Author: Bill

Up bright and early to report to the marina mid-island by 08:30….. loaded onto a fairly full boat and was soon out on the big water with some seriously big waves. Bailed in and fought to get some exit shots as divers navigated their way to the back of the bobbing boat. Not a fan of these kind of days – but it does make for some interesting shots of folks that are not particular used to navigating that kind of boat. Even though visibility was lower than I have seen it in memory – still managed some fun shots of sharks, lobsters and a lion fish. Time to get back on the boat proved to be another spectator sport as I laid in 15′ of water and watched the menagerie from below. Finally got everybody aboard and slowly motored to our next site. Very, VERY bouncy ride. Bouncy enough that several of the divers sat out the second dive because of sea sickness….. which I do not get because it is MUCH calmer under the water…….. just glad I am not cursed with that particular affliction.

Ready to go on the second dive – same conditions only smaller crowd under the water this time. Pretty standard dive taking pictures of a large family swimming together on this dive. The dive ended a little different with me getting distracted by a pair of small sharks and losing site of the group. When I finally realized I was all by my lonesome – I navigated toward the point where I thought the boat was, only to discover I missed it  by 500′ or so…… so I had to kick on the surface against the current, for a bit to get back on board. That’ll teach me a lesson~! [maybe]~~~

Finally back here, gear rinsed, pictures edited and loaded. A nice fish dinner…. I’m ready for a shower and some sleep. Back on board another full boat tomorrow….. only out on this end of the island so it should be a LOT calmer~! We’ll see.

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

Up after another <needs some work> sleepin’……… news…. yadda-yadda-yadda.

Load up and head for our islands newest attraction…. a zip line. We have done zip lines before – down in Mexico some where….. I remember them being longer and faster than the ones here – but I understand and accept the difference. We showed up on time, signed our life away and boarded their ‘bus’ up the mountain. As someone who rides that particular path on ATV’s and gives pretty much the same ‘spiel’ they were giving us to our guests – it was kinda neat to watch. We swapped some stories with the guides and I am positive we will be rubbing shoulders with them again in the future….. simply because our paths cross on pretty similar paths…..

I was a little bit worried about my Queen, even though she seemed energetic about the venture in front of us. A little bit hesitant in some areas, but seemed relieved to see me jump in there and ‘lead’ the way for her. I am proud of my bride….. she got on in there – smiled [through MOST of it] and handled in like a trooper~! Finally back on ground level… harness’s off, a cigarette in her hand – she was good to go. Back at the house – she made us drinks while I loaded pictures…. After a drink or 4, we decided we needed to go out for dinner again… only this time to a tried and trusted location. Beach Side Café where we were greeted with drinks, smiles and Bang Bang Shrimp…… yummmers. My Queen had an order of Mussels….. she had a Beet salad for dinner and I had some kind of sausage special that was pitifully lacking in sausage….. it was good – but us big ole boys prefer a smidge more meat than what this offered up. We wrapped the meal up with a “Fru-Fru” drink… (I didn’t know it was frozen)…. and our now standard Cappuccino Brownie Sundae……MmMmMm good~!!!

Back at the house now, my Queen is talking with Rachael and I am trying to get this done so I can go stretch out in bed. I’m diving tomorrow, taking pictures…. woo-hoo~!! LOTS of pictures for you……..

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

A little better nights sleep — got to snooze in a couple of extra minutes….. up and welcoming a gorgeous day……. had my standard one coff of cuppee…. caught up on world events and then was treated to a wonderfully delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy with 2, count ’em TWO different sausages……. boy don’t I feel special~!!  Sat down and let that wonderfully delicious breakfast digest a little bit before going out and getting the lawn mower and weed eater ready for work. Checked oil, gas and fired up and going in – just over an hour was done with everything around our house….. Loaded everything into old DD and headed into town to check on the ATV yard….. passed the ‘kids‘ heading out of town on ATV’s as I went in—– got to the yard and determined it wouldn’t be worth the effort to unload everything…. so I drove on past, Stopped at ye olde local dive shoppe and paid for the work done on my gear (annual inspection/repair) and then back out to the house. Paid a couple of bills, caught up on other ‘stuff’ about the time my Queen asked me if I would like to go to the Fred to have dinner. Word had it, that ‘The Fred’ has some of the best fried chicken on the island. My Bride knew I had a hankerin‘ for some – so she invited me to a date night….. Now I am feeling pretty dang special right about now~! I jumped in the shower to knock off the grass clippings, got all spiffied up and away we went. I put on a shirt with a collar on it, which is my version of dressing up and away we went.

