Smoked again

Brian smoked me again on the court last night. 2-1. Not too bad of a display though. I felt good. He apparently felt a bit better. Actually, he was pumped up from spending a good 45 minutes in traffic on the way to my house. He hates traffic.

I'm currently watching the FIFA World Cup Germany v. Argentina. ESPN has live coverage over the internet and I'm able to watch it at work. While doing work, of course.

Today, Anne comes back!!! I haven't seen her since Monday morning in Cornucopia, WI at her brother's wedding. We'll be off in the early a.m. for NYC to do some apartment hunting. We're looking for a July 15 lease. We'll need some luck, even though we've (mostly Anne) been doing tons of searching online. The problem is is that the apartments are available now. When they're shown, you have to be ready to sign/produce all of your information: income, references, credit score etc.

Did I mention that ANNE'S coming back?!!!!!

Bob's Advice

Bob, my supervisor, thinks I should find another job. And soon. We were discussing my appraisal and he asked how much longer I saw myself at the Board. We'd discussed my dissatisfaction with the work for a couple of years now, but this is the first time that I was completely honest with him. I told him that I needed to get out and that I'm currently looking for work. He thought it a great idea and not to be discouraged by my feelings of being pigeon-holed into labor relations. I expressed my concern in leaving the Board when the agency will have just moved me down to Brooklyn. He said that I don't owe them anything and that he'd be a reference. Anyway, it feels good to come clean. Scrubb a dubb dubb.

In other news, I'm, weather permitting, headed out to a Red Sox game at Fenway in a few hours. Go SOX! I think they're playing the Mets - shows just how big of a fan I am.

Insane girls

I just experienced the most outrageous display of insanity. I was sitting outside of the Starbucks in Davis Sq. trying to read. however, this was nearly impossible. There were two mid to late 20 something girls chatting away for about an half of an hour about this guy Marco who was supposed to meet up with them in a few minutes. Apparently he was from the internet, or so I assumed, and he rode a motorcycle. Besides the point, however. They went on and on, LOUDLY, about the ins and outs of their conversation with this Marco - where to meet, when to meet, where the Starbucks was, where Davis Sq was etc. These girls were girls, not women, but so clearly no more mature than the average 5th grader. One of them snapped her gum and said 'like' roughly 75 times. I felt as if I was on candid camera. There were promises of never talking to Marco again if he stood the girls up. Idle threats only abridged 10 times.

Anyway, this guy walks up and one of them girls say's 'Marco?' in a squealish voice. He says, 'no, but should I be?' They start talking and he's clearly enjoying the attention of these girls who are fawning over him. Apparently he's from California, but they don't get it. So where do you live? California. How long have you lived here? I live in California. They so clearly were not listening to him, but were going through the motions of a first meet/flirt that it didn't matter. This guy walks off to get a coffee and one of the girls yells, he's fucking gorgeous, fuck Marco. Then the real McCoy shows up and immediately takes a phone call. He's clearly not a fan favorite - less cute than the tall new guy.

I lost interest and left for a piece of sicilian with pinneaple from Mike's across the street. Red Sox 5; Mets 2.

Noah & Molly's Wedding

I've just come off of one great weekend. Noah and Molly (formerly Molly Lewis) S. made their formal introduction to the family and community on 6/25/06 in Cornucopia, WI. The ceremony was so special. It took place at the Tam O'Shanter Lodge on the Western(ish) shore of Lake Superior. The lodge itself was quite a big and rustic place, full with large fire place in the great room, big ole deck and just steps from a cliff over looking the lake with a deep fire pit to boot. The fire pit, incidentally, was the center of much of the night time activity. A few of Noah's friends found it thoroughly entertaining to see just how big of a bon fire the stone nest could enjoy. It turns out to be quite a large number - roughly 25 or so.

Molly's family was a blast. Her parents, Janie and Jimbo, were so genuine and so clearly loved Noah and the rest of the Sieglers as well. Their side of the family was rounded out by a few other Kansans and a several from New Hampshire. At the end of the weekend, Jimbo came up to me to thank me for spending time with his mother, a self-described farmer's wife, through the weekend. It's strange to think of my conversation with her in terms other than merely enjoyable - she was fascinating. The way she said, 'I was a farmer's wife', was with such pride that I can only think of how trying it was for her to be a 'wife', given that she must have had other opportunities before hand. She had gone to college and was interested in library science, but married young instead. I wish I had asked her what it meant to be a farmer's wife.

I had a grand time with the Ss, as always, and am looking forward to spending time with them in the future. I can honestly say that I feel more comforatble around them than I do most others outside of my family. I see them as family. I hope that's not too presumptuous of me. However, I feel the feeling is mutual - during the family photos, Kate stopped the photographer and had him wait until I was fastened into line. I did, however, need a tug of the ear as Judy, one of Molly's aunts, pointed out, my fly had been open.

