Weekend Recap

To start, I finished my paper on Thursday.  I will polish it up tomorrow and send it to my bosses on Tuesday.  Once they are done writing it, then it's onward to writing the presentation.  I also got my official passport for traveling so I should be set for that trip, now to start putting together the itinerary to get over there.  12+hour flight, yay!

Friday night I hung out with J&D at their house since I didn't have any plans for that evening.  Boy I can tell I don't miss live TV much anymore, too many commercial breaks.

Saturday was a busy day for me.  I was coordinating a coffee house fundraiser for the theater group at my church and so I got coffee and snack type items to serve as well.  The turnout was not quite what I wanted, but we still raised a good amount of money.  The folks who did show up were very active as well and we did have an enjoyable afternoon.

That evening I met up with RC and saw Monsters vs Aliens at IMAX.  It's a cute movie but don't bother with the IMAX version, not enough fun 3D stuff to justify the price we paid.  Go see it anyway for a few laughs.  Did I mention that even though all I could hear was his voice, I would still do Seth Rogan so hardcore?

Sunday morning was spent at service, then at a workshop afterward (that's an entirely different topic) before heading to my cousins house.  Her son turns 46 tomorrow so he was over with some of the family to celebrate.  My cousin Eleanor and her husband Joe were also traveling back to CT after spending a few weeks down in FL, lucky them ;-)  Good afternoon to hear about the trip.  In the evening I was at practice for the holy week singing group.  That will keep me busy during that week.

Now it's back to the old grind tomorrow morning.  Hopefully the weather will be nicer this week.

Progress

My paper is nearly finished, I just have to write one last section, the conclusion, and then my first draft is done.  It is due to my bosses next Tuesday so I will have plenty of time to review and edit it before sending it to them.  I want to polish it up as much as possible because I know they are going to review and make changes as well, but I hope it is polished enough that they won't have to spend a lot of time editing.

Once my paper is edited and polished I will start writing up my presentation for the conference.  There will be lots of practicing because essentially it will be timed and I have to make sure I can keep it to 15 minutes.  It may not sound like much, but I have to make sure to hit that right time.  One practice will be at our monthly staff meeting, which will help because some of them will ask questions and it will give me an idea of what to be ready for at the conference.  I have this fear that I am going to present and I'll be asked some really difficult question or be critiqued by an audience member on some of the methodology presented.  Once I write the presentation and present the paper in a few practice runs, I'll get over it.  TB might have to suffer with at least one practice run at home.

I got a packet the other day from the Baltimore Ravens.  I am now number 2928 on the waiting list to become a permanent season ticket holder (AKA PSL's).  It is a start, considering the list is limited to 3000 and was full last year.  This is one place where the crappy economy could work in my favor because if people decide to give up their PSL's, then people at the top of the list will be offered PSL's, and if they decline them or even take themselves off the waiting list because they can't afford PSL's in the future, then it just means I get to move up faster than I would in years past.  Here's hoping I become a holder in the future.

While we're on the subject, my new Ravens license plates arrived, so I'll be sporting those as soon as I can get to the MVA to drop off the old ones.  It figures that they arrive the week I already had my AWS day, so it will be about two weeks before I can do it.  Oh well, that's how life goes.

As for my car, I love it when a simple act of maintenance turns out to be more than I expected.  I went in for an oil change and tune-up the other day and decided to get the fuel system cleaned out since I don't think it had ever really been done by a mechanic except maybe during one of the major servicing intervals.  Well that thing brought out an underlying issue that I had a misfiring spark plug, so there went some extra cash to get those replaced as well.  I just have to remember to look at it as preventative maintenance and pushing back the day that I need a new car.  Besides, with the misfiring spark plug I would have failed my emissions test a few months from now when they plugged into my car's computer to check it, then I would be in the shop getting it fixed anyway.

I noticed the other day that the Midas I used to go to is gone now, I wonder what's up with that.  Did they end up driving away a bunch of customers or what?  I know after how much cash I dropped at that place I didn't feel like going back there.  I'm just hoping this new place works out better.

Picture Catchup

I've finally processed and posted pictures from the last few weeks to my Flickr Account. This series includes:

Ice Storms:


Capitals Games:


FIRST Robotics Competition in DC:


Snowstorms:


My trip to help move some stuff for a friend of TB:


Visiting Havre de Grace:

Attempting to Plan

So I have this opportunity to go to Europe, and I sure as hell am taking it.  It looks like early June is the right time to go, though I will be missing DC Pride.  I can't say I am very torn up about it, except for the parade since I help coordinate my church's involvement in it.

