Downtime

It may be a slow week for blog posts as I will be moving this afternoon and probably won't have a chance to get the cable and internet transfered until this weekend. This move has become more stressful than it was supposed to be but it'll work out. I finally found some temp laborers to help and it turns out they are from the same company that we hired through when I moved in so I hope they will be just as good. I'm leaving work today at 3 to pick up the Uhaul downtown and hopefully they will let me park there while I have the truck otherwise I'm not exactly sure what I'll do but if I can't I'll figure something out.

In other news, I'm going to Charlotte on Thursday for a meeting bringing back memories of last Spring's multiple early morning trips to the Queen City. I also got a new softball glove, cleats, and a batting gloves yesterday!

Anyway thanks for reading this post multiple times if I don't update by next time you stop by.

Today's entertaining web video (not work safe because of the language but still pretty funny): Waffle House

Fun Times

I've gotten out of practice for staying up late with friends. This weekend was a lot of fun hanging out with Mark and getting to meet and hang out with Emily. Last night after touring Hendrick's Cary Auto Mall we went to eat at Winston's which was excellent. After dinner we watched Inside Man even though none of us knew what it was about. I think we'd all give it a thumbs up. After the movie we went to Emily's condo and watched Napoleon Dynamite since Mark had never seen it.

This morning the three of us went to Biscuitville for breakfast and then to Edenton Street United Methodist for church. I enjoyed the service and it looked like a younger crowd than FPC but I think I'll stick with FPC for now since I'm starting to get involved with softball and such. We looked for Susanna but didn't see her but saw her Jetta in the parking lot and left two notes, one on the windshield and one secret note to be found later. Mark and I then went to Pharoahs for lunch and then he left. Overall an excellent but tiring weekend in spite of not getting to move. Now on to packing.

Sorry for the last few posts that have just been recaps. I found $5.

The Brightside

There's almost always a positive side you just have to find it. This spring I'm playing on the First Presbyterian Softball Team and the first practice was at 10:30 this morning at Lion's Club Park Field 2 near downtown. I was going to have to miss it, but since I wasn't able to move today I was able to attend. I definitely need to work on my skills, but all in all it went pretty well. I'm also going to probably get a new glove since I've had the one I'm using now since Jr. High and some baseball cleats. We have a 14 game season and it looks like 2 games a week on Tuesdays and Thursday which should keep me busy. If you're ever in Raleigh and want to come watch let me know.

Story time

Mark and I went to Mellow Mushroom in Glenwood South tonight for some pizza and libations. After dinner one of his friends, Emily, from dealer academy who lives in Raleigh and works at Sir Walter Chevy her family's dealership met us and then we went to Hibernian.

Now for the story I teased in the previous post. When I returned home around 6:00 this afternoon I checked my work e-mail and noticed that I had a voicemail (voicemail sends us an e-mail when we receive a voicemail or fax) so I called into my voicemail box and hear a message from the apartment manager for the complex into which I'm moving tomorrow. The first part of her message was that she had some mail for me since I've already had some forwarded there and then came the bad news, my apartment isn't ready. Immediately I thought to myself, I knew it would happen. The current/previous tenants were being evicted and it takes a long time to get somebody legally evicted and then turn the apartment. When I went to see the apartments a couple of weeks ago Jacs and I saw the current residents and needless to say they didn't seem like the model tenants which made me question if the unit would be ready a few weeks later when I was to move in. I signed the lease last week and again the reassured me that it would be ready and I jokingly pointed out the clause in the contract that lets me break the lease and go elsewhere if the unit isn't ready by my move in date. Little did they know it could come into play.

