Family Research

So I've been doing some family tree research lately. I'm becoming a fan of myheritage.com. It could be utilized as like a facebook for family. I haven't introduced it to my family as such, but the feature is there.

So things that I knew already but have manifested themselves.

• I love data.


• I love data the relates to other data.


• I love statistics.


• I'm a nerd.

Things I learned that I didn't know before.

• I never knew how much I cared about people's birthday's and anniversaries and dates in general


• My Grandmother is a Thornton.


• The Thornton's have quite a history


• My Great Uncle, Dan Thornton, was Governor of Colorado.


• He knew and possibly campaigned for President Eisenhower


• Someone has written a biography about him.


• He is the namesake for Thornton, CO


• The Thornton family is the namesake for Thornton, TX


• The Thornton's come from England


• The first Thornton to come to the United States was William Thornton between 1620 and 1640


• I am descendant of a Lord of England. Lord Robert Thornton of East Newton. Different sources give different generations of the Robert Thornton's as the/a Lord, so I'm not sure which one actually was.


• When you are related to one Lord...you are potentially related to a bunch since...well...they all just marry each other.


• I am potentially a descendant of King Edward I of England


• I am seemingly a descendant of King William I of France

Granted my lineage from the Lord is ~18 generations and from King Edward is like 30 generations, and it's only "supposedly". There is a ~17 great grandmother whom two different sources state that she is a 10th descendant of King Edward. This brings me to the problem I've had while doing this research. You would think multiple sources would mean more confidence. But really...since most of my sources are all individuals who have done their own "research", I can't help but think that they did the same thing I'm doing and that one source is likely the source for the other source. Now granted one of them had to be the "original", but if it's wrong, then everything that bases their information on it is also wrong. With myheritage.com it will create these "smart matches" which match people with people from different family trees. And it can combine some of the information and tell you how many people say someone's birth year is some value, while how many think it's some other value. So I'm always tempted to pick the value that most other people have picked. But I begin to think, I'm now part of that statistic. Someone else is going to match against them someday and think that 10 other people all thought someone was born a certain day. When in reality, someone put it in first, and then people probably started matching off of it. So it just turns into this mob mentality, so the more people match with someone without any of their own research, the more a wrong value can propagate through the system. I suppose this is a somewhat cynical view. But it makes me wonder how accurate some of the early stuff is.

Anyway, I've enjoyed my research so far. Have definitely found things I never thought I would find. Have spent most of my time on the Thornton line, but would be interested in some of my other lines of descent. My Grandmother just seemed the most eager to help and most knowledgeable about her roots.

Windows 7

So you've seen these Windows 7 commercials. Windows 7 was my idea. From a purely marketing stand point, it's not a bad idea. But does anyone else find microsoft's implementation completely moronic? The two I've seen are "I don't want to worry about my computer crashing" and "using the computer should be easy." Really? I mean...really? You needed customers to tell you that we wanted that? And we haven't been saying for years that we want a more stable operating system? I know it's just marketing, but it sounds like these weren't even goals in their previous OS's. That they were somehow enlightened by the customers feedback and desire for a stable, easy operating system. Is this who we want making our products? If I'm a competitor my first ads are a reminder that we have been doing this for awhile now. If you are going to have a Windows was my idea campaign, here's a thought, HAVE SOME CREATIVE IDEAS! Think of some things that don't make you sound stupid for not knowing inherently. And that doesn't remind us how much your previous products did not have those features.

Am I alone? Do people see those commercials and want to buy Windows 7?

Iron Man Trailer

Oh the onion. So clever. I don't really have anything to say about this. It speaks for itself.



And yes I know this is really old.

1.26 microseconds less in the day

So I've decided I will leave work 1.26 microseconds earlier each day. Otherwise one of these days we'll be down to like a 9 hour day and still working 8 hour days. We've got to set the standard now!

Redemption

Well Ra Sushi has returned to our good graces. I sent them a letter about our experience. I mean...they had a "share your experience" link on their website. It's like they were asking to hear about it!

I wont post my letter...well...because I don't want to come across as whiner! But here was there response.

Mr. Bennett,

First and foremost I would like to thank you for taking the time to email us about your experience at RA Sushi Harbor East on New Years Eve. I can completely understand your frustration about not having our Happy Hour Menu available for you when you arrived that evening. As you know we were not offering our Happy Hour due to the New Years Eve holiday, unfortunately there was a miscommunication on our part to you, and for that I am extremely sorry. I also wanted to thank you for being so understanding when you were first informed that it was unavailable. Having such loyal guests like you is why we try to give the best possible dining experience to each and every guest.

Since our Happy Hour is so popular the manager on duty that evening was speaking to all tables that inquired about our Happy Hour to ensure each guest understood the reason why we did not offer our Happy Hour Menu on New Years Eve. I have spoken to the manager on duty and explained to him how to better handle this kind of situation in the future. I'm truly sorry if the manager made you feel awkward by any means, this was not his intent.

I would like to personally invite you back to the restaurant, at your convenience of course, to enjoy dinner on me for you and your wife. If you could please let me know when you would like to come in and I will make sure we have a table available for you so you do not have to wait. Thank you very much again for taking the time to inform us about your experience.



