Iowa Softball and Rebuilding Together

Iowa Softball
We did it!  We won the first ever softball game in the CAN league for the University of Iowa!  We won 16-10 over the University of Texas!  Granted they had 2 automatic outs in their lineup and played only 8 people in the field, but we still went out and won the game!  I hit much better this game with 3 solid hits in 3 at bats.  Unfortunately, one time I fell running the bases.  I was coming to 2nd base when I hit the ball over the outfielders' heads.  My right foot planted hard on the bag to make the turn to 3rd base.  When my right foot planted on the bag, the bag slipped out from under me.  The bag was not fastened to anything on the ground.  I fell to the ground scraping up my leg.  The injury wasn't too bad.  What hurt most was my pride.

Texas At-Bat with Iowa in the Field

Rebuilding Together
On Saturday, April 26th, Bethany Lutheran Church participated in Rebuilding Together.  We went to a lady's house in Lorton, VA to help here out.  She is divorced with her grown children living in Baltimore.  She had a stroke about 5 years ago.  She needs to walk around with a walker.  The projects completed included fixing a wooden fence gate, replacing fence boards, painting a room, removing caulk from 3 windows, caulking 3 windows, caulking a sidewalk, water sealing a wooden fence, installing railings on the steps inside, and staining the railings.  I was heavily involved with removing the caulk from 3 windows, caulking the 3 windows, water sealing the wooden fence, and staining the railing.  This was the first time I have ever stained wood, caulked, or water sealed wood.  Lunch was provided to us by Bethany Lutheran Church on site.  It was fun!

Mt. Vernon Trail Bike Ride and Examiner's Answer

Mt. Vernon Trail Bike Ride

On Sunday, April 13th, my roommate, Jon, and I went for an afternoon bike ride on the Mt. Vernon Trail.  A google map of the trail can be found here.  The trail is about 18 miles long.  The trail follows the Virginia Potomac River shoreline from George Washington's Estate at Mt. Vernon to Theodore Roosevelt Island.  The part of the trail we rode was from Old Town Alexandria to George Washington's Estate at Mt. Vernon.  The day was beautiful with temperatures in the high 70s with a light, refreshing breeze.  You could hear the waves of the Potomac River hitting the shore.  The smell of grilling slid past our noses when we biked past recreational areas.  The path was not as flat as many bike paths I have ridden.  After the last hill climb, I could feel my heart pounding, I can't remember the last time that happened to me on a bike ride.  While Jon and I waited at George Washington's Estate at Mt. Vernon, I saw a man wearing a RAGBRAI biking shirt.  We started talking about RAGBRAI.  He loved it and plans on doing it again someday.  He said RAGBRAI is so much better than other states' bike trips across their state.  After a riding day in the other states' bike trips, people just go to their little area to read a book or stay by themselves.  This is almost the polar opposite of RAGBRAI, which is part of the reason he is why is drawn to RAGBRAI.  Eventually, Jon and I biked back home.  The total trip was about 23 miles. Overall the trip was tiring, but enjoyable for me.

Examiner's Answer
Last biweek, I wrote my first Examiner's Answer.  In the process of obtaining a patent, a claim or claims of the applicant may be twice rejected by the Patent Office through the Patent Examiner (e.g. me).  When a claim or claims is twice rejected, the applicant can appeal the case to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board).  When the applicant appeals and wants the case decided by the Board, the applicant submits an appeal brief stating why the Patent Office erred in its analysis and thus the rejection be removed from the application.  In which case, the application will be become a patent.  After the appeal brief is filed, the Patent Office may decide to send the case to Board, in which case the Patent Examiner in the case writes an Examiner's Answer (basically a brief by the Patent Office stating why the rejection on the record is correct, thus no patent is to be granted in the application) in response to the applicants appeal brief.  In one of my cases, I wrote such an Examiner's Answer.  It will be exciting to see if I am affirmed or reversed.  The decision will probably take awhile as the current time to get a decision from the Board is about 2 years.

Iowa Softball and Cherry Blossom Festival

Sorry for the long amount of time since my last blog post.  There has not been many items for me to blog about that I would like to see on this blog since my last post.

Iowa Softball
The Capital Area Iowa Club has a softball team in the Capital Alumni Network (CAN) league.  More information about the league can be found here.  I am a member of the Capital Area Iowa Club softball team.

We played our first game against Purdue on Tuesday, April 8th.  The game was played right next to the Washington Monument on the National Mall in downtown Washington DC.  It was fun to play softball in that location.  All of the people on the Iowa team were decked out in their Iowa gear.  We lost the game 11-7.  There were many throwing errors committed our team.  Also our offense was stagnant at times.  I was partly to blame.  I need to do some practicing before the games.  Afterwards the team went to Exchange (a bar) near where we played.  Our next game is Thursday, April 24th against Texas.  Next time I will try to get a picture.

Cherry Blossom Festival
The cherry blossoms were at peak bloom Friday and this weekend.  So I went to the Cherry Blossom Festival near the Tidal Basin in Washington DC on Friday.  The weather could not be any better to enjoy the day (i.e. 75 degrees F and sunny).  There were a ton of people by the Tidal Basin where many of the cherry blossoms were located.  I am glad I was not there over the weekend where it will be packed even more than Friday!  Unfortunately there were no cherry pie or cherry cobbler at the Cherry Blossom Festival.  :-(

Cherry Blossoms and Washington Monument

Cherry Blossoms and Washington Monument