Thoughts, ramblings, and a little about me.

2007-09-05T22:35:00.000-04:00

Only a few days left until my first triathlon. Tonight I drove to the race site for a practice run. They have been having Wednesday night training sessions all summer long. I wanted to check out the site, and do all three events at once. I have trained each event separately and often two events at a time, but never all three. It is only a sprint distance, so it was actually not as hard as I was expecting. I guess that means I have been training enough. I aim to finish in less than 90 minutes. I'm guessing the bike will be my weakest category compared to my age group, and unfortunately that is also the longest section. We shall see.

Carter, Kent, and my sister have all mentioned coming down, so I'll have some support in addition to Chrissy. Should be a fun day.

2007-09-03T21:56:00.000-04:00

Happy Labor Day! It has been a great weekend. We were up in Chicago for the GT vs. Notre Dame game. It was a great weekend! I tried to email Christina, but my message bounced as I guess her email address changed.

On Friday we flew in and met my aunt (who lives in Chicago) my family, and some family friends at one of the famous Chicago pizza places. They were filming the next Batman movie near her building, so we saw a little of that. There were tons of police and cars with the Gotham City Police Department logos. We also saw the Happy Friday bike tour. There were probably 800 or so bikers who ride in a huge group around the city. They do it the last Friday of every month. They had all kinds of funny and odd bikes, and carried a sound system blasting music. We then met up with some college friends for food on Friday night.

Saturday the game was awesome. 33-3 is a historic win. I believe Notre Dame has only been beat by 30+ points five other times in their history. The campus and chapel are very nice, and touchdown Jesus and the reflection pool are both very neat. The Notre Dame fans were welcoming, and it was a good day. Saw JR and his dad, my uncle, and a lot of other friends.

I was in a good mood all weekend. There are a lot of reasons to be happy now. A four day weekend helps as well. :-)

2007-07-07T12:12:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention that 4th of July was fun. We ran the Peachtree Road Race. Chrissy didn't train, but did pretty well considering. I had my best Peachtree time ever, but not my best 10K time. Because I was so focused on running, and we left the celebration early I missed most of the crowds and funny costumes. We had some of my extended family over for a cookout which was fun. We were so tired that night we just lit some sparklers and watched fireworks on TV.

One other strange happening last night. We had tickets to go see Hootie and the Blowfish, but the show was canceled. We didn't know until we showed up, but Darius was sick. We heard something about a Staph infection, but it was a bummer since we had bought dinner, packed drinks, etc.

We got up for a bike ride this morning on our new bikes. Chrissy is still figuring our her gears.

2007-07-05T19:41:00.000-04:00

Our trip was great. The British Virgin Islands were our favorite, as the port was the prettiest, and "The Baths" were great. They are some beaches and natural rock formations that create caves/tunnels along the water, which really appealed to our explorer side.

I read several work/career books...

The Tipping Point - what factors cause ideas to tip and become big. An interesting look at what causes things to "catch on", and how messages sink or swim. From Paul Revere to Sesame Street.
4 Hour Work Week - inspires you to work less and start your own easy to manage business. VERY interesting and entertaining. This is one I would widely recommend. He basically asks you to change how you view work and life. The chapter on outsourcing life was not only interesting but Chrissy kept asking about why I was laughing so much.
The Undercover Economist - similar to Freakonomics (which I want to read). It is an Economist's take on issues such as why are countries poor, how Starbucks works, and how to save the environment in a smart way. Andy Ozment and his girlfriend bought this book for helping them try to find her a US consulting job this summer.
Winning by Jack Welch - I have not finished it yet, but the legendary CEO tells his ideas on what it takes to be successful in business. I really like his approach, as he essentially says the key is getting in smart people, setting them up for success, and structuring rewards to provide incentive for that behavior. He takes business like pro sports, get the right people, make their mission clear, and reward them for their contribution.

Now it is back to work, but I'm working from home this week so no complaints.

2007-06-22T19:35:00.000-04:00

I found out this week that I was promoted to "Manager" at work. In consulting, at least at my company, it generally means you are already performing at the next level. So it shouldn't change my day to day work, but it will mean being a part of management and having formal counselees. In a matrix organization, you could say that everyone is your boss. I'm hoping that this promotion will mean there are less people to delegate tasks to me, and in addition more authority when enlisting help. I think I'll be a nice Manager than most, but I would guess that most people think that. :-)

We're going to bed early as we leave early for our cruise tomorrow. It was last minute planning, per our typical vacation style. Too much fun!

2007-05-23T07:44:00.000-04:00

CONGRATS to the GT Women's Tennis Team!!! Last night they won the NCAA national championship, which is actually the first national championship in Tech's history.

While we have 4 football national championships, they are technically not official because there was no football national championship awarded before the BCS system. There would be an obvious winner, and the media or coaches would vote.

UGA won the men's side. I wonder if the strength of Atlanta tennis, ALTA particularly, contributed to the teams with local talent.

2007-05-20T22:24:00.000-04:00

A good weekend with lots of happiness. Saturday morning we ran in Piedmont Park with friends. We went to a pool party Saturday afternoon, and a unique show on Saturday night. Experimental Puppetry Theatre at the center for puppetry arts. Our friends Mike and Alexa when there for their first date, and are now married. Apparently in the past it was more like the musical "Avenue Q", with funny and crazy puppet humor. This show last night was large attempts at being artistic, but the consensus from the ten of us that went was that it was not as good. Some of the sketches didn't make sense at all. Some made sense, but were still strange.

Today we met up with some of my extended family in from Alaska and Arkansas. We did another run, and had dinner at Moe's. Driving around town with the top down on the convertable, I just had this feeling of great happiness. Life is good, and I enjoy being back in a city I love with easier access to the friends I like to see and the activities I want to do.

Chrissy and I each ordered a bike this week. My company is paying for half of mine as part of a new fitness program. I also got a new phone on the company - a Treo 700, which Carter recommended from my available choices.

We also signed up for a summer ultimate (frisbee) league, so we'll play on Saturdays. We met a random GT guy at the pool party who plays ultimate as well, so we're going to try to get on his team.

2007-05-19T11:15:00.000-04:00

Life is good. This move has been fantastic, and made our weekends much more busy and fun. Last weekend was a Friday night cookout with work friends, paintball with a friend in the afternoon, and then we grilled out on Saturday night.

I am still traveling for work, but I am working to reduce that as possible. I had to fly up to NYC for a presentation on Friday morning, which went well. It had been a while since I had been to NYC. It is an interesting place to visit, with a ton going on. One story stands out. At the LGA airport, I was waiting in line for food (plane delay due to air traffic controller) and a couple came in line behind me. I smiled at them, and they smiled back. I said to them, "So you're not from New York either." They said, "No, we're from Tennesee." It's bad when you can stand out in NYC just by the look on your face.

Last night was President's dinner for Georgia Tech. We got there late due to my flight delay. It was fun, but not quite as much as usual. It seemed we saw less people than usual this year. Randy and Lauren were not there. A few minor things too - the band was Motown, when we prefer Swing, and the service wasn't that good.

2007-05-06T15:05:00.000-04:00

Congrats to Chrissy for graduating from Pharmacy school. Six years to the day from when we graduated from Tech. I wore a GT tie to her UGA graduation, which seemed very appropriate. Her extended family are in town now.

It has been a while since I posted, so a few updates. We bought a house just NW of Atlanta, about one mile outside of 285. It is a brick house, with more bedrooms than we need now. Our neighbors overall seem good. One neighbor owns a local restarant, one is a NBA scout, one is a doctor. One we haven't met, but they have a gardner, who we have met. The other neighbor we met, but she seems to rarely be at the house. Our neighbors across from us are super friendly. They introduce us around and brought us brownies. We haven't met all of them.

Most of all, I love the area. Lots of young and Tech people, new development, good places to eat, and the Silver Comet Trail. It's a former train track that was paved over as a bike/running path. You go out there and feel inspired by all these other people running and biking. We're going to buy bikes. I'd like to do a sprint triathlon.

2007-03-18T13:30:00.000-04:00

Poor GT lost on Friday. UNLV was hot at the 3 point line, which I was afraid of. I'm hoping none of our players jump to the NBA. I understand they are offered a lot of money, but they go and sit on the bench for 2-3 years before playing. Why not do a couple more years of college and then go to the NBA when you are ready? My bracket is still decent, but I'm not doing that well in my pool.

Friday night we went to see The King and I. It was a local production, but I wanted to see the Opera house and have never seen the musical. It was good, but had the feel of a local production. Still very enjoyable.

The home inspection went well on Saturday, with only very minor issues arising. Chrissy has a lot of work to do this weekend (only 6 weeks more of pharmacy school), so I have been doing house stuff and relaxing on the computer. I have been playing the game Kent got me (Phantasy Star 2, 3 and 4 repackaged on PS2), some online Poker, and ebaying. Sometimes you need a day to veg.

2007-03-15T13:12:00.000-04:00

We have a signed contract on the house! Exciting news indeed.

Pros:

3 sided brick in a nice neighborhood
Open floorplan with good flow, that is great for having over guests
For the price, it seems like a good investment

Cons:

Less yard, particularly backyard (that could be a pro for maintenance reasons)
It is an extra mile from downtown than we wanted
School districts aren't as good. (Always have to think long term, even thought )

We are pleased. We close two weeks from tomorrow.

