Saturday, March 31, 2007

Fan Convention, Day 2

We hit it early today because we needed to register and we headed for the registration area just after 8 a.m. Already, the crowd was enormous. We had to get into a line just to be able to get into lines.

Frankly, it is too freakin' crowded and it takes a special kind of Bears fan to wait for hours in line to get Steve Walsh's autograph.

I am not that Bears fan.

We attended the morning meeting featuring Chicago Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips, General Manager Jerry Angelo and Head Coach Lovie Smith who were greeted by a standing ovation. The rooms for the sessions are huge and packed.

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We eschewed the autograph lines but did stop to shoot Bears stars signing autographs like the Sackman, Richard Dent...

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And Magic, Gale Sayers...

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Ironically, there was no line to take a picture of the NFC Championship Trophy...

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Shamelessly glomming on to yet another celebrity, Mary met the Bearman fan guy during lunch...

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All in all, we could have used more sleep, but we're having a great time. I refuse to let my loathing of long lines and crowds get in the way of a good time. Have I mentioned it is too freakin' crowded? We're off to another session with Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer.

Later: More pics of the day including our amazing view!

More later,


Mark

The First Night...

We have arrived at the 10th Annual Chicago Bears Fan Convention at the Chicago Hilton after a relatively smooth flight from Orlando.

Mary was quick to make friends with good ol' No, 22 Tyler Everett, who grabbed a drink in the same Hilton bar as the Sweetwoods:

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Walking around the Hilton, we discovered even the jewelry shops are ready to Bear Down:

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Later, we closed the night out with a cool band at Kitty O'Sheas inside the Hilton:

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All in all, it's a very cool start to a great weekend!

More later,

Mark

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Bear North!

Only ONE earth-shattering event could pry my large ass out of its comfortable Florida setting: The 10th Annual Chicago Bears Fan Convention!

The convention is this weekend and Mary and I will be there.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.usBears Fan Convention

While others were scrambling to make plans for Super Bowl XLI after the Bears squeaked by the Seattle Seahawks last January, I studied the options. Sure, we were close to Miami, in terms of proximity, but even cheap seats then would have cost us $5,000-$6,000. Add another $1,500-$2,000 for tickets to the NFL experience and one kickbutt Saturday night party. Then there were the hotels. For four nights, even a low-end one was gonna run $1,500-$2,000. Plus food. And alcohol. In the end, we could have spent upwards of $10,000 for the total Super Bowl experience.

Or...

I checked out the Bears Web site at the same time and noticed tickets were on sale for the convention. I nailed the tickets through TicketMaster and got the room through Hilton at the special convention rate for three nights. I watched airline prices for a few weeks until American Airlines offered to fly us back for $127 each, round trip.

By the time the Bears destroyed the New Orleans Saints to win the NFC championship, the convention was sold out. Then the Bears - and the fans - got washed out in the Miami rain by the Indianapolis Cheatin' Colts. My decision looked smarter with each passing day: A great Bears experience for less than 1/10th the cost of Super Bowl XLI.

I called ahead and they are clearing any remnants of "winter" from the downtown area. I've asked for outdoor temperatures of a least 60 degrees and it appears that will be accommodated, as well. I am only packing shorts and Bears jerseys.

Now, for those not attending the convention, I will be trying out my new digital camera for coverage that will begin here Saturday. And I will be getting all of the interviews from those top Super Bowl superstars like Lance Briggs, Tank Johnson, Thomas Jones, Justin Gage, Alphonso Boone, Ian Scott, Ron Rivera... Oh, wait. Well, Rex Grossman will be there as will Gayle Sayers, although it seems like sacrilege to include both in the same sentence. Other current and former Bears attending, according to the Bears Web site:

