Author: Bill

On a REALLY busy day at the dive shop…… you may have 4-6 DSD’s….. that is handful… for any shop to contend with……. today, at ‘my’ shop….. we had 13 DSD’s. That is what the ‘boss’ called me about and asked if I could ‘shoot‘ it. I yanked my plans around and told her I could…….. me and my big mouth…… Lord have Mercy was today a busy day. The on land classroom stuff wasn’t bad…… but once we got in the water…..   OMG…… it was like herding chickens…….. There were 4 Divemaster/Instructors in the water to ensure the ratio of Instructor to Student was ample……. broke up into groups to do their ‘skills‘ – I had my hands much more than full getting from group to group to ensure I got everyone in the pictures. Once skills were satisfied, the group….. broken up as they were, headed out for their SCUBA dive……….. I did my level best to chase and find everybody to get their pictures underwater…… but a feller can only do so much…… I have a sinking feeling I missed one group [of 4]…… I hate it – but there is only so much water one fat guy can cover…… I wound up with some gorgeous pictures…. I hope you agree….. even more so – I hope the boss agrees………..  I cancelled myself on the morning boat…. simply because I am worn out from my day ‘off‘. The dive shop is doing another wine cruise tomorrow night – and I am ‘on’ for that….. so I’m gonna get in a little rest before it……… Also calling quits here….. tired and ready to go stretch out in our nice cool bedroom.

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

Pretty sure I have used this title before – but it is sooooo much fun and would probably take me the better part of an hour to actually find when I used it last…….. any who —– A better nights sleep [than the night before]…… woke up feeling mostly decent other than my belly……. On that note – thank you so much for the side notes and comments on FB trying to help me figure out my dilemma. It is sad that I have spent almost $7000.00, and still have no idea what the issue is. Thankfully — I have ruled out a bunch of stuff….. but that is not doing me any good as far as to deal with what is going on right  now~!……. right now I am open to anything I think will help me resolve this……. don’t know what it is, but it is damn shore aggravating. I have an appointment with ‘Doc‘ the first week of July- and I will absolutely discuss some of the stuff you all have brought up. Right now I’m up for anything that will get me out of/over/ or through this mess I’m dealing with now~~~~

Good peoples….. I have to tell you. Just about the time I started this blog – I started up my grill. Got it cleaned….. piping hot and dropped 6 – 1/3 rd pound burgers on it. Now I had NO intention of eating all that meat (and I didn’t) – I kinda thought my neighbor was gonna pull up in that time frame – and it would not only be unfair – it would be down right inhumane – to have him have to smell the wonderfulilicious smell coming off of that grill…… and not have enough to offer him a burger or so. He never showed up – so I resigned myself to enjoy those stacks of wonderfulness all by my lonesome. My Queen previously turned down her invite. Now I enjoy a good “dressed” burger as much as anybody else out there……. but what I enjoy even more…… is a burger that requires no other ‘fixin’s’ than a good toasted bun and my mouth…… no cheese, no onyons, lettuce….. nothin’…… just a toasted bun and a burger properly cooked….. ( a proper cold drink to help wash it down goes without saying)  😉  Two burgers in [with perfectly toasted buns] and I want more…… smack my ass… butt and call me Judy~!….. Trying to keep the ‘hog‘ at bay…… I’ll stop eating burgers and have a [[small]] piece of the sinfully chocolatey cake That Daughter Stephanie sent me for Fathers day……..    DAMMIT Emmit — I spent almost the blog on my food……… what a hog~

Sadly, today’s two dives, were mostly uneventful. No big scary creatures to deal with – so worked on my ‘still’ shots….. Hope you like them. Off tomorrow — Guess I should say…. not diving tomorrow. Probably gonna wind up on the mountain top trimming some of of the ATV trails…. not sure…… I can promise you though….. I’ll be thinking about those burgers in the fridge waiting on me when I get back down off of the mountain……….

