JOURNAL: Weekend Report

I just got back from an overnight in Orlando and some run-around-errand-doing, and I just feel like I lay down a mind spill about it.

As mentioned in the last post, I was heading to Orlando for some dim sum. I met up with Pom and her friend Jephanie, also a local restaurateur, at the busy Ming's Bistro off of Mills Ave. There wasn't so much the fancy Asian ambiance, but the food was delicious. The breakthroughs for me were their chive cake dumplings, shrimp-stuffed eggplant, and lotus-paste sesame balls; they were phenomenal. I'll definitely be bringing my family over there the next time they visit (in addition to Pom Pom's and Boma).

Food Pic and OW Review
From there, Pom and I did some grocery shopping and headed back to her apartment to relax and to start prepping dinner (we invited Jephanie and Lindsey over). Pom prepared a Hungarian meat sauce for pasta, and put together some sangria (ala blush wine, sprite, orange juice, and fresh pineapple, mango, and apples). I was the official escort for the night. The food was very nice -- clean flavors and hearty, healthy. I admire Pom's talent in the kitchen and what a good person she is. I had downed a glass-and-a-half of the sangria, so my head was reeling some from the quick sugar-and-alcohol intake (it's been a while), so I called it a night "early" and slept deep.

Drink Pic
In the morning, Pom and I lazed in the living room watching E! news then decided to head out for breakfast. I first suggested Panera's but decided to take Pom over the the P-House instead (on a whim). I felt a need for something calm and gay. I've eaten at the Rainbow Cafe for breakfast before, and it was good. This morning, I had the french toast, home fries, and grits; it was simple and exactly what I needed. I cleaned my plate, just like at all the other meals I've had this weekend.

After dropping Pom off at her apartment, I still had a craving for bagels from Panera's (not so much to eat right then, but to have... my precious), so I drove over to the one by Lake Eola and picked up a baker's dozen (mixed). I've had the craving for a couple weeks now. Spurned on by hearing of one of my friend's near-daily ritual, it also reminds me of visiting my sister -- she'd pick me up from the airport then drop me off at the house to play with the doggies while she goes back to work; she'd tell me that there are some bagels from Panera's in the freezer if I'm hungry. And that's a really good memory.

Anyways, after dropping the bagels off in the car, I decided to take the camera out and walk around the lake to check out the "newly" repainted amphitheater -- this was done by the Disney Company, so this walk would serve both as my Disney fix and my exercise for the day [read: week]. Also happening was the Lake Eola Sunday Market. I didn't buy anything, but it was nice to walk around and see people outside enjoying the day for the day. It was a nice send off back to Melbourne.

I miss Orlando already.
Eola Pics

HOUSE: Powder

This morning I slept in til 9am. I stumbled around for a while, captured the Disney PhotoPass pictures from Gay Days while watching my VHS-ed episodes of Sex in the City (season 2), then headed outside where I masked and goggled up to try to take care of the dirty side of my house. I got a hard brush and just worked the dirty spots. For some places I saw a clear difference (and it made me feel good). In other places, the pink just turned to an orange-ish color (and that's just too bad). I'm figuring that it could just use a good washing with a bleach-like concoction. I didn't spend too long out there (~30 minutes) but I got out, got sweaty, and got my DIY fix for the day. Now I'm preparing to head to Orlando for some dim sum. Mmmmm!

Anyways, the scraping released wall powders, which I got all over my hand and arms. Here are the pics:

BULLOG: One More

ANIMAL: Doggie in the Window

On the way back from Bonefish Willy's, I saw this middle-aged lady who apparently lets her dog drive her Lexus.
The dog was driving really slowly though. I guess they're more cautious than feline drivers (ala Toonces).

FOOD: Bonefish Willy's

(click on the picture to view the building from farther back)
Tonight I went to Bonefish Willy's for dinner. It was another expensive meal for this week, but it was by the Indian River and now I can say that I tried it (so there!). I had the sea scallops, baked sweet potato, and house vegetables, followed by a slice of skin-on granny smith apple pie. The service and the food were good... not "spectacular" but good... wait, the warm starter bread and the house salad with honey balsamic vinegarette were Really tasty.

