CafeChatNoir

Well, all the critters are back in home and seem to be none the worse for wear.  Target is in his spot near the back door watching the the rain come down, Snoopy is around somewhere, and Mox is in the basement with Donald.

Managed to get to the kennel with 90 seconds to spare - normally it takes 4.5-5 hours to get home.  Today it was 6 hours and 20 minutes.  Not even heavy traffic, just lots of little cockups that added up quickly and will frustrate you to the point where you’re reminding yourself that you have 3 cold Coronas in the cooler and no one would blame you a bit for cracking one open the minute you hit the house.

One thing you notice when you’re at the beach is how little you need in the way of stuff to be comfortable.  I think the task for this coming week will be to see how much crap I can get out of this place.

The last day here always sucks. At least I know this year there’s a decent chance I’ll get myself down here in the off-season rather than starting the 365 countdown as has been the case in years past…

Wanted to get one last afternoon on the sound, but there’s a storm just a bit inland that has been stalled there all afternoon - not exactly a good idea to head out on the water with thunder fairly close by.

Today continued the trend of seeing how much of my wardrobe can be from REI and North Beach Outfitters with the acquisition of two North Face shirts. I think it’s easily 90% at this point.

If you have the choice between renting through Southern Shores & Sun Realty, go with Southern Shores. It’s not that Sun Realty is bad, but Southern Shores is just better. Little things like the rented linens are left at the house for you, a stack of dishtowels is left in the kitchen, and a little bag w/ paper towels, toilet paper and such so you’re not making a midnight run to the quickie mart the night you get here.

If you’re used to Friday to Friday trips, a Sunday to Sunday will screw with your head. Felt like I’d lost two days from the minute I got here, and little bro’s friends came up two days earlier, so part of my brain is still convinced I’ve lost 4 days. Despite the fact that the 2 weeks have flown by, it has also made me realize I still have a few tenuous ties to NoVa.

Two weeks here will have you getting annoyed with the out-of-towners towards the end of the trip. The “idiot state” for this trip was sadly, Virginia. This is courtesy of a jackass on his new jetski out on the sound breaking pretty much all the PWC regs. (I’m quite certain he didn’t have a permit, either since you have to demonstrate knowledge of the PWC regs to get said permit.) Dave & I nearly got waked by this idiot when we were out on Monday.

Took a swing by one of the condos that I’d seen online to get an idea of what exactly 275K gets you down here. Didn’t go in, just checked out the neighborhood. Not too bad - this one was in a development right on the sound. There are some others a little further up north that I didn’t see, but that’s probably for the best. The less temptation the better I suppose.

Non-surprising discovery of the two weeks: I am still a workaholic. Non-surprising discovery #2: 9 days with 3 other people in close proximity it about my limit. 6 years of living alone followed by a year of living with someone you see maybe 90 seconds a day will do that to you.

SkyNet’s OBXWAN service is OK, but not spectacular. They need to bulk up the service just a bit more in the area to really have good coverage everywhere they say they do.

I am quite certain that trying to get everything together to leave takes 3x as long as it does to get it together to get here in the first place.

First afternoon out on the kayak, you might want to go slightly less than two hours… But, it was gorgeous and the fact that I can’t move my arms today is still worth it.

Wildlife sightings:
– Frog (on car windshield)
– Baby Praying Mantis
– Bunnies
– Lizards
– Deer
– Red Fox
– Water Moccasin eating an eel (in the same location where I put in the kayak today… I did well and it wasn’t 100% obvious that all I was doing was looking for snakes as we put in.)

The weather cooperated today and I hooked up w/ North Beach Dave today, went paddling for about an hour w/him out on the sound. Absolutely picture perfect weather for it. He was very happy to get away from managerial duties and play for a while. Decided on the one I want, and they had it in stock, so he could cut me a good deal on it. I am now the very happy owner of an Ocean Kayak Scrambler sit-on-top. It’s the same model I was using last fall, so I am pretty comfortable with it and know it handles well in chop from some of the outings last fall. In glassy water, you can get up some very good speed on it. I’ll be spending a good chunk of the next 5 days out on the sound. :-D

This is it, except mine is red:

I’m still having the same “problem” with North Beach that I have had in the past - it’s pretty much impossible for me to walk in there and not walk out with something… Last week it was a nice pair of North Face shorts - which I did desperately need as I was down to *one* pair of wearable shorts, and at the beach, I tend to wear shorts a lot more than at home, and I am having a hell of a time finding them in my size. (I’ve always been skinny, but now I am a full on freak of nature according to the fashion industry.) Then yesterday I popped in, mistakenly thinking Dave was working. Well, I had to stay a few minutes and look around… I managed to find the ONE pair of Royal Robbins capris they had in size 2, which someone had tried to hide at the back of the rack. Nice try, they’re MINE. Then there was the pretty yellow Columbia tank/cami…in my size. Winner. Then what is easily the softest t-shirt I’ve ever encountered - with all sorts of sports/wicking properties and such - let’s hear it for merino wool. Yes, I wore wool in the middle of summer today.

