Pardon the lack of unique posts lately. Not much going on these days. My stress fractured tibia is still healing. I go to the doctor next week, and he'll probably send me in for another MRI. A friend suggested that I get lots of sunshine as that helps the body produce Vitamin K which is needed for the body use calcium to mend broken bones. However, it seems like Mother Nature is against me in this regard. We've had a few warm sunny days lately, and I've been indoors at work during them. The weekends have been the cold, rainy days, so I'm inside. Argh!

TMI Tuesday #133

1. Early bird or night owl? These days I'm an early bird. I think its the lack of meaningful exercise that brings sleep on earlier. In college I was a night owl.

2. Where was the first place you ever had sex? A hotel room on the bed. It was one of these old, grande hotels that they don't build anymore. Its still there and was refurbished a few years ago and looks very nice.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you? (1 is lowest, 10 is highest) I'm around a 6. The stress fracture has me bummed out. Its keeping me from running and doing other things that I like to do. I'm also kind of bored at work. Things are slow and its tough to get people in the other groups to do things that I need them to do so I can do my work.

4. Are you more submissive or dominant? submissive, Ma'am. I haven't been properly dominated in a long time. Argh!

5. Do you believe in love at first sight? Sure! I do believe that it can happen under the right circumstances, and it has to be a mutual occurance. Its much easier to fall in lust.

Bonus (as in optional): Describe your bed time habits. What side do you sleep on? What do you usual wear? Any night time rituals? I head off to bed around 9:30-10:30PM. I usually sleep in a t-shirt and boxers. Brush teeth, go to the bathroom. Lately I also strap on the bone stimulator around my tibia. I have to wear it 10 hours a day, so I'll put it on between 7:35-8PM so it will finish around 5:35-6AM as I get up at 5:35AM. Sometimes I'll read a little bit or listen to my iPod Shuffle.

Earth Day, Election Day (here in Pennsylvania), and ...

TMI Tuesday #132

1. Pancakes or waffles? With or without toppings? Chocolate chip waffles with butter and real maple syrup.

2. They say, "Way to a man's heart is through his stomach." What is the way to your heart? A beautiful pair of legs, heels, stockings, and a nice skirt to show them all off. And don't be afraid to raise that skirt a little higher!

3. Have you ever gone to a topless/clothing optional beach? If yes, did you participate? Yes, about 15 years ago in St. Maartin's. None of us went top- or bottom-less on purpose. I went into the ocean with one of the girls. Her one-piece had a halter top, that, when she was hit by a big wave, came loose and she was then sitting topless in the water with me standing about 10 ft. from her. I was thinking "Do I help her up? Do I help her get her top back on? Do I cover her with my hands?" I had just met her and the other folks I was with the day before, so I just did the gentlemanly thing and looked away while she put the top back up. Anyway, I didn't have my glasses on, so I didn't get the perfect view of those lovely ta-tas.

4. What song reminds you of a previous relationship (for good or bad)? Any song by Cheryl Crow. A friend who I wanted to date kind of looked like her. She was hung up on an old boyfriend at the time. Looking back, I'm glad it never went anywhere.

5. When, where and with who was your best kiss ever? That's a tough question as they've all been good.

Bonus (as in optional): Does anyone not currently in a relationship with you have pictures or you or your body part(s) that you would prefer that other people not see? Actually, the only pictures that I rather not have people see of me are on my Flickr account, all without a face, so anyone who know me in real life wouldn't know they are of me.

Here he comes! Here comes Speed Racer!

I don't usually make political posts here at this blog, but the events of the past week have moved me to do so.

I'm sure you've all been watching The Colbert Report this week so you know that he's been taping it here in Philadelphia. If you haven't, come on! Get with the program! Don't tell me you watch the FOX news channel...

Anyway, Stephen has been here all week and he's been casting Philly in a pretty good light in only that special way that he can. I've always wanted to meet him. Among his guests were Mayor Michael Nutter, Governor Ed Rendell, and Ben Franklin. I've met all of these people before, and since they met Stephen, I sort of met Stephen vicariously through them, right?

In the Philadelphia Inquirer today, there's a story about the Democratic presidential candidate debates that were held here Wednesday night. I didn't watch them (I'm trying to keep my sanity). The story reported on the mountains of criticism ABC has been receiving over the moderators' questions. Well, duh! What can be expected by either the media or the candidates themselves? They should have had Stephen Colbert moderate the debate. I think a lot more people would have watched it (at least I would have).

And this past week we've received campaign calls from both Democratic candidates. The call from the Obama side invited us to a reception with a cash bar at a local country club. A similar call from Hillary's camp came as well. "Bah!" I said to both of them when I heard this. Did they really think we'd go to a political rally that has a cash bar?!?! Don't they realize my vote can be bought with a free bar?!?! Obviously neither candidate is in touch with Pennsylvania politics.

I'm just a jaded voter. I see how all of the candidates raise tens of millions of dollars to campaign. For what good is it?! That's a lot of money that could be used to feed the poor, shelter the homeless, help with children's' education, or at least buy me (and all of you) a beer. Does all of this money spent on advertising and campaign staffs really help us choose the best candidate? Not likely. The English have a pretty good system - limit the amount of campaign time allowed before the election. I mean, how well are any of the candidates that are in Congress representing their constituents while they're on the campaign trail?

