Ramblings of a Black Sheep

Ponderings.....

2009-05-15T07:57:00.001-07:00

My little sister sent me this list of ponderings, I thought it was worth re-printing:

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.
There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.
Life is sexually transmitted.
Healthy is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird . Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things and drink whatever comes out?
If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look there anyway?
If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

Hellooo Mexico!

2009-04-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Bonnie and I finally got around to taking a few days off. We went down to Cabo San Lucas and met up with two of our very favorite traveling companions and dearest friends Leslie and Becky (shown below playing with a kitten they found while we were wandering around in town).

We stayed in a very nice resort called the Playa Grande and had a good time lounging by the pool, playing cards and catching up.

We spent a day wandering around town, and had a cocktail or three, lucky for us they were small, as you can see.

All in all a very pleasant stay and wonderful to catch up with old friends!

Grand Mamma

2009-04-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

Kind of a sad day, my Grand Mamma Inez died today.

She was 92. you may have seen my blog entry from her 90th birthday party.

Hard for me to think of her without smiling though, she had one heck of a life, sharp as a tack and healthy right up to the minute she died!

There's something to aspire to!

Fiddlers Friends

2009-03-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

Many many years ago, Bonnie and I started going camping with a bunch of friends, (mostly musical types). The camping trip is still going on, and is celebrated every Easter weekend in the North Georgia mountains. Not sure when it happened, but the trip has been dubbed the Fiddlers Convention.

I must admit that through our travels it has been harder and harder for Bonnie and I to make it back for the event. Unfortunately this year does not look like we will make it either, as we are on the West Coast now.

My old buddy Art (Shand) has gone out of his way to remind me that I am part of the Fiddler's family, even though I will not be able to attend (again). He started by letting me know that several of the guys will be getting together in the studio to record a special version of our theme song. So that I can be part of it all, they are going to send me files which I can load up in my home recording studio, thus allowing me to add tracks to the recording and be a part of the recording even though I will not be there.

Art also sent me some photo's from one of my trips many years ago (1992 to be exact).

Here is one more of me, I must have been really tried after cutting firewood!

A Big Time in Big Bear!

2009-01-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

I am really starting to like Big Bear Lake; it is about 2.5 to 3 hours from our house (depending on traffic). In the winter is a very popular ski/snow board resort, in the summer the huge lake is a perfect place to spend a lazy day enjoying cocktails on a pontoon boat.

My first visit was during the summer, when Bonnie and I went to visit at the beautiful cabin of our friends Chris and Van (you can read more about this visit in an earlier post on this blog called “Big Bear” August 2008).

This time, I drove up (along with Bonnie, Martye and Van (Chris joined us later)) on December 30th and we had a great time over the New Year’s holiday. An usually heavy snow fall a few weeks ago turned the area in to a snow covered wonderland, along with slippery sidewalks and tricky driving, but it was worth it!

We spent time at the ski slopes watching our friends ski from the comfort of an outdoor deck at the base. We did not bring gear (frankly Bonnie and I do not have gear) so we did not join in. Neither one of us really knows how to ski well, but Van has offered to teach me how to snow board and I think I may take him up on it!

New Years Eve and brunch the morning after was huge fun, we hosted by Janet (a friend of Chris/Vans and now ours). What really made the evening fun was the amazing collection of people that were there. It seems that Big Bear is a magnet for unusual personalities. In no particular order there was:

- A Russian lion tamer who used to travel with Cirque de Solai

- A palates instructor who counted Sting and many other celebrities among her clients

- A partner from a San Diego law firm which is called “Mo-Fo”

- A delightful older woman named Georgette who I later found out drives one of the local snow plows

- A vocalist who has performed with musicians ranging from Huey Lewis to Bette Midler, who was also a member of the screen actor guild (SAG) and gave us the lowdown on all the new movies coming out, and who was also prone to burst into song at any moment many time sounding a bit like Ethel Merman.

Photos are below; I can’t wait to see what happens on our next visit to big Bear!

Happy 2009 Everybody!

A House Full Of Fun

2009-01-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of visitors this Christmas, and they did not include Jacob Marley (or even Bob Marley). Unlike Scrooge we were happy to see our visitors.

Near the end of December my little brother Nathan and my sister in law Shannon came for a weekend. We had a good time showing them the town.

On December 14th my sister Morgan (or Martye as I call her) arrived for a multi week visit that has become part of Bonnie and my Christmas tradition.

Next came the P’s, Nate and B.J., they arrived the same evening that I got back from a business trip in Dubai. I am amazed at how much of San Diego we covered in just a weekend with them. We went to the coast, up in the mountains to see snow and to the San Diego Zoo (many people have told me I belong a zoo, now Bonnie and I are members,).

We did manage to fit on one decent sized party with 18-20 friends over, we had a great time.

The house seems kinda quiet now, but we are re-adjusting…….

Amster-DAM!

2008-10-27T15:55:00.001-07:00

Bonnie and I had a great time in Amsterdam last weekend. I was there for work and had to stay over the weekend so Bonnie popped over to meet me.

While we were there Bonnie got to catch up with a couple of the students who had attended her program in San Diego.

And I got to see my baby sister who lives in Brussels!

All About Gustave

2008-09-10T16:16:00.000-07:00

Hi all, things are fine with Bonnie and I. I will post interesting things soon.

Meanwhile - if you are interested in a first hand accound of what it is like to live through a hurricane, check out my fathers blog.

There is an interesting account as told through a series of emails my dad sent out to the family (read them from the bottom up!).

Big Bear

2008-08-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Bonnie and I went up to Big Bear Lake and stayed at an amazing house in the mountains.

The house belongs to our friends Chris & Van; who are, by the way, the consummate host. The first night there we were treated to lovely dinner with several of their friends; (thanks goodness Van got the steak rub, it made the meal!).

The next day we took a boat out on the lake with several of the same folks, lots of sun and fun and swimming. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Bonnie actually got into the water and went swimming in a lake!

The next day, the four of us (me, Bonnie, Chris and Van) took a chair lift up one of the ski lifts (beautiful in the summertime), for a nice BBQ lunch on the top of the hill.

What a great weekend and just what the doctor ordered after a crazy few weeks at work for Bonnie and me!

Over The Line In San Diego

2008-07-18T16:21:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I discovered a uniquely Californian pastime; a game called Over The Line (OTL).

OTL is so popular that the Old Mission Beach Athletic club (OMBAC) , host a major tournament every year.

The tournament takes place over two weekends and occurs in an area apply named Fiesta Island, and during the tourney more than 2,500 games will be played.

For those who are not familiar (I was not), OTL is played in the sand is a bit like softball, but there are a lot of differences:
- The field layout is completely different (see diagram)
- The pitcher and the batter are on the same team
- Each team only has three players

Here’s how it works, the pitcher kneels beside the batter and tosses a rubberized ball, just smaller than a softball up into the air for the batter to hit. The batter goal is to hit the ball over the line at the end of the diamond (about 55 feet). The ball must remain in bounds and must not be caught by the opposing team. Four successful hits over the line without being caught is a run. Two foul balls, or a ball that gets caught, are an out. 3 outs per side per inning, four innings in total.

