Author: Bill

The day started off a heckuva lot earlier than I cared for, but my Queen was up early for her weekly day of labor and I wanted to be up with her and try to get that day off to a decent start for her. I rolled out shortly after I heard her clear the bathroom and soon we were sipping coffee and getting caught up on world and FB events. She agreed to let me make her a bit of breakfast and I was happily surprised when she consumed the majority of the 2 eggs and couple of pieces of sausage that I made for her. Got her on her way – I made me a similar breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed it, before loading up the mower and weed eater and running in town to manicure the ATV yard. Without interruptions, I can knock that yard out in right at an hour and was soon backing into my slot back at the house. Yard is all ‘purty’ now and ready for customers.

I discovered yesterday – one of my strobes [flash] for my camera is misfiring and is essentially like not having a second flash….. Dammit Emmit~! After doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen – I sat and ‘fooled’ with the strobes for an hour or so until I had to make a dash to the airport to pick up our island ‘kids‘ who were flying back in from the states for the holidays. I got them delivered to their mountain top. After that was all done, I sat back down and went to work on the strobes. I have figured out where the issue is but alas, don’t know how to fix it… yet. Dammit Emmit~! I’ll get ‘er done though….. one way or the other.

My Bride finally came home and I have been plying her with drinks as she sits and relaxes and I chat with you. I’m gonna try and convince her to eat a little something before retiring for the night. We get to sleep in tomorrow [hopefully] as nothing planned other than a doctors appointment for me around noon. Gonna go have him look at a couple of the ‘barnacles’ on the side of my face and set up a time to have them sliced off. In the meantime – going to try and get in a couple more dives. The water is still cooling down….. down to a brisk 79°. Awwee.. right ? It’s not terrible between dives if the wind isn’t blowing to hard…. but usually by the end of the second dive, it is starting to get chilly….. dammit…. I may have to break down and get me a wetsuit……. in the meantime – today warmed  up nicely…… 84°~! Hopefully the water temperature will follow suit soon~!

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

Up bright and early this morning after a mildly better nights sleep. Whacked out Chantix dreams stayed away and congestion was minimal as well as coughing….. so I did manage a little bit of rest before I was up “early” preparing for my day underwater. Typical morning stuff out of the way – I was at the pier plenty early to secure ‘my spot’ on the boat. Usually not an issue as the staff at CBDS know I like the one spot on the boat and they typically “reserve” it for me. Loaded up, gear set up and on our way…….. Cool, gray overcast skies made for a semi-chilly ride to our first dive site…… Armageddon….. my most favorite dive site……. It did not disappoint as I sank down the 80′ or so to get to the beginning of the dive….. A couple of [sadly] uncooperative sharks, but lot’s of other smaller creatures to keep my interest. Due to heavy cloud cover, light was an issue – but I still managed to gets lots of fun practice time with my camera….. AND …… I did not go into DECO this time (although came within 2 minutes of it).

Back to the surface and our 1 hour surface interval….. before dropping into a shallow dive site with lots of gorgeous corals, and, as it turns out – lots of turtles this time. We had a handful of new divers on the boat which made getting close up creature pictures damn near impossible – so I finally lit out on my own [away from the group] and finally got a couple of nice shots. I got a couple of nice Sting Ray shots that I literally got goosebumps from when looking at the pictures. Knowing how close I was to get those shots and the fact they came out as good as they did, made the entire trip worthwhile. Hopefully you’ll recognize them when you see them~~  😉

Back at the house, gear rinsed, me showered, I had to run into town to pick up our neighbor and run her out to the airport – heading back to the states to visit a sick child. Sounds like he will be fine and we have our fingers crossed for both of them. Stopped and picked up meds – dropped off a couple of bags of garbage at the dump and then back to my Queen. Drinks, dinner and watching a little TV before a power blip took us off line. I am hoping we are back on line by the time I am ready to post this.

My Bride has an early full day scheduled working at Blues tomorrow while I am going to get the yard mowed at the ATV yard and then go pick up the ‘kids‘ from the airport. Lots of pictures to share with you now. Will try not to duplicate, but stuff happens……..

