Messed up subway

Monday got off to a bad start! I got to the subway and the train was delayed. The train was very full - standing room only. We finally left the station, but was really slow going. Took over 20 minutes to get to the next stop (usually a five minute ride). I was feeling really claustrophobic and the idea of 20 minutes for each stop (over 10 of them), so I decided heck with it and got off to catch the next train home. I have what I need to work at home, right?! When I got home, I established a VPN connection, logged in, and found out our mail server was down. It is amazing how much you depend on email being available. Since I worked at home on Friday, I still had some tasks left over I could work on. I had enough work to keep me busy until about 2:30p, so I took leave for the remainder of the day. Sometimes it would just be better to stay in bed......our cat, Bo, was happy to have me around, so at least someone was happy!

A Low-Key Weekend

It has been pretty low-key this weekend. Saturday was a scorcher, so we stayed in the cool indoors most of the day. Mimi's aunt and friend came over for a couple of hours, but that was about it. It rained cats and dogs for about 2 hours with a fabulous lightning show.

Today (Sunday), I have been on my own most of the day. Mimi is up at the glass studio getting some pointers from the artist/instructors on her latest creation (some kind of Christmas plate). Of course, she will probably come home with some new glass supplies too {grin}! I have just been puttering around the house, listening to music, and just relaxing. Did manage to get some pictures of some items Mimi needed ready for submission. She needed them for a craft show application.

Friday Activities

I love working at home instead of going to the office. Occasionally, I get to knock 90-120 minutes of commuting off my day and work at home. It is really the same as being in the office except for occasionally knocking the cat off the desk! I don't take advantage of it too often, but it is nice. It is a challenge sometimes to keep from getting distracted, but otherwise I am usually productive.

Later that day, we went to the Marine Barracks to see the evening parade. We met Mimi's aunt and her friend, and also Mimi's cousin. Mimi's grandfather was once the commanding officer of the barracks. In 1948, he instituted the silent drill. It is still being done today. It is pretty amazing to see the drill team and what they can do with their rifles (with bayonet attached!). It is completely silent except for the maneuvering of the rifles. The drum and bugle corp was there and also the "President's Own" marching band. There was one funny part. Guess who the honored guest for the night was? A wounded soldier from Iraq? Someone else from the Marine Corp? A member of Congress? No..............it was the CEO of Outback Steak House. According to Mimi's aunt, her father was turning over in his grave! Anyway, it was fun and Mimi and her aunt had a good time swooning over the young Marines in their full dress uniforms.

Odds and Ends

I was riding home on the subway tonight with an unusual number of tourists instead of the normal bleary-eyed commuters. It was actually quite enjoyable. Instead of the normally subdued environment one experiences during the nightly commute (lots of newspapers and cell phone conversations), there was excitement in the air. One of the families sitting nearby was talking about what they had seen that day. Mom was gushing about the cleanliness of the subway system and how easy it was to use. Dad and his teenage son had really enjoyed the Air & Space Museum. One of the younger kids was trying to decide which museum was the "best". I think he decided on the paddle boats at the Tidal Basin or the big spider {grin}. I knew exactly what spider he meant, so I came home and dug out the picture to put with this post! Anyway, the kids were wound up like a drum and you could just tell they had a great time. No video games, no cell phones, no sullen teenagers. Just a family enjoying spending time together and reliving the experiences of the day.

It also reminded me how contagious a positive attitude can be. By the end of the ride, the locals were awake and chatting with the tourists, giving them suggestions on what else to see in DC, and actually enjoying the ride home.

There is a great deal we cannot control in our life, but we can certainly make it better for ourselves and the people around us........

Our House in Colorado

After a long search, we found our retirement property in Colorado. It is hard to beleive we found it almost seven years ago. We are counting the days until we will be full time residents and build our retirement home.

The following is just a little slide show I put together. It shows the construction of our vacation home/guest house.

