Back from Vermont

As part of vacation time Liz and I spent a few nights in Vermont. Here is a wrap up of it.

We decided to break up the drive by stopping overnight on the way up in Massachusetts at Liz's grandparents vacation house. There is a picture of it to the left. We stayed there for the night and then started the drive to Vermont. There were 2 ways we could go, the long way and the short way. We took the long way. We went through a town called Russell (there were signs up saying "Keep Russell Clean and Pristine)!! I'll post some more pics soon in a Picasa album, including a photo of the sign. We stopped in Brattleboro on the way up and then arrived where we were staying in Brandon, Vermont. There is a picture of that place below.

Vermont was cool, but unfortunately most of our plans there were foiled by the weather (showers were common) and also by bugs. There were so many mosquitoes it wasn't funny. I honestly haven't seen as many mosquitoes in my life as I saw where we were staying. We got less than a minute in to our hike before bugs forced us to turn around. I have many bites, in excess of 30, Liz estimates closer to 50. I have put stuff on them but they still itch like crazy. Instead of hiking we ended up picking blueberries, which was pretty cool. It was free, we just had to give the people whose field it was half of the pick.

The second night we were there was clear, so we went and looked at the stars for a few minutes before we had had enough of the mozzies again. While outside I took this photo of the Big Dipper.

The next day we left and stayed in Massachusetts again on the way back (we took the short way home, but made small detours along the way). We saw a pretty big monument on the way back, and also went up Mt Greylock and checked out the monument and area at the top of it. I also saw my first beaver dam, I spotted it from the road.

Coming home from Massachusetts we stopped at Tiff's place and spent the afternoon and evening there. She had made cake for Liz's birthday, and the cake is really good. We went kayaking while we were there, and I did something that no-one they have ever been kayaking with has done. Up the river is a section where the water flows pretty fast downstream. Liz, Tiff, Beverly, April, Beverly's brother (a marine) have all tried and failed to get past this spot in the river. Enter Russell. I surged through it. I was proud and jelly-armed. Being jelly armed was good though, it meant I couldn't scratch my bites as hard.

Pause in post (eating pre-dinner cake)...

OK. Cake eaten and plate put aside for post-dinner (aka dessert) cake.

All in all the trip to Vermont was pretty good. We aimed to try and relax, and we got to do that. Highlights included seeing my first beaver dam and wild American Kestrel. Also, cake was and continues to be a highlight.

Vacation starts today!

Today is my last day at work before a week off. We are heading to Vermont for a couple of nights and staying in Massachusetts on the way there and on the way back. Should be fun.

Last night was, of course, softball night. 80-something degree temps greeted us for the game, and so I made wearing my (long) pant worthwhile by sliding in to home plate in the dying stages of the game. The slide was completely unnecessary, which I felt added to its greatness. I ran from second to home, the ball was still in the outfield when I was between 3rd and home, and I think the person behind me jogged in their run. Unnecessary but very fun. The ball didn't come to me at all in the field - my batting efforts were a caught at shortstop, and 3 (sometimes lazily run) singles. I crossed home plate twice, well, crossed once and slid in once. It was the last game of the regular season, playoffs start next week. The game was rescheduled to Monday though, and we'll be in Vermont, so I won't be playing.

This morning a guy was smoking outside the building I work at. Not unusual or memorable. But the bright, elaborately patterned vest, goatee and pimp hat complete with feather caught my attention.

Day out in NYC

Saturday was a big day. Liz had plans to go upstate to her friend Tiff's house and go kayaking and have dinner and stuff like that. I decided that morning that I would go in to New York City for the day and walk around and see some places I hadn't seen before.

Living in Stamford is good for the train, as it means that we can get express inbound trains to NYC. The train pulled out of the station at 11:10 and arrived at Grand Central at 11:45. 35 minutes is nothing when the train from Greenwich or Port Chester used to take around an hour. From Grand Central (which is at 42 St) I walked to Central Park, which starts at around 60 St. I ate my lunch in the park and then wandered, seeing the Mall (which I hadn't seen before), before heading up to Belvedere Castle, which to get to I ended up level with 82 St. After I checked out the castle (it's not so much a castle as it is a single tower) I walked back downtown, walking to the Flatiron Building via Times Square. The Flatiron building is at 23 St (if I remember right). That walk also took me by the Empire State Building and Rockefeller.

