love found

went to dc for a couple days and hit up bens chili bowl. while there we saw a pbs documentary on ferrets and it was love at first sight. everything ive always wanted in a woman; wit, charm, creative spirit and a serious problem with loving rodents.





on second thought maybe cutting funding for the arts isnt such a bad idea

new orleans for a day

i was flown to new orleans for a NOAA meeting and to my surprise the office had a great view of the city and refinished superdome. the city has changed alot since the storm.

beignet and cafe latte from cafe du monde in french quarter. beignets are square fried doughnuts covered with powdered sugar. Funny thing cafe du monde the most famous cafe in new orleans in run entirely by vietnamese women

pho dac biet, vietnamese noodle soup with beef tripe from pho tau bay. Southern Louisiana has large Vietnamese populations often as shrimpers and boatmen to the dismay of "locals" but results in great authentic cuisine

return to the scene of the crime

i worked for the student conservation association (SCA) in 2000 with the florida trail association. we were cutting trail that would eventually connect with the appalachian trail (AT) and extend the trail from key west, fl to cape gaspe in canada to form the international AT. we built a bridge in the panhandle near pensacola and i had time off from oil work so took a hike on our old trail and visited the bridge, which was in great shape. its really cool to return to places from your past to remind you of the different chapters of your life and where you are now.

buffalo for thanksgiving

I spent the holiday in buffalo ny with my mamas folks. On the flight in we swung over niagara falls


I ate my fill of fried turkey and all the buffalo standards ie wings and beef on weck; roast beef on a kaiser roll brushed with butter and sprinkled with caraway seeds and salt and a generous dollop of horseradish (if you don't sneeze you haven't added enough).

Went out on the town acouple nights and must say that buffalo is an enjoyable but hard drinking city. I loved the old european-esque feeling of neighborhood bars and daily regulars. People slowly scuffling along all bundled up but friendly talkative barkeeps like at founding fathers where the proprietor asks american history questions before serving beers.


Went to my first bills game v Pittsburgh. The tailgaters and crowd put the panthers to shame. We got front row seats in the endzone. The game was great with overtime and a last second field goal. Steve johnson had a chance to win on a completely routine catch in our corner of the endzone, 20 yards from us!!!! But of course dropped the ball he later went on to blame god for his drop... Nice.

Funny pictures from buffalo

My least favorite cousin



Snow blower label

fall update and plea for landscaping help

gulf coast oil

i got a job working in the gulf representing NOAA monitoring submerged oil. i work with a crew with representatives from bp and the state fish and wildlife. i work 7 days a week and for 10-12hrs/day on a 45ft fishing trawler. we deploy sentinels with oil absorbing "pom poms," think middle school cheerleading, we lay a 10 ft chain on the bottom of the sea with two ropes on each side attached to a buoy (like a U). all along these sentinels are the "pom poms" which we allow to "soak" for a day and then retrieve them. after they are hauled on board we look at them under UV blacklight (flashbacks of my freshman dorm room) and look for a distinct orange glow that indicates the strain of bp oil.

frank (fla fish and wildlife), andy (BP), brandi (deckhand), ed (BP), mike (NOAA)

RIP zermatt

zermatt, my st bernard came with the cabin i bought in 2008. he had a tough life as he was one of 20+ dogs the previous owner kept at the house and had little human contact. he quickly became my sidekick and traveled with me wherever i went.
a few weeks ago he was being especially lethargic and when we got home he walked off into the woods and never came home.
he always misbehaved, was always stubborn and usually grumpy, but he was my best friend. i will miss him.

WORLD EPIDEMICS: attack of the murbleons!!!!

2009 season of battling the vicious marbled murbleon. this year our defenders are drug across the globe to protect the human race. follow along as they race to rid our world of this scum.

history of rap: jimmy fallon and justin timberlake

i dont usually do this but i heard it on fresh air

history of rap with justin timberlake and jimmy fallon

identity revealed

so admittedly im a pretty obsessive national public radio (npr) listener and i always wonder where they get these people to be djs and correspondents. prerequisites must be "if you have a strange or hyphenated name check here." that then leads me to guess their ethnicity. lakshmi singh, im thinking indian right? after twenty minutes of misspelling her name, made more fun by my dyslexia, i find:

what?! turns out her father is indo-trinidadian and her mother's puerto rican

so i decided to burst the bubble on the npr people and put a face to all those sneaking, hippie, commie, birkenstock-wearing, soap-dodging, pinko fareigners.
warning: proceed with caution as this could collapse the aura of their voices

steve inskeep and renee montagne ... high school sweethearts
















michele norris... looks like a commercial for a feminine hygiene product










diane rehm... kinda hot






































the car guys - tom and ray magliozzi
...
i think i saw that guy sleeping in a box


bob edwards... norwegian axe murderer













scott simon ... aw shucks dad










terry gross ... retired librarian maybe























garrison keillor ... face for radio














melissa block ... math class anyone?








