The Night Watch Sees All (RAND-O-BLOG)

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 50

2008-11-28T21:03:00.005-05:00

Southern Living Edition

(Walterboro, SC / 07 June 2008)

(Jax, FL / 06 May 2008)

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2008-10-18T12:00:00.001-04:00

(21 Sept 2008 /near Suwanee, FL / Casio EX-Z750)

Mildly Interesting Photos Of (Last) Week

2008-10-18T11:47:00.004-04:00

(both: Aug 2008 / Milwaukee, WI / Casio EX-Z750)

Mildly Interesting Photos Of (Last Last) Week

2008-10-18T11:02:00.001-04:00

(both: Aug 2008 / Milwaukee, WI / Casio EX-Z750)

Fay, Part Two

2008-08-22T05:14:00.003-04:00

(image: firstcoastnews.com)

Thought you needed to see exactly what we're dealing with here.

Incidentally (if you and your retinas are still with us), this photo came from a story quoting the National Guard in Melbourne - which got 22 inches of rain on the first day - as remarking that there are now alligators and large snakes cruising the flooded streets.

No alligators here, but we only got about half a foot of rain overnight. Plus, the power's back on now, at least for a while, so we won't have to go out with spears to hunt squirrels in the park just yet. And some of the bridges are open at the moment, which means I still have to make my soggy way in to work again today. Not that yesterday was a day off.

Fay

2008-08-19T18:31:00.003-04:00

(image: noaa.gov)

Fay!
I just like saying the word, really.
Excuse me while I go park my car underneath a big dead tree limb. Back in a few.

2008-07-16T19:50:00.002-04:00

(Jax, FL / 04 Apr 2008 / Casio EX-Z750)

2008-07-09T17:56:00.002-04:00

(09 July 2008 / St Marys, GA)

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 47

2008-07-09T17:40:00.003-04:00

(15 Oct 2007 / The Georgia Pig)

Signs of a Fine Establishment. Pt. 46

2008-06-18T21:58:00.004-04:00

Cutting-Edge-Technology Edition

(both: 17 May 2008 / somewhere in KY)

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2008-06-07T11:19:00.004-04:00

Large-Prehistoric-Looking-Animals-With-Beady-Eyes Edition

(both: 21 March 2008 / Casio EX-Z750 / Jax, FL)

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 45

2008-05-06T23:15:00.002-04:00

(Jax, FL / 21 Mar 2008 / Casio EX-Z750)

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2008-04-30T22:27:00.001-04:00

(both: 31 Dec 2007 / Saratoga Springs, NY / Casio EX-Z750)

Wayfarers Update

2008-04-30T22:05:00.003-04:00

As we say in the South (i think) - Bless their hearts. These poor lost souls have clicked, thumped, and pressed repeatedly on their mouse buttons as hard as they could until - somehow - they wound up here. According to StatCounter, this week's Google visitors arrived by entering actual phrases such as

cyanid koolaid roatan
photos of welders at bender shipyard in mobile, alabama
blogger walking defuniak
warrie blackburn

and, of course

dehart's bible and tire

Welcome, one and all twelve of you. And stay away from the Kool-Aid. It's MINE.

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2008-03-31T20:46:00.003-04:00

Actually-Very-Little-In-Common Edition

(15 & 17 Aug 2007 / Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park, CO / Casio EX-Z750)

Travelzoo Temptation Of The Week

2008-03-19T15:53:00.003-04:00

(25 Aug 2002 / Livingston, Guatemala / Casio S110)

Do you like Ft. Lauderdale? No? Of course you don't! But you do have a reason to go there:

Spirit Airlines: Ft. Lauderdale to Central America For $0.01 Plus Tax

Don't worry. South Florida's not that bad. You won't even have to leave the airport.

Large Purchase Alert

2008-03-08T09:38:00.001-05:00

Excluding our subsidized mattress (which may be the best thing we own in my opinion), we just bought the most expensive item of furniture ever in our entire married life.

I had been looking for a coffee table for a long time at the thrift stores, but apparently no one gives up coffee tables until they're (a) so ugly even a tablecloth won't help, or (b) no longer able to support their own weight.

I looked in other places, too, most notably our usual furniture source, which is the side of the road on Sunday nights. We have friends in other parts of town who come here to our neighborhood on Sunday nights because it's so highly regarded in the field of discard redemption. You have to be quick, though. And smart, or else the professional muscle, cruising in their Chevy Astros and converted landscaping trailers, will beat you to the really good stuff. K. had to physically sit on a particularly nice bookshelf once to fend off her fellow circling wolves while she dialed my number.

But enough about what we do for fun on the weekends. To be concise about it, there were no coffee tables worth having to be had. So i mustered up my financial courage Tuesday night and marched out to spend the money. Now we have a coffee table. It was $30 at Wal-Mart.

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 44

2008-03-08T09:11:00.000-05:00

(12 Apr 2007 / Fernandina Beach, FL / Casio EX-Z750)

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2008-02-24T15:42:00.004-05:00

Small-Thoughtful-Critter Edition

(all three: 14-17 Aug '07 / Rocky Mtn NP, CO / Casio EX-Z750)

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 43

2008-02-20T19:53:00.000-05:00

(20 Oct 2007 / Jax, FL / Casio EX-Z750)

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2008-02-17T07:16:00.000-05:00

(08 Jul 2007 / Edinburg, NY / Casio EX-Z750)

(11 Apr 2007 / Jax, FL / Casio EX-Z750)

Mildly Interesting Photos Of (Last) Week

2008-02-17T07:10:00.001-05:00

(02-07 July 2007 / Edinburg, NY / Casio EX-Z750)

Remonstrations

2008-01-23T19:55:00.000-05:00

I have been admonished. Specifically, to the effect that i need to resume writing and posting suitably interesting photos on a somewhat regular basis, lest my mother lose her last best hope for discovering what i'm doing.

In light of this, efforts are now being made to to explore future travel excursions whereby more suitably interesting photos of this nature may be obtained. Besides which, it's January, and life is dull, and when it comes down to it, i really just wanted to use the word 'whereby' in an actual sentence. More to come!

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week: Nothing-New-Under-The-Sun Edition

2008-01-23T19:37:00.000-05:00

(all three: 16 Aug '07 /Rocky Mountain NP, CO / Casio EX-Z750)

"If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you haven't done much today."

--Mikhail Gorbechev

Ah, Florida

2008-01-02T20:23:00.000-05:00

(image: kowabunga.org)

It's going to be cool outside tonight, and here in The Only State Where You Have To Go North To Get To The Deep South, we are panicking.

PANICKING.

