July 2013 - Stuart C. Mackey

Friday, July 5, 2013 – Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks

We arrived at the Sponge docks a little before lunch time and decided to walk a while and see what shops and restaurant options there were to choose from. We decided on Hella’s Greek Restaurant. It had a very greek feel; with icons, idols and god and goddesses around, as well as bunches of grapes hanging from the walls and ceiling. I had a Gyro and shared it with Katie and Ethan. Katie had a Greek Salad. Both items were very good. The service was excellent as well.

We continued on our stroll along Dodacanese Blvd., poking our heads in a few shows, including Spiceman’s Kitchen, where our noses were immediately hit with a variety of amazing spices.

Across the street from Spiceman’s Kitchen is the Tarpon Springs Aquarium. Our visit there was well timed, as there was some heavy rain on its way.

We started our tour by short browse of the exhibits, then saw a presentation learning about snakes, where a 20 foot snake was brought out and people were allowed to pet it. It took two handlers to wrestle the snake into a nook where it could lay while the guests stroked its scales, careful to avoid getting near its head.

Our next presentation at the aquarium was the feeding of the eels. The first tank of eels appeared to have no more than 3 eels, until they smelled food. That number quickly doubled to at least 6 eels.

After a short rain delay, we watched a diver enter the tank and feed the fish and sharks. They creatures were all excited to see the diver. “Puffy” the puffer fish thinks he’s the star of the show. The diver also showed how the sharks are “bottom feeders” by feeding them against the glass. She also took a shark in her arms and held it upside down, putting it in a state of “tonic.”

The rain returned when we wanted to walk back to the car. But, after a brief stop for ice cream and shopping, it cleared up.

We checked into our hotel and unpacked. I asked at the desk where was a good place to eat and Ozona Blue was suggested. It turned out to be a little further than we expected, but not much. The food was only ok, but Ethan didn’t mind as he chowed down on his food and the little bits we shared with him from our plate. He was also getting into the live band; bobbing is whole body up and down with the music!

That concludes day one of our mini vacation. Make sure to check out the complete gallery of photos from the day.

My First Post

I have been trying to decide between several different types of blog posts for a new writing and blogging project for myself. It was more about my passion, sharing my knowledge, and answering questions.

I then remembered another blogger who was a guest on MacPowerUsers podcast who calls her site “I Wear Many Hats.” Each “hat” is a category in the blog, and represents one of her passions. I think she has 7 or more “hats” featured.

So, this is my “many hats” blog, but I have decided (mostly because I already owned the domain) to not give it a funny name, but to just call it Stuart C. Mackey’s blog (??).

In this first post, I wanted to lay out the categories that I will be writing in the future, for you the readers, and to solidify it in my own mind.

For those of you who find you enjoy a particular subset of this blog, rest assured I will be publishing it in a way that it can be followed or subscribed to by category.

Here are the categories:

Faith (Christianity)

First and foremost, I am a Christian. That doesn’t mean this will be the most common category, but I needed to be honest and share this important fact. In this category will be my reflections on passages of scriptures, as well as thought on Christian topics.

Life and Family

This will be the category that includes my personal experiences and time with family. It will likely contain a lot of pictures and videos. It may also contain some parenting teachable moments, as I learn along the way.

Reader-Learner

I love to read and love to learn. I thought of making “Books” a category, but I decided that the core of why I read is to learn. I also read fiction for fun, but that will be another category. In this category I will share lessons I am learning from books I read, podcasts I listen to and watch, etc.

Leadership

While this could fall under Learner, I think it will be such an important topic that I wanted to separate it out. I resisted being a leader for a long time, but was kind of forced into it by my work and job. Most of the work I do simply can not be done by one person – it requires a team. And I have found that I am not that terrible at leading teams and individuals. This will be a combination of thoughts on what I have learned from other leaders through books, blogs, podcasts, etc.; as well as my own thoughts on what it means to be a leader.

Technician

I wasn’t sure what to call this category. I was trying to be consistent in my category naming conventions. This will be the tech support category. It will contain all the answers to the real world question I get in my personal and professional life on “How do I blank with such-and-such-technology?”

I am sure that it is possible that I will come up with additional categories, but I will try to keep it simple, for myself as well as for the reader.

Thank you for reading. Be sure to share your thoughts below in the comment section.

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