Sushi - Benihana style

The bastardization of sushi at places like Benihana must make the Japanese feel like becoming kamikazes again. We ordered the crunchy roll which should have been named the fried tempura roll because that's what it was. They had crumbled pieces of tempura all over the rolls so that you had to dig through the 2" layer of tempura to find the rolls. Not only that, some sort of a sweet sauce was poured all over the rolls as well. It must have been 100 calories per roll!

Chain restaurants bother me. For a weekday lunch, I suppose it's acceptable. I mean, seriously, when was the last time you went to an Outback Steakhouse and got a meal that was actually a portion meant for one person? What about Cheesecake Factory? Chili's? Claim Jumper? All of these restaurants have one thing in common - HUGE portions. These places cater to the needs of the overweight people who want their "money's worth" of food. That is just disgusting.

Here's an idea: charge people less money for less food! We don't want to see them shoveling a steak sandwich that is the size of a child's head into their mouths anyway!

Networking

I attended a networking event last night in Santa Monica. Where do I begin to describe the types of people that were there? I don't know if this is how it is in other cities and states, but I got to meet a hypnotherapist, a Feng Shui consultant, a restaurant consultant, a life coach, and a body sculptor. It sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke...

I tried to keep an open mind as I engaged in conversation with these people. Perhaps they would be interested in a SEP-IRA? Perhaps they would be interested in buying some stocks?

My biggest questions was: How do these people earn a living? I mean, seriously, a hypnotherapist? I've seen those hypnotherapist shows where people are hypnotized and end up doing silly things, but in a corporate environment? I am going to hypnotize you and order you to promote me to CEO. I am also going to order you to give me a 400% pay raise. Actually, it doesn't sound like a bad idea.....

My new career path? I am going to be a hypnotherapeutic financial advisor. "You want to buy those stocks. You want to give me more of your money to manage...."

LA Traffic

I had the day off of work on Friday, due to the Easter holiday weekend. I drove up the coast to Malibu to meet up with a friend for lunch and had to drive back to the Southbay, where I reside. They say that Malibu is 12 miles of beautiful coastal scenery, but after sitting in heavy traffic for over an hour, I couldn't care less about the "beautiful Pacific Ocean crashing into the rugged cliffs of Malibu". I love nothing more than sitting in a car and traveling 15 miles over the course of 2 hours. I had nothing better to do so why not sit in a car?
I think I spent half of my day off sitting in traffic. This is why I love LA so much! You are given the opportunity to catch up with all of your friends AND acquaintances while driving from point A to point B. Not only that, you get to listen to your favorite songs played over and over again on the radio. You can also learn the art of patience as idiotic people weave in and out of the two lane highway and get absolutely nowhere.

Asparagus

In order to satiate our apres-martini hunger, we decided to venture over to the new restaurant, Beechwood. It stands where Menemsha once stood and looks almost the same except that the entrance is now on the east side of the building instead of the westside. The menu is definitely different though.
We decided to order several different appetizers, one of which included grilled asparagus with lettuce. The asparagus numbered about 10 at the most and we're not talking about the gigantic ones that you get at Lawry's as a side dish. We're talking about tiny, little, organic asparagus that is probably as thin as Calista Flockhart. It was marinated and grilled to perfection on a bed of everyday lettuce. It was very delicious, but worth $10??? I hardly think so!
They probably got the little things at the local farmers market for $2/lb. I know they did! Talk about a profit margin on that little side dish!

Frozen software applications

So, I'm trying to open an Excel spreadsheet that I have been working on all morning. It doesn't want to open. I click on the icon and I get an hourglass. I hate getting the hourglass, especially when it lasts the whole hour!!
As much as I would like to blame myself for being unproductive, I really must point the finger at computer software applications that are troublesome. How can I do any work when the applications I need do not want to open? Blogger works perfectly fine, but when I try to run Act or Excel? I get the stupid hourglass!!!
Now my Advantage quote screen is frozen. As a stockbroker, don't you think having access to stock quotes would be an important part of my J-O-B??? I hate these finicky machines that we rely upon. One minute they are the best thing since sliced bread and the next, you want to hurl it out the window. Granted the windows are made such that they are shatterproof and stuff, but it is a nice thought....
Tech support? What tech support?? Tech support only knows how to tell you to hit "ctrl, alt, del". Oh, and they know how to do "remote computing" so that they can clean my cookies. I'll clean my own cookies, thank you very much!!!!