In the interests of public safety, the following are several key words you need to know:

'menacing cold'
'state of emergency'
'bracing' for 'a hard freeze'

According to local authorities, the temperature here could drop below twenty-eight degrees for several hours tonight.

You have been warned.

Travelzoo Temptation Of The Week

2007-12-13T22:28:00.000-05:00

(Waipi'o Valley, HI / 28 Feb 2007)

Wacka wacka nuka leeka
Wacka wacka nuka leeka
Would you like a lei
Hey
Let’s talk dirty in Hawaiian
Whisper in my ear
Kicka puka maka wawa heenee
Are the words I long to hear
Lay your coconut on my tiki
What the hecka mooka looka dear
Oh, let’s talk dirty in Hawaiian
Say the words I long to hear

--John Prine

UPDATE: Chickened out, did you? Here's your chance to redeem yourself.

Your Family In Colorado

2007-12-10T20:15:00.000-05:00

For those of you outside the U.S. who may not have heard the news, four YWAM Denver staff were shot on Saturday night. Two of them were killed.

From the Denver Post:

Young Missionaries Caring, Forgiving

The headline says most of what the world needs to know. The article says most of the rest.

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2007-11-24T10:15:00.000-05:00

(both: 28 Apr '07 / Fernandina Beach, FL / Casio EX-Z750)

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 42

2007-10-24T21:19:00.002-04:00

Practically-Perfect-Storm Social Experiment Edition

(05 Feb 2007 / Jax, FL / Casio EX-Z750)

Found Art

2007-10-11T17:40:00.000-04:00

Some unknown soul emailed this to the Mercy Ships alumni list a while back. Apart from the line breaks, which are mine, this is hers, verbatim:

dear all,

through three nights of study and charts and graphs. i have made a discovery:
we're all going to be okay.
though this life cast a fish net around me and i drowned.
i too
will be okay.
i met him
in the grocery store the other day.....he frowned
at me through a muddy picket fence, but we're all going
to be okay.....
he snuck a peek at
me in the shower and threw
a bucket of lie
in my face, but we're all going
to be okay...
and you all know
whom i'm referring.
well i'm sweating
like a blacksmith as i write this. and
my head is against the wheel
as usual. if i had some help
i'd climb back on that ship
and sink it with my faith.
no i'm just kidding.
i've lost my mind.
i walk around town
and visit hardware stores, but have no use
for anything in there. have
a good season of helping.
cause i am.

I doubt it was meant to be poetry, but in letters as in life, sometimes - some rare and striking times - things just turn out that way.
I hope she's doing well.

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 41

2007-09-29T13:19:00.000-04:00

Trouble-In-Paradise Edition

(all three: 25 Feb--1 March 2007 / Big Island of Hawai'i / Casio EX-Z750

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

2007-09-19T18:15:00.000-04:00

(both images credit: jacksonville.com, 19 Sept '07)

Sadly, i missed this. I was at work.

I think i have a natural disaster fetish. I love hurricanes, for instance. Strangely, no one around here seems to sympathize with me. These Times-Union photos were taken right around here on Monday after twelve hours of rain. It's rained another forty-eight hours since then. There's probably a good reason no one in this state has a basement.

The local wildlife seem a bit agitated as well, especially the small, crunchy types. I have no idea where all the roaches go - i'm content without this information, provided it's still somewhere outside - but the ants, predictably, invaded K's car again yesterday. At the moment they're on a nice scenic trip to Gainesville. I wonder what goes through their little ant brains. I imagine it's something like the noise the bunnies make in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Whee! Which is a movie you really need to see, by the way, if you haven't.

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2007-09-18T20:28:00.000-04:00

(Sprague Lake,RMNP, CO / 14 Aug '07 / Casio EX-Z750)

(Sprague Lake, RMNP, CO / 14 Aug '07 / Casio EX-Z750)

(Denver, CO / 18 Aug '07 / Casio EX-Z750)

Travelzoo Temptation Of The Week

2007-09-11T18:18:00.001-04:00

Yes, We Have No Excuses

(London / 08 Sept '05 / Canon S110)

I can hear you now. "Three hundred dollars to fly round trip to London this winter! That's way too expensive!"

[Sigh.]

Fine. How about $143?

On Virgin Atlantic?

Yeah, that's what i thought.

Hurry up.

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2007-09-10T20:59:00.001-04:00

(all: 11 Apr 2007 /Jax & St. Augustine, FL / Casio EX-Z750)

Lies, Damned Lies, And Statistics

2007-09-01T09:42:00.000-04:00

High time for a little keyword analysis, i say. According to Google, here are several more actual phrases by which some lost soul out there has searched for, and found, this site.

clap offering
halifax ns bead blasting
valdostadailytimes

And, of course, the perennial favorite

dehart's bible and tire

because, i suppose, certain things never really go out of fashion.

I noted with dismay that last week there was a zero-hit day. This is very rare. Normally there are at least two or three random Indonesians or Bahrainians stumbling across this site in search of other things i'd rather not know about. I guess i should post more often.

There are other ways of increasing one's search engine hits, but many of them consist of including phrases like "Islamist jihad gerbil porn" in the text of one's posts. And i would never stoop to that.

No, of course not.

A Question To Ponder

2007-08-31T15:13:00.001-04:00

It's cloudy out today, and the air feels deliciously cool. The wall thermometer reads ninety-four degrees. Should i be concerned?

UPDATE:
It's seventy-six now, and i'm cold.

Happy Trails

2007-08-25T10:06:00.000-04:00

(18 Oct '05/Wauwatosa, WI/Canon S110)

A Brief Series Of Existential Haiku In Honor Of A Departed Honda

Once i made money
Working in shiny office
Ate ramen, bought toy

So shiny, so fast!
But alas, speed was less good
Than cash in pocket

Now i eat healthy
Lower colon cancer risk
And i drive Tercel

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week: Cleanup Edition

2007-08-11T12:38:00.001-04:00

We admit it; we're lazy. But these are the last ones from February, we promise.

(all: 28 Feb--01 Mar 2007/big island, Hawai'i/Casio EX-Z750)

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2007-08-11T12:34:00.000-04:00

Fire and water, from way too long ago.

(all: 25 Feb - 28 Feb 2007/big island, Hawai'i/Casio EX-750)

All Chill An' Like Dat

2007-08-01T20:18:00.000-04:00

We here at the Rand-O-Blog would like to report that we took a hot shower several weeks ago, and furthermore that we have already forgotten what it was like. For a Florida resident, visiting New York in the summer is much like enjoying an early autumn. Visiting New York in the winter, on the other hand, is mainly just terrifying.

In any case, we are now back in Florida, awaiting the year's first hurricane and the year's first obligatory shortage of toilet paper and D batteries.

