Author: Bill

Tried to sleep in a little bit and thought I was going to be able to, especially since spending 30 very painful minutes perched atop the white porcelain throne. As it turns out, those wonderfully delicious Enchiladas we had for dinner, decided to throw a whoopin’ on me and my Queen. Apparently, Angie got hers ‘out of the way’ before going to bed……my belly decided to wait until about 03:00 before doing it’s own version of the Bataan death march through my belly…… OH MY….. that issue finally ‘resolved‘….. I figured I would sleep the sleep of Kings until about noon or so…….. but them old habits had me rolling out of the sack just a smidge before 07:00…….. even with the ½ hour ”intermission” I took at 03:00……

Busy kinda day for both of us – my Bride made a right fine dandy breakfast to kick our day off….. especially since both of our bellies were empty and we were starving….. afterward – she took off to do some running while I confirmed plane tickets and hotel reservations to get us back to down town Posey County. Right now we are scheduled to land at Evansville airport on Sunday at 13:38 hours ( that’s 1:38pm for all you civilians out there) …. that is after staying the night in Charlotte NC. We have already been duly informed that our lovable DAMN neighbors will have booze and be there waiting for us. They are letting us borrow their extra car after getting us liquored up [and you wonder why we love these people] so we can take off to Daughter Stephanie’s house to join in on a celebration of my namesake Grandson (Will’s) birthday party~! We will also be staying with them, provided Pa-paws nerves can deal with that much energy in one place…… time will tell.

Monday, I am the one scheduled guest my little Sister is allowed to have for the day…. so I hopefully get to spend some time with her. We’re not sure how long we are going to be back in the states, but want to make the most of our time, so will be on the move quite a bit while we are there. Sure to be a very busy visit, regardless how long we are there. If the opportunity allows, if you’d like to see us – we would be glad to fit you in where we can for a drink and a little bit of conversation. Yes – alcohol will be a requirement of the visit – please send a text [812-480-2336] to get together while we are back and we’ll see what we can do……….

So tomorrow is going to be final cleaning around the house and packing….. AND I apparently need to go out and buy some kind of cold weather wearable devices because it’s apparently COLD there already……WTH ???  It’s gonna be a whirl wind visit this round – and most everything we will be doing, will be done, off the cuff and on the fly – but would still like to see you if you have a couple of extra minutes. I have also scheduled an appointment with Best Buy to get my poor old lap top worked on – so there will more than likely be a gap in my posts and pictures….. please don’t desert me……. ‘I’ll be Baack‘….

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

P9170085  <— Barracuda video

Jeez what a day – finally made it on to the boat this morning after a 45 cluster*&^%$….. but first site was Armageddon, which automatically made everything wonderful….. and it didn’t disappoint. Second dive was a bit of a let down – but a ton of things to practice taking pictures of.  Back at the house, gear rinsed and working on pictures when news from the states says we need to get there sooner than later……………………………………..

Island kids came by with Dinner… Mexican something or other…. Enchilada’s maybe? Dang tasty whatever they were….. even my Queen liked it~! Followed that up with some yummy cheese cake that Daughter Stephanie had delivered to us….. that was an extra special treat~~~<3

Trying to get tickets back to the states and short notice is really jacking the price up….. plus trying to schedule anything so far as been a friggin nightmare….. I’ll stick with it though until I get what I’m after……. gonna quit here — head hurts to bad to do much more…….. lots of fun pictures for you though……

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

P9170031  <—— Video….welcome to Armageddon

Some very disturbing news last night after I posted, convinced me to cancel my plans for the next day [today]. My little Sister took an unexpected turn for the worse, and while I suspected it was coming, I didn’t expect it quite this soon and I was not ready for it yet in my own head. SCUBA diving is much like skydiving in that you need to be 100% focused on what you’re doing, to do it safely….. and I knew I would not be – so even though I was up early and ready for what was going to be a long fun day – I opted to sit it out and stay here [safely] at the house and deal with the mental issues I needed to deal with. I have my brain wrapped around the issue now, probably as well as I am ever going to get it. So now it is just ”hurry up and wait”.

My Bride worked all day while I sat here and got my brain straightened out. Finally back home to me – I had drinks waiting. I eventually made us dinner [a very tasty Goulash that next door neighbors dropped off]….. hey- I heated it up and seasoned it with love, made butter bread and more drinks….. so yeah~! I made dinner for her [kinda]  😉  I also did the dishes while she took a shower and enjoyed her drinks.

