Living the life most people just dream about~

Up at 04:15 yesterday morning to get ready for what was sure to be one of the longest days on the island that we have had in almost ever. Woke up, coffee’d, potty and out the door to arrive at the marina by 06:00. First hour was spent filling coolers packing ice around to boats and setting up for the tournament. By 07:15 I headed for my boat while my bride stayed and wrangled volunteers to finish setting up, raffle tables, decorations, etc. I spent the next 6 hours sitting on a boat, drinking beer and shooting the breeze with the other 4 veterans on the boat – and once in a great while (twice to be exact) stopped to watch a fish get reeled into the boat. I had a crack at the first one, but managed to thoroughly pi$$ the captain off doing it (I backlashed the reel) – so from there on out, I drank beer and took pictures and shot the breeze. Not a smooth day of sailing as we had 4′-6′ swells for the entire 6 hours we were on the water. Thankfully, no body got sea-sick, so it was a long bouncy boat ride all day. I did manage to get some great pictures as we went by parts of the island I haven’t got to see yet. Some of those – you can only see from the water. We did manage to get 2 Barracuda’s on board – but neither one was brag worthy. Well – one did actually win a prize — for smallest fish weighed in 🙁  At least I can say I didn’t catch it~~  😉

Back at the marina after weigh in – I went back to work as a Board member, managing things that needed done. Everything went fairly smooth as dinner transitioned to dancing and awards presentations, followed by announcing raffle winners. I believe everybody had a good time and enjoyed themselves. We provided 53 veterans (and me) a nice [free] day of deep sea fishing, a nice meal and lots of nice gifts and the good people of the island supported us in doing it. We grossed a little over $3000 for the event – and while it won’t quite cover our expenses for this particular event this time – we all feel great for the effort we put in for the veterans.

The band finally shut down, we broke everything down and loaded it into vehicles before finally pulling out of the parking a lot a little bit before 10:00pm~ By the time we got home, showered and in bed it was 12:30 in the morning (Sunday). I hurt in places I forgot I had. A long, tough, tiring, exhausting day….. and worth every second of it………. A ton of pictures for you – so will spread them out over the next several days~~

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

My Bride getting things started

Mike, Captain Tim and Guy

Guy

(L-R) Mike, Scott, Guy, Tim and Johnny

Barracuda – 4+ pounds

Lil ole me – I forgot to suck my gut in~~

Me & ‘Coop’~

 

After my fire fighting antics yesterday and we got back here – just in time to clean up and meet our island ‘kids’ down the road for supper. They were heading back to the states for Thanksgiving and was dropping off keys and such we would need to help them run their business for them while they were gone. They own Gecko Island Adventures…. a fun 4 wheeler ride up through the rain forest. You wind up on top of a mountain and can pretty much see the whole West end of the island from up there. Lots and lots of fun~!   We were all in the mood for pizza and The Palms restaurant usually has an acceptable pizza. We gathered up there, ordered drinks and appetizers and discussed what we needed to. Finally ordered and got our pizza. I was a tad more than let down……. I was really under impressed with the pizza this time….. bummer. It didn’t scratch my pizza ‘itch’ this time….. just more of a rub I guess………….

Woke up this morning to heavy clouds and an awesome cool breeze….. would make it nice for the running I had to get done today. Lots of things to get done before the big tournament tomorrow morning….. and what a day that is gonna be. We both opted to skip breakfast so we could get started and get back early….. BaaaHaaa….. it was good in theory……. First stop, was the airport – had to pick up the kids vehicle and bring it back here (so they won’t have to pay for all that parking. I tried to get them to let me just take them to the airport this morning – but NOOoooo…… damn kids – can’t tell ’em nothing~~ Dropped off vehicle here at the condo and then quickly off to the bank. I had to get an allocation of various bills ($800 worth) to fill 4 money bags for the raffles and such tomorrow. It is normally always such a “treat” to have to deal with the ladies in that bank – but amazingly – they were [reasonably] friendly and the transaction went [reasonably] quick and smooth. I tried to buy a couple of extra money bags – but apparently not even the bank can get them… so I was just SOL……  🙁    Back to the condo to drop off the cash – go whizz and right back out the door. Drove past the garage to see if DD had been pulled out yet – nope~! Tried stopping for gas…. too full, will get it later…. Next to the big lot’s store…. beer, coolers, smokes and odds and ends…. got the beer, some of the smokes and all of the odds and ends – but they didn’t have the coolers I was after. OOH – they may have them at K-Mart just down the road~! (yes, we still have K-mart(s) on the island) Parked and left my Queen in the truck to guard other purchases while I went in…… Lord give me strength…… I had to ask for assistance….. good grief you would have thought I was asking for a kidney~!