What can I say, I’m doing my best to keep a good local business afloat. :)

Much seafood has been consumed and will continue to be consumed over the next week.

And what I really love about being down here (among so many things) are the stars. You can see SO MANY of them.

Tonight little bro & I had dinner at The Left Bank - the only 4 star* restaurant on OBX. It was completely phenomenal. This is the same restaurant where cooking school weekend took place in April. You have the choice of the chef’s tasting menu, which is 7 courses and it’s all plotted out for you, or the 3 course menu where you have 4-5 options to choose from on each course. We both went with the tasting menu. Go big or go home. :) I’ll be completely honest - it wasn’t cheap, but this isn’t also the type of place you’re hitting every Friday night, and it was worth every penny. (And I actually dropped more on my own at dinner at Morimoto’s in Philly, so it was a deal.)

At the end of the evening, I asked if I could get a xerox copy of the tasting menu, as I definitely wanted a copy to take home for the Insane Chef. Apparently this is a very common request, as we were handed two copies, rolled up and tied with a ribbon.

Tasting menus are great, because if they’re done right, you end up with a ton of courses, but all are portioned just right and when you’re done with dinner, you’re happily full - no worries of getting halfway through and thinking, “I can’t eat anymore.” Everything was awesome, and as Donald said as we started, “I think I will lose count of how many things I’ve never eaten before.”

Cold Parsnip Soup - Came in a little demitasse cup and was so yummy. Tasted more like a corn/onion puree to me than anything, but incredibly good. I instictively went for my spoon, and the server assured us that, no, just go ahead and drink it from the cup. I still think they were trying to see if they could make us abandon our spoons…

Salmon Carpaccio - Salmon with salmon roe and a bit of herbed creme fraiche. Superb. I’ve never had raw salmon before, and I will definitely have it again given the chance.

Chilled Tomato Gazpacho - Had blue crab and an edible cucumber blossom in it to boot. Outstanding. The cucmber blossom was new for me - it had the flower and part of the stem - crunchy with just a little “cucumberness” to it. Really, you just can’t go wrong with chilled soups in the summer.

Black Cod over Crab Risotto - I’d never had black cod before, and this was fantastic. It still had the skin on and I’m not sure exactly what they did to it, but it was nice and crispy and had none of the oiliness that you might think of as far as fish-skin goes. The risotto was completely decadent.

Veal Tenderloin over Beluga Lentils - I love veal, end of story, so you can’t really go wrong there. SO good. The bordelaise sauce and the lentils and wilted arugula with it just went perfectly.

Cheese & Figs - Some sweet/candied figs and a somewhat bitter-ish cheese, which we quickly figured out that you’re supposed to eat together. Holy crap, the two of them together were absolutely wonderful. I know that fruit & cheese are supposed to go together, but I’ve never been able to figure out *which* fruits & cheeses go together. Nice to have someone else figure it out for me.

Berry Blossom & Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream - The ice cream is self explanatory and was great - and I really don’t much like strawberries *in* things - just give me a plate of fresh ones and I’m happy. The “berry blossom” was a layer of blueberries, a cheesecake type layer, a chocolate cookie shaped like a flower, more cheesecake-y goodness, another cookie and then a blueberry on top. Awesome.

Then the coffee/cordial menu came around. I got the espresso martini - Godiva dark, Bailey’s, Stoli Vanilla, a shot of espresso, and 3** coffee beans. Tasted just like a coffee milkshake.

All in all, the best meal I have had in a very long time - if you’re ever down there and have a few bucks to drop on a spectacular dinner, DO IT.

* - I can’t remember who does the ratings, but 4 is very rare.
** - We learned last night at Meridian that per Italian tradition w/Sambuca, an odd number of beans means you’re welcome to come back, an even number, not so much…

I’m a Navy brat, so in theory, I should be able to be completely at home anywhere in the world that you may drop my ass. (With some limitations - Tikrit may take me a couple extra days.)

But, that’s not quite the case. While I can fake my way through most places and survive, being “at home” somewhere is a different story altogether. There are very few places in the world that I feel really at home, and here at the beach is #1. Nearly tied for first place is London, followed very closely behind by NYC. DC doesn’t even really make the list - it’s more of fake it til I make it place, and it’s been that way for 20+ years.

