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It's been a little while since the last update, so I wanted to take a few minutes to write about a few things that have been going on around here:

Alumni Weekend '08
This past weekend was the annual University of Richmond Ice Hockey Alumni weekend. I have now been back for all three times this event has been held. It is amazing to me that I last played for UR in 2004 - time sure flies. Anyway, it was certainly a weekend of memories (good and bad), debaucery, and some hockey. I took some pictures and plan on a blog entry specifically about this sometime this weekend.

Shirlington Village Oktoberfest Nerfed
Every year Capital City Brewing Co. celebrates Oktoberfest by inviting a number of breweries to Shirlington for beer sampling. This has been a great event, and was probably my favorite event in Shirlington (mainly because I couldn't care less about the Theatre stuff). It used to be that for $25 you got unlimited tastings - and with 42 breweries with multiple beers, that was a necessity. But thanks to complaints of teetotalers and generally grumpy people, the Virginia ABC has stepped in and nerfed the event. Now you are only allowed 10 drink tickets in the small sampler glasses - about 1/4 of a pint glass. That means you get about 2.5 beers for $20 (the new price). So, it's kinda not worth it anymore. It's a shame, because this was a great event.

Norovirus Outbreak at Georgetown
So, almost 200 students became sick at Georgetown this week after eating at the dining hall (aka Leo's). They closed down the dining hall for a couple of days while they were searching for the cause, and totally disinfected the building. My initial thought was "Wow, I'm glad I don't work on Main Campus anymore!" They later discovered that it was norovirus, a virus that is transmitted through faecally contaminated food. Really I'm not all that suprised it happened, given that a load of crap (literally) sat on the floor of the 3rd floor of St. Mary's Hall right in front of the elevator for about 5-6 hours a couple weeks ago. I'm not saying the two incidents are related, but.... At least now we at GU will be in a cleaner state of mind!

Vice Presidential Debate
I'm not a political person - in fact politics just tend to make me angry - but I did watch a large portion of the VP debate. I hadn't been planning on it, but it was on the TV on the treadmill I was working out on in the gym, so I decided to watch it. I consider myself still an undecided voter. I don't particularily want another Republican, but I'm not in favor of the Democrats policy of big government. I'm also dubious that either McCain or Obama can actually bring about any positive change. That being said, I don't understand how people are saying that debate was a tie. I thought Palin looked lost for a large portion of the debate, constantly losing her place in her notecards. I think she looked flustered many times, almost like a deer in the headlights. (Not to mention she sounds like a Canadian - and do you really want someone like that in office?) Biden seemed much more intelligent, but kind of like a whiner. All in all, I thought it was mostly a he-said-she-said battle of who did what, and not a whole lot of actual talk about the issues and platforms.

That's about it for now. There have been some other interesting developments this week, and I hope to have another post about those sometime soon.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 02:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been a while since the last update, so here are a few random thoughts and updates:

1) Classes are going well. I have to say I'm not as afraid now as I was at the beginning of the semester that I would be getting in over my head with two classes and work. I've done fairly well in both classes, although I don't really feel like I've learned much yet in my Software Engineering class. Databases is going well, however, and I'm actually considering focusing in it, and potentially doing a thesis that brings together the world of databases and the legal system (ala LexisNexis and Westlaw).

Continue reading "Various Thoughts and Updates" »

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 05:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pumpkins

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Literally.

So, I've been sick this week and sort of out of it. On Monday (which I took off because I was sick), while I was feeding the dog, I noticed that Saber, my cat, had a piece of ribbon in his mouth from a mylar balloon I had got for my birthday. Unfortunately, it didn't register until a few seconds later, by which time, the ribbon was gone.

Now, I didn't actually see him eat it, but it was pretty clear that he did. So, I kept an eye on him that day. During the night, Saber threw up on the floor. When I woke up Tuesday morning I found it,a nd also saw that he hadn't sued hit litterbox, and had not eaten any of his food. He took a treat I gave him, but didn't want to touch his food. I went to work (still feeling miserable, by the way), and when I came home he still hadn't sued the literbox or touched his food.

