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adventures / friends / video / Wednesday — Comments Off
8
Apr 15

Travel day

Breakfast at the Barbecue House. Delicious. And then we loaded the car with a few bags and drove to the airport, where all of the parking lots were full. Having congratulated ourselves for being early for a change now we were feeling the traditional airport stress. So we booked an off-property spot, because the 21st century has a way of overcoming minor difficulties on the move. Literally, the bill was paid over the phone as we pulled into the lot.

Caught the shuttle to the airport. Went through security. Went through security again, because the indifferent folks wearing blue shirts at the Atlanta airport possess a keen attention to detail.

We flew out of the new terminal and into Tampa, which forever feels like a new city. We took an Uber ride to the hotel. (My first Uber!) It was fine, nice guy, clean car, pleasant chat. That was also paid for over the phone, and so it was almost like it never happened. He was the friend-of-a-friend who also worked at an art shop and had a Disney past who had nothing to do that afternoon and was happy to take a ride. Or so it seemed. He did get paid, after all.

Checked in at the hotel. Went up to the 11th floor and were amused by our view. On the opposite side of the hotel you get the canal. Over here, the Embassy Suites and a parking deck. I shot this video, a Hyperlapse edited on my phone and mixed with a tune I made on my iPad.

We met up with our friends from the conference, swell folks from around the region that we don’t get to see enough, but enjoy too much.

We walked to a place downtown offering high end pub food. I hadn’t previously known that was a niche. Anyway, it was a lovely time with nice, smart, funny people. We walked by to the hotel and I’m going to either read or grade myself to sleep.

adventures / Alabama / Auburn / video / weekend — Comments Off
4
Apr 15

Flipping for gymnastics

Tonight was the NCAA Regional gymnastics meet. There were six teams, with the top two advancing to the NCAA Finals in Texas later this month.

I was going to shoot a whole bunch of video, but the network is less than good and the cell system finds itself lacking whenever there are more than eight phones vying for attention. So I went 20th century and watched the event.

Alabama was the highest ranked team coming into the meet, and they should be. Auburn, ranked eighth in the nation, was the second seed. And those two big teams slugged it out throughout the night. It was never in any real doubt, and, even as Auburn struggled early, they kept pressing Alabama. At the end of the night the two top 10 teams each punched their tickets to Texas.

The Tigers set a school record for an NCAA Regional score – and didn’t even hit all of their routines. Hopefully that is promising as they go forward. Auburn earned their way to the national finals, just their fourth appearance all time and their first since 2003.

Here is one video, quick shots of Bri Guy and Abby Milliet on bars for Auburn.

I shot this on my phone, from across the arena, and edited it in the iPhone iMovie app. I also just discovered that app now has a zoom feature. So that’s shot from across the building and then zoomed in. Not bad, huh?

adventures / photo / triathlon / weekend — Comments Off
29
Mar 15

Super-sprint triathlon

The local bike shop — and a host of others, but let’s just say the bike shop guys because they made it go and that’s how we got involved — held a weekend of triathlons. Yesterday was a kid’s triathlon of varying distances based on age.

Today was a super sprint triathlon, a short distance race. The idea was that it would be a good race for people interested in trying a triathlon for the first time or for people getting a start on their tri season.

The distances were a 400-meter swim, an 11-mile ride and a two-mile run. Since I don’t sprint, and since I’m not super, I did not race. We did, however volunteer. It was cold and it is March, but the swim was indoors:

Not a bad day when you get to swim beneath all of those banners in the same pool where champions and All-Americans and Olympians have kicked and stroked.

I’ve never volunteered at a triathlon. I got four jobs. I made a few announcements over a PA system. I collected towels, because the race organizers offered them for the cool temperatures. I had pointed runners to the proper exit out of the transition area after their bike ride and I watched for cars near the end of the race.

Also, I got to watch a lot of great athletes, including our friend Victoria, who was one of those first time triathletes. It was a lot of great fun. We got to be outside for the nicer part of the day and I didn’t have to do anything more than stand and talk in a loud voice.

So, naturally, I took a nap.

adventures / family / history / memories / photo / site / weekend — Comments Off
28
Mar 15

A day in Georgia

Today we were at the New Hope memorial for Southern 242 – Georgia’s largest aviation disaster.

The Southern 242 committee just unveiled their upcoming memorial sculpture.

Around the pedestal, the committee says, will be the names of the 72 fatalities and 22 survivors of the 1977 crash.

A terrible storm, bad radar brought on by the storm, a bad forecast, complete systems failure on the plane and human error on the ground led to the crash. The pilots, former military aviators, then steering a glider, desperately attempted the unprecedented: landing a DC9 on a country road. Witnesses on the ground say Capt. William McKenzie and co-pilot Lyman Keele, with 23,000 flight hours between them, put their front wheel on the center line of the two-lane road. But for power poles. The wings hit poles, snapped trees and spun the plane out of control.

When the plane came to rest, emergency workers couldn’t get to the site for the debris. Survivors were carried through that house, into the backyard, through the woods and to a parallel road. Everyone that made it into that house and out the back door survived.

At the memorial, they prayed and sang and rang bells for the dead. Over the years it has turned into a reunion. I wrote about all of this a few years ago.

We had a late lunch here, a nearby north Georgia barbecue joint that had good brisket.

And then in walked this guy:

Isn’t that a great photo?

adventures / Auburn / baseball / Friday / I do not know what is happening. / photo / swimming — Comments Off
20
Mar 15

Your typical perfect Friday

This morning we went to the Barbecue House for breakfast. I had the BLT with egg and cheese and a side of hash browns. It was delicious.

I found another bookstore and, finally, the AP Stylebook. It only took four stores, but I have a new book with the latest entries and misuse of the more than/over construction. There will be a new book any day now, of course.

We hit the pool. It was not my best day between the lane lines. My shoulder hurt. But The Yankee gave me some good tips on how to improve my wonderfully terrible form. Only one of the tips she gave me threatened to drown me. I did not swim far, but it was quality. Or so I’m telling myself.

We stopped by a friend’s house. Twice, actually. We were there to check on cats. We were about 15 feet short of pulling into the driveway when we realized we did not have the house key. So we went back home to get the keys, and then back to the friend’s house. These are some of her flowers, because it had rained, and drops make the flowers pop:

We went to the baseball game and watched Auburn beat the top-five ranked Vanderbilt 6-4. It was an exciting game and something of a surprising win. Then we had pizza at Mellow Mushroom, which was delicious. Tomorrow there’s a doubleheader.