Author: Bill

This morning was pretty much a repeat of most other ‘work’ mornings for both of us. I made us both breakfast before us both heading out the door. We had a tiny boat today….. 4 divers~! I love it, even though it’s not good business for the shop and the odds of getting any kind of a tip go way down….. but it sure is nice having all that room on the boat~! First dive was what we call a hot drop. The boat doesn’t shut off, just goes to neutral over the area you are going to dive and everybody quickly bails off of the back of the boat. It complicates my process a little bit as the Captain generally hands me my camera after I bail in the water and put my fins on. Fortunately, I have long since learned how to do a hot drop with my camera and protect it during entry. I basically walk to the end of the boat, bend over [without stopping] lowering my camera down into the water and then I just do a flip into the water (off of) the boat.  It ain’t very pretty (or very comfortable) but it is effective and protects my camera. You then drift with the current until someone gets low on air, then you all start up, do your safety stop, then pop up on the surface and wait for the boat. When the boat gets near, you swim like hell toward it and get back on it as quick as you can, because it is not tied up like it usually is, and is still moving…… fun stuff~! The dive site is one seldom visited for numerous reasons but we done it today and boy-howdy am I glad…… like my previous dives at this site, today was sharky~! Did I say sharky ?? I meant SHARKY~!! –and– with my new video set up, I not only have some up close and personal photograph’s….. I now also have video~! Some fun video so you get to see [almost] the same thing I do while that is going on. I’ll learn how to edit out the parts when I am spinning around trying to find the other 2 sharks (they’re the ones you have to ‘watch’) and forget that the camera is still running. Second dive had more sharks, but not as friendly. Did get a nice shot of a nurse shark~!

NO boat tomorrow, so I’m gonna try and get some long over due stuff done, including trying to find Medi-gap insurance for me (and verify I did get it for Angie) My Queen is working probably another long day tomorrow (Cinco De Mayo)…. that is usually a fairly big celebration here on the island. No idea why. Debbie [from Blues] has asked me to come shoot some pictures for her at the celebration tomorrow at Blues. I told her I would be happy to do it. Keeping that in mind…… I doubt if there will be a blog tomorrow night. Then doing ATV tours for the island kids on Friday…….

Good Night Y’all > > > > > > > > > > > > Thankx for stopping in~!

A presentable nights sleep and I was up and at ’em this morning. A light rain shower was in progress and it was nice and cool. Even though it was nice and cool this morning, I think we’re just about to the place we’re gonna have to start firing up the air conditioner in the bedroom at night. The past couple of nights it has been almost, kinda, right on the verge of almost being to warm to go to sleep…… almost. I want to hold off as long as I can because once we use it once, it’s hard to not use it afterwards. Plus– it also adds about $120.00 to our electric bill a month. Ba$tards really gouge the people on this island on utility rates. Including water~! BUT– for now, we are still managing without the A/C~ Batteries all bump charged this morning, a wonderfully delicious breakfast and away I went. My bride got called into work today but didn’t have to be there until 9:00.

By the time I got to the marina, the clouds had cleared out and we had our usual/normal gorgeous sunshine and a nice breeze. We had a small boat today. Only 4 divers and 2 snorkelers. All were fun people and we all had a ball out splashing around in that beautiful blue water. A pretty tame day today under the waves….. I finally got a couple sharks called in, but nothing “close”. No turtles or Sting Rays….. really kinda odd, but still two very nice enjoyable dives. Back here– camera soaking in fresh water, I’ve had my shower and pictures are all edited and posted. I still have 2 video’s to look at, but don’t think they will be anything noteworthy. Diving again tomorrow then changing things up for a bit. Love this life I’m livin’~!

Good Night Y’all & & & & & & & & & & & & & Thankx for stopping in~!

