Mmm...Beefy

Since today is Saturday that means it was time to try something new for dinner. I caught some of Good Deal with Dave Lieberman today on the Food Network and thought his meal would be worth trying. The episode was entitled "Rush Hour" due to being able to make it quickly not so much with the type of food. The entree was London broil and the sides were cheese grits and grilled vegetable skewers and crepes for desert. I ended up skipping the vegetable skewers and had a salad instead.

Until tonight I'd never attempted London broil before but it turned out well. I was able to use my grill pan again and did my prep work of unplugging the smoke detector and opening the porch screen door and a couple of windows and I still successfully smoked up the entire apartment. One day I'll have a stove that actually vents to the outside and won't have this problem. All of the food turned out great and the crepes with Nutella and strawberries were much improved over the first and last time I tried to make them. I also bought a four pack of the mini cabernet sauvignon bottles but it wasn't too good so I just had water. Below are a few of the obligatory pics and the links to the recipes.

Recipes

I Drive a Dodge Stratus (today's rental that is)

Today my boss and I headed west on I-40 to Morganton which is between Hickory and Asheville (map) to check out a former textile mill that's in the process of being converted into loft apartments and has a first phase that features the city hall. We are buying and selling the historic and mill tax credits and hopefully will be closing sometime in October. Today's trip was the first time I'd seen the mill outside of pictures and the units they have completed are beautiful and very well done. The project should be done in December, will most likely be a great success, and will be a great addition to the vibrant downtown of Morganton. Below are a few pics I snapped while on the tour, unfortunately I got caught up in all of the details and didn't take any wide shots of the units (duh Brian). The only downside to today's trip, as my boss put it, was that it stinks to get so close to the mountains but not really get to go to the mountains (the apartments have views of the foothills in the distance).

Parking underneath the first story


Great kitchen


Awesome fan!


View from the second story towards the commercial building and city hall


North residential wing




Courtyard


New, high quality windows. Accurate windows are a big part of historic rehabilitation and can signal a red flag for the National Park Service during certification


City Hall Lobby


The second story floor in the commercial building. Check out the structure, the floor boards are on end instead of laying flat to support the former heavy textile machinery

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Yesterday I skipped church to head to my grandparents for the afternoon since it had been about a month since I'd seen them. They seemed to be doing well. I also picked a plethora of apples and pears from the trees in their backyard. If you're reading this and are in the area and want some organic (no pesticides or fertilizers) apples or pears let me know.

I also stopped by REI yesterday and bought a new tent after months of pondering since my Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight was destroyed in super winds at Stone Mountain State Park earlier this year (see previous post). I ended up setting up a couple of tents that I'd scoped out online and finally decided on the Sierra Designs Omega. It's a two person, three to four season convertible tent. Essentially that means it has an extra pole that strengthens the tent but can also be left behind if not needed to reduce weight. It also has zip out panels that cover mesh to increase ventilation. I'm hoping to get to use in mid-October when I'm headed west for a service day at Camp Challenge with some folks from work.

Where are the Fleas?

This morning I headed down to the State Fairgrounds Flea Market in search of art or something to break up the monotony of the "apartment beige" paint of my apartment. I ended up purchasing a metal fish for $10 and it's now hanging above the doorway for the sunroom. I almost bought large red metal star and a smaller rusty one to paint a dark blue to hang above my fireplace but I didn't bite the bullet this time around. I also bought a small sap bucket painted orange and with a Jack O' Lantern face cut in it for my mom for her classroom from the same artist.

Today was the last day of the flea market until November because of the State Fair so if any of you that are coming for the Tech vs. NC State game want to check out the wonderful world of the flea market I'm up for it before the game (it's across the street from the stadium).



Watch a short movie of the fish.

Ramblin' Gamblin' Hell of an Engineer

Thursday night I headed to Chammps at Triangle Town Center for the Triangle Tech Club game watching party for Tech vs. UVA. Unfortunately only five of us showed up but it was still a great time socializing and comparing our experiences while watching Tech beat the Hoos 24 to 7. One of the attendees is now in the Textile Engineering masters program at State and came in and graduated at the same time as I did (1999-2003) which was pretty cool. It also turns out that we were probably in the same calculus class freshman year and a pretty similar experience in calc and CS (booo hiss). She may have even been in the intro to textiles class with Josh. It is a small world.

In other news, kind of big news, I closed my first deal today! It's been awhile in the making and should have closed in May but due to some difficult negotiations and other issues it dragged on until now. The project is 64 apartment units in Greensboro which are affordable to those making 60% or less of the area median income which in Guilford County is $56,400. Our equity in the deal is a little over $4 million. It's pretty neat and kind of mind blowing to have just turned 26 and to be responsible for managing millions of dollars in equity for affordable housing. I know I had a smile on my face and a bounce in my step today.

Big Money!

I'm sure you've heard about this now, but big props to Richard Branson for his $3 billion contribution to support research on fighting global warming.

NY Times - "Branson Pledges Billions to Fight Global Warming"

Fall is Coming!

