Special Agents

I had a really intense, complicated (and long!) dream last night. We were special agents investigating people who we thought were terrorists with some new modern technology. We were constantly following the wrong people and getting wrong leads, and being lead on a wild goose chase, in and out of buildings. (At one point, we also tried going to Burger King, which was supposed to be on one of the main corners of Times Square, and a lot of the tall buildings were just empty construction sites.) There were lots of empty plots, tips that they were hiding bombs in Christmas ornaments or large parade adornments, and other strange things. It turns out the person had some vendetta against someone, and was out for revenge not just for destruction but were willing to take everyone down with them. This dream was so bizarre because for once, it didn't jump around or replay the same scenes with different endings. Instead, it was like watching a movie for the entire time I was asleep! Crazy.

World Series

YANKEES WIN #27!

So happy!

I updated Facebook and Twitter, and forgot to update here since I've been neglecting this. Oops.

So happy!

Once Again

Our entire apartment (other than the bedroom, thank goodness) smells like stale cigarette smoke. Thank you, considerate neighbors, for polluting my lungs. I don't care what you do with yours. But leave me out of it and let me choose for myself if I want to inhale cancer sticks.

Mayor

The NYT one line article summary in my email this morning says:

 

"Michael R. Bloomberg's repeal of term limits and his campaign spending may have undermined his bid."

 

I thought it was a given that he was going to win, but I'm really surprised with how close the election turned out to be.  I didn't vote for him (or the other guy).  In fact, I didn't vote for mayor at all, because I didn't like anyone (but considered voting for the "rent is too high" party when in the voting booth, but didn't because I didn't know anything about them).

 

But I think those are the right 2 things to look at when thinking about how close this was.  The repeal of term limits says a lot about him as a person and a leader.  If things aren't how he personally wants them, he will just change them to be how he wants them.  Can't be mayor for more than 2 terms?  Change the law!  Things just seem to keep happening around the city without any of us even getting to comment.  For example, all of a sudden, the loading zone in front of our apartment building was turned into parking spaces, and now, not only is it much more difficult to drive down the street (the loading zone doubled as a left turn lane onto a busy avenue), but there's nowhere to park to unload the car (or people, in the case of taxis) so it's leading to lots of double parking.  Anyone could have told him that, and maybe it wasn't his personal decision, but as leader of the city, it's easy for me to project this on to him.  Don't get me started on the pedestrian plaza thing, which was definitely his idea.  I'm OK with it now that it's no longer an eyesore, and we're getting used to it (and I LIKE public space), but in the beginning, it was unused and looked sloppy and cheap, and I still don't buy the argument that it reduces congestion on the city streets.  Oops, I said I wasn't going to get worked up over all of this, and there I went.

 

As for the campaign spending, his spending and his constant mailings almost pushed me to vote for the other guy, even though I knew little about him and didn't particularly feel any great liking for him.  For someone who claims to care a great deal about the environment, he sure sends a lot of paper and cardstock in the mail.  Every day, we would get something from him.  Not only that, but we would get TWO sometimes.  It started months ago, and has only gotten worse as we got closer to election day.  They go straight into the recycling bin, but it's incredibly annoying.  We don't even read them, and he's just killing trees.   In addition, we have been seeing his face all over TV.  Even though I know the appearance at the marathon wasn't for campaign purposes, I had seen so much crap from him by that point that it almost felt like it was just another ad and another way to get his face in the news.

 

Am I a fan?  Clearly not.  But I also figured that he was going to win.  NY1 said this morning that with his spending it was about $200 a vote.  He outspent his opponent something like 16 to 1.  I'm glad it's his own money (at least I think it is) and not ours, but seriously?!  I guess maybe I shouldn't be surprised at how well the other guy did!  I guess other people felt the same way.

Forgotten

Thank you DVR, for not recording V (with the same stupid "set top could not record the program" message that means nothing), so now we have to wait until Saturday to see it on Hulu.

Thank you ABC, for cutting into the beginning of the forgotten to tell me that stupid Mayor Mike won again (it was a "special report" because it is oh-so-shocking that he won, seriously?!), and then in attempting to go back to the program, showing me a black screen and then re-showing the ending of Dancing With the Stars, and then finally showing the forgotten once the story has already been introduced. This is the first episode not on Hulu, so can't watch it later!

Argh.

Useless Post

How is it November?! Seriously?!

And why is it, when the clocks went backwards, I'm still awake at 3:30 which is the old 4:30? This is bad!

Catching Up

We're still trying to catch up on TV shows after being gone (and watching no prime time shows) for 2 weeks. Not everything made it on to the DVR, so thank goodness for Hulu and other online viewing. But we're so behind.

The only shows we're up to date on (well, some of them aren't shows we watch together, so those would be just me) are Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, White Collar (because it's new!), Modern Family, The Good Wife, Bones and So You Think You Can Dance. At least I think that's it. Maybe Vampire Diaries. That's not much!

We just caught up on Modern Family today. I love that show. It's one of the best shows on TV and makes me so happy. That's really what I look for in TV these days - something enjoyable. Shows that are really dark (coughCBScough) just aren't working as well for me these days.

I think I have watched White Collar 4 times now. I love USA.