There is of course no running, that would make it to much like a sport.......

NOW THE REST OF THE STORY:
The OTL tourney is simply a good excuse to get together in as little clothing as possible (it is warm on Fiesta Island) and drink beer and have a GIANT party. About 55,000 people attend the tourney every year, and there is lots of music, and fun. No one under 18 is allowed on the island during the tourney.

One of the objectives is to find the most outrageous names possible for your team so that it sounds funny when they announce your name over the PA to start your next game. Nothing gets banned!! The tourney was so popular that ESPN was going to televise it, but they insisted that the names of the teams had to be toned down. The folks at OMBAC said No Way (well actually had another two word response F*#K You!). So the tournament never did make it onto ESPN.

Here’s a photo of one of my favorite teams.

Needless to say, I am now a devoted fan, and I will be fielding my own team next year. Anybody got any good ideas for team names??

I've Been Everywhere Man, I've Been Everywhere...

2008-05-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a ride!

On Friday night I came home from a three week road trip all across Europe. I started out in San Diego California and then went to Madrid Spain by way of Houston Texas. From there I hit: Athens Greece, Munich Germany and Berne Switzerland.

Luckily that was the end of the first week, so I got to go to Brussels Belgium to spend the weekend with my baby sister.

On Monday it was off to Bristol England by way of Frankfurt Germany. After England I headed for Dusseldorf Germany and then Budapest Hungary, and Sofia Bulgaria.

After four meetings in Vienna Austria, I spent the second weekend wandering around the town.

The next week took me to Copenhagen Denmark, Aalborg Denmark, Stockholm Sweden, Prague Czech Republic and finally Dublin Ireland.

I left Dublin to come back to San Diego by way of Newark New Jersey.

After three weeks abroad I can tell you Europe is nice but, I LOVE AMERICA!!!

National Alert System

2008-04-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today, at long last, the FCC has announced a plan under which mobile telephone users will be able to receive emergency alerts via point to multi-point text message.

Any of you who know me well may know that emergency alerts, via the wireless mobile phone networks, are something I feel very strongly about.

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) in use today has remained virtually unchanged since 1963. That was 45 years ago; I know because it was the year I was born!

The fact that so many lives have been lost due to lack of adequate warning is simply shameful.

It will take another two years to get the whole system put together, but today was a big first step.

You can read the press release here.

Your can read the actual rule making here.

Ciao Bella!

2008-03-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

This week (and next week) I find myself in Rome Italy. One of my workmates (Paul Rigatti) and I are here in town lining up a house (villa) to use for demonstrations of my company's in-building cellular coverage product. I hate being away from home without Bonnie, but I guess if I have to be out, Italy is not a bad spot.....

The idea is to find a nice looking house that has some serious cellular coverage issues, put our system in the house and then invite local wireless operators in to see what an amazing difference it makes on voice coverage and data throughput. We have done this before, you can read about our testing and demos in England in Ireland in previous post.

We have covered a lot of ground this trip. There are not may highways in the countryside north of Rome, so Paul an I, in our trusty rental car (a ford fiesta) have crossed fields, forded streams, slid up and down slopes and bounced along many dirt roads.

We did find one beautiful stone house in the country, the owner, who's name is Guido, was very inviting. Unfortunately, the house had NO cellular coverage and it is is hard to improve on nothing. The house it self was so nice that I would like to find a way to take advantage of it's seven bedrooms for personal use at some point in the future.

Eventually we found another house on the shores of a large lake that provides most of the fresh water to this section of the country. This is large, atrractive and has areas with OK wireless coverage and other areas with no service at all. Just perfect for us to demo our product.

Bonnie was not at all happy with me spending two weeks in Italy without her. When I told her about my upcoming trip, she lovingly told me "you suck!". She reminded me of this several times as I was preparing to travel. However as soon as I get home, we are going to sneak away for a three day weekend together!

One other woman in my life, is my trusted travel agent Muriel. This long suffering lady constanlty puts up with me calling at the last minute and asking for impossible international arrangements at the lowest possible rates. She was very vocal about me wandering all over Italy drinking excellent red wine. I told her I thought I would be working almost the all the time, but that I would try and find an opportunity to lift a glass in her honer. So Cheers to you Muriel and all the rest of my family and Friends!

On The Road Again

2008-02-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

Willie Nelson has nothing on me (Ok, Ok, except that he can sing and play guitar much better than I can)

Once again I find myself on in a foreign country without Bonnie. This time it is in Spain, and I am here to attend the mother of all trade shows; “The 3GSM World Congress”. I am writing this update from a tiny little hotel in the historic district of Barcelona, which I consider myself lucky to find. Each about this time, the population of Spain takes a significant increase for the days of this show.

The show used to be in Cannes France, and since at that time Bonnie was a lady of leisure, she used to go with me. This year however, she is busy making arrangements for the 30 lucky students that have been chosen to receive scholarships for the 3 week summer conference on Conflict resolution that she now coordinates. How things change. If you are not familiar with the program, you can find out more here.

So being away from Bonnie is no fun, but what is fun I getting to run into folks that I have worked with over the years as we traveled the globe during telecom start ups. This year is also kind of fun because I get to go out an tell people all about the new products that we are building to improve indoor coverage for cellular systems. OK, maybe not that exciting unless you either;

are involved in a startup that makes these products like I am;
or you have terrible cell coverage in your house!

More as it happens!

A Little Piece of California

2008-01-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

With each passing day, Bonnie and I settle a little more into our life as Californians. Today for instance, we closed on the purchase of a cute little house in University Heights.

It took us almost a year to get over the sticker shock and begin to look seriously at homes. We had thought that we would start looking in earnest somewhere around February, but we started visiting the open houses in our neighborhood of choice.

As luck would have it, we found a home we both loved a couple of months ago and we will move in tomorrow.

The house is what locals refer to as a craftsman style. It was built in somewhere around 1916 to 1920. The good news is that it was completely refurbished by a couple of guys with a real eye for details. We are very pleased.

The moving truck shows up at our old apartment at 8:00 in the morning. Time to get to work!

Catching Up

2007-12-02T01:55:00.000-08:00

As usual, I am behind on my blogging, so I will attemtp to catch you up on a great load of things that have happened since my last update.

November was all about product testing an demonstrations for the company I work for. Interestingly enough, the testing and demos needed to take place in Europe since that is where our first product release is targeted. Planning for this has been going on for some time. As a matter of fact I enlisted the help of my friend Iain's sister (Jane) and his dad (Jim) to help scout for locations while I was at Iain and Ruth's wedding (see earlier post "Talkin Turkey").

With Jane and Jim's help, we did find three great locations, one in Ireland and two in Windsor (just outside of London).

I arrived in Ireland during the last week of October (delayed one week by the fires having closed our offices in San Diego). I was the advance team to make sure everything was set up and as you can see from the photo I worked hard! I worked in a quick trip to England to help make sure the locations were all ready for the customer demos.

