Author: Bill

Got to ‘sleep in’ this morning….. almost made it until 07:00 – but for me, that is a treat. My Bride was up and out the door for her day of labor at Blues. I usually mow and do laundry on this day – but there was not enough laundry to justify a load and it rained dang near ALL DAMN day~! I can mow when it is wet, but today was just ridiculous….. and about the third day in a row of it [rain]. So I sat – a LOT, doing little odds and ends when I needed to get up and crack my back and replenish my nicotine addiction. Chatted with the neighbor briefly about a possible deal on a new diving rig….. still wallering that around….. really good price – but not sure I want to justify that acquisition. It continued to rain….. ALL stinkin day……. I know this is typically our wet season as Summer starts on it’s way out and we head into ‘cooler’ weather…. Our Winter can get down ‘close’ to the mid 70’s….. BRrrrr…. 😉

My Bride made it back home in the middle of a deluge…… but got her in the house and started plying her with booze….. becoming SOP for the working person. Made her a bite to eat and here we sit enjoying an almost ‘chilly’ breeze whistling around outside…… may even go without the air conditioner tonight……… woo-hoo~! I confirmed I have a 2 tank dive in the morning – just hope it’s not the nasty gray day we had the other day – but again, with my own light source – I still get to enjoy taking my pictures…… it’s just a lot nicer sitting on the boat between dives with that hot brilliant sunshine versus a pouring rain and gray gloomy clouds. That nice sunshine also makes that icy cold Budweiser taste that much better when I get back to the truck~! Really about it… still lots of dive pictures to share with you…… and will try not too duplicate from previous days……..

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

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Up way to early [yadda-yadda-yadda] and out on the boat. Had some of the crappiest weather I think I have seen since the Cat 1 hurricane we had a little over a year ago. Thick gray clouds…. incessant rain….. thankfully the wind wasn’t blowing to hard. Amazingly, we had great visibility on both dives, but the decided lack of sunshine made for some pretty poor viewing under the water. Normally – I wouldn’t have even went out today because of lack of light for taking pictures – but that is all changed now, because I carry my light source with me. Enough so, I handed out my favorite dive light to my dive buddy because she didn’t have one and I used the flood light mounted on the top of my camera. It wasn’t a night dive, but sure didn’t miss by much as all 3 of us (me, dive buddy and the Dive Master) all used lights for almost the entire second dive because it was so dark. That did not stop me from still getting some pretty decent pictures.

As you may have surmised (smart little dickens you all are) there were only 2 of us on the dive today….. long complicated story – but it was kinda nice having that big ole boat almost to myself~! I took some pictures  [above water] so you can get an idea of just how nasty looking it was out there today (but they won’t be on this post) …………. but – I got to dive – nice dive sites, saw sharkS – a Green Moray Eel [albeit a very small one] and some other fun critters….. so not complaining~!

Came back to my Queen – hung up all my gear in the pouring rain (‘free’ rinse) and it is STILL out there- still being rinsed as I type…. some 5+ hours later……. Had another dinner from the island kids…. A roast with taters and carrots. Kinda nice having meals ready that you can just reach into the fridge for them~! Watched a couple of movies…. Sappy Christmas based love stories. Not really  my gig, but my Queen likes them and she tolerates my choices, so I occasionally will tolerate some of hers……  😉  The Queen is chatting with kids (about Christmas stuff- natch) and I am chatting with you. I’m taking the day off from diving tomorrow. It is supposed to be my day to domesticate…… but my Bride knocked out most of the laundry the other day, so not really enough now to justify a load, and if the forecast is correct, it will be entirely to wet to mow – so I’m not sure what I’m gonna do while Angie works at Blues……..HMmmm….. what to do, what to do. Diving pictures for you for the next day or so………

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

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Queen Angel Fish

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Up much earlier than I wanted this morning…… even to go diving – but yet another ‘benefit‘ of advancing in age….. no more getting up 10 minutes before you have to leave and running out the door. Now it’s getting up 2 hours before you have to leave and running to the bathroom a half dozen times before you feel safe leaving the close proximity of the white porcelain god~~ Nonetheless…. I made myself get up, got my ‘stuff’ done, camera batteries charged, camera put together, cooler equipped with required after diving beer and finally headed out the door.

