Interesting note: I’m not dead. I promise. Don’t get me wrong; sometimes I feel like I am at the end of the day, but I’m not.

Why, you ask?  I don’t think I’ve worked under a 55 hours in the past 2-3 months or so. At the end of the day, I pretty much want to come home and do…nothing. My general exit routine has been come home around 7-ish, either picking up food or cooking something quick at home, watch a DVR’d episode of Southpark (because for some reason, I’m on this big catch-up kick), play a game, read, talk to my lovely wife or something…and then go to bed.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Where did writing go? I’m not sure. I certainly could have squeezed it in there as one of my options, right? But I haven’t because I’ve realized that sometimes it’s in my personality to get really obsessed with doing something. And then, just as quickly as I am obsessed with it, I drop off. I’m the same way with reading. One minute I’ll be plowing through 1000+ page books, and the next minute flatline.

In this case, I think it has something more to do with the amount of working than anything. I just haven’t felt inspired to get on the computer and do more thinking. If I get on a computer after work, I generally just want to read mindlessly or feed my World of Warcraft addiction a little bit.

So what the heck have I been doing over the past four 3.5 months or so since I last posted?

Work
Work-wise, it has been pretty crazy as usual. There is a lot going on. I’ll spare the details.  But let’s just say that I’ve been working a lot. Did a little bit of a travel to New York and Costa Rica. During the week, I generally just want to come home and veg out.

Sometimes I think I’d love to have a job where the entire day isn’t spent thinking thinking thinking. Sometimes I think that it’d be awesome to own a Starbucks or something because, by the end of the day, you know that it is, indeed, the end. You’ve served your coffee, you’ve talked to a bunch of people, and you’ve gotten to come home to relax.

As it were, I don’t think I’ll ever own a Starbucks. Nor do I really think that’s a feasible option for me. I actually enjoy what I do very much, and will continue to do it for quite some time.

House
Being a homeowner is still great. We made a great move by buying a place that didn’t need a bunch of work. It has been nice only having to do small cosmetic upgrades. We bought all stainless appliances. We also got some really nice new leather furniture (couch, loveseat, and a coffee table/ottoman). Did a little bit of painting.  But that’s really about it. It’s great to walk into a place that is ‘yours’…your space that you have made your own. It makes it much easier to relax. I’ll have to post some pictures later.

Home Theater
Most importantly, the home theater setup is now complete, and that, friends, is freakin’ awesome. It’s nothing amazing, but it’s perfect for me/us. I believe in proportion rather than having something huge for the sake of having something huge. I measured out the wall and figured that a 40-42″ TV would be the ideal size without it becoming the centerpiece of the living room. So I went with w 40″ Samsung 550A and couldn’t be happier. It looks amazing.

My receiver isn’t awesome, but it’s good enough. It’s some model of Sony. It’s a 7.1 system,THX certified and gets the job done. I have a couple of larger Infinity front speakers, and then a Sony center, surround and sub set up. Again, nothing awesome, but it was made to be more ‘low profile’ and fit with an LCD setup which is kind of cool. At least it’s all digital which is what I was most interested in having. 

Of course, what good is having a nice TV without having a little HD action? So I used that as an excuse to buy a PS3 because it has a Bluray player. Which, by the way, if you’re going to buy a Bluray player, then you should just buy the PS3.

Of course, now since a video game system has been brought up, I feel obligated to talk about that…

PS3
At first, I was resistant to buying the PS3 because I thought it was far too expensive, the game library for it was (and still is, to some degree) poor and the Sony online network is nowhere near the beast that Xbox Live is. Now that I have the system, I have to say that I’m pretty damn impressed. Overall, I still think the Xbox is the better gaming system for the time being. But I can now see where they cut a few corners in order to get the thing out the door a year in advance of the PS3. 

To start, the PS3 is a FAR better built system than the Xbox. It feels like a very substantial piece of hardware. The first thing I noticed was when you are playing a game or watching a movie…it’s quiet. The fan on the Xbox is obnoxiously loud, but I guess I just got used to it. 

It has wireless capabilities out of the box. Xbox makes you buy a separate $100.00 USB device.

It has Bluetooth capabilities. Xbox doesn’t. That means you can hook up a keyboard and mouse.  Why would you do that? Well, there’s a built-in Web browser.  And should you decide to insall another OS (which I’ll talk about in a bit), you can take advantage there too. 

