A good last day

3 days ago I worked my last day at the plant. It was a rare Friday that JV went into the office rather than work from home, and it was nice to have her along. Resigning from there to leave for my new job still feels like the right choice, and so timely, but one can't help but feel a little nervous, sad, awkward, and a bit alone in doing so. It is really the first, and easily the most significant job I've ever quit. Besides, I know how lucky I am to have spent the last year+ commuting nearly every day with the single most important person in my life. What a great thing.

My last day started by dropping off one of my two laptops with my boss. Shortly after, I went to the dentist, to get my teeth cleaned. I decided I like Austin Family Dentistry, that I switched to recently. Hope I can keep that dentist with my new bene's.

My manager sponsored a good-bye lunch at my choice of venue. Nope, no sheet-cake in The Market for me, thank gawd! No offense if cake is your thing, but I swear, after years of cake events I'm starting to negatively associate cake with painfully awkward work interactions. Anyway, I considered suggesting anywhere from Lapellah all the way to Cathedral Tapatia for the lunch. The former is a new-ish place we often go to happy-hour these days. The latter is a cheesy Mexican restaurant, that has changed ownership multiple times since we first went there. Apparently the building was originally an actual church and it still looks like a pre-fab suburban cathedral. We once referred to it as the "Church-o-Beer." More importantly it was the place I met my first work-friends, many of whom I'm still pretty close with. Many members of the original core "happy hour crew" have already moved on from the empire, and now I have, but boy did we blow through a slew of local Mexican and Pizza places, to drown our work sorrows, over the past 9 years. Great times. I already have tons of nostalgia for those days.

I ended up choosing Pizzicato. It seemed like a good middle-ground/crowd-pleaser for the only people invited, my team. I went there on many a past boring and intense work days with the two of my team members that I'd worked with the longest. It offers pizza for the Friday-pizza lovers, yet it's a bit fancified for the Danno like tastes of the group. Apparently I've become a "pizza snob" who likes exotic toppings and sauces. I like cheesy pizza as much as the next guy, but I try to focus on pie that is not extremely heavy, barely cooked-through, and laden with toppings that it makes you feel sick after only two slices.

The lunch started out a bit awkwardly because it was counter, rather than table service. My boss gave me his AmEx and just told me to put it on that, but for some reason I thought he wanted me to forge his signature too. Apparently he wanted me to bring it back to the table for him to sign, which I didn't do, instead scribbling a forged signature. Oops! I returned 2 cards to him, his and my own corporate AmExc, in doing so checking-off another item on the "Termination checklist" that I've been going through all week. Happily, the 3 "Giant" 18 inch pizzas didn't take any longer than 20 min to get to the table. They were delicious, and the teeny-bopper waitress was amazed to see 8 nerds consume all but 2 slices. The two remaining were of the vegetarian "Puttanesca" (by far the least popular) which I took back for JV, who was grateful because she skipped lunch. As lunch concluded I thanked the team again, giving them credit for their influence in "the tricks" that got me my new job. They razzed me a bit about being a slacker and/or for jumping ship, all of which I deserved.

After lunch, Juliana sat in my cube while I filled out the wholly impersonal, corporate, online, exit-interview survey with a few concise words about why I wanted to discontinue my stint as a proverbial cog in the empirical wheel. I also had one last instant-messenger exchange with my final "work-wife", our good friend Sarah. Work-wife is an expression my neighbor Rob first told me to describe someone you see at work, possibly more than you see your actual wife. I thought that was hilarious, although not really true for me. Sarah works from home on Fridays, and had wish me luck in person the day prior.

Juliana went back to her desk while I went to find my boss and check-off some final exit items. Ironically, the majority of my team was in a conference room, talking about the candidates that could back fill my position. It makes me feel good that they could rescue someone that was recently put in the WFR (layoff) process. That person can hopefully climb back aboard for a while, in my stead. My teammates gave me one last hearty handshake as I gave Jon my badge and wished them all well. It was perfect. Far less awkward than I had expected. Throughout the day they said such warm and genuine things to me. I hope I sounded that sincere in the past when others have left. It'll be hard not to miss the smart and down-to-earth people that work there.

