Category Archives: things to do

Sixty-three Cents

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I just happened to check my Bigstock account today and found out I sold another photo (below) since the last time I looked. Woo-woo!! 🙂

This is what I saw today at Bigstock…

Date Time Description Type Amount
Jan 30, 2016 1:07 am Offshore Yellow on Blue Bigstock Partner – Single Web Use $0.63

So, I’ve now made a total of $5.33. I only have 40 photos approved and online with Bigstock. My approval rating is only 43%. I need to get better at figuring out why they reject my photos and I need to get more photos uploaded and approved.

My goal this year is to get 5 photos edited and uploaded to Bigstock, Canstock and Dreamstime each week. So far, I have not been doing very well with that.

I do know some people who have managed to do very well with this stock photography. They started from scratch, like me, but they’ve uploaded a lot more photos than I have, and so they’ve sold a lot more than I have. I need to make the time to do it too!

Colomitos

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We loaded up the van and headed out of town to Colomitos Beach. Driving along narrow, twisting mountain roads, we caught glimpses of the ocean between beautifully built houses and ritzy resorts. We passed by Los Arcos, and not too much further came to the turn-off for Bocas de Tomatlan.

It’s a funky little fishing town, most well known for the beach side restaurants and as the place to catch the water taxi for more remote beaches up the coast. Laura found her own shoe store!

From Bocas, we hiked up and over (and around and down) the path to Colomitos Beach. I had to stop and rest a few times, my legs were getting shaky. It’s not the way to go if you’re knees are weak. I should have just taken the water taxi.

only about 1/4 there!

only about 1/4 there!

I was SO ready to dive in the water, it looked so inviting. And I was so tired, hot and sweaty from the hike. I wished I could’ve just jumped in from the hills, but figured I might really hurt myself. The beach was clean and surprisingly crowded. After that hike, I thought it would be empty.

As soon as we hit the sand, we dumped our stuff and ran into the surf. It was COLD. But only for a minute, then it was just perfect!

I was disappointed not to see more interesting sea life. I only saw a couple of fish flit by on the sandy bottom. There weren’t even any fish around the rocks.

Colomitos was getting more crowded, so we decided to move on. To the waterfalls? Or the next beach? Since the little stream that cut through the beach wasn’t even able to reach the sea, we figured the waterfalls wouldn’t be too impressive at this point. We decided to head to the next beach.

A couple more students from our school made the trek with us with their cute little girl and their puppy. I felt a little embarrassed that she could make the hike with no problems and I was huffing and puffing all the way. But I did eventually make it. 🙂

Again, it was worth it. Another gorgeous little sandy beach, divided by rock piles at each end. The views back towards Colomitos and Puerto Vallarta were beautiful. The beach was much quieter. Our group was pretty much the only one there.

We had a few snacks, walked up the beach, swam some more, relaxed into the sun and sand, and when we were ready to leave, we just waved at a passing water taxi. They drove right up onto the beach and picked us up for the ride back to Bocas.

We had a late lunch at one of the little beach bars; fajitas, fish tacos, tostadas, seafood cocktails, coconut shrimp. All very fresh and they served big plates, so much food I could only eat about half. Very reasonably priced too.

We finished up and headed home. I’m staying in tonight, I have to get up early for class tomorrow. My last observation before I start teaching. (oh nooooooo…)

Fiesta Mexicana!

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Friday night was the Fiesta Mexicana! Lot’s of good food and drink to sample from all the local restaurants. Different spices and flavors from all over Mexico were on offer. Tacos, fajitas, moles, pibil, burritos, tortas, corn, flan, ceviche, shrimp, fruit drinks, beer and margaritas.

Tables were set out in the park and decorated with candles and colorful linens. Lights were hung and live mariachi music kept things lively. They have this party every Friday night, starts at 1930. I’ll be back next week and hope to get a seat.

There was a pretty good crowd, especially to watch the dancers in their colorful costumes. They were all students at the dance school, but they did as well as any professional troupe.

More on that later, for now, the food!

Observing

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I was partnered with another student to observe a couple of classes today.

The first class only had 2 students. The teacher worked with them on superlatives (words like best, most, worst, least, etc). I think we (observers) learned at least as much as the actual students did. It’s been a very long time since I’ve had an English class, and somehow I really don’t remember them formally teaching us a lot of this stuff.

I’ve been concentrating in class on trying to understand the terminology and the proper uses of words myself. At this point, I think I would probably mislead any students who might ask me to teach them English. Yes, I know how to speak it, but I don’t know why I speak it the way I do. I don’t know how to articulate the rules, I just know them in the back of my mind somewhere and follow them unconsciously.

Our second observation started at 2000. There was only 1 student and he was at a fairly advanced level. This class was much more conversational. The teacher went over how to write formal and informal emails. There was some discussion about proper forms of address, how to open and close the communication as compared to letters (snail mail), etc.

It seemed like the hardest part for the student was getting to clearly understand some of our idioms, like “the more the merrier” for example. Easy to understand his confusion, I have the same issues while trying to understand Spanish.

Classes finished at 2100. Now, I should be doing homework (reading the workbook). It put me to sleep last night. I suppose I should try going to bed earlier. 😉

Malecon

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After class yesterday, we went to the beach for a bit. Then shopping for ‘appropriate clothing’ for the classroom. Then we met our teacher back at the school to take the bus to the Malecon and Old Vallarta. (I don’t know how to put the accent marks).

S takes a dip in the ocean

S takes a dip in the ocean

The Malecon was nice. It wasn’t very crowded last night, but there was a good mix of local families and tourists from all over. We walked down the cobble-stoned ‘boardwalk’ and checked out the interesting artwork along the way.

They had sculptures (real and fake- people made up and pretending to be statues). They had sand sculptures along the waterline, some breaking up from the weather over time and some newly made.

sand artist finishing his creation

sand artist finishing his creation

There were plenty of bars, restaurants, shops and food carts (which looked delicious!). I noticed shrimp BBQ, corn on the cob and in cups, tacos, burritos, fresh fruit juices, flans, even what looked like cheesecake. YUM!

I will be back!

We walked by a park where our teacher told us they held a farmers market on the weekend and a coffee-shop/bookstore (English and Spanish). We walked up into town a couple of blocks and saw a very interesting shop with fantastic art by local indigenous people.

