Author: Bill

Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday, only the first half of the day went much smoother. Day took an ugly turn when our last tour wound up with some folks who turned out to be a real handful. Hate that it has to ruin a whole day – but it’s one of the hazards of dealing with the public. They were mad enough at me they started to get mouthy and spent the whole last half of the tour seeing how much mud they could sling up on me – but hey – it goes with the territory. I was just trying to keep them safe and make sure our machines weren’t getting torn up. It really doesn’t bother me, because first and foremost – I’d have to give a sh*t what those huckleberries thought of me – and I don’t…. they all got back unharmed and the machines weren’t torn up – so to hell with ’em~

My Queen and I had been invited to meet up with some of the ‘Blues Crew’ tonight at the Palms just down the road from us. We told them if we got back from work soon enough, we would.  We got back just in the nick of time – albeit – I was covered in mud – but we stopped for a dink or 4 with some of our most favorite folks from Blues. Blues is closed until 1-7-20 — so we are all fending mostly for ourselves for watering holes – but get together every once in a while – just for the ambience of the group~  😉  Finally bid everybody adieu and came back for a much needed shower and to get pictures loaded. I’m not gonna put up a lot of the trail pictures – because realistically, once you seen one set – you’ve pretty much seen them all — so, a couple with the Caribbean in the back ground – some from the Palms and the Blues crew….. and maybe a few more dive pictures. Another full day tomorrow~~~

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

Up again earlier than usual for another day of work. I did make myself eat a small breakfast this morning – because yesterday I was drained and just plain ole hangry by the time I got back here to the condo. Today, as it turns out was fraught with issues again. Because of those issues – I only rode one tour – giving up my bike for customers to use. Anything more than a couple of bikes on the tour – it’s typically best to have a “bringing up the rear” person – as the chain of riders tends to get strung out and goofy stuff starts happening with that many folks running amok on your 4-wheelers. But – we did what we had to do to get the customers their tours.

Just a long day of jockeying machines around – making sure the job was getting done. Not so tough physically today for me today – but the mental strain kind of gets to you, but with everyone working together (some via phone from the states) we got ‘er done. Machines all washed, gassed up and ready for another long day tomorrow. (3 tours again tomorrow) Hopefully we ALL have machines tomorrow. We stopped and filled up one of the big gas tanks to refuel machines – so we should be good to go~!

Back here, several drinks and a couple pieces of warmed up pizza and here I am. Still gotta get a shower. Spent some time with the young couple next door and my Queen spoiling their one year old son with fruit juices and jello cups.

Gonna call it a day here – so I can get into the shower and get cleaned up and get into bed to get rested for what hopefully is a long stress free day…… I hope you are enjoying part of a long holiday from work and getting some down time in with your families.

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

Christmas day on the island…… up early to prepare for ‘work’ while we help run the business for our island ‘kids’ while they are back in the states with their families. Up – morning stuff out of the way – we were out the door by 08:45 headed to the West end of the island for our first day in what promises to be a really long week for us old folks…… Shop opened up and everything necessary unloaded…. machines for the first group brought out and stationed for the ready. Here we go~!!  First group showed up and checked in and ready to go. My machine was nothing but trouble the first 10 minutes or so of the tour, until I remembered what Shawn had told me about that particular bike. Once I applied what he told me – no more issues….. yay~! The rest of that tour went mostly without issues…… yay~! Can’t sat that for the remaining two tours….. machine issues all around… I managed to let my camera run out of battery…… just a hellva lot more issues than me or Jamal [guide] wanted to deal with – but we did deal with it and made the best out of each situation. 16:30 – finally done, we got the machines washed up, filled with gas and staged for another day tomorrow. I just hope it goes a dang site smoother than today did.

We swung by (after back tracking to get my brides phone that she left at the shop) and picked up the ‘kids’ car at the airport and brought it back here to the condo. Pulled in to find my slot filled by a visitor….Dammit Emmit~! I know it’s Christmas and all – but I was tired, dusty, muddy (yes the two are possible at the same time on these tours) sore and hungry and not in the [sorry Vera] Godamn mood to have to park out in the field just so I could get into my house~!! Parking issue finally resolved, all the gear brought in or locked safely in DD 2.0 and into the house for some alcohol~!!!  YAY~!!!!!!

Now showered, well plied with alcohol…. we have chatted with all of our Grand babies and got to see and hear about their Christmases. Gotta love modern technology… most of the time. I’m happy all of our babies and grand babies seemed to have a very happy Christmas — and I’m happy that I stayed busy enough today – I really didn’t have the chance to think about it a lot while I got my lips worked off today…….. but looking at the phone seeing what we missed stung a little bit. My Queen and I have talked and we both agree…. we will be back in the states for Christmas 2020….. one way or the other. We also plan on one warm weather trip as well…. just don’t know when yet.

