2006 Recap

It's been a VERY long time since I've blogged, so let's try to catch up on everything's thats gone on.

• Left project in Connecticut. It was a great first project to be on as an Independent. I learned a ton. After 18 months of good work. It was time to go though.
• Brother married on 4/15/06. What a spectacular event involving a horse drawn carriage and lots of of Poland Spring. A dry wedding can never be THAT dry.
• Started a project in Virginia. It turned out to be a pretty short stint. A vendor tried to play chicken and wasn't having any of that. An old PeopleSoft friend recruited me for another CRM project, so off I went.
• Started project in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Buckeyes. Pretty nice town, alumni/fans are everywhere and unfortunately can get quite obnoxious. The client was one of the much better ones. They loved long lunches, jeans in the office, happy hours, and pranking. One employee was a funny little Cypriot who gave me history lessons (whether I wanted them or not)., like the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Like most clients, the hours got long and the stress got high, but the memories are still fond. I think it really helped working with friends new and old.
• Bought the new 2007 Lexus GS350 AWD. Vroom vroom.
  











• Took vacation out to California with yb. Flew into LA to visit Justin and Dennis. They're doing well as always. Saw that Justin got the GS430 and we compared notes on what our car can do. Apparently, we're just not hip to all the new features. We saw Dennis' new community where he bought his condo. It's VERY NICE! Drove up the coast. Stopped in Carmel. Found and drank at a bunch of cool vineyards in Napa. Staying at a B&B is definitely the way to go. We got so many tastings for free thanks to coupons provided by the B&B. Finally, ended the trip farting around with yb's friends in Santa Clara. It was a good trip, but I wouldn't plan to see so many people next time. Too much running around, exp in LA.
• Went to high school reunion at Union Jack's in Bethesda over Thanksgiving break. It felt like practically the whole class became lawyers. At least everyone's doing pretty well. With a sweeping generalization, the guys look fatter, the girls look better, and Belgard's aged 30 years.
• Recruited back to the same project in Virginia. Looking forward to some stability of being at home for a while.
• Spent time with brother, sis-in-law, and yb in Atlantic City for New Year's. We ate at Red Square. The men took 4 vodka shots each, the girls had martini's, and we all stuffed ourselves silly. Had plenty of time to kill, so played some pai gow and won most of dinner back. Roll money roll.