After a While

Thank goodness Blogspot auto-saves the entries that I type even when I accidentally try deleting them!  Here's what I had typed up:

Life has been pretty good lately.  I'm progressing in my job, I'm still in a wonderful relationship with Christina, I still and always love my family, and am pursuing God a little more actively.

Professional life:

The building my office is in will be torn down but before that happens, the school is giving us a new dive office.  We will be moving in October into the new space and I am very excited for the move.  The semester started up a week or so ago and it is the 3rd semester where I am the full-time Assistant Diving Safety Officer, 5th semester I've been an employee at the university, and it is the 6th time that I am being a part of this scientific diving course (the first time was as a student).  I continue to feel like a valuable employee to my employer, particularly by putting together computer-based modules with a lot of the academic information.  I have turned all of our dive theory lectures (which make up half of the semester - 24-28 hours worth of material) into online modules that the students can access any time they please.  I constantly ask for suggestions on what to change and how to make them better and have still gotten almost nothing negative back in return.  The best compliment was when a student admitted to wondering who UM hired to write and narrate the modules.  I was very flattered.

I spent two weeks working for Broadreach again on a new trip called Bonaire Advanced Scuba where we spent two weeks in Bonaire teaching Advanced and Rescue Diver certifications as well as several specialties.

Personal life:

I still do and always will love my family.  In looking back at previous posts, I am immensely ashamed to admit that I haven't said anything about the birth of my first niece Scarlett.  Liza gave birth on March 2nd to a beautiful baby girl.  Unfortunately I won't be able to see them tomorrow when Christina and I are flying through their city on our way up to Ohio to go to a college friend's wedding (maybe you all remember Matt), but I'm sure I'll see them another time.  We will see my parents, Matt and his new wife, and Richard and his new girlfriend.  Matt and Richard are two of the six Physics majors who graduated with me from Denison.  I have hardly seen them since graduation but have kept better contact with them than just about any other fellow grads.  It will be Christina's first time to Ohio and thus her first time seeing where I grew up.  I'ave been going to a community group through my church lately (you might call it a Bible study but it's not exactly) with some other guys about my age and it's been pretty good so far.  Details to come after I go more often.

Life:

Love it.

Alone Again

Not in a bad way though.  The students and my supervisor have all gone home so I'm here at the resort with no one else I know.  They are probably on the plane right now about to take off.  I am a lone traveler again for the first time in about 3 years but it will last for less than 12 hours, two of which have already gone by.  It's enough that I get just a little taste of it but not enough that I feel like I did a few years ago traveling the world alone for the better part of a year.  I think once I'm packed up and get kicked out of this room (checkout is in 45 minutes), I'll explore around a little bit and maybe go check out the research station one more time and talk to some of the students there.  Who knows.  I'll enjoy what time I have here alone and I'll enjoy even more the time that I have with Christina when she arrives.  What a wonderful vacation ahead of us!

Bonairian Birthday

This will be quick because we have dives tomorrow.

We took the diving class to Bonaire for spring break to do all of the diving required for the course.  During the week here, we've done a lot.  Today in particular, we did a well-known wreck dive to 30m (the Hilma Hooker), snorkeled with a manta ray, had a little bit of down time, did another dive farther down on the south end of the island, made dinner, got gelato, and would have done a night dive if the swells and visibility would have been in our favor.

The most memorable part of the day is definitely being in the water with the manta ray.  The group agreed that my reaction to being the one to see it and "sound the alarm" was about as good as actually being in the water with the manta.  I've never seen one before and I wanted to make sure everyone knew where it was so I started screaming and flailing about.  It got the job done because everyone in our group was able to come see it before it swam past.  It's incredible how quickly they can move with just a single flap of their wings.  I was amazed how graceful this 10ft wide creature was.  It really took my breath away.

Another memorable part of the day would have to be going to breakfast and having most of the class wish me a happy birthday when I didn't even tell them that it was my birthday.  It was a really nice touch and I appreciated it a ton.

I'm very excited for Christina to come in less than a day and a half!

Time Keeps on Slippin'

Wow, more than a month since my last post!!  Yikes!  Sorry world.

