Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
About town
When we first came out to Fayetteville, we were told two things:
1. Live in Spring Lake. It's the nicer part of the area, despite being on the other side of the base from the jobsite.
2. Never go downtown, it's scary down there.
Well, I have since discovered:
1. Spring Lake is the 'hood. The police department was so corrupt, they closed it down. Only in the last couple of years have they gotten back up and going. There's shootings there regularly. And it's generally not a nice place to live. My current location, on the other hand, is just fine. Most of Fayetteville is.
2. The historic part of downtown is beautiful. The main strip has some nice little cafe's and shops, and the historic areas are really neat.
So why we were told these things, I cannot for the life of me figure out. People's opinions of good versus bad are interesting, to say the least.
Anyway, yesterday I was headed out of town to visit the beach, I couldn't think of anything else to do, and I wanted to get out of the apartment. On the way out, I drove past the Army's Airborne & Special Operations museum. This is what I saw:
It was pretty impressive, to say the least. So I pulled over to take a picture. After looking at it for a few minutes, I figured I had been planning to go to the museum at some point in time, and I had to real reason to go to the beach. So I found a parking spot and went to the museum instead. The flags in the photo above all have a tribute to someone on them. This is at the entrance:
The plaque says this is Iron Mike, and it's dedicated to the Airborne troopers. The sidewalk around it has stones that have been etched with tributes from families to their loved ones who have died in the various wars. It's pretty humbling.
The museum was really cool, I learned quite a bit. I am a bit of a WWII nerd, so I spent a good portion of my time in that area. By the time I finally left, I had been in there an hour and a half. It's not that big, so that's a little scary. I was a little too into it. :-)
And as a side note, I made two major trades this week for two of my fantasy baseball teams. One of them went through Saturday afternoon. While I was in the museum. As further proof I was way too into the museum, I totally forgot to check my teams before the first game. And the major acquisition that hit my roster that afternoon went on to hit two home runs and go 3 for 4. So it didn't count for me, because he was on my bench. It's a good thing I was having fun, that result would have caused me to drink an entire 2-liter of Mt Dew out of sheer depression otherwise.
After the museum, it was too late to head to the beach, and I was hungry. So I figured I'd try to find a little restaurant or something. I ended up driving into the historic part of downtown Fayetteville. I quickly found an awesome little cafe that had an area out on the sidewalk of the street where you could sit. I had a fantastic pecan, raspberry, and brie salad on lettuce, with some chicken salad on it. So tasty! After that, I found some cute little shops that I checked out. I will definitely head down to this spot again.
Next I headed out to drive through the historic district. I didn't make it very far before I found a really cool cemetery. I played it safe in this little space, you could tell it was probably not a spot to meander alone. But I managed to get some cool photos. Just some general shots:
This monument honors the soldiers of the Civil War. Of course, it's meant for the south :-):
The engraving on it says: "In memory of the Confederate dead". Most of the headstones in this area of the cemetery were of people who died around the 1860's. I thought this one was really neat:
It's hard to read in this photo, but the bottom engraving says, "Died at Kinston, NC April 29th, 1863. Of wounds received the day before at the Battle of Gum Swamp, Craven Co., NC. He fell, in the 22nd year of his age, bravely fighting in the cause of Southern Independence." I thought it interesting that the words "Southern Independence" were a larger font and capitalized. Shows the importance to what those people were fighting for. I also wondered what they would think if they could see how things turned out in this day and age.
Lastly, in a corner of the cemetery, there's a fenced off area of four headstones. A plaque in front notes these graves had been moved from a family plot. But they were four men from the Revolutionary War. One died in 1766, and the other in 1798.
On another side note, being as this was my weekend of history, I couldn't help but be amazed at where we are now as a people compared to the past. Here are the headstones of people who fought to create this country, to give us the rights and freedoms we now enjoy. There are people who fought to split the country over race. I watched a few episodes of the series Band of Brothers. There is a part where they are interviewing the actual guys being depicted in the series, and one guy notes that three different men from his town committed suicide when they found out they weren't allowed to fight in WWII. And here we are today, so many people of our country are doing everything possible to tear this country apart. To take away the freedoms all our ancestors gave their lives for so we could have. To give up the fight and just let a few people run the show. It's so sad to me. I wish more people would look back and see how we got here. Maybe it would change their tune.
Well, off my soap box now. It was quite the adventurous day, I really enjoyed it. And I'm glad I decided to turn into the museum rather than head to the beach.
