Category Archives: things to do

Sunset Section 215

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I don’t know about you, but I’m glad the Senate let the domestic spy program (part of the most bogusly named PATRIOT act) where they collect ALL of YOUR phone records, internet records, etc sunset. I hope to hell the congress will get together and just let it die! Do NOT replace it with the so-called “Freedom Act” (another falsely named bill). These laws are completely unconstitutional and totally unjustified. On top of that they’re just plain wrong. Didn’t we used to hate NAZI Germany and Soviet Russia for treating their people this way? It was wrong when they did it and it is JUST AS WRONG now when WE do it!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe for 1 New York second that the fact that the government is not allowed by law to spy on any American citizen without a valid warrant will stop them from continuing to spy on whoever the hell they want, whenever they damn well feel like it, and warrants be damned!

It has ALWAYS been against the law! The Constitution is still the supreme law of the land and no matter what happens, we should NEVER, EVER trade away our freedoms. I’m not sure about Rand Paul, but he’s most definitely on the right side on this issue. I thank him for his filibuster efforts, I think he did some good.

Sad to say, but most of ‘our leaders’ were slavering over the possibilities after 9-11. They jumped on that disaster like it was manna from heaven! They got everything they’d been asking for- asking for decades! And the people and even most of our congressmen were wise to their game. They refused to violate their oath of office and let their fears overcome their common sense and violate the rights of every American.

People now are getting so used to this state of affairs, like it’s just normal, it’s no big deal. People bring up that stupid old argument , “well, if you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about”. I call a BIG LOUD BULLSHIT on that tired old excuse! It IS a big deal!

If you don’t think there’s anything wrong with spying on your friends, family and neighbors, digging into every little detail of their lives, then I say there’s something seriously wrong with YOU!

I think it’s LONG past time we all say enough of this BS! Give us back our rights and give them back NOW! The government has NO reason to spy on anyone if they can’t find enough ‘evidence’ to convince a court to give them a warrant to do it. Especially considering that almost all courts are just rubber stamps these days.

Let the spying programs sunset, let the ENTIRE PATRIOT Act expire! Get rid of the NDAA, the NSA and the TSA while we’re at it. We would ALL be a whole lot better off. We need to stop letting our FEAR rule (and ruin) our lives!

Norms Thursday Doors

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Norm does a photo challenge on ‘doors’ every Thursday. I like to get into these things when I can.

Here’s a pretty blue door. I took this picture last year while I was in Aberdeen for the Freefall Lifeboat Course. It was in an area of town called Footdee, where they moved all the fishermen years ago. This picture is of one of the fishermen’s sheds, where they work on their nets, etc.

Maritime Day 2015

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Another Memorial Day weekend has passed. I’m not much for holidays. I did go up to Galveston for the National Maritime Day Commemoration Ceremony last week. It’s pretty sad to say it, but I probably would have forgotten it myself if I hadn’t gotten a couple of reminders from friends.

Galveston Coast Guard keepers of the flags

Galveston Coast Guard keepers of the flags

Since I am a merchant marine and have been almost my whole life, I feel like I should at least remember this day and the reason for it. Everyone else celebrates Memorial Day for the ‘armed’ services and forgets about all the Merchant Marine has done for the country (and still does, EVERY DAY).

Galveston had their celebration on Thursday, even though the official day is on May 22.

I was going to try and get there early enough to help man a ‘water table’ for the kids coming up to see all the ships, but it took longer than I expected to take care of my property tax protest in Angleton. I would have liked to take a tour myself, the General Rudder from Texas A&M was dockside, the Elissa was right next door, there were a couple of other ships/boats around and also the Ocean Star oil rig.

By the time I got there, the actual ceremony was about to start. Continue reading →

Kids Love “land shrimp”?

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In which I feed my children “land shrimp” | Grist.

I see this more and more. Media promoting bug eating as a great idea to save the planet.

Yeah, if we’ll all just substitute a few giant roaches, beetles, or crickets instead of a nice juicy rib-eye, we can reverse climate change, save more wilderness, feed the starving children and as a bonus we would even lose a few pounds!

