Hunger

I finished a book today in nearly record time.  Today is Wednesday.  I began on Monday.

The Hunger Games is a riveting science fiction novel where North America has been divided and ruled with a bit of an iron fist by The Capitol.  Food is scarce and much in this world is heavily regulated and watched.  One boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts are forced to be pitted against one another to survive.  The idea of the game is simple: if you're the last one alive, you win.  Character development is great, and there's never much of a dull moment as the book naturally beckons you to keep turning to the next page.  Now I'll have to see the movie.

As for my life otherwise, it's still great.  I was able to visit family (Margie, Karin, Mandy, and parents) over the weekend in Naples, then some of them (parents and Mandy) came to visit me in Miami.  Today Rick left right after class for 2 and a half weeks in Australia which means that I'm in charge of the diving program.  After class, my visitors took Christina and I out to lunch on Key Biscayne which was fantastic after which we dropped her off at RSMAS and I drove them around a bit before they left.

The housing process is still under way.

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.

Spring Break 2012!

I'm off to Little Salt Spring with the diving class for spring break.  I will not be taking my laptop there so I will not really be updating but stay tuned afterwards.  Hopefully I'll be able to get caught up on my parents being here as well as fill everyone in on spring break upon my return.

Also, tune in to ABC this Saturday morning to "Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin" (check local listings for times).  I will be on for a few seconds!

Also I can't believe my birthday is in 2 days!

Quick Update

The Cirque du Soleil show was AMAZING!  I loved every bit of it, especially since I was with such good company whom loved it just as much.  If I had one regret from the whole night it would be that we didn't take a single photo.  Don't worry I'm sure we'll get all dressed up again for something else someday and we'll get a good photo together.

The draft of the episode from Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin has finally been privately released for review!  That means that instead of airing in January like we were originally told, it might air in April.  We'll see.  I'll post something about it once it is scheduled to air.

The house hunt process is moving along.  I know that's vague but I'll say more about it later.

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.

Life and Limb

Today my heart goes out to a man I never met.  His name is Aaron Cohen.

I rode my bike to RSMAS today at 8:30 and was pleased that I did when I noticed a horrible and unusual traffic jam toward the entrance of the island.  I immediately patted myself on the back for deciding to go green today by leaving my car at home.  As I breezed past the hundreds and hundreds of cars and made my way onto the Rickenbacker Causeway, I noticed flashing lights at the top of the bridge up ahead and assumed it was a car accident.  As I passed the scene and got a closer look, I saw police talking to each other near two mangled bicycles.  No car, no victim, no witnesses, just two police cars, some flares, a couple cops, and two beat up bikes.

Photo: blog.mayacycle.com - Not from the accident today.

I continued along my way to find out much later that what I had passed was the scene of a hit and run.  Evidently a motorist in a silver Civic hit two cyclists a bit after 6am and never stopped.  One of them is now recovering from a broken leg while the other, as of 2 hours ago according to a local news source, is suffering serious life-threatening injuries.

I try to ride my bike to RSMAS once a week on average and I'm very familiar with that stretch of road as a cyclist because it's one of the few places in Miami that is bicycle friendly by the fact that it has a particularly large bike lane (the fact that it has a bike lane at all is a huge deal).  I always see people making good use of it every day whether I'm one of them or not. 

As someone who frequents the causeway by bike this story really hits home.  Seeing the bikes myself really pounded it in.  Just like his bike, Aaron Cohen is lying down broken right now on account of a horrifying hit and run.  My heart goes out to him and his family as well as any and all cyclists who have been harmed in the unforgiving cycling environment that makes up Miami.

EDIT: Aaron Cohen passed away in the hospital on Thursday, leaving behind his wife, 3-year-old daughter, and 1-year-old son.

EDIT: The 24-year-old responsible for the fatal hit and run finally turned himself in the next day after a very public city-wide search was under way for a car matching his description.  He was driving on a suspended license and has a history of traffic violations and drug charges.

Progress Please

I spent two hours this morning with my realtor driving around looking at properties although there are none that are available for going inside.  This entire process is going to be much slower and far more painful than I imagined.  He was telling me about clients that sometimes wait over a year to find a house; I am not going to do that.  I'm not going to wait one, two, or three years for the perfect house to come along.  I would rather get a good place and move in soon that wait ages while continuing to pay rent living where I am now.  The time has come to move on and I'm starting to realize that it would have been wise to start this search back in September.

Oh and on an unrelated note: through the Diver's Alert Network, I can now teach Diving First Aid for the Professional Diver, including Basic Life Support, CPR, AED, First Aid for Hazardous Marine Life Injuries, Oxygen Administration, and Advanced Oxygen.

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.

House Hunting

I finally met up with my realtor today for a couple hours to cruise around town and drive by some of the areas and houses we are interested in.  We weren't able to go in any of them but the morning was worthwhile.  I'm starting to learn that the market right now is very competitive.  I feel like a lioness stalking prey patiently biding my time but when I finally find the one I want, it's going to be a pounce and a fight to get it.  There have been instances where buyers are so competitive that after viewing a house they will put the key in the door and break it off so no one else can get in and see it for a few days while the lock gets fixed.  Overall there really isn't much of a selection which is a hard reality to accept for someone who is determined to move into a place of his own.

The key is patience.  Mine is wearing out but I need to grasp it with both hands and never let it go.  Being such a big investment, I'm not going to jump into anything unless I'm sure it's what I want.  The only thing is that as soon as it comes on the market, I have a very short time to make the decision whether I want it for sure or not or else someone else will pull it out from under me.