Tag: jen

Long-ass day

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Almost 11:30 PM and just home from the Happy Hour after our last softball game of the regular season. We lost. Badly. So badly it was hard to take seriously. We finished with a record of 7-2 which places us 3rd in our division and guarantees us a place in the playoffs on September 8th. After the game we went to an English pub on 13th and Penn and I did my fair share of drinking to celebrate our season.

I had 6-1/2 hours of meetings today. One meeting was 4 hours long! In fact, I had to leave that meeting for an hour and go to another meeting, then come back. I spent the entire morning preparing for the second meeting, and the last meeting of the day, a short half hour number, was postponed until later in the week. Not even time for lunch today. Let’s just say it has been a Long-Ass Day.

Spoke to Doug tonight and he sounded good. I even got to speak briefly to Ruby, who said, in a cheering, voluble voice, “Hi, Uncle Jamie!” How can you resist something like that! I had a message from he11o_sunshine, who I think is back from her trip to L.A. I called her back, but got her voicemail, so I’ll try talking to her tomorrow.

When I got home from work, I had a package from Powell’s Books awaiting me. Two books that I look forward to reading: Robert’s Rules of Writing, which I am exciting to read in conjunction with mabfan‘s series of blog essays called “Robert’s Rules“. I also got Damon Knight’s classic book, Creating Short Fiction, which I am equally eager to read.

But for now, it’s into the shower, and then off to bed, to start all over again 6 hours from now.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Snails and Frogs and Creme Brule, Oh My!

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Posted at about 9:27 PM local time

When we last saw our Fearless Hero, he was about to kill a few hours after making his last post and before going to dinner. And so he did. I grabbed my book, ordered up an Ultimate Mai-Tai from one of the bars, and then headed out onto Deck 7, starboard side. It was quiet and warm outside and I quickly found a comfortably cushioned seat on which to relax. Drinking my Mai-tai, I tried to read my book, but the view of the islands in the harbor and the light blue water was pretty distracting, to say nothing of the approaching planes (of which I took several pictures). Eventually, I dozed off out there and by the time I woke up, it was nearly dinner time.

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Take me out to the ballgame

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This morning, Jen, Jason and I headed to Plato’s Diner for breakfast. I’d never been there before, although I’d past by it many times. After breakfast, we headed up to Baltimore for the ballgame.

Jen headed to the Inner Harbor and Jason and I went to the game. We stayed for 6 full innings before we had to leave so that I could take them to the bus stop in downtown Baltimore for their ride back to New York. Jen managed to get some shopping done for our big trip, which is only about 3 weeks away.

The Orioles were losing 3-1 to Colorado when we left the game. The ended up losing 6-1.

Saturday in D.C.

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We were all up by about 8:30 AM and headed to IHOP for breakfast. After breakfast, we headed back to the house and then across the street to the park. Jason and I threw a ball around while Jen sat on a bench and read. It wasn’t too long before my right arm was aching and I needed to call it quits.

We walked around the neighborhood and through the gardens at the Riversdale Mansion, and then finally back to the house, where we watched TV for a while, while Jen took a nap.

Eventually, we headed downtown to Austin Grill, and sat outside, having some drinks and appetizers. The weather was perfect, especially in the shade, with a very nice breeze blowing and we sat around for a while soaking it all up. We had 5:30 PM tickets to see Ocean’s 13 and so after leaving the restaurant, we took a leisurely walk along the Mall, heading toward Foggy Bottom, and finally, Georgetown, where we saw the movie.

After the movie, we walked to the waterfront and eventually ended up a Sequoia, where we waited at the bar for about 45 minutes until our table was ready. We got an outdoor table, and had a leisurely, late dinner. I had the steak filet and it was delicious, as was the chocolate cake I had for dessert. By the time dinner was over, I think we were all pretty tired and we walked back to the Foggy Bottom metro station, and lucked out: we didn’t have to wait long for either of the trains we took back home. It was a fun day, but a long one.

A day in the city

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Jason left before 5 AM this morning to head to a NASCAR-thing that one of his client’s was sponsoring. Still, Jen and I were up pretty early and headed out for a walk in the park. We stopped to watch a few innings of a little league game, and then meandered through the park until we reached the Boathouse Restaurant, where we stopped for brunch. As usual, the Boathouse brunch was delicious. I had the steak and eggs, and it was the first time I can recall ever ordering steak and eggs off of a menu.

