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 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.

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.

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…

So this summer I was in the Hamptons. A pretty crazy place to be for 16 weeks. I had a great time but being back in the city after that much time is very enjoyable.  It really helped me realize how much I really appreciate the city.  So while everyone comes up to the Hamptons to party or relax I am there working.  I am there consuming beverages with fellow guests, going out to the clubs and staying out till 2-3 am and then not sleeping till 4-5 am every weekend because I have to make sure that the guests don’t disturb other guests (meanwhile I am the one that is creating just as much noise….).

Don’t get me wrong the Hamptons is great for a vacation. It truly is an area, not just a city, of sin. People come to get really drunk, play around, and then party like crazy.  These are the people that I have to maintain.  Throughout the summer these people have become my friends because as I got to know them they weren’t like this all the time but since they work so hard they use the Hamptons as a way of blowing off steam, which makes sense to me.  But being in the Hamptons because of work there is no way to blow off steam so you just have to power through the summer which is what I did.  The experience taught me about people, what they want, what they say the want, and what they can deal with.  Being in the Hamptons is an experience none like it.

Typical Hamptons weekend:
Friday
I wake up to phone calls about where they are staying (guests calling in). I get more calls about last minute space available.  This goes on for a few hours. The maids and cooks get to the house. The maids finish cleaning the house and the cooks start getting dinner ready.  Guests start arriving and ask me where they are staying.  I show them to their room, and sometimes give tours.  I get more and more phone calls from people about which house are they staying at. I also have to check my email about people emailing their car information in to get their cars checked also other people emailing about which house they are in. More guests arrive.  Every weekend someone isn’t happy about where they are staying so I have to either tell them I can’t do anything or rearrange all the rooms that I spent days on to accommodate to them and then let everyone else know about the changes.  Keep in mind that guests will continually arrive until about 8pm. I would say about 97% of the guests arrive by 8pm.  With all these guests I have to remind them to move their cars and show them to the rooms. One of the breakers in the house will go out so I have to switch the breakers back on.  AC + hair curler = breaker tripping. I also have to keep the car level organized and to a minimum.  I have to organize the shuttle to and from the houses so that the people can move their cars.  Of course some guests don’t want to move their cars but I then have to convince them that their cars can not be parked here but they still refuse or they say they are going to leave with us, but I know that they are just using that as an excuse to park their car when they get back.  When someone does this it fills the parking lot up and makes the parking lot in front of the house congested. The time is now 8/8:30pm. We have happy hour at 9pm which I have to be at to entertain the guests.  I am now making small talk and drinking from 9-11/11:30.  We leave for Axe Lounge at Dune at 11:30. I am then taking care of bottle service from 12:00 – 2:30 (which is about when I am so tired I want to leave or the bottles have run out).  While I am taking care of the bottles I have to make sure that things are organized and not getting out of control.  Not letting people take the bottle and pouring to much alcohol.  Ordering more alcohol because we ran out of alcohol. Dealing with guests and the club simultaneously at times. It’s finally 2:30am I go home and the house is noisy. I have to tell everyone to quiet down. I stay up to make sure that things don’t get out of hand. Around 4am I am too tired to deal with it and most people have gone to bed so I go to sleep too.

End of my Friday.  Saturday to follow….

Sorry I haven’t been here in awhile I took about a year off being in the working world and forgot about everyone. Well I have decided to come back. That and I am looking for a job again. Great…

For the past year I have been just sitting around I have actually been working. I was working for a social networking company called davidshapiro.net, Inc. What I was doing here was a lot of online marketing and sales. It was a great experience but I need to move on. Besides the typical sales and marketing I was involved with..dramatic pause… the HAMPTONS. This whole summer I was in the Hamptons managing two large houses. Throwing parties at such clubs as Rdv East, Axe Lounge at Dune, Madame Tong’s Redeux, and Georgica. During the day, I would handle at least 70 people. I was a host to the Hamptons. In fact you could have called me the Hamptons Host. Bringing in people to the Hamptons catering to them, telling them what was happening, going to Polo, going to pool parties,and overall just making sure people were having a good time.