After two weeks of testing I Ireland I headed back to Dan Diego for a week. It was great to see Bonnie (in passing). I got home on Friday and she left on Sunday morning to head for Atlanta to prep for Thanksgiving.

I did make it to Atlanta for a quick Thanksgiving; I took a red eye out of San Diego and arrived at Bonnie’s parents (Barbara and Jerry) in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning. W had a great time and it was great to see everybody; Sharon and Doug, Sam, Isabella, Becky, Leslie as well as the clan from Madison Wisconsin – Uncle Michael, Allisanne, Mandy and Molly. The trip was short I headed back out the next morning for England.

I arrived in England to find a team from my office already hard at work. We did product demos in two locations: a house in old Windsor, and a flat in Windsor. The house was on the grounds of what used to be a mental hospital, and it was done up very nicely.

The flat was in a converted convent and was one of the most unique locations I have ever seen. Among its other features was a stone carving of Saints above the over sized fireplace.

I am pleased to report that not only did both locations show very well, but the product demos to date have also been quite a success.

It is the weekend now; on Friday my friends Iain and Ruth were in town so they came over to the convent where I was staying for a visit, it was great to see them again.

We also got to see his family for dinner on Friday evening.

Today is Sunday and one of my wok colleagues an I are headed into London to o touristy things, like brunch in China town and Christmas shopping at Harrods.

Now you are all caught up.

Look for news about my baby sister (Martye) visiting in December in my next update!

Fire Update 2

2007-10-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

A quick update.

The fires are pretty much out of our immediate area now. Most of the mandatory evacuations have been lifted.

The friends we had staying with us were able to get back into their home last night, and luckily suffered no damage.

Life is settling back to normal.

Thanks for all the calls, texts and emails!

San Diego Wildfires

2007-10-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

Greetings from smoky San Diego – 9:00 am Wednesday Oct 24

Thanks for all of the emails and calls folks checking to see if we are O.K.

Bonnie and I are just fine, they have closed the University where she works, and my office shut down for a couple of days. But luckily our apartment is not in an area that had to be evacuated.

We know many folks who were not so lucky; we have a couple staying with us at our apartment that still does not know if their home and car made it.

The fire continues to spread. I will post updates here when I can.

Top Up

2007-10-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update.

Well, it finally happened; for the first time since I bought my new convertible several months ago, I had to put the top up when I drove it to work today.

It was misting, (East Coasters would not actually have called it rain), and so I stopped and put the top up.

This ends a steak of about 130 days, since I bought the car. To date every day that I drove to (and from) the office, I have done so with the top down.

In truth, until today, the only time I have ever really put the top up was to wash the car.

Ah well, it had to rain sooner or later.

Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I often heard this kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girls don't they warn ya
It pours, man it pours

Albert Hammond

Talkin Turkey

2007-09-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Bonnie and I recently traveled to Bodrum Turkey to attend the wedding of our friends Ruth and Iain, yes that is a kilt! You can find a link below to Ian's blog below.

We felt proud to be invited to the wedding, and even more special to be invited to join several family and friends that tagged along for the honeymoon on board a wooden sailing boat where we enjoyed four days crusing, eating, drinking, laughing and singing. Somebody found a guitar somewhere, so we had a lot of sing alongs - although it may be some time before I play American Pie again :-)

Martye (Morgan) popped over from Brussels and joined us for the week, it was a treat to see her.

While we were out of town, we closed on the sale of both our boat an the loft apartment in Atlanta. Then we came home to great news about Bonnie's sister Sharon who had a wonderful three month checkup with her doctor. This has been a really good Month for us!

I am making this posting via a hotspot in the airport in Washington D.C., I am on my way to Cannes France for the week to attend a trade show. Check back here oftern to see where we are this week.

CONGRATS IAN & RUTH

Bye Bye BlackSheep

2007-09-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

It was a bittersweet day last week when we closed on the sail of our boat the BlackSheep. While we are happy to be rid of the expense and upkeep, I will certainly miss owning a boat.

What they say about the two best days of a boat owner's life being the day they buy and the day they sell is not at all true. An while I cannot say exactly which day was our best day as a boat owner, you can be sure it was a day on board with our friends!

Bye bye BlackSheep, you will be missed!

A Tennessee Squire

2007-09-10T10:32:00.000-07:00

When I look back at my life, there will be milestones that I remember. Among them the day that I was invited to become a Tennessee Squire. I was invited into this exclusive organization by an existing squire and new friend Beth Herman.

I was serving drinks at our house one night and asked Beth what I could get her. She replied Jack Daniel's (and I knew would be fast friends right away). When I asked her if she preferred Black Jack or Gentlemen Jack she was impressed and then told me she was a Squire. She later offered to submit my name for membership consideration.

Several weeks later I got 'the package' in the mail. I have passed the review, I am in! I now have my own plot of land on the Jack Daniel distillery property.

Now as the squires before me have done, I am proud to toast....

May the sand in your joints turn to butter, May the ache in your back disappear, May your legs stay strong when the day grows long, May your shooting eye hold true and clear.

May you hunt every fall with your friends, And with Jack, drink a toast to your peers! May your game bag never be empty, And your season stay open for years.

Ramblin Man

2007-09-02T23:53:00.000-07:00

Well it looks as if I will end up spending a lot of the rest of this year on the road.

I am writing this blog update from England. I will be here for the rest of the week (with a quick pop over to Ireland for a day).

Then I am home for 3 days before Bonnie an I had off to Bodrum (Turkey) for our friend's - Iain & Ruth - wedding. You can see more about the wedding and Turkey on their wedding page.

I will be back home from Turkey for one day before I leave to go to Cannes (France) for a trade show.

From there I am back home for a few before traveling to Virginia for another wedding -Bonnie's cousin Scott and his delightful fiance.

After that there are the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays, both of which I am afraid, are going to be overshadowed by work.

I will let you know more about those dates as they get closer.

Check back in a couple of weeks for photos from Turkey!

Lord I was born a ranblin Man

Just Trying to make a livin an doin the best I can

So when it's time for leaving, I hope you understand

That I was born a ramblin man

California Dreamin'

2007-08-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe but Bonnie and I have been living in San Diego for almost 9 months now. We are settling in, but it has taken us a while to get used to the West Coast. Bonnie finally broke down and got a California driver’s license (she wanted to make sure she was registered to vote); I have had mine for while. We both have California tags on our cars, and we have local bank accounts.

We just signed up for another lease (10 months) on our apartment. We figured we would wait to sell the boat and our loft in Atlanta prior to getting into another mortgage, especially given the price of houses here. When I came to interview last December, someone casually mentioned that “A million dollars really isn’t that much to spend on a home here” to which I replied, “What are you *&%$%* kidding? A million bucks????” Now it is clear that we will easily end up spending three times as much for a home here as we did in Atlanta.