What I think makes the beach different is the people that are here to begin with. Every one I’ve met here over the years has just been absolutely top-notch. Even moreso in the several times I’ve been in the past year during the off-season. Seems that if you’re here when the rest of the world isn’t, you *really* like it here, even when the weather isn’t summer perfect (true,) and it seems that folks appreciate that. Hell, I’m just happy to be here whenever.

(more…)

I always knew I wasn’t normal, but I would prefer if it would manifest itself in ways other than randomly waking up at 5:45 AM while on vacation. Took the dog down to the dune deck and we sat and watched the waves for a while, and I’ve got my coffee, so it’s all good.  (I’ll probably be napping at 10AM…)

We have made it to the happy place, with the hound in tow. He is still mildly confused, but I’d say give it another day and he’ll be walking around like he owns the place.

The house this year is great - probably the smallest we’ve been in, but still plenty of room. (And is for sale, a mere $785K!) The only gift to the house we’ve had to make is a baby gate for the deck stairs - that way the dog can hang out with us on the deck. The house we stayed in last year is *gone* - apparently a developer bought the lot and now there is a new house there. (Which would explain why we weren’t able to rent it this year…)  The new place looks very pretty (and is on the market for over $1mil), but I liked the old place - it felt like a house that real people owned.

All in all, life is good.

There are very few constants in life, but I think I’ve found one of them. Our neighborhood pool. Went over there this afternoon as a laundry avoidance measure, and looking around, I realized really nothing has changed in 20 years.

The boys still try to impress the girls by doing backflips off the high dive. (OK, I’m surprised they still *have* the high dive.)

The girls still pretend to ignore the boys.

The agony of the whistle sounding adult swim. The utter glee when it sounds again. (I still feel like I’m getting away with something when I’m in the pool and all the kids are out.)

The slide.

Sandwiches and chips brought from home for lunch.

At least one little old lady doing the sidestroke trying to keep her hair out of the water.

Mom and Dad trying to teach the little ones to swim.

Honestly, the only things that have changed is the addition of a basketball hoop on one side of the pool, and Domino’s actually has an advert with “pool specials” at the office. (I swear, it used to be like pulling teeth to get a pizza delivered to the pool.)

I think I’ll have to spend more time there this summer.

The CD burner finally decided to work and the cable came back on.  Then I got a call from the shop that my car failed it’s inspection.  Something about brakes… Yeah, I guess that is kind of important.

They *might* be able to get it done by COB tonight, but if nothing else, it will be good to go tomorrow.

I absolutely loathe not having a car available.  I can always borrow my brother’s car, but it’s still incredibly annoying.

Why, oh why must you puke all over me when I am trying to get things done? Why must my CD drive decide to be incredibly cranky today - when I really need to burn a CD today. When I will be heading out of town and won’t be able to have it fixed (if it won’t fix itself here soon) anytime in the immediate future? Why? WHY? Especially when I just had this drive replaced last spring?!?

Please, oh please, burn this CD. And actually let it read properly when it’s done. Is that really too much to ask?

ETA: And the cable just crapped out, too.

The 2007-2008 NHL schedule is up!

No sooner had I finished perusing the schedule, I got a call from someone at the Caps asking how I’d enjoyed the games last season and was I planning on going to any this season - told him I had just finished looking at the schedule, and he said, “Wow, that’s only been posted for about 10 minutes.” Yeah, well, when it’s something important, I am on top of these things. :)

I was nice and didn’t say that I think the new sweaters are rather ugly.

Gotta give the Caps office some credit, too - it was a genuine courtesy call, didn’t try to sell me anything and just happy to hear I’d be back again this season.

In your really stupid sports news, the Oklahoma football program must forfeit all wins from the 2005 season and will lose scholarships as a result of players being paid for work they had not performed. Just how much of an idiot do you have to be to think you won’t get caught trying something like this?

Logged into Yahoo Bill Pay today to find the following annoucement:

Service Announcement- Yahoo! Bill Pay will be closing on October 1, 2007. You will be able to continue to pay bills using Yahoo Bill Pay as you have in the past through September 14, 2007.

* After September 14, 2007, you will only be able to view past transactions, download your account history, or cancel your account.
* Any payments scheduled to occur after September 14, 2007 will not be processed.
* All remaining active Yahoo! Bill Pay accounts will be automatically canceled on November 1, 2007.
* If you wish to continue using online bill pay services, you can contact with your personal bank.

To learn more about the Yahoo! Bill Pay service shutdown, please visit: Bill Pay Help.

Of course, Bill Pay Help hasn’t been updated yet with any actual information on why they’re shutting down the service.

I’ve been using them for at least 7 years and never once had a problem with a payment going through - I really liked the service, so this kinda sucks. Can’t say I’m really in the mood to be figuring out a new payment system from the credit union.  I do wonder if they’ll ever post *why* they’re shutting down the service.