San Diego is Evil!

I know just from the title that I've already insulted a certain friend. She plans to move out west as soon as possible. Not just out to California, to San Diego. She constantly talks about going out there, finding any (respectable) work to pay the bills, and then find her true calling (with or without that law degree).

This friend talks more about the greatness that is San Diego than she does about the virtues of the most awesome movie masterpiece of the century--Slumdog Millionaire of course (which I still have not seen nor intend to see). This friend also happens to also be one of my closest friends while I was in law school and if I ever find myself out west, I will make a point to visit her. I'm sure she will be happier out there than I am in NY.

The purpose of this post is not to dwell on my friend but to let out some anger. As you all know, I'm working on developing a number of business ideas. I also recently got back from a trip to Canada which was both business and pleasure. This story relates to the business side. The friends happen to be my marketing consultant and graphic designer.

Late one night over Presidents' Weekend we were trying to come up with a business name. Because of the nature of the business, certain names can be twisted into something dirty while my business is child friendly. So I asked my friends for some help. During a brainstorming session (around midnight) , the graphic designer came up with the best idea. I was thinking about it all weekend and up until today and really took a liking to it. I even started doodling on a pad to see what I can do for a logo. [I am fairly creative and artistically talented both on and off the computer.]

Earlier today I started doing a due diligence search to see if the name is already being used. First I checked in New York and the name was not in use. Then I checked nationally just in case my company makes it big. Sure enough, the first result in my search was a business operating out of San Diego, California. That business was somewhat related but the model is completely different. Unfortunately, the business (which shall remain nameless) took my name and had the domain name up and running for some time now. Back to the drawing board for me!

The moral of the story is that the founder of that business is evil, the city of San Diego is just as evil, and California is beyond evil. Don't get me wrong, I wish the owner and the business lots of success because I have nothing against him or his business. Plus, everyone knows that karma is a [censored].

[Editors Note: I know I'm blaming the entire city in a state I know little about (other than the fact that the people are weird and their governor is Kindergarten Cop) but I am miffed. It's always easier to blame a large group and make generalizations rather than go after the individual or small group who is/are the source of the problem. I don't actually hate La Ciudad de San Diego or the people of California (except the hippies, Nancy Pelosi, and the illegals).]

Please direct any and all complaints about this post or any other post on this blog to (212) 479-7990.

Oh Canada!

Today's post is a special shout out to our neighbor to the north...good ol' Canadia [misspelling intended]

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post is especially late because now I've been back in New York for about a week and a half.

While I sit around wasting time, looking for a job, and starting a business (or 3), I figured that such a stressful life deserves a vacation. Presidents' weekend is a nice long weekend so I figured that would be a good time to go away. So then I needed to decide where to go. My income is limited so it would have to be cheap and even these days, flights are too pricey. That narrowed the vacation radius to 7 hours of driving.

What better than to spend Presidents' weekend in a country where the weekend has no significance!?!?! Montreal, here we come! So I packed my stuff and planned to visit some friends from college and their kids and other friends up there. The week leading up to the weekend happened to have been incredibly busy so planning was last minute. I packed my skis with the intention of skiing one of those days, but between everyone schedules (the friends I drove to split gas and other friends) skiing wasn't going to happen so I my skis at my friends apartment in the city.

Over the weekend we realized that this was my ninth trip to Canada. The next time I go and get my card punched, I get a free sub, or car wash, or pint of Labatt.

So here are the highs and lows from the weekend (in no order):

• Didn't see any moose
• Good homemade pancakes on Sunday with (probably) authentic maple syrup
• Didn't see any mounties
• It was a little colder than I packed for (even after traveling there twice in the last 4 years, both in the winter)
• Whatshername (there's always a girl involved)
• Making it home in 5 and a half hours even after being stopped at customs for trying to smuggle a Canadian into the states (and no crazy speeding either)
• Playing hockey with my friends oldest kid in the living room (I love hockey)
• Those kids REALLY tire me out
• Drank a lot, but didn't have any Canadian beer
• Not as much snow as I thought
• Getting out of New York
• Not exchanging any money or speaking a word of French
• Waiter at the restaurant Saturday night who was a little too excited to talk politics with an American

On a side note, while waiting for whatshername to pick me up, I found some hockey on TV. The only problem was that the game was televised in French. I know about 7 French words that have nothing to do with hockey. No problem as I watched the game on mute and listened to NHL radio. I'd rather deal with a 5 second delay in the play-by-play than have to listen to the action in French

USA! USA! USA!