Finally, the heat is breaking and the crisp Autumn weather is on the way. It's going to be even better this year thanks to the wood burning fireplace in my apartment.

Weekend Update

I had a great weekend. It started off Friday with a trip for work to Atlanta and thanks to the trip I was able to spend the weekend at home. Friday night mom and I went out for birthday dinner at the new Italian restaurant on the Square called Mia Bella. She had been previously with Emily to try it out but neither liked it but we figured it deserved a second chance. I think we were both pleased this time.

Saturday I headed to Atlanta bright and early to watch Tech beat Troy on a beautiful and slightly warm Saturday afternoon. I made a new friend through Mark who couldn't go because of work and introduced a new fan to Tech sports. Confused? Mark has a friend, Scot, from school in Michigan that just moved to Duluth and apparently is a Tech fan (just random coincidence since he has no ties to the school other than his high school mascot was the yellow jackets). I invited Mark to go to the game but he had to work so he suggested Scot go instead. I think he had a good time other than me not warning him about my game day personality change as Shaun calls it.

Saturday night we headed back to Carrollton and Mark, Scot, and I went to the Border then to the new Irish Pub on the Square.

Sunday morning Dad and I played golf in Bremen at The Lion Golf Club as my birthday present. Unfortunately neither of us should have been on the course as we both played horribly. I joked with him once that it was because we should have been at church instead of on the course. It was to the point that all you could do was laugh. Hopefully I'll get my swing straightened out by Oct. 5 for my company's rescheduled golf outing. Sunday night I flew back to RDU with Wolves on a Plane! It seemed like half the passengers were State students and I asked what they were all doing and it was a senior group of scholarship recipients returning from a weekend retreat to Rocky Mountain National Park. Pretty good weekend trip if you ask me.

This week is full of travel as well. Tomorrow I'm driving to Suffolk, VA with a guy that works in investor services to meet with a bank to recruit them as investors. Thursday I'm flying to Baltimore bright and early for a conference and will be flying back in the late afternoon. I like to travel but I'm glad I don't have to be on the road every week like a lot of people.

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone for the many, many birthday wishes today! It was fun hanging out with a lot of you in Atlanta at the Tech game and in Carrollton for dinner.

I have great friends.

Peach State of Mind

I wish my clothes would finish drying so I could pack for the weekend. I'm flying to ATL Friday morning at 8:15 which means arrive around 6:30 at the airport and leave my apartment around 6. Should be a fun weekend of seeing family, friends, Tech football, and golf.

Speaking of Georgia, the state, unlike North Carolina, regulary changes the license plates. This time around it's a complete shift to something different from the standard styles from the last 10 years or so. Georgia now will have a tag with the flat letters that have become popular recently and plate that is colored simiarly to Michigan. The big downside is minimizing the peach which instead of its prominent location in the center of the plate is now minimized as the "o" in .gov.

If you're interested here is an article from the AJC: "New Georgia license plates have more color"


Credit: Kimberly Smith/AJC Staff

Commonalities

Last night I attended the Triangle GT Club Young Alum Happy Hour at the Carolina Brewery in Chapel Hill and had a pretty good time. I had my traditional fish and chips (I need to try something else but the fish and chips are too good) and a West End Wheat which is a hefeweizen-style and was pretty good. Unfortunately only seven people showed up but we were all chatty and had some good conversation. Another coincidene was that we all either graduated in 2003 or 2005 so that made for a great common ground. It's neat how people that have never met each other can have so much in common through going to school of 15,000 together. It was also nice to get out and socialize. I hope we can get some momentum rolling and make the club more active, especially for the young folks.

In other news, I'm going to be hitting the friendly skies and road several times in the next two weeks. Friday I'm flying down to Atlanta with a co-worker for a four hour conference in Buckhead and I'll be staying the weekend. On Saturday I'm going to the Tech game and will probably play golf with dad on Sunday. On Tuesday I'm driving to Norfolk for a meeting with a bank to recruit them as investors. Thursday I'm flying to Baltimore for another conference and may be staying the night at my bosses suggestion to take in an Orioles game if our attorney from DC can get tickets. Pretty neat that my boss suggested staying over night for a baseball game.

What's for Dinner?

Yes, two posts in one day folks. If you want Tech vs. NC State tickets the info is in the previous post below.

Tonight I adventured into the wonderful world of Asian cuisine. A couple of weeks ago I was helping my grandmother sort through some of her kitchenware and we came upon a wok. Who would have thought she'd have a wok, but she did. I commented on it and she ended up giving it to me which is pretty cool because I've been considering getting a wok of my own. Tonight was my first foray into wok cooking and I think it went pretty well.

I had a package of frozen stir fry vegetables in the freezer and some chicken so I made a go of it. I cut the chicken into small pieces and cooked it with about a tablesoon of peanut oil in the hot wok. After the chicken was almost cooked I took it out of the wok and added the vegetables to the wok. I cooked the vegetables for a few minutes then added the chicken. After a minute or two I put in a few dabs of soy sauce and whala! Stir fry. It turned out pretty tasty with brown rice as a side and was a simple and healthy meal.