A ton has happened since then, notably going to Texas for Thanksgiving with Christina.  I had an absolute blast (also meeting up with James too!) and I'm thrilled that I went.  I am still exhausted and am not going to try to write out what happened, but here's a quick overview:

Tuesday night: flew in, met one of Christina's friends and her (Christina's) dog
Wednesday: went for a walk, met up with James for lunch then met another of Christina's friends and brother, then went out to dinner with her family
Thursday: walked/jogged around a gorgeous lake with her family before going to her grandmother's house for Thanksgiving dinner and games, then went home for a movie (sleep)
Friday: saw Life of Pi, got a massage, went to dinner with a large group of Christina's family friends, went back home for a big party
Saturday: early lunch with a few of Christina's friends, a tour of her high school, wedding at a ranch, then straight to what was left of Christina's 5-year high school reunion (it was really late at that point)
Sunday: church, then flew back to Miami

I met about a hundred thousand people over the past 6 days and it was great.  That being said, I enjoy being home and I enjoy sleep.  Goodnight.

Pulley Ridge

Hi Friends,

Mike and Casey goofing around on decompression.

I'm now safely back in Miami after a fortnight's adventure at sea was cut short by 3 days due to the impending tropical storm/hurricane Isaac that was coming in from the Caribbean.  Overall it was a successful trip and it is the first of about 5 trips that I will be taking for this project.  As I might have said before, the capacity to which I was a part of the team was as the support diver for the rebreather dives.  The way I work as a support diver is by getting the team in their gear which includes a rebreather, lift bags, reels of line, clips, hoses, 3 extra stage deco bottles they clip onto their left sides (see the photo from the last post), and collection tools.  Each of the four divers has the configuration slightly different so although the beginning phase was slow, I was setting them all up in a flash by the end of it.

Rebreather team

I honestly don't really know much about the science that was going on during this research cruise.  I do know that the rebreather team, other than the three dives it took to set up the instruments on the moorings as mentioned a couple posts back, were diving to collect samples of specific fish, corals, sponges, and algae.

Me on deco, photo credit Casey

Yes, the cruise was a success all things considered.  Sure we had to go home 3 days early and cut our productivity, but for the time we were out there we were working very hard and very well together.

I got home Saturday evening and spent that night and all day Sunday with Christina at home taking shelter from Tropical Storm Isaac as we were hit with rain.  She had work today but when she got there they told everyone to go home after an hour or two because it was too rough to take any boats out and a little too dicey to be taking down all the hurricane shutters yet.  So... she came back home to me and we're spending time together by finishing a movie we started yesterday, making dinner, learning more salsa moves, and now reading.  Well, she's reading while I'm posting this update.

We had up to 10 silky sharks at a time.

Work is going to kick off tomorrow in full swing.  As I've mentioned, we're teaching two classes this semester (same course but 2 different sections) so it will be much more demanding than ever before.  Tomorrow the students are not having their pool session tomorrow since we need to go over a few lecture sessions before we can get them in the water so the whole day will be spent getting everything situated for the semester ahead such as packing everything away from the cruise and figuring out space for all of the new gear that we had to purchase to accommodate the double enrollment.

Sharks all around us!

The semester ahead will be busy so I hope I find time here and there to keep everyone updated!

A Taste of an Update

A couple quick things before I drift off to sleep:

Christina is great.  We spent most of the day together today starting out by going to Panera then a bakery then after walking around for a bit we came back home, she left for a little while, then picked me up after dinner to hang out with friends before coming home to briefly practice salsa.  We've been learning salsa moves over the internet.  She knows how to salsa while I have no clue.  We put in a couple hours a couple weeks ago and tonight we managed to recover all that we had learned and even start learning a new move.  I must say, we look good.

Photo: www.halcyon.net

Pending an official notification from RSMAS, I have been moved full-time to the dive office now.  There are a lot of changes that are taking place there this semester in addition to my move.  For the first time in the school's history, we are running two courses in the same semester and as a result we are expanding our inventory.  Instead of getting the standard backplate and wing, Halcyon has agreed to provide us with a custom orange and green version of their standard setup, which is shown here.  It will probably make more sense once we get the new systems in and I can take a picture of them and post it here.  Until then, either use your imagination or if that fails, just forget I said anything for a month until they come in and I can post a new photo.  The bottom line is that a diving program using Halcyon gear is already unprecedented.  Once we have custom orange and green wings, we're moving into a league of our own in terms of gear inventory.  Other changes are taking place but it's too late to list them.  I'll explain in full detail once information is made public.  Until then, hang tight.