Sincerely,
General Manager

If I were to nitpick, I would only emphasize that the frustration when they told us that they didn't have happy hour was just that they told us that they had, and it was a large part of why we were there. It's not like we went and just assumed without confirmation. We understand why they wouldn't. Just not why they would tell us they would. Lastly, his explanation of the manager's actions are a bit suspect. I mean...it was after we ordered, and he wasn't going from table to table. He came out from the back to our table, and back when he was done. And he seemed apprised to our previous misunderstanding. But...that's just if I'm being nitpicky. Which I don't believe his response warrants. He may have just been placating us, but it doesn't really matter. He said all the right stuff, and I appreciated his response. And he didn't sound like he was defending his staff with his explanation, but trying to clear up a "misunderstanding", which allows the explanation without us getting defensive back (besides my nitpicking rant). So well done Mr. General Manager! You have not lost two customers.

That said, it looks like we will be going back. They really do have good Sushi.

New York

Well...you caught me in a blogging mood. Thought I would include some New York photos. We went there in September with my family for a wedding. And we liked it so much that Ann and I went by ourselves again in November. We stayed at the same hotel and everything. It was very nice.

I haven't mastered the portrait shots, and I find that the inanimate objects will sit still no matter how many bad pictures you take. So most of these are not of people.

September

The castle my cousins had their reception in on Long Island.


Don't know these people...but seemed like a good picture.





I mean...it's the apple store. Totally picture worthy.


I have a fixation with these twirling M&M's. They just have a lot of photographic potential.








Ann was on the phone, so I was playing with some movement pictures. At first I tried some where the camera didn't move, but the subject did, so the cars would be blurry, but the backdrop still. Then I tried what's called Panning where I follow a subject during an exposure, ideally making it crisp, and the backdrop blurry. I was probably too ambitious with a .6 second exposure. That's got to be a pretty perfect follow. This was about as in focus as I got. There was one with a tire/fender that was pretty in focus. Okay...I guess I'll add it.

November

I had to revisit the stacked M&M's!


Took a stroll in Central Park. Great place to take pictures. Some nice views.


Speaking of nice views.






Made a point to make it to Serendipity this trip. It wasn't bad. A lot of hype with all of the movie references. There was of course a line. The food was expensive for its quality. But...never-the-less...still a fun stop.


With our hotel tickets we got two express passes for the Empire State Building. Ann was gracious enough to let the best picture time dictate when we used them. I figured this would be sunset. We couldn't make it there on time on Saturday, so the question was to use them later on Saturday, or wait until Sunday at sunset. We asked some of the workers in the line when the best time was to go. Sunset or Night. I had my new lens which was hopefully going to be fast enough to let me shoot at night. They said they were both good. But there was going to be some jazz people playing later that night. So we thought we'd go then.

The Jazz "band" was a guy on a saxophone. And the upstairs observation deck was not conducive to live bands/music anyway. So that didn't add anything for me. The night shots were also a little disappointing. They took my mono-pod away at security. And without a longer lens...I felt like there were TOO many lights to make many of the pictures interesting. And it was pretty cold and I didn't take time to think about how to be creative. But the moon with the Chrysler building seemed like it had a lot of potential.

Christmas Theme

If I were to sum up the last couple of weeks of the holidays into a single theme...it would be different depending on when you asked. But at some points during the holidays...I would have responded that it seemed the theme was..."Poor Customer Service." Not a very cheery theme. And I'm sure I'm blowing it out of proportion. But it really seemed to get to me this last week(s).

Now...I'm generally pretty laid back. And I don't consider myself an angry person. And I generally get more bothered by others getting bent out of shape at "little things" than by the little things. But lately...I don't know. As a precursor there were some general situations that had just put me on edge as of late. Car issues, traveling issues, insurance issues, weather issues. You know...life. So when two restaurants exhibited poor customer service...it tipped me over the edge.

We were coming home with Ann's family and decided to stop at a place we all enjoy. It was a little early (3:30 to be exact), but the door said they were open from like 11:00-9:00 with a kitchen break at 4:00. Which was fine. We thought, "okay...we'll order, they'll make it, and we'll eat while they break." Apparently that was no good. Our waitress said she was going to have to "kick us out" at 4:15, seemingly without regard to our position in the meal. And we were informed with not necessarily the best attitude. One distinctly lacking any sign of remorse for going to have to do so. Now I understand everyone needs breaks. And I understand a kitchen break. But if the restaurant closes down...that's not a kitchen break. That's the restaurant closing. We ended up leaving and coming back later after the "kitchen break." Our waitress from before wasn't there and I so wanted to ask about their 4:00 kitchen break policy, and ask if clearing the restaurant was actually standard practice, because we speculated that it wasn't and she really just wanted to be done with her shift at 4:15. But I was trying to let it go. Apparently, I haven't. I wasn't angry at the break...just at the way it was articulated by the door and more by the waitress like, "I care little for your business or inconvenience...I just want to get out of here."