Of course, I had a hockey game that night, and being the goalie, I had to go. So, since we only have one car, I called Martha. She ended up meeting me at the ice rink (right off the Ballston metro stop) two hours prior to my game. I brought my equipment and the team's jerseys, as well as the cat. Martha then took the car and the cat to the ER vet.

They took x-rays of his stomach, and while they didn't see any bunching or damage, there was considerable back up. The cat was constipated. He was also dehydrated. They gave him fluids, and some stool softener. This all costed us a nice $400. We decided to take him home, instead of leaving him overnight (which would have cost $1200). Martha then left the cat at home to pick me (and Dave) up from hockey. When we got back, Saber had dropped a load, and sure enough there was a ribbon inside it. So, now I'm giving him a stool softener with an eyedropper that I have to shove down his throat. He doesn't like that much, and his nails are sharp.

Anyway, Martha suggested getting the $400 poop log bronzed. That is honestly the most I've ever paid for a piece of crap. Hopefully I never will have to again.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I've never been a huge football fan (maybe because the Lions have always been terrible), but I found this statement from ESPN's Article on "The owners we love to hate" pretty funny - especially the part about the Lions.

8. William Clay Ford, Detroit Lions: Forty-three years of ownership, one playoff win. In 2001, Ford was attacked by a band of marauding zombies, who subsequently ate his brain. In related news, Matt Millen has been the Lions' president and CEO ever since.

That reminds me of the game Dave and I went to earlier this summer. A baseball game. Not football. In Washington, DC. The Washington Nationals vs. the visiting Detroit Tigers. These guys were in one of the luxury boxes:

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been a while since I've been in the 'ol blogosphere, so it's time for a few updates and thoughts:

1) I am once again a college student. This time I am taking classes at Georgetown University, pursuing the Masters of Science in Computer Science degree. I'm actually pretty excited about this. This is the first year GU has offered this program, so I'm in the inaugural class, which is neat in itself. I'm also pretty happy to be continuing the CS part of my education. The fact that it is free, thanks to Tuition Assistance from GU, it a huge bonus.

I'm taking two courses (as a half-time student), Databases and Software Engineering. I'm more nervous about SE than DB, but they should both be good experience. I have not decided what I want to focus in yet, though it will likely be SE.

2) I missed my 10-year High School Reunion. I'm not sure if I'm upset about this or not. I suppose it would have been nice to reconnect, but from a couple people who I talked to who went, nobody I hung out with back them was there. Meh.

3) I absolutely HATE phonebooks. With a passion. I feel like buring the next phone book I see. If you work with me, you know why.

4) Fall Hockey Starts Soon! I've got a pretty good team lined up - the Washington Wolves. With about 6 guys from Richmond, one from Hopkins, one from St. Joe's and a couple of guys who are good players, I think it will be fun. Plus we got the sweetest color jerseys. EVER. Hopefully I hear from the Hockey Director at Kettler Capitals Ice Plex soon about the start of season. I suspect it will be after the Capitals' training camp.

5) Visiting Tom. Went to Marietta College to visit my brother, who this summer started his Physician Assistant program. You can see an awesome picture of him here (scroll to the bottom), where he discusses the fact that he is very excited to begin his clinical rotations. Anyway, after visiting, I have to say that there is definitely something to be said for small-town living. The fact that we ate at a nice Mexican restaurant for under $8 a plate was great. That doesn't happen in DC. Maybe someday I'll end up in a small town.

That's about it as far as the updates go. I've got a couple other posts in my mind, and hopefully they make the screen in the next couple of days.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Luck has been on my mind quite a bit recently - or at least, my total lack thereof has been on my mind. I've been pondering writing about this on the blog for a while now, so here goes.

I have abysmally bad luck. It has come to the point where others (aside from myself), are recognizing the auraof awefulness that seems to surround me. It seems to manifest itself on almost a daily basis, with a varying degree each day.