I hope each of you has had a wonderfully marvelous Christmas, that you got everything you wished for and that you got to spend LOTS of time with your families and loved ones. Merry Christmas~!

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

Well hells bells…. I started this almost an hour ago trying to get it done and here I am…an hour later with one line…….. Our down day got a skosh disrupted when the island ‘kids’ asked if we could come out to the shop for some last minute attention to detail things they wanted to cover with us before they head back to the land of plenty to celebrate Christmas with their families and we run their business for them. So just a little bit after our late breakfast, we headed out West only to arrive and needed to wait a bit longer….. no worries, plenty of bars around – so we wound up at Louie & Nacho’s….. West end beach bar with arguably one of the best views on the island. We sat there and had 3 or 4 drinks while we waited for Shawn to get back. They finally pinged us and back down to the shop we went. Details sufficiently covered – it was decided we needed to meet them for dinner, and cover another few last minute details they forgot (keys, work shirts, etc.) So we came back to the condo to wait on them. While we were here – we got to meet our newest neighbors (right next door) A young couple from Atlanta with a 1 year old little boy with an infectious grin. We chatted about things to do around the island, took some pictures for them by our Christmas palms and now here I am trying to get this finished before we take off again to meet Shawn & Cynthia for dinner. Our schedules have been updated and we are doing an insane amount of tours the next 7 days……. That should help shuck a couple of pounds and maybe rattle some of the old bones loose and get them moving again. I’m gonna go ahead and sign off now and get some pictures up…..

Dammit Emmit….. it’s now been another 2 hours since my last sentence….. just back from dinner with the kids. Some reasonably decent food….. lots of drinks – the kids are on their way leaving us with keys, shirts and all essentials……. belly is full and we have a long day tomorrow (for the next 7 days)….. so NOW – outta here………

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

Up bright and early so I could get my morning stuff out of the way before heading out the door by 08:00 to go diving~! A beautiful sun rise and my Queen sent me off and by a little after 09:00 I was falling over backward off the side of my favorite boat. Water here is starting to cool off a little. It is now 80°…… yea — Awww.. right ? When you are thoroughly warmed up from the sun that 80° feels a little bit cool when you first hit it, but wonderful after that first splash~! First dive site is rapidly becoming a favorite – as it [so far] always holds at least a couple of sharks. Visibility was wonderful at least 80′ and sharks came to greet us right off the bat. Sadly they didn’t cooperate much this dive so pictures are scant. The rest of the dive did not disappoint with lots of sea life and hardly any current. A quick jaunt up to Salt River West and surface interval over with – we dropped into 100′ visibility~! And more sharks~! But – they were just as uncooperative as the first bunch – I had three sharks at once teasing me, but could never get them all in one shot. Oh well — maybe next time~! I did manage to save 60 good pictures for you and will be sharing them and the rest of yesterdays dive over the next several days.

Back at the house, showered and gear cleaned and drying – we bid adieu to neighbors a couple of doors down. We called out for dinner and my Bride went and picked it up. I had a decent cheeseburger and a handful of fries and 2 pieces of really nasty pizza. Nasty enough – I’m probably gonna throw the rest of it away… Dammit Emmit~!  We had a surprise delivery today that included a beautiful family photo and 2 batches of home made cookies. Sadly, the cookies did not fare well in the trans-Caribbean journey – but the pieces were tasty none-the-less~! I think we wound up with 3 ‘whole’ cookies out of the two batches. That’s alright though – smaller pieces means less chewing~!   😉

Belly full of burgers and cookie pieces – I’m ready for some shut eye. Tomorrow will be a down day for us as we start work Christmas day and work 6 out of the next 7 days. We really don’t mind – it’ll help keep our minds off of what we will be missing out on the next couple of days. For now — I’m out…… [Mostly] dive pictures from yesterday and today for ya…….

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

This little guy is about the size of a thimble – I tried to get my hand up next to him for reference but he wanted NO part of it

Golden eels – 2 of them at once~!

