From the Mobile Office of Andrew

Adventure Time

2011-07-12T22:24:00.006-04:00

Last Saturday was the anniversary of a friend's 29th birthday so we spent it her choice of activity - Adventure Park USA. On her insistence, we played 18 holes of mini golf before racing Indy style go-carts. Of course then we had to do adult things so we all had dinner at a fancy-dancy restaurant. Of course we also got to drink beer while watching DC United beat the New York Red Bulls. My Adventure Time weekend concluded with the three hour US Women's National soccer team win over Brazil.

Holmes on TV

2011-05-08T13:59:00.002-04:00

One of my very good friends in the DC area has been doing some fairly extensive remodeling on his house and in discussing his work he mentioned Homes Inspection on HG TV channel. I've started watching this show, which is about home re-inspection of houses in Canada to fix things that home inspectors missed the first time. I've learned two things. First, Canadians don't loss their temper very often which is something I knew but funny to see if reinforced on TV. Second, buying a house, even a newly built house, is scaring the heck out of me.

Classic Sci-fi

2011-04-01T22:23:00.002-04:00

I spent my Friday night watching THX 1138. When asked why I responded, "It's a classic". And classic it is. The movie itself was very confusing and I'm sure that I won't ever understand every scene, line, or hidden reference without having a conversation with Mr. Lucas. It was very reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey with combinations of technology we don't have yet and technology that is far out of date, multiple scenes with no music or vocals, and sudden endings that make no sense. While I agree this movie is a classic and absolutely worth seeing at least once, I probably won't choose to watch it again. But then again, whenever I see A Space Odyssey on TV, I do get a hankering to watch it.

Frozen in History

2011-03-28T16:30:00.002-04:00

I happended to drive past a KFC yesterday and my mind instantly jumped to frozen cokes, thin fries, and gravy. I went inside only to discover that KFC no longer offers frozen cokes. Or at least this one didn't. Luck smiled on me today though, I found that Burger King now offers frozen cokes. Spring isn't quite in the air here yet, but it felt like it today while I enjoyed coke slushee. Yum Yum!

New webpage Links

2011-03-12T10:22:00.003-05:00

In my effort to get back to updating my page, I added a couple of pages that referred to me as useful and entertaining: Zen Habits and The Art of Manliness. I don't agree with everything on Zen Habits, but living around DC requires just a little work to be calm so any help is welcome. As for the other page, I do fancy myself a Man, but as an engineer I've been told I lack in the art department.

Winter Gains

2011-02-25T17:59:00.003-05:00

Avid readers may have noticed a distinct lack of posts lately regarding soccer teams and results. I've spent the last year self-rehabbing my ankle sprain from last February. That's February 2010. When I was finally able to stand, walk, and jog last year I joined an actual gym with boot camp classes and free weights. I lifted by myself at first, but then I joined up with a few friends from work who lift with a guard who is a former Marine. We started attending the boot camp classes on a regular basis and pulling work-out hints from http://www.sealfit.com/. So the point of my work-out ramble is that over the last several months I've lost some of my fat and put on some muscle. Last week I reached a life-time high empty-stomach weight of 155 lbs. Such time has past since I was a beyond skinny 103lb wrestler in junior high. And for those that visit the sealfit page, no we don't do the entire workout. That would just be crazy.

Stars and Red Moons?

2010-12-21T02:49:00.003-05:00

No I didn't just mess up the Lucky Charms commercial lyrics. I am, as I type this, looking at a red moon during a full lunar eclipse. I'm standing on the patio of my apartment looking up at a full moon shape, darkened by what appears to be red smoke. It's quite eerie as it is dead quiet at 3 AM save for the sound of the howling wind and the occasional car. And yet at the same time it is mysteriously beautiful. I had hoped to get a picture, but I am again failed by my faith in my pocket digital. No real camera or father's telescope for me. These are the times when I wish I was at home with access to equipment and a lack of ambient light pollution from car dealership lots.

House work

2010-12-11T22:16:00.002-05:00

Measuring space and drawing up plans- 1 hour
4' by 8' sheet of plywood - $18
12 cuts to said plywood - $4
1 tube of silicone - $3.89
Installation and application - 2 hours
Having a linen closet and pantry that actually has shelf space and a bathroom that doesn't leak - PRICELESS

Just another weekend project for the apartment that I'm RENTING. Thanks to all the "licensed" contractors and cheap apartment management companies in the DC metro area that remind me daily why people pay $500,000+ for a two bedroom, one level fixer-upper house with a 3 hour commute instead of renting an apartment near work.

Indian Food in Philadelphia

2010-11-25T14:44:00.003-05:00

I was recently in Philadelphia for a day and I stayed at a hotel in the University City district. The receptionist at the Sheraton pointed out two fantastic Indian food restaurants: Desi Chaat House ( Mild & Wild) and Sitar. Sitar is similar to many other indian food restaraunts in the DC metro area with the exception that it served South Indian food instead of North. The difference is quite noticable. The food was great, just different. Desi Chaat House is a single room, fast food joint that serves another version of Indian food. It was slightly cooked vegetables mixed with spices and a creamy (but not oily) sauce. This mixture was eaten by itself or poured into a hard baked crust. If you find yourself in Philly and in need of something different to eat, these places are a great place to start.

New Apartment Parental Inspection

2010-11-06T09:20:00.004-04:00

The week before Halloween was busy for me as my parents took some time and drove here to visit me. Of course they also got to see others during the trek such as my brother, my cousin and her two children, the parents of my adopted family, and some of their good friends who moved many years ago. They saved the best for last though as they showed up at my door on Monday night. Unfortunately after my trip to Rio I was unable to take a full week of vacation. I have the vacation time, but the work load wouldn't allow it. So I spent part of Tuesday and all of Wednesday working while my parents investigated the local shopping areas including Home Depot and Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Before this visit I did oil all hinges in my apartment with 3 in 1 oil, but my dad still found that my apartment needed cleaning and tools needed buying. My toolbox was deficient in picture hanging nails and electrical tape. He also used the wet/dry vac to blow my balcony clean. Twice. On the other hand, my father did give me the kick in the butt, and guidance I needed, to fix the shower and storage shed door. When I was finally able to leave work, we took a trip to Farmers and Fishers restaraunt at the Georgetown waterfront, Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, and Sugarloaf Mountain. Farmers and Fishers is one of two sister restaurants own by the North Dakota Farmers Union using regional sustainable farm foods. My parents also had the opportunity to taste Indian food for the second and third time in their lives. One of which was even a home cooked meal. No it wasn't my cooking. All in all I think their trip here was fun and exciting. Plus since I generally only get to see them twice a year, any opportunity to have a beer with my dad and a glass of wine with my mom is well received.

Fall is finally here!

2010-11-05T18:13:00.002-04:00

Fall weather has finally reached the DC area. During the week before Halloween, North Dakota had 4-8 inches of snow and DC had mid 70s shorts weather. Haritha and I celebrated by lighting the first fire in my new apartment fireplace. It was fantastic. A fireplace in the close quarters of a two-bedroom apartment with 8 foot ceilings is much warmer than one in a townhouse with a vaulted two-story ceiling. Tonight we are celebrating Diwali (Festival of Lights) by lighting a candle in each window and burning incense. With all the candles burning, it will soon be as hot in the apartment as if we had the fire burning again.

All Hallows' Eve Happenings

2010-10-31T20:53:00.006-04:00

We were a little late on the Halloween activites this year, but during my parents' visit this last week Haritha and I finally had a chance to pick a pumpkin. On Halloween Night, with a little encouragement and a few hints, Haritha carved an excellent Jack O' Lantern which proceeded to scare the candy right out of anyone in the parking lot. BOO!

Guy from Ipanema

2010-10-10T09:59:00.004-04:00

It actually would be the guy from Sao Conrado, but that doesn't quite have the same ring to it. Either way, I successfully returned from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday after two over-night flights, seven airport security screening zones (including customs), seven days of meetings, one bout of food poisoning, three runs on Sao Conrado beach, one beach soccer game, and one giant Jesus. I'll try to get some notes from the trip posted later and I have a picture gallery for my friends and family that request it. But for now, I'm home, I'm alive, I'm healthy, I'm re-aclimated, and I'm back to running on surfaces other than white beach sand.

Modern Day Cartoons

2010-09-11T13:07:00.003-04:00

So I was flipping channels sometime this summer and of course there wasn't much on the 500 some odd channels I have. I decided to stop on the Disney Channel to investigate current cartoons. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Warner Bros. Bugs Bunny and pals cartoons. I would wager that most people in my generation are. I also have been sadly dissappointed by the state of cartoons for the past several years. However, I have to say that after watching multiple, multiple episodes of Phineas and Ferb, I am hooked. In fact I walked four episodes this morning. If you haven't seen this cartoon, check it out. It has the Andrew stamp of approval.

Andy Andy!

2010-05-08T12:11:00.003-04:00

Back in the day when I was actually playing soccer and not hobbled by a chronic ankle injury, my El Salvadorian teammate would always greet me with the moniker "Andy Andy!" While I first thought he was just so excited to see me that he had to shout my name twice, I was subsequently sent a music video for the song Maldito Amor by Andy Andy. Apparently I'm a popular music singer.

2010 Outstanding Service Award

2010-05-08T11:50:00.003-04:00

The annoucement for the 2010 Outstanding Service Awards were recently announced at work. At the award ceremony in June, I will be presented with the following citation:

For developing, leading, and maintaining the endosseous implants rounds and working group within the Branch.

Yeah Me!

Close only counts in Bocce

2010-04-04T22:55:00.003-04:00

Warm, sunny weather has finally returned back to the DC area for more than two days in a row. I spent this weekend attending the 2010 home opener for DC United with my beautiful girlfriend and enjoying the weather. Another bonus of outside activities has been putting to use the bocce ball set I was given for x-mas. It was an absolutely fantastic time. It is a set of soft, woven bocce balls so the game can be played anywhere, including inside and in a parking lot. Check out the Sanuk Sof Bocce Ball Set.

sitting on my duff again

2010-02-22T20:38:00.003-05:00

I'm currently enjoying the reclining portion of the downstairs couch again with ankle issues. Although I'm glad to say that I can now walk relatively normal, the ankle is no longer black and blue, I can fit my foot into my dres shoe for work, and the ankle does not ache to the point of causing me to exceed the dose limits for both acetaminophen and ibuprofen at the same time, after three weeks of rest an ankle should not still be swollen and I should be able to do simple lifting moves, such as squat and lunge, without holding weights. But alas, leg weight exercises will continue to go undone. Easily the worst ankle injury in my history. So much for working back into soccer before the outdoor season.

