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Tradewinds

Looks like the Trade Winds are starting to blow here in Guam. Maybe that means an end to the rainy season? I've barely been able to keep up with how fast our lawn has been growing. I did just buy a new lawn mower though, which should help me keep the lawn cut.

There was a good fishing report posted today on Spearboard. Looks like the Mahi Mahi have ridden in with the Trade Winds! Jay Sternadel and Skip Perry nailed a few out at the FADs. You can check out the post here:

http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=71928

Jay is the Marina manager here on base...Congrats on nailing those Mahi! Hopefully, I'll get out there and nail a few myself this weekend. We are tentatively planning to go fishing on Saturday. The only thing that will keep us from going is if the weather gets really nasty. Right now the marine forecast is calling for 4-6 seas. Hopefully it doesn't get any worse than 4-6.

Jonathan's Birthday

On Saturday we celebrated Jonthan's 8th birthday with a halloween carnival party. There was a big jumper, tic-tac-toss, sack races, hot potato, balloon tosses, birthday cake, and much more. All the kids had a blast! We had burgers, hot dogs, and ribs. It was a great day, and I just want to thank everyone that came out to help us celebrate Jonathan's birthday.

GPD guns another down!

Well, the Guam Police Department has gunned down another "dangerous" individual in their efforts to keep Guam safe. This is the second time in the past year that GPD has killed someone who was displaying "threatening" behavior. I guess you could sort of justify the guy shot at the cemetery last year, he was distraught over loosing a family member, and was brandishing a gun that he was threatening to use on himself. But the latest dude had no gun. So I guess GPD's officers have no training on how to disarm or subdue an individual with a knife and/or a chain? How is it that 10 GPD officers could not figure out a way to subdue this guy without killing him? No taser? No blankets? Pepper spray? I can think of several ways that 10 of GPD's finest could of subdued this guy without lethal force. I suppose he could of been strung out on meth or crack, but come on. I guess Guam is a little like the Wild West when it comes to handling "dangerous" individuals. Shoot first and ask questions later.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of law enforcement. I know that police officers put their lives on the line whenever they answer a call like this. It just seems like they are a little trigger happy and could use some more training on non-lethal methods of restraint.

The "new" Xbox Live

Coming sometime before Christmas, Microsoft will be updating the interface to their popular Xbox Live service. I'm not too sure about the direction they are going. It seems like a pathetic copycat of the extremely popular Mii avatars from the Nintendo Wii. They are claiming that the new interface will add features to Xbox Live and that both casual and hardcore gamers will like the new interface. To me, the jury is still out. I'll have to see what new features come with the new interface and whether they collectively add something more than silly avatars. You can check out the full story here:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10053868-52.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.0

I've been saying this for weeks!

There is an article on Military.com which calls on the shipping industry to do more to tackle the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

http://www.military.com/news/article/September-2008/navy-calls-on-industry-to-tackle-piracy.html?ESRC=dod.nl

Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said the U.S.-led coalition patrolling the Gulf waters simply doesn't "have the resources to provide 24-hour protection" for hundreds of commercial vessels passing daily through the dangerous Gulf of Aden.

Lets see if any of the shipping companies step up to the plate to lead the way in shooting these lawless criminals off the high seas!

Blackberry Curve

I have been having issues for quite some time with my cell phone (a well used Motorola SLVR) and I finally decided it was time to replace it. Now that I am working, I am very busy and I wanted something to help me keep on top of things while not at the house. I really would like to have an iphone, but they are not available here in Guam. So after comparing all the features and pros and cons of different devices, I settled on a Blackberry. Our cellphone provider offered Blackberry service so it was easy to add on to our existing account. I got $100 off too, because I have been a customer for over 22 months. So I got a good deal on the Blackberry Curve 8320. I have only had it about 4 days, but so far I really like it. I have my calendar synced between outlook on a Windows PC (which in turn syncs with mobile me(formerly .mac)) and the Blackberry; so I have my calendars synced across all of my computers/devices. I have all my email accounts pushed to the Blackberry as well. So I am able to stay on top of things while out and about and while I'm at work. Having email on the go is probably the coolest thing that I have experienced so far with a techno gadget. In the past, with my old pda, a pocket pc, I had to sync my email between the pc and the pda. But getting email in real time, pushed right to the device is a whole other game. I can definitely see why these devices are nicknamed "Crackberries!"

David Gallo: Underwater astonishments

I stumbled across this cool video on the web tonight. The footage of the octopus is incredible!