Rogue Slayer Law Student Lawyer with Snark Movie Fan

Possibly Permanent Hiatus

2009-08-21T22:42:00.003-04:00

This blog, much as I have loved it, has run its course. It got me through law school and the bar exam, and provided a great outlet. But I need something new.

~~So, check out my new blog, The New Stuff Project.The plan is to try something new every day for a year. Join the ride!~~

~~UPDATE: So, that blog didn't get far from the gates. Instead, try my newer new blog, River of Consciousness.~~

ANOTHER UPDATE: Okay, let's try this one - Impenitent Geek.

Miami Beach

2009-05-16T12:09:00.001-04:00

Photos are up - click on the picture to see the whole set. No commentary yet, just pics:

Broccoli

2009-05-16T11:21:00.001-04:00

Brocolli
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Planted the broccoli and lettuce that my friend brought over as exchange for the rototilling I did in her yard. I don't have any kind of fence around the garden area, so hopefully when we get back from Maine tomorrow I'll still have something more than nubs sticking out of the ground!

Those are the broccoli in the foreground, with the lettuce in the back. The warmer weather veggies are coming next weekend. I also transplanted the strawberry seedlings into containers.

Toad Hall?

2009-05-16T06:52:00.002-04:00

Last evening when I pulled the cover off the grill I discovered a little toad nestled in next to the grill hood, enjoying the shelter under the cover. Since the grill would soon be too hot for little toad toes, I moved him over to one of the jade plant pots. He really didn't want to let go of the grill, but I was victorious.

Later on, I decided that perhaps it's still too cool out for the jade plants, so The Girl and I brought them in and set them up in sunny windows. Well, windows that would be sunny the next morning, at least.

It was only as we were getting ready for bed a few hours later that I remembered Toad, who had last been seen hunkered down in the dirt next to a jade trunk. After a thorough inspection, he was nowhere to be found in any of the pots. I choose to believe that he exited before importation, rather than that he's roaming around in the house somewhere.

Keyboard Battery Icon

2009-05-15T11:04:00.002-04:00

It took three attempts to capture the flashing exclamation icon. But the keyboard is still working. Not really in focus, but it's the one to the right of the Outlook yellow square.

Battery Power

2009-05-15T10:32:00.000-04:00

I’ve had it with batteries trying to tell me what to do and when to do it. My wireless keyboard has been flashing its warning icon for two weeks, and for almost as long has been sending forth its popup box that “keyboard battery levels are critical.” The last time this happened I promptly changed the batteries, but that was only a few months ago. So now, while I do have emergency transplant double-A’s standing by, I’m not going ahead with the procedure until the keyboard patient codes. These puppies aren’t getting relieved until they’ve given me 100% of their available power. The same thing happened with the Wii Fit balance board. I’d start it up and it would tell me to replace the batteries soon, but then it would work just fine. I pushed that baby until it finally refused to go past the warning and would simply reset after expending its last electrons giving me the warning. That’s dedication.

Status Update

2009-05-15T10:17:00.002-04:00

The other day I read a few of my old posts from a few years ago – I was much more witty and entertaining then, I think. Or I managed my time better, you pick.

I’ve been feeling sort of adrift for the last nine months or so. I know – get over it, right? I had been transitioning into an in–house legal position at my company, and away from project management. Then a corporate giant acquired the small company, and a few months later they informed me that they only take on attorneys with five-years’ software licensing experience. They did recommend that I find a small company where I could grow into the position with the company. Yeah, thanks – that’s what I had until you bought the place out!

Unfortunately, this placed me smack dab in the middle of the economic downturn, and each week’s ABA newsletter featured headlines of how many attorneys had been laid off in the previous days. Law school friends were suddenly back in the market, and it just wasn’t the best time to attempt launching my law career, either at a firm or on my own. Plus that would mean leaving my current job, where I have several years’ seniority, a better salary than I would get as a new attorney (excluding big law, but they’re not hiring and I wouldn’t want that lifestyle), and where the company is doing well and I have career advancement opportunities.

So now where am I? Trying to climb out of the swirl of “what to do,” and I think I’m finally making some headway.

The Girl got me onto Facebook, and I’ve reconnected with a lot of friends. Last year someone got me to sign up for Twitter but I just didn’t get it. A couple of months ago I decided to throw myself into it to see if that made a difference, and of course now I’m a tweeting freak. I’m also finally making headway at getting rid of those forty law school pounds (down 12 so far), and have made exercising part of my daily (well, most days) routine. It helps that I have iPhone apps that I can use as part of the routine, and that make it easy to send workout updates to FB and Twitter.

My inner geek is making itself know again, and I’ve been listening to some great podcasts. My favorite now is The Anomaly Podcast, followed closely by Treks in Sci-Fi. The gadget obsession continues, and I was pleased with the test run of the handlebar mount for the flip mino a couple of days ago. The iMac is working out great, but I still have to dive in to some of the programs in greater depth.

But something’s missing. My extended rants and raves. The Guyfriend and I are at different companies now, so we don’t get our daily lunchtime dose of geek analysis, and I haven’t been blogging at all. Perhaps I can remedy that. I’ve actually been pondering the idea of talking The Guyfriend into doing a podcast of our own. Think he’ll go for it?

In the meantime, a big project at work finally got the green light, which may be a source of blog fodder. At the least, it means some trips, which is always good for a few stories. Keep your eyes open!

Office Lavender Update

2009-04-22T11:28:00.001-04:00

Growing away! I lopped off the top of the first fast grower to even out the heights. Then I chopped up a leaf and mixed it with olive oil to coat a chicken breast for grilling. Yum!

Over Achiever

2009-04-08T15:09:00.001-04:00

One lavender shoot has raced ahead of the rest and may force me to raise the lamp soon.

The Magic of Train Stations

2009-04-03T16:09:00.003-04:00

I've been watching this one all day - please, please take a few minutes to watch it and bring a smile (if not outright laughing) to your day.

Centrall Station, Antwerp

Iowa - Can't Ban Marriage Equality

2009-04-03T10:28:00.003-04:00

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that the state's ban on same sex marriage is unconstitutional. Next up: the Iowa legislature. I'm trying to get to the court's website to read (and link to) the ruling itself, but the servers are understandably busy.

UPDATE:

Here's the official summary and here's the ruling.

Lavender Post Vacation

2009-03-25T10:03:00.001-04:00

My lavender garden was well-tended by a cube neighbor during the Miami trip, and it is growing nicely. The home garden, meanwhile, grew exponentially.

Good Morning, Campers!

2009-03-20T08:07:00.001-04:00

Distant storm clouds do make for beautiful sunrises!

RSLS atthe Beach

2009-03-17T12:02:00.001-04:00

And now, for TCU, a Miami Footie Photo!

Sitting on the Beach

2009-03-17T11:57:00.001-04:00

I've walked north along thebesch walk and beach 1.6 miles to Surfside. Now I'm taking a little break and pondering whether to continue on or reverse course.

