Town Branch Bourbon

Local brew from Lexington, Kentucky, this one is unlikely to be on anyone’s try to find list.  The is made by Alltech’s Lexington Distilling Company.  Alltech started out as a micro brewery and has expanded into distilling with the growth of craft distilling and the Bourbon Trail.  It is a very good quality blend.  It is smooth and mild. Most of the stream that town branch is named after was buried underground 75 years ago and flows under a street in downtown Lexington. There have been discussions of uncovering at least part of it in recent years. While distribution is growing, this one is hard to find outside of Kentucky.  It is moderately priced and well worth the try when you find it.  

Angels Envy

This is an incredibly smooth bourbon.  Distilled in Kentucky by Lincoln Henderson at Louisville Spirits Group in Bardstown, Angels Envy is aged like all bourbon in charred new oak barrels, and then finished with a further six months in Port Wine casts.  The second aging, or double-barrelling adds a smoothness and light sweetness to this extraordinary bourbon.  Drink it straight. Limited production, labeled by batch number and bottle number.   

Moving Around

One of the things that attracted me to DC area was access to great transit.  I have options.  I can drive to the office, it is about 10 miles each way, in what can be terrible traffic, I seldom drive. How seldom, 3-4 times in 5 1/2 years.  I ride metro rail, the subway most of the time.  It is about a 12 minutes walk from my condo to the station, tag into the system and sit back and relax.  Metro has it's moments when it does not work, but it works well 95% of the time.  There are buses that run from the station, or the main road on the other side of the condo complex (US-1.)  I seldom use the buses, I have never commuted to work by bus, but I could.  A mile an a half from home, I can take a passenger train into the city.  Amtrak, or Virginia Railway Express both stop at King Street in Alexandria.  VRE stops at a station in the south side of DC, I can take Bike-Share from there. About 100 days last year, I rode my bike to the office.  I have rode a few times this spring, and look forward to more stable weather so I can get back into riding 2-3 days a week. The DC area has a great bike sharing system know as Capital Bikeshare.  I use bikeshare for local trips in town. The river is an underutilized transit option. There is a river taxi from Old Town Alexandria to National Harbor, just across the river in Maryland.  In the summer there has long been a river taxi from Old Town Alexandria to Georgetown. Starting this spring there is river taxi service to West Potomac Park, near the FDR memorial and the bookends.  I need to try this route, it would connect me to bikeshare, back to a metro station and home. I have my hair cut more often then I need to fill my car with gas.   

Good Stuff

 

Bourbon made in New York? 

Yes, and it is quite good.  It has a nice full flavor, is nicely smooth, slightly sweet.  It is a bit expensive, but aren't you worth it?  

Stressful Week

It has been a stressful week, it feels like I have been juggling chainsaws.  

A few observations:  

• It does no good to try to hold someone accountable for things that they have no control over. 
• When all else fails, threaten. 
• I shouldn't respond to emails late in the day when I am tired and grumpy, I SHOUT WHEN I DO. 
• To the lady trying to reason with the six year old, it doesn't work.
• When you say, "in all honesty" it makes wonder if everything else you have said is a lie. 
• Work expands to fill the time available. 
• I need a vacation.  Soon! 

Not a good bike morning

Lycra Bike Short Season

Spring bike riding season is here, well at least until it is 31 degrees tomorrow night.  I have ridden about 60 miles since Friday afternoon.  A great opportunity to see my fellow riders emerging from a long cold winter - many a little pudgy from the long cold winter.  Lycra bike shorts are the best invention for comfort on a bike.  A missive to my fellow bike riders, to be effective bike short must be worn like a kilt, with nothing under them.  Wearing cotton underwear under lycra bike shorts is a sure fire way to be assure that you will be sore in places you don’t want to be sore.  Lycra bike shorts have flat seams, padding that wicks away moisture and provides scientifically designed resilience where you need it the most.  Adding a layer of tighty-whities or cotton boxer briefs creates an irritation layer between you and the comfort you paid for. Get over the fact that someone might figure out your gender while wearing lycra shorts, the facial hair and tattoos are usually a give away. So far as the ick factor of wearing bike shorts commando, own more than one pair and do your laundry.    

