Patches happily provided us a subject for our first few shots

Well ... our camera arrived and just in time. We had a big day planned ... and this time we were going into the backcountry :)

We explored the prairies ...

Checked out the swamp lands ...

... and kept a look out for the wild life. However, on this cloudy day I guess they did not want to come out and play ... oh well! This Osprey or Eagle (next purchase ... a bird book) produced a large nest just off one of the horse trails. You can find Osprey nests on almost every power pole or dead tree. We also found a couple trapped hogs, they are considered "exotic life" and are being removed from the park. And they need to be removed ... they are destroying everything. During the day we saw one hog dart across the road ... then noticed that there were two (one child) stuck in the trap - interesting ... possibly a family structure ? Anyways, there were a number of other forms of wild life we did not get pictures of ... mostly because they were far away or moving to fast.

Also, found an old cattle "dip tank". These dip tanks were used to clean the cattle from tics and flies using arsenic. They would bring the cows in one by one and walk them up and down the tank. After, clean cows ... well, clean dead cows. Besides the obvious problems with this ... there seems to have been a leak (DUH!) Stretching off one side of the dip tank they have had a lot of trouble planting trees, however, on the other side they have had far less trouble. Guess we know what way the water flows eh ?

Before long I think we are going to get a telephoto lens and a tripod ... we just love the camera. We took home 48 photos between last night and today ... that is more than we have taken since our honeymoon. Several turned out to be crap due to blurring ... but we did grab a few nice ones. I have already started on creating a Myakka collection with general album and an album for wildlife and another for birds ... Melissa already has a sunset collection going ... I have one on 'interesting signs' ... guess that just leaves the beach collection to be started ;) (Oh yes ... then there is Disney World ... expecting to use all 250 pictures on the memory card those days)

Mark and Theresa had their third child last night at about 11:39PM. After a 9 month wait it was finally over ;) We got the call around 2AM ... which would be about midnight in Alberta, so we don't have many details yet.

However, congrats!

Seems that Ultimate has caught the eye of the local paper and for the second time a young reporter (Mary) has come out to learn more about the sport. While the first experience was only an administration meeting, and unfortunately did not have a good turn out ... I think last night made up for it!

Mary and the papers photographer (Rod) came out to our team practice to ask a couple more questions and snap a couple pictures. Rod managed to grab a nice photo of me playing superman, couple problems though, 1. I can not fly 2. I am not made of steal. I would love to grab a copy of the picture though, those action shots can be hard to come by. However, with that new camera on its way ... and the way Melissa has been shmoozing with Rod about how to take pictures ... you never know :) Anyway, the article is suppose to be appearing in early February I will, of course, keep you informed.

Krishen has some pictures up from the evening. (Melissa was having fun playing with his camera in anticipation)

We have now placed the Powershot G3 on order ... then proceeded to purchase a camera case and 256MB memory at Best Buy. So, now that we are $600 poorer we have to figure out where the money is to come from ... hmmmm!

Actually, I think we got a decent deal. $489 and change for the refurbished camera - only problem: no memory. Which really wasn't that much of a problem since we did not want anything less than 256MB anyways.

Man ... we are excited!

Man ... that was a good break. For the last week I have extremely limited my outside work computing time to almost nil. I had just had enough and Melissa and I really needed to catch up. It was nice!

Registration table - handing out the package!

Saturday we joined the Florida park service in bringing the about the first annual canoe and kayak river race. I have now officially signed up as a volunteer at the park, so Melissa and I will likely both be there every Saturday morning. And it sounds fun ... canoeing, hiking, ATV-ing ... and with our new camera (expected any paycheck now) we should get a lot of nice pictures. Guess that means that we will have to set up a gallery on the web for people.

You can see the leader followed by his wolves

They round the final bend - bringing it home

After years of organizing photos in picture albums, think we are going to have to pick up CD cases for archived pictures discs. All we will need then is Apple to apply its musical solution to photos. Hmmm!

Well, managed to slip out of work on-time (ie early) yesterday. It was nice to be able to get out to the Ultimate league meeting. Small turnout though, I am hoping that did not deter the reporter or the league coordinator ... though I am sure it did.

