What a Way to End the Year

Yesterday I had the honor of working. And what made it specially nice was I got to work with both Heirs.

That may not seem like much to many of you but it's a known fact business has been slow in the construction industry for some time now. The job was in the woods in the middle of nowhere and was one I originally started back in July.

Since then, I've been waiting for the survey plat, which finally arrived early last week -- when the rains came in deluge form.

Finally, yesterday, the soil was dry enough so we could perform saturated hydraulic conductivity evaluations (Ksats) on two of the proposed onsite sewage disposal system sites I had found this past summer.

That's right. We waited for the soil to dry so we could make it wet again.

The Heirs loaded I's truck with all the equipment and, after traveling to the site, the Heirs carried all the equipment into the woods. Heir I's an old pro at running Ksats having worked for me one summer. He says the Ksats are the best job in the world as he only has to work about 10 seconds every five minutes and can spend the rest of the time playing a mobile video game.

He set up his station and I showed Heir II how to set up the second. My job was to auger the eight borings to the proper depth and watch the Heirs watch the water saturate the soil and make sure everything went smoothly.

It was a long day but as I stated earlier, it was one of the best days I've ever had as I was able to be with my two wonderful sons.

Picking NFL games not as easy as it seems

In another life I worked part-time as a newspaper sports reporter. Each fall, the staff made predictions on the various high school, local colleges and NFL games. And it seemed, each year I would end up in last place.

One August, Heir II told the sports editor he thought he could do better than me. And that year, Heir II's photo was in my place on the sports page every Friday along with his predictions. Not so surprisingly, when the season was over Heir II found himself in the middle of the pack.

This fall, I decided to come out of retirement and try my hand at predictions of the NFL games with a group of eight men and one woman who frequent a message board run by a guy from Wisconsin.

Once again I started slow and even won a week or two but after the regular season concluded Sunday I found myself in familiar turf -- near the bottom of the pack.

We still have the playoffs to go but at this stage my fight will be with the board's moderator and the nice lady from the midwest who, after a very poor week, found herself dropping three spots to last.

Wish me luck as I try to move up the NFL pick ladder.

Wanna Co-Own a Team Light Forest?

Just read West Ham is for sale.

Cheap too.

It seems the current owner - Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, the former chairman and a large shareholder in Iceleand's second largest back - Landsbanki saw the firm seized in October as the worst of the credit crisis tore through the island nation. The failure wiped out his $1.1 billion fortune.

He has since had to put his holding company, Hansa, into voluntary liquidation and the result is the West Ham club is for sale.

It would be the perfect venture for Light Forest and me.

I can do the marketing and he can be the General Manager, head concessionaire and coach.

What a life.

West Ham is a Premier League team, which is exciting in itself but we'd have to relocate to England -- Upton Park in the London suburbs to be more exact. We'd get a few extra amenities though. West Ham has a beautiful stadium, playing at Boleyn Ground and even owns it's own hotel, so SisIggy and Pastry Chef could manage that concern.
We might even be able to put a casino in a back room to satisfy John Boy.

The only downside as I see is we'd have to learn to spell all over again.

So whatda you say Light Forest? Are you interested?

Christmas Eve at Light Forest's

The family loaded into the trusty Subaru and headed to Light Forest's abode in a sister state late this afternoon for an evening of food, fun and fellowship. Once there the camera was held hostage as the hosts are now shy but we were able to grab some shots of the delectable food including Prime Rib, Country Ham, homemade egg nog and an assortment of cookies made by the Pastry Chef.

Here is a small sample of the goodies:

The Prime Rib was a masterpiece, cooked to perfection by Light Forest. SisIggy, her brothers and her Heirs especially devoured that portion on the left while the Pastry Chef and I are full-heartedly from the right.

John-Boy (he doesn't mind using his real handle) provided
the Junior Johnson-cured country ham. That I knew it was
a NASCAR driver's company didn't bode well in some circles
but Johnson did have a nice product for LF to serve.

