SHIP'S LOG:
I got a chance to get around s see a couple more people who are on "The List" today. It is really something when I show up at their doors. They look absolutely shocked, stunned, like they can not believe their eyes. It is a great way to spend an afternoon, for both me and them.
The weather here has gotten a little bit "warmer" or shall I say unseasonable. A year ago, I was still in Fort Pierce battle the wind and the temps in the 70's. This was the day of the great battery replacement when the "old" house battery bank went away and a new one took its place. After a couple of days without electric "juice in the can" it was great to be able to run things again without firing up the engine or the portable generator. Basically I was still heading south though my pause at Fort Piece and my visits with Jerry had caused a bit of a delay. soon I would touch base with Brad and that would cause even more of a delay as together we worked at getting his boat "seaworthy." There are times when I think about him, whether or not he was able to finish up, whether or not he was able to get away before the local constabulary forced him to have his beast of a dog "fixed?" I will have to see if I still ave his cell phone number ad give him a call one of these days. I tend to think he is probably still on the hook in Fort Pierce, still planning to go but not being quite able to get going yet.
The first of the year brought a couple of big financial blows. The first was the bill for the dues for TYC - $708.63! Ouch! The second was the balance for the hauling, storage and launching from Yankee Boatyard - $786.53! Ouch! ! ! And the third was also from Yankee, the maintenance bill, I mere $663! Ouch!!! Ah, but then it is only money and had I gone south, I would have spent it anyhow. Then again, hauled out in some DIY (Do It Yourself) Mom & Pop boatyard someplace off the ICW down in "sunny Florida" I probably would have already been hard at work with the projects I have planned for the spring. Boy, is that list growing! Then again, it never really shrinks. Every project you begin reveals 3 more that need to be done, usually before you are able to finish the initial project, so it is better to leave it until spring when you can force yourself to stop because it is time to launch the boat. And that's a day that can't come soon enough. Have you noticed that the days are getting longer?
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
70 Degress, Humid and Sunny!
SHIP'S LOG:
I took a look back at the blogs of a year ago. Ah! That was the life! Vero Beach! Fort Pierce! Temperatures in the 70's! Swimming! Working on my tan! Wonderful! And as you are quiet aware, very different from what I have been experiencing recently! NULITELY - The Industrial Strength Bowel Cleanser! The Colonoscopy it self, though the drugs were very nice! Temps in the teens for crying out loud. Suffice it to say that I do day dream about last year, the good parts especially of which there were many, many.
I have to say that the routine of the trip, while galling at times, did keep things tidy. I have to say that over the last few months, I have lost "the routine" and even the ambition to create an on-shore version. It is not that I "have to do anything," for "wasting time," as some people call it, is not a waste of time at all. I can pretty much do what I want when I want within the strictures of my bank account and the criminal justice system, but being completely "free wheelin'" can be as boring and as unappetizing as any dead end job. And I still have to struggle against "should-ing" on myself. You know, "I should do this" or "I shouldn't do that." Having the free time to do what you want when you want is wonderful as long as you have a sense of what it is that you want. There is a big difference between " being " and "doing" but also as beg a difference between "being" and "rotting away."
The again, i had to pay the bills today. Well, actually I didn't pay them so much as organized to pay them - balancing my checkbook, listing the bills, - that sort of thing. And as the bills get paid online, it really only takes the moving of electrons from here to there, so long as my electrons are the right ones for the right amounts. Of course, it didn't help that "POWERBALL" raised the cost of a ticket. It was hard enough to justify spend $1 when the prize got over $100,000,000. Now with the cost going up to $2, I doubt that I will be able in good conscience to buy why shy of a half-a-billion pay out! It would be fun to win though. I would become a reincarnation of "John Bersford Tipton." Who is he you might ask. Well, if I got the name right (I'm close), he was the fictional "extremely wealthy millionaire" who used to send "Michael Anthony" out with checks for $1,000,000 to be given to randomly chosen people in the show called "The Millionaire." I wouldn't do it randomly though as there are a number of people who I would like to help out and different causes to do something for as well. Who knows, perhaps I may get the chance someday but it will be a tough call at $2 a ticket!