My last dilemma was whether to send the cliche, "Farewell" email. I really hate them. I remember Fridays during many past layoffs, where you saw dozens of good-bye blast-o-grams on Friday afternoon. Then there is also the occasional "leaving for bigger and better things email." Both are often totally depressing. I was telling myself that I'd simply spare everyone, including myself.

But it's weird, it's like you just have to send something. There's something that seems so incomplete about just handing over your id-badge and walking out the door. I know that people leave companies all the time without telling anyone, especially when they quit suddenly or are fired and walked out, but mine wasn't one of those situations. Like it or not, you spend much of your life in these offices, in "cubies" as my sister calls them, and interact with these people for months, if not years, of your life. Sometimes you get to know them and their quirks better than you know some members of your own family. It's rarely a good feeling to get one of the "See-ya", "Take-care", "Off to bigger and better things", with an often seemingly disingenuous "Keep in Touch!" sentiment, but in the end maybe it's necessary. I guess I'm glad to know when someone is leaving, and more importantly, when they are gone.

Anyway, here was mine:

Subject: Farewell

I tried to catch up with everyone to say this personally, but I am sorry if I missed you. So I hurriedly took your emails from my OC list. Please forward this to those I’ve missed who ask what’s become of me.

Thank you for your part in some great years working at here.

Farewell. Stay in touch! My LinkedIn is below. Please link-up if we aren’t already.

If you prefer a mix of benign (social) static and (professional) noise from me, then find me on Twitter. I am going to attempt to become an avid Twitter...er, in my new gig.

Cheers!

Signing-Off,

Dan

The Walls... The Walls...

Before amusing myself by pondering choice-based multiple dimension theories, I used to be entertained by another sci-fi/Twilight-Zone premise. It's the one where we are all simply rats in a maze or fish in a fish-bowl. It's fun to think that my life and the stimuli I react to is really being manipulated by some benevelant and/or alien being for their own amusement. Yeah, I'm a dork. Sometimes though, it's amazing how things either seem to happen for a reason, or something seemingly appears out of the blue that at the right time. Like random song lyrics.

For years I've heard people say "The Writing is on the wall". Recently, another guy said to me that he thinks "the walls are falling" Is that the natural progression for shaky walls, first writing-on-them and then tumbling? Anyway, this, is a song Juliana and I heard on the way to work yesterday.

The Walls Are Coming Down
by Fanfarlo

They swallowed it whole, they went for the gold, for the gold
We fall for the same lies we all have the same shoes to fit

The preachers and books of your empire will fight here alone
Some day they will be forgotten and die one by one

The walls the walls are coming down
The here and now is coming round
It will some day let you down
The ships the ships are coming in
The great ideas are wearing thin
There is nothing left to do

For atoms have gone as far as atoms will go
Your books write themselves
They line up in row after row

The walls the walls are coming down
The here and now is coming round
It will some day let you down
The ships the ships are coming in
The great ideas are wearing thin
There is nothing left to do

Riding High

It's not yet Thanksgiving and I'm already looking back, so grateful for this year, one of the best we've ever had. The Summer and Fall of 09 will be remembered for family, tastes, music, hope, and incredible experiences. Fall is here, heck it's almost Winter, and maybe it's because of El Nino, but I swear I can still feel the warmth of the Summer lingering. Despite the wind and rain yesterday, I have a good feeling seeing Fall merge into Winter.

