Living the life most people just dream about~

Up via alarm clock this morning to be ready to head out the door by 07:15 – way out of character for me and my Queen. Arrived at the West end of the island at Adventures in Diving STX and started prepping for what turned out to be a hearty crowd ready to help clean up the pier. Our latest storm (Karen) stirred up that end of the island (even though it didn’t do squat where we are at). The first hour or so was medium chaos as we got divers signed in, gear hauled and everybody where they needed to be. A small lull while the divers were in the water and soon they were hauling bag upon bag upon bag upon bag of trash out of the water. A good crew of shore support made sure divers were helped out of the water, their gear hauled back [if they wanted it] all garbage sorted and recorded and everyone safe back on shore. That culminated in a wonderful get together brunch hosted by local restaurant Polly’s by the Pier. Everyone hung out afterward for door prizes and some really, really nice raffle prizes. My Queen and I even won a couple of them. After a very long 5+ hours, we  finally loaded back into DD 2.0 and headed back to the conditioned air comfort of our condo.

Not ashamed to say, we were whooped…… we enjoyed sitting and watching The Dead Zone for a while and not doing nothing else~! A bite to eat – a cool shower coming up and probably an early bed time for both of us……. Pictures from today… more dive pictures later……

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

IMG_3045 <—- Fun video

As I suspected and even though I did it fighting and arguing not to (wink, wink) we closed Blues down again last night. We did eat a little bit something before we got into the heavy drinking part of it. I had a wonderfully delicious Smoked Turkey, Bacon Grilled Cheese sammich. MmMmM Good~! My Queen ordered a Shepard’s Pie and didn’t care for it, so she took the other half of my sammich and gave me the pie. I get why she didn’t want it — kinda bland which is really out of character for anything from that establishment – but I put some salt on it and wolfed it on down. Another fun night up there, before we finally came back for some conditioned air and some sleep. Tried to sleep in this morning, but that Shepard’s Pie and a whole lot of alcohol decided it needed to come out, so I was up and going [so to speak] by 07:00.  A very leisurely day today, as I caught up on FB stuff and dang little else. My Queen made us a breakfast – I have missed that all week because of working or diving and this morning I realized just how much I miss my daily dose of bacon~!

I had to run up to the drug store to pick up a new bottle of BP medicine (that is apparently) not working right yet either – so I’ll ping Doc as soon as she gets back from the states.

Big day for us tomorrow as we head out bright and early to the West end of the island to support one of my favorite dive shops (Adventures in Diving STX) and their “Dive & Dine” they host – a huge effort that culminates with 50 divers donating time, gear and air to clean up the pier where the cruise ships come in, bringing up all the trash on the bottom. There is also about 20+ volunteers as shore support to help the divers and haul away all the trash that is brought up. A lot of time and energy for a very worthy cause. There is also a nice big brunch held to feed everybody that participates. It is also open to the public (it is a fund raiser for local organizations) and has many really nice raffle prizes that can be won. I usually dive the event, but have been asked to stay top side and work the event this year – which I happily plan to do. Shouldn’t last more than about 4 hours or so – but I know from past events – it will be a fun and chaotic  4 hours or so. I’ll try and get some pictures for you~! Now… more pictures from yesterdays dives.

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

Put in another pretty good day yesterday and actually finished up everything that was wanted. ‘Employer’ was beside her self happy with my work and said she would probably be calling me again when she gets back from her state side visit. I’m not kidding anybody…… my a$$ was dragging when I got home…. enough that I got my shower in and left butt tracks all the way to the couch. I thought I was gonna muster up enough energy to get on here and write – but it was just not meant to happen last night…… sorry~~

Got up to a new turtle nest this morning and this one looks like she actually laid eggs….Yay~!! My Queen joined me shortly afterward so I got to spend a little bit of time with her before I gathered up my [diving] gear and headed out the door. Amazing how much easier it is to get up to go diving (or fishing) than it is to get up early to go to work. Beautiful morning…..sun was shining, we had some big waves breaking out on the beach (still do actually) and even bigger waves as we scooted out of Salt River toward our first dive spot. Salt River West wall — a definite favorite of mine. Even though you could see the bottom in 35′ of water we were sitting in, when we dropped down over the wally – visibility dropped drastically and in most of the deep water, you were lucky to see 30’…… still managed a couple of pictures and video’s for you. Back up for some surface interval while we motored 10 minutes to the next dive site. ‘Slippery Fingers’. I just recently dove this site for the first time and looked forward to diving it again. Visibility was much better on this one – almost 60′. We had tons of fish life, a turtle, a shark, a couple of lobsters and 2 green Moray Eels….. not one… two~! So that made it a very good dive~!!

