The Blog is Back!!!!!!

I decided to continue writing in my blog because I now have Dragon Naturally Speaking. It's a program that allows me to type without having to touch the keyboard. All I do is talk into the microphone, and the program automatically writes what I am saying. It is the coolest thing ever. I cannot believe how fast I can type because I don't have to worry about looking at the keyboard while I’m typing. All I have to do is talk as fast as I want, and it types as I'm talking. So now will have long, rambling, and boring blogs, instead of short, rambling, and boring blogs. We’ll see how it works. This is the first time I have used the program, so I am not good at it yet.

We will write blog entries but never seem to be able to post them, and so the last six blog entries are brand-new. Most of them have pictures, so just follow the delaying to my Picasa website and my homepage. if you have some time, check them out.

Research conference in Santa Barbara

Few weeks ago I was in Santa Barbara for research conference called Isoscapes 2008 where we learned about GIS and isotope-based models. It was at hotel on the beach. I got to see seveal of my old colleagues from Arizona and Wyoming. Also, I got a lot of good advice on my Colorado project where I am developing a model to calculate the isotopic composition of soil-respired CO₂.

After the conference was over, Jarom came up to visit me in Santa Barbara. We went to the beach, then we took a little hike through the hills surrounding Santa Barbara. It was your typical California hike, in that there was several people and surrounded by houses. However, the area was pretty and I saw three new species of birds. That night we went to Hollywood to see the Chinese theater where the Academy Awards are held. It was pretty cool because I have never been to Hollywood before.

Photos are coming!

Spring Break

I guess I can say a little bit about spring break now. Dad arrived the day before Joe, so we went to look for manatees in the canals near the university. I have only seen four manatees in Florida, but I thought that we could at least go and try to find one. To my surprise, we actually found three manatees, two cows and one calf. It was so easy to find these manatees that Dad thought that it was simply an every day occurrence. Also, just by turn of good luck I found a camping spot at Bahia Honda in the Florida Keys (Pictures on my webpage and on Picasa). It is really difficult to find a camping spot at any time of the year there, but it appears that someone canceled their reservation, and I happened to be online at the same time and reserved the spot. I was excited to go back because I had not gone there since September when Patricia went with me. We went to the same beach we had gone to before, but this time the water was choppy instead of the usual calm and beach was covered with seagrass, which was about 2 feet thick and probably 150 feet wide. I had never seen the beach like this before, so I guess everything is not perfect in paradise.

Of course, none of us except for Dad wore any sunscreen, so everyone was burned especially Joe. Joe was so excited to be in the sun after being in Seattle with no sun for several months that he wanted to soak as much sun as possible. He was burned from his head all the way down to his feet.

Next day we went to other side of the key, which was rocky and full of grass beds (fortunately no sea grass was washed up on the shore). Along the side of the beach runs a deep channel (visible in the Picasa photos). I never liked this beach much because of the rocks and grass beds. Patricia and I went snorkeling in deeper water in the channel. We were looking for fish and rays because we saw 2 large eagle rays (6 to 8 feet wide and about 3 to 4 feet long). (I put pictures of the rays on Picaca.) The tide was going in the direction of the channel, so it was very easy to swim further into it. The whole time that I was swimming in the channel where the water was probably about 20 to 25 feet deep, I had the feeling that something was behind me. I have already seen 2 sharks while fishing on the other side of the island, so I know that they are around. In addition, several people had alreeady said that they have seen sharks in the channel. Finally the thought of sharks started to really bug me, so I decided to get Patricia and leave the channel. Afterwords, I thought: ‘Why am I so scared of sharks when there were no sharks around us?’ Once on shore the dive master said that the channel is so full of bull sharks that he would not swim there. The day before he was swimming close to the channel, and a bull shark came close to him to check him out. Now I know why I was thinking that there is something behind me because there probably was! Patricia said later that she has no fear of sharks and was purposely going there to look for them. I don't believe that for one second because she's scared to death of little bugs, let alone sharks.

Later Joe and I went snorkeling in the shallow water on the rocky beach that is full of seagrass with no expectations of seeing any animals. However, the rocky shallows were full of fish, lobsters, sponges, sea urchins, anenomes, and many other little creatures. I couldn't believe how many animals were in the shallow water of only about 2-3 feet deep. We saw so many beautiful reef fishes and about 20 lobsters. Now I have to go back during lobster season to catch lobsters to eat. We saw a black sea urchins that were over a foot in diameter, and sponges that were about 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide.

After leaving the beach, we decided to go to Key West. Key West is the the key furthest from mainland Florida and the largest city in the Keys. We didn't stay there very long because it is very touristy, and none of us were too excited about doing the tourist thing. We stayed just long enough for Joe to get some gifts for his kids and Sam. At least now Patricia, Dad, and Joe can say that they've been to Key West because there really isn't anything special, unless you like clubs and tourist traps.

The next day was Sunday so we went to church where everybody were so amazed at how tall Dad and Joe were. After church we decided to go to Crandon Park on Key Biscayne and where there are a lot of iguanas. Unfortunately, we arrived in the evening when the iguanas were already sleeping. We found a few of the iguanas sleeping in branches overhanging the water. Dad had the bright idea of scaring the iguanas out of the trees and into the water by climbing the tree and jumping on the branches, and the rest of us were supposed to take pictures of the iguanas as they jumped from the branches into the water. But we were too busy taking pictures of Dad jumping around in the trees. It was quite the sight.