This year we were lucky to have all of Juliana's immediate family visit us, almost continuously from about mid-July to mid-October. That time flew by and was so fun. It somehow seemed easier and more natural than last year. Maybe it was because we were a little more settled in our little old house and less stressed-out by its inherent financial-burden, risk, and responsibility. Even Crazy Marci is less stressful and more amusing. Or perhaps we were simply more at peace with the instability of our jobs. Or maybe... and this is the primary reason, it's just because Juliana's family is so awesome. First Tiana, David, and Leo, and then the Ron and Jean progressively broke-through our hard outer-shells of jadedness. The shells are the ones that formed around us during the rainy, cold, and dank 08/09 Winter.

Per usual, the islanders forced us to take-it-easy, go outside, and have some fun. They were constant companions for the Toga-bear, Zoo-goers, hiking buddies, home-improvers, and advice-givers. Ron and Jean even stayed long enough to shiver with us as Fall set in, scramble to help better insulate this old house, and then lay low, recovering from nasty colds for a week, before going back to their Garden Isle. People always give me credit for "putting up" with my in-laws for a lengthy visit each year. Although I do sometimes indulge in that married-guy camaraderie/sympathy, having them around much more like having friends staying with us for the Summer. These days Juliana and I aren't too skilled at making new friends, so it's great to have such amazing family, willing to travel so far, to hang out with us.

All of this time with Juliana's family does make me miss my family. Juliana is making a valient effort to be as thoughtful of birthdays and occasions as my Mom is. We're going to visit WI at Thanksgiving. Angst seems to erupt in advance of me swooping in, but I don't care. I can't wait to see my folks.

Music was a pervasive part of the year, as it often is. During the glorious mid and late Northwest Summer, I was thankful once again to be able to bike to and from work. I contend that a perfect rhythm can be found between man and peddal bike, and that's only enhanced when good music is along for the ride. We've seen some amazing concerts in 09, and there will be more before the year is through. Just yesterday I was blasting The Dimes now finished new album on the living room stereo. You know it's an extraordinary year when Pearl Jam releases a typically disjoint, but positive and poppy album of songs! Juliana's phone is often streaming Pandora internet radio, through the small "boom-box" we have, blaring it out the window onto the new patio.

On Saturday, the Sony-iPhone-boom-box gizmotch was on the front porch, motivating us with music through the first-round of massive maple leaf raking and yard cleanup. Before that, we spent Friday night with our current BFFs, the Clays, at one of their typical rock-star/popular-kid parties and then again on Sunday night to enjoy more of Season-1 of Sopranos. We saw our old friend neighbor-Rob (and Elizabeth) Saturday night. They graciously invited us to party with their new neighborhood buddies. The Packers won, the Vikings lost. What can I say. It was a perfect Fall weekend with a perfect mix of GSD/work, down-time, and fun.

More prominent than all the other gastronomical extravaganzas this year, this was the Summer and Fall of the fresh fig. I've never tasted anything like a fresh fig. There were only a few ripe in July, when Juliana pointed the first tree to me. As the Summer wore on, there were hundreds, and we were seemingly the only people around who cared. We proceeded to scout out and find about 3 more trees within a short walk, one a mere stone's throw from our new back patio, in the alley. A little research will tell you there are dozens of varieties of fig. Not only that, but you'd be hard pressed to find a more perfect fruit. They're a extremely healthy fresh, incredibly efficient (you don't need to peal them or even spit out a pit), and not to mention they are a fabulous ingredient for culinary masterpieces. I have finally sampled caramelized onion, fig, and goat-cheese pizza. It's sublime, even on whole wheat dough.

I've made quite a few posts attempting to describe this year's Vacations. Our holidays were successful thanks to great planning. Luckily, I have someone very dear to me who loves to plan! It is really good that we spent this year slacking, going on holiday, and burning through PTO-from-work like there is no tomorrow. I did surf this year in Hawaii, but I haven't yet accomplished my goal of doing it on the Oregon or Washington coast.