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

Just BARELY keeping my eyes open…… I just barely made it until 21:00 last night (9:00pm) before crawling into our cool comfy bed and fading rapidly off to the land of slumber…….. I was very rudely awaken a couple of minutes after 01:00 with the demand from my stomach – to ‘get my a$$ to the bathroom…. not in a couple of minutes – but right friggin’ NOW~! All the tests and everything I have been through in the last couple of months….. and sadly, I ain’t any friggin closer now that I was then figuring out what the friggin’ problem is~!  I am now about $7000 in debt for all these tests and no closer to understanding what the issue is now than I was…… DAMMIT EMMIT~~!!!  What to do,……what to do……… I guess if I have try and look at the bright side…….. I did eliminate a bunch of stuff…. and I guess I should be happy about that…… but I’m not…… it’s hard to take for an old fat boy that hasn’t eaten in almost 24 hours and he feels like he is stuffed……. modern medicine.. PPFFffTTTtthh……. not much faith in it…….

Thankfully, the visibility is finally making a come back – with the first dive site at 100’+…. gotta love it. Sadly not a lot to look at, but it shore was pretty…….. second site sucked until you dropped down over the top of ‘The Wall’….. where you go from 30 something feet…… straight down to well over 3000’…… awesome feeling doing that dive over the edge. Second dive was much more generous in the offerings….. SHARKS~!Turtles, Stingrays…… you name it – we had it on this dive….. My watermark site is not working because this POS computer that I bought in Evansville is about out of memory…… I am being patient thought because I have ordered a “monster” machine that should be here by the end of the month —- then I can go back to posting video’s and putting my watermark on my ‘good’ pictures……..

Right now, I’m ready for a shower and some sleep……. more diving tomorrow…..

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

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Happy Fathers day out there to anybody reading this that is a Father or Dad…. in my mind there is a MASSIVE difference between the two…… but that is a whole different blog. I hope your day went exactly like you wanted it to go…….. I feel pretty secure saying it didn’t, but you went ahead and you smiled your way on through it. God Bless you.

I can say in pretty much all honesty….. my Fathers day hasn’t went the way I wanted them to go in the last 33 years. Now before you all get your feathers  ruffled or you pantie’s in a wad…….. I’m not saying I didn’t like or enjoy my Fathers days….I said: ” my Fathers day hasn’t went the way I wanted them to go”…. so just calm the hell down…….. That is yet another whole entire blog…… for now, just tryin’ to  get through today peacefully….although I think I may have already taken a crap in that nest…………

We had a brunch planned with friends at a new place here close to us…… I can’t really comment on the quality of of the food….. because I was hungry enough to eat the …… well….. I won’t finish that because I have Grand kids that read this….. let’s just suffice to say I was HUNGRY by the time chow got there….. and at that point, pretty much everything tasted fairly good. We finished up our meal, our fair share of bottomless Mimosa’s…… some fun conversation before we packed up and left. It was agreed somewhere in the prior conversation that we would meet everybody down at the beach for a Sunday Funday. We ran back to the house, donned our swimming gear, gathered up drinkin material and headed back out to meet everyone at the beach. Next several hours shot past along with passing rain showers and other than one brief episode where I spoke my mind about a couple of dumb rednecks hoisting sea life out of the water…. it was a fairly calm fun afternoon. I shouldn’t run my mouth, but when said dumb rednecks, do stupid things with local sea life….. I kinda gotta speak up……. I’m just not real tactful about it. The rest of the afternoon was mostly fun and uneventful. Finally had enough and announced I was heading home (after all, it was “my” day LOL)

Back here – I’ve heard from all my girls for Fathers Day wishes…………..I’m ready to rinse sand and salt off and [hopefully] get a decent nights sleep before I spend my week [hopefully] diving every day.

