Today Just Screams Fall

I've had to fix a bunch of stuff around the house lately, and today I patched up the approximately 1000 dings on my surf board...only 7-8 years overdue. It's 75 and cloudy today, but for the most part it was the half-assed cloudy, where the sun's actually peaking out for most of the day, but you don't really notice it. Anyway it got me thinking that I'm ready for the fall.

And with the fall comes my hiatus, which I can't wait for. I pretty much disappear off the face of the planet and head to the Outer Banks for a while. Last year it was for about a week and a half, the second half was nature's choice, not mine; a huge nor'easter came through and trapped me there when I was about to leave. A few people came down on the first weekend with me, but Jack and I stuck around for the rest of the time.

It's dead quiet there in the off season. I work throughout the day, which means I'm on the phone all day, but other than that, I don't really have much contact with anyone else. I don't even turn on the TV while I'm there. Every evening, I sit on the back porch with Jack, my guitar, sometimes a beer. It's therapeutic. This was my view last year, sans sunset due to the weather at the time:




Here are the outer edges of the huge storm starting to roll in over the water. It was dead calm when I took this, but what came after were sheets of rain and constant 50+ mph winds for 3 days:


The house was shaking from the winds, rains pounding all of the windows, water coming in through the window and door sealing, and I kept my eye on the dune in the case that the water made it over, which would mean that it's time to get the hell outta there. Here's what Jack thought of the chaos:




There's something that fascinates me about the Outer Banks in the off-season. The place is almost eerie when all the crowds leave and everything is still. It's is a barrier island, subject to heavy erosion. What intrigues me the most about the island is that it's the one place I've seen in my lifetime where you can witness mother nature actually winning the battle with man--it's humbling in a way. What used to be dunes and houses just a few years ago is now ocean again. Every major storm that comes through, including last year's nor'easter, takes a few houses with it on its way out.

I'll be heading out again within the next month and a half, most likely early November, when the weather is still bearable. The Jack Dog will be in heaven--cool weather and a beach with no people means no leash. He's gonna be running huge circles in and out of the water.

I'll be sure to eat oysters and take pictures.

Disregard this if you didn't go to college with me.

But if you did...................















Ladies and Gentlemen, Pat McCauley.

West Virginia

Whenever I drive up to Pittsburgh to spend a few days with coworkers, I look forward to driving through West Virginia. Lately I've been making sure to stop at New River Gorge. It's that big bridge you see on the back of West Virginia quarters. The thing stands 900 feet above the river; think about that for a second.

Sure it's touristy, but it's a pretty awesome place. When you stand at the overlook, vultures are riding the thermals at eye level. It's best on a windy day- the only thing you can hear are gusts of air, and if you are lucky, a few local rednecks mumbling. It's got a kind of feeling to it that's hard to describe; almost sacred. It's the kind of place that makes me wonder what everything was like before modern civilization.


Once a year, people who have more balls than me take part in Bridge Day. This is the one day a year when you are allowed to base jump off the bridge. I'm good with jumping out of airplanes, but I had some lunatic strapped to my back and a reserve set on auto deploy in the case that he or both of us were unconscious. Not the case on Bridge Day; my guess is that on Bridge Day, reserves are weak sauce.

Anyway check it out if you pass through; it's worth a 15 min break from a long haul.

So listen up people. It's quick stops like this that make me think about the last year and a half of my life, and I've got something to say about it. Because of the nature of what I'm doing in my career, I don't make boat loads of money quite yet. In fact, there have been many times where I've barely been able to make ends meet, and if you haven't been there before, it's more stressful than you can imagine. But at the same time, I've never had more freedom or learned more about myself and other people than I have since the beginning of '09. Before that, I was working in a job where I didn't even realize I was unhappy until I quit. I may have liked most of my coworkers and made decent money, but I was in a rat race and lacking one thing: Hope. The only thing I ever had to look forward to were weekends and holidays.

If you are in a job that doesn't satisfy you, for your sake and others around you, look elsewhere. When I did, I realized that without that hope or satisfaction, I just hadn't been myself. I almost felt the need to apologize to friends and others who were around me during that time. I don't expect this to inspire anyone to take action, but if it does, good.

