Luncheon Impossible - The International Builders Show

This week, I attended the International Builders Show in Orlando, Florida. It is a pretty amazing show and fills up two halls of the Orlando Convention Center (not quite as large as the World of Concrete). As you can see from the picture, this year's show was sponsored by our own Bill Langston's Whirlpool, who also had a quite large and impressive booth.

Where is Home Depot one might ask? Never fear, they were a primary sponsor and also had a large booth inside showcasing the products of many of their main suppliers. I had an interesting argument with one of their empolyees, who was trying to get me to sign up for a credit card. She told me that credit cards are what makes America great and what has allowed the economy to expand as it has. I informed her that "efficient credit markets" are what makes the U.S. great and that the lost efficiency (lenders giving anybody a credit card and an interest only home loan) during the last market upturn is what has us staring down a recession right now. About the only thing we agreed on was that I was not going to sign up for one of her credit cards.

Reflections - Luncheon Impossible

If you did not know this about us already, Rachel and I are big fans of the Food Network. We catch Rachel Ray's "30 Minute Meals" when we get home early enough, and we watch Iron Chef America when it is on (by the way Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's restaurant is in Philadelphia). One of the more interesting shows that I have watched is "Dinner Impossible", where chef Robert Irvine is taken to a kitchen he is not familiar with and given a mission to cook hundreds of meals for various audiences. He has between 4 and 8 hours to prepare the dinner. He has cooked for US Marines at their base before they left for Iraq, at a resort in the Bahamas, and at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

This week, he prepared lunch for about 400 of us at the International Builders Show. They used a format, which was a little different from his previous shows. He actually cooked on stage, while the guys in the back plated the meals that he had begun preparations for earlier that morning. This format was great because the audience got a lot more exposure to him than they normally would. He is quite the character and entertainer. He even took questions from the audience.
For this mission, he was flown to Orlando and driven to the resort where the luncheon was held. The luncheon was at 12 noon. He learned of the mission at 7 AM that morning. In this assignment, he was given one key ingredient of each course and told to build a dish around it. The appetizer ingredient was scallops, which were flown in that morning from Maine. Chef Irvine and the resort staff made savichy from it. I'm not a scallops fan, but the appetizer was wonderful.
I believe "craisens" were the ingredient for the salad. The highlight of this dish was the deep-fried goat cheese that was served on top of the salad. The heat from the "cheese ball" gave a nice contrast to the cold salad, and the flavor was wonderful. The UT catering staff must have identified the secret ingredient for the main course, because it was, creatively... chicken. I kid you not, this may be the best piece of chicken I have ever eaten. Served on top of mashed potatoes and a split carrot, this chicken was tender. The quality of the dishes amazed me considering the staff was preparing and serving over 400 of them.
Desert was a frozen custard on top of a cookie. The accompanying leaf on top was hand-made for each desert. He showed us how he blened the color on the leaves. It was pretty cool.

Chef Irvine is a real talent for cooking and entertainment. If you ever get the chance, watch his show on the Food Network, and be on the look-out for the NAHB International Builders' Show Luncheon.

Las Vegas and the World of Concrete

Week before last, I traveled with work to Las Vegas for "The World of Concrete". Before you make fun of me (believe me, Rachel already has), let me explain. The World of Concrete is actually the second largest trade show held annually in Las Vegas. Number 1 is the Consumer Electronics Show, which is held two weeks earlier. Ironically, the Adult Video Association convention is held between the two. Bus drivers and cab drivers will willingly share some interesting stories with you regarding the clientelle. 80,000 architects, contractors, heavy equipment salesmen, and a few chemical company sales and marketing types descended on the Las Vegas Convention Center for the week. There were heavy trucks with tires 8' tall, boom trucks that can pump concrete several hundred feet into the air for skyscraper construction, a monster truck (pictured), and hundreds of vendor booths. The Hilti Tool booth, pictured above, was one of the more impressive, as they constructed a 3 story platform where attendees could try various Hilti tools. My week was spent accompanying Sale Reps. to meals with customers. I got to eat at a lot of really good restaurants - N9ne Steakhouse, Emeril's, Smith and Wolinski, and Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio were a few of the highlights. I have been dieting; proudly, I maintained my weight on this trip by eating reasonably and working out. It was a very productive week, as I had the opportunity to meet a couple of our sales reps in person, who I had only spoken to on the phone. I also got to meet several new customers as well as socialize with some customers that I had met previously.


