Where the frak have I been??

So, I've been busy. Too busy to blog. I know, I know...it's been several months since I last shared anything with you, but I promise I have some good material! It's finally a good time to sit down and put it on paper, so to speak. So, sit back and let me fill you in on what we've been up to!

A few weeks ago, Erin and I headed to a local pub to hear some of our friends play. I am a sucker for anything Irish and non-smoking, so I figured "why not??". Fitzpatrick's was a place I had read some mixed reviews about, so I was excited to go and see what it was like. The menu was full of tasty food....and it was pretty cheap, too. I will definitely have to come back for a meal.

The band was good, as always! I think they are called Beyond the Fire, or something. They play some good, accoustic-ish classic rock.

One of the specialties at Fitzpatrick's is a chocolate cake made with lots and lots of Guiness. I tried a slice. It was pretty good!

Most of you know what I do with most of my spare time: drum corps. I just wrapped up the 2010 season with Alliance Drum & Bugle Corps, out of Atlanta. This was my second year with the corps and I had the time of my life....again! Our championships were held in Rochester NY on labor day weekend, and we had a couple fantasic performances. In this first picture, you can see me playing the opening solo....and staying away from the Grim Reaper, himself. Spooky.  

 Some of the parents got some good pics from the stands. Here's one of the full corps. We will be even bigger next year. Guess who gets to help with all of that recruitment? Yours truly, of course. :)

Part of the trip to NY includes a stop at Niagara Falls. I had never been there before, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to see the Falls and stare down those dirty Canucks on the other side. Here's one of the first pictures as we walked into the park. It turns out that Sunset is the perfect time to go.

Lots of mist and lots of Alliance jackets!

This was the best view from the US side. I heard that the view is best from the other side, but I will have to take their word for it for now.

Here you can see the Rainbow Bridge and the American Falls.

Here's a shot of me against the Falls. I gotta tell you....being so close to the rushing water is a little nerve-racking. That water was moving fast!

Here's a panaramic shot of the park and the skyline of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

Another shot of the falls.

It was starting to get dark, but you could still see the American Falls pretty well.

Oh Canada, Eh? It looks a lot different than it did on Canadian Bacon. I know, because I went right home and watched it.

A group of me and my friends, before we headed back to our hotel. Good times.

As soon as I got home from NY, Erin and I started planning things for us to do. I hadn't spent a weekend home in months, so I was eager to spend time with my wife! The first thing we did was hike up Table Rock. We had a blast, although the weather was absolutely terrible and I seriously injured my foot. It's been about a week since we climbed up there in the rain, and I am 99% healed, thank goodness! We'll have to try it again on a sunny day, so I can grab some better picture of the landscape.

Here's a panaramic pic from Governor's Rock.

We had a picture taking party at the summit with some other hikers. There's nothing to see at the summit, but if you go a little further, you'd normally be rewarded with a breathtaking view. Normally.

Now, here's a random picture. Driving to Alliance rehearsal in the 'burbs, I would often drive past the "castle house." Supposedly, a dude came into lots of money, and he built a castle house. I mean, who wouldn't do the same thing? This time, I grabbed a picture to share with everyone. Yes, there is a swimming pool moat around the house. Awesome!

A few months ago, a new restaurant opened in Greenville, called Chipotle. It is an eco-conscious burrito place, and we all know how much I love burritos. Maybe not Q'doba burritos, but I do nonetheless.

 

I found the food to be reasonably priced, compared to Moe's. I found it to be better than Q'Doba. But, like Q'doba, I found it to be pretty bland. At least they flavored the rice with a lemon twist, but the hottest sauce that they had was Tobasco. I still prefer Moe's times a billion, but it wasn't bad. It definitely felt upscale and you can rest assured that everything they sell you is prepared and grown in an organic way.

Another restaurant we went to lately is called Barley's. When I first heard the name, I immediately thought of beef soup. Actually, they are a pizza place.

We started with pita and dip. They were great!

I got a pizza, which was really big....too big. But, it was pretty darn good! I would definitely come back. Maybe I'll try one of their 72 beers next time.

