where the ocean meets the land

music to my ears

2011-09-12T23:14:00.000-04:00

I've been slacking lately. So here are 4 songs/videos that I've had on repeat for a few weeks. Perhaps you'll like at least 1 of them.

4) The Avett Brothers - St. Joseph's (live from inside a gondola in Jackson Hole, nonetheless):

3) The Whiskey Gentry - The Preacher's Daughter (shameless plug; it's my video):

2) Gillian Welch - Hard Times (set to scenes from the film - Paper Moon):

1) The Head and the Heart - Lost in My Mind:

at the speed of light

2011-08-08T15:34:00.001-04:00

I ordered 2 large canvas prints of my photographs that were shipped via FedEx. Now, I'm not complaining at FedEx, nor am I sitting on the edge-of-my-seat waiting for them to arrive, but I have to share the tracking chart that I've been following for the past week. It's more humoring me if anything. But first, here's the route it had to take:

They have been on a journey from Durham, NC to Atlanta. A mere 6.5 hour journey in ideal driving conditions. It took me 4.5 hours to run a marathon once. I'm not sure if that helps my argument though. Wait, I forgot I'm not arguing because I'm not complaining. Anyway, I know that things don't ship fast, and that's fine, but this is the baffling part:

They both actually made it from Durham to Ellenwood (which is at the perimeter of Atlanta) in 24 hours. Not bad. Actually, impressive considering it was tagged in Charlotte and Greenville along the way. Maybe it even stopped for some Starbucks. Or for a #4 two cheeseburgers-with no cheese-deal at McDonald's. Who knows. Still impressive.

But then it falls apart. And jet lag obviously sat in. They both were bounced around Atlanta to these supposed "smartposts" (whatever those are) from Aug4 until Aug9.

But wait! Today's only Aug8! Very perceptive, readers!

It is with great honor that I announce to the world that FedEx delivers.. in the future! Alas, I actually have no idea if they are going to be on my doorstep when I get home or not at this point. I even had to look at the calendar to make sure it really wasn't Tuesday already also. And I had to make sure Ellenwood was a real city. The jury is still out on that. And does anyone else want something from McDonald's now?

you're crazy

2011-08-07T18:56:00.000-04:00

Today I decided that maybe I should alert the masses of my latest endeavor. This is more for accountability reasons.

Let me present, exhibit A:

It's a graph. And frankly it scares me. I've cropped the units off for the time being because it helps ease my mind. And it's this graph that has provided many folks to say exactly what the title of this post says: you're crazy. Actually, it's more along the lines of, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY CRAZY! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! Well, all but a few have said that.

So, what IS it? I mean, after all it doesn't look that bad. It could just be rain patterns for the Atlanta area over a year. It could be how loud the cicadas have been over the course of 12 hours during the night. It could be a graph of what time I've actually made it into work over the past month. Give up? How about we throw the units back on there. Exhibit B:

It's a graph for a 50k. YOU'RE CRAZY! Ah, I heard someone just say it. Elevation and distance. Meters and miles. 31.1 miles to be exact. I have signed up to run my very first ultramarathon. And from what everyone is saying, it's a tough one. And finally, it's a trail race. And it's in North Georgia, home to some nice hills. Ok, they even call them mountains. But I'm going to stick with calling them hills for now.

And for the record, that hill from mile 3.5 to mile 7 is 2000+ feet straight up. On the plus side, I'll get to descend it at mile 24.

Things that are great about training 5 days a week: the amount of Oreos and potato chips I eat are inconsequential, I seem to eat every 3 hours, and I have become a morning runner and really enjoy it.

What have I done? Many updates to follow. Race day is Nov19.

when the crop comes in

2011-07-27T20:53:00.000-04:00

One day, when I'm old, I want to be in a bluegrass band.

These are great tracks from Chatham County Line if you're in need of a bluegrass fix. They are an up and coming band from the bluegrass-infected eastern NC. Great tunes.

not for the faint

2011-07-19T15:54:00.000-04:00

If you have a trouble reading a true story about animal cruelty (that has a somewhat peaceful conclusion), then stop reading now.

This morning I was running along a short segment of Ponce de Leon Ave (for those not familiar, it's a 4-lane artery near Decatur) before breaking back into the winding neighborhood streets. I hadn't intended to run on that route, nor had I run on it in a while, but at the last second today, I made a left turn instead of a right because I wanted a change in routes.

As I ran on that segment of Ponce, I encountered 2 women/runners who had stopped on the sidewalk. One was on her cell phone, the other was crouched beside a 4-ft tall trashcan that had been wheeled to the curb. They yelled at me to stop. I discovered that someone had placed a full-grown dog in a heavy duty trash bag, tied it off and threw it in the trashcan like it was a piece of useless trash. All we could see were its paws stretched out through the bag. And the dog was alive.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!

I kept saying that over and over out loud.

The woman on the phone called 911 and left. It's unclear if she actually ever called and just wanted to leave the scene. This left the other woman and myself standing along the busy road at 730am with a dog in shock. We drug the trashcan up the hill into a grassy area and ripped the bag open to find a helpless mutt with a badly injured eye, blood all over its neck and face, and a limp. We tried to get the dog to not move, but she wanted to wander around into other yards, slowly. After futile attempts at knocking on many doors, we found some great neighbors who called animal control for us.

Upon returning to the dog, we discovered she had made her way to the front porch of a house--incidentally the same house of the trashcan owners. Things started to make less and less sense. We weren't able to check the collar for information, but clearly the dog knew where she was and she was at her owners. Still no one would come to the door. Around 830am the Dekalb County Animal Services and Enforcement arrived and the woman that helped me decided to leave in a hurry. The dog was put inside the truck and the officer finally got the owner to answer the door. I wrote down my witness statement as he interviewed the owner. A few minutes later, the officer came to tell me that he was calling the police because he "pretty much confessed to putting the dog in the bag and said he thought she was dead by that point" and then they started looking for evidence that the dog had been shot.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!

They didn't arrest him on the spot because they needed to see the extent of the dog's injuries first so I assume they would need more evidence. The dog was becoming restless in the truck at that point so they were off to the vet hospital. In my head, I left knowing that the dog was alive and that the man would more than likely be charged with animal cruelty soon so that helped calm the morning down a bit. I could say a lot more of what I was feeling about the whole thing and how I wanted to throw that man in the trash can for a day to see how it felt, but I'll refrain. I'm really hoping to testify in court so that guy can get the punishment he deserves. Then maybe I can yell at that $*&#%$! idiot.

peppered

2011-07-16T13:54:00.000-04:00

Squirrels - 35, Rob - 4

Seems that rain washes off cayenne pepper from my tomatoes. And this leads to squirrels eating every last one of them. So, now I'm onto the next generation of green ones. And in a last ditch effort, I've moved my heirloom tomato plant inside to my screened in porch where it will receive, oh, about 4 hours of direct sunlight. All for the ONE remaining heirloom green tomato. The rest of my garden is left to fiend for itself.

Luckily, squirrels don't like green bell peppers or basil and those have paid for themselves by now.

My two cucumber plants have yielded more cucumbers than I currently know what to do with (though many have suggested pickling--we'll see how adventurous I'll be).

pepper squirrel

2011-06-29T22:05:00.000-04:00

Tomato update #21:

I. HATE. SQUIRRELS.

It's as simple as that. For a while, I was ok with the squirrel population around my hood. But the past few weeks have been brutal on my tomato population. My count of 30 has drastically been undercut to 10. It started with one or two bright red tomatoes just going MIA. No trace at all. At first I thought maybe my neighbors had helped themselves because they thought I wasn't back from my trip. So, I let it slide.

Then, slowly I started noticing green ones were missing. Surely they couldn't be making that many fried green tomato sandwiches?

And then, as if being taunted, I began to notice half eaten green tomatoes left behind on the porch. And finally, after much speculation, I came home to find a squirrel IN one of my tomato cages eating away at the fruits of my labor. Blasted things!

So all week I have been yelling about squirrels and not really doing anything about them. Thinking maybe they would just go away. But that is obviously not the case. So, tonight I armed myself with cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, vinegar, cheesecloth and a spray bottle (evidence below).

Everything I read said that mixing some ground red pepper and water together and spraying it all over the tomatoes would take care of it. So I took it one step further and doubled the amount of pepper and proceeded to spray so much of it that I failed to realize I was breathing in the mist and subsequently burning my throat. Go figure.

And vinegar and cheesecloth, you might be wondering? Definitely cut it all up, doused it immensely with the vinegar and hung them all over the tomato cages.

Oh and then proceeded to dump coffee grounds all over the containers.

I. Will. Win. This. Battle.

tomatoes, again

2011-06-17T17:14:00.000-04:00

Get out your bartering for dummies book! I've got 24 green/green-ish red/almost fully red tomatoes on the vines (stalks?) currently ripening in a thunderstorm.