I took a look back at the blogs of a year ago. Ah! That was the life! Vero Beach! Fort Pierce! Temperatures in the 70's! Swimming! Working on my tan! Wonderful! And as you are quiet aware, very different from what I have been experiencing recently! NULITELY - The Industrial Strength Bowel Cleanser! The Colonoscopy it self, though the drugs were very nice! Temps in the teens for crying out loud. Suffice it to say that I do day dream about last year, the good parts especially of which there were many, many.
I have to say that the routine of the trip, while galling at times, did keep things tidy. I have to say that over the last few months, I have lost "the routine" and even the ambition to create an on-shore version. It is not that I "have to do anything," for "wasting time," as some people call it, is not a waste of time at all. I can pretty much do what I want when I want within the strictures of my bank account and the criminal justice system, but being completely "free wheelin'" can be as boring and as unappetizing as any dead end job. And I still have to struggle against "should-ing" on myself. You know, "I should do this" or "I shouldn't do that." Having the free time to do what you want when you want is wonderful as long as you have a sense of what it is that you want. There is a big difference between " being " and "doing" but also as beg a difference between "being" and "rotting away."
The again, i had to pay the bills today. Well, actually I didn't pay them so much as organized to pay them - balancing my checkbook, listing the bills, - that sort of thing. And as the bills get paid online, it really only takes the moving of electrons from here to there, so long as my electrons are the right ones for the right amounts. Of course, it didn't help that "POWERBALL" raised the cost of a ticket. It was hard enough to justify spend $1 when the prize got over $100,000,000. Now with the cost going up to $2, I doubt that I will be able in good conscience to buy why shy of a half-a-billion pay out! It would be fun to win though. I would become a reincarnation of "John Bersford Tipton." Who is he you might ask. Well, if I got the name right (I'm close), he was the fictional "extremely wealthy millionaire" who used to send "Michael Anthony" out with checks for $1,000,000 to be given to randomly chosen people in the show called "The Millionaire." I wouldn't do it randomly though as there are a number of people who I would like to help out and different causes to do something for as well. Who knows, perhaps I may get the chance someday but it will be a tough call at $2 a ticket!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Almost Christmas!
SHIP'S LOG:
I have successfully avoided "It's A Wonderful Life" for the 47th year in a row . . at least. I am not sure if I have ever seen the film but from all that I have heard, I have no desire to do so.
Over the past couple of days, I have continued to visit people on "the List." The visits for the most part have been short as most are hip-deep in their own Christmas Celebration preparations and I didn't want to tie them up too much for too long. All though have made me promise a longer visit in the weeks ahead. Sounds good to me.
A year ago, I was ensconced in the Cocao Village Marina freezing. I had gotten past the point of being amazed at just how cold the winter was in Florida as the weather had been positively arctic for nearly a month.I can remember thinking that as bad as it might have been for us northerners wintering there, it had to be, and was, far worse for the poor locals. The concept of "winter clothes" and having " a furnace" were completely alien to them. It has been far warmer here this year than down there last year, and so far, no snow. That will undoubtedly change but so far, so good.
Come the first of the year, I will go pay a visit to ABISHAG in her winter quarters basically to see that her deck and cockpit drains are clear so there will no build up of water leading to ice, leading to water getting inside and thus to a whole host of troubles. It will also be an opportunity to sit down and visualize the projects that need to be done come spring. It is not too soon to begin that process as we are, as of today, one day closer to launching. Ah, what a wonderful thought.
I hope you all have a holy and Merry Christmas!
I have successfully avoided "It's A Wonderful Life" for the 47th year in a row . . at least. I am not sure if I have ever seen the film but from all that I have heard, I have no desire to do so.
Over the past couple of days, I have continued to visit people on "the List." The visits for the most part have been short as most are hip-deep in their own Christmas Celebration preparations and I didn't want to tie them up too much for too long. All though have made me promise a longer visit in the weeks ahead. Sounds good to me.