Well crap…… here I am again at my 500 words…. and a lot more to tell…. didn’t take any new pictures today…. so I’ll put up some older ones you may have missed. Tomorrow will be a very long day for my Bride and me. We plan on getting up at 04:15 in the morning (What does the 0 stand for ? Oh My God it’s early) and probably won’t be back until 9:00-10:00 that night. Above average chance there won’t be a post tomorrow…… but I should rack up a bunch of fun pictures for you. Keep an eye on me… I’ll be back as quick as I can.

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

 

Quite the difference from one day to the next — one day where it is a 1/2 mph all day and the next day to almost flat out all day…….. Got up early enough to make the meeting for our big fishing tournament coming up. So much to finalize and never enough time to get everything done that you would like. Meeting took the better part of an hour and half and that was staying mostly on topic….. I think we’re ready….. hells bells we might as well be – options are thin at this point. Left there and ran out to the West end of the island to get last minute details from our Island ‘kids’ on what they need us to do while we cover for them while they are back states side. An hour or so there and back to center island, ran by another drug store for Actifed and baby aspirin. Left there and stopped by the garage to check on DD…… nothing resolved yet – but – they have another guy that might be able to help – but he can’t get to it until after Thanksgiving….   Uh……no~! My patience has officially ran out……. I told them I would have a tow truck there in the morning to pick it up……. then once I get it moved – I get to go back and argue about the $ 500 I already have invested in it. Fun and games…….. Not sure why, but I felt like we needed to stop by Blues for a drink or two so we whipped on in. We saddled up to the bar and hadn’t been there 20 minutes or so when Angie told me she thought she saw flames toward the back of the lot (where there shouldn’t be any). I figured she just caught a glimpse of flames coming out of the smoker and that it was an optical illusion but I would go check it out. I got up and moseyed toward the back – half way there – I saw lots of smoke and some flames coming from a place where there definitely should not have been any~! Holy $hit~!!!! I yelled at Eddie [bartender] then yelled fire while I ran for the closest garden hose. The freshly stacked pile of bags of charcoal was on fire and in full flames. Things kind of became a blur at that point. My hose wouldn’t reach as far as I needed it to, so while other folks from the bar rallied to get me a longer hose – another one called 911. I worked on the fire for the 6-8 minutes it took the fire department to show up and then I turned it over to the professionals. I am confident saying that a group effort from most of the people at the bar saved the back half of the yard from going up in flames. Quite the afternoon at our little place away from home…… We stayed for several for more drinks before finally packing it up and heading for the little slice of heaven that is our air conditioned condo~~~ Well crap……. I’m already at 500 words…… so gonna cut it off here….. I think I have a few more dive pictures. I have some pictures from the fire my Bride took, but apparently I am too stupid to know how to get them from a text message to my saved pictures ( I used to know how to do it until I updated my phone)…. I’ll work on it……

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

Meeting place view

 

 

Been a goofy kind of day for me and the writing juices just aren’t flowing like I want them to be. Did get wonderful news that Stephie and the boys are coming to see us in January… Can’t wait for that visit~!!!!   My Pillow seems to have done a pretty good job last night, but I want to give it a bit and see if it sustains. More SUITS today in between standing out on the patio watching the swells get bigger and bigger all day even though you can’t buy a breath of air. Went up to Blues for a little bit until they ran out of Crown, so my Bride said we were done…….. Our schedule starts getting crazy busy tomorrow as we finalize meetings and get ready for the Tournament….. then dive club meeting and dive the day after that and then we start working out on the West end of the island helping Shawn and Cynthia out with their business while they’re back in the states for the full Thanksgiving week…… Hopefully will get some pictures for you — for now… putting up some more dive pictures for you~~

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

Up this morning with a list of things in mind that I needed to get done today. A nice small breakfast while we watched Suits….. soooooo easy to get settled into the couch for that show, but after the one episode – I made myself get up and get at it. First stop was the Post Office to pick up a package. That package was something I have been threatening to try for a while…. a ‘My Pillow‘….. I intensely dislike the pillow I am currently using (and the previous 3 or 4 that I have tried) and vowed to find one I do like. They are here and I can’t wait to try it. By morning my current pillow creases and leaves my neck in a weird position that usually results in me waking up with a headache….. so I went on line, answered a half dozen questions and ordered a pillow for me and my Queen. I’ll let you know how that works out.

