“…staying home to watch the rain…”
Sep/090
I stepped on to the elevator. The door shut. I took a moment. I pressed lobby. The doors immediately opened. I popped my head back out into the corridor and confirmed my suspicion. There was a soft, Latin-salsa, slightly-Musak-like, version of Pink Floyd’s song Time playing. It was pretty cool.
I just ate a mango. It was perhaps the best fruit experience I’ve ever had. The smell, the taste were incredible. A properly ripe one peals very nicely.
I went to the hotel bar for a nightcap and watched the end of the Phillies game. The Phillies game was an especially big disappointment as they lost but the especially part is the fact that I don’t watch baseball on TV so if I’m actually watching I expect to see a win. I did get a small dish of bar snack mix that include some BBQ porkrinds. Tasty. The margarita was quite good. A random couple on their honeymoon gave me a free shot known as “red devil” which was nice of them. I wish them the best.
When I travel, I really enjoy coming back to the hote after the work day and doing my own thing. I spend the whole day with my coworkers so I feel entitled to some time on my own. On the next trip down here I will meet up with them a couple times, but I will also do plenty of my own thing. Tonight I had sashimi by myself. I also had a really good bowl of miso soup. Service was terrible. I almost only left a dollar but then felt bad and left 5.
I’m not sure if I’ve written this yet, if I have I apologize, but I like hotel beds. They are better than my bed.
Beer in Puerto Rico
Sep/093
Even though I’ve technically only been in 3 different place within Puerto Rico I will conclude that this country has not yet embraced craft beer. Originally, I was going to be a beer snob and state that beer in Puerto Rico sucks. I took a deep breathe and really thought this one over.
As far as I can tell, there is only really one major Puerto Rican beer. It is named Medalla Light. It is better than Coors Light and for that reason I decided to not say their beer sucks. I’ve been known to drink Coors so if Medalla is better tasting (or rather actually has some taste and Coors does not) then it just wouldn’t be right to completely give up on this country.
I was hoping that perhaps I just hadn’t discovered the secret gems of the country. I did some exploring tonight and I’m pretty sure I’ll need to do a lot more digging to find said gems. I went to a random convenience store and found Heineken, and Coors, and Corona and all of your typical beers and even Sam Adams. And I bought Medalla. Then I went to a grocery store and didn’t really find anything else. There was a beer from Argentina I’ve never tried though I can already imagine what it will taste like (I’ll try it on my next trip).
The lack of craft beer really got me thinking. What factors must exist for craft beer to grow in a land of marco beverages?
Philly Distance 2009
Sep/091
Today I completed my 4th half-marathon by running the 2009 Philly Distance Run. This was significant to me for 2 reasons.
1) I had planned to run this race at some point in the summer. Unfortunately, I got sick and 7 weeks went by without any running. Erin then suggested that I run the race with her. I thought about it. With 3 weeks to go before the race I decided to consider it seriously. I ran a bunch. I didn’t get shin-splints. I felt alright. And I ran it.
2) I ran this race with Erin and her roommate Katie. The tentative plan was 2:15 which was fine by me. Towards the beginning miles of the race I asked Erin what her PR was and she said 2:12. We were currently running a pace to beat that. I got excited. I made it a point to try and do my part to keep the pace in check. We all ran really well and she set a new PR of 2:07:23. I felt very satisfied that she had such a great personal achievement.
This event got me all inspired and interested in running again. I need to find my next race. I’m currently giving Las Vegas on December 6th a little thought.
Turning 27
Sep/095
From a legal perspective I just turned 27 years old. I wonder how many birthdays have gone by where I took the time to write a blog. I know I did last year and I reflected on the fact that I was in a different time zone than where I live and that made me wonder when I actually turn to the next age. Anyway, this year I’m sitting in an office in a manufacturing facility in Delaware. I volunteered to help out with some stuff and work the late shift (approximately 11am-1am). It has given me the opportunity to catch up on quite a few things.
Enough about that stuff.
I guess you could say that I’m now in my upper 20′s, and creeping ever-so-quickly to that magic 30. I bet a lot of people have the sensation that they can’t really believe how old they are sometimes. I don’t really feel much different than what I remember from when I was maybe 19 years old. Actually, I’m probably in better shape than when I was 19 which is a very good thing. When I was 19 I don’t think I could train for a half-marathon in just 3 weeks. I probably also wouldn’t have had the mental capacity to manage a 14 hour shift without wincing.
