The stuff of nightmares

Courtesy of www.coryhollenhorst.com.

Laura's birthday

Happy birthday to my wonderful girlfriend, Laura!


To celebrate Laura's birthday, we met Amy and Dewey at Wildfire in Eden Prairie on Saturday evening - Laura absolutely LOVES the Halibut at Wildfire, and it did not disappoint. Afterwards we finished the evening at the ever popular Redstone restaurant and enjoyed their patio since the weather was nearly perfect.


A little plug for the iPhone. I had installed a free application called Shazam earlier in the day and it really came in handy at Redstone. Shazam is a song recognition application - it's really amazing. If you hear a song on the radio or in a restaurant and want to know the name of it and the artist, just press the button. For about 20 seconds, the iPhone listens to the song, analyzes it, and then displays the information - from there you can buy it from iTunes if you so choose. We did this probably a dozen times on the patio at Redstone, it was really fun! For the record, they played tunes by Jimmy Doresey, Fred Astare, Rosemary Clooney, Diana Krall, and Earth Wind and Fire, just to name a few.

Sunday was Laura's actual birthday and the first words out of her mouth were "I want pancakes". And since it's a rule in our home to give the birthday child whatever they want for breakfast, I placed an order at Perkins and picked it up so we could eat in our pajamas.

In the afternoon we saw The Dark Knight at the local AMC theatre. I read a headline today that said The Dark Knight has grossed over $300 million in the past 10 days and is poised to beat Titanic as the highest grossing film of all-time. Laura and I both thought The Dark Knight was FANTASTIC!! You don't even have to be a Batman fan to appreciate the movie.

Keith Ledger's Joker was brilliant. I read the reviews and thought, "Yeah, I get it, he died and we're honoring his memory by giving him good reviews". That is definitely NOT the case. He brought an entirely new dimension to the Joker character I've known since I picked up comic books as a child. I am sad that he's not around to reprise the role - he was amazing.

You won't believe this part. Laura had a hankering for White Castle.

Yeah. Sliders.

So she went to the grocery store to get stuff for salads, and I went to White Castle to get the burgers.

We ended up skipping the salads. Ha!

I just have to say - there is something about birthdays. It's a special day for both the birthday boy/girl and those around them. We tend to measure the day's success on the happiness of the birthday boy/girl, and I'd call this day (weekend) a success. Laura's happiness is of paramount importance to me every day, but especially on her birthday. And if I can make it a good day by doing even the simplest of things, then it was a good day. And it was.

Happy birthday, Laura - I love you!

iPhone

I've been waiting for June 11, 2008 for over a year.

On June 11, 2008 I waited even more.

In two lines.



Apple launched the original iPhone on June 29, 2007 and I immediately wanted one. But with a $599 price tag, I just had to be patient and hope that the price would fall out of orbit in the future. I just couldn't justify spending that much money on a mobile phone. I mean, c'mon. Really.

So when Apple announced the new 3G iPhone and cut the initial price point in half, it had me at hello.

On Friday, June 11, 2008 I woke up at 4:00 a.m. determined to get a new 16GB black iPhone. During my morning shower I actually heard the Rocky theme echo in my shower. Not the "Eye of the Tiger", but the real Rocky theme. With a splash of my aftershave, a zip of my jeans, and a gulp of orange juice, I was out the door on a mission.

My first stop was the AT&T store in Maple Grove. I did a drive-by and saw a line of people wrapped around the building in their comfy nylon chairs. I contemplated on joining them, but declined given that it had rained overnight and the mosquitos and gnats would be incredibly annoying (the line had extended into the grass next to the building).

I opted to stand in line at the AT&T store located in the Eden Prairie Mall. A week prior I had spoken to an AT&T employee and they said the mall would open at 6:00 A.M. to allow iPhone buyers a chance to wait inside. An additional bonus for me was the mall was five minutes from my place of employment.

I arrived at the Eden Prairie Mall at 6:25 A.M.

I was the 20th person in line.

AT&T employees surveyed the crowd one-by-one asking what kind of iPhone they wanted, if they were changing carriers, things like that. They were also handing out free bottles of water and some snacks from a nearby Caribou coffee.

Around 7:45 A.M. people started showing up in front of me, courtesy of people holding a spot for them. Hey, nice.

8:00 A.M. the doors opened.

Groups of 10 were being allowed inside.

At 8:30 A.M. I was the fourth in line to get in the door. I looked inside the store's window to see the action inside. It looked like an airline counter with half a dozen people behind the counter with a line of buyers in line.

One of the AT&T guys came out and said, "We're almost out of 16GB black iPhones" and indicated with his hands where he thought the supply would end. He estimated a few people behind me.

