Oh What A Day

I got a comment, I got a comment!

I like getting comments. Thanks bearash. Oh, and nice name by the way. All you other readers out there, get to commenting!

Work tonight just absolutely _ _ _ _! We had a big screw up in which the guy responsible for doing a certain thing 'forgot' to do it and it has ended up having a pretty big customer impact, and of course, me being the manager, I have to deal with the repercussions and try to explain to them why we 'forgot.' It's amazing, really.

Also, another funny at work today, and I have hundreds of these. I was actually approached tonight and asked by one of my associates if they could take a leave of absence. Upon inquiring why, I found it was for personal reasons. To be more specific, the associate is trying to have a child. I don't have any problems with that whatsoever - so I asked how long she needed. She said three months. A bit long I thought, until she told me she needed that long in order to find a father. In her words exactly, she needed a baby daddy. A great employee, and a noble reason to want personal time, but it kind of caught me off guard, and when you work at a job like I do, that doesn't happen very often; when it does, it's worth blogging about.

I basically am sitting here posting after such a hellacious night because I need to relax before trying to sleep, and I enjoy blogging. I want to be playing my banjo right now, but I don't think I have the energy and I know I don't have the capacity to concentrate on Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

One last thing....The Braves took first place tonight with a big win over the Nationals - the We-Used-To-Be-In-First-team.

Go Braves!

An Inspiring History - Sort Of

I just sat down to write a post about the weekend, and found I wasn't much inspired nor in the mood to be posting. Instead I just went through some of my old postings and was finding myself quite amused.

There's the one about Brody (misspelled) being so affectionate. That went out the window. He is still very nice, but he is more rough and tumble than what I would call affectionate. At any rate, it was great to look back on getting Brody. Then there was the time the gnat smacked me in the eye and ended a would-be great bike ride. I had to revisit old vacations in which I didn't do a thing, and the New York trip was great too. I won't ramble, you can read them if you want.

The most interesting thing to me about my blog is that I'm finding it to be somewhat of a highlight reel of the past year. It's fun to go back and look what I was doing, thinking, and writing about at any particular time. Like the gnat in the eye post, I hadn't remembered that was the same day as the B-day party. It sounds silly, but it amused me for quite some time and I enjoy reading back through my blogistory.

Still not being in much of the mood to post, I started playing around on the dashboard's 'recently noticed' list. I particularly liked the one with the drawings, Eyes Wide Apart. A, you will really enjoy that one. So, with the inspiration of several other bloggers and a comtemporary history of my blog under my belt, I decided to quit being lazy and jot down a few words.

The weekend was pretty good. A's family came to town and we tinkered around the city for a few days. Of course my weekend didn't start until Saturday as I wasn't able to leave work until after midnight. So, in the morning we began to get ready for a day's fun. While A's dad - we'll call him Dr. J - and I had been ready for some time and while A and her mother had just began the odyssey of "getting ready," we decided to split up and meet for lunch once they were finished. Yes, I said lunch, and yes, it takes that long. WE ended up going to a really cool little music shop and checking out this and that, and killed a little time before meeting up with A and Miss P for lunch at a Quizno's. After that we headed to Barnes and Noble, and then we headed back to the apartment to drop off my car and relax a bit. Then we went to see Wedding Crashers, again. It was just as funny this time as it was the first. After that we went up to the local mall and then out to eat at a really great Mexican restaurant. Good beer, good food, good margaritas, and great cheese cake. After the big meal we ended up coming back to the pad and falling asleep to the Braves game - they won in the 9th! Andruw went yard.

As Dr. J and Miss P were on their way to the beginning of a week-long vacation, they left early in the morning. That left A and I to do not much all day. We ate lunch at Chili's, enjoyed the 2-for-1 drinks and ended up going to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and liked it. It wasn't quite as entertaining as Wedding Crashers but was definitely worth paying the matinee price to go see. We had a good time. Then we came home and laid around on the couch, watched The Sopranos, and A is now in bed.

What in the world is up with the weather? If one word could describe the weekend in summary it would be damnhot. It was over 90 before 10 am.

Ok, ok, I'll stop. End of post.

Whew! I Need A Break After That Break

We had a pretty fun and busy weekend. After finally getting off work Friday night around 11pm D and I headed over to the Fri. night spot and put a few back. We also met up with a guy we used to work with who has moved to a different company, so that was really cool too.

