I forgot how crappy cubicles really are. I don’t think this office thing would be so bad if I had walls that were more than three feet tall and a little more privacy. At home I was able to remove myself from all distractions and get things done quickly and without being disturbed. Now I can hear every conversation that at least three other people have throughout the day. People are constantly walking past my area, and there are just way too many distractions. I still haven’t figured out if I’m going to be in here every day, but I’m guessing that’s what they want me to do. I guess I’ll figure out more things as the week goes on. The person that was supposed to show me around today and help make the transition easier didn’t even show up. I guess I should have figured that would happen, this whole process has been extremely disorganized. Here’s to hoping for a better Tuesday.

I’ve already received one positive benefit for having to go into an office for work, an RTD Eco Pass. This allows me to ride the light rail and buses unlimited for the entire year, even during non business hours and weekends. And it is paid for by the employer, with no cost to me, at least that’s what I’m getting out of it so far. They haven’t really told me much about it, but I picked up a form and got my picture ID today. Now I just need a sticker from the employer that I’m hoping I can get on Monday.

My work week is essentially over now. My brother is in town visiting with six friends, and I took off tomorrow to take them up into the mountains for a fun filled weekend. The next time I write I’ll be back in a cubicle. Such is life. Have a nice weekend.

Since we were traveling on my birthday we decided to head out for my birthday dinner last night. Having always been a big fan of Italian food, I wanted to try a place that I had often heard about but never visited (or driven by for that matter), Carmine’s on Penn. This family style restaurant serves giant dishes of food that can server up to four people and is consistently rated among the highest restaurants in Denver for this style. If you do visit the restaurant, I encourage you to read over the menu before going, as once you get there only the names are written on chalkboards. It is then the duty of your server to guide you through the menu to help you select the best dish to fit your needs.

Fortunately for us, I remembered a few things that I had read on the menu the day before. I asked about the Chicken Montana and was delighted to find out that it is actually one of the most popular dishes in the restaurant. It pairs rosemary chicken with sun dried tomatoes, asparagus and a gorgonzola cream sauce. Let me tell you that it tastes just as delicious as it sounds. And since the portions are so large, we still have over half of the dish in our fridge for tonight’s dinner as well. We also started with their house salad, which I was equally as impressed with. The entire meal was delicious!

I’ve been reading up on Ben Saunders today, who is going to attempt to set a new world record for the time it takes him to get from Ward Hunt Island to the Geographic North Pole. The island of origin is one of the northernmost points of land in Canada, and over the next 30 days Ben is going to be traveling solo on skis to the North Pole. He has done it three times before, but this time he wants to break the record of 36 days 22 minutes that was set in 2005 by a guided team using dog sleds and numerous re-supplies. In addition to breaking the record, Ben also wants to do it unsupported, meaning that everything he will need for the trip must be carried with him.

The list of equipment is quite impressive. Among the list of items are electronics that are going to allow him to update his journal along the way. I will definitely be following along over the next month or so and hope that he will reach his goal with no problems. There is an RSS Feed for the journal if you’d like to follow along as well.

I nearly forgot that today was my birthday. I guess that’s how unexciting turning 28 really is. Two more years until that next big birthday. I should make it a habit to start taking my birthday off of work. Instead I worked all day and am now on my way to the airport to fly back to Denver. What a thrilling day! :)

The madness has begun, March Madness that is. Yesterday I picked the winners correctly for 15 out of 16 games. Probably one of the better starts I’ve had in years. The game I got wrong was UNLV and Kent State. Gotta pick the Ohio boys in that one, too bad they couldn’t pull out the win. As the first few games of today are wrapping up, I don’t think I’m going to do quite as well this time.

So today I found out that working from home stint is about to come to an end. This is sad news, I know. I really enjoyed my time spent around the house and will be sad to see it go, but at least this gets me out of the house nearly every day. See, I’m trying to be positive. My company has always had an office in Denver, but my immediate boss decided to keep me out of the politics involved in that office. At that time there was also an office in Colorado Springs. Well they recently decided to merge the two offices into one, a brand new spot that isn’t too far from Kim’s office. Since the employees in Colorado Springs are now commuting all the way to Denver daily, they are making me do the same. Stupid corporate politics! March 31 is the tentative first date for me in the office.

Kim and I recently went to the Mayan Theatre, just up the road from our house, to watch the movie Juno. One awesome thing about this theater, is the full bar upstairs where you can buy a drink and head into the movie. For us, our choice was a bucket of local beers! The movie itself is one of those quirky comedy movies that I typically love and Kim isn’t so fond of. This was totally different though, and I think Kim may have laughed more than I did throughout the film. Perhaps it was the beers, or maybe she actually liked the movie, but either way this was definitely a good watch and both of us really enjoyed it.

Something that I am now very excited about was announced earlier today, though I had heard rumors of it for months now. The Mile High Music Festival will take place July 19th & 20th at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park outside of Denver. It was originally rumored to take place in City Park, which I would have much rather preferred just for convenience, but I’m still excited nonetheless. I just hope that they work out some sort of transportation to the event to/from downtown.

Take a look at this lineup and you’ll be sure to quickly realize that this is right up my alley:

Saturday, July 19th

• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• Steve Winwood
• Michael Franti & Spearhead
• O.A.R. (Of A Revolution)
• Spoon
• moe.
• Citizen Cope
• Brett Dennen
• Newton Faulkner
• Andrew Bird
• Josh Ritter
• State Radio
• JJ Grey & Mofro
• Bob Schneider
• Meese
• Born in the Flood
• Railbenders

Sunday, July 20th

• Dave Matthews Band
• John Mayer
• The Black Crowes
• Rodrigo y Gabriela
• Colbie Caillat
• Ingrid Michaelson
• OneRepublic
• Flogging Molly
• The Roots
• Leftover Salmon
• Martin Sexton
• Flobots
• Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
• Tea Leaf Green
• Rose Hill Drive
• The New Mastersounds
• Serena Ryder
• The Photo Atlas

Over the weekend we took in the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade west of the Mississippi River. This parade, of course, takes place in Denver, Colorado and this year had 236 entries, and over 10,000 marchers. To put it in perspective, it started at 10AM and at 2PM it was still going. We watched a good chunk of it from a parking lot along the route, complete with lots of green clothes, lots of beer (none of which was green), and loads of laughs. I wish I would have taken a camera with me, but I forgot to grab one in our hurry to get out the door and downtown. I don’t know if there are really that many Irish in Denver to explain such a large celebration, maybe it’s just the city’s love of beer.