Are the Pats that good or are the Redskins that bad?

Before I begin, I am watching Guatemalan soccer on GolTV, and am intrgued by something: in what does not look like a stadium with a lot of covered seating, few if any fans are seating in the first 10-15 rows. I've always preferred to sit that many rows up as opposed to the front row at sporting events. The reasoning is simple: I can see better many rows back.

Anyway, I usually do not put a lot of stock in what happens during NFL pre-season games. Not even the third one, which is a close to a regular season game as you get in pre-season; the starters go far deeper into the game than in the other ones. But I could not help but think about the replay of last night's Pats-Redskins game. New England completely dominated a supposed-to-be-playoff contender from start to finish. Washington never even advanced the ball past New England's 20 yard line until the final minute against the third or fourth team defense. Very poorly taken penalty kick in the soccer game.

Without even really opening up the offense or defense, the Pats looked like a Super Bowl Contender. I don't know what the Redskins looked like, but I have seen at least parts of their three pre-season games, and I have not seen anything that tells me they will win more than three games without a drastic change in form come September. The offense sucks ass, I know Clinton Portis is out but they look pathetic. The supposed team strength, defense, has key guys out but looks bad all things considered. Lots of diving in the Guatemalan soccer game. Pre-season ain't the real thing, but the chicken little the sky is falling wing of Redskins nation has some merit to go along with hysteria. As a Pats fan, I'm encouraged but in no way think they will win 30-3 or 41-0 every week. BTW, Pando, formerly of MLS' Los Angeles Galaxy, received a yelloe card for throwing his arm in a guy's face while jostling for a ball.

Forgot to salute Curt Schilling and David Wells

You both did your jobs this weekend. Stellar pitching performances for both of you. If that is Wells's last high-profile start (wtuh his health you never know), he went out like a champion. Manny did his job too until getting hurt today.

The Leg Press Machine Paid for the Red Sox sucking

I was one frustrated person today, from the Red Sox' complete ineptitude to things I shouldn't discuss here. Drew Bledsoe just got a first down on a quarterback sneak. Reggie Bush has only touched the ball once since the game started. The ESPN feed is a mess. Even Terry Glenn has a TD catch.

Back to me being frustrated, it was a very long, very miserable day. Until I got to the gym. Gold's Gym in Alexandria is phenomonal. Great staff, plenty of cardio and weight equipment, and many free classes with your membership. The leg press machine really paid the price for me being pissed off. Bledsoe gets sacked, I still like Drew for what he did with the Pats. Leg press is one of six exercises I was given by a personal trainer for a workout (you get six one on one sessions when you join Gold's). Put 420 pounds on the machine, lifted that mofo 60 times! I was impressed by how I attacked that machine, and probably could have had a few more reps but did not want to overdo things and miss my spinning class because of it. The weights plus spinning felt good, as it should after a miserable day.

With the Red Sox season being over, I can devote all of my sporting attention to football, after saying that Jason Varitek should rehab for next year and forget about this one. Trot Nixon should come back for the final weekend so the fans can give him a final sendoff, as he likely will not be re-signed. The ESPN feed is still messed up. At least I don't feel like a bad fan for not bothering try to go to any games in Baltimore in September.

A serious Thank You to Joe Theismann for mentioning that while the French Quarter is back and running, a lot of New Orleans is not. I just feel a lot of people need to be reminded of that. I plan on donating some more money this year to continued relief efforts.

Now, to talk about the other kind of football that I like. I am really looking forward to seeing some friends and some live soccer on Saturday. It is my understanding that D.C. United and the Los Angeles Galaxy have a very spirited rivalry. I have not seen it in person since 1999 MLS Cup. A lot of people here (myself included, and I am practically a netural MLS-wise although I would call New England my favorite team if a gun was put to my head) are still pissed off at Landodn Donovan for his World Cup performance or lack of. It will be a charged atmosphere on what looks to be a humid Saturday night, I look forward to it. Will be fun.

Drew Bledsoe, pre-season or not, is kicking ass tonight. Finally, the Southwestern Chicken Salad I bought at Safeway for dinner was excellent.

Exorcist Steps are fun ... now I really know ... more fun than the Red Sox

The Sox did get 2 runs in the bottom of the first as I type this and are ahead 2-0 for now. What's disappointing more than anything is not just this weekend, but all the games they pissed away against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Kansas City Royals of the world. Win most of those and they're possibly still in first place, even with the collapse of the pitching staff. Yes, they have injuries, but so don't most other teams out there, including the Yankees. They don't seem to have the killer instinct the 2004 team had. But the Red Sox are not fun right now, so let me move on to things that are fun.