I’ll tell a little bit of my Hamptons stories another time.

This summer I wasn’t idle in my own entrepreneurship ventures. Mywebume launched and we have had some success jumping leaps and bounds. Our website ranking went from over 500,000* in the US to around 120,000* and from over 2 million* in the world to around 800,000* worldwide. *as Alexa.com stated

At Mywebume we hired on 6 interns to help with the process where myself and a fellow member developed a marketing program to help the interns succeed in driving traffic to the site. The summer program went well and the interns did a phenomenal job. We are now in the stages of updating the site to better cater to all of the users out there. So please visit www.mywebume.com for updates and if you want some help from my fellow partners and some real industry experts.

Along with mywebume I have also launched a nonprofit 501(c)3 called SoundTomorrow. I am the beginning stages and am still getting all the operations figured out but this summer we did get are 501(c)3 status which was monumental! I will be sure to update on how things go with us at Sound Tomorrow.

I am also in the stages of improving my skills by learning more about sql and microsoft access & excel. I know with these skills it will definitely help me run my companies better. I have started reading the SQL book in the Head First series. An amazing book that is really helping me retain the information.

I hope to hear from everyone soon and I’ll be sure to do my part to update on what is going on my side.

Ps It’s Football season so count on me giving my opinion on what is going in the games and in FANTASY!

12/04/2009

Went to the cellar bar on 40th between 5th and 6th inside of the Bryant Park Hotel.  The company I am applying for had an all expense paid night there.  Bottle service, a table the works.  There was a fashion show there that night too.  I was able to network with a lot of people and meet some valuable people in the field I am looking to.  I met someone there that was working for the biggest commercial real estate company in all of NYC! awesome right.  Well I didn’t drink too much because I had to impress the people with my social skills and not my drinking skills. haha.  I did well met with all the owners and kicked it off with them really well.  I have an interview on Monday with them now!  Next step is to get the job we’ll see.

So I am living in the Bronx again still looking for jobs.  Now I am applying for admin jobs…. gosh pretty good use of a college education right?…  Also I applied for this job as a personal assistant for a nudist family.  I don’t mind but man what kind of job will I be able to get?  Anyways I cleaned up the basement set up a weight room and at least now I can workout everyday. Woohoo!

Today I am waiting for UPS who will probably never come.  They came once gave me some shipping slips left and who know what that lame company will do.

Also I watched the World Cup draw.  USA has a sweet draw.  Algeria, Slovenia, and England…. We have a chance to get the #1 seed.  Then we face the #2 from D which could be Ghana.  Ghana is a good African team but the USA are so poised to make it to the quarters.  USA has the bracket to make it this year.  USA! USA! USA!

I am currently living in a house in the Bronx paying 250 a month.  My days are constantly consumed with finding a job, researching new online marketing techniques, learning about the alternative energy sector, and blowing off steam every once in a while.  I have been able to meet some good people here who have taught me some very interesting things about NYC.  I.e how to get into clubs, how to succeed at online dating, the places to go to in NYC, and how to do things for free and still have a good time.  In my situation I have also met some very interesting people.

The friends I have here are some very intelligent people but are in jobs that are unfruitful and don’t utilize their talents.  These guys are very knowledgeable but due to the current state of the economy they are stuck doing jobs that they hate.  I am on the cusp of doing that very same thing.   I might have to bite the bullet and work at starbucks, retail job, or become a waiter.  Now in this economy these jobs are nothing to be ashamed of but with a college education I never dreamed of even considering doing one of those jobs.

Now I am at a turning point in my travels.  I have to make money or else I won’t be able to stay in the greatest city in the world-NYC.  It has so much to offer and I have to make it here or else I will be like everyone else who comes here and leaves with their tail between their legs making excuses for why they are leaving.  If I can’t make it here no I will make it here because my aspirations aren’t limited to what is laid out in front of me. Rather I am shooting for something much greater than the road in front but the stars that go beyond.