On a sidenote, I'm pumped about GT playing in the NCAA tournament tomorrow. So far my bracket is doing pretty good, but I have GT going to the Elite 8. We shall see.

2007-03-11T19:58:00.000-04:00

We revisited our top three houses today, and just a few others for comparison. There was one house that stood out from the rest, and we are going to make an offer. The other two were nice, but this one seemed the best for us. Exciting!

Also had a nice birthday lunch with family, including all the new extended family from Chile. They are going home this week, so it was our last get together.

2007-03-10T23:49:00.000-05:00

It has been a fun birthday week. Chrissy has been hit harder by my birthday than she was. We're no longer "mid 20s" but "late 20s"! :-)

Had a good day today. We met our agent Weslee, who showed us around houses in north Atlanta. (We were looking in a specific area, but I am being intentionally vague.) We have actually been looking for 4 weekends or so with a wider search, but after Chrissy accepted a pharmacy job with a major retail chain that helped us center our search a little more. We had driven by a ton of houses, but were now going inside. We narrowed our list to three, and are going to go back and see those tomorrow with the parents. Chrissy is more excited about house features, and I'm more excited about house location and reduced commuting. It will be good to be back in Atlanta!

For the rest of the day we hung with Carter and Kent, and went to P.F. Chang's for dinner. (Kent had never been there!) Then met up with Chris and Ray. It was good to see them. We played Wii Tennis. Chrissy's arm was sore because she would swing the controller with her whole arm like a tennis racket! :-) Good times!

Thanks friends for making it a fun birthday week.

2007-02-27T21:16:00.000-05:00

Bruster's is offering free waffle cones on Saturday and Sunday if you show up to the store in your PJs. Those waffle cones are like the size of your head! I'll find one Bruster's for Saturday, and one for Sunday. :-) Now I just have to think about which two flavors. I'm leaning towards Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Turtle. I heart ice cream.

2007-02-25T12:58:00.000-05:00

My sister Sarah got married this weekend. Congrats to her! It was a beautiful ceremony, and good to see lots of family and friends in town. Welcome to the family, Pablo! Chrissy and I managed some last minute fires, but everything went off fine. Chris B was in the area, and he came by and took photos for us. Thanks Chris! There was lots of Spanish speaking, as Pablo is from Chile. His family came up, so we had a bit of a language barrier. They were very friendly, but they operate on "South American time".

We had a casual post party at the house, and we were exhausted. We watched the TiVo'd GT vs UVA basketball game. GT should have won, leading by 5 points with three minutes left. We have to play UNC, and then Boston College. We need another win or two to make the NCAA tourney.

2007-02-07T19:52:00.000-05:00

My dad and a friend Pete went to the Tech basketball game together last night, as they did every home game all season. They've been going together for several seasons now, and my dad found out today that Pete died of a heart attack this morning. He had high blood pressure, but this is definitely a surprise. It is just a reminder of how fragile life is. Also, it is scary to think that although Pete was out of shape and a couple of years older than my dad, that he was in better shape than my dad. If anyone had seen the two of them walking together last night, and you had said, "Which one of those two will have a heart attack and die tomorrow?" most everyone would have said my dad. You can only hope it is a wake up call to change your life.

Pete was a good man, and I'm sad to see him go.

2007-01-28T21:45:00.000-05:00

I attended my first home GT basketball game this season, and sadly it is the only home basketball game Tech has lost this season. Coincidence? I hope so, because I want to go to another.

Did some house shopping on the north side of Atlanta. We are trying to balance out all the variables that contribute to the perfect house. Would we rather have a better house, or better location, etc. We are both so analytical there are a lot of factors to consider. :-) Chrissy has two job offers already on the northside, but they are probably 40 minutes apart.

Lastly, a super Wal-Mart opened in Columbus recently. They already had a regular one, but they didn't sell groceries. Grocery prices are much higher hear than shopping (at Kroger) at either of my parent's house. We enjoyed the new low price option, and hope that forces prices down around town. It was a long wait, but I believe it is due to the new opening.

2007-01-21T20:43:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I start my first 5 day work week since the week before Christmas. What a rough life. :-)

Had a good weekend, starting with a work event playing Whirlyball. It's like bumper cars and lacrosse combined. The food was bad, but the game was great. I didn't know many of the people there, but that didn't stop me from having a good time.

Friday night was singing and playing piano with Randy and Lauren and company. It was good to see R and L, and Chris and Ray. Through the comments of the evening we learned we were clearly in the minority in terms of politics.

Saturday, we taught Carter and Kent two new games: Set and Power Grid. Good times. Carter says he doesn't like learning new games anymore. I'm actually quite tired of Settlers of Catan, and even somewhat of Puerto Rico.

Last night Tech lost to UNC, but at least we had beat Duke and FSU before that. I hope Tech makes the NCAAs despite our young team. Right now the analysts say yes, but we shall see.

2007-01-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

Had a great weekend in Houston. I watched my beautiful bride run her first marathon, the Houston Chevron Marathon. She finished in a little over 4 hours, which was quite impressive. She is sore, but otherwise doing fine.

We ate at Nit Noi in Rice village, Escalante's for some great Tex Mex, and stayed with Liz. We got to see Bing, Michael from work, Sarah G came and did some carbo loading with us the night before. We got to meet the elusive Jose, who is very nice. I learned he was a MIT guy. He was amused that we all had a good experience at GT, since most of his peers didn't have a good time at MIT.

Sarah complained about my irregular blogging, so here I post. :-)

We taught Set, and learned two new domino games. My co-worker, an Aggie grad, taught us to play 42. It is a big Texas A&M game, and I thought it was fine but am not craving to play it again.

It is nice to have a day off.

2006-12-31T12:40:00.000-05:00

Here are my most recently played board games.

Set

RoboRally

Mare Nostrum - Mythology Expansion

Mare Nostrum

We played games again last night. Two board game days in one week... what fun!

Keythedral and Roborally were two of my favorites from last night. I got killed off early in Betrayal, but I could see myself liking it.

Happy New Year!

2006-12-29T10:07:00.000-05:00

What a great relaxing week back in the US. My favorite Christmas gift is probably my new board game, Power Grid. I enjoyed game night on Wednesday night with Mike and Alexa, and looking forward to another tomorrow. Tonight is dinner with Chris, Ray, Carter and Kent. We haven't gotten to see any of those folks on the break yet, so that should be fun.

2006-12-21T06:49:00.000-05:00

We have returned from our first ever trip to Africa. I slept so much on the plane, I couldn't sleep late this morning, so I have been up doing email and catching up with the world. The trip was fantastic, and I saw some amazing sights that are hard to describe in words. We spent 3 days in Egypt, 7 days in Arusha, Tanzania on safari, and 5 days in Zanzibar relaxing on the spice island.

Cairo - The Pyramids and the Sphnix were the highlights.
Arusha, Tanzania - We saw Mt. Kilimanjaro (no climbing), and went on a five day safari to see Lake Manyara, the Serengeti National Park, and the Ngorongoro Crater. These three have some of the best wildlife viewing in all of Africa. We saw zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions, cheetahs, leopards, wildebeasts, buffalos, impalas, dikdiks, and tons of bird species we had never seend before. All set in beautiful terrain that was overwhelming.
Zanzibar - This island used to be a major hub for spice trading between east and west, in addition to the neat history, it now a very relaxing beach area with the beautiful blue Indian Ocean.

We flew 7 airlines (in order): Continental, Air France, Kenya Airways, Precision Air, Air Tanzania, KLM, and Delta. Air France was the best with the personal video screen for two of the longest flights. I watched Cars, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, and Pirates of the Caribbean 2. It made them feel short. The KLM flight back with our seats with broken headphones seemed the longest.

We hit 13 airports (and 7 countries):
ATL -> Houston
Houston -> Paris
Paris -> Cairo, Egypt (stayed three days)
Cairo -> Khartoum, Sudan (didn't get off the plane)
Khartoum -> Nairobi, Kenya
Nairobi -> Arusha, Tanzania (our base for our safari, near Mt. Kilimanjaro)
Arusha -> Zanzibar (for our beach relaxation, and time on the spice island)

Then the somewhat brutal trip home:
Arusha -> Nairobi
Nairobi -> Khartoum (didn't get off the plane)
Khartoum -> Cairo
Cairo -> Amsterdam
Amsterdam -> Chicago
Chicago -> Atlanta

A great trip. I'll have to write more. So far the things I like most about being home:

having all kinds of food options. I want lots of chicken - they don't have much in Africa.
no one asking me to buy anything
not having to worry about money (being able to use credit cards, or to have vendors have change is a fantastic convienance we take for granted in the US)

2006-12-04T08:10:00.000-05:00

I'm off to Africa today for vacation - Egypt and Tanzania for 16 days. Should be awesome. Likely no blogging due to limited internet access. We got the roundtrip ticket to Cairo with Skymiles, which was awesome. That saved a few thousand right off the top.

2006-12-03T18:21:00.000-05:00

Georgia Tech has had two really disappointing football games in a row. The UGA loss, and then the Wake Forest lost. I feel bad for our defense, who played two great games to see us lose both. Our offense has just not looked strong. Reggie Ball is being raked over the coals by the fans, and his play has been very poor. Just watching him play at UGA, I had little confidence that if the offense was required to score that it could. I would have liked to see our back-up QB play a little bit, but it is easy to arm chair quarterback. Our team was much better than UGA's in every category but Quarterback, and it was sad to see us lose. Also sad that their Freshman QB outplayed our Senior who has started for 4 years.

