Wednesday, June 30th 2004

While a few of us went out to lunch, I tore my nice grey trousers on a door handle at the restaurant. Dammit, I liked those pants!

I had my mid-year review this afternoon, and my manager gave me glowing reviews. Sweet. I felt pretty good after that. I just thought I'd share with you. Hmm, let the lovefest begin!

Here are the photos from the Dallas weekend trip. I'm not going to go through all the effort to put together a Trips page, so enjoy them here.

The JFK Museum (formerly the Texas School Book Depository	The Dallas Tourist Center	"Lord, save me from this stupid man."	Anju & Sunny's nicely decorated spare bedroom ... after my wife got there	Anju and Num
Lunch on Sunday	Their very nice apartment (note the awesome plasma screen)	Sunny, pretending to help out around the home	View out their living room balcony	Downtown Dallas skyline

You know, I've got 1.5 months before I'm heading to India, but my wife is leaving in only a month. It's going to be pretty lonely (and quiet) for those 1st two weeks. Maybe I should invite some strippers over.

Britney is marrying... for love!

So, this time around, it's different, because Britney says she is marrying for love. Let me be the 1st to tell her, "Shut the hell up." I'm giving this 9 months.

BTW, I finished Blood of the Fold late last night in bed. Wow, Sunday - Tuesday. I'm not going to get the 4th book yet. The way that I see it, if a book can make me wish the flight was longer, then it should come in handy when I'm on a 200-hour roundtrip flight to India, or waiting at the airport during my layover. Hell, I may just bring a few of them with me.

I go through various moods. I'm just getting out of the "I hate TV. I spend too much time in front of the TV. I should be outside. I should be reading a book. TV BAD!" I still believe in getting outside, but right now, all I want to do is watch a lot of movies. In the theater, at home. The past two days, I've watched LoTR: The Two Towers (Extended Edition, naturally). Gosh, what a great movie, and the DTS 6.1 surround sound is awesome. BTW, remember watching Land of the Lost on Saturday mornings when you were growing up? It was one of the Sid & Marty Krofft shows. Anyway, the first season is now on DVD. No, I'm not going to buy it, although I loved the show. Just like GI Joe and Transformers, I think it'll best exist in my childhood memories, and not examined in 2004 by my 28-year old eyes.

Monday, June 28th 2004

Excellent weekend, most relaxing. Although my travel on Friday night was a little sketchy, I eventually arrived in Dallas after midnight. Here's the recap:

Friday

I take a 1/2 vacation day, and pack my bags Fri afternoon. Julie drops me at the airport @ 2:30pm, and it's smooth sailing...until I get to the gate. Due to inclement in Dallas, my 4:24pm flight becomes 5:24, then 5:54pm. We board the plane at 6pm, but then due to inclement weather in Newark, we're delayed at least another hour or more. We disembark, and I walk around. I'm worried too, because other flights in the concourse were being cancelled.

Eventually, we reboarded and took off a little after 9pm. Sunny (my brother-in-law) picked me up around midnight. As you can guess, our plans to go out that night were no-go (I was supposed to arrive at 7pm.) Ah well. I had a late dinner there, and then went to sleep. Oh, we stayed at my sister and brother-in-law's apartment, thus cutting costs. It was nicer, anyway.

Saturday

Num and I went to the JFK Museum in Dallas, then we all went to see Fahrenheit 9/11, which I thought was excellent. Afterwards, a trip to the half-price bookstore (Num and I bought over $150 worth of books -- imagine how many books at half-price!) Among others, I also picked up my next Sword of Truth novel #3: Blood of the Fold. [So far, I'm on page 271, and almost halfway through.]

Books in tow, we went back home, freshened up, then went out for drinks and dinner (Cuban).

