I have this love / hate relationship with television...

I really love watching television, but I hate that I waste so much time doing it.

While there is some intrinsic value in the enjoyment of a good program, I am so often troubled at the time that I spend watching TV that could be so much better applied to other pursuits.

Part of the value I get in watching TV is that it is typically time that I get to spend with Jeanie, and that it is a shared experience with her - at least, that's part of the rationalization I make to justify the time.  Part of the reality, I am afraid, is that it is just so easy - expend no effort and be entertained.  I think that there are similarities between watching TV and taking drugs, and I am afraid I've been addicted to TV for as long as I can remember.  As an aside, I had forgotten, but I posted very similar sentiments at the beginning of the 2003 season.  As another aside, the links to programs grids, etc. from this post last year are still valid.

Anyway, so much for philosophizing...

The new season is upon us, and so far, this is what we've watched and our initial opinions:

New Shows

Chuck - Premise is cute, could have potential.

The Big Bang Theory - We will watch a few more shows, but I think the nerds are a bit too far removed from social conventions and the humor could wear thin quickly.

K-Ville - Much better than I had expected from the previews.  We like the two main characters, and their back stories leave lots of room for interesting plots and twists.

Journeyman - We thought the ending of the first show demonstrated creativity so we will keep it on the DVR schedule for a while longer to see how fresh they can keep the stories.

Reaper - Definitely our favorite new show so far.  We enjoyed the first show and thought it was quite humorous.  It will be interesting to see how they can keep things interesting.

Cane - Jeanie enjoyed it.  I didn't watch it as it seems too sad and mean.

Back To You - We're already on the fence.  It's just not that funny.

Private Practice - It has a great cast, but will Shonda be able to do justice to this and Grey's Anatomy at the same time and keep the shows different enough to both stay interesting?

Bionic Woman - We both enjoyed the first show.  I must admit, I was somewhat surprised, as I didn't expect I would.  It's worth giving it a few more chances.

Life - Will it end up being just another episodic cop show, or will they focus on character development.  The fact that it appears they have a plan for a long term secondary story arc holds promise.

Big Shots - It wasn't as bad as I had expected, given that I thought it would be Desperate Housewives but with male leads, but, it might turn out to be another show that Jeanie watches while I do other stuff.  I'll give it another week or two as it does seem to have some potential.

Moonlight - I enjoyed it.  I thought it has an interesting premise.  Jeanie thinks it may be a bit too far out for her.

Returning Shows

How I Met Your Mother - Probably my favorite comedy at the moment.  My guess is it will continue to stay sweet and moderately humorous.

Prison Break - I thought I was going to cut this from our watch list, as it got so mean last year.  It still seems pretty mean, but we've watch two shows so far, and I'm not ready to cut it from the queue yet.

Dancing With The Stars - I must admit, "So you think you can dance" has spoiled me, but we will probably still record it, as we can watch the parts we like in twenty minutes or so.

Two And A Half Men - I wish they would tone down the laugh track - it is really annoying.  Many of the shows are just dumb, but every now and then, there's a really funny one still.

Heroes - Looks like this season may be just as good as last.

NCIS - It will continue to remain on our list of scheduled recordings.

Bones - It will continue to remain on our list of scheduled recordings.

The Unit - It will continue to remain on our list of scheduled recordings.

House - Jeanie still enjoys it, but I found House to be just a bit too annoying.  I guess that's what some people like about the show, but I think it is time for him to develop a bit more humanity and humility.

Boston Legal - I was concerned that the John Larroquette character was going to be too big an ass, but, maybe not.  If nothing else, we can always count on a few laughs, a thought provoking case, and some entertaining weirdness.

Eureka - Jeanie is bored with the show, and I must admit, they haven't done as good a job of character development or fleshing out secondary plots lines as I would like.  Probably good that the season ends this week...

Grey's Anatomy - This will continue to be our #1 couples show.  Some shows get recorded in the living room because we prefer to watch them earlier in the evening, or on the larger screen, some get recorded in the bedroom just because we already have two other shows recording in the living room at the same time a third (or fourth) is airing.  Some shows, like Grey's Anatomy, intentionally get recorded in the bedroom.

