Note to self: If you walk the dogs at night be prepared for them to get spooked by something invisible to you. Then be prepared for them to jump about 11 feet sideways and backwards and entangling you in their leashes in the process. Then be thankful you have a strong heart. Finally be hopeful that your vituperative yelps didn’t wake up the neighbors and don’t walk the dogs after dark ever again. Ever. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Smitty published his "Best of Winston-Salem" results and I'm proud to say that this humble blog was runner up to "Best Blogger in Winston-Salem for Life" Esbee. Thanks very much to those who voted for me and let this be a lesson to everyone that begging and groveling does indeed work.
An interesting thing happened to me when I moved from the DC area to the Winston-Salem area five years ago this week: in short order I gained 20 pounds (BBQ) and simultaneously lowered my blood pressure. I've always thought that one big reason was that I escaped the turmoil and traffic of Northern Virginia for the relative peace and quiet of the Piedmont Triad. Allstate just published some accident data that tends to support my theory: Winston-Salem is ranked 25th in terms of safe drivers while DC is ranked dead last at 193, and Arlington, VA is 172 and Alexandria, VA is 174. In addition to the fact that people in Winston-Salem generally drive 10 MPH below the speed limit, another factor that works in Winston's favor is that there are about 1/100th the number of cars per mile than in DC. Neither place has a rush hour, but for totally different reasons. DC has "rush days" from Monday through Friday (and often much of Saturday and Sunday), while Winston-Salem has rush 1/4 hours in one or two places around town.
The biggest problem I have is that there's no impediment to me getting to every good burger, steak or BBQ joint in town which I believe has led to my increase of two pant sizes in five years. Still I'll take peace of mind and a paunch over stress and a coronary while sitting in the world's longest parking lot any day.
ESPN has been running a series of sports related Make-a-Wish pieces and last night's piece featured Lewisville native Chris Paul hanging out with a kid who had a fight with cancer (luckily it's now in remission) and the two of them shot hoops at Paul's alma mater, West Forsyth HS, which also happens to be my kids' school. It's a nice piece (see video below) and helps boost the respect that Paul continues to earn:
I was catching up on some items in Google Reader when I came across this post on Lewisville Photos and recognized the guy playing the bass in the top photo. That would be Steve Cavanaugh, a teammate on our over-40 soccer team and a co-coach in the TCYSA girls challenge program for the past couple of years, playing in the band at the Lewisville Fourth of July celebration. I had no idea Steve plays in a band and I'm sorry I didn't get to see them perform on the fourth, but I'll try and make sure to make it to one of their gigs in the future.
Befuddled 