I'll admit it - nothing terrible has happened to me that would convince me that I've got worse luck than some, but my misfortune is a considerable irritant to me (and those around me). For example - when I'm in a hurry to get somewhere in the car, I inevitable hit every single red light along the way. I know, I know - that happens to everyone. But ride along with me sometime, and you'll see it seems to happen with crazy frequency around me. If it isn't a red light, it is a traffic jam. Another car-related instance happens to be finding a parking spot. When I'm along in the car, I am never able to find a spot within 5 miles of where I need to park. When my wife is in the car, we get the first spot. We've started referring to this as "Martha Luck."

It doesn't end with the car, though. I have also been breaking things with alarming frequency, and while this may just be an indication of my poor fine motor skills, it's usually as a result of something bizarre happening. Usually this involves something slipping off a shelf and hitting me on the head on the way down to the floor. My bad luck also injures people, such as when I pick up a box and the bottom drops out and the contents land on someone's foot.

Of course none of this is horrible stuff, but it is very irksome, and happens daily. There are some instances of good luck mixed in (usually at hockey), but by and large, my luck is horrible.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Day25

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Day2
Originally uploaded by jersar79.

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Day 1 - At Work
Originally uploaded by jersar79.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 03:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Many of you know that Martha and I went to Antigua on our honeymoon. We stayed at a Sandals resort while we were there... Well, it was not what we expected at all, and I've tried to get some sort of response from Sandals, but to no avail. So, my recommendation to everyone from now on will be: don't go to Sandals.

Take a look at the letter I wrote to their guest liason...

Continue reading "My Letter to Sandals" »

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One thing about living in DC is that you can often find something very cool to do, for free. Now that I'm not coaching hockey anymore, and Martha is working less, we've had some time to actively seek out these opportunities.

Tiny Ninja Attack!

We knew that the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center has free shows almost every day of the year, so we decided to see one. Martha had read in a print issue of The Onion that this week something pretty neat was going on there.

So, on Monday, Martha and I went to see Tiny Ninja Theatre Presents Macbeth. This was actually a pretty good show, which suprised me quite a bit. First, the Kennedy Center had projected the action up on a screen that was clear from most of the seating area. There were times I had no clue what was going on, but the fact that he was doing Macbeth with tiny ninjas... man, you just can't beat that. It only lasted 40 minutes, but there were a few good laughs (as well as some seriously cheap eats at the snack bar!). If you ever get a chance to see it, I would recommend it, though it really isn't for kids.

They usually post these on the Kennedy Center website, however it appears that TNT is exempt from that - probably because they want people to continue to pay for it!

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 09:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Is there ANYONE who wants to go see the Nationals vs. Tigers game on Monday, June 18th? My wife will be out of town, and I'd rather not go by myself.

This is a interleague game that will probably never happen again, and is a very rare chance for me to see my Tigers play in DC. I'd rather not miss it!

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today it was announced that a potentially habitable planet has been found.

First, a disclaimer: I am a space/science geek, and this news was great for me. I read a lot of books, mainly Science Fiction, and my favorites are always the ones regarding space travel and finding intelligent life on other planets. (For instance, right now I'm reading The Sunborn by Gregory Benford. I've had a difficult time putting this one down.

So, the article details that an earth-like world has been found 20 light years away. My initial thought was - let's send some type of probe there immediately! Of course, with the politics involved with NASA, I doubt this will happen. Even more reason to start pushing the privatization of space flight. I'd like to see that happen during my lifetime, though I'm not holding my breath.

So, I'll keep abreast of that story. I think it is pretty interesting, and hopefully it will prod one of the various world space agencies to take some steps to develop a way to get there.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's unfortunate, but this seems to be the truth the farther I travel in life. It becomes even clearer to me while I've been thinking about the wedding, buying a house, having kids, etc. One of the main goals in leaving DC was so that we could have more money. I'm back in DC, and once again the money woes are evident.

