Alright, who called the cops?

This Saturday night, I went to a party with some friends...it was great, even Dwight and Angela (The Office) showed up!




As you can see, they were very happy to be there and clearly they got dressed up for the occasion.

I was a bit sad for them since so few recognized who they were. Some thought Dwight was just a "computer nerd" and Angela was just a "librarian"...they even started singing "Hot for Teacher" despite Dwight's objections...


The party got out of hand at that point and the cops had to be called .

As you can see, the cops in Virginia are very different than the cops in San Diego. Not sure how they get all of them to dress like that, but I bet Steve might not have left the SDPD if he got to wear outfits like that for work each day!!!




Luckily for everyone at the party and with the help of an off-duty pimp, Dwight and the Madam Police Officer were able to finally subdue the ruckus, return an escaped prisoner to his cell and Dwight fulfilled his duty as Volunteer Deputy Sheriff and Assistant to the Regional Manager.

I can hear myself getting fatter

After some chicken noodle soup and 7-Up, some soothing Earl, 30-Rock, The Office, and Scrubs, my sick friend was feeling a lot better. Sure, it was 10pm and it was time to sleep, but more important things were calling.

A quick change of clothes, we grabbed 2 forks and headed out the door. Food Lion was beckoning. We had a hankering for some Ice Cream.

10 mins later we are standing in the frozen novelty aisle staring...holy moly batman, how many flavors are there? Root beer float, snickers, checkered, Carmel Pretzel, cookie jar, M&M's, Twix, fried ice cream and a whole host of other frozen tempting treats to satisfy. We settled on two old friends:

Proceeded out the door, into the car and we drove to our next destination...the top of the parking structure.

Across the street from my apartment complex is a 5-story parking garage...the views are pretty nice and at night the roof is empty. So that is where we went...and proceeded to pick out cookie dough pieces and munch on Oreo Cookie ice cream. I felt like I was a 5 year old getting a treat.

------------------------------------------------------

In case you are wondering, Ice Cream really does taste better when eaten with a fork.

------------------------------------------------------

Congratulations to Josie and Damien on the birth of their new daughter Cassie. Two of my favorite people bringing a little one into the world...

-----------------------------------------------------

Rain on the East Coast is very different from the rain I am used to San Diego. There seems to be a lot more of it...it comes down very hard...it is warm when it rains. How weird.

-----------------------------------------------------

Next week, we should see more of this from Jonathon Papelbon, the Red Sox closer. I expect them to win 2 of the next 3 games and celebrate another World Series win. Now that is what I call a celebration! Paging Michael Flatley.

Mmm, mmm, good...

The world became a happier place today.

As I was perusing my local Food Lion for shredded cheese, dishwasher detergent, and the most recent issue of Teen People, I was stopped in my tracks by the most tasty thing I have seen since I left the land of fruits and nuts...

This little bit of heaven was just sitting there, calling my name. Yes, it is Coffee-Mate Peppermint Mocha. A small tear just fell as I wrote that.

Have you ever wanted to taste perfection?

Just brew your favorite cup of java...preferably with a french press, but a drip machine will work fine...add in Peppermint Mocha Coffee-Mate (yet another tear) and just feel your taste buds flutter.

It is only available in the fall/winter and that is such a shame. I have known people that buy this stuff by the case full and freeze it, just so they can have it year round. I have not been one of "those" people, but I may graduate to that level of devotion without proper guidance and restraint.

Coffee-Mate made my heart leap today. Just thought I should share.

GO SOX!

Fire update and more...

Well, James and Sabra have headed back home, despite the Mandatory Evacuation Orders still being in effect for their neighborhood..."The humidity is up, it is 20 degrees cooler, and the wind is blowing inland" he says.

Steve, Stacey and the girls are out of their home...or maybe they are back in. You can follow their experience here. Stacey even put some pictures up.

If you are interested in road closures, evacuation orders, and general happenings in the SD fires, here is a constantly updated blog from SignOnSanDiego...makes me wonder how Sarah (she works for SignOn) and Dan are doing.

While we are at it, I mentioned yesterday that I had some things I was reading and put links, but I provided no information...So if you scroll down, you will see the first link is...oh you can probably figure it out on your own...I trust you. You can handle things, you are smart!

I found this today as I was sipping my second cup-of-joe...a little bitter after sitting in the french press for a couple of hours...The link is a constant running of pictures being added, in real time, to blogger.com. I guess the story behind it is:

"Shortly after Blogger launched photo uploading two years ago, one of our engineers whipped up a web page that would show us the pictures that were being uploaded in real time. The result was fun, often beautiful, but above all, compelling. We couldn’t stop watching.Over the years we’ve kept this photo scroller as part of the Blogger offices, on a monitor or projector, as an interesting (distracting?) slideshow, and a reminder of the diversity and vivaciousness of Blogger blogs. The fame of the scroller spread within Google, until one day we were asked, “so, when are you launching this?”“Um...,” we replied. But we knew a good idea when we heard one. We got our UI people to come up with buttons and fadey effects and we got our engineers to make the whole thing fast and robust. "

It is cool. I like seeing some of the pictures that are important to people. If you see an interesting one, you can click on it and you will be taken to the corresponding blog post. If you want more in depth info, you can read the FAQ's here.

