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This is my Dad...tamer of wild animals everywhere! Okay, not really, but that is a real live alligator. Her name is Julie and in this picture, she's about 4 years old. I took my dad on a Lil' Cajun Swamp Tour in Louisiana whenI lived there. This tour is by far the best in the Bayou. The tour guides use marshmellows, yes, that's right, marshmellows to lure the alligators out. They're so used to being fed, when they hear the boat, they come swimming as fast as they can waiting for the tasty treats. Apparantly, the alligators have very sensitive digestive systems and marshmellows are one of the few foods they can be fed without messing up their system. Anyway, it works. Then after the tour, they pull the real supprise on you, they have a real live pet alligator and they let everyone take a turn holding her (and yes, she has all her teeth). If you're going to be visiting the New Orlans area, be sure to check out Lil' Cajun Swamp Tours. They're by far the best.

 

 

 

 

As long as we're on the subject of animals, this picture is of me at a vacation resort in New Bern, North Carolina. We had just arrived and were checking the place out when we heard knocking on the sliding glass doors. A flock of ducks was pecking on the door. Apparantly, the vacationers frequently feed them so they were simply asking for food. The brave little guys will eat right out of your hands (not like the snotty Washington DC ducks). This one even ventured into the house...getting her back out of the house was more interesting.

 

 

 

Okay, one more animal picture then I promise I'll stop. This is at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg on my 21st Birthday. Most people go out and get trashed, I wanted to ride rollercoasters. Anyway, they have vending machines there where you can buy goat crackers. Then, you can be molested by goats as they try to get the crackers away from you. These guys are even bolder than the New Bern Ducks mentioned above. I left with hoof-prints on my bum. I feel so violated.

 

 

 

After living in New Orleans and moving back to Maryland, I decided I missed it way too much to say gone for too long. So...for spring break 1999, four of us took all the money we had and hopped a plane to the Big Easy. We missed Mardi Gras, but take it from me, you don't have to be there at Mardi Gras to have a good time. That place is crazy year-round. This picture was taken on Bourbon Street (although it's dark so you can't see much of it). Left to Right is Donny, Jay and myself. Gene took the picture so he didn't manage to get into it. That was one crazy trip and it would have been much better if I hadn't gotten food poisoning and ended up in the emergency room for 18 hours.

 

 

I've been a volunteer with the College Park Volunteer Fire Department for several years and this is a picture from our open house in 1998. These are the officers (different color shirts signify different ranks). I'm the one on the far right in the light blue shirt. The College Park Fire Department houses a truck, a hazardous materials/foam unit, two engines, an ambulance and a medic unit. They also have a dormitory that can house up to 24 volunteers. All the live-in members are students at either the University of Maryland, College Park or an equivalent college program. They along with "townies" (volunteers that do not reside in the station) are responsible for staffing from 3pm to 7am Monday - Friday and all weekend. It's quite a responsibility but a great experience.

 

Do you ever look at your family and wonder how they all managed to make it this far without being committed to a mental institution. I never really did until I got this roll of film back. This picture shows my dad, his two brothers and my great-uncle sporting their new headgear. The deal is every year they all take a golf trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. Only they've had bad luck with rain several times so my Grandmother decided to give them all rain-hats so they could still play golf in the downpours. How practical...and totally unstylish. Actually, these hard core golfers (never thought I'd use hard core and golf in the same sentence) all invested in full rain suits so they can outplay the weather. Now that's dedication.

 

As long as we're on the subject of people that need to be committed.... There's a story behind this. Every year my family gives gag-gifts to each other as well as real gifts. This traditon dates back so far I can't remember how it started anymore. Well, my uncle was having septic tank troubles and kept having to pay for people to come out and work on it. So, we decided it would be a great money saver if we could find a way for him to work down there himself. Thus the birth of the Septic-Diving kit. It comes complete with goggles, head-light (attached to goggles), breathing apparatus (really the bottom of a plunger with a tube leading to a funnel...we attached fishing floats to the funnel so it will stay up out of the ...stuff), and a tool belt with a pooper scooper and pipe cleaner. We should go into business.