The Anchor bar and gift shop:
A selection of the beer:
The brew kettles:
Hops!! And that's quite a treasure with hop prices as high as they are today.
That's where they're at - DeHaro and Mariposa:
A spider at Fisherman's Wharf. There's one like it at the Philly Art Museum.
Alcatraz! from Fisherman's Wharf:
Fisherman's Wharf
A self portrait:

I'm writing this on my Palm while I'm in the air on my way back to Philly.

As I thought, we finished our work early and rescheduled our flight back on Thursday in the early afternoon. As we ate breakfast we spoke about what we'd do with our time in the morning. My boss said he had to get some sourdough bread for his wife and wanted to go down to Fisherman's Wharf to get it. I half-heartedly suggested we go to the Anchor Brewery if it were along the way. I circled it on the map just in case.

I was driving and lucky for me my boss isn't much of a map reader. As we made our way north on Highway 101 we ended up going towards the exit for the brewery. "Mariposa Ave., isn't that where the brewery is?" I asked him. "Sure" he replied. "Let's just take 5 minutes to see if we can find it," I said as I exited the highway. A couple minutes later we were standing outside it. Nice old building.

We went in and I was hoping that the gift shop was open. It was and it was just a small display case next to the tasting bar. We each bought a baseball cap and thanked the bar tender for allowing us to show up not knowing if they were open to the public at the time. He must have liked us as he said he'd give us a quick tour. Jackpot!! He told us a quick history of the brewery and that they bought the copper brew kettles from Germany and allowed us to walk right up to them. I was in heaven! Next we saw the room where the open fermentors are located, then the room where they store the various varieties of hops. Amazing!! After a brief glimpse of the bottling line and the other open-top fermenters we headed back to the tasting bar. I figured we'd be leaving as we weren't there as part of a regular tour, but the guy gave us a few samples much to my delight! After chatting about the brewery and the Philly beer scene, we thanked him and left.

We then headed up to Fisherman's Wharf to get the bread. Lucky for us traffic was light and we made quick work of buying some bread. Looking at the time we then were in a bit of a panic to get down to the airport. Just as we pulled up to a red light as we drove through the city to hook up with 101, we witnessed an accident just ahead of the car in front of us. A car either sideswiped or ran perpendicularly into two folks on a motor scooter. It was hard to tell as the scooter was on the far side of that car, and the car next to me was blocking my view up the road. The car's driver stopped and got out to check on the man and lady lying on the street. Looking around I saw about 6 people on cell phones calling (I assume) the police. Three people went over to help the victims. The man was wearing a helmet and took a minute or so to get up. Unfortunately, the woman(?) didn't have a helmet on and was not moving at all. We thought about pulling over to help, but there were now a good handful of people helping and we didn't fully see it occur. We were both in a state of shock as we turned the corner to head to the 101 on ramp and on to airport. I'm still stunned. I hope the woman is OK.

Now I'm on the plane and heading home. The question I ask to myself is this: should I be telling the story of the accident just like any of the other events of this trip? I kind of feel guilty (if that is the right emotion) retelling it to the few people I've spoken to so far.

Anyway, thank goodness for podcasts! I downloaded a bunch of beer-related podcasts before these last two trips. Good stuff and a good way to pass the time on the planes and trains. Although some of the folks that make these tend to ramble and go off subject quite a bit more than network radio shows.

More random thoughts from this trip:

• We ate a BJ's Brewhouse Monday night after we checked into the hotel. Good brews and good food. The porter was yummy, and the Imperial stout potent, just as they should be.
• The hotel room is pretty cool! We're at the Marriott. Good luck: I'm in a a room with a big flat-panel TV. Bad luck: I didn't realize until Tuesday morning that they forgot to put out one of those little bottles of shampoo in the room, and I didn't bring any. Soap and the little bottle of conditioner did an okay job for the day.
• This part of California (just south of San Francisco) is pretty cool. The people are very nice and the weather is great.
• We ate at Jack In The Box for lunch yesterday. They don't have them in the Philly area, and my boss hadn't been to one since he was a kid. Better than McD's, but I ate enough calories and fat to last me a couple days, lol.
• We ate a Carpaccio's in San Mateo last night. The mahi mahi was delish, as was the Anchor porter on tap.
• I think we'll end the trip a day early as work is going faster than we thought.
• Someone told me that Desmond Tutu was on our flight from Philly to SFO on Monday.
• I'm tired. I don't sleep well on trips. The jet lag, the hotel sounds, and the strange bed all have something to do with it. As might be the porn and masturbation that I was doing to pass the time once I got back to the room. If I had only brought the video-out cable for my laptop, I could have hooked it up to the flat-screen and watched porn on it.

Very random thoughts for today!

