Not only have i not been writing here much, I haven't been writing at all.. Except for the odd email to some of my company's new hires:


You are not the first bootcamper to cite alarm clock issues since arriving on their projects.

There was absolutely no harm done by you coming in forty-five minutes later than usual this morning since you still beat the client in,   so don’t take any of the following personally,  but just for the record (and to be perfectly clear) The "Alarm Clock malfunction" excuse, and all of it's permutations ( "Wake up call didn't come", "Slept through my alarm")  carry absolutely no weight in the real world.

There is no excuse for over-sleeping during the work week. What I mean by 'No Excuse' is that not only shouldn't it happen,  the whole idea of it should be scratched from existence.  Serengeti plainsmen have no word for Snow, and adults  should have no word for 'overslept'.  I am not being fanciful here,  I submit that our parent's never never considered Getting Out of Bed On Time a herculean task, much less considered proffering  it as an excuse.   No,   sleeping too late shouldn't even be an option. I repeat, so that it sinks in,  SLEEPING TOO LATE SHOULDN'T BE AN OPTION.   I am tempted to suggest that you make it a point of pride that no matter how drunk, or how little sleep you got, you are going to wake up and get to work on time and in the right frame of mind, but I am reluctant to encourage pride in something YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO.

I don't know what went wrong in the last thirty-some years where even the PHRASE 'sleeping through an alarm' has entered the lexicon, much less the act itself,  but my hope here to impress upon you that the phrase should be rendered NONSENSE on par with "French Resistance" and "Honey, it's alright if we miss kick-off lets pull over and help those fat chick's fix their flat tire".

I do recognize that the phenomena, however alien to me, does exists, and I can appreciate the difficulty in putting the cat back in the bag, but I encourage you to do so.

Here are some tips that might help.

1. Redundant Alarms DO NOT WORK.  I believe they cause more harm than good because they introduce the idea that the Alarm might be optional.  

2. Get more Sleep. Seriously, the 6 or 7 hour of sleep standard that has become the norm is a travesty.  Get your 8 hours (or more!).  The theoretical-goal is that you should wake up naturally without an alarm, and amongst people who consider health and performance sacrosant, this goal is practical and pragmatic.*

3. In general it’s better to  start your work day before the client  so if something happens, like traffic, or car issues, or whatever, you have time to recover.

4. If you wake and realize that you are going to be late for something, immediately call or email ahead so your lameness doesn't affect others.

5. If you do "oversleep"   you are better off just offering a brief and sincere "Sorry I am late" and withholding your excuse until you you have a private moment where you can own up to  your shameful wussiness.   I mean c'mon, you wouldn't apologize for missing a conference call with "I was about to break the high-score on Ms. Pacman so I decided to finish the game instead" , so don't try "I didn't hear my alarm". You're a grown man. Grown men have been getting to work on time since there was work to get  to.

It's what we do.


*Having won the debate about carbohydrates, and currently winning the debate about the relative ineffectiveness of exercise as a way of managing body composition, I have turned to my eye towards sleep, and a major pillar of health , longevity, and fitness. More to come on this in later posts I am sure.

There is no way to recap the last 4 months without spending all day writing, so this has to done dirty…

Not Drinking that much, last post aside, but the following drinks sit atop the stack: The Sazerac, Old Fashioned, Aviation, Last Word, A Perfect martini with Bluecoat gin and orange and grapefruit bitters.

The Camaro was stolen. Its ok though because two guys in my building watched it happened, even exchanged pleasantries with the thieves. They told me as much. I told them they were heroes for doing that much.  Someone else called security, be security can’t be bothered to check all 3 floors of the parking deck.   We caught the thieves own license plate number on camera, but even that doesn’t constitute an actionable lead to the Atlanta Police Department.   I mean, even if there was some way to magically track down the address of a car (hah, the thought makes me laugh it’s so absurd)  what’s to keep the guy from saying, “ I didn’t do It” and foiling the prosecution.  Did I mention we caught the thieves on video too?   The Sergeant who called me a couple of weeks after the event was clearly just shuffling papers: When I asked him about these leads he got very defensive, asked me how I knew about them, and then accused me of trying to tell him how to do his job.  He clearly had not read anything about  my case,  had no idea that the car was a classic (for instance).  


I spent the summer in Austin teaching 10 New Hires how to be consultants.  It was tough but I learned a lot and decided I would do it one more time, next summer.  In fact I was thinking about moving to Austin. Have been, this whole time, though the cost of selling my condo scared me off somewhat. This week Big Blue bought my company so I don’t know what the future holds now.

