Jared's Blog (original, huh?)

Free Luggage Tag

2009-08-15T09:47:00.001-06:00

United is giving out free, personalized luggage tags at the Denver airport this weekend. Here's a picture of the "United side" of my new bag tag...

XM Radio

2009-04-22T10:48:00.001-06:00

Long time no post, I know.

I've known for a long time that DirecTV came with XM Radio in the 800s. I haven't listened to it much until recently. The other day I found the Lithium channel (838). Wow. It's all 90's alternative and grunge rock - you know, the music I grew up with. I have been listening to the station almost constantly for the last week and haven't heard a single song that I disliked. It's amazing!

That's all, just had to share how freaking sweet the "new" radio station is!

United Elite Choice Competition | WINNER!

2009-01-28T18:15:00.001-07:00

Hey All,

Some good news - I just won a team competition at United where the goal was to be in the top 50 teams in terms of additional flight miles in 2008 over 2007. Our team had over 380,000 more miles flown in 2008 than in 2007, which put us in the top 50.

Here are some links about the competition:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thegate/2009/01/24/fters-win-24-million-united-miles/

and

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/9056244-post2.html (I was on UnitedWarriors).

Thanks to this, I won 250,000 miles and some other goodies from United Airlines. Thank you UA for the competition, and congratulations to all the winners!

Back to Stockholm

2009-01-23T17:30:00.001-07:00

Hej All,

Just an FYI that I'm heading to Stockholm on Feb 7 and will be back on Feb 21. I'll keep you all posted on the details and will use this as my forum of spreading pictures and travel stories.

Hope all is well!

Hook 'em Horns

2009-01-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

That is all.

Sammy Baugh, You Will Be Missed

2008-12-18T07:15:00.003-07:00

For those of you who are living under rocks, 'Slingin' Sammy Baugh, the last surviving member of the NFL Hall of Fame's innaugural class and the only Redskin whose number has been retired, passed away yesterday at the tender young age of 94. Rather than try to wax poetic about a life so great, I'll leave that to the professionals. Matt Terl, the Redskins official blogger put together a nice piece http://theredskinsblog.com/2008/12/17/sammy-baugh-1914-2008/ and ESPN put together a well written eulogy as well http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3776838&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233.

If for nothing else, let's hope the Skins win this weekend in his memory. Rest in peace.

EDITED: to add another link to more information from the Skins: http://theredskinsblog.com/2008/12/18/thursday-december-18-more-on-sammy-baugh/

Hannukah Lights

2008-12-07T10:18:00.002-07:00

Yep, that's right. In addition to our two Hannukah bushes (Ficas trees with lights on them), we now have Hannukah lights decorating our house. What are Hannukah lights you ask? Well, the technical definition is long and complex, so to simplify for everyone out there, Hannukah lights are "blue and white Christmas lights." Except, they're for Jews. It's pretty awesome.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T13:08:00.002-07:00

Ashleigh and I have a lot to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is being able to spend the day with family. All our best to everyone, and we hope that you have as much to be thankful for as we do.

Be safe, and happy thanksgiving!

Way to go GRRM!

2008-11-12T10:01:00.002-07:00

Any fans of A Song of Ice and Fire out there? Well, you're in luck! George RR Martin and HBO just announced that they will be filming a pilot episode of his series. This still does not mean that we'll ever get to see ASoIaF on television, but its a HUGE step in the right direction. And, from what I hear, George is going to be involved pretty closely with the project, keeping it true to his artistic vision (or, as close as a mini-series can get). Here's to hoping!

And, if you're interested in reading more, you should check out these links:

http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/11/hbo-orders-fant.html

http://grrm.livejournal.com/58155.html

Sean Taylor

2008-11-05T10:51:00.002-07:00

The Redskins organization is showing it's class once more as Sean Taylor will be inducted into the Ring of Fame: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3684105&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233

If you're going to the game, you should plan on being in your seat early to watch the induction ceremony.

Joxer Daly's

2008-11-05T10:40:00.002-07:00

Let me just start by saying that the Redskins looked pathetic on Monday night. That was embarrassing. On the plus side, the Redskins fans were pretty awesome out at Joxer Daly's in Culver City, CA. I had heard stories that it was the best Skins bar in the country; I think those might just be right. It's definitely the best one that I have been to. I actually noticed all of the Skins gear on cars outside of the bar before I noticed the bar itself. When I walked in, I was greeted by a sea of burgundy and gold jerseys. The place was PACKED with Skins fans. I no longer felt out of place wearing my Cooley jersey over a Skins tee-shirt, a Skins hat and Skins socks. No, I felt right at home. It would have been nice to hear the entire crowd sing "Hail to the Redskins" on a touchdown, but alas, our poor team struggled.

Burbank Skins Fans?

2008-11-03T07:52:00.001-07:00

Hey All,

I'm looking for a good place to watch the Skins game tonight out in the Burbank Area.

If you have a good recommendation, please let me know!

