Things that make you go hmm

You are Girly Jake

You enjoy all the things that guys normall don't.
Chick flicks, talking about your problems,
clothing, color combinations, cooking, etc.
Sometimes you think that this will help you
with the ladies, but then reality sinks in and
you realize that it just distances you from the
guys, and makes the girls think you're
Gaaayyyyyy!

You can go to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87347281@N00/ to
see a better pic.


What kind of Jake are you?
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IT'S GAMEDAY!!!

It's that time of year. Everyone has stuffed their guts on Thanksgiving and trashed talked before, during, and after the big meal. Tech vs. U(sic)GA at 8:00 pm on ABC (if you're not in this big blue area on the map). I'm pumped, it'll be my first game in ATL this year and getting to see friends makes it even better. It's all about "Clean, Old Fashioned Hate".

The Technique's annual To Hell With Georgia edition

Turkey Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your's.

Home again home again jiggity jig

Got home at 3:30 AM and it is nice to have a few days off from work and see everyone.

Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays,
For no matter how far away you roam -
When you long for the sunshine of a friendly gaze,
For the holidays - you can’t beat home, sweet home!

I met a man who lives in Tennessee, and he was headin’ for
Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie;
From Pennsylvania folks are travelin’ down to Dixie’s sunny shore;
From Atlantic to Pacific -
Gee, the traffic is terrific!

Oh there's no place like home for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how far away you roam -
If you want to be happy in a million ways,
For the holidays - you can’t beat home, sweet home

I met a man who lives in Tennessee and he was headin’ for
Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie;
From Pennsylvania folks are travelin’ down to Dixie’s sunny shore;
From Atlantic to Pacific -
Gee, the traffic is terrific!

Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how far away you roam -
If you want to be happy in a million ways,
For the holidays - you can’t beat home, sweet home!
For the holidays - you can't beat home, sweet home!
- "Home for the Holidays" The Carpenters

All the Jolly Good Fellows

Today started off not that great, see previous post about the leaf blower and then I got a terrible haircut at my normal barbershop in Carrboro (not my normal barber though). It's way too short, but the good thing about hair is that it'll grow back. So after this morning I met Katie and Joel at Mill Creek where we both have siblings living so we figured we could park there for the day's festivities. We walked up the hill to Franklin Street and then ate some great pizza at Pepper's. After that we walked by New East so I could see it's new off white and historically accurate paint job and then through Tar Heel Town on the way to the game. We found pretty good seats that had some sun to take a little of the chill out of the air and had a great time. As is usually expected in a rivalry game there was quite a bit of extracurricular activity and many penalties. Carolina ended up winning 24-21 and it looked like Duke would pull it out until a last minute INT. After the game we headed to the new Rams Head parking deck/gym/dinning hall/arcade/restaurant/green building for dinner. After dinner it was to the NCAA 3rd round womens soccer game between UNC and Pepperdine. UNC won 6-0 and completely manhandled Pepperdine. It was amazing watching UNC's mad skills. Another after, after the game we headed back to Mill Creek and departed after a beautiful and fun day of Carolina sports. I arrived back at my apartment during halftime of the Tech vs. Miami game and was surprised to see that we were still in it against the #3 team in the country. Despite our best efforts to give the win away on special teams our defensive stepped up big time and the offensive did well too and we WON!!!! AND AT MIAMI!!!! Oh man that was great. If this post isn't that well written and is disjointed it's because I'm writing it about ten minutes after the win and am still excited. We definitely needed this win after the most tumultous week in Tech sports history. Chan defintely deserves his contract extension and hopefully we can keep Tenuta.

Oh yeaher!

Edited to add this article about three of our important defensive players that suffered losses to family members this week.
Wilkinson Plays in Memory of Mother

Pre game




Post victory


Pre soccer game

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Who uses a gas powered leaf blower at 6 AM on a Saturday when it's below freezing outside? I'll tell you who, the guy blowing leaves at the office condos across the street from my apartment. Ugh.

Find yourself

Google has done it again. Today when using Google Maps at work I saw a link that proclaimed that Google Maps and Local are now available for cell phones. I had to check it out and it's pretty cool. It's easy to find stuff using it like a phone book, it has driving directions, and the best part is that you can get the satellite photos too. What's even more astonishing is that it's not really any slower than using the online version. Check it out, do it do it.

Google Maps and Local for Cell Phones

"...And the weather's perfect No tellin' what I might catch today..." - Brad Paisley

Today I went fishing on Falls Lake north of Raleigh with my boss. He picked me up around 8 and we were on the water by 8:30 and fished until about 4. Yes folks, that's almost 8 hours of fishing. The weather today was beautiful; however, the fishing left something to be desired. I think most of the fishing issues have to do with the lake being so far below full pool, probably at least 7-10' which means according to the news that Raleigh only has 74 days of water supply remaining. Anyway, I caught the first fish of the day on a chartreuse spinner bait on my new bait casting rod and real I bought yesterday. My fish was about 15" and was a decent sized bass though nothing really to write home about (though I am writing about it here). Chuck caught the second fish of the day on a small crankbait. And that was it for the catching. Chuck had a decent sized largemouth attack his spinnerbait about 2' from the boat and that about startled him into the water, unfortunately the fish wasn't hooked well and got off. All it was a lot of fun, especially getting to fish in a real bass boat for the first time. Here are some camera phone and digital camera pics from today.