We liquidated some of our over investment in company stock to pay for the adventures and home improvements. As it turns out, even if we hadn't, I would have had to divest myself of much of that funny money, about now, anyway. It's almost like it was all meant to be. Life is what happens while you plan, however sometimes an opportunity comes up that you didn't plan for. I'm about to go start a brand-new work adventure. My new job will inevitably take more of my time and energy than I can possibly fathom, but from where I stand right now, this change is exciting and hopeful. I'm trying to enjoy the moment.

My superstition tells me that odd-numbered calendar years tend to be better for us Sligherallis, than even-numbered ones are. Though, maybe I have 2008's upheaval, work, stress, and perseverance to thank for the relative calm, fun new routines, and other extraordinary experiences we've enjoyed throughout this year. Is 2009 the proverbial calm before the storm. Perhaps, but I'm confident and hopeful nonetheless. How could I not be? Life is good.

Pearl Jam's "Amongst The Waves"

What used to be a house of cards
Has turned into a reservoir
Save the tears that were waterfalling
Let's go swim tonight, darlin'

And once outside the undertow
Just you and me and nothin' more
If not for love I would be drownin
I've seen it work both ways

But I am up
Riding high amongst the waves
I can feel like I
Have a soul that has been saved
I can feel like I've
Put away my early grave
I gotta say it now
Better now than too late

Remember back the early days
When you were young and thus amazed
Suddenly the channel changed
the first time you saw blood

Cut to later now you're strong
You've bled yourself the wounds are gone
It's rare when there's nothing wrong

Survive and you're amongst the fittest
Love ain't love until you give it up

Riding high amongst the waves
I can feel like I
Have a soul that has been saved
I can see the light
Coming through the clouds in rays
I gotta say it now
Better now than too late

Adventures Overseas

It is impossible to completely describe our recent trip to London, and parts of Italy. Suffice it to say, it was an great adventure. This trip was 10 days long and had far too many highlights to recount. It was a true "Juliana vacation": Expertly planned, incredibly fast-paced, very active, food-focused, and wildly fun. Here's an attempt to describe a few highlights, and even a few bumps, in random order.

Juliana's planning for this trip was intensive, elaborate, and months-in-advance. There was an important family component. It was so great to be able to leave the SarahToga with Ron and Jean at our house. She loves being their hiking buddy while they visit the PNW. We're immensely grateful that they could watch her while we were away, and keep an eye on the place. Not to mention reparing some things around the house while we were gone!

We also had the privilege to meet some of Juliana's extended family (cousins) in Tuscany, who live near to where Juliana's Great-Grandparents had lived before emmigrating to the US. We were merely tourists on much of the trip, but the family welcome in Tuscany made us feel like visiting Royalty. What an incredible experience to meet such warm and generous people. I dug out the least wrinkled shirt out of my backpack (all we packed), put on some non-hiking shoes, matted-down my cowlick, and tried my darndest to be polite while not knowing a word of Italian. It took the utmost concentration to keep-up with the lively conversation while similtaneously gorging myself on the delicious food and wine.

A weekend in London was added as the first destination because I'd never been there before. The Tower of London (which we toured and stayed near) is surrounded by sites, culture, and history. We both agreed that our gut-feel is that London seems very livable. The Burrough Market was as amazing as any great public food market I've ever been to. The in-flight magazine put it right alongside Portland's Farmers Market, and Vancouver B.C.'s Granville Island Market, both of which we love. It was at the market where we first experienced one of the recurring themes in the trip. Beware the wrath of Juliana if you cut in front of her in a queue. Her wrath escalated over into Italy, where ironically she became a queue cutter herself when we were in danger of missing a train!

And yes, even some British food we sampled is "worth writing home about". We visited "The Pie Minister", for a pasty, with pork and veggies. The previous night we'd enjoyed the requisite pub-pint with fish 'n chips. Our last night in London was the celebration of the first weekend of vacation as the only tourists in great local pub/bistro. Sadly though, that night also mourned the loss of our pocket camera (left on a bus), and more importantly most of the pictures we'd taken in London Friday and Saturday. It was not surprising at all that the food was so great in Italy, but the best bread we had on the whole trip (a bacon Baguette) was from a French cart in St James park in London after our bike adventure there.

