Living the life most people just dream about~

 

Went to bed last  night with the intention of a good solid nights sleep and sleeping in a little bit …..BAA-HAAaaaa…. you know what they say about good intentions right? (the road to hell is paved with them) A better nights sleep – but not even close to what I was hoping for….. Not sure, but I suspicion it has something to do with me getting older…… Room was the right temperature, I had taken 800 milligrams of Ibuprofen shortly before bedtime, I didn’t have an [obscene] amount of alcohol before crashing – so it has to be the old age thing (or a crappy mattress)…. anyhow – I rolled out much earlier than I hoped for, made me another Spam and egg breakfast and was soon out the door again toward Blues. An easier day in store for today – finish the 5 remaining posts on the North wall and then second coated the whole kit-n-caboodle. I finished up the remaining  5 posts – I also painted the other ‘Gate Post’ just so the place had a nice balanced look to it —- Then second coated everything~! Even though I am my own worst critic – by the time I ran out of paint…… I was pretty friggin’ happy with the place looked~!  I cleaned up all my gear – put everything away where it belonged and by 14:00 (2:00PM) sat down at the bar. Bartender Eddy, apparently paying more attention than I gave him credit for yesterday – walked over and set down 2 ice cold Budweiser’s~!! Three good swallows and the first bottle was empty (it’s starting to get hot here and I had already sweated out the 6 bottles of water that I had brought) — I would have finished that first bottle in 1 drink – but they are sooo cold, I had to time it to avoid brain freeze~~~  😉   I stayed for another 2 bottles of ‘Bud’ and a handful of Vodka Cranberry’s…… I knew I would be hungry later and probably not in the mood to cook – so I stopped by our local SUBWAY….. jeeez what clusterf**k…. sorry – but that is the only way to explain my experience there…… I got a 6″ Tuna-salad sammich and a 12″ Double meat club. You wouldn’t think, that for someone that works in that particular establishment, that, that would be that tough of an order…… you would be WRONG~~~!  25 minutes later – I was finally out the door with my sammich [and a half] and 6 cookies….. Good Grief~! I came home and inhaled the Tuna salad…. took a shower and sat down with half of my Club (a$$ wipes did not make it a ‘double’) but I sat and watched Judge Judy (did I say she looks like an idiot with her new hair do??)…… Finally full, showered, lubed up with Jergens and now chatting about my day. I see an early night in store for me tonight. I have to be back up at Blues tomorrow at 08:30 [with 12 bags of ice] to be a bar Back and whatever else they need me to do – for a day long celebration of Cinco De Mayo. Last year was a hoot — -so tomorrow should be a good, LONG, fun day…. I hope~! I have booked 2-tank dives for Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week, before picking up my Bride at the airport Friday night. Should be a long, hard, fun week~!

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

Another gorgeous sunrise~

“Before”

“AFTER”

Active bar life  😉

Vodka-Cranberry

Jim & Deb~

Apparently I AM a slob~~

but a ‘clean’ slob  😉

A busy week ahead~!

My Queen and my # 1 fan~!  <3 

 

Rolled out again a couple of minutes before my 05:15 alarm this morning….. not a stellar nights sleep – but not as terrible as the previous night. I got up, worked on my ‘morning stuff’ – made a wonderfully delicious breakfast, having some of my Spam from the previous night. I had forgot just how much I enjoy that with my eggs over medium~~ Just as I was getting ready to head out the door – Jim pinged me and  said he thought it was too wet to paint…….Even after spending a long intense night without electricity (and cooling fans) and happy to be up and moving about, ready to go and do something constructive – I was inclined to agree with him that moisture could indeed FUBAR my plans for painting….. I told him I would hold off a little bit and then come up and check it out. I waited until 08:00 and decided by the time I prepped the posts needing painted – I should be good to go……… and good to go it turned into…… for the next 7.5 hours – I got it…… busting my hump to hit the goal I had set for myself for the day (I really need to lighten up on my old sorry a$$) but I got-er-done~!! Hit my goal and still able to move under my own power!! I cleaned up my brushes and put everything away. It was different working while the bar was open for business. I had a lot of people coming in that felt the need to stop and chat with me while I was working. Anyway – I got tools cleaned up and put away…. I got myself cleaned up [a little bit] and headed for the bar. Eddy was busy cutting up Limes – so I went and got me 2 ice cold Budweiser’s, explaining to multiple people, “That first one don’t stand a chance”  😉   I quickly inhaled those 2 bottles and one more before switching to Vodka and Cranberry. By then the bar was full of ‘regulars’ and I just kind of circulated around chatting with everyone (also winning $ 80.00 in “3’s away”) Yay me~! After about my 5th Vodka/Cranberry – I was so tired I couldn’t hardly move – so I settled up and bid adieu to the collective crowd.  (I apparently have been re-recruited to help move again on Tuesday)…… I eased my old tired a$$ back to the condo – took a MUCH needed shower and made me a burger. I wasn’t really hungry, but was worn out and had a lot of booze me in me – so the burger seemed like the thing to do at the time…….

