Hello friends and other good people. As you may have started thinking that I gave up on this endeavor, I must dearly disappoint you. I have been accumulating stories, and they now have reached critical mass, that they simply must come out into the internetz.
LABOR day. My beloved mother invited me to visit for Labor Day, a popular US holiday ( ДеньТруда, Ура!). Naturally, I was hoping to take a nice 3 day break from work. No. That's certainly not how my mom pictured it. However, until I really got to work and sweat, there was some fun stuff going on before.
LABOR day. My beloved mother invited me to visit for Labor Day, a popular US holiday ( ДеньТруда, Ура!). Naturally, I was hoping to take a nice 3 day break from work. No. That's certainly not how my mom pictured it. However, until I really got to work and sweat, there was some fun stuff going on before.
Flying High. I left work at just about 5pm and drove straight to the airport. While there, got me a little shrimp cocktail and beer - I figured I deserved it after such a long week of work. Texas is quite famous for its Shiner Bock beer. Bliss on tap. On the plane, it turned out I'm sitting next to a particularly rowdy bunch of 20-something year-old guys. As the conversations I overheard suggested - they are all employed by a small regional baseball team. Priceless. To make things even more amusing, the middle-aged lade sitting right next to us happened to be employed by Southwest, and out of the bottom of her heart, started passing out drink coupons. I was very pleasantly surprised. So another beer followed. While the flight was only 1hr, they still had some time to pass the drinks out. But somehow, we ended up getting ANOTHER round, before landing. Very amusing flight.
Back to the 70's! As it turns out, after I landed in NOLA, the same night DJ Soul Sista was throwing her birthday party at Airline Skate Center! Yes, the same place I went to in middle school. And one of my favorite DJs was throwing a Roller Disco! The night was looking very promising.
Once I get around to it, I'll put up a video clip from the rink. Girls in leotards, guys in glitter pants, afro-hair. It was spectacular. The rest of the evening was spent at "Lucky Don's shooting pool to DJ Eddy, who was spinnin some seriously rockin' vinyl. To de-glamorize the event, it was a bar owned by my old neighbor, situated conveniently between a Subway and a nail salon, in a strip mall on Airline. Nonetheless, the night was a success.
Next day, my mother concluded that it would be a great use of my presence by getting me to cut down half of the trees in her back yard. Several hours of manual labor followed. The rest of the weekend I ended up having two barbeques and of course a trip to Frenchmen St. On Monday, the labor was wrapping up, and I managed to squeeze a rendez vous with an old co-worker and friend, Kelley M. It's amazing how certain dynamics change once you get out of college. Maybe it's just me getting older.
Working for the weekend - Or weekend during the workweek? The business week zoomed by, simply because it was shorter, and I flew out to DC on Friday, once again for training. Despite the rapid pace, I still fit two salsa outings. The weekend I spent at my friend, Stephanie's, house and we went clubbing with her friends on Saturday night to this neat little venue, called Cafe Citron. It was quite a blast - a mix of latin/house in a compact 3-level venue, with a pretty gritty, but not trashy feel. The next day, I offered to cook shashlik (Russian-style BBQ) for her family, since they have been to hospitable to me on numerous occasions. In return, her father offered me some "Russian Vodka", best vodka the guy at the store claimed to have - the Russian Standard. And it was good indeed. Quite an amusing evening, involving much laughing, and me doing karaoke in Spanish ("Mi Camisa Negra" by Juanes, if my memory serves me right.)
The Week of a Socialite. The coming week was training in McLean - the location of Capital One's headquarters. The layout was similar to last time - executive speakers, skill training (i.e. presentation CapOne style and valuation), but this time we also had a real assignment, a case study. The week also contained ample amount of social interaction. Cocktails were served after training on Monday. Afterwards, me and several co-workers, all Virginia-based, ended up going to a tapas restaurant in Georgetown called Bodega. Quite a win. Tuesday - CapOne took us on a quick bus tour around DC and brought us for cocktails and appetizers atop Old Ebbitt Grill, a super fancy restaurant that overlooks the White House. Stellar view, especially at sunset. That, however was only the beginning.