Laptop Fits!!!

Success!!!

Haircuts and Hemorrhoids

Well, I've got both. Today. They seem to go together like any twosome would. No? Well, I went to Anne Marie's for a $10 turned $15 haircut and learned that she's a raging bigot. I was waiting for my turn and this guy walks past the window - I've seen him around Davis plenty of times - he plays guitar at Johnny D's for Sunday brunch - anyway, he wears a white outfit and a white turban. Ann Marie goes, "what the fuck is that?" and follows this with a clear conclucsion, "he's probably one of those assholes who have signs in the park." Then she gave me a lesson on Minarchism: "I don't wear fuckin' seatbelts. Don't tell me how to live me life." Needless to say, I kept my mouth shut after offering a brief explanation for why the guy was wearing a turban, but I didn't touch her libertarian ideals. Why? She was about to give me a haircut. She would have shears 1" away from my jugular and I have to look good for this weekend's wedding - Noah and Molly's - no blood allowed!

Then I was off to Dr. Black across the street for a little anal talk. Apparently I've got to go to a surgery clinic to have a hemorrhoid or two tied off with a rubber band. "Oh, no, it won't hurt a bit . . ., you could do it yourself if you were flexible enough." He said this with a straight face. We'll see next Thursday how I feel with twisty ties up my anal cavity.

My new Gregory

I broke down. My old NorthFace daypack had met its maker years ago. But since it was free (a hand-me-down from my brother, Daniel), I thought I'd keep it going far past its prime. This pack is so light and small, waterproof and many useful pockets. There's a pocket sleeve within that I 'think' will be perfect for my 12.1" Apple Ibook. If not, I've told myself, albeit reluctantly, that I'll return the gem back to Hilton's Tent City.

Not quite a slaughter

Brian schooled me again last night. 2-1. Not too bad of a showing by me, thought I'd take him on the third game, but his serve was too on. So it goes.

After racquetball, we went for a beer at The Burren and then moseyed on over to Ana's Tacqueria. Good times. He's quite the character - gonna miss him come August:(

Then off to home for some Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Enjoyed a glass or two of Baileys over ice then wound the night down talking with roomies Brian and Amy.

Inspector General

I just went to a training offered by the Inspector General for the Board. The focus was on the IG's ability to snoop and the legal ramifications and procedures given an inspection. Pretty much, the IG, with or without (though he didn't address the latter) cause may seize my hard drive and literally copy each and every file/picture/download etc. He assuaged my fears, however, promising this was only to be carried out for instances of gross misconduct. Such misconduct includes excessive downloading/viewing of porn, running a real estate business etc. What is not clear, however, is the threshold. This is fluid and up to discretion. I'm not worried. I do my work and only read the paper online/check my E-mail 6 out of my 8 working hours.

Wrong turn at Goodwill

Well, I went a little overboard the other day at the neighborhood Goodwill store. Bought a bunch of books for $.50 or $1 and put them online - going to ship them while losing a dollar in post.

Re-tired

I was fixing my first flat on the commuter bike and realized that I needed a new set of tire irons and a new tube if the popped one was not able to be mended. So I went to Ace Wheelworks in Davis Sq. I took Brian's mtn. bike and rode on down. I bought them. While there I noticed this guy looking at a pair of slick Armadillo tires for his mountain bike. I made a quick sell. He came by and bought my used ones for $45. I also fixed my flat. I also drank a Corona and watched the World Cup: France v. Korea - 1-1 tie.

Mt. Kinsman

I went for a hike yesterday with a fine group of randoms from Boston Hiking. There were eight of us. Similar shape and hiking styles. We hiked Mt. Kinsman. A roughly 12 mile hike with only a few faux summits. The weather was absolutely pleasant. The promised 90 degree madness did not meet us and there was a kind breeze which kept most bugs out of our way. One of us, however, took a nasty bite to the eye and has the swelling to prove it. Ick.

We met promptly at 6am in Davis and headed to meet up with a few others at the Andover parking park and ride. Left for the White Mountains at 630 and were on the trail by 845. What efficiency!!! The hike started with my aching dogs threatening to quit on me, but an hour in they relented to the rest of the trip. Most of the terrain was irregular rocks, which proved for much balancing maneuvers. We didn't see/hear any bears, which was good.

We stopped several times for a view or two and a quick snack. I'm glad I prepared with plenty of pb&j, though three sandwhiches was a bit overkill.

It was great to get out of doors and meet some new people. I'm going to miss the ability to hike while in NYC. But it's worth it. I can still rent a car if I'm so inclined or go with a random to PA/Jersey with Anne or some random from Craigslist.