It has an accessible and non-proprietary A/V setup. On the Xbox, there’s a set of A/V cables you have to buy in order to use HDMI and get true surround processing. Sure, you can just buy a $20.00 HDMI cable and go from your Xbox to your TV. The problem here is that if you’re going to do true surround out to your stereo, that setup won’t do it. The system doesn’t pass through the full surround signal. So your only option is to run the optical out from the Xbox cable connection directly to your stereo and then run an HDMI cable to your TV…thereby separating out the two signals.  Seems easy…except for the fact that you can’t do that.

The regular Xbox cable connection actually overlaps the HDMI out on the Xbox so you can’t use it. The only conventional (note I say conventional; you could Macguyver your normal component…or analog…or whatever…cable connection to where it doesn’t overlap, but it requires you break the housing on it) way to do it is to buy a $50.00 HDMI Xbox setup. Kind of a rip-off.

You can stream media from a computer that is on the same network as your Playstation very easily.  I had it streaming music and video about 5 minutes after I got everything set up. It was like, “Oh…hey Andrew…looks like you have a laptop on your network with Windows Media 11 on it, and it looks like you have a bunch of music and video on it. Want to stream that here?” All I had to do was allow the connection in Windows Media 11 on the laptop. The Xbox wasn’t that difficult, but it definitely took a little more than what I just described.

You can, if you really want, install another OS on the PS3 in addition the PS3 OS.  Yellowdog Linux is apparently what has been optimized for it. And you don’t even have to hack it to get it to work; there’s simply an option in the PS3 menu interface that says “Install Another OS”.  Impressive.

And of course, the Bluray drive is what ultimately justifies the purchase. Considering that the least expensive decent quality Bluray player starts at $329, doesn’t it make more sense just to get a PS3?

Don’t get my wrong; if I were in the situation where I was buying a game system and my primary motive was getting it for the games, then I’d buy an Xbox…even if I had to buy the extra USB wireless dongle and the HDMI cables (which makes the highest model of Elite 360 more expensive than the PS3).  The reason why is because the overall Xbox Live service is excellent…far better than the Sony network…and there is a wider selection of better games. Sony will certainly catch up…but then that’s the problem, and ultimately the advantage that MS leveraged by releasing a year earlier. They may’ve sacrifced quality, but now they have a bigger install base.

The Post Conclusion
So my purpose was to just let everyone know that all is well and that I am not quite dead yet. Mission accomplished. More later.

.a.

Some of you may wonder just where I have dissappeared to. Never fear…I have not dissappeared. I have merely been pre-occupied mainly with something I did not expect myself to be pre-occupied with…and that would be yelp.com

I think it all started when I wrote about Torchy’s Tacos. It has gone downhill since then.

For those of you that don’t know, yelp.com is a user-driven review site/social network that allows one the opportunity to voice opinions about places…doctors, stores, restaurants…to other people. The whole ‘wisdom of the masses’ mentality for the Web shines full force here, and I’ve been enjoying writing reviews of restaurants I’ve been going to. I figure that I do my fair share of eating in restaurants; I consider myself fortunate to be able to do that. I know some people have to really make the time and effort to go out to eat. Therefore, I thought I might knock out two birds with one stone and do some reviews so I can:

1) Write a little more because I sure like writing and…

2) Pass on my experiences to those who might be looking for a well-deserved night out so they can hopefully avoid the swill

God, I’m so noble.

Besides yelp-ing…I’ve been playing GTA IV…probably one of the greatest games in the history of video gaming. I say that with full confidence and absolutely NO sarcasm whatsoever. There is something pretty amazing about this one that few games manage to capture. Violence, insanity, sexual innuendo and general bad stuff aside, I can pretty much promise you there hasn’t been a more fully realized non-contrived video game character than Nico Bellick. He’s a complicated person. And he’s further complicated by what you choose to put into him and put him through. The stats say I’m approximatley 11% of the way through the game, and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’m excited to see where it takes me.

And then a friend of mine at work got me started back on WoW. That’s all I’ll say about that. As a matter of fact, that’s what I’m going to go do now…

In the meantime, if you want to see what I’ve been writing on yelp, go here. You’ll hopefully get a chuckle or two…

For several years, I have avoided the Blackberry phenomenon. It’s a little weird because I have been known to enjoy the gadgets. But really, when it comes down to it, I’ve never liked the thought of being ‘connected’ and accessible 100% of the time. I’ve also always thought that a phone should just be left to being a phone. I don’t need anything super-fancy. It just has to be kind of cool looking and usable.