Quandry

2008-11-03T07:12:00.002-07:00

fanatic, fanatical, overzealous, rabid (marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea) "rabid isolationist" - http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=fanatic&i=1&h=00#c

As you all know, I am a Redskins fan in the truest sense of the word. So, what am I to do when faced by the dilemma America is facing tonight? Basically, when the Redskins win their last home game before the Presidential election, the incumbent party retains control. http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3679597&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233

As far as McCain goes, I probably could have lived with him in office if his politics hadn't changed so much in the last 8 years. However, considering who his number 2 would be, the prospect of McCain in office is terrifying. Sarah Palin scares the crap out of me. Forget about her lack of experience, her "maverick" tendencies, and her lack of support for women's rights for a moment. Just look at her educational policies for a good reason to stay away. In fact, it was McCain's educational policies that turned me off of him in the race this year. Since then, he's done much to convince me that he's not right for office, but when he announced that he would be continuing the "No Child Left Behind" act, that made up my mind.

At any rate, being a Redskins Fanatic, I'll be rooting for them tonight, while "voting" against them in the election. In fact, I'm bringing my full Redskins gameday gear on the road with me - I'm headed out to LA on business (as usual), and will be sporting my gear in full force tonight. In the meantime, the one sure way to gaurantee a Redskin's victory is to vote the Redskin's Ticket for the Pro-Bowl!

Hail to the Skins!

Legend of the Seeker

2008-10-31T07:25:00.004-06:00

Wow, just 1 more day until Terry Goodkind goes mainstream with the Legend of the Seeker! Check it out:

http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/

With a little bit of luck, they'll do a decent job with this one. Check back in a couple of days for the review!!

CP, you da man!

2008-10-28T09:08:00.003-06:00

How can you argue with the success that Portis is having this season? As the league's leading rusher, he's having one hell of a season. He's now won the FedEx Ground Player of the Week twice, and is up for it again. Go ahead, vote for him again! You know you want to!

The Big Bang Theory

2008-10-23T09:06:00.002-06:00

Busy day for posting today...

I got a group of co-workers together a couple days ago and we all went out to see a taping of The Big Bang Theory. It was a pretty enjoyable 3.5 hours. For starters, the show is awesome, and you can tell how talented the actors are by watching them during the taping. There were quite a few scenes that were nailed on the first take, which was pretty impressive. In fact, the whole process had the feel of watching a play, minus the fact that they had to reset the pretty elaborate stage a few times, move the cameras, etc. Between takes, they had a host who kept us all entertained - he was quite good.

A couple points of note:

I have seen a couple forums asking about whether the laughter is canned - I can tell you that it is not. In fact, when someone said their name during the laughter, they had to redo a take to get the laugh track right.
Kaley Cuoco is even hotter in person than she looks on TV. Wow.
The cast was all very gracious and stuck around to sign autographs and answer questions after the show. I wish I had brought something with me for them to sign!

There were a few negatives about the experience, too. First of all, the chairs for the audience are extremely uncomfortable. And, sitting there for nearly 4 hours got a little tedious. Also, make sure you eat before you go. Taping starts at 7 PM, and, while they do provide pizza, it's 1 slice per person, so you're not exactly going to make a meal out of it.

Blackberry Bold | Coming Soon!

2008-10-23T08:24:00.003-06:00

Hey All,

My new phone is getting closer to store fronts! The Bold (Blackberry 9000) is scheduled to be released on November 4. Since I'm doing absentee voting this year, the release of the Bold has just made the top of my list of reasons to be excited about election day! Here is some confirmation:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/10/22/blackberry-bold-receives-technical-acceptance-at-att/

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=26072

AT&T still has not updated their site, so I can't pre-order one just yet, but that's coming soon (I have to imagine)!

Vote the Redskins Ticket

2008-10-23T08:19:00.002-06:00

Just thought I'd get my voice out there to remind everyone that Pro Bowl voting has started, so get out, vote early, vote often, and vote the Redskins ticket!

What an UGLY loss!

2008-10-21T11:11:00.002-06:00

Wow, the Donkeys just plain stunk last night! That was one of the ugliest losses I've seen since I moved to Denver. The entire team played poorly, so you can't attribute this to O or D. Hopefully Shanahan gets the Broncos back in gear over the next two weeks so that they come back strong from the bye week!

What an UGLY win!

2008-10-20T08:50:00.002-06:00

Don't get me wrong, I'll happily take the W, but come on! That was about as ugly as a victory can get.

A couple of notes:
* I would have liked to see Captain Chaos play a little better. Cooley seemed a little timid with the ball after his fumble last week. Chris, if you're out there, you know you're a great player, so take back that confidence! Cooley did lay down some big blocks and opened up some big holes, so please bear in mind that I am ONLY talking about when he had his hands on the ball. It kind of went unnoticed, but he did have another fumble - fortunately, the ball went out of bounds, so that was a nice break.

* Portis' fumble sucked, but what an impressive showing from our Defense! 7 straight goal line stands? Unbelievable! It was hard to see them sneak around our D on the 8th play, but somewhat inevitable. Great job Defense - especially London Fletcher who made 3 of those goal line stops himself!