I hoped against hope. I thought, "C'mon, I was the 20th person in line, even though five inconsiderate and disrespectful jerks cut in front of me during the last few minutes. It just can't happen this way."

Then the hammer fell.

"We are out of the 16GB black iPhone."

There were three people ahead of me. I didn't even make to the doorway. I was four people away from getting what I wanted. F*ck. I was pissed.

I left the line. I left my spot. Gave it to someone else. Seeya.

I jumped in my car and drove to Southdale mall. Southdale had an Apple store and I thought they might have more in stock than an AT&T store.


I walked in to see every high school student in the south metro standing in line to get one. Seriously, it looked like an America's Got Talent audition line, although I didn't see any juggling acts or acappella boys bands. I turned around and thought, "forget it."

I went to work around 11:00 A.M.(hello, gotta work) and was not happy. Got through the day and thought about stopping at the Ridgedale Apple store on the way home.



Sure enough, a long line, but not quite a long as I had imagined. I walked by the Apple store and asked a clerk if they had any 16GB black iPhones left. "Only white", she replied. I left and went home.

Once home, Laura and I went to the grocery store and began talking about what we wanted to do that evening. Go out for dinner? Rent a movie? Wait in line all evening for an iPhone?

After expressing my disappointment at not getting an iPhone, Laura suggested I call the Apple store at the Mall of America. I told her there was no way they'd still have any in stock at that time. In her infinite wisdom she casually said, "Well, you'll never know unless you call." So I called.

"Hi, I'm wondering if you've ever heard of the iPhone", I joked with the guy who answered.

"Hahaha! Yes, I just heard of it today. In fact, you're the first person to call about it." (I always love retail humor.)

"I know this is a longshot, but I'm wondering if you have any 16GB black iPhones left."

"Yes we do!"

"You do?!?"

"Yes, but we have about 200 people in line right now..."

"Would you say you have enough 16GB black iPhones for, say, half of them?"

"I really couldn't say..."

I hung up the phone and told Laura the news. Then she asked me, "If they run out of black phones, are you going to be happy with the white one?" I pondered her question, "At this point, I think I would be."

She continued, "Because, really, it's the same phone. And you're going to have a cover on it 99% of the time protecting it anyway", and even though that basic reasoning made perfect sense, the fact is that I didn't even think of that. I was stuck on the color black, but the fact of the matter is that it wouldn't matter 99% of the time. This is one of the many reasons I love Laura.

We hopped in the jeep and headed down to the Apple store at the Mall of America.



We arrived at 7:15 p.m. and, to our delight, the line didn't seem to be that bad. We had fantasies of getting through the line, driving back to Maple Grove and hitting Champps for a late dinner and drinks while playing with our iPhones.

Maybe not.

We stood in line for two hours when we were finally ushered inside...where we waited in another line for another hour. It was a little stuffy in the Apple store, but I guess that will happen when you cram a couple of hundred people into a box.

After an hour we were greeted by our personal shopper, Zack. Or, as Laura and I like to call him, "Zack on Crack". Zack on Crack had been working since the store opened and was supposed to go home an hour before he helped us. But due to the heavy volume of traffic, he was asked to stick around to help. Lucky us.

If you've never been to an Apple store, here's the scoop. They don't have cash registers or your typical check-out counter. Each sales person has a handheld device which can swipe your credit card and send your receipt to your e-mail address. So when you're ready to go, you just tell any available rep anywhere in the store and they'll take your money and send you on your way.

Zack on Crack dropped is handheld device right in front of us and the touchscreen didn't respond too well after that. And to make matters even more enjoyable, it seemed like Zack on Crack was exhausted and wasn't too confident in his abilities to transfer our accounts from Verizon to an AT&T family plan. He asked multiple questions of his co-workers, asked us for the same information about a dozen times.

Finally, around 11:00 p.m. SUCCESS! Laura's phone was activated and working! Her number is the primary number in our Family Plan, so she had to have her phone activated before my phone could be added.

But Zack on Crack was having problems porting my existing number to the new iPhone. The shift manager, Matt, stepped in to help out and figured out that Zack on Crack was trying to activate one iPhone while trying to port my number to a different iPhone.

It was 11:45 p.m. - the Apple store was closed, employees had gone home, but Matt had stayed late and solved the problem. He even gave us a $50 gift card to thank us for our patience. Awesome.

And was it worth it?

