An Apology Regarding 'Thank You Cards'

Have you received a thank you card in the mail lately? No, I didn't think so. Well thats because so far we have only done..................(drum roll).......................... 10.

Thats right, in 6 months, we have done a total of 10 thank you cards. We promise to do at least another 10 in the next six months. At this rate, we will be finished in the next 20 years...

(Really, we are working on it over the next couple of weekends so hopefully we can get them out soon)

Monday wasn't really all that exciting...

lol, but I saw this turtle behind our apartment...
*Correction: Brandon and Krista came over in the evening and we went swimming and we watched Stomp the Yard. Brandon has a Lego crane and I was impressed. Can I have Lego Jenee?

Sunshine and a Bazillion Other People

Well, the day for our trip to St Augie, and the Lord certainly put it on. Clear blue skies, beautiful fresh air and the warmth of the sun. I got up early and set out to Target to buy an expandable sun gazebo, some food for us, and some food for the cats. After much deliberation I chose my Gazebo (10 x 10 ft or 2.5 x 2.5 m) I was headed back to the apartment. Jenee had been busy preparing everything else for the trip. Mum, you would be proud. Or payload included a sun shelter, kites, two fancy beach chairs, an esky / cooler, and two backpacks of stuff each. To top it all off, I bought an Aerobie too! I always wanted one, and I saw them for sale for $9 in Target! I could hardly believe it, as a kid in Australia they were $30-$40.

We had to make a stop at our work to get ice packs for the Esky before we left town. When we got there, Jenee asked me if I had got the Esky from the kitchen before leaving? Of course I hadn't, so I went into work, and she went to fetch the Esky. Or at least I thought she had. 5 minutes later she appears at my cubicle informing me that I have the house keys! LOL. Well, eventually we got everything together and made it to the beach.



Crescent beach is a little south of St. Augustine beach, and was literally filled with tens of thousands of people as far as the eye could see in either direction. We found a nice spot and set up camp. I was definitely the envy of a few of the blokes with my easy to assemble gazebo, despite Jenee making loads of fun of me, one bloke even giving me the knowing nod of 'I see your gazebo, and I want one because I am sitting out in the sun and I look like a lobster, and next to you I feel like less of a man', or something like that. Eventually Jenee conceded that the Gazebo was pretty cool and even sat underneath it.

Sadly there wasn't enough room for us to fly kites, but we did give the Aerobie a work out. I nearly killed an inoccent pregnant bystander, and another black lady who was minding her own business reading mills and boon. (I made the Mills and Boon up, but she was reading).

Later we did our usual walk around St Augie in the shopping district, and I even got to experience a boutique hotel bathroom. It was cool, they even had individual hand towels for you to wipe your hands with. Very schmick.

After dinner at Acapulco, we walked around some of old down town, and we fell even more in love with the place. The architecture is so original and different, and I love the use of colors on the homes. Sadly my battery died so I didn't get many pictures, but we are going back soon so I'll take some more.

Another Day at Lake Wauberg

What is going on? Why are continually going to Lake Wauberg? Well, this time it was for a BBQ for some undergraduates that have come from around the US, and the Virgin Islands to gain some research experience in a University. I didn't have much of a role other than being another face to feed, but I took my camera along (duh) and went kayaking in the hope of getting some cool pictures.



lake wauberg

Well, I think some of them are pretty good, my favorite is the one where all you can see is the body of a rather large gator. I guesstimated that he was about 7-8 ft long, and I managed to get about 10 meters from him in my kayak, I wouldn't dare get any closer. American Aligators don't have the reputation for attacking humans, hence why I was kayaking in a lake filled with hundreds of them, but I didn't really think it was necessary to get any closer to a rather large lizard with sharp teeth that could out swim me. Of course, should I be attacked I had my heat sensitive thumb prepared for an impromptu rectal temperature measurement... for scientific purposes of course ('come here Crocky!').

Tomorrow I am taking Jenee to the beach for a break. I think her schedule is a little too much for her, but she is managing very well. Looks like you will get another post with pictures from the beach, and then maybe another post for monday. Dreams can come true... lol.

Home Sick Today...

Sometime I just miss home and its all a bit too much to take. Actually, probably the suckiest thing to deal with is when you really want something, and you cant have it. I cant remember how many times in the last month I have found my self wanting for a Farmers Union Iced Coffee. Now, the Americans reading this will have no idea what this is, or why it would be so desirable as they have their fluffy Starbucks Drinks that they pay way too much for, for bad coffee. Sorry, its the truth.


What I would do to get a FUIC right now... Well the next best thing is to look at that glorious carton and pretend that I am chugging a 600 mL'er and that refreshing coffee taste is filling me with Farmers Union goodness. Its a shame that you can't send them by air mail, lol.

Well the next best thing is to enjoy this ad I found for the drink that is liquid gold...

Yay - New Lens for Nate!

