Boston

Spent the day in Boston for work. The flights have been on 48 seat
planes, so of course the morning was cold, rainy, and plenty windy.
Fun on a little plane, and a great way to start a looong day.

Looking better now!

Baltimore Transit

This city's lack of a cohesive, safe, convenient public transit system frustrates me to such a degree that I find it hard to put together a coherent rant. I found a good article on it, though. I don't agree with all the opinions in there, but it is interesting. The only glaring omission that gets under my skin is one of safety/crime as associated with the transit system. Otherwise, some interesting info.

Urbanite Article
http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/sub.cfm?issueID=52§ionID=4&articleID=745

Chicago - All the Pics

OK, I'm exhausted after writing that last post, so I'll just say that Chicago was freakin' awesome and leave it at that. Here's the pics - CLICK HERE.

Baltimore City Plumbing

OK, so it's November now. Getting cold. We had a frost warning and it got mighty cold the other night. You know, typically fall stuff. Typically followed very closely by winter. With winter...that's right, we get even more cold. We're in Baltimore, fairly mid-atlantic so I'm not saying that it's Vermont or anything, but it gets cold....cold enough, for, say, water to freeze.

That established, about a month or more ago, for some reason, PVC piping with rubber hose offshoots were laid out along the curb line in the street along a few roads here in the neighborhood. These PVC pipes appear to be bypassing the water main so they can do work on it or something. But there's been a catch. They're not actually doing any work. They put in the pipes and left them...and left them...and left them...until two days ago when the frost watch was issued someone in the city office said "HOLY CRAP, IT'S GETTING COLD! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THESE ABOVE GROUND PVC PIPES?" I'm picturing a scene where either they forgot that the new pipes were out there, or simply no one had ever considered that maybe water would freeze one day.

The issues runs a little deeper. The water mains in Baltimore are so old that last winter alone, 3 water mains broke in our neighborhood alone. This is not unique to our neighbor hood, and considering we make up, maybe, 5% of this 550,000 person city. This past summer 4 water mains broke, that I heard about, throughout the city. When water mains are breaking in the summer at that kind of rate, shouldn't some alarm bells be sounding? Well, it turns out that the city knows the water mains will continue to break. Why? Because the city never budgeted or planned for a systematic upgrade. So, they're just fixing them as they break instead of doing any preventative maintenance at all.

With that little tidbit, let's go back to our above ground PVC piping situation. Wow, maybe they're bypassing the water main so they can upgrade this part of the water system! So let's be optimistic and say that's what's going on. Then they forgot that they started the project. Then we had a freeze. And the pipes froze. And the pipes cracked. And the water started leaking from this tenuous system. So they had to turn to someone for help. Who do they turn to? Marion Barry. Yes, Marion S. Barry. I'm serious. The mayor of Washington DC until 1999. You remember him, I don't need to remind you of his hobbies.

I want to make clear that I do not live in Washington DC. Baltimore, yes, is about 40 miles from DC, but we have our own mayor, zip codes, post office, everything. And by the way, there is no Broadway anywhere near my neighborhood. So I was walking to work yesterday, the day after the freeze, and, well, ladies and gentlemen, let's just go to the picture...

I have run out of words to use. I am confused.

Sears Tower

Did I mention the weather's been awesome?

Traffic is right up next to the stadium

Wrigley

What an amazing place. We couldn't go inside, but the integration of
the stadium with the neighborhood is impressive. I can only imagine
hearing the roar and feeling the ground shake from blocks away.

The Bean

At Millenium Park. Very cool reflection of the skyline.

Chicago

Sitting outside at Millenium Park. Gorgeous blue skies ending a
beautiful, warm, fall weekend. More photos to come!

Relaxin's Good Work When You Can Get It

Georgie just makes it look easy :)

It's been a busy July as you can see from the photos. Not so much the quantity of photos, but more the variety of locations and subjects.

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=72881186620472491/l=288059466/g=5260684/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

We took a long trip upstate which promised much golfing and fishing, but delivered a vicious stomach bug. I was the only one afflicted, fortunately, but man what a nightmare. It had me laid up for a while, but I'm back up and at 'em at this point.

There are some great shots in there of the Atlanta fam sans Mike coming to visit. Lots of fun hanging out with everyone and showing off our city for the kids.

I've also taken a few trips this month, too, so I'm sorry to everyone I haven't emailed back! I'm wading through emails slowly, so I'll get back at ya's.

I couldn't resist including a few incidental George shots - his cuteness is irresistable and I must share the compulsion!

New Photos, New Fun!

Check out our new photos! Click This

They're great, some stuff from AIDS Walk NYC, thanks so much to all that donated! We topped 45,000 participants this year and it was as fun as ever! http://www.aidswalk.net/newyork/

A couple photos from Allie's birthday at the Tulip Garden (actually called Sherwood Gardens). It's a great little flower-filled oasis here in Baltimore. It's actually having a tough time of it this year due to the late heatwave in December, followed by the ice storms. The temp patterns confused the poor bulbs and now it has some bald spots. Not that there's anything wrong with that! The story on the gardens http://www.guilfordnews.com/guilfordstratford.htm and a more interesting one at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.tulips27may27,0,220815.story?coll=bal-pe-maryland.