Sometimes I get a Feeling

Do you ever have the feeling that you extend genuine invitations to people to visit and not only do they never visit but they never even respond back even after it turns out they were nearby?  I have plenty to keep me busy without visitors but I do sometimes get the feeling people are avoiding me.

...Just like I'm avoiding my blog.  I'm serious, I'm going to work on it and be better.  I've been out in the field and a lot has been happening with my job.  I won't post anything about that until it's official though.

I'm driving 5 hours with Christina this weekend to visit some of her relatives and I'm very excited about it.  As with everything else, I'll post about it later (but this time I have no choice since it hasn't happened yet).

Stay sunny!

On the Way

Wow!  It's been so long that I'm not sure my blog recognizes who I am.  Don't worry, I have a whole bunch of entries that I just need to transcribe from pen and paper onto the computer.  I'll back-date them so keep an eye out.  It might happen tonight but it might also not happen for another couple weeks.  Hopefully sooner than later.

The exciting thing to report is that Christina is joining me in Mystic for three days!  This is sort of old news since she made the decision over a month ago but it's exciting because it's coming up on Friday!  I'll certainly have a lot to report about when that happens.  Until then, stay safe everybody and don't forget to smile at someone today.

6 June - Dry Tortugas

Yes, today was a definite improvement from yesterday.  I decided to start learning the scientific names of the fish, we had great dive sites, Ben saved me from getting yelled at by Mel for having my shorts tied up to dry too close to the life rafts, and I saved Michelle from being swept away by the current.  After the first dive, I grabbed the end of the rope and she somehow ended up behind me and I reached back in just enough time to grab her wrist and pull her back in.

Best of all, my wrist is slightly better and I'm in bed before 9:00.  Now I'll read until I fall asleep.  Only 2 and a half days of diving left and 3 days until I go home and get to see Christina.

More Moving

Full car load during move-out

Don't worry, I'm not moving.  This time it's Christina.  She's finally getting out of her apartment and away from the landlord who only invokes horrible stories from her about how he tries to rip her off all the time.  Anyway she never has to deal with him again and I'm happy about that.  Getting back to my point, a friend who now lives about a mile away is leaving her room in a shared house for the summer and Christina is subletting her room for the next 3 months.  Since her internship is for 12 months, this first quarter of the year will be beneficial in deciding what she wants in terms of housing (particularly location) for the following 3 quarters, i.e. whether or not the commute is worth relocating away from civilization.

During the process, she is also working full time 8:30-4:30, 5 days a week as well as studying for her comprehensive exam for the masters program.  I came over to help her move and managed to fill her car with nearly her entire apartment (there is a hybrid bicycle under there).  One of her possessions that gave us the most trouble was my Valentine's Day gift to her: a wisteria plant that has grown a surprising amount.  In fact it has shown so much growth that it required us to build a support structure for it out of bamboo and sewing thread.  The only place in the car that it would safely fit was at my feet.

Driving with plants

Moving help came in an unexpected way

From there, we loaded up the car and brought everything back to my house since her friend has not yet left for the summer so the room is unavailable at the moment (she's staying on the couch until the friend has left in about 10 days).  When we made it back to my house and started moving her things inside, Christina spotted a cute little kitten and we've now both fallen in love with it.  We refuse to feed or house it but it is the most precious and playful little thing I've seen in a long time and it's nearly impossible to just walk away.  We haven't named it (at least not yet) and I'm kind of actually hoping that it just disappears.  I am not in any position to have a pet, not with my crazy work schedule where I'm hardly in Miami for half the summer.  I know I can't handle a pet right now but I haven't chased it away from the house with a broom and I don't think I will.  It hasn't been doing any harm by sleeping on my front porch and until it does start causing harm, I don't mind this friendly little visitor.

Recently

The academic year has come to a very sudden end.  I didn't see it approaching but finals week is nearly over by now, marking the end of my second full academic year in Miami, the end of the first full academic year of teaching.  One year ago marked the last time I was a student.  Since kindergarten, the longest streak I've ever had of not being a student was my year abroad (the reason for starting this blog) and in a few months when this summer is over I will have tied that streak though this time it is evident that I'm going to continue the streak.

