Happy Father's Day

Picture: Dad helping me with the tent.

If only I could find a man like my dad! He pampers my mom, loves to cook and do the dishes, and is our "go to" man for all mathematical problems :-) He plays a mean piano too. Happy Fathers Day!

Tiberious Defaced!

My poor Tiberius was struck early this am by a drop-n-fly (as opposed to a hit-n-run). It is reported the offending product was deposited by one or more "feathered" culprits who live just north of where Tiberius berths for the night. I am more outraged than Tiberius who seemed to take it in stride ( though Tibe was a bit peeved that I refused to wash the said offended product off until I could take a picture of him). Here is a vid of the culprits, they live in the north parking lot to the marina. I would guess there are at least 400 birds of about 6 different species. BTW the punks nearly got me too! Thankfully, they missed so no need to bathe with bleach and seek mental counselling :)


Here is a vid of poor Tiberius who just got a bath last Thursday.... having issues with vid upload so here is a picture instead. Viewer be warned its yukky, so girdle your loin.




PS
though it looks like a weeks worth of poop, this happened overnight, he was spankin clean when I parked him.

Blonde moments

Just wanted to recap my blonde moments for the month.




Blonde moment #1
Forgot to drill drain holes on anchor storage before whipping said storage to stanchions.(see photo below)

Blonde moment #2
Whipped 100 feet of line to secure anchor storage instead of using 2 big hose clamps.



Blond moment #3
Used 2 inch galvanized nails to secure carpet to big floating dock, wised up and bought 1 inch nails ( but only after hammering 40 of the 2 inch :-) )

Blonde moment #4
Hung my SSCA flag upside down. I didn't notice the upside down flag until the SSCA commodore stopped by to chat, he pointed up at the flag and asked if I was sending out a distress signal. In my defense (kinda) my neck was so sore from nailing all those 2 inch nails in the floating dock, the creak in my neck prevented me from looking up at the flag :-).

Well thats all the blonde moments for this month. Yes I know it is only June 18th but I figure (now stay with me) I'll post early so there will be no more blonde moments until July 1st...that is called blonde strategy :-)

It Is Good To Have So Many Friends!

Above picture: Igor my pet fish, the only picture I am able to get of him. If you blow it up you just might make the out line of his profile and tail fin. He is always hanging around but disappears whenever I get the camera out.

Picture below: Now here is the new addition to the family. Da dada da! introducing Harvey! He is an absolute riot, very comical and is always up to antics. He loves to fish from the middle of the dock lines as they bounce and dip with the waves, he nearly falls in the water at least once a day. He has been a bit grumpy lately, I think it is because he has a girlfriend and she is giving him the run around. I told Sue Ellen (we named her Sue Ellen) he was a straight up gentleman and would make her laugh but she is being picky (women).

My Flotilla...In The Making

The above photos are of my floating docks. They were at my old marina and I finally found some kind soul to help me get them over to my boat. One I bought for $20 bucks from a guy moving to Hawaii. I put carpet on it and seems to be a good float to work on and keep my future inflatable on. The other little floating dock is for my kayak and I will put carpet on it this weekend.


I am learning to sew! My mom finally put her foot down and refused to sew one more stitch for me, stating it was high time I learned myself. Well, I always considered myself very inept at sewing but it seems when the going gets tough (mom), the tough get going (me :-)). So my first sewing project was a sunbrella canvas storage bag for my beloved hammock. Have I told you about my hammock? I bought it in Mexico and love sitting in it every morning at sunrise and every evening at sunset (on my days off). Above is a picture of Bunny enjoying the hammock on the bow of OG...Bunny's story - Bunny was given to me by my niece on my birthday to keep me company aboard OG, I had also just lost my cat. Bunny also went to Mexico with me. I took lots of photos of bunny having fun on vacation and on the boat, I will make a book about bunny's adventures for my niece for her birthday. She loved that bunny and it was quite a sacrifice to give it to me but she said she wanted to give me the best birthday present ever and she did :-).


My rigger friend installed a new topping lift today and we ran a flag halyard up the backstay. He also installed a new windex with an extension off the back so I can see it much better. I told him when I'm in the Pacific I will think of him every time I peer up at my windex. I have known Robert for 15 years and is like a crazy uncle to me. I am like a annoying little sister to him -correct that, I am like an annoying little blonde sister. He has an endless supply of blonde jokes, Drives me crazy cause some are strangely similar to me...hmm, makes one wonder where he gets his material ;-).

The Durability of the Human Spirit

Sorry it has been a while since writing, this entry was written a week or so ago but wasn’t sure if I wanted to post it, but what the heck, most people reading my blog probably think I am a bit touched in the head so whats another nail in that coffin . So here goes. Alecia, you wont be surprised about this but I promise to be more careful next time.

OK, let me start at the beginning. Near my hospital where I work is a community of homeless people, they panhandle on the corners and camp out under the bridges. There is usually only one or two around due to the city running them off. One day I got off early from work and was driving home. I was sitting at a light about three cars back and a homeless guy was standing at the corner holding a sign and a cup, asking for money. I didn't have any of my homeless packs to give him (a bag of provisions I like to have handy for just such a situation). I was thinking to myself that I can't give him any money because I didn’t have any small bills, all I had was a hundred dollar bill and 87 cents in change. I just couldn't give him 87 lousy cents, I rolled down my window and placed the folded hundred dollar bill into his raggedy old cup. I told him God had blessed me today and I wanted to pass the blessing on to him. I quickly rolled my window up, nudged my car forward a bit and stared ahead up at the light willing it to change. He gave the general "thanks" and glanced down at his cup. Hunched over peering in my window with his sign in one hand and his well worn begging cup in the other he looked and looked into his cup. He looked up at me, eyes wide and shaking his head mumbling he couldn't possible take such a sum, he actually tried to give it back to me. I just waved at him through my window, nudged my car a bit more hoping the traffic light would hurry up and change. I was very nervous about my actions and what this may lead to, I sound dramatic but anyone with street sense would never do such a thing, or at least they wouldn't do it in the way I did it. I wouldn't even tell you about it if it wasn't for his next actions, it is imprinted on my memory and has impressed and heartened me, if I wasn't so nervous and attentive to his proximity of me I would of missed it. He stuffed the money in his pants and turned away from my car. He took two steps as if to resume his work but stopped short and looked down at his cup and his sign, he studied them as if he'd never seen them before, as if they materialized in his hands. He stood there frozen, trying to figure out how the cup and old cardboard sign got there. Then he sprang to life, he threw the cup and sign down and laughed at the sky. He didn't just drop them, he threw them. He disposed of them with such force, as if it scalded his hands.

The darn light had still not changed. The homeless guy laughed and bounded to farthest corner of the street. He raised his arms and held up the silver cross that he had around his neck, he waved the cross to all the cars bustling by and then waved to my line of cars waiting at the light. I felt very exposed, I just wanted to slip the money to him and fade away, but the light was taking so long. Finally the light changed and I drove away. As my car passed by he pointed at the cross and smiled to the sky.

I hope you don't think I am bragging, this isn't the actions of a saint, I just wanted to help the guy. Again, I didn't want to write about it, didn't want to write about what I had done. But I did want to write about what he had done. I think a whole book could be written about that moment, that beautiful moment when he threw down his cup and sign. I am so amazed by the human spirit, the durability, the beauty, the unbending, unbreakable spirit.