romej dot com - the feed still burns

Great neighbors

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:56:00 -0700

My app is taking a little nap between two amazing iPad bestsellers: Plants vs. Zombies HD and Penultimate. Let the record show I was here! It's been great hearing from the users.

Today's our anniversary and we're doing the things we like to do. Fitz may soon get his wish of going to the park for some free running too. I love watching him run through fields; his body says I am happy to be doing this.

Us in New York City

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:56:46 -0700

I saw Paris, London, Rome, Athens and other cities (like Boston a day prior) before I saw New York, so it was definitely time.

Once we got off the Bolt Bus we found a subway, bought some all-day passes, and headed downtown to the World Trade Center site. Our hotel room overlooked ground zero and the memorial construction. The crews worked around the clock and through the night, and American flags were draped from many buildings and cranes.

One of the first places we went to after checking in was NYC Cake. Michelle was like a kid in a cake supply store.

After that we intended to grab lunch at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. The line was prohibitive and obscene.

We walked along 5th Avenue and saw the Guggenheim (outside and lobby) and went into the Met for about an hour, leaving due to hunger. The only thing we had eaten all day were some "breakfast chips" (a hotel-sized bag of Frosted Flakes).

We ended up walking the Upper East Side and eating Italian at Centolire.

In Grand Central they were filming a Justin Timberlake movie or video. He wasn't visible but some dancing extras pranced around and looked amazed at nothing. JT will be edited in later.

Later we went to Times Square and found another Shake Shack, this one with a smaller 30 minute wait. The burgers were great (soft, fresh, not greasy), though I prefer the wait time at Five Guys.

The next morning we jogged through Central Park and followed a race that was happening.

After that we went to the Apple store and Rockefeller center where the Today Show was wrapping up. We made a brief appearance on TV and while eating at Dean and Deluca across the way saw Jenna Wolfe come out to say hi to some fans. Lester Holt was around somewhere prior.

We walked more, saw the UN, found Rachael Ray's studio, and ate pizza at RayBari. It was early so the guy baked us the first two pizzas so we could get our slices.

We rode to Greenwich Village to find the building they use as the Friends apartment exterior.
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We walked around for a while before finding it.

After that we saw the New York Stock Exchange and walked around Wall St.

The next morning we went back to the Today Show at my request, to see the regular weekday hosts. Here's a guy trying to hug Matt:

The crowd was a little larger but it was still easy to see what was happening. Matt Lauer and another host joyfully tried to catch a butterfly at one point, when the cameras were off. Michelle stood back with our bags while I took pictures and got all starstrukk. I'm still missing Meredith and Al.

We found my great uncle Ralph's painting "Subway Riders" at the 53rd St subway station. I really enjoyed seeing one of his works, and more of it is scattered across the city, including Ellis Island.

We weren't sure how to get to La Guardia and the hotel mentioned "it was confusing" trying to use the subway to get there. The concierege suggested a $21/person shuttle that took 2 hours.

The buses that run to the airport from Queens aren't difficult, thankfully. All told it cost us about $5 to get to the airport from the hotel. No problemos!

Visiting Boston

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:58:53 -0700

Last week we flew to Boston for three nights. I loved seeing water and the city itself as we landed. Usually airports are so far out.

We stayed on the outskirts of Boston at a Hampton Inn in Revere, with hotel shuttle service to the closest subway station at Wood Island. It wasn't the greatest situation but it was suitable for all-day trips into the city.

Here's the station we emerged from on our first foray into the city

We walked the Freedom Trail, led along by a painted red line through historic neighborhoods and sites. Here's Paul Revere's house

We also saw the old North End church and dropped a donation into the original donation box.

While crossing the Charlestown Bridge a lone man with a mullet and a confederate hat remarked "ya'll from Atlanta!?" after seeing my Georgia Tech shirt. We nodded. He exclaimed "Me too!" and slogged on. We were a little sad about the affiliation.

Michelle took pictures of almost every Duck Boat in town. She wanted to "collect them all" and I tried to help.

We also shopped and ate around the Faneuil Hall marketplace. It was a little crowded and an obvious tourist/large family spot but worth seeing.

We visited Harvard square and walked around the campus. The day was warm and many of the dorms and lecture buildings lacked air conditioning so they felt stuffy.

We ate at Wagamama on the Square and watched the street. It was nice, and the food was great.

Later we visited MIT and headed for the Stata Center. Michelle may have written some kind words about Georgia Tech somewhere. The bookstore across from The Coop was full of interesting titles, and a couple of the books we had seen at the Harvard bookstore were in stock and on sale, so we picked up extra reading material.

We took part in the Sam Adams tour and got some souvenir glasses. One guy in the group was wearing Budweiser shorts, a beer-branded wife beater, and a hat with a beer logo. He was with some fratty guys and they were stoked about free beer.