A year ago, I was ensconced in the Cocao Village Marina freezing. I had gotten past the point of being amazed at just how cold the winter was in Florida as the weather had been positively arctic for nearly a month.I can remember thinking that as bad as it might have been for us northerners wintering there, it had to be, and was, far worse for the poor locals. The concept of "winter clothes" and having " a furnace" were completely alien to them. It has been far warmer here this year than down there last year, and so far, no snow. That will undoubtedly change but so far, so good.
Come the first of the year, I will go pay a visit to ABISHAG in her winter quarters basically to see that her deck and cockpit drains are clear so there will no build up of water leading to ice, leading to water getting inside and thus to a whole host of troubles. It will also be an opportunity to sit down and visualize the projects that need to be done come spring. It is not too soon to begin that process as we are, as of today, one day closer to launching. Ah, what a wonderful thought.
I hope you all have a holy and Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Visiting Here & There
SHIP'S LOG:
I am at last getting around to doing something that I really should have done before this. I have started to visit those who have been my support over the last year. True, I have seen a few, but I ma going to try and work my way through "The List," all those people who have been so supportive of me on my journey. I made four(4) visits yesterday and, as with the previous visits, it was a wonderful experience. And rather humbling too. Everyone was eager to hear the latest news and to hear again the stories of the trip that were given over in the blog. They wanted more stories, more details, more updates, more of everything like that. I wish I could write more about what took place on these visits, but it is really an exhausting thing. I will try and make a few more this week and then probably hold off on the rest until after the holidays.
I am at last getting around to doing something that I really should have done before this. I have started to visit those who have been my support over the last year. True, I have seen a few, but I ma going to try and work my way through "The List," all those people who have been so supportive of me on my journey. I made four(4) visits yesterday and, as with the previous visits, it was a wonderful experience. And rather humbling too. Everyone was eager to hear the latest news and to hear again the stories of the trip that were given over in the blog. They wanted more stories, more details, more updates, more of everything like that. I wish I could write more about what took place on these visits, but it is really an exhausting thing. I will try and make a few more this week and then probably hold off on the rest until after the holidays.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Winter
SHIP'S LOG:
I haven't got up the gumption to hit the sail loft yet. You don't now what boring, dully repetitive, mind-numbing work is until you have worked on building sails. Truth be told, I am also in no hurt to stitch my fingers, burn myself with a cutting iron or pull a muscle in my back from being hunched over the cutting table. It is truly a drag but one which I will have to get back into unless I want to pay mucho buckaroos come spring in order to get my sails back. And what is a sailboat without sails?
I have done such exciting things as change the oil in my car, go to the bank, hit the "Paperback Book Trader" and check my mail in the Groton location. Overwhelming, n'cest pas?One thing that I have enjoyed is dropping in to visit with people who, over the course on my journey, bailed me out with a little cash, in some cases a lot of cash, in order to keep me financially afloat. If, or I should say when, The Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol finally tracks me down, all of that assistance gets repaid, if only to allow them to be generous again to the next person in need. I have discovered there certainly are a lot f us out there. It is wonderful beyond description how each of them was so genuinely glad to see me and offered further help the first thing. Not being completely out of the woods yet, that time may come, but for right now, it is quite humbling again to know that the help is there, ready and willing to be given.
The calluses are slowly coming back to the finger tips, far too slowly though. No blisters yet, then again that is because I have the good sense and lack the dedication to play until they form. And the fingering memory is returning too, but the dexterity is lagging far behind. It is not just a lack of "practice," ol Arthur Itishas expanded his foothold, or should I say handhold. As disquieting as it will be to the people around me from time to time, I am going to have to get back to some serious knuckle-cracking to loosen up all those left-hand finger joints. All in all I can play for about an hour before it all goes to pot and the finger tips scream and the fingers get clumsy and I really sound terrible. This too will pass and one day it will all fall into place and be smooth as it ever was, but getting there is not the most fun in the world. Then again, no pain, no gain . . . the motto of everyone who has the gain and has forgotten the pain as well as physical therapists everywhere!
