Fri, 02 Dec 2005

Me and Rob and John Smith rode at JD last Sunday.
The trails were a lot sandier than the last time we were there, but they were still in reasonably good shape. John had a slow leak in his front tube, which none of us could find, so he had to drop out after the first half of the ride. Me and Rob did the whole circuit. There were a lot people out there, mostly with department store bikes and no helmets. I've never seen that many new people before. We had fun.

posted at: 07:23 | permalink | 100 comments

Thu, 01 Dec 2005

The seesters did this week's hash in Boynton.
It was pretty good, despite the lack of a beer check. Maybe they forgot? Turnout was heavy, perhaps due to CA's insistence (on the message board) that there was nothing good on TV that night. My scouting report/prediction turned out to be wildly inaccurate. Maybe next week. The circle was good, complete with Red Stripe, and AI ran things with his magic glowing wand. Oh, and HayRideMe was there, too.

posted at: 07:37 | permalink | 100 comments

I've been seeing some interesting cars on the road.
The bizarre one appeared to be a convertible Honda CRX. I was stopped in traffic, idly looking at the funny-looking car ahead me, when I realized it had to be a convertible first-generation CRX. By the time I got the camera out, the light had changed and I didn't get a very good shot. But trust me, that's what it was.

Then the next day I saw something a little more reasonable. It was a Jeep Commando, parked next to my Jeep Cherokee. No, I didn't say Commander, I said Commando. It's a little two-door convertible made back in the late 60's. I've seen pictures, but never seen one in real life. It's a really basic car, with a column shifter. No AC. I don't remember if I saw a heater or 4x4. I'm guessing no 4x4. It looks like fun for driving around town, but not for a road trip.

posted at: 07:07 | permalink | 103 comments

Wed, 30 Nov 2005

It's hard to take a bad picture of a cute kid.
So I'm not taking any credit for these pictures. That's my niece, Sidney. Or is it Sydney? I guess I should find out before I buy her anything that's personalized. Anyway, she was clinging to my back like the old man of the sea, so I started taking pictures of us. Maybe it was more like she was a monkey with a grip of iron. Whatever. Anyway, as much as I wanted to put her in my luggage and take her home, I didn't.

posted at: 07:29 | permalink | 100 comments

Tue, 29 Nov 2005

Here are some plane pictures.
No, not plain pictures. They were taken from a plane, get it? We had to wait in the plane for a while before takeoff, so I got a shot of the plane next to us, as well as the fuel truck.

I thought it was going to be an empty flight, but people kept coming on to the plane. Finally we got airborne. I got a couple shots out the window. Then I fell asleep and woke up in Atlanta.

posted at: 07:19 | permalink | 101 comments

Mon, 28 Nov 2005

I did a run before Thanksgiving dinner last week.
It was the Atlanta half-marathon. It was the fourth year in a row that I've run it with Holly and Lisa. We did Benihana as our carb- and protein-loading the night before. I had the seafood Diablo. I'm not so sure our chef Pedro really spent three years in Japan learning his craft.

Up early the next morning for the 7:00 am start. Lisa and Holly cooked breakfast, and I drove us up in the Neon. I cracked my PBR tallboy as we left the car to walk to the starting area. The weather was surprisingly warm, which was a nice change from the low 40s that we had expected.

The starting gun fired at 7:00 am sharp, and we were off. Of course, it took us four or five minutes to cross the starting line, but the timing chips we had laced to our shoes would give us an accurate net time. The crowd was huge. Fortunately I had brought along my camera phone to get some photos of us as we ran the race. See that guy in the fourth photo with the Harvard shirt? I saw him throughout the race.

The sun came up and it got warmer. I dropped my gloves and my long-sleeve shirt. Lisa stashed my hat for me by her workplace. About mile nine we were coasting downhill, and I was feeling good. Holly and Lisa wanted to stop at a water station, but I kept on going, because I was feeling pretty good. That was the last time I saw them during the race.

The last few miles went by fast. Before I knew it I was in the final mile. I didn't try to sprint, although I did speed up a bit. I saw the photographers coming up, and gave them a big smile. I heard the announcer call my name as I approached the finish line (thank you timing chip) and I was done! I took a quick photo looking back, and then I went to the guy I had been waiting to see all day long: the guy who would cut the timing chip off my shoe. That's when I knew I was done.