Then I started my new job where they pay for me to have a Blackberry…

At first, I wasn’t so OK with that because of the reasons stated above. Not only that, but I started thinking about ‘those people’ in meetings where they have their BB in one hand and they are half paying attention and how annoying that can be. I don’t ever want to be one of those people.

Now that I’ve had it for a several weeks, I’m actually figuring out that it’s a pretty useful tool, and if you use it right (like anything else) it can be something that increases your productivity and communications quite a bit.

I’ve noticed is that it actually suits my communication style a little better as well. I don’t like the phone very much at all. I make it a rule for myself to make phonecalls as little as possible, and when I am on the phone, I tend to want to cut to the chase pretty quickly.

When you’re on the phone, you’re on the spot to come up with something to say right then and there. When you’re e-mailing or BB Messaging or texting, you have some time to think about what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it. It forces you to be concise as well, and that’s something I’ve had to work on for a while. I’ve been known to send out some monster e-mails…

The only thing that I’m even mildly annoyed with is the fact that, when someone e-mails me or communicates with my via BB, I feel the need to be responsive. I’m a firm believer in the idea of unplugging and unwinding so your brain has a chance to recover from the rigors of a work-week. I guess I don’t have to be responsive 100% of the time. Nobody is holding a gun to my head saying that I will be executed if I’m not super-fast on the draw. I suppose that if you are 100% responsive, you are setting yourself up for some small amount of failure in that you are creating the expectation, the appearance, that it’s just fine to ask you to do things anytime, anyplace, anywhere. That’s not fair to yourself, and to some degree, it’s not fair to the other person because you get it in your head that if you are going to be available, then they should be available too when they might not necessarily want to be.

In a world where things are becoming increasingly more and more ‘on-demand’ we need to be cognizant of the effect this has on our relationships with others. We need to be understanding that people are people are people, and that just because they have the tools to be reachable 24/7, that doesn’t mean we should abuse it or take advantage of it. Afterall, the world isn’t going to end if that Sujnday e-mail isn’t sent until Monday. Or maybe it’s that you can choose to send out the e-mail, but don’t unfairly expect a response if until a reasonable hour.

So for now, I’ll view it as a nice tool that my company has bestowed upon me and hope that everyone is just as thoughtful as I will try to be when it comes to a reasonable amount of communication.

Today, friends, was a breakthrough in culinary happiness

We’re not just talking, like, “That was some fine cuisine” good. No…no…that’s just way to little. We’re talking, “Oh my dear sweet god…there has never been, and there never will be, similar foodstuffs that could come anywhere close to the goodness of what I just put into my belly.”

That is what I experienced today at Torchy’s Tacos…pure culinary genius. Little (but big for tacos) bundles of pure heaven served within shining sheaths of aluminum foil.

I truly believe that if I all of a sudden died right after eating these tacos, I would have died one of the happiest individuals on the planet. I would have died thinking, “I have experienced Taco Nirvana.”

If heroin is the true drug connoisseur’s “Drug of Choice”, then I would have to say that these tacos are one above that.

If I could direct inject them into a vein, I would happily tap a vein or five and start pumping away.

I hope my point is made.

Torchy’s is located on West 6th street in the parking lot of a restaurant called ‘Woodrow’s’. Note that I said in a parking lot; these glorious little bastards are served from a trailer. A new friend at work told me about it, and I was excited. These are TACOS we’re talking about…and who can’t get excited about tacos in Austin?…especially when you’ve been taco-deprived for most of the years of your life.

But I had no idea that I’d basically be falling in love.

I ordered a breakfast taco with potatoes, egg and cheese and a Green Chili Pork Taco, flour tortilla (instead of corn) hold the cilantro, please. Upon getting back to the office and sitting at my desk, I promptly unwrapped the breakfast taco. I was surprised at the fact that it wasn’t completely soggy and gross as I had just walked about 5 blocks to get back. I also got waylaid for about 10 minutes at CVS because they didn’t have enough cashiers. But that’s a different story…

I noticed they put some green chili salsa and what I think was green chili queso in with the bag. I threw the salsa on but decided to save the queso for the other taco.

Within my first bite, I recall seeing Jesus. In person. Dressed in a nicely cut wool suit. With really pimp looking sunglasses. He was pointing at me saying, “Son, that is the best taco you’ve ever had, right?”

Right.

It was the kind of experience where you feel like every bite is magical, like you want to savour it as if it were going to be the last bite of something you ever take. Everything was in its place and as it should be…a beautiful greasy mix of eggs, potatoes and cheese all glommed together in one of the tastiest (most likely 100% lard based) tortillas ever.

