Post Xmas and Pre New Years

so what am I doing....working! and after work the continuing project of getting the condo ready for the locusts that are descending tomorrow.
Going to try one of the nicer local restaurants for there New Years Eve dinner (La Petite) and then probably either Brocks or the Colonial Tavern for some live music.

Other things of minor interest and value. Saw the folks for Xmas (first time in over a year) and that was enjoyable. Piddling around with a Bass Guitar for something else to do...also amusing.
Caught up with a number of old friends from both high school and college via the Facebook tool.
Running through my finances (spent part of yesterday chasing down where all of my money was spent/wasted last year.....)

HOpe all of you are ready for another fun new year.

The Closer to Xmas post

hola all of you xmas lurkers,

today was a go redskins day...even though they are not going to the playoffs.
upcoming potential fun.... bonnie, brad and kim have decided that they wish to come to fredericksburg for new years.............now how to entertain them (or not).
took steve and carole out to old towne steak and seafood for dinner one night....i had not been there in at least 4 years and they had never been there...the prime rib was as good as i remembered it.

yum............more later

Mid December

Hail All,

Not much of news note here at the moment. Workwise we are just finishing off some end of the year requests. Fun wise I went to an Xmas party at the local pub....fun but a bit damaging. Played an old Avalon Hill game "Victory in the Pacific" on Sunday also for fun.....as the Japanese I was unsuccessful in delaying the Allies more than truly occurred...so I lost the game..but twas a fun one to play. Similar to the old "War at Sea" (if Ben sees this and remembers that game).

I have recently received emails from Andrew J., Jeff S., and Bonnie B. recently so they are at least alive and breathing.

Looks like Sailing is back on the menu Boyz

Hola all

Looks like sailing could be coming back in March of '09. I was asked the other day if I wished to join a group for sailing a catamarran in the Bahamas for a week in March of next year. Yes, the anticipatory drool has started. Biggest hurdle I see is the transportation......it looks like it takes 2-3 flights to get there with the airline costs equal to my chunk of the sailboat charter price. Motivation to work methinks.

and yes, this post title is a slight modification from a quote from a movie I recently rewatched......

The Almost Thanksgiving post

Hola,

Happy Early Bird day. Just figured I would do this now while at work versus Thursday when I will be at work. Hope all eat much, sleep lots and generally have a decent week. And also lets hope the Cowboys lose on Thursday............

Other random things.....my Mom's birthday is Friday (I will not state her age...but she was born in 1936), my evil cold is almost gone that I seemed to have gotten while attending my cousin's wedding in Florida, and if anyone has any suggestions...I am looking for amusing ideas for an Xmas gift for my niece (first grade age I think) that is suitably loud and obnoxious (at least to drive her mom and grandparents batty (or would that be battier) while she uses it indoors).

Upcoming events....I have 2 nights "free" lodging in Atlantic City which expires at the end of next month....I wonder how much that "free" lodging will cost me to use in terms of gambling losses if I go. (but there is a good Sushi restaurant on the pier there).

Catch you after bird day.

100th Post

Hola all,

I have now managed to bore you all with 100 posts of my ramblings........

Upcoming fun, going to the greater Orlando FL region for my cousin Walter's wedding this weekend. Should be amusing and it has been years since I have seen any of the Floridians in the flesh, hopefully the travel is not too painful.

I survived the 5 mile or so hike with hills on Nov. 1 (which is impressive since I was out until around 1AM the night before being amused by various halloween outfits at the bars I visited). Joints were sore afterwards...but after a good night of sleep...I was as pain free as I get on Sunday. So maybe more walking/hiking is in the future.

Happy Halloween

Hola all of you Ghouls and Ghosts and sundry other Creatures of the Night.

Today's highlight....my mom gets to take her granddaughter trick or treating (and while Meghan is going to wear a costume my mom is shirking her duties and not going to wear one......)

Tomorrow's highlight....going to test the knees/feet and such and do a 5 mile hike in the Prince William Forest Park.

I hope all of you have a good one scarying anyone that comes to your doorstep tonight.

Late October

Hola All,

I am back in Fredericksburg after spending a pleasant few days visiting friends in Rhode Island (and playing games such as Axis & Allies, BattleLore and Spades). Helped my friend with a chore one day, that reminded me of my youth, moving and stacking wood. They have a wood stove used for supplemental house heating....so I helped him move and stack a cord of wood. What fun.

I missed the boat show :( but with luck next spring I shall go and drool over the new and neat things to see and not buy.