Ghost Whisperer - Jeanie and I had stopped watching about 1/2 way through last season.  The plots were getting repetitive and there was too much focus on the "bad guys."  We decided to give it another try this season and while I am guessing we won't make it through the whole season, we might watch a few more shows.

Las Vegas - Jeanie stayed loyal last season, I was hit and miss.  We watched the two hour season opener, and I think that with the cast changes, there's some room for the writers to add some interest.

Brothers and Sisters - this will remain another one of our bedroom favorites.

Shows on hiatus

Some of the shows we will look forward to coming back in the spring include:

Burn Notice - we both really enjoyed this show, and I think there's still lots of room to keep it interesting.

Psych - one of the few shows that generally manages to hold our interest, even without long story arcs or significant character development.

Monk - I get a bit tired of Monk's OCD, but I still enjoy watching it with Jeanie.

Side Order of Life - Jeanie enjoys it more than I do, but I enjoy watching it with her, and it is often sweet and occasionally funny.

Army Wives - A good mix of single episode stories and multi-episode story arcs, interesting characters with good character development, and lots of room to explore existing plot elements.

Lost - February can't get her soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

24 - Last season started wearing a bit thin in spots, but we'll sign up for another season with Jack.

October Road - It wouldn't break my heart it if didn't come back, but I think it will and we'll probably watch another season.

Shows we're sad got canceled

Raines - We really enjoyed this show.  Probably our biggest disappointment for a new show last season that didn't make it.

Crossing Jordan - Yes, it was probably time, but we still enjoyed it.

Day Break - We found it interesting, and they could have at least provided one last show to explain everything.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - This eased our "West Wing" withdrawal.  Oh well, at least they had the decency to tie up the series and provide closure .

General commentary

In general, it seems that Jeanie and I both tend to favor shows that focus on character development / growth and that have multi-episode (or longer) story arcs.  The story arcs don't need to be the main driving force of the plot, although that's okay, but they should serve as threads that tie one show to the next and provide some development of the character or secondary story elements.  Neither of us like shows with excessive, gratuitous violence (I am a bit more tolerant of this than Jeanie) or have characters that are too mean (Jeanie is a bit more tolerant of this than me).  If the show can have a mix of dramatic and comedic elements, so much the better.  A few laugh till your sides hurt shows would be nice, but alas, it has been years since I can remember one of those...

On Thursday, I flew my first solo CAP Transport mission...

Three of us (the unit commander Nick, the unit operations officer Mickey, and I) drove to Craig Municipal in Jacksonville where we picked up the Craig squadron's new Cessna 182 G1000 glass cockpit aircraft.  The glass cockpit is absolutely amazing.  The amount of information available is incredible.  Having real time weather and traffic is a huge plus.  I rode in the back seat so Nick and Mickey could hone their G1000 skills, both having been recently qualified in the aircraft.

The flight down to Daytona (KDAB) was smooth and uneventful.

After making sure that our aircraft was ready, Mickey and Nick headed off back to Craig, leaving me to fly our aircraft back to Fernandina by myself.  The reason we didn't take a fourth person is that due to weight and balance issues, CAP C172's and C182's can typically only carry three adults.

This was my first time ever acting as PIC departing from a class C airport.  Fortunately, I had flown into Daytona a month ago, and had flown right seat out of Daytona earlier this year, so I was at least familiar with the airport.  Still, I was a bit apprehensive - not from a safety concern, but from a concern that I would stumble on a procedural element.

Although I tried really hard to do everything right, I did make one stumble.  I started off properly, first listening to ATIS and writing down the information, then contacting Clearance Delivery to receive my initial instructions.  My stumble occurred when I went to contact Ground.  Rather than using the proper ground frequency, which I had previously written down, I used the Departure Control frequency which I had just written down from my communication with Clearance.  Departure was nice and gently corrected me.  The rest of my procedures - contacting Ground, taxiing, contacting Tower and departure were smooth.  I did learn two good lessons:

1. It is a good idea to slow down a bit,  double check what frequency I will be using, who I will be talking to, what I am going to say and what I expect to be told prior to each step.  That, and to take a breath...
2. The world doesn't end and there aren't hordes of people pointing and laughing at you if you make a minor mistake.

