More Snow and Rain

I have to add another entry here, before any more of my relatives think the last post was real. I did not burn down ten boats, Deb did not leave me, and more importantly, I did not eat bacon. Oops, I guess Deb not leaving me would be more important than the bacon. I do, on occasion, get caught playing air guitar to VanHalen, Led Zep, Genesis, etc. That's the first April fools joke I played in a while, and it got the people I thought it would...sorry Mom. Sis, you should have known better, but thanks for the concern :) It's snowing again! Damn it. Guess I'll work on the dirt dwelling instead of the boat. My fire systems has been delivered. My Mom will be happy about that. All my new ball valves got here too. Maybe tomorrow I'll install a few. I'm alone at home today, Deb is keeping the economy rolling. Might be time for a little air guitar. I'll go back to my youth, and one of my favorite bands. Yea, Rock on! And here, all the way from Australia, to keep you rockin', The Easybeats

Last Entry - Good Bye

Well, that's it. It's been a fun ride, but all is lost at this point. Most of my friends have heard, but I'll post here anyway. We are out of sailing. Our lovely new boat will have to find new owners, once the soot is washed off her. All this is my fault. We had a fire in the boatyard. Kelly Nicole was spared, but some of the other boats around me are completely gone. In fact, ten of them are completely lost. Will Deb ever forgive me?

I took the day off to get some work done on the boat, and decided to make some lunch. Being the only one out there, I thought I would put on some tunes and do some cooking. The propane bottles were still on the boat, and were still full, and the grill was still there, so I went to the grocery and bought a few items. As you know, I have been a vegetarian for many years now. Well, sometimes, I get...I get, these cravings for meat you know, it's hard to go this long without it, and this time I broke down and fried up some bacon. I feel like a total shit, but it's the one meat I miss the most, and I just thought I would have a little to take the edge off. Bacon and eggs just seemed like the right thing at the time.

Deb was still working through the day, so I figured, why not. What I didn't figure on, was Deb taking a half day. She surprised me on the boat, while I had a piece of bacon in my mouth, air guitaring to VanHalen's running with the devil. I was so startled I jumped, and in my haste to cover up the porky evidence, I tipped the pan of grease on the hot grill top. The flames shot higher and higher and the oil splattered like napalm as I frantically looked for an extinguisher, but they were all stowed away for the winter, and the water at the marina wasn't turned on yet! I couldn't let it burn the deck, and Deb yelled get it off the boat, so I did. Problem is, it landed on the boat next to me, and their tarp caught fire. There was a lot of grease, as I consumed two whole packages. Their tarp roared like haedes, and shot to the heavens. I tried to cut off their tarp, but the flames kept us away. Soon another one shot up, then another. The crackling of the wood suppport frames was was so loud it drowned out Deb's crying. 
Thank God the wind was in our favor.

We made it away from the boats unharmed, but all ten are lost, just like my life from here on out. After the fire department put out the blaze, and we sat there stunned, Deb announced that she couldn't live with a pig eater anymore, and was staying with her mom for a while. I feel so so sad. All this loss...for a pigs ass. Goodbye to all of my loyal readers, all three of you. This Day, April First 2009

Uncovered, Exposed

She's been uncovered, unwrapped, exposed for all to see. No longer protected from the world around her, baring all for anyone to evaluate, to judge, to comment .... "Gee, Paul's got a lot of bird crap on her deck." He uncovered her just before a week full of rain. That tarp wasn't doing shit anyway. It had a hundred holes in it" We are officially into boating season, as the tarp and all the wood framing has been removed. Unfortunately, all that stuff was removed to my van, then to my garage. I didn't realize how much wood I used to construct that frame. I guess it will go into the basement, after I clean that. I forgot the camera, again. No pictures of my framework. Good thing I do not build houses for a living. I'd be out of business, or in jail. Never was good at woodworking. Actually I'm not good at most fabricating, though I could build a cool fort out of cardboard, tables, chairs and blankets when I was a kid. After all the covering was removed, Deb and I sat on the boat in the sun and had lunch. It's amazing how all the stress melted away, just sitting there. I think we know where we belong, we just have to figure out how to get there. Time to stop working those extra unpaid hours, that only get you more work. There are more important things to do.

Happy Spring!

I love this time of year. A time to celebrate, and we did, a little, but we did not burn our socks.

Annapolis welcomes the season with a sock-burning ceremony

By KRISTEN WYATT

The Associated Press

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Is that spring in the air or an old gym sock on fire?

In sailing-crazy Annapolis, boaters celebrate the first day of spring with a ceremonial Burning of the Socks, signifying it will soon be warm enough to wear boat shoes without socks.

"It's a good idea to stand upwind," said John Morgan, 77.

The tradition began in the mid-1980s, when an employee at Annapolis Yacht Yard tired of his winter days doing engine maintenance on yachts and power boats. He stripped off his stinky socks, put them in a paint can with lighter fluid and drank a longneck beer while looking forward to warmer days.

"There's a whole industry of people who work all winter long on people's boats so that they'll be in shape for their owners to go out and play all summer," said Jeff Holland, director of the Annapolis Maritime Museum.

This year's sock-burning ritual attracted more than 130 people Monday evening: boatyard workers and wealthy sailboat owners alike. Celebrants sipped beer and red wine and speculated how long they could go barefoot until their toes reddened from the cold.

Annapolis resident Michael Busch, speaker of the Maryland House, joked that socks constitute formal wear in these parts. The most hard-core sock haters refuse to wear them from the spring equinox until the first day of winter.

"The uniform is deck shoes and khaki pants in winter. The uniform is deck shoes and khaki shorts in summer," Holland said. The sock bonfire, he said, is a way of remembering Annapolis' bygone days of working-class watermen who brought in crabs in summer and scraped paint off wooden vessels in winter. These days, waterfront lots go for millions, and bonfire revelers retire for crab cakes and oysters after burning their socks.

Prudent sailors might want to hold on to some socks. Snow was forecast today, with highs in the mid-30s.

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

Happy St. Patty's

Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one. A cold beer – and another one!