I'm writing this on my Palm while I'm in the air on my way to the San Francisco airport, then on to the hotel in San Mateo, and finally to work tomorrow in Menlo Park. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post this as I just realized that I don't have the cable to download it to my laptop. I might be able to use the IR link possibly at the hotel. I'm sitting in the middle seat on a crowded flight. Not lucky enough to have two models on either side of me, but no behemoths either.

I rode the train to the airport this morning. I like riding the rails despite the recent higher-profile crimes in the news lately. It's interesting to people watch as we all go about our day. One new thing I noticed today as I was riding the train facing backwards: the old Fleer Gum building is alongside the rails in the city. I had heard it was in Philly and never knew where. The sign is in good shaped, but the building is a bit run down.

Saturday we were at a local church's Night At The Races. The only thing I won was a door prize of a bottle of Tia Maria, a coffee liqueur. Anyone want to come over and help me drink it?

The guy with whom I'm traveling (note the correct use of the preposition, Lisa, if you're reading. LOL!) suggested we eat dinner in 'Frisco on the way to the hotel (aren't I cool for using that nickname? Not!). Good deal! Hopefully I'll get me some of that sourdough bread, chocolate, and beer for which the city is famous (did you see that one, Lisa?).

I'm on a US Airways flight. They charge $5 for special headphones to watch the movie. What a rip! American let passengers use their own and watch the movie for free, or purchase a reusable pair for $2. This raises new and troubling questions that are often baffling and perverse.

Enough writing for now. Time to read or sleep. Reading material:
-"ISO Guideline 17025 General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories" (which will then lead to sleep)

-"The GMAT Information Bulletin" (another snoozer)

-Joe Sixpack's Philly Beer Guide". I highly recommend this and Lew Bryon's "Pennsylvania Breweries" for anyone interested in PA beer. Little known Philly beer fact: There are more Belgian varieties of beer available in Philly than anywhere else in the States.

I'm going back to Cali

"Heels tall, bikini small,
She said she liked the ocean."

No, no, no, not like that at all! I'm going to San Mateo, California next week on another business trip. Its proximity to San Francisco is appealing, so hopefully we'll get there for dinner one of the nights. As usual when going to a new city, I go to The Beer Mapping Project to see what's available in that part of the beer world. In San Mateo there's a BJ's Brewhouse at the mall. Per their website they don't brew on premise, but it will be worth checking out anyway. In Palo Alto there's a Gordon Biersch brewpub which also looks good and received some very good reviews for their food on Beer Advocate. San Francisco has 7 brewpubs (too many for this trip) and is home of Anchor Brewing. Anchor is one of my all-time favorite breweries - all of their offerings are fantastic. The Steam, Porter, and Christmas Ale are my particular favs. Hmmm, tours are available only by reservation. I wonder if I'll have a free afternoon to take one....?

Shamelessly taken from the movie's webpage.

The Lockheed Martin Blimp Hanger, Akron, OH

The Lockheed Martin Blimp Hanger, Akron, OH
Originally uploaded by SheenV

While I was in Ohio over Easter, we went to the Hoppin' Frog brewery in Akron. Just across the street was the Lockheed Martin blimp hanger. Its H-U-G-E! I always thought it belonged to Goodyear as the Goodyear plant is on the north (opposite) side of the hanger. Not until I started researching the hanger did I find out that it actually belongs to Lockheed, and that the Goodyear hanger is further out in the countryside of Akron.

And the Hoppin' Frog beer is Good! Very small brewery, very nice folks that run it, and tasty brew!

If you were looking for an April Fool's post here today, well then, April Fool's! There's none here. lol So on to ...

TMI #129:

1. How are your March Madness picks doing? or What is your favorite event? I didn't pick any this year since my Buckeyes didn't make it.

2. What is the best April Fool's joke - EVER? Still waiting for it...

3. Valentine's Day - bogus holiday or romantic holiday? A little bit of both. Real because its a good day to remind all of us to be romantic lest we forget. Bogus because of all the trappings of the commercialization of it.

4. If you made any New Year's Resolutions have you broken them yet? or What have you done lately to make yourself a better person? No resolutions. Better person: I'm volunteering at my parish every month, I did a science presentation for the parochial school kids, and I'm volunteering to help organize a 5K running race this month.

5. If you believe in 'regret', what is your biggest regret? If you don't believe in 'regret', what do you call 'errors in judgment' or 'missed opportunities' in your philosophy of life? I call them regrets, but its tough to say if any of them are the "biggest". What may seem like a big regret today might actually be the biggest (or least) significant event had I made the other decision. Do I regret causing that car accident last year? I sure do. But suppose it did not happen. What then could have occurred? Maybe someone may have hit me, or the person I hit could have been hit by someone else only worse. Or nothing at all. I would not be the person I am today without it, not that it was something that I would want to happen had I known beforehand. Throw me a rope, I think I'm in too deep today...

Bonus (as in optional): Tell us about four things about yourself, one of which isn't true.
Argh! I did this one once at a training session as an ice breaker and I had a hard time making up a convincing lie. Sorry if these are incredibly dull!

1. I'm left handed.
2. I'm the youngest of four siblings.
3. I have the same name as someone famous.
4. I don't take checks or credit cards - cash only!