In the news (of my life)...

I have moved out of my parent's house completely.  All of my remaining belongings are in a pile ready to be picked up by a moving truck and will be here in less than a month.  It's certainly a weird feeling and I do feel significantly grown up.

Christina has started her internship at Biscayne National Park.  It's a year-long internship that's located about 45 minutes to an hour and a half away (depending on traffic).  I'm excited that she's going to be within driving distance for the next 12 months.  I don't know if I mentioned it before but I was concerned that she would end up in an internship that was outside of southern Florida and we would rarely see each other but realistically we'll share each other's company on a fairly regular basis especially since she's living within a mile of me for the entire summer.

For someone who makes a living out of diving, I don't dive all that often these days.  This is why this week is looking so exciting.  Monday: help on a checkout dive.  Tuesday: 2 nitrox dives for our students from this past semester.  Wednesday: dive with.... actually, I forget now.  Thursday: practice dive for the reef surveys I'll be doing over the summer for a few weeks in and beyond the FL Keys.

If you don't count orchestra which was 3 hours a week, I'm playing about as much viola these days as I did back at Denison.  Okay, so maybe that's even still an exaggeration but I play an average of 30 minutes a day, so frequently in fact that I haven't even put my viola in its case for the past 2 weeks.

Life Changes

 It is rather amazing how much has happened since I last updated this blog.  It’s mind-blowing actually.

Screened-in porch

Living room, with view of dining room, Florida room, and bed/bathroom

There’s no sense in beating around it so I’ll just get to the point.  I finally bought a house!  Yes, it is true.  I have officially become a grown-up.  It is a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom single detached home in Coral Gables and it is perfect for me.  I’m including a few pictures that speak for themselves.

It has been a long time coming, or at least it feels that way.  Realistically it’s only been since November since I started searching but it felt like it couldn’t come fast enough.  It has a screened porch out back by the small backyard and then a smattering of trees and bushes in the front yard.  A couple owners ago was very much into horticulture and has a menagerie of plant species throughout the yard among which include a coconut tree and two mango trees.  I’ve spent the past week moving and settling in.  I’m not close to being done despite the few belongings I own, but I’ve been making progress.

Master bedroom

I’ve had the time to settle in but I’ve been keeping busy elsewhere because I don’t want to have my whole life sucked into the house.  Instead, time has been spent rock climbing, diving, seeing friends, and hanging out with Christina a whole lot.  I weeded almost the entire front yard today and trimmed most of the bushes.  There’s one that appears to be taking over some others but it’s spread so much that it’s hard to tell what’s supposed to be there anymore.  I cut it back and maybe in a few weeks I’ll cut it back even more until I can make sense out of what’s going on.

Living room

Kitchen

There are rumors about my job changing for the better but I won’t believe it until I see it.  Everyone gets the impression that the upper administration, since they are non-divers, see the diving program as something they could turn into a money maker.  They don’t see the benefit in giving it a little bit of a leash and letting it expand to the point that people would come to Miami specifically for diving.  Since the two head people of the Business Office have been fired for losing a 7-figure amount of money, there have been committees going through each part of RSMAS collecting information and presenting their suggestions to the dean.  The committee luckily has come to see the importance of the diving program and would like to expand our resources and realize a little more of our potential.  I say I’m not going to believe it until I see it because the administration still has to consider and approve/deny all of the committees’ suggestions.  I’m not hopeful. 

Yikes!

I'm getting seriously behind again!!!  Since my last post:

We took the class to Little Salt Spring
I turned 25 (woot!)
I found over 30 shark teeth on a single dive at Venice Beach
We all came back to Miami
I ended up on ABC for a few seconds
Christina and I have hung out a bunch
The housing process is making progress
I sat in on a meeting of the Diving Control Board
Rick got me excited about what our diving program could and hopefully will be in a couple years
Some family is coming in to Naples and I am heading over there to meet them tomorrow

I promise I'll update for real sometime soon.  As for now, I need some sleep.

Thank Goodness!

Christina's trip to Broad Key for field work this weekend has been canceled due to inclement weather.  This means that she is free Saturday and Sunday and I will not have to drive her back and forth an hour each way.  YES!