Suddenly my container garden has decided to take off all at once. And earlier this week, I picked my first ever grown tomatoes. Not sure why I've never grown them before. I guess in order to make up for it, I planted 9 plants (ok, so I thought half of them would be dead by now so it would be a good risk). The great news comes in pic 2 below.

Heirloom tomatoes!!

so there was this roadtrip to Utah, part 1

2011-06-17T11:39:00.000-04:00

Here's a random selection of Utah. I came back with 850+ photos. After culling the weak ones, I've got it down to 602. There's 120 on my Flickr page for your enjoyment. So. Enjoy. Anticipate a detailed post in the future.

attack of the killer tomatoes

2011-05-25T15:04:00.000-04:00

Last year I received some heirloom tomatoes from Kris and Will's garden. They were, by far, the best tomatoes I've ever eaten. I'm not sure where heirlooms have been hiding for all those years prior. I'm also not sure why when I was growing up and Mom would make BLT sandwiches, I'd only eat B sandwiches. Seriously just two pieces of bread (right out of the bag) and a lot of crispy bacon. Weird kid.

Anyway, back to the point here. This year I decided to have a garden. My "garden" is a container garden. And it seems to be working out well. I originally just wanted 1 tomato plant and 1 pepper plant. And slowly over the past 2 months, I somehow noticed an addiction to wanting to grow my own vegetables. And now I have 9 tomato plants, 4 pepper plants, 2 cucumber plants, 2 basils, 1 rosemary, 1 sage, and 5 herb seedlings that I mistakingly forgot to label.

The first pic is about 2 weeks after I planted about 3/4 of the plants (well, this is just tomatoes and peppers).

The second pic was yesterday. And they are usually a lot more alive than this, but it hasn't rained in Atlanta in what seems like a month. As you can see, one pepper runt has decided to take its time. While the tomato plants have decided to wage war on anything that comes near it--including the ones that I planted too close together. And as of now, I have a handful of small green tomatoes already out there. It just fascinates me. I have a feeling by late June I'll be eating more tomatoes than I know what to do with. Fried green tomato BLTs, anyone?

3 down, 27 to go

2011-04-16T11:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was so great that I not only knocked out the lotto tix but I also accomplished another item on the ol' 30 before 30 list.

#20: join a gym

I'm now a paying member of the local YMCA. Two things are funny about this membership:

1) A friend received an email in JANUARY that said memberships would be 20% off for both the new member and referrer. So, back in January during the snowstorm, this sounded like a great idea. But I procrastinated and said "I'll do that next week." So the weeks passed and finally in APRIL we both get follow up emails saying that the new member has to enroll before April 15 in order to get the 20% off membership. So, naturally I wait until the afternoon of the 15th and I head over there. Not to be outdone, I bought my lotto tickets on the way to joining the gym in the off-chance that I might win thousands and could just outright buy the gym instead.

2) I paid the new member fee and paid for my first month of the gym and promptly got back in my car and went home so I could quickly make it to day one of the three day festival that is nearly in my backyard. So, "I'll start next week" I suppose.

Ever onward (next week)..

2 down, 28 to go

2011-04-15T15:35:00.000-04:00

Today I present you with my winnings in my latest quest of 30 before 30.

#9: buy 30 lotto tickets in one day

It actually started back on my birthday weekend where I found myself in a liquor store buying a bottle of Tequila and I decided I needed to buy 3 scratch off tickets at a $1 a piece. So that little $3 investment yielded me $24 in return winnings. I quickly saw how playing the lottery was addicting. So that winning ticket sat on my kitchen counter for nearly 2.5 months until today when I realized I would be driving by that same liquor store. Not sure why I decided I needed to return to the same one, but nevertheless, I did.

I was disappointed when I realized the same scratch-offs were no longer available, but I settled for buying 30 $1 tickets of the first roll I saw--something with a leprechaun on it. I was also feeling rushed because someone was in line behind me.

So, I bought $30 worth of 30 lottery tickets, paid for it with my $24 earnings, and really spent $6. My winnings, however, equaled $15 plus 5 free new tickets ($1 value). So technically I won $20 in return! This is where math gets hazy. If I were traveling on an airplane east with these tickets and someone else was traveling on a train headed west, what is the average velocity that my tickets would make it to Dallas before the train--ah! word problems!--regardless, I consider myself a winner.

Ever onward..

1 down, 29 to go

2011-03-14T15:18:00.000-04:00

In my 30 before 30 list, I definitely used a few 'fillers' to get my list to 30 things. Despite #28 being one of those, I have to say it was more difficult than I thought. But, without any delay, I have officially knocked 1 item off the list with 11 months remaining.

#28: 30 days without pizza

For those that know my pizza addiction, you'll know it was a big deal. I've apparently blogged about pizza quite a few times in the past years. Meaningful posts include: falling up a stairwell with pizza in hand and failing to remove the cardboard under the pizza prior to baking it. Fail. But alas, 30 days have passed and I'm sadly not craving pizza as I thought I would be. I think it was because I was eager to check off an item on the list.

That's not to say that I haven't saved pizza restaurant coupons or purposefully run by Fellini's on several occasions to see the folks eating their giant slices on the patio.

Secret to my success: filling the void with potato chips. Should've put 30 days without potato chips on this list. I had 4 different bags of chips in my cupboard last week.

Ever onward!

tossed like a flapjack

2011-03-08T15:46:00.000-05:00

In a return to my normal posting about how the Atlanta newspaper (the AJC) continues to keep me on my toes, here's the latest. Today while perusing the major headlines, I saw this great photo with the headline that students were tossed from a debate.

Only, the pic they chose makes it look like they were literally tossed--over the steps inside the Capitol. I genuinely clicked on the article to see how far they had fallen.

FAIL.

life of pizza

2011-03-04T11:12:00.001-05:00

I've gone 21 days without eating pizza. This is despite numerous attempt from friends to derail me and tempt me with pizza (frozen, by the slice, and/or delivery). But I'm holding strong! I am well on my way to knocking off one item from my 30 before 30 list--whew, bout time.

I can't help but laugh, however, because Mom will continue to say that she had to force me to eat pizza when I was a kid. Talk about a picky eater! This was before I started hiding my vegetables in napkins under the cabinets behind my chair, of course. That did not go over well after it was all found.

I'm glad I didn't have anything about quitting coffee on my list because I particularly look forward to my Fridays-Sundays mornings of coffee. Why those days? Because I'm not standing in a kitchen waiting for the ice cube in my coffee to melt so I can chug my cup of coffee in 10 minutes or less so I can quickly brush my teeth, put my invisaligns back in and race off to work where I'm already 30+ minutes late because I snoozed 7 times. That's on a good day.

Ah well, come October, maybe I can begin to enjoy all my mornings again with extended coffee hours. But for now, there's nothing like a pressed cup and relaxing at the table on a cool March Friday morning.

30 before 30

2011-02-07T17:16:00.000-05:00

For the past 2 months I have been devising a plan. Today I'm unveiling it.

I have developed a list of 30 things I want to do before I turn 30. I now have 364.5 days to complete this list as today is my 29th birthday. How I have turned 29 without knowing it, I'm not quite sure. But let's just run with it and not question that.

I did ask several folks to help with the idea process as I began to struggle with how to find 30 things because my list was getting a bit adventurous. And they did draw my attention to the fact that my list is a bit costly. Regardless, while this list is concrete today, I do exercise the right to edit as needed in the near future if I see fit. Really that just gets me out of a plane ticket or two, I think. Behold, the list:

1 run a 2nd marathon

2 have straight teeth

3 walk a corn maze

4 be able to id 30 trees

5 sell a photograph

6 get a PR on a half marathon

7 buy a bike

8 visit all GA 159 counties in one trip

9 buy 30 lotto tickets in one day

10 hike in Yosemite

11 read A Short History of Nearly Everything

12 buy coffee for the person behind me

13 be able to id 30 birds

14 run a trail half marathon

15 go rock-hounding again

16 visit all 50 states (AK, CT, HI, MA, ME, MI, NE, NH, NY, RI, VT)

17 take swim lessons

18 learn to, and attempt to, fly fish

19 see the aurora borealis

20 join a gym

21 summit the top 10 GA peaks

22 brew beer

23 run 30 miles

24 learn a song on the guitar

25 visit 30 state parks in GA

26 get a PR on a 10k

27 pay off credit card debt

28 30 days without eating pizza

29 climb a continuous vertical mile in a day by trail

30 visit canada--specifically moosejaw

Ah well, I'll report back on each of these 30 things as they occur. So, in an effort to rejuvenate the blog and keep the audience happy, you can check back on me throughout the year. Hopefully I succeed in life.

