Phatpat.com

Saturday it snowed all day. It was definitely the most snow I’ve seen at one time since I moved to the DC area. Around noon I took advantage of the relatively mild temperatures and beautiful, snowy day, and went for a hike on the Rock Creek Trail. Or at least I think it was the Rock Creek Trail. Everything was covered in snow, and once you got off the roads, there were really no landmarks. No way to get your bearings. It was fantastic. There were a few other people on the trail; not so many that it preventing you from feeling alone in the woods at times, but enough that if you got lost, somebody else would probably find you huddled in the snow. Everyone was having a great time and just soaking it all in. When I came up for air, out of Rock Creek Park, I found myself somewhere near Whitehaven and Massachusetts. I walked back home on the streets, though Dupont, where I saw several foolhardy cars trying to make it up the hill on Connecticut.

It was a fun day. Sunday was bright and sunny all day, as DC tried to dig out. The work continues today, and I have the day off from work as a result.

And to think, just yesterday there was no sign of snow on the ground.

I spent Saturday evening at Lockhouse 6, a 50’s style house on one of the locks of the Potomac. My work buddies are ambitious with their social planning, and I like it. We made a couple pizzas with a nice assortment of vegetables; one with eggplants and onions, another with artichokes, olives, and feta (that was my favorite). I’m in the minority as an omnivore in that crowd, but it worked out well. Cooking was a good time, and we followed it up with some board games and hearts. The midnight hike along the towpath was fun too, despite the chilly night. I’d like to bike the 186 miles of the c&o canal at some point (and maybe the 330 miles to Pittsburg) but for now I’ll settle with seeing the sights along the way.

And, lest you think I’m lame, I went to town at the dance party that followed. You really have no need to worry about music volume when you’re in a lonely house along the river.

I’m glad I got some biking in while I was home for Thanksgiving, because I have been too exhausted to do much the past couple days. It was a good few days, the longest time I’ve been home since I started work. In addition to a couple short(ish) rides with Clara & Anna, I filmed a couple scenes for a ninja video. We had a busy (and tasty) Thanksgiving at my house, and I spent Saturday with celebrating Clara’s birthday.

I have been done with the Black Friday sale mess since my brother and I got a couple hard drives from CompUSA awhile ago, after jamming ourselves through an overcrowded set of sliding doors. Far too much effort for what you get. This year I was lucky enough to find something I’ve been eying on sale at Newegg. So, on Friday I ordered a 28″ monitor for far less than I’ve seen it before, and Tuesday night I set it up. It’s a nice improvement for my make-shift home theater setup. And Newegg continues to astound me with fast shipping, detailed tracking, and a no-nonsense website. I wish I had more excuses to shop there.

Friday night I went to dinner with Matt & Ellie and some of their friends (Ben Kornfeld even drove down from Baltimore). Matt was ambitious enough to organize I group to go to The Burger Joint and attempt to share one of their 9-lb burgers (15lbs with all the toppings). There was so much interest in a giant burger that it was no problem. We split it into 16 slices pizza-style for 16 people. I could of had two no problem, but I didn’t want to rob anyone else of their chance to partake…

To work off those calories I went for a hard ride Saturday and Sunday (see data files for Sat & Sun at garmin). Now my legs feel like mush. One more ride Tuesday morning and then Wednesday I’m heading back to Chicago for Thanksgiving.

My last race collegiate races were in mid-April, the regionals road race and crit at Wake Forest. Throughout the summer I raced a few USCF races as Maryland, but for next season that isn’t an option. For the past few months, I’ve been doing weekend rides with Squadra Coppi, and I finally joined them officially the other day. Their listserv is a little (ok, a lot) more active than Maryland’s. I’m looking forward to a cycling team that’s more on the level of Northwestern as far as organization and teamwork go. They are not the biggest team in the area, but they get a lot of people out on the weekend rides, and it’s a good group. I’m looking forward to some good winter training and an exciting race season next year.

Not that I flaunted it much. No trick-or-treating, or costume contests, but I did go on a solid halloween cruise down the Potomac.  It’s been awhile since I’ve done anything for halloween. The last time I dressed up was probably junior high sometime. Who knows. I lost interest. But this was creative, and a lot of fun.

I wanted to try something new, so Friday I (with a little help from the girl) cooked up a whole fish. I bought a 2lb whole mackerel, largely because it was the least expensive option at Whole Foods, though it is also one of the most sustainable fish to eat. I followed this Whole Foods recipe for red snapper, with a few adjustments to save time and make use of available cooking dishes. Nesting one pan in another was something I didn’t have the pans for, nor was I motivated enough to make an aluminum foil tent above the whole thing.

It was about as simple as it gets. I had the fishmonger (cool job title) clean the fish, so all I had to do was chop up some scallions, cilantro, and ginger, and stuff it in and around the fish. I tossed it in a standard 9×13 pyrex baking dish, though it didn’t quite fit. A mackerel is a fairly long fish, so it’s head and tail stuck out a bit, similar to the picture below. This is from a another mackerel blog post; my hands were a little too slimy to be taking pictures.

While I was getting the fish ready, Clara put together a simple dressing of soy sauce, honey, and peanut oil. We drizzled that over the top, and after 30 minutes in the oven, the fish was ready to go. The best part was, at this point the meat just fell right off the bones. Easy to serve, and even easier to clean up. The fish head in the trash started to make my apartment smell slightly fishy, but that’s a minor downside.

We had an “open house” at work this evening, which meant a lot of relevant people from PNNL, the University of Maryland, the DOE, and other local, related, organizations, came to mingle at our “new” office. New meaning 6 months, maybe? I’ve always been in the same office. Unfortunately, tonight I went from being one of the better dressed folks in the office to one of the most underdressed. I guess I missed that memo. Will it be too conspicuous if I’m a little more business-casual the next couple days? We’ll find out.

On the plus side, I had an easy ride this morning with Matt before work. It was dark, or near dark, most of the ride, but Hains Point is pretty calm and peaceful at 6:30am. Makes for a good, low effort fall ride, and (as I’ve said before) a great way to start the day.