A sample of why i love this site is the listed below on how they lead in on a description of a product: “We’re just pointing out that when an industry spends about fifty years talking about how great it is to break the law with sex, drugs and violence, maybe they shouldn’t be that surprised to find their fanbase acting like jerksfaces. And you know what? We support you, jerkfaces. Pick up a HP Pavilion Desktop and enjoy.”

Here is the product they were selling a couple of months ago (an okay deal,  not great by any means compared to some of the gems you will find):

HP Pavilion Desktop with Dual Core Processor and 6GB RAM

$369.99

• + $5 shipping

They just nailed how to sell to me; simple, dorky, cheap. www.woot.com

Big Stuff

• Finish my pilots licence. It is just getting embarrassing at this point.
• Keep up the vacation plan and take at least 2 vacation that are more than 3 days. Hey people die at my age, got to get with it.
• At least 6 date nights with my wife. This would be more than the sum of all dates in the last 10 years (guess how old the oldest is) so this is a very aggressive goal.
• Go sailing at least 3 times (have not been since I was a kid).
• Get my wife to go sailing at least once (if I pull this one off I need a medal).
• Read at least one book that is not fiction, self help or business related. Not exactly what is left to read but there must be something out there.
• Maintain my weight (unless of course I am exposed to some freak nuclear activity that turns me into a ripped super hero overnight, in which case I will let this one go).
• Have neighbors and friends over for dinner. Small groups 1-2 couples. It is easier to dig up the dirt that way.
• Go at least once to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Hopefully the rest of the family will come too.

The Little List

• Now that I have found my foil and my kids are starting to express an interest I will bring this back to the list. Based on last years performance I am probably just being silly.
• 2010 is the 20 year high school mark for both my wife and myself. Hoping we actually go so we laugh our asses off.
• Become proficient at tying my turban. There really is no reason as I could never wear it outside of the house, but man it feels great. No joke, can’t explain it but it just feels great. Help mental focus, I swear.
• Own and wear more hats. I love hats, why are they so out of fashion.
• Golf at least once.
• Make an effort to get technically better at taking photos now that I have a camera that can support it. Technically better means not having to take 200 photos to get lucky on 10.
• Take kids again on a train ride up to LA and explore. Hmmm boa and boba, sounds good right now.
• Drink more scotch (hey, I put it on the little list)

Looking at this list it feels a little like a bucket list.

So now that the year comes to a close I thought it would be nice to review last year’s goals before I wrote any new ones. Lucky me I did this 6 months ago here, so I can really get a feel for my success.

Here is the score:

i will write more.

At 6 Months - Nope. In a dead heat with last year so far which feels like a small effort, I can (and want to) do better.

At year end - Before this my last post was 9/2. I went from fair to forgetting how to write.

i will read more.

At 6 Months - So So performance here, need more effort.

At year end - I think I covered 2 novels in the last 6 months and 2 self help books. Blogs are so backed up I feel guilty when I look at the google reader icon. Hardly a success but not a complete fail. It does make me even wonder why I even wanted a Kindle.

i will have less parties and more one-on-one dinners.

At 6 Months - I have been successful having less parties but not many one-on-one dinners.

At year end - I passed on our annual pre-thanksgiving party. Last years event that swelled to over 100 was the reason this made it to the list. This was truly one of the hardest thing to give up. I would have passed on scotch for 6 months in hindsight. But now that it has passed I look forward to re-writing our traditions. There has not been many one-on-one dinner parties but there has been some and we have one on the calendar so I feel good at the end of the year on this one.

i will be more focused on what is important and learn to let the other things slip away.

At 6 Months - Feeling good about this one, even after answering the above 3 lines.

At year end - Happy here. It will make the list over and over again I think as it has made a big difference in home and work life. My favorite quote of my grandmother was “Pick your battles very carefully with people you care about, there are few truly worth winning, but make sure you win the ones that are important.”

i will have more fun with my kids

At 6 Months - Got this one covered but could always do more here.

At year end - Okay. Don’t think I finished the last half as strong as I could have but had a good showing so I can stick a silver star here.

i will take at least 2 full vacation (more than 3 days).

At 6 Months - One down so I should make it by the end of the year.

At year end - Nailed it (second vacation was for 2 weeks!)

i will live more in the black and less in the red

At 6 Months - Bank account is looking pretty much the same as last year (and every year before that) so while that seems like a failure I will simply let it go like I said I would above.

At year end - Red is the new black, didn’t you know? Shouldn’t be a surprise when I do things like take 2 week vacations.

On the smaller list

i will be in better shape.

At 6 months - Good thing I put this on the smaller list.

At year end - I drive by the gym at least once per week.

i will get my private pilot license.