There have been years where I really did not like the thought of my birthday. To be quite honest I think these emotions boiled down to three things: I wasn’t happy with where my life was going, I was feeling scared about my mortality and I felt all alone despite having good people around me. Deep stuff there. There definitely are some birthdays where getting older is exciting (10, 16, 18, 21). I remember once back when I was turning 15 I think where I was kind of upset because my parents didn’t really make a big deal about my birthday (relative to younger birthdays) and me being a stupid teenager was bothered by this. I hate admit it but I think I even secretly cried about the whole thing. Getting older did not excite me.
I’ve tried to stand by the philosophy that age is irrelevant. As I’ve gotten older I’ve grown to understand that concept on a different level. As you age you need to find a healthy balance of things that touch on the young with things that touch on the experienced. My 27 year old view on getting older is as follows.
- Don’t be too serious
- Listen to Frank Sinatra sing “Young At Heart” a lot and live by the words
- Party like you’re in college every once in a while
- Challenge yourself as much as you can without burdening yourself
- Look for opportunities to share wisdom with both the young and old around you without being a snotty, arrogant bastard
- Take it easy every once in a while
- Remember how fast and agile you were when you were 18, don’t expect to ever be like that again, but don’t let age stop you from trying
- Use your experience when making decisions
With that said, I’m quite content in turning 27. My life is very good right now. Well, in retrospect my life has always been pretty good but I’ve reached a different place in the last year and I’m most pleased about it. I’ve made some stronger friendships, I’ve played a lot of soccer, I drank a lot of good beers, I worked my ass off, I traveled a good bit, I ran a bunch of races and most significantly, I met a very amazing girl named Erin.
I kind of hate to admit it actually, but this whole relationship has really given a good boost to my life satisfaction. I’ve definitely learned in my young age that I don’t particularly like being single and at the same time I don’t like being in relationships that don’t naturally flow in a very relaxed manner yet are filled with both simple and complex concepts that can all be considered new adventures. I’m very pleased/content with where things are going.
Yes, life is good. Happy birthday to me!
I Know I suck
Sep/091
Ok, I have half an excuse for not blogging. I don’t have internet service at home. I will be getting it back on Sunday. Anyways, much has happened in the last couple of weeks.
-Penn State tailgating started
-Derrick moved out
-Erin introduced me to spaghetti squash
-I bought a vacuum cleaner
-I have a larger bedroom
-I still need a roommate
-I’m brewing pumpkin beer on the 19th
-In an Oktoberfest tasting last weekend Sam Adams beat out Ayinger and Paulaner
-I’m going to Puerto Rico Sunday evening
-I lost 12 pounds (without exercising or actually trying to lose any weight)
-I’m trying to train for for a half-marathon with only 3 weeks of prep time
-I’m preparing to buy furniture
Meet The Parents
Sep/095
This past weekend was a relationship right of passage. Erin’s parents were in town and I was going to meet them for the first time.
The timing of my return to Philly on Thursday was perfect. It wasn’t too late so I stopped by her house to say hello and catch up. Towards the end of my stay the timing lined up nicely. Erin’s parents arrived from Westborough, MA. I helped them carry some supplies into the house and had a short though pleasant introduction.
On Friday I met up with her parents and brother to go out for dinner. We hit up Midtown Continental which is a fun martini/tapas Steven Starr restaurant in Center City. I’d been there a few times before and always enjoyed it. We had a variety of enjoyable dishes. Tapas much like sushi is interesting in that you end up eating very slowly which gives your stomach a chance to truly tell you when you’ve had enough to eat. After dinner we went back to Erin’s house to chat. I was very pleased by the fact that I felt quite relaxed as I listened to stories and told little bits about myself. I honestly could have sat there for a few more hours (though eventually Erin and I went down to Bishop’s Collar for some delicious beers).
On Saturday I made another short visit to spend some quality time. My task was to bring over a drill so that her dad could fix a curtain rod. Of course I screwed this up by failing to bring drill bits. It hadn’t really occurred to me that this was necessary as I often just use the drill to screw screws into place without a pilot hole. Sometimes I do follow construction rules. Anyway, I wasn’t able to stay for dinner but I got to look at some nice pictures from a trip her parents took to Colorado.
Overall, I think the meeting went really well. I honestly enjoyed being around them. I think there were two reasons for this. The first was that they were just easy going, interesting folks with approachable personalities. The second is that by being around them the greater the chance that I’d learn some more about Erin. I wanted to hear some good stories though they were pretty gentle possibly because it was the first meeting. I look forward to the next visit and also look forward to taking a trip with Erin up to Westborough sometime.