Sunday

Much sleeping in. While the women folk worked on a fabulous meatballs and polenta lunch, Sunny and I worked on getting his home theater working properly. I'm lounging on their couch, and I notice that all the TV volume is coming out of only one speaker. They thought it was normal! I did my best not to let the inner geek look incredulously at them. After testing a DVD, I knew something in the settings was up. About 30 minutes later, "Mission Accomplished." We put in The Matrix DVD, and his response was, "Oh, this is much better."

"You have problems. We have answers."

Before we left for the airport, Sunny & Anju took us for a drive in the nearby Highland Park neighborhood, where the rich folk (like Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks) live. I swear I saw houses with turrets.

Julie picked us up late Sunday night from Newark Airport, and it was good to be back. However, I wasn't looking foward to work in the morning. Needless to say, I dragged my sorry butt all the way to work Monday morning. What a trooper. Anyway, pictures will come up tomorrow or Wednesday -- I'm not in a rush.

Some quick tidbits to share, then I'm hitting the proverbial hay:

• My friend Anil has started his own personal website. Please leave dirty messages for him on my behalf. Senor, good luck, and enjoy!
• Escorts and strippers are getting ready to make that paper when the GOP Convention comes to NYC this summer.
• The NJ Nets may be dismantled this season? The Lakers are stuck, if you ask me, because of Kobe. Finally, the Houston Rockets and the Orlando Magic have finalized what I think is a monster deal: Tracy McGrady for Stevie Francis, plus a switch of role players to either side.

I can't believe that July 4th is right around the corner (this weekend), Spiderman 2 is coming out on Wednesday, and our summer half-day Fridays start this week. Where does the time go?

Thursday, June 24th 2004

Okay, it's now 3:12am, and I'm still up. The good news is that.... [insert melodramatic voice] "This apartment.....IS.....CLEAN!" There's empty floor again (skillful shifting of paper piles, really), I Pet Fresh'd and vacuumed, and even scrubbed the bathtub. Let's not forget the 4 bags of trash I took down. Oh yeah, and I did a load of whites in the laundry. I'm Mr. Mom!

Speaking of cleaning up, I put my wife's shoes away. Ladies, how many pairs of shoes do you need? I think my wife has those wooden Dutch shoes. Seriously, who needs wooden shoes? I went looking for the matching purse that was shaped like a birdhouse, but couldn't find it.

Amit & Lakshmi

Julie and I watched Kill Bill vol. 1 on DVD, while I folded my clothes. She didn't like it. Go figure. BTW, Julie is staying here to watch Missy. She's so sweet.

Uh, so an Indian steel tycoon paid [drum roll] $60 million for his daughter's wedding. He had a makeshift castle built for the 6-day celebration. I don't even know what to say about this. That's...just a lot of money.

Well, this is it. I'm mostly packed up, with a few items left at the cleaners to pick up tomorrow. I'm taking a half day, and hope to be back here to wrap things up at home, then head to the airport for my 4:30pm flight. I'll be in Dallas to visit the wife, Anju (my sister-in-law), and her husband Sunny. Num is already staying at their apartment, and I'll be joining them. Num and I will be flying back Sunday night.

Have a good weekend, see you all next week!

Wednesday, June 23rd 2004

I've lost 6 pounds since April. Woohoo!

I also watched Master & Commander tonight. Good movie. According to Paul, the movie is based on the Master and Commander series of books. The "Far Side of the World" part of the title is the name of the 1st book in the series. Interesting! I was wondering too, because the movie kind of leaves you hanging.....slightly.

Joel Trivia #19: I need all the bills in my wallet arranged facing the same way and in denomination order at all times.

Tuesday, June 22nd 2004

Neil & Megha's engagement

It's 1:53am, so here's the 5-second recap:

• I uploaded the pictures from Neil and Megha's engagement party from Saturday, June 12th. They're on the Friends page.
• Did you like The Exorcist in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies? How about Titanic or The Shining? They're now online.
• My Mom came back from India today. Dad & Julie picked her up. I met up with them, and we went to TGI Friday's. I had the BBQ Chicken Salad. That's right, a salad.
• Wondering why I had a salad? Because someone who's been on a business trip for 2 weeks saw me today, and asked if I had lost weight. You're damn right I had a salad tonight. Why screw up a good thing?