We arrived a couple of minutes early…. and had to wait for our table to be ready – even though we had reservations. Finally seated – it still took us almost 15 minutes to get our first drink….. not off to a great start…… In an effort to keep things simple [and brief] – service and food quality just went down hill from there. As it turns out – I knew the floor manager well and as he spent a great deal of time at our table – I did not hesitate to wear is a$$ out about our experience. I felt bad for him as our evening [meal and service] just got worse and worse…… but we bought him a couple of drinks and we sat and chatted a little. Finally ordered dessert…… Hot-diggety-dog….. it was excellent… at last, something good~! Definitely not a 5 star evening……. heck – it barely made 1 star… but the scenery was gorgeous and my company was even better – so not a total loss….. it’ll just be a while before we try the place again……………

Zip Lining tomorrow, even tho my new employer is asking if I can take pictures of a family diving tomorrow……. dammit Emmit – but no……. there will be pictures of the zip lining though!~!!

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

The Red Fred – I would definitely recommend it….. refreshing~!

Slept in a wee tiny bit this morning after a semi-pitiful night’s sleep…… great dreams when you do get to sleep – but that span in between….. woo-wee. A nice slow calm start to the day catching up on news and chatting with Daughters. A tasty breakfast – getting my gear together and getting ready to take off to go to “work”. I struggle to call it work because I like doing it so much….. reference the old adage, ‘Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life’. Got to tell you though – no matter how much you love it. You get those occasional days when your body just does not feel like it and that old adage is a little harder to believe. Even though I would have liked to lounged today after a very long week….. I was looking forward to getting back into the water… especially for this occasion. There was a morning load this morning that I opted out of….. the only load I didn’t make, all week….. and wouldn’t you know it ??? Them butt heads saw whales~!!! I wouldn’t have believed them – but they had pictures AND video, so it was pretty hard to dispute. Butt heads………….

Anyhow…… today was Ladies Dive Day…. a dive designated for women only – so they didn’t have to put up with a bunch of hairy legged, butt scratching heathens that we are. (well, except for me) Sadly, turn out was much smaller than usual attendance – but the dive shop made the most of it and we made a most enjoyable dive, followed by sparkling wines and Hors d’oeuvres out on a calm peaceful Sea with gorgeous back grounds everywhere you looked.  Pictures are edited and sent to the ‘Boss’ – and now I’m getting ready for a much needed shower.

A ‘down’ day tomorrow….. even though I plan on getting the grass cut at some point —- I do not plan on doing much else…. even though I only made 11 dives in the past 5 days….. I’m still pooped….. and looking forward to giving my back a break for a day. Monday we are scheduled to check out the islands newest attraction…. Zip Lines~! We have done them before in Mexico and excited to try them here… hopefully we’ll like it well enough to take visitors to if they want. For now – shower and [hopefully] some sleep.

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

Me and my new source of income~~

Got to ‘sleep in‘ this morning, even though I felt like I actually never went to sleep. Even though I was so tired I didn’t know my own name last night…. sleep was bound determined not to be an ally last night. Up — caught up on world situation [in the crapper in case you haven’t been following]…… Some FB action to look over…….. in other words – taking it easy in the morning for the first time in a week…… and I liked it! Now that I have the benefit of looking back at my last week, I can easily see the amount ‘[per week]’ offered to me for my photography work could easily be construed as not enough, but I am going to humbly accept it….. although I will not allow every week to be like that – it becomes much too much like work to keep that up. Case in point – I was asked if I wanted on the load in the [tomorrow] morning and I said…. no – hell no. For the first time in memory, I am trying to get out of going diving. Who would have thunk it ???  I am what is deemed as ‘saturated‘…. had my fill of salt water for at least this week………. but still “have” to make a dive tomorrow afternoon to shoot the dive for ‘Women’s Day’…… a dive set apart for the females on the island. Sadly, as of right now, they are having troubling getting a ‘load’ together – so it might be a real easy shoot for me tomorrow. But – that’s tomorrow…… todays dives were a couple for the books……. for the first time in my diving career… after making an earnest attempt to call sharks into me – I got scared and bailed. Exhaling HARD, pressing my second stage for added affect – I screamed 50′ up – in a hurry~! To get away from 2 very aggressive sharks that had me pinned between them at angles, I could only see one at a time (not a good thing). I safely got out of the situation and went on with the dive – cautiously watching my surroundings. Two young ladies on the dive became my focus and the rest of the dives were all about them. We had a good time as they played for the camera and during slack times – I played with new equipment I got for the camera yesterday. I now have my second strobe and a new set of ‘arms’ to hold them. It will give me SO much flexibility and and I firmly believe they will be game changers for my picture taking……. I am already seeing results from my first day of picture taking with the new gear – I hope you see a difference as well. Lots to learn – but I am looking forward to it.