I suppose if I had nothing else to eat, for a loooong time, I would eventually eat the bugs. It’s just the whole idea of it that makes me squirmy. And I really don’t like the insinuation that we all really ought to switch to bugs over steaks, to lower our standards of living, to help ‘save the planet’.

Why the hell can’t we seriously discuss limiting the human population for a change. Just get people to use birth control for a while! Try something that would be GOOD for everyone here already AND the planet, AND would actually help!

I’ve tried them (bugs) before. Would you do it?

What do you think about lowering your living standards so that we can just keep on having more and more people live on the earth (and nothing else)? Do you think it’s a better idea to try and get everyone here already to ‘live light’ (eating bugs, no cars, serious restrictions on ALL energy use, etc), or get the people here already to limit their childbearing so that eventually we can reduce the human population so that everyone here can have a GOOD life, and still have room for wilderness and all the other creatures that depend on it?

Me? I’m 100% for the birth control!

Saturday Sail

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I’m going sailing again tomorrow. I signed up to go a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to get at least a couple of sails in while I was home this time. My time off work is running out way too fast. I hope the weather holds!

Last I checked, it’s supposed to rain. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping it doesn’t. The wind should be just about perfect for a day out on the bay. I’m not going to quit if we get a little sprinkle, but I don’t really enjoy being outside in a hard rain either.

I really hate it when my glasses get wet and fogged up and I can’t see!

I’d better get to sleep soon. I wish I didn’t have to get up so early to do these trips! To be on time at the dock, I’ll need to get out of the house by no later than 0900. That’s cutting it close.

So, I ought to get up at 0600 to get everything done before I leave. Ugh! 🙁

Busy in Houston

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I came up to Houston yesterday for a meeting of the Nautical Institute about DP (Dynamic Positioning). I figured since I am a DP operator (DPO), I ought to go and see what they were talking about.

It was actually pretty interesting. I saw quite a few old friends and also got to ask a few questions of the panel. I brought up some of my concerns about the new scheme the NI has brought out on certification of DPOs. I hope the discussion there will cause some serious thinking about some of the problems with this new scheme (more on this later).

I got out of the meeting about 1630 and met up with some friends for dinner. We went to the “Grand Lux Café” over by the Galleria. We sat outside so we could smoke, but they STILL had to complain! I thought that’s why they had outdoor areas now. The food was good, but overpriced. I had no idea til I saw the bill, but it was over $100 for 3 of us (and only 1 drink each)! Next time I’ll stick to the Cheesecake Factory.

I stayed overnight so I could get up early to go get my visa for Angola, I’m supposed to be going back to the ship over there on Monday. They want me to be there by 0800 and I really didn’t feel like dealing with horrible Houston traffic for 2 hours first thing in the morning. Especially when I’ll be dealing with government officials! Better to spend the money for a good nights sleep.

So, I’m hoping it won’t take all day, waiting around the embassy. I’d like to check out some other things while I’m up here in Houston. Maybe go to the zoo later. Or a museum?

Saturday Sails

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I got to go out sailing again yesterday! I signed up for next Saturday too. 🙂

Some people think I must be nuts. They wonder how I can spend all my time at work on various vessels, at sea somewhere, and then come home and I can’t wait to get back out on another boat to go sailing?

All I can say is: those people just aren’t sailors!

4 Things To Change Your Life in 10 Minutes

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I’ve been reading this book lately. It’s called “The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth” by James Altucher. I really like his down to earth style and his sense of humor. I admire his ability to live his life the way HE chooses, and I am thankful that he decided to share his lessons in how he got to that point.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that individual liberty and personal freedom are very important to me too. I’m trying hard to find any possible way to get out of the rat race and find a way to live my life the way I want to instead of being stuck doing things the way everybody else thinks is best, only so I can stay out of jail!

I read his earlier book “Choose Yourself” a while ago and I thought he had a lot of good points. I still think so.

I have been working on his “Daily Practice” that he explains in “Choose Yourself“. He means to take care of your mental, spiritual, emotional and physical needs every day. Makes sense to me, but still hard for me to put into practice every single day.

Today, I read a chapter he calls “Four Things I Do That Can Change Your Life In The Next Ten Minutes”.