But I digress I have yet to tell the stories of Halloween, being lost in New York thinking I was in New Jersey, Cheap Shots, Coyote Ugly, the subway system, the people, Central Park, rubbing the bulls balls for good luck on Wall Street, and many more.

First off Halloween was insane I dressed up as a boy scout and my good friend dressed up as Black Gallagher(from the Chappelle Show) but he was white and didn’t go black face so everyone thought he was just Gallagher.  We went to numerous bars where I tried to get my badges pinned on me and my friend smashed fruit.   I created crazy badges that involved anything from drinking, hugs, kisses, and crazy sexual innuendo sayings on the badges.  Beyond my antics, for my friend I gathered crowds around him so that he could do his comedic sketch which would end in him smashing fruit.  From apples to mangos.

The story of me being lost in New York is rather idiotic for I was in Times Square but due to my intoxicated state I was unsure of where I was.  I went to the subway station but saw subway routes I never saw(q,r,n,w) which led me to believe that I had to be in New Jersey.  I got a little hysterical called my friend at 5 am in NJ and told him I was in NJ, he gets mad for waking him up and tells me to find a street number I tell him 47th and 7th and he laughs and tells me I am in Times Square.  I catch a cab and go home.  Crazy right…. more idiotic.

One of the great things of NYC is that even though this place is crazy expensive there are still some places that are affordable.  That place being Cheap Shots on 1st and 9th.  We got pitchers of beer for 8$…in NYC! We proceeded to get hammered.  After that I thought I could challenge my friend to eating cheeseburgers from MacDonalds.  He ate 10 in 13 minutes.  I was hungry enough but I didn’t prepare myself amply for it.  I ran out of saliva at number 8.  The challenge took me 21 mins to finish.  at 8 I was at 10 mins.  From that day I learned that without the saliva it is extremely hard to eat a nasty, disgusting MacDonald’s Cheeseburger.

While in NYC because I am looking for a J.O.B I had to do something to raise my luck.  There was only one thing that I could think of rubbing the bulls balls in Wall Street.  Now I didn’t want to be one of the lame tourists that do it so I did it at night time where I could be alone with the bull… Well nonetheless I was able to rub them for good luck!

Today 12/02/2009

I went to Coyote Ugly on 1st between 9th and 10th.  This is the original Coyote Ugly. I was able to get the special treatment since it was my first time.  The bartender got on stage and she did her dance called me over and had lean back and pored a huge shot of tequila then pulled my shirt up while scratching me then bent me over took off her belt and smacked the f out of me.  I am pretty sure I am going to have marks tomorrow.  After that it was followed by her putting her legs around me and pretty much sitting on my face, throughout the night she would continue to do this.  Also later she grabbed my shirt and called me to the bar once again and again she bent me over pulled my shirt up and was smacking me.  This was quite the experience.  Kelsey was an awesome bartender.  If I didn’t have to “work” tomorrow aka I didn’t have anymore money to spend it would have been awesome to enjoy the show longer.  Mind you on Tuesday it is cheap to go there.  For Pabst it is 2$ a can a very reasonable price at a bar.  I think I will go again.

Well for now on I will keep updating my site so that people can know what is interesting with my life, what kind of bars/restaurants are good to go to, and if I ever get a job. haha. seriously though I will not give up!  Viva La Revolution!

In Game 2, which is gonna be Thursday, is pinning Pedro against Burnett.   For A.J. Burnett’s first playoff he hasn’t shown to much.  If he pitched like this when the Marlins went to the World Series they would have lost but luckily he wasn’t.  Now his slate is wiped clean and he can start over with this World Series.  Pedro is an old yet proven pitcher.  He has only pitched one game this postseason but it looked like the Pedro of old.  This will be a true test to see if Pedro can pitch on the grand stand.

The Yankees need the bats to come alive.  It can’t be just one player.  Last night Jeter seemed to always be on base but no one could knock him in.  Tonight, if the Yankees want to win, need to work together and not just as single individuals.