Thursday, May 27, 2004

Pictures from "Quite a Storm"

Here is a set of pictures showing the damage done by the storm. Amazing nobody was hurt, and the house and my Dad's car wasn't damaged.

If you click on the picture, you will see the picture full size.









Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Quite a Storm

Here is an email I got from my parents. Seemed like last Friday was one heck of a storm. Power was out for basically four days as well as 6 trees were destroyed. My parents live in southwestern Michigan in a small town called Sister Lakes.

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Hi Everybody, Ya, Wahoo Yippee We have lights. They came back on about 9:00 tonight. I guess that's not too bad. Only in the dark since Friday noon. They still haven't come to take care of the trees so guess that's the next project. Sandy called tonight and they don't have lights but are getting close as some American Electric Power people were there talking to them tonight. When I saw all of the power repair trucks going by our house tonight I really felt like cheering.

P S to Tim: Hopefully you know what I am talking about. A very strong storm went through on Friday about noon and we lost the big tree in the front yard. Plus three pines (Sure didn't cry about them), the oldest crabapple tree and part of the maple tree in the back yard. Nothing hit the house or Dad's car. Two pine trees came down close to it. One in the back and one on the side of it. So since then we have been hauling water from the fire station and going to bed early.

Hope to talk to all of you soon. Love to all, Mom

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Power Walking Benefits

8 lbs lost so far... though my eating habits and gym workouts probably are helping with that.

The real benefit will hopefully be seen in mid July when I get my cholesterol checked again.

Monday, May 24, 2004

Airport Fairy was smiling on me

Back in good ol' San Jose for a week.

Thought today was going to be a crazy flying day for me because of the weather in the Midwest.

My flight out of HPN (White Plains, NY) to ORD (Chicago, IL) was delayed for a little over an hour. Leaving me with 15 min layover in Chicago.

The time was 3:15 pm when I got off the plane in Chicago, the time that my flight to SJC was supposed to take off. I had already resigned myself to catching the next flight in 4 hours, but I figured I would "power walk" to the gate just in case. Of course, my arriving gate was halfway across the airport from my departing gate.

One screen listed a new departure time of 3:20 pm (and it was that time)... the next screen I passed didn't list the flight, therefore I stopped in the bathroom for a small detour.

I continued my walk, the next screen listed 3:25 pm (and it was that time), but I just kept striding. I made it to the gate and I believe my luggage was already on the flight because when they heard my name, they were able to slide me onto the plane. Before they heard my name, I was not going to be able to get on the plane.

I had the same experience on my flight to CT... like I said the Airport Fairy was looking out for me. Nothing like getting off one plane and immediately on the next.

The other interesting thing about this flight is I sat next to a San Francisco 49'er by the name of Matt Stanely.

I wouldn't have known who he was.. but the lady sitting in the row had asked him questions like "Where do you work?" "What do you do?" Seemed like a good guy.

BTW: the BirdCam is functioning again.

Sunday, May 23, 2004

Bowling Machine Tim

Friday night I went bowling with Tracey. We ended up bowling 6 games. She won the first 4 games, two of them by more than 20 pins, and the other two by roaring back at the end.

The best game of the night for me was the final game. I ended up bowling 156. Not bad considering the only ball that I could find to fit my hand was 12lbs. Also I was amazed that my thumb was able to hold it together for all of the games. Usually by game two, it is already losing skin. The ball must have fit very well since that didn't occur until mid game 6.

I will be headed back to CA tomorrow and then headed back to CT a week later for another 9 days.

I wasn't as successful in working out as I hoped though I did walk on a regular basis, usually to get dinner. I was pretty successful though in eating healthy. Still hoping that when I get my cholesterol checked again mid July that it will be significantly better.

The other bit of news is that I finally did pick the flooring for the house. I expect the flooring to be installed the week of June 14th. It will be great to finally get that project taken care of. The next will be painting of walls, new furniture, and backyard.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Golfing Machine Tim

I spent an extended weekend in the Pocono's of Pennsylvania last weekend at a resort called Tamiment. Of course the website paints it in a much better light than it actually is.

