Category Archives: Family

Great short vacation

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Jan and I got away for a short vacation last week. We spent three nights in a B&B in Washington, Virginia, right next to the Shenandoah National Park. We stayed at the Heritage House B&B, a great place. Had dinner at the Inn at Little Washington, which was quite an experience. We hiked Old Rag, hiked White Oak Canyon, and watched the deer in the fields behind the B&B, visited wineries. Took my flyrod and fished a bit in White Oak Canyon. Saw some beautiful brookies, but wow, they were spooky. Didn’t hook one.

A bit of trout fishing…

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I was supposed to be taking my dad to the mountains this weekend for a father’s day outing to catch some trout. Unfortunately, his back was still acting up (he’s 75 now, and hurt his back while trying to move a bushhog that was stuck), and he didn’t feel that he could spend a couple of days stepping over wet, slippery boulders. Probably a good decision, but I was disappointed.

Fortunately my wife, Jan, stepped up and said that the kids could fend for themselves for the day Saturday (more on this in a bit) and she’d ride with me and take the dog and do some hiking while I fished. A offer I couldn’t refuse! We drove to Virginia to fish in the Jefferson National Forest, about 3 hours from Chapel Hill. We didn’t rush getting there, and reached the trailhead about 11:15AM. She and Lessa (the 2-year old lab) headed out. I rigged up my 00-weight Sage TXL (built by Dave Lewis) and tied on an American Express (parachute style), size 16. Soon started catching lots of bright, spunky Virginia brookies. They aren’t big, but this is probably my favorite type of trout fishing. They are wary in this small stream, especially the bigger ones. Most of the ones I caught were about this size, but a few were bigger. Also caught a number of really fiesty rainbows as I went higher up the stream. Had lunch here, a couple of peanut butter & strawberry jelly sandwiches. Caught a trout in that pool, right after I finished my sandwich ;-). Probably brought 20 trout to hand and LDR’d or missed hooking that many more, but I wasn’t really counting. Saw one deer grazing through the woods, totally unaware of me, due to the noise of the water rushing over the rocks and falling into the plunge pools. In addition to the American Express, I also used an olive-bodied adams, with a hi-vis parachute post and a tail of dubbing, rather than hair or feathers. Worked well. A great day!

Walked back to the truck and met my wife about 3PM. We played with the dog a bit, and then started to meander toward home. As we were driving, my cell phone rang. It was our oldest son, Jason, asking where the garlic peeler was…hmmm, we thought…we gave them money to go out to eat. However, they decided to cook. Jason fixed steak & grilled onions, he fixed fajitas for Jeff. We were most impressed! They do like garlic, though. They used 3 bulbs (bulbs, not cloves!) and the whole house smelled of garlic when we got home. No vampires in our house!

At the lake again!

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A great day at Jordan Lake…Jan and I took the boat (working now!), the dogs, and our oldest son and headed out. The dogs just love it. Hung out in the cove pictured (sorry about the quality of the picture, it’s taken with my phone) here for a while, then ran the boat over to the other side of the lake, and found a really great little beach we had not stopped at before. We’re going back next weekend, weather permitting, and that’s the place we’ll head first. Lots of folks on the water today, but not quite as many as Memorial Day weekend.

Project Graduation

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Chapel Hill/Carrboro Schools participate in Project Graduation (for 15 years now, I think), an event designed to help keep the high school graduates focused on having a safe party and avoiding the tragedies of drinking & driving. UNC-CH provides the Student Union, the community contributes financially, and volunteers staff a great event from 10PM to 4AM on the night of high school graduation. There is food (of course!), great raffle prizes (iPods and the like), and tons of games. Casino games, bungee jumps, inflatables, bowling…you name it, it’s there. This year for the 2nd in a row, Jan and I worked the 1AM to 4AM shift. It’s tough on the biological clock, but for a worthy cause. Our youngest will be a senior next year, and our oldest graduated two years ago, but it’s important for the community to volunteer and support this event! Cash is always welcome too 😉