Mark Anderson
Kurt Becker
Mark Bradley  
Doug Buffone 
Copeland Bryan
Ronnie Bull 
Airese Currie
Richard Dent 
Rashied Davis 
Allan Ellis 
Dusty Dvoracek  
Shaun Gayle
Tyler Everett
Kris Haines
Antonio Garay 
Glen Kozlowski
Roberto Garza
Steve McMichael
Brian Griese**
Jim Morrissey
Rex Grossman
Jim Osborne 
Chris Harris
Thomas Sanders  
Mike Hass    
Gale Sayers
Devin Hester
Bob Thomas
Israel Idonije 
Calvin Thomas 
Leon Joe
Steve Walsh
Olin Kreutz
James "Big Cat" Williams 
Patrick Mannelly  
Tim Wrightman 
Terrence Metcalf 
Fred Miller   
Muhsin Muhammad
Brandon Rideau
John St. Clair 
Dante Wesley
Rodriques Wilson

Hmmmm... Bob Thomas. I think I will spend some more quality time with him; maybe try to figure out what was REALLY behind the most grievous, most heinous act that I've witnessed in my 47 years on the planet: That missed field goal on Nov. 21, 1982 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His shank caused the Bears to miss the playoffs in that strike-shortened season. He has some atoning ...

Meanwhile, where is Brian Urlacher, Tommie Harris, Cedric Benson, Mike Brown, Adewale Ogunleye, et al? Well, OK, I can see not having Mike Brown there: He might get caught in the crush of fans and get injured, again.

Rim Shot

Thank you. Good crowd. Good crowd.

But, seriously folks, Mike Brown is the one player who makes Rex Grossman look like a nominee for the "Iron Man" award.

Rim Shot

Man, why didn' I think of the rim shot button a long time ago...?

That Lovie Smith had quite a year: First black coach to win the NFC Championship; first black coach to be out-coached by a black coach in the Super Bowl...

Rim Shot

Wow!! This can get addictive. Anyway, we're getting ready for the big trip. Judging from blogs of fans who have attended the convention in years past, a good strategy is to eschew the long autograph lines and hang out in the hotel bar. I'm down with that ... this is our Spring Break!

More later,


Mark

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Mark's World Has A New Logo

Tell me what you think!

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:)

That's my twist on a famous, old remark about Frank Sinatra credited to Dean Martin: "It's Frank's world. We just live in it."

I made that with a program called "Comic Life" that came with Mary's new computer. It's a fun program that has a lot of potential for mischief. I also took some time this weekend to work on the items in the left rail. My pledge is to review everything every two weeks. Some items are gone; others have been added. I fixed the broken links to the Comedy Central shows, in response to e-mail requests.

I am busy working on some fun, new additions so stay tuned! As always, thank you for checking out "Mark's World!"

More later,

Mark

Friday, March 23, 2007

Breaking News on Nick Lowe!

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This is shaping up to be an unbelieveable summer! A new Nick Lowe album is on its way!

Yeproc Records announced Friday that Nick Lowe's next album, "At My Age," will be released June 26. For all the details, go here:

Yeproc Records

Today's USA Today contained a short preview which you can find here (scroll down):

USA Today

This is absolutely outstanding news for longtime fans of the architect of the late 1970s British punk invasion as featured on the very awesome Stiff Records label (which Mr. Lowe co-founded). That era brought us not only the Jesus of Cool Nick Lowe, but also Elvis Costello and Dave Edmunds, among others.

Read all about Stiff here:

Stiff Records

More on this story as it develops...

More later,


Mark

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Just to Prove I Really Am Writing a Book

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I have devised a simple test to figure out whether a co-worker is full of crap. Pose this question: "What is the one thing we can do to improve our business?"

Potential answers:

a.) "Understand our market. The Japanese have an expression: 'The customer is God.' We can learn from that."

b.) "We can't do one just thing. We have to do 100 things at once or we will perish."

c.) "It's mission critical that we create a new, pro-active, enterprise paradigm. We need to get out of our silos to drill down to the organizational DNA and seamlessly leverage our tactical, logic-based synergies to roll out our new strategic, re-engineered solutions. The result will be a totally relational, win-win, outside-the-box integrated scenario to measure team-based competence."

d.) "We need to wow our current customers, reconnect with former ones and invent unique ways to attract new ones."

If the answer you get resembles "C," run, don't walk, in the opposite direction. You are clearly dealing with someone who couldn't find a "Clue" in the game aisle at "Toys R Us."