Back here, showered and relaxing before heading up to Blues for the evening – so I figured I better get something up here before we go — as you know how our evenings at Blues tend to end up  😉  Down day tomorrow (which we’ll probably need) before a very busy day Sunday. I’ll go into it a bit more tomorrow (maybe) 😉  For now – some pictures from the past day or two, a couple of dive pictures and the rest to follow~~

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

IMG_2981 <—- video

IMG_2992  <—- video

 

Up bright and early to get my [what turned out to be] very busy day started…… Stopped off at Blues after working my way through an ugly traffic wreck, to drop-off borrowed corn hole boards from last night. Headed on to my job site and set in immediately to work. I toiled away for the next 6 hours, putting up trim, cutting in new doors and then putting down some based boards until my back and knees just could not take it any more. Came home to my excited Queen [I hate leaving her ‘stuck’ at the house all day] She said she would like to go to Blues for some wings (after all it was Wings Wednesday)…. so I jumped in the shower, dried off, powdered up and away we went. Got up to Blues to a full house, and soon found us a spot at the bar. Drinks a plenty….. chat a plenty….. sadly my Queen missed out on her wings. They ran out before she got her order in…. So we sat and drank and checked out a new band auditioning for possible employment…. not bad….. but not worth the money they were asking….. just my [professional] opinion~~  😉

Closing time already and we were both [by that time] starving and agreed – Mickey D’s was the route to go. We pulled into the drive through……. and believe it or not—– in just under 9 minutes – we were on our way with our order…… and let me tell you what…….. those fries~!! OMG~!!!! Perfect~!!! I almost lost my mind (what is left of it)…WOW~!!! PERFECT~!!! OMG~!! Guess it’s kinda silly to get that ‘amped’ over Mickey D fries……. but it’s the small things you take for granted, living on an island……WOW-WOW-WOW~!!! Perfect~!  Back at the condo… we finished the rest of our order…. Double Quarter pounder with cheese for me and Filet-0-Fish [with onion] for my Queen. Wonderfully delicious. I’m trying to feel bad for how excited I was over this meal – but it just ain’t gonna happen……!

Noticed a red light out on our beach as we walked in, to find out, upstairs neighbor and boyfriend, were laying on the beach watching a 200+ lb turtle doing her thing. I managed a couple of shots and a video compliments of boyfriends red light – before she decided she was done and headed back to the Sea. During the same time frame – we met a couple of the guys staying next door (visiting workers) here for the next month or so….. good ole boys from down South – I helped educate them on the goings-on of our Sea Turtles and then spent a fun hour just running our gums. Always fun when you get a chance to chat with someone from ‘home’.

Finally back in here writing to you all and still [mildly] salivating over the smell of Filet-0-Fish (with Onions) in the air…… Gonna get up pictures and videos from today……. more work tomorrow – then done for the next several days for ‘play’~~~~

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

IMG_2945   <— Video

My view during break time at work today

The wonderfully marvelous Victoria~!

IMG_2967 <—- Video

IMG_2969 <— Video

Off to work again this morning after stopping by to pick up some corn hole boards for our dive club meeting. Finished the bathroom and the ‘boss’ is tickled to death with it. Wrapped up it a little bit early to be able to get back and get some paper work and stuff done for the meeting tonight, but still managed to get in 4 hours of solid work.

Loaded up entirely too much stuff in DD 2.0 and took off for the meeting. Nice turn out for the evening. We held a cornhole competition and there was a slide show going on inside for non-participants of a couple of members trip to the Mediterranean and Red Sea’s and their diving exploits there. I only got to catch parts of it as I was taking care of the bracket board for the teams – but all in all I think everyone had a good time.

I’m calling it quits here – it’s late and I need to get some sleep/rest for another day of work tomorrow…….. even if it’s short days and not terribly hard work….. I’m getting down right used to not working for a living – and I’m good with it~! I did also manage to book a 2-tank dive for Friday morning (what-? You thinking I’m working ALL week ??  And maybe another 2-tank on Saturday~!  😉

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

Happy Birthday Mouse – I hope it was a really wonderful day for you~!!

