tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87851861965654941802011-12-24T18:09:33.278-05:00A Rower Trying Not to Catch A CrabFrankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.comBlogger4121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-55387822596226857112011-12-24T17:58:00.004-05:002011-12-24T18:09:33.283-05:00

I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and I'll leave you tonight with a few Christmas quotes - the ones I used for the past four years, which I love. They represent to me the meaning of Christmas."Perhaps Christmas doesn't come from a store. Perhaps Christmas means a little bit more." - How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess. 'From "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. The

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-49573634094695983382011-12-20T21:55:00.008-05:002011-12-21T05:29:41.055-05:00

Welcome to northern Virginia and the 2011 Holiday House Tour hosted by Jen of Jen on the Edge. The idea is to give the reader an idea of how we decorate for the Holidays.We decorate pretty basically. We have a tree in the living room.We did go to LED lights this year as I was getting pretty tired of replacing burned out bulbs and/or strings of lights. I have to say the new lights can be a bit

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-82388331714894561522011-09-09T13:00:00.003-05:002011-09-09T13:50:09.735-05:00

As I sit here this moment, the sun is out and it's a balmy 80 degrees. It's quite the difference from yesterday when it was pouring and rain rates were hitting over 2 inches an hour. Over the past few days area rain totals have exceeded 12 inches. There has been a lot of flooding in various areas, including around the Ft Belvoir area where The Son now works. They closed Rt 1 and the Fairfax

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-17051098381165985532011-09-01T14:52:00.021-05:002011-09-01T15:59:26.889-05:00

Actually I didn't take a summer vacation, but given school is starting here in a few days, it sounded like a good title. First off there was rowing. Our rowing season is broken into two parts - sprint racing in the summer and Head racing in the fall. This year we entered two sprint races. The first was the Occoquan Masters Sprint (OMS) held on our home water of the Occoquan Reservoir. It's

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-46809163544946100422011-08-29T13:20:00.017-05:002011-08-29T14:36:19.893-05:00

We've lived in our current residence for over 28 years now. As we all know, over time styles change and things get old. So it is with our house. Ann has been wanting to upgrade the kitchen for a long time. Sure we've made some changes over the years. We've replaced the old drop down ceiling that had these 4 ft long fluorescent bulbs. We've replaced the flooring once before, but it was

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-29099421444226158002011-03-31T10:03:00.003-05:002011-03-31T10:36:38.986-05:00

Its been quite a while since I have posted anything. I'd like to say I've been so busy that I've just not had the time. Alas that would be a lie. It's more due to pure laziness. That being said, lets do some catch up. The most exciting news is that Daughter#1's husband has finally found a job in the Old Dominion State and has rejoined his bride after 9 months of being separated. He has given up

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-21921463145254464082011-01-07T00:10:00.002-05:002011-01-07T00:23:02.341-05:00

Holidailies has come to a close for the year (actually I thought today was the last day - instead it finished up on Wednesday). I started a few days late and trailed off a little at the end, but for the most part, I updated fairly regularly. It gave me what I needed most though and thats to start writing again so that was the definite upside. Thanks to Jette and Chip for hosting. Thanks also

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-54810349602078160462011-01-04T22:50:00.003-05:002011-01-04T23:04:41.396-05:00

Today was my first day back in the office in about 2 1/2 weeks. Which is not to say I haven't been working. I have, but from home or at least on the days I wasn't off due to the holidays. Today it was back to the normal grind. My 80 mile commute and the 1 1/2 hours in the Vanpool. Oddly it wasn't that hard getting up at 3:30 this morning to get ready. Maybe it was the anticipation of

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-14369903415208928662011-01-01T22:24:00.003-05:002011-01-01T23:16:31.238-05:00

If it's one thing New Years Day has always meant to me is college football. All day long. In the old days, a good part of the day might have been spent recovering from the night before. So parking myself in front of the TV was more a necessity then anything else. These days I'm a lot smarter not to mention older. The thought of going out partying on New Years eve has long lost its appeal. My

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-69453525974544275072010-12-31T23:56:00.004-05:002011-01-01T00:15:24.208-05:00

It's been relatively quiet since Christmas. That goes for home cooking too. We've barely have had any food in the house to cook. We've been going out a lot lately. Apparently so is everyone else. Last night we decided to go out for dinner and the first three places we went to all had 50 minutes to an hour wait. What? On a Thursday night? What is wrong with you people.I did finalyl make it

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-52032132063224046032010-12-29T22:48:00.002-05:002010-12-29T23:23:04.182-05:00

In a follow up to yesterday's post, Maryland gave Coach Friedgen a proper send off by beating East Carolina 51-20. I was happy to see plenty of Maryland fans had brought along "Thanks Ralph" signs. I'm glad his team was able to send him out on a high note. The team has a lot of young talent. Ralph didn't leave the cupboard bare for the next coach. Things should be bright for next year if the

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-90655371048842491242010-12-28T23:33:00.003-05:002010-12-29T00:09:29.213-05:00

Tomorrow marks the final game for Ralph Freidgen as coach of the Maryland Terrapins. His team will face the East Carolina Pirates in the Military Bowl in nearby RFK Stadium. He was fired after refusing to retire by the brand new Athletic Director Kevin Anderson. That after Anderson declared The Fridge would be back next year. Anderson comes from a similar position at Army. Army! Well qualified

