They say "Go"... I say "How far?"

It appears as though I've been in Maryland for far too long...

The entire month of January has past, and the furthest I've had to travel for work has been Sterling, Virginia (about 45 min from the office).

For those of you who aren't aware (probably none of you since only 2 people read this blog and they both already know more than they could ever want to know about me), I do a lot of traveling for my job. For instance, in 07 I worked all over Maryland, DC and Virginia, traveled to Miami, Kansas twice, Sacramento, Delaware, Philadelphia, Tennessee, Adak Alaska annnnddd... that may or may not be all. Anyways, my next assignment appears to be taking me to the great country of Poland.

Myself and several others from my "Geophysics Team" as it's referred to, are at this point set to depart in 6 days (next Wednesday). The plan as it stands is that we'll fly into Berlin, Germany or Gdansk, Poland. From either location, we'll proceed to the town of Slupsk (pronounced Swoopsk I believe) in Northern Poland. There, I'll be spending anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slupsk

The town seems like it's pretty cool. Not exactly a prime tourist attraction, but that's fine with me. Has a population of 100,000, so there should be plenty of things to do and see if we have any down time (which doesn't sound too likely). I'm hoping that once we're done doing what we have to do over there, that myself and anyone else who will join (Justin), can take the ICE from Berlin to Brussels, Belgium and chill for a few days. I'd love to check out Brussels, Bastogne and Liege in Belgium... and maybe even venture on up to a little city known as Amsterdam if I can. We shall see.

I'll keep you posted on the happenings if the happenings happen.

Number 9... In no particular order of course

Liebe
- Food...
Very few things can rival a great meal. There's nothing like that glorious food induced comma that sets in shortly after eating the perfect amount of a perfectly cooked dish... I'm talking tacos, a great bowl of pho, the perfect hoagie, a Philadelphia cheese steak, great crab cakes, a bangin' reuben, shit-on-shingles (creamed chipped beef on toast) with a fat side of scrapple... ooooo weeee. I don't care what kind of mood I'm in... if I'm eating one of these things, life can't be all that bad.

Hass

- Bumper Stickers...
I freaking hate bumper stickers... hate them. I don't discriminate either, I don't like any of them, no matter what they say. If you're driving in the car with me and you hear me laugh at something written on one, or say I like one I saw... hit me upside the head, I'll thank you for it later.

There's already too many means for people to voice their stupid opinions nowadays without having to be stuck in traffic behind some trophy wife in a sick Benz with a bumper sticker proclaiming whom her dousche of a husband voted for in an election 4 years ago. Having to listen to the talking heads on the television or the worthless news anchors on the radio rambling on about politics and this and that is already too much, I don't feel like seeing this shit when I'm driving.

It's not only political stickers that aggravate me, it's all of them... Sports teams, seemingly cutesy princess looking ones, stickers that make pathetic attempts at being witty, ones that you think make you seem tough, ones that call for peace on Earth... NO... they all suck.

No matter how innocent and nice and kind you think your sticker may seem, it's going to piss someone off... leave it off your car.

I've been tempted to put a sticker or two on my baby, but common sense has ruled the day. I know that with my luck, as soon as I slap some lame sticker on there, some drunk shit is gonna take offense to it (no matter what it is) and proceed to spit on, key, kick, or pummel my car with an adamant object just because I'm not there, and he can.

I could probably go on and on about why I hate them, specific ones that I hate, assumptions I make about the person based upon the sticker they've chosen, yadda yadda yadda... but I'm gonna let this next pic elaborate on one specific one, and finish my rant for me.

Not only that... but those stupid ribbons aren't even made in this country... Wow.

Skiing

Finally got out the other weekend for the first time... it's a shame it was in PA. Skiing is skiing though, even if it is riding the guns. A bad day on the slopes is better than a good day off em.

Wednesday night I'm hitting up the massive speed bump that is Whitetail in PA. Going to try telemark skiing for the first time... Wish me luck, I'll let you know how it goes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemark_skiing

These are nasty... Stevey likey
They're the K2 World Pistes... and they might be mine. oh yes, they might be mine. Except I'm poor.

