tipping

I got a haircut at a barber for the first time in a long time. Usually my cousin Milaine does my hair. First I was shocked at the outrageous price (15 bucks) Nevertherless I paid and went back to my office. When I got back I was informed that I am supposed to tip, and I sould go right back and give the girl a few bucks.
I don't understand tips, if she went out of her way and di something extra then i could see a reason to tip, but why am i paying extra because someone did the job..It's what they are paid to do!! this has always botrhered me, and I have yet to find a good explanation.
Due to the poressure put on me by the others at my office, I returned to the shop and gave the girl 3 bucks, she seemed surprised that I would come all the way back just to give her a tip.
I still think it's stupid.

Weddings

Generally speaking, I don’t enjoy weddings, I don’t dance, I don’t like ceremonies and they take forever. Of course I enjoy the smorgasbord and the free booze but I can do with out the Chuppah and dancing. Nat and I went to a wedding of good friends on Sunday. We left Jonah at my parents, which always make for a nicer time. It didn’t start out good, we missed most of the smorg, and the chuppah had multiple speeches. It did have its bright spots I saw some friends that I haven’t seen in a long time. The freddies and elly’s which is always nice. Once the ceremony ended and the meal began things got interesting, the brother of the groom gave a funny speech, and then the uncle sang a graman and rhymed “Venus” with “penis” Everyone got a good laugh out of it. The capped on the night was I got to dance with my lovely wife, who for the longest time has tried to get me to take her dancing or take dancing lessons, which I have always refused. This is night however we danced the night away.
I would have to rate it up there in terms of weddings I enjoyed. The combination of seeing old friends, good smorg/bar, dancing with the wife, and no baby all night, made for an enjoyable time.
If you’re reading this Mazal Tov Daniel and GJillian

Does this count

I was tagged by my brother to do a random act of kindness, whoch surprised because he should know better than that, but anyways....This morning Jonah woke up at at about 10 to 8, and I fed him breakfast and played with him until I had to go to work at a fe wminutes to nine..the random act of kindnmess was to let my lovely wife sleep in since she had a rough night with him (although, I didn't knwo she had rough night, I was just being nice) So that was kind and random...

NBA Conspiracy theories

I'm not a big fan of conspiracy theories, or blaming losses on the refs, but I felt the Pistons got screwed tonight. Granted, I only saw the the 4th quarter (I was at a wedding of a good friend) but it was a crucial part of the game. The Pistons were down by around 10, clawed back, and took a 5 poiunt lead early in teh 4th quarter. Then the wheels fell off. Overthe next 10 minutes or so the Heat went to the free throw line 30 times including two technical foul shots. That is just unheard of, most ofteh calls were calls that wouldn't even be called in my tuesday night games, and the guys there call some really weak fouls. Why would teh NBA want the Heat to win teh series? That's an easy question: Shaq and Dwayne Wade, two big stars. The NBA is afraid of a Pistons Spurs finals because all these online polls on sports websites claim that peopel dont want to see that. They want to sexy matchups and crap like that.
Whether or not their is a conspiracy and the NBA Ref's intentionally gave the game to the Heat, they definitly ruined teh game, by taking it out of teh players hand. and that in itself is a crime

Powerball

For the past few weeks my office has started buying powerball tickets. This week was no different, I belive we now have 15 chances to win the jackpot. Since we were bored fo ra few minutes, Boss asked what we would do if we won. He said he was would retire, and live of the interest and said some of things he would buy Eli said he didn't know what eh would do but he would definitley quit doing hsi job. I decided that I would keep the job I have. although I guess I would get promoted since Brian would quit. They both told me I'm an idiot, an dthat I wouldn't i explained that i would because I didn't Jonah to grow up and think everything is made on trees. and Since I'm his role model, I would work. I did concede that I wouldn't go to work teh next day. I vacation fo r a while with teh family, then I would have to work.