Which does raise a question: Why toilet paper? What about bread or milk? Or Old Chub Scottish Ale? We can't understand it. But we suppose that in a crisis one's thoughts turn to the things that really matter in life. Having gone without toilet paper for academic purposes during several rather noteworthy weeks in college, we can confidently assert that we would grab the beer first.

Only if there were moss around, though. Moss is key. Maple leaves do not provide the quality of experience one might expect. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Ever Have The Kind Of Day Where

2007-07-11T22:16:00.000-04:00

you come back from a blissful week of warm days and cool nights at a cabin on a lake in the Adirondacks, and after you drag yourself to work and back, you take your nice fleece pajama pants to the laundromat, and the dryer melts them?

No?

Anyone?

Georgia Man Rescued From Flaming Wreck, Kind Of Wishes They'd Left Him There

2007-07-10T20:19:00.000-04:00

(credit: wjbf.com, via Fark)

You're busy, so here are the key excerpts you need to know from this excellent story.

"...extinguished with a septic truck..."
"...2 foot timber rattlesnake..."

and our favorite:

"I ain't never heard of nothing like this, before, but you got to do what you got to do."

Now that's creative thinking! We won't even try to slip in our favorite Number One In Number Two joke. Hats off to our friendly northern neighbors. They're not Florida, but they are most certainly close enough.

Travelzoo Temptation Of (Last) Week

2007-07-09T17:02:00.000-04:00

(image credit: some sketchy Russian site, via google images)

Ireland? True or false: If you're quick, $499 will get you roundtrip airfare, six nights in excellent hotels, a rental car with unlimited mileage, a full Irish breakfast every morning, and all the Guinness you can drink.

Okay, that was false. But only the part about the Guinness. We're not sure what a full Irish breakfast is, but for a $499 package, we'd eat kippers. Not that we're very sure what those are either, mind.

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 40

2007-06-28T22:06:00.001-04:00

Special Politely-Stating-The-Obvious Edition

(middle of nowhere, Hawaii, Feb 2007)

Nothing To Report

2007-06-18T19:30:00.000-04:00

No, really; i mean nothing.

Getting slow at work. It'll probably pick up again soon. Today i spent an hour or two taking apart a Twin Otter hydraulic pump assembly. It's a little like working with the bomb squad. You spread out your clean, lint-free cloth, you smooth out all the wrinkles, and then you set this little thing down with approximately the same type of respect you'd use for a package you just found stuffed underneath a White House podium, wrapped in plain brown paper, and ticking. Now this is kind of sad, given that these little pump-and-motor assemblies most often are shipped to us in flimsy cardboard boxes from developing nations in the farthest crannies of the world, covered with actual sticks-and-rocks dirt collected from only God knows where. Sometimes they're covered with other things, too. We wash our hands a lot. Anyway, though, we handle these things with great care, because that's just the kind of company we are. Also because we have absolutely no idea what causes them to function or not, which in turn causes us fear.

In many ways it's more like a primitive religious ritual than a scheduled overhaul. You do what seemed to work the last time. You definitely do it in the same order. You stand on your left foot, you turn around three times and sprinkle a bit of solvent, you do anything it takes, with apprehensive caution and a healthy sense of unease. There's a holy book - the overhaul manual - but it was last revised around 1964, and it seems to require a fair amount of interpretation. The FAA (a truly fearsome Higher Power, even among other bureaucracies) becomes frighteningly wrathful if you break the rules, so you try hard to follow them, though there are varying interpretations. Mainly, you touch it as little as possible and do whatever you can think of that might work. As you read this, there's very likely a repair shop out there somewhere about to perform the ceremonial sacrifice of a small mammal.

There apparently are not many repair stations in the world capable of overhauling these little pumps. The ancient wisdom has long been forgotten, and those who would discover it anew must make many painful pilgrimages of fax and email to track down representatives of long-defunct manufacturers. (That, and pay the appropriate homage to the governing Regional Office of the FAA). We get these and a lot of other parts sent to us from all over the world because we are able - almost always - to make them work. But that doesn't mean we know how.

Next time: The use of PD-680 solvent as a lovely skin care unguent. Don't miss it.

Breaking News Alert

2007-06-06T20:53:00.000-04:00

Via Fark, naturally--

For a limited time only, Google Maps has introduced a very special bonus for users of its delightfully invasive new Street View feature. See screenshot for details.

We had a feeling you would like that.

Oddities & Ends

2007-06-06T19:11:00.000-04:00

1. Consumer Reports has rated Natural Light higher than Heineken Light. We just thought you'd like to know.

2. Cousin P. got married. The pastor's Seeing Eye Doberman did not object. See photo:

3. Joaquin Phoenix's nephew clogged the toilet at K.'s school. Sorry, no photo of that.

Housesitting

2007-05-30T21:25:00.000-04:00

The food dishes stand about eighteen inches high, for scale. That's a normal-height countertop and a full-size fridge.

Several favorites, from the phrases I've overheard while out for walkies this week:

"&*%@, you could ride that thing."
"Holy #$%^!"
"Is that a dog?" [at a house flying a Confederate flag emblazoned in orange with "GIT-ER-DONE"]
"Skipper! Here, Skipper! Skipper, come!" [picks up respectably sized forty-pound dog, warily backs away]

Not kidding about the Confederate Git-Er-Done flag, incidentally. You can buy them. If you want.

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 39

2007-05-28T22:06:00.001-04:00

(26 Mar 06/Jax, FL/Casio EX-Z750)

Saturday

2007-05-26T11:32:00.000-04:00

Change is good for the soul. We have some YWAM friends at church; one thing led to another, and now we're sitting on their patio and they're leading a trip to Oaxaca. They needed someone to water the flowers and feed the dog. While i suspect they were more concerned about the flowers, K. jumped at the chance to have a dog for a week. So did i.

Not just any dog, either. Genuine Humane-Society issue, a Great Dane crossed with Rhodesian Ridgeback, and quite possibly, i believe, The Largest Dog In The World. At the very least, the Largest Dog I Have Ever Seen. Sitting at the kitchen table puts you just about eye-level with his head. He doesn't beg, exactly, so much as loom. He's also remarkably stubborn - in a benign, foot-dragging sort of way - most likely because he's big enough to get away with it. Fortunately for all concerned, he's not exactly what you'd call an alpha dog. Small yappy dogs steal his toys with total impunity. As far as obedience, he knows what he's supposed to do; he just kind of looks at you sideways until he figures out if you know, and - more importantly - whether or not you're serious about making him. Everything goes well enough after that.

