Thursday, August 10, 2006

Kite Tube

Okay, so I'm posting two blogs today because I've been so far behind. I get tons of watersport catalogs and on the back of one was an ad for a tube that you pull behind a boat that actually flies. It was called the Sportstuff Kite Tube and it had been named the sports product of the year. I was intrigued but something about the ad looked phony or doctored. The next day I went to the company's website and was able to see people using and flying the kite tube. I've been so bored with regular tubing that I rarely did it anymore and had spent the past few years only riding wakeboards. Needless to say, I was hooked and bought one on the spot.
While at the lake, the CPSC recalled the tube because of 2 deaths and 39 injuries attributed to the kite tube. I'm not surprised in the least. In the wrong hands, this tube is dangerous and I could easily see deadly. Does that mean, I'm the right hands? No it doesn't. However, I can tell you that I have fallen off of tubes being pulled behind a jet boat doing 50+ mph in a turn. Its not fun and it down right hurts. Anyone who has ridden a tube knows that in a turn the tube is actually going faster than the boat. I have also face planted on a wake board so hard that I was unconscious for a brief spell and that was only at about 25 mph. My point is water will hurt you at any speed, when you factor height into the equation, disastrous results can occur. The most important thing that we learned from watching the instructional dvd was; there is no difference in ride between 1 foot off the water or 20. Our intentions from the beginning were to keep the flying heights at a minimum. With that in mind, we rode the tube for 7 days straight at the lake (logging well over 12 hours total ride time), rode it on the river twice, and have had 11 different riders, all with no injuries. We have had riders who have gone over 10 feet, I'd even venture to say we have had on a few occasions hit twenty feet (some caught on tape). Fortunately, we always have slowed the boat down so the tube comes back down. We're not always going to be able to prevent someone from reaching undesirable heights but as with any watersport its a risk that a person must be willing to take before deciding on riding one of these things. If you decide to take that risk, once you figure out how to control the tube, you'll know why it was named the product of the year. I believe it to be the most fun I've ever had on the water. I won't be returning my kite tube. The first picture above I believe to be Sheri on the kite tube (skull and crossbones wouldn't imply any danger would they? Nah!). The next is of my two goofy boys who donned wy waxing bonnets while I was waxing the boat and the third is of Isabel at the lake. The latter two have nothing to do with the tube, they're just some of my favorites.

Summer 2006

Where does the summer go? I'm not sure who has more things going on; me or the rest of the world. I've been chomping at the bit to write about such things as Hezbollah, the War, the upcoming elections, and most recently the ousting of Joe Lieberman. I just have not been able to sit down an put my thoughts to keyoard. You see, my work decided that my 13 years experience with debits and credits, FASB Statements, commercial audits, budget execution, and financial forecasting endowed me with the skillset necessary for planning an organizational event (company picnic) for 400+ Army Civilians and Soldiers. This event was planned for late June and as it turned out, it was held the very first day following a period of 4 days of monsoon-like rain. As if that wasn't enough, the week prior to the picnic I was (un)lucky enough to find myself spending a week in training for Lean Six Sigma (LSS) for Service completely isolated from my computer.

Thankfully, June has come and gone. The picnic is over and thanks to an additional week of intense LSS Training (lodged between a week at the lake and a week at the beach no less) I am now a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Let's see how far that gets me. The one thing regarding the organizational picnic I wanted to mention and that I was most proud of was I invited OIF/OEF (Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom) Medical Hold Soldiers and their families from Walter Reed to attend the picnic. We had 3 wounded soldiers and 6 family members attend. I think the weather leading up to the picnic made many soldiers and family members reluctant to sign up. The ones that did come made the picnic special for everyone and more importantly earned me some accolades with our CG (commanding general) and the COO (Chief Operating Officer). Of course six months from now they won't know my name but who cares.

The organizational move to San Antonio, Texas is still on and slated for sometime in 2010. BRAC Law says we must be in SA by October 2011. I'm not really sure what that means (are they going to arrest somebody or something?) but it kind of reinforces the fact that the organization is moving. Sheri and I have scheduled a trip to San Antonio this November. We feel it would be in our best interest to at least go check the area out that we wouldn't move to when the time comes to make the decision.