Scott in Miami

Scott is in Miami this week teaching the seminar that happens each quarter. In May the seminar is going to be in Atlanta and Scott's brother Kevin is going to be helping. It is the first time we will do the seminar somewhere other than Miami and we are excited about the change and possibilities for future seminars in other seminars. Not a lot has been happening in Cayman this past few weeks which explains the lack of posting. We are not experiencing the weather that everyone else is going through and while many of you will laugh at us for it, we kind of wish we could. We are really getting into the exercise and both are feeling a lot better about ourselves though last week Scott had a setback (he always does when his father is on Island and he has the chance to cheat by getting Wendy's when John does). Katie is hard at work on her Master degree and now that she isn't working full time is focusing on doing more classes quicker. She is on pace now to finish the degree early next year.

Flying Gurnard Fish

This morning we went swimming again to help Scott exercise his back in a low impact workout. We went back to Eden Rock-Devil's Grotto because it is a great place to swim laps. While swimming her first lap Katie came across a very unfamiliar species. At first we weren't sure if it was a fish or a reef creature. It appeared to be walking on the bottom but also had fins. We watched it for a while taking a bunch of pictures and a video. When we got home we pulled out our Reef Fish Identification book and were able to identify the species as a Flying Gurnard. Flying Gurnards "walk" on their ventral fins and use the spines of their pectoral fins almost like hands to turn over rocks, which you can see happening in the video below. Their pectoral fins look like wings and in the video you can see this one spread its fin out at one point though not to its full extent. The edge of those fins is rimmed in bright blue lines and dots. The book identifies them as shy but this one wasn't at all. The species is uncommon in the Caribbean and it was a rare treat to find one.

Final Table

This evening Scott stayed home from work because he foolishly decided he would try and move some fireproof filing cabinets at the college yesterday and strained his back. Since he was bored, he logged into an online poker site and played in a RAZZ tournament with 1,012 other players. RAZZ is a game where the object is to get the lowest hand instead of the highest like in regular poker. In the past the highest he's finished in any tournament has been in the teens. He had never made a final table. Tonight things broke his way and after four hours of playing, Scott made his first final table for an online card tournament.

There were 8 players who made the final table and Scott made it all the way through the final table to heads up with a player from Spain. When they began heads up play, the player from Spain had about 1.1 million chips and Scott had about 800,000 chips. They played heads up for almost 45 minutes. Scott won a big hand early and took the chip lead then slowly ground his way to about a 500,000 chip lead. Then another big hand seemed to cripple the Spaniard taking him down to under 200,000 chips. What followed was an amazing 30 minutes. Scott got the Spaniard all in no less than 11 times and for each of the first ten times the Spaniard survived, twice drawing out on seventh street to win the hand and double up. At one point Scott was only up about 400,000 chips having lost most of his 1.6M chip lead. After a lot of small hands, a couple of big hands for Scott got him in position to finally win. As they approached the five hour mark of play Scott finally got a monster hand against a very good hand for the other player and when the hand was finished the Spaniard had only 30,000 chips left. Two hands later it was all over and Scott had won. For his victory he got the satisfaction of ruling the online Razz world for a night on pokerstars.net, a big kiss from his wife and 17,000 play chips with which he can play in other tournaments.

Black Durgon Video

This morning we went over to the Eden Rock-Devil's Grotto site to do some swimming and got a great video of a Black Durgon feeding at Devil's Grotto.

2008 Turtle Video

We may have finally figured out how to get our videos onto YouTube so that we can share them with you guys. Here is a video that Scott took in 2008 of a turtle at Devil's Grotto. It may take some time to load depending in your connection speed.

Somber Saturday

Two weeks ago while Scott was in Orlando, one of our students was killed in a car wreck in Lower Valley. On the Wednesday after his death we held a memorial service at the college and yesterday was his funeral. Scott gave a brief speech at the funeral service on behalf of the college and several of the students in attendance went up with him to represent ICCI. We often jokingly complain about the stupidity of drivers in Cayman particularly the young ones who speed around in their cars like they are immortal. Yesterday was a stark reminder that no one is immortal and having such a feeling is just not reality. It was a difficult Saturday afternoon and burying a student is something we hope to never have to go through again.