We washed it all down with a high-grade homemade egg nog concoction prepared by and in the aforementioned Light Forest's ample kitchen. There were two varieties, one with Jack and the other, generic. I really enjoyed the light version.












The Pastry Chef had friends over earlier in the week for a cookie party. Here are a few examples of the delicacies provided:

We missed getting back home to hear our adorable pets talk at midnight but want our hosts to know that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and wish them and you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Finally, the Masterpiece

Not really. But since I haven't posted for a fortnight, this will have to be one. And, in reality, it is.
You see, Heir 1 and I had a paying job yesterday and that, in itself, makes Monday a good day.

We had a photo job in Fairfax County and this is one of the photos we captured.


The rest of the session wasn't very fruitful -- unless a clogged conveyance line makes you happy. It does us, because after a jetter gets done cleaning it out, we get to go back and do it again (and paid a second time too) :) .

Couple that with the beautiful scenery and the day was breathtaking: 20 degree temps with a breeze out of the west made it a Winnie the Pooh moment.

Here's a pic (if you look really close) of a flock of loons bobbing on the Potomac River with Gunston Cove in the background. The Maryland shore can be seen in the distance but in reality, the actual line is at water's edge.

This one shows the client's boat dock located approximately 70 feet downslope from the rest of the rear yard. The cottage sat on a cliff and the dock was only accessible via a winding staircase to the level below.

And here's one of Fort Belvoir in the distance. I took this one just to show off one of our military bases.

Today, as it is even colder outside (8 degrees this morning), I sit at the computer writing reports and staying warm. Now, I've got to get back to work...

Waiting

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile but I am working on a masterpiece that's taken more time than I hoped. Besides, I have a real job today...

It Always Comes in Threes

First it was no water because someone clipped an electrical utility pole in half. It took Dominion Virginia Power almost seven hours to fix.

Next, no water because there was a leak in the cistern. It took the landlord three days to get someone here to fix it.

For the past week or so the kitchen sink would back up whenever we drained the water after washing dishes. I was planning to buy a chemical to unclog it but after talking to my dad, he said to check the P-trap, which I did when I got home Tuesday evening.

The trap literally disintegrated in my hands.

I immediately called Dad. He arrived within the hour and off to Lowes we went for the repair parts.

Unfortunately, the drain baskets also needed replacing and now Lowes was closed.

We scheduled time yesterday afternoon to finish the task and, after two more trips and six more hours, the sink is back to normal.

We also found the real reason for the original problem -- the drain pipe in the basement was completely clogged. It was worse than the suspected cholesterol clog in my arteries; I mean there's no wonder any water was flowing.

We also cleaned the P-trap for the tub while we were at it and now, we believe, there is nothing else that needs to be replaced.

At least that's the thought right now.

Thanks to SisIggy for allowing me to copy her photo of the sink. In all the excitement of the past two days I forgot to snap a single photograph of the escapade.

Birthday clock

It's time to steal another idea from a friend. Kudos to John from Wisconsin.

WOW Less than a dollar a gallon

Filled up the old car today and was shocked to see the price: $0.999 a gallon.

Figured you wouldn't believe me so I snapped a photo from my Verizon camera phone. Then, after I got home, it took me the better part of an hour to figure out how to download the pic to the 'puter.

Finagled it somehow and here it is:

Post Thanksgiving Blues

A great meal at the Darks on Thursday was followed by this*, today:


Now, I feel I can get down to work and start producing. Stay tuned for some great family photos.

*Photo courtesy of John from Wisconsin.

Happy Turkey Day

Fortunately, the Prez only pardoned Pumkin, leaving Pecan and others like her to the masses.

Sis, Heir I and I will be traveling later this morning to the Darks over in West By God where we'll meet up with John Boy, the Twin Progeny and Heir II, who left yesterday as soon as school was out.

There, the Darks will prepare and we will feast on oysters, a Virginia Salt-cured ham, shrimp, lobster, ribs and maybe even a turkey. Of course, we'll have all the trimmings and trappings too, and later, we will devour Sis's Apple and Pumpkin Pie and then settle down for that old American Futbol standard -- Premier League Soccer.

