Fish River

I went out on Fish River today with my dad for what was a bit of an exploratory float. I had planned out a route down the river the day before but it was completely based on Google maps' satellite images. I wasn't even completely sure, due to the tree line, that  kayaks would even make it down the five mile stretch I was hoping to navigate.

We took two trucks down; one to leave at our take out spot downstream. It just so happened that a few years ago, I had come across put in spot a few years ago so I knew the public park there was a great place to start out.

Just as we are about to put in, a married couple walk up to us and start talking about kayaks and let us know that they have been down the river from that point before, but only a short distance. I was glad to hear that the river was wide and deep enough to travel.

The trip overall took about two and a half hours, starting off at county rd 48 and ending at fish river bridge. We ended up only taking one short break for a couple beers and there were zero accidents. About 2/3 of the trip was AMAZING. While the water was shallow and we had a current behind us we paddled through some great natural scenery. Later as the river got deeper, a lot more houses started to appear as well as fishing boats and a few jet skis. Those things I could have done without, but not every trip can be perfect.

5k Training

I've neglected to post anything for the last few days, though not for a lack of things to action in my life. So, I suppose it's time to break the trend.

Just a quick review of the past weekend for my own personal reflections at a future date, and then on to the meat of this blog. Friday afternoon, my friend James showed up in Mobile just in time for a surprise birthday party. The party went well but the political debate that went on until 5 am was not a crowd pleaser, unless you just consider the crowd as James and myself.

Saturday, James and I shook off the fact that we had only slept roughly three hours and went shopping for baby shower presents. Yes, baby shower. The couples baby shower is an uncommon event, and one I had never experienced. It was about what I expected; A high number of "Awww" followed by "That's so cute" and a strong desire to drink heavily.

Sunday, for the most part was low-key. A nice pot roast lunch with the family to celebrate Easter. Afterwards a pointless trip to Walmart (to view but not buy camping/kayaking gear) and then home to catch up on the sleep I so desperately needed.

Now the meat, as promised. I had decided last week, after miserably failing to run a full 5k, that I should start some sort of training. It was apparent that running once or twice a year was no the best way to keep in shape. Luckily, James was quick to offer a solution. He had recently come across a system called "Couch to 5K" or C25K for short. This nine week program only required about half an hour of my day, three times a week. The best part was that there was an Android phone application that runs in the background so you can listen to your favorite music and it occasionally notifies you when it's time to start running or walking.

I started today and I have to say, if the rest of the runs are as pleasant as this one was, I will have no problem finishing. The next step is probably getting decent running shoes.

I know this wasn't the most entertaining blog post, but it will have to do for now.

Dog River 1

Today is special for two reasons. The one I wont really go into is that Auburn's spring game is going on today. In fact, I'm watching it on espn3 as I write this post. The second is that my brother and I took an early day trip up Dog River.

We put in at Luscher Park around 10am after a short conversation with the coast guard reserve. Apparently there was going to be a high number of kayakers showing up around 2pm for the first annual 'Dog River Run' and they were making sure everyone that showed up had a life vest and whiste; two mandatory items for any kayak. 

Despite the park being right in the middle of a neighborhood, the quality scenery didn't take long to find. A couple hundred yard from the pier we came across a nice old school paddle boat replica, used as a party boat/patio. Even further down was what appeared to be some kind of drilling rig with a city of mobile seal on the sides. I'll throw in a picture of the rig b/c it was an interesting addition to the river, and even more interesting for the fact that it appeared to be an expensive piece of city property rotting away, abandoned in a river.

After a couple hours of solid paddling and finding a great spot to fish on my next visit, we started heading back towards to park. As is usually the case, the wind decided to change directions and required we paddle against the waves. Our take out time was around 1:30 giving us ample time to make it home for this spring game (which just ended, perfect timing). All in all, a really nice trip. There were a number of directions we were unable to explore so we'll definitely make our way out here again in the near future.

Oh, The video quality for this trip should be better than those previously posted. I ended up getting a new cell phone that takes HD video...
Winning!

Coughs on a Plane

Back in January, I made my way out to Phoenix, Arizona for Auburn's run at the NCAA football championship. About a week before the game, I flew out to Vegas with a stop in Dallas to switch planes. The meat of this story is based on that layover.