Second stop was my new garage. I asked John (proprietor) if he was interested in working on DD, as I am about as fed up as I am going to get with the place that has her now. He said he was but needed til Friday to free up a slot to put DD in if I bring her in. So that bought current garage another couple of days.

Third, stopped at drug store for more chemicals. My blood pressure is being a real pain in the touchas trying to get it under control. I stopped to pick up my 4th medication that I will now be taking trying to get my BP in check…… but, I will stay on it until I get it~!

Fourth stop was at garage that has DD. Pleasantly surprised to see the door on her opened up and the hood up. Talking with the guy – he acted like they were really close, but said he needed another key to try. Thankfully I had one on me. I didn’t bother to tell him he only has two more days to screw with it. He promised me a phone call later in the afternoon with an update. That phone call never happened. I don’t know if he forgot, afraid to call or what – but it doesn’t matter – I’m taking the truck Friday regardless where it is at. Enough of that crap~! 2 months! Guess it’s a good thing I went ahead and bought DD 2.0 versus renting a car for that long, as it would have been much more expensive~!

Back to the condo to work most of the afternoon on paperwork for Fish With A Vet as we get closer to our big tournament. It has now been decided, I’m taking some time off from the tournament, to participate in the tournament~! Should be a good time. More dive pictures for you……….

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

 

Top of the evening friends, sports fans and neighbors…… I’m back after a mostly unexpected lay off from last night while we had our islands ‘kids’ visit us yesterday. They came for breakfast and it turned into a wonderfully full day, as we ate drank and chatted through the day. We ducked what turned into a lot of [unexpected] rain showers but still enjoyed the beauty that is our beach and each others company, discussing everything from Apples to Zebra’s….. well, not really – but you get what I’m going for here~~ 😉

Cynthia was cleared to dive today after a surgery she had a month or so back – and I was happy to tag along on the dive. It got started a little later than usual because the boat was going through a Coast Guard inspection – but we were loaded and on our way by 11:30. Water was reasonably calm but due to reasons I’ll probably never understand or figure out, visibility left a lot to be desired at both sites we wound up at. I was hoping to do the new dive site I told you about the other day – but it was washed out when we went by to check it out – so we opted for other spots. Sharks~! An (spotted) eel… a turtle were some of the critters that graced us with their presence. Less than stellar visibility and lots of clouds above kept my picture taking (spell that saving) to a minimum, but I managed a couple decent pix for you.

After the dives we stood around and enjoyed a nice cold beer and some discussed other diving opportunities coming up. I’m sure I told you about our sailboat cruise coming up in February and that I plan on making a dive on the RMS Rhone  during the trip. This is the ship used in the filming of the movie The Deep – with Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset. That is also the movie that gave me the urge to learn to SCUBA dive and gave me my fascination with Giant Green Moray Eels. If you haven’t seen the movie – I highly recommend it. Graphics are pretty mild compared to today’s movies (this came out in the late 70’s) – but still a ‘worth while’ watching movie — any how — to get to the point of the ship where the big eel was filmed – I am going to need a “wreck dive” certification, to get to the interior of the ship — so that is my next goal. Getting that certification will put me in relatively easy reach of a “Master Diver” certification….. so I may just go for that as well…… we’ll see – I’ll let you know how that goes as it develops~!

Sorry for missing last night — but lots of new pictures for you….

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

 

Woke up to a bunch of clouds and evidence of a small sprinkle, but like I’ve stated – those conditions typically do not linger long. Had a cup of coffee and spent some time with my Bride before grabbing my gear and heading out the door for a couple of dives. Was informed once I was on the boat, that a new site was possible for today…. they discovered a tie off point for a dive site from apparently over 10 years ago and it hasn’t been dove on since. Wow – being the first to hit a site that hasn’t been dove on in over a decade….. I was excited~! They were going to attach a new buoy line to it once we got to it – but it would be well worth the wait~! Because of conditions, they opted to go to a new favorite spot of mine first- called Rust-Op-Twist. I like it because it tends to hold sharks~! I wasn’t disappointed as we soon had 3 sharks watching us do our thing. Sadly, because of very cloudy water, low light and not being able to “call them in” – pictures lack considerably.  I did my best trying to lure them in, but nothing me or the Dive Master did would bring them in very close. We finally finished up the dive and headed for the ‘new’ site — The Dive Master bailed off and I pitched him the materials he needed once he was in the water.  It took him 20 minutes to get the new line tied – but it is in place and ready to be used now. He said visibility was horrible, but he did spot one ‘massive’ turtle….. so hopefully it’s a resident turtle and she’ll be there on future dives. We motored to our second dive site – Gentle Winds — not know for a lot of sea life – but tons of beautiful corals. Again, less than stellar visibility and low light made getting decent pictures of anything a challenge, but I managed a couple. Compared to my last 2 dives – these two almost sucked…… but they didn’t, because every dive is enjoyable for me….. even when I have people floating up into me or crawling on me….. I’m in the water – and that is a good thing~!

