Honest to Blog? NBA Draft Time!

Clippers, let's go, make the #1 pick already.

Seriously, 3:50 for Blake Griffin?

Laughing that Scotty thinks Griffin may tear both ACLs on the way down from the podium.

I'm thinking Memphis trades this pick. If not, they will screw their team even more and take Thabeet - poor man's Shawn Bradley?

Scotty commentary - Blake Griffin resembles a half black Wally Walters. So true, so true.

***6:43 p.m. update***
Praying GH drops to the Bulls at #16 - sucks that he won't go lottery, but I love me some Bulls!

***6:46 p.m. update***
With the #1 pick in the 2010 NBA draft, the Memphis Grizzlies select...I can't believe you took Thabeet!

***6:48 p.m. update***
Please OKC, take Rubio!!! That backcourt would be sick!

***6:52 p.m. update***
You had your chance, Sam Presti. You effed it up.

***6:57 p.m. update***
I am stunned at the idiocy as to how Tyreke Evans just went - he dominated Mizzou, but how do you not take Rubio? I hate SAC-TOWN anyway, but still...

If Minny is smart at all, they take Rubio and Jordan Hill. Have to.

***7:04 p.m. update***
I'm not sure that he comes to play, but man, this kid is talented. I think he is going to be a stud. Great pick, Minny!

I hope Sacramento likes watching Rubio in the All-Star game from 2012-2022.

***7:10 p.m. update***
You had the ability to take Steph Curry. You took two PGs back-to-back. What the eff?!?!?!?

I retract the last statement if this pick will be traded.

***7:16 p.m. update***
First shocker of the draft - Steph Curry is a warrior! Interesting to see how he will be paired with Monta Ellis. Great pick, GS!

***7:22 update***
Unless Jordan Hill gets traded, this pick perplexes me.

***7:27 p.m. update***
DeMar DeRozan - interesting - thanks for getting Tim Floyd fired.

***7:33 p.m. update***
Wow, Brandon Jennings? Interesting pick. Interested to see him as a pro.

I am predicting Terrence Williams goes to NJ - he is a black Andy Pitts.

***7:45 p.m. update***
Bittersweet for GH - I hope he doesn't get ruined by the terrible Charlotte franchise. I was hoping he would fall to #16 at the Bulls. We will miss you, Gerald.

Saltimbanco!

So, as an early birthday present to my mom, my sisters and I pitched in to get tickets to take my mom to see the traveling production of Saltimbanco by Cirque du Soleil. We started our evening off with dinner at a local establishment ion St. Chuck called Lewis and Clark's. It was great! I had never been on Main Street in St. Charles before, and it was a lot of fun. Dinner was good and then we headed to the show.

Now, the last time I went to VEGAS with Steph and some other couples, we saw Ka. To be honest, I wasn't too impressed...it was just okay, and I had high(er) hopes for Saltimbanco. It was much better. There was a lot of crazy high-wireness and general fun...my mom had a blast, which is really all that matters!

For those that are unaware, I am no longer traveling to Bogota tomorrow, which is both a curse and a blessing. It's a curse because it will make the engagement a touch more inefficient because we will not be there in person, but luckily, the management team down there is amazing. It is a blessing because I am traveled out after 4 years of traveling; don't get me wrong, my job is sick, and I love the Mothership, but am ready to cut back on the travel schedule, which I will be officially doing during mid-February to a new team.

Overall, life is great...and, I am home for Valentine's Day for the first time in 4 years! (in 2006 and 2007, I was in San Francisco at P-DUB, and 2008, I was in Brazil for the Big M).

Have a great rest of your weekend!
~~M14~~

I'm a Moron

So, I am taking an antibiotic for an infection that I have complained about to my doctor for, oh 4 years, that never clears up. Anyway, while I read the extremely strong warning labels on it that says DO NOT TAKE with dairy products (I can eat dairy products, but I literally cannot take the medicine with milk, for whatever reason and sense that makes because it somehow limits it's effectiveness), I also didn't see that it says to not drink any beverages with caffeine while taking the medicine because it exascerbates the effects of it. Now, those of you that know me pretty well know that I am an extremely light sleeper to begin with; the last two nights, I have awoken wide eyed after 4 hours of sleep and cannot go back to bed...hence, why I am posting at 4:09 a.m. and I have been awake since 1 a.m. I think I have a little bit of a cold and I conked out around 9 p.m. after a difficult Duke Blue Devils finish last night, but this getting ridiculous. I am not drinking any caffeine today (sad, I know).

China Recap and Coming Home...

Day two of our trip to China was amazing...we woke up and were met by our tour guide, Maggie, at our hotel @ 8:30 a.m. She was very knowledgeable and first took us to Ming's Tomb out by the Great Wall...we got a lot of neat pictures and were able to see the tribute paid to the Ming Dynasty. From there, we headed to the Great Wall...amazing! Crazy cold, but amazing. It was a great experience. We hiked up quite a ways before calling it quits...my co-worker Chad made it all the way up!

After the Wall, we headed down for a ride on the van through the Olympic Village...we saw where the athletes stayed, as well as the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest (where the opening and closing ceremonies were held). After that, we went to a place called Dr. Tea where we had some tea tastings; it was very good and I brought some home...

We then headed to the airport with a lot of time to spare which, luckily, was a good thing, because our first flight home (which was the most critical to catching the rest), was delayed over 2 hours. Luckily, they found a partner airline to switch us to which still allowed us to make it into Hong Kong on time. We caught the rest of our flights and even got into London about 40 minutes earlier, which allowed me to catch an earlier flight home. I am still adjusting to the jet lag, but think I am getting back into the swing of things.

The photos above are just a glimpse of some of our trip...click the photos to the right to see more.