The next time I goto BFW, I'll just order bread and a salad... Woo! Now that's a plan. But still, it'll be a while before I go out to eat -- ramen's on my menu for the next few weeks. Anyways, here are the pics (I started eating before remembering to take pictures of the food, and sorry no pics of the bread or the salad):

WORK: I'd Rather Be Pressure-Washing

I don't think that I got anything accomplished this morning. I'm still on Mountain time which means I woke up at 5:00am. I'm trying to lay off the coffee and sugar, so that's not helping. Some systems in the lab aren't working correctly it's higher-than-usual tension around the place with a LOT more negativity than I can really handle or function around. I miss the young engineers at site. They always kept the mood light; here, I'm feeling so tense. Yesterday was the absolute last day to submit KREs/KRAs (self-appraisal input), and I don't have it ready. I really don't want to do it but will submit something today. It won't be the best, but it'll be something.

My grass is long, and weather.com is forecasting rains through the weekend, so I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to take care of that. I also need to pressure wash the sides of my house, but again, when will I have time? I have an evening engagement tonight and a mostly-out-of-town schedule this weekend. And in addition, I'm trying to find an opportunity to visit a pug and be given a presentation on knives (no relation).

I find my again day-dreaming of a job that isn't so high-presure, one that I would enjoy so much it wouldn't feel so much like work... one that I would give up benefits for.

I'm going out to take a walk around the lake, then it's back on our heads.

*****
UPDATE 3:22PM EST
Things are better. Chuck and I went off-campus to get something sweet (we tried out the Ben & Jerry's by the Oaks). When we got back I submitted my "something" for my self-eval inputs (yay, one less thing on my mind). And I went to my boss to ask for more work. So what's left is two more hours then I'm free...-ish. Going to have dinner with Ernie at BoneFish Willy's, so food pics tonight, maybe.

GORGEOUS: From GENRE

In addition to one of the Bulldog ads, the latest issue of GENRE also provided this pretty picture, from Atlanta pride:(speechless, drooling)

BULLOG: Buy Me Buy Me Buy Me

Found all three of these today: a couple of them from the airline magazines and one from the June edition of Genre (guess which one...).

well... not for the entire familywe already tried that with Euchre... it didn't workyeah, but are they also 3D?

STITCH: Hotel Photoshoot

I traveled with my boss, who wasn't a big fan of my fanatical picture-taking (he didn't have the tolerance for shameless scenery/food/stitch-pictures), so I didn't have as many pictures from the trip than I could've. Still, I did get quite a number of pictures of the sky from the airplane, and of Stitch in the hotel hallway. Here are the pictures from both.

View From The Top:
Bedrooms and Hallways:

JOURNAL: Hooonk! :)

I got back into Melbourne this afternoon. The entire flight from El Paso to Atlanta, Atlanta to Florida was bright and sunny, then enter Melbourne... gray clouds. And upon stepping foot onto the airport parking lot, it started raining... not a downpour but a gentle steady rain -- the type that precedes a light afternoon thunderstorm.

I drove straight home, like a bat out of hell. It felt good to be behind my own set of wheels. When I got into the roundabout near my house, another car tried entering it as I was turning off. Oh, I Laid Down on my horn, and OH, did it feel good. I couldn't do that in New Mexico because no matter how bad the drivers there were (and there were a LOT of them), it's legal to have loaded firearms in your vehicles there. It's good to be home.

ANIMAL: Beep Beep

Before my dinner venture last night, I saw a roadrunner outside the hotel. It didn't go "beep beep" but it did make some clicking sounds.

FOOD: International Delights Cafe

Tonight was my last night of my business trip, and I had the opportunity to go exploring "the city" on my own. I decided to go try out a place some co-workers recommended, the International Delights Cafe.

[I'm way too tired to put together a decent story or description of the place, but I can say that it had a cozy atmosphere and the food was different and good, which was exactly what I was hoping for.]

I started off with a cup of medium roast coffee even though I really should lay off the chemicals.As an appetizer, I had a plate of falafal, hummus, and pita quarters.
And for dinner, I had a lamb-and-chicken kebab, served with Arabic rice and a Greek salad.This was a LOT of food. And it was a bit of splurge for me, but I figured that I survived the business trip and actually had a decent time at work today.

I spent the afternoon hanging out with the younger engineers, and they were a lot of fun -- they managed to help me not worry so much, and that made me feel a lot better about the area.

I'm really looking forward to getting home tomorrow and heading home for some extra sleep. It's almost 11:30pm, and I've gotta wake up by 3:45am, so it's bedtime. Good night. :)

WORK: The Hotel has Computers

I'm here in America's Southwest, safe and sound... well-rested and well-fed... would be a great time to actually have some work materials to look over, but I didn't bring any (oh well). Plan B: The Fitness Room. So I'm going to work it until my body aches -- or until I don't feel like it anymore. Then maybe a small salad for dinner then The Next Food Network Star before calling it a night.

Two nice, relaxing Sundays in a row!