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-92017227653932713182010-12-27T22:46:00.003-05:002010-12-27T23:15:59.817-05:00

Nothing like discussing the weather to make for a snoozefest of an entry. I was thinking of writing about the weather as I was walking the dogs at 7:30 this morning. I walked three of our four dogs at the same time to minimize the time I had to spend out side. While we didn't get the snow that those to the east and north of us got, we certainly got the wind and the cold. The cold as propelled

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-8200865551278005082010-12-26T22:23:00.003-05:002010-12-26T23:10:14.309-05:00

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas. We did here at the old hacienda. While not quite the mayhem as when the kids were little. it still ended up being exhausting as ever. I was up at 6:30 to prepare the family breakfast (for 6 of us) while Ann handled all the dogs. Five of them in all. After a breakfast of bacon and eggs, toast and OJ. We retired to the living room to dive into the

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-16692600853288078202010-12-24T21:43:00.002-05:002010-12-24T21:47:41.408-05:00

I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and I'll leave you tonight with a few Christmas quotes - the ones I used for the past last three years, which I love. They represent to me the meaning of Christmas."Perhaps Christmas doesn't come from a store. Perhaps Christmas means a little bit more." - How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess. 'From "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. The

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-3834436704918792202010-12-23T22:52:00.003-05:002010-12-24T00:12:56.058-05:00

I was going to write about our family Christmas traditions tonight, but frankly the day got away from me and now I'm a bit too tired to think and write about them. So I'll just talk about a subset of our Christmas traditions, which is Christmas movies. I'll be the first to admit I'm a sucker for a good Christmas movie. I'll watch them over and over every year without fail. The first comes out

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-25387421944733706102010-12-22T22:13:00.009-05:002010-12-22T22:55:14.612-05:00

Today was my last day of work for a while. I don't have to commute down to my place of work until after the New Year. That being said there is always work to be done around the house. The first and foremost is taking care of our pack of dogs. We have four total.The old lady of the Group: Rosie She turns 17 in February. She's a Schnauzer mix.Mischief personified: Emily on the left Amy on

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-72364628437179717972010-12-21T22:35:00.004-05:002010-12-21T23:13:25.220-05:00

For years our kitchen pantry had been a thorn in my wife's side. She hated how it looked. She hated how disorganized it was. Hated how it was just a giant mess in general. You couldn't grab an item from the pantry without several other items falling down off the shelves. It was that bad. Of course not so bad that she was willing to take on a job she felt a bit overwhelmed by. Ann had been

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-40378543557299888602010-12-20T22:36:00.007-05:002010-12-21T00:12:45.821-05:00

I mentioned in an earlier post, how we enjoy getting Christmas cards. How they help set the mood for the holiday and how it lets us reconnect with old friends, even those we haven't seen in years. The other day a card arrived and I didn't recognize the address. It had a Virginia return address but it was from a town I wasn't familiar with. Upon opening it, we discovered that it was from the

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-15482233661106328532010-12-19T23:27:00.004-05:002010-12-19T23:54:16.991-05:00

Washington may be many things - the home city for the Federal Government, home to some great monuments and famous buildings. Not to mention the famous people that live and/or visit here. But Washington, when it comes to sports, is just plain rotten. Long gone are the glory days of Super Bowls and an NBA Championship. Washington's sports teams are mired in the bottom in just about every sport.

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-12369278615523898682010-12-18T22:40:00.003-05:002010-12-18T23:14:52.944-05:00

With Christmas just a week away, today was the day for Ann and I to sit down and see where we were in terms of getting our presents taken care of. We have set up an Excel file to track who is getting what. We try top keep a somewhat level playing field between the kids and the two sons in law. Our review showed that we had done a pretty decent job to date. There were a few smaller things that

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-63798986133547566852010-12-17T09:47:00.008-05:002010-12-17T21:49:04.267-05:00

In participating in Holiday Homes Tour 2010 hosted by Jen of Jen on the Edge fame. The idea is to show how you decorate your home for the Holidays. We don't really go overboard on decorating for Christmas. Mostly because no one in this household has a speck of Martha Stewart in them. And we're lazy. So there you go, but on to the tour. Lets start outside.For decorating outside there has

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-26872158580394065122010-12-16T23:50:00.003-05:002010-12-17T00:17:40.622-05:00

Today was the first measurable snow we've had since last winter. It snowed about 6 hours and left us with about 3 inches. Not quite Buffalo standards, but enough to cause concern among those who either hate to drive in snow or those that are bad at it. I love watching snow fall. It evokes such a sense of quiet and peace. It doesn't hurt that it snowed so close to Christmas. It fits right in

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-35625623545173857722010-12-15T23:00:00.002-05:002010-12-15T23:33:22.997-05:00

Like most males, I shudder at the thought of going shopping. The trips to the mall, the wandering around, the endless looking and looking. Going from store to store. Having to park out in the boondocks, the crowds, the mayhem. Who needs that? Now what I do like is shopping on line. Give me a computer, a credit card and a shopping list and I'm good to go. Shopping on line is like the 12

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-6501934721168167372010-12-14T23:41:00.003-05:002010-12-14T23:59:38.776-05:00

As I sit here and write the temperature outside is a chilly 18 degrees. The wind chill is approaching zero. These temperatures may be par for the course for places like Minnesota or upstate New Your, but this is Virginia. It's not suppose to be this cold in December and certainly for not this long. All I can do is groan when I wake up in the morning and ask Ann what the temperature is. "It's

