Off-Shore Fishing

It actually happened. We went off-shore fishing in Brandon's boat. After waking up at 3 am, a many many many mile and few hour boat ride, we reached the fishin' hole. Actually, it is an old wrecked shrimp boat that created an artificial reef which means great habitat for gigantic fish. We could not have had a better day from the start. The water was calm, making for a more pleasant boat ride. The weather was beautiful. And, we had a cooler full of beer among good friends. Not sure what could have made the day better. Wait, yes I can: FISH. And fish is what we caught. The day started with me hooking what looked like a Barracuda, but the line got cut when it was about 10 feet from the boat. After that, Mike caught his Shark. Then I landed a Bonnita, which evidentially is not really good to eat, but great bait, so we kept it. From then on it was nothing but Amber Jack and they just got bigger as the day went on. About half way through the morning another boat showed up and decided to anchor right next to us. At first, I was a little annoyed until we caught about another 4 Amber Jack and they caught nothing. So, the look on their faces as we were having all the fun was worth it. After about noon, we had limited out on Amber Jack so we headed to another spot to try to catch some Grouper. We did just that, catching many off of the chopped bait we made out of the Bonnita I caught. But, Jen caught the only keeper. So, after a long day of drinking beer and catching fish, we headed home to clean them up. Unfortunately, this is where the day went sour for my thumb. The Grouper had not passed yet, and Brandon, being as funny as he is, told me to "Just lip it," to get it in the cooler. Not remembering Mike's only secret to ocean fishing: "Everything in the ocean wants to hurt you," I did just as Brandon advised and came up with less thumb than I started with.

Mike's shark.

The Bonnita, aka fish bait.

Steve's Amber Jack.

Mike's Amber Jack

Jen's Amber Jack

Me trying to hold the fish with the gaf. Brandon is equally excited in the background.

Back at the dock.

Here are the 5 Amber Jack and the solo Grouper on the top. Steve's hand is on the fish for size reference.

Here is the group holding up our 5 Amber Jack we caught.

Here is the remains of my thumb. From now on, don't "Just lip it."

The Place

Yes, our apartment is actually called, "The Place." We are on the 5th floor over-looking downtown Tampa. I will have some downtown shots soon (aka, once I remember). But, here is our place in The Place.

We'll start with the main entrance. The wooden door on the right slides back and forth to enter the library/guest room. Our library has some new bookshelves lining one of the walls with the desk in the middle. These shelves just barely hold all of our books; therefore, we purchased those with optional upward extensions we can add on later if needed. The white couch you can see in the guest room makes a bed, and a quite comfortable one at that. Unfortunately, not much more can fit in our library. There is also a door leading from the guest room to the guest bath.

The guest bath is a full bath with a stand up shower (no bath tub). There is a door leading to this bathroom from both the guest room and the dining area as you can see by the door on the left in the photo above.

Next, you would walk into the dining area. I do not have a picture of this area because we currently do not have a dining table and chairs. We are waiting for sufficient funds. So, lets head to the kitchen. Our kitchen has a neat lay out. As you walk in, the fridge, stove, and a small counter space is on the left. The island is free floating in the middle. Then, on the right side, there are two pantries separated by what is called an "Urban Fireplace," meaning, all you can burn are candles. Plus, you can check out our cool modern orange barstools (2 more to come, again when funds are sufficient).

Despite how great our kitchen is, my favorite part would have to the the wine fridge. It holds more bottles than I could ever afford or drink. But, it is pretty sweet to have wine at the correct temperature.

Now to the living room. Our entertainment center is awesome. Each shelf has a light underneath. Also, once we get a newer TV, we will mount it directly onto the wooden part in the middle. Our couches are awesome as well. They are from ScanDesign which is a Scandinavian furniture store. The white couch's arms move up and down. They are in the up position here and then flatten out to offer more seating. The backs move backward as well which creates a sitting place for tall people (obviously not Val and I). The black chair has white stitching and a chrome base that swivels.

The coffee table in the middle and the glass tables with lamps will be replaced as well. But, as I have mentioned, we need more cash dollars for that. I won't show anyone the master bedroom yet because it is not even close to being finished. But, you can see the sliding door that leads to it in the image above of the white couch. So, now we will go to the master bath. This is huge and has a double vanity sink, bath tub, and separate stand up shower.

Fishing in Florida So Far

Well, I have gone fishing 4 times thus far and have been successful in each trip. Two trips I went with my friend Mike Fister on his Kayaks and the other two times Mike and I went with our friend Brandon Hirons on his boat. Mike is wearing the blue hat and green shirt in the pics below.

The first trip was successful with many spanish mackrel. Unfortunately the last few we managed to hook were gobbled by dolphins before we could g

et them on the boat.  

A successful day, nonetheless.

Here is our second trip, on Brandon's boat. After we 

dropped the girls off because they were cold, we 

headed back out and starting catching some 

spotted trout and catfish.

The third trip began as Mike and I started at the Skyway Pier. This was our first mistake. Not only did we not catch any fish, Mike managed to let the ocean eat one of his fishing rigs. Well, all we can say is, another $80 or so down the drain. After that frustration, we headed to the flats on his kayaks and managed to catch quite a few fish, and 4 were keepers. Here are some trout. A mangrove snapper was also hooked but was under regulation size; therefore, released back to sea.

The fourth trip started out on Brandon's boat trying some Tarpon fishing. Let's just say the Tarpon were huge, surrounding us, but not biting on our live (well, at first) crab and 2 varieties of baitfish. Once all of our bait died, we headed to some flats. We were very successful, catching over 15 spotted trout each. Despite this good luck, only one was a keeper. Sorry, no pics of our solo keeper.

Just started...

To all who may read this, it has begun. I mean, life has begun. No more sitting in a library and calling what I do work. Work will actually begin here in a couple of weeks. Orientation starts this Sunday with BLS (basic life support) and ACLS (advanced cardiac life support). I also have an orientation for every hospital we rotate at (Tampa General Hospital, VA Hospital, Moffit Cancer Center, and All Children's Hospital). So, until then, I have just been trying to settle into the new place. I will have pictures up shortly.

I just wanted to get this started so that I can keep contact with the world even though I may be working while everyone else is awake.

Stay tuned and feel free to share the site...