Author: Bill

After a less than stellar night— I rolled out fairly early just so I could get out of bed and get my day started. Among other stuff, I was anxious to see how I was feeling. Guess that sounds funny but there have been lots of times laying there I felt marvelous, just to get up and get moving and discover aches or pains that appear that try and ruin the day. Happily, everything felt good. Belly still has a little tenderness to it…. but it dissipated as I got my day started. I took it easy the entire day, having a tasty breakfast and then settling in on the couch for some Lost in Space and then eventually switching over to football. Not as much enjoyment watching football as it used to be, primarily because I can’t watch the Colts and we have some of the worst cable on the planet….. ahhh island life~! We made do though. It got to be late enough in the day and I was still feeling pretty spiffy- so I pinged the dive shop and told them to put me on the boat for tomorrow~! I told them I may have to short notice cancel in the morning (but I really doubt) but to please have a couple of tanks loaded for me. Woo-Hoo~!!! I’m getting back in the water. We each made us a turkey sammich and now here I am chatting with you while I watch/listen to little snippets as the Cowboys try to catch up to the Cardinals (again our illustrious cable- it freezes up…a lot.) So I’m gonna get this finished up and set back down for more foot ball and aliens~! I shared a bunch of pictures last night from my screen saver from 2021…… I think just for something different…. I’ll load some tonight from 10 years ago.

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

Happy New Year you all……. and welcome 2022. I hope you’re a damn site better year than the last one. I begrudgingly ‘welcomed‘ in the new year when I was jolted out of a deep peaceful slumber by a volley of gunfire. I don’t think it was real close, but definitely close enough to be spooky loud. If I haven’t mentioned it before, fireworks are illegal on the island and may only be purchased [and set off] by licensed operators. To make up for the lack of legal fireworks (you pretty much have to leave the island to even find any) a bunch of the residents fire off their weapons to make noise. Yes, that is illegal too, but it is apparently much easier to get guns than it is fireworks. Much like in the states…. when someone pops off a couple of rounds, there is almost always somebody that needs “outdo” them, either in volume or quantity of shots. fun. I’m pretty sure I heard at least one volley from a machine gun. Not an automatic weapon….. a machine gun. Can’t say I’m overly thrilled with that. Guess I should take solace from the Governors request that citizens ‘not use their guns for celebrating’…… but I didn’t. I laid there and listened to that noise for about 30 minutes before it died out enough that I fell back asleep. I didn’t hear any the rest of the night. I don’t know if the partiers got drunk enough and passed out, ran out of ammo or what…… just glad it did.

My Bride and I both slept in a little bit after staying up a little later than usual watching our newest series ‘Lost in Space‘. I used to love the original as a young boy growing up. We’re just starting season two and so far…. not bad, not sure I like it as much as I liked the original- but I’m keeping an open mind. I like this Robot a lot better. A tasty breakfast and a very laid back day of ease today. I feel better than I have in a week or so. If I feel this good again tomorrow— I may try to make a couple of dives on Monday~! So tomorrow is hopefully a repeat of today. Relaxed, comfortable and letting the new year slip in calmly and quietly.

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

Here we are…. once again, another year gone and we sit waiting on the arrival of a new and hopefully brighter year. I thought this was gonna be a fairly short post (and still might) because nothing really changed from yesterday. I don’t feel any better –but– I don’t feel any worse~! Hopefully that is a good thing as I wait for my scan appointment. Bad as I hated it, I told the dive shop to now consider me ‘out’ until further notice. I hope I wake up tomorrow feeling miraculous so I can go back to diving, but I just don’t see that happening any way soon. So please keep your fingers crossed for me that the scans find something that explains all the issues and is easily [and cheaply resolved]. Thankx~

I hope 2022 brings a lot more common sense and a lot less drama. A lot more decency and a lot less sense of entitlement. A lot more respect and a lot less rudeness. A lot more love and a lot less hatred……. I could go on all night… well another couple of minutes anyways, but you get the idea.  I wish the very best for all of you reading this. May your New Year be happy, healthy and prosperous for you and your family.

Happy New Year Y’all * * * * * * * * I’ll see you next year~!

