Suburban Haikuist

I’m back in the land of the employed (part 1)

2010-06-13T22:07:00.000-04:00

This is the top of the Ocean Voyager exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium…my new “office”

It’s a job I’ve been wanting for 2 years but my previous full-time position didn’t give me the time off I’d need to pursue it. The position: Dive Master in the Dive Immersion Program (DIP) at the Georgia Aquarium. In it, I’ll be helping lead groups of divers and snorkelers on guided tours of the big Ocean Voyager exhibit.

Most of you know I’ve been a volunteer diver at the aquarium for over 4 years and that diving is a passion of mine. I got my original certification back in 1983 while I was still in college but took a 17 year break from it until 2000 when I had more time and money. Since then, I’ve gotten several specialty certifications such as Underwater Photography, Wreck/Deep diving, NITROX, and a Rescue Diver.

When the aquarium was putting out the call for volunteers in the spring of 2005, I jumped at the chance. I was a non-diving volunteer since the pre-opening day in November 2005. Three months later, I joined the group of volunteer divers.

The Dive Immersion Program started in 2008. As a volunteer, I thought I’d get first shot at being part of the program, but positions in the new group were being filled from the outside. They also required a Dive Master/Instructor certification or higher, something I didn’t have. Besides, I knew the pay wasn’t anywhere near what I was used to and at the time, I wasn’t willing to completely give up software engineering. Then I was given a break from corporate software development last year when I got laid off in July.

In December, Karen and I decided I could didn’t have to go back into software and could retire if I wanted to. I decided to look into getting a job at the aquarium in the DIP but that meant having to get my Dive Master certification. I took the money ADP paid me for my unused vacation and got that certification, completing it in March. All the while I was taking the classes, I would talk to the manager of the DIP to let her know what I was doing and that I was interested in joining the staff.

Once I got my certification, I filled out an application for the position and bided my time. They had just filled 4 positions but told me that there is turnover and that it shouldn’t take too long for new positions to open up. Then, a few weeks later, I was talking to one of the DIP staff members who told me he and another person had just accepted a spot with the new dolphin exhibit and they would be leaving the DIP. I figured that this means they’d have 2 open slots so later that morning, I stopped by the DIP office to say hello and inquire about the news and was told they’d be filling those spots. Fate had stepped in to help me achieve my dreams!

The manager, Susan, wasn’t sure how quickly they’d be able to move on filling the positions but I was on the top of the list to contact when things would get moving. She suggested I fill out another application and submit it along with my resume and they would call with the next step. This was on May 14 during my normal volunteer dive shift. The next day, Karen and I flew to Hawaii to celebrate my birthday.

Continued in part 2….

I’m back in the land of the employed (part 2)

2010-06-13T22:06:00.000-04:00

The morning after my birthday, I noticed I had a voicemail message from Susan asking if I’d be available to come in for a swim/dive test on May 31 or June 1. I returned the call and told her yes, I’d definitely be available but I was in Hawaii and wouldn’t return until 5/23. I explained that my next volunteer shift would be on 5/28, and I could talk to her then. The test was rescheduled until June 7 which would give me some time to practice the various skills that I would be required to demonstrate. Although Karen and I go swimming a lot, there are a few skills that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do without some practice.

The test would consist of the following skills:

Swimming tests:

25 yd. underwater swim

400 yd. swim in 12 minutes or less

10 minutes treading water, the last 2 without using hands

25 yd. tired swimmer tow

Diving tests (all done underwater w/scuba gear on):

Brick retrieval from 15 ft

Mask and regulator clearing

BC removal/replacement

50 yd air sharing

Unconscious diver rescue and 100 yd tow.

And finally, a 30-second briefing that simulates addressing a group that will be diving in the Ocean Voyager exhibit on a DIP tour.

The big thing I was worried about was the underwater swim. I didn’t think I’d have problems with the rest of them but I hadn’t attempted doing any distances underwater since the original testing I did to become a volunteer diver 5 years ago. The weekend before the tests, Karen and I went to the pool at our gym (Lifetime Fitness) and with a few deep breaths and a good push off the wall, I was able to complete the 25 yards without much difficulty. I was also a little concerned about the tired swimmer tow because it was the most physically demanding of the swimming tests but I didn’t have a good way to practice that so I figured I’d just do the best I could.

For this particular testing session, I would be given points on how well I would do. The swimming elements were pass/fail but the diving elements were graded. Because the DIP divers lead groups and are essentially representing the aquarium to the general public, my skills would have to be good. I had no doubts about those, though because I had to demonstrate similar skills to complete my Dive Con certification just a couple of months ago.

The tests began at 7:30am on Monday, June 7 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, in the diving well used during the 1996 Olympic Games. It was the same place where they tested us 5 years ago. The diving well is a square 25 yd x 25 yd x 15 ft deep. There were going to be a total of 6 people being tested. Two of us were current volunteer divers and the other 4 were outside applicants. I knew the other volunteer because we had both started in the dive program at the same time and one of the others was an employee at the dive shop where I got my Dive Con certification.

First up was the 25 yd underwater swim. I got a weak kick off from the wall so I was really worried I wouldn’t make it but when I started feeling tired, I looked up and saw the opposite wall wasn’t nearly as far away as I thought it was. I made it feeling like I had enough energy to another 10 yds if I wanted. After everyone was done, one candidate was out. He didn’t make it all the way across.

Next up, the 400 yd surface swim. That proved no match for me as I finished it in 8:35. This one took down another candidate so now there were 4 of us left. Next, the 10 minute water tread.

There was a twist in this because they said we had to keep our face out of the water. Using traditional drown proofing techniques, it’s possible to stay afloat for hours by simply bobbing up and down but it means holding your face in the water for a few seconds, lifting it up to breath, then putting it back down again. Not for this test. We had to keep our hands and arms constantly moving and to top that off, the last 2 minutes we had to hold our hands out of the water and just stay afloat by kicking. That turned out to be a bit tougher than I expected but I made it through as did the rest of us.

We got to take a little break then came the 25 yd. tired swimmer tow. This involves wrapping one arm around someone’s chest, supporting them from underneath with your hips, and using your free arm and legs, do a sort-of sidestroke. It’s extremely inefficient and to make matters worse, the person I had to tow was probably 4” taller and 25 lbs heavier than me. Add to that the fatigue I was feeling from the treading earlier and it made me feel like I’d been running a mile. But, I did it. That concluded the swimming test portion, next up was the diving skills.

The diving exercises were simple but one of the requirements was that we couldn’t be touching the bottom of the pool while doing them. In other words, we had to demonstrate that we could maintain neutral buoyancy while performing the skills. I wasn’t too worried about it because I can do that. I did have a bit of difficulty with the BC removal/replacement though because the weight of the tank caused it to slip to one side while I was trying to put it back on. I eventually noticed it but got dinged a point for it in the final evaluation.

I also got dinged a bit during the unconscious diver rescue. Instead of making a very controlled ascent to get the victim to the surface, I added too much air to his BC causing him to go up too rapidly (but, to be fair, he ended up doing the same to me). If he were really unconscious and we were at a reasonable depth, I could have given him the bends. But, I got through all the skills so the last thing was the 30-second presentation.

Each of us was handed a small script that we could read off if needed. It turned out they were all a little different. I didn’t go first so I had a few minutes to read and get familiar with it. When my turn came, I made sure to smile and make eye contact with everyone. I wanted them to know that I was really excited to be talking to them.

Once all of our briefings were done, the evaluators called us over individually to discuss how we did and whether they thought we should come back for a final interview. Susan told me that my water skills were good and that the only things they thought needed some improvement were the things I mentioned above about the BC and diver rescue.

She then said my briefing was excellent, and it far outweighed any issues I had with the skills. In the position they were hiring, presenting a good image to the public is paramount, and my presentation skills showed that I would be good at that. I was asked to come back for the final interview that was to be held at the aquarium in about an hour. Of the 4 of us that finished the skills, 3 were asked back. Surprisingly, the other volunteer was not among them.

I felt good that I hadn’t completely screwed something up but I also knew that of the 3, I felt I was the most qualified just from the standpoint that I had been volunteering for 4.5 years, knew the equipment, could perform maintenance on any of it including regulators, and also knew most of the people on the DIP staff and they knew me. After the interview, Susan said they would be making a decision either later that day or the next day and they would call with their decision. I had gotten to know the other interviewees and felt like we were all good candidates, so there was still a little anxiety since there were 3 people for 2 positions.

By the end of the day, I didn’t get a call. Nor did I get one the next day. On Wednesday, I began thinking that HR was delayed because they were waiting on some paperwork or someone was out of the office. Surely they would call with a yes or no! I figured if I didn’t hear from them by Friday, I’d be seeing them since I’d be there for my regular shift.

On Friday morning around 8:30, I got a call from the HR rep who was in the interview telling me she had good news and that they were offering me the position of part-time Dive Master in the Dive Immersion Program. Naturally, I accepted and thanked her. She said my start date would be 6/28 and that I was to attend a new hire orientation on 7/5. She also wanted me to stop by the HR department to fill out some preliminary paperwork so they could do a small background check on me. Fortunately, I’m current on my diving physical so I don’t have to get one of those or a new drug test done.

When I arrived for my shift, I told the group that I dive with in the Fresh Water gallery that I was going to be working in the DIP and that I’d have to give up my volunteer shift because as an employee, I’m no longer required to do volunteer work and if they need me for any, I’ll be paid. I also saw Susan later that morning and she wanted to know if they’d called me yet. She was excited that I had accepted and said my interview was what really put me over the top because it was obvious that I had a passion for working there and that was the kind of person they wanted.

She took me around to introduce me to the other staff members who where there and they were also glad I would be joining them. I’ll be going in a few days next week to shadow some of the positions so I’ll be able to jump right in when my actual start date arrives. I don’t know if I’ll get paid for that but I said I was willing to do it without pay and consider it part of my volunteer work. My schedule will be 2-4 days/week and running from 1:30pm - 7:30pm on weekdays and 10:00am - 7:30pm on weekends. The hours are a little different, but I think Karen and I can work out any schedule conflicts.

I’m really looking forward to this because it’s been something I’ve wanted for 2 years. For me, it’s a dream job…getting paid to dive in one of the most fascinating environments in the world and help others do the same. In the weeks ahead, I’ll put up more posts detailing the kinds of things I do there and what it’s like working as a Dive Master at the Georgia Aquarium.

A few days with the iPad

2010-04-06T15:53:00.000-04:00

Along with maybe 300,000 other people, Karen and I became owners of the new Apple iPad (64GB WiFi version) on Saturday. We decided to have them shipped to the house instead of reserving them at one of the local Apple stores since I wasn't sure how the lines would be. As it turned out, reserving them at a store would have been a good idea because everyone that I knew who did it was in and out of the store in less than 30 minutes.

When I first heard about the iPad, I thought it would make a great eBook reader and might replace my laptop as my couch websurfer. After playing with it for a few days, I can definitely say it will fulfill the first job but I’m not sure about the 2nd. Of course, it just came out and it has the potential to be a great device but I think it’s going to take some clever developers and some good apps before it can completely replace the laptop as my default web browser.

First impressions are that it’s extremely elegant. If you’ve read any reviews on it and have seen pictures, you know it’s essentially a thin tablet with a black, glass front and a curved aluminum back. Those two materials alone make it feel like a very solid piece of hardware but the internal electronics, namely the battery, make it rather heavy. If you plan to try and hold it with one hand like you might do with a paperback novel or magazine, it won’t take long before your hand gets tired. I didn’t order a case with it so I found the best way to use it for any length of time is either flat on my lap or desk, or resting on my crossed leg. The Apple case can be folded back to be used as a viewing stand to make it easy to watch videos or type on which would be good if you have a flat surface to put it on. The number of cases will grow exponentially in the next few weeks so I’ll probably wait to see what comes out before deciding on one.

The next impression I got is that the screen is gorgeous when you turn it on. The colors are rich and the brightness can be set from dim to wheres-my-sunglasses. When you sync up some photos from iTunes, they’ll look better than they do on just about any other device, almost the way HD TV looks compared to regular TV. Also, it’s blazing fast. Since all I can use is WiFi, I can’t compare the 3G connectivity to anything but the WiFi connection is more than sufficient. We have AT&T U-verse Max Plus at home, which (supposedly) gives up to 18 Mbps of download speed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it go past about 12 or 13 so if we ever get what they advertise, I suspect web pages will load like I’m taking directly to the particular site. Apps also load extremely quickly, especially Maps, which can sometimes take a while on the iPhone, even using a WiFi connection.

Another thing that I’ve noticed is the attention to detail in the UI elements. It was obvious that the developers wanted to make the apps look as close to their real-life, solid equivalents as possible. Things like subtle shading and colors used on the top of the Notes “notepad” or the way it simulates the look of pages torn out of a real legal pad. If you turn the iPad to view Notes in Landscape mode (horizontally), a stitched leather border surrounds the legal pad and the list of notes looks like it’s tucked in a leather (complete with grain and shading) pocket on the left side. If you tap a note, an animated circle is drawn around the note title, but the circle is drawn with a very free-hand appearance. If you bring up the Maps app, the map has a flipped up lower-right corner that if you tap and drag, it reveals some controls underneath. If you look at the back of the page you’re dragging, you can see a faint, reversed version of the front of the map, just like a real page of paper. The iBooks app is the same way when you tap/drag to turn a page.

Apple said that because the iPad uses a expanded version of the iPhone’s OS, it should be familiar to anyone who has an iPhone and that is, for the most part, true. There are some differences that might catch a few by surprise. The first is that some of the built-in apps on the iPhone aren’t included with the iPad. These include Calculator, Stocks, Weather, Camera (duh, there’s no camera), Messages, and Voice Memos, and Compass (for 3GS). Personally, I use Weather a lot and wish it were included but I did find a nice free version of WeatherBug that works very nicely on the iPad. Also, if you want to read eBooks, you’ll need an app because one doesn’t come built in. The ones I recommend now are iBooks if you want to buy books from the iBook Store (only on the iPad) or the Kindle app that lets you read books you’ve already purchased for your Kindle. The other apps that an iPhone user is already familiar with such as Calendar, Contacts, Safari, Mail, etc… have all been expanded to take advantage of the larger screen and have a lot of eye candy and nice features.

All of this sound really good, right? Well, there are some things that I wish it would do, or do better. First is the ability to upload photos to websites. I do a lot of reading on several forums such as EverythingiCafe, a great site dedicated to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod. I also get on Facebook and Twitter. Every once in a while, I’d like to upload a photo or two to be shared on these sites but the OS doesn’t allow that. Even if a website gives you the ability to upload pictures, the iPad OS doesn’t give you a way to pick a photo from its internal file structure. Although I’m a registered developer for the iPhone and iPad, I haven’t delved deep enough into the API to see if there is a way to pick a photo from within an app. If there isn’t then we may be stuck not being able to upload pictures to the web.

The other thing is the keyboard, at least for me and the way I browse the web. I typically sit on my sofa, legs propped up on the recliner with my laptop open and resting on my lap. The keyboard is easily reached and typing is simple. I can see what I type and not feel all cramped up. With the iPad, if you want to use the on-screen keyboard, it takes a little getting used to because you can’t rest your fingers on the “home” keys, as we were taught in typing class way back in high school. If you rest your fingers on the screen, the keys you touch will be typed so you have to hover over the screen and tap it with one finger at a time. I’m sure that with practice, I’ll get some decent speed up but it’s a bit tricky at first.

Another aspect of typing on the iPad is how cramped it can feel if you don’t have the unit on a surface in front of you. As I mentioned above, I typically sit on the sofa with my legs propped up so unless the iPad is angled up to where I can see it, typing something is problematic because I can’t see what I’m typing and I can’t assume the auto-correct feature will catch all my misspellings.

Despite the few annoyances, I think the iPad is a big hit and I’ll enjoy using it. I’m really looking forward to taking it on an upcoming trip, which involves a rather long plane flight so I’m going to have to stock up on some movies or TV shows. I’m also excited about reading some of the eBooks that I currently have in my Kindle account. I have enough that I won’t need to be purchasing any in the foreseeable future and there are plenty of free books that can be added to the iBooks bookshelf if I don’t feel like buying anything new. The future looks extremely bright for app development so I also look forward to what applications will come out in the coming months.

If you’re on the fence about getting an iPad and your budget allows it, go for it, you won’t be disappointed.

Completed my Dive Con training

2010-03-17T14:57:00.000-04:00

When Karen and I made the decision that I wouldn’t go back to work in the corporate world, we talked about some of the things that I might want to consider doing to bring in a little fun money. One of them was something I’d wanted to do since June, 2008 when the Aquarium started their Journey with the Gentle Giants program (otherwise known as the Dive Immersion Program). This is a way for the general public to either swim or SCUBA dive in the Ocean Voyager exhibit along side the Whale Sharks, Manta Rays, Hammerheads, Groupers, and the 1000s of other creatures that live in the exhibit. At the time it was created, I had hoped they would allow volunteers to help out but due to insurance purposes, helping out was limited to staff and to be part of the staff required a Dive Master rating or higher…something I did not have at the time.

So, now that I have a lot more spare time, I contacted Dive Dive Dive, the shop where I’ve been getting most of my specialty training and signed up for classes to get my Dive Control Specialist certification. This is the SSI equivalent to the PADI and NAUI Dive Master required by the Aquarium. Being a Dive Con would actually give me more training than a Dive Master because there is more of a teaching element involved. When I finished the course, I would also be an Assistant Instructor which means I can teach some courses on my own but also help an Instructor teach Open Water classes.

The course is extensive and requires 12-15 hours of classroom study, assisting/observing several Open Water classes and checkout dives, First Aid/CPR/O2 Administration certification, a diving physical, swim and dive test, and a 100 question final exam. I began my training in October and finally finished it last week. A lot of the time delay was due to the lack of opportunities for the required checkout dives but the shop was able to schedule two trips to Ginnie Springs in Florida over the last month so I was able to go along and get those dives out of the way. The last trip was fun because we accompanied a group of high school students from Loganville High School who were part of an Extreme Physics class and were learning to dive for an upcoming trip to Cozumel over Spring break. One of the really nice parts of this trip was our accommodations. A friend of the shop owner and fellow instructor, Randy Terrel was kind enough to drive and us use his luxury bus that he has turned into the land version of a live-aboard diving boat. It sleeps 12 so the 6 of us from the shop stayed on it for the weekend:

Here are a few pictures of the group getting ready for their first Open Water checkout dive:

Lined up, waiting to get their gear

We took about 15 sets BCs and regulators with us

Time to get suited up

Waiting around for everyone else to finish

Making the final checks to see if everything is set up right

This was the class teacher. I’m think he was asking “Ok, now where do these things go?”

Unfortunately, I didn’t have an underwater camera so I couldn’t get any pictures during the dive. The first day, they did 3 dives of about 15 minutes each where they demonstrated some basic skills such as regulator retrieval, mask clearing, and out-of-air drills, which they all did very well. The second day, they did 2 more dives, one was to practice the skills again and the other was to enjoy the Springs and have fun. Some of the students were accompanied by their parents who were going to be chaperones on the trip to Cozumel so they got their certification too. One mother-daughter pair said now that they could dive, they would go do that while the father and brother went fishing whenever they went on vacation. Sounds like a great plan to me.