As I got out of the finishing area, I heard Holly and Lisa calling me. They had passed me one of the hills, and I hadn't seen them! I think the sun was in my eyes. We picked up our bags and got warm, dry clothes on. Then Holly got what she had been waiting for all day: the Snickers bar from the giveaway table. I got a Coke, and we started walking toward the MARTA. We passed the Atlanta Hash House Harriers group, and I got the last Heineken from their cooler. Hi MC hasher!

As we walked toward the MARTA station we kept an eye open for the first marathon finisher. We didn't see him by the time we got there, so we had to wait a short while, but pretty soon we heard the sirens coming, and we saw him come around the corner. That guy was moving fast. Then we rode the train back up the car, and headed home.

The post-race cooldown included a number of beers. And no PBR, either. We hung for a while, and then it was off to T-day dinner for me. Oh, I uploaded the GPS track, but it's really not very interesting. The scale is so large that you can't really see any detail. It's nice to scroll up and down in TopoFusion and rerun the race, but the screen shot just doesn't capture the course very well.

posted at: 23:48 | permalink | 101 comments

Sun, 27 Nov 2005

Linda's birthday hash-pub-crawl went really well.
About 30 people showed up, including a bunch of virgins. Some of the virgins were her cow-orkers, and some were really virgins. Circumspector had provided numbered bandannas for everyone, which she used as raffle tickets. Every so often she would stop the festivities and have another drawing for a prize. I myself won a small bottle of tequila. We went to three different drinking establishments, including one that I had never seen before, called Margarita's. I think it is sort of like Brigadoon, and only comes out on Circumspector's birthday. The circle went well, with me and my 12" glow stick leading the ceremonies. The most attractive of the female virgins put on a brief gymnastic act for us. Then we all retired to the Dirty Dwarf for some scotch eggs.

Oh, and nobody has yet sent in any donations for a flash for my camera phone, so some of the pictures are a little dark.


posted at: 12:59 | permalink | 100 comments

Sat, 26 Nov 2005

My house was invaded by computer techs recently.
It was like something out of "Gorillas in the Mist". They were in a circle, each with his or her Apple iBook, poking at their screens and grunting. Actually, it was Linda and her fellow Technology Ambassadors. They are a group of teachers who go to periodic workshops to learn about Apple technology, such as video production, and bring that expertise back to their schools to share with other teachers. Plus Apple supplies them with equipment. They look like they are having a good time.

posted at: 17:28 | permalink | 100 comments

Fri, 25 Nov 2005

The fence is back up.
Well, partly. We have all the poles set, but we still haven't stretched the fencing. I haven't been able to borrow a fence grabber for the come-along, and so far I've been to cheap to buy one for one-time use. There's a shot of a hole with a pole in it, a shot of me mixing cement, and a shot of a different hole with both pole and cement in it. Linda did a lot of work also, but she was taking the pictures.

posted at: 12:36 | permalink | 200 comments

Fri, 18 Nov 2005

Here's some pictures from Margy and Steve's wedding.
It was really nice. NoseDive had it on her fishing boat, out of the Riviera Beach marina. Tour de ReBar was the same day, so we were thinking about doing part of that, and then riding to the marina, but instead we worked like dogs to replace the fence that blew down during the hurricane.

When we got there a crowd was already waiting to board. Steve's mom was relaxing in her chair, and Annette was videotaping the guests.

There was a lot of food, mostly middle eastern style. The seas were 4-5 feet, so the boat stuck to the intracoastal waterway. The wedding party got formed up, and moved to the back end of the boat (I think it's called the stern). Margy looked great, and the ceremony was nice. And quick. We watched from the second floor (I think it's called the upper deck).

After the ceremony was over the picture-taking continued. Here's four good shots of me and Linda. Except the camera lens was smudged. But the lighting was really good.

A bunch of Linda's students were there, so she sat with them. I got some good shots, except the lens was still smudged.

Here's a few more of Linda with her students, and one with one of the moms, who is also a volunteer at the school.

I like these shots of Community. The sunlight coming in through the windows had a great color to it.

Here's a couple more group shots with the last of the good lighting.

Now it was getting dark, people had been drinking for a while, and Bill brought out his camera.

Eventually our three-hour tour ended, and we all found ourselves back on the dock where we started. There were plans for the bride and groom to walk through a path of sparklers (sort of like crossed sabers) but we couldn't get the sparklers lit in the wind. Al and Sherri invited everyone back to their house for more festivities, which sounded like a great idea.
Back at the house the sparklers worked much better. Kids and adults ran around waving sparklers like light sabers. Amazingly, no one was hurt.