While I look at the list as something creative to get me through the next year, I also figured it might get others to make their own lists. Not really for 30 as 3/4 of my friends are already 30 or approaching it rapidly this year. But it couldn't hurt.

week 10: grills

2010-12-18T11:09:00.000-05:00

So it's been 10 weeks with the Invisaligns. I've decided nowadays to just call them my grills. Just not as fancy. And not made of gold or platinum. Ok they are far from grills but it sounds better than what I have been saying every time I go to dinner: "hold on, let me take out my teeth." I was actually getting quite used to saying that and even getting a kick out of it, but it seems that the friends were thinking it was weird. Fine, fine.

Things are still going great. I don't really notice much change except that my teeth seem to be spacing out more and more on the bottom. I keep telling myself this is so they have room to move once things start moving into their real place. Sounds logical to me. And now for the fun stuff..

I've been back to the ortho twice to have several teeth contacts filed with what I can only describe is a thin piece of double-sided sandpaper. I know, sounds like a fun time, doesn't it? Surprisingly it's not too bad until there's contact with my gum. Then I squirm and nearly jump out of my chair.

And then there are the dreams. In this week alone, I have had 2 dreams about my teeth: one where I was late for my appointment and they yelled at me and the second where I drank hot tea and my teeth melted.

It's tough, I know.

#1 threat to america: bears

2010-11-21T13:53:00.000-05:00

This is my latest dream from last night, which I didn't remember until a very weird reminder sparked my memory.

I was staying at a cabin in the mountains with some friends and decided to take a station wagon to another cabin for some reason. I heard rumors that bears were present and to be careful, but I was feeling brave, I suppose. But I recall as soon as I got out of the car, a bear chased me into the cabin and I jumped up on a table. From there, it was very similar to a childhood game of "quicksand" where I wasn't able to step on the floor, but could walk around on all the furniture. And somehow the bear wasn't able to get me even though I was merely inches from it.

I quickly realized that I was without my bear spray and felt doomed. Feeling completely helpless and no where to turn, of all people, Jamie Lee Curtis walks into the cabin and scares the bear away. And that is all I remember.

Yep. That's right. Talk about a nightmare!

What's even more strange is that I was reminded of my dream by something that happened on my phone earlier. While playing a game, the game froze and my phone sort of went bizerk for a few seconds. The screen went black and then a picture of the mess-with-your-mind-dream movie, Inception, appeared. Talk about freaky timing. After a few more seconds it finally went away and I was left sitting there laughing about someone planting Jamie Lee Curtis into my dream to fight bears.

I mean, it's completely logical, right?

storm of the storms

2010-10-27T12:58:00.000-04:00

I mean, really, just look at the size of that storm! The storm that is affecting nearly 2/3 of the country is breaking lowest pressure readings all over the northern midwest too. It's being compared to decent-sized hurricanes even (due to the pressure and wind).

Just look at that! Ahh, I'm in the wrong profession.

week 2 = camping and dentures

2010-10-25T15:02:00.000-04:00

Week 2 with Invisaligns proved to be much better than the first week. Though I think it had more to do with me getting used to these things. However, I have found myself with a medicine cabinet that is overstocked with most of the dental products from the aisle at Publix. Last night I had to laugh when I found myself comparing brands of denture cleaner. As a 28-year old, standing there, comparing, I started to feel a bit of anxiety and paranoia as I wondered what others were thinking. "Why is HE buying denture cleaner?" "What's his problem?" "Gosh, he's lame."

For the record, the "dual action" Publix brand was very refreshing. Though for the life of me, I could not figure out what the dual part was referring to because it did not say, nor did I notice 2 things happening when I plopped that little tablet into an old mug with my starting-to-look-disgusting trays. But it did the trick. And on a sidenote, the back of the box says that the tablets can be used for dentures, and also 'denture appliances' which I took to mean Invisaligns. Obviously.

So where was I.. 28-yr old.. dentures..

Oh, fifteen minutes later, I realize I have purchased more dental supplies than actual food (this is becoming a trend) and I got a kick out of my kitchen counter when I got home and unloaded my prizes.

This is my life now. Sad, but true. Sensitive toothpaste, whitening mouthwash that's not even for my teeth, emergency toothbrushes, and floss, floss, floss.

I did go hiking and camping over the weekend which proved to be an interesting feat with these things. And I'm glad that my friends are ok with the fact that I can floss my teeth while sitting around a campfire and not care. And not care when my trays are sitting in their case next to the water jugs. But I will say, I was happy to get home and use that dual action effervescent. And that I was not attacked by any bears. Another success.

So this morning I put in the next 2 trays and slowly throughout the day, my face feels like it's compressing. Admittedly, it wasn't the immense torture that I had read/heard it was going to be, but there's definitely pressure. Ever onward..

week 1 = weak one

2010-10-19T09:29:00.000-04:00

ba dun dun

Well, I figure now as a good a time as any to share my latest and greatest endeavor.

You may have read in the past year that I have a newfound joy of revisiting my childhood fear of going to the dentist. Only now, as an adult, the technology (or maybe the dentists) are a lot better and I don't have that fear anymore. In fact, I just plain like going to the dentist. And they don't even have to bribe me with stickers. Though the pre-filled, one-time-use toothbrushes I got to use are pretty cool. But wasteful, I know. Ok, back to the news..

Last month I finally got the nerve to sit down for an orthodontics consult. And would you believe, I'm now the owner of Invisalign ... braces. Though I am trying really hard not say I have ... braces. Mostly because they aren't braces, they are thin, clear, plastic trays. And if I hadn't of pointed them out to the select few that have seen them so far, they wouldn't have noticed either. Ok, but really, I have braces.

With having these plastic trays in my mouth, day in and day out, I have realized that it makes for life to be so much more interesting and funny along the way. So much, that I decided that I am confident enough to post some stories on here now. Also, more so because I wanted to document this 12-month ordeal. Don't worry, I will not be showing before pictures of my teeth because that is just plain gross. In my research, I looked at way too many before and after pictures and it's disgusting. So maybe you'll just see the after. I mean, if you know me, you've probably seen my teeth already anyway.

As for the progression, I had my consult mid-Sept and then lo and behold, was being fitted for trays an hour afterward. The whole fitting of trays was quite funny because it was pretty much and hour of dry mouth and berry-flavored paste that formed impressions of my teeth. And for someone that's self-conscious of their teeth, it was quite the ordeal to have your teeth x-rayed, photographed, impressioned, examined, stared at, etc. But I got over it. Mainly because I got to watch tv in the room while it was all happening. Exactly 4 weeks later I got the call that my trays had arrived.

So, last Monday, I started the 12-month festivities. I didn't realize that there was more to it than just getting the trays and leaving. In order for the trays to 'snap' onto your teeth, they have to place white 'buttons' (for lack of a better word) onto several side teeth. I was fine with this, but good grief, your mouth has to be completely dry and wide open while this is happening and the guard they put in your mouth holds your tongue so you can't move it. So pretty much after 5 minutes (of the 20 minutes) I just start laughing uncontrollably. In retrospect, I should have taken a photo with my phone. They would have gotten a kick out of that. Quite a sight, I imagine.

Buttons complete, I finally got to see my first pair of trays. For those not familiar, the trays are 2-week fittings (upper and lower) and you simply replace with a new pair. So every 2 weeks I will be in a lot of pain because each tray applies more and more pressure to move stubborn teeth into place. It's really an interesting process. So they are snapped in and immediately I feel like what I can only imagine my mouth turning into Teenwolf. I was told to practice taking them out in the office so I could get a feel of how it works. But after 10 minutes, nothing seemed to be working and I was under the assumption that they would be in my mouth forever. Finally I got the lower tray out, the assistants came back, and then I lied and said I got both of them out so I could go home.

Convinced that I was never going to eat again, I took some ibuprofen and went to sleep. Luckily, my stomach took precedence in this situation and I woke up hungry for my 3-hr late lunch. The trays have to be worn around 22+ hours a day, and have to come out when eating and when drinking anything but water*. (I have discovered white wine and not too dark beer are exceptions, thankfully) After some convincing and psyching myself out staring into the mirror, I snapped them off my teeth after about 10 minutes wrangling. With 100% confidence in saying, I thought I was going to pull my teeth out. Fast forward to a week later, and I can safely say that now I can now get them out in 30 seconds flat. It's like I'm on NASCAR pit row.

I'm not going to get too excited as I know next Monday when the new trays go in, I'll be back to whining like a 5-year old and skipping meals. As for these meals, that's another story. I find myself only eating 3 times a day. My snack drawer at work is useless now. Though when I do take them out, I gorge on everything in sight. On the other hand, I don't really want to eat half the time and my dental hygiene is PHENOMENAL. I never thought I'd see the day where I floss and brush THREE times a day. It took some getting used to, but I'm good to go now. I do find myself in awkward situations where I have to put them back in in public or brush my teeth in public (have to brush every time before). Including the Cracker Barrel parking lot on a Sunday afternoon. If you would like to get me Christmas presents, flossing picks and sensitive toothpaste are recommended because I'm churning through my supplies.

