September 27, 2009

Well September begins to draw to a close, the days are getting shorter, the leaves on the tree are beginning to turn colors, and the weather is starting to cool. We got up yesterday to run and it was only 45. Pretty chilly in our shorts and short-sleeved shirts. Not too much to report since my last posting as I'm trying to get back on a weekly schedule.

We were actually home for once this weekend which was a nice change of pace. On Friday we spent the late afternoon in our garden harvesting some of our last crops for the year. We got in the potatoes which while we had a plentiful amount, none of them was particularly large. Seems to be a theme with our garden - root crops are always pretty small. Might spend the winter trying to figure that one out. We also brought in another good crop of green and yellow beans. We now have about 25 frozen packs ready for winter eating. The only crop left is sweet potatoes. But with the cool, wet weather we had for most of the year we aren't holding out a lot of hope for seeing large potatoes.

Saturday dawned beautiful, although as mentioned above, cool. After our morning exercise we finished up harvesting the potatoes and then spent the afternoon preparing Shepherd's Pie for dinner. Dinner was over at Sheri and Bruno's and Shepherd's Pie travels really well. On the way over we stopped for our favorite apple cider and cider donuts at a local apple orchard/cider mill. Will be enjoying those donuts in just a bit this morning. We finished the evening with tickets to the Granite Theater in Westerly. Today is raining so will be doing some catching up on indoors chores and reading.

The pictorial for the week is a couple of shots of downtown NY that Jo took from the helicopter
during one of her trips to NY. She also took a few of the Waterford/New London area that I might use next week. Just a warning in case vista shots leave you queasy.

September 24, 2009

It's the day after my younger brother's birthday (his 47th in case anyone is tracking that and I only have the one brother on the off chance you are secretly plotting the family tree) and so I wanted to give a shout out to him - HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO.

Jo and I had a wonderful week of work between getting back from New York and before we headed out to Philadelphia. Jo's job is getting very busy as we ready to merge with Wyeth. We are all just waiting for the FTC to do its thing and then it is off to the races. My job on the other hand is in a quiet spot as my boss is busy - like Jo - getting ready for the merger but not able to disclose anything yet. All this meant another couple of days for Joann in New York and New Jersey and me at home keeping the home running. Our big plans for the weekend was our annual trip to Philadelphia to see old friends and run the Philadelphia Distance Run. So after a very eventful drive down I-95 in which we got to see an auto accident of the two cars right in front of us - a wonderful confirmation of the physic principle that two objects can't occupy the same space unless you are at the quantum level which as of yet auto makers haven't figured out how to do for an entire car - we arrived in Doylestown, PA around 5 PM. We spent the evening with our good friend, Trish, who like Joann started out at Rohm and Haas as a chemist, turned into a quality consultant for a while and then moved into HR. Trish and Jo both then ended up as the head of HR for the research division of a major pharmaceutical company. What are the odds. It was an enjoyable evening as we caught up on Trish's life, the happenings of mutual friends from our old Rohm and Haas days, and enjoyed our stomping grounds in Doylestown. Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful and after a short run to get our legs set for the following day, we were joined by Holly. As you can see in the accompany photo which is Holly, Jo, and Trish trying to imitate a Verizon commercial on Trish's porch. Or as I liked to term it, three old ladies with tea. Had lunch with Holly and caught up with all the recent events happening to her and the hubby. Then it is was on to downtown Philadelphia for a last night of carbo loading (doesn't really help, you really need to carbo load two weeks before, but it feels good) and a good nights rest.

For the race on Sunday we had perfect weather although maybe a little too sunny. Temperatures were in the high 50's with low humidity. We did the before and after shots of the race - you can tell the after shots by our prominently displayed race medals and the fact that the only thing keeping us upright is our leaning on each other. We managed to complete the 13.1 miles in about the same time as last year - and as might be befitting former nerds (or current, your call on that one) we keep a Excel spreadsheet of our times over the last 8-10 years. Then it was into the car for the four hour, leg stiffening ride home. We did stop for our usual post race treat which is a McDonald's milkshake at the first rest stop in CT. Got home tired, but glad for the chance to catch up with friends and feeling the glow of achieving the run again (21 times for me and 20 for Jo).

It was back to a week of work and fortunately a stay at home weekend coming up as many chores have slipped behind. Jo was in NY, with Obama and all the heads of state, on Tuesday-Wednesday. She was glad to escape as getting around NY with all the security and limos was a nightmare. Fall is starting to show in the changing leaves and the shorter days. It won't be too much longer before we are running again in the dark for several months.