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Not as good of a night last night, but still not terrible. Coffee with my Queen this morning and got her on her way in for another day at the ATV office.  Feeling a little bit braver and in anticipation of maybe doing something physical today – I made myself a slightly bigger beefier breakfast. Sure tasted good going down but my belly started telling me almost immediately that it probably wasn’t a good idea yet. Too late….. still [hoping] my stomach is just sore from the ordeal I went through the other day… I went out and loaded my old lawnmower up into the bed of my truck. Turns out that was not the best idea I had all day but I sat down and it didn’t take long to feel better. My journey today involved stopping to pay rent, then stopping by the dump to drop off gar-bage….. stopped and filled the truck up. Drove 3/4 of the way across island and dropped off the old lawn mower (had help getting it out of the truck) 😉 and came back across the island stopping at the Market to do the grocery shopping. About halfway through that venture I started feeling pretty beat up…… so definitely not ready to get back in the water…… not sure I could get my gear on the way my belly feels right now. I have to get my brain convinced the issue is nothing more than a badly strained/bruised stomach and move. I miss being in the water. I miss taking pictures. I’m sick of staring at a computer or TV screen. Tomorrow is a new day….we’ll see what it looks like in the morning~!

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

Up this morning after a fairly impressive nights sleep. I got to stay in bed all night and slept fairly soundly through most of it. My bathroom was stuff was a huge improvement and I was happy with that. It didn’t take me long to realize though, that I’m not ready to be put back in the game yet though. I have a nasty sore spot on my left lower belly. Feels almost like a low gut punch. HMmmm…. that’s new. Could be from excessive ‘use’ Monday and the soreness is just catching up to me. Maybe dehydration? Could be from just sitting up weird. Could be from just being old and fat….. I don’t know. Being a starvin’ Marvin again…. I opted for a bit more of a solid breakfast…. scrambled eggs with a couple pieces of my Lil Smokies sausage (the solid part of the meal) The breakfast actually made my belly feel a little better….. for a while. I got up and got [slowly] active to see what moving around and doing something would do for me. I t didn’t help, but I did manage to get a couple of small things done. Shortly after Angie got home from work (office stuff at the ATV place) I opted to settle in on the couch for more brain numbing viewing. I was getting hungry, so I made me a small batch of Tuna salad and had that with some Ritz crackers. Tasted delightful but did not do much for my belly as the tenderness is still there. Not bad- but enough for me to call out again of being on the boat tomorrow. I just don’t think it’s a good idea yet. For now- I’ll play it by ear and see how each day goes until my Ultra Sounds. Maybe that’ll point to something I can get fixed.

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

Greetings and salutations dear readers. Yesterday turned out to be by most peoples standards a really bad day. It started out like most mornings making multiple trips to the bathroom before I could depart for my day….. however, this time it didn’t stop after the standard 4 or 5 times. Luckily, this was going to be a day off to spend with my bride watching movies. After a tasty breakfast of steak, eggs, bacon and biscuits, we settled in on the couch for some movies.  I guess it would be more accurate to say Angie settled in on the couch. I spent the bulk of the day running to the bathroom. OMG– that was worse than prepping for a colonoscopy. Not sure what I picked up, but it is a doozy. To make matters worse….. the more I ‘went’ the more tender I got. Trying not to go into a lot of graphic detail here so lets just say it was a miserable for the old fat boy. Anything I put in me didn’t even hardly slow down before coming back out… with a vengeance. I probably made at least 30 trips to the bathroom yesterday. Miserable. Somehow or another (I guess I was finally ’empty’) I did manage a fairly reasonable couple hours of decent sleep. I ushered Angie off to work this morning and assumed a halfway comfortable position on the couch and waited for the process to start over again. Presuming this was gonna happen – I notified the dive shop the day before I was not going to be on the boat….. dammit I hate it when I have to do that. Thankfully, even though the process started again, the frequency and urgency was much less. Much less. Encouraged by that, and the fact I was starving at that point, I rustled me up a short stack of pancakes and a short glass of milk and sat down and wolfed them down. So far today, the experiences have been a major improvement and the pancakes managed to stay inside. May have to make me a couple of scrambled eggs and see if they’ll stick with me for a little bit. I am still very tender…. so have opted out of diving again tomorrow, that activity requires you be mostly 100% for and the thought of my ‘thigh area’ rubbing together for an hour at a time- in salt water- just doesn’t seem prudent, dammit, so I’m going to continue to wait until I am good to go.

Talked to Doc about all of this previous, and most recent blood tests have raised a concern that there might be Liver or Gallbladder issues, so she wants me to get an Ultra Sound done on them. She also wants me ‘on the wagon’ a week before the scans…… Scans have already been scheduled and I have already climbed on board the wagon. Ought to be an interesting week. I’ll let you know how I’m doing as the week progresses.

