Author: Bill

Lis Sis and Jamie are in…… it’s been a long fun afternoon (which naturally included a stop at Blues Backyard BBQ) and evening and I’m about worn out and the conversations are still going — so I’m gonna load up some pictures from today and leave you at that…..

Taking a Catamaran sail boat out to Buck Island National Park (https://www.nps.gov/buis/index.htm) tomorrow for some fun snorkeling, checking out a wine and cheese bar afterwards and then probably run out to Point Udall to wrap up a really fun day….. naturally there will be pictures…. just don’t know if I’ll be in shape to share them or not  😉

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

Started my morning off bright and early by heading out to The Deep End restaurant for my Fish With A Vet meeting. Even though attendance was kinda small, it turned out to be a fairly productive meeting. I’m not gonna bore you with the details this time – because #1, I don’t think you’d be really interested and # 2, it’s late and I’m really tired…….. (mostly 2)   😉 Came back to the condo to finalize some paperwork for my next meeting (CRABBS dive Club) and a couple of three episodes of Numb3rs…… It was soon time to go, loaded up all my stuff (I’m in charge of the PA system and attendance) and away we went. Got there 45 minutes early and already had several people showing up before we got there. Again, not going into a lot of details simply because I’m pooped and want to get in bed (even though I’m excited and don’t think I’ll be able to sleep – knowing I get to see my Lil Sis tomorrow~!!) We had another really good turn out and picked up another 3 or 4 new members. It’s crazy how big the club is growing~! Really great news~! I snapped some photo’s for you – so I’m gonna sling them up here (if our internet will let me) and get my FB stuff out of the way so I can crash. Again, Lil Sis and friend in tomorrow – so not sure what I’ll get put up here while they are here………..

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

Plan for today was get our truck up to the local ‘car wash’ for some very much needed work. After all, I can’t haul Lil Sis and Jamie around in it looking the way it did. It was long over due anyway……. We timed it so I could drop my bride off at Blues, then drive back down to the carwash and drop the truck off – walking back to Blues (It’s only a block or so down the road). Dropped the truck off, hoofed it back up to Blues and sat there and had lunch and a couple of drinks. Well, more than a couple of drinks. We had to burn up 2 hours before the truck would be ready, plus I had to factor in island time, after two and a half hours, I hoofed it back down the road.  They did a pretty decent job. DD was all bright and shiny and they even treated the wheels. I opened the doors to check the inside. There were a couple of spots I asked the dude to hit again, which he happily did. He smiled and said the stains I was showing him would probably not come out without special chemicals and equipment. The rest of the interior was suitably vacuumed and wiped down. They also hung an air freshener in it – so it smells nice too. Weirdly, I did not take any pictures….. guess I have been slippin’ quite a bit here lately on pictures….. I’ll work on correcting that.

Got back here and settled in for an afternoon of Numb3rs and still waiting on the young lady to come after the old furniture. Classic island timing…. hurry up and wait. That’s about it – I have 2 meetings tomorrow – one in the morning (Fish With A Vet) and then our dive club (CRABBS) meeting tomorrow evening. Going to try and hit the store in between the two meetings, so should be a fairly full day for us tomorrow.     Please note: There is an above average chance it’ll be too late and/or I’ll be too tired to blog tomorrow after the dive club meeting  – Then Lil Sis comes in Wednesday afternoon and there’s an above average chance as well I won’t get anything written that evening either — but I’ll try~! Check in on me just in case.

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

After a pretty typical morning – we did our version of Spring cleaning here (even though it was 85° for most of the day) – Well, Spring cleaning and getting ready for Lil Sis & BFF visit……!   I moved all of our patio furniture out on to the outer patio, did a good sweeping, then broke out the Ospho acid and set in cleaning up all the rust spots we had accumulated from our metal furniture. An hour later, I had the rust cleaned up, the area mopped and went out for a coat of mop and glow. I’m hoping that will help seal the floor a little better – I figure it ain’t gonna make it any worse. I ‘mopped’ my way out to the outer patio where all the new furniture had been moved to previously and began to assemble out new furniture. Yes – some assembly was required……. actually a lot of assembly was required. But I dutifully sat and assembled for another hour and a half while my mop and glow dried. Timing actually worked out pretty good. We now have a nice clean [rust free] patio floor and brand new patio furniture for all to enjoy. While I regaled you of this in less than 200 words – it sure seemed like a lot more while actually doing it. I’m still waiting on the young lady that wants our old furniture to come get it – so I can haul all the boxes off (that the old furniture is sitting on – I don’t want rust stains out there) and be fully finished~