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

Sadly, a miserable night sleep set me up for my dives today. I think the unreasonably cool air last night (almost 70°) made me a lot more congested than usual and I actually wound up getting up and sitting on the couch and ‘snoozing’ for an hour or so (not as bad when I’m sitting up). I used to sleep in my recliner quite a bit during the winter back in Indiana, just so I could get some sleep at night. On top of that…. my recent start of Chantix has already kicked in the whacked out dream mode. Beside of almost swatting my clock off of the bed side table acting out part of the dream….. the dreams are just as vivid and ‘fun‘ as I remember. Up and getting primed for my early day, I had a small bite to eat, took all my meds, bumped charged my camera and was out the door. The air was still cool as I loaded me and my gear on the boat, and the water felt cool as it sprayed up on me standing in ‘my’ spot on the boat as we motored out to our first dive site. Finally moored up, I donned my gear and was soon going over the side of the boat. The water was definitely ‘crisp’ when I hit it, but when I popped back up to the surface – the air hitting me felt down right frigid. I couldn’t hardly wait for the Dive Masters command to drop…… it felt much, much warmer as I sank below the surface and out of that chilly wind. We were on the deep wrecks…. not a lot of creatures [usually] on this site – but some great photo opportunities. True to form – not any fun (big) creatures…. so I set about trying out some new shooting techniques. These wrecks are deep (hence the name) and I got a little too carried away with my picture taking, laying on the ocean floor at 90′. It took a half a second to realize my computer was “yelling” at me, DECO -DECO-DECO~!!! I immediately started up….. and was again “yelled‘ at…SLOW-SlOW- SlOW… so I commenced upward as slowly/quickly as I could. By all standards…. I should not have made the second dive…… however….. I wasn’t in DECO ‘that‘ long  😉   and I could keep myself good and shallow for the second dive….. so when the Dive Master said ‘the pool is open’ I was the first one overboard. I behaved myself and kept myself well above the dive plan. Safely back on board after an almost hour long dive, back at the house and gear rinsed, me showered – [so far] I am none the worse for wear. No big critters on either dive….. just fun relaxing dives, experimenting with my camera. I took 130 pictures and saved 50 of them…. getting pickier I guess and I’ll share them with you over the next day or two.

Found out today, one of my strobes is not firing correctly – so want to tie into it and try and resolve that. The dive shop has already pinged me and said they are going to try and do Armageddon tomorrow….. so I’m on the manifest to dive again tomorrow…….. and I’ll try to stay out of DECO this time.   😉

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

Tried to sleep in a little bit after a mostly fitful nights sleep – too hot, too cold, couldn’t get comfortable, occasional coughing….. just not a good night’s sleep. That was on the heels of New Years Eve night, when around 11:30 gun shots started ringing out. Since you can’t buy fireworks here – about the only ‘noise’ the locals can create is gunfire and apparently there are plenty of guns on the island for that. As Midnight approached it sounded like a war broke out. I am guesstimating I heard at least 100 shots…. many rapid fire, like from an automatic weapon. I am also sure I am under estimating that number. A little unnerving, but I didn’t feel like we were in any immediate danger. It also helped me stay awake an additional hour or so until it got quiet again….. so I’m really hoping for a good night’s sleep tonight as I have a dive trip planned for tomorrow morning and I want to be fresh for it.

Due to a decided lack of cooking material, we opted for another Polly’s take out breakfast this morning – once again having the usual, but it was quick, hot and tasty as always. A little later on, my Bride ran  to the grocery store to try and alleviate the lack of cooking material… I say try because you never know if the stores will have any of what you’re looking for. I worked on tax prep stuff while she was out – That’s always as much fun as a stick in the eye. She came back (without a half a dozen things she wanted), I unloaded the car for her, finished my computer stuff and retired to the couch for a movie. Watched an older movie…. circa 2011 with Liam Neeson called UNKNOWN. Amazed we hadn’t seen it yet, but it was good… kept your interest, good plot and fun little twist at the end that we didn’t see coming. We had a small bite to eat while we watched an episode or two of Blacklist, before I settled in here to chat with you (while I chat with my Sugar Pop via text).

Like I said, two dives tomorrow morning~!! So should have some new underwater pictures~~! Seems like forever since I have been diving. Already got camera and batteries charged up~! For now – I found some pictures from the stateside trip that I missed……. enjoy.

