Author: Bill

Up after a less than stellar night sleeping. Surely it could not have been our dinner….. it was so good. One of the rare times it was fresh and hot and greasy and delicious~!! Up, gear readied and loaded. Opted completely out of breakfast this time…. just wasn’t up for it. Two easy dives today. Great dive sites, no current, amazing visibility, lots of critters (except for sharks). Only had two guests today and they are mostly self reliant, so all I had to do was swim and take pictures. Well, I had to help the young Dive Master find her way around a little bit — but I was going that way anyway~~ so no biggie. Lots of fun pictures for you today. Don’t know if I’ll put them all up today or not – as I just realized a few minutes ago, I have to bail from diving tomorrow to go get the truck worked on so I’ll need pictures for you tomorrow too. The truck is leaking transmission fluid at a pretty good pace and that’s never good. Plus I also need to put my eyes on the engine mounts. The last time it was in the shop, they said the engine mounts  needed replaced. Personally I think they’re just trying to drum up business – but we’ll see. I dunno….. maybe it’s a liability thing….. who knows~!  So, staying dry tomorrow, but back in the swim of things Friday [I hope].

Listening and watching the mess going on in Florida right now. Glad that hurricane fired up well past us but hate that it is whooping up on the states now. Been in contact with our people living in Florida and they all are okay or have moved to a location where they will be okay. That storm looks to have the potential of being a deadly storm. Keep your fingers crossed for those folks impacted~!! That’s about it. Gonna wrap it up here.

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

Slow start to my day today as the boat came around to our end of the island so we didn’t start until 10:00. I like it – I get to ‘sleep in’ and still have plenty of time to get my stuff ready for the day….. AND ….I still get back here about the same time as I would as an early start from the marina~! Still out West tomorrow and starting at normal time (08:30), so shorter day tomorrow. First dive this morning was Armageddon~! Yeppers – my very most favorite dive site and it did not disappoint. Hardly any current and 100′ visibility~!  Ooh-Rah~!! Lots going on down there….. got one of the big sharks to come in for a fairly close look, couple of big Angel fish, a gorgeous Green Sea turtle and even couple of the local Barracuda’s came in for a photo opportunity~! Love it, love it, love it~! Pictures pop under the water conditions we had today and because it was a small group — I got to spend almost the entire dive doing my thing instead of chasing people. Second dive wasn’t quite as productive and I must have had my strobes turned slightly out of kilter – but still not terrible pictures – it helps I had a big friendly Hawksbill (turtle) at the end of that dive as well~!

Back, pictures done and posted…… my Bride knew I was wanting some KFC (that’s what happens when I watch football games….. I see the commercials for all that goodness and then I want it) but KFC opened late and she wasn’t able to get any. Undeterred, I ran into town after I got done with my pictures and in a quick 45 minutes was back with that hot, delicious goodness. [[ I can actually hear Amanda’s eyes rolling from here ]]  😉  Expecting a visit from our neighbor, I picked up a little extra and almost on queue he came in through the door just as we sat down to eat. We all sat, chatted and munched on that hot, greasy goodness…… Including a piece of apple pie~! Kinda reminded me of our damn neighbors of old…… when the grill fired up, we could usually expect them (or if they heard us out there). Guess I’m also thinking about them, because the song playing in the background right now is Let’s Stay Together….. ‘their’ song~~

We have started watching the limited series about Jeffery Dahmer.. got to tell you – that was one messed up individual….. wow.    Story line is a little hard to follow sometimes, but so far am enjoying it. Oh…. that don’t sound right…..we’re enjoying the series….. not what he was doing…. better ? Better~~

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

Woke to the sound of my alarm this morning………. scared the Bejezzus out of me. Probably the first time I slept through to the alarm in months. Tired I guess…… but I jumped out of bed [about half scared] and shut it off, afraid I would rouse my bride laying next to me. I really do hate waking to it. Got up – did my morning stuff and proceeded to get my camera stuff put together. I always feel ‘behind’ if I wake up “late”. Everything situated [with plenty of time to spare] – I wished that I was hungry, but alas, no. Dammit Emmit~! My Queen finally came stumbling out and soon we were having coffee. She said she was feeling ‘tons’ better, so that made me happy and I was soon on my way.

