Thursday, January 26, 2006

Chuck Norris Facts

A selection of facts concerning Chuck Norris found here.



Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried. Ever.

Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice.

Chuck Norris is 1/8th Cherokee. This has nothing to do with ancestry-- the man ate a fucking Indian.

Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.

Most people have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Chuck Norris has 72... and they're all poisonous.

If you ask Chuck Norris what time it is, he always says, "Two seconds 'til." After you ask, "Two seconds 'til what?" he roundhouse kicks you in the face.

Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.

When Chuck Norris calls 1-900 numbers, he doesnt get charged. He holds up the phone and money falls out.

Chuck Norris once ate a whole cake before his friends could tell him there was a stripper in it.

If you Google search "Chuck Norris getting his ass kicked" you will generate zero results. It just doesn't happen.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006


Hello.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Week Ended January 22nd 2006

This past week flew buy mostly owing to the MLK holiday. We had a lot of people hanging around the HCID office this week. It was a nice change of pace and made the hours pass more quickly.

On Thursday we met our new saleswoman from Florida. She flew up and spent two days with us learning all about HCID. I trained her on the use of the backend and we all got together for several meetings to discuss strategy.

I signed up for a Netflix account during the week. Several months ago I had brought my computer over to Rustam's house and changed some settings--since that time I have been unable to download audio or video files.

The Netflix allows you to order movies/TV shows. I signed up for the package where you get 1 DVD at a time (as soon as you send your video back they will send you your next selection) for $10/month. I've had my first DVD for about a week now but have yet to watch it; I'm considering canceling my subscription.

I took several trips to Home Depot in an attempt to replace 2 screws missing from my Wassily Chairs. I spent about an hour searching and after returning home I discovered that the screw head was about .00001mm too wide to fit through the opening.

After work on Friday, after having my first jump rope session in about 6 months, I went over to Adam's house. We sat around for a few minutes and then went to Dave's house in Queens. Nicole and Rustam came by. We sat around until 1030pm and then met up with Sarah and Adrienne (I had met them during my "year abroad" at Columbia), as well as two friend of theirs I had not met.

We coalesced at a hookah bar near Steinway and walked to the Bohemian Beer Garden. The weather this past week has, once again, been unseasonably warm. We sat outside under the cover of a tent until about 245am at which point we returned to Dave's apartment for a late night discussion.

I woke up around 10am and felt a little rundown. I traveled to 86 for some shoulder exercises and then walked home. I talked with Dan W. on the way back and then my brother. At 3pm I headed downtown to 23rd and met Chris R. at his apartment. We took a walk to the West Side and visited a few galleries he had heard about; we then hit up the Hudson River. After returning to 23rd and Park we televisioned, and at 630pm went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant up the street. I had some lamb with beans and mushrooms which was very tasty.

On Sunday I got up at a reasonable hour and did some rowing. I returned home feeling energized and made some food. At 2pm I met up with Jon S. and his former roommate at Blockheads on 81st and 2nd. We shot the shit and then walked up to 60th. I caught the N to Dave's house arriving by 4pm.

We watched the football games and went out for some Mexican food. I was home by 9pm for some reading. I am about done with a book Molly lent me entitled, "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers.

Monday, January 16, 2006

Week ended January 15th 2006

Yea yea, it's been a while since I've updated. I apologize for the inconsistent posts. That being said my blog is still better than your nonexistent blog.

Last week was pretty standard. I was in the office bumming around. BRJ was in San Fran at a conference. It appears we lined up a few more sponsors which is always good news. The weather this week was astoundingly warm and I took frequent advantage with some nice walks around the city.

I was a little under the weather. I came down with a sore throat while in Oklahoma--my illness then morphed into the stuffy nose/congestion combo. It was good times and I was feeling better by Friday.

Friday night I went to Adam's apartment. We traveled to the West Village and met up with Rustam and Kirubel. The bar was pretty cool, it had pool tables and ping pong. It was a low key environment with inexpensive beers. I forget the name of the bar...names of bars never stick in my mind. Neither do names of people.

Saturday I pretty much wasted the whole day aside from an excursion to NYSC. It was raining and snowing. I met up with Jon S. at his apartment, we watched the Patriots lose and hung out with one of his roommates. Around midnight Ben, a friend of Jon's and a doorman by trade, took us to a party on 132nd and Lenox. It was a decent time; afterwards we went to a club on 130th and 5th. The place reminded me of the club in the movie Bullworth. I took a car home around 415.

Sunday I woke up early and had a strong 7K on the erg. A guy came by to look at the chairs I am selling through Craigslist. He offered me $200 for one of the chairs, they were listed at $250. I countered with $215 but he didn't accept. I should have accepted his offer (I paid $95/chair).

Around 3pm I went over to Morningside and hung out with Rustam, Jill and Adam. We watched the Colts lose; Rustam got very depressed. I went out with Adam to get some chinee foo. We watched the next game and sat around.

Monday I woke up early again on this glorious Martin Luther King day. I had the day off so I did a back routine and then came home and shaved and showered. I met up with Steph at her apartment around 130pm. We walked up to 23rd and had lunch at the Comfort Diner--the food was good but our waitress was so nice it made me sick. After eating we went to Home Depot where I purchased a few hex wrenches. I need to buy a few screws which are missing from one of the chairs.

After the Depot we took the trains to Adam's house on 55th and sat around. Steph left at 530pm and was soon replaced with Nicole. I hung out for several more hours shooting the shit.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Diabetes in East Harlem

A few excerpts from an article in the NY Times about diabetes in my neighborhood (full text available here).

