Can't Let a Year Go By...

I'm glad I checked in on Blog Spot. I don't think it would be prudent to let a year go by without posting something new. So...

Just this past weekend, I took a trip to New York City to get away from everything and just unwind. It was a good time catching with an old friend and also doing some things that I need to scratch off my list of things to do in life. On a previous trip, I was able to scratch off "Stay at the Waldorf Astoria." This time, I scratched off, "Go to a game at Yankee Stadium." It was a neat experience. The Yankees were playing against Detroit. As an added bonus, Roger Clemens pitched.

While it seems like a good time was had in NYC, this trip was not without its difficulties. I flew First Class for the first time ever. I usually try to take all of my luggage on board as carry-on luggage for fear of having the airlines lose my stuff. This time I decided to check since I was flying First Class (I assumed that my luggage would be cared for well) and I had a long layover in Minneapolis (3 hours). After arriving in Minneapolis, my luggage, sans me, was sent ahead to NYC so that it would be waiting in the terminal upon my arrival. What the airline did not know was that a big storm was about to hit NYC at the same time that flight was suppose to get in. The flight my luggage was on was diverted to Newark, New Jersey. This was made known to me an hour and a half after we arrived in NYC, and after staring at the luggage carousel intently as it went round and round and round and round.

The lady at the baggage desk told me that since my luggage was in Newark, they would have to deliver it to me at my location in NYC. I gave them the address of the Yale Alumni Club since my friend is a member and someone is on staff 24/7. I was assured that my luggage would be there some time the following afternoon. Suffice it to say, things are never that easy, at least not for me. My luggage was never delivered. I also had another dilemma. I had no clothes. I slept that first night in the clothes I had been wearing all day and picked up a t-shirt at the Gap the following morning.

Countless calls were made to the airline to try to find out where my luggage was. No one knew. It was just sitting somewhere and no was bothering to arrange for its delivery. It was finally delivered on Monday morning, fifty six hours after I had arrived in NYC and minutes before I hopped into a cab and headed to the airport to go home.

Call me a moron, but I checked my luggage on the way home. BIG MISTAKE! GUESS WHAT? My luggage never made it to Chicago. It was stuck in Detroit because my flight from NYC to Detroit was delayed which meant I had only minutes to get to my Detroit to Chicago flight and my luggage was not going to go with me. I got to O'Hare and did the whole luggage carousel deal thing and realized after 45 minutes that something was wrong. I went back to the baggage counter, where I essentially lost it with the Japanese airline worker. As I expresssed my frustration and asked her to tell me how this could happen to someone twice in one weekend, with a thick Japanese accent, "I don't know. What can I do?" YOU WANT TO KILL ME!? ( She gestured in harakiri fashion.) I told her that wouldn't be necessary because she'd get blood all over the counter. I asked her to call a manager so I could formally express my frustration and she did. And I did. And that was it. I was assured that my luggage would be delivered that evening.

And it was. At 1:30AM, my doorbell rang. I got my luggage.

The Only Pic of My New Car...

dcfs
Originally uploaded by mugen76.

So, I bought a 2007 FJ Cruiser in Sun Fusion (yellow) a couple of weeks ago. I've been meaning to take a picture of it and posting it. It just seems like the thing to do. But Al Yau took a photo with baby Jasmine playing the part of hood ornament. So this will have to do.

I was driving on the highway the other day on my way to Great America when I encountered another driver in a grey FJ Cruiser. The natural thing to do was to make eye contact with the other driver and give the guy a nod. It's like some unspoken ritual.

The funny thing is that this action would have been unheard of while driving my Toyota Camry. Whenever I would encounter another green Camry, I would keep my eyes forward and attempt to pass as quickly as possible. But there's something about this car that's different and when you see one, it's like some sort of special moment. Hahahaha. I know what you're thinking. "Kent is such a loser."

I am.

After a Long Hiatus, an Update...

Don't joke about those signs, they're serious...

I read this on Yahoo! News and thought it was worthy of mentioning.

Family Kicked Out of Buffet Restaurant

DES MOINES, Iowa - Wendy Dershem may think twice before leaving that egg roll on her plate at her next Chinese buffet. The Des Moines woman, her boyfriend and her two children were kicked out of a restaurant last week after management accused her of leaving too much food on her plate.