Reflections - Luck and Vegas Hotel List Vegas is a place where some people live and die by luck. I am someone who has always been somewhat superstitious, not so much in the sense of old wives tales, but more of the good kharma/bad kharma variety. For instance, I had pregame rituals that I went through before any baseball or basketball game I played in high school. I though I had left my superstitions behind with any athletic prowess that I once possessed. Enter Vegas - Thursday night 9:00 PM. Steve leaves dinner and has an hour or so to kill before turning in. He heads for the Blackjack table and wins $50 in an hour and a half. He quits while he is ahead and goes to bed. Friday afternoon after the conclusion of the World of Concrete, Steve has an hour or so to kill while waiting on Rachel to arrive from the airport. Steve once again plays Blackjack, this time winning $100. He is 2 for 2. Rachel arrives and the happy couple enjoy a nice early afternoon lunch at Casa Margarita at the Luxor. Steve has surprised Rachel with tickets to Cirque du Soleil - Beatles Love for Valentine's Day. Rachel decides that since it is 3 hours later on the east coast, she had better get a nap. Steve has time to kill and heads back to play Blackjack. This time he wins $150. Steve is happily up $300 on his trip. Fast forward - Saturday night. Rachel, impressed by Steve's obvious Blackjack skills, has asked for a quick demonstration after dinner. Remarkably, Steve loses $100 in less than 5 minutes. He goes 0-6-1 in Blackjack over the stretch. For those mathemeticians at home, Steve's odds of performing this poorly are approximately 64 to 1. Moral of the Story: Rachel is bad luck. Do not play cards when she is around!

I conclude with my Top 10 places to stay in Vegas. This list is my personal preference and is based simply on how nice the place looked, not on overall value or any other criteria. Disclaimer: I did not go to Mandalay Bay, which I have heard is very nice, nor Hooters, which I have heard is "not". 10) The Luxor - this hotel is shaped like a Pyramid and has an Egyptian motif. This is actually the hotel where Rachel and I stayed. It is nice enough, but the rooms are a bit older and outdated. Club LAX and the Cathouse Steakhouse are some of the bigger draws. 9) MGM Grand - you can't miss it; it is the bright green hotel. The main benefit of this hotel is that it has some kickin restaurants in the lower level, including Emeril's. It also has the glass cage housing live lions. There are actually 34 of them, and they are rotated in and out in 6-8 hour shifts. 8) New York New York - it has a roller coaster outside. Seems nice enough. 7) The Palms - houses N9ne Steakhouse, which is trendy and delicious. It is also the home of the Playboy Club... or so I am told. A nice hotel with a pretty nice casino. 5) No, I did not skip a number. There is a tie for #5 between the Mirage and Hotel Paris. The Mirage is chic and trendy. It is where we saw Cirque du Soleil - Beatles Love. The show was amazing. We had not seen any of the other Cirque du Soleil shows, but this one was awesome. The acrobats are amazing!!! Hotel Paris is modeled after... you guessed it... Paris. Complete with an Eiffel Tower with a restaurant in the top, Hotel Paris is fun to walk through. 4) Caesar's Palace - the place to be when I was 10 years old. It seems like every major boxing match when I was a kid took place at Caesar's. I was actually surprised at how nice the place was. Like Hotel Paris, it comes with plenty of props, including the Coliseum. 3) Bellagio - the Bellagio is an extremely nice hotel and may actually be my favorite. The indoor courtyards are immaculately decorated. The shopping area has the largest chocolate fountain I have ever seen, and the restaurants at the hotel are very good. However, the best part of the Bellagio is the fountain in front. Although it has been commoditized by movies, there is just something about watching the fountain show at the Bellagio. I think Rachel and I could have stood there all night. 2) The Wynn - The second wing of the Wynn is almost complete. It is the epitome of style. Wynn and Roger Penske have a Ferrari/Maserati dealership on the site. Steve Wynn may be the only person in the world with an ego bigger than Donald Trump. He may also be the only man in real estate with more power, too, as he has prevented Trump Towers from obtaining a casino license. He essentially runs Vegas. And Bill and Erin - go somewhere else - "No Strollers Allowed". 1) The Palazzo at the Venetian - the Palazzo is the newest wing at already the nicest hotel in Vegas. The Venetian is beautiful inside and out. Some of the more "traveled" customers that I met with in Vegas swear that the Venetian has the nicest rooms on the Strip. I'll take their word for it. I can attest that it has good restaurants and nice shops. It is also cool to see the painted sky inside, as couples ride in Gandolas down the man-made river.