So for all of my faithful readers (I now have more than Older Sister), may your day be special and remember to give thanks to all the wonderful men and women serving overseas today in foreign lands and especially, have a wonderful

Dark Gets Around

It's amazing how Dark gets around. His slush fund must still be flush or perhaps it's a hit on all the recent overtime he's put it and the trip was part of much needed R-N-R.

CARSON, CA – November 23 - DC United’s once-favorite fanDark Garden joins in the post-game MLS Championship celebration. Joining Dark on the victory podium are Columbus Crew' Guillermo, Barros Schelotto, Ginos Padula and captain Frankie Hejduk, prior to the presentation of the Philip F.

Anschutz Trophy. Columbus defeated the New York Red Bulls 3-1. Dark promises United will be back in 2009, playing the upstart Seattle Sounders in the title game.

VINDICATED

If you've been reading SisIggy's blog, you may recall we had water issues earlier in the week. Specifically, whenever Heir I takes a shower, we run out of water. Our water supply is an underground reservoir and we pay a local company $65 to deliver us 1,500 gallons of chlorinated water on a monthly basis. We also have two downspouts that empty into it providing us with water from God.

During the summer -- the drought -- we were having the tank filled with 3,000 gallons every four weeks. In mid-October I opted to have the tank filled to capacity - 4,500 gallons - because you never know when bad weather will hit and the truck won't be able to deliver right away.

Less than 15 days later Heir I was taking and shower and we heard @#$^*( from the bathroom. I called and had a load delivered and our hauler informed me we must have a leak.

Duh.

Four-and-a-half days later Heir I was taking another shower. You know the drill: @#$^* and %%% for good measure came from the bathroom.

Again we called and water was delivered. I then called our landlord and told him we had a leak.

The reservoir repair company arrived this morning and pumped out all that precious water I had bought. After cleaning it they checked for any nook or cranny that may have been causing the problem.

Two areas were found. One, the size of a pin-prick and the other that would have made Old Faithful proud. That was the one I told them about before they started and that's why I feel I am now vindicated.

New water will arrive this afternoon and Heir I can take another shower to test the repair. If we don't hear @#$^*( escaping from the bathroom we'll know the fix was right.

The landlord also informed me that come spring, he's going to hook this house up to his well. Ordinarily, I would think Great. But I have too many memories about another well I once owned that had pump problems every time the wind chill hit the teens and snow was a foot deep.

At least it will be his problem and not mine.

Afterwards, we will have this nice new space underneath the carport:


Heir I has always said he wanted a private bedroom instead of the open space we now call the basement. It may be a little damp - but so is where he sleeps now. I believe we have answered his prayers.

A morning without power, a day without comfort

I wonder how they did without it in the old days?

Electricity. Can't stand the high cost but can't live without it.

We found that out this morning. Way early this morning.

We awoke to a constant beeping coming from the computer's battery backup. It was still dark outside and SisIggy commented from under the covers: "The electricity must be out. Get up and close the window. We don't want to lose anymore heat from the house."

I did. And noticed it was rather chilly in the house. But not as chilly as it would get.

Heir 2 got up on his own, fumbled in the darkness to dress and wondered aloud why he couldn't run any water from his sink. He wanted to finish a paper he didn't finish last night and wanted to get to school where he could.

I helped him clean the snow off his car (we had about an inch) and then went in search of coffee for Sis. While on the road I saw why we had no power. A crew was replacing a downed pole (I'm blaming it on VDOT who wouldn't sand or salt the road even though the headquarters was less than a stone's throw from the accident scene). I went around it - three miles around it - and got coffee and a donut for my bride.

At 7:30 I called DomVAPower to report the outage and got a recording that all would be fixed by "9:15 am". We waited.

Everything I do is contingent on electricity. Simple things like looking at a clock. Watching Morning Joe or Imus while I drink my coffee (I didn't have any today) and eat my hot breakfast. And, of course, getting on the computer to work, read my three newspapers, check blogs and the weather.

