Shameless plug

Vacation Summer 2006, eh

First and foremost, I took a vacation. Yes, despite the fact that the SOX audit starts tomorrow, I took a vacation with Kim. We went to the great north, eh...

Beer, hockey and donughts, eh.

Kim's Mom and Dad were nice enough to show us how to setup their pop-up trailer and we took it to Pleasant Beach campgrounds. After some problems getting the trailer setup (3 hours of problems), we finally had dinner. We got there last Sunday and originally planned on just staying until Wednesday, but thanks to Bryan and Michele, we were able to stay until Friday.

I bought a bottle of Jack Daniels from a batch from 1915. Kim brought a bottle of wine that she had from her cousin's wine tour birthday from a couple of weeks ago.

I actually got a little tan while camping. :)

Sunday was setup and lots of stress. We had a campfire at Bryan and Michele's cabin.

Monday we went to the beach and met up with Bob and Lisa at the beach and then had a campfire at Sherkston at Bob and Lisa's trailer.

Tuesday, on the most patriotic day of the year, we went to Clifton Hill because the weather was cold and Bob and I wanted to get some cuban cigars.

This picture was taken at the Rock and Roll Cafe in Niagara Falls. We decided to grab some lunch and Bob, Kim, Bryan and Michele all had Twisted Macaroni and Cheese (tasted awesome, Kim let me try hers). Lisa had a Roast Beef sammich that wasn't so good. And, I had a Caribbean Chicken Sandwich.

After a GREAT amount of stress trying to get money out of my account, we were finally able to continue on with the afternoon. (Sorry everyone, I feel like an ass for that one.)

Lisa had an adventurous day, she wanted ice cream and thought that she was talking to Bob and wound up "talking" to someone else instead. Also, parties were injured, nobody's blaming anyone but it sure sounded funny.

Also, we took a picture with the Hershey's Kiss mascot.


We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist because we it was only 5 dollars more than the ride on the Ferris Wheel on the top of Clifton Hill.


So yeah, needless to say, we got SOAKED. I know that we had a hell of a lotta fun. (Sorry, Bryan and Michele, I swear we'll do the jet boats next time.)

Just look at this view though, it's really coool. I can't believe that I was able to get that picture.

After the Maid of the Mist, we sat down for a couple of minutes before finally going to get the cigars. (Maybe someday, I'll be in one of these pictures.)

After Bob and I got our Bolivar and Montecristo cuban cigars we headed over to the Niagara / Buffalo River to watch fireworks displays.

We went to Sherkston again for swimming at the beach and Michele had a float incident.

Friday after we got back home, Kim and I went to the Queen of Heaven carnival for a little while. I was able to have one of my good old La Glorias while Kim played...

I Got It (ball number 1)

Saturday, we went to the Nickelback concert which was freakin' AWESOME. I know that Kim and I loved it. This was one of the better pictures that I was able to take.

Today, we went to church for Fiesta, and then to Wendy's for the slowest service EVER. After that Kim and I went to the Taste of Buffalo festival. And yes, despite that I LOVE to eat, I didn't eat anything there.

So tonight, I'm finishing up my vacation and Kim and I are just relaxing watching TV. I finished off my Jack Daniels and had one last cigar.

I had a great time, I wanted to say thanks to Bob and Lisa and Bryan and Michele for allowing us to share their vacation with them.

TV Hosed

So, it looks like my TV is temporarily hosed, the red channel on my projection is out of phase and it looks like I'd need a pair of 3D glasses to see anything properly.

I hope that my warranty through Best Buy is worth the $300.00 that I spent on it. :(

Anniversary Weekend (con't)

Saturday afternoon, we went to lunch at Bill Gray's and ran into Bob's Mom, Sister Sandy and her Husband Rick. After that, she and I went out to the reservation so that I could get gas and enjoy the La Gloria Cubana Serie R 2005 edition. (Damn, what a great cigar.)

Since the cigar was much bigger than I expected, we decided to go to Sunset Bay and look at the water.

Unfortunately, it was too cold and windy to get out of the car, but the view was great.


It was a year ago today that Bob and Lisa, Michele and Bryan met Kim and I at Banana Peppers in Tonawanda so that we could go on our second date. (The first was at Starbucks, we were so nervous about being with everyone that we wanted to sit and relax and talk first.)