The boat ramp, notice how low the water level is. Chuck said usually the water is up to the third pontoon from the parking lot.








My fish


Chuck examining his fish

Saturday night ponderings from my couch

There it is. A black metal box trimmed in brass sitting in the wall. The consistent blue and orange triangles hiss against the cementaceous logs. An energy emenates from the rectanglur orifice sending into the beige room heat, light, and a sense of something else. Something else that takes you to another place, remembering experiences past. Something else that provides sustenance. And something else that entices thoughts of longing and desire. A communal element, fire should be shared. Its utilitarian nature no longer necessary it has been harnessed for pleasure and aesthetics.

I guess my attempt at something profound or even poetic, if it can be called that, is my way of saying that having a fireplace makes me want to have someone to share and enjoy it with.

Solving the puzzle

Thinking through a problem and then working it out is a pretty good feeling. Last night at work I had to work on a investment schedule for a potential investor in some historic tax credits but the preliminary model didn't match what I had to output so I had to trace another monster spreadsheet (probably at least 50 tabs) and figure out how the numbers were calculating to make them work with my numbers. Not really all that impressive but after an hour and a half of working on it it felt good to figure out what I needed to do and got it to work. Now I'll find out if it's right today.

In other news, Sunday was the one year anniversary of me having my Explorer and I've put a little over 18,000 miles on in it. How did I put so many miles on it in a year? The first trip driving it back from Indianpolis to Chapel Hill, round trip to Orlando for the Champs Sports Bowl, many many trips between Carrollton and the Triangle, a couple of trips to the Outer Banks, and just regular driving around. This past year was definitely a record for driving. I just wish I could roll the Tan Van over 200k miles before it gets sold, whenver that happens. It only lacks about 1,500 miles.

Beautiful day in the neighborhood

This morning I ventured to the grand opening of REI at North Hills. I arrived around 8:30 for the doors opening at 10. Why did I arrive so early? Because they were giving away water bottles with gift cards ranging from $5-$100 in them for the first 200 people plus Panera bagels. When I got there the line was already probably 50 people deep, but that was all good. Once the doors opened I got my water bottle and a $10 gift card. Can't complain about free food. What I'm kicking myself about now is that I was in line behind a cute college age girl that was there by herself. Why I didn't talk to her I have no idea. I kept trying to think of things to say but couldn't think of anything other than the lame, "So you go camping often?" or "Do you shop at REI much?" I guess I should have just introduced myself, oh well.

After wondering around the crowded, two story REI I went to the flea market at the State Fairgrounds in search of a desk and book cases. I didn't find anything this trip but I'll definitely go back.

Tonight I decided to be adventuresome in my dinner preparation. During my trip to Ft. Lauderdale at one of the receptions we had seafood and chicken paella so I decided that I can make it and went for it. I used chicken instead of the seafood and the traditional rabbit. It was definitely good and I'll be eating it for the next couple of days but I'm not sure if it's worth making for just myself. It took almost 2 hrs to make, which is why it's a communal dish in Spain. I also need a bigger pan. I went to Crate & Barrel this afternoon in search of a pan and a box grater. I ended up only getting a box gratter because they didn't really have much of a large skillet selection and what they did have was expensive. I also realized that Saturday afternoon is the time to go for people watching. There were probably 5 to 10 future brides setting up registries and flitting from section to section inputing what they wanted into the electronic registry. Another interesting thing were some of the reactions I got. I did notice that I was one of the only guys in the store and I guess I stuck out more because I was alone. When I checked out the lady asked if my grater was a gift and I said no so then she asked what I was making and she gave me a couple of tips about paella. It was kind of neat for her to be interested in that I was actually cooking for myself. Trying to make new stuff is a good excuse to get a new kitchen gadget just like when building something you can get new tools. When I get married I will definitely be involved in selecting the kitchen gadetry and accoutrements.



Overall a pretty good day made even better by free money, beautiful weather, and good food.

Downtown

Today I went on my first site visit for work. We went to "bustling" downtown Weldon, NC where we are providing equity for two downtown buildings for affordable housing. It's a neat adaptive reuse of two large underutilized buildings in town that otherwise wouldn't have had the buildings rehabed. Thanks to the low income housing tax credit and historic rehabilitation tax credits the buildings will see a new life and probably 15 families will have great places to live. Greg and I took the back roads and it was an absolutely beautiful day and the leaves are finally changing colors, the red, orange, and yellow leaves popped from the clear blue fall sky. Below are a few pics I took of the buildings.