AAARRRRRGGGGGH!!!!!

That is all.

Back to Work

Well, my vacation is over and I have to be at work in about 9 hours. I had a grand total of 14 weeks off. While I was off, I visited St. Louis, New Orleans, Austin (twice), New York City, Denver, Various cities in Connecticut, and Philadelphia (and area). It's been a fantastic break, but I'm can't say I'm looking forward to working again. Here's hoping I enjoy it more than I did before. Time will tell.

The Fourth in Philadelphia

2nd of July Fireworks
Originally uploaded by qortez.

I decided to spend the 4th of July in Philadelphia this year. Unfortunately, I decided this 2 weeks or so before the 4th. Fortunately, I was able to use my frequent flyer miles. Doing so made me go out there for just over a week. Luckily, I had a fantastic time.

Things I did (in no particular order):

I went to the Adventure Aquarium in New Jersey (just across the river). I took a lot of pictures there. It was a neat place.

I did the obligatory visit to the Liberty Bell. I even tried to get a picture of it that looked like bigfoot.

I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Due to the Live 8 concert happening the next day, I was unable to do the Rocky thing on the stairs. Oh well, I'm probably too out of shape for that anyway. I didn't spend a whole lot of time browsing the museum, because there was a bit of a concert going on inside. It was rather enjoyable.

I briefly stopped by the Live 8 concert. I didn't feel like messing with the crowds on a rather hot day, so I didn't stick around for long.

I also caught a rather good fireworks show on the 2nd. Many pictures from that.

There was also an obligatory eating of a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. I must say it was very tasty.

There was a 4th of July parade, with some interesting folks in it.

I took some time to try and take pictures of some fireflies. Which happens to be rather difficult.

There was a near visit to the USS Cole, but the line was as long as the ship itself (3 hours, by some accounts), so I decided not to do that. I did visit the Battleship New Jersey, though. It was quite interesting.

I did other stuff, too, but don't feel like writing about it.

And through it all, my wonderful hostess didn't get totally sick of me (to my knowledge).

All my pictures, here.

I finally got my car back!

It's only been 35 or 36 days (I dropped it off May 31st). Granted, it was finally completed on June 30th, but I was out of town until today.

It's about damn time. I had to get used to driving all over again.