The Wild Side of Training. After a very pleasant hour atop the Old Ebbitt Grill, which was spent enjoying the company of several fine lady co-workers, consuming hor d'hourves, and topping it all off with fine chardonnay, someone from the Virginia office suggested the W. W as in the W hotel, downtown DC, which just so happened to be across the street. The festivities proceeded with a considerably smaller group, accompanied by oysters, tuna tataki, mojitos, and inevitably, shots of Patron. All of that certainly provided for quite a dinner meal. And this was only the beginning.
The Wild Side of Training. After a very pleasant hour atop the Old Ebbitt Grill, which was spent enjoying the company of several fine lady co-workers, consuming hor d'hourves, and topping it all off with fine chardonnay, someone from the Virginia office suggested the W. W as in the W hotel, downtown DC, which just so happened to be across the street. The festivities proceeded with a considerably smaller group, accompanied by oysters, tuna tataki, mojitos, and inevitably, shots of Patron. All of that certainly provided for quite a dinner meal. And this was only the beginning.
Intermission, 9pm - the shuttle bus that initially brought us there, was now going to take us back. But wait - there was a second bus, and it wasn't going back to the hotel. This one was headed to the Mad Hatter, a pub near Dupont Circle. To my great dissapointment, several of the lady companions from the W got on the first bus. Now I have vague recollections of the trip, except for the fact that it was quite fun. Mad Hatter, in my opinion, was a pretty mediocre bar. The herd that actually arrived with us was quite buzzed by that point, and they only proceeded further. At that point, several female co-workers were not so much interested in standing around and drinking, but actually dancing. Ballroom to the rescue! I was very interested in trying to get the crowd out to Cafe Citron, and I was successful.
Grand Finale. Citron was kind of empty, but there is nothing stopping these guys. So a couple of lively VA folks and myself formed a circle and it was off. While I cannot recall exactly what the music was, I was certainly pulling my typical club-salsa maneuvers. Towards the end of the show, I somehow ended up chatting with a circle of girls towards the back of the club, and as it just so happened, one of them was Russian! So the conversation flips the language and we end up chatting the typical, how/where/when conversation. A mild ego deflation: I mentioned that I'm an analyst... at Capital One... and it was pretty obvious the lady was not impressed. Conveniently timed, my female companions were pulling me away, as the shuttle bus was about to depart.
After-party. The ride back to McLean was about 30 mins, and I vividly recall the broad range of caricatures I was surrounded by. There were people still trying to dance in the aisle between seats ( I think I may have been one of them) , some people trying to score some digits, and others slowly falling asleep. Back at the hotel, it just so happened that I had 2 other co-workers staying right next to my room, so we actually chatted for a bit before knocking out. And all this before 1am.
All in all, I must say it felt like I was a kid in camp, except now I had spending capacity and I was legally able to drink.
Re-cooperating. Wednesday was considerably quieter, just training, and dinner with some of my Indian co-workers, finished off with hookah at a particularly shady cafe, not far from the hotel. Thursday, however was a different story.
Re-cooperating. Wednesday was considerably quieter, just training, and dinner with some of my Indian co-workers, finished off with hookah at a particularly shady cafe, not far from the hotel. Thursday, however was a different story.
Work hard, play hard. Training was getting pretty tedious by now, and I had some worries that I could not get my work email, due to technical differences between the offices. However, all was fine on the home front. I spent a large portion of the day chatting and cracking jokes with a particularly boisterous VA co-worker, Andrea. I also co-incidentally ended up sitting in the middle of the party planning committee, I.E. I was sitting next to 2 McLean girls, Shania and Xinyi , who were quite knowledgeable about the DC club scene. Between the 4 of us, it was concluded that we were now due for a house music venue, so Club Lima was chosen. Yet again, not far from the Dupont Circle.
