2013

Archive for the year 2013

Shoes as Far as the Eye Can See

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Ching under Shopping, Travel.

My first Mall of America experience was quite overwhelming. I went with a couple of ladies from the MEA conference. We took the light rail from the Government Plaza train stop. It’s about a 30 minute train ride to the mall because MOA is the final stop and there are several stops in between.

I have a funny story about the light rail. I was surprised that you didn’t have anywhere to stick your ticket in after purchasing it. In Boston you need your ticket to get through the gates. There are no gates to the rail in Minneapolis. It’s just wide open. There’s not anyone on the train that asks for your ticket either. I guess they rely on the honor system. However, the cops get on periodically and do random checks.

One of the ladies I was with works for Ameren Missouri but lives in Illinois. She say that where she’s from there are actually rail employees in the rail cars who check for tickets. In Minneapolis the cops do the checking instead of civilians.

I actually got to experience this first hand on our way back to the hotel. These three cops got on the train at one of the stops. One of them asked me for my ticket. Of course, I wasn’t expecting this because no one checked on our way to the mall. I had dropped my ticket in my purse because I figured that there was no reason for me to keep holding it in my hand if no one was going to check anyway. Murphy’s Law prevailed and it took me forever to dig the ticket out of my purse. I found the one that I had purchased a few hours earlier first and I was really worried that I had lost the correct one. I was relieved when I finally found it because I felt sure that they were going to kick me off the train. Not while it’s moving but at our next stop. Either way I was appalled at the thought.

After the cop moved on to the other passengers I asked my new friend, “So what happens if you don’t have a ticket?”

“They give you one,” she says.

“Then why did we have to buy tickets if they’d give them to us anyway?” LMAO. I know it’s not that kind of ticket but I couldn’t help myself. We both laughed.

She added that she thought that you get more than just a ticket and that they’d probably take you to jail. I told her that my husband probably wouldn’t like that too much. I wouldn’t like that too much either. Going to jail over a $2 rail ticket is ridiculous and totally not worth it.

But I digress… The Mall of America is really cool but way too big. We hadn’t even gone through a quarter of one level and I was already pooped. The place is so huge that their Macy’s takes up what seemed like three or four floors. And, sometimes they had two of the same stores. It would take several days to see everything.

Now that I know how easy and convenient their rail system is (it’s so simple, nowhere near as confusing as the one Boston where they have multiple rail lines intersecting each other) and that there are direct flights to and from ICT and MSP, I wouldn’t mind going back. I’d take Brian with me and show him around. I know for a fact that he would love the massive Lego store. It’s the biggest one I’d ever seen.

I may just take him to Minneapolis for his 40th birthday next year. We’ll see.

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Our New Roof

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Brian under Home Ownership.

Back in May of this year we had a really big storm that rolled through and damaged a lot of property around the city.

I had considered myself lucky because I didn’t have any visible damage, unlike some of our friends who’s homes looked like they have been perforated by a series of shotgun blasts. As the months progressed I had started to notice the gravel that covers the shingles had started to deposit in the driveway. It looked like I wasn’t so lucky after all.

My wife had been taking a Spanish class at the Rec center that she teaches Zumba at. During her classes she had made friends with a guy that worked for Dolphin Roofing, a locally owned and operated Roofing contractor. She recommended I ask him to come take a look at the roof. Me being a person that researches companies before I let them do any work for me decided to do a little research on Dolphin. They turned out to be a really good company. They are BBB Accredited and have an excellent history in the city.

From the start Dolphin was on top of things. They started by coming over and looking at the roof, they respected that I wanted to be there for it because I like to learn about this stuff. I think that learning about these things can help me be a better homeowner in the future. Plus, if I move and have to use a different contractor, they may not be as good and the knowledge I gain from the previous contractor can help me to see that.

Dolphin advised that there was indeed damage to the roof and that I should call the Insurance company and file a claim. Then Dolphin did something that I had never seen a company do before. They sat on the call with me while I talked to the Insurance company. Providing advice and insight as we filled out all of the insurance requirements. When we were done he laid out what was going to happen next with the Adjustor.

