A relaxing Labor Day weekend

I am home in Ann Arbor for Labor Day weekend, and so far, I have been having a really enjoyable time. I've been getting in the workouts, ranging from running along Nixon to Pontiac Trail (about four and a half miles round-trip), to hitting the NCRB at U of M. I have also been decently productive, taking care of diverse errands like buying furniture at Ikea and hitting the Labor Day sale at REI. Last night, I hung out with friends at the Bahama Breeze in Livonia, and this evening, my roommate and I walked downtown to Main Street in Ann Arbor, where we had Sangria and appetizers on the rooftop at Palio. Tomorrow, I plan on hanging out with friends for lunch, and of course, grilling up steaks for dinner.

I hope that everyone enjoys their Labor Day!

The dog days of summer

This past weekend, I drove up to Pennsylvania to visit one of my cousins and her family. I haven't been up to visit her in about a year and a half, so it was good catching up. Her youngest son is eight months old, and I got to meet him for the first time. He's a cutie (aren't most babies?), and he's at that stage where he's almost ready to crawl. One can tell that he really wants to be mobile, but hasn't quite figured out how to do it yet. It's probably just a matter of weeks before he is crawling all over the place.

For Labor Day weekend, I will be heading home to Ann Arbor for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to getting home and hanging out with my friends. I plan on doing some late summer grilling with my roommate, and officially close off the end of summer.

Tuesday musings

I am starting to settle into the new exercise routine, and it is very clear that I have a significant amount of lost ground to make up. I am still at that stage where all the muscles are mildly aching, but they are in much better condition than they were last week. Provided that I keep the workouts consistent, I am hoping that I can get myself back into somewhat decent shape by the end of the year.

This past weekend was a lot of fun. The weather was absolutely beautiful, with sunny days that were not too hot. It was definitely not DC's characteristic weather. On Saturday, I went for a long hike at Great Falls on the Virginia side. On Sunday, I went biking up to Bethesda on the Capital Crescent Trail. It was really fun being out and enjoying the weather.

Fighting the middle-age waistline

For most of this year, my track record at keeping in shape has been pretty dismal. Other than the occasional bike ride, run, or hike, I haven't really been hitting the gym. I recently realized that I needed to focus on getting back in shape. Being in my thirties, it is likely to be increasingly difficult over time to maintain a high level of fitness. One could say it is a peril of "old" age. So based on that, there is no time like the present to start getting back in shape. I have started going to the gym regularly, and I'm at the early stage where everything just gets sore. Where are my twenties when I need them?

It's amazing how busy our lives get, and how difficult it is to find (or make) time to work out. Plus, the motivation level for going to the gym is not particularly high after a long day at work. Let's see how well I keep this up.

A culprit at last ... maybe

Today, the government unveiled its evidence in the case against Dr. Ivins, a scientist at Ft. Detrick. The government says that Dr. Ivins, acting alone, was responsible for the anthrax attacks in 2001. Jeffrey Taylor, a Federal prosecutor in the case, said "We are confident that Dr. Ivins was the only person responsible for the attacks." Of course, the officials in the government were previously confident that Dr. Steven Hatfill was responsible for the attacks, and the government had to pay $4.6 million to settle that case. This time, it's easy to blame Dr. Ivins, who committed suicide after months of intense scrutiny by the FBI, since there's nobody to fight back.

The government's case is highly circumstantial. For example, one of their arguments is that Dr. Ivins failed to give a good answer as to why he was working long hours in the fall of 2001. Quick - do you remember what you were working on the night of September 16, 2001? All of the other evidence presented by the government is equally circumstantial, and while it's theory may be correct, the FBI's track record in this area is not particularly stellar. There is Richard Jewell, the FBI's failures in their crime labs, and their recent attempts to prevent research into their inaccurate DNA statistics. None of these engender confidence in the FBI.

So hopefully, the government is correct, and they identified the right man. But I think that instead, they are just choosing the easy way out.