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

Sufferin’-succotash…… it’s 2021 already~! I can remember me and the best friend I ever had, talking [in our early teens, really early 70’s] what we thought the world would be like “in the future”. Of course, to us, then, the future was 2000. Now look….. it’s 2021….. sadly my friend never lived to see the ‘future’…. he barely made it to see the 80’s after succumbing to complications from diabetes…. an affliction he struggled with his entire life. I miss him and the life that I now realize was as simple as it would ever be, even as tough as it was then. I’d give anything to spend a day with him talking with him and discussing today’s world. I’m sure he would absolutely ‘freak out’ [as we called it then] over today’s modern world. I actually did a lot of reflecting today, as my Bride and I mostly lounged all day. About the only thing productive we got done was making something to eat and I spent an hour or so online paying bills for the month…. a nasty little necessity to keep us here on our warm little island. Most of the day, however was spent watching The Blacklist. While it has become a bit repetitive, the now final season we are in – it’s starting to make a come back as far as being interesting. Several others in the line up, including Queen’s Gambit and Ratchet. May have to get in a couple of movies in between them.

Really not a lot to rattle on about….. our visit back to PoCo was fun (again, cold)  but fun. We got spend a little bit of time with my Number # 1 blog fan Vera. She waited up for us before her nap to see us and we are so thankful she did. Such a delight to talk to and we can’t wait to see her again and hopefully be able to give her a hug the next time (we practiced strict social distancing while we were there, including masks). Just still very happy she took time out of her day for us~! We did not get to visit our ‘Damn‘ Neighbors this visit, which broke our hearts. They were under quarantine from their work (horsepistol) and they were adamant about us keeping away. I’m sure they had our best interest at heart – but the visit just did not seem the same without seeing them.  🙁     We did get to spend some extra time with my Cousins up in Chandler….. time together with their families and an extra special night out with just the adults. One of the visits I think I mentioned was a good ole fashion fish fry…… and let me tell you what (you know that’s an entire sentence in Louisiana?)…… that fish… OMG….. cooked exactly like we used to do it down at the lake [and my house in Indiana] and it tasted magnificent….. and I ate enough to kill a buffalo, naturally sloshing down lots of ice cold beer to keep the blisters in my mouth to a minimum……. Wow… I’m all over the place on this one…… memories….. Here’s to many, many more happy, good ones…… for all of us~!

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

Well folks, this is it….. last day of what conceivably could be the most #$^%&* up year we’ve ever had, since they started keeping records. I can say without doubt, I am happy we were on our little island for it, as I think we dealt with a lot less of the ‘rhetoric‘ that most of you all in the states did. As goofy and messed up as it was here, I can only believe it was at least 3x’s as bad on the mainland…… call it a hunch.

Out of the year, there were a couple of good things that happened (ya can’t just focus on the bad stuff)…. We made several new friends here on the island, my Bride got her the car she so much wanted [and needed] and it is a convertible to boot. Our health remained as good as can be expected for a couple of old farts that abuse their bodies as bad as we do and there were no hurricanes or really bad weather to contend with, we got to spend the holidays this year with our family and other loved ones [although it was ridiculous, unacceptably cold]…… and we are appreciative of all that.

The year had probably more than its fair share of not so good points… at least for me, the passing away of a younger Sister. Everything else kind of paled in comparison to that. A massive, massive shout out to our ‘damn‘ neighbors who helped out to ensure we had everything we needed to get back to see my little Sister while she was sick and for her funeral….. a debt that we’ll probably never be able to repay…… but will die trying.

We actually live in our version of Paradise… warm climate, gorgeous blue Caribbean Sea, palm trees and all on a lush green tropical island. Even though we are rapidly coming up on our 3 year ‘Island-versary’ – sometimes it stills seems like it is too good to be true. As long as our funds and health holds out – I expect us to be here for a long time yet.

The world of FB is already starting with all the ‘new year – new me’ stuff, that as a rule, just annoys the hell out of me….. but- I’m kinda jumping on that bandwagon too. Having recently been the center of multiple photographs, the pictures confirmed what the pressure on my belt was telling me – ‘you need to get rid of that belly, fat boy’….. I was doing good there for a while…. but guess I fell off that path. I also intend to try and quit smoking….. probably not a good time to do it while trying not to eat as much…… but I’m tired of the hacking and coughing and think I’m ready to quit. My meds were in the mail today – just in time to start the new year off….. so wish me luck – I’m gonna need it. Probably ought to wish Angie luck too, as she is probably gonna need it to put up with me trying to quit~!  😉

Wishing you all a very happy, safe and prosperous New Year~!!!