Our friend offering the "C" response is merely blathering some meaningless jargon he or she picked up from a book or a magazine (or online). Aimless and completely free of a philosophical foundation, this type of person hopes to appear intelligent by parroting the latest babble uttered by this week's gurus hawking their genius for $29.95 in book or iPod form. Worse, if this person is in a leadership role, this week's solution is next week's memory because a combination of low-self esteem and ADD will keep this type of manager in an endlessly vague search for a simple solution to a complex scenario.

The Scenario "C" Speaker, a business jargon term I just coined (see how easy!) for my book, comes in many shapes and ages and genders. This person's obvious impotence in developing a coherent business plan, retaining a loyal team or inspiring workers often leads to systematic chaos. The Scenario "C" Speakers out there also share one other important trait: They are bereft of innovation. Their idea of innovation is to slavishly follow an industry trend or hide in a book until they discover a notion that they can pass off as innovation. Which, of course, means they have now bastardized a phrase containing that word: "disruptive innovation."

"Disruptive innovation" is a concept credited to Harvard Business School professor and frequent Forbes magazine contributor Clayton M. Christensen and is featured in several books and articles, most notably 1997's "The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail." Essentially, Christensen documents the impact an emerging technology can have on existing methodologies i.e. digital photography's impact on film processing. In the newspaper industry, this concept is often cited in discussing the Internet's impact on print media.

There are pro's and con's to Christensen's concepts, but he clearly has an unique viewpoint. For a more in-depth explanation:

Disruption is Good

The jury is still out as to whether "disruptive innovation" is a bonafide theory or a passing fancy. John C. Dvorak has his doubts:

The Myth of Disruptive Technology .

My view on Christensen's work is evolving. However, I think he suffers from too short of a view. The irony in today's business climate is that the one luxury an organization does NOT have is time. However, in his early work, Christensen was too quick to cite specific companies as failures in his model. For instance, he held Apple up as an example of a failed disruptive technology because the company eschewed open-source methodologies and maintained a proprietary control on its technology. Yet, a decade later, Christensen picked Apple's iPhone as the odds-on favorite for disruptive technology of 2007. And the iPod is clearly a disruptive innovation.

Christensen once wrote: "Apple remained proprietary and lost its chance to dominate the world computer market." That's the short view. In the long view, Apple maintained the computer market would eventually be weary of the gear-head mentality so prevalent in the early 1990s and developed the plug-and-play, intuitive machines of today.

The problem with a "short view," and the time needed to properly assess a disruptive innovation, is that it leaves a wide berth for all sorts of interpretation. Then there is the great potential for Scenario "C" Speakers to completely misuse "disruptive innovation" altogether. Instead of actually applying the principles to realign and regroup to better serve and attract customers, the weak management styles of Scenario "C" Speakers can be the sole reason that workers are driven away or that the organization is mired in financial chaos – and it might be completely unrelated to innovation, real or imagined.

Yet, when questioned, they will surely argue that their latest "pro-active, enterprise paradigm" is just so mind-blowing, some workers have to be forced out because they just can't keep up. Unable to admit their own lack of focus, they'll, instead, cite the need to improve "team-based competence." They'll also say that "disruptive innovation" has lead to "new strategic, re-engineered solutions" that will have a "short-term impact" on profits.

And either I'm psychic, or I just laid out a whole bunch of first quarter reports...

My suggestion to Wall Street and CEO's and boards of directors: Don't let the jargon wonks and the Scenario "C" Speakers get away with blaming their staffs or excusing budget short-comings on "disruptive innovation." A critical eye must be reserved for such attempts at rationalization. Disruptive innovation could be a new methodology to evolve an organization and enable it to survive a business climate superchanged by a technological revolution or it could be yet another trendy business axiom reduced to excuse babble promulgated by the weak-minded attempting to sound smart.

For more on the true impact of bad business jargon:

Six Worst Business Books

More later,


Mark

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Jon Stewart is My Hero

Not since Jon Stewart took apart Tucker Carlson on CNN's old "Crossfire" show back in 2004 have I been more impressed with the Comedy Central star's ability to go toe-to-toe with a bonehead.

