Zel-kun’s Words

Literally, as I went on an Oblivion kick last week.  Zai finally pulled me away from it, being as she wanted to play, and my computer can run it as her laptop can not.  It’s usually not easy to pull me away from a computer game, but she bought me Two Worlds for the 360, with that explicit purpose in mind.

Such an evil genius sometimes.

Two Worlds is definitely fun.  Takes some getting used to, but once you do, it’s addicting.

Outside of that, I’ve been really busy at work, I’ve barely had time to think.  So I apologize for not updating.

When I do finally sign in… it’s nice to know I’ve been missed.

Julie:  Thanks for the comment on MySpace, first non-spam I’ve received in a long time.  And yay for the return of dancing Japanese clock girls!

Rodger: Updating the blog now, I swear!

So, excuses and explanations aside… what have I been up to….

Finally got a haircut on Saturday.  Most would think a simple thing like a haircut would be easy enough to get… but noooo…

I woke up early Saturday with the intention of driving to Schaumburg to get my haircut at a salon I knew there.  It was recommended by a co-worker, and they do good work for a good price.  They wait on you hand and foot, discuss one on one what should be done with the hair (because I sure as heck don’t have a clue, and if you left it up to me, I’d have a mullet or something) bring you ice water, and a hair-washing is included.  Costs about $30 for the whole thing.  More than what I would usually pay, but not too bad of a price for what you get.  Besides, I have long hair and it’s important that it’s done right.

So Zai and I headed out around 8:30am, which is very early for a Saturday, but I wanted to be back home before noon, before stores were too crowded or the day became too hot.  At about 9:30, we reached the salon and walked up.  Zai told the people at the front that we wanted haircuts.  Unfortunately they were booked for the day, so we headed back out in search of another place.  It is Schaumburg after all, there were five places to get haircuts right across the street…. at the mall.

*shiver*

The first place we stop is Mastercuts… which was closed even though it should have been open.  Seeing that, we trek all the way across the mall to Mario Tricocci…  I don’t know who this Mario guy is, but he can take his forty-one dollar haircut and shove it up his blow dryer.

We walked across the mall to another place I can’t remember, where we learned their stylists weren’t going to be in for three hours.  So we walk across the mall AGAIN to another place, who inform us their haircuts are thirty-five dollars for men (Seriously, I was willing to pay $30 for full-service… but this was basically a barber shop with a fancy name).  I grudgingly agree, and then they say that in three hours, they can do it.  So… we left.

On the way out (walking across the mall again), we passed Mastercuts again, and it was indeed open.  Their haircuts were fifteen dollars for men, and they could do it in ten minutes.  We had a winner.

I looked in the haircut book and saw something that I liked, a little shorter and a bit more professional, and something my wife, who LOVED my long hair and hated that I was cutting it, agreed on.  It wasn’t going to be too much shorter; a little off in back, a little in the front.  It wasn’t until after the fact that I realized they cut off way too much.  Oh well… hair grows back.

Zai decided to get her hair done and dyed, which meant I was pacing around Mastercuts for no less than three and a half hours.  It was boring, but we were out here now, so we might as well get it taken care of.  I left and went next door to a place called Yogen Fruz, which is Corporate-Yutzese for Frozen Yogurt (Much like Hagen Daas is Yutzese for Corporate Bully [As an aside to my aside, Hagen Daas tried to bully Ben n' Jerry's off the ice cream market, simply because they were part of Pillsbury and thought that they could intimidate stores with threats of refusing to sell to stores that sold Ben n' Jerry's.]).  It was very good.  Unlike frozen yogurt I’m used to, this actually tasted like frozen yogurt.  Usually, it tastes like ice cream, but I could taste the tartness of the yogurt.  They’ll either cover the yogurt with fresh fruit, or blend frozen fruit in it.  I had fresh raspberries on mine, and it was delicious.

My compliments to you, Yogen Fruz.  You made something good enough that I would actually consider braving a mall to have again.

At about three o’clock, Zai’s hair was done.  It looked great, she had her black hair streaked with bright red.  I look forward to next week, when the temporary color washes out and she dyes it turquoise.

After that, we went out for Indian food.  Zai and I have a love-hate relationship with Indian food.  She loves it, and I hate it.  I’ve had a couple dishes I like, but by and large most of it tastes like garbage to me.  The best chance I have at good Indian food is asking the recommendation of an Indian co-worker of mine (like I did last time when I had good Indian food).  I didn’t consult him, and we ended up going to Gaylord’s, a place about a block away from where I work.  We walked in and passed a makeshift buffet with Sterno-heated trays full of unrecognizable food.  When we took our seats, the waiter asked, “You come for buffet?”

“No,” I reply.  The waiter then walks off.  We sit there for several moments until another waiter comes by and asks us if we’re here for the buffet.

“No,” I say again, “Could we please have a couple of menus?”

The waiter walks off, and again we sit for a few minutes until yet another waiter comes up to us, “The kitchen is very busy, could you please have the buffet?”

Okay, fine, I’ll eat your stupid buffet.  I wasn’t very happy about being railroaded into ordering something I obviously didn’t want, and considered turning towards the exit on my way to the buffet, but I stayed.  I grabbed some Tandoori Chicken and some sort of noodle dish, I also got some cabbage dish and a potato-filled pastry.  The chicken was passable, and the noodles weren’t too bad, but the cabbage and potato thing were terrible.