Down with the Wolfpack!

In case you read my blog and weren't on the e-mail list, I'm planning on ordering Tech vs. NC State tickets tomorrow (Monday 9/11). If you'd like to come there will probably be at least 12 people in the group so it should be a great time. Tickets are $41.50 plus your percentage of the $8.00 shipping (total is most likely ~$43). I doubt tickets will sell out unless NC State really turns it around, so if you don't know if you can come now you may be able to get tickets later.

Depending on weather and game time I may try to get a tailgate going or join in the Triangle GT Club tailgate so come ready to have some fun!

If you want to go e-mail me at work (boxford(at)cahec.com), IM, or leave a comment.

If you're not fired up about football season yet, watch the latest Raleigh News & Observer Chuck Amato cartoon: "It's Hard Out Here for a Coach"

Touchdowns

If you just want to see photos here they are: Tech vs. Notre Dame (camera phone) and the New England Trip.

Friday
8:30-12 Work
2:37-4 Flying to Atlanta
4:30 Picked up by Josh at the airport and head to his apartment in Buckhead.
5:30 Shaun meets us at the apartment and we drive around and consider going to the Sweetwater Brewery tour but it was really crowded and we didn't want to stand in line. Then we headed to Taco Mac in Virginia-Highlands to meeting Josh's girlfriend Laura for dinner. After dinner Shaun and I headed to Atlantic Station to see the Tech pep rally. I was suprised, but there was an excellent turnout. After being peppy Shaun and I watched Little Miss Sunshine which was a great movie. I definitely recommend it.


Atlantic Station Pep Rally



Saturday
7:30 Left Shaun's condo and take MARTA to campus to meet Ben to get in line for ESPN Gameday.
8:30-12 Ben and I are loud members of the Tech contingent at the filming of SportsCenter and Gameday. You may have seen us on TV if you were watching.

After Gameday we met some folks for Quiznos and then hung around WCF for awhile watching some games on the projector. I also met up with Shaun and some of his friends to tailgate for a few hours.

5:30 Yellow Jacket Alley was packed as the players, cheerleaders, the wreck, and band processed towards the stadium.

8:00 Kickoff and a great game. Unfortunately Tech couldn't pull it out even with all the chances in the world and lost 14-10. On the positive side, Notre Dame slid a few slots in this weeks polls.

1:00 Bedtime


Pregame



Sunday
Sunday consisted of flying to Boston and driving around looking for a dorm fridge for my sister since my mom stole her's to put in her classroom. We didn't have any luck, they were sold out everywhere we went.

Monday
I wanted to add a state to my visited states list so we headed to Rhode Island for the day. We first stopped in Providence to see College Hill where Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design are located. Both campuses are beautiful. I wish we could have been there for the weekend's WaterFire exhibit. After Providence we joined the masses and headed south to Newport, RI. The town was pretty nice but a little too touristy for me, especially on Labor Day. The draw in Newport is a collection of mansions built for the aristocracy of the late 1800s and early 1900s as summer cottages. Summer cottages my foot. They put to shame the cottages the same people built on Jekyll Island in Georgia.


The Breakers - Cornelius Vanderbilt II's summer cottage



Tuesday
Tuesday dad and I tried to canoe at a state park but it was closed. The rest of the day was running errands for Emily and convocation was at 4:30. Emily did an excellent job and definitely deserves being President of Wellesley College Government and following in Hillary Clinton's footsteps. After convocation there was a reception followed by the traditional Step Singing which really wasn't done on the steps. Not everyone participated but the women were grouped by classes and seemed to have a lot of fun. For dinner we went to Legal Seafoods and the food was decent (haddock is becoming one of my favorite fish) but overpriced and the service was terrible (poor service seemed to follow us around the entire trip).


Emily with President Walsh



Wednesday
Dropped mom at the airport for an early flight. Dad and I drove to Plymouth, MA to see Plymouth Rock and the town. It was kind of anticlimatic which is what we expected but now we've seen the rock. The town was nice also. I don't think I've ever been to a place that has a town brook (the original freshwater supply for the colonists). After the rock watching, we drove back to Boston and dad dropped me at the airport for my 5:00 flight which touched down at RDU thirty minutes late. Dad proceeded on to Bar Harbor, ME for a few extra days of vacation.


Plymouth Rock (For scale it is probably 4.5' across)



Overall it was a great trip and the weather was pleasant in the lows 70s for highs though a little cloudy. I'm ready for fall. I also remembered how much I like traveling and seeing new things. If you want to see some of the things I saw check out my photo albums here: Tech vs. Notre Dame (camera phone) and the New England Trip.


My Visited States



Create your own visited states map

Back

I returned from my four states in five day adventure last night. I'll post a trip report and some pictures tonight.

In other news, if you want to come to the Tech vs. NC State game in Raleigh on 11/4 I'm planning on ordering the tickets this weekend. Right now we have 10 people coming! Let me know.