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-31707119152341512342010-12-13T22:52:00.003-05:002010-12-13T23:44:54.846-05:00

Ever have one of those days? You know the ones. Where the days starts out bad and just goes down hill from there. Today was one of those days. My first chore of most days is walking the dogs. The devious twins, aka Amy and Emily, go first. I try to get them out in that time between when the middle school bus has picked up its charges and when the elementary school kids begin their walk to

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-38842501640214069282010-12-12T22:47:00.003-05:002010-12-12T23:31:39.767-05:00

Daughter#1's husband Matt was here for the weekend visiting his bride and trying to make the most of their time together. Daughter#1 is living with us for the moment here in Virginia. Her husband is still living in Connecticut while trying to find a job in the Washington DC area so he can rejoin his bride. Watching them reminds me of my own long distance romance I did with my now bride, Ann.I

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-62464963182442887822010-12-10T22:28:00.004-05:002010-12-10T22:59:25.314-05:00

Wow. I can't believe I haven't written anything here since the twins birthday in July. That is down right embarrassing. I'm glad December has rolled around and the chance to participate in Holidailies once again to get me writing. This is my fourth year to participate in Holidailes where bloggers are asked to update their blog every day for a month. As I stated last year at this time, I'm

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-67320954802034284162010-07-21T14:11:00.002-05:002010-07-21T14:54:05.243-05:00

Today is the 28th birthday for The Son and Daughter#2. Twenty-Eight years ago they were born about 7:30 AM at Alexandria Hospital. The Son was born first followed about 6 minutes later by his twin sister. Here is wishing both have a great day.Speaking of Daughter#2, she and her husband stayed with us last night after they attended the Iron Maiden concert at Jiffy Lube Live (formerly Nissan

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-12115618645293955612010-07-16T10:46:00.003-05:002010-07-16T11:51:28.001-05:00

So Daughter#2 wants to know how the races went on Sunday. Well good and bad. My boat came in 2nd out of two. Not surprising as we were racing a boat whose average age was 20 years younger. The margin of defeat was somewhat embarrassing though. The Son's 4+ also came in last, but a lot closer then my boat. The good? The weather was gorgeous. Sunny, not overly hot and a light breeze. Water

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-41566633411818518382010-07-10T10:00:00.004-05:002010-07-10T10:30:53.503-05:00

It appears that I've been absent for some time now. Nothing posted at all for June. That's embarrassing. I'd like to say I've been super busy and couldn't get around to it, but that's so not the case. Just a case of laziness. With this post hopefully I can get back on the wagon.The rowing season is off and running. I've been sculling a single since early April and my other rowing club began

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-71900064994311460312010-05-18T13:55:00.003-05:002010-05-18T14:20:40.962-05:00

Like a fair number of adults my age. Ann and I have have been empty nesters for about 2 or so years now. Ever since The Son moved into his condo back in 2007. Being an empty nester has its good and bad points, but we have made the adjustment and have pretty much settled into our own routine. That has all changed as of yesterday. We've now joined another select group - parents of a boomerang

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-91295699855147456992010-04-29T06:13:00.003-05:002010-04-29T06:53:43.092-05:00

For sports fans here in the nation's capital, it is a sad day as the beloved Capitals, the best team in the NHL this year, laid an egg in the playoffs losing to the Club de Hockey Canadien - the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens were the 8th seed. Frankly it wasn't a fluke. Even though the series went 7 games, the Canadiens totally outplayed the Capitals though out the series. I think the loss

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-30922967032939243842010-04-20T09:26:00.003-05:002010-04-20T10:16:30.599-05:00

Last week I was out of town on business. I got an all expense trip to lovely Sacramento courtesy of the Government. For all that I was subjected to three and a half days of endless PowerPoint presentations. By the second hour of each day my eyes would glaze over as engineer after engineer presented their piece of the puzzle. They did feed us very well so there was that. One dinner included a

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-89733139261426259932010-04-05T14:02:00.003-05:002010-04-05T14:38:10.938-05:00

The weather over the weekend here in northern Virginia was just great. Temperatures reached into the high 70s with low humidity. It felt so good just to sit out in the sun. The start of this month also marked the first time when I could get back on the water in a single. I directed my browser to the appropriate web site and paid my membership fees and then hoped in the car and drove over to

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-694633826214460052010-03-30T10:08:00.003-05:002010-03-30T10:41:00.424-05:00

This past Christmas the kids got together and gave us a number of presents and one of them was tickets to see the Moody Blues. The Moody Blues was Ann's favorite group when I first met her and we used to listen to them a lot as we dated and later married. We had seen them once before, like 15 years ago, when they came to the Nissan Pavilion. A good show that was partly ruined by two women

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-24049194018931055822010-03-25T14:17:00.004-05:002010-03-25T14:37:59.367-05:00

I didn't want to let another whole week go by with out writing something here. I have a post ready to go in my head about Daughter#1's and her Husband's visit last week, but I have been putting it off until I upload some pictures I have to go with it. I was going to do that last night, but I couldn't put my hands on the camera and I was too lazy to go look for it. Hopefully I can get around to

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-75351250786196768332010-03-14T22:33:00.010-05:002010-03-15T13:19:02.445-05:00