* Plackemeier definitely helped the punt unit - too bad we had to lean on him so much!

* Campbell getting hurt in the first quarter definitely seemed to slow down our offense. Fortunately, Portis stepped up (175 yards!), which opened up the passing game a little bit.

Shaun Alexander et al

2008-10-15T09:33:00.003-06:00

The 'Skins added a couple new faces to the roster this week just before the deadline. Shaun Alexander should bolster an already solid Redskins Running Back group, especially while Ladell Betts recovers. This should help ease the pressure on him to return too soon from his injury. I'm also glad to see that the Redskins picked up a new punter, but I have to wonder if Plackemeier is the right guy for the job. And we'll see if Reed Doughty's replacement can help take some of the work, especially on Special Teams. At least Chris Horton has proved to be a valuable addition to a very strong secondary, already having taken Doughty's starting job, but still hard to see a great player like Doughty out on IR. Best wishes to a speedy recovery and seeing him back in Burgundy and Gold next season!

The Price is WRONG

2008-10-15T09:10:00.003-06:00

Just kidding!

I did go to a taping of the Price is Right yesterday. It was pretty cool, but definitely a long afternoon...

They recommend arriving at least 3 hours early. We got there 2.5 hours early and were numbers 304, 305 and 306. They only allow 325 into the theater, so we kind of lucked out! Once you get your number, they line you up and check your ID a couple times and take your picture for identification purposes. Then they move the line to the side of the building where you sit for another good period of time while they do the opening spiel and determine who the contestants will be. If you go, make sure you are loud and energetic during the "interview" process - it's about 6 seconds of time for you to make your impression on the guy who determines who goes on stage. Then you go stand in line for the metal detector. They tell you no cell phones, cameras, etc. But, if you bring one, they'll just tag it at "security" and let you pick it up later, so don't leave yours in the car - you'll need something to do! Then, you go stand in ANOTHER line to get into the theater. Once they let you in, you wait in line to get seated - the earlier you arrive, the closer to contestants row you will be. The taping itself takes about 2 hours - there's a lot of down time between takes where Drew talks to the crowd.

All in all, it was a pretty good time, but definitely something that you have to be pretty pumped up (drunk?) for!

Blackberry Bold

2008-10-08T10:15:00.002-06:00

I have been desparate for a new phone for a long time. Now that I am being forced to switch over to AT&T (thanks work), I figured I should get the latest and greatest from them. Since I can't type on an iPhone (thank you fat fingers), I've decided to wait for the much delayed Blackberry Bold. This is the first Blackberry with 3G, but AT&T can't seem to bring it to market. Sigh. Hopefully it will come soon. Especially since Verizon will be launching the Blackberry Storm this fall - that's the first touch screen Blackberry to hit the market, and it will also have 3G. AT&T is looking to have another botched release... With the iPhone, they rushed it out before it had been fully tested. Now, they're waiting so long that people are losing interest.

The Economy

2008-10-01T08:05:00.002-06:00

Who knows what the future will bring? A year ago, I was sharply critical about the government's actions and the media's response to the financial crisis that was just starting to hit. My feeling was that the government should do things to inspire consumer and investor confidence and that the media should be wary of portraying a slightly down economy as the next coming of the great depression. Look where we are today. Consumer confidence has steadily declined over the last 18 months, investors have fled from the market, and the media is still talking about how this is the next Great Depression.

No, the economic layout is definitely not rosy. No, we have not yet hit rock bottom. Yet, we need to take action to move things in a positive direction. Shore up our ailing banks to ensure that no more go the way of WaMu and Wachovia. As much as I dislike Bush and the way that he has led our country for the past 8 years, there is one quote of his that I feel is appropriate for times like this. "We must take swift and decisive action". With those words we have made more blunders with the international community than probably any other 7 words in the English language. Yet, in these circumstances, particularly at this time of year, we must act swiftly and decisively to restore confidence in the system. Now, in the 4th quarter, retail outlets nationwide are expecting lower than usual spending for the holiday season. Some companies use phrases like "1 day in December equals the month of May" to describe the importance of holiday shopping. If the American public continues on in fear, this holiday season could be disastrous for business. And what's bad for business, in this case, is bad for everyone.

Hail to the Redskins!

2008-09-29T07:37:00.002-06:00

Hopefully yesterday's hard fought win will bring some of the doubters on board with the solid Redskins program this year. But, we still have another big division road game coming this weekend. A win in Philadelphia will certainly help our cause, too!

My Beloved Redskins

2008-09-26T16:59:00.003-06:00

You know, it's hard to believe that the Redskins are being counted out by just about every columnist in the nation. Granted, they are, currently, in last place in the NFC East. However, considering that their record is 2-1, there's nothing to be ashamed about and it certainly seems a bit premature to panic!

Consider this:

* The Redskins are in arguably the toughest division in football, yet played a close game against the 3-0 defending Super Bowl champions in their first game under their new head coach.

