So you are wondering what a fun loving 22 year old chick like myself does for Spring Break?
Here’s a glimpse of how I spent my vacation…

8:00am– Wake up–ahh, it’s a good day to be alive!
8:05am– Read and wait for grandpa to prepare his gourmet breakfast, complete with latte and fiber rich fruit salad
9:00am–Eat breakfast and discuss our plans for the day…yeah, today will be pretty much like all the others
9:30am–Let breakfast digest, and get mentally prepared for the daily workout
10:00am– Grandpa and I go for a walk, and play basketball until we are blinded by the the sweat dripping into our eyes (ahh, love that So Florida heat and humidity), grandma stays home and plays spider solitaire and free cell until she sees a green backgound on everything
12:00pm–Come home and decompress from our rigorous workout; drink a beer to rehydrate (this is grandpa’s idea, I just follow along–hey, he’s playing basketball at 70-something, he must know some secret)
12:30pm– Eat lunch complete with a glass of wine (my grandfather insists that a little wine will help you watch TV), watch TV with your eyes closed for a little while
1:30pm – Go down by the pool: Meghan gets some sun while the grandparents sit and chat with their friends until they get their cue to go home–they begin hearing the same stories twice
3:00pm–Watch afternoon TV: the Spanish channel’s equivalent to Judge Judy (Caso Cerrado) and Oprah, and cook dinner
5:00pm–Eat dinner and clean the kitchen
6:00pm–Shower, read, watch the news, talk on the phone
8:00pm–Watch prime time TV, taking brief naps if necessary
10:00pm–Late night snack (since dinner is so early, by this time you are ready for a cup of coffee and yougert to get you ready for bed–yes, coffee is recommended right before bed!)
10:30pm–Retire to bed–read until your eyes close–and get ready to do it all again tomorrow

**At any point in the day be prepared for spontaneous visits from Orlando (the cartoon character) and Marta (his high-heel and too much make-up wearing wife), or any other of the repetoire of characters here at the lovely Sea Air Towers in various states of sobriety!

So what do you think? Honestly, I’m having a really good time bonding with my grandparents, and I wouldn’t change it for anything else in the world!

Categories: Travel
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The slogan for the event was “Seeing Red,” but for the Estrada/Sierra family across the country it became the “Red Scare”!

My grandparents left their homeland in search of a better life for their families. Their stories are wonderful triumphs of seeking political refuge and searching for the American Dream. Ask any other member of my family from any generation, they will all say the same thing: what they found in America was democracy, hope, and freedom from Castro’s communist regime! To their dismay, I was seen wearing Red.

As a teacher in the New York City School System, I am a card carrying member of the UFT–the United Federation of Teachers. The union. That’s right, I’m part of the union. At first it didn’t seem like much to my anti-Communist family, but then I crossed the line–I joined nearly a thousand of my comrades–clad in Red–in a demonstration for a new contract. It sounds innocent, and I thought it was.

No big deal, just a detour on my way to the train one afternoon for the rally, no one (in my family) will ever have to know about it…until I got there. I discovered quite the opposite. There were TV cameras and reporters everywhere. I tried to blend in with the the chanting, signing toting, sea of red sweaters and hats. Don’t draw too much attention, I thought to myself, but my attempts failed. It was my backpack, my innocent little red North Face backpack that separated me from the crowd. The person I was standing with warned me, “That lady with the notepad is checking you out!” Her warnings did not come soon enough, I was trapped with a reporter. I spoke with her briefly about the union, my hopes for the contract, and my red bookbag. I prayed that my quotes wouldn’t make it into any newspaper or TV news show…

…And then it did. A few weeks later, all the familiar faces from the rally started to smile at me in the hallways, “Good work Estrada, I saw your quotes in the “Union” paper!” And yes, there I was with my name in lights. Sorry abuelita, sorry America… I’ll try not to wear too much red anymore, or talk to reporters if I do. (Click Here for the article)

Categories: Work
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That dark cloud on the horizon to the West is not a thunder storm, it’s the forces of evil gathering as friends from around the country plan their descent on Las Vegas. Lock up the children, small arms and midgets, as my official bachelor fiesta is on the calendar!

Planning for the event began shortly after the engagement was announced, based on a dream, no, a nightmare that had been rattling around in my head. I had a vision of all my buddies, the grey-haired senior Grays, and perhaps a one-armed cowboy hanging on a craps table, dice and drinks in hand.

Through the careful planning of my bestest man, my best friends who have been with me since grade school, and my comrades in arms from various consulting gigs will be united in their quest of wine, women (but not for me) and song. It should be a group of all stars that would rival any of baseball’s finest, albeit without the steroids.

If you’re planning on visiting Vegas in July, beware. In our wake will be a trail of lost wages, bad potato chips and sore heads!

Categories: Wedding
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Perhaps one of the worst sounds you can ever hear from your hard drive is “click click click click……wrrrrrrrr,” followed closely by “Bad Block” errors. That was the not-so-sweet song PatandMeg.com’s 4-year old hard drive made shortly after being setup in our new apartment on Friday. After a weekend of cursing and compiling, the server is slowly returning to life powered by it’s new hard drive, and thanks to the amazing Linux utility dd_rescue, that managed to save much of what you’re reading below.

Please leave a comment here if you notice anything strange as repairs are continued over the coming days.

Categories: General
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