First Impressions

• People drive fast ! really fast
  
• The city is huge, I drove and drove and drove
  
• The hills are amazing, as is the vegetation
  
• Restaurants close really early, I had to have MikeyD’s for dinner the first night
  
• Have I mentioned how fast people drive ?
  
• The hotel in Camarillo is nice, but not as nice as the newer hotel in Thousand Oaks.
  
• Dulles Airport is a zoo
  
• LAX is an even bigger zoo, after Charlotte, I was not sure what was I thinking, but I felt like an ant.
  
• Weather is amazing, just a little chilly.
  
• Does everyone have an iPhone ? I never got the memo, but I am feeling I should have.
  
• Yes I am the lone gay person in the team, I think I will be alright.
  
• Need to get with the swimming program, or the gym program or something, and please take the cinnamon rolls away before I eat another one.
  
• I am tired though, very tired, I think I slept like 2 hours naps every day last weekend, and think I could sleep all day today and still not be rested.
  

California here I come ...

Darling readers, I have been gone, I know. The last project kinda sorta swallowed me whole, I had no breathing time, I stopped swimming, blogging, knitting (partially, there is some progress to talk about) and except for eating, working and struggling, I feel like little else has been going on in my life. Of course that is all hyperbole, I manage to go home for the holidays, to have a great New Years with the husband, and to be content mostly surviving from weekend to weekend. The project came to an end and here I am getting ready to go on the road again, without even one week at home, and this time its not even the East Coast, no, this time I am going to California.

Yes you read that correctly, I will be going back and forth between the coasts, every week. Yay for airline miles and hotel points, not so much for quality of life. I am lucky, the Argentine, is very supportive and he promises to come visit and be patient with me. I adore him for that, so I am trying not to complain too much, and chin up, and keep going. So today - Sunday, I am leaving DC at 5:30 and flying cross country (always wanted to say that) and will arrive in LA at 8:15 or so, should be interesting. I will be in Ventura County, 1 hr north of the city.

From a professional stand point it is a great opportunity, and I think it will even be fun, and the people I am working with will be great and all that, but at the same time i am terrorized and nervous. I am not sure how good/bad the flight will be, and I am not sure how my team over there will be, and how traffic will be and all those things that always have kept me awake will be, but in other hand it is a great opportunity and I get to not skip a beat and will be billable (the magic word in consulting) from one week to another.

All these lamentations need to be toned down, because a) its not the end of world and b) its California - fabulous weather, a high of low 70's and low of mid 50's. Really who am I to complain when there is snow in the card for DC this week. Still that means, fit, good looking people, which means, I need to go on a diet and start exercising pronto! I already found a swim team, lets hope I can make morning practices.

Wish me luck, and I will try to keep y'all posted

Déjà vu

Hello dear readers, I know, I know I have not posted in months, but here I am again, not just posting again but back in North Carolina, at he feet of the Blue Ridge mountains. As a traveling consultant one gets used to coming and going, and the constant change of places and people, but one of the weirdest things one encounters is going back. Once you have finished a project, it is rare to go back, well this time I am the one going back, and let me tell you it feels weird.

Today I woke up at 3:30 am, could not sleep, and had to get ready for a taxi that was going to pick me up at 4:30 to take me to National Airport to catch a 5:45 flight. I know I exaggerated with the timing, next week I can try and leave later, but I wanted to make sure everything went well. It did, the flight left almost on time, the car was ready even if I had the car at the end of the lot – one of the problems of switching companies and not having yet the status to just get to the car lot and drive away – and then the drive was fine. There are 90 miles from Charlotte to Wilkes, and I did them in 1 hr and 20 minutes. Not bad. My surprise was when I got to the office and realized nothing has changed, I am sitting in the cube next to the one I was occupying before, and the people in the team are all the same, the people we share the offices with are all the same, the town seems all the same. Quiet the déjà vu.

Anyhow this is day one, we shall see how things go, but I have a feeling I have read the script before.

Socks Part Deux

Last week I started my second sock knitting class, I know, I know, you can all laugh. The Crafty one and I have decided to make socks our crusade, we think we have dominated the scarf - I am still working on one btw - but we think that socks are easier and faster to make. So far she has finished one pair, I have finished none, and we are on our second class mind you. But the theory is there to back us up, they are smaller projects and they are more interesting than a scarf, but the problem is finding the right teacher. Last time around we went to one store (said store will remain nameless, for our knitting future sake) and we just did not like the teacher, she was just one of those teachers that just can not explain, she rushes through things and we spent 3 days struggling. The solution was simple, find another place, and we did, but it took time before we both had time to do it, and so it is not until the summer that we did it. I started the class last week, and I loved the store, and the best part is the teacher is a teacher, in real life and in her knitting life, so I I think we have a winner, and just because of that I am going to regale you with the following pictures:

Yarn



Cuff in Process



Finished Cuff:



The store gave me this cheapo yarn, to experiment and try it out. This is the third time I did the cuff, and I should have ribbed it, but I just wanted it done yesterday, I needed to mop and vacum. More updates later this week !!

