The Eric Wroolie Blog

Overpass Experiences

What I look like now

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If you spend time with me now, you would know that I don’t look anything like the picture on the side panel of this site anymore. That picture was taken two years ago– in the summer of 2006 while standing next to my brother on a beach in San Diego. My appearance has changed since then and people who knew me then don’t always recognize me in public.

Like a lot of people, I’m not comfortable with pictures of myself and rarely like how they look. So, I keep that one up until a better one comes along.

On the train the other day, I took a picture of myself to post on Facebook. Here’s a comparison of two pictures two years apart:

2006 Picture 2008 Picture
2006 Me 2008 Me

I’ve had a beard for about a year and a half now. The weight I put on is concerning (and I’m seriously trying to get rid of it). The gray in the beard is a surprise too. I wear my hair longer and, for now, I like it that way.

When I posted this picture on Facebook, one of my friends said “What have you done to yourself?” Well, that’s it.

When I find a picture I like for the side of this site, I’ll update it– but for now, 2006 Eric stays there.

Late comer to Facebook

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A few months ago, I started to realise that everyone I know has a Facebook account.  These weren’t just kids– well, some are twenty-somethings, but people may age and older have them too.  I have this site, so why would I want to maintain a Facebook page too?

But I set up an account to see what it was like.  I prefer the blog site better.

A few days ago a friend from high school contacted me when she found my empty Facebook page.  I hadn’t talked to her since High School– she asked if I was still in the Army.  We caught up on how our lives had progressed in the last 15 years and I spent the most of the day thinking about my time at Central High School in Springfield, Massachusetts.

So, I’m trying to customise my wall and am enjoying doing it.  It’s eating some of my early morning time, now.  Since baseball ended (for the Padres), I had been spending most of my time coding Silverlight to pick up some of those skills.  I’ll go back to that soon.

Now, I’m going to see how to integrate this blog site into my Facebook page.  There are several WordPress plugins out there . . .

Mexican Food in Oxford

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So this weekend I found a very nice, and quick, Mexican fast food restaurant in Oxford just off the high street.

Two of the things I miss most living in England (having grown up in San Diego) are baseball and Mexican food.

There are a handful of Mexican places around (though nothing compared to what you would find in the states) but no place that you can go get a quick burrito and move on. All the current places are Chillis and other Mexican theme restaurants which are fine if you want to sit for a few hours and listen to recorded mariachi band music and look at sombreros hanging on the wall. The Mission Grill in Oxford was a nice change– some Mexican takeaway finally.

We went there on Saturday night on the way to the cinema. There was a line of university students going out the door and it definitely seemed a popular place with them. I had a chicken burrito and a Corona before walking to the Phoenix Picture House cinema. It was absolutely fantastic. I’m glad someone finally bucked the trend of opening another sandwich shop and did something different.

It doesn’t look like a chain (not yet), so I presume it is a start-up. Here’s the website.

We don’t have professional baseball here, but the Chargers played at Wembley this weekend (didn’t find out about it until all the tickets were gone). I was never much of an American Football fan, but it’s a start. Now, if we can get the Padres over here, I’ll be set.