Miami Beach Wedding - Parrott and Artigas

Last weekend, Rachel and I flew to Miami Beach for Brandon Parrott's wedding. Brandon was a Whittle Scholar a couple of years older than me at UT. Besides being my Whittle mentor, Brandon was and is a very close friend of mine.
Brandon, pictured here with Jeff Burris (another very good friend of mine) may very well be the most intelligent person I have ever met. He graduated from UT with a 3.99 and dual majors in Biomedical Engineering and Biochemistry. I would like to point out that not only are these dual majors, they are also in different colleges, meaning he had different elective requirements for both. According to his roommates at the wedding, the lone "B" resulted in the point of a compass being driven several inches into their apartment floor. Following his miserable academic record at UT, Brandon took a full ride to Baylor Med School in their MD/PhD program. He is completing his opthamology residency in Miami, where he met his wife, and begins his fellowship next year. As he now has his MD and PhD, we like to refer to him as "Doctor-doctor".

We arrived in Miami Friday afternoon, and after lunch in South Beach, we relaxed at the hotel before traveling to Perricone's Marketplace for the Rehearsal Dinner. The restaurant was beautiful, and the food was very good. I got to see several friends, who I had not seen in 12 years (pictured from left to right are Robin Asay Burris, Jeff Burris, Garth Graham, Jeff Huffman (Brandon's med school roommate; great guy), Nikki Wattlington (wife of our photographer, Jeff, who was Brandon's college roommate), Lee Klieman (perhaps the funniest man I know), yours truly and Rachel. We laughed a lot and reminisced and took the opportunity to roast the groom-to-be in a public forum.

After dinner, we went out to a cafe in South Beach and took in the atmosphere. I must tell you that South Beach was not at all what I expected. I thought it would be clubs and Miami Vice. It was not that at all. It reminded me of Madrid, Spain. The area we were in was filled with charming cafes and street performers. The architecture is mostly from the 1930's and 1940's, so it made me feel what Havana must have been like before Castro.

The wedding was in the mid-afternoon on Saturday at a beautiful church in Miami Beach. Somehow, I did not get any good pictures of the bride (my pictures from the reception were all too dark), but Leanne Artigas was beautiful. She is the daughter of Cuban immigrants, and take my word for it, you do not want to get in a dance off with her father; the man has MOVES. She is very sweet, and it was great to meet the girl who finally captured Brandon's heart. Apparently, she is Brandon's intellectual equal, if he has one, as she is an internist.





The reception was at the Rusty Pelican, which is on the water and faces downtown Miami. The view was spectacular, as were the hoer d'ouvres. Lee provided the entertainment by dipping his champaign glass in the chocolate fountain and by showing off his "crazy" moves on the dance floor. After this particular weekend in Miami Beach, Rachel and I will definitely try to go back.

Reflections - Congress

I am truly glad that our elected officials are not wasting their time on meaningless issues, such as how to avoid a potential economic recession, provide more affordable (not free) healthcard, shore up social security, improve national security or develop contingencies for dealing with a nuclear Iran. No, they should deal with more pressing issues of national importance, such as witch-hunting professional and former professional baseball steroid users. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is ripping the core fabric of American society like these menaces who were using Human Growth Hormone and steroids a few years ago to hit a few more homeruns.

This is what happens when a Republic form of government fails because the electorate does not demand better.

Camelback

Two weeks ago, Rachel and I went skiing at Camelback about an hour and a half from the house (the Poconos). It is a little bigger than Ski Beach or Sugar Mountain in North Carolina. It had been really cold the week before, so they had pretty good conditions and had made a lot of snow. Unfortunately, this also means that it was crowded.

