A Grand Year

2015 was the year of the bike for me.  I really fell in love with cycling this past year and I'm pretty sure it's a love that is going to last a lifetime.  I started the year off with a goal of doing 300 miles in the year and by July I had hit my goal.  So I upped my goal, bought a new bike and put the pedal(s) down.  I ended the year at a total of 1,022 miles!

I started off this year by riding right around my birthday.  March 17 ended up being unseasonably warm, well maybe not unseasonably, since here in NC it's not that unusual for a 70 degree March day.  Steve and I had a great ride through Umstead Park and it was a great way to celebrate my b-day.

Birthday ride

 After my birthday ride, I didn't ride again until May 6th.  I've never been a winter rider.  In fact if the weather was basically perfect I didn't really ride.  This year I'm working on changing that.  I want to be able to ride in any condition.

Crank Arm Group ride

I somehow skipped riding in April and didn't start again until May.  That's when Steve and I did our first Crank Arm Brewery ride.  It was my first group ride and actually a lot of fun.  The rides are on Wednesday in the evening after work and I've got to meet some cool people and hang out at what has become my favorite Raleigh brewery.

A cemetery with a grocery store built around it. Odd.

 Once June hit I really started going down the rabbit hole of biking.  I started riding 3 or 4 times a week and for longer distance.  When I went out to Seattle over the summer I had one thing on my list of things to: bike.

A Seattle rental ride.

 In July I had my first wreck.  Wet trail, a curve and too much speed are a bad combination.  It was a short ride to Lowe's that turned into a bit of a bloody mess.  The people at Lowe's must have been wondering where the hell I came from.  I knew getting into cycling that this was going to happen eventually, especially considering my tendency to be somewhat accident prone.  But even on that day, I wasn't going to let a little blood stop me from my riding.  I kept up the rides, adding in little runs like to the bank, the grocery store or anywhere else I could ride instead of drive.

My first bike crash.

 July also marked my longest ride of the year.  Steve and I did just over 52 miles down to Deep River Brewery in Clayton.  It was an amazing summer day, pretty damn hot too but the long country trails along the Neuse River made for some gorgeous scenery.   

White picket fences and country trails.

 In the last days of July I made a trip up to NYC to see a friend and meet up with Steve.  Once again I was

An Epic Saturday

On the last Saturday of June I had the opportunity to get a sneak peak at a new video game being produced by a local video game company right here in Cary.  I've driven past Epic Games hundreds of times.  I've seen it in the movies (Iron Man 3) and I've always wanted to get inside and check it out.  I finally got the chance and it was a really cool experience.

The game, Fortnite, is a PC based game where your goal is to stop monsters from destroying your fort.  I've never been a PC game player and I felt nervous going in to play with a bunch of people who have years of experience playing on a computer.  Fortunately I know my way around computers and the game was pretty easy to pick up. 

While I was there I got to talk with a few of the people who work there and eat a few slider burgers that they had for us for lunch.  The people were very cool and the afternoon was great.  When it was all over I had a big smile on my face and really didn't want to leave.  Hopefully I'll be able to get back in there soon.

A Funny Friday

Friday night my wife and I, along with two of our friends, went out to Charlie Goodnight's Comedy Club here in Raleigh.  We went to the early show to see Dana Gould because I had gotten four free passes through their email list.

The show was great.  The two openers were funny and Dana had me laughing out loud so much I worried I might be too loud.  Seeing live comedy is great because it allows you to feel the energy of the room and seems to make the jokes even funnier.  I always wanted to be a standup comic but I recognize how much work and sacrifice it would take.  The travel alone would be insane. 

So while the comedians were funny and the four of us had a great time, the highlight of the night for me came while I was in the bathroom.(That's an odd sentence to type)  You see I had to run to the bathroom during one of the opening performers set and I had a chance encounter with the star of the show.

Here's how the conversation went:

Me: "Oh, hey, Dana.  Looking forward to a good show tonight."

Dana (drying his hands at the papertowl holder): "God willing."

Me (pausing before I got to the urinal): "I guess this is a weird place to have a conversation."

Dana (starting to walk out): "Yeah, well it would have been a lot weirder 45 seconds ago."

And that is why he is a professional comedian.

A Memorable Memorial Day

I was lucky enough to have my sister come and visit us from D.C. this weekend in what is becoming a wonderful yearly tradition.  Kelly and I really enjoy spending time with Roseann.  Our dogs enjoy spending time with their doggy-cousin Bella. 

We used the extended weekend to spend lots of time hanging around the house and eating a bunch of delicious meals.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous for sitting outside and for our impromptu bbq we had on Sunday.  We throw some cornhole, had a fire and listened to some great tunes. 

We did make it to downtown Raleigh on Saturday so that I could take my sister to the new Clyde Cooper's Barbeque restaurant.  Cooper's got kicked out of their old building and moved around the corner to a new building but the bbq remains outstanding.  If we ever move from NC, the bbq will be the thing I miss the most. 

After our lunch we walked around downtown and met some people dressed in costumes.  I saw the Batman's nemisis the Riddler eating at a Subway.  It was odd but I really didn't think much of it.  They were attending something going on at the convention center and were all nice people to chat with for a few moments.  It was funny to see the other people downtown who aren't so accustom to seeing different people stare and wonder what was going on.

We never made it out at night to play pool but we did play some Rock Band on Xbox and had a great time.  Sorry no videos of that allowed on the world wide web but that's for your ears protection.  