My sense is that it is a resort that is slowly dying. The buildings and accomodations are getting old. The golf course was actually in decent shape.

Tracey (good friend from the CT office of Hyperion) and I drove to PA on Saturday morning (about a 2 hour drive). We meet up with a couple of her friends and proceeded to play 18 holes of golf. I had a lot of fun even though my golfing skills leave something to desire. Tracey though is the true golfing machine. Amazing how well and far she can rip a ball. The weather was threatening all day Saturday and did proceed to simply drench us for about 5 minutes.

The "real" golf outing started on Sunday and ended on Monday. A friend of Tracey's Dad has been putting on the event for a few years. Quite a few people were there to play, I would guess about 12 foursomes.

On Saturday, we played 32 holes of golf. For the first 18, I shot a 160 (80 on the front, 80 on the back). We had to call our last round of 18 short after the 14th hole to make it to the group dinner.

After dinner, a raffle was held and I won!! The prize: a Dunlop Hexsert putter. My very first golf club. I just might need to purchase irons, woods, and a bag now to keep it company.

Next day my first 18 holes were challenging. I just couldn't seem to hit the ball.

Tracey suggested at the start of the second 18 holes that I should stick with a single iron (the 7 iron) after driving and get used to hitting it. It did make the last round go by more enjoyable. I was able to hit the 7 iron consistently and straight. Played most of the 18 holes in the fairway.

I was joking earlier in the day that I was determined to get Lyme Disease since I was spending so much time in the woods looking for my ball. It is much better to be in the fairway.

My golfing weekend: Saturday 18 holes, Sunday 32 holes, Monday 36 holes, Overall 50 holes of golf.

Didn't get back to Stamford CT until midnight on Monday. Great weekend!!

For all of the golf playing viewers, what would you suggest in terms of golf equipment?

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Reading Material

If you ever need an idea for a book to read, visit this site: 101 Great Books - Recommended for H.S. Students & Readers of All Ages.

My current reading selection is The Face by Dean Koontz. Dean Koontz books are good airplane books, not too challenging of a read and usually mindlessly entertaining.

San Jose Sharks Game 3 Viewing

It is a lot of fun to watch the game with a bunch of Sharks fan. Have done it before and would recommend, even though I won't be able to make it tonight (headed to CT in the morning).

Sharks Host Game Three Watching Party
The San Jose Sharks invite fans to come to HP Pavilion at San Jose for Western Conference Finals Game Three, as the "The Tank" will air the TV broadcast and action versus the Flames LIVE from Calgary. This crucial series, which will determine if the Sharks advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, will be shown live on HP Pavilion's Jumbotron video board. Game Three will be played Thursday, May 13 at 7 p.m.

HP Pavilion's North and South Entrances will open at 6 p.m., one hour prior to the start of the game. General admission and parking are FREE. Donations will be accepted with contributions going to The Sharks Foundation.

Fans attending the live telecast will be treated to a scaled down version of a Sharks home game, complete with music, game entertainment and Sharks loveable mascot S.J. Sharkie. Limited concession stands will be open selling food and beverages.

Due to scheduling conflicts, HP Pavilion will not be open for Game 4. As the Sharks proceed through the playoffs, additional viewing parties will be announced.




Friday, May 07, 2004

Friends Questions

At the end of the last episode, when the woman gets off the plane to go back to the David Schwimmer guy, what happened to her luggage on the plane? Did she leave extra clothes in the U.S.? I need to know these sort of things for the Friends series to be complete for me.

Saturday, May 01, 2004

Mini-Awards

Most Entries without actually typing the entry (as well as the funniest (Jan 17): Sandy Engle

First person to leave a comment that I didn't point to the site but I actually know: Steve Schuster, friend from high school

First person to leave a comment that I don't know: T. Freeman (thanks for the post!!)