Since none of this is particularly exciting, however, and since we have nothing any more edifying to say in the meantime, we now present (courtesy of Valerie) A Brawl In The Safari. The following was the original blurb: "A small buffalo gets taken away by some lions. A group of crocodiles battle the lions for the buffalo. Then the buffalos parents come back with the entire herd and kick the lions ass...."

Go ahead. It's Saturday!

The Africa Mercy, In Africa

2007-05-23T15:53:00.000-04:00

(all images: mercyships.org)

I have to admit there were times i didn't think it would ever come true.

By the way, it actually is a ship. You may have mistakenly thought for some reason that it was a rather ugly building washed out into the harbor by mistake, but whatever they were doing to it in that shipyard for eight years, apparently it floats and even sails under its own power. Fascinating.

These photos were shamelessly stolen from mercyships.org. Of course, they shamelessly stole their video from Tyrone, who shot it for his new Africa Mercy site. Great 'soundtrack,' too. Spontaneous, joy-filled, and altogether more real than anything Disney or Sir Elton will ever compose. Click and enjoy!

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2007-05-16T21:08:00.000-04:00

(all three: 25 Feb 2007 / Hawai'i Volcanoes NP, HI / Casio EX-Z750)

Better All The Time

2007-05-13T16:11:00.000-04:00

(image credit: AP/breitbart.com)

That's the Lake City airport as of yesterday. I stopped there once last fall. Of course, last fall, you could actually see the runways.

Let's see. The bad news? A hundred miles of interstate are now closed to the west of us. A small matter, they say, just due to a few small areas of smoke and/or towering sheets of raging flame.

But hey, it's only I-10 and I-75. We never really go out that way anyway. Oh, er, except K. when she goes to school. Um, every week. Anyway, she just called (she's doing clinicals all weekend at Shands Gainesville) and said the babies she helped deliver last night all had sky-high levels of carbon monoxide in their blood from all the smoke.

But the beaches are nice! Really! Come visit!

Don't Make Us Come Up There

2007-05-09T18:38:00.000-04:00

(image credit: noaa.gov)

Further Notice To Georgia Residents

Now see here.

We thought we'd been over this already.

Apparently it wasn't enough for you to send your fires crossing over our border, coming down here and burning down all of our uninhabited swamps. We already have two hundred active fires of our own. We're quite capable of burning down our own swamps, thank you very much. You'd think that would be enough for you. But no, you have to keep sending all your smoke down here too. Now, the haze outdoors was one thing. But when even the insides of our nice air-conditioned buildings smell like Guatemalan prison trash incinerators, we have to say it's really too much.

Just for that, we're going to send you our subtropical storm. See how you like that.

Smoke

2007-05-01T20:46:00.000-04:00

(image: Ray Pennock ,valdostadailytimes.com)

Notice To Georgia Residents

While we understand that the southeastern part of your state may not be your very favorite, we do request that you kindly refrain from burning any more of it down.

Last week's eighty thousand acres was quite enough, don't you think?

Also, the constant haze is interfering with our suntans.

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 38

2007-04-25T19:58:00.000-04:00

Special Lowest-Common-Denominator Edition

(credit: JC & RC, 8 Nov 2006/Corydon, IN/Olympus SP-500)

The Persistence Of Memory, Or, Another Surrealist Experience In The Deep South

2007-04-25T19:17:00.000-04:00

So they put on this international food fair thing a few Friday nights ago, down at Metro Park. Food and people from all over the world. This had the unfortunate effect of reminding me how much i miss being all over the world. But on the plus side, it was tasty.

Besides, there's still nothing quite like the sheer novelty of cross-cultural conversation. I never get tired of the way different countries have personalities all their own. As we ate our way around, it made me miss our international friends all the more. We talked to everyone. You'd never believe how much you miss when you just get your food and walk away.

The Peruvians made us sample their special beef heart kebabs. The Norwegians proudly showed us not only their six-toed dogs, but also the large Viking boat they row in local races. Normally i would have assumed this was a joke (the rowing; i could count the toes) but as this is North Florida, i had already noted them stalking around in their bathrobes and helmets after the maritime Christmas parade. They were very jolly, but people tended to stay out of their way.

The Venezuelans (attractive people all, doing their bit to further the legend) made us empanadas as good as any i've had. A Haitian cook gave us extra fried plantains when she found out i'd been to St. Marc. But i think my favorite tent of all was the Dominican Republic. It was dim and dusty, just palm fronds holding up the starlit dark. And there wasn't much food at all, because the Dominicans - as is only right for people who make music like that - were far too busy dancing.

Reminders can be strange. Most times, i know little times like that are what keep me going. But sometimes, i think they do more damage than they're worth.

Your Soul-Sucking Days Are Over, Amigo. Come And Get Me, You Undead--

2007-04-18T20:32:00.000-04:00

Apparently Georgia is on fire again.

At least that's what the weather people said today. We suppose they would know. K looked out her office window yesterday and couldn't see the street below her. No one seems too alarmed. This time of year, other cities feature words like Sunny and Partly Cloudy in their daily Weather Channel summaries, but Jacksonville? We get "Smoke." Ordinarily, the only airborne haze around here hovers in seductive sultry clouds over the local barbecue places. Eau du Tasty Meat. Did we mention a new one just opened a block away? This may be trouble. We may have to try it three or five more times to be sure.

We (by which we mean I) are watching Bubba Ho-Tep, which we were able to procure from our local library. In this excellent film, an aged Elvis (Bruce Campbell, who is not old) and a man who believes he is JFK (Ossie Davis, who is black) battle an ancient Egyptian mummy who is trying to suck the souls of residents in their rural Texas nursing home. We don't watch much TV these days, but we think you should watch it. Everyone should watch it, really. Especially with the "Commentary By The King" enabled.

We may have to watch it again.

Hmm. Well, such are the hazards of life when our wife is away in Gainesville for the night. Sorry; did that sound odd? Anyhow, not much else to report. We drive to work. We work. We drive home. Sometimes we listen to the radio. Last month our drive time suffered a blow when Kool 100.7 went off the air. But happily, Movin' 100.7 has stood in to pick up the torch. That's "Rump Shaking, Earth Quaking, No Mistaking, The New Movin' One Hundred Point Seven," to you.

We think we'll leave you with that.

Hero

2007-04-17T20:46:00.000-04:00

(image: nydailynews.com)

Liviu Librescu
1929--2007

Hero.

Why him?

Not because he survived the Holocaust only to be murdered sixty years later, an old Jewish man in a peaceful Virginia town.

Not because he endured the oppression of life under Communism and escaped to become an anonymous American science professor.

No, simply because he did what no one else did, yesterday at Virginia Tech. Like FDNY firefighters six years ago, when everyone else was fleeing from from the danger, he made a decision. He ran the other way.