Another day of painting tomorrow. I’m not gonna get everything done that I wanted (getting the ‘Yard’ completed before the big Cinco De Mayo celebration on Saturday up at Blues) – but it will be mostly done. I have already been recruited to work as a Bar back for Saturday (Blues is closed on Sundays) – and I am most certainly looking forward to that~! I told Jim, it would probably be another week or so before I get to the rest of the painting – as I have one week left before my Queen comes back to me – and I’m gonna spend that week diving if at all possible [except Tuesday] —- He understood completely.

I didn’t mention, that I did not have any internet when I got back here tonight – so I am operating off of my little AT&T hotspot right now, so not sure if I will get pictures up tonight or not…… bear with me…….

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

 

 

 

I rolled out at the beckoning of my alarm clock this morning after a fitful nights sleep. Not sure what brought it on, but had some of the most bizarre dreams I’ve had since I was on Chantix, plus I just could not get comfortable. Hopefully better tonight. Made me a breakfast to keep me going for a long day of painting. I got up to Blues right at 07:30 and set in immediately to work. A small change of plans on the walls I was painting – painting a small wall first – but it was just so the small wall had a little extra drying time before Blues opened for business (people sit on it in the smoking area). I knocked it out quickly and then moved back to the big wall in the back of the yard. Just as I finished the first coat – it started to sprinkle (never good when you’re painting). I waited about 10 minutes and it quit. I had to wait for the first coat to dry enough to get another coat on it which took another 30 minutes. I started in on the second coat and got about half way down the wall when it started to sprinkle again. I tried to get the wall finished but it didn’t take long before we had a pouring rain in progress. I finally had to call it quits and clean up my roller, brush and pan. I was about out of paint anyway, but still aggravating not to get that section finished. By the time I was finished cleaning everything, there was not a dry spot on me. I figured I better ‘drip dry’ a little bit before getting in the truck, so I had a seat at the bar and had an ice cold Budweiser….. and another, then – one more. The bar opened up just as I sat down and had a small crowd ducking in out of the much needed still pouring rain, so I switched to Vodka (with Cranberry) and hung out and chatted with folks for a while.

Tired of being soggy – I finally headed back to the condo for a shower and some dry clothes. I spent the next several hours working on a small database and some thank you mails for the Fish With A Vet organization. Finally caught up, I settled in for a COPS marathon on TV. I quickly realized how much I dislike commercials – so I may see if COPS is available on Amazon Prime. First – I think I’m gonna fry me up some Spam for a quick bite. I also like it with my eggs in the morning~! A couple of new pictures from today and some more dive pictures.

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

Buck Island

I got up yesterday and skipped breakfast knowing I was going to the board meeting I told you about at a place that serves a passable biscuits and gravy. I got there a little bit early so I could eat before the meeting. Since it took 45 minutes to get 2 biscuits and a couple of pieces of sausage – I had to eat during the meeting. Sad thing is – we were the only table in the place….. island time I guess~~ The meeting actually got over in decent time and I was off for what turned out to be a day of headaches and aggravation. I’m not gonna bore you with it, but I finally got home, made me a bite to eat and sat down on the couch to try and de-stress. The next thing I knew, it was almost 01:00 in the morning….. yeppers – I fell dead a$$ asleep~! I guess, age, the day (and some vodka) caught up to me, so that is why there was no post yesterday~~ sorry~

I woke up a couple of minutes before my 05:30 alarm this morning, feeling pretty good. After the sleep I got yesterday, I guess I should~! Made me a couple of pieces of sausage and a couple of eggs for a tasty quick breakfast, gathered up my tools and headed out for what I thought was going to be a long day of painting. I got up to Blues, prepped an area of the wall Jim wanted done first and got ready to paint. Deb didn’t want me to paint anything until she saw and approved the color of the paint. Jim said go ahead and paint that one section – so I did. Paint is “Heineken” green. Lisa (who owns the shop that mixed the paint) did a pretty good job of nailing the color. I quickly knocked out that section of wall. Jim wanted me to wait until Deb got back before I did any other painting, so I spent another couple of hours prepping the rest of the walls that are to be painted, so once Deb approves – all I’ll have to do is paint. Deb finally pinged me after lunch and loves the color – so I guess I’m set for a bunch of painting [again] tomorrow. Probably will have to get a couple more gallons of paint – but the paint shop is just down the road a bit – so I won’t have to go across island to Home Depot~ Yay~!!