Queen's Monument

We took advantage of the national holiday this afternoon and headed up to the north side of the Island to snorkel the Queen's Monument area. We had not been up to that part of the island for several months and it was great to get out there again. The tide was in so we were able to swim over many of the coral areas which were very active. Among the many new species we saw today were a Bearded Fireworm (at left), Yellow Fanworm, Flamingo Tongue (below) and a Nimble Spray Crab. We normally look for fish species but today decided to focus reef creatures since we have a book for those and haven't been able to fill in many of the varieties as having been identified. The water was fantastic and we actually spent a good hour snorkeling. We have found a very secluded entrance to the snorkeling area and once again had the beach to ourselves. The new camera worked great and fits the case perfectly.

National Heroes Day

Tomorrow is the celebration of National Heroes Day here in the Cayman Islands, a national holiday. Heroes Square in George Town will be the site of a big formal event. The crowds are usually pretty big and so of course Kathleen and I will head to the other side of the Island for a nice quiet picnic and some snorkeling. We picked up a new camera while I was in Orlando (thanks to my brother Kevin, for bringing it down to us) and plan to test it with the underwater case. We are both doing well with our exercising and Katie has celebrated the loss of ten pounds since we started (me around 4 pounds).

Local Coverage of Earthquake

Here are some articles from our local papers. We cant seem to get the link to load as a hyperlink so just cut and paste into your address bar.

http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2010/01/20/Earthquake-rattles-nerves-in-Cayman/

http://www.caymannetnews.com/breaknews-19981--1-1---.html

Earthquake in Cayman

Update at 12:45 p.m.

The Earthquake has caused a few sinkholes on South Sound and apparently the buildings in George Town swayed a bit but we have no damage to our residence or to the college. Whether or not you felt the earthquake appears to be determined by if you were inside or not. The all clear has been given on the Island and no tsunami watch or warning was ever issued. They felt it at the college when it happened but other than being scary for those who felt it, nothing bad appears to have happened.

Original post

We wanted to let everyone know that we are just fine. Apparently there was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake about 30 miles off the coast of Grand Cayman this morning. We were out on our morning walk and didn't even realize it had happened. There are rampant rumors but we wanted you guys to know, since CNN just aired something, that we are just fine.

Tsunami Paranoia

Last night around 6:30 one of our students came breathlessly into my office announcing that the Cayman Islands were under a Tsunami warning because of the Haitian Earthquake. We quickly let him know that in fact there was never a tsunami warning only a tsunami watch and that it had only applied to eastern Cuba and the Island of Hispaniola (on which sit Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Further it had expired over an hour earlier. Never the less, for the rest of the night we had to assure restless students who came in after getting texts from friends, that we weren't all going to be washed away by a giant wave. It is amazing how quickly rumors fly on a small island. It was a reminder though that while tsunami's are rare in the Caribbean they are not impossible and with the Cayman Trench a mere hundred or so miles from Grand Cayman a magnitude 7 earthquake there would pretty much wipe out the Cayman Islands. We morbidly joked for the rest of the night that our tsunami evacuation plan involved two bottles of rum and kissing our rear ends goodbye as there really is no high ground on this Island (besides the trash dump). Oh well, another day in paradise.

Graduation, National Championship Game and Cold Weather

Last week was our graduation ceremony and on the same evening Texas played Alabama for the national championship. The ceremony was fantastic, the game not so much. The acting Governor, the Premier, the Minister of Education and several other Ministers and members of the Legislative Assembly were part of the crowd of close to 700 people who attended the ceremony. It went off mostly without a hitch and everyone raved about how great a job Kathleen did in coordinating the entire event. Scott made it home with about 5 minutes to go in the first quarter and agonized through the game which he is still convinced would have turned out differently if Colt McCoy hadn't been injured on Texas' opening drive of the game. This week the real story down here is how cold it is. The temperatures have been as low as 63 which is downright freezing for us. We haven't turned on our Air Conditioner this year and today actually wore sweaters outside. On Thursday Scott heads up to Orlando for a workshop on accreditation and is meeting his brother and family later in the weekend. he comes back on Monday of next week.

Happy New Year

We celebrated New Year's Eve in our normal fashion by being in bed and asleep by 10:30 p.m. This morning we did what is becoming our traditional New Year's Day bike ride out to Eden Rock. We have done a good job of keeping up our work out regimen these past couple of weeks since we got back from our cruise and are hoping that 2010 is the year we are able to keep going with the exercise and not putter out after a month or so. We wish everyone a very Happy New Year and a prosperous 2010.

