PatrickMMoore.com

I’ve moved my blog from here to www.PatrickMMoore.com. Check us out in primetime on the root URL!

I posted 4 new videos of the little darling Dorothy Nettle to Google Video. These are the same links available through Dorothy’s Facebook Fan Club so that nobody is missing out on any of her sweetness. She SO much more awake after her first week, but is sticking to a good schedule of sleeping, nursing and looking cute. I haven’t organized any of our Dorothy pictures, yet, but will post links to those once I have.

And now, the links:
Video # 4: Dorothy with her Aunts
Video # 5: Dorothy with Hiccups
Video # 6: Family Dinner
Video # 7: Dorothy’s First Fire

I realize that not everybody is a fan of FaceBook. I wanted to make sure that anybody who wanted to see the little darling had a chance to see videos of her. As such, there are three links (below) to Google Videos that are copies of the ones I posted to FaceBook.

Video # 1: Almost Dinner Time
Video # 2: Mom, Dad and 2 Grandmas
Video # 3: What? Were you born yesterday?

Drop me a line if you have any issues viewing these videos.

I have spent the past few days working from Beautiful Seneca Lake, which has been enjoyable, for sure! It’s interesting (especially in my line of work) to witness which aspects of my workflow continue uninterupted and which pieces are all messed up. For example, I am ALOT more responsive to emails now, because I am not ‘down the hall’ or in a conference room, etc. However, my ability to connect with people is diminished. I can’t storm into someones office and demand that they answer my questions. I am also out of sight such that when the bossman comes looking around for a voluteer, I’m off his radar.

Marc, if you’re reading this, I’m sure that I’ll still be on YOUR radar… man… I’m speaking more generally.

I enjoy stretching the norms and seeing how things work when people are not necessarily co-located. I think that’s an aspect of potentially large cost-savings as the workforce moves away from tablets/chisels and towards laptops/cell phones.

I am planning to work remotely (except for a couple days) for the entirety of August and the beginning of September. So far, I’ve been wearing the same blue bathing suit and occassionally sunglasses (when an email is REALLY bright). I have a small networking project that would bring WiFi access to the beach. The ultimate goal of the summer is to work for an entire day without needing to leave the hammock — except for the occassional swim… of course.

Did I bike past Senator Webb today?

On my ride into work this morning, I was riding down Mass Ave (which I ride every morning) between Thomas Circle and 7th Sts. I pulled up to a stop light and noticed a weird looking all black towncar. The plates were from Virginia and read: Senate 2. All of the windows were tinted and I couldn’t get a good look inside. However, from what I could tell, there was only one person inside, the driver, wearing a tie and jacket.

I voted for you and then I beat you off the line with my 12 speed!

The cat is definitely out of the bag: Mary and I are planning a huge trip (not quite round the world, but nearly there). Planned destinations are South America and Asia for (estimate) 4 months, each. We’ve been saving our pennies and laying the ground work for a long time now. Fortunately, the stars have come together and it’s time to pull the plug on our normal lives for exploration.

We received our Lonely Planet books last night and were excited to crack them open. We’re trying to NOT stay up all night reading about our impending adventures. After checking them out at the bookstore, we ordered the India (Country Guide) and South America (Shoestring). We have also ordered the Southeast Asia: On a Shoestring book, which should arrive sometime this week.

It occurred to me this week that my posts have been pretty sparse this fall. I figured out a good solution, blogging by email, which I’m trying out now. Anyways, there’s lots of stuff percolating on the brain right now, but nothing that I’ve wanted to blog out for a while. I did look over Mary’s shoulder at an article about Jason Bateman (yes, it was In Style). He had a funny quote about having a 300 pound man inside of him just waiting to get out. Hence, he does an hour of cardio everyday to keep everything in check. I have been feeling like a bum this spring because I haven’t logged any sizable distances (read: anything longer than 2 miles). Also, the frequency of runs has been down as well. I do enjoy riding to and from work, but am actively trying to NOT work up a sweat during the 20 minute ride. Ergo, this cannot be counted as cardio activity.

Seems like what I’d need is some serious motivation to get out there everyday. I have been using the busy-ness of work as an excuse, but things are starting to lighten up and I’m not taking good advantage of that, yet. Today, I will make the separation from work and sweat it out for an hour — just like Jason Bateman.

During May, I managed to bike to work on 19 of 31 days in the month.

Of the 31 days during the month, I worked 20 days and walked in on 1 day.

At the end of the month, I biked to work a total of 19 days.

During April, I managed to bike to work on 14 of 30 days in the month.

Of the 30 days during the month, I worked 20 days. I drove one day and totaled 5 days walking.

At the end of the month, I biked to work a total of 14 days.

I went out at lunchtime to grab some lunch in Dupont with Mary (Chop’t, delicious). On the bike ride back to work, I saw the motorcade that was transporting Pope Benedict’s motorcade. Keep in mind that I did NOT see his holiness, but rather only caught a glimpse of the Popemobile racing down Rhode Island Ave. at 65 MPH. (I assume that it was headed back to Catholic Univ., where word is that P.B. is hanging out this week.)

One thing that struck me was: could I possibly be witnessing the most elaborate carjacking ever? I didn’t have a camera, but it would have been awesome to get a shot of the empty, all-white Mercedes Benz, jacked up on a flatbed and hauling rubber sandwiched between a couple MPD squad cars and lead by 4 MPD motorcycles. No Swiss Guards appeared to be attending the vehicle, but I couldn’t see who was driving the truck. Let’s say you wanted to nick the pope’s ride (I don’t think he has independently spinning rims, but they’re pretty shinny), wouldn’t some fake cop cars and truck get the job done? Potentially, the Popemobile had more than 2 parking tickets in DC and the city was giving his car a ‘courtesy tow’ (read: $100).

In closing, it did look like a very secure vehicle and seemed like a nice cabin to roll around in. I couldn’t tell if there was any sort of communication possible between the driver and his holiness. Like, what if, the Papamóvil got lost and the Pontiff grabbed a map (or divine directions) and wanted to play back seat driver for a while?

I’ve got questions, who’s got answers?