Christmas Day 3 - The Fesmires

On Saturday morning, Rachel and I woke up early and left Knoxville for her parents' house. After seeing her parents, we set out to pick up her sister in West Nashville and headed for Waverly to meet her Mom's family for a Christmas dinner.

There, we saw Rachel's Uncle Tommy (mom's brother), who was pictured on this blog previously at Gus's before a football game, and her mom's sister Janice and her family.



Caleb and Trey (pictured below) and Becca (pictured with "Grandma" Janice above) provided the entertainment. It was great to see Uncle Dan (Janice's husband) and Rachel's cousins Stewart and Amy (and her husband Charlie) as well.














Reflections - The Wii

I was extremely lucky this Christmas to be able to spend time with my family and to receive many wonderful presents that I did not deserve. The tops of these presents was our Nintendo Wii. This system is revolutionalizing how we play video games. The more I play with it, the more I am impressed by it. It is extremely interactive and can be played by children of all ages - 4-80. You can even get exercise while playing, as you stand and mimic the actions of the participants in most games. It is completely addictive!!!

In addition, it is compatible with Nintendo Game Cube games, so your old controllers and games can be plugged in. It is connective with Wireless Internet, and the Wii Nun-chuck can be turned sideways and used as an original Nintendo controller. With the wireless access, you can go to the Nintendo Store and download classics, such as Tecmo Bowl, Excitebike and Punchout for $5 each.

Finally, you can create "Mii's" that resemble you and/or friends. I have posted a poll at the top of the page to see who you think most resembles their Mii. Mine is not that good because we can't get the hair right, but I think Rachel's and Clark's look really good. We made one of our friend Sheralee that is a spitting image of her. She was not included in the poll, as many of you have not met her.

I highly recommend that you each go out and buy one, if you can find it.

Christmas Days 1 and 2

On Thursday afternoon December 20, Rachel and I set out from Lansdale, PA for Tennessee. The "Reflections" session below will detail why we left several hours late. Suffice it to say that we left the Philadelphia area around 4 PM.

We initially planned on getting a hotel somewhere in central Virginia, but were kindly offered a room at my Aunt Sae and Uncle Larry's in Abingdon, VA, even though we would not arrive until midnight. It was the first time that Rachel and I visited their new home, which they bought in August. It is a beautiful place out in the country. It was also the first time that we had been able to hang out with them in a couple of years, so it was a very nice evening.

The next morning, my parents picked us up, and we went to visit my grandmother in Grundy, VA. We had not seen her since last Christmas. She immediately told us that we needed to get started on "continuing the Kennedy name", as I am the last chance. She thought we should get started this winter, as she is tired of waiting around. Although she is in her early 90's and has emphysema, she certainly has kept her wit and sense of humor.

Laddy and Amy (for those who don't know, they are my cousin and his wife) came up to Aunt Sae's that evening, and we had the 1st Kennedy Christmas that evening. It was a very nice time. We headed for Knoxville at about 10:30 PM, as Rachel and I had to get up early Saturday morning to head for the Fesmire Christmas in Waverly, TN.

Rantflections - Enterprise Sucks!!!
As I mentioned above, Rachel and I did not leave Philadelphia until 4 PM. We planned to leave at 1 PM. We rent an SUV for our annual Christmas Trek to help us make it home despite winter weather and to provide cargo space for Christmas presents. Being a value shopper, I booked an Enterprise SUV through Expedia.com. 1) When I went to pick-up my car, the Enterprise place had a sign in the window stating that they had moved. I called and got directions to the new location. 2) When I got to the new location, I was informed that since I was over one hour past my reservation time that my full-sized SUV had been rented to someone else and that all they had was a smaller Ford Escape (not a problem; just the principal). I kindly informed the young lady that I had never heard of such a policy, even though I rent cars frequently. In addition, no where on my reservation did it say anything about such a policy. Further, I had spoken to one of their reps on the phone the day before, and she had not mentioned this policy nor the office's move to a new location to me. 3) I could not park my car at the rental car facility (STRIKE 3 - ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?!). "Enterprise - We'll Pick You Up" should read, "Enterprise, We'll pick you up because we won't let you park at our office, which has moved". So, the pick-up guy followed me back to my house with the rental car. I then rode back to the office with him. Finally I drove home. My favorite part... I had to make the guy dock an 1/8th tank of gas, or he was going to try to hold me to the amount of fuel in the car before transporting me and the pick-up guy all over northwest Philadelphia.