The housing search is still under way.  It's getting more interesting but there's still a ways to go before I'll be able to find a solid place and be convinced 100% that it's where I want to be.  Prospects are improving though.

My parents are coming in town next weekend!!!

Hurdles

I came down with sneezing, runny nose, and sore throat upon waking up yesterday.  I went diving for work at noon and then came home.  Christina came over to bring me tea and juice which was utterly fantastic but unfortunately didn't bring me back to good health.  I'm not much better this morning which isn't a very good thing because I'm teaching class today in Rick's absence.  The lecture for this topic (dive tables and their history) will realistically only take a bit over an hour, maybe 1:20 but it's probably going to feel much longer.

Tonight I will take it easy and unless I magically pull out of it, I think I'm going to cancel my rock climbing plans for tomorrow.  Sad times.  On the bright side, I shall overcome.

Meet the Parents

First of all, the ticket situation is now officially sorted out.  Thankfully I do not have to sell the tickets that I bought.  One of the 3 instructors of Christina's field methods class managed to swing it so that she will be done at 5pm (March 3), will be taken by boat to North Key Largo where I will pick her up, will drive all the way up to Miami where we will see the show, then I will drive her back down to the place I picked her up very early the next morning.  Sure it's not ideal, but I am utterly thrilled that we were able to work it out because otherwise it would have been a financial loss, a loss of good seats, a loss of time and energy in selling and re-purchasing tickets, all for the same amount of time together.  I'm more than willing to drive an hour to Key Largo to pick her up and drop her off.  I'm thrilled about the show too!  I've never seen Cirque du Soleil before and I'm really excited.  Check out the trailer, it's really cool.

Christina's mother has been in town since Monday and her father arrived Friday morning.  Naturally I met her mother Tuesday and her dad Friday night.  Collectively I've spent 3 evenings with them and had a great experience each time.  Everyone kept asking me if I was nervous to meet them and I kept wondering if I was supposed to be nervous and it got to the point that I was starting to get nervous about my lack of nervousness.  My gut instinct of calm confidence ended up being reasonable after all because I've had a fantastic time hanging out with Christina and both of her parents.  It looks like we might not see each other for about 5 more days but that's alright.  She has a lot going on and we'll get to share time together soon enough.

I have church and climbing tomorrow but if something comes up with houses, then I would drop climbing and go see properties.  The housing search is one of my top priorities these days and really I can't find a house soon enough.  I'm so ready to move into a house of my own that I can't even put my eagerness into words.  Patience is key.

This Is Where I Live

Miami is a very bizarre city and I still haven't quite figured it (the city) out yet.  The Miami Herald wrote an article (found here) about how Miami was recently dubbed the #1 most vain city in America.  The article referenced the poll that was used by saying, "the survey found that half of Miami respondents consider themselves an 8, 9 or 10 in looks."  In an area of the country that looks so beautiful, it appears people are trying to do their best to look better.  I pass advertisements every day for breast augmentation, liposuction, cosmetic plastic surgery, tummy tucks, butt lifts, botox, the list goes on.  Even so, Miami is not only about looking good but it's about having the lifestyle to match:
"On top of that, a Prada dress doesn’t have to be covered up by a parka, or those Christian Louboutins traded in for lug-soled boots. 'You can always wear expensive high heels in Miami, and the worst thing that is going to happen is they get rained on,' she said. In fact, Miami consistently ranks as one of the largest luxury car markets in the country, and local designer shops generate top revenue, thanks to high-net-worth residents and visitors who are willing to shell out for high-end goods."
For a country that has gone through a recession, true colors shine through when priorities are made apparent.  People in this city will willingly put themselves deep into debt to buy things they cannot afford whether it's clothing, accessories, cars, boats, mansions, or cosmetic surgical operations.

Yes, all of this is true and I've seen it with my own eyes.  That being said, the city has tons of good things to offer, starting with the natural beauty that I alluded to earlier which brings me finally to what I did this weekend.

