Rusty

Our dog Rusty had to be put to sleep after a very fast-acting tumor began to bleed on his spleen late last week. We both made a close attachment with Rusty the first time we ever met him - we were sitting on the floor of our living room, talking with Dave (who runs WAAGR) - Rusty immediately came over, put his head in our laps and made up our minds in about 5 seconds.

He really was the perfect dog for Monnie and I. His laid back personality was a great fit for our style as was his love of tennis (or at least tennis balls). We've really been missing him the last couple days - expecting to see him peering out the sliding glass door when we get home, chasing the ball around the front yard, or having him hang out with me at work all day.

We're so glad that we had the chance to unite for a short while and give him a good home before the end. We just can't help but selfishly feel a bit robbed that the time had to be so short... we're really going to miss him!

Vermont

My trip is nearing the end. I'm here at Paul & Marni's in Burlington, VT until I catch the bus back to Boston tomorrow morning.

Our day started today with Marni and I grabbing some breakfast (Eggs Benedict of course) while Paul slept (if you want me to visit you - apparently you need to be a doctor working night shift).

After that, Marni was off to work and I got a chance to drive around Burlington a bit.

Paul woke up a bit later and we were off to Waterbury for some disc golf - and then to see Stowe. The disc golf course was very cool, although the results (a tie and a loss) could have been better.

On the way home we stopped for a RIDICULOUSLY good beer. If you're ever in this neck of the woods, definitely check out The Alchemist - specifically the "Heady Topper", a double IPA was one of the best I've had.

Back to Boston

After a Great trip to Maine, I've returned back to Boston. The bus trip back went very well - my friend Dion picked me up right at the airport (just a few minutes from the hotel) and everything went very smoothly.

The hotel the conference is at (the Westin in Boston) is very nice and I'm all settled. I'll be covering the conference this week for ajaxian.com - basically that means writing a few blog posts and flying/staying on their dime... not a bad deal at all!

Not too much exciting to report - pretty nerdy of course... you'll probably only get a post tomorrow if I do something other than watch presentations!

Hiking Around Maine

Yes, I've decided to stray from the "Big Trip - Day X" naming scheme. (you're welcome)

Today, I woke up with some terrible lower back pain. Not a good thing for the day you're scheduled to go hike up a mountain. After a check of the weather forecast (it looked terrible) Mike and I decided to go for it!

We drove up to Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. The drive was very nice - many lakes, big hills, a few legit mountains mixed in, and of course - as seems to be the law in Maine: MANY Dunkin Donuts. I had thought that there was a ridiculously high quantity of the chain in Portland itself, but apparently they are even in the small towns:



When we reached Mt Washington we found that the road to the top was closed. The guy told us it was due to several feet of snow on parts of the road, -10F temps, and wind gusts over 120mph. We did have a Chevy Lumina, but I guess they still wouldn't let us through.

We ended up having a very nice trip - a couple of very nice (and thankfully short) hikes and some great pictures.





When we got back to Portland we got some _great_ chowder down at Gilberts Chowder House. I then got the chance to hang out with Claire while the rents went out for the evening. We had a very nice evening - read some books, watched some Dora, and drew some pictures.

The Big Trip - Day 2

Another great day today, although this time the weather didn't cooperate quite as well. I don't think the sun managed to get through at all today but we still managed to have a great time.

I'll be putting all kinds of pictures from this trip here btw.

After sleeping in (which was great!) I awoke to find a baby in the house. Rufus, a friend (of Mike and Sheila)'s kid, was over for a bit. He was a good guy - no pic to pass along, but a big head of blonde hair. His favorite (and only) word is "daddy" and he employs it the same was smurfs use the word "smurf". Do you like blocks? Daddy. How about we go outside? Daddy. -- You get the picture. Anyway, while the one word vocabulary is cute to any adult (except perhaps his mother), Claire was not as big a fan. She definitely grasps that the baby can't really communicate but was still getting frustrated when, on the way to breakfast, all Rufus wanted to talk about was his Dad. "I'm not your daddy!" she would yell with a very frustrated look on her face.

"Breakfast" (in quotes since it occured at 130PM) was great - Becky's (careful that has audio) was great! I got to help Claire with her french toast - partly grape jellied - part strawberry - partly orange marmalade, part syrup, and of course: part everything. Good times!

We did a bit of shopping (I love shopping) and later a lobster dinner! Mike and I went to pick the beasts up - they were very very easy to prepare (which was a fun experience in itself) and they were uber-tasty! Here, you see me with a manical look on my face - looking forward to the finished product.



Unfortunately, one got loose after I had cut the rubber bands on it's pinchers and it got Mike on the nose:



Looks like a windy and chilly day tomorrow so we'll see whether we get to go with our "hike a mountain" plan or not - something tells me we'll find something good to do!

The Big Trip - Day 1

Day 1 of my big trip is complete.

The whole trip will take from Thursday 10/19 through to Friday 10/27 and will take me from Madison to Boston to Portland (ME) to Boston to Burlington (VT) to Boston to Madison.