Rachel did really well. She stayed on the greens and double greens, but she no longer snow plows and is able to turn and stop much better. I rode the double black diamond - Cliffhanger. It was not like any double black diamond I had ever ridden before. First, it was not too steep. Second, it had no moguls. That said, I fail to see how it was classified as a double-black diamond. It might be a double blue or perhaps a black in Colorado. Still, it was fun.

Reflections - Steve's Top Ski Slopes

I will rank order my favorite places to ski from least favorite to most favorite. I will also assess the difficulty of each place, as difficulty did not completely correlate with "favoriteness".

10) Gatlinburg - Although it was close to home and where I learned to ski while I was at UT, it is the smallest place I have ever skied. I rate it as the 6th toughest place to ski, mainly because it is crowded, partially because it is so small. Also, it has a fairly nasty mogul field. The skier density also makes it fairly icy, and they often make snow, which requires you wear goggles. They have both day and night skiing.

9) Sugar Mountain - located about an hour and a half northeast of Knoxville in Boone, NC, it is significantly bigger than Gatlinburg. However, it ranks slightly below #8 because I remember the runs being slightly shorter. The fact that I cannot quickly distinguish between #8 and #9 in memory is the reason they are #8 and #9 and not higher. Like Gatlinburg, Sugar Mountain can get a little icy at times. They also make a lot of snow, which can make visibility treacherous. Sugar Mountain also ranks as the 9th most difficult slope.

8) Ski Beach - located next to Sugar Mountain, ski beach edges it out for #8 on name alone. Most of the comments of Sugar Mountain can also apply to Beach, as they are at roughly the same altitude and of similar size (Beach's longest run may be slightly longer than the longest run at Sugar). Ski Beach has day and night skiing and snow blowing capability. It ranks 8th on the difficulty scale.

7) Camelback - this Pocono resort is of adequate size. I rate it as the easiest place I have skied simply because it has an abundance of longer green and double-green trails. It has day and night skiing and snow-blowing capability. It also has a nice micro-brewery as you are leaving the area (could also be construed as "as you are coming into the area"; however, I do not recommend stopping on your way in).

6) Winterplace - this resort is located just inside West Virginia when taking I-77 north from Wytheville, VA. Given its proximity to the interstate, it ranks with Camelback as the two most convenient ski slopes to get to. I've only skied it one time, but it was a pleasant day. Nothing spectacular or extremely boring. Day and night skiing and snow blowing.

5) Squaw Valley, CA - this resort hosted the Winter Olympics back in 1960. It is the resort I would most like to go back and ski now, as I was fairly new to skiing when I attempted it. I'll be honest, I was not ready for Squaw, and thus it is listed as my #1 most difficult place to ski. Not only did it have some rough mogul fields, there was also a helicopter airlift for cliff skiers (yes, the guys who ski off of cliffs). If that isn't EXTREME, I don't know what is. It is also the coldest I have ever been while skiing, as it was -15 at the summit with 35 mph winds the day we skiied. It was significantly warmer just 30 feet lower, as the mountain shields the wind. Day skiing only, no snow blowing (only an eastern phenomenon).

4) Snowshoe, WV - the most sizable place I have skiied in the east. In all honesty, Snowshoe may be artificially inflated into 4th place because of the awesome times I had spending long weekends there with Travis Smith and friends when I was just out of school. Snowshoe ranks as the 5th most difficult place I have skiied. Snowshoe has day skiing only, but its sister resort Silver Creek has day and night skiing, as well as a terrain park. Snowshoe is also somewhat unique in that it has skiing on both sides of the mountain, one side more difficult than the other. There are plenty of chalets to rent and several restaurants and some pretty fun tubing in the area (they will really kick you out if you try to "train" with buddies on tubes; just wait until your last run, and careful not to throw your friends over the backstop, or there wife will hate you and never speak to you again).

3) Tahoe Northstar - located in Northern California, about 30-40 minutes from Reno, NV, Northstar has some breath-taking views of Lake Tahoe along with some excellent skiing. It receives a #4 difficulty rating, not because it was that hard, but because it has some pretty long runs. This is a great place for an intermediate skiier to go, as most of its runs are well-groomed. To be honest, it has been years since I skiied Northstar, so I don't know if it has night skiing.