Well the ‘kids’ made it by last night with one of their Daughters (Lexi)  in tow along with her boyfriend Miles. We sat and chatted for a while, took some pictures and they were off. I probably wasn’t much kind of ‘company’ last night as I was still dealing with a very tender stomach and tired on top of that. I’m sure they’ll forgive me though~~

Up bright and early this morning to get ready to make a dive. Haven’t dove in almost 2 weeks….. unacceptable~!  Very happy that my belly was feeling better and that all morning functions happened like they were supposed to. Loaded up and headed out to the West end of the island with my Bride in tow. We were supposed to dive a new [to me] site and it had a nice enough beach, my Queen was gonna beach it while I dove. Sadly, way too much current to contend with, so we opted for ole faithful – the Frederiksted Pier. It’s been a while since I’ve dove the pier – and it never disappoints~! We bailed in and proceeded while Angie walked around taking pictures of the pier all dolled up for Christmas. Visibility was the worst I’ve ever seen it there – probably 40′ – 60’….. but the life under the pier was there and beautiful~! Got lots of fun pictures for you~! After the dive, loaded DD 2.0 up and met the rest of the group (the CRABBS dive club board members) down the road a bit at Rhythms Bar on Rainbow beach. Everybody ordered drinks, talked about the dive and ordered a bite to eat. The fine folks cooking did not let us down with the many burgers ordered along with shrimp and I had a Wahoo (fish) sammich, which I’m pleased to say was cooked excellently~! We talked for the next hour about events for the dive club for the new year, before finally all heading back to our houses. It was nice having my Queen to chat with on that long drive home this time~!

Back here, pictures loaded showers taken and even got to chat with a couple of Grand sons for a little bit~!….. Now, I’m getting this wrote up a little early so I can go crash on the couch with my Bride and check out some more Longmire….. last couple of episodes have gotten better – so we may be on this for a while. I’ve got a 2-tank [boat] dive scheduled in the morning~!! I have to get in some diving before we go to work starting Christmas day. So should have lots more pictures to help me through the lean days.

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

Last night, in my alcohol induced brain…. logic said I needed to get something ‘solid’ in me to soak up some of the booze sloshing around. While I was trying to get a note out to you all, I rummaged through the fridge and found what I suspect turned out to be a bit of a ‘sketchy’ hotdog…… Nuked up and dabbed in a bit of BBQ sauce though – it really didn’t taste that bad….. I must have been mistaken…….. really mistaken. I was roused from a fairly sound slumber this morning about 04:00 and made a stumbling dash through the dark down to my bathroom……. oh my goodness. I did make it there in time – but wound up sitting there for the next hour while my legs went completely to sleep [ironically] and while my stomach tried to see how many twists and turns it could make. I finally got to lay back down around 05:00 – but was back up by -7:15 making another urgent run to my bathroom. That went on for the next couple of hours. DAMMIT Emmit~! Starving by that point, I managed to get a couple of scrambled eggs, a piece of sausage and a small handful of hash browns in me and thankfully, they stayed there. The rest of the day was sitting on the couch nursing a very tender stomach. About time it got dark – my Queen made us some stuffing and porkchops. I cautiously wiped out a chop and some stuffing….. just waiting to see now if it stays there……

The original plan today, was to head mid-island for an eggnog festival of sorts – where they see how many concoctions they would whip up with Rum and eggnog. As bad as I wanted to go – we both thought better of it and stayed at the condo. We finished up the Hart of Dixie [thankfully] and watched a couple of movies. One of them was called Olympus Down….. good show – several big names including Gerald Butler – I would absolutely recommend it. Other one sucked bad enough I have already forgot the name of it. We have now started watching Longmire….. 3 episodes in and so far really not interested…… will probably try another episode or two – but it needs to pick up quickly.

Our island ‘kids’ are due by here shortly for Christmas pictures with one of their kids and boyfriend out by the Christmas palms…. so I need to get off here and go dig out the Santa hats. I’m supposed to make a dive with the dive club tomorrow morning before our next board meeting – so hopefully some pictures for you….. provided I can stay away from a bathroom for longer than hour or so~~  😉

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

Up this morning and enjoying our gorgeous view and oh so warm temperatures…… I was gonna say I hate to say that – but I really don’t~! I take a wee bit of sadistic pleasure knowing you all are back in the land of plenty.…. freezing your collective a$$e$ off while we bask in the wonderfulness that is our climate. As we hang out with friends and talk about families and spending time with them, our hearts hurt a little more than usual wishing we were there with everybody. Then we hear you talk about the WEATHER you all are having….. and it’s…..Uh… no thank you.