I've been thinking of going to Italy for my extra days after the software conference.  What can I say, I might as well go see the country where my great grandparents came from, and it should be good weather.  I talked to my aunt a few nights ago and she gave me some advice, among them that I should stick with one region and then visit another on a return trip in the future.  Ya know, that sounds great and all, but considering how much time I have to be there, I can manage to do more than one place.  However, she did point me to a tour company that will send a free DVD of Italy, so one of those is on the way as well.

I am thinking of flying from Latvia to Venice, stay for 3 days, then take the train to Rome, stay for 3 days, take the train to Naples, stay 2 days, then come back to Rome to fly back to the states.  I will be sure to take a lot of pictures of course, and if I can find Wi-Fi, then I can upload them to flickr as I go along.

So now I am just visiting the travel sites, though I may try talking to a travel agent to see if they can get better prices, but if they can't, then I'll just come up with my own itineraries and wing it, which could ultimately end up being the best way.

ShamrockFest 2009

Last Saturday I went to my first ShamrockFest, and boy was it a blast.

TB and I met up with RB, DB, and CA in Bethesda and had lunch at Cosi before hopping on the Metro to go to RFK Stadium.  We got there about 15 minutes before the gates opened, and the lines were already pretty long.  What was funny is that the line for the VIP entrance was way longer than the other one.  It made me wonder just how limited the VIP tickets really are.  Then again, I got to buy VIP tickets at one of the lower prices so I really cant complain about that eh?

We got in, got our mugs, and immediately headed over to get the beer.  Luckily even though Budweiser was a sponsor, Bud was not our only choices, I was able to stick with Bass and a local brewing company that had "Shamrock Ale"  It had a familiar taste, but I couldn't place my finger on which brand of beer it was.

Despite the cold and rain of the day, there were still a lot of good performances to watch.   A lot of U2 songs and Irish themed songs were played.  The only band I was really there to see was Mr. Greengenes, and they rocked as usual.  TB really got into them so I'll have to keep an eye on their schedule to see when they're in town.

Between sets on various stages, we all hung together and chatted about various things throughout the day, including comments on some of the crazy clothing that other folks were wearing.  I can't really talk though as I had on a bit of a provocative shirt as well, but it was found to be funny, so it worked out nicely.  Only one or two people didn't necessarily get it, others asked where they could get one like it, I told them I made it myself, which I had.  DB had thought about getting CA a shirt that says "Fuck Me I'm Irish" but couldn't find it in her size in time.  Then we saw that a number of people were wearing them at the festival so in a way it was better that she didn't look like a whole bunch of other people.

The booths were fun to explore as well, I ended up picking up a silver Celtic Cross and TB got a silver shamrock to wear.  We also got a few biz cards of other businesses that looked like fun to talk to later.  There was a leather journal that was beautifully ornamented, but the leather was dyed hot pink...not really my color, or RB's color either.  Perhaps one can be found in that same pattern, but in a dark blue or dark purple.

Eventually as the day wore on and the sun went down, it started to get cold due to the rain.  TB and DB took off a bit early to head back to Bethesda and wait for the rest of us because we wanted to see Flogging Molly.  Well about 30 minutes after they were supposed to start, we gave up and walked to Metro as well.  We rolled back into Bethesda and met the others at Harp and Fiddle in Bethesda for a drink and a quick bite.  Eventually it was time to get home, considering it was about 11 PM when all was said and done.

Overall it was a blast of a day.  If it had been warmer I would have stayed longer, but it's how it goes.  TB enjoyed himself and we both enjoyed hanging out with our friends.  They like him, so it's a good sign ;-)  I definitely plan on doing it again next year.

Check the Attitude at the Door

When is it right to point out that someone's behavior is a turn-off and they should consider a change of attitude?

I was on one of my usual social sites this evening and I started a conversation with a guy I've talked to online off and on for a few months.  At one point he jokingly says that he is still mad that I have a boyfriend now.  I tell him that it wasn't like he was the only one that was showing interest in me.  He then says (paraphrasing here) "It's okay, it looks like I am going to be stuck being single for a long time so I might as well just get used to it."

Hold it, back up for a second, read that again to yourself and then read it out loud.  If you were to hear someone say something like that to you and you were single, would you still want to go out with them?  If you do, I'd have to call you naive or say that you're being way too nice.

