Labor Day BBQ

Labor Day BBQ

Labor Day BBQ

Labor Day BBQ

Dena and I got some new patio furniture yesterday - just in time for Labor Day. We especially like the outdoor living room idea. Although, we'll probably have to wait until summer heat passes before we use it very often.

Gaylord Palms, Orlando

Yesterday, I went to a seminar in Orlando at the Gaylord Palms. The entire middle of the hotel, something like five acres, is covered by a beautiful glass roof. I was very impressed.

This is a huge sand sculpture in the middle of the hotel. 

For scale, this humongous cookie is sitting on a plate on a legal pad. The evil bastards even dipped half of it in chocolate. That's just mean. 

The Biggest Spider in the World

Dena and I saw this spider on a walk to Safety Harbor the other day. It was at least as big as my hand and had spun a web right along the Clearwater East-West trail by our house. I thought Dena was going to jump out of her skin when she saw it.

I had a similar run-in with a big, black beastie in the garage last weekend. I'm not sure how it got into the house, after all it could have just walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. But, I don't remember that happening - I think I would have remembered that.

A Run In With The Neighbors

Dena and I just left the house for a walk and we ran into our next-door neighbors John and Susan with their 6 month old twins Jack and Wes.

Grumpy Jack and John.

Wes.

Camera Woes

Well, I've done it now. My camera is busted! I just got a new lens for the damn thing and I went to try it out (on the eve of leaving for the weekend to go up to camp) and I discovered what has been described as the BGLOD, or Blinking Green Light of Death. Of course my camera is only three months out of warranty, so I'll have to convince Nikon to repair the problem.

Office Pics

Here's a picture of my office. I brought the fisheye to work the other day and wanted to see if I could capture what I stare at for hours and hours each day.

Here's the backside. You can't really tell from this pic, but Tampa Bay is just on the other side of those trees.

New Truck

On Friday, I bought my very first brand spanking new car. I figure if I'm going to be driving a big gas guzzling truck it should be when I have such a short commute to work. Oh, and I need the four wheel drive for all the snow... of course.

Better Than Ezra Concert

Here's a really bad photo of the stage, crowd, and tent at the Better Than Ezra concert at Jannus Landing.

Dena and I went to the Better Than Ezra concert in St. Pete this past weekend. Remind me to never go to an outdoor concert in Florida during the summer. The venue was Jannus Landing, an outdoor area between apartment buildings (?), kinda like if Al's Beef in Chicago decided to put up a stage in their parking lot, sell beer, and charge admission. That's someone's back porch behind the stage in the photo. A lady came out during the opening act to water her flowers.

Summer Storm - Click the photos for a better view

I was talking on the phone when I noticed the War of the Worlds outside. I ran and grabbed my camera, tripod, and flip-flops and made my way down Cooper's Bayou park at the end of the block to see if I could figure out how to take pictures of lightning. Nikon D70 4 sec. exposure at f/3.5, 18mm, ISO400.

Three second exposure, you can see a plane in the lower left corner on its way from the Clearwater-St. Pete airport.