Me and My Hobbies

Dancing

That's me in the photo on the right with two of my ballroom dance partners in 1997. I started out Square Dancing in the 8th grade and danced in high school and college. Then stopped for a while when I joined the Navy. I started up again in Naples, Italy and danced all over Europe. Then I transferred to Southern California, I danced with a club in North County San Diego for a while and just drifted out of it - mostly due to work. Later, I became interested in ballroom dancing and was very active for about 6 years. Work (the travel) got in the way again. I guess it is time to get back into it. I danced ballroom for a time when I got to Nevada and stopped after my World Cruise. In 2022 I have got back into square dancing.

Types of Dances

These are the dances in which I have had lessons:

• Waltz
    (Light on my toes)
• Foxtrot
• American Tango
• Argentine Tango
• East Coast Swing
• West Coast Swing
     (Otherwise known as slot dancing)
• Rumba

My Flying

I became interested in flying while I was in the US Navy stationed in Naples, Italy. My friend Bill took me flying in a Cessna 150. I decided to join the Navy Flying Club, took flying lessons and got my Private Pilots License in 1976. After transferring to Southern California, I realized I needed to get an Instrument Certification because the skys in Southern California were crowded compared to flying in Italy. I got my Instrument Rating in 1990. Work really got in the way after a time and I flew less and less. I tried to get back into flying during my work in Anchorage, Alaska and get my seaplane rating. But, after I renewed my physical, I could not find the time.

Photography

I became interested in photography when I was stationed in Cubi Point in the Phillipines in 1971.  I began with a Mimolta SRT-101, and ended up getting Minolta MK by the time I was stationed in Diego Garcia in 1973. I got to take quite a few pictures in Diego Garcia because of my interest in photography, I became the Command Photographer and shot hundreds of photos during that time. I will be adding some of the better ones to this web site.

During my travels, I took mail order photography courses and while I was stationed in Naples, Italy, I was able to take some college level photography courses. Most of my camera equipment was taken during a burglery while I was away on vacation with only my Minolta SRT 102, and that put a damper on my photographic hobby for a while.  The cost of replacing my cameras and sending my film to a reliable lab in the US wained my photographic enthusiam.  But when some of the labs began sending not digital images but began using the internet to post them before the prints and negatives arrived in the mail, I began to get more interested in photography as a hobby.

Equipment

I have the following equipment: Nikon D300, Nikon D60, Nikon Coolpix S9600 and a FujiFilm FinePix XP130 for underwater photography