So, week 1 = complete

One pro = the pain subsides after a few days of new trays.
One con = chugging hot coffee with ice cubes in the morning so I can brush my teeth before I put them back in and leave for work.

happy birthday, where the ocean meets the land!

2010-10-18T15:02:00.000-04:00

The weekend came and went so fast that I almost forgot to wish the ol' 6-year old blog a happy birthday. Cannot believe that this has lasted 6 years. And even though I don't post as often as I used to, I realize that most of my audience uses Google Reader or some other RSS feed and that makes me feel alright. Because then my posts are ready for you without you having to check my blog all the time. And if you ever feel the need for a good laugh, just thumb through the archives. The first year had some good ones.

Wow, so 6 years ago Reader wasn't even around. Heck, in Oct 2004, Gmail was barely even on the scene and it was still invite only. And I was still fresh out of undergrad wandering around without a clue as to what I wanted to be when I grew up. Well, some things never change.

And yet here I am, still providing the world a glimpse into what I find interesting, funny, annoying, sad, awkward, and whatever else I can relate to. And some of you are still reading. So to those, I say thanks, and cheers to many more years. Who knows, maybe in another 6 years, maybe my posts will be generated onto little screens on refrigerators or onto our watches. Or.. ok, this is getting out of hand.

Happy 6 years!

sunsets and weddings

2010-10-17T23:35:00.000-04:00

thought this was worthy of the blog. if only fall lasted longer than a month in the south. maybe i could take more pics like this one.

Landon and Ashley's wedding, Long Creek, SC

don't stop believin the midnight train

2010-09-23T12:40:00.001-04:00

for those that have been fortunate enough to experience the 5 points train station here in Atlanta, you would have appreciated this. i was walking back from lunch and cut across the top of the station where the pigeons always flock to because, for some reason, people continually feed the rats of the sky ALL THE TIME. this, in itself, always baffles me because there is a high density of homeless people also in this area and yet they feed the birds. what gives?

so there i was, walking along, bypassing the pigeon spectacle as usual and i hear the Pips. the Pips?! i mean, Gladys Knight and the Pips were from Atlanta and all, but dang...

i was definitely hearing the background vocals to Midnight Train to Georgia.

go, gonna board, gonna board
gonna board the midnight train to georgia

but alas, it was a homeless man. not the Pips. and he was sitting in the middle of the pigeons eating something and just a singin' away. not sure he was completely all there. mostly because as i was singing along (in my head) he abruptly changed the lyrics on me and the next verse was:

i see her in a smoky room
smell of wine and cheap perfume

and ask any karaoke goer and you'll recognize Don't Stop Believin' any ol' day.

maybe it was just a day for inspirational songs. maybe he was just enjoying the pigeon spectacle that was before him. maybe he's the smartest person we could ever meet. or maybe it was candid camera.

i'll never know, but i feel like he was important to the folks passing through 5 points today.

partly cloudy with a chance of a major hurricane

2010-09-17T11:11:00.000-04:00

Nerd alert. But seriously, just look at that satellite image. 3 hurricanes (far west, the obvious one, and small one far east). Just fascinating to see. And to note that overnight that little one (Karl) near Mexico's coastline was the strongest one ever recorded in that area since record-keeping began. And that giant one (Igor) was a Cat. 4 at one point and is destined for the needle in the haystack that is Bermuda.

That's all. Just making you aware that weather is all around us even when it's not affecting us.

all for soup

2010-08-26T13:51:00.002-04:00

Sitting at one of my favorite lunch restaurants, I witnessed quite the scene involving just how much trash some folks use. Not that I'm saying I don't still throw things away, but I definitely at least try to be environmentally conscious. Or at least, I'd like to think of myself as more environmentally conscious than this particular woman:

She ordered 2 soups in styrofoam cups.

Soup was too hot, so they both went into second styrofoam soup cups.

Both sets of soup then received plastic lids.

To prevent spillage, each lid was then wrapped in plastic wrap.

To further prevent spillage, the entire container (each) was wrapped (swaddled?) in a giant mound of plastic wrap.

Each soup monstrosity was then placed in individual paper bags.

Both bags were then placed into, not one, but TWO plastic "thank-you" bags.

Follow it up with a spoon and a fork--why, a fork, I still don't know, various amounts of napkins, and about 20 packs of individually wrapped crackers.

And she's done. But not before breaking in line where her friend was holding her place while this took place.

I must have sat there staring with a glazed look for the entire 3 minutes that this was playing out in front of me.

4 styrofoam cups + 2 plastic lids + ~4 feet of plastic wrap + 2 paper bags + 2 plastic bags = soup for lunch

She better have been going to ride a rollercoaster at Six Flags with that soup.

an entire post about bugs

2010-08-25T10:35:00.000-04:00

For the most part, I live a calm life. Every so often, life gets interrupted by random things like palmetto bugs. And that's when my life turns into chaos and my mornings are thrown off completely.

I've been thinking a lot about these palmetto bugs lately. I don't recall EVER seeing them growing up in the 18 years that I lived on a farm in Cross Anchor. Never. We had the occasional german roaches and the spiders and such, but where were the palmetto bugs? And then I move to Columbia (ahem, 10 years ago) and it was a game of who could kill them before they made it under the couch. This was about once every two weeks or so. I remember seeing them dart under the door at ol' 1200 Henderson, get the deer-in-headlights glaze, then bolt for some sort of shelter.

Cue my transition to Atlanta (ahem, 5 years ago) and it's like they've followed me. Though usually, I'd only see them in the Spring and Fall after having the windows open all day. It was more like one a month, if that. And they were generally wall crawlers scurrying in through the open window to escape the impending cool night only to be greeted by me, a can of Raid and a running shoe. Except for that one time I found one in my dryer, dead, after drying my clothes. And I had to wonder if it also made it through the wash cycle too. On second thought, I'd rather try to forget that case.

And now here I am in Decatur, loving my calm apartment in my cozy neighborhood and all of the sudden, I've seen 10 in a month. Granted, I might be seeing the same one over and over as I'm convinced that when I spray one with half a can of Raid, it probably never really dies..just retreats to a corner and regenerates into a more powerful, and larger bug. And repeat.

So I took all the precautions. No food was left out. Ever. I've even started drying my sink before I leave so there's no water source. I sprayed home defense mind-altering pesticides. And then, I bought extra large roach poison traps. And suddenly, everything was good again. A week went by without any sign of one. The war was nearly over (or at least until this fall when the windows are open).

Until this morning. When I was walking around post-run, hurriedly getting myself together for work and I walk into the kitchen and step on something. I kept walking but then something triggered in my mind to stop and think about what just happened. I turned around and at first, saw nothing. But then there it was.. sure enough.. a writhing palmetto bug with one leg laying beside it. LUCKILY, I had stepped on it while still wearing my running socks. Whew. And in typical palmetto bug fashion, one step does not kill it. Oh no, it takes multiple attempts. And the blasted thing escaped under the fridge before I could kill it. So I got all mad and kicked its leg under the fridge for good measure.

Never a dull moment for me, I find myself on my hands and knees spraying a constant stream of Raid under the fridge. After a while I can hear it moving under there but no visual sign. 20 minutes later, I'm again hurriedly getting myself out the door, already late for work and there it goes! Bolting with a gimp (down one leg but still going strong) from the fridge to under a shelf! I had deja-vu as I definitely killed one here a few weeks ago. Never fear, I drowned it in Raid and left it on the floor so the 'others' can see what will happen if they try to mess with my kitchen.

I'm not a mean guy, I'll occasionally trap some bugs and release them into the yard. But I have to put my foot down (ha!) on these. And spiders. And bears.

This is not the first time I've blogged about my encounters: I've dealt with them while exercising and I've also fed them to spiders in the past. So, the score is now: Palmetto Bug - 23, Me - 3

oh my

2010-08-16T22:15:00.000-04:00

Oh Wachovia, you shouldn't have! No, really.

Sigh.

because I knew you needed to laugh today

2010-08-03T09:36:00.000-04:00

For a while now (talking, years) I have been waking up in the middle of the night craving orange juice. So I usually oblige and stumble into the dark kitchen, await the evil refrigerator light to blind me, and chug enough juice until my teeth are too cold. Lately, I've discovered Simply Lemonade and this has taken the Simply Orange's place of 2am cravings. And last night was no exception. Until I woke up a 2nd time and needed another chug.

So there I go stumbling into the kitchen, blinded by the light, cold teeth, close the door and head back to bed. Only, as I go to lay down, I completely overshoot the bed parameters and fall right off the corner effectively causing myself to do a somersault, head-first to the floor in between the bed and some unpacked boxes. I imagine this to be quite the thing to see, but it was complete darkness and I'm happy not knowing exactly how it looked.

