What I Have Been Up To

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 from their home in the Valley to go with us to the VA Tech vs Maryland football game. The game was played at Maryland. Daughter#2 whipped up a vegetarian chili for us to eat while tailgating. It was cold and drizzled on and off as we partied in the parking lot so hot chili was the perfect choice. It was quite tasty and this from a non-vegetarian. Ann chipped in the a five-level Mexican dip, which was also very good. When it comes to presentation at tailgates, we're not much. We just ate out of the back of our van, but it was all good.

Mmmmmm...the chili was so good. Thanks Daughter#2! Excellent choice! Ann, Daughter#2 and Wookie dig in.

There was, of course, beer. I had picked up a Sam Adams variety 12 pak for us to partake of. My favorite was the Irish Red. I wish I could find it just by itself. Very hard to find though. Part of the 12 pak was a Cherry Wheat, which Daughter#2 shows off here. It sounded interesting, but tasted more like cherry flavored cough medicine. Daughter#2 liked it though.

By game time, the drizzle had stopped and it warmed up a bit. There were as many Hokie fans in the stands as there were Terrapin fans. Given the season the two teams have had (VA Tech - good/Maryland - terrible) and the large number of VA Tech alumni in the Washington area, it's wasn't that surprising. As I'm a fan of both teams, it was hard to decide who to root for. I shot this picture from our seats, Maryland is in black and VA Tech in white. I wasn't a fan of VA Tech's new white helmets.


Next up in November was Thanksgiving. Since the daughters are now married, we do have to share them with the In-Laws for the major holidays. This year we have the Daughters for Thanksgiving and the In-Laws have them for Christmas Day. We'll see them the day after Christmas, which means two Christmases for us. It will be weird just having Christmas Day with just Ann and The Son though. Back to Thanksgiving, it was great having everyone home. Lo the kids (The Son, Daughter#1 and Daughter#2). We are very proud of all three.

There is nothing I enjoy more then a turkey dinner with all the fixings. The leftovers are almost as good. Nothing like a good turkey sandwich the day after. This year we had a 22 lb Butterball.

Daughter#1 is big on appetizers while we catch up with everyone. She fixed us up with some hot cider. Very tasty.

Daughter#1 also made us some zucchini flat bread, which was also very good. She made a regular and a vegetarian version. Sort of like pizza.

We do put The Son to work in the kitchen. We tried a new to us oyster dressing this year, which he put together and which came out great. Definitely a keeper. We also put him in charge of the garlic mashed potatoes. I peel the 5 lbs of potatoes and cube them. Ann cooks them and then The Son does the rest. They come out amazingly good. He'll have this job forever.

We also make accommodation for daughter#2 our vegetarian. We picked up a Tofurky for her. It comes in a box with sides. Having tried it, its really pretty good.

We serve ourselves sort of buffet style. We place all the food on the kitchen table and let everyone help themselves. Except for Gracie, Daughter#2's dog. She doesn't get anything except what her Grandma and Grandpa can slip to her on the side. From left to right: Wookie, Son In Law#2 (married to Daughter#1), me, The Son, Daughter#2 and Daughter#1.


We actually eat Thanksgiving dinner in our dining room. We almost never eat in this room. Just Thanksgiving and Christmas really. From left to right: Wookie, Daughter#2, The Son, Ann, Son In Law #2 and Daughter#1.

On Black Friday rather then fight crowds at the mall, we headed south along I-95 to visit the newest member of our clan (we're Scottish). My Cousin's wife had given birth to their first child - a boy, Cameron Duncan [last name] just 4 weeks ago. We all took turns holding him and giving baby presents to the new parents. Here Daughter#2 takes her turn



As did Daughter#1

I took a turn as well. It's been quite a while since I've held a baby.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. I am certainly grateful for my family and the joy they bring me. Now its time to cue up the Christmas music and get in the Christmas spirit. Joy to the World!

