Panther Family Laser Tag

I have a new addition for my NoVA favorites list:

Panther Family Laser Tag 

& Amusement Center

(website here - yelp reviews here)

We had my eldest son's 9th birthday party there last weekend, and it was AWESOME!  This is a very well-run business.  They have running kid's birthday parties down to a science, and we didn't have to handle any real setup or cleanup afterward.

 

We showed up with a cake we picked up at Wegmans (which was also awesome - but that's a statement of the obvious because absolutely anything that comes out of the Wegmans bakery is awesome).  They had a hostess assigned to give us her full and undivided attention.  Our hostess, Asia, greeted us, went over the sequence of events, and got us set up in one of the party rooms.  

They have Papa John's pizza delivered, and Asia took care of setting out the place settings of paper plates and napkins, served the pizza to the boys, served the drinks, put the candles in the cake, and carried the cake over to ES while leading everyone in singing happy birthday.  She cut the cake and handed out the pieces.  After it was all said and done, she cleaned it all up, too.  Totally low-stress / hassle-free for me and my wife.

Sweaty ES from running around the arena.

We liked this place better than the bouncy-place we had our younger son's birthday party because they provided unlimited drinks here.  Instead of charging us per-bottle, here they provided pitchers of lemonade, water, or pepsi products (sierra mist), and just kept bringing as much as you wanted.

We did the 3-game option (there are 1 or 2 game options).  We played two games, then broke for pizza and cake, then played a third game.  Everyone had a BLAST.  They gave us one free parent pass to play, too, so I went in to play with the boys. 

First, they bring you into a briefing room to watch a well-done and humorous safety video (no running, no lying down, no profanity, etc).  They divide the kids up into three teams - Green, Blue, and Red, and you go into the next room to suit-up.

Green Team SUIT UP!

Of course, I had to take a traditional Blunoz self portrait.

The vest you wear has sensors on the shoulders, front, and back that can get "hit" by the other team's lasers.  Each gun has an ID name on it so you can check your stats on the scoreboard after the game.

After each game, your statistics are shown on a big screen, and they also provide you individual printouts for each player that state how many shots you fired, how many hits you scored, what your accuracy percentage was, etc.

There is also a video monitor for parents to watch what's going on inside the arena.

He-shoots-he-SCOOOOOOORES!

There's a decent variety of video games and air hockey tables to play in the lobby area.

Overall, the boys had a great time, and my younger son said he wants to have his next birthday party here, too.  I look forward to that.  :-)

FY11 CO/XO Screening Board Results

Being selected to become a Commanding Officer (CO) or Executive Officer (XO = second in command) is a significant milestone in the career of a submarine officer. For any non-Navy family/friends who want to learn more or refresh their memory on the career progression of a submarine officer, please read this post.


Just like last year, I've been getting a LOT of hits on my blog lately from people looking for the results of the CO/XO Screening Board that met last week. In previous years, I have posted the results here because I know there are a lot of fellow submariners out there who would like to see the list and wish their former shipmates congratulations, but aren't currently working in a job that gets the "ALSUBFOR" message traffic.

This year, kudos to NAVPERSCOM, they have added a selection board page to the Pers-42 web page, and you can view the FY11 CO/XO Screening Board results in PDF format here.

Congratulations to all who screened for these important career milestones!

Paddle Log #14: Beaver Creek Reservoir

You may recall from our Monocacy River trip a few weeks ago that then-8-year old ES saw another 8-year old paddling his own kayak and decided he would like to have his own, too.  I was excited about this prospect, too, because it will allow me a little more leg room in our tandem kayak than with me and both boys.

I did some research and decided on an Ocean Kayak Frenzy for ES.  The reasons I chose the Frenzy were:

• We are very pleased with our Ocean Kayak Malibu Two XL, and we also enjoyed paddling an Ocean Kayak Peekaboo while we were on vacation on the Big Island.  
• The sit-on-top Ocean Kayaks are VERY stable.  Even when I TRIED to flip it over, it was very hard for me to do.  After I had intentionally flipped it over, it was VERY easy to flip it back upright again.
• After flipping it back upright, it was easy to climb back in and there was no bailing necessary.  There are scupper holes that allow the water to drain.
• It has positive reviews on various websites like ACK and REI.  
• It's a nice balance of cost and quality.  It's toward the bottom end of the price range compared to other more fancy kayaks with all sorts of fishing gear and rudders and hatches and cup holders.  At the other end of the spectrum, I noted negative comments in user reviews for other less expensive kayaks about poor construction and stuff breaking.

