A shot from my SCUBA experience in the Maldives. I had never been diving before and actually really enjoyed it. It's a cool feeling... I've been snorkeling so it's odd to just keep going underwater and not ever coming up for air. I must admit, though, I spent most of my time worrying about sinking or floating... or breathing... and didn't spend a lot of time actually LOOKING around. Oh well, that's for my NEXT trip.

I had a little debate with the GM of that hotel I stayed at (Coco Palm). He said... "now if you learn to dive in the Maldives -- it's very hard to dive anywhere else. I might have suggested learning somewhere that isn't as nice... and then coming to the Maldives to dive." I disagreed, "I'd like to learn to dive in the Maldives -- and ONLY dive in the Maldives".

So... my first piece is supposed to air from my Maldives trip -- today! And... it is supposed to air on CNN-USA... the CNNi simulcast hour -- 12noon. I got up and came into the office... logged the tape, wrote the piece, got it approved and edited it (with an editor). It feels good to just get something on the air. It used to take weeks of post-production work at Channel One before an international piece would make air. Now, we'll just see if this actually makes air.

I just got this picture emailed to me from the guy I worked with at the Red Cross -- he took a picture of me while I was getting some "broll" of me riding in the boat. You can imagine how tired my arm gets at the end of a week of holding the darn camera out in front of me.

Man, looking at that water... that WAS a good assignment...

Note: this outfit seems to be the ONLY thing I wear looking back through the last photos. You'd think I worked for FedEx or something... in a uniform.