After finishing the first, I quickly moved to the second…the Green Chili Pork Taco. This one was something special because I am a green chili fiend. And even though we live in Texas, green chili just isn’t as prevalent as I thought it would be. But here we had it ready and available in a taco, ready to be consumed with much vigor.

After dumping some of the green chili queso AND the remainder of the green chili salsa, I took a bite. Again, Jesus, standing there in the wool suit, pointing at me with a smile and saying, “Son, I sinned. I lied to you. But that’s OK because I’m Jesus. That first taco was child’s play. This one you’re eating now…THIS one is the best taco you’ve ever had, right?”

Right.

I’m not even going to try and explain how good this thing was because, honestly, I don’t think there are any words to describe it. Let’s just say that my life has changed. I now know that not all tacos are anywhere NEAR created equal.

If you haven’t been and you live in Austin, I need for you to stop what you’re doing right now and go there. NOW. Go there and eat a taco as if your life depended on it.

If you haven’t been and you don’t live in Austin, do yourself a favor and buy a plane ticket to come down and have lunch there.

You will be happy.

Here’s the menu for you. I’ve been told that The Trailer Park, extra trashy (read “take the lettuce off and smother the thing in lots of queso) and the Ranch Hand are unbelievable. If they are better than the two that I had, then I’m note quite sure that my taste buds would be able to take it without my head spontaneously combusting.

Why are you still reading this? Go now.

Guess that makes sense and all, seeing that they are my client and all…specifically the Small to Medium Business unit (SMB).

I came to work on my first day to be greeted by a ridiculously large cardboard box…one that looked like it should be carrying a giant nuclear tower or something like that. It was very ugly and had a huge black Dell logo on the side of it.
This was quite the opposite of of my Macbook Pro purchase.

After plowing through opening the thing, I realized that, buried beneath several other smaller cardboard boxes, was a flatter, more thin cardboard box containing a brand spanking new Dell 630C laptop. After getting it all setup and running, I have to say that I’m pretty impressed with it.

The overall look of it is pretty aesthetically pleasing. Though it’s certainly not anywhere near as sleek and ‘designery’ (I made up another word…awesome) as a Mac, it doesn’t look like a brick of black electronics. It’s black and grey, and the plastic used seems to be of high quality. It’s thin and light, but it doesn’t feel like if you were to drop it, it would shatter or break.

There are two things about the feel of it I noticed right away. First, the hinge on the lid is almost perfect. It adjusts very easily, but it doesn’t make you muscle it to get it to a proper viewing angle. Once you get it in place, it doesn’t move or wobble. And second, the keyboard is fantastic. It feels very solid, tactile & responsive.

Overall operation of it feels fast. I guess it should, seeing that it’s a 2.2 Dual Core Intel chip w/ 4 gigs of RAM. The video card is an nVidia Quadro 135M, which isn’t a slouch when it comes to strictly business-class usage. It operates quietly, the fan kicking on only every once in a while. Otherwise, it runs cool. Using it normally, I can have it sitting on my lap with some shorts on and it doesn’t burn my legs.

The trackpad feels decent. The ‘eraser head’/'mouse nubbin’ is throwaway, but is OK nonetheless. There are 4 USB ports, a 1394 firewire port, an SD slot, 1 PCMCIA slot, DVD-RW/CD-RW, a serial port and a VGA port. The screen is 14.1 inches and looks decent, though just a tiny bit on the dull side. Of course, I’m spoiled by my Macbook Pro; the screen on that thing is pretty much unbeatable in my opinion…

My point isn’t to write an in-depth review or anything like that. Rather, it’s to point out that I think Dell has made some pretty great strides in their product line over the years. I mean, yeah, I’m ’supposed’ to say that, seeing that technically Dell keeps me in a job. But I honestly feel like this is a great improvement over what I used in the past.

I’ve also seen some of the XPS M1330s floating around, and those are pretty nice looking too, though I haven’t used them at all. They have a very sleek look about them…

Anyway, so overall, I’m not disappointed with my nifty new work laptop. Then again, just about anything would be better than the piece of crap Trashiba…whoops…Toshiba…I had previously.

So…if you’re looking at buying a PC, buy a Dell. Not only will you be getting what seems to be a pretty darn good quality machine, you’ll be keeping your ol’ buddy Andrew in a job that much longer, and that’s what we all want, right?

Right.