Well I
haven't written in a long long time, lots of work. The Bears lost the
Superbowl, I don't want to talk about it. Afterwards though at 5 am I flew to
Las Vegas to set up for a convention. For the last couple of months I have been working really hard manufacturing some huge displays for a flooring company. It is very time consuming because there are massive metal displays that nobody has made before, so I need to not only figure out the best way to make them but at the same time show everyone else how to make them.
Las Vegas was cool I have not been there since Al and
Shea's 21st birthday years ago. I was lucky enough to stay at the newest hotel on the strip this time, the Wynn. This hotel was no joke, it was huge and portrayed itself well, as being one of the nicest on the strip. It had all the normal casino amenities, but then added in a few things that made you realize you were in an expensive hotel. Things such as the
Ferrari dealership right near the front, the three
Italian named stores right in view of the entrance, stores so fancy that when you walked in they ask for your financial statements and all the stores have the guys in black suits
guarding the doors. What was also nice was the layout some casinos just blast you with lights and noise but this one was... well obviously not subtle, but not at all annoying. As you walked into the registration area they had a nice little outdoor patio that looked out at a man made waterfall and lake, at night the lake would light up with all different colors. I
didn't really have time to enjoy the casino though once I got to my hotel room I was off to the convention center across the street. Here is where most of my time would be spent.
For the next several hours Chris, my customer, and I were setting up displays for the Surfaces
Show, a convention showing off any product that covers a surfaces, in our case wood flooring. When I walked into this place I could not believe how big it was, the ceilings was as high as the United Centers and the overall space was probably 500,000 square feet. The booth or area that we were to be setting up our product in was something like 5,000 square feet. The space next to us for another flooring company was 10,000 ft. These things were massive, one booth had several rooms and even stairs going up to a second level. All the stuff for these booths were being made as we stood there. People were
erecting lighting systems, huge plasma screen TVs, anything to get people to come to there spot was being done. We even saw people walking a group of attractive women
through there booth who would later be the ones
working the space in some what scandeles outfits.
After the first day we were still not done but we had to eat. Also we were waiting on the other display people to move some equipment around so we could work. You would think this would be a good thing that I got to leave a couple hours early the first day, but I was stressing out so much about something going wrong the next day that I couldn't bring myself to go crazy in the casinos, plus its weird being in Vegas all by yourself, it makes you feel depressed. I did gamble but very minimally on the first day. Sat at the bar and played the slots while I had a drink then went
looking for food.
The next day went really well and I got everything set up, luckily before I had to leave, my plane flight was for early afternoon. Before I left though I told C
hris I needed to quickly stop and give the casino some of my money so we sat down at a roulette table and 5 minutes later, literally, maybe even less I lost $40, so not bad, but I wish I could have spent a little more time. I did place a bet on the Bears to win the Super Bowl for next year, 8-1 odds, not bad. They have the Chargers winning it all, ha, not without any coaches. Well works been slowing sort of, so I will start to try and write more often.
more pics
here
Wrigley
US Comiskular
I cant believe I have not written about this place before. I have loved their food since the first time I went there years ago. The other night I went to Ron of Japan in the city and as usual it was amazing. Ron of Japan is a teppan style restaurant, which means that they cook the meal at the table you are sitting at, with usually strangers sitting next to you unless you have a group of eight or more. Your plate which is steel sits right there on the grill and as the cook finish each portion he just scoops it on to your plate, some times there is a little theatrics involved. a giant flame or flippin knives and slapping spatulas
Started a new blog dedicated to the strange stuff I make when I can, its called The Manufacturer. Stevie designed it for me and it looks really cool. Check it out at http://themanufacturer.blogspot.com/
Well its getting warm outside which means BBQ season and that means hot dogs, burgers, and brats. Of course when making these you need ketchup and mustard, but don't forget the best condiment of them all Giardiniera. I didn't even no the greatness of giard until a few years ago when Cerone and Asak had me try out a brand they were marketing from That Pickle Guy, a good fresh giard with a lot of different vegetables, but not my personal favorite, although there muffalata is really, really good. Another good giard to check out is Bari, there's is a lot more about the peppers. There "spicy" is good, homemade, fresh taste but they have very little or no other vegetables, I do hear that there "really spicy" is unbelievable hot. The reason I am even talking about giards is because of one I had from a place called Heavenly Hot Dogs in Riverside. It was so delicious I found myself eating almost the entire jar with a spoon. All these Giardiniera's are really good and I am sure everyone has there own personal favorites, but I still claim that the best Giardiniera is Racconto, an authentic Italian giard with the perfect amount of spices to vegetable to oil ratio, in my opinion, but I am always open to try new ones.
A really cool new site that needs to be looked at called almanacmagazine.com which is an online magazine that showcases photographers and there stories, which was started by an old Chicagoan I know just started. So definitely give it a look. 
Just got this amazing new Blackberry phone, The Pearl. Its Tiny and has a ridiculous amount of features. I cant wait to actually figure out how it works. I've never had a Blackberry so its going to take a little bit to get used to, but so far it doesn't look that bad. So happy to also be rid of Sprint. 
Well, just signed up online for a water gun assassination game for the spring, its called Interficio. It looks hilarious and hopefully fun. The basic rules are that you upon signing up you give your home address, work address and a picture of yourself to the mediator, at which time your info is given to an assassin. Once you are signed up you are later sent your own "mark" with all there information. So then for 28 days in April I will stalk and be stalked as I try to take out someone with a water gun. If I can get to my target before I am "off'ed" I will then receive a second assignment from the mediator and so on. The winner gets 1000$ so its worth the frightening realization of how easy it is to be taken out by water balloon. I'm starting a team that I am told Al, Mike and Vorrel are supposedly joining, if not I will be rollin solo, April should be an interesting month. I'll let you know how I am doing.
I made a new fan yesterday, well I didn't really make it, but I did upgraded it. I replaced the electrical sockets on it, I got a new glass cover for it and finally I made new blades for it. The old blades were laughably small and ugly so I thought I would make them longer and out of aluminum. I like how it turned out and hopefully it can make the room cooler in the summer.
Well I haven't written in a long long time, lots of work. The Bears lost the Superbowl, I don't want to talk about it. Afterwards though at 5 am I flew to Las Vegas to set up for a convention. For the last couple of months I have been working really hard manufacturing some huge displays for a flooring company. It is very time consuming because there are massive metal displays that nobody has made before, so I need to not only figure out the best way to make them but at the same time show everyone else how to make them.
Show, a convention showing off any product that covers a surfaces, in our case wood flooring. When I walked into this place I could not believe how big it was, the ceilings was as high as the United Centers and the overall space was probably 500,000 square feet. The booth or area that we were to be setting up our product in was something like 5,000 square feet. The space next to us for another flooring company was 10,000 ft. These things were massive, one booth had several rooms and even stairs going up to a second level. All the stuff for these booths were being made as we stood there. People were erecting lighting systems, huge plasma screen TVs, anything to get people to come to there spot was being done. We even saw people walking a group of attractive women through there booth who would later be the ones working the space in some what scandeles outfits.
Just A Tree
Tee'n Off
Anole
The Alter
The Nondorf's Christmas Eve
Nagle and Johnny at the Tobin's
The O'Connor's
A Flask Belt Buckle