To Infinity and Beyond

2010-02-11T10:38:00.002-05:00

One of my best friends just launched her first satellite into space. Good Luck SDO! Do us all proud. And of course congratulations Annie.

30 years and counting

2010-01-23T13:40:00.004-05:00

I was so cute when I was young. What the heck happened?

Wise Words Recyled

2010-01-04T20:50:00.002-05:00

My Branch Chief, who had been my Acting Division Director for almost a year, honored me some time ago by ending a Division meeting with the words that I use to end my meetings: "Go forth and regulate." It feels good to know that the boss is listening to you.

North Dakota Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T14:01:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Semper Truck!

2009-12-09T17:30:00.007-05:00

After nearly 16 years of legally driving, I am finally without a truck: 1980 Chevy half-ton, 1991 Ford F-150, and 1998 Ford Ranger. Oh, how I'll miss the ability to drive in snow without worry, hop curbs at will, and transport muddy equipment. I won't forget you my friends.

Screaming Eagles Tubing re-post

2009-12-07T22:07:00.002-05:00

Link here to the post I drafted in August but just completed.

Kitchen Poetry

2009-12-07T21:12:00.000-05:00

My office recently moved into a brand new building which was designed with four mini-pantry/kitchens per floor. Each mini-kitchen has a microwave, a refrigerator, a sink, four tables, chairs, and a couch. Of course the office doesn't supply soap for the kitchen and for the first two months wasn't supplying paper towels either. My boss asked me for suggestions to encourage others on the floor to bring paper towels and soap in for community use. The result was this kitchen haiku. Enjoy.

Paper towels here,

Free to all those who enter.
Bring roll tomorrow.

Wounded Warriors 5k

2009-11-22T12:31:00.003-05:00

Haritha and I ran the 2nd Annual Wounded Warriors 5k fun run this morning. It was an excuse to get out and run for only the sixth time since late September. I've been traveling (Japan) and sick for most of that time. We didn't win any prizes or run the fastest time, but we finished, ran together, and contributed to helping those that are wounded protecting us. Anyone can give from anywhere, whether you run the race or not. Check it out at http://www.healershelpingheroes.org/.

I don't think I posted about last year's Wounded Warrior 5k, but we ran it and here is the picture.

Storm soccer Fall 2009

2009-10-26T15:54:00.013-04:00

Regular season Fall 2009 Storm fixtures and results:
September 13, 2009 Reunited L 0-3
September 20, 2009 I-in-Team W 5-4
September 27, 2009 One Kick Wonders Rain delay
October 4, 2009 @ Alliance W 2-1
October 11, 2009 @ FC Beef Hammer L 1-4
October 18, 2009 @ Alliance Rain delay
October 25, 2009 FC Beef Hammer Rain delay
November 1, 2009 One Kick Wonders Rain delay
Rescheduled: November 8, 2009 One Kick Wonders Loss by Forfeit
Rescheduled: November 15, 2009 @ Alliance W 3-2
Rescheduled: November 21, 2009 FC Beef Hammer T 1-1
Rescheduled: November 22, 2009 One Kick Wonders W 2-1
Post Season:
Postponed until April - Too many rain delays and a policy against games on the fields during December.

Black Reign Forever??

2009-10-25T21:24:00.002-04:00

Black Reign just completed another season, marking over four continuous years of competing in indoor soccer for me. Black Reign had previously completed the June season at the beginning of August by playing for the season championship. We lost the game 5-9 but ended the season with a 5-2-1 record.

The most recent season (August) in the Division 1 league did not fair well for Black Reign which ended with a record of 1-6-1. This August season started a fifth year of my playing soccer with Black Reign which was previously Smashing Pumpkins. Unfortunately, this season for me was marked with missed games and roster issues. In preparing for my trip to Japan, being in Japan, and being sick from my trip to Japan, I missed the last five games of the season, which only has eight total. The team in general is not playing well, not communicating, having roster issues, and goalie availability issues. While I was traveling and unavailable to register the team for the next season, an unofficial straw pole led to a decision for a hiatus for the team. How long will that hiatus last? That remains to be determined.

Reading Rainbow: Mirror Mirror

2009-10-25T18:44:00.003-04:00

Since my last post I've prepped, traveled to, and back from Osaka/Kyoto/Tokyo Japan. There are of course many, many interesting and fun things to write about regarding this trip. Of course, as with my trip last year, I developed a cold on the plane ride back to the US. So I've been slowly organizing pictures and thoughts while trying to get caught up at work. Before I post all that information I thought I'd write about the book I finished during the plane ride. Several years ago I read Wicked by Gregory Maguire and, as with many people, I was enthralled by the story and the author's ability to make the evil character of Oz into the hero. Recently I purchased several of the other books written by Maquire. I chose to take Mirror Mirror with me to Japan. While I enjoyed the read, the book is quite different from Wicked. Mirror Mirror is a a twist of the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as expected. But instead of telling the story from one point of view not seen in the Disney version, the book tells the tale from the point of view of each character, each with at least one chapter to their name. Another interesting part of this book is the use of actual fact, rumor, and innuendo within Italian history. This is of course woven into the portions of fantasy like the dwarfs being rock people, who are invisible to humans unless they want to be seen, with the ability to tunnel at will through anything by eating the material. So if you want to hear another version of Snow White while learning rumor based historical dirty laundry of the papal state of the Vatican, this is the book for you. But as LeVar Burton would say, "you don't have to take my word for it."

Big Boy Shoes

2009-09-09T20:37:00.003-04:00

I recently burned through the third pair of brown dress shoes since starting my desk job 4.5 years ago. In the past, I've purchased shoes with rubber soles and I find myself walking through the rubber heel to expose the cushion air pockets. This of course causes the shoes to squeak as I walk. I'm excited to report that I just bought myself a pair of proper dress shoes with solid rubber/leather heel that can be cobbled. So far I'm still working the shoes in, but I've discovered that I'm going to have to consciously walk quieter so I'm not clomping the solid heel as I walk down the hall.

When I tried them on in the store, I was instantly taken back to freshman year of college. The first proper pair of dress shoes that I have in my possession were my father's army dress shoes. Solid leather sole, hard heel, and no grip (the new shoes have a half sole design with leather and rubber. No slipping for me). I remember wearing my father's shoes and thinking, "These shoes are hard. And no cushion. Who would ever want to wear these?" Well now I know. Thanks for the loaner pair dad. I promise I'll take better care of the new ones.

Weekend VA vacation

2009-08-06T20:48:00.004-04:00

To celebrate the end of Haritha's second year of med school, we took a mini vacation in wine country Virginia. We stayed the weekend at the Stone Manor Bed & Breakfast in Lovettsville in the Peacock Suite. This old farm house in small town VA has been renovated by the owners to add a two-story, vaulted ceiling dining room, six suites, a library, an outdoor patio, and a new kitchen. We had dinner at a place called Patowmack Farm. The organic, reservation required restaurant is situated on top of a hill overlooking the Point Rock bridge which crosses the Potomac River valley. The five course meal was composed of meat from off-site, and vegetables and seasonings all grown on the farm. Each course is served with a different paired wine. We got a copy of the menu for posterity, but it's not in front of me right now. The food is served in a beautified greenhouse. A perfect place for dinner when the weather drops a little rain and lightening like it did during our dinner.
On the second day, we spent time browsing the outlet mall and took in a concert at the Tarara Winery. Wine and live music. You can't end a weekend better.

Screaming Eagles Tubing

2009-08-03T20:13:00.003-04:00

Two of my soccer/DC United Fans friends and I took a trip with the Screaming Eagles (DC United supporters club) to go tubing down the Shenandoah River near the Front Royal, VA, area. I haven't been tubing down a river in years and I relished the opportunity to relax and hang out with friends. It was also a great opportunity to meet and chat up the leadership of the Screaming Eagles. But of course, as you might guess, after four hours of sitting in a tube, I was bound to do something crazy to burn off some energy.

Exploring the Wilds of Columbia....

2009-08-03T20:11:00.006-04:00

.....Columbia, Maryland that is. For the July 4th weekend, I convinced Haritha to join my friends on one of the public lakes for a kayaking outing. No blue heron this time, but fun was had by all nonetheless. I did however have to promise Haritha that we could spend the next night in downtown DC for the July 4th fireworks. It took some convincing to get Haritha into the kayak with me. For some reason she thought I was going to tip the boat. That of course is something I would never do. Wink. There are more than a few pictures taken but not posted here. Let me know if you want to see the rest.

Black Reign Division 1 - spring season

2009-08-03T18:10:00.004-04:00

I missed several games during the last season of Black Reign soccer due to travel, but we ended the season in 2nd place. We won our first game of the post season, but unfortunately we lost the championship game 6-8. See the complete April season schedule for Black Reign here.

Leaving on a Jet plane...eh..new car!

2009-06-15T21:13:00.003-04:00

Courtesy of my mom, here is the image attempting to contain a million thoughts and emotions running through my mind as I leave my ND home on a road trip to anywhere for possibly the last time in a long time. If you actually read this blog and didn't get the link for the gallery of my trip photos, send me an email and I'll get it to you.

Movin' on Up!

2009-05-26T18:32:00.002-04:00

I went to the bank and insurance agency this morning, and the dealership and DOT this afternoon. I am the proud owner (or at least in possession of and making payments on a loan) of a 2008 Ford Taurus Limited. That's right, I said Limited. Sun-roof, leather seats, built-in satellite radio, and everything else that comes with the luxury version of Ford cars. Ink Blue outside with light brown leather and a stone colored dash. I'll post a picture once my brother has done his best work detailing the car.

Storm soccer 2009

2009-05-02T10:50:00.012-04:00

The 2008 fall season of Storm soccer results can be found here.

Regular season Spring 2009 Storm fixtures and results:
April 5 2009 Mud Sharks L 2-3
April 26, 2009 Thunderbolts T 1-1
May 3 2009 One Kick Wonders Rain delay
May 7 2009 Big Ballers Rain delay
May 10 2009 Reunited W 6-2
May 17, 2009 Clark FC Rain delay
May 31, 2009 I-in-Team Rain delay
June 7 2009 One Kick Wonders L 0-1
June 14 2009 One Kick Wonders W 4-3
June 18 2009 Big Ballers Rain delay
June 21 2009 Clark FC Forfeit W 3-0
June 28, 2009 I-in-Team L 0-2
June 30, 2009 Big Ballers L 1-4
Post Season:
July 11 2009 Global Eng Solns L 1-4

Don't judge a book by its past covers.

