Work Christmas Party

We had our work Christmas Party a couple weeks ago. Go here for photos (thanks to Blaine!). A good time was had by all.....

Merry Christmas From Franky and Me!

Girls' Night Out

I was given a gift certificate for one free night at Embassy Suites. I decided to use the room as home base for a girls' night out. I invited Deb, Heather and Courteney - needless to say we had a blast. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the evening - I'm sure most of them fall in the category of "you had to be there" but I wanted to post them to at least entertain the four of us:

Deb said, "When I was a kid, I once got my mouth washed out with soap for saying lousy." Heather responds with, "What were you guys, Mennonites!?"

After ordering the apple sauce as one of my side items at Lazlos,
Deb says, "The drunken apples here are so good!"
Misty says, "Deb, I think you are thinking of the apples at Famous Daves."
Deb says, with a confused look on her face, "Where are we?"

Heather's reaction to trying Deb's tequila, "It makes me want to scrape my tongue!"

I told the group about a bar in Vegas that will give you a free drink if you give them your bra. To which Heather says as she points to me, "Her bra should be worth two drinks!"

The evening ended with Deb saying to Heather, "I can't believe I had to guilt you into sleeping with me."

Minneapolis Photos Up

I posted the photos from my Minneapolis trip in September. Thanks to photographer Blaine.

Friday Night Fun

Mike trying to prove that it's more comfortable than it looks.

Scottie Dog

Franky's Halloween costume. He's the most clever dog he knows. 

News!

Becky had her baby on Monday! Joseph - he weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. and was 21 inches long at birth.

Strategy Meeting

Had a Friday afternoon "meeting" with co-workers. It's amazing the "work" you can get done in the right setting.

Going Away Party

Another one bites the dust.....so we drank. Check out the photos.

What Year is This?

Held a meeting for work at a hotel in Columbus. I guess this is their idea of offering the latest in technology. Well done.

Flickr Pro

I guess free Flickr wasn't good enough for me.....I bit the bullet and paid for the "pro" version so that I'm not limited on number of photos and "sets" of photos. So....to justify I've added more sets of things past. Check it out.

Water for Two

Spent the last several days in Minneapolis at a conference for work (photos to come soon). Put my $1.25 in the soda machine for a bottle of water and got this....two mini-bottles......I guess that works.

Testing Flickr

Am trying out Flickr as a "home" for my photos. I posted some from my birthday party - check them out.

Shithook on Thursday Night

Scott rocks the house with a little Elvis and Neil Diamond. A good time was had by all............except Tyson and Jon who decided to stay home.

Thursday-Out with Co-workers

ahhh $1 well drinks.....if only they put in more than a splash...

How Nice

Whip

A sign in a bar I was in Friday night - it says $.05 for a whip. This just may be a "sign" that I'm hanging out in the wrong kind of bars.

Easily Entertained

My best friend's cat who is oddly obsessed with an Aquafina package.

Photos Up

As promised, Blaine posted the photos he took of our Philly/NJ/NY trip. To see them, click here - if you want to view them as a slide show, click on "slide show" in the upper right-hand corner or to view them all large at your pace, click on the first photo and then the double triangle/arrow symbol in the upper right-hand corner.

Enjoy!

P.S. Thanks to Blaine for taking and posting!

Which Ball?

Played in a golf tournament with a couple of friends on Thursday. I'm proud to say that we set a goal and reached it! We won a free lesson with the golf pro - the prize for last place. :) Had a great time and, as a bonus, I am now sporting a kick-ass farmer's tan.

The Crap - 6/15/05

I guess I'm not the only one missing my old (crap leaving) neighbors as my neighbor on the other side left this outside her door on Wednesday. It was a good day!

Blaine

Blaine the man-barbie.

Beer Sampler

The beer sampler at the Times Square Brewery.

Philly/Trenton/NYC

Took a little trip last week to Philadelphia, Trenton and NYC. Purpose of the trip was to attend a two hour meeting in Trenton. Found the best air and hotel rates going in and out of Philly. Due to the low rates my “current” significant other (Blaine) accompanied me on the trip so we could see a good friend of his in NYC.

We flew into Philly and enjoyed a late dinner at the local Hard Rock Café…..not much open at 10 pm in terms of food in Philly. The next morning we drove our rental car (Volvo – Kia upgrade thanks to Enterprise) to Trenton for my meeting. A very worthwhile two hours I might add. We then took a train to the big apple. Blaine’s friend told us to head to 42^nd street once we got off the train, find something to eat and then he’d meet up with us when he was done with his meeting.