The Girl is out golfing, so I have all afternoon for meandering.

I think I'll walk back, have a snack and some water, refresh the sunscreen and then explore to the south.

Happily At The Beach

2009-03-14T20:14:00.001-04:00

Our good friend gave us a ride to Logan this morning, and once we had curbside checked our bags, all was smooth sailing. The plane boarded amazingly smoothly and quickly, plus we volunteered to switch to the exit row when they asked for volunteers. Hmm, more leg room, anyone? Well, okay!

Once at the Miami airport we split up briefly. I headed to Miami Mercado for a pair of seven day visitor passes on Miami-Dade Transit, while The Girl headed for the baggage carousels. Luggage in hand, we caught a cab moments after exiting the terminal, and we were at our hotel in short order.

If you're wondering why we didn't bust out the transit passes, I have two responses. First, see previous posts regarding luggage. Second, we are here for ten days, so we'll commence our seven day window tomorrow or Monday.

Off to Miami!

2009-03-14T10:47:00.001-04:00

We're at the gate, and have just traded up to an exit row for more legroom - yay!

In the photo are The Girl's bags on the right and mine on the left. But the three biggest ones are now checked in, so life is good. Next stop, the sunny beach!

Tiny Lavender Tree

2009-03-13T09:51:00.003-04:00

Office Lavender

2009-03-13T09:51:00.001-04:00

The growth at one week. We're off to Miami tomorrow for ten days, but one of my cube neighbors will be adding water and a nutrient tablet as needed.

Look for photos and updates from the beach!

Kitchen Herbs - Seven Weeks

2009-03-08T18:23:00.001-04:00

Kitchen Herbs - Seven Weeks
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Full growth now, with everything being harvested and growing in even more fully.

Office Garden

2009-03-04T08:55:00.001-05:00

Now that I'm in the new cube space, I've added a second aerogarden. This is a smaller model than the kitchen garden, and contains three lavender pods.

Garden from the Left, Six Weeks

2009-03-01T08:47:00.002-05:00

Garden from the Left, Six Weeks
Originally uploaded by RSLS

It's time for the weekly garden update! The aerogarden has adjusted to "mature growth," and the herbs are all eligible for harvesting. I have some of the dill marked for salmon today, and I think there might be some more minty yogurt on the menu for me.

Oscar Party 2009

2009-02-24T07:24:00.002-05:00

The remains of the night
Originally uploaded by RSLS

The competition was tight, but Meredith came out victorious with 19 correct picks out of 24. She didn't go home with the trophy, as the babysitter was under 18 and therefore they had to be home in time for her to drive away before her license hit its nighttime expiration at 12:30 am.

A fabulous time was had once again by everyone, and The Girl and I finally got to bed around 3 am! Click the post party dining room table to see the full set and commentary.

Kitchen Garden Update - Five Weeks

2009-02-22T10:30:00.003-05:00

The herbs are growing away, and I harvested some italian basil this morning to go with my eggs - yum! After I chopped the top off the basil, I was able to lower the lights closer to the garden so everyone could get their fair share of photosynthesis. Click on the picture to go to the whole set. There are a couple of other shots there from this week, including the harvest.

Ready to Rock the Oscars!

2009-02-21T20:11:00.002-05:00

The house has been cleared of clutter, an extra leaf is in the dining room table, we have available seating for all the "Yes" RSVP's, the Jade Garden menu and past selections is ready for review, the beverages are set up on the kitchen island. Plates, napkins and cutlery are on the table. I've downloaded the nominated soundtracks and songs, as well as the live action shorts and 4/5 of the animated shorts, so early arrivals can view/listen to them if they would like before the show begins.

Now, to fill out the ballot...

Saturday Morning Shuffle

2009-02-21T07:25:00.011-05:00

Several of my blog friends and I used to take part in the Friday Random Shuffle, where every Friday we would press Shuffle/Random on our various MP3 players and list out the first ten songs that played - no skipping, no limiting the pool. TCU has suggested we revive this pastime, which lapsed a few years back.

Sadly, my weekday office locale isn't very conducive to iPod playing, so I'm instead proposing the Saturday Morning Shuffle. To get things going, here are mine:

Young Americans - Tina & The B-Side Movement (Originally purchased at an indie record store in Minneapolis, whose owner would buy the tapes direct from Tina when she came into the shop each week. Later replaced with CD.)
Why Georgia - John Mayer
Bonnie Lass O'Fyvie - The Royal Scots Dragoons and the Band of the Coldstream Guards (I took my parents to this concert last year)
I Quit - Hepburn (as featured on Buffy)
The Champion of the Seas/Over the Isles to America/Pop Goes the Weasle/Rossie Castle - Bonnie Rideout
Oh Jesus - Tina The B-Side Movement (I only have two of her CD's, but she beat the odds to make it into the shuffle twice today)
Illuminati - Fatboy Slim (From Tomb Raider, of course!)
Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) - Joan Baez (NAF was once stunned into wordlessness upon encountering Joan B. at a diner. All she could manage were a few odd squeaks.)
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing - Vince Garibaldi Trio (Who doesn't love A Charlie Brown Christmas?)
The Great Peace March - Holly Near (I've seen her several times, including at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival when I was unlucky enough to be traveling with my psycho ex's dance troupe but at least with the benefit of being able to sit on the stage while Holly Near rehearsed.)

BONUS TRACK: I kept the player going, and a couple of songs later, up came the Carpenters singing Close to You! Yes, I have this in my iTunes collection and on the iPod.

Garden 4 Weeks

2009-02-15T08:11:00.002-05:00

Garden 4 Weeks
Originally uploaded by RSLS

They're getting big enough now that I'm dispensing with the individual shots and sticking with the group photo. The parsley and mint have bounced back well with the new grow bulb, but the thyme still doesn't seem very happy. The italian basil, while topping the charts in height, has some brown tinges on its leaves. The purple basil is full, heavily leaved and healthy. Of course I bought this seed pod kit almost a year ago when I originally bought the garden, so maybe they just got tired of waiting. Click on this week's photo to see the set from the day of planting.

Morning Sun and Moon

2009-02-15T07:39:00.003-05:00

Usually when I wake up in the morning it's still that morning twilight, and when it does get light enough to see the sky it's usually still a little grey. Not today - nothing but blue skies do I see.

Across the street the moon was bright as the sun was just starting to hit the tree tops:

In the backyard, meanwhile, the sun was just coming over the hill, but was still low enough to be visible below the tree branches:

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Early Valentine's at Melting Pot

2009-02-13T06:09:00.003-05:00

The Girl is away with friends this weekend, so we had our Valentine's Dinner a couple of days early. For once we had no problem getting the reservations we wanted at The Melting Pot in Framingham - I guess weeknights really are better, especially when there's a big date night event coming up. I selected a nice red beverage to start - cranberry, club soda and lime:

Next up was the cheese course. We chose the featured cheese fondue, a Sam Adams Lager fondue. The meal started out with a cheese fondue. As you can see, it came with assorted breads, veggies and green apples for dipping:

While they do have a few larger rooms with multiple tables, much of the restaurant is made up of quiet little booths with high walls, making for a cozy environment of multiple private dining rooms. Since it was just the two of us, we got a booth. Better for romantic dining, as the rooms can become rather boisterous. They had lovely jazz piped in, which was quite lovely until the sounds of the live jazz trio started wafting in from the bar area. Fortunately the clash wasn't that bad.