  ---

Monday, June 21st 2004

I'm beat. I am just so tired. I fell asleep on the couch last night, didn't even care to move. I woke up this morning at 6:56am (no alarm clock necessary!), and decided to take the day off. Yeah yeah, I know. I need to save up my vacation days for India, but I needed today off. Don't call it a vacation day -- call it a "Mental Health" day. I'll clean up, do some riding, and maybe some studying too.

Cool new sites to share.

• MovieWeb has movie posters, movie news and reviews. I started using them as a source for movie posters.
• In the market for a new phone? Phone Scoop has the upcoming pictures and details on new phones from the major manufacturers, and will even tell when it's coming out, and who will be offering it.

Personally, I'm going to switch to Verizon Wireless this summer/fall, so I can stop coveting the Motorola v710. It's color, got a 1.2 megapixel camera, and a flash! Oooooooh, aaaaaaaaahhhh. I'm mostly happy with T-Mobile, but maybe they should offer some new cool phones. So far, I'm not impressed.

Update: 1:31am

I'm still up. I'm washing a loveseat cushion cover, and a pillow cover, in the laundry room downstairs. Also, I'm using good old Nature's Miracle on the cushions to remove "pet stains & odor" (stupid cat).

I rode 26 miles this evening, and rushed back so I could get a haircut and pick up the above-mentioned Nature's Miracle cleaner. I also picked up the Velvet Revolver album, and 3 movies from Blockbuster: Bad Boys II, Master & Commander, and Shanghai Noon. The unfortunate part: I realized that I wanted the sequel Shanghai Knights. Oh well, at least it was free, because I've already seen it.

Good deal alert: Barnes & Noble is running a sweet deal on DVDs in their stores (not online) -- Buy any 2 DVDs, Get the 3rd free. The sale ends June 30th, so make sure you take advantage. Remember, this is only in the brick-and-mortar stores.

Did you know schoolkids are trying to cheat during exams by using their mobile phones? An Italian institute has found a way to block mobile phone service within a specific area. I love technology that makes kids miserable. Call it cosmic justice.

I had some free time, so I watched Bad Boys II tonight. It wasn't so bad.

Sunday, June 20th 2004

Took Num to the airport at 8:30am, and after driving away from Terminal 1, I didn't feel my wallet in my pocket. What?! Did I drop my wallet outside while dropping her off? Flashbacks to picking up my sister at Newark a few months ago, when she had dropped her cell phone in front of Terminal 2 after I picked her up (as she entered the car). Luckily, we drove all the way back from the GS Parkway, and the phone was still sitting there on the ground.

Anyway, I peel around the airport at great speed to get back to Terminal 1, and screeched to a stop to where I was parked. Nothing. Now I'm freaking out, because I'm thinking stolen credit cards, ATM card, my ugly NJ driver's license, identity theft, etc. Then I realize that if I cancel the cards, how is Num going to rent her rental car in 4 hours in Dallas? Crap!

Hoping that I dropped it at the apartment parking lot, I race home, but on the GS Parkway, all traffic has stopped. A pit bull is running around on the Parkway. I get out of the car, and try to catch it, but the dog is way too fast, and continues southbound on the northbound left lane. I start running after it with another guy, but it's far ahead now. Thankfully, I see a cop car in the distance coming up in the left lane, so I'm hoping he helped rescue the dog.

Back in the car, I scream back to Glen Ridge, and start searching the parking spot. Nothing. The sidewalk to the front door? Nothing. The stairs up? Nothing. The front door? Nothing.

My dresser, where I keep my wallet and keys? It's sitting right there. Phew!