Back for a shower and uploading pictures….. a dinner of corn dogs and French fries and more episodes of Suits. A wonderfully relaxing evening. Our ‘island kids’ are supposed to be here for a big breakfast of biscuits and gravy in the morning….. looking forward to that as they are always fun to hang out with. I have to clean the table that my command center is at for breakfast….. but I guess they’re worth it~~  😉

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

 

Yea, yea, yea…… I know it’s not Spring, but with our ‘Christmas winds’ it kinda feels like spring…. after a small tasty breakfast and an episode or four of Suits, I broke into a little cleaning that I am woefully behind on. Actually it was just cleaning the patio doors….. one of the things they don’t tell you about living in Paradise (on the beach) is that everything gets layered in a green slimy snot like layer of salt grime if you don’t keep it cleaned up. I let the exterior of our doors go a little longer than I normally do and I needed to rectify that…. not only is it good up keep, but it also gives us a nice clear shot of that killer view of ours. I scrubbed and cleaned until everything was sparkling clean again and I shot the door rollers with penetrating oil so they roll a little easier. Even with the great breeze – I managed to break out into a pretty good sweat….. big shock for an old fat boy huh ? 😉   I emptied the trash, along with our beach bucket (full of all the weird and nasty stuff that we pick up that washes up on our beach) and lugged it all down to the dumpster. Cleaned up and stuff and headed back in for more Suits.

About 16:00 my bride said she wanted to go up to Blues for a while – so off we went. Both hungry, Angie got her a steak sammich and I got a smoked turkey- bacon- grilled cheese sammich. Good, good stuff right there….. and I think it may now be my new favorite sammich~! I was hungry enough I wolfed it down before it dawned on me to take a picture of it….  my bad~ 🙁  The band started up, sounding very un-impressive, but they were making a noble effort. A lot of new faces up there tonight and not many of the regulars. We sat and drank (I had  Sprite) and chatted with the folks we did know and met a couple of new folks visiting our island. We logged a couple of hours before deciding to call it an evening and head back, looking forward to some more Suits. A very entertaining series.

I have a 2-tank dive in the morning I am really looking forward to (it’s been almost a week since I’ve been in the water~!) and being able to hopefully score some more pictures for you……………….

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

All pictures below were taken on Grand Cayman…………

Just another day on the island……. Up late this morning after a pretty wonderful nights sleep…. I think just worn out from the stress of the past couple of days. My Queen slept in even later and came out just in time for me to head out to my meeting. She normally comes with me, but I figured she needed the sleep more than she needed to go to the meeting with me, so I didn’t wake her up when I got up.

Meeting went pretty good – only one more before we hold our biggest (and signature) event – a big fishing tournament. Lots to get done as it gets closer. Stopped at the grocery store, the drug store [again] and stopped in and checked on DD [again]. Apparently they are making some kind of progress, so I will continue to hurry up and wait.

Back at the condo… I finally got to make me a sammich I have been hankering for… fried bologna~! I put two big slabs of thick sliced fried German bologna on a bun slathered with mayo and added a big ole slab of onion…… and boy-howdy was it delicious~! It tasted every bit as good as I remembered them tasting~! MmMmMm~! We sat and watched our newest series Suits. Somebody told us about it and we checked it out and so far are thoroughly enjoying it~!

I have a couple of 2-tanks dives scheduled for Saturday morning and again Monday morning….. so will have lots of new underwater pictures soon. Until I get them…… some older ones you may have not seen.

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

 

Well last night went just about like I figured and I didn’t get in bed until almost 01:30 this morning.  Slept ‘in’ getting up a couple of minutes before 08:00….. too late to make the dives (and too tired)

Rest of the day was lounging from being mostly tired. My Queen made a batch of Chili for dinner and while it was tasty…. just not the same eating it when it is 80° outside (Awww – right?)  😉    That’s it…… I have a Fish With A Vet meeting in the morning and a little running to do…. so maybe an opportunity for a couple of pictures.

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

GOPR0866 <—- Video