However, instead of sticking around to toss the disk Melissa and I headed out on a "date". You know, those things you did BEFORE marriage ... back in the days where you were still trying to spend time together. And it is not that we don't want to spend (or get to spend) time together ... it is just there is not a lot of "alone" together time where we are not doing housework or sleeping. Too much time over the last few months have been spend working or with friends ... so we thought ... movie night!!!

For $1.75 each we saw The Cat in the Hat, one of our favorite books from childhood. While it had its moments and Mike Myers was good ... I will stick behind my previous statement that I think Jim Carrey would have fit the role a little better. Still funny though. Then it was off for dinner where we filled both out stomachs to the brim.

Good night .... slept tight ... now it is back to work in the morning!

PS. Arriving at work this morning I read Krishen's blog and found out about an interesting story (another take) from back home. The part-time web design company, Mike Rowe-soft Design (@ mikerowesoft.com) has been requested to give up his domain name to Microsoft Corp ... for $10. I agree, this is a play on words. However, Mike Rowe is a person (grade 12 student in Victoria to be exact) and deserves as much right to that name / domain as anyone. He is not spoofing their site, he is not displaying news or commentary about the company, and he is not offering the similar products. My take ... they either pay him his requested $10k for compensation of changing names (specifically the domain name) or live with his small 2-bit "competition". I wish Mr. Rowe the best of luck.

As the Apple Turns has a nice take on this, but what do you think ??

A trip to Myakka on Saturday resulted in an interesting gator display. Man, wish we had purchased that Canon G3 for it. We took Amy and Eric out for a tour of the park, and of course did not forget about the fishing hole. A favorite spot for the reptiles of the area - and sundown is the best time to see them out ... think we counted over 10.

A smaller 4 footer came over for a visit just as we got there. He/she (still gotta figure out how to tell that without "molesting" them (the sign says we can't) looked to be eyeing up the bucket of fish from one of the local fishermen. The gator came right over to the shore, waited, then slipped back under the water. Then, just minutes later he/she was back - this time a couple feet closer. Being as this was only about 8 ft away or less with no obstacles in the way we moved back. Moving the bucket farther from the water did not seem to help as the gator moved closer still, putting his chin right on the shore. Now that was an interesting sight ... adventurous little guy. We stood there eyeing him up for a while but he finally gave up on the bucket and moved back into the river.

Not moments later we saw a small "argument" between a couple gators out in the river. But by then it was time to go ... back to Amy and Erics for a night of Pirates and war. Thanks guys, enjoyed the movie and the game. Found Halo to be in typical Bungie style, glad to see that MS did not mess them up too much. Could see the Marathon styling in the game ... which just brought back memories of late nights in the computer lab ... ahh, the good old days :)

Monday Melissa had her first "day of work" if you can call it that. Her job requires her to hang out at the largest state park in Florida, which we all would complain about I am sure. Besides driving around in ATVs, hiking, canoeing, and other outdoor activities; she has to take money at the gate, set up and support and group activities, and assist with park maintenance.

So ... on Monday I get a call, "come on down to the park after work ... there is a orchestra playing ... bring friends." ... and of course I had to find at least one person to go as she had the car. Maybe I should get a bike ??

We also got word that the Saunders can stay a little bit longer than originally planned ... which is great. Now if I can just convince Sid and Jeff to come with me to the Barenaked Ladies concert on March 8th ... "yea, come on out ... fly 3500 miles to the southern states to watch a fantastic Canadian band play" ... we are going to be in Orlando anyways :)

So, now, so we can record all these events we are looking at a digital camera. Time to spend some time on dpreview.com. We really like Krishen's Canon PowerShot G3 and were looking at the G2 model - but that seems to be discontinued. What we want is a camera that allows us to buy the extra attachments (zoom lenses, etc) ... but provides a decent zoom and quality right away. Think a 4 Megapixel with 3-4x zoom lens would be good. Standard accessories (battery, extra memory, tripods) are also nice. Oh ... did we mention we did not want to spend over $400 if we could help it :) Anyone have any comments for or against any particular brands or models ? Anything we should look at .. or stay away from ?

Finally ... a new laptop!!!! Now I can get some work done.

Well ... yesterday the marketing department showed up to gather the troops in a break room for a Fox News presentation. While it was suppose to show at 3:20 ... it was bumped due to a Amber Alert and details on the Peterson trial. The spot did run (apparently again and again over the day) ... but we unfortunately were headed back to work before we saw it on the TV.