~~M14~~

Those Dang Mongolians!

I arrived in China yesterday around NOON. After we found a place to store our luggage overnight so that we could avoid dragging it all over Beijing, we hopped in a minivan taxi and had it take us to our hotel. The hotel was pretty nice, and we were all long overdue for some hot showers after our 13 hours of flying from Melbourne - Hong Kong - Beijing.

We showered up, dropped of our bags, and headed to the Forbidden Palace and Tianamen's Square. It was amazing to see and, while it was equally amazing in its ridiculous coldness, well worth the time we spent. It's so amazing to be a part of the different cultures and areas across the world. The only unfortunate piece, similar to walking the Smithsonian in D.C. or other landmarks, is that it has all become so commercialized and touristy...we must have seen the exact same kiosk/shopping thing smack dab inbetween the Forbidden Palace and Tianamen's Square. And yes, I threw a shout out for Kenny and his people. For those unfamiliar, the Forbidden Palace is the old area where the emperors and royalty used to live, and this used to be completely off limits to the public, and has now since opened. Amazing architecture.

After this, we hailed some taxis over to a market highly recommended from some co-workers, Hong Qiao. This is located just east of the Temple of Heaven, which we drove by on our way. It was kind of like Bangkok inside of a mall. The ladies did their best bargaining on some purses, Greg had some people WAYYYY down on some UGG boots, and I got a few things that I hope Steph will like (including one thing for her classroom).

We are packed up and heading to a tour of Ming's Tomb and the Great Wall. It's about an hour from the hotel, so we are heading out now to make ABSOLUTELY sure we do not miss our flight to Hong Kong and make our way home. It is also the weekend of the Chinese New Year, so we want to make sure we get to the airport in plenty of time home. I have about 30 hours of flying ahead of me but can't wait to see my ladies!

Pictures to come later, maybe from the airport lounge...

~~M14~~

Back to Melbourne...wrap it up!

So, we are back in Melbourne. We spent the last week in New Zealand. Chad and I arrived late Sunday night after a lengthy battle with our GPS. Fortunately, we came out victorious, but not before the GPS re-routed us back to the airport and then back to our hotel. Insanity...

The week was great in Auckland. Our facility was actually located in Pukekohe, a small township about 50 km outside of the downtown area. Fortunately, we were consistently going against traffic, which was nice. The area, as you can see from the pictures, is quite rural. It was nice being in a different element.

We had some teammates come over from Melbourne and spend the weekend with us. It was a lot of fun...we did a tour of the Waiheke Island; it was about a 40-minute ferry ride from the downtown pier. We toured three wineries and one olive oil area. It was fun...the last winery was amazing. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay much longer because there was a wedding coming ASAP. Oh well. I recommend Mudbrick Winery to all, if you can find the wine, from New Zealand.

We came back to Melbourne on Sunday evening. We are settling into the swing of things here. Unfortunately, one of our team members had to go back home for a family issue. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. It's the last few days before we close on Thursday, so things are about to get hectic!

~~M14~~

Finale of Sydney Weekend and Bridge Climb

All I can say is wow, what an ending to the weekend! It was a great ending and I am so glad that I did the Bridge Climb...this post is pretty much going to be devoted that so if you hate me, bridges, bridge climbs, or any of the above, don't read it!

Chad (my co-worker) and I made reservations for the 9:05 a.m. climb on Sunday morning. We got to the site around 8:45 a.m. and milled around anxiously. At 9:00 a.m., we started the debrief. We got our sites on, signed our waiver of consent, and got fitted. Went through the rules, a basic climb training, and headed out. We had a guide named Dave that was awesome...a younger guy that was really funny and informative. Just as we started the climb, we walked right next to the Park Hyatt hotel on the Harbour; he told us that just a few weeks ago, the Prince of Saudi Arabia stayed in the Penthouse and brought his 147 pieces of luggage, along with jesters! Who has jesters these days...crazy!

We started our walk...and before we started the climb of the first of four ladders, we crossed the 'catwalk'; about 50 meters off the ground or 150 feet, where it was open grating below us...kind of freaky to walk through, as the water was underneath us. It was a little freaky.

We then scaled the ladders and came to the base of the eastern side of the bridge; we slowly climbed up and took in all of the amazing views of the city. To the right was the Opera House, and we kept climbing and climbing all the way to the top; the guide took any and all questions. Which reminds me...we all had headsets on, but not the headsets you are used to. Where you would have earphones, we had these things that went on where men (or gross women) have sideburns. As Dave (guide) spoke through the headset, it sent vibrations that radiated to our brain and we heard him. It was freaky...they actually said that it was developed by the US Army and can be used because you can speak so softly and still communicate. Weird.

Anyways, the group began firing questions at the guide; I, as my usual, took the smart-aleck approach of asking the guide why it hurt when I went to the bathroom. He then told the group, which was pretty funny. He pointed out some local landmarks, mainly an inlet that had three cannons just near the Opera House, but in reality, if all three cannons went off simultaneously, it would collapse the whole inlet. We also waved at a seaplane that flew overhead, and he 'waved' back by tilting the wings back and forth. We summitted as a group, about 150 meters (or 450 feet) above the ground...one of the photos you see is of Chad and I crossing the center of the bridge from the east to the west side to begin our descent. This was also frightening as it became very obvious how high up we were! We all crossed and began our descent. All in all, an amazing experience.

We had a quick lunch at Doyle's seafood afterwards that was delish; it was easily one of my best weekends ever with the audit team, and may have been the best ever, with Prague rivaling it very closely. It was a blast, and we had great weather.

On Saturday, we basically walked the city and went to Bondi Beach for some time there. We had lunch as a team before turning in early for the climb. I recommend the climb to anyone interested...while it was expensive, it was definitely worth doing once.