Really Arlington?

Moving your Health Department from the middle of the County(Clarendon) off to a fairly remote corner right by the gates of Ft. Myer? Poor planning. You are removing the following:

• Ease of access. The Clarendon location is right on the bus and Metro lines. The average people you have heading to these services? Not so car friendly.... And it pretty much makes it basically impossible for the employees to use public transportation to get to work.
• Parking. Easily this is what is going to affect both the general public and the businesses that operate in the Clarendon area. This will mean no more free parking after 6 for that area other than the pitiful street parking.

Toss in a snow job of the County board by the County management by forcing this through with little regard to little things like, y'know, review (hmm... this sounds familiar). So much for transparency of Government, at least here in the PRA (People's Republic of Arlington).....

Star Trek.

Really, really good. Go see it.
This is one of the most approachable of the Star Trek series. You could go in with no knowledge of Star Trek and enjoy it (CupcakeGirl is a good example.. she said she liked it). Very action oriented, much more of a "realistic" feel (some things I liked, there was actually things like military discipline on the ships, the tech level felt more believable (engine room, bridge), fights seemed realer (bodies, vacuum)) and was quite a fun night.

I watched this on IMAX, but the theater was so full by the time we got there so we were way up front. I really hate how we Americans fill in a theater, even when it was packed. So much lying (I am saving that seat = my fat ass doesn't want anyone sitting next to me.... I did look back at least once or twice and saw that a number of those "saved" seats were empty... why was I not surprised).

PS, J.J. Abrams, you are officially banned from the lens flare effect... are you kidding me? You just used up a lifetime pass, something like 200+ uses...

Media Notes

Movies

• I Love You Man - saw this while I had freetime at drill (shocking). Pretty entertaining.

TV

• Dollhouse - Still loving it, all the way to the end. Me and CG gasped when we saw the reveal (I called it a little before it was stated). Next week looks... fantastic!!
• Chuck - OMG. I know Kung-fu!!! God, I love this show and really hope that all this bubble talk is just that. I really want to see how this plays out.
• Amazing Race - Really, the editors of this show are great. While there are no teams that I really love, there are a few I don't like (yes, I am looking at you deaf boy.... your mom sooo carried your whining ass)
• 24 - really, I think this may have been the most twisty season yet... Go Jack! Go Chloe (kick Janeane Garafalo's characters ass.. that woman pisses me off so much)
• Big Bang/How I Met Your Mother - This must be just about the best comedy block on TV right now. The season enders/near enders have just been entertaining..
  

I think my external drive for my Tivo is about to die. Already moving some shows off and have a replacement ordered....

Video Games

• I got nothing... a few games of Halo 3 and that is about it..... Rare for me..
  

Piola

So my family (parents, a brother and my GF, CG) decided that it would be a good way to cap off the weekend by taking advantage of a fantastic deal that Piola only run on Sunday from 5PM to 10PM. All you can eat pizza for $15.
Basically they have a set list (for the night, they rotate every week) where they come around and offer whatever comes out of the oven to you.

Let me tell you... it was fantastic!! Luckily there were only 2 pizza with the fungus so CG and I were quite happy. I think I got to try every item on the list (minus the ones with fungus on them) and quickly found my favorites (and ones I didn't like... yeah.... I am looking at you eggplant). Very good deal and a great chance to try some pizza's that you wouldn't necessarily commit to an entire pizza of, sight (and taste) unseen.

Who buys DVD's anymore?

I recently wracked my brain and tried to remember the last time I bought a DVD (or BluRay or HD-DVD... pretty much any physical disc). As you can see above, I used to buy them... A lot.... (I probably have around 1500 disc's.... mainly Anime). I don't count games (since you pretty much have to buy them in disc form) but I think it came out to be the middle of last year (where I bought a collection of my of my favorite TV shows). I also can understand people with little children (who have the ability to watch the same show something like a billion times) or special excemptions for shows that you just love (like women and "Pretty Woman", "Sex and the City", etc).

But with all the options out there (Netflix, Tivo, etc) who really needs those physical discs cluttering up their environment? I know that I (and a couple of people I know that used to buy a lot of stuff) have seen our activity slow to a trickle....

Army Cupcakes and Cakes

This past Drill I had 2 soldiers retire from my unit (one SSG with 29 years of service and one SFC with 35 years of service). Check out the awesome cupcakes and cakes that one of the Soldiers (who was also leaving, though she was just ETSing) prepared for the "Hail and Farewell" party we had at the end of Drill. She did an awesome job (and the cake/cupcakes tasted as good as they looked).

Taste of the Nation

So yummy!!!!
So full!! (I woke completely full this morning, after passing out from a food coma)

There were so many tasty treats that it is hard even to start. Lots of favorites (Co Co Sala had some awesome stuff), lots of new places and some really great drinks (tried the mixologists drinks.... no wonder they are so popular if all their drinks were as strong as the one the poured last night. As well as good friends like the belgian beers). A very pleasant way to spend an evening (and the best part was that most of it went to a charity).