carl castle ... insert funny joke here










louisa lim ... insert funny joke here










john ydstie ... i bet it was originally john johnson but he wanted to be part of the the weird npr name gang























jacki lyden







barbara bradley hagerty

















karen grigsby bates















mara liasson ...
















nina totenburg ... liberal elites you say hah










rob gifford ...



















anne garrels






















juan williams ... enraged black man covers peace and humanity desk













susan stamberg











ira flatow










ari daniel sharpiro





















daniel schorr


















ina jaffe walt













last but not least the longest name in the bunch ......... soraya sarhaddi nelson

jesus christ (no he doesnt work for them) this could go on forever anyway i hope this doesnt take away any of the mystique

stolen identity

three weeks ago i got a call from the bank to inform me that my bank information had been compromised and was reassured that this happens often. i was told that if another card owner that has compromised info, shops at a store that i did, legally, they must alert me and they suggested that i cancel my card and activate a new one. so the card was sent to my folks house in hickory and lazily thought i would deal with it next time i go home. last week a woman from the bank called to remind me that i hadnt canceled the card and should do so. so i met my folks and received the card on sat and monday i forgot while i was in town but checked my account and nothing was abnormal (still $13.45 cash money). yesterday (tues) i activated the new card and checked my balance -$250 WHAT!! i checked my statement a found that i was in sao paulo, brazil ordering $60 worth of big macs and $190 worth of lipstick from a drug store while at the same time banging nails in mtn city, tenn. huh somethings fishy i thought. im not a smart man but i do know its difficult to be in two places at the same time even if you run reeeeel fast. so i thunk i been snookered. also how do you spend $60 at mcdonalds unless maybe in brazil the hamburgers come with those carnival girls with feathers and maybe a free soccer ball with each purchase. so moral of the story dont be an idiot and wait once youve been compromised or just maybe someone will be eating your lunch on a tropical beach.

i see myself in 10 years after taking portuguese lessons, sneaking up behind this guy with a baseball bat and clubbing him and saying something clever like "those were my cheeseburgers, MAC" and then disappearing into the night. i think that would straighten him out.

i like to think about these three eating my big macs. the girls really need them, theyre too skinny. i consider it a charitable donation. now i dont need to donate to the feed the children fund this year

fired for initiative

dear abby,

so after getting back from rwanda i was completely broke and immediately (two days later) got a job at this great restaurant in blowing rock, the touristy town near boone, nc. its kinda upscale comfort food and i thought the tips would be quick money as i could work in the evenings at the restaurant and work on the house during the day. my mother brought me dress clothes from hickory and apparently stopped at the thrift store to complement the button-downs that had hung in my closet and hadnt been wore since sunday school in middle school. she decided on a pair of sheer, shiny polyester "ACTION SLACKS" and billowy white shirt with ruffles (think chris farley in the snl chippendales skit). needless to say i was looking good.
anyway i was told that after 4 shifts i would be trained as a server and making tips but for now i would make 7.25$. the drive from mtn city, tn to blowing rock is 45min so i figured i was breaking even on the commute. after 3 weeks still making 7.25$ i was starting to question the profitability of this venture. incidentally, restaurant work sucks, no matter how personable your coworkers are they immediately turn hostile as soon as the shift starts.
i was taught as a child that a good worker anticipates the next step and looks to figure out the system and plug him/herself in where they see fit. this approach has served me well in the past as i like to think myself a hard worker and the remaining parts of my small brain work fairly well. i was given the job of "running" food to the tables but when there was no food i would busy myself cleaning or assisting the servers. the mantra in the food business being "if you got time to lean you got time to clean" so i was constantly working.
yesterday i was asked to sit down with the managers. as i waited i looked over the upcoming schedule and noticed my name marked through "huh strange" i thought. the managers started off "im not good with confrontations", "uh oh this sounds not good" they questioned my dedication to the job to which i responded "well this isnt really in my career path but im happy here." they said that i seemed disinterested and couldnt stay focused on any given task. i explained i felt it inefficient to stand around waiting for food if i could be doing other things. apparently thats not what they wanted to hear. they also mentioned that on my first shift as host assistant i came in and instead of meeting with the host i started folding linens and silverware. apparently working without being told is a no-no. oops. so i asked if my style of work isnt satisfactory then maybe its best if i dont work here anymore and that she should come out and say it. to which she nodded. so i took my 35$ weekly check, shook their hands and left a little stunned but not all together disappointed.
what should i do?

ps anyone need a chippendales costume for halloween?

sincerely,

broke and stunned