Some of the art was made with yarn, some with beads. Some were sculptures, some were flat and hung like paintings. The colors were brilliant, vibrant and imaginative. Inspired by the hallucinogenic visions given by the peyote cactus.

We were on our way to dinner at Derby Burgers. I think we were all starving by then. 🙂

They had a large selection of burgers, even a vegetarian option or two. They all came with a choice of sweet potato fries, regular fries or salad. I had a steak burger (without the steak sauce). The sauteed onions and mushrooms were a perfect complement to the juicy, perfectly cooked (med-rare) burger.

We all cleaned our plates. No complaints, but the Aloha Burger (with pineapple) was unexpectedly spicy.

We were all stuffed and since we had class in the morning we were ready to head home. I got in about 2300. Too bad I stayed up til 0300 on the computer!

Quote Me Again

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Like I said yesterday for the Daily Post’s prompt, I have more than 1 favorite quote. Quotes that inspire me. Quotes that I wish I could follow more closely. All of my favorite quotes have the same theme. They’re all related in some way or another to FREEDOM.

Yesterdays was about the freedom of a ship at sea. There’s nothing else like it. You’re out there in your own little world. You have to deal with your fellow shipmates, the ship itself, and the surrounding environment. It really is special.

Today, I’d like to share another favorite. I love this quote by Mark Twain (he used to be a riverboat pilot). It really speaks to me, more and more as I get older and more fearful. Also more aware of time passing by. I’ve been wanting to leave the US and travel the world ever since I went to school with the Oceanics when I was a teenager.

I’ve spent my entire life at sea, trying to have those same kinds of experiences again. But the world at sea has changed SO much since then. They’ve taken all the fun and enjoyment out of it. Now, it’s pretty much just another job.

I still love the time off it offers. It gave me plenty of opportunity to travel on my time off. I did, every chance I got. Whenever I had the money and I wasn’t spending my time off in ‘training’, I would take a trip somewhere.

I started investigating what it would take for me to move overseas and found out that I would not be able to do that until I was old enough to retire (or won the lottery).

I don’t have the resources it would take to start a business, which is actually a good option in a lot of places, but I could not find a single country that would allow me to move there and WORK to support myself for the time it would take to become a citizen. The only option left was to teach English.

So, I started looking into learning how to teach English. I was never really very serious about it. I was still able to work offshore and the pay differential is just HUGE. I was able to earn more in 1 day at sea than I would earn as a teacher in a month (or even 2 months)!

So, I continued working and traveling when I could on my time off. Too fearful to take the plunge and just GO. I would never have hesitated when I was younger. I knew then (and I know now) that I could find something to do that would allow me to travel and spend time in a place I liked. Back then, I would never have let worries about not having a work visa stop me from taking whatever opportunities offered.

I know there are people all over the world working under the table as bartenders, waiters, baby-sitters, time-share salesmen, etc. I know I could do a lot of those jobs too. But I’ve been letting my fears stop me from doing anything about my desire to get out of here!

I hate the idea of being forced to give up my chosen livelihood. I really still love working at sea, sailing for a living. I don’t want to give it up and never would have by choice.

So I guess it’s a good thing for me that the price of oil is so low that there is no hope of work for the foreseeable future. If there was, I would still be sitting here at home, spending most of my time applying for non-existent jobs and hoping for a phone call.

Since I finally admitted to myself that there IS no hope, I could finally force myself into signing up for the TEFL course and probably even spending some time afterwards in a foreign country.

I am still fearful, nervous and depressed, but I’m throwing off those lines anyway. 🙂

This is also a post for the Just Jot It January challenge. 🙂

Late Night

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I just got home. It’s late. After midnight already. I wanted to get my post done for the Just Jot It January challenge. Today’s prompt is: serendipity.

I’m just too tired to go into a big, long post right now. I’m not even sure if this counts as today or tomorrow. Technically, it’s after midnight. But I’m still up and been busy since this morning, so for me it’s still today. So, I’m going to count it as Thursdays post.

I wasn’t going to write about serendipity anyway. But, I will go look it up, just for the hell of it. 😉

noun
1.an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.
2.good fortune; luck:

 

A good word to know. I had the general idea, but good to look it up and make sure. I could use some of that serendipity!

I spent all day in Houston today. I went to the zoo. It was such a gorgeous day. Sunny and cool. A lot of the animals were out and about. Even the ones that are usually sleeping. I got some nice photos.

I went to the joint Kings Point/Navy Happy Hour at the Refinery (they had a good selection of beers and the food looked pretty good). I like to go to those meetups when I can. I usually see a few people I know, and get to meet some people I don’t. It’s a great way to keep up with what’s going on around Houston and in the shipping world too.

I got there a little late, but there were still a few from the group there. I had a beer and talked to some of the older guys about how nice it was to be retired right now (wish I was too!!). This downturn in the price of oil has started affecting everyone in Houston. No one at the meeting hasn’t already been affected in some way.

I left fairly early since it’s a long drive home and I don’t know my way around Houston very well. I stopped on the way home for dinner at TGI Fridays. I LOVE their Jack Daniel sauce! I wish I could figure out how to make that stuff, I would be eating a lot more steak! I had a nice rare steak with fresh broccoli and a brownie obsession for desert (with ice cream on top).

I’m going to Mexico for a month, so I figure I better get my cravings out of my system now. I’ve never been a big fan of Mexican food. I guess that’s another thing I’m gonna have to learn while I’m in school down there. 😉

NOS4A2

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Today’s prompt for the Just Jot It January is: Mendaciloquent.

Oh hell yeah, I had to look that one up! Turns out, it’s not in the dictionary. So I have absolutely NO idea what it means. Sorry.

I’ll just have to write about something else.

Read any good books lately?

I have. I just finished NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. It’s a pretty fat one, at almost 700 pages. But it does a great job of keeping you interested. I had a hard time putting it down.

I’ve read a couple other books by Joe Hill. The Heart Shaped Box was the 1st one I read. I thought it was really good. I also read Horns, which I liked even better.

His writing reminds me a lot of Stephen King. Maybe because that’s his dad? I don’t know. But they both write long stories, even over 100’s of pages you can hardly put the book down. They both write a lot using kids and a lot of real, day to day, details that bring back what you were doing as a kid. Puts you right there in the scene.