Today of all days I actually had work planned. I needed to research and call in five Ms Utility tickets for work I have planned next week.

And instead, we waited.

I called for an update after 9:15 and found it was now scheduled for 10:15. Additional calls stated 11:15 and 11:45. Power came on around 11:30 -- just long enough to run a liter of water and boot the computer. And then it went dark again. And colder.

Sis was bundled in her sweater, a fleece jacket and her "bum gloves". I had on a jacket and one, two or three pups sitting on my lap.

As soon as the power went out again, I called and found out power would be restored by 1:15pm. Seems the DomVAPower crew broke for lunch. The eat lunch. We can't.

Fortunately, power came back on around 12:30.

I waited 15 minutes just to make sure before I got on the computer to start my day.

First Snowfall

It's not much but I guess you can call it an appreciable snow...

Sicilean Style

When you think you've seen it all, something like this pops up.

A year ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about. Now that Dark has turned me onto the National Sport, nothing surprises me. Maybe DC United should try this stunt next year... it couldn't hurt.

Heigh-Oh

I feel like the seven dwarves, or in this case, a dwarf. Today, it's off to work we go.

I got a call about a month ago from a potential client in Northern Virginia requesting my services. Late Friday afternoon I got an email telling me all was ready to go and this morning I scheduled an appointment for later today to get started.

It will be great to get back outside working again, although I suspect I will have it all done by the end of the week...

JB The Tour Guide

"Hey John-Boy, what are you doing Friday?"

"It depends," he replied.

"Uh oh," SisIggy commented. "Depends on whether work is involved."

So went the banter Tuesday evening at the Dark's house where we were eating oysters and chili.

All I wanted to know was whether he wanted to take the Front Royal Civil War Tour. Something we had talked about for the past year or so. JB has been so busy of late going to gambling school and we have been busy trying to fend off lechers, er creditors.

But our gig was over Thursday and he's been out of school for several weeks and I was sure his fall yard work was waning.

"That's not a bad idea and I think I am free that day. So we scheduled it then and set it Friday morning. We met at the town's visitor center and before we could leave, the docents told us about the Tour CD and guide that was available. "And it's on sale now, only $10.98."

JB paid the tab and we popped in the CD, waiting for the beep to start our drive.

"Turn right out of the parking lot, go to the stoplight and turn right. Turn off the CD until you drive 4.3 miles to the Asbury Church on the right for the start of the tour.

There were a total of 10 stops as we drove back to and through the town. Each stop provided us with additional background and made it even more enjoyable. Once we finished, we found the tour book had several side tours to the house where Stonewall Jackson had dinner after the battle and the now non-existent railroad depot that Turner Ashby burnt out while cutting the telegraph wires preventing the union army commander (Banks) from learning of Jackson's eminent arrival (of course after dinner and a night's rest).

We went back to get JB's car and thank the docents for their help. And for extra brochures on other civil was sites in the commonweath we haven't been to yet. As soon as we got home, he spread the map at the table, got out his compass and rule and began plotting the next trip.

"Wonder when Dark Garden and the Heirs will be available?" he asked.

"Well," I stated. "Let's ask."

Follow-up note: It seems the CD is actually an interactive CD... We popped it in the computer and SisIggy was so intrigued, she promised that she would take the tour "if Dark Garden went too."

How about it Dark? Heirs?

Mrs. Dark, Please Don't Be Mad at Me

The next two posts are about West Virginia. I normally don't like to dump on my sister-in-law's home state but these two gems are Priceless. At least she can't jump me about my dislike for West Virginia University's football team as my alma mater isn't doing very good this year either on the gridiron.

A New Day For Washington; Less Pork for West Virginia

Less money will be pouring into West Virginia now that its senior senator, Robert Byrd, voluntarily gave up his chairmanship of the powerful Appropriations Committee today. That probably doesn't mean a lot for most Americans but for those of us close by, it means a lot.

