Archive for July, 2008
Tech Guy
The other day, Martino calls me into his office to help him with an iPod issue. “I can’t find these songs,” he says to me, with the frustrated/enraged/resigned look that is specific to iPod/Internet/printer functionality issues.
Impossible To Pass Up
This one-time 19th-century Port Washington hotel, facing Manhasset Bay and Mill Pond, has had a half-dozen or so dining establishments come and go almost as quickly as overnight lodgers. But Iavarone’s Prime View is looking like it will be a permanent resident. It doesn’t hurt that the Iavarone Bros. name comes with instant Long Island street cred, amassed from years as a beloved Italian deli, butcher and grocer. It also doesn’t hurt that the proprietors already have experience operating Fratelli Iavarone Café, aka the Back Room Trattoria, in their pizzeria in Lake Success.
Detained By The Fashion Police
As I waited for a latte recently, a woman rushed in, begging to move to the head of the line. She gushed that she was late for a job interview and without her morning caffeine, her brain wouldn’t respond to questions. Wondering about her party-girl outfit and shiny black stilettos, I politely asked where she was going. I didn’t tell her, but her response told me that her Sex and the City outfit wouldn’t fly with the conservative corporate company she was interviewing with. Even in environments with relaxed dress codes, a fashion faux pas can kill careers and keep you from advancement.
Dream On
There are few phrases in the English language more capable of killing a lively conversation than the following:
“I had the weirdest dream last night. Let me tell you about it.”
Jin Yummy
Years after our taste buds have accepted cold raw fish, we’re being introduced to cold sake-and it’s all good, especially on a night when storms leave the outside air feeling like the steam room at the gym. New arrival Jin East in Garden City has cool styling with a five-seat bar up front, a five-seat sushi bar with a rock wall as backdrop, wood-slatted walls and well-spaced wooden top tables. The menu holds some surprises, service is tightly wound and everything is well executed. This spot, joining a line of eateries near Grimaldi’s, follows in the steps of two-year-old Jin on Broome Street on the Lower East Side. Techno lounge music plays quietly, giving it that slight cosmopolitan vibe.
In So Many Words
When the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary released its 2008 entries in early July, I reviewed the dozens of new words to see if any were workforce related. Two caught my eye, as they are terms I hear regularly. The first, “mental health day,” is one most of us can identify with-a day an employee takes off to relieve stress or renew vitality. It’s also called vacation-I’m taking a few of those next week. The other word, “webinar,” means a live online educational presentation. I’ve sat through a few of those. The real beauty is that the other participants can’t see that you’re chowing down lunch at your desk or cleaning out your pencil drawer while it’s going on.
