Gwen B. Giles (Catalpa) Park.

Completely by accident, Michele and I discovered a park we had never noticed before. We got diverted away from our planned route by a marathon of all things and there, driving through a neighborhood we almost never visit, on a road we never drive, was a vision of everything Sean in a park. I vowed on the spot to visit this park. I kept my vow.

I'm on call this week. I was on the phone with customers until 11:30 PM. At 12:30 AM, I finally got to sleep. At 2:30 AM, I woke to the phone ringing, again. I took multiple calls through the morning and at 6:30 AM, I headed to work, since I knew I wouldn't get any decent sleep. On the way, driving alone for the first time in a really long time, I decided to stop by the park. I took lots of pictures. I also scraped my shins, bruised my right heel and got impressive grass and mud stains on my pants. It was great.

I don't have the ability to get my pictures off my phone right now but I did order a data cable for my phone so soon, I promise. These pictures should be worth the wait.

I'll try to catalog a few of the features that have me drooling over this park. A large wooden play structure, probably 30 feet long or more, with lots of room for climbing, ducking, etc. Numerous formations of short, wide, wooden posts stuck in the ground, some in lines, others in patterns, and still others in clusters. A couple rails at 3 inches above the ground, for balancing on. Dual monkey bars. 3 foot diameter concrete pipes for crawling through and climbing over. A play stage coach and a play viking ship and still another regular jungle gym feature. Large metal post swings, suitable for climbing on. Two sets of great stairs, one with huge parkour potential. Several small cannon emplacements. And throughout it all, large 2 foot to 4 foot boulders bordering everything, just perfect for climbing and running and jumping on. And I guarantee I've left some things out. This place just begs to be played at.

And speaking of, I managed to persuade 3 people from my office to go back at lunch today. It is frustrating that I can't do the monkey bars but I had a blast climbing all over everything, running through the boulders and just making a fool of myself. I could spent months there just playing for exercise.

AFK - Away from Blog

It has been ages since I last posted here. I've been riding the slow train down the slippery slope of laziness and gluttony. Who knows what I weigh today. I can't do a single pull up anymore. I haven't tried a frog stand in ages. I can usually do a single ring dip though and I've been swinging the pendulum slowly back towards activity. In fact, I just did 6 flights down, 20 flights up, 14 flights down of stairs. It is nice to work in a tall building.

On the leisure front, I committed to trying to read 100 books this year. I also committed to trying to read 4 classics this year. So far, it looks like I'm on pace for the 100 book year but I'm woefully behind on the classics. I've been tracking my progress on All Consuming and 43 Things. I find it takes a conscious effort to keep reading and that it forces me to read at times when I might have watched television or played games on the computer or a console. If I can keep my pace, it will be a rewarding year but I don't know if I will do it again.

On the work front, I'm on call at Voxitas again this week. I hope I can get some sleep. The last time I was on call, just as secondary, it hurt my sleep schedule enough to affect my ability to focus and think and may have caused me to get sick last week. Also, TradeHarbor is coming along. There is still hope that they will make it and I might recoup some of my lost income from last year.

A little while ago, we went on a road trip to Colorado to visit one of Michele's friends. I got to play on top of Pike's Peak. Michele didn't take the altitude very well but I loved it. I also found a new cheese, instantly my new favorite, and promptly lost the label so I don't know what it was.

I recently started Netflix again and I'm using their extensive Doctor Who library to do a thorough survey of Doctor Who from the earliest Doctor. There is a lot of material that has been lost but I'm excited to see what I can. So far, the first Doctor doesn't impress me tremendously but I'm enjoying 1960's television production values, especially as I watch the special features on the various disks.

Hopefully it won't be so long before I post here again. If your reading, drop me a line. I'd love to know if anyone gets this.

March, 2009 - 7 Books

1. Intergalactic Medicine Show, Orson Scott Card Anthology
2. Ducks: Guide to the Durulz, Bryan Steele
3. GURPS Magic, Steve Jackson
4. Mage-Guard of Hamor, L. E. Modesitt Jr.
5. Callahan’s Con, Spider Robinson
6. Maxnome Foe, John Ringo
7. The Jennifer Morgue, Charles Stross

(I finished 25 books in the first quarter (10, 8, 7) so I am on pace for 100 books this year. I seem to be slowing down though. And so far, my goal of 4 classics this year is way, way off.

See more progress on: read 100 books this year

February, 2009 - 8 Books

1. Thieves’ World, Anthology
2. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
3. Ender’s Shadow, Orson Scott Card
4. Shadow of the Hegemon, Orson Scott Card
5. Shadow Puppets, Orson Scott Card
6. Shadow of the Giant, Orson Scott Card
7. Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card
8. First Meetings, Orson Scott Card

See more progress on: read 100 books this year