A had been at the Kenny Cheeeeesssey concert with R who was in town for J's dad's wedding. A & R swung by the spot after the cheesney concert and had a few beers before we all headed back to the apartment. After all the drinking, talking, and drinking, it was nearly 4 am before I was asleep.

That created a problem. Me, making the ASSumption that since it had been raining for three straight days, was predicted to rain all weekend, and was currently pouring, was wrong in thinking our Sat. 7:30 am tee time would not happen. Oh yeah, the course is an hour away. At any rate, I made it to play with a couple of guys from work (one boss by the way) and one of their friends. It was great to ride with the 'boss' who isn't really my boss as he works in the other building. He is new to the area having just transferred from Dallas, and seems to be a great guy. I hadn't even had much of any kind of conversation with him before Saturday.

After the round from hell with the rain, crappy play, and soaked feet, I came back to the apartment and crashed for a couple of hours. During that time A & R solidified our plans for the rest of the day. I woke up, showered, got dressed and we all headed downtown to watch the second half of the AAA baseball game. On the way we stopped at a local pizza restaurant and gorged ourselves - that ended up being another mistake. We met up with a lot of J's friends and family (the wedding, remember?) and they all of course wanted BBQ - so we had to go to that famous one in the alley.....I couldn't resist getting ribs despite having been stuffed to the gills already.

Then they wanted to go out. Now you can imagine, after four hours of sleep, a golf round, and all this socializing I was ready to drop. We went to the strip. It ended up being pretty fun. I was tired, but it was with people whom I don't see very often and I had a great time at the piano bar. Damn it was hot though. I ended up meeting some really cool people and actually found out we have some mutual friends - which is always nice.

Sunday was the recover day. We woke up and didn't do much. R had to leave before returning to her city to eat lunch with J and A & I sat around and didn't do much until heading to see a movie. By the way, no joke, Wedding Crashers has got to be the funniest movie I've seen all year - GO SEE IT if you like comedy at all. Then we headed to eat Thai food, which was good. After that we came home and watched a TV movie that ended up being pretty entertaining - but cheesey.

So, that's the weekend. I once again wrote too much, but in my defense it was a very busy weekend.

Pickin'

I've recently discovered a new hobby....but not actually new. I've been fiddling around with a banjo for a couple of years without having ever really taken the first step (other than learning 2 chords) as to how to play it.

So, on a whim, I was surfing the internet and stumbled across a neat site called Banjo Hangout. I followed various links and ended up printing off a series of beginning lessons, at three different levels. I did them all in two days! I loved it. When I ran out of material I went back to the Web and found another cool site, playbetterbluegrass.com. From there I picked out a Banjo for Beginners DVD. The DVD has proven surprisingly effective and I've already learned how to play a relatively famous song, "Banjo in the Hollow." Needless to say, I can't play it like the Dillards quite just yet.

I'm really excited about finally learning to play. It's something I've always wanted to do, and now that I'm finally doing it, it seems as if that's all I want to do at all. I wake up and start playing, go to work, come home and start playing until I go to bed. Repeat.

Well, that's all the news I've got for now, check out the bluegrass links if you're interested and until next time.....keep pickin' as they say.

Crazy Week

What in the world is going on, literally? First we have all the bombings in London for the G8 summit, then we have the terrible news of the man who abducted the girl from Idaho, NASA blew up something, and a Supreme Court Justice, no not that one, has retired, and two hurricanes have slammed into Florida, again.

For what it's worth, I think we've had enough crazy stuff happen lately. I just got back from vacation and am finding out what I missed is all this? The most maddening, however, is that on such a world scene as G8, our president is making headlines by his NOT agreeing to what the rest of the world knows - that science has proven we are globally warming and it is time to react. He doesn't even agree the world is getting hotter! I guess it never snowed in Texas anyway, whatever.

The good news, the Braves just swept the Cubs yesterday and have extended their league-leading winning streak to five games, and in so doing have pulled to within two and a half games of the Nationals. A small bit of comfort given the rest of the news.