The hiring of trains, planes, and one wee-automobile were all quite succesful, thanks mostly to Juliana's pre-planning and sometimes her quick thinking. I've never before experienced driving a tiny, retro-styled sporty car (Fiat 500) through dozens of traffic-clogged European round-abouts, into a real Italian mall(not a tourist mall), through a Medieval castle, and up and down windy mountain roads, all while rocking out to a new Pearl Jam album. That is about as much fun as a "driving fan" could ask for! Not to mention being able to hike a gorgeous ridge along the Mediterranean, go swimming in the next town, and then board a train back to your hotel. All in time to clean up and have dinner. Experiences like that even make it tollerable to overhear other obnoxiously loud tourists from Eugene Oregon while you hike and while eating dinner. It's even more bearable if you have an American travel celebrity to blame for too many Americans. The saying we came up with was...

"DAMN YOU Rick Steves!",

...said while shaking your fist the way Jon Stewart does.

Oh, and two tickets on Ryan Air from London to Pisa only cost something like 30 Euro! Are you kidding me? They didn't even charge me to go to the bathroom like I'd heard they would! Although they did try to sell us bags (yes bags) of booze.

However, no travel is without at least some nail-chewing, brow-furrowing, or even F-bomb dropping moments. Like when savvy traveller wife is swearing loudly and profusely in the Florence train-depot because we just missed the express-train to Rome. Only moments ago she'd bought 80 Euro tickets for both of us. I learned to take heart. There is always another way. She'll figure it out! For example, why not jump on different train to Naples? Who cares if there are no seats! We can sit in the hallway, on the floor, in the very front of the train, pay-off the conductor when he yells at us, and still get to Rome. It really wasn't bad at all. We got to Rome with time to spare and checked into the last room of the trip. The B&B wasn't like the Convent with the fresco on the ceiling from the previous night in Florence, or any of our previous accomidations, but all the places we stayed were unique, and great in their own way.

The sites in both London and Italy were spectacular and varied. No, we didn't see everything, not even close. We didn't have enough time in the places we did visit. Though despite our grudge against Rick Steves for causing us to trip over throngs of Americans, we were grateful to him for one thing. Juliana brought along some of his informative audio tours of Florence and Rome. She and I were joined at the hip, walking around while learning about the busts of famous artists, architects, and other "gods", while plugged into the "jesus phone", and Steve was narrating. I thought Michelangelo's Pieta in St Peter's Basilica, was particularly moving in-person.

Juliana built activites for me into the trip. She's amazing. There was not one, but two excursions on bicycles. I vaguely remember Juliana asking me about what I wanted from the vacation, months ago, and saying something about getting exercise. The biking aspects were Juliana's idea, meant to make me happy. On both occasions, when I found out the details, I had a great deal of doubt. Each time my thoughts seemed to swing from "You're crazy Woman!", to sometime during the experience where I thought "This is bloody awesome!" The first of those times was when I learned the plan to ride a Tandem bike through the streets of London as part of 65,000 cyclists in "The Mayor Of London's SkyRide". This vacation taught me that if I want Juliana to do anything, even crazy things, all I really need to do is get it on her list.

The cities and sites we toured had history that was truly humbling. We were so many pubs in London (for a pint), bars in Italy (for espresso), gelatarias, pizzarias, and places to sample great food. The Cinque Terre and the Mediterranean were beautiful. However, I think the time spent in Tuscany was the peak highlight for us both. The town of Buti was by far the least touristy place we visited, and we stayed there longer than anywhere else. What really set it apart was the combination of amazing food, meeting Juliana's family, the B&B and its owners, the perfect a variety of activities, and even the fellow B&B guests (all from Iowa).