2009-04-27T20:06:00.009-04:00

The vehicle in the works to be the next A-to-B-vehicle for the Mobile Office of Andrew. It's a 2008 Ford Taurus. First of all, no I haven't bought one yet. Second, before you judge you should read a review, take a look, or drive one. While I love the truck, not being able to take more than one person other than myself has put a damper on some activities. Plus I'm not in the habit of using the bed to move anything lately. I rented a Taurus for a weekend recently and spent all available moments driving around town. In comparison to the rented Camry that I drove during my Rents visit, the Taurus is roomier (both in front and back) and quieter on the highway. And it's definitely not the Taurus you had in high school. No complaints from anyone that took a ride with me. Stay tuned.

Niagara road trip and Cherry Blossoms

2009-04-14T21:40:00.002-04:00

After arriving back from my Miami Beach trip on Wednesday, and playing indoor on Thursday, my Rents arrived in town on Friday afternoon for a quick visit. We got up early on Saturday morning and drove from DC to Niagara Falls, Canadia. We took a two lane US route through the Pennsylvania and NY back country passing several wineries and antique shops. While the trip sounds long, we actually arrived in Buffalo just after 7.5 hours of driving including a few stops for stretching, food, and gas. Okay, so it was a long trip, but the drive was beautiful and worth it. We crossed into Canadia just after 5 pm, spent some time examining the falls and taking pictures, and then drove up the parkway to Niagara on the Lake for dinner. Unfortunately, most things were closed since it is still early in the spring. We drove back on Sunday.

On Monday we went into DC to see the cherry blossoms around the tidal basin. I walked around the tidal basin for the first time to the side opposite the Jefferson memorial and discovered the FDR memorial. It's a huge exhibit for never being mentioned by anyone that visits downtown. In between rain showers we were able to take some excellent pictures. We had enough time that afternoon to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Arlington Cemetary.

It was great to show off the new house to the rents, visit Niagara Falls, and visit with the rents. I'd been to a couple of these activities before my Rents visit, but I'm always up for being a tour guide for visiting fam.

Black Reign Division 1

2009-04-14T21:29:00.003-04:00

The first season in Division 1 for Black Reign ended quite differently than all the most recent seasons. Several roster changes and the higher quality competition resulted in a 2-5-1 record. We did however go out on a high note by winning the final game. I scored the tieing goal with about 60 seconds left in the game and we scored the winning goal with 2 seconds left on the clock. Talk about taking it down to the wire.

A new season of indoor has already started and we have once again been placed in Division 1. Hopefully we can pull out a win from some of the teams that were close losses last season.

Miami Beach for work

2009-04-14T20:58:00.003-04:00

The last weekend is March was busy busy with the home opener for DC United on Saturday night and a flight to Miami Beach for work. Upon arriving at the hotel, we found that it was the last day of a large DJ party so we spent 3 hours waiting for our rooms at the pool bar with drunk, "plastic" people banging their heads to club music. Thank goodness that it was the last day because I would not have survived walking around in a suit with the spring break crowd running around my hotel.

I had late starting meetings for two of the days that I was there. I walked to the local coffee shop on the board walk and saw a multitude of locals walking around, working out, and getting breakfast. I don't think anyone in Miami Beach actually works. It was quite odd. On the last morning of my trip I finally got out to run on the beach. It was beautiful. It was tough to get work done every day when the windows in the meeting room atrium overlooked the beach.

Go Tigers!

2009-03-24T22:24:00.003-04:00

I had the pleasure of spending Saturday night at the local indoor soccerplex watching the Maryland Tigers play an exhibition game against an east coast semi-pro in order to raise money for one of the players whose father is in need of a kidney transplant. One of the players for the Tigers is on my indoor team and several of the other players I know from the indoor soccer facility. The game was quite good. The donations were in the form of an entrance fee and a raffle. While I went just to watch the game, I came away with a DC United soccer ball signed by a multitude of the DC United players. Quite a haul.

St. Patty's cooking

2009-03-24T21:27:00.002-04:00

Since I missed cooking a proper Irish dinner last Tuesday, I decided to cook two dinners on Sunday. I spent several hours cutting and cooking potatoes, carrots, and leeks to make Guinness Beef Stew with Baked Potato Fries and Potato and Leeks Soup. The recipe for beef stew is one that I had picked up some time ago, but never tried. The recipe for Potato and Leeks soup I found online here. The recipe for Guinnes Beef Stew can be found by asking for it. Surprisingly, the leek soup was my favorite of the two.

Moving on Up! Black Reign Update

2009-03-16T19:52:00.003-04:00

The first of many updates to catch-up on recent travels. But first, Black Reign rides again. The indoor team that I play on and manage continues to rise up the levels. At the end of January we won the Division 2 Championship after a 4-1-1 season. We were then promoted to Division 1 for this current season which caused a couple roster issues as two new members to the team during our move to Div 2 were also playing on a Div 1 team. For this current season, we've retained one of our two new players and battled along in our games. Add sickness and injuries, our current season hasn't been quite as good as the previous one.

On a related note, the outdoor season starts April 5.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T11:45:00.006-05:00

To All! May traditions new and old light your heart and season. I'm writing as I spend my first Christmas away from home and family. But I will be continuing a family tradition of the last 10 years by cooking King Crab legs for Christmas Eve dinner. Luckily, a friend from college and his wife will be indulging me and joining in this festivity. Of course the downside to not visiting home is that I won't get to see the 23.1 inches of snow that has set a record for snow fallen in the month of December. So the trade off was not seeing snow for not being stuck in it at some random airport.

On a side note, I've started receiving Christmas card with family pictures from college and high school friends. Since I'm way to late to start a card tradition this year, enjoy a pictures of my girlfriend and I at last weekend's party. The hostess dressed as a tree while we went caroling around the neighborhood.

We are the Champions, my friend!

2008-11-17T16:39:00.004-05:00

As the post title indicates, my indoor team the Black Reign have once again captured the Championship. We played a team that we had tied during the regular season. For this game, we were missing two key players to travel and sickness, and a third due to a red card in the previous game. The game was fairly clean with only a few instances where bookings should have been made, but weren't. Including two times which I was purposely pushed down from behind by a aging hispanic player who apparently doesn't like it if an opposing player is able to out sprint him and take the ball away. But I guess if you weren't taught, or don't understand, fair play, that's how the game goes. This particular player was shown the yellow after the second push, even though it should have been a red. The consolation price for me is that after he pushed me down, he stepped on me with his cleats and lost his footing. He ended up slamming into the turf face first. And then of course told the ref that I deserved a card for tripping him. Anyway, the full season results can be found here. You'll notice that the championship game ended in a tie. Because the fields are on a tight schedule, ties are broken by a set of criteria including regular season record and head-to-head competition. In this case, because our teams had the same record and our teams tied during the regular season, Black Reign won on the third tie breaker, lowest number of goals scored against the team. We had 26 goals against us, they had 28.

This last week also featured the first set of post season games for my outdoor team, The Storm. We were missing three key players for this team as well. However, only one was due to injury and the other two just decided to no show up. It's tough to play a game when people who have started for the team all season long decide not to show up. Especially when the team we play is from the division above us. Tis the course of recreational soccer I guess. We player a tough game, but ended up without time as an ally and on the wrong side of the 2-points-per-female-goal rule. Below is the full team picture from the last game of the regular season. Everyone showed up to that game, but apparently we don't know how to find the center of the goal.

Sweden and lederhosen, Yah!

2008-11-10T22:12:00.006-05:00

I was fortunate enough to be chosen to attend international work group in Goteborg, SWEDEN as part of the US delegation related to my field of work. It was an amazing trip. Sweden was beautiful and clean. We walked the streets from the hotel to restaurants every night and nary a gum wrapper or cigarette butt was found. I stayed on the 22 floor of the hotel. Great view, but I was directly underneath the penthouse restaurant/bar. So ever night at 2 AM I heard chairs and tables being moved around the room. No wonder the room was available. Outside my window was the training field for a local soccer team, a stadium temporarily being used by the local club, and the new stadium currently under construction.

Much to my enjoyment, I discovered that the local club, IFK, is one of the most storied Swedish football clubs. I spent several afternoons searching for the club shop. It was surprisingly small, but I did get myself a jersey and a flag. The bad news about having a storied club: Holligans. While out for dinner one night, we discovered that a team from Holland was scheduled to play the local club and more than a few supporters had traveled to watch the game. We found ourselves surrounded by a plethora of large, drunk, dutch people. At one point, the pub security had to restrain and remove a dutchman for carrying a large pocket knife and pushing past security. Now in the US, this guy would have been knocked down and arrested. In Sweden, they took his knife and gave him a beer. An hour later, we moved to the upper floor of the pub for another pint and live music. Not five minutes after moving, we heard a large crowd in the alley next to the pub. Suddenly, stools, bottles, and glasses were flying through the air and hitting the windows. I rushed down the stairs to see what was going on only to hear the bartender yelling at everyone to hurry upstairs. We were moved to the second floor and the doors were locked. We ended up staying for another hour while the local police cleared out the streets. We found out later that all the tram service through that area had been stopped because the crowd was so large.

The only bad thing about this particular city in Sweden was that everything seemed to close at 8 PM. We were locked out of several restaurants one night, and just barely made it into the last one. The sidewalks literally rolled up at the stroke of 8.

I was busy most of the time with meetings, but I did manage to take a few pics. Too many to post here though. My friends who would like to see more Sweden pics should contact me and I'll provide them.

Veterans Day Celebration

2008-11-10T21:38:00.003-05:00

On Sunday I celebrated the veterans of this country by participating in the Wounded Warrior 5k run to support Healers Helping Heroes, a class project of area uniformed services medical students. Several organizers took pictures along the route that should be uploaded to the web page shortly. This is actually my first organized run since an intramural race I was forced to run in college. It was only a fun run, but surprise, I was a little bit competitive with the people running around me. My run time was horrendous, but it felt good to get out and run for the first time in a long while, and hopefully help heroes in need.

New home and natural neighbors

2008-11-10T21:00:00.005-05:00

Most of you are aware that I recently moved from my 1-bedroom apartment to a three story townhouse in a wooded subdivision that is home to a variety of woodland creatures. I've been quite amazed to see up to five deer at a time hanging out in my small yard and laying around several yards back in the forest. I've been startled more than a couple of times when walking up the path to my house by a deer snacking next to the front door. Other creatures co-existing are squirrels without tails, brown squirrels, black squirrels, cats without tails, chipmunks, racoons, cardinals, doves, woodpeckers, and other birds. The squirrel is just outside my bedroom windown. Jade is loving nature. She spends several hours every day starring out the floor level windows at the animals in the pine tree and bushed just outside the front door. She has also been quite amused by something she has apparently never experience before in her short, two and a half year life. Leaves! As the leaves have started to fall and dance around on the deck, Jade has been tracking and attacking the leaves the blow close to the sliding glass door. Growing up in my apartment with no patio and no trees meant she didn't get to play with nature until now.