Logistical nightmare and handstands. We decided to take Andrea's car half way to the metro, and then catch the last train back at midnight. It turned out to be considerably more difficult due to traffic, directions, longer walking distances than expected, and later difficulties getting into the club. In the interim, we went to once again the Mad Hatter, and Cafe Citron, both of which were pretty dead. People started losing steam. However, come 11pm, we actually made it in time, and got to get our groove on pretty good. I distinctly recall us literally bringing the happening to the club. Our sheer numbers were enough to get the floor moving. A circle and the whole nine yards. It also helped that one of the girls at the club whipped out glow-rings and was doing some serious raving. Naturally, I had to join in, and we ended up having several dance-offs. During the pinnacle of one of my performances, I think I may have been under enough influence of euphoria and alcohol, that I decided that doing a handstand would be the right thing to do. Success. Sadly we had to run pretty soon, since we had to make the last train. A lengthy trip back was concluded by us arriving at the scene of the crime, or so it seemed. Fire trucks and people everywhere! As it turns out, the fire alarm was set off right before we got back, which was a bit after 1am. Quite an experience. While packing, I think there was yet ANOTHER fire alarm (but not on my floor) at around 2am. I decided not to leave... and lived to tell the story :)
Logistical nightmare and handstands. We decided to take Andrea's car half way to the metro, and then catch the last train back at midnight. It turned out to be considerably more difficult due to traffic, directions, longer walking distances than expected, and later difficulties getting into the club. In the interim, we went to once again the Mad Hatter, and Cafe Citron, both of which were pretty dead. People started losing steam. However, come 11pm, we actually made it in time, and got to get our groove on pretty good. I distinctly recall us literally bringing the happening to the club. Our sheer numbers were enough to get the floor moving. A circle and the whole nine yards. It also helped that one of the girls at the club whipped out glow-rings and was doing some serious raving. Naturally, I had to join in, and we ended up having several dance-offs. During the pinnacle of one of my performances, I think I may have been under enough influence of euphoria and alcohol, that I decided that doing a handstand would be the right thing to do. Success. Sadly we had to run pretty soon, since we had to make the last train. A lengthy trip back was concluded by us arriving at the scene of the crime, or so it seemed. Fire trucks and people everywhere! As it turns out, the fire alarm was set off right before we got back, which was a bit after 1am. Quite an experience. While packing, I think there was yet ANOTHER fire alarm (but not on my floor) at around 2am. I decided not to leave... and lived to tell the story :)
For old times sake. The remainder of the week was spent with my friend Laura and her family. I know Laura from way back in my high school days, but we actually went to the same middle school too. I haven't ever met with her outside of New Orleans, and I haven't seen her family in a very long time. It was going to be quite an interesting experience.
Crashing the scene. The weekend was spent walking around the woods, lounging in a hot tub, crashing a birthday party, attending a particularly unique Greek Orthodox Church, and watching a couple of movies. A particularly pleasant way to close the week out. As the header implies, I would like to expand a bit on this party-crashing experience. I had great aspirations to make it out to the 18th Street Lounge. Quite an exotic venue, playing an incredible selection of lounge/chill music, very 19th century ambiance, dim lighting, and furniture to match. It also happens to be the headquarters for Eighteenth Street Label, the label of Thievery Corporation. On our way to the ESL, me and Laura end up dancing all up and down the streets of DC, from the subway, to the intersections near Dupont. When we got to ESL, there was nowhere to sit, but there was one couch next to a lady sitting on a chair next to it (as though she was holding it). We asked politely if she did not mind us sitting there, and she did not object. After getting our wine, I figured maybe we should try and be friendly to the kind lady. So we start up a conversation, and before long, we end up getting surrounded by her late-arriving friends, who were apparently there to celebrate a birthday party. At that point, it became kind of obvious that we were the uninvited guests, but nobody objected our presence. Majority of the patrons of this group were of a foreign background, which provided for some interesting interactions. A very random but pleasant outing.
