Blogs from Tampa, Florida, United States, North America - page 9

The time had finally come for a West Coast Swing Dance cruise that had been planned 6 months prior. I was in agony I was so excited about the trip! Myself, Jason, Chris, and Jeramy were about to join around 150 other west coast swing dancers for a week long exotic western Caribbean cruise to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan (Honduras), and Grand Cayman. There was an all star staff of 9 of the top WCS pros: Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollman, Kyle Redd and Sarah Vann Drake, Ronnie Debenedetta (Brandi Tobias stayed home with her baby), Parker Dearborn and Jessica Cox, and Arjay Centeno and Melissa Rutz. Wow! We flew in a day early, Saturday, so that we could make it to the precruise party. We met at the hotel for snacks and cocktails before heading out ... read more

Wes and I have a tradition when we fly out of the Tampa Airport. We stay at a hotel close to the airport, enjoy an amazing sunset dinner at the elegant Rusty Pelican, and leave for the airport before the sun comes up next morning. This time, we programmed Old Hyde Park Village, Tampa into the Magellan and Jeeped on down from Ocala. Old Hyde Park Village is a "lifestyle center" (residential/ retail/ restaurants) near downtown Tampa. Zita had given us a post card promoting a benefit showing of Princess Diana's Dresses in a former furniture store in the village. After a great lunch at Timpano, we found the exhibit. A gang of volunteers were painting and otherwise spiffing up the venue. The show had actually opened hastily for Super Bowl (in Tampa this year) but ... read more

I've decided that I'll break up the next few blogs catching me up to now... Here's the first installment: So after my latest entry was accidentally erased when I had almost finished it, it's taken me a while to get back into it and sit down to rewrite the whole thing. At this point, I'm on the verge of being finished with flying. I'm sitting in the student ready room up at Whiting Field killing time until my last flight, a tactical flight, in the TH-57C helicopter. A lot has happened since my last blog. Almost an entire phase of training, in fact. At the end of my last writing, I was just starting my cockpit trainers for the fixed wing T-34s. We do 5 of those total, then it's off to the wing. In retrospect, ... read more

Travel fares have increased substantially as the oil prices have sky rocketed. Today the barrel price went below $100 which will hopefully bring down the travel fares and allow us avid travelers to pay a visit to our covited destination of choice. url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/oil-price-falls-to-below-100-a-barrel-931265.html Oil prices will hopefully refrain from surging up to almost $150 as was the case in July. One thing is for sure though - the average consumer is the one paying the price just as always. I wonder when the last time the CEO of one of those big oil companies took a pay cut. You know what, I think I'll check up on that... ... read more

Unfortunately life was not qute going according to plan up north. The recession hit hard one of the places I intended to look for work, New York City. Prior to that I had resided where I have now returned, Tampa, Fl. I remember waiving goodbye to the staff I worked with just over 4 months ago as I left the business seminar company which had found me overcaffinated for about a year prior to my departure. Just over a year ago found me in Philadelphia and then from there, to avoid the winter, I moved down here to Tampa knowing nobody or anything about the region, taking my phone interview using my cell phone in the Greyhound bus coming down. It was a stroke of luck that I seamlessly started my job within the week I ... read more