Last weekend, we picked up an Ocean Kayak Frenzy from the Dulles EMS.  That's where we bought our Ocean Kayak Malibu Two XL last year, and I have been very pleased with how helpful the staff is there, and with their prices.  They were having a big sale last weekend, so we went ahead and made the purchase.

ES and I were both very excited to get out on the water and let him try his new kayak.  At the same time, I was also cautious about going out our first time.  Just like the first time we took the Malibu Two out, I wanted to go someplace with calm, flat water just to test it out, so we went back to the Beaver Creek Reservoir over off of Belmont Ridge Road. 


It was HOT out, too.  It started out about 77F when we arrived at the waterfront about 9 a.m. and had climbed to 90F by the time I got off the water at 1 p.m.

First, the boys and I went for a short paddle across the reservoir and back just to try out ES's new kayak.  One of the selling points for ES on the Monocacy River trip was he saw the family that was with us had a tow line.  When the 8-year old got tired of paddling they just hitched him up on the tow line and pulled him along.  When we bought the Frenzy for ES, we also bought a tow-line, and we tested it out.

Testing the Tow Line

My son complained about the Frenzy being difficult to paddle and steer.  I thought it was just growing pains of him getting used to paddling on his own instead of me doing most of the work.  I found out later I was wrong, but I'll get to that in just a moment.

New must-have for future kayaking trips with the boys:  Waterproof notepad for drawing pictures.  As we enjoyed the peace and scenery along the other side of the reservoir, 6-year old YB drew pictures of what he saw.  It was a great way to keep him occupied and involved today.

 A VERY fitting picture for the first page of this notepad.

Turtle and a pair of dragonflies.

Happy Daddy and a tally of things YB saw today.

After we paddled around for a bit, saw lots of fish jumping out of the water, saw two turtles, and generally enjoyed the peace and tweeting birds in the background, we headed back in to the dock.  I had my wife pick up the boys to take them home.  A friend and his son wanted to try out kayaking, so I had them come down and paddle around for a bit to give it a try.  After they were done, I wanted to see what the Frenzy was like.

 Paddling in the Frenzy

Oh boy.  (Not a good "oh boy" mind you.)

The Frenzy was a big swing-and-a-miss.

I almost immediately realized how frustrated ES must have been when he was trying to paddle.  When comparing different models of kayaks, you will hear the term "tracking" used to describe a kayak's ability to stay on course or move in a straight line.  Well, the Frenzy had the tracking ability of an inner tube.  It required continuous effort to keep the bow pointed in the direction I wanted to go.

Our Malibu Two XL has excellent tracking.  I can stop paddling, pick up my camera, take a picture, put the camera back down, pick up my paddle again, resume paddling, and all that time the kayak will have continued to glide along the same direction it was going when I put my paddle down.

Not so with the Frenzy.  If I put my paddle down to take a picture, by the time I picked my camera up, the bow would have swung 90 degrees off to one side or the other.  With each stroke, the bow swung wildly in the direction of the stroke.

Z. E. R. O. tracking.  None.  Nada.  Zip.  Nil.

I feel bad I didn't listen to ES when he was paddling and just chalked it up to his experience level paddling solo.  After I got home, I washed off the Frenzy and took it back to EMS.  The staff at EMS were very understanding.  They had told me if we tried it and didn't like it that we could bring it back.  We are researching a better kayak for ES now.

In spite of how difficult it was to keep on course, I did enjoy a paddle down to the southern end of the reservoir and back.  I went 2.83 miles in 57 minutes.  It was quite a workout though because I had to continuously paddle to keep on course.  (Aside: That would also be why I only have one photograph to share from my solo paddling in the Frenzy.)  On the way southbound, I was paddling into a light breeze which kept me cool.  Coming back though, I was going with the direction of the wind and the air seemed stagnant around me.  I was pretty overheated by the time I got back.

Stats for the paddle log:

Stats at the end of paddling with the boys.

• Date: 31 May 2010
• Time In with the boys: 9:30 a.m. (approx)
  
• Time Out with the boys: 10:30 a.m. (approx)
  
• Elapsed: ~58 minutes
• Moving Time (GPS):  51 minutes
  Stopped Time (GPS):  17 minutes
• Mileage: 1.3 miles by GPS 
• Avg Speed (GPS):   1.5 mph
  
• Max Speed by (GPS):   3.6 mph

• 
  
  
  Stats at the end of paddling solo.

