Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Da Boat

I finally remembered to put a link to my dad's website, devoted to Seidelmann boats and sailing in general. Be sure to stop by there if you get a chance, he loves getting visitors to the site.

For the record, our boat is Daydreams (the first boat listed on that site), a 30' sailboat.

ACC Update

The weekly rankings came out for college basketball yesterday for week 2. 6 of the 11 ACC teams still in the Top 25, though UNC did drop a bit for their embarassing loss to Santa Clara. The record in parentheses is the team's record as of when the rankings came out. The rankings listed here are the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll

1. Wake Forest Deamon Deacons (2-0; last week #2)
3. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-0; last week #4)
10. Duke Blue Devils (1-0; last week #12)
12. University of North Carolina Tarheels (0-1; last week #3)
14. University of Maryland Terrapins (1-0; last week #16)
16. North Carolina State Wolfpack (3-0; last week #19)
*University of Virginia Cavaliers also received votes but did not make it into the Top 25.

Based on ESPN, here are the current (through right now) rankings within the ACC:
1. Wake Forest Deamon Deacons (4-0)
2. University of Virginia Cavaliers (3-0)
3. North Carolina State Wolfpack (3-0)
4. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-0)
5. University of Maryland Terrapins (2-0)
6. Duke Blue Devils (2-0)
7. Virginia Tech Hokies (2-0)
8. Clemson Tigers (2-0)
9. University of North Carolina Tarheels (3-1)
10. Florida State Seminoles (2-1)
11. University of Miami Hurricanes (1-1)

Admittedly the season is still young so these rankings look silly. The Terps open up their ACC match play on 19 December versus Florida State and then start the regular ACC season on 8 January 2005.

In other (final) ACC news, CBS SportsLine had a piece on Duke and how their legacy (dynasty?) may be changing. For the first time in years, their non-conference schedule isn't very strong (especially compared with that of the rest of the ACC). Some of this is based on prospective players deciding not to play for Duke and current players leaving early, both to play in the NBA (why anybody would want to play there...oh wait, it's the money. NBA sucks!), and some of it is based on the lack of depth of the current squad. Anyway you can read the whole article over at SportsLine. But we Terps fans always knew that Duke sucks. :P

GO TERPS!!!

Terps Now 2-0

In another "easy" win last night, the Terps have improved their early-season record to 2-0. Taking on Mercer at the Comcast Center in College Park, my boys DID show some weakness with 20 turnovers...luckily though they also forced Mercer to make 28 TO's. Nik Caner-Medley, from Maine, lead the squad with 21 points. Last night's match also demonstrated the depth of the entire squad; we had 10 players on the scoreboard including freshman Gist with 10.

Next up, the Terps take on Memphis on Friday night. The game's going to be televised nationally on ESPN2 so be sure to check them out!

GO TERPS!
2004-2005 Record: 2-0
Last game: Terps 93 - Mercer 67
Next up: Memphis @ Terps (26 Nov 04, 9 p.m. ET, televised on ESPN2)

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Miscellaneous Stuff

Did some updates around here today, added a link to a great blog I just found, The College Basketball blog. You want to know college bball, you need to read this blog. It's super-informative for what's going on around the country in the world of college bball.

I also added a link to my photos index, to give y'all an idea of what I look like and what else is going on in my world from a graphical perspective.

More later, maybe...

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Terps Win Season Opener

That's right, Terps fans!
In the men's basketball season opener last night, the 16th-ranked Terrpains of the University of Maryland hosted Jackson State. The game was dominated by the Terps, who won easily, 93-57. For those who don't know what a Terrapin is, you can read about it on the site for my Hattrick team. I made a page specifically devoted to Terrapins.

In other ACC news, University of North Carolina choked in their opener, losing 77-66 to Santa Clara. Come on, UNC was supposed to be #3 in the country. Seems to me like a bit of Dukie Vitale over-hyping.

Other scores from around the ACC (ACC team listed first):
#4 Georgia Tech 74 - Alabama 37
#19 NC State 100 - East Carolina 66
Florida State 71 - Texas South 62
Virginia Tech 81 - Loyola MD 58
Virginia 88 - R Morris 55
Clemson 98 - Hampton 54

GO TERPS!
2004-2005 Record: 1-0
Last game: Terps 93 - Jackson State 57
Next up: Mercer @ Terps (23 Nov 04, 8 p.m. ET)

Thursday, November 18, 2004

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHERINE!

My "little" sister turns 21 today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIDDO!

Saturday, November 13, 2004

T Minus 18 Days

Yep, that's right, T minus 18 days until 12/1/04, the date set for my master's thesis defense. What does this mean? It means I'm completely freaking out about the reality of having to get up in front of a group of people and present my findings from the research I've worked on for the last 3.5 years. It also means that I'm in total panic mode trying to tie up all the loose ends in the drafts of my thesis text and the draft of my presentation.

