Four Things on a Friday: A Personal Round-Up

I want you guys to appreciate how busy I got this week. It's college football Week 0, both AFF podcasts ran over an hour this week, and I'm looking for a cover artist for The Return of Dr. Necropolis. And let me just note that as much as I love that title, "The Return of Dr. Necropolis" is long and a bit cumbersome for an actual book cover.

Sigh.

If you missed it, we had a truly outstanding AFF Army Football Show this week. Shannon Horne's husband Paul Horne joined us for an in-depth dive into Army's O-Line. I can pretty much guarantee that you've never heard anything like this before. 

It got surprisingly mathematical. Paul went straight for my engineer's heart.

Anyway. I am trying to write here a little more often, so here goes.

Pics from the Seawall

Sally and I went out for drinks at Riley's last night. We got a really nice night for it, and I think half of Stratford wound up down there with us.

We mugged a bit for selfies and then went home and grilled turkey burgers.

I also stuck these on my Instagram account if you're interested.

The view from the seawall

Blog Shots: 4th of July Hike with Sally

 Sally and I went on a little hike yesterday.  

Well.  It was supposed to be little, at any rate.  We wound up walking four and a half miles.  That took us from the Short Beach parking lot in Stratford, around the lighthouse, back down to Wayne's Walk, and then all the way up to Russian Beach and back.

Speaking personally, I thought that was a good, long walk.

Anyway, I took my camera yesterday.  Pics are past the jump.

Pics from Dinner Last Night (#NoFilter)

Sally and I went to the new Oyster Bar in Bridgeport for dinner last night. It was quite a place.

I'm in love with this guy's monster-boat.

More pics from dinner last night after the jump...

Pics from TS Isiasis

I took these down at the Boat Club yesterday during the storm.  We lost power at the house, and I needed both power and Internet access for work.  Despite these pics and the ongoing damage from the storm, I was actually able to get some stuff done while all of this was going on.

Two foot swells in the river yesterday.  I'd never seen that before.

5 Things on a Friday: Titans, Jeter, Rush

By the time you read this, I will be on my out to Colorado to ski with my buddy Brian.  Yay!

Alright.  Let’s do it.

Friday Night Lights: Stratford Red Devils

Sally and I went to our first high school football game as high school parents last night.  That was so much fun.  Our daughter Emma plays in the band.  Her night was actually ludicrously complicated, but for Sally and me, well, we just sat there and watched the game.

End zone shot at the start of the second quarter.  Stratford got a pick in the end zone right after this, drove down and scored.  That made it 14-20.

The Red Devils were at home against Notre Dame Catholic.  Notre Dame ran a run-heavy read-option set against a decidedly undersized Stratord defense.  Alas, the Red Devils really only have a handful of talented players.  They had trouble stopped Notre Dame's power running up the middle, let alone containing the misdirection plays outside.  However, they made some plays on offense through sheer team speed at the skill positions.  Basically, they tried to run some kind of sweep run on almost every offensive snap, hoping to get one of their speed guys in space on the outside while mixing in the occasional play-action pass.

This worked well enough that Stratford was down just three at halftime.  Alas, the size disparity along the lines started to show in the second half, and they wound up dropped the game 41-25.

More pictures are after the jump.

Goals for 2019

I refuse to call them "resolutions".

#SBRLLR: Losing My Father (Part 2)

We buried my father in Arlington Cemetery with full military honors.  A giant Marine Corps band showed up in their red dress uniforms, complete with a horse-drawn caisson.  The Marines took my father back in the end, and I walked away from the cemetery content in the knowledge that my dad was again with his people, that he was where he wanted to be.  He was buried in formation alongside all the other soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who’ve faithfully served our nation in its times of need.⁴⁸  His funeral was truly moving.  But it was sparsely attended, however, because my father’s drinking had driven so many of his old friends and colleagues away.

Pics from the Weekend

It was a lot of football.  Emma played with the Stratford High School Band at Homecoming on Friday, then we went to Army's EPIC win over Miami-Ohio on Saturday.  We went hiking yesterday.  I took most of these, but Sally took a bunch of the Army shots on her actual camera.  Hence the enhanced shutter speed and closer zoom.

Pics are after the jump.

