Bloggin'......

SF at night!

Trek'n around the city last night.... Start in North Beach, walk through Chinatown to Union Square, via Stockton Street, then up Market Street to the San Francisco Shopping Centre. After a quick stroll through some of the shops, it was off to the Cable Car (the San Francisco Treat), up Powel and Mason Streets to San Francsco's Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. We had dinner with friends at the Eagle Cafe on Pier 39, and then took a light stroll to the end of the pier, before walking back up Stockton Street, right back to North Beach where we parked our car. finally, it was off to Treasure Island, where we worked on capturing night-time pics of the city skyline. This used to be a great secret spot for amazing views of the city, but it seems even tour buses make stops out there, now! Times change, I guess.

Happy Trails.

Sabrina's Boston Pics

	Boston (1 album)		You're invited to view my online photos at the Gallery. Enjoy! - Sabrina

Saturday randoms....

I just got home (home-home), and I feel really glad to be here. It wasn't almost that way, though. I was pretty lucky. I'd been having trouble with the alarm clock in my hotel room and it never went off! But by some insane miracle, I was somehow able to wake up in time, though almost an hour later than I had originally anticipated. I stuffed my bags and took one more look at the time, and realized, I was right on time! I suppose I've always just needed right prompting.

Home sweet home.

Minneapolis, MN

Luckily those snow showers didn't really materiallize, and my trip is finally coming to a close. The high today was about 40°F, which compared to yesterday is really warm!

I headed into town for dinner and then drove around Minneapolis for a little bit. I eventually found a really nice spot where I caught a very good shot of the city skyline.

Shakopee, MN

View of Shakopee at night. really.

Part work day, all travel day - Boston - Minneapolis, via Chicago

What a trip. I finished working at a reasonable hour yesterday in Massachusetts, and got on the road with plenty of time to travel to the airport for my flight at 7:40PM. When I was dring on the freeways, I had a really funny feeling how familiar I felt driving in Massachusetts. (Maybe this will be another story for later.)

I'm just outside of Minneapolis, now, but what an adventure lastnight. It was going to be the first time in a long time that I was goign to fly with American Airlines, and I was already missing the special treatment I get when I fly with United Airlines. Since I'm such a frequent flyer United, I don't have to stand in line and can realx in their business class lounges when I fly internationally (free liquor).

Anyway, when I got to the airport, an airline representative asked where I was going and I said Minneapolis, via Chicago. Then came a very disconcerting "ah", and said stand in this line, all flights to Chicago are delayed. Delayed?! By how much?! I've never had a delayed flight with United Airlines, and the first time I fly American Airlines, this happens?!

Eventually, I was there early enough that the airline was able to put me on an ealier flight to Chicago, 6:05PM, with plenty of time to make my connection to Minneapolis. Or so I thought! The plane broke down! Seems a major circuit breaker burnt out and need to be replaced! WTF?! It wasn't until almost two hours later, that the plane finally took off around 8:30PM, 45 minutes later than my original flight was planned, pluss the fact I was put on to an ealier flight. Luckily (or unluckily, I don't know), my connection was delayed too, so I made the connection, but I didn't get into Minneapolis until almost 2AM, only three hours late.

I had a chance to look at the weather report before I left, so I did get to brace myself, but it is unbelieveably COLD here! It was supposed to have just light rain, but it also supposed to snow shower for the REST of the week! Highs in the 20's (°F)! You can only imagine the look on my face when the doors opened from the airport, exposing me to the brutal Minnesota cold!

Westborough, MA - Day 2 - Back to the grind

In my never ending search for good food, I went to nearby Worcester for dinner today. How did I do? I think Boston spoiled me... I had a Lasagna for dinner and it was pretty darn bland. There was meat, and that was pretty much all I could taste.

I went on a little driving tour of Worcester, but there wasn't much of anything to look at. It's a big city, but it's very sleepy and spread out city. Bored, I just went back to the hotel to rest up for one last day in Massachusetts, tomorrow.

I just have to finish up my work tomorrow, and hopefully be on the road by 3 o'clock to Boston. I've heard Boston traffic can get pretty congested. Hopefully there won't be an major accidents on the road.

Boston - Day 2

Visit to MIT, Harvard, JFK Park, and Sabrina on her way home.

Lunch was at the Boston Chowda Company.

Roadside enjoyments: Dunkin' Donuts & Coffee.

Boston! - Day 1

Took the "T" to Downtown Boston. Make sure you have a $1.25 on ya.

Brunch at INQ on Newbury Street. Random, but I was hungry. Food was actually good.

360° city views from the Skywalk observation deck of the Prudetial Building.

Afternoon walk on the Freedom Trail. Started at the Public Garden, and visited Boston Common, the Massachusetts State House, Park Street Church and the Granary Burying Ground, site of the first public school, the old South Meeting House, the old State House, and Faneuil Hall where many great political speaches were given leading up to the American Revolution.

Stopped at Faneuil Hall Marketplace for a little shopping (polish dog for me, dinner wasn't til 7:30), and a stop at the Cheers bar.

Took a short horse carriage ride around Old Boston.

Dinner at Legal Seafood Restuarant. Very succulent Lobster! VERY!

Westborough, MA - Workday - sort of...

Luckily today was a short day at work. I got in around 9AM, and met with the people at the site. I finished around 3PM and the guys asked me what I had planned for the wekeend. I mentioned that the girlfriend was flying in from California for the weekend, and they all looked at me and said, what the heck was I still doing there?! Well, apparently there's no prompting needed, so I took off from Shrewsbury, and drove into Boston.

