I was doing my news readings when I came across this postcard of Washington’s Union Station. I thought it quite pertinent to share with my (limited) readership.
One problem when somewhat disconnected organizations manage key cultural assets is that they don’t pay much attention to culture. Last year was the 100th anniversary of the opening of the station. No notice was taken of this whatsoever. There isn’t much in the way of interpretive signage in the station, and frankly, there needs to be a true visitor information center based there.
I will be going to Las Vegas on a three-day guy trip in February. My
friend, Richard, just called to let me know that we have reservations at
the Hofbraeuhaus Las Vegas (yes, owned by the one in Munich) to watch the
Super Bowl.
While I am not a big sports fan, I will enjoy the beer, uh, event
immensely.
My wife calls me, a bit freaked out, early afternoon on Friday, telling me that she’s been involved in a car accident. She’s okay, the kids are okay, which is the important part. For those of you who know us well, you know that we have but one paltry car, our beloved Saturn SL 2. A green 2000, with just over 120k on the odometer. The downer is that we were planning on driving up to my folks’ house for the long weekend.
Anyhow, yesterday, we walked to the grocery store to get our weekly groceries; and then I took the kids, by bus, to the Dolphin Mall (a trip that involved changing buses at my place of employment). We had a lot of fun, except on the ride home we came through Allapattah to the Allapattah Metrorail station, and had to wait there 30 minutes for a train. The kids were a bit on the… rambunctious… side.
So, we’ll get the car assessed, or not, and see if we want to file a claim on it, or whatever. It does need repair. But it might be cheaper for us in the long run to do it ourselves, rather than involve GEICO. Especially if the other side doesn’t file a claim.
Either way, we’re without a car until we make our decision. Something that can’t really hurt us since we live in a great location for being without a car.
The day started off good, if a bit early, at 8:00, with the boys being rambunctious around the house. After that, we went over to Dunkin’ Donuts, and had a Very Nutritious Breakfast. Then the fun started. We went to Macy’s and tried mattresses - inasmuch as one can “try” mattresses in a department store setting. Primarily, we went to get a feel for the memory foam mattresses.
We both ended up quite liking the Tempur-Pedic mattresses; but decided that it’s not anywhere near worth the $3,000 to get the mattress we liked there. So I think we’re going to go with “Bed-In-A-Box” where we can get a US-produced similar product, with similar support, for about $500. Now we just need to find the right bed for us. Then we need to dismantle our aging waterbed. Then we… oh the list is never-ending.
Arby’s for lunch effectively killed my no-fast-food-for-the-year pledge. But then I did leave myself an “out” by saying that I would only eat at each particular chain a maximum of four times in the course of the year. So, McDonalds, Wendy’s, and Arbys are now down to three visits for the year.
After lunch, it was to the in-laws to get my backside tanned in a couple of first-person-shooter games, playing against my father-in-law (hi Tom, if you’re reading this please take these comments in the tongue-in-cheek manner they are meant). Actually, while I don’t play many games (read: any games) on my computers, I realized today that games do have their place. I could very easily blow off steam by playing the games more often.
I had a fun day. Now it’s back to the academic grind.
Here is a video of my brother, Evan, and the band he belongs to playing at a place called Waldo’s somewhere on Florida’s southeast coast. This video of the band, Independently Poor, was recorded in August of this year. Evan is on drums.
Tracy and I got a chance to see them perform live on December 26, at Captain Hiram’s, a riverside restaurant in beautiful Sebastian, Florida. The quality of the video doesn’t do them justice, either in terms of picture or in terms of sound. They were awesome. If you click on their name before the video, you’ll get a better idea of their sound.
So I took the opportunity today to set up my Joe’s Goals, and will continue to use that to track the progress on my goals. You, my dear readers, can’t see what my goals are - or at least shouldn’t be able to - but you can see how well I’m doing adhering to my plans for the year by checking out my Joe’s Goals sidebar on this page.
I left work today to grab some cash so that my lovely wife could pay our friend Kristin for the delicious organic produce we get every other week. Our shipment comes on Friday. Anyhow, I left work early, so I was able to spend some quality time walking with Thing 2 (Logan, my four-year old) up to the supermarket. The walk is about a mile round-trip.
It was a mistake of sorts to allow him to run almost the entire way there. Now he’s passed out on the sofa, and I’m not far behind him. I basically had to drag him (and the few groceries we bought) home. But we had fun and both got some needed exercise in the process.
Speaking of work, I found that I may be up for a promotion. More on that later… maybe… if I feel like it.
Here I resolved (to myself, quietly, in my head) that I would be posting more on my blog. Alas, I have failed, thus, to do so.
Today is the first day back in class for the students here at Florida International. It’s busy, but eventually it will die down. I don’t know if that’s because students get into a routine, or drop out. Probably both.
Tracy and I have our schedules pretty much set for the Spring term, and will need to start working toward our respective classes. Then each of us have our day jobs: hers, homeschooling the kids; mine, managing the call center at the aforementioned esteemed institute of higher learning.
So, here is my resolution:
I resolve to write in my Blogs on a daily basis. If only to put in a snarky comment or two.
Watch for further updates. I promise, they will be there daily.
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