Don't believe me? Travel through the state and see for yourself. In the 75 minute drive from our house to the Darks you will pass no fewer than 10 honorariums for West Virginia's favorite son. I suspect there are more than 100 throughout the state. They had so many for Byrd that they started naming them for his late wife -- even before she died several years ago.

And it isn't like there's a Robert C. Byrd Outhouse, although I suspect there is one or two municipal sewage treatment plants named for him. There are highways, bridges, clinics and schools named in his honor. And I suspect some money may still slide the state's way since it is likely Byrd will remain chair of the Homeland Defense subcommittee.

How else will the US Navy get the funding it needs for the large naval base in the landlocked state?

Poll Found in a West Virginia Newspaper

Would you expect anything else from our sister state?

Are you glad the presidential election is finally over?
	Yes
	No
	Who cares — bring on deer season

Plugging a Good Thing

I've never been wont to plug a site just for the sake of it. But this one offered good advice at a reasonable price and I have learned things I wished I had known before I started my own business a few years ago.

Some of you may have heard about Dave Ramsey prior to seeing this blog. He's been on Fox News as a commentator and has his own nightly radio show. Unfortunately I hadn't until we went searching for a course that would satisfy our educational requirement for bankruptcy.

The course was so good it should be a requirement of high schoolers before they graduate.

In reading Ramsey's site I've come to find out he offers around 12 additional courses on personal finance and as soon as business picks up some or I am able to find a job, I want to investigate all he has to offer.

Vote Early, Vote Often

I have always loved seeing how Google was treating special days. Their Olympic motives were interesting and last week's Halloween drawing was superb.

Yet when I got up this morning and logged onto the net I was disappointed to see the normal wording without any pizazz. Two hours later -- now in fact, I booted up and was greeted with the above.

Which reminds me of the old Daley addage: Vote early and often.

Now We Know How the Maytag Repairman Feels

It's Halloween!

Whoopie.

Having moved to the neighborhood earlier this year we asked our neighbors how many kids we could expect for Halloween. We wanted to make sure we had a credible supply of treats as the last thing we need right now in our lives are any tricks.

Landlord Judy told me that the numbers had dwindled in recent history but that we could expect 20. Her husband added that a neighboring farmer would most likely ride as a Headless Horseman.

We looked forward to the night as none of the other homes we've had were in a quaint neighborhood. We bought a pumpkin and Heir II carved it. We bought a second, mini-pumpkin with the idea that Gnigel would hold it in his lap. Unfortunately, Gnivel has been eating to much of late and there wasn't room for both the pumpkin and his stomach.

He did the next best thing. He made the pumpkin a football and here he is kicking the orange-skin around the yard.

Of course, Halloween this year fell on a Friday. We were competing with the local high school's football team. Except the game was two hours away and our team has won only one game all year.

I was ready to call it a night at 7:30 pm with nary a creature stirring.

SisIggy downloaded the camera and I started cropping the photos. I was about to turn off the outdoor lights when I saw a car pull into the driveway with a mom and two little girls.

They each got a piece of candy and allowed me to take their picture so I could prove we did get someone to stop by.

The festivities are over now. The lights have been turned off and this blog is almost finished.

Sis handed me a Reece's Cup and said "I cooked".

The Heirs (Frugal Man on the left; Ninja Joe, below) are still out with their significant others passing out treats
(at least that's what they said they were
doing) in their girlfriend's neighborhoods).

That gives me a few hours to hide the rest of the stash before they come home hungry.



And if I can't find a hiding place, I won't have any dessert.

Roanoke College or Bust

If you've been reading SisIggy's blog by now you know that Heir II had decided Roanoke College will be his home for the next four years. And if this is the first you're hearing about it, pull up a chair and see why.

The heir had already been accepted via early admission and had even been given a substantial financial aid package for the school. But with college expenses expected to be almost $40,000 the first year we told him that unless he was able to get a full ride, we wouldn't be able to help.