In fact, I'm going to need to take a second, part-time job as I was doing before. I can no longer work at the bookstore, because they don't allow married couples to work at the same store, so I'm looking into other options. I may end up going to the mall this weekend to see who has job openings for part-time work. I know I won't make much, and it's going to suck working two jobs again, but I'm going to need to get those post-wedding bills paid off.

Any one have any ideas for part-time employment? I suppose I could go back to being a waiter, though I'm not sure any of the restaurants in Shirlington are hiring. I have to hope that someday money will stop being a problem... I've already decided that once the credit cards are paid off post-wedding, I'm destroying them. It's just not worth the headache. I'd rather be able to have (and afford to have) kids, than have stuff.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

...my friend Cynthia has inspired me to do so...

Leave a reply and...
1: I'll respond with something random about you.
2: I'll challenge you to try something.
3: I'll pick a color that I associate with you.
4: I'll tell you something I like about you.
5: I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
6: I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7: I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you.

The caveat: you also have to do one for me...

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cone Head

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Now that I'm back at Georgetown, I had a long weekend for Easter, as the University gives employees Easter Friday off of work. I was able to accomplish quite a bit with my three day weekend, although I wish I would have had more time.

First, I spent Friday first moving some stuff from the apartment in Richmond back up to DC. This was not a whole lot of fun, seeing as how I had to battle the traffic for Easter weekend in both directions. I did manage to get a substantial portion of the stuff moved, though. Really all that is left is the furniture, which I'll need a bigger vehicle to move. Unfortunately, I had to rush back to DC because Martha and I were scheduled to meet with a mortgage banker with BB&T. I made it in time, and we were able to talk to the mortgage guy about what we can expect if we decide to pursue buying a condo. I think Martha and I both left with a better feeling than when we arrived, if that says anything.

Saturday was a little bit of a bummer. We had to take the cat and dog to the vet at 8:30am. Getting up that early wasn't pleasant, but the vet trip wasn't the greatest either. Saber (the cat) always freaks out at the vet, and he was shaking up a storm and trying his best to hide. Luckily, he got his shots and was healthy - still a little overweight, but he had lost some since last year. The dog, on the other hand, did not get such good news. We had discovered several lumps in varying places on her skin, including a rather large one on her stomach. This is actually what lead to the vet appointment in the first place. So, in the process of the vet appointment, the vet identified several more lumps - five in all - that they want to remove from Glory. They shaved her spots, took blood and a sample of the lump on her stomach, and I'm taking her back in on Thursday to have them all biopsied. I hope they are just fatty cysts or something benign...

Sunday was pretty cool, although I was skeptical at first. I had purchased a gift certificate to Natural Body Spa for Martha as a Christmas gift. She called and found out that they were open on Easter Sunday, so she decided we should both go for one of their "Sinus Relief Massages." Having never gone to a spa for a massage, I didn't really know what to expect. However, it turned out to be pretty awesome. The massage was pretty good, but the thing I particularily liked was the aromatherapy oils they used. My sinuses were clear by the end because of those things. So yeah, I'd definitely go back and do that again.

All in all, it was a decent weekend. Hopefully nothing is wrong with the dog, and this week will be a decent one too.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 01:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was reading a blog post from a blog that a friend passed along today, and I was thinking just how hard it has always been for me to get shutouts when playing goal.

I've been playing goal since I was 11, and honestly was never a shutout goalie. I don't know why that is, but it is an interesting thing... I won several awards both in high school and later in college, but those were never really tied to shutouts. I mean, I played three years as a full-time starter for Lakeland High School's hockey team, and it wasn't until the last two weeks of the season of my senior year that I got my first one. Playing at Oakland University, I don't think I ever had one, though they don't have our results from the first couple of years up on their website, so I can't check. (By the way, I'm still a little disappointed that I'm not mentioned in the history section of the team's website, with all that I did for them. Bad feelings still linger, I guess.) At Richmond, despite a 1.80 goals against average, the BRHC's GAA record and Save Percentage record, I think I had only two shutouts my two years playing for them - both 11-0 wins against Appalachian State.