I miss everyone in Florida already, but I'll be back a new man :)

NEWS: Goodbye Isaiah!

[Thank you ABC/Disney. I'm glad to see that true intolerance is not going unpunished. Asides, it kind of makes sense; the show really did need to get rid of some of the cast. Heck, fire some of the writers too. The show's been sucking lately with all the love drama. I'm like Christina... I WANT MORE SURGERIES! Anyways, I should either be packing or in bed.]

Losing Isaiah: Washington won't be back to 'Grey's Anatomy'
June 08, 2007

After months of speculation about his fate, Isaiah Washington, the "Grey's Anatomy" co-star who publicly used a homophobic slur earlier this year after the show had won a Golden Globe for best drama, will not be returning to the popular ABC series.

ABC News, the corporate sibling of both ABC network and ABC Studios, the studio that produces "Grey's," announced the news in an exclusive on Friday morning. A spokeswoman from ABC Studios confirmed that the studio had not picked up his option.

In the ABC News story, Washington issued an unhappy statement through his publicist, Howard Bragman. "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," it said.

Washington's future with "Grey's" was first called into question when reports leaked out in the fall of an on-set altercation with co-star Patrick Dempsey, during which he reportedly referred to fellow cast member T.R. Knight as a "faggot." A few months later, in front of reporters backstage at the Golden Globes, Washington denied the incident, but repeated the word in the process, causing another uproar.

-- Kate Aurthur

WORK: Tomorrow's a Travel Day

I'll be gone on business for the first half of next week starting tomorrow so that means no more blog entries until I get back. Hopefully I'll bring back some pretty (different) pictures. And since I'll be traveling with my boss, Stitch may sit this one out... who am I kidding? Travel Stitch (i.e. Stinky) will be coming along.

I've heard that where I'm going, there's honestly nothing to do, so perhaps I'll be able to catch up on some sleep there. That'll be good because I'm always anxious about traveling for work -- not knowing what to expect. Heck, it'll be the best time to hit the hotel fitness room and get some miles in.

Anyways, it's a change-of-scenery, plus it'll be nice to have some built-in overtime this week. Okay, got a couple more things to pack, then it's time for bed.

VIDEO: "Makes Me Wonder" by Maroon 5

Love the music -- it just makes me move.

Oh, and yeah, I googled the lead singer, Adam Levine, and he's not gay but is gay-friendly. He was featured in a recent edition of the Advocate's Big Gay Following section. He sounds like a really cool guy.

HOME: Power Washer

This morning while in Orlando, I stopped by the tea house for some breakfast, Trace and Katie were working this morning. I had an egg souffle sandwich (bacon, avocado, alfalfa sprouts, on pumpernickel) (which was really good) and some coffee on ice to go. On the way to my car, I saw and hugged my friend Lee (not the TLR guy, not the art guy, but the flower guy), and that was nice way to start the drive back home, which turned out not to be that bad -- it was sunny and quite warm outside (I need shades) and the traffic was quick and non-pressuring.

Since it was on my way, I stopped by Lowe's in Rockledge and picked up a pressure washer for the house -- yeah, there goes my Disney Annual Pass, but it's a Needed (for the house, but I can also use it for the car (woo!)). I'm sure that after I get that chore taken care of, I'll achieve one (multiple?) feelings of cathartic relief that's also much needed (a new way of CB-ing).

DISNEY: Free Ride

On Friday, I had nice lunch with a friend over in the LBV area and my way to the tea house found myself on the road to the MK. Oh, what the heck... I used my expired annual pass to get into the parking lot at the TTC. I was going to ride the ferry and monorails while I'm here.

On the ferry to the Magic Kingdom:
I took the Resort monorail back but decided to stop by the Contemporary Resort just to look around since it's been SO many years since I've been. I love how the theme of its interior art isn't particularly "contemporary" yet somehow it still works... it's IASW-ish.

Artwork at the Contemporary Resort:
After that, I got back to the TTC only to find the lime green monorail coming in, so I rushed over and got on it to check out its 4-pole configuration, something WDW's experimenting with (yeah, I'm that much of a Disney nerd). I took it all the way around and also snapped a pic of a guy's "foreign relations" shirt.

The Monorail pictures:
So no actual park on this Disney visit but still a wonderful way to feed the need.

RUN: ~2 miles @ does it matter?

Tonight I ran for the first time in a long time. Running in the evening was good because it saved me from the dangerous sun. However, it didn't save me from the pesky gnats and lovebugs who apparently are attracted to sweaty things and who just love to fly in my mouth. Anyways, I ran from Wal-Mart to the government buildings. Was it supposed to be fun?