Someone asked him “what can I learn in the next 10 minutes that will be useful the rest of my life?”

I thought, what a great question! Here’s what James had to say as an answer…

“I can show you four insanely stupid things that will make the rest of your life better. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.”

Here are the 4 things:

  1. Use $2 bills
  2. Wear a doctors coat
  3. Use waiters pads
  4. Watch standup comedy

He does give a little explanation for why he does these 4 things and why they work for him. I’m kind-of interested in what you may think the reasons are. 😉

What do you think about those 4 things? Do you have any suggestions of your own? Would you do his? Why or why not? I think I’m going to give it a try, have to go find me some waiters pads and a Drs coat!

Norms Thursday Doors

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Norm does a photo challenge on ‘doors’ every Thursday. I like to get into these things when I can.

Here’s my ‘door’ picture for this week. I took it outside the ‘Little Hollywood Land” Movie Set Museum in Kanab, Utah.

I had taken a trip to Las Vegas for the Freedom Fest a couple of years ago and when it was finished, I rented a car and drove up to do some sightseeing. I went to Grand Canyon (North Rim), Bryce Canyon and Zion  National Parks.

I had a great time wandering around, hiking through the gorgeous scenery and finding quirky little places like this to stop. 🙂

Proving Pictures

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I’ve been out doing some errands today. I went around to my rental properties to take some pictures. The taxman is somehow claiming (again) that my properties are all worth SO much more this year than last. Most of them have gone up tens of thousands of dollars in appraised value and some even more than doubled!

Hard to believe? Yeah, it is hard to believe, especially since every single one of them has deteriorated since last year and the market sure as hell has not improved enough so that people are just throwing money at the kind of crap I own!

So, I was out taking pictures to prove to the tax assessors that they should not appraise my properties at such high values. No one in their right mind would offer anywhere near the price they claim my property is worth!

It really irks me that I have to do this EVERY year! I can only imagine how many people just can’t get out and around and do all the things necessary to protest every year. How many people wind up losing their property because of this crap! I can only imagine how much MORE of my money would go down the drain every single year if I wasn’t able to get down there to argue with them every single year!

I’m sure the tax guys are happy as hell that most people just never can get around to protesting the exorbitant property taxes we have around here. I can’t believe how much money is totally WASTED around here on total BS! Things we do NOT need, but make people feel better. The people who run this country/county/city/town just love to scare the hell out of people by telling them if they don’t raise the taxes then things will just go straight to hell! What a hell of a scam they have going on!

Then the cities get in on the act and fine the hell out of people for not doing the yard work and home maintenance up to their required standards. Knowing full well that they’ve made it too expensive for most everyone to comply. With all the added rules and regulations causing prices to skyrocket to do the work!  Eventually, the city comes around and condemns your property and then they steal it for a song!

Yeah, hard to believe. Little power hungry authoritarian ‘elites’ making decisions that completely change the course of someone else’s life! This used to be a free country. Not so much anymore. You think you own property here? Think again when your property tax comes due!

I just HOPE all my photos will prove that my property is NOT worth as much as they claim! I’m fighting a losing battle, my property has already gone up more than double since I bought it in 2005! I’m sure some people think that’s a good thing. Yeah, it might be IF you’re trying to sell. If you’re not selling, its a really BAD thing!

Happy Hour OTC

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Part of the reason I haven’t been getting much done since I’ve been home this trip is the fact that I went to the OTC last week and the Happy Hour afterwards.

The one I went to on Tuesday is just one of many similar parties put on by various companies to make it ‘easy to do business’. Hey, I’m all for that!

This one was sponsored by Wilhelmsen (ships service) for the USMAAA (Kings Point grads). No, I didn’t graduate from Kings Point. I did apply after I graduated from high school on the sailing ships and decided I wanted to become a professional mariner. Too bad they turned me down because I was “too fat”.

Too fat for WHAT?

They couldn’t give me a good answer for that, neither could the Navy when I tried them afterwards. Oh well, I found ways to sail without either Kings Point OR the Navy. It just took me about 10 times longer to reach my goal of Unlimited Master. Too bad things have deteriorated so much in that time that it’s no longer worth being a ships master. 🙁

It’s really great that the USMMAAA doesn’t actually require you to have gone to KP. They’re actually open to any member of the maritime community. I joined them a couple of years ago. I like to go to their events when I can.