National Capital (Half) Marathon.

What a nice morning for a run! I completed the race (13.1 miles!! This is actually the longest run that I have ever completed in a race. As part of Operation Run Fatboy Run this is the first of series that I am running (next weekend is MCM Run to Register 10K, so that I get my spot in the MCM next fall) in just a shade over 2:20(so basically around a 11 minute mile).

The good:

• Pretty course. I can't think of the last time I have been through some of these neighborhoods and it was a really great way to see DC
• Overall a fairly level course
• Good crowds. I liked the one neighborhood where people had beer available to the runners (I did not partake. I had been contemplating having beer at the end, but my body disagreed).

The bad:

• Wow, DC roads are in bad shape. There really is no point where you are not looking at the ground making sure that you have good footing
• Running out of cups. Really people.... this is race management 101. Having people take water/poweraide from gallon jugs was just plain awkward.
  
• Not training enough. I was destroyed after the run. Like by the time I made it to the Metro with CupcakeGirl? I was warming my hand in her hands. For those of you that know me, that is unheard of. By the time I made it back to Courthouse? Teeth chattering, slight nausea.... I am only feeling human now, some 5 hours after the race.

yes, I am a fashion disaster when I run....

Kindle 2

So I have been an e-book reader for a long time. Way back when I was pounding through e-books (mostly DRM free stuff from my favorite publisher, Baen... Anytime I can buy 5 books for 15 dollars and use a device I had already (normally a Palm or MS PDA) it is a great thing). I decided to join the Kindle wagon with the release of the Kindle 2. 2 weeks (due to a bad zip code on my package) it arrived. I happily loaded the 177 DRM free ebooks that I already had and was ready to rock and roll.

And less than 24 hours later? This....

But I will give Amazon credit. They had the replacement in my hands in barely 24 hours!

Watchmen and other Recent Pop Culture stuff.

The GF (who now bears the name of CG, Cupcake Girl) and I went to see Watchmen on Friday.
All I can say is whoah! That is a whole lot of blue penis.... (there may have been blue balls (hehe...) but in the standard hetero manner all I saw is penis and I then had to reframe what I saw of the scene). They may as well call it the blue penis movie....

After that it was off to drill (oh yeah, I am in a good mood this week... nothing like 2 workweeks sandwiching a weekend where I am under even more stress than while at work.). I didn't even get back until around 10 PM since for some reason we decided that it was a good idea to run a land navigation course from 1300-1700 on a Sunday afternoon, so of course it ran long.

Some of the shows on my hot watch (shows that do not sit on my Tivo for any period of time)

• 24 - The wait was long but OMG.... this season has been awesome! Is it wrong that I want to see bad things happen to the Senator (Red from That 70's Show) and Janeane Garofalo(who joined the show because she hated Jack Bauer!)? Nope, not really..
• Lost - It really has picked up this season. I watch it every week with CG and the twists and turns are a lot of fun!
• Life on Mars - Poor show. I liked it. At least it gets a chance for a graceful exit.
• Chuck - Please do not cancel it. This show is great TV!
• Gossip Girl - Another fun series. I am so not in the target demo, but it is still entertaining to watch.
• Dollhouse - Love it! Like all Whedon shows, it takes a bit to "burn in" and establish itself.

SNOW!!!

God I love snow! We get it so rarely here in the DC region that I think I am always in shock when we actually get it here.

So anyone want to take bets the Prez makes another snarky comment about DC not being able to handle snow? The over/under here at the office is very much in favor that he will. I am so sorry that the DC region decides that it is not a good fiscal investment to have the same level of snow removal capability as locations that are more like to get his fine white stuff.

Oh well, at least I got my 2 hours (no g-d 7 AM teleconference).

Well that took all of a month

And the gun crowd? Not shocked in the slightest.

Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban

The best part of this (and pretty much all anti-gunner drivel?), they can't even get their story straight. How does banning the import/manufacture of semi-automatic rifles here in this country affect the Mexican gangs using, "Grenades and automatic weapons." I have never in my life seen a live grenade for sale anywhere in here in the US and automatic weapons? Really expensive (price of the weapon plus $3000 transfer stamp? God no) and not all that common. AG Holder looks like a moron to anyone out there with a spit of common sense. (Really, this is not the way to sell this to the American public, "I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum." This builds up exactly zero sympathy from a majority of the public)

Orders for those evil high cap magazines? Have been placed... It may be the best investment I have made in the past year (they will probably appreciate to 2-3 times their purchase price in the next couple of years...).