The last two Sundays I have run up the Exorcist steps six times in succession, with a jog around a 2 block by two block part of Georgetown in between each stair run. I thought about going for a seventh or eighth time but didn't have any more energy in near 90 degree, very humid weather. I walked around the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal afterwards, followed by some more walking around NW DC. Mostly around some Embassies and the outer part of the Dupont Circle neighboorhood. The first Embassy I randomly saw, you may ask? Venezuela, on I think 30th Street NW. Just thought that was odd, given the current political climate.

Schilling tosses another scoreless inning, other than a fairly high pitch count, he's kicking ass so far.

I ate a late lunch at a great little sandwich shop at 20th and P Streets called DC Hot. $3.95 got me a great Kansas Roast Beef Sandwich, much better deal for the money than you'd get at COSI or Panera Bread (no disrespect, I like Panera).

When I got in there, the owner (I think) asked me what I wanted to order. As soon as I told him, he asked me if I was from Rhode Island. I guess I still have the New England accent even after 4 1/2 years away. New Englanders ask me all the time where I am from, it's all good. Being from Massachusetts, we naturally discussed the painful times for the Red Sox. I'll go back there for sure the next time I am in the area.

2-0 after 2 innings.

I'm starting to find cool places to hang out, cool bands to see, and other cool fun stuff as I'm here for longer. Red Sox going into a rain delay. F***, this CANNOT be a long one, Bonnie Berstein just said they are expecting hail and heavy winds, but that it will only last 45 minutes or so. Even so, F***, that ain't chance of showers like was reported earlier, and Schilling needs to stay in this game. OTOH, the weather report Bonnie Bernstein got is crap, I grew up in the Boston area, I think I saw hail twice in nearly 28 years.

Back to the cool things. On Friday night I went to Kingstowne Town Center, a family-oriented shopping plaza in suburban Alexandria. The attraction was a ska band from DC called The Pietasters. While definitely not the demogrpahics they are used to playing in front of, a good time was had by all, even the little kids were dancing. Now watching NFL preseason, Peyton Manning is out of the game. Good, I hate that tool. His backup throws a pick that Seattle runs in for a touchdown. Next.

In short, finding more cool things to do for not a lot of money is a good thing that I've become pretty accustomed to doing. It's one of many things that makes life fun, and easy on the limited budget. Cool shots of downtown Indy on NBC, I really like that downtown. The next time I find cool, inexpensive stuff, I'll write about it.

Little more than 2 1/2 weeks until Pikes Peak!

I kicked The Exorcist Steps' Asses

In the tony Georgetown section of my new city, Washington D.C., is a semi-hidden gem from movie fame, The Exorcist Steps. Right across the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the Potomac River from Rosslyn (Arlington), Virginia, is Georgetown. Directly west on M Street is a nondescript Exxon Station, and some steps with a stone arch. Didn't look to be anything more than a set of stairs to some townhouse building, but I knew better.

Metro Sports D.C. describes these steps as the best stair workout in the area. I still kicked the steps' asses, three runs up them, with a few minutes rest in between. The first two thirds of the steps were not overly rough, the last third took a bit out of me, but I won today. Next time I go to Georgetown I'm going to run them 6-12 times like Metro Sports recommends. When that next time is, who knows. Georgetown has its good points, what little of the campus I saw was very beautiful, and the harbor is okay. And the next time I go there for food and drinks, I'm going to Mr. Smiths because the waitress said hi to me when I walked by. But the bad: no Metro unless you want to walk over the bridge from Rosslyn, parking is every but as hard to find as it is in Boston, not to mention that people drive through a very crowded stretch of town like they're on the freeway. Heck I thought there was going to be 40something accidents in the hour plus I was there. Maybe I'll go Saturday morning, or next Sunday, because I want to kick the steps' asses again.

In other news, I'm getting out and around D.C. a bit. I started a part time job at REI in Baileys Crossroads yesterday. This will help me pay off my credit cards, meet some new people who do a lot of the beat myself up stuff I do (hike, bike, ski), and increase my outerwear knowledge. I remembered how tiring a six hour or more shift there can make me tired afterwards. I had forgotten about that, since it had been four months since I worked there in Denver. I also went hiking on the Cabin John Creek Trail in Montgomery Countty, Maryland, today. 12 miles or so, somewhat flat, but some hilly stretches too, all right near the Beltway and I-270. My friend Sachin was right, you don't have to leave the Beltway to find some good hikes. Other than a mile or so of sidewalk walking, this hike was a quality one. Guess how many other hikers I saw all day? TWO! At a street crossing. I couldn't believe a trail like that so close to town didn't have more traffic.

And yeah, NFL preseason starts tonight! Not that I'm paying all that much attention to tonight's game, or any of them until the third preseason week.