This particular event was a happy hour held at Pappasito’s right around the corner from the OTC. They had a nice buffet with Mexican favorites like tortillas, burritos, quesadillas and plenty of beer and margaritas to wash it all down.

I met some interesting new people there and caught up with some old friends. That’s always my favorite part of these things. I love to learn more about all kinds of maritime subjects, but I really like to meet all the interesting people there and hear their stories. Some of them have been sailing even longer than I have!

I was having such a great time, I stayed a little longer than I should have. I didn’t get home til late and I’ve been making up for that late night ever since.

Can’t wait for the next one! 😉

OTC 2015

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I haven’t really done much since I got home. I just can’t seem to get over the feeling of being so tired. I’ve been super lazy, but I did get out to go to the OTC in Houston on Tuesday.

I wanted to see all the neat new stuff they always have there. It’s a really great place to learn about what’s happening in the oilfield and get a feel for what the work situation will be like over the next year or so. I wasn’t able to go last year when it broke all records, but considering the price of oil and the feelings of most oilfield workers I’ve heard from, it did pretty good this year.

One thing they changed this year and I definitely did NOT like, was that they banned all photography. I really have no idea why they would do that and for someone that likes taking pictures as much as I do, it really SUCKS. Here’s a picture of the outside of the NRG center which is where the OTC is held in Houston every year.

I went to a lunch presentation about DP (Marine Technology for Dynamic Positioning). It seemed to be mostly promoting the German companies involved in the marine industries (MAN, Schottel, L-3) and wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I did meet some interesting tablemates: a couple of guys from Malaysia, a couple more from Turkey and an engineer from Paragon Drilling (which recently split off from Noble).

I wandered around for a few hours checking out all the displays. I was especially interested in the ones with new vessels coming out. I liked the ones from Ceona, McDermott, Boa and Subsea 7. I talked to a few people at the booths about future hiring possibilities. Sad to say (tho not unexpected in this market), most were not looking for any new crew.

I did meet a recruiter from Swift. They had a booth outside and were the only ones I met who were very actively looking for people to sign on. I was happy to talk over job prospects in their air conditioned tent over a beer. My feet were starting to ache after 4-5 hours of walking around!

All in all an interesting day, but if I’m home again next year I’ll go on Thursday when it’s FREE!

Norms Thursday Doors

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I found Norm’s site and this challenge through Cee’s Photography Blog. She has a lot of really great photos and some cool challenges going on all the time. Norm does a photo challenge on ‘doors’ every Thursday. I like to get into these things when I can.

Here’s my ‘door’ picture for this week. I didn’t see this until Saturday so hope it’ll still be good. I liked how the shutters showed up against the windows in the doors. I took this on a tour of some of the plantations outside of New Orleans. If I remember right, it was the San Francisco plantation.

Chillin’

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I got home from offshore the other day and I’m still trying to get back in sync with things around here. I’m still pretty far off the sleep schedule, but slowly getting back to normal.

Last night I stayed up late watching TV. I watched Saturday Night Live, then stayed up for the Texas Music Scene and the Conspiracy Show. Yeah, I love all that stuff!

  • Humor- not politically correct.
  • Music- that never gets played on the radio, (or maybe only on KPFT).
  • Conspiracy theories- too many questions for the ‘official story’ to be accepted as told (no, I don’t believe all that stuff, I just think the questions they bring up are VERY interesting and deserve a wider audience).

Those are 3 of my favorite shows! Too bad they’re on so late at night. Then again, if they were on in the daytime, I’d never be around to watch them.

During the day yesterday, I cooked up some banana nut muffins and a big pot of 15 bean soup with the hambone I had left from last time home (I cut up the ham and froze most of it for later). I worked through a bunch of paperwork: mail, bills, etc. I got online and made a few blog posts. I did some Facebooking. I took a walk and checked out how my plants were doing (lots of tiny lemons, raspberries barely growing, grapes on 1 vine!).