I was very sorely tempted to say back to him "See, this is why you'll stay single.  You say something like that and you come off as trying to make the other person feel guilty so they'll go out with you."  However, I kept my mouth shut and it was appropriate to do so.  I haven't met him in real life so he's not really a friend, at least by my standards.  The question still remains, when is it appropriate and with who?

I think we're all guilty of pulling a stunt like this at some point or another for whatever reason, but if it is consistent behavior then we should be called on it.   Unless they manage to find someone who is naive enough to not catch that behavior and also has the patience of a saint, most folks are going to take one look at that and be turned off immediately.  I should know, I was once that naive person that put up with that sort of behavior, but not now, and not ever again.

Out there and back

This last weekend I was in a truck for about 800 miles round trip; from Bel Air, MD to New London, OH and back.  A friend of TB's had moved there because her and her husband were going to work on her parents farm until they found other work and their own place to live and they had hired TB to move their stuff.

I had made Friday a half-day at work since I had to split my extra day off due to a meeting on my usual day.  I drove up to Bel Air, we hopped in the truck, and took off.  To give you an idea of what we were hauling, I believe it was a 15 26 foot box truck (TB can correct me if I was wrong).  It was a long trip that for Friday took us up I-70, then up the PA Turnpike towards Ohio.  This first part was fine for the most part.  I got some pictures of the landscapes and TB and I chatted while listening to the radio as well.  Around 8 PM TB started feeling a bit tired from being up for a long time and all the driving, so we abandoned our original plan to drive all the way to New London and instead grabbed a hotel room in Cranberry, PA.

While TB gassed up the truck and while heading to Wal-Mart to pick up a lock for the back door, I called around to a few hotels (thank you VZ Navigator search!) before settling on a nearby Motel 6.  It had the lowest rate, plus the very nice front desk woman saved me some extra money by telling me if I requested the internet rate it would drop my bill by another $10.  We got to the room, ordered some chinese food for delivery, and then a few minutes later decided that it might be best to switch rooms.  We were snuggling and then noticed that apparently the last guest had bled for some reason and some of it had been wiped on the headboard and the wall next to it.  These were not large streaks or spots, but they were noticeable.  The front desk was very nice about switching our room and making a note so it got cleaned.  I don't fault the hotel for this, I fault the pig of a guest who didn't clean up after themselves properly.  TB and I would both sleep pretty hard that night after we got to our other room as we were tired out.

Saturday we got an early start since we had to be there by 9 AM.  It was just our luck that it decided to rain that morning as well, though there was virtually no traffic on the turnpike at 6 AM to slow us down.  We got out of PA, into Ohio, and eventually arrived at New London, where we met up with ToX so he could lead us to the farm we were heading to.  We got there, slowly got up the driveway, trying to avoid the stupid dog that wanted to play chicken with the truck and first parked in front of the garage.  We unloaded many of the items that the folks would need right away before driving over to a mini storage unit down the road to unload the rest.  There was lots of handing off items and packing it up carefully to make things fit, but we got it all done in a few hours.  It would have gone faster if the folks who were supposed to show up to help actually did show, but we did what we could.

Before driving back to Bel Air we made a stop at an abandoned house we had seen along the way in Ruggers, OH.  I snapped some great pictures of how it looked from the outside and got some inside shots as well.  The only thing I would not do was go upstairs because quite frankly, I didn't know how sturdy the stairs or the second floor was, and I didn't want to find out the hard way by coming crashing down through the floor.  No hospital visits for me thank you.

The drive back to Bel Air was fine, though long of course.  It was good to sit and just talk to TB because we did learn a lot more about one another, especially through discussion of hypothetical situations.  It made for a good bonding experience.  We didn't roll back in until nearly 11 PM.  Since we were both so tired from the long drive we crashed at a friends house instead of driving the extra hour back to my place.

Sunday was spent in Havre de Grace, MD where we walked by the bay and explored a few stores.  I picked up some fun items for the house as well before taking TB back to his place so he could sleep before work that evening.  Then it was back home for me to rest a bit since I hadn't been home for the past two days.

Changes in Attitude

This past Friday I was glued to NFL news because players contracts were expiring and that meant they were free agents.  I wanted to see what would happen with the Ravens.  I said on my status on Facebook that I was on pins and needles because of the free-agency, and I got the following comment from my brother.

Remember when you hated sports? Who are you?