Cherry Blossom Season

The cherry Blossoms are late this year, the bloom is at the peak this weekend.  Nice bike ride around the festival this morning. 

12 on 12

This is my third 12 on 12. I picked up the idea from Eric at http://erikrubright.com/blog/ . Sort of a day in the life, 12 pictures on the 12th of the month. 

This is the first time for me that the 12th, has fallen on a weekend.  No subway pictures this month.

Out to run my Saturday errands. 

Grocery shopping was first on the list, Fresh Market opened near me recently. I like the store, they have a smaller selection, with a focus on quality. 

I have started baking bread almost every weekend. It takes a while, but I enjoy it and I can control what is in it. 

Pretty spring day, with pretty spring things. 

Out for a bike ride along the river.

Low tide on the river

Spring is in bloom

A spring plant sale, if I had a back yard, or front yard, or sunny terrace.

Restocking complete

A new phone battery, my battery life has nosedived this past couple of weeks.

No rubbish, a bottle of the good stuff

Bottled nearby, too bad it is not made nearby

Telemarketer Hell

Shortly after I arrived home today, the phone rang.  I punched the speaker phone button on my desk.  “This is the credit card service center calling to remind you of the final opportunity to lower the interest rate on your outstanding credit card balance, please consider this your final notice.” Oh yea, really, I don’t have any credit card balances.  I pressed one to speak to a representative.  First I was caller 19, then 13, then 9 and then a woman picked up and demanded “is your outstanding credit card balance $2,000 or more?”  I responded, “what bank of mine do you represent?” She shot back, “do you owe $2,000 or more on your credit cards.”  I responded, I am going to ask the questions, which credit card issuer of MINE to you represent, if you can’t answer that question you are in violation of the Federal Do Not Call law, my friends at the FTC would love to fine you. Silence, then a dial tone. I hope I ruined her day, I just hope she doesn’t recognize my voice the next time her call center is tracking one of my lost bags for an airline.

I have mentioned my mother before. She has been largely immobile for the past year. She has difficulty remembering details, confuses things frequently, is delusional and still likes answering the phone.  I was visiting last spring and the phone rang and she answered.  I am listening to one end of the conversation, but it was obvious it was someone calling offering to to refinance the house.

Her side of the call:

• We don’t have a mortgage, you are 30 years too late
• Well, a million dollars would come in handy - I could pay off the kids houses and grand kids student loans
• It is worth a couple-hundred thousand
• No that wouldn't be worth it, if you can’t get me a million I’m not interested
• Hey it was your idea, you called me, I didn't call you.

Yes, she barely knows who she is, she can’t tell you what she did yesterday and has delightful delusions, but she still knows how to ruin the day of a telemarketer.    

Who knows what

When we blog, we put our thoughts and pictures out for the world to see.  And someone looks, people you know and people you don't.  Take a look at the stats for your bog, how many people do you know in Russia or China?  No big surprise, someone there is looking at every word and every picture, but who?  Undoubtedly some of it is governments. Following the news, it becomes clear that our government tracks everything that it public and more, why shouldn't we think that others are doing the same.  When I turn on my GPS enabled phone, my phone company knows within 50 feet or so, where my phone is on the face of the earth.  I like doing searches and getting results for Starbucks, directing me to the nearest store and not store one in Seattle (unless I happen to be in the Pikes Place Market.)  Who else knows where my phone is? Anyone who can figure out how to access the phone data, and I don't expect that it is as protected as my tax data.  Even if you turn the GPS off on your phone, the phone company at a minimum knows what tower(s) you are closest to, that is how cell phone work.  I like apps on my phone and I know that some apps capture things like location and transmit them to the app creator.  I know that my office keeps copies off all of my work emails for 5 years, even the one that says, "I am running late, LOVE YOU!" The warning on my office computer each morning, says that someone may be monitoring what I look at on my office computer. Once in five years, I have heard of someone being fired for improper use of the office network.  For my personal email I use Gmail, Google acknowledges that they use scanning software to target advertising based on content transmitted through their system.  Hey I get a lot of service from them, they have to pay for it somehow, and they pay for it by watching what I do and targeting advertising based on it.  I'd sooner see advertising for cruises, then family vacations, so scan and target.  It has come out that NSA has the capacity to record and store 30 days of phone conversations in some countries,  no big surprise.  How many of us knew that the NSA existed until they hit the news. The joke is that NSA stands for No Such Agency.  Few people admit to working there.  And there are even more obscure agencies, one that has 200 workers who show up each day at a 2,000 square foot warehouse supposedly filled with used office furniture.  Who is listening, governments and business, what are they watching and listening to, everything they can get their eyes or ears on. 