Details....Details

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 Son went through such an experience although a lot of it has to do with not paying proper attention to detail more then anything else. The Son is currently working in Crystal City. As anyone who lives in the Washington area knows, commuting up I-95/I-395 is a nightmare on the best of days. Accordingly, The Son has bought into mass transit and rides the VRE train to and from work. However, yesterday VRE was running a limited schedule due to CSX, the track owner, working on its signals. VRE couldn't guarantee that the trains would run on time (and was running only a few trains to boot) and suggested its riders find alternate arrangements. We did our research and sent The Son off on a PRTC bus that runs between Woodbridge and Crystal City via the Pentagon. The ride in was uneventful, even quite pleasant, according to The Son. Coming home was a whole different matter. The Son had to go to Alexandria during the day and was late getting back to Crystal City ia the Metro. The Son decided to catch the bus home from the Pentagon rather then Crystal City. He called and I told him what bay to go to catch the bus, the bus number and the time the bus was scheduled to arrive. So far so good. After about an hour or so after that call, The Son calls saying he has no idea where he is. This from a kid (actually an adult) who has lived in this area his entire life. After much heated discussions and not a few profanities thrown in by both sides, we determined that he had gotten on the wrong bus and had ended up at the Mananssas Mall instead of Woodbridge. He was in the western part of the county versus the eastern part. Being the Dad I am, I went and picked him up - about a 30 minute drive each way. By the time I arrived at the Mall, he had calmed down by then and we had a quiet ride back to his car in the commuter lot he had dropped his car off before catching the bus in the morning. The best I can determine, he had never checked the bus number (or the destination listed on the sign on the front of the bus), but just boarded the first bus that showed up at the designated time. Sometimes you just have to pay attention to the little details. Hopefully a lesson learned.

The Last Race

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 me, and a 4+ and 8+ on Sunday. The races are held on our home water so traveling wasn't an issue. I'd like to say this was the view of the water for Saturday's races, but lo it was not. This photo was taken earlier in October right before the Occoquan Chase. Its the view from the Oxford Boathouse looking out onto the cove that empties into the Occoquan. I just like the way it turned out so I included it here. I wished it was like this all the time when I row.

Saturday's weather was warm, but windy. Considering I was racing in a single, the wind was of some concern. Ann and The Son accompanied me to Sandy Rum where I would launch and recover. I picked up my registration package,which consisted of a bow number for my shell and a number to be pinned on my back. I was number 1122.

My support crew needed nourishment and there was a BBQ caterer on site to feed the hungry masses. So Ann and The Son enjoyed a couple of pulled pork sandwiches.

My launch time was at 1:00 with a start time of my race at 1:45. It takes a while to row to the start of the 3.5 mile race. I was racing in a Peinert 25X. Here I'm at the dock tying in before pushing off.


I was racing in the rec category, which is one step up from novice. It was my first race in a single so I felt it was the proper category. It was pretty neat seeing the gathering of 25 or so singles marshaling up at the start line. I thought my start was good and the first straightaway went well, The turn at Jacob's Rock was also good as was heading down the long straightaway from Jacob's Rock. I had a hard time picking up the buoys at the next turn and having a Marshall sticking his boat out on the course and in my way didn't help. I had to maneuver around the first buoy and went a bit wide on the second. The race down the next straightaway where the Oxford Boathouse is located was interesting. Right outside the cove leading to Oxford, I got squeezed in between 2 other rowers overtaking me. I had no where to go and actually clashed oars with the rower to my right. Since I was the slower boat I had to yield so I coasted for a moment to allow both boats to clear. After making the turn by the Painted Rocks and heading toward Sandy Run, the water got really choppy and it was hard to maintain a good rhythm and run. That changed once I reached the turn at Sandy Run. At this point I could also see a friend closing in on me and I used him to pick up my own pace to try and hold him off as best I could. He finality passed me as we approached the finish line of the 2,000 meter race course. At this point there was about 500 meters left in my race. Unfortunately, I hadn't gone out and looked over the course a final time and the finish line was not where I expected it to be. I thought I could cut the final turn and go straight to the finish. I couldn't and almost ran off the course and narrowly missed hitting a huge buoy. Recovering, I start back up and headed off to the finish. Here are two pictures with about 500 meters left in the race.