Ed, who owns the house in which I sit, got back from a five day trip to Vero Beach and is complaining about how cold it is up here. Actually, he is lucky as if he had been down there last year, he wouldn't be complaining at all. Last year, Florida was in the midst of one heck of a cold snap that would last until January 3rd. A couple of days from now, one year ago that is, I pulled into the Coco Village Marina for Christmas. Wonderful place, wonderful people and they had a sauna. I, along with many others who had head south for the warmth of Florida, spent a lot of time in that sauna. So far, this winter has been a snap. I am sure we will get cold and snow, but the longer it stays away, the better for it will then last less longer and be less severe. Does that sound like wishful thinking?
I haven't got up the gumption to hit the sail loft yet. You don't now what boring, dully repetitive, mind-numbing work is until you have worked on building sails. Truth be told, I am also in no hurt to stitch my fingers, burn myself with a cutting iron or pull a muscle in my back from being hunched over the cutting table. It is truly a drag but one which I will have to get back into unless I want to pay mucho buckaroos come spring in order to get my sails back. And what is a sailboat without sails?
I have done such exciting things as change the oil in my car, go to the bank, hit the "Paperback Book Trader" and check my mail in the Groton location. Overwhelming, n'cest pas?One thing that I have enjoyed is dropping in to visit with people who, over the course on my journey, bailed me out with a little cash, in some cases a lot of cash, in order to keep me financially afloat. If, or I should say when, The Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol finally tracks me down, all of that assistance gets repaid, if only to allow them to be generous again to the next person in need. I have discovered there certainly are a lot f us out there. It is wonderful beyond description how each of them was so genuinely glad to see me and offered further help the first thing. Not being completely out of the woods yet, that time may come, but for right now, it is quite humbling again to know that the help is there, ready and willing to be given.
The calluses are slowly coming back to the finger tips, far too slowly though. No blisters yet, then again that is because I have the good sense and lack the dedication to play until they form. And the fingering memory is returning too, but the dexterity is lagging far behind. It is not just a lack of "practice," ol Arthur Itishas expanded his foothold, or should I say handhold. As disquieting as it will be to the people around me from time to time, I am going to have to get back to some serious knuckle-cracking to loosen up all those left-hand finger joints. All in all I can play for about an hour before it all goes to pot and the finger tips scream and the fingers get clumsy and I really sound terrible. This too will pass and one day it will all fall into place and be smooth as it ever was, but getting there is not the most fun in the world. Then again, no pain, no gain . . . the motto of everyone who has the gain and has forgotten the pain as well as physical therapists everywhere!
Ed, who owns the house in which I sit, got back from a five day trip to Vero Beach and is complaining about how cold it is up here. Actually, he is lucky as if he had been down there last year, he wouldn't be complaining at all. Last year, Florida was in the midst of one heck of a cold snap that would last until January 3rd. A couple of days from now, one year ago that is, I pulled into the Coco Village Marina for Christmas. Wonderful place, wonderful people and they had a sauna. I, along with many others who had head south for the warmth of Florida, spent a lot of time in that sauna. So far, this winter has been a snap. I am sure we will get cold and snow, but the longer it stays away, the better for it will then last less longer and be less severe. Does that sound like wishful thinking?
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Did I Say Boring?
SHIP'S LOG:
As my former laptop had survived the ICW journey and made it back home, it has become time to give it a rest. It is seven years(7) old now and beginning to show its age. There is more junk on it that I can seemingly remove, they don't make batteries for it anymore and so it must work plugged into the wall, the video and wifi cards are out of date, in short it is ancient in terms of our current computer/electronic world. It became necessary to send it onto the great cyber world of the beyond. So I purchased a new one and that's where the boredom ended.
