I Shall Return

I left Grand Forks in January (the 9th to be exact) and arrived in Maryland on the 11th. I do believe I might someday venture back into town, perhaps for the curling tournament in 2008, but don't hold your breath. Still, I may just end up passing through at some point... maybe more likely to happen in summer storm chase season :D

Thanks for reading and I appreciate all the comments!

House!

The move to the house is only a few days away. I am playing around with different new names for this blog. It's still fun to read the GF blogs, so I'm keeping them linked for now. I think I've got the new name ready.

HOUSE

So, this past week was spent looking at houses. We made an offer on a house and it's looking good so far. Eventually, photos will be coming and I'll rename my blog to something more Maryland-ish.

Germantown Life

So, what is life like in Germantown? Well, there's a lot of traffic in certain spots. The worst is 270 with all the commuters... towards DC in the AM, and towards Frederick in the PM. The 270 exits in Gaithersburg and Germantown get a bit backed up during rush hour, too.

Since I moved here, the most prevalent crime story has been people getting hit by Metro buses in DC. I see a lot more car accidents here... about 3 in a week. The speed limit gets lax enforcement in general. It's 55 mph on 270 down here, but the flow of traffic is closer to 70 mph.

There are several huge recreational complexes around town. The towns of Germantown and Gaithersburg sort of just run into each other, so it's hard to know where the borders are. One way to tell is Gaithersburg has green on white street signs with a "G" on them.

The biggest laugh is how quickly schools get delayed or canceled. North Dakotans can hang their hats on trudging through 6 to 12 inches of snow. Around here, schools close if there's a couple inches. Part of the deal is that the snow is the wet sticky stuff that leads to icy roads instead of the light fluffy stuff that blows everywhere.

Germantown itself isn't much larger than Grand Forks. There are little shopping complexes on the main corners. For example, Milestone Center is pretty similar to 32nd St. There's a Kohl's, Target, Wal-Mart, Giant (grocery), Best Buy, Pet Smart and other shoppes and businesses.

More interesting times

Work is getting more involved now that I've been here a full 2 weeks. It snowed again about an inch. It was the light powdery snow like in North Dakota. Temperatures dipped into the single digits here (low of 5), so it's not like I'm getting a free pass on winter here. Today's temperature got up to 25. Not bad!

I went to watch the Caps play the Bruins last night. It was my first time into the city on the Metro red line. I enjoyed the experience. One of these days, it'll be real nice and I'll go down to the Capitol, White House, and the Mall. I'm looking forward to the cherry blossoms... I'll definitely go during that time frame... sometime in March is what I hear.

Most of the birds I see around here are Canadian geese. They hang out in flocks on the lakes around town. There is some sort of hawk that flies around nearby. Crows like to hang out on the tree in the parking lot at the apartment complex. There's also a squirrel and a homeless black cat. Honestly, though, I haven't really tried to go bird watching yet.

Awesome!

It's a new month and we got some wet snow. Last night, it was wintry mix. A thin layer of ice was on the car, but with temperatures near freezing, it was pretty easy to get it off. This weekend will be my first Saturday-Sunday at my new job. I'll be getting my first paycheck next week.... yay!

I loved listening to the Sioux Hockey game on webcast last weekend. Beat the Gophers! Hope I can listen again soon!

Too Busy to Think!

I finally got my DSL hooked up in Maryland. I'm thinking about changing the name of this blog to something more representative of my new location, but I will hold off for now. Not much snow to talk about in these parts. The way the weather pattern is shaping up, it'll be colder here than in ND later this week.

The Sunflake has melted

The time has come for me to depart Grand Forks, North Dakota. I don't know what I'll do with this blog... rename it based on where I'm headed or create an entirely new blog. I am considering the continuation of the snowfall diary through this winter even though I won't be living here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Still on vacation... will have a big update after returning to the Forks.

Coming up... a big trip!

The holiday season is drawing near. This year, I'm going to visit family in AL and NC. It will be an extended vacation including Christmas Day and New Years Day. My last forecasting shift this year is December 22. Happy holidays, everyone!!

In the zone

I've received a lot of blessings in the past several weeks. I started part-time teaching for Everglades University which is based in Boca Raton, FL before Thanksgiving. They have an online education system, and I'm teaching a 4-week meteorology course. It's been interesting to learn how to teach people via the internet.

In racquetball, I've been practicing after my league matches and it seems like the effort has been paying off. I won two matches recently that I would not have predicted a victory beforehand. I'm in a tournament this weekend, so we'll see if it carries over. I am coming off two graveyards, so I'm hoping my energy level and timing will be there.

This week, I scored about 20 points (I lost track... definitely 16, possibly 21) in basketball league. That's like an explosion for me. I'm usually passing and getting assists since I'm a guard. It was definitely a case of "being in the zone" as a shooter.

Then, last night, our curling team (I'm the skip) scored what could be described as an upset over a team skipped by the league coordinator Bruce. We all shot very well and Bruce had an off night.

So, it's been an interesting time in my life and who knows what's next... stay tuned!

New Dog

I have a new dog. Pongo, a neutered male dalmatian, came to live here on October 31. What a treat! I'll post a picture at some point.

Election Day

Did you vote? I wonder how many North Dakotans exercised their civic duty today. I voted. There's no excuse for not voting, other than serious illness.

Vacation

I just got back from a very long vacation. I traveled through Montana, Idaho, and Washington. I enjoyed the magnificent mountains and forests, as well as a trip through Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. It's too bad that North Dakota got the short end of the stick.