Last week in Key West

Okay, I know it is been a long time since my last update. But at least, I'm doing better than my brother Chris. He has only had one new post in January, and that was over a month ago. I guess he is really busy studying and getting straight A's. More likely...He's busy driving back and forth from Mankato and playing video games.

In addition to having very poor internet service from my hotel, a have a long list of excuses. To keep from droning on for too long, I'll try to stick to the 4 highlights...

1) On Feb. 3rd, I was assigned as the new Team Lead for EYW. Basically, this means that any questions from fellow traveling NDF in Key West come to me first. I then do some research and bring the questions up the chain of command if I can't find an answer on my own. I'm also responsible for taking care of our time cards and I'm on call 24/7. This is on top of my regular work schedule. Unfortunately, I was not given the opportunity to turn this wonderful "opportunity" down. I do get paid overtime if I can't get all the paperwork done during my regular shift, but it is not worth it to me. I enjoyed just having to worry about myself without the constant stream of emails and phone calls. It is better now that the 1st-two weeks are over, however. I wasn't given any guidelines or instructions from the start so that was difficult. Now that things are pretty well organized and in order, I'm leaving (see below).

2) Katie came to visit 2/5 to 2/10. It was great to have some company, but as always when you have visitors and are not on vacation, it can really wear you out. We took a day trip to a small island called Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas. The trip took a little over 2 hours by boat and was 70 miles west of Key West. It is a national park and the home of Fort Jefferson. After the tour of the fort, we had time to snorkel and relax on the beach. The water was cold but totally worth it. I saw some living coral and tropical fish, but the best part was the big fish. I saw large pastel-colored fish about 3 1/2' each. Then I came across, barracuda. The 1st one was about 4' long and the second was longer than me. I also saw a very large carp-like fish that seemed totally uninterested in me...or anything for that matter. I think it was depressed.

We spent my next day off, walking around Old Town. The Hemingway House was interesting. It is populated by approximately 50 cats, all of which are descendants of Hemingway's six-toed cat Snowball. We also went to Mallory Square, several shops on Duval St. and Salute, a Italian restaurant on the beach.

3) The day after Katie left, Rita and Renee flew in. They had a rental car so we spent one day driving up the Keys in search of Key Deer and warmer weather. The following day we spent our time in and around Old Town. We ate at several different restaurants, most of which had good food, but slow service. Of course, I couldn't let them leave before going to the Sunset celebration. We saw Dominique & His Flying House Cats and some other street performers.

4) Finally, I've been busy trying to tie up any loose ends before returning home to Minnesota. I will be flying back on Tues, Feb. 27th. I arrive at MSP at 1:40 PM. Anyone available to pick me up? When I get back, I'll have to work at MSP. I don't know my schedule yet, but I'll let you know when I find out. It's late and I still have to work the next 3 days before I leave so better try to get some rest. Hope it see you all soon. Bye!