The Usual Madness

(image: firstcoastnews.com)

Today i made the mistake of driving through the downtown area. No one told me that this would involve quite so much local culture. My forty-minute navigation of the Alltel area featured flag-waving armies of people painted orange, entire caravans of Bulldawg-red pickup trucks, and at least one well-dressed middle-aged man standing on a street corner with a large hand-lettered sign that read I NEED TICKETS. Apparently, this happens every year. Although there is one new feature for 2006 - a "student safety zone" for revelers in need of directions, bottled water, or a quiet place to vomit. (Handy FAQ on the city's website: "Will I be arrested if I show up drunk?") No fatalities so far this year, which is also something new. Well, the night is yet young.

In other news, it's fall, and the leaves are not changing colors. No one told me about this either. Fortunately, K. is off in Gainesville for the weekend becoming a doula, so i have lots of time to think about these things. But these are trees, yes? With leaves? What kind of state is this? There are plenty of dead leaves on the ground, but the transition process is unclear. As far as i can tell, they basically just turn brown and fall off when no one is looking. The trees stay just as green as they've been all year. There doesn't seem to be much point to it all, really. Plus, the leaves on the ground make entirely the wrong noise when you walk through them. All in all, it's very disillusioning. Go Bulldogs.

Mo Bettah Flyin

(15 Oct '06/Lake City, FL/Casio EX-Z750)
(not that it's anything great as a photo, but, you know)

So i'm through the cross-country phase now, except for the last stage check. It's a nice confidence builder to discover that you can actually fly to another state, find an airport, and land, all without overly alarming any local pilots or air traffic controllers, or motorists. Especially motorists. Your instructor would also likely appear in that list of interested parties, except that in this phase, he/she is unable to become alarmed, as he/she is no longer in the airplane. This has its pros and cons.

Night flight was nice. Those were last month. We flew up to Amelia Island, where i could enjoy the little feeling of absolute power that comes with turning on the lights of an entire airport for yourself by clicking your mike button. Next, we went to Jax International, where i was suitably re-humbled by having to detour for passenger-laden 757s approximately eighty-six times my size. I think the tower forgot how slow a Cessna 150 is. Halfway through my touch-and-go i heard them tell the airliner behind me to do another circle. They sounded grumpy.

Weather Advisory, Part 2

I tried twisting the hot-water knob today in the shower. An interesting novelty. Do all showers have one of those? I can't seem to remember ever using one. Though today when i woke up, the air felt almost-- cold? is that the word? yes, it couldn't have been more than sixty-seven...and i had these sudden flashbacks of what seemed to be some sort of large down-filled outer garment, and these things that were like insulated socks for your hands, only they had fingers. It disturbed me.

Last News From The Ship

(Puerto Cortez, Honduras/Sept 2002/Canon S110)

At least that ship. The M/V Caribbean Mercy - born the MS Polarlys, a Norwegian coastal ferry, long before she became a Mercy Ship - has finally been sold. But not for scrap! Intriguingly, she will have yet another rebirth. Doing exactly what, no one is entirely sure. But she'll still be sailing, and maybe even doing some medical work in South/Central America. Or something. More here. Hope they fix the holes first.

And So It Begins

Went looking for my fleece last night. Remembered i'd left it at work, where i'd worn it all last week. Changed my mind, went looking for my winter jacket. Couldn't find it, but remembered stashing it in some storage tub around mid-April and swearing i would never even look at it again. Gave up looking, went to bed, woke up completely FREEZING. The window was open. Yeah, um, it's seventy degrees.

Sunny, too.

Travelzoo Temptation Of The Week

(lonelyplanet.com)

So i was going to tell you this week that $170 will get you from the States to Germany and back. Or vice versa (i'm told).

But i know that for some of us, $170 - while absurdly cheap - is still a fair amount of money. So i was also going to mention that if you're short a bit, $169 will get you at least as far as London. Which isn't bad either, i'm told.

But forget all that. In fact, don't even bother clicking those links. Right now you need to get up and go dig through the couch cushions. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Ready? Good. Now total up your spare change. Check the other couch too, because if you can make it to at least $301, you can go to Asia this fall. For approximately $2,637 less than usual. I'm told.

CATASTROPHE BREWING

NEWS ALERT OF THE DAY:

The world's future supply of beer has been threatened today.... by a warehouse fire... in Yakima, WA?

They seem to be serious about this.

Not cool.

Slightly cool, however: Spontaneous combustion. Heh.

Read the article.