Geeks In Action

The whole family went for a bike ride today. We stayed within a couple miles of home but did try out new routes. We went down a dirt road that ended at a gate that was locked and there was a no trespassing sign. Vegetation was pretty thick around the road and there was some watery areas so I kept an eye out for snakes. We rode back up out of there and stopped by one of the large ponds near Wycliffe so the kids could get a drink and have a snack. We brought water and granola bars.

I stopped near some grates over pipes into the pond so we could walk out on them and look out over the water. It looks like maybe a spot to try fishing some time. There were some holes carved into the side of the pond so we told the kids to watch their step around them. As we all walked about looking, I looked back at one of the holes and saw a very large snake coiled up. So I gathered Ingrid and the kids away from it and then we watched it for a while. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it opened it’s mouth and that led me to believe it might be a cotton mouth. I checked online and it was definitely a Florida Cottonmouth.

We walked around right by it for a few minutes before we realized it was there. It’s a cool day here (for Florida) so maybe that helped keep it from wanting to be active. From what I’ve read they are like most animals anyway and stay away from people if they can. I’m still glad nobody got bit. Once we realized it was there we were able to appreciate it from a safe distance. Pictures below – click on them for larger. I took them with my phone so that aren’t that great.

Ingrid ran the Space Coast marathon today. This was her first full marathon, she has done a half before. I’m really proud of her. She set a schedule, stuck to it as best she could (life threw a curve into the mix here and there) and she ran her race. She finished in 4:26:01. Which is pretty much exactly what she planned.

The race is held in Cocoa, along the Indian River. It’s funny because I’ve never been there before, we’ve always driven by on the 528 as we motored on ahead to Cocoa Beach. It really is very nice, right there in downtown Cocoa. There is a little area called Cocoa village that is full of cool little shops and nice restaurants. I think we’ll definitely be going back just to hang out.

The race started at 6 a.m. Ingrid wanted to be able to pick up her packet and get ready, so we left the house at 4 a.m. That meant getting up at 3:30 – a quick shower for me, getting the kids up and in the van and then hitting the road.

The kids were my responsibility and I fed them breakfast in the car once we were parked in our spot near the start of the race. We had told the kids we’d be up early, repeatedly. Hannah still looked astonished as she stepped out back to go in the garage and said to me, “The sun isn’t up yet dad!”

Once it got close to 6 the kids and I went out to watch the start. They had a real astronaut come out and he cheered everyone on. Then there was a count-down with a video of a space shuttle launch and the runners were off. There were so many people on a pretty narrow road, that we missed Ingrid. Then we went to the van to watch a dvd until the sun came up.

The race went north for 6.5 miles or so then looped back down past the start. We waited and saw Ingrid go by as she was heading down into the second half of the race. She high-fived the kids and looked really good. After she went by we went over to the park and so the kids could swing and play on the toys. They were cold but a little running around took care of that. I had a bunch of snack crackers to help pass the time too – they took a couple little snack breaks.

We hung out there and at another part of the park where the finish was. When it got closer for Ingrid to come in – we went to a spot coming into the finish and cheered Ingrid on when she came into view. It was a really great day. A storm front was moving in – and we hit some heavy rain on the drive home, but everything was perfect for the race. Pretty nice.

The space theme was everywhere. The race volunteers wore orange or blue jump suits that looked like those the astronauts where. There were models and all kinds of cool posters of NASA stuff. There was also a costume contest with someone dressed as the shuttle, another as an astronaut and a number of Star Wars themed entries. The kids loved it when they saw Darth Vader running in the race.

So I thought I was going to become a CitiBank customer but now it looks like it is going to be Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo is who I banked with in Arizona, but when we moved to Orlando, they were not an option. We went with Wachovia because they had the closest branch, among others – Orlando has the highest density of banks by far over any where else I’ve ever lived. Now it looks like we are going back to Wells Fargo – funny.

The title of the JE is courtesy of Blink 182 – not any real confusion on my part.

Something that has only happened a few times before and will in all likelihood never happen again.


Via the Orlando Sentinel Clicking on the picture will take you to a page with 6 more nice pictures by Red Huber.

Painful, but still funny. Somebody needs to slap one of those “Got Sand?” stickers on his forehead.

We just got back into Orlando today. We spent the last week in the Tampa area – Treasure Island to be exact. It was a nice, relaxing time which was just what we needed.

We spent a lot of time at the beach and the pool, took in a Rays game, visited the Florida aquarium and played a few games of Trouble. The kids took in some Disney channel, enjoying the fact that they had cable where we stayed. Ingrid and I each got to read a fluff novel, and I got to work through most of a really great book on intellectual property. Sounds boring but it really wasn’t. I’ll have a review up over at GeekBook pretty soon.

We are very fortunate to get to take the time for something like this. I also think about how nice it is to be so well off that we can just go stay somewhere, take a week off work, etc. Not everybody has that kind of luxury. I’m really thankful.

Next week the is the last of summer vacation for the kids. Then it’s back to school, so hopefully this gave them some nice summer memories. The first third of their vacation was OSP – so I think this kind of balanced it out.

We didn’t have internet access – for a week. And I lived. How about that?

There are lots of young critters running around now. I’ve been seeing a pair of sandhill cranes with a young chick quite a bit. Last night I went to work to print out our monthly newsletter and came across a pair of young raccoons near the entrance to the building. They looked like they were just kind of hanging out. They are pretty cute when they are little.

I took the pictures with my phone- which is why they are so poor. But you can click on the thumb-nails here to see them full size.