So today was just a lazy Sunday. I slept late, got up around noon. I made it out to the store to pick up a few things (strawberries on sale). I read the Sunday papers. I registered for the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) and the KP Happy Hour.

The conference starts tomorrow and goes on all week but I’ll probably only go on Tuesday. It’s a HUGE big deal here in Houston every year. You can find out all about everything to do with oil drilling. I think it’s pretty interesting and try to go if I’m in town. Good thing I live nearby tho, since almost every hotel room in Houston was already booked up yesterday.

I guess tomorrow I’ll keep on with the paperwork and maaaybe even get started on the taxes! I got my property tax appraisals in the mail and oh boy did it get me going! They doubled the price on most everything! That’s a post for another day.

I’m trying to stay mellow!

Share Your World- Week 17

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I’ve got a couple of hours layover in Paris and access to the Air France lounge, so I decided to answer Cee’s Share Your World Challenge for Week 17, 2015. She always has interesting questions and I enjoy reading her answers and the answers that other bloggers come up with.

So, I’ll add my 2 cents and hope it will entertain some of you as well. 😉

 What is your most favorite smell/scent? I’ve never really thought about it. Some I really like are: the scent of fresh snow on the air when it’s crisp and clear outside (we don’t get that much here in South Texas!), the fresh and salty sea breeze far out to sea, the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven, I love to smell all of those things, they usually mean good things are coming my way! 🙂

Do you prefer long hair or short hair for yourself? Short! I used to have long hair when I was younger, but the last time I grew it long was when I went back to school a few years ago. I let it grow all the way down to my butt. It was beautiful (I’m a natural redhead). As soon as I went back to work, I found out that it was a mistake to have long hair. It was SO hard to keep it neat. It would constantly get in my face. I HATE it when my hair gets in my eyes! I’d have so much trouble with snarls. As soon as I got off that hitch I had it all whacked off. I’ve kept it pretty much shoulder length since then.

Do you plan out things usually or do you do them more spontaneous (for example if you are visiting a big city you don’t know?) I guess I’m kind of in between on this one. If I’m traveling to someplace new, I like to  look through the guidebooks and the internet to get a good idea of what there is to see and do in a place. Then, I’ll make a (long) list in my head of all the things I REALLY want to see or do, along with all the things I find interesting and would check out if I have the time. I almost never stick to the plan when I arrive!

I do like to find a place to stay for the first night or two. I’ll go online and book a place, usually somewhere very easy to get to from the airport. I like to have a little time to get over the jet lag and find my bearings in a new place.

When I get out and start exploring, I find so many other things that I never found out about in my ‘research’. I meet people and they’ll tell me about all sorts of cool things: great local restaurants and bars, small museums, local hangouts, etc.

What is your favorite outdoor activity? My favorite thing to do is traveling, but not sure that counts as a strictly outdoor activity. After all, it includes a lot of eating, drinking, shopping, exploring museums and other tourist attractions, etc so I don’t want to count is as an ‘outdoor’ activity/

Hard to decide between hiking, sailing and SCUBA diving! I love hiking around and exploring beautiful country, but I’m fairly lazy and like to be comfortable. I don’t like carrying around anything more than a small fanny pack. I love to SCUBA dive, but it’s so hard for me to do now a days. I have to rent the gear and spend a few hours (minimum) going somewhere decent to dive. So, sailing beats out the other 2!

I joined a local meetup group called Sail La Vie a couple of years ago. Since I joined, I’m able to go sailing just about any weekend I want. I don’t need to have a boat or pay for any of the associated expenses. They go sailing out of Kemah, which is still a little over an hour away and it would be better if it was closer, but a couple of hours wasted on the road is a small price to pay for a nice long sail out on the bay!

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? I’m grateful that I was finally able to get off that ship (I worked an extra week!). I’m looking forward to some down time at home. I’m really looking forward for just a chance to spend some quiet time at home. Time to spend catching up with friends and projects around the house.