The day after we got back from the trip, I took the last of my paperwork to the shop where Lee, the owner, took my picture (for my new certification card), signed off on everything, and sent them off to SSI. After I got home, I submitted my application to the aquarium for the position of Dive Immersion Program Instructor (that’s what they call it). I’ll be talking to the head of the DIP on Friday when I’m down there for my next volunteer shift but I think that as long as she has an opening in the group, I have a good chance of filling it.

iPads have been ordered!

2010-03-15T07:59:00.000-04:00

When Apple announced their new iPad back on Jan 27, I knew I had to get one. It’ll be a perfect toy for doing what I do with my computer most of the time…surf the web from the couch. It will also be a replacement for my Kindle. Karen likes them because they’ll be a good way to read scripts for her voice-over jobs instead of having to print pages and waste paper.

Last week, they began taking orders for the iPad, which will be in stores on April 3 (WiFi-only at this point, the WiFi/3G model will come about a month later). I didn’t want to get the 3G model because I don’t need to have another monthly internet charge. Yes I know it’s contract-free, but to me, it’s an unnecessary charge nonetheless.

So, last Friday, at 8:35am, 2 of the ~120,000 iPads ordered are mine and will be delivered to the house on April 3. They are the 64GB WiFi models. I opted for delivery because I don’t know if there will be lines to go pick them up or not but it’s just easier this way.

It’s going to be a long 3 weeks.

All our vehicles are belong to us!

2010-01-27T08:37:00.003-05:00

Last night, I made the final payment on the VRod so now have a garage full of completely paid off vehicles and we plan to keep it that way for a long time. As soon as I submitted the payment, I went into the garage and announced to the car and two bikes, "Attention, you no longer belong to the banks, you are ours". I didn't detect any reaction from them but I knew they were smiling on the inside. It's a great feeling knowing that a big liability like car/bike payments are no longer in our financial picture.

I know it's a big hardship on most people when they get laid off but it has been one of the best things that could have happened to me. It made us re-examine our priorities and forced us to made some changes that have been very empowering. The next few months will be interesting because my severance ends tomorrow so we'll no longer be "DINKs". Of course, the big thing that lets all this happen is the NK part of that acronym.

Hello 2010!

2010-01-01T16:27:00.001-05:00

It's a new year, so I figured a new post is in order.

For many, including Karen and me, 2009 was not exactly a stellar year. It started out well enough and included some nice trips to places like the Panama Canal, Cancun, New York, and even a short visit to the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. It also had some very low points like the passing of Karen's mother and my being laid off. It ended on a very uplifting note though, with my decision to not go back to working in a corporate environment but to do whatever it is that makes me happy.

Karen has also been fortunate in her career to get into a position away from what she's been doing for the past 30 years and to focus more on what she loves. She's still with the IRS but working with a group that handles communications for one of the handful of main branches in the IRS. She is thrilled with the new job because it combines the security and benefits of a government job with the opportunity for her to use her highly developed communication skills. The security aspect of her job is allowing me to not have to go back to work just to make a lot of $$ so we're both thankful for that.

Being a firm believer in whatever you do on New Year's Day is what you will do the rest of the year, With that in mind, we both went out for lunch to our favorite BBQ restaurant, Jim 'N Nicks. I also make it a point to go out for a ride on the motorcycle, even if it's just a short ride. Fortunately, the weather has cooperated every year that I've been riding, beginning in 2004, and this year was no exception. It's a brisk 44° but sunny and I just got back from a 20 minute ride on the Softail. Karen wants to spend more time playing her harp so I returned home to hear the melodious tones of her rendition of Pachelbel's Canon.

One thing we avoid doing is laundry. There is an old wive's tale that says if you do any laundry on New Year's Day, you'll wash someone out of your life so we make it a point not to do any. Oh, and since I'm posting a blog entry, I plan to do more of that this year. After all, I'll have more time and energy since I won't have my life force being drained from a life in Cubeville.

So, here's to hoping 2010 is a better year for everybody. Go out and do something you enjoy today.

Snow blankets the north

2009-12-19T15:28:00.002-05:00

Snow blankets the north

Down here, we saw only rain

Where are our snow days?

My retirement from software development

2009-12-07T11:00:00.010-05:00

I've been out of work since July 16 following a reorganization at my former employer, Automatic Data Processing (ADP). In the 4-1/2 months since that time, I have done a lot of thinking about what I want out of a career and have come to the conclusion that corporate software development isn't it.

I have been in the software industry for almost 30 years, starting with a programmer job in the computer room at Marconi Avionics while I was CO-OPing as a student at Georgia Tech in 1979. Back in those days, I loved the challenge of designing and running programs on the refrigerator-sized mini computers. With the introduction of the Apple Macintosh in 1984, the software engineering bug bit really hard and I was fortunate enough to be a Mac developer for one of the first companies in the Atlanta area to produce programs for the new system.

I even enjoyed developing programs on the new (at that time) Windows platform when the company decided Mac software just wasn't in their future. But after 20 or so years of PC and Windows development, the thrill wore off and the passion for creating new programs just wasn't there anymore. I found that my best skills were in debugging the older systems because I've always liked fixing things and solving problems. For the last 12 years, that's basically what I've been doing and I've enjoyed it for the most part.

When I found myself looking for a job, my first thoughts naturally went toward getting a position in software development, mostly because I was familiar with the field but also because I could probably get a good salary with which I was also comfortable. I knew the job market was tight but after looking around, I found there were a lot more job openings for software engineers that I originally realized. The problem being, it was an employer's market and they wanted specific skills in newer languages with which I was not experienced. Either that or they wanted someone who had done a lot of contract jobs. As an older, long-term company employee familiar with older technology, it was hard for me to stand out among the younger engineers. I began to think "Do I really want to get back into software or do I want to do something that makes me happy?"

This past weekend, Karen and I had a long talk about what I really wanted to do. Back in July, when all this started, I was pretty sure I could find something in 3 months or less but the more I was away from the bump and grind of the software world, the less inclined I was go get back into it. Last week, I had an interview with a large company for a position that I felt was right up my alley and that my experience would make me a good fit. During the interview, I was grilled on my knowledge of the C++ programming language, one I've been using for 10 years. The position wasn't actually for a C++ developer so I wasn't prepared for those kinds of questions and the whole experience made me feel like an idiot. It hammered home the point that I just wasn't motivated enough to want to get back into software engineering, at least not working for someone else.

With all of these thoughts swirling around in my head, it didn't surprise me when Karen asked me last week "What would you think about being a 'House Husband'?" At first I thought she might be joking because that would mean having to drastically rearrange our finances but I realized she was kind of serious. Even though I had told her 2 months ago that I wanted to get back into software, she sensed that I may not really want to do that. I expressed my lack of motivation for writing code and also my concerns that we not run into any money problems. We sat down, went over our budget and came up with several ideas that would make the transition from two relatively equal incomes down to a single income almost painless. The biggest stipulation was that I had to at least do something.

So, with a plan in hand, we decided that I would officially retire from the world of corporate software development and look into doing something that stirs my soul. I still have an interest in technology but if I'm going to be a software engineer, it will be for me and not for someone else. One of my biggest interests is diving so I've been taking classes to get my Dive Control Specialist rating through a local dive shop. This is the equivalent of a Dive Master and with it, I can work in the Dive Immersion Program at the aquarium, something I've been wanting to do since they introduced the program last year. I also have a penchant for fixing things and tinkering with my motorcycle so I might also like working at a local Harley-Davidson dealer. I love cooking too and have actually talked to the manager at our favorite BBQ restaurant about working in the kitchen. He said they might use me as a prep cook if I was serious.

In the meantime, I'll be helping Karen with some administrative work she needs done for her voice-over business such as calling potential clients, sending out mailers or demos, updating her website, and directing her auditions. I also plan on doing some housework including painting and repairs while she's working. It's part of the deal we made so she won't feel jealous of the fact that she's the one who has to go to work while I get to stay home (although she actually works from home 4 days a week now).

New Arnott's Air Ride shocks on the VRod

2009-11-06T17:06:00.022-05:00

Having some time on my hands these days, I decided to install a new set of air shocks on the VRod. I have a friend on one of the forums I frequent whose family owns Arnott, Inc., a leading air suspension manufacturing company, respected by many VRod owners. She gave me a fantastic deal on the kit I would need for the VRod so I ordered it and got it installed this afternoon.

The suspension I got replaced the stock rear shocks that originally came on the VRod. Here are some before and after pictures, along with a few details about the installation:

This is how the rear suspension looked before the Air Rides were put on. One of my goals is to reduce the amount of chrome/silver on the bike so removing the stock shocks is a good thing.

The first step then, was to remove the seat and the right and left shocks:

Once the original shocks were removed, the next step was to install the air pump. The shocks are raised by adding air from a pump that is installed in the airbox. Here is what the bike looks like with the airbox removed. The battery is in front (with the red cover over the positive terminal) and the white plastic coolant tank is in back:

Mounting the air pump was easy and only required drilling 2 small holes in the front part of the plastic airbox. Here is the airbox with one of the holes, circled in red:

And here is the airbox reinstalled with the mounted pump:

Activating the pump or releasing air is done through two buttons mounted to the left switch housing on the handlebars. Pressing one button starts the pump and pressing the other opens a valve in a manifold that distributes air to both shocks:

The next step was to install the air shocks themselves. They are very well made and being all black, help to complete the dark look I have been going for. The installation was simple, just bolt them in. I had to do a little manipulation of the bike lift to move the back wheel into the right position.

NOTE: If you are installing these, they look the same but the threaded hole where the air line attaches should be toward the inside to keep the lines hidden. I have circled a small, knurled knob that is used to adjust the flow of oil in the shock, letting you set it for a stiffer or smoother ride:

After the shocks were installed, the next step was to install the air distribution manifold. The instructions suggest putting it under the seat. There is a perfect spot for it with a single mounting hole already drilled into the metal bracket/pan where the ECM electronics are located (under the passenger pillion):

The manifold kit comes with a metal bracket that can be installed in several ways to accommodate mounting it in numerous configurations. In the picture, the manifold is attached to the black shelf with a single bolt which is also used for the ground wire coming off the air release valve of the manifold. The air pump hose attaches to the silver fitting on the left side and the hoses going to the two shocks attach to the two gold fittings in front. The gold bolt looking thing on the right is an air release muffler that can be adjusted to change the speed at which the shocks are lowered. This is so the bike won't slam down when you let air out of them.

The final step was to hook up all the wiring. The kit comes with a fuse connector, relay, and quick release crimp-on connectors. Getting everything hooked up wasn't difficult but I found that my wire crimping skills were a bit lacking so I ended up soldering several of the connectors after they were crimped just to make sure they made a good connection. The hardest part was finding a place for all the wires so they would stay hidden. Fortunately, the kit comes with plenty of black zip ties so I was able to bunch the wires together, zip them and tuck them in behind the left side cover. I didn't get any pictures of this as it was a pretty tangled mess.

Before putting all the parts back on, I tested the shocks to make sure they worked, which they did. It takes about 8-10 seconds to raise the bike and about 3-4 seconds to drop it. Here are two pictures of the new shocks, the top is when they are fully extended and the bottom, fully lowered:

And the completed bike:

Overall, I think the look is fantastic and I cannot speak highly enough about Arnott's products and customer service. If you have a question or problem with the installation, they are more than happy to help you out.

To complete the lowered look I have some fork springs from Progressive Suspension (part number 10-1565) on order that will drop the front end by 1-2". I'll give up some lean angle on cornering but I think the overall look will be much better than stock. Oh, and one thing I found is that raising the bike makes it much easier to slide the bike lift under it. No more rocking the bike back and forth while sliding the lift underneath to get it to go all the way under the frame.

Georgia Aquarium Dive Show

2009-10-16T18:41:00.006-04:00

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of being one of the divers in the new Dive Show at the Georgia Aquarium so I brought along my personal videographer (Karen) to record the show. With her help, I used iMovie on my Mac to edit the footage and add some music to fancy it up. Here is the result (if you're seeing this on Facebook, click the View Original Post link to see the video):

Timeshare sales tactics to "help" me find a job

2009-10-08T14:03:00.012-04:00

I have been in the job market for about 3 months now and have uploaded my resume to several job sites like CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com. Not too long after doing that, I started getting emails from several people saying they had some openings (mostly in areas I have no background or interest in) and that if I wanted to apply, to go to their website and submit some information. I ignore all of these because I don't want to sell insurance to seniors, be a government administrator, or be a loan officer. Yes, those are apparently the kind of places that look at a software engineer's resume and think I would be good at or want to do that sort of work. Um, no.

The other day, I got a call from a firm called Chandler Hill Partners, requesting that I make an appointment for an interview. I went to their website and saw that they appeared to be a placement company for people with my kind of background, among others but it looked like the kind of place that might actually be able to help me so I confirmed a time to talk to one of their people.

When I arrived at their offices, which were in some of the highest rent office space in north Atlanta, I was impressed with what I saw. Modern furnishings, plaques and awards on the wall of the reception area, comfy chairs and a sofa. When I confirmed my appointment the nice lady I talked to asked me to bring a copy of my resume. That should have been Red flag #1. Why do you need my resume again if you said you had reviewed it?? Ok, whatever, maybe they want the most recent copy, I don't know.

Upon greeting the receptionist, she handed me a 2 page questionnaire and asked that I fill it out then return it to her along with the copy of my resume. The questions were the kind I'd expect from a recruiter like "What kind of job are you looking for? What salary range? Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" (Ok, they really didn't ask that last one). When I was done, I returned everything to her and in a few minutes a man came out and introduced himself (I'll call him Bob) and escorted me to "his" office.

Their suite was on the 26th floor of the building and we entered one of the corner offices. It was the kind of space a company president would occupy! Immaculately clean, nothing on the desk except for a placard with his name on it, a lamp, and a candy dish and a spectacular view where you could see the north Georgia mountains 60 miles off in the distance. That was Red Flag #2. An office that doesn't look like any work gets done in it is probably only for show. Now where had I seen this before? Oh yeah, in a Timeshare sales pitch.

Bob begins asking me questions about my last job, what my strengths are, what sort of job I'm looking for, what I would want to do if money were no object, etc... He explains that they aren't recruiters, they're marketers and that they are there to help me find the job I want by putting me in front of the decision makers instead of making me go through the normal chain of job filling command. He looks over my resume and says it is very strong but could use some updating because it looks like what everyone else has. He says I need to stand out from the millions of others in my situation and that's what they can do for me. One thing that I think threw him was my answer to "What salary do you want to make?" I told him I was completely open on that because my wife and I had talked it over and as long as I'm making something, we'd be just fine. People in his position want you to be desperate and the higher the number you want to make, the more $$ for them.

We talk for about 30 minutes and when he's done, he says "Based on what you have here and what your goals are, I think we can help you". This was Red Flag #3. When he said this, I was thinking "Oh, I'm sure you can." He then said the next step was to have a 2nd meeting where they would give me more details about what they could do for me, start getting my resume updated, go over a fee schedule, and... Whoa, back up there, fella. Fee schedule??? I said "So, you don't get paid by the company that hires me, like other recruiters?" He reiterated that they aren't recruiters and that their fees are paid by their clients like me. Red Flag #4. If you want to help me, don't ask me for money because why? I'M UNEMPLOYED! I DON'T HAVE STEADY INCOME! I CAN'T SPARE ANY MONEY RIGHT NOW!

What put them solidly in the Timeshare sales category and Red Flag #5 was that they wanted my wife to fill out her own questionnaire regarding my professional strengths and interests AND come to the 2nd meeting with me. Classic sales tactics. They don't care about her opinion of my talents; they want to appeal to her emotions so she'll convince me to pay for their services. That was pretty much all I needed to hear. I let him finish his spiel and even went so far as letting him set up the 2nd meeting but I had no intention of keeping it.

When I got in the car, I called Karen and told her that I think I had found the Timeshare Sales of the job market, explaining what happened and she agreed that it was a good idea to not go through with their plan. When I told her what the place looked like, she said it might have been a Virtual Office that the main company had set up just to impress potential new clients. I don't really believe it was but the fact that Bob's office was so clean and looked unworked in did make me wonder.

I did some research on them through Google and found that many of the hits on their company name also included the words "scam", "ripoff", and "run away". Someone else said their fee was somewhere between $6000 and $10000 so I think I made a pretty good decision to turn them down. If I had that kind of money sitting around, I'd probably rather spend it on a timeshare!

Bottom line here...if you're in the job market and you get contacted by someone that says they want to help you find a job, treat it like you would any major purchase. Do some research and see if others have had good or bad experiences with them and pay attention to your instincts. If it smells like poop, it probably is poop.

New Dive Show at the Aquarium

2009-08-19T21:31:00.026-04:00

Being a volunteer diver at the Georgia Aquarium has given me the opportunity to do some pretty fun (and challenging) things for the past 3-1/2 years. Most of the work I do centers around the maintenance of the exhibits and the dive equipment used by fellow divers but recently, I was given the chance to participate in a new way to engage the guests at the Aquarium.

About 6 weeks ago, I got an email from Jeff Reid, the manager of Dive Operations, announcing they were starting up a Dive Show in the Ocean Voyager gallery and I, along with several other fellow divers, had been selected to participate. The shows would begin sometime in August and would involve a diver inside the exhibit interacting with a narrator in the Theater room, in front of the big window talking with and taking questions from aquarium guests. How could I turn that down? It was a chance to dive in OV and NOT have to wipe any of the windows or scrub algae off the rocks.

Richelle narrating during a practice for the Dive Show

Several practice sessions were held over the last few weeks, allowing both the divers and the narrators from Guest Services a chance to test out the communications and topics to be discussed during the show. On Friday, 8/7, I received an email from the Director of Training and Volunteer Operations, Alex, announcing the first show would be on Monday 8/10 at 1pm. One of the Guest Services volunteers, Richelle, was to be the narrator but they needed a diver. Fortunately, I was available on Monday so I responded saying I'd be happy to be the diver for the first show. Richelle, Alex and I set up a time to meet prior to the show to go over a few things, mostly so we'd all know what we were going to talk about and in what order. Alex also said he thought the show should run about 12 minutes.

The show was to begin at 1pm so around 12:30, I started gathering my equipment. Prepping for the dive is a little different than a normal maintenance dive. The big difference is the mask. The ones we use for the show are special full-face mask similar to what is worn for surface-supplied dives except the air comes from a normal SCUBA tank worn by the diver and not through an umbilical hose connected to an air supply outside the water. To be able to communicate with the show's narrator in the theater room, the mask has a connector attached to a microphone and a set of underwater earphones. For divers who do surface-supplied dives, the communications are similar except you have to plug yourself in to the system before you can hear or talk to the narrator.

Ed and I before the show.

For the first show, my safety diver was Ed Ryan, one of the members of the Dive Immersion Program. After we got suited up, Ed got in the water to make sure it was ok for me to enter. With 4 big Whale Sharks, a Manta Ray, and several other species of large fish, you have to be careful entering the water so you don't end up bumping into something and the safety diver helps with that. Once Ed and I were in we slowly made our way over the tunnel, waving to the guests walking through it, and over to the cluster of rocks behind which is a grate where the communication cable terminates.