I have been dealing with a less than cooperative lap top for the last couple of hours now…. and honestly didn’t think I’d get this far — but some updates seemed to have helped, even though I can’t get them all to load……. more on that later…maybe.

I am feeling better in my brain, about everything going on, Sister, Cousin, FUBAR’d computer and life’s everyday little worries here on our gorgeous island – that I reached out and managed to get myself on the dive boat tomorrow. GOOD news… they are sailing from this end of the island so I only have a 4 minute drive to get to the boat –AND– there is an above average chance I will get to dive ARMEGOEDDEN~!! (My most favorite dive site on the island) but not gonna count all my chickens just yet……

My turn for a refreshingly cool shower to wash away the heat of the day…….

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

P9160175  <— Video

It’s already almost 8:00 pm and I’m not even barely even close to where I need to be…. so I’m gonna hit the high lights and cut out early so I can get a shower and and a couple of hours of sleep for a really big day tomorrow…………. Three dives today – not deep or brutally long – but 3~! My buddy and another guy got their open water certifications today~!!  I got a TON of good pictures today. While getting some AWESOME shots of a Stingray…. apparently touched my knee to some fire coral and for the last 4 hours now – it feels like I have a small pool of lava sitting on the side of my knee.  Just goes to show the need for extra good buoyancy for an underwater photographer….. but AWESOME shots of the Stingray I was going after~! I tried wiping it down with vinegar, and it helps, but you have to keep it saturated and the smell of the vinegar was worse to me than the burning. Lesson learned~!

Spoke with my Nephew/ 2nd Cousin only to find out his Mom, my 1st Cousin is having health issues as well…… DAMMIT EMMIT~!!  More on that as it develops….

Again, big, long, day tomorrow and there is a ½ a chance – it will be late enough, or I will be FUBARD’d enough, that by the time I get back….nothing will be written or posted….. sorry~~ just gonna have to check in and find out…………………..

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

P9160074  <—- video

Up earlier than I cared for this morning but for the absolute wonderful reason of going diving…… On a small, very small boat load of people.. I had two very wonderful dives with one of my most favorite Dive Masters…. slow relaxed, just taking our time and enjoying the scenery…. I don’t get to do that very often……. lots and lots of pictures taken – but I only saved about 1/3rd of of them….. back here, gear rinsed and loading pictures…… my bride has managed to get me to the point where I can hardly walk or function…………… In the middle of all that, we got to spend multiple minutes on the phone with our Damn Neighbors…. such a delight~~~~~

What all this boils down to – is I am in absolutely no state – to try and conjure up 500 words tonight…. so I’m gonna put up a bunch of fun pictures for you and crawl into the shower………

Hanging out next to the pier tomorrow to snap some photo’s of a buddy getting his open water cert….. a fellow skydiver, bartender and all around good guy…… should be a hoot…………..

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

Up fairly early to yet another rain shower and having to stare at my grass that is now starting to get gnarly looking. My Queen joined me a little bit later and we had a nice relaxing slow start to the day. Her cough was bothering her a little more than usual last night and this morning – so she did her breathing treatment a little earlier than usual. Usually, she starts breakfast right after her treatment – but I some how suspected she wasn’t up for cooking, and I really wasn’t either, so I was gonna recommend a Polly’s breakfast. She came out from her treatment and said, ”what would think of doing Polly’s for breakfast this morning ?” Great minds……… I ordered our standard breakfast…. she gets one waffle (and a couple of sausage links when they have them, which they did this morning) and I get the Waffle henhouse special (1 waffle, 2 eggs and a couple of sausage links) the pig that I am……. I ran in and got them, got to chat with Jeff from the dive shop and Deanna, a friend I haven’t seen in a coon’s age. I was thinking about that expression on the way back from collecting our breakfast…… what the heck does that mean ? Racoon’s don’t really live to be that old….. why a coon’s age ? Anyhow…… back, wiped out our breakfast and then settled in to our own devices. Somewhere around 1:00 – we hadn’t had any rain in the past 5 hours or so…. so I decided I was gonna mow. You know – in the highest heat of the day…. no breeze….. yeah- good move on my part~! But, the grass was kinda dry and I have a whole bunch of diving to do the next 3 days…. so it was a now or never kinda thing. I stayed at it for a solid hour – having to go fairly slow because the grass was not as ‘kinda’ dry as I thought it was…. so I had to go over a lot of places twice…… but I eventually got it. Dripping wet with sweat – I was done~! Thankfully, weed eating didn’t really need done real bad- so I put it off, waiting I guess for a non-diving day, in the morning when it’s a smidge cooler and drier.