It was not that I got enthralled with all the new features and dodads with which it was loaded, rather it was that getting what I needed and want from the old computer out and into the news was a time consuming process. Some of the programs on my Old PC simply wouldn't transfer to the New. Wihout QUICKEN for instance, withoput which my finances would be even more screwed up than they are with it, wouldn't make the transfer even though the two PCs wrere cable connected. So it was, I had to find the CD containing the version of Quicken that I was currently use and install the program on the new PC. Then I had to get all the back-upped records off the old PC and onto the new so that they would backup and restore the records on the new PC.
I also had to reinstall my Verizon Wireless Manager so that I can access the Internet when I can vampire off a free Wifi Hotspot. That CD is long gone and I had to do a tour of a whole host of Verizon websites to finally get the one that would allow me to download the software and have the system up and running on the new PC.
This Dell computer, as most PCs I don't doubt, comes with Microsoft Internet Explorer loaded and selected as the default Internet browser. But I don't use Internet Explorer as it has more bugs in it then they would like you believe. I use Mozilla Firefox. Of course, Microsoft doesn't like it and it wouldn't transfer anything between computers if it has the taint of Firefox. So it is that I had to transfer all of the Bookmarks on Firefox one at a time onto the new PC. Such fun!
And figuring out all the new widgets, thingamabobs and doohickeys, deciding which to keep active and which to shut down, well it was a full day. By the time my brain had turned to mush, I actually had not even finished half of what I wanted to do. So it will be another full day today. What slows the process is that the set up of the keyboard is slightly different arrangement that the old PC's setup. I have been hitting a lot of wrong keys which really can mess up and prolong the process.
Well off the cyber salt mines.
As my former laptop had survived the ICW journey and made it back home, it has become time to give it a rest. It is seven years(7) old now and beginning to show its age. There is more junk on it that I can seemingly remove, they don't make batteries for it anymore and so it must work plugged into the wall, the video and wifi cards are out of date, in short it is ancient in terms of our current computer/electronic world. It became necessary to send it onto the great cyber world of the beyond. So I purchased a new one and that's where the boredom ended.
It was not that I got enthralled with all the new features and dodads with which it was loaded, rather it was that getting what I needed and want from the old computer out and into the news was a time consuming process. Some of the programs on my Old PC simply wouldn't transfer to the New. Wihout QUICKEN for instance, withoput which my finances would be even more screwed up than they are with it, wouldn't make the transfer even though the two PCs wrere cable connected. So it was, I had to find the CD containing the version of Quicken that I was currently use and install the program on the new PC. Then I had to get all the back-upped records off the old PC and onto the new so that they would backup and restore the records on the new PC.
I also had to reinstall my Verizon Wireless Manager so that I can access the Internet when I can vampire off a free Wifi Hotspot. That CD is long gone and I had to do a tour of a whole host of Verizon websites to finally get the one that would allow me to download the software and have the system up and running on the new PC.
This Dell computer, as most PCs I don't doubt, comes with Microsoft Internet Explorer loaded and selected as the default Internet browser. But I don't use Internet Explorer as it has more bugs in it then they would like you believe. I use Mozilla Firefox. Of course, Microsoft doesn't like it and it wouldn't transfer anything between computers if it has the taint of Firefox. So it is that I had to transfer all of the Bookmarks on Firefox one at a time onto the new PC. Such fun!
And figuring out all the new widgets, thingamabobs and doohickeys, deciding which to keep active and which to shut down, well it was a full day. By the time my brain had turned to mush, I actually had not even finished half of what I wanted to do. So it will be another full day today. What slows the process is that the set up of the keyboard is slightly different arrangement that the old PC's setup. I have been hitting a lot of wrong keys which really can mess up and prolong the process.
Well off the cyber salt mines.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Boring, Boring BORING!
SHIP'S LOG:
It would be better on the boat. Not that I adverse to having time to do anything I want, it is more like I have nothing that I can thin k of right now that I really want to do. Can't really do any Christmas shopping as, well, it takes money, something in which I am sorely lack. ABISHAG is locked up and put away for the winter so there is really nothing to do there. True, I do have a list of projects but all really await the advent of the warmth of spring . . . and some money.