Selfie

There has been a lot of discussion of selfies recently.  My phone has a reversible camera, makes it easy. 

The Easiest Part of the Day

The trip to the Dentist was the easiest part of the day.  Scrape and polish went well and nothing major needs to be done.  The last of the old amalgam fillings is still solid as a rock, the only thing that could be done does not need to be done.  And the obligatory offer to "fix my bite."  I am able to bite anything I try and orthodontia is not my idea of fun. How old do I have to be before they quit offering?  Next time I think I will say, stick you finger in my mouth, when she does I will bite her and ask if there is anything wrong.  

The Dentist pointed out a genetic anomaly, my teeth calcify between a repair the the nerve gets smaller. He said only a small fraction of the population do this.  

I am chairing a national conference.  We just finished the review of workshop proposals, I created the schedule and emailed all of the lucky speakers.  Three sessions need to be moved to different time slots. Not bad for the volume of proposals and sessions that I have handled.  If one person will cooperate, I will get the time slots swaps done tomorrow.  I am in software training all day Thursday, there is about an hour of it that applies to what I do, the other 7 hours will teach me more then I ever needed or wanted to know (kind of like asking me a question.)  The office is replacing an early 90's database program with something a little more modern.  It should make my life a little easier.  

I have three major projects going on, and a couple of new ones due any minute,  May will be fun, 11,000 air miles and 11 nights in hotels.  

Saturday Morning Express

57 degrees and light rain here this morning.  I couple from Spain sat next to me on the subway looking at the schedule for the Cherry Blossom Festival and asking where the cherry blossoms are.  They are still hiding from winter.  The tops of the trees in the sunniest locations are just starting to show a tiny bit of color. Last March we had 12 days with highs above 70, this year we have had 1 or 2.  A few days of warm days of sunshine and the trees will explode into bloom.  

I have bread dough rising, time to head off to run a few errands.  

Memory Hat

I have a few collections, penguins, sheep, pennies, and hat pins.  It started innocently enough in the gift shop at Westminster Abbey looking for easy souvenirs, the hat pins were one-pound each and I bought a dozen. That was in 1990.  When I was done handing them out I had a couple left and stuck them on a hat.  The next time I traveled, I picked up a couple more from places I visited.  24  years and a couple of hats later there are over 120 pins on the hat, mementos of places I have been and things that I have done.  There are  a few I that I don't remember where they came from.  But most of them trigger memories and stories. If you want to hear about my journeys, ask me about the pins on my hat.  

