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Jerry-Rigged Engineering

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter and as much fun as I did this weekend!

The boat modifications I was working on last week are just about done at this point and the kayak is just about ready to be put on the truck Wednesday to start way down to Miami. One of the things I did to it was to use some marine epoxy to attach fasteners inside the cockpit. These are going to serve as contact points to tether loose gear to. I also placed four on the underside of the bow deck to hang a mesh "gear hammock" which will be connected with short sections of bungee and small carabiners. It even has 4 pockets to keep things separated and from sliding around. If this sounds confusing its probably because it is. Everyone I've tried to explain this to has looked at me like I have 8 heads. I think its rather ingenious though and is going to work perfectly as an alternative to my deck bag. I plan on using it to hold smaller, waterproof objects (sunscreen, sunglasses, a nice piece of fruit or even my phone (in its WP case of course) close at hand. I'll try to post some pictures so its clearer what exactly I'm talking about.

Speaking of pictures all the trip pictures are going to be hosted by Flickr (go figure). They have a great, free service whereby you can email a picture from your mobile phone to a specially designated address and they will post it directly in your section of online photos. The link for those is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24472130@N06/

And now for something totally unrelated to the trip:
I had a good, good friend pass through town this weekend; he just happened to be traveling from Colorado to Mexico via Maryland. Is it ironic or just unfortunate that there is often a dilemma when it comes to being both a socially responsible traveler and a poor college(ish) stud(ent)? Anyhow, he was able to pull some strings with an old high school friend who now works for the Washington Nationals and get us a tour or their brand new stadium. Its the only new stadium opening in the majors this year and it means that the Nats wont have to play in should-be-condemned RFK any longer. The new place is nicccccceeee - pretty much as soon as your ticket is scanned you have amazing views of the field no matter where you are inside the park. Most people will enter through the main gate in left-center field onto a mezzanine that looks over the sunken field. There's also not a wall between the seats and concessions, meaning that when you get up to get a dog or hit the head you don't have to watch the game on a TV. Although if you wanted to you could: this place is filled with Sony Bravias galore. They were all being installed as we picked our way under the scaffolding and around still wet cement.
Although, the coolest part just might be two rows of special seats that they call the Red Loft and which will remind Red Sox Nation of their seats atop the monster. Not only are they cushions and backs padded with a luxurious pleather but each pair is seperated by a small table (where the SERVERS will place your food) and have more leg room then an Emergency Exit Row. Also, on this level, which accommodates only these maybe 50 seats, is a gorgeous, long bar. This section was not designed with nuns and school children in mind.
Granted, its still not as cool as Camden Yards but it is nice enough that I'm sure it will steal away some of those swing-fans from the region who continue to give up on the Baby Birds.

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