Nothing has really been going on in our lives so I haven't had the occasion to write much of anything, but here is the big picture view. Sarah has turned in the rough draft of her thesis so she will spend the next 3 months or so finishing it. Finished is relative though as she would like to see about getting it published and that will probably be a project that lasts another year or two. Simultaneously, she is applying for jobs, and teaching two classes. She has gotten a couple of nibbles from a few schools. We have a broad idea of where we will be in the fall, but things probably won't be finalized probably until March or April.
I, on the other hand have been much less busy. I just put in my 40 hours/week and spend the rest of the time watching Ken Burns documentaries. I'm ready for winter to wear off, but of late we have been home bound to find shelter from the cold.
The third member of our family, Millie is doing well. Today I put her boots and sweater on and we went for a long walk. One of the other dog owners commented that she had too many clothes on, but I said she was from Florida, and this seemed to pacify the passerby.
More later...
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Monday, January 09, 2006
Birthday
I had a nice day yesterday. We got up early and went to church, and then came home and opened presents. There were slim pickings, but what else would you expect with a birthday 2 weeks after Christmas. I am pretty excited about my gift however. Sarah and the in-laws got me a fly fishing expedition which I am really excited about. One of my best friends Alvis, will drive up from West Virginia to attend. It is a full day of fly fishing and I understand that we are supposed to eat what we catch for lunch on a fire by the stream. Pennsylvania supposedly has some of the best fly fishing in the country. I think that present will have to wait until May for its redemption as that is when the fishing peaks.
For lunch we went for a drive with some of our best Pennsylvania friends to a burger joint about 45 minutes outside of town. They literally have the biggest hamburgers in the United States. Their 6 pound hamburger made them famous, but now they have a 15 pound hamburger which costs $40. Anyone who can finish the 6 pound burger gets their name on a wall. I think the last person to do it was a girl from New Jersey. Rumor has it she was just over a hundred pounds. I had a one pound hamburger, which was the biggest burger I have ever eaten. I can't even imagine how a person could eat 5 more of what I ate.
Since we were in that neck of the woods and it was a day of extremes we decided to go to the biggest gun shop in Pennsylvania. I am not a big hunter, but people in central PA are. This place, called Grice's Gun Shop, had 12,000 guns. That is a lot of guns.
We came back home and skipped dinner...a one pound hamburger will really stick with you a while.
For lunch we went for a drive with some of our best Pennsylvania friends to a burger joint about 45 minutes outside of town. They literally have the biggest hamburgers in the United States. Their 6 pound hamburger made them famous, but now they have a 15 pound hamburger which costs $40. Anyone who can finish the 6 pound burger gets their name on a wall. I think the last person to do it was a girl from New Jersey. Rumor has it she was just over a hundred pounds. I had a one pound hamburger, which was the biggest burger I have ever eaten. I can't even imagine how a person could eat 5 more of what I ate.
Since we were in that neck of the woods and it was a day of extremes we decided to go to the biggest gun shop in Pennsylvania. I am not a big hunter, but people in central PA are. This place, called Grice's Gun Shop, had 12,000 guns. That is a lot of guns.
We came back home and skipped dinner...a one pound hamburger will really stick with you a while.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Mark and Sarah in VA
This picture is a little old, but we thought we'd post it anyway. It is at Joel's property in Virginia.
Motorcycle
I don't know if anyone is wondering, but I got a motorcycle. If you don't care you should skip this post.
So one of the guys I work with gave me a motorcycle. This summer Sarah and I took a class where they teach you to ride, and as we were going through the class my office mate told me about an old bike that has been sitting around his house for years. He said I would be doing him a favor if I took it from him, so I obliged. I also helped him roof his house, but that is a separate favor. Anyway, it took us about 2 1/2 hours but we finally got it over to our house. The bike does not currently run so I could not drive it over, so the two of us had to lift it into the back of his truck. Ramps would have been useful, but there were no ramps in sight. This process was further complicated by the fact that the rear wheel is frozen in place. So we finally got it over here and I am looking forward to it warming up enough for me to see if I can get it started. I have found a couple of good websites which I expect will guide me through the process. One of the websites tells me that a bike that has been sitting for a while and was not properly prepared to sit will often freeze up. Apparently the piston rings will rust to the cylinder. If I find this to be the case then I will probably sell what parts I can on Ebay and give the rest to the garage next door. So, whenever it warms up I will probably see if I can get it to turn over. I really just want to work on it and see if it will run. The last thing I want to do is ride a 1979 Kawasaki that I "restored". If nothing else maybe I will learn a little more about engines and have fun taking something apart that it doesn't matter if I can get back together.
So one of the guys I work with gave me a motorcycle. This summer Sarah and I took a class where they teach you to ride, and as we were going through the class my office mate told me about an old bike that has been sitting around his house for years. He said I would be doing him a favor if I took it from him, so I obliged. I also helped him roof his house, but that is a separate favor. Anyway, it took us about 2 1/2 hours but we finally got it over to our house. The bike does not currently run so I could not drive it over, so the two of us had to lift it into the back of his truck. Ramps would have been useful, but there were no ramps in sight. This process was further complicated by the fact that the rear wheel is frozen in place. So we finally got it over here and I am looking forward to it warming up enough for me to see if I can get it started. I have found a couple of good websites which I expect will guide me through the process. One of the websites tells me that a bike that has been sitting for a while and was not properly prepared to sit will often freeze up. Apparently the piston rings will rust to the cylinder. If I find this to be the case then I will probably sell what parts I can on Ebay and give the rest to the garage next door. So, whenever it warms up I will probably see if I can get it to turn over. I really just want to work on it and see if it will run. The last thing I want to do is ride a 1979 Kawasaki that I "restored". If nothing else maybe I will learn a little more about engines and have fun taking something apart that it doesn't matter if I can get back together.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
2005 in review
I wanted to add a few things to the previous post, but Mark said I had to make my own, so here goes... Looking back at 2005, we accomplished a few things:
1. We have learned to accept winter, I think. I get to wear scarves (fun!) and Mark discovered cross country skiing. We still would like to be somewhere warmer, but once I resigned myself to being cold, I found that I noticed it a lot less.