Disclaimer: I have been a very satisfied Enterprise renter in Kankakee and other locations. I think it is just poor management of this office. I received a phone survey from Enterprise following the rental. The lady asked me 3 multiple choice questions and did not give me the opportunity for additional comments. You got the benefit of those comments here. Blogging is therapeutic.

Travels for Fun

Along with traveling for work this fall, Rachel and I were able to make it to several UT football games. The California game is well-documented in earlier blogs, as was my ranting following the Florida game. We also made it to several games in Knoxville, including the home opener against Southern Miss, Arkansas St. (me only), the woodshedding of Georgia, and the South Carolina cliff-hanger.
At each of these games, we were able to catch up with friends and enjoy the atmosphere of Knoxville on game-day (Steve and Erin Rodgers win "most loyal tailgaters" this year, as Steve made all Kennedy tailgates, and Erin missed only one. Mark Clark was also present at each tailgate. Prior to the Southern Miss game, we bumped into Rachel's Uncle Tommy at Gus's. We also saw Pace and Marin at Gus's (pictured in "Reflections"). Lindsey and Shaggy also snuck into town for this game.

The Big Orange BANDitos, shown as the Main picture of this blog were present at the tailgates for the Georgia game. If you read this blog and are not a UT fan, or if you are somehow a UT fan who is not familiar with the work of the BANDitos, please ask me about them sometime. They are well worth the explanation. Larry and Kerry Wray, Larry's brother Steve and friend, Cooney (just like a Brazilian soccer star, she needs only one name), and my college roomates - Tharp, Bean, and Timey and their MUCH better halfs were all present for this tailgate.

The weather turned cold for the South Carolina game. Johnson's wife, Erin, is pictured here "freezing". It was nice to reunite with Johnson for a win, following the debacle that we last attended together at Cal. The Johnson's have settled into TX with Shell Oil.



REFLECTIONS - Follow-up to the "Liquor Pack Mule"

As I had hoped, my recount of the lady that used her 4 year old boy at the Georgia game to smuggle liquor into the stadium, generated quite a bit of debate and banter amongst my blog readers. I wanted to follow-up on this particular topic, as many of you have provided some nice additional insight. Pace, pictured with Rachel and I at Gus's is the daughter of one proud Reed Stephenson - fellow blogger. Reed will be glad to know that his best friend, Bill Langston, volunteered Pace as a pack mule. Pace is WAY too classy for that task, at least until she enters college herself.

Others offered up the question, "Exactly how much alcohol could you smuggle in on a kid?" That is a very good question. One could likely turn this into a successful entrepreneurial venture by using a Cub Scout Den to smuggle the goods through security and then sell and distribute to others once in the stadium.

Perhaps the most astute observation was made by Mark Jones, Esq., who commented that he was, "pretty sure I could get at least a fifth in if I was carrying an infant."

Travels for Work

Since moving into my new job, I have been traveling a lot more. While we were living in the friendly confines of the Residence Inn, this was a little more palatable, as I was just exchanging one hotel for another. However, now that we are in our place, I dread traveling a little more (mostly because I miss my wife).

Over the past 6 weeks, I have traveled for work to Atlanta, Providence, Rhode Island, New York City, Orange Co., CA and Phoenix, AZ. The Phoenix trip was the highlight of my travels. I got to stay at a very nice resort. While there, we arranged meals with our larger customers who were attending the show. We took two of our biggest customers to Elements, where Chef Beau MacMillan cooks some AMAZING steaks (his claim to fame is that he beat Bobby Flay in an Iron Chef American competition). I typically don't care for high-end food (most of you know I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy), but MacMillan prepared the best Ribeye steak I have ever eaten.