We continued through the park, finally relaxing on a bench for a while. Jen had called Jon and Hollie to see if they were around and they called us back while we were sitting, and we headed over to their place to visit. I got to meet William for the first time, who is a very cute, extremely well-behaved baby. And I got to see their place now that their kitchen remodeling was complete. We spent a few hours there and then headed back across to the park toward home.

We decided to stop at Mustang, and sat outside next to a large street fair on Second Ave. We had some drinks, and went through plenty of appetizers and desserts, spending a couple of hours sitting, talking, people watching. It was a lot of fun.

Jason got home later in the evening and we headed to a local Italian place for dinner and by that time, I was pretty beat. We watched some TV after we got back to their place, but it wasn’t long before we were getting ready for bed.

Dinner and dessert, NYC-style

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When I got to Jen and Jason’s the apartment was already filled with the smell of cooking. Jen was making dinner and it was worth the wait (we watched the Yankees game while we waited. When dinner was served, it was delicious. he11o_sunshine will have to describe exactly what she did, but she made a pork dish of some kind with an outstanding sauce, and a spicy broccoli side, both of which had me digging for seconds.

For dessert, we took the train to Union Square and headed into Max Brenner‘s. If you’ve never been there before, and you love chocolate, then you must make a pilgrimage. Almost everything on the menu is chocolate (Jason even had a chocolate beer!) and delicious!

The evening air was almost Hawaiian in it’s quality and we decided to see if we could walk from Union Square back to Jen and Jason’s place on 85th, and only stopped because Jason has to get up very early in the morning and needed to go to bed.

Heading to New York!

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I was up at 8 AM this morning, and headed to IHOP for breakfast. While there, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do this weekend. I had fun at happy hour last night, but had no plans this weekend. I wasn’t in the writing mood, and didn’t feel like going to see a movie. I put off any decisions until I got my haircut. When I got home, I called he110_sunshine and jkashlock and asked what they were doing. Not much today. So I decided to head up to the City.

I’m on the 2 PM Acela, so I have about an hour before I have to catch a taxi to Union Station. I’ve got a few things to take care of here and then I’m on my way. It’s warm here and in New York, and I’m packing light, since I won’t be gone for very long. But it should be fun. I called vickyandnorm to see what they were up to and to see if they might want to meander down into the City tomorrow and hang out for a while. They graciously agreed to talk about it and see if they could make it. Hopefully they can. I haven’t seen them since their second wedding back in April and likely won’t get to see them again until late July at the earliest.

He comes home a winner (Las Vegas, Day 2)

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Yesterday was a long day and today felt even longer. You already know that yesterday (Sunday) started at about 6 AM for me, when I headed to the gym for a light workout (arms and shoulders). Well, eventually, Jen and Jason got up and we all scrambled off to First Breakfast. I had a massive waffle with a hunk of whipped cream the size of a softball on it. After breakfast, we went back to the room, but with Doug still sound asleep, we figured we needed to be elsewhere.

Las Vegas, Day 2

Saturday surprise!

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[Written on May 27 and backdated to May 26]

Saturday was a long day! I was up at 5 AM because I couldn’t sleep any longer. I packed up the remainder of my stuff and headed off to LAX to catch my plane to Las Vegas. There were no lines. I checked in at the Premier check-in counter, went through the premium security “line” (there was no one in line) and was at my gate 10 minutes after arriving at the airport.

I had some time to kill so I watched the season finale of Heroes which I hadn’t seen yet, and which I thought was terrific! I made sure I was the first person on the plane because I didn’t want to run into Mom and Dad, who were taking a flight about 2 hours after mine. Mom was still in the dark about the big surprise in Vegas. She thought I was flying home today.

The flight was short and uneventful. So short, in fact, that I couldn’t complete the crossword puzzle in the magazine. When I got to the gate, I found that he11o_sunshine and jkashlock‘s flight was getting in early, so I walked over to their gate to meet them. We then headed to baggage claim so I could get my bag. We were also able to check into the hotel. All that was left was to wait for Doug.

His flight got in early but we couldn’t find him and he wasn’t answering his phone. Finally, at close to 11 AM, Jen spotted him wandering around upstairs. We found out that his phone was broken and he had been wandering around looking for us. We caught a taxi to the hotel, checked in, and then headed to another hotel for lunch so that we didn’t run into Mom and Dad prematurely.

