A Raleigh ambassador

I was out taking my downtown lunchtime walk when I passed the Marriott hotel. Looking inside, I was amazed to see every table occupied at my neighbor Gianni’s restaurant. The AASHE conference (aashe2008) is in town and business is obviously good!

With the Posta restaurant full, some hungry conference attendees spilled out onto the sidewalk. They were discussing lunch options as I walked by. What the heck, I thought, why not give them some advice?

I walked back to the group and introduced myself to a Canadian man and a woman from Maine. Then I walked with them to a few other downtown restaurants, chatting as we went.

Call me a boy scout, but I sure do love showing off this city.

Mobile phones

I got a mailer the other day from Sprint, begging me to back as a mobile customer. I expected to see some sort of deal being offered. Instead, I was shocked at what they considered a bargain for mobile phone service: a hundred bucks a month?

Have I been so spoiled with my Net10 pay-per-use phone that what everyone else considers reasonable strikes me as highway robbery? What are y’all paying for mobile service?

History of the Dixie Cup

Google’s Veterans Day logo got me interested in Dixie Cups, as that’s the nickname for an enlisted sailor’s hat. Here’s an interesting article about the history of the Individual Drinking Cup Company, makers of the Dixie Cup.

Incidentally, Dixie Cups were not made in Dixie until 1982, when the American Can Company (which merged with Dixie in 1957) was sold to the James River Corporation of Richmond, Virginia. Dixie Cups actually got their name from a line of children’s dolls from the Alfred Schindler’s Dixie Doll Company.

A sudden stop

Looking back on yesterday’s car wreck there are so many places where I should’ve questioned things but did not. Oh how I wish things would’ve turned out differently. The one thing I wouldn’t change is the fact that Travis and I were not injured.

We had finished spreading mulch this weekend and were about to return the trailer we borrowed back to our friends. There were still areas of the yard we wanted to mulch but had not yet done. I debated just buying bagged mulch for this but talked myself into making another trip to the yard waste center. The plan was to go first thing this morning so that Kelly had it available to spread as she found time during this week. Travis loves to help with projects and volunteered to join me, in spite of the early hour. So, a little after seven this morning, I strapped Travis into his seat and we headed off to the Yard Waste Center, towing the empty trailer.
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Adrenaline

I’m still feeling the adrenaline from this morning’s car wreck. Its like I drank a whole pot of coffee. I can’t sit still this morning. All I want is for my afternoon meetings to be over so I can take a brisk walk outside. Earlier I was thinking of taking the bus home but it might do me more good to walk.

All I can think of now is “damn, I wish I hadn’t done that.”

Car wreck

I wrecked our minivan this morning as I was returning to our home towing a trailer of mulch. Travis was with me and fortunately neither one of us was hurt. The minivan, however, might not make it through. I think the frame got bent.

More details later today.

Yard work and a special guest

We spent a good deal of time this weekend putting down weed block and spreading mulch in our flowerbeds. I can feel every shovel-full of mulch in my tired muscles. The flowerbeds look damn good, however.

Saturday we took a break from shoveling to go to the fall festival at Hallie’s school. It was fun watching the kids play, though Kelly had to work at a table for most of our visit.

After the festival we were happy to host an old friend of ours: C.O. Green, the CSX train driver who would always wave to us as he passed by our Hobhouse home every morning. This was the first time C.O. has had to meet the kids he had only previously seen from the cab of his train as he rode by. The kids enjoyed his visit, too, as you can see by the picture.

We enjoyed pizza and chatting with C.O., whom we discovered will be getting married next summer. We hope we get a chance to meet C.O.’s wife someday. Tar Heel or no Tar Heel, we think he’s pretty cool!

HDTV vs. cable

So not only did I establish that my HDTV picture is far better than cable, I found out that Time Warner’s basic cable doesn’t carry WTVD2 (11.2), the secondary channel of Raleigh’s ABC affiliate. I’m a little ticked that if it weren’t for me checking out the non-cable offerings I would’ve never found this channel.

Thus we get more channels without basic cable than we do with basic cable. Yet another reason to jettison cable service in favor of pure HDTV.