One of the nice things about departing from a class C airport is that there is no extra step needed to request flight following - at least there wasn't for me as Clearance Delivery offered this at initial contact.  The down side of this was that being in constant communication with ATC makes it difficult to contact Flight Service to activate your flight plan - if you remember, which I didn't until 1/2 way through the flight.  Once I realized I hadn't activated my flight plan, I requested a frequency change from Approach so could could contact FSS.

Other than the items above, the trip was really nice.  There were some scattered puffy clouds near Daytona, but they diminished as I traveled north.  The air was smooth and the temperature was lovely.

I made a well planned approach into Fernandina and capped it off with a nice smooth landing.

What more can you ask for?

When we bought our house, there was a swing set in the back yard.  The swings themselves were nasty - dirty plastic strap seats that weren't large enough to be comfortable for an adult hanging from rusty worn chains.  The structure from which they hung was a passable, sturdy wooden affair.

For years, we have had a couple of Hanging Cradle Chairs (aka Air Chairs) that I had purchased from Overstock.com sitting in their bags wishing we would use them.  Well today, they got their wish, although it took a bit of work - and some of my skin and blood, and three trips to Lowes - to get them up.

The loss of skin and shedding of blood occurred during the removal of the old swings.  The swing's chains were attached to eye bolts at the top of the structure via quick links.  The quick links were extremely rusted, so I decided to sever them with bolt cutters.  Unfortunately, while cutting the last one, the backs of both of my hands slid across the edge of the aluminum ladder upon which I was standing and quicker than you can say "Ginsu..."  Fortunately, the damage to the left pinky and ring fingers and right middle finger was relatively minor - no gushing blood, just some "flapage" and "seepage."

The Air Chairs hang from two ropes that are designed to affix to a central point above the chair.  The foot rest hangs from a single rope also intended to attach to the same central point.  I had decided that I would attach a length of chain slightly longer than the distance between the two eye bolts previously used to suspend each swing, and then attach the Air Chair to the center of the chain.  As with the old setup, I would use quick links to connect the chain to the eye bolt.  I then would use a quick link to go from the middle of each chain to a swivel, to which I would then tie the ropes.

So, we drove to Lowes to purchase the required hardware.  The old quick links were 3/8" and when I looked at the working load, they were more than adequate.  So, I bought two 36" lengths of 2/0 chain, two swivels, and four 3/8" quick links.  I only needed four quick links rather than six since I was able to salvage two, which I believe are stainless, from the old swings.  I decided to go with galvanized rather than stainless because the stainless steel hardware would have been three times as expensive.

When we got home and I tried to attach the first quick link to the eye bolt, the gap in the quick link was just too small to go over the eye bolt.

So, back we went to Lowes to exchange the four 3/8" eye bolts for four 1/4" eye bolts (the next size up).

We got home and things seemed to be going fine - the quick link fit over the eye bolt, and the chain fit over the quick link.  At least, that's how it was for the first three quick links.  Unfortunately, the threads on the fourth quick link had a just slightly larger diameter than the other three, and the chain would not fit over them.  So, back to Lowes we went to exchange that quick link.

I must admit that by the time we got the chairs hung - which required quite a bit of adjusting to get them just the right height - high enough to be able to swing, but low enough to be able to get in - I was a bit grumpy.  Sometimes it just seems that even what should be the simplest things end up being a hassle.

Anyway, Jeanie really likes her new Air Chairs, so that makes me happy.

Jeanie and I watched "Man Of The Year" with Robin Williams last night...

We both enjoyed it overall, and it definitely had some very funny moments, although I wouldn't rank it as great.  It was also ultimately a sweet movie, although many of the critics faulted it for this.  It didn't hurt that it very much mirrors my own personal beliefs about our political system.

I still think we have the best political system in the world, but that doesn't mean that it is perfect, or that it couldn't be improved.  I don't think it is so much that there were flaws in the original design, as that over time, flaws have been created through changes made to the original design or due to other changes in society that were not addressed properly with amendments to the design.

I think the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were a bit harsh.

As usual, Wikipedia has a good synopsis (albeit with spoilers).

I guess we have a leak in the roof.

Last night I stayed up to watch a DVR'd episode of the new Flash Gordon series on SciFi.  The DVR is being flaky again, so we are trying to watch everything we've recorded before we trade it out for the umpteenth time. I guess it ended around 11:45pm.  When I walked over to the front door to make sure it was locked, I noticed some water on the floor.  It rained fairly heavily for the last few days, but this didn't appear to just be a bit of water I had tracked in after my walk yesterday in which I (and my favorite walking shoes) ended up quite soaked, even though I had taken a rain coat.