They both have a sick sense of humor (weird maybe, but I like that). Here’s a story going along where everything’s perfectly normal, it could be taking place right next door. And then, all the sudden, everything’s really weird. That turns into totally fucked up pretty damn quick. 😉

I like how Joe writes a lot about how people get along (or not). A lot of psychology in his writing, maybe in the background, maybe not. His characters (the ones you’re rooting for) are all like-able, even if not ‘normal’. It’s easy to relate to them.

NOS4A2 is kind of a vampire story. It’s like a cross between Stephen King’s Christine, Dracula, and Dorian Grey. In this one, the super-duper special car sucks the life out of all the little kids it can catch and transfers it to the predator driver. Add in a rapist Renfield in a gas mask and a tribe of little monsters, and you’ll get what the hero’s up against.

They drive from reality to a fantasy land where it’s Christmas all the time. Til one little girl shows up and screws things up.

It’s a good story, it’s at the library. I don’t want to ruin it for you. Maybe they’ll make a movie out of it. It would make a good one. 🙂

Guest Post: Skyrim

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What the heck is Skyrim?!

I’m very happy to report I had my first guest post today. Leisel, over at her blog Skill Up Skillet, posted my beef stew recipe.

If you’re at all into sci-fi, fantasy, games, geeky stuff you really ought to check out her blog. She also posts some very interesting recipes. Here’s how she describes it

A Geek & Game Themed Food Blog- because cooking IRL doesn’t have to be a feat of strength. 

I do love reading sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and just about everything else. But I’m not much into games. I just don’t have the patience to keep starting over when I get killed off in the 1st 5 seconds of the game. I was addicted to Gems for a while (that game is impossible to win), it kept me busy while I was on the tuna boat for 3 months at a time with no one to talk to. It’s still on my computer and if I really get bored I try again.

I used to LOVE this one game we used to play on The Performer. It was called VGA Planets. It was one where we were all different alien races and we were all trying to grow our empires and take over the universe. It was a real blast, lasted the entire 5 week long hitch and sometimes longer.

Now I’m more into crosswords and sudoku. If I ever have the time to play games at all.

Another post for the Just Jot It January challenge. 🙂

Going Back to School

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Today’s post for Just Jot It January, I’m not following the prompt (felicity), but going off on a tangent of my own…

I keep hoping and hoping that someone will contact me for a ‘real’ job. Since I was laid off from Ocean Rig in September and started looking for work, I haven’t had even one call (normally, I would have had a couple dozen for Christmas fill-ins).

I was very lucky and found a job through a friend. I thought I’d better go ahead and take it since things were so slow. I took that job, but it didn’t work out. I finished my hitch, but decided it wasn’t somewhere I really wanted to be. I decided to take my chances. I didn’t go back.

It wouldn’t have been worth it even if I had returned. They lost their contract and laid everyone off after only 1 more hitch. 🙁

I saw in the news this morning that Ocean Rig lost the contract for the Olympia, so I’m sure they’ll be laying off even more people there. Schlumberger just announced they’re letting go another 10,000 people.

Ocean Rig Olympia (google photo)

I guess I need to face up to the facts and get serious about finding something else to do with myself. It looks like there’s not going to be any ‘real’ job for me for the foreseeable future. Probably at least 1 year, maybe 2.

I wouldn’t be so upset and worried about it if they hadn’t changed the rules as to what we need in order to work offshore. Before, I would have just found something else to do for a while, knowing I could always go back when things got better. That’s hardly an option anymore with the new regulations.

Now, we have to have our documents renewed every 5 years. To do that, we need to have at least 1 year (365 days) of sea time within the last 5 (on vessels of appropriate tonnage). We also need to have a few (very expensive) training classes renewed within that same time period.

I also need to have a USCG approved physical done every year and if they find anything wrong with me, they might decide I’m not allowed to work any more. To top it off, the Nautical Institute (which is where we get our DP certificates) has knuckled under and decided that we all have to renew our DP certs every 5 years too (with at least 150 days). That might not seem like much, unless you understand how almost impossibly hard it is to get ANY sea time on a DP vessel!

So! I have just about decided to give up completely on trying to find some sort of job where I can put my 30++ years of experience to use. What an incredible waste of effort. 🙁

I basically have to start over from scratch. I’ll be 55 this summer and I’m not exactly looking forward to that process. I know I have a major attitude adjustment to make.

I’ve never really done anything else but work at sea. Yeah, I’ve had a few jobs on the beach like tending bar, housekeeping, painting, dishwashing, etc, but never anything serious. I tutored all through school and I liked it (but that paid less than any other job).

Ever since we were working in Thailand, filming the tsunami, I’ve been tossing around the idea of teaching English overseas somewhere. Spending so much time outside the US convinced me that I had to find a way to spend more time outside. I started investigating what would it take to move.

It could be so simple, if only I was old enough, or rich enough, to retire.

But, I have a long way to go before I qualify for either of those things. I still need to work! I found out that the only way to get a work visa in most countries is by teaching English. So, I started looking into teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL).

I’ve been pretty half-assed about it, mostly because I had a hard time choosing to give up the pretty sweet salary and work schedule I had working offshore. Now, it looks like that choice has been taken away from me- there IS no more choice!

I’ve been in contact with a school in Mexico. I’m going to give it til Monday and if I don’t hear some good news by then I’m going to bite the bullet and sign up  for school. The course is a month long. After that, I’ll have the option to start teaching right away or do something else for a while.

A month can’t be that bad, can it?

Maybe Mexico will be so wonderful and exciting that I’ll forget all about ever coming back! That would be perfect! 🙂

PS- the ‘featured image’ at the top is one I took in Nicaragua (not Mexico), but a lot of those Spanish speaking countries have more in common than the language. 🙂

Rain Knocked Out the Icicles

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I was going to go sailing again yesterday. For the 3rd of the Icicle races. But because of the weather forecast (and short on crew), we didn’t leave the dock.

We felt like we couldn’t do a good job with the small crew we had aboard, the weather was supposed to get really nasty during the time we would be out there, and none of us liked sailing in the cold rain. So, we crapped out.

I don’t have any idea yet how many boats were fanatic enough to start the race yesterday. We decided to visit another friends new boat and then went for a nice lunch (at T-Bone Toms).  I had a cheeseburger (it was really good!). It was already raining, while we were there it started pouring!