• Time In solo: noon (approx)
  
• Time Out solo: 1:00 p.m. (approx)
  
• Elapsed: 58 minutes
• Moving Time (GPS):  56 minutes
  Stopped Time (GPS):  2 minutes
• Mileage: 2.8 miles by GPS
• Avg Speed (GPS):   3.1 mph
  
• Max Speed by (GPS):   4.3 mph

• Sea State: 0
• Winds: 0-5 kts S
• Air Temp: 77F at 0900 climbing to 90F at 1300.  It was fairly humid, too.
• Water Temp: 75-80F
• 
  
  
  Call me a geek, but I tried out two methods of measuring the water temperature today.  The conductive thermometer said it was 80F.  The infra-red thermometer I use for checking the temperature of my car engine said it was 75F.  Either way, the water was pretty nice today.
   
• Current:   none
• Gauge Height:  N/A
• Rapids?  None. 
• Hazards?  None.
  
• Kit: Our Ocean Kayak Malibu Two XL and paddles. Flop hat & sunglasses.  NRS paddling gloves. Long sleeve shirt, swim trunks, Keen sandals.
• Configuration: I sat in the back seat, YB in the front.
• Route:  With the boys, we went directly west across the reservoir and back.  During my solo paddle, I went down to the southern tip of the reservoir and back again.  This is the second time my Garmin Forerunner has messed up and combined different data sets.  When I started the first paddle with the boys, I had most definitely reset the Forerunner and started with a trip counter of 0.0.  Yet, viewing it on Garmin Connect, it combined that trip with the previous bike ride I did with YB, so the map is all screwy.  I reset the Forerunner again before I started my solo paddle, and that turned out okay on Garmin Connect.  
  
• Other comments (such as wildlife spotted):Turtles, fish jumping out of the water, dragonflies.  Heard a lot of birds, but didn't see any.

Sixteen

Wow the last year has gone by fast.  It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I wrote this post.  Thanks to the military pay scales, there are longevity pay raises every two years of service, so there is a nice pay-raise for me this year.

My career certainly has had its ups and downs, but looking back I feel tremedously blessed in the rich variety of experiences I have had.  I have said before, and I still believe, that both the good and the bad periods and events of my career have provided me with valuable learning experiences.  Although I would never wish the bad experiences on anyone and would not want to relive them, I am glad to have them under my belt and hope the wisdom I gained through them will help me to be a better naval officer, leader, husband, and father (not necessarily in that order). 

I've had the priviledge to serve with many very smart and talented shipmates in the last sixteen years, and many have had long-lasting impacts on me.  They will pop into my mind whenever someone mentions a key word or place or a song I hear.  For all of you who have served with me, I am thankful for our time together and for what you have taught me along the way.

Thank You Commuter Connections!

Dear Commuter Connections,

THANK YOU!

I know I had some harsh words for you last time I tried to use your service.  However, after 19 months of commuting to work via bus here in the DC area, I finally had an occasion when I needed to go home in the middle of the day.  As I dialed the phone number for the Guaranteed Ride Home program, I was skeptic about the program actually pulling through for me.  I expected red-tape and excuses why my situation was unique and somehow didn't qualify for the service.

I was wrong. 

Not only was I wrong, I was even impressed by how helpful the operator was.  She asked for my Commuter Connections ID number.  I hadn't the foggiest idea what my ID number was.  She very kindly said that was okay, she would look it up by my name.  I told her my name, and she rattled off the street address of my office building for confirmation. 

Then she said my registration had expired. 

Doh.  (Pregnant pause - waiting for her to tell me I'm out of luck.)

Again, she very kindly said that was okay, she re-registered me on the spot and said a new card would be coming in the mail. 

Ten minutes later, I walked out the front door of my building right as a red-top cab pulled up to the curb.  The fare from Crystal City out to Ashburn was just over $70.  The cab driver just had me sign a slip of paper when he dropped me off at my car, and I was on my way.  

I'm grateful.

Thank you for a hassle-free experience and for getting me a very timely and free ride home.

Sincerely,
Kevin

For those in the DC area:  If you commute to work via public transit in the DC area, then Commuter Connections will pay for your cab fare home up to 4 times per year in the event of family emergencies that require you to go home when buses aren't running.  Don't believe their claim that they will offer you a free ride home in the event of unscheduled overtime, because you have to schedule that in advance (so much for the unscheduled part).  However, in the event you have a family emergency or sickness and you need to get home in the middle of the day, the Guaranteed Ride Home program is there for you.