Michael, the host of our B&B, took us to Lucca to do some road biking, for our second bike adventure of the trip. The Tuscan ride went through crazy traffic, out of Lucca, on the shoulder of a country road, along a river, toward our destination, a medieval bridge and town. 10 minutes into the ride I could not have been happier or having more fun. I had a huge S#*%-eating grin on my face. So. Much. Fun. We capped our 40-mile tour of the country with a ride around Lucca's famous wall, and a guided tour of some of the sites in the city, all on our rented road-bikes.

There's already talk of going back to Italy next year, but time will tell. We might not always be able to do such things, at least not quite like that. I really like it that we are both getting better at remembering, not just the highlights, but even the bumpier parts of vacations. The unplanned adventures are important parts of the story and they can sometimes be really entertaining, especially in retrospect. Even with the pace, intensive planning, and occasional mid-trip melt-downs (impromptu naps in a grocery store parking-lot), Juliana's "Conqueror Vacations" are the the best I've ever been on.

2009 is living up to my superstitions for odd-numbered years.

A Tree for All Your Problems

I haven't made a song lyrics post for a while. JV and I agreed that, of all the bands we watched, we most enjoyed Band of Horses' performance at the Outside Lands usic Festival. Often I try to listen to the more obscure of of a band's songs, and I often get sick of hearing the hit single, but "The Funeral" absolutely rocked in concert.

From the Spin.com review:

BEST SING-ALONG: "THE FUNERAL" BY BAND OF HORSES
All epic all the time, Band of Horses' widescreen roots rock made for some ecstatic, hands-in-the-air crowd participation. "Funeral" was the climax, as thousands of fans sang along to the South Carolina quartet's most rousing number.

That song, like many BOH tunes, starts really slow and then kicks-in. Actually, I recently noticed one of the other songs from BOH's debut album, mostly because of its lyrics. The song "Monsters" reminds me a bit, in it's sentiment and lyrics to one of my old Pearl Jam favorites called "In My Tree". It starts slow and gradually builds. I find myself rocking out and singing the last line of this tune. I think it has a good message.

"Monsters" Band of Horses

A tree for all these problems
They can't find you for the moment
Then for all past efforts
They're buried deep beneath your heart
And somewhere in your stomach

Hatred for all others
When awful people they surround you
Ain't they just like monsters
They come to feed on me
Giant little animals to feed

Though to say we got much hope
If I am lost it's only for a little while

A tree for all these problems
They can't find us for the moment
There for all past efforts
They're buried deep beneath our hearts
And somewhere in your stomachs

And hey, transform all others
When awful people they surround you
Ain't they just like monsters
They come to feed on us
Giant little animals for us

Though to say we got much hope
If I am lost it's only for a little while
Though to say we got much hope
If I am lost it's only for a little while
If I am lost it's only for a little while
If I am lost it's only for a little while

Terwilliger's Other Curves

We just got back from a fun, but rainy, weekend Oregon Forest camping adventure with the Viverallis. Ron made us lots of great food, we took one good hike, JV navigated a potentially (because we couldn't see much through the fog) spectacular forest road drive, and we all enjoyed several dips in the natural Terwilliger Hot Springs.

The campsite and the hot-springs where along a very curvy section of Oregon's scenic byways, Route 19, near McKenzie Bridge. It was a great escape. The pictures will have to come from Jean's camera, as we didn't have ours.

Amenities

One more story-post about last weekend, before Ron and Jean lead us on this weekend's Summer adventures. If you know me, I've probably schpeeled at you about my favorite San Francisco-based boutique hotel-chain called Kimpton. We've found amazing deals staying in their funky/awesome rooms in Vancouver B.C., Seattle, and San Francisco. We stayed at a Kimpton the first time on our honey-moon in '05, because they are all dog-friendly. They often seem to tastefully remodel old hotels and have really nice fitness centers and/or spas. Our latest adventure cost $90/night, a screamin' deal in fancy, non-roadside, big-city hotel terms, and it was in a great location, right near Chinatown's Dragon gate. The room was tiny, but it didn't feel too tiny.