September 16, 2009

Last weekend, Jo and I traveled to New York as we had tickets to the NY Yankees for Saturday and decided we should just enjoy the entire weekend in the big apple. We took the train into the city from New Haven, CT and after checking into the Pfizer condo (Pfizer folks use it when staying in the city for extended times or are tired of the hotel life and then Pfizer lets employees stay there at reasonable rates for the weekends) we headed over to Broadway to see what shows had available tickets. We settled on "39 Steps" which is a comedic rendition of the Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Poor Al is probably a bit steamy in his heavenly spot as while the show is a absolute stitch, it does tend to mangle a fine film's plot. The cast did a great job and I was laughing so hard it hurt at times. As there are only 4 cast members (well 5 if you count some person's arm late in the second act) and 30-40 roles (could be more, but I stopped counting) it was a riot to see the transitions between roles. Additionally, they did several clever scenes using minimal props that were very eye-opening - the use of picture frames for windows and the train scene come to mind. After the show, while many New Yorkers would hit the bars for a night cap, we headed back to our room for a well deserved night of sleep.

Saturday morning dawned gray and overcast which was actually an improvement from the raining weather on Friday. We donned our running gear and headed out for our last big training run for the half-marathon. We covered from 38th street all the way to the top of Central Park and back. It was fun to run in Central Park with all the other New York athletes and fortunately the weather held out the entire time. After a shower and a quick bite to eat it was off to Yankee Stadium for the game. We took the subway to the ballpark which was great as it left you off practically right at the gate. We had gotten the tickets through Pfizer (ok, Jo got the tickets - has to be some advantage to all those hours she travels) and had great seats about 20 rows up just up from the Yankee dugout - seats even came with food service (which consisted of paying someone 20% of the food price to have the food magically show up at your seat). For those that haven't made it to the Yankees new stadium - it was very nice with well padded seats and more than comfortable leg room. However, for the price that was stamped on the ticket it should be. Food was on the pricey side (I mean $4 for a hot dog and $5 for a glass of lemonade - not counting the 20% if you used the food service) and it certainly made me long for the days of my youth at Wrigley Field where hot dogs were 25 cents (at least that is my memory). We had great weather, as it didn't start raining again until we in the subway headed back, and a wonderful day enjoying some professional baseball. Unfortunately, the Yankees didn't win - but we did great to see the Baltimore Orioles hit a grand slam.

We hit a diner for dinner as this is one of my favorite restaurant types to eat in when in New York. I went with the classic turkey dinner - roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry, and veggie. Quite tasty and very filling. We were pretty tired by that point and after a bit of search for a soft, chewy chocolate cookie we headed back to the room. Jo needed to get packed up as she left on Sunday for a business trip to the UK and we enjoyed watching some college football. So with an early start on Sunday (up at 5), I headed back on the train to CT and Jo got a car to JFK. Uneventful week at work. Jo made it to London and back successfully although she had several late nights while there and needs some beauty sleep. I did my thing in CT with a day's worth of work in NY (yes I had to go back down after being there all weekend).

That brings everything up to date - 'til next time.

September 13, 2009

I didn't get online last week to post an update on our Labor Day trip to the Adirondack's so I'll try to do two this week - that way each one won't be too long.

We took a little time off over Labor Day to enjoy a long weekend (Friday to Tuesday) hiking some of the peaks in the Adirondacks (for those out West, I get that fact that you would probably class them as small hills, but when all you got is 3,000-4,000 foot summits, you call them mountains). We went with our friends Sheri and Bruno who are much more serious hikers/campers than we are and were responsible for the majority of the organization. We started off with a stay Thursday night in Lennox, MA at a bed and breakfast on our way up - that's us enjoying an evening beverage and snacks on the deck - and no, Bruno isn't channeling his inner cheerleader or that excited about what he is reading in the paper. Then Friday it was up early for a small hike in Lennox to start and warm up the legs. Then it was off to Elk Lake Lodge where we spent the remainder of the trip. The lodge sits in the middle of several peaks with good hiking trails all around along with the signature Elk lake to enjoy some canoeing. We decided to tackle our toughest hike the first day and then proceeded out to hike for 11 hours. We managed to hit four summits (Macomb, South Dix, Hough, and Dix) although it required some very strenuous rapid hiking to get back to the lodge in time for dinner and before it got dark. Needless to say, the peaks provided spectacular views over the Adirondack hills and valleys of which only a few photos are provided. We were extremely tired but had many good stories to tell as we scrambled up a slide. did some rock climbing, and were all bit bumped, scratched, and bruised (Jo is still sporting quite a lovely bruise on her leg from sliding down a steep part on her hands and knees). The rest of the time at Elk Lake consisted of less strenuous endeavors as we tackled a hike a day. For those keeping inventory, we hiked to the top of Lightening Hill, went up the Fall's trail (which first consisted of canoeing across the lake and then hiking and finished at the claimed Fall's), and finished up our trip with a walk around Clear Pond and up to the top of Grandpa Pete mountain.

All in all a great weekend with perfect weather - sunny and in the low 70's each day - and we were sad to be coming home to work and house chores. Wednesday found Jo heading off to New York for two days while I tramped back into the office for a couple day's of work. Nothing particularly noteworthy to report on work as most of Pfizer is awaiting, hopefully, the upcoming merger with Wyeth.

Friday we packed up again and headed to New York for a weekend with the Yankees. But that is a story for my next entry.