Even though I was 15 minutes early to the boat….some folks felt the need to get there 30 minutes late, so we were late leaving the dock and even later getting into the water…… but it was SOOO worth the wait.. A couple of HUNDRED feet visibility, hardly any current and LOTS of [friendly] sharks~! By friendly – I mean they came in nice and close for pictures~! Had 4 that I could count at once zipping around us for the first dive, plus justs lots of good stuff to practice lighting on.  Sea was a little rougher than usual – but our hour surface interval was finally over and we got to bail back into the water. Visibility was almost as good, but heavy cloud cover diminished water clarity a little bit….. but again…. tons of gorgeous corals to shoot – even managed a couple of nice stingray shots….. and more sharks~!  All to soon – had to get out of the water (out of air)….. SCUBA diving really sucks if you don’t have enough air…… just sayin’. Back to the dock for a cold beer and a cigarette before ending back West to my Queen. She had to take off shortly after I got here for an appointment with ‘Doc’ – follow up and happy to report a mostly clean bill of health. Course – I don’t think she mentioned to Doc the stuff she should have, but that’s a fight for a different day. Blood work and everything else was good – so we’ll take the small victories where we can get them. I uploaded all my pictures and got editing done before she got back. Island kids dropped off a couple of dinners for us and we launched into them – tonights course, a right tasty Lasagna. Bellies full… here I be writing you and looking forward to my shower.

I have another dive scheduled for tomorrow, so I will get more practice with the camera and hopefully more, better, [closer] shark pictures. My goal is to eventually get a picture of my hand rubbing a shark as it goes by….. probably won’t be anyway soon – but something to ‘shoot’ for…. see what I did there ?  😉 The other goal is a selfie with a Dolphin…… but small steps………

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

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Hoping to sleep in this morning after a full day of labor the previous day – I loaded up on sleeping pills, my actifed and settled into what hopefully was going to be a full sound nights sleep…… meh~~ not so much….. A 04:00 trip to the bathroom really loused up those plans as the tomato sauce  and onions my Bride used in the spaghetti sauce decided that would be a good time to whoop up on my belly… so it shall be decided – so it shall happen and Boy-Howdy did it….. wooo-wee. After I made it back into bed – I thought to myself…. well now at least I should be able to sleep in now that all of ‘that’ was out of the way……. No Siree Bob…… a little bit bit before 07:00 – I guess the ‘rest’ of the onions and sauce wanted out and laid in waiting until I got good and back to sleep before springing it’s offensive…… DAMMIT EMMIT~! Oh well – the best laid plans…….. Spent a classic Sunday morning lounging and enjoying a delicious breakfast before retiring to the couch for some movies….. first one… OMG… starring Kenau Reeves…. called Knock, Knock…… if you see it on your list- delete it immediately…… wow….. terrible would be generous rating that movie….. pee-uke~! As my bride said, that’s an hour and a half we’ll never get back…… Second one was much better – Operation Christmas Drop…. based on real events….. about what the military (Specifically the U.S. Air Force) does for outlying islands to help the indigenous people. Definitely one that will warm the heart and some great scenery~! Last one was another one based on real events – about an American family spending Christmas in Thailand on a resort that gets hit by a Tsunami……Called The Impossible…. another one well worth watching. Nicely recreated CGI effects for the Tsunami and really good acting by the cast…. definitely recommend that one~!  About the middle of the last one – I got up and made Cheese burgers requested by my Bride and I had to try out the latest batch of hot dogs Angie picked up for me in her eternal quest to find the ones I like here on the island. I am happy to report, this latest batch was ‘the ones’… especially since she picked up 6 pounds of them~!

Bellies are full, the movie is over and here I am….. this 2 hour time difference between us now is ‘killin‘ me as now I really need to wait until 6:00pm my time before I start my stuff. I’m usually fed [and full] and have had quite a bit to drink by that time – so it makes doing my stuff all that more of a challenge…… but I’ll do my best to hang in there. Still have some dive pictures from last dive – so here they are. Have another 2-tank boat dive scheduled for tomorrow morning – so hopefully lots of new pictures for you from that.