He did not have to call former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton the D-word, however, to de-pants him. Tuesday night on "The Daily Show" Stewart merely used calm logic to disarm the Bushie apologist.

If you missed it, check it out:



More later,



Mark

Monday, March 19, 2007

Speaking of Traveling...

... which I was a couple of weeks ago, a good friend of Mark's World, Suzanne Kathro, recently set sail on a cruise. Suzanne is the genius behind a superior, award-winning blog which you can find here:

The Farmer's Wife

However, she has quite a fascinating account and we decided that my blog is best suited for discussions of gastric-intestinal disruptions. Hence, the unfortunate, scary account of her misadventure is printed below. This is our small way of getting this simple message across:

AVOID CRUISES AT ALL COSTS!

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Suzanne's tale:

Well, lets just say I was on the vacation from hell. The cruise from hell to Hell to be specific.
No, I wasn't stuck on a plane for 14 hours; my torture lasted quite a bit longer. We arrived on the ship,
the cabin was spacious, beautiful and very clean. It was the Liberty which is Carnival's newest ship.
Had I done a little research I would have found out that this ship was involved in quite a debacle last
fall. Between 750-800 of the passengers and crew became very ill with something called the Norwalk
virus while cruising in the Mediterannean. The CDC flew to the Azores to meet the ship and assess
the disaster. They also supervised the "clean up."

Hmmmmmmm. It seems they didn't clean up as well as they should.

When we turned on the TV in the cabin there were lots and lots of informational bits about washing
your hands ... wash your hands ... wash your hands ... blah, blah, blah. Within 24 hours, both myself and another
woman came down with the Norwalk virus (think gastro-intestinal flu from hell). I was so alarmed and
weak that I insisted on being wheeled down to the infirmary in a wheelchair. They knew immediately
what it was and gave me a shot and some pills. They also gave me some complimentary 7-up and water.
HA! Big deal. I was reported to the CDC and both the other woman and I were quarantined to our cabins
for 2-and-one-half days.

That ruined our first port of call ... and I missed what Carnival calls a "Fun Day at Sea."

The food for the rest of the cruise was ruined for me because I could barely stand to put a morsel in
my mouth. They wouldn't tell us how many other passengers were sick (plenty I bet). Did I mention that
the toilets on our deck broke?! Twice!

We were able to get off at Grand Cayman which was pretty much leveled by Hurricane Ivan. It's
rebuilding but pretty much resembles a scrubby sandbar. So much for paradise. The Margaritaville
restaurant priced everything in Cayman dollars which created a huge surprise when converted to U.S.
bucks: Four Cokes and a small maragarita was $25. We did visit a small spot on the island that was called
"Hell." You could actually mail postcards that would be canceled with "Hell, Grand Cayman." Funny ... not.

We waved at the Mexican Yucatan because the captain determined it was too choppy and too windy
to dock the ship. We waved as the cruise director promised us another "Fun Day at Sea." By this
time, folks were looking for some sturdy rope and a tree. The captain certainly knew the situation BEFORE
he chugged over there so why bother? They claimed that Cozumel and Playa del Carmen ports were
also closed, but I contend that he could have spent the time sailing up to Key West for the day.

Anyway, we waved at Cuba each time we passed by.

The flight back home included a crew that believed the cockpit was a good spot for "watercooling." One of the flight attendants spent over half an hour locked in the cockpit with a Coke, chatting or
whatever. They also allowed a blind and mentally challenged person who was preboarded in Fort
Lauderdale to simply exit the plane on her own without a customer service rep to accompany her.

I reported the cockpit incident to Southwest and the FAA. Southwest assured me the report would
be forwarded to management but since the crew are members of the union they cannot be spoken
to about the event unless I put the complain in writing - which I did.

So that was the vacation in a nutshell. Next time I'm just going to return to the lovely resort in
Mexico and sit on a beach for a week.

I told my doctor that if anyone says, "Let's take a cruise, it sounds like so much fun," he should
run like hell. A cruise ship ain't nothing but a floating petri dish!