Bonnie and I spent the day, today, with our new friends Chris and Beth (Chris works in my office). Chris gave me my first surfing lesson. We were at a beach just south of Cardiff. How totally California dude!! Let me tell you that surfing is not as easy as it looks. I got beat up pretty good and swallowed a LOT of sea water, but I had fun, and as soon as my sunburned nose recovers, I plan to go again.
“If everybody had an ocean, across the USA, then everybody’d be surfin, like Califonr -i-a . Catch a wave and your sitting on top of the world.”

Anybody Know How To Turn On The Oven?

2007-06-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

No I am not going to stick my head in it, but I am going to have to cook dinner for myself for the next few weeks. I am going to be living the bachelor’s life at home while Bonnie is working onsite for a work project during most of July.

Bonnie is a grant Administrator for the Hansen Summer Institute on Leadership and International Cooperation. (I think it would be easier just to say “World Peace”). Anyway, starting this year (and every year thereafter) the program brings kids from around the globe (they have to be under 25 and they can never have been in the USA before) to San Diego for 3 weeks of classes, lectures, team building and of course some fun stuff too.

Bon will be moving into the dorms (at San Diego State University) with her crew this weekend and will be there for 3 weeks. She says I get to visit. Visiting Bonnie in her college dorm room is what got me involved with her 30 years ago. Might be fun again…who knows.

By the way, although we are still in "stealth mode", the company I am working for launched a web site to help us attract new staff.

A New Toy

2007-06-06T03:29:00.000-07:00

Well after six months of living in Southern California with only one car, Bonnie and I finally broke down this past weekend and bought a second car. The best part is that it was for me! I don't know what lucky start I was sleeping under, but I got to hit the Bose store two weeks ago and the Saturn dealer this past weekend.

We are now the proud owner of a 2007 Saturn Sky Redline. It is a Chili Pepper red, extremely fast two seater sports coupe. No storage at all, but that is why we have the Honda Accord.

So now Bonnie and I are both happy, she has a car to drive to work and run errands afterwords, and I have a sporty new convertible!

New Toys

2007-05-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well I finally talked Bonnie into visiting the Bose store with me again. It was a shopping frenzy! This time I purchased the various bit and bobs required to bring Bose sound from the Main System into the master and guest bedrooms.

The master bedroom already had a WAVE Radio, so we just needed to connect it to the rest of the system; I did this with an AL8 System which means that I did not have to run wires.

In the guest bedroom/office, we added a RoomMate so we can have music in there while we work. I used an additional AR1 wireless receiver to make the connection to the new wireless link in the rest of the house. Once we move, the RoomMate will be migrated to the kitchen, and the guest room will be its own WAVE Radio.

Both the bedrooms got a new remote, which is truly amazing. It let’s you choose what you want to hear, be it an album, the radio or a themed collection of music stored in the Main System.

Now Bonnie can watch a movie in the living room and I can listen to Jimmy Buffet in the office. Of course, we can also set them all on the same stream and listen to Jimmy buffet in every room in the house!

So what’s next? Well I have to wait until we buy the house we are shopping for, but I already have big plans for speakers in the back yard and in our bathroom! Wohooo

May 5th On The Border

2007-05-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

Since I now pretty much live on the Mexican border, events like Cinco De Mayo (May 5th) get a lot of attention. There will be several major parties in and around San Diego tomorrow. Lots of margaritas and cold Corona will be consumed. It is only a shame that a frost a few months ago did so much damage to the local lime crops. For the last few weeks it has been very difficult to find the large juicy limes I prefer to use when making my favorite adult beverages.

Meanwhile, allow me to use my blog to dispel one popular American myth. Cinco De Mayo is NOT Mexican Independence Day, that day is September 16th. Although the day does have historical reference; on May 5th, 1862 a small group of Mexican soldiers fought and defeated a much larger and better armed garrison of French army troops. The day is celebrated to commemorate the brave act of these soldiers, very much as we “Remember the Alamo”. Unfortunately as is often the case, the Mexicans won that battle but lost the war.

Now that we have that out of the way, I can happily provide a weather report for Cinco De Mayo in San Diego. The weather will be: Chili tonight, but hot tamale!

Hunter 460

2007-04-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

A friend sent me a link to a upcoming TV show called Fearless. The show is going to be about a couple who sail around the world in their 2000 year Hunter 460. What makes this interesting is that the 460 is the same boat that Bonnie, I and so many of our friends have enjoyed playing on all over the Caribbean.

Our boat is named the BlackSheep, and it too was manufactured in the year 2000. Unlike fearless, we did not outfit our boat for the open ocean. Instead we made sure that it had more important things for our kind of sailing, like a blender, a good place to store wine and speakers that can bring music to the bow (for late night dancing on the deck).

Alas, now that we are living in San Diego, we are no longer able to use the boat. If you know of anybody looking for an AMAZING DEAL on a wonderful sailboat, please let me know. You can see all the specifications here.

Meanwhile, here are a few more pictures just for fun....

Play Ball

2007-04-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Last night Bonnie and I, along with my little sister Martye, went to see our new home town team, (the San Diego Padres) play ball against the Diamondbacks. Unfortunately, after 12 innings our team lost the fight. But we had fun anyway.

It was a chilly evening for our first ever visit to Petco Park. We had dogs, drank beer at crackerjacks and in general did all the kinds of things that one is supposed to do at a ball game.

Martye did notice how much the team mascot, a monk named "The Friar" looked like the "Pizza, Pizza" guy from Little Ceasars.

Aint' It Grand

2007-04-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

Well I can no longer say that I have never seen the Grand Canyon. Last weekend Bonnie and I, along with her parents (Barbara & Jerry) took a helicopter tour of the canyon. A bus picked us up at our hotel and took us to the airstrip, where we were checked in and weighed. I am pleased to note that they were discreet about everyone’s weight, but they did need it to calculate total capacity for the helicopter. I know do that none of us weigh 275 pounds, because if we did we would have had to pay for to tickets!

The fleet of Helicopters at Maverick Tours was nice, new, and very high tech. Most of the ‘bubble” was clear so we had amazing views as we traveled. First, we flew across Nevada, then circled around Hoover Damn and then finally landed in the canyon itself.

After we got back from Nevada, my sister Martye came to visit. Bonnie, my sister and Bonnie's folks went down to Mexico and had a fun day.

Happy 90th GrandMamma!

2007-03-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I traveled back to my boyhood home of Madison Florida. It was a quick trip; on Friday I flew from San Diego to Jacksonville and then rented a car and drove into Madison. Early on Sunday morning I reversed the process.

Why the pilgrimage? Grandmamma Eckert’s 90th birthday party of course! A chance to join in the celebration of the life of an amazing lady, not to mention a chance to see my brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles and all the rest of the family and friends who attended the gala event. GrandMamma is shown here, flanked by her two kids (Buddy and B.J.).

An industrious decorating crew (B.J. Martye, Nate, Mike & Gwindy) turned the fellowship hall of our small community church into party central. Given that Grandmamma shares her birthday with Pattie’s day, you can imagine the theme! All very green.

It was certainly great to see the whole crew. As you can see in the photo my brothers and sisters were all there. Maybe we will all end up in the same place again without having to wait for Grandmamma’s 100th birthday.

