Hyatt review and stuff

This past week I was in Irvine, CA at the Hyatt Regency for an educational seminar about plastics, hosted by the Society of Plastics Engineers. I was down there with Elvis. We had a couple of the classes together. One of the many things we agreed upon is that the Hyatt Regency in Irvine does hella nickel-and-diming. They charge over $200 a night for each room (though I paid less). There’s no free breakfast. I didn’t really expect any since higher end places don’t usually offer it. However, they charge at least twice the going rating for any restaurant food. Two tiny little milk pints cost $4.00. They charged for internet. Seriously, who charges for internet anymore, posh places or otherwise? The wet bar snacks where 5 times as expensive as market, plus 20% local tax and gratuity, which pushed their cost to 10 times the value club prices (which is where they likely get these items). Elvis tried to use the business center only to find out there was a huge time-based fee for that. The room service didn’t even leave new soap each day when the old soap was removed. About the only thing that was free was the daily local paper which didn’t cover national news on the front page.

The rooms themselves were very clean and tidy. The bathroom was a little dated in layout. The whole hotel (rooms and open areas) all had this floral scent that was just annoying. I couldn’t get away from it. It was supposed to make everything smell fresh, I think. But it just made me feel like I was supposed to be having a hay fever attack. Fellow seminar attendees also complained about service when they had issues with their rooms.

I’ll be looking at other hotels in the area for any other seminars held at a Hyatt in the future.

Wedding Plans

The wedding was beautiful at the San Francisco City Hall by the Justice of the Peace. This isn't some ol' courthouse wedding. This is SF City Hall, a beautiful building with a dome that is larger than the Capitol in Washington D.C. Our wedding was on a could of Friday's ago, and yet it seems like longer, like already one of those memories that is held for all time. After the photograph session, we headed down to a small Vietnamese restaurant called Khanh's Garden in San Jose for a pleasant time with our immediate family and best friends for a small reception.

We had our celebration dinner for our wider group of friends and family the next evening at the incredible Nicolino' s Garden Cafe. We reserved their main banquet room. Many people were amazed by our restaurant selection. More than one person asked how we found such a place. For a party of our size, the food was of the highest quality for the most part. Everyone appeared to have a great time.

Funny part is that we still have one more dinner to host for the wider family on my wife's side. Her mom felt that they being Chinese would be more confortable at a simple dinner in such an enviroment. So, we will have one more dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant soon.

It seems the cost of us having a small, simple wedding is balanced by having what amounts to be three receptions. hehe

I'll post a few photos as soon as I have a chance.

There is no Santa Claus, Timmy

I feel bad, but not in a bad way. I had to burst some one's bubble yesterday in the soul crushing sort of way that wakes someone up and forces them to change their life plans.

One of the engineering interns at my company mentioned to me that his boss asked him if he was interested in staying on, becoming a regular employee. He didn't specifically ask me how much money he should expect, but the conversation moved in that directly quickly.

It turns out, by listening to braggarts and what not in informal society settings, he was under the impression that an Engineer makes 80 to 90K a year right out of school. Man, the next words out of my mouth really changed his ideas and plans after school. I just made it clear he could expect maybe 40 to 50K a year upon getting his degree.

Seeking confirmation of this soul crushing realization, he asked one of the other Engineers. That Engineer didn't answer right away, but asked "What do you think an Engineer should expect?" After waiting through the awkward pause, I piped up for him, "80 to 90K". To which he laughed through a dry spit take. A couple of the nearby Engineers then quoted their starting salaries, in the 35 to 45K range.

Without getting in to personal details, I'll just say that the intern was a little concerned about his post graduation prospects at that point.

To give him some perspective, I quoted off some general wage levels, such as Senior Managers are in the 80 to 90K and Directors may push into the six digits. Even in Silicon Valley, people aren't making astronomical wages. Besides that, the cost of living is so high here that it negates much of the wage advantage we have in this area.

He then told me what a couple told him at some party. He said they had just graduated with degrees in EE and got picked up at some local company for 90K a year. To which I simply replied, "They lied. People lie about what they make and what they do all the time, especially at society gatherings like parties where they want to make themselves seem more important. It just happens."

Well, I'm sure he will figure out how to adjust based on more realistic expectations, but it just sucked that I had to be the one to tell him there is no Santa Claus.

Miriam's Non-birthday

I took Miriam out for a one-on-one dinner in downtown Mountain View last Friday. We don't get to spend quality time with each other much these days. She's been busy with her daughter and her b/f and her new job. In fact, she's been quite the stranger recently. Well, anyway, we met up at Zucca's in the mid-afternoon, but didn't stay long since the rest'rant she really wanted to go to was turned out to be open, Fiesta Del Mar Too.
Dinner was good and we did do some catching up. We are starting to get back to normal, one step at a time. I know we aren't going to have a lot of personal time from here on out, but it's always feels good when we do, and we are getting more time with each other in group, couplish activities. ...looking forward to the official non-birthday gathering (back in Mountain View) on Saturday. It's non-birthday cuz she's now in her late 20's, and the looming 3-0 is knocking on the door. She's trying not to count the years. :)

I Memorialize

This Memorial Weekend was spent with family and friends. Allie has been fighting a cold all weekend. Even still we were a little over booked for the weekend. Friday we got off work a little bit early to catch Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. On Saturday, we got a little bit of a late start, but did end up in a quaint little downtown of Menlo Park. We then had great dinner at Straits in San Francisco.