At 6 months- Shameful lack of progress but recent renewed interest makes me think I might make this.

At year end - Funny I can not remember what that renewed interest was but it must have been gone as soon as it came. Strangely I recently got interested again. Must come in 6 month cycles.

i will find an outlet for fencing that fits my life

At 6 months - Not even sure where my foil is.

At year end - Found my foil last week while cleaning the garage. It looked good.

i will drink less coffee.

At 6 months - I bought a Starbucks gold card and have spent more money there than in plane fuel.

At year end - Feel like a platinum member. In less then 12 months I went from an occasional drinker and not understanding the menu to practically having the shorthand tattooed to the back of my hand. Actually my last post was about Starbucks.

i will level my holy priest to 80 (this was on the top of the smaller list but some form of guilt pushed it down)

At 6 months - So close to 80 (79-3/4) I can taste it, and sadly it tastes very sweet.

At year end - Mastered. Reached end game and kept working at. Became a daily event until I went on the above mentioned 2 week vacation during the fall. Have not played since (probably for the best if I ever want to make any other goal). ]]> http://blog.proven3pl.com/2009/12/final-score/feed/ http://blog.proven3pl.com/2009/09/i-hate-starbucks/ http://blog.proven3pl.com/2009/09/i-hate-starbucks/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:03:08 +0000 admin http://blog.proven3pl.com/?p=610 My glass is plastic

The green & black maiden sweats from the chill

The book I read is for idiots

It tells me lies of my brilliance between the covers like past lovers

My grass is plastic

Shades of green and yellow, tributes to my laziness

The trees do nothing

Bearing no fruit or shade, they freeload like high school friends

My family sleeps

Not the victim of my late green & black madness

The house has nothing to say

It stands stoically in formation & gives me no inspiration, as always

My day is gone

Spent like tips on cigarettes, lost for good now

The sweet vail of sleep never showed

Miles away still, probably looking for an open Starbucks

i have many loves

they fill my life with meaning and wonder

children that inspire

giving me hope in future generations

dreams of voyages

travel that exposes me to diverse cultures

moments filled with awe

glimpses of the holy spirit within

but there is only one.

4&ix

When you find something perfect you then realize the other experiences you might compare to, you thought were perfect, weren’t. They might have been really good or above expectation, but not perfect.

At 37 and a lover of food and restaurants I can count on one hand the number of perfect dining experiences. It takes a lot to pull it all together; location, atmosphere, food, drink, numerous employees that all have to be on target and in tune with you and your party.

So here is the place I now get to add to my perfect spots: Canoe.

Here are  the moments I want to capture (and I will not go through all of them as there many more highlights):

The grounds were beautiful. I know, grounds. I come from southern cal where grounds are the parking lot and the shrubs in front. Canoe is on the Chattahoochee river in Atlanta Georgia, nestled in a community of incredible estate homes. There is a walking path that winds through lawns with lovely flowers and plants all under the shade of mature trees.

They even had set some tables out on the lawn for a small party of 4 couples. They were right next to the water front a good 50 feet from the back porch of the building. While I was there they set up the tables and seated the 8. They seemed to really enjoy themselves and it was hard not to be impressed with this extra effort of having the wait staff travel the distance.

If I lived on the river I would insist the owner install a dock so I could come via the river as there is a bit of a hideaway feeling here. Here you can see the lawn from the path and the canvas porch covers

The architecture was also stunning. Well appointed, correctly lit, good acoustics (Monday night and the restaurant was full but it was easy to talk). The ceiling looked like the inside of a highly polished wood canoe.

The service was unforgettable. The funny thing is I am usually horrible with names but because of the experience I remember them all.

Kevin the bar tender that was on the spot bringing us drinks before we asked. Here is a picture of my first drink, an ice tea i ordered before  my party arrived. Note the paddle shaped stir stick and the pretty bottle of simple syrup.

June our waitress. Awesome. I realized very soon she understood the menu and how it paired like nothing I had ever heard a server explain. I ended up having her pick everything; the bread (baked in the restaurant earlier that day), the salad, the slow roasted Carolina rabbit with swiss chard stuffed pasta, the wine to go with the dinner, and the desert a 70% coca hard shell hiding a flour less chocolate cake with camel and just the right amount of salt to make it sweet and complex (also prepared in house that day but my picture down below did not do it justice).  There is no way I could have picked a better meal, everything was way beyond expectation.

Everyone else was great as well; the valet who, upon realizing I had some time to kill pointed me to the back porch that lead to the river, which drove me to come back moments later and ask for my keys so I could fetch my camera, which he did for me. The wait staff that always removed and set plates  by walking the  long way around and behind me as to not distract our conversation. And so on. Lots of attention to detail here.