I was of the understanding that the finish was at the race course grandstand area. As i approached that area, I could hear the officials calling out the finishes for the timers. I thought I had crossed the finish line but was sadly mistaken. I was about 150 meters short. oops! Stupid actually. Here I was just coasting in front of the crowd and I still had hadn't crossed the line. I recovered and finished, but that a pretty bad mistake. Here I am at the finish.


My time was a very slow 27:39.8. The only redeeming factor was that I was only 7 seconds behind the only other rower in my category. My time notwithstanding, it was still fun to do and I plan to try it again next year.

Rowing back to Sandy Run after finishing the race.

Thank god it was warm - at least on Saturday.



Over night a front came through and the weather changed to rainy and cold. The rain was on and off for my 4+ race. It rained as we waited for the start, but over the course of the day, the rain went away, but it stayed chilly. The 4+ race went well for us. We finished 4th with a time of 20:58.6 just under 4 seconds from third. For the 8+ race, I joined a boat with a mixture of our fitness rowers and a novice or two. I had no illusions that we would finish anywhere but last given the makeup of the boat. I did it because I enjoy rowing in the 8+s. We finished last with a time of 20:35. The set wasn't bad, but there was no power in the boat. Our "A" boat passed us right outside our cove and we made them work to pass us so there was that although I think it also drained our tanks and we still had a good 1.5 miles to go. We finished a good 2 plus minutes slower then the "A" boat, which finished with a time of 18:18 to our 20:35.

Back to Saturday, which was also Halloween. I carved a pumpkin for the occasion with The Son lighting the candle inside.


We got almost no Trick or Treaters. Maybe 9 total. That was a bit of a surprise. We never expect a lot as most kids, like ours, are grown and moved away, but we still have kids in the neighborhood. I'm sure the drizzle that was falling didn't help. Just means more candy for us!

Race Week

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 first time I'll be trying that. I've entered myself in the recreational category because frankly the Masters 50+ category is just crazily competitive around here. So I'll try Rec this year and see how I do before making a decision on what category to race next year. I'm a bit worried about the weather for Saturday's race and in particular, the wind. Right now they're calling for winds to be 10 to 15 mph with gusts to 25 mph. I'm not particularly fond of rowing a single in those kind of conditions. I row mostly because I enjoy it. Granted its great exercise and a great way to enjoy the water and the outdoors in general, but mostly I do it because its fun. Rowing in choppy water is not fun and if I find the water to choppy come Saturday, I plan to scratch. So right now I'm hoping the forecast will change (as it has twice already) and the winds won't be too bad. I did a practice run of the HOTO course on Wednesday and it felt pretty good. I definitely need to hug the buoy line a lot closer then I did, but now that I know where the buoys are, that should be easier. When sculling I've always looked over my left shoulder to see where I'm going, but the buoys are all located to my right. Just feels weird looking over that shoulder.

As far as the races on Sunday, I'll be stroking a 4+ in the Masters 50+ category and rowing 2 seat in an 8+ in the 40+ category. The 4+ uses the same line up we used for the Challenge and the Chase. Each time we go out we're a bit better so hopefully we're peaking at the right time. For our practice last Saturday, our first 1/3 of the race was probably the best our 4+ has felt all year. Now if we can hold that for the whole race we'll do ok. The 8+ that I'm in is a bit of a composite boat. It's made of primarily of guys who row in our recreational/fitness program or are novice rowers. Our rec/fitness program are for those that want to row, but really aren't interested in competing in most races or can't devote the time to be in the Men's Competitive boats. They'll dabble in some of the races on our home water, however. The novice rowers are our first year rowers. This gives them a taste of what racing is like and will help them decide whether they want to enter the Competitive or rec/fitness program next year. I'm in their boat because I didn't make the Competitive 8+ and they had an open seat. I look at it as a fun race and I'm happy to help out, but my real focus will be in the 4+.