Yesterday Daughter#1 traveled down from Connecticut to visit with the rents for a week. She's down to look into getting registered for some college classes when she leaves Connecticut in May for the foreseeable while while she works on her nursing degree. Her husband will join her on Wednesday and stay until the end of the week when they will return back to Connecticut. Hopefully they will

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-3409709845597977682010-03-03T17:06:00.009-05:002010-03-04T10:24:05.824-05:00

In my last entry I briefly spoke of the web site Petfinder.com. It's a wonderful site for adopting all types of pets. It's also crack for those of us with big hearts and weak minds - like Ann and I. One of Ann's (and Daughter#1 for that matter) favorite activity is surfing Petfinder and looking at various dogs. Periodically she would send me links to certain dogs with the suggestion that we

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-58354132106075312972010-02-22T21:21:00.011-05:002010-02-23T10:39:13.472-05:00

Ever since I was little, I have had a love/hate relationship with pets. I guess hate is too strong a word, but I had a problem with them. The reason - I'm highly allergic to animal fur. So where as I love dogs and cats, they make me sick, specifically trigger severe asthma, and thus it has never been very practical for for me to live with one. After I married and had kids the subject of owning a

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-85672106904795674972010-02-15T23:37:00.007-05:002010-02-16T08:34:06.149-05:00

The weather report for yesterday called for more snow. 1 to 4 inches. We laugh at that amount these days so harden have we become to snow. In another year that might have sent us into our "Oh my God, snow is coming!" frenzy. No one hardly blinked at the forecast though. It turned out to be a bust, a false alarm and only got a dusting that melted quickly.We still have over 2 feet of snow on

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-44349084901365237422010-02-10T14:16:00.010-05:002010-02-10T14:32:53.082-05:00

On the heels of the 22 inches of snow we received over the weekend, we have gotten another 6 inches of snow here Tuesday night into Wednesday. I started today's shoveling fun around 9:00 AM and finished around noon. The snow this time was a lot lighter and fluffier then the weekend snow so the shoveling went a lot faster (not to mention shoveling 6 inches is a lot easier then 22 inches). This

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-23535572437305454502010-02-08T23:00:00.010-05:002010-02-08T23:44:51.792-05:00

You might have heard about the little snowstorm the Washington DC area went through over the weekend. The amount varied upon where you were, but in my neck of the woods we got about 22 inches of the white stuff. It started out innocently enough on Friday about 10:00 AM. At first it didn't stick to the roads as the temperature hung around the freezing mark. It did stick right away to the other

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-54922473508184351712010-02-04T13:21:00.003-05:002010-02-04T14:49:47.642-05:00

Since when did northern Virginia become Buffalo. So far we've gotten as much snow this year as in the last three years combined and it's still only the first week of February. We had the big storm in December where we got between 16 and 20 inches of snow. A season's worth for us. We got 6 inches of fluffy light snow last weekend and another 5 inches of the heavier traditional Virginia wet snow

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-82804138465427672552010-02-02T10:34:00.003-05:002010-02-02T11:32:05.521-05:00

I had planned to talk about our second snowstorm of the winter that rolled through on Saturday. I had planned to rant about how our street never got plowed. I was going to describe how dry, light and fluffy the snow was making it so easy to shovel. But yesterday I had a follow-up eye exam that turned out to be pretty horrific so screw the snow. I have been seeing a specialist for my eyes as I

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-77763151893484441272010-01-29T14:40:00.003-05:002010-01-29T15:19:50.088-05:00

Today dawned bright and sunny and very, very cold. The temperature was only 17, which is Arctic conditions around here. Of course, The Son had called the day before to say his heat had gone off - again. We arranged to have a repairman come by this morning. That meant I had to hustle down there, my work laptop in tow since it was a work at home day, and wait for his arrival. We had lent The Son

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-18578209396849120372010-01-25T14:49:00.003-05:002010-01-25T15:33:13.739-05:00

I just had a three day weekend curtesy of a compressed work schedule, but now looking back to do a recap, I'll be darn if I can remember half of what I did. Well lets see what can dreg back up.For blog that titles itself: "Ready...Row", there hasn't been much on rowing lately. This is due mostly to the time of year. There isn't much rowing going on in these parts during the winter, at least

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-52659596892488380232010-01-20T14:36:00.002-05:002010-01-20T15:12:26.668-05:00

Yes I know it was last week, but I never find out about these things until it's just about over and then I procrastinate and even more time slips by. Bit better late then never, no? So if you are dropping in, leave a comment. Say hello! Tell me who you are. Where you are from. What brought you here. Whatever you like. If you need a subject - tell me what you enjoy doing for fun. I should

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-524590564983675882010-01-17T22:16:00.011-05:002010-01-17T23:07:59.649-05:00

For Christmas Daughter#2 and Son-In-Law M#2 gave me some charcoal that the Son In Law had made himself (with a little help and a kiln to do it in). On Saturday it was time to give it a try. What it says on the bag under the words "Natural Hardwood Charcoal" is:Made locally from Appalachian HardwoodsBest flavor for your BBQLights fast, Ready to grill in 10 minutesPromotes sustainable forest

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-49330437258421246352010-01-14T10:59:00.006-05:002010-01-14T11:32:17.375-05:00

With the arrival of our electric bill, I can say without reservation that it really has been cold here. We've only reached 40 twice in the past 30 days. It all came home to roost when the bill arrived and the cost of said bill was double what I normally pay. Granted it wasn't all the cold, but its a large part of it. I have an all electric house and for the most part that's fine. For heat