JEEEZ where is this year going ??? Last time I looked it was just barely February and here it is May already……….. Wow. Took the night off from scribbling on here last night, so we could sit on the couch and watch some truly stupid, nasty, tasteless movies….. wowzer did we get into brain numbing TV yesterday.  It was still a nice day yesterday….. remaining very overcast and cool. Wasn’t much of a breeze, so humidity was way up there and everything feels damp…. but what are ya gonna do when you don’t have any glass in the windows …… just screens. Sweat.  😉  Up bright and early this morning to get ready to go diving. A little bit dismayed to see it still extremely over cast – but the breeze had picked up ever so lightly so it felt slightly more tolerable. Truck loaded up, breakfast made and scarfed down and away I went leaving my Bride to hold down the fort. Got sprinkled on a couple of times on the way to the marina but nothing heavy. The dives today were good as usual. On one dive I did manage to get 3 sharks interested in me and a couple of decent shots as well as a video that didn’t turn out half bad. Fairly full boat and I stayed as busy as I wanted making sure I got pictures of everybody…. always a fun challenge. The big bunch on the boat today  was their last day diving with us and are flying out soon. We have another really full boat tomorrow, but I think it thins out after that. Starting to get little streaks of sun light so hopefully we’re about done with this clouds mess. We need the rain and I don’t have an issue with rainy weather, but over cast and no rain is just depressing (and rare here on the island) so I hope it changes- one way or the other. That’s it…… pretty slow day today. More of the same tomorrow ?? We’ll see.

Good Night Y’all + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Thankx for stopping in~!

After what has been a long, dry month, we woke up this morning to clouds. Lots of clouds and the grass was wet. Very wet….. first decent rain we have had in well over a month. The clouds got heavier as the day wore on and the frequency of rain increased. Thankfully, it has not been a hard driving rain, instead a nice slow almost drizzle most of the time. That gives our now very thirsty ground time to absorb the liquid being delivered. Took our time waking up even though both of us were up a lot earlier than we should have been. We sat and drank coffee and read. Well, I spilled as much as I drank- but the effort was made. My Bride made us a wonderfully delicious breakfast. Nothing exceptional about it, but it tastier yummier than usual this morning. While we were enjoying our breakfast…. out TV turned on….by itself….. I kid you not. Weird…… I thought maybe our cable company had something to do with it, but the more I thought about it, the less sense that made. I tried to shut it off and couldn’t (it was just all static) so I unplugged it. I spent the next hour so ‘messing’ with the TV with no usable results. I then remembered something like this happening once before. Turns out, it happened when the remote died. Weird right ? So I jumped in the truck and spent a very maddening hour driving about 8 miles….. I wound up behind 6 different people, who had absolutely no where to go and all friggin’ day to get there~~~  AAARRRRGGGGHHH~!! I digress……. I got back from the local electronics store with a new remote. Dropped in some batteries and voila ~!! Back in business. Got the TV going, and decided to watch a movie…… no internet…. dammit Emmit…… reset the router…..ta-da~!! I tell you what….. (that’s an entire sentence in Louisiana)…..island life…. anyway……. finally settled in with some hot pop corn, a cold beer, my Queen and a movie~! AND- it turned out to actually be a pretty decent movie. Starring Keanu Reeves….. the movie is Replica’s. I’d give it a solid 7+ out of 10… maybe even a lite 8. If you wind up watching it, let me know what you think.

I did something today I have only done once before…… I ordered a print of one of my pictures. I was happy enough with it, that I want it on our wall. I’ll share which one it is after it comes in. Really about it. IF it dries up a little bit tomorrow, I’ll probably run the mower around the yard even though it still really don’t need it. I still want to do it because there are enough ‘sprouts’ that I want to get it all leveled out and besides…. with the rain- as soon as the sun hits it, it’ll probably jump out of the ground~! Just have to wait and see what the weather is gonna do………

Good Night Y’all } } } } } } } } } } } } } } } } } Thankx for stopping in~!

Scene outside of our bedroom the other morning~~

My camera set up~!

