We shared a nice bottle of wine with a vendor after we were done for the day. We drank a bottle of 1999 Dalwhinnie Shiraz from Australia. I was surprised by the amount of complexity and flavor in this wine, even though I shouldn’t have been. I had two small glasses of wine; as the second glass opened up, more layers of flavor in the wine were exposed. It was really wonderful.
I went to Legal Sea Foods twice in Boston. I went with one coworker when we arrived at our hotel, and I went the next evening with coworkers before I met my friends Kim and Darren. (I later ate dinner with Kim and Darren before they dropped me off at the airport.) Legal Seafoods was right across the street from our hotel. The food was quite good. For lunch, I had a lobster roll and clam chowder. While I was waiting for Kim the next day, I had a glass of Louis Latour LSF Cuvee Chardonnay (Burgundy) with three oysters. Jen was our server both times; if you are ever in the Kendall Square Legal Sea Foods, be sure to ask for her. The second time we were there, she showed us a 10-pound lobster.
Recently, a couple of friends have pointed out that I seem stupider than normal. After some careful thought, I’m inclined to agree with them. Not only have I acted a bit stranger than normal, but also I have been more inclined to snap at coworkers. Consider some of the items I have written recently: “I feel both naked and free;” “One of my coworkers with us ended up having a child while we were all on the plane.” The first sentence is a bit banal, and the second sentence is unclear.
I think it has to do with the amount of travel I have been doing recently. I arrived in Toronto at around midnight, went straight to bed, visited a vendor the next day, and left for New York City directly from the vendor. It was a fairly fast turn around, and it is mentally exhausting. I have a deeper appreciation for my friend Sharon, who used to commute across the country every week for Accenture. After getting a job with Adidas she travelled once a month overseas.
My apartment is still not fully unpacked, but I can really see the boxes whittling away. Every weekend, around three or four boxes get fully unpacked and sliced apart. I think that having my apartment unpacked will make travelling a bit easier. I have also started to buy more groceries, and this makes my aparment a lot more livable. The contracting work is just about complete. I have one more inspection to go before everything wraps up. That will also be nice to have completed, even though my bank account won’t be too full.
I’m actually not annoyed about my travel. I am working on a really interesting, important, and fun project, and the people I am working on are some of the smartest technical people at Time Inc. I would definitely take this project on again in a heartbeat.
Regardless, I apologize, dear readers, for the stupid posts recently. I’ll attempt to make them a bit more interesting as I move forward. Any advice on how to avoid mental fatigue due to travel would be greatly appreciated.
I’m now in Toronto.
My cell phone and pager don’t work here.
I feel both naked and free.
If you need to reach me, send me email; of course, I will be back in New York City tomorrow night.
I’m in Boston today; tomorrow I fly to Toronto. I’m staying at The Kendall Hotel in Cambridge. It is a really cute, fun hotel that is built in a former fire station.
I went to a Red Sox game last night. (Thanks Sports Illustrated!) Fenway Park was really cool. It was a really good game; the Red Sox beat the Orioles 5-1.
The view of the New York City skyline from La Guardia airport back to my house from very nice.
I was in Denver last week for a couple of days. I didn’t get to see a lot of the city, but I still had a pretty good time. The first night we were there, we went to a fun restaurant called Vesta Dipping Grill. One of my coworkers with us ended up having a child while we were all on the plane, so the restaurant brought us free shots of some silly fun vodka mixture. (He flew back early the next day.)
I met my dad in the airport on the way back to New York City. He was flying to Colorado to grade AP exams. This year, for the first time, he is the chief grader for one of the five AP questions on the AP Calculus exam. Way to go, Dad!
The Denver airport is pretty nice.
Before I left for Europe, I went to Kirsten and Barnabas’s wedding. It was a very nice ceremony. Part of the ceremony was unintentionally amusing. Kirsten and Barnabas were attempting to light a unity candle with two individual candles. Unfortunately, the unity candle had a small wick problem. After a five to 10 minute struggle, the candle was lit and everyone applauded. The reception was at a Chinese restaurant. Unfortunately, I had to leave just after the third course. It was a full Chinese banquet, and there were going to be a lot of courses.
The day after I returned from Europe, Harlan and Kathleen got married in St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City. It was a 20-minute service that started promptly. They selected some great musical interludes, and I enjoyed the readings quite a bit as well. The reception was also in the church. The food was great. 
After Harlan and Kathleen’s wedding, I walked around the city a bit with one of the other people from the wedding. It was mid-afternoon when we went our separate ways. I was trying to stay up and out until around 10 pm in order to get over my jet lag, so I went to Otto. I had a good time and enjoyed a little wine. I snapped a headless photo of Bill, one of the bartenders there.
A couple of photos from Amsterdam.
Amsterdam Street
Amsterdam Farm
Amsterdam Farm
Amsterdam panorama
Other versions: Full panorama High resolution image Movie