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-60045857821891462912010-01-10T20:50:00.002-05:002010-01-10T21:20:22.911-05:00

Today is traditionally one of the most depressing days of the year for me. The reason being is today is the day we finally took down our tree and the rest of the Christmas decorations. Our tree, which lighted up our living room and our lives is now a barren dead tree waiting on the curb for the garbage men to come by for it in the morning. The house looks plain and boring now after our literal

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-33495123596911530482010-01-06T22:47:00.003-05:002010-01-06T23:06:42.061-05:00

Today marks the end of Holidailies. It's the third year I've participated and it's at times extremely fun and other times drudgery. Luckily the fun out weighs the the rush of trying to throw something up at the 11th hour. I didn't make all 31 days (28 in total), but close. I just out and out forgot one day, I was just too tired at the end of the day to post something one time and the other I

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-66731222627676529562010-01-05T22:27:00.004-05:002010-01-05T23:32:59.819-05:00

You would think living in the Washington area that the lead stories on the news would be about things like the economy, unemployment, terrorist threats, politics, the wars and you would be so wrong. The lead story all week has been the Redskins. Considering the Redskins finished a dismal 4-12 this season being the big news story takes some doing. It all involves the firing of their current

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-62173948177915580482010-01-04T22:38:00.004-05:002010-01-04T23:06:26.180-05:00

I can't tell you how much it sucked when the alarm went off this morning at 3:30. It was so hard to get up. The house was dark and cold. Even our dog had the sense not to get out of bed. Cursing my fate, I did roll out of bed and get in the shower to start getting ready. The only upside was the van we commute in was already warmed up by the time Ann and I got to the commuter lot where we

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-48171660349402068552010-01-03T22:44:00.003-05:002010-01-03T23:02:46.960-05:00

The house is once again quiet. The kids have scattered back to their homes leaving this house seeming vacant and cold. It was nice having everyone here if only for a day or two (Daughter#2) or for most of the week (Daughter#1). It's hard to say when everyone will be together again, which makes these moments all the more precious.In seeing Daughter#1 and her husband off this morning, it was

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-71083752230242622042010-01-02T23:33:00.003-05:002010-01-03T00:00:28.038-05:00

I think we are finally finished with the painting. We painted The Son's dining room area today and except for putting a few things back up, like the drapes, I think we are done. I am so tired of it. The actual doing of it isn't so bad, its the prep and clean-up and the large chunk of time it has taken of my vacation time that I hate. But I know The Son is happy with it. It's something he has

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-33603278985878072002010-01-01T21:59:00.003-05:002010-01-01T22:22:48.831-05:00

It would seem that most of my free time this Christmas/New Year's break will be spent painting The Son's Condo. While there was a bunch of us painting it the other day, today it was just me. Sure it's The Son's Condo, but he was of no help whatsoever. Even though he knew we were going to paint today, he stayed up super late last night and spent most of today asleep on his couch. I'd like to

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-91547112398092349042009-12-31T09:53:00.007-05:002009-12-31T23:26:28.714-05:00

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?Raced in a single. Its been something I've wanted to try for a while and finally worked up enough nerve to try it. It was actually fun even if my finish time sucked badly.2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Actually I don't make new year's resolutions so none to keep or fail to keep. I doubt

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-84584582113692464882009-12-30T22:10:00.003-05:002009-12-30T22:31:05.515-05:00

So today was a day to relax and knock back. To recover from the whirlwind pace Daughter#1 has been setting all week. I slept until 830, which these days is almost unheard of for me. It felt good believe me. By the time I rolled out of bed, showered and got ready, it was almost lunch time. Daughter#1 and her husband, M#1, were headed to Virginia Beach to hang out with some of her husband's

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-56798626227827218552009-12-29T23:49:00.014-05:002009-12-30T00:46:56.008-05:00

I've been really really busy the past few days. The kids have all been home making for a full house what with the two daughters also bringing their spouses and Daughter#2 her dog Gracie. As I mentioned in my previous post, Daughter#1 has to fill the days and has she ever. Lets get a run down:1. Day After Christmas and the two daughters arrive in the morning from out of town and The Son leaves

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-7469406650723844722009-12-27T22:29:00.003-05:002009-12-27T23:08:20.345-05:00

Every since The Son bought a place of his own about two years ago, he has wanted to change the look of it by painting the place. The previous owner had had the place painted when he put it on the market. To make it more buyer friendly, he had painted it all white - everywhere. It's a two bedroom condo so its not all that big and it had the sterile rental property feel to it. Now The Son has

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-57903233873072786442009-12-26T22:41:00.003-05:002009-12-26T23:49:59.493-05:00

So today we finally got to celebrate Christmas as the kids filed in one by one. Daughter#2 and her husband were the first to arrive around 10:30 this morning followed by The Son and finally Daughter#1 and her husband who had been on the road since about 530 this morning. We knew everyone would be hungry after driving, I made a vegetarian friendly egg casserole so Daughter32 could have something

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-83795392909715881582009-12-25T23:29:00.005-05:002009-12-25T23:53:14.672-05:00

