Housekeeping.' I started to freak out a bit. She said, 'Don't worry honey, I'll clean the front first.' Anyone who uses the word 'Honey' already wins me over.

After I get ready, I come out and almost leave... until something told me to strike up a convo. Once I did, we chatted for about 15 minutes. She's a 40-ish (but looks young) African American woman. I didn't catch her name, but I will next time. We talked about the single life and what she's experienced. She grew up in Chicago, recently lived in Vegas, and made the move to Ann Arbor. I asked if there was anything I should do because I'll be in Vegas for Thanksgiving. She's like 'Go to Crave... you know... they have a show that's really different. With transgender folks.'

That was so unexpected. We also chatted about Chicago, because I've been there the past two weekends. She made me laugh and we got along pretty well.

I think I might go to work late every Thursday just to talk with her.

The mystery was unraveled...

B Schools & Office Space Characters

My Friend Steph K. forwarded this to me. I laughed. These are (not) my opinions on particular B Schools and their correlation to Office Space characters. :)

1.) Harvard -

Pros: The best academic brand in the world, people from East Timor will know where you went to school. Graduates are extremely polished and dynamic leaders. its no coincidence that so many politicians these days are HBS grads.

Cons: Students are about as pompous and pretentious as possible. Polish is a fancy way of saying full of s**t. its no coincidence that so many politicians these days are HBS grads.

Office Space Character: Lumbergh (Peter's hated boss). He's a quintessential Harvard grad; in charge and full of platitudes that sound great but on further inspection don't make any sense. He also drives a nice car and makes a lot of money while being universally loathed. Kind of sums up every HBS grad you've ever met, right?

2.) Stanford -

Pros: Small class size and focus on do-gooders leads to an incredible array of backgrounds and accomplishments of students, who thrive in tight knit community. Haven for the really interesting superstars out there. Tremendous brand. Beautiful weather.

Cons: It may be interesting to be classmates with a Buddhist monk-fighter pilot, but its also hard to relate to anyone ("So, did that vow of peace make it hard to take out bogeys?"). For super accomplished business students with the world at their fingertips, it sure doesn't seem like any of them actually like business.

Office Space Character: Peter (main character). He seems like the most level headed, likable and down to earth of any of the characters, but for all his talents, he ends up as a damn construction worker. He's also a major league flake, showing up to work only when he feels like it. Can you say entitled?

3.) Wharton -

Pros: Arguably the best technical business education in the world. Great brand name, and the job placements are second only to H/S.

Cons: Not sure if it's the ultra rigorous curriculum, the competitive culture, or the fact that they have to live in Philly for two years, but Whartonites are paranoid bordering on psychotic. The odds of having a nervous breakdown in your life triple after going here. Double that if you actually ask anyone at Wharton to calculate those odds.

Office Space Character: Tom Smykowski (Co-worker that invents "jumping to conclusions mat"). I'm assuming that Tom was actually an excellent technical employee, but that his constant fear of losing his job made him batsh*t crazy. Most fitting quote "I'm a People Person!!!!!!" when yelling at the consultants.

4.) Northwestern -

Pros: Strong team culture and arguably the best marketing program in the country. Incredibly collaborative for such a large school. Great location next to major financial center (Chicago).

Cons: Very soft curriculum, these guys are poets. I'm pretty sure that Kellogg finance classes are prerecorded cartoons taught by Disney characters. Is it really worth it to pay $10000+ to drink every night? I mean, couldn't you just do that without the degree?

Office Space Character: Joanna (Peter's girlfriend). Like Peter, she's very likable, level headed and likes to get around. Unfortunately she's also vastly less skilled than many of her fellow characters. Thank God she's hot.

5.) Chicago -

Pros: Finance education is second only to Wharton globally (and even that's debatable). Probably the best facilities of all the top business schools. Fantastic job placements and close proximity to Chicago. Academic horsepower of profs is untouchable.

Cons: Socially awkward is an understatement. Unlike Whartonites who are just high strung, Chicago GSBers either never learned or quickly forgot how to communicate with peers. Make sure to wear a face mask if they're talking to you 'cause spits going to fly.

Office Space Character: Milton (Co-worker that loves red swingline stapler). Milton seems like a nice enough guy, and he might be the smartest guy in the office (he pulls off the grand caper in the end). It's just that he's about as charismatic as a toilet bowl. Hire 'em, just make sure to get GSBers an office in the basement.

6.) Columbia -

Pros: Great location in the middle of global financial center (New York). Most diverse student body in terms of minorities and women. Very strong finance program. New York allows great social and job placement opportunities, and draws worldly, cosmopolitan students.

Cons: Cliquish and commuterish. Columbia is like a high school with super rich kids. High ***hole factor. This isn't the kind of school where you'll be going to house parties, its more like the kind of school where you're expected to order bottle service for twenty guys on a student budget or else be ostracized.

Office Space Character: Bobs (consultants that lay off workers). They seem smart, they have great jobs, but c'mon, these guys are douchebags.

7.) MIT -

Pros: World class entrepreneurship program, and probably the best supply management program in America. Attached to world class research center, and location in Boston is strong. Great job placement, especially in consulting.

Cons: For all their unique academic offerings, the overall school is like 90/10 men/women including undergrads. Takes the term sausage fest to a whole new level. Nerdy culture.

Office Space Character: Michael Bolton (Peter's co-worker and friend). Michael Bolton desperately wants to be cool, listening to rap music, talking in slang, but lets face it, he's a dork. He's also hampered by his dorky namesake, which seems to attract a lot of nerdy people (to his obvious dismay).