Hope Mary is doing much better. Tell her she's not allowed to use anymore electrical appliances.
And I hope you are having tons of fun at work.

Suzanne

Wow, Suzanne! Next time you want to sit on a beach for a week, I have a FAR better idea and it's even
in this country! There are many fine hotels along A1A in central Florida. Check out Cocoa Beach, for
instance! Plus, I guarantee to escort you to only the finest, disease-free dining and entertainment spots!

More later,


Mark

Friday, March 16, 2007

His Mighty Shield...

Over at Wikipedia.org, someone has posted the lyrics to the theme songs to the 1960s cartoon series, "Marvel Superheroes." Growing up, my brother and I loved these cheaply made cartoons and embedded in our memories are all of the theme songs to each of the heroes. Take, for instance, the recently assassinated Captain America:

"When Captain America throws his mighty shield
"All those who chose to oppose his shield must yield
"If he's led to a fight and a duel is due
"Then the red and the white and the blue'll come through
"When Captain America throws his mighty shield!"

Well, now that the good Cap is (allegedly) dead, you might have wondered: What happened to his shield? Viewers of the "Colbert Report" already know the answer. Thanks to the good folks at Marvel.com, everyone can check this amazing clip out:



More later,


Mark

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Spins A Web Any Size!

Today's video clip from the fine folks at Sony, the official studio of Spider-Man 3, shows the hard work and precision detail that goes into the making of Spider-Man's webs!

Check it out:



More later,


Mark

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Time to Change

Saturday's tune is a little ditty by Coldplay, "Clocks," and is my not-too-subtle reminder that sometime in the wee hours around 2 a.m. we all need to turn our clocks ahead an hour for Daylight Saving Time. I caught some poor correspondent on MSNBC this morning discussing tonight's "extra hour of sleep."

Yikes. The only way you'll get an extra hour of sleep tonight is if you got to bed before 2 a.m. and set your alarm to go off two hours later. But, wait, you'll also need to set your clock AHEAD an hour, so, in order to get an extra hour of sleep, after setting your clock ahead, you'll need to set your alarm ... But an hour later than what? What time do you normally wake up on an average day? OK, now take THAT time, add...

I have no freakin' idea. Pick another day to sleep en extra hour. Concentrate on setting the clocks ahead tonight.

More later,


Mark

Tre Internationale

In case you were wondering...

I've noticed when I update my blog, I often get vistors from other countries, normally fellow bloggers who hit the "Latest Updates" button that the Blogger/Blogspot/Google overlords provide. Today, I noticed vistors from France and China spending time on my blog so I added two greetings. For you unable to read either French or Chinese (or too lazy to google translators) here is what I wrote:

French:

Hello, My French friends! Your country reeks of cheese! You are not very brave! But, you are great lovers!
Mark

Chinese:

Hello, my Chinese friends! I love General Tso's Chicken! Your country is very good at making Dollar Store items! Our regime is more war-like than your regime, but we are richer.
Mark

Mark's World: Making new friends one country at a time.

More later,


Mark

你好

你好, 我的中国朋友! 我爱一般Tso的鸡! 您的国家是非常擅长于做美元商店项目! 我们的政权比您的政权好战, 但我们是更加富有的。
标记

Bonjour

Bonjour, mes Amis français! Votre pays pue de cheese! Vous n'êtes pas très braves! Mais, vous êtes de grands amants!

Marque

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Countdown to Spider-Man 3!

Nigel had a great idea: A Countown to the May 4 opening of "Spider-Man 3!"

Hence, thanks to the fine folks (and our overlords) at Google.com: Voila! Check it out to the left!

I am also maintaining my daily devotion to "Today's Tune," brought to you by the fine folks at RadioBlogClub.com, something I picked up over at Dahl.com. Just a little of something for you to enjoy while you visit Mark's World. Now you have to scroll down a bit, but you'll find Thursday's little ditty: "The Spider-Man Theme" as performed by The Ramones.

Spider-Man fever has taken over...

More later,


Mark

Wow!

