Author: Bill

Thinking I was gonna be able to sleep in this mornining – my conscious brain finally kicked and and said get your tired old nash out of bed- boy – You have diving to do~!! I [disdainfully] complied and rolled out bout 05:40…… dammit son that is early~! I got up, did my bathroom stuff and walked out 10 minutes later looking mostly presentable…… thankfully, there was no else up at that hour to dispute my claim…………. I settled into my morning routine….. getting camera, strobes and floods, all bumped charged for what I hoped was going to be a fun magnificent kind of day. Sea’s were a bit choppy…. but going with the waves is usually a fairly smooth ride. First dive site moored up…. sadly, no sharks but some fun pictures. Because the way the load was structured today – I got to spend the vast majority of the dive “playing” with my new lights instead of keeping track of a wad of malicious divers……. BOTH dives — I learned so much experimenting with my lights~! I got to tell you — only 2 days into this venture….. and I am cranking out some shots that I absolutely love~!! I am almost slobbering at the mouth over what I think my pictures will look like in a month from now……. I am excited to say the least~!

Second dive – we FINALLY had a couple of big sharks showed up – but they were not in the mood for having their pictures taken…… DAMMIT Emmit~!! The topography of the dive site was exceptional and I got to experiment with my lights some more and just had a ball —- I hope you like the results.  Back at the house – gear rinsed…. everything put up – I uploaded and edited all the pictures….. I took just over 300 pictures and saved 98……. guess I am getting pickier~~~ I was about to starve and asked my Queen out for dinner….. she accepted and we went to our favorite little place [on this end of the island]…… an agreeable meal and even better company….. (pictures probably tomorrow)  Bellies full, back at the house and in our comfies…….. My Bride is running her gums with her Sisters…. and I am trying to ignore that conversation and get this done…… challenges, challenges…… Long day tomorrow…. morning boat [2 dives] with an afternoon boat….. “Jr” dive day in the afternoon…… those dives can be a challenge…… or tiring….. or both – but I’m gonna be there for it……. long day either way……. out for now——-

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

Last night kind snuck up on me…… I had an extremely looooong day underwater – followed up by almost 3 solid hours of editing and posting and by the time I got done….. I was done….. I wanted a shower and some rest – so, sorry about buggering out on you  last night. I did a two tank dive in the morning…. chasing folks around under the Sea in some what rapidly became turblent water – not that I couldn’t handle it – it was just exhausting……. factor in my brand spanking new light rig (that is right now seriously positive bouyant – which means I had to constantly fight it to keep down under the water) — we got back to the marina, and since I was the only other “staff” on the boat – felt compelled to help unload the boat……. I humped approximately 16 of the 24 tanks needed off of the boat, before throwing all my gear in the truck and taking off for the West end of the island – to catch a friend whose Son was making his Open water certification dive. I got there JUST in time to put my gear back together, swap out batteries in my camera and head my tired old touchas over to the water…… Always a fun experience watching folks earn their first certification – even more fun when it is a ‘friend’……. or the son [or Daughter] of a friend. FINALLY done…. headed home for drinks and time with my Queen while editing almost 400 pictures……. I wound up saving 68 of those pictures….. but even by my standards…. they were some dang nice looking pictures~!

I was using my new light kit, and not knowing a friggin’ thing about them – I still managed to produce some dang fine looking shots [in my mind]….. so I’m excited to see what my pictures will look like in 3-4 weeks – once I completely understand how the new light rig works~!

Had a doctors appointmet today (follow up for all the crap I have been trying to sort) – ‘Doc’ is VERY happy with my progress so far……. we talked about my BP, my weight gain, dizziness, etc and have a plan for all….. so some more of hurry up and wait…….. but still good news by far~!! Back on the boat tomorrow for a couple of long days of diving before my Mouse and fam come in….. will be taking a breather from work for their vist…. but sure there will be some pictures involved with them as well………………

For now – ready for a shower and some sleep so I will be ready to wrap up a very busy week and get ready for an even busier week coming – but one I am most certainly looking forward to with my Mouse and her family….. ATV’s, possible a snorkeling adventure – zip lining and of course – a little SCUBA diving……. for now~~~~