Oh well, I have my insurance check. I come out about seven grand light in the whole affair.  

The Cabin is done, and is awesome. I haven’t been in months though. My Client is in town, and that, paradoxically makes it harder for me to get up north (I have to work Fridays).

About not drinking too much: I did Gluten Free, high omega three paleo-diet for two weeks, but just sacrificed it on the alter of holiday convenience.   I will get back on it as soon as I get back from Kansas next week.  Can’t say I noticed any benefit:    Less acne I think.  Maybe less knee pain, but I that was about to go away anyway. The downside is I cut myself shaving yesterday and nearly bled out.  

Oh, I am hovering around 200 pounds, which was damn hard to accomplish while eating strict paleo. Milk is the key there though it is a violation of the theme.

The only new drinking spot on my list is Leon’s Full Service in Decatur. It’s pretty sweet. They serve “bacon in a glass”.  Drove the other guy out of business.  There is a ‘speakeasy’ style place called Prohibition over by Easy Andrews,  that just didn’t do it for me.  Too well lit and trying too hard.  And I usually am very forgiving about trying too hard… I had to listen to two spiels about classic cocktails and how what I want might not be on the menu, for instance.  I should have been afforded a chance to bypass that cocktail safety lecture.

I am most looking forward to Cakes and Ale, which is also in Decatur.

I should mention Drink Shop too, which is my local dive.  Eric, the head bartender, is good barman.


I haven’t had a car for a while, but have made due with Marta. If I can get to Trader Joes with 300 dollars I can last 3 to 4 weeks. The freezer stores more than Ice and Ice cream it turns out.

No new music.  Lots of recommendations… hmm, I am going to download something right now….  I know I missed some stuff, so I will be back  soon to revise and extend.

Oh yeah,  everyone had a kid or got pregnant: Alex, Rich, Trent, Andy, Dave.    A big collective congratulations!     Next post I'll reveal whose child is the best looking.

I've played with variants of this.. or rather, I think I have tried the drinks that this is a variant of:  The Diamondback and the Brooklyn. and the fancy free..  off the top of my head...   let me go check.

Diamondback

• 1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey (Rittenhouse bonded strongly recommended)
• 3/4 ounce applejack (Laird’s bonded apple brandy strongly recommended)
• 3/4 ounce Chartreuse (yellow works, but green works better)*

Nope, I was wrong about the diamond back, its way different.


THE BROOKLYN

2 ounces Bourbon whisky (I prefer Maker's Mark)

1/2 ounce Maraschino liqueur (I use Luxardo)

1 - 2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 - 2 dashes orange bitters

Ok I was pretty close here... too.

I give myself  a B.

hmmm. this smells like a whiskeytown post

Broke up with Corrie, and spent the last 6 weeks or so in Austin.  I probably will be back in  Atlanta in 6 weeks, working local company for 6 months, maybe with a new-hire in tow.   There are some other, terrorizing possibilities out there. Things have calmed down, but I put in ~80 a week for 4 weeks.

I ended up getting a half-caf cappuccino shorty after posting yesterday and my headache went away in 3o minutes.

I know I have always been caffeine sensitive, but only in that it would push my usual sleep time back an hour if I drank it in the afternoon.  However,  these withdrawal headaches probably came to be because not only had I been drinking two strong cups every day for the last couple of weeks, but also there were a couple of days where I had three. On those days I knew I had drank too much.   I think I'll probably revert back to 'only on the weekends' for a while, and then gently up the dose to a 8 ounces a day once I hit Austin. I ought to find a good decaf, since most of the time its the delicious bitterness I want, not the pep.But I have been chasing drip perfection for so long, I can't stand compromise.  Then again, I am half set on using Austin to get into the mythical BSOML (Best Shape of oh nevermind), so maybe I will ditch the caffeine and go full-on zone.  Who knows.


Congratulations are in order to Trent and Patsy, for having a beautiful baby Girl. I need to  heed my own admonishments, and spend more time with friends like these.
Speaking of Trent and Being busy:   Work has me teaching a Bookcamp, and as I was preparing I got to thinking about great consultants. And though I suspect he has weaknesses, I have never found Trent's.

Also, congratulations to Mike G for qualifying for the crossfit games after all (insert Backdoor joke here, or the  go-to "sliding into cougar's spot" quote).
The combination of events looked particularly grueling.