I have been searching for years for my next car. Something that was sporty, fast, and fast. I think I finally found what I'm looking for. I present for your consideration, the 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX. All wheel drive, turbo, and just plain cool. I score wife points for the 5 doors, and I'm sure I will use the heck out of the hatchback, considering how much stuff we have hauled in my Eclipse in the past. Now, I just need to save up some money and I hope to special order one of these bad boys next year. Woohoo!

Other than that, I am taking advantage of my newly found spare time to continue singing with my quartet, work on some projects at home, hop on the motorycle, and just spend time with Erin. The Alliance 2011 season starts up again in January, so time is precious! The weather here is still hot. October is around the corner, but we're expecting a high of 93 today. I love warm weather, but I am definitely looking forward to a cooler Fall. It seems like it's been 5 months since we've been below an average of 90 degrees. I'm anxiously awaiting a visit from my folks in a couple weeks, so I will be sure to post pictures. My birthday is around the corner, when I will finally say goodbye to my twenties. I don't know how I feel about that, yet. We'll see. I'm only as old as I feel. I'm only as old as I feel! I'm only... I still feel young, so I have that going for me. Talk to you soon!



How to Make a Dot Book

If you are in a drum corps or marching band, chances are that you are required to create and carry a dot book with you throughout the season. This is a small notebook in which you write your drill and other information to aid you during your rehearsal. You will use it quite often, and if you're like me, your dotbook will look pretty sad after a short while, especially during the hot summer months. My book had recently fallen completely apart, so I decided to take the opportunity to write a how-to while I build a new and improved copy.

My new dotbook is going to be much more durable than my last one. Moisture was causing my pages to fall out, pencil and ink were smearing over all of the pages, and I was having a difficult time finding the right set information before moving on to the next set during drill cleaning. Instead of using a standard spiral bound index card notebook, I am going to use an index card binder. This will allow me to add and remove pages at will, and the plastic binder will better protect my pages from the elements.You can find a binder like this in the index card section at OfficeMax for around $4.00.

The index cards that came with the binder only had the thickness of ordinary paper, so I bought a package of normal 4x6" index cards to replace them. To punch the holes in the new cards, I used a standard three hole punch and centered two of the punches on the cards.

Next, I divided my cards into 3 sections, so that I can fit more than one dot on a page. This is a personal preference thing, but I feel that 3 is the perfect number to conserve space, but allow for future notes and corrections.

Next, copy your drill information onto the cards. You'll want to write the information upside down, since you'll be reading this from above. On my pages, I include the set number, how many counts, side to side and front to back coordinates, horn moves, musical clues, etc. I like to use short hand, which makes it easier to read and write the information. For example: IS = inside the yard line, OS = outside the yard line, S1 = side one, S2 = side two, BH = behind, IF = in front, FSL = front side line, FH = front hash, BH = back hash, BSL = back side line. Since you're the one who will be reading this, just write it in a way that's easy for you to understand.

Some instructors might insist that I write my drill in pencil, but due to the messy nature of pencils, and the ability to replace the cards in this format, I decided to write my pages in black ink so that they'll last longer. If I need to make additions or changes in the future, I will do that with a pencil until I can replace the page with another permanent copy. If possible, separate your drill pages into show sections, IE part 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. This will make finding your dot much easier. Keep a few blank pages in the back, just in case you need to add or rewrite a page during rehearsal.

After completing the dots, I decided to add small copies of the music into the book, so that I can have a quick reference to the written music during rehearsal. To do this, I had to shrink my sheet music. There are several ways to do this, but I chose to convert the PDF versions into images, and print them all on a single sheet using some image printing software. I won't drive too deep into that process since my way is probably not the easiest!

After printing the small copies, I carefully cut them out and attached them to my tabbed dividers with clear packing tape. That will keep the music clean and protected.

Here's what the music looks like when attached to the dotbook:

In order to carry a pencil with the new book, I attached some Velcro to the inside cover and a pencil in a spot that won't interfere when closing.

