State Wins

State won the football game today against Maryland. It was a must win for NCSU to become Bowl game eligible. Even though the students are gone for the Thanksgiving holiday, Carter-Finley Stadium was full and loud.

Marcus Hudson had 2 interceptions, 1 for a touchdown and the second ended Maryland's last minute drive to score and possibly win the game. It was a really exciting game, although again, State's offense was missing in the first half.

The NCSU - Maryland game has been close and with a lot of emotion the last few years. State won last year at Maryland. The year before, Maryland won here in Raleigh with a last minute drive and a fight. Today, the players were pretty hot with some extra pushing and shoving after the plays. Lot's of flags and personal fouls.

CK, E, and JN went to the game with me like last week. Chip was late getting off work but we weren't too late for the game. In fact, you could hear the opening kick off as we drove in the parking lot.

Then again, we sat in the truck in the parking lot for a while just talking before we went into the game. Used to be, we (at least I) would be frantic we missed the National Anthem, watching the team run onto the field, kickoff, etc. Nowadays, things like parking, listening to the game on the radio and falling into casual conversation just happens.

An aside - CK was surprised to learn my nephew, AH has neither read or heard of the book Ishmael. I discovered this little tid bit over Thanksgiving. AH has strong moral values about people, animals, life, etc. He's not one who pushes his values on others, he just quietly goes about living his life and raising his family according to what he believes is right. DH is also always ahead of the curve with information about politics, culture, and such so that's why CK and I are suprised he hasn't heard of the book. I will drop off my copy of Ishmael for him to read. Then again, I hope he doesn't exactly join the cult . . . . . lol

Since I've decided to refrain from embedding links in this journal (so many get broken so frequently) - to find AH's web log - search for the blog "Cultural Confusion", or check comments on this journal for a back track. He's a very good writer and is worth reading.

Got home and fixed spaghetti with a veggie sauce. I had some yellow, red, and orange bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms left over from an earlier meal so I just saute'd that up with some olive oil and tossed in some lemon juice and tarragon for extra taste. It's really good. I'm eating while I write this.

Kind of tired, I may go to bed soon even though it's only 18:00. Even though we sit on our butts watching, going to a football game is an all day event and tiring. Leave the house at 10:00 to meet up with the gang at 11:00 (although CK is always guaranteed to be late). Get to Carter-Finley for the noon kickoff. Game is over by 15:00 or 15:30. By the time we get back to the Mall parking lot and home - it's been an 8 hour day almost.

No plans for Sunday. I will probably just laze around the house, do a little cleaning, and read.

Thanksgiving Friday 2005 - Addendum

JN is a friend of mine. His house is at the far north-west side of Durham. JN is stationed at Ft. Bragg which is a solid 3 hour commute from his house with traffic, base check points, etc. Since the drive from my house to Ft. Bragg is just over an hour, JN often stays here during the week and some weekends as well. He gets up at 04:30 daily to be at PT formation at 06:00.

My commute to work in downtown Raleigh is 45 minutes. The price must be paid if you want to live in the country.

So anyway, this is what a hard charging, kick-arse, Defender of Freedom, hell raising, 13-year Veteran of Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq One, et. al, Airborne Mutha NCO looks like on Friday afternoon at 14:00 after 2 WHOLE BEERS! Paaaaaarty!

If anyone deserves to Stand Down for a while, it's JN.

I'm gonna head outside to do a little yard work so as not to disturb him.

BTW - JN first talked me into jumping a couple years ago. Search Raeford Parachute Center for their web site. It's the most awesome insane thing! The human mind most assuredly, absolutely, completely and totally rebels against the idea of going out the door. But when you do . . . . . . LOL.

Keep aware of your altimeter and DON'T FORGET TO PULL!

Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving was a quick trip.

Friday 06:15 - Went to NoVa early Thursday morning. Dinner with the family that afternoon. I'm at Dulles airport waiting for my 07:00 flight back to Raleigh.

It's always good to see the family, even for quick visits. M, as usual, cooked too much. She always wants to make sure she has something for everyone. I'd fix just a couple of things and if people didn't want to eat it, directions to McDonalds. LOL

I really wish M wouldn't work so hard to do so much. But, she ignores all suggestions in that area.

Nephew ACD is a blast! He is one happy camper and is getting to the age where he's communicating coherently and loves to play. Newest nephew WDDD is at a cool age too. He watches everything and loves to laugh. He is also getting his first 2 bottom teeth so he latches onto your fingers and tries to gum you to death.