I had a mid-day flight out of Mobile so I touched down in Dallas around 11:30 and decided to grab lunch while waiting for my plane. I have an irrational fear of missing flights due to unknown changes in flight times and departure gates, so I spent the majority of my lunch juggling a fork, beer and smart phone. Thirty minutes in the airport restaurant and my anxiety forces me to head back to the gate, where, shortly after, I will learn that our gate has indeed been switched.
Paranoia 1, Rational Thought 0.

In addition to the nice little walk that accompanies a gate change, I also get an adjustment in scenery. People are forced to find new seating arrangements so you get to do a little selective people watching that encompasses those who are about to share a giant flying coffin with you. Even though I have no say in the matter, I like to make a mental list of whom I would prefer to have sit beside me, and ready myself with person specific conversation topics should the need to fake personal interest arise. In the middle of this passenger screening I notice a woman who looks absolutely miserable. Crying and coughing, she tries her best to lay down in a chair. The woman is slightly obese and advanced in years. Because I am heartless and selfish, the first thing that enters my brain is "dear god, please don't let her sit by me on this plane. I know the odds are in my favor due to the planes size, but you know how my luck is. I'm not asking much... just for a little distance".

Fast forward four hours of flight delays...
SIDE STORY: I want to touch on this real quick before I forget. I was extremely pissed off that our flight was so late. So angry in fact, that I actually struck up conversations with strangers just so I could bitch about it. After we get on the plane, the captain explains that the prior flight had to be turned around midway b/c an older gentleman had a heart attack. I felt a bit like an ass about that one.
AND... we're back...

I've boarded the plane and stowed my carry-on luggage and make a visual sweep of the plane for the sick woman's location. A no-show. Excellent news because the plane is nearly full and there is a fair chance that this woman isn't even on my flight. I find my middle seat and say hello to the guy occupying the one closest the window. Not two seconds later, I look up to the front of the plane and she appears. Her presence and string of coughs through the first class section throw me into a panic. I know there are still ten or more seats open in front of me, so I watch her eyes for confirmation of a recognized seat number. Finally, a facial expression confirms that my worst case scenario has been realized. She will occupy my aisle seat.

The next three hours consist of me attempting to not vomit in my mouth every time she coughs without covering her mouth and invading the personal space of my window seat companion during my hopeless attempt to exit my own skin. In my list of worst things that could happen on a flight, this ranks just below everything that ends in a horrible fiery death. I would gladly have traded this for a plane where every seat is occupied by a crying baby except for the seats directly in front and behind me which are filled with 3-6 year olds that like to adjust/jump in and kick chairs respectively.

YET ANOTHER SIDE NOTE: The window seat guy was nice. He was in town for the electronics expo. The adult movie awards were also being held in Vegas that week, and I decided it was best not to attend.

After touching down, I shot out of the plane as quickly as the seatbelt sign went off. I knew it was too late to avoid catching whatever she had but I had to try. Three days passed with no warning signs. The morning we hit the road for Arizona it hits me. I feel awful and there's nothing I can do about it. Her time-bomb detonates just in time for my viewing of the national championship game. I felt like crap for the next three days, but having a crystal ball return to Auburn makes it more bearable.

The end.

"Adultification" pt 1

A few days ago I realized that I'm still living in a house that basically equates to a series of interconnected college dorm rooms. I can't say bachelor pad b/c in my mind, a bachelor pad is well decorated, clean and has a pool tables in any space large enough to manage it. Basically, I imagine a well decorated pool hall. ANYWAY...


So I've decided to start what I'm calling the "adultification" of my life. I'm not far off from 30 years old so my home should probably reflect that. To begin this process, I chose to update the living room.

This should be a three step process:
1. Replace the entertainment center erea.
2. Replace my garage sale furniture
3. Paint. (b/c my entire house is the exact same color in every room: beige)

STEP 1.

What I thought would be the easiest part of this plan turned out to be quite time consuming. I thank Walmart for it's small selection of very inexpensive entertainment centers. Though there may not have been much to choose from, I lucked up and found one I liked. Twelve hours later I've finished putting together this complicated monster. Out with the old and in with the new. Step one complete.

Before:

After: