Running for the train

Everyday I commute from Washington Union Station to Halethorpe, MD on the MARC commuter rail. I will typically catch the 5:20pm express on the Penn line but this particular day I was running late so I was resigned to take the 5:34pm local.

When I got to the station platforms the 5:20 train was still there so I started heading for it and I heard the conductor said, "All aboard!" I'm not really the running type so I was just going to go catch the later train but as I was about to change my mind the conductor saw me and said "Come on!" and waved his arm beckoning me to make the train.

So I put on a little bit of speed and ran to the end of the first car where the conductor was now standing in the doorway. Right as I was getting there the train began to pull away from the platform. The conductor said, "careful now" and stepped aside to allow me to jump onto the moving train.

I was a little bit out of breath from the sprint but I was pretty excited about what had just occurred. I had just jumped onto a moving train as it pulled away from the station. When in my life will I ever get the chance to jump on a moving train again?

The Chocolate Chipper

More than a century ago on the shores of Scotland a couple of guys in kilts decided to whack a stone with a large stick. It went flying across the sand bouncing and skipping and eventually came to a stop. So they hit it again. Out of this madness was born a game, we call it golf.

Out of a desire for instant gratification someone came up with the idea to remove all the extraneous efforts of getting the ball to the green and created mini-golf. Golf in miniature, what a concept! It is truly golf at its basis, get the ball in the hole.

Sometime in the 80's this fad made its way to the Pacific Northwest. The weather there is not ideal for being outside so when mini-golf came to Portland it was inevitable that it would be indoors.

The popularity of mini-golf exploded, it grew like wildfire on the minds of children all over town. It was only a short time before we all wanted to try our hand at putting a neon pink ball across astro-turf. It was such a huge hit that field trips were organized through the school so all the children could fulfill their weeks-long dream of playing the sport.

The Chocolate Chipper opened up along one of the busiest roads in the area. They couldn't have picked a better location to be in, right next to Burger King and across the street from McDonalds. And to top it all off, the Chocolate Chipper also was an ice cream parlor.

No parent could keep their children from seeing the course in all it's glory, just waiting to be conquered. "Please mom, just one game?! You said that you would take me," would be the cry. "Can I get ice cream too?"

I don't know how long I had to wait to go but it felt like months. It seemed that everyone at school had been, some several times. When we walked in the aroma of waffle cones filling the air pulled me in the direction of the ice cream. But wait, what's that? All of a sudden there it was, challenging me, 18 holes of wonder.

The windmill, the rolling bumps, and of course the 18th hole had a chance to win another game. I don't remember how well I played, it couldn't have been good but when it was all over, I had a double scoop cone of chocolate chocolate-chip ice cream. I remember thinking that it had been the greatest experience of my life.

Oh My Aching Teeth

I cannot complain enough about the bad dental work done by dentists in New York. So I picked a dentist who happened to be from California figuring that would be the safer route to take.

My story begins way back in July 2008. I went to the dentist and he told me that I needed a filling in my top back molar. It just so happened that the tooth directly below it had an old filling that needed replacing as well. I agreed to let him do the work.

So he drilled out the old filling and discovered that there was decay underneath it. So he drilled some more and kept drilling, then the most uncomfortable pain began to well up inside that tooth. He gave me some topical anesthesia, waited a couple minutes and began again. It helped but it was still uncomfortable.

When he was all done he told me that the tooth was very thin and would be better off if I let him put a crown on it. I agreed that I would rather not have the tooth break on me. So he ground down the tooth, filled it up and put on a temporary crown as well as filling the top tooth.

Three weeks later I went back to get the permanent crown and I told him that the tooth was still giving me pain when I bit down. He said, "Oh the tooth was traumatized, it will just take a couple weeks to get back to normal," and he put on the permanent crown.

A few weeks later I called up and said, "it still hurts." He said, "I'll adjust the bite." He drilled the filling and crown to get a better bite and said, "see if that's better, give it a couple weeks and let me know."

A few weeks later... "Still hurts." Dr., "Let me adjust it".

A few weeks later... "Still hurts." Dr., "Hmm... I guess I'll take off the crown and put in a pain reliever filling." Come back in a few weeks and we'll put a new crown on.

A few weeks later... "Still hurts." Dr., "Let me adjust that bite again."

A few weeks later... "Still hurts." Dr., "I think you need a root canal."

So in January, 6 months after the initial visit I got a root canal. Everything seemed to be fine after that, no more pain and I could chew on the left side of my mouth again.

Two weeks later I got a new permanent crown put on. At this point I must admit that the dentist has been great in dealing with the problem and not charging me anything extra, he even refilled the top tooth because it was still sensitive to cold.

But... a few weeks later, "it feels weird, sort of hurts." Dr., "let me adjust the bite."

A couple weeks later, "still hurts a little." Dr., "let me adjust the bite." The bite felt good, like it was supposed to, so I thought.