From the Flatiron District I didn't want to walk to the Manhattan Bridge, but I wanted to see it. The Manhattan Bridge is one of the 2 major bridges feeding traffic into Manhattan from Brooklyn (the other being the Brooklyn Bridge). The Manhattan Bridge is often seen in movies as the double decker bridge, while the Brooklyn Bridge is the older looking stone bridge. Anyway, I took the subway downtown a bit, then walked a few blocks through one of the asian neighborhoods to the bridge entrance, passing many fish markets, the Fung Wah bus ticket office and people pushing things towards me saying "You want DVD". The bridge entrance is cool, which is why I wanted to go there.

From the Manhattan Bridge (above) I walked cross town a bit to the Brooklyn Bridge (below). I hadn't been this close to the Brooklyn Bridge before, and decided since I was there I would walk part way across it. If I knew for sure where subway stations were on the Brooklyn side I would have walked all the way. I walked about halfway, at which point I could see across the river to Liberty Island and also see most of Manhattan. I then caught the subway back to Grand Central and decided to call it a day because I was getting hungry and was really hanging out for the sausages we had at home. So I jumped on an express train which took 40 minutes or so and arrived back in Stamford at 8:20.

I went to the bus station to find out when the next bus would be; it wasn't going to be for another 35 minutes. The bus wasn't going right to our apartment, but along a main road nearby, so I decided to start walking the way the bus would go. The bus passed me at the very street I would have had to have gotten off at, so I ended up walking home from the train station (3.2 miles).

I worked out later, thanks to Google Maps, that I walked a little over 12 miles all day (which is 19km or so, the equivalent of walking from Belmont to Newcastle along the Pacific Highway). The walking had left me really hungry, and those sausages tasted awesome.

Sunday was a bit more subdued as far as exercise went. We ended up going to the beach and grilling for dinner, where we saw a family of raccoons feasting on the delights that they found in the garbage.

The photos in this post may not be ground-breaking, but they were part of the reason I went to NYC. I didn't expect to get really awesome shots (which I didn't), but I did want to start getting used to the present that Liz and I bought ourselves a week or so ago. We got ourselves a new camera, a Nikon D90, and so far I'm pretty impressed. I think the results from it will be better once I am used to it a bit more, but it's all positive so far.

Time has slowed...

Last week I looked at my watch and thought "I wonder how long I have had this battery in my watch...".

This morning I looked at my watch and thought "It's not 8am, it's much later than that.".

Now my watch has moved the equivalent of 36 minutes in the last 2 and a half hours. Sometimes the second hand will sit on a number for a long time, then run for 10 seconds normally, then sit on a number for a long time. Maybe it's time for a new battery.

But why is it that things seem to happen like that?

Will probably be making a bigger post tonight or some time soon, I realize it has been a while, but I've actually been busy!

Caught at short

Last night was softball night. Final score was in our favor somewhere in the order of 18 - 4.

The game saw the debut of my new pant. They're nothing special, just activewear pant that were on sale. They are made by Russell Athletic, which is funny because it means that it is embroidered on to the pant and also printed on the aglets (thank you, Dr Karl) on the drawstring.

I did my best to be a contributing member of the team. During the first inning I was first base coach for a while. My advice to people was something like this (delivered to different people):

"Hey, how are you going? I've never been base coach before and don't know what I'm doing.",

"I'll give you the same advice everyone gives me. Ground ball: run. If it's in the air, go half way.",

"Well, Jeff, you probably know more about being on first base than I do...", and

"Well, Ryan, I'm on deck, so you're on your own".

Chances to contribute in the field were few and far between, but I got 4 at bats. First one I led off the inning, worked my way around the bases and made it home. I have a feeling I made it home the next time at bat as well, but am not sure... there was abundant confusion surrounding my second at bat, so I honestly can't remember.

3rd time at bat is the one I am most proud of. Batters alternate guy/girl down the order. Every time guys get up to bat, outfielders move back and then move in for girls, but every time they move back I think "Why are they moving back for me?". This time I made it worth their while. I contacted the ball so well and was actually caught in the outfield for the first time ever. If the hit had been a little straighter I probably would have been fine, I just happened to pick out a fielder who could catch. But man, I was rapt with the shot.

4th at bat was another clean hit, but I didn't get the elevation I needed and I was caught at short stop. I'm happy with how my batting is coming along.

Post game was fun - we hung out at the ground and then grabbed some dinner.

The plan for the next few days hopefully involves some rest. This week and last weekend have felt particularly tiring for some reason...

Finally, I just wanted to add, that Homer was perhaps right. I refer to this:

Lisa: Do you have any fruit?

Homer: This has purple in it. Purple's a fruit.

I saw this ad in a local supermarket catalogue, and instantly though "purple's a fruit".