I’m really glad we didn’t wind up out sailing in that! 🙂

It was coming down in buckets all the way home. I had a hard time driving for a while and had to slow down. Today my yard is flooded again but the sun was nice to see. 🙂

better weather for racing!

better weather for racing- it did NOT look like this yesterday!

Another post for Just Jot It January.

Washed Ashore

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I was at the Houston Zoo a couple of weeks ago. I always like to go there, watch the animals and take lots of pictures. It relaxes me and I’m a member, so it’s free. 🙂

Last time I was there, they were doing the “Zoo Lights” event and getting ready for this new exhibit: Washed Ashore.

I got a picture of one sculpture. I thought it was pretty neat. Very creative and a nice way to use up a lot of plastic junk and turn it into something beautiful instead of just leaving it as ugly old trash on the beach.

I try to help with the beach cleanups when I can, but there’s a LOT of plastic floating around out there in the ocean and we’ll never be able to clean it all up from the beaches, we need to stop it from getting in the water in the first place!

Yes, that whole thing was made with trash collected off the beach! Washed Ashore will be at the zoo from Jan 15-April 15.

Dunes Day at Surfside Beach will be Jan 23 (0900-1200). I can’t find the date for the next International Coastal Cleanup, but they should be getting it organized soon. It’s usually in spring (Apr) and fall (Sept). Here’s a link to the results from last year.

(and another post for Just Jot It January)

Arribada!

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I haven’t been doing a whole lot lately. I’ve been out of work and so out of money and so not able to do much traveling. I’m trying to avoid spending money as much as possible while I’m trying to find a new job.

I’ve joined in the Just Jot It January, where the challenge is to ‘jot’ (post) something every day for the month of January. I’m finding it a little hard to find interesting things to post about that often, especially when I’m pretty much stuck at home. Things are really pretty boring around here right now.

I did a post a few days ago about what happened last year. Sabrina, (The Photographicalist), commented on it that she’d like to see some pictures of the arribada. That’s where the sea turtles struggle ashore on the beaches to lay their eggs. I did find one picture (almost all my photos from that trip were stolen).

I was lucky enough to see the arribada last year when I was in Nicaragua. So sorry, I wasn’t able to get any good photos since it was night, it was very dark, and tho they passed out little red lights, they warned us not to shine them at the turtles. It might upset them enough to make them stop laying their eggs. I don’t know why they don’t go see them in the daytime, I never got a straight answer to that question. I hope one day to see them in the daylight. 🙂

I did take a few photos anyway. It was such an amazing experience, I soon gave up messing with the camera. There were dozens of turtles (olive ridleys) coming and going up and down the beach. Like all sea turtles, the olive ridleys are endangered, it was thrilling to see so many of them at once. It was hard to see them, but you could hear them coming and you’d better get out of their way cause they weren’t moving out of your way!

We went as a group (I signed up for a tour at a hostel- Casa Oro– in San Juan del Sur), we all watched a movie before we left and our guide explained everything for us. She even scooped out the sand behind the turtle as it was laying, so we could all see the eggs being deposited.

I’d like to go back someday, it was a fantastic experience. If you ever get the chance to see it, you should!

Making a Living Without a Job…

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“…Winning Ways for Creating Work that You Love”. That’s the full title of the book I picked up at the Fund Your Life Overseas conference put on by International Living.

I went to Phoenix in November for the conference. I had high hopes to find some way to finance my highly desired move overseas. I spent 3 days there, listening to the speakers, talking to other hopefuls, collecting literature, entering contests for prize give-a-ways, soaking up the information. 🙂

One of the speakers I got to meet was Barbara Winter. The one who wrote the book. I had actually read the 1st edition of her book years ago. I figured there would be updates (and there were), so I bought a new copy. I love her ideas of being “joyfully jobless” and would really, really love to join her fellow travelers, but I still haven’t found my way.

google photo

google photo

I like Barbara’s ideas about having multiple sources of income. I’d actually been working on that before I ever read her book. I have (had) my job, rental properties, investing in the stock market, vending machines (not making any money), blog (still trying), writing (sold one article for $250), photography (sold 4 photos for a total of $2).

I’ve been reading “Making a Living…” off and on since I got home, working through some of the exercises, thinking hard about a lot of things. What are my goals? What do I really want to do? What do I really like to do? What do I need in my life? What can I do without? What are my skills? Could I learn some new skills?

Barbara talks a lot in this book about finding your passion. She asks questions like “What were the things you loved to do when you were a kid? What would you choose to do with your life if money was no object?” She helps you visualize. She helps motivate.

Then she talks about all the things that could be holding you back from pursuing those ideals (fears) and how you can get past those obstacles. She’s very motivating and inspiring. But a lot of the things she talks about just don’t seem to click for me, I don’t really want to work online, I’m not a computer geek and not really interested in becoming one.  I don’t want to start a business so I wind up working harder than I ever did at a job!

I want to RELAX. I want to spend my time doing things I enjoy: reading, writing, painting, making music, hanging out with interesting people, exploring new places, cooking, eating, sailing, hiking, snorkeling, SCUBA diving, beach combing, etc. I read the book, I still can’t figure out any way to make a living from one or any combination of those things. Maybe a beach bar? (If I had enough money, I could think seriously about that idea, but I’m broke!)

Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. -Confucius

I totally believe that! My stepmother always used to tell me when I worried so much about something not working out “do what you love and the money will follow, the Universe is in divine order”.

Well, it always worked for her. It DID work for me when I was young and I LOVED working on those boats, before the accountants and insurance companies managed to screw it all up!