Finally, around 2 PM or so, Dad called and told us to meet him at the Bally’s sports book. We walked over there (in the near 100 degree sun) and met him. He led us to where mom was sitting at video poker. He told her he had a surprise for her, while we all hung back. She closed her eyes as instructed and we all stood around her. Then she opened her eyes. From her reaction, I think she was pretty surprised!

Lots of activities the rest of the day. We had drinks at a bar in the Bellagio. Then we decided to go to the pool, which we did. I would be remiss to mention the fact that at one point, I was spirited away by a bunch of bachelorettes, as a part of a bachelorette party, which Doug and Jason would have no part in. I didn’t mind. After, I went back to the hotel room to rest for a little while. At 6:30, we headed to Emeril’s for dinner. More drinks. And excellent food. Doug and I shared some tuna steak tartare for an appetizer and I had–you guessed it–the copper river salmon for the main course.

After dinner people wanted to go gamble but I was beat. I headed back up to the room and went to sleep. I don’t even remember Jen and Jason getting back. But I did hear Doug come in just before 3 AM. He had lots of beads and he said he’d lost $100 all told. It was a fun day.

One Sunday, two breakfasts

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I was up sometime around 7:30 AM when I noticed that the power was out in the house. (Ironic, because the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN article I had been reading was called “Preventing Blackouts” by Massoud Amin and Phillip F. Schewe (May 2007)) Jen said she’d heard a gunshot-like sound and I figured it was a transformer. Later in the morning, I heard some repair trucks and after about an hour, the power went back on.

We had breakfast at IHOP and then headed to Buddy Attick lake for a walk around the lake, which was very pleasant. It was a beautiful day out. Afterwards, we headed back to the house and Jen packed up her things and we headed downtown.

We took the Green line to Mt. Vernon Square and then walked over the M and 10th, where Jason was staying with his friends. They were cooking a big brunch (thus, one Sunday, two breakfasts). We spent a few hours there and it was fun. We listened to retro-80s music while eating omelettes and hash browns and bacon and drinking mimosas and bloody mary’s.

At about 3 PM, Jen and Jason headed for their bus and I headed home. I spent much of the rest of the afternoon dividing my time between trying to finish up the May 2007 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN and napping. The remainder of the day ended up being equally lazy.

Saturday morning

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I got a pretty good night’s sleep last night and I was up at about 7:30 this morning, and spent some time browsing online. In noticed that Tangent Online recently reviewed issue #4 of Intergalactic Medicine Show, touching briefly on each story in the issue. (In fact, the magazine has reviewed all of the first 4 issues of IGMS.)

Jen’s train looks like it will be arriving 5 minutes early; she’s scheduled to get in at 10:15. We plan on heading to Georgetown for brunch, and then up to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor later this afternoon. (And we have dinner reservations at Ruth’s Chris up in the Inner Harbor; I am craving their steak!)

I’m about 500 pages through In Joy Still Felt. I probably won’t quite finish it by the 30th, but it will be close. I’m taking a break from it today in order to catch up on magazines. I’m trying to read through the magazines that I receive as close to the day that I receive them as I can. I have two on which to go through today, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN and mental_floss. Rather than lug my big book downtown with me, I’m taking the magazines and see how much I can get through.

It’s overcast right now, but it should be comfortable today, with highs reaching near 70 degrees. I noted that on Tuesday, the highs here in the Metro, D.C. area will hit 91 degrees! (And less than a month earlier, it was still freezing and snowing!)

Yanks dropped their 7th in a row, giving them the dubious honor of having the 2nd worst record in all of baseball (Kansas City is still the worse, but perhaps not for long). I love my Yankees, but I am simply not as emotionally attached this year because I can’t afford to invest the time watching every game as I did last year. Still, I have every confidence that they will turn things around and sports writers will be talking about their incredible comeback after such an abysmal start to the season.

Weekend visitors

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The last time someone was at my house was on September 12, when rubysnina was here to visit. Believe it or not, since then, while I have been visiting all over the place, no one else has been in my house in all that time!

That comes to an end this weekend when he11o_sunshine comes to visit. jkashlock will already be in the DC area for a birthday celebration. It will be nice to have guests for a change.

And these guests are followed next weekend by Dad, when he comes into town for his first Orioles game of the season.

I guess I need to think about getting the house in order.