"They told us we are not welcome there anymore," said Dershem, a repeat customer at the Dragon House buffet. "We waste too much food. But the buffet is all you can eat. And you know kids. They won't always eat everything and they want something else."

Dershem said she paid her $5.95 fee on Saturday but was abruptly told to leave after eating one plate of food.

Employees said they had been watching her family on previous trips to the restaurant and were fed up with her habits.

"They just take one bite and throw it away," said cashier Lin Huyen. "They take four egg rolls and crab ragoon, take one bite of egg roll and throw the whole plate. That is wasting food."

Dershem said she was shocked by the scolding and complained to management when she paid her check. "It was embarrassing. ... If it's a one-stop buffet, post it," she said.

Dragon House manager Kent Cao said his restaurant offers all you can eat buffet, not all you can waste. Dershem's family took food, didn't finish it and then piled on the same food again, he said.

"She's done that too many times," Cao said. "We would welcome her back if she has respect and knows what she wants."

Bob Oberbillig, an adjunct professor at the Drake Legal Clinic, says the patron would have no legal case against exclusion from a business unless there are other factors such as racial discrimination or mental health issues.

"An establishment can exclude people if they smoke or waste food," he said. "It's still a private business."

A Couple of Pics...

So Hot...
Kimball and Sharon were hanging outside after last week's Good Friday service. It was observed that they were dressed similarly.









So Goofy...
This sushi restaurant next to Aloha Grill was closed on Sunday because of Easter. They posted this sign on their door.

Two For the Price of One...

I Will Not Be Besmirched...
It has been brought to my attention that a certain employee is going around and telling people that I asked him to work last Friday for the express purpose of playing a prank on him. While I believe that this would show just how hip and cool I am, I have to say that it's absolutely untrue.

Here are the facts. The aforementioned employee was asked to work on Friday because we had to set-up for a meeting we would be having on Monday. The set-up involved moving divider walls, tables and chairs. Prior to handing out this assignment, I called to speak with Michelle Lee, who coordinate with the Conference Room schedule, to make sure that there would be no meetings on Monday morning. She said, "no, there will be no classes on Monday. You can set-up for your meeting."

With that info confirmed, I called and asked said employee to come in. Shortly after said employee arrived at the office, I realized that a new opportunity to mess with him was presenting itself. We couldn't resist so we made our arrangements and you can see the result in Friday's post.

Shortly after 3PM, said employe was about to start setting up. At the same time, I was in Michelle's office asking her questions about something totally unrelated, when I looked on the master calendar and noticed a pink Post-It on Monday's block. A meeting had in fact been scheduled and Michelle had previously referred to old information.

So you see, we thought there were no sessions and so it would be safe to set-up. It wasn't until we did another check that we discovered that there was in fact a session. I had asked said employee in good faith to come in and work. I would not call him in just to mess with him. Perhaps I should start though since I think this is his subconscious longing for more attention.

In the end, I'd like all, especially said employee, to realize that our pranks are a privelege and not our purpose. I cannot tolerate when someone attempts to paint me as one who's lost his mind.

Speaking of Losing One's Mind...
Speaking of losing one's mind, I went over to Anthony's for his Wrestlemania Party on Sunday afternoon. I actually got there around 2:30PM. I asked Matt Chan if I could play with his game boy. I took a break at 4:30, got back around 6:15, continued playing, and didn't stop until about 9:00PM. All in all, I played for almost five hours! During the course of this journey, I beat the marathon game more times than I can remember and acquired sore thumb and arm syndrome. But don't worry, I should make a complete recovery.

We're Such Jerks...Part III - But what is Tony doing?

So we decided that the opportunity was just to perfect to mess with Tony again. So we quickly orchestrated another prank. Maybe it's getting old, but we're still having fun with it. Randy and I quickly ran back to the office that Tony would be using and cleaned up and put away any evidence that Randy was at work. Conveniently, Tony still hadn't seen Randy at all today so we were able to play it off and pretend that Randy wasn't around.

Randy flew underneath the desk and I quickly set up the camera. Things went according to plan except for what Tony does after Randy pokes and scares him. Can anyone explain what was going on?