Melissa's Winterguard Finals

Melissa's Winterguard Team

We watched Melissa's winterguard competition last Saturday in Auburn, WA. The kids did well and finished 5th in their class. There were quite a few teams and it was pretty cool to see all the effort they put into their performances. I will try to get a video posted on my site of part of the competition. The camera worked well but I am not technically proficient and can't figure out how to get the settings right so that you don't need a cable modem to view it!

Dam Tour

Washington State Capital at Deschutes Dam

So, I am doing this little adventure called the "Dam Tour" this year. It is really not much more than another excuse to get out and go riding. The object is to ride to a collection of PNW dams in Oregon and Washington (with a couple of bonus dams in California and Montana) and take a picture of your placard and the dam together. There are 8 in Oregon and 8 in Washington. My goal this year is to visit all 8 in Wahsington and that should keep me busy for most of the year, I think.

Today I managed to ride down to Olympia and visited the Deschutes dam. It was cold, it was a little moist, but it wasn't work (I had a day off, what better way to spend it)! I hope spring warms up a bit pretty soon. The neat thing about the Deschutes dam is not it's size (I had trouble actually seeing it), but rather it's location with the Washington state capital building in the background. I have included the picture I submitted with this post.

Have a great day!

Another Week Down

Well, another week down, another week closer to new employment. Things are slowly picking up steam on that front. I submitted my first resume and cover letter last week to an engineering firm for a job that I am not really qualified for. I am hoping to get some feedback in the interview process, assuming they call me back. I am hoping that my education as a Navy man will fill some holes that most people fill with more specific college degrees.

I am also attending a transition assistance class next week that will provide me valuable information about my benefits and also expose me to job hunting skills that I have not had to use in my entire life. There is a certain comfort level in being a career Navy person. The last job interview I had was for the dish washing job in high school. All I had to be able to demonstrate was the ability to lift a full garbage can up and into the dumpster. Check.

Not much else going on around here. Melissa had a concert last night at the high school. Stephanie is home on spring break this week and Danny and Melissa start theirs today.

Take care.

Home From Travel

Well, I made it back from Singapore and Guam. Had a great time there and was able to spend two days seeing the sites and getting very warm and sweaty. Singapore is only about 80 miles north of the equator and stays pretty warm all the time.

The trip back was uneventful. I am still trying to acclimate back to my home time zone. Strangely enough, I never seem to have a problem going to Japan, but it kills me when I come home. This trip was just about long enough that I became used to the time zone shift, so that made it even tougher. I think another day or so and I will be adjusted back again.

The second day in Singapore was spent riding the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel (the tallest in the world currently at around 190 meters). That was very cool and the source of most of the pictures attached to this blog. The view of the skyline was impressive. The trip all the way around takes about 30 minutes and the wheel never stops moving. It is going slow enough that you board and exit while in motion. The cars are all air conditioned, thank goodness.

We also made our way through Little India and a bit of China Town. Then I ran out of gas and headed back. We never made it to the night safari so I will save that for another trip perhaps.

Yesterday was Stephanie's 20th birthday and she comes home today for spring break. That means another round of tuition and such so that is going to hurt. Yeah! It will be nice to see her for a couple of weeks. Finally looks like spring is here to stay in the great Pacific Northwest. Please, please, no more snow!

Cheers!






This is a view from the Flyer at the top of it's trip. Notice the floating soccer field in front of the colored bleachers.

Singapore

So day one is complete. It was pretty much a lot of walking and browsing the first part of the day as we hit Orchard Avenue and the shopping district. Singapore likes to bill this area as their version of Fifth Avenue in NYC. Never been there, but it was pretty much stores as far as the eye can see. And the malls are set up in a very intuitive fashion in that the floors seem to be themed with common stores together. Baby and maternity on one floor, electronics on another, etc. That was actually pretty interesting in view of how we do it at home. Also, the malls seem to cater to a discrete level of clientele. We visited one mall that was very low end, and very crowded. It must have had a couple of hundred stores spread out on 6 levels. A different mall had maybe half as many stores on the same footprint and was clearly higher end. There are deals to be found and the stores will barter prices (don't worry Jeannette, I didn't buy anything :)).