Fortunately the manager left her cell phone number so I could call her when I received the message. She explained that the people just now started leaving today after the sherrif came to the apartment and locked them out. Why in the world did the managers think they'd be out and have the unit turned if they were being evicted? Nobody wants to be homeless so they were going to stay until the last possible minute. Argh. So as I expected and warned the manager when I signed the lease, the unit probably would need work, and it needs new carpet, paint, and a big cleaning which can't be done until Monday since they weren't out on time. Well this puts me in a predicament since Mark came to help and Chalmers Moving Company was enlisted to help as well. The manager offered to give me a discount on the first month's rent and I also asked for help in paying for a moving/temp guys to help move my stuff since my free help won't be able to help. I think we'll have a meeting of the minds when I go to the property this morning. Luckily I don't have to be out of the current apartment until Friday but there goes my planned leisurely move. It'll all work out, it's just frustrating at the moment.

Back

The trip to D.C. was pretty good. I'm definiteiy not used to sitting in class for 8 hours a day anymore. Overall the conference was good but I was hoping for more detail in the instruction, especially at $700/person. The best part was getting to practice my networking which is something that can always be improved upon. Philip (co-worker that went as well) and I also met our closing attorney, who's office is across from the conference hotel, at the networking cocktail party and then went to a sports bar to watch the Duke game. Nothing much of interest happened today during class this morning. We arrived at the airport several hours early for our 4:00 flight this afternoon and ended up sharing a table with a very nice girl who works at the FDA to eat our lunch since there weren't enough seats. We ended up talking to her for probably an hour while she was waiting to fly home to SFO. We also saw Jesse Jackson who was flying to O'Hare. It was interesting that he waited around until the very last minute and then boarded after everyone else had been on the plane for at least 10 minutes. Right after he scanned his boarding pass the flight announcement sign switched to flight closed. It was also interesting to see people's reactions when they saw him just sitting there talking on his phone. I was surprised to only see one lady walk up and talk to him.

Here's a bad cell phone walk and shoot pic. I had my 20D but I didn't want to become the paparazi.



In other news, I'm not moving tomorrow because my apartment isn't ready. Story to come later, but Mark just got here so I'm not typing it now.

"Where da gold at?!?"

I have to post this because you have to watch it. Some say it's the new Bubb Rub and Lil' Sis video, I don't know if it's that good but it's still really, really funny. Both videos are work safe for you work time blog readers.

"Who all seen the leprechaun?!? Say yeah!!!"

Update

The conference call went very well and we were in and out with my presentation and their questions in 10 mins! Thanks for the good luck wishes.

It's go time!

9:30 AM It's go time for my first Investment Committee conference call!

Busy Times

It's going to be a busy week. Tomorrow I have my first solo Investment Committee presentation conference call (for real this time). Should go smoothly but the first time of anything always induces some nerves. Thursday and Friday I'll be in Washington, DC at Housing Tax Credits "101" learning all about tax credits which should fill in some gaps in my knowledge and help with my job. We're leaving Raleigh at 6 AM on Thursday to get to the conference by 9! It's going to be a long day. Friday afternoon I think our flight returns at 4 and then I'll be rushing home to get ready for Mark's arrival. He's coming up to help me move apartments over the weekend. Katie and Joel are also coming to help which should make things go quickly. I have great friends. Between Monday and Wednesday I'm going to have pack up the apartment as best as possible, luckily I have a week to move as I don't have to vacate the current apartment until the 31st.

I get it

After the Carolina loss this afternoon I was flipping channels and Romeo + Juliet was on so I ended up watching it. I've watched the movie several times and enjoyed it from a social commentary perspective but never really got into the tragedy/love story part of it. I get it now.

I guess I am really behind in growing up, but things come in time and when they're supposed to I guess.

Up with the White and Gold

Today was Georgia Tech day. The Triangle GT Alumni Club had 30 something people and the Triad/Burlington Club had two attend the Tech vs. State baseball game. Unfortunately Tech got down early but came back and lost 12-11 in 10 innings. It was good to meet some fellow alums from the area and even met a poster from The Hive and had a couple of good conversations. After the game, The Chalmers and I went to eat at El Rodeo since Ole Time Barbecue was closed. It was good as usual. Below is the link to the pics. Most turned out decently well minus the backstop net being in the way. I like having the long lens and the fast shutter burst as evidenced by a couple of pitcher series.