Blogger HH

So I decided to convince my GF, H, to come and meet the people whose stories I was always forwarding to her. Not too hard since we didn't have anything planned for Friday night and there is always the fascination to put the in-person face of the people that are writing these stories.

We made a night of it, heading down to U Street early to grab dinner. H made the mistake of offer 2 choices, and for me? When I am presented with a noodle place it is hard to pass up. So after getting off the wrong exit, we had a nice stroll over to DC Noodles. I really like my choice (the seafood Spicy noodle soup. Just a touch of spice (its hard to outspice me) and all the stuff in there was really pretty good). We started off with Pumpkin Empananas and Meat dumplings. Overall I was quite pleased and would happily eat there again.

Then over to Marvin's for drinks. I liked the choice, because overall it was a neat bar with a fantastic selection of drinks (I worked my way through the 5 beers on draft, all mostly Belgian beers). The bar itself was really neat, I liked the outdoors component (the heat was a great plan to keep it available on this very chilly night).

After looking around for a bit (I told H that if I was a cop the criminals would be very safe, since while a number of the bloggers had pics, I had only really met 2-4 of them).

I am glad I got the chance to talk with 2 of the hosts, Lemmonex and Arjewtino. I had a great DC/Soccer chat with I-66 (because there really is a lot to talk about right now, with the stadium and of course US Mens National Team WC Qualification).

We had a great time and got to chat with a bunch of awesome people (further reassuring H that not all bloggers are dorks like myself)

• Big Money Tony of Big Money Tony
• Franco Beans (and his GF) of http://francobeans.com/
• Deutlich of Speak on it
• maxie of i hate so much
• Jo of Attention Span of a Fly

Great meeting everyone and I hope that the fates align and I (as well as H) can make another one in the near future!

Freedom takes another hit.

Virginia Passes Smoking Ban
While I personally appreciate the fact that I will be able to come home from VA bars and not smell like I rolled around in an ashtray (given that I do not, now, in the past or in the future, smoke) I kind of appreciate it.
However......
Whatever happened to personal responsibility (no one is forcing me to go to these bars)? Or, y'know, pesky things like property rights (those owners of the establishments should decide what goes on there. A number here in Arlington are smoke free already by choice (choose... yes, I like that word, choose). They decided to see if the market was right for them, and offered a choice to the consumers.

I know that a lot of y'all are celebrating this, but in this Libertarians world? I am seeing another spark of freedom being extinguished.

Lotsa Food!

So this week is Restaurant Week! And I love trying me some new places to eat.

I am going to include one that did was not RW dining experience.

• Co Co Sala - H and I went there on a Friday night (for V-Day, since she had to work the next night). My this is a yummy place. We started off with 2 delicious drinks (I had a MMM (Malted Milk Martini... it had Bailey's so of course I couldn't resist) and she had a Disia (Lychee Puree)) then ordered 4 Coco Bites (everything is small plate nowadays). My god they do good Mac and Cheese (we ordered one of each) as well as 2 sliders. We followed of course with Chocolate, going with the Aztec Experience with an extra order of tiramisu. So full and satisfied after that evening.
• Georgia Browns - My RW Dinner. We went with beers with this meal. I went with the Black Bean Soup (meh.. it was okay), Sassafrass BBQ St. Louis Ribs (with Mac and Cheese.... this was so yummy. It just about fell of the bone) and Chocolate Pecan Pie (Good god this was good... chocolate with pecan pie. Who would have thunk it). H had Duck Spinach Salad (pretty good actually), Blue Cornmeal Fried Chicken (I liked it, also really good) and Coconut Cake (really good but not as good as the pie). Yet again, I left stuff. The breads (Cornbread stick and buttermilk biscuits) with Peach butter was fantastic!
• Pinzimini - I took my Mom to lunch here. Not sure what to expect but it is a really nice modern restaurant. We both started with the asparagus crepes (big portion and really tasty), I had the pizza (all Italian meats) and my mom had the fish (Sole, breaded), both were very tasty and the portions were overly generous. We followed it with the tiramisu.

Also in the past week a number of us went to the DC Food and Wine Festival at the Reagan Building. So many wines. It further confirmed my love of German wines (so sweet).

Deployment

In the interests of allmighty OPSEC, I will be circumspect about my unit, exactly when I am being mobilized and where we are going...

But that said, in the past 2 weeks it has come to light that sometime in 2011 (general enough OPSEC gods?) my Brigade will be heading to foreign lands. I kind of had an inkling before this, though I would have more likely bet on 2012 or 2013, but based on accelerated fielding of systems to my unit and others started to lead me to other conclusions. Which were confirmed on a recent trip where I was with senior members of the Brigade and they let slip the information. So I played the clueless LT and tried to see what other information I could get. Based on the information gleaned from that trip and the information from the senior officers, I really could deny it no longer. Daniel now has a date and destination for me to heading off to war.