I hate to admit but he has a bit of a point.  Growing up I was not huge on watching sports, though it wasn't like they were verboten in the house.  My mom was a regular football watcher, so I followed that on occasion, but I never really sat and learned the nuances of the game.  The Superbowl on the other hand, that was something to sit and watch.  Baseball bored me to death because it took forever, and I wasn't much for watching hockey.  There were a number of factors that contributed to this.

First and foremost, I didn't have the patience to sit through a game, especially on TV.  It seemed like they would make a play, and then commercial, play, commercial, play, commercial.  There's only so many commercials I can take.  I thought there were more interesting things to do than to just sit and watch a game.

Next was location; I was too far to watch a professional league game, especially while in parts of Arizona.  I lived 4 hours from Phoenix, so to even think of going to any sort of a game would have meant making an entire weekend out of it, and in the case of football, missing school.  That wasn't going to happen unless it was a special game.  New Mexico doesn't even have a major sports team, so unless you followed college sports, you were following a neighboring state.

I went to a high school where sports were the big thing, it didn't help that we had been champions in our division, to the point that we had a record for a winning streak after several years.  It also gave many of the athletes an attitude, and it wasn't nice.  After dealing with folks like that, do you really think it would give me a reason to want to pay attention to sports in general?

Finally, most of the sports teams where I lived sucked.  The Arizona Cardinals were just about a guaranteed win for the other team until two years ago; the Diamondbacks were pretty mediocre until their World Series win in 2001, then they went back to mediocrity; as for the Coyotes, they have yet to make a good showing at the playoffs if they even make it that far.  Come on, at least have a decent record if you want to get me interested.  I followed the Phoenix Suns a bit more because they could at least make the playoffs in most years, even if they were competing against the Bulls when they still had Michael Jordan.

So what changed?  Moving out here, which gave me better access to sports teams and non dickheaded fans and players.  It's ironic though that I follow Baltimore teams rather than DC teams, considering that I live near DC and work near DC, so there are a lot of DC team fans in the office.  Thing is though, I just like Baltimore better, I like the city and it seems to have less fair-weather fans than in DC.  It started with football, the Ravens went on a hot streak in 2006 and made it to the playoffs so it caught my attention and I started following them, getting more into it in 2007 and especially 2008.  JH did get me into watching the Orioles, though I can only watch them live.  I still can't stand watching baseball on TV, I'd rather turn it on as background noise.  Hockey didn't come about until last year, and that was after being taken to a game by LM.  Now I can't get enough of it.  That's another thing that changed my attitudes, seeing games live, and if I play my cards right, I'll be seeing a lot of live football.

It doesn't hurt that talking sports with some folks, especially talking football has been quite the equalizer in some ways, but that is another entry.  It does make for great conversation in the office, especially the day after a game.

So who am I?  Someone who discovered he's capable of liking sports, the right factors just had to come into play.  Access to games, winning teams, and decent folks to talk sports with, a winning combination!

"The List"

"The List" is something I have wanted to be on for years, and something I thought would take a while before I could get there. However, opportunity knocked the other night and I took advantage to finally land on "The List." It's just one step forward towards my ultimate goal.

So just what the hell is "The List"? It's the waiting list to become a season ticket owner for the Baltimore Ravens. To be a season ticket owner, you buy a Permanent Seat License (PSL) for a one-time fee, and those seats are yours, now and forever, so long as you buy the season tickets every year. Well of course all of the licenses have been bought up at this point, so a waiting list was created for those who want to become PSL owners, and since it is limited to 3000 people, that filled up quickly as well. So I figured that unless I found a PSL owner who wanted to sell their license, or someone who had a spot on the list and wanted to sell it, I wouldn't be moving towards being a season ticket holder anytime soon.

Fortunately I was wrong when I was reading my E-mail and was going through the newsletter I get from the Ravens. One of the links at the bottom said that spots were open on "The List" I immediately jumped to the site and purchased a spot for myself. So now I am somewhere on the list and when my name finally reaches the top, I will be able to buy two seats for myself and be able to watch the Ravens as often as possible. It's rather cheap to get started there, I paid $50 per seat to get on the list, and I will have to pay $25 per seat each year to stay on the list. However, that money will be applied towards my PSL cost when I do finally get to purchase my seats.

I think what made opportunity finally knock for me is the economy, people are likely giving up their season tickets because of costs, so that opens up seats for new owners, taking them off the list and opening up spots for people like me to land on the list. Hell, there could also be people taking themselves off the list as well because they get up there but now they can't afford to be on the list. I know it will likely take a few years for me to get there, but when I can be a PSL owner, I will definitely be good and ready for it.