Post Christmas Snorkeling

This morning we headed over to Sunset House to do some post Christmas snorkeling. We weren't able to make it out yesterday choosing instead to get in an exercise walk. For the second year in a row we are both carrying extra pounds that we need to shed so we are trying to get in a walk or an exercise ride each day. Today we got in our walk early and then got on our swim suits and pulled out our snorkel gear. We were both a little shocked to realize that neither of us had been out swimming since August so we weren't able to swim for long. We swam out to the mermaid Amphitrite and then on our way back saw an Ocean Trigger Fish for the first time. It was nesting near an outcropping and at first we thought it was a ray the way it was swimming near the sandy bottom. We both realized how much we miss snorkeling and vowed to try and get out more often. This evening we are having dinner with a friend who used to teach at ICCI and has moved back to the States but is visiting for the holidays.

Merry Christmas

We want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas. We are having a quiet Christmas here on the Island. Later this morning we are going to church and then we will go to a beach and snorkel which has become something of a tradition since we have been here.

Computer Issues and TV appearance

This week we have gotten to experience life without home computers. We already had one lap top stolen and this week our second one gave up the ghost with the hard drive giving out. That means having to go in to the college to check emails and the like. We should have two new lap tops to start the new year but until then postings and emails from us will be sparse. Meanwhile since we have limited access to Skype, Merry Christmas to everyone and we will try to call as possible.

Linked below is Scott's TV appearance from earlier this week announcing another recognition for ICCI.

http://www.cayman27.com.ky/news/item/3747

Bahamas Cruise

We are back in Cayman after our 5 day cruise in the Bahamas this past week. We left from the Port of Miami last Monday and stopped Tuesday at Freeport on Grand Bahama, Wednesday at Nassau on New Providence and Thursday at Great Stirrup Cay in the Berry Islands. At left is a picture of us at the lighthouse on Great Stirrup Cay that we hiked out to. The cruise had a couple of shows we were really excited to see including a salute to Broadway with songs from Wicked and a tribute to Frank Sinatra, who we consider "our singer". Scott got to play poker and made us about 100 dollars which we used to pay for all of our souvenirs in Freeport and Nassau as well as part of our day trip in Freeport to Port Lucaya. We are back in Cayman through the holidays and will enjoy some down time here as we get ready for the start of the Winter quarter and for our graduation ceremony on January 7, which Scott would like to point out is also the day Texas plays Alabama for the national championship. The ceremony starts at 6:30 and kickoff is a little after 8 p.m. so you know Scott will be headed out as soon as the last diploma is handed out.

Katie back on Island

Katie got back yesterday after being in Maryland for five days for the funeral of Nana. Unfortunately, the trip ended on an extremely sour note as the hotel room that she was staying in with her Mom at the La Quinta Baltimore Washington airport in Linthicum, got broken into and they got robbed on the last night of the trip. Fortunately, she and her Mom were not in the room when the break in occurred but whoever it was got a couple of lap tops and digital camera's. The biggest loss was all of the photo's from the funeral and all our photo's from the North Carolina trip which had only been saved onto the lap top that got stolen. We are also having to change all our bank account numbers as the robbers had access to those numbers through some documents Katie had in her bag. An all around crappy way to finish what was a difficult trip any way. Next week we are headed back to the Bahamas for our Christmas get away. We are trying to get a temporary digital camera for the trip and if we do will post some pics when we return.

RIP Nana

Katie's great grandmother Dorothy Carlyle passed away yesterday at the age of 105. She was affectionately known as Nana and will be tremendously missed. Katie and I were fortunate enough to see her before we left for the Cayman Islands and remember fondly the time we spent with her. Katie is leaving tomorrow for Maryland to be with the family and attend the funeral. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Nana's children, grand children and great grand children, she leaves quite a legacy of family.

Wright Brothers Memorial

One of the highlights of our trip to the outer banks was the day we spent at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The national park includes the original takeoff spot as well as the landing spots for the four flights flown on that famous day in December 1903. The first flight was only 12 seconds long but they were 12 seconds that changed our world. The park has a fantastic Visitor Center and the Century of Flight museum. It also includes Kill Devil Hill off which the Wright Brothers did their glider experiments and on which now stands the huge memorial column to them. We spent the morning and afternoon reading the exhibits and wandering the grounds where the first flights occurred. At left is a picture representing the first flight. Above is us by a tablet with the memorial column on the hill in the background and the Century of Flight museum to the side. Below is a picture of the original take off site and the four columns represent the landing sites for each of the first four flights. Interestingly, the park and memorial are in Kill Devil Hills not Kitty Hawk which is famous for the first flight. The only settlement in the area in 1903 was Kitty Hawk a few miles up the road so that is where the first flight is said to have occurred even though now technically the location is not a part of Kitty Hawk.