My Christmas Day was like your Christmas Eve. Presents still sit under the tree waiting to be opened. We are awaiting the arrival of Daughters#1 and #2 and their husbands before we celebrate the Day. Both couples were with their respective In Law families for the day. Each couple will be driving home to visit tomorrow morning. Tomorrow then will be our Christmas day. A day for spending time

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-80190349853765675012009-12-24T21:59:00.002-05:002009-12-24T22:04:49.568-05:00

I'm going to keep it short and sweet tonight. I still have presents to wrap, Christmas carols to listen to and Christmas movies to watch. There is snow on the ground and we will have our first white Christmas in many many years. I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and I'll leave you with a few Christmas quotes - the ones I used for the past last two years and which I love."Perhaps

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-52217823555162392252009-12-23T23:04:00.002-05:002009-12-23T23:38:40.087-05:00

Because I'm a follower and coming up with new things to write about is hard for me, I present to you the Christmas meme that someone started and I'm happy to copy.Eggnog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate. I can't say that I developed a taste for eggnog, but I've only ha it when i was young. With some booze in it, it might be a whole different story.Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-90374873898192294082009-12-22T22:49:00.004-05:002009-12-23T00:32:57.852-05:00

There is no one in the world, as my kids will attest, who loves a good holiday movie more then yours truly. I'll start watching them on Thanksgiving Day (Miracle on 34th Street) right on through New Years. I love them all. Lets face it, they all come out for the good in the end and whats not to like about that? Lets go to the video tape and look at some of my favorite scenes:Love Actually

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-53684461241051316742009-12-21T23:06:00.003-05:002009-12-21T23:33:43.682-05:00

Today the federal government was closed due to the snow storm that rolled through over the weekend. Closing the Government only happens once about every 20 years or so so it's an event when it happens. Having traveled out today, I can see why they did. Even some of the more major roads were in less then great condition. Like they had been plowed once and then forgotten. Forget the side roads

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-12336202232525400532009-12-20T20:51:00.012-05:002009-12-20T21:23:24.673-05:00

Today's entry will be short and sweet with a few pictures thrown to help tell the story. Today I spent most of my day trying to dig out of 20+ inches of snow. I shoveled two hours in the morning, broke for lunch and shoveled two more hours in the afternoon and for that I got the driveway cleared. I still have to do the sidewalks and our front porch so I envision another 2 plus hours

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-38785626003214474222009-12-19T22:38:00.008-05:002009-12-19T23:27:42.614-05:00

I'm sure most people have heard that the eastern US is getting hit with a major snowstorm. Living in the Washington DC area, I think we got the worst of it. Just over 24 inches of the white stuff. That's almost unheard of around here. Its probably been over 20 years since we had a storm like this. While its pretty to look at, especially when the outside Christmas lights came on at dusk and

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-14275380784915725922009-12-18T22:52:00.002-05:002009-12-18T23:21:52.610-05:00

Right now we are under a Winter Storm Warning. Predictions range from 10 to 22 inches depending where you live. While people in Buffalo would take such things in stride, here in northern Virginia, its blizzard conditions to us. We're fascinated by snow. Sure we get some every winter, but is usually small amounts which melt within a day or two. This much snow is a novelty to us. We haven't

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-32694883275201569972009-12-17T00:37:00.003-05:002009-12-17T01:16:07.947-05:00

Two days down and one day to got. Sitting through 9 hours of PowerPoint presentations is just pure hell. Make it all about engineering processes and you double the pain. I have no real involvement in the today's or tomorrows presentations. More there as a referee making sure that our side doesn't impose new requirements on the Contractor and not allowing the Contractor to cry foul where none

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-33676717268710185872009-12-15T23:48:00.003-05:002009-12-16T00:16:39.182-05:00

I'd love to write about something special that happened five years ago, but dang if I remember anything specific from that year. The kids were all out of college by then. The girls weren't married yet. I'm drawing a complete blank. Maybe I can try again next year.I don't know how road warriors do it. This traveling thing gets old fast. The flights are the pits. The days roll into one

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-79836460032349204372009-12-14T22:59:00.003-05:002009-12-14T23:30:06.499-05:00

This week I'm in LA on business. Looking after the public trust as it were. But frankly I'm over the whole traveling thing. When I was younger, I looked forward to traveling on business. Going to new places, eating out, getting out of the office. It was all great. Now it's just a drag. Flying is a big part of it. Flying these days just sucks the life right out of you. It begins with

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-85930181893400413332009-12-13T23:47:00.002-05:002009-12-14T00:11:03.076-05:00

Today was the day when I sat down to do our Christmas cards. It seems like a large task looming ahead, but by the time I actually sit down and do them, its not too bad, maybe even a bit pleasant. We're not ones to put together the dreaded Christmas letter. Mostly I just sign our names, but to a few, I'll jot down a few notes. Letting those few know what we've been up to. Even though we don't

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-55247093930627509092009-12-12T23:49:00.003-05:002009-12-13T00:26:46.841-05:00

Pulling one from the writing prompt of the day, I'll talk about a Christmas tradition we have. It's not really an odd one, but beloved it is. Every Christmas Eve we'll gather around the TV and watch "One Magic Christmas". I can't really remember when we started watching this particular movie. It came out in 1985 and stars Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba, Harry Dean Stanton and Elisabeth

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-24604274523325685002009-12-11T18:15:00.010-05:002009-12-11T23:19:14.363-05:00

