Remembering FDR

Last weekend I took a visitor into DC and did the typical tourist circuit. Among all the memorials, the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial is one of my favorites. Not only are the fountains very nice, the memorial is dotted with many profound quotes from FDR. Here are some that I like:

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."

"More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars."

It's a bit sad when I think of the leadership we have in our country now. I hope it doesn't take the collapse our country for real leaders to emerge again.

DC: Arlington National Cemetery

Another recommended site in DC is the Arlington National Cemetery. It's not just any cemetery, it's where we bury our soldiers, our heroes. Some of the things to see here is the burial site of JFK, the tomb of the unknown soldier, and memorial to the Challenger/Columbia disasters. To see the highlights, you need about an hour or two on foot. You can see a bit more in 3. Any more and you're paying extra for parking. It's a bit of a schlep from the DC side across the Arlington Memorial bridge from the Lincoln memorial, but a lot of tourists do it. Also near the cemetery is the Marince Corps War Memorial, aka Iwo Jima statue.

DC: The Memorials

The must-sees in DC are the memorials. Most are dedicated to either a president, or a war. The major ones are clustered around on the West side of the mall, starting with the Washington monument, WWII memorial, Lincoln memorial, Vietnam War memorial, and the Korean War memorial. You can also extend this by taking a nice long walk around the tidal basin to include the FDR memorial and Jefferson memorial. You can probably walk the whole thing in 2.5 hrs, with time to stop and take photos. For parking, there is a small lot on the NE side of the tidal basin. There are also street parking here and there along Ohio drive. Be sure to eat before you head out for this walk, because there aren't any places to eat, not even a hot dog stand, along the route. Restrooms can be found in couple of places tho.

Jow Ga Kung Fu and Tai Chi

I was determined to pick up martial arts once back in the US, and I've just found my new school to train at: Jow Ga Shaolin Institute. Of all the places I've looked into, this place seemed to have the best deal for me. While not cheap, it had reasonable prices, schedules, and programs. Plus, I've always been somewhat interested in trying Kung Fu and Tai Chi. I'm doing both, twice a week to start. I'm hoping the Tai Chi will help improve my health and that Kung Fu will get me back in shape. I've only had three classes but I'm enjoying it a lot so far. I've paid up 3 months in advance, so there's no quitting too soon.

The Tai Chi movements are designed to strengthen your muscles and massage your organs. Kung Fu is a mix of strengthe training and cardio. The techniques in these styles are completely different from karate. What I like about it is is that there's no high impact on any one part of body, and the moves you do sort of stretch your body out. Some classes will end in Lion Dance practices or forms to music. These are fun. Hopefully I'll have some of the basics down by my (tentative) China trip next year. I'll have to try to fit in couple of days of training while I'm there.

USNA Homecoming (c/o '97 10 year reunion)

This year marks the 10 year anniversary of my college graduation. I pretty much consider the US Coast Guard Academy my school since I spent 3 of the 4 years there. Our 10 year reunion was 2 weeks ago, but I had to skip it since it was the weekend I was moving into my new place in Reston. However, the US Naval Academy was having theirs this weekend, and since I went to NAPS, I decided to go there to see if anyone I know is there. Turns out, there was a boat load of them.

After dragging my fellow Coastie, Milinda, out of bed this morning, we drove our butts over to Annapolis. Due to heavy traffic for the homecoming (football) game, we didn't get there until pretty late. By the time we found the class of 97's tent, most had gone into see the game. We didn't actually have tickets but luckily we scored free ones at the gate, so we went in and sat in the section with c/o 97. We already knew couple people that were there, but as I looked around I saw a few more familiar faces. At half-time most people left the game so we did the same and from there on out we were seeing people we knew left and right. Since a NAPS class is generally pretty small (couple hundred or so), everyone generally knows of everyone. But it's been over 14 years since we last saw some of these people. Between the two of us, we recognized tons of NAPSters, and some even recognized us. We were just moving from one person to the next just catching up with people. There were more that we recognized but didn't get around saying hi to. It was pretty cool seeing all these people again. That year at NAPS was a blast.

In addition to seeing the c/o '93 folks from NAPS, I caught up with couple other friends who were in the area that I haven't seen since '05. Then I got home and had a MySpace message from a girl I knew from the 5th grade!!!! What a day....

Oh, btw, Navy lost to wake 44-24, or something like that.

First Week of Work

Today was my third day at my new job. As much as I've been looking forward to starting, I can't say it's been an exciting week. The first day was spent mostly in orientation. They got us out there at an ungodly hour of 0745 so we could painfully sit through six hours of briefings. I guess they had to start that early so people won't be stuck in traffic. The commute is actually better than I expected, although I have been expecting the worst (i.e. bumper to bumper traffic). The toll road I take usually seems to move at a reasonable pace. It's just getting to and from it that sucks a bit. I also tried the back road, which is pretty scenic and pleasant, but again, getting to and from it sucks.

So it seems 0745 is our core business start time, but luckily it seems most people on my team start between 8 & 8:30. That's do-able, I think. I have this feeling that it's just a matter of time before I start strolling in around 9:30.