* They then took on the Saints. Granted, the Saints are 1-2 team, however, another 7 points and they'd be 3-0. Their win came against the 2-1 Buccaneers, who are hardly slouches this year. And the Saints other loss came against Denver, considered one of the top teams in the AFC, which was decided by only 2 points.

* Finally, the Skins defeated the Cardinals in week 3. In recent years, the Cardinals have been at the bottom of the abysmal NFC West. This year, however, they are at the top of a much improved division. They have wins against the 49ers (another 2-1 team) and the Dolphins (who just stomped the Patriots).

Not exactly a slouch schedule to start the season. And now they have back-to-back divisional road games. If they can emerge from the next 2 weeks at 3-2 (hopefully better), they'll have positioned themselves as a legitimate contender. Only time will tell if that will be enough to get them back into the good graces of the media, but one thing is certain. The Redskins, despite a very difficult start to the season, have set themselves up to go into their bye week (week 10) well over .500 and with a lot of momentum. Of course, games against St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh will help out on that front...

Looking ahead to Dallas, Jason Campbell is coming off of 2 straight weeks with a passer rating over 100, is 61 of 93 so far this season with no INTs. And, the best game of his career came against the Cowboys last year.

The Redskins secondary is getting back to full strength; Shawn Springs, Carlos Rodgers, Reed Doughty, Fred Smoot, and the new up-and-coming Chris Horton represent a solid defensive back corps. And while Jason Taylor has gone down with a leg injury (recover quickly), the Redskins D-Line should prove capable enough to create a little pressure on Romo. Finally, the Redskins linebackers have the speed and size to take on Witten 1 on 1, which should help take away the check down from Romo.

Don't be so quick to count out the Skins just yet; the Burgundy and Gold are back in the hunt!

Stateside Reception

2008-09-16T12:51:00.001-06:00

We ended up with about 75 people at our reception in my grandmother's backyard. Great turn out, great weather, and of course, great times had by all. Thanks to everyone who was able to make it - we certainly appreciated having you there!

I'm a married man!

2008-09-11T07:40:00.002-06:00

Hey Everyone,

I know that this is a bit belated, but I am now a married man, as of August 31. Here are the pictures from the wedding: http://casner.shutterfly.com/829.

I know I said I would try to keep this blog going, so I'll get back on that sometime soon. In the meantime, we just got back from our honeymoon and have a ton of family coming into town for a little stateside celebration!

No Doggy Bags...

2008-05-29T16:00:00.003-06:00

Hej,

Last post from Sweden. Wow. Hard to believe that 3 months have passed already!

There are seven of us flying home to various US destinations tomorrow (Denver, Austin, Atlanta, Salt Lake, and Indianapolis), plus European colleagues flying off to other projects around the world (France, Australia, England, and Brussels), so we went out to dinner last night. We had traditional Swedish fare, which apparently I am getting used to. I had a Swedish dish called gubrora (without the accent marks, it just doesn't look right). Basically, it translates to "man mix". It's basically egg salad with anchovies. Probably a once in a life time experience for me, but it wasn't bad. I also had Swedish meatballs (the real kind, not the Americanized version).

When it was all said and done, my eyes were bigger than my stomach, so I asked for the leftovers to be boxed up. And was abruptly ridiculed by my European colleagues. Apparently doggy bags are solely an American thing - one that they thought was only done as a joke in TV shows, for that matter. So, when going out to eat in Europe, err on the side of "too small" rather than "too large, but I'll take the rest home". :-)

It is a little bittersweet leaving here. Mostly sweet. But I did make some good friends out here, so don't be surprised if Ashleigh and I end up with some visitors with funny accents. :-)

See you all soon!

Jared

p.s. I think I will just keep the blog going from the US, if anyone is interested...

Indiana Jones

2008-05-25T03:27:00.002-06:00

Hej,

Finally got around to seeing a movie in the Swedish theaters. Can't say it's too much different from seeing a movie in the US. The biggest difference was that the seats are assigned. At first, I found that a little wierd, but it actually was quite nice to not have to race to be the first into the theater to grab seats. The theater layout was more like a playhouse than a movie theater - we sat up in the balcony, but the seats were nice and because of the angles, it felt like there was no one in front of us. And, it was Indiana Jones, so, how could it have gone wrong??

This week will be a little hectic around the office as I prepare to roll off this project, but I fly home on Friday, which is quite exciting.

Talk to you all soon!

Jared

16 days...

2008-05-14T15:33:00.001-06:00

... until I come home! Not as if I am excited or anything... :)

I actually just got word that I would be allowed to get on the flight I have booked for May 30, so I am definitely coming home then!

Quick Trip Home

2008-05-12T09:57:00.002-06:00

Hej All,

Sorry for the lengthy delay between posts. I got the opportunity to jet home for a few days, so I jumped at the chance. Because of it, I was able to make it to my sister Sarah's college graduation in Ohio over the weekend, which was great!