On Sunday, we met up with Miriam, her kid and her b/f for a day at the "new" Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. It's really the same as the former Six Flags Marine World, so don't let the new name fool you. The day slipped away. I only got on two rides twice, and saw one short show. Kinda unfulfilling. However, Allie did get a little sicker from being out and about all day.

On Monday, my cuzin and her new husband visited us for lunch at Khans Garden. We then walked around nearby Santana Row. Afterwards, while Allie recovered (still a bit sick with a cold), I spent a couple hours with with couple of other friends at their BBQ. Allie slept. We later met up at her folks place for a BBQ dinner. uhgghghghg, I was so stuff.

My cuzins wedding

My cuzin’s wedding was fun. I’ve never been in the wedding party before. One funny story is that the groom was all hella nervous and stressed out. The bride (my cuzin) was running late. I found groom outside in front of the church and was like, “Have your seen her yet?” He stressedly replied, “No, she’s running late!” “Well, your not supposed to see her before the wedding today anyway. Go hide!” Just after he darts back into the church, my cuzin shows up, hops out of the car and runs into the church. She ran over to the bridal staging room. Just as she enters, I hear a couple of exclamations. I look to see groom covering his eyes coming out of the room as the bride enters. He was all, “I didn’t see anything! I didn’t see you!” as he walks right by her with his eyes covered. So basically, when I told him to go hide to avoid seeing his bride, he decided the best place to be was in the very room where the bride was supposed to be!

Recently back!

Well, I might be getting back into rock climbing. I’ve been wanted to for awhile now. Elvis and I hit up the climbing gym Friday night for a belay lesson. I totally forgot how to make the proper knots for the climbing rope, so it was a good refresher. It seemed to click better for me this time too, for some reason. I remember before always forgetting how to do the knots, but this time, I think I have it down.

After the gym (and me going home for a shower), we meet up with some other friends at California Billiards. It’s been forever since I’ll played pool, and it’s been forever and a day since I’ve been to California Billiards.

On Saturday, I visited Miriam for her daughters birthday. It was a pretty tame crowd. I had a good time.

Super Geek

I recently went to a users group meeting for SolidWorks. SolidWorks is a 3D modelling program that engineers use to create components on the computer to have them made in real life. The fact that I feel I have to explain this may suggest that perhaps this is a geek topic. Well, in the wrong context, this can be a bit of an embarrassment to some. ::Queue wrong context:: (-:

At this meeting, for some reason they had these car large magnets that said something like "I design with SolidWorks". Not exactly the coolest statement around. Most everyone at the meeting was like scratching their head as to why SolidWorks would make these things. But, of course, I immediately realized their value. I picked one up.

I waited for the ideal opportunity to put this magnet squarely on the passenger side door of my coworker's 1989 Nissan Z. This opportunity came on Tuesday (a couple weeks ago). So on that Friday morning, Elvis comes in to work and precedes to tell me how he has been rolling all around town the day before, only to discover to his horror this magnet on the side of his car. He even explained to me why he didn't notice it right away (cuz he doesn't see the passenger side of his car very often). The only reason he found it is because he happened to need to get something from the right side of his car that night (Thursday). He was telling me this first because he knew the thoughtful gift was from me.

Of course, being the good friend I am, I made sure he knew just how long it had been on his car, since that Tuesday lunch time. He was all, "Oh man! You mean I went all over town with this super geeky thing on my car? I went [to the local college] for an evening class, rolling around pimpin' in the parking lot, laid back with my arm up on the wheel [straight armed]." Elvis takes classes at the local college in order to meet girls. So, all the while he was rolling around with confidence, he had this super geeky magnet on the side of his car, proudly displaying his inner geek for all to see.

My only regret is that I didn't pick up more of these magnets to plaster all over the passenger side of the car to amp up the humiliation, NASCAR style.

Wedding Bells

So, it's coming time for me to don the penguin suit. The big day is coming up quick. It's been a long time, but my cuzin is finally going to tie the knot with her man. I'm going to be in the wedding party. They we going through the usual last minute rush trying to pull everything together, even though the day is still 3 weeks away. Well, I'm happy for them. Been way too long. It's been a tough road for them at times, especially since they've been together since their mid-teens. Best wishes! Now, when's the bachelor party?

Getting wet in Capitola, CA

Here's Miriam about to get soaked up to her butt.