I wonder if there’s anywhere left at sea (or anywhere) where you can still just do your job, without all the extra pure bullshit they bury you in? Yeah, I’m still dreaming of that kind of life. The life of a seafarer 30-50 years ago. That would be perfect! 🙂

Another Just Jot It January post. 🙂

Best of 2015

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The best posts on my blog last year (according to you, my readers) were:

  1. Daves Peach Pie Moonshine
  2. This Dumbo Octopus Video Will Melt Your Heart
  3. A Typical Day on a Drillship
  4. Crock-Pot Apple Pie Moonshine
  5. Daily Prompt: Toy Story

I’m not sure I would have chosen those as my best posts, but at least it looks like we’re all on the same page. We all like things to do with the water and drinking! 😉

Actually, those two posts about the moonshine are not very useful anymore. The links to the recipes have disappeared into cyberspace. I don’t know how to get the originals back. I did try to make amends recently with these posts:

  1. More Moonshine
  2. Cherry Pie Moonshine

But it looks like ya’ll took those New Years resolutions seriously, no one has even read those posts or clicked on the links for the recipes. I haven’t been out much myself lately. It’s just too dangerous anymore to go out and have a drink with friends and I’m not really into drinking at home by myself. 😉

I’ve been having a hard time lately, mostly with the work situation in the oilfield. I don’t want to be too depressing on here. I notice I’ve been pretty down on here lately and my posts don’t seem too interesting to me (hopefully they still are to you). I don’t want to run off my readers. So, in hopes you can help me liven it up around here, what would YOU like to hear about here?

I’m still in the Just Jot It January challenge, to post every day for January.

Just Jot It January: 2016

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Today’s prompt for Just Jot It January is about 2016. I was going to write about this anyway, so here goes…

My goals, dreams, plans for 2016 (in no particular order) are:

  1. Take the TEFL course (Teaching English as a Foreign Language)
  2. Teach for at least 3 months in Mexico
  3. Paint more
  4. Upload at least 100 photos on Bigstock, iStock, Dreamstime
  5. At least 1 blog post per week (after finishing JusJoJan)
  6. Sell beach house
  7. Get yard cleared up and looking half-way decent again
  8. Query local newspapers about writing for them
  9. Sell article re: Best Burgers on the Beach
  10. Sell article re: Deep in the “Start” of Texas
  11. Write (and sell) at least 6 more articles
  12. Enter at least one local art show
  13. Sail more!
  14. Fix blog issues
  15. Start playing the piano again
  16. Sign on a voyage through Crewseekers, Crewbay, etc.
  17. Go to Panama, investigate moving there
  18. Sail a tall ship to Antarctica!
  19. Explore Vietnam
  20. Thailand for the Songkram festival
  21. Granada for the Hippica I missed last year by a week!
  22. Spend some time in Ireland
  23. Take a cruise (on a big cruise ship)

That’s just a short list. Notice I didn’t put anything on there about losing weight this year. 😉

I think I can actually accomplish all of them down to about #16, even tho I’ll probably still be unemployed. The challenge is going to be for me to stop worrying about being out of work and how long I’ll probably be out of work, and what the heck am I going to do if I’m out of work for so long,etc. STOP letting those worries run me down and just LIVE life for a change!

Thank goodness I was able to prepare at least a little bit for this plunge in the price of oil. I knew I would probably get laid off, just like so many others already had been. I wish I had saved even more, but I’m not one for denying myself everything! I save what I can, but I still like to enjoy life in the meantime. 🙂

The most important thing I have to do this year is renew my USCG license (US Coast Guard). They’re only good for 5 years now. 🙁

Without that, I can’t work anywhere. It’ll expire in mid-December, so I have to start getting everything ready to turn in by October at the latest. So, that means I’ll have to be around here. 🙁 Otherwise, I think I would just stay down in Mexico teaching (at least until some offshore work starts up again).

I can’t wait til I’m able to RETIRE! Oh, how I wish I could forget about working from now on!!! I’ve been trying to figure out some way to quit working for the last few years. Now that I’ve been laid off and no real hope of a job anytime soon, I’ve been constantly thinking of possible scenarios. What if? What it? So far, I haven’t been able to come up with anything that makes any sense.

It’s a new year and hopefully it will turn out better than the last one. I hope that’s true for ALL of us! Here’s to 2016! 🙂

Just Jot It January: Dachshund

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For today’s Just Jot It January post…

Just a little joke. Enjoy. 🙂

Resolution 2016

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It’s New Years, traditionally a time to reflect on the past and think of the future. I’ve pretty much given up on making New Years Resolutions. I always make the same one every year: lose weight. For 40 years I’ve never managed to accomplish that goal. 🙁

If you do make resolutions, you are in step with the ancient Babylonians who started the whole malarkey. They began each year with oaths to kings and gods. The Romans swore to the two-faced god Janus who looked back and forward into the old year and the new.

That was the beginning of an email I got this morning from International Living. It got me interested enough to read further (I’m studying how to write good leads).

I’ve subscribed to their magazine for a LONG time. Just like it sounds, they’re all about living internationally. Somewhere other than your original familiar surroundings.

I’ve been wanting to move overseas somewhere for a LONG time. At this point, I don’t even care too much where, there are so many good choices! Mexico, Belize, Thailand, Italy, France, Philippines, Malaysia, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Chile, etc. The ONLY reason I haven’t done it yet is (of course) money.

It’s MUCH cheaper to live overseas, but you still need to have some money. If I was retired, it would be no problem, but I don’t want to wait another 15+ years to leave. I haven’t yet been able to figure out how the heck to support myself anywhere without being able to work. I’ve researched it and it’s damn near impossible to get a work visa other than as a teacher (and teaching doesn’t pay enough to cover my bills).

But, it IS a way to make the move. It IS a way to immerse yourself into a foreign country, to learn the language and the culture, to live like a local and not like a tourist, to spend enough time in a place to see what it’s really like.

I’ve been researching language schools online. I’m just about ready to sign up for a TEFL course in Mexico. I’m having a hard time adjusting to the idea of staying ashore for that long, but right now I can’t seem to find a ship anyway. 🙁

So maybe this year I should try again to make a resolution. Something a little different. Something to at least move me somewhat nearer my ultimate goal.

Forget about losing weight and just concentrate on trying to find a way to GO somewhere!

Sign up for the course and just go with the flow. Go to Mexico and see what happens. It can’t hurt, right? 🙂

This last quote from the email is some serious motivation. I might just accomplish ALL of my goals if I just concentrate on this one!

And here’s something: A list of the most popular resolutions is identical to the most commonly hailed benefits of a move overseas…lose weight, save money, enjoy life more. “Get organized” is another one on many lists.

My resolution for 2016 is: take the TEFL!

PS-all posts for this month link to Just Jot It January

Just Jot It January: Frozen

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I’ve joined in Linda’s blog challenge of Just Jot It January. I’ve been posting every day so far but today is the first time I’m using one of the prompts. Today’s prompt is: frozen.

