Being Electrocuted
November 18, 2008
NYC
Went to New York for a few days last week in support of the Sanrio Luxe store grand opening. Brigitta was the project manager on this new concept store, and was getting all kinds of props from the people I talked to.
I worked from the NYC Google office for a few days, and at night we putzed around the city. We spent time in Central Park, Chelsea, the Village, Soho, and various other places to avoid the madness around our hotel in Times Square. We saw the giant Christmas tree on a truck in Rockefeller Plaza. It had just arrived.
Restaurants of note were Juniors, Hampton Chutney Co and Gusto Organics, and I can't forget cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery. mmm.
I worked from the NYC Google office for a few days, and at night we putzed around the city. We spent time in Central Park, Chelsea, the Village, Soho, and various other places to avoid the madness around our hotel in Times Square. We saw the giant Christmas tree on a truck in Rockefeller Plaza. It had just arrived.
Restaurants of note were Juniors, Hampton Chutney Co and Gusto Organics, and I can't forget cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery. mmm.
Labels: family, food, Google, vacation
¶ 7:21 AM 1 Comments Links to this post
July 13, 2008
Jitterbug
My mom made a funny joke. I asked if she was getting an iPhone for my dad. She said he'd probably be better off with a Jitterbug...
I forgot to blog about this last year when I saw it on TV. They show this commercial in Georgia and Florida, but I've never seen it out here. I'm surprised Earthlink or NetZero haven't scooped up this hot new technology and integrated into their marketing scams targeting the elderly. ¶ 7:14 PM 1 Comments Links to this post
I forgot to blog about this last year when I saw it on TV. They show this commercial in Georgia and Florida, but I've never seen it out here. I'm surprised Earthlink or NetZero haven't scooped up this hot new technology and integrated into their marketing scams targeting the elderly. ¶ 7:14 PM 1 Comments Links to this post
July 5, 2008
Summer Vacations, Siauciunas Style
My parents-in-law survived another week in California. Seemed like they might have had their best trip yet. As usual. Charlie loved his lunch at Google and Ruta didn't. They went to Monterey, Alcatraz, and Yosemite while they were here, and survived the bears, hippies, and nerds along the way. In addition to eating out quite a bit, they also made us Kugelis and Blinai at the house - mmmm. We all got to listen in on our upstairs neighbors three-hour long midnight sex party one night. It was memorable, and disgusting, not unlike a Vacation movie or an episode of Curb.
Next comes my brother-in-law, Adam, so we're thinking ahead what to do with him while he's here. I want to do an Anchor Steam tour, which is weekdays only, and go to the Wolf Parade show at the Fillmore, which is sold out. Bummer. This is his first time to the Bay Area, so we'll be putting him on the tourist circuit (Big Ben, Parliament) no matter what. If anyone has any other great ideas, let me know. Maybe a Giants game?
Next comes my brother-in-law, Adam, so we're thinking ahead what to do with him while he's here. I want to do an Anchor Steam tour, which is weekdays only, and go to the Wolf Parade show at the Fillmore, which is sold out. Bummer. This is his first time to the Bay Area, so we'll be putting him on the tourist circuit (Big Ben, Parliament) no matter what. If anyone has any other great ideas, let me know. Maybe a Giants game?
Labels: family
¶ 9:47 AM 2 Comments Links to this post
June 24, 2008
Mops
My sister-in-law is opening a hair salon in Chicago later this year, it's gonna be called Mops Beauty Shop. She even started a blog to chronicle the experience, which is an awesome way to start buzz online before you open. I told her to make sure she lists the place in Yelp and Google Maps as soon as they open. They're also definitely going to need to start a website with, at the very least, the hours, payments accepted, directions, and address. The kids these days love their internet.