Jackie talking about Adaptive Diving

Up after a much better nights sleep, thankx in part I guess to not eating ‘tainted’ food before bed time. Enjoyed a quiet morning with my Queen before putting on my ‘work clothes’ grabbing the laundry and my tools and heading out the door. Dropped off laundry and the work site was literally minutes away from there. Spent the next 4+ hours putting up wainscot and trim in a small bath room. Everything is poured concrete, so there is nothing level, plumb or true in the building and everything has to be glued. A whole other challenge as stuff must be braced in place to allow the glue to dry. I did the best I could with what I had. I told her I would be back tomorrow for more and she is apparently is tickled with what I’ve got done so far. Not gonna go into any more details about the job as I suspect you really don’t want to hear about it anyway  😉

Came back to spend time with my bride and sit and relax a little bit – before going out and stopping at The Palms restaurant for a quick bite to eat. I know, I know – we didn’t go to Blues ??? How could we ??? Angie wanted a Philly Cheese sammich and I wanted Pizza – and Blues doesn’t offer either…… After we finished eating, we had to swing by the store for milk, coffee and cokes before coming back to our little piece of conditioned air paradise. Now I’m anxious for a shower and some more rest before going to work again tomorrow…… Geeez that sounds weird….. Couple of pictures from last night and today….and some random dive pictures you may have missed….

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

Up way to early to deal with what I now suspect was a nuked dinner last night that probably should have been pitched. It tasted good – but shortly after 05:00 this morning, it decided it was time to come out….. and I never really got back to sleep after that.

Met up with friends Dave & Liz at ‘Salt’….. a small place out toward the South East side of the island. I said last night I think they were trying to pull off hipster – but that is definitely not the case….. at least not out on the patio where we ate. Great view and thankfully a bit of a breeze, so it was tolerable sitting out there. I had the biscuits and gravy with a couple of eggs on top. Not bad – but the gravy tasted sweet….. not sure what that was about but it sure took away from the overall taste. It wasn’t bad – just not good. Angie had her standard eggs and ham. Liz had a frittata (think of an open faced omelet) and Dave had crab cakes with eggs benedict. Everybody enjoyed what they had but all agreed, it was not remarkable. The place also advertised Fish & Chips. The hunt for Fish & Chips for me is like my on going hunt for a decent pizza. I was horribly spoiled for my taste in Fish & Chips while serving a temporary duty at Coltishal Royal Air Base in England. I haven’t found any I really care for since then – but I went ahead and ordered some to go. It took long enough to get our checks – that I wound up trying the Fish & Chips while we sat there – everybody sampled it – and again. It wasn’t bad – it just wasn’t good. It was 1:00 by the time we got back to the condo and the rest of the day was spent mostly watching The Dead Zone.

I start a small job tomorrow doing some finish work fairly close to the house — shouldn’t be anything tough about it other than getting up and “having” to go to work  😉 We also have a CRABBS club meeting this week, we have another Daughter with a birthday coming up (Amanda-Tuesday) and I’m gonna have DD 2.0 in the shop to get looked over….. so kind of a busy week. Calling it an evening for now —- some more dive pictures for you…..

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

This morning we both slept in just a skosh…. not late but it is kinds of a big deal to us when we get that extra little bit~! A very relaxing morning…. my Queen made a breakfast of steak and eggs with some steak left over from our last night out….. A really nice surprise for a wonderful breakfast. We took it easy and lounged most of the morning, racking up more episodes of The Dead Zone...… still not crazy about it – but it is working for now……finally time for me to load my gear and head out for a couple of afternoon dives. Haven’t done that yet with this dive shop – so was looking forward to it. Definitely a new experience going out that time of day – I kinda liked it even though there were entirely too friggin’ many people on the boat for me. Two of my favor favorite dive sites – Yay~! First one lost a lot on the dive due to a nasty current that pretty much kept you kickin’ your ass off – just to try and keep up —-BUT —- dropped almost directly on to a 6′ Green Moray Eel [my ultimate favorite]… but because he had been chased by way too many people, he was about fed up with me by the time I got there – so I opted not to get as close as I normally do when messing with these dudes. It’s hard to see in the video – but he has a presentable set of teeth on him that I did not feel the need to investigate……..

(I’m really tired right now so going into Readers Digest condensed version of the rest of the day)….. Both dives were good —  Visibility lacked enough, I tried using my flash light to take pictures….. while it looked good to my eyes, the camera didn’t like it – and while I took almost 140 pictures.. I only saved 50 pictures.  I really need to get me a smart camera…….. or get a LOT smarter about using a flash light for lighting. I think you’ll like the pix I saved though………. 2 really good dives and already looking forward o the next time I get to get wet……..