The next day we went to Fakahatchee National Park and Loop Road in big Cypress National Forest. We were looking for wild orchids, but there weren’t any good trails to walk on. We couldn’t see off the trail for more than a few feet because of the dense vegetation. In the end, we saw two species of orchids (I put pictures of the vanilla orchid and African spotted orchid on Picaca). Because it was so difficult to see anything through the thick vegetation, I decided to take a them to Loop Road. I knew Loop Road would produce a lot of animals, especially alligators. And as I expected Loop Road did not disappoint us. We saw an otter catch and eat six fish in front of us, at least 20 alligators, numerous birds, and one whitetail.

We stopped at a small ponds along the road that had alligators. There were eight alligators between 5 and 9 feet long in this small pond of about 30' x 20' long. Dad started throwing crackers to the alligators to eat, and surprisingly the alligators came really close to where we were standing to eat the crackers. (To see pictures of the alligators that we were feeding just look at Joe's pictures on Picasa.) Even though it looks like we were really close to those alligators and that we were in a very dangerous position, it is not as dangerous and scary as it looks.

We had a lot of fun seeing animals, swimming, and spending time on the beach. Both Patricia and I enjoyed having Dad and Joe here. So the invitation is open for anyone else who wants to come and visit us. Just remember that there is no place like Florida in the United States. If you want to get a personal tour of South Florida and all the interesting things that are here, you have to come in the next few years.

Are you all ready for the Derby??

I hope you are all planning to watch the Kentucky Derby this year because Aunt Sandra has a horse in the Derby this year!! (if you want more information check out my webpage.) His name is Gayego and he has never placed worse than the second and his five career starts and has earned more than $725,000. He is one to stakes races including the $1 million Arkansas Derby G2, which has produced four champions in the last four winners. Recent winners include Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, Lawyer Ron, and the last year's Horse of the Year, Curlin, so for good reason and we should be excited about the prospects of having a Kentucky Derby winner this year. Gayego is the son of a sprinter, so he has never been considered a serious prospect for a classic race. However, he keeps winning races, even though each race is longer than the previous, and the Arkansas Derby, which was his last race, was nine furlongs. I think he has shown that he is capable of outrunning his pedigree. This is Aunt Sandra's sixth Derby starter, but she is never had a horse place in the Derby. Everyone keep your fingers crossed!

Bill Baggs Park

Bill Baggs State Park is a small park located on the south end of Key Biscayne, and is well-known for its beach. We went there last Saturday afternoon because Patricia had never been there and it is only a few miles from my house. One of the really cool parts of the park is that it has a very tall lighthouse that is well preserved. From the top of the lighthouse you can see Key Biscayne, Miami, and the surrounding Biscayne Bay. By the time we got there it was already late afternoon so we just went up to the top of the lighthouse to take pictures of the surrounding area and then will hike on the future else they have through the hammock (native tropical hardwood forests). I put pictures of both Fairchild Gardens and Bill Baggs State Park on both my webpage and on Picasa, so you can go there to check them out.

Fairchild Gardens

Like other big cities Miami is a concrete jungle, so thank goodness that there are botanical gardens to go to get away from the city. The largest botanical Garden in Miami is called the Fairchild Gardens and is full of tropical vegetation, ponds, greenhouses, and places to sit and relax. The garden is one of the best Gardens that I have seen. My favorite part is the green houses that are full of orchids, bromeliads, and ferns. The greenhouse is arranged like a large terrarium that you can enter instead of just looking from the outside.(I put pictures of the garden on my websites under Fairchild Gardens and a few pictures on Picasa.) I bought an ice cream made of black sapote fruit that tasted just like chocolate! I was so disappointed that something that looks so good could taste so bad. I ate more of it trying to convince myself that it was not chocolate, while Patricia who loves chocolate was trying to convince yourself that it really tasted like chocolate. If you get a chance to eat black sapote ice cream, you'll be so surprised that it is not chocolate. We have a membership and the garden is close to my house so we can easily go there for a few hours just to relax and get away from the city. At the garden they always have different activities going on such as the bromeliad show on the weekend that we went. Several famous artists, especially outdoor or sculpture artists, place exhibits in the Gardens. Right now Chulully has an exhibit of glassworks which is basically big piles of glass polluting the garden. I do not understand why people like Chulully because it just makes the guard and uglier because it just clashes with the vegetation and the natural beauty. However, the exhibit has been so popular that it has been extended three times.

Spring break 2008 pics are upload!

Pictures from this years spring break 2008 are up on picasa. It was so much fun. I would make more comments on the trip and what is happening, but I won't.

I have carpal tunnel syndrome so bad in both of my hands and wrists that I can barely tolerate it. I will see the doctor tomorrow and see what can be done. My braces so longer control the problem. I'm concerned because it is starting to affect my motor skills, which is potentially irreversible. I now will not use my computer for anything outside of work, and I am trying to reduce computer use as much as possible at work. We'll see what happens.