A Traveling Jones

2007-03-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

First let me say that I know it has been a long time since I have made an update to the blog. My fault to be sure, but I the new job has had me running like you would not believe. Out of the 8 or 9 weeks that I have had this job, I have spent at least 6 weeks traveling. This will slow down soon.

Meanwhile I am able to visit with Bonnie each night while I was on the road via my SightSpeed account so I did not get to lonely for her. I just call her in the video phone from my computer, not quite as good as being at home, but one does what one can. I am really missing the family and all my friends, San Diego is a long way from home.

By the way, Bonnie landed her dream job at San Diego State University. She starts on Thursday, and we are both very excited about it.

In other news, we took the Volkswagen (2003 Passat) in to get an oil change and they wanted another $1,000 for repairs. We had gotten rather sick of pumping money into that car, so we are now the proud new owners of a 2007 Honda Accord.

More news as it happens, I promise to update regularly!

George Gets a J-O-B

2006-12-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

After about 14 years on the road, Bonnie and I have decided to settle down and get ‘real jobs’. My last day at the client here in Seattle is Friday December 22nd and then Bon and I will pack up the car and head down the West Coast to San Diego.

Once we get there, I have a new job that starts on January 2nd, and Bonnie has interviews lined up as well. My new job will be Marketing Operations Director for a small startup company with customers around the globe, so I will be traveling quite a bit.

We will be living in an apartment for about the first nine months while we learn our way around the city. The complex looks pretty nice, and we are looking forward to getting all our furniture etc from Atlanta shipped over. It has been quite a while since we have seen ‘our stuff’.

So we start the New Year with a new opportunity and high hopes for a prosperous future.

Here’s wishing you all a healthy and happy holiday and an amazing 2007!

Turkey Day in Atlanta

2006-11-30T15:35:00.000-08:00

I know it is a bit late, but I am posting pictures from our trip to Atlanta for Thanksgiving. It was an excellent trip, and everyone had a great time.

Since Bonnie’s folk’s house was already pretty full, we took advantage of a kind offer and stayed at our friend Ruth’s condo in Buckhead. It was very nice. Not only that, we drove Ruth’s very cool red pickup while we were there as well. What a deal.

The day was warm and beautiful; (unlike the weather here in Seattle); we spent most of the day out on the back deck (the picture is Bonnie's dad, Jerry).

Thanksgiving in Atlanta is always great, as we know we can count on seeing lots of family and friends. This year was made even better by the fact that Bonnie’s Uncle Michael (and wife Allisanne plus daughters Moli & Mandy) came down from Wisconson. Moli’s mom was not too pleased that I started her daughter's training as a bartender, but Moli cleared $31.00 in tips and had a new drink named after her!

The Orange Moli

In a rocks glass, with ice, add:

- 2 oz Mandarin Vodka

- 2 oz Club soda

Squeeze in a slice of fresh orange

and stir

Where in the World Are We Going?

2006-11-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

One of the things that Bonnie and I like about my job is that we never know where it will take us, or when. I got word this week that my assignment in Seattle will be wrapping up just before Christmas.

This was not quite what we had planned, but, hey, that’s the life of a contractor. So we have put our plans to go sailing with friends Iain and Ruth on hold while we line up the next client.

So far no idea what or where we will be doing, but watch this space, I will let you know as soon as I do!

Vegas Baby!

2006-10-31T18:16:00.000-08:00

It was Bonnie’s birthday this past weekend. As often as possible, we spend the weekend of her birthday in Las Vegas with our friends Leslie and Becky. To make it even more fun this year we were joined by our friends Kevin and Dane. Leslie’s sister and her husband (Lisa and Chuck) have a timeshare in Vegas, so they were able to join us as well. What a blast we had, the eight of us bring out the best (or worst) in each other. My sides are still hurting from laughing so hard all weekend!

So here are some highlights from the weekend. Thursday night we arrived and Bonnie, I, Leslie, Becky, Lisa and Chuck all met up at a seafood raw bar called AquaKnox. We spent several hours catching up. It was so good to see everybody again.

Friday we spent the day at tables in several different casinos including a couple that are going to be torn down soon. I like to bet on Black 17 on the roulette wheel, Bonnie, Chuck and Leslie like to play blackjack and we all LOVE to play craps. Back to the room for showers and a change into evening wear and then it was off to Paris (the hotel/casino) for where we were joined by Kevin and Dane (now there were 8 of us) for an amazing dinner at Mon Ami Gabi. From there it was back to the tables for an evening of gambling and laughter.

On Saturday, Chuck and Lisa had rented a cabana at the pool at the Las Vegas Hilton. The cabana was very nice with a big screen TV so we all watched football, drank and visited all afternoon. I will not try and explain what it was the Kevin did to earn $20.00 worth of tips from the folks around the pool. Some things that happen in Vegas need to stay there!

Saturday night, we all headed out to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Il Fornaio. Good food, good wine; good fun. After dinner Leslie, Becky, Chuck, Lisa, Bonnie and I at see a show called Zumanity, which was put on by Cirque ‘de Soleil. (Kevin and Dane had already seen it. The show was amazing and VERY racey (not the kind of thing that you would take your mother to see)!

Sunday was a relatively quiet day, we slept late and gambled the day away. Kevin and Dane had to head home Sunday, so we told them goodbye and we look forward to seeing them over Thanksgiving. That evening Leslie, Becky, Chuck, Lisa, Bonnie and I had a nice dinner at Café Ba Ba Reeba, a Spanish Tapas restaurant (I initially only agree to go because I thought they were saying topless, but the food ended up being very good anyway). After dinner it was off to the Stardust Casino. The star dust is another one of the great older (read seedy) hotels that is due to be torn down. In fact it demolition starts tomorrow. You can buy items from the stardust in an online auction; click here to find our more.

Monday was Bonnie’s actual birthday. We had a delightful breakfast with Leslie and Becky at Bouchon. From there it was off to the airport to head home.

I can’t remember a better trip to Vegas. We had so much fun; I can’t wait for Bonnie’s next Birthday!

So Pretty It Hurts

2006-10-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

Bonnie and I continued our Sunday hikes in an area called Denny Creek. We both agreed that it was the most beautiful hike we had ever been on.

The hike started out in a pretty flat and easy walk, and then we passed the part where the guide book said that most of the crowds turn back. The book, (which was a hand-me-down from our friend Iain), went on to say that the best part of the hike was up over the top of the ridge, a lake on a remote pass.

The trail ended up being a quite a bit steeper than we expected and we gave serious thought to turning back. However, as we were weighing our options, an older gentlemen came breezing past and talked us into going the rest of the way since we were so close to the top.

We finished the trail and ended up at a beautiful lake nestled in the cleft of the mountain. It was truly amazing. The hike down was just as tough as the hike up. By the time we got to the car our knees were aching. It is now Tuesday, two days later and we both are walking a bit slow, and wincing down the steps, but looking back, it was worth it!

Uncle Michael From Madison

2006-10-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

We had our first family guest here in Washington. Uncle Michael (Bonnie’s Mom’s brother) was in town for a job interview. We really hope he gets the job, since he would be managing one of the biggest concert venues in the city of Seattle and I KNOW we would be plugged in for good seats (hint, hint).