A dozen or more people are breathing right now only because he ran to hold the door shut so they could escape out the window. I hesitate to ask, and none of us can judge, but how many more could have been saved if someone else in the crowds - anyone - had just tackled the shooter and piled on, during one of his many pauses to reload?

Self-preservation is an overwhelmingly natural instinct. Fear is a powerful, disabling force. But to me, the thing about yesterday's 33 dead is this: They all died. They all knew it was coming. The difference between him and the rest is this: He died doing something about it.

They were all victims, he and the others. But his name is Liviu Librescu, and he is a hero.

--UPDATE, 4/18/07: Mark Steyn's opinion

--UPDATE, 4/19/07: The Daily Gut weighs in

Travelzoo Temptation Of The Week: Guatemala From $88

2007-04-12T18:09:00.000-04:00

Here we go. Three reasons to stop by Guatemala this spring:

(Livingston, Guatemala/24 Aug '02/Canon S110)

(Tikal, Guatemala/13 Aug '03/Canon S110)

(middle of nowhere, Guatemala/24 Aug '02/Canon S110)

Yeah, okay, so that was four. Enough details. Get going.

For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Google

2007-04-07T10:56:00.000-04:00

(fotosearch.com)

Didn't get to Japan this week? That's okay. Now you can experience the essence of cross-cultural communication in the comfort of your own home! No more wasted time memorizing vocabulary and conjugating verbs! We never liked verbs anyway. Here, try it yourself.

Step 1: Find mildly funny forgettable article
Step 2: Paste into Google Translator
Step 3: Paste results into Google Translator
Step 4: Congratulate self, eat more FunYuns

For your edification, the following example.

This weekend of plan?

But I who am called am what. It possesses proper plan. While using it is the person. Regardless it is not.

In the following question: That what which it has done will be done it is and it doesn't move from the thought of being superior greatly to Japan?

Now at first glance. The i am not two jumbo sacks of FunYuns or the complete DVD set of the American idol: Season 2 and with them themselves originally is bad as a plan of weekend.

I do not make happen by the speech of that kind of thing.

But Tokyo for the $399 being exactly better it agrees. As for us? It is good, it was understood.

The link does not continue long. But with one side, neither your chance is decided.

Travelzoo Temptation Of The Week: Tokyo for $399

2007-04-04T18:46:00.000-04:00

(image: lonelyplanet.com)

Any plans this weekend?

But what am i saying. Of course you have plans. You're a busy person. Never mind.

On to the next question: Isn't traveling to Japan a much more excellent idea than what you were going to do?

Now look. I'm not saying two jumbo bags of FunYuns and the complete DVD set of American Idol: Season 2 are inherently bad as a weekend plan, in and of themselves.

I wouldn't offend you by saying something like that.

But let's just agree that Tokyo for $399 is better. Shall we? Okay, good.

That link won't last long. But then, neither will your chance.

For Real This TIme

2007-03-31T09:57:00.000-04:00

(image credit: mercyships.org)

Above is the second new (real!) photo from Mercy Ships. The occasion? The AFM has passed her sea trials! (Read story) It's been a long haul, and it ain't over yet, but this is a big milestone. A big one, as opposed to the "hooray, the port side lightbulbs are all installed! Now we're almost ready!" sort of milestone. It's really getting closer. Congratulations to you Africa Mercy crew - and thanks for your long, LONG, faithful hard work.

It's finally coming true.

See the little lighthouse in the above photo? It looked the same, five long years ago:

(South Shields, England/Feb 2002/Canon S110)

My DTS used to walk out on that beach and say, Someday the Africa Mercy will sail out past this light under her own power.

You see that smoke coming from the funnel stack in the top picture? I love it. That's real.

One more sea-trials photo from Mercy Ships:

(credit: mercyships.org)

If you haven't been a personal part of this nine-year saga in some way, i don't know if you can truly feel the visceral joy in those people waving from the top of the bridge.

But there's always time, you know.

:)

Mercy Ships News Flash

2007-03-31T09:56:00.001-04:00

(image credit: www.mercyships.org)

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK (March 30) --

For the first time in its thirty-year history, Mercy Ships International has announced the rollout of an Africa Mercy photograph that has not been poorly Photoshopped.

The global charity's website developers rushed this week to purge the site of previously released images of the latest Mercy Ship. Other teams were working furiously to ensure that future brochure printings would prominently feature the new photo.

A Communications Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the event as "breathtaking" in its significance for the agency's PR efforts. "It's huge," said the official. "I mean, finally - no more questions like 'Why is it sailing backwards?'. Thank you, God."

The official pointed out that several Photoshopped versions of one previous image - the agency's only photo of the ship afloat and unmoored - had failed to remove obvious signs of a stern wake from the bow. "It was supposed to look like it was sailing forward under this pretty sunset, but you could still tell it was actually being towed backwards across a river. It was pretty bad."

Rank-and-file Mercy Ships personnel had also long expressed embarrassment in private at giving tours to visitors who expressed surprise at seeing a rusty black ship in a brown river, while several PR photos clearly depicted a gleaming white ship hovering motionless in a sparkling azure sea.

Other discrepancies were also apparent. Some could actually be seen to change from image to image as real-life work progressed (or did not progress). A square bow overhang disappeared completely several years ago, then reappeared in modified form as it became clear the shipyard's blueprints called for it to stay. "Yeah," added one former deckhand, "plus, some people kept asking me why the big trapezoidally shaped Times New Roman web address wasn't printed on the side like it was in one of the pictures. I never knew what to say to that."

It was uncertain whether the new photo would completely supersede earlier images in the agency's PR materials, but the communications official indicated that it might not, at least not yet. "They've just got too much invested in those old Photoshops to let go so soon. They'll be around."

Two of the most widely disseminated images of the Africa Mercy can be seen below. Mercy Ships officials were unavailable late Friday for comment.

(all images credit: mercyships.org)

Weekends

2007-03-30T11:14:00.000-04:00

So i was feeling sorry for myself recently.

I do this from time to time. This time, i was wondering how long we'd be stuck in this city where we still don't know anyone well enough to make it feel like home. I was missing life with Mercy Ships, as i often do - especially missing the mix of cultures in the crew. Mainly, even more than usual, i was missing my friends.

And as so often happens, when i'm missing things, i got mad, and i started using descriptors such as "redneck" and "thug" in the same sentence as the name of our city. This also happens occasionally. But that was before the last month or two.

It was before i met the Haitian pastor who's devoting his life to feeding street orphans as hungry and homeless as he'd been. It was before i played beach volleyball with the cello student from New York and the flight instructor and physician assistant who plan (as do so many people we've met here) to serve the poor in a foreign country. It was before i got my latest fix of the wonderful welcome i find every week in my cell group.