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

Up and ‘at em‘ early this morning after a refreshing nights sleep…… my Bride was still snoozin’ when I headed out for Salt River and another morning on the dive boat. Winds picked up as the day when on and by the end of the second dive…. it was quite ‘sporty’ on the boat. A term we use in front of the guests instead of saying rougher than hell.  😉   Pretty tames dives, both of them — I didn’t even see a shark…… dammit Emmit~! That’s 4 dives in a row without any sharks to speak of…… Dammit Emmit~! Oh well, they’ll be back~~

Back at the house, gear rinsed, pictures uploaded….. I worked [mostly] patiently to get all my stuff done before tying into the big brown box sitting there from Monterey California…… yes – it was all my new lighting gear and I was like an 8 year old at Christmas wanting to get to it. Opened everything — yay—- everything I ordered was there…. yay — I recognized most parts and starting piecing it together….. couple of gasps here and there as I couldn’t figure a couple of things out…. even after reading the instructions several times…. You Tube to the rescue~! I fiddled with my new lights until I got hungry….. I laid them down long enough to grill up some burgers for my Queen and me. I inhaled a couple of burgers and went right back to getting to know my lights~! A huge step up from where I was at….. and I haven’t even addressed the big new video light yet. I have at least 3 dives tomorrow (2 on the morning boat and shooting some shots for a friend in the afternoon)…… so I should get LOTS of practice with them tomorrow. I do intend to take my old lights with me just in case something goes horribly wrong….. I hope I can sleep tonight – without thinking about my new challenge tomorrow~!!!! I have a couple of pictures of my ‘toys’ but haven’t got them uploaded yet…. will get some tomorrow of the whole set up and then put them up…. until — some new pix for you from yesterday……..

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

Oh My Goodness…… Have I ever been slipping here of late…… last post was on the 2nd…Friday – and here it is Monday already…….  Let’s see, what all has transpired since my last post…… must have been something……. Saturday – I went back up yon mountain top and finished up the two “scenic overviews” ATV stopping  areas….. It took a lot longer to clean them up than I anticipated – and by the time I got back and cleaned my gear and put it away – then got my self cleaned up….. it was already drink-thirty and I was about shot at that point…. seems as I went to bed fairly early that night…… Sunday the 4th [America’s Birthday] we were hosting a firework’s watching party – as the down area was suspected to be jammed packed….. We initially thought we were only gonna have a small handful of friends over to the house – but that rapidly turned into 30 people…… my Bride went grocery shopping while I worked around the house getting stuff ready for the event– RSVP’s kept pouring and before you knew, all 30 said yes…… and a couple were bringing some friends. Cool~! Me and my Queen kept busy until the first group showed up at 2:30 (for a 6:00 start time) – but these were some very special people and we were tickled to get some alone time with them. They hung out a couple of hours and by the time everybody else started trickling in – they packed up and headed out. It sure was good to see them though~! The rest of the evening was kind of a blur. I cooked up 30 some odd ¼ pound burgers and around 20 ¼ pound hot dogs. Also 4 Lbs of wings and a massive big pot of meatballs. There were several side dishes toted in (and they were all fabulous!) Plus there was cookies and a cake…… and lots and lots of alcohol. About time everybody got their bellies full – the fireworks started…. perfect~! Everybody grabbed their chairs and settled into a spot in the yard for the show. We could see them fine from our house. Local intel said that downtown Frederiksted was just an absolute nightmare) Everybody with a drink, belly full settled in for the show….. Yay~!! Up until this point – I had not taken a single picture all day [E-Gads] so I ran in and grabbed my phone and managed a couple of shots (although my Bride managed a couple of shots with it while I was busy)…… my drink oddly became empty, so I went in to make another one. It suddenly became quiet except for a couple of groans and I came back out to find out the fireworks were ‘done’…… What The Hell ???? 6 minutes…… 6 friggin’ minutes~! To pour a little salt on that wound – I found out all the local business’ on the water front – apparently kicked in $500 each to help buy the fireworks……. If I was one of those store owners — I would have been livid~! Dammit Emmit – at my limit and just getting started…… gonna stop here… Sorry about missing the last couple of nights……….

