I've got the whole world here between my fingers and my thumb

One of the things a few of us aerosexuals do at work to pass the time on slow shifts is track random flights. I often will watch flights that I may know some one on when I know they're flying. Grace used to get frequent texts welcoming her to random cities. Charity has become the latest to get the tracking experience when I know she's out there. But last night, one of the coworkers located an interesting flight. Not an airline, but a private plane (we can track almost every civilian airplane flying in US airspace) that had just departed Hilo, Hawaii. The aircraft, a Cessna C-208 was flying to Majuro Atoll.

If you're not familiar with Majuro or can't find it on a map, it's roughly 2400 miles southwest of Hawaii in the Marshall islands. It's essentially a coral atoll with a runway, a few buildings for government contractor to blow things up and test new weapons, and a McDonalds (seriously I read somewhere years ago there's a Mickey D's there).

If you're not familair with the C208, it's a single engine prop plane that carriers maybe 10 people. Now imagine flying solo across 2400 miles of open ocean in a plane with one engine, that's droning on and on, at about 10,000 ft. Oh, at an speed of about 170kts, this is going to be your life for 14 hours. If anything happens... well it's been nice knowing you.

I know a lot of pilots, and I'd say 99% I'd trust with my life, though I wouldn't trust the majority of them to date my niece or a good friend. But I don't know any of them that would up and fly this one. I don't think, some are a little nuts and may agree to it after a few beers. It's a small reminder of how comfortable the general public has come with air travel, and how much of a modern convenience it has become. Very few people think twice about stepping into a pressurized tube that hurdles them through the upper atmosphere at close to the speed of sound.

I just read an article about the first commercial flight across the Pacific Ocean. Next month is the 75th anniversary of the Pan American Airways inaugural service from San Francisco to Manilla in the Philippines. Eventually the route extended to Hong Kong and took over 60 hours to traverse, with a stop at Honolulu, Midway Island, Wake Islane, Guam, and Manilla. The price for this little adventure was about $1700 in 1935, or roughly $25,000 in todays money. You can make the same trip non stop in 14 hours now for $600. But in all fairness, you don't get a private cabin with dressing room and an onboard chef. First class ticket toady only runs about $6000 nonstop.

The flight actually carried more mail than passengers, at about $2 a letter in 1935 (about $30 today) for standard delivery and took the same 60+ hours to get there. Today, i can video chat with Grace (who's eating her way through Vietnam for those who don't read her blog... you should) instantly. Yay technology!

So, now that we zip carefree across the globe, and if that's not quick enough, instant communication is available. I do love my airlines and aviation, which apparently according to family I've been a fan of since i could first say the word "airplane" at an age of roughly 4 months old... ok maybe no that young but close. Airplane wasn't my first word, though I'm sure it had to be fourth or fifth (apparently 1 through 3 were dada, mama, and ambulance... seriously).

One day I'm going to write a blog that will possibly scare most people from flying, based on the everyday goings on in the industry. I'll just say this, some one asked me recently how often I deal with an emergency at work. They were shocked (and possibly appalled... but definitely shocked) when I said about once a week, I hear a flight declare an emergency. DOesn't necessarily mean they are doomed, but just they have an issue that required immediate attention and priority to land. Most the time, I dare say passengers don't even know.

OK, enough of that... I just got back from a weekend in Massachusetts where Tanya and I were graciously hosted by Adri. We spent time trekking through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Mass looking at scenery and changing leaves. It's really quite nice up there this time of year. Tanya and I apparently are still carrying on a torrid affair and this was our romantic getaway. Don't worry, I'm just using her to get to her husband.

One of the amusing things about staying at Adri's is the company she keeps. I like to think I'm of above average intelligence and well educated, but when the room fills with a plethora of PhD candidates I start to feel a bit like a kindergartner in a calculus class. It's not like these guys are being snooty know-it-alls, (it's the opposite) it's just they're like... wow.. I read about particle accelerators, you run them.