"East Harlem is roughly 90 percent Hispanic and black, groups believed to have a genetic predisposition to the disease, explains part of the problem. There are also other factors: bad food habits, little exercise, rampant poverty and, according to health officials, poor access to medical care."

"Precise numbers are hard to ascertain, but the prevalence of the disease, factoring in an estimate for undiagnosed cases, has fluctuated in recent city health department surveys between 16 percent and 20 percent, as many as one in five adults."

"Go north and the chances of bumping into a diabetic are maybe 20 times greater than if you go south. For the Upper East Side, according to the health department, has the lowest prevalence in the city, about 1 percent."

"A study several years ago that tracked the availability of diet soda, low-fat or fat-free milk, high-fiber bread, fresh fruit and fresh vegetables in food stores in East Harlem and the Upper East Side....stores on the Upper East Side were more than three times more likely than those in East Harlem to stock all five items. It did not seem to matter that East Harlem has more than twice as many food stores per capita as its wealthier neighbor to the south."


Xiomariz compares having diabetes to having "a cold."

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Trip to OKC

On Friday I went to work early as usual and left at 3pm for NYSC. I returned home, showered and ate. At 6pm I headed over to East 62nd and bought a desk I had found on Craigslist. Currently I have my computer set up on my coffee table; I figure a desk will be better for my back and posture.

After paying Jocelyn (I deffered collection of the desk to Monday) I met up with Dave in Queens. We chilled out for a few hours. At 930 we took the N in and walked over to Adam's house. Nicole came over and we hung out there. I left on the early side in preparation for my departure.

On Saturday morning I woke up early and squeezed in a trip to NSYC. I then showered and ate and waited for a car service to pick me up. The car came, it was a luxurious ride. I picked up some bags at E70th that were coming with me to Oklahoma City and then headed off to Laguardia.

After getting through security and to my gate I met James and Molly. Our plane left in the afternoon. We had a layover in Dallas, TX and ate dinner at the airport. We arrived in OKC at 830pm. After collecting the luggage we headed by cab to CK's house.

After freshening up, Scott (a friend of Molly's) picked us up and took us to a "swank" bar at an old oil HQ. The place had not been redecorated since its founding, and it didn't appear that the clientelle had changed either. We stayed there until midnight and then went to 'Bricktown' to a bar called Tapworks.

We stayed out until 145 and then returned home. I went to sleep in a guest room in the guest house after taking a shower.

The next morning we woke up at 8am and went to a $6.95 all you can eat buffet. We ate all we could and then went to a bass fishing store. We got back to CK's at 1030am and proceeded to pack up Nick, Jack, and Ted for their flight home.

We got the dogs checked in with little difficulty. We had a very brief layover in Dallas and then proceeded on to Laguardia. I read some newsletter manuals Brett had given me on the flight. After getting the luggage we returned to East 70th.

After dropping off the pups I was dropped off at my apartment around 830pm. I showered and made some food, hung around and went to sleep on the early side.

Thursday, January 05, 2006


Caitlin and Lina

Jenna, Caitlin and Alyssa

Don and Deb

Diane and Allysa

Lee and Jenna

On the boat.

Aunt Connie and Uncle George on the last night.

Greg, snorkeling in the caves.

Old fisherman trick courtesy of R. Finn: Hold the fish closer to the camera to make it appear larger.

Digging for crabs to catch some fish.

Nancy and Lina

I want a monkey.

Bill and A

Pictures courtesy of Bill

Adrian

Monday, January 02, 2006

Cress Family Reunion

I left Christmas morning for Mexico and spent six days with the Cress family. My flight got in at 330pm, I then took a van to our resort, The Bahia Grand Principe, in Talum, Mexico.

In attendance were: my father, Greg, myself, Adrian, Lina, Aunt Nancy, Ed, Diane, Lee, Alyssa, Jenna, David, Don, Deb, Steven, Caitlin, Uncle George and Aunt Connie. We met up for dinner that first night at what would be my first of many buffets.

The resort was all inclusive; all drinks and food were included. I would compare the food to an excellent college cafeteria. I was happy to have a wide selection and enjoyed the change of pace.

On Monday we sat around the pool and beach and familiarized ourselves with the resort. On Tuesday we visited some Mayan ruins at Talum in the morning. In the afternoon we went snorkeling and saw some turtles.

On Wednesday we woke up at 530am and went fishing in a reserve. The ride was 2 hours each way over the worst roads I can remember. The fishing was fun, Dad and I shared a boat and although the fly fishing was unsuccesful, we did catch a number of fish with spinning rods in the afternoon.

On Thursday we sat around in the morning and took an ATV ride in the afternoon to caves which we snorkeled in and around. Friday I sat around all day and read Philip Roth's 'American Pastoral' which I completed today. I also competed in a ping pong tournament in which I placed reasonably well.

Saturday, I took the plane back to New York, arriving by 830pm. I had a great time seeing the family and hanging out with everyone. Thanks to George and Connie for organizing the vacation.

Greg waits 4 hours for his plane.

Nice fish.

One of our guides clubbed the baracuda to death with a log.

Dad caught a baracuda using another fish he had landed earlier as bait.

another catch

a catch

Bill

Allysa, Caitlin, Steven and Diane in the water.

Listening to the guide.

Steven and Debra

Nice beach behind the ruins.

Allysa and Caitlin

Face in the stone.

Listening to the guide.

Adrian

Taking a tour at Talum

Wildlife

Tour

Bill, Greg and Ed

Nancy, Adrian and Lina. Eating, a common activity.

Bill and Greg walking around Bahia Grand Principe