After doing some searching, I realized that water was dripping on the dining room table, and the tablecloth was soaked.  Thank goodness Jeanie had a plastic coated table pad underneath the tablecloth or the finish on the dining room table would be ruined.  The water was dripping from the lighting fixture which hangs from the middle of the ceiling.  I removed the cloth and pad from the table, moved the table and chairs away from the center of the room, and dried off them, and the floor, off.  I then went to the garage and got some plastic sheeting and a bucket.  I ended up bringing the eight foot folding ladder into the house and resting the fixture on top of it so that I could move it from being directly underneath where the water was dripping from, which was near the junction box in the ceiling.  I was a bit concerned about the possibility of the ceiling coming down as I could see wet lines at the drywall joints on either side of the hole for the junction box, which seemed to me to indicate that there was water on the top side of that entire sheet.

I then went up into the attic to see if I could locate the source of the leak, but was unable to get to the area over the dining room.

I sent an email to a number of acquaintances in the CAP unit and the flying club asking for references for a roofer / handyman.  So far, I don't have any good leads, but fortunately, it looks like the rain is done for a while.  Also fortunately, it appears that the leak is minor, as there only ended up being a few cups of water in the bucket this morning.

Hopefully, it won't end up being too major a hassle...

I just finished listening to the unabridged version of J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows," the seventh and last in the Harry Potter series, magnificently performed by Jim Dale.

I still think the first book may be my favorite of the series - it was so full of joy and wonder, and wasn't nearly as dark as the rest - but this book was great and it would be a close call.  HP7 was definitely a page turner.  While many of the other books were either slow to start or had slow portions, this one grabbed me from the start and didn't let go.  I am sure that the reason I have been walking so much - every day since I started at least once for an hour and sometimes twice for an hour - is because I found the book so compelling.

Fortunately, I was able to listen to the book before I had heard any spoilers, so all that I will say (in that spirit) is that I thought it was a wonderful way to end the series.  As with other book and movie entries, I see no reason to offer summaries, as there are many resources out on the web that have already crafted far better material than I could offer.  I have provided a few at the end of the entry.

As with all of the other audio books, Jim Dale gave an outstanding performance.  I find it interesting when I see the Harry Potter movies that it is Dale's voices that I think of as the real characters.

While I am sad that the series is now ended,  I can understand that there must be an element of relief for the author that this chapter in her life is now closed.  I must say that I marvel at the creativity and story telling of J. K. Rowling, and I am very grateful to her for creating and sharing her wonderful world of magic with us.

Harry Potter sites:

Harry Potter - Wikipedia - great overview of the entire Harry Potter universe, but full of spoilers if you haven't yet read all of the books.

J.K. Rowling Official Site - Not much new since release of HP7, but still interesting if you've never visited.

MuggleNet - still actively updated, focused now on the forthcoming movies and on news such as Rowling's pending US book tour.

The Leaky Cauldron - same comments as MuggleNet.

Harry Potter Warner Brothers Website - focused on current and previously released movies, lots of online games.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Standard - Link to a particularly good review (no spoilers) and comments toward the bottom (some spoilers) at Amazon.com

Jeanie and I rented "Wild Hogs" with Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy.

Jeanie enjoyed it, I was less enthusiastic.  Not as bad as some movies I've seen, but I can think of better ways to have spent the time.

Jeanie and I had a nice weekend.  It actually started on Friday, as I took the day off.  We were supposed to be away all of this week because I had planned to take vacation, but work had something else in mind.

Jeanie and I had planned to go to Orlando for the week.  Our plans included visiting Universal Studios and the Kennedy Space Center.

But, I had a nagging feeling that work might intrude, and after reading about Universal, Jeanie thought that she would rather defer spending the money in favor of saving for a more exotic vacation spot.

It turned out to be a good decision, as I received a call Friday afternoon informing me that I needed to work today.  Hopefully, it will only be today and at worst 1/2 of tomorrow, and then we will be free to play the rest of the week.

