Flightless!

Who says penguins are flightless! This little penguin rather enjoys jetting around various parts of the civilized world. I grew up in little single engine airplanes and have flown literally hundreds of hours in low and slow flying aircraft. But this, this was different. I had never been in a helicopter before. I finally had the opportunity to take a ride with a scenic view of the Kennedy Space Center. Frankly I wouldn’t have cared if the view had been of a garbage dump; the opportunity to ride in a helicopter was enough for me to say yes and plunk down about $11 a minute. The take off was gentle and really took me by surprise. There was a slight increase in noise, a very slight vibration. We levitated up, rotated and floated over the hedge and the street (it was really quite magic and I am pretty jaded.) Within seconds we were a couple hundred feet in the air, passing over buildings and out over the Indian River. We went east along a causeway, climbing to about 3400 feet, turned north for a spectacular view of the Space Center including the shuttle launch pads and three mile long shuttle landing strip. We could see cruise ships docked in the harbor 20 miles away (great day for flying.) We turned back toward the mainland and worked our way back south reaching speeds of nearly 150 miles per hour (the red line speed for the little chopper.) We came in low and fast over the waters edge with the tops of the pine trees swaying below us, leveled out and settled even more gently then we had ascended into a landing zone barely larger then an SUV. It was wonderful. Daddy needs to win the Power-Ball so I can travel like this all the time. This is what flying was suppose to be like.

TR

Swimwear

Penguins don’t have much of an issue with swimwear, it just happens. I am amazed by the fuss that humans make. There seems to be great confusion about how much swimwear should reveal. The same men that ogle to no end women in the tiniest bikinis; are the same men that wear the baggiest trunks they can find and sneer at any man that wears a swimsuit that gives any hint of the gender of the wearer. Of course with a penguin it takes an MRI to tell our gender from the outside. For years zoo keepers relied on waiting for mating season and then labeling as female all of the penguins with muddy foot prints on their backs, but that method is proving to be only about 95% effective (imagine the surprise.) If humans would just grow water resistant feathers, or loose some of their weird hang-ups about gender this would all be so much easier.

TR

So Many Beaches

So Many Beaches, so little time.

TR

The Secret to Living Here

Merit commented that the secret to living here was being someplace else at least once a month. I saw this sign in a shop window in Daytona Beach last week and though what a sensible philosphy. This shop must be run by the same people who ran the shoe store in Italy that I bought a pair of boots at; I went back about three times to find them open.

Live, Love, Enjoy!

TR and DG

Penguin in a Beer Wasteland

Warning to all hop consumers, Daytona Beach is a real beer wasteland. The German's wouldn't use this stuff to wash a dog dish out with. The bartender had no idea what a "Seattle Manhattan" was, bourbon wasteland as well. What is a bird to do?

TR

Tough Assignmnet

We are checked in and ready for the weeks work. If you have to put in a 70 hour week, this is not a bad place to do it.

TR

Back to Work

We are headed out to work as a trainer on a week long training. Six days, 10 and 12 hours a day. Lots of stress and strain with new people struggling with a very challenging project for a whole week. One compensating factor is that the training is at a very nice hotel, on the beach in Daytona Beach where the predicted high on Saturday is 87 degrees. It snowed here last weekend!

We are uncertain of internet access during the 10 day trip, so please bear with us, postings will follow when we have access.

TR and DG

Great Buildings Are Everywhere

This is the new building at the Denver Art Museum. The art cetner is just around the corner from the Mint and in the shadow the the mile high Capital. It is connected to the old building that can best be described as a modern interperation of a mid-evil castle. The museum has a very nice collection of modern art, asian art, and native american art. It is very worth the visit. There are new loft style condos for sale next to the new buildings, but the winters are so cold in Denver.

TR

Wouldn’t it be easier if they fit in his pocket?

We were driving home the other afternoon when we spotted this trailer filled with life size critters. Now we know all about taking your special little friends with you as you travel, but a whole trailer full going down the road at 65 miles an hour is a bit much. Wouldn’t it be easier if he had pocket sized versions to travel with?

TR