CF and her sister YF came down from NYC, Brooklyn to be precise. CF started spending summers with M&C back when she was 12 or so. Now CF is all grown up, starting her working career, and she brought her little sister YF down for Thanksgiving. YF is a freshman at Binghamton University (SUNY?). This is YF's first trip to the DC area. CF is working this weekend for a family friend's UPS store helping out during the holiday rush. Brother-in-law, CH, is going to take YF sight seeing.

Calling my flight, I'll pick this back up when I get to NC.

09:15 - Back in NC, in the customer lounge at CrossRoads Ford in Cary. Just finished sending BA some high resolution photo's from ADDD's Christening. The files were large, 1.6 Meg each. I had to send each photo she requested individually.

Flight was practically empty and quick. So empty the flight attendent let passengers spread out and sit anywhere. Since I was shutting down the laptop, most got onboard before me. I was assigned seat 2A but a guy, with a carry on bag in the other seat, had already snagged it.

I went to the back and sat in an exit row seat.

Anyway, I'm here at the Ford place getting the radio / cd unit in the truck replaced. It's been suffering intermittent failure for over a year now and has finally quit ejecting cd's altogether.

Should be done in about an hour.

Talk about timing - as I'm typing the above sentence, the service rep came up. They have to order a replacement unit so I'm ready to go. Will have to bring the truck back in when the replacement radio arrives to have it slapped into the dash. He said they can't get the cd's to eject - but the old radio will be sent to where ever they send them and the cd's will be removed and mailed back to me.

Hmmm - up at 05:00, traveled from DC to NC, ran an errand for N, got the truck fixed (well, almost), and now ready to head home at 10:15.

Pretty productive day so far!

12:10 - Back home in the greater Moncure metro area.

Tomorrow, final NCSU football game vs Maryland. Winner goes to a bowl game. Loser stays home.

Go Wolfpack!

Nothing New

Nothing new.

Really, seriously, nothing worth reporting.

Going to sister (MH) and brother-in-law's (CH) for Thanksgiving. Flying to Northern Virginia on Thanksgiving Day and returning to Raleigh the next day.

There is a price to pay for waiting till the last minute to purchase airline tickets!

However, while on line getting tickets for Thursday and Friday, I checked airline ticket prices for Christmas. I assumed that prices would be exorbitant.

Surprised to be able to get tickets for Christmas for $93.30!

Thank you United Airlines!

Work this week was very typical.

Rather than bore you (the reader) with much adu about nothing, I'll keep this entry brief.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving with the family.

The Airplane was Gone from the Roadside

Saturday was a long day.

First thing I did was a load of laundry, then left for breakfast and the NCSU vs Middle Tennessee State University football game.

CK, JN, CK's new girlfriend E, and I all met up at Cary Towne Center Mall and drove from there to the game.

State's season has been a disappointment. We should have had a great year, with whispers of being a possible dark horse for a BCS bowl.

Didn't happen.

After a great opening game with a close loss to Virginia Tech, the Wolfpack offense has sputtered all year. But, there have been bright spots. We have a bunch of talented running backs and a true freshman, Andre Brown, has stepped up and is going to be someone to keep your eye on. Our defense is really really good.

Today's game started out worrisome. NCSU offense had the ball only 3 minutes in the first quarter. But after that we got rolling. Won the game 24 - 3.

State must beat Maryland next week in our last game to qualify for a bowl game. Maryland is in the same situation. They must win to qualify for a bowl game. Should be quite a contest.

CK's new girlfriend, E, is really sweet and a cutie as well. JN became quite infatuated and, helped along with a little beer, invited her to next weeks final game. I didn't have anybody else in mind for next week's fourth ticket so that's cool. I think this was E's first college football game. I hope she had a good time. The crowd was kind of light this week but the final game should have a packed and emotional stadium.

Had tickets for NCSU basketball this weekend as well. The Hispanic Fund Invitational with 2 games Friday, 2 games Saturday and 2 games Sunday. I had a lot of stuff to do this weekend and knew I wouldn't be able to make the games. Friday's tixs went to CK & E, Saturday's games went to the kid who cuts my lawn, and I met up with a co-worker, MH, at the football game to give him today's (Sunday) tix.

Just as we were driving back to the mall after the game, my nephew, DH, called. He needed a lift to the rental car agency to pick up a vehicle to make a one way trip to NYC. Since I was already in Cary, the timing was perfect. After dropping off C and E, N and I drove over to D's house and took him to the airport. D had a new jazz cd which we played. But, the damn cd player jammed and wouldn't eject the cd. This has happened before but the stereo has always recovered and spit out the disc. Not this time.

