A really nice calm day getting some odds and ends on line taken care of and then some movies. Some decent, some not so decent. Doing mostly whatever we felt like. It’s late and while my Queen does dishes, I’m doing this– then moving back to the couch to finish off this wonderfully relaxing day. NOTHING on the agenda tomorrow…… not even cutting grass~~ I like it.
Good Night Y’all – – – – – – – – — – – – Thankx for stopping in~!
Good Evening Y’all~~~
Slow easy kind of day today to wrap up what has proved to be a whirl wind kind of week. I was up well before my alarm, even though I went to bed extra early because I was running on fumes from the previous day and figured I needed extra snooze time to try and make up some of the sleep deficit. Even with that— I still popped up out of bed 20 minutes before my alarm. Old habits I guess. Guess I got distracted by my birthday story, that I didn’t mention our previous night with our visitors. Angie scheduled a night at a local restaurant that not only had decent eats- but classic island entertainment in the ways of Fire Dancers and the “Guardians of Culture”….. our Moko Jumbies. Long time readers should remember tales of especially the Jumbies….. the guys on the big stilts. We had an agreeable meal and an hour of entertainment with the Fire Dancers and the Jumbies. I have a bunch of pictures but haven’t got them edited yet. I still have pictures from our last beach day, but…. you guessed it…… haven’t got them edited yet either….. so I’m probably putting up some [edited] dive pictures tonight and will get all the rest of my editing done tomorrow. The way it stands right now, I am ‘off’ for the next 3 days…. yes, the next 3 days…… woo-hoo. Looks to be a pretty full week when I do go back though…… but- one day at a time. Like I said… I have a boat load of editing to do on visitor pictures….. I have to load another gallery for a cruise shipper that missed his gallery in the ONE MONTH he had to look for his pictures…….. I’d bet good money I don’t see any kind of tip out of it either for reloading it…….. dammit Emmit.
My Bride was in the mood for a couple of Cheeseburger Taco’s tonight, so we ran up to Louis & Nacho’s. Just got our order placed when they came out and said they are [still] out of Crown. O.M.G. people…… I thought my Bride was gonna launch out of her chair. Nope— she did not take it well and tied into one of the owners…. poor Ba$tard never saw it coming…… LOL. Feisty little old broad that one is…… 😉 She opted to stay and have her Taco’s though…….. I tried something [kinda] new. I like their Cheese burgers- but they come on a fairly massive bun and I cannot bring myself to not ‘not eat’ part of it. In other words I can’t tear off part of the bun and leave it lay there. So I ordered a Chicken wrap and asked if they could substitute the chicken with a cheeseburger. It took some s’plainin’…. but they got it and it was delicious~! So I have a new way to order my burger now and cut out most of the carbs…… or whatever buns are……..
Good Night Y’all~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Thankx for stopping in~!
P4160132 <— Turtle Video
Hola’……. me again. Family is currently winging their way towards Cincinnati, I did two dives this morning and just finishing up editing and posting. I have had a handful of drinks, a bite to eat and honestly….. ready for a nap. Now…. a little back story~~ I got up around 04:30 this morning, to get up and ready to take our visiting family to the airport. They had a very early flight and we got them gathered up and on their way. It was in fact, early enough, that we came back to the house, I made my Queen a breakfast sammich and me my usual delicious breakfast. Figured I was gonna need a pretty good energy boost to get me through the day. I was correct. Drove out to the North marina and got in two wonderful dives. Thankfully a small boat, so I got to spend a lot of time hunting for wildlife instead of dealing with problem divers. Back to the house….. my Bride was waiting on me. She opted not to go into work today. I suspect it was to stay at home and get some stuff done for me. Not the usual stuff…… you see….. if you haven’t heard, today is my birthday and she was wanting to get some stuff done for that. As a rule I try not to say much about this day and even though I ask my Queen every year not to say anything…. she does anyway. So she had snacks and Subway sammiches here for me and tried to make a fuss about my day even though I didn’t want her to. I let her make me a couple of drinks and I’m fairly sure, I’m gonna pay dearly for it….. but what the hell. What doesn’t kill ya – makes you stronger. I’m just crossing my fingers this doesn’t kill me. I did get my MRI rescheduled so Doc can see what’s going. I’m gonna have to get this figured soon…. one way or the other…… but for the mean time I’ll be cutting back on booze again [after today] until I know all of my options. Still lots family pictures to edit and share…. but for now I think I’m gonna move to the couch and enjoy the rest of my birthday {{SHHHhhh}} 😉
Good Night Y’all : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Thankx for stopping in~!