However, we did find it on the web site ... They have a couple different video feeds that are changing regularly - so I don't know how long it will last ... make sure you check it out soon.

Late edition: The board

Well, last night we do something completely different. On Wednesday evening, Melissa and I have gotten into hosting a movie night ... well, last night it was all about the coin. We pulled down the box, opened the board, and started the Monopoly challenge. And just for fun we used the "dot COM edition" which plays in the "millions" and uses properties like "Yahoo" and "EBay".

It was great fun though it did take longer than planned. In fact, at approx. 5 hours this was the longest game I have played in years. There were a couple reasons for this ... First, the rolling was jinxed - properties took forever to get sold and then when they did it left 'no-one' with a power set. Second, two people found it difficult to produce much out of just a single trade - thus we knew any trade would cause the game to go down that slippery slide. So, since it was still young in the evening we nickeled and dimed each other for some time. [I should note that when playing by the official rules, the game tends to be around a 2-4 hour game]

It was not until a monster trade between Kemp, Krishen, and myself that the game became interesting by leaving a gantlet of houses and "offices" (hotels) on the upper side of town. Then somethings strange happened once more ... "Yahoo" and "Excite@home" ("Boadwalk" and "Parkplace") seemed to get landed on ... again ... and again ... and again. With Jeff the first to go, Melissa and Krishen held on after getting dinged up to $1,700,000,00 multiple times (yea ... well the money is in millions you know) only to end up faltering a few rounds later ... and then you know my luck. The last 4 times around the board I landed on one of the 2 properties that Kemp had ... and in turn - he kept going to Jail. So needless to say, Kemp came out with over almost $9 Billion in cash and was voted on as the top VC (Venture Capitalist).

I am sure Krishen has a different take on the evening. Thanks to everyone that came out ... we will have to do it again sometime.

Well ... the Stevenote as they call it came at went at 9AM PST yesterday. And while it did not bring out new iBooks, PowerBooks, iMacs or PowerMacs ... it did bring out some great new products.

First ... (well technically last) was the iPods. There is a new "member of the iPod family" on the market. Small (about the size of a business card and 0.5 inches thick) and colourful, the new iPod mini as their calling it is going after the $100-200 market. The only problem here is that it is $249 ... hmmm. Personally, I think it is over priced ... I wanted to see it for $149 as I thought any higher would either take away or sales from the iPod (big daddy??) or remain out of the price range for christmas gifts, etc. I would have suggested the pricing to be 4 GB for $199 and a 2GB for $149. That would completely steal the market ... the only question would be, can they build it for that price? I would look for it coming down in price and a 2GB version coming out over the next 6 months to a year. [prediction]

They have also updated the iLife suite ... this is the set of software that allows you to do video editing, photo management, play music, and build full DVD movies. While they have updated iMovie and iDVD, the major news here is the upgrade of iPhoto. They now have improved support and speed for up to 25,000 pictures ... improved slideshows ... and "smart albums" and for those of you that have used iTunes this is like the "smart list". It automatically will create albums for you based on specific information (ie dates) ... this will dramatically help you keep those photos organized. Dad, you were wanting a better slide show option ... give this new suite a try.

Now ... there was also a new member to the iLife suite, GarageBand. This is a 64 track recording studio brought right into your machine. Watching the demo on this I was completely blown away. This would have been so useful when I was practicing for those Jazz band solos. Not to mention just screwing around. You connect keyboard via USB and/or plug your guitar directly to your Mac ... just mix, record and burn. Mom ... you might be interested here.

And for all you non-Mac folk ... your missing out.

Well, what can I say ... a weekend of drinking Margaritas, playing NHL 2004, and chasing after a frisbee under a hot sun had me almost forgetting about the upcoming MacWorld Expo show in San Francisco ... but not to worry ... the rumor sites and regular soap shows have been reminding me!

So ... will Apple release a new, low cost, iPod?? Will there be a new iMac?? Will a PDA/Mac tablet soon exist?? Will Apple announce its sale to Disney?? Only time will tell ... ... as with WWDC I will let you know what happens.