After everything i experienced above I would have been able to leave and this still would have been in the top 5 restaurants ever. But here is the real kicker. When I realized half way though my diner that I never took any pictures I asked June if she could take my camera to the kitchen and take a couple shots if anyone else had ordered my same meal. I was willing to accept on a busy night this was too much to ask but hey, nothing ventured right? So while we are starting our desert the Manager Jennifer Krapp and the Executive Sous Chef Matt Basford came to the table bringing the same dishes I had eaten so I could take shots of them. I was floored (and a little embarrassed not realizing how far southern hospitality can go).

Oh but it does not end. After taking some shots and chatting with  Matt we learned they were just getting started on a new project of growing some of there own produce. In a partnership with a local grower, Dill Farms, they have built a garden on the grounds. After telling us about it he offered to take us on  a tour (again don’t forget the restaurant is full for diner). How could we say no?

It is just a start (only a couple weeks into the project) but you could sense the pride in being able to grow specialty produce they could use in the restaurant where they would control and participate in whole cycle. They estimated, based on their starting efforts, they  will produce around 100 lbs of produce to be used for seasonal meals.

Here you can see one of the planter boxes they built

They have also planted green beans that they will train to climb the fence

The only downsides to the night were my wife was not present (and she would have loved the desert) and it is in Atlanta which is a big stones throw from Southern California. But now I am trying to make sure to find reasons to travel there.

A couple of parting notes:

The night we were there they were starting a week long Yelp.com event where they had built a special  menu to allow new guests to try a number of appetizers, main course and deserts for a nice price. Here is the query string from Yelp (you can see I am not alone in my opinion)

I originally found the restaurant on Zagat (first time using it, i signed up for a 60 day free trial and Canoe had one of the highest ratings in the area). Users on the site had a lot of great things to say.

I booked the reservation with opentable.com

Service was nice. Simple. Fast. To the point.

People said nice things. He looked peaceful in his coffin.

Some prayers were said. Lots of things were said I really did not understand. Some because I could not hear the sweet old man leading the prayer. Some because the words being used were holy verses that were way too around the point for me and my strait forward mind.

We then stood in the grass under a lovely olive tree. Some more prayers were said. I did not understand these either. Some more kind words were spoken. Again above me. We were then asked to leave.

Here is what I took away today:

I value the people around me far more than I usually think about. My relationship with Family and Friends is pretty clear. My relationship with the people I work with and interact with has not been as clear.

There was something special about standing in the green grass, under that tree. Far from the office. Far from desks and paperwork. Not just physically but mentally. When someone did try to talk about work it felt wrong, like an invading thought to be cast out.

There are some very special people in my life that I only get to interact in small, controlled ways.  I am not sure how to fix that but clearly aware of it as of today.

Today we laid to rest a beautiful man that was kind and funny. He was there when I started with The Dot Printer. He taught me a lot about how to get things done and the culture of the company. He was a pain in the ass sometime but his heart was always in the right place. And now even in death he taught me one more lesson.

Not the “follow what is happening in New York and Milan” fashion. I like clothes that identify one’s self, culture, and history.

From Fred Astaire’s flawless suites

to the throbes of Saudi Arabia

to the bana of the Sikh

A good friend recently returned from a trip to India. He brought me a cloth used for wrapping a turban. It is massive, longer than my dinning table with every leaf I could find. He unfortunatly left to go back to India before he could teach me how to wrap it. Therefore left to my own devices, I have been trying it on my own. Here are my first three attempts…

Okay so I started out seriously trying but in no time I just got frustrated. You have no idea how much fabric there is in a turban.

Here is my second shot after doing some reading on the net…

This try, while not very pretty was amazingly tight. I felt like I could zip around on a Vespa for hours and this was not going anywhere. It also felt GREAT. It is hard to explain but there is something amazing about how it feels. I wore it for a couple hours that night (until I went to bed).

Here is my third try (tonight)…

I like the flag stripes showing through the top. I still have a long way to go but I can start to see the light. Hopefully by the time I take a trip to India I will have it nailed.

Here is the shopping list

Things you can keep in your pantry: Spring Roll Rice Paper (22CM) and Fine Rice Vermicelli

What you want to buy the week of the meal. Most of these items from the produce area can be cleaned, trimmed before hand: Lettuce (we like Romain for the crunch), Herbs (Mint and Cilantro)

I usually also have La Tia To Perilla but was missing it this night (Actually my favorite but it is only sold in a couple of stores near my home)

Bonus items: Thinly sliced cucumbers (the long way), Julienne Carrots and Dakon that have been marinated for a couple of days in Nuoc Nam Cham (recipe below), Crushed peanuts. And if you really have some time… Slice green onions (green part only) the length of wonton wrappers, then take wonton pastery wrapers, slice in 3rds and roll the green onion. Press flat and fry at 425 deg F until golden brown and crisp (like an egg roll).