One of a group at an Orioles game for my birthday. Beautiful weather, beautiful game, pleasantly mediocre record so far...http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=bal. I think I've gotten to 6 or 7 so far, looking to best my total of 20 from last year!

Oh, and don't skip the last two of my friend Eric and the huge bass he caught on my birthday. Holy cow, these things are something else. That picture even made it on to the Department of Natural Resources website fishing report, but unfortunately it only stayed up for a week. Eric's now a world famous angler and now I'm a world famous...angler...photographer. :)

Otherwise, it's summer! It's hot, 100 degrees today, and I'm still doing a lot of planting around the house so some pics of that to come when I get everything in dirt!

George Takes Jersey <- Click for Pictures!

George Part 3


As promised, the next installment of the George in pixels project. How regally he surveys his land. See the frolicking, the hunting, and of course the napping. Enjoy!

The Cuteness

You want the cute pictures? You can't handle the cute pictures! OK, maybe you can, so here they are, comin' atcha.

George wasn't named after anyone in particular, it just seemd to be such a fitting name for a oft-times dopey personality (which way did he go George), yet in the next moment shrewd and calculating (George Washington), and sometimes even cut throat in his determination (George Steinbrenner), but always a member of the family (George Card).

OK, I just had a post completely deleted on me for the third time, so I'll work on the cute descriptions on an ongoing basis. Some links with PICTURES for your viewing pleasure.

Introduction to George - George Takes Baltimore. We adopted George a couple months ago, and this is him getting acclimated to his new surroundings.
George Part 1 - George Gets Comfortable. Can you tell he settled right in? Yes, he actually does sleep like that for hours at a time. I know the scar looks bad, but the neuter and hernia scars have healed very nicely since then - I assure you. The cone was quite an experience for everyone though. George quickly got over the awkward size and began plowing through anything that happened to be in the cone's area of contact, and I began holding food and bones so G could actually get at it. Heart wrenchingly sad and hilarious all at the same time.
George Part 2 - George Takes Maryland. No longer content with city domination, King George ventures into the wilds of the county. This guy loves hiking! For a dog who delicately hops over puddles on the sidewalk, he sure doesn't mind rolling around in a muddy stream. Stay tuned for Part 3 - George Takes New Jersey.
James in Bmore - a couple fun shots from James' overnight.
The Door - Painting, staining, restraining the dog. Don't miss this epic tale of one family's quest for a sturdy and attractive door.

From AIDS Walk 2005, Support Us This Year! 

AIDS Walk NYC!

Visit my fundraising website at http://aidswalknewyork2006.kintera.org/petesab to sponsor me at the AIDS Walk. We're heading up to NYC this weekend to walk on 5/21. It's an incredible event that really makes you feel like we have a chance against the epidemic. Any support you can lend is most appreciated, and if you'll be in NYC this weekend, come walk with us!

 

Pics as Promised

A good Monday morning to you! As promised, here are some snapfish links for ya. This was a great Baltimore weekend celebrating Allie's birthday. Duckboat rides, ghost tours, mussels, good times had by all. OK, not many pictures taken, and these may not be all that exciting. Click HERE. I took them from the Duckboat in the Inner Harbor. I think it's a cool view of the city and really gives you a feel for some of the development that's going on in town.

Also, found on the camera some pics from our trip to Atlanta for Easter. Gorgeous long weekend of fun with the fam, check it out.

OK, back to work!

 

The Neighborhood 

Spring Sprang Sprung

So you must be thinking that my computer must have melted down and we haven't gotten around to getting a new one. Or perhaps our camera has imploded and so no pictures = no fun blog. Well no, not exactly. Above is a great pic from a snow storm on Federal Hill a couple months ago, but that's just the last time the camera was used! (For more pics of sleigh-riding after the storm, click here) I know, the passing of Allie and my birthdays, lovely spring coming into bloom, Orioles games and fun bar-b-ques...but the memory card on the camera is still empty! I know, I don't know how it happened either. Maybe the digital media for photography isn't as novel so it doesn't get as much use. Or maybe the people at www.gofugyourself.com are so freakin' clever that I read their blog and can't imagine how I could even pretend to offer something worth reading when such clever commentary is out there.

It's also true, I've done a bit of traveling. A couple trips to San Diego, a trip to Destin Florida, all business. Although, we did have a lovely long weekend in Atlanta with the Iece and Phews, so there have got to be some pictures on our camera! I'll look into that.

Otherwise, I think you should look into the Gulf Coast. Coming from the northeast, the gulf coast didn't even register on my list of places to visit for it's soft beaches and lush vegetation, but for a couple weeks out of the year before the flies eat you and before the water becomes toxic with acid and flesh eating parasites, it really is gorgeous. It may take an unnatural amount of time to get to some of these destinations (yeah, 10 hours to get to Destin Florida with flights, layovers, delays, and a 1.5 hour drive) but it's an interesting adventure if ever you're looking for it.

Ok, go smell some flowers, grill up a hotdog, and flip on the baseball game!