March Madness

It's that time of the year again when schools are matched up against one another in the hopes of clenching the NCAA basketball championship title. I can tell you from personal experience that there is nothing quite like the exhilarating feeling of winning a national title while being a student! :) GO BRUINS!! :)
So we have finished two rounds and there were some upsets that hurt my brackets, like Wake Forest. Thank goodness I didn't have them going all the way like some of the other guys in my office. My national champion team is still in the game!
Has anyone ever noticed how it's always the girl in the office who doesn't even know what a free throw shot is that wins the pool? Every year, in my office, a girl wins. And it's always a girl who couldn't give a damn about basketball! Why is that?

Post St. Patrick's Day

It's a good thing that I don't get hangovers because I would be hurting right now if I did. Irish car bombs have resurfaced into my life, as of late. What is an Irish car bomb? It's a half pint of Guinness and you drop a shot that is half kahlua and half Bailey's into it and drink it as fast as possible. It tastes like a chocolate shake. Yummy!
Everyone wore green and claimed to have Irish heritage in them last night. If they didn't, there was surely a guy who would have asked if they would like some Irish in them.
Isn't it funny how most holidays revolve around drinking? Not just that, but there's always a particular drink associated with said holiday! Of course, we all know and love the usual drinking holidays like:

New Year's Eve = Champagne
St. Patrick's Day = Irish car bombs, Guinness, green beer
Cinco de Mayo = Corona, tequila, Dos Equis, margarita
4th of July = Beer
Christmas = Eggnog and brandy, hot toddies

We need more officially recognized drinking holidays!

Watching a sunrise

Everyone should wake up early enough to watch the sun rise at least once in their lifetime, if not several times. There is nothing more refreshing and peaceful than watching the sunrise over the mountains and hills. Of course, this whole experience is a little bit different if you are doing it from your office. I don't know about you, but watching the sunrise from my office just doesn't have the same effect of tranquility.
Waking up early enough on a weekday to see the sunrise from work is not my idea of fun. Everyone else is sleeping peacefully, but not me. I'm already at work. What the hell??? Damn the stock market opening at 6:30am PST! At least I'm not in Hawaii. I would have to come into work at 4:30am or something. Now that would be my idea of a good time!
What we need is for the PSE (Pacific Stock Exchange) to become the major exchange, not the NYSE. Why must New York be the hub of all financial activity that is deemed necessary and worthy? Los Angeles is as good a place as any, and so is San Francisco. We have better food, better weather, better topography, better looking people, and most importantly, without the state of CA, the rest of the country's GDP would be highly depressed (CA would be the 6th richest nation if we were a sovereign entity). New Yorkers think that they are so much smarter, but if they really are, why are they still in New York???

I just want to crawl back into bed....

Trader Joe's

Do you ever go to the grocery store and wonder how you could have spent that much and why you spent so much time in there? I have a tendency to spend entire afternoons, split between Costco and Trader Joe's. Today was a TJ day. I am the perfect candidate for marketing studies. A strategically placed display will most definitely sell me. Why do you think I got those Altoids gum, white tea iced tea, marinara sauce, and fruit strips?? I admit it, I'm a sucker for displays that catch my eye. I'm an impulse buyer, especially at TJs. There's just something about TJs that makes you want to buy everything in the store...maybe it's the Hawaiian shirts or the fact that most of the things they sell is organic/natural.
I hate being an impulse buyer. I feel like a puppet to the marketing gods that set up the displays so cleverly. I play right into their plans. I even bought the flowers that were in the front of the store because they were only $0.99. Did I need them? No. But they were cheap and they "lighten the room with springtime blossoms."