More of this

Five Flying Experiences

1. Helicopter flight with a crazed pilot.  I was in Florida a few year’s ago visiting family  (I have a of stories that start that way) and in the corner of a nearby parking lot was a sign for helicopter tours.  I had never ridden in one, so I stopped and asked.  The deal was a 20 minute tour for two for like $100.  But I was alone.  The pilot / salesman suggested that I hang around for a while and see if another single showed up.  I did, none did, and after half an hour or so, I said, what the hey, it’s only $50 difference, I chartered the thing for a private tour.  Then the fun began.  The pilot was a local police officer, flying charters to pay for a helicopter of his own.  He was use to flying low and fast chasing teenagers in sports cars after drug deals gone wrong.  The flight started simply enough, with an absolutely magical assent.  The thing just sort of levitated upwards.  I have done a lot of flying in small aircraft, but this was the most amazing sensation. We turned north along the river, the pilot asked where I wanted to go, and I explained that I had spent a lot of hours in light aircraft in the area (my father was a private pilot.)  We turned and headed south, lower and faster, I was pointing out landmarks. He figured out that I was very comfortable with what Jimmy Buffet would describe as tree top flying.  Watching the tops of the trees blow under the downdraft from the rotors, we made a low and fast approach and landed, and the fastest 30 minutes of flying you will ever see came to an end.  The best $100 I had spent in a long time.
2. Next on the list has to be a float plane ride.  I have done these a couple of times.  The first time was with Rusts Flying Service, from Anchorage, to Denali.  The plane was older than I am, with a huge radial engine.  As we were boarding the pilot asked for someone above 200 pounds who would volunteer to set up front.  One of the few times that being fat paid off.  The first thing that struck me was 100 miles or so north of Anchorage.  There are houses on the shores of lakes and banks of rivers and then you notice what is not there.  No roads, no power lines.  The air and the water are the way in and out. Amazing amount of nothing.  We flew up the canyon on the side of the mountain, with sheer stone cliffs on both sides and a glacier at the bottom, turned around and flew back out.  We then went around the side of the mountain and landed on a glacial melt lake.  The landing was so smooth, I had to look down to see that we were on the water - the pilot looked over and quipped “caught you looking!”  
3. I think I mentioned that my father was a private pilot.  The local airport in Michigan had a new airplane in that my father wanted to fly.  It was fast, variable pitch propellor and retractable landing gear.  To satisfy the insurance companies, he had to do a “check ride” with a flight instructor to verify that he knew how everything worked.  I hopped in the back seat and off we went.  The instructor and my father put the plane and themselves through the paces.  There was one thing left on the insurance check list and that was to demonstrate how to manually put the landing gear down, if the power system failed.  The two of them bungled around for five minutes trying to figure out the procedure.  They finally found the crank, then couldn’t figure out which direction to turn it.  The flight instructor had me dig out the owners manual, so he could look up the answer. Major life lesson, sometimes you just need to look up the answer.   
4. About the time I finished High School, Arthur Dunn the owner of one of the local airports in Florida finished restoring a Piper J-3 Cub.  The classic high wing, single engine, tandem seating plane.  The design predated WWII, and thousands of them were built.  This one was almost as old Arthur, and he might have had Wilbur Wright as a flight instructor.  My father had learned to fly in a J-3, in the 1950’s.  Arthur handed dad the keys and away we went.  The first surprise was the passenger sits in the front with the pilot behind them.  The take-off speed is about 40 miles per hour, and we started to climb and the door fell open.  The door split horizontally in the middle, half of it folded up against the wing and the other half folded down below the door opening.  The bottom half has failed to latch and fallen open. My father started laughing and I thought I might have to fly while he regained his composure. We survived.  
5. In 1991, Bush Sr bombed Baghdad on a Wednesday night and on Friday night I flew to Amsterdam.  It was a KLM 747 from Atlanta to Amsterdam, and almost new plane with about 25 passengers.  There were more flight crew on the plane then passengers. They moved us all to business class and asked us which row we would like as our own.  We taxied out and the pilot came announced that it was rush hour in Atlanta, and it would be an hour or so before we took off  The cabin crew served dinner on the ground in Atlanta.  We took off and an hour or so later they served dinner again.  They were expecting a couple-hundred passengers and had provisions on board for all of them.  We landed in Amsterdam in such heavy fog, that the airport sent out an escort car to show is the way to the terminal.  It was an amazing flight.  

Weekend Rambling

Monday morning commute

It was a fun and fast week.  We made it home last Sunday from Bloggerpallooza before the snow moved in.  Monday the office was officially closed, but I had a major project I needed to move off my desk, so I laced up my boots and went in anyway.  Of the 250 staff in our DC office, about 10 people made it in on Monday.  The project took all day, but was an astonishing success.  I had a major conference call on Thursday that I expected to be nasty, it was difficult, but more pleasant than calls on the same issue over the past five years.  I have been preparing the participants for difficult decisions over the past three months, and it appears to have paid off.  One more call this week, and then deal with the complaints about the final cut on the project and that project will be moving into the easier phase.