We drove down to Jacksonville to see GT's first ever appearance in the ACC championship game, and it was disappointing. The rain, and the very, very poor offense was sad to watch. Wake is a good team, but I still think we are better than them. There were so many deep passes, and so few connected. The fans were very upset over the playcalling.

I think leaving the country tomorrow, and not reading about GT for a few weeks will do me good.

On a side note, having lunch with Anit, Carter and Kent today at the Cheesecake Factory was great. I get to see friends in Atlanta so rarely, I really enjoy the time we get to spend together. Seeing Anit was a real treat as well. When that group gets together, we're bound to have fun.

2006-11-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to say, sorry for the blogging hiatus. The last few months of work have been both the most responsibility, and number of hours in my 5+ years of work after college. In addition to taking the lead role in all my client work and having three "peer level" people report into me, I was leading my company's undergraduate recruiting for the Southeast and Mid-America regions as my night job. We had over 30 undergrads after on campus screenings come in for final on-site interviews last week. So I ended up working 92 hours in a week, after a string of long weeks. By Friday I was burning out. Medical school should change their practices to have doctors work less, as that is too many hours.

Just a few more weeks and I'll be on vacation. :-)

2006-09-01T15:55:00.000-04:00

28 hours until GT kicks off against Notre Dame! All the hype around ND, and few are picking Tech to win. Many are picking ND in the National Championship game, so I would LOVE for Tech to bring ND back to earth. I really can't wait.

I played in my first online poker tournament last night. It was at PartyPoker.net, which you do not bet real money and the tournaments are free. There are sites where you can bet for real but technically online gamling is illegal. I don't agree with that law. (That's Libertarian, not Republican for you folks playing at home.) So in this tourney - out of 5000 participants, I finished 11th place. Beginner's luck I suppose. I won free entry to another free tourney that does have prizes which is pretty cool. It was a lot of fun, and something I'm going to have to try again soon.

Today was supposed to be an official company day off work, but I ended up working 5 or so hours. I'll just try to take it easy next Friday.

Goooooooooooooooo Jackets! I need to go read up on all the latest news at gojackets.com...

2006-08-30T20:01:00.000-04:00

Another day, and another funny story from my life.

Today, I'm on a sales effort conference call with partners (the most senior people in my company). One partner gives me the dial in number and asks me to send out an invite. I paste the exact number he sent me into the invite, and send it out to everyone. Well, little did I know….

888-###-###3 The new official conference call number for my company
888-###-###2 Number where you can speak to live women about your "adult desires"

A nice way for me to be remembered by all those on the call… Once it was straightened out, one partner was giving the first guy a hard time asking why he didn't give everyone his passcode for the first number we dialed.

Watch those digits, folks...

2006-08-29T12:05:00.000-04:00

A short story about my car -

I went in for an oil change to a local place we got a mailing from since we just moved to Columbus. They recommended I needed a new oil pan for $650 because my oil could leak b/c the oil plug whole is stripped. I call around and find the same oil pan at the dealership (normally the most expensive place for parts) was half of what this mechanic wanted to charge me for the part alone. I, of course, want to take my car somewhere else...

I go to pick up my car, and when they go to bring my car around it won't start. They have left the lights (or done something) in my car and killed the battery. Not only was the battery dead, but they somehow triggered the security system as if the car was stolen. So I spend an hour last night in the shop with my car alarm going off. The car can't even be started in "security mode", and the "Toyota certified diagnostic" guy can't find an answer online or by calling Toyota. They have four guys trying various solutions.

I tried looking for a solution myself online last night, but couldn't find anything so this morning I bring in the big guns. Chrissy comes in dressed for her work with all the greasy mechanics and goes into the garage to try a few things with the car. The mechanics roll their eyes as she asks for them to jump the car, because we have tried all of this yesterday and know the alarm will go off until the battery is dead again. She eventually gets the right person on the line at Toyota, and successfully deactivates the system. The head mechanic offers her a job on the spot.

I'm now taking the car for a second opinion to find out if the oil pan story was made up, because I do NOT trust those mechanics.

In short - it is good to be married to a Tech engineer. :-)

2006-08-27T15:09:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a fun filled day. Carter and Kent came down. They unfortunately didn't get here until 6, so we didn't have time to do much before going to the Catfish game. The game itself was a little boring with the Catfish losing, but the environment was fun.

It was military appreciation night, so we were in the 5-10% that were not military. And all the military were in fatigues, so we really stood out. Chrissy was in the definite minority. Speaking of which, I was quite surprised that military was probably 90% white, while I would have expected something closer to the general population. It is pretty amazing to think of all these guys serving their country. They were so much more disciplined that other guys their age, being very polite and having guys assigned to clean up their trash after them. I bet that discipline will take them further in life than they would have gone otherwise.

We finished the night (and started the early morning) with the Country's Midnight Express. I have only run one 5K, but I beat my best time by just over two minutes! I was hoping to be under 24 minutes and beat Chrissy, but I beat her and finished under 23 minutes! I ran my first mile in 7:01 which was the fastest I can ever remember running a mile, even by itself. I was quite pleased. Chrissy did great. She would have won her age group if she had been one age group up or down. She still took home some hardware. Sadly, I was nowhere near the top times, even for the old guys. It was still a personal victory.

2006-08-26T16:40:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Kent!

Kent and Carter are coming down to Columbus tomorrow to go to a Columbus Catfish game which is the minor league team associated with the LA Dodgers. We haven't had any company down to Columbus, so that is fun. Chrissy and I were wanting to go see the Catfish anyways. Then tomorrow is also the midnight 5K. My goal is to beat Chrissy, and hopefully 24 minutes. Not sure if I can do that, but we shall see.

2006-08-24T18:08:00.000-04:00

One of my friends (no, you probably don't know him) sent me an email with just this attachment with a :-( face.

He and I both thought it was really funny, because we always joke about his lack of luck with the ladies (despite being a great guy). He said this is eHarmony's way of saying, "Get off our site, loser, you are bringing down our stats."

2006-08-21T14:15:00.000-04:00

Played a new board game last night, Power Grid, which was a lot of fun. Mike L and his Sunday night game nights have opened up a whole new world of games to me which are really interesting. In Power Grid you are a Power Plant owner, and have to buy plants, and choose the cities you want to connect to offer power service. You can buy plants that run on coal, oil, trash, nuclear, or "green" plants. Alexa led all the game, but I passed her on the last turn. Good fun.

Kent even came out and got to experience "Mall of Horror", which is funny, and can be fun. I just never feel satisfied playing that game, even when I win.

Part of what I enjoy about game night is just getting to spend time with friends. There are a few old friends who come out occasionally and they are good to see. I am looking forward when we move to Atlanta and can see people more regularly. Columbus isn't bad, but not being convienantly close to friends and family isn't as fun.

2006-08-17T17:28:00.000-04:00

I registered for the Country's Midnight Express (see the link on the left of the page). It's a 5K run at midnight, and should be fun. Apparently some 4000 people show up for it. Chrissy and I have been training, so hopefully we get a good time. My best time is something like 24:42 or so. I'd like to beat my best time in a minute, but having been timing myself to know if that is reasonable. Worst case, you get a BBQ sandwich and a t-shirt. :-)

2006-08-14T17:39:00.000-04:00

Annoyance of the day: Why do radio stations have to give the traffic (and weather) so frequently?

In all my years driving in Atlanta, I can think of maybe two times when I altered my route due to traffic reports. I change the radio station most of the time when traffic comes on... Although sometimes I feel a little Schadenfreude when I hear about bad traffic in Atlanta and I'm not coming anywhere near it. Maybe Schadenfreude isn't quite right - I'm not happy that others are experiencing it, just glad that I am not.

2006-08-11T22:39:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday, Carter! It's easy to remember his birthday because it is the same week as Chrissy and my wedding anniversary. 3 years have gone by quick, and we had a great dinner overlooking the Chattahoochee to celebrate.

I had a work dinner at 103 West tonight, and Chrissy came with me. Two nice meals in one week. We like to try out the Buckhead Life eateries. There is so much turnover in consulting, and so much hiring of new people I felt like I didn't know that many people at the dinner. New people have been hired and bonded. Between Athens and Columbus, I am just not in the office very much. But it was good catching up with a few folks, and even Chrissy had a good time.

Bon nuit!

2006-08-11T22:39:00.001-04:00

2006-08-11T22:39:00.000-04:00

2006-08-04T17:07:00.000-04:00

I feel no shame / I'm proud of where I came from / I was born and raised in the boondocks...
Going out to the lake in the middle of the country is so relaxing. It feels like home. We had jet skis, and would sit around and play cards. Chrissy and I both slalomed which was fun - it had been a while. I think I want to get a house on the lake someday. We're going to another lake house party tomorrow at Lake Lanier which should be a lot of fun.

80 work emails since I left, and I catch up on the news. It doesn't seem like anything really big has happened.

I did start and finish the book "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury. It was strange, but also good. I didn't have expectations, but I was still surprised. It seemed like a series of short stories that were loosely related, and occasionally would have the same characters. It was short enough that I would recommend it.