Quick Soccer Updates

2008-10-20T22:32:00.008-04:00

Before I update everyone on all the traveling that I've been doing in the last two months, I need to fix the soccer fixture and results links. I actually have two past schedules to deposit here for the Black Reign: May, 2008 and July, 2008. In the May season, Black Reign captured the 3-A Championship title and took 2nd in the July season. While I am extremely pround of my team, I can only claim credit for this championship in a coaching/managing capacity as I had hurt my knee again at the beginning of June playing in the Spring 2008 Dogg Pound season. I then took another entire indoor season off from playing for both Black Reign and Dogg Pound. The current season of Black Reign can be found under Links to the right.

Also, another Storm season has started this fall.
Storm Fixtures and Results:
Sept 14 2008 Rock Bottom Strikers W 3-0
Sept 21 2008 Clark Construction L 0-3
Sept 28 2008 Armageddon Rain Out
Octo 5 2008 FC Beef Hammer L 0-3
Oct 12 2008 Doo Doo Brown W 6-2
Oct 19 2008 I-in-Team W 3-2
Oct 26 2008 Greenwave T 1-1
Nov 2 2008 Remnants W 5-2
Nov 9 2008 Armageddon W 5-1
Regular Season Record 5-2-1
Post Season:
Nov 16, 2008 Fire L 2-4

The Return of Big Ben!

2008-06-30T20:16:00.003-04:00

One of the most well known players for and the heart of DC United took the field for the first time in the 2008 season on Sunday and I was there. Of course we bought tickets to see Beckham (we saw him take the field for his first ever MLS game last year), but heard and felt the largest standing ovation and cheering that I've ever seen (larger than Beckham's first game) in the 75 minute when Benny returned after two ankle surgeries and months of rehab. Our season ticket seats are just to the right of this picture. So aren't seen here, but ABC set up a camera boom right in front of our seats. So if you happened to tape the game last Sunday, you'll be able to see me and my crew four or five times. Good times.

Other good news for the weekend was the 6-0 win for my outdoor team The Storm in its first post season game on Saturday. I of course was not playing as I'm still serving a self imposed six week injury reserve suspension. However, some new additions to our team who joined us this stepped up with some veterans and played in fine style to beat the 1st place team from Division 4. Unfortunately, with the DC United game and The Storm game scheduled for the same time on Sunday, our depleted roster left little help for the second post season game. We lost 2-5. See the full season results here.

In Memoriam: Stella

2008-06-21T18:12:00.003-04:00

A good pup rescued and given a good home. Three times only I saw her but she accepted me like I visited every day. Too soon she was taken, but around long enough to creep into every heart. We'll miss you Stella!

Flying Monkey rides again! Or not.

2008-06-04T20:50:00.006-04:00

So much has happened over the last two and a half months, unfortunately most of it has been sapping the mental energy required to remember to make timely posts. This post is mostly to provide some updated soccer info. Surprise, I'm playing soccer. Since my last postings, two Black Reign seasons have come and gone. Black Reign January -March and Black Reign March - May can be seen by clicking them. Inconsistent roster and injuries contributed to middle of the field finishes at 2-7 and 3-4-1 respectively. One thing to note, however, is that the listing of a 3-A league is misleading because there was no Division 1 or 2. We were effectively moved into the highest league. The current Black Reign season, which is half over at the time of this posting, seems to be developing in the same manner even though we are truly back at the 3-A level. In addition to managing and playing for Black Reign, I've spent the spring co-managing the full-field outdoor team The Storm, and playing on the 7 v 7 outdoor short field team Dogg Pound. That's right, I've been playing three days each week. Dogg Pound was a full-field outdoor team last fall, but lacked the players for a full-field time this spring. The good news about the 7 v 7 league is that we are playing on brand new outdoor artificial turf fields under lights. These aren't the plastic, putt-putt style turf with which most of us are familiar. These are a sand base covered in ground rubber and topped with a long plastic grass. In the end, I'm able to wear regular soccer boots (cleats). Also, we get to play in the rain which happened two weeks ago.

The Storm Results:
Date Opponent Result Score
April 13 2008 TheJokersWild W 4-1
April 27 2008 FC Divers W 4-3
May 4 2008 Kings & Queens W 2-1
May 11 2008
May 18 2008 Rock Creek FC L 1-2
June 8 2008 Remnants T 0-0
June 15 Creeping Terror Forfeit Win
June 22 GreenWave W 5-4
5-2-1 record and 4th place Div 3 season finish
Post Season
Rock Bottom Strikers (1st place Div 4) W 6-0
Rock Creek FC (1st place Div 3) L 2-5

And now for the "Or Not." As I'm posting this, I'm once again treating an MCL injury that I earned about ten minutes into the last Dogg Pound game. While it appears that this sprain will end my current outdoor seasons, since there only two left for Dogg Pound and three left for The Storm, I've already been bounding up steps at the office so I hopefully won't need a year to rehab this time. Apparently I am no longer able to be the same daredevil Flying Monkey that I was for the first 26 years of my life. Or at least without being more aware of the consquences anyway.

Happy Birthday to Jade!

2008-03-10T21:53:00.002-04:00

The lady in my life had her 2nd birthday on March 6. When I saw that it was upcoming on the calendar, I started to think of all her behavior that could be related to her age in human years (14 years if you use the same conversion as with dogs). Sleeping all day, always crying for food, tearing up the toilet paper, and not wanting to be held. Then I looked up the actual conversion for cats. Jade is 24 years old in human years. That's right. My cat is almost as old as I am. So apparently all her teenage behavior is just because she's a cat. Who would have thought?

On the bright side, I think Jade got what she really wanted to her birthday. Once on Thursday night and twice on Friday night, she crawled up onto my chest, laid down, and fell asleep. Or she was thanking me for letting her rule my apartment for the past year and a half.

Ahhh....ECHO!!!

2008-02-12T22:13:00.005-05:00

For those that haven't been watching the Westminster Dog Show, Pedigree has been running commercials during and in advance of the show that advocate buying Pedigree because they donate money too help find homes for all dogs. If you want to feel your heart in your throat, or even possibly shed a tear, check out Echo. In the spirit of Man's Best Friend, I decided to compose a list of dog breeds which I would accept into my home as a sibling for Jade. Go ahead and start shopping. In any combination, and in no particular order:

Australian Shepherd
Greyhound
Springer Spaniel
Standard Longhair Dachshund
Irish Wolfhound
Beagle
Golden Retriever
Brittany
Labrador Retriever
Plott Hound
Weimaraner
Vizsla
Mastiff
Alaskan Malamute
Anatolian Shepherd
Bernese Mountain
Great Dane
Great Pyrenees
German Shepherd
Greater Swiss Mountain
Belgian Malinois
Siberian Husky
Kuvasz

Honestly though, who am I kidding. We all know that, if I could, I would go down to the shelter and take home any pup that would go for a run with me or chase me around the yard. Thank goodness for friends with dogs.

Black Reign update

2008-02-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

Just a quick soccer update. Black Reign continue to be competitive in the upper levels of the Co-ed soccer leagues. Surprisingly enough, it is designated as the Competitive level. Last season ended with a tough 5-6 postseason loss after a 3-3-0 season. On the brightside, three of the four losses were by 1 point and the fourth loss was by 3 points to the eventual league champions. The teams seem to be evenly matched which makes for some exciting games.

Cat in the rain

2008-01-21T16:13:00.000-05:00

I've had my cat for the about a year and a quarter now and I've never had reason to give her a bath. I don't remember my mother giving her cat a bath many times in his life time. My mother informed me that I had made a mistake in not acclimating Jade to water early in her life. Live and learn I guess. Over this long weekend, I happened to fall asleep on my couch and Jade curled up on my chest like she occasionally does. After about two hours, I arose and started preparing supper, but I couldn't get away from a slight hint of litter box. Shortly after smelling my shirt, I decided my cat was getting her first bath. After consulting my "Cats for Idiots" book, I found that I should use a sink with a towel in the bottom for the cat to grip and a hand held spray nozzle. Not having a spray nozzle, I decided to do the next best thing. I put on a pair of swimming trunks, grabbed the cat by the scruff of her neck, and jumped in the shower. It was quite and experience and I'm sure all the neighbors now think that I killed my cat slowly. In the end, Jade fared well enough to investigate the shower the day after her rain shower and she spent today sleeping in my lap. So she's clean and doesn't hate me. I also learned a valuable lesson, wear a t-shirt while showering with the cat. The scratch marks on the back of my shoulders will remind me of that for a week or so.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful!

2008-01-17T21:16:00.000-05:00

So we finally got enough snow here to call it a snow storm and not a sleet storm. Unfortunately, it came on the one night of the week that I actually have an event scheduled. My soccer schedule recently has been pitiful and since it is one of the few things that is keeping me in shape, I need my soccer. I had a Bye on the 6th, and on the 10th, a game on the 13th, and a weather cancellation tonight. Three game nights of four in the last two weeks were bust. So I instead spent an hour sprinting on a treadmill and an elliptical machine. Not quite the same work-out, but I do have to say that I was quite tired at the end.

I recently received an email this week in which I was "reprimanded" by the laser eyes of one of my adopted mothers for not updating my blog lately. So this is my attempt to catch up. In the last two months, my rents came for a visit in December, and then I turned around and travelled home for the Christmas Holiday. I got to see snow, drink beers with my rents, brother, and friends from high school. But most importantly, I installed a 12 foot TV antenna in my parents attic. Tromping around in shredded fiberglass insulation in order to find rafters to step on so that I don't put a foot through the ceiling like my father might have done on a previous excursion into the attic. Of course I got to drill a hole in the rafters to feed cable into the wall, so that made the whole experience worth while. I'm actually getting ichy just writing about it. The most recent activity that I'm sure will rivet people, my birthday. While larger that anything that has been done in the last couple of years, the party was still pretty low key. Some of my good friends from work gathered at a local Irish pub and bought me plenty of Vitamin G and appetizers. We concluded the night with tequila shots and Guitar Hero. Quite a night. And apparently for not playing guitar and only playing Guitar Hero twice before, I'm surprisingly good. Or so I'm told. Saturday was dinner at a fantastic little Indian Punjabi grill and a movie. It was a great weekend with great people. That's it for now. I'll try to post some pictures of the rents DC adventure as well as some videos I've taken. I think I finally figured out how to get them on here. Also, I've decided to take a lesson from a blog that I read weekly. This MLS soccer player writes about his every day life. Of course he has a few more exciting trips that I do, but I hope it will be better than trying to come up with some witty remark on society, failing, and not posting for two months.

