Author: Bill

Up after a much better night’s sleep than I was anticipating (for reasons I don’t want to go into yet) – felt reasonably rested and ready for the day……. or so I thought. The ‘plan‘ was to get the roof on the porch at Gecko’s so I could free up my schedule for diving. Now keep in mind……. it’s been probably [conservatively] 35+ years since I have done any kind of roofing…… let alone a corrugated metal roof…… and working by myself [admittedly by my design]. After a wonderfully nutritious, delicious breakfast – I headed into the yard to start my task. I had to dig through a pile of salvaged sheet metal to get my “roofing” material, measure and cut to length before I even got started. It was early and already hot. As I soaked my shirt in sweat and wiped my brow, I flashed back a “hundred years” sitting on top of some of the biggest barns in Posey County – doing the same thing with my Dad. I don’t miss the work anymore – but it was sure a great memory~~~ A couple of hours of profuse sweating…. a ‘blue dozen’ trips up and down the ladder and the roof on the porch was finally done. As the shade finally made it to where I was at, I took my time and put in the flashing and buttoned up the job. I like to think Dad was watching and was happy with my work. A lesson, hard learned and easily remembered from a time long, long ago. I miss you Dad.    I spent a little extra time working on the entry door, that is sagging solely from pi$$-poor design…..  I worked on it until I was tired of messing with it….. I have got it about 90% to where it needs to be. I’m going to have to talk/show the owner what I think I need to do to get it right…………. Finally had all I could take, cleaned up the place and headed home to my Queen. In true Schotzie fashion….. she had me a drink made to help welcome me home. Enjoying the icy cold mixture of Vodka and Crancherry…. I couldn’t help but notice the yard was looking really ‘ratty‘. It didn’t take much convincing from me – to talk myself into getting out the lawn mower and rectifying the situation. An hour later under a still very warm setting sun….. the lawn was mowed and I felt a whole lot better about it….. although my back was saying “hold on fat boy – you’re not 21 anymore~!” Yard done, sweat finally [mostly] dried….. my Bride offered to go after pizza while I hopped in the shower…… HELL YEAH~!!!!! Back with dinner – the Pizza was on point….. we had Blacklist playing on the boob tube and got to watch an awesome sunset….. what a great ending to a long but damn dang productive day~! A couple of ATV tours tomorrow….. so more pictures of ATV’s in mud puddles…….

Good Night Ya’ll – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Thankx for stopping in~!

Happy Birthday Jayney~! I hope it was a really great day for you~!!!

After a mostly wonderful (and rare) nights sleep…. I got up feeling good and ready for the day ahead yesterday morning. We were working the ATV business again with a couple of tours scheduled. Got there, got the bikes filled with oil (the ones that needed it) and got them staged for our first group. Was supposed to be 4 bikes but some of the folks didn’t show, so it turned out to be just 2 bikes. Normally I wouldn’t ride follow up for 2 bikes – but since I was there and ready to roll – I went along anyways and took pictures. Fun group, good drivers made for an easy tour. (I didn’t have to get off my bike a half a dozen times to get people out of the weeds).

Second tour was 3 bikes and a lot more of what I’m used to….. and then some. Two of the young ladies were first time riders……. while one of them did pretty good, the other made up by having me ‘bail her out’ enough times – I lost count, but you’ll have those days every once in a while~! Finally back, bikes washed and filled with gas and put away. Had to get back to the house and get cleaned up and head to mid-island. We were invited to some dear friends house for dinner. We don’t often get to spend time with just them and it was an absolutely wonderful evening. We had a couple of drinks, an awesome meal and some really great conversation. We finally had to wrap it up to make that challenging drive back to our end of the island. I think I’ve told you the story before about the headlights on the cars and how the affect you when you’re driving on the left side of the road. Never any fun – especially when a whole bunch of these entitled so and so’s  won’t or can’t use their dimmer switch – lever…….. It kinda sours a nice evening, but it is something you have to deal with on this island….. still a great evening overall. Safely back at the house, it was late [enough] my belly was pleasantly full and I had ‘just enough’ to drink, I was too tired to contend with a computer.

Up and at it again early this morning to make a couple of dives. Got to dive my most favorite dive site – Armageddon~! Fun enough dive – I think I’m gonna save the story of the dive and pictures from it for tomorrow. I’ll be putting on a roof on the porch at Gecko’s and I don’t think that’ll be a lot to write about anyway….. but maybe a sneak peek of the dive~!