2006-08-02T21:01:00.000-04:00

Trivia was just ok last night. We had a bigger group - both Carter and Ray joined the foursome that tied for first last week. The questions weren't as good though. It seemed all the questions fell in three categories: Obvious, no clue, or you don't know but most idiots would guess this answer first. So all the scores were really close together since most everyone got the same ones right, which doesn't make it as fun. It was good catching up. (Good call on last week's question, Sarah!)

I'm off to Lake Sinclair for three days. Should be fun...

2006-07-29T10:15:00.000-04:00

Had a crazy day to end my week of work, but we finally esacped and made it to Tom and Megan's for dinner. It was relaxing, and is always good talking with them. We don't get to see them very often, so it is good to catch up. Not a lot of our close friends are married, so it is nice to chat to hear someone's perspective who is going through a similar time in life from that perspective.

We learned to play Tripoley, which was fun. Chrissy and Tom were winning, while Megan and I were a good bit behind. Tom wants to do another strategy game day/night since he missed the last time we played Shogun. I think that's a great idea.

Today will be a well needed day to relax and recharge.

2006-07-27T22:32:00.000-04:00

This was supposed to be my week of vacation, but I have been doing work most of the week. It's not a huge deal as I don't charge as many vacation hours now, but it was the two weeks Chrissy has off from rotations. We'll get to be more relaxed next week with a trip to the lake.

We did play Trivia Tuesday night near Tech. Chris, Kent, Chrissy and I met for some Smokehouse Pizza and trivia. We had a perfect score for the first half, and at the end tied for 1st place.

See if you can get the questions we got wrong (post your answers to these in comments - but no cheating!):

When was the last year the National League won the all star game? (where were you Carter and Sarah!)
What 80s girl band recently released their 9th CD. The band originally had three members, but now has two.
(tie breaker) How many top 40 hits did Billy Joel have in the 80s?

We did questions such as:

Who was Barry Bond's godfather?
How many years passed between the release of Star Wars episode 6 and episode 1?
How many US states end in the letter S?
What country group has sold more albums than anyone else (46 million)?
What descriptive word was originally put before Stevie Wonder's name?
Which ear did Van Gogh cut off?
What eye does the Oakland Raiders mascot where the patch over?

The questions I remember were the easier ones, but it was a good night. We missed two 2 point questions in the 2nd half, and wagered the max on the final question, so we were four points shy of a perfect score. Good times. I'm not sure if the Tech students have slowed down, or we have gotten smarter. ;-)

We plan on going back next week to defend our title.

2006-07-18T19:08:00.000-04:00

As of yesterday - I am vested in my company pension plan. I don't really have any trust that m most any pension fund will still be around by the time I retire, but it is still a nice thought.

Today marks 5 years with the company. Carter and I walked through those doors with 14 other analysts. Not many are left. 5 years in consulting is a really long time. Will I be in consulting a year from now - who knows? If you had asked me a year ago, I probably wouldn't have expected me to stay. I thought Chrissy would be assigned to Atlanta by now, and that I would want to find a more local job.

Work has actually become more interesting lately though, and I would have a decent shot at promotion if I stayed till next summer. Decisions, decisions. :-)

2006-07-04T22:40:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th! May God continue to bless this great country!

The 2006 Peachtree Road Race was great as always today. Relaxing in Piedmont park after the race, I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be. It is a great feeling of accomplishment, and this year I didn't feel that tired. That means I should have gone faster. :-)

My time was around 55 minutes, but I didn't start the race until 5 minutes after the race started. There was a slight snafu with the 1A and 1B racers. It was my first race with a chip, but they mistakenly held back the 1B group too long, and pulled up the chip mat. So in my first ever chip timed race, it was impossible to find my net time. They said they would take 4:30 minutes off all 1B time, but that hurts our times since we didn't cross the start line until about 5 minutes. Oh well.

We stayed at my grandparents last night, who live about 1/4 of a mile from the start. That made this morning easy.

It was also good seeing Sarah G, Karen F, Carter, and Kent. Except we watched the World Cup, and didn't get to chat as much as I would have liked. I'm not a big fan of getting together to watch something in silence. We can watch movies in Columbus without friends, so we really like to take advantage of the few hours we do get to meet up with people. Carter seemed like he was dead while lying on the floor, and didn't really talk or move most of the afternoon.

Happy 4th!

2006-06-27T22:21:00.000-04:00

We closed on our house yesterday. Woohoo. It is nice not to have to drive the long drive up 316 anymore, even though we loved our house. Buying it was the largest check of my life, and selling it also involved the largest check of my life. Excellent.

I was in Nashville last night, and had to stay up until 3am putting the deck together for today's presentation. That is a rarity for me. At least it was only 2am local time...

I'm going to bed!

2006-06-25T23:47:00.000-04:00

My friend MikeL from Tech has been inviting a group over to his condo every Sunday night for a while to play strategy games, and I have gotten to go a few times. It is quite a good time. Mike is newly engaged to Alexa, and they cook for 5-10 people most every Sunday night.

Here is a quick review of a few games we have played:

Railroad Tycoon - This has been one of my favorites. You build your own Railroad company, and get points for shipping goods. You also get to be a famous railroad dude like Rockafeller or Vanderbilt. It is a simplified version of Age of Steam, which I haven't played. I've looked at buying this one.

Mall of Horror - In this game you play as three characters trapped in a mall of zombies. You win by moving to safety, and if the zombies outnumber you then you have to vote who gets fed to the zombies. So you have to betray each other to win. It was humorous, but you could quickly be out of the game if you weren't as good friends with someone. I didn't like it as much.

Caylus - Another cool one where you are building a castle for the King. You can get Victory points by building the castle, or providing a service for others to build the castle. Also a cool one.

We have actually played several more. He has probably 25 board games I've never played before, most of which I had never even heard of before... Excellent.

2006-06-20T20:27:00.000-04:00

Ah... my first blog post from Columbus. Most people would assume Columbus, OH, but no, not me. Chrissy and I have a six month apartment here since she is here for rotations. She changes every 5 weeks, and I'm here for a project also. Sometimes life works out. :-)

It is nice to come back to an apartment instead of a hotel. Being able to cook dinner, or watch a DVD is quite nice. Speaking of which, my apartment complex has a nice DVD library. You can borrow them for free, which is nice. That is a service I plan to take advantage of while we're here.

We close on Monday. Fingers crossed.

2006-05-29T10:34:00.000-04:00

We had a great time yesterday. It was great seeing Anit, Carter and Kent, and meeting Kent's parents. Kent's parents very generously picked up the lunch bill despite my protests - they are quite generous like their son. They had stuff going on after lunch, so hopefully we can meet up with them today.

We had a really fun time at Michael L's last night too. The only problem was getting there, as he lives near Piedmont Park, and the jazz fesitval was going on last night. We had to drive for 30 minutes around his place looking for parking, and eventualy walk 10 or so blocks. Michael had a ton of strategy games that I have never played before, and there were 10 of us there. We broke into two games. Chrissy, Ward, plus two others and I played Railroad Tycoon, which was a lot of fun. Now I want to get that game, but it is a little pricey. Michael, Alexa and their side played PowerGrid. I won Railroad Tycoon, and Alexa won PowerGrid. Our game took longer, so they played some game involving time travel, and a game "For Sale".

Michael and Alexa cooked a great dinner, and then we played Mafia. It brought back old school memories. Chrissy really enjoyed that, and she played as the Mafia perfectly and won her game. I was nothing but a townsperson. It was a good time, and I would love to come again. It is one of the reasons I miss being in Atlanta. I'll have to see if Kent or Carter want to join sometime.

Now I'm just enjoying a lazy Memorial Day morning...

2006-05-28T09:17:00.000-04:00

Our good friend Kent is going to have a brand new soul today at noon, so we are going to join him in the celebration. It should be fun. Then Mike L. has invited us again to his weekly strategy game night, but we'll actually get to go this time. It'll be good to spend time with friends, we've been around the house too much, cleaning up, etc.

It is nice to have Monday off!

2006-05-27T16:39:00.000-04:00

The house situation is really quite funny, and like a soap opera. We have had three offers on the house, but it is still not sold. One offer this week was low and we rejected, because two weeks ago we had verbal offers for more than $10K more. Sadly both of the verbal offers didn't pan out. One guy was going to write us a contract on our verbally agreed price, and then talked to his boss about it and found out his company may be moving to Atlanta in two years. Then another family we also agreed to a price, and then at the last minute they decided our house might be too small when their two kids were getting older.

We had someone give us a "final offer" which we rejected, and they sent us an email saying they were going to go with another option. Then in less than two hours from sending us a farewell email there were at the house showing it again to a friend to get their perspective.

You get a little more adventure going for sale by owner. Fortuntately we've seen neighborhood prices moving up, but I think that some agents may still not see our house selling for as much as we have it due to the historical values of the neighborhood. That's why we've been getting offers from people without agents, and that's ok with us. 3% less to pay. ;-)

2006-05-06T03:52:00.000-04:00

I tried to go play paintball today, as I have used my new paintball gun since I received it for Christmas. But sadly, there was a huge paintball day on Sunday at the place I was going, so everyone who was coming out this weekend was waiting until Sunday. Yet there is a 70-80% chance of rain all day, so I probably won't get to play at all.

We are getting close to a written offer on the house. We are exchanging verbal offers with a guy, and are within a few thousand of each other, discussing furniture, etc. It has been a great house for us, and we have learned a lot buying, selling and being a home owner. An education in life.