What a day Wednesday was! In the morning, NBC.com had a full six-minute excerpt from the upcoming "Spider-Man 3" movie yesterday that was outstanding! The film hits theaters May 4.

Just hit Google.com video and you'll run into a million pirated copies.

In the afternoon, word came that Captain America had been assassinated in his very own comic book! Yikes!

Nobody really dies in comics anymore, but the book was shipped with no warning and caused enough shock to hit the news wires. Art met medium when Marvel.com used its "Daily Bugle" to follow the news:

Captain America

Meanwhile, it looks to be an outstanding summer for movies. "Spider-Man 3" will be followed by "Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer" on June 15 and "The Simpsons Movie" on July 27.

In case you missed the big "Spider-Man 3" preview, Sony is allowing bloggers to post the following little featurette which gives some insight into the movie. Enjoy!



More later,


Mark

Sunday, March 04, 2007

And The Man Said to The Bartender...

"I asked for a Strawberry Daiquiri, not a Bloody Mary!"

It's a terribly obvious way to open this story of happenstance, best told in "becauses," I guess...

Because the bank is owned by the same principle investor who founded our newspaper, we chose Riverside Bank for all of our banking needs when we came to town.

Because we opened new accounts, we each got a free smoothie maker.

Because we are dedicated Hometown News employees, on Saturday we volunteered for a couple of hours at the Habitat for Humanity's Strawberry Festival, which the newspaper cosponsored.

Because they were there, we bought a flat of strawberries for $16.

Because we had a flat of strawberries, Mary decided to make Strawberry Daiquiris.

And because of all of that, we spent two hours in the emergency room Saturday night.

For the record, I got one Strawberry Daiquiri before all hell broke loose. These smoothie makers are like miniature blenders, each creating a delicious individual serving. The container broke and strawberries and rum and ice cubes went flying. As Mary reached for the cord to end the melee with her right hand, her left thumb came in contact with the spinning blender blades.

It took nanoseconds for the kitchen to be transformed into a bloody, berry nightmare.

Mary was remarkably calm. So calm, I sensed nothing was TOO wrong. We wrapped what was left of the thumb with paper towels and departed for the emergency room. The bleeding had been pretty much stemmed by the time we arrived.

It took two hours to get three stitches and a tetanus shot. Luckily, I came across one of Mary's favorite movies as we waited: "North by Northwest." It made the improbable Saturday night seem slightly less horrible. I doubt she'll ever hear Cary Grant say "I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders dependent upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed" without recalling the "Strawberry Smoothie Incident," as we have come to call it.

While there appeared to be no nerve damage, the doctor declared an end to Mary's burgeoning thumb-wrestling career. By Sunday, when we changed the bandage, the wound looked better. Mary was soon back on her feet, responding to my every beck and call...

Me? I'm fine. (Hey, this is "Mark's World" and it's fair for me to presume that you might have some genuine concern for how "Mark" fared.) I did spend some time Saturday night de-strawberrying the kitchen. A chunk of flesh lost in the mess was not recovered.

Now, we are stuck with 7/8's of a flat of strawberries. It's a fair bet we won't be using the remaining smoothie maker for this or any other berry blend... Any good strawberry recipes out there? Nothing involving chopping or pureeing, please...

More later,



Mark

Friday, March 02, 2007

Brad And Kathy Arrive!

Five days after an ice storm grounded them in Peoria, Ill. thus thwarting last weekend's fun-filled reunion, Brad and Kathy Keefauver arrived in Melbourne for a visit.

A good time was had by all. Cocktails at the house. Dinner at City Tropics. A late-night run to Melbourne's comic book store. A great bad movie, 2005's "2001 Maniacs."

Brad and Kathy were kind enough to share the following from their vacation pictures (as evidence that they actually arrived in Florida):

Here, Brad walks Daytona Beach:

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Here, Kathy enjoys the view from atop the lighthouse at Ponce Inlet:

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In Melbourne, Mary and Mark strike the Green Acres pose in front of the condo:

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Wait! None of these pictures show us together! Oh, well. There's always next time!

More later,


Mark
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