My vacation was pretty cool. The place we rented:
http://www.oceanfrontcottage.com/secst.htm
was really nice and the weather stayed pretty decent. I got a pretty bad sunburn on my arms and chest which is itching pretty bad now. It was great to see the bros and the rest of the family. It is a sleepy little beach town, so we played board games, had daiquiris and steaks, and one night went to Savannah to a Morroccan restaurant. The food there was surprisingly good! I didn't expect to like it. The belly dancers were something different but didn't really do much for me.

Now I am feeling a little sick. Last night, when I was supposed to go to a chick's house for a cajun shrimp meal she was cooking, my throat swelled up and closed like a clam. So I didn't go. I am very glad it's slow today or I would probably go home or beg my boss to let me do stuff off the phones. I sound pretty rough and i can't talk loud or I start coughing.

I hope I am up for the game tonight. Really, other than this sore throat, I don't feel too bad. I hope it doesn't get worse....but at least I didn't get sick during the vacation trip.

I finished "Endurance" and am now reading a John Grisham novel named "The Summons. "Endurance" was excellent, and I tried to find some more good nonfiction at Barnes & Noble but I'll have to check reviews before I get a book like it. I got the Grisham novel because his movies are always good and I wanted to read one of his books, and this was a recent novel now in paperback. I'm halfway through it and it's an okay mystery although not much has happened in it yet.

I just posted this and although it shows in the editing section it didn't take if you are looking at the page. I am re-posting it, and I will bet it shows up with double entries....

I am also reading an EXCELLENT book called "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing. It's a book about an expedition to the South Pole in 1915. It's well written, and the story kind of tells itself--so many bad things happened to these 28 guys, over and over and for so long, and yet all of them survived....Hollywood can't even come up with stuff like this. To think it really happened is amazing. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes reading.

I am finally on the verge of the trip to Tybee Island with my "married brothers" Dan and Mike. I don't see as much of them as I do Steve, since they're married and live further away (Mike lives in New Jersey while dan lives in Greenville, SC). It will be cool to get away from work and just hang out with them and their wives and my niece for a few days. The trip is Thursday-Sunday. I need a break from work, and staying in a nice house on the beach should be very cool.

I suppose I should add a few other recent developments:
I've shaved my head completely. The George Costanza look that makes me look old just had to go. I've also been working out more than ever and it seems my shoulders and biceps are pretty bulked....although it seems no matter what I do I can't get much out of my pecs (on my chest). Anyway I think it helps most of the things I do to stay in some sort of shape, like playing basketball, softball, and just plain living.

Well we got crushed last night 25-13. I at least played as best I could and didn't make any errors. For all of the bad 2nd base I've played recently, in the Ponte Vedra Winter league, I haven't made an error yet this season, and I can feel some confidence in my fielding returning. It makes me feel like an actual essential part of the team when I am making the plays and getting us out of innings when other guys are making the errors....

It has been a long time since I updated the page. Sorry about that. We've been fairly busy at work lately, which is when I usually do my entries.

In the last few weeks, here's what's been going on: I have been bowling with my roommate and his girlfriend (and others). I've always had a pretty decent time bowling. It was pretty cool. The roommate situation has definitely gotten better....although he still annoys me more often than most other roommates I've had, but it seems bearable.

We also made our Spring Training baseball trip. It kinda sucked since 2 of the 4 games we were going to got rained out. But with Hugh and his company-sponsored restaurant gift certificates getting us good, cheap meals everywhere we went, it could have been worse. Plus, I got to see Chris and his dad in Clearwater, who I first met years ago when I was 14. And I also got to see Eric and Jane who came to the game in Titusville. Overall it was worth it. I guess we were due for some rainouts--in the 6 years we've been doing this trip it never rained on us before.

We also started a new season for our softball season, this time a level in "B" league. The competition is a LOT better and so are the teams. In B league you really don't expect to play any teams that are so bad you have sympathy for them. But so far the team has done very well. I've stepped up my play also, and through 2 games have made all the plays I should make at 2nd base and also made some that I was surprised to pull off. You can read more about our games on our new web site at:

http://www.eteamz.com/sites/ganggreen/

and then click on News. The Schedule is there too if you ever want to check it.

I was really surprised to find out Cypress Gardens, the park I visited with my parents and brother 3 weeks ago, is closing for good. The articles on the closing said it was due to declining attendance, only attracting a few hundred a day. There was a lot more than that there when I went, but I guess it was a busy day.

Two days ago my car really scared me. It stopped being able to shift beyond 2nd gear, and was really choppy just getting from 1st gear to 2nd. I was worried it'd be a transmission rebuild...which costs around 1500 bucks. That would have about ruined my trip to Tybee Island next week to see my brothers Dan, Mike, and their wives and my niece Miya. But it turned out to be a simple "speed sensor" and was only 150 bucks. I'm very relieved, since I've been looking forward to this trip for months. I will write more later if we slow down some....