On my second trip, I got some spinach dish and some sort of beans…. which again were inedible.  Finally, I decided I had enough bad food and tried the dessert, which was a too-sweet bread ball, a pink jello-like dish, and something that looked like rice pudding.  With the exclusion of the jello substance, which was passable, it was again inedible.

I drove home, and promptly heated up the leftovers from Famous Dave’s, brisket and sausage.  Delicious.  I had to cook the sausage twice because it rolled off my plate.  So I cleaned it off and re-cooked it to kill any germs it may have picked up.  Love the two-second rule.

Zel-kun out.

Well, I finally did it.  I bought myself a brand new slightly used automobile.  Since I got it, I’ve been practically looking for excuses to drive.  It’s going to end up saving me a lot of money, giving up the SUV for a sedan, and I’m all about saving money.  Before I introduce the new car, I figured I’d give a rundown of the vehicles I’ve had through the ages.  A memoriam of sorts…

And yes, I know Pete did it first.

In 1999 I bought Aira, a 1987 Pontiac 6000 sedan.  Rather, my dad bought it using a joint savings account we had at the credit union.  He told me I should probably get a job and get insurance, or else he’ll sell it for $300, half the price he bought it for.  If nothing else, the man knew how to motivate me.  The picture is not of my car, but as close as I could find.  Basically, make that a two-door, and put about 10 pounds of rust on it, and you’ll have a rough idea of what Aira looked like.

I named her Aira after the first anime I saw as a teenager, which seemed appropriate being as it was the first car I owned.  The car, like the anime, was not the newest, or prettiest, but it got the job done.  She was rusted-out, had no CD or even a cassette, and the interior was torn and frayed.  Aira remains one of the most reliable cars I’ve owned.  She only failed me once, albeit quite spectacularly.

On Christmas Eve of 1999, I was working at Things Remembered as an engraver.  The store closed at 6:00pm, but there was a large pile of work left to do.  I dismissed the salespeople and worked on it for a couple hours, so I wouldn’t be backed up when I came in the day after Christmas.

I drove home from the mall, which back before the town was as developed as it is now, led me down a stretch of forest road.  About halfway down, the radio stopped, the lights went off, and the car stopped running.  I was suddenly coasting along in complete darkness.  I put the brakes on and pulled to the side of the road, then began walking back to the gas station I passed about a quarter-mile back.

I made a call at the pay phone (an age before cell phones… I can barely believe it), and had my step-dad who was at my mom’s Christmas party I was heading to pick me up.  We attached a chain to my car and towed it to the mall parking lot.  After Christmas, my dad found that the problem was a sensor.  Go figure.

Aira was badly damaged in a collision just after 9/11.  I was driving home from college to see the presidential address, and at an intersection, a lady in the oncoming lane in a giant SUV took a left turn in front of me.  I managed to drive away from the accident, but with most of the driver’s side front end destroyed.  There was no headlight and no way to open the hood anymore.  I continued driving her for a month until the insurance settlement cleared.  She was a good car, but it was finally time to retire her…

I bought Sylphiel, a 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass with the insurance money for only $750.  I bought it off a co-worker who inherited her husband’s estate.  She had been seperated from him for decades, so she was trying to get rid of stuff, so I got a nice deal.  It had been sitting in the driveway for years, and only had some 50,000 miles on it.  It only had a couple scratches, and the interior was pristine.  She was a pretty reliable car, but had problems with the steering and the shocks.  I fixed the steering pretty early on, but didn’t get it fixed until about a year or more later.  My stepbrother loved the broken shocks because when I got in, looked like a cartoon car because it dipped heavily to my side.

After I had the shocks fixed it ran like a dream.  Unfortunately, that dream was cut short less than a month later when a giant SUV (I sense a pattern) ran a red light and t-boned me.  I was struck just in front of the driver’s door and avoided what could very well have been a lethal collision.  Instead I walked away with whiplash and a sprained shoulder.  Sylphiel was not so lucky, the collision broke the front axle, crushed the oil pan, punctured the radiator, and broke the transmission.  When I was hit, the car spun so fast that there was a sizeable dent on the back of my car where it struck the back of the SUV.  I didn’t have a choice but to replace Sylphiel, murdered before her time.

Just like last time, I used the insurance money to buy another car.

A 1997 Chevy Blazer, affectionately called Lina.  She cost $3600 and was the newest car I’ve ever owned.  It has also been the most trouble of any vehicle I’ve owned.  One of the spark plugs keep shorting out, the computer crashed preventing the transmission working once, the fuel pump died, power brake booster broke TWICE, the master cylinder died, the gas tank has a minor leak on top that spills a little gas during fillup, the O2 sensor died, two new batteries, the lever on the seat broke, the power windows randomly decide when they want to work, the four-wheel drive doesn’t work (as I found out the hard way when I couldn’t get out of a friend’s driveway in the winter and needed to be TOWED out), windshield wiper motor failed, the heating fan broke, the wiper fluid reservoir is broken, and the air conditioning has a leak.

Chevy… you’re not really good at making cars, are you?