After the cheese came the salad, followed by the entree course. We chose the Mojo style, which was light and citrusy. Here you can see some of the dipping sauces that come with it. The two red handles are my fondue forks with pork and beef cooking in the pot, while the pink handle is The Girl's. The blur at the top is the chicken on the end of The Girl's other fork as she's removing it for consumption. The 16 is the heat setting on the fondue element.

Wrapping it up was a flaming pot of white chocolate with bananas and a touch of caramel, with a platter of fruit and other sweets for dipping. Then we rolled ourselves back out to the car.

Front shadows

2009-02-13T05:58:00.001-05:00

Front shadows
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Before the snow all melted (almost) this week, the sun made its first appearance and placed some art on our front lawn.

Mid-Winter Thaw

2009-02-12T08:31:00.001-05:00

On my drive to work this morning I enjoyed the sight of the piles of snow visibly sublimating into the fifty degree air. Here's another common sight in New England at this time of year - the heavy equipment being deployed to clean up the snowbank remains from the roadways. When the snow is still present in vast quantities, it just stays on the road edges, narrowing the travel lands and blocking pedestrian ways. But once it shrinks a bit, the road crews dive in to tame it.

Kitchen Herb Garden, Round Two

2009-02-01T09:52:00.002-05:00

Kitchen Herb Garden
Originally uploaded by RSLS

The Girl and I planted a kitchen herb garden last May, and were rewarded with fresh herbs all summer, fall and into the winter. It finally wore itself out (and finished up all of the nutrient tablets), although the basil plants braved along for several more weeks after the rest had given up.

A couple of weeks ago I cleaned out the first round (adding all the plant material - lots of roots - to the compost), and started another set of herbs. From left to right (zig-zagging back to front) we have mint, parsley, italian basil, purple basil, dill, chives and thyme.

I've been taking pictures each week and adding them to the set, which you can see by clicking the picture.

The New Travel Pack

2009-02-01T07:36:00.001-05:00

Here's the new bag - that REI Vagabond 2.0. The Girl is convinced that it's not big enough for vacation trip, but then again we have to weigh her steamer trunk every time to make sure she's not over the limit.

One really nice feature is that it opens up like a suitcase, rather than just having the top access. Less rummaging and stuffing.

By the way, I'm posting this picture and text with mynew iphone app, Shozu. So far so good!

Bollywood, Winter Version

2009-01-31T19:38:00.002-05:00

IMG_0067
Originally uploaded by RSLS

The Girl and I caught a double-header today, way up in Danvers. We saw Rachel Getting Married and Doubt. I really liked Rachel Getting Married, The Girl thought it was boring. We both thought Ann Hathaway was very good, however. Neither one of us was really thrilled with Doubt. It was good, but not great.

On our way home, we stopped in at the Bollywood Cafe on the Lexington-Arlington border, a few blocks from our old apartment. As always the service was slow, the temperature was freezing (and dropped several degrees each time someone came in or out), but the food was delish!

What's Up?

2009-01-30T19:13:00.002-05:00

So what's up with me, you might be wondering. Busy, busy, busy with work, work, work. But also with other stuff. I was learning Italian with Rosetta Stone online, but have switched to Spanish. We're going back to Italy someday, but it really seems that I'll have more opportunity to use Spanish well before that. My newest client site is in California (north of Sacramento), we're going to Miami in March, and we may take an Amtrak adventure to LA in the fall.

I've also been doing lots of pondering about travel. I was feeling a little down because while I long to go to all sorts of places and have adventures, The Girl is really more about the beach and golfing. And large suitcases. But I finally brought up some ideas to her, and she's willing to give it a go, as long as we alternate with beach/golf destinations, or incorporate them into the adventures. That's great with me, because I'm all for relaxing walks on the beach. I just like to do other stuff as well.

The two big trips I've proposed as our starting points are the above-mentioned Amtrak adventure to LA. This would involve taking a regular Amtrak (business class if available) to an eastern hub (Albany, NY, DC), then switching to a sleeper train to Chicago. We'd make use of the Roomettes, which are private little cabins with a big picture window and seats that fold down into beds (and an upper berth that also folds down). Then from Chicago another Roomette to LA. Maybe spend a day in Chicago between trains. Then a few days in the sun in LA, and a fast flight home. I thought this would be a fun way to see the country, and it would be a good practice run for the next adventure: Morocco, on a two week tour with Intrepid Travel Out Adventures! And she agreed!

Mm, Mm, Good

2008-12-29T07:11:00.002-05:00

That's what Campbell soup is for its inclusive new Swanson ad campaign that includes a two-mom family in one of its spotlights on celebrity chefs. The rabidly anti-gay American Family Institute is, of course, demanding that Campbell pull the ads:

“Not only did the ads cost Campbell's a chunk of money, but they also sent a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support.”

Yeah, and?

To Campbell's further credit, the company is basically telling the AFA to take a corporate hike:

"Our position on this is pretty straightforward,” company rep Anthony Sanzio told AdAge. “Inclusion and diversity play an important role in our business, and that fact is reflected in our marketing plan. For more than a century, people from all walks of life have enjoyed Campbell's products, and we will continue to try to communicate in ways that are meaningful and relevant to them.”

Christmas Puppy, and Trek

2008-12-24T20:16:00.001-05:00

Christmas Puppy, and Trek
Originally uploaded by RSLS

More Tree

2008-12-24T20:09:00.001-05:00

More Tree
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Christmas Tree

2008-12-24T20:08:00.001-05:00

Christmas Tree
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Space Truckers, Year of Astronomy

2008-12-24T06:37:00.004-05:00

NASA announced yesterday that it has awarded contracts to two companies to haul cargo between Earth and the International Space Station. SpaceX and Orbital Sciences will deliver 20 tons of material for a total of $3.5 billion through 2016. This program is designed to bridge the gap between the retirement of the space shuttles and the launch of the replacement line.

Also of note is that 2009 is the UN-designated International Year of Astronomy. This year was chosen as it includes the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of an astronomical telescope. The main theme is "The Universe, Yours to Discover." So get out there and discover it.

Hard Working Solar

2008-12-23T19:02:00.001-05:00

Hard Working Solar
Originally uploaded by RSLS

The big snow hit before we pulled up the solar driveway lights, so our
plow guy piled them up ok our doorstep. Where they still sit, of
course. Today the sun came out, and I'll be darnedif they aren't
shining away in their partially buried state!