I could see Richelle standing with her microphone in front of the window surrounded by what looked like more than 100 people who had gathered for the show so we waved to them before getting hooked up to the comm system. Ed held the grate up while I uncoiled the 15 ft. of cable and attached it to the connector coming from the mask. I immediately heard Richelle say something about being able to hear me so I greeted everyone and did my impression of the Verizon guy "Can you hear me now?". I could see some acknowledgements from the audience and Richelle confirmed that she could. The audio coming through the earphones was a little bit lower than I was used to so I would have to stop breathing momentarily to be able to hear Richelle's questions. When you exhale with one of those masks, the noise of the bubbles leaving the regulator and going up past your ears makes it hard to hear anything coming over the earphones and I had no way to adjust the volume.

Richelle began by introducing me which gave me a chance to to tell the guests that I was a volunteer and a little background of my diving history with the aquarium (3-1/2 years doing maintenance mostly in the Beluga habitat but most recently in one of the fresh water exhibits in the River Scout gallery). Richelle interacted with the guests, testing their knowledge of Ocean Voyager then turned the conversation over to me to give them the "real" scoop on the statistics of the exhibit. The time seemed to fly by because before I knew it, Richelle was asking the audience if they had any questions, which was the cue that the show was almost over.

Following the impromptu questions from the audience, Ed and I had our only "close encounter" when one of the larger Groupers was getting a little too curious...so much so that Ed had to intervene with his deterrent stick. After the Grouper left us alone, I disconnected from the communication cable waved goodbye to Richelle and the audience, stowed the cable back under the grate and swam up to the window to wave to some of the guests. Ed and I took it slow going back to the ladder, passing over the tunnel for more waves and pose for a couple of them taking pictures.

Saying hi to some of the guests after the show

Overall, the show was a lot of fun, even if it didn't seem to last long and I'm looking forward to doing more of them. From my point of view, the guests definitely seemed to enjoy it so I think it'll be a big hit once it gets cranked up. The plan is to have two shows a day with one occurring during the afternoon Dive Immersion Program. I'm sure that'll get people interested in signing up to dive or swim with the Whale Sharks.

I'm yet another statistic

2009-08-06T07:26:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, Karen found a couple of articles in the Atlanta Business Chronicle that I found particularly relevant. In the first one, it has been reported that private businesses cut 371,000 jobs in July. What I found humorous, or more to the point, ironic, about the story was the company reporting this was ADP, the same firm from which I was let go in July. On the same day, there was another article that gave me hope. It said that according to the website CareerBuilder, almost 50% of people who were recently laid off were able to find new full time jobs within 3 months. I plan to be among those and will be striving to have something nailed down within 2 months.

A statistic that I found interesting in the article came near the end where it said about 28% of those looking for jobs changed their appearance to make themselves look better for potential employers. Just last week, I was talking with my brother in law about a possible job with his company. He mentioned that some employers would see someone like me (25+ years of software/IT experience) as a potential burn out, preferring to hire someone younger. Their thinking is that a younger person would be more motivated and eager to learn emerging technologies than those of us who helped develop the internet and pave the way for all this new technology. If that's how a company sees me just because I've been around the software block a few times, then I wouldn't want to work for them anyway.

I will say this though, I'm glad that, in my late 40s, I still have most of my hair but I did get my stylist to take out some of that pesky gray stuff that's been creeping out of my head in recent years. I wonder if I should get my teeth whitened again or maybe get a tattoo.

Dog days of summer

2009-08-06T07:25:00.000-04:00

Dog days of summer

Riding isn't as much fun.

I love my A/C.

Yet another time suck...Facebook

2009-08-02T20:04:00.002-04:00

Now that I have some more free time, I thought I'd begin exploring this thing everyone keeps taking about called Facebook. One thing I've discovered about Facebook...it's a HUGE time suck. The site is massive and for someone who barely gets by with Twitter, I find myself getting lost wandering around the myriad little virtual nooks and crannies that make up the site.

So far, I've managed to find a bunch of people who dive or work at the aquarium, who are on some forums that I frequent, and even a few people I went to high school with (although I have yet to "friend" them). I also found out how to tie my blog into my FB account so now, whenever I create a post here, it'll show up on my FB page.

If you haven't discovered Facebook, I suggest you try it out. As many have noted over the few years it has been around, it's a great way to find old friends and share parts of your life with others. Karen and I both have FB pages at http://www.facebook.com/DrewCommins and http://www.facebook.com/KarenCommins where we've posted some pictures of recent vacations and a couple of videos of our trip to New York City over the July 4th weekend. Check back often and feel free to send us a friend request if you're on Facebook.

My new extended vacation

2009-07-16T20:23:00.004-04:00

Well, the unexpected happened to me today...I got laid off my job at ADP. I'd been there for almost 12 years and thought that what I was working on was important enough to keep me around but I guess it wasn't. They said it wasn't an issue of performance, but it was part of a big re-organization and budget reduction. Apparently, my position was one of the ones "affected".

The whole experience was new to me because in my entire career in IT, I'd survived 8 such RIFs but I guess time caught up with me. My manager came up to my desk around 11:20AM and asked to speak with me privately. He walked me down to a conference room where an HR representative was sitting at the table. He then explained that he had bad news and that as a result of the recent Organizational Efficiency Initiative, my position had been eliminated.

I immediately started wondering how they could consider my position expendable. There are several things that I do that nobody else does and I had thought those things were important enough to keep me around. Obviously I was wrong but if I'm right, they are going to be in a world of hurt until someone else can get up to speed on what I did. I'll be going back some time next week after hours to get my personal things.

Fortunately, they gave me a pretty decent severance package that will give me some time to relax a little before I have to crank up the search for a new job so we aren't in a desperate situation. At dinner tonight, Karen and I were talking about several things I might consider doing since IT/software development isn't what I live for. One of the ideas was to become a Rider Coach so I could teach others how to ride motorcycles. Another would be to maybe work part time at the Georgia Aquarium or do some freelance work in photography or even become a Harley-Davidson mechanic or develop that million dollar iPhone application. Karen has been the most supportive and loving wife anyone can have and is looking at this the same way I am. Her only complaint is that she now has to continue going to work while I don't have to.

At any rate, I've got some free time on my hands so for now, I think I'll just enjoy the time off and spend it considering my options.

Rain, always a chance...

2009-05-26T08:15:00.002-04:00

Rain, always a chance
Late afternoons are the worst
Two wheels must stay home

Cruising through the Panama Canal - Part 4

2009-05-09T22:10:00.050-04:00

(continued from Part 3)...

We spent the next day at sea which meant more laying out in the sun and more sunburn. I had already gotten a lot of sun the first 2 days we were at sea so I really didn't need any more but I wanted to look like I'd been somewhere so I spent about 2-3 hours on the pool deck reading and taking a few dips in the pool. Karen didn't want to overdo it either but she stayed in the cabin. At 7am the next morning (Saturday 4/25), we docked at Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

The city of Puntarenas is on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and is one of the largest ports in the country on either the Atlantic or Pacific coasts. Our shore excursion for Punta Arenas was a visit to the Pura Vida Gardens. We met about 20 others on the docks around 8:15am and already I knew it would be a hot day since the temps were already in the mid 80s. The bus was air conditioned but not the most comfortable ride, particularly for Karen who ended up sitting behind me in the seat on top of the rear wheel.

Our tour guide was named Minor and the driver was Jorge. Minor spoke English very well and gave a nice talk on the history of the area and the country as we traveled along nicely paved roads. Minor explained that currently it took about 2 hours to go from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica and Punta Arenas but a new road is being built that will reduce the commute to 45 minutes. At one point, we crossed over a river that had over a dozen crocodiles sunning themselves on the bank:

We stayed on the paved roads for about 30 minutes before turning off on to a dirt road that seemed to go on for 20 miles, probably because we didn't go much more than 15 mph to keep the ride from being too bumpy. It didn't matter though, the road needed some major work. We reachd the gardens after about 30 minutes on the dirt road. Minor told us the owners were American and I found it interesting to see a big "For Sale" sign out in front of the main building when we pulled up. I wondered if things weren't going quite so well for them and they were looking to get out of the business.

Our group gathered in the main building, which was also a combination restaurant and gift shop, for some fresh fruit and beverages. The temps were still in the mid 90s and after the long, bumpy ride, the big bowls of cut pineapple, mangos, guavas, apples, and bananas provided a nice snack. The we were free to walk around if we wanted to but Minor led the group on a guided stroll around the gardens so we kind of hung around with them for most of the time we were there. There were some impressive views of the coastline and a huge variety of trees and flowers all around us but the heat made it a little less enjoyable than it could have been. They had a beautiful Blue and Gold Macaw in the gift shop that looked like the garden's mascot.

On the way back, Jorge and Minor stopped back at the Crocodile Bridge to let us get some more pictures and some souvenirs at one of the shops on one side of the bridge. We didn't get anything but it was interesting to see all the blankets hanging on a line:

We got back to the ship around 2:00 but the heat, humidity, and bumpy ride had taken their toll. Karen and I both had headaches but her's was on the way to being a migraine. Cruise Tip: When going out on a shore tour, take some water, even if you have to buy it before you get off the ship and put on some sunscreen. It can get very hot in tropical climates and it's easy to get dehydrated and sunburned when you're on a tour.

We didn't do much for the rest of the night and fortunately the next day was another one at sea so we had time to recover before getting to Guatamala. I spent some time out on our balcony catching up on some reading and processing some of the pictures I'd taken up to that point. Being gadget people, we almost have to take a separate suitcase just for the chargers so Karen got a kick out of me surrounded by all my toys including the Kindle, GPS, laptop, and iPhone:

The morning of 4/27, we docked in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. Not having any shore excursions planned, we weren't sure if we'd even get off the boat but it was too tempting not to go look around the little marketplace set up around the pier plus, Scruffy and Gustav were getting cabin fever and wanted a photo op:

We left the ship around 9:00 and as soon as we'd exited the conical-roofed building at the end of the pier, we were overwhelmed with people trying to get us into their stalls to buy something. Most of what they had were brightly colored woven things like table runners, little purses, necklaces, jade figurines, t-shirts, and hats:

At one stall, Karen got a little Jade frog for a coworker and a brightly festooned elephant that she put in her office at work because it is supposed to bring good luck. The Mayans in Guatemala are known for the beautiful woven fabric so it wasn't surprising that they had a couple of young girls demonstrating the art:

And, as we promised, we found a nice spot out in front of a little outdoor eatery by the water and got a nice scenic photo with the dogs:

Having done what we wanted to do, we went back to the ship around 11:00, got into our bathing suits and went out to the pool. It was almost devoid of people because most everybody else was on shore doing a tour or shopping so we had the pool almost to ourselves. I got a little adventurous and took the camera into the pool for a couple of self portraits:

The rest of the afternoon was equally lazy but being slightly sunburned, we left the pool after a couple of hours and spent the last part of the day back in the cabin, relaxing from our tiring day of doing nothing.

At about 11:00 the next morning, we entered a cove at Huatulco, a small town on the Pacific coast of Mexico due south of the southern most point of Texas. We didn't have anything planned for Huatulco but were hoping to find a beach to lay out on. Fortunately, there was one right next to the pier so we gathered up the towels, camera, dogs and sunscreen and went out in search of a place to plop down. It didn't take long to find one because as soon as we set foot on the sand, we had people from beach front restaurants trying to get us to sit at their tables. We didn't want a table, we wanted something we could lay on like a lounge chair so one of the guys found a couple for us and put them under an umbrella. His name was Pedro and took care of us all afternoon.

We thought it would make a good photo op for Scruffy so we brought him and Gustav. I thought Scruffy would look funny buried in the sand with just his head sticking out so we also brought a plastic bag to put him in for the picture:

The beaches were nice and we were right next to several Wave Runners that I kept eyeing. It was $40 for 30 minutes to rent them and I wanted to go out on one with Karen but she was nervous about leaving our stuff unattended (and I couldn't blame her). She said she wouldn't mind if I wanted to get one and that she would be ok staying on the beach. So, after a Margarita, I filled out the necessary forms and got a quick lesson on the controls that consisted of "Ok, this is stop, this is go, and there's the throttle", referring to a couple of red and green buttons and a small lever on the right handgrip. The "instructor" just told me not to get too close to the rocks by the shore or the ship but I could go out up to the end of the cove which was about a mile away. So, off I went:

When I got back, I ordered another Margarita and we also got Pedro to bring us some Quesadillas, with chips, rice and beans. They were really good too. Another thing the beach was full of was vendors trying to peddle their wares. They had everything you might want as a souvenir from a small Mexican town...silver, necklaces, baskets, blankets, hats, you name it:

There was an interesting church called Capilla de Santa Cruz just behind us. The pink exterior was very striking against the white and brown of the other buildings:

Sometime after 3pm, after finishing off my 3rd Margarita and letting it settle, we bid Pedro adeau, paid him for our food, drink and his hospitality, packed up our stuff and walked back to the ship. Cruise Tip: If you think you'll be doing something on shore where someone will be helping you, as we were on the beach, take some small money for tips. If you need change, you can get it at the ship's Reception Desk.

We changed out of our bathing attire and found a couple of the padded deck chairs under the cover and shade of deck 7 just below our cabin. While we were there, the captain came on the intercom and made an announcement that due to the recent outbreak of a strain of influenza known as Swine Flu in Mexico City, the CDC has recommended that further travel to anywhere in Mexico be suspended. The cruiseline would follow that advice so we would not be stopping at our next 2 ports, Alcapulco and Cabo San Lucas.

This didn't come as a complete suprise since every morning for the last 3 days, the captain's announcements included information about the outbreak but he assured us that where we were going, there had been no reported cases of the flu. I guess the government did what it normally does in these cases and had the knee-jerk reaction of making everyone stay out of Mexico if they could help it. I mean, puh-leeze! It's not like an epidemic of Ebola or the Bubonic Plague, it's just the flu and you can avoid it by just keeping your hands clean. Anyway, there was nothing we could do about it. The captain said we would stay at sea for the next 3 days but dock in San Diego on Saturday, 5/2 from 6:30 to 8pm and that the shore excursion people would get some tours set up if we wanted to sign up for them.

Later that evening, we got a notice that they were refunding about $40 per person for the port charges that were included in our original tickets but were now no longer needed. We had also scheduled a shore tour in Cabo San Lucas that would have been a ride on an America's Cup yacht where the passengers would get to help crew the boat. I was looking forward to that but not going on it meant a savings of about $300.

So, for the next 3 days we spent a lot of time reading, wandering around the decks, sitting out on the balcony, and doing a lot of resting. The captain said that he would at least take us close to Cabo San Lucas so we could get a good view of the rock formations at the end of Baja Calfornia, which is where Cabo is along with some of the big houses along the coast. Being on the starboard side was good because we didn't have to leave our cabin to see them:

The morning after passing Cabo San Lucas, we arrived in San Diego (5/2). The shore excursion office had arranged for several tours in and around the city so we decided to get tickets for a shopping shuttle, at a cost of $17/person. The shuttle would take us to Seaport Village and Horton Plaza. I already knew I wanted to get a t-shirt from the Harley shop in Seaport Village, which was only about 1/2 mile down the sidewalk from the pier. We had been there on our last trip to San Diego.

The ship docked next to the aircraft carrier Midway, which is a museum, much like the Intrepid up in New York. This morning, they were having some kind of event that I saw was an awards ceremony for local Girl Scout troops, probably for selling the most cookies:

Once we got off the ship, it was a bit confusing regarding where the shopping shuttles were picking up but we saw a bunch of people lined up along a sidewalk and a man was telling them that the next shuttle may be a bit delayed due to some event that was going on downtown. He said we could walk down to Seaport Village and he would give us a map that showed the bus stops. It was a gorgeous day and only about 1/2 mile down to the Village so we walked. On the way, we passed several interesting photo ops including the ship, a tribute to Bob Hopein bronze and a 25 ft. reproduction of the famous Alfred Eisenstaedt photo of a sailor kissing a nurse on V-J day in Times Square:

Once we got to Seaport Village, the first stop was to the Harley shop where I got a t-shirt:

And, being hungry, we stopped to eat at the Harbor House. The waitress brought out a small piece of birthday cake when we mentioned it was Karen's birthday earlier in the week:

After lunch, we did a little more shopping in the Village and, not being able to determine where the shuttle bus was supposed to pick us up, we got out the GPS and discovered that the other place where the bus would have taken us, Horton Plaza, was an easy walk from Seaport Village. My main goal for shopping was to find a new pair of sunglasses, preferably Maui Jims and I knew there was at least a Sunglass Hut at Horton Plaza but I also I also wanted to stop at the Hard Rock Cafe to see what pins they have. Fortunately, the cafe was just around the corner from Horton Plaza so that was our first stop. I was also successful in finding new shades and Karen found some new earrings at a jewelery store near the Sunglass Hut kiosk so having boosted the local economy a little and wanting to enjoy the perfect weather some more, we decided to bypass the shopping shuttle and just walk back to the ship. Cruise Tip: If you end up not taking a shore excursion that you paid for and there was a good reason for not doing it, you may be able to get your money back as long as you keep your tickets and go talk to the people at the Shore Excursion desk. Since we didn't use the shopping shuttle because we felt it was disorganized, we just explained that to the SE staff and got a refund.

That night, we watched the city pass by from our balcony as the ship left San Diego harbor on its way to Los Angeles:

Because it was our last night, we spent the early part of the evening packing and went to bed early. The ship docked in LA around 7am and after one last breakfast at the buffet on the back deck and a walk around the upper decks, we were able to disembark around 8:30. As with leaving from Miami 14 days earlier, our exit was the fastest and smoothest we've ever experienced.

The almost 4-hour flight back to Atlanta was uneventful until we landed. There were storms in the area and none of them delayed us but the moment we pulled up to the gate, the skies opened up and it poured rain so hard they couldn't get the luggage off the plane for almost an hour. We found out that it wasn't the rain that caused the delay, but it was the lightening. I guess being out on a wide open, wet concrete tarmac with lots of wet metal things around is about like being in a swimming pool during a lightening storm. We had arranged for a limo to take us home so, with bags finally in hand, we were able to relax for the 45 minute trip to the house.

This was one of the best cruises we've ever done. Having a balcony definitely made the trip better than if we'd been in an inside cabin and even the extra sea days were ok because they gave me more chances to lay out in the sun so I'd come back looking like I'd been somewhere. Unfortunately, that look cost me as I got more sunburned that I had in the past. It's been over 2 weeks since getting back and I'm still peeling but the tan hasn't completely faded.