Redskins are still churning along with more wins than losses.

What is new out there in lurker land? (Feel free to comment)

Hail II the Redskins

Hola all,

Was an enjoyable game on Sunday with the Redskins beating the Eagles in Philly.

Also of enjoyment was spending all of Saturday, with Paul K. and family, at the MD Renn Faire. Lots of good music, amusing food items, things to see and beer. The weather was perfect.

Upcoming this weekend is the Annapolis Sailboat show which I might attend.

Otherwise just plugging along at work.

Hail to the Redskins

Oh yes, the Redskins beat the Cowboys on Sunday! Next victim..the Eagles.

On other news notes.....hopefully the weather will cooperate and allow us to get to the MD Renn faire this Saturday Oct. 4th for fun...and the Annapolis boat show is the following weekend I believe.

Joints are still improving, and I hope to get out and try a 5 mile walk Wed or Thurs depending upon the weather.

Workwise..the paper is still being pushed.

Long weekend getaway

Hello Lurkers,

This weekend (plus a couple of days) found me in Atlantic City for the first time in years. Twas a fun time gambling (aka donating cash to casinos) and sampling some restaurants. The amusing kick was that our hotel bills were "comped" so we only paid~17$ dollars for two nights of lodging.

Then on Sunday, I relocated to the West Chester PA region in support of a B-day party for Sarah Marsho. Ben lined up a limo and a nice reservation at the Continental in Philadelphia. This was a tapas setup with decent food both in quality and selection...as well as some amusing drinks. The most humorous drink was the Buzz Aldrin which Ben drank...it was some type of vodka or brandy...in a glass which had Tang lining the edge. Unusualy but tasty. After dinner, a few more bars were hit....resulting in my getting to bed after 3 AM. (latest night I can remember in years).

Now it is back in Fredericksburg for a quiet week to hopefully include getting some work done (must pay off the gambling debt....)

Survived Buffet

Hello Lurkers,

Survived a 4 day weekend filled with guests, Arkham Horror and a Jimmy Buffet concert. Twas fun....and most importantly...I successfully climbed up and down the 107 steps at Nissan Pavillion and I can still walk today.

Now time to work to pay it all off.

Return from VA beach

Hail Anyone bored enough to read this,

I returned from visiting the Skarbek's at VA beach yesterday. Twas pleasant visit. I saw their latest spawn (Allison (hoping I remembered the name correctly)). Was work out by their 3 year old. Ate crabs and some fantastic fresh blackened tuna. But more importantly I learned something of great value. Jim's wife Carole is a closet gamer. I brought down some games and was met with immediate suspicion.....however upon actually trying a tile laying game (Carcassone)..she became addicted and wanted to keep playing.....

August 13th

Since the last post, I have managed two hour plus long walks (with hiking boots and knee support) through the town of Fredericksburg. Knees and feet seem to be holding up. I am hoping to get out on the bike today, but I am not sure that I shall make it before the possible evening rain shower (yes, I am actually busy with work this week).


I have seen an interesting movie called The Grand which I recommend. It was done in a mockumentary style with respect to Texas Hold'em Poker. Rather amusing. Somewhat reminded me of the Christopher Guest movies.


More later, when I need a break from patent scribbling.

Woo Hoo aka the return of mobility and perhaps exercise

Hail Lurkers and any other whom have the misfortune of stumbling across this site,

As I have mentioned to some, I have been altering my diet and supplements taken for about the last month....and it appears to be working. Noticeable joint improvement in terms of pain reduction is occuring. Of mild news note, I have walked up some stairs successfully (going back down is a different challenge). Yesterday I did the first bit of real exercise since April....went 5-6 miles on the bike and today..the knees still feel good. On the down side, for some currently unknown reason, one of my feet is sore enough that walking on it is unpleasant today. Maybe I should amputate it.

Other things of fun recently, been doing a bit of boardgaming this week. One of my gamer friends has more availability than normal (his wife is out of town for a few days) so some enjoyable boardgaming has occured the last two evenings.

Hope all is well in your worlds.

The pain of driving

Hello Lurkers,

This weekend I went to WestChester PA to visit some friends and the drive was amazingly painful. What is normally a 3 1/4 hour drive took over 6 hours going up and a tad over 4 hours coming home. I timed it to avoid rush hour. Going up a tractor trailer crash basically shut down I-95 and coming home it was mainly volume delays on I-95 south of DC as well asa 4-5 mile backup approaching the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Fortunately it was enjoyable to see Fran, Bonnie, Marsho's including 3 spawns and Sailing John w/spawn. Plus the usual gaming. Added bonus was going out for Sushi on Friday in WestChester.

