MT.Net is back online after some unfortunate timing. The server went offline Tuesday morning, right when I was due to catch a plane. I had 20 minutes to try to fix things but was unsucessful. Today (Sunday) was the first day I had a chance to work on it again. Turns out that a bad switch is at fault. Bah.

I’ve been saving up the posts since then, so don’t worry your pretty little heads. It’s good to be back.

That. Was. Awesome.

Four hours sailing on Lake Gaston. Steady breeze and sunny skies, with a high in the upper 70s. Even the launching and recovering wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected.

We took my buddy Scott with us, who had fun in spite of missing his sunglasses. The kids did well, too. Hallie took the helm for a moment yesterday as I went forward to retrieve a line. Travis had a nasty fall late in the day, falling backward in the cabin and hitting his head. He recovered quickly like the champ he is, though.

That marks the sixth time we’ve taken the boat out since we bought it in August. I think it was the best sail yet.

Happy Veteran’s Day to my fellow vets. You know who you are. Never forget what you’ve done, and what those vets who came before you have done. And above all, don’t let pretenders take away those things for which you’ve worked so hard.

We’re going to spend Veteran’s Day sailing on Lake Gaston if I can find the courage to launch and recover the boat while waist-deep in water in the middle of November. Above the surface things should be perfect with highs in the upper 70s and a 10 to 15 MPH wind. Wish us luck.

I had a meeting Tuesday in New Jersey, a demo for one of our important partners. On Monday night I packed up my laptop and accessories and placed them by the door. I laid out my clothes so that I’d be ready to go when the alarm went off. I climbed into bed early, told Kelly good night, and promptly blinked out, not even remembering her turning out the light.

The next thing I know, Kelly’s waking me up. “Weren’t you supposed to be leaving right now?”

Yikes! I never turned my alarm clock on! It was ten minutes to takeoff of my flight and I was still in bed!

I jumped out of bed, raced through a shower and shave, and flew out the door with a handful of breakfast Kelly had made me. On the way, she gave me alternative flights by telephone. I arrived at the airport just as a Continental 737 was climbing through the sky: my flight.

Fortunately, though, there was another flight to Newark just 30 minutes later. I parked, went through security, and hoofed it down to the Contiental gates at the far end of the terminal. While I was at security, I heard an announcement looking for two missing Continental passseners on the next flight. The gate agent assumed I was one of those passengers but quickly waved me on when I showed her my ticket. I settled into my seat and tried to settle down, too. But I was on my way!

I arrived at my meeting with plenty of time to spare. The partners weren’t even there yet. In short, no one knew just how crazy my travel had been to get there.

Never underestimate the value of getting there by the skin of your teeth. That is, as long as you get there!