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

Struggling to come up with a caption for todays tidbit….. first thing that came to mind when I read last nights title…… go figure huh ?   A sleep in, roll out when you’re ready kind of morning. One of the perks of riding trail on the ATV’s – they start “late enough” I get to ‘sleep in’. Going to bed by 21:00 [that’s 9:00 p.m. for all you civilians out there]…….. getting up by 06:00 is not a big deal……. snoozin‘ in and not rolling out until almost 07:00 is outstanding~! And STILL have time to go ‘potty’ 6 times and get woke up and on your way.  I was given ‘fair warning from my trail mate today about the group for the first tour – but I took it with a grain of salt [like I try to do with all tours] and as it turns out – had a ball with them. Ma-Nature decided to pour on us the last 10 minutes of the tour…… but it added a little bit of ‘ambiance’ to the tour….. LOL. I could ‘see’ where the guide was coming from…. but thankfully – it did not come to fruition….. (probably cause of me)…… and the whole tour was a “hoot”. Got them back safe, machines cleaned up and ready for the next tour. A couple of cancellations meant only 2 bikes on the tour…. which generally do not require a trail bike to watch the back…… but since I was there, soaking wet and covered with mud — I figured what the heck – and away I went~! Fun, fun, FUN tour……gotta love them…..   Porkchop [Shawn] is not letting me wash bikes which I secretly hate and love at the same time — so I gathered up my stuff and came back to our abode to my Queen. She had a load of laundry done and I could hear her making drinks when I  backed into my spot….. (could hear ice clinking into the glass)~~ She has fed me…. hamburger helper something or other (with enough Zatarans’ – it’s all good)…. some veggies….. LOTS to drink….. just finished desert of Pineapple, but foresee some Oreo’s or something of equal importance’ – in my near future. Pictures all edited and sent to the ‘Boss Lady’ for posting…… I have a nice buzz going now – so will try to retain enough decorum for a shower before I stagger into bed and get ready for what is apparently being billed as “my Day’ tomorrow. Don’t  know why – I ain’t her Dad…..  We are gonna meet some  friends at a new place here in town and check it out….. hope it is as good as I have been hearing…… then maybe some time on the beach……. we’ll see how it goes……really looking forward to spending time with one of the couple we know really well. Other couple are casual acquaintances…… for now – some trail pictures,,,,,, fairly sure I’ll have some pic’s from tomorrows adventures if we don’t get run off (long story)……..

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

Slept in every so slightly this morning before caving into the desire not to wet the bed – and launched out like I knew what I was doing. I knew my Queen was still doing ‘her thing’, so I squeeze kneed around the bedroom making our bed and getting the shutters open for the day. About the time I finished up – I heard the sound [water pump kicking on] that told me my bride was done with her bathroom stuff……… my turn~!  All ‘that’ out of the way – we settled into a coff of cuppee and our normal morning routine. We may not be “that old” [yet] – but we definitely have our morning routine and God help any body or any thing that interrupts it~!  😉  Finally came time for me to load my stuff and head into town for another day of bouncing along our mountain top trials. We had enough down pours yesterday – I really expected all of our mud holes to be filled to the brim……. but ya know….. or better yet – wouldn’t ya know…… them dang mud holes never got a drop of those deluges……… so our tours were much ‘cleaner’ than I thought they would be. A lot of that depends on the rider though — and I had a couple of riders today that made sure they sprayed me as they went by……. ( as I was taking pictures)  that I was informed by my Queen…… the beat of my heart…… the breath in my lungs…. my very being for existence…… that I “smelled like Poo“. Dammit Emmit…….. she has said a lot of things to me…… but that was a cut just above the ankles. I have probably at some point….. mentioned….we have lots of “critters” that ‘do their business‘ in those big ole mud puddles….. some times…. it can be a smidge…… just a smidge…… overwhelming…… Although MOST of the riders today opted to stay as clean and tidy as they could…….. a couple of them…… decided that the photographer standing at the side of the mud hole ankle deep in that mess to get ‘ that shot‘ – was well worth getting some of ‘that water’ on them while they doused my a$$ in that water (but I got ‘that shot’)……. National Geographic has nothing on this ole fat boy  😉

Two tours today and both of them were a ‘hoot’ — I’ll take those kind of tours ALL day long……. good people, pleasant, ask lots of fun questions… treated us and our machines with respect… tipped well…. Yes Ma’am~! I’ll take them all day long~!! Finally back in the yard……  I got ‘politely’ ushered out of the yard before getting drenched washing the bikes…… in all fairness though…. I didn’t argue “that” hard……… I came home to drinks being made by my Queen…… and as MUCH as I wanted to sit there and drink with her and cool off…… I managed to convince my tired old butt to get put and get the yard mowed…… That done…… LOTS more drinks being plied.. I boiled some hot dogs so I can maintain some kind of decorum while I try and finish this……… What a great day…… in my feeble OLD mind…. even though I wasn’t diving and chasing sharks…. the people… the day… the events….. just a fine day~! More trails tomorrow…..