Of course, I didn't even tell Ashleigh that I was coming home, and gave her quite a scare when she walked in the door from work the other day! She hadn't even looked up yet when I said "Hi". She nearly leapt out of her shoes upon hearing a man's voice in the house when she wasn't expecting it. But, I think she liked the surprise, overall... :-)

Sorry if I didn't get to see you on this trip home; it was just a whirlwind trip. I'm still on track to permanently return to the US on May 30th, but I'll keep you posted on that. Hope all is well!

Jared

Swedish Sunlight

2008-05-04T02:28:00.003-06:00

Hej,

At 9:30 last night, it was still dusk. At 3:45 this morning as I was walking home from the bars, it was already getting light out. Ugh. I can't imagine how I am going to get any sleep by the time the end of May rolls around, especially with as bright as my apartment is. I am going to have to rig up some curtains or blinds here pretty soon...

Jared

Paris Pics

2008-05-02T15:16:00.000-06:00

Hej,

Ashleigh put the Paris pictures up at http://casner.shutterfly.com/action.

Enjoy!

Jared

Paris

2008-05-01T01:05:00.002-06:00

Hej All,

Ashleigh and I just got back from Paris. We both landed Friday morning about an hour apart and picked the easiest landmark we could for a meeting point: McDonalds. We then headed over to another terminal to meet up with my coworker and his girlfriend who joined us for the long weekend. About 3/4 of the way there, we got stopped by airport officials, police, and army and air force troops. 10 minutes later, we heard an explosion. Turns out, someone had left a bag by accident, and rather than worry about it at all, they just cleared out the area and detonated the bag. It's not uncommon - my mom and sister had a similar experience several years ago when they were in Paris last. Once we finally got through the mess and met our friends, we headed out to the hotel. The girls, having flown in from the States, were quite jet lagged, so we just got a late lunch, relaxed for a little while, and called it an early night.

Saturday morning we headed out to Trocadero plaza to get some good views of the Eiffel Tower. After a few pictures we headed down to the Tower, but found the lines to be a little long for our tastes, so we just wandered around for a little while to kill time before our tour started. We took a 5 hour bike tour that was quite nice. After the tour, we headed over to Notre Dame for a nice visit of the church. Finally, Saturday night we met up with a Parisien coworker and his wife for dinner, which was quite nice.

Sunday morning, we headed out to Versaille. What a magnificent display of opulence! It makes it pretty obvious as to why the French people revolted in the late 1700s. Tax the people 80% and live like that while they are starving? Sounds like a good plan. After Versailles, we headed home, got cleaned up, and went out to catch dinner and the show at the Moulin Rouge. Quite an experience!

Monday, Ashleigh and I got up pretty early and got in line for the Eiffel Tower. It ended up taking us a little over an hour to get to the top, which isn't bad. We then headed over to the Louvre and got to see the "Big 3", the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. We also walked through the Greek and Egyptian exhibits, and finished off our visit with 17th century French, Italian and Spanish art. We then walked from the Louvre through the Tuileries Gardens to Place de la Concorde. From there, we walked up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe before heading home for the day, foot sore and tired, but having had a great time.

Pictures will have to wait - I forgot my camera, so we'll have to wait for Ashleigh to get the pictures loaded onto her computer, then uploaded to the web so that I can grab them.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Jared

Swedish Engagements

2008-04-23T12:50:00.002-06:00

Hej,

This story is actually a couple week's old, but I am finally getting around to sharing it.

I had a co-worker return to the US to propose to his girlfriend. When he got back, none of the Swedes asked him about it, even though they all knew why he had flown home. Finally, after about a week, he mentioned her by the new appelation (fiancee). The Swedes all heaved a great sigh of relief, then asked him where his ring was. Turns out, when you get engaged in Sweden, both the woman AND the man wear rings. So, our Swedish coworkers were all afraid to ask him about it, thinking she had said "no" since he came back without a ring.

I then learned that the women in the office thought I was a big jerk for being engaged but not wearing my ring!

When they learned of the American custom, they understood (sort of), but they still think we're weird. :-)

Jared

Tallinn, Estonia

2008-04-20T09:12:00.004-06:00

Hej All,

Just got back from a great weekend in Tallinn, Estonia. Very cool little town that often gets called a "Medieval Vegas". The sites worth seeing there are all old buildings, churches, etc, just like in the rest of Europe, but Tallinn definitely has a better preserved medieval feeling to it. I highly recommend the city to anyone interested in the middle ages! On top of that, it does have casinos and an amazing night life. I didn't gamble on this trip, but I did check out a couple of the night clubs - Friday night we didn't leave the last club until about 4 AM, and Saturday night I called it quits "early" at 2 AM.

Here are a few pictures and some video from the trip...

This is the outdoor concert hall. There is a choral concert and festival held hear every 5 years that involves 30,000 singers. All at once. The "stage" is a massive choral bench. The lawn in front is where the festival attendees sit and stand, and has held as many as 300,000 people at a time.

Here's the Russian Orthodox Church - quite spectacular.

Just a panoramic view of the city.