Amazing what some bridge in East BF, West Virginia, can do to someone.

Just Saw a Great License Plate

Yesterday on Walnut Street I was swinging back from grabbing a movie and stopped at a red light. In front of me was a tan Chevy Silverado. I was waiting for the light to change and just looking around, when my eyes took me to this guy's license plate. Between where his plate said North Carolina and First in Flight, in great big blue letters, was:

DNKYPNCH

Clearly the DMV isn't up to speed on foul humor. The driver looked like a normal, middle aged guy. He either lost a bet or really doesn't give a shit...either way it's hilarious.

Unfortunately, I don't have any photo proof. My cell phone is old school and the picture I tried to take didn't turn out.

Pigeons Shit on Kings of Leon!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/24/kings.of.leon.pigeons/index.html?hpt=T2

I just read a quick story about the Kings of Leon being forced off stage because a bunch of pigeons were shitting on them from the rafters. Comes to show that pigeons may be much smarter than we ever thought! Well, at least we now know they don't like terrible music. Cheers!

You Can Name Private Roads

One of our friends Corbin had a shrimp boil last weekend in Wendell (pronounced "Windle"), NC, outside of Raleigh town.
I've been through Windle before to buy my pool table off some dude on craigs list, and I can tell you that as far as I've seen, there are parts that earn the designation of special.

Anyway, I've learned that if you live on a private road, just you, you've got the right to name your road, and I guess within certain boundaries, the man can't do a damn thing about it.

That being said, Jensen and I got lost and came across one of life's little gems. On the way home I had to snap a shot of this road name. I beg of you, PLEASE try to find a better one; that's a challenge.

Gentlemen, J-Town Still Stands

Those who didn't go to school with me need not read this first part.



Recognize this house?

We had to go to a wedding in Burlington this weekend, so a quick detour to check out J-Town, our house during senior year of college, was a given. It got it's name J-town because of the simple fact that it's so J.

Allow me to give you a quick outdoor-guided tour of the place.

Right under the front porch window is where you would've seen a black couch a few years ago. I can't be sure, but I can only guess the couch was originally brought into town by Pat McCauly. Without exaggeration, it was literally the ugliest and most uncomfortable couch I've ever seen or sat on, and will likely remain champion forever, or until I die, whichever comes first. Pat, if you read this, I always wanted to know--what made you pull the trigger on that couch, and not whichever one was sitting next to it at the furniture store? Sure it served it's purpose, but I don't think I would've taken it if someone paid me what was on the price tag.
Right behind that window is where you would've seen the indoor couch that was broken and fallen into itself on it's left side. The window with the maroon shutters was Cory's (Babe #1's). That was his layer where he'd spend countless hours talking to babe #2 with the door shut. Right behind the roof shingles above the front porch you'd find my room: the uninsulated attic. Far too hot in the summer and early fall, far too cold in the winter. Juuuust right in late October and early November. The only place I could stand up without hitting my head was in the middle of the room. Getting there required climbing a ladder, the bottom of which was in Pat's room, which became Dooley's room half way through the year.

You can't really see it in much detail, but the giant tree coming up over the right chimney was the walnut tree that we all parked under. We hadn't put two and two together to figure out that it was the walnuts falling that put all the dents in our cars. Pat figured it out after a cracked windshield. The insurance claim agent came out and assessed it, and he got a new windshield. No less than two weeks later, Pat parked under the tree again. The tree saw a brand new windshield under it and aimed, fired, and delivered. This time, insurance decided not to pay for it.

Finally, though you can't see it, the backyard is where Darren took a dirt nap on a cornhole board in the pouring rain, while Owen and I stood on the back deck with an umbrella, seeing who could peg him the most number of beers.


Standing in lieu of the hideous couch:
The wedding was a good time; it was in Mebane, and with that comes some pretty special perks. For one, it was the first time I had ice cold Natty lights at a reception. Secondly, I started eating what I thought was a piece of beef wrapped in bacon, only to learn that they were chicken livers. I convinced a few others that they were in fact beef, and they nearly threw up after trying them. That's Grant 1; the others 0.

Here's Jensen and I for good measure, and she looks awesome.