Becca, you had asked why we were selling. Chrissy is wrapping up her last year of Pharmacy school and is going on rotations now in a region several hours a way. Too far to commute. If our house was in Atlant we would probably stay. We had hoped she would be assigned to Atlanta, but they do a random drawing to decide what order your preferences are applied. Ironically, I currently have a project in that same area so it won't be as bad as we originally thought.

So we are figuring out where to go next. Chrissy's rotations are so ever changing, it will be really hard for us to get an apartment in the region. She changes spots every 5 weeks, and some of her locations are an hour away. If we were to get one, she would be set one rotation, and then in 5 weeks would have an hour commute each way the next five weeks. There isn't a great solution. We also don't know how long my project in the area will last. Lots of variables, but I feel good we'll find a workable situation.

2006-05-05T20:27:00.000-04:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Five years from when we've graduated from Tech. It has been a good five years. I haven't been as good touch with college friends as I would like, but part of that is living in a town away from most friends.

Interestingly, I found out my cousin (my dad's sister's daughter) is going to start at Tech in the Fall as an undergrad. She wanted to do biomedical engineering, so I told her that Tech was the program for her (the joint program with Emory) but I haven't heard from her about it. So I was suprised to hear that's where she ended up.

Speaking of 5 years out of college, I had my ten year high school reunion last weekend. That was crazy. 93 of my 173 Westminster classmates returned. I really haven't seen much of them at all. What was strange was there choice of profession. I would guess that over a third of the 93 were lawyers. (My dad says that is because lawyers always turn out for free booze.) There were three doctors (which btw is a bad ratio of doctors to lawyers for malpractice suits), and maybe 10 or so consultants.

My Junior prom date is a school librarian in Dunwoody, who lives alone with her cat. My freshman dance and Senior prom dates are both... lawyers. A couple of people lived up to the private school snooty reputation, but I think Chrissy was generally impressed with how nice people were.

I would like to reconnect with more of those people... too bad time is so short.

2006-04-09T22:19:00.000-04:00

I put up our flyer for the house today. A good marketing piece in my humble opinion. There are three other houses on our street selling for less, but none of them are as nice on the outside. So I think ours is the best value, but it will be interesting to see what the market says.

My sister Sarah came over for dinner tonight, which was very nice to catch up. Both she and Claire have been going on dates in the past months, which is not typical for them interesting...

2006-04-08T18:16:00.000-04:00

A long time with out blogging. Since I last blogged I have turned a year older. I also went to Vegas and the Grand Canyon, and had a great time. Got to stay in the Venetian for work, then went to Hoover Dam, the Canyon, and back to Vegas. Won some money on the blackjack table, lost some in a poker tournament but had an awesome time. A great trip.

I have been real busy putting the house on the market. Last week I would work all day (from home fortunately) then start working on the house at 5pm until dark, and then finish up my day of work.

We stuck a for sale by owner sign in our yard today. I guess that puts it on the market.

2006-01-24T20:58:00.000-05:00

We watched Lawrence of Arabia last night, another one on the AFI list. It was an interesting story, but you can't believe after such a long story that nothing really seems to be resolved. One interesting part was seeing Alec Guiness (aka Obi-Wan) as middle eastern Prince Feisal. Alec has been in a lot of great movies, and several on the AFI top 100.

I would still only give this 3 out of 5 stars. Great cinematography, costumes, but you really need a better ending.

2006-01-23T17:57:00.000-05:00

My new paintball gun came in today. Very exciting stuff. I am checking out the local fields to figure out when and where to play. I used to play a lot in high school, and I'm looking forward to getting back into it.

2006-01-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

Watched the French Connection two nights ago. It was Best Picture, Director and Actor (Gene Hackman in 1971 I believe. I was disappointed. The big scene was the car chase, but obviously those have gotten better. It was difficult to follow, with some random elements not followed. Perhaps the reason why I didn't enjoy it very much was that it seemed like a typical cop movie. I'm sure it started some of the common themes in police stories like the police chief who doesn't believe the cop and pulls them off the case.

So another one of the AFI top 100. I recounted and was surprised I was not even half way through yet... but I'm close. Lawrence of Arabia is the highest ranked film on the list that I haven't seen. My favorites of the top 100 thus far: Star Wars Episode IV, Rear Window (Hitchcock), Sound of Music, Raiders of the lost Ark, and Forrest Gump.

2006-01-11T15:21:00.000-05:00

I saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid this week. It was in the AFI top 100. It was interesting, but I didn't think it was that good. I was surprised it won several musical oscars. It did have "Raindrops keep falling on my head", which was great, but other than that it was not good. Strange seeing actors I know as older when they were young.

I am still aiming to view all of the AFI top 100. The French Connection is likely next...

Sarah G reports her running regularly on her blog. I really haven't run since my Thanksgiving half-marathon, but Chrissy is training for a full. I am trying to run with 1-2 times per week, but as the distances get longer I may not be able to keep up. We shall see.

2006-01-08T12:19:00.000-05:00

Patrick and I won Civilization yesterday, but it was really anyone's game. Everyone ganged up on Patrick because he got out to a large lead. I was in last place, but was better prepared for the end of the game than anyone else. I told the guys yesterday, one of my resolutions is to play more strategy games. And I'm serious - I really enjoy the fun and mental stimulation.

Random thought of yesterday - One of the modern convienances I am most thankful for is a hot shower. I really hate getting in cold water, and I can't imagine that. I don't feel fully ready for my day until I have had my shower.

2006-01-07T09:03:00.000-05:00

Carter, Kent, Patrick, Tom and I are having a strategy games day today, which should be excellent. We are going to play a couple new board games including Civilization and/or Puerto Rico. I have been looking forward to it.

The headhunters/recruiters have been calling and emailing a lot at work this week. I think they figure that the new year is a time when a lot of people are looking for a change.

2006-01-02T15:56:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

It has been a great vacation. New Year's was a fun, laidback evening. I do regret that we never had a strategy games day. The Tech football game was disappointing. Usually a bowl win will be enough to get me excited for the rest of the offseason. We'll see how college basketball plays out.

2005-12-28T13:21:00.000-05:00

I have yet to mention that I read the Bourne Identity over break. It was a good book, and I didn't like the movie all that much. While watching the movie, I was thinking, "This is pretty interesting, but the story gets really strange." So I was pleased to see that Hollywood had again totally distorted a very interesting story into something stupid. The Hollywood government portrayed the government intelligence agencies as much more evil (not surprising considering their liberal bias). The most surprising thing about the book is that it was set in the mid to late 1970s. I had no idea it was that old, and it says something about a modern spy book that it can hold interest a quarter century after it is written.

Next up is my eBay purchase that came in yesterday - the latest Harry Potter. Just $11 (incl. shipping) on eBay. Much better than the retail price. I am also reading the latest Sean Hannity book. It is good thus far, but there are two many stupid or crazy Democrat quotes. I guess I should be shocked by the outrageous things said by Democrat leaders, but I am immune to it by now.

2005-12-26T13:02:00.000-05:00

I received less Christmas gifts this year than any year I can remember, but it was one of the better Christmas Eve evenings and days of recent memory. My cousin Jeff and Aunt Jenny who were both recently divorced came and stayed with us, which was great.

Jeff is a techno-geek. He owns a wide variety of cutting edge technology. He brought his laptop (just replaced) with internet access through cell towers. He also brought his 8.0 MP Canon SLR camera, and his Playstation Portable. He helped set up our Tivo we bought Dad and Claire's wireless network card. He is very nice, and very helpful.

So I am buying gifts for me on eBay, since several people gave me money. I must admit I am hard to shop for. Generally if you buy me a game (particularly a strategy one) either board or computer I will be pleased.

All in all it was a good time with the family. No real drama, which is a rarity on Christmas day (you may can guess who often is at the center).

2005-12-15T16:27:00.000-05:00

I made a cake for Chrissy's birthday. I have done a lot of baking, but I believe this is my first cake on my own. Still a boxed mix cake, but it is the thought that counts, right? :-)

I am not working for the rest of the year, so that should be nice. We will probably go visit Chrissy's extended relatives in Kentucky for a few days, but the highs are still going to be very cold. Brrr!!!

I have been on an eBay spree lately. I love it. It is so much better than traditional shopping. I have bought gifts for myself and others on it. Pretty neat.

2005-11-25T11:33:00.000-05:00

The half marathon was actually not bad once we started running. It way too early in the morning to run, and Thanksgiving should be a day of rest. It was cold, but in the low 40s and not as cold as we expected. We saw Wes and Jennifer, Tony C, and two of Chrissy's former roommates before we even started.

The funny part was somewhere late in the first half that I was not pushing as hard as I could, but then I saw a person that was 3 feet or so tall that was running. She was the buffest little person I ever saw who had a full sized trainer with her calling splits, etc. Her whole leg maybe came up to my knee. I said, I cannot let this person beat me. So I set pace with a little person for 2-3 miles. I did pull away, but I was very impressed. I can imagine some people would make fun of me for trying to keep up with a little person, but she was probably the best little person runner you'll ever see in your life.

I finished a few minutes over 2 hours, and Chrissy finished 7 or 8 minutes ahead of me. I had only run 8 miles ever before running the half-marathon so I was pleased. Chrissy wants to do a full, but I'm not sure I would take the time to train for it. I'd just do it for completion, if I was doing it.