But we all have a good time, and this trip I wasn't the token American in the room (there were 3 of us this time). A gathering at Adri's is like convening a meeting at the UN, except we actually accomplish things... like ridding the world of jello shots.

Next trip, dunno yet. I'm working on some things, plus I have to work in a trip to Vietnam, most likely after Christmas. We tossed around the idea of a cae package for the Lewii, so far i'm thinking Sweetwater Blue and microwave popcorn are definitely going. And I'm overdue for a trip to Atlanta. I do have a birthday coming up, so maybe around then. there's als the idea of a Vegas trip in December. I made an adult decision to not buy DMB tickets for the fall show, and just after those sold out a series of Dave and Tim acoustic shows were announced. That may be too much to pass up, and they're in Vegas. Time to reopen Studio 54 at Aria????

That's about it, I have laundry and cleaning to do. Nolen is coming up this weekend for fun and Auburn football and I don't want to look like a slob (regardless that I am one). Later.

The first leaves are starting to fall... that means Football!

This is my third blog posting of the week. Yet, the is the first I've written. I've taken on the roll of publisher for the Lewii, since the interwebs in Vietnam seem to be finicky. For this position of great importance, I'm sure I'll be nicely compensated... perhaps with a place to sleep and a bowl of pho.... again.

And that really has been the most interesting part of the past week. It's been a little slow around here. Except at work, it seems we've jumped right into the dreaded peak season. I was fortunate enough to work a domestic desk this past Thursday after a long stretch of international desks. I forgeet how much annoyance comes with people who can easily dial you up and speak (for the most part) the same language. The Chinese use the internal IM system mostly, so the phone doesn't ring and and you don't have deal with the language barrier. And of course, there's the amusement of getting a message from Jet Ding or his brother Whisper Ding.

But this past week, the domestic side has been kind of nuts, for whatever reason. Maybe it's the sort of heightened sense of what may go wrong, some hyper cautiousness on everyone's part (occasionally unreasonably) on top of the already stressed relationshp between work groups and management. But, at any rate, there seems to be a lot of planes flying air around... which is a hassle because those are the ones they like to F___ with the most. We need t leave later, but now go to Wichita, nevermind on Wichita, send it to Phoenix... wait, not yet, do you have fuel for Denver? And if you say no, the question of why not usually follows... Because geographically Denver is not usually between Miami and Newark... just saying.

Seriously it happens.

But they pay me a lot to tell them they're dumb sometimes... what better can you ask for?

This weekend has brought the return of football season. Hooray! 12 hours of college football yesterday, and 12 hours or so of NFL today. Nothing against baseball season... we all know I love some Braves watching at the Ted. But on TV, it get's kind of dull. Then again, the last Brave's game I went to I may have watched 4 batters. it was mostly about hanging with my hot friends. But I digress... So, today, I think I'll find some place with a nice outdoor area where I can catch some rays of sunshine, have a cold drink, and watch the Niners start a triumpahant championship season.

Is it wrong that I really enjoy most the Victoria's Secret email adds i get?? It's like a little bright spot of my day getting emails hotties in lingerie. But I digress...

Here's to a happy week. I need to make plans... plans to go go go. I am taking in a Cubs game in a few weeks with Jersey (Woohoo!), and deciding now on the possible purchase of some DMB tickets. Money is kind of tight right now due to some unforeseen budget changes, but I think I can squeeze in a show :-).

Well, that's as much rambling as I think I can handle. I need to go and remind myself I don't need an iPad or a new macBook. Later.

Oh, and Ryan.. we all hat eyou and your approaching vacation to Tahiti. I thought you should know that you're still a No Talent Ass Clown, even in a hut over the water.

Eyes closed, we're gonna spin through the stars. Our arms wide as the sky, we gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the world

Let's start with the not so happy stuff so we can end on a happy note:

Friday about 11 AM i arrived at the Tanjoe manor, cracked a cold beer, and realxed talking to J and Grace. BY noon, I was out cold on the couch, and stayed that way until a dog licked the back of my neck. I relocated to the spare bed upstairs and slept a drooling sleep till about four. Meanwhile, about 11 AM, N571UP was rotating off a runway in Dubai to operate UPS6 to Cologne. Around noon, the airplane crashed into the desert outside Dubai while attempting an emergency landing. Both crewmembers were killed.