I have lots of projects to catch up on, things like finishing up my taxes (I got an extension), working on the garden (whacking down some of the overgrown weeds taking over my yard), working on my photography, going to another painting class or two, etc. I might even get around to cleaning the house! 😉

I’m really looking forward to getting home and some sleep! 🙂

Easy Caramel Sticky Buns

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Easy Caramel Sticky Buns Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

I do love sweets and I miss having them out here. Usually, working offshore, we eat damn good. The cooks are always fixing up all kinds of goodies for us. We have full cooked meals 4 times a day and then snacks halfway between meals.

Since I’ve been working in Africa, I haven’t seen the options we usually have for food. The dessert tray is most definitely not up to the usual standards.

I get all these emails every day (I subscribe), showing me all these delicious looking foods. I can’t wait to get home to try out the recipes!

This one looks super simple. I probably already have the ingredients in the house. 🙂

Motion: County Fair

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Here’s a photo I took at the fair last year. I think it’s a good one for this challenge (Motion) from the Daily Post. I always try to go when I’m home from the ship. I don’t usually go on the rides anymore, but I love to see all the people wandering around, listen to the music, and pig out on the junk food! 😉

Motion

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Here’s a photo I took in New Orleans. I think it’s a good one for this challenge (Motion) from the Daily Post. I loved watching this couple dance and listen to the band play in the street. New Orleans is really great for this kind of thing. 🙂

It’s not really blurry, but I hope you can get the idea of motion anyway. The couple was really dancing up a storm (swing, jitterbug, etc.), the musicians were all tapping their toes and swaying to the music and everyone was having a great time.

I didn’t think to buy a CD from this band, I wish I remembered their name. But I did get one from another one that was playing further up the street. Here’s a post I did about that one. Check it out, the music’s worth a listen. 😉

International Dark Sky Week!

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Celebrate International Dark Sky Week! | Today’s Image | EarthSky.

I didn’t know this week was anything special. Good thing I looked at some of my emails this afternoon. 😉

I always loved looking at the stars on night watch. That’s one of the things I miss the most about working in the oil field. There are always too many lights on to be able to really see the stars at night.

They’re posting some absolutely gorgeous photos on this site. Check it out.

A Word A Week: Arid

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I saw this challenge from Sue over at her ‘A Word in Your Ear’ blog. The word of the week is: arid. I don’t have many photos that would fit this weeks word, since I spend most of my time at sea. But I did happen to have a couple on my computer.

I took these last summer, we hadn’t had any rain for a while and everything was drying up. I was on the way back home from Galveston. I always like to drive the beach road, especially when I’m not in a hurry. It’s a nice drive, right along the beach with some pretty scenery and some good places to stop and enjoy the day. 🙂

Photo 101: Glass

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I’m still trying to participate in the Photography 101 Challenge. Today’s assignment is: glass.

I’m leaving for work tomorrow and pretty busy, so not able to get out to take any more photos. I took these when they sent me to Aberdeen (Scotland) for a lifeboat class. I had enough time after class each day to wander around town a bit.

I love the creativity of the little fisherman’s cottage in the top row. Tom, Dick and Harry 😉 and the model ships behind glass.

I got to try a glass of whiskey at the Glenfiddich distillery and the brew at the Moorings Bar.

I didn’t get to see the inside of the stained glass windows, they looked like they would be gorgeous with the light shining through. Maybe next time…

I Made It!

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After 2 LONG days of traveling, I made it home! Ahhhhh. I can finally sleep.

I did that yesterday. I got home. I passed out. I slept for 12 hours straight. 🙂

Last night I stayed up too late, so I only slept about 8 hours. Today is the big St Patricks’ Day Parade down at the beach and I don’t want to miss it.

The weather here has been rainy for the last 2 weeks, but this morning it looks gorgeous. A beautiful day for the beach. 🙂

Last year it was raining, but the parade went on anyway. This year looks like it will turn out much better. If anyone wants to come, the parade starts at 1300 (1 pm). 🙂

I’ll be taking lots of pictures. Here are a few from last year…

Irish pirates
high hopes

 

 

Watch: Flowers Bloom

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Spring is coming! I’m looking forward to seeing the flowers in bloom while I’m at home this time. My garden is not the greatest, I don’t have many flowers (except on the weeds). I can’t really take care of it when I’m gone so much. But I do enjoy messing around out there in the yard, especially this time of year when the weather can be just gorgeous. 🙂

Here’re a few (googled) pictures of what Texas looks like in the Spring. People like to go leaf-peeping up north in the Fall. We like to go checking out the bluebonnets in the Spring down here. 🙂

Thanks to Ladybird Johnson for her efforts to promote Texas wildflowers. We’re all able to enjoy the beautiful scenery even more now. 🙂

I might be fired from my job because of the low price of oil, but at least the gas is cheap enough again now to go drive around looking for the best show in the fields. Maybe bring a couple of friends and have a picnic. It’s a great way to spend the day.