Nice night out at Pasta Freska last night for dinner. Tonight we are having fresh salmon (from Pikes Market of course) and a good bottle of wine. We hope you get it Michael; the Northwest is an awesome place!

Rained In

2006-10-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

It is Sunday, and Bonnie and I had planned a nice hike in an area of the Cascade Mountains called Denny Creek.

Alas, it has been raining all day, so we settled instead for a movie and a late lunch. We went to see the new Robin William movie, which we both quite enjoyed.

Home now for a leisurely Sunday afternoon:

Quiet weekends at home are nice…..

Hike Two - Getting Better

2006-10-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

Our next trip out, Sunday Oct 8th went much better. We knew what to expect so we got an early start. First we stopped by one of our favorite weekend breakfast spots, the pancake corral. This was the only real mistake we made, way too many screaming kids at that hour, and we also decided we did not need a big meal close to hitting the trail. Next weekend it will be an egg McMuffin in the car on the way!

Bonnie and I both picked up new hiking shoes (on sale!) and we were keen to try them out. We also added a few more items to our day pack: a flashlight, a signal mirror our Garmin handheld GPS and some extra batteries. We also signed up to get an annual parks association pass ($30.00) for the car so that we did not have to mess with paying $5.00 for a day pass every weekend.

We headed north to the Cascade Mountains total drive time was about 1.5 hours. The drive in took us through an absolutely beautiful valley, we have both decided that Washington is one of the prettiest states we have ever been in. We stopped in a local store close to the trail head and bought some food for the trail. Found the ranger station that was our marker and then the trail head.

The hike was very nice; 6 miles in total, up and back a trail that ran along the Old Sauk River; very pretty. The weather was nice as well, about 55 degrees, started out cloudy, but cleared nicely toward the end. The new hiking shoes were the bees knees! They have excellent traction and sturdy bottoms. Having said all of that, it felt really good to take them off and slip into our tennis shoes when we got back to the car.

A nice drive back home and we were back for along hot shower by late afternoon. We both feel like we are getting the hang of this and are looking forward to next weekend!

Sunday Hikes- It Begins

2006-10-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

Bonnie and I decided that we wanted to start hiking on Sundays; there are hundreds of trails all around Washington State. Our first outing was on Sunday October 1st. We got a bit of a late start and did a bit of shopping before we left, which made it even later.

We stopped by the Sports Authority and picked up a "day pack". To the day pack, we added a small first aid kit, a couple of disposable rain ponchos and some parachute chord. I also added my own Swiss army knife (a gift from the team that I worked with in Guatemala) and some toilet paper.

Our first hike was up in the Olympic Peninsula. We did not plan very well and after a late start we ended up driving almost three hours to get to the trail head. When we finally got to Lake Quinault, we hiked for about 2.5 hours. The trail was really nice and started out through some old growth trees. Being from the East Coast, I have never seen trees so large; they were amazing. The second half of the hike took us along the shore of a beautiful lake.

A couple of lessons learned on our first outing. We need to start earlier and we need to plan the drive better. Also going to have to do something about hiking shoes, our regular walking shoes (sneakers) are just not rugged enough for the trail.

This Time Last Year

2006-09-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

Today is September 29th and it has been a quiet but busy couple of weeks. I was talking to my old buddy Art Shand on the phone and I mentioned that I needed to write a blog entry, but that it had been so quiet that I did not have much to tell. Art suggested I look back to where I was exactly one year ago today and write about that…good idea.

On September 29th, 2005 Bonnie and I were in the Abacos islands, a small chain at the top of the Bahamas. More specifically we were in an area called Marsh Harbor, We had finished up a project in Ireland but for tax reasons were not ready to come back to into the USA yet. (There is a funny rule that says if you spend 330 days out of 365 out of the country you get a big tax break, we needed about 4 more weeks to make our tax break).

So the good news is that we spent 4 weeks on on our sailboat, The BlackSheep; the bad news is that 2005 was a record year for tropical storms and hurricanes. As a result we spent a lot of time in our slip at Boat Harbor. During our stay there, our normal Friday night hangout Sapodillas Bar was under major reconstruction, so we were diverted across the street to Snappa’s Bar. Fridays nights were always pretty much the same, dinner from the bar menu and cold rum drinks with our friend “Uncle Bob” Scott.

At Snappa’s, the island music or classic rock and roll which plays over a better than average sound system is nearly drowned out by the sound of the locals playing dominos. Strange to think that Dominos would be a loud game until you see the locals play. The force in which the local players (mostly men) slam the tiles onto the hard plastic table tops is amazing. During the first few minutes of your time at the bar is always a bit disconcerting since the sound of the dominoes closely mimics the sound of small arms fire. After a couple of cold rum drinks and good conversation, the sound just seems to fade into the background.

Discussions of this time last year would not be complete without a mention of the new friends Layne and Grant that made that trip. Grant is an amazing artist and he and wife Layne travel the island son their boat “Blue”. We had a great time visiting sailing and getting to know them. Funny how one can make friends almost anywhere…….

Growing Older But Not Up

2006-09-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

Things change; I have to wear reading glasses now, and I notice it takes me a little bit longer to work out the kinks when I jump out of bed. I have also noticed I really look forward to naps on the weekends.

Bonnie and I went to a poker party last night (Bonnie is an excellent Texas Hold ‘em dealer so we get invited). I was standing in the kitchen between hands talking to two other guest. In speaking with them I realized that I had been married as long as they had been alive.

I still feel very young inside. When people ask Bonnie is she has any children at home she often answers “just George”.

I guess you could say I’m growing older but not up.

Building The Perfect Blog

2006-09-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

Not long ago I started a blog for my dad who lives in La Place Louisiana. The blog chronicles the events of the Blind Mule racing team; which is made up of my dad, my uncle and my brother. They race smallish cars that are built out of Volkswagen parts, thus the name Formula V. If you change the layout just a little bit, then they are called Formula First.

The Blind Mule team has been working to try and create some excitement around his type of racing, and I think they are up to 5 or 6 drivers with cars in the area now. Kind of neat, as it lets you get into racing without spending fortune, a used car for this class cost around $3,000.

It has been fun getting the blog in shape; it looks a LOT different than when we started with it. You can see the blog here.

Hi George!

2006-09-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

I am constantly amazed at just how small the world is. I got a call on Friday from a friend named George Stewart, who I have not seen in at least 15 years.

George works for T-Mobile, the company that I am in Seattle contracting for, and he was in town for business. We made arrangements to meet up after work.

After a quick drink at our favorite watering holes, we got directions to a seafood restaurant that George had heard of. As Bonnie was being given directions by various locals around the bar, the phrase “you can’t miss it” was uttered more than once.

Later, as we made wrong turn after wrong turn and trying to find Salty’s Seafood Grill those words echoed in my mind.

