Day 121 - 06/21/2007

I was going to ride in to work, but decided against it as I was planning on riding Friday and didn't want to push it (my knee is still tender a bit from Sunday's triathlon). Instead, I went out for a run. I did what has become my standard route (walk 0.4 miles to warm up, run 3.1 miles, walk 0.4 miles to cool down). However, I was feeling good, so I upped the total to 3.5 and only walked about 0.2 miles as my cool down.

But this post isn't about my run, it's about roadkill.

On the way out, I came across a bowl on the side of the trail.

Hmmmm...that's an odd place to find a bowl, I thought to myself. (Of course, all thoughts are to one's self, so why do writers add this piece of info? Just a thought.)

A few yards up the trail, I came across some more dishes. It turns out the bowl was part of a china place setting that appeared to be meant for a wedding present (based on the wrapping paper and Bed, Bath & Beyond Bridal Registry sticker).

I continued my run, mulling over why a couple of place settings would be left in the middle of the trail.

After passing by them on my way back home, it hit me: They were probably stolen from a wedding held at Cabell's Mill over the weekend. Well, that could be the reason, but why would they still be here 3-4 days after the wedding? Maybe a neighborhood kid stole them and stashed them in the woods and only now was able to get to them. Another option would be they were stolen from a car in a nearby neighborhood and were left there once the thieves found them to be useless (although they're currently going for $35 per place setting on e-Bay!).

After my run, I went back on my bike and brought them back home in hopes that I'd be able to return them to the bride and groom.

Later this afternoon I called Cabell's Mill and asked the ranger to have whomever had their wedding held there to give me a call. If they can identify the pattern, I'd make sure they got them back. If I don't hear from anyone by next week or so, I'll post a message on a neighborhood newsgroup to see if they were taken from someone's car or home. If that doesn't pan out, who knows, maybe we'll keep them (or sell them on e-Bay!).

On a completely unrelated note, tonight I started reading a new book to the kids. It's a story about love and devotion, with princesses, pirates, giants and a rapscallion from Sicily. It also contains a Spaniard seeking to avenge the murder of his father. But, in the end, it's about love.

Oh, the book? It's The Princess Bride. (After the suffering I went through watching the Narnia films, I had to pick something where the post-book movie would be enjoyable to the reader.)

Day 99 - 05/30/2007

Woke up at 513a to get ready to go fishing on the Bay w/ Larry, Lenny and Jack. This is probably the 10th or so time we've gone out and we've never caught anything (other than a crab on the line here and there). Sure enough, today was no different. (Actually, we didn't even catch a crab in the pots we threw out on the way out of the marina.) We were out about 6 hours and had nary a bite. Larry did catch a jellyfish, but that really didn't count as that's like catching seaweed. On the way back in, we saw a dozen or so skates just below the surface. Unfortunately, all the gear had already been put away, otherwise we'd have tried to catch them.

I got home about 330p and checked in with work. I was able to finish up everything that had accumulated over the course of the day with regards to e-mails and development items. After finishing work, I showered, ate dinner (D and the kids had already eaten) and, when D and N got back from running their errands, N and I went out for a bike ride.

During our ride, we passed by a couple of azalea bushes that were left for the garbage men. Seeing as we've got some empty space in the backyard along the deck that needs some filling in, I made a mental note of their location in anticipation of picking them up later. After the kids were in bed (and darkness had set in, as I didn't want to be seen picking through other peeps' trash), I went out and picked them up. $60 saved! Now all I have to do is plant them. Hopefully I'll be able to get that done Thursday (probably not due to N's t-ball game) or Friday. Nothing like good roadkill! (No, not that kind of roadkill. My kind of roadkill is when you find something useful on the side of the road and take it home with you.)

I then settled in for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup. It was a pretty good game, with both teams getting a flurry of scoring chances. Overall I think the Ducks played better (especially when killing the power play), but when I turned it off after the second period, it was still scoreless. Normally I'd stay up and watch the entire game, bedtime be damned, but since I was up before the crack of dawn and had a long day in the sun, I was pretty beat. I hit the sack and was asleep in no time.