On top of that are a couple little dents I got while trying to maneuver the thing.  And more recently, the other day I was sitting in traffic and some douche driving in the breakdown lane knocked my mirror off (as seen in above photo).  So, when my parents offered me good deal on a new used car, I had to take it…

Enter Odessa, a 2000 Chrysler 300m.  I bought it for only $4500, and it’s one defect is a leak in the air conditioning, which I intend to get fixed next payday.  It drives well, has incredible gas mileage compared to my bulky Blazer, and has the most comfortable seats in the world.  It’s the first non-GM car I’ve owned, so I’m not sure what to expect from it in the coming years.  Though anything more reliable than the Blazer would be welcome.

That’s all for now, happy Independence Day!

Zel-kun out.

I spent all last week travelling.  I drove my car to work monday, and didn’t see it again until Friday night.  There’s nothing wrong with saving a whole week’s worth of gas by driving a company vehicle, especially with today’s prices.

I went to Indiana, working around my old home.  It was there that everything that COULD go wrong, did.  I’d write about it, but it would be a page of techno-babble, so I’ll summarise by saying Murphy was my best friend that day.

I went to Springfield the next day, which went fairly smoothly.  My GPS (my cell phone) died as I reached the city, making me guess where I had to go.  I had the address, so I used my good ol’ trusty sense of direction.  I took the second Springfield exit I saw, and drove down the street, keeping an eye out for a gas station to stop and ask for directions.  On my left I saw it, a Circuit City, housing a Verizon kiosk, one of the sites I had to visit.

Must be karma trying to make up for all the crap I went through the previous day.

I had to stop by a cellular site, which was the first time I’ve been to one since doing work for U.S. Cellular some three years ago.  It was just as secure as the ones I’ve been to in the past:  Short, hidden, unmarked.

I had to pull a piece of retired equipment out of the rack there, the last piece of equipment that my group had there.  To get an idea of what I was looking at, picture a wall of expensive and important equipment, much of it visually indistinguishable.  I had to pull one of them, and no one there knew for sure where it was.

I got on the phone with the co-worker who had sent me to pull the equipment, who then walked me through to finding the equipment.  For several minutes, we went back and forth making sure I was looking at the same thing he thought I was looking at, then we took a deep breath…

I shut the thing down and pulled it from the rack, sweating a little despite the air-conditioner blowing on me from directly overhead.  I didn’t hear any alarms going off, so I figured I was in the clear.  I confirmed with the control techs that I did not cause the site to blow up, and high-tailed it out of there.

As I was returning to Chicago, I heard a commercial for a local butcher…

“Bloomington Meats: So good, even vegetarians can’t resist!”

That amused me to no end.

On Friday, we went to see Get Smart, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I’m normally not a huge fan of Steve Correll, but he played Smart surprisingly well.  Along with that, The Rock played a good part as well, tough and amusing.

Sunday we went to my dad’s for a celebratory barbecue for our wedding.  We brought Zai’s parents along, so they had a chance to meet some of my family.  Sadly there was the language barrier for her father, but at least the food was good.

I saw Nick, my stepbrother, for the first time in two years.  The first thing he said was, “Your hair is long… I’m not sure I like that.  I don’t know that you’re really you.”  He then proceeds to poke me to verify that I’m really there.

He bought a PS3, and subsequently broke it.  He wants me to take a look at it.  I warned him that I’ve never even been in the same room as a PS3, but he decided he trusts me enough to haul it home with me to fix it.

Guess the coming week will tell whether or not that’s a wise decision…

Zel-kun out.

Father’s Day… when we get together and say, “Thanks Dad, for putting up with me all those years, dealing with my BS, and loving me anyway.”

It takes a lot of patience to be a father.  My patience is put to the test when small things like my cat or my co-workers annoy me, which shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence with what a father goes through on a daily basis.  My father had his share of troubles from his children, and that includes all the crap I did.

I treated my father to breakfast on Saturday, being as we were to spend some time Sunday with Zai’s father.  We went to the Original Pancake House, a place I had never been before, and which had a much less than stellar review over at Perrero, but despite that, the food was very good.  I had a skillet with bacon and red pepper, with a side of some of the best chocolate chip pancakes I’ve ever had.  The prices were pretty high, however, with coffee at $2 a cup, and the waitress spent most of our meal ignoring us.

So, decent enough, I suppose, would have preferred better service at those prices…

Anyhow, we spent the rest of the morning at dad’s, chatting and catching the last half of the Shawshank Redemption.  It was a good way to spend a Saturday morning.

When we left, we decided to go to Dairy Queen, which I haven’t been to in years.  I bought a small Butterfinger Blizzard, and Zai got a chocolate strawberry sundae.  I watched them make it…

I’m not sure what mental handicap every Dairy Queen employee has… but It’s as irritating now as it was when I was young.  When you fill a bowl with ice cream and syrup, make sure the minature lake of syrup is BELOW the rim of the cup, not above.  It was filled about a quarter inch into the cap, which meant there was a huge mess just waiting to happen as soon as that cap was removed.

I saw Zai walk towards the car, and I had to put an end to that right away, “Where you going?  Sit down at the table out here and eat.”

Visibly annoyed, she grumbles, “Fine.”

She sat down and the damn sundae explodes all over the table and her hands.  There is strawberry and chocolate sauce everywhere, completely covering her hands and table, and thankfully not in the car I just cleaned.  She threw the sundae away and went to the gas station across the street to wash up.  She ran back with stories of urine everywhere, graffiti on the walls, and bugs in the sink.