2) Jackson Hole, WY - receives my #2 difficulty rating. Don't ever get lost with Bill Langston on a canyon black, if you are wearing long skis. It is difficult to maneuver. Jackson Hole is a large and diverse place to ski with something for all levels. The town is really cool (be sure to go by the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and sit on the saddle bar stools).

1) Steamboat Springs, CO - Steamboat was the largest place I have ever skiied. We never had to wait in lines even though it was supposedly "crowded", as it has a massive number of lifts and runs, so the people are really spread out. It only ranks as the #3 most difficult place I have skiied, but that is because it is up against some stiff competition and because I gave a holistic ranking. The double-blacks at Steamboat were as difficult as anything I have skiied. They are untouched, so if you lose your skis when you fall, you can be up to your waist in powder. Steamboat also has a vibrant town at its base providing some excellent nightlife.

My goal is to get a ski trip scheduled to Whistler next year, with Sean "The Turd" Hennessy. It is the largest ski resort in North America (and I believe the Western Hemisphere).

New Years Eve

Rachel had to work on the Friday after Christmas, so we drove back to Philadelphia on Thursday. Rachel also had to work New Years Eve Day. Luckily, I was invited by a friend of mine from work, John Holz, to go pheasant hunting. John, pictured here (far left) with his chocolate lab, Bailey, Mark and Mark's chocolate lab, Hemi (yes, the dog is named after a V8 car engine) is an avid hunter. We arose with the chickens and headed up to Allentown for the hunt, where we bagged 14 birds between four of us. I had a blast. It was as much fun watching the dogs work as it was actually hunting. Bailey is a 7 year old female, with a lot of experience and discipline. She was expert at finding birds and never strayed too far ahead of the group of us. She could also discern between the scent of a dead bird and a live bird. Hemi, a 2 year old male, was on his second hunt and had not yet acquired Bailey's discipline (he got too far ahead of us once and flushed a bird that was too far out to shoot). However, what he lacked in discipline, he made up for in enthusiasm. He was one of the most active dogs I have ever seen, and did not allow any brush or overgrowth stop his travel. He did a very nice job finding and flushing birds in only his second hunt.

For New Years Festivities, Rachel and I met a group of friends at the Lucky Dog, a pub that we now frequent in Lafayette Hill. This is the pub where I play trivia on Tuesday nights with the guys (see "Reflections). The girls in the group, have a "Book Club". The guys all laugh, as it would be much more accurately described as a dinner club, since it is really an excuse to get together and go out to dinner (reading the book is optional).

From L-R, Nicole, Meg and Vanessa are three of the book club founders. Not pictured are Nicole's husband Tim and Vanessa's husband, Rob (a fellow Rohm and Haas employee and the person who invited me into the trivia group).



Meg's husband, Keith is also a Rohm and Haas employee and member of the trivia team. Unfortunately, Keith has to travel quite a bit with work, so he misses many trivia nights. Keith is also a strong advocate of the Rohm and Haas Poker League, a monthly group consisting of our New Year's Eve Party Group plus many more Rohm and Haas employees and friends. DISCLAIMER: This poker league is in no way associated with or condoned by The Rohm and Haas Company.

Brian Albright is the Area Manager of our Bristol complex north of Philadelphia, but his claim to fame is that he is the Commissioner for the Rohm and Haas Poker League. He is also the Class Clown of our group, and its most eligible bachelor.



Reflections - The Trivia Team

6'0" from the University of Dayton, Brian Albright is a co-captain of the Trivia Team (the team name changes each week and is typically named for a Seinfeld Episode, so I cannot refer to us by a single name). Brian specializes in art, figure skating and other trivia categories where your wife would likely know the answers.

6'5" from the University of Texas, Rob Jeter is the other co-captain of our trivia team. Hailing from Memphis, TN (Germantown High School), Rob is the Supply Chain Planner for all of our Emulsion Plants in North America. Rob's trivia specialties are obscure movies and music trivia.


