Mid October Update

Greetings...

Sorry for the long absense. I haven't updated since mid August, for multiple reasons. And, I won't be able to post again until the middle of November.

Since mid August, I've been away on a couple of trips. I went home to Santa Barbara to help out on the Santa Barbara Triathlons. I also took a road trip out the Kalgoorlie in the Western Australia Gold Fields for the Kalgoorlie Cup, a horse race out there.

Right now I am getting ready to leave to join my brother on his sailboat, the S/V Sandpiper, in Vanuatu in the South Pacific. I am going to crew with him and his wife on a voyage across the Coral Sea to Queensland Australia. So, I won't be around any Internet access for a few weeks.

Before I left for California, I broke down and bought myself something that I've wanted for years and year. A good camera. I've never taken a lot of photos in the past because I do not like the images produces with your average point-n-shoot camera. I've been lusting over the new generation of Digital SLR's from Canon and Nikon since they first hit the market in the late 1990's.

So I bought myself a Canon 30D... a semi-professional 8MP Digital SLR. What a sweet camera. It takes amazing pictures. So I have been spending a lot of my free time learning how to use it. I created an online photo gallery at Fotki. Click here to go to my new photo gallery. I'm really happy with this purchase. I know that it will last me for years and allow me to take good photos for the rest of my life.

I also had a cancer scare. I was very sick in September and was diagnosed with a strong possiblity of prostate cancer. I've been getting treatment for the last few weeks with some powerful meds, which have left me very tired. So I have not had a lot of energy at the end of the day. The good news that the it looks like it won't be cancer, but instead a serious infection of the urinary tract system. Same symptoms. I will know for sure when I get back after the boat trip and get some more tests done. But after three weeks of treatments I feel a lot better, stopped bleeding, and the pain has dropped significantly.

I've also been super busy getting ready for this sailing trip, trying to get some work projects put to bed. I've been collecting, organizing, and burning hundreds of gigabytyes digital media for Tom and Amy to enjoy while on the boat. That has taken more time than I anticipated. It should keep them entertained for a good six months at sea!

So until I get back from my voyage, please check out my photo gallaries. I posted photos from the trip to Santa Barbara, the trip out to Kalgoorlie, my trip out to Uluru earlier this year, and some other misc. albums.