My reaction time was well off as I had no idea what was happening until I heard the loud thump and I was down for the count. I'm hoping this was how I did not further injure myself as I didn't tense up expecting the hit.

But alas, I did injure myself. There's a scratch on my shoulder which took most of the impact. And then there's my left foot. Which feels like I sprained it. During my replay of the event, my foot either hit the arm of the chair really hard or it went over my head and hit an open drawer of the dresser. I like the latter because it would make the image complete. And a lot more funny.

And there you have the story of a 28-yr old falling out of his bed at 2am.

all in a days work

2010-07-26T17:26:00.001-04:00

It occurred to me that after having this conversation with Julia earlier, a stranger might have to look puzzled:

Me: totally fed my worms yesterday, by the way. i felt bad about leaving them for so long without something
Julia: ha. how were they looking?
Me: their smiles were glowing.
Julia: ha.
Me: truly amazing site to witness.

I got my composting worms back!

i gather all the news i need on the weather report

2010-07-19T14:10:00.000-04:00

things i learned in the AJC, Atlanta's newspaper (online, of course), today:

-people call 911 to check the time (seriously)
-an 18-yr old girl got botox because she wanted to be on a hit tv show
-some pit bulls were not rabid
-"Ohio to test Chia Pet-like sound wall" (verbatim headline)
-Pierce Brosnan is selling his home for $3.9 billion
-Mel Gibson is not moving to Australia
-and according to some 'officials', bear sightings pose little threat (!)

this is all news on the homepage. news! why do i still check and refresh this page time and time again? purely for laughs these days.

tunes tunes tunes

2010-06-04T08:40:00.000-04:00

I'm overdue for an itunes top25 play count list. I enjoy numbers too much. And apparently Van Morrison and alt-country too.

and it was all yellow

2010-05-31T23:11:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it's just the small things that make you smile.

in full stride

2010-05-17T23:14:00.001-04:00

Today I found myself in Greensboro, NC doing some work shadowing on inspections. After standing in the rain for a while, staring at gas pumps, and actually enjoying it, I discovered that this little Mom and Pop store I was at was actually pretty cool. After talking to the owners for an hour, I basically learned their whole life history completely unsolicited. Growing up in rural SC, I definitely felt a connection with them. Somehow the topic turned to bluegrass. I'm never one to turn down a discussion about that. And lo and behold, they have bluegrass pickin' sessions on Monday nights in the cool barn out back that was built for such occasions.

Seriously?!

You can probably guess where this story is going.

So, of course I head back over there after work to see what it was all about. And it was awesome. I could live in that barn. And bluegrass could be the soundtrack of my life. There were about 12 folks ranging from 20 to 80 in years and every pickin' instrument you could imagine. Even down to a cigarbox license plate 3-string dobbro. There were traditional songs, old hymns, standards, a few contemporary ones; you name it! And grandmas dancing! I can't make this stuff up if I tried. They were happy to see us return and even announced us to the crowd as "those boys from Atlanta". Famous! Even got a free shirt!

Definitely worth the Monday night if you are ever in central NC. Little Cedar is the name. Tell 'em I sent you.

sbux and bleach

2010-04-29T10:17:00.000-04:00

Today while perusing my favorite [shaking head no] Atlanta newspaper online, I noticed this picture:

And 100% truth, my immediate first reaction was "wow, the Where's Waldo truck overturned on I-20! This is great!"

So I casually clicked on the link and read a few sentences just to see what was really going on with this carnage and lo and behold I discover this gem:

"The eastbound tractor-trailer, carrying chlorine tablets, bleaches, Starbucks coffee and coffee cups, and other materials, ran off the interstate and overturned about 5:30 a.m. A hazardous materials team from the Newton County Fire Department responded."

Yep. You read that correctly. Sbux and bleach transported together. While I'm sure this is probably all fine and safe in the world because of packaging, etc., it still plants that little voice in my head saying "really, coffee and bleach riding together in a tractor trailer?"

As for Waldo, I'm still unsure what is going on with that. He's got a lot of explaining to do.

plaid

2010-04-18T11:46:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning realizing I had sleepwalked last night. I didn't remember it until I saw a plaid button-down shirt laying on the floor next to the bed and then it kinda hit me all at once. Not sure what, or where, I was doing/going, but I do remember looking at my phone and seeing 236am, walking into the kitchen to get some OJ, only I had water. And I remember finding that plaid shirt and putting it on before I went anywhere.

My next thought was to check my doors and see if they were unlocked or if my keys were still in place. Luckily everything was intact and I didn't actually leave my apartment. That would have been horrible (or hilarious!). Either way, I'm a plaid sleepwalker, I suppose. Who knew.

Too bad I didn't use that time to do some laundry, pay some bills and catch up on some reading that has piled up on the coffee table.

In other news, I saw the Carolina Chocolate Drops last night and would highly recommend giving them a listen. Great, great band from NC. A little traditional bluegrass, complete with spoons, autoharp, and whiskey jugs. Found this video:

it's summer, i mean spring!

2010-04-09T23:14:00.000-04:00

I was told that I need to post more. I'm glad that after 5.5 years, the audience still expects posts. Makes me happy. It's been a busy month, or three. But I would like to promote spring. There was this sudden moment of everything turning green over the weekend, which led to so much pollen, the ground, and my car, don't know what to do with it all. But alas, spring means horse racing in KY at Keeneland as seen below from last weekend. A stormy morning turned into a great afternoon at the races. Even if I lost all the $2 bets I put down!

And spring also means bocce. Hooray!

unstoppable

2010-03-20T10:06:00.000-04:00

3 years ago I ran my first half marathon--the inaugural ING Georgia Half.

Tomorrow I'll run the same half. It'll be my 7th half marathon in three years. I had to count that a few times.

As you can see, 3 years ago, it was a warm race:

And despite the balmy 70+ deg temperatures the past two days and amazing blue skies, tomorrow will be a humid, 50+ deg day with scattered showers turning into t-storms later on. Go figure. I guess you can't really know what to expect with spring weather. Regardless, this will go along perfectly with my uncanny record of running races in the rain. Update tomorrow.

Ever onward..

so don't let the outside fool you

2010-03-11T17:46:00.000-05:00

My days are full. It's the oddest thing. I remember the month changed to March, but for some reason it didn't really register in my mind. I'm constantly tired. But it's a good tired. Why. Oh. Right. So I started the P90X workout 19 days ago. You may have seen it on an informercial. Anyway, it's intense. 90 consecutive days of an hour (cept for one 1.5hr) long workouts that can be done at home. Sometimes it's painful. Sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I love it. Every day I say "ok, that one was the worst workout" and then the next day I realize how much worse that one is, and then it becomes a cycle. I do know that I always feel good afterwards. And then I eat potato chips. And then I feel even better.

I substituted the 'legs' workout for my long distance running. But really, I just didn't want to feel like my legs were going to fall off for an hour. I'll take running an hour any day over one day off of P90X. Which brings me back to reality as I am also training for my second marathon (Jun12) and I'm pretty sure that my body is just going to collapse from fatigue one of these days. So I could say that P90X is cross training for the marathon.

HA--I wish.

So the triple bottom line:

I scored P90X for free (for those that just googled it and saw the outrageous price)
I am building muscle.
I am tired.

61 days to go.

worried man blues

2010-02-20T10:38:00.001-05:00

Saw Packway Handle Band last night. Incredible bluegrass! They played a 2 hour set to a sold-out crowd. And then played a 1.5 hour set immediately afterward. Can't beat that.

Good video:

trading joe

2010-02-15T20:41:00.000-05:00

Trader Joe's market and I have a rough past. If it weren't for two buck chuck wine (which incidentally is $2.79 in Atl) and for a wide selection of whole bean coffee, I'd probably not visit it as often.

First, it was the lack of the best cookies ever--before Christmas had even arrived.

Then, the winter blend coffee was gone before it was really even winter.

And today, while enjoying my last federal holiday until MAY, I suddenly had a craving for the bbq chicken pizza from there. So, I go. And they don't have it. And if that wasn't enough, someone came up to help me while I was standing over the other pizzas and actually said "oh, you should buy the bbq chicken one". I definitely told him how funny that was that an employee was telling me to buy something that wasn't available.

WHY!?

Somehow I ended up spending $39 regardless.

Rough life, I know.

feeling old part #28

2010-02-08T22:15:00.000-05:00

A recent birthday added another candle on the cake (although I don't really know if the candles on my real cake added up to 28 after all). So if a birthday wasn't enough to make me feel old, I also recently got my first 10-yr reunion invite. TEN YEARS.