Later (New Years Eve to be exact) Ann and I decided to go get some sushi at a nice sushi place in Baltimore called Ra Sushi. We had been there before. They had some nice happy hour deals with some quality sushi. So we call them up and ask about New Year's Eve specials. They tell us about their late night live music and such. And then we ask about Happy Hour. She tells us that they did have it from 3 - 7. Now I was not on the phone, but I am confident that either she explicitly stated it was for that night, or through the line of questioning, it should have been implied. I'm sure you can guess where this is going. The happy hour inspires us to make the trek in the almost freezing rain, and with friends. We take our seat and we are informed that there is no Happy Hour due to the holiday. Now...it's not like we can't afford the standard prices. But when we make the trip because they told us they had Happy Hour...it's a bit disappointing and irritating when they say that they don't. We expressed our surprise since the hostess said that they did. The waitress kind of shrugged like "sorry...we don't." Which again...is fine. They have the right not to have Happy Hour. It was just having had expected it, and been told about it, and having it ultimately be our deciding factor...you can imagine that it rubbed us the wrong way. And her main concern (which was somewhat lacking) seemed to be less for our frustration and more for herself thinking she "may have a problem on her hands".

We decide to stay since we are already there. I start think about what to say to the manager. It didn't seem like a huge deal when you said it out loud, but it obviously put a damper on our evening, just from us being frustrated by it. I wasn't looking for a hand out...just thought they should know that their staff had some mixed signals out there. Well, about 15 minutes go by, and I guess the waitress told her manager for us, because he came over and said, "I'm sorry, but there is not happy hour tonight." And then he stared at us fidgeting with this keys or something waiting for a response. We stared blankly back. We had not argued. We had accepted that there was not one. And I'm glad that the manager knew that we had be misinformed. But I did NOT need him to come over just to remind me that there was no happy hour. After realizing that was all he was going to say we just reiterated our surprise because of what the hostess had told us the day before. He gave us the same sheepish, "Sorry...we're not having it" response. No remorse at how that might frustrate us, but more remorse for having to be over there where we might start yelling at him. His temperament was not one of a seasoned manager, but of a kid thinking he was about to be in trouble. We just kind of shrugged and said "okay" and he walked off. I would have had a better evening had he never come over at all. Again...not looking for a hand out. Just some sort of indication that you understand why we might be frustrated and acknowledgment that it was your staff's fault.

"That's it? Those defined your holiday theme as 'Poor Customer Service'? Suck it up dude!" Yes...I know...I have told myself that as well. But for some reason, coupled with some hard to articulate experiences before the holidays, and Ann's brother describing some of the terrible service they received from their airline when flights got canceled, and on their actual flight out. And the fact that we might have squirrels in our attic again, bringing back thoughts of some more apathetic customer service from the people he had come out when we had them before. There was just a lot of negative thoughts floating around my head. I don't consider myself confrontational, but I really just wanted to confront! So...that's my vent for the day. The holiday's were actually quite nice. Just a few bad moments that accumulated in my head and poured out on the page. Thanks for listening.

--Edit--
I feel obligated to inform you of a positive restaurant experience. We went to Severn Inn Christmas Eve. For all you Annapolitans, I recommend finding when they do their buffet and trying it out. It's not cheap, but it was pretty gosh darn good. All you can eat oysters, crab claws, crab dip, shrimp cocktail, roasted tenderloin, lobster tails (did have trouble keeping those out), topped with a chocolate fountain dessert spread. (Note I only mentioned my favorites. It was not an exhaustive list) Very nice!

Blogging

Have you ever watched/read/heard something that "inspires" you to want to do something? Like...watching Rudy might make you want to play football. Watching August Rush might make you want to play the guitar. Reading a good blog might inspire you to blog. Reading Lord of the Rings makes you want to find a magic ring and then rule the world instead of throwing it away.

I get those urges sometimes. Of course some urges are stronger than others. Wanting to play football lasts less than a second. Wanting to slap a guitar and have it magically sound like an entire orchestra lasts until I actually slap my guitar. Blogging lasts until I sit down and realize I have nothing I want to write about. And I still go looking for rings in caves. Interestingly, reality turns out to be the most common antidote for my inspiration.

Anyway, We watched Julie & Julia the other day. This combines blogging and cooking. Cooking is also something that when I see...I just want to cook something. Really, I just love good food, and they make cooking look so easy and delicious. This lasts until I'm about half way through the process and nothing is going to be ready when I planned for it to be, I've got sauce in my hair and the floor, and about three different things are burning simultaneously. "What are you cooking?" You may ask. The correct answer is...something I have no business cooking.

Regardless...I couldn't help think, "I should do something like that." Of course the uncreative side of me says to copy it verbatim, just use a different chef. The side that thinks it's creative, but is not, says copy the concept, just exchange the medium for something else, like photography. But of course, the inspiration killer (aka reality) reminds me quicker and quicker that I will lose interest in a week, and that life is not a movie. Also, I find that I start 90% of my paragraphs with the word "so", making blogging on a large scale a poor idea.

So...this is the most you'll get out of me being "inspired". Blogging about ALMOST being inspired to blog. Seems like a low point.