2. I conceived of and drafted a book (kind of), which would feel like more of a major accomplishment if there wasn't so much more work to do on it...
3. While 2004 might have been the year of the home improvement projects, in 2005 we took DIY to a whole new level and learned
a. how to install a car stereo, ourselves
b. how to quarter and cook a whole chicken
c. how to groom Millie ourselves
As Mark likes to say, "I can do anything, but not to code." He's not clear on if he can't or won't, though.
4. We got motivated to make a blog, which you are reading right now.
1. We have learned to accept winter, I think. I get to wear scarves (fun!) and Mark discovered cross country skiing. We still would like to be somewhere warmer, but once I resigned myself to being cold, I found that I noticed it a lot less.
2. I conceived of and drafted a book (kind of), which would feel like more of a major accomplishment if there wasn't so much more work to do on it...
3. While 2004 might have been the year of the home improvement projects, in 2005 we took DIY to a whole new level and learned
a. how to install a car stereo, ourselves
b. how to quarter and cook a whole chicken
c. how to groom Millie ourselves
As Mark likes to say, "I can do anything, but not to code." He's not clear on if he can't or won't, though.
4. We got motivated to make a blog, which you are reading right now.
Wild and Crazy New Years
So, given that I will soon turn the big two seven and the sun is setting on my days of being a NYC socialite I thought I would ring in the new year one last time at Times Square. I mean what better place to be than in a crowd of millions of people standing in the cold 3 hours past my bed time. So that didn't happen, but Sarah and I did have a crazy day in central PA New Years eve started off with breakfast at a little diner outside of town. The food was really cheap, but there was an excess of little annoying signs like "Please keep your feet on the floor" "One free refill on the above drinks" which included coffee "Extra Jam 10c" and "No credit cards or checks". Sarah and I didn't talk about much, we were busy eves dropping on the booth behind Sarah. This guy talked for a solid 45 minutes without taking a breath about bears, and what made it even more impressive is that he did this 45 minute soliliquy while eating his breakfast.
After breakfast we came back to our cold home. Old houses have character, but they didn't use insulation then which is a bummer for us.
Then Sarah applied for some jobs and I provided moral support by watching TV. We now get the Speed channel and the Golf channel. I do not find this very useful since our Volvo is slow and I don't golf. Even if I had a fast car there is no place to golf here. The snow covers the course 14 months a year.
This took us to noon....12 more hours of 2005. So...We decided to spend the waning hours of 2005 at what else but Wal Mart. So, we made our list and off we went to the most hated store in all of America. I got a coke at the snack bar they were having a 25 cent sale. I think that is as close to the lottery as I will ever get.
I am not sure what happened after that, but the next thing I new it was 5:00 and there was only 7 more hours of 2005. In addition to 7 more hours of 2005 there was also only 1 more hour until Office Depot closed so we rushed across town to buy a 200 disc CD case because we were hit with the urge to organize and alphabetize our CD's with an urgency only paralled to that of a commuter with no restroom in sight. So we came back and organized our CD's, and I must say it was all too pleasurable.
5 more hours of 2005. So we watched a crime drama show and who knows what else and went to bed at 9. I suppose that is par for the course. I think I woke up around midnight when I heard some fireworks going on, but I was nesteled in the warmest place in the house. We got some flannel sheets. I wish someone would have told me about how warm those are two winters ago.
After breakfast we came back to our cold home. Old houses have character, but they didn't use insulation then which is a bummer for us.
Then Sarah applied for some jobs and I provided moral support by watching TV. We now get the Speed channel and the Golf channel. I do not find this very useful since our Volvo is slow and I don't golf. Even if I had a fast car there is no place to golf here. The snow covers the course 14 months a year.
This took us to noon....12 more hours of 2005. So...We decided to spend the waning hours of 2005 at what else but Wal Mart. So, we made our list and off we went to the most hated store in all of America. I got a coke at the snack bar they were having a 25 cent sale. I think that is as close to the lottery as I will ever get.
I am not sure what happened after that, but the next thing I new it was 5:00 and there was only 7 more hours of 2005. In addition to 7 more hours of 2005 there was also only 1 more hour until Office Depot closed so we rushed across town to buy a 200 disc CD case because we were hit with the urge to organize and alphabetize our CD's with an urgency only paralled to that of a commuter with no restroom in sight. So we came back and organized our CD's, and I must say it was all too pleasurable.
5 more hours of 2005. So we watched a crime drama show and who knows what else and went to bed at 9. I suppose that is par for the course. I think I woke up around midnight when I heard some fireworks going on, but I was nesteled in the warmest place in the house. We got some flannel sheets. I wish someone would have told me about how warm those are two winters ago.
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