This particular stay had a few unexpected quirks and humorous moments. We spent part of Friday morning in the lobby, killing time. Juliana worked on her laptop, I futzed on my phone and wandered around the neighboring shops. When we asked again just after noon if we could check in, they offered a room that was available a little sooner, on a lower floor. Not our preference, but we were anxious to check-in and get ready for the music festival we were in town for. Because I'm part of their frequent-stayer program (Kimpton "In-Touch"), we found out a little later that day that they usually put "amenities" in the room, prior to your arrival. Free Vitamin water and chocolates or something. Because we switched rooms, we didn't get any...at first.

Now, unfortunately, I simply have to omit part of this story. Suffice it to say, there are some moments where you don't want any random hotel employee, housekeeping, a bell-boy, or otherwise, walking into your hotel room. For instance, when you're changing clothes, in the bathroom, or otherwise not wanting nor expecting guests. In those moments, you should secure the door with the chain. Otherwise, hotel employees, not expecting you to be there, might knock too softly and eventually come into the room using their master key. There's nothing like screaming at a guy opening your door and being forced to scream...

"Don't come in!!"

As he mutters something about...

"Sir, I have your a-men-i-ti..."

Luckily I don't think he got in the door even half way.

The next perk of The Triton Hotel, was that Kimpton "In-Touch" members get to choose a yellow rubber-ducky from the fountain in front of the hotel (Did I mention it was a quirky boutique hotel?). You were instructed to read the letter on the bottom of said ducky, and get a prize. A prize? Yay!

Well, if you read my last post, you know we had a mini-MUNI-misadventure getting home on our last night attending the music fest. Upon arriving back at our room after that, we decided redeem the prize to cheer ourselves up. We were having the end-of-vacation, Sunday-night blues, and because of the festival we'd missed all of Kimpton's famous, daily, free wine-tasting happy-hours. Our prize was Hagen Daz ice cream. You know how Danno does like his Ice Cream! The front desk asked me which flavors I wanted.

Who do you think brought our prize to our door? None other than Mr. Amenities himself!

He handed us two WHOLE PINTS of ice cream and quickly walked away. While we do have big appetites, we thought a pint each was a bit much. After a minor decision melt-down between the two of us about what flavor to keep, Juliana chased him half-way down the hall and sheepishly gave one of the pints back. We kept the raspberry sorbet, even though Juliana had wanted the coconut something-or-other.

After I grumbled for a bit that she should have asserted more strongly that she wanted the other flavor, we agreed that it was probably for the best, as the sorbet was fat-free. We'd eaten enough Cuban, Chinese, Peruvian, and 'merican food over the weekend to fatten us up for weeks. Not to mention the 5 or so creamy Irish Coffees I drank with Paul and Sarah at the Buena Vista, the place in San Fran that invented... er brought over the Irish Coffee from Ireland, or something.

As if we'd hadn't had enough fun with amenities, we got a little surprise in the bill envelope after we flew back to Vancouver in the wee hours of Monday morning. Juliana came to my cube and said she though there was a problem. Our bill indicated that we'd pretty much consumed EVERYTHING from the hotel mini-bar. In case you don't know, that stuff ain't cheap! You're much better off walking to the nearest gas station and buying that bag-o-chips you crave desperately, let alone alcohol.

The good news is that rather than getting angry about the mistake, reading the list simply made me bust-out laughing:

Pringles
Cashews
Rice Krispies
2 Agua Finas
2 Smart Waters
Cranberry Juice
2 Diet Cokes
2 Regular Cokes
2 Anchor Steam
2 Vodka
2 Gin
2 Tequilla
2 Scotch
1 Shaving Kit
1 Intimacy Kit
1 Dagoba Chocolate Bar
and more...

After we called them, the folks at Kimpton kindly refunded my credit card since we had actually consumed none of those things. She said it was the room next to ours.

Alas, some people apparently had way more fun than us. Impressive.