Crashing the scene. The weekend was spent walking around the woods, lounging in a hot tub, crashing a birthday party, attending a particularly unique Greek Orthodox Church, and watching a couple of movies. A particularly pleasant way to close the week out. As the header implies, I would like to expand a bit on this party-crashing experience. I had great aspirations to make it out to the 18th Street Lounge. Quite an exotic venue, playing an incredible selection of lounge/chill music, very 19th century ambiance, dim lighting, and furniture to match. It also happens to be the headquarters for Eighteenth Street Label, the label of Thievery Corporation. On our way to the ESL, me and Laura end up dancing all up and down the streets of DC, from the subway, to the intersections near Dupont. When we got to ESL, there was nowhere to sit, but there was one couch next to a lady sitting on a chair next to it (as though she was holding it). We asked politely if she did not mind us sitting there, and she did not object. After getting our wine, I figured maybe we should try and be friendly to the kind lady. So we start up a conversation, and before long, we end up getting surrounded by her late-arriving friends, who were apparently there to celebrate a birthday party. At that point, it became kind of obvious that we were the uninvited guests, but nobody objected our presence. Majority of the patrons of this group were of a foreign background, which provided for some interesting interactions. A very random but pleasant outing.
Lounging & Old Town. After the very eventful evening, we decided to take it a bit slower on Saturday. I enjoyed pleasant company of Laura's family at her sister's BBQ. On Sunday, her family was kind enough to offer me a ride to a nearby orthodox church, St. Katherines Greek Orthodox Church. It was quite a unique church, mainly due to its architecture. It was basically a dome. Afterwards, we spent most of the afternoon walking around Old Town in Alexandria, VA - a particularly quaint little area of greater DC. Many picture were taken. And later much sangria was had. Along with a bit of tapas and hookah on the side. Then came the flight, and back to the real world.
Back to the grind. It seems like I now have a "standard" work week. Monday & Tuesday hold at least one salsa class. Friday usually has some salsa outing. One notable piece was that I ended up catching a random dinner with a coworker, Chris. He flies in for a couple of days per week and is new to Dallas. I suggested a dinner place and next thing I know, I'm having Mexican food with a senior director, talking about secondary markets.
Back to the grind. It seems like I now have a "standard" work week. Monday & Tuesday hold at least one salsa class. Friday usually has some salsa outing. One notable piece was that I ended up catching a random dinner with a coworker, Chris. He flies in for a couple of days per week and is new to Dallas. I suggested a dinner place and next thing I know, I'm having Mexican food with a senior director, talking about secondary markets.
Spontaneous Road Trip. On a fine Saturday morning, lazily, I wake up and reach for my iPhone, only to find a text from my NYC friend Lina. Apparently Lina and my DC-based friend Gosha were both going to visit Gosha's family in Houston. The message implied that I should drive to Houston that same day. And I did. It was wonderful being surrounded by over a dozen Russian speakers and being able to just relax, dine, drink, I ended up grilling a good bit, and later much fun was had on the diving board. Fortunately, nobody was injured. And all that was only Saturday. Sunday brought more adventures. Gosha and his family family, Lina, and I went up to Lake Conroe and set sail on a boat/jet ski trip for a couple of hours. I haven't had that much fun in a while.
When DDR skills pay off. September closed out with a pretty amusing event at work. We had a quarterly "fun day" where the company basically rents out a venue like laser tag, or in this case Whirly Ball, and has a departmental day of interaction in a completely casual environment. Beer was served at lunch. On a Tuesday. And the day closed out with a DDR competition against the VP. Success.
Anyhow, I apologize for having dragged this one out so far. I will try to keep my updates more up to date and more consolidated. Also, one of these days I swore to update all my back messages with photos. It will happen, I promise!
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