A Good Vacation

Well, it has obviously been a while since my last post; I have been on vacation (see pictures below) and have not had access to the internet. Yes, that is still possible - and is quite refreshing once you make yourself go without. So, while the rest of the world argued over supreme court justices, President Bush, and the situation in Iraq, I enjoyed my absence from those very topics in the hills of East Tennessee.

As you can see, part of my vacation, and definitely the highlight, was a hike up Mt. LeConte, capped off by a night's stay at LeConte Lodge, located on the top of the beautiful mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The lodge is amazing, and has been in existence since the early '30s. Click on the link to find out.

I was accompanied by my mother, who makes the trek on one of five trails ranging from 5.5 miles to over 13 miles up Mt. LeConte twice a year, and also A, who was a LeConte Rookie. We had a blast, and along the way were greeted by various animals from Boomer Squirrels, deer, and mice to nagging gnats and spiders' webs. It was definitely a relaxing trip and was absolutely wonderful to get away from everything and enjoy a quiet mountain top with no electricity (except for limited solar power in the Kitchen), cell phones, emails, nor any other technology.

Taking the entire week off, I was able to enjoy 10 entire days without having to work. I made the eight-hour drive home Saturday. Saturday night I hung around Knoxville with ol' college buddies and went to Barley's, where we enjoyed entertainment by the Goose Creek Symphony This band is way fun and awesome. As a result of their performance I am definitely buying up all I can find of their music.

Sunday morning my father and I enjoyed a wonderful round of golf, then my grandmother had us all over for a cookout Sunday night. Great food, fun golf, a family dinner, and all in all a great way to kick off a vacation.

Monday through Wednesday I pretty much kicked it at home with mom, and spent my afternoons visiting my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew Aiden, who is also pictured below doing one of his favorite of three things he can now do. He's just beautiful - good job sis!

Thursday I headed back up to Knoxville to meet up with A and head into Gatlinburg for a night's stay before the hike up LeConte on Friday. Saturday we hiked down the mountain and made our way back to my mother's house and visited my father and grandmother.

Sunday we made the trek back west and along the way decided to make a road trip out of it. We weren't very successful. The 'outlet mall' we stopped at was not much more than a warehouse with a few stores in it, and the Shiloh battlefield we wanted to visit was 51 miles off the interstate - so much for the road trip.

Despite the road trip failure, the vacation was absolutely awesome, and I've posted some pictures below in an attempt to document some of it, although that probably isn't possible. At any rate, vacations are great, and now I'm all relaxed and ready to get back to the grind. Yesterday was my first day back and it was surprisingly bearable. What's up with that?

View From Clifftops at LeConte

View From Clifftops at LeConte
Originally uploaded by frobinso.

A Sunset view near the top of Mt. Leconte, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Alum Cave

Alum Cave
Originally uploaded by frobinso.

A view of Alum Cave on the hike up to Leconte.

Lunch!

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Originally uploaded by frobinso.

Baby Aiden gets post-safari dinner.

Cade's Cove

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Originally uploaded by frobinso.

As one of the Smokies most popular spots, Cade's Cove receives 2 million visitors per year, and they all come for views such as these.

This picture was taken by my mother, and is one of my alltime favorite images.

Sunset At LeConte

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Originally uploaded by frobinso.

A short hike from the top of LeConte to an area named "Clifftops" is a favorite for watching the sun's daily retirement.

Boomer Squirrel

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Originally uploaded by frobinso.

This Boomer Squirrel has become a bit too comfortable with human contact. This picture was taken at Inspiration Point on Alum Cave Trail heading to LeConte, where hikers frequently stop for a snack break.

Eating fallen crumbs, the squirrels have learned that humans mean food, and have become so tame that one actually sat on my shin while I was eating a nutri-bar. Although it is quite entertaining, this behavior can mean big trouble for the little boomers.

The Lodge

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Originally uploaded by frobinso.

This is a view of LeConte Lodge, nicely situated on the top of Mt. LeConte; elev. 6,593 ft.

The lodge is frequently blanketed with fast-moving clouds/fog. A few minutes after taking this photo the sun returned.

Duckhawk Ridge

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Originally uploaded by frobinso.

A view of Duckhawk Ridge on the hike up Mt. LeConte. A "duckhawk" is the regional name for the Peregrine Falcon. The awesome bird has been making a successful return to the Smokies since the 70's.