update

Well, ok, here’s how it is.
I am willing to bet that I had fewer than ten regular readers when this blog was at the height of its activity. I may not even stretch that far, but it helps my ego that I am aiming for a two-digit number. That being said, I figured I may as well give those ten people a reason for my five-month absence, besides “my server crashed” (for the uninitiated, “my server crashed” is an excuse much akin to “my [insert pet here] ate my homework” – it flies about as well and as far as a lead balloon).
First, the server did crash. Bummer.
Second, and definitively more importantly than anything else on this list, I went and got myself married. Why this woman puts up with me, enough so to sign away the rest of her life with me, I will never understand, but I sure as hell am not going to argue with her (learned that one quick ). We had a beautiful (and beautifully small) wedding in the first week of November, and then spent a perfect week down in Jamaica, at the Sans Souci resort (recently purchased by Couples, which may or may not be fortunate). The actual ceremony went by far too quickly, but our photographer was quite skilled (for the most part), and hopefully the images will be sufficient for me to remember everything that was going by too quickly for me to catch. Word of advice for those getting married – remember each moment as best you can… Hopefully you will never get another shot at it . Regardless, the ceremony went quite well, and there were only a scant few stumbles (also, for future weddees, ensure your groomsmen bring all of their tuxedo pieces to the ceremony, early…), and we both ended up quite happy with it. Additionally, we were quite satisfied with the Sans Souci resort – it was all-inclusive, and definitely catered to our every needs. Our daily activities included swimming (in any of three pools, two hot tubs, and two beautiful beaches), spending time at any of seven (I think) open bars, water-biking, kayaking, snorkeling, glass-boat-riding, strolling around, hand-in-hand, scarfing down some remarkably good food at any of four different restaurants, climbing waterfalls, simply lazing about doing absolutely nothing, or any and all manner of other things. We came back with a nice tan (and more than a little burn), a relaxed outlook on life, and generally no desire to have to go back to our “real” lives. But boy was it worth it… Jamaica, itself, was an interesting study in contrasts, between the slums of the cities versus the manors of the suburbs, but once inside the resort, you had almost no real idea you were actually in the nation. Not that this is necessarily a bad or good thing, just interesting to point out how insulated the resort was. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking to take an overseas vacation, and the cost was definitely within the “worth it” realms (of course, so was the actual wedding, but that is a given, nyet?). Customs and the like were somewhat of a pain, but I guess that is the norm for almost any overseas travel (not that I have done a great deal… well… none besides Jamaica ). I still need to grab a copy of Dr. No to see where Sans Souci was filmed in it, but that is just a small trivia .
Third, I was rendered homeless by Hurricane Katrina. My apartment complex was on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, in a small town of Ocean Springs. “Was” is somewhat the operative word. My actual unit was on the third floor of the complex, and thus it, and all of my belongings therein, survived the 15-foot storm surge that hit my section of the state, but the complex was a complete write-off. Sailing boats were in the parking lot (along with a small grocery store that used to be down the road a bit), the apartments one floor down from mine were mildewing, molding, and generally decaying in a little over a week from the incident, and the entire town was in shambles. The fact that my stuff survived was sheer and unadulterated dumb luck – you have no idea how many times I cursed having to climb both flights of stairs just to get to my room. Somewhat thankful for them now. My car was… well, it took up scuba far too late in life. That particular smell was indescribable. Thankfully, my then-future-in-laws came down and helped me drag my stuff out of my apartment, whereupon it went into storage for the next three months while my job settled out and I found a place to live. However, in that three months (which included the final wedding preparations, ceremony, honeymoon, and life rearrangements) I replaced my old Subaru Outback, as well as found a new place for me to live (and store my stuff). Quite happy with both, actually.
Yeah, this has been a somewhat tumultuous past five months. Loss of a server, loss of an apartment, loss of a car, and gain of a wife. A net gain in my book, but, still, one hell of a ride. So do you think I have a good enough excuse to not post in a while?