Coming Back to NYC delayed: Thank you Irene! December 7, 2011
Posted by sedao15 in Adventures, New York City.Tags: Airport, Atlanta, Hurricane Irene, Restaurants, Texas
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I took a mini vacation to Houston this past weekend. I stayed at a friend’s lake house and we had a good time. we went jet skiing, tubing, went on a boat, and partied. There were about 10 of us staying at this house for the weekend. We had a great time hanging out and drinking. While I am in Houston my flight back to NYC gets cancelled so I know that I am not coming back on Sunday. However my flight has not been rescheduled yet. I find out Saturday Night that my flight gets rescheduled to Sept. 4th! How is this possible?! I try to reach the airline but all I get is a computer generated message. I finally decide to just wait standby on Monday. I get to the airport and I am hoping from terminal to terminal trying to get on a flight, and so are 200 other people. After about 4-5 flights I decide to just give up. I have a friend in Atlanta that said I could stay over until things settled down. So I talk to the airline company and they book me on a flight to Atlanta Monday night and a flight from Atlanta to Newark, ugh Newark, on Wednesday. I forgot to tell you Monday is my birthday so I am on standby for my birthday in an airport. Yippee!!! Any way, so after I settle what I am going to do I go to the Center bar in Houston and have a couple drinks, these drinks were not what I would have wanted for a birthday drink… Then I make my move towards my terminal for my ATL flight. The flight to ATL was awesome I got hooked up on the plane with free drinks, AWESOME!!! I land in Atlanta and my hell of a birthday is over.
Tuesday in Atlanta
I try to make the best out of my day here. So I am told that there is restaurant called the Highland Bakery. I go there with my girlfriend and we share a cinnamon roll, jalapeno foccacia, and cilantro corn pancakes. Highland Bakery is an awesome breakfast place to go. The service was quick, they were in general very nice and we talked to them about Atlanta and New York. It gave my overall experience of the place two thumbs up. The cinnamon roll that I had was delicious. The cream on top was a cream cheese topping and the cream cheese wasn’t too heavy. I suggest getting the large to share. The bread was thick and moist which allowed for the cinnamon flavor to soak in, as well as holding the cream on top. Next we were served the jalapeno foccacia and cilantro corn pancakes. The foccacia was crisp and the jalapenos were baked right in with cheese in the middle. We used this for dipping in the sauce of the pancakes. The jalapenos weren’t overpowering and gave the bread just the right kick. On to the main course the pancakes. These Pancakes were great. I never thought of it before but having breakfast at a bakery is probably the smartest thing you can do. I mean when the waitress came out with our pancakes it looked heavenly. The sauce was poured over the pancakes and I couldn’t wait to dive in. When I cut into the pancake the eggs in the middle broke and all the yolkey goodness poured over the pancakes. The pancakes were light and fluffy, they were cooked so perfect that I didn’t even need a knife to cut into it. Overall my experience was phenomenal.
After our breakfast we headed over to Joanna’s alma mater, Emory. She showed me around and we took pictures. I saw all the buildings she used to take classes at and all the cool things that Emory had to offer. I also took a picture in front of the mascot. After touring the campus I went to toured all the hotspots. Such as the local bars that all the Emory kids hit up after their finals, the bar crawl that they would have and even went to Buckhead to tour that area. After finishing my short tour of Emory and Buckhead we went home. Then at night we met up with some friends and went to Seasons 52.
Now Seasons 52 is quite an interesting restaurant. They change their menu seasonally, so four times a year, as well as changing a section of their menu every week. Hence Seasons(4 seasons) 52(52 weeks). Also everything on their menu is under 475 calories, which is awesome for anyone trying to maintain a steady diet. But the thing is with their food it is also very good. And the portions are pretty healthy. We all shared a shrimp flatbread, and I had a Ceder Planked Roasted Salmon. The Salmon came with asparagus, carrots and potatoes. When the Salmon came out it came out on a ceder plank which was very awesome. Joanna got the buffalo chicken salad, Neil, one of our friends, got the Chicken(?), and Reena, another friend, got the Rainbow trout. Everything we got was a good size portion which left us wondering how could this be under 475 calories. When dinner finished they came out with dessert. Now I usually don’t like getting desserts because it is usually too heavy and they give me too much dessert that I am too fond of. However, this was a totally different case. They bring out these desserts in a very small glass, which to me is exactly the size portion that I want for dessert. The size of the glass is like a double shot glass. I had the dark chocolate oreo cake, which was perfect. It had a very rich chocolate flavor and the cake wasn’t thick. It was moist and it left just perfect as I finished my meal.