My own training is dogedly surviving new york: Last week I Pulled 475lbs 5 times and could have done more, except I was playing around with this new concept called responsibility. Today I pulled 450 once, quite easily, and 475 once uglywise, because I responsibility is for grumps (If you can't lift the horsepower of your muscle-car, you have too much car..... Trent).   The Cabin has a Medicine ball, jump rope and Olympic rings, so last weekend I did 5 rounds of 20 double-unders, wallballs, ring-pullups, and pushups (19:55).

Of course, after dead-lifts I can never fall asleep, so I  am dog food today (That's right, I blamed the Dead-lifts, not the Sazerac (did I mention that) or the Cappuchino. Internal consistency is for poofs)



 

New York Part two:

At the Macao Trading Company, after having just sat down and ordered a drink I checked the bartender as he turned to make my Negroni, and began explaining the modifications needed to make a “Charlotte’s Negroni”. Mid instruction he started to get distracted by happenings to my right.  I turned to see what could be so important, and saw that the woman next to me was oscillating between speechless and  gesticulation.  Though improbable, I quickly guessed that she must be Charlotte (or at least a close friend).   Eventually she overcame her fear of sounding pompous and confirmed that she was the inventor of the drink I had just ordered.

That’s a fairly remarkable coincidence.

Shortly after this, another Brand Ambassador, this one from the competing Pernod and Rickard line, sent over a Plymouth and Tonic.  
 Apparently there were many Cocktail related events in town that week and the party was moving on to Milk and Honey.  But before they left we spoke briefly about some of my favorite barmen: Rob, Borys, Big Bearded Dude at Berretta, Greg and Nick in Atlanta.

The Food at Macao is Adventurous and tasty. The Bartenders are very friendly. Definitely my go-to bar this trip.

That was the end of that week.  The next week began with a ran up the west side of the island, a long walk back, which included some street basketball (spectator) and more Grey’s papaya.  I had a late sandwich one night , and Bar Artisinal at the hotel another, and Macao Trading on the last.

This week I have eaten at Les Halles, which is fine I guess, and probably more than that for locals.   Not what I was in the mood for, but I didn’t know what else I would find in the area, and wasn’t in to mood to roam on a long Monday.

My hotel is on Wall Street, which (I think) is going to make exploring harder. I doubt I have the will for it.   I have had a very minor headache since Sunday.

All weekend Corrie and I were up at the cabin gardening or otherwise outfitting the place. Somehow along the way we went through a fifth of Bonded Rittenhouse.   Her’s with Ginger ale, mine with Cinzano Sweet Vermouth and Angostura orange bitters(Also there were 3 60minute Ales, and a glass of muscadine wine).    Of course, I am both fortunate enough to never get hangovers (and stupid enough to brag about it), but I have had a headache since Sunday.   I also had the slight bit of a chill that evening, so this could be some sort of virus, but I suspect it is Caffeine Withdrawals. Cool.

I have been drinking more coffee more consistently since I got to New York, and Sunday was my first day without it.  I  am currently deliberating between having a cup now just to see if the headache goes away (and if so getting a workout in) or riding it out the rest of the way (which may result it aggravating it further this evening if  I try to train).

I do feel that this, my first case of withdrawal, makes me more legit (keeping it real yo), but having finished season two of Breaking bad, I shouldn’t make light of stuff like that.

Breaking Bad, Season 2 was harsh and excellent.  Corrie and I also watched Doubt and Seven Pounds. Both movies were better than the swill we normally watch.  Doubt was near perfect, but I have such a short fuse when it comes to Catholicism as it is portrayed in movies that I could hardly relax. Seven Pounds was thinky, and antiusual. Will Smith was perfect in it, but I think he was a miscast none the less: It was way too distracting watching him play that character. I felt that the musical score was heavy handed too. I actually have a lot of quibbles with the artsy-fartsy direction but ultimately the story, as it was written, was always going to be difficult to make a movie out of.   I did enjoy it and I enjoy it more the more I think about it.






 

No time to write,  none to proofread. Good luck

 

New York First Week:

Got off the plane in New York at  8:00 AM, with eyes cringed by sleep and dry contacts. The cabbie drove like he was trying to be the quintessential NY Cabbie, but lacked the skill and even the common low courtesy of NY Finest, so instead came off like a drunk slow-witted Floridian.  Asshole. It’s hard for me to not give a tip, but I didn’t.

 

Checked in and had lunch at the very southern Kitchenette who served me a comforting bowl of chili and a decent but obviously bulk-prepared sandwich. Both items together comprised the well priced bleu plate special so the uninspiring sandwich was forgivable.