I can’t help thinking about yesterdays Icicle Race out on Galveston Bay. One of the guys who was out on the boat with us was just about literally frozen the whole time! Unlike myself, he’s a skinny little guy and has no natural insulation. 😉

He’s usually the most enthusiastic sailor of all of us. He’s constantly checking the sails and tweaking the trim for every last bit of speed he can get out of the boat.  But yesterday he stayed holed up down below through most of the race. Even the standard sailors cure (a shot of rum) didn’t do much to help. 😉

We joked about the ‘wind chill factor’ the rest of the afternoon, how it was so much colder on deck with the wind (since there really was not much wind). We finally gave up on the race when the wind died down to only 2-3 kts, and motored the rest of the way in to the dock. We got there in good time for the crew party at the clubhouse. The hot chili and a few more shots of rum finally did the trick. 🙂

Icicles

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Today was the first in the series of Icicle races here on Galveston Bay. I pried my eyes open early and ran up to Kemah to join Capt Vic and his crew. We got underway in time to get the crew warmed up and make a couple of practice runs at the starting line.

It was cold and damp, cloudy and drizzling rain, but we were in good spirits. We had some decent wind (N 10-15 kts), to start the race. We had a great start. Crossed the line right on time and were making about 7 kts all the way to the first mark.

From that point on, it was all down hill. The wind started shifting and dropping off. We had to tack a couple of times to make the next mark. That cost us a lot of time.

By the time we rounded the 2nd mark, the wind had died down to under 5 kts. Not enough to do much for a heavier boat like ours. We tried to sail wing and wing downwind, but it really wasn’t working well. We didn’t have a spinniker and weren’t classed for it anyway so couldn’t have used it if we did have one on board.

We tried for about a half hour, pretty much every other boat had already passed us so we decided to just throw in the towel and head for the dock. At least we would get there before the rum was gone (Cruzan Rum is one of the major sponsors of the Icicle Races). 🙂

There are 4 more races to go. I hope the weather is better for the next one. It’s not a lot of fun to sail when there’s no wind. Even so, I was happy to be out on the water today. 🙂

The pictures are from last years races, I haven’t had time to download the new ones yet.

PS- I’ve joined in the Just Jot it January challenge, you can see what it’s all about here.

2015: Year In Review

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Whew! I’m glad it’s over! Here’s hoping for a better year this year!

It didn’t start out too bad. I was working steady for Ocean Rig, and no matter how much it sucked, it was still a job. That’s MUCH better than where I am now, with NO job! Or maybe I should say no money, I could do without the job if it didn’t mean no money!

Yeah, I hated their petty BS, they never really listened to me (or anybody else on the vessels) and insisted I repeat time wasting, un-necessary “training” instead of allowing me to enjoy my time off. I hate all the rules and regulations, but that’s something to deal with pretty much everywhere now. I keep hoping to find a small mom and pop company that does things the old way. Somewhere we all could really ENJOY work again (and not just do it for the paycheck).

Even so, I still loved the job for 1. the pay, that allows me to enjoy 2. the time off, and when I go back to work 3. it’s still out there on the water instead of in some dreary office cubicle!

drill ship

I really didn’t do much other than work last year. I did manage to go sailing a few times with the local meet up group Sail La Vie. I actually managed to finish ONE of my goals from last years New Years resolutions (post at least once a week). I SOLD an article! I uploaded a few photos to the stock agencies that were accepted (most failed).

Nothing really exciting til I took a vacation down to Central America in late July. I had been planning to go to a blogging workshop in Costa Rica for months and hoping I could make it work with my schedule. At the last minute, I was able to work over and so could make the trip.

I flew to Managua since it was the cheapest flight I could find. I went directly to Granada for a week long Spanish immersion class. From there I went to the blogging workshop in Costa Rica. I had been considering moving my blog to a paid site for a while since I thought I had to do that in order to ‘monetize’ it. I only started blogging as a way to earn money and yes, I still DO want to do that.

I wanted to find a way to get my photography out there, my writing out there, my experiences out there- PAST the editors and to the people who might enjoy it! So far, I am not making much progress in any of that. Yes, I have had a few people ‘like’ my posts, but nowhere near enough ‘followers’ to make it worth trying to put any sort of links or ads on here. So I moved the blog while I was at the workshop and had help.

That was a pure DISASTER!

For 3 months, I had a total of 3 new followers, 4-5 likes, a dozen or so views. I was so frustrated and discouraged. I still haven’t figured out what went wrong or how to fix it. I DID finally find out that most of my old followers hadn’t actually disappeared, they were still here, on my OLD blog and didn’t get transferred to my NEW blog like they were supposed to have been (automatically).

So, I have basically had to start BOTH blogs over again from scratch as far as finding an audience. I was about to just say the hell with it all and chalk it up as just one more failure. One more money making scheme that will never work. But then I thought about it some more and I really do like blogging just for the sake of blogging. It’s not all about the money. I like meeting people from all over the world, I like seeing what they’re all doing, I like participating in the challenges, and I also like seeing what I can do to increase my stats. 😉

So, I will keep on blogging, still hoping to someday figure out how to make some money off it, but in the meantime having fun with it.

I did really enjoy the workshop and it was helpful (except for the screwed up blog move). I had a good time with all the other bloggers, but after it was over I was eager to get back to Nicaragua. Costa Rica was just too expensive for me!

I went to San Juan del Sur and stayed to see the arribada (the turtles coming to lay their eggs). That was really something! I wish I could have stayed longer to do it again, but I wanted to go back to Granada for the hipica. That was supposed to be something really special. Something like the running of the bulls in Pamplona but not as crowded, plus fancy horse carts and all kinds of celebrations. I was really looking forward to it.

I got back to Granada and found out they had changed the dates (without notice) and so I would miss the celebrations after all. 🙁

My friend from high school was coming down and I was getting sick of the heat and humidity, so I decided to meet him in the northern mountain town of Matagalpa. That was a nice change. We went riding around in his rental car. We went searching for the town of the weavers which turned into a real adventure. I would never had tried to take a little rental car up in those crazy mountain roads, but T had no problems.

We finally found the place, only about 100 population, I’m still amazed we even got there. After that, we had to buy some fabrics. T did.