I did a preliminary search for [Mops Beauty Shop] and it looks like they already have some competition:
Good Luck Krisi! ¶ 6:31 AM 1 Comments Links to this post
I did a preliminary search for [Mops Beauty Shop] and it looks like they already have some competition:
Good Luck Krisi! ¶ 6:31 AM 1 Comments Links to this post
June 22, 2008
Beat the Heat
So, Brigitta broke the air conditioner while I was out of town a few weeks ago. This weekend it was a hundred degrees outside, and the in-laws are coming this week, so I was finally motivated to try and replace it. Long story short: through-the-wall air conditioners are pretty hard to find, and Sears is a very strange place. Here's the old one on its way out (the shopping cart went in the dumpster too). I squeezed this project in between writing two papers for school, and of course the weather cooled off the next day.
Next we went to the Farmer's Market on bikes. Brigitta got me a new bike seat because squirrels destroyed my old one. Speaking of animals, there's a bird nest in our tree We think it has eggs. Stink thinks she's gonna get a free meal. ¶ 9:31 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Next we went to the Farmer's Market on bikes. Brigitta got me a new bike seat because squirrels destroyed my old one. Speaking of animals, there's a bird nest in our tree We think it has eggs. Stink thinks she's gonna get a free meal. ¶ 9:31 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
June 1, 2008
Floricago
Sorry for the lack of posting. My 17 readers must be disappointed. I only had a few days last week between my trips to Florida (for final exams) and Chicago (for deep dish), then I was catching up on schoolwork for the new semester. Hopefully my twittering has been a reasonable substitute.
School went well. I was happy with my grades, especially since my International Finance exam had a pretty sweet curve. I do think my Professional Writing exam was way too hard. I would have rather had pure essays than one-word answers, so I could show my understanding of the concepts rather than memorization of definitions. In Gainesville, I stayed with my friend Jonathan again, and we played Brigitta in Mario Kart 2000 miles away. Also go to see Ryan, Greg, Casey, and Stuart, amongst other troublemakers.
I was back home for only four days before getting back on a plane. On our way to the airport, we dropped the dogs off at the PetSmart PetsHotel, which they love, and I highly recommend. We found out while we were there that they jacked their prices up. We may need to shop around next time. Apparently my parents know the people who run Wag Pet Hotels, but their Sunnyvale location has been 'coming soon' for over a year.
When we got to the airport, the lines were insane for Memorial Day travel. We honestly could not find the end of the line (check-in or security) for ten minutes, and Brigitta ended up asking an employee what the best option was. Under her breath, she told us curbside check-in would be the fastest, but we'd have to pay. We decided to try and were prepared to pay $50 to avoid the two-hour lines. We walked 20 steps out the front doors to the booth and, long story short, paid $2 for a much more valuable convenience. The nice gentleman got a 150% tip.
Fast forward to Chicago O'Hare where we waited 2 hours for our misplaced luggage (United is still my favorite airline), then took the train to my sister-in-law's. On the way, I made a deal with Brigitta that if she didn't fight with her sisters and stress me out, I would give her a prize when we got home. In the end, she did pretty well, but that's only if we exclude Tuesday. It was nice to see most of Brigitta's extended family at the Memorial Day BBQ, then her grandparents afterwards in Cicero. Her grandfather is going to be 98 this year. "Ninety-eight".
School went well. I was happy with my grades, especially since my International Finance exam had a pretty sweet curve. I do think my Professional Writing exam was way too hard. I would have rather had pure essays than one-word answers, so I could show my understanding of the concepts rather than memorization of definitions. In Gainesville, I stayed with my friend Jonathan again, and we played Brigitta in Mario Kart 2000 miles away. Also go to see Ryan, Greg, Casey, and Stuart, amongst other troublemakers.
I was back home for only four days before getting back on a plane. On our way to the airport, we dropped the dogs off at the PetSmart PetsHotel, which they love, and I highly recommend. We found out while we were there that they jacked their prices up. We may need to shop around next time. Apparently my parents know the people who run Wag Pet Hotels, but their Sunnyvale location has been 'coming soon' for over a year.
When we got to the airport, the lines were insane for Memorial Day travel. We honestly could not find the end of the line (check-in or security) for ten minutes, and Brigitta ended up asking an employee what the best option was. Under her breath, she told us curbside check-in would be the fastest, but we'd have to pay. We decided to try and were prepared to pay $50 to avoid the two-hour lines. We walked 20 steps out the front doors to the booth and, long story short, paid $2 for a much more valuable convenience. The nice gentleman got a 150% tip.