So gas stations have dirty bathrooms… I did not know that.

In any case, thank you dad, the breakfast I bought for you does not even begin to repay you.

Zel-kun out.

So, it’s been about a year since I moved out.  I know because the annual festival that came to my street when I moved in has just come again.  I wasn’t all that impressed with the festival this time around.  Sure, they had the pineapple drink that I loved from last year, but that was about it.  Other than that, just expensive tacos and rigged carnival games.

It was an inconvenience more than anything.  They blocked off the road in front of the apartment, so I had to park four blocks from home.  I found out monday when I went to work that there was no parking in that spot, even though there was no sign, even snapped some photos.  I plan on fighting the parking ticket… I swear, sometimes I think the city of Chicago lives to give me parking tickets for stupid things.

My apartment had the bad fortune of being directly in front of a booth selling CD’s, which meant it had to blast it’s bass from dawn until dusk.  To add to the cacophony, various other musics from the festival joined the bass.

But the weekend was far from bad, however.  I decided to buy a high-definition television.  I had been holding off because I saw absolutely nothing wrong with the television I had, a thirty-five inch tube.  However, my purchase of an X-Box 360 forced me into a corner.  See, the system is designed for high-definition, so the image is slightly blurry on a tube.  So when there’s text on the screen (as is common in RPG’s, the games I play the most), I can’t read it.

I’m not sure why this was done.  Surely Microsoft could have put a feature that could make the text readable on tubes?  One could say it was to spur people to buy high-definition televisions, but Microsoft doesn’t make televisions… so I’m not sure why it was done.

I hunted for the perfect television.  Best Buy was way too expensive, and Wal-Mart had nothing but cheap brands (not that I would buy from the land of blue vests, anyhow).  I stopped at Grant’s Electronics and found a nice deal on a 42″ Toshiba for $1259.  I signed up for their 90-day no interest plan and was turned down on the account of not having had my current job long enough.  Sure, I could have handed over my debit card and paid for it all right there, but it’s the principle of the thing.  I left feeling dejected and a little insulted, as I’ve worked pretty hard to get out of debt and keep my good credit.

The next day I went to Sam’s Club (owned by Wal-Mart, I know, but their bulk supplies actually HELP small businesses, so I’m less against them) and found a 42″ Magnavox for only $1049.  It was a good deal, so I signed up for their no-interest plan (and was approved, go figure), and brought the TV home.

I spent a few hours after that behind my television stand, straightening out wires and hooking up the new TV.  I finally got rid of my VCR, which had been causing some static in my signal anyway.  I discovered that my surround sound system is too primitive for my TV, lacking a digital sound jack, which is the only sound output on the television.  Part of me is considering purchasing a new amplifier, whereas another part feels the speakers on the television (admittedly much louder and clearer than the old) will more than suffice.

Admittedly, ditching the surround sound will save a lot of cables….

Monday was an interesting day.  I drove to work hitting an especially bad stretch of traffic, arriving about fifteen minutes late.  When I arrived I noticed a lot of people leaving the building, which is very odd for that time of the morning.  When I reached the elevator the security guard stopped me, “Go home, you’re closed.”

This was admittedly a shock, “What for?” I ask.

“All floors,” he responds, obviously mishearing me, but I decide to let it go.  I leave the building and find out from someone who works on the floor above me that there was a power outage.

I call one of my co-workers to warn him, as he’s probably just getting on the road now.  I says that he’s aware and that one of the bosses already sent out texts letting us know.  I apparently was not on that list.

So, I shrug and get back in my car, and use the time to get some things done I’ve been meaning to do.  Got some things for my car, cleared up some business at my bank, and went home.

At about eleven o’clock or so my boss sends me a text reminding me to put in my timesheet, so I pulled out my laptop, connected to the work network, and submitted it.  I also checked my email, which had a couple notifications for the power outage and a number to call the next day to see if it’s been resolved.

The next day I call the number and am informed that power has been restored, so I head in at the normal time.  At my desk phone, there’s a message on my voicemail.  A co-worker called and told me to report to the Elgin facility the day before.  Obviously, I didn’t get the message because security wouldn’t let me upstairs.

Apparently, everyone in IT received similar instructions, and were even wondering why I didn’t show up.  And yet… NOBODY bothered to contact me on my work cell phone I had on my person the entire day.  So, there was some jokes made the following day, them asking if I enjoyed my day off, and me asking why no one bothered to call me, even when the boss specifically texted me to put my timesheet in.

It’s good that I work in an environment where honest mistakes can be laughed off.

Zel-kun out.

Yeah, I haven’t been posting, sorry.  First, the information I wanted to post was lost when Zai’s PDA crashed (I had her take some notes for me while in Vegas), then, I bought and X-Box 360…

So I pretty much forgot about my computer at home.  Although I usually make these posts whenever I can at work, I’ve been super busy and barely had time to think these last couple of weeks.

Hopefully, things will begin to wind down.  We don’t have many projects planned, and we have more headcount than before, so I think the summer will be a bit more calm.

And for those curious, I have not forgotten about the Crusader, nor the Legend of Zel for that matter, I’ll get to work on both of those, I swear…

Zel-kun out.

Yeah, I know it’s very late and it’s been more than a week, but I’ve been very busy.