It is not often that a great-grandchild gets to grow up knowing their roots. But I was just that lucky. Every since I can remember, a trip to Calgary meant a trip to Nonny's farm ... playing with her ducks, chickens, and other farm life was always a treat. I slowly grew up, went off to school, and got married ... but there was always the trip to Nonny's. It has been a while since our last visit, but I can still remember her determined spirt and unsurpassed whit.

Nonny passed away this past New Years day. I will miss the visits. Yet I am so thankful for the opportunity to know my great-grandmother. It is an opportunity not shared by many ... and for that I feel lucky.

Well ... 100 posts ... well what do you think so far? While this is a good record for myself, it also provides a port-hole for your (the reader) into our life. Tell me your thoughts on the good, the bad, and the ugly about the format ... the web site ... the postings ... or whatever. (user feedback is always useful in a re-designing ... resolution #3)

So ... what of the other resolutions ... we are on the 3rd day. Well, yesterday Melissa and I returned (once more) to Myakka River State Park Our 2.5 hour rollerblading trek took us from the Main entrance to the bird walk and back, ~12 miles. We stopped at the visitor center and viewed some of the displays and videos they have, enjoyed the wildlife, and avoided the tourists ... it is an excellent area for rollerblading, and hopefully we will get to go hiking and canoeing there sometime soon too. Today ... Melissa has planned a trip to Oscar Scherer State Park and a visit to the Siesta Key beach. So it looks as resolution #1 is coming along nicely too.

So ... looks like a good start to the new year

Well ... there goes the first of my new years resolutions, post everyday, going to have to scale that back a little me thinks :) Well, as a typical new years goes ... lets set some goals, "resolutions" some would call them. (not in order of priority ... but more in order of rambling)

1. Spend more time out exploring. We have this wonderful scenic landscape around us, 156 state parks, and loads of sunshine - think we better start using it! Want to get out camping, travel up into the southern states and take a peek, etc, etc.

2. Start that portfolio. I have managed to complete a few small projects over the last couple years, but I think it would be fun to re-polish a couple of those projects while adding a couple more.

3. Reno the web site. Melissa has been requesting an update to the website for sometime., think this year I can make that happen. I must thank all those readers for viewing my inconsistent postings ... I hope to also make an average of 3 postings per week this year.

4. Become a handler. Right now I have been assigned my favorite position as "long" on our Ultimate team. Means tons of running in pursuit of a flying disk. Love it! However, I would also like to improve my skills at tossing the disk which is where I currently struggle the most.

5. Re-institute date night. When Melissa and I first started dating we often found ourselves at the local WhiteSpot enjoying a late night treat. When we got married we vowed to continue that tradition with a "date night" once a week. However, in the past couple years that has trickled to about once a month (maybe) and I would like to change that.

6. Get down to a single debt payment. This past year has been exceptional for our bank book. Hard work and good budgeting seems to have paid off ... but the job is not done. We still have three outstanding debts left (and they are the big ones) but continued persistence in this area will leave us much better off in the long run.

7. Read more. Over the last year I have begun reading again ... mostly due to no TV signal being available in our house. And even though we have borrowed some rabbit-ears I don't want to stop this trend. I would like to pick up several books on project management, software development practices, and cross-platform design theories. This of course in addition to the "out-loud" reading of Harry Potter and Tom Clancy I have been working on with Melissa. I have always been a poor "out-load" reader ... this helps.

8. Improve the dog-and-pony show. Over the last year I have found that I could use substantial improvement in talking and showing project demos to management. Would like to work on this as I feel it will have great impacts into my future career goals.

9. Improved organization. This is almost a standard New Years resolution, but one that can not be left out. Over the years I have improved my day-to-day organizational habits ... but I am starting to run into "long-term" issues.

10. Get back into diving. Since leaving Victoria we have lost our regular under-the-sea adventures. With our finances in better shape, I would like to get out on a charter a couple times this year ... as well as maybe find a couple shore dives (or fresh water dives) that provide interest. We are going to have to push past several annoyances that comes from being out of the water for so long, as well as get use to using a dive-flag, but I think it can be done.

Well ... looks like it is going t be a long year. Though if every year before it is any indication it will be over before we thought it began. This is the first time I have recorded a set of goals such that I might revisit them ... so we will see as we pass into 2005 how I/we have managed to stick to our goals. Best luck to all of you as you enter this new year.