After just one stop for directions we finally found the restaurant in West Seattle and had an amazing dinner, it was certainly worth the trip. Over dinner we caught each other up on our various adventures of the years. George and his wife Ruth are grandparents now, their son Jeff gave them two beautiful little girls to spoil

Today we met up with George again and headed out for lunch at the Roanoke Inn, a local eatery on Mercer Island. After lunch we took a ride up to enjoy the view from the New Castle Golf Club. We had only just eaten, but Bonnie and I will be sure to go back to the Calcutta Grill there.

If you want to reach George Stewart, you can drop him an email. I am sure you will be pleased to catch up with him, we sure were!

All About Bon...

2006-08-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

My job takes me all over the world and I am lucky enough to have a wife that is willing to tag along with me. Over the last several years Bonnie and I have lived and worked in Seattle, Ireland, Guatemala, Chile, Brazil (Sao Paulo, Rio & Recife), Australia, Denmark, England, Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Atlanta (I am sure I forgot one or two others).

People ask me what Bonnie does while I am at work in all these places; I can tell you, a lot!

First and foremost she makes sure that we lead a good life; she gets us integrated into the local culture, food shopping entertainment etc. She also acts as host for clients and friends from whatever job I am on; we have parties, dinners and poker games. There are several couples around the globe who met at one of our parties and eventually got married!

In addition Bonnie is a certified ESL instructor so she teaches English to people who have a different native tongue. Not sure how she does it, but she can teach English to a room full of people that speak 10 different languages all at the same time. Here in Seattle her classes are on Wednesdays. It is always fun to see her gathering up her “props” for the lesson of the week.

As if that were not enough, she is also working on her master’s degree via remote study from UNC Greensboro.

All in all she stays pretty busy and I am extremely glad that she still has time to put up with me.

Movie Tickets and Travel Tickets

2006-08-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

Bonnie and I had a nice quiet weekend.

On Friday evening, we went to the movies and saw the second installment of Pirates of the Caribbean; it as better than I expected. It has been so long since we had seen the first one that we ended up watching the original on DVD on Saturday.

We got our reservations made to go meet our friends in Las Vegas in late October. We are staying at the Venetian since they comp our rooms for us. This trip coincides with Bonnie’s birthday; I will not tell you how old she is, but I will note that she is 37 days older than I am!

The trip to Vegas has become almost an annual thing, a chance to relax and blow off some steam. We go with our friends Leslie and Becky. This year is extra special since we have seen so little of them lately (our fault, we have been in the Great North West with very few visits home). I am really looking forward to it.

Thanksgiving will be on the heels of the Vegas trip, a chance to loop through and see some family that we have not seen in a while. Looking forward to that as well!

We have rented out our loft in Atlanta, Bonnie went home and put all our stuff in storage. The new tenant moved in this weekend. Kind of odd not having our home in Atlanta to go back to; but as we tend to live on the road anyway, this just made more sense.

News, News, and More News

2006-08-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

Shuffle Up and Deal
Last Saturday night Bonnie and I played Texas Hold ‘Em with several friends. Bonnie made Mexican food and I made margaritas. This week's game included Chuck, Geoff, Alexandra, Paavan, Grace and Ben. We found a great poker table topper that seats 8, has spots for each player’s chips and drinks and folds up into a handy carrying case when you are not using it. Of course we do not travel anywhere without a good set of poker chips, they are 13.8 oz clay composites; good chips really make a difference.

The Boat Voyage Begins
Last night we went down to the marina and I hauled our friend Iain up the mast. The photo to the right is the view from the top of the mast.) He was doing a final inspection of the boat before they head out. (see article “Malo, Not Bad” below). Assuming we can find a way back home, Bonnie and I are going to sail as far as Port Townsend with them, and then send them on their way down the Coast of California. Iain and Ruth, we will miss you guys!

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Bonnie and I have a big week planned. My old buddy Art Shand is coming into town for work on Monday, so I expect we will be seeing a lot of him while he is here. Then our young friend Ellen Roberson will be in town on Thursday. It is going to be like old home week, we are excited.

Stay tuned for more news, we are trying to organize a camping trip to see even more of the beautiful North West before the weather gets crappy again.

A Nice Weekend

2006-07-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

After work on Friday Bonnie and I headed out for the weekend. We got a package deal at the Salish Lodge that included a night at the lodge, a big breakfast the next morning and messages for two.

The lodge sits on the edge of a giant waterfall and is located in Snoqualmie, Washington. The hotel was great, we had a giant Jacuzzi tub and a fireplace in our room.

Bonnie and I decided not to eat at the lodge (not included in the package and very expensive) so we went to dinner at Jak’s Grill in Issaquah. We met a lot of interesting people and the steaks were amazing!

Saturday we slept in, enjoyed a giant country breakfast, and then it was off to the spa. We started in the pools, which were basically giant hot tubs but with no speaking allowed at all. From there we had a hot stone message and by the time we checked out in the late afternoon, we both felt like overcooked spaghetti.

We took a quiet drive home through the country and relaxed for the rest of the weekend. Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie Falls and Jak’s Grill in Issaquah are both on our highly recommended list!

Island Daydreaming

2006-07-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

It is a warm day in Washington today and the heat kinda reminds me of the tropics. I want to walk outside and jump into the warm waters of the Caribbean; granted it would be a long walk from the Northwest Coast. All of this got me thinking about how many wonderful trips that Bonnie and I have had aboard our sailboat the BlackSheep.

At first the BlackSheep lived in Miami. Well, there was that one crazy weekend in Key West with Ray, Ellen, John and Celita. Fantasy Fest was really something, but I don’t think we will be going again anytime soon. Then we moved the boat down to the islands.

Until just recently we have kept the boat down in an area of the Bahamas called The Abacos. Unfortunately, between the job and travel, we just do not get to use the boat as much as we used to, so it is up for sale. If you are interested in a great deal on a wonderful island hopper let me know!

One of our first big trips with guests in the Bahamas was when we spent Christmas and New Years on board with our friends Ellen, Faith and Bobby. Yup, just little ole me and four beautiful women; it was tough but I made it through, what an awesome trip.

During another big adventure we sailed with our friends David, Lori and Rebecca. David and Lori live in Chicago and Rebecca is a recently married attorney from Atlanta. Rebecca got so relaxed she came home and quit her job with a big law firm and now she is out on her own and doing great!

The trip that wins the prize for the most rum (and everything else drinkable) consumed was when we went down with our crazy but very lovable friends Kevin, Dane, Leslie and Becky. That trip we were there for the fourth of July, we saw the fireworks from Nippers Beach Bar.

To get to the Abacos you either have to fly in a very small plane to a very small airport, or take a boat across. If you fly you have to hope that the plane comes that day. Some days it is a longer wait than others. While we were waiting one day I had what will probably be my only chance to perform for an entire international airport full of people.

Well writing about the trips helped me remember all the fun we have had over the years. Almost as much fun as being there….well not really.

Like the man says:

"Yes I am a pirate, born 200 years too late, the cannons don't thunder, there's nothin to plunder, I'm an over 40 victim of fate".

It Works!