Kiss equals Lips

2007-11-12T12:24:00.000-05:00

This post is actually a soccer update, but I thought I'd come up with some profound thought to start off this soliloquy so I could have a unique post title. I was sending a text message today on my cellphone and discovered that the words Kiss and Lips are created by pushing the same number combination (if you're phone has an intelligent tap program that is). Go ahead. Get out your phones. I'll wait. Hold for applause, one, two, three. See. Isn't that interesting.

Now for the important information. On Saturday, Dogg Pound played an awesome game against a team ranked #1 in our division with a 6-0 record, but came up just a bit short in the end with a 1-2 loss. A girl from the opponents took a lucky chip shot over the head of our goalie giving them two points instantly. They barely hung on for the rest of the game. The regular season ended at 3-3-2 and the first post season play-off game is scheduled for next Saturday.

Date Opponent Result Score
Sept 8 2007 DC Green FC T 1-1
Sept 15 2007 Life is Good T 1-1
Sept 22 2007 Eigen Vectors W 6-0
Sept 29 2007 USUFC II W 8-2
Oct 13 2007 White Lightning L 1-3
Oct 20 2007 USUHS Docs L 2-4
Oct 29 2007 Internationals W 3-1
Nov 10 2007 Donkeys L 1-2
Post Season
Nov 17 2007 Eigen Vectors W 1-0

On Sunday, the Storm played our first post season game to a 3-1 win over Big Ballers, the #2 ranked team in the division above us. This win moves us forward in the tournament and we play again next Saturday. The full results from this season are available here.

Cold Weather Starting & Outdoor Soccer Ending

2007-11-05T09:27:00.001-05:00

This blog is quickly becoming my online journal for my soccer exploits here on the East Coast. But I guess when all you do is work and play soccer, there isn't much to tell people other than soccer results. And on that note, a new season of Black Reign soccer has started and we are already ahead of the pack with two wins. Last season ended with two hard fought losses in the post season giving us a final 3-3-2 record.

The weather is finally turning cooler (my Rents had small snow flakes in the air this morning) which means that outdoor soccer is drawing to a close. Yesterday, the Storm had it's final game of the regular season against the team we played in the first game of the season. In that first game, we played with only 8 players on the field and without many key players, including myself, because of the long holiday weekend and travel plans. I was actually in Georgia attending a wedding. The Storm lost that game 1-2. In this last weekend's rematch, our opponents played with 9 players on the field and we had a full squad including the core of our roster. The result was a win for us at 9-1. Since the coordinator for this outdoor league is lazy and computer inept, the schedule and results are not posted in an online database so I have recorded them here. We now wait with our 5-2-1 record to see our placement in the post season tourney.

Date Opponent Result Score
Sept 9 2007 TBD L 1-2
Sept 16 2007 Jokerswild L 1-3
Sept 23 2007 Second Wind W 2-1
Sept 30 2007 Creeping Terror W 1-0
Oct 7 2007 Rock Bottom Strikers W 3-1
Oct 14 2007 El Nino T 2-2
Oct 21 2007 Macht Nights W 3-0
Nov 4 2007 TBD W 9-1

Post Season

Nov 11 2007 Big Ballers (Rank #2 in Div 3) W 3-1

Nov 17 2007 Div 3 Team L 3-4 in penalty shots

Working at home

2007-10-15T21:45:00.000-04:00

I spent the day working at home in my PJs with the sun shining in the very large window in my living room. It was a very, very slow day with regard to that aspect of my life, but I thought everyone might like a little glimpse into the life of my cat. This is what she does while I sit at my desk and read/type.

Sports update.

2007-10-08T22:34:00.000-04:00

Tis the season. No, not that season. It's the outdoor soccer season. Actually, as a good friend of mine pointed out to me tonight, the soccer season (particularly my soccer season lately) is approximately 11.5 months. But really, the fall outdoor season has been running for five weeks. My 7 v 7 short field season with Dogg Pound ended about two months ago with a 3-3-2 record. Not bad for playing with only a few subs in the DC 90 degree, 90 percent humidity summer weather. Pause here for a call from my Rents...................................... And back. Anyway, I had about two weeks of a break while still playing indoor with the Black Reign before the outdoor season kicked off. I've actually posted the schedules for both outdoor teams directly on the right Links column because the Montgomery County Adult Soccer website is tough to navigate unless you know exactly for what you are looking. In addition, the coordinator hasn't posted results for any of the teams as of yet. Mind you that we are five weeks into the season. But I'm sure that no one in the league cares how their team is doing. It's all fun and games. Yeah right. The coordination of the league and its web page is pretty horrendous. But I guess until I'm ready to quit my job and take over that position, I shouldn't complain too much. To end before I ramble too much off topic, Dogg Pound is currently holding a 2-0-2 record (I think) and The Storm is sitting at 3-2-0. I am unsure about Dogg Pound because I missed last week's game due to being in San Francisco for the annual ADA conference. More about that later. I'm pretty sure someone reported that game as a win. I'll have to double check that.

A soccer season anew...

2007-08-27T21:21:00.000-04:00

As usual, tons of things have been going on since my last update. Also as usual, I will try to get to them later; however, since soccer seasons are changing again, I decided to update the current season and post last season's Black Reign results. This last season was definitely a good one. We expanded the list of available substitues with some great picks and we finished the regular season in first place with a record of 5-0-1. Current schedule and results are posted under the Links sidebar.

You shouldn't eat an entire bag of popcorn prior to playing a 50 min soccer game.

2007-07-30T21:04:00.000-04:00

Okay, so once again it has been far too long between posts and much has happened since the last one. I'll attempt to catch up on it all, but first a few quick tidbits.
My faith in the intelligence of the general public takes hits everyday, but this morning was extraordinary. CNN news reported that Aquafina water, manufactured and sold by Pepsi, as well as Dasani, a Coca-Cola product, are both filter water from public tap sources. The key word is "filtered." However, CNN sought to make a large story out of the issue and went to the street asking ordinary people how they felt when they were told that Aquafina comes from a tap water source. The people on the street said they felt bamboozled. First of all, shame on CNN news for trying to make news by portraying the story without presenting all the facts. Second of all, shame on the general public for buying into marketing by corporate America without thinking. Did they think they were paying 75 cents for water shipped in from the Swiss Alps. Of course Aquafina and Dasani are from a U.S. public water source, but it's not like the water is bottled straight from a kitchen sink. It has been cleaned by the local municipality and filtered at the plant.
Second, the last Black Reign indoor season unfortunately ended with two losses in the post season. As with last summer, our primary keeper is off to coach so our last man back has been in disarray and summer vacations have taken their toll on the roster. Since this is only a semi competitive team in addition to a social and recreational one, last season was quickly forgotten and a new one was begun as posted to the right.
Third, I was recently asked to sub for a team run by a girl that has been subbing for the Black Reign. I have hence been adopted by the Dogg Pound for Monday night games of coed 7 v 7 short field outdoor at the Maryland Soccerplex. Outdoor, short field soccer is essentially smaller goals on the sidelines of a soccer field and is played black and forth across a normal field instead of up and down it. Dogg Pound is also a team that plays 11 v 11 full-field coed outdoor on Sundays in the fall and spring in a league one level above The Storm with whom I've been playing for three seasons. What's going to happen in the fall? I guess we'll find out.
Fourth, since I played a Dogg Pound game tonight, and ate a snack after work before the game, the title should be self explanatory.

The soccer season that wouldn't end

2007-06-13T21:52:00.000-04:00

So I just finished posting about last weekend's kayaking when I decided to check the links on the side of my blog. I discovered that the "current" Black Reign indoor season link still takes the reader to last season's results. I have corrected the link even though the Black Reign enters the postseason games tomorrow. Which means that I'll have change the link again in two weeks. If I remember that is. Check out the current Black Reign season here.

488 miles for Tiger!

2007-06-12T22:17:00.000-04:00

448 miles. That's the round trip total from the DC metro area to Pittsburgh and back. A good friend of mine from the Pitt area of PA invited me to partake in one of the practice days of the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont. With no schedule or expectation, we arrived at the indicated parking lot and were bussed to the visitors entrance for the golf course. As soon as we walk onto the course, we hear "Tiger's coming."

After watching the Tiger take a few chips and putts, we decided to take a tour of the entire course and find out why our tickets said Fownes Village instead of General Entrance as many other tickets did. We crossed the PA Turnpike, which bisects the Oakmont course, and walked up the 9th hole to the Clubhouse. Quite a view.
We continued our excursion by crossing fairways 11, 12, 14, 15, and 18 until we arrived at Fownes Village. After punching our tickets and giving us armbands, security allowed us into a fenced off area full of rigid air-conditioned tents surrounded by a wood deck with plants and tables abound. Inside our assigned tent was complimentary food, liquor, beer, wine, pop, water, flatscreen TVs, and plush chairs around covered tables. It's good to be the King. After partkaing in a glass of white wine, I decided to visit the water closet. Now I had inspected the porta-johns at the entrance to the golf course and was pleasently surprised to find clean toilets with a hand sanitizer in a soap dispenser in each. The VIP toilets were above and beyond. Inside mobile trailer were real porcelain toilets and urinals alongside porcelain sinks, towels, and even a kleenex box. All of these things were quite functional, so the wood paneling and emerald green wall paper were icing on the cake.

After all the excitement at the Open, you might think I was tuckered out. But how can one make a trip to Pittsburgh without visiting the downtown riverwalk area. Unfortunately, this blogger won't let me post the stiched photo of the entire downtown Pittburgh area taken from the top of Mount Washington. So instead I've included me in front of the musical fountain down on the river.

Follow the leader

2007-06-12T21:14:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to spend a weekend morning hanging with my best friend and catching up last weekend. The added twist to this story is that we did it while paddling around a lake in Columbia, Maryland. This was quite an experience for me since this was my first time in a kayak. Of course I wasn't worried because I had Annie with me who is very experienced in a kayak. This was her second time. Now having spent a bit of time in a canoe during my youth, I wasn't too concerned about getting around the current-less lake on a sunny, clear day. However, I wasn't confident enough to take my camera out on the water with me, which of course means that later there just happened to be something of which I wanted a picture. After getting our bearings and paddling circles around some very aggressive lily pads, we made for the "big water" and happened upon a grey bird stalking its way along the bank. This bird, which I believe was a heron, spent the morning flying around to different spots of the lake and hunting fish. Next time you have a chance to watch a bird stalk food, make sure to compare its motion to that of a large cat on the hunt. The similarities are amazing. Annie commented that the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet are fantastic in their coverage of things that the average person will never see, but those same people will probably never walk out their door and spend the morning watching a bird. I have to agree.

