Friends and Family

I just flew back from New York on Monday morning...and boy were my arms tired. (Rim shot) Thanks! I am here all week. Tip your waitress and try the veal!

Seriously, what was overall a great trip ended like crap. I was up in New York for an AICPA event similar to the one I attended last November. It was a good meeting and once again resulted in some very good business leads.

Once the weekend hit, I slid into non-work mentality. My sister and her husband came up from Bermuda for the weekend to shop, see me and visit with mutual friends of ours. Friday night found us at O’Lunney’s on 45th just off of Times Square. Jackie and I arrived first and got a couple beers in us. We were also able to secure prime real estate at the corner of the bar. This was around 6:15 p.m. Sarene arrived a bit later and the food was ordered. God love greasy bar faire! We ended up merging our small social group with a couple Air Force guys in town for work. This was their first time in New York and last night in town. After a few more beers, we had new best friends! Alain-Daniel soon joined us and started playing catch-up with rounds of nasty-ass shots and more greasy substance. Roughly eight hours later we all decided to call it a night.

Saturday found us supporting the local New York economy along 5th Avenue and the Upper East Side. I found some killer post-Christmas deals at Bloomingdale’s! Did I need them? No. Did it stop me? No. That evening we joined Wendy, Shawn, Scott, Isabelle, Rajev and Jackie at Artisinal for fondue and wine. Good food, lousy service. Nonetheless, it was a great evening.

Champagne brunch? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Off to Café Luxembourg on the Upper West Side for some mimosas and eggs benedict on Sunday. We took brunch at a very leisurely and civilized pace. It was so great to hang out and visit with everyone over the course of the trip.

As Sunday came to a close it was time to head to the airport for my trip home (or so I thought). Once I got to Newark I was informed that my flight to Kansas City had been cancelled due to extreme weather conditions in Kansas City. The ONLY extreme condition in KC was the fact that it was 68 degrees and sunny in January! Personally, I think Continental had a small flight and decided to bail out of it to save money (they recently reported a net loss of $205 million dollars for 2005). I was rerouted to Cleveland, Ohio for the night (flight was one hour 45 minutes late due to over fueling the plane), put up in the Airport Sheraton (no airport attendant on duty to make arrangements. Found one after scouring the airport) and routed to KC the following morning (flight late due to unknown reasons). I finally arrived back in KC on Monday morning and headed into the office…ready for a nap!

Top: L - R: Jason, Chuck, Jackie, Sarene & Alain-Daniel
Bottom: L - R: Rajev, Alain-Daniel, Sarene, Jackie, Isabelle, Wendy, Sean & Scott