Boston as a tourist, World Cup, John Grisham, and Pirates

Lots to cover today. Last weekend I took a day off to give myself a four-day weekend. I had decided a couple months ago to head up to Boston for my first ever visit as a vacationing tourist. I moved from Boston to Denver in April-May 2002, as you may know. For many reasons, largely vacation limitations, the only times I had been back to the Boston area were three weddings (one as a guest, two as a member of the wedding party) and for the Christmas holiday. I say this past weekend was my first tourist trip because, as beyond honored as I was to be at the weddings, those are not vacations. You are running around like crazy, as you are when going home for Christmas. I consider both instances to be fantastic times, but very hectic times, not vacation ones. Therefore, at 10:10 am on July 1, 2006, I landed in my native Massachusetts as a tourist for the very first time.

Being a soccer fan, I needed to watch the England-Portugal World Cup quarterfinal. I tried McGanns, a soccer-friendly bar, but it was tough to find a seat, which I wanted because I'd be on my feet for a lot of the weekend. I ended up at Boston Beerworks near North Station / TD Banknorth Garden. The beer was a good as I remember it being. Ran into a French supporter there, who I immediately told that they had no shot of beating Brazil. Good thing I had to leave to check into the hostel then take a train to Lowell, MA, or I would have had to eat my words and buy more beers.

In Lowell I met up with my two best friends from high school, Chris and Ryan. Whilw waiting for Ryan to arrive, I see Zdeno Chara highlights on New England Sports Network's Red Sox pre game show. Before I could figure out why they would do this, the Bruins actually spent some money on a quality free agent (6 foot 9 defenseman, and one of the better ones in the game to boot). That pleasant surprise was met with a better one when we were eating dinner. Ryan's wife is expecting their first child in Janauary. WOOOHOOOOO! Both my friends are doing very well.

Sunday I walked to South Station through Copley Square and Back Bay, with a nice breeze accompanying me. I mention that because it felt like a 60 degree morning, and the air does not move in DC. I took the train to my friends Sean and Theresa's house in Plymouth, which as the link will tell you, is a lot more than a few historical sites on the waterfront. It's now a city of 60,000 and growing fast. The party was great, old friends, beers, burgers, the only regret I have is being too tired to stay up past 11:30. I am really freaking old, and/or I was just so tired from the daily grind catching up with me that I would have crashed at the same time with or without beers. I vote for both.

Monday I went down to Fenway Park, I had not been to a game there since 2001, and not to the area since the winter after that. The area around the park looks a lot better, the Landmark shops down Brookline Avenue look better than ever. The famous Cask and Flagon that is right across the street from Fenway got a lot swankier than it used to me. Most of the changes are good, but you do have to take the bad with it. Right underneath the park at the corner of Landsdowne and Brookline is the Game On Sports Bar, maybe the most upscale sports bar I've ever been to. Reminded me of Avalon meets big screen TVs, especially the downstairs. Liked: Pad Thai with Scallops. Despised: The Special was $22! Now if the Sox make money off of this venture it's all cool. But while the Pad Thai was good, it was only worth half of what I paid for it. Lesson Learned, and I realized that I missed the bowling alley that used to be in the same location. The price of success I guess, but if I'm in the area anytime soon I'll eat and drink elsewhere, I can't throw down $22 on a meal too often.

Monday night was a blast, back up to Lowell to get to my hometown of Dracut, MA. My brother (Deputy Fire Chief in Dracut) had to work, but my sister-in-law and two nephews were home. Went out for ice cream at an ice cream stand I hadn't been to in ten years, then swimming in the pool. A great reminder of how much fun running around in a pool to create w "whirlpool" was; everyone was very glad I came to Dracut for the evening.

Tuesday, flew home, the US Airways shuttle terminal was EMPTY. I know it wasn't a business day but I never figured there would be so few people travelling. I got home just in time for the Germany-Italy semifinal to get entertaining and the storms to roll in. Tomorrow Italy and France play for the whole Cup. As big of a fan as I am, I realize tournament finals are rarely asthetic classics. I'm expecting 0-0 tomorrow, with Italy winning 4-3 on PKs. Of course I will be watching.

On the plane I figured out a new interest: John Grisham novels. I've only read two, The Summons and The Broker, but both held my interest to the point where I couldn't wait to pick the book back up again. His endings are a bit odd, but the books have more twists and turns than a Colorado foothills back road. I need to go to the library to get more books. Maybe today or tomorrow.

Last night I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean with some friends. I hadn't been to a movie theatre and who knows how long, theatres have changed since then. Stadium seating, semi-reclining seats, you name it. The movie was pretty good, albeit a bit long. Interesting tidbit: the trailer preview for next year's Transformers movie got the biggest reaction on the night.

All Right, 90 degree plus heat, Beat It!