Well after much saving of money and waiting, I finally got my very own copy of Nikon's 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 VR super-duper all purpose walk around lens delivered by the Men-In-Brown (UPS) late yesterday. Before I go any further, I want to publicly thank my wife who selflessly helped me get this. Thanks babe, I love you muchly :-)

So, what's the big deal and what's it like? Well, the big deal is that in the old 35mm format, this lens is equivalent to a 28-300, which is a wide angle to a decent telephoto in one small and convenient package. What that means is that for more than 90% of the time I want to take pictures, this lens will satisfy all of my needs. The other thing is that the smart folks at Nikon also included some built in stabilization technology which allows the user to get sharp pictures in conditions typically intended for tripods.

Jenee entertained my excitement last night, and we went on a walk to get a package from the large delivery mail boxes we have on site (thanks Bek for that special something that you sent... O.o) so I took the new toy along for a try-out. (click on the picture to see differences pronounced)

The local theater. ISO 400, f/3.5 at 1/13th of a second. Comparison of VR on and off.

Comparison:
I, III, IV and V you can see significantly better detail in the images with the VR on.
II and VI - you can see there is better contrast and sharpness with the VR on.

So far I am very happy with it but I will put it through some more vigorous testing to see how good the lens actually is. I am really curious how well the sharpness and colors will hold up, as well as its low light/VR performance holds up. My original 18-70 lens was pretty sharp and had great colors, so if this new lens doesn't hold its end of the bargain up it will be off to Ebay...

Cocoa Beach Conference

Well I am back from my conference at Cocoa Beach, Fl and it was a good time. On the way there I was able to see some of the assembly buildings on NASA's facility, sometime it would be fun to go back there and do the tour. Actually there is a scheduled launch in the next two weeks, so if the weather is permitting, I might see that!



Cocoa Beach

The view from the hotel was pretty spectacular and I hope you enjoy the slide show. I learn't a valuable lesson though, never leave home with out your camera! We went out to dinner on the second night and I missed one of the most scenic sunsets imaginable.

Court House Warning...

Thanks to Rossen for this picture. I don't know what to say...


Last time I went to court they said no rocket launchers, now I can't even take pepper spray?

Being a grown up now...

Well, I guess I have been a big boy for a while now and in fact, I have been through what I am about to write of many times before, but still, sometimes being a grown-up is a lot of work. You see, Jenee is working full time and taking no less than 3 summer classes, AND volunteering at a school to get her practice hours for her degree. This week I have been at work at 7 and not left until 5 and sometimes 6 and 6:30. You see I have a sponsors meeting next week, and that means, preparing presentations, last minute organising and extra meetings, and I have to do all my other work too. Needless to say, we are both fairly tired.

I thought about listing all the things on my plate at work, but I decided that was too much to explain. I have probably in the vicinity of 7 or 8 main projects, 2 grad students who luckily don't depend on me, 4 undergrads who do, consultancy work, a purchasing list to fulfill and various other tid-bits. So as you can see I have a reasonable work load, but I love it, and I am learning that all of it fits into God's plan somehow and I should take it on with a smile and do my best.

Monday I am off to the conference, and I found out yesterday that I am the last person to talk. Hmm, not necessarily where I wanted to present, but I get to do the final hammer stroke and impress those who matter. Its at Cocoa Beach, FL, which will be a change of scenery and it is right next door to the Kennedy Space Center!!, I cant wait to see the ocean, something I don't get to see a lot of here in flat Florida. If you can remember, please pray for safe travel and for Jenee while I am away, its not her favorite to be alone.

In other good news, we have had some rain which has alleviated some of the firefighters from their long days. The smoke levels have also eased in Gainesville so we can once again breath easy. Well, hope everyone is doing well. Why don't you give me a call:-)

Camera Epidemic!

Since I have owned my Digital SLR, I have successfully encouraged no less than 4 people to take the plunge and also buy a Nikon Digital SLR. So who are they? Well, my father bought a D80, my cousin a D200 and 2 friends here in Gainesville have each bought D40's with another seriously considering it, and another 2 coming to talk to me (where's my spotter's fee Nikon?).

Each and every one of them have absolutely loved their new camera. Why, you ask, would someone want a D-SLR when point and shoots are small, pocket sized, have big zooms, video, scene modes and dummy proof Auto everything? Well, have a look at this site for some reasons. Nikon Picturetown.

Now, in case you are two lazy to check it out for yourself, Nikon is so sure of its products, that it gave 200 of its D40 D-SLR camera's to townsfolk in Georgetown, South Carolina. So what did these in-experienced users think? I pulled some comments of the site above...

"I'll never go back to what I was using because you miss out and these pictures are priceless", "Its been fun as a parent, we turned off the TV and grab the camera and enjoy nature" and,
"I picked it up, and was like 'wow, it takes amazing pictures!'"

So there you have it, D-SLR's are awesome because they take amazing pictures, you don't suffer from shutter lag and they are actually large enough for a normal sized human to operate, unlike the ever shrinking point and shoot world. Go and buy a D-SLR* today and never look back!

*Buy Nikon, Canon are so-so and have white balance issues and bad menu's and all the others are knockoff copies and generally crap:-)