Meanwhile we moved to Maryland in May. A couple months later the "permanent" crown came off, something it shouldn't do.

I have to find a dentist in Maryland to put it back on. Dr. in Maryland, "this guy really didn't know what he was doing. I'll glue it on and adjust the bite some more."

Two months later with sinus pain, "Wow, my tooth hurts." Take some decongestant and ibuprofen and a few days later all is well.

Two months later, "my tooth really hurts!" It feels like there is something stuck between the two teeth keeping me from biting down all the way and now both teeth hurt, not just the top one. Decongestant and ibuprophen help to a point but it's a temporary fix.

So here I sit two weeks later and 15 months after the initial dental visit and the same two teeth are giving me pain. Now I will go, yet again, for an adjustment. If this doesn't fix it maybe I'll just have them pull the tooth!!

You have to admit that it's pretty ridiculous for a tooth that doesn't have any roots to be giving me pain. But it's not the roots, it's sore all around the outside of the tooth, not the middle, like it's slowly being pulled out of my jaw.

All I can say is if I need a new crown I'm going to have them send the bill to the old dentist in New York. Even though he was a nice guy and I liked him a lot, he wasn't a very good dentist.

Working from home

The best part about working on the web is that as long as you have an internet connection you can work from anywhere.

This week my wife has been sick with sore throat and a cough, it's been going around the DC area like wildfire. Like that isn't enough, our 8 1/2-month-old hasn't gone to bed before midnight and has been getting up every 2 hours for the past 2 weeks.

So instead of getting up at 6:00 am to catch the 7:28am train to make it into the office by 8:30, I roll out of bed at 8:00 am take a shower and log on.

It's definitely more difficult to focus on work when you're at home and the baby keeps screaming to get your attention so you'll watch her play, but it's really nice to be able to help out with her while my wife is feeling so terrible.

I think in order for me to take a telecommuting job I would need a home office where I shut myself in to avoid being interrupted. It would be a place where I could "go" to work and when I'm done for the day leave the work behind closed doors until I'm ready to work again.

I love this digital age where I can work while sitting on my sofa in my pajamas with a baby at my side all while watching Paula Deen on Food Network.

Maryland, the New Jersey of DC

Maryland is to Washington, DC as New Jersey is to New York.

Not just that they are in proximity, more of a difference in the way of life and the people who live there.

I should qualify that statement, I've lived in both New York and New Jersey, therefore I am entitled to have an opinion on which is better.

Maryland is too close in proximity to it's northern neighbors for it's own good. There are too many similarities in government and attitudes between New Jersey and Maryland that one would hope. Not only that, there is an attitude of those who live and work in Washington that somehow Maryland is inferior to DC and Virginia.

Don't get me wrong there are some really really nice parts of Maryland and some very old and historically significant neighborhoods just outside the District. Yet when you're in Maryland there is a different feel to the atmosphere, a more "in your face" attitude and an all around disrespect for others that is less prevalent across the Potomac.

You find the same thing when you cross the Hudson from New York to New Jersey. While they are close in proximity there is a harshness about northern New Jersey that is unequaled in its neighbors to the east. Again, just like Maryland, New Jersey has some really nice neighborhoods and some very wealthy people, but the atmosphere there is also "in your face" and "I'll break your knee-caps."

Hence I will always in my mind associate the relationship of Maryland and Virginia to that of New York and New Jersey.

Facebook cleansing

They say you should wash your face everyday, but how many of us have a dirty Facebook?

I went in the other day and I had about 250 "friends," many of whom I don't know very well and some that I've never even met in person. Some of these "friends" regularly post things that I don't want to appearing on my homepage feed. Sometimes they post inappropriate comments.

So the other night I found myself going through my "friends" and removing anyone who I haven't had personal contact with since we became Facebook friends. Turns out those who remained were people I want to keep track of, mostly family a few friends and a handful of acquaintances. I cut out over 100 people!

It's amazing, all of a sudden I'm seeing the posts from people who were typically pushed off my home page by the random mass of posts from "friends."

I think that everyone should try cleaning their Facebook every now and then.

No Wireless Network

It seems that ever since I traded my Smartphone for a regular cell phone that I haven't been able to post as often. Sure my bill is $35 less a month and I don't get bothered with work related emails, but I miss the small things.

I used to sit on the train and connect to the wireless network via Bluetooth and spend the commute blogging and doing other things to occupy my time. I miss that I could open up Google Maps and it would give me an estimate of where I was, sometimes it was even close, but at least I could tell what city and state I was in and get directions home.

I must admit that without the wireless network I've been able to do a lot more iPod listening and even a bit of sleeping during my commute. But between work and taking care of the baby at home, it would be nice to be able to sit on the train and blog.

So here is my late night, nearly 3 month later post, to get something up online. Hope you enjoyed it.