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

Kind of a unique feature of this island…….. the day after Christmas here… is pretty much like any other day of the year. Everything picks up and takes off just like any other day. I had to be out and about a little bit today and there was not one single indication that it wasn’t just any other day. I’m not really complaining….. Christmas is probably the ‘toughest‘ holiday to deal with, not being near our babies and Grand babies. The fact that here the holiday goes away post haste works in our favor by not pulling at the heart strings as much. We both slept in ever so slightly before settling in here at the table. Angie finally started some breakfast while I updated my “bills” spreadsheet and settled in to pay bills for next month (2022 already— geeesh) . Got to love being able to schedule payments online….. makes it sooo much easier to get everything paid and out of the way for the month. Only thing I can’t schedule is my rent payment. The landlord insists on a personal check each month. As long as our rent doesn’t go up—- I am quite content making sure she gets the check every month (2 days early). I have decided I am going to ask if I can put down new tile in the kitchen. I’m fairly sure she’ll let me as long as I don’t want to deduct it from the rent. Our kitchen is tiny…. I mean really small… really small….. less than 60  sq ft, so it won’t  take a lot of material and don’t think it will take more than a day…. and that’s taking my time….. so if we wind up paying for it— it will be a really good argument in March if she wants to try and raise our rent……. thinking ahead a little bit here  😉  I just hope I can borrow a tile saw… that’ll save me quite a bit.

My Bride whooped up a batch of Biscuits & Gravy which just so happens to be exactly what I had a hankerin’ for~! MmMmMm good~! I ate my fill and had an extra biscuit & sausage just for good measure. I let that fine meal ‘settle’ just a skosh, before getting up and heading outside to mow the yard. I wanted to get to it before I got completely out of the mood. Truth be told, don’t guess I was really in the mood to cut grass…… but you get what I’m going for. Grass wasn’t terribly out of control but definitely needed tending to. Finished the yard, took a water drinking break and cooled off before loading the truck up and headed in to get the ATV yard knocked out. Done- stuff cleaned and put up, me cleaned and sat down and ready to relax. We each made our self a sammich or two and now ar e watching the Chiefs mopping up the field with the Steelers…. almost embarrassing. Because tomorrow is Angie’s only day off next week, I am taking the day off with her. Planning on a fun Netflix day I think~!

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

Merry Christmas All Y’all~!! Sorry I have missed doing this the past several days, but there have been lots of parties and gatherings that we either wanted to attend or were expected to be at….. all of which resulted in getting home late enough each evening (and having to get up in the morning for work) that it just made it not the time to sit down and type. Christmas season here on the island (and other tropical destinations) is a heckva lot busier than what you would think. To this day, it still kind of wigs me out a little bit the number of people that travel for Christmas, to somewhere other than a relatives house. If you earn a living on one of those islands [or work for someone that does]……. above average chance you will be working the holidays to, to tend to the people that like to travel on those holidays. Such was the case this year. I wasn’t told I had to work Christmas day….. not in so many words anyways……. being the conscientious old feller that I am though– did what I felt was in my best interest and the interest of my employer…… Other than abandoning my queen for about 5 hours on Christmas day, I actually kind of enjoyed it. The boat was full and everybody on the boat was in a good holiday mood. The dive shop furnished Santa hats for everyone and lots of sweets to eat and munch on. We made two great dives, there was minimal issues or griping….. and to top it off- icy cold beer waiting at the dock when we got back~! ( I am gonna put a note in the suggestion box that the beer thing should be a full time thing)  😉 It was a very enjoyable day of ‘work‘……. I have been carrying around a Santa hat with me on the second dive for the past several days- and everybody has been getting a big kick out of getting their picture taken with it underwater.

Last night we had dinner with the island kids and Nick (no-not St. Nicholas)…. an agreeable meal and an enjoyable evening before the kids once again head back to the land of plenty. Angie took them to the airport today and will be working in the office for the next week or so covering for Cynthia. Nick is now filling what used to be my slot, which in no way shape or form upsets me…… I would much rather be diving than getting the hell beat out of me rattling around on the trails everyday. Pay is about the same but my tips are much better with the photography~~~ After getting back today and hustling up to get a lot of pictures up from today- My bride and I went out for a Christmas dinner. Wish I could say it was wonderful……. however….. very, very mediocre….. sad, as last year that meal was fabulous (which made us really look forward to it this year) Still — we had a gorgeous sunset, 82 degrees, a meal that filled us up that neither of us had to cook or clean up after…. and each other. I’ll take that. I hope you all got to spend at least some of your day with family and or friends and that you had a very Merry Christmas~!