The aviaion industry is large in scope and breadth, but quite small people wise. I started working in the industry at age 18, and after 15 years it seems that 75% of the people I'm in contact with are involved in the industry. When a plane goes down, we all hold are breath a little bit to see which carrier, and if we may have known some one operating on the flight. The odds are slim really, but they're is still a chance. After so long, I've worked with quality aviation professionals that, due to the volitality of the industry, who have spread from carrier to carrier.

This is the first time that my airline has experienced a deadly accident. And yeah, while my direct involvement is minimal, it's still a little weird to think that I was in the office when the flight was planned, I know the dispatchers who took the calls, I've been on the airplane involved, or that I may have spoken with the crewmembers. It's a little sombering, and a reminder that aviation is still unpredictable and can be dangerous, and life in general is much more so. As I heard on a TV show the other day, you're only guaranteed today... everything else is gift.

Life at work will be a bit more complicated for a while, the magnifying glass will be out. But in the end, the two pilots who gave their lives will hopefully make the skies safer for all of us.

Moving on...

Also a little bit of a sad time had earlier, it's always hard to say good by to dear friends. EVen though you know that, thanks to the modern conveniences, you'll be able to get in touch with them with only a little more effort; it's still a little sad knowing you're not going to be in their presence for some time to come. The reason I'm down here in ATL was to say Bon Voyage to Grace and JoHnathan. They're off to Vietnam for 13 months or so. We spent Friday night at DragonCon (more later) amongst friends and freaks and today Tanya and I watched Grace pack their worldly possessions in 4 gigantuous bags.

LIke I said, while I'll still be able to email, chat, IM, and Skype with them while they're away. BUT, I'll miss the "hey, come down for the weekend and hang out" option. I hope to get over before New Years, but going three or four months with our Grace Face time... could be a tough one.

Luckily, I've got some friends willing to step up and try and fill the time. Still, they'll be missed.

Now, happy thoughts! I'm spending the weekend here in the ATL. We went out to DragonCon Friday night to watch the people. This is my second year going up to the Marriott Marquis, camping out at the lobby bar, and watching the show. It's amazing how much thought an effort have gone into the costumes andhow much they really get into it. Imagine all the nerds, geeks, punks, etc you ever knew gathering in one place. Being one of those myself, it's nice to feel like, wow... other people do this. I'm thinking we're dressing up next year. This year, our group expanded a little and everyone loved it. It's like a hidden jem of free entertainment, with the occasional hottie walking about in tight clothes (or almost no clothes). The girls get a show too, it's not just half naked girls. I think this year, they had 70,000 people show.

On a side note, I'm watching a show on DragonCon on PBS here in GA, and I just spotted Tanya, Joe, and I from last year! ANd I know what more of the costumes are about now... Steampunk?

OK, so yeah, we had a great time. The pictures will give you a small sample, and in all fairness there were a few people who revealed too much... but good for them! I'm very much looking forward to DragonCon 2011. And I can only imagine the people in town for football or some other reason being totally shocked at seeing a platoon of Storm Troopers being led by Darth Vader marching down the street. Or how the poor LSU fan from nowhere Louisiana feels about seeing the big city and it's overrun by girls in spandex and guys in less. I would love to hear that conversation to his buddies or family back home... in the finest cajun accent.

Today, Georgia apparently entered fall. The temps dropped to very comfortable levels outside and the sun was shining through clear skies. Tanya and I ventured out for lunch and some shopping. This is a small part of our scandalous affair we seem to be having. Of course, I'm waiting to hear back from Tanya that some one has come up to mention that they saw her strolling the Avenue in PTC with a strange man, where they were seen shopping at Victoria Secrets together. Or how the neighbors spotted a man who's not her husband coming in the house at 11PM carrying 2 bottles of wine and Victoria's Secret bad. I admit, it could be misconstrued. That being said, I would have much rather had Joe here to share in the fun... not in a kinky way (well, maybe a little :-P). But apparently one of our little group has to work.