Trouble with the XBOX

My XBOX is very important to me, not as important as my wife and child, but its in the top 5. This week she's especially important because without Nat and Jonah, things tend to get lonely, and XBOX gives me hours of enjoyment. Lately I have been playing NBA Live '05, it’s my third season, and I still haven’t won a championship. Last night I was playing a good game, I came back from down 10 points to force OT, and with about a minute left, and my team up a few points, the thing froze up, and relayed a message that there is an error or a scratch on the CD. This isn't the first time it's happened, so I wiped of the game, and went to sleep. This evening, I was playing again, and dominating this game, I was up 20 or so in the 4th quarter and the same thing. It's really frustrating because it doesn’t save the game, so basically everything that I did, both in terms of stats and my life was wasted. I have three options; I can buy another NBA Live '05 or just keep playing and hope it doesn’t happen. My last option is the one I'm going with tonight, I'm switching to ESPN 2K5 football. I tried playing the other day, but I just wasn't into it yet. Maybe once training camps really get started it’ll feel more right, but for now I'm desperate, so I'm gonna give it a shot.

great day

Today was one of my best days at work. I knew things would go right when I beat Brian’s record in the zombie shooting game we’ve been playing (http://www.ebaumsworld.com/deanimator.html) I killed 186 zombies, the previous office record was 180 held by Boss Brian. As the day wore on I actually did work related things, and set up three meetings with prospective clients for next week. One of the people I talked to couldn't have sounded less enthused about our idea, but he agreed to meet with us anyways. If I can get him as a client, I will be very impressed with myself. I do have a small strategy, but I still have to perfect it.

Shaq

After watching the first half of the Pistons Heat series, one has to wonder if Shaq was ever really, or if the big fat man just needed a month off. He seems awfully limber and active for a guy who was so injured yesterday that he couldn’t practice with his team. Why would the fat man need to fake his injury? here are some of my theories Built in excuse. After Shaq left the Lakers for the East he disrespected the Pistons saying the only competition he had was Indiana, and the Pistons only won because Kobe sabotaged everything. He can't lose to the Pistons again. Legendary - Willis Reed (waaay before my time) playing in the Finals injured. Jordan playing with flu, and looking as if he might die in Scottie Pippens arm. . What does Shaq have? So he made his injury seem worse then it was, now he seems like a miracle man. Just to hear Doug Collins and Marv Albert talking about how amazing he is playing, and that theory has a ringing truth. He needed a rest. Shaq is a large man, he lost 60 pounds in the off-season, but he looks like he has put some back on (not playing ball for a month will do that, trust me) and he just had to rest so he can go up against the champs. as Ron Artest can attest, you can't just ask for a month off, whether its cause need the break or you want to produce a rap album, so he made his charley horse seem like his leg might have to be amputated.

Why we love Detroit

As Dorothy said in Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home" after this past Shabbos those words were never truer. Aside from all the time spent with my family, which is always great we hung out with a bunch of our friends. Shabbos afternoon we went to the next door to the Mendelsohns for Shalosh Seudos (apparently we were invited, but didn’t know it, so we just went to visit) another couple who we are friends with also came by. We all have little boys about the same age. This was really nice for Jonah because he got to crawl around with kids his own age. In Pittsburgh eh as no friends, our friends here either don’t have kids, and the ones that do, they are much older. He had a great, we had a nice time, because finally we weren't the ones with the kids, we all did. After Shabbos the Thompson’s and Gomez/Klieds came over, we had pizza and watched Thursday Nights ER (we all missed it due to a Pistons game) and we had a great time with them.
Jonah must have realized he was home because Saturday night, he slept for an unprecedented 11 hours, which was really the best part
That’s what really separates Detroit from Pittsburgh. Sure we have friends here, but it’s just not the same as our friends back home.