((Vera— 3 or 4 eel pictures below)) 😉
Even though I had the opportunity to sleep in this morning…. I didn’t/couldn’t. My Queen was up uncharacteristically early and being characteristically noisy……. so when she reached in to close the bedroom door so I could sleep…… I just told her I’m awake and went ahead and rolled on out to start my day. My chest and stomach were letting me know in no uncertain terms I drank a lot of beer yesterday…… apparently more than I should have. Dammit Emmit~! I settled in to a coff of cuppee and read up on the news. The plan was to take it easy today (without as much time in the sun) and get some shopping done. So we took our time getting ready before my Bride us a wonderfully tasty breakfast. Bacon, eggs, Kielbasa, hash browns and a small glass of ice cold milk to wash it all down. Bellies full…… still took it easy waiting to hear from our visitors. I finally pinged them and we agreed to leave out around noon. That left us another hour or so, so we just took it easy until it was time to go and gather them up.
We made it into Christiansted just a little after noon and quickly burned up a couple of hours doing the touristy thing. Nobody was in any hurry to get back to the house, so I took the scenic route back to our end of the island, stopping by The Landing restaurant located in scenic Cane Bay. I figured if nothing else, a drink would be in order (for them) my inside hurt bad enough that I opted for water all day….. dammit Emmit~! The kids were starving…. so they order some appetizers.. the rest just decided to work on our drinks for a little bit…… MmMmmmm that water was tasty…….. :-0 The server came around about 30 minutes later and asked if we would like to order the main course. By that point (App’s weren’t there yet) it seems like a strategic move. Everybody ordered, and as it turns out, that was a really good idea. Now I have a full working knowledge and understanding of ‘Island Time’……. but my friends, let me tell you what…. OMG….. even the patient women in the group were starting to ask questions. In short…. about an hour and 20 minutes to get all of our stuff…… but we had some great conversation waiting on it and while we consumed it, because at this point we were all starving. I always tell new people to the island…… ‘Never go to a restaurant here on the island, when you’re hungry’……. you’ll starve to death….. and that is exactly why~! But we made the best of it. The server said she appreciated out patience and said she would comp our dessert, but we wound up getting charged for it anyway. I didn’t say anything, them ladies had their hand full today…. including a power outage in the middle of it. Island life. Big day tomorrow…… Zip lines for me and Jodi…….. Jet Skies for Jayson and Jayney….. my Queen will probably sit out~~ After we get that done, ATV’s in the rain forest in the afternoon~! It should be a very full day~!
Good Night Y’all> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thankx for stopping in~!
Right off of the bat…… Cay is pronounced ‘key’….. so when/if you hear us talking about it, you’ll know what we’re talking about…. Hotel on the Cay is arguably the prettiest beach on the island. It is almost always very calm…… the water is always a gorgeous blue and the beach…… ahhh the beach…… the beach is a post card quality beach….. the picture perfect palm trees, the gorgeous white sand, that water……… just really hard to top. That is where we took our visitors today…… and for 5 hours or so, we drank, swam, snorkeled, played in the water and ate some really good local BBQ. Wasn’t quite ‘Blues’ quality BBQ, but not terrible. Did I mention we had a drink or two while we were out there ?? As the day wore on, as the sun started it’s downward arc to the sea….. my focus lingered longer and longer on our guests. One of them in particular is extremely light complected and I wanted to make sure he didn’t get deep fried to a crackly crunch. I am crossing my fingers he didn’t get aggravated with me telling him to seek shade or cover up….. but I wasn’t going to let him get burned [much] on my watch. Visitors to our gorgeous little island here just do not understand just how hot our sun gets here and how fast it can make a fair skinned person miserable……. did I say miserable ? I meant miserable. So- again, not on my watch……. I had him in and out of the shade or under some kind of cover— so while he is going to have some tender places on him……. he shouldn’t be miserable. The two females of the group….. maybe a little different conversation. They had a slightly better base tan to work with, but also had a smidge more to drink than he did…… oh okay….. maybe a smidge more than a smidge……. AND…… maybe…. just ever so slightly….. a bit more hard headed…… but that’s still up for debate~~~ 😉 Bottom line, I think I got them back to their place for the night with minimum sun damage and they …. should be able to successfully navigate the day tomorrow with minimum pain.
I think…. I believe, I’m fairly sure…….. we’re all going to sleep in tomorrow…. fairly sure some of us will need to……. and then get a nice slow casual start to the day. I think we’re gonna head back down town and hit the boardwalk (along the water front) and hit some of the shops for souvenir’s maybe a bite to eat and maybe even [[dare I say it]] a drink or two~~ Either way, it should be a fairly calm day…… ramping back up on Tuesday for some ATV-ing, maybe some jet ski’s and some zip lining…… we’ll see…….. stayed tuned for details…….
Good Night Y’all ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Thankx for stopping in~!