Considering you can't just walk into an Apple store and buy an iPhone today (there is a waiting list of 2-3 weeks), the answer is a resounding YES! Despite my personal enjoyment of the iPhone, my biggest smile came from Laura's reaction the next morning. As I was finishing the activation process on Saturday morning via iTunes, Laura was downstairs playing with her iPhone. I'd hear giggles and laughs as she discovered how to do different things.

Finally she said, "This is so cool! Why would anyone ever have a regular cellphone?"

Exactly.

P.S. The white iPhone is HOT!

Summer must be on the way

This past weekend was a busy and fun one! Dare I say summer is on the way?

As noted in the previous post, Sean, Ed, and I golfed in the MCD Open and took first place honors in their scramble tournament Friday evening. I can think of one or two worse things than starting the weekend a little early with some golf. Afterwards we all met at Jethro's Bar and Grill where Jay proceeded to dish out the door prizes and awards. Did I mention I had the world’s best patty melt there? Mmmm.

Saturday started out early as Laura and I hit the LifeTime Fitness for 45 minutes of cardio. We were trying to be good and rev up the metabolisms in leau of the day's activities. Vroom! Vroom!

Jill and Jeff invited a bunch of us over to their place for a little BBQ in the afternoon. It was really nice to see everyone after being virtual shut-ins for most of the winter. I was especially happy to finally meet Hannah, Chris and Katie's daughter. She is absolutely cute beyond words – nice work, you two.


Chris and Katie's oldest, Caleb, and Jay and Beth's youngest, Nicholas, became fast friends while playing together in the backyard. Somehow the playset became a ship sailing the seas with sharks surrounding them – I love that about kids!


Nick was the proud owner of his mom's golfing trophy from the tournament the evening before and would not part with it. Caleb created his own trophy from a TruGreen yard sign. Crafty Caleb, who knew?


The older boys, Ian and Jacob, spent their time in the basement playing games on the Nintendo Wii. Oh, they resurfaced when the chow was ready, but quickly resumed the gaming. You have to admire their dedication and persistence. Right?


The Stanton family pooch, Cleo, got into the act by playing a little baseball with Jeff. This particular pitch resulted in an inside-the-fence home run and Jeff was pulled after only one inning. Better luck next time, kid. Pack your bags, you're going back down to the minors.


Laura and I really enjoyed seeing everyone, filling up our tummies with some great food, and look forward to seeing everyone in another month at the annual Stanton summer party at the cabin.


Later that evening, Laura and I attended a wedding reception for friends that were married several months ago in Mexico. We met Amy and Dewey out for a few pre-reception cocktails. The girls chatted and got caught up while Dewey and I kept our eye on the U.S. Open at the bar. Go Tiger!


The reception was at Dellwood Hills Golf Club in White Bear Lake, MN. The bride, Tiffany, greeted us at the reception entrance where the girls visited and listened to all the juicy details of the wedding and recent life thereafter.


While the girls mingled inside during the reception, Dewey and I stepped outside to admire the gorgeous course. C'mon. Was there really a choice? You might as well dress us in metal pants and turn on a gigantic magnet. It was a perfect evening for golf, but it just wasn’t in the cards (deep sigh).



Sunday was a little less busy, although I did get to golf with Sean, Jay, and Ed at Cedarholm again. Not one of my better games, so we'll just leave it at that.

Isn't it great that summer seems to finally be here?

1st place

Sean, Ed, and I played in a golf tournament this evening at Island Lake Golf Center in Shoreview, MN. Our buddy, Jay, was the coordinator - it was his company's tournament, Medical Concepts Development (MCD).

Island Lake Golf Center is a nice 3-par course (par is 28) and we played a scramble format. Our group won by shooting one under - we shot a 27 - amid strong wind and minor drizzle.

We won super cheesy trophies!

Sweet.

The next chapter

Our friend, and former colleague, Jodie, is leaving Minnesota to pursue a career opportunity on the east coast. Being from Pennsylvania, it was always part of her plan to eventually move back east to be closer to friends and family, however that plan moved up on the timeline quicker than she ever imagined when she recently accepted a position with General Electric (GE).

Jodie made a huge impact while working at Achieve. She had new marketing ideas on a daily, if not hourly, basis, and was not afraid of taking on new challenges. Her enthusiasm was contagious and her personal stories hilarious.

It was Jodie's idea to bring all of our advertising and promotional efforts in-house. Our team of Jodie, Erin, Jaime, Mark (our fearless leader), and I developed concepts and materials rivaling (and surpassing) those we had hired agencies to do. The portfolio of our work was the largest the company had ever seen.




The decision to bring everything in-house had a profound impact on me and my career. It opened my mind to new possibilities, pushed me to learn new skills, and really unlocked my passion for creativity and bringing ideas to life. Every completed project increased my confidence. It really changed my life!

