Some things I learned on my ‘break’.

Two weeks of vacation breaks down to approx 4 days worth of driving, 8 days total of illness (between me and the wife . . . including all of the friends we visited with during the trip, probably about a month's worth), 1400 some miles on the road . . . two almost blizzards that thinned out at the last minute (Thankfully . . . we were traveling on both of those days and it couldn't be put off . . .) And the best time to travel any kind of distance? X-mas Eve. We went through 4 states before we even SAW a police car . . . and the first one we saw wasnÂ’t even occupied. They had left it out to make it LOOK like they were monitoring the highway! It wasnÂ’t until NYC that we actually saw any kind of law enforcement in force.

I discovered that taking an existing setup program and trying to create a for/while loop out of it (working on that new F@H installer) tends to introduce an almost unlimited amount of errors, unless you completely deconstruct it and rebuild from scratch (A process which got put on hold due to us having to leave the wife's lappy behind due to space considerations . . . Pretty damned sad when you can't fit a laptop . . .). Other than that part being put on hold, I have a completed version to submit to GK as soon as I have the time from home. (Thanks for the graphics, Bionic. You took the vote pretty much hands down.)

I've discovered that when in New York City, you have to work VERY hard to find truly bad food . . . And that Kosher Chinese food is just phenomenal, so long as you make sure the people taking your order understand that you aren't one of the typical Jewish Grandmother types who can't stand spicy food.

Speaking of New York, the fact that my boy has an adopted Jewish Grandmother is cool beyond words. Not only does he get spoiled beyond words when weÂ’re staying over at my wifeÂ’s friendÂ’s familyÂ’s house, but it also means that IÂ’m being given new recipeÂ’s to try out at least once a week, and every time she (my wifeÂ’s friendÂ’s mom) tries out a new spice, I hear all about it. IÂ’ve learned more about the Jewish culture through food in the last year than I have from any other source throughout the rest of my life.

Oh, and the best Chinese restaurant in the US apparently resides in Biddeford, Maine. If you are in that region, I can't recommend the Lucky Dragon enough. The food was awesome, the service was even better. And they know how to cook authentic Sichuan. ThatÂ’s a hard thing to find out of New York. I've never had a better dining experience, and I've been to a LOT of great places in my time. (The Sea Dog Brewery and Restaurant in Bangor is a close 2^nd.)

Also, if you have family thatÂ’s over a thousand miles away from you and theyÂ’ve never met your child before, and itÂ’s the holidays . . . Make damned sure you have plenty of space in your vehicle, or have money for shipping purposes . . . because you will leave with approximately double the cargo you showed up with . . . and itÂ’ll be all for you child.

Ummm . . . What else did I learn . . . Oh, yah, leaving 7 cats without a live in baby sitter is pretty dumb . . . we couldnÂ’t afford a kennel (woulda cost us have of our trip money just to board them someplace), but a neighbor volunteered to watch them, check their food, water and litter needs . . . but decided that he didnÂ’t need to clean up their messes . . . So, it took us a good hour and a half to get the house ready for us to unpack the truck . . . when coming off a 6 hour leg of driving, we werenÂ’t happy about it, but it wasnÂ’t as bad as it could have been.

So, the road trip is over, IÂ’m back at work . . . and it sucks just as bad as I remember.

To the mods, if you can delete that voting thread, weÂ’re pretty much all set with that. Once again, congrats to Bionic for the art that you all chose.

GK, IÂ’ll e-mail you a copy of the setup program as it stands (want to get the multi core thing and proxy server handling sorted out, but thatÂ’s further down the line) for you to test.

Oh, yah, and I got my tin of Foosh mints today from the giveaway (Thanks GK!! You da PIMP!) . . . You can definitely feel the energy boost, but being sensitive to the artificial sweeteners as I am, since they have both Sucralose and Aspartame, IÂ’ll have to take it VERY easy on them . . . likely only one a day, or itÂ’s Migraine city . . . But, so long as you donÂ’t suffer from that same sensitivity, they get two huge thumbs up from me! And I used to drink espresso by the mug, so that takes a lot!

I think thatÂ’s about it for my last two weeks . . . Hope yours was just as fulfilling as ours (esp in spite of the difficulties. The trip was VERY good for the soul.).

D

Well, I got to replace the hubs and CV shafts on a car not once, not even twice, but THREE TIMES over my 'vacation'. First time I noticed the shafts were the wrong ones, second time I noticed the hubs were wrong too. THE THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM!

Enough about the bad stuff. I am from the NYC area, (I have lived in Newark, NJ and surrounding suburbs) and there are only two things I miss 1- seeing my father and 2-FOOD! That area is so full of every type of ethnic food imaginable. They have German and Polish butchers, fancy restaurants of types from Italian to Indian to Thai. A sub around there is not like anywhere I have been. None of this Subway 6" or 12" stuff. They have 9" and 18" rolls. With so much meat and cheese it takes two arms to lift. OK now I am exaggerating. But seriously, if you aren't from that area, and you go there for whatever reason, you must try as many places to eat as possible. If you don't, you are missing out on the best part (and this is coming from someone as skinny as a rail).

Quote: Originally Posted by WrathOfSocrus Well, I got to replace the hubs and CV shafts on a car not once, not even twice, but THREE TIMES over my 'vacation'. First time I noticed the shafts were the wrong ones, second time I noticed the hubs were wrong too. THE THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM! Enough about the bad stuff. I am from the NYC area, (I have lived in Newark, NJ and surrounding suburbs) and there are only two things I miss 1- seeing my father and 2-FOOD! That area is so full of every type of ethnic food imaginable. They have German and Polish butchers, fancy restaurants of types from Italian to Indian to Thai. A sub around there is not like anywhere I have been. None of this Subway 6" or 12" stuff. They have 9" and 18" rolls. With so much meat and cheese it takes two arms to lift. OK now I am exaggerating. But seriously, if you aren't from that area, and you go there for whatever reason, you must try as many places to eat as possible. If you don't, you are missing out on the best part (and this is coming from someone as skinny as a rail).

I'm still waiting for my 'cow on a cracker' deli sandwich . . . I keep getting promised one each time we hit the city, but things keep getting in our way . . . *laughs* I'm not one who could live in the city by any stretch, but just visiting for the grub is SOOOO worth it!