Instead of going away, we had decided that since this area is such popular vacation spot and people travel long distances and spend lots of money just to get here and stay here, why not take advantage of what's right here.  We had also decided that since we would be eating out for every meal were we away, that we would do more eating out and less cooking in.

In that spirit, on Friday we went to T-Ray's.  If you didn't know that it was a restaurant, you wouldn't ever find it since from the exterior, it appears to be an old run-down gas station.  I am not sure, but they may still in fact sell gas, in which case I guess it is an old run-down gas station.  There are maybe half a dozen tables plus a small counter, and at best, the ambiance might be considered "rustic."  Anyway, I had never eaten there, and I had been told that they made the best burgers on the island.  They definitely appeared to have a loyal local clientele.  Even though they had a number of interesting items on the menu, Jeanie and I both ordered a burger and fries.  Jeanie said her burger was good, other than being a bit greasy.  I thought mine was just okay.  It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the burger, it just wasn't great; my biggest issue being the relatively thin meat patty which had no character.  We both agreed that the "steak fry" style fries were great - hot, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and quite tasty but not greasy.  I'm not sure I'll be running back to T-Ray's any time soon, but it was cool to experience an historic island eatery, and I wouldn't resist if someone else suggested we go there to eat.  After returning home, Jeanie put another coat of Tung Oil on the hope chest and end table she has been refinishing; I kept her company and provided commentary from the cheap seats.  Neither Jeanie nor I can remember what else we did on Friday, other than I had to do some work late in the afternoon - even though it was a day off.

On Saturday we went to lunch at Cedar River Seafood.  Jeanie had the fried catfish and I had the fried shrimp.  The catfish was good.  The shrimp were fantastic.  I do believe that Cedar River has the best fried shrimp on the planet.  They are lightly breaded and cooked "just right."  By that I mean they are fully cooked, but just, so they come out tender and tasty, as opposed to so many places that overcook the shrimp and end up with them being tough and rubbery.  Neither Jeanie nor I can remember what else we did Saturday afternoon, so it must not have been too exciting.  Saturday evening, we watched "Wild Hogs."

On Sunday I went to the weekly airport gathering.   Every Sunday morning, a bunch of pilots gather at the local airport to, as I like to say, eat junk, drink coffee and tell lies.  When first started going over two years ago, the junk was donuts either provided by the FBO or brought by one or more of the participants.  For the last few months, the junk has been fresh pancakes cooked by (mostly) either Dave Bishop, the president of the flying club, or Keoki Gray, our resident aeronautical renaissance man (aerobatic pilot par excellence, flight instructor extraordinare, A&P mechanic, ...).  Even though you would think that the talk is about flying and past glories or at least exploits, more often than not, the reality is that the talk revolves around the stupid things that the city government does related to their mismanagement of the airport.  I really would rather the discussion be about flying, as I would enjoy that, whereas the talk of the politics often ends up bring me down.  After I got home, Jeanie mentioned that she was in the mood for Mexican food, so we headed off to Pepper's Mexican Grill.  Jeanie got her usual combination of a hard taco and a chile relleno and I got the beef chimichanga.  Both meals were yummy.  We had planned to go to the Harry Potter movie after lunch, but we realized that we didn't have quite enough time to make it to Jacksonville, so we headed home, which turned out to be a good decision as I needed to make use of the facilities and was a bit tired.  Actually, it turned out that I was quite tired as I ended up taking a nap for a couple of hours, waking up just in time (which for the record, is 75 minutes) to get to the 5:00 PM showing of Harry Potter.  I don't know how families can afford to go out to the movies any more.  For just the two of us, going to a Sunday matinee, and splitting one large soda and one box of candy, the cost was $25!  I guess that's one reason why we don't go out to the movies very often.  I guess because the movie has been out for a while, there were very few people in the theatre; we got really good seats, and no one talked or had their cell phone ring.

I didn't note it each day, but I have been walking every day at least once for an hour, sometimes twice for an hour.  I still walk either at sunrise or sunset because it is still hot.  Being able to enjoy the sunrise / sunset is a nice added bonus.  "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is keeping me really motivated to walk.  I am concerned that I won't be as motivated with the next book and I only have about three more walks left with Harry.  I have finally starting losing a bit of weight which is nice, since I was very frustrated that after I started walking, I actually gained a few pounds.  I am not quite sure why this happens, but it does every time I start walking again after falling off the wagon for more than a few days.  I don't think it is because I instantly add muscle - my guess it is due to fluid retention as a result of muscle inflammation as my body initially reacts to the sudden increase in use.

