What does a birthday party for two 1 year olds cost?

I'm sure it will vary from family to family but we did a simple pizza party for family and close friends.  Here are some of the costs I managed to capture:

*SUPAROSSA BIAGIO'S Party package --    $ 134.00
*MARCO RENTAL Tent                  --            $ 218.00
*FAMOUS LIQUORS -                             --    $  98.40
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 $450.40

That is just for rental of a tent, table and chairs.  Party Pizza Package #1 -- five 18” Family Size Pizzas, Bucket 24 Wings & Two 2-Liters of Coke.) and some beer.

That doesn't include a few extra items from Jewel (including more soda because Nightingale is a people pleaser whereas I'm like we have Coke and Diet Coke, love it or drink wine), a couple of Wine Club purchases and the cakes.  The wine club purchases were more of a combination for the party and for us.  The food from Jewel of course included other items not just for the party.

I would say that we did it for just slightly under a grand.  

Unexpectedly working from home today

Moose and squirrel weren't feeling well this morning so I got to stay home with them.  I didn't bring my laptop home with me though I had thought about it briefly yesterday before leaving work.  I figured I'd bring it home tonight since I wanted to WFH Thursday and Friday.  Now I have to go into the office tomorrow.

The kids are napping now and seem to be better once the medicine kicked in and they got some food in their bellies.  I should have gone in this am, got my laptop and then picked them up from daycare at noon. However, there is no guarantee that my exit from work would have been easy or that I wouldn't get caught in some traffic snafu.

So my goal for this blog this year was 10 posts per month and surprisingly I've m more or less managed to keep that pace.  True some of the posts are very lame even by personal blog standards.  I haven't posted much over at ChicagoNow either because it is hard to find the energy and enthusiasm lately.  I like having a place to write my thinky thoughts and record some of the events of my personal day to day activity since I no longer maintain a journal. 

Ranking the days of the week

Because why not.

In order from best to worst:  

1. Friday: Adult's favorite.
2. Saturday: Children's favorite
3. Sunday: Children's second favorite but school is the next day so boo.
   
4. Thursday: Single People's favorite.
   
5. Monday: Meeting Monday, Meatless Monday, WTF.
   
6. Wednesday: Hump day, need I say more.
   
7. Tuesday:  I have always hated Tuesdays.

Friday Photo: National Passport Day fail

I meant to post these a few weeks ago but there was too much commotion going on at the Icarus Household. 

Ranking the Seasons and the Months

Scalzi did this a few weeks ago and invited his readers to chime in.  I figured I'd just do one on my blog instead. First, ranking the seasons.

Autumn has been my favorite season for as long as I can remember. Summer has become a close enough second as I entered adulthood.  Winter was my favorite when I was a kid because snow but once I reached a point where it was more of a inconvenience than a fun thing, it dropped.

Spring has never really appealed to me, probably because we don't get much of one in Chicago.  We get a winter that overstays its welcome, followed by a few weeks of rain and then we usually get a hot, humid summer.

Okay now for my months.  In order (sorta) from best to worst:

1. October: Halloween. Sweater weather. Foliage.
2. September: Taste of Polonia, cool weather with hot days.
3. May: My birthday, Polish Constitution Day.
4. December: I'll go with the holidays and winter doesn't seem as cold
5. November:Thanksgiving in the US.
6. June: summer arrives but many are still in school taking finals
7. July:Independence Day plus weeks of illegal fireworks.
8. August: Dog Days lead to May babies
9. January: It's always dark, cold and boring.
10. February: Winter's Asshole Month
11. March: Sometimes Easter ergo I hate it too.
12. April: I hate this month for many reasons I needn't go into.

Feel free to add your rankings in the comments.

Chicago Cubs and the World Series

I wrote Chicago Cautiously Optimistic About Cubs going to World Series for posterity.  As of today, the Chicago Cubs are up 2 to 1 against the St Louis Cardinals in the NLDS.  If they win today, they move on to the NLCS.  Even if they don't win today, they have one more chance Thursday in St Louis.

Trixies for everyone

It certainly feels like

1.  They will win today;
2.  They will win the NLCS against most likely the New York Mets; and
3.  They will win the World Series.

BUT...Cubs fans have been here before.  There was a big drought between their last WS appearance in 1945 and even making the playoffs until the 80s.  And of course there was the 2003 being 4 outs away and losing because of a botched double play and a tired pitcher, not an over zealous fan.

Update:  well we now know how this turned out.  Still, there are a lot of positives to take from this outcome.  First, no one expected the Cubs to make the playoffs, let alone get so deep.  Second, they were very classy in the way the reacted to being swept by the Mets.  Third, they did not lose because of some curse but perhaps because they faced a team they didn't face as much during the regular season as they did during the wild card and NLDS series.  Finally, while this is at least in part wishful thinking given the 2004, 2007 and 2008 clubs, this team should do well in 2016, perhaps winning the division and having more home field advantage opportunities, assuming the maintain the core team and make a few tweaks here and there.

So now we know

I'm writing these entries as they happen and as I have time to jot things down but I may not publish until months from now (or ever). Note: This post was written a year or so ago, when the events were still fresh.  I waited for a while to post this because I didn’t want to risk my job hunting efforts or reveal any information about my former company.  The purpose of these posts aren't to bash my former employer but to share my experience.

 So we had another all hands meeting the

As part of the firm’s objective to attain sustainable growth and profitability, we are announcing a new operating model for our IT function. Now known as Business Technology, our new holistic IT model will improve our core IT functions, allowing us among other things to serve as a strategic partner to our service lines; evolve the firm’s key technology and free up assets for reinvesting in our business.

 

As part of our new Business Technology model, we are partnering with TopperTwins , one of the world’s largest IT services companies. This partnership will provide us with technology capabilities that are more in line with industry best practices and will enhance our competitiveness with scalable solutions that enable growth, innovation and help drive distinctive client service.

 

Business Technology organization

Our new Business Technology organization is broken into four verticals, which consist of:

·         Enterprise Architecture;

·         Information Security and Risk Management;

·         Business Technology Operations & Governance; and

·         Business Technology Services aligned to our service lines of Audit, Tax, Advisory and Internal Client Services. The Business Technology Services leaders will become integral partners embedded with their respective businesses to become fluent in the service lines’ core strategies.

 

Field services

Business Technology Operations will oversee data-driven rigorous field services that are provided through Capgemini. These services are designed for high responsiveness, remote service desk operations and maximized utilization.

 

Our field operations will consist of field technicians along with on-demand and scheduled dispatch services to provide extended support. Whether it is helping you resolve a hardware issue, providing you in-office or meeting-site technical support, or application or software assistance, you will have leading services at your fingertips.

 

Next steps

Our next steps include three phases:

1.     We are immediately beginning several weeks of transition planning with our third-party services provider.

2.     Upon planning completion, we will begin transition execution of our new Business Technology model in a phased approach through March 2016. This will ensure a smooth transition that is minimally disruptive to the business.

3.     Post-busy season, we will phase data center migration through early fiscal year 2017.

 

During our transition, you will receive regular updates on our progress along with any changes in processes and relevant training. We will be updating our Knowledge Technology Support Center in the coming days with frequently asked questions and additional resources throughout the transition.

 

On behalf of our new Business Technology organization, we look forward to working with you and propelling TopFive into the future.