Yes, I promise more pictures are coming soon. My lawyer is still approving all of them and she is really back-logged. She promises to have the copyright issue and all legal mumbo-jumbo cleared and will let me post my photos before long...until then, enjoy this random piece of art:

PS...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANET OWENS!

5am back East...

The buzzer goes off at 5am...I thought that was early on the West Coast, but it is WAY earlier on the East Coast...I think the bars were just closing in San Diego when I woke up...no wonder I did not see any cabs.

To Run.

You were wondering why I was up at 5am. It was to run. I can hear what you are thinking.

Yes, I am fully dressed as I am writing this. Stop asking questions and read.

The world is a little different at 5am.

It is still dark outside (the lack of street lamps here is a bit disturbing)...the coffee cart lady is not as chipper as she is at 8am (I also notice that her facial tick is not as pronounced)...their are not cars driving by with any regularity (although I love to see the vacuum truck drive by and suck up the leaves)...

It is quiet.

No birds chirping, no horns honking, no ferry boat steam blows...just quiet. It is nice. The quiet is nice.

I recommend it once in a while. Not everyday. And not necessarily to run (that makes it hard), but just once in a while, go to bed a little early, set the alarm for 5am, get up, and go spend sometime in the neighborhood. You might be surprised at how quiet it is.

So trivial...

I am sitting here ready to give you guys a little update...some links to the blogs I am reading...the way I spent my Monday night...the first beer drink I have ever enjoyed...even some photos, but it just seems so trivial when I am watching San Diego news and seeing my stomping grounds burning. I know a few who have been evacuated, including my brother. The good news is that his house is not in harms way yet, but since the city may not be able to provide emergency services, he and his wife have been asked to leave. Very inconvenient, but better than the alternative. So far so good for most of my friends and family. Some discomfort, but no major loss yet.

Praying for all of you back home...OC, SD, LA...looks like it will be a long week.

Edit at 1134am Eastern...here is a link of resources and discussion about the fires in SD.

Is it Monday already? Sheesh...

Sure, I might have fallen asleep at 930pm on Friday, but it is amazing how busy things can be when you only know 2 or 3 people in town and weekend comes around...I needed to be well rested!


Saturday morning started with a 10-mile run along the Virginia Beach boardwalk. Pretty cool place with ice-cream shops (What, I got hot), 7-11's (dude, a slurpee at mile 6 is imperative), and fried fish places (c'mon, you don't expect me to run 10-miles without a snack, do you?). I actually was surprised at how well I held up. I figured that I would be close to death at the end, but it turns out I still had energy to go see Tiki the Turtle given her freedom.



Tiki, a turtle barely alive...Gentlemen, we can rebuild her. We have the technology; we have the capability to make the world's first bionic turtle. Tiki will be that turtle. Better than she was before. Better, stronger, faster.

Okay, so she was not really the Six Million Dollar Man, but the VAB Aquarium did rescue her from the clutches of death back in July, nurse her back to health, then returned her to the sea on Saturday. It was a pretty cool thing to see this 325lb turtle being pulled out of the truck and released. If you have any interest, you can read about Tiki and she can be tracked here.

Saturday night also had me out on the town at a charity function with the VA Beach Aquarium. While not really the fancy type (I preferred my fried grouper and catfish lunch over the cold coconut encrusted chicken dinner), it actually was a lot of fun and gave me yet another excuse to wear my new suit and fancy Allen Edmonds...you know, the shoes that make me dance really well.

Sunday had church, a trip to the pumpkin patch for my 30lb pumpkin, and then over to some friends for Sunday night football and Game 7 of the ALCS. Good times were had by all and, despite ending after midnight, it was very fun to stay up late and watch the Sox advance.

From CA to VA...Bogarting in P Towne

Why would a San Diego native and SoCal junkie pick up and leave everything behind to move across the country...and why P-Towne (Olde Towne Portsmouth) exactly? Well, let me answer your question with a question...What two things make a man pick up and leave everything he knows and is comfortable with?

Queue Jeopardy music.....

What is his job or a woman, Alex?

That is correct sir.

For the record, I did not change jobs. ;-)

And since just about everyone I know lives 3000 miles away on the left coast, this seems like a great way to document my time and share it with those who want to live vicariously through me or something...So check back from time to time...I will update at least once per week, probably more often, at least at the beginning. I will make sure there are pictures regularly. More than likely this will be terribly boring for anyone who stumbles across this, but if you have lasted reading this long, then maybe the rest will be fun.

Who links to me?