And stay away for a while! It's not August yet! A four day wave of 90 plus degree temps and DC's notorious humidity hit us from Sunday to Wednesday. It was not a lot of fun, especially since it kind of hit us out of nowhere. I usually like to keep my energy costs low by only using the AC or heat (in the winter, rarely) when I have to, and for short periods of time at that. Couldn't get away with that earlier this week, it took a bit to cool the apartment enough so I didn't feel like I was in a damp, humid blast furnace.

I take solace that on Monday the pool at my apartment complex was open, it is closed for repairs after being open for a mere one week. I take more solace from the hike I did on Sunday. There's a section of the Applachian Trail near Purcellville, VA called the Roller Coaster - sorry I won't pay for the full description. I woke up too late to complete the full 14.6 mile hike to the Trail Center and back. But a through hiker told me the part of the trail I didn't hike didn't have much to look at, so I stuck with my 8 miles or so. I will say this, while I hiked most if not all of the roller coaster, it did not feel like I hiked 4800 feet of total elevation gain. The only thing that made the hike tough was the heat and humidity. Maybe I've been hiking for many years now and some things don't seem tough anymore. Or was the heat making me think not so straight even though I obviously did not drink any alcohol?

Today's hike will be in Black Hill Regional Park, MD. Supposed to be 2000 feet of total elevation change, and is only about 30 miles from me, maybe 40 with the Beltway. I can handle that trip even with gas prices at their current levels. The Black Hills of South Dakota this won't be, but I will enjoy the hike nonetheless. I need to get in as many miles as possible before the Pikes Peak trip in September. No heat today and I may even get to test out my new raingear!

Other fun stuff: Get a chance to see Jonathan Coulton perform if you can. This guy is hilarious, Paul and Storm were really good too. Coulton does the funniest version of Baby Got Back, totally acoustic. I know, I saw the show in Vienna, VA last weekend. I'll go back to see him again for sure. Check out his website if you haven't already.

Other notes: No more drinking beer at Wednesday night sporting events. Not worth the trouble of feeling like garbage the whole next day. I am old.

How do I change the About Me section

I just want to make it look a little neater. Maybe change my name from maryjanejeff (For those who do not know, I take my blog name from Mary Jane Mountain at Winter Park, CO) to Jeff. Definitely change the location to Alexandria. Put a space in between Name and Location and my name and location. Either I'm a dumbass or I can't figure out how to change this?

In other news, I'm getting out and riding my bike more and more, joined Gold's Gym since there are two of them on my way home from work and no Bally's are, and am still tired all of the time.

Pikes Peak or Bust?

A lot of people settling the West in the 1800s probably said Pikes Peak or Bust. I am kind of saying it, kind of asking it. Why? Well, I am an avid hiker, even though I won't get a chance to hike very much this summer with gas prices. Also, I enjoy the DC area thus far, but while there are places to hike nearby, 1700-2000 foot vertical gains 30 minutes from the city there ain't.

Therefore, to train for a hike I plan on doing in September, 4 months from today in fact, I am going to need to get really creative in my workouts. Last year, I summitted Pikes Peak for the first time as part of the Pikes Peak Challenge to benefit the Brain Injury Association of Colorado and Memorial Hospital's Think First For Kids Head & Spinal Cord Injury Prevention programs. This gives me an opportunity to accomplish several things of interest to me: raise money for a great cause, get outdoors in one of the most scenic places on earth, hike, and get my butt kicked while hiking. 14 miles, over 7,000 feet of vertical gain, and a summit over 14,000 feet, and I have a great challenge ahead of me. However, after listening to stories last year of what brain injury survivors have to deal with, I ain't complaining, especially not on the last 2 or 3 miles, the only time I really struggled with the hike last year.

What will I do to train for this? I've begun by putting in 20 minutes on a stair climber each time I go to a gym or my apartment tower's fitness center. I increase the level of workout nearly every time, and will soon start adding minutes to each climbing session. Tonight I put in 18-20 miles on side roads and the Mount Vernon Bike Trail. This trail goes to George Washington's Estate, but you have to earn the views of Mount Vernon. The last 3/4 of a mile features a fairly steep climb that rises out of nowhere. Both times I've ridden down this far, I've gotten my butt kicked. That's why I ask if it's Pikes Peak or Bust. But if I take advantage of the long days and make the bike ride a couple days a week and increase the intensity of my stairs workouts, I should be good to go. On top of that, I'll walk even more places than I already do. Every little bit helps.

I have the vacation time, the motivation, and have a free flight available to me (although I may save it for ski season), so why not? I'm going for it. By the way, click on the above link to Pikes Peak then click on photo gallery. I'm in photo 9.

Where have you gone, Dwight Eisehnhower?