So, restaurants!  Besides the shows and the casinos, I guess that’s the third reason you’d go to Vegas, for the delicious and exotic food.  The first thing I learned about eating in Vegas: It’s Expensive.

There is no joke here, the absolute cheapest meal I could find was about $15 or so a head.  People have told me stories of cheaper places once I got back, but I couldn’t find any.  I didn’t really venture far off strip, though.  I was hassled by homeless and solicitors on the strip enough, I didn’t want to think how bad it was off strip.

But, for the most part, the food was decent….

Fushia:

Euro-Asian fusion restaurant.  It just SOUNDS expensive.  But, there’s a fusion restaurant near here for about $12 per person, so I figured it wouldn’t be too bad.

Fushia was in the Luxor, which as I noted in the hotel review, had some really nice architecture.  After I was done admiring, I was ready to eat.  I had a long trip behind me and my stomach was growling.  I sat down and opened the menu, and nearly had a heart attack.  Every last entree was $35 or more.  Even the soups were $15 or more.  Even the soda would set me back $5.  With an entire stay in Vegas still ahead of me, and my brain racing to calculate how much money I would need, I decided I could not justify spending $43 on an order of Mongolian Beef, a dish I could get anywhere else for about $8.  So I zeroed in on the cheapest thing I could find, an $8 cucumber roll and a glass of ice water.  It was six bites of very average tasting food.

I stole bites from Zai’s plate, which was also mediocre at best.  I was beginning to see why we were the only people in the place.  On top of that, the waiter was neglectful at best.  After fifteen minutes he took our order, half an hour for our food to come, and nearly half an hour after we were finished eating for the check to get there.

So… average food at exhorbitant prices with lousy service?

FAIL

Le Crepiere:

A little crepe stand on the ground floor of our hotel.  Not really a restaurant, but they DO serve their food at restaurant prices!  At $12 for an order of crepes and $4 for a regular coffee, it hurt my financial sensibilities.

I have a voice in my head, my father’s voice, to be precise, that analyzes the cost:quality ratio of everything I do.  I look in depth whether or not the thing I’m spending my money on is actually worth it.  I know I made fun of my father for this when I was young, but as an adult, I’m very grateful to have inherited his economic values.  Even if during this trip, they caused me a lot of mental anguish.

I ordered some crepes with fresh fruit, which wasn’t so much fresh fruit, but more like that canned pie filling you can buy.  The fruit was soft and sweetened, with twenty blueberries for every raspberry and strawberry.  It wasn’t bad, really, I just wish there weren’t so many damned blueberries.

So, the crepes were decent, and the coffee tasted not entirely unlike coffee, so Le Crepiere gets a passing grade: C

Maggiano’s:

Maggiano’s is pretty famous here in Chicago, known for some of the best Italian food around.  We had our after-wedding dinner there and I was not disappointed in the least.  With attentive service and all the food you could eat, combined with some Sinatra playing, and it made for a very memorable meal.  Even while I was suffocating in my wedding suit, I was able to fully enjoy myself.

Chicken, calamari, ravioli, roast beef, and sauteed vegatables, all cooked to perfection, with tiramisu and cheesecake for dessert.  The prices are a little high, but the price is easily justified with the quality and quantity of food.  Not to mention the compliments of my family for picking such delicious food.  A+.

Mon Ami Gabi:

French food, the fanciest food you can get.  We went here for lunch, and the prices were not too bad.  Still a little on the high side, but when compared with other Vegas fare, seem really quite sensible.  A generous bowl of french onion soup which was rich and not salty (a common occurance with that soup in many places), and a sandwich loaded with tender steak and a side of ‘frites’ only set me back $18.  The waiter was attentive and my water glass was never empty, despite it being quite busy.  We were sitting at the door to the patio, so a nice fresh breeze and plenty of sunlight made for a really nice atmosphere.  A.

SteakCraft:

With a name like SteakCraft, you know it has to be an upscale chain.  Sounds like a prestige profession in WoW.  “375 SteakCrafting Cook lookingforwork!  Can make [Filet of Great Sundering]!”

Just looking at the place, I knew I was not getting out for less than $60 a head.  But we were about to see Cirque de Soleil, it was Zai’s night out, and I decided to treat her to at least one extravagant meal while out in Vegas.

The first thing I noticed was the SteakCraft’s willingness to cater to us.  We had to catch the show in an hour and a half, so I asked the host if I ate here, if I’d be able to make the show.  He said that we would be able to and sat us immediately.  Shortly after that, the waitress took our orders and brought us our drinks.  When all was said and done, we were in and out in less than an hour.

The second was that I got to sit in a couch.  I love being comfortable while I eat, to this scored big bonus points.

The food was perfectly prepared.  I had some type of garlic soup and Scottish Salmon, which were both very different from what I was used to, and very good.  Zai had quail and steak, which she is STILL raving about.  It’s good when the food can justify the price, that way when the check comes, my rear end doesn’t feel as sore as it would otherwise.

It ended up being about $60 a head, just as I predicted, with an additional $20 for a tip.  About the same price as a trip to the melting pot, with comparable food.  I would have liked a more complete meal (salad, dessert) for the price, but no major complaints.  B.