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

Up this morning after a reasonable nights sleep….. rolling out about Quarter til 06:00. Kidneys and stomach spurring me into action – finally got out of the ‘Loo’ unscathed…… I settled in to see what in the world was going on and sadly, was disappointed to see that the world as I know it is still mostly in the toilet. I’m satisfied that there will not be an over night/ flip the switch kind change – but sure would like to see some glimmer of hope flickering out there……. NOT holding my breath…….

Got my camera and strobe all bump charged – loaded along with my gear into the truck and came in and forced a sausage and biscuit into me. By now, my Queen is up and bumping around – I had my daily coff of cuppee with her, before pouring myself a glass of Lemon water and getting ready for my day. What’s that ? Lemon water ? I didn’t discuss that….. a recommendation from my Littlest Sis — remind me later….. fun story………. kinda. The dive boat was going off our end of the island today, because waters on the North shore was just gonna be too rough. We have Hurricane Elsa passing by us for the next 8 – 12 hours or so — we have no threat from her – but getting the most delightful breeze [spelled: WIND] from her. Tough enough it even made our normally calm West end of the island ‘Sporty‘…… Smaller crowd than usual, and some pretty tame dive sites compared to the North shore – but still – good diving and lots and lots of fun……..

Finally back at the house – I had just got my gear rinsed and my camera soaking when my phone starting ringing. It was still in my camera case so I had to dig it out, just in time to see it was our ‘Damn Neighbors’.  Now we haven’t heard from these two in a hot minute or so – and seeing brief posts on FB – I figured they had transitioned to a more traditional life…. adoring puppy dogs, kids and acting all normal and stuff. Not our particular style – but hey – these are our Damn Neighbors and we love them…….. The conversation started out weirdly calm and almost boring…… I was still in my dripping wet trunks (and really wanted to sit down) so my Bride took over the conversation while I went and dried off and cooled off in front of the fan so I could get some dry shorts on. By the time I got back….. the conversation was starting to roll around to a more recognizable tone. Some where right in there – it [rapidly] became evident that our Damn Neighbors were drinking…….. Boy Howdy~!! Now THOSE are the Damn  Neighbors I remember~!! The next hour or so turned into a conversation “of old”….. rocketing me back to the days of our back yard and those two people being the lovable, heart warming, pain the in the as butts, I remember and love. Holy Moly what a great hour we spent – laughing, calling each other names (not fit for print) and discussing the worlds (as we know it) issues…… Several drinks into and past that conversation finally led to an inevitable end……. Sure do miss those people…… not enough to move back to the states…. but you get where I’m going with it.

Taking the next couple of days off…… might mow a mountain top – might go shopping with my Queen…. I don’t know yet……..

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

I was supposed to meet up with Island ‘Son‘ Shawn around 9:00 this morning to head up to the mountain top for clearing some of the more over grown trails. Wouldn’t you know it– JUST before time to head up that way – we got hit with the God-awfulliest rain you ever want to see. Via messenger, we agreed, waiting a bit might be the prudent thing to do.  A smidge longer than I would have care for — but I was finally in motion. Showed up at the yard… switched the weed eater, string, gas, etc…… in to the ‘bus‘ and away went. A bit of a communication FUBAR at the start… which is not uncommon between the [smart] branch of the military [USAF] and the Marines……. the “style” wanted for clearing some of the ATV path’s………but once it was established……. we were off like a herd of turtles………… You NEVER really appreciate just how much trails are up on that mountain top – until you start walking them with a weed eater hanging from one arm with a hedge trimming blade on it and a pair of heavy shears in the other hand…….. Good God Gerdy…… there is a LOT of trails up there…… and right now they are ALL overgrown…….. check that – were – overgrown. I would like to think my Island “son” was worried about leaving me on the height of a Rain forest mountain top, sweating profusely and afraid I would stroke out in  the process……… but he [graciously] left me to contend for myself and HELL to be paid………. (no faith in us old Air Force guys)  😉  I think we finally wound up with probably 80% that Shawn wanted to get done……. I [honestly] was  happy we quit where we did —- That 10 lbs of hedge trimmer head on that weed eater was starting to feel like 50 lbs to me – and I was a close to done as I wanted to be. We had a nice conversation on the way down from the mountain………. I was secretly hoping he was ‘off’ tomorrow and we had another day of trails to do…… but apparently – at  least a couple of trails rides to do tomorrow…… I’m reasonably sure TS Elsa is going to send us some more $hit weather…… so I am going to do a couple of dives in the morning – then run up the mountain top and clean up the two scenic over views……..  Gotta love my retired life….. so tired I hate myself — and wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t have all this stuff to do to hate my self about~~~~~~~~~~~