Really small boat today. Divers on board were solid enough I didn’t have to ‘ted’ to them and I got to take pictures. Had a couple of cooperative sharks and got a couple coral shots. Viz was sketchy at best – so I did what I could to salvage some shots. Back here – pictures edited and posted……. still waiting to see if ‘friend’ is going to show up to chat……. hate to put ‘friend’ off – but about ready to close the door and have the evening to us~~ Gotta do that once in a while.

I think the boat is out west tomorrow, so short commute and back here much earlier….. my favorite dive site is on this end of the island, so always hopeful we wind up at Armageddon~! PLUS – they are talking about a late start— 10:00ish…. so I get to sleep in tomorrow….. maybe. (Hasn’t been confirmed yet) So for now— signing off and going to get something to eat…. I am actually hungry now………

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

Gonna try to get something written real quick. We have a friend going through a rough spot right now and needs to talk and we are trying to be supportive, so when they show up, we shut off electronics and listen. By the time they leave, it’s to late [for me] to get back on here and write. They haven’t showed up yet this evening, so I figured I’d better get a little something put here.

Got to dive today, even though almost all of the first dive and a good portion of the second dive was spent tending to a new diver that needed help. As such, I didn’t get to take a whole lot of pictures. I got enough of the guests to satisfy them, just not a lot of sellable shots. No worries. I just saw where the boat is going out for the next 6 days in a row, so while they may not be full boats – I’ll get to dive and take pictures~!

My Bride was not feeling good when I got up but she has some color to her now and is eating a little bit. Not sure what the issue is….. apparently just some kind of bug. Our weather continues to be hot and muggy even though you all back in the land of plenty have apparently cooled off considerably…… and I’m good with that. We probably have another month before we start cooling down a smidge.

We have 3 Peacocks wandering around the yard right now. I’m trying to convince myself to go get my other camera and go out and get some picture, but right now just not feeling it. The thought went through my brain sitting here watching them – I wonder if you can eat them. They are big birds, almost the [body] size of turkeys. According to Google – you can eat them, but have to be careful of parasites and such. HMmmmm….. Thanksgiving Peacock maybe ??  LOL   Hopefully back to a more normal routine here in the next day or so.

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

((Had just finished and was starting to load pictures when friend showed up again— so running a little late….. LOTS of pictures for you tonight))

Up earlier than I’m used to this morning after over a week of ‘sleeping in’. A mostly fitful night’s sleep, wasn’t really ready to get up, but glad to do it just so I wouldn’t disturb my bride wallering around. Didn’t sleep worth a crap….. back was killin’ me…. damn I hate this getting older stuff~! First 60+ years of my life, I didn’t hardly know what back pain was…… now I can’t get away from it. Dammit Emmit~! Got my camera all put together and moved out to the truck along with my gear that’s been sitting in the spare room for the last week or so. Belly was FUBAR’d as well and I opted out of my breakfast. Angie eventually came out to join me and I had a cup of coffee with her before I headed out to the marina. Island traffic was in rare form this morning, which was only fitting to go along with the rest of my morning, but I got there, got my rig all put together and ready for the rest of the day. A decently full boat and all were mostly solid divers. I was advised that there was some training going on for a new Dive Master/Instructor and I needed to get some pictures of that. It was deep water training, which significantly cuts into dive time – but I always enjoy that particular training and it was fun to shoot. Second dive was dedicated to getting pictures of the other divers and most of that dive, I did just that. I did manage to score enough extra time for some ‘pretty’ shots that I could put my name on. I was ‘spot on’ with my strobes and backscatter was almost non-existent. I love it when that happens and I’m getting really close to be able to do that consistently. Cuts my editing time almost in half~! No exciting shots like sharks bouncing off of me, but some nice shots none the less.

Once again, no boats scheduled for the near future – but that can change pretty quick. Crossing my fingers it does. Until then– the #$%^& grass needs mowed again and I still need to get some more body work done on the truck….. so lots to do if I can get myself in that mood……. for now — looking forward to hitting the couch and letting my back rest…… at least I have fun new pictures for you~!

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

Slept in ever so slightly this morning…… as bad as I would like to lay in the sack and sleep in a comatose state until noon-ish….. I just can’t do it…. mostly now because Ma-Nature keeps sticking her big nose into my business and forcing me out to go to the bathroom…. but also, and I think I’ve mentioned it before… I feel guilty about it. Can’t put my finger on any one particular reason why, but I do. One of my penance’s I guess….