6'0" from Penn State University, Eric Reinheimer is a Process Engineer at the Bristol Plant, just north of the city. Eric's trivia specialties include current events and hard rock. From Lehigh Valley, Eric also helps the team with Philadelphia-centric questions.




6'0" from Penn State University, Tim Callahan holds the distinction of being the only non-Rohm and Haas employee on the trivia team. Being a native Philadelphian, Tim assists the team on local history questions and sports. Tim is also the only team member who can participate in the annual Mummers Parade and is the coach of the softball team that I hope to play on this spring.

6'2" from the University of Dayton, Keith Edwards specializes in sports trivia (with an emphasis on hockey, as none of the rest of us are strong in that area). Unfortunately, Keith travels for work quite a bit and has to miss some weeks.

Christmas Day 7 - Day After Christmas

The entire Kennedy Family was worn out Christmas evening after dinner, so we opted to not open presents with mom and dad until the morning after. Mom's big present was some boots, which Rachel picked out and she loved; Rachel's big present was a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner; I got the dressier coat that I needed for my new job at work. Dad really didn't have a big gift from us because he pretty much buys all of the hunting stuff he wants.

That evening, Rachel and I met up with Tim and Liz Nagy, who were in from Madrid for Christmas. They are getting ready to move to Sydney, Australia. They lived there a few years ago and are excited to be going back. Rachel and I are excited for them, as we plan on visiting in February (should lead to some future blogs).

After hanging out with Tim and Liz for a couple of hours, Rach and I met Mark Clark over at Laddy's and Amy's (my cousin and his wife, who have appeared in the blog before). There, I played Boxing on their Wii for about 3 hours. Thus ends Wednesday. Fast forward... Thursday morning. Step 1: Steve can no longer lift his arms to wash his hair. Step 2: Steve cannot lift the muffins that his mom baked to his mouth. Step 3: Steve practically screams as he makes his first attempt to raise his arms to the steering wheel.

Unfortunately, Rachel had to work on Friday, so we drove back Thursday. Not much to report here, other than a bunch of off-key singing and silly games to pass the time.

Reflections - What Are They Thinking
Short and sweet - Every grocery store that I have visited in the Philadelphia area stores their shopping carts outside. There is ZERO indoor shopping cart storage. HELLO PEOPLE!!! We don't live in the Caribbean. They must use a special type of wheel grease on these carts (the kind that doesn't freeze in arctic conditions).

How is it that after serving as the first capital of our nation, they have not figured out that they should store shopping carts indoors under regulated temperatures?

Christmas Day 6 - THE DAY IS HERE

Christmas morning, we woke up and exchanged gifts at Rachel's house. She got the Juicer that she had been wanting, so I now have more vitamins in me than a GNC store. I got some really neat I-Pod accessories from her mom and dad and her sister got me another kickin dress shirt for work (her gift last year took me through a successful job interview and some intense customer meetings; it is my "lucky" shirt). Rachel's dad also got us a remote control car starter... ahh the joys of living in the north.
After lunch, we headed to Knoxville for Christmas with my extended family. We arrived at my cousin Reid's (and his wife Renee's) house around 6 PM for dinner. After dinner, we watched Renee's and Reid's kids - Kara and Ryan - open their presents. Kara is 4 1/2 and Ryan is 2, so they are prime for getting hyped for Christmas. He was especially funny, as he is at the age where he babbles on about something all of the time, but you can't quite catch everything he says.

It was also good to see my Uncle Stan, pictured above with Mom, Aunt Lou and Renee's parents, Ronnie and Kaye, and her brother Ronnie. We are one big happy meshed family on Christmas evening each year.

Reflections - The Christmas Spirit
Unlike Rachel, who does not allow me to put up Christmas decorations until the weekend of Thanksgiving and who makes me take them down the weekend between Christmas in New Year, some people really have the Christmas Spirit. Here are some pictures of one that I really get a kick out of. Seaborn and Sandy, who I have never met, live about 5 minutes from mom and dad. They would be a great target for an "Eco-conservative" as Reed referred to himself, as I am pretty sure they are using enough electricity each night to power Las Vegas for an hour. Unfortunately, I had to take 3 pictures because the decorations run all the way up to the road making it impossible for me to fit it in in one single shot.