I figured I should post something in July before an entire calendar month goes by without any activity here at all. One more reason for me to feel like something needs to change with this, somehow making it more condusive for me to post.

Let's see.... My July So Far, By Mouser

Nina and I attempted to climb Blanca peak in Colorado (14,435'), but I got a stress fracture in my foot right at the beginning of the hike and we only made it to the ridge crest where the trail drops back down to the stream for the first time. We camped there for the night (which was lovely) and returned to the truck in the morning. I did get to use my truck on the rough 4WD road leading to Como Lake, and made it as far as Robin had made it during out trip in March. Frustrated as hell about not making it farther though.

I've joined a Search & Rescue team that Mark is on, and I'm really enjoying it. I can't go on the actual missions yet because I haven't gotten my PACE certification yet. What a waste that is...

We had the Atomic Blast ultimate tournament down in White Rock and our team played really well despite not winning any games. I only got to play for one day because on Sunday I left for San Diego.

San Diego was awesome. SAIC seems like a company I could see myself working for, and they actually use people with my skills. I reignited a long-lost love of swimming in the ocean. Saw an aircraft carrier (CVN-74). Enjoyed the weather. Possible future home?

Had another orienteering meet wherein Nina and I came in second on the hardest course, second to Blake the ultramarathoner of course. The August meet will be organized by yours truly; wish me luck!

Just this past weekend, I traveled to Long Island to meet Nina's extended family at their annual "cousins party." Nina and I convinced Bean and Jules to come down from Boston and join us there, so I had someone to talk to other than old Italian guys. The much-hyped bocci ball skills of the cousins turned out to be not so hot, and our team came in second in the tournament despite having one first-timer on our team. The rest of the weekend was spent listening to Nina be violently hostile towards her mother, which bugged me a lot. I went over to MIT for a couple hours before our plane left yesterday to try to contact Aditi and Mikkel, but Aditi was out of town so Mikkel and I hung out for a bit. All-in-all, I had a reasonable time but I wouldn't say it was worth the $350+ plane ticket.