A morning at Jordan Lake…

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Wanted to get out of the house and enjoy some of the nice, summer-like weather. The dogs love to go swim in the lake, so Jan and I loaded up the boat with lounge chairs, the back of the truck with the dogs and headed out this morning. Just a quick trip, since there is so much boat traffic at Jordan Lake on holiday weekends, I like to get out early and back early. This is the first time out with the boat this year, and I had to work on some problems yesterday. The steering mechanism was rusted, so had to take it apart and grease it up. The biggest problem though is that the power tilt relay to move the motor “down” has failed. It was failing last summer, but would always work after hitting the switch a few times. I was actually pretty pleased with my outboard mechanic work, figuring out that it was the relay and not the tilt motor itself. I read a bit, and swapped the relays, and then the motor went down, pretty as you please. I just have to get a new relay by next weekend when I go to the lake with the Scouts. Today, I raised the motor up for trailering, then swapped the relay at the ramp to lower the motor, and then swapped them back so I could raise it when I got back to the ramp. The skeg cleared the ramp down, so it was OK. Worked, but a bit kludgey. I just need to find a PTT relay for a 1999 Tohatsu 40Hp outboard now 😉

Rainy drive, but a good day…

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Today, Jan and I drove from Chapel Hill to Blacksburg, VA, where our oldest son is in school.  His birthday is coming up, so we headed to Virginia Tech to take him out to lunch and carry a “care package.”  It was a rainy day, but we saw the sun a few times before lunch.  It was good to see him, and we can tell he’s ready for the semester to wrap up.  As we said our goodbyes in the parking lot, the second part of the weather system started to come through, as the wind picked up, rain started again, and the temperature started dropping.  In spite of the lousy weather (driving rain, wind, and 39F as we crossed Fancy Gap on I77) we decided to stop by one of the Yadkin River wineries on the way home.  I looked up the directions to RagApple Lassie Vinyards on the cell phone browser and we headed in that direction.  When we got there, it looked like that in spite of supposedly being open daily until 6PM, it was closed.  Fortunately, I tried the door…it was open and we headed in.  We were greeted by the proprietor and his niece, and had a great tour and tasting.  I liked their Zin, Syrah, Vionger and Chardonnay best.  There are a number of wineries in the Yadkin Valley now; if you are in the neighborhood, stop off and visit…

New gig…

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Well, though I was not looking for a job and was very happy with my current job at MCNC as Director of IT & Data Center Services, I got an offer too good to refuse. A former colleague who has been doing some consulting work with The University of North Carolina at Greensboro called me and encouraged me to apply for a position there. I did, and in short order, I interviewed, they offered, and I accepted a position as Associate Vice Chancellor for Administrative Systems. This is a great opportunity professionally, back to what I was doing at UNC-Chapel Hill, and will also reinstate me in the North Carolina retirement system, one of the best in the country. Though the commute will be longer than I have today, it’s worth it for me and my family. I start there on the first of May.

January has hit the ground running…

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From the pause of the holidays, to full speed ahead! Things are really getting in gear at work and at home. It’s time for a new semester, which is always fun. I’ve always enjoyed the sense of a new beginning, both as a student and as an instructor. I’ve got another small group (15 students) for my systems analysis class, which is a nice number. Enough for good group dynamics but small enough to really engage everyone. It’s a busy time at my “day job” at MCNC as well, as we are in the throws of a strategic planning process, as well as getting ready to enter budget planning season.

On the home front, Scouts are busy (heading to Washington, DC on a trip tomorrow), though I’m stepping down as scoutmaster after 6 years to hand the mantle to one of my compatriots. After being a scoutmaster and a cubmaster for several years before that, I’m ready to step back from the “front-man” role. My youngest son, Jeff, is working on his Eagle project, restoring parts of an old cabin at Moorefields Plantation near Hillsborough, NC. Hope to finish by early February.

High School band is still moving on (I’m president of the band boosters) but as Jeff is not in the winter club ensembles, my personal involvement is not as great as in marching season.

Nothing of great substance here; just wanted to post a few fresh bits…

CYA!

Clay birds & .22 tin cans

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One of the things that I enjoy doing when I visit my parents is stepping back to “country boy” mode and shooting clay birds in the “back yard” and and walking down to the range to plink at tin cans with a .22 pistol. Although the weather this Christmas was wet and blustery, we found time to get out and shoot a bit. Here’s a picture of my oldest son, Jason, bearing down on a clay bird. Your intrepid correspondent got in on the action a bit, too. I shot very well, considering it’s been several months since I’ve been to the skeet range.

Earlier in the day, Jason and I walked to the field across the road from the house, and down the muddy field road about 1/2 mile to the rifle/pistol range. I took my Browning Buck Mark, and Jason took my dad’s Ruger. We went through a couple hundred rounds in short order, spinning cans all around the backstop. Great way to spend part of the day.