We also had a great time visiting Boston's public library. It's amazing inside, apparently architected with the goal of being a great palace for the public, serving as the only palace they'd ever be able to see.

A dark ancient books section had medieval texts and old copies of Emerson and Thoreau works. I admit to feeling joy and wonder staring at the books and photos.

We caught a Bolt Bus to NYC out of the South End station. Incidentally, Angelina Jolie catches a Bolt Bus in Salt.

The ride was about 4 hours, and the bus seemed to be passing most cars it came upon. The bus has free WiFi; slow for me but it worked.

Eventually we could see some of New York's outermost buildings on the horizon.

Another reason to love her

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 06:09:07 -0700

She's not afraid to buy me gifts that make me laugh , then act hurt when I do.

Last night in Edgefield

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:42:52 -0700

Last night we helped Joe and Rebecca load their U-Haul as they make their move to Augusta. Charlie, Erin, and Arden brought extra muscle and hearty attitudes.

Fitz made his city slicker demeanor evident when, after being put in the dog run, he got a bunch of green burrs stuck to him. One joined the hair below his eye with the hair above it, giving him a permanent stink eye. He looked pitiful and his friends cried when I removed him.

I let him out to stay with us, though we worried he'd be in the way. He only tripped someone up once.

After awhile he was asking to go back to see his friends. Michelle put him in and we left him there while we moved bulky items.

She asked me to check on him and as I walked back to the pen I noticed he was sitting sideways on a board right against the fence. It's like he doesn't know how to use a yard.

The dogs got the best of me and slipped out as I tried to get him. While he seemed eager to come out to see me he quickly forgot and ended up dashing away into the dark with his buds.

Michelle flipped out, her voice echoing across the neighborhood. I don't think Fitz could zero in on her location and I found him slinking around through the trees.

So ends the Edgefield times. It'll be nice to have everyone closer.

A nice surprise

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:14:27 -0700

Michelle asked me to check and verify the contents of an Amazon order she placed. The package arrived and the box seemed too small to contain textbooks, which is what she told me this was. As I handled the box, Fitz sitting below me expectantly, I caught a flash of red and realized it was Super Mario Galaxy 2. It was a great surprise and I immediately left work and made the 40-foot commute to the TV.

I like to think back on how much fun we had playing games like this when we were kids, and then to imagine what it must be like to grow up playing the new ones (not to mention the realistic ones on the 360 and PS3...)

Protecting your desk from scratches

Tue, 11 May 2010 10:16:17 -0700

Michelle loves her desk, but the white surface is prone to damage that stands out. She usually writes on a big desk calendar but finally came to the last month.

When we ordered the desk we had the option of buying a clear protective sheet cut to fit the desk's surface. The problem was that it cost nearly as much as the desk itself.

She really just wanted to protect her immediate writing area, so a desk pad or blotter would work.

Wanting something transparent, we bought a perfectly sized sheet of plexi-glass (look for Plaskolite or Lexan).

They come in many sizes and you can buy a cutting tool if the standard size isn't what you need.

Kids counting money

Sun, 02 May 2010 17:33:37 -0700

I released my first iPad app a couple weeks ago. It's called MakeChange and it's intended to help kids learn basic addition skills through money counting. It works as you might expect: slide coins below the line until you think you have the amount indicated on the register. You can tap coins to flip them over. It's fun to manipulate the virtual currency and impossible to swallow anything.

Learn money math with MakeChange.

Air conditioner efficiency, not cool

Sun, 02 May 2010 17:24:31 -0700

I noticed bits of blown insulation around the AC vent in our kitchen when we moved in. I brushed it away but noticed that more was slowly appearing as the months passed.

A few days ago I indulged my curiosity and shined a flashlight into the AC vent in the kitchen. To my horror I saw wood. As in the backside of the roof itself.

The air never felt strong out of that vent, but it was also hard to get close to due to the refrigerator. The duct had come loose and was blowing into the attic. For nearly a year we were running like this!

I called the landlord, knowing the weather was going to go from the low 70's to high 80's over the next few days. He's a nice guy but forgetful. I pushed for a fix before the weekend so that we wouldn't be losing any more money over the weekend (highs of 93 on Sunday).

Vent cover removed, revealing things as they were

We can probably cool the house an extra degree or two for the same cost. If your house doesn't feel cool enough it's worth checking your ducts in the attic for leaks as well as any issues around the vents.

Fitz's BFF heads north

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:28:57 -0700

Tomorrow the neighbors and their schnauzer are heading north for the summer. Fitz has been playing with Henry for months and spends a good part of his day looking out the window, neck resting over the arm rest (sometimes causing him to choke himself a little), waiting for Henry to appear. It'll be interesting to see how they react to seeing each other again in October (!).