Hopefully now you all feel just as old because I know you're adding up how long you've been out of high school. What? Ran out of fingers on two hands to count? Break out that TI-89 graphing calculator that you never use anymore. y=mx+b, what?! Ah, there's an abacus in the back.

And if THAT wasn't enough to make me feel old, I answered an unknown ATL number tonight only to realize I had fallen into the give your alma mater money because you make a salary now and you should have money to give us! trap. And I was called "Mr." and "sir". Seriously?

And just for that I didn't give them my money. Well that and the fact that I'm paying off student loans.

Alas, another birthday and life goes on. Still not 30 yet though!

update

2010-02-05T11:59:00.000-05:00

I mean seriously, the dentist office continues to amaze me. The secretary just called me to ask how everything is going today post-refilling the 'filling'. Who are these people and where have they been all this time?

Are they real?

like a day at the beach

2010-02-04T15:05:00.002-05:00

about my recent visit to the dentist today..

For starters, I absolutely hated the dentist until 2 weeks ago. In fact, I avoided the dentist all together for the past, ahem, years. But, since I have dental insurance, I figured the time had come to face my fear. So, I went and actually enjoyed it. I had to go back today for a follow-up and some other stuff.

Today I learned I have 3 fillings that I never knew were there. Apparently no one knew I had them either. Where did they come from? Had to have been aliens--there's really no other explanation. But all through my life, I've exclaimed that I had never had a cavity--supposedly I was wrong. It's really very confusing. So then there was the sudden talk of needles and numbing and 'don't eat for an hour' and I began to feel the fear creeping back into me. Lucky for me, it was just a close call and I escaped without any of the above. Instead they had to repair one of those fillings.. with more filling.

And this is where I started thinking about the dentist a lot. Because really what else are you to do while they are over your face. It's hard not to stare at them. I could only read the warning label on the vent above me so many times. Why do they floss my teeth after they are done? Is it to show me how easy flossing is? I floss every night (now)! Why do they talk to you while you can't answer?

Well, during today's cleaning I was told that afterwards it was going to feel like I had been at the beach all day. Very confused by this, I was unable to ask why, and had to sit there pondering that. What about this was beach-related? I deduced that there was grit in my mouth. Sand? What on earth is going on? No, that's gone. Still no beach. Cleaning was complete and I sat up and scratched my forehead. And that's when I realized that my face was covered in grit. Ah--felt like a sand blasted day on a windy beach! But then I started thinking about how it was winter and I wasn't at the beach.

I also realized that I really have no idea what is going on when I'm there. They could probably tell me that all my teeth need to be taken out and I'd happily oblige and hand them my insurance card and my debit card and say go for it! The fear is gone!

train v tornado

2010-01-23T11:34:00.002-05:00

This is one heck of a video. Kind of like a horror movie.

bolt

2010-01-10T15:06:00.003-05:00

It doesn't take much to embarrass me, but on Saturday afternoon I had the opportunity to do just that. Despite the sub-freezing temperatures, leftover snow and ice all over the sidewalks and roads, I decided that I could endure a mediocre run through the neighborhood. After about 20 minutes, I decided that it was a stupid idea because I spent more time dodging icy patches and stopping to walk around larger skating rinks, so I turned around and started running back to my apt. Feeling like I hadn't really conquered this run, I started sprinting up the big hill in front of the nearby park. And then it happened.

I felt a slight trip. But I did the ever-popular instinct of taking a giant step to regain my footing. That didn't help. I was destined to fall. And before I knew it, I faceplanted into the sidewalk for my very first fall while running. I'm not even sure what happened during the fall, but after it was all over, I found myself sitting backwards, facing the opposite direction. My first reaction was not to see my injury, but to look for who saw this mishap. Luckily, there was only one car driving by. Whatever. I got up, surveyed my injuries, noticed the blood on my knee, my left hand, and realized I needed to just give up and head home. Then I noticed the woman walking her dog who approached me to ask how I was. I told her to watch out for the ice. Only, I hadn't even tripped on the ice. I had tripped on the dry sidewalk.

The amount of emotions that follow after falling are quite amazing. I went from confused, disappointed in myself, in pain, and then laughter. I was then mad at my lame attempt at running, so after walking a block, I sprinted the last 2 blocks uphill, just to regain some confidence. And more because I was in need of some peroxide. I also discovered, with the help of hot water, that I have a sidewalk burn on my left leg.

Needless to say, I've taken the day off from running.

about that anxious run

2010-01-08T09:30:00.003-05:00

Update: ran in the snow yesterday. It was cold.

I pass other runners in these cold days. And everyone is quick to wave and say hi as if to say "yes! another crazy runner like me!"

So there's a nice 1/2 inch out there. Enough to cause panic. Enough to close schools. Enough to make me forget about the cold weather for a while.

And then the Weather Ch plays the Allman Brothers Band on the Weather on the 8s and life is good.

Ok enough about the weather. Just had to rant.

on running

2010-01-06T11:07:00.001-05:00

yesterday was, by far, the coldest run of my life. it's really just plain cold. not much more i can describe. i've run in some cold weather before. i'm recalling a 5k four years ago (kris?) where it was sleeting with cold rain. a wintry mix, if you will. the only thing i had to keep me going yesterday was getting to run before it was dark! amazing how just a few seconds of daylight every day can really make a difference in the days getting longer. always amazes me that i train in the winter for a race in the spring.

oh, and a new pair of shoes.

though when i bought them, i was told that my left foot is a good size smaller than my right. then i was told that i couldn't buy 2 different sizes. why tell someone that?! so now when i run, i can just tell there's something wrong. i just know it. just not right.

with all that said, i'm anxious to run, for the first time, in snow on thursday afternoon.

why why why

2010-01-03T11:35:00.002-05:00

Why didn't anyone alert me about this?!

southface

2010-01-02T14:03:00.002-05:00

I'll take 3 giant southfacing windows when it's clear and SUNNY any ol' day in winter as long as it lets me pretend it's 70 degrees outside and not 29 degrees (in the afternoon!).

At least the days are getting longer now.

one more

2009-12-31T12:06:00.002-05:00

Figured I'd throw in one last post before the end of the year.

Christmas was fun. The cold weather is not. I may never be completely satisfied with the temperatures. Either too hot or too cold. In the winter, I find myself pining for the spring. And in the dead of summer, I cannot wait for the fall. Maybe I should relocate to somewhere with a moderate climate.

This week I went to the doctor for the first time since Jan 2001. Whatever I caught just won't go away (and apparently still isn't). It was interesting trying to think back to the last time I had gone to the doc, but I distinctly remember being sick that year. I missed the first week of spring semester, freshman year at USC because of it. I slept and slept in my top bunk in dorm while friends brought me OJ and chicken noodle soup, and finally convinced me to go to doc. I could barely walk outside because the cold air hurt to breathe. Luckily, I got better within the week, but I still remember missing my first geology field trip because of it.

Ready for a new year to begin. And not a new decade. We're still in this decade for one more year, contrary to the news hype about it ending. Right? I have a feeling I've had this discussion before.

i mean, really

2009-12-21T10:27:00.001-05:00

This announcement was posted on our intranet homepage at the very top this morning. I have taken the liberty of taking off the names to protect the innocent. Put on your geography helmets because this is going to be a bumpy ride.

Hopefully you've spotted what's wrong here. Or else, show me where the snow-capped Mt. Rainier is in DC? Now.

let me break it down for you

2009-12-14T13:39:00.005-05:00

at work, we have an updated system for the thousands of employees to check their paystubs, w-2s, where their money is going, why it's not going into their pockets, and so forth.

a month ago we received an email explaining new security features were forthcoming. last week, we received a follow-up email repeating the first email and predicting doomsday.

today the features were implemented. what used to be a simple log-in with your social security number and 4 digit password has now turned into a guessing game. the new log-in page:

let me break it down for you:
1) enter your log in (but do not enter your SSN)
2) are you confused by the simple instructions to not enter your SSN? then click the "I'm confused--do I enter my SSN?" link.
3) why are you confused? it says not to enter your SSN. why are you clicking this? don't do it.
4) ok, so you're still here, you're not further confused, and never clicked the first link? well, we put a 2nd link under that one just for people like you! simply click "why aren't I entering my password/pin?"
5) now question the bad grammar of the above step. really? "why aren't i?" [sigh]
6) because you're still here and haven't entered anything, we have now provided you with an "OR" option below all of those other steps. and to make this more difficult, there is now a box to simply enter your SSN--even though we said not to earlier. it'll be ok. don't worry.
7) WHY DID YOU ENTER YOUR SSN?!
8) ok, you've somehow managed to see 4 options for you to click/enter and yet you haven't done anything? ok, then click this handy link "forgot your login id". after all, it's really not related to anything else you could have clicked earlier.
9) i don't understand. you're still here. if you have no idea what you're doing in life and you've still not clicked anything because you don't click links, well, we're also going to provide you a button. please click for a "new password." really. you have no other choice. but please wipe any memory of your SSN from your mind and never use it ever again. until the next time we ask you so we can verify it's really you.