There and back again !

Three miles, is a long distance to swim when you are out of shape like I am, but I did it, somehow, do not ask how, out of spite, pride and determination I managed not to give up and swim them. It took me 1 hr and 40 minutes, but I finished, and I took no shortcuts. I am very proud of myself, and more proud of everyone who donated money, because this year we raised 26,000 dollars, out of which 675 was us, yes dahling readers I was among the top 12 fundraisers this time, and I even got this lovely plate, that I am not sure what to do with, but keep it for sure.



Swim for life was the main event of the weekend. The weather was very nice, hot and humid, but with a slight breeze and the water in the river was not very bad, no jelly fish, or see needles, the current was so-so, but still a gorgeous day to swim out side. With the event over, I drove back to DC and headed home where I napped for 2 hours, I was exhausted, and then the girls from Virginia came over and we had a lovely feast cooked by the Argentine, I will not go into details, but both experiments were amazingly succesfull, I am sure he will post about them later.

Sunday was book club, and we had a good discussion, I need to sit down and update the book reviews, I have read 3 or 4 books in the last two months and want to update y'all in what we are reading.

Back from Vegas

First things first, thanks to everyone who has donated. It meas a lot to me, and it will go to a really good cause. So far we have raised $600 dollars it is amazing. If you have not given, click on the link and go give:

http://www.firstgiving.com/pablofernandez

Last weekend I went to Vegas, the Argentine had a conference there Sunday through Tuesday and since he was in California the week before, we decided the best thing would be for him to fly to Vegas and for me to join him for the weekend. Dr. Wives Club, here I come ! I had never been to Vegas, so I was very excited. I had seen the documentaries and the movies, but I was not prepared for the real thing. The city is like a huge, I mean huge Cheesecake Factory, everything looks a little fake even if it is real as real as marble and crystal can be real in the middle of the desert.

We stayed at the Palazzo, the new resort just next to the Venetian. The hotel is, well indescribable, it cost 1.9 billion to build, and you can believe that, the rooms are palatial, the mall is very expensive, the restaurants are very good, and it makes its older sister (the Venetian) look a little tired and old. Its not just the fact that the Grand Canal shoppes are well, more reasonably priced and affordable than the ones at the Palazzo, its that after 10 years, it just looks a little old and dark, not bright and clean. I am not sure it is hard to describe.

The weekend was very good, we did not do much, but eat, lay by the pool and then eat again. We did see "O", the spectacular show from the Cirque du Soleil, it was amazing, the use of water as a stage made it incredible.

I did not fall in love with Vegas, but I have to say that even as a non gambler, I recommend going, at least once, so you can say you were there.

Brain not working

Ok, so today the brain is not working, and feel just like this:




Thanks to everyone that has contributed to my Swim 4 Life fund !!!

For those of you that have not here is the link:

http://www.firstgiving.com/pablofernandez

Looooong Weekend

First of all thank you to all who have donated some money for Swim 4 life ! I have not checked the donations today, but we had raised $75 as of yesterday. Of course this does not mean we only need to raise 25 more, no the more we raise the better. The Imelda has raised $500, and I do not want to raise that much money, but I do not want to just raise a meager amount. So keep giving !!

Here is the handy link: http://www.firstgiving.com/pablofernandez

Now to the business of the day. Another long weekend is here, for the last 3 weeks I have managed to not work 5 days in a row, but I think that this will be the first weekend when I have 3 days to cavort around town, and sleep. Let hope that happens, so far not a lot has been planned, I know some of you will dispute that, but there is nothing planned for Sunday, and I think that a 3 day weekend with one day free is quite the under planned weekend, and I intend to correct the situation tomorrow, but keep it mum, cuz the Argentine might take offense.



Anyway, I am going to post some pictures of beautiful Cuernavaca, where I went for a wedding a month ago, and then I am going to set back to work.

Asking for help

Today, I took the plunge and registered for Swim 4 Life, what is this you ask ? It is an event organized by DCAC (the crazy swimming team I belong to) every year, in which we swim 1,2,3,4 or 5 miles and raise a money for AIDS/HIV related charities. This is a very important event for me and I want to try and raise a lot of money, every year I only give 100 which I pay for, so this time I am asking y'all for you help. Here is the website you can make your donations at:

http://www.firstgiving.com/pablofernandez

You can even see me in all hairy glory in the upper left corner of the page, applying sun block before last year's race.

I am goign to come up with a great thank you gift for y'all who give, so please pass this along, and remember give, give, give, even if it is just a little it will help.

Go see it now

Absolutely cute, its one of those movies that manages to find beauty in world full of trash, only the minds at Pixar could imagine something this good:



The social commentary is priceless, and even if the second half of the movie is not as good as the first, it more than suffices.