I'm avoiding malls and shopping today. I want to buy as many presents online as possible this year.

2005-11-14T22:01:00.000-05:00

I ran over 8 miles today, the longest I have ever run. My leg injury is pretty much gone, so that's good news. The half marathon is Thanksgiving day, which is suprisingly just 10 days away.

I have a new project where I'm travelling to a city in Georgia south of Atlanta. Quite a drive, but I'll likely only have to be on site a couple of days a week.

I was tagged by Chris, so I feel obligated to at least answer a couple of his questions... :-)

Ten years ago: Nov. 2005
I was the first one in my high school class accepted to their known school of choice. GT was the only place I applied, and I received my acceptance on the same day as my notification that they received my online application. They say if it was a thick envelope you're in, but a thin envelope you're out. I received both on the same day. :-) My class started the Ultimate Frisbee team at my school, so we were playing that a good bit. I was taking AP Computer Science, which was why I picked my major. I actually got more into school my senior year. I studied more, and cared about classes more despite all my classmates doing the opposite. I'm not sure if it was that I was more interested in my classes or if I could see the effect of college around the corner.

Five year ago: Nov. 2000
ULC 119 was a great Fall. JR, Chris, David and I all living together. What a group! We had fun parties, but mostly lots of good discussions. Memories include a large pickle jar in my fridge, and Chris loudly clearing his congestion right outside my doorway to wake me up once a week. :-) Football that season was when Kerry Watkins made "the catch" to win against Clemson. My dad was there live - amazing! Jenny and I were still dating. I was ODK President. I was skipping class left and right because of all the Friday interviews and site visits I was making. I interviewed with way too many companies. My grades were some of my lowest at Tech that term, because I didn't turn the Homework due on those Friday classes I missed. Overall life was busy as good. The Spring was my true time to relax.

One year ago:
Had a few friends up for the Tech-UGA football game which was rainy, cold and dissappointing. But we almost won. I was starting a project in Raleigh, and thus going back on the road after almost 2 years in town. I was considering a new car and a new job, neither of whic have changed in the past year. :-)

One day ago:
Was actually one of my most uninteresting days: woke up and smiled when I saw Auburn beat UGA, went to church, had a quick lunch, mowed the lawn, blew off the driveway of the never ending leaves, and prepared beef stew for dinner slow cooked in the crock pot. Always nice. Had a relaxing evening, and went to bed early because Chrissy was really exhausted from waking up really early on Saturday.

Five snacks I enjoy:

Ice cream. Just generally not fruit flavored ice cream, with the exception of sherberts and citrus based ice creams.
Peanut butter - sometimes I'll just get a big spoonful. A little protein and great taste.
Baby Carrots. I've always enjoyed them. I'm generally against personally eating "baby" anything, but moreso in animals.
Yogurt - but I'm picky. My favorite is the Kroger Lite French Apple Pie. It is actually the only yogurt I'll buy.
Raisins - they're good.

Five songs I know all the words to: I'm afraid to answer, b/c Chrissy says I forget the words to everything. I'll remember 95% of them, but then always change one word somehow. Or combine verses for songs I don't know as well.

Five things I would do with one million dollars (actually similar to Chris on this):

Buy a house in Atlanta
Buy two used but newer cars. A newer version of my current car, and a convertible for Chrissy
Take a trip. Africa and Southeast Asia for me though.
Give to church/charity
Invest in the rest, or maybe start up my own business

Five things I would never wear: Never say never - I might do it on a bet.

Fiv bad habits (perhaps you can help me - email me what I'm missing):

Procrastinating
Leaving things out around the house, rather than putting them away
Trying to do too much, rather than do a few things with high quality. (But I kind of like that sometimes.)

Five favorite toys (not a toys person):

The internet - no question. If I have an addiction in this life, it is to the internet.
Strategy games
I would like a ski boat. That might go with the million dollars.

I won't tag anyone, because I don't believe in chain letters/emails/blogs. I have to think they are started by someone who wants to feel self-important for starting some big communication much bigger than them.

2005-11-13T15:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a good day, despite the GT loss. Chrissy and I got up and ran the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta 10K race (6.2 miles). We started at Turner field at 8 am, and it was chilly. Nudge (spelling?) was there from Star 94. Chrissy doesn't like him, but I think he's funny. Buzz was there too. I had my best time ever for a 10K - 52:15 was my clock time, but it probably took me 15-25 seconds to cross the start line. That's less than an a 8:30 mile, so I was pleased. The course was from Turner field, through the ghetto, up to Crawford Long, back by my office and the Capitol, and back to Turner field.

We met up with Kent for lunch, and had a good time. Kent took us to Carter's church where they were having a huge selling day. I imagined maybe a basketball court size room of stuff being sold, but this was like the GA World Congress Center. We all bought a few books, and it was a well done event with profits going to build their Habitat House. One of my favorite charities. It is funny that the first time I went to Carter's church was without Carter.

Saw the UVA game at David and Brittney's house. The game was dissappointing, but it was good to see them.

2005-11-10T22:49:00.000-05:00

I missed my chance to be the Doc Chey's Noodle King. There was a noodle eating contest tonight, where you had to see who could eat a bowl of noodles the fastest, and I finished in third place. Only the top two went to the finals. You paid $25 to enter, and got a free shirt. The winner gets $100 gift card, and a donation to the charity of their choice. It was a very funny event. Surprisingly a girl won the event, my sister's roommate. Apparently she had already won a pie eating contest AND a bacon eating contest. She ate 59 slices of bacon. I think 5 slices of bacon would make me throw up. But I am not a big pork fan. Neither the food, nor the budgetary waste. :-)

Also, Chrissy's team won their 2nd round intramural flag football game tonight. She plays only defense, and the defense has only allowed points to be scored in one game all season. Very nice. She is the best flag puller on the team. Go Chrissy!

2005-11-06T16:49:00.000-05:00

Exchange from the work black tie event last night between me and a senior leader in my area:
<>
Me: (Changing the subject from business...) So was Frank able to make it with you tonight?
Her: (looks at me with a blank stare)
Me: (Oh no - did I forget her husband's name?)
Me: Uh - I mean, your husband, is he hear tonight?
Her: Oh... Frank is somewhere over there...

The night was fine, and got to say hi to some people I hadn't seen in a while. Other than the senior management, the few people who have been with the company longer than me really weren't there. Just that first conversation was a strange moment.

btw, GT is bowl eligible for the 9th straight years. Only 8 other teams in the country can say that, and at least Perdue will be off that list next year. A nice win over Wake Forest.

2005-10-30T15:41:00.000-05:00

Homecoming weekend is always one of my favorites. I saw so many old friends at Buzz Bash on Friday night, and arrived almost 5 hours before the game to see a lot of old friends. The game was a close defensive struggle. 10-9.

Tech is ranked #26 now, but I believe Tech is under ranked. They are one of two BCS schools with two wins or less that are not in the top 25. Us and Rutgers, and I know we have better strength of schedule then some of the other top 25 schools.

Hopefully we can beat Wake this weekend, then we will move into the top 25. We are 8 point favorites.

2005-10-23T09:21:00.000-04:00

No Miami game yesterday due to the hurricane. Chrissy studied, and then we did our long run. I ran a little over 7 again, and Chrissy ran 9. I was going to run a little longer, but my left knee was sore.

We're going down to my parents house b/c Claire is in town. Both my dad and Claire have had a birthday within a week, so we're going to go celebrate. It should be fun!

2005-10-15T20:18:00.000-04:00

We woke up and ran a small 5K this morning. It was only 20-25 people, and thus small enough where Chrissy and I led the race for the first quarter mile! :-) We were right behind the police car. It was a pretty hilly course, but she finished in 24:22 and I finished in 24:35. Just under a 8 minute mile. She was 2nd place among females, and I was 3rd among males. So we both got gift certificates and t-shirts. We made money on the race! Let the professional running career begin - ha!

Then we had a GT Club event for the Tech-Duke game. Despite the generally hostile environment to Tech, our sports bar had a manager who was a Tech fan. Pretty neat.

2005-10-09T19:12:00.000-04:00

I ran 7 miles today, the longest ever in my life. The weather was cool and great, so no worries. The half marathon that seemed somewhat unreachable becomes a little more reasonable.

I'm back up in Philly this week, but I have enjoyed the time at home. Everyone needs a break every once in a while.

2005-10-07T23:45:00.000-04:00

The NC State game was rough yesterday. If our kicker who made all 20 he kicked last year made either of his kicks last night we would have tied or won. They just had two big plays - quite sad. It was fun having Kent come with us to watch the game. It was his first live game in a few years.

Leadership Georgia Tech was today, so I took off work. I really enjoy being around interesting people who are passionate about GT. They are from all areas of the country, so they all had very different types of jobs.

Tonight we had dinner with Chrissy's aunt and uncle who were in town. He was a CPA so we were talking a little tax policy and politics, which I could talk about all night. :-)

2005-10-04T21:52:00.000-04:00

I will be home for my entire 2nd week straight. That is crazy! Working from home is great. I am doing eLearning, and catching up on many small work tasks that I have been storing up over the past months.

By the way, I am on a schedule to train for a half marathon. I never thought I would do it, but Chrissy wants me to run it with her. So we shall see, but I have run 3+ miles, 3 times a week for the past 4 weeks. My long run is 6 miles this week with 4 mile "short" runs, and I will work up a mile a week until the half marathon - Thanksgiving Day. Should be interesting.

