Bill Rawlinson's Blog

Today I was the sole witness to one of the worst parking jobs ever. A middle aged lady in a black Hyundai pulled into the parking garage near my office just as I was about to get out of my car. She drove around the line of cars I was parked in and pulled into a long line of empty spaces along the outside wall of the garage. She was the only car in the line. On her initial effort she clearly parked across the white dividing line and occupied two spaces but she didn't notice it until she was half out of her car so she climbed back in for a second effort. She backed up, curled around, pulled in, and managed to stay in just one space (though she was hugging the line) but she seemed to forget she had to stop so she drove straight into the wall of the parking garage. She was not in reverse.

It was both humorous to watch as well as a little scary to think this lady would be out on the road later. If you see a black Hyundai with some front bumper damage be on the look-out.

#Tumble #regular

Normally I get pretty wordy when I get around to posting a real entry on this site. Maybe I will again this time but it doesn't feel like a lot happened with my this past year. However, that doesn't mean nothing did.

I effectively started the year out with a crazy trip to New Orleans. It was my first and only visit to the big easy and, with some minor travel hiccups, I enjoyed it. I'd love to go back when the weather is better and when I don't have to work. The architecture was really cool, the people were generally very welcoming, and there seemed to be a lot of nooks and crannies I'd love to explore.
Work also sent me to Stamford Conn where I resumed accomplishing things for a major bank. I actually really enjoy doing the work for them especially since I don't have to deal with the huge hierarchy that is the bank on a daily basis. I doubt I'd enjoy working at the bank but I do enjoy working for them. On the trip I also made my first ever walking visit to Harlem (pretty cool) and I wandered around Central Park West. I could easily live there. Well, so long as easily didn't include "afford."
I joined the board of a non-profit, Create Huntington. I'm still not sure exactly why I was asked to be on the board but I've enjoyed trying to help. I also helped start a really cool micro-grant program here in town called Cafe-Huntington. You should check it out if you haven't already.
Lisa and the Girls took me on a great trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto. I really dug Toronto though though the girls didn't seem to like it as much as me. I think I am discovering I really like the urban setting. I totally dig rural life at times but big cities are more my speed. We also had the opportunity to spend a couple days with my mom and Susan which was nice. We don't typically see them often and this visit was particularly relaxing. I think meeting on neutral territory has the advantage that the host never feels like they aren't entertaining their guests. Niagara was a nice middle distance for us both to drive as well so it wasn't a big chore for either half of the family. A big plus in my book.
Shannon turned 9 and Emily turned 7! What the hell is going on? How is Shannon almost 10? And, how in the world did Emily get so damn big? I wonder if someone is playing a joke on me.
The girls switched schools from a private Catholic school to a public one. Hooray! Not only is it significantly cheaper but the girls are actually getting to do some stuff after school with some of their friends on occasion. The fact that the school is directly across the street from the sitters house is a huge plus. While I'm not thrilled with everything about their new school I'm pretty damn happy they are there. Shannon is excelling while Emily is continuing much like she did last year - reluctantly. She is stubborn.
I gained something like 18 pounds between April and December. Some of that is clothing but not much. What the hell happened there? I realize I wasn't as active as I usually am but I still got out and played Ultimate whenever I could. I'll talk more about this later.
November-December where the months of visiting. We didn't travel but our home for three straight weeks was full of visitors. First my mom and Susan came down for Thanksgiving and to celebrate Emily's birthday. I feel bad we didn't have a real party type thing for my mom but she liked her birthday gifts as well so that was cool. The following week Lisa's parents came down to celebrate Emily's birthday. Then, the next week my surrounding brothers came to visit. Why?
My Dad had a heart attack. It was a pretty close call I guess and he easily could have died. He turns 65 this week. Now a days that's like 40 or something. Where does he get off nearly dying? Well, he didn't and all five of the Rawlinson brothers were in town together for the first time in about 11 years. We had some fun hanging out though two nights in a row Ted and I were at a bar/club until 3:30-4:00am which, really, is crazy on our parts. Ted insists he is to old for that shit - I am not convinced.
Lisa was pretty worried about me after my dad's heart attack so I had another Dr appointment to get some blood work done. I don't know how but all of my bad numbers got substantially better in the past year. They aren't great but they are insanely better. I'm on a fish oil type pill at the moment and I'll have another test in March. We shall see how it goes.
I had my first ever (real; not counting removal of wisdom teeth) surgery in September. I had a small umbilical hernia removed. It was pretty darn easy and Dr. Morgan did a fine job of giving me back a belly button without installing a huge scar. Pretty sweet deal. I still don't care for anesthesia but I'm happy with the results.
I spammed everyone on the mailing list for this site with 300+ new posts as I combined my blogs. Oops. I'll make sure I don't do that again I assure you.

There were probably a bunch of other interesting things that happened over the past year but frankly I can't really remember them. In fact, I'm pretty happy with the way 2010 worked out. It was pretty chill, I got to travel on a real vacation and I was able to see everyone in my immediate family. Not much more I can ask for in a year. However, this year I am going to try and improve things a little.

We are going to Chicago and we will be seeing a Cubs game at Wrigley field. The last time I was there I forgot my camera; that will not happen this time. While my seats aren't AS good as they were last time they are pretty close. I'm excited.
We are going to have season tickets to a new indoor football team; the Huntington Hammer. I think we get 7 or 8 home games in the deal. That should be fun - I've never seen an indoor football game live.
We may be going to Myrtle Beach for a couple days with my dad and Patty. I haven't been since I was 2 or so and this time I will be golfing. It should be a nice trip.
We may be going to Disney World for a short 2-3 day trip. The girls would get to go for free (except air-fare) so it might actually be affordable. We are still investigating this.
We may be going to Hilton Head for a short trip as well; we just have to make sure it doesn't interfere with school. Honestly, if we do the other two trips I am not sure I'll have the vacation time for this one (or the energy).
I'm going to start Mountain Biking again. I only went one time last year and I was a scared little school boy on my bike. I need to get back into it. My new tire-pump (thanks Ted) will come in very handy in keeping me on the trails.
I have started to run again. I actually competed (cough) in a cross-country 5k last month and I was reminded by my body that I'm in horrid shape so I have to fix that. I am tracking my running with a cool free app called runkeeper. You can see my runs on my profile there.
I'm actually going to set a new years resolution this year. I normally don't do this because I don' t have something realistic to focus on . However, I have decided to make this the year where I actively work on being a better listener. I try at times but I often fail. I'm like a gnat that jumps from one tidbit to another all the time. I actually used to be a good listener but something has happened (maybe I've grown more selfish?) but I suck at it now so it's high time I improve.

That's it for now - hopefully I'm still here this time next year doing a 2011 year in review.

#MyLife