Risk Management

So you`ve waited on the painfully slow belt at Baggage Claim and perhaps thought to yourself: "can´t this thing go any faster?"

it can .....

but there is someone in the USA - I blame an actuarial type in Risk Management at the airport - who keeps the speed set low - in order to avoid the 15 suitcase pileups and other mishaps that we saw last night at the `Guate` airport - i´ve never seen lugguage fly off the belt before - saw 3 bags do that last night - also saw 3 pileups caused by tags getting stuck or bags being off kilter before returning to the loading area.

Best baggage claim experience ever.....

getting ahead of myself

So, people often refer to their skill in a particular language with a laughed off  "I know enough to get into trouble" and there is often an implication of drinking or picking up a member of the opposite sex.  I have learned my lesson without getting into any real trouble (thanks to my translating wife)

Waiting in customs line at the Guatemala City airport (BTW a beautiful new place that reminded us of Bangkok´s new airport and MUCH nicer than Miami where we spent 3 hours) there was announcement that I understood enough of to presume this:

"Those who have a TACA Airlines connection to San Salvador should wait in line 1" - we were waiting in line 1 and I was expecting to get inundated with people.....

What was said:

"Those who flew in on TACA from San Salvador and other connections will find their baggage on Belt 1"

Lisa pointed out that I missed the key word "equipaje" - no real trouble would have ensued had I been left on my own, but I do understand the expression a bit more personally.

Omens from the animal kingdom

As I drove into our complex with the pre game supplies yesterday, the little alligator who had taken up residence in the pond outside was sunning itself out on the bank.

After I got home and was enjoying my first beer (oddly, given the Gators opponent, from Kona Brewery) Oscar (our dog) came downstairs with the rarest of toys in his collection - the stuffed gator

Florida 56 Hawaii 10

I hope this bodes well for the whole season

My 15 Minutes

Check out this article from the Herald Tribune's back to school issue. (Hopefully the link holds up)

I know a guy who was physically adjacent to a guy who may become President....

Those of you in the Bay Area may have caught word of Candidate Obama's visit to St Pete last week. If you tuned out before the Q&A portion of the speech, you'd have missed the frequent Charlie Kennedy sitings.

So here's a snapshot for posterity.

Photos are up

At long last, here are the 202 photos and videos we took in Iceland. I added captions to make them at least slightly explanatory.

Click Here

Yes, it is beautiful and you should visit (its not too cold)

Whale Watch Video

So, we are back at home now. I managed to clip our few minutes of whale watching video to just the "money shots". The sound isn't great, but you can hear the the blow and a bit of the guide's commentary.

The body of water is the Skjálfandi, we at the north western end (you can see the Kinnarfjöll mountains in the background) at the opening to the Arctic Ocean.




The real thing is MUCH more impressive than the video.