Plan "B"

I've been asked to post a better picture of myself (or at least a larger one). I found this on my hard drive. It's from New Years in Hawaii...




Click to enlarge.


O.K. Seriously, I'll find one in this hard drive somewhere.

Well, I own a tuxedo now. It was a VERY long road for what is essentially a style of suit which has not changed in centuries! A very simple, classic, well tailored tuxedo that I'm pretty happy with. As with most things like this (watches, cameras, trucks - even belts) my perfect tuxedo simply doesn't exist.

What was I looking for?
I was really looking for a well made - hand tailored single button notch lapel tuxedo, which is easy enough, but I was also looking for a top quality merino super 170 wool. I was looking for a garment that would look and feel great. I was looking for an excellent fit too. I wanted the material to flow when my arms were at their sides, but also give nicely when I would sit and eat. And let's face it - 90% of my tuxedo wearing time is going to be spent sitting and eating.

What did I finally get?
I've kissed a lot of frogs during this 2+ month trip. I'm confident that if I had just gone with the Armani I picked out at the beginning, I would have come out ahead. But the Armani didn't have what I was looking for (yes, believe it!) And, this is probably the fifth sentence I've started with a conjunction - sorry. Like I was saying, I've kissed a lot of frogs. Yesteray's trip to San Francisco and the Versace that I looked at cinched it - my perfect tuxedo doesn't exist. So, [and I hate saying this] I settled. P.S. while I'm at it, don't bother going to either the Armani or Versace web sites looking for any tangible information about their products. Their web sites are strictly eye-candy for angry people who lack the ability to show their product well.

So, what I ended up with was a nice Brooks Brothers which I hope to enjoy for the next several years. I ended up with a single button, notched lapel, single vent jacket and pair of double reverse pleated tuxedo pants. At $178, these are the most expensive pants I've ever purchased ;-) They do carry a higher quality wool (Golden Woolmark), but they didn't have any tuxedos made from this material in stock for me to look at. Perhaps in a few years when I'm in the market again.

I can now say, "Why yes, as a matter of fact I do own a tuxedo" when I'm invited to fund raisers at the last minute. I no longer have to rent those ridiculous 1/2 vests with two rubber bands posing as their backs. I will no longer need to be concerned with the temporary stay stitching of a rental. I can purchase my own shirts and cufflinks and not feel bad because a shirt already comes with the rental.

By the by - the tailor said that he'd teach me to tie a bow tie. Perhaps I'll take him up on it when I pick the tux up next week. I've got more shopping and sewing to do before I'm ready for this trip. The additional stress at work isn't helping, but if I can pull this off - it'll be great!!!

Well, after struggling with a significant database problem for the past two weeks (and seriously believing that my job was on the line), I solved it - with significant help from the folks down the hall who wrote DB2.

I rebuilt some major portions of my database and got performance to LIGHTENING SPEED! An outer join with disjunts across tables. That's fancy DBA talk for worst worst scenario for the optimizer. The query was taking about 3 minutes and I was freaking out. The significant help mentioned above got it down to under a second.

I finished rewriting the code and saved everything. It was only 6 o'clock and I thought how nice it would be to go to home while it's still light outside for a change. Some additional changes kept me at work for a bit longer, but I was feeling pretty good.

This morning, I got a page while I was on the freeway coming into work. The server had died. Sure I have backups, but this sets me back another few days.

I'm currently in the worst case scenario for this project. I have nothing - not even a machine to run it on. I can't imagine what else can go wrong here. I'm getting so frustrated that I can't even see straight. My only consulation is looking at my Active Desktop which is a live camera shot of the Coral Princess. She pulled into Cabo San Lucas this morning around 10:00 am my time.

Or is it the other way around. I just went to one of those quiz type web sites. I don't think I agree with the results though.

Your Political Profile

Overall: 60% Conservative, 40% Liberal

Social Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Ethics: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day everyone! This weekend KIM and I had a talk like a pirate party. KIM brought what I thought was going to be way too much alcohol, since my friends are tea toddling Christians. KIM and I made chicken quesadillas, chicken enchilladas and rice. KIM was busy at the blender most of the day. KIM's cousin Sarah came, but the other people were folks I knew.