So Cal Livin'

Sunset in the marina.
Life in Southern California probably doesn't get any better than this. Snowboarding in a thin long-sleeved top one day and sailing in heavy duty sweatshirts the next day. Why and how can anyone live anywhere else but here?
Have you ever been on a boat for so long that when you're back on land, you still feel the rocking? Well, that's me right about now. After a 7hr sailing day, all I can feel right now is the rocking...and the occasional "Kelp off starboard!" ringing in my ear still.
Between the sun and snow yesterday, and the UVA/UVB rays that still pierce through the marine layer, I have a nice set of raccoon eyes going right now. I had SPF30 on, but that didn't help enough. What's the point of putting on sunscreen when you still get burned??? I guess it lessens the severity, but my face still looks like a nocturnal animal that scrounges for food in trashcans.

Chillin' in the snow.

Sleeping with a colleague

The CEO of Boeing got fired yesterday for being romantically (euphemism for: having sex with) involved with a Boeing executive. She did not report directly to him (except maybe in the bedroom), nor was her career or salary affected in any way by their consensual (funny how the word "sensual" is a part of that word) relationship. CNBC had a poll going this morning and 53% think he was wrongly fired and 47% think the Board did the right thing by firing the guy.

It's ironic how Stonecipher came out of retirement to help Boeing recover from previous scandals, only to find himself in the middle of one. The key to any extramarital affair is to keep it on the down-low. Apparently, he didn't know how to do that too well because someone found out and sent in an anonymous tip. I wonder how much that anonymous tipper got paid for that little tidbit of info!

If you were sleeping with a co-worker, which part of the office would you have sex with him/her first? Conference room? Personal office/cubicle? Copier room? Bathroom? Breakroom? Reception area? Your assistant's desk? All of the above? So many choices....

The most beautiful baby girl! 

Bragging rights

KEP was born on 3/6/05 at 8:34pm PST, weighing 6lbs. 9oz. and 18.5inches long. I am the proud auntie (not biological though) of this beautiful baby girl who is the daughter of my best friend, HP. Now most of you would agree that newborn babies are kinda funky looking. They are all red and scrunched up. They look like alien creatures, for the most part.
Based on my objective opinion of KEP, she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen! She is just gorgeous! She is healthy and just the most perfect creation! Needless to say, this little girl is going to be spoiled beyond belief! She has so many adoring aunties and uncles, as well as an extended family of grandparents and even great-grandparents!
As sarcastic as I am, this is the one blog where I am just gushing about KEP! There's really nothing more special than holding your "niece" who is 15 minutes old and watching her look around at the new world before her.
Right now, she has curly brown hair and dark blue eyes. Hopefully, the eyes will stay that way. Mom and dad are both carriers of the blue eye genes so I guess only time will tell.

Fancy titles

So, I have to study for an exam for work. It's so that I can have a fancy title after my name. Who doesn't like fancy titles? Some people like to have several titles after their name. Do you think this is excessive: John Doe, MBA, JD, MD, PhD, CFA, CFP, CLU, CPA, ChFC. I'm sure there's someone out there with just that many titles.
Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm all for getting as many advanced degrees as is humanly possible, but you have to stop and think sometimes...what does it all mean and does it really equal a bigger paycheck?
Either way, I have to study again, after a brief hiatus during "winter break". I didn't realize that there was any significance in an indifference curve that's been blended with a utility curve. WTF???? Yeah, exactly....
Square root of sigma squared times your mom!!!!

[Can you tell that my brain is very disagreeable with all this studying?? My college friends all know this about me though...]

Michael Jackson

Michael is getting a lot of publicity these days with the trial going on about his molesting little boys at his Neverland Ranch....oh wait, he hasn't been convicted yet. What I meant was the alleged accusations of Michael molesting little boys....
Considering that he is constantly in the news now, I thought it would be most appropriate to pay homage to the man who brought us "Thriller" [full length Thriller video in Legos and Play-Doh!] via Homeroom.

What age do you act?

What age do you act?

Getting delirious

I have been awake for way too long. I had a 15hr work day today and it is now 1:40am. I am taking a break before I do something productive again.
Why do we work such long hours? Who established the 40hr work week and why do we not observe it? I would be happy working just 40hrs/wk. Of course, I would probably have to clock in and out which would not be my idea of fun.
I'm preparing for a presentation that I will be giving tomorrow. I'm beginning to feel like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Now I know why I'm not in investment banking.
I would like to propose four 10hr days and 3 day weekends. I think we would be a more productive society if we can all adhere to this. Who's going to join me???