Life is Short

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Intricate

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Here’s an entry for the Word A Week Challenge from Sue over on her A Word in Your Ear Blog . The word of the week is: intricate. I had these pictures on my blog already, I think they are a nice example of ‘intricate’. I had already done a post about these very intricate designs made from sea shells. They call them Sailors Valentines. 🙂

Me Time. Not.

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What’s your ideal Saturday morning? Are you doing those things this morning? Why not?

That was the latest prompt from the Daily Post I thought I could work with. I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. 🙂

My ideal Saturday morning would probably consist of sleeping late (rolling over and going back to sleep the 1st time I wake up and taking at least 2-3 hours more time to get a GOOD nights rest).

Once I got in enough sleep, I’d like to wake up to savor a delicious breakfast. One I could take my time over while reading a good book. Preferably something somebody else cooked for me. I can picture some ricotta stuffed pancakes I recently saw in Woman’s Day magazine (they look fantastic, but waaaay too much trouble for me to actually try to cook). Or maybe I would just have some Eggs Benedict, I really do love that sauce. 🙂

After a long leisurely breakfast/brunch, possibly with a mimosa or simple spiked orange juice, I might decide to work on some of my projects: writing, photography, blogging, painting, etc. If the weather’s nice, I’ll take my daily walk around the neighborhood. I might go out and play around in the yard, try to get the garden going again (because I’m gone so much, I don’t have much luck with it).

Yep, that sounds like a pretty good way to spend a Saturday morning to me. 🙂

Am I doing them this morning? Nope (it’s already Sunday and we had drills this morning). I’m at work and will be here for at least another week and a half. Best I can manage out here is to relax over a cup of tea and a smoke. I’ll have to put off my ‘me time’ til after I get back home. Something to look forward to. 🙂

How about you? What is your perfect Saturday morning like? And do you ever get to enjoy one? 🙂

Sailor's Valentines

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While I was home last time I went to see what the local painting class was all about. I’ve been wanting to try it for a while, but haven’t done it because it lasts for 4 weeks and I’ve never been home to be able to start and finish the whole class in one hitch at home.

Since I was home a little longer than usual (and had to pass up the trip to Panama I was hoping to take due to paperwork issues), I called the lady who runs the class to ask if maybe I could take 1-2 classes each time I’m in town.

She was very nice and told me that would be fine, and invited me to come in to the next class just to see if I thought it would work for me.

I showed up late and just watched for a while. I met everyone there and wandered around to see what they were all working on. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. They all had their own projects to work on. Everything was very informal. The instruction is for either pastels or oil painting. I’m really more interested in watercolor or acrylic, but I figure it will still help me a lot to learn the techniques and most of those should transfer over to whatever medium I choose to work with.

The class meets weekly at the Brazosport Center for Arts & Sciences. After the painting class was over I spent a little time looking around the facilities. I’d been there before, but not for years. There’s a museum, a planetarium and a theatre. They also have a gallery where they feature art by members of the local art league. They had some really nice paintings in there, some beautiful portraits and some seascapes with birds I really liked.

I went through the museum again. They’ve really added a lot since last time I was there. They’ve always had a fantastic shell collection. It’s one of the largest in the country. They have some pretty good fossils. I noticed the megalodon jaws, (they were giant prehistoric sharks!) the minute I walked in the door. They’re hard to miss since they’re about 6 ft accross and at least that tall!

They have a really nice collection of moths and butterflies. I tried to take pictures, but I just couldn’t get any good ones with the way the light reflected off the glass. I did get some good ones of the ‘Sailor’s Valentines’. Since Valentines Day is coming up soon, I thought I’d post about them. Here’s a picture I took of one.