It was before we flew in a Cessna 172 to attend the birthday party of a two-year-old we'd never met, to a grass strip marked by old tires, from a twelve-thousand foot alternate runway for the space shuttle that's marked by blazing streams of lights so bright you can see them from twenty miles away in the night.

It was before we ate crab cakes with the Tobagonian track star turned occupational therapist who did her valiant best to diagram for us, on a restaurant napkin, the ecstatic intricacies of the game of cricket.

I wasn't getting it, but the jet mechanic and the world-traveling professional Hawaiian hula dancer sitting across from me seemed to understand.

I guess the bright spots are there if you look.

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2007-03-28T21:34:00.000-04:00

"When ideas fail, words come in very handy."

--Goethe

"When words fail, use lots of pickshurs."

--unknown

(25 Feb 2007/Hawai'i Volcanoes NP, HI/Casio EX-Z750)

(27 Feb 2007/Kailua-Kona, HI/Caiso EX-Z750)

(28 Feb 2007/Waipi'o Valley, HI/Casio EX-Z750)

These Things Just Write Themselves

2007-03-20T17:23:00.000-04:00

Some articles just get better and better with every sentence.

The following shall be considered a test of your sense of humor. News item from The Week, March 9, 2007:

At least 11 people were killed this week at an annual kite-flying festival in eastern Pakistan.

National authorities banned kite flying in 2005 after metal or glass-coated strings used by competitors to cut rival kites' strings also cut the throats of at least nine people.

Punjab state authorities this year defied Islamabad to allow the two-day festival to proceed, amid heightened security.

Two of the deaths, both of children, were attributed to reinforced kite strings. The other victims were hit by celebratory gunfire or electrocuted while untangling kites from overhead power lines.

Muslim religious parties oppose the festival, saying it springs from an ancient Hindu rite.

I only wish i could write like that.

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2007-03-19T19:09:00.000-04:00

(both: 03 Feb 2007/DeLeon Springs, FL/Casio EX-Z750)

Mildly Interesting Photo Of The Week

2007-03-14T21:36:00.000-04:00

(05 March 2007/Jax, FL/Casio EX-Z750)

Yeah, i know. Another flower.

Sue me. It's spring, and i'm starting to feel human again. I'll post the monster truck rally next week. In the meantime, you can handle one little photo of a flower.

Just be glad i haven't posted the one of Katie's toenails falling off from hiking across all the lava.* Of which she is justly proud, i should add.

Because i could, you know.

*(available upon request)**

**(the photo, not the toenails)

Justice

2007-03-06T22:35:00.000-05:00

Headline: 'Saudi Kidnap, Rape Victim Faces Lashing'

Pertinent facts: This nineteen-year-old woman was kidnapped by seven knife-wielding men and gang-raped fourteen times. For this crime she has been sentenced to receive ninety lashes with a whip.

Under Islamic law, this makes sense.

How far have we already come down the road of appeasement when traditional liberals won't speak up even for her?

And traditional conservatives, long among the Saudis' best buddies, have no less share in the shame.

Sure, atrocities and injustice are nothing new. If anything, right now they're actually as scarce as they've ever been, if world history is taken as a whole. But i fear we are sliding into a new age of darkness when, in the face of such aggressively expansionist brutalism, even the most fervent former champions of tolerance and justice for all are now choosing, one by one, to sit silent.

I'm sorry; what happened to women's rights? Certainly Christian women beaten and tortured for their faith in other countries have long been ignored by feminist leaders. Still, one would think at least Muslim women - an oppressed minority if ever there were one - would merit some sort of feeble objection from the Enlightened West when such appalling abuse of their humanity is occasionally made public.

But not anymore.

This nineteen-year-old Saudi girl couldn't tell anyone about her horrifying ordeal. She knew what would happen if she did. Instead, she tried to kill herself. She didn't succeed. So now she waits, her personal hell still raging, for her sentence to be carried out.

Remember that old Derek Webb song about his friend's suicide? Here it has new poignancy, and the irony is crushing. I can't keep it out of my mind.

what crimes have you committed
demanding such penance
that couldn't wait for five more minutes
and a cry for help?
and this room is so peaceful
and this room is so quiet
and i hate the silence

Profanity Monday / Non-Travelzoo Temptation Of The Week

2007-03-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

Since i was so derelict last week (in several senses of the word) while camping on the big island of Hawaii, here's a twofer to start this week off right. Count your blessings.

Category: Limited but unbelievably cheap last-minute airfares
Agency name: Airtech.com
Motto: "If you can beat these prices, start your own damn airline."

Get clickin'.

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 37

2007-02-23T15:24:00.000-05:00

Special Impossible-To-Resist Edition

Are they legible? I really hope so.

(24 Nov 2006/Fernandina Beach, FL/Casio EX-Z750)

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

2007-02-10T02:27:00.000-05:00

(both: 11 June 2006/Jax, FL/Casio EX-Z750)

Sharks Eat Shrimp, Boat

2007-02-06T21:03:00.000-05:00

I keep telling you. Who needs Orlando when we've got the rest of the state?
Bonus: A published news article containing the word busted.

(Link)

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 36

2007-02-06T20:26:00.000-05:00

Special Extra-Special-Needs Edition

(credit: Tim A., 12 Aug 2006/Israel/camera unknown)

Mildly Interesting Photo Of The Week

2007-01-27T11:25:00.000-05:00

(06 Jan 2007/Jax Beach, FL/Casio EX-Z750)

Travelzoo Temptation Of The Week

2007-01-20T10:03:00.000-05:00

(24 Sept 2005/Prague, Czech Republic/Samsung D530)

I Hear Paris Is Lovely This Time Of Year
Speak Your Language Where It Was Invented
Prague In Spring: A Lot Better These Days
Never Been To Europe? $159 And One Click Will Handle It

Sorry, I Can't Stop Typing In Headlines
But Here's The Link

Important Monkey News Of The Day

2007-01-17T19:28:00.001-05:00

It's been a red-letter day for those of us of the chimpanzee persuasion. In keeping with our commitment here to bring you only the most excellently strange of all possible news items, here are two of the finest we've seen in rather a while. Naturally, both took place in ...um ...well... the South.

Ahem.

1. Startling Keepers, Miraculous Baby Chimp Born Despite Vasectomies

Father as yet unknown, but presumably in for an unpleasant surprise himself. Make that several. Also, why is there a chimpanzee ranch in the middle of backwoods Louisiana? We would like to know this. We think.

2. Arkansas Zoo Chimp Escapes, Raids Fridge, Cleans Toilet

[sigh] Arkansas. Fox News. Any other questions? Well, actually, we have one. No, two. Where can we find one of those, and will it also do the dishes?