Rest of this afternoon was trying to wrap up some stuff that didn’t get done yesterday, still without a heckva lot of success, but I’ll get it. For now, a couple of new pictures and more dive pictures I don’t think I have put up yet.

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

“Before”

‘After’  (It needs second coat)

Today was my first day ‘off’ after a long, busy, fun, productive week. I tried to sleep in to enjoy this off day – but barely made it to 07:30, which I guess IS sleeping in for me. A leisurely morning of catching up on the news and all the stuff that is Face Book~ I made me a nice breakfast and then sat down to get some computer work done. I spent about 3 hours on odds and ends before I finally got up and moved to the couch for some TV time. We had a very small rain squall move through, dropping some much needed precious rain. Sadly, it only lasted 10 minutes or so. It got to be afternoon, so I made me a burger from the ‘fresh’ meat I got yesterday. It came from local cattle called Senepol, turned out to be a pretty decent beef – a dang site better than anything I have found in the stores, so I pattied up the remainder and put them in the freezer. I watched several movies…. one was excellent – Outrage – starring Rob Lowe. I normally don’t care for him as an actor – but he did a good job with the role and this movie was good enough it had me yelling at the TV (always a good sign) – I recommend it if you’re looking for something to watch~! I watched a couple of others that aren’t worth mentioning. The last one I watched was the remake of the movie Overboard – I think I actually enjoyed this one a little better than the original. While the show was starting – I got one of the filets I bought yesterday and threw it on the grill to simmer. (I can’t serve it to my Queen without trying it)  After 30 minutes – it was ready. I was duly impressed and I think Angie is going to love them~!

That’s really about all I did today – slow easy Sunday~! Tomorrow will be much more active, starting with the local Veterans Organization I work with having a board meeting tomorrow morning. I also am still trying to get our patio door fixed and the truck re-registered, so I will be working on that after the meeting. Should fill most of my day. Painting up at Blues on Tuesday — I think they want to get the walls and posts done before their big Cinco De Mayo day on Saturday~! I’m hoping for a couple of “open” days this week to get in some more diving, but got to set priorities~!

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

 

 

Well I was supposed to help move a friend of friends today – but last second was called off. Can’t say I was terribly upset about it – but hate the fact apparently somebody’s dream didn’t come through…… That left me with a day wide open, where nothing was planned. Dammit Emmit~! I made do, though……. I caught up on some odds and ends that I had let go during the week……. made me a late brunch and then headed out the door for some running I wanted to get out of the way.  A quick stop at Office Depot and then on out to what I thought was a ‘local, fresh, butcher shop’. OMG …… huge, HUGE, HUGE culture shock~!! OMG…… I was told this place had the best ‘fresh’ meat on the island……. They had several awards posted for best fresh meat on the island — I found it ironic and mildly amusing that everything I saw (and eventually bought) was frozen……  😉  I’m gonna try it out anyway. Trying to find a place to get a good steak for my Bride when she eventually comes back home to me. To say that place was a ‘sty’ is being really generous…. really generous…. OMG.  I have to laugh when I think about what would happen to this place in the states. I don’t think they would condemn it…… pretty sure they would just set it on fire and burn it to the ground…. wearing chemical protection suits when they did it~! But hey, I like to think I’m an open minded kinda guy…. so I purchased some ground beef (which actually looked better than anything I’ve seen in the stores) – and 4 custom cut filet mignon….. time will tell how they turn out – more on that later.