Yesterday we went out to Mt Vernon for lunch (President Washington's home.)  I had not been to the Mt Vernon Inn.  It was interesting, the food was modern tidewater.  On the way back there was a group around a camera on a tripod with a huge telephoto lens on the side of the George Washington Parkway.  I looked in the direction of the lens, and there was a full grown Bald Eagle in the top of a tree.  Nice. 

This morning I dropped J off at the airport, to head back to teach the rest of the semester.  It is always kind of strange coming home to an empty house, when he goes back to Lexington.  No "Hi Honey I'm Home", for a few weeks.  Google Video chat really helps, we see one another everyday, from 530 miles away. 

The forecast  for this week calls for it to be cold again for a couple of days, with the possibility of a few snow flurries, this does seem to the be the winter that will not end.  The daffodils have started blooming, the trees are picking up color in the branches and buds.  The Cherry Blossom Festival opened this weekend with not a bloom in sight, last year the bloom was nearly finished when the festival opened.  Nature blooms, when nature is ready to bloom. Kind of like people. 

Travel's Travel Plans

May will be a whirlwind of travel.  The end of April first of May I will be in Portland, Oregon.  I have never been there, and I am very much looking forward to it.  I'll be at a Hilton downtown.  I have conference duties, but I always find a way to squeeze out a few hours of fun.  The middle of the May I will be in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Flying out on a Monday evening and home mid day on Friday. The meetings are at a JW Marriott with wonderful dessert and mountain views.  I have meetings Tuesday afternoon, all day on Wednesday, Thursday morning and evening.  I went to the first grade in Phoenix, I this is my third trip back.  I am really looking forward to a few days in the dessert.  The following week we are going to Chicago for a few days. We will be at a Hyatt between Michigan Avenue and the Lake.  Three round trips by air, eleven hotel nights, May will be a busy month. Travel likes to travel!

Travel To-Do List

I’ve had an interesting journey, and I look forward to many more travels.  One day I will do a list of some of the unique experiences I have enjoyed in my travels.  But today, I am going to try a To-Do list, a list of things I want to do while I am still traveling this world.

1. Fly in a blimp.  I have flown in a lot of aircraft, blimps fascinate me.
2. Ride in a hot-air balloon. The drift must be almost magical, if I can overcome the lack of control.
3. Live in a foreign country for 2-3 months.  I can’t think of a better way to understand another culture than to spend weeks as a local. This one will likely have to wait until I don’t need to go to office everyday.  
4. Take a long distance, overnight train trip.  I have ridden from DC to Boston, but that is a day trip, I want to watch the sun set and rise over the backyards of America.
5. Cross the Atlantic by ship.  My grandmother did it a couple of times back in the days of coal and steam.  I hate overnight flights, going east bound by ship would avoid the sleepless night.
6. Visit the last five states.  I have yet to visit Wisconsin, Oregon (I’ll hit this one in May) Idaho, Wyoming and Hawaii.
7. Cross the equator.  There is not a lot south of the equator on my “must see list” but crossing the equator is a travel milestone.
8. Ride in a business jet.  I passed up an opportunity to ride in a Lear loaded with boat parts 35 years ago from Florida to Arizona and back, few regrets - that is one.

More of this

At the beach, at Bloggerpalooza

We have just returned from Bloggerpalooza 2014 at Lewes Delaware.  What fun, about 20 bloggers from across the country gathered, talked, laughed, ate, drank,  and talked some more.  We put people with names, identities and faces. What a fun and bright bunch of people. Meeting in person helps to build relationships and friendships, we need to do this every year. 

Lewes, pronounced Louis, is in lower slower Delaware, just at the opening to Delaware bay. The town is charming, the hotel, the Inn at Canal Square was very comfortable.  

For the second year in a row, Ron, from Retired in Delaware did a stellar job of organizing the gathering. http://retiredindelaware.blogspot.com/.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for doing a great job of planning and organizing a great time for all.  

I look forward to reading even more bloggs, to seeing some of the bloggers over the course of the year, and to seeing you all again next year. 

Blogger Land

We have arrived

Gathering a few things

Getting ready to pack for the blogger gathering.  See you Saturday!

12 on 12

This is my second 12 on 12, 12 photos, sort of a day in the life.  