Pimping The Good Stuff

2007-01-14T14:40:00.000-05:00

There comes a time in everyone's life when one must finally break down, succumb to total laziness (i mean, ah, writer's block), and shamelessly link other pages in order to have anything whatsoever to say.

Well, maybe not everyone's life. But now that that's out of the way, here are four very important things you need to know.

Weeks' worth of edification, i tell you.

Although not, perhaps, for the highly sensitive of spirit.

Hmm. Maybe i should've said that first.

You Heard It Here First

2007-01-03T21:16:00.000-05:00

(image credit: foxnews.com)

BREAKING NEWS

Millions Stranded Without Power Or Government Services In Four-State Deadly Storm Disaster, And Yet Somehow Nobody Starts Looting, Rioting, Raping, Or Shooting At Each Other

(link)

Rumor had it people were actually caring for their neighbors and taking needy strangers into their homes. Unlikely as it may seem to readers on the more civilized East and West Coasts, this was confirmed by news stories midday Wednesday. For some reason, National Guard troops delivering assistance to the area were also not shot at by the people they were attempting to help.

In addition, when interviewed, midwestern residents seemed strangely unwilling to blame the seasonal storm on the federal government. Possible explanations for such behavior, if any, remain unclear.

Florida, My Florida

2007-01-01T12:15:00.000-05:00

(image credit: cbsnews.com)

Lest my temporary adoptive state should feel left out (having no seven-legged transgendered deer of which to boast), i feel i ought to help publicize some of the richness peculiar to its own local culture. And i do mean peculiar.

My current favorite, last month, featured the police vs. the twelve-foot alligator in a tug-of-war battle for the naked guy high on crack who had decided in the course of his nocturnal wanderings that skinnydipping in a retention pond would be a fine way to finish off his evening.

Oh, there's so much more. But you don't have to take my word for it.

I only wish i could make this stuff up. Believe me.

(via fark.com)

Have Heard It All Before

2006-12-24T15:13:00.000-05:00

Advent \Ad`vent\, n. [L. adventus, fr. advenire, adventum: cf. F. avent. See Advene.]
1. (Eccl.) The period including the four Sundays before Christmas.
2. Coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important.

Well, maybe. I saw "The Nativity Story" last night and left less than impressed. But if you've heard it all before, and it leaves you like me...then try another telling. Try harder, try less; try to hang on. Do what you need to.

Just don't give up.

An Advent Meditation
(Sojourners Magazine, Nov-Dec 2001)

This is to all who serve on the human front, wearing any mask that will get you home. A word: While we are all dying to get out, there is one who died to get in. Disguised as one of us, this one came creeping over enemy lines, across the DMZ, relying on our infatuation with innocence just long enough to secure the passage. An instant later the yapping jaws snapped shut in a slaughter of all innocents—cutting the tongues off all to silence the one.

This is to you who wake up daily on the front lines of life, in the dystopia of the modern world where each one ticks like a clock or bomb; where young ones cut themselves on the fractured edge of a post-modern morning; where Gens X, Y, and Z trade their parents' headlong linear flight into oblivion for the virtual rush of binary bungee jumping. Just how deep does this rabbit hole go?

And to you broken ones who wander the front lines picking rags and plastic bags; who hoard IRAs and modest portfolios and chances at the Daily Double. And it's to you in the second wave up all night stringing together code to bind up the mainframe, twisting it into a safety net to keep us from breaking our necks in the fall. (Or is it a trip wire and we'll all go together when we go?)

Homo sapiens have evolved. Now we are Homo sapiens sapiens. We are two-headed like Eng and Chang the Siamese Twins—but our heads are from different countries with no common tongue. Our symbols flash like broken traffic lights, or fall through our teeth like abandoned cars, condoms, a passed-up penny, only to the level of the collarbone. They lodge there, useless, against the lump in our separate throats. Busted. It's all busted. "The repairman," repeats the recorded message, "is out of cell phone range."

We weren't conscripts to civilization. We volunteered. Certain that God was on our side, we wielded sword and scythe for the greater good, for the less fortunate. We fought the good fight. We picked up the hitchhiker, sheltered the homeless, and visited the prisoner. We tried to love neighbor, love God, stay within the speed limit, and pay our parking tickets. And yet the Tin Man—who holds high his award for good deeds, a ticking clock in the shape of a heart—is still a golem; only now something keeps him up at night.

Even you nihilist Nephilim riding shotgun on the "civilizing" project with your Glock .40s, AK-47s, or trigger-rigged lap tops; you who let your eyes be plucked out so as not to see a human soul, how's that lifestyle working out? You still spew black spit, rotting from the inside out? Remember when mornings came like a stay from the governor? Now they are another practice mark on the tender flesh of the wrist—foreshadowing death by a thousand cuts. This letter is addressed even to you.

And to you little ones, anawim, refugees from our shifting architectures of moral adjustment; you with a leg or arm or child trapped under the collapsed facade of Christendom; you who are relegated to roll-your-own welfare lines who wake every morning in this bloody horror. (Can't someone make that child stop screaming?)

"The advent of Christ in history is not essentially bound up with the development and progress of Christian ‘civilization,'" writes Thomas Merton.

A heartbeat. A breath.

In the dark someone is brooding over us. Someone from home has smuggled a word across enemy lines, over the burning barricades, under the iron grate. It says only this: You are not alone.

That light in the east is a signal flare, flashing "Follow me. Follow me. Follow me." On the smoke-laden horizon there is a tiny string of lights, barely perceptible, bobbing. Tapers perhaps, hand-held, and a faint erratic melody. Flesh of my flesh.

--Rose Marie Berger

Wisconsin Man Runs Over, Eats Seven-Legged Transgendered Deer

2006-12-16T10:38:00.000-05:00

(image credit: foxnews.com)

Wisconsin Man Runs Over, Eats Seven-Legged Transgendered Deer.

Just wanted to say that one more time.

I'm so proud of my home state.

I really have nothing further to write about this. Except, did i mention it was seven-legged? And transgendered? Just checking.

Educational Moments Of Alternate Reality, Pt. 1

2006-11-28T20:45:00.000-05:00

I Had All These Goats

"There was a homesteader who decided that he needed fresh milk, so he sent to Seattle and ordered some goats. I loaded these goats into one of the old planes and started up there. Well, I had forgotten that goats like rope, and I had tied these goats to various places in the airplane with ropes so that they wouldn't get loose and annoy me or endanger the flight.