In the afternoon, Doug and I went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. We tried to get dinner somewhere with Mike, but we couldn't find something without a long wait. Eventually, it was too late, so Doug and I just got dinner at Wendy's in Rutherford.

BTW, Forensic Files on CourtTV is my new favorite show. I used to catch it once in a blue moon, when I'd fly in for work somewhere. I invariably couldn't sleep, so I'd stay up Sunday nights in the hotel room, and the show would be on. Now that I can Tivo it, I'm watching it more than once in a while. Today, the network ran a marathon. I think I actually saw smoke coming out of the Tivo unit as it tried to record it.

Saturday, June 19th 2004

Call it "Running Around Day". Grocery shopping, cooking, and Lesh's housewarming party in the evening.

Lesh's party

Party was good, our potato salad and shrimp/sausage jambalaya was a hit, and I did plenty of the chopping, peeling, dicing, and cooking to help the wifey.

After we got back around 2am, I fell asleep, woke up at 4am, and started doing the laundry. Num is flying out Sunday morning for Dallas. Must hurry!

Friday, June 18th 2004

The day itself was pretty mundane, except Num and I took the train in together. Why? Because she had things to do, you nosy SOB. She came upstairs to my floor, met my boss and a few others, we had breakfast in the cafeteria (hmm, yum!), and then she was off. And I was stuck in the office doing....work. Had lunch with Doug at Outback Steakhouse on 23rd (let me go on record to state that our waiter was a moron), and back to work. Num and I took the 4:50pm train back home.

Kenar's party

As soon as we got home, we got all dressed up for Kenar's suprise graduation party. We had long considered just driving into Manhattan, changing at my office, and driving straight, but we realized there was no point in killing ourselves just to make it to Long Island for the "surprise" part of the party (at 7pm). So we went home, changed, etc. Hell, we just want to be there and eat anyway.

So instead of driving from Manhattan at 5pm, we left from our home at 6:45pm, all clean and gussied up. As I bended time and space to get there, we arrived around 7:30pm, and lo and behold! Kenar had not arrived.

Joel's score? 2,076. The Universe? 6. You do the math. Who da' man?

Thursday, June 17th 2004

Here's some irony for you. I had an NYIIA organizational meeting (with lunch) from 12 noon to 3pm today. Most people were attending, then going home (thus not returning to the office). We finished today at 2:30, and I could have gone home, but I was meeting Doug at 6:30pm to go watch Shrek 2. Hour after hour passes, but he's held up with some work. At 6:45, we decide to postpone it. It's okay -- we'll just blame Doug's boss.

If we knew he was going to get this last-minute project tonight, I could have been home at 3:30 today. Instead, I get home close to 9pm. Sigh. I spent my time reading Stone of Tears, and I finished the book. 982 pages total, but I finished close to 100 today. Now I just need to order Blood of the Fold!

Maxim Magazine has come up with their Hot 100 list of 2004 -- the hottest women in film, TV, music, sports and fashion. Here's the list, according to USA Today. I guess Jessica Simpson could be #1, and Beyonce Knowles at #2, but Christina Aguilera as #3?

I just thought of a new pet peeve: "Elevator Assholes".

Wednesday, June 16th 2004

Sometimes I hate mass transit. Although I appreciate the benefits, I sure am tired of running to catch a train.

My coworkers Patty, Abby, Olivia, and Jorge all got promoted today to Auditor or Senior Auditor. I'm very happy for them. It's about time! Also, my mentoring [see June 15th entry] went well today too. The new trainee is nice, just graduated, and has a good attitude. I didn't fill her head with too much fake info.

Caught the train with a coworker to Roselle Park, who drove me to Union to pick up my car. I'm still in shock over the bill. Had to get an oil change, new wiper inserts, and I asked them to examine the brakes, as the steering wheel shakes during braking. Turns out, the front rotors had to be resurfaced (again), and the rear pads needed to be replaced. Total damage? $694.