[[[ Vera— Heads up—— Eels in this group]]] 😉
The last time I wrote you, I was secretly planning how to get out of the house to run to the airport to pick up some of Angie’s family that was coming in. I had been in ca-hoots with them for several months to surprise Angie. It took some doing and some help from our island ‘kids‘….. but am reasonably sure we pulled it off. I think it’s safe to say she was mostly floored when she realized who it was walking in the door that night (they got in on the late AA flight)…. but we did it, they’re here safely and we have been having a ball so far (which is why I have been mysteriously absent….. my apologies) So far we have been doing pretty typical stuff when folks visit our little island…… lounging on the beach…. a little bit of alcohol consumption…… have dinner at Blues…… a little bit of alcohol consumption……. went SCUBA diving this morning~!!! a little bit of alcohol consumption…….. traveled ALL-the-WAY to the East end of the island to see the Eastern most point of the United States (Point Udall) ….. stopped en-route for a late lunch at Cheeseburger in America’s Paradise…….. a little bit of alcohol consumption…. Jason flew his drone around and took some pictures from out there. Can’t wait to see those……..then a leisurely route down the South Western shore of the island on the way back….. now back at the house, pictures from today’s dives edited and up loaded…..a little bit of alcohol consumption…… and yes, I am starting to pay the price for it, so I may have to back off a skosh….. so far a couple of really fun days. We wrapped the day up a little early so I could get to the pictures…… so I have a little time to write as well. We have a couple of more fun days in the planning stages. I think tomorrow is going to be a [mostly] all day at the beach day at Hotel on the Cay….. which means LOTS of sun and fun, probably alcohol consumption…. some real good food, swimming, snorkeling and lots of fun in general. We have some ATV-ing planned as well as zip lining [for some of us]. I think we have an evening planned that involves the Moko Jumbies…… that’s always a good time……. For now, gonna rest up for what is sure to be a long fun day tomorrow……… Gotta love having family in~!!
Good Night Y’all – – – – – – – – – – – Thankx for stopping in~!
Up this morning a smidge earlier than I wanted, but my poor old bladder just could not take it any longer, so up I got…… bathroom stuff all done and out of the way and I settled in to catch up on the news……. jeez what a mess. I am worried what we as a civilization have in front of us. I am particularly worried about what my girls and my Grand kids are up against. Even if I manage to stick around another 20 years like Lil Sis told me I have to….. I’m not sure how much good I’m gonna be at being able to protect them or help them if they need it…….. old people problems……. dammit Emmit. I digress…….. My Bride rolled out about 30 minutes behind me and we settled in with coffee and computers. Today’s world I guess. I eventually got up, loaded all the batteries and got everything into my truck, then made breakfast for me and Angie. She has become quite smitten with the egg & cheese sammich I make for her (even making them for herself on non-work days sometimes). I don’t think she realizes how happy it makes me when she eats…… but again, I digress. Got her off to work and I was out the door right behind her. Another day on the boat….. thank goodness it wasn’t as ‘sporty‘ out there today. A very small group today (4 divers and 1 snorkeler) so lots of elbow room on the boat…. I like it~! Lots of photo Ops today including a big green Eel and an awesome video of it AND an even awesome-er video of a Sting Ray feeding. Not sure if I’ll be able to get it to load here, if not- I’ll put it up on FB. It is already up on Instagram if you have an IG account. A whole other blog about how and why I now have an IG account ((https://www.instagram.com/bill_hein_photography/)) Any~who….. two good dives today… everybody had a good time and no body got hurt…. always a good day when that happens~! On the ride back into the dock– Got the message that there is ‘NO Boat’ tomorrow. Not a lot of interest and they had some work to do on the boat anyways…. so– it looks like the ole fat boy has a 3 day week end~!! Woot-Woot~!! Not sure what I’m gonna do with it…. I don’t think the grass will need cut this weekend because we have been oddly without rain this past week….. so 3 whole days~!!! I gave my gear a good rinsing and have it drying out for a change. It needs to do that once in a while anyways….. so look out island…… Here I come~!! Ha Ha Ha Ha … I couldn’t even type that with a straight face…… if I make it past 9:00 I’ll be lucky~!! 😉
Good Night Y’all * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Thankx for stopping in~!!
Busy couple of days just zipped past……… probably forgot to mention that I had a CRABBS club meeting last night. Gentle reminder is that CRABBS is a local group of people here on the island that get together for friendship and diving. I am currently on the Board of Directors (and currently looking to get out of that position). I have served 3+ years of a 2 year service [granted there was a down year because of COVID, but that’s not my fault] but any how, we had our first meeting in a pretty good while. We had a nice turnout and it was nice to see everybody again. I don’t get back from those until around 9:00 pm so I got on line long enough to do my FB thing and then headed off to bed.