I don't know what to attribute this to, seeing as how I've always had very low goals against. Maybe there is just a mental hump that I was never able to successfully get over. Shutouts are incredibly hard to get, and invariably some little thing would always happen to ensure I didn't get one. Maybe someone on the bench all these times uttered the dreaded "s" word before the game was actually over... That's a pretty big one - never say shutout before the buzzer sounds, or else you aren't going to get one. Maybe those times that I missed out by a couple of minutes was because I was thinking about getting one too much.

The frustrating thing is that it even carries over to adult hockey. Despite how good I'm playing, or how bad the other team is, I always end up letting one in. So much so that I've started telling teams I'm not a "Shutout Goalie." If you score 2, we'll be fine. But count on them getting one by me. It's sad, but the truth.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 05:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Story pulled from today's headlines: "Detroit likened to Iraq."

A Republican congressman representing rural southern Michigan is taking heat for saying that most of Iraq is at least as under control as Detroit is.

Hahahaha! Hilarious. The funny thing is, most of us Michiganians (who aren't from Detroit proper) say stuff like this about the city all the time. I'm not saying it's true, but yeah, I've made a comment or two like that in my day...

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This weekend was filled with hockey, as most of my weekends are from September through March.

On Friday night, my 0-8 Blue Jays travelled down to DC to take on the Catholic U. of America Cardinals in search of our first win. Despite CUA's boisterous crowd, we came out hard and played strong all game long, taking a 9-4 victory in a penalty-filled affair. It felt pretty damn good to get the first win, and the guys seemed to be in a good mood for the most part. On Saturday we travelled up to New Haven, CT to take on Yale. This game was special because it was 110 years (and change) since the first known hockey game in the United States - a contest between Hopkins and Yale on Feb. 1st, 1896. We've decided, with Yale, to make this game a yearly tradition. If you want to learn more about the game, go to the Hopkins Hockey website.

We came a bit flat - either bus legs, five hours sleep, or the fact that we were crammed in a storage closet and not a lockerroom, but we just did not have it. We won the third period 2-1, though.

Other than that, I found out the results of the shoulder MRI. I have rotator cuff tendonitis and degeneration of the labrum causing impingement. The good news is that there are no tears in either the rotator cuff or labrum, which is what the doctor and I were afraid of. So, my prognosis is good - I got a cortisone shot Friday and have to do physical therapy 3 times a week for 3 weeks. We'll see how that goes...

Lastly, I played in my own hockey game on Sunday night at the new Capitals Practice Facility in Ballston - Kettler Capitals Iceplex. It's a very nice facility, but there were a couple glaring problems that I hope the recognize and work out. First, the elevators (owned by the mall it is attached to) are always out of service. I stood there for 15 minutes with my equipment before trying to find the stairs, which were also incredibly hard to find. As of right now, you can't park on the 8th floor, where the rink is - or if you can, the entrance to the 8th floor is incredibly hard to find. Next, the lockerrooms did not have locks. Not a big problem except the elevators are right next to the lockerrooms, and with the mall downstairs, I'd be concerned at who has access to the arena. Also, with such a nice facility, I'm suprised that they only put ONE showerhead in each lockerroom's bathroom.... weird. Most importantly, I thought the ice sucked. It could have been a function of bad zamboni-ing, but I have played on better pond ice. It was almost as if the Zam put down water, but didn't scrape the ice. Very bumpy...

I play there again next Sunday, so we'll see how it is then.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I officially have come down with my first cold of the fall season. It seems like right about this time is when it occurred last year too.

The cold, however, is the least of my problems. The problem that is taking most of the focus right now is my gimpy right shoulder. Ready for a story? Here goes...