FAIL!

the passenger

2009-12-13T22:24:00.003-05:00

this should definitely be 7 minutes worth of your day.

cloudy with a chance of pain

2009-12-12T14:27:00.005-05:00

I know it's going to be a good day when the day starts with this forecast:

Seems painful. And when did 'sleet' leave our vernacular? Is the weather going PC these days too? Yeesh.

peppermint and pepper

2009-12-08T14:50:00.004-05:00

sometimes it's the little things..

like trader joe's peppermint joe-joe's. and coffee with pepper in it.

tis the season, huh?

the weight

2009-11-27T16:18:00.001-05:00

Been on a bgrass kick lately and found this gem:

muppets bohemian rhapsody

2009-11-25T16:38:00.001-05:00

love, the glaciers

2009-11-22T09:25:00.002-05:00

Last night's SNL was, for me at least, one of the funniest in quite some time. And Dave Matthews Band was great.

Here's a cameo of Al Gore:

back to the hundred acre woods

2009-11-12T12:29:00.005-05:00

Temps in the mid-70's this weekend. November in Atlanta! This means camping at the 100 acre woods again!

Though I doubt I'll hear the summertime bugs like this time:

say what??

2009-11-04T22:34:00.002-05:00

Captured this on an approach trail near Deception Pass in NW Washington. By far the best sign on the trip.

anatomy of a half marathon (#5)

2009-11-03T13:10:00.003-05:00

silver comet half marathon

i think i write these race descriptions more for a journal for myself in the future. this past saturday was my 5th half marathon. another 13.1 miles under the belt. unlike the last one this past feb, it's not part of my marathon training. well, at least not yet. more on that later. !

5am--wake up. well that was a lot earlier than i wanted.
501--coffee automatically brewing. got to love that.
502--curse at the weather channel and the line of storms racing from the alabama line towards atlanta. could it be more perfect timing? SERIOUSLY?
615--folks arrive outside my apt in the dark to carpool.
745--race starts.
747--rain starts.
750--rain pelts. leaves blow everywhere. skies are black. rain drips off my hat. clothes drenched. toes begin to feel damp.
mile 1.5--finally off the road and onto the paved multi-use silver comet trail.
mile 3--the rain subsides to a drizzle. but the damage is already done. drenched. i recall saying "at least it's not cold."
mile 4--remembering why out and back races are so annoying because you start thinking about how you aren't even at the turnaround point yet.
mile 5--seriously? the elite runners are already turning around and passing us on the eastbound side? and i get elbowed by one of those elite ones for getting too close to their lane. i was not happy with that guy. we were both at fault. i wasn't going to elbow him though.
mile 6--squish, squish, squish go the feet.
mile 7--clif shot bloks at a crucial point in the race. again, nothin like orange gummy candy in the middle of a long run.
mile 8--oh. yep. there's a blister on the foot. i can already feel it.
mile 9--never thought i'd be askng for hills. running on flat straightaways is about the most boring thing. though the thousands of leaves all over the trail is making it worth it. despite that it's raining again.
mile 10--squish, squish, squish.
mile 11--the whole time i thought it was mile 12.
mile 12--the feeling i felt when i realized i was off by a mile completely drained all motivation i had at that point. the feet were turning to mush. my legs felt like spaghetti. my calves felt like i was throwing rocks at them. yet i was still going forward.
mile 13.1--complete. a lot slower than my other races. 2:13:20. but it's complete. and it's raining. and freezing. and my feet hurt.
1010--finding friends that showed up for support.. well worth it. and the hamburger slider at the finish line.. not well worth it.
1130--watching my friends eat burgers at the market. i just can't eat much that close to post-race. and then a magician walks up to us and spends 15 minutes showing us some very interesting tricks involving cards, names, invisible coins, rubber bands, and even his pet albino parakeet that at some point appeared in his hand. i've never been that close to magic.

and with that, i've got another half this weekend in columbia. ever onward!

november at last

2009-11-01T22:55:00.003-05:00

It's been a busy past few days. I'm actually looking forward to sitting in my cube farm Monday. And that's a sad statement. Update on the race and halloween soon.

But for now, a funny video of a math teacher that uses the power of newfangled technology to keep the topic fun.

LED sheep

2009-10-30T12:01:00.001-04:00

This is just crazy. Sheep-herding with LED lights..

fun with math

2009-10-29T01:13:00.001-04:00

i've got a feeling

2009-10-26T11:21:00.002-04:00

I figured the blog needed a new header at the top. As I was searching through some pics, I realized the new one (above) actually had the ocean meeting the land. And some jumping folks.

I entered a video contest through Lonely Planet. The goal was to make a 3-minute video of videos from your roadtrip. Good thing for me, I just went on one.

Here's my choppy video. The song was chosen because we heard it probably 40 times while surfing the channels.

i am a lasagna

2009-10-25T21:59:00.005-04:00

I am what I eat, ergo, tonight I am a lasagna.

I'm still constantly amazed and how much food I eat. Especially after I buy a Stouffer's "Family Size" lasagna. Serving size: 4. Then I proceed to eat over half of it. And I still feel hungry.

High metabolism from all the running lately maybe? Caught the running bug again.

I'll be running my 4th (*CORRECTION: 5th) half marathon this Saturday. It'll be a nice reprieve from all the hills around here as the course is flat.

Other things to note:

It's been fun watching the Angels in post-season baseball. Especially when giving the Yanks a run for their money.

And I saw a Christmas commercial. Let the games begin.

more giants

2009-10-20T20:01:00.003-04:00

Today, my boss knocked on my cube and told me to come to his office. He was genuinely interested in hearing about my recent adventures throughout the past 2 weeks. And to quell any rumor that my coworkers had started about me going to Seattle to interview for EPA there. Though I might have told him that I would like to work in Region10 (which is the NW). He seemed ok. Maybe he didn't hear me.

5 candles

2009-10-19T15:10:00.001-04:00

Hey, guess what?

The blog is now 5 years old.

825 posts in 5 years.

Thanks to the 4 or 5 people that still read this. You rock!

In other news, I looked at my states map again and realized I've now been to 40 states. And 5 of them are states that I only briefly visited for a few hours. One day I've got to do a tour of the NE and see what it's all about.

slow shutter

2009-10-14T23:31:00.007-04:00

Kept the shutter open longer on this one. Taken on a ferry while crossing NW Washington, so it was interesting to see how the pics turned out while speeding through the waters.

Meanwhile, put some of the NW roadtrip on flickr.

standing on the shoulders of giants

2009-10-12T01:54:00.002-04:00

Redwoods, California. And Deception Pass, Washington.

the places you'll go

2009-10-11T01:32:00.002-04:00

Just a sample of my week..

60mph ATV rides through acres of dunes along the Oregon coast. Nothing too fancy or anything.

roadtrippin

2009-10-07T03:06:00.001-04:00

Today I saw Oregon for the first time. Truly an amazing place. And
I've only seen about a half the coast. Yesterday I said the same about
the northwest corner of Washington. Why has no one ever talked about
that area before? Orca whales, ferry crossings to islands that have
alpaca farms, volcanoes. The list continues.

gold rusher

2009-09-27T22:13:00.003-04:00

After leaving my local Target for various other things, I discovered that I bought California for $5.

Apparently it was on sale too.

styrofoam crispex

2009-09-22T23:19:00.003-04:00

Then.

Growing up, the 5 of us (parents + 3 kids) would take cross-country road trips to California to visit family. We would stay in cheap motels and eat chicken noodle soup of the powder variety for dinner. Mom would boil the water in an old coffee percolator, I think. The same that would make the coffee in the morning for my parents. Every now and then I can smell a certain coffee and associate it with early morning driving. Breakfast consisted of driving to a rest stop and eating cereal. The milk was in a rusty, red cooler that leaked water occasionally. I remember one breakfast in particular. It was a rest stop in the desert of New Mexico or Arizona that was made to resemble tribal tee-pee structures. We ate Crispex in our styrofoam bowls with plastic spoons and pink Sweet-n-Low packets in the crisp summer morning next to a tee-pee along a busy interstate.

Today.

I'm at a conference in Orlando. The hotel I'm staying at (that also houses the conference) opened a mere 22 days ago. It's 19 stories. Currently, my conference (1000+ people) and another conference by IBM has completely sold out the entire hotel and conference center. I was told, when I checked in, that my room was just completed today so, I am the first person ever to stay here. That's kind of cool, I think.

Then I was told of the amenities which include a lazy river in addition to the 3 pools. After that, the 9-hole golf course exists. Inside the hotel itself are 7 restaurants, a jogging track, basketball courts, and a bocce ball court. I walked around to see all of this for myself because I was in disbelief.