Oh, and if you already registered for GRH when you first got here to DC over a year ago like me, then you might want to go back and renew your registration.

Frivolous Lawsuits Vol 4

Wow.

I learned a new legal term today.  I don't say "wow" because my legal vocabulary is so extraordinary that it would be unusual for me to learn a new legal term.  I say "wow" because it blows my mind that you can sue someone for this.

Case in point:

So lemme get this straight...

You agreed to go on this reality TV show, correct?

Yes.

You knew you were going to be filmed and put on national TV, right?

Yes.

You drank a hefty amount of alcohol?

Yes.

You made a fool of yourself in front of the cameras?

Yes.

Aaaaaand now you think MTV should pay you $5 million fooooooor... what exactly?

Invasion of privacy under the "false light" tort.

Wait, but you agreed to be on the show, correct?

Yes.

You knew they were going to film you and put you on national TV, correct?

Yes.

So somehow it's MTV's fault that you drank too much and behaved poorly in front of the camera???

[Cricket's chirping]

I was pretty darn sure the high-paid lawyers who work for the networks would have put some sort of silly legal disclaimer in the contract about, "If I act like a dumbass in front of the camera, it's my own darned fault and I can't sue the network because it's not their fault that I'm a dumbass."

Then I looked up "false light" on wikipedia.  This part blows my mind:

False light differs from defamation primarily in being intended "to protect the plaintiff's mental or emotional well-being" rather than protect a plaintiff's reputation as is the case with the tort of defamation^[1] and in being about the impression created rather than being about true or false.

So you can't sue them for defamation because (a) it's TRUE that you drank too much and acted like an idiot in front of the camera on national TV, and (b) you're not trying to protect your reputation.  However, you CAN sue them for showing the world that you ARE an idiot and because it adversely impacted your emotional well-being???  

I can imagine some circumstances in which I've done something dumb, but figured nobody needed to know, and if someone published or broadcast it then I would be upset that everyone knew I was an idiot.  In this case though, you AGREED to go on TELEVISION.  You VOLUNTEERED for them to broadcast your behavior to the world - good or bad, so if you behaved badly, then it's your own darn fault!!!

I suppose I should just feel glad that if I ever do make a fool of myself in public, I can sue people for publicizing my stupidity and affecting my emotional well being.   Ahhh, the American legal system! :-)

Mark your calendars: Nat'l Wildlife Federation Geocaching Event

For folks in the DC area, here's another thing to get you out of your house next Saturday, 15 May.  (Don't worry, the Loudoun County Farm Tour is 15 AND 16 May, so you CAN do BOTH events).

Buccaneer Anna's Treasure Chest, 

a geocache we found in 2006. 

(YB is making an "Argh!" pirate face.)

Ever heard of geocaching?  If you're not sure what geocaching is and/or you would like to learn more, here are two ways to find out:

1.  Watch this simple introduction video from the geocaching website.



2.  Come out and give it a try next Saturday in Reston.  (Note - volunteers will bring their own GPS receivers next Saturday, you DON'T have to go buy a GPS receiver to attend the event.)

Cross-posted from the NoVAGO forum:

The National Wildlife Federation is beginning a new educational geocache program. They are beginning on May 15th with an event in Reston, VA.

Geocache with the whole family on May 15th!

Grab your GPS, and venture out for a fun day of WILD treasure hunting in Reston with Ranger Rick® and his pals.

Where: Walker Nature Education Center

When:  11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
(Cachers will set out every 15 min., starting at 11:15)

Who: Families with kids, ages 6-14
or anyone interested in helping and/or loaning a GPS unit to
those new to geocaching (pairing up is welcome)

Why: National Wildlife Federation is working on a new initiative to get families outdoors through geocaching. And we need your help!

Please join us Saturday, May 15th, as we embark on this adventure.
We greatly value your participation and feedback.

Please RSVP to sign up for a start time or lend a GPS:
Contact Megan Isom: phone 908-797-2561 or email isomm (at) nwf.org
Or Danielle Brigida: brigidad (at) nwf.org

Please RSVP with the number in your party and a preferred start time.

NOTE: The event cache is posted on geocaching.com and NoVAGO.
Traditional geocaching rules will apply, including bringing items to trade (with the
exception of trackables). CITO is also encouraged. (CITO = Cache-In-Trash-Out)

The boys with the Stonedam Island geocache in New Hampshire.