Got back to my place around 930pm and fell straight asleep after one quite necessary shower.

I'm a bit sore today - it feels great - oh my aching dogs.

Amazon.com

So I've already confessed to being an Amazon.com junkie, but it's been getting more fun lately. Mostly because I'm making money. Not much money, but enough to keep me entertained. I picked up a bunch - around 20 - of 2004 Red Sox 'Faith Rewarded' dvds on the cheap ($2 a piece) a while ago and have been selling them for around $7+a few for shipping. I net around $8 a piece. But the other fun part comes in with the pricing war between me and other online stores. As a seller on Amazon, I'm able to see if I'm the lowest price or not and edit the price in real time. So, daily, I'm out priced by a penny or so; today, by more than a dollar. However, I checked the store's inventory and it only has 1 in stock. I'm not worried. I'm actually going to pick up some more dvds during lunch today. Hey, I've made around $100 so far with minimal time/work invested. It's fun.

Smoked

Last evening Brian smoked my ass in racquetball. 3-0. I was up the last two games by 8 or 9 and he came back each time. Granted he did have a brand new set of wrist bands and matching head band, but I can't go blaming his success on them for too long.

This was after riding home with Todd from work. He almost got side swiped by a car while entering Davis Sq. Way too close for comfort - I don't think he realizes just how close the car actually came to him.

For the past couple of weeks I've been taking a new route to work. It seems much safer and less hectic - full with a BIKE LANE!!! I love bike lanes.

Vestimenta

Anne has finally convinced me to get a new, non-frumpy, suit. During the afternoon today, after a really great lunch with Todd from work, Anne and Duy, her friend from Turkey, we went to Filene's Basement. I bought the first suit that I tried on for $200 - marked down from $1600. Apparently it's quite the brand - Vestimenta. (I can't find a link just yet). It fits well and I apparently look dashing. I'll attach a picture after Noah/Molly's wedding toward the end of the month.

During lunch at Zuma's, Duy was telling a story to Todd in a very animated fashion. Just as she was explaining how she had 'hit' Anne while dreaming the other night she knocked over the waitresses basket of chips. All over me. Priceless.

April - the Dog

Susan, my lovely sister, and Rob, my soon to be brother-in-law, just made an addition to their budding family. Her name is April. She's a malti-poo (sp?) and really really small; a non-barking, albeit small-bladdered, bundle of joy.

Weekend in NYC

Anne and I had a great, albeit short, weekend in NYC. We went down to celebrate the wedding of Brian and Gina. Brian has been a friend of mine since we were 4 or 5. The wedding took place in Tribeca at The Tribeca Rooftop. A great loft space with tons of natural lighting perfect for pictures and sunsets over New Jersey. Todd, I and Ephraim were the only ones from home at the wedding, which was quite special. Brian had a few colleagues and friends from Cornell there. The reception was small - roughly 120 or so and really classy. I'm glad we made the trip.

Just prior to the mid-afternoon wedding, Anne and I had brunch with my parents who were in town for Aaron, a cousin's, chorus at an Upper East Side YMHA. We had a really really nice time during brunch and afterward on a walk thorugh Central Park.

The picture posted really needs no explanation other than opportunity making itself available.

Got the transfer

So, yes, the powers that be granted me a transfer on down to the Brooklyn office. This is great news for Anne and I as we'll have some semblance of an income upon our move. Of course, this doesn't stop my wanting a change in careers - in fact it accelerates it. I'll be down there and will be able to 'hit the pavement' (as they say in the industry).

We'll see how that proves. I'm hopefull.

I'm also hopefull of reinvigorating my studying for the LSAT. I had studied for quite some time, preparing for the February '06 exam, but, in a timely manner, strained my neck the day or two beforehand and could barely move. Drat! So I must start again.

Tomorrow, Anne and I are headed down to NYC for Brian and Gina's wedding - a Sunday evening affair. We'll hopefully get to tour a few apartments while down there and again get a better sense of where we want to start out. Right now we're looking at Inwood and possibly Washington Heights on the upper upper upper west side of Manhattan. The commute to Anne's school would be around a 10 minute ride on the subway; mine would be considerably longer but, since I'll have a regular schedule and not have to be coming home late at night, it makes sense.

I just got an E-mail from the director from the Brooklyn office suggesting a move date of 7/21. This would give Anne and I a prospective move-in date of 8/3-10ish as she is coming back from Mexico around that time. We'll have to discuss it.

Craigslist

Okay, so I'm also addicted to Craigslist. Buying bicycles, missed connections, strictly platonic, free/barter, , etc. I tend to hold on to bikes for a few months, then sell them on Craigslist. I love Craigslist. I'm in love with Craigslist. Anne's only competition is Craigslist. She wins . . ., most of the time.