2005-10-02T22:36:00.000-04:00

We hiked part of the AT yesterday, and slept on top of Blood Mountain last night. Randy, Lauren and Justin all went. Randy and Lauren's dog Shadow came with us, and stayed in their tent. He had a doggie backback to carry his own food and water. Funny. It was a good time. I get to stay in Athens for a few more days... will find out more tomorrow, but for the moment I'm enjoying the time. I'm going to hit the sack early. I never get great sleep when I'm in a tent overnight... :-)

2005-09-24T07:33:00.000-04:00

Went to bed way early last night, so I got up early this morning. I'm pretty excited about GT vs. VT. Some are saying this is the biggest Tech game in the past decade. Pretty exciting, and Reggie is "probable" to play "questionable" to start. I think we'll need him against #4 VT at their place. VT is a 10 point favorite, but we always play better as underdogs.

Looks like I will have a week in GA before going back on the road for business, so that should be nice.

Rita just hit Texas - Sarah and Liz - BE CAREFUL!!!

2005-09-18T23:29:00.000-04:00

I'm in Orlando today for a three day training session. GT had a nice win over UConn yesterday, despite Reggie Ball out of the game with viral meningitis. Scary. But our backup, redshirt freshman QB Taylor Bennett played fine - no interceptions, and completed about one pass in three. The no interceptions was key though. I hope Reggie is better for VT, but it seems unlikely.

Played Civilization with Kent and Carter. I took over one of Carter's cities very early in the game (he left a valuable city totally unguarded right next to my military units), and so he spent the rest of the game trying to attack me. Yawn. So Kent won, since he wasn't fighting anyone. I came in last - oh well.

So training in Orlando, then hopefully a couple of days working from home. We shall see.

2005-09-04T13:43:00.000-04:00

What a game! It has been about 20 years since I have been to Jordan-Hare stadium. I was a kid watching Tech-Auburn in one of the last times they played that century. Last night was awesome. We didn't get back until 3:45 am, but Chrissy said it was definitely worth it.

We had flashbacks to when we went up for the Clemson game last year. We sat way in the upper deck overlooking the end zone, the stadium was filled with orange colored fans cheering the Tigers. It was a night game and was televised. But this time Tech looked dominant. I think the score was closer than the game actually was, because Auburn's two touchdowns were on missed tackles on big plays.

I am so pumped, and totally in to football season. Bring on UNC!

2005-09-02T12:37:00.000-04:00

A nice day off.

The company gave me a nice day off today. A four day weekend is pretty sweet. So I have been relaxing.

My flight was on time last night for the first time in 9 weeks, but that happened because I promised to pick up one of Sarah's friends from England at the airport. So I had to wait 90 minutes in the ATL airport. But it was fine. Better than Sarah driving with the high gas prices.

I am getting excited about Tech-Auburn, and I'm catching up on all the pre-game reading. So back to that...

2005-08-25T23:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to Kent! I got to speak to him on his birthday and it seems like all is well. The big 25 - what a day! You know this means you are a quarter century old. Halfway through your twenties, and halfway to fifty. All scary thoughts.

On a sidenote, my flight was only delayed 55 minutes tonight - a relatively shorter delay of the 100% delay streak I have on my six weeks up here in Philly.

2005-08-17T22:36:00.000-04:00

I had dinner with Rob D. tonight in Philly. It has been a while since I saw him, so it was good to catch up. We went to an Italian place, and then he took me to a local ice cream place that was really good. It was a good break from eating with work folks, even though they are nice. Rob is planning a trip to Morocco by himself. Should be fun.

2005-08-11T15:34:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Carter! I'm looking forward to meeting up for your birthday. I feel like I hardly ever see you or the other guys anymore. Should be fun!

Now off to the slow, slow, Philly airport for me.

2005-07-14T15:17:00.000-04:00

The Philly airport lived up to reputation on my trip home. First the original plane could not make it for some reason, so they sent a 767. I don't mind, but there is not much luggage space. Then the loader machine for luggage ran out of gas. So they had to tow it across the airport, refuel it, and then drive it back. Then a hugely long line on the runway. So we were delayed 90 minutes plus. Yuck. Then I spent 45 minutes waiting in line to get out of the airport parking lot. So a nice welcome back to the travelling life. It is generally not that bad, but it was this time.

2005-07-13T22:29:00.000-04:00

I found out my promotion went through, so my new title is Sr. Consultant. Pretty nice. I'll find out about the $$$ implications next month, but for now it just means I will be billed at a higher rate and have more responsibilities. But I have already been performing at that level, so it really won't be different to me. Just more team lead work, and higher expectations of my skills and knowledge. No worries.

So that's good news, but they had the meeting to decide it two months ago. They just have a lot of approvals to go through before making announcements. It is a little slow for my taste, but promotions happen faster than most jobs so I can't complain too much.

Life is still good, but days are long due to a normal work day, then coming home to catch up on 50 work emails AFTER work. Lots of responses, or additional things I need to do then. So quite a full day.

2005-07-12T21:23:00.000-04:00

I finished my latest book on the plane ride up this week. John Grisham's The Rainmaker. Pretty interesting, but it didn't end as I would have expected. And that doesn't give anything away. The main part of the book is a just graduated law student against a big fraudulent insurance company. It was good reading, and you learn more about the law too, which is a plus. I know I am probably better for not being a lawyer, but I think I would probably enjoy it and maybe be good at it. It is in my blood, you know.

2005-07-11T22:45:00.000-04:00

So I'm actually not in Philly, but a ways from there. I'm kind of out in the middle of nowhere. It is a pretty small town. It's not bad for me, but for my two New York senior colleagues it is quite a shock. As we were introducing ourselves today to our client, I mentioned I flew in, and they said, "We just drove in from the city". Our client said, "Philadelphia?" They said, "Oh no, New York". Only a New Yorker would say "I came from the city", and assume that everyone else would immediately recognize that to mean New York. It made me chuckle when our client said, "there are other cities than New York." Ha. Then when I mentioned there was a bad smell of a skunk that had died, they laughed like I had told a funny joke. But a skunk smell is somewhat distinctive, and they couldn't imagine that I might know what that would smell like. One of them was scared while we were driving through the woods at night because of a movie where woods folk kidnapped people driving through. Too many laughs.

Went out for a nice steak dinner with the coworkers - very good food, and they are both nice.

No external internet access at work, so I can only do all email, blogging, and everything else I need to do in the hotel. Quite a pain. It's strange being away after being in town since late February - you get used to being at home. Chrissy and I would see each other every day. We've been lucky to have me in town for most summers while she is off school. I'd rather be in town when I can see her now, than in the fall when she'll be busy with classes again.

2005-07-07T19:13:00.000-04:00

I bought my plane ticket for Philly today, and on the website where I book they now list the on-time percentage, and it is quite depressing. My early flight going is 90-100% on time, but of course the return trip is only 60-69% on time. Yuck. The Philly airport was always really bad. Let's just say on the pat downs the security screeners lived up to the reputation, the "City of Brotherly Love". Whoa! I promise I have no metal - just take your hand off my thigh. Not only that but the lines were really long, and then the planes being on time was an exception. Hopefully it will be better now since it is three years later. How time flies.

2005-07-06T14:30:00.000-04:00

Since blogger now has picture attachements I thought I would include one of my shots from our vacation to Peru last month.

This is from Machu Picchu, and is in the beautiful Andes mountains. Cusco is the former Incan capital, and is now a major city in Peru. Machu pichu is a four hour train ride away. We did not hike the Inca trail, but we did hike up the tall peak behind the ruins you see in the picture.

There were some amazing views. It was quite a trip.

2005-07-04T22:47:00.000-04:00

Stars and Stripes Forever

I set my cell phone to wake up me to the great American classic, and it really set a good mood for the day, despite being at 5:45am on a Holiday. We went to the Peachtree Road Race where there are nine groups. I was in group 2, (the 20,000s) Chrissy was in group 1 (the 10,000s), Chrissy's mom was in group 3, and Sarah who made it back yesterday was in group 6. My mom, and Chrissy's dad were in group 9.

You have to have a qualifying time to get in group 1 or 2, and Chrissy had a 10K time of 50:30 that got her in the 1B group. She actually got a chip to track her actual time, and a cool looking number. Chrissy ended up finishing a minute faster than me at 54:55, making her Peachtree PR. I started 3.5 minutes after her, and finished in my Peachtree and 10K PR at 55:55. I know I could do faster than that, so I will probably try to qualify for a chip next year too. I need to have a time under 55 for 1B, or 50 minutes for 1A. We shall see...

After the race I saw my sister Sarah, one of Chrissy's friends from school, one of my high school friends, several GT friends, etc. You meet a wide variety of your Atlanta friends, which is always fun. Everyone was impressed with Chrissy and my low numbers, which is funny since we are really not that fast/athletic.

We got back and tried to have some family time, but Claire is panicking about packing since she leaves for KC on Wednesday. I told her she didn't plan enough time to be home, since she had to do so much before starting work some 10 days later. So now our family is having to deal with her running around helping her in every way. Her priorities are funny to me. She hasn't gone through her clothes yet, but before she leaves in 48 hours she wants to file an insurance claim for her camera, put pictures in an album, and get a new CD player installed in her car. Oh well...