Crunch: Back in the Gym

I’m back in the gym after much wailing and gnashing of teeth.  

And actually, yeah, it’s been really great.

Lat pull-downs at Crunch Fitness in Stratford, CT.

Two Roads' #RoadJam 2017

Sally and I attended Two Roads Brewery's 4th annual RoadJam music festival yesterday, and it's become one of my favorite annual events.  We went with our good friends Colin and Elizabeth, with whom we also went camping last weekend.  I was, to say the very least, pretty damned excited in the run up to the day.

Me and Sally in front of the Brewery Stage.  West End Blend is behind us.

Two Roads Brewery & #RoadJamFest 2016

Two Roads Brewing Company held their third annual Road Jam Beer and Concert Festival yesterday on the brewery grounds, and Sally and I attended.  $30 got you admission and a beer, with subsequent beers available for $5 apiece via the many beer trucks and tap-tents set up around the yard.

Sunday Stray Voltage

Final Score #ARMYvsAF pic.twitter.com/wij7ehrM4v

— ArmyWestPoint Sports (@GoArmyWestPoint) November 7, 2015

Rounding out the Football Weekend

@West_Point_Fans they lost 49-36 Lackawanna College. Side note: Lackawanna beat Navy Prep 52-7. #GoArmyBeatNavy

— Joe Dabbelt (@JoeDabbelt) September 21, 2015

You gotta take the good news with the bad.  I'm not sure this is great news, but it implies that Army's recruiting for the class of 2020 is ahead of Navy's.  All things considered, that's as close to victory as we've been in a while.

Housatonic Boat Club

The Housatonic Boat Club is the oldest active yacht club in the state of Connecticut.  I've never though of myself as the kind of person who would join a yacht club, but the place is really nice, and they have a sailing school.  I'd love for the girls to have the chance to learn to sail.

Hannah & Sally out on the dock.

5 Things on a Friday: Science Loves Dad-Bods

Hey!  It’s Friday!!!  

How was your week?

***

1. Lockheed Martin Announces Sikorsky Purchase And Strategic Review Of Services Portfolio (Forbes)

Acquisition of Sikorsky for an after-tax price less than its current annual sales will improve Lockheed’s market positioning — already viewed as the best among first-tier defense contractors — in several ways.  First, it will boost annual revenues over $7 billion by acquiring rotorcraft franchises central to U.S. military operations.  Second, it will reduce company reliance on the tri-service F-35 fighter program, which had been projected to grow to over a quarter of corporate revenue as production ramped up.  Third, it will accelerate the company’s efforts to derive a greater share of income from foreign sources, since Sikorsky last year generated nearly half of its revenues overseas (Lockheed was at about 20%).  Finally, it will provide the combined enterprise with a multi-decade stream of sustainment revenues as it supports thousands of Black Hawks and other Sikorsky helicopters in use around the world.

Weekend Round-Up

I know, I know.  I said Mondays were supposed to triathlon posts.

It wasn't much of training week, though.  I ran three times, including on Sunday with Sally, but none of it was particularly outstanding.  It snowed Saturday morning, and I still managed to get out and run Saturday afternoon, so I guess that's something.  It was fun, but it wasn't any kind of record or anything.  I ran, I bopped around to my tunes... That's what I do.

15 Reasons to be Thankful this Thanksgiving

1.  We’ve all got our health.
This was not a given.  I found myself in the hospital in August after a spider bite.  The back of my leg became infected with an antibiotic-resistant form of the streptococcus bacteria, and it took several rounds of antibiotics and four full days as an in-patient to clear it up.  Not fun.  But I’m better now, and I’ve been slowly but surely working my way back into form in anticipation of the coming triathlon season.

Sally and I are both over 40, and we’re both in good shape.  This puts us markedly ahead of where my parents were at our age, and I don’t take that lightly.

A Look at Two Roads Brewery

Two Roads is a new brewery in Stratford, CT, and I've become a big fan.  They're literally right down the street, so for me, this is about as local as beer gets.

As I've written before, my favorite Two Roads beer is their Honeyspot Road White IPA, named after the road that my kids' school is on.  I've been struggling to sum up why I like it so much, so I think I'm gonna let somebody else take a turn.

So there you have it.