Here we go…….. up WAAAAAY to early this morning because I had to pee like a Russian Race horse– was never sure what that meant but my D.O.D. (Dear Old Dad) said it a lot. Amazing what the mind will conjure up when you hear stuff like that  😉  Probably one of a GO-ZILLION wonderful memories of my Dad….. he had a “saying” for dang near everything and most of them were comical as hell……… I use most of them now a days and people look at me like I have 3 eyeballs… don’t care….. I think it’s funny and it makes me think of my Dad. ♥  ANYhow……. up early enjoying a quiet morning and a HUGE breakfast [I was starving]……… before my Queen finally came stumbling out before I started my day. A pretty typical day (as those go in my daily routine)…. a couple of decent shark shots, a couple of decent turtle shots…. I kinda got to be ‘the hero’ on the second dive…… a pretty non-descript dive until I came upon a beautiful little hawksbill turtle. I came in tight enough for a shot, she felt the need to lift up and take off. I used that opportunity to gently ‘guide’ her toward the massive gang of divers laying there watching me. I do my level best not harass or ‘threaten’ the wildlife from where they hang out – but once they start moving….. I gently persuade them to move in certain directions…… which usually mean directly into the path of on coming divers. [GREAT photo ops] So everybody on the dive got a nice easy close up of the turtle~! The whole dive went like that and everybody was happy and content when it came time to surface and get on the boat. The days diving done…… we headed back and got everybody on their way. I was asked to transport one couple back to the West end of the island, which I happily did. A wonderful conversation (plus a cold beer or two) as we drove. They are from the great state of Texas…… I explained I once spent 6 weeks in Texas (in San Antonio)….. and was very under impressed. I don’t think they picked up on the fact, that is where I spent my Boot Camp with the U.S. Air Force. Doesn’t matter….. we had a great time “visiting” as I took them to their desired location. I dropped them off and headed home to my Queen. Because it is my ‘weekend’ – I decided to have a couple of drinks with my Queen while we sit here and discuss our day. We have had a tasty dinner and polished off the last of my birthday cake. I’m probably going to really regret having ‘drinks [vodka and water] with my Bride….. but right now it’s fun and we are both having a really nice evening. NO idea what I’m doing for the weekend…… so you’ll get what you get.

Good Night Y’all – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Thankx for stopping in~!

Up and ‘at ‘em this morning, anxious to get in the water and give my ‘new’ camera set up another try.  I knew we were gonna have a fairly full boat and I would be a skosh busier than usual chasing people to get their pictures, but should still have time for some experimenting. Being the first day with this group, I think they were a little bit leery of me (a lot of divers think when I launch into my spiel about the pictures that it is going to cost them more money) and nobody seemed interested in getting their picture taken this morning. Between dives and after the last dive, I did a little more  interacting with them (on the boat) and I think they finally believe me that their pictures would not cost them anything. I do explain that there will be some stuff for sale- but anything they are recognizable in – will be a free download. I hope they check out my gallery tonight and see the pictures I put up and be a little more agreeable to getting their picture taken tomorrow. If not– no biggie…. always lots of other things to shoot. My boss understands that.

I did make a few more videos and that little set up is going to work out good. I thought about maybe upgrading to a GoPro 10 (I have a 4, that has long since earned it’s keep) for even better quality video (I have heard really good things about video quality from them), but think I might wait until I get get a little more used to shooting video. The biggest downside of my little 4, is there is no view finder on it- so I have to guesstimate what the camera is looking at, which is a challenge all in it’s own…… but I’m kind of used to doing that. I have had that camera for almost 8 years now and it still does an outstanding job~! Another big day tomorrow with the big new group and I think the shop has added another couple of divers and some snorkelers, so it ought to be a real full boat. On top of that, we are moving back to the North Shore, so I think we’ll still have some ‘sporty‘ water to deal with out there.  Should be an interesting day. One high light today— we got into a nasty current today and I ‘did good’ in it with my new fins~! I would have never made it back to the boat in my old fins…… so Yay~! 

Good Night Y’all < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < Thankx for stopping in~!

