6:30 am Bike Ride

Got up around 0600 this morning for a bike ride with Trisha and Erin. Which is quite a feat with Heather being gone! We drove to the Tamoil gas station and rode up to Motta for a cappuccino. I intended to meet our Italian riding friends so I could give Salvo his Garmin 305 we bought for him. I figured if we parked there and rode up to Motta we'd be back around 0830. It worked, but now I feel like a slug because we only rode 10.57 miles round trip! But, we did climb the hill for a snack so it wasn't too bad.

So, now it's 10:00 am - it's too early on the east coast to call Heather. Maybe I'll go for a quick run before it gets too hot.

Bud

Happy Independence Day

I woke up this morning about 8:30 am. I got out of bed around 10:00 am.

Had some grocery shopping to do and needed a cappuccino, so I headed over to NAS 1. Ran into Art, the new First Class I'm sponsoring, and we met up at the commissary. We bought some BBQ grub and ran into a couple of shipmates who were on the way to see the Pixar film, Wall-E. But it was the premier showing on base, and I wasn't about to subject myself to that...at least not without Heather and the boys. Art and I headed back home for a couple hours.

We returned to the Land Annex at NAS 1 around 6:00 pm. I parked by the gate so I could make a speedy get-a-way after the fireworks. Grabbed a hamburger at the PW tent and then hiked over to the commissary for another cappuccino. Picked up an Astronomy and Backpacker magazine at the NEX and then went back to the car to retrieve my beach chair. Got set up on the grass next to Trisha and her girls and there I sat for two hours. I should have taken my hat off so my head could get some sun.

I guess that doesn't make much sense...I shaved my head the day Heather and the boys left for the States. I went to the barber and told him I wanted it real short. He took it all the way down to the skin. So I just went home and shaved it. We'll see how easy it is to maintain and what Heather thinks.

Soul Sacrifice took the stage and played for about an hour and a half. They're a Santana tribute band from L.A. They sounded ok. They played an instrumental version of the National Anthem. I don't think many people recognized it because we were on a military base and only a handful of us stood up and took our hats off.

The fireworks started promptly 30 minutes late at 9:30 pm. There were a couple of really low ones and a few that exploded on the ground which caused a couple of brush fires all around. I was glad the car was by the gate...I made my escape right away.

Grabbed a glass of wine when I got home and called Heather. We'll see if she blogs soon. Then I rode my skateboard over to Trisha's to get the pictures of the fire off her camera.

Happy 4th,

Bud

"Navy Juliet Whiskey Three One Four....

...departure, RADAR contact, climb and maintain one three thousand, leaving two thousand turn left on course."

Heather and the boys left for Rota, Spain just a few minutes ago. :-( They are going to try and fly Space-A to Delaware and then rent a car to drive up and visit her Dad in New Hampshire for a few weeks. I'm sure they're having a good time on their very first Space-A flight in the back of a C-130 (big, hot, stinky Navy cargo plane!)

What am I supposed to do for three weeks all by my self?

Ciao,

Bud

P.S. Sssshhhhh! Whoever's viewing our blog from New Hampshire, keep quiet...it's supposed to be a surprise to Heather's dad.

I'm blogging from work!

This is fun.  I'm blogging from work...and it looks like I'm working!  But I have nothing to blog about.

Ciao,

Bud

Smart People

We left the kids home and went to a movie...."Smart People" with Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker. What a crappy movie! Not just because it was a sort-of chick flick, but it just wasn't all that. Maybe I'm not smart enough. Heather took Briana and the boys to the pool today. Then we had a homeschool group meeting. Heather got voted out of office - she was President - but she's good with that. She's a busy lady...
Ciao,
Bud

$8.94 a gallon

That's what it works out to here in Sicily. Although we don't buy gas by the gallon, but by the liter. And, as NATO forces stationed in Italy, we get to buy gas coupons on base to use at the pumps. We paid $236 for 200 liters of gas coupons. Compare that to $152 for 200 liters a year and a half ago when we moved here...

Heather filled up today with 50 liters. When you do the math, it works out to 13.21 gallons. The total price was €76,15 converted to dollars is $118.10. That works out to $8.94 a gallon for gas here in Italy. The only SUV's are owned by Americans who bring them over from the States. But, since we get to use the tax-free coupons, we really only paid about $59 to fill up vs. $118.


Pay no attention to the photo in the upper right. That's just a reminder of what gas prices where somewhere in the mid-west on October 14, 2006 - less than 2 years ago!

I is a blog writing person

Holy moley! I haven't blogged since April?!?!?! How am I supposed to remember everything that happened since then?

Well, my Dad and step-Mom came out to visit. My Dad is retired Navy so they flew out Space-A from Ohio non-stop to Sicily on a C-5! Dad rented a car and we drove them around the island to a few places. Mostly, we just enjoyed seeing them since it's been about a year and a half. Nick and Tom were glad to see them, also. They stayed four days and then went to Austria and Scotland before going home to the States.

We've been making quite a few bike rides lately - and dragging Nick along for a few. He's working on his Cycling Merit Badge for Boy Scouts. There's a triathlon club that meets every Wednesday at 5:00 pm. We usually do around 30 miles. Also, we've met three Italians who ride every Sunday morning. We meet them at a gas station nearby and ride around 30 miles with them as well. They didn't show up this morning, but we had some friends with us, so we rode up to the town of Motta for a granita and a brioce. Heather and the boys are at the beach with them now.

Our friend Trisha has gone to the states for a conference and her 10 yo daughter is staying with us this week. She's taking Tom's room and has threatened to redecorate it into a pink, girly nightmare. She mentioned something about spraying perfume as well...

The boys played baseball on base with the MWR league this year. The first half of the year all the teams were playing Little League rules (leading off, stealing home, etc.) Halfway through the season (so after 3 games) the league changed the rules. They don't keep score, they can't steal home, no leading off...

So, I was very frustrated. I looked up the Little League website and tracked down the district office in Poland who referred me to an organization in the nearby town of Paterno. They have a great program there with a AAA team (The Warriors) that plays all over Italy. There are three Americans who play on the AAA team that help coach the Little League. So , after the last game of the MWR league, we went to Warrior Field. The Little League coach is an assistant coach with the AAA team. They signed the boys up and gave them new hats! So, they practice M-W-F at 9:00 am every week. If they have enough boys, they will practice all summer before the fall tournament season. How cool is that gonna be?!?!!?

I'm sure I'm missing all kinds of stuff, but that's all I can think of for now.
Ciao