A small aside, Abe the Yard Manager at Yankee Boatyard called the other day. They were just putting t
he finishing touches on the winterization and want to top off the diesel tank . . . except they couldn't find the fill-pipe for the tank. I told him not to worried, that it took three of us to find it when we were bring ABISHAG up from Annapolis after I bought her. The cap for the fill-pipe is located inside the the propane tank locker. Good thing he called, as he had been thinking that the fill-pipe marked "WATER" was actually the diesel fill-pipe, just with the wrong cap on it.
I'll probably check with Kevin and John and see if there is time-killing work available at the sail loft. The grunt work can be mind numbing but it passes the time. It also pays for my sail repairs so I will probably "have to" go and do it. . . sometime soon.
I am at least thinking about the guitar again. I haven't really play in several years, not since I shattered my wrist falling off my SCHWINN! The wrist seems OK. The therapy went well and I have most of not all of the mobility back but every time I get the urge to play, I discover the muscle memory for fingering the chords is basically gone. Gone too are the calluses and to quote John Lennon, "I got blisters on my fingers!" Still, three is all that time right now, so what the heck. I worked at it a bit last night and was rewarded with aching finger tips, clumsy chord construction and what could only be described as "long dead scar tissue' ripping itself apart on the back of my left hand. True, I could re-tune the guitar and just play slide but, despite how easy it might look, it does take more than a bit of skill. O well, I've got time.
Of course, I do have something "really excitin'" to look forward to at the end of the month - my bi-annual colonoscopy! What a way to "end" the year! Any time I really begin to bitch about it, I pause and think about my poor doctor. What happened in his childhood that he chose this particular area of medicine in which to specialize?
Well, it is one day closer to spring and so one day closer to launching. Summer is getting closer by the minute!
It would be better on the boat. Not that I adverse to having time to do anything I want, it is more like I have nothing that I can thin k of right now that I really want to do. Can't really do any Christmas shopping as, well, it takes money, something in which I am sorely lack. ABISHAG is locked up and put away for the winter so there is really nothing to do there. True, I do have a list of projects but all really await the advent of the warmth of spring . . . and some money.
A small aside, Abe the Yard Manager at Yankee Boatyard called the other day. They were just putting t
he finishing touches on the winterization and want to top off the diesel tank . . . except they couldn't find the fill-pipe for the tank. I told him not to worried, that it took three of us to find it when we were bring ABISHAG up from Annapolis after I bought her. The cap for the fill-pipe is located inside the the propane tank locker. Good thing he called, as he had been thinking that the fill-pipe marked "WATER" was actually the diesel fill-pipe, just with the wrong cap on it.I'll probably check with Kevin and John and see if there is time-killing work available at the sail loft. The grunt work can be mind numbing but it passes the time. It also pays for my sail repairs so I will probably "have to" go and do it. . . sometime soon.
I am at least thinking about the guitar again. I haven't really play in several years, not since I shattered my wrist falling off my SCHWINN! The wrist seems OK. The therapy went well and I have most of not all of the mobility back but every time I get the urge to play, I discover the muscle memory for fingering the chords is basically gone. Gone too are the calluses and to quote John Lennon, "I got blisters on my fingers!" Still, three is all that time right now, so what the heck. I worked at it a bit last night and was rewarded with aching finger tips, clumsy chord construction and what could only be described as "long dead scar tissue' ripping itself apart on the back of my left hand. True, I could re-tune the guitar and just play slide but, despite how easy it might look, it does take more than a bit of skill. O well, I've got time.
Of course, I do have something "really excitin'" to look forward to at the end of the month - my bi-annual colonoscopy! What a way to "end" the year! Any time I really begin to bitch about it, I pause and think about my poor doctor. What happened in his childhood that he chose this particular area of medicine in which to specialize?
Well, it is one day closer to spring and so one day closer to launching. Summer is getting closer by the minute!
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