After the strolling about PTC, we headed over to the Holby house to spend a little time with the voyagers. The Holby's have become a bit of a second family to me, and always so gracious in having me around. Grace and J have become the greatest of friends, and I wouldn't dare let them leave without harassing them. So, while they packed and stressed a little, Tanya and I camped on the couch and spurred them on, or picked on them. We had a great dinner with more friends and said a few goodbyes. I'm jealous they're getting to go on such an adventure, and they better stay safe and have their asses back in 13 months.

Tomorrow I'm flying back to work. Feeling a little down, but also a little more appreciative of the life I have. I'm thinking of some changes... we'll see.

Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing through my open ears, exciting and inviting me

I spent a good part of the weekend working for the man. And the man's name is JoHnathan Lewis. Yes, he and Grace lured me to town to "hang out" which apparently translates to "move our stuff to storage" in Vietnamese. Not only did they make me do all the heavy lifting, but they withheld food ("We only have microwave popcorn and not enough to share") and, in what is surely recognized by the Geneva Convention as torture, only provided Miller Lite. It was hellish treatment.

Then again, I may exaggerate a bit.

I tend to be really negative on my job, but there is the one huge benefit that keeps me from searching for employment outside the airline industry. The ability to decide at 4 PM that I want to fly to Atlanta on the 6:05 flight. In all fairness, it doesn't always work out. I've planned ahead to make flights only to be left with 6 hours or airport appreciation time trying to get a seat. But, more often then not tit works out pretty well, and the idea of planning a trip and making a ticket purchase 21 days out to get a good price is totally foreign.

And riding the jumpseat can be pretty neat. Or frightening depending on the crew.

But I digress. Grace invited me down this past weekend. And I had a prior commitment here in Louisville, but I blew that off. So at 4:05 pm I left work, sped home and packed a bag. Then i sped back to the airport to try and catch the last flight to ATL that left at 6:05. I'm really impressed with myself since I actually made it with time to spare. Grace had found us a traditional Vietnamese place to dine, and we had some tasty pho, once we decided it was ok to put the random greenery piled on the table int he bowls.

This week as involved a lot of moving about of other peoples stuff. Monday I assisted the Mutt family in loading their house into a 25' truck. Again on Saturday, it was time to relocate the Lewii apartment to a storage area. Luckily, they did not require the 25' truck. I think we did pretty well with time, and was even able to catch a Brave's game afterward, mostly for free :-).

So, now with most of they're earthly belongings spread hither and yon across the south Metro area, the Lewii are spending their last week in he US before embarking on a grand adventure to the Mekong Delta. I'm really kind of jealous, thinking it'll be something really cool to experience, with moments of sheer fright at moving into a totally new culture. But that's part of the excitement. But, I'm still hoping I can win the powerball and maybe entice them with monetary rewards to stick around here.

SO, back to that Brave's game thing. Jersey and Genna were planning to go see a game, and invited us to come join. We finished the moving (after a quick trip to the Tanjoe Manor to drop off some items and rummage through the fridge and bedroom drawers since they weren't home) an headed back to the Ted. While we were standing in 45 minute line for tickets, a random guy walks up to me and asks how many people in our group. I almost just blew him off with a "we're not interested in buying" comment, but I went with "3". At which point he handed me 3 tickets, and turned and sped off. he was lost in the crowd before we could thank him. And they were $28 tickets.. outfield pavilion. There was concern voiced as to whether they were real tickets, but since we hadn't paid.. nothing lost but some time in line. They weren't fakes, and we went.

A blast was had at the Chophouse. There was a game in the background but mostly it was just hanging with good friends. After the game, the Lewii and I ended up at Verisano's for pizza and "whorey" martinis. After doing a little side work and flirting with the waitress, it was home to J's old apartment. Probably for the last time...

SO, that's the narrative for the weekend. This weekend should be more fun. Back to ATL for DragonCon and the bon voyage fun.

