Memorial Day Weekend

Woo for three day weekends! Saturday morning (to avoid the Friday afternoon traffic) the girl and I headed down to CT to visit with my family for the weekend. We tried a new route, taking the Merit Parkway the whole way up and it was much nicer then 95 which we usually take.

Megs big excitement for going to CT was getting to see my moms new puppy:

Her name is Rowan and she is big for a puppy her age, she’s gone end up being a BIG dog. So far she is getting along fine with their other dog Finn, and she doesn’t pester the cats too much.

Later Saturday we ran out shopping and got some lunch. Mmm..Shady Glen cheese burger platter:

not exactly the most healthy lunch but its a holiday weekend and I do miss crispy cheese.

I saw these at the Christmas Tree Shop, they are those growing animal thing, put the little figure in water and it grows 600X its original size or something, they had dinosaurs, lizards, and stuff but the ones for the snakes caught my eye:

Now I have to wonder if they put the warning on the box pre-emptively so people wont eat them or as the result or a lawsuit or something because someone already HAS eaten one. Either way its disturbing.

Sunday morning the girl and I went out to Dinosaur State Park (they have preserved dinosaur footprints) and got our geek on:

We did the little indoor museum and then walked one of the trails they have that goes through the woods, it was fun though we did get damn near eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Later that day we had a few people come over and did our Memorial Day BBQ which was fun. Mmm…smores. After we went to see Pirates 3 which was, well about what you would expect. Nice mindless summer movie…with pirates.

We headed back to NYC this morning, wanted to stop for groceries on the way and have some time to just relax at the appt. Before we left my dad gave me a few packages of Omar’s new coffee “ZAP” which as you can see claims to have “Extreme Caffeine”:

Haven’t had a chance to try it yet and I don’t know exactly what they mean by “Extreme Caffeine”, wether it’s natural or if extra caffeine is added, I should take it to the lab and run some tests

Seen on my way home… »« Forensic News…

Forensic News…

Quick post before bed:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/05/23/spector.trial.ap/index.html

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — The judge in Phil Spector’s murder trial ruled Wednesday that a renowned forensic expert removed and hid a tiny but potentially important piece of evidence from the prosecution but will not be held in contempt.
Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler rejected a prosecution bid to instruct jurors that Henry Lee is not a credible witness, saying he would allow them to make that decision themselves.
But he said the prosecution would be allowed to present all evidence on the issue, including that presented outside the presence of the jury, to impeach Lee’s credibility if he testifies for the defense.

This is only one side of the story, and it will be interesting to see what response, if any there is from Henry Lee on the matter in the coming days but still…

Would be interesting to be back at the Henry Lee institute offices at UNH tomorrow morning thats for sure.

Memorial Day Weekend »« Chocolate…

Chocolate…

Mmmmm….check out the huge and cute chocolate bar that the girl’s Dad/Step Mom picked up for us in Hershey, PA:

It is both big and delicious.

Forensic News… »« Lazy Sunday…

Lazy Sunday…

We had a very lazy day today, well hell lazy weekend. Saturday we went out and saw Shrek 3 down at Atlas. We both though the movie wasn’t as good as the first two but, was still fun and worth seeing. Today we also just sorta hung around relaxing. Originally we were supposed to go into the City tonight to see Meg’s dad who was driving up to NYC for some reason or another, something about picking up equipment. But last we herd from them it was 3:30 and they were still in PA, and well sorry but I got work tomorrow so I really wasn’t all about meeting up with them for a late dinner and not getting home till after midnight. So we might see them tomorrow night or something like that, waiting on further information.

This week should go nice and fast, in training at work Mon-Wed and then it’s just 2 more days to a long weekend. Though a very fortunate stroke of luck I was able to switch Saturdays with a co-worker and now get to have a 3 day weekend. Woo Hoo! The girl and I are gona go to CT to see my family. My mom had said something about doing a Memorial day BBQ/Party, though Meg is more excited about getting to see my mom’s new dog.

Chocolate… »« Another found note

Another found note

Found on my way into work this morning:

Strange…just strange…

Lazy Sunday… »« and if a double decker bus crashes into us…

and if a double decker bus crashes into us…

Meg’s family is back safe and sound in Florida! But they made sure to squeeze in all the NYC they could before the left.