Finally, to wear the dotbook, you'll need to get a shoestring, small rope, etc, to tie around your waist. I made a small knot around one of the rings and fed a shoelace through. It may be a little heavier than my small notebook, but this new book will be much more durable.

I hope you found this helpful in case you need to learn how to make a dotbook, or simply can use some inspiration to create a more durable and useful version!

Grab some coffee....this will take a while!

Introduction & Disclaimer

So....it's been a while since you've heard from me. Oh, I was gone, you ask? To say I've been busy would be a major understatement, but I have so much to share with you. In the last month, I have been to several new restaurants, made some fun purchases, solved world hunger (not really....in fact, I struggle to control my own hunger!) and more. I've tried my best to summarize the most interesting parts, and dumped the other pictures and tales that I felt unnecessary. Having lived in our home just over 2 years, you may have noticed that the frequency of the blog posts may have decreased. It's a mixture of two things: We're not experiencing as many new things and at the same time, we're becoming busier with the established activities and relationships in our lives. Therefore, it takes me a few more weeks to gather the photos and the time to update my little 'ol blog. So, if you can live with that fact, I promise to make my posts as action-packed as I can. So, stick around!

I snapped a recent pic from my phone. Yes, as you can see, I am still as studly as ever!

Here's the first story of this edition. This will appeal to the nerdier (meant in the nicest possible way) readers of Lost in Greenville. At work, I work with many Dell Precision mobile workstations. These pricey suckers are used by engineers because they contain powerful laptop video cards, which often function better as room heaters than video cards. They have such an extreme failure rate, that any particular user can expect to have their video card fail at least once in the few short years they own it. Once these laptops lose their warranty, the cards are difficult and expensive to replace. Here is an example of what happens with the video memory goes bad: 

While doing some research on the Interweb, I found that some users have had luck repairing their video cards by disassembling and heating them in an oven. As bizarre as that may sound, it seemed to work for them, so I had nothing to lose and much to gain! Here I am, removing the video card from the laptop.

After putting a couple broken cards in the oven at home, I was able to fully resuscitate them. I'll spare you the details, but the heat treatment did the trick.

And here is the result of my work! Just for extra brownie points, I created a document with step by step details and submitted it to my supervisor. Go me!

Erin and went to a new pizza place (well, new to me...)out at Shoppes at Gridlock called Brixx. Sorry for the blurry photo!

For an appetizer, we got a dish of pita bread, complete with several types of dips. We liked it so much, we asked for another refill. Mmmmm.

The main event was the pizza, which for me, usually involves sausage and pepperoni. It, too, was awesome!

We decided order a custom beer sampler, since we wanted to try some new brews. This was Erin's idea, which surprised me since she usually doesn't like beer. We tried some fruity and chocolaty selections. It was a great experience!

Cheers!

After having my heart torn out in December with the loss of my beloved Jimmy Johns, I was relieved the hear the news that, not one, but two Jimmy Johns were reopening in Greenville. The first weekend it was open, I swung by the new location by the mall.

No surprises inside, everything looked pretty familiar! No "Welcome to Jimmy Johns!" though. They'll learn.

I had my traditional combo. It was terrific, of course.

That's it for the first half! Take a break to rest your eyes, then come on back for some more!!!

INTERMISSION

The next morning, I set out on a big adventure while Erin was away at Bell Choir Camp. Don't worry, she knew about it.... As you can see my little car proved its merit again. That TV fit just right. I did have to make a separate trip for the stand, but it fit also. I love my car!

Here is our old and new TV for comparison. Our old Sony is a great TV, but it doesn't do HD!!

Here's the final product, all put together later that evening. I had to do a few more upgrades to the HTPC to handle recording HDTV, but with some faster memory and a Core 2 Duo processor, it's running splendidly! Our first Blu-ray was, you guessed it, Avatar. We haven't watched it home yet, but we snuck a peak at it and it looks amazing. I'm halfway through the Planet Earth series and that, too, is incredible! Being able to watch Netflix over the Blu-Ray player is extremely convenient, and our Netflix subscription and cable box got quickly updated to take advantage of hi-def material. 