I laid over in Phoenix for the weekend and had the opportunity to catch up with Jeremy Graves. He came up and spent the night on Friday evening, and we joined the Phoenix Chapter of the UT Alumni Association to watch the UT vs. Arkansas game. If you are ever in the area, be sure to join them, as they are a great bunch to hang out with. Their Vice President is a riot.




Reflections - What is this bathroom doing in NYC?



Before Thanksgiving, I rode with one of our Account Managers and Research Chemists to see a customer on the outskirts of NYC. It is amazing to believe that we are so close to "The City" now. We drove through Staten Island, across the bridge into Brooklyn, through Queens and to our final destination, which brings me back to my question - "What is this bathroom doing in NYC?"

The fact is, I don't know. I included this for 3 reasons: 1) I am establishing a pattern. I hope to include at least one bathroom photo of some relevence in this blog every 6 months (you can search my history to find my last bathroom posting); 2) Rachel will not like it. She is fun to annoy; and 3) It is thought provoking. I really have no idea what this bathroom is doing in NYC. Feel free to leave your comments on why you think it may be there.

Sorry For the Absence

On Friday November 16, Rachel and I escaped from Captivity (the Residence Inn). We have finally moved into our place, and it is great to no longer be living out of a suitcase. Well that is not quite true, as I am still traveling quite a bit with work. However, we do have a place to call "home" again.

Now that we have internet access again at our house, I plan on writing several blogs over the next week or so to catch up on what has been going on for the past couple of months.

Mom and Dad came up for Thanksgiving and helped us unpack and situate furniture. Since we didn't have all of our kitchen stuff unpacked, we booked reservations at Maggiano's for Thanksgiving Day lunch. It was a massive amount of food, most of which, we ended up taking home with us for leftovers. We hung blinds, watched football and showed them around the area some. They agreed that the area outside Philadelphis is a little more rural than what they expected.

Vacation - Continued (Final) - Visit With Zo

First, Congratulations and shout out to Zo and Beth on the birth of Jake Lorenzo. Reports are that Jake and Beth are both doing well and that Mike is a little excited, although it would probably be difficult to detect. After finishing our tour of the Hearst Castle, Rachel and I set off towards San Diego. The difficulty in this journey is that there is no good way around Los Angeles. However, we lucked out and made it through LA in about an hour and a half. The highlight of our trip was dinner on our final night with Mike Lorenzo, the proud father mentioned above, and his wife Beth. This was the first time that Rachel and I had the opportunity to meet Beth. She is very nice and has no difficulty keeping Mike in his place. We ate at a great sushi restaurant and then went for ice cream at the beach. For those of you who know Rachel and I very well, you know that we are big zoo-goers. We could not pass up the opportunity to visit the San Diego Zoo while we were in town, so on Wednesday, we visited the U.S.'s most famous zoo. It was really cool, as the habitats were extremely well designed. As you probably know, the pandas are probably the most famous animals at this zoo. We can now say that we have seen them. They really didn't do much. Very lethargic animals. I affectionately named the one in this picture "Larry Wray". I welcome blog-readers to hypothesize why.


My favorite exhibits are always the apes (note that this includes lowland gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees). I have included a video clip (I used Quicktime) of the baby orangutan playing with his father at the San Diego Zoo. Several families with small children abruptly left this exhibit, as two in the clan decided to get intimate. Rachel would allow no video footage of this spectacle.

My favorite of the apes is always the Eastern Lowland Gorillas, or "Silverbacks". They are large and in charge. The alpha-male pictured here was no different. This day was especially good for me, as they actually ran at one point. I had never seen one of them run. I gained a whole new level of respect for them, as they are not only huge, but really fast, much like Tim Tebow (I am watching him shred USC as I write this).

REFLECTION - Airline Price Discrimination
I learned in MBA school that an excellent way to make money is to segment your customers and then price discriminate amongst those segments, charging different prices to memebers of each segment. The airline industry has mastered this technique (I assure you that it is a valid tool and that airline earnings would be even worse without it).