As far as the actual work goes, I haven't really done much yet. I seemed to have strolled in right at the beginning of the fiscal year when they're shuffling staff around. They changed projects on me twice already, and I wouldn't be surprised if I walked in tomorrow only to have another project waiting for me. I've been spending the last couple of days doing the usual new hire stuff - benefits enrollment, online training for email and code of conduct, etc. I can't wait to start doing real work though.

Work otherwise is going fine. Lots of friendly people on the team. The cafeteria is pretty good (much better than the one at my last job.) Office space and equipment are pretty good. No complaints yet.

DC: The Botanical Garden

Today couple of my friends who are big into photography went to the national botanical gardens near the Capitol building to take some photos. I tagged along since I doubted I'd find another friend who'd suggest going there again. While my friends sported their SLR's with heavy duty lenses, I brought my itsy bitsy point-and-shoot camera and felt very inadequate. Anyways, going through the gardens (most is actually indoors) with these guys forced me to take it slow and actually pay attention to some of the plants in there. There's some pretty interesting (i.e. exotic) stuff in there.

DC: The Eastern Market

Last Sunday I checked out the Eastern Market in DC with some friends. It's basically a flea market on Sundays and it sold all kinds of stuff such as fresh veggies and fruits, local art (i.e. photos, t-shirts), furniture (antiques?), and misc items from Asia (e.g. rugs, dishes). I'm not huge into shopping, particularly for junk (which a lot of the stuff was in my opinion), but if you're into these types of markets, this one seems to be the one to go to around here.

DVI to HDMI works

My friends offered yesterday to help me build my TV stand. The good news is I got my entertainment systems up sooner than I planned. The bad news is I've been playing on my new computer too much and am not getting the house tidy like I should be.

I say entertainment system, but it's actually just my new TV and computer. I was previously worried how well a DVI (PC out) to HDMI (TV) connection would work since few people told me it doesn't necessarily work. Turns out my setup worked beautifully without any display setting changes. The TV is only 32" and 720p since that was about as small and cheap as you can get these days. I was tempted to go big (50+") and better (1080p) but I didn't want to invest so much in a TV. Considering I'd been watching videos on my laptop this past year, anything was an improvement. I'm quite happy about the new setup. Now I can watch my Heroes, Grey's Anatomy, and 24 on the big screen :)

The new PC I bought came with Windows Vista. This is taking a big of getting used to. Initially, it did this annoying thing where it prompted me for confirmation every time I tried to do anything. You can disable this under a user's access controls though. I haven't noticed anything that I love about Vista yet, but I have noticed that it has the same typical problems you get with all Windows OS, such as hanging applications and what not. Btw, when I chose the graphics card, I went with one of the higher end models offered for this particular PC. I'm not sure what you need to look for exactly in order to make sure your DVI to HDMI connection works. Having a DVI output may not be enough. I'd be sure to get something that supports HDCP too.

New Home

Yesterday the movers came to my home to delivery my goods. Surprisingly, there was nothing broken (that I can tell). The only thing I that's missing so far is 2 small trash bins and screws to my coffee table. Fortunately IKEA has free spare parts for their furniture so that was taken care of easily. IKEA didn't have the right size trash bins though. I want one of those that you can stick a grocery bag in to keep the bin clean.

I did a pretty good job of unpacking yesterday but the house is still a huge mess. I also bought a few things in addition. I'll need to unpack a bit more though before I can build any furniture.

It's been a busy couple of days tho, particulary since I have a visitor already. A good friend from grad school was in town for business and she's staying the weekend. I made her tag along on couple shopping trips, but most of the time had been spent just hanging out. Starting Monday tho I'll get right back on it. I'm happy with the way the house is coming along though. It's a small place, but perfect for one person. It's 3 stories with a bedroom on the bottom floor, living on the main floor, and master bedroom on top floor. Plenty of space for guests. One of my friends in the neighborhood bought a huge townhouse recently though and I'm jealous. I can't wait until I buy my first house. Hopefully I can get something half as nice. Maybe next year :)

Panthers vs Tampa Bay

Yesterday I went to my first NFL game in Charlotte. The Carolina Panthers played against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at their Bank of America Stadium. I haven't been to a football game, or even watched one I think, since I was in college doing my bachelor's degree. I'm not really big into watching sports at all, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to bond with my brothers. I'm not so sure it was worth it though. The tickets were $125 each. They were nosebleed $59 seats, but with a significant mark-up by the reseller. Lucky for me my brother picked up the tab on the tickets, but sitting in the scorching sun at 80 degrees temperature for 3 hours wasn't exactly my idea of fun. Our seats were also so high-up that I couldn't be bothered to take occasional cover in the shade since it was such a long walk back up. At least we were on the 30 yard-line. The worst part of it though was that we were surrounded by the Tampa Bay fans... and Tampa Bay kicked the Panthers' butts. They scored a touch down on their first play. The Tampa Bay also scored another touch down and a field goal for a 20-0 lead. In the last 30 seconds tho, the Panthers finally scored their touch down. By then tho, the disappointed fans had left the stadium half empty. The final score was 20-7 Tampa Bay.

Going to an actual game is kind of fun, but getting a decent seat would help. I don't see anything wrong though with sitting at home watching a game on a big screen TV in the comfort of your own home where there's easy access to free food and drinks. I think I'll pass on the family football trip next year....