Some Depressing News

Last night Anne told me of news that our friend, Anne's friend from college, was mauled by a dog over the weekend and will require much time and surgery for healing. This is truly depressing and its proximity truly hurts.

J.P. Licks

It's 8:30 p.m., do you know where your waffle cone is?

Yes, I'm also addicted to ice cream. Not terribly, in the way of eating tubs with a scooper, but in the way that I surely should own stock in the local creamery. I usually go for a kiddie sized sugar cone topped with mint chocolate chip frozen yogurt. Yum. A kiddie size is actually bigger than it sounds - good for a fine 10 minutes of lick lick heaven if I'd ever known one.

Amazon addict

I've scoured my room looking for anything and everything to sell on Amazon.com and have made quite a little sum money so far.

A partial list of things sold over the past few months:

A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson; Unicycle; PDA; Camera batter/charger (separately); Broken camera (unfortunately this was returned); Faith Rewarded - 2004; Boston Red Sox - DVD; Portable wireless PDA keyboard

All of these things were just collecting dust in my room and I've grossed roughly $400. Not too bad for a few trips to the post office.

This, of course, comes with a price: I'm also addicted to purchasing things on the web. This addiction is only tempered by my wont for all things EMS. But I've been good lately and started to increase my contribution to retirement - up to a whopping 15% of my pre-tax salary. Quite honestly, I don't even miss it - don't even realize it's not there anymore.

I've been reading a great blog about financial security/planning in your 20s/30s that has started to clue me into some great money saving and creating tips; most of which I didn't learn while in school or growing up.

While not sound too silly

While not sounding too silly, I find myself ever-increasingly aware of my aging self. For instance, my hands, one of which is pictured above. They're not particularly 'old' looking, however they're not as fit or tight as they once were and I could see the beginnings of wrinkles on them. I'm fully aware of the naturalness behind the process of aging, but it seems to have taken me by storm over the past few years. Anne has found many grey hairs lingering about my firmly, (much to the chagrin of 3/4 of my high school friends), non-receding hair-line; I'm not able to play as hard as I once could in sports; my chest hair is expanding toward the sides of my belly (photo not avaiable); and my folks are almost able to order off of the senior citizen menu at Friendly's.

My aging self is also particularly noticeable in a city, like Boston, where the average age dips to 28 or so during the school semester. Everyone seems to have life-time memberships to Bally's and use them to boot!

All isn't bad, however. I'm looking forward to aging and aging well. That's my goal after all. My parents used to say that the mid-thirties were great years. I have around 8 years until then, but am preparing and hopefully preparing well. They blamed their love of the mid-thirties on a few things. Most telling was some semblance of financial security and stability. This would be nice, but owning a house by 35 is not looking too promising at the moment. They also say they were young enough to remain active, yet had the experience to choose their activities well and with due caution.

Love's Labour's Lost

Anne and I went to the Huntington Theatre last night - a surprist date of sorts. We arrived on time, albeit a bit wet and had quite the seats: upper balcony, row M. But we quickly, as the lights dimmed, swam our way down the the first row balcony as the theatre wasn't too crowded. The play was great - though the actors were quite varied in their ability; a couple were outstanding, a couple more left much to be desired.

Afterward, we sauntered over to Betty's Wok and Noodle, which was just on the corner of Huntington and Massachusetts Avenue. So much fun. Of course, we got there around 10:30 p.m. and pretty much had the place to ourselves and the staff were sauced along with the owner. They were so obviously three sheets windward as they were dancing, singing and free flowing with their complimentary sangria. Hey, no complaints over here.

Still underemployed

I feel like this slug. Slow moving. No new job yet. Still working at the Board in Boston, without a slightesst hint of prospect for new employment down in NYC other than the pending transfer to the Board's Brooklyn office.

I went to vist the office a few Fridays ago and met with the Regional Director and some other folks. No dress code and dollar-pizza down the block. Not a bad gig. The 'interview', which really turned out to be an exploration into the taboos of employment law, such as their inquiring into my personal relationships - asking about the stability of mine with Anne. I joked my way out of the conversation and started talking bicycles, brooklyn's bridges and politics. Why the RD needed me to come down to the office instead of having a video conference is not clear. We had no significant conversations about the NLRA (Natn'l Labor Relations Act), my investigatory style, writing ability etc.

So, yes, I'm still looking for employment in the 'business' world. So if you - the grand total zero - readers out there have any ideas/leads/contacts, let me know.

You may think the above pictured slug is just any old slug. In fact it's one that I came upon while hiking with friends among the sequoias in northern, CA. Twas a beautiful little slug that deserved a picture. I was in San Fran staying with Reynaldo and his roommate Karen, who has recently had a baby! We all went hiking, sans baby, along with . . . [man, can't remember his name - from Green Gulch].