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

A goofy night of slumber…… not sure why….. I think being an official non-smoker now – my BP meds are all loused up and causing some funky side affects maybe. I have an appointment with Doc soon — Gar-on-teed I’ll ask about it. On a related topic…. I got a call from my Colonoscopy Doctor (butt doctor didn’t sound right)….. All biopsies came back negative…. Yay~! Everything was normal…Yay~!! [except] – that leaves me with the issue I went for undiagnosed…… dammit Emmit~! I’ll keep working on it……. Got my Queen on her way for her ½ day of laboring at Blues today – while I was out the door shortly behind her for a day of diving. We haven’t had a decent ‘storm’ in long enough now – our visibility in the water is just absolutely hideous….. I hate it for the people visiting the island and diving with us right now …. but whatcha gonna do ??? I am doing my best to get some pictures that aren’t whited out from all the back scatter in the water now…. Once I get my new lights in – it will be a smidge easier to manage. I did mention my new light set up…… didn’t I ?

Really about it for the day – got back, got my gear rinsed. Angie was already here and making drinks when I backed into my spot…… She served up a mighty fine plate of spaghetti and garlic bread for Dinner – followed up by a slice of cheese cake with some pineapple…..MmMmMmmm good~! No wonder I can’t loose any weight…. it’s her fault  😉     Riding trails the next 2 days…… so look for more ATV pictures here…… a little change up as it were. We have a  Sunday brunch planned with some friends of ours at a new place we have been wanting to try — really looking forward to that. For now – time for a shower……

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

Tried to sleep in a little bit this morning – but it just wasn’t in the cards….. up – bathroom stuff done — read up on world news…..E-Gads is this world in a mess or what?? Offered to cook my Bride some eggs before she departed for her weekly Wednesday employ at Blues, but she declined. She took some eating material with her (cereal and milk) so I didn’t fuss to much about her not eating before she left. Got her on her way…… made me some eggs and sat down to peruse FB and see all the silliness that goes with it. I see where Bill Stallings passed away…… that is a shame…… I went through almost all 12 grades with him and graduated from good ole New Harmony High School – way back in 1975 with him.   Bill was a good guy. We always got along and he was well liked by most people that knew him. Like most classmates of mine – I lost touch with him as I took off for the military and traveled about. Finally back in ‘the Harm’ – Bill had went about his way, so I didn’t see or hear much about him as I settled in trying to help raise a family and contending with one of the evilest work schedules the human body (or family) can endure. Over the years I did bump into him once or twice and at the time – he was always friendly as usual with the same sense of humor and little crooked grin. Although I didn’t know much about him or his life after school…. my heart goes out to his family and friends and  I hope there is some comfort in knowing he is now in a better place. Rest In Peace Bill….. I’m sure the world will be a little bit sadder place now that you are no longer with us.

Spent the bulk of the day with the ATV business helping out the ‘island kids‘. Machines prepped and ready. Had two – what turned out to be very fun [albeit very slow] tours, but I think everybody had a good time. Back, covered in dust and splattered with mud at the same time – we got the bikes washed and mostly put away before I escorted Cynthia to Home Depot to pick up some stuff she needed that wouldn’t fit in the back of their wagon…… took it up the mountain and dropped Cynthia and everything off. Coming down the mountain – I saw a ping from my bride sayin’ she was headin’ home [sent an hour previous]….. so she was already there with a bag of Mickey D’s and a drink waiting for me…….. My McFish sammiches are gone as well as “1 or 2” drinks……. I’m ready for a much needed shower. Diving tomorrow before another couple days of trails……. Ahh the “retired” life   😉

