Lots to Talk About

For one, it is hot as a motherf**r up here... and I am in VT!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE2fnYpwrng
As usual when it is really hot the air conditioner in the building is broken... and so is one of the elevators.  We are one homeless poop in the elevator from hitting for the Marley Properties cycle!  Ok, before I get into the good stuff I am going to tell you about something that is really grinding my gears. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL-0F3IAVfo      
Contractors.  Apparently, contractors are under the impression that they should overcharge and not actually do any work.  My cleaning person charges $75 to barely clean.  She cleans around things on the counter rather than pick them up.  A few months ago our fridge shit the bed so we called a repairman. He came a fixed it.  The defect popped up again a couple months later.  He came back and "fixed" it again, except this time it broke again within a week.  We called and left messages but he never called back so we had to buy a new fridge after a couple weeks.  Then he called and wondered why we had not paid him.  Yeah, why don't I send you a check to cover the work you did NOT do.  Seems pretty fair. Jay Richard Appliances in case you were wondering.  I am not upset he could not fix the fridge, maybe it was unfixable.  But you can't expect full payment when you do not complete a job.  My company does not pay me to come in and not manage my clients portfolios.  Hey, bossman, I know I have not actually filled my fiduciary duty but I was physically here for several hours, how about a fat paycheck!!!  My final grumble is w/ Panoramic Landscaping who provided an estimate to fix our messed up driveway.  They then billed us at a premium of more than 35%.  That is a pretty big miss.  Might have mentioned that during the process no?  Not to mention the first time it rained post fix the gravel began to groove and wash into the yard... and water pooled in the same spots it did pre fix.  I have sent 2 unreturned messages.  It really grinds my gears.  Plus it is hot hot hot!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrhf_zgtmAg

OK, back to the good stuff.  Last week I had my birthday and we had a lovely gift of spa treatments at Top Notch in Stowe from my folks.  Saturday seemed like a good day to make it happen!  We got a massage and then sat by the pool for the day and had lunch.  It was pretty relaxing.  I will mention that my masseuse was an 80yr old lady whose stomach kept growling in a weird way and she also asked if I worked out because it was tough to really get to my scapula.  So there was that.  We then stopped at the movie theatre and saw Harry Potter.  It was pretty good.  Go ahead and joke.  It was better than some of the other crap I have watched lately.

Earlier this week I had to travel to NYC and New Jersey.  Speaking of f*ing hot!  Every time I made the mistake of walking a block or two I sweated like a pig.  I had a couple pretty solid celebrity sightings. Lucky Luchiano from Boardwalk Empire, Steven Colbert, and a very hot Heather Graham.  And they got to see me!  Pretty awesome for both sides of the equation really... Some of the NY highlights, dinner one night at Blue Ribbon sushi was really solid.  The fish was fresh and everything was well prepared.  We had a small fish that was sashimi'd up and then they took back the skeletal bones and fried them up until they were like delicious fish chips!  We also had an egg custard w/ seafood that was temperature hot but really delicious. Of course following that with the chef's choice was probably a mistake in terms of food amount... the sashimi and the rolls were really out of sight. I especially enjoyed the tuna belly, the salmon w/ caviar, and the lobster roll. 

Tues. I had lunch at China Grill which was good for a in and out quasi power lunch place.  The drunken chicken was good.  The chicken satay was good.  The spicy seared tuna was good.  It was all very efficient and still quite good, a solid place for a nice quick lunch. 

Tuesday night we hit up Craft for dinner and that was really quite good.  We waved in most of the menu and it was good to exceptional.  The oysters were fresh and briny, the braised short ribs were tender and flavorful.  The crispy bacon was off the hook.  We also had braised halibut and sirloin steak that were both very well cooked.  The sides of baby carrots and onions and hen of the wood mushrooms were all great.  The service was professional, the food was well executed, the wine was nice, and the presentation was top notch.  What else can I say?  Now you might be asking... hey Jay, you usually have a pretty sensitive constitution, how did you survive all of that food?  Not well.  I feel bad for whoever had to clean the bathroom at my hotel on Wed.  I f***d that place up pretty bad.  I had not slept well for 3 days and the different foods and butter and all... bot, it was a lethal combo!!!  Anyway, I think I am going to hop and go back to being not comfortable!