Jeanie and I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday.  We both enjoyed it.  Once again, Rotten Tomatoes' consensus summed up our feelings: "An entertaining installment that captures the dark mood of the novel."

I was walking yesterday evening and noticed a beautiful large yellow butterfly sitting atop a bottlebrush tree and decided to pause and enjoy the journey and take a closer look.

As I neared the tree, I also saw a large number of the most amazing looking bugs feeding on the bottlebrush flowers.  I thought that they were so cool that I called Jeanie on the cell and urged her to come over to take a look, which she and Cali did.

After getting home, I set about trying to figure out what the bug was.  It took a number of iterations of Googling, but I did finally figured out that it was a Polka-dot Wasp Moth (also known as the Oleander Moth), which is the adult stage of the Oleander Caterpillar.  Although it would appear that many (most?) consider this insect to be a pest, and I guess I would if I had lots of oleander bushes, I think it is really beautiful, both at rest, and in flight.

Here are some other sites with pictures and information if you are interested: http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/orn/ole_cpillar.htm, http://www.floridanature.org/species.asp?species=Syntomeida_epilais#photos, and http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/IN/IN13500.pdf

In my searching, I found a site which I thought was really cool.  The site is What's That Bug?  In addition to the great information and photographs, I found it nice that this site considers bugs to be more than just nasty things that need to be eliminated.  And, if you see a bug that you can't identify, and you can't figure it out using their photos and search engine, just snap a photo and send it to them, and they will do their best to help identify it for you.  It has a number of good Oleander Moth photos, and addition to other cool moth photos here.

I had fallen off the walking wagon for a quite a few weeks, but I've been back on for seven days in a row now.

I've been walking once a day for an hour at a time, motivated by listening to the new Harry Potter book; that, and the fact that I've gained five pounds since I stopped walking.

I started walking early in the morning, but then switched to the hour right before sunset.  It needs to be early or late given that it is still quite hot during the day.  Most of what I read suggests that walking in the morning is better as it is supposed to give you more energy during the day because it revs up your metabolism first thing and then it stays revved up during the day.  These same experts also suggest that walking in the evening can lead to sleep problems - again because the body gets revved up.  My experience has been that if I walk in the morning, I am tired all day, and if I walk in the evening, I sleep better than if I hadn't walked.

Jeanie and I were trying to decide what to do yesterday.  There were a number of things that needed to be done around the house so one thought was to stay home and do chores.  The skies were relatively clear, so another thought was to go flying.  What we ended up doing was to do a beach day.

We now keep our two beach chairs in the Durango full time.  Jeanie did a fantastic job of quickly putting together a picnic including sandwiches, fruit, cheese and drinks.  She also threw the new auger style beach umbrella holder and new beach umbrella into the Durango.  I grabbed my new Legendary Pro Slick 42" body board and some sunscreen and off we went.

It is really nice having a four wheel drive vehicle and living in an area where you can drive on the beach.  It just makes going to the beach so much more pleasant when you don't have to lug all of your stuff from a parking lot to the beach.

We ended up driving down to Burney Park at American Beach.  The beach tends to be a bit flatter and wider on the southern portion of the island, and it is usually a bit less crowded.

As an unexpected extra bonus, there were two guys just getting ready to fly their powered paragliders.  So, we parked near them so we could watch them finish their preparations and then take off.  Given our backgrounds as skydivers, Jeanie and I both thought that paragliding seemed like a cool idea.  While there are a number of pluses that I can see with the idea of having a paraglider, the cost, $6,000 - $9,000, was a disappointing surprise.  For the cost of two high end powered paragliders, Jeanie and I could buy a used two seat airplane!  Granted, paragliders can be launched just about anywhere, don't require hangars or tie-downs or annual inspections, but still!

Anyway, back to the beach...

Jeanie spent her afternoon sitting beneath the umbrella reading.  I split my time between reading a flying magazine and frolicking in the water.  Between the shade of the umbrella and the breeze off of the water, the air temperature was very pleasant.  The water temperature was just perfect - not too cool, not too warm.  The surf was decent and I got a few good rides.  Unfortunately, when I start by laying on the board, I just can't get moving well enough to catch the waves, so I was limited to standing in water no deeper than my neck so I could push off of the bottom to get going. 