We are meeting friends tomorrow for a brunch at a new place we have yet to try…. looking forward to it……… I think….. it strikes me as one of them places that is trying to pull off  ‘hipster’…. but the menu looks good and time spent with these friends is always fun……. will try and get some photo’s….. until then….. pix from today….more tomorrow~~~~~

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

 

 

Started out bright and early this morning in anticipation of running an errand for a friend. Waiting to take off – we went out for our first morning smoke to discover a new set of turtle tracks. A big Green Sea turtle. I’m fairly sure she laid eggs, but sadly, destroyed another nest in the process. Eggs were scattered everywhere. Some of them had not been destroyed yet – but because of laying out in the cool night air all night – they are no longer savable. I guess that is Natures natural selection and not a heckva lot we can do about it…. at least, not at this point.  We had to drive out to the West end of the island to do the errand. Did errand for friend, stopped by one of our favorite dive shops to share some details on a project they are doing that we are helping them with next week. Wrapped that up and decided a bite to eat would be a good thing – so stopped by a local favorite eatery (Polly’s) for a quick tasty breakfast. Got back to the condo for some much needed heat relief…… it is ridiculous hot here this time of year….. the temperature really don’t get any hotter – but our wonderful trade wind lays down for just over a month or so and it gets an ugly sticky hot~~~ I really feel for the poor souls that do not have conditioned air……..

I spent the next several hours on a couple of small tasks I needed to get done while we both sat here and sucked up as much of that wonderfully cool air as we could. Wrapping up the odds and ends – My Queen wanted to go up to Blues as her favorite [island] band was playing tonight. I was game as my breakfast had worn completely off and Blues was advertising a smoked meatloaf sammich that I was anxious to try. Walked out to DD 2.0 an noticed something shiny on the front tire as I got in……HMmmmmm…. turned out to be a damn screw in the tire~! Jeezus H Christ~!! I dropped my Queen off at Blues and set out in search of tire repair.  Found a spot fairly quickly, that amazingly did a good job and got me back on my way to Blues…….. Saddled up to the bar with my Queen and got me a smoked meatloaf sammich as I was starving by then…… different….. not bad – but didn’t really care for it that much – which is odd, cause I usually love everything they make. I think, if the piece of meat would have been thicker and a little bigger – it would have made a better sammich. Angie got her some meatloaf, but it was served open faced with smashed taters and gravy – and she said she really enjoyed it. I Ordered me a hot dog with pickle and onion and washed it down with a couple of bears ( a Budweiser and a Modelo…. a new beer Blues is pushing, so I thought I’d try it….. not bad, but not Budweiser~~) After dinner, we ordered cocktails and sat and listened to the band, who just did not seem on point tonight. Don’t know if it was the heat, a different drummer or what. We chatted with everyone for a couple of hours and decided we’d had out fill of heat….. so back we came and here we be. I have a 2-tank dive scheduled for tomorrow afternoon…woo-hoo~! So lots more pictures for you~~!

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

 

Dinner last night [compared to previous night] turned out to be quite a bust…. DAMMIT EMMIT~!  Server did a slightly above average job – but that is pretty much where the night went bland……. A couple of appetizers, 3 drinks each, main course and split one piece of ‘Key Lime’ pie ((??))….. $217.00~!!!   Now I have nothing against spending that kind of money on a REALLY good dinner (like the previous night) but everything we had from appetizers to dessert was mediocre at best. It wasn’t bad….. just not good. You get what I’m going at ?? Plus – it’s a long drive out (for island drives) on a really crappy road and poorly light at best. Above average chance we will not be going back to that place for a LOT of reasons. Today was full day of running… meetings and more running. My Queen joined me for most of it until the truck decided starting was not going to be an option any more. I finally dropped my Bride at the condo to finish my running…. with the mindset – If I’m gonna get stranded out in this heat – at least it would be just me and not both of us. Good call……. definitely good call as I wound up stranded at my last stop. I wrangled a jump from a dive buddy and soon navigated to a “NAPA Auto center”. I put it in quotations because it was only a NAPA Auto center in the biblical sense…….. OMG what a Clusterf**k……  after working on it for almost an hour I got a new battery installed…… a mere $ 143 dollars…….. and I was on my way……. then a doctors appointment. Unhappy with my results – Doc issued several changes to my BP meds – so I start all over again trying to keep my BP in check…….. Geeez what a day. After Doc’s appointment – we figured Blues was the order of the day and away we went………. The first hour there made the whole day tolerable and by closing time…….. everything was soooooo much better…. go figure huh?

Safely back here….. chatting with you. Tomorrow should be a much better day….. shots from today more dive pictures in a day or two…….

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