I needed the relaxing day, this week is going to be pretty crazy. My superintendent, Scott, is off vacationing this week, so it leaves me and Tim to run the place. And as is typical when Scott leaves, we have not one, but two, major concrete pours. I swear he plans it this way. So on Tuesday and Thursday, we have to be at the jobsite at 3:30 in the morning. And given Scott refuses to enforce the work hours on the jobsite, we have subs who like to work till 5:00, when we finally kick them out. So it will be quite disappointing to them all when we tell them the gates are locking at 3:30 each day this week. I refuse to be up at 2:30 in the morning, and have to be at the jobsite till 5 or 5:30. And since Tim has no backbone, it will be up to me to throw everyone out. Fun times! Can you tell I'm excited? Tomorrow's morning jobsite meeting is going to be so fun when I announce this. Pray for me.
My light at the end of this - I am on a plane at 5:00 Friday night for my week of vacation!
1. Live in Spring Lake. It's the nicer part of the area, despite being on the other side of the base from the jobsite.
2. Never go downtown, it's scary down there.
Well, I have since discovered:
1. Spring Lake is the 'hood. The police department was so corrupt, they closed it down. Only in the last couple of years have they gotten back up and going. There's shootings there regularly. And it's generally not a nice place to live. My current location, on the other hand, is just fine. Most of Fayetteville is.
2. The historic part of downtown is beautiful. The main strip has some nice little cafe's and shops, and the historic areas are really neat.
So why we were told these things, I cannot for the life of me figure out. People's opinions of good versus bad are interesting, to say the least.
Anyway, yesterday I was headed out of town to visit the beach, I couldn't think of anything else to do, and I wanted to get out of the apartment. On the way out, I drove past the Army's Airborne & Special Operations museum. This is what I saw:
The museum was really cool, I learned quite a bit. I am a bit of a WWII nerd, so I spent a good portion of my time in that area. By the time I finally left, I had been in there an hour and a half. It's not that big, so that's a little scary. I was a little too into it. :-)
And as a side note, I made two major trades this week for two of my fantasy baseball teams. One of them went through Saturday afternoon. While I was in the museum. As further proof I was way too into the museum, I totally forgot to check my teams before the first game. And the major acquisition that hit my roster that afternoon went on to hit two home runs and go 3 for 4. So it didn't count for me, because he was on my bench. It's a good thing I was having fun, that result would have caused me to drink an entire 2-liter of Mt Dew out of sheer depression otherwise.
After the museum, it was too late to head to the beach, and I was hungry. So I figured I'd try to find a little restaurant or something. I ended up driving into the historic part of downtown Fayetteville. I quickly found an awesome little cafe that had an area out on the sidewalk of the street where you could sit. I had a fantastic pecan, raspberry, and brie salad on lettuce, with some chicken salad on it. So tasty! After that, I found some cute little shops that I checked out. I will definitely head down to this spot again.
Next I headed out to drive through the historic district. I didn't make it very far before I found a really cool cemetery. I played it safe in this little space, you could tell it was probably not a spot to meander alone. But I managed to get some cool photos. Just some general shots:
Lastly, in a corner of the cemetery, there's a fenced off area of four headstones. A plaque in front notes these graves had been moved from a family plot. But they were four men from the Revolutionary War. One died in 1766, and the other in 1798.
On another side note, being as this was my weekend of history, I couldn't help but be amazed at where we are now as a people compared to the past. Here are the headstones of people who fought to create this country, to give us the rights and freedoms we now enjoy. There are people who fought to split the country over race. I watched a few episodes of the series Band of Brothers. There is a part where they are interviewing the actual guys being depicted in the series, and one guy notes that three different men from his town committed suicide when they found out they weren't allowed to fight in WWII. And here we are today, so many people of our country are doing everything possible to tear this country apart. To take away the freedoms all our ancestors gave their lives for so we could have. To give up the fight and just let a few people run the show. It's so sad to me. I wish more people would look back and see how we got here. Maybe it would change their tune.
Well, off my soap box now. It was quite the adventurous day, I really enjoyed it. And I'm glad I decided to turn into the museum rather than head to the beach.
I needed the relaxing day, this week is going to be pretty crazy. My superintendent, Scott, is off vacationing this week, so it leaves me and Tim to run the place. And as is typical when Scott leaves, we have not one, but two, major concrete pours. I swear he plans it this way. So on Tuesday and Thursday, we have to be at the jobsite at 3:30 in the morning. And given Scott refuses to enforce the work hours on the jobsite, we have subs who like to work till 5:00, when we finally kick them out. So it will be quite disappointing to them all when we tell them the gates are locking at 3:30 each day this week. I refuse to be up at 2:30 in the morning, and have to be at the jobsite till 5 or 5:30. And since Tim has no backbone, it will be up to me to throw everyone out. Fun times! Can you tell I'm excited? Tomorrow's morning jobsite meeting is going to be so fun when I announce this. Pray for me.
My light at the end of this - I am on a plane at 5:00 Friday night for my week of vacation!
Friday, June 8, 2012
La di da....