When it rains, it pours.

I just got home with the car, with a few minutes to spare before we go meet my in-laws for an early Father's Day dinner. (This weekend is jam-packed). Anyway, I can't wait to come home tonight, and just rest.

Tuesday, June 15th 2004

Here's the 5 minute recap:

• Deeeeee-troit!
• I'm mentoring the new trainee, who is starting Wednesday. Most people's request to me? "Be nice to her!" Who? Me?
• The cat urinated on the bed. On my side of the bed. On the pillow. If she wanted to give me a message, a horsehead would have been easier to clean.
• We bought 33 lbs of cat litter, and bulk Fancy Feast from BJ's, then got dinner, and dropped off the car at the dealer for servicing.
• Laundry!
• As the bed is soaked in cat urine cleaner, we're sleeping in the living room. Nice.

That was the day.

Monday, June 14th 2004

Stone of Tears

The minor website renovations are taking place. Please note the new "Interesting Facts" section. I'm not going to write about what I had for dinner, what music I play, or how I'm feeling. I'll be a little more interesting than that.

"Hell no, we won't... watch women do it."

Velvet Revolver

Currently Stone of Tears, which is the 2nd book of the Sword of Truth series. Doug bought me the 1st book for Christmas, but I didn't read it for over a year. Now, I can't put them down.

This is interesting: there's a Bollywood movie about lesbians that just came out, and now Hindus are rioting outside movie theaters in India against it. From what I've read, the movie was doing poorly at the box office, and probably would have quietly disappeard, until the religious folks started drawing attention to it.

Have you heard about Velvet Revolver? Jimboy wrote about it, and then I went looking into it. Three band members, including Slash, from the old Guns N' Roses, and Scott Weiland (of Stone Temple Pilots fame) as the front man. How cool is that? Early reviews online have given their upcoming album Contraband a big thumbs up.

You know, I went to a Family Values concert at The Palace in Auburn Hills Michigan about 2 years ago, and Scott Weiland, Staind, and a few others were performing. At the end of his performance, Scott Weiland flashed everyone, and I saw "little Scott".

I don't think that I need to mention this, but it wasn't something I needed to see.

Sunday, June 13th 2004

Go Detroit! Great game tonight, and the Pistons can win it all on Tuesday, if they want it badly enough. Make Paul and the boys proud!

I want to know:

• how bad an argument has to be that you have to start shooting your gun at your son's birthday party, at McDonald's.
• has there been worse weekend violence in Iraq than this one?
• that it isn't true that Armstrong has been doping since 1998. Tell me it ain't so. I've of heard of cyclists being bounced after testing positive. Lance should have taken the same tests, and he's still competing.

On Friday, Namita and I went to see The Stepford Wives remake. I'm going to go on the record now, and declare that it didn't make sense. Also, Bette Midler, after her transformation in the movie, was not very believable acting. The movie had its moments, but it progressively didn't make sense.

On Saturday, we went to Neil & Megha's engagement party, but I left the Sony Memory Stick in the computer. What an idiot, and so many of our friends were there. Well, Krupa took some pictures on her digital (I used it too), so she's supposed to email me pics. I'll try to remind her later this week. It was a very good time. Num and I danced until the last dance (Michael Jackson's Billy Jean, if you must know).

Today, we didn't make it to church, since we got back late last night. This afternoon, I watched Underworld (borrowed the fullscreen DVD from Doug -- I hate fullscreen movies), and it was alright. At least it gave my surround system a workout. Afterwards, I went riding to Wood-Ridge and back 25.3 miles, and I've now hit 304 miles since March. Yee-haw.

Lastly, I've published all the Philly trip pictures (no captions yet) that I have, hoping to get more from Paulie one fine day. Maybe after he stops celebrating.