Tech vs. State Photo Gallery

Getting out of the office

Yesterday my boss and I went on a site visit in Petersburg, VA. We also took a side trip to the Petersburg National Battlefield to see the infamous crater that resulted from Yankees digging a 511' tunnel under the Confederate fort and exploding 4 tons of gun powder. Sounds smart right? Not so much. After the explosion the northerners stormed the hole but got trapped at the bottom and couldn't get up the other side. Upon getting stuck the southerners rained gun and canon fire down on them and beat them back. Below are some pics including one of the interpretative plaques that has one of my new favorite quotes. Also the confederates had a hinkling that something fishy was going on (yeah how could you not when the tunnel entrance is only 511' away) so they started digging 2 exploratory tunnels but weren't as deep as the notherners so they missed.

This will be apartments in a couple of months

Wetlands boundary (not to be built on)










The crater

Read, Reading, Read

As you may know from previous posts in my desire to become an educated person since graduation last May I have started reading for fun. On Sunday night I finished To Kill a Mockingbird and really enjoyed it. I read it in high school, but like most books back then, I didn't really pay too much attention and get into it. I guess it's just taken me awhile to start to read critically but it does make reading more enjoyable (Thanks to Dr. Frankel's freshman English class at Tech). The social commentary in the book was excellent and it was almost like reading it for the first time since I forgot some big parts of the story. I think I'm going to look up some analysis online and compare it to what I thought as I read. We also watched the movie in high school and I remember enjoying but it's now added to the rewatch list. I give the book two big thumbs up and highly recommend it even if you've read it before.

Oh yeah, I'm now halfway to 26. Man I'm getting up there.

Dinner

Hi, my name is Brian and I take pictures of my food. Yes I am a nerd and/or foody. Taking pictures of my food is the ultimate combination, I can practice two of my hobbies at the same time, cooking and photography. Here are some pics in my lightbox of tonight's dinner of salmon, almond green beans, brown rice, and the ubiquitous baby carrots. I'm still trying to figure out this light box thing and the post processing. I don't know why it's not giving me a true white background. Even if the pics aren't that great the food was delicious.

Alaska Salmon with Orange Vinaigrette
Toasted Almond Green Beans

It's Beesball Time!

This Saturday I'm organizing a Triangle GT Club outing to the Tech vs. State baseball game at State. The game is at 2:00 pm and we already have 20 people signed up. If you want to go the tickets are $3. Send me an e-mail, IM, or post in the comments.

The Furman Wavers Elon Chapter Part II

A quick post before work.

Here are the pictures from Friday's stew sale: Click Here

Saturday Joel and I walked 18 holes at Shillelagh Golf Course in Gibsonville, NC. Luckily we're pretty even in our golf abilities which made for a good time. I won 118 to 125. Yeah not too good, but I can tell I'm improving. Also it started thundering and lightening but fortunately we didn't reenact Caddy Shack.

The Furman Wavers Elon Chapter

Yesterday I felt like a member of the Furman Wavers (group of students that stand at the entrance to Furman and wave at folks). For 8 hours I waved at almost every vehicle that passed by the stew stand on the main road into and out of Elon and came to several conclusions:

• Elon students have really nice cars
• 99% of Elon students don't eat Brunswick stew (not much of a surprise there since I don't like it either)
• People can drive at least a few hundred feet without hands on the steering wheels, one hand on the cell phone and another waving at me or gesturing to the person on the phone.
• People don't buy stew when it's 75 degrees outside
• I like being outside
• 6 out of 22 New Jerseyites (Jerseyians) don't wave
• I think Elon has the reverse ratio of Tech and why didn't I go there ;)
• People really like to get a wave
• I like getting waves and big smiles in response

Overall it was a good time and I got the chance to meet some new people. The stew didn't sell well but maybe the folks selling today will have better luck. Granddaddy was interviewed by an Elon student doing a video project for a mass communications class about the stew sale so hopefully he'll e-mail me a copy when it's finished.