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

Up WAY earlier than I cared for this morning – to have ample time to do my morning ‘stuff‘ before heading for mid island for what was essentially a trial to see about possible employment. Due to sitting through a traffic tie up from what looked to be a really nasty wreck – I arrived only about 6 minutes early….. not terrible, but not “on time”…… (you know, the whole ‘if you’re 15 minutes early you’re on time – if you’re on time, you’re late’ thing~~)  Turns out – the job entails a WHOLE lot more than what I was initially led to believe…. some good – some not so good. A lot of technical stuff that requires remembering button and switches positions and doing things in order….. not really my forte…… then factor in doing some retail work, doing small repairs that require intelligence and manual dexterity AND being friendly to the customers~!! Jeeesh this guy is asking a lot~! The day wore on [albeit VERY slowly] and I managed my way through it. The boss finally said I could hit the road as it was 3:00 and the day looked to have come to an end…… He said I did good….. I didn’t get that feeling – but if he was happy with my performance – who am I to argue with him. Hours will be 8-4 Fridays and Saturday’s [for now] and I’m mostly good with that….. the pay is decent for the work being done, so can’t complain about that. I told him I would come back and go at it for a bit and see how it goes. That first day is always a little awkward, when you have no idea what you’re doing or how to do it…. so, I guess we’ll see.

I made it back to this end of the island and my Queen and she plied me with alcohol and fed me some delicious Spaghetti and now we are both sitting quietly listening to the plethora of frogs singing their chorus outside our window. Not sure what tomorrow is gonna bring – dive boat is full and besides – I’m kinda looking forward to a down day — I’m not used to the 8 hour day [or close to them] – so we’ll see what happens…. dive pictures from the other day for now~~~

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

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After a [thankfully] much better nights sleep – I rolled out comfortable in the knowledge I didn’t have to be at the marina until noon today for today’s dives. That just means I got to sleep as much as I wanted [or could]…. get up, wake up, have a bite to eat and take my damn old sweet time getting ready for diving this morning. It also turned out to be a good thing in that I had to charge all of my batteries before leaving – which, with the inception of all my extra lights, turns out to be quite the chore now – but one I most happily do to have the ability now to take the kind of pictures I want underwater. I have set myself up a small ‘charging station’ in our spare bedroom – so I can charge a whole ‘butt load’ of stuff at one time now……. quite impressive if you’re nerd enough to understand the logistics of being ‘that’ ready~~~~ My bride had to take off early to have some blood drawn for an upcoming doctors appointment [follow up kind of stuff] – so I was left to tend to myself before leaving for my dives. In lieu of a traditional breakfast – I polished off 2 small burgers that were laying in the fridge, just waiting to be eaten…… not the breakfast of choice – but they were quick, hot and good and filled the bill (so to speak) to get me on my way for the day.

First dive site was Sea Mount – rapidly becoming a favorite of mine…. and it did not disappoint. 200+’ visibility….. I dropped down directly on top of a big ole Green Moray Eel [my very favorite sea critter] (( Vera – beware — these “kind of” look like a snake – but not really))  … followed up by 4 or 5 sharks…. in my book – dives just do not hardly get any better than that one~!!! The rest of the dive was awesome, but didn’t really need to be because it started out perfect~! Second dive paled seriously in comparison, but I didn’t care…. I saw Eels and Sharks a plenty on the first dive – so I was good. Second dive had sharks – but mostly unfriendly and kept their distance and the topography was ‘so-so’ compared to the first dive….. but a really good dive for winding down……

Shared a couple of beers with some friends after the dives while we discussed the dives before loading up and getting back to my Queen, who had since finished up her traversing the island……. I’ve made me a couple of ham and tomato sammiches and am now ready for a shower and some shut eye before I rouse my tired old touchas up early tomorrow morning to go interview for a job….. nothing serious [I think]….. filling air tanks a couple of days a week for 3-4 hours a day… just enough for beer money and help support my diving habit……. 😉