Taqueria Canonita:

Mexican food, sure can’t find that where I live…

Although comparing the food at my local Las Esperanza’s and this place would be extremely unfair.  The food in my neighborhood is as authentic as you can get (being a Mexican neighborhood), where as Taqueria Canonita is far from it.

This is nothing against TC, in fact, it has many benefits.  Whereas the idea of a vegetarian torta would be laughable at an authentic place, they have a thick slice of chihuaua cheese and a generous amount of avacado and other fresh vegetables to make it taste rich and meaty, without using any actual meat.  And eating a healthy dish without it TASTING like health food is always good.  The salsa and guacamole were just spicy enough, and the chips and torillas were fresh and warm. 

We had a pitcher of sangria, which was excellent, enough to make me pour a second glass, which I rarely do with any drink.   We topped it off with an order of corn creme brulee, which while not only being supurb, outdid any other creme brulee I’ve ever had.  At $15-17 a head, it was delicious and affordable.  A.

We didn’t eat out much other than that.  Zai had her wallet stolen, and that had the remainder of our Vegas funds inside.  So we spent the final day avoiding meals and having dinner at Cheesecake Factory.  The Cheesecake factory isn’t really worth mentioning because it’s so commonplace around here.  The food was okay, and the prices weren’t too bad, but it doesn’t have a particular dish that leaps out at me for being especially good. 

Las Vegas, decent food, very high prices.

Zel-kun out.

The whole reason for going to Vegas, the wedding.  I didn’t really think about being married until about two days before the fact.  Afterwards, it started to hit me.  It still feels a little odd to say “my wife” or to think that I’m actually someone’s husband.  But, here I am in any case, and am definitely happier for it.  I’ve come a long way since working at Wal-Mart and living in my father’s basement.  And as I look towards the future, I still have a ways to go.

Anyhow, on to the wedding review!

The License:

We drove through Las Vegas following vague directions to the place where we were to get our marriage license.  After twenty minutes of driving through the seediest areas of downtown Las Vegas for nearly an hour, I pulled out my phone with the GPS, the FREE GPS provided by my job.  Yeah, I sometimes space out a little.

The GPS led us to a closed road, but following the map on the phone, we were able to go around it and finally found the place.  It was nearly pitch black and nearly midnight, only minutes before the place closed.  Some guy leaning against a building across the street looked at us funny, then turned away.  I could understand why Zai’s mother locked the van the second we got out.

We got in and bought our license, as we were the only people there.  As we were about to leave, three couples sauntered in the door.  I guess midnight is a popular time for marriage…

Lost in seedy areas, but ultimately we found our destination: C

Preparation:

Much of the preparation was done before we left for Vegas.  I went out and bought a tailored suit, because I wanted to actually have a properly fitting suit for once.  Being my height and my weight, it can be difficult to find things that fit me well.  Zai of course bought her wedding dress twenty-three years ago, and has been keeping it in the closet ever since.  She tried it on about a week before we were to leave, and found it didn’t quite fit.  So, she needed a new wedding dress exactly like the old one.  There’s about eight thousand nuances to this that I’m sure she’ll be happy to relate on her MySpace page (sure to contain many photos of me in a suit looking doofy), but I’ll just say she became quite stressed and irritable.  Try as I might, I could not avoid her wrath.  I fear the wounds will never heal…

The day of the wedding was no different.  She was running all over Vegas getting her hair done (in some gorgeous curls, might I add), and I spent most of the morning watching TV in our hotel room.  Eventually, I decided to get ready, trying to use the razor Zai’s sister bought to replace the razor I had lost during the trip.  Twenty minutes in, the stubble on my face was still there and the razor was rendered inoperable by the hair stuck in it (unlike my own Mach 3, it did not have a backless cartridge, so rinsing the blades out was nearly impossible).  Another search of my luggage, and I found that my razor had indeed survived.  Finally, I could shave.

I put on my suit and grabbed my tie.  I realized at this point that I had no idea of how to tie a tie.  I grabbed Zai’s laptop and hopped on a free wi-fi network, I then bounced across several websites, most of which had vague directions at best.  Finally, half an hour of staring in the mirror later, my tie was tied.

Go me.

Oddly enough, Zai’s cousin’s boyfriend also did not know how to tie a tie, and I ended up tying his tie for him.  (Have I said tying and tie enough yet?  Can I stop now?)

But, even with Zai’s stress and my ignorance, we managed to get ready: C

The Ride:

We rode to the wedding in style, in a big black limousine.  It was the first time I had ever been in a limo, and it was pretty nice.  I didn’t really have time to enjoy it, as five minutes after we left, I realized I had forgotten something.

Something mildly important…

THE RINGS.

Needless to say, we had the chauffeur do a U-turn across the congested Las Vegas Boulevard and ran back to the Paris.  I ran through the lobby barely dodging crowds of seemingly lost patrons, hopping onto the elevator.  I hit 26, and nothing happened.  The guy next to me hit 25, and we began ascending.  I continued to hit 26, and that number would not light up.  Finally we got to 25 and the elevator opened.  Try as I might, I couldn’t get the elevator to go up one more floor.  I didn’t have time to think about it, as the doors closed and I began heading down again.