It's been a while, and I am trying not to work at work. So I'll catch you up on my goings on. Nothing new to report, I'm still bored as all get out in North Carolina, the job is clicking along, and we are all counting the days till we get to leave. Right now, we're at 4 months. I feel like a kid in October when the JCPenney Christmas catalog comes out and we get to start picking our Christmas gifts. Mine this year is a trip home. For good!
So the last two weeks have been a blur of sorts. For Memorial Day weekend I decided to head south to Georgia. First I headed to Atlanta to see a Braves game. For those not in the know, I have taken to fantasy baseball. First, a friend asked me to join a league she's in. Then one day while talking about it in front of other friends, they decided they wanted to do a league too. Then Emerson asked if I'd join his league. So I'm in three leagues. And as my friend warned, it's a sickness that you get addicted to. I am very addicted. The first thing I do in the morning is check my team's results from the night before. I spend more time than I should during the day reading up and checking out players. I take my iPad with me when I go out to make sure my teams are set before games. And yes, the iPad was purchased with that plan in mind. Like I said, it's a sickness.
So, back to the Braves game. I have never been to Turner Field, it's beautiful. Here's a couple of shots of the main entry.
I have been a Braves fan since high school, they are my favorite National League team. However, fantasy baseball makes you not as concerned with the final score as you are with certain players. Thus I wasn't as concerned that the Braves got trounced as I was happy that the guy who hit the homer was my player! :-) I know the guy sitting next to me was annoyed, because I kept saying this player or that player was mine and needed to get a hit. Then again, he was driving me nuts with his assertion before EVERY single batter that you NEVER swing on the first pitch. Or the second pitch. Not sure how that's wise advice. It doesn't take long for a pitcher to figure that out, then you've got two perfect pitches you're letting go and you're down 2 strikes and have to swing on anything close. Stupid man. Anyway, the highlight of the night was getting to see Bryce Harper hit his 3rd career home run. He's the next big thing, and quite the player. Here's some shots inside the stadium. The second one is Bryce Harper up to bat.
.
I stayed at a crappy Holiday Inn hotel right next to the park that cost way more than it was worth. They ended up comping me back my dinner because it was so bad and cold by the time it got to my room. But the Atlanta portion of my weekend was good.
I headed to Fort Benning, GA the next morning to spend the day and night with my friend Brenda and her family. I worked with Brenda at Fort Lewis and we have stayed in touch since. Her husband transferred to Benning last summer. It was awesome to see some familiar faces out here. Some other friends came over that I knew at Ft Lewis and had also transferred to Benning, and we all hung out for a BBQ and good fun. I may not be in the Army, but working for Army projects is giving me a wee bit of an idea what it's like to be all over this country. Craziness. Anyway, we had an awesome time and I'm looking forward to my next visit.
I got home Monday evening, went to work Tuesday, then Wednesday morning headed home to Seattle for the weekend. For Wednesday and Thursday, I relaxed, worked in the yard, and ran errands. Then Friday I headed to Seattle for my birthday weekend. I met up with my friends for the customary dinner before Storm games at a place called Buckleys. The Storm royally suck this year, so the game was more about hanging out, seeing people, and having a fun evening. I managed to see a few friends I haven't seen since I left last fall, which was awesome.
After the game, a couple of us went out to just hang and catch up, then I went to my friends' house that I was staying at that night. Saturday morning we all slept in, then they took me out for my birthday breakfast at a place called Hudson's. Crazy good food here! We chilled the rest of the morning, messed with our fantasy baseball of course, then I headed back to Hudson's for my customary lunch before poker with one of my friends. Our little group of friends gets together a lot to play poker, and it's a lot of fun. Being as it was my birthday..... I had a horrible night. The one good hand I got, pocket aces, I lost to a straight flush. Do you know how hard it is to get a straight flush? And I lost to it!!! Lame. Whatever, I had fun. I stayed in Seattle again that night, then headed home Sunday morning to relax the rest of my trip. I headed back to NC on Monday. Here's some parting shots of Seattle and Mt Rainier from the plane (it's behind the clouds, trust me):
So now I'm back at it till June 22nd, when I hop on a plane for home again. Sigh.....
On other notes, the project is moving along. We are actually moving quite fast, which is nice. We are on track to finish on time, yippee!! The topic of conversation is now starting to turn to where the next project is. Given my company doesn't ever tell us anything, we're kind of figuring there's no other projects. So I've started the process of finding another job. Our joint venture company has approached me about coming on with them, which is good. I don't have to totally stress about employment. But it would mean continuing the traveling option, which I am really not a fan of. The two options that have been floated out are in Tuscon or Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Neither are on my list of desired destinations, for anything, let alone work. But, I need a paycheck, so I may be temporarily moving closer to Beth or Jeff :-). Anyways, there's still time, so we'll see what happens. All I know is right now I'm about to head into my super stressful part of the project - close-out. So wish me luck!!