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

After another pitiful nights sleep…… I think the past couple of weeks is catching up with both of us, because my Bride didn’t sleep worth a Sh…. crap either, even though we were both freshly showered, had fresh washed sheets on the bed – both had long days and mildly liquored up. I reckon aging somewhat is starting to catch up to both of us and I don’t think either of us travel as well as we used to, whether I care to admit it or not. Plus factoring in the reason we have been doing so much traveling….. is hard on the nerves and apparently taking a bit of a toll….. but I digress….. after that night’s sleep – we got up and started our day. Which was to get a new ceiling fan put up in our bedroom and get some shopping out of the way. My Queen made a tasty breakfast for us while I got some on-line stuff knocked out. That finished, I commenced in to working on the ceiling fan in our bedroom while Angie took off to do some grocery shopping.

My task turned out to be a heckva lot more difficult than I bargained for as I ‘should have’ moved the bed out of the room to set up the ladder to get to the fan…. ‘should have’ being the operative phrase….. not wanting to wrestle that big as…. ole bed out – I moved the end table and slid the bed to one the side of the room and got “close enough” to try and get the job done. 12′ ish in the air – I leaned, sweated [a lot], cussed [a lot] but finally figured out the island engineering of the individual who put up the last fan….. Gee- that was fun. What should have been a 45 minute job took me just over 2 hours, but wiring is now [safe] and correct and we once again have a fan to help cool us off enough for hopefully a wonderful nights. An hour or so later and my Bride was back after once again, doing her level best to stimulate our truly messed up economy here on the island. Half of two stores unloaded into our teeny tiny kitchen – drinks were made and we settled in for a movie. Mile 22 with Mark Walberg….. I wasn’t really interested in it – but my Queen ‘likes’ him — so here we go. Half way through it, and several smoke breaks – Angie is working on dinner and I’m here chatting with you. We’ll finish the show while we eat – but I honestly don’t think there is much hope for it….. just a LOT of unrealistic fight scenes and way to many things being blown up…..

I have a couple of dives scheduled for tomorrow – YAY~!!! So should come up with some [hopefully] fun underwater pictures for you. Also chatted with a possible new employer which might keep me busy a couple of days a week and pay me enough money to support my diving habit. I meet with him Saturday morning to discuss details…. woo-hoo….. me being productive again~!!! For now – some more traveling pictures for you.

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

Hey ya’ll…….. been a long messed up month or so……. There is an above average chance that this post [and possibly the next couple] I’ll ramble… more than usual…. The news of my little Sis being down and sick with cancer was heart breaking…… not making it more than about 5 weeks was devastating. I’m not going to dwell on it, as my heart as taken as much as I care for this past month or so. As I think most of you know, we JUST got back from being in the states to bury her. A sad unfortunate fact of life that you have to deal with whether you like it or not. That done….. we spent an extra 3 days running to spend time with our folks… Daughters, Sisters, Cousins, Nieces and Nephews and a couple of damn neighbors thrown in for good measure….. Had SOOO many other folks we would have liked to have seen – but time just would not allow it. Part of our haste to get back to our little island (beside the fact it was friggin’ cold there …..27°~!!) is that we will be back in December. The decision was made looooong ago, to go back to the states for Christmas, as this would have been the 4th year in a row that we have missed that holiday with our kids [and Grandbabies]….. little did we know we would be making multiple trips back to the land of Hoosiers before then and the ever dropping temperatures…… completely unacceptable~! The temperatures that is.

SO great to see our kids, grandbabies, friends, relatives and everybody else that many times in such a close time frame. The reason it happened, sucks and I wouldn’t wish that on any one….. but there again – something we all have to deal with at some point in time.