As we left the happy couple we could see that Margy was still enjoying herself. What a great wedding!

posted at: 07:28 | permalink | 100 comments

Tue, 15 Nov 2005

Here's a rerun of a photo I took last summer.
It was in a bar up in Amherst, MA. I was captivated by the raw energy of the primitive artwork. I came across it while looking for pictures of Steve and Margy.

posted at: 07:18 | permalink | 100 comments

Mon, 14 Nov 2005

An update to the bathroom page.
Now you can finally see the tile floors here.

posted at: 22:03 | permalink | 1 comment

Garfield and Highbush had their pre-wedding shower on Thursday
at Al & Sherri's house. It was very nice. Lots of good food, got to meet Margy's mom and brother, and see some less-active hashers. Gf and Hb also received the traditional embarrassing items for the honeymoon night. You can see Gf opening one of the items in the second photo. They said the impetus for them getting married after 13 years of living together was when their cat died. Stay tuned for photos from the wedding itself.

posted at: 09:01 | permalink | 86 comments

Sun, 13 Nov 2005

Linda made me a souvenier from last week's Gator game.
She scanned in the ticket stub from section 65, row 70, seat 20. I think it will make a good desktop background on my work PC.

posted at: 20:47 | permalink | 100 comments

Fri, 11 Nov 2005

I got a tattoo.
I put it on myself. With a wet paper towel. Jerry at run and roll got some temporary tattoos made. So I put one on. I think it took three minutes off my time in the Friday night four mile run. And I didn't know I had that many freckles.

posted at: 22:58 | permalink | 100 comments

Thu, 10 Nov 2005

Hong Kong to London in 22 hours and 43 minutes.
I saw the news about Boeing's record-setting distance flight in a 777-200LR Worldliner from Hong Kong to London in 22 hours and 43 minutes and I wondered how long it used to take to sail. So I google'd.
This page mentions a race from Hong Kong to London in 1859 between two ships. It took 120 days. I think I'd rather fly.
posted at: 12:01 | permalink | 100 comments

I was the fill-in hare last night.
Because AI hurt his winky. We met behind the Kmart again. The cloaking device must still be working, because two different security guards rolled right past us in their golf carts.
    Us: "No, don't mind us, we're just drinking beer out of these coolers in your parking lot."
    Security: "Okay."
I hadn't actually scouted the trail. Instead I had spent a few minutes looking at the area on www.mapblast.com, and I had some ideas. I stocked up at the ABC Superstore on the way home (Reingold, Keystone Light, PBR, and a couple quarts of Mississippi Mud Black & Tan). Once enough people showed up, I asked for my 15 minute head start, started the GPS, and I was off. Westgate is one of your lower socio-economic neighborhoods, so there are still a lot of dirt roads and dogs back there. I tried to lay the twistiest trail I could, without getting bitten by a dog. I think it worked out pretty well. I couldn't find someone to drive my Jeep full of beer to a beer check, so I just stopped at the Blue Boar. Drib was close behind (but he didn't catch me) so he talked the bartender into allowing us in even with tank tops (oh the horror). The rest of the pack showed up quickly and killed the three pitchers I had provided. I laid a brief formality of a trail back to the start, which everyone except CA followed. He had a brief adventure in a low-income apartment complex.
The cloaking device continued to work during the circle, as the sheriff's deputy rolled by without stopping. Maybe it was because we employed the standard hash defense of singing "Kum bay yah" whenever law enforcement appears.Once the circle ended we headed to Bonefish Creek, where apparently it was Loud Chrome-Plated Harley night. The parking lot was just too full to park, so I bailed and went home.
Oh, and there's no pictures because stupid DST makes it too dark to take pictures with the camera phone. You'll just have to be satisfied with a map of the trail. Maybe the hash can take up a collection to buy me the flash attachment for my phone.


posted at: 07:28 | permalink | 100 comments

Mon, 07 Nov 2005

Gainesville hasn't changed.
Much. We went up there this weekend to see the Gators take on Vanderbilt. Jenni and Charles let us stay at there house yet again. We met the three new cats on Saturday morning, and had a long, slow breakfast.

Then we went into town for lunch at Cafe Gardens. It hasn't changed much either. They did expand into the building to the west, but it's essentially the same place. Even though the game was scheduled for 7:15 pm there were still hundreds of older people in orange and blue everywhere. Not too many students, though.

