On December 20th I drove down to Florida to spend a couple of weeks with my youngest brother, Jake, at Florida International University. It was great getting to see him because it has been a long time since we spent any time together.

We went out to bars and clubs every night for two weeks. My typical day (night) involved going out at 11:00 PM and returning at 6:00 AM after a stop at waffle house or IHOP. I'd then sleep until the early afternoon, and, as they say on the shampoo bottle, "wash, rinse, repeat".

I am definately getting too old to keep partying with kids more than ten years younger than me but I have to say it was a great stress relief and a good break from the routine I have lived for the past year.

As for training, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am done with my flight training and am now certified to fly Blackhawks. All that I have let to do before graduation is two weeks of survival training and then additional month of classroom and field problems. I expect to graduate and get my wings at the end of February.

Most of the globe has already welcomed 2005. We will in a few hours. As we do we'll say goodbye to 2004.

On a personal side it has been a year of transition. A year ago the coming of the new year passed in Colorado and the job with a Fortune 100 company was still going strong. A year later and I'm happy to be both back in academia and in the southwest desert.

The last sunset of 2004 was spectacular. Following days of storms and with large puffy clouds building the last rose colored rays of sun veiled the mountains. The wind of past days is gone and the soil is alive with the recent rains. On that last note Las Vegas will finish the year with almost twice the average rainfall.

This post winds up being mostly rambling. I have no idea how to adequately mark the events of the last week or even how to being to understand the degree of suffering of those effected.