Second greatest addition to the internet....

2007-05-05T21:23:00.000-04:00

I bet that everyone has a different random thought when reading the title of this posting, but I am talking about youtube.com. Of course the greatest addition to the Internet is Google.com. Anyways, the purpose of this blog was always to keep people updated on my general life events, but also to give a little insight to the craziness that I call my thoughts. One scary adventure I know. I thought that I would help jump start the process with multiple clips of music and comedy from this great site in addition to the Jpop video I posted earlier. Most of the time, my days of working in the lab are filled with prepping and performing experiments, reading, and writing. But some times we have just enough energy left over to spend a few minutes laughing. Recently, I found the videos to two songs for which I have been searching the Internet for at least five years. A song featured in a commercial for "Over There" and a song played in the background of an "Ocean's Eleven" scene. The laughter comes from the best of Sean Connery on Celebrity Jeopardy and another Jpop video featuring four cute Japanese girls and a fat, fire breathing man. And of course this is not to mention the comedy dealings of Jim Gaffigan, but you can search youtube for those yourself. Well I hope you enjoyed your brief trip into my grey matter. For me, it's time to go check my eyelids for structural integrity. Tomorrow is a full day as I captain a team of outdoor before going to watch DC United take on Chivas USA at RFK Stadium in the afternoon. Vamos United!

One of these things is just like the others....

2007-04-06T19:28:00.000-04:00

After a very successful season of indoor, we started the post season last night with an opportunity to replay the only two teams to beat us. Unfortunately, two business traveling teammates and one sickness later, we were down three players and the other team took it upon themselves to be only the second team in the last two years of indoor to complain about substitute players playing in the post season. This is unfortunate for two reasons: I had friends drive up from Virginia to play with us and we were told they had to leave, and the only reason the other team brought it up is because they couldn't find substitutes of their own. But the other players weren't jacka**'s like so many others I've played against so I can't complain too much.
The other team's striker did leave his mark though. He made a great effort to give me a scar under my right eyebrow to match the soccer scar under my left eyebrow. And if you didn't know that I had a soccer scar under my left eyebrow, you've been starring at my spotty skin camouflage and not seeing the rest of me. But for all those mothers out there that are flipping out right now, settle down. After consulting with several people and a doc, and drawing upon my own extensive emergency room experience, I decided that it's more bruise than cut. Time and ice will make it all better.

Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in!

2007-04-04T21:20:00.000-04:00

The new season of outdoor soccer started this last weekend. Finally. Just like the last two seasons though, we start a little slow and discombobulated. New players and people who didn't do anything over the winter. What can you do? In fact, I spent most of the game on the sidelines trying to direct substitution traffic and watch players for future placement. Did I mention that I got added as a co-captain? So now instead of offering advice and opinions on this team and managing my indoor team, I'm pulling manger duty on two teams. Although when things get running and people know where to sub I probably won't be spending much time on the sidelines. The only other person who plays my position is going to miss most of the games this season. The first game was a 1-4 loss. Future games will hopefully end on a better note.

Laugh out lab.

2007-03-31T21:48:00.000-04:00

I know that my posts have started to get farther and farther apart, but I've decided that a couple of short posts every week instead of a long post every other week might work better. I guess we'll see. At least I'm doing better than Mr. KAllen who has yet to make a second post on his blog. This post is a simple bit of comedy that I picked up in the lab this week. I have been fortunate enough to work with two Graduate students from Japan who have travelled to the US for six month internships. While searching YouTube for Yusake's favorite band, "Mr. Children", we found the following Jpop video. Enjoy!

Long time....

2007-02-13T22:08:00.000-05:00

Every weekend I sit and have my coffee, read the paper, and enjoy my free time. And I while relaxing, I think, "I should update my blog today." Which of course gets overruled by the rest of life. So now it's two months since the post. In the past I've tried to write a large blog compressing everything that happens during the long breaks into one blog. This time, however, I can sum everything up in a couple sentences. I went home. I came back. I had a birthday. And life continues. That pretty much covers six weeks of the last eight. I have a bit more for the last two weeks though. A bit of snow has finally fallen in the DC metro area. The snow hasn't stuck around in the metro area, but the surrounding country has enough snow such that small ski resorts are open, with the help of snow machines of course. My friend Chris and I took a road trip this last weekend to visit one of these resorts and found snow tubing. The combination of sledding and a water slide was more than entertaining.
On the soccer front, this last week saw the Black Reign take home the Championship with an 8-1 victory over the Old Oranges. This last season resulted in two 5-6 losses to the number one and number two ranked teams. However, when the post season tourney starts and the full Black Reign team steps onto the pitch, the results were obviously different with a 6 win and 2 loss season. Winning a championship was a bit of a higher note than last seasons third place finish at 5 wins and 4 losses. But that's how the cookie crumbles for adult league soccer. Sometimes people are busy, and sometimes everyone can show up. C'est la vie.

Washington DC resident quiz

2006-12-11T20:06:00.000-05:00

The following is a short quiz that will reveal if you live in the Washington DC metro area. This will of course be followed by additional questions in future posts.

Question #1) As you are speeding through the parking lot at the end of the work day, someone starts to back their car out from between two SUVs. The backing driver probably can't see you. Do you a) honk your horn continuously until the backing person stops and then continue on your speedy way? b) stop your car and wait for the person to notice you and stop or finish backing out?

Question #2) During the lunch rush, you and your friend are having an engaging conversation and therefore not paying attention to the moving drink line. Seeing that you are not moving with the line, someone steps in front of you, says "pardon me," and grabs a lid and a straw. Do you say a) "Geeze, people around here are rude"? b) "No worries"?

Question #3) You stop your car at a four-way stop behind another car. You are turning right. The car to your right has arrived at the intersection just after the car in front of you and so the car in front of you pulls through in the intersection. You are now advancing the last car length to the stop sign while the car to your right is stopped at its stop sign. Do you a) roll through the stop sign and make your turn in front of the car to your right? b) come to a complete stop and wait for the car to your right to pull through the intersection?

If you answered A to any of these questions, you might live in the Washington DC metro area. Worst of all, these are all examples from today of how I observed people (including the local law enforcement officer in questions #2) displaying their lack of manners. Just examples of how you act when you think that you are more important than all the people around you.

Soccer times!

2006-11-04T19:22:00.000-05:00

The fall season of the Storm has ended. After a slow start to the year, we ended with a record of 4-4 and not quite enough goal differential points to make it into the post season playoffs this weekend. That's the bad news. The good news is that we won't be hurried to play a game and then get ready for our afternoon activity, the MLS Eastern Conference Final of DC United against the New England Revolution. Tomorrow holds brats on a BBQ and cold beers at the tailgate party prior to supporting our team. After last weeks conference semifinals game, it promises to be one heck of a party. These pictures are are of the Screaming Eagles after DC scored and at the end of the game.

Friday the 13th isn't so bad!

2006-10-14T17:25:00.000-04:00

As with many things in life, people feel the need to look at danger and yell, "You're not so bad! I dare you!" So yesterday on the theoretical worst day of the year, we braved the cold weather and took a trip to North Run Farm Corn Maze in order to run around in the middle of a corn field in the dark. No dare to Fate involved there. After exploring and discovering all six check points utilizing our flashlights and maps, we decided to run around on the paths with no torches to see if we could actually get lost. It took many minutes and passing the same point in the maze twice (see pictures) before we realized we had achieved our goal.

Left: First time in alcove. Right: Second time at same alcove.

But don't fear everyone. Using the great big trees around the field and the stars in the sky, we navigated our way to the exit and all is well again. Of course this was only after a piece of corn tried to eat me like the giant carnivorous plants of the Amazon. We barely survived a field of man-eating corn on an unlucky day. Take that Fate.

Put down your clipboard and strap on your boots

2006-10-01T21:33:00.000-04:00

After three months of rest and rehab, I've finally rejoined the ranks of soccer players. And just in time too since the fall outdoor season has started and the latest indoor season was coming to an end. The current indoor team has a record of 5-1 and I still had not played for them, only coached. In the last two weeks, I was fortunate enough to help add two wins to that record and see the Black Reign win the season championship. Coed 3 Silver World Champion Black Reign. 7-1-0 with a goal differential of 27 isn't too bad of a way to finish out. Although I've lost a bit of my touch while resting, I still had enough skills left over to score twice in the championship game. The outdoor season is unfotunately not fairing as well, but is following the same pattern as the spring with a 1-3 start.

As for a Jade update. My young feline friend had just started getting used to the apartment and me before she made a trip to the vet. For the last couple of days she's been playing around but still all kinds of upset with me. But then again, if you think you know an animal that likes going to the vet, I've got a bridge to sell you.

Beautiful, sleek, and sophisticated

2006-09-24T20:21:00.000-04:00

Everyone say hi to the new woman in my life, Jade. She'll be out shortly after she's done hiding under my bed. New home jitters and such.

Summer Vacations

2006-08-27T21:40:00.000-04:00

August has turned into quite a busy month for summer activities. I spent the first part of the month with my Rents at their lake cabin in ND. After the hustle and bustle of city life, it's nice to relax on the water with a beer in your hand. No email. No internet. No phone. No worries. It was great to see the extended family, but after a few days without a laptop, I was definitely jonesing for a fix. I finished reading Flags of our Fathers while at the lake. A quick read, but very exciting tale of the Iwo Jima flag raisers. This is just one of many sunsets that I enjoyed. Just one of many things I miss about the Midwest/plains.

The day after the end of this vacation, I spend the morning helping a friend load her car for the move from DC to Boston. Good times with an old friend. This last week I saw a DC United game at almost field level in RFK Stadium. An exciting 1-1 tie at half time ended as a 3-1 slam by DC. One of the things that makes living in the city worthwhile.

And last but not least, I've spent these last couple of days with some of the boys from college. Three Brothers who live in DC but I never get to see because everyone is busy and two Brothers who flew in just for the event. The club scene on Friday and a Counting Crows concert on Saturday was definitely enjoyed by all involved.

Two weeks left of the minimum 3 months of rest for my knee. After a season and a half, I'm itching to get back into the game. On the other hand, I have one teammate suggesting that I take another 3 months off and a friend with similar knee problems telling me the same thing. His point, surgery for an injury takes tons of time and tons of money. Better to take a while longer off. I guess we'll find out because at this point I don't even know.

Ahhh...You shouldn't have....