GOPR0001 <—— Video  (please let me know what you think–and be honest)

Even though I got an extra hour added to my departure time, I was up bright and early, joining my Bride so I could have some coffee and make her breakfast before she had to take off for work. I got pinged late last night informing me of changes to my day today…. mainly that even though we were leaving out of Salt River (mid island where we usually leave out of) we would be bringing the boat around to the West end of the island with everybody on it. Dammit Emmit….. We had a fair handful of folks from the cruise ship on board, so it worked out good for them, in that we dock right next to the cruise ship….. so they just had a wee bit of a walk back to their accommodations. For the staff on the boat….. we had to snag a ride back to Salt River…. which was to be provided by the owner. Only thing is there was room for 3 passengers in the cab of the truck and 5 staff needing a ride……. we could have squoze (past tense of squeeze) one more person in the cab, but that would still have left one guy to ride in back, which ain’t a big deal here on our island- but -the bed of the pickup was filled with empty air tanks and stuff from the boat. The only other ‘old dude’ in the crowd volunteered to ride in back on top of the tanks. I wasn’t about to let him sit back there by himself, so I jumped in back there with him. Over the course of the next hour or so as we worked our way back to the marina (where everybody’s vehicles were at) me and my riding buddy managed to procure a couple of cold six packs of Budweiser and dang near got them all drank before getting back to out vehicles. That made that ride a heckva lot more comfortable~! I am already paying the price for that now, but it sure was fun~!

I tried out a new set up on my camera today. I worked diligently yesterday until I MacGyvered a way to attach my GoPro camera to my big rig for shooting video. I took a half dozen video’s with it today and am very pleased with the quality….. now I just need to learn to slow down and learn some of the nuances of shooting  underwater video. Then I have to learn how to load the video’s into my gallery…. apparently that is a whole different process. Go Figure. More diving tomorrow~!

Good Night Y’all + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Thankx for stopping in~!

As I said yesterday….. we got seated and by the time we had our appetizer (very warm pretzels) the place was almost packed. They served the pretzels with a honey mustard dipping sauce which was mostly disgusting. I asked for some melted Cheddar but they didn’t have any. Server said this was a new appetizer and they were still getting input on them. Apparently they have gotten a lot of requests for the cheese~~ Still pretty tasty. We each order a Mahi sammich (I am actually trying to eat a little bit smarter and not having a burger every time I go out. It was grilled  and had lettuce, mater and onions. I did splash a little bit of mayo on it as it was a touch dry and I had onion rings as my side. Hey- you can’t expect me to go completely full blown healthy eating. My bride had a side salad [show off]  😉  It was definitely standing room only by the time we left. We jumped in the truck and took a sun set drive up over ‘ the beast’ and settled in back here at the house.

Zoom to this morning and I was up well before my alarm. Everything loaded in the truck and I came in and made me a scrumptious breakfast. Couple of eggs, some lil smokies sausages (not the ones I like, but they’re not bad) 4 or 5 small tomatoes from Angie’s mini garden and a biscuit. I was ready to strap on my  new fins and see what they could do. First dive site was a favorite as it almost always has sharks…… this morning was not a let down~!! I got lots of good pictures of sharks. I even wound up deleting about a half dozen really nice pictures because I had so many really good pictures……. getting pickier too~!!  😉  Second dive site wasn’t as generous with ‘photo ops’ but I still managed a few decent shots….AND……. we got into a current [which normally just “kills” me]… but I had on my new fins and cruised right on through it~! The new fins work great~! They are also a heckva leg workout as well. Now if I can find something that’ll give me gut a workout. Guess laying off of the onion rings would help – huh ??  😉  More diving tomorrow~!

Good Night Y’all : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :: Thankx for stopping in~!

