THE WEISS CHRONICLES

Sunday, July 31, 2011

A Family Matters Dream

I had a dream that I had met Steve Urkel (the character in the TV show "Family Matters") at the local Giant Grocery Store.

Somehow we got to talking and Steve wanted to go to a minyan at Beth Sholom. We started to walk there but then I woke up.

Urkel was one of my favorite characters on TV in the 90s. He was an early version of Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory or maybe even of the Fonz in the 70s.

One time in the 90s, there was a program (it lasted 3 years I think) at the US DOT where employees could volunteer to have a high school student 'shadow' them (it was done on Groundhog day). When we were registering for having shadows, I noticed that essentially all the registration personnel were black. The person interviewing me asked a number of questions (your age, time with USDOT, etc.) and then said, "What kind of person were you in high school".

I answered, "Kind of like Steve Urkel...but not as black". The interviewer and a few other people broke up laughing.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 11:08 AM

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

G at Work

This week G started work for a law firm. That firm doesn't have a good image on their website but the owner of the building is Frederick JBtynn - so I used his site to capture some images. Their office is near Eastern Market (900 block of E Pennsylvania Ave).

G will be working part time on contract for a while. Some of his work will be classified as investigator and some as attorney.

Its not great and G will be looking for something else but it is a start and you have to start somewhere. The attorney who G will be working with closely is Steve Brennwald. G did some interning for him bout 5 years ago and remained friends with him.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 11:19 AM

Sunday, July 24, 2011

An Application Dream

I had a dream in which I was in charge of a conference (our committee is already planning the 2015 International conference on Transportation and Economic Development).

Somehow, Sears was one of the sponsors (Ann and I have been taking our walks at Montgomery Mall lately because of the heat and Sears is one of their anchor tenants) and every attendee got a Sears gift card good when purchasing a Kenmore appliance. For some reason, I had to personally participate in the activation of every single person's card. What an annoyance. I was glad when I woke up.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 4:13 PM

Friday, July 22, 2011

Hot Day Quickly Gets A Bit Better

It was brutally hot and humid on July 22.

When I left the gym about 5 pm, the temperature gauge on my dashboard said 104F. However a thunderstorm was developing and clouds blotted out the sun and then the wind picked up.

There was only a few drops of rain but in the 10 minute drive to our house, the temperature dropped to 92F according to that same gauge.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 6:21 PM

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Firestone - A good place to park in Baltimore

On 7-15, G went to Baltimore to appear before the District Court of the United States and be sworn in. Irwin sponsored him. This makes him eligible to appear in cases if they reach this level.

He had a coupon for a inexpensive oil change and rudimentary lubrication at Firestone and found a station about a mile from the courthouse. He put the car there and had them give the car service while he was sworn in. After this Irwin gave him a ride back to the station.

That's one way to avoid a parking charge in downtown.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 5:03 PM

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Tyler Clippard - A Vulture Win

This is the second year in a row that a Washington Nationals player was the winning pitcher in the All Star game and also was credited with pitching only 1/3 of an inning.

Tyler Clippard got the win without retiring a batter. The batter he faced, Adrian Beltre, got a single to left but Hunter Pence of Houston, who was playing left field, threw out a runner, Jose Bautista of Toronto, at the plate. Clippard was credited with pitching 1/3 of an inning. Clippard admitted that he didn't really deserve the win and called it a 'Vulture' win (someone swoops in and gets credit for something someone else did).

In 2010, Matt Capps, got the win. He also pitched only 1/3 of an inning (he had only 5 pitches but actually stuck out a batter).

These (2010 and 2011) are the only NL victories in the All Star game since 1996.

Oddly enough, another Washington Pitcher, Dean Stone, was the winning pitcher in the 1954 All Star game and did so without retiring a batter (Stone threw out Red Schoendienst of St L, who was trying to steal home). He was also credited with pitching 1/3 of an inning.

A good article on this is here.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 1:26 PM

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Lilly Tree

A few years ago I bought some bulbs for a lilly tree. It was supposed to have 20+ flowers on it and grow to be 5' high in the third summer.

Surprise.

It did. And it has a nice fragrance also.

I have some cone flowers and some ordinary lillies in the foreground.

Also, the lilly tree gets to rest on a rose bush. The rose bush flowers too but not when the lilly is flowering.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 11:45 AM

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Ann has a Dream

The night of July 2-3, Ann dreamed that she and I were invited to a party. The party was in Saint Petersberg, Russia and the host was the Tzar (a Romanov, not an 'after lounge' in Chicago like in the image). Everyone was in period clothes.

Apparently our invitation required us to back in time but we did.

We went to the Bolshoi ballet and saw Swan Lake then had a state dinner. The dinner used a kosher caterer.

This was perhaps a result of our 2009 cruise to the Baltic (where we were in St Petersberg, seeing some movies on TV and Oxycodone.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 8:02 PM

G and fast commute fireworks

George saw the National Mall fireworks yesterday.

He left about 800 pm went south on the GW Parkway, found the lots on the southbound side were packed, turned around at National Airport and went north to one of the scenic overlooks opposite Georgetown.

It was probably two miles or so from the fireworks but he had a decent view and he was home by 1000 pm.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 9:01 AM

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