Good Night ya’ll ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Thankx for stopping in~!

He didn’t say Cheese…….

At the risk of sounding like a skipping record…… up way too early… cat fights, had to whizz, pouring rain, yadda, yadda, yadda…. all made for less than a stellar nights sleep/rest. Sounded  like we had [what I estimate at 3] cats in the bed of my truck right outside our window – duking it out over something they apparently deemed important . It was a night of a wonderfully cool breeze that we opted to skip the A/C – only to be interrupted by the sounds of nature most of the night, what with the windows being open and all….. factor in getting up to appease a mostly unhappy bladder……. it was just not the night sleep either of us was hoping for…… It’ll happen sometimes…. even living on a beautiful island in the Caribbean. Finally up for the day – well before 07:00, we both got our day started and was soon in at the yard – to get paperwork filled out and the bikes ready for the days tours. At least today – we were more suited and ready for it. First group, in response to my first question ask – ” Anybody here have never driven a 4-wheeler” ?  The response I have come to dread…. “…. well, we’re from ************* fill in the blank…. in this case West Virginia… so – yea – we all know how to ride.” Big whoop lady – I am from Germany, but I don’t know how to build a friggin’ cuckoo clock!! I obviously didn’t say it to her, but is sure what I was thinking……….. and as usual…. I was right. It doesn’t take much to see who ‘has ridden‘ before and who is just tryin’ to blow smoke up my skirt~! After digging a couple of them out of the weeds several times…. didn’t take much to get a grip on these ladies…… but you’ll have that every now and then – or a Hellva heckva lot more often than you’d care for. Finally got them back after a full tour…. and much to my suprise [and chagrin] they jumped into their car and was gone……. not so much as a Thank you, Kiss my a$$, a tip, or anything…….. well butter my butt and call me a biscuit…… nothin’~! Color me jaw dropped~!

Second tour wasn’t a heckva lot better…. had a couple of hot dog riders that ‘thought’ they knew how to ride and a couple of females that “swear” they have ridden before – but I spent an equal amount of time pulling them out of the weeds as well. Took extra pictures, went out of our way to ensure they had a good time and was rewarded with a $9.00 dollar tip….. on an excursion that was well over $500…… gee – thankx a lot. So you’ll have it though, on a service based industry….. just hard to take sometimes when you’re busting your chops to ensure the customer enjoyed their outing……. I ‘get‘ to do it all over again tomorrow…… woo-hooo………. I think~~~~

Good Night Ya’ll – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Thankx for stopping in~!

Tried to sleep in a little bit this morning – but due to call of nature that didn’t pan out some good…… Up and a slow, easy start to the morning – after a delicious breakfast my Queen made for us – I loaded into the truck and headed for my latest project. I got there and was rapidly immersed in trying to get the framework done on the porch. I wound up calling my bride in to make an ’emergency’ run to Home Depot for me [I had to call an audible on some of the stuff I needed for the job] – and she went and got what I needed while I stayed extremely busy putting the porch together. My Queen back, stuff I needed in place — I am happy…… check that – I am tickled to death to say I once again got everything done I wanted to get done + a little bit more. By then, it was 4:00 and time for me to call it a day. I cleaned up my mess and ‘limped‘ back to the house – worn down from a day of the kind of labor I am [obviously] no longer used to~!

My bride plied me with alcohol, fed me a wonderful meatloaf dinner with green and orange stuff and some smashed taters. That mixed with a handful of aspirin and multiple drinks — I am quite sated right now and anxiously awaiting a shower. Got a nice little surprise from the states… from a Daughter who knows my passion for German Potato Balls…… Just found out today – we are now working Thanksgiving morning…… but have a nice meal ‘out’ planned for the afternoon….. so the Potato Dumplings will have to wait – rest assured, I will make a pig out of myself with them when I do make them though. Surprise packages from loved ones is always a wonderful thing….. especially if it involves food~!

We have one tour for sure tomorrow morning – possibly two….. so a shower and sleep is in order right now….. maybe some roofing if the tours end early enough….

Good Night Ya’ll * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Thankx for stopping in~!

PB120145 <—- Video

Up this morning after an interrupted night of slumber. The electricity went off around 8:30pm and was still off when we both decided it was time to hit the sack around 11:00. Fortunately, the night air is starting to cool off a little bit and we had the slightest hint of a breeze – but still makes for a stuffy night without any fans blowing on you. I got up [oddly] around 12:20 a.m. to calm my whining bladder – that is a new development lately – electric was still off and as I laid there in bed trying not to sweat – I heard a click and the ceiling fan came on as well as my clock on the nightstand. It has a battery back up and goes blank when the electricity goes off – but still keeps time. So I got up, shut off the other fans in the house, turned on the floor fan and soon settled into a decent slumber until around 06:30 when my Bride got up….. I followed her shortly afterward to start my day.