Being stuck due to Irene was a bad experience but I am glad I was able to visit Atlanta at least to taste some of the food that I have heard so much about. If it is ever possible I would love to go back and try some more. Maybe even go to the original Chick-fil-a in ATL. I had a great time on my vacation and an even better food trip then I thought I could have.
The first 5 weeks of fantasy football and the craziness of fantasy football October 7, 2010
Posted by sedao15 in fantasy, Football.Tags: Chad Ochocinco, Cincinatti Bengals, Cincinnati Bengals, Cowboys, Dallas, economics, Fantasy Points, Miles Austin, quarterbacks, Randy Moss, runningbacks, T.), T.O, Terrell Owens, tom brady, Tony Romo, wide receivers
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This year I went a little crazy with fantasy football. I joined 5 draft leagues in ESPN, a college football pick ems league, a college football points based pick ems, a pro football pick ems, the eliminator challenge, the gridiron challenge and a cbs draft league. I agree this is way too much football considering football isn’t even my favorite sport I just got a little fantasy happy. I am doing decent with each league but I have started to notice some trends.
The trends I am noticing are in the gridiron challenge are that you don’t need to spend all your money to put up your best team. It is always better to play the matchup rather than the player. You may ask is money the cause of good players… I say it isn’t. There are many other factors into what produces a good fantasy player for the week. The person with highest score the first week spent 47.6 of their 50$, in the second week the person with the highest score spent 48.6$, the third week someone spent 49.8$, and the fourth week someone spent 49.9. So with the scores they tend to fluctuate regardless of money spent. What you’ll notice it isn’t dependent on money spent it is usually dependent on the quarterback. Every team spends significantly more on qbs then any other position.
Spending by position by the best
qb rb wr
1st week leader: 12 10.7 10.7
2nd week leader: 12.7, 10.8, 10.8
3rd week leader: 13.2, 12, 10
4th week leader: 13.8, 11.3, 11.4
Overall Leader
1st week: 12.8, 11.9, 10.7
2nd week: 12.8, 10.8, 10.6
3rd week: 13, 10.9, 10.5
4th week: 13.4, 10.5, 10.9
It is true that the top 10 highest salary qbs avg 6.54
rb avg 6.15
wr avg 5.93
That would still mean that qbs would be roughly 13 a week, rbs would 12.3, and wrs would be 11.8. However that isn’t happening the highest wr ever went to was 11.4 with rb breaking the 11 threshold 3 times and only getting to 12 once. With qbs they are constantly around 13.
Now most of you might be thinking so should I spend more on a qb, why spend so much on rb or does it matter what rb or wr I get because the rb and wr usually avg to the same? These are all valid questions. But lets dive deeper into these statistics
Are qbs worth what they are paid and do the positions really matter? Do spending a lot on qbs = championship?
The question I ask to find the value is: How much should a wr be worth? I need to know how much more a qb makes per week and how many more points they gain. Knowing that qb and rb are fairly even with their worth and their points I don’t need to evaluate that further but what I would like to look at is the comparison between qb and wr.
top 10 fantasy gainers per position on avg
qb 16.98 pts
rb 15.46 pts
wr 12.4 pts
We have all our stats now. A qb makes on avg .61 more and produces 4.58 more points. Which translates to every point a qb scores they get paids roughly .13 more than a wr. On a per point basis a wr makes about .478, and a qb makes .385. I believe it could be due to the fluctuation in how well the players do. Within the wr except for maybe 3 players there are always new players in the top 10 as opposed to within rb and qb where they are usually always the same players. In WR you can be sure that Desean Jackson, Austin Collie and Reggie Wayne are going to do well. Otherwise it’s a good guess. In RB you can go with Rashard Mendenhall, Arian Foster, Jahvid Best, Darren Mcfadden, Chris Johnson, and even Lesean Mccoy is a good bet. At QB just shoot at a dart at someone in the top 10 and you can get 20 points.