I just wrote a long social/political commentary here, but decided against it. Not the time for such seriousness.

This week will hopefully go pretty fast and painless. It's all midnight shifts which is kind of a drag, but I like them better than day shifts. I still feel like I'm behind in the world, like there's something I should be taking care of. Maybe its the cleaning I'm continually not doing or the money I feel like I'm missing. Since changing from one a month pay to weekly, it feels like I'm missing some pay. I know that there there's the matter of the 10%ish paycut i took this year (in the form or voluntary time off), but it should have balanced out with the latest raise. Somehow, it just isn't. Again, its nothing that a lottery win couldn't rectify :-)

I suppose that's it, look for DragonCon pics next week. Should be interesting and not for the faint of heart. Everyone in the ATL area should consider being at the Marriott Marquis atrium bar at about 7 PM Friday.

Eclectical Electrical Enigmas

The house I live in has issues. It's completely understandable really, given the place is just over 100 years old. So good you'll not look when 100 years you reach. Hell, I'm knocking on 34 and feel like I'm falling apart. Apparently my apartment and me have a similar wiring issue going on. Mine has to do with the sciatic nerve (which apparently is now being compressed against the bone by recent muscular developments and causing some discomfort... so my trainer thinks.) WebMD says I either have bone marrow cancer or the same sciatic issue. Let's go with option 2. The cure.. well, it'll go away on it's own eventually, and I should stretch more.

Now the house... last night I was about to cook me a nice chicken breast on my handy Foreman grill and alas.. no power. But the fridge is running and the lights are on. But the outlets in the kitchen were dead. So instead of dragging the grill and microwave (reheat some veggies) into the living room, i elected for a detour on the way to work and grab a grilled chicken and pesto sammich.

I've had electrical issues a in my new abode from time to time. I think the place was initially wired by Thomas Edison, who I can only guess became distracted by all the inventing he had to do and left the finishing work to Rube Goldberg, who worked of wiring diagrams drawn up by M.C. Escher.

After resetting all the GFI outlets, and flipping the breakers on box #1 in the attic, no luck. The attic breaker box has four breakers in it, two which seem to control nothing. The other two split the load equally between the refrigerator on one and everything else on the other. That seems fair and practical. Every now and then the A/C will trip the "everything else" breaker my place is plunged into darkness or, even worse, hotness. But the fridge still works.

OK, I get it, it's 100year old house and they had no idea in a century people were going to have giant insulted boxes for cooling food, smaller less insulted boxes for heating it back up, big metallic contraptions for washing and drying clothes (and the builders would probably pummel for bitching about how "doing laundry" sucks without the effort of a washboard, bucket, and clothes line), or a 42" flat screen HDTV with accompanying surround sound DVD/iPod/Stereo system. How some one building a house in 1908 didn't plan for this sort of thing just shows severe shortsightedness.

Anyways, back to the problem at hand... no power from the outlets. Today, when I woke up I texted my one of my landlords about the issue, who returned a call immediately. We went through the problems and what I had already done. He suggested I check the other 2 breaker boxes.... excuse me?? There's two more breaker boxes to my apartment?? Yes... one outside and one in the basement. Like I mentioned, M.C. Escher and Mr. Goldberg did a bang up job on the wiring. Mick (or Nick, 2 out of 3 of my landlords are identical twins and I'm never really sure which one I'm talking to) said he'd be over in a bit to check it out. About 3 minutes after the first call, Mick (or Nick) called back and suggested I check with the girls downstairs to see the basement fuse box. OK, well... this is going to require me to be at least partially presentable. And I had to the shower and get dressed.

As a result of 3 seasons of drum corps, I can be in and out of a shower in like 5 minutes and dressed ready to go. In that time, Mick (or Nick) had called back. Turns out he had just called the downstairs girls and they had indeed found a tripped breaker. Woohoo, I had microwave power back.

