Back and Forth Across the Pond

The trip home from England was long. We were connecting in Atlanta, so it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 8.5 to 9 hours just for the first leg. Because Steve likes to sit on the aisle, we don't normally have a window seat. But this plane's configuration was 2-3-2, so we had an aisle and a window. Plus, we had an exit row. So it was comfortable. At one point during the flight, I looked out the window and saw this: I don't normally see other planes in the sky, so I thought this was pretty neat. I knew it was a safe distance away. I decided to try and zoom in on it with my camera. It looks like it's another Delta jet from the tail-fin coloring. We were an hour or so out of Atlanta at this point, so that would make sense. Atlanta's a Delta hub. The plane paralleled us for awhile, gradually overtaking us and disappearing. Since I had my camera out, I figured I'd take some aerial shots. Much of our trip was above thick cloud cover. Since we were an exit row, we ...

Parking fees at Orlando International Airport are stupidly high. When you're gone for a few weeks, like we were going to be, they can break the bank. After doing some research, I determined it was actually cheaper to rent a car each way than it was to park our vehicle at satellite parking. So we arranged a couple of car rentals and headed down to Orlando the night before our early-morning departure for New York and then England. I thought it would be fun to travel down in style, so we rented a convertible. Steve phoned to tell me he was on Bondarenko, so I went out with the camera to capture his arrival. I was hoping we would get a Mustang. But, well, it just looks out of place out here, doesn't it? Yes, definitely out of place. But darn pretty, too. Doesn't Steve just emote cool? We quickly discovered the convertible's chief downside: Lack of room. Because the soft top has to go somewhere when it's down, this is all the storage space you get in the boot. We didn...

There's little point in having a blog to keep folks up-to-date when you don't keep it updated! It's been over three weeks since I posted. That GTA news I just added isn't really news, anymore. I found out two weeks ago. News isn't the only thing I'm neglecting. I've not done much with the hundreds of photos I have accumulated from our recent trip, either. So I'm starting to remedy that situation now . . . starting with this blog. Please proceed to the next two entries (and if they're not there, it's because I'm still writing them!)

Not only did I get into the history program, I am also a GTA (Graduate Teaching Assistant)! I'll spend my first year learning how to teach, and then I will conduct one of the reading portions of the Freshman Core history course. Which means I'll be teaching classes on Fridays! I get a tuition waiver, plus a stipend. This is awesome!

I received an email this morning from the history graduate program advisor at the University of North Florida . . . I've been accepted! I start classes in the fall and begin working toward my Master of Arts degree. I'm very excited and relieved. It's been a long, hard road to grad school. I'm just glad I've been accepted and the limbo is over.

We have been planning to buy a new barbecue for a few months. Since Steve is the one reponsible for any and all outdoor grilling, the decision on whether to go gas or charcoal was entirely his. He was torn. He prefers the taste of food cooked over a charcoal grill, but he was enticed by the convenience and versatility of a gas grill. He finally decided to go for a gas grill, figuring we can get that grilled taste with the help of hictory or mesquite chips. After a lot of reconnaisance work, we finally settled on a grill sold at Target. It had the features we wanted and was under the amount of money we wanted to spend! Steve spend the late afternoon Sunday putting the grill together. The instructions claimed it would take less than an hour, but it took probably close to 90 minutes to two hours. I imagine having the battery die on Steve's screwdriver halfway through the process didn't help. As soon as it was built, Steve gave it a test run by cooking his dinner on it. Here he is ...