My Bride experimented with supper, making some roast beef sliders on small buttered buns and a couple of different dipping sauces. I didn’t much care for the sauces, but the sliders them selves were darn tasty~! Maybe could have stood an extra slice or two of meat – but darn tasty none the less. Now putting fresh charges on cameras and all of my batteries, ready for a couple of morning boat dives tomorrow. Tuesday will be in the local bay here shooting an Open Water student, who happens to be a buddy of mine – then what promises to be a really big day Wednesday…. maybe 3 or 4 dives~! More on that as it gets closer.

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

P9100167 <— Turtle video

SORRY about missing last night….. no notice or anything – but it was the first night the island was [mostly] opened back up and a buddy was playing at Blues– so it made for the perfect excuse to travel to mid island…………… morning started off like usual…. I didn’t get grass cut because it rained off and on enough to keep it too wet to cut…… and nothing else got done….. we didn’t even watch any movies. Just odds and ends until it was time to take off. Heading towards mid-island, you couldn’t see anything in the distance because of rain coming down. It quit by the time we got to Blues – but the water we went through let us know that we missed a hellva down pour~! Found a spot in the weeds to park and walked into a crowd of old friends already celebrating the fact they got to sit [at the edge] of a bar and drink with friends. Everybody was mostly soggy because of the downpour – but that just makes for a little more enjoyment when you are with that particular group of people. Our buddy was on stage doing his thing while we drank and listened (and occasionally helped him sing). Just a truly wonderful night – to be back out amongst friends and not have to deal with that STUPID virus stuff. We drank and laughed until almost closing time, when I ”called it”. Paid our tab and carefully navigated our way back to our end of the island.

A pretty calm day today…. tasty breakfast… I ran into town to pick up that new pair of booties I was supposed to get yesterday. One of my very favorite Dive Masters [Anna] was working the store along with a ‘newbie’ [Aimee] – so once I got my booties picked out – I hung out and chatted JUST long enough for the skies to open up and for it to start raining like a cow pi$$ing on a flat rock…… DAMMIT Emmit…. there went getting the yard mowed [again]~! Before we moved out here – I ‘knew’ the West end of the island was the ”wet” end of the island….. but this is almost out of control this past several weeks~! That too shall pass. My Queen and I finally sat down to watch movies. First one was an older one with J-Lo and that good looking dude from Person of Interest [that my Queen really likes] called ANGEL EYES. A little bit predictable, but over all not terrible….. a strong 7+. Second one was DAD WANTED… again a tad predictable and ‘dubbed’ into English…. but still fun to watch – solid 6. Just started another one pointed out to me by dear friend Roland – My Octopus Teacher……. but before I could get good and ‘into’ it – texts from our Damn Neighbors pulled me away. Such a long story…… and due mostly to inappropriate language…. I won’t share it with you…….. but these two people reached out and in an act of kindness I’ll probably never be able to repay – have made sure that I [and my Queen] can come back to the states whenever we want without worrying about how to pay for it. They wanted to make sure I could get back to see my little Sister in case things take a rapid turn for the worse. So far – I am at an absolute loss for words on how to thank them………… but I will….. please be patient.

Scheduled a couple of 2-tanks boat dives for Monday and Tuesday……………!

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

Up bright and early again whether I wanted to or not – but in this case, I wanted to……had to whizz and other bath room stuff – plus I knew I needed an early start to my day before I headed out to the water to explore underneath it. Local neighbor [Raymond] was strolling by with his laundry in a sack on his back as I stood and had my ‘last’ smoke with my Queen before I took off. Even though it was a bit out of my way – I told him I was headed out and would be glad to give him a ride. He happily accepted and bailed into the truck. I dropped him off at the laundry mat and away I went to meet the boat. Really small group today and as I soon found out….. a ‘handful‘ for the Dive Master and Captain to deal with……. Being an ‘unofficial’ ‘official’ member of the staff – I stepped in where I could to help with said ‘handful’…… they kept us all busy on both dives.

