Only 20 more days till Christmas

I'm pleased to report a pretty boring week :) Everything is going along well, and after nearly two months, we almost have the mailing problems sorted out. We still haven't seen hide nor hair of the Colorado absentee ballots, nor a couple of other pieces of mail that we were expecting, but if they are lost it's not that big of a problem right now.
The car is due for an oil change and we are scheduled for haircuts next week. (On that note, we did change the oil on the truck before we left Colorado. Since this is our first experience with a big diesel, we did get a bit of 'sticker-shock' when we found out that this truck's engine holds 25 quarts of oil...wow!)

The humidity is everything we were told, and it's still the deep part of fall. The sun shines some part of every day and it's been as "cold" as 49 degrees here so far. We still haven't found a snow blower in any Home Depot yet. :) So far I've spotted exactly one cockroach, a Black Widow, several fruit flies and a stealthy little Scorpion in all our home life and local travels but the issue with bug infestations hasn't shown up yet. I am certain that summer, with all the rain and longer, hotter days will change my thinking about these things. For right now, it's still safe to leave the screen door open for a while and lounge around under the awning for an afternoon and not worry about being carried off by the mosquitos. There are a lot of squirrels in the park, and it's fun to watch them run around chasing each other and searching for something to eat smaller than an avacado. (As an aside, Robin planted basil and spearmint several weeks ago and somebody -- i.e. the squirrel -- is digging in the potted planters. Fortunately the herbs have survived the "cold" weather and are thriving in spite of lost soil!)
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The long standing and well advertised plan to buy a big saiboat as soon as some mortgages went away may be changing. Recently Robin and I were exploring south and east of our homestead and we found our way to the Black Point Marina and park in the south part of Biscayne Bay. We enjoyed a great lunch at an outdoor cafe and wandered around looking at the boats and facilities. We met and spoke with the harbormaster and came away with the idea that we may delay purchasing the larger sailboat and instead look for a small powerboat to use for the next year or maybe two so that we can better learn some of the ways of the water. It would be an affordable way for us to get out on the water, learn the lay of the immediate vicinity and get involved in the boating community without having a full-time and demanding committment to a large vessel.
The down side is that we will likely not be able to acquire Spring Fever as we had hoped (she's still alive and well in Galveston, having survived hurricane Ike) and will have to start from scratch hunting for our cruising vessel. I suppose there are worse things than having to go boat shopping again.
At any rate, the next few months will still be dedicated to getting settled in and trained at work. This necessarily requires the number one spot on the to-do list and once we are on regular shifts and get established in our posts we can beging to pursue to plan again will full fervor. Maybe we will discover our perfect cruising boat while we're out marina-hopping or maybe perhaps we will find we like power-boating enough to stay with it a bit longer (or perhaps fuel costs will convince us that sail-power is truly the way to go :) ) ... We will keep our options open.
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So; the weekend is upon us. Time for some house cleaning (inside and out) and maybe some time at the pool this weekend. After all, it's been a rigorous week of memorization and testing (kind of like most college students go through for four straight years). Time for some planning and exploring and relaxation (oh darn!)

Please remember that this Sunday marks the 67th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

So please accept my deepest thanks to all who've served and sacrificed. My world is a better placed because of the belief in, and the dedication to preserving freedom. I am humbled to know that there are those that fight and die for my safety and I never want to forget what they did and what they are doing.

Coincidentally it's also the day I hired on to the FAA some 24 years ago, so it's pretty easy for me to remember my anniversary.