And in the last bit of TV comments, I'm really sad to hear that Billy Bell is sick and had to leave SYTYCD. He was one of our favorites, and it sounds really serious if he had to leave, so we really hope he gets well soon. Sad to hear that.

I can't believe it's already 11:30. Where did today go?!

HC: Bath Products

We spent two weeks in Maui this month for the wedding, and over the course of our time there, stayed at three different hotels/resorts: the Hyatt, Sheraton and Grand Wailea.

Since we compared different items at the hotels during our stay, the "HC" ("Hotel Comparison") series will be putting our thoughts into words. (And, for the things we haven't discussed at length, my thoughts.)

For most things (other than bugs - I'll explain another time), the Grand Wailea will probably win. It's a huge sprawling resort with an amazing spa and pool, and I don't think I've ever been to a place that can compare to it (yet). I suppose we could also make it a 4-way comparison with the hotel we stayed at during our first visit, the Kaanapali Shores, but it was a condo/hotel so it was fairly different in level and style to the other places, and probably wouldn't benefit from the comparison. You probably wouldn't hit Kaanapali Shores if you were looking for a place with a big spa or pools with lava slides.

For the first comparison, I'm going to discuss bath and body products. (Speaking of bath and body, if you go to Bath & Body Works right now, they are giving out Christmas guides with coupons with purchase and also have these "winter indulgence" lotions/creams that are awesome.) It doesn't sound like the most exciting topic, but I just got out of the shower, so it's on my mind.

First up, the Hyatt. The Hyatt's bath products come in these big 2 ounce tubes (big for a hotel size). They come in coco-mango and are the same as the spa (they say). They're usually pretty good about giving you extras even if you haven't finished the old ones, which is really good. They smell good and are pretty good quality. We stayed at the Hyatt twice (thanks, Priceline!) and were really happy with the bath products there (and ended up with so many extras during the first trip that we're still using them).

Next, the Sheraton. The Sheraton's products were made by bliss, and come in mandarin & mint (that's one type, not 2). I was expecting to like these more because they were made by bliss, but of the 3, I think these are my least favorite! They're the least "luxurious" feeling of the bunch, which surprised me since bliss makes spa quality products too. I didn't mind using it when we were there, but I think Hawaii shower water is better than New York water, and I don't think I like the products as much when I use them here.

Last, the Grand Wailea. Like the Hyatt, they also give you products from their spa line, Spa Grande, and they come in honey mango. It's the same exact stuff they sell in their spa store, and they refill your room shelf twice a day (awesome). The quality of these is really good too, and I'm not sure which I like better between this one and the Hyatt.

And I feel the need to mention something about an unrelated resort at this point since I just used the Ritz Carlton shower gel while in the shower. I think Ritz Carlton bath products are my favorite ever. This is a few years old (oops) from my trip to Puerto Rico, and it's still good (and the smell just reminds me of vacations). We went to their spa in Maui once, and they use the same products in the spa showers, and I love them.

I guess if I had to pick, I would pick Grand Wailea by an inch over the Hyatt, and then the Sheraton below it. I just asked A, and he had to think about it between the Grand Wailea and the Hyatt, but came out the same way. He doesn't remember much about the Sheraton's stuff, since we were there less than the Hyatt. And, well, we had other more important things on our minds. I guess it's easier for me to compare since I used Sheraton shampoo and Hyatt conditioner in my shower tonight.

Maybe the key to good products is using mango. :)

It's almost 3:45 and we're still awake... why...

Jet Lag II

I'm going backwards in my jet lag progress!

I was going to sleep at a (more) decent hour, but tonight, here I am at 2:30 am, wide awake! This is bad! The past two days, I had gotten myself asleep by now, but tonight, it's not happening. Annoyed.

And my ears are all clogged and really need to pop. It's been like this for the past 8 hours or so. Really annoyed.

How can I get over my jet lag? Help!

Jet Lag

Remember when I said I didn't know how we were going to adjust to the time when we got back?

Well, it's almost 4 am, and here I am.

I intended to try to "right" my schedule today since I took tomorrow off to get things done and have to be back in the office bright and early on Tuesday (ugh). After spending two weeks in a time zone 6 hours behind, this is going to take some adjustment. Especially when I seamlessly adjusted to that time zone, and experienced no jet lag whatsoever going westward. Going east is so difficult.

So I'm sitting in the dark staring at the computer screen, hoping that this will make me more tired. (It seems to be working, I think.) The best way to adjust would have been to stay awake for the entire second flight from San Francisco, since that would have been from about 10:30 NYC time until 4 NYC time, but I slept through most of that flight. I tried to stay awake and failed miserably, but I guess I didn't really try that hard. Without an in-seat TV, what else is there to do but sleep?

I'm in such a relaxed state of mind that it's so difficult being back, thinking about having to run errands, clean the apartment, do post-wedding stuff and go back to work. I want to spend the day at the spa, the pool, the beach! I think I have post-vacation blues. I read some article before we left about the way most people adjust to post-vacation blues - planning another vacation. Maybe I'll try that. I have research to do. I haven't really been to Los Angeles in almost 20 years (hard to believe it's been so long).

For now, my most immediate goal - wake up at a decent hour! Sigh.