She was up up and out the door for her day of labor at Blues – leaving me to domesticate and other things I was wanting to get done. As soon as she was gone – I hooked up and loaded the wash machine. While it was doing it’s thing, I got my truck loaded with everything I thought I’d need to start in on the porch at the ATV yard. I then made me a right fine breakfast of sausage and eggs. During that time – the laundry finished and I got the clothes hung on the clothesline. Waited long enough that most of the laundry was dry [brilliant hot sunshine and a nice breeze works even faster than a dryer] and I gathered it up and brought it in and folded it. Finally out the door – first stop – I bought a ‘new‘ dive set up from neighbor and friend….. I’m either gonna ‘flip it’ for a couple of bucks profit – or maybe hang onto it in case we have friends or family that visit, that could use it….. we’ll see.

Second stop was to my most frequented dive shop. I made a deal with the shop owner and got a really nice dive package that should keep me happily, easily diving for the rest of the year~! Woo-Hoo~! From there – on to the ATV yard, where I was to begin my day of ‘real’ labor. It is now well past noon and I was not very confident that I would get much done, before wearing out and calling it a day. Working by myself – handling 12′ long 2″ x 6″s made for its own challenges – but I managed to come up with solutions for every challenge that came up against. I stayed at it and by the time my Queen pinged me to say that she was headed home – I had completed way more than I had hoped to – so feeling pretty good about what I got done, I cleaned up the job site and came back to the house. I still had some laundry hanging (bulky items that took longer to dry). They were all dry, so I got them pulled down, folded and put away. I got mildly cleaned up (bird bath in the sink) and a drink made just as my Queen pulled in. We have had a handful of drinks (and me a fistful of aspirin) and I ran up to Subway and got us ‘dinner’ and here we are. I was informed they no longer offer the Subway Club because they can’t get the meat for it – I am heart broken)…. Now, I am anxious for a shower and some rest. The manual labor today told me – I’m not much cut out for that kind of work anymore….. but it was nice to be doing it again. The tour for tomorrow has been moved out to Friday – So I have all day to work on the porch tomorrow. I figure I will finish up the framing part of it and maybe even get a little bit of metal on the roof….. as long as I hold up……  Dang…. way over my limit… sorry…

Good Night Ya’ll + + + + + + + + + + + Thankx for stopping in~!

Up at a presentable hour this morning without having to make a mad dash to the bathroom. I’m trying something new – and so far it seems to be working nicely – but I don’t want to elaborate yet, cause I’m afraid I’ll jinx it  – but if it works it will be a really good thing~!

Up and in town by 09:15 to get the ATV business open and ready for the day…. That didn’t go as smooth as it probably should have… but we adapted and got everything ready for the day. The ride started out rough… having to switch bikes for one of the riders 5 minutes into the ride….. That done, off we went. One ‘new’ rider (who admitted to be new, which is a very smart thing to do) put his bike “in the weeds” [off the path] 3 different times – but nothing intense and the ride went without to many other issues. One of the ‘experienced’ return riders, managed to hit a mean little rut and rolled the bike over on it’s side in the process. Thankfully, she wasn’t hurt and neither was the bike. I got it wrestled upright, off of the [small] tree it was now straddled and back onto the trail. Always an exciting time up on the mountain top. Thankfully – the rest of the ride back was uneventful and we got our customers back, happy and mostly unscathed. Rest of the ‘work’ day wasn’t quite as smooth, but again, we adapted and finally wrapped the day up. I took my Bride back to the house and I spent the next 3 hours contending with stuff that need to be contended with….. and gonna leave it at that. I finally got to spend an hour on one of my projects (getting a porch added to the Atv office)….. not any surprise to me…. nothing about that went smooth either. By now it is 4:00pm….. I’m soaked in sweat, tired, aggravated, semi-bloody and ready to call it a day. Which I did. Home to my Queen, who started plying me with booze. We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset… she made a mighty fine meal of pork chops, smashed taters and corn on the cob while I edited pictures from the day. She is now facetiming with our youngest Granddaughter while I chat with you…. it is great listening to it. (Yes – I got a few minutes of conversation with Kinsley and Kylen)

I have got some domesticating to do tomorrow while my Bride works at Blues…. once I finish my domesticating – I’m gonna try and get in and work on the porch for a bit…… more ATV tours scheduled for the remainder of the week….. so it should be a right busy week for the old fat boy…. also have to slide by the Dive Shop and ‘negotiate‘ a new dive package….. so once I’m done running around the mountain tops – I can get back to diving my brains out~! (I also heard back from the stateside dive shop – they offered me a nice deal for my pictures~! More on that as it develops~!!)