That may be a strange question to see on this blog, seeing as my political leanings, especially recently, are towards the liberal/Democrats/Green Party/progressive POV, and Dwight Eisenhower was a conservative. But, while driving across the country to move, I stopped in Abeline, Kansas for a rest break. Knowing the Eisenhower Library and Museum (scroll down the page and click on the Exhibit was in Abeline, I decided to make a short detour. I missed the video that is shown near the gift shop, which I wish I hadn't, but did walk around the grounds a bit.

You may miss it driving down Fourteenth Street, Abeline's "main drag" if you didn't know it was there. But that may have been by design, as Eisenhower was a humble man from a humble background. I walked into the house where he, his parents, and five brothers grew up, it amazed me. Why? Truth be told, the whole house has barely more square footage than my apartment. It was tiny, albeit two floors. The whole family worked their asses off for everything they had.

Did you view the exhibit yet? It explains what I was getting at in the title. While a conservative, Eisenhower was tactful, diplomatic, and astute enough to realize that the Cold War would not have been won by carpet bombing any communist target of choice. He realized that peace was the objective, and worked to achieve it. However, when peace was not possible without conflict, he knew how to target those who attacked and threatened the United States, kick ass, and take names. Also, under his direction, a fair amount of the groundwork for many Civil Rights enjoyed today (until recently) was laid down. One potential negative caveat was the Red (Communist) Scare, but it seems to me like he used high, high level diplomacy to avoid us and the Soviets bombing the crap out of each other. I don't even know if the assclown that's in the Oval Office today even knows how to spell diplomacy, or even level. I think he can spell high though.

In summary, considering I never paid a ton of attention to politics until a few years ago, I was amazed at how Dwight Eisenhower rose all the way from very humble, modest roots in central Kansas (it's as dusty, dry, and desolate as people say, definitely a place that breeds toughness) all the way to the Presidency. Maybe it's just today's pay millions to play political culture that makes me think it would be tough to rise from a working class background to being President (I don't give Democrats a pass on this). But I was amazed at how modest the entire library complex was, it fit Dwight Eisenhower's legacy nicely. Although I would have disagreed with his conservative stance a lot of the time, I would have greatly respected him, and probably have been very proud to call him my President. He warned us of a lot of the dangers facing us today, I only think that if he were alive today, the USA would be a lot less partisan and the key debates would not have been hijacked by those that do so otday, and we would be focused on those who caused us harm.

Camden Yards Was Kind of Fenway South

I went to the game on Saturday, April 8 to see for myself if Camden Yards was Fenway South. It was, sort of. I was expected the Sox fans to be a lot more boisterous than they were, but there were still more of them than there were Orioles fans. A 90 minute late delay at the start, 40 or so degree weather, and a somewhat slow moving game may have all contributed to it. Both my friend Ian and I were late because of construction on the Baltimore / Washington Parkway so the delay helped us a bit.

The game itself moved rather slowly for a 2-1 game, but I enjoyed it a lot. Curt Schilling looked as close to his 2001-034 dominating self as he's been since then. One run in seven innings, I'lll take that. Mile Timlin was okay in the eighth, Jonathan Freaking Papelbon rocked in the ninth. The only negative was Wily Mo Pena, who swung at 6 of the 7 pitches he faced for two strikeouts. Maybe 2 of those were strikes, and I may be generous with that number. He wasn't even coming close to making contact. Why the hell did we trade Bronson Arroyo for this clown?

Settling in Virginia: So far, so good! But it's not August yet.

I figured now would be a good time to update my blog, seeing as I just got back from a 16 mile or so bike ride down to Mt. Vernon and back (George Washington's Estate, I only rode until the end of the bike path) and need to chill out a bit. I have settled in Northern Virginia, and now work in Lorton, about a half hour south of the Capital Beltway. I seem to be making a good impression there, and am drawing praise already for my efforts. That is always good to hear for obvious reasons.

Anyway, earlier this month I drove from Denver to Alexandria, VA to relocate for a new job. I won't bore you with excessive details, but a cross country drive is always interesting.

Tuesday, April 5: I don't get out of metro Denver until alomst 4 pm, so I didn't get too far into Kansas before deciding I didn't have the energy to drive 100 miles to the next town with a few hotels. So I stayed in Colby, KS. At least the Super 8 was clean, and gas was only $2.50 or so.

Wendesday, April 6: The longest day of the trip, I decided I was going to try to get all the way to Terre Haute, IN. No particular reason behind picking that destination, just Orbitz showing chear hotels. Larry Bird did go to college there, but I wasn't stopping at the campus just because of that, so I wasn't too disappointed when I only got as far as Effignham, IL.