So what causes these players to do well one week and not so well the next? Is it the defense, home field advantage, turf, dome, what is it, single coverage, or something deeper?
Why in week 4 did Terrell Owens get thrown to 15 times and Chad Ochocinco 5 times? Why is it that Reggie Wayne who caught 15 passes and targeted 19 times for 196 yards didn’t score a touchdown and Austin Collie got targeted a mere 7 times caught the ball 5 times for 39 yards and a td. Fantasy values for each player 19 – Reggie Wayne 9 – Austin Collie which gives Collie a higher per target value. Why does this happen? Is Reggie Wayne too tired to catch a td pass or in the red zone does the defense get more strict on him? Or does Reggie concede TD’s for his team mates because he had his share of catches so he tries to get the attention of the defenders to allow for others to get a score to hopefully win the game?
I understand that at the WR position there are more than just 1 or 2 players so things can fluctuate more often but at a position supposedly dominated by a few it happens to be that other less prolific players are scoring. True T.O isn’t exactly Jordan Shipley but still why so many targets as opposed to Ocho who is as much a Bengal as Peyton is a Colt. These are only a few examples but I could keep going and it would show the same thing.
Sunday = Rest… in the Hamptons? September 28, 2010
Posted by sedao15 in Adventures, New York City, The Hamptons.Tags: Cirills, Hamptons, Happy Hour in the Hamptons, LIfe in the Hamptons, Party Scene, Sunset Beach, What to do in the Hamptons
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The story of a Hamptons Host:
So it is now Sunday in the Hamptons and the McDonalds is getting to most of the people. Everyone is regretting that fateful night. They are all wishing that those cheeseburgers and fries wouldn’t have been there. I am chuckling knowing that this would happen but hey it was what they wanted.
Sunday is mostly reserved for resting by the pool, going to the beach or hitting up a happy hour somewhere out in the Hamptons. I like Sundays for the most part because I only have to watch out for about 20 people. The rest are hungover and hurting, resting or out and about. I do have to set up for a pool party but usually not as big as Saturday. Then after the pool party there is Sunset Beach! Sunset Beach is THE thing to do on Sunday in the Hamptons. It is always a scene there. Filled with beautiful people and overpriced drinks, but hey the guys are there to buy drinks for the girls that are using them. It is always entertaining to see the type of people in the Hamptons.
I would say overall the Hamptons is a great vacation. Looking back at my experience in the Hamptons I realize that I learned a lot from it. I learned how to handle people (drunk and sober), how to drink socially, what drives people to do things, the party scene in the Hamptons and a lot of useful/less information on Partying.
I hope this insight helped you in knowing a little bit about what my life was like in the Hamptons Friday-Sunday.
Saturday in the Hamptons September 25, 2010
Posted by sedao15 in Adventures, New York City, The Hamptons.Tags: day and night outfit, Madame Tongs Redeux, polo outfit, Rdv East, Stephan, Taxi service in the hamptons, the hamptons, what to wear for polo, what to wear in the hamptons
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Look at that Hat
So that was my Friday. When the sun sets and rises it will be Saturday. It is full of hope and optimism that it is going to be a day filled with relaxation, fun and new adventures. Then I wake up. I am in the Hamptons for the summer and all I can think about is getting away, too much debauchery for one person.
It’s Saturday a much more relaxed day then Friday. I wake up to; greasy eggs and bacon, bagels, and pastries. Yum… So once the maids are gone I decide to make my own food, some oatmeal and egg whites. On a side note is a fascination to me why a society as overweight as ours continually wants to get fatter. Why do people continue to eat these unhealthy foods when they could opt for a better alternative. It’s like society accepts overweight people and condemns the fit. There are more fast food chains then healthy options available… I would like to see the study on available Mcdonalds to available vegetable stands, fruit stands or any thing healthy related. It wouldn’t surprise me to see that it is easier to eat at Mcdonalds then to eat a carrot.