Cruising through the Panama Canal - Part 3

2009-05-07T22:28:00.025-04:00

(continued from Part 2)

The route across the Gatun Lake was about 20 miles and took a little over 3 hours. The ship went slowly so we could all get good views of the landscape. At one point, we passed an area where some guys were doing what looked like planting a PVC pipe garden:

We found out from the speaker onboard that the crew was prepping the area to be blown up. A series of holes is drilled into the ground and a PVC pipe is put into the hole. Explosives are then wired together, dropped into the pipes, and detonated. The explosion breaks up large areas of land quickly and efficiently and makes it easier to clear the large areas. As with the workers at the Gatun Locks, the guys at this site were glad to see us:

After crossing the lake, we entered the Gaillard/Culebra Cut, a 7.8 mile valley that links the start of the Pacific end of the canal with Gatun Lake. During the canal's construction, the Gaillard Cut was the most difficult part for the French because of all the mudslides that would obliterate months of work. When the US took over the work in 1904, they had to continually widen the cut to reduce the chance of mudslides and eventually took out 100 million cubic yards of dirt and rocks. The cut is only wide enough for one-way ship traffic so southbound ship go through during the first part of the day and northbound traffic goes in the afternoon. Near the end of the Cut, the ship passed under the Centennial Bridge, one of two bridges that cross the canal. The small boat next to the ship had just picked up one of the 3 pilots that helped guide the ship through Gatun Lake:

Like at the Gatun Locks, there was a webcam just beyond the bridge so Karen captured the image of the ship from it:

About 30 minutes later, we reached the Pedro Miguel locks, which marks the beginning of our decent to the Pacific ocean. The Pedro Miguel locks are a single pair of North-South chambers that would drop us 31 ft. to the Miraflores lake. We had passed the green and yellow tanker that went through the Gatun Locks back in Gatun Lake, but the ship that went through Gatun ahead of us is in the upper part of the picture, approaching the Miraflores locks:

Our ship entered the right-hand chamber, which meant we didn't have a good view from our balcony. It had started raining very hard at this point so we just waited inside instead of venturing up on deck to get a better view.

Once through the Pedro Miguel locks, it was only about 1 mile to the Miraflores locks, the last ones we'd go through. As we approached the Miraflores locks, our canal tour guide pointed out a big orange and green arrow on top of a building at the entrance to the locks. The arrow swings right or left to indicate what side of the lock a ship was to enter. Notice the sailboats way off to the right in the picture. Those would be passing through in front of the big red and yellow bull carrier:

The canal guide said they try to get as many ships as they can through the locks at one time and since the sailboats (there are 3) needed to get through, they were lashed together and were allowed to go in front of the carrier. Instead of the small electric trains pulling them through, they used 4 guys with ropes:

The Miraflores locks have 2 chambers on either side that change a ship's elevation by a total of 54 ft. (27 for each lock). Once through, were back at sea level and on our way out into the Pacific ocean. As soon as the sailboats were out of the last lock, they untied from each other and continued on their way.

Here is the webcam shot of our ship in the Miraflores locks:

The bridge in the distance of the next shot is known as the Puentes de las Americas or Bridge of the Americas and is one of two non-swinging bridges that connects Central and South America. It was the only bridge like this from 1962 and 2004 until the Centennial Bridge (which we passed under earlier) was built. Each lock gate is also a bridge of sorts but only when they're closed and only open to one person walking across them at a time.

The trip out to the Pacific ocean took through the Gulf Of Panama, past several floating drilling and dredging platforms that are being used to expand the canal. The work is supposed to be completed by 2015. Here are some of the machines:

The day began at 8am when we entered the Gatun locks and 8 hours later we were exiting the Miraflores locks. As we continued out into the Gulf Of Panama, we bid farewell to the Panama Canal and headed out into the Pacific ocean. We could see the buildings of Panama City off in the distance. Our next stop was Puntarenas, Costa Rica:

(continued in Part 4)...

Cruising through the Panama Canal - Part 2

2009-05-07T16:28:00.038-04:00

...(continued from Part 1)

That night (4/22), we were given the schedule for our passage through the canal the next day. We would arrive around 8am and hopefully wouldn't have to wait long to get into the first set of locks. They said we would have 3 pilots come on board to help guide the ship through the 10-12 hour trip and someone who worked for the Autoridad del Canal de Panama (ACP or Panama Canal Authority) would be giving a talk about the canal's history and what we were seeing as we went through. Having a balcony stateroom was a huge advantage because we didn't have to stay up on deck to get a good view. They said since this is the beginning of the rainy season, we would probably run into a shower or two on the Pacific side.

Waking up around 7:30, I could see the sun was obscured by a thick haze but I could also see 10-20 ships of various configuration at anchor all around us. One of them caught my eye because I'd never seen something like this. It was a huge, white rectangular vessel that was obviously not a container ship nor was it a tanker. As we got closer to it, I realized it was a car carrier:

We continued on a southern heading toward the first set of locks, known as the Gatun Locks, named for the city and lake they dump ships into. In case you didn't realize it, the Panama Canal runs north/south and not east/west so if you travel from north to south as we were doing, you go from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. There are 3 sets of locks you pass through. Going in our direction, you go through the Gatun Locks first. These are a set of 3 locks that raise the 81 feet from sea level, up to Gatun Lake. The lake is man-made and was formed when the Chagres River was damned up during construction of the canal between 1906 and 1914. The creation of the lake was intentional and was done to reduce the amount of digging required to create a path across the land. This is our approach to the Gatun Locks:

By this time, almost everybody was making their way up on deck to get a good view as we got closer to the locks. Karen and I went up to the front of deck 13 to see what the view was like and this is what I saw:

The people were 5 or 6 deep back from the railing/window! I should have expected it but fortunately, I brought my new 70-200mm zoom lens so I didn't have too much of a problem zooming past the heads to get a shot. The green and yellow bull carrier you see to our right would pass through the locks at the same time we did. The glass in front of the railing wasn't the cleanest so from that vantage point, I wasn't getting very clear pictures:

The ship in front of us has been lifted 27 ft in the first lock and is proceeding into the 2nd of 3 locks where it will be raised up another 27 ft. As you can see, the water level in the lock behind the lock gates is higher than the water we are in. Each lock chamber (there are 3 sets or 6 lock chambers at Gatun) holds about 8.667 million gallons of water...more than the total amount of water in all of the exhibits at the Georgia Aquarium. The chambers are 1000 ft. long by 110 ft. wide and take about 8 minutes to fill up. The water comes from Gatun Lake and fills the lock by gravity. No pumps are used. To give you an idea of how big the lock gates are, there is a person walking across the top of the ones in the picture.

We had to wait for the ship in front of us to exit the lock and once it did, the water in the lock was drained back down to our level, the doors were opened and we proceeded into the lock. Before entering the lock, cables are attached to the ship from 4 electric locomotive engines known as mules...2 in front and 2 in back on either side of the ship. They run on tracks parallel to the sides of the lock chamber. The mules keep the ships centered and guide them through the locks instead of letting the ships go under their own power. Here are some shots of the mules in operation. You can see in the first shot some of the other passengers out on their balconies or or below us on deck 7 and how close we are to the sides (about 2 ft) and it was the same way on the other side of the ship.

As I mentioned earlier, there was an employee of the ACP onboard giving a talk about the canal and ship was broadcasting it over the TV channel used for their bow cam (a webcam that almost all ships have). It had a much better vantage point than I did earlier. The people in the picture are part of the crew because that part of the bow is inaccessible to normal passengers:

As we were moving into the lock, I could look over the railing on our balcony to see how much space there was between us and the side of the lock. It looked to be about 18 inches:

About 10 seconds after I took that picture, I was still looking down and saw something fall. I thought it may have come from above me but then realized it was my sunglasses that I had in my shirt pocket! They hit the side of the ship about 30 ft below me and kerplunk, right into the water. DOH! Apparently as I was leaning over the railing a bit, the glasses got pushed up just enough to slip out of my pocket and down they went. And these were my nice Maui Jim shades too. At first I was upset but then I had to laugh. A part of me was now a part of the canal, but they'd probably end up getting washed out to sea the next time that lock chamber empties out into the Atlantic. The bad part was that it was early enough into the cruise that I'd need to get another pair and the selection they had on the ship was lacking and overpriced.

Once we got situated in the lock, the gates in front of us closed and the ship began to rise ever so slowly. The lifting took about 10-15 minutes for us to go up 27 ft. Here is the ship next to us before and when it is almost fully lifted:

When the ship got to the correct height and the lock in front of us was drained to match our level, the doors opened and we were pulled into the 2nd chamber. Between each chamber, the mules traveled up small hills so they would be at the same elevation we would be when the ship was lifted again.

The canal has live webcams aimed at 3 places along the route so Karen was logged in on the computer to capture the images. Here is the one of our ship going through the first of the three Gatun Locks before being lifted:

Before getting to the 3rd lock, we passed a dive operation being set up. I found this particularly interesting since it is what I do (on a much smaller scale) at the Aquarium. The umbilical hoses looked to be 300 ft. or longer and the equipment they were using was high end commercial gear:

As with all our other trips, the dogs accompanied us. Scruffy (L) and Gustav (R) enjoyed the scenery:

I guess a lot of the people working on the canal and on the other ship don't see too many cruise ships pass through so they were as interested in seeing us as we were of them:

After passing through the last lock , we exited out into Gatun Lake, 85 ft. higher than where we started. Because the lake is man made, the islands we passed by are actually the tops of former hills and mountains. There are plans for expanding the canal so there is construction going on all around the area:

At one point, we came up on some kind of floating platform that looked a little bit like a small factory but with a massive drill/auger on the front. Trailing behind the platform was a long pipe, the sections of which were supported on big floats. The person giving the talk on the canal said the auger would break up the bottom of the lake and pump the mud through the pipe where it could be used as fill elsewhere:

(continued in Part 3)...

Cruising through the Panama Canal - Part 1

2009-05-07T09:07:00.039-04:00

I've been away for a while, and for good reason. On April 19, Karen and I took a 2-week cruise from Miami to Los Angeles, passing through the Panama Canal. It was one of the best vacations we've had, despite an overblown (in my opinion) reaction to an outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico. The highlight of the trip was the daylight passage through the Panama Canal but the entire trip was great. It started with an overnight stay at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, FL. Karen has stayed there on a business trip a long time ago and remembered how nice the pool was so we decided to splurge a little.

The Biltmore is one of those old hotels with a lot of history and a personality of its own. The decor is nostalgic and bold, including artwork, photographs, and bits of paraphernalia from early in the hotel's past. It was built in 1926 as a hotel but was used as a hospital during World War II and as a VA hospital up until 1988. One of the nice features is their massive, 250000 gallon pool that is almost as large as a football field. They also have a nice golf course on the property.

Unfortunately, we only were able to stay one night at the Biltmore but I would have liked to stay longer. On Sunday, 4/19, we took a taxi out to the Port Of Miami to board the Norwegian Pearl, our home for the next 2 weeks. Along the way, we had the cab driver stop at a convenience store where I got some Coke and a few bottles of water. Cruise tip: Unless you want to spend lots of $$$ for water and soft drinks on the ship, take as much as you can carry on board with you when you get on the ship or when you stop at a port. The cruise lines have restrictions on taking alcohol onto the ship but you can take as much water and soft drinks as you want. We saw some people with 12-packs of Cokes going through the X-Ray machine.

The boarding process was the fastest we've ever experienced, probably because we didn't rush to get down there when they started letting people on the ship. I think this was a good plan because the crowds had thinned out at all the embarkation and ticketing counters and we were onboard within 20 minutes of arriving at the port. Cruise tip: Get to the port about an hour after they start boarding instead of when they start letting people on. You probably won't have to wait in line at the reception counters and there is a better chance your stateroom will be ready. This means you don't end up hanging around the decks with your carry-on luggage, unless you like doing that sort of thing.

After getting settled in our room (deck 8, starboard side, with a balcony), we walked around getting familiar with the ship. One of the cool things we saw was a HUGE video display in the atrium on deck 7. They had a small band playing music in front of it:

It wasn't a projection screen either, it was like a giant LCD TV. I learned later on that this was called the Wii Wall. They would set up a Wii console and let the passengers play various games during the day. We didn't play but I would have liked to see a game like Halo on that thing.

The day was sunny with a few clouds so we walked around on deck to take in the sights of Miami and the mansions with their yachts that line the water way next to the docks:

The ship left Miami on schedule at 4pm and spent the next 2 days at sea, skirting the northern coast of Cuba and threading between Haiti and the eastern tip of Cuba. This was our first vacation taking our Kindles along so we slept late, had breakfast at the buffet on the back deck and spent a lot of time out on the balcony or at the pool reading. Appropriately enough, we both decided to read a book on the history of the Panama Canal, titled The Path Between The Seas by David McCullough. It's an excellent book and made the passage that more meaningful knowing what it took to build the canal.

We docked in Cartagena, Colombia at 7am on Wednesday, 4/22. Our first shore excursion had us getting up early so we were off the ship around 7:45 to meet the rest of the group we would spend the rest of the day with. The tour was to take us by speedboat to the Rosario Islands, a group of small islands about 25 miles southeast of Cartagena. Our guide Eduardo gave a brief history of the region and pointed out various things along the way such as forts, islands, and waterways. The ride was mildly refreshing in the mid to upper 90 degree temperatures but we all had to wear life vests that weren't all that comfortable.

It took about 1-1/2 hours to reach our first destination, an open ocean aquarium called the Oceanario. We were given a tour by one of the biologists who spoke no English so Eduardo translated for us. The Oceanario was set up as a series of holding pens out into the water where they kept a wide variety of animals such as tarpon, rays, groupers, and even some gray, nurse, and tiger sharks. The biologist fed some of the fish as he talked about them and gave a good demonstration of how the nurse sharks would come up onto a platform for their food. After the feedings, we watched a brief dolphin show put on by their trainer.

The next stop was a small resort island where we were to have lunch. The resort was nice, although not like what you'd find in Hawaii or other popular destinations. It was a bit more rustic. They had a couple of small beaches and some lounge chairs set up under some trees or shelters but once you got out into the water, the bottom was rocky and hard to stand on. Combined with the heat, it wasn't very relaxing. Lunch was good though. They offered the usual chicken, beef or fish along with rice, several kinds of salad, and drinks. Karen had the chicken and I had the fish, which, while tasty, took some work to eat because it was a whole fried fish, complete with bones and fins but missing the head and innerds.

After lunch, we piled back into the speedboat for the 1 hour ride back to the ship. It was shorter this time because Eduardo didn't talk as much. Cruise tip: Read the description of the shore excursion carefully. If it doesn't mention how long you will be on a particular mode of transportation, chances are you'll be on it for longer than you expect. This one had us in the boat a bit too long so by the time we were done, Karen and I both had headaches from being out too long.

(continued in Part 2)...

A new form of poetry...the Baiku

2009-04-14T09:28:00.002-04:00

Oh bacon, so good
Anything I put you on
Instantly improves!

Sun sparkles through leaves...

2009-04-08T07:48:00.001-04:00

Sun sparkles through leaves
Rising, light pours through window
Glare washes out screen

Mac OS X re-installation...not a problem

2009-04-06T09:10:00.001-04:00

This weekend, I had a bit of a scare with my MacBook Pro. After copying some large video files to one of our networked hard disks, the drive locked up which caused me to have to do a forced reboot...something akin to pulling the plug in the middle of a critical operation. After that, I couldn't boot the system back up. My only recourse, I found out, was to do a re-installation of the operating system, something that causes instant headaches in most people because it can be such a pain in the ass. But wait, I'm on a Mac, not a Window system. Normal rules don't apply here.

Fetching the Mac OS X 10.5 installation CD, I rebooted the system from the CD and began the setup, telling it to archive the current system and install a fresh copy. About 40 minutes later, the laptop booted back up and looked like nothing ever happened to it. All my programs were there and could be run. All my personal documents were still there and I didn't even have to make any adjustments to any of my settings. It all just worked! That's one of the HUGE differences between Mac system and Windows systems. When the OS needs updating, it (usually) doesn't affect your programs or their settings because the programs are separated from the OS, unlike Windows where a program can be like a plant with roots extending into all kinds of places inside the system. Cut some of those roots and the program becomes useless unless you re-install it. But with the Mac, even if you completely reinstall the OS, your programs go on working and you shouldn't even notice a difference.

It's stuff like this that makes me glad I use a Mac at home. They aren't perfect but they make your life a whole lot easier when something goes wrong.

I am now an official iPhone developer

2009-03-23T15:34:00.001-04:00

Let the coding begin!

I'm now officially recognized by Apple as being a developer for the iPhone. I didn't have to take any tests, fill out many forms, submit a resume or samples of my previous work. All I had to do is pay $99 and this gives me access to the latest and greatest software updates and developer tools that Apple provides for creating applications on the iPhone. I made this decision because I'd been thinking about doing it for several months but just didn't know if I wanted to go through the learning curve required to work with the iPhone Integrated Development Environment (IDE) called XCode and the programming language, called Objective C. Seeing as I already make my living as a software developer, I don't think it'll be a very steep curve but I've been coasting along the downhill slope of the Software Development mountain and wasn't all that keen on learning something new.

So, now that I'm official, I have installed the latest incarnation of the iPhone OS (3.0), which is still in beta form, and am discovering all manner of new bugs that Apple will hopefully work out before the final release sometime this Summer. As for the applications I'll be working on, well, I'm not at liberty to discuss future applications from Uncaged Software (my new iPhone Development company name).

A day out on the town

2009-03-22T16:37:00.021-04:00

This weekend, Karen and I are celebrating our 24th anniversary by absorbing some culture in our fair city. It was a beautiful, sunny day, perfect for the first day of Spring. We started with a visit to the King Tut exhibition at the Atlanta Civic Center:

Unfortunately, they didn't allow photography inside but it was still very fascinating.

Next, we had lunch at the Sundial Restaurant on top of the Peachtree Plaza Hotel. The Sundial is a revolving restaurant that makes a full circle every hour and offers spectactular views of downtown Atlanta and the surrounding area.

Karen decided she should tweet about it from her iPhone:

This is the Georgia Aquarium and the World Of Coke next to Centennial Olympic Park:

The World Congress convention center with The Georgia Dome in the background, CNN Center, the Omni Hotel, and Centennial Olympic Park in the foreground:

A closer shot of the Olympic Ring fountain. It was a warm day so the park had quite a few people in it:

Karen used to work in the Peachtree Summit Building which is the one in the foreground that looks like it has handles on the sides:

Part of the Georgia Tech campus and Bobby Dodd Stadium can be seen to the left of the Connector where I-75 and I-85 merge through the middle of town:

The headquarters for Coca Cola:

A reflection of some of the buildings in the exterior elevator shaft for the scenic elevator on the side of the Peachtree Plaza Hotel:

After lunch, we walked down to Centennial Olympic Park to find some commemorative bricks we purchased in 1996 when the Olympics came to Atlanta. To raise money for the Olympics, the organizing committee sold bricks that the purchaser could have engraved with short sayings or names. We bought 3 out of the 1000s that make up the walkways within the park. The problem is that we can never remember where ours are so Karen pointed them out and I got a picture:

The day was nice so people were out walking in the park and playing in the Olympic Ring fountain:

Our daytime activities ended with a trip to the High Museum to see The First Emporer, China's Terracotta Army and the Louvre exhibition. As with the King Tut Exhibit, no photography was allowed. The Terracotta Army exhibition was impressive and if it ever comes to a city near you, I recommend going to see it.

Skinned Kindle 2

2009-03-09T23:29:00.013-04:00

It's been a little over 2 weeks since Karen and I got our Kindles and I have to say that I'm enjoying reading on it. So far, I've finished 2 books. The first one I read, The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe by Douglas Adams, was on Karen's original Kindle that she got back in December and the 2nd one, The Island Of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells, was on my K2.

Since both Kindles look the same, we decided to get skins for them from DecalGirl. Being that I love the ocean, parrots, and anything tropical, I got one called Tropics:

Karen likes purple so she got one called Arabian Night:

Someone was able to figure out how to put your own screen savers on the K2, a feature that was disabled by Amazon but I applied the technique so we now have pictures that I took while on some of our vacations as screen savers.

