What's in a name?

Tony's the kind of guy that everyone seems to like. He's agreeable, laid back, and just enjoys hanging out. He's comfortable eating out with others or alone by himself. He's quiet, contemplative, and has eyes that gleam with a mischief that makes you wonder what lurks behind that serene countenance. Who is this Tony, you may ask. He seems like a swell guy, maybe someone you'd like to know. Well, you're in luck. If you're reading this, you probably already know Tony. Tony is my alter ego. Now let me explain. I frequent a lot of restaraunts during lunch that requires the person taking the order to ask the name of the customer. These places range from McDonald's to, as in today's case, Panera's. Due to my soft-spoken nature and the uniqueness of my name, when the person who calls out the customer's name (usually not the same person that took the order) calls my order out, it comes out as either Juan or, in those rare instances when I actually take the time to spell out my name, Tone. So rather than going through all that trouble, I tell them my name is Tony. It's easy for the restaraunt employees to spell and I have yet to have anybody butcher it so it's really a win-win situation for all involved. What's funny is that I usually pay with my debit card which has my name spelled correctly on it. No one has yet to catch that little inconsistency. This is usually the point where that mischievous gleam in Tony's eyes are most prominent. There's just something exhilirating about getting away with a little white lie. So the next time you visit a restaraunt that inquires whether they can get a name for that order, give them one. No one ever said it had to be yours ;)

Home again, home again...

We made it back to the states safely without too much trouble. All the flights came in on time. Currently working on posting all the pics on my flickr account. They should be up soon.

Exodus

Yes,for those of you wondering, we made it to Vietnam alright. We spent the fist two days in Ho Chi Ming city visiting my mom's family. On night number two (I number nights now because I have no idea what day it actually is), we visited my grandma on my mom's side's grave and had dinner (not at my granma on my mom's side's grave). The dinner was good. Kind of an all-you-can-eat buffet style held out in the open. Then we spent night three out in the country. Highlights from that night include me climbing a coconut tree (harder to do than you think, especially after it's just rained), "driving" a moped (I drove it around the parking lot), and getting bitten by what I can only assume was, and hoping was, a bunch of mosquitos. Highlights from night four including heading out to the ocean to a riverwalk sort of place. The moped ride there was thirty minutes so that was fun. After that, we had dinner at a seafood restaurant. Really reasonable prices for how much we ate and drank. I think it wound up being about eight US dollars per person. Then we went to a karaoke bar (mostly because my cousins wanted to). No, I didn't sing. Today we're in the city and so, I have spent about twenty-four hours flying only to sit in front of a computer screen and type all of this out :) I think we're going to do a little shopping today and hang out a little bit. Plans for tomorrow? The BEACH!!! I'll try to post pics when I get back on the 16th.