2006-08-18T08:07:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are counting, that's eight times in a row. Eight times. Almost the same as the number of times Ferris Bueller skipped classes.

www.Rose-Hulman.edu

Pumpkins forever!

2006-08-06T15:21:00.000-04:00

The infamous season of injury has finally ended. With no set goalie and more than a few line-up changes, the past Smashing Pumpkins season unfortunately ended with a fifth place finish at 3 -5-0. However, the good news is that two of those wins came in the postseason which means the team is coming together. I think that I've mentioned before, maybe in not so many words, that the Pumpkins have always had a turnover rate higher that what you would like to see for any team. There has always been a core group of players with a few peripheral player changes each season. But over the course of a year, changing one core player per season adds up. As such, the current core group of players is significantly different enough from the team that took the field last August that a team vote ended the Pumpkins.....and created Black Reign. What changes? Team name and colors. We get new jerseys that are actually proper soccer jerseys and not cotton t-shirts. Same great people though.
Well, kinda. Starting this season, the complex has decided to start enforcing its limit of 10 members per squad. The constant in and out fluxing of Pumpkins has now placed 15 players that want to play for Black Reign. This prospect has been in the back of my mind for a couple weeks now. It makes me think of an ice breaker I heard years ago. You are stranded on a desert island and can only take three things with you, what do you take? You have 15 people for a 10 person squad, who do you pick? Do you choose the 10 best? How do you account for consistent attendance? Or time on the team? Can you really banish a person to the sub list of a non-competitive coed soccer team because he/she isn't as good as the others. Especially when that person has made almost every game for the past year. But then again, if attendance stays as is, those subs will be playing more than a couple games.

The Ninth Circle of Hell really is for mutineers.

2006-07-30T20:05:00.000-04:00

I finished reading Dante's Inferno this weekend. I think I started this read over the last Christmas holiday, but it was interrupted for whatever reason. I was discussing my goal of finishing this classic with one of my closest friends who then recommended The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. Pearl twists a tale set during the Civil War of a group of Harvard scholars who are trying to stop a killer dispatching Bostonians as described in Dante's Inferno. So for anyone looking for grotesque horror without having the bejesus scared out of you or reducing your number of brain cells by watching more TV, I definitely would recommend picking up a copy of one, the other, or both. While I read Pearl's book before Dante's, neither will ruin the read of the other. Oh, and as for this post's title, Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean is actually referencing Dante correctly.

Return of the Jedi....or something anyway.

2006-07-26T20:46:00.000-04:00

For those that haven't read my previous post "Eat it before it eats you!", this would be the time to do that. That's right, they're back. Those friendly red critters were once again lovingly laid across the newspaper table cloth. Of the many things that I enjoy about living on the east coast, one is having the opportunity to meet people from other countries. So of course when someone visits during the summer months, you have to introduce them to Maryland Crabs. This is a crew from work and some new friends from Finland, China, Japan, and Ireland.

So what else is back? You might say that I am. I had my first PT session this morning with my new trainer. It was a bit of a shock to watch my leg shake from exhaustion while I'm doing one-legged press/extension/flexion. It was definitely a shock to find myself falling over when I try to stand on one leg and. But I guess those are the things you get when you have to sit on your duff for 6 weeks. The good news? Everyone seems optimistic about a full heal (as much as you can get with scar tissue instead of ligament) and I got directive to start low-impact cardio work. I'm definitely going to sleep tonight.

Just another season

2006-07-17T20:59:00.000-04:00

After running as fast as I could from the "team" that I was unlucky enough to play with last fall, I spent this spring and summer playing with The Storm. This crew finished 4th in our division at 4-3-1 and even made the play-offs. However, the fact that there were play-offs for this league wasn't posted until after the season ended so they ended up playing in a short field 7 on 7 outdoor tourney on the same weekend as the post season. As previously posted, I've been forcibly taking a break due to my knee injury so I missed playing in this last game.

Fourth of July visit

2006-07-17T19:34:00.000-04:00

I was fortunate enough to spend my Fourth in Wisconsin with adopted family. Now the parade and the fireworks are some of the quintessential elements of independence celebration that remind me of home years and years ago.

I remember riding in the small town parade in my father's Ford Model A or my grandfather's decorated golf cart and then setting off fireworks with my cousins outside of town.
But these aren't the things that I mention when people ask me how my vacation was. I tell people that I got to spend the day at a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game with people that I don't get to see enough. I saw The Stars and Stripes unveiled in all its beautiful glory.

And of course the sausage race.

How can you not say that a sausage race is the best part of a vacation?

I'm taking a break.....really.

2006-06-25T22:10:00.000-04:00

After playing a variety of contact and semi-contact sports for the majority of my life, you can be sure that I have my fair share of breaks, pulls, and strains. In February I had the unfortunate time of spraining my ankle (again!) while playing indoor soccer. I played the next season of indoor with a taped ankle, but was never able to fully heal. I had decided to take this season, which started three weeks ago, off to do some rehab. Of course you're all asking a very relevant question at this point, "When has Andrew ever taken time off?" Well after nine months of continuous play, I figured I had earned some time to heal. After all this, I decided to help the team out by playing goalie since our regular keep is busy coaching. Seems safe enough for my ankle, right? Well I was quite safe until some hot shot decided to high kick a long ball over my head. The attackers plant foot slipped and he ended up straddling my knee. After many years of college, I could have told you that knees don't bend backwards, but now I have personal experience. Don't you all worry too much. I'm walking now, just not running or biking. So now as I nurse my poor knee to see if I need to go see a PT, I really am taking a break. Really.

Celebration of Wine

2006-05-21T15:46:00.000-04:00

Wine and BBQ. Sounds like a great combination doesn't it? Well for the locals of Columbia, Maryland, these two go together naturally. I spent yesterday at Wine in the Woods discovering the wonders of 15 different Maryland Wineries. Some are new and some have been around for 60 years. Some know what they are doing and some definitely do not. To accompany this marvelous tent event, the city of Columbia had gathered all sort of food and craft vendors including but not limited to Cajun food, BBQ pork, bees wax candle holders, leather crafts, homemade dips and sauces, pictures, paintings, and prints, crab cakes, and vinyl siding for your home. Quite a mix. Questioning whether or not you could take in all this fun without fainting? Well on top of all this excitment, there were two stages of music covering everything from Cajun to Funk to Floyd to Motown. And last but not least, there was the people watching. I got to see everything from a drunk butch lezbian dancing to oldies like she was in her living room to a 50-something retired baby boomer wearing a plaid dress shirt, black dockers, and white running shoes taking pictures of all the commotion with his huge digital camera. I think I'll spend today washing clothes in a calm, quiet environment just to recover. I'll close with a pic of me and a friend who took the entire afternoon to promote Maryland wineries to me.

Pictures worth a thousand words

2006-05-15T21:12:00.000-04:00

Wow! It has been a long three months. And let me tell you, things have pretty much been the same. Imagine that. So to catch everyone up in a short amount of time, here are some pictures.
In the past months I had the opportunity to take a trip with the boys to Miami Beach. Pictures to come!

Once again I've been playing pick up outdoor soccer with the work crew.

Being my every helpful self and attempting to do a good turn daily, I help someone move their entire house.

And of course the ever continuing barage of weddings.

All this while having a blast at work.

And if you haven't already figured it out, I've been playing with my new camera. So hopefully since I now will have illustrations to accompany my ramblings, there will be more of them. Enjoy!

P.S. The last Smashing Pumpkins season results here.

Uprelegation? I guess I mean promotion.

2006-02-03T08:48:00.000-05:00

It may have taken 5 months, but two seasons of work to create an actual team, instead of six players on the field, paid off last week with a 7-4 win in our second post season game and an overall record of 4-2-2. Smashing Pumpkin Results! On top of this, our goal differential (the difference between goals scored and goals against) was better than that of a team with the same record. The result? Our team finished first in the league this season and was promoted one level to the C Division. After picking up a few new players who have experience with indoor soccer, and dumping a few players who starting their soccer careers with us last fall, we felt we were ready for the challenge. Unfortunately, as with any team activity, when you add several new players there are bound to be communication mistakes. A few miscues and missed opportunities resulted in a 5-4 lost for our first game this season. The game was quite winnable, so I'm excited for those games to come.
In other news, for those midwestern friends of mine who wonder what the excitement of living on the east coast is, I'm working on a deal to meet people associated with BOC. That's right. The champions of rock, Blue Oyster Cult. I can sense the excitement from here and so I will be sure to publish as soon as this momentous event takes place. In the mean time, enjoy a picture of the D league Championship Team including me with my little buddy Jordan.

Two Month's of Vacation Two

2006-01-08T20:03:00.000-05:00

My last post left you all holding your breath to see if I would make it though the demanding month of December. Well here's news flash in case you missed the title and the posting date, it was a busy month but life continues. The indoor soccer team that I was part of in the fall was revamped and was entered in the D league for a new season. Check the side bar for a link to Smashing Pumpkins soccer to check the indepth stats. As of the second to last game, we sat in first place. Unfortunately our bye week is this week so number two has a chance to take our place. We shall see.
I was fortunate enough to travel to my point of origin for a portion of the month of December. It was spent catching up with high school friends and mounting garage door openers. For the entertainment of those reading this however, I would like to relate my experience of flying first class. On the scheduled day of departure from DC at the beginning of my trip, Annie (a high school friend who happens to also live in DC) and I were driven to the airport. After checking luggage, taking my shoes off so TSA could look at my socks, and walking to the gate, there wasn't enough time to take a nap so I zoned out until our row was called. At which point Annie pulls me out of line and says, we could get free tickets. Surprise, Surprise. Northwest had overbooked a holiday flight. We had confirmed our flight 24 hours in advance so this would not normally affect this trip. The agent at the booth however game use each a free ticket for any travel and as a bonus put us in first class on the next available flight. The bad to all this good? I now feel spoiled. First class travel was spectacular. Not only were the seats leather and wide, but glass glasses were brought several times over filled with OJ. When we first sat down in our seats, the stewardess seemed a bit unhappy to be there at 8 am, as were most of us. But once the first class cabin was filled with the smell of cheese and salsa filled omelets and sauteed onions and potatoes, everyone seemed to perk up. This description of travel ended once we landed and switched planes however. The second half of this trip involved a short jump on a 2x2 jet operated by AirLink. The long and short of this is that first class and coach is the same thing. The only bonus is you get on the plane first (for first dib on overhead compartment space) and you get off the plane first.
This story ends with a return trip in coach. A rather anticlimactic end to a narrative but you can't make everything fantastic.