So after a bit of personal coping mechanisms (see item (a) and a couple of his friends below) I slowly began the reachout. Of course I shared it with my fellow officers who are in the unit that is deploying, then one or 2 friends who are way off and I never get to see in person. Then began the planning of how to tell people this little factoid.

I am a big fan of the FTF (no one wants to learn about this in an email or FB status update). I had drill that weekend so after that? Began the task of letting people (everyone from my parents to my lovely GF) know the general details.

Obviously it is surprising, but also not (it's something that I had to kind of expect in the post 9/11 world). Luckily they are getting things more straightened out and the deployments are only for 12 months (3 months of workup, 8 months in theater, 1 month demob). But it is also more than 2 years away so obviously things may change in time. (as my standard response goes, "Obama will fix it"....)

Makes me glad I picked a field that will keep me far away from the bad guys.

Since it is so far away I am just rolling with the flow now... It is something to keep in mind for my planning, but overall isn't going to impact my daily life (at least for another 12-18 months... then I might really be stressing... I am somewhat of a homebody and the thought of being away from my place, with my things, my family for that long is really hard to contemplate).

Item (a) - $3 for a Liter of Shiner Bock

And now for the denial, where I try to pretend this isn't going to happen (hopefully I can keep this phase going for a good year or more before I can't deny it anymore).

Friday Night - Fox's Slot of Death for SF shows

So I am somewhat concerned... An interesting show with an awesome show runner (Joss Whedon) and a great actress, Eliza Dushku, has been slotted in what I call "The Death Slot." (Alternatively titled the slot that only "The X-Files" survived) I fear for Dollhouse....

I know Fox thinks it is clever to put 2 SF shows (the show being "The Sarah Connor Chronicles") in that slot (since, y'know, geeks/nerds don't go out on Friday nights..) but this really has never worked in the past. As noted, only one show has really survived this slot, and given that Fox is steadily becoming the master executioner (a momentary dip and onto the scrap heap you go) it is not looking good for either show..

Busy, Busy....

Lots of wearing of the uniform this past week.... I am pretty much done with it for another couple of weeks (assuming I don't get tasked to attend another Army conference next week). We are getting a lot of new equipment in the next 12 months (yes... I am slightly suspicious of this...).

Last Monday to Friday I was out in Austin (I am in shock.... The Army sent me to a place where I wanted to go... I better not get used to this). I love Austin. It is plainly an awesome town.
The running/walking paths around the lake (I was in the Radisson downtown, right next to the infamous bat bridge) are just top notch. On the 3 days that I ran I got in 16+ miles of running (which is important given that I have a 1/2 marathon in only another month or so). Everyone there seemed to be out running/walking/biking... There even were water coolers set out for everyone to use in the parks.

I also availed myself of the fun on 6th Street (very cool, on Thursday they even block off the street to traffic and you can walk down it). And of course BBQ (The County Line provided another fantastic meal).

Then I got back on Friday at 1300 (in Richmond), drove back to DC, spent some time with the GF and then was heading down to my unit (3 hour drive) at 4 AM the next day. We didn't wrap up until 8PM Saturday night, then off to dinner together (officer and senior enlisted bonding time). I didn't get to bed until 1030.. I was so dead. It's funny that as an Officer I never got to spend any time out in the fantastic weather, instead having to see the occasional FB post on it.

I was so wiped after everything that Monday was a serious Mental Health/Physical health (I was seriously wiped and the travel left me with a tickle in my throat). Hope y'all had a good day.

Like tank treads..

Yes, that is how I describe them. My trusty Yak Trax. This lovely little gift from my Mom 2 years ago has prevented me (a person with questionable grasp on walking in the normal times) near perfect traction in days like the past 2 days. I all but aim at the most imposing terrain, certain that these sweet little shoe coverings will save me from myself. While the first pair that I got is just about ready to be DX'd, a new pair is waiting in the wings. When the weather gets cold, these handy little pieces of metal and plastic get tossed into my commute bag, taken out only when I believe that the weather has returned to the safe side.

PS.... Mr. President. I have seen your mocking of the way that the DC area handles storms. I view this more on the side of thrifty-ness. To waste money on a snow system that would get all the side streets safe enough to drive on would be extremely wasteful. The reason we handle it so badly is because of that and the fact that we don't just get snow. We get the god-awful wintery mix (a little snow with sleet/freezing rain) that is very hard to handle and often lures less observant drivers to their doom.

PPS Mr. President... yes, we saw you try to use the window as a door. This is why I know that the press is on your side, if President Bush had done it the mocking would have been merciless(actually he did have some door issues, and the press in fact ate it up).

Snow!

Now I see the advantage of the cold temperatures... It allows the wonderful snow to stick!

Glad I walk to work, hope everyone stays safe out there.

PS and fingers crossed, maybe we will get an early dismissal!