It was sprinkling that night, but we were able to watch the Roswell fireworks. I was quite impressed with the show. It went a long time, and there were some cool fireworks!

All in all a good day. I'm thankful for the freedom we have in this country, and hope we continue fighting to ensure we can continue to live this way.

2005-07-02T18:42:00.000-04:00

Carter and Kent came over for a cookout and we had a good time. We played Crocquet - Chrissy won the first game, I won the 2nd. Carter hit Chrissy's ball across the street into the neighbor's yard. Very nice.

Also according to this calculator, I am going to live to be 84. Chrissy is living to be 93.

Also, here is the updated map of where I have visited in the world. Having visited Russia makes my world look much more red. I feel like I've seen more than 8% of the world.

create your own visited country map

Here are the States visited in the US... I've seen all the South, and I have missed most of the Northwest.

create your own personalized map of the USA

Our friend Anna is coming in town for a wedding tonight, so we'll get to meet up with her. That should be fun.

2005-07-01T12:30:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe July is already here! It seems I just got back from South America! I have the day off today. My company has started giving an extra day for the 4th of July and Labor day. That is pretty nice, but I think traffic was so bad on those days that most people left really early anyways. So smart productivity decision.

Chrissy and I already ran 3.5 miles, and when we got back in the house it felt amazing cool. And it was in the upper 70s in the house. We definitely started too late with the temp and humidity. Chrissy was right on that one. Right now a 30% chance of rain in Atlanta for the Peachtree. We shall see...

I am interested to see how this Supreme Court retirement of O'Connor will pan out. Hopefully Bush is bold in his choice.

2005-06-30T14:08:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday JR!!! What an old man...

The family minus Sarah went out for Mexican last night. Claire is getting ready for her new job in the heartland. She's doing Sales in the Healthcare field, and I think it is a good fit for her. She'll most of this year in training, and then go out into the field. She will get a good base salary plus commission, so I think she has the potential to make a lot. Good for her. Without risk, you have little chance for reward. I hope she'll enjoy it. With the travel, and meeting lots of people I think she will.

Sarah will be getting back on Sunday, but will probably wuss out of ANOTHER Peacthree race. Of the three that I've run she has had numbers for all three, but only ran one. She had Bronchitis the other two times. She is not feeling well again this time, but we shall see.

This will be our fourth Peachtree. Too bad Sarah and JR can't make it...

2005-06-29T16:50:00.000-04:00

Ikea opened in Atlanta today in Atlantic Station. There were huge lines outside for the opening, and I believe Chrissy went. There are lots of "cheap furniture" shots on an AJC Ikea discussion board if you are interested. I know there are some Ikea fanatics out there. Perhaps I'll have to stop by.

Jarrett Jack went number 22 in the NBA draft, lower than he was hoping. I think he was going to stay in college if he wasn't in the top 20. I still wish he had stayed, and will be curious to see how our young team does this year.

Chrissy and I had a fun evening last night at Kent's new appartment. Carter came over too. We had some food, played a game of Settlers and watched a movie. It was a good night.

2005-06-28T17:39:00.000-04:00

A couple of movies I have seen lately...

Philadelphia - I missed this one the first time, but it was pretty good. It is interesting to see how much society has changed perceptions on AIDS in 15 years. Tom Hanks is a great actor.

The Incredibles - I liked this one a lot. The runtime was long for an animated movie, but I enjoyed it. I liked how the whole family used their super powers together. It is great for a nice light, fluffy, feel good film.

I am currently reading The Rainmaker by John Grisham. I am going through all the books on our bookshelf that strike me. This is my first John Grisham - I never read them despite their popularity. Probably because I heard enough lawyer stuff from my dad.

Off to see Kent's new appartment. I haven't seen Kent or Carter in a while, so that should be good!

2005-06-27T17:30:00.000-04:00

Seal last night exceeded my very low expecations. I think a concert at Chastain with nice weather will always make for a nice night. He put on a good show, and I recognized three or four of the songs. I didn't recognize the first 5 or so songs, but my chair was angled so I could see a guy dancing hysterically about 10 rows behind us. He knew all the lyrics, and was dancing really enthusiasticly. What made it particularly funny, is that asided from the dancing and lip syncing he looked like a normal guy. He didn't look like an over the top, artistic dancer.

Anyway - Chrissy and I met up with Ben (from work) and his friend at Little Azio's for dinner in Midtown across from the Vortex. It was Pride weekend, so we got to see the rainbow balloons and many gay couples. Chrissy said the two girls should sit together and the the two guys so we could fit in with the crowd. Little Azio's is great for a quick bite. The food was good like the regular Azio's, but you order at the counter and get your food quicker. Try the pasta Telefono with chicken if you get a chance. It is my spicy favorite.

It was good for Chrissy to meet Ben as they had both heard a bunch about each other. The offical purpose of the evening was to take our client and his wife to dinner. Apparently it was his birthday. I know Chrissy would be unhappy if I took her to even a fun business dinner for her birthday, but it didn't bother our client's wife. My client and his wife only knew one song all night, but I think they had a fun time.

Chastain - two thumbs up.

2005-06-25T23:27:00.000-04:00

We went to the laser show at Stone Mountain last night with our friends Tom and Megan. For those who haven't been, it is the same show as last year. Chrissy and I also ran five miles around Stone Mountain this morning to get ready for the Peachtree. Only 9 days left! It is too bad that Sarah and JR are backing out...

We went back to Roswell tonight, to enjoy some time with the family. We are going down to Chastain tomorrow night to see Seal. That should be interesting...

2005-06-18T21:57:00.000-04:00

So far it has been a busy but good weekend. After grabbing a quick dinner at Chrissy's new favorite, Quizno's, we met up with Randy and Lauren. They invited us up to their parents mountain cabin on Friday night, which is up in North GA. We were all four already going that way because we are doing a rafting trip on the Ocoee river in Tenn. The cabin was built in the 30s, and is rustic but homey. There are three bedrooms, and one bathroom. Lauren's parents were there, so we talked and then played a really long game of Settlers before bed.

Saturday was fun, but of the 50 young tech alumni there I only knew only 7 people counting Chrissy, Randy and Lauren. One person I knew from High School. This was my third time on the Ocoee, and it was pretty good. Our guide was 21, and from UT. He seemed pretty nice, and it was funny hearing about the river guide culture. All talking about which parties were happening where, who liked who, etc. If a guide fell out of his raft, he had to buy beer for the other guides. Funny. It was like being back in school.

We all had a good time, and I didn't even get burned due to some suncreen. I have a serious case of farmer's tan already. It was a good time, and we stopped at Cracker Barrell on the way back, which is always good. It's just hard choosing what to eat there.

All in all, a relaxing day. A good break from the busy week.

2005-06-16T21:26:00.000-04:00

Chrissy and I went and saw a taping of the Blue Collar Comedy tour. If you have no idea what that is, think a redneck version of Saturday Night Live. They were doing tapings at the Alliance Theatre, with free tickets. It was taped in Athens last season, but we didn't hear about getting tickets. We just saw this Alliance opportunity in the AJC...

Also, I had lunch yesterday at a great place called Carver's Country Kitchen on Marietta St. It is maybe a mile past the King Plow Shopping Center on the left. A small little house like building with good eats. It is a meat and veggie kind of place. Sweat tea, good desserts and an eclectic crowd. Only open for lunch, fyi. In that area let me also recommend The Real Chow Baby, which is kind of like a Mongolian grill. It's about two blocks from Tacqueria del Sol. It is all you can eat, and you pick out a bunch of different meats and veggies, put it in a bowl with spices and sauces and cook it all together. Both of these places are good recommendations.

Other random note. We got GT vs Auburn tickets (at Auburn). That's pretty cool, and should be a great game. I'm pumped.

2005-06-15T22:32:00.000-04:00

The funeral was good. It was generally a positive attitude, because my grandfather had several illnesses. He had told my mom right before heading to South America that he was "ready to go". I saw some family members I hadn't seen in 15 years (from Alaska), and saw some kids I had never seen.

One funny story, we were all at my grandad's house and the parents told the little kids how they used to play in the attic and thought there were monsters up there. They were talking about monsters, so I came up and scared them. They loved it, so I chased them all over the house. They ran into the living room and said, "The monster is coming!!!" My family asked, "Who is the monster?" And the kids said, "It is one of the daddies." I walked in and everyone laughed and looked at Chrissy. It was too much baby talk for her - one of my neighbors was asking when we were going to have a baby this week too. In the next five years, most likely, but not this year.

2005-06-12T22:01:00.000-04:00

I am starting to get whatever Chrissy had, and Chrissy is getting better. I am trying Coldeaze, which is homeopathic. Everyone in her family hates homeopathic cures in general, but I think there are some with merits.

We sent out our South America pictures today, so if you haven't gotten them already, email me.

I got my haircut today, and the guy who has done my hair the past two times was gone. He apparently moved back to Atlanta. When I requested him last time I think he thought he was interested. He started rubbing my shoulders, and I realized he was probably gay. I had taken off my wedding ring to mow the lawn earlier that day, so I mentioned my wife at the next convienant point in conversation. I still would have gotten him to cut my hair again, as he does a good job, but if kept trying the shoulder rub I'd have to pass.

I wanted to run today, but didn't feel like it. It had rained briefly so the street was slick. Since I was also starting to feel a little sick I ended up passing. But I need to get ready for the Peachtree. It is only three weeks away!