Despite it all, it's just not me. I kind of miss the good times. Where are the styrofoam bowls of Crispex?

rain rain rain

2009-09-21T16:55:00.002-04:00

This is the major artery through Atlanta.. the I-75/85 connector after days and days of rain.

bullseye

2009-09-21T11:32:00.003-04:00

Twenty years ago, a monster attacked Charleston, SC. Hurricane Hugo, a strong Category 4 hurricane with 135mph winds slammed ashore as the strongest hurricane ever to hit SC on record.

My only memory was not having to go to school and watching Woody Woodpecker on the old TV in the living room.

rookie

2009-09-20T11:38:00.003-04:00

It was only my second time playing Risk (on a board and not virtually), yet somehow I won.

At this point in the game I decided that documenting the game was in order.

pea soup

2009-09-18T13:56:00.003-04:00

Dear Jet Stream,

Please end your vacation in Canada soon and return to a normal Fall pattern of being our neighbor in Georgia. The terms 'gully-washer' and 'frog-strangler' no longer have any meaning to me. You are also preventing me from camping this weekend.

Your old friend,
Rob

And here's a view of the Atlanta skyline through my back windshield in the truck this AM.

part 2

2009-09-07T19:01:00.004-04:00

It just keeps getting worse. I just saw a new Snuggie commercial and literally fell over laughing. It must be brand new as I cannot locate it on youtube aside from someone taping it themselves.

Things to note in this new commercial:

- the new zebra print
- the fact that they are actually raising the roof at one point
- the game 'win, lose, or draw' has never been easier, now that snuggies are around!
- the dog
- the dog's book. yes, the dog is reading. and wearing reading glasses.

maybe i'll try this at the braves game

2009-09-05T12:46:00.002-04:00

A baseball fan catches a homerun during batting practice. And films his catch himself. Random strangers around the world watch his film. Oh the joys technology.

Fan Films Himself Catching Home Run - Watch more Funny Videos

radiohead in a rainforest

2009-09-01T21:49:00.002-04:00

Stumbled upon a video I shot back in Puerto Rico.

on my soapbox

2009-08-29T23:54:00.000-04:00

Pretty funny Saturday here in Atlanta..

We had a Red Bull Soapbox Derby! And apparently 40,000+ people stood in the sweltering sun to watch--though I wasn't counting. I seemed to be more interested in not having a heat stroke.

does it get any luckier?

2009-08-22T12:21:00.003-04:00

Seriously though, just look at this image for a second. A few days ago this was a Cat4 (135mph+) headed directly toward the mainland. And then all of the sudden a cold front in the middle of August barreled out of nowhere and is currently taking it out to sea exactly in the middle of the east coast and the Bermuda archipelago (that small white dot above "09"). Not to say that the Bermuda islands didn't get lashed with 95mph wind gusts and high waves (as the east coast is), but there are a lot of "what-ifs".

pups continued

2009-08-21T12:50:00.002-04:00

I'll stop now.

fugitive

2009-08-17T21:02:00.001-04:00

New David Gray video! But still no southern tour.

westward mobility

2009-08-17T11:19:00.001-04:00

not that i'm actively looking for jobs, nor am i ever considering to moving to montana (detect sarcasm?), but when i find govt jobs that are in the remote Big Sky that state:

- living in your own cabin
- working with GIS
- travel to remote study sites via boats, small aircraft, snowmobiles, ATVs and/or on foot
- extended periods of camping in tents or cabins may occur
- incumbent must be able to cope with the responsibilities of logistics to remote areas, cultural conflicts and adverse weather conditions

and my favorite:
- the incumbent may be subject to large numbers of biting insects and may be required to work in close proximity to large animals such as bear and moose

and.. i'm qualified. sign me up!

dog days of summer

2009-08-09T22:57:00.004-04:00

Though I wish they were mine, they are actually my parent's 12-week old blue tick hound puppies. Big feet and big ears. And hours of free entertainment.

and then there's that person

2009-08-05T22:58:00.002-04:00

Tonight I saw a runner who was running with his cell phone.. and talking on it while running.

And this was while I saw the guy running through an intersection across oncoming traffic.

Sometimes I wonder how some people survive.

strawberry swing

2009-08-03T22:15:00.001-04:00

Very cool. Especially after you realize halfway through how it was made.

we'll make the best of what's around

2009-07-30T09:40:00.004-04:00

i suppose these conditions below are enough to warrant a sign that things are bad outside at the moment?

humidity = 100%
dew point = 73F
temperature = 73F

the last two are equal and the atmosphere is completely saturated. this answers why i sweated just taking my recycling bin to the curb this morning.

clear, sunny, no rain

2009-07-18T15:19:00.002-04:00

It's 79 degrees, 41% humidity, visibility 10 miles, 3pm, middle of July, in Atlanta.

What on earth? I'll take it!

there's an app for that

2009-07-17T14:46:00.003-04:00

For sake of losing the ability to run, I mapped out a fall running itinerary. It's a daily journey into running which I will not follow but it's nice to look at periodically. And for lack of better things to do, the next half marathon is in the line-up and paid for.

Oct 31. Silver Comet Half Marathon. (and it should be all flat!)

It's always weird to think about how hot it is outside now to the point that I wait until it's cooler in the evening to run. Yet, by the time I'm actually running these races that I'm training for, I'll be in gloves and long-sleeves wondering why I thought it was a good idea 3 months prior.

zip lining

2009-07-13T21:24:00.003-04:00

This is the shakiest video of me zip lining--ever. Even though it's poor quality, I figure it good enough as any to watch. I had it hanging from my wrist at the start.

The more I watch it, the more I wonder how I even attempted three zip lines in 2 hours. Especially being the first of my crew of friends to go. Who knew being last up the stairs meant you were first to go? And you just step off this tiny platform and hope for the best.

watch the icicles melt away

2009-07-10T12:41:00.003-04:00

every now and then a change to the blog gives it some slight rejuvenation and brings it back to life.

the new title pic is actually a photo that my dad took nearly 40 years ago. washington, i think.

meanwhile, found this pic of a benchmark that i took back in february. just thought it was cool. i wonder what will become of all the benchmarks in the world 100 years from now?

billie jean

2009-07-07T21:09:00.002-04:00

At first I said "ok, enough is enough." But the more I watched it, I had to laugh a little.

What's this?

Well, I might the only one not watching the continuous news coverage of Michael Jackson and instead watching the Weather Channel (what else?). And during the Weather on the 8's they were definitely playing Billie Jean.

this that and the other

2009-07-05T20:32:00.002-04:00

I have mosquito bites all over my legs.

I have a full stomach from eating a giant burger at Five Guys.

I have sand in my ears.

I have a clean apartment for once.

I have homemade bread AND blueberry pie from Mom.

Life is good.

i may not ever understand ipod vending machines

2009-06-18T20:02:00.002-04:00

But seriously, I just don't understand why there is a need for an ipod vending machine in the airport.

This week I have found myself immersed in the big city of Washington DC. Sort of. I'm actually at a conference. But I have come to realize that DC isn't all that bad after all. I think I always dropped it off the list of places to move because it defied my "i want to move west" mentality.

Maybe I should have taken a clue when 6 friends moved there in the past 3 years.

And despite the touristy trap, I went to two museums. But I did find it funny (as in laughing at myself out loud) when I walked into the room where the Hope Diamond is, and I was immediately attracted not to the itsy bitsy diamond, but to the TWO GIANT meteorites in the corner. I stood there by myself while all the diamond-thirsty folks oo'hed and aw'ed around the diamond (which, mind you, was in a glass cage and spinning in a circle).

But the meteorites were really, really cool.

As was the huge section on the history of the interstate system. Nerd alert.

making up for lost time

2009-06-14T21:21:00.003-04:00

And I wondered why it took ten tries to get the gas pump to work this morning. I should add this as a FAIL.

warning

2009-06-14T21:02:00.004-04:00

There comes a time when that frozen pizza isn't always going to be the best option. I had one of those a few weeks back.

I was rather excited about my spicy chicken supreme pizza but for some reason Digiorno decided to ruin it with an unsuspected surprise. I had unwrapped the pizza, taken the cardboard off the bottom, even added some tomatoes and pine nuts myself. Again, rather excited for a good pizza.

After a few minutes in the oven, I smelled some smoke. Thinking it was just something burning from the last pizza I had cooked, I didn't care to look. Then it got worse. Then the smoke alarm went off.

Problem? Seems that Digiorno decided to put TWO (count them, 1-2) carboard circles under the pizza this time. So at 425 degrees, cardboard pretty much adheres to the bottom of the pizza and burns to a nice crisp. Nothing like scraping the ingredients off into a plate and eating cheese and whatnot for dinner. It takes a lot for me to get mad.. but I was so mad.