Finally, here's an Estonian hip hop group that played at the club on Friday night. They didn't start their first set until 2:30 AM. The sound quality is pretty bad (sorry, my camera isn't great at videos), but the group was really good.

On Friday I am meeting Ashleigh in Paris, which should be a really good time!

Later all,

Jared

Apartment

2008-04-14T15:07:00.003-06:00

Yeah, I'm slow. Here are some pics of the apartment... It's a little messy, but that's to be expected from me :)

Living room/dining room/part of kitchen:

reverse view that gets more of the kitchen

here are the stairs up to my room. I am convinced I am going to fall down them one night when I am too drunk to climb stairs that steep, and too drunk to know better!

Here's the bathroom and laundry room in one...

Anyhow, it's late, so I'm off to bed.

Later all!

Snow Day!

2008-04-09T09:41:00.003-06:00

Hej,

I moved into an apartment a couple days ago - I'll post some pics when I get around to taking them, but it's a pretty cool place. Vaulted ceilings, "master" bed room is in the loft, lots of sky lights, HUGE bath tub (I'm thinking about going hot tubbing in it later...) - all in all, not too bad. Not a really big place, but not too bad. Of course, it took several phone calls to the States (thanks Mom) and to the Swedes to find out how to work the washer and dryer, but I finally managed.

We got a couple inches of snow last night (1.5 - 2 inches), but word on the street is that our 50 degree weather is supposed to come back soon. Don't know if I believe it yet, but here's to hoping!

Work is still kicking my butt, but at least it's easier to deal with after my couple days off last weekend. I am sticking around Stockholm this weekend, but have made it quite clear that I will not be working (at least, not for this client). Next weekend, a few of us are headed to Tallinn, Estonia for a few days. Should be cool!

Catch you all later!

Jared

Supper Club

2008-04-06T02:58:00.004-06:00

Hej,

Final Amsterdam post here... Last night we had one of the best dinner's of my life. We were looking for a good restaurant, so we decided to check out the Supper Club, one of Amsterdam's elite restaurants (rumor has it that you literally eat your meal off of someone). Apparently, you need more than a day (closer to a month) to make reservations at the original Supper Club, so we booked ourselves on the Supper Club Cruise.

Talk about an experience!! We were shown to our table, only to find that it's basically a massive bed inside of a floating club...

This picture is after the 4th of 5 courses and a good quantity of beer...

The host for the evening was a very flamboyent man. If you have ever seen the 5th Element, his voice was exactly like Chris Tucker's character... If you haven't seen the 5th Element, go see it! :-) In between courses, he got people up on a little ledge in the middle of the bed for some dancing...

About half way through dinner, they also had a masseuse come around and give 15 minute massages!

Some of our fellow guests:

After the cruise, we headed out bar hopping until we were finally ready to stumble home for the night (about 3 AM). Instead, we stumbled upon this incredible Tuk Tuk - think moped converted into a golf cart - which we hopped into for the trip back to the houseboat.

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic evening!

Jared

Bridges for Ashleigh

2008-04-06T02:51:00.002-06:00

Hej,

Some of you may already know that Ashleigh used to design bridges in her former life. There were a couple really cool draw bridges that are completely hand operated that I had to take pictures of. So, here's the special post, just for Ashleigh, with some pictures of bridges. I believe these were all built in the 1800s or earlier - we saw a couple paintings of bridges similar to these from circa 1850... Talk about built to last!!

J

Amsterdam

2008-04-06T02:37:00.006-06:00

Hej,

We have had a really good time in Amsterdam! Enough so that I need to split this out into separate blog entries... We flew in on Friday and were met by a good friend Sunil who was gracious enough to let us crash with him on his houseboat (ignore the mess).

Here's the view from the deck...

And, of course, this is just a beautiful city...

We got to see the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum, both of which are excellent. Missed out on seeing more because of work obligations, unfortunately, but we did have a great time!

Jared

Par-tay!

2008-04-03T10:38:00.002-06:00

Hej,

After working 10 straight 11 hour days (or at least, averaging that much), I organized a little event last night to help people blow off some steam. We sent the first guy home in a cab at 9:30 (my PM, in fact), because he was a little too inebriated. And then we really let loose! :-) I'm a little tired today, but spending a night on the town with 15 co-workers helped out with the stress levels quite a bit. This weekend, I am headed to Amsterdam (I think I may have mentioned that once or twice before), which will be a really nice change of pace - no work for 2 days; what a relief!

Jared

Pics from last night:

College Hockey and More!

2008-03-26T13:48:00.002-06:00

Hey All,

Not too much to report right now, actually...

I'll be working all weekend this weekend (yuck), but next weekend I am definitely headed to Amsterdam. Which will be nice. And Ashleigh and I are all booked for our trip to Paris at the end of April!

In the meantime, I'll be cheering DU on in the NCAA Hockey Tournament that starts this weekend. DU won the WCHA title for the 15th time, the most in WCHA history, last weekend! Miami of Ohio (my parent's alma mater) is also in the national tournament after coming in 2nd in the CCHA tournament.