Sabrina actually flew in earlier in the morning, so that she could also work remotely during the day. My goodness, why couldn't I have a job like that? Well, I suppose if I didn't have my job, we wouldn't be able to sit here in Boston, together. =)

We're staying in Cambridge, across the Charles River from Boston University, and down the street from Harvard. I got into Cambridge around 4:30, but we were all so tired (she from traveling and sight-seeing, and me from working), we decided to stay in and rest up for our long weekend. We went to dinner down on Massachusetts Avenue, at Central Kitchen which I thought was a great restuarant. I just looked up links for Central Kitchen, but it seems that a lot of people find it over-rated and poor in service. I thought the food was ok, and our service was excellent. I didn't have any complaints and I'd probably go there again, if I have a chance. =)

We had foie gras, which had a sweet taste, yet also a clean salted crisp texture on the outside. I had a double thick pork chop. 'nuff said.

Travel Day - Dublin Ireland - Boston (Beantown)

Place Holder =P

Bray, Co. Wicklow - Day 2

Just more busy work, but I finished my project on time, despite the problems yesterday. Again, it was well into the evening, before I got out of the office. Dinner was again down by the seashore, but this time I tried a different pub, The Porterhouse. They have great burgers! Burgers and beer, It really isn't that bad living this lifestyle here in Ireland. =)

Bray, Co. Wicklow - Day 1

For my first full day in Ireland, I spent practically all of it indoors. There was a catastrophic failure, so I spent the day trying to fix the problem, both by myself and then calling back to the home office in California! It really was that bad... But I finally did get it going, unfortunately, not before it got super dark.

Bray is a small town outside of Dublin, so you can really imagine that there weren't that many attractions. I had dinner at the Martello on the recomendation of a colleague and it was a very good Salmon Rissotto. Most surprising for Irish cooking! =)

Work has been getting me down lately, nto just here, but overall. I took those frustrations and walked back to the hotel, 3 miles away, in the dark, and I didn't realize it at first, but very cold! =(

On travel, (again)

It's so hard to keep up with people. Or actually I've found that it's the other way around with me, people can't seem to keep up with MY whereabouts. I'm on travel again, and this time I'm in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, which is about 40 minutes south of Dublin. I haven't been to this part of Ireland yet, so this is definitely a new exitement. I'd only previously been to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

I actually had a pretty eventful flight, or series of flights to get here. I took off on Sunday and flew on a United Express commuter plane to LAX, where I would take a direct flight to Dublin. My flights are usually non-descript, but this was the first time I had ever flown in a plane so small and at such a a high altitude, that in one instance of turbulence the whole plane felt like it lost control and fell into a free fall! I'm not afraid of many things, but I was scared during this flight!

When I got into LAX, I had a five hour lay over before my flight to Dublin. It turned out to be a great chance to reconnect with people on my phone list who I haven't talked to in a long time. It had been an especially busy month of October for me. Vacation, business travel, two weddings, and a mixture of weekend things to do. I actually almost spent the entire five hours on the phone. I ended having to sit next to an outlet so I could recharge my phone while I was talking.

On my next flight, I suddenly realized I was sitting next to a european, when she made a sudden movement that just disturbs the air enough that you get a whiff of the worst body oder you could ever imagine! It was so horrible, I shot my hand up and turned on the airvents and blasted it as wide open as it could go, so that it could clear the air around me! The flight was full, so there wasn't really any chance for me to change my seat. You also have to imagine that it was kind of cold on this flight, but it was a small price to pay for comfort on a 10 hour flight. ...sigh.

Anyways, I'm finally siting at the hotel, and had just woken up from a short nap. I won't have to work until tomorrow, so luckily I get rest up for the rest of today. This also gave me a chance to catch up on all my log entires from the month of October! So take a look in the monthly blog archives if you missed anything from the past month!

Cheers!

"A Taste of Lexus" driving event

I was reprimanded today. Funny, huh? I was reprimanded for driving too fast on the course, and "driving sideways". Anyways, I had a lot of fun at the Taste of Lexus driving event. I got to test drive Lexus' new IS350, the SC430, GS430, and the new RX400h (hybrid) on a closed course at the old Alameda Naval Air Station. I have to admit, I really like lexus cars. I never really had much experience with Lexus cars, but they are very well built, and feel very solid. Steering was pretty solid, though I think the only reason I hit those cones was because I was applying too much power to the wheels, and made me turns much wider than they had to be! I'll have to try harder next time. =P

Wear and Tear

Almost two years to the month, my Canon S50 is starting to show it's age. It's been battered and it's been almost all over the world! The aluminum casing is dented (I already disassembled the camera once to knock a dent back out), the battery clip that holds the battery in place snapped, and the front cover does not open smoothly anymore. It's also missing a few screws. The great thing is, it still takes great pictures! Thousands, to be precise. Or imprecise.

However it is, it proves I like taking pictures. A lot of pictures. So the question I've been toying with recently is, "should I get a new camera?" There are so many new cameras out now, and they all have the newest and greatest features! In particular, I've been looking at the newest Canon S80 camera, the latest iteration of the canon S-series cameras, with the new DigicII processor.

I don't think I would ever get a digital SLR because it is just too bulky for me and the type of photography I like; action, travel, and candids. The S80 is a good fit for me because it has many features including apeture and shutter priority settings, simple program modes, and most importantly, is very compact. Anyways, I'll be spending the next few weeks watching the price of this camera, and hoping fo r the best! =)