Send good thoughts this way for good weather and low winds this coming weekend.

Congratulations Are In Order

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. So many want to participate that there are not enough spaces for everyone who would like to compete. There are two ways to get a space. The first is to do well enough in the prior year's race to get an automatic invite for the following year. For sweep rowers, that means finishing in the top 50% of your event. For scullers it means finishing within 5% of the winning time. For those who are looking to fill the remaining spaces, the race organizers hold a lottery for each event to see who gets an invite and who doesn't. I have been lucky enough to compete in the HOCR three times so far. Twice as a rower and once as a coxswain. Our Women's Senior Masters 8+ had an automatic entry, but none of our other entries got an invite via the lottery this year. So we have this three week break between our last two races.

The purpose of this post is to really congratulate Daughter#1, who did race this past weekend at the HOCR. She coxed a Senior Masters 4+ from Saugatuck Rowing Club to a second place finish. They missed 1st place by a mere 2.7 seconds. Over a 3 mile race, 2.7 seconds is almost nothing. Less then a boat length. Since Daughter#1 is all about the medals, she was happy with their finish. My Club's Women's Senior Masters 8+ pulled a 7th place finish, which I believe is their best finish ever and comes with an automatic entry for next year so congratulations to them as well.

Hopefully we'll be luckier next year and get an invite to the biggest party of the fall.

Cold, Rainy and Windy

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 dawn to go rowing or biking. I got up around 8:15, which is the latest I've slept for some time. After slacking the morning away, Ann, The Son and I headed out to lunch at Red Lobster and then some shopping at Target. After returning home, we watched the movie "Defiance", which I was looking forward to. The movie was just ok, although the story itself is compelling. Basically it's about Jewish resistance fighters in Belarus and the three brothers that led this band. One of the features of watching a movie on DVD that I reallt like is the "making of" special features. The one statement that caught my attention from that featurette, is that there are 19,000 people living today, descendants of this small group of people, who decided to hide out and occasionally fight the Germans rather then face the Death Camps.

Saturday was more rain and the temperature dipped into the low 40s. We had practice, but it was shortened as the wind chill was in the mid 30s. We also had tickets to the Maryland-Virginia football game, but neither Ann or I had a desire to sit out in the cold and the rain. Given the outcome of the game, which we did watch on TV, it was just as well. Lots of fumbles and a few field goals, but the action was pretty slow. Saturday was just a disaster for the college teams we follow. Maryland lost, Virginia Tech lost and Auburn lost. Ohio did win so there was that.

On Sunday, our coach called off our practice a we woke up to temperatures in the 30s with a building wind. I was glad for that as rowing in that type of weather is not fun at all. I did the grocery shopping in the morning so as to be able to relax and watch football in the afternoon. The Son came up from his cave and prepared breakfast for us. We then settled in and watched another dismal showing by the Redskins. They lost again to another team that had no wins. The only upside to their season so far is the entertainment it provides in the days following the game listening to the sports talk radio stations. Oh the fodder the Redskins and their inept owner have provided. As the schedule for the Redskins only gets that much harder from here on out, i expect more of the same. I also made dinner on Sunday, which was Kielbasa. It's a tasty recipe although unhealthy as all get out. The vegetables (potatoes carrots, onions and broccoli) are sauteed in bacon fat. You can hear the arteries closing up as we eat it.