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

Yellow Tavern Pizza~!!

Bridge over the mighty Wabash

This was my ‘playground’ growing up…. have climbed every inch of it~!

My Mess~!

Sammer Jammers~!

My Deuce~!

Me and my Sugar Pop~!

Well, it made for one very long day, but after 4 airports, and a butt-numbing amount of time sitting, we finally made it back to our little island. It was 10:30pm our time when we got here and we were greeted when we stepped off of the plane with what is known here as the Christmas winds. Much stronger [and much cooler] winds than we generally have here. Even before we headed out for a much wanted cigarette, we shucked all of the long sleeves garments that we were wearing. SOOooo nice to be back in this climate. We had to wait to get our bags and then out to our truck which had been dropped off earlier by our neighbors. (Island kids are now back in the states, so they couldn’t pick us up or drop off the truck) It saves us a ton of money not having to pay the exorbitant rate the airport charges for long term parking. Bags loaded, all the windows rolled down and enjoying the ride back to the house. We now only live 10-15 minutes from the airport and was home in no time. A bit dismayed as I pulled in the driveway as my headlights revealed knee high grass. A little detail I had forgotten about until that minute. We got in the house and opened it up to let that wonderfully cool breeze do it’s magic in refreshing a house that had been closed up for 2 weeks.

We both raced to get out of our jeans and into more island appropriate clothes. We both agreed, unpacking could wait until the next day. We had a couple or five drinks while we wound down, cooled off and enjoyed the sounds of the wind and the frogs outside. Finally in bed around 02:00 and fell instantly asleep. My Bride was up a little bit before me, answering nature’s call and just decided to stay up. I woke up around 07:30 to the sound of a weedeater almost right outside my window. I finally roused, enjoying the cool warmth of the morning sun and the Christmas winds……. Teeth brushed, hair combed (yes – I still comb what I have left) a quiet morning smoke [without shivering], a shot of OJ and a cup of coffee with my Bride. Settled in for some news and FB stuff…… all is right with the world again……

After a scrumptious breakfast from Polly’s (Eggs, sausage and waffles) – I tied into yard work. That done, luggage finally emptied out, we sat and listened to the wind as we didn’t have any electricity at the time. A nice little 3 hour outage to welcome us back home. That welcome also included about a 3 minute downpour shortly after I started cutting the grass….. but it’s all good now………….. lawn mowed, everything unpacked and in its place. Power is back on…. Ahh – it’s good to be home. Spending time with family was absolutely wonderful…… being back in our cozy, warm little routine – ain’t so bad either.

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

Jeesh….. didn’t realize it has already been that long since I written. Quite the hectic pace for the ole fat guy and his Queen. Always something going – but oh so much good stuff. We got to spend a little extra time this visit with our Louisiana family and it has done my soul a world of good.  Two nights in a row with them – last night out at their place for a good ole fashioned fish fry….. Now folks, let me tell you what. It’s been well over 4 years since I have had decently fried fish….. let alone Bass. Last night we had Bluegill, Crappie, Catfish and Bass and I ate until I couldn’t hardly breathe. The top of my tongue was just one big blister from piping hot fish – but there was lots of ice cold Budweiser to pour on top of the scalding filets to wonderfully soothe that burn. My, my, my……… getting hungry again for more, even though we just got back from a wonderful dinner at the Cork & Cleaver…. that had lots of steak and King Crab legs for my Baby….. the best thing about the meal….. was the company. For the first time in a very long time…. we got to sit and chat like regular folks, without a hundred interruptions from kids. Need to do more of those~!  Kids are wonderful, but there is a lot to be said for that adult interaction as well.

All the nights have been a blur and still oddly, I am not burning off a lot of pictures…… guess I’m just letting my brain remember everything for a change. SOO much to look back on and talk about…… but towards the end of the night last night……. I may have fell over that line of sober and messed up. I have been paying that price all day and now that I have a belly full of steak, shrimp, taters and a “couple” of drinks….. I’m ready for some shut eye.