Not much new to report here. If I get some time, I am going to try to get out to see a few museums this weekend, but I may just need some R&R, which is too bad.

Talk to you all soon,

Jared

It's been a long time

2008-03-23T04:30:00.002-06:00

Hey All,

I know, I have been really bad about posting since I got back here! Last week I had a few crazy days at the office, but have really been enjoying the long weekend (Good Friday is a national holiday here, so no work for me)! I was originally hoping to get out of town for the weekend, but I just waited too long, so that didn't end up happening. I did end up having a really great time, though!

Friday, I got out to the Vasa museum with a co-worker and his girlfriend who is out here visiting for the weekend. http://www.vasamuseet.se/InEnglish/about.aspx Very cool museum; probably one of the best I have been to, ever.

Friday night I met a fellow Sigma Chi in the executive lounge of the Hilton. We called up some friends of mine and hit the town. Ashleigh can verify that I did, indeed, have far too much to drink since she was the unfortunate recipient of my drunk dialing... Or, so she tells me... :) Last night, I headed out to a friends apartment and played a little beer pong - ah, to be back in college! It was almost your typical frat guy weekend. Today I am staying in, getting some homework done, and looking at the -6 degree sign that has been steadily falling for the last couple days. I am hoping that this is just the final cold spell before spring comes...

Speaking of colds, I have had a miserable one for the last week. I think it might have something to do with having spent over 30 hours on airplanes in 5 days, drinking heavily and sleeping only when there was a free moment. But, the fellow Sig leaves tomorrow morning, so my liver will have plenty of time to recover. This coming weekend I'll be staying in Stockholm and working all weekend, so there won't be much partying. The weekend after that (April 4-6), I am going to meet up with one of Adam's college friends in Amsterdam. Should be a good time!

Jared

Back in Stockholm

2008-03-18T03:57:00.003-06:00

Hej,

Made it back safely this morning from Adam's wedding. I had a great time there and was glad to see so many people that I hadn't seen in ages, including some friends of his from high school. I've switched hotels to the Hilton - it's a bit cheaper than the Sheraton was, and therefore the rooms are smaller and lacking in some of the amenities. It's also a bit farther than the Sheraton was. I'll miss the Sheraton, but there are a lot of Aprimo folks staying here at the Hilton, so there will be more to do. And, there's the executive lounge here, so I can go have a drink or two for free instead of going to the bars.

I'll post more when I am settled back in. This is a long weekend for me (we get Good Friday off), so I may do a bit of traveling. Not sure where yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Jared

Long Weekend

2008-03-12T03:17:00.003-06:00

Hej,

It's been a hectic week this week. It's now 10 AM on Wednesday, and I am officially at 30 hours since Monday. Yikes. But, I have 3 clients going live this weekend (1 in the US, 1 in Canada, 1 in Sweden), so getting ready for all that has been chaotic, to say the least. Fortunately, the one in the US is in the capable hands of my PM right now, the one in Canada I am only a support role, and the one in Sweden will be handled by a fellow Technical Consultant (TC), so I can enjoy my brother Adam's wedding.

I'm getting things cleaned up today so that I can fly home tomorrow, to Texas on Friday, go to the wedding on Saturday, fly home Sunday, and fly back to Sweden on Monday. Nice long weekend, but a little hectic, too. I still don't know what I am going to say for my "Best Man's Toast" at the wedding, but I have at least thought about it. At any rate, it'll be quiet on the blog front for a few days until I get back to Stockholm.

It looks like Ashleigh is going to meet me in Paris for a long weekend in April, which will be nice. And, I am planning trips to Rome, Tallinn, Geneva, and London over the next 2 months, so there will be plenty of pictures and stories from those.

In other news, I just registered for my last 2 classes of grad school, so the light at the end of the tunnel is within sight!!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Jared

No DST in Stockholm

2008-03-09T09:24:00.003-06:00

While all of the US clocks changed last night (or, at least most of them did), the clocks here in Europe did not. So, I am now 5 hours ahead of you East Coasters and 8 ahead of you West Coasters...

City Exploration

2008-03-08T13:11:00.004-07:00

I finally got a chance to go see some of the city today, and it is beautiful. In particular, the theater really stood out, so I attached a picture of that below:

Today's adventure took me a whole metro stop away from "home", to give you an idea of how little I have had a chance to see so far... I headed out to the Kungstragarden stop where I walked over to (what I thought was) the National Museum. Turns out, I was on the wrong side of the bay, and ended up at the Museum of Midieval Stockholm. Ordinarily, I would have just stayed and not admitted my error (typically male of me, I know), but I was meeting some friends and decided I should try to join them. So, I hustled my way around the bay, only 15 minutes later than expected, and was fortunately not the last to arrive! :-) Once the group gathered, we wandered through the museum together - lots of neat artifacts from Sweden's history, as well as some amazing art from around Europe - even one painting of George Washington! Actually, there was an Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit going on, which was fantastic to get to see, and the Swedes have a pretty nice collection of Cezanne, Renoir, and Gaugain. There were also some exhibits from Swedish aristocracy through the ages - cups, cabinets, plates, etc. that were quite ornate. There were even a few Nautilus Cups, which were incredibly opulent and were made out of large shells that had been carved and inlaid with gold. See here for an example of a Nautilus Cup. Very cool. Anyhow, we then wandered around the harbor area for a while, and got an early dinner.