The Sailor’s Valentine is typically a box covered with shells formed into some sort of ‘romantic’ theme. They were supposedly by sailors who would pick up shells in their far off travels and then make these pretty little boxes to present to their loved ones when they got home. It was a pretty big thing back in the 1800’s. They fell out of style but are making a comeback now. The ones I saw at the museum are alll made by locals (not sailors) recently, as hobbies.

They just seem like a lot of work to me. I guess the sailors must have had a hell of a lot more leisure time back in the old days!! Then again, their hitches usually lasted for years rather then the month or so most of us (American) sailors have to stay out for now. The crews from other countries aren’t nearly so fortunate as we are. Some I know of have to stay for a minimum of 2 years(!!) before they’re allowed to go home. 🙁

Here’s a picture of my favorite one from the exhibit. It’s not so ‘romantic’ and could be for anything. I really like the flamingo. 🙂

<3 Happy Valentines Day! <3

 

Gorgeous!

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After the last couple of days, I was glad to wake up to some sunshine! I’m heading back out on Galveston Bay for another Icicle Race today. The weather report shows sunny and cool. Just the way I like it. 🙂

8am 9am 10am 11pm 12pm 1pm 2pm
Forecast
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Mostly Sunny
Temp (°F) 40° 43° 48° 51° 55° 57° 60° 60°
RealFeel® 38° 43° 49° 54° 57° 59° 60° 58°
Humidity 86% 78% 68% 59% 50% 44% 40% 39%

Icicle Races

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I went to the Sail La Vie meetup last week hoping to sign up to go sailing on Saturday. I haven’t had the time to go out for quite a while and was really looking forward to taking a leisurely cruise around the bay.

I was really disappointed when I found out that they didn’t have enough people signed up to charter a boat for the group. Luckily, one of the members had a boat entered in the upcoming Icicle Race and offered a spot onboard to me and the 2 others who had been looking to go out on Saturday.

I had never been in a race and was a little apprehensive about it all. I wasn’t really enthused about the idea of rushing around, tweaking the sails for every tiny little advantage we could get out of the boat. I’m MUCH more into just relaxing and enjoying a day on the water. Listening to the soft sound of the waves passing by and the calls of the seagulls following for scraps as we drink some wine and dispose of our uneaten chips. 🙂

I think we must have got lucky. The wind was very light to start, only about 4-6 kts and then for a while it dropped off to nothing. The whole fleet was becalmed. I’ve never been in that situation, a couple of dozen boats all drifting together, so close you could reach across to share a beer.

The wind picked up a little bit just as we were coming up to the first mark. We slid around on the inside of a big bunch of boats and managed to skip ahead of the crowd. It was pretty exciting there for a few minutes. 😉

The crowd thinned out as we made for the next mark, but as we closed in on it, the boats bunched up again. Everyone was trying to cut it as close as possible. We heard a loud bang and CRUNCH ahead of us and watched as a couple of boats tried to get their fenders in place, but it was too late. I’m not sure how much damage was done, but ANY work done on a boat is expensive!

We made that turn on the inside of another big bunch of boats and then made for the finish line. The wind was shifting so we had to tack a few times. It was a challenge to try and figure out how far to go on a tack before coming back to the course for the finish line. I think we made some time up with good estimates on that part of the race too.

As we were coming in to the finish line (between markers 1-2 to Kemah), we were cut off by another boat. They cut right in front of our bow and I don’t know how we managed not to have a collision. I don’t know what they were thinking on that boat, but as we were yelling at them, they called back to us that WE were supposed to stay out of their way. Huh????

Overtaking vessel is ALWAYS the give way vessel!

After that last shot of adrenaline, we took in the jib and headed back in to the marina. We made it home in one piece, without any damage, and I think we did pretty damn good! Capt Vic said we did better then ever before (in this race) and I know we still had a pretty big bunch of boats still out there behind us when we hit the finish line. 🙂

Cross

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Here’s my entry for the Word a Week Photography Challenge: Cross. I took this in the famous Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s funny, but I just used some other photos from the same place in a different photo challenge (WPC: Shadowed). 🙂