I guess I should stop typing and go do something. I'm sure there's more to share, but it's Friday and my brain is shutting down. So I will go. Hope all is well with everyone!!
So the last two weeks have been a blur of sorts. For Memorial Day weekend I decided to head south to Georgia. First I headed to Atlanta to see a Braves game. For those not in the know, I have taken to fantasy baseball. First, a friend asked me to join a league she's in. Then one day while talking about it in front of other friends, they decided they wanted to do a league too. Then Emerson asked if I'd join his league. So I'm in three leagues. And as my friend warned, it's a sickness that you get addicted to. I am very addicted. The first thing I do in the morning is check my team's results from the night before. I spend more time than I should during the day reading up and checking out players. I take my iPad with me when I go out to make sure my teams are set before games. And yes, the iPad was purchased with that plan in mind. Like I said, it's a sickness.
So, back to the Braves game. I have never been to Turner Field, it's beautiful. Here's a couple of shots of the main entry.
I have been a Braves fan since high school, they are my favorite National League team. However, fantasy baseball makes you not as concerned with the final score as you are with certain players. Thus I wasn't as concerned that the Braves got trounced as I was happy that the guy who hit the homer was my player! :-) I know the guy sitting next to me was annoyed, because I kept saying this player or that player was mine and needed to get a hit. Then again, he was driving me nuts with his assertion before EVERY single batter that you NEVER swing on the first pitch. Or the second pitch. Not sure how that's wise advice. It doesn't take long for a pitcher to figure that out, then you've got two perfect pitches you're letting go and you're down 2 strikes and have to swing on anything close. Stupid man. Anyway, the highlight of the night was getting to see Bryce Harper hit his 3rd career home run. He's the next big thing, and quite the player. Here's some shots inside the stadium. The second one is Bryce Harper up to bat.
.
I stayed at a crappy Holiday Inn hotel right next to the park that cost way more than it was worth. They ended up comping me back my dinner because it was so bad and cold by the time it got to my room. But the Atlanta portion of my weekend was good.
I headed to Fort Benning, GA the next morning to spend the day and night with my friend Brenda and her family. I worked with Brenda at Fort Lewis and we have stayed in touch since. Her husband transferred to Benning last summer. It was awesome to see some familiar faces out here. Some other friends came over that I knew at Ft Lewis and had also transferred to Benning, and we all hung out for a BBQ and good fun. I may not be in the Army, but working for Army projects is giving me a wee bit of an idea what it's like to be all over this country. Craziness. Anyway, we had an awesome time and I'm looking forward to my next visit.
I got home Monday evening, went to work Tuesday, then Wednesday morning headed home to Seattle for the weekend. For Wednesday and Thursday, I relaxed, worked in the yard, and ran errands. Then Friday I headed to Seattle for my birthday weekend. I met up with my friends for the customary dinner before Storm games at a place called Buckleys. The Storm royally suck this year, so the game was more about hanging out, seeing people, and having a fun evening. I managed to see a few friends I haven't seen since I left last fall, which was awesome.
After the game, a couple of us went out to just hang and catch up, then I went to my friends' house that I was staying at that night. Saturday morning we all slept in, then they took me out for my birthday breakfast at a place called Hudson's. Crazy good food here! We chilled the rest of the morning, messed with our fantasy baseball of course, then I headed back to Hudson's for my customary lunch before poker with one of my friends. Our little group of friends gets together a lot to play poker, and it's a lot of fun. Being as it was my birthday..... I had a horrible night. The one good hand I got, pocket aces, I lost to a straight flush. Do you know how hard it is to get a straight flush? And I lost to it!!! Lame. Whatever, I had fun. I stayed in Seattle again that night, then headed home Sunday morning to relax the rest of my trip. I headed back to NC on Monday. Here's some parting shots of Seattle and Mt Rainier from the plane (it's behind the clouds, trust me):
On other notes, the project is moving along. We are actually moving quite fast, which is nice. We are on track to finish on time, yippee!! The topic of conversation is now starting to turn to where the next project is. Given my company doesn't ever tell us anything, we're kind of figuring there's no other projects. So I've started the process of finding another job. Our joint venture company has approached me about coming on with them, which is good. I don't have to totally stress about employment. But it would mean continuing the traveling option, which I am really not a fan of. The two options that have been floated out are in Tuscon or Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Neither are on my list of desired destinations, for anything, let alone work. But, I need a paycheck, so I may be temporarily moving closer to Beth or Jeff :-). Anyways, there's still time, so we'll see what happens. All I know is right now I'm about to head into my super stressful part of the project - close-out. So wish me luck!!
I guess I should stop typing and go do something. I'm sure there's more to share, but it's Friday and my brain is shutting down. So I will go. Hope all is well with everyone!!
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