My Night in Indianapolis

I got out of work training (so boring) where I was cooped up all day with 4 other guys. Luckily we went outside so I was able to see the sun and smell Indiana. Even though I was so tired from not being used to the time difference I knew I had to go out down town and see what the city of Indianapolis had to offer. A couple google searches and a Yelp review and I was in a taxi heading for down town.

It turns out most of my "picks" were not even downtown from what my cabbie told me. He was a Ethiopian named "Fish"?!? He told me of a couple places I should try after I told him I wanted somewhere fun, with good food and a good crowd. He drove me around and listed some places but I don't think we were on the same page....even so he gave me his card and was pleasant enough for the $20 ride into downtown. I told him to just drop me off in the middle and I would find my way. I proceeded to talk to random people on the streets and walked into many restaurants that I thought looked good. I realized after a couple conversations with new friends that St. Elmo's the oldest and best steak house in the area was were I needed to be!

St. Elmo's was started in 1902! It was expensive but well worth it. The staff wore tuxes and the food and local beer was top notch. It should be for $83 for one person out the door. They are famous for their shrimp cocktail, which has a home maid sauce that had fresh ground horseradish that is so spicy it made my eyes water...somewhat like wasabi overload. Almost unbearable but then gone just as quickly as it started. Kristy was the bartender/server and said she would show me around when she got off at 12pm.....but I couldn't wait that long, after all I have work tomorrow! She did let me in on some of the little gems that were in this old world city that is large enough, but still feels like a small town with home grown values.

Next stop was Nicky Blaine's, an old world cigar and spirits lounge in a basement that had a gentlemen 1920's atmosphere...right down to the bartenders in bow ties and vests and the Sinatra in the back ground. I made friends almost instantly with the guys on my left and right who were also from out of town, but were extremely surprised that I found one of the best gems in the city as they would claim. We sipped out aged whiskey an scotch....I was sipping Jameson of course.

I talked at first with Tony from Corona, CA a concrete exec who was there for a yearly corporate conference. We talked building and structures and life on the road (though I didn't have much to offer) and we said our good byes as it was late for him and he was heading home. He did give me his card and said to look him up next time I was down south.....he did recommend a great cigar that I forgot to thank him for.

I turned now to Jeff, a financial consultant for the funeral industry...talk about niche market. He was one of the most jolly and outspoken guys I have met in a long time, which is not what I expected and proceeded to tell him. He laughed hysterically. He visited this place often and knew all the bartenders by name. We all took shots of Jager on the house at one point, cursing the Yankees for killing the Angels yet again. We traded stories of traveling and fly fishing and how our bosses were some of the craziest and by-polar people we knew. I let him in on some secrets about San Fran and he did the same for just about every other city I had and had not been to...he was well traveled. I bid my farewells, and we all had a toast before I headed out of the smokey but lively little place.

I was on my way to the oldest bar in the city, the Slippery Noodle. They had live music almos every night of the week and tonight was not exception. There specialty was jazz. I unfortunately got there late and only saw the last song....still well worth it. This bar has been around 162 year!!!! there is just something unspeakable the you feel being in a historic place like that. I really don't think I have been in a social meeting place like of that age, besides in Europe. It was really something else. I had some beers with some locals, who all let me in on the local knowledge and again were surprised I managed to walk to the "wrong side of the tracks" to find this place. I admitted I didn't know any better, but had been approached by two aggressive beggars. Man what an amazing and interesting place.

I got a cab back with Sari, an African from Kenya, who was working and going to school to pay the way for his family to come over and live a better life. It hit pretty hard, as I had just eaten and drank the night away, without a care in the world. It did make me think a little what am I doning in my life that has that must power or moral direction?? I tipped him $10, because that's all i had left from the cab fare, but I would have given more. I wished him good luck.

So now I sit here 1am local time, because I am being completely honest with myself in saying that I love traveling. I love exploring and meeting knew people. It is really at this point, in this random hotel in this random city that I am as happy as ever, to the point that I felt the need to express it. So how do I make this a career, how do I keep times like this continuing? Most people I talk to that are always on the road, say it is fun at first, but then gets old and tiresome. I can't help wondering am I different? Would I feel the same way after weeks, months, years of this.....or is this what I was born to do?

Thanks Indy, though I only was able to spend a few short hours with you, it was a unforgettable experience. I look forward to when we will get to share good times again.

-J

Thanks in the AM

It's 5am on Tuesday and I am writing, frankly because I just had some quiet time to remember to. My brother woke me up this morning to leave for Oregon from hanging out with me on an extended weekend in San Francisco...my home now. It has been an eventful and fun weekend with my brother and sister, who I realize I miss so much.

I look forward more and more to every time we get to be together, because as our lives change it's great to share those changes with them.

I had an opportunity to be a tourist and really "enjoy" what San Francisco has to offer on many levels. These levels mostly being what my siblings enjoy in their own lives and what we found in our exploration of the city. My brother, Steve and his friend Rob, who are beginning beer brewers enjoyed the many pubs and brewery/restaurants we found. My sister who has become very health conscious and active, convinced me to run the SF half marathon with her, I am glad she did. It was hard but fun...man am I sore. It enabled both of us to run across the Golden Gate Bridge and see much of the city that I either hadn't seen or never took the time to slow down and enjoy. I look forward to next year!

I think, like me, my siblings were amazed at the diversity that is in this city even though it is so small. They enjoyed espresso's and home style Italian food in Little Italy/ North Beach, ate at brewery/Spanish fusion Thirsty Beer in the hip SOMA district, enjoyed Mexican fair in The Mission District, Tea in China Town and Coastal views and hand crafted beers on Sunday morning at Ocean Beach in the Beach Chalet.

