Trying to revive my blog

I probably will if I can get postie and WP to Twitter to play nice together. And I’ll start right here with this pointless test post.

Snow Pictures

It’s a beautiful day in the snow covered Shenandoah valley. We got something like 20 inches of snow, though it’s hard to tell now. Yesterday it snowed a little but the wind blew a lot. Some places it’s 10 inches deep, and some places it’s five feet. Here are a few snaps of the damage.

OK, OK Fastest 3G Network, Whatever….

Want to know why I’m still with Verizon? It’s mainly because AT&T’s voice network is lousy. But below I’ve grabbed their data coverage maps for the area I spend the most time in.

Verizon Data Coverage

Verizon’s Data Coverage – 3G is in dark green

AT&T Data Coverage

AT&T’s data Coverage. 3G is in dark blue.
Note: no 3G where I live, nor where my parents live. In between, there’s virtually no data coverage at all, save for some narrow strips of EDGE.
If you go to AT&T’s coverage map, you might notice that you can’t even view quality of service or 3G coverage. I guess they’ve seen those Verizon “There’s a map for that” commercials. By the way, these tiny dark orange splotches on the coverage map are places where you can expect your iPhone to work for phone calls indoors.

It went like this

“What’s the difference between the Boardwalk Buger and the Boardwalk-Fry Burger?”
“The Boardwalk-Fry Burger has fries on the burger.”
“That’s crazy.”
“I know.”

With the exception of that bit of lunacy, if you’ve ever been to Five Guys, you’ll know what’s going on at Boardwalk Fresh Burger and Fries right down to the bucket of salted peanuts. The exceptions are Boardwalk’s chicken fingers and the option of chili on your burger. Perhaps not quite on par with Five Guys, but I’d come back.

Edit: Posted from my phone and really messed something up.

Moving — Life is Good

CharmingGeek.net has been quiet lately. I’ve been busy and my post-by-email has been on the fritz, so I’ve just remained silent. I think it’s time for an update now, though as there have been some significant changes.
First, as of two days ago, I’m no longer living in Reston or the DC area. I’m now living in the land of sweet tea and scenic overlooks — Staunton, Virginia. No more sitting in traffic for an hour when trying to get across town or huge backups on the weekend. There’s still a Five Guys right across the street, but there’s also a Waffle House, Cracker Barrell, and Texas Seakhouse within a mile. For the same price as my last apartment in Alexandria, I’ve got three times the square footage, an actual bedroom — two, in fact — a spacious kitchen, magic fireplace, and a breathtaking view of the Shenandoah Mountains and Valley. Of course right now my apartment is full of boxes and I’m waiting for a flight at the Charlottesville airport. It’s remarkable how small this airport is. I was shocked by how quickly I passed from the parking lot to security and then to my gate in the single terminal.
It’ll be a week before I get to actually unpack all my boxes. I’m traveling to New Mexico for work. The reason for the move to western Virginia is a shift in responsibilities at SAIC, a primary work location in the Shenandoah Valley, and a considerable amount of travel. But, hey, I just noticed that my corporate travel agent managed to get me a seat in first class from Atlanta to Albuquerque. Living the high life! I’m watching people walk across the tarmac to my plane for the first leg right now and I’m wondering if anything out of Charlottesville even has a first class section.
It’s time to turn off my electronics, so I need to wrap this up. If you’re up in the valley give me a call.

Almost stepped on a pair of ground hogs


Right around mile 3 I nearly stepped on a pair of ground hogs in the grass. They were really cute. Decided not to continue on the Cross County Trail, as it was really muddy and slick north of the W&OD.

I love this trail

Good run today. I got mud on my legs while dodging puddles, a stream that wasn’t there yesterday, downed trees, a dog, and a ferocious turtle. Next time I run that way I’m going to need bug spray, though.

Today’s Run – Cross Country Trail and Loop

Goal: To run from here, around Lake Fairfax, and back — and without my feet bleeding.

Some running routes

I haven’t posted in a while, and I blame that on a)Lunarpages having lousy shared servers and b)the Wordpress Postie plugin being a real CPU hog for some reason.
So here’s an update on what I’ve been doing:



DC Rollergirls

Forgot my camera, this is the only non-blurry picture I’ve been able to get. My phone just isn’t made to handle this kind of high-intensity action!

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