It had been several days since I stopped in at Blues, so on the drive home I figured I would swing in for a quick drink……LOLOLOLOLOL…….. I caught up with Jim and several other friends there at the bar, sat there and bad mouthed the 2 guys on stage doing what they called singing…. and finally helped shut the yard down. Usual Bartender Eddy is MIA (sick – I was going to say normal bartender Eddie – but there is nothing normal about him) and Jim and Deb were tending bar. Without even thinking about it – at closing, I jumped up, dropped all the umbrellas, emptied all the butt cans and a trash can or two…… some habits die hard……

Been getting a bunch of pictures from my Queen spending time with our loved ones back in Indiana…… Really pulls at the heart strings, but at the same time gripping about the cold…. with 81° here and swaying palm trees… makes it a little easier to take.  😉

Now back here — not a lot of new pictures today – so will start adding some from past days dives………………………

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

My Queen and my Mouse enjoying a cold one…. <3

 

My Queen, Nephew Alex (his birthday today~ Happy Birthday Alex~!) My Honeybear and my little bitty buddy Kylen (not giving a damn about pictures)  <3

Taken downtown last night after the Lion Fish seminar

The ‘new folks’ bartending~~~  LOL

Filets for my Bride~~

My Dinner…….

DCIM100GOPROGOPR7973.

This boat, believe it or not – is made out of concrete~!

Amazing what you find floating in the Sea~~

 

 

 

 

 

 

My morning started out much the same as the last couple. Waking up, morning stuff, small delicious breakfast and out the door for more diving~! This time was another shore dive – this one being at Cane Bay with friend Greg Gapen, owner of Latitude 17 SCUBA. I have made multiple dives with Greg and always enjoyed them. The two dives today are my last 2 dives from a Christmas gift certificate Daughter Stephanie got me (Thankx again Sweetheart)

I arrived at our appointed time and soon were wading out into that gorgeous blue water. A little longer kick out than I cared for on the first dive – but we finally got to where we needed to be and sunk beneath the waves. I really got to enjoy this dive – because I was the only person on the tour – so I got to bottle a$$ around as much as I wanted. Decent visibility most of the dive. Saw a couple of sharks, but to far away for a decent picture. Still lots of photo op’s including one very cooperative turtle, so lots more good pictures for you. Almost 50 minutes later – we were back on the beach for our surface interval and soaking up that glorious sunshine.

Out again in a different area of the bay for the second dive – again un-cooperative sharks, and the biggest Lobster I have ever seen~! I have a fun video of him, but the video is too big to put up here – so you’ll have to go to FB if you want to see it. Also ran into the same turtle who allowed me many more close ups and some video of her as well (again – will have to see it on FB)

I am attending a seminar tonight on Lion Fish – so cutting this short and putting it up early, because I’m not sure what time it’ll be when I get back and I wanted to share some pictures from today’s dive.

Have a good night Ya’ll – – – — – – – Thankx for stopping in~!

Today started a little early again in getting ready for my next day of diving. I was doing a two-tank dive with yet another dive shop. Sweet Bottom Dive Shop located at Cane Bay. I have known the owners for a little bit and wanted to check out their shop. I arrived ‘on time’ and got all necessary paperwork completed. The job isn’t finished until the paperwork is through~~  😉  Today’s dives were shore dives. No boat – you leave from shore and kick out to your drop point. I’m not a big fan of these type dives, but they are real popular on the island (because the shops don’t have the upkeep of a boat to deal with) We went to a site called North Star. I have dove that site before and enjoyed it. Visibility was much, much better today – almost 80′ if not maybe a little more. We were rewarded for the dive almost immediately seeing a small Barracuda…. which soon led into a couple of sharks and eventually a small turtle. All I was missing was a giant green Moray Eel~~! Back into shore for a one hour surface interval to let some nitrogen work it’s way out. I got a little carried away chasing sharks and wound up at 110′ deep – so I had a pretty good build up.  Ooops  😉

Second dive was almost productive as the first one, with another bigger Barracuda and a couple of sharks, but photo op’s weren’t as good. We got hung up in a fair little current that picked up, which made for a less than desirable swim back to our exit point – but you’ll have that now and again.

Got back to the shop, rinsed all my gear and sat on the tail gate of the truck with an ice cold beer and a cigarette and just stared out at that gorgeous water. I still find it hard to believe sometime that I actually live on this island and that this is now my life~! Wow…. I’m lucky, blessed…. whatever you want to call it – but it is a pretty great way to spend retirement. I finally came home, hung my gear up to dry and caught a shower. Made me some hot dogs for a snack when I got home and then whooped up a batch of wings later on for dinner. Hopefully into bed a little earlier tonight – and up early again for another two-tank dive tomorrow morning. It’s a dirty thankless job – but somebody has to do it.   😉  Lots and Lots of pictures for the next several days.

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

My view while enjoyed a cold beer and a smoke

 

Letting my gear dry

Lunch snack

Testing out my new phone case (making sure it don’t leak underwater)

Dinner~!

