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.
Monday, December 19, 2011
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!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
HAPPY NEW YEAR! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
If you are of that Catholic persuasion, today is New Year's Day because it is the First Sunday of Advent, the first day of the NEW Liturgical Year. So Happy New Year . . . and don't forget to make, and keep, those New Year's Resolutions!
Checking up on the Blog from this day last year, I was leaving the New River, one of several so named, this one in Georgia just outside of Savannah, dashing into Georgia and the cold was starting to hit. Truth be told, it was about the same temp as we have here today, lows in the high 30's/low 40,s, high in the low 60's/high 50's. Ah what a difference a year and 1,ooo miles makes. Not much of one.
And I am not in Vermont. I am still in God's country. I was going to have to pay up at least some of the utilities up in Vermont and I had thought that I had the coins to do so, but checking carefully I found that my financial assets would actually be strained beyond breaking if I went and so had to bow out. It was certainly generous of my friends, Skip and Nancy, to offer me their home-away-from-home, but I just was able to swing it. But God arranged another spot even as the first one fell apart. I friend, who is selling his house to move to Florida of all places, offered me the use of the "In-Law" apartment attached to his home - gratis! It keeps me near family and friends and the boat, and, hopefully, out of the way of a lot of snow and cold. Then again, if there is a repeat of last year's winter weather bonanza, where I happen to be may make no real difference.
One thing it does do is to put me close to my friend, Ray. Ray is the guy who has taken care of motorized vehicles and done so without cost. Trying to get Rat to accept anything in payment is an exercise in futility. Unfortunately Ray has had some tough times. He has been in a car wreck and it has done some damage. Right now, he is trying to get his medical insurance to pay up and get the other driver's insurance to pay up. He can't work, he's a mechanic, and things are tough. So I will be able to help in any way I can, if only to buck him up a little. I will have to see where all of this leads. It should be good though and it will make me feel satisfied if I can help him and his family even a little.
If you are of that Catholic persuasion, today is New Year's Day because it is the First Sunday of Advent, the first day of the NEW Liturgical Year. So Happy New Year . . . and don't forget to make, and keep, those New Year's Resolutions!
Checking up on the Blog from this day last year, I was leaving the New River, one of several so named, this one in Georgia just outside of Savannah, dashing into Georgia and the cold was starting to hit. Truth be told, it was about the same temp as we have here today, lows in the high 30's/low 40,s, high in the low 60's/high 50's. Ah what a difference a year and 1,ooo miles makes. Not much of one.
And I am not in Vermont. I am still in God's country. I was going to have to pay up at least some of the utilities up in Vermont and I had thought that I had the coins to do so, but checking carefully I found that my financial assets would actually be strained beyond breaking if I went and so had to bow out. It was certainly generous of my friends, Skip and Nancy, to offer me their home-away-from-home, but I just was able to swing it. But God arranged another spot even as the first one fell apart. I friend, who is selling his house to move to Florida of all places, offered me the use of the "In-Law" apartment attached to his home - gratis! It keeps me near family and friends and the boat, and, hopefully, out of the way of a lot of snow and cold. Then again, if there is a repeat of last year's winter weather bonanza, where I happen to be may make no real difference.
One thing it does do is to put me close to my friend, Ray. Ray is the guy who has taken care of motorized vehicles and done so without cost. Trying to get Rat to accept anything in payment is an exercise in futility. Unfortunately Ray has had some tough times. He has been in a car wreck and it has done some damage. Right now, he is trying to get his medical insurance to pay up and get the other driver's insurance to pay up. He can't work, he's a mechanic, and things are tough. So I will be able to help in any way I can, if only to buck him up a little. I will have to see where all of this leads. It should be good though and it will make me feel satisfied if I can help him and his family even a little.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
SHIP'S LOG:
Thanksgiving! There is really something wonderful about a holiday that is dedicated to over-eating. A year ago, I spent it in Beaufort, SC, with the "outrageous "Guy McSweeney and family. Coming and going, Beaufort was perhaps the best place on the trip. From the people to the temperature, it was wonderful. Perhaps the only drawback was the gnats, but even they could not take that much away from the place and the people. Not to mention the food.
Here it is cold and rainy and we shall not see the 70's again before late spring at the earliest. I am not looking forward to the snow either. Then again, it is all a part of the wonder that is New England.
I emptied ABISHAG on Monday having found that they had hauled her the Tuesday before. Never did get that call and that disappoints me. I have not been completely thrilled with the place though I can't say that anything "bad" has happened, but there is just a feeling of "slovenliness" or something about the place. Perhaps it is just a feeling stemming from the fact that it is the fall and haul-out time and perhaps this will all change by spring. Perhaps I am just experiencing the effects of my cold or the lack of sunshine or something else similar. Who knows for sure? It is just a feeling. In any event, the insides are now outside and stored in a warm, dry cellar to sleep until spring. Now if I can just get there myself.