Fast forward to Chicago O'Hare where we waited 2 hours for our misplaced luggage (United is still my favorite airline), then took the train to my sister-in-law's. On the way, I made a deal with Brigitta that if she didn't fight with her sisters and stress me out, I would give her a prize when we got home. In the end, she did pretty well, but that's only if we exclude Tuesday. It was nice to see most of Brigitta's extended family at the Memorial Day BBQ, then her grandparents afterwards in Cicero. Her grandfather is going to be 98 this year. "Ninety-eight".
Labels: family, school, Travel
¶ 9:39 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
March 21, 2008
Happy Birthday Brigitta!
Today is my wife's birthday. To celebrate, I'm throwing a little party tonight, and tomorrow night we are going camping in Big Basin. I got her an iMac, but she had to work for it this morning. Since Brigitta is a semi-professional easter egg hunter, her mother suggested that I hide her gift and leave clues around the house leading to it. Of course I did this, but not before giving her a pile of camping related stuff so she would think she was getting jipped on presents this year, including a hatchet, leatherman, camping grill, bug repellant, and can of propane. I think I'm funny.
¶ 7:34 AM 0 Comments
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Today is my wife's birthday. To celebrate, I'm throwing a little party tonight, and tomorrow night we are going camping in Big Basin. I got her an iMac, but she had to work for it this morning. Since Brigitta is a semi-professional easter egg hunter, her mother suggested that I hide her gift and leave clues around the house leading to it. Of course I did this, but not before giving her a pile of camping related stuff so she would think she was getting jipped on presents this year, including a hatchet, leatherman, camping grill, bug repellant, and can of propane. I think I'm funny.
¶ 7:34 AM 0 Comments
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February 2, 2008
Blood and Guts
Happy Anniversary to Me and Brigitta!
Technically, our 2 year anniversary was January 28th, but I had to leave town on the 27th. Last Saturday, we celebrated early by going to the Tech Museum in San Jose to see the Body World exhibit, then we went to see There will be Blood. I recommend both. We gifted ourselves by framing the Alfons Mucha prints we got in Prague last year. ¶ 9:28 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Technically, our 2 year anniversary was January 28th, but I had to leave town on the 27th. Last Saturday, we celebrated early by going to the Tech Museum in San Jose to see the Body World exhibit, then we went to see There will be Blood. I recommend both. We gifted ourselves by framing the Alfons Mucha prints we got in Prague last year. ¶ 9:28 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
December 26, 2007
Merry Crimbo
After a lot of traveling, we decided to stay home alone for the celebration of consumerism this year. We got pretty festive with a two-foot tree and some multi-colored lights in our bushes. For Christmas eve, we loosely follow a Lithuanian tradition of eating seafood, so we went out to The Fish Market in Palo Alto. It was really good, I think I'll be back. I don't really like seafood other than shrimp and crab, but I am strangely drawn to seafood restaurants. Maybe it is some weird nostalgia thing that makes me think of Florida or reminds me of when I used to work in seafood restaurants on the beach. Who knows.