Amtrak to Wilmington and Back

2008-12-20T08:05:00.005-05:00

I'm back from another business trip, so that means... pictures! These were all taken from the iPhone, which also geotags each shot as it's taken. That means I can put them on the map using the coordinates logged, rather than having to try to figure it out based on time and context. The iPhone GPS is pretty accurate, too. Many pictures from the train it placed actually on the tracks on the map. Anyway, check out the photoset for lots of stories.

Info not included in the photoset: Two new restaurants - Potstickers and Home Grown Cafe, both in Newark, Delaware.

Potstickers is in a nondescript plaza-style shopping area, surrounded by Home Depot, Best Buy, Red Lobster, etc. But don't let that fool you - it's freaking delicious! Chinese and sushi. One of the guys I was traveling with had tried sushi once but didn't like it. We convinced him to try it again and he now wants to know where a good sushi place is in the greater Boston area. I sent him to Samba in Framingham, of course. The three of us shared the Potsticker's Angry Tuna Roll, the Sea Dragon Roll, Volcano Roll and of course an order of Peking Style Pork & Napa Cabbage Potstickers. We also had the Honey Teriyaki Salmon in case the hesitant one didn't like the sushi, but it was hardly touched. At the end of the meal we all had a bite just so it wouldn't go completely to waste.

Home Grown Cafe is in Historic Downtown Newark (Delaware, not NJ) and is a funky place with a wide variety of patrons, from college students to business folks to retirees. Good food, good atmosphere. It's on the main street and parking seemed like it could be tricky, but we lucked out and got a spot right in front. I had the Pan Asian Hot and Sour Soup (very spicy) and the New Skool Gyro (good, but the lamb was just a little tough). Also a very good latte. My dining companion (the sushi convert) had the Mushroom Soup and the Pan Seared Salmon, both of which he said he enjoyed very much.

Anyway, click on the photo, taken as the train was about to enter Penn Station, to go to the complete set:

New Haven

2008-12-19T14:36:00.001-05:00

New Haven
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Here at the New Haven station, snow removal crews are hard at work.
What's really cool is that I'm checking my mail (both work and
personal), IM-ing, updating facebook, streaming podcasts, doing
Christmas shopping, checkimg my location by GPS and taking/posting
photos all from my iPhone on the train. It's a little slice of heaven!

NYC

2008-12-19T12:51:00.001-05:00

NYC
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Heading into Penn Station.

Outside Rahway

2008-12-19T12:26:00.001-05:00

Outside Rahway
Originally uploaded by RSLS

The snow has begun on the Acela route. The Girl is picking me up at
the commuter rail station this evening in her Subaru.

Training Day

2008-12-19T10:56:00.001-05:00

Training Day
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Outside the Wilmington Amtrak station. Only rain here. I expect to
hit the snow around NYC.

Thomson-Reuters

2008-12-16T14:38:00.001-05:00

Thomson-Reuters
Originally uploaded by RSLS

I've gotten as far as Stamford now. We'll be going through NYC soon.
This is SOOO much better than flying. And I'm getting better at the
little iPhone keypad!

Commuter Rail

2008-12-16T06:49:00.001-05:00

Commuter Rail
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Train to Boston.

120708_1232.jpg

2008-12-07T12:34:00.001-05:00

120708_1232.jpg
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Zakes Cakes!

Consumerism Kills

2008-11-29T07:57:00.002-05:00

It did yesterday, at any rate. At a Wal-Mart on Long Island, the poor temp sap who got saddled with the task of opening the doors at 5 am was trampled to death by the huddled masses who had been waiting for their opportunity to shop at the most bargain prices of the year. The crowds then further trampled (not fatally) other shoppers and workers who attempted to come to the aid of the fallen man. Then, when store managers announced they would be closing due to the death, those shoppers who had made it into the store angrily responded that they had been waiting for hours and were not going to leave. And they kept shopping.

Meanwhile, a Toys R Us in Palm Desert was the scene of a shoot out that began near the registers but extended into the electronics section. Apparently two women "broke into a brawl," then the two men accompanying them got into the gunfight. The story relates that although they were near the registers, no one had any purchases with them, and one of the gun wielders did attempt to open the register just before the other one shot him. Store representatives and police are stating that the battle was not related to Black Friday. Okay, maybe they weren't fighting over who would get the last Wii Fit in the store, but it seems just as likely that it might have begun with a plan to target the cash cow on the biggest shopping day of the year.

I'm so glad I stayed home yesterday.

Apple Pancakes and Rosie Live!

2008-11-27T13:20:00.002-05:00

After I finished sipping my tea out on the deck so I could enjoy the sights and sounds of the wildlife buffet (while wearing a coat, hat and gloves, with the hood up to block the rising sun from interfering with the viewing), The Girl and I continued with our Thanksgiving activities.

She got the turkey breast rub together and then tackled the dreaded job of smearing it on and under the turkey skin. Meanwhile, I created our Thanksgiving breakfast of German apple pancake - yum! Pictures of both to follow.

While we ate our breakfast, we watched the first episode of Rosie Live! that Tivo thoughtfully recorded for us last night while we were with the aging masses at the Eagles concert. Oh my god - I'm in heaven! I LOVE THIS SHOW!!! Rosie O'Donnell! Liza Minelli! Jane Krakowski! Show tunes! Harry Connick, Jr.! The Special Guest Door! Tap dancing, kick lines, Gloria Estefan! Dancing desserts! Alanis Freaking Morrisette! Rachel Ray with a giant inflatable roast turkey! WHEEEEEEEE!!!! I laughed, I cried - with joy. Seriously, I was welling I was so happy.

If The Girl had any doubts, they are gone. I am a variety show geek.

Still to come: the continuing saga of Thanksgiving dinner. Celery root and apple puree, sausage stuffing (from Joy of Cooking) and maple glazed butternut squash. And homemade pumpkin pie with freshly made whipped cream!!!! Yumbola!

The only "I forgot to get it" item thus far - sparking cider. Oh well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T08:11:00.002-05:00

The Girl and I kicked off the holiday last evening with a trip out to Worcester for the Eagles concert. Or as Glenn Frey called it, "The Eagles Assisted Living Tour." The same could be said for us regular folk out in the audience. One advantage of aging audiences - better behavior. The Girl commented on the way out, "Hey - no one threw up near us!" My response: "Everyone was way too old for that kind of shit."

Even though we got in around 1:00 this morning, I was still up at sunrise putting out the buffet for the wildlife. Pickin's have been mighty slim out there this week, as the feeders ran out but so had my stash in the garden box. Yesterday after doing the pre-Thanksgiving errands on my list, I stopped in at Lowe's and stocked up. It was payday, after all!