So, we did so….only to realize that 42^nd street put us in Times Square. Works for me! After enjoying a fine meal and a beer sampler at the Times Square Brewery, we wondered around the “square” until we had seen it all. Stopped for coffee at Roxie’s……we had passed seven, yes seven, Starbucks by this point so it seemed only right to buy coffee at a local joint.

Once Gleb (the friend) was done with his meeting he gave us directions to where he was (a bar). As we approached the bar he welcomed us to NYC with a hug and then proceeded to point up and say, “Empire State Building.” We both looked up and laughed - we had no idea we were only blocks from the famous building.

We proceeded to belly up to the bar and do our best to try as many of the 66 beers on tap. My final beer was an American Belgium that was a blueberry beer. It was gross and delicious at the same time. Tasted exactly like a blueberry muffin…..which is a bit weird for a beer.

We then determined that eating might be a good idea so we grabbed a cab (after Gleb negotiated with several until he found the right price) and drove to the Blue Water Grill. Before entering, however, we had to stop at the Heartland Brewery (I think that was the name) for a stout – a damn good stout. Dinner at the BWG was amazing, and according to Gleb, was featured in season two of Sex and the City.

Having reached our city limit we took a cab to the train station and a train to Gleb’s place so we could sleep.

On our final day we spent about two hours on the train and then another two stuck in traffic due to construction between Trenton and Philly. After checking out we had lunch at the Independence Pub (another fine beer) and visited the Liberty Bell and Franklin’s grave. A very patriotic day.

Overall, the trip was great. I hope to make it back to NYC again soon as the little bit I saw I loved.

Blaine took a ton of photos….so once he posts them I’ll provide a link…..much easier than taking and posting photos myself.

WARNING

Beware of warm cheese hidden under napkins by pregnant women.

The Future

Went to a concert recently. This is a photo of the girls sitting/standing in front of us. Ages 18-21.

Between the three of them, they made 10 phone calls during the concert. There is nothing like getting the "I'm at a rockin' concert" call. Apparently, according to these girls, the poor soul on the other end of the call can hear the concert better if you hold the phone up in the air.

I fear for our future.

The Crap - 4/28/05

Well....they are gone and they took the filter with them. I'm so depressed. The new people have moved in, however so far they have left nothing in the hall. It is so sad.

Cowboy what?

The other night while working at the bookstore a woman in her mid-twenties dressed in what I can only describe as rodeo watching attire approaches the information desk and asks, "Do you have any cowboy poetry?" My initial response was to say, "Uh, no...I'm pretty sure we don't." Followed by laughter. But, instead, I remembered that the customer is who we are there to serve so I said that I didn't know but I would be happy to look it up on the computer. I was shocked to see that not only did the computer not reject the keywords "cowboy poetry" but it told me that we had not one, not two, but four books of cowboy poetry! I guess there is something for everyone.

The Crap - 4/27/05

They've moved out....yet the filter remains. It is now a poor, sad abandoned filter.

Lost

No, this isn't a tribute to the ABC "hit" television show, aka Gilligan’s Island on depressants.....this is how I feel today. Why you ask? I feel lost because my neighbors, the people who provide the main content for my site, are moving as I type this. What is even worse, is I know there are all sorts of things in the hall, however I can't take photos without incriminating myself.........so I'm lost. I have no idea what I can do except hope and pray that the new neighbors will also leave crap outside their door......

The Crap - 4-25-05

File cabinet and the now infamous filter.

The Crap - 4-17-05

This is a t-shirt that was among the other crap. It is still in the plastic packaging, which is unexplainable since I would think that everyone would want to wear a shirt that has a Santa leaning up against a bull dozer........

The Crap - 4-10-05

Boxes, shoes and yes....the filter.

Mission Complete

Finally found something bigger than Blaine's Head!

Baseball for Die-hards

April 8, 2005 - UNL Baseball game from a skybox.

My friend Courteney was kind enough to invite a group of us to watch a UNL baseball game via her company's skybox. It was awesome......at least for the first 12 innings.........by the 14th inning we were cold and ready for a beer. The game was finally over after 16 innings, and yes, the Huskers won.

The Crap - 4/8/05

Yes, the filter is STILL there.