 

That night, for dinner, I had good food and friendly service at Blue Ribbon, which was recommended to me the bartender at Pegu club.   Pegu club had served me a Kill Devil, which I think is made with Rum, Chatruese and demara syrup, though none of those ingredients explain why the drink reminded me  of terra pan atomic fireballs.  Frankly I don't see how that drink doesn't immediately evaporate at room temperature, or explode when agitated. It was too strong for me, and too string to follow with any more alcohol.     Blue ribbon served up some sardines and steak tartar. Neither was exceptional but the bartenders and bar conversation was friendly.  

 

In the morning, after walker across Tribeca I stopped in to Kaffee 1668 for coffee, which was excellent. I go there about twice a day now. They do the cup-o-drip to order, and though a machine helps, they care enough to agitate the grounds once or twice themselves. Or maybe they only did that because I was looking.  Either way, the nice, expensive, and addictive cup of coffee, found on my first try, after a tired slow, and forgettable night, revived me and my sense of epicure destiny.

 

 

The  night I got served a shaken, bitterless Sazerac at Bar Artisinal, which lies beneath my hotel.  Thank got there were no bitters: Their absence allowed me to refuse the frothy abomination.  It was the bartender’s first night so I will withhold judgment on their bar. The food was good: Lamb Neck Bolognese was everything you would think and the Sea Urchin Custard was well done.

 

The next night I took a walk to Sotto that night and tried to cash in my ‘I ate here when here was Atlanta” chips, but the currency has expired.  The Sea Urchin wrapped in Sword Fish was good enough to make me cry.  The Soup was nowhere near as good as I remember it: I think it was slightly burned. Still, that Urchin may have been the best bit of ‘sushi’ I have ever had.

 

I couldn’t afford to eat a full meal there so I walked across town to Lombardi’s and order a small pizza which I ate out of the box on the long walk back to the hotel.   My shirt changed from white to red somewhere along the way and I nearly foundered on the pie, which was very good by not great, and not as good as C&B’s was at its best, but I really can’t complain.

 

The next night I took a nauseous cab back to LGA for an Angry Whopper and flight home.

 

Week Two (till date):

 

 

Had some good empanadas during the lunch hour at a NYC chain. Raul's, I think it was called. If not for the Gluten binge that this trip is turning into I would go back for more.

 

For dinner I stumbled into Ivo & Lulu: Which is well priced French-Caribbean with a neighborhood vibe that feels but looks nothing like Orlando’s Bravisimmo.    Ivo is small, red, and did I say small? It’s BYOB, which explains why the locals love it.

 

Tuesday night I walked tow miles up to Crossfit NYC, where they treated me like an Engine in a motor oil commercial. ( 400 feet of weighted lunges carrying 75 lbs, 80 pull-ups wearing a 30lb vest, and 120 24’’ box jumps).  I slogged back to  TriBeCa, fighting viscosity breakdown and my pouting right leg, stopping into Grey’s Papaya for the recession special.  Those dogs, all the way, and that juice,  papaya, probably saved my life.

 

That night I went to bed early, fearing a midnight raid of calf and foot arch cramps, but Corrie woke me up and afterwards I couldn’t get back to sleep. So I walked back to Pegu, thanked the bartender for the blue ribbon  recommendation, had some excellent Chicken Lolipops (jumped up honey bbq buffalo wings),  downed a well formed Sazerac, and then went back to sleep.

 

Tonight it is Macao Trading Co. It’s close to the hotel and I need to get to sleep early.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fight that I mentioned Between Atlanta's Kevin "The Kingpin" Johnson and Monte "two guns" Barrett has been seriously upgraded.  Barrett has been replaced by Devin Varagas, who like Johnson is undefeated and a legitimate prospect.. Fights like this just don't happen under normal circumstances in boxing, because boxing sucks.  Not  between undefeated prospects, not on regular tv.   This only happened because Barrett pulled out of the fight, and Vargas , who was supposed to fight some tomatocan agreed to fill the void before his manager could intercede.  I assume.

So this is fight , free on espn2 this Friday, between two guys with a combined record of forty-something and zero.  Both with skills. In truth I know little about Vargas, he is white, 17-0 and was the captian of the 04 olympic team.

You're all invited over to watch. Seriously, expect a phone call soon, telling you what to bring.

So Manny Pacqiao really is incredible.    I think Hatton froze up realizing that he had no business trying-out new skills in the ring with Manny, and consequently got beat worse that he would have not preparing at all.    Had he come in as himself he would have got beat badly too, but not that bad.   Manny is really good.    The fight went as I saw it going actually, which is why I was silent on the matter. (Don't believe me if you don't want to).