One of my students last semester is in his 50s and has a yacht which he used to take the diving class for a field trip to the Bahamas for some dive training (and of course a great experience).  He is one of the most genuine, down-to-earth, fun, and generous guys I know.  Since his wife works or volunteers with Teach for America (TFA), he is involved by association, something he is not unhappy about.  Last week he invited me and Christina to come join him in leading a beach cleanup project for 9 TFA teachers.  We met him at the marina at 8 and hopped on his 50' boat to pick up the crew.  Highlights of the trip include the stunning land and seascapes that we were surrounded by during the entire trip, the smell of the ocean which was more present than usual for some reason, and running aground.  That's right, since Biscayne Bay is so incredibly shallow and the boat has a draft of just over 3ft, we pulled up about 200 yards away from an island to clean and the boat waited while some of us hopped off and swam ashore to see how much trash needed to be picked up.  While we were there, the boat had managed to plant itself on the shallow sea floor of very mixed substrate (hard, soft, sandy, gooey, slippery, spiky, spongy, etc).  When walking through the 3ft murky water there was no telling what texture(s) you would feel with the next step.  After trying to free the boat with its own power to no avail, Steve asked for volunteers to get out and push so of course I was the first one back in the water.  After a lot of grunting, pushing, heaving, straining, slipping, and straining, we managed to free the boat about 30 minutes later.  By the time we dropped everyone back off, they were endlessly telling us how thankful they were to have had the opportunity to see the city from a completely new and exciting perspective.

Moving the boat.  Photo: Steve

After dropping them off, we went immediately to RSMAS where we picked up a good portion of our former dive class and Steve took us all out for a swim in the bay and a joy ride around Key Biscayne and a little bit of downtown Miami.  On such a beautiful day, I cannot describe the happiness I was feeling of being on the water in such a stunning place with such a fantastic group of people.  We eventually dropped off the rest of the class after which Steve took us back to the marina where my car was waiting.  Christina and I drove back home and temporarily parted ways to prepare for the night.

One of the students in the class last semester (who was on the boat) recently got engaged to a guy named Alex.  Alex had a birthday and invited us to his fiesta-themed birthday party on Key Biscayne which we went to and had a fantastic time.

Today included church, working on Wednesday's lecture, following up on the housing search, pizza, more working, napping, then briefly visiting Christina around dinner time.  Tomorrow is back to work as usual which of course I love.

Yes, Miami may be the most vain city in America and perhaps even in the world.  It might be fake, it might be plastic, and it might be obsessed with image.  Even so, it has a lot to offer.  It is a city with a character unlike any other place in the world.  It is a city with rich diversity.  It is a city overlooking a large fraction of the country's coral reefs.  It is a city that honestly is gorgeous on the outside.  It is a city surrounded on both sides by national parks.  It is a city that offered me a job.  Furthermore, for now, this is the city I call home.

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Weekend Festivities

Most of this weekend was spent hanging out with Christina because first of all I enjoy it so much and second of all I know that as the semester picks up we'll both have less free time.  It started off with dinner Friday night where we made excellent veggie pasta.  Since everything came together in such a short amount of time last semester, we were hesitant to jump into anything but considered ourselves dating.  During dinner we agreed that we still like each other a whole lot and decided to formally move into the boyfriend/girlfriend stage.

For Saturday I made plans a couple weeks ago to go to a festival with her to a place about 30 minutes south (Homestead) but didn't give her any clues about where we were going or what we were doing.  She had been dying to know any sort of detail but I revealed nothing until we arrived.  The event was the Heritage Festival at the Fruit and Spice Park.  There were local arts and crafts, a little food, and animals all nestled into a large plot of land acting year-round as a picturesque tropical fruit farm where we ironically neither took pictures nor ate tropical fruit.  It was a fantastic morning and afternoon and the surprise was a great success.  After visiting friends and having a game of euchre, we finished the evening off by trying a Mexican restaurant that had been recommended to me which also turned out to be a winner.

The next day I went to church which was not very interesting because our pastor had to leave for Tennessee to speak at a ... what's the word, not conference or convention but along those lines.  This meant that for the first time since I've been going to this church, he invited someone else to give the sermon.  He was decent but it was clear evidence that I really like the regular pastor.  At any rate, after that I went rock climbing then came home in the late afternoon/early evening and stayed in the rest of the night and relaxed.