Came in to cool off, have a drink and watch some more Numb3rs. We are starting to warm up to that show, but a dear friend has recommended several other series she thinks we’ll like – so I can’t wait to check them out (Thankx Vera~!)  My Queen whooped up some breaded porkchops and smashed taters and green beans. Tasty as always~! Belly is full, a couple more drinks in me and I’m ready for a nap…… got to get a shower first though – so leaving it here. A little bit of running tomorrow, so no tellin’ where we wind up at.

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

Sneaking back in here after unsuspectingly missing last nigh (sorry about that)….. We started our day of like usual yesterday but soon took off to get a errand done. We had found out the day before, our Food Handlers card had expired. Blues has asked us to help at a big beach BBQ competition down by the pier and asked us to confirm our Food Handlers cards were current. I honestly thought they were ( I thought they were good for 3-4 years) When I pulled it out to check – I saw where it had expired the end of February. Dammit Emmit~! So we set out yesterday morning to rectify that issue. Yes – we had to go poop on a stick again (see blog from February last year). I won’t go into those details again – but 2 hours and $ 70.00 later, we now once again hold current Food Handlers cards – a requirement to work any pretty much any kind of food industry here on the island. So we’re good to go. Wrapped that up and stopped in at Blues to let them know we were once gain ‘legal’. Since we were there, we got us a bite to eat and had a couple of drinks. Not wanting a repeat of the previous night, we cut out fairly early and came home to watch Numb3rs, the newest series we are into now. Interesting, but not sure we’ll make it through all 5 seasons of this one.

A little later in the day, we got a call from 2 dear friends (Cynthia and Shawn) and asked if we would like to join them at the Palms Restaurant for dinner and drinks. Well we couldn’t say no to that~!! We changed clothes and jumped into DD and headed off to meet them. Wasn’t a long commute, as the Palms is only about a mile down the road from us. We soon were all seated and after suffering through waiting on what I now believe to be the slowest waitress/bar on the island, we had our drinks. We chatted a bit and soon ordered something to eat. Again waiting a mind numbing amount of time for the food and more drinks – but the company was absolutely wonderful, so the terrible service didn’t seem quite as bad. Shawn decided they needed to stop by our house to check out our new sound system for our TV, sample some of the Jolly Rancher Lime infused Vodka we got at Mardi Croix and to pick up their ‘new’ [to them] TV. They bought our old 32″. Cynthia suggested they should maybe do it some other night because it was already late and they both had to work the next morning…. but the Jarhead won out, so they followed us back to our place. One taste turned into two, two into three and then drinks were made…… now there’s a shocker – Huh?   😉 They finally scampered off around Midnight and I sat up long enough to get a ping from them saying they had made it safely home, before wobbling into the bedroom and collapsing in bed – I guess you’ll have those night’s every once in a while…..well ….. maybe you won’t, but you can bet your ears I’m going to  😉

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

Wow…… today went exactly 180° from where I would have ever thought….. it’s now 9:45 p.m. here which is 7:45 where most of you are at……. I’m sitting here at my ‘command center‘ just about as sh*t faced as I want to be…… funny how a day winds up like that, cause it is certainly not how it started off~!  I got up ‘late’ (07:30ish) and started my day…… my Queen came staggering out a couple of hours later…. we sat and drank coffee and woke up for the next couple of hours. The night before was not an alcohol induced night, but we did stay up late watching Mary and Marshal on In Plain Site. We are now into Season # 4 – because I know at least one of my readers is watching about where we are – I won’t go into what happens  but Vera – whoa – are you in for a surprise~!