Good Night Ya’ll ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Thankx for stopping in~!

After a relatively calm weekend…. minus mowing and changing tires and such. I am easing into what looks to be a busy, hopefully productive week – starting off by riding trail on an ATV tour tomorrow for the the ‘island kids‘ while they’re in the states. I got the grass cut in the ATV yard this morning, so it’s ready to go. Been a while since I rode trails – so it ought to be the perfect activity to get me loosened up for the rest of the week. A couple of odd and end projects I want to at least get started on and see if I can motivate myself to go ahead and get them finished. I have subscribed to a photo editing program that promises to help make my pictures look even better – which works out good because I have been approached by a stateside dive business that wants to hire me. It won’t be big money, but it will get me photo credit on my work and some spending money with potential for nicer paychecks depending on my abilities improving. So – I really need to spend some serious time learning my new photo editor – and diving~!

My Bride ran into the big city to get her hair ‘done today while I mowed the ATV yard. Her favorite hair person is on island for a couple of weeks – so she got to visit her for a while and get her hair done. Gail used to live here and her and her husband [Bob] were friends of ours. I dove with Bob off and on and I miss having him around – he was one of the good ones. I may have to see if I can squeeze into her busy schedule as I am still having a hard time finding someone I like to cut my hair – that doesn’t charge a small fortune to do it. There is one guy that does a good job that I like — but he charges $20 [plus a tip] and that just doesn’t sit well with me….. yea, yea, I know – I only need a haircut 2-3 times a year…..just seems like a lot for no more than they have to do~! It’s a principle thing for me I guess………..

Really about it….. Should have some trail pictures for you tomorrow, plus still have dive pictures and our Friendsgiving pictures, but for now – I’m out~!

Good Night Ya’ll # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Thankx for stopping in~!

Hello……. I’m back~! Sorry about the past couple of days….. night before last we were called to work up at Blues taking orders and bar-backing for a big name band they had scheduled for the night. But for apparently lots of reasons I’m sure COVID was a big one) the crowd just never materialized. After a couple of hours waiting, we were taken ‘off of the clock’ – so we hung out and chatted with some dear friends we hadn’t seen in quite a while. We didn’t shut the bar down – but only missed it by about 20 minutes or so. Navigating these roads takes it out of me anymore (especially after dark) and by the time we got back here – I wasn’t in much of a mood to get on here and ramble. The previous trip from Blues was in a monsoon kind of rain and I hit a gravel washout [hidden by water] and the impact was severe enough it cracked my windshield from top to bottom. I was originally afraid I blew the tire off of the rim…… Kind of wish now that happened instead of the windshield~~~ It would be a LOT cheaper to fix. BUT – moving on…. Last night, we were invited to join a group of friends for a ‘Friends-giving‘ dinner. I made up a batch of meatballs and away we went. A lot of friends were there and we had the most enjoyable evening sitting with our friends, drinking, eating and drinking [yes, I know I said it twice]…. a very, very enjoyable evening. Tons of laughter, jokes, hugs, kisses and not a mask in site. Loved it. We finally left….. as it turns out, my truck was apparently designated as the place for full garbage bags and we left with a bed full. After a ‘small’ detour – we finally found our way back to the West end of the island……. crawled into our ‘comfy’ clothes to let all that [wonderful] food settle. It was way to late and I was way too tired to do much of anything other than rub my now swollen belly.

Tried sleeping in this morning…… tried being the operative word….. but ALL that food wanted out…..dammit getting old…… so sleeping in didn’t work. Was tasked with taking the island kids to the airport today…… they are lucky enough to get to spend Thanksgiving with their families this year…… They dropped by the house to drop off keys before I crawled into their car to get them to the airport (a really common practice here on the island) – because the airport will gouge you if you leave your vehicle there at the airport. Not down the road very far before the car started to shake and wobble (more than usual)… I pulled off the road into a parking lot to get out and view a really flat tire. Dammit Emmit~! I Called my Queen to come fetch the kids, while I stayed and changed tires and tended to that mess. Kids delivered to the airport on time, tire patched and back on the car, spare and tools put away and all is right with the world once again……… I hope.