I never know whether to hate or to love holiday decorating. I usually love when it's all finished, but just thinking about it drives me to despair. It just seems like a task that will take forever. At some point though you just have to bite the bullet and get it done. First to go up are our outside lights. Putting up the outside lights has gotten considerably easier over the years with the

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-86230167853849250442009-12-10T21:39:00.006-05:002009-12-11T00:14:57.505-05:00

Last night Ann, The Son and I headed downtown to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Verizon Center. Its been a concert I had been looking forward to since their tour was announced. Not only that, but I believed I had scored some seats close to the stage. The evening started out somewhat auspiciously, however. The plan was for Ann and I to take the Metro from Springfield and meet up with The

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-43594154848610267382009-12-09T14:19:00.003-05:002009-12-09T15:28:51.950-05:00

Well Bah! Humbug! Here it is and I missed the second day of posting for Holidailes. What a way to start. Just plum forgot about it. Obviously my memory isn't what it use to be or at least not that I remember. :-)This week is concert week for Ann and I. Monday night we saw "Jersey Boys" down at the National Theatre and tonight we will make our way down to the Verizon Center with The Son to

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-62130127549244350182009-12-07T23:37:00.003-05:002009-12-08T00:06:02.954-05:00

This is my third year to participate in Holidailes where bloggers are asked to update their blog every day for a month. I'm looking forward to joining in again this year for two reasons. I usually find some new blogs every year that I didn't know existed and look forward to following as we start the new year. The second is a bit more selfish in that it exposes my blog to a much larger audience

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-63681761806939665992009-11-30T22:46:00.016-05:002009-12-04T11:25:58.031-05:00

Well it has certainly been a while since I have updated. I'd like to say I have been way to busy, but in fact I have not. Not any more so then usual anyway. With Holidailes coming up (starts Dec 7), I need to get back into the swing of things here. So what have I been up to? I'm glad you asked. Lets get to it.On November 14, Daughter#2 and her husband, otherwise known as Wookie, traveled up

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-46689910253324327182009-11-17T15:04:00.002-05:002009-11-17T15:54:47.948-05:00

I love my kids. I really do, but somewhere along the line they seem to have lost that internal compass that we all posses to tell as where we are and which way to go. I think they get this naturally via their mother. I use to jokingly tell the kids as they were growing up that if they were ever lost go in the exact opposite the direction their Mom told them was the way to go. Yesterday The

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-62641967767317460752009-11-06T10:46:00.014-05:002009-11-06T12:32:30.239-05:00

This past weekend marked the last race of the 2009 season - The Head of the Occoquan. It's run by the Occoquan Boat Club, which is one of the two rowing clubs I row for/with. The Head of the Occoquan, or HOTO as it's known, is a two day event with college 8+s and 4+s and singles racing on Saturday and everything else on Sunday. I had entered into three races. A single on Saturday, a first for

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-36003980671128004852009-10-29T09:54:00.004-05:002009-10-29T23:40:11.652-05:00

This week marks the final week of my sweep rowing. We have a race this coming weekend, The Head of the Occoquan, that marks the official end of our season. I will still continue to scull, weather permitting, but no more sweep rowing and no more racing. I'm scheduled to race three times this weekend - once on Saturday and twice on Sunday. My race on Saturday is in a single (1X) and it's the

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-82082316379112255392009-10-22T13:41:00.003-05:002009-10-22T14:36:42.283-05:00

In the field of rowing there are a few events that are considered premier rowing regattas. Certainly the Olympics is at the top of the pyramid, but it only happens every four years. For Head racing, The Race is the Head of the Charles, which was held this past weekend on the Charles River in Boston. It's a two day event and it's the race everyone wants to go too. The race everyone trains for.

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-59149860488871132692009-10-20T13:55:00.003-05:002009-10-20T14:47:43.400-05:00

Cold, rainy and windy about describes the weekend. Starting on Friday the temperature dropped and the rains began and it continued most of the weekend. It was that damp cold rain that chills you to the bone no matter what you wwear. Due to the weather it was mostly a stay indoors kind of weekend.Friday, knowing what the weather would be, I actually slept in rather then get up at the crack of

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-47545171914031790452009-10-13T08:21:00.004-05:002009-10-13T10:10:45.362-05:00

The weekend certainly had its ups and downs. The rowing was on the upside and the football was mostly on the downside. Lets take the upside first. Saturday practice was a very light workout as we were racing the next day. Due to a lack of enough coxswains, we were limited to taking out the 8+ rather then two 4+s. I wasn't scheduled to race in the 8+ so that left me and another rower to ride

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-63363180829903090782009-10-09T12:54:00.003-05:002009-10-09T13:27:52.879-05:00

The weekend is upon us and I live for the weekends. No football games to actually attend as Maryland is down in Winston-Salem to play Wake Forest, but plenty to watch. Auburn-Arkansas is on tap for noon tomorrow on ESPN. War Eagle! Also on tap this weekend, on Sunday, is the George Mason Men's Crew sponsored Head Race - the Occoquan Chase. Along with the Head of the Occoquan, it's one of my

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-46854242454636820282009-10-06T09:23:00.003-05:002009-10-06T10:20:39.817-05:00

This past weekend was quite the satisfying and fun time. Between the football and the rowing, I was in heaven, especially the way everything worked out. First the football. Maryland was playing Clemson at Bryd Stadium. It was a noon start. Getting up to College Park for a noon game when I have rowing practice from 730 to 930 requires a lot of hustling as the trip to College Park takes an hour.