Anyhow – we finally set out for the shop where I need some work done on DD – got estimates and paid for materials and then set out for the South side of the island to the local Social Security office. On the advice of my ‘tax lady’ – I set both of our accounts to have 10% deducted from our meager Social Security payments, so we don’t get our collective a$$e$  handed to us on April 15th of next year….. Now just how bad does that suck???? We paid taxes on that money when we earned it – and now have to pay taxes on it again??? Good old “Uncle” has to get his….. apparently a couple of times~! We left from there and stopped at Blues on the way back, as we had once again skipped breakfast. It was now 1:30p.m. ish and we were both hungry. We sat down and had a drink or two then ordered us something to eat. Got it -wolfed it down and was soon wrapped up into conversations with many good people there at the bar. The entertainment for the night showed up, set up and soon started playing. The night wore on and got increasingly busier as it went. I told the bar tender I was ‘there’ and ready to help if he needed it. He did not hesitate to start barking out what he needed. For the next 30-45 minutes, I bar backed to help Eddie catch up a little bit. By that time I was pretty much toasted, but managed to hold my own while Eddie needed help. The entertainment finally shut down and we helped hustle the remaining folks out of the back yard (“You don’t have to go home – but you can’t stay here”).  Helped clean up and shut the bar down, before gathering up my bride and heading back here. Right now – it’s all I can do to sit here and type. ( I have already rested my head for a quick nap once) With that information….. I bid you adieu…… the night was a whole lot more fun – but I’m just too tired to tell you about it now~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

IMG_0208     <—— Video

I wasn’t near as disgusted as I look~~

Today came probably as close to a full day of lazy as you can get. That lay around and not get a gosh darn thing accomplished, although I did work on my to-to list I made last night, a little bit, and managed to get 4 out the 7 things done on it. Outside that….. nadda~! A down right enjoyable, do nothing day~! Tomorrow….? Don’t know yet….. I love being retired~

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

I think I stated earlier that I did not plan anything for this week…. just wanted to relax and live the “retired” life……. well so far that hasn’t worked out some good~ Got up this morning and stumbled out to heavy clouds and wind….. I say stumbled out because my night’s sleep left a lot to be desired. While I love having my Queen laying next to me at night, that woman can sure make it difficult for a feller to get a decent nights sleep sometimes…… course, I’m fairly sure she’d say the same thing about me, so I’ll leave it right here. We both spent a little extra time on news, FB and odds & ends while we woke up. The decision was made to go to Home Depot and pick up the rest of the stuff we needed to finish our fence job up at Blues. Of course, this miserable excuse for a Home Depot store didn’t have what I needed. I tried to have them order it in – and they said they could, but I would have to go down to the port when it came in and pay the freight on it before I could pick it up. I said that was pretty silly, when I can order it from my house and have it shipped to me at my house and avoid that disaster area that they call a port. She agreed and I walked off…. pathetic~! While we were there, I walked by the outdoor furniture section. I am unhappy with the looks of our [relatively] new patio furniture. It is made of metal and that salt is reeking havoc with it. I did think about it when I bought it but figured since it was powder coated, it would be alright. Well sir – I guess that’s what I get for thinking~! This close to the water and the amount of sea spray we get – most metals don’t stand a chance – I don’t care how their coated~! I have since learned, environment like our patio – require wood (ding, ding, ding ((bells going off)) that’s why most beach places have wicker furniture!!!! Duh~~~!! They had a really nice set on display and before we knew it – we had talked ourselves into getting it. Besides the way our current furniture looks – it also leeches large ugly rust stains onto the floor. We can’t have our visitors looking at that~! We ain’t real shot in the a$$ about it either. So – new furniture purchased and hauled back. It is currently still in boxes on the patio now – while I try and get rid of current stuff, then get the rust stains cleaned up [again~!].

We stopped at Blues on our way back for a bite to eat (we skipped breakfast) and a drink or 6. Finally came back to our condo an afternoon of In Plain Site on our miniature theatre. We never did get any rain (to speak of) and most of the day was our usual gorgeous weather. No new pictures…. so some more oldies but goodies…….