Number 10... In no particular order of course

Amor
- Field vices...
When you travel like myself and a few of my fellow colleagues, you begin to develop one, or a series of habits, activities or pastimes that are only partaken in when staying away from home. Most often times than not, these acquired activities would be deemed inappropriate for work being done in a more professional atmosphere such as an office building. Some actions may even be deemed socially/ethically/morally unacceptable by those yet to experience what extended periods of working long hours, dining on strange or unhealthy foods, hotel stays, dealing with assholes and difficult working conditions that field work can often bring with it.

More often than not these habits result in embarrassing oneself, hurting oneself, and/or the loss of ones money, self worth, self respect or pride.

Not quite sure why we develop these odd habits, may be some form of coping with a deviation from the norm or something... but I do know that it's interesting to find out what everyone elses field vice is, including my own.

I choose not to reveal all of them at this point in time, but I do know that a new field vice is needed... I've chosen for the better, to give up my last field vice for good... curious to see what field vice the next work trip will bring.

Odio
- When people say "I could care less"...
Damnit people! This is a typical case of not thinking about what you're saying (which I am way too often guilty of).
Think about the commonly used phrase stated above.
Have you figured out what's wrong with it?

This phrase is used as a way of expressing ones lack of concern for something, is it not? So if one was able to care less about something... which the phrase "I could care less" does, then obviously the person cares about the thing they're claiming not to care about.

The phrase should be said "I could not care less".
From here on out, please try to throw that little "not" in there for me, you'd save me the aggravation of having to correct your choice of grammar (even though mine sucks).
-Gracias

Top Ten List... In no particular order of course

I often times find myself taking the middle-of-the-road stance on things. You know how they says answers are rarely as simple as yes or no, right or wrong black or white... blah blah blah. Well on this next series of posts I've foregone the middle position and chosen to go with only the extremes. I'm doin' up a little Love/Hate Top Ten List... in no particular order of course.

p.s. Hopefully I make it to 10 without forgetting one of my major peaves or loves... wish me luck.

p.s.s. Hopefully I don't offend you with one of these... If I do, sorry in advance.

Pho Sho

Prior to my last visit to California, I was completely oblivious to something so special, that since learning of its existence, has forever changed the way I view lunch and dinner. Each time I've driven in Maryland over the past year, I've unknowingly overlooked three simple letters that rest atop tens of Montgomery County restaurants; Three delicious little letters... P. H. O. Tacos now have company at the base of my revamped food pyramid. Pho has arrived, and is here to stay.
It's crazy how few people (including myself up to a few months ago) know about Pho. This Vietnamese soup is poised to become a staple of my already amazingly healthy diet. For a little more info about this great meal, check out this link, or call me up and I'll gladly go grab some Pho with you. If you've had it before and know where to find the best bowl of Pho, let me know, I'll be greatly appreciative. Pho Sho.

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/bookshelf/articles/pho_SJM.htm

Ch Ch Ch Changes

With the new year comes a new place to live for Esteban. Due to the departure of a certain Mr. Walsh to Tucson, AZ, I was forced to spread my wings, man-up and and explore the strange world that is craigslist to find a new pad. Today is the last day that I can call this yuppy fake-town (King Farm in Rockville) home.

Moving sucks... don't ever let anyone tell you different.

I know that moving from a bad situation to a good one, or to a better area and what not is good. But the actual moving process... packing, lifting, cleaning, lifting, unpacking, organizing... is a total pain in the ass. Throw in the fact that I had a flu bug hit me Friday morning, and now have a cold (I never get sick), and it makes for the worst move one could ever imagine. Fortunately for me though, I was blessed with parents and a younger brother nice enough to drive down from Philadelphia Sunday morning, help me finish pack, move, clean and unpack all that day, then turn around and drive back to Philly that evening. How crazy is that. Without them, it would have made for a very long Sunday and Monday. Much love. I owe your guys big.

So the new place is a townhome down in Bethesda. My room is pretty ill. It's the master bedroom and has its own loft and bathroom. The owner, and housemate is great... extremely nice person. Last night was the first night there for me. Still need to unpack some boxes and reorganize a few things, but it's definately taking shape.

Now I wonder how long I'll be here till I'm shipped out on my next job (most likely Sacramento). Stay tuned.

What have I done?

It begins...

As if I wasn't already vocal enough, I've decided, for one reason or another to create a blog.

I'm really curious to see how much blogging actually gets done on here. Should be interesting... stay tuned (if you can bear the anticipation).

On a side note, I'd like to thank Collin for introducing me to this computer geeks version of a diary.