He had applied site unseen. RC had an open house last Saturday and with the help of the grandparents, we drove to Salem Saturday to check out the campus. The pre-dawn trip was very rainy and we arrived just in time for Heir II to visit one-on-one with a computer science professor who did a little personal recruitment.

We also attended a financial aid session that was tops (Lord knows we need financial aid) and then it was time for brunch.

I had expected watercress sandwiches and tea with maybe a few cookies sprinkled in.

What we got was a weekend brunch in the school's dining hall that was heaven.

Real scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy and even omelets. Fresh fruit, a salad bar and the best compote I have ever eaten. And to hear our tour guide and even a Roanoke recruiter tell us the weekend food was sub-par to the rest of the week.

"Lobster Newburg, shrimp, prime rib and even Leg of Lamb with mint jelly," both told us. "Our chef's are graduates of the Culinery Institute of America. How many schools can say that?"

Yet Heir II wasn't sold on that alone. He was really impressed with the bank of cold cereal he saw once we entered the facility.

"I'm coming here," he said. "If nothing else, I'll be the new mascot."

She's Going to Big Lick U!

Heir 2 may not have made a final decision on a college choice yet but his dear mother has. And it only took SisIggy about two minutes to decide she was going to Big Lick U next fall. Heck, she may even enroll Monday so she'll have enough time to settle in before her first class Wednesday afternoon...

Hey Darks, the Uno Dough Is Here

This blog references one of the first I ever posted. As you may recall, the Darks invited us for a day in the city recently and was highlighted by a rude staff at a Uno Chicago Bar and Grill.

Once we got home and slept on it, Sis and I were still pissed and posted an email to corporate as a way to vent some steam.

We never figured we'd get a reply much less a phone call. Yet less than a day later Kacey, a senior hospitality rep called, and offered sincere apologies and a $40 voucher.


The vouchers came in the mail today along with a nice letter from Kacey. I'm sorry the correspondence wasn't as legible as I'd like but when I yield a camera anything is possible (or is that impossible).

Anyway' Kacey says in part: "Enclosed please find $40 in vouchers that can be used at any of our restaurants nationwide. Please share then with your brother in law and extend our sincere apologies to him and his wife."

So Dark, I have done the first part of Kacey's request. And together, the four of us can do the second part (as long as it isn't in DC).

Finally, since I know the suits at Uno reads this blog (how else would they know the name SisIggy, Dirtman and Dark Garden when they called last week), I want them to let Kacey know we got the vouchers and how thankful we are that corporate America still has a heart.

Wxxxxxg Out For a Bag of Food

What we in Dirty-Linguini Land will do for a paltry bag of dog food.

Lest all the Linguini lovers out there rile off at, or for that matter, on me, Sis wasn't the only whore in this photo with Mel the Border Collie, to the left. Yours truly was also one this afternoon, working for our friend Frank at his local kennel.

As many of you know a bag of kibble isn't as inexpensive as it once was. That, and our bank account is even thinner.

Fortunately, there are friends still out there like Frank. We put in four man-hours bathing (1) and brushing out (5) of Frank's famous doggies in lieu of actually paying cash for the food.

If things get any tighter, I might start eating the kibble myself.

Note to all. Sis wasn't too pleased with the title but for the life of me, I couldn't come up with a better word. Let it be said Sis is not a wxxxx now or ever.

Won't Bruce Be Proud of Me?

Work has been really slow lately so I have had to come up with new uses for seldom-used tools.

Here, I took my six-inch hand auger, which is used to excavate borings for the old-fashioned water percolation studies, and made it into a receptacle to hold the bird feeders we brought from another life.

Believe it or not, it worked.

We had a chickadee alight on the the feeder on the right within 20 minutes of installation. It was tentative at first but quickly came back for morsels.

I also moved our birdbath next to it so the site is a one-stop smorgasbord.

In less than a day it had alerted the birding community and we can now look out the window anytime during the day to see the birds eating away.