For that, Jodie, a sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU! We had the best team ever.

Jodie has started a new blog The Davis's - The Next Chapter to help keep us all connected with her and her husband, Andy. I'm really looking forward to seeing where their journey takes them!

Why don't they just use a gun?

When I left for work this morning, regular unleaded was going for 3.85 a gallon. When I came home, regular unleaded was feeling a little deprived so it jumped to 4.09 a gallon.


Are you kidding me?

During the summer of 1987 I had a summer job delivering pizzas. After a long night driving all over the northern metro area, I stopped to fill up my tank. The price was .99 a gallon. For some reason I was musing about the future (yeah, I know, friggin' pepperoni), thinking "Boy, wouldn't it suck if gas was, like, $3.00 a gallon?" Then I tried to do the math, which I'm sure wasn't even close to being accurate at 2:00 a.m., but I knew it would be a lot.

Yeah.

Today I filled 'er up (had about a 1/5 of a tank left).

My pizza money flowed into my gas tank.

Best golf game ever

Today Jay, Sean, Ed and I had a 6:00 p.m. tee time at Cedarholm golf course. A very nice three par course we've played often. Today, however, was different.

Maybe it was the impending storm clouds on the horizon. Maybe it was the cloud to cloud lightning flashing overhead. Maybe it was the rain. Maybe it was the tornado sirens in the distance.

Whatever it was, I golfed my best game ever.

I shot a 36. Par is 27. Pure bogey golf, baby!


The photo above is courtesy of the Kare11 website, but we saw this exact same cloud pass overhead as we finished the round, with tornado sirens blaring.

Sean, Jay, and I tee'd off the first hole at 6:00 p.m. as we heard tornado sirens in the distance and were poured upon by the time we reached the green. Luckily there was a shelter between the first and second holes, so we waited out the rain for about 10 minutes. As you might imagine, the rain slowed the greens a bit, but they dried up quickly and ran pretty well.

Ed was running late and joined us on the fourth hole. On the way to the course, he had heard on the radio that Plymouth was using snow plows to clear the highway of the large amount of hail from the storm. Plymouth is only a few miles south of where I live.

The skies cleared, the sun shone, and the humidity was high. The gnats swarmed above our heads as we played through.

Then the second round of storms came through. The sun disappeared. The wind whipped up. The tornado sirens blared.

We had one hole left and were determined to see it through. The course sounded the horn indicating everyone was to suspend play due to weather.

Nah.

We had to finish, and we did. That's when we saw the cloud pictured above pass over us.

For the first time ever, I tied Sean. And Jay beat me by only two strokes.

What was the difference (besides the weather)? My drives were good and my chipping and putting were much improved. I picked up a chipping tip while up north last weekend and it has really helped.

Then we all went to Ol' Mexico and had food and beer.

Just an awesome Saturday evening.

Giant's Ridge

I love summer holidays. They are a time to get out, play, and enjoy the weather. My buddy, Jay, and I did exactly that over the Memorial Day weekend.

On Friday morning, we drove up to Giant's Ridge in Biwabik, Minnesota to play golf at The Legend and The Quarry.

Our tee time at The Legend was 2:00 p.m. Friday and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Jay and I both started really well by launching great drives and shooting par to bogey holes. To illustrate, pictured below is the third hole, 454 yards from the whites, major dogleg left, we both launched our drives well past the giant's foot sand trap. Just awesome.


The front nine went pretty well, but the back nine beat us up a bit. Especially me. I think I lost a ball on every hole on the back nine - good thing I stocked up!

Afterwards, we went back to our villa and enjoyed watching the Twins game and each devouring a Poor Gary's sub. Pure heaven!


The next morning we had a tee time at The Quarry at 9:00 a.m. Surprisingly, it wasn't as chilly as we thought it would be and ended up being another beautiful day. Neither of us golfed particularly well, but I know I enjoyed every minute of it. We both made a few nice drives, some killer putts, but overall not our best games by far. Both courses are incredibly huge, much larger than any course you'll find in the Twin Cities area, and it can beat you up.


Golf can make a couple of guys hungry (and thirsty), so Jay and I drove to the town of Gilbert and enjoyed some dinner and a few drinks.


After dinner, Jay and I spent some time on the lake behind the villa getting their boat ready for the summer and cruised the lake.

Buzz

Took the plunge.

Decided that I would do a buzz cut for the summer. I told Laura what I was planning. She commented, "I like hair", but she didn't really stand against it. She's cool like that.

So I did it.

Today.

About eight hours ago.

And I'm diggin' it.