Most of the various seeds are still in the car, as I didn't want to wake The Girl by opening the garage door and backing her car out so I could access the wheelbarrow, which I'll need to haul it all around back, but I did carry up several items for the wildlife buffet. Then I bundled up and did the following:

Filled the circular peanut dispenser (looks kind of like a red slinky with round wire instead of flat)
Replaced the suet/corn/fruit/seed block hanging from the bungy
Filled the blue Droll Yankee feeder with fruit/nut/seed mix
Filled the small Droll Yankee feeder with wildbird seed mix
Filled the red Droll Yankee feeder with thistle
Spread black oil sunflower seeds and cracked corn along top of the wall, on the ground around the feeders and in the yard near the wall.

Come and get it, critters and birds! I pointed out to The Girl that I had to be sure to put out the cracked corn for the wild turkeys, because after all, it IS their day!

Civics Literate

2008-11-23T16:19:00.003-05:00

I got sucked in by the Yahoo headline that US officials flunk test of American history, economics, civics, and the article's statement that US elected officals on average score 44%, while "ordinary Americans" score about 49%. So off I went to take the quiz. My results:

You answered 31 out of 33 correctly — 93.94 %

Average score for this quiz during November: 77.6%

So it appears that people are doing a lot better on the quiz this month than in the time period the article reported on. The Girl's take on this? "You're such a geek."

DFW Car Rental Center

2008-11-15T20:52:00.001-05:00

Nov 12 2008 - VID00005
Originally uploaded by RSLS

The car rental center at Dallas-Fort Worth airport is larger than the airports at Sioux City or in Muskegon.

The Detroit Airport Pedestrian Tunnel

2008-11-15T20:49:00.002-05:00

Nov 12 2008 - DTW 1
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Join me on my venture through the tunnel connecting two terminals at the Detroit airport. Be sure to have the sound on, so you can share in the trippy lights. It's a long tunnel, so I had to split the video in two for flickr upload.

And now, part 2:

Baby Ava Winner

2008-11-15T12:00:00.001-05:00

Baby Ava Winner
Originally uploaded by RSLS

TCU and Darth Latte recently added to their family unit, and in the process also held the pick the birth date contest. The Girl was the lucky winner, and here she is opening her prize!

Keith Olbermann on Prop 8

2008-11-10T23:02:00.003-05:00

Here in my hotel room on this rainy Texas night, I found myself engrossed in Keith Olbermann's special commentary on Proposition 8 and the people who voted for it, with the result of taking away the right of marriage from same sex couples in California. His theme - What is it to you? It's not about politics, it's about love. Why are you against love?

Watch it (or read it) here.

111008_2138.jpg

2008-11-10T22:39:00.002-05:00

111008_2138.jpg
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Here's another exciting "view from my hotel room" photo. You might notice that it's raining. Hard. There is also thunder and lightening. Power went out at my client hospital twice while I was there this evening.

Wahoo!

2008-11-04T23:09:00.000-05:00

The Girl and I struggled and stayed awake, waiting for the 11:00 eastern hour when the news channels could project after the western states closed the polls. Tears of joy were the order of the evening when at 11:00 and about three seconds MSNBC announced that they could now project Obama victorious.

I Voted!

2008-11-04T08:16:00.052-05:00

Let me preface this with the story of the first presidential election in which I participated. It was the fall of 1972, and we were having elections at Lincoln Elementary School. I actually don't know whether it was the whole school or just Mrs. Harnedy's third grade class, but I voted. I must confess that I voted for Nixon. Hey - it was November 1972, he was the sitting president and Watergate had not yet become part of the national vocabulary. Oh, and my parents are Republicans. Oh well, live and learn.

Fast forward to today. The Girl and I arrived at our polling place (an elementary school near our house - some of our friends teach there) at 6:50 am and the lines were already rather long. We had dressed warm, but the lines had not reached outside yet. Once the polls opened at 7:00, we moved right along. We were done by 7:15.

After filling out the optical scan form (fill in the bubbles, just like the first day of the bar exam), I headed over to the tables where the volunteers check off your name before you hand in the ballot. As the volunteer for the section of the alphabet into which my street falls flipped through her stack of forms looking for my address, I realized she looked familiar. To verify my suspicion, I looked at her name tag. Yes, indeed, it was Francine Harnedy, that very same third grade teacher.

"Mrs. Harnedy - you were my third grade teacher!"

She looked at me, narrowed her eyes a bit and asked my name. When I replied, her eyes lit in recognition and she said, "Oh yes! And you had a skunk, didn't you?"

*Slight pause*

"Yes - we did have a skunk!"

This was the teacher who helped me out when we figured out I needed glasses. Back then you had to wait a couple of weeks before actually getting glasses after they were ordered, so she made sure I sat close enough to be able to read the board until they arrived. She's also the teacher who recognized that Middle Sister is dyslexic (though she was Miss McCarthy during Middle Sister's turn in class). I believe she was also Biggest Sister's third grade teacher, and that of at least one or two of my three brothers.

Thirty-six years and this woman remembered the former eight-year old girl with tortoise shell glasses and long pony tails, whose family had a pet skunk. She seemed quite pleased to hear that I'm now an attorney. Hopefully she was just as pleased that the sense of civic duty she instilled in me all those years ago stayed with me, as I cast my vote today.

Remember to Vote!

2008-11-02T06:19:00.001-05:00

20081101_Henderson_NV_Rally0058
Originally uploaded by Barack Obama

Make your plans now. Where is your polling place? What time will you be going? Let your boss know if you might be late or leaving early. Allow time for long lines. And get out there and vote!

Whee! I Mean, Wii!

2008-10-31T17:58:00.002-04:00

The Girl has been advancing in her computer skills. She takes digital photos and uploads them to Flickr. She joined Facebook and added her info and profile photo. AND - she figured out what to get for my birthday, tracked it down online and ordered it! She was then dying to tell me what it was, as she is still not very good about keeping surprises. So when it arrived yesterday (my birthday is still a few weeks away), I gave in and let her give it to me then and there.

Wii! With sports! Whee!

Guess what we'll be setting up tomorrow?

If We Lose on Tuesday, Then You Betcha!

2008-10-29T22:57:00.002-04:00

Various media and commentary sites are reporting Sarah Palin has broken the unwritten (or maybe it is written somewhere) rule that you never talk about the L word, especially not six days before the election. Not only that, but she has apparently expressed an interest in being at the top of the ticket in 2012. They also report that when questioned about this, the McCain campaign was "speechless."

I'm reading the quote, and while it does run along her usual vein of half thoughts and folksy g-droppin', I don't really see it.

But if that is what she was trying to say, oy - what a nightmare.

And what a fucking idiot.

Oh yeah, and the Phillies just won the World Series. Biggest Sister, her husband and father-in-law are doing backflips.

The Bowling Gear Video

2008-10-29T22:47:00.002-04:00

No, we're not yet ready to have video of ourselves actually bowling, but per the request of TCU, I bring you the movie mix of candlepin bowling gear!

Score update: Tonight I scored an 84, 94 (53 on the first half) and 83. The Girl brought in a 78. On one string she had 48 in five frames.