We'll need more seed within the month and will visit Wild Bird Unlimited for a re-stocking. I'm sure owner Bruce Johnson will be waiting with open arms.

Good Flick

W.

Sis and I went to see Oliver Stone’s moving depicting the life and times of George W. yesterday for my birthday. We went to the matinee so as to save money and didn’t get anything from the concessionaire so to save even more.

I really enjoyed the movie, especially the actors portrayal of the characters they brought to the screen.

Josh Brolin had the President down pat as did Richard Dreyfuss as Cheney and I don’t think H.W. could have done himself any better than James Cromwell did.

Karl Rove was a tough character for Toby Jones but he did an admirable job even though Philip Seymour Hoffman would have looked more like the GOP kingmaker. I suspect Hoffman was too much for even the foreign producers’ budget

.

It seems writer Stanley Weiser gleaned and obtained every quote W and Laura Bush ever stated and inserted them into the movie and for better or worse, it made the movie that much better.

The only drawback to the movie wasn’t about the movie.

Carmike Cinema, the monopoly chain in our neck of the woods decided a movie 2 hours and 11 minutes long needed 27 minutes of trailers in addition to the 20-plus minutes of “entertainment news” prior to the actual beginning. I was tired of sitting on the broken-down seats before the opening credits.

I’ll be glad when the purportedly new theater opens in our fair city soon.

Back to the movie, IMDB says it’s a biography, a comedy and a drama. And it was – depending on whether you’re an English major or a history buff (like me) or a Democrat or a Republican.

Sis may have the right take on it, when she said as we were leaving that Stone showed that Bush was “like we all suspected he was though we really hoped he wasn’t”.

And What Was Your Intial Thought?

Dark on the Sidelines of United's 2-1 Victory

I was surprised to see Dark at the NE Revolution - DC United game last night as I was flipping the channels on my TV. I was even more surprised when, after doing an image search on Yahoo, there was a photo of Dark along the sidelines snapping photos of the game.

My question is: How did he rank a sideline pass when he's not even a member of the press? Hell, in all my years of covering sports I never got such a pass from any league above sandlot ball.

Who does he know?

What to Do This Weekend?

SisIg and I were sitting at our partner's desk this morning each on our own computer reviewing blog comments and whatever else we do before the sun comes up. A passing comment from Sis started:

Sis: "Saturday is your birthday. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," I said. We had talked earlier in the week about Charles Town Races this weekend and the running of the West Virginia Breeders Classic. But with no money that wasn't an option.

We had also discussed this was the weekend for the annual Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon & Wine Festival at Long Branch. Sis and I along with Dark and John-Boy had attended last year and left disappointed, especially with the snootiness of the Northern Virginia crowd and that the only way to drink wine was to buy the even snobbier glasses. We got around that by using coke cups and even passing the bottle around the group. We got around the cork with a penknife.

"You think Dark and JB will be up for that again?" I asked.

"I wouldn't even want to ask," Sis relied.

Later, Thursday morning the water guy showed up with a load for the cistern. He and I have become friends, since he's always bails me out with the tank goes dry and Sis or one of the Heirs decides the toilet needs flushed.

He told me that he was busy the rest of the week hauling water to the Cedar Creek Battlefield for the annual re-enactment. After he left, I came back into the house and told Sis what I wanted to do.

"We're doing Cedar Creek this weekend," I said.

"OK," she replied with a slight roll of the eyes.

"We can go all three days," I added. "Make a weekend out of it. I'm sure the Darks and JB will want to do it too."

"Your birthday is only one day," Sis returned. "ONE DAY."

I checked out the web site and found the cost.

"It's expensive to watch men fight each other," I said. "$20 tickets. I wonder if we can park on US Rt 11 and watch from the hill."

The battle starts in the afternoon on Saturday with an encore performance Sunday.

"Hope they finish killing each other before 8 pm," I added. "Tech is on ABC Saturday night against Boston College. I don't want to miss that!"
Sis again rolled her eyes before adding, "So you aren't going to do anything special for your birthday."

"Guess not," I answered.