Last the meat (not required as my wife sometimes likes to skip). There are a lot of options here. Shrimp boiled and sliced lengthwise make an awsome presentation as they show through the rice paper. Boiled pork loin is a common item sliced thin but I usually skip as I do not think it has much flavor. Catfish marinated in crushed fresh dill and tumeric is awesome if everyone likes fish. Meatballs are my families favorite. Everyone likes them and they are easy to prep and last quite awhile in the fridge.

Here is the one we like the best. They are made out of chicken but taste like a good beef pork blend.

I know, not asian at all but the funny thing is all my asian friends (which is the vast majority of my friends) actually like this more than what they grew up on and now make it with these. 

Now to pull it together. I like to soak the rice noodles in cold water for about 20 miniuts while I get everything else going and the pot of water is boiling. This seems to help them cook through more evenly. Drop the noodles in the boiling salted water and cook until tender. Quickly run them under cool water to stop the cooking (mushy noodles are a bummer). Also once done with the rinse let them drain for awhile. The small noodles seem to retain water well so you will need to shake them every now and then while you prep the other items. You want them to be a bit tacky and sticky, not wet and slimy. Once you are done drop them in a bowl for the assembly line.

Almost done! Very hot water in a large bowl.

Here is where you see the beauty of the meatballs. A quick miniute or two in the microwave and they are ready. Just before we roll I will cut them in half with a pair of kitchen shears.

Now just layout the assembly line. In our house usually everyone wraps there own (even guests).

How to roll? Grab a rice paper and dip it in the hot water turning it to get it wet. When you take it out of the hot water it will still be somewhat stiff but as you work the water will absorb in and soften it. Lay the meatball on the rice paper (3-4 halves is about right), add some rice noodles, then herbs and any of the extras. Finally the lettuce.

To show the wrap I made one the way my son likes it as it is easier to see this way. Fold up the bottom. Then the two sides fold in. Finally roll it nice and tight.

Like I said before, my kids need nothing else. We like dipping sauces. Peanut sauces are good but we like the traditional Nuoc Nam Cham. Here is how you make it (it keeps for quite a while in the fridge so you can make it ahead of time). Place in bowl in this order and allow to sit for at least 15 min.

1/2 Cup boiling water

6 Tbs Fish Sauce (Nuoc Nam)

1/4 Cup Fresh Lime juice

2 Tbs Sugar

1 peeled garlic clove whole (can be tossed out after sitting or left in)

1 tsb of red chili sauce  

Cheers!

I had the opportunity today to spend some time with a co-worker on a local college campus (Fullerton College) manning a trade show booth. We were there to help expose some 600 or so High School Seniors to our industry (information and product distribution) and company Dot Printer Fulfillment. We set up a booth with some good visual aids to help explain the kind of programs we run. The kids would come by and we would walk through the concepts so they could see some real life examples on how technology they are learning about in school is actually being applied in the world outside.

Moment number one built up over a couple of hours with the kids. As they would file by in 5’s or 10’s like they were in the mess hall line of M*A*S*H, they were like zombies. No spark. Nada. But then one would walk up and would be total engaged. Eyes bright, head up, asking questions, listening to the answer and then asking refined questions. These kids were like little islands of hope. It continued like this for the rest of the afternoon; 10-20 kids slowly crushing your perception of America’s youth, than along would come the one.

Moment number two was a conversation with my coworker on the way back. He was reflecting on how his son had struggled learning to be a good driver. He had been a passenger for so long (looking out the window watching the scenery) he had to build up the mental skills needed to be a driver.

Now to tie these two together.

I realized I want my kids to learn how to be engaged. Can I teach that? I want them comfortable questioning authority, thinking through the answer given and being able to argue a point. Not going with the flow, even if it is my “flow”. I want them to feel the thrill of learning something because they challenged themselves and got outside a comfortable box.

It was actually moment number two that gave me the idea on how to fix moment number one. I want them to mentally process what is happening even when it is just driving around town. I think it will be a fun game to let my kids “drive” by telling me what to do. Can they process what is going on and pay attention to their environment well enough to direct me on the correct reaction?

Here is a bigger jump. Can they take that same level of situational awareness to their classroom and question an authority figure on why they have to follow a rule that does not make sense or seams unreasonable? And probably the biggest question, will we be okay being called to the principal’s office because our kids are acting in a way that is perceived as non-conducive to the learning environment. The last part actually sounds like fun but I wonder if I will do more damage than good.