I wrote down a couple of statistics to share with you….. should have been a little more on my game and brought them up closer to when they happened, but Island Life has settled into me a little bit I guess. First one….. this is blog # 1,513~! Didn’t realize I had been rattling on to you all for that much…… but hey- numbers don’t lie. So- Thank you, for stopping in and keeping up with me and my Queen for already over 1500 episodes~! Second- As I updated my dive log, I noticed that I have a combined total time underwater of 749.55 hours…. or 31.23 days. To put that into a little bit of perspective…. over a month underwater. I had just qualified for my 72 hour free fall badge when I retired from jumping… 3 days …falling… and that took me 20+ years… lots of reasons why that is so low….. primarily because most of my time was spent instructing versus jumping, but you get the idea. I hope. There is an above average chance I will break 1000 SCUBA dives….. this year…… funny how you get wrapped up in something. Speaking of which. I just found out this morning— there is a boat going out tomorrow morning~!!! YAY~!!!  I have rebuilt my camera set up with brand spanking new equipment (had to send a couple of components in for some work) – so I’ll be hitting the water tomorrow morning with a virtually brand new rig. I’m excited~! It’s an exact duplicate of what I was using, but it’s brand new housing and lens. It’s all clean and sparkly and new looking~! Been way too long since I have been in the water…. 9 days~~ Boo-hiss~! So I’ll have some new pictures for you tomorrow instead of the old ones you have been seeing the last week or so.

Just back from dinner out. My Bride wanted her some Taco’s – so we went to Louis & Nacho’s. I wasn’t in the mood to eat, so I ordered chicken bites and fries. They no longer offer Tater Tot’s. DAMMIT Emmit~!! That’s about the only reason I liked that place. My chicken was some kind of mystery meat and the fries were old and cold. Guess it’s a good thing I wasn’t very hungry. Angie thoroughly enjoyed her taco’s – so– it’s all good~! Did I mention I’m diving tomorrow ?!?!?!?!?

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

Slept in a bit this morning after staying up until almost Midnight [can you believe that?] watching Hell’s Kitchen, before ‘making’ ourselves get up and go to bed. A nice breakfast around 10:00 o’clock, some computer time and then back to the couch for more of the aspiring chefs. I did manage to pull the floor mats out of the truck and lay them on the hood. Floor boards are soggy and I have no friggin’ idea how the water is getting in. Still way to muddy to try and do any work on the truck (and I really don’t feel like) so I soaked up as much water out of the floor boards as I could and left the doors open hoping to dry it out a little bit. It is so so humid right now though, nothing is drying. The grass, the towel I used to soak up water…. nothing. The sun is finally shining fairly decently toward the end of the day, so hopefully stuff will start drying out a little bit. Because we have no glass in our windows and no air conditioning in the house, everything is damp. I’m hoping the humidity starts dropping out soon or I’m afraid everything is going to start molding. That’ll be fun…………  🙁

Today was my ‘Deuces’ birthday. My Grandson Will….. turned a big 10 years old today. Wow, don’t hardly seem possible. Happy Birthday Buddy~!

Still no boats scheduled…… dammit Emmit~!

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

Well sports fans….. Miss Fiona has came and went and now on her way to reek havoc with whoever may sadly be in her way. She is well past us now and has just been upgraded to a Cat 2 hurricane. Certainly glad she waited until she was past us to do it. She dropped her speed by half as she approached us and gave us 2 solid days of wind and rain. The wind had it’s moments but nothing I haven’t seen in Southern Indiana during a decent summer storm. Lots of rain with it as well and most people on the island were grateful to have it. Today as been solid overcast, but not a lot of rain, so I presume it is the tail end of the system. I am ready for some sunshine and let the ground get to drying up a little bit. Both of our vehicles are still sitting in a small ‘pond’. Sadly, neither of us need them. Blues is closed down for the next month so my Bride is now “unemployed” and even sadder, there are no boats scheduled for the entire week [so far] – so it looks like I have some more free time on my hands as well. The grass needs mowed again as soon as it is dry enough and I really need to get back to work on my truck (body work), but again, have to get the ground dried out enough. Hurry up and wait~~~

Got a call from our Damn Neighbors this morning. They were checking on us to make sure we hadn’t got blowed away with Fiona. Always good to hear from those two. We got caught up a little while we were on the phone. Seems like they are heading out to Arizona here in a little bit. I spent just enough time in that state to know I wasn’t overly fond of it….. but….. I was just a wee bit younger when I was out there….. just a wee bit. I told them I was anxious to see what they think of it. I am thinking West Tennessee when we finally leave our little island here – but Arizona would offer more of the climate I’m after. Just keeping options open at this point.