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

Pulled into my parking spot to see these two sharing a Mango

Up waaaay early this morning….. I woke up 45 minutes before I needed to be up…. goofy thoughts running through my brain that kept me from going back to sleep. So I got on up – and enjoyed some extra wake up time. Got caught up on world news and then went out and got my gear together ready for another day of diving. Came in, checked out the wonderful world of FB and what was going on there…… Somewhere in there, my Queen came staggering out and started her wake up routine. I got my camera/batteries all bumped charged, put in the case and got it hauled out to the truck. I nuked me a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit and washed it all down with a fist full of pills and a big swallow of milk. Beer cooler put together and I was ready to head out the door. Gave my bride a kiss and away I went.

The Sea’s were nice and smooth as we headed out to the first dive site. Visibility is still really FUBAR’d…… don’t know what is causing it – but I’m tired of it and ready for it to go back to normal. ONE [very uncooperative] shark….. but did manage some fun other shots – even with the crappy vis~ A long bouncy ride to the second dive site…… jeeez Louise what a ride…… finally under the water where it is considerably calmer – but again some most loused up visibility…….. however >insert evil grin here<….. I got a couple of Octopus shots that just made my entire day~!!! Some other good coral shots….. but the Octopus…… AHHhh yes~!  Yes! YES~! Finally back in port….. boat unloaded, icy cold Budweiser in my Koozie and 30 minutes later back at the house……. Gear rinsed, pictures uploaded and edited and up on the boss’ FB page. My Bride fed me a “carboard” pizza — fairly nasty…. but it was the thought that counts and it served its purpose soaking up some alcohol……

Now I sit here and type as Angie is on her tablet talking with one of the kids…. I am managing to ignore most of the conversation so I can keep my train of thought typing this…… for now – Gonna get me a shower, maybe a bit more to nibble on. No diving tomorrow. Kids have asked me to fill in as a trail guide for the ATV’s….. so taking a diving break for a day…….. So a change of pace in pictures for you for a day.

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

Dozing comfortably around 05:50 this morning – I made myself roll out of our nice comfortable bed in our chilly bedroom…….. Time for me to get my day started…. and aside from the belly issues I am [still] dealing with…. I had to get my camera put back together. It had a been a day or two since I messed with it – and I needed it ready for my day today. I got up and moving – got necessary batteries on charge and started putting my camera kit together…… It sounds kind of funny to say, but once you have seen what I do to get this menagerie put together – you would understand. Camera ready, gear loaded, beer cooler put together (most important, but always the last to be prepared………. I had me a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit and a small glass of milk before hustling on the door to my ‘job’. Turns out, the boat today was full….. really full….. which included a handful of youngsters diving with their parents…… I was asked to help keep an eye on the collective crowd, even though there were three trained Dive Masters on the load. As it turns out – I got to ‘earn my keep’ as I did a power dive to 92′ [from 60′] to keep one little dude from getting himself in a whole peck of trouble. The rest of the dive was fairly uneventful and I got several shark shots as well as a couple of nice turtle shots. The second dive was even less non eventful and before you know it – we were back in the marina unloading what seemed like a 100 empty tanks……. surely it can’t have anything to do with me aging slightly…….

Finally back at the house, my bride ran and got us a Subway sammich [I had a hankering]….. belly full of sammich and a couple of Macadamia cookies….. and here I be. I have all my pictures edited and put up for the dive shop……. I have had probably 2 more drinks than I need and cannot wait to get into the shower to knock the salt off of me from the dives…… Fast forward an hour…… I just got off the phone with a young man in California who just sold me a brand spanking new lighting system for my camera. We had a respectable conversation about lights and my needs and I am 99.99% sure I have what I need ordered and soon on the way. Now I need to work on potential customers to buy my old light system…… some one who won’t put it through the abuse I did…….

For now… belly is full, I’m happy I know I have decent gear on the way…… a shower and a couple or 6 hours of decent sleep and I will be ready for another day on the Sea tomorrow……. can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings~!

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

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