Humble Pie

Last week, came and went, and it all went good, we all had fun and I worked until my brain was fried and cheered until my voice was hoarse. It was overall an amazing success, everything that could have gone wrong did not go wrong, and in fact people had an amazing meet, and not just DCAC but everyone. Of course the devil is in the details and I swam terribly, and managed to put on 10 pounds in the last 2 months. There are plenty of excuses, some are really good, for instance I have been working 10 and 11 hour days, and then going home and dealing with a website and a registration system, and just not having the energy or the time to exercise or eat healthy. Then there was the wedding and the stress of that, and everything, but I am at fault. I am the one who ate and ate and ate, and just said fuck it. Well now the time has come to stop that. I need to stop eating, and start moving again. It is truly terrifying when the number in the scale is so high you want to cry.

Anyway, that is all I have to say today, there will be a lot of commentary on spinning classes and swimming practices and things that I have had no time and desire to do.

At least I am blogging again.

Exhausted but happy, wait not happy , thrilled

We are done with the big gay swim meet, well almost done, still need to close the books, and see what happens with the left overs. But for the time being I am happy to say I am exhausted but very satisfied with all the work we have done. I think people had a great time, and so did we.

A big thank you from me to everyone that helped, volunteered and attended. Y'all made for an unforgettable weekend.

Ohhh and we won ...

Cuteness for Friday

I have been sooo busy that I am not sure I will be able to post for the next month, or month and a half.

I will try, here is a very, very cute picture:


see more crazy cat pics

White People

My friend the Diplomat sent me a link to a blog called Stuff White People like, the link is here. The stories are hillarious and they are over all huge generalizations but since being gay in DC means being white people, I am going to link to 3 stories that pretty much describe 3 things that both I and white people like:


NPR



Sunday New York Times



Breakfast Places

Viernes = Friday

I have 2 book reviews to post, well more like to write, and a series of meetings to attend, so in lieu of posting any prose, a wonderful cartoon:

FIRE !!!

Last night as we were soundly asleep, this was happening 5 blocks or so, up the street:



The view the morning after:



I am sure the Imelda and the Consummate Aries had to hear the sirens at 3 am. I have not talked to them yet, but still, my thoughts go to all those people living in that apartment building that are now homeless. Can you imagine, in one evening, going from having an apartment to not having anything. It must be devastating. The Post has a great story (read it here) and in it tells how the tenants had worked with the city to have the owner fix the building and put it up to code.

There are no words to express the outrage.

I want my hour back !!!

I do not know if it works, or it does not work, but I want my hour back. What am I ranting about now, you ask, Daylight Savings time. I know I like the longer hours with day light, but all this week I have been off, and exhausted do not ask my why, but I am going to blame on Daylight savings time. I should not, because Sunday was a nice relaxed day, but come Monday I have felt this tiredness that washes over my body and makes me want to go to bed. Need some more convincing? I have napped 2 days in a row, this is more napping than I have ever made in two consecutive days. Monday got home from work and napped yesterday got home after a visit to the doctor and napped.

Anyhow, it is Wednesday, and I am still tired. Lets hope that my the end of the week I am fully adjusted, because otherwise I am going to be falling asleep on the way to work.

Some Knitting

So I know that for the last year this has been more deck than knitting, but finally I am getting around to knit a little bit more, mostly it is the Argentinians plan to keep me home and watching TV. So since I can not sit still for 1 hour, I reconnected with the knitting needles and more importantly some of old projects. The influence of the M, also known as the Crafty one, has definitely helped. As a direct result I am done with my first scarf, here is the pic:



It is a simple red scarf, with the most basic stitch (garter stitch) and the yarn is too heavy, so it can not be wrapped around the neck comforably. But hey it is a begining !

Update

This past weekend turned out to be a very positive one, I went to the UMBC swim meet, and I hate that pool, I will say this up front because I do, but even if the location is not my favorite, I still had a great time. I managed to swim almost all my events (lot my gogles in the 100 fly and did not finish the race) but I even managed to swim the 500 decently and that made me happy. I had forgotten how much fun it is to compete, even if I am the fat and slow one.

Of course I had forgotten how tiring it is, to be in a meet all day, I had no energy left Saturday. I was exhausted, completely, I could barely move. It is amazing how competing makes you so much tired than regular swimming. I think I barely swam more than 1000 yards Saturday or Sunday, but both days I felt like I had done 5000 practices. The good thing is I had plenty of distractions at home, the most important of them being the making of the Project Runway outfit, and let me tell ya it was so much fun, and so much work. I am still amazed that we all managed to go to work on Monday because between the swimming and the sowing, there was no way I could even think at all Monday.

I wish I could make justice to what happened Sunday, lets just say that I have not laughed like that in years. The good news is both the Argentine and the Crafty one wrote their own accounts. Click on the pictures to read each version of the story.

Sex ... and the city... spoiled ... a bit

Ok, so I was a huge fan, you can even ask about my infamous Cosmopolitan's in their honor, but here is the trailer that unfortunately tells us everything we need to know about the movie:



But I will still go to the movies and watch it !