Thursday, June 10th 2004

I'm glad this week is over. Now I can just stay home in the wonderful air conditioned apartment. I'm not saying my office is humid or warm, but darn that walk to and from work is warm. I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday, coming out of the office for the 1st time all day, and I was immediately covered by the humidity. Yech.

We're strongly considering staying at a resort for 2-3 days while we're in India. Why am I mentioning this? Because they're website doesn't just say "Please send us your comments", but "Give us a tinkle." Uh, what? Even better -- you send the email (or "tinkle"), and they respond, "Thank you for patronising us."

Yeah, and your Mom is fat too.

Volunteered today at Project KittyKind, through NYL's Volunteer for Life program. I changed into jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt, and walked down to the 17th St & Broadway Petco. Volunteers help out every Thursday evening from 4-6pm with cleaning cages, replacing food, and giving the cats some love and affection. Watching two cats stuck in a cage, bored, with some just sleeping in the aluminum litter pan (same type for cooking), I think of our cat, and how she has it so good. I really felt bad for the cats there, waiting for a home, day-in, day-out.

Walking to Penn Station yesterday, I was ruminating about my own mortality. I started wondering how/when I was going to die. Sorry, not to be morbid, but you gotta get curious. I mean, car accident? Freak disease? Old age? A mugging gone wrong? Starting 3 years ago, add terrorist attack. I'm not worried or anything, because I'll go when the good Lord takes me. However, when I was younger (slightly younger than now), I really didn't think about it at all. I mean, hey, I die, I die.

Now, I think that if I die, someone will miss me. My wife. Kids too, I guess. Makes you want to be more careful, because your life isn't just about you anymore. Other people are relying on you to be there.

Not my cat, of course. Stupid cat.

Monday, June 7th 2004

Added the Tivo unit to the Toys page. About time, I guess. Ooh, speaking of Tivo, watched an episode of Law & Order: SVU off of Tivo. Damn good, I tell you. Called Countdown, the detectives work around the clock to find an abducted girl when clues point to a serial murderer and rapist who kills his victims on the third day. It was really full of tension. Love this show.

Was on iFilm this evening, and saw some interesting trailers. However, 2 of the movies are really f*cked up, so I don't even know if I want to see them.

1. Saw - starring Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Dina Meyer. Watch the trailer. I don't think I'd want to sit through a whole movie about this kind of gore. I just wouldn't be able to sleep. Imagine that -- I wouldn't be able to sleep, because of a Cary Elwes movie.
2. Ju-On: The Grudge - the same director as the original "Ring" movie, Ringu. Looked rather creepy. I might stay away, as I'm a pansy in regards to horror movies. I heard that it's being remade here, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. Anyway, what's up with that freaky little kid in the trailer? Nothing like a pasty white Japanese kid sitting on your bed to freak you out.
3. The Village - the new Mr. Shamalama-ding-dong (sorry, made that joke already. I mean, M. Night Shyamalan) movie coming this July. I think I will chance it, and watch this.

Sunday, June 6th 2004

After church, went to Ranjith & Priya's place in Metuchen for lunch. Actually, I wrote them 2 days ago, and invited ourselves over. I'm a piece of work, ain't I?

Num and Plexy	Ranjith, so suave and smoky	Priya and Num, screwing up my pic
Lesh, keeping warm by the grill	Ranjith	Me

Eric Benet & ex-wife Halle Berry

I think the word of the day is "Paneer" (Indian cheese), because that was the hit of the BBQ parade. I must say, Ranjith did a very good job grilling, and following orders from Priya.

Halle Berry's super-successful (not) ex-husband Eric Benet, being such a swell guy, is challenging their prenuptial agreement, and is seeking spousal support. Spousal support. Get a job, you jackass.

And yesterday, Jennifer Lopez reportedly married Marc Anthony in a small ceremony at her home in LA. I'm going to take this moment to laugh my ass off. 3rd time's the charm, baby!

Saturday, June 5th 2004

Didn't have to go anywhere, and it was damn fine.

