Welcome to Home Ownership

Things I don't like, many (but not all) of which are recent developments all at the same time:

Termites
Leaky roofs
Stray cats
Ants
Holes in the floor
Random trash blowing around outside and accumulating in my yard
Assorted bugs
Lawn services that inadvertently remove wood chips/mulch
Clogged gutters
Cracked and crumbled parking space

The benefits outweigh the costs but right now I'm just starting to have a full dose of house problems.  Not fun.


In totally different news:
I'm lead rope certified now at the climbing gym as of tonight.  It's official!

Forgetful Me

I forgot that I had a blog.

I'm afraid that it's seriously losing steam.  How can I tell?  Your answer is probably wrong.  The way I can tell is not just that I'm not posting much (which is what I would have guessed to be the way I can tell my blog is seriously losing steam if I were you).  The way I can really tell is that I'm not posting much... despite my life being very interesting lately.  That's the key.  Since the last post, I spent a week with Christina in Bonaire, continued working the job, took a trip to Charlotte to see my beautiful new niece Scarlett, went to Denison and had a phenomenal one-man reunion, took the class to Little Salt Spring (and broke down on the way back, ended up literally pushing the van into RSMAS), agreed to lead a 2-week Broadreach trip to Bonaire this summer, and I have tickets for tomorrow night's Heat game - my first Heat game ever.  I have been doing some very noteworthy things that have been very interesting but sadly I haven't written about any of them here and now at nearly 2am with work 6 hours away, I'm too overwhelmed just thinking about how far behind I am to actually say anything about anything.  Sorry.

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!

[Title]

Either my creativity eludes me or it's been leaking out of me recently without me noticing.  I got out my laptop tonight to type an update since it's been a while since I've posted on a regular basis.  In many ways, I enjoy writing.  Try telling that to my 6 year-old self and you'll never convince him that it's true.  I enjoy writing because it provides a creative outlet to use a different part of my brain that doesn't often get used.  Often I really feel creative and feel accomplished when I read back over a post and hear how nice it sounds.  Tonight, I've got nothing.  I want to pick a topic about something that happened or is happening to me and poetically run with it but it won't come.

As for what's going on in my life, the biggest bit of news is that on any day, I am going to be an uncle!  I've never been necessarily good with babies but I'm really excited for Liza and Mike and can't wait to meet her!

Now, I'm just far too tired to type anything more.  Goodnight Moon.

Hey Look, It's the New Guy

There are times at work when it is evident that I'm the rookie.  Sure there are certainly times when I feel like I'm a pro and I have confidence that verges on overconfidence but that's not what I'm here to talk about.  When it really comes down to it, I have been a scuba diver for less than 5 years, teaching for less than 4 years (have certified only a few dozen divers, and was introduced to scientific diving 2 years ago.  In terms of boating, I used to be a competitive sailor of 1-2 person boats at a small spot one month out of the year back in elementary, middle, and high school.  My experience on motor boats is not really all that extensive, particularly over the past 10 years.  I'm now teaching graduate students how to be research divers as a full-time job and then over winter break teaching them how to be proficient motor boat operators.  I've been living in Miami for 2 and a half years and part of both courses require me not only to understand the local marine environment for myself but to know it so well that I can teach it to others.

Tonight is one of those times where I really feel like a kid trying to play with the big boys.  They're nice and they help me out but they also have to pick up a lot of my slack.  After thinking about it today, I couldn't come up with any special skills I bring to the table that aren't already there.  I hate it when I'm the one who is holding others back; I'm making a valiant effort but I can't use my inexperience as an excuse: I need to get better.  In sports you improve the most by competing with and against better players and it seems like this is going to be the same case here.  I'll get my butt kicked a few times but I'll learn even if it has to be through my mistakes.  It will take a while to reach the point that I'm no longer the new guy but it's something everyone has to go through I suppose.

In happier news, I get to see Christina for the first time in just over 3 weeks!

A Year to Come

Golly it's been a while since I last posted.  A lot has happened since then, namely finishing up the semester, getting a cave diving certification, and having family visit for Christmas.  Now I'm up in South Carolina with some family to bring in the new year.  I'm not going to say much more because I need to pack and get back to family.  Hopefully I'll get to post more later about the life I've been living.  No promises though: I'm really busy living it.

Let's do it 2013!

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.

Sometimes I Get a Feeling (2)

A while back I talked about people seeming to avoid me.  Apparently people read my blog.  To address this topic, I am not mentally or logistically prepared to take on loads of visitors.  The post was a result of a few people nearby who haven't made much of an effort to see me, specifically to grab lunch or go out or something else equally simple.  I hope that I didn't give the impression that I want everyone I know to fly to Miami and stay with me for a week at a time.  Even with a house, I don't have the beds, schedule, or hosting prowess to have such visitors.  I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way but at the same time, I would hate to have the world show up at my doorstep expecting me to be a host.  If you want to visit me, just let me know and we can try sorting something out.

Pants on Fire

I have been reminded why I don't like politics.  It's a game that involves coercion, deception, money, and lies.  I do not endorse such games.  This and seemingly all presidential races just turn into two men and their respective cohorts scheming up ways to bend and twist the truth and often to outright lie in order to make a point.  The worst part is that it works.  More people hear these lies and take them as fact than do the people who actually see the statements for the lies that they are.  This only works to perpetuate the strategy.  It's part of the political game and both sides play by those rules because if they don't then they don't stand a chance.  It's a cruel and vile game of which I want to have no part.  Unfortunately, I don't have too much of a choice.  In reality, there are 6 presidential candidates according to my trusty Wikipedia research but realistically, it only comes down to two men.  One has been running the country for the past 4 years and as far as I've heard he hasn't lived up to a lot of promises he made.  The other is making a lot of promises that many people don't seem to understand or think will work for lack of details.  Both are dropping lies about the other and the other's position so who the heck am I to believe anymore???

Obama already has 47% of the vote absolutely no matter what he does.  My impression is that Obama supporters are like many Mac users.  Once they get one, they suddenly think that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread and no matter how many times they have to go to the Apple store to get it fixed, they still insist that nothing on Earth competes with it.  Obama supporters are convinced that he can do no wrong and any word against him is a fallacy.  Romney has a more difficult role: the other 40-some percent of the country is convinced that Obama has mortally wounded this nation and another 4 years of him would surely be the end of the world as we know it.  No matter what either one of them says, they're still guaranteed that percentage and both of them are well aware of it.  The last little sliver of the voting population, like me, are the ones who are really going to decide the fate of this election.  Again, the candidates are well aware of this.  So what do they both do to reach us?  They prey on our apathy and ignorance by deceiving us.  They tell us about how the other candidate is a horrible monster who doesn't deserve to run this country.  They tell us about how the US will crumble if the other is elected.  They target our lack of familiarity with the facts and feed us lies to get us to believe what they want us to believe.

I'm sick of it.

I don't know who I'll vote for but being an undecided voter in the biggest swing state in the country, I know my voice is pretty significant and I will vote but good grief is this hard.

Is voting really meant to be this stressful?