Sunday, we all went down into the city and began our day shopping on Canal St. So needless to say I was in hell while the ladies all had a grand old time shopping for quasi-legal purses and perfumes. Given that I don’t care about purses, legal or not, I was just a bit bored. Meg did find a nice art store down there though that we will be going back to at some point.

We then headed over to Spring St with the intent of lunch at Lombardis pizza, but my price for putting up with purse shopping was making everyone stop at Evolution NYC to see the Skeletons and other wacky things. Like this:

Everyone liked the store, though sadly I didn’t come home with any skeletons, but it was damn tempting.

After lunch we did a little more shopping in the area (her sister likes to shop) and Meg found a great paper/craft type store that was moving so she got some journal stuff cheap.

After all that we headed to the Time Square area because her mom wanted to do one of those double decker bus tours. I have to admit I was a tad mortified at first but she paid and I figured I would make the best of it and do the tourist thing. The tour it self was nice, and I did get to see some areas I rarely/never go, and some that I am at all too often like the court/city hall area where we were informed Law and Order some times films. So we drove around on the bus and saw the sights (highlight for me was the big apple cube store on 5th ave )

When we got off the bus we made a quick trip to the M&M store…it has what yah would guess, everything M&M. Then did dinner at some chinese place a few blocks from Time Square, which I have to say was quite reasonably priced for where it was located.

We didn’t get back to the appt till almost midnight, which made for a late night for me, what with work today. But I survived and everyone had a nice visit. Next time we see them will be at her sisters wedding this summer. Which should be quite an adventure in it self!

Another found note »« About to be sleepy time…

About to be sleepy time…

Just a quick note before bed. The girl’s Mom, sister, and grandmother are here in NYC visiting for the weekend. Got in yesterday and we had a belated birthday dinner for Meg at the German restaurant. Today while I worked the girls all shopped in the city and did a little sight seeing. I met them in Manhattan afterwork and tonight they bought ME dinner as a VERY belated birthday gift, at Heartland Brewery (I even got a free beer that our server brought and said they had poured by accident…woo for free beer). I also got a nice shirt and khaki pants that are somewhat intended as my outfit for Meg’s sisters wedding this summer. Tomorrow they all want to go back into the city and do the tourist thing, Her mom wants to do one of those bus tours or something similar, I’m not thrilled by the concept but I guess I can be fun to play the tourist at times too.

But now is sleep time!

and if a double decker bus crashes into us… »« A walk in the park…

A walk in the park…

It was so nice out today that the girl and I decided to go for a walk/picnic in the park.

We got some sandwiches from the bagel place and hopped on the bus for a few stops till we got to the park. Ended up lunching in the little pine grove they have there, which I have found is the best place to spread out a blanket and lunch.

We had a nice afternoon enjoying nature and the nice weather. Normally Meg isn’t much of a nature person per-say but the park is really more nature light. Yeah there are trees and grass and animals but we walked along a paved road and most of the time were all of 500 feet from the highway (plus we WERE in the middle of Queens). But a good time was had by all.

Tonight we watched “Six String Samurai” which is a post-apocalyptic rock ‘n roll samurai movie with music by The Red Elvises (who rock and who I just discovered thanks to a co-worker). Movie was a bit odd but I though it rocked.

No major plans for tomorrow other then the usual errands. Next weekend some members of the girl’s family are coming to visit for a few days to visit and shop. Unfortunately that Saturday I am stuck working, what a shame I can’t spend the day dress and shoe shopping in New York with 4 women….and by unfortunately I mean YAY!!!

About to be sleepy time… »« Its the first of May…

Its the first of May…

First off happy birthday Dad and Happy May Day to all my comrades!

We celebrated Meg’s birthday last week, went out for a nice dinner and got her a cake from the Amish market. This past weekend was nice and low key, I was just glad not to be working for a change. We did get out to enjoy the nice weather some though, so that was good.

In two weeks we get to play tour guides again when Meg’s mom, sister, and grandmother come for a visit! Needless to say they are staying in a hotel for the few days they are here. As bad at stuffing 3 more people in this appt would be for 3 days, having 4 women in the house…well let’s just say I think I would volunteer to work 72 straight hours of OT at the lab

Finally today wouldn’t be complete with out a link to Jonathan Coulton’s song “First of May” (So NSFW it’s not even funny…no really…) This version is actually a cover done by a group of podcasters to help support the Joe Murphy memorial fund ( Joe Murphy was a podcaster on Slice Of Scifi and a number of other shows who died recently from cancer)

A walk in the park… »« Street Fair