We split up after lunch, with Linda and Jenni heading over to the Harn museum in the Cobra to see some art. I got on my bike and started riding around town and campus. Campus is still about the same; I was surprised just how much I remembered about how to get around. The new bookstore is part of the student union, and is really big. There are some other new buildings too. I cruised the used music and book places, and got some more food. I also rode past my old house at 703 SW 9th St. It has curbs around it, and the grass looks a little better, but otherwise it's unchanged. There was a girl studying at a picnic table in the carport where we used to wrench on the old VWs. I didn't bother her.
   "Hi, you don't know me, but I used to live here and..."
   "Get away from me, pervert! Help, police! Stalker!"
Just like old times. The cars in the driveway were definitely a step up from what we used to drive, though.

Then it was time for some real fun. I met Lisa and her sister and brother-in-law at Christian's fraternity house. I had seen the house for years on 13th St. It's three stories tall, with a big lawn and imposing white columns (now do you know which one I mean?). But this was the first time I had been inside. The first floor wasn't too bad, and they had a great barbecue. Then we made our way upstairs to the third floor, where Christian lives in "The Palace". It didn't really match the imposing facade out front. Let's just say the place looks like 61 young men live there. But they sure have some fun. Christian shares the Palace with three other guys, and it was standing room only. Or standing while leaning back and having tequila and margarita mix poured in your mouth room only. It was good tequila, too. I was disappointed that the photo of Lisa imbibing didn't come out. It would have made a great Xmas card shot. I think someone else fired a flash while my camera phone was making its exposure. We also got to see Christian's tiny (tiny!) bedroom off the side of the Palace, and his immaculate study area. And then Linda joined us in time for a margarita of her own.


Eventually it was time to go to the game. The spread was 19 points, and the over/under was 49. Julie and Lee had gotten us tickets (thanks!) and at first we sat with them in the 7th row in the northeast corner. It was like being on the field. Eventually, though, the people who sit next to them showed up, and Linda and I had to move to our real seats up high in the northwest corner. The view was actually better from up there, although with not as much detail. Vanderbilt was in the game the whole time, although the Gators did extend their lead to 28-14 at one point. With about four minutes left we were up 35-21, when Vandy scored, recovered an onside kick, and scored again. They were penalized for celebrating after the second score, so they had to go for a kick instead of two points, which left the game tied up at 35-35 at the end.

Time for overtime. Both UF and Vanderbilt scored TDs in the first overtime period. In the second period Vandy won the toss, so the Gators went first and scored a TD. Then Vandy was on a strong drive, when they threw an interception. Game over. Finally. Final score 49-42. We definitely got our money's worth.

The next morning I was scheduled to ride at San Felasco with Lisa, but motivation problems prevented it. So instead we hung at the C&J household for awhile longer, and were menaced by Captain Underpants, and then went geocaching. We did one at Bear Archery, which turned out to be a virtual cache. Then one at Lake Wauberg(?) which turned out to be guarded by mosquitos, and left us 0-2 for the day. Finally we all had lunch in Ocala, and then did the long drive home. All in all a really good weekend.

posted at: 07:43 | permalink | 100 comments

Wed, 02 Nov 2005

P-rick set another classic trail tonight.
If by classic you mean a wandering, meandering, abstract approximation of trail. Me and Plop and Puke gave up halfway through and stopped at the Sandbar for some Bitburger. Mmmm.

There was a nice sunset on my way home from work. And I rode my bike down to the start. There were a bunch of serious runners there, since it started at Run and Roll. This might not have been the best introduction to the hash.

I hadn't been to the Sandbar for a while, but even though it's under new management it still seems the same. You can see Plop and Puke waiting for the pitcher, and Puke once it showed up.

Eventually P-rick showed up and ordered another pitcher of Bud for the hash, who arrived just behind him. Itsy appeared as well, after following trail all by himself. Sean, Biko, and Circumspector. Oh, and SMD got himself a boo-boo. Then we went back to the start for the circle, next to a dumpster full of rotting garbage.


posted at: 23:13 | permalink | 100 comments

Tue, 01 Nov 2005

We only got one trick-or-treater this year.
It probably had something to do with the curfew. Plus I was only home from work for about 15 minutes before I went back out on the bike. One of Linda's cow-orkers lives on our street, and she came by with her daughter in the cutest little chicken suit. You have to look close, but you can see the red comb on top of her head. We didn't have any Halloween candy at all, but I did have a big Ziploc bag full of energy gels, so I let her choose one of those. She picked the mocha chocolate (with caffeine).

posted at: 07:13 | permalink | 100 comments