Life of Spud

We went down to Laurel today. I had a 1 pm game and we looked into the aquatics center across the lot and decided to head over there after the game. they have indoor pools and free swim and the older girl is into swimming now, so we thought it would be a good way to keep out of the heat and have some fun. at about 3:40 pm the lights flickered and the lifeguards blew their whistles and yelled at everyone to get out of the pool. I figured it had hit 4 pm and the free swim was over, but when looking out the window (and there is a whole wall of the building that is made of windows) we saw a crazy thunderstorm blowing through. There was wind and lightning and thunder and it was pretty intense. After the storm passed we headed out to our previously scheduled lunch location. We were warned before we left the pool that there were lots of trees down and we quickly confirmed this when we needed to veer around a chunk of tree. and we decided to forge on even when the traffic lights were out, assu...

I returned home from an especially frustrating 7-Mile shopping experience this afternoon, and as I was pulling into mu driveway I noticed an older lady had parked her car in the middle of the street and was on her cell phone having a conversation. This, unfortunately, was not strange. We have a mail box at the corner of our street and people regularly pull over in unsafe and incomprehensible ways. It's frustrating to watch and I always feel like going over to the people and telling them off. This never happens because I either check myself and conclude that it is not worth it (this is Baltimore, after all, and people get shot here for much less) or because the people move on too quickly for me to get over there. But this time was different. The woman moved like she was going to get into her car but then she continued to wander in a circle around her vehicle, all the while engaged in an in-depth conversation on her phone. So I concluded that she wasn't going to rush off. And bec...

So yesterday was Sunday and we decided that it was high time to ride the water taxi around the inner harbor. The plan was to take the taxi over to fells point and eat at the new kosher cafe there, then go to the science center and end up at the o's-jays game for a few innings before heading back to suburbia for a birthday party. things didn't go as planned, but we did start the day with a water taxi ride to fells point and we did have lunch at the van gough cafe . but then we continued on the water taxi to ft. hood, where we sat in the shade of some trees for a 1/2 hour before getting back on the water taxi for the trip back to the inner harbor. time flew, and by the time our boat docked we only had time for ice cream before we had to get back in the car and head home. but we had a really good time. despite the heat and the sun (95 degrees) we manages to make it home. the little one conked out in the car but me and the 4 year old quickly changed for the birthday party. by the t...

I’m at the doctor’s office right now. I awoke this morning with a very sore throat and lots of… well, let’s just say that I have my suspicions that I might have strep/bronchitis. So, after trudging through this morning’s activities, I returned to the hotel and immediately headed to the local clinic. It’s just down the block, but Renee walked me over to keep me company (and, I suspect, to satisfy some of her motherly needs). So as I sit in the waiting room with nothing to read (because everything is in German), it gives me a good opportunity to write my blog summery of today’s events: We started the day at a park on the east side of Berlin whose main attraction is the war memorial built by the communists after WWII. Of course, it says nothing of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and instead focuses on the victory of the Soviets over the Nazis (the message is that the Soviets were forced into a war they would have preferred to avoid, and ultimately their victory was one of freedom...

I’m a little behind on this whole blog thing, but here’s the latest from my trip: Monday, June 30, 2008 We arrived at the hotel at about 9 am. Neil and Dvora wanted to take a rest, but since I had slept of the plane, I was raring to go. After freshening up, I headed down to have a bite to eat and then tried to track people down. I started with Eileen (because she had come into the city a few days earlier) and caught her as she was leaving for some sight-seeing. While we had a quick coffee we bumped into Leslie and the three of us set out for an adventure. Our intention was to head over to the Museum of “Checkpoint Charlie”, which was the border crossing between East and West during the Cold War-era. Eileen got us there successfully by guiding us to the bus stop, helping us buy tickets and letting us know when to get off the bus. When we got there we decided to scout the area around the museum before heading inside. It was a real tourist-y bit, with a fee for everything (have your...

I just arrived at the Excelsior Hotel in Berlin for the start of this trip. On my way, though, I blogged offline for a bit, so I'm going to paste those entries here. I will update it at the end. Travel 6/29/08 It’s so hard to say goodbye… but I just did that to my wife and daughters and now I’m at the BWI airport. And of course, the experience has been “an experience” already. First off, I got pulled aside for a “random” security check. It seems like every time I travel alone I get pulled aside for these security checks. I don’t think I can complain about racial profiling, but it does feed into my general paranoia that my youthful looks cause me more harm than they do me good. As I was going through security I noticed that the air-conditioning had mysteriously ceased. I wrote this off to some weird security measure necessary for properly screening bags and assumed that the AC would reappear on the “other side”. But no, I was sadly mistaken. Turns out, the air-conditioning...

Enticing title, for once, eh? Those subjects pretty much sum up the day, though. Of course, the day started with me taking the 2 and 5/12 year-old to camp. And, of course, she was really excited all morning and in the car ride over. And, of course, she ran ahead of me to get to the front door quickly. And, of course, she cried when it was time for me to go. At least we have a routine. The next move was home to prepare for our trip to the post office to get the baby's passport. The last time we had gone through this process was in Palo Alto, when we had a less-than-memorable experience... Although we remember it quite clearly: The long line, even longer wait and the bureaucratic organized chaos that seemed imported from somewhere in Asia. So I wasn't looking too forward to this date. And I guess that sometimes you fear your fear into happening, because we went to the Post Office with what I thought were all of the documents necessary and, Lo and behold, the birth certificate wa...