Weird Drive Home from DC

We left at 7:45 and made great time all the way. As we were approaching NC, we saw local and state troopers everywhere. At one exit, there were 6 state troopers lined up on an on-ramp ready to give chase. 5 miles down the road we saw another 3 troopers who had a truck pulled over with the driver hand cuffed and sprawled out on the hood of a car. We made good time anyway, 6 hours door to door.

Victory Cigar

In addition to coffee, another vice I have is a good cigar. I don't smoke anywhere near what I used to, so now I save them for special occasions. Today's victory cigar was a PDR 1878. I received this during a Lite Up Charlotte event at Outland cigars. These are great events where 100% of the profits go to The Bloom Project (http://bloomproject.org/bloom.html).



Appearance and Construction: A medium dark cigar with mild oils. The cigar had a good weight and a well packed foot. The band was black with silver lettering and a small second band. The top of the cigar had pig tail which had popped off by the time I was ready to smoke it, so there was no need to cut it!

Flavor & Notes: The draw was a mix of chocolate and raisin and the foot is slightly musky with some notes of wood. Once the cigar is lit there are noticeable wood notes with a touch of leather. The second third of the cigar has some complexity as the notes become a little citric and the wood continues and some bitter chocolate begins to develop as well. As we close out of the the final third of the cigar the wood remains, and the bitter chocolate smooths out some with a slightly leather like finish.

Smoking Characteristics: The PDR 1878 Capa Madura is a well-made cigar with a excellent burn all the way through. The draw was great even with the small pig tail hole and the cigar produced moderate amounts of smoke.

Conclusion: An excellent cigar from Pinar Del Rio. I believe the stick retails for $5 so it is a great value, which is why I rate high. A good beginner smoke as there is no buzz at all.

Washington DC-USPS Supplier Performance Awards

What an amazing honor to be recognized along with 12 other suppliers during the United States Post Office Supplier Performance Awards.

Lean Sigma Professionals was recognized for it's great work for Supplier Innovation.

It didn't really sink in for any of us until we heard that we were selected from over 20,000 vendors that the Post Office uses.

There was a wonderful awards ceremony followed by a brief social.

What a great way to start the week!

Donut Shop Coffee by Coffee People

First up is donut shop coffee. This coffee is a reminiscent of an old fashioned donut shop. While it is not Dunkin Donuts coffee, it is very good. A good breakfast coffee, it is mild with a great aroma. Taste is good with a mild Arabica taste, not bitter at all. It came in the Keurig sample pack and I think it is my favorite of all of the samples.

Aroma - 8 - very modest
Acidity - 9 - low acid and balanced
Body - 7 - not very complicated
Flavor - 7 - it's good
Who should drink? - Someone who likes a mild to medium blend
Overall Rating: 78 - Average

Out with the old and in with the new!

Everyone who knows me knows I love coffee. And gadgets. As always, I found a way to combine my love of multiple things.

I always have at least one cup of joe in the morning. Since I don't want to make a whole pot, I used to use a B&D, one cup at a time.



Well, since I lost the filter basket a long time ago, I always had to use paper filters. Not a big deal but way too much effort before having your coffee.

I have been wanting one of those modular units (Tasso or Keurig) for a while, but finally got one. The variety of coffees available is amazing as well as an attachment to just use your own brand. I will be working to bring reviews of as many coffees as I can to you in the future!

Georgia Navigator Cup 2011 Day 2

Joey and I were much less hurried today.

After having breakfast with the Duke baseball team, we were off to the park.

Joey started 10 min ahead of me. My foot was feeling pretty good, better than expected and it was 20 degrees cooler than Saturday with a nice breeze.

On the red course again, 7.7km today and 12 points.

Point 1 was only 100 meters from the start (?) and point 2 was an easy find as well. I ran into Joey between my point 2 and 3. 3 was another eash find and the legs were starting to get longer. Point 4 was a hike up and down hills and over a swamp and it was buried pretty deep in a gully. I came out right on top of it, but had to go down deep to find it.

Point 5 was 900 meters away, but also an easy find. 6 took me down the same trail I came out yesterday and back to the same swamp. The legs were getting longer now. 7 had me going back past the rangers house, across the road, down a trail and using a boulder cluster as an attack point. Point 7 was very deep in a gully, fun getting in, more fun getting out.

Point 8 was another 2K trek but easy to find. For 9 I ran down the road and used an attack point to go directly to it. I also used an attack on point 10 and then it was down and around to 11 and 12 and the Georgia event was over for this year.

Great meet and courses. Joey came in 2nd in his age group. I came in 3rd (out of 3 )

Maybe next year, Jennifer will come?

Day 1-Georgia Navigator Cup

GAOC accomodated us by giving us a late start time so we could leave early Saturday Morning. I fat fingered the GPS in the car, so we ended up near the park, but not quite. At least we got to test out the off-road capability of the Jeep!

We arrived in a hurry and then had a 10min jog to the start. It was hot, like Africa hot.

Joey scooted off and I went a few minutes later. On the Red course, 7.3km and 11 points. The first point was no problem, over the creek and along the hill. The 2nd point gave me fits. I tried to stay high over all the gullies and ended up South of the point. Ended up looking for it for 41 min, that would come back to haunt me.

Once I recovered, 3 was easy enough. 3 to 4 was straight up hill, luckily 4 was a water point! 5 was easy to find, but I had to sneak past the rangers house and his dogs. 6 was an easy shot down the trail and over the swamp, but off to 7, 1.5kms away, down the road and some trails.

Point 8 and 9 were straight forward, I used the trail to get to 10 and 11 was down by the finish point. A short jog (yea right) up to the finish, and for the first time ever I was overtime by 3 min. Ouch!

Joey and I made our way to the hotel for Temple Basketball, Outback and Battle LA at the movies.