I'm finally putting some pictures up from the beach. Mostly the kids--more pics after the jump.

We got back from the beach a week ago, but I was in training, so I felt like I was on vacation until Monday morning. It's hard to get rolling again. However, I found a nice surprise in my inbox this morning as I started sorting through two weeks of email--a link to this truely amazing timelapse of the outerbanks. It made me look forward to me and Brooklynne's upcoming trip to Ocracoke. I might make her let me pack my telescope.

A couple of thoughts inspired by this video:

1. It made me sad for all the light pollution we have in Durham.
2. You can see the Stumpy Point wildfires a couple times in the video. Incredibly, the smoke from the fires has been affecting air quality in the triangle. After being 70% contained, the news tonight said the fire was no longer contained at all, and that the peat that is burning could smolder for months, even after the fire is out.
3. Did anyone read the NCAA letter to UNC? Ok, that's not video-related, but that's really what we're all thinking about right?

BTW: USA vs Mexico, Saturday @ 9pm, my house. Any takers?

I'm ringing in 2011 with a new urge to blog, so here I am. Not much news for today, but I wanted to get on the board for Jan.1.

We celebrated Christmas in Utah this year. I had to come back early for work, but Brooklynne and the kids will be back Wednesday, so I'm kicking it alone for the next couple of nights.

The Wasatch Front got 18 inches of snow on Thursday, so we took HJ skiing for the first time. She did pretty well. She could manuver and keep her balance, but had trouble stopping. I asked her what was her favorite part of the day and she told me "riding the magic carpet." The simple pleasures....  

Beach week is about half-way over and we've had pretty good luck so far, although tarballs about the size of large pancakes started washing up yesterday. We're going to try to collect some and bring it back in a jar if possible. We saw a couple BP guys on patrol, and there is some kind of large-scale operation maybe 500 yards off the coast right in front of our beach house. Anywho, we've suspended swimming, probably for the rest of the week, but we got a couple good days in before the oil arrived and here are the pictures so far. We'll have another update about the conditions on the beach later tonight. Click "continue reading" for the rest of the pics.

I just got a (another) marketing email from Wyndham Rewards.

Brooklynne and I stayed in a Wyndham this summer, and I signed up for the rewards program because they offer their Rewards members free WiFi, which was ~$10/day for non-members. After enrolling as a member, however, I booked through Orbitz, because there was a $30/day difference in the price.

When we arrived, I found that the WiFi was not included in my rate so I gave the desk clerk my rewards number and asked her to add it to our account. She said that she would do it "just this once" and explained with a slightly annoyed tone that the free WiFi perk was intended for loyalty customers who booked directly with Wyndham.

I almost asked her why loyal customers who booked directly through Wyndham were charged so much more than disloyal customers like me? I also wanted to ask her if her attitude was a reward for loyal customers too, and if she was giving that to me "just this once" also.

Clearly, I'm still irritated by this exchange. I should let it go, but I'm not planning to book with Wyndham any time soon. If I end up staying at one, I'll pay the $10/day for the WiFi and put the other $20 I save through Orbitz into my future Marriott vacation savings account.

*** After posting this, I realized I may have heightened sensitivity to this issue due to my days working for CI Industries. I should really do a whole post on "The Many Jobs of Miles Travis." ***

Tomorrow's forecast:

Brooklynne and the kids get back today. It has been a long time. I know HJ will be glad to see me, but it will be fun to see if Beau reacts at all. They are actually in flight as I type, somewhere over Colorado. I'm not sure if other airlines have this, but it's always fun when Brooklynne flies on Delta because I can track her exact position through their website. The flight status page has a google maps app. that shows the flight plan, the actual flight path, time in flight, altitude, and ETA. Pretty cool--way to go Delta. The screenshot I've pasted here is from about 10:15 est, when the family had just passed only a few miles north of Brooklynne's Mom's house in Black Forest. I just checked again, and in the time it took me to write this post, they have already crossed into Kansas. Air travel is amazing, no?

Brooklynne took the digi with her out west, so I dug out my old and trusty film camera. Then I had a debate--should I spring for new film, or should I use the 7-year-old film that I found in a box at the top of my closet? Cheap son of gun that I am, I decided to use up the old film first. Well, I don't know if it was the old film or the process of putting the pictures on DVD that messed them up, but they all came out really grainy. Oh well, they are still fun to share, so have fun enjoying some more of the pictures after the "continue reading" jump.

**Update: after posting the pictures, I realized that all the good shots came from outside places we ate. Weird.