GLASS OFF THE BEACH

One thing that amazes me is how few people can actually read any more. It's evident at the beach every day with many beach goers bringing their bottles of beer and liquor and drinking from them in plain sight. One thing a lot of these beach goers aren't expecting though is to see the Miami Beach police out patrolling for just this such of thing. Here's a shot of one doing his best to keep the beach glass free. And the fines aren't cheap.............$50 per BOTTLE, whether empty or full. At least ONE good thing is coming from this, and that's a glass free environment which is needed when everyone is running around barefooted. Now if they could just get rid of the smoking on the beach..............

BEACH DAY IN HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA!!!

Today Maria, Jimmy, and I decided to go to the beach here in Hollywood, FL. What an absolutely GORGEOUS day for the beach! The water was wonderful, the beach wasn't crowded, and a great time was had by all. It's so nice having a beach only 4 minutes from where we live. And the guys I work with up in Newark wonder why I want to commute? Pah-leez!!! ;-)

CLOUD SHADOW

Here's a view from the cockpit of what we see right before we fly through a cloud. Sometimes it's hard to get a shot like this due to the fact that the camera has nothing to focus on. But.....every now and then I get lucky and a picture like this pops up. That's one of the neat things about being up front..........the view we have. Pretty cool, isn't it?

BEACH PARROTS!!!

While walking down the beach broad walk in Hollywood today, I heard the familiar squawk of a few Quaker parrots up in the trees. I looked up and saw this guy working on his new home. Their was another parrot in the nest behind him giving orders (had to be a female because she wouldn't stop squawking).........ahhhh, to be the man of the house. LOL

SUN SHOWER!!

Well, I finally got back home from being on the road for four days. Went to Puerto Rico, Dallas, and Tampa. Long trip, but I got through it okay.......... ;-) Departing Tampa (TPA) last night, we saw this incredible blast of sunlight coming through the clouds. It was an awesome sight, and looked just like a "sun shower". Too bad their was a nice cell phone tower that decided to show up in the photo. Oh well, I think it's a great shot anyway.

I MISS SXM!!!

Well, as many on this blog know, St Maarten (SXM), is one of my favorite places in the world. The people are friendly, the beaches are nice, the food is good, the climate is GREAT, and it has to be one of the friendliest places I've ever been. So, I decided to put up another photo I took of a plane landing there. How cool is this? From what I understand, it's one of the only places in the world where a plane this size can literally fly 20 feet or so above your head. It really does take your breath away! Hope to get back there again SOON!!!

KIDS WITH BRACES

Jimmy and Adriana finally have braces on..........and here's the proof! So now we'll have good looking kids with good looking teeth!!! Guess I was lucky as I've never had to wear braces.

FUN AT THE BEACH TODAY

Well, Maria, myself, Jimmy, Adriana, and a friend of ours from Paris, Isabella, went to the beach today. It was absolutely gorgeous. I just love living in such a wonderful part of the USA. No shoveling snow, no high heating bills, no state income tax, and great weather 99% of the time. Can you blame me for living in such a neat place?

YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD FOR THE BEACH!!!

When Maria and I went to the beach the other day (the day I got the parking ticket .....which has subsequently been "forgiven" so I don't have to pay it!!! Now I can go enjoy Hollywood beach again!!!), I saw this cute photo opportunity. Seems like you're never too old to go to the beach. Sweet!

HOW TO FIND YOUR SPOT AT THE BEACH

How often have you gone to the beach, went for a long walk, and then returned only to look for your "parking spot" where you left all your belongings for the next half hour? Well, it seems this beach goer found the perfect "marking apparatus" for their stuff. Easy to see, easy to carry, one of a kind, and I don't think anyone would walk off with this. Kinda funny, eh???? ;-)

WAVES AT HOBO BEACH

During my last trip, my crew and I took a ride over to Hobo Beach in Aguadilla, PR (BQN). One part of the beach has some incredible waves and compressed air shooting water/waves out 100 feet or so. It's really pretty amazing to watch the waves shoot out so far. In this photo, I'm approximately 50 feet above the water, and you can see how high it's going at this point. Beautiful!!!

NIAGARA FALLS

The other day while flying out of Newark (EWR), to Toronto (YYZ), we had to fly at 10,000 feet to make an on-time departure due to thunderstorms in the area. Even though we didn't see any of the storms, air traffic control let us go at the lower level to get us out. It was a nice little sight seeing trip, and here's a shot of Niagara Falls I was able to take when we flew past Buffalo, NY. One of these days I'm going to have to go look at this beautiful waterfall up close. Incredible, isn't it?

MONSTER AIRBUS 380 IN TORONTO

During my last trip, I finally got to see the world's largest passenger airplane, the Airbus 380. This plane is HUGE as you can see from the planes parked beside it. Only a few airports in the USA are large enough to handle this monster. Of course, an OIL nation is one of the first to be flying this behemoth. I think it'd be hard to fly a plane that takes one to two hours to board as the lavatory's would need to be cleaned before you even left the gate. ;-) , on the ramp in Toronto (YYZ).

MARIA AT THE BEACH

Today Maria and I decided to go to Hollywood Beach which is only a 5 minute drive from my condo. It was absolutely GORGEOUS at the beach.......until we went and found a parking ticket on my car for $30. It seems we parked in a "Beach Patrol" spot that is never used by ANYONE, not to mention the "Beach Patrol" (and it is located BETWEEN other parking spots, so it catches a LOT of so-called "illegally" parked cars) . I have now decided that I will spend my money and time at South Beach since they seem to be more "people friendly" than Hollywood will EVER be. As much as I love the little town of Hollywood, Florida, where I live, the city planners and directors have so much money for the "parking police" that they've run quite a few locals off with their obsession of ticketing overdue cars, and now I'll join them in patronizing Miami, instead of Hollywood. I hope the parking attendant is proud of her new accomplishment. Sad, isn't it?

MY OFFICE AT NIGHT

I've done quite a bit of night flying lately, so I decided to take a shot of my "office" at night for everyone to see. I'm flying in a B737-900ER (extended range) and the First Officer said he'd watch the controls so I could take a few pictures. Pretty neat, eh? Night flying is so calming..........and the sights are incredible. Lightning presents us with quite a few visual "shows", and of course the sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking. I think being a pilot was a wise choice for me!

I'VE WAITED 51 YEARS FOR THIS!!!

Well, yesterday, August 5th, was my 51st birthday. Yep, I had to wait 51 years for this day to arrive.........and I got to work ALL day long. Hmmmmm, what's wrong with THAT???? :-) Anyways, I had a great birthday and flew with some wonderful crews. On the flight from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (BQN) to Newark (EWR), one of the flight attendants, Nadia Bravo, brought a brownie with a candle up for me. Was pretty neat! Maria got me a laptop, my mom gave me a GPS, and my sister and brother some well needed $$$, and I also got several texts and calls from friends. Thanks for remembering me everyone!! Here's to another 51 years!!