We arrived too late to do any sightseeing at the official tourist things, but decided to venture out to Princess street and the royal mile and do some sightseeing of our own. We found a place to eat and I was relieved to find out that my picky eating ass wouldn’t starve in Scotland (though the stuff they call bacon is clearly ham).

We spent the rest of that night doing our first “pub crawl” (which included Finnigan’s Wake on recommendation from pmac) and learned an important lesson about Scotland. After 10 p.m., the ability to get food in the downtown areas is almost non-existant. The restaurants have closed shop and the pubs stop serving food. Since we had eaten at about 3 p.m. earlier that day, we were starving. So, we broke into the employee snack room when we got back to the hotel and bought two sodas and what amounted to an armful of Walker’s potato chips crisps.

We woke up the next day about noon and traveled downtown again to see the castle. The problem was that by the time we got dressed, ate and made it to the castle, we didn’t have enough time to see it properly (as the attendent informed us) so we had no choice but to start another pub crawl. We did however stop at an Indian place (name we can’t remember) for food. My plan was to eat at a pub later, but I was convinced to at least try the chicken massala and I have to admit, it was damn good.

By about seven p.m. we were feeling good and met up with my friend Calum and his friend Ewan at the Scotsman hotel for drinks and then headed to Bar Roma for dinner.

Bar Roma was beyond fantastic and was the best meal I’ve had in a long time. We ordered lots of drinks, several bottles of wine (I stuck with beer since I don’t drink wine) and had a really good time. We then headed to the Opal Lounge where we all had plenty to drink (and yes! they had goldschlager) and left feeling pretty damn good (thanks again to Calum who totally rocks and made sure we had a blast).

We woke up on Friday, and headed out. We stopped at the National Gallery of Scotland where I took in some artwork. We then hit Edinburgh Castle and probably spent about three hours touring the place. It is amazing, because when you’re a kid, you’d be itching to get out and bored. As an adult, I was fascinated by the views and the history that existed there.

As coincidence would have it, our friends Lauren and Leanne happened to be backpacking through Scotland during the same timeframe, so on Friday night, we met up with them and did a heavy pub crawl night, which amounted to us finding one bar called the Black Bull with a DJ, some shots called “squashed frogs” and having a “right good piss up” until the bars closed.

Saturday we slept in, then did some shopping and visited with some other people for the night… hitting Bar Roma again (man is that place good) and then heading to a place called Ryan’s bar that we remained at until we were asked to leave after they closed. The next day, we headed back to Glasgow and took in some sights at Loch Lomond and then finally headed home.

I had an absolute blast. Most of the pics are up on Facebook, but this should have been enough to give you an idea along with a few other selects on flickr. I feel relaxed and amazingly clear. I’ll be posting my comments on guestwhore week tomorrow. For now, I have 12K emails to plow through.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Third Thing Complete – Number 7 – Scotland, Aye!

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Third Thing Complete – Number 7 – Scotland, Aye!

So, we went to Niagara this weekend for a birthday bash and I decided to knock another item off my list. We found the closest craps table when we entered the Fallsview and I threw one thousand down on the table (in fairness, I threw 1060 down, because I apparently can’t count after a few shots and some beers). I got my stack of black chips and threw the first two hundred onto hard eight. Within two rolls, an easy eight came up (bad). Nice.

I throw another two hundred down, and within two more rolls, another easy eight (again, for non craps players, bad). I laugh and the pit boss looks at me like I’m insane and asks for my players card. I give him my license as I forgot the physical card per usual and put another two hundred on hard eight. Player craps out (bad) and now a total of six hundred is gone in less than five minutes. Dude to the left of me is staring at me very hard at this point.

Another friend comes up, asks how it’s going (I had three friends behind me watching all the action)… I said not well, and he suggests moving to another table. But the pit boss still has my license that I gave him in lieu of my player’s card. So, impatient that I am, I throw another two hundred down on hard eight while waiting.

Boom. Easy eight (bad) on the very next roll. Again, I laugh and the pit boss hands me back my license, very noticeably trying to observe if I’m drunk of not. I was tipsy for sure, but this plan had long been thought out and I knew damn well what I was doing.

I threw the last two hundred down on hard eight and on the very next roll, an easy eight hits (bad). 1000 dollars, two hundred at a time on hard eight, gone in ten minutes (well, 1010 because a traveling companion rode ten with me on the last one).

And I’m smiling and laughing the whole time (which did not help with the casino staff thinking I was nuts I’m sure), glad to have done it and knocked it off my list. I knew it was a stupid bet going in. Thus why I wanted to do it – you only live once.

If there was a question as to whether or not I was a degenerate gambler, it was solved Saturday night. ;-)

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Second Thing Complete – Number 14 – $100 per minute

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Second Thing Complete – Number 14 – $100 per minute

Item number twenty five was the one I thought I’d never do and it ended up being the first. Three months ago I joined a gym and have been working out twice a week with a personal trainer (aka Satan).