Things got started off when my wonderful mother work up early (445AM!) to give me a ride to the airport - thanks Mom! This marked the first time that I was allowed to bud in line due to being a tad late in an airport line. I really wasn't that late though, I bet that if I hadn't budded I would have still been 15 minutes early, but when they offered... I definitely accepted!

The flight from Madison to Detroit ended up being late as we had to circle a while due to cloudiness - you may think that the aviation has evolved to the point where landing during overcast weather is possible... apparently you would be wrong. Anyway, this meant that I got off our plane at 8:58 and my next flight left at 8:48. Lucky for me half the airport was in the same shoes so they held the plane!

The bus from Logan (Boston airport) to Portland Maine was absolutely as pain free as Mike and Sheila had told me. A two hour drive filled with sudoko (my parents addicted me to it last weekend) went very quickly and cost just $20 - not bad!

The day was still young though - after hanging out with Sheila and Claire a bit Mike got home - or actually "woke up" would be the better wording since he was in his room up to that point. We then headed out to check out Portland Head lighthouse - VERY pretty... just like the postcards. As Mike says "by far the most famous thing in Maine".



I happened to be in town on basketball night so we got to go play a bit with some of Mike's buddies. 4-4 full court and a final 3-3 half made for a really fun time, but I definitely haven't been around the basketball enough lately. Lots of mistakes and missed gimmes.

The night ended with Mike and I playing some foosball - I had him on the ropes but he eventually took down the evening series 5-4. We've decided to keep a running lifetime series total from here on out.

Oh, and actually that didn't end my night. I still had a bit of life in me so I decided to start watching the Lost Season 1 DVDs that my lovely wife recently gifted me. Several of our good friends have been telling us a great show for long enough that we've finally given in. Very good to figure out some of these beginning details that I've been missing. Seems like it's going to be a great show.

Cousin Tim

My cousin Tim (Johnson) was killed in a car accident last Monday night in Boston (he had fairly recently moved out there). Obviously, this is terribly bad news - he'll be missed by so many people both in and out of the Halberg family.

I can't think of a single bad memory I have of Tim. Always kind, understanding, and patient with his younger cousins.

I remember seeing his array of skiing medals - won by slalom racing against the clock at various UP hills. Specifically I remember being really impressed and having him play it down: "anyone can win those"... well, so far I have zero!

One Christmas, he received a football game for the Nintendo (I bet Mike remembers this too). The game was relegated to the TV in grandma and grandpas bedroom - the one in the main room was reserved for watching real football and, as I recall, a ridiculously large amount of The Weather Channel. What I really remember though is watching Tim (he was quite good) and getting a chance myself (and being quite bad). At first this doesn't really seem like much - but I think the fact that a young Tim allowed a little cousin to play HIS game on the same day he got it is really impressive.

He was an incredible asset in snowball wars. From tactical preparation, to fort (and tunnel) building, to the actual throwing and combat: he was regularly voted MVP. Often he was our only line of defense against the impending army of uncles!

and I remember seeing him at a Packer game a year or two ago. What are the odds of actually seeing someone you know in a stadium that size, but there he was! He was there with his nephew Zack (I'm not sure how these things work - Zack is my second cousin?). A Packers jersey and a huge smile. That's the way that I see him when I conjure him up in my mind.

A great guy and a great loss. We'll miss you Tim!

StL

Another baseball trip in the books. This time Geer and I were joined by Jen (a historic first female appearance for our trips) and Hobber to check out St Louis new park. Hobber just moved down to StLouis a month or so ago for work so we had a great excuse to head down for a couple games - a night on the town - and a visit to check out his new pad.

We really liked St Louis new version of Busch stadium - giving it much higher reviews than the stadiums we saw on our earlier trip this year. They did a great job of keeping some of the theme of the old stadium while really updating it. I am a big fan of several decks stacked (vs. a couple very deep decks). The look is nice and (I think) it makes for some better seats with fewer people missing out on every fly ball because they're staring up at the seats above them.



The fans in St Louis were very into the games. Of course, that could be because they needed to win to clinch a playoff berth (which they did in both games we saw). A few observations on St Louis fans that I think are truly unique to this stadium:

1. We saw no other Brewers fans. I think at the Friday night game we literally saw one other Brewers fan. Saturday we saw a few more but still: way under what you would expect to see just about anywhere else.

2. An incredibly high percentage of St Louis fans were wearing Cardinals gear - or at least red. In other words: there weren't a lot of people that just decided to head to the game in the clothes that they had worn to work that day.

3. For a crowd that is SO into baseball (and they are)... they really chose strange times to do the wave. Basically, they sat there and intently watched each pitch intently. Then, when a really big moment came: they ignored the game and started the wave. It was truly strange. I'm pretty anti-wave, but totally understand that most people find baseball really boring and the wave helpsm so... go for it. but it just doesn't make sense to only do it when the game is at it's highest point.

Mad Props

Way to go Becky (and Shane)!

Our friend Becky had an incredible outing at the marathon in Milwaukee today, taking 1st!!! It's hard to do much better than that!

Husband/coach/co-runner Shane did an awesome job too! Turning in a 19th place performance in the guys division (20th overall :))!

That link above is to nutitilicous which has some other good links, details, and pictures. Shoot over there quick and leave a little note for Becky!