I went back home to look for work after that trip, Ocean Rig called and laid me off while I was down there. T decided to go take the TEFL course. He’s happily teaching English in Mexico now. I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing.

I’ve been trying to figure out what in the hell I’m going to do now. I’ve spent my entire life at sea, never really done anything else and now there is NO work out there. Now that the price of oil has taken a nose dive and the forecast is not looking good for the next year or 2 (at least).

I went to Phoenix for a conference on how to earn a living overseas. That was interesting, especially if you want to run a business, but I don’t want to work any harder than I do now.   I still don’t really have any great ideas on what to do myself. Not unless I can flat out ‘retire’ with enough money to last til I die (I can’t). I went to the Workboat Show in New Orleans, hoping there would be someone hiring at the job fair there (there wasn’t). I went to a writing workshop in Colorado, hoping to get my writing polished up enough to send in to magazines (still working on that).

I’ve mostly hanging around the house, filling out job applications, waiting for emails or calls about work, not feeling like doing much of anything, wondering what can I do to make things work out. How can I make a move? How can I motivate myself to just DO IT? or at least do something?

PS- This is my first post in Linda’s Just Jot It January challenge. Click the link if you want to join in. 🙂

Happy 2016!

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fireworks

I sure hope this year turns out better than last year was. Happy New Year 2016! Hope you’re all happy and healthy and ready to roar!

Thanks for checking out my blog, I appreciate it and hope to see you all stick around for more. 🙂

PS- I took the picture at the Renaissance Fair a couple of months ago.

Ogden

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I was in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago for the Workboat Show. I always try to go if I’m not working. It’s interesting and New Orleans is always a blast. 🙂

This year, the schedule was a little off, also I’ve been laid off and no idea when I’ll get any work. It could be months. Years even. I was hoping to find somebody hiring at the job fair. Or, talk up some of the recruiters at their booths. So, I went to the show, but I cut back. I didn’t stay as long as usual. I didn’t spend as much money as usual. I was only there 4 days instead of 5-6, but I still had a good time.

I flew in Wednesday and flew out Saturday. I had hoped to be able to do some tourist stuff on Friday since I had all day free. I wound up spending all day long driving down to Fourchon and back to pick up some paperwork from my last ship.

So Saturday morning I had to return the car. Lucky for me, I saw on the way that they were setting up for the Krewe of Jingle Christmas Parade. I was planning to spend the day in the WWII Museum. I had heard it was really good, especially the movie (Tom Hanks).

Because I really wanted to see the parade, I skipped the WWII Museum (I thought it would be worth more than 1-2 hours) and went to see the Ogden Museum of Southern Art instead.

It’s nice that all those museums are so close together. Almost right across the street from each other. There is also a Civil War museum right there and a contemporary arts museum there too. I’ll have to do those and the WWII Museum next time. 🙂

The Ogden Museum was interesting. They had an exhibit of photographer Bill Yates that was pretty good. They displayed a bunch of black and white photographs from a skating rink (FL in the 70s), reminded me of when I was growing up over there. There was another exhibit of Michael Meads that I really liked. A lot of those were huge drawings/paintings, mostly in black and white but very intricate. (Not allowed to take pictures of those exhibits).

I started from the top (nice view from the balcony) and worked my way down. Four floors, pretty compact. They had painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, glass and more. They had an exhibit by some school kids that I really liked. Made out of garbage (plastic) and painted. Sculptures of fantasy creatures and interesting objects. I thought it was very creative and nice to recycle.

They had some of the more traditional museum type paintings, they also had some strange stuff that really got me thinking about ‘what is art?’.

Some of the things they had I could see really took a lot of effort, a lot of thought, a lot of creativity, a lot of talent. I could see why someone would want to put them in a museum (and probably pay a bunch of money for them).

"Victim of Silence"- Mark Messersmith 2011

“Victim of Silence”- Mark Messersmith 2011

detail

detail

But some of the things they had on display I thought “WTF???”. Why in the world would anybody want THAT hanging around? Much less pay anything for it! Why would anyone consider it ‘art”?

mud & paint on plywood by Jimmy Lee Sudduth

mud & paint on plywood by Jimmy Lee Sudduth

Those items looked to me like anybody could make them. A child could do better. A MONKEY could do better!

Why are these things sitting in a museum? What makes them worth it? What makes them ‘great’? I’m assuming if they’re in a museum, they’re considered to be ‘great art’. Why do the curators pay high dollars for these things when the majority of people who see them think the same way as I do and wouldn’t pay 10 cents for them? What makes them art and your kids refrigerator specials not?

So, what does make art?

And what makes ‘great’ art (worth of a spot in a museum)?

I’m really curious. Come on with your comments…

More Jingle

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A few more photos from the Krewe of Jingle Christmas Parade in New Orleans. I always try to go to New Orleans the 1st week of December for the Workboat Show and they have this parade right afterwards. It’s always a lot of fun. 🙂

Krewe of Jingle Christmas Parade 2015

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I went to New Orleans for the Workboat Show again this year. I didn’t stay as long as usual  (due to not working this year), but I still had time to catch the Christmas Parade. 🙂

I had actually forgotten about it. They changed the usual schedule for the Workboat Show, so I was off on my planning. I flew in the morning of the show, made the WISTA tea that afternoon, went to a party that night, spent the next day working the Show. I spent all day Friday tracking down paperwork from my last boat (in Fourchon).

I had to return the car Saturday morning, so got up early. I had planned to go to the WWII Museum right next to the car rental, but I saw them setting up the streets for a parade and it was going to start in only a little over an hour. I wanted to see it for sure!

I decided to spend the time before the parade started in the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. It was interesting and I managed to check out all of it and still have enough time to get a good spot to watch the parade. I even had time to wander around, check out the costumes and take photos before they started marching. 🙂

some Pussyfooters

This is the Krewe of Jingle parade, they’ve been doing it the last few years right around the same time as the Workboat Show (Dec 5 this year). I LOVE this parade! They have such great people, fun costumes, and they’re all having such a great time. It’s contagious. 🙂

I’ve got a lot of great photos from the parade. I’ll share more later, don’t want the blog to get bogged down loading. 😉

Merry Christmas 2015

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DC AWAI workshop

I hope you all have a great Christmas!

