Manners?

We went to our last Broadway show for the season - Jersey Boys. For the last 8 years, I've gotten season tickets to the Broadway shows that come to town. We have a good time - it's a good excuse for the girls to get together grab dinner, catch up on what's going on and then watch and critique the performance.

For this show, the audience did skew older which was expected given that this show is about the Four Seasons and how they came to fame & friendship. The ladies sitting next to us were really excited - oohing and aahing as they looked over the music that was in the show and commenting what song was a favorite of theirs. It was funny to see because it was like sitting next to Jennifer Garner in '13 going on 30' except it was more like going on 55. However, the fun ended as soon as the lights went down. I think they forgot where they were - they were singing along aloud to ALL THE SONGS!!!

**PEOPLE, we are at the theatre, not a concert!!**

I really wanted to lean over and tell them to leave singing for the professionals. I think at the beginning of the show, in addition to asking the audience to turn off the cell phones, they should ask people to be quiet like they do in the movie theater.

live and die by your work

I like what I do but I'm not sure if I ever will be this committed to my work - I guess it depends if my work would ever become famous...

CINCINNATI (AP) — The man who designed the Pringles potato crisp packaging system was so proud of his accomplishment that a portion of his ashes has been buried in one of the iconic cans.
Fredric J. Baur, of Cincinnati, died May 4 at Vitas Hospice in Cincinnati, his family said. He was 89.
Baur's children said they honored his request to bury him in one of the cans by placing part of his cremated remains in a Pringles container in his grave in suburban Springfield Township. The rest of his remains were placed in an urn buried along with the can, with some placed in another urn and given to a grandson, said Baur's daughter, Linda Baur of Diamondhead, Miss.
Baur requested the burial arrangement because he was proud of his design of the Pringles container, a son, Lawrence Baur of Stevensville, Mich., said Monday.
Baur was an organic chemist and food storage technician who specialized in research and development and quality control for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co.
Baur filed for a patent for the tubular Pringles container and for the method of packaging the curved, stacked chips in the container in 1966, and it was granted in 1970, P&G archivist Ed Rider said.
Baur retired from P&G in the early 1980s.

copyright: The Associated Press

An Appetizing Review

For our asian community at work, I am the editor of a quarterly newsletter that is used to keep the community aware of items going on at work and in the city. One of the new things we are wanting to incorporate are asian restaurant reviews. Asians are tough critics of asian restaurants and word of mouth is the best source of PR. As I read responses to my request - it gave me a list of places I wanted to try. The following review gave me a chuckle...

Here is my review for Casual Wok & Grille.
-Good and authentic Szechuan food
- We loved the intestine in hot plate (it was a pot on fire with intestine and tofu in a yummy red sauce)
- We had to order something not spicy for our 2-year old son, we loved (and our son loved) the salt and pepper tenderloin they recommended
- Our visitor who is an Asian from Los Angeles told me the intestine in hot plate is comparable to the best asian food they have in LA
- Our visitor is quite intrigued with the spicy rabbit and said he will want to try it next time

...Some things are probably better not translated. Who wants to join me in checking out Casual Wok??

Spring is here!

We are excited that it is actually getting nice outside we are able to enjoy the weather and perhaps for the first time since we moved into the house, get our yard looking nice. Today, we went out to buy some Mulch, tree spikes, and topsoil to begin the process. Owen thought it would be fun to help and so we gave him his own shovel and let him have a go at aerating the flower bed...

Wii Play

I think Tom was having game console withdrawl (his 360 is getting fixed right now) after not playing anything for the last 3 weeks. We went to Target yesterday as part of our weekly shopping trip with the intention of buying new toothbrushes, diapers, and loofa spongy thingy and walked out with a new game console, extra controller, and a second game for the Wii. (Target is a dangerous place to shop!) To be fair, I wasn't against the purchase at all and we warmed up the console by creating our own characters (Mii) and testing out all the games.

My guess is that this will ride up to Sodus with us in May along with golf clubs and Owen toys so ... Everyone get warmed up because we'll probably be having a Riker Wii Game Night.

Little Taste of the Past

Our hiring process at work is a bit unique, in addition to applying (uploading resume, etc.) you also are requested to take an assessment in which determines if you are a fit with the company. This was created after I joined the company and so I have not taken it. When I joined, they gave us a reasoning test which reminded me a bit of a shortened HS standardized test. I guess they have decided to go back to this standarized reasoning test and away from the general assessment. They also needed guinea pigs to test drive it. I received this email stating how I've been among the selected few to help qualify the new test. (i think they were trying to make me feel special). The email also make a very clear note that stated the results of the testing would not be part of my personal record.

On Friday, I had taken the test...I had forgotten what it was like to take ACT/SAT or even college exams. They must've realized we would've all forgotten as well...When I walked into the auditorium, there were people seated 3 seats apart. Each place had 2 -#2 pencils, the booklet, scantron sheet, scrap calculation paper, and a basic calculator. We had 65 min. to answer 40 Q's. At the end of the time (which I did finish the entire test) - my brain hurt! It's been a while since I had to balance equations or solve logic puzzles. Luckily, I was able to convince Tom to join me for a quick Friday afternoon beer before picking up Owen - that made it all better.

I'm not sure if I want to know how well I did or not...

Traitor Dog

This weekend was the first nice day we had this year and like the rest of our neighbors, we spent the time outside soaking up the sun and warm air. We were looking over the lawn and garden and even began planting things. We can't quite keep up with our neighbor, 'The Jones' - Anna has mowed the grass twice this year already! But I digress...I'm painting our new mailbox, Tom's planting some flocks, Owen's digging dirt, and Where Is Rocky?!?? He is chilling on the lawn taking in the scenary, but not our lawn ....in Anna's!