Diploma

On a glorious Friday morning in Detroit, I picked up my Diploma with a Bachelors of Arts. I didnt go to an ceremony, since it's on shabbos, Although even if it was on a Sunday, I odnt know that I would have gone. This was much less time consuming, and there were no speakers. I just went to teh office and picked it up. My question is what does this mean to me. I'm not talking about teh education, I mean the diploma, it cost me 100 bucks. I already have a job, the people I work for know that I graduated. Natalie wants to frame it and hang it in my office, which will be a nice reminder for me in the years to come, in case I forget that I have it.
I think it's a sign of closure, I no longer owe the University any money, my life as an undergrad is finally over, and someday I'll have to make the decsion of, so I want to get a Masters?

Star Wars

The new Star Wars movie came out tody and I couldn't care less. I only saw one of the movies, episode 1 , and that was because I had to, I was on my senior tip, and our planned event that evening was rained out. My cousin asked me if i wanted to see themovie while I'm in town, and I said i would go, but that I hadnt seen any of teh others. So he said it's not worth my time to go. I think I never got into teh whole series cause I'm nt a fan of Scienvce fiction movies, but it there is such a craze that at times I am curious to see what the hype is all about. So I'm thinking when this movie coes to video, I'll rent all 6 moviesin order, and watch them. (Not in in one day or even a week, but I'll get through it) My question is, is it worth it????????

Speeding

The drive from Pittsburgh was going great until the middle of the dreaded Ohio Turnpike. I got pulled over by a cop who wasn't even facing my side of the road. He pulled me over and told me I was going 88 in a 65 zone, was there any reason I was in a hurry. I told him I had no idea that I was going that fast; it certainly didn’t seem that fast. I asked him if I could have a warning, he refused it saying not with an infant in the car. Implying that the baby’s life was far more important then Natalie or myself. I paid the ticket, if you are from Michigan and get stopped in Ohio they take your credit card and charge you at the side of the road.
I am a firm believer that the speed limit, on a high way is stupid. the way I see it there are three ways to make sure you aren’t speeding
1. Cruise control (which I don't have)
2. if you are speeding past the other cars (which I wasn't)
3. if you are constantly watching the speedometer (which isn't the safest way to drive)
What I do is every few minutes or so I check my speed, and if I am over the limit, I slow down. I guess I was stopped in between checks.
I was talking to my boss Brian, who had received a speeding the week before, and he said that he drove the speed limit the whole time (cruise control) to see if it is any safer then speeding. He told me that he didn’t feel safe at all, cars were flying past him, 18 wheelers were tailgating him so he would switch lanes.
I'm not denying that I was speeding, I was wrong and I paid the fine, I’m just saying it’s a dumb rule.

Paper Clips

We got a babysitter for the first time since coming to White Oak. So finally we can go out and have a fun time!!! Sort of. We went to see a documentary called PaperClips. It was about a school in a small town in Tenn. that was trying ti teach about porejudice, and they were talking about the Holacaust and the 6 million Jews who were killed. One of the kids asked the teacher what was 6 million, such a large number hard to comprehend. SO they decided to collect 6 million paper clips. It made national and even world news and they collected clips from all over the world, and most of them came with letters commererating family members or friends who were killed. (Natalie sent them a box of paper clips, but she didnt have an inspiring letter, she did not get mentioned in the film)
I was amazed by this film, and these 8th graders for teh work and dedication they put into this. They had never met a Jew, but the still dedicated their time to learning and remebering about the holacaust.
We didnt want to be to depressed, so went for pizza after, The place was basically closed, but they made us a pizza anyways. Such nice people at the Milky Way in Pittsburgh.

Hair

Once again my hair has gotten me in trouble. Natalie waked into my office of Friday, and immediately Brian called her in and told her that she has to make sure that my hair is nice when I leave the house in the morning. (Oddly enough this isn't the first an employer of mine has talked to Nat about my hair) For those who don’t know me, I don't have wild crazy long hair or anything like that. It's just that I don’t brush it, I feel that how I wake up in the morning is how it should look all day. I have been like this my whole life. Part of the reason may be because I think that girls should spend time on their hair not guys. That being said, when I took this job Nat got me a comb, and I run it through my hair, and it does noting for me. Everything else about the way I dress work is very professional, I wear slacks, button down shirts, I even wear a belt, (this is new addition to my way of dress) I understand if I had a meeting on Friday, he could be annoyed, but I didn’t leave the office, and we had meeting in-house. So why even bother mentioning it??

