Chicken

Shopping today, they now sell antibiotic free chicken. Can anyone fill me in on why I want a chicken that does not take its pills? Do sick chickens taste better? When I don’t take my antibiotics I break out in acne. So, what if the chicken has acne too, will it make the skin tastier? If so, I am all for it. Otherwise, I do not want pimpled chicken.

edit: I have to say that since I realized that Chipolte promotes the fact that they use antibiotic free chicken in their billboard campaigns, I may have to switch my view.  They’re food is amazing, and I’ve never seen someone wrap a burrito so tight.  No joke, what the workers do with their hands there is magic.  Unfortunately, there are zero Chipolte’s in Jacksonville.

I declare for the NBA draft

In 2003, right before the NBA changed the rules that you had to go to college for at least one year, a number of kids were declaring for the NBA right out of high school. Lebron made it, but a majority of them did not make the cut and inevitably are in the same social circle as Marcus Vick and Maurice Clarett (I guess Michael Vick would be mad if I left him out of this group now too). Anyway a promising young mind from Willimantic wrote this article about my declaration.

Paul Millerd declares for the NBA draft

Note: I decided to enroll in college, but as the article says, I turned down scholarships because I did not want to walk with a “shadow of innocence”. Lets just say I was too dangerous to play D-1 ball. I was dangerous enough to graduate with a 3.7 in Engineering and Business. Watch out!

2008 UConn Huskies

Rough ending to a rather enjoyable season (considering we didn’t even make ANY tournament last year!). Check out this highlights video from 2007-2008

from uconnhuskies.com

VIDEO (right click, save target as…)

Budweiser Factory Tour

One of Budweisers factories is in Jacksonville. I was not aware of this until tipped off by my friends. The tour is FREE and they give you two free samples of new beer at the end! AWESOME….

A picture of some of the assembly line. How cool, an industrial engineer’s dream come true. Too bad I work in Finance.

Pictures of the free beer. Caitlin’s is a Michelob Ultra Pomegranate. Actually tasted decent, and dan had some other type of beer I don’t remember. I had a blueberry beer because it was the highest percent alcohol (8%), I wanted to try something crazy and I am a baller. They also had free pretzels, energy drinks and soda.

Now THATS what I call a happy hour. I think I may start to become a regular here, or even volunteer to give the tour on weekends. I wonder how long until they would notice? It would probably be when I start answering the rhetorical questions like “And what do you think those vats are for?” – “Well Sandy, those are for beechwood aging, and those little tunnels….” I’ll stop.

Dan awaiting the arrival of the Clydesdales. Those are some sweet horses and also brings me to why Dan is the best tourist I know. First of all, hes Asian, which gives him a distinct genetic edge (see picture taking ability, and ability to sightsee non famous things). Second, he went in to the gift shop just to “look around” and ended up buying half the store. Came back with a bunch of cups and memorabilia, to which he comments “I got taken advantage of by the worker in the gift shop.” So I proceed to the gift shop, and within a minute Dan calls from the other room and says, “hey I changed my mind on that $2 Clydesdale mugs, buy me one of those too” Too bad the store was closed, or they could have talked Dan into spending at least $50 more. HAH

Zoo

My friends Caitlin and Dan (two of the best tourists I have ever met) found out there was a zoo in Jacksonville and took me there.  On my way to the zoo, I had realized I have never been to a zoo before (or at least don’t remember it).  Anyway, I was like a kid in a candy store when it came time to see the elephants and giraffes.  How cool.

Crazy Elephant.  Honestly though, I felt bad for these massive creatures.  There wasn’t too much land to roam.  I am a human and I feel cramped pacing back and forth in my huge apartment.

 

A giraffe.  How cool.  Massive tongues, really, they were so long.

 After riding a horse the week before in the Caribbean, I had decided it would be best to ride as many animals as possible, that don’t mind being ridden.  The elephant and giraffe were on the to do list, however, when I saw the giraffe it seemed like it may be a bit harder than the elephant.  Skinny and slanted backs.  I can still dream…

 

Elephant riding….a realistic goal.  But check out that guy/girl’s? enormous right leg! HA

Rental Car

I guess working for GE has its perks some times. I went to the Hertz counter to rent a car and the guy went out of his way to rent me this car.

A 2007 Ford Mustang! The car was a little small though, not really meant for a lanky guy like me. I didn’t really feel cooler either. Not as cool as I feel in my 2003 Ford Focus anyway.

Jacksonville

On January 25th I officially became a resident of Florida.  YAY no state income tax!  YAY cheapest cigarettes in the country! YAY OCEAN!!   Spending 7 months in Cincinnati was the weirdest experience of my life.  Sure I haven’t ventured too far outside a 10 mile radius my whole life, but being 10-12 hours from an ocean is just wrong.   Oh the midwest how I miss thee…