Once at the bottom, I ran for another elevator and finally got to 26.  I ran to our room, snatched the rings, and ran back.  In true movie fashion, I nearly ran into an old woman, a blind guy, and a giant luggage rack (I am not making this up, it’s like they were drawn to me).  As I raced towards the exit, for some reason the fast-paced instrumentals of Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’ were stuck in my head.  I opened the door and saw the limo.  But despite my extreme hurry (were were nearly fifteen minutes late to our own wedding), I held the door open, because an old man was wheeling his wife towards the door.  I guess even in times of duress, there’s no excuse for bad manners…

Finally, though, we were off: A (for sheer memorable value)

The Ceremony:

I arrived and only Zai’s parents were in front.  I asked them if they were the only ones there, and they said ‘yes.’

Well crap.

I called my father, who told me he couldn’t find the place.

Double crap.

And then in true dad-fashion, told me he was in the chapel.

He’s a REAL funny guy.

When we got in, Zai was pulled aside for a photo shoot, and I met with the minister.  I was then asked who my Best Man would be.  My first thought was my brother, so I peeked my head into the main chapel, and didn’t see him.  While pacing through the halls, I peeked in again and again, and still didn’t see him.  I thought he was coming about, but figured something must have come up.  He’s been working very sporadically, and figured maybe he got called away at the last moment.

Finally, Pete walked in.  I hadn’t seen Pete in years, it was really good to see him.  I thought he wasn’t coming either since my last ten calls to him while I was pacing the halls went unanswered.  He responded, “Oh, is that what that sound was?”

Truly, the people I know are a laugh riot.

After one more look inside, seeing my parents but no sign of my brother, I decide to make Pete my Best Man.  I kinda put him on the spot, and for that I apologize to him.  He was a very good second choice, however.  He is easily the best friend I know, and my respect for him is nearly unrivaled.

I walk into the main chapel to begin the ceremony, Zai at my side, and after I pass the door, I see my brother’s head.

Well crap.

I let him know later on that he was my first choice… I hope he didn’t feel too slighted.  I’m sorry Josh.

The ceremony itself was a blur, I was very nervous through the whole thing.  All I remember is that we lit a unity candle, and that Zai looked even more beautiful than usual, something I had previously thought was impossible.

Afterwards, I had a ring on my finger, and I was a married man: A

The photo shoot:

We had a very demanding photographer who insisted I twist my neck in odd positions and hold very unnatural poses for long periods of time.  I had to hold several kisses with Zai for several moments.  Not that kissing Zai is a bad thing, but after the fourth “Now kiss!  Now hold it for an hour!” is was feeling a little awkward.  Truly, the awkward moment came as I left the main chapel and my mother gave me a hug and a kiss.  He asked us to do it again, and then shouted ‘hold it!”

I’m sorry, but holding a prolonged kiss with my mother?  Not that kind of family, Mr. Photographer.

Afterwards, we were then offered these pictures (most of them horrible) for the low price of five hundred dollars.  Zai and I did not want most of them, but our families insisted, to the point of putting their money together to buy them.  My father tried to get the price to come down, but was stymied by everyone’s willingness to jump at the price.  To all who pitched in, thank you.  I’m sure in ten years, I’ll be glad that I have those pictures, and didn’t simply walk away from the memories.

All in all, it was one long awkward moment: D

The reception:

We ate dinner at Maggiano’s, which was exceedingly fun.  The food was delicious, and Pete went around snapping both candid and posed pictures, both feeling very natural.  He’s a far better photographer than he gives himself credit for.  He also has a CD of the wedding pictures he says he can edit and make them look amazing.  I fully believe he can do just that.  As the exchange between him and my father went:

Pete: I can make it look like a zebra and a chimpanzee got married.

Dad: Could you make it look like they didn’t?

Not a whole lot to say about the reception.  Funny about when things go well, there just isn’t much of a story: A

And there you have it, my wedding in a nutshell.  Both the good and the bad came together for a very memorable experience.  I wouldn’t change a damn thing… well, maybe I would have walked further inside the chapel so I could have seen my brother and made him the Best Man…

Zel-kun out.

So, when you think of Vegas, Casinos are the first thing to come to mind.  And why not?  It is the city of gambling after all.  When I watched television, and I saw shots from Las Vegas, it always showed the same thing: Neon lights on the outside, and bright flashing lights on the inside.  The colorful carpeting was a mainstay, and nothing really jumped out at me.  In that way, I would say that television truly mis-represents Las Vegas.

To begin, neon lights are almost absent in most places, replaced by giant monitors and big glowing displays.  It’s bright, colorful, and a full-on attack to the senses.  When I rode down the street at night, it was a fight between wanting to see everything and look at nothing all at the same time.

The true surprise came when I actually entered these casinos…

The Paris:

We stayed at the Paris, and arrived there at twilight.  We arrived at the perfect time, as the final rays of the sun bathed the neo-classic structure.  If you were to ignore the bustle outside, it was easy to think you were entering a fine manor in the French countryside.  Inside the first thing of note is the ceiling, some three stories high and painted like a sky in twilight.  The wrought iron street lamps helped enhance the illusion of being outside.  I had to do a double and triple take when I first entered.  It was quite impressive.

Not so impressive were the gigantic banks of slot machines in the middle of the floor.  But it is a casino, it’s to be expected.  I was too busy looking at the walls, floors, and ceiling, all made to give me the illusion of walking down a French street.  The front desk was in a side area made to look like a ballroom in Versailles, which it pulled off well, with grand crystal chandeliers and paintings of pre-revolution royals and nobles, with the exception of a neon ad for blackjack on the rear wall.  Pity they had to mar a perfectly good room with that.