Two Month's of Vacation

2006-01-04T18:17:00.000-05:00

The bad part about starting a website to keep distant friends and family updated on the events of my life is that when you don't keep them informed they can become verbally violent. And thus, one of my random resolutions is to try to keep this updated.
I'd like to throw a shout out to the Thanksgiving VA crew. Not only was it great to get out of the city for the weekend, but I got to spend the time saying teeyah (TYA) whenever someone mentioned something a bit too specific. Yeah that's right, it is Jess's mistaken abbreviation for Too Much Information. The rest of the time we spent singing "Tur-hur-hur-key" because we all just love turkey dinner. Now this might seem like a complete weekend for most. However, only with the addition of 6 episodes of "Dog Whisperer" on Animal Planet could top it all off. Only during this time could be we hear the perfect Bond girl name. A puffy white cat that the owner had named
Kitty Love. All I can say is that I have a new nickname for my favorite women friends.
Since I'm trying to catch up on my two months off, check back soon for an indoor soccer update and news of X-mas vacation.

Playing catch up

2005-11-01T21:33:00.000-05:00

I've been slightly delinquent in my postings lately. That will happen when the rents move in for 10 days. So I have spent a little time trying to get things in order again. I'm going to try to cover the last couple of weeks all in one, so hang on to your seats.
Pho -
"Say what?" That was my reaction. My lab mentor out here suggested Pho for lunch one rainy day. So of course, being the open minded Midwesterner that I pretend to be, I said Pho would be great. On the drive over it was explained to me that Pho is a hot soup and therefore only really good on rainy days. At the time it didn't occur to me, but Pho is much like fondue. The difference is the choice in meat, and I suppose the method of eating. Hot broth comes to the table with your choice of meat, rice noodles, bean sprouts, hot peppers, lemon, and basil. As the meat finished cooking in your bowl, you eat the everything else using an assortment of spices and hot sauces on the table. Now for the interesting part. Meat choices are slice of eye-of round steak, well done flank, fat brisket, soft tendon, bible tripe, skirt flank, meat balls, or any combination of said meats. On the advice of my lunch companions, I had the Tai Nam (eye-of-round steak & well done flank). The reason for this choice, the meat you get is only mostly what you order and well done is not always well done. All in all though, the meat was done, there was no mystery meat, and hot soup tasted good on a rainy day. This Vietnamese restaurant trip was just another one of those experiences I'm glad I'm getting out here.
Requiem -
I have the pleasure of having one of my great friends from high school out in the DC area. Annie spends part of her free time singing with one of the U Maryland choirs and she sent an email around several weeks ago advertising a concert. Having gone to many a choir concert in the past, I thought this was a good chance to see my friends and broaden the horizons yet again, so I didn't pay much attention to the details. I just bought tickets. Fast forward to the night of the concert. The National Presbyterian Church of DC was filled with two choirs and the symphony orchestra. It wasn't until the crowd went silent and four people walked to center stage that I sensed something amiss. At that point I examined the program in my hands to find that I was sitting at Messa da requiem by Giuseppe Verdi. Other than my attempt to take a nap during the Offertorium movement, it was an enjoyable event. I spent the rest of the time listening to beautiful music and brushing up on my Latin translation skills. What a night.
Soccer Update -
Last regular season games were played last week. Once you're this far into the season, most of those that aren't dedicated and/or shouldn't be playing are no longer on the sidelines. As such, the scores of the games have gotten remarkably closer. Unfortunately, still not in our favor. Indoor score was 4-3 on Thursday and Saturday outdoor score was 3-1. Instead of a picture taken in the dark, below is the team picture from the outdoor team. Can you find me? Can you guess what position I played in the first half of the game? If not, please read the previous post.

"Who wants to play goalie?"

2005-10-10T19:47:00.000-04:00

I've had the pleasure of talking with several of my friends lately who mentioned that I haven't been keeping up on my posts. How did they know? Perhaps I just haven't had any exciting events lately. In actuality, I was telling them about my soccer game which wasn't posted. Therefore, here it is. First let me say that we still do not have a goalie. We felt fortunate to have someone commit to play this position about two weeks ago. He was excited and ready. Then, he informed us he would miss the first half of the first game. Then, he would miss all of it. Two games later, we find out he is not going to play for us. Don't you love commitment. Back to this last week. Game time was Thursday, 9 pm at a field in Virginia. If you follow the weather, this was just as tropical storm Stan made it's way up the east coast. Now this WISL team that I've hitched up with is definitely not that highest level of competition so we don't exactly get to play of the best fields. In fact, two of the fields are the worst I've EVER played on in my life. But I digress. Since this field had little or no grass on it, the rain that evening created a large mud pile. This of course turned into a sloppy mud pit with people running around on it. Our first voluteer goalie took a leg to the arm after two minutes of play. He was hurt enough to stop playing goalie, but well enough to walk back on the field to play striker. Oh well. Our second voluteer goalie, our captain, played the rest of the half, but refused to go back out for the second half since he made two mistakes resulting in two goals. Who of course does the duty fall to then? Now I personally enjoy playing a game of futball on a wet grass field. But slimy mud does not equal wet grass. To make things worse, it is impossible for me, from the goal line, to captain the defense standing on the midfield line attempting an offsides trap. So for the rest of the game, I spent my time charging off my line to stop one on one and two on one attacks. I am proud to say that none of these defensive failures resulted in a goal. In fact, I made a "spectacular save" in the last ten seconds of the game that involved a charge off the goal line and a dive into a mud puddle. I ended up walking off the field covered in mud from toes to elbows.

Eat it before it eats you!

2005-09-25T18:28:00.000-04:00

All summer long my mentor in the toxicology lab has been telling me about a Maryland tradition of eating crabs. Now it is widely known that I thoroughly enjoy eating crab meat. But that has always involved big juicy legs from snow or king crab. The lab that I am so fortunate to do my research in seems to be like extended family. They participate in more events outside of work than the crews at any of my other jobs. So yesterday, my lab leader invited me to his house for an end of the summer Maryland BBQ. The rest of my narrative is a description of the lesson I was given on how to properly eat the following creature.
First, you draw and quarter the crab and eat any of the meat sticking out of the legs. Then you open the mouth of the crab with a kitchen knife. While holding the superior carapace, thrust the knife into the crab through the mouth and use the knife to separate the superior and inferior pieces of the shell. The knife should remain in the tissue of attached to the lower shell. Now you rotate the knife till is is perpendicular to the table, effectively disemboweling the creature. The knife is then used to clean the rest of the organs out and scrape off the lungs. Wipe any leftover yellow mustard off the interior of the crab that may have leaked out of the hepatopancreas of the crab. Break the remaining shell into twice pieces. The table knife can then be used to filet off one side of the shell enclosing the compartments that contain the crab meat. Eat up!
If you think after all of this that the fun is over, you're in for a surprise. The meat in the legs is still left. At this point you can recreate that magical moment in the Tom Cruise/Demi Moore movie A Few Good Men when they are on a "date" and Demi smashes a crab leg with a wooden mallet and sprays crab meat into Tom's face. I love it when life immitates the cinema.
Now if this hasn't turned your stomach, then you would have enjoyed the afternoon as much as I did.

Back in action

2005-09-21T20:55:00.000-04:00

For those of you who were lucky enough to follow my career in WI, you know that I took a hiatus from soccer after four great indoor seasons. This past April I stepped back on the field for pick up soccer once a week with fellow FDA staffers. This included several that had not played organized soccer in many, many years and a few that had never played before at all. While this has been a huge step back from the competiveness of past teams, it has been tons of fun and the high point of every week. I latched onto an FDA soccer buddy who was looking for a more aggressive league. Chris and I have signed up for an individual pay team with a group of random people from DC metro area. Having never played with anyone from this team, other than Chris, and only having one practice should make this an interesting season. More interesting is the fact that from the looks of things, I may have to play some goalie. More on that later, but I can say that the first game for the Land Sharks is tomorrow night.
In addition to the indoor league, Chris and I also tried out for a team advertising space for 5-6 midfielders for the fall season of Washington International Soccer League (WISL). Our first practice/scrimage/try-out was in a field downtown DC by the Washington Monument. How odd it is for a northern plains boy to look up after a kick and see that giant, white obelisk. The second outting was in Virginia against a team of all spanish speakers. A second first for me was playing soccer and having the fouls called in spanish.
Now fast forward one week to find our team, Finn's Beamish Boomers, warming up for our first game when our captain slowly approaches and says "Has anyone ever played goalie before?" That's like the Packers walking out onto the field and playing eni-meni-mini-mo to see who would be playing quarterback that day. So back to my goalie talk. Having played some goalie for an indoor team in the lowest level of play, I pull the captain aside and tell him I would play as a last resort. Well, we reached that point. So with no long sleeve shirt, no goalie gloves, and no practice, I valiantly defended my castle for 90 minutes. Unfortunately, a lack of defensive wings led to a couple of upper 90 shots that were not meant for a 5'7" goalie to stop. A final score of 4-2 led to our demise. While I enjoy playing the last man, I'm looking forward to a revamped defense strategy with me on the field instead of the box. Next game is this weekend. I guess we'll see how it turns out.

Timeless Eggs

2005-09-12T19:49:00.000-04:00

I spent about ten minutes in Target this last weekend standing in the kitchen appliance section musing over this topic. I was looking for kitchen magnets when I came across a small, sand filled "hour glass" in a container labeled Egg Timer. I recalled my mother cooking in my childhood kitchen with a 60 minute timer on the stove. This also was called an egg timer. My question for you: Why is this an egg timer? Why not a kitchen timer? Or a cooking timer? I will grant one point to the devil's advocate out there who is reading this. The teeny, tiny sand hour glass probably had just enough sand in it to time boiled eggs. But that aside, in all my time in the kitchen, I can say that it doesn't take 60 minutes to hard boil eggs. So now that I've got you thinking about the topic, I'll tell you that as will all great life questions, I put this query to Google.com. It was there that I found several web pages referencing many ages ago, hard and soft boiled eggs were often made for breakfast. So there's your answer and a small look into the workings of my brain. Enjoy!

And so it begins.

2005-09-05T19:32:00.000-04:00

Since this is my first post, I'll say welcome to you and welcome to me. For the past few years I've been telling myself that I should create a website in order to keep my friends and family updated to my life (not any more impersonal than sending a mass email), but it happens to be one of those things that just gets set aside. Last month I had the opportunity read a friend's site (http://skdoll.blogspot.com/) and decided to follow suit. I won't be posting juicy tidbits about my life, I'll leave that for those that calls, or the daily on goings at my job. As exciting as the life of an engineer happens to be, "If I told you, then I'd have to...". Well, you know the rest.