I am happy to report that I finally got my on line photo gallery issues figured out. A good night’s sleep I think was a big factor, but what ever it was– it worked. Took a couple of hours and some well written notes [to myself] but I think I finally have it nailed down…..AND….. I just got a confirmation via an email…. that I actually sold a couple of pictures from today’s dives….. so now I know I have it set up correctly~!!!! YaY~~!! Guess I scared my Damn Neighbor a little bit…. she wrote me with suggestions in hopes of my not possibly stroking out trying to figure that mess out….. I still feel the love~! 😉
Very sporty out on the boat today….. did I say sporty…. I meant SPORTY….. wow. There were some 8′ – 10′ swells that even had me wondering [a little bit] if we should be out there. I wasn’t so much worried about me as I was our guests. If you don’t have some experience and some confidence, it can be less than fun to try and get back on board the boat without dang near killing yourself……. but everybody had a good time and no body got hurt. Had one ‘ride along’ that didn’t fare so well with the boat ride and spent the last half of the trip with her head in a bucket….. but I guess you’ll have that every now again.
Going back out again tomorrow….. but for now….. looking forward to a little couch time. My Bride is finally back from her day of labor and I am plying her with drinks and I think she will be ready for bed shortly….. she had a tough day today 🙁
Good Night Y’all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thankx for stopping in~!
Sorry, but this is probably gonna be brief ya’ll…….. I have spent the last 3+ hours trying to understand that @#$%^&^%$# on line gallery of mine. I thought I had finally figured it out to some small degree…… but when I put my newest gallery up today, nothing worked like it was supposed to and all the previous galleries were FUBAR’d as well. Nothing I have tried so far seems to help….. DAMMIT Emmit~!! Why the people that own that gallery won’t let me call and talk to someone (I have offered to upgrade my subscription, and/or pay cash money to be able to talk to an actual human being) ….. but NOOooooo…. guess that would be too friggin’ easy~!! Jeezus H Christ that pi$$e$ me off~!! Sorry to all that are offended, but the fact that customer service in this country is almost non existent anymore just makes me sick to my stomach……… what a load of crap~!!
Had two nice dives today. Kind of a small boat and I spent almost as much time doing Dive Master stuff as I did taking pictures…… but the dives were good, nobody got hurt, I got some shark shots, I think the water is warming up [ever so slightly] and the water was decently calm….. so for the most part a good day. My Bride made a tasty Shake-N-Bake chicken supper for us, Neighbor came over to b*tch for a while (not sure about what) and now I am catching up with you all. Taking the day off from diving tomorrow to ride as rear guide for a couple of ATV tours tomorrow. Like I said yesterday [I think] it’ll be a nice change of pace for a day……… So for now…. again apologies for all of ^^^^ that~~~ Hopefully tomorrow will be a better/calmer day.
Good Night Ya’ll ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” Thankx for stopping in~!
I was up about my usual time this morning even though I stayed up a little later than usual last night. My Bride bagged out early and left me here to my quiet little self. I don’t mind….. I kind of enjoy the quiet….well, my kind of quiet….. nobody talking and a little bit of decent music barely audible in the back ground. I moseyed into bed around 23:00 (11:00pm) and drifted off almost immediately to sleep. I woke up around 06:30 and flopped and wallered for about 10 minutes before going ahead and getting up. Oddly, I don’t lounge well in bed. I always thought I’d like to be able to, but in the last 64+ years haven’t got the hang of it yet. I got up and quickly knocked out the morning ‘have to do’s‘ and settled in with my little news feed. Sadly, nothing encouraging…… I finally shut it off and sat and made me a list of things I’d would like to have got done during the course of the day. I did find out the Shawn and Cynthia were coming by for burgers, so I had a deadline to beat as well. As it turns out my bride must have needed the extra sleep, as she didn’t roll out until around 10:00 and by the time she did, I had most of my to-do list knocked out. I sat and piddled while we drank coffee and I actually cleaned up everything on my list, plus a couple. Heck yeah~!!
The kids came by, we had burgers and dogs and chatted for a bit. Always enjoy their visits. I got to grill up some new hot dogs I found and I am happy to report they tasted every bit as good as I was hoping they would~! I enjoy a good hotdog almost as much as I do a good burger….almost~ That’s about it. I have to get batteries charged up and ready for another day in the water tomorrow. I have to rotate to the other camera and batteries. I try to switch them out every couple of weeks….. kind of give the one camera and set of batteries a rest. Not sure if it does any good, but am confident, it doesn’t hurt anything~~
((Heads up Vera— more EEL stuff coming up) 😉
Good Night Y’all > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thankx for stopping by~!
P4050294 <— EEL video
P4050297 <— ANother EEL video