But I'm left confused about why one breaker in the Attic would control almost everything, but one in the basement would control kitchen outlets. And no doubt there's a few more breakers down there controlling something. Or hell, maybe not... maybe they just wired the kitchen outlets through the basement and everything else is on the upstairs cirtcuit, which is controlled via a relay on the outside breaker box.

It's fun little facts like this that make living in an old house both entertaining and annoying. Luckily, I have first time landlords who seem to be bending over backwards whenever I call with a problem. Mind you, this is only the second one I've ever called about, the last being a leaky roof. Turned out it was the furnace drain for condensation was frozen and the pan was overflowing. But Mick (or Nick) came rolling over at 10 PM to check it out (on cold January night) after I told them it could probably wait till the next day.

I was once told my place had character and personality... yeah that's it.

With all the personality in my house, you'd think I'd be really creative and write these literary masterpieces there. Turns out, not so much. I'm not sure if it's the intelligence sapping wall sized HDTV or the general air of clutter and messiness that stifles my creativity there. So, instead of cleaning and turning off the TV, I leave the place. It's a nice 1/2 mile walk to the corner coffee shop. It'd be nicer without the oppressive heat, but I just look forward to the large ice coffee and cold water. And here I sit looking around at the eclecticness of the little place. It's nice to live in a neighborhood where no one really seems to fit in. The cross section of people in here now vary form the "hippyesque" guy with the full scraggly beard and dreads to the almost yuppyish guys in khaki shorts and polos. Luckily no collars are popped. Mostly its just sandals, T-shirts, and tattoos all around. The majority of laptops on the tables were brought to you by Mr. Jobs and his folks in Cupertino (via China). Except for the girl in front of me who's stuck an Apple sticker on her PC netbook... poser!

In other news, the Austrian wrote today and told us he had accepted the job in the desert. So, it looks like I'm not packing my bags for a big move. I'm a little disappointed not only because I'm not setting of a grand Arabian adventure, but also not being informed by said company of the results. It's not unique to them, I've been through that before. Even asking to please let me know either way. Inconsiderate.

So, looks like it's a while longer living with bad wiring and draftiness in Kentucky. I spent this weekend here in town partly for a break in traveling (and the accompanying spending) and partly because I agreed to be on call to work Monday morning. I ended up picking up a shift for the injured roommate last night. In a departure from the usual viewing fare of Fox News or the Weather Channel (I'm not sure which one becomes more mind numbing after 8 hours, at least the Weather Channel just tells me the weather, and not what I should think about it) we were treated to a new version of Sherlock Holmes. It's a great show that will be appearing on PBS soon (we had bootlegged BBC DVD's), and too bad I was kind of pissed off at the suspenseful ending to the last episode since there's no plans at this time to keep producing more episodes.

So, next on the agenda... Labor Day weekend I'm making the trip to ATL for DragonCon and what I'm thinking may be the last time I see Gracathan before they ship off to the jungles of Vietnam. I'm also working on getting together a trip over to visit during the winter. It's sort of a pain to get to Saigon these days, probably because it's called Ho Chi Minh City now and for some reason there's not a lot of direct flights between here and there... some historical cultural differences I think. And I'm looking at planning a March jaunt to South America. The Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring looks like the guide of choice. For some reason when I tell people I'm thinking of bussing from Santiago to Ushuaia and back up to Buenos Aries (And telling them these places are indeed not in Texas or New Mexico) they always look at me like I'm growing a fourth foot out of my forehead (The third foot looks came when I told people I was thinking of moving to Dubai... well they thought I was nuts only after again explaining geography and where Dubai is located). Yeah, so maybe I'm a little crazy... keeps me from going insane.

Well, i think that's enough for today. I need to find some sustenance and wait for the call to work tomorrow. Later people.

If you want to be a passenger, climb aboard with me we're leaving now to step oustide and see another world

Seems a lot of people are getting married these days. I, being the rebel of our little group, am fighting the power and resisting becoming a follower. We'll go with that. But, I would like to throw a big congrats out to Grace and Jonathan (that's the only time you'll see me spell his full name out correctly). They took their vows this past Saturday amongst the scenery of the North Georgia mountains. And to be fair, Grace took a lot more vows than J :-).