A very light colored dress
But I digress, the Hamptons is a pretentious area where it matters more of what you look like and who you are then if you have a personality. It’s more important to talk about yourself then to find out what the person next to you name is. Unless that person is Dwayne Wade or something pop culture related.
Nonetheless my day has started with breakfast and I pretty much am overseeing everyone’s needs. Keeping an eye on the pool, making sure the ice is full, overall just a bunch of remedial tasks that have to be taken care of so that the guests have a good experience. I then have to set up the pool party running from King Kullen and back to make sure all the last minute supplies are taken care of. Following the pool party is Polo!
Polo can be overwhelming at times but Polo is quite entertaining and I recommend anyone that visits the Hamptons to try it. Polo isn’t for the weak at heart and it is something that you have to work your connections to get into. It isn’t really that hard but it truly exemplifies the Hamptons. Polo is all about networking. With alcohol available per request people come there to enjoy the people not the actual match. A typical polo outfit for guys; boat shoes, plaid/seer sucker shorts, and a button up or brown/white shoes, white pants, and a button up shirt that fits. A typical polo outfit for girls starts with the hat, the bigger the better. With girls it is interesting and much more difficult to pinpoint an outfit but I’ll give you the basics. A polo out fit for a girl can be medium casual high heels with short shorts and a cute button up or a girl can go with the high heels and light colored dress with a hat. Some also opt for a floral dress which looks nice also. I recommend for Polo to get to the event around 3pm to soak in some of the game but mostly get to see the whole spectacle that is a polo event in the Hamptons which is pretty amazing. Polo ends roughly around 6 pm so get your drinks and fun in because then it’s time to get back home.
Try this outfit for Day and Night
What is also fun to do during the day usually during a holiday weekend is Day and Night. Be wary though because coming late means you might not be getting in or waiting in a long line. I went July 4th weekend and I got there at 1pm and it was smooth sailing however, I saw people come later and there was a line and a list. When considering going to Day and Night in East Hampton you want to get on the list and you also want to get a table. Mind you that when getting a table you will have to get a bottle, it’s worth it. Day and Night might possibly be the best party in the Hamptons. Everyone is drinking, dancing on tables, and best of all popping champagne. I don’t recommend doing it every weekend but to do it for the holidays is optimal. I only did it once because I went to crazy. I have a couple of pictures on Guest of a Guest but you don’t need to see those. At Day and Night people are just trying to have fun. They drink a lot and spill a lot. When doing Day and Night, you will see the biggest knuckleheads there; so bring your A-game and try to out due to next person. Out of everything I did this summer that was my favorite event that I went to.
Polo and Day and Night are fun events but I only did them a few times. I could not do these things every weekend because either later that day or the next I was paying. The worst part of all these things was that I would want to go to sleep but I had guests to tend to. By the time I would come back from one of these events I would have to start getting people amped for tonight’s Happy Hour. Where I am usually running around making sure people have moved their cars and getting ready. Getting people into the shuttles is not as easy as you’d think because people want to ride together, which makes no sense since the shuttles are literally a one minute ride. Once this is all settles the time is usually 10:45 and I myself have to get to the other house. By the time I get to the other house, it is usually time to leave. So I get everybody into the cabs, thank you Sag Harbor Taxi Service Ben, Chet, Sonia are just a few of the great drivers out there just look for the big red vans, and we head out to either Madame Tongs, or Rdv East. At Madame Tongs ReDeux it was much easier to get bigger groups into the club and the music is more top 40s where as Rdv East is more posh but a lot harder to get into. When going to Rdv East you have to dress hot and it must at least be equal guys to girls and the girls have to be good looking or you won’t be getting in. So guys it’s a fun time, and girls the guys have money that come here because they usually are buying bottles. The music tends to lean towards the more Electronica side which for me would get irritating after an hour but it is fun to get into if you have the right crowd with you.
On Saturdays’ I tend to catch the early taxi home because I am so beat from the day before. Oh and guess what is waiting for me at the house….. McDonalds! Great! haha. I will stay on topic this time. So I just make sure that people don’t get too crazy and start throwing food or something and I just go straight to bed.
That is my Saturday prepare for Sunday because those are relaxing except during Holidays…