N, who by now was pretty drunk from beer all day, decided he could un-jam the cd using a house key along with alternating finesse and brute force. Alcohol + house key + jammed cd player: That's a recipe for success! LOL

Truck goes to the Ford place next week to get the stereo replaced.

On the way home, late, about 21:00, I saw a TV truck on US 1 freeway by the side of the road. It was next to a small private airplane that was parked on the roadside (out of the way of traffic).

That's not something you see everyday.

Saw on the news report later, the plane had made an emergency landing on the highway earlier in the day.

This morning I ran errands, grocery shopping, framed a photo, and am now doing another load of laundry. Plus, I've got guests coming over later to burn some hamburgers on the grill. I'm writing this post in between laundry loads and I need to wrap it up.

On the way into town this morning, the airplane was gone from the roadside.

[Me and JN at NCSU vs MTSU - taken by CK]

Morrow Mountain State Park

Morrow Mountain State Park is in the central Piedmont part of North Carolina.

My parents used to take me camping there starting when I was around 8 years old. It's always been one of my favorite places.

Most park buildings, campgrounds and roads were constructed in the late 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The main lodge and headquarters building was built in 1938. I remember as a kid thinking it was one of the greatest places I had ever been in. It's nothing near the grandeur of the massive lodges of the western US National Parks, but for a state park, it was, and still is, darn nice. The walls are field stone and rough hewn wood. Wide plank floors and interior walls; large front porch and back porch; steep roof; and a very large slate patio in the back.

My job inspecting state owned buildings took me there yesterday. On prior inspections, the lodge was noted as needing a lot of restoration and repair work. Serious damage was noted due to termites and water damage to the floors and sill plates. The roof needed replacing. And the previous inspections only noted items needed to keep the building from further deterioration.

I was pleased to find that the lodge had undergone a complete restoration. All the structural, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing problems were fixed or equipment replaced. And the building structure and envelope systems have all been restored and upgraded.

The floors are beautiful. Windows and doors have been replaced with thermal efficient units made to fit the architecture of the building. The new roof looks great. All interior fixtures were either restored or replaced with period style fixtures.

The total renovation cost around $600,000.

It was money well spent.

Too add to the pleasure of seeing the restoration, the leaves turning colors are peaking right now in this part of North Carolina. The roads are winding in the low Uwharrie mountains and you drive through a mad mixture of yellow, orange, and red leaves. Plus, the weather is unseasonably warm. On days like yesterday, my job rocks!

Today's work took me to the Southern Correctional Institute; a medium custody women's prison and a minimum custody men's unit; along with inspecting the Department of Transportation maintenance compound.

Not quite as nice as inspecting park buildings. But still, some of the older structures are in very good shape and it's nice to see the workmanship that went into construction of some of the older buildings.

The two medium custody prisons I've had to inspect this week were larger regional facilities. Each was over 200,000 square feet. Plus additional buildings within the compounds. These take a lot of time and effort to do a complete job. This week also included 3 minimum custody compounds, numerous NC DoT compounds and individual offices, the park, and a National Guard Armory. Tomorrow will be a historical site education center and a university field research complex.

Getting out of the office and into the field is nice. But, it's non-stop physical work with a lot of walking and climbing (on roofs for example). Usually as the week progresses, like today, I'm getting pretty beat.

I'm too tired to go out and get something to eat.

There's a banana and apple on the dresser from this morning's hotel breakfast and some milk in the mini-fridge.

Looks like dinner to me.

First Entry In My Online Blog

Blog . . .

I really don't like trendy things, including language. Although blog is going to become a mainstream word, I prefer journal.

So - I'm in my motel room in Albemarle, NC. It's about 18:00 and I'm trying to productively use the time to get a journal started. There's not much to do after hours when traveling for my job. Most locations are in the rural areas of NC.

I always try and visit the local downtown and walk around when on the road. Surprisingly, NC's small towns seem to be undergoing a revival of sorts. Lumberton, Albemarle, Raeford for example - all have new small shops and restaurants opening up in their once empty town centers.

Had dinner tonight in a great place called Pontiac Pointe in Albemarle. Located in a former Pontiac dealership in a building from the 1930's. The staff told me over $1.5M had been spent renovating the building into a restaurant. I believe it. The place is awesome. And the food and service was as good as in any urban area. Only difference, my meal cost a whopping total of $17.00 including a glass of wine and tip!

Shrimp and snow peas with Cappelini; soup (instead of salad - different); sourdough bread with the usual olive oil and basalmic vinegar; house white.

This meal would have easily been over $30.00 in Raleigh.

Here's their web site: Pontiac Pointe

They've been open a year.

I hope they make it.