This concludes another week.

Another week is in the books. It went OK, talked to some potential clients who are excited by our program, and a few who thinks a horrible concept, left a lot of messages on voicemails and ate a lot of junk. A typical week here at the White Oak office. As always thankful for Shabbos, no work to do, just relax and enjoy the day. Next week is goin to be a short week, which is great, I have a meeting in Detroit Thursday morning, and I'm staying through Shabbos. A good shabbos to all of you.

I need your help

Ever since moving to land where nothing happens after 7 PM teh wife and I rent movies, pretty much every night, with the possible exception of Pistons games. Sadly we haven't seen a decent movie in a long time. Last night we watched Birth, starring nichole Kidman, it was brutal, little dialouge no background music, rterrible ending. It's one of those artsy movies I guess taht will forever be dissected in a classsroom. The night before that we saw Ladykillers, Tom Hanks, another crappy movie. Even if teh movie didn't suck Tom Hanks annoying accent would make me hate it anyways. before that it was on to anikated films, Shark Tale and Ice Age, These movie had their moments, but they are movies that should be seen with kids and enjoyed that way. I think teh last decent movie we saw was Dodgeball, which in my opinion is a great movie. I think tonght (Depending on our plans for the Pistons game) we may see Oceans's 11 which will propell us to see Ocean's 12
I need your comments on this one people, what are some good movies to rent that don't suck

Pistons

For me the most difficult part about being in Pittsburgh is the lack of cable TV. Not that I'm addicted to the tube and need it on 24 hours a day, but it made life so much easier. For example, right now we are in the middle of the basketball playoffs, something that traditionally Nat and I enjoy watching, without cable though this is tough. We can go to my office and watch it there, which is really lame, but what to do with the baby? The game starts at 8 and he gets tired around 8:30, which means he gets crabby if he doesn’t get his way. I tried to install cable in the Pittsburgh home the same way I have it in the Detroit home. I have Comcast High speed internet, split the wires and plug it into the TV. While it works perfectly at home, it did nothing for me here. I can't figure out why, One would think that it works the same way but they would be mistaken. So I sit here at work trying to think about the plan for tonight, how to watch the game, and keep everyone happy.

How old am I?

Do you ever forget how old you are? We were eating lunch and at the Percemens, and somehow my age came up. I knew that I was either 23 or 24 but I had a total mental fart and couln't remember my age. I asked Nat, and she wouldn't tell me. Turns out I'm 24, which is what I thought, but in my head, 24 just didnt sound right, but I guess I'm that old. I've come to conclusion that my age doesnt matter, once you pass 21 what good does age do? age is relevant till 21 then it's where you are in life. Ob=ne of my closest friends s 36, but he got married soon after me, and has a baby a few week after I did. If i let age deterine stuff, then we probably wouldnt hang out...therefore its not a problem that I forgot my age

Jonah vs. XBOX

Yesrday as we moved into a differnt house in White Oak, Natalie noticed that I held teh XBOX with more care then Jonah. I informed her (jokingly ) of ocurse, that we'll probaly have more children, but if teh XBOX broke, I doubted shes go get me another one. She then threatened to toss the game system ouyt teh window. But it got me thinking, about Jonah vs the XBOX.
while Jonah wakes me up in the middle of the night to play games
the XBOX keeps me up late at night playing games
Jonah is much cuter then the XBOX and will find me a nice old age home one day
XBOX will keep me comapny in the home.
Jonah is the product of the love between me and my wife
XBOX is the product of the close friendship between me and a bunch of friends from college
In the end Jonah will win out, and the XBOX will get replaced by ayounger prettier model, but for now, I can handle this twisted triangle