Back in January, 2003, I was playing hockey at the University of Richmond as a forward, due to the small number of players we had (normally I'm a goalie). During the third period of the first game I was about 4 feet off the boards with the puck when I got checked. I fell, shoulder first, into the edge of the boards. It immediately hurt and I knew something was wrong, as I couldn't grip my stick. I could move my arm, although it was with a LOT of pain.

So, after the game we go back to the hotel. I am unable to sleep, as the shoulder hurts too bad. I recruit Zoo, another player, to take me to the nearest hospital. This was at about 2am. We got there, and we are the only people in the waiting room. Of course, I sit there for two hours before finally seeing a doctor. When I get in, the doctor takes x-rays of the shoulder. After the x-ray, the doctor tells me that nothing is broken, and to maybe, if it keeps hurting, to go see a doctor back home in Richmond, VA.

Fast forward to summer, 2006. I'm playing softball and my shoulder is killing me. It has been getting worse since about late 2004. I decided it was time to go get it checked out again, seeing as how I couldn't do a bench press or pushup because of how week (and painful) the shoulder is. The orthopaedist took some x-rays as soon as I got there, and guess what he found? I have a broken collarbone!

Essentially, what the doctor thinks happened is that when I hit the boards, my shoulder separated, striking the edge of my collarbone on the way out. Because of this striking, a significant chunk of the edge of my clavical broke off. I now have a piece of bone floating around in my shoulder. Not only that, the doctor thinks that I may have torn my Labrum and/or rotator cuff. I have to go in to get an MRI on Thursday. So, the hospital in Atlanta didn't catch the broken collar bone, which pisses me off. It's not med mal, but annoying nevertheless. As soon as the doctor gets the MRI results he is going to make the determination as to whether I need surgery, or if PT will suffice.

The moral of the story? Don't trust hospitals in Atlanta.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My senior year in high school if you had asked me where I'd be in 10 years the answer would not have been, "Washington, D.C." Nor would I have imagined that even if I did end up in DC, that I would be working three jobs just to make ends meet.

I guess it is funny where life takes you when you aren't really paying attention. Unfortunately, to use a stupid cliché, hindsight is always 20/20. In retrospect, I probably should have went to one of the colleges that offered me a substantial scholarship (hello, full ride to Ferris State). I definitely should not have went to Oakland, as that kept me to near to home, and I don't think it really allowed me the opportunity to grow. That is where law school came in. While moving to Richmond definitely had some good aspects (hockey, being on my own), the fact that I came out of there with over $100k in debt tells you that I probably should have thought more about what I was getting myself into.

So now I find myself in a place I never thought I'd be living, trying to eke out a living and plan for the future - a future that I'm not particularily sure I want. It's funny, because my godmother warned me before I made the decision to go to law school that I'd probably regret it in the long run, and my two closestbest friends basically said the same thing to me. It turns out, they were right. Maybe I should just have people other than myself make my decisions for me. It couldn't turn out any worse, right?

Anyhow, we are on our way out to an orchard out in Loudon County today - Stribling Orchard. I'm a big fan of apple picking, so it should result in a pretty good time, with the exception of the one hour drive out there.

Oh yeah, and the Tigers got spanked in the first game of the World Series. Bummer.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Having not updated much in the past month or so, I thought an explanation might be in order. I officially no longer have a computer that will run long enough to make using it even remotely worthwhile. So, in the meantime, Martha has created an account on her (working) laptop so that I can do some basic web surfing....

It has been a long few weeks. First, my desktop starting making a nice grinding noise - this is probably the tenth time in the last month or so. I wasn't really suprised, though it does piss me off that computers cost so much but barely last three years. Anyway, after screwing with it for hours, I've discovered that the hard disk is slowly slipping into the ether... Right now the tasks I am 'allowed' to perform involve browing the web with Firefox (IE won't work). It also crashes if I try to watch a movie or listen to sound, so even web surfing is a little tough. A few days later, my laptop started failing again - it now heats up and locks after about five minutes of use. I got so frustrated that I punched it yesterday (which coincidentally did more damage to my hand than the computer). I think I may throw it off my fourth-floor balcony sometime soon.