Up again a smidge earlier than I wanted this morning- but for one of my favorite causes – I was going diving this morning~! I got all my gear organized and then made me a small breakfast – floating and kicking around in the water burns a lot more energy than what you would think~~ I loaded up my gear and was gone a little bit before 08:00 – going to dive with a new dive shop I’ve never dove with before. Cane Bay Dive shop – located out of Salt River which is about 10 minutes from our house. I showed up entirely too early (but remember — if you’re 10 minutes early, you’re on time – if you’re ‘on time’ – you’re late)  😉  I filled out all the standard paperwork and boarded the boat. Dive Master (J.T. was a personable young man) introduced himself and before long we were under way. I didn’t care much for the Captain – but it was just a personal thing and nothing to do with the way he piloted the boat.  Arrived at our first dive site after a 25 minute cruise – got our briefing and was soon sinking beneath the waves. Visibility sucked~! Only way to put it…. 30′ at best – but we made our way to just past 100′ deep and was rewarded with lots of sea life and finally some sharks~! ‘Vis’ (as divers use – short for visibility) cleaned up a little bit – not enough for decent pictures, but I did manage one nice video of the shark encounter. Caribbean reef sharks. There were 3 of them, but I only got 1 on video. It was enough though…!  🙂  Also managed a couple of really good shots of a Hawksbill turtle. I had to hide behind some coral and wait until she got to me – but I got the shot~! The dive finally over, we re-boarded the boat and headed to a dive site I was hoping for, but turned out the ‘Vis’ was even worse there – so we headed back to a different location chose by the Captain. As it turns out he made a good call – as ‘Vis’ improved dramatically at this site. Lots of life and a Nurse shark who let me get all up in her face for a picture~!! Rest of the dive was un-remarkable – but enjoyable. After we were back in port – the dive shop offered me a package deal for ‘locals’ at a price I could not pass up and I am now signed up for 10 more dives with this shop –!! Woo-Hoo me~!!

Around 12:30ish…. back at the condo, gear cleaned and showered, I watched a little bit of Judge Judy (she looks like an idiot with that new hair do) before meeting up with Dave, Liz and Becky at Corner Paradise for some Mexican pizza. I have been bragging about that pizza enough – they wanted to try it. It tastes NOTHING like pizza – but it sure is good~! We ate, drank and laughed until about 20:00 when we figured we’d best head back to our respective abodes. Somewhere during the course of the evening, our plans went from hiking Goat Mountain, to me helping move somebody on Saturday morning……. HMMmm….. collusion ?? 😉 Doubt it – but glad to help. LOTS & LOTS of pictures for you. I will continue to put them up until I run out.  They may not go along with the story being written – but I hope you enjoy them anyway~!

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

IMG_0939   <—- Video                   –

 

Well I found out that apparently – Easter Monday is an island thing -AND – it came about as a way to get an extra day off of work. Ahhhh…. island life. I got up a touch earlier than I wanted to this morning…. but I had a project at up at Blues I needed to finish. Been a while in the making and since the rest of my week [mornings] are tied up with SCUBA diving – I figured I better ‘Git-er-done’~! I got up there a little after 08:00 and spent the next 2 hours pain stakingly running thread thin lights around a small charcoal grill mounted on the roof of Blues’ bar. Deb had asked for that a lot longer ago than I want to admit – but I finally got it finished this morning. I tried to make sure they worked, but the sun was just so brilliant (aweee) that I could not tell if the lights were working. So I sat and had me 1 or 4 ice cold Budweiser’s before heading back to the condo. I was waiting to hear from the ‘door dude’ or the expeditor for DD, but neither of them happened – so I wound up laying on the couch and watch some really stupid movies…. SO stupid, I won’t even bore you with the details of them.

It got to be 17:00 and I really wanted to see what my ‘light job’ on the grill looked like – so I headed back up to Blues. The usual gang was there ( including returnee – Mr. Paul Blair) and I was soon emerged into the standard line of rhetoric going around the bar. Eddie was just starting to close the bar down when all of the dusk to dawn lights came on….. I ran out and looked up and YES~!!! – the grill was lit up and looked every bit as awesome as I hoped it would~! (Yes – there are pictures) Happy with my work – I had another drink with Jim and Dave and then loaded up into DD to head back here. I can’t wait for Deb to see the grill, as I believe it is exactly what she was wanting~!

For now – I’m gonna leave you with more dive pictures and a couple of pictures from today —

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

‘The Grill’