Here is the first of what I'm sure will be many auctions of Pirates of the Caribbean II premiere tickets.

I'm considering bidding, since the premiere's not on that many peoples' radars yet - the location hasn't even been announced - and the competition may not be as stiff as it will be in the coming months... plus, at least this is for a good cause and not through a scalper. But I'm also not going to go broke over a pair of tickets. Someone will buy the second one off me, sure - whether it's a friend or a fellow eBayer - but I'm still not paying much more than the current bid ($1,025). (But it's still less than the Manhattan swim! LOL!) Which is why I'm not bidding yet, because this Eton31 dude looks pretty desperate... I'll lull him into a false sense of security over the next few days.

As for the swims, I've been thinking about it, and I think I really want to do Tampa after all. I won't get that chance again, since it's an April swim and this is the last school year I'll be spending in Florida (*sniff*). Also, I'll be moving to grad school in (hopefully) either DC or Connecticut, both of which are a heck of a lot closer to Manhattan, so I can do Manhattan during grad school. The other plus is that if I don't do Manhattan this year, I can not only do Tampa, but also Key West again. (The timing was too close otherwise.) A lot of Masters teammates from J-ville got inspired through my swim last year and want to go do it as a relay this year, so having buddies there will make it even more fun. And if I decide I still really want a cold(er)-water swim that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, I can do the 8-mile Boston Light (race fee $100, boat fee $250). I almost did it last year, but ended up skipping it because my shoulders took a good six weeks to heal after Key West. (Hopefully, my spring weight training class can offer me some ideas as to how to prevent such problems.)

Anyway, the point is, I think I may let Manhattan slide for a while. After all, I have another year and a half to do cold-water Channel training, and I promised Laura I'd spend a good two months in England prior to my swim date so I could train in Dover Harbor every day with the group she's got over there, as the water gradually warms up. That's going to be awesome. I'm getting excited already and it's still 18 months away!...

Okay, so it's 99% official now - the summer swims will be Tampa Bay (24mi), Key West (12.5mi), and (maybe) the Boston Light (8mi). Manhattan and its fancy price tag will wait until I'm actually up in that neck of the woods and have huge piles of money being showered upon me by prestigious graduate institutions. :) (Okay, I'm dreaming, but still - it'd be nice.)

So now I can use that $1250 on the POTC premiere tickets, LOL! Looks like I came full circle. Bring it on...

Only kidding. But I can use it on my long-put-off Eurail trip through France, Italy, and Greece. Yippee - summer 2006 is going to rock! :)