I'm actually going to talk about Kansas for a paragraph, please don't run to antoher web site. :) I figured if I would get pulled over for speeding anywhere on this trip, it would be Kansas, with it being flat, hot, and dusty. Yup, I got pulled over somewhere near mile 220, I am very lucky that the state trooper only wrote me a warning. He asked me where I was going, when I told him I was driving cross country he was cool about it. Whew! Especially since I have no speeding tickets since 1995. I stopped in Abeline, 20 or so miles east of Salina, to rest for a few minutes and to visit the Dwight Eisenhower library, museum, and boyhood home. More about that in a future entry.

Missouri: Gates BBQ in Independence, a KC Suburb, rocked. But what the hell is the deal with their county roads? M, EE, B, V, randomly selected letters, what a mess. I wish I had gotten to St. Louis a couple hours earlier so I could walk around the Arch and the new Busch Stadium. But I didn't. I can't comment much on Illinois since it was either dark or pouring rain when I was there.

Thursday, April 7: I caught a nasty cold in Indianapolis. 40 degree plus driving rain plus I only had a sweatshirt on = bad decision to stop and wander around a bit. Actually, not a bad decision, Indy has a very cool downtown. You walk under an old warehouse turned into a bridge, and you're in an old-school downtown with lots of cool, tall buildings moxed with some new, chic, offices. The north? side of downtown ends with a traffic circle with a memorial dedicated to Indiana's Civil War particiapnts in the middle. I enjoyed my brief stay in Indy, wish it could have been longer. Drove to Morgantown, West Virginia, which was okay. I wasn't expecting a tunnel through Wheeling, but it didn't look like I missed much but a couple of steep hills on the sides of I-70 and I-470. I-79 from Washington, PA to Morgantown reminded me of a foothills road in Colorado more than an interstate.

Friday, April 7: Only 3-4 hours of driving left, exactly as I intended, so I could arrive in Virginia, get my apartment keys, and unload my car before rush hour. I-68 through Western Maryland was a pleasant surprise, very picturesque, or it would have been if it wasn't pouring rain. I saw more rain on this trip than I'd see in Colorado in eight months. 40 mph speed limit too on an interstate, through Cumberland, and old mill and river town. The only other time I'd seen a speed limit under 50 mph on an interstate was Glenwood Canyon, CO. The rest of thr drive was uneventful.

I've been here a bit more than two weeks, and am happy so far. I live a mile from the Metro system, close enough to walk but not too close that rents skyrocket. My commute to work is 14-15 miles each way, more than I would like, especially with gas prices. However, I am going against the traffic on Route 1 (until the 30,000 or so people are tansferred to Ft. Belvoir) in both the morning and afternoon. Also, I decided that living right near work, in Woodbridge , Dale City, or even Lorton, would really limit my social life (I have one? ;). I'd be too far away from everything I like to do in my spare time, too far away from the city, you name it.

I went hiking at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland last Sunday, and really enjoyed getting out in the outdoors to relax and get some exercise. I won't be able to hike as much here as I did in Denver because of travel distance and gas prices, so I appreciate every opportunity to hike even more. But I can still go from time to time. The trade off of less hiking and skiing for a permanent job opportunity, a chance to further build my career with the same company, and be a 90 minute flight away from my family? I'll make that trade and am glad I did, even though Denver was fun. But ask me how glad I am to be here in August when it's 95 degrees and humid for the 41st straight day.

No More Hammer, Thank Freaking God!

While making one final cruise through the Big Soccer boards before closing up for my move, Dave posted some of the best news I've heard in a long time. tom delay is dropping out of his district's Congressional race in Texas (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060404/pl_nm/delay_dc_1). This is great news! No more of his shady backroom dealings in too mnay places to mention, no more golf outings on taxpayers' dime (at least not by him), I could go on for an hour but I need to pack for tomorrow's move. At least the Hammer is no more, I won't speculate as to what is next other than I see him facing some sort of criminal charges very shortly.

Is Camden Yards Really Fenway Park South?

I will find out Saturday, and maybe Sunday, as I attend the Red Sox - Orioles game(s) at Camden Yards. I have been to Camden once before, I saw Seattle beat the Os 1-0 in a classic game in September 2001, Cal Ripken's last season. I love the ballpark, even though getting out of there was a big-time clusterf*, just below the old Foxboro Stadium on the clusterf list (I have not been to Gillette Stadium so I won't comment about leaving there).

Now, as a lifelong Red Sox fanatic, I cannot wait to see my team in Camden Yards. I understand that so many Sox fans either live in the area/travel from New England to the games that they turn the park into essentially Fenway Park South. Jim Rome had a half segement devoted to this last year, when David Wells got a standing ovation after leaving the game, even though he was the visiting team's starting pitcher. This will be the first time I experience a Sox-Os game in Baltimore for myself. I'm looking forward to it and then some. Although I must say as a baseball fan it's sad to see what mismanagement has done to the Orioles franchise. The Oriole Way doesn't exist anymore, that's for sure.

