2011 Metrics: Reading

I read 54 books during 2011, down from my totals the last few years, but not drastically so. In fact, I think a prime reason for the lower number was the fact that I read all five of the novels that make up George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire collection. These thick novels took up nearly two months of reading time this year; they are long but ultimately satisfying reads.

I also dove back into the 20 novels of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series this year. I started at the end of August with Master and Commander. As we start 2012, I am about to finish The Hundred Days, the 19th in the series. I am reading this series straight through, without leaving O'Brian's 19th-Century. I've done this before and have read some of these novels three or four times. I still thoroughly enjoy them.

Of the rest of the books I read this year, only one was non-fiction - Bob Woodward's Obama's Wars.

though I am happy to say I own the entire Aubrey/Maturin series, most of the rest of what I read this past year were from the Lewes Public Library. I remain a strong supporter of my library.

I also read two books by relatives in 2011. My nephew, whose nom de plume/guerre is Magpie Killjoy, wrote an interactive novel called What Lies Beneath the Clock Tower.

Descend into the depths of the undercity and embroil yourself in the political struggles of colonialist gnomes and indigenous goblins. Fly in air balloons, drink mysterious and pleasant cocktails, smoke opium with the dregs of gnomish society. Or dream and speak of liberation for all the races. Fall in love and abscond into the caverns. It's up to you, because this is an adventure of your own choosing.

And my fifth cousin's wife, Donna Gruber Adair, wrote a slightly fictionalized  account of the westward movement of Benjamin Adair, my paternal grandfather's paternal grandmother's brother.  The book, An American Odyssey, includes my great-great-grandfather JB Mahaffie, a founding settler, with the Adairs, of Olathe, Kansas.

As you can see, I enjoy reading. I am a fan of fiction and treasure the fact that I can entire other worlds and different times through the pages of a novel.

2011 Metrics: Golf

I managed to get out and play golf 20 times in 2011, playing at least once each month from April through (absurdly enough) the very last day of December. I played mostly in Delaware but a few times in the "mar" portion of Delmarva (Maryland) and once in Washington DC.


View Golf in 2011 in a larger map

I'm happy to report that my game, while still not very good, is no longer quite so embarrassing. I broke 100 (my goal for the year) in June at East Potomac Park, at Haines Point in DC. This was part of a memorable weekend of golf with my friends Andy and Rich; our wives teamed up to give us tickets to the US Open in Potomac, Maryland. We played on Friday and then watched our betters play on Saturday and Sunday.

While I spread my game up and down the state, my "home course" has been Old Landing Golf club, outside of Rehoboth Beach. I played there eight times in 2011. Old landing is where I often go for a solo, contemplative practice round. It's not the greatest course in the world, but it is laid back, pleasant, inexpensive, and near by.

I hope to play at least as much golf in 2012. I spent time on golf courses with all of my golf friends in 2011, I hope to continue that trend and expand that circle.

2011 Metrics: Automotive

We drove our 2008 Toyota Scion a total of 17,450.4 miles in the last year, burning 542.58 gallons of gas for an average of 32.2 miles per gallon. That's more miles than we drove it in either 2009 or 2010. Our average miles per gallon has been about the same since we first started driving the Scion in 2008.

Our best mileage of the year, 36.9 miles per gallon, was in early September, when I logged a day's worth of highway driving from Lewes to Villanova to pick up daughter #1 and then to Upper Marlboro, MD, for our nephew's wedding. Our worst, 29.5 mpg, was the last week of the year, when I was driving only short hops from home to my vanpool meeting spot.

We spent $1,878.72 on gasoline for the Scion in 2011. Gas prices we found averaged $3.50 over the year, with a low of $3.03 per gallon at the start of the year and a high of $3.94 in early May.

These metrics are for the period December 31, 2010 through mid-day today. They are from my gas mileage log, a Google spreadsheet. I also track gas mileage using Matt Haughey's fuelly.com.