I had lost about fifteen pounds between September and November and I wasn’t heavy to begin with. Now, I’m not conceited about much, but my ass? I’m conceited about my ass. And as it started to get a little bit flatter, I started to panic. It became clear that my vanity was going to have to win out over my laziness. So, to the gym I went. Oh, I most certainly did admit to that.

So, I’ve been going regularly and I’ve learned a few things since I’ve started:

1. You so need an iPod to work out at the gym. So, now, one of the things you didn’t know about me is no longer true. Thanks to Shannon, I learned how to use my iPod. Thanks to Danimal, I have a shitload of songs on it.

And thanks to the guy I met on the plane last month, I now know how to work my iPod controls correctly (do not even ask how loud, or for how long, the local search whore laughed when I told him this story on the phone today).

2. The gym is pretty damn intimidating. The first time I went in, I saw tons of machines I was unfamiliar with and suddenly became terrified of working out the wrong muscles or not doing them evenly and ending up with some thighs of steel that wouldn’t be super attractive on a girl. No, wasn’t going to work.

So, I had Pete (the owner) set me up with a personal trainer (again, also known as Satan). The good thing is, she knows what the hell she’s doing. The bad thing is, she knows what the hell she’s doing – which leads me to number three…

3. Having a personal trainer means you will be working out to the max whether you like it or not. She knows when your weight is too light and will make it heavier. She knows when you’re complaining because it sucks versus it is really too much.

And if you tell her “I hate you” she will add five more crunches on to the twenty five she is already making you do (the same effect also comes from “you suck”, “you’re fucking evil” and “Pete, fire her please”). And don’t even ask what she does to you when you show up ten minutes late.

4. Going to the gym hurts – like hell. I hurt for the first month after every visit. Twice a week was all I had time for, but damn if it didn’t take three full days to not feel like I had been beaten with a two by four and left for dead on the side of the road after each visit.

5. I was so not in shape. If you think because you’re reasonably sized and run around after kids all day that you must be somewhat in shape, then you are wrong. Wrong.

After several months of going I can absolutely tell the difference in my energy level. I can tell the difference in my sleeping patterns. And of course, I can tell the difference in the way everything is toning up.

So, first thing, number twenty five on the list is now completed. And no worries, it won’t be this long between this thing and the next. I already have five more in the works to be knocked off by the end of the summer. Oh, and my ass is looking more fantabulous than ever (oh yes, I did). ;-)

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

First Thing Complete – Number 25 – I Was So Not In Shape

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

First Thing Complete – Number 25 – I Was So Not In Shape

Well, ok, but I can try. I checked out the 43 things website and quickly became bored with all of the features that complicated what I pictured as a simple (read, non time-consuming) thing.

So, I sat down and wrote a list… 25 things I want to do in the next five years. I was surprised by two things…

The first was that it took me an hour to come up with this list. The second was that there are a lot of things that don’t involve work that I forget about on a day to day basis that I really need to get off my ass and do. Life does not revolve around internet marketing – theory is if I say that enough, I’ll eventually act like it. ;-)

So, without further ado, my list of 25 things I’d like – no, that I *will* do in the next five years in no particular order…

1. visit Australia

2. visit Germany (for more than one day)

3. visit Italy

4. attend a murdery mystery dinner or train gig (shut up)

5. sell a single website for six figures

6. go to an opera

7. visit Scotland

8. see a broadway show

9. enter the world series of poker

10. act in a play (nothing mega, community production would do)

11. learn to speak spanish

12. visit Sweden

13. do the Sopranos bus tour (again, shut up)

14. play 200 dollars on hard eight (craps) five times in a row and see what happens

15. visit the Filson Historical Institute in Kentucky (long story)

16. have my tattoos removed

17. go on a cruise

18. achieve great success with a specific website (keeping the details to myself for now)

19. visit Brazil

20. visit Ireland

21. donate time to a charity on a regular basis (as regular as I can with my schedule)

22. learn to play golf

23. take a vacation with the kids and not bring the computer (I’m a blackberry geek, so the blackberry ok)

24. take a two day spa trip (that old Calgon commercial slammed into my brain)

25. work out twice a week (I laughed while typing it)

So there you have it. I’ve created a new category on the site called “Twenty Five Things” and the theory is that every time I do one, I’ll write a blog entry about it. The goal is to eventually have 26 blog posts – this one and the completion of each item on my list. When an item is completed, it will be stricken out.

Maybe lots of other people have thought this out and have a similar list. If you don’t, I’d highly recommend doing one and reclaiming a little bit of your life outside of this industry. It’s very easy to forget sometimes that life does occur offline. Wish me luck – I think I’ll need it. ;-)

***Please note that this list may be edited from time to time when an event forces it. Since this is my master list, things may get added or removed as they become important or not important to me.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

25 Things – Everyone Should Have Them

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

25 Things – Everyone Should Have Them