Kelly and Roseann also had fun cooking their tradition of making Indian food on Memorial Day.  It's the second year in a row we've eaten butter chicken for our holiday meal.  Why?  Because it tastes good.

All in all it was a great visit and I wish it could have lasted a lot longer but it will be September soon and we've got a whole week at the beach planned.   And lots of fun stuff in between. 

New Building, New Blog

The N&O building where I am now working.

Hey look who remembered how to type words into a computer and put a blog post up.  Since this is my first post since February, you can say I've been lacking.  It's a big difference from when I was blogging daily while traveling on Semester at Sea but life isn't exactly as exciting as those days.

That's not to say there haven't been exciting times in the Budday household.  Kel and I have been going to concerts, socializing with friends and enjoying our time with our furry children.  I just haven't been writing about it.  My bad.

I just had to recently the domain that redirects to this blog and since I'm cheap and hate wasting money I figure it's time to get back into writing, even if it's not as exciting as world traveling. 

The big news for me lately is that my company has moved locations and I've gone from working in a suburban, lifeless office park to the hustle and bustle of downtown Raleigh.  I wasn't too keen on my commute getting about 10 minutes longer but the perks of being here far outnumber the extra time in the car.  There is an energy downtown that you just don't get in an office park.  Seeing a constant barrage of new faces walking down the street, events happening a few blocks away and amazing restaurants all around, these are the perks of working downtown.

So that's it for now but I promise not to take 3 months to blog again.  I do now have a backlog of pictures to share and stories to tell.

Waiting is the hardest part

"When you go to court, you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty." - Norm Crosby

When you go into court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/norm_crosby.html#ErQZ3LDxhDAEZIKj.99

When you go into court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/norm_crosby.html#ErQZ3LDxhDAEZIKj.99

When you go into court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/norm_crosby.html#ErQZ3LDxhDAEZIKj.99

When you go into court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/norm_crosby.html#ErQZ3LDxhDAEZIKj.99

Every time the subject of jury duty comes up I'm always reminded of the above quote.  Yesterday my number finally came up and I was called for jury "service."  The day was filled with waiting around but being able to observe the process was quite interesting.

I made my way into a cloudy downtown Raleigh around 8 a.m.  In many cities that would mean crazy rush-hour traffic but here in Raleigh the traffic is basically nonexistent.   After I parked and walked over to the new courthouse building and checked in the day of waiting began.  A little after 9 all of us there for jury duty were given our oath and made to watch a video explaining the legal process.  Having watched years of Law & Order there really wasn't any new information, though the bad acting was entertaining. 

A few more hours of waiting around in a large holding room and we were finally called to the courtroom by the judge.  Of the 37 potential jurors, 13 were picked to serve, 12 jurors and one alternate.  The judge excused 15 people for various reasons from health concerns, family/business obligations and a few for cause.  Cause ranged from one kid being the son of a district attorney to others who did service work in the area where the incident took place.  That left 10 people, myself included, who were never called for questioning and allowed to go around 4 p.m.

While interesting it seemed like a lot of time is wasted asking the same questions over and over.  I can't help but think some technology could save lots of time.  The thing that takes the longest is the questioning of the people in the jury box.  I understand the lawyers are working to strengthen their case but it's just so repetitive.  Specifically once they start excusing people for cause.  They end up with 10 jurors and then just keep calling people to fill the last few spots and rehashing the same questions.

The questions were pretty simple: Where do you live in the county?  What do you do?  What does your family do?  Do you trust police?  Do you watch CSI type shows?  And this case was an assault charge so a few questions about knives.   The defense was claiming self-defense so I'm sort of glad I didn't have to serve.  I know the importance of being a juror but there is also a lot of pressure.  The decision rendered by the jury could either send an innocent man to jail or let a violent man out on the streets.

Despite the periods of boredom, it was an interesting day.  And being downtown for lunch allowed me to make one last trip to Cooper's BBQ before it moves locations and they demolition the historic building to build more condos.  It's sad to lose the history of the building but as long as they keep making delicious pulled pork I'll follow them anywhere.

That was RAD

I really don't enjoy getting up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday but if I could volunteer for the Color Me Rad Run every Saturday, like we did today, I might be okay with the early wake-up time.

My wife and I volunteered this morning for the Raleigh RAD run, which benefited the Special Olympics of North Carolina, and we had a rad time.  The sold-out event was at the Time Warner Pavilion and after we arrive at 7 a.m. we were assigned to the liquid-color station.  The event is a 5 K run where the runners are bombarded with colored corn starch throughout the run and at the finish.  When the runners are done they look like they just ran through a rainbow carwash.

There was a lot of excitement amount the group of volunteers.  Most of the other volunteers were volunteering through N.C. State and they were nice kids.  I say kids now because they really do seem young to me now.  Oh where has the time gone.  But back to the run, we had to drive around to the different stations to unload supplies from the converted moving trucks.  Although I think our truck used to haul onions because it really smelled funky.

Our job was to use our spray-packs to douse the runners in green as they passed our station along the course.  The packs totally looked and felt like something right out of Ghostbusters.  We were the last station so many runners came through colorful already.  Those that didn't have enough color were our primary targets.  I had to chase down a few to make sure they were covered.  I even snuck up on a few people after they thought they had passed.  Everyone was having a great time and enjoying the fun atmosphere of the event.

It looked like all the runners had a good time and I know I did.  One thing I'm sure of is that we plan to volunteer the next time they come through town.  As they say, "tis better to give than receive."