Singapore strikes me as very clean and very polite. They are also very strict. There seem to be fines for everything, and stiffer penalties for some offenses. For example, get caught chewing gum or bringing it into the country and pay $500. Spit on the sidewalk, pay $500. And my personal favorite, don't flush the toilet and pay $350. Not sure how that one is enforced - I kept looking for cameras in the bathrooms but found nothing. Maybe some polite civil servant scurries in there after you and takes a peek. And I thought my job was bad!!! I did not see too many police officers out and about, but there are a large number of surveillance cameras on all the streets I walked, so maybe that's how they enforce.

After I tired of the shopping scene (and that happened sooner than you think) we took a bus tour around the city and saw some of the interesting sights. Also took a river boat tour down the Singapore River and got to see where they are building new casinos and where the F1 race circuit grand stands go. They are building everywhere. Amazing.

Transportation here is very user friendly with taxis, buses and trains very plentiful. Thank goodness because walking works up a sweat in a hurry.

The hardest thing for me is always the time shift and it hasn't been any better this time. My eyes popped open this morning at 0230 (1030 my time) and couldn't sleep again for about an hour and a half. About the right time to catch up on an episode or two of Lost. We are getting ready to go back to Chengi and do some more sight seeing through Little India, Little China and some of the other sights. I would post pictures but have not figured out how to get my notebook on the wireless here and the work stations in the hotel are pretty basic machines. I did get some good shots and will post later.

Take care.

Going On Travel

Well, things have already been busy and now off I go on travel. Hopefully this is one of the last long trips I have to make until I get out of the Navy. I fly tomorrow for Singapore through Tokyo. 18+ hours of flight time - not my favorite activity to begin with. The biggest issue for me so far has been something like a grocery store trip - window or isle. I picked window seats so we will see how that goes.

I get to spend a day in Singapore before going out to sea for a week and a half. I did a little research on Singapore and we plan to enjoy the night safari, a bit of downtown and then we will see where else we wind up. My journey ends in Guam. Oh, joy. Should be home on the 17th of March.

Stephanie's birthday is the 18th (she will be 20!) and I am planning a ride up to Mt St Helens to celebrate the end of winter on the 21st. I really hope the weather cooperates with that trip. March winds up with Melissa's color guard competition on the 28th. Oh, yeah, and Danny has a concert while I am gone. Man, this stuff makes the time fly by!

Hope to have some pictures to post on the Singapore trip for you guys. I am taking my small camera (only option - gotta keep it all in one bag). That's it for now. Talk to you all later.

Ready for Riding Season

I am trying a blog out to keep in touch a little better than I have in the past. I have included about ten e-mail addresses. If you don't want to be included please let me know and I will remove you.

I am definitely ready for the winter weather to go away. My bike is ready to go with a new (to me) seat and plenty of life in the tires. Plans this year include a long trip out to Glacier National Park in Montana with friends Ken and Jason (some group as last year's coast ride). I am really looking forward to that ride. I also hope to make trips down into Oregon in search of a group of dams that are on a ride list from a club I joined. Like I need another excuse to ride, right?

Getting ready to go on a long trip out to Singapore to jump on one of my boats. We will be in Singapore for a couple of days and then about 10 days underway before we pull into Guam and fly home. All in all I will be gone for a week and should be home on the 17th of March. I am looking forward to not doing that anymore!

OK. I think I may be done watching professional sports. They just don't seem to get it. The whole country is hurting right now and Manny turns down a $45M contract to play with the Dodgers??? I am not a Dodgers fan, trust me on this. The problem I have is that they don't seem to realize that they are turning me off.