I think this wedding will go down as the most amusing, most relaxed, and most unpredictable of all time. I apologize to anyone who may have been distracted by the snickering and laughter from the peanut gallery on the upstairs balcony, but it couldn't be helped. I now know that the secret to a long successful marriage is good.... genes. I do think that the ceremony was typical Grace and J, and wouldn't have been more perfect any other way.

The whole weekend was fantastic really. It started with my small altercation with the local TSA ("we need to confirm you have access, is there anyone we can call?", "Sure, here's the number"... they had no idea who they were calling...ugh). But I was soon aboard an airplane whisking my way south. In an unusual for me circumstance, I wasn't traveling completely exhausted, having slept the night before.

Thanx to some accumulated skymiles, I booked a room at the Westin Peachtree Plaza. Ever since I was young I always wanted to stay there. It's the former record holder for the worlds tallest hotel, and right in the center of downtown. For future reference, not that nice of a place anymore. It didn't suck, but it was no suite at the Aria. But for the price, I couldn't beat it. After check in I discovered two things; the T-Mobile service sucks ore than a foot form the windows (I think the building is made of lead with lead glass) and that Charity was hanging out across the street in a bank. Some call that "casing the joint", but she didn't rob it... yet.

I met up with her and spent some pool time with a coworker of hers. I'm amazed that when I meet Argyle Sillystring Argyle flight attendants through my friends, they are all gorgeous. But when I get on the planes, it's always some old guy or older lady. Is there a quota on cute flight attendants to Louisville, or is that some kind of weird senior trip???

Anyways, later we met up with Grace, J, his family, and some of his friends. This began the meeting of interesting and new people who's names I can't quite remember phase of the weekend. We all had dinner at Verisano's pizza, which was yummy. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for pizza done differently. After a some time at J's apartment embarrassing him with pictures from his youth (I'm still waiting to see the leather pants and eyeliner shots), Grace, Charity and I went out for some stress relief. Seems that this past weekend everyone was flying to Atlanta, making the transit of all the family into town a challenge. Christine and Scott's adventures in nonrevving have probably fixed them from trying that one again, but that's my life... you get used to it.

So, after a couple pitchers of margarita, we were calmed down and hopefully alleviated some of Grace's worrying. I'm always amazed how such a special fun day can become a huge ball of stress just waiting to explode. But it all worked out, almost everyone made it in time.

So, after sharing my room that night with a gorgeous brunette, the next day started the process of heading to my homeland. Well, sort of.

Grace found aplace in Dahlonega to get married. My mother's family is from that very area. I'm amazed how touristy the place is now, compared to the barely functioning town of my youth. Still, once you get beyond the scenic square and new Walmart, it's the name backwoods town it's always been. Tanya found us a fantasticly rustic cabin near town, the Yahoola lodge. Apparently people in the 1800's were much shorter than today judging by the door heights. i think everyone hit there heads on something at one point. But the 8 and 1/2 of us had a great time I think.

It shows a little that we're grown ups when it comes time to check out, and we pretty much manage to have the place cleaned, everything packed, and everyone ready an hour early. When I travel with my family we can't accomplish such a feat. Everyone was so helpful in cooking and cleaning and bartending (my specialty) for the weekend. Of course, not to think us too mature... we did put Brinley (the 1/2 person) up to things that responsible adults shouldn't do.

Then there was the whole reason we went. WHat a great night of dancing and company. I have the aches and pains still to prove it. I was so happy to see people I haven't seen in a long time and meet new and itneresting people. I'm hoping that the family's are looking at Grace's wedding crashing friends and thinking "OMG! Where did she meet these freaks!"

I really can't say how great of a weekend it was, and how fantastic the wedding went. Best ever! I think if I ever get married, I'm going to hire G to plan it... minus the buddy passes part :-)

In other news, nothing has officially come out of the desert people. I'm guessing that's that and I'm not going to live amongst the camels. I'm a little sad about it, but after last couple weekends I'm feeling better about being domestic. It's nice that so many people wanted me to go, but wanted me to stay more. Now, we just need to figure out a way to get J on with big D (and maybe Joe and I with him) and keep them in country.