In other ramblings, July was a lazy work month, so now I am trying to get motivated to get some work performed in August (bills to pay, and vacations to save up for!)

Hot and Humid....Summer in Virginia

Nothing like waking up this morning and hearing that today will be a warm muggy 94, with
tomorrow possibly reaching 100 (with a decent humidity level).

On the work front, things are progressing decently (for whatever that is worth to the lurking readers).

Upcoming fun.
Going out for Sushi locally on Wednesday to a restaurant I have not tried (it is discount sushi day)
Going up to the Marsho's this weekend to hang out.

Time is Flying (again)

Hail,

Just realized that it is mid-July and I have not made an entry this month. I suspect that means that time is passing by too quickly again and that nothing of value has occurred.

Upcoming fun

spending Wed--Sat at a Workshop in Arlington, VA to hopefully improve my patent prosecution skills. Amazing to me how the price for this 4 day workshop is 3k. Hopefully worth the investment. With luck I will see a couple of the people located in that general vicinity while I am up there.

Only other thing of interest...last week (after a bit of a gout attack from too much purine related fun on the 4th of July) I pulled out my old books on gout, diets, blood pH and general joint stuff. From such interesting reading I did a test diet (minimal purine intake..aka no meat and minimal which should have been zero alcohol) for 5 days...and while by day 5 my brain was going to goo.....general joint pain and inflamation was way down.

Ongoing tinkering with the diet shall return after the Workshop to see if I can find a diet I am willing to live with that can slowly improve the joint issue. I suspect that the answer is yes...but we shall see.

A Fun Weekend

Hail All,

Just wrapped up an enjoyable laid back weekend here in warm Fredericksburg.

Friday, I was over at my brother's house and we watched Will Ferrell's latest...Semi-Pro. It started a bit slow, but the humor picked up as the movie went along. Just beware of his singing.....This was followed by a round of Wii bowling by the adults, followed by a round of Wii bowling with the nephews vs each other and Carole. Michael cleaned their clocks. I was home by 9:30.

Saturday, started with a few hours of book reading, followed by lunch at the Tavern, which was followed by some work in the Office. The fun of the day was going to a cook out.....only problem was it was still 98 degrees in his backyard at 6PM. Still, I was fed and the company was good....home by 10 and bed at a real hour was also enjoyable. Caught up with the folks on the phone for the latest up north....their fun? up there has been my sister getting ill/having bad med reactions and going to the ER on Thursday (I think). I hear that she is improving and will hopefully go home around Wednesday this week.

Sunday, was a gaming day. We have a group of about 4 of us locally that try to get together every so often to play boardgames. This day two of us broke out a copy of War of the Ring (and yes it is based upon the Tolkien world). Twas a pleasant 5 hour struggle (including setup) which ended with me dominating Middle Earth as Sauron. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/9609

Hope all also had a decent weekend.

What new and Exciting things are occuring In Fburg

Hello Lurkers,

Many new things have occurred in Fburg in the past few days. Of course I probably do not know what too many of them are, but here are a few.

I was reminded why I like new buildings versus old ones for my living quarters. I helped Steve paint his replacement windows for 4 hours on Saturday. It was not an amazingly fun experience, and the best part is that we only finished two whole windows in 4 hours (and he has another 10-20 to go)

I was out at a bar on Friday evening to listen to a band that did not show up. The locals there decided to have alot of fun anyway and while it was an amusing evening the thing that had me chuckling the most were when two people I know wandered down from the upstairs room to show people the next step up from finger painting. Non-sober people were writing amusing phrases on each other's bellies with lipstick. Fun to see but I am glad I avoided that fate.

On Saturday I also assisted my sister in law in setting up her first blog site and the linking of pictures to it......so more ramblings for my father to keep track of.

And today, that harsh taskmaster of a boss had me make the call for an inventor meeting...I had to blow the brick dust off of my phone. This might start a trend of me actually using my office phone.....

For those of us overweight....beware if you are considering becoming a Japanese Citizen

New methods for population weight control.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/world/asia/13fat.html?no_interstitial

I wonder how well that would go over here, in many ways not a bad idea.
Or perhaps we should just tax overweight people more? Use the theory that overweight people are future health risks and will take more than their fair share of health costs......and then let Congress spend the money now, instead of saving it for these potential future health risks......
The more I ramble on about this idea, the more I like it. Imagine the future presidential debate on Fat Tax '08. Height/Weight graphs with dollar figures.....