And now, the gear:

And for an added feature, click here to Mischief in action on his cat tower, and also on catnip.

Red Sky at Morning

2008-10-29T07:17:00.003-04:00

...driver take warning.

102908_0716.jpg
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Office Done (Mostly)

2008-10-25T18:46:00.002-04:00

After a full day of work and with the timely arrival of Middle Sister just when the big moving portion of the day came, the home office is ready for use. Below is the whole story, as recorded on the Mino:

Before:

Progress 1 - Credenza pulled out, lots o'junk gone:

Progress 2 - credenza and kitty condo relocated:

Progress 3 - Mischief finds a spot:

Complete!:

Home Office - The Baseline Recording

2008-10-25T12:43:00.003-04:00

The introductory video to the mess that is my office took over a minute, so I figured I'd just load that one to flickr now. The flickr max is 90 seconds, so that's that. Longer stuff will have to go to YouTube. Anyway, so you can see what I'm starting with, I bring you the story of my home office:

Oh, and I forgot to point it out, but that folded up pipe-like contraption by the door is a Gazelle Edge. Which has been folded up in that location since this year's Oscar Party. In February. Yep.

Flip Mino!

2008-10-25T12:08:00.003-04:00

I've got a new gadget! It's a little tiny camcorder with really simple operation and easy download and software - the Flip Mino. I have the cool black version. Just push the big red button and it starts recording. Touch the up or down buttons to zoom in and out. Touch the big red button again to stop.

Flip a switch to pop out the USB plug, connect it to the computer and use the built in software to download, edit, mix, add music, etc. They also have a feature that compresses it from avi to wmv if you want to email or upload it. I stick with the avi for uploading to flickr, since it's better quality and still within my upload range.

Below is a little video in the kitchen, going from the semi-dark spice rack to the brightly lid kitchen herb garden and then down to Mischief's dining area. The mino automatically adjusts for the changing lighting conditions, and the built in microphone picks up my steps as I move around the kitchen.

Next up is a mix I made with the software, using two vids of the backyard. First is just the yard, and you can hear some of the birds in the trees. Then there's Mischief and some footage of what he's watching. I can also add music if I want, but I didn't.

I can also pull out stills from the videos. They're smallish sized, but it's a nice feature to have. Coming later this weekend - a mix of my home office redo! I'll be working on this today, and will video the progress.

Sure, NOW Space is Vital

2008-10-24T07:14:00.003-04:00

Now that Senator McCain is scrambling for every last vote he can scrape together, especially in Florida, he's talking a different story about funding for space-related programs. Unlike the three times during debates that he ridiculed Obama's support for a Chicago planetarium where the future astrophysicists of America would first discover their passion for science, McCain now supports increasing funds for NASA:

During a visit to Florida last week, Sen. McCain said he, too, favors an additional $2 billion in spending. Asked by a local TV station, News 13, about his broader pledge to freeze spending and whether that would affect NASA's budget, he said: "Of course not, of course not. It means we're going to move money around....Space is vital."

Sure, now that he figured out that those whacky space nuts actually create jobs, he figures it's important. I think I see his plan now - take away the planetariums and kids will pick up other interests, then no one will want a job in the space industry and they can close it down for other, more sensible industries, like deep sea oil drilling or coal mining or perhaps guiding helicopter moose hunts.

The Girl's Foliage Photos

2008-10-23T07:31:00.002-04:00

The Girl has become quite the little photographer, and is now using her Flickr account that I got her two years ago to go with the digital camera! She has four photo sets from our foliage weekend, which are gathered together into one collection. Click on the lovely photo below to go to the full collection. Have fun perusing!

Tales of Bowling

2008-10-23T07:09:00.002-04:00

The Girl and I have joined a candlepin bowling league for the winter, with some friends from golf. It's been quite fun, and the rust is falling away from my long-dormant bowling skills. Last night was our fourth week, and I got a 104 on my second string! Now, for those of you who have only done ten pin bowling, let me explain that candlepin is a much lower scoring game. The highest "officially sanctioned" score is a 245, as opposed to the occasional perfect 300's that come up in ten pin. Breaking 100 in candlepin is a big deal. So I was quite pleased.

What was really bizarre, though, was how I got to my 104. In this league, we each bowl five frames at a time (in my previous candlepin experience, it was always two frames). In the first half of that string, I got three spares in a row and ended up with a 71 for the half! When I sat down and saw the score, I said, "What's up with THAT?" My friends were more, "What the fuck?"

But reality came back for the second half, when I racked up a whopping 33 and the world was as it should be. But I still got a 104.

"Natural Law" and the Modern World

2008-10-20T10:49:00.002-04:00

Cosmic Variance has a much more thorough and eloquent post that I would have the patience to write on science, morality, "natural law" and the ick factor in politics and marriage equality.

Fall Foliage Photo Fun!!!

2008-10-20T08:25:00.003-04:00

We went up to Argyle, New York, in the Lake George area, this weekend for our 2008 Fall Foliage Tour. Of course, we took lots and lots (and lots) of pictures to share with you all! We stayed at Lant Hill Farm, a lovely B&B on a working organic farm. The views, guest house and breakfasts were all fabulous! Saturday we explored around Lake George, then Sunday we took a meandering back roads route home through Vermont. I'm still working on uploading the pictures, but I've got to quit for now and head to work. I'll update this post this evening when it's done. But here are a large selection of the photos to get you started. Click on the view to get started. Again, I've organized them into several sets within one collection, so you can more easily pick and choose what you'd like to view.

UPDATE: All my photos are now loaded. I'll post another link when The Girl has loaded hers.

Fall Foliage Time!

2008-10-17T06:22:00.002-04:00

After work today The Girl and I are off for our annual fall foliage expedition. This year we're breaking new ground by heading to upstate New York and a bed and breakfast located in the guest house of an organic farm surrounded by mountains. The Foliage Network says we've chosen the perfect weekend and that the foliage in that area is "spectacular" this year. Have a great weekend - many pictures to follow on our return. I know you can't wait.

All's Well in 401(k) Land

2008-10-17T06:19:00.002-04:00

Our payroll guy returned from vacation and found a bunch of notes from his manager, who had been handling things in his absence. Among them was a notation about my 401(k) withholding and my check. Turns out the money was funded properly to Fidelity, but the information on the pay stub was incorrect. The stub will be corrected at next payday, and I logged on to Fidelity to verify the funds. It takes a day or two, which is why nothing showed on Wednesday when I first checked.

Ah, the magic of pretax dollars. I'm contributing 8% (with another 2% match), but the total hit in my net check is... six dollars. Excellent!

Speaking of Bullies

2008-10-16T07:28:00.002-04:00

What's up with the 46-year-old school bus driver accused of taunting a 10-year-old boy on his bus by calling him gay repeatedly and then inciting the other kids on the bus to tackle him on the sidewalk and beat him up? And then joined in the fun! Maybe the kid was eloquent, just like that Obama guy. He must be a little tiny terrorist. And I bet he's gay, too! Get him!