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-922649060858575592009-09-30T22:26:00.007-05:002009-10-01T08:29:06.193-05:00

This past Sunday marked our second Head Race of the season. Our first was two weeks ago with the race around Wye Island on Maryland's Eastern Shore. I've been too lazy to get around to posting pictures and writing about it and perhaps I still will, but the bottom line is we won! There were three boats in our category (Masters Men 8+) - ourselves, a boat from Wilmington and one from Alexandria.

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-74204810358562070652009-09-24T10:14:00.003-05:002009-09-24T12:31:52.085-05:00

Since I'm old I've been witness to much of the progress of the computer through the ages. I'm not sure my kids, even though they are adults, can even fathom a life without personal computers. When I was a kid, the whole of idea of computers was still like sci-fi. Sure they existed, but they were few and far between and huge. Whole rooms/areas were set aside to house these behemoths, which

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-1318810965682785342009-09-21T09:36:00.003-05:002009-09-21T10:33:55.024-05:00

There are a few things I love about this time of year - Head Races, warm weather, but not hot weather and most of all football. I enjoy pro football and follow our home team (the Redskins) as close as the next fan, but my true love is college football. I love the tradition, I love the atmosphere, the rivalries, the BCS upstarts, in short everything (except for the lack of a football playoff ,

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-44465538263451072472009-09-11T08:41:00.003-05:002009-09-11T13:33:13.687-05:00

Today marks Ann and I's 33rd wedding anniversary. The fact the our anniversary now shares a date with the one of the most infamous events in America history makes it pretty difficult to forget. It makes it both a day to celebrate, but also a date to remember. To me it's hard to believe we've been married that long and that we have adult children (some more adult then others). When I meet new

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-35074317898590510702009-08-28T08:27:00.003-05:002009-08-28T08:40:53.940-05:00

Over the past two years or so I have been having problems with my eyes. I have some rogue lower eyelashes that like to grow back toward my eyes rather then out and down. You wouldn't think something as benign as an eyelash could do much damage, but the pointy ends have scratched and scared the cornea of my eyes. I can usually tell when they've become a problem as my eyes get extremely light

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-30671707849448862822009-08-25T07:48:00.002-05:002009-08-25T14:39:54.128-05:00

Another weekend same as the last. Lots of rowing and a morning bike ride. Friday was a day off and I was at the boathouse and out on the water by 8:15. It wasn't hot yet, but very humid. I rowed up past Ryan's Dam and turned around at the 5 1/2 mile mark from the boathouse. As i turned to return to the boathouse, I noticed two scullers coming toward me (from even further up river). On a

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-84413350448649563352009-08-18T08:32:00.004-05:002009-08-18T09:57:12.022-05:00

This past weekend was all about having fun in the mornings and obsessing about what to eat for the rest of the time. Friday was a work from home day so I had to wait until my lunch hour to run over to Sandy Run for a quick row. It was pretty hot and very humid. I just rowed up to Fountainhead Park and back for seven miles. Its about all I had time for. After making the turn around at

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-89731974860664077772009-08-13T09:14:00.004-05:002009-08-13T10:09:29.681-05:00

It's a bit late for a weekend recap seeing that another weekend is almost upon us and frankly I've probably forgotten most of what I did over the weekend. Will this deter me? No. So lets get right to it.Friday was a day off so that made it good almost from the start. I got up, although not nearly as early as I should have to get in a row. I'm not exactly sure why, but my legs just felt

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-51437929452536084102009-08-03T22:14:00.002-05:002009-08-04T10:08:44.411-05:00

The family all got together this weekend. Daughter#2 and her husband arrived Friday evening about 6:30 traveling up from Harrisonburg. As everyone was hungry and Friday being our pizza night, we all went to the Roma restaurant to eat. Ann, The Son and I split a large Pepperoni, mushroom and onion pizza, while Daughter#2 got a baked salmon dish and The Son In Law got a sub. I think everyone

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-22695593456793948572009-07-31T13:50:00.003-05:002009-07-31T14:28:57.637-05:00

The Good It's the weekend! Even on a work at home day Friday, it still feels like the weekend has begun. Bring it on. Working from home also lets me work in a row during my lunch hour. In addition, Daughters #1 and #2 will be visiting this weekend with their respective spouses. Daughter#1 is headed for a wedding in Richmond on Saturday and will be spending tonight with us. The plan is for

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-18120477578897267082009-07-26T22:29:00.008-05:002009-07-27T10:10:29.682-05:00

Yesterday was the completion of my 2009 sprint season with the Diamond State Masters Regatta. Starting tomorrow we will shift our emphasis to the upcoming Head race season, which starts in September. Certainly Diamond States is the biggest one I will compete in for this year. Some from my club will compete at Masters Nationals in August, but I decided to skip that one. But yesterday. Diamond

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785186196565494180.post-28306685170239386982009-07-21T08:51:00.004-05:002009-07-21T14:24:25.609-05:00

Today is the birthday of our twins - The Son and Daughter#2. They turn 27. The Son is about 3 to 5 minutes older then his twin sister. They are all grown up now. It's a weird feeling having kids that old. Even though they have been out of college now for a while and Daughter#2 has been married for almost3 years, I still think of them as being much younger than they actually are. I often find

Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03213462654213512044noreply@blogger.com0