I had yesterday off as I work through my "Use or Lose" vacation time. The temperature was suppose to warm up to the high 50s, but it took a while. The wind was also a little higher then I like if I want to row, which I did. Finally around 3:00 the temperature and wind got to where it was a go so I did. It was an ok row alternating between rowing really well and at other time feeling like I was rowing through quicksand. I also forgot that the high school kids were back on the water for their fall seasons. It gets pretty chaotic on the docks and out on the water with all them and their coaches. I'll try to avoid late afternoons in the future. Only 11 more days until my first 1X race.

More Rowing and Football

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 along with the coach in the launch. Rather then do that our Coach suggested rowing in a double, which sounded better then just sitting and watching. The row in the double actually went better then I expected. It was a decent row although short. We only rowed about 3.5 miles. That's probably half of what we normally row in a practice. On Sunday the 4+s were scheduled to race at 1130. However, our coach wanted my 4+ to come at 830 for a short practice. I'm not exactly sure why. It's not like we haven't rowed together before. In fact this would be our second race together, but out we went. Our coach had some good tips particularly for our two starboard rowers (get your hands down during recovery so the boat isn't off to port during the recovery. I'm a port rower so, of course, anything wrong with the set of our boat is due to the starboard rowers :-) ). At 11:00 we launched and rowed up to he start, which just upstream from Jacob's Rock. The race use to start at Jacob's Rock and started with a straight shot onto to a long straight away. Now it starts just upriver and requires negotiating a big sweeping turn to starboard of at least 120 degrees. I suppose it makes the race more interesting with that big turn at the start, but given the Chase's move slightly upstream and the Head of the Occoquan moving theirs downstream from Fountainhead Park, it makes the two races too similar. That can't be good for either regatta where you're competing for the same rowers. There will be some that will come to both, but there are a lot that will chose between one or the other figuring why spend the money to come to the Occoquan to run what is essentially the same race? Anyway back to our race. We were led to understand that we had three boats in our age category (50+). One from Alexandria and the other from Oakton Masters. Oakton would start right in front of us and Alexandria behind us. For those that aren't familiar with Head Racing, boats start single file about 15 seconds apart. You win by having the fastest time, but the idea is to pass as many boats ahead of you as you can while not letting the boats behind you pass you or close the distance from the start. We had mixed results. the boat from Alexandria passed us about the halfway point while we passed Oakton with less then 1,000 meters left. They caught back up to us and we dueled for the remainder of the race including clashing oars with each other at one point. As far as the race itself, I thought our 4+ rowed much better then we had in the Head of the Potomac. Can we improve? Surely. Enough to make up the 35 seconds we need to catch up to Alexandria? Probably not, at least not this year. After I got home, I checked the results and was surprised to find that Oakton was actually in the 40+ category. So we finished second in a two boat race. Not quite as satisfying as saying that you finished second of three. Overall the club had an excellent day. Our Men's 8+ finished 2nd, the Women's 8+ finished 1st and the Women's 4+s finished 1 and 2. Lots of medals and more important respect for our club.

Most of my Saturday, after practice, was spent watching football. Both Auburn and VA Tech were on TV at noon. Auburn was playing at Arkansas and VA Tech was playing Boston College. The Auburn game turned out to be quite the disappointment given that Auburn was undefeated going in. Not anymore. On the other hand, VA Tech took apart Boston College, which made Daughter#2 and The Son In Law, but VA Tech grads, quite happy. Sunday I watched the Redskins play and lose to the previously win less Carolina Panthers. The only good thing about the loss is listening to the fan base bitch and moan and call for heads on sports talk radio the next few days. Lets face it, the 'Skins offensive line is just terrible. Without a good O line, it doesn't matter how good a Quarterback you have or how good a running back, you'll lose.

Monday I went for a row in a single. I practiced the Head of the Occoquan course and overall it was a good row. It never ceases to amaze me how my ability to make the boat run really well comes and goes over the course of a piece. I guess the idea is to be able to hold that good technique throughout a race. I need to get more zen like with the boat - become one with the boat. 19 days until my first race in a single.