The World of Wii

This month seems to be the month of new experiences. On Saturday, I learned about a video gaming system call Wii. I know, you are thinking "Where in the world has he been!?" Hey, when you don't have kids and have not played a video game since the hype of the Xbox (the first one, not the Xbox 360), you can be out of touch with these things! Anyway, I went over to my neighbor's house and played on it for a couple of hours last weekend. What a riot! It was a mixture of the older video games with new technology mixed in. Best of all, I even got some exercise for something other than the thumbs! Try doing several rounds of boxing on this game when you are out of shape - it is a workout! I don't think that I will run out and buy one, but I can see myself wandering over next door and bowling a few frames every once in a while.......

Entering A Brave New World

Mimi & I just got back from having dinner with Jason (my nephew). He is here in DC for his Peace Corp orientation for a couple of days and then he will be heading to Kazakhstan. He is excited, but a little nervous. It is an exciting time for him, and we were happy we got to spend a couple of hours and visit with with him before he leaves. He is a great guy and will do well. Good luck, Jason!

Not much else going on today. I got back in work mode and managed to be fairly productive. I got a few minor action items out of the way, worked on IT Contingency Plans (boring!), and finalized some new operating procedures.

On my blog, I removed a slide show I created last night since there seems to be some problem with Firefox users viewing it (works fine in Internet Explorer). I will figure out what the deal is this weekend, but just not in the mood to mess with it right now.

Sunday Activities

It was pretty easy day today. First order of business today was the International Gem & Jewelry Show at the Dulles Convention Center in Chantilly. Mimi likes to go to this show to pick up supplies for her glass fusing hobby/business. I am not big on shopping, but it is pretty amazing. More jewelry, gems, beads, findings, etc. than you can imagine, and a few thousand people in attendance! Not much there that I am interested in, but there are usually a few vendors selling nice rocks. No, not diamonds (although there is plenty of precious stone), but all kinds of raw material, such as large crystal formations, agates, etc. While Mimi is shopping for supplies, I look at these and frequent the food court for roasted almonds. Ah, the life of a devoted husband!

Later, we had dinner with our adopted grandparents, Franklin and Janee. They are full of great stories and Franklin always takes us on a tour of the changes he has made to his backyard landscaping. He is amazing - 79 years old and he puts in a work day that would lay me flat. We had a delightful supper, showed them a slide show I created for May & Jerry's 50th Anniversary, and watched the baby kits (three juvenile fox pups) that visit nightly fight over chicken bones. It was very relaxing and enjoyable evening. It is almost like having family in the area.....

Well, the weekend is over and we have to get back to making a living on Monday morning. Always look forward to going back to work (not!).

A Great Summer Day

Wow! What great weather today! We had a beautiful, sunny day with low humidity and temps in the low 80s! Mimi was in a class today, so I decided to go out for a drive, even with the high gas prices. I did a nice loop. I went down to the Maryland shore along the Potomac. Crossed back into Virginia on Hwy 301, then took a very scenic road to Fredricksburg, and then home.

I am a little sunburned, but it was great! The only "bad" part of the trip was getting on Interstate 95 at Fredricksburg to get back home. As usual, the traffic was unbelievable. I finally bailed out on to Route 1 until I got by a series of accidents. However, it is a lot easier to put up with traffic when the weather is perfect!

It was hard to believe how many convertibles I saw with their tops up. What kind of weather are they waiting for? When Mimi and I are together, we usually start yelling "convertible wimp!", but without her to protect me, I decided to hold my tongue .

Entering the wold of Bloggers

OK - We will see how long I keep this up. Just a note to start this out! Although I am an IT Manager and work with computers all day, every day, I have never spent much time in this medium. One of my nieces recently introduced me to MySpace.com and Facebook. It made me realize two things.

1. I am glad I don't have kids and have to monitor their Internet Usage
2. It looks like blogging may be kinda fun

We will see......