Kindle 2 arrives

2009-02-25T20:26:00.016-05:00

Today, my new Kindle 2 was delivered. The package is considerably thinner than the original Kindle box, which looked like a thick book. This one was more streamlined:

Upon opening it, the first thing you notice is the black lining with the random letters seen in the original Kindle packaging:

The printing on the inner box is actually a paper wrapping that you remove by ripping a perforated strip. Under the wrap is a black inner box:

When you open the top of the black inner box, the Kindle is resting comfortably on top of a plastic inner tray with a piece of clear plastic covering the entire front:

Here is some detail on what the initial screen looks like:

Lifting the Kindle out of the tray, you realize just how thin it is. It's probably 1/3" thick. The little gray rocker switch is the volume control for the text-to-speech option or MP3 playback. I can say that the volume coming out the speakers is quite loud:

Under the plastic tray is a quick reference folded "card", the USB cable and A/C adapter. You can charge the Kindle using the cable plugged into the adapter or to a USB port on your computer. The quick reference card has the same random lettering pattern found on the paper wrapping the inner box came in:

So, there you have it, the Kindle 2 unboxed. It didn't include any form of case, something I was a bit surprised at but I understand the logic behind it. Why give something away that very few people will actually use. I think most people buy 3rd party cases like ones made by Oberon or the one Amazon sells.

I haven't had a lot of time to play with it but I did take the time to charge it and register it on my wife's account. We're going to share one account so we don't have to buy a book twice if we both want to read. I can say that the screen and navigation are much better than on the original model but the brushed metal, rounded back makes it a tad slippery when put on anything but a completely level surface. I'll put up a more thorough review once I've had more time to play with it.

New Kindle should be here in the morning

2009-02-24T18:31:00.006-05:00

My new Kindle will be here tomorrow. Currently, it's only about 18 miles from the house but it's being delivered to my office and is on time for tomorrow morning. Here's the tracking info from UPS:

Package Progress
Location	Date	Local Time	Description
DORAVILLE, GA, US	02/24/2009	12:29 P.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US	02/24/2009	2:22 A.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US	02/23/2009	2:49 P.M.	ORIGIN SCAN
US	02/22/2009	2:05 A.M.	BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

I'm actually a little excited about this. I'll post some unboxing pictures after I open it.

Another night of concerts at the NACA convention

2009-02-16T14:03:00.006-05:00

There was another round of concerts at the NACA convention here at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Some of the performances included Blessid Union Of Souls, an amazing team of Chinese Acrobats, and the Zac Brown Band. Here are a few shots:

Blessid Union Of Souls:

Golden Dragon Chinese acrobats:

And a couple of the Zac Brown Band:

All images in this post are Copyright © Photography by Drew Commins

NACA National Convention photos

2009-02-15T16:19:00.013-05:00

This weekend marks the 8th year that I've been shooting pictures for the National Association for Campus Activities annual convention. The convention runs from 2/14 - 2/28 and is being held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, TN. The hotel is as large and oppulent as a Las Vegas Casino/Hotel but much less flashy and much more relaxing. The convention is attended by 2500+ people, mostly college students who are members of their respective colleges' Student Activities board. NACA is an organization that helps the colleges book entertainment for their students so the convention consists of a lot of performances by bands, comedians, and others looking to get booked for gigs on the campuses. Here are a few of the pictures I've gotten during some of the performances over the last couple of days.

Singer Erin McCarley:

Comedian Rob Stapleton:

Comedian Stephen Lynch:

Singer Tyler James:

I'll post some more shots in the coming days

All images in this post are Copyright © Photography by Drew Commins

A day of maintenance at the Aquarium

2009-01-30T22:03:00.008-05:00

Today was my day to spend at the Aquarium and for the first time in a couple of years, I had no dives scheduled so I spent it doing maintenance. Normally, I'd go in and working on some equipment until lunchtime, then have a dive after lunch but the dives had been cancelled so I was able to do maintenance all day. It turned out that everyone who I normally work with on Friday in the dive locker was otherwise engaged so I was on my own.

I got down there around 7:30am and the first order of business was to get some of the scuba tanks filled. The morning dive in Ocean Voyager was a full one so most of the tanks were already out. They dive in OV every morning to clean the acrylic windows and do other tidying up in the exhibit. Here is a shot of some of the biologists setting up the equipment for the dive:

The tanks that needed refilling are usually loaded on to a special cart and taken to the fill station in the dive locker. Here is the cart after I got it loaded up:

The tanks are then moved over to the fill station to be refilled with air:

Tanks generally take about 5 -10 minutes to fill, depending on how full they are to start with. You can't just hook them up to the air hoses and crank the valves wide open. If you do that, you run the risk of blowing up the tank because introducing that much pressure very quickly will weaken the metal. They must be filled slowly but doing so will still cause them to heat up, sometimes over 100 degrees.

Once the tanks got filled up, I rebuilt one of the Scubapro Mk17 regulators and in the process, taught one of the other volunteers how to do it. I'm finally getting comfortable with doing that, after having rebuilt 4 now. I always keep my iPhone handy though, because I have several videos on it that show exactly what needs to be done during a rebuild. After lunch I was able to do a 2nd Mk17 , which only took me about an hour. The first one I did a couple of months ago took me about 3 hours, mostly because I kept having to refer to the video and printed instructions but this time, I didn't need any of that. Next time, I think I'll tackle some of the other models of regulators they have, the Mk25 and S600. Those are considerably more complex but they should be fun to do.

I may be on the list for Kindle 2

2009-01-28T13:26:00.005-05:00

The rumors are flying like poo in a monkey house. What will Amazon be announcing at their upcoming event in NY on Feb 9?

Most think they'll be introducing the next generation of their Kindle e-book reader, which is of particular interest to me. You see, late last year, Oprah, the great product pusher declared that the Kindle was one of her favorite things and instantly, 1000s of people decided it should be their favorite thing as well and ordered it from Amazon, reducing Amazon's inventory to 0. Following Oprah's announcement and a little show-and-tell by my sister-in-law Tammy, who was able to get one before the big ordering stampede, my wife Karen decided she wanted one too. After all, she loves to read and it would be the perfect thing to take on vacation. But, with none to be had on Amazon's site, a little searching was in order and with the help of an online coupon on Cyber Monday (12/1/08), she found one on eBay, ordered it, and has been enjoying it ever since.

I don't think a day has gone by when Karen hasn't said something to the effect of "I love my Kindle". It really is an impressive gadget. When Amazon first announced it late in 2007, I thought to myself "Why would anyone want to spend that much ($399) on an electronic book reader?" Of course, that was coming from me, an avid book non-reader. I also never saw the point to having an iPod until I got one so you can kind of see where this is going. Karen's enthusiasm was contagious so she let me order a book from the Kindle Store and I actually enjoyed reading it. The screen is easy on the eyes and is very much like reading a newspaper. It's not backlit so the batteries don't need to be constantly recharged and having a free wireless connection makes adding more content to it extremely easy and convenient. There's also a built-in dictionary that makes the reading experience better for those of us who are vocabulary-challenged. Currently, Karen has over a dozen books loaded on it, two of which are ones I ordered. I won't say that I "broke down" because it didn't take a lot of convincing, but 2 weeks ago, I decided to put in an order for one. As it has been since before Christmas, Amazon showed none in stock and a shipping delay of 6-8 weeks. Since I didn't want to pay the inflated prices from eBay sellers and I've done without one for this long so I could wait a few more weeks.

Anytime something new comes into our lives, we like to keep up with the latest buzz about it. Looking over the various forums and blogs dedicated to the Kindle, questions about when the next generation of the device would be released were one of the major topics. I've also been checking the order status to see if Amazon has updated their shipping estimate, which originally stated it would be sent out between March 2 and March 13. These dates have not changed, and reading reports that people who ordered them around Christmas are still waiting makes me think that the delay is not simply a case of inventory needing to catch up to demand. If it was, then people would be getting them as they were manufactured. No, this seemed more like a delay before a new version is released.

Other clues that the next model was close to being announced, apart from Amazon announcing that a new Kindle would be introduced sometime this year, was a report that showed up in the tech blog, Boy Genius Report in October, 2008. The article had a link to some pictures of what they claimed is the prototype for the "Kindle 2". I read recently that those pictures may have actually been of the prototype for the original Kindle. That idea makes sense to me because the new device is significantly bigger than the old one and how many times has a new version of a mobile device been bigger and clunkier than its predecessor? If it is, in fact a prototype of the Kindle 2, I sincerely hope Amazon makes some changes to the design because what is pictured may not be bode well with the e-book reading public.

I'll go ahead and fling my thought out there that anyone who currently has a Kindle on backorder from Amazon will receive the new version when they start shipping in March. This also seems to go along with trend of Version 2 gadgets having more features at the same price as Version 1, which would make things much easier since those waiting in line have already locked in their purchase price of $359. If what I say is true, then my wife will be slightly ticked off because I'll have the latest and greatest and she'll be "stuck" with yesterday's technology. She has informed me, however, that if I do get the new one, she won't be "too" jealous...yeah, right.

Diet progress - Day 4

2009-01-18T20:01:00.004-05:00

So far, things are going well with the diet. I've been good about what I've been eating and trying to exercise. Friday was a good day for that as I was down at the aquarium from 8am until about 10pm. I tendered/lead a dive for the first time, dove in the Beluga tank, and went through a CPR/First Aid and Oxygen Administration certification course. I some good exercise that day and kept to my diet.

My progress so far:

# days elapsed: 4
Weight this morning: 194.2
Lbs lost: 5.8
Exercise Friday: 1 hour diving in 55 degree water scrubbing algae. Probably the equivalent of a 45 minute mild cardio workout.

Time to get serious about losing some weight

2009-01-15T14:18:00.004-05:00

I'm not going to say this is a new year's resolution, but I think it's about time I get serious about losing some weight. Karen and I had gotten out of the habit of going to the gym over the last few months and when I stepped on the scale the other day, the number that came up made me go "wow, that high, eh?". I checked my BMI (Body Mass Index) and I am hovering on the border between the "overweight" and the "obese" categories.

Last year, I did pretty well with reducing my carb intake so I think I'll start with that and make a more concerted effort to workout at least 3 times a week. Karen and I do well when we encourage each other so going together is a good way for both of us to keep it up. As a jump start on what I eat, I'm cutting out as much bread, sugars, pasta, and other starches as I can. I will drink more water or diet drinks (Splenda-based) and eat more proteins and vegetables. My goal is to have my BMI in the middle of the "healthy" category which, for my height, is about 155-160.

My starting numbers are:

Day: 1/14/09
Weight: 200 lbs.

My progress so far:

# days elapsed: 1
Weight this morning: 198.4
Exercise today: 45 minute walk on treadmill (Fat Burn setting) at 5:30am

Charities and Hobo lore

2009-01-09T20:45:00.006-05:00

Have you ever noticed that if you give to one charity, all of a sudden you start getting requests from all kinds of charities?

This year, Karen and I decided that we would start donating more money to charity because every time we've done it in the past, we seem to get money (or other symbols of prosperity) in return. But, something else we've noticed is how, once we've given to one charity, we begin getting solicited from several other charities. I think it can be traced back to hobo lore and the signs that hobos would leave on houses as a signal to other hobos to let them know about the people who live there. I think the first organization we gave to put some kind of virtual symbol next to our address and phone number, perhaps one that looks like this:

According to Hobos, it means "Good for a handout"

Out on the bike today

2009-01-01T20:55:00.008-05:00

Cool wind whipping by
Sun shining, engine rumbles
First ride of Oh Nine.

There is an old wives tale that says whatever you do on January 1st is what you'll do the rest of the year. As with every Jan. 1 since I began riding motorcycles, I like to go out for a ride, even if it's a short one and today was no exception. I'm hoping that doing this will mean that I get to ride more this year. Last year, I put 2741 miles on the VRod and 7808 miles on the Softail. That's over 10,500 miles, 99% of them commuting to and from work. I'm hoping to get in a few more non-commuting trips this year and if our weather continues the trends of milder temps and less rain, I'm sure that'll happen.

Happy New Year everyone and stay safe whatever you do.

Having to work on Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T14:17:00.001-05:00

Twas the day before Christmas and all through Cubeville
Not many were working, except me...what a thrill
The normal noises of keyboards a'clackin
Were gone on this day, most folks were slackin'.

My boss said "Leave early, an hour or two"
Ahh, thank you, that's great, I've got stuff to do
I sit here trying to get this poem done
But in 20 minutes, out the door I will run.

There's places to go, there's things to complete
Like pick up the food for tomorrow's big treat
I hope that you all have a great Christmas day
I'll be home on my couch and with toys I will play.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Doing a tank VIP

2008-12-07T14:51:00.008-05:00

Friday was a day of learning for me at the aquarium as I got to do what is known as a VIP or Visual Inspection Process on several of their air cylinders. This procedure should be done at least once per year on each tank and it's approaching the anniversary of the last round of VIPs. The aquarium has about a dozen 80 cu. ft. steel tanks mainly used for Surface-Supplied dives and about 20 100 cu.ft. steel tanks that are used for SCUBA dives. They also have about a dozen 100 cu. ft. aluminum tanks used in their Dive Immersion Program (DIP). The DIP tanks are aluminum because they are lighter than steel and easier for the DIP participants to work with.

Pictured below is one of the 80 cu. ft. steel tanks. These tanks are typically not used in the water, but are instead connected to what we call an air cart (a specially designed and modified hand truck) on the surface that supply a diver with air through an umbilical hose when they dive in the smaller exhibits:

Notice that the tank valve has been removed from the top of the tank. The valve is where the regulator attaches to the tank and is used to turn the air supply on or off. During the VIP, the valve is removed so the inside of the tank can be inspected.

Before any inspecting can be done, the tank is drained of all its air, which can take 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the tank. Once all the air is out of it, the exterior is examined to see if there are any bulges, gouges, or cracks. Steel tanks, like the one above, typically don't crack but tanks made of aluminum can. After the exterior is inspected, the tank is banged with a rubber mallet to test for any imperfections in the metal. This is called the Ring or Tone test. It should have a sound like a bell or gong with a clear tone. If it has more of a dull thudding sound, then something is wrong.

After the ring test, the tank valve is removed. Here is what a DIN-style tank valve looks like after it has been removed:

The valves are rebuilt before being installed back into the tank. This procedure involves completely disassembling them and cleaning or replacing various parts using a rebuild kit. Tank valve rebuilds are much simpler than rebuilding regulators because there are fewer parts to deal with.

Once the valve has been removed, the tank is turned upright and shaken to allow any debris to come out. What kind of debris would ever get inside a tank, you may ask, and that's a good question. Even though the only thing put into tanks is air, that air can contain trace amounts of moisture which can cause small amounts of rust or even pitting along the interior walls of the tank. Fortunately, the regulators have filters in them that keep the very fine rust particles from being inhaled so there is no danger to the divers. After any particles have been shaken out of the tank. a light stick is inserted into the tank and the interior walls are examined for signs of corrotion, pitting, or other problems. The tank valve threads are also examined for any cracks or imperfections.

If the interior and exterior of the tank look good, the valve is replaced (after being rebuilt or completely replaced) and a new sticker is applied to the tank indicating the month and year of the inspection. The tank is then filled with air and put back into the rack with the other tanks to be used on another dive. The entire inspection takes 10-15 minutes and that includes a valve rebuild.

Voted again

2008-12-02T20:36:00.005-05:00

Today was the runoff for the Georgia Senate race between Saxby Chambliss (R) and Jim Martin (D) so we voted....again. I really do hope all this election crap is over now because I'm extremely tired of all the negative ads and phone calls, both robo-calls and campaign volunteers. It was bordering on harassment. Next time I get calls like this, I'll just pretend to be the owner of one of our local Chinese restaurants and take their order.

What to do...

2008-11-28T08:24:00.004-05:00

Vacation time gone
Office empty, traffic, none
Stuck at work, I'm bored

Turkey, so tasty...

2008-11-27T18:01:00.005-05:00

Turkey, so tasty
This is the day we give thanks,
Watch football, then sleep.

Someone needs more Jewish friends

2008-11-26T08:19:00.001-05:00

The other might, Karen and I were walking around a local mall when I noticed this giant cookie in the display case of the Great American Cookies shop. Since when did the Star Of David loose one of its points??

I found it amusing that 1) someone did this, 2) nobody else (i.e. the manager) noticed the mistake, and 3) they put it out for public display. Doesn't say a whole lot for the level of education these people have, does it? At least they spelled Hanukkah right.

Good day at the Aquarium

2008-11-22T20:15:00.027-05:00

Yesterday, I had a really good day at the Aquarium that included helping tender a dive in the Tropical Diver exhibit, diving in the Gar tank, rebuilding a ScubaPro Mk17 regulator, and helping to reassemble a set of double cylinders.

Earlier this year, Dive Operations at the Aquarium put out a call for some of their volunteer divers to help work on maintenance of the equipment used for diving. This included Bouyancy Compensators (BCs), surface-supply diving umbilicals, and the devices used to clean the various exhibits. Being mechanical, I signed up and have been doing that on the days I'm down at the Aquarium. On Friday, I took my camera down to get a few shots of some of the things I do.

One of the first things in the maintenance group that I learned to do was fill tanks. The Aquarium has several dozen tanks used for both SCUBA and surface-supplied tanks and they are all filled from a station in the dive locker (workshop). Here is a picture of the work bench in the dive locker:

In one corner of the dive locker is the fill station. It is where the air tanks are refilled. The station consists of a large metal box with several knobs and gauges and a compartment to fill 2 tanks. Here is a couple of shots of the fill station:

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Mauritius, the Volunteer Dive coordinator, asking if I'd like to learn how to be a tender/lead diver. This position has always been handled by members of the Husbandry staff so having volunteers do it is a big deal, and they have asked 3 of us to do it. The final step before getting signed off to do it involves shadowing another lead during a dive. I had the opportunity to do that Friday morning. Here are s couple of pictures of the top of the Tropical Diver exhibit known as SS2. It is a 165,000 gallon exhibit housing a large coral reef wall and some 1500 fish. The front part is the reef with an artifical wave generator consisting of 4 large buckets that dump 6000 gallons of water every 2 minutes to simulate an ocean wave. The back of the exhibit is a lagoon with small mangrove trees and rocks that is used as a holding area for fish before they are released out to the front part:

This is the lagoon area of SS2. Currently there are several Zebra Sharks, Bamboo Sharks, and lots of Yellow Tangs. The Tangs are small enough to be able to swim between the front part and the lagoon through an opening on the top of the rocks that can be seen on the right side of the picture:

Here is what SS2 looks like from a guest's point of view:

The dive is done via surface-supplied air where the diver is connected to this air cart by an umbilical hose:

Although there is only one diver, they always connect an additional umbilical in case the lead/tender has to go in to rescue the diver. The responsibilities of the lead include setting up the air cart (connecting the umbilicals, testing the equipment), preparing the entry point where the diver enters the exhibit, and documenting the dive. They also have to handle any emergencies that occur and assist the diver as needed before, during and after the dive. Here is a shot of Tom, the lead that I am shadowing, helping Dave into the water to start his dive:

SS2 dives typically last about an 1-1/2 hours. There is a lot to do including dusting debris and scraping any accumulated algae from the big window, brushing debris from the rocks and coral, and feeding the fish and coral. I was unable to stay for the entire dive because I had to do one of my own in one of the exhibits in River Scout, the Aquarium's fresh water gallery at 10am.