Something Beautiful

Saturday morning I was taken to the Salt Lake City airport where I spent my last bit of time with my family for what will be at least 3 months but likely at least double that.  It was a good time but really quite self explanatory.  I made it to my gate and characteristically chose to be one of the last passengers to board, found my seat, and got settled.  The captain announced his intentions for routing us around Colorado due to some turbulence there and the general consensus from the cabin was that no one really cared as long as we reached our destination on time.  The last passenger boarded, the captain announced that we were cleared for our new flight plan, and we eventually started making our way away from the gate, a move that lasted all of about literally 20 seconds before we hear the captain telling us that for our new flight plan we need about 1000lbs more fuel so we have to go back to the gate to refuel.  After about 10 minutes of fueling he tells us that we need some clearance and a little bit of paperwork before we can go anywhere at which point the sentiment from the cabin was something along the lines of "what the heck were we cleared for 15 minutes ago and why does that change after re-fueling??"  At any rate, we finally made it off the ground about 40 minutes behind schedule.  After a long week of skiing I had anticipated sleeping during the 2-3 hour flight to Dallas but I decided to delay my sleep during take-off due to the beautiful mountains seen through my window.  Keep in mind, living in the flattest state in the country I am completely deprived of mountains or even hills.

What I saw with my face pressed against the little airplane window was breathtaking.  It started out with the mountains that rose up from around the city of Salt Lake.  Rugged masses of land shot high up into the air with small bits of white snow on their peaks.  These mountains merged into others and they gradually changed shape and contours as we cruised past far above them.  My idea of isolation was restructured as I watched paved roads run for miles over the landscape weaving around canyons to stay on flat ground.  Occasionally a rooftop would glint in the sun for a few seconds and then disappear into the rocky panorama as if it was never there at all.  I took time to imagine myself out on those roads either coming from or going to civilization.  It seemed completely solitary out there.  I was spellbound as shallow rivers that fed from mountains snaked along in valleys they had cut out over hundreds of thousands of years.  I was mesmerized by the plateaus that would drop off vertically on one side and rise up to a tall summit on the other.  My eyes became tired as I did everything I could to stay awake staring at the beauty of the Rocky Mountains.  Eventually my body could hold out no longer and I woke up to the captain announcing our descent into Dallas.  When I looked out the window, all I saw was a vastly expansive plain with evident signs of farming.

The Dallas airport was much less interesting this time around.  I neglected to mention it before but on my way to Salt Lake City I had a 1hour 50minute layover in DFW and managed to meet up with Christina for almost an hour outside of security.  It was a real treat to see her again and made my Dallas experience extra special.  Unfortunately on my way back I got off the plane and literally ran to my gate and made it there as soon as they called my zone.  It was neither special nor fun especially as compared to my previous experience.

The last leg of the flight was enjoyable because in the final 30 minutes I looked out the window and saw fireworks bringing sparkling life to the land below us.  It was a cool perspective on something many of us are very familiar with.  I wouldn't say that it was necessarily better to see dozens of firework shows at once from a distance than it is to see one show close up, but it was a new and interesting perspective.

Dominique picked me up and took me to a friend of her's house and at about 11:30 we all went to Sandbar to bring in the new year.  Happy 2012!!

On My Mind

I am not a needy person.  It's because I really like her and spent a week and a half with her non-stop that I am constantly thinking about Christina.  There's no dependance or even reliance on her but instead it's simply the fact that I love spending time together (even if only a phone call) and always look forward to it because she makes it so easy for me to be happy.
 
I've been trying to piece together a divemaster course for a friend.  Due to time constraints, it's been killer so far.  She leaves on Thursday and it is only going to get harder from here to fit everything in.

Speaking of leaving, I am headed to Utah on the 23rd!!!  I have never been there before and I am seriously looking forward to it.  The last time I went skiing was with Nathan last year in Maryland.  Before that?  I can't even remember.  It's one of the millions of things I love in life so I assure you all that I will be having a fantastic time out there.  Not only will Utah fill my skiing quota but it will also give me a long overdue dose of mountains, something that Floridians are constantly starved of.  Here's hoping for snow!

I have been slacking bigtime on my housing search.  I have made no progress in the past 3 weeks and I'm embarrassed to admit it but it is the truth after all.  I'm going to need to get on it because I really am ready to move out of here and into my own place.