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

IMG_3904 IMG_3905 IMG_3906 IMG_3907 IMG_3908    <—— ALL Video’s~!

Heavens to Betsy…….. Ross even- – – – – Where has this year gone already ??? Half way through it and there is NO sign I can see of it slowing down any…… man-0-man…….. Visit’s from family certainly make the year looking forward to – and with 2 visits this year already….. another one here in the next couple of weeks, working ‘a bit’ here and there and taking tons of pictures…… it is not a surprise to me how fast this year is going………. I forgot where I was going with that…… but it made sense at the time. Another good day on the boat….. beautiful skies, beautiful blue water… nice and warm…… just a great time to be splashing around in the Caribbean Sea…….. no sharks today….. none – Dammit Emmit……. but sooooo many other beautiful things to look at. Turtles, sting rays, corals, sponges……… just too many to mention and while I am doing my best to get pictures of all of them….. probably ain’t gonna happen……… but it shore is fun tryin’~!

One of the dives today ended with seeing Sea Biscuit…. the biggest Sea Horse on the island…….. I arrived early to give him a gentle wiping down so his colors would stand out in pictures and was rewarded with about a dozen small razor like slices across most of my fingers……  gloves dummy~! or a brush… and I forgot both….. but…… his color stood out nice and bright and almost everyone of the divers wanted to take their turn to get a picture of themselves on Sea Biscuit [we had a couple of the Macho manly man types that did not want to get their picture taken] – their loss…………………… but pretty sure ALL divers enjoyed the dive. Arriving back to the house after unloading the boat – I was very pleasantly surprised to see the house opened up and my Bride’s car sitting in her parking spot…… once I got over the flase fear something was wrong – I went in to find a drink waiting for me (and nothing wrong). Yay~! Just turns out she got off early today and surprised me. Yay~! She brought home more Mickey-D’s [which I think is becoming a custom now] – and I munched on Filet-0-Fish while editing and put up pictures.

A day off from diving tomorrow as I head up onto the mountain top with Shawn to cut back some of the ATV trails…… even by my standards some places are getting pretty gnarly looking…….. “weather” is expected here on the island tomorrow from an approaching system….. I don’t think we have anything to worry about…… but clearing trails in the midst of a tropical weather system may prove to be interesting. Because the weather is forecast to be rough [for the North shore] the boat will be out on my end of the island tomorrow and probably going to Armageddon…… as most of you know, is my most favorite dive site….. Dammit Emmit~!!! Oh well….. that too shall pass. Some pictures from today…. will try and remember to snap a couple tomorrow for another vantage point of my life here on the island…….

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

Crazy how a retired life can be this friggin’ busy….. I keep finding myself – ‘forcing‘ myself to take a day ‘off‘ just to rest….. and that usually gets blowed outta the water because of lawn care and other stuff around the house I need to get done….. I like it though….. Dad always said there was no rest for the wicked… or was that the weary??? Either way — It is a whole lot better than sitting around all day on my touchas get fat[ter] watching the idiot box……. I want to enjoy these days while I can…… !!

