Merry Christmas 2007

40 year old Russian bi-plane? Sure, why not. More on that later.

I took some time to look back on the year in my blog before writing this and what comes to my mind is that the year has been a journey. It has been a good year. If I am being honest with myself, I would also say it takes a lot for me to say that from where I stand now because it has not been easy. The "story" of my year certainly has a start and an end, but where I am now will surely be a lot different from where I will be a year from now. So in many ways, this story will have to be continued and concluded next year. So what have I been up to? Glad ya asked.

I am still living in Houston right now and I am glad to call the city home. I have not moved or anything and I am still in the same house which is good. My day to day life is good as well I suppose. The bookies are still taking wagers on the "dog or girlfriend first" money line so a lot of you still have time to get in the action there. The biggest life change with me this year would be work. I will spare all the details because that would be a very long story but in short, I am no longer at Calpine. They laid a group of people off two weeks ago at the end of November and I was in that group. My existence there has been really, really hard since bankruptcy and with the new leadership on board but at least that is over. Now it is the holidays and I am looking for my next job which simply sucks. Don't meant that be a downer - I will move on. I am a survivor.

Outside of Houston I have had some pretty cool travels this year on both coasts to see friends and just hang out. Although I did not get away internationally this year, my favorite trip was probably to the Pacific Beach area north of San Diego in September. While I was out that way I took the first two days to sky dive in Perris which is one of the most active and coolest drop zones. Great people and some very talented peeps. During the evenings I took advantage of all the great restaurants and views in the area. I wrapped up the trip by doing a day of sky diving in Chula Vista which is in the mountains south of San Diego. Awesome trip.

There were plenty of good times to be had with friends near and far. I have been very fortunate to have a lot of good people in my life here in town. The people around me are certainly one of the biggest things that keeps me going.
This year I have continued my work at Texas Children's Hospital with His Grace Foundation. We work specifically with the kids in the Bone Marrow Transplant unit. True, the kids there are going through a lot - much more than most of us could imagine. But they are awesome, and I have learned a lot from them. I am very fortunate to have those kids and their families in my life.

One of the most interesting things I had a chance to do this year was to get to know Barrington Irving who became the youngest and first African American to fly solo around the world. Barrington was born in Jamaica and had a very humble upbringing in Miami where aviation became a passion. At 23 this guy flies around the world - solo. Amazing. During his stop over here in Houston, I was able to help him coordinate a day to meet Charlie Bolden, one of the former astronauts from NASA that I worked with when I was there.

This year was also my first full year in the sport of sky diving and it has been a great experience. I have pretty much not looked back since graduating from the student program in February. My drop zone here in town, Skydive Spaceland, is one of the best in the country and has a fleet of 3 Twin Otters, and a Grand Caravan. Some of the top teams in the US call my drop zone home. At the moment I have a total of 231 jumps since I started and I will be getting my C License in the mail any day now. Most of what I do is 4 way formation sky diving.

Video Link

Skydiving has taken me a lot of places this year: Florida, California and New Hampshire. I have also had a chance to do some cool things in the sport such as jumping from high altitude at 21,000 feet. What's next for me in the sport? Well at the moment I will probably continue to learn 4 way and be a part of a team with the option to possibly compete at some level. There might be a time and place where I consider getting a rating to teach but that will be down the road next year or the following. I will at the least get my coach rating next year.

That's it for me. Have a great holiday season with your families and please stay in touch during the year. Would love to hear from you. We can get together and have some pie!