I am inspired for this by Eric at http://erikrubright.com/blog/

Toes, in this case my toes.  Why, a text message this evening, my only Uncle is about to have one amputated, complications from an infection and under controlled diabetes. This is his second hospital stay in a month.  Not good. 

An poster campaign in the DC subway on colon cancer screening, totally unrelated to the reader.

I could do a whole 12 on the Metro, I love this poster. 

On my way to have lunch with a friend at Union Station

Maryland Avenue entrance to Union Station in DC.  A great old station saved from the wrecking ball in the 1970's and now a vibrant train station. 

Another great metro poster

Down into the lobby of my office building

Enough searching and you could figure out what building my office is in.  My office is on the other side of the building, the alley side.

DC in the morning sun over the Potomac

National Airport this morning from the subway.  The subway is the best way to get in and out of DC from National Airport

The sun was out last week at this hour.

My home desk this morning, much cleaner than last month.  I had to do something when I was snowed one day last week, 

Commentary on Comments

Comments are a way of verifying that someone is reading. They are social contact.  I think all bloggers look for content.  I read a dozen or so blogs a day and regularly comment on 3 or 4. Hence I am a lurker on more then I am a social interactor.  I think the 5 or 10 to 1 ratio of readers to comments would hold true.  The heavier the traffic, likely the more lurkers. 

Comment can have issues.  I leave my blog open to all, and occasionally have to delete a nutter with a message unrelated to the blog.  Some review and approve comments.  Some get into arguments with commentors (and sometimes delete their blog in a huff.) Sometimes the software makes posting comments difficult.  I had one recently that didn't post, I waited and recommented, the next morning three comments appeared.  Oh well. 

I blog because I want to.  I love comments as they verify that someone is reading.  I appreciate the social interaction.  I will keep rambling, please keep commenting. 

Two Wheels

I love riding bikes, I long have.  I started riding before the age of 10 and have owned one or more bikes ever since.  I have not always ridden, there have been a couple of long spells of not riding, from my late teens into my late 20’s I didn’t ride, and from my late 30’s into my early 50’s, I didn’t ride.  

In my late 20’s I got fit, very fit.  I started riding as part of a workout routine. On my 30th birthday, I competed in my first sprint series triathlon, on a decent bike.  A few months later I bought a very-very fast racing bike. I had difficulty buying it, I was shopping and falling in love with bikes that were way past my needs and borderline beyond my abilities. A couple of shops tried hard to sell me something more in keeping with my age and ability.  I finally found the right bike and the right shop.  For several years after buying it I rode  two - three thousand miles a year.  My riding skills developed and under dry conditions, on good roads, I could put it anyplace I wanted to go, at 30 miles per hour.  I did two seasons of sprint series triathlons, culminating with completing the Coca-Cola National Spring Championship race in Boca Raton Florida. I still own it, I take it out once in a while to remind myself how fun and how fast it can be.  

I still own my first full sized bike, a red Schwinn Typhoon, that was a birthday present when I was about 12.  It was one of the last years that Schwinn made steel bikes in Chicago.

About three years ago, DC rolled out a bike sharing system.  For a $75 annual fee, I can pick up a bike from any parking station and drop it off at any station, as long as the ride is less than 30 minutes.  I have ridden bike share bikes over 2,000 miles.  

A couple of years ago, I bought a new bike. A street hybrid.  It a lite frame, sits upright, has decent components, and moderately narrow tires.  It is not nearly as fast as the racing bike, but it is much more stable.  It will ride on a variety of surfaces, you can go off onto the grass with it and easily maintain control.  It is my commuter bike, I ride it to and from the office when the weather is decent. I have also taken it out for longer distance rides, it is comfortable for two or three hours in the saddle. It is not the fastest, I average about 12 miles per hour on it.  I have taken it in the car on vacation a couple of times. I rode it about 1,800 miles last year.

This winter I bought another bike, I tiny little folding bike.  It is on 20 inch wheels, I hadn’t ridden 20 inch wheels in 40 years.  It is nimble.  It has a 7 speed drive-train, and easily folds up.  The DC subway system prohibits bikes entering the system during peak morning and afternoon travel times, except for folding bikes, folding bikes can enter the system at anytime.