Our timing worked out really well.  When we arrived, there was still about an hour before low tide, so we were able to park reasonably near the water and not have to move the whole time.  We were able to spend a few hours enjoying the beautiful weather and lovely beach.  After watching the paragliders come in for a tippy toe landing, we decided to pack up and call it a wonderful day.

One final treat (well technically, two) was that on the way home, we got to see two tortoises ambling along the side of the road.  It was the first time Jeanie or I had seen a tortoise on the island, although we have seen a number of turtles. 

Last night, Jeanie and I watched Catch & Release with Jennifer Garner and Timothy Olyphant.

Jeanie enjoyed it, but I thought that the consensus from Rotten Tomatoes was right on: "A romantic dramedy with boring, stock characters and contrived situations."

I had KT Tunstall's "Eye To The Telescope" album on my wish list for quite a while, and I finally broke down and purchased it from Amazon.com; and I am glad that I did!

I first "discovered" KT while watching "So You Think You Can Dance."  Her song "Suddenly I See" (She's a beautiful girl) was the song that was played during the video compilation for departing girls.

The album is full of great songs.  Her style is somewhere between folk and pop with occasional bluesy influences.

I listened to snippets of her "second" album, which was originally only available from her web site, and wasn't as impressed as I was with her first one.  All of the songs are very folksy with minimal production.  Usually this is just up my alley, but I guess in KT's case, I like a bit of the pop component and production enhancements.

She has recently released a new album titled "Drastic Fantastic" that does seem promising.  I have only heard snippets of the songs, but at first blush, quite a few of them were enjoyable.  About half of the songs have similar styles to the "Eye To The Telescope" while the other half tend a bit more toward pop/rock.

For more information on KT, check out the entry on Wikipedia. 

For full length versions of a number of her songs, check out her MySpace site.

Now that it has been a week or so since I installed the upgrades, it seems appropriate to provide a performance update...

Overall, I am pleased with the upgrades.  In general, the performance of the machine seems crisper.

Of particular note, rendering of web pages (regardless of browser) results in significantly less time spent with the processor pegged at 100%.

By far the biggest improvement is in the performance of Quicken.  Prior to the upgrade, I spent great amounts of time waiting on Quicken as it "refreshed data."  Now, the screen updates after a new entry have no significant noticeable delays.

I won't say the machine "screams," but it does at least "hum" along.

And speaking on "hum" (or technically, the lack thereof) it's nice not to have to endure the occasional screeching noise that the old video card sometimes made (thankfully for relatively short periods).

Jeanie and I had a lovely day trip to St. Simons Island yesterday.

When we started the drive, the weather was a bit "iffy," but as the day progressed, the weather improved.

We started out going to our island to have breakfast, but unfortunately, the restaurant we had in mind (Miss Carolynn's) was closed for the holiday.  So, we stopped by the Kofe Haus and grabbed cups of their delicious coffee and a pastry to take the edge off while we headed off towards St. Simons.  We ended up eating breakfast at the Cracker Barrel at Exit 3 and then proceeded north.

Our first stop was at the Visitor's Center which is near the southern end of the island near Neptune Park.  The Visitor's Center was clean and attractive with friendly attentive staff.

We then headed up to the north end of the island to visit Christ Church, Frederica and walked around the grave yard (one of Jeanie's favorite pastimes).  Unfortunately, the church itself wasn't open to visitors (it is only open 2pm - 5pm) so we didn't get to see the inside.  Also unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too well, suffering from a bit of stomach upset and a moderate headache.

We then headed back down to the south end of the island (note, this is all of a twelve mile drive from one end to the other) to see what else there was to see.  We went to the light house and walked around and read the signs, but decided to defer the guided tour and climb up the lighthouse till another day.