Moving Again: All Good Things Must Come To An End

For the 2.5 people who actually read this and probably know this anyway, all good things must come to an end. I moved to Denver in May of 2002: having lived in Massachusetts for all of my 27 plus years of my existence, I needed to get out on my own. Denver had what I was looking for, tons of skiing and hiking to do in my spare time, a pleasant climate, a mellow vibe, and it was a lot cheaper to live in then Boston. That last point came in really handy while I was trying to get back into the IT industry.

I did eventually make my way back into IT as a Market Systems Analyst until my market was consolidated. That's all I feel comfortable saying on a blog other than this happened weeks after I moved into the current apartment. Shit. I was able to land a temp job with the possibility of it going perm, but....

I got an email one morning from another market in my old company. Again, I don't feel comfortable saying too much, but I received, and accepted, an offer to move to Alexandria, Virginia to take my old job in a new, much larger market. I leave Denver on Tuesday afternoon after the movers leave and I take care of some final business. It will be a sad momemnt when I drive the legendary Colfax Avenue on the way out of town. However, it will be a very happy moment when I pull into Alexandria on Friday.

In a nutshell, I'm looking forward to returing to my east coast roots, although it will be tough to leave Colorado. I have a bigger and better opportunity awaiting me in Virginia. I won't be able to hike and ski as often, but if gas gets close to $3 again this summer, I'd have to practically give up hiking anyway. But you have to give up something to get something in that giant give/take relationship called life. I am relocating to take a job that I have worked and feel comfortable with in a much larger area than before (I consider it a promotion because of the market size). My family is doing cartwheels (figuratively), and I'm glad I'll be a 90 minute flight away from them as opposed to an oddesy that almost always involved circling Lake Michigan to land at O'Hare Airport for a stopover. The only regret I have about Denver is I spent too much time living on the fringes of suburbia and not enough time in city neighboorhoods like here. But I'm leaving a good situation for a better one, seeing as I had no guarantees of permanent work with benefits in Denver.

Finally, before you tell me Alexandria is a suburb, the Huntington Metro station is a mile from my apartment so I can be a city boy in 20 minutes anytime I want. :D

NFL Owners Break Off Talks To Extend CBA

As a diehard New England Patriots and NFL fan, this is not good. The NFL is my favorite of all sports, but with the talks broken off to extend the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) past 2007, there's big trouble on the horizon. A new dealine of 12:01 am ET tonight has been set for talks, but said talks are not scheduled. This is not good. First, the salary cap remains at ~ $95-6 million instead of the projected ~ $102 million. While I normally have little sympathy for millionaire athletes who have to take pay cuts or lose jobs because of cap constraints, I feel differently regarding most NFL players because their contracts, unlike other sports, are not guaranteed. The local Denver Broncos already had to get rid of three key players, including the very popular, very productive Trevor Pryce. Mike Anderson, who was still the starting running back, was cut too. Many teams are going to have to cut a lot of good players, and a lot of them may not get back in the league. I saw on ESPN yesterday that the Pats may have to cut Rodney Harrison, which scares the heck out of me.

Second, the latest word from the airwaves is the NFLPA (union) will vote to decertify, forcing an uncapped year in 2007. Not only does this likely lead to an onwer-induced lockout in 2008 after the CBA expires, but a salary cap could never be put back in once it's taken out. The cap has really helped out the NFL IMHO, it lets everyone play with equal rules. Now of course some big-market teams can generate a bit more local revenue than others, but they cannot spend millions more than others to essentially buy Super Bowl contenders. Every team has a chance to compete in the NFL, which makes it a special league.

Without a cap, I am very concerned that the NFL will turn into Major League Baseball, which I will publicly admit I might not have followed closely anymore if I had not had the Red Sox so ingrained in me after spending my formative years in Massachusetts. We don't need another baseball, every team and every market can compete in the NFL with a competent front office. Basically, as long as your manangement wasn't incompetent schmucks along the lines of the Arizona Cardinals or the 1990s Cincinnati Bengals, you can make at least a playoff run every few years. With no salary cap, only ten or so teams have the local revenue to spend at will, even with revenue sharing.

As to how all of this affects the Patriots long-term, I have a different take than you would think. Now The Krafts are certainly "big market, big bucks" owners who could spend at will and perhaps stockpile talent galore. Houston, Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, and the two New York teams if they get a new stadium, all fall into said category.

However, I don't necessarily think the Patriots would be big beneficiaries of an uncapped, free for all system. IMHO a huge competitive advantage for the Pats has been their ability to work contracts within the cap. They have done the best job in the league of creating an all for one, one for all, team first environment. While they would have more money than most franchise in a free for all environment....I am not certain that in said environment, where the $$$ can be earned anywhere, New Enlgand is quite possibly nowhere near the top of most players' destination wishes. Now they still have the recent winning reputation, but I don't see New England as attractive as say, Dallas, and many other markets, in this free for all. The media doesn't help the situation in New England either. While they will never be as virulent as they are with the Red Sox, lots of athletes don't feel like doing with the ill-tempered, "we're the story" New England media, and justifiably so, all things equal.