For the past couple of months, I have been diving in FW13, the Gar tank:

This exhibit houses about 20 Gars, ranging in size from 2 - 3 feet long and each having a long snout with some very sharp teeth:

The tank is about 12 ft deep by 20 ft long and is made mostly of concrete so there are no delicate things in there to break, which is good from a diving/maintenance standpoint. The fish are very lethargic and docile and I have never had any problems with them but they can be quick and defensive if they feel cornered. I try to avoid doing that when I'm in there with them. The dive is fairly relaxing and consists of wiping down the window, siphoning any loose detritus from the bottom, and hand brushing the algae from some of the back wall and "roots". I like it because I can take my time and not wear myself out doing it. As with the SS2 dives, this one also typically lasts 1 to 1-1/2 hours depending on how much algae has grown on the rocks.

After cleaning up FW13, I spent the rest of the day up in the dive locker rebuilding a Mk17 regulator. This is a pretty specialized skill, and required a training class that I attended in October. Keeping the regulators maintained is very important because people's lives depend on a working regulator. I've done a couple since attending the training class. Friday, I rebuilt a Mk17 (1st stage) regulator. Here is a picture of it before disassembly:

After about 30 minutes of work on it, here is the same regulator taken apart:

As you can see, there are lots of tiny parts, some of which are replaced during the rebuilt (o-rings, spacers, and seals). Eventually, it should take about 30-45 minutes to tear it down, clean all the parts, reassemble it, and tune it. Since I'm still learning, I used a video provided by ScubaPro that I have loaded onto my iPhone as a reference. Once all the parts were cleaned and/or replaced, it went back together without any spare parts...whew!

There will be lots more opportunites for special maintenance projects next year, including learning how to mix gasses for Nitrox diving, and working on other equipment. I'm looking forward to doing that and will post some entries when that happens.

The days are chilly...

2008-11-12T16:07:00.003-05:00

The days are chilly
The mornings are still dark, cold
Chaps cover my legs

Riding through leaf tornadoes

2008-11-09T07:35:00.003-05:00

Yesterday morning, I had to run one of the motorcycles in for some service and on the way, I was reminded about another reason that riding in the Fall is fun. I call them "Leaf tornadoes". These happen when a car or truck drives over a lot of loose, dry leaves in the road, swirling them into a frenzied, multicolored cyclone. Riding through them is fun, but only if you have a shield or full-face helmet as getting smacked in the face with leaves might leave a mark. Ha ha, get it, leave a mark? It reminded me of being a kid and jumping into a big pile of leaves your dad raked up in the back yard.

Delta Airlines = Delta Farelines

2008-11-06T11:29:00.003-05:00

Normally, I don't rant much, but Delta Airlines has me to the point that I need to get this out. I received the following email today:

Dear Mr. Commins,

Say goodbye to seat envy! We're giving you more power over where you sit on upcoming flights.

With our new Coach Choice Seats, you may now purchase select window, aisle or exit-row seats when you check in online or at a Delta airport kiosk.

Prices range from $5 to $25 per flight depending on distance traveled and seat location. So what are you waiting for? Simply check in online within 24 hours prior to your scheduled departure to make the change and claim your new seat. The choice is yours.

We also want to let you know that effective immediately, we're eliminating SkyMiles® and WorldPerks® Award Ticket fuel surcharges, which were instituted earlier this year in response to unprecedented fuel costs.

Please visit delta.com for the latest fee information and for all your travel needs—near and far. You also can reserve hotel rooms or car rentals and sign up for real-time flight information online. Then check out our Delta Blog to see "under the wing" and behind the scenes as we share stories on ideas, changes and our people.

WTF???? You're going to charge me if I want to sit in a particular seat, even if it's available when I book the flight?? You've got to be kidding me! Apparently, you aren't charged for every, say, aisle or window seats but there are some that they've designated as a "Choice Coach Seat" that you can choose at check-in for a nominal fee. These include the exit row (more leg room), bulkhead (nobody in front of you), and some the are close to the door so you can get off the plane faster. Give me a break!

Not only are they going to let you sit in a special seat for a fee, they're going to start charging you to check your luggage. Several months ago, most of the major airlines began charging you anywhere between $15 and $25 to check a 2nd bag...something you used to be able to do for free. Ok, fine, maybe that will make people start packing lighter so the plane won't burn so much fuel, given how expensive that is now. I can live with that because I rarely need 2 checked bags anyway. But starting on December 5, they're going to start charging $15 for the 1st bag and $25 for a 2nd one. C'mon Delta, you really don't want me to fly with you any more, do you? First you decided to charge me if I book a flight through one of your agents over the phone ($15. Then you limit the food choices on longer flights, and now you have a menu where I can buy a sandwich for $8 if I want more than a tiny bag of peanuts and water. Next, you make it extremely hard to cash in SkyMiles for tickets by either raising the number of points needed for a ticket or severely limiting the number of seats available for SkyMiles tickets and now you're charging for stuff that you used to do for free that DIDN'T COST YOU ANYTHING TO BEGIN WITH!

Given how much Karen and I travel, I think we're going to seriously re-evaluate our choices of airlines because all of this nickel and diming that Delta is doing is not making me want to go with them anymore.

What's next? Are you going to charge me $5 for saying "Thanks for flying Delta" as I exit the plane?

Volunteer Appreciation Event at the Aquarium

2008-11-06T08:43:00.023-05:00

Last night, Karen and I attended the Aquarium's annual Volunteer Appreciation Event. Every year, they have a little get-together for the 1000+ volunteers that help do everything from greeting visitors when they arrive to scrubbing algea off the rocks in the Beluga exhibit. Your's truly does the latter most of time.

Typically, they have some sort of snacks or dinner followed by a few words of thanks from the management, some raffle prizes, and you get to enjoy the exhibits without the normal crowds. This year, they presented some short lectures and Q&A sessions in several exhibits. In the Tropical Diver gallery, they had a diver in the water answering questions via the communications hookup in her mask.

They also opened up the exhibit they have on the Titanic, which was very cool. When you enter it, you're given a card with a real passenger's name and a little description about them including what class they were and what cabin they were assigned. The exhibit is a self-guided tour that takes you by some real artifacts that have been recovered from the wreck and old pictures from the ship and the events surrounding its sinking. It was impressive to see how well preserved some of the items were particularly some of the clothing that was recovered from inside leather suitcases and bags. The leather in the cases protected the contents from the microorganisms in the water so they didn't deteriorate. At the end of the tour is a list of all the passengers and whether they survived or not. Mine, unfortunately, did not but Karen's did. They wouldn't allow photography in the exhibit so I don't have any pictures but I did take special note of a fountain pen that they had recovered. It was in pretty good shape, considering what it has gone through.

Later, we wandered around the other galleries before going home. Having been a volunteer there for almost 3 years, I've seen everything they have but they're always adding new stuff, like the Pacific Sea Nettles in the picture to the right. They are a very beautiful, but nasty jelly who's sting is quite painful.

Another new animal that was introduced just a couple of months ago is Nandi, a Manta Ray. Nandi was brought in to the aquarium from South Africa and she is currently between 8 and 9 feet from wing tip to wing tip. She lives in the 6.3 million gallon habitat called Ocean Voyager. They had some tables set up in front of the big viewing window in OV so we spent about 30 minutes just watching the fish swim by. The big window is made of several sections of acrylic and is about 61 ft long by 23 ft high by 2 ft thick. It has to support a huge amount of water pressure but you can't tell that it's any thicker than a normal pane of glass if you're looking straight through it.

Volunteering there is a lot of fun, but it can be hard work. I'll be putting more posts about the stuff I do there because in the future, I think there will be a lot more opportunities for me to do some pretty interesting things that aren't just cleaning rocks and vacuuming up fish poop.

Goodbye Opus

2008-11-05T21:45:00.010-05:00

One of my favorite cartoon character, Opus the Penguin, has been "retired" by his creator Berkeley Breathed. Opus was one of the stars of the comic strip Bloom County and it was in those adventures that I discovered him. After Bloom County was retired in 1989, Breathed created another called Outland and included some of the Bloom County characters, Opus being among them. Outland ended its run in 1995 and was replaced by a strip dedicated to the penguin, titled Opus.

This week was the last week for Opus, as he came full circle in his comic life. In true Opus fashion, he got himself arrested then thrown into an animal shelter where he lived out his final days. In an interesting twist, Breathed created a contest for the readers to guess how Opus would end up. Opus' last strip can be seen on the Humane Society's website

Your antics brought laughs
Your words caused many to think
Opus, you are missed

What will the next 4 years bring?

2008-11-05T09:03:00.003-05:00

Normally, I'm a very apolitical person. I never get into political discussions on web forums; I never talk politics with my inlaws, unless I'm just wanting to get a rise out of them; I NEVER listen to talk radio and I usually don't care who gets elected because I believe that no matter who I vote for, my vote really doesn't count. I say I don't think my vote counts because where I live is so staunchly Republican, that my voting for a Democrat makes no difference, especially in a presidential election because the popular vote doesn't decide the winner. However, I'm glad to see that Obama won because I'm ready for something new and I think he'll bring it. I met one of my co-workers walking in this morning and he said "Don't blame me if things don't get any better", implying that he voted for McCain. Yeah, whatever. Trust me, I won't blame you for that but I did say that I felt he was part of the problem and not the solution because I just don't see that having another Republican president would bring about the kinds of change that this country needs.

Like many Americans, Karen and I have become extremely frustrated with the way things have been going both with the economy and with the wars that this country has gotten itself into. Fortunately, we both have very stable jobs in companies that aren't affected as badly by the problems in the credit industry and the stock market. We find it amusing that I work for a company that pays people and she works for a "company" that takes it away. I won't say who that is, but I think you can guess. We also live in an area where we see little to no evidence of any economic crisis. People are still driving to the malls and restaurants to go shopping or eat out as much or more than they ever did. So, I'm hoping Mr. Obama can do what he's been promising during his campaign...get us back on more solid financial ground and get us out of the war. I think we need to focus more attention on us and less on the rest of the world because America has gotten a bad reputation over the last several years.

Good luck to you Mr. Obama, I don't envy the tasks you face but I trust you will do them well.

Today we voted

2008-11-04T07:18:00.003-05:00

The line at our polling place at 6:45am

Today we are doing our civic duty by voting. Our county has had an option to vote early for the last week but they've only had 5 polling places open for the entire county. This caused huge lines and wait times as long as 10 hours!

Today, however is the official Election Day so here we are. This year is a very popular election so turnout is heavy. We got to the polling place at 6:35, 25 minutes before they opened and there were already 200-300 people in front of us. Once the doors opened at 7am, the line moved along at a slow but steady pace and we were out by around 8am.

Work has been boring

2008-04-29T10:08:00.000-04:00

Work has been boring
Seemingly endless reading
My eyes, they seek rest.

Dry all last summer

2008-04-04T13:24:00.000-04:00

Dry all last summer
Put the state in a crisis
Now the rain won't stop!

The end of a long, not so cold winter

2008-03-26T16:24:00.062-04:00

Finally, the weather is starting to get mild enough to break out the 2-wheeled conveynces and ride. Not that I haven't ridden over the winter, but I'm a lot less inclined to get out there when it's 40 and below. I remember that first year I had a bike, I had the attitude "Cold be damned, as long as it's dry, I can ride". Well, as you can see by the my previous post, riding in cold is not that much fun and I'm over it so the bikes spent most of the last few months in the garage. But, the temps are starting to climb into the 60s during the day and will soon be in the 70s so I can handle a little morning chills to have an enjoyable afternoon ride home.

Tons-o-stuff has been going on for the past few months, I don't think I have the web space to detail them all so I'll give a few highlights:

Karen and I spent the week before Christmas on a cruise down the west coast of Mexico, stopping in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. We started by flying into San Diego and staying overnight at the Hotel Del Coronado, a big, Victorian-style resort that's been around since 1888. It's a cool place, I highly recommend staying there if you're in the area. The cruise left from San Diego on the Holland America ship Oosterdam and stopped first at Cabo San Lucas, then Mazatlan, followed by Puerto Vallarta. Being in Mexico, I had to sample the Tequila from each place and quickly discovered that they really know how to make a good Margarita down there.

Sand sculpture in Puerto Vallarta

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The ports were fun, the sun was warm, the people were friendly and we had a great time on the cruise itself. It docked back in San Diego and we flew up to San Francisco to spend the next few days, including Christmas Day. While in San Fran, we rode the cable cars, hung out at the piers, took a tour in the back of a 1955 fire engine across the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito, and had a fantastic meal at the Top Of The Mark, a restaurant on top of the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins hotel on Knob Hill. The view from there was spectacular and the company and food were fantastic.

Scruffy and Gustav at one of the famous San Francisco cable cars

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In front of the 1955 Mac Fire Engine that we took on tour across
the Golden Gate Bridge

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Alcatraz island

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After we got back, we decided to start an exercise regiment going to the health club we joined back in the summer. It was still being built at the time we joined so we couldn't even start going to it until at least November, which we did a few times but we wanted to take advantage of everything it has to offer. The place is open 24/7 so we like going when as few people as possible are there. Karen has started taking Spanish lessons at the Berlitz school in Atlanta (thanks to a generous new program offered by her day-job employer) so to make up the time it is taking away from said job, we get up at 4am on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and go work out from about 4:30 to 5:30am. At that time, there's only a handful of people there and it really does get the day off to a good start. Some days we go swimming for 30 minutes then go soak in one of the 2 HUGE hot tub/spas they have. Other days, we use the elliptical cardio machines. She then can catch the bus or drive downtown to be at work at 6:30. It was a tough change going to bed no later than 9:30 when you're used to doing that at 11:00 or 11:30. It'll be worse this summer when it'll probably still be light when we go to bed.
For Valentine's Day, I got us both trial memberships at a local pottery studio so we could learn how to make our own cups, plates, bowls, whatever, out of clay. The place is called Mudfire Clayworks and it's a complete facility that has about 20 pottery wheels, tables for hand-building, tools, kilns, glazes, and a very friendly group of people that are there to help you create stuff. So far I've made a few cups and bowls but it's about 25 miles from home and with our schedule, it's tough to get down there to do anything. The trial membership is only a month and if we want to extend it we can (for a price, of course). Karen decided that her schedule does not have room for another activity so she decided not to extend her membership but I did, at least until the end of April.
Not too long ago, we celebrated our 23rd anniversary! As a present to me, Karen contacted the Atlanta Paragliding School and arranged for us both to take introductory flights. Paragliding is similar to Hang Gliding except that you fly under a non-rigid parafoil instead of a framed wing. Basically, you're sitting in a harness under a big, soft kite, floating along or rising in a column of air known as a thermal, to get more altitude. The school is about 50 miles from home up along I-85 not too far from the Georgia/South Carolina border just outside Carnesville, GA. We went up on Easter, last weekend, and the weather was perfect...temps in the mid 60s, sunny, with a light breeze. There were a few people there, mostly experienced paragliders waiting their turn to get towed into the air plus another guy who was there for a tandem ride like we were. They have a small trailer with a motorized winch and several spools of rope that they play out for about 1/2 mile and tow fliers up, much like when you launch a kite by running into the wind with it trailing behind you.

Atlanta Paragliding School in Carnesville, GA

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After signing paperwork that essentially said "You realize this is a dangerous sport and you could die, but you won't hold us responsible if anything goes wrong", we had to wait a couple of hours for conditions to improve slightly. Since there was only one other person waiting for the same kind of ride as were, we let him go first. He was up only about 5 minutes before landing, then it was my turn.

Luis, who is the owner of the school had me get into the tandem harness that is designed to take 2 people up. After waiting for about 10 minutes for the wind to switch around to be coming from a better direction, he signaled the tow operator to start pulling in the line. When it got tight enough, we started running and within 10 seconds, the ground slipped under my feet and we were ascending. It was a strange feeling because you are essentially sitting in a nylon sling with your feet dangling and the ground getting farther and farther away.

Looking up, this is what you see

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Looking down, this is what you see

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The school is the tiny speck in the center of the picture

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It didn't take long to find a thermal and we began to rise and the air began to get colder. I think it was about 10-15 degrees cooler at altitude than it was on the ground. We got up to about 2000, maybe 2500 feet when I said that we could go ahead and land. The basic ride is only 5-10 minutes and if you can stay up, an additional 10 minutes costs a little more but I said to stay up so we were flying for about 20 minutes. While we were up, Luis asked if I'd like to take the controls but I didn't feel comfortable enough to do that, partly because I had the camera and partly because I didn't have the best visibility with the helmet I wore. I learned that motorcycle helmets are not the best for paragliding because you need more visibility above you than they give.

Our landing was less than graceful. As we approached the ground, Luis said to push a little out of the harness and start moving my legs in preparation for running once we touched down. I did that but when we hit, a gust of wind came at us from the side and knocked us both over so we ended up being dragged across the ground for 20 ft. or so until Luis could get one side of the wing collapsed enough to stop it from dragging us. All in all, I had fun, although it was a little scary being up that high with nothing solid holding you up but I think I'd like to do it again without the camera and also knowing what I know about how it feels to take off and land, I think I'd do much better.
So, now you're all caught up. I'll try to update this on a more regular basis but with our schedules it's a bit tough finding the time to sit down and do it :)

Carbohydrates. Why?

2008-03-03T15:00:00.000-05:00

Carbohydrates. Why?
Why are you so delicious?
Willpower, I need

Had fun this weekend

2008-03-03T14:22:00.000-05:00

Had fun this weekend.
Learned to throw clay pottery.
My skillz are growing.

Week has gone by slow

2008-01-25T08:30:00.000-05:00

Week has gone by slow
So glad it's finally Friday
Must rest this weekend

VRod is happy

2008-01-07T06:55:00.000-05:00

VRod is happy.
Her ass, much more visible.
New LED tail.

My birthday this year

2008-01-07T06:52:00.000-05:00

My birthday this year
A cold trip will be taken
Alaska by ship.

Coughing and wheezing

2007-11-30T18:39:00.000-05:00

Coughing and wheezing
A cold trying to invade
Need to get some rest.

Thanksgiving is past

2007-11-26T14:15:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is past
Ate too much, did too little
Time to hit the gym

Shoppers out in force

2007-11-23T17:42:00.000-05:00

Shoppers out in force
Looking for parking spaces
Bikers are at risk

Modifications

2007-11-15T07:56:00.000-05:00

Modifications
Made phone cool but gave problems
Back to stock for me :(

Cold on a motorcycle

2007-11-06T14:15:00.003-05:00

Yes, I know, it's been, like, forever since I've put anything down here but someone posted this story on the Beginner Biker's forum, one that I frequent. I like the people who post there and think every person who rides a motorcycle, regardless of experience and skill levels, should read the posts there. It was originally written by Dave Karlotski, someone I don't know, but it does a good job of describing what it's like to ride when it's not exactly warm outside. I particularly like his description of how we spend all our time in "boxes".