Christmas Morning, 8 AM - Lola and Levi unwrap their new dog toys (the dogs always get presents), play for about 30 seconds until Levi decides both toys are actually his. Lola disagrees, a fight breaks out. Two minutes later, I'm in the car on my way to the vet with Lola, who has a huge gash on her forehead. After 3 staples (Dr. Sharon Zweiter was awesome), I bring her home with a giant cone around her neck and a bottle of amoxicillin. 11 AM - We finally open gifts from each other and the rest of the family. Highlights were Guitar Hero III for Wii from my brother, much needed semi-professional clothes from Brigitta, and a Wusthof knife set from my parents. With gift certificates and cash, we bought a TivoHD box, finally! CableCards are scheduled for a Jan 5th install. I'll give a full history of Tivo and Comcast, and me after that. Oh, and I need someone to invite me to a New Years Eve party. ¶ 1:06 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Christmas Morning, 8 AM - Lola and Levi unwrap their new dog toys (the dogs always get presents), play for about 30 seconds until Levi decides both toys are actually his. Lola disagrees, a fight breaks out. Two minutes later, I'm in the car on my way to the vet with Lola, who has a huge gash on her forehead. After 3 staples (Dr. Sharon Zweiter was awesome), I bring her home with a giant cone around her neck and a bottle of amoxicillin. 11 AM - We finally open gifts from each other and the rest of the family. Highlights were Guitar Hero III for Wii from my brother, much needed semi-professional clothes from Brigitta, and a Wusthof knife set from my parents. With gift certificates and cash, we bought a TivoHD box, finally! CableCards are scheduled for a Jan 5th install. I'll give a full history of Tivo and Comcast, and me after that. Oh, and I need someone to invite me to a New Years Eve party. ¶ 1:06 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
December 9, 2007
The Cliffs of Insanity
Finally a hotel with free WiFi! Brigitta and I are in Galway, Ireland at the moment, just back from a Day trip out to the Burren and Cliffs of Moher, well almost...We were supposed to go to the Cliffs of Moher (Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride) but the winds were so strong that they closed the cliffs to visitors for the first time this year. The rest of the trip was fun, though rainy, cold, and windy.
It's been three months since I've written anything on here, and since then I've been studying for the GMAT, traveling a lot and occupying the rest of my time kicking ass at Fantasy Football. I took the GMAT in September and scored a 640 plus a 5.5 out of 6 on the essay section (which I hear no one actually looks at). I finished up my application to UF's distance MBA program and sent it in. We'll see what happens. After that, Brigitta and I went on our first European Vacation together to Berlin, Munich and Prague. It was seriously awesome, and here's our #1 tip: Visit Prague now before the Czech Republic converts to the Euro and it becomes insanely expensive. Next, for Thanksgiving, we went to north Georgia to visit my parents and brother in their new permanent home in the mountains. My dad is recently retired and now spends his time working on the house, making it seem more rustic and less modern. We flew into ATL and rented a car to drive the 2.5 hours up to Dillard, GA. Highlight of the trip...I got to drink sweet tea for the first time in years! One week after getting home from that trip, I left for Dublin, Ireland for a two week work trip. I'm halfway through now, and Brigitta came out for a week in the middle, so here we are on a weekend trip to Galway.
Slàinte
PS - Tim Tebow won the Heisman, in case you were wondering.
It's been three months since I've written anything on here, and since then I've been studying for the GMAT, traveling a lot and occupying the rest of my time kicking ass at Fantasy Football. I took the GMAT in September and scored a 640 plus a 5.5 out of 6 on the essay section (which I hear no one actually looks at). I finished up my application to UF's distance MBA program and sent it in. We'll see what happens. After that, Brigitta and I went on our first European Vacation together to Berlin, Munich and Prague. It was seriously awesome, and here's our #1 tip: Visit Prague now before the Czech Republic converts to the Euro and it becomes insanely expensive. Next, for Thanksgiving, we went to north Georgia to visit my parents and brother in their new permanent home in the mountains. My dad is recently retired and now spends his time working on the house, making it seem more rustic and less modern. We flew into ATL and rented a car to drive the 2.5 hours up to Dillard, GA. Highlight of the trip...I got to drink sweet tea for the first time in years! One week after getting home from that trip, I left for Dublin, Ireland for a two week work trip. I'm halfway through now, and Brigitta came out for a week in the middle, so here we are on a weekend trip to Galway.
Slàinte
PS - Tim Tebow won the Heisman, in case you were wondering.
Labels: family, Google, Life, Travel
¶ 12:45 PM 1 Comments Links to this post
July 15, 2007
My Brother is Famous
Watch the video provided in this article. Pause after the baby's head gets lasered when you see a handsome guy sitting at the computer wearing a tie. That's my bro.
Labels: family
¶ 4:25 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