May Needed Another Entry

Hail All,

Nothing of value to report. Instead of vacationing this week in Lake Tahoe as planned....I am still in VA recovering from some respiratory infection. So you will have to wait for some future currently unscheduled vacation to receive wild and exciting tales of a Ron on vacation. (or at least pictures and information about random occurances)

May needed an entry

Hail Lurkers,

as per the recent norm..not much new going on here (at least until I go on vacation at the end of the Month).

Thursday and rainy in Fredericksburg and I am just killing a few minutes before I go out for lunch.

More of these deeply thought entries another day.

Secretary's Day Lunch

Hail

Since we have a pleasant, competent secretary, and it being Secretary's day (or if I was being politically correct Administrative Professional's Day) we took T out to lunch at La Petite Auberge. One of my favorite restaurants in town (usually I do dinner there when I go), lunch was as good as expected. Fairly busy there today, which I guess is not suprising.

The MEAL

I was rushed by my co-workers so I let them assist me in my choice. I had the beef ravioli in a parmesan cream sauce with Prosciuto. Twas very tasty!
Other people had the Mahi Mahi or Vegetarian Platter with a side of Salmon or what I had. Since there was fair bit of silence upon receiving our meals, I assume that all enjoyed them as much as I.
If you ever need a good place to eat that is very consistent, you will not go wrong with La Petite Auberge.

Lunch at the Colonial Tavern...Fredericksburg, VA

Hail Whomever may be reading this,

Today we wandered across the street to the Colonial Tavern. I enjoy this place for the lunches and it occasionally doubles as a post work watering hole. Good place for draft beer with outside seating available.
Today's lunch was the NC style pulled pork barbeque with a side salad (the 4 cheese vinagrette is excellent). Yum.
Based on how often I wander over here to eat....expect descriptions of other menu items in the future.

Friday's lunch...J Brian's

Hello Potentially Hungry Lurkers,

Todays lunch was at J Brian's. This establishment has a nice, smokey bar in one section, and a separate dining area with porch. Lunch today was eaten outside on the small, but nice porch. I sampled the Chicken Quesadilla. A non-greasy tortilla folded with chicken and cheeses, which I then covered with salsa, guacamole and some sour cream. Yummy, however, next time I would do this and add black beans.

Lunch in Fredericksburg VA - Eileen's Bakery

Hello Lurkers,

Since I have not scribbled too much recently, I think I am going to detail the various lunch spots in Fredericksburg as we sample them in the upcoming future. Overall, we have at least 10 spots within walking distance of the office that get visited for lunch with some regularity. Anything from the walk in and get two chilidogs with other stuff on them to deli like places to some places that are a bit more upscale. Also there are a couple of places that are good enough that we occassionally drive to them (fortunately Steve's latest hire drives to the office).

For today's lunch Remus and I went to Eileen's Bakery. Eileen's does breakfast sandwiches, pastries, loaves of bread, some specialty lunch sandwiches, and a build your own sandwich option. For today I ordered a make your own Roast Beef with cheddar cheese, red onion and mustard on dark whole wheat bread. Just the right size, and the quality was decent. Remus went with their premade Italian sandwich and a loaf of their bread to take home. He also enjoyed his lunch. We also beat the rush which was nice. As a plus, the food is reasonably priced, and both indoor and outdoor seating are options. Overall, this was good enough that a repeat will occur.

Since I am thinking about it, there are two places that have been sampled this year, were rather hideous, that will never get revisited by me. The New Orleans Cafe (Soup ok, both sandwiches were bad enough that they could not be finished) and the Virginia BBQ on route 1 by Fall Hill Ave......ribs edible, everthing else sampled by me went to the trash can (NC style BBQ, baked beans and hush puppies). Only creature I would consider giving this stuff to is Solomon.

April Fools Day

Happy April Fools Day Lurkers!

Nothing new to report....been rather dull recently. Just some work and lots of slug like activities.

Next two weekends will change that.....guests. Which leads to the question of what to do.

If the weather is amenable, a 6-7 mile hike is planned for this Saturday (or as Steve calls them "Death Marches") in the Prince William Forest Park.
The following weekend, is gaming weekend. Where Ben and Francis wander down and we do the amazingly social activity called a LAN party. Nothing like linking multiple machines together to destroy aliens, monsters and each other for many hours. Sleep becomes optional.