Season Of The Bike
by Dave Karlotski

There is cold, and there is cold on a motorcycle. Cold on a motorcycle is like being beaten with cold hammers while being kicked with cold boots, a bone bruising cold. The wind's big hands squeeze the heat out of my body and whisk it away; caught in a cold October rain, the drops don't even feel like water. They feel like shards of bone fallen from the skies of Hell to pock my face. I expect to arrive with my cheeks and forehead streaked with blood, but that's just an illusion, just the misery of nerves not designed for highway speeds.

Despite this, it's hard to give up my motorcycle in the fall and I rush to get it on the road again in the spring; lapses of sanity like this are common among motorcyclists. When you let a motorcycle into your life you're changed forever. The letters "MC" are stamped on your driver's license right next to your sex and weight as if "motorcycle" was just another of your physical characteristics, or maybe a mental condition. But when warm weather finally does come around all those cold snaps and rainstorms are paid in full because a motorcycle summer is worth any price.

A motorcycle is not just a two-wheeled car; the difference between driving a car and climbing onto a motorcycle is the difference between watching TV and actually living your life. We spend all our time sealed in boxes and cars are just the rolling boxes that shuffle us languidly from home-box to work-box to store-box and back, the whole time, entombed in stale air, temperature regulated, sound insulated, and smelling of carpets.

On a motorcycle I know I'm alive. When I ride, even the familiar seems strange and glorious. The air has weight and substance as I push through it and its touch is as intimate as water to a swimmer. I feel the cool wells of air that pool under trees and the warm spokes of sunlight that fall through them. I can see everything in a sweeping 360 degrees, up, down and around, wider than Pana-Vision and higher than IMAX and unrestricted by ceiling or dashboard. Sometimes I even hear music. It's like hearing phantom telephones in the shower or false doorbells when vacuuming; the pattern-loving brain, seeking signals in the noise, raises acoustic ghosts out of the wind's roar. But on a motorcycle I hear whole songs: rock 'n roll, dark orchestras, women's voices, all hidden in the air and released by speed. At 30 miles per hour and up, smells become uncannily vivid. All the individual tree-smells and flower-smells and grass-smells flit by like chemical notes in a great plant symphony. Sometimes the smells evoke memories so strongly that it's as though the past hangs invisible in the air around me, wanting only the most casual of rumbling time machines to unlock it. A ride on a summer afternoon can border on the rapturous. The sheer volume and variety of stimuli is like a bath for my nervous system, an electrical massage for my brain, a systems check for my soul. It tears smiles out of me. A minute ago I was dour, depressed, apathetic, numb. But now, on two wheels, big, ragged, windy smiles flap against the side of my face, billowing out of me like air from a decompressing plane.

Transportation is only a secondary function. A motorcycle is a joy machine. It's a machine of wonders, a metal bird, a motorized prosthetic. It's light and dark and shiny and dirty and warm and cold lapping over each other; it's a conduit of grace, it's a catalyst for bonding the gritty and the holy. I've had dozens of bikes over the years and slept under my share of bridges. I wouldn't trade one second of either the good times or the misery. Deciding to live my life on two wheels is one of the best things I've done.

Cars lie to us and tell us we're safe, powerful, and in control. The air-conditioning fans murmur empty assurances and whisper, "Sleep, sleep." Motorcycles tell us a more useful truth: we are small and exposed, and probably moving too fast for our own good, but that's no reason not to enjoy every minute of the ride.

Feet have been in pain

2007-11-06T11:29:00.000-05:00

Feet have been in pain
Spent yesterday on sofa
Buzzing from pain pills

How many admit

2007-11-06T11:26:00.000-05:00

How many admit
Surfing while in the bathroom
One more iPhone plus

The morning was cool

2007-11-02T16:09:00.000-04:00

The morning was cool
The afternoon, beautiful
The rides were perfect

Early morning dive

2007-10-26T10:13:00.000-04:00

Early morning dive
Scrubbing algae off windows
Fish are happy now

Showers together

2007-10-19T07:36:00.000-04:00

Showers together
Just me, you...and a bucket
Water restrictions

Cold ride this morning

2007-10-12T07:34:00.000-04:00

Cold ride this morning
Temps were around Forty five
Big twin kept me warm.

The sound of thunder

2007-10-05T08:01:00.000-04:00

The sound of thunder
People wave from cars and yards
Thousand bikes roll by

Warm breath, soft kisses

2007-10-05T07:40:00.000-04:00

Warm breath, soft kisses
Across her neck, she giggles
Uncontrollably

Yellow moon hung low

2007-09-26T07:42:00.000-04:00

Yellow moon hung low
The air brisk, the fields foggy
Autumn arrives soon

Swirling brown and white

2007-09-21T10:28:00.000-04:00

Swirling brown and white
Steam rising from the surface
Creamed coffee wakes me

Ride through misty air

2007-09-21T10:27:00.000-04:00

Ride through misty air
Lights are bright in my visor
Lane stripes guide me on

Lava lamp heats up

2007-09-21T09:23:00.000-04:00

Lava lamp heats up
Blobs of red rise in yellow
Distracting, it is

Age creeps up on us

2007-09-21T09:16:00.000-04:00

Age creeps up on us
Before you know it, you're old
With age comes respect

Eyes wide, mouth screaming

2007-09-07T08:46:00.000-04:00

Eyes wide, mouth screaming
Power lines and buildings crushed
"Rook! It's Godzirra!"

Counting syllables

2007-09-07T07:58:00.000-04:00

Counting syllables
Fingers flick like switchblade knives
A haiku is born

Going from 2 cars to 1

2007-08-27T08:58:00.008-04:00

Last weekend, Karen and I were talking about the possibility of going from 2 cars down to 1. She rides the bus every day and the stop is only 3 miles from the house and on nice days (which has been most of the spring and summer, so far), I have been riding one of the bikes so there really isn't the overwhelming need for us to have 2 cars. Both are now paid off so only having one, even if it's a new one, would eventually reduce our transportation costs.

About a year ago, we had stopped by the local Mercedes Benz dealer just to see what they had and to get an idea about prices. Karen's always wanted one but had never priced them, test driven one, or knew what they really offered, other than a reliable car. At the time, the prices were a little out of our budget so we tabled the idea. Now that our budget was a little more flexible, we called the salesperson we talked to before (a girl named Jesse Cannon-Wallace) and arranged to meet her last Monday evening to see what they had on the lot. The one she showed us was a 2004 S-430 with 43,500+ miles, a gorgeous car without a scratch, dent or blemish on it. The ones we looked at before were an E-Class so that was the one Karen had her eye on but the S-Class is their top of the line so when she said the price was in line with a newer E-Class, it made it hard to resist.

After we got home, we did some research and found that the price they were asking was actually a little higher than what the Kelly Blue Book retail value for that car would be. We also found from a nationwide search, that they price was actually in line with what other MB dealers were asking. We discussed at length whether this would be a good thing to do at this time and after several hours of weighing the pros and cons, we decided it would be good. We had also researched what sort of trade-in value we might expect on our current cars and talked about what we would do on those days where I couldn't ride (too cold, raining, etc...), working out a plan so I could take her to the bus and pick her up when I got off work.

With this knowledge, we went back the next night (Tuesday) to try to work out the deal. Within 30 minutes, we had the numbers we wanted and were signing the papers. Here is the new car:

The color is called Granite Gray...a metallic blue-gray, which isn't the original color Karen wanted but we both agreed it looked very sharp. For a 3 year old car with well over 43K miles, there isn't a single dent or scratch on it. Perhaps the dealer fixed all that up after it came in but I've never known a car with that much "experience" to be this clean. It's a Certified Pre-Owned car and that means they supposedly went over it a lot more thoroughly than they would a non-certified model, to make sure there was as little wrong with it as possible. We got an extended warranty to cover us for the first 3-1/2 years so that gives us a little more peace of mind.

Because it's an S-class, it has tons of little features that make driving it very comfortable. Things like 14-way adjustable seats in front, 3 user memories for each for seat, steering wheel, and side view mirror position, GPS navigation, CD-changer, driver and passenger climate control, double-pane windows, premium Bose sound system, adjustable suspension and transmission (sporty or comfortable), automatic/manual transmission, you name it. It took longer for Jesse to explain all the features than it did to work out the deal and sign the papers. Owning a Mercedes gets you all kinds of nice perks such as lifetime free roadside assistance, and a service center that offers free massages on certain days of the week, a golf driving range and putting green, free internet, and a loaner car if the service will take more than 2 hours.

Driving it this past week has been fun. It's so quiet and smooth, you'd think you were riding on a cloud. We're looking forward to the next vacation we can take with it, which may be my birthday next year where she'll drive and I'll ride one of the bikes but she said she won't mind doing that. Apart from the driving experience, the next best thing about it is the extra space in the garage. The bikes now have an entire side all to themselves so there won't be any more wiggling them around to the front of a car to park them. They seem to be happy with their new roommate.

Outside, sun blazes

2007-08-24T12:23:00.000-04:00

Outside, sun blazes
Hands look striped, have strange markings
Damn fingerless gloves

Building the Eiffel Tower

2007-08-20T09:18:00.097-04:00

This weekend, Karen and I built our own Eiffel Tower...right on our kitchen table and you can too. This wasn't one of those 3D puzzles, it was a kit from LEGO©. Yes, LEGO.

I've always like LEGOs and as a kid back in the 60s, I had a huge box of random bricks and plates that I used to build all kinds of things. If you haven't seen LEGOs lately, they've come a long way since then. There are a huge number of different shaped pieces that let you build anything from robots that you design and program to houses and vehicles of all sorts. Some of my recent projects were the Imperial Star Destroyer‚Ñ¢ and Darth Vader's TIE fighter both from the Star Wars‚Ñ¢ collection. Sure, they're geared toward kids, but they were fun to put together and a very impressive example of what you can build from LEGO.

Why the Eiffel Tower, you may ask. Karen loves the Eiffel Tower, it is one of her favorite places to see so one day I wanted to see if anyone had done a LEGO version of the tower. I found out that LEGO was producing a kit but it wasn't due out for a few months. On Friday, we were out walking around the local mall, where they have a LEGO store so we stopped in to see if there were any updates on the release of the tower kit and there was. It had been released and they had one put together on display. They also had a few in boxes on the shelves so we got one.

The box, like all LEGO kits, had many bags of small parts along with the instructions on how to build it. The bags contain parts that are either of similar shape are are all used to build a particular part of the finished product. LEGO instruction books are basically pages with pictures of sub-assemblies that show which parts and how many of those parts are used to build that subassembly. Typically, you build it in stages, each stage adding to the previous stage. For the tower, they split it up into three parts...the base, the center, and the top. Karen said she wanted to help build it so having it broken down like this was perfect.

With kits of this size (over 3400 pieces), I transfer the parts from the bags they come in, to Ziploc bags, to make them easier to get to and not end up all over the work surface. Here is a picture of the contents of the kit after re-bagging (click on any picture in this post to bring up a larger image):

Karen started on the middle section and I started on the base.

Here are some detail shots of the base. Note the little elevators and ticket window:

The middle section involved a lot of brick stacking and the instructions were a little confusing because it was sometimes hard to see the subtle differences between the images on each page. This was Karen's first LEGO project and I think she did an excellent job. Here is a shot of the middle section in progress:

The base was built in 2 halves then joined at the top with long "girder" pieces and a couple of smaller locking pieces on the green baseplate. Here is what they looked like before joining:

Once the base halves were put together and the middle section was done, the middle could be put onto the base. As with other larger kits, they have been designed to be transported so the heavier subassemblies simply rest on some supporting bricks without the need to press them into place. Here is what the base and middle section look like put together. Note the internal structure of the middle section and the details in the close-up image. There are windows along the outer edge of the first level:

This work took us about 7-8 hours to complete. We started on Saturday afternoon about 3:15 and finished up around 1 AM on Sunday morning with a couple of breaks in between. We started on the top section on Sunday afternoon around 3:30. Like the middle section, there was a lot of brick stacking and everything was done in 4s. Karen pulled the parts from the bags and if any of the instructions called for small parts to be combined (and a lot of them did), she would put them together and give them to me. I would then add them to the section, building a level at a time. The top section has an internal structure that includes 4 smaller elevators. Here is a shot of the top section in progress and added to the base and middle before it is finished:

After completing the top section, all three were ready for final assembly and moving. Karen's recording/voice-over studio has a French theme with many images of the Eiffel Tower so that was the most appropriate place for its display. Out of the 3423 pieces in the kit, we were only left with about 8 very small parts and I think they only included those in case we lost the other similar ones. Here are all three sections ready for assembly:

Moving it was easy, the two parts of the base were well locked and the middle and top sections were easy to pick up. Here are a few detail shots of the top showing the French flag and radio antenna:

The top section took about 4-5 hours to complete making the total time to build about 11 to 12 hours for two people. The top section went very quickly since one person got the pieces from the bags and did some partial assembly and the other put them on the tower. I would say that for one person, it would probably take 30+ hours to build depending on how organized you keep all the small pieces. We had a lot of fun doing this and it was a great way to spend a lazy summer afternoon when it's too hot to go do things outside, plus it makes an outstanding addition to the studio and one of the most unique Eiffel Towers around. My hat goes off to the engineers at LEGO, they did an excellent job of recreating one of the worlds most recognizable monuments into a project that was fun to build.

Here is the final tower. It stands on a 20" x 20" base, is over 42" high, and weighs close to 7 lbs. The only things that are missing are the 1000s of people that are always waiting in line for tickets, walking around the base or on the various levels, and the obnoxious street vendors that are constantly trying to get you to buy cheap Eiffel Tower trinkets or postcards of Paris.

Had salad for lunch

2007-08-10T16:45:00.000-04:00

Had salad for lunch
Dinner will be lots of meat
Fogo De Chao, yum!

iPhone amazing

2007-08-10T11:23:00.000-04:00

iPhone amazing
Best for staying connected
Interface fun too

Phone died, what to do

2007-08-10T08:21:00.000-04:00

Phone died, what to do
Hmm, to buy or not to buy
Buy! Hello iPhone!

Highly suspicious
Me thinks it knew I lusted
Gave its life for me

I'm so weak

2007-08-08T07:21:00.018-04:00

Ok, not really, but a couple of weeks ago, I posted an entry wondering where all the iPhones were. The post is right down there \/ near the bottom of your screen in case you missed it. Anyway, I now know where at least 2 of them are. One is in Karen's hands (she's probably playing with it as I'm typing this), and the other is on my desk. Yes, we are the proud owners of iPhones and it happened because of a minor incident that occured this past Saturday involving Karen's old phone.

This weekend, Karen was in a class and at one of the breaks, she noticed her phone wasn't getting any service. This is unusual since it was working earlier that morning. The phone is 2-1/2 years old and has never had any problems so after she got home, we tried a few things but none of them got it to work. The tech down at the local Verizon store (that's was our carrier) concluded it was probably a hardware problem in the radio part after he tinkered around with it. So, the bottom line was that she needed a new phone. Unfortunately, they don't make her model any more so her best option from Verizon was to get one like mine, which they still sell. She also knew I wanted an iPhone so she offered to take my phone and let me get an iPhone.

This was an enticing offer but it would mean I would have to break my contract with Verizon so I was torn. I had also wanted to wait before getting the iPhone, to see if Apple would improve a few things with the next model such as one with more than 8Gig or maybe adding a slot to allow extra memory, updating a few features like adding cut/copy/paste to text editing and Flash to it's browser, and putting in a user-replacable battery. We talked about these concerns and realized that Apple probably wouldn't do some of them. Making one with significantly more would cause the iPhone to compete with the iPod and I doubt they'd want that. Putting in a memory card slot wouldn't be good because the biggest external memory card now is about 4 Gig and nobody would want to add 4 Gig to it, they'd want to up it by 20 or 30. The rest, except for the battery thing, could be fixed in a software update. So, we decided to both get iPhones!

They are exceedingly slick and definitely live up to all the hype, as has been reported in the go-zillion news reports and blogs around the net. I don't have any more to add to that but to say that this is the best phone I've ever had. It's not exactly a PDA, but, in the words of Scott Hamilton, the former Olympic-ice-skater-turned-commentator, "What it does, it does well", and what it does is let you stay connected to the world via email or the web. The interface is nothing short of groundbreaking with its touch screen and gesture-driven operation. The web browser can display full web pages that you zoom into with a pinching gesture or simply tap and it seems to know what you want to zoom in to read because that part will fill the screen. The keyboard, while small, is incredibly easy to use since it predicts what you meant to type and will offer an alternative when you're about to hit the space bar so if you it space, it replaces what you typed with it's suggestion. From what I can tell, it's right 95% of the time. I've even gotten to where I can use 2 fingers in a hunt-and-peck mode and type about 1/2 as fast as I can on a full size keyboard. The video playback is also amazing on its 480x320 160dpi screen.

So, if you've been thinking about getting an iPhone but were like me and wanted to wait to see what comes out down the road, I'd say to go ahead and get it, you won't be disappointed.

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Comment from Steve Slogh on 8/12/07 at 12:33 AM
EMAIL: Foozy@yahoo.com

Yep, The iPhone is AMAZING

I couldn't see myself ever switching from this phone

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Comment from Drew on 8/12/07 at 9:45 AM
EMAIL: dcommins@mac.com
URL: http://www.suburbanhaikuist.com

I just got my final bill from Verizon and even though I had to pay an early termination fee, it was worth it!

Quietly working

2007-08-03T11:50:00.000-04:00

Quietly working
Phone emits a tiny beep
Sexy text from wife

A weekend of improving ourselves

2007-07-30T07:55:00.003-04:00

This weekend, Karen and I decided to do several things to improve the quality of our lives. The first was to undertake a big decluttering activity where we'll get rid of things that we not longer need, want, or use. This will involve going through clothes closets, desk drawers, table surfaces, book shelves, etc... and either tossing, donating, or selling those things that we don't see a need to keep. Doing this will reinforce the vacuum law of prosperity, by getting rid of things you don't want to make a space for things you do.

The next thing we did was to join a new health club they're building about 3 miles from the house. It's a new Lifetime Fitness facility and will be a good thing for both of us since we're in need of getting into better shape. Some of the things that impressed me about it were the 3 pools, being open 24/7 (not that I'll get the hankering to go down there at 2am and work out, but if I did, I could), cafe, 100s of machines, and the availability of personal trainers to help you create a plan to meet your goals. Right now, my goals are to loose 25 lbs. by the end of November and be more physically fit for diving and so far, I think I'm on a good track to do that. I'm on a low-carb diet and I'm seeing some good results from that but a more rigorous and varied exercise program will help. Even though the club won't open until November, I'm looking forward to going and I'm hoping it won't be just like other such clubs...a meat market where people go to see and be seen.

Where are all the iPhones???

2007-07-23T09:06:00.014-04:00

With all the hype about the iPhone that was flying around a month ago, and with reports that estimates of close to 1 million have been sold, where are they? Does anybody actually have one?

I work in the IT industry; I'm constantly surrounded by other geeks and live in one of the biggest wired areas in the country and have yet to see anybody with one! I've spent several days volunteering at one of Atlanta's biggest tourist venues and have seen thousands of people walking around it but I've yet to see anybody playing with one. I'm starting to wonder if it was all a big farce!

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Comment from Mike on 8/5/07 at 3:40 PM
EMAIL: MikeP@Hotmail.com

I got one

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Comment from Drew on 8/5/07 at 3:46 PM
EMAIL: dcommins@mac.com

LOL...yeah, I know they're out there. In fact, my wife and I just went out and got them for ourselves.