Thanksgiving! There is really something wonderful about a holiday that is dedicated to over-eating. A year ago, I spent it in Beaufort, SC, with the "outrageous "Guy McSweeney and family. Coming and going, Beaufort was perhaps the best place on the trip. From the people to the temperature, it was wonderful. Perhaps the only drawback was the gnats, but even they could not take that much away from the place and the people. Not to mention the food.
Here it is cold and rainy and we shall not see the 70's again before late spring at the earliest. I am not looking forward to the snow either. Then again, it is all a part of the wonder that is New England.
I emptied ABISHAG on Monday having found that they had hauled her the Tuesday before. Never did get that call and that disappoints me. I have not been completely thrilled with the place though I can't say that anything "bad" has happened, but there is just a feeling of "slovenliness" or something about the place. Perhaps it is just a feeling stemming from the fact that it is the fall and haul-out time and perhaps this will all change by spring. Perhaps I am just experiencing the effects of my cold or the lack of sunshine or something else similar. Who knows for sure? It is just a feeling. In any event, the insides are now outside and stored in a warm, dry cellar to sleep until spring. Now if I can just get there myself.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Cold & Colds
SHIP'S LOG:
The "cold" has hung on now for at least a week. It seems to go during the day but at night the sniffing and coughing comes back. I hate colds almost as much as I hate the cold. Monday or Tuesday I will complete the emptying of ABISHAG. I have no idea now if they have hauled her or not. I was supposed to be called when they did so that I could check out her bottom when she was in the slings but I have heard no word. It is possible that they "forgot" but it real makes no difference with the emptying process. If ABISHAG is still in the watter, it simply means a long walk from the boat to the car.
With that done, it is simply a chance to enjoy Thanksgiving and they head up to Vermont on Saturday morning. Then the hibernation beginngs. Hopefully, it will be of short duration and I'll soon be back to the shore, or at least closer than Vermont.
Yesterday, was TYC "DECOMMISSIONING DAY." Snow fences (used to keep the sand from blowing all over) were put in place. Bathrooms were cleaned, closets emptied, floats brought ashore and secured, and a myriad of other projects accomplished. The place looks lonesome and alone. It is the really depressing part of the "sailing season" when it is finally, officially and totally over. One of the owners of the last boats in, took off for an overnight to Greenport. The weather is actually nice for such a trip but it would only make the hauling a little more painful when at last it comes. Still, it would have been nice to go but I had other things to do and for which to get ready. I hate winter, even when it isn't here yet.
Today marks a significant moment in last year's trip. On this date last year I was in Charleston, SC, preparing for my run through "ELLIOTS CUT," the most dangerous piece of water on the entire ICW. I gather from the blog and the Log that I got myself a bit worked up in anticipation of the moment but all went well. Looking back on it now, it probably was a good thing to be so cautious. But it was a more relaxed scene when I came back through in the Spring. Must have been a little bit of growth in self-confidence in the intervening months. And it was in the mid 70's!
The "cold" has hung on now for at least a week. It seems to go during the day but at night the sniffing and coughing comes back. I hate colds almost as much as I hate the cold. Monday or Tuesday I will complete the emptying of ABISHAG. I have no idea now if they have hauled her or not. I was supposed to be called when they did so that I could check out her bottom when she was in the slings but I have heard no word. It is possible that they "forgot" but it real makes no difference with the emptying process. If ABISHAG is still in the watter, it simply means a long walk from the boat to the car.
With that done, it is simply a chance to enjoy Thanksgiving and they head up to Vermont on Saturday morning. Then the hibernation beginngs. Hopefully, it will be of short duration and I'll soon be back to the shore, or at least closer than Vermont.
Yesterday, was TYC "DECOMMISSIONING DAY." Snow fences (used to keep the sand from blowing all over) were put in place. Bathrooms were cleaned, closets emptied, floats brought ashore and secured, and a myriad of other projects accomplished. The place looks lonesome and alone. It is the really depressing part of the "sailing season" when it is finally, officially and totally over. One of the owners of the last boats in, took off for an overnight to Greenport. The weather is actually nice for such a trip but it would only make the hauling a little more painful when at last it comes. Still, it would have been nice to go but I had other things to do and for which to get ready. I hate winter, even when it isn't here yet.
Today marks a significant moment in last year's trip. On this date last year I was in Charleston, SC, preparing for my run through "ELLIOTS CUT," the most dangerous piece of water on the entire ICW. I gather from the blog and the Log that I got myself a bit worked up in anticipation of the moment but all went well. Looking back on it now, it probably was a good thing to be so cautious. But it was a more relaxed scene when I came back through in the Spring. Must have been a little bit of growth in self-confidence in the intervening months. And it was in the mid 70's!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
