The Nauti Mermaid

After a long week or a long day at work, the folks I work with like to go for a drink. Fortunately, there is a local establishment a few doors down from where we work. The Nauti Mermaid is a place the people at Optiem like to gather.

The restaurant has a nautical theme, so when I was there I was hoping there would be something interesting for me to photograph. I didn't really see anything until I was about to leave. When I was walking out the door, I looked up and noticed a statue of a mermaid.

Since I didn't want to use a flash, I took the photograph using only the ambient light. The photo came out better than I expected. The combination of the wood and the type of lighting in the vestibule gave it this amber orange glow.

White Trash Only

On the way back from lunch today, my co-worker Young Adam and I had to circle around the block to get back to the building because the streets of Cleveland were flooding from the snow melting.

We were making our way back to the office and chatting about the recent Ohio Presidential Primary and the impact on the upcoming race for office. When we took a break from out in-depth analysis of the previous day's results, I noticed this barrel that had "Trash Only" on it.

Although the moniker was meant to instruct people of the restricted type of items that could be placed in the barrel, we were wondering if trashy girls or white trash people were qualified as the "trash" the owner of this receptacle was talking about.

Young Adam was demonstrating my point about the "White Trash" dilemma for me. Thanks Young Adam!

Ben's Surprise Bagel Shower

It was an interesting morning in Cleveland. After a horrible ice storm last night, the city was coated with a heap of snow. It was also interesting because a co-worker of mine at Optiem and I had planned a surprise baby shower for our co-worker, Ben, whose wife is expecting their first child in a few weeks.

We organized the gift. We got bagels, muffins, donuts and decorations. Since the weather had been so bad, I decided to push the event back a half an hour to make sure everyone could get here. I had scheduled a simultaneous meeting with Ben.

After everyone's difficult commute, the snacks and juice really hit the spot. It was a great gathering for the team.

Congratulations, Ben!

Viking Ship in Dublin

While on vacation in Dublin, I visited the Museum of Decorative Arts and History at the Collins Barracks. Although the museum is an out of the way location in City Centre, I like a few of the exhibits that are in the permanent collection - specifically the one on Eileen Gray.

Much to my delight, the museum had an replica Viking ship in its courtyard. The ship, call the Sea Stallion project, was built and sailed into Dublin with a crew of 65 members. The ship is on display at Collins Barracks until August 2008. It is not only an impressive piece of craftsmanship, but also amazing to think people actually got into these boats to sail across the seas.

They were either brave or crazy! There are a few more photos on my photo account.

• Interior of boat
• Hull of boat
• Boat rigging
• Boat name plate

Guinness - My Modern Mecca

As you might have noticed, I talk about Guinness a lot. I love the black stuff. I wrote a post on attending the Guinness Believer event in Chicago and a recent one about my Winking Lizard World Tour blog about visiting the Guinness factory.

When I was walking out of the Guinness factory, I snapped this photo. One of my co-workers commented that it almost didn't look real. Looking at it now, it does seem like someone photo shopped the sign on the wall. Sometimes, I wonder if it was a just a lovely dream. Fortunately, I have photos from inside the Guinness factory that prove otherwise.

Knobs and Knockers

As mentioned in the previous post, Georgian Dublin is filled with great architectural gems. However, it is often the details of the remaining townhouses that make strolling through the neighborhood a great time.

While on vacation, I was walking through Fitzwilliam Square on my way back to the hotel. I noticed this door not only for the color, but the ornate knocker that was being used. I am not sure if it was an original or if someone had gone to Knobs and Knockers to get something updated and stylish when they were restoring the building.

At any rate, the door knocker is pretty incredible. There a photo of the entire door online as well.

Letters in Dublin

There is an area of Dublin called Georgian Dublin. This area was built during the British occupation of the city. Luckily, most of the lovely town houses that were built during that period are still standing and in great condition.

Some of the homes have great ornaments such as door knockers or boot scrapers. This home had a lovely ornate letter slot. Although a bit worn, you can see the letter slot has been polished and taken care of over time. It is just one of the things that so enjoyable about strolling through old neighborhoods.