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Comment from Bill Waters on 8/6/07 at 6:46 PM
EMAIL: BWWaters@CFGen.com

I got one too, they are awesome!

Dive called on account of rain, sort of

2007-07-21T08:08:00.003-04:00

Well, not really rain, but lightening and thunder. It's the first time I've had a dive at the Aquarium called due to a thunderstorm.

For yesterday's afternoon dive, Clark and I were to be diving in the Sea Lion exhibit. I dove with Clark on one other occasion but this would be his first dive in the Sea Lion exhibit. This one is unique in that it is partially outdoors where all the other exhibits are inside. Sea Lions are used to being outside and enjoy sunning themselves so they gave them an area where they could waddle up onto some rocks to soak up some sunshine. Clark and I were going to run a couple of Armadas (power scrubbers) to clean the rocks of the algae that accumulates rather quickly under the summer sun except today, there wasn't much sun as the skys were looking very ominous with dark clouds off on to the west. By the time we'd gotten the gear up to the exhibit, it was already sprinkling. Katie, our lead, told us that the radar showed a big blob of red coming toward downtown Atlanta and if it started thundering, she was going to get us out of the water. Even for dives on the inside exhibits, they'll get divers out of the water during a thunderstorm.

The first order of business for me was to do what they call "wafting" the Sea Lion feces toward the grates that covered the sump pumps. I like to call it poop hockey. Basically, you sweep whatever poo you find along the bottom toward one of two grates that cover the sumps. They can't run a vacuum in there because the waters too shallow (maybe 11 ft. max) for the vacuum to work effectively. I always wear a 16 lb weight belt, made up of 2 8 lb weight and that keeps me down easily but today, I was having a bit of trouble staying under...my feet kept wanting to float up. I realized that I had put on only 14 lbs of weight on my belt because a weight that I thought said 8 lbs was only 6. So, after surfacing and getting Katie to replace the 6 with an 8, I went back and finished my hockey game...he shoots, he SCORES, and the crowd goes wild.

Clark was already doing a great job on the shallow end of the pool with his scrubber so I grabbed mine, which Katie had already lowered down into the water, and started hitting the rocks along the ledge at the window. I got about half way across when the scrubber shut down, which is our signal that we should come up. I popped my head out of the water and noticed it was raining rather hard. Katie said she heard thunder so we should go ahead and get out so I went back under, found Clark and gave him the thumbs-up signal, meaning it's time to get out. Total dive time for this one, 20 minutes, but at least I got most of the poop cleaned up.

I'm still here!

2007-07-19T11:11:00.002-04:00

Ok, so it's been what, almost 2 months since I've updated my blog. Yeah, I know...WAY too long but I was given a reminder that I actually have people interested in what I put up here in the form of an email I got from one of my diving buddies Tom. He also sent the email to all the other divers at the Aquarium so I guess I'd better get on the ball and be prolific.

It's not that nothing has been happening to me, I've just gotten lazy and just want to veg out on the sofa after getting home from work. So, here's a few highlights from the past 2 months...

Diving has been rather routine lately. Once a month I do 2 shifts, one in the morning in the Tropical Diver gallery, usually in SS2, the coral reef exhibit, and the other in the afternoon in Cold Water Quest gallery, usually in CW7, the Beluga habitat. For those that haven't seen SS2, here's a link describing my first dive there. When diving in SS2, it's done using surface-supplied air so I'm only wearing a wetsuit, weights, a small emergency air supply and a full-face mask because there isn't much room to move aound in full SCUBA gear. On my last dive, I had some fun with the guests that were viewing the exhibit by giving them an unusual photo op.

The window in the coral reef exhibit is about 35 ft. across and curves up and over your head as you're facing it. Typically, when cleaning it, I dust it by sweeping any small debris, starting at the top on the horizontal part, down towards the curved, vertical part. The easiest way to do this is to lay face-down on the window and work back and forth like you would mow a lawn. To keep from drifting all around, I have a small suction cup that I hold in one hand and stick it to the window while I sweep the debris with a cloth in my other hand. I unstick the suction cup, move a couple of feet and sweep again. All this takes about 20 minutes of going back and forth.

Once I get down to the curved part, there usually isn't any debris past where the window goes vertical so I go back and change out the cloth for a small plastic scraper used to scrape any spots of algae that the cloth didn't get. The same procedure for dusting applies to scraping, i.e. going back and forth across the top/horizontal part of the window working down to the vertical part. However, once I get to the vertical part, things get interesting.

There are several ways to do this part of the window. Because it's vertical, you really can't lie face-down anymore because your legs tend to drop down, putting you in a more vertical position and without anything to stick your feet to the window, it's hard to do so you either do it upright like you're standing at the window, or you do it upside down with your feet above your head. I've tried the upside down method before but there was a little water in the mask that would end up tickling my nose such that I wanted to sneeze the whole time, plus there's the whole all-the-blood-in-your-body-rushing-to-your-head thing that makes it uncomfortable. Doing it standing up is a little strenuous because of the position you have to stay in and how long you need to stay still so I decided to try it upside down again.

It took about a minute to get stabilized but once I did, I found it to be a very relaxing position. I didn't get all red-faced and the inside of the mask was dry enough that I wasn't bothered by any water. Because I'm mostly neutrally bouyant in the water, I can control my tendency to go up or down by my breathing. Deep breaths make me lighter in the water which causes me to go up and exhaling makes me a little heavier, so by controlling how I breathe, I can stay fairly neutral in the water and use the suction cup to hold myself against the window. The guests at the exhibit seemed to be enjoying seeing me hanging upside down like Spiderman, reaching out occasionally to scrape a bit of algae off the window. Several of them would come up to the window next to me so they could get a picture taken. I'd wave or give them a goofy expression with my eyes (they couldn't see any more of my face than that).

As it turned out, that was a great way to clean the window. I didn't get as tired as when I would try to hang on to the suction cup and work back and forth in an upright position.

Other things that are going on...

I've started back on a low-carb diet but this time, I'm supplementing it with some aerobic exercise 3 times/week. Our office building has a small room on the bottom floor with several nice treadmills, elliptical machines, and free weights so I do 20-25 minutes on one of the ellipitcal machines on Mondays, Wednesdays, and the Fridays that I'm there (I get plenty of exercise at the Aquarium when I'm there). So far, I'm seeing good results, dropping about 5 lbs this past week. My goal is to have dropped 30 lbs by late Fall.

Karen and I celebrated Bastille Day this past Saturday (July 14th) by having dinner at a great French restaurant called the French American Brasserie. Not that either of us is French, but Karen is a lover of anything Parisian, particularly the Eiffel Tower so we made reservations when we got an email announcement from them. We'd eaten there for lunch a couple of months ago and it was fantastic. when they sent out an email saying they were having their annual Bastille Day celebration, we made reservations. Bastille Day, or the 14th of July in France is a little like our 4th of July Independence Day. They have parades and fireworks all around the country to celebrate the storming of the Bastille in Paris in 1790. The food was fantastic so we decided to make this an annual thing for us too.

I'm still having fun on the new VRod and am currently in the process of replacing the handlebars with a set from another VRod model that will make riding it even more comfortable. The stock Night Rod Special handlebars are not pulled back too far so when riding it, I'm bent slightly forward instead of the usual upright position that I have on the Softail. The new bars, from a standard Night Rod, have a larger pull back so it will let me sit up straighter. To change out the bars requires a new set of throttle cables and a front brake line because the ones that came on the Night Rod Special would be too short to fit with the new bars. I've installed the bars but am waiting for the cables to arrive from an online parts dealer.

We went out to see Disney/Pixar's movie Ratatouille and loved it. I thought it was the most visually impressive computer animated movie I've seen and the story and voice work make it even better. It's a movie that you don't need to have a kid as an excuse to go see it. My favorite character is Anton Ego, a food critic voiced by Peter O'Toole. His lines and the expressions they give the character are perfect.

We're slowly moving forward with plans to do some more remodelling around the house. A couple of weeks ago, we had the 3 windows in the kitchen replaced with the same ones that we had installed around the rest of the house 2 years ago. We've also gotten some shades on order for the windows in the living room to replace the temporary shades that have been up for 2 years. This weekend, we have a guy coming out to look into changing the facade over the front door to replace a big paladian window that's in the master bedroom closet (dumb place for a window in my opinion...the sun tends to fade the clothes) with something like a small portico over the front door. We also will be getting the garage door replaced, it's starting to sag in the middle after 20 years of going up and down.

That's about it, I'm really going to be more diligent about updating this and will also be working on some updates to the appearance of the blog. I mean, what's Drew's View if all you end up seeing are words, right? I want to add some more pictures and generally give it a better visual appeal.

VRod or Softail

2007-06-23T17:40:00.000-04:00

VRod or Softail
Which bike do I ride today?
Nice to have this choice

Gyros at the mall

2007-06-15T13:47:00.000-04:00

Gyros at the mall
Screaming kids, mommies ignore
Not a peaceful lunch

Time moves so slowly

2007-06-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

Time moves so slowly
Why can't my job be testing
New motorcycles

Lunch was a good one

2007-06-01T13:35:00.001-04:00

Lunch was a good one
Got to ride down to the mall
Bought wife's birthday card

A new addition to the stable

2007-05-22T18:31:00.028-04:00

Last week, I wanted to take advantage of a promo that Harley-Davidson was doing where you would get a nice little backpack if you test rode one of their bikes. I had been wanting to ride one of the V-Rod models so this was a good opportunity to do it. What else fueled the fire to try one out was a picture I saw of the new Night Rod Special, an all black version, limited edition V-Rod. The first time I saw it, I thought it was one of the hottest new bikes out there...a cross between a cruiser, sport bike, and chopper...and it was all black.

We went down to Stone Mountain Harley-Davidson for the test ride and after I got back from taking 2 laps around their standard test ride route, Karen said I had the biggest grin on my face. What impressed me the most was the power in the V-Rod. It has a smaller engine than what I'm used to and twice the HP which combined to make an exhilarating ride. After talking about it for a few minutes, we worked it out such that I could consider getting one so the hunt was on. Stone Mountain didn't have a Night Rod Special but they told me they were getting three some time in July so I asked the salesman to give me a call when they got them.

The next day, I decided to call around to a couple of the local dealers and lo and behold, Frazier's Harley-Davidson in Buford had one on the showroom floor! I talked to the same salesman that sold me my first Harley...a 2003 Sportster, and asked hiim to hold on to it, we'd be by the next evening to look at it.

When we walked in, it was there, sitting next to the reception desk:

We talked to the sales people and the after working out a deal, signed the papers that night! The next morning, after running a few errands, we went by and picked it up. The first order of business was to put on a Gremlin Bell that Karen got for me. If you know the legend of the bell, the power of it is doubled if someone who cares about you gives you a bell. The one she picked out has a gargoyle on it, very fitting for this bike:

After stopping for the requisite picture at the dealership, we went home, taking backroads because you need to keep it under 60 for the first 50 miles:

This particular V-Rod is different from the other in that it has very little chrome, comes in only 2 paint schemes (vivid black w/black denim strips or black denim w/vivid black stripes), has a slightly more agressive, i.e. lower, handlebar position, and the largest back tire Harley puts on any of their bikes:

I told myself I wouldn't add too many accessories to it, but I've already got a windshield, new seat (to push me forward a little more) and a backrest. Karen has already said she wouldn't want to ride on it and I don't blame her. The passenger seat is not all that comfortable so when we take road trips, the Softail will go and the V-Rod will be strictly for solo rides. So far, I've been having a great time riding it to work and am looking forward to many years of fun with it.

New births at the Georgia Aquarium

2007-05-14T19:57:00.013-04:00

Over the past few months, divers in the Ocean Voyager exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium have been collecting egg cases laid by the female Zebra Sharks. The egg cases look like small leather purses, approximately 8-10" long and about 4" wide with a small bulge in the center. The ones that are viable (have baby sharks in them) are placed in a large tub in the Aquarium's Aquaculture lab until they hatch, which takes between 4 and 7 months, depending on conditions. The following picture shows several egg cases lined up in a net:

On Friday, May 11, I had a dive scheduled in Tropical Diver at 8am. I was a little early so I was looking around the Aquaculture lab when one of the other volunteers came in and pointed out a new Zebra Shark pup that had hatched out of its egg the night before. It was swimming around the large tank where the other egg cases were hanging in their net. It was removed from the tank and placed in a small tub where it was weighed and measured. The new pup was 1.04 lbs and 12.5" long. Here is a picture of it in the tub:

They let me touch it and I found its skin to be very soft and silky. The Zebra Shark is called that because of how the babies look. They all have black and white stripes all over it's body. As they mature, the stripes are replaced with dark spots and the skin begins to take on a yellowish, green color. After the new pup was weighed and measured, it was placed in a larger tank with the 6 other pups that had hatched over the last month:

It's exciting to see new additions to the Aquarium but even better when they're born there. If all the eggs they have in the holding tank hatch, they'll have at least a dozen new Zebra Sharks to show off.

Easter Bunny at the mall

2007-04-06T14:31:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, Karen and I were walking in the local mall and saw some workers setting up what looked like a big play pen, complete with a fake log fence, some big pastel colored egg-looking things, green carpet that looked like grass, and a bench. At first, we weren't sure what was going on but then realized it was for the mall's Easter Bunny. I began to question the purpose of this and came to one conclusion...it's another way to get new parents to part with more of their money because they just have to have yet another picture of little Johnny to put in their scrapbooks.

We were back at the mall a few nights ago and saw the Easter Bunny in action. There were several adults lined up outside the fake-log fence with their kids either in their arms, or in a stroller. They were patiently waiting their turn to let their little carpet crawler climb up on the lap of some strange person in a freakishly large, cartoon character-looking bunny costume. I wondered what does the kid do once they get in the bunny's lap. Does the bunny ask the kid what they want for Easter? Do the kids say something like "chocolate bunnies"? Does the bunny act scared and tell the kid he/she shouldn't eat so much candy, especially if it looks like one of the bunny's well-tanned distant relatives? Maybe the bunny is actually a dentist in disguise and encourages little Johnny to snarf down as much candy as he wants, then hands the parents one of his business cards.

Apparently, Mall Easter Bunnies get paid pretty well. I found the following ad online on Craig's List:

Easter Bunny Character needed to pose for pictures in mall Days 9AM to 2 PM and weekends.
$12hr about 100 hrs over 2 weeks Criminal Bgd Check

I find it strangely amusing that they have to mention they'll do a criminal background check. That says "Perverts need not apply". It made me wonder how many ex-cons/sex offenders/general miscreants actually apply to be a Mall Easter Bunny and how many get hired.

I wonder if the Mall Easter Bunny actually knows how much the parents are paying for the pictures and if they knew, they might as for a raise. I found a price list from the local mall and wondered what's on the $24.99 Bunny CD. The only thing I could think of is the song "Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail". I mean, what other songs about rabbits are there? Do they put all the pictures you had taken with the rabbit on the CD? How many different pictures would that be...1, 2, maybe 3?

When I was growing up, the biggest thing I remember about Easter was getting a new suit to wear to church that Sunday and a basket full of Hershey's KissesTM, little foil covered chocolate eggs, and a chocolate bunny, which I would eat first by biting it's little chocolate ears off. I remember one year, my new Easter outfit was a white leisure suit and a polyester shirt that had a big, loud brown and tan pattern on it, with brown platform shoes...the kind with 2-1/2" heels. Looking back, that outfit made me look like a pimp-wannabe. but hey, it was 1972, those things were in back then so don't laugh. Mall Easter Bunnys weren't even a twinkle in the eyes of mall owners but had there been such creatures, I'm sure my parents would taken me and stood in line with the rest of them.

Cleaning the Kelp Forest

2007-04-05T14:15:00.004-04:00

Last Friday, my afternoon dive had me cleaning CW8, the Kelp Forest exhibit. It was the first time I'd done this but I had been told by others that have done it to expect cramped conditions and cold water...colder than the Beluga's tank.

CW8 is a tank approximately 15-16 ft. deep and about that wide. It simulates a small portion of a kelp forest commonly found in cooler waters, such as those off of California's northern coasts. The kelp in the exhibit is not real, mainly because real kelp grows so fast, it would be extremely difficult to maintain in such as small space. There are dozens of fish, sea stars (more commonly known as Starfish), sea urchins, and even a couple of small sharks. The tall stalks of kelp rise up from the bottom and are so long, their tops gather and float on the surface of the water at the top of the tank. On the front is a large acrylic window approximately 10 ft tall and about 6-7 ft. wide. The back and sides are made up of permanently mounted rocks with a section in the middle of the back covered by a large translucent panel backlit with a bright blue light. Cleaning the windows and back panel are easy because you can use a suction cup to hold yourself to them but working on the rocks is a different matter.

The exhibit is managed by Mark, one of the husbandry staff and since it was my first time in the tank, I would be going in with Mark who would take care of feeding some of the animals while I brushed the rocks along the back and side to clean off some of the algae. Due to it's restricted size, Surface-Supplied air is used. There isn't room to be maneuvering with full scuba tanks without damaging something. One of the things I was told to be careful of are the stalks of kelp and to watch that I didn't get tangled up in them. This can be a real problem because there aren't many things to hold on to except the rocks attached to the walls. There are some places in the rocks to grab but not many. The bottom can be delicate with lots of loose rocks strewn about, many having live sea stars on them but also because of a small cave where one or two of the sharks likes to stay. Mark warned me to be mindful of where I put my feet if I touched the bottom because collapsing the cave meant he'd have to rebuild it (the sharks would probably vacate it quickly before getting hurt).

The other issue I had was my weights. I had never used Surface-Supplied equipment with a 7mm wetsuit before so I wasn't sure how much weight to use. Most of my S-S diving had been done with a 3mm suit which is less bouyant than a 7mm so more weight was needed for this dive. How much more, I wasn't sure but I was told to start out with about 25lbs. You want to be neutral or a little negatively bouyant so you aren't fighting to stay down but can use your breathing to make yourself ascend or descend as you need to. I think 25 was ok although when I first got in, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go down without grabbing a rock and pulling myself under. Exhaling completely get me started and once I was under, I felt ok.

To clean the rocks, I used a small hand brush but I also had some semi-thick gloves on and holding on to the brush while trying to find a hand-hold in the rocks proved a little difficult. There are a few small bolts sticking out of the rocks that used to hold fake seastars and I used them when I could to keep myself pulled against the wall. Mark, on the other hand, was bouncing all around the tank like he was another fish, probably because he'd been working in it several times a week for the past year. He cleaned the main acrylic and the back panel then went on to feeding. Once I got myself anchored in a position using my legs and free arm to wedge myself onto the rocks, brushing the algae wasn't too bad. Overall, the rocks were pretty clean but I felt I got them just a little cleaner.

I was under for about 45 minutes and felt that I just couldn't get to any more of the rocks, particularly the ones near the bottom, without hurting myself (I'm not as flexible as I was 20 years ago) so I asked Mark if it was ok for me to get out. He was fine with it and had planned to stay in a little longer to make sure all the fish were fed and the more delicate areas of the exhibit got cleaned. I won't mind doing CW8 again, it will give me a chance to try different weights and maybe thinner or no gloves at all.