8.) Tuck -

Pros: Small class size and tight culture leads to maybe the most enthusiastic students in any school. Great respect from recruiters. Alumni network is arguably the most responsive and helpful of any top school. Strong rigorous program.

Cons: Very conformist culture, and really limited social options. These guys seem so enthusiastic about their school that I'm almost certain that all students are given ecstasy at orientation. Listen, if two years in the middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire were to constitute the best two years of my life, I would kill myself.

Office Space Character: Brian (Works with Joannas at Chotchkies, wears 37 pieces of flair). Brian is well meaning and LOVES his job. Never mind that he's a waiter at a glorified TGIF, he still loves it with all his heart. They say ignorance is bliss, in which case, maybe Tuckies have the secret after all. That or, like Brian, they're borderline retarded.

9.) Michigan -

Pros: Maybe the most hands-on practical curriculum of all the top schools. New facilities coming up in 2009. Largest alumni network of any business school. State school, so the 2nd year is cheaper.

Cons: Location proximity leaves something to be desired (Detroit? Why not put it next to Beirut). The overall atmosphere here is very fratty and college like. Every single UMich student and alumni I've spoken to say the highlight of their experience was tailgating and watching football. EVERYONE. Not that football isn't awesome, but no one else had any other experience that was noteworthy? They probably forgot the rest after beerbonging Jagermeister.

Office Space Character: Lawrence (Peter's next door neighbor and friend). Lawrence is a good guy. He's loyal, and salt of the earth. He also has a few rough edges, and would use 1 million dollars to be intimate with two other women. Have a great time with old Lawrence. Just don't be surprised if all you end up with is a job he hooked you up with at the local quarry.

10.) Haas -

Pros: Great location in the bay, and strong ties to Silicon Valley. Great weather. Small class size and tight culture. Berkeley has very strong international brand name.

Cons: Weak ties to financial sector, and east coast in general. The culture here is definitely about as PC as it gets. This seems like the type of school where you'd need to get a permission slip before you held a woman's hand on campus.

Office Space Character: Stan (Joanna's manager at Chotchkies). Stan wants Joanna to do more than the bare minimum. After all, people can get an MBA anywhere, but they come to Chotckies/Haas for the atmosphere! Don't you want to do more than the bare minimum? Then put on your flair, burn some bras and save a whale you selfish jerk.

11.) Duke -

Pros: Maybe the best health care management program in the country. Great brand name, especially in the south. Strong team culture.

Cons: Relatively young MBA program, so alumni network is small. As such, the brand cache just isn't there yet. People that come here seem very cookie cutter to me, not in a bad way, just very comfortable and relatively unambitious.

Office Space Character: Samir (Peter's co-worker and friend). Samir is a nice guy, very practical and unassuming. You get the feeling that he's happy as long as he has a job in hand. Won't make waves, won't screw up, and won't take any risks. But he's a happy guy, and will have a house with 2.2 kids and a dog in a suburb somewhere (probably Durham).

12.) Darden -

Pros: Strong Case method program and rigorous curriculum is universally respected. Alumni network is very strong and active with current students.

Cons: Middle of nowhere. Intellectual horsepower not as strong at a lot of the other top schools.

Office Space Character: Anne (Peter's ex-girlfriend who was cheating on him). Anne just seemed really high maintenance and uptight. You try doing twenty cases a week for a year and see what happens to you. Just don't be surprised if it's a bigger bi**h than you imagined.

13.) NYU -

Pros: Great location within spitting distance of Wall Street. Strong finance curriculum, and media program.

Cons: Location in downtown Manhattan make this the ultimate commuter school. Weird inferiority complex with Columbia. If you don't go into finance or media, good luck.

Office Space Character: Other Lumbergh (ex-co-worker of Peter, Joanna's ex-boyfriend). From all accounts, the other Lumbergh was a likable guy who was good at his job and got a great job offer to move on somewhere else. We just never actually saw him. Kind of like your NYU classmates.

14.) UCLA -

Pros: LA! Sun, beach, beautiful glamorous people everywhere! Strong ties to Southern California business and great real estate program.

Cons: LA. UV rays, crowded beaches and shallow, materialistic people everywhere. You get the feeling that UCLA students are there just to spend two years in SoCal rather than to get jobs. As such, this place draws vapid, materialistic people. But damn they're hot!

Office Space Character: Drew (Peter's co-worker, describes the famous "O-face"). Drew's a fun-loving guy that people like. He's also the kind of guy that would tell anyone who was willing to listen graphic descriptions of all his sexual exploits. I liked Drew when I was 19. When I'm 26..?

15.) Cornell -

Pros: Maybe the best Hospitality management program in the country. Ivy league brand name, and strong ties to some top consumer management companies. Small tight knit culture.

Cons: In the middle of nowhere, and it's definitely a cut below a lot of the top tier programs. I mean, hospitality management? Seriously?

Office Space Character: Peggy (Lumbergh's secretary). She's kind of in hospitality: "Initech, can I put you on hold? Thank you! Initech, can I put you on hold? Thank you! Initech, can I put you on hold? Thank you! ."

16.) Yale -

Pros: World class brand name. Arguably the best social enterprise program in the country. Relatively strong job placement for the rank.

Cons: Newer program means little real rep with employers or alumni to lean on.

Office Space character: Dr. Swanson (Peter's psychologist/hypnotist). The Dr. has a very strong reputation, and he makes Peter go from depressed to happy (what a do-gooder!). But when it comes to the rankings, he just falls over dead.