Vera— Eel warning  😉

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

For the first time in almost three weeks…. I was back out on the North shore diving~!!!  Yay~!  Diving on the West end of the island is nice…… it is a really short drive….. boat time to the dive sites (even the farthest one) is less than about 15 minutes……. bobbing around in the water off the end of the boat taking pictures of people exiting the boat is SOOOO much easier…… but I miss being on the North Shore. Not sure what it is. The water is typically rougher…… which makes for some (at the very least) entertaining boat rides to the dive sites. Nothing like watching 2 or 3 people hanging over the side of the boat puking their guts out. I never understood why someone who is [drastically] prone to sea sickness takes up SCUBA diving as a past time…….. Guess I’m lucky….. you can put me through almost every maneuver there is without issue…… 1 exception and it seems almost silly. You put me on your Standard Issue Merry-Go-Around (Carousel) and I will get sick as a little boy dog. I never knew what that meant but my Dad said it a lot. Seriously- there has yet to be a roller coaster or other such type device that makes my stomach churn…… but put me on a Carousel and get out of the way…….. go figure.

I digress. My standard morning…… slightly better night sleep…… a wonderful tasty breakfast ( I was starving), batteries charged and loaded, truck loaded. My Bride rolled out just before I headed out the door. Made my 25-35 minute drive to the marina…… life is good. It was a chilly morning this morning on the drive to the marina. Did I say chilly ??? I meant CHILLY~! It got down to 72 degrees. I had the heater on [full blast] in the truck (and it felt good)…….. Jeeez what has happened to me ??? I have become an islander, is what is wrong with me. By the time I got all my gear loaded on the boat and put together, I had worked up a minor sweat and was ‘good’ for the rest of the day……. gotta love island life~! Two very fun dives….. some sharks, some turtles…… everybody wanted pictures…… the Santa hat made multiple rounds…… it was just a fun good day underwater~!

After some running after diving for my Bride…… back at the house, drinks made and loading a bunch of fun pictures……. the topic of dinner came up. Tried to get us in for some Oysters….. but failed miserably. Had to settle for Taco’s and a burger. Still tasty and filling….. gorgeous sunset….. good company  😉  Back here at the house – I finally finished my editing and got those pictures put up and now finishing up with you all. Looking forward to some sleep and apparently another FULL day tomorrow. Staff Christmas party after work tomorrow…… so there will probably not be anything from me tomorrow….. probably~~~

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

Up before I really wanted to be this morning….. dammit emmit I hate when that happens. A mostly fitful night sleep. Not sure what the issue is but hope it’s been resolved enough to go back to that good snoozing I was doing~! Got up, regular routine, including breakfast and catching up on news when my Queen came stumbling out. I started the coffee and we sat quietly for the next hour before I had to take off. Another cruise ship in today which means the boat is still out on our end of the island. I like it in that I only have to drive a couple of minutes to get in town….. the down side is I have to hump my gear longer than the time it takes me to drive in, because I have to park so far away when the cruise ship is in (the area I normally park is blocked off for “cruise ship” day). Oh well….. I guess the exercise is good for me.

Turned out to be a full day of chasing cruise divers. A total of 11 divers which made for a good busy day chasing people taking pictures. The boat was very adequately staffed for the divers we had so I got to spend both dives photographing and not contending with ‘issues’. Everybody did really good so I wound up with a lot of fun pictures for them. The pictures  have all been edited and put up on line now, so hopefully everyone gets in to see them soon. Even caught up on my other stuff at this point already and it’s only 6:00 pm………  woo-hoo~! I may finish up early enough to catch a movie before bedtime. Diving again tomorrow and we are back to mid-island on the North shore….. so an hour of driving and probably still a LOT rougher water than what we’ve had the past week or so out here.  At least I won’t have to hump my gear as far~~~  😉

Got a belly full of spaghetti that my Queen made for us, already had a shower… all I have to do is drop batteries into chargers for the night and I’ll be good to go for tomorrow~!  It’s already down to 79 degrees……. I may have to break out the heating blanket  😉

Happy Anniversary to our Damn Neighbors…….. Don’t know how many years but I do know it’s their anniversary……. Luv you Fu…… both~~  😉

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