Friday, June 4th 2004

So as I'm walking to the office on Friday morning, I see lots of fire trucks and even more people outside on the sidewalk. What gives? Turns out, a lot. There was a fire or something, and both office buildings were evacuated. I walked over to the Madison Ave & 26th St corner of Madison Square Park, which is where my department recovers to in an emergency, and found a number of auditors milling around. Turns out, it wasn't a fire drill, but that people on my floor started smelling smoke a little after 9am.

Fire!	Auditors	Look! The cafeteria workers! In chef hats!

We spent some quality time in the park, enjoying the nice weather, and didn't get back into the office until after noon. By that time, the whole workday was shot, because no one is really paying attention. Just glad it wasn't raining. I would have gone home. Seriously.

In the evening, Num met me (again), and we went to the NY IIA Carnevale awards dinner at Sal Anthony's SPQR down in Little Italy. I got recognized for volunteering, and we had a nice Italian dinner. We considered waiting around for dessert, but we decided to try to catch an earlier train (versus waiting on the buffet line for cheesecake, tiramisu, etc.) Guess what? We made the train, and didn't even have to run to catch it. My friends, that's an accomplishment for us.

That's me, getting recognized. Recognize me?	Num and I, at a dinner for auditors. Yikes.

Thursday, June 3rd 2004

Nice night! Went to the NY Metro ISACA Wasserman awards dinner, and Num was nice enough to accompany me as my date. Business/Business Casual, so nothing super-fancy, but it was a nice dinner and cruise around (not totally around, mind you) the island of Manhattan. David, Yonique, Karen, and Russell (most of the I.S. Audit team, sans my boss Jack) attended, with dates. The cruise was a nice bit o' fun away from home.

The Spirit of NY	Num, Karen, Yonique, David, myself	Num, Karen, Yonique	David, myself
Yonique winning some award	Credit Suisse, NYL, and the Empire State Building	One beautiful lady

Num and her Tablet PC

Also in the Ipe news department, Num just got her new Fujitsu Tablet PC to play around with, before the next school year. Her school is moving towards this whole "E-classroom" thing, so she's practicing this summer.

Standing on the deck of the cruise ship, I was thinking how the Statue of Liberty is spectacular, an awesome symbol of our country, and just wonderful. And to think, it was a gift from France.

Wednesday, June 2nd 2004

Num and I visited my parents for dinner tonight. My Mom is flying to India for 2 weeks, and tonight was her only night off. Also, we're busy Thursday and Friday night.

What's wrong with the world? New Jersey has declared that "Ladies' Night" is discriminatory and illegal, because some cheap guy sued. Dude, whatever gets the girls to the clubs is worth it. Also, a slice of pizza in NYC is going up to $2. Argh!

Missy spent a good 10 minutes hunting a moth flying around the living room. It was hilarious, but then she ate it. Gross.

Tuesday, June 1st 2004

Wow, June. I can't believe it. Can you? I definitely appreciate business casual, as I was hot without wearing a suit jacket today.

Relatively quiet day at the office. My right knee is bothering me, possibly because of all the hard riding this past weekend. Incidently, I've biked 278 road miles this year, since March. I'm hoping to go riding with my buddy Gary this Saturday, but we'll see. If I have to, I'll ride solo, but riding with a riding partner is more fun. Speaking of riding, the Giro d'Italia is over, and Num is very glad. I think she was pretty sick of seeing "Bicycle Racing" listed on Tivo. She's got a break until July 3rd, when the Tour de France starts. Oooh, poor woman. A whole month of bicycle racing.

I've started playing around with colors and layout regarding the joelipe.com redesign. Eh, why not, you know? Here's the test page I'm working on, and I hope to roll something out around July 1st. Please, no crying or moaning, because nothing is final. All I've done is some experimentation. In fact, if you really like something, or really hate something, please let me know. I'd appreciate the feedback.