I am thankful for such great family and am both proud and intrigued by the unique and interesting people they have become. To think we bickered as kids and now we laugh till we hurt! It always seems like our time together is short and I am more motivated and look forward to our next opportunity to be together again. I love you Steve and Ness!

What Really Counts

I just made, what feels like an incredible journey for work from SF to LA in the wee hours of the night. It came complete with 3 hours sleep, a crappy truck, and a flat tire at 4am on the grape vine.
After the work was done I now had the opportunity to visit my family and friends who - haven't seen in a while.
Dinner with the fam, surfing the next day with two of my best friends and then golfing with one later. Now off to a party with more friends, I realize any trials I have are always worth it to spend time with those you care about. Sometimes I forget that.

The last five days

As I sit here now in my new house in San Francisco, looking out of the huge windows over the southern San Fran landscape, it all just feels surreal. To think that a week ago I was in Lincoln, Nebraska in the snow and cold. I just can't believe all the turns that life throws at us daily. From meeting new people, to new environments. It has caused me to reinvent and refine myself.

2000 miles and three days later, I moved all my worldly possessions which consists of everything I need daily (which fits in a Subaru) and all my hobbies and toys (surfboards, snowboards, mtn bike, motorcycle, golf clubs, shotguns, rock climbing gear, camping equipment) to which I am always adding that I put in a Uhaul truck. I stopped overnight in Salt Lake City, to visit with an old friend Brandon Oquendo, who I hadn't seen since high school. He owns a painting franchise and is also doing real estate investing management as well. A very motivated guy and I see big things in his future. It was great to sit down over a couple beers and talk strategies and entaprenual approaches to ideas.

I came up with no job, and a couple leads... with the goal of living with two of my best friends for the "golden years" of our young lives. 12 hours after being here I got a job offer to work as an engineer doing materials inspection and construction inspection. I still need a bed, the air mattress isn't the greatest, nor is the couch.

I have a couple more interviews lined up....I think this will be a fun, challenging, and memorable year...I can't wait!

Unexpected Poker Truths

I will be honest, I am not much of a poke player. Even with the craze in the last couple years, I've only played a hand full of times.

Last night I was invited by my 2nd cousin Russ Hopwood, a futures day trader here in downtown Lincoln to a weekly poker game at his hometown of Shelby, Nebraska, population 700. It was pretty neat. They have a private room set up with a $20 by-in and cheap $1 beers that come out of a soda machine with only the classics; Busch Lite, Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Light!

Now this is where I found my new respect for poker, that I had not understood before. Sitting around the table of blue collar working types and farmers, I couldn't help feeling a little guilty, like perhaps my cousin and I were the smartest people there. All the talk of cattle and corn sure didn't make my first impression seem any less accurate. Now, smarter in the sense I was thinking was because both my cousin and I had professional office jobs and formal educations with a four-year degree. I soon realized that the "smarts" or skills learned in poker aren't learned in schools and that I definitely didn't have the them either.

As we started playing I thought my first impression had been right, when I started winning some bigger hands and amassing a large little fortune of my own. After about an hour in and 5 wins to my name the tide shifted and I started to loose and didn't win again until I had lost all my chips. It turns out that these small town boys had read me and let me win, to learn my "tells," then proceeded to out smart and out bluff me the rest of the night!

I learned, the hard way, life lessons that I already knew but often forget and some I didn't know:

1. Never rely on first impressions, no matter what you assume.
2. Don't assume.
3. Small town farmers are some smart and tactical poker players.
4. Reading people's emotions or "tells" is a valuable skill in any deal or negotiation.

With this said, for this year I plan to play more poker by setting up a weekly or monthly game of friends to hone my skills. Not that I like gambling or loosing money, but I feel valuable skills can be gained from learning to read people and as the song goes..."know when to hold em or know when to fold em."

It's about time

I finally have a blog. A place to put down my thoughts, my goals and my daily mishaps. A year has passed since I moved to Nebraska and started a new direction in my life. I regret not having a blog then, because with every big choice we make in life we are changed and I want to have an account of those changes. However I have noticed a few:

I have noticeably changed in many ways I never expected. I learned about myself being alone...really alone and that I can get motivated to work even when it's for myself. I realized I wasn't as outgoing as I once thought, when put in a place I'm not accustomed to and when I don't know anyone else around within a couple thousand miles, I actually had trouble branching out.

I hope to move every couple years, not because moving itself is great...it's hard to pick up go somewhere new, but because of the ways I am able to reinvent myself and gain new prospectives about life and people. People in Nebraska are different, well different from where I grew up, but in great ways. There is a real feeling of family and a "good neighbor" quality that I wish would rub off on other parts of the country. Life seems to move a little slower, at a pace where it can be enjoyed.

To give an example of the kind of people I have met in the last year and the friends I have made I can recall the time I got stuck in the mud on the side of the road. It was a rainy day, and I had tried to haul some rocks behind a trailer over to my project site. I didn't get very far onto the property before spinning and sinking down in the grease-like mud that is native here. Within 20 minutes, literally every truck that came by asked if I needed help and was will to get out in the rain and mud on a Friday evening to help a stranger out of the mud. Kindness spreads, and you can imagine my anticipation for the opportunity to be able to help someone else when the time comes.

A second example is that when ever it came around a holiday, whether it was Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, I would always get invited to dinner by at least three or four families. They of course knew that I didn't really know too many people, but these were people I didn't know all that well and they still were kind enough to invite me over. I challenge myself this year to find an opportunity to do the same. I can't think how many times I must have missed out on the opportunity to make someone's day by inviting them over when they have nowhere to go, when I was so caught up in my own family dinners. I know what it's like now and I know how good it fealt to have somewhere to go.

This was a long one. I hope the next ones will be shorter and more to a point, but I am an engineer and get very few chances to write....so look out!