A few days later the Adjustor came by. Me being me, I was there for that as well. Again, Dolphin Surprised me. The owner of the company showed up to make sure that the adjuster was not only through but fair with his adjustment, this was something I had never seen from a company. Again, Dolphin explained everything and made me feel confident that not only was my roof going to get fixed, but it was going to be fixed right and that they would be there until the end and wouldn’t consider the job done until I was happy.

A few weeks later we were off and running with the roof replacement. The guys at Dolphin came out, and did an excellent job with the roof. I had lots of questions and they didn’t hesitate to answer them. It made me feel good that we had such qualified people working on our home.

Here are a few picture of the roof from my perspective.

Once the job was done they did an excellent job of making sure that there was no trash or nails left behind. With the exception of the new roof, you would never know they had been there.

I have to give it up to the guys that were up on the roof too. I went up there with one of the guys from Dolphin to look at the damage and just about didn’t get down. However, the guys at Dolphin are really nice. Instead of making fun of me fore being scared of heights, he showed me the safest and easiest way to get on and off the roof without hurting myself.

Here are a few pictures that the Dolphin guys took for me.

I really wanted to get some pictures of the work from up close and the Dolphin Guys knew I was scared of heights so they took some pictures for me and sent them to me later. I tell you these guys are not like any other company. They really take care of you.

This week the gutters are getting put in and their gutter guy called me and advised me that he had a color that matched my trim work better. I wasn’t sure so he left me a sample of the gutter along with a color pallet to look at so I could compare my current gutter color with the others he suggested. Most companies wouldn’t have taken the time to ask, they would have just thrown up the color you told them to and moved on.

I am so grateful that we found Dolphin Roofing. They have been professional, courteous, informative and an all around great company to work with. If you ever need anything on your house done call them first, they do more than just roofing.

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Chicago Training

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Brian under Life, Travel.

I had to go to Chicago for some SAP Training, it ended up being a hectic weekend leading up to this. Ching came back from Minnesota on Friday afternoon, and we got to spend all day Saturday together before I had to leave Sunday Morning.

I got to set all of my travel, hotel and transportation up this time. I looked for Supper Shuttle planning on getting the group ride since the company was paying. To my surprise, they only offered an Execucar meet-and-greet.

In Chicago though, the guy that meets you is not the guy that drives you.

Here is my greeter.

He was a nice kid but no where near as good as the driver we had in Florida.

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Uncle Julio’s Mexican Restaurant

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Brian under Food and Drink, Travel.

On my first day in Chicago I asked the front desk clerk about the restaurants here. He advised me of the ones he liked and didn’t. I asked him about Uncle Julio’s across the street and he said it was just OK.

This morning I decided to get a second opinion and I asked the Shuttle Driver. She raved about it all the way to my training class. So I decided to check it out for dinner tonight.

I should have listened to the clerk from the first day. I was not impressed with their food. I got a two enchilada dish that came with rice and beans. The beans were super spicy, the rice was very dry and the salsa that was supposed to go with the chips kept its form after I took the lid off, I actually touched it to see if it was frozen and it wasn’t, nor did it move.

The enchilada was very tough and tasted like it had been microwaved too long.

I can definitely say I will not be trying this place again before I leave.

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Labriola Baking Co.

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Brian under Food and Drink, Travel.

Since I was in Chicago I figured I needed to try out an Italian place. There just so happened to be one right down the street from the Hotel. I walked in and was greeted by a wall of pastries.

I turned the corner and was greeted by breads that smelled delicious.

As well as ice creams and everything else you could imagine.

I decided that i wanted to try one of their Brick Oven pizzas, I could smell them cooking and they looked delicious.

The pizza was actually really good. I am not used to the ultra thin style pizza but it had really good flavor.

I just wish they wouldn’t have taken a slice before they gave it to me, just kidding.

I think I may try them again before I leave also. While I was there I watched what was coming out of the kitchen and it looked like their sandwiches were a hit. I think i will pick one of those up next time.