Last night I went to I-85 Golf and Baseball with Joel and Katie to hit some balls in preparation for this afternoon's golf game. It was a absolutely beautiful evening and was perfect for some ball smashing. I'm hoping I can hit my drives at well today as I did last night, my iron shots on the other hand will definitely need to improve. We then went to eat some Mexican for dinner and had a good time.

Here are a few camera phone pics from yesterday, real pictures will be posted when I get back to Raleigh.

Hot Hot Hot

In honor of the ACC Tournament beginning we had a chili cook-off at work and even broke out the TV for some game watching. Six people entered including me. Prior to Wednesday night I had never made chili before and never cooked in a crock pot. I found a recipe, Tyler Florence's recipe for Beef Chili with Red Beans and Chocolate on the trusty Food Network site and gave it a shot. The main issue I had with the recipe was that it said it should take about 3 hours but in reality using the crock pot I started around 7:30 pm and it cooked all night and I even had to put it in the oven for an hour before work to finish it off, all told about 11 hrs of cooking time. The recipe turned out pretty well and it caused reactions varying from yum to excitement over a burning mouth to people breaking out in sweats. I didn't really think it was that hot but that's just me. As you can see from the picture below Brian's Bodacious Bold Beef Chili Concoction won the hottest chili award which was a $20 Target gift card which almost pays for my crockpot purchased at Target on Tuesday.



In other news, I'm taking one of my three community service days (yes we get community service days!) to help my granddaddy sell Brunswick Stew for the Elon Exchange Club fundraiser. Last night we delivered some turkey to the guys cooking the stew and I saw the biggest pots I've ever seen. They have three 300 gallon cast iron pots bricked in over gas burners. You can see the oar-like paddles they use to stir the stew in the picture. Should be fun and good practice for some mental math when making change. Tomorrow I'm playing golf with Joel while Katie sits on the sideline on the 15 day DL (see her latest blog post).

It's already been brought!

This message is from Brian who is challenging you to play Men's Tournament Challenge on ESPN.com.

Sign up your bracket after Selection Sunday. You know you want to, and just because the name of the group is GTSuperFriends doesn't mean you had to go to Tech to join. You're a SuperFriend if you're reading this.

Get in the action now: Click Here to Sign Up!

Game Front: http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/frontpage
Group: GTSuperFriends
Password: gpburdell

If you sign up you'll make Tyler Hansbrough happy and he'll make this face.

The results

The project passed TRC with flying colors, now it's on to the big show i.e. conference call presentation with the Board of Directors in probably two weeks to gain offical approval.

It's go time!

Last week was a false alarm. Today is actually my first presentation to the Technical Review Committee for a project that I'll be responsible for closing assuming it passes TRC and then Investment Committee. I'm sure nobody is going to read this post this morning but if you do send good thoughts my way at 9:30.

Fun times

This weeked Jaclyn came down from Chesapeake, VA for a visit with Katie, Joel, Lauren (who was up for the weekend for a UNC open house), and me. She arrived Friday afternoon and we downtown in search of food. First we went to Mellow Mushroom but it was packed as usual with a 45 minute wait and since we were hungry we left. We then went to Cameron Village to go a sports bar but it was a 45 min wait as well. We then walked around Cameron Village to see if there was any where else to eat but it was pretty dead. By then we could have just stayed at MM and been seated, a fact that I didn't live down all weekend. :) So then I remembered the Q Shack on Hillsborough across from State but it was closed for renovations or either going out of business. Finally we decided to eat some Mexican at El Rodeo which was pretty.