So, yes I own four bikes. Two get ridden on a regular basis, the old Schwinn, I keep for nostalgia - it is almost an antique and I am the original owner.  It is a parade float, waiting for a parade.  The racing bike I ride once in a while to remind me what it is like to be fast and alive.  The folding bike and the street hybrid are my daily rides.  

It has been a long cold winter, it looks like Tuesday will be warm enough to ride to the office for the first time in a couple of months.  I will write about my commuting route one day.   

Ramblings

The man in the picture is Robert Ruben, you may have his signature in your wallet, he was Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration.  He was a speaker at a forum I attended this week. 

Daylight savings time arrives this weekend. I hate the transition.  It is just getting to the point that the sun is up when I get up in the morning, and we are going to screw with the clocks so I will be up in the dark again.  

Spring has got to be here soon, I can feel it, but only through the snow and ice left on the ground. The forecast for Tuesday looks good enough to ride the bike to the office.  I haven’t ridden to the office since December.  I took the new folding bike out last Sunday (before this week’s snow storm hit) I have used Bike-Share a couple of times this week.  I am so ready to get back on two wheels.    

I confirmed the commitment to a major new project this week.  I am writing a chapter for a graduate school text book.  The commitment is 25 pages in a particular format, by early summer.  It fulfills both personal and professional goals - it will be a chunk of work.  

A week from now and my sweet bear will be here and we will be headed out to the blogger gathering a week from Saturday.  

It was a busy week in the office.  I started on a major policy proposal, continued development on a national conference and I am pushing all of my normal work forward.  I like being busy, but the 12 hour days kick my a$$.  

Commute

It has been a long cold winter, I haven't ridden the bike to work since early December.  DC just made the top of the list for gridlock.  I am so glad I don't drive to work.  

My typical morning commute at this time of the year, is a 10 minute walk to the subway station, wait in the cold for 5-7 minutes for the train, ride into the City, change lines, wait 5-7 minutes for another train, and three stops in the right direction and I come up an escalator right in front of the office door.  If I catch the trains without the waits, I can do it in 45 minutes, on a bad day, it can take an hour each way, on a really bad day it can take 1.5 hours each way.  On average I can ride it on the bike in just under an hour each way, plus time for a shower and changing clothes at the office.  

This afternoon, Metro (the subway system) was having a really - really bad day on one of the lines but not as bad of day as one of the customers.  The signs said, "Customer Struck by a Train."  That is Metro public relations for speak for someone has jumped in front of a train.  Nine our ten times it is a man who has jumped. Because of the design of the system, the jump almost always happens at the entrance to a station. If the jumper is in the middle of the line, the trains have to single track around the site, until the "extraction" and investigation are complete. Single tracking slows train volume by at least half, causing massive delays, especially at rush hour. Only once have I heard of a jumper at the end of the line (I live 10 minutes from the end of the Yellow line.) That guy really wanted to avoid inconveniencing others,  he jumped on a Saturday afternoon at the end of the line.  

No matter how bad of day I had, I had a better day then the guy who jumped.

I had two sisters in my office one day talking about their mother, one of them was really going on about what a terrible person mom had been.  The other sister stopped her in her tracks by saying, "she was better then that women in Texas who drowned all of her kids in the bathtub." It is all a matter of perspective. 

Ten Things to do on a Snow Day

It snowed today and the office was closed.  So what are my top ten options for a snow day?

1. Sleep late, if I know the evening before that it it is a snow day, or go back to bed in the morning when I find out the office is closed. 
2. Cook, I love to make slow cooked soups and stews and a snow day is the perfect opportunity to indulge. 
3. Bake, I made french bread today. 
4. Read for fun. 
5. Deep cleaning, my home desk hasn't been so dust free and clutter free in a year. 
6. Watch meaningless TV.
7. Take an afternoon nap. 
8. Blog
9. Update bookmarks on my computer, a few more blogs have gone silent, look for a few new ones to add to the list. 
10. Relax and enjoy the unexpected random day of personal time.