Ass.

Eloquent Eye Rolling

2008-10-16T06:53:00.002-04:00

John McCain acted like a schoolyard bully in last night's debate. Eye-rolling, ridiculing of intelligence, ignoring responses, squeezing his lips together in an apparent attempt to restrain himself from all the outbursts demanding to be released (either that or trying not to vomit, I'm not sure), flamboyantly scribbling all his wicked good comebacks on his notepad, repeating accusations instead of responding to the facts presented, sighing loudly into his mic, and even wrapping it all up with a snort-laugh.

He claims that education is important and needs attention, but he's three for three in his taunting of Obama's support for that planetarium that didn't have functioning equipment in the theater. Apparently McCain is all for education as long as you're not interested in space. Better get those Hubble repairs done now, as there might not be any replacement scientists coming up if McCain has his way.

He said that throwing money at problems isn't a solution. Then he proved to us that he feels strongly about this by calling for a renewal of No Child Left Behind, the failed program that put increased burdens on schools with zero funding to support those mandates. He's right in that just "throwing" money doesn't (always) work, but most programs do need some funds if they're going to implement change.

McCain at least twice, and perhaps three times, said that Sarah Palin knows more about autism than most of us. How's that? Her child has Down syndrome. I've read that Down syndrome kids are at a higher risk for autism, but nothing I've seen indicates that her child actually has autism. Know who knows about autism? A friend of mine who is the single mom to an autistic child who is reaching adulthood. Whose husband divorced her because parenthood just wasn't as fun as he thought it would be. Who has always had to make her job choices based on the health plan and who works from home all hours of the night so that she can give him the attention he needs during the day.

Then there's the Joe the Plumber, to whom McCain called out all evening in an attempt to frighten working people into believing Obama's tax plan will put them into the poor house.

McCain: Joe! Obama wants to spread your wealth! He's going to take your money away and buy overhead projectors with it!
Obama: Under my tax plan, anyone making less than $250,000 per year would see no increase in taxes, and 95% of small businesses fall into this category.
McCain: Joe! Obama wants to spread your wealth! He's going to take your money away and give it to other people!

McCain: Joe! You want to have your own plumbing business, but ask Senator Obama what the fine will be if you don't buy into his mandated single-payer health plan!
Obama: Under my health plan, if you have company insurance, you keep it. You don't have to change. If you are a small business making less than $250,000 per year you will have no fine for not offering health care to your employees. If you are a large corporation who can afford to offer health care and you don't, then yes there will be a fine to help pay for the group insurance plan that federal employees have and that we will extend to other Americans.
McCain: Joe! Congratulations -you're rich! You've succeeded in business and have lots of money and employees, so now Obama's going to fine you for not offering health insurance.

Me: Well, yeah. If he's a success and has lots of money and employees, why isn't he trying to make sure his employees stay healthy?

McCain: We want the facts! Sigh, eye-roll, sarcasm, snicker. What about Bill Ayers? What about Acorn?
Obama: Ayers fact, Acorn fact, everything fact, complete disclosure, fact, fact, let's discuss the issues that people care about.
McCain: But we want the facts! What about Bill Ayers? What about Acorn?

McCain on a few occasions lauded Obama for his "eloquence" but then made fun of that eloquence as manipulation. Because people who use words good is bad for the bullies. Other kids might start to listen. Bully lose control.

If we're all fortunate, bully lose election as well.

Congrats to TCU!

2008-10-15T15:43:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to good friend and frequent commenter TCU and her hubby Darth Latte on the much-anticipated birth of Baby Ava!

Extreme Saver

2008-10-15T13:25:00.002-04:00

Today's check had my first 401(k) withholding on the new plan. I verified my election of 8% (with an automatic 2% annual increase) last week. Yep, all set.

Open my check today to verify. Eight dollars. In case you're wondering, I do make more than $100 for a semimonthly paycheck. There's no four dollar corporate match, because it's such a tiny percentage.

Back over to the website to verify my election - yes indeed, there it is, 8%.

Gee, at this rate I can retire when I'm around 300 years old.

Payroll is "looking into it. Sorry for the inconvenience." This after I've already missed out on a full quarter of contributions and corporate matches because HR didn't get my info to the 401(k) people until two days after the deadline for enrolling. Nice.

More Backyard Nature!

2008-10-13T15:09:00.002-04:00

IMG_0912
Originally uploaded by RSLS

I have today (Columbus Day) off for the first time in years, so I've been enjoying the peace and quiet of the backyard. I took lots of photos of birds and critters, and have combined them with the turkey photos I got over the last few days. Saturday morning there were EIGHTEEN turkeys in the yard at one point.

Click on the adorable baby turkey and its watcher to get to the full set.

Aspen Belafonte Henderson, 7/15/1989 - 10/10/2008

2008-10-10T18:58:00.002-04:00

Aspen was with me my entire adult life - he was born just as I was finishing grad school (which I started right after college), and I selected him from his litter when he was just a little baby. He came to his new home several weeks later, when he was old enough. That was in Colorado, and he traveled the country with me since then as I moved to California, back to Massachusetts, up to Minnesota, down to Oklahoma, and back to Massachusetts. He was with me through any number of apartments, but he did get to share the benefits of home ownership for a couple of years here in our lovely house on the edge of the woods with lots of big windows through which to keep his eyes on the finches, chickadees, turkeys, deer, cardinals and other assorted wildlife.

He curled up and went to sleep last night and at some point before this morning decided he'd had enough.

He was a good boy, he had a wonderful 19 years, and The Girl and I will miss him terribly.

McCain and Stars - Again

2008-10-08T07:07:00.002-04:00

Wow, John McCain really has a grudge against astronomy. He brought up that planetarium funding foolishness again during last night's debate - twice! He tried to make it sound even sillier by referring to it as three million dollars for an "overhead projector" at a planetarium. I guess he thought we'd think this was another two million dollar toilet seat or something, like, "Hey - you can get one of these at Staples for $450!"

That funding wasn't for a little piece of equipment so the planetarium staff could bore each other with their latest PowerPoints. It was for a planetarium projector (and other related equipment) that is used to display the constellations, galaxies and other celestial sights onto the dome of the auditorium so the staff can teach the visitors about, you know, stars 'n stuff. The forty-year-old equipment was broken and replacement parts were no longer available, so the star shows had ceased.

So, McCain - good strategy. Ridicule your opponent for trying to return an important educational opportunity to Chicago.

Other notes on last night's debate:

McCain started making notes as soon as he got to his little barstool. What on earth was he jotting down? "Say something about expensive overhead projectors. Call the audience 'my friends.' Use all your jokes - crowds just love 'em!"
McCain sounds like he's talking to a bunch of nursery school kids at story time. And it's kind of creepy when he gets into the personal space of the audience members.
Obama - specific, specific, detail, detail, detail.
McCain - vague, campaign slogan, my friends, that one, heh heh, I was just joking about bombing Iran - you know, I'm a funny guy!