First dive – the visibility SUCKED…… no other way to put it – but I managed some fairly decent pictures despite it. Second dive was a LOT more relaxed and gave me a lot more time to ”fiddle” with my camera….. I [finally] got one decent picture of a Giant Green Moray Eel [my favorite]……like the last one – he was wedged WAY back in a crevice and I couldn’t hardly get to him….. but did manage one decent shot. Also managed a couple of quality seconds with a small Green Sea turtle, so no complaints from the ole fat boy~! If I would have had the air – I would have spent a three or four hours on that dive~! Finally back at the dock – I pitched in and helped get all the empty SCUBA tanks, and the Captain and Divemaster back to their place – before heading back West to my Queen. As I rinsed my gear and got everything put up – she plied me with alcohol [I knew I loved her for a reason] as we sat and discussed her day and my dives. We were very pleasantly interrupted by a call from our Damn Neighbors……  Sister Camilla paused her bible study long enough to bless us with her companionship. We also talked at length about my Sister and how I was dealing with it. She kindly offered up their home and one of their vehicles, if I needed to make an emergency dash back to the states. An offer made by most of my girls and a couple of other friends… but coming from our Damn Neighbors…. just seems to make it special…… wow, veering slightly off course, while I tried to wolf down smashed taters, meatloaf and corn on the cob…. the sentiment remains. Right now, the plan is to wait and see how little Sister does…. and dive my brains out in the interim.

Besides shopping for a new pair of dive booties tomorrow after I get the yard mowed….. rest of the weekend is planned to spend quietly and peacefully with my Queen. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend~!!

P9100064  <—Video

P9100090   <— Video

Up early after hitting the sack way early last. Prepped all my gear and got loaded into the truck. Wasn’t sure I was gonna go this morning or not – but the day always looks a little brighter in the light of a new morning. I felt pretty decent and my brain was in a much better place. I showed up my usual 10 minutes early and got everything loaded onto the newly painted and renovated boat. Starting putting my rig together and got summoned to the table under the palm tree….. ”office” as it were. The shop was getting paperwork updated and sadly I am no exception – so I sat and filled out enough paperwork, it felt like I was re-enlisting. Wow~! But – it has to be done…. and 10 minutes  later I was done and back on the boat. 30 minutes later and I was falling over the side into that beautiful blue water~! Captain handed me my camera and I happily sank beneath the waves. When I use my ‘big lens’ – I have to ‘burp’ the lens once I’m under water. I used to have to find a empty place to sit down and do the burping – but have got good enough recently – that I can do it now while I’m swimming. Small steps – but I’m getting there~!

First dive site was called Rust op Twist – almost guaranteed to see sharks on this dive and I was ready to get up close and personal with some of them. Unfortunately they had other ideas. They showed up right on queue – but had no interest in having their pictures taken. Other big sea life was noticeably absent – so I focused on corals and sponges for my picture taking and I had a LOT of those to practice on. I also got plenty of time to stay in one place and practice various settings on the camera…. really couldn’t ask for a better dive for camera practice.

Second dive was Salt River West – always a gorgeous dive site with tons of topographical terrain to swim over, under, around and through.  Finally back at the dock – I had my much anticipated icy cold Budweiser and a smoke while I stood and chatted with a dive buddy who was parked next to me. Finally headed out, taking the back way home. Stopped in at Sweet Bottom Dive Shop and ordered another strobe for my camera and discussed ways to make my camera not weigh as much….. that’s a work in progress~~

Finally back at the house, gear rinsed and pictures edited – I sat and watched it rain while I waited on my Bride to get home from work. She is back now – I made her a drink and she is now sitting on the couch talking with Jeni, Kinsley and Kylen….. a little bit of news about my Sister — just a teeny tiny bit of ‘not bad’ news makes me feel a little better – but the over all prognosis is still not good. Please keep her in your prayers and good thoughts.

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

A fairly busy day today – details I really don’t feel like discussing today. I got more news on my little Sister and NONE of it was good…….. I am as bummed out as I can stand to be and not really in a chatty mood right now — sorry.    Looks like I will be making a trip back to the states a lot earlier than I had planned on….. I sure hope I’m wrong. I’m supposed to get follow up news sometime late tomorrow morning which will probably be my decision maker whether I come home now or later…………. this sucks. Supposed to dive tomorrow, but not sure I’m gonna be in the right/safe state of mind for it…… sorry ya’ll….. just not in me to say anymore……..