The rooms we had there were simple and elegant, but something of more standard hotel fare, rather than keeping to the old French illusion.  The hotel was set up very simply, and it was easy to find our rooms.  The hotel was clean and I was never bothered by the staff.  All in all, the Paris gets an A.

Bally’s:

At first glance, I thought it was related to the health club.  But, it’s simply another casino.  It’s architecture was such a sad disappointment after coming from the Paris.  It was plain and unremarkable.  The best thing about Bally’s is that it connects to the Paris and leads to a nice walkway above the street for easy access to the Bellagio.  Bally’s is a C.

The Bellagio:

The theme is a mishmash of European styles.  I’ve seen French Ceilings, Italian tiles and carpets, and English overhangs.  Despite that (or perhaps because of it?) it ends up looking very elegant, like the summer palace of some forgotten member of royalty.  The fountains were amazing, and I could have spent a long time simply looking at the carpets and windows.  Add to that a nice conservatory and art gallery, and it ends up being a fun place to go to.  It’s also the most expensive hotel in Vegas, from what I hear.  B.

Caesar’s Palace:

Greco-roman decor, and very nicely done at that.  The place is littered with columns and statues both inside and out.  It has a lot of space outside with statues and fountains that take quite awhile to walk around, and then an indoor street that stretches on much like that of the Paris (though it doesn’t pull it off quite as well).  The central fountain with Poseidon was breathtaking, especially since the ceiling was much higher there, doing a better job at creating the illusion that you’re outside.  On the casino floor itself it’s smoky and confusing, without to much of the greco-roman style, so the casino itself really ruins Caesar’s as a whole.  B-.

Planet Hollywood:

Regurgitated faux-glamor at it’s best.  The silver, dark purple, and gold don’t play well here at all.  When I walked in, several casino employees tried to sell me things and entice me with free gifts.  We were almost tricked into attending a timeshare presentation when they offered us a free meal and tickets to some magician.  Further into the hotel, you can see the areas that have not yet been remodeled, and the style of the old Aladdin casino still exists.  It had a streets of Marakesh theme to it, reminding me of Indiana Jones movies.  It was actually really cool.  It was sad to see it slowly taken over by the white and silver paint they were slopping all over the halls.  F.

MGM Grand:

Everything Planet Hollywood isn’t.  With a Metro-Goldwyn Lion theme, and classic black and gold, it pulls off the feel of old Hollywood quite well.  It was easy to navigate, with a lot of good restaurants around.  Not quite as impressive as Paris or the Bellagio, but it was very nice in it’s own right.  B.
The Venetian:

Ah, the Italian-themed casino.  After my own heart.  Everything was right out of Italy’s renaissance.  From the Michaelangelo paintings on the ceiling, to the streets of Venice complete with gondola (post-renaissance, I know, sue me).  There was a night club called ‘Tao’ there, which boasted a line of a thousand people or more.  This made some areas quite difficult to go to.  The hotel as a whole was pretty crowded, but it seemed to be prom night for the locals, so maybe that’s to be expected.  B+.
The Luxor:

Not too fond of Egyptian things, but this was enough to impress me.  The beam of light shooting from the top gave it a nice sci-fi slant that I really enjoyed.  I had always thought the pyramid was built like a normal building, but with slanted walls.  I was shocked when I entered and saw a giant chamber extending all the way up.  The rooms are actually along the slanted walls, and an inclinator (an elevator that travels at a 45-degree angle) takes people to their rooms.  From sheer style alone, and amazing architecture, Luxor gets an A.

And there you have it.  I know I didn’t post the Excalibur, because I didn’t really go there.  I did pass through it briefly, but not really enough to give it a fair review.  I did see some fantasy-themed shops, but nothing particularly impressive.  The inside looked like a typical hotel with a dragon thrown in here and there.  But as I stated, I only saw a little bit, maybe there’s some amazing scenery somewhere in there as well.

Maybe next time.

Zel-kun out.

I am back from Las Vegas, back from the city of glitz and glamor, of sin and vice.  It was a far cry from my home here in Chicago, both in distance and in style.  I’m going to withhold my review of Las Vegas until the end of Vegas Week.  During which I will fill this little blog with posts about the trip, as there is far too much content for one simple post.

In non-Vegas related news, I’ve been playing catch-up at work.  It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but it took a little while to go through my email this morning.  The strange thing about having responsibilities is that without you, they go unfulfilled.  It’s good I wasn’t gone any longer.

I’ve been put in charge of training a new guy starting today.  Showing him around reminded me of my first day on the job.  Just like me he didn’t have a place to sit, so he spent most of the day over my shoulder in my small cube.  On the plus side, this finally prompted them to clean out a cube in the next aisle over, which I then began moving myself into.  It’s twice the size and I finally get to break out the brand new 8-port KVM and 16-port switch I’ve been sitting on for awhile.  I would say it’ll be nice not to be so cramped, but I know I’ll find a way to simply cram more equipment in it.

A co-worker and I took the new guy out to lunch, to the same restaurant I went to on my first day.  And just like my first day, I treated, as a little ‘welcome to the team’ gesture.

Sometimes… things go full circle…

Vegas week to follow.

Zel-kun out.