And of course, I cannot afford to buy another computer. Between the two of us, money is tight, as I'm sure it is for most of the quickly evaporating middle class.

Speaking of money.... I had an interesting job offer. From GU. I was asked last week if I would like to take a 1-year position at the Doha, Qatar campus. While there is a somewhat substantial increase in pay while over there, this comes at a very bad time, with the wedding in May. I don't think we could afford to move away right now. I haven't officially said no yet, but I think I'm going to next week. While it would be interesting, I just don't think now is the right time for it. Though I have to admit, leaving DC is becoming more and more appealing to both Martha and I.

On another note, Martha and I had the Charles Shaw Shiraz and it was pretty damn good. Much, much better than the zinfandel that we had. It makes me wonder if maybe it had turned or something.

So, that's life in my world. As usual, nothing really exciting going on.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For about five years now I've wanted to hire a personal trainer. I know, it sounds crazy, and yeah, it would probably be a huge waste of money. The thing is, I have no problem going to the gym and on the treadmill or eliptical machine, but what I've always wanted was to put on some muscle.

Unfortunately, when it comes to lifting weight, I'll be the first to admit that I don't know anything. In fact, I usually end up hurting myself and/or pulling something. On those rare occassions when I don't hurt myself, I end up being so sore for the next four days or so that I can barely get myself to the gym. Which leads me to believe that I have no clue what I'm doing.

Hence the desire to hire a personal trainer. I also feel like if I spent the money, I'd be more apt to actually go do the weight lifting. I'd have something invested (other than how I look). Really, my main goal is to look the best I ever have for my honeymoon next year. It would make me feel great if by the time next May rolls around, I looked the best I ever did, and I think that Martha would be pleasantly suprised as well. She's lucky, she has one of those metabolisms that never slow down. (Which reminds me - how did my brother get that metabolism, and not me?!?)

In any case, if anyone is looking for a gift for me (say, for my birthday in September), I would really love some pre-paid sessions with a personal trainer.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 09:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I was having a pretty good Saturday until about, oh 45 minutes ago.

I've accomplished quite a bit, though I didn't get done some of the things I was planning on - such as getting a haircut and making it our to Target. Instead, I spent about an hour and a half at the gym - running and lifting weights. Then I came back, vacuumed, cleaned our animal hair-covered rugs, and started working on the black hole that is our office. I made a nice dent in it.

Now, looking at it, I just feel like I made things worse. I'm certainly not a clean freak, but I'm really sick of feeling like no matter what I do, it never gets clean in here.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, I am officially home from Doha, Qatar. I can already tell you the jet lag is much, much worse than it was when I got to Doha. I think the fact that I flew backwards in time probably had something to do with it.

In any case, it was nice to see a few things again: rain, green trees and grass, and hills. Those don't really exist in Qatar, so it was nice to see them when I got home. The 80 degrees it is here are the present moment is much more pleasant than the 100+ in Doha as well. I already miss Doha, though. I had a lot of fun there, and it highlights what is missing about living in DC. The fact that while there is a TON to do here in the city, I rarely, if ever get out. I made some fast friends while in Doha, but the same can't really be said about the big city. I'm sure in the long run it will work itself out though. I really appreciated what everyone in Qatar did for me while I was there - particularily John and Mike. They did not have to agree to take me everywhere and be the nice guys they were. It was a pleasure to work with them, though.

Now I'm back and there are so many things to get done. The JHU jersey funding drive is in full swing, and two weeks after I started it, we're already more than half way there! Great stuff. I just have to get the next $850 done, and we'll be set. With all of the hockey stuff during the summer, it's like the season doesn't end. I really could use an assistant coach.

I've also got tons of mail to go through, and some serious spring cleaning to do (even though it is summer already). Six weeks abroad certainly leaves a lot to be done when you get back. I'm just hoping I can get it all done, or at least the majority of it, before Wes and Cindy come for their July 4 visit.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)