McCain really annoyed me with his repeated condescending assurances that "I know how" to do this and that. Apparently he knows exactly how to fix social security and it's really easy but he didn't do it during his last 26 years in office and he'll only reward us with his genius if we elect him to the highest office. But fixing Medicaid is more tricky - that's going to take A COMMISSION to sit around doing nothing for a couple of years and then he'll force their recommendations down the throat of Congress because Congress doesn't know how to do anything. And he should know, given his length of time in the legislature.

Did you see how quickly John and Cindy booked it out of the simulated town hall? Oh, and apparently it was simulating a really tiny town. Anyway, Barack and Michelle hung out for quite some time with the audience members who had suffered through an hour and a half of McCain's hooey and rewarded them with handshakes, photo ops and autographs. They outlasted me - they were still doing the meet and greet when I turned off the tv and went to bed.

Flight Delayed

2008-10-03T10:54:00.002-04:00

Too much wind last evening. Going back on Monday.

In other news - Governor Palin, could you please answer the question asked? It's a good thing she's not taking the bar exam. One of the most common errors in the essay portion is not answering the question asked. You can have a perfectly logical, well-reasoned and beautifully written response, but if it's not what the examiners asked, you fail that question.

Flying a What?

2008-10-02T07:36:00.003-04:00

For some cool videos of trikes in action (aka weight shift aircraft, powered hanglider, microlight, ultralight), go to this page. The most informative one is titled AirBorne XT912 and features a couple who do tours and instruction in Hawaii.

Ultralight Flight

2008-10-01T11:15:00.002-04:00

I'm going for an ultralight trike introductory flight lesson tomorrow. Whee!

Outer Banks Photos Galore!

2008-09-29T22:51:00.002-04:00

I assembled all the pictures and videos from my camera phone, PowerShot, Rebel and The Girl's Digital Elph and placed them into sets by day of our trip. All the sets are in one collection. This way you can view them one chunk at a time and not be overwhelmed. Click on the hang glider to go to the main collection page. Each set has an overall description of the topics of that day. Have fun!

Still to come: pictures from the camera attached to the tandem glider. We have to get these developed (35mm).

Ready to Glide

2008-09-26T10:44:00.002-04:00

IMG_1728
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Here I am getting my last instructions before running off the dune and sailing off into the air. Click on the picture to see the whole set, plus two videos of The Girl's first two flights!

We'll get more photos and videos of tomorrow's tandem towed flights.

Hang Gliding Complete!

2008-09-25T19:41:00.002-04:00

We each completed our five flights this afternoon, and had a blast!!!! We each landed flat only once, and the rest of the flights we landed on our feet. The Girl was quite nervous anticipating this activity, but she's ready to sign up for more. On our way home on Saturday, we're each going up for a tandem towed flight, where we'll each go up attached to an instructor's kite and be towed by a little plane or ultralight to 2000 feet, then cut loose for a glide down. Whee!

Oh, and pictures and video to follow today's events.

092508_1213.jpg

2008-09-25T12:14:00.001-04:00

092508_1213.jpg
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Storm view

Big Storm

2008-09-25T11:20:00.003-04:00

Well, many of our planned activities for today are out. The Girl was to golf around 10:00 and I was to get a hot shell massage at 11:00, then I was going to walk around at the Wright Bros. Memorial and hike in Jockey's Ridge State Park. It's pouring and very windy out, so no golf and no outdoor meandering and picture taking. I attempted to drive up Highway 12 (really it's just a two lane residential road, don't let "Highway" fool you) to Duck for my massage but I encountered road flooding and the "High Water" signs along the way. Fearing a repeat of last night's 6 hour imprisonment on Hatteras Island with nothing open, I called The Girl, had her cancel my appointment and headed back to the hotel.

When she called the spa, the woman on the phone responded that "no one else has had any problems..." Well, maybe all your morning clients are staying in the area around the spa, or perhaps they made it in fine but they won't be able to get back when the session is over. At any rate, I wouldn't have been able to relax while worrying about being trapped in Duck while The Girl was stuck in the hotel room (where we are having some leakage around the sliding door of our fourth floor waterfront room).

I came back and checked the forecast, since we still have our appointments for late afternoon hang gliding. The rain and wind are both supposed to let up, and the hang gliding school hasn't yet called to cancel, so we have hope. While at weather.com, I spotted the "coastal flooding" warning, and clicked over to it, to find this:

THE STRONG NORTHEAST TO NORTH WINDS WILL PRODUCE HIGH WATER LEVELS UP TO 6 FEET ABOVE NORMAL ALONG THE NORTHERN OUTER BANKS. THIS WILL LEAD TO OVERWASH ALONG HIGHWAY 12... MAKING IT IMPASSABLE AT TIMES.

Yes - that's HIGHWAY 12!!! On the Norther Outer Banks! Where I was trying to drive this morning but wisely turned around.

Vindicated.

Safe in Kitty Hawk

2008-09-24T23:23:00.002-04:00

For anyone who has been following our travails this evening (with phoned-in posts via Jott), they finally opened route 12 back up and we made our way back to Kitty Hawk. It was quite a drive, though, with the wind (30-45 mph tonight, with gusts up to 50-60) blowing the sand across the road. This was especially fun going over the bridge across Oregon Inlet.

Time for bed. Tomorrow: golf for The Girl, hot shell massage followed by a second trip to the Wright Brothers Memorial and some hiking in Jockey's Ridge State Park, then hang gliding for both of us at 4:00! We were supposed to hang glide today, but with the 40 mph winds they postponed us.

10:25, our night in...

2008-09-24T22:25:00.003-04:00

10:25, our night in Rodanthe is over. We are on our way back to the hotel.
Yay! listen

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Night in Rodanthe. We're...

2008-09-24T21:04:00.001-04:00

Night in Rodanthe. We're still stuck on Hatteras Island. Maybe at 10 PM we'll get off. listen

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The girl and I went...

2008-09-24T16:56:00.001-04:00

The girl and I went out for a driving adventure to Hatteras Island and now we are trapped for a couple of hours because the water is over the road. listen

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092308_1357.jpg

2008-09-23T13:58:00.001-04:00

092308_1357.jpg
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Snake

092208_1849.jpg

2008-09-22T18:51:00.001-04:00

092208_1849.jpg
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Dinner view

092208_0725.jpg

2008-09-22T07:28:00.001-04:00

092208_0725.jpg
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Morning walk

092108_1307.jpg

2008-09-21T13:08:00.001-04:00

092108_1307.jpg
Originally uploaded by RSLS

092108_1242.jpg

2008-09-21T12:43:00.001-04:00

092108_1242.jpg
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Walkies!

092008_1244.jpg

2008-09-20T12:46:00.001-04:00

092008_1244.jpg
Originally uploaded by RSLS

Solio sunroof