We then went to the downtown area and walked around, partially just to tour and partially to find a place to eat and have a drink.  We didn't find any place that suit our fancy, and I remembered seeing a few other restaurants farther down Ocean Drive, so we headed off.  Those restaurants turned out to not be what we had in mind either, so we headed back toward downtown.  I dropped Jeanie off at a restaurant named Mullet Bay and I headed over to the quick stop to buy myself some Excedrin.  I have found that nothing is as effective in relieving the symptoms of a headache for me as Excedrin.  It turned out that the Menu at Mullet Bay had some interesting possibilities, so we decided to eat there.  What Jeanie had really wanted was a fried shrimp appetizer with remoulade sauce.  What got her in the mood for this was a sample we had tasted at one of the restaurants downtown.  Unfortunately, when we had gone into that restaurant, it looked a bit sleazy, the service was slow, and the only offered the shrimp as a full meal.  While Mullet Bay had some shrimp appetizers, they didn't have a fried shrimp appetizer on the menu.  Usually, I am the shy one who doesn't make special requests and Jeanie is the one who isn't hesitant.  For some reason, on this particular day, we switched roles.  I told the waitress that what Jeanie really wanted was a fried shrimp appetizer.  The waitress informed us that while there wasn't one on the menu, they did in fact offer one, although not with a remoulade sauce.  I wasn't that hungry, so we ended up ordering the shrimp and a Vidalia onion rings appetizer, which came with a spicy horseradish dipping sauce for us to share.  Jeanie had also asked for some ranch dressing as a dip.  When the food arrived, I had another inspiration - I suggested trying to mix the horseradish dipping sauce with the ranch dressing.  It turned out to be very similar to the remoulade sauce at the other place and was quite tasty!

I should mention that there was one other thing that Jeanie was in the mood for - a fruity tropical frozen adult beverage.  What Jeanie really wanted was a banana daiquiri like we had on our honeymoon in  Jamaica - one made with real bananas and ice cream.  Unfortunately, all the restaurant could offer was either a peach or banana drink made with Island Breeze mix.  I lobbied for the banana and Jeanie demurred.  Sadly, Jeanie wasn't too crazy about the drink, but happily, I was.  Between the Excedrin, the food and the drink, by the end of lunch I was feeling much better.

After lunch, with Jeanie at the wheel, we headed off to visit the local airport - Malcolm Mc Kinnon Airport (KSSI).  I had been to the airport once on a recent night cross country, but had never been in the terminal/FBO building.  It is a very nice facility with both a Hertz and Avis rental counter, a pilot briefing room, a pilot rest lounge, clean bathrooms and even a small pilot store.

After I got my fill of the airport, we realized that it was now after 2:00pm so we headed back up to Christ Church.  Not only did we get to see the inside of the church, but we got a wonderful tour / history from the docent.

After leaving the church, we decided to go visit neighboring Sea Island, but we didn't get very far as we didn't realize until we got there that visitors and sightseers are not permitted as the entire island is accessible only to homeowners, club members and guests of the resort.

By this time we were both ready to head home, so we did.

Overall, we had a lovely day.

I was very taken with St. Simons.  I found it to be much more of what I think Fernandina should be.  I found the downtown area to be more inviting than downtown Fernandina and found the island itself to be more accessible, attractive and interesting.  St. Simons appears to embrace visitors, yet doesn't seem "tacky" like some tourist destinations can be.  Fernandina on the other hand seems to resent visitors (and airplanes) and seems determined to hold on to its blue collar mill town heritage - even if it kills it.  Jeanie felt that downtown Fernandina was more quaint, cleaner and had a better selection of interesting / good restaurants and bars, although she did agree that the island was lovely and hospitable.

PS. As a note, I had trouble deciding which site to use for the main St. Simons link at the top of the entry, as none of them were exactly what I was looking for.  Other sites that also seemed interesting included http://www.gacoast.com/ssi.html which I think is the best of the general sites, http://www.saintsimons.com/ which is not very pretty, but seems to have good content, http://www.explorestsimonsisland.com/ and http://www.stsimonsguide.com/ which both seem like they may be a bit ad biased, and http://www.world66.com/northamerica/unitedstates/georgia/stsimonsisland which is has good short summary information, but a bit light on detailed content.

I was reminded today of this wonderful new artist.  I had first heard her on the season finale of "Gray's Anatomy" (the song was Keep Breathing).  I heard her again today on "Side Order Of Life" singing Breakable.  To listen to both, hop over to Ingrid's MySpace page here: http://www.myspace.com/ingridmichaelson