I spent the rest of the day studying - got a midterm out of the way as well as a couple assignments for other classes. Not sure what I'll get into tomorrow. It's supposed to rain, so I may take a rain check on the next round of city search. We'll see. Cold rain kind of sucks... :-)

Bar Scene

2008-03-07T17:02:00.002-07:00

Hej,

I got a chance to check out the bar scene a little bit tonight. A lot of fun, but the bars here follow the pattern of virtually every other building in Stockholm - they crank up the heat as if to compensate for how cold it is (and it does get REALLY cold here, especially at night). Also, the bars ban coats, so you have to check them (for 20 SEK or about $3.00) every where you go. But, because things are so expensive here - especially booze, which is taxed heavily - tipping is rare, so leaving more than a few SEK (Swedeish Kroner) for a tip is going to make a bartender's or waitress' night. I am not sure what the drinking age is, but bars have three levels, depending on what their target market is - 18, 20, and 23. And the Swedes love their lines. No matter how busy or empty it is inside, they'll make you wait! We even saw velvet ropes and multiple bouncers for a club ("The Club") located in a subway station. I'll have to check that one out and report back later... :-)

I also learned today that the Swedes have no word for please. Instead, you say thank you when making a request, as well as when you receive whatever it is that you requested. Technically, there is a word for please, but it's only used when begging for something, so you would never use it at a restaurant or bar.

Anyhow, off to bed - full day of museums and midterms tomorrow!

Jared

Hej

2008-03-05T05:58:00.004-07:00

Ok, so this is one I need to learn quickly... :)

In Swedish, "Hello" is said "Hej" (pronounced like hey). I have gotten into the bad habit of responding to hej with hey. To the Swedish, there is no difference, so they think I speak their language and just start talking. If I instead were to say Hello, they would know that I am an American, and would speak English right away (it's compulsory for them to study English for at least 8 years in school, so they are all quite proficient). Or, if I learned Swedish, then it wouldn't matter if I meant hej or hey, as I'd be able to follow along anyhow. But, alas, I continue to respond hey.

To expound on my current knowledge of the language, the less formal hello here is hej hej and goodbye is hej da (pronounced hey doe). Actually, that gets really confusing, because when they speak quickly, it almost sounds like someone with a cold saying hello, so hearing that at the end of a phone call is a new experience. :)

A couple of links to the Eniro website (Sweden's version of Google, but with much cooler maps):

Here is a cool view of my hotel and here is the office I am working at.

Hotel Room

2008-03-03T08:28:00.006-07:00

Hey All,

I have quite a view from my hotel room - see the attached pictures. The room itself is quite nice, as the hotel was just renovated a few months ago. It even has a few US outlets - guess they're catering to my kind here! :-) The only weird thing about the room is the shower - there's only a half wall, so water gets everywhere, but it has even better water pressure than at home, so I am certainly not complaining!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Oh, and I have confirmed that my direct line works, so you can always reach me if you need to. If you don't have that number, I just left it on the voicemail message of my cell phone, so you can grab it there - not too interested in posting it on the web for the world to see...

Jared

I Have Arrived

2008-03-02T13:59:00.002-07:00

It did take me almost 23 hours, door to door, but I made it into my hotel just a little while ago. I got off to an auspicious start with a 2 hour delay out of Denver. At the time, I figured it was no big deal, since I was just compressing my 5 hour layover in Frankfurt to 3 hours. Better to be in an airport I know for an extra two hours than in one that I don't. So, the flight finally took off. I was seated next to a very nice German woman who was in the States for a conference on nuclear waste management. We chatted for a little while until the beverage service started. Then I popped an Ambien with a glass of wine, ate dinner, and fell asleep half way through my after dinner beer. Fortunately, I woke up just in time for breakfast, about 5 hours later. That is when I discovered that my flight from Frankfurt to Stockholm had been delayed by an hour. So, back to a 4 hour layover. I managed to kill that pretty easily and finished my first book of the trip. The boarding process was a nightmare. Instead of the orderly process that we're all used to with boarding groups, etc. we were told to board all rows at once. Three lines of people swarming onto the plane en masse created a nice snarl. So, it wasn't too surprising when the captain came on to announce that because boarding had taken so long we had missed our window for takeoff and would need to sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes. Just what I wanted! :-)

But, on the plus side, I am here in my hotel, so, I am off to bed. I'll post some pictures soon, once I have time to take them! :-)

First Post

2008-02-27T21:06:00.001-07:00

Hey All,

Just getting ready to head off to Stockholm, so I figured I'd start a place to share any stories and pictures from my trip. May not always be interesting, but I'll try! I take off on Saturday, about 5:30 pm, and am very excited. :-)

Jared