Good Night Ya’ll~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Thankx for stopping in~!

PB120145 —- Video

Up and out the door by 07:45 this a.m. after a fitful night’s sleep…. something was always ‘itching‘, some of the goofiest dreams I have since I was on Chantix….  and a 03:45 dash to the bathroom made for a less than desirable night’s sleep…. but up and out the door nonetheless. It had been almost an hour since it rained and I was probably a little more excited than I should have been when the sun popped out as I rounded the last curve to the marina to climb aboard the dive boat.

While the sun may have been shining… the wind was blowing and made for some pretty awesome waves for the ride to the first dive site….. the boat was pitching hard enough enough, I opted to leave both cameras where they were and hold on for the ride…… Getting off of the boat in those waves is tricky….. getting back on the boat after the dive in those waves can be down right lethal if you’re not careful……. After handing your fins [and camera] up to the captain… you have to try and get a grip on the ladder that is bucking like a deranged, angry, hungry horse at a rodeo…… miss your grip, or lose your grip – and it is not uncommon to have the ladder do it’s best to bust you right square in the mouth….. vigorously. Not for the faint hearted or new  divers……. Visibility appeared good from the surface, but just as soon as you dropped down – it went to crap……. rapidly~! We had 40′ at best. Something you have to deal with in the sport. The dive was a lot of tricky currents, a lot of kicking and not seeing much to speak of…… but again, a chance you take everytime you go out. The water was actually rough enough – we pulled back into the marina for our surface interval [1 hour wait between dives]. Have never done that before with this or any other dive shop for that matter – but it was kinda cool, as it gave me the opportunity to get off of the boat and smoke a cigarette between dives. As nice as that was – I don’t want it to  become a habit – because it makes for too long in between dives. Back out into the big waves to our second site. It was close by and we were soon under the water again…… visibility was MUCH better – close to 80’ – there were some ‘friendly‘ sharks, a really pretty turtle and [warning Vera] – a beautiful Golden Spotted Moray Eel…… not a snake!

Videos and pictures abound — I left there and met my Queen at Blues for a couple of drinks before motoring back out West. Pictures are edited, I had me a right fine scrumptious chicken pot pie dropped off by Island Daughter Cynthia, even though I don’t think ‘Mom’ is gonna like it because of the pepper…. but I thought it was delicious~! Have since found out – I am now on another dive tomorrow….. on THIS end of the island [8 dives in one week….. WOO-Hoo~!]  – which could POSSIBLY mean ARMAGEDDON~! But not getting too excited…………. yet~!

Good Night Ya’ll  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Thankx for stopping in~!

PB120060 <— Video

Got to ‘sleep in’ this morning….. almost made it until 07:00 – but for me, that is a treat. My Bride was up and out the door for her day of labor at Blues. I usually mow and do laundry on this day – but there was not enough laundry to justify a load and it rained dang near ALL DAMN day~! I can mow when it is wet, but today was just ridiculous….. and about the third day in a row of it [rain]. So I sat – a LOT, doing little odds and ends when I needed to get up and crack my back and replenish my nicotine addiction. Chatted with the neighbor briefly about a possible deal on a new diving rig….. still wallering that around….. really good price – but not sure I want to justify that acquisition. It continued to rain….. ALL stinkin day……. I know this is typically our wet season as Summer starts on it’s way out and we head into ‘cooler’ weather…. Our Winter can get down ‘close’ to the mid 70’s….. BRrrrr…. 😉

My Bride made it back home in the middle of a deluge…… but got her in the house and started plying her with booze….. becoming SOP for the working person. Made her a bite to eat and here we sit enjoying an almost ‘chilly’ breeze whistling around outside…… may even go without the air conditioner tonight……… woo-hoo~! I confirmed I have a 2 tank dive in the morning – just hope it’s not the nasty gray day we had the other day – but again, with my own light source – I still get to enjoy taking my pictures…… it’s just a lot nicer sitting on the boat between dives with that hot brilliant sunshine versus a pouring rain and gray gloomy clouds. That nice sunshine also makes that icy cold Budweiser taste that much better when I get back to the truck~! Really about it… still lots of dive pictures to share with you…… and will try not too duplicate from previous days……..

Good Night Ya’ll ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Thankx for stopping in~!

IMG_4164 <— Video