Dove today again with another full boat……. lots of people pictures…… only one shark out of both dives – and that was a sleepy little Nurse shark…… by the time the boatload got done swooping down for a shot – the sand was so stirred up I didn’t have a prayer of a decent shot. I hung around for a little bit to let the sand settle down some…… but I didn’t have that much time, so picture is pretty ratty looking……. I got a text saying my new light kit should be here Friday~! WOO-HOO~! I’m wound up like a kid at Christmas waiting on new toys…… Can’t wait~!! Hopefully there will be a marked improvement in my picture quality~! Diving again tomorrow while my Queen labors away at Blues — she spent half the day helping out the neighbors at their dive shop today —- so we’re both on the move a lot recently. Taking Thursday ‘off’ to help Island ‘Son‘ do some work up on the mountain top clearing trails for the ATV’s……. what’s that Dad ??? Weary ?? or Wicked??  😉

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

The past several days have been a blur – and I am struggling to remember where I left off……. booze may be a factor…….   😉   We worked Most of Friday afternoon (11:00 – 7:00 pm) at Blues to help with a fund raiser for the local animal shelter….. Sadly, the stray animals on the island tend to get a lot more attention and care than the homeless do on this island. Probably a Thousands reasons why…… My personal opinion is, that most of the homeless are just too friggin’ lazy to work (there are hundreds of job opportunities right now on the island)– but– I’m a hard a$$ and maybe just too old and set in my ways to think otherwise……. The animals are more or less at the mercy of the stupid humans that let them pro-create…….. ANY HOO – Blues hosted a [very successful] fundraiser for the local shelter…… My Bride and I did our part by manning Margarita and food booths….. The next day was kind of a recovery day as we both had a very long week. I took about 3 hours out of my recovery day and mowed and weed eated the ATV yard and our yard…….. let me tell you…. it was hot Don~! Finally finished….. we “chilled” the rest of the day in front of fans. We had just finished eating a bite when our next door neighbors dropped in. Noticing they were hungry – I volunteered to fire up the grill and feed them. A couple of burgers [and drinks] later – they headed back to their half of the Duplex….. my Queen copped a quick cool shower and went straight to bed….. I cleaned up and closed the place up – had my own cool shower and joined her by a little after 21:00.

A pretty decent nights sleep for a change – I was awake and listening to falling Mangoes bounce off of my truck by 05:45. I finally got up – and got all of my gear ready. A small bite to eat and was just about to go out the door when my Bride came stumbling out…… Both dives had some fairly aggressive sharks….. first dive – I did an intensive exit to get away from 3 sharks that were much to aggressive for my taste…… better safe than sorry– Second dive was a little tamer – and even though the opportunity was there….. I still didn’t wind up with one of those OH WOW shots…. there is always the next time….. playing it safe, so I can do it over and over and over again…… Diving again tomorrow…. keeping my fingers crossed for friendlier camera ready sharks……

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

I forgot to mention the night before last – that I was shooting a Wine Cruise hosted by the Dive Shop last night and it was waaaaay to late, trying to get anything done on line was futile. A shower and bed [yes – I did have a couple of drinks too] before forcing my tired old nash out of bed to go diving this morning. So – that’s why there was no bloggin‘ or FB from me last night……. The group on the boat today was a very small group – not good for the dive shop – but I love all the room I get on the boat….. and 4 people to chase and get pictures of is a hellva lot easier to get than 12 people…. plus it gives me time for coral shots and experimenting with lights and camera settings…… my kind of diving~!! Came home, got my gear rinsed and had just enough time to get my dive pictures uploaded before I went into town to get my ears lowered. I was in bad need of a haircut….. let me rephrase that — I was in serious bad need of a haircut….. serious~! Because getting in to the one guy on the island that I trust to cut my hair, is a deluxe pain in the touchas – I just haven’t got in to him and I was looking shaggy~!  Island Daughter Cynthia volunteered to cut it for me and I jumped at the chance. She cut Shawn’s hair and it looked pretty decent – and even though an Air Force haircut may be a tad classier than a Jarhead haircut…. but they’re close enough, I was going for it. A quick 15-20 minutes and she was done…… and did a damn fine job considering it was only her second hair cut…… Ya gotta love what you can learn with You Tube video’s~~~  😉 I came back and spent the next 3 hours editing Wine Cruise and today’s diving pictures while my Bride worked late at Blues again today.

Me and my Queen are both working at Blues tomorrow – helping them with a fund raiser for the local island animals…… Not sure what time we’ll get back here tomorrow – – so there might not be a blog tomorrow……….

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