After dinner I destroyed Jacs in a card game called Phase 10 with a monsterous come back. Saturday morning we made pancakes and some bacon then embarked on my first real tour of Raleigh. We drove back downtown and saw some sites then hit up the State Fair Grounds Flea Market for some good southern culture. I bought two national championship Coke bottles, UNC 1982 and Tech 1990. I had the Tech bottle already but it's at home and the pair will be make for good decorations for my office. After the flea market we hit up Sonic for lunch and then returned to my apartment to wait on the Chalmers and Lauren to arrive.

The rest of the group arrived around 5 and we watched Myth Busters like the good Tech nerds we are and then decided it was time for dinner if we were going to get back in time to watch the game. We again decided to try Mellow Mushroom and it was packed of course but we waited it out and enjoyed some excellent conversation and pizza. After dinner headed back to the apartment and broke out Trivial Pursuit 90s Time Capsule Edition and played guys vs. girls. I was surprised how much random 90s pop culture I remembered and Joel and I made a great team and ended up winning! Trivial Pursuit ended almost perfectly and it was GAME TIME. I don't really need to recap that because you already know who won.

Overall it was a great weekend and was fun hanging out with somebody other than myself. I also learned that I can attempt to entertain overnight guests without specific things planned to do. If you want to come visit Raleigh let me know, I have a sleeper sofa.

Now, what do you really think?

Ok since only four of you have done my Johari Window, let me have it. Be honest because I'll learn more about myself this way than just the positive Johari Window.

My Nohari Window

Describe me

I saw this posted on Katie's blog and thought I'd join in the fun. Tell me what you think of me by filling out the Johari Window, be honest. Do it, Do it.

In other news, the beads didn't really work. I taped them up too well so they wouldn't fall over night and when he opened the door they hit the top and made noise. It was still funny though when he opened the door all the way and they did fall.

I also went to the driving range this afternoon to enjoy the 77 degree, partly sunny, and LOW HUMIDITY! I was pleased with my performance considering I hadn't hit since probably October. Here's a camera phone shot.



Edited to add that one of my uncles was on CourtTV yesterday as an expert witness in a murder trial. He's a principal in a CPA firm in Atlanta. I got an e-mail from my aunt while at work so I checked out the CourtTV website and signed up for the free trial to watch the live broadcast online. Here's a screen cap. (Yes I have Justin Gray on my desktop but what you don't see is Anthony Morrow shooting over him).

Fun times at Work

I usually make it a practice to not post about work (yeah not much of a policy this week) but I figure this post is worthwhile and can't get me in too much trouble.

At work on Tuesday we celebrated Mardi Gras by having a toiletry drive for the hurricane people and also had hourly e-mailed trivia questions regarding the holiday. My department teamed up to put the beat down on the other folks. What can I say? That's how we do. The winner for each question received their choice of beads and we all contributed to our boss' collection on his door knob (he also got each of our two complementary strings that morning). Today we were trying to figure out what to do with them and decided to string them all together and then we hung them from the ceiling of a guy's office that wasn't there today. Should be fun when he gets in tomorrow as long as the janitor service doesn't mess with them and he doesn't get hurt when they fall as he opens the door :)~





In other news, two weeks ago on Friday the Explorer was vandalized at work under the guise of me winning the "Spirit/Suck Up Award". If only I knew who the culprits were :) oh wait, they e-mailed me pictures after the deed was done. I thought it was pretty funny and kind of nice to know that they like me.

Update

Here's the update regarding yesterday's post. I ended up not presenting since Yolanda was really doing the deal and I was just doing the modeling and helping out on other stuff. The IC approved the project unannimously and we got props for modeling the project out the wazoo. My first real presentation on my own is Monday to the Technical Review Committee which consists of all the VPs. After approval by TRC it's on to the IC. According to my boss this should be a no brainer so hopefully I won't screw it up.

If you're bored watch this from the Raleigh News & Observer: Coach Kommercial