The state of Maine

Hi again, Its been a busy time of year. Gwen's real birthday has come and gone so she is officially a year old. Morgan and I went camping in the backyard. We had a campfire, made smores, hotdogs, and slept in my tent. It was freakin' cold that night, but good times were had by all.

We climbed Mt Watatik which is a small mountain located in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The rangers marked the state line on the mountain so you know when you cross. Morgan made it all the way to the top without complaining. I'm very proud of her as it must have been tough for a five year old.

Last weekend I went up to Maine. My uncle Rick has a cabin on Hancock pond in Denmark Maine. Its really a lake not a pond. For those of you not familiar Maine is the most northerly state in New England. Its nicknamed vactionland and is a popular destination for camping and other outdoor crap. Its also known as the lakes region for all the lakes carved out by the glaciers during the last ice age. Similar to the lakes region in the UK.



Here is my cousins video on the same subject matter.

The American Dream

If the American Dream is to own a house, have nice cars, and 2.4 kids what is the British Dream? I'll guess that it is the same. Although you may want to dream of better teeth. Just Kidding...sort of.

I wish kids would do cute things long enough for me to record it. Gwen is prentending to drive and making brum brum noises... and now she is crying. Well that was a short lived bit of happiness.

Below is a video of my house. We bought it three years ago and have done a ton of work on it. There is still a ton left to do. We've been lucky and the structure of the house is solid and in good shape. Many of the mechanical systems are also of top quality but the electrical, insulation and general decor really needed to be upgraded...bad. I didn't film every room. I guess you don't need to see the boiler room, tool shed, and my office in the basement. We also didn't film the "master bedroom" as I honestly forgot about it. There is nothing master about it. Its just slightly bigger then the other bedrooms and it has a larger then average closet even for modern standards. We have not done any work in there either. The room has no insulation and in the winter you can feel the cold breeze come thru the wall.

Happy Birthday

Thank you to all of you who wished me a happy birthday. Its the first year I have ever received a global happy birthday. I had an excellent Birthday meal - Lobster, steamers, and corn on the cob. Yummy!

Gwen's birthday is on August 10 but Katie's Grandmother was up from Tennessee. That is the skinny state below Kentucky. The Appalachian mountain range runs through it and Elvis' house is located in Memphis. Since she was up we celebrated Gwen's 1st birthday already. The four us will do something on her actual birthday.

Check back soon. I will be posting pictures of the house soon.

Ice Cream Anyone

Last Thursday we had two of my favorite work events happen on the same day. Lunch with Ray and an ice cream social. Ray is the VP of our division and he walks over to our wing of the building and talks to my department every quarter about the state of the company and what not. People can send in questions ahead of time or ask them on the spot. The best part is the company brings in PIZZA. I love free food. I had sent Ray a few questions ahead of time. He called me on one of my questions. I asked what his favorite ice cream flavor was. Its black raspberry in case you wanted to know.

After lunch the landlord put on an ice cream social by the volleyball court. 6 flavors and all the magical toppings you could imagine. It was very good.

The video showcases the highlights of my daily commute to work along with photos of the ice cream social.

4th of July

The 4th of July has come and gone and for the majority of the world this meant nothing to them other then the US was closed. Yes, the 4th of July is the day we celebrate our Independence. My hometown always puts on a parade down main st, and fireworks on the town field. Lots of town folk turned out in their red, white, and blue to show their patriotic spirit. I kind of expected St. Georges day to be similar in England. I guess its a day to celebrate English patriotism, but I only saw a few places put out a couple English flags. Drag really. It would be a good excuse to get another day off work. Anyway I put together a little video. I picked an ironic song for the background music. It is as much of an unpatriotic song as you can find but it has a good beat. I think many hard core patriotic Americans would not approve, but its all in good fun. Plus I think my UK buddies don't want to get too much American patriotism shoved down their throat.

Morgan Lost Her First Tooth

Well the subject line pretty much says it. Katie and I as parents have hit a major milestone. We have children old enough to loose baby teeth. We gave her a buck for it. Many parents give more but really what's the point. Its not like she has something to spend it on. She was extremely excited and that is really the goal - to make her feel special. Mission accomplished. It will not be long now before I tell you about her first day at school. Now that will be a very weird feeling to have a child in school. It wasn't that long ago I was in school myself.

Interactive Data

So I wanted to take some pics of the office in the US so the guys in the UK can see it.

Interactive Data