Why do I write this, you ask. I can now say that I was a target of this price discrimination. I conducted a clinical experiment by buying 2 airline tickets from the same airline to different destinations from the same origination with both purchases made exactly 2 weeks in advance of the flight.

Flight #1: I fly from Philadelphia to Phoenix, AZ. I lay-over for the weekend in Phoenix and then fly to Orange County, CA on Sunday afternoon. I then fly back to Philadelphia on a red-eye flight Tuesday evening, arriving in Philadelphia on Wednesday morning. This flight logs over 5,000 miles and costs approximately $400.

Flight #2: I fly from Philadelphia to Knoxville, TN. I lay over for the weekend and then fly back to Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon. This flight logs 1,200 miles and costs about $200 more than Flight #1.

How can this be, you (and I) ask?

1) Knoxville is obviously a more attractive destination than either Phoenix, AZ or Orange County, CA, especially during football season.

2) Phoenix is not nearly as attractive destination as it once was, as most women have heard by now that Jeremy Graves is in fact married and thus is no longer available. The OC has suffered since the cancellation of its critically acclaimed series.

3) Competition - This may be the most plausible reason. Multiple airlines with multiple time slots fly from Philadelphia to both Phoenix and the OC. Prices are driven down further, as Southwest is one of those carriers. You want to fly to Knoxville, you have less options, which means a higher price.

4) Economies of Scale - More people fly to Phoenix and the OC from Philadelphia than to Knoxville. This is likely because they have not heard what a paradise that Knoxville truly is. 300-person flights allow larger planes to be used, achieving economies of scale vs. 50-person flights, which use smaller planes. In competitive markets, prices are driven towards variable cost. Each additional passenger on either flight adds very little variable cost (just the incremental fuel to fly that person's weight and baggage). These total variable costs are more effectively distributed across a larger passenger pool, achieving economies of scale on the larger flights to Phoenix and the OC.

Whatever the reason, it stinks that I have to pay $200 more to go see my parents than to travel coast-to-coast.

Vacation - Continued (Again) - Hearst Castle

Rachel and I spent Monday evening in San Simeon. It was a neat experience, as San Simeon is sort of a throw-back to the 1960's. It is very small, and has no hotels, only motor lodges. It would seem that its only reason for being is to house tourists, like ourselves, who want to visit the Hearst Castle (if you squint, you can actually see it in the picture above).

Situated high on the hill, Hearst Castle was built by media magnate William Randolph Hearst in the early 1920's. Although the house is not as large as the Vanderbilt's Biltmore mansion, the grounds are amazing. It sits on 7,000 acres of land, all originally owned by the Hearst Family (from the castle, almost every bit of land that you can see was owned by the estate). It was home to Hearst, who owned SEVERAL MAJOR newspapers throughout the United States (he was a Rupert Murdoch on steroids). His home was the playground to Hollywood's elite, such as Carey Grant, Randolph Scott and others. Hearst actually owned a DC-3, which transported guests to and from Hollywood to the estate.

The grounds held 4 guest houses, in addition to the main house, each with multiple bedrooms. Guests could stay as long as they wanted, as long as they behaved. Hearst did not believe in telling guests to go home; however, it would be obvious to you if you wore out your welcome. Hearst did not allow drugs on his property, and only allowed drinking in moderation (if you got drunk, you were kicked out).

The grounds contained an extravagent Roman pool, where guests were allowed to swim and play. Hearst was a man of action, so guests were not allowed to sleep late and were encouraged to be active, while staying at the grounds. They could swim, horse ride, visit the zoo on the grounds, or play tennis on the outdoor tennis court.

Hearst was ahead of his time. The castle was designed by architect Julia Morgan during a time when female architects were not given second notice. Hearst was a champion of Women's Suffrage and did not discriminate based on color or religion, although he himself was a religious man.

Mine and Rachel's favorite place was the indoor swimming pool. It was built with bright blue tile enlayed with real gold and was supposedly designed to be viewed at night. As beautiful as it was in the daylight, I can't imagine how beautiful it must be in the evening.

Anyone who is ever in the area should make the Hearst Castle a must.