And if it wasn't for Lisa and Michele both convincing Kim that I was the greatest guy ever (I am pretty great after all). And Bob telling me to go for it, this past year would have been really different. (I owe you guys, big time...)

After the reservation, we went to back to Kim's house because the Red Lobster that I reheated at the hotel started to affect me.

Sunday we went to Church and then had a nice lunch with Bob and Lisa and Michele at Olive Garden. The lunch was okay, Kim liked her Chicken Alfredo pizza, too bad the regular Chicken Alfredo wasn't that great.

After lunch, we went back to the reservation with Kim's car and then to her brother's house for a great dinner of chicken on the grill, corn and other good stuff.

Happy Anniversary Kim

Kim and I have been officially going out for a year. (Who woulda thought that she could put up with me for a whole year.)

Let's see how do I describe our great weekend.

First, I surprised Kim (and her parents) with two bunches of tulips on her doorstep. I was so stealthy ninja-like that I didn't wake anyone.

Then, Kim surprised me by sending me a Sabres mug with Chocolate Cook-ays and Balloons at work which was sweet.

I was planning on leaving work early that day, but since I didn't know about my special delivery, she cooked up a plan with Bob to keep me at work. I never would have thought that between Kim and Bob they wanted to keep me AT WORK. I almost wish that I had been able to try to leave early to see how Bob would have reacted to it.

Next, I stopped by Party City and picked up an order of balloons that I had placed on Thursday. (Come on, like NOBODY figured out I would have done something crazy like that.)


I picked up Kim at her house and she gave my present. She made me a scrapbook from the past year which was incredible.

I loved it, thanks again Kim.

She had help with printing the pictures for the scrapbook from Bryan and Michele (thanks guys). Apparently, Bob and Lisa were also aware of the scrapbook and managed to keep it a secret from me.

After stopping at the hotel to show Kim and I was dying the present I made for her. I made Kim an Anniversary DVD. I booked a room at the Ramada Inn which was much nicer than some of the other rooms that we've stayed in.

We went to Red Lobster for a nice dinner. Kim had the Steak and Lobster and I had a Fish Fry that the next day just punished me.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, and we'll just leave it at that...

Surprise Party, Hawaiian Party and OT

Kim and I went to a surprise party for Mike from work that his wife threw for him. We met up with Bob and Lisa at the party along with Steve and his wife, and the ultimate ninja kung-fu master, Glenn.

After the party, Kim and I met up with Bryan and Michele at the St. John Vianney Hawaiian Night Raffle. It was better than I thought, they had baskets of food like cheese and crackers and stuff.

There's a nice picture of the four of us, but I don't have it yet.

I left the party around 11:30 and went to work for the next 15 hours while I was working on a server problem. That sucked, and afterwards I got sick and I've been sick ever since.

Sabres game versus Carolina

Kim bought us tickets to the Sabres game for Valentine's Day.

We went to church for a 7 dollar dinner of chicken fingers, mac and cheese and cake with Bryan and Michele. (Not a bad deal for $3.50 a person.)


While we ultimately the Sabres lost the game, Kim and I had a lot of fun. We're planning on getting tickets at the beginning of the season next year. We met up with her friend and setup a dinner to Tandoori's on Friday night.

St. Patty's Day Parade

Kim and I went to the St. Patty's Day Parade in downtown Buffalo with Bryan and Michele. It was damn cold that day and we decided to go to Timmy Ho's to warm up with some hot cocoa and I had some Earl Grey tea (woo hoo, I love that tea).


Here's a picture of some crazy Irish folk at the parade.

Casino night in Niagara Falls

Saturday night, Kim and I had dinner and went to the Seneca Niagara casino with her family for her Grandfather's 80th birthday. The buffet was great, although I ate too much. The slot machines sucked cause I spent too much. The Jack Daniels was good although I drank too much.

We had fun and the jokes about Kim and I sleeping in separate beds were flying from almost her entire family since the bedroom had two double beds instead of a King or Queen sized bed.

We woke up really early because the room didn't have darkeners so we were able to make it to church. After that, we had an okay lunch with "Peaches" over at Perkins. (I don't suggest going anytime soon.)

We also saw Walk the Line at the cheap movies. I know why they're cheap...

...because the seats really suck. I know Kim's back and mine were really sore after the almost 3 hours of watching the movie.