So it's back in the ville with me for the foreseeable future. The next plans I have for travel are labor day weekend. If anyone is around, I strongly suggest.. no I demand you come check out the Marriott Marquis lobby bar for DragonCon. It's one of the most random best times you'll ever have. I've burned a vacation day on the schedule for a year just to go... and we all know that when i plan vacation days they usually go for something amazing (Thailand, Dubai, Hong Kong, Australia, and Vegas in the last year alone)... so you can see the worth of such an outing.

I need to start planning a vacation again. I'm trying to find the cheapest way to Vietnam, and then I still have the month of March to plan for. It's keeps me happy having such things to look forward to. Perhaps I am descended from gypsy's or explorers... but I'm always happier when moving around. I can settle down when I'm old :-).

Time to walk through blast furnace that seems to encompass my neighborhood and head back home. Then off to work. Later!

Now and forever...

Inevitably this time of year, I look back to the summers spent marching around random grassy knolls carrying what is best described as the chrome bumper not good enough to actually make it in a career as a 1972 Cadillac bumper. So instead, the hunk survived on in the curved conical shape of G bugle. Not the best craftsmanship in musical instrumentation... Stradivarius it was not. But it was mine for the summer and always within visual range.

Back when it took real talent to make a beautiful noise... or a lot of practice. I fell into the "a lot of practice" category.

Why the nostalgia? Part of the past weeks fun included a visit to the Georgia Dome for the Drum Corps International Southeastern Championship. The trip was partially inspired by the love of the activity and wanting to see some quality music set to motion. More so, it was a chance to see some old friends who, though almost 20 years now (man I'm getting old), I've been keeping in touch with. Or at least trying to. I know there were more folks in the dome I didn't get to see, or maybe did but time has changed us beyond easy recognition. But when you do recognize some one and start talking, it's like we just got off that last bus ride home. It's the part of you that never really grew up, and every so often you think you could run back on the field and do it all again... an be famous :p
Yes that's me with my face so well covered by the other (thinner, though slightly less suave :-)) Jamie! Somewhere in the background of the picture, you may find Jamey Johnson, of country music fame.

So, I was able to spend some enjoyable time with Maggie (mello 94), Brian (Soprano, Contra 91, 94, 95????), Tommy (Cymbalist extraordinaire from 94 until...). We also ran into to Shelley (marching diva 93-97), Chad (all around good guy and Baritone player... and he's still at it), and Big Dave (the man who ran the place, played father to 100+ kids, made sure we were all fed, housed, transported in an occasionally timely manner, and kept us mostly out of trouble). And it's really embarrassing when you see some one you know is familiar, she's waving at you, and you just can't place them face. My bad Angela, but next time I'll know!

Of course the time was too short, and it always will be. For people you spend every waking, and sleeping moment, with for 3 months or so, you tend to miss them when they're not around. Even when you couldn't stand to look at their face at times.


While I was there, I was looking at the kids who were meandering about after they finished their performances and wondering if I looked that young. I mean tiny kids, in amazing physical shape and tan lines you'd never find anywhere else (i like the random white knee brace tan).


So maybe I did look that young. I almost started grabbing random kids to tell them to really live it up.. it'll be over before they know it. Jobs and kids will take over, but they'll always have this support group to fall back on. But I think they'd just look at me like some kind of delusional whacko... and they may be right :-)

I can without hesitation say those were some of the best times of my life, and thus far some of the most trying times. The challenges today are different, but being a "band geek" was the best preparation possible. I've been probably a million miles since then, and seen a lot of really cool things, done a lot of really fun stuff, and met some wonderful friends. But there's stilla fondness for the people I knew in my youth. And I hope to continue to see them for years to come, and I really want to do it more often... stupid real life getting in the way. That always seems to be a constant.


The last couple pictures... the brassline in 1994, and some of the reunited gang in 2007.