On Sunday morning, KIM and I went to church. Then, KIM and I had breakfast. KIM and I went looking for a tuxedo for me after that. KIM really liked the cheap one, but I felt the need to continue looking. KIM found a neat one with a shawl lapel by Ted Baker, and almost got it - but had to take a short walk to think. KIM and I later decided that it was a little to metrosexual/gay for me, but it was very interesting. KIM spotted an Italian tuxedo at Barcellona (I think that's what the store is called). KIM really liked that one, but it was the 2nd most expensive. I'm going to wait until next weekend when the Men's Wearhouse is going to have two different tuxedos in my 41L size shipped over from Kansas.

So, if you're wondering why I'm putting all this emphasis on KIM, it's because she was complaining that nobody mentions her by name in our blogs. Is this better, KIM?

For those of you who were wondering.

Hiya,

I really need some advise from everyone. I'm cutting all the pieces out for my pirate costume (p.s. I LOVE the material), but I'm not sure if I should go with pockets & cuffs of the same material (right), or if I should use this faux black leather vinyl (left).

If I go with black, I'll use these really neat details that I found at Britex in San Francisco. If I go with the same color, red, I'll use some gold trim to make it stand out a bit.

What do you think? Vote now!






Click to enlarge

I went shopping at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto today. I tried on a $2200 Armani tuxedo. I liked it, and I very nearly bought it on the spot. I mean I really liked it. I told the salesman that I thought I might buy it and swap out the buttons for navy buttons (bonus point if you know the movie reference). He was not amused, but it never got to the point where he suspected that this guy in a t-shirt and jeans couldn't afford a $2200 Armani tuxedo he was wearing (well, the jacket anyway). I got his card and a lot to think about on the way home.

For the most part, a tuxedo is a tuxedo is a tuxedo. They haven't changed in millennia, and to be honest, I couldn't tell the difference between the Armani I just tried on and the $199 specials I see at Men's Wearhouse, but I felt the difference inside - I suppose that's the difference in price. So, I got back and zipped out the ol' Internet to read more about the tuxedo which I had fallen for. Much, MUCH! to my dismay, the Armani web site is a piece of flashy trash. I am clearly NOT the target audience of their line of clothing. The site had plenty of pretty people without the ability to smile who were either unable or unwilling to show the clothes they are supposed to be.... ah, heck - never mind.

Long story short, I think I'm going to get a nice tuxedo from somewhere/someone else. Too bad too. I liked the feel of the Armani, but I didn't care much for the attitude of their website (see: trash, euro-) . Enough to make me give my money to someone else? You betcha.

Something worthy of these babies:
http://www.cufflinks.com/skulandcrosc.html

God, please don't let my heart harden against the victims of hurricane Katrina. I started thinking "you knew it was coming and didn't do anything to get out of the way!" Then, I realized that if I were a woman with 8 children and no husband in sight and I was underemployed (or unemployed), could I heed the warnings to leave with no car and pay for hotel rooms for a few days? The people hit hardest are among the poorest of the poor in America (think 3rd world poor). They're angry now because there isn't enough help, or the help is slow in coming. I could judge. I could criticize. I could belittle. Or worse, I could dismiss and ignore their crys altogether, and it's been a struggle to not do that. Regardless of their lifestyle choices or circumstances or net wealth before the hurricane, they're people.

I've had the pleasure of meeting a few people from Walker, Louisiana a few years back. Walker is a few miles north and west of New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain. We actually drove over the lake to get to/from the airport. The townspeople we met were among the friendliest and wholesome Christians we'd met. Without hesitation or reservation, we were folded into their lives for a weekend.

There was one distinct difference between all the wonderful people we met and the images I see on the television screen lately. Everyone** was 100% white. The racial divide was overwhelmingly apparent in invisible lines. It was wierd for me to see this since I live in California - one of the major stew pots of America.

Hmmm, stew pot? No. Melting pot? No. Pressure cooker? Perhaps. Perhaps if we were all striken blind, we wouldn't be able to judge by color.


** Exception to the 100% white comment was the black waiter we met in a restaurant in Denham Springs. Us: "We're going to Walker for vacation." Him: "Walker? You don't want to go to Walker. There's nothing there for you. Don't go there after dark, etc. etc. etc"