"In about twenty minutes they had all the ropes chewed through. So then I had all these goats. They'd all frolic together. There must have been eight hundred pound of goats; and they'd all get in the back of the airplane and I couldn't hold the nose down. They would all come up and chew on me a little bit, and chew my shirt, and I'd slap them away. But I decided not to do that any more, because the first time I did that, they all went to the back of the airplane. It got to be kind of a serious situation. By the time we got to where I could land these goats they had most of the fabric eaten off the inside of the airplane, and my shirt; and the seat I was sitting on was pretty well stripped of upholstery. But these little things happened."

--Merle K. Smith, as quoted in The American Heritage History Of Flight, via Jeppesen PPM

Signs Of The Inner Copy Editor's Fiendish Glee

2006-11-21T21:07:00.000-05:00

(photo: flickr.com; links via boingboing.net)

I, for one, cannot understand why people insist on so abusing these poor apostrophe's. Is this frustration you'res as well? If not, step closer so that i can stab you repeatedly with my blue Sanford Uni-ball Vision Exact (micro point) pen. Now, hold still.

Anyway, this warms my heart.

Okay, this too. But that's all you get till after Thanksgiving.

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 35

2006-11-07T21:53:00.000-05:00

(Waldo, FL/04 Nov/Casio EX-Z750)

No visible evidence of terrorization, but i can report that the banner is quite legible for at least half a mile. Ah, Florida.

The Usual Madness

2006-10-28T21:16:00.000-04:00

(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

2006-10-21T18:42:00.000-04:00

(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

2006-10-15T21:58:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-11T21:19:00.000-04:00

(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

2006-10-09T06:36:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-04T16:50:00.000-04:00

(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

2006-10-03T17:51:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-09-28T16:44:00.000-04:00

(image: firstcoastnews.com)

This month's local BIG NEWS: Local Golfers Forced To Endure Terribly Inconvenient 30-Minute Game Interruption, Additional Hazard On Course

No, that's not my plane.

Not that my plane is any bigger than that. And actually, not that i haven't considered landing on the same golf course, in fact, during one of my instructor's many little entertaining "what would you do if i cut your engine, say, right NOW?" drills. The beach is better for landing on, although (as the above pilots discovered) it does tend to have people lying all over it. But as the instructors say: "Ehh. They'll move."

Travelzoo Temptation Of The Week

2006-09-13T17:05:00.000-04:00

Reason #1

(21 Sept '05/Copenhagen/Samsung D530)

Reason #2

(22 Sept '05/Odense/Samsung D530)

Reason #3

(wikipedia.org)

Scandinavia. From Chicago. For $199.

Since no further reasons could possibly be needed by anyone, how about i just go ahead now and give you the link. 'Kay? Mm-hmm.

Remember? Why?

2006-09-11T20:54:00.000-04:00

Remember this from five years ago?

I remember how i felt when i saw that image on TV. But more, i remember how everyone else seemed to feel. People were moved to the point of passion. For about two weeks, the whole country cared. Now, five years later, it's a little intellectually embarrassing to bring it up, isn't it? Come on, let's talk about root causes, poverty, disenfranchisement. Nine-eleven was tragic, but it's old news. Only undereducated red-state flag-wavers are still harping on that.

Two brief thoughts. No, three.

You don't need to be a self-described "patriot" to tell right from wrong. (Or vice versa, the snide could say, but hold that thought.)

For any free and liberal society to survive, true lovers of such tolerance must recognize and stand against aggressive intolerance everywhere it exists - not only in their own culture. Else, they embrace their own destruction. It's only a matter of time.

In 2001 the surviving Americans said "Never forget."

In 1945 the surviving Jews said "Never again."

These are two very different statements.

Do we care enough to step from the first to the second? I doubt it. Not anymore.

Not when so many of us are unthinkingly asking ourselves if we even should.

Not when we've already stopped caring about the first statement - which, really, we might as well. It's like Thanksgiving as a post-Christian holiday: what's the point?

And finally, not even if we could all agree on what was to be done. Which, if it were to happen, should frighten anyone almost as much.

So here's a challenge: Don't get all misty-eyed for ten minutes today watching the retrospectives, remembering one September day in one year in one country in the whole ancient history of this huge aching world. Don't flatter yourself that you really care - unless you're going to keep caring and do something about it.

A good rule for all things, maybe.

Image credit: wuzzadem.typepad.com

Bigger And Better

2006-09-04T05:18:00.000-04:00

They say everyone has their heroes. As of this article, aged though it may be, i have a new one.

No Travelzoo Temptation this week to get you out of your rut. Today's assignment instead: Go thou and do like that. Now, get to it. I don't want to see you coming back with anything smaller than a medium-sized schnauzer, minimum.

We played this in college, in a two- or three-hour session, but the biggest thing anyone ever came back with was a couch. It was a nice couch, granted; and when you're a college freshman, and the couch is longer than your dorm room, this is a very impressive thing indeed. But there comes a time in any leisure pursuit when one is so roundly defeated that one has no other graceful option than to humbly acknowledge the towering presence of absolute and utter greatness.

That, and secretly sulk for a while out of sheer jealousy.

Just a bit.

The (Un)importance Of Being Ernesto

2006-08-30T23:56:00.000-04:00

(radar.weather.gov, 11:38pm)

Such pretty colors. I like colors.

I like sleep, too, but somehow even when i'm leaving at six-thirty every morning and getting home at night well after a decent bedtime, i can't bring myself to go straight to sleep. Not yet, anyway. Another few weeks of this, and i'm sure that will change.

In the meantime, there's Tropical Storm Ernesto for entertainment. Tonight was supposed to be a night flight, with a few touch-and-gos at Jax International and Fernandina Beach for good measure. While my instructor debated over the radar, i called the FSS to get their best updated weather info. It really didn't look all that bad. We dithered awhile, were on the edge of going up, and finally ended up starting some ground stuff instead.

I think it was halfway through the second chapter when the lightning began. Five minutes later when the rain was dumping down so hard we couldn't even see the parking lot, we looked at each other and agreed that we had made a fine and wonderfully insightful decision. So much for the night flight. But we plowed through a lot of ground school, at least, and planned next week's cross-country up to Brunswick. By the time i made it home through the monsoon, it was after eleven again. So much for catching up on calling some dear friends, again. At least i can trust they'll understand, again. They've had a lot of practice.

Quick-Reference Apartment Finder Guide: August Edition

2006-08-27T13:30:00.000-04:00

(image: nhc.noaa.gov)

I hadn't been focusing my hurricane-attracting powers very much lately, and i thought it was time to get around to starting for the season. Besides, someone else asked me the other day where we were living now, and it's just easier to show it on a map, you know? And NOAA makes such nice pretty green and blue ones. So anyway, here's a newer version, and we made sure they got the dotted line crossing right over our apartment again, just like before. See? Handy!