In short, this is not a good thing, for my team or for the league. Something may still come out of talks today, if they happen.

Finally moved out of the old apartment

It took me three freaking hours to clean out the old apartment (cue BNL song referring to an old apartment). Of course I was only planning on it taking half that long, and the maintainence guy at the place told me on Monday all they look for is a good effort after I told him I'd make a best effort to clean everything. I think the old place looks damn good except for the stove, and I even tried to clean that.

Finally, all the stuff is in my new apartment, so it can take me two weeks to put everything away. This one has 100-120 less square footage and no balcony, but I filled my car's gas tank on my Monday lunch break. Even after two trips this week to the old place, 10-15 miles away, I still have nearly 3/4 of a tank left. I like not having to fill up every week already. Not to mention the other fun stuff I talked about in a previous blog.

Yoga on hold for now

I have been thinking of taking up yoga for a couple months now. I need to get in better shape than I currently am, Wish I was more flexible, and want to engage myself in activities that will help me relax and focus more that I currently do. Therefore, yoga naturally popped into my head. There's a couple of studios right near me too. Hafta yoga been suggested to me, then power yoga. I need to do a lot more research on it before starting classes. Well, I'll have time since the "Gutt Buster" (abdominals bascially) class I went to last night kicked my ass so badly that I know I'm months away from being in yoga shape. That will give me time to start getting prepared, save some money for classes, and work towards starting something like this.

Beginner Yoga! Yeah. Suggestions appreciated. Off to another abs class tomorrow.

I moved, well almost, and it's Super Bowl time!

There's a reason why I haven't posted much recently. I moved to Northwest Denver, in the up and coming Highlands area, this weekend. Well, almost, I still have some clothes, a nightstand, and most of my cleaning stuff in the old apartment. I'm hoping to get down there before Thursday to finish the moving out job.

I love the new neighboorhood, check out what's right out my backdoor! Highlands Square rocks! If I need to eat good stuff, I have it right here. Coffee? Two great places right here. If I ever drink alcohol again, two great bars right here. If I make good on some threats :) to take up Yoga, there's a yoga center right here. This reminds me a bit of my old Davis Square stomping grounds in Somerville, MA, all that's missing is a light rail/subway stop. Not only that, but I'm just a short bike ride away from this and that park.

Super Bowl: I've changed my prediction on this game about thirty times. I really don't know what to expect, so here's my final answer: The team with the highest number under their name when the clock reads 0:00 and the quarter says 4 will win the game. I'm in a smart-assed mood today.

I'll post more about possibly taking up yoga in the near future.

I guess this is my second round playoff preview

Seattle 34, Washington 6

While waiting for the Pats game at Blake Street Tavern in Denver, I chatted with some Redskins fans at the bar. We were all intially outraged that sean taylor got a penalty but Michael Pittman didn't for hitting taylor in the head, then were furious at taylor once we saw the spitting evidence, then watched the game. I had no rooting interest, but as happy as the Skins fans were to win, the sentiment was "Seattle's gonna kick our asses." I concur. The Seahawks can score on anyone, and even the Redskins' stellar defense will give up points to them. The Redskins' can't score unless they get turnovers, which Seattle won't give them. Blowout all the way

New England 26, Denver 20

I really hope the Pats can pull this off, seeing as the Broncos are the one team in this otherwise fantastic city that I can't f*****g stand, and I've been a Pats fan my whole life. I can say with confidence that with Seymour and Bruschi back, Denver won't run at will on us like they did last time. And as well as Jake Plummer has played this year, I'll take Brady over him 365/eternity in the playoffs. Add that second corner Darrent Williams will only play in nickel coverages, and the Pats will be able to move the ball through the air. If Corey Dillon shows up so Kevin Faulk can be a 10 carries a game / change of pace / screen-catching pass, we'll run the ball enough to win.

Indianapolis 34, Pittsburgh 17

I simply cannot see the Steelers staying with Indy for four quarters. Other than Polamaulu (spelling), the secondary is very suspect, and if Ryan Diem can come back and play, Indy has the two tackles to keep the pass rush at bay. The Colts won't do it all with finesse, just balance.

Carolina 12, Chicago 9 (OT)

Or Chicago 12, Carolina 9 in overtime. I can;t fogure this one out, besides that points will be real tough to come by. The Panthers are more playoff-tested, and have many more offensive options. Okay, Steve Smith, only one of the best two or three receivers in the game. So I guess they're my pick.