For those of you so curious, my thesis revolves around determining the dexterity requirements to conduct on-orbit satellite servicing missions with robots. It's interesting enough, I suppose, though I'm really ready to be done with it and to move on...to what, I don't know, but definitely to something.

Alas, in order to try to maximize my productivity, I've sequestered myself for the weekend at my parents' house, the place where I have the fewest distractions. Expect updates here to be sporadic at best until after I've defended. On that note, back to Analysis of Grasp Requirements For Telerobotic Satellite Servicing. Please feel free to send any good vibes my way.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

George RR Martin

George R.R. Martin is the author of the series A Song of Ice & Fire. Currently, only 3 of the books (out of who knows how many) are written...he's been working pretty hard on the 4th book, though it's been a long time coming. He updates his site pretty regularly with updates on the book and what else is going on his life (appearances, travels, etc.). He recently updated his bit about the next book, A Feast For Crows. Hopefully his new inspiration will mean I and all the other GRRM fans will have something new to read in the new year.

Progress

An entry of progress reports...I figured it's been awhile since I updated on my rehab status or on my workout status.

Workouts first. I swam twice last week and plan on doing so again this week. Also as expected, I was at PT twice last week and will be this week. Unfortunately that biking thing just isn't happening yet. Dean, my physical therapist, doesn't yet want me to do more than 10 minutes on the bike. I really can't justify changing, setting up the trainer, then taking it down and changing again for a 10 minute workout. Alas, I'm going wait until he gives me the go-ahead for 30 minutes (at least) before I start riding. I expect it could come soon. Until then, I'm trying to do calesthenics on my "off" days; situps, pushups, leg work as tolerated by my ankle.

PT is going better this week, too. I seem to have finally escaped my slump/depression over lack of progress and general frustration with my ankle. I'm gaining strength in my leg and can finally do a step down of a SHORT step. I guess the next thing to try will be doing a step down from a larger step, though really any step progress is great for me. One day I really would like to be able to take steps like a normal person again instead of one at a time. I'm also getting better at balancing--I'm up to about 10 seconds if my leg is fresh. One thing we've started that I don't particuarly enjoy but is necessary is gait training. That is where I step over a ruler and make a strong point of not throwing my hip. It's hard. It actually requires a lot of focus and energy. But I've noticed myself walking better even "just out in the street" so I'm putting up with the gait training.

Not bad for progress.

Monday, November 08, 2004

Firefox Update

Get Firefox!
FYI to all you Firefox users out there (and those of you not yet converted!):
Firefox 1.0 (full release, not "preview release") will be released tomorrow, 9 November 04.
Join the fold...

Friday, November 05, 2004

"Just keep swimming..."

It's about time that I got my butt working out again. So I started this past Wednesday, with my friend Meghan. We went swimming, and did a good "welcome back to swimming" workout--it has been over two and a half years since my last shoulder surgery, which is when I stopped swimming.

We did a pretty good workout:
2 x 75 yards free; 30 sec. rest after each 75
1 x 100 yards free; 30 sec. rest after 100
1 x 100 yards free kick
2 x 75 yards free; progressive

That means we did 500 yards, or just over 1/4 mile. :)
We went swimming again today, and did the same workout. Next time, we may increase our yardage or at least the distance per set. I'm pretty stoked about working out again, for those who are so curious, this is more or less the plan:
2 x per week swim
3 x per week bike (probably just on the trainer until I get cleared to do anything else)
2 x per week physical therapy

I'll keep you all updated on my workout progress. :P

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

4 More Years of the Bush Regime

This may get me prosecuted because of the Patriot Act, but I'm to a point that I don't care.

I am thoroughly disappointed that George W. Bush won re-election in yesterday's election. I wouldn't be as depressed if I thought that Bush won a campaign of honor and integrity. But no, he won on a campaign of fear and ignorance. He preyed on the biggest fears of Americans in this post-9/11 world and relied on most of the voting populace knowing even less about the issues than he did (which is saying a lot about the ignorance of Americans in general). This is what dictators do. This makes Bush, and let's face it, the REAL president, Dick Cheney, no different than our enemies.

Personally, I'm hoping to get the hell out of this country knowing these election results. Somehow it strikes me that being located just outside of the epicenter of the regime just isn't a safe place to be.

I hope I can get to Australia...

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

VOTE!

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "Somewhere in Texas, a village is missing its idiot." Please, let's let them have their idiot back...

Vote today! Be prepared to stand in line for awhile, though, so maybe bring a book or some music to chill with.

Vote Kerry.