The senator spoke about national security, the economy, and border security among other topics. Always the skilled politician, Senator McCain answered the questions posed to him while avoiding getting mired in the actual substance of divisive issues like securing the border,amnesty, and support of the tea party movement.

I admit I have philosophical differences with the senator on several issues but it was still an honor to hear him speak. At the conclusion, I even got to shake Senator McCain’s hand.

Mobile phone pictures from the event:

Posted to Galindo.me from my Sprint HTC EVO 4G.

Look at all we got:

Posted to WordPress from the Sprint HTC EVO 4G.

An Unexpected Birthday Gift

For my birthday in April, I was given a gift certificate stating I was scheduled to attend a 2-hour, Trapeze 101 class at Trapeze U in Gilbert, Arizona. Needless to say, it was an unexpected gift. I’m not sure I had ever considered flying on a trapeze. I had no idea there was even a trapeze school nearby.

Several years ago, and for no real good reason, I earned the nickname Flying Galindo (Flying G for short).  Flying Galindo sounds similar to the Flying Wallendas, the legendary high wire family. That’s probably what made this gift so appropriate and such a good idea. Now I could live up to my nickname.

After the surprise of the gift wore off, I checked out Trapeze U’s website. I began to get really excited. This was going to be fun.

What a Rush!

Fast forward three weeks to the morning of Saturday, May 15th, 2010. My class was scheduled for 8:00am to 10:00am. What an incredible experience. I climbed the ladder and flew on the trapeze a total of eight times that morning. It was exciting and scary all at the same time. Each time I stepped onto the platform to jump, my heart was racing. Each time I landed and climbed off the net, the adrenaline was flowing. All I could say afterwords was “What a rush!”.

Flying Galindo in Action

The following video and photos show several of my attempts flying on the trapeze.

David Galindo – Trapeze 101 Class from David Galindo on Vimeo.

Thank You

I would like to say the folks over at Trapeze U are incredible. They made the whole experience safe, exciting and fun. I’m giving them two thumbs up.

And a big THANK YOU to my wife for giving me one of the best gifts I have ever received.

Stand By Me | Playing For Change | Song Around The World

After I got home, I saved a Wunderground.com image of the NEXRAD Local Radar at the time I took the photo. You can see the red radar echo of the cloud formation I captured in the photograph just below where it says “Phoenix” on the map.

Side-by-Side Progress Pictures #1

Today is one week since my first set of pictures. I thought it might be interesting to compare where I’m at today side-by-side with those I took last Saturday morning.

I’m not going to analyze them too much. For me, I know that most of the improvement is with my right eye. It’s closing just slightly better which really helps with keeping it from drying out.

The pictures in the right column were taken Saturday, April 12th, 2008, with the exception of the side profile smiling photos. I decided to start adding that perspective on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008.

The pictures in the right column were taken today, Saturday, April 19th, 2008.

Straight Face: 04/12/08	Straight Face: 04/19/08 (Today)
Smile: 04/12/08	Smile: 04/19/08 (Today)
Eyes Closed: 04/12/08	Eyes Closed: 04/19/08 (Today)
Raised Eyebrows: 04/12/08	Raised Eyebrows: 04/19/08 (Today)
Smile – Left Side: 04-16-08	Smile – Left Side: 04-19-08 (Today)
Smile – Right Side: 04-16-08	Smile – Right Side: 04-19-08 (Today)

What’s the Weather Like Where You Are?

It’s still really dry here in Arizona, but you can’t beat the temperature:

If you’re someplace where it’s cold right now, don’t be too jealous. We’re just a few weeks away from daily triple-digits!!