Skydive

Here is a 1980 picture of me with an old Wenatchee friend, Rufus Woods in Issaquah Washington. We did our 1st static line jump after a few hours of ground school. I made a dozen jumps after that but only got a 5 second free fall from 3500 feet. Now the hottest thing in skydiving is the tandem jump. This is where you are tied to an instructor. I called Rufus and asked if he was ready for another adventure. I guess we both were so there we are 28 years later in Snohomish Washington. We both did a tandem jump from 12,000 feet. This gave us a 1 minute free fall. Now that's the ultimate thrill! Watch the video below!

EVICTION

I've given a few out in my lifetime but have never received one. Last Saturday we were served with our first Eviction Notice. What good timing as we are packing our bags to go to the US this Friday. It appears that the landlord hasn't been making his payments. Even though our rent has been paid on time each month we will get the boot. How do you like that. With investors who've speculated on a rising market, the house of cards are falling in on them. I've been told that this is happening to a lot of renters here in England, where banks take back properties and they have to move. I acted quickly under a bit of stress, and was so lucky to find and secure a new flat which will work out fine. We had finally met most of our neighbors and made new friends, now we get to move for the 3 rd time here. So now things are sorted out and we can go on a much needed 3 week Holiday and enjoy ourselves. But wait, This story isn't over...Just when I think things can't get any worse, My wonderful wife informs me that she will host an all girls weekend at our Lake Chelan cabin and could I please find another place to stay on that weekend. Now this is what you call a real piss-cutter, and it's not one bit funny! I've been evicted 2 times in 2 different countries in the same week, and the week isn't over yet. What's next! An old friend recently sent me a book that taught me to find something positive no matter how bad your problems are. So I took this to heart and thought it would be a good time to do some skydiving again. With all of my bad luck out of the way, I'm sure nothing more could go wrong.

Open House

After living here in our flat for 7 months, we decided it didn't feel like home. I guess that was because we didn't know any of the neighbors. So last Saturday we threw out some invitations with the good help of Simon, our concierge, to an open house and barbecue. Well about 2 dozen people showed up and we had a blast. Much to our amazement, this had never been done before in our apartment building. Some people that lived here for over 2 years met their neighbors for the first time. Now we can organize an emergency party, to meet the people we didn't have room for. The English people are wonderful folks but keep more to themselves and harder to get to know. Anyway with a little good cheer, food, and music, the ice was broken. Now that we've officially broke in the place, with a good ol American party, It finally feels like home.