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

Slept in just a skosh this morning – me and my bride both~! Lot’s of clouds and a glorious breeze. A wonderful breakfast (again, way too much) and lounging watching In Plain Site. We finally rousted ourselves and took off to mid island to pick up our new sound bar. At last, looking forward to being able to actually understand what is being said on the shows we watch. We cruised across island and stopped and picked up our new sound bar. Some quick instructions on how to install and we were off~! On the way, we stopped at the local pharmacy and picked up some more meds for my Bride. She still has that nagging cough and these new meds are supposed to help. I sure hope so – it pains me terribly to have to listen to her coughing like that……  : -(   Back at the condo, I set in immediately to installing our sound bar. It has a nice little sub-woofer plus a small sound bar that sits right under neath our massive TV. Wow~! What a difference that thing makes… I cranked it up once just to get an idea of it’s capability….. WOW~! With the size of the screen and now a decent sound to go with it…… we’re in Heaven watching our shows now. It makes them so much enjoyable being able to understand what every body is saying~!!

Laid back enjoying our show…. we got a phone call from our Damn Neighbors~! They had been imbibing a bit – let’s just leave it at that~  The best part is…. they are coming to see us again~!!! A short visit, but it will be enough for us to get our Damn Neighbor fix~!!  🙂   So visitors are starting to book up now. My little Sis and her Bestie and shortly after, the Damn Neighbors~!!  Woo-Hoo~!! Plus our visit’s that we have planned back to the States — it won’t be quite so ‘lonely’ here because we’ll be seeing a lot of our friends and family a little more often this year~~  We love our beautiful island – but missing old friends and family takes it’s toll some time….. I think I’m gonna leave it here for tonight…… the last of the Mardi Croix pictures and maybe a couple of ‘oldies’……..

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

Hottest ‘thing’ in the parade  😉

Local law Enforcement~~

Have no idea who this guy was – but he looked like fun~~

This stuff is wonderful~!!

Well my Queen wound up sleeping a straight 16 and a half hours yesterday and last night. A big day – factoring in lots of sunshine, booze, being sick for quite a while. I’m glad I went ahead and let her sleep – she apparently needed it. Because I got my blog and stuff done early yesterday – I had the evening to myself last night – so I sat and watched movies on HBO. Actually a couple I have been wanting to see. First one was Rampage, starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. OMG – I didn’t think a movie that new could be that cheesy…. special effects sucked – the acting, sucked almost as bad…… terrible, terrible movie. If I would have paid ‘good money’ to see that in a theatre – I would have been pissed~! Don’t waste you time with that one~! Second one I watched, again starred ‘The Rock’ – I don’t think he is a great actor – but normally enjoy the shows he is in. Sky Scraper –  again, cheesy special effects and mostly “B” acting…… I didn’t think it was as bad as Rampage – but damn close….  (Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are exclusively mine and I really don’t care what you think of them)

Got up a couple of minutes behind my Queen this morning and made sure she was doing okay – She had her color back and was almost perky. Course – If I had slept that long – I probably would be too  😉  I blew off the dive I was supposed to make (for personal reasons) and hung out with my Queen enjoying a nice leisurely morning – first time actually in a while. She whupped us up another (too big) of a breakfast and a inhaled it like I hadn’t eaten in months….. go figure. It got to be close to noon and I had to take off for a Board meeting of the CRABBS dive club of which I am a member (Points Officer, remember?) We met at a new bar, one that I hadn’t been to yet. Called the Nauti Bar – nice little place. Clean, air conditioned. Besides having lunch there – we were scoping it out as another venue o hold our monthly club meetings. A couple of hours later – we wrapped it up and I came back home to my Bride, bringing a couple of Shrimp Po’ Boy sammiches with me for our dinner tonight. I have already had mine and it was very tasty – not a Louisiana quality tasty – but tasty none-the-less.  We spent the rest of the afternoon watching Mary and Marshall on In Plain Site — we both now look forward to each new episode. Our afternoon was interrupted by a surprise phone call from my Sister Leta. I rarely hear from her, but this was a fun conversation. She has battled health issues most of her life – but today she was having a good day and we even discussed getting her here to see our beautiful little island. Really a pick-me-up for the day. That’s about it — I intentionally have not scheduled anything for this week….. gonna be hopefully a lazy week. Gotta start cleaning the place up a little bit for another Sister’s (Nelia) visit coming up soon~!! So next week should be a real hodge-podge of stuff on here.

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

More Mardi Croix pictures~!

Sarah~!!