2006-07-19T17:38:00.000-07:00

I put this blog together in the hope that it would help me communicate better with family and friends. Guess what, it works! Since I launched the blog I have had emails from several friends, like the one I got today from my childhood buddy Kayla Moore, (who is now Kayla Helm). The email had lots of news and photos; it was great to catch up.

Kayla and I both spent our elementary and high school years as friends in the town where we grew up, Madison Florida. Unfortunately as things tend to happen, Kayla and I fell out of touch. I knew she had gotten married, and had an opportunity meet her husband Bud; they have been married for over 19 years now.

The amazing thing is that somehow while I was not paying attention Kayla and Bud managed to have three kids; Jenna who is 16, Emily who is 13 and the youngest Davis who is 11. Good looking kids, they take after their mom who always was one of the prettiest girls in town.

Kayla works for the State of Florida as a public health nutritionist in the local health departments, so I guess she is both pretty and smart. She travels a three county circuit and I am sure she still sees a lot of the folks we used to hang with as kids. If you knew Kayla and want to catch up with her (or her mom Beverly or her Dad Leland) drop me a note and I will send you her email address.

If you happen to see this and realize that I have not heard from you in forever, email me with photos so I can add you to the long lost friends list here on my blog.

Nice to see you again Helms family, stay in touch!

Malo, Not Bad

2006-07-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

Bizim is Turkish for “Ours”, and that is the name of our friend’s boat. The boat is a Malo sailing yacht and Iain and Ruth are in the process of getting it ready to sail to Turkey. First they will sail down the West Coast, through the Panama Canal, through the Caribbean, up the East Coast to see Ruth’s family and then eventually over to Turkey where they have property and will be building a new home.

I got to know Ruth when we worked together at BellSouth International; now I work with Iain at T-Mobile, at least until he sails off into the sunset. You can learn more about the boat and keep up with their adventures on Iain’ Blog.

Bonnie and I went over to visit last night and check on the progress they have made in getting ready to go. The boat now has a new electronic navigation system, a new stereo, cutlass bearing and lots of other improvements. Most importantly they have just ordered a new mattress topper and fitted sheets for the cabin that Bonnie and I use when we come to visit, which we will be doing as often as we can get away with it!

Its Been Years....

2006-07-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Bonnie and I got together for dinner tonight with an old buddy Geoff Kohles, and his wife Alexandra, who we had not met before. We both decided we really like her and that Goeff should keep her around.

Geoff and I worked together on several projects including Sao Paulo Brazil, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago Chile. Santiago is where Geoff met Alexandra. We talked about some of the folks we used to work with, like Saeed Butt, Jim Goepert, Rob Purks and Ellen Roberson.

The two of them are expecting a baby in October. Of course we waited for them to tell us she was pregnant. Being a good Southern boy, I know that a gentleman does not ask a lady if she is pregnant unless he actually sees a baby emerging from her at that moment.

Geoff and Alexandra had a big day; they made an offer on a home in West Seattle, which was accepted; plus they got to see Bonnie and me, who could ask for more in one day? (grin)

We had dinner at Pasta Freska, a great little restaurant that Iain and Ruth introduced us to.

We are looking forward to seeing a lot more of these two.

Thanks Ya'll

2006-07-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

It is good to have friends.

My brother went into the hospital in New Orleans and gave us all a bit of a scare; he is doing better now by the way. I called my buddies Kevin and Becky (pictured here), who are both in the medical business, to find out more about the hospital. They got in touch with another friend Jo Seger. Long story made short, before you know it my brother got a personal visit from Grant Walker, one of the vice presidents at Ochsner Hospital. Grant went on to write a nice email with a status update on my brother along a promise to make sure he has everything he needs.

Having a relative in the hospital is a scary thing. Having friends like Jo, Becky and Kevin make it a lot less scary…thanks ya’ll!

Saturday with Dave and Marion

2006-07-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

Our fun day started off with a big fat Greek wedding party dancing on the sidewalk across from our apartment. Two big limos pulled up and disgorged a wedding party complete with band. They danced on the sidewalk then went up into the building, brought the bride out, danced some more. Then they all got into the limos and left.

Bonnie and I drove down to meet our friends Dave and Marian who were on their way back from an Alaskan cruise. We took them down to do the sightseeing thing. We went to Pike Place Market; bonnie bought a nice Copper River Salmon, which the fish mongers then threw across the market (all part of the show) to the guys that filleted it and prepped it for us to take home.

We wandered around the market for a bit more, stuck our head in the original star bucks and then headed back to our place in Bellevue. We put the salmon on the grill, and introduced Dave and Marian to cosmopolitans. We all had a great time. I drove them to the airport early this morning and thy are now on the way back to Boston.

I love my Bose System!

2006-07-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Bonnie and I went out (OK I kinda dragged her along) to the Bose store and purchased a new Lifestyle System. It is basically a full home entertainment system that now houses all of our music collection (we loaded all of our CDs into it, kind of like you do with an IPOD). It is also our FM stereo, DVD player, video receiver and everything else all built into one tiny little box. It even upconverts video from our TIVO to high resolution format, so we do not get squishy images on the HD monitor.

I must say I LOVE THIS SYSTEM. I got rid of a huge wall unit full of gear and replaced it all with a little box.

The speakers are cubes, which can travel anywhere with us. Very best of all we can now run everything with just one remote control (we used to have 5). This remote also controls the TV and TIVO.

I have heard some people make negative comments about Bose gear. Things like if it is all highs and lows it must be Bose. I will admit it does not have as full a midrange as my huge system did, but it sounds great. I am sure that most would not notice the difference, even in a side by side comparison.

Setup was amazing simple, there is a software tool that configures the entire system for you. You put a little gadget on your head, it looks somewhat like headphones, but there are actually microphones built into it. The system plays a series of squeaks and burps from each speaker and then uses the information collected to recalibrate the settings to fit the room you are in. The result is amazing surround sound regardless of how bad your room is.

The other cool thing that the system does is allow you to create profiles of the style of music you want to hear. You vote, via the remote, to tell the system if you love a song, like a song, dislike or absolutely hate it. After a few votes the system begins to figure of your taste and starts selecting music that suites you. The more you use it, the better it gets at predicting. Our friend Ian hates country music, so we let him create his own profile to use when he is visiting.

We have enjoyed our Wave Radio for a long time, they let us trade it in on the latest model so that now we can link the Wave Radio into the lifestyle system and have remote access to the music library. Bonnie can listen to her profile in one room, while I watch movies in another.

Consider me a fanatic!

Post Script: for those of you wondering what happened to the giant audio/video system I used to have, we sold it all piece by piece on Craig's List. Then we used the proceeds to pay for the new system!

A Day At The Freemont Festival

2006-07-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

I like to think that I am a pretty well rounded guy. But I was tickled to see that there are still things that I have never imagined. I spent the day the Solstice Day Celebration in a funky little suburb of Seattle called Freemont.

The parade was the highlight of the festival and I got to see the much discussed NAKED BICYLE RIDERS. Most were painted in very clever ways,

A few just took the opportunity to get neckid.

It was a fun day