Success

Woo Hoo

Some success....6 lawn seats for Monday September 1st, at Nissan Pavillion.

It is Time to try again....

Yes indeed....Jimmy Buffett tickets go on sail this Friday at 10am......I wonder how many minutes it will take for the shows to sell out this year. Single shows can sell out in as few as 3 minutes.....or as long as 18 minutes in recent years.

We shall see if my luck comes back...I have missed at least his show last year.

Happy Leap Day

Hail all,

I hope all of you are enjoying your "extra" day this year!
I am attempting to work on a patent revision....of course I took a few days off earlier this week to go to Rhode Island and visit some friends.

Otherwise nothing of value to post.....hopefully I will stumble across something more interesting to write about or link here for your viewing pleasure in the near future.
(what I really need to do is go on some interesting travel type vacation.....)

Blue Man Group Road Show

Hail

Not too much new going on other than the concert attended last night. I met FW in Fairfax for dinner during the high winds of Sunday afternoon. We then wandered over to the Patriot Center to catch the Blue Man Group Road Show. This was an amusing show with lots of lights, percussion and some singing. While similar to the shows I have seen in Boston and Las Vegas, it was different enough that I felt I was seeing something new. It was enjoyable enough (except the seating) that I would recommend it to anyone that likes music, some skits and a light show. Also it had some humorous elements to it.
They also had a warm up act performed by a dude named Michael Relm (thanks FW) He did an interesting show with music and video that were controlled by equipment at his fingertips. He tended to repeat scenes and sounds in a coordinated way that was very different to see and also sometimes funny. FW wishes he had thought of doing this years ago (if the technology had been there to support it...and Micheal is asian also).
The biggest challenge was hobbling up and down the stairs at this venue with swollen knee and no hand rails to pull my gimp self up.

The other thing to mention was the theme was "How to become a Megastar"...vary clever way they tied this theme into a concert. Long Live Floppie!
http://www.howtobeamegastar.com/floppie/

Woo Hoo...A good Superbowl Game

Hail Lurkers,

Twas an excellent Superbowl Game.
Particularly since the Patriots lost!

Sailing Trip in my email

Hail all,

below is the text of my latest letter from Sunsail practially begging me to go sailing....

with luck I will be able to attach/embed the pictures here as well

n o w ' s t h e t i m e t o p l a n y o u r s p r i n g e s c a p e







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Survived

Hail all,

I survived the assault of numerous small children and was able to watch some football. However, neither of the teams I was cheering for won....


On a different note, here is a neat link to a Mt. Everest Panorama.

http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen2/full22.html

Football Party Day

Hola All,

Yes, the Championship Football day party has been resurrected. Today's attendees are Wong Family, Kellermann (sp? you would think I would remember how to spell my friend's last name after 30 years) Family, Brother and his wife and Elder Skarbeck and family. Tis a scary thing...4 small children will be allowed and hopefully contained in my bachelor pad which as you all can imagine was not designed/decorated with small children in mind. Perhaps this is a good way to introduce them to football.

Menu
8 pounds of various types of meat (all cooked)
whatever everyone else brings

Go Green Bay and go San Diego

What else of value. Tis a nice balmy day in the 20s here......excellent football (viewing weather).

Mid January

Hola,

Nothing of value to report. Just recovering from an evil cold.
Otherwise considering prepping for visitors next weekend for some football watching.
Getting back into the work swing so I can get back into the vacation swing in a couple of months.

Welcome to 2008

Hello Lurkers,

I hope everyone has had a fun Xmas/New Year experience. My apologies to you devoted readers for not having posted in a while. Unfortunately, I have been under the weather since around Xmas eve and just now getting back to normal (whatever that means for me).

So not much of recent past interest to type about, just the thoughts about what to do in 2008.

Potential Goals
1. Exercise 3+ days a week
2. Lose Weight!
3. Reduce visiting the bar between my home and office after work.
4. Do a 50 mile bike ride along the paths/trails around DC before April ends.
5. Sail a flotilla trip in the Bahamas with Sunsail.
6. Finally take a cat sailing class.
7. Work more hours to pay for more vacations.
8. Learn how to make chainmail from Paul K. prior to the next Ren Faire.

If anyone has any constructive and/or amusing ideas for Ron in 2008 feel free to post them!
Also, if any one knows of a decent way to track such goals either on this blog or through linking some other page to this please educate me. Nothing like publically tracking goals to assist in implementation.