Last Friday I ended my employment with ICM. I first got the job because I thought it would be a good opportunity to gain some computer literacy, then I would move on. I originally intended to stay for 1 year max. 12 years later I’m finally out. And I’m a wee bit better than computer literate.
So now I am full time self employed and loving it. Maybe now I can actually get some work done in a timely manner. Before it was very difficult to come home after a 10 hour day at my day job and spend another 4 - 6 hours printing t-shirts or working on a website. I just couldn’t get motivated. Now I work all day and most of the evening and it doesn’t really feel like work. Well, it doesn’t when things are going well at least. Jessica seems to think I work for her now. Let’s not tell her truth OK?
So now I need to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Or at least what to do with this website. When I started this blog I purposefully set it up so ricklord.com redirects to ricklord.com/personal just in case I wanted to do something else with the website. So I’m thinking about setting it up to be more focused toward offering my database application services. I will leave this blog up where it is for friends and family, and continue with the infrequent updates, but it won’t be linked from the main page of the site.
Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.
Just got the new Nickelback album Dark Horse. So far it’s not bad in spite of what some critics who are more concerned with showing off their writing style than the music say.
Nickelback are a gnarled, vulgar band reveling in their ignorance of the very notion of taste, lacking either the smarts or savvy to wallow in bad taste so they just get ugly, knocking out knuckle-dragging riffs that seem rarefied in comparison to their thick, boneheaded words.
Give me a friggin’ break, who the hell cares? It’s good entertainment. A lot of it is too “Pop” for my taste but there’s some good, old fashioned Rock on there like “Something in Your Mouth”. Good stuff.
I love Arizona. Here I sit, in late March in Carefree AZ. And I am feeling pretty darn carefree. I’m sittingo outside with friends, assorted cheeses and good wine. Oh, and there’s a Native American jazz band playing live. Does it get any better than this?
Am I the only one who sees the similarity between Mathew McConaughey and Don Johnson? I think they are scarily alike.
Guess who just got a new Cadillac? That’s right, me! Ok it’s not new, but it’s new to me. I traded my motorcycle for it. Or as my wife puts it, I traded my Mojo for it.
Saturday we got to meet one of our favorite wine makers, Tobin (Toby) James. He was in town doing tastings at several Whole Foods stores. It was really great to finally meet him. He is a cool, down to earth guy. We chatted for a good 20 minutes. I think we convinced him to do a tasting at our favorite hang out, Cave Creek Wines next time he’s in town.
A little background: Last year we visited the Tobin James winery in Paso Robles California following the recommendation of some friends. We loved it. We joined the club, the James Gang. It is the only club we are a member of. This year we went to their summer BBQ event, which just rocked. We are waiting for our biannual shipment of wine from them now. We should have it any day now and we can’t wait!
I don’t like horizontal surfaces.
We feel the need to put “things” on them.
Then they look cluttered.
They are difficult to dust with so many “things” on them.
We went to Vegas last week for Wine Week at Smith & Wollensky’s. We also went in March so I won’t bore you with details but we had a great time. It’s always fun to just hang out with friends and enjoy good wine.
We didn’t do too much gambling. We went to our favorite sports bar at Harrahs and played video poker for a while. We figure if we are losing less than we would have spent on the drinks (which are free while you play) then we are ahead. I lost almost $20 and Jessica made $15. She doubled what she started with. She actually did much better than that but she continued to play for a bit while losing. So including tip we had spent $8.75 and between the two of us we had 4 beers and a glass of scotch. Not too bad.
After the sports bar we went to the outdoor bar/club at Harrahs. It was packed. While I was at the bar buying drinks a cute redhead bought me a shot. Yep, I’ve still got it.
It’s been so long since I’ve posted it seem a little overwhelming to try to catch up. So instead I will list some of the highlights from the last couple of months in chronological order. Here goes…
Cancun Vacation: We went to Cancun again. Had a blast. Already booked for next year. If I can find an appropriate picture I’ll post it later.
Iaido (Japanese Swordsmanship): We had our yearly testing. We had three Senseis visit from Japan for a week of intensive training and testing. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun. It was fun drinking with them after class too. Oh yeah, I passed my test.
My birthday: I’m another year older, though I feel like I’m ten years older. My Iaido test was on my birthday though so the celebration had to wait a few weeks. That was a good time. Everyone enjoyed themselves. We set up a projector out back and watched “A Tale of Zatoichi” while we relaxed in the pool.
Italian Cars and Wine: We made our yearly pilgrimage to California for the Concorso Italiano show followed by a weekend in Paso Robles. We love the wine in Paso Robles. We usually go to a different region every year but we liked Paso so much last year we went back. Plus, one of our favorite wineries, Tobin James, had a full moon shin dig while we were there so we had to go.
My brothers wedding: My brother just got married. We flew back to New Hampshire/Massachusetts for it. The wedding was very nice and it was great seeing family I haven’t seen in a long time, such as my cousins Joe and Isaac.
Seeing Old Friends: I haven’t seen my old High School buddy Adam in probably 15 years. While we were in NH we met up with him and spent a couple of hours catching up. It was great to see him. Hopefully it won’t be another 15 years before we meet again.
I think that about covers everything. I’ll try not to slack off so much in the future.