We covered a LOT of distance in the last couple of months, and I am finding out – I apparently do not like to travel as much as I used to…. but I think COVID has had way more to do with that than it should have. The point of this ramble….. now that I have drifted several times… is…. when we come back in December, is we will be there for 2 weeks… time enough to appreciate everything going on AND get to spend some time with lots of folks we missed on the previous 2 visits…. including [hopefully] my # 1 blog fan – Miss Vera –  🙂  As we get a little closer, I will start reaching out to try and schedule some time as I know that is a crazy time of year for everybody —- but there is a BIG handful of folks that we absolutely want to spend some time with….. if you’re reading this, you’re probably one of those folks (if you live fairly close)  😉

That’s about enough for tonight…. been a long day ‘domesticating‘ while my bride worked her job today…. bunch of pictures for you…. probably random…. will try and comment so you have some idea what I was thinking when I took them.

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

Determined not to have another day of doing a WHOLE lot of nothing – after a wonderfully delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy [and bacon] – I managed to get my old tired butt up and moving. As we were closing up the house for our last trip back to the states – I shut off the ceiling fan in our bedroom and when I did – the pull chain came out and dropped onto the bed. Dammit Emmit. Because when we came back – I stayed extra busy diving and cleaning trails – I never got around to replacing the ceiling fan, so I thought I would rectify that, in part, by going and getting a new fan. And that I did…… and then some. I have “promised” my island Daughter for a while now – I would build her a porch over her patio at the ATV office. Welching on that promise for a while – I thought I’d check and see what lumber supplies looked like while I was at Home Depot. You’d be amazed at how difficult it is to get what would normally be considered an everyday item at pretty much any store on this island….. but especially a Home Depot….. long story- shortened…… I wound up with a load of lumber [and the fan] in my little truck that made for a wonderfully entertaining drive back the West end of the island…… Truck unloaded and back at the house…. My Queen greeted me with a drink and a look on her face that told me, the phone call I was dreading happened. ( I do not mess with my phone when I am driving, at all- and can’t hear or feel it when I am doing much of anything else) My little Sister, Susan, had passed away.

For those of you that didn’t know her – she was my 2nd youngest Sister. She just turn 59 a couple of weeks ago. She was no bigger than a minute most of her life…. barely 5′ tall and 100 lbs soaking wet most of the time. She could be one of the meanest people you’ve ever met and equally as sweet when she wanted to be. Most of the time she was [as I put it] “at war” with me and or her other 3 Sisters. I finally told her – If you want to deal with me – you’ll have to take me at face value… ‘ if you’re pissed because I am talking with your other Sisters, so be it’. That worked out pretty well for both of us and [thankfully] we stayed on mostly decent terms for the last 10 years or so. While we were never like Donny & Marie Osmond close ( I mean, really…. who is) – we talked/texted often and would occasionally meet up for a meal out. Once I retired and moved away – any visit back, we always had a night out with her and her husband David. So many other things I want to tell you about her….. but can’t, won’t, don’t want to right now….. I dunno….. we are flying out tomorrow, coming back to the states for her services. My mind is doing Mach II right now…… not sure if I’ll get anything written while we’re back or not………….. doubtful. Rest in Peace little Sister. I Love You.

As I said yesterday – I had absolutely nothing planned for today and boy-howdy did I get it done. WOW…… other than get up and go outside for a smoke with my Bride when she came by, my happy a$$ almost never left this chair (and my butt and back is starting to tell me about it) as I [sadly] sat and watched entirely to many stupid videos…. altho I did watch some that were funny and a couple of them had some informational value to them. I think as a whole though, my IQ probably dropped 20 points or so today. Not sure what has got into me, but just not in the mood to do anything. I didn’t even help with dishes, which I feel bad about, but today it just wasn’t meant to be I guess.

Nothing planned for tomorrow either, but I do not intend to sit on my backside all day again. I haven’t taken a walk in ages, so I may have to re-instate that procedure. Something to get me up and moving at least a little bit. No word from my Niece in the last 24 hours or so on my Sister. Last word we got is that she is sleeping almost around the clock now. I guess that is good in that it gives my Niece and my Brother-in-Law a little time to get some rest and recompose their lives a little bit and that my Sister is probably in very little pain if any. So for now, just a waiting game. Lots more pictures for you – so I’ll put some of them up and see if I can come up with anything noteworthy tomorrow.

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