We have been watching quite a few movies but haven’t seen anything truly noteworthy. Have seen a bunch of crap ones. Started a new series… actually picking back up on one… Hells Kitchen. We binged watched it when we first got access when we first got on the island. Not sure why I like it – but I do. Guess it’s because he talks to people the way I wish I could (and get away with it) plus I pick up a cooking tip here and there, even though I don’t do a lot of cooking anymore. Would like to change that when we get back to the land of plenty. One of the items on my to-get list when we move back (besides a Chevy Silverado) is a Blackstone grill/griddle combo…. and then have a store to pick up some decent stuff to make on it.

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

Slept in a wee tiny bit this morning before getting on with our storm impending day. A tasty breakfast whooped up by my Bride…. I did dishes and then commenced to sit and watch on line what is going on in our world. You sure had a hard time telling from our weather that we have a Tropical Storm warning in effect. Gorgeous blue skies with lots of big fluffy clouds rolling around, dropping the occasional little rain shower on us. As they day wore on, we had a little more intense winds, but as of this minute, it is an almost eerie calm. The radar shows lots and lots of scattered showers popping up and fading our rapidly around us. I guess TS Fiona is supposed to hit us sometimes tomorrow morning. The latest track shows her going well to our south, but we are still supposed to catch the brunt of the system. I’m still not overly worried. We are well stocked here at the house with pretty much whatever we need. I “prepped” our yard for big winds and then went in town and got my chain saw this morning so we won’t be trapped [for long] if big limbs come down. My biggest concern is loss of power, as you may know by know is a distinct possibility with the two-bit Mickey Mouse power company we have here in our little third world island. I did just find out however, that our next door neighbors do have a generator in case of dire emergency. I have struggled since we moved out West whether to have one of them sitting handy, but to date, have opted not to get one. Guess I’m banking on the fact I can always score one at our illustrious Home Depot if the need is dire enough. That could come back to bite me in the touchas – but we’ll see. The neighbors stopped by for drinks and snacks after work tonight. Always fun to chat and catch up with them. For now — I’m wanting to get a bite to eat and hit the couch. It is much kinder to my back that sitting in this damn chair. Tomorrow – at some point, I guess we get to deal with a minor ‘ Tropical Storm’. At least I hope it stays a minor storm. I may have to put on my diving mask and see if I can go out and get some pictures~!

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

I guess it was a good call yesterday getting all the outside stuff done as it rained off and on just enough that it would have made any kind of yard work today, miserable. Left alone again I pondered what to do for the day as clouds built up, blew, rained and moved on. I took the truck up and got it filled up in case we wind up with several days without power. I didn’t want to be stranded without my truck. I feel like we are adequately stocked here at the house with food and booze and other necessities, even though I honestly think we won’t need any of it. (but please keep your fingers crossed anyways)  😉 Not having anything to do (Wine boat was cancelled) and not one to sit online all day (not today anyway) – I noticed our shower was getting a bit grungy so I went in to remedy that. I’m here to tell you….. that turned into a much bigger venture than I originally bargained for, but since I really didn’t have anything better to do – I went for it. A good soaking with scrubbing bubbles, rinsed, a coat of Clorox something or other, went over the entire shower with a stiff plastic brush mounted on the end of my drill. Rinse. Another coat of the Clorox something or other and then scrubbed with a scrubby thing (foam pad with a scrubber on one side) A couple of rinses. I even pulled the shower curtain down and cleaned the clear plastic part. Splashing water to rinse the walls (nope, don’t have a hand held) I managed to soak most of the rest of the bathroom floor, which lead to a floor cleaning as well. One of the very few times I am thankful it is a tiny bathroom. It needed it and it’s done, which frees up the next three days to do whatever the heck I feel like.  Hopefully I won’t have to do a lot of storm clean up. Right now the eye of the storm is due to hit us early Saturday. Current models shows it going just to the South of us, but it is close enough to be considered a direct hit. Guess we’ll see. I may run into the ATV shop and get my chain saw and have it handy…. again, I don’t think it’ll be that bad, but we have one massive limb that can easily block us in if it drops, and if it does come down – I won’t have to hoof it into town to get the chainsaw. Old, fat, white boy walking with a chainsaw…… probably wouldn’t be a good thing…… 😉

Heads up Vera – lots of eel pictures below

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

P3130072 <—– Gorgeous corals and sponges video