Coming back from spending the afternoon up at Blues (saying good bye to two dear friends, (Bob & Gail) – we saw them off with appropriate alcohol and hugs and kisses and returned to chatting up the rest of us lucky so & so’s, that get to stay on the island and suck up this weather~! We stayed as long as we dared, before another round of hugs and kisses and ‘Merry Christmas’ and heading back to our humble abode. Blues is closed for the next two weeks while Jim & Deb make their way back from Australia and all places Southern. Now happily back at the condo – we have the palm trees lit up and we’re fairly close behind them….   😉   so I’m gonna try and get some pictures up for you from the past day or so…. and then stagger my happy a$$ over to the couch to sit down…….

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

(Guess I should have mentioned I think I managed to pick up a light-weight case of food poisoning and have been mostly out of commission the past 18-24 hours or so….. but I’m making a comeback now~!)  😉

Got on here tonight with damn little to talk about other than trying a peanut butter and pickle sammich…… amazing what can change in 20 minutes or so. It has been a mostly dull day of watching The Hart of Dixie and looking out at that beautiful view of ours — especially knowing most of you are having some real sucky weather back in the good ole U.S. of A. area……. I was going to tell you about my adventure yesterday of my culinary experience. I saw a thing on FB about someone talking about a peanut butter and pickle sammich and the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. Curiosity finally got the better of me and I went into the kitchen and made me what I consider to be a right fine peanut butter and pickle sammich.  I take a minor amount of pride in the fact, I’ll try pretty much anything once…… always looking for that one thing that is just a little bit better than anything I have tried previous. I am secure in the knowledge now, a peanut butter and pickle sammich is not it~! Don’t get me wrong…. it wasn’t bad….. definitely a taste experience, but will probably be a while before I try it again – but now I know~!

Anyhow….. I had just sat down to regale you of my tale of the peanut butter and pickle sammich debacle, when I thought, maybe I better get me a hit of nicotine before I start…… we went out, lit up and approached our little area where we smoke, admiring our Christmas palms, when I saw the beach ‘alive’ with little critters. Bust my buttons — we have babies~!! We weren’t expecting any for another couple of days, so I guess, the flooding we had with the big king tide a couple of weeks ago (that we feared killed most of our babies) apparently just thoroughly screwed up hatching dates. Apparently the new lights on the palms had them little fellers confused and they were going everywhere~! I cut off the lights to the trees and my Queen and I went out and started rounding up turtles and getting them headed for the water. A hectic couple of minutes, but I think we got the bulk of them. I was just about to light another cigarette ( I dropped my first one) when I noticed a little straggler. I picked him up and was about to head to the water, when I noticed some of the folks a couple of doors down watching me – so I brought him up so they could OOh and AHH over him. I shared some turtle trivia with them and let them take a couple of pictures before finally taking him back out to let him crawl is little a$$ into the water.

The ruckus has calmed down, the palms are lit back up and all is back to normal on our little piece of the wild kingdom here~~~

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

Well sadly I am experiencing a complete FUBAR connecting my phone to get to my pictures…… so turtle baby pictures are gonna have to wait until I get this resolved….. so some more 2019 family ictures of the folks we are missing back in the states…………

After a slow start and some pancakes….. we got going and went and picked DD. I wanted to wait until today (when he was open for business) and see if I was able to drop DD 2.0 off. Sadly, he said no – that he was taking a long Christmas break and not scheduling any more work until after the new year. I’m good with that. He got us going after less than 2 weeks and for a LOT less than the other place wanted. So my bride drove DD back to the condo, while I stopped at the other place to talk about getting my money back. It was kind of a messed up conversation – but when I walked out, I had a full refund. Yay me~!

Back at the condo and settled in for a semi-comfortable afternoon…. I hobbled  down and picked up mail. Some junk and 2 Christmas cards. One from my Aunt in Germany along with a small hand sewn ornament and one from my big Sister currently camped out in Tarpon Springs Florida. It’s nice to get those, but reminds us both of what is arguably the toughest time of the year for us both – not being around a lot of family during the holidays. While we discussed this dilemma long before we took off on our adventure – it doesn’t make it any easier not being around the ones we love for this particular holiday.  You have probably noticed the past couple of days – that I am using family pictures as ‘fill’ for my picture segment of this. I have files I have created every year of all of our lovable crazy bunch and the shots you have been seeing are just random ones from this past year as I look and think back on our past year. Of course, our situation is a little/lot easier to take when I hear about the weather back there and that schools are delayed because of it. One of our perks I guess, of sitting here without our family…. but surrounded by gorgeous blue water, sunny skies and temperatures warm enough to comfortably swim in~~

Really not a lot else to discuss and no new pictures from today. Got to look into getting back underwater so I can get you some more new pictures….. until then, some more random 2019 shots of the weirdo’s that are my family that I do truly miss and love so much.

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