Greetings and salutations Y’all— Yet another fabulously sunny, breezy relaxing day in the books~!! Up a smidge early but that was by design. I need to be a little bit more tired early tonight so I can go to bed [and fall asleep] early tonight, instead of staying up with Major Dad until I get sleepy—-  which has been 11:00 pm or later the past several nights. It’s time to get back in the water tomorrow, which means have to be up early and prep for what looks to be a fairly busy day tomorrow. So by going to bed late and getting up early – I am set for an early bed time tonight……. The past week or so, I have been trying different fins out while I dive. My current fins are not giving me the performance I need here lately. I didn’t actually realize that until I started trying out different fins. On my last couple of dives I have tried out a pair of fins and it is a day and night difference in my swimming capability. Guess I didn’t realize the difference until then. Wow~! The pair I have tried these past couple of times is a much smaller (length wise) fin, but much, much stiffer and the thrust I have in those fins is just nuts. Something I desperately need when I’m chasing divers much younger than me or if there is any kind of current. I actually wound up on a dive with a current and I normally get “killed” during ‘current dives’ but with those other fins on, I cruised around like I was on a jet ski. Love it~! I told my Queen about them and she immediately said well go ahead and order you some. I told her there was a shop here on the island that was supposed to carry them and I would prefer to ‘buy local’ if I can, even if I have to pay a wee bit more for them. Besides not having to wait forever for them to be delivered, buying local also let’s me try them on, yes that can be a challenge sometimes, plus it supports local shops…… and no- ‘my‘ shop doesn’t handle those particular brand of fins. It’s actually kind of funny to watch the different shops ‘compete’ against each other boasting how their particular brand of gear is best. Some shops are maybe a little worse about it than others……and while I’m thinking about it…. they are fins….. not flippers. Inside joke there…..if you get it, you get it, if not, don’t worry about it.  😉

JUST so happens, afore mentioned dive shop is located immediately next door to a restaurant that generally has fairly decent eats and reasonable customer service (usually) us and Angie’s Niece and kids went there a couple of afternoons previous. So, after I made my purchase of new fins (I already had my mind made up I wanted them, just wasn’t sure about the color [bright yellow]- but logic says my current fins are almost completely yellow, so not really a big deal) I dropped my purchase into my gear bag in the back of my truck and we sauntered next door. Our timing was good, as the place was mostly empty and we had our choice of seats. We picked out a table next to the rail over looking Cane Bay beach and sat down. Wow— just noticed, I’m already way over……… maybe pick it up tomorrow….. maybe not. Diving tomorrow~!!

Good Night Y’all~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Thankx for stopping in~!

Another easy lazy day with my Bride feeding me all day. First a right fine breakfast…… I munched on a little junk during the course of the day and now just finishing up dinner. Stovetop something or other with peas and carrots and some crescent rolls. Have managed a movie or two– currently ¾ of the way through one called Looper…. a mostly stupid Sci-Fi flick with Bruce Willis…… haven’t seen any yet that stand out enough to recommend them to you all. Probably watch one more before switching over to Major Dad. Haven’t really got a lot accomplished today- and that’s alright. Like to think we’re just working in a little bit of retired life here and there. I did some work on my custom camera bucket that I keep on the boat for storing my camera when I’m diving. The boat has a camera bucket, but everyone can use it and newbies and people that don’t own expensive underwater cameras use that bucket to rinse gear in, especially masks….. which has mask defog in them, which is really bad for camera O-rings (which are supposed to seal water out of the camera)….. so I keep my own private bucket…… Is that egotistical ? Maybe a little bit, but I don’t care.  The work I did on it was reattaching a small piece of carpet to the bottom, so when the bucket is slid in or out from under ‘my spot’ on the bench there on the boat- I don’t scratch the paint up on the deck. That keeps the boss happy and every body likes to keep the boss happy  (and yes…. I have “my spot” on the boat when I’m on it). Again…. Special ? “Whatever“…… All the staff knows, respects and complies with “my” stuff and they’re all good with it……. so there~!

Grass really still doesn’t need mowed…. but I might run the mower over it anyways just to kind of level everything out. Besides…. I think my Queen is wanting to do some stuff outside and feels better if I’m out there with her….. so~~ Really about it…. already rambled more than I thought I was going to- weirdly– no boat tomorrow, so I have a 3rd day in a row to relax and do nothing. (I’m getting good at it)

Good Night Y’all * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Thankx for stopping in~!