Tomorrow, one afternoon dive for “ladies Day”…… and then 2 days off~! A day to get some yard work and bill paying done and spend the rest of the day with my Queen – the second day we are going to try out the islands newest attraction….. Zip Lines~!!!  We can’t wait~! For now – I have tons of pix to share with you….. sorry about missing last night – but I was whooped~!

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

JUST finished up a long day of diving and editing pictures and quite honestly just too tired to write much….. second half of day was with a group from New York – all using rebreathers….. something I have always been interested in (until today)… can’t wait to tell you about it, but it will have to wait for another day…..

Same thing in store for tomorrow…. 2 morning dives….. rebreathers in the afternoon…… stayed tuned  ( I am finally getting a decent nights sleep though)  🙂

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

After about 2+ hours of tossing and turning after I went to bed last night – I came out and sat on the couch with everything propped up, the ceiling fan on high and thought maybe I could score some sleep that way….. UMmm….. nope – so in desperation…. went into the kitchen and took two Advil PM…. (couldn’t find any Aleve PM)…… went to the bathroom [just in case] and went in at 12 :29 and sprawled out under 2 different fans we have running in our bedroom. Well Sir….. it must have worked…… I woke up at 06:09 with no idea who I was or where I was at – but by golly I got some sleep and was rested~! Wooey – I needed that. Got up, did my bathroom stuff and settled into the news……. jeeez what a mess. I hate the condition this country is in right now………. Moved onto the entertaining world of FB……. I have to laugh at almost everything I see on there now….. I was about to make a comment on my thought path of some of the folks that I follow….. but it just ain’t worth it. They can live in their world….. I’ll hang out here in mine~~

Gear loaded up and out the door by 07:45 headed for the Salt River Marina…. 30 minute drive usually…… somedays 20 minutes…. other days 45 minutes…… gotta love island traffic. Loaded on the <very small> boat, gear set up, camera put together and out into the bustling blue sea we went. Boat is back on the North shore and the wind is back up and it was a bouncy round. Did I say bouncy? I meant bouncy~!! It was much calmer under the waves…. not anything great and wonderful to talk about, but I was diving and I was happy. Second dive was not a heckva lot better – but again – I was diving and I was happy. Saw a couple of uncooperative sharks, one very cooperative stingray and tons and tons of gorgeous underwater life. Two nice relaxed dives………. I tried to enjoy them a little extra as this was probably my last ‘fun’ dive for a while. As I alluded to last night – I am now gainfully employed by the dive shop and I start “work” tomorrow. A bunch coming in from New York and they all dive rebreathers….. if you’re not familiar with that term – it is a type of tank[s] where you can dive virtually forever. You are ‘rebreathing’ your own air – it is processed and sent back to be used again. That is the Readers Digest version of this type of diving….. it is a very special, technical type of diving that requires some very expensive equipment and a ton of training to do. I am to capture these folks doing their thing for as long as I can – they can dive much deeper, much longer, than I will ever be able to, so I must catch them getting in, going down, coming up and getting out…… this becomes an even bigger challenge as rebreathers do not emit bubbles. It will make getting pictures easier – but that will be about it. Should be interesting and I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow after I am a bit more edumacated about it~!

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

Another miserable night trying to sleep…… oddly, I’m not really concerned about it, because I think I will work my way out of it as soon as I get a little more used to the Chantix and get into a little more settled routine…… so far I’m doing good. Even though I’m not getting the sleep I would like – I am getting a lot of rest and that is helpful. Up and going – another good breakfast that was twice as much as I usually have…… I think my Queen is trying to get me fat(ter)……. we both had a doctors appointment today….. both being follow up appointments to make sure we are staying on track with meds and that they are doing what they’re supposed to do. ‘Doc’, happy with what she saw with me – we discussed other issues…… nothing [hopefully] very serious but still needs addressed. I don’t want to go into that right now because it is all speculation at this point. So more on that later…… the good news, no- the great news…… a little bit before we headed out for our appointment – I got a text from the local dive shop asking if I could run into the shop for a couple of minutes….. sure – and away I went.

