Flying out of TPA on a Gulfstream Beech 1900 airplane, 19 seater. 2 propellers, 3 pilots, 1 hour. Pictures. Some pictures. Denise would not have liked this flight, even though it was short and uneventful. There was a bit of bumps as we tried to beat the storm. I was rather amazed. They have a rule that nobody is allowed on the tarmac for four minutes if a lightning strike hits in a certain distance. We were so keen to beat the coming rain that we walked out under the cover, counted the seconds, then shrugged and were hurried onto the plane. I guess that the bolt hit 1.01 miles away rather than 0.99 miles, at least so the pilot thinks. It was a race to get to the runway before we were grounded, and almost made it but for some inbound air traffic. We ended up sitting on the taxiway for 10 minutes, next in line, until we got the green light to go. The plane was really a nice flight. It became predictable when we would hit the bumps too. Enter a cloud, bumpy, exit the cloud, smooth. The pilot left the curtain open so we could see them work, and see out the front window. We made a spectacular 270° turn on approach to EYW airport, at only 1000 feet above the ground, which really made the turn seem fast, watching the ground roll by. These pilots were flying pretty loose for commercial pilots, and it was fun.

Was the guest of a TSA special. I really have to question the effectiveness of the security policies of this most misguided administration. I wouldn't be so opposed if they screened everybody in this manner, but as it is, we simply harass roughly 1 in 20 people. Another option would be to screen people using a real discriminatory policy, such as screening people with one way tickets, no luggage, or people to or from known hotbeds of political dissent, such as Massachussetts. The current scheme just seems like such a waste.

Dad and Randy were waiting to pick me up, and our first stop was a Circle K store. I had forgotten that roosters were very common in the keys, but was quickly reminded by the sight of 8 roaming around the storefront. Noisy little buggers too.

We wrapped up this part of the journey with some food shopping at Publix. Marathon is a nice little community, and a well commercialized place halfway between Key West and Miami. All the modern conveniences are available. The place we are actually staying is a beautiful 2 family home on the channel, for easy access to dads boat. We'll each get a room, and a fishing pole.

I touched down today in Key West, and brought with me access to the internet. :) So far, Dad and Randy have caught a pair of baby barracuda, did some diving in clear water, then picked me up from the airport. We tried diving today, and it started out great. I suited up, put the gear on, hopped in the water, and all was great. Put my head under water and saw schools of fish swimming all over. It was cloudy water, but still 10 feet visible. Then I tried to go lower, but I discovered that my upper right molar tooth does not like pressure beyond 10 feet. Intense pain like a cavity. I felt like my tooth was going to explode, like I was having wisdom tooth pain again and would need an extraction. I surfaced quick and bobbed there for a bit while the pain subsided. It took 10 minutes of bobbing, but I tried to go down again. I made it slowly, oh so slowly to about 15 feet, and the tooth still hurt. I gave up and climbed back in the boat. This time it took about 30 minutes for the pain to subside enough to stop worrying about it, although 3 hours later I still feel residual pressure from the pain.

This is really depressing for me. The one thing I was looking forward to doing I find I am not able to do. What's left, fishing, boating, snorkling? Maybe a nice round of golf with the Atlantic as a backdrop...

We're asking around some local dentists to see if there is an easy fix.

Mikes birthday party is today. 40 friends and family crowded into our little house, admiring Mike and the new lawn.

I've got mulch in tow, and a front yard waiting for some home improvement. Everything comes together tomorrow.

I'm continuing work on the lawn, although today was the 'normal' type of yard work. Mowing, edging, weeding the garden beds, stuff like that. I replaced my little garden box out back with a pineapple plant, and a couple bushes of apple mint and sweet basil. The pineapple plant looks really cool out back.

For the rest of the lawn, I threw in the towel and hired professionals. $800 later, the lawn will be replaced by people with the tools and the talent, and the whole process will take them less than one day. They guarantee the lawn for 60 days, and do a thorough job of treating the area to make sure it looks good. The lawn should be installed on Wednesday, just in time for Mikes 1st birthday party. All left after this is to get a load of mulch dumped around the oak tree, and put soem fresh mulch around the rest of the garden beds.

Update : Some time ago, I saw Weird Al in concert and visited the Bay Area RenFest. Pictures are finally available.

Update : Sometime ago work sent me to Ft Lauderdale for Sun training. I also managed to take some time off work to go with family to NY. Here again are the pictures.

Added pictures from two recent Disney Vacations. We had a night alone at Pop Century in April, and the family went to Animal Kingdom and EPCOT for the Flower and Garden Festival in May.