Last minute running around tomorrow to get ready for our long day heading back to the island. I think we’re both ready. It’s been wonderful being around so much family, but we’re both ready to get back to our regular [warm] routine for a while. Some random pictures from the past couple of days……

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

We were greeted to an absolutely gorgeous sunrise this morning and I managed to snag several shots. Unlike the young whipper snappers that shoot a picture and instantly load it up to the cloud, FB, Snap Chat, Twitter and all them other dang fool places. I like to look at the shot – dress it up if needed [cropping and such] and then share it with you all. Ever changing plans this morning sent me out the door by myself instead of the car full I was supposed to have with me. While having the guys with me is always a treat – there is something to be said about dealing with the things I needed to get done today, by myself. It leaves some time in between things for a little quiet reflection and calming down after dealing with some people that I swear don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain….and the somebody ‘up there’ must know it. I covered a lot of ground and got dang little accomplished….. not exactly how I like to do things and not by any means how I’m used to doing it~! I pressed on. As the hours clicked by, I slowly started gaining momentum and by close to noon, I answered the call from [Son-in-Law] Josh confirming lunch plans with him and the little guys. The plan…. was to meet at Burger King for lunch – because my Grandson’s both know that Pa-Paw loves him some Burger King and we had to make sure I got that ‘fix’ before heading back to our little island. I confirmed the lunch and just happened to be right next to one of the few remaining Burger Kings in town. I also sadly had to confirm – they did not allow dine in eating…… Dammit Emmit…….! Called Josh back and plans again quickly changed to Turoni’s….. because we knew we could dine in there, and that the boys really wanted to have lunch with Pa-Paw and it was probably the only place in town that would “soothe” the loss of not having Burger King~! (Plus – Turoni’s has beer~!) Score~! We had a less than calm lunch with the guys, but everybody got their bellies full and had a reasonably good time. Back to the house~! The implied rain (“red sky at night, Sailors delight…. Red sky in the morning – Sailor take warning) came in almost on queue and has been raining off and on since…… and now I think it’s supposed to be turning to snow. Oh yay~~~~

My Bride and Stephanie had been out all day and came in behind us an hour or so later. We unloaded the van (including Josh’s Christmas present recliner) We have had a drink or two, played a couple rounds of Euchre and now here I am, sitting [[quietly]] in the basement working on this stuff. Holidays festivities start ramping up tomorrow. Should be LOTS of family, LOTS of love and LOTS of fun. I’ll try and get some pictures.

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

Up and at ’em, early this morning to be in Louisville KY for lunch with Rachael…. for all you islanders and East Coasters out there – that is Lou-a-vulle…… not Loueyville or any other messed up version of that particular city……. If you don’t pronounce it correctly…. you’re telling the entire world – you’re a foreigner and have no idea what you’re talking about……..

Met up with Rachael in New Albany Indiana at a quaint little microbrewery. I can say without reservation…. I asked for a Bud Light and was quickly informed they brew their own beer and Budweiser [in any form] was not available. The young lady waiting on us, recommended a beer that was “a lot like Budweiser”. After sampling said beer – I can tell you that the young lady – has apparently never drank a beer in her life. The next couple of suggestions pretty much solidified my suspicions……. YUCK. I have never been much of a ‘craft’ beer drinker to start with…. today just reminded me why. I will give kudos to the place for some damn fine ‘Bavarian style’ pretzels…. although their choice of dipping cheese left a LOT to be desired.

Conversation left some to be desired and the get together didn’t end quite as well as I hoped for – but I still have hope and it was great to see Rachael. She had dropped a little bit of weight, her hair was gorgeous [when she leaves it down] and generally was doing well. Being a Cincinnati-ian….. she’s is a little out of the normal loop….. but who are we to talk when we’re perched on our tiny rock in the middle of the Caribbean Sea?

Finally back at the house, a wonderfully scrumptious dinner…. and I now sit bundled up like Nanook of the North…. trying to get my core body temperature back to where I can take my outer layer of coat off. Probably not as cold as I think it is – but to this fat old island boy – it sure feels like it…… I think I have a day out with ‘the guys’ tomorrow…… That should be a hoot……..

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