Keeping it short for brevity sakes….. I was offered a deal that is quite a bit more than what I was hoping for~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First part (and I have already accepted) is…. I dive ‘free‘ for the rest of the year – as much as I want to dive~! She also offered a salary per week….. regardless of how much I ‘work’ – as long as I continue to furnish dive photographs for them to use on their web sites. The amount she is offering – I think is too much, at least for now. My Bride thinks I should take it. Lots of other options being discussed to add or supplement cash flow for my photography talent. (Dive packages, etc)  I’m mulling it all over and trying to make a smart decision. Bottom line….. my work in learning this particular craft is starting to pay dividends….. and I am happy, excited and proud about it. Still lots of stuff to figure out – but I am definitely on the path I wanted to be….. Yay~!! The way it stands right now – I start ‘work’ this week….. tomorrow is going to be a couple of ‘fun’ dives….. starting Wednesday, 4 dives that day and then working with clients, students and package deals for the rest of the week……. I can’t wait~!  It should also keep me in wads of new pictures and stories for you all. Stay tuned~!

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

Another miserable night’s sleep…. but not unexpected. The kind manufacturer of Chantix said that quitting smoking would produce a side affect of miserable sleep. So far – they are not wrong, but I ain’t giving up. Down to 4 or 5 cigarettes a day now and only doing about half of those when I do.

Headed out kinda bright and early this morning to meet up with the kids at the ATV shop to pick up a piece of wrought iron and deliver it out to yon mountain top. After some straining, groaning and grunting, (that was just me – I don’t think Shawn had any troubles) – we got the unruly large piece (roughly 8′ x 9.5′) tied to the top of the bed of my truck and up we went. Backed into position, more straining, groaning and grunting [still just me] we had it unloaded. We discussed what was needed for the next part of the task and it was obvious it wasn’t going to happen today, so I crawled back into the truck (with just a grunt) and headed back to the house where my Queen had prepared a wonderfully tasty breakfast with two types of sausage…regular and Kielbasa [love that stuff]~! Breakfast finished, I did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen up a little bit and sat down to finished up my on-line stuff. That done, moved to the couch for some TV viewing. We have recently started a new series that we are both really getting into. The series is called The 4400. Kind of a Sci-Fi based showed, but with more of a human twist to it and it’s got to the point now where we are ‘in a hurry’ to see what the next episode brings…… good stuff~! On that note – I’m gonna get some pictures loaded for you so I can go and see what the next episode is~!   😉

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

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It was close to Midnight when I got in bed last night and my Queen was an hour behind me……… showered, a couple of drinks – 2 Advil PM’s and worn almost completely out….. I crawled into bed expecting to fall immediately to sleep and to sleep the sleep of kings……..hmmm….. not so much. It took me almost an hour to fall asleep, which is why I knew what time my Queen came to bed —- she dropped off almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, but not so sure how well she slept as she fidgeted all night and was up a couple of times. I never did feel like I actually went into a deep sleep and was actually glad to roll out a little before 07:00. What the heck ??? Oh well, maybe tonight is the night. A very easy day today as both of us kind of recouped from last night. Blues had a max capacity crowd last night and I stayed at a dead run most of the night…… Angie kept almost as busy running food orders and keeping the place semi orderly through the evening. Both glad to be done for the night and both even gladder to be back at the house…… so yeah….. an easy day today for the old folks. I ran into town this morning and picked up a delicious breakfast from Polly’s and we lounged the rest of the day.

Watched a couple of movies….. first one was S.W.A.T. with Sam Jackson – I think I had seen it before – but a long time ago and we both enjoyed it. The other one was a Netflix move called No Escape with Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan. It turned out to be a whole lot better than I was expecting. I’d give them both a solid 8. That’s really about it friends, family  and readers…… I’m expecting pretty much a repeat of today for tomorrow and by golly durn looking forward to it~! We both have a doctors appointment Monday [routine follow up stuff] and I am probably diving Tuesday and Wednesday………We’ll see about the rest of the week as it wears on a little bit~!

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

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