A new site was designed, built and launched within two days for Jason Thomas Wright. The site, JasonThomasWright.com was done in a matter of a few hours of coding and is centered on the “social web” to include references/links to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Picasa, Flickr and the Blog.

So take a quick break and head over to JasonThomasWright.com and say hello!

When it rains, it pours. I haven’t updated this blog so frequently in some time. Regardless, the main point of this entry is to highlight our trip out west at the end of May and beginning of June. We first went to San Francisco and checked out most of the touristy type traps, you know: Golden Gate Park, China Town, Union Square and Alcatraz. I will say, with some amount of pride, that we avoided Fisherman’s Wharf. We did, however, manage to hit a couple of nice restaurants: Frascati and A16. I had a great time in San Francisco and think outside of New York and Chicago, it would be one of the only real alternatives for me to live.

We then headed across the bay to Berkeley for a wedding being held at the Claremont Resort and Spa. It was relaxing, enjoyable and all out fun. I even picked up a tennis racket and knocked the ball around a little bit.

The final leg of our journey took us to the wine country, more specifically Sonoma County. We enjoyed quite a few of the wineries but the one that tickled my fancy the most was the Imagery Estate Winery.

For some pics of the trip follow this link.

This time it’s a bit more serious:

As soon as you’re born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
They hate you if you’re clever and they despise a fool
Till you’re so ——- crazy you can’t follow their rules
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

When they’ve tortured and scared you for twenty odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can’t really function you’re so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you’re so clever and classless and free
But you’re still ——- peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

There’s room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like all the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

If you want to be a hero well just follow me
If you want to be a hero well just follow me

I thought I would jump on the YouTube bandwagon and show a little love. The video is of my two cousins singing “I Want It That Way” at a bar in Ft. Wayne. While the video is admittedly a little dark I have to say it still captures their true essence. Thanks to Ted and Jon for “taking it that way.”

After a closing that almost wasn’t and some hard hours spent painting and installing odds and ends, I am proud to announce the completion of our condo purchase. While the furniture and other items were transferred to the new abode this past weekend there is still some work to be done. However, our place is coming along nicely. Feel free to check out the new pics here.

The closing on September 29, 2006 occurred with little to no hitches. However, we went with a “dry close” in lieu of the conventional closing as events we could not control entered the equation. We were initially scheduled to have our inspection completed on September 29 (Thursday) in the afternoon. However, upon arrival our inspector promptly turned around and stated the unit was uninspectable. Apparently, construction was ongoing without an end in sight. I investigated the state of (dis)construction and concurred with his findings. I did not think it possible the builder would have everything finished by our closing time of noon the next day.

After speaking with the developer (Roy Hawthorne of R. Hawthorne Group, Ltd.), he suggested the dry close. Basically, we would go to closing at noon on Friday and execute all the relevant documents and agreements but hold back disbursement of the money and exchange of the keys until our inspector, Michelle Teague of All About Homes, could complete her inspection. With some minor jockeying and discussions with the attorneys we decided this would work. Of course, there were numerous reassurances that the unit would be completed by the inspection the next afternoon. Michelle’s inspection went off without event and she relayed that the construction was of very high quality and the punch list minimal compared to most new constructions. We were, needless to say, elated.

Upon receiving the keys we took delivery of our brand new mattress. My parents arrived shortly thereafter and they helped with installing some pendent lights above the peninsula in the kitchen, ceiling fans in the living room and master bedroom and the mounting of the flat screen TV above the fireplace. The following two weekends we enlisted Rachel’s parents to help in painting all of the rooms except the guest bath. They were instrumental in getting the place painted and looking like a million bucks. We can not express enough thanks to both our parents for their kindheartedness and diligent work throughout this whole process. Our house is actually starting to look like a home.

There are a few minor things yet to be completed. Namely, we still do not have a shower door for the master bath and the surround sound in the living room and the whole-house sound system are yet to be installed. Not to mention, a conduit made of PVC piping was installed above the fireplace to hide the wires running from the back of the TV to the side of the fireplace but it was installed too low. Basically, the TV does not hide the hole – the purpose of the pipe in the first place. Regardless, I am confident the repairs will be made and we will be able to enjoy the new TV and sound system eventually.

Not to mention, we had a leak above the master bath shower that resulted in the plumber making a house call on Saturday. The repair was done on Saturday and the patch work should be finished as of today.

Lots to update in the past few weeks. First off, I completed the Accenture Chicago Sprint Triathlon on August 27. The time I posted was 10 minutes faster than my previous time from 2004 for a final time of 1:45:45. You can see some of the pictures from the event here. Time will tell whether I register for another one or move exclusively into the biking – which is by far my favorite discipline.

I checked out the condo on Saturday and things are coming along nicely. The tile has been set in both bathrooms, the back deck is complete, some of the landscaping is in and some of the crown molding is going in. Closing date is set for Sept. 29 and I am cautiously optimistic. Our neighbor across the hall is set to close on Sept. 15 and I don’t think it’s going to happen. Feel free to check out the newest pics here.

On Saturday we headed out to Long Grove for a BBQ at the Austin’s, complete with Fun Bags (aka Cornhole), football, beers and great food. We then headed up to Lake Geneva with them on Sunday and enjoyed some relaxing time on the boat. We were able to see quite a few of the large homes there and you can see the pictures here.

It appears this is becoming a bit repetitive. Nonetheless, here are the most recent pictures from the new condo. We had a brief conversation with the builder while we were on site and it looks like the cabinets will be going in on Wednesday, August 16 and the flooring will be going in on Thursday, August 17. The excitement level is starting to peak considering we close in a little over a month.

Much to our relief, the place actually looks bigger this time as opposed to the last time. I think it had to do with the large amount of debris and other materials that were cluttering up the room. However, this visit the place seemed to meet our expectations in terms of size.

Here are some updated pics for our condo. It looks as though the drywalling is almost complete and then the next step is to move onto the painting. It also appears that the garages are almost ready for the roofing. More pictures as the construction continues…

As some of you may or may not know, we recently acquired a new condo up the street from our current apartment. You can check out the pics here. We are hoping to close on September 15 but new construction always leaves things a little up in the air. Keep your fingers crossed.

I am finally ready to release what I alluded to in a previous post. While it’s not the most elegant or refined of web applications it is my own little creation. I’m pretty proud of it in the sense I had to learn JavaScript, a little AJAX and the API for Google Maps (the API itself is located here). So, withouth further ado:

NYC Restaurant Map

So, what the heck is it? NYC Restaurant Map is a “mashup” of data I accumulated while working in Manhattan for 10 weeks earlier this year and Google Maps. The restaurants on the map are representative of either places I had the luxury of eating at or were recemmendations of places I wanted to try but never got the chance. A “mashup” is an application that adds features or data to Google’s map interface. Whether the “mashups” display store locations, gasoline prices, or time and weather on a map, ultimately, it’s the data that makes these applications interesting.

For some more “mashups” please visit Google Maps Mania. They have an extensive listing of applications. However, the following have been of most interest to me:

• Housing Maps
• ChicagoCrime.org
• NYC Subway
• Chicago CTA
• Chicago Wine Shops

Ultimately, I would like to put together the same type of map for Chicago. Please feel free to send recommendations. As always, feedback is most welcome.