After the new gear was all hooked up, we realized that the remote control situation was spiraling out of control. Yes, we needed all 6 of these remotes to run everything. Soooooo I found a mint condition Sony RMVL610N learning remote online (discontinued, but popular and inexpensive) and programmed it to run everything. It works like a charm!

Another new dining establishment opened recently, this time a Buffalo Wild Wings! I was so excited to have one of my favorite restaurants open up in Greenville. This is also located at Shoppes at Gridlock, our pet name for the ridiculously designed outdoor mail with one exit.

I usually get the Wild flavor (#2), but was feeling adventurous and tried the Blazin (#1). I liked the added heat (hottest sauce they have), but the flavor is hands down better with the Wild sauce. Of course I got some chocolate cake to go with everything. The only downside? My lunch cost me $20. So worth it.

Right in our own city of Simpsonville, we recently got the only Imax theater in the upstate. For the first week, they were giving away movies and popcorn with a small donation to charity. The place was so packed, that when we came back for an afternoon movie later that week, everything was completely full. This parking lot is another example of FAIL, as it too only has one entrance and exit.

The inside was what you'd typically expect. To the right, there is actually a secured bar area for beer and wine. While I don't care enough about those to pay theater concession prices, let alone alcohol, it's an interesting option! Food here is extremely expensive, as you might have guessed.

We're in the line for Star Trek Imax. It was a late night showing, but it was packed. 

Yes, the seats here are made of leather and they rock. No, literally, they rock back and forth. The rooms smell so good......

The Imax screen is awesome, however I have mixed feelings about it. Yes, it is very large, but Erin and came back to the regular screens for Iron Man 2, for less than half the price, and enjoyed the movie just as much. I bet there will be situations where we'll want to go Imax, but for now, the other theaters are just great!

Now, it's time to talk about Alliance! I'm happy to report that we had a full baritone line at our last camp. I haven't seen such a beautiful site in a long time! It was literally 12 years ago since I was in such a large line, at Pioneer.

After camp and a nice shower, I came outside to load my car. I stumbled upon the other guys collapsed on Phillip's driveway. Upon their invitation, I joined them, watching for airplanes and confusing the neighbors that were walking past.

A nice bonus to the weekend was the gift of free bread at the Suwanee JJ...

At home, we also upgraded our vacuum cleaner. With Sam around, we have a huge pet hair issue. We decided to take the plunge on a Dyson Ball and am happy to report that it lives up to its hype! In fact, I find myself longing to vacuum the floor.... it's so much more enjoyable. :)

With the weather warming up, I've been missing a lot of opportunities to take the Fizzer out, but I've been finding some time here and there. While we were out for a ride, she told me that she felt neglected. I sowwy.

While I was mowing last week, I decided to investigate the long blades of grass coming through my fence. I peaked my head over the fence to discover my neighbors' grass had grown over 4 ft tall. I couldn't believe my eyes! I snapped a picture and summoned Erin over to take a look. This neighbor typically lets the yard grow long, but this was crazy, even for him! I can't even imagine how he is going to mow that. I'm more concerned about the critters that live there, like fire ants, but it hasn't caused a problem.....yet.

And this is what a properly cared for back yard looks like! Now, we just need to find some more friends and host some awesome parties.

I hope you enjoyed reading some of my recent adventures. Over the next few months, things are going to get cah-razy with Alliance and it will eat up most of my free time. Our first performance is in a month, I can hardly believe it! As part of the recruiting team, I have been spending a lot of time talking to interested candidates and sending lots of emails. Erin and I will be singing Haydn's creation for the first time since college. This is happening at Furman, at Danial Chapel (see earlier blog posts!). That will be exciting! That same morning, the Messiah Lutheran Wind Ensemble will be making a debut performance at church, too. 

After a relatively easy allergy season, I finally fell victim to a couple weeks of misery, even with medication! The worst part is: that was after the tree pollen ceased to cover everything in a blanket of yellow. There's no escaping allergies in the South, that's for dang sure.

That's all I have for now! Stay tuned for Alliance updates and as always, I'll be making entertaining posts of Facebook. Nothing but the best for my friends and family!