It looks like I’ll be home for the first time in decades. I’m having a hard time trying to get into the holiday spirit.

I’m going to see some good friends tomorrow for Christmas, so looking forward to that. We’ll eat, drink and be merry. Hope you’re all doing the same. 🙂

Gathering: Bikes and Blues

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This week the Daily Post is doing a challenge on ‘gathering’. They seem to be looking for something more along the lines of a holiday gathering of family and friends. The typical Christmas kind of thing. I don’t really get into that kind of thing much.

Here’s a gathering of a gathering of bikers last year at the Summertime Bikes and Blues festival they have in Freeport every year. I have a lot more fun at these kinds of ‘gatherings’ then I do at Christmas!

I like to go to this event when when I can. It’s local, it’s not too crowded, it’s cheap. I love the music, the foods good, there are lots of cool bikes to check out and I always have a good time. 🙂

7 Ways to Drink (and Eat) Eggnog!

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Seems I can’t use “Press This” anymore either since I moved my blog over here. Just one more frustrating fuck up! Makes it harder to share good stuff I see online and when I decide it is worth all the extra effort, the post looks like hell. 🙁

So, I’m not much in the holiday spirit. Things have not been going very well around here lately. I’m home, for one thing. I’m almost always out to sea on the holidays, it’s always the best time to get work. Most people want to be home with their families over the holidays. I need the work more.

So, I’m sitting here tonight, chilling out, having a drink and still HOPING to get a call tomorrow. Some last minute rush to get me there before crew change, nevermind holiday airport madness. I thought of this email I got the other day, thought some of you might like it too…

cashew nut nog, epicurious.com

Here’s the link to a site with some pretty cool looking ways to make eggnog. Surprisingly enough, most of the recipes are for eating your eggnog. I’ve always been a fan of real (spiced) eggnog, even if I do only have it around Christmas time. I have to admit, I never thought about eating it before.

Some of these recipes make me feel like I ought to spread them out over the rest of the year. I especially like the Cranberry Eggnog Tart, which is really a cheesecake with some cranberry jam to change the taste a little.

They also give recipes for Cinnamon Flan (made with rum spiced whipped cream), eggnog sauce for your spiced apple cake, Tiramisu Eggnog Trifle, and even eggnog ice cream (made with heavy cream and dark rum) that sounds like another real winner. 🙂

And if you just want to stick with drinking your eggnog, they have a recipe for Cashew Nut Nog and another for a coconut eggnog they call Coquito.

I don’t know about you, but I think I might need to pick up another carton of eggnog before this is all over. 😉

Limbo

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Have you ever felt like you were in limbo? I rarely have. But I am feeling like that right now. I hate it!

I’ve always been one to have a goal. To have something, at least in the back of my mind, to work towards.

Up until fairly recently, that goal was to become ‘a ships captain and sail around the world (and get paid for it)’. I FINALLY achieved that goal in December of 2011. I earned my Master AGT (any gross tons) from the US Coast Guard. I was so happy, so thrilled, so stunned, to have FINALLY earned what I had worked so long and so hard for.

But, since then, I have been a little bit lost. I had been trying so long and so hard to reach that goal, that I hadn’t really figured out ‘what next?’

I’m still in that phase. Trying to figure out ‘what now?’. I was OK with that until I got laid off. Having work always kept me occupied. I never had to think about what was next. Working, and then busy as hell when I was home. I was able to travel, take courses, work on projects, etc. All because I knew I only had a month or so at home to get everything done that I needed to do.

Now, I am out of work. There is NO work in my field. I doubt there will be any until the price of oil goes back up to at least $70-80 per barrel. Hundreds of thousands of people have been laid off already in the oilfield and there are still more layoffs in the news every day. 🙁

According to the people who think they know about this kind of thing, it could take another 2-3 years for the price to go back up to the point companies start hiring again. Some ‘experts’ think oil could go back up to $100 next year. Some people think it never will due to alternative energy increasing in efficiency and affordability (I think it will be decades before that happens).

So, I am in limbo. I am HOPING to get some work over the holidays. All of my usual sources have dried up. I have ONE recruiter still telling me he’s got something coming up, but nothing definite yet. Christmas is less than a week away. I’m losing hope, but still not ready to throw in the towel yet.

So….. what am I going to do?

I WISH I could just say the hell with it all and ‘retire’! I WISH. But, if I plan to live more than 10 years, then I just can’t see how I could possibly survive for any time past that. Those 10 years would have to be spent living somewhere with a MUCH lower cost of living then the USA. I’m not objecting to that at all, in fact I would LOVE to move NOW to one of those places. The problem with that is that they won’t let me until I’m retired and/or have a ton of money!

Since I don’t know how long I might live, and hopefully it’ll be more than 10 years, I need to figure out some OTHER way to earn a living. I have all kinds of ideas. I’ve already tried a few: vending machines, rental property, investing in the stock market, painting, writing, photography, blogging. Not one of them has made anywhere near enough money for me to consider concentrating on just that one. The rental property comes close, but I’m still at the point where I need to subsidize them with regular work. 🙁

I found a temporary job ashore through an old friend. It pays about 1/5 of what I normally make. It’s not every day. It won’t start up again til the end of January. It won’t pay the bills. But it pays 2-3 times more than any OTHER job I’m likely to find here. It helps.

I’m considering taking the TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) course. No, it won’t be enough to pay the bills either, but at least it will allow me to move somewhere less expensive to live. I think I might actually enjoy teaching and it might turn into something really interesting. The biggest problem with that is my fear/expectation that I would have to dress/act in a ‘professional manner’. UGH! I hate the thought of that!

So, while I sit around the house, hoping to get a call for a ‘real’ job, I try to work on my other (hopefully someday money-earning) projects. My writing, photography, blogging. Problem with that is I’m getting so depressed with the situation around here that I don’t feel like doing ANYTHING.

All the things I’d normally be doing in my time off, like sailing, going out to see friends, going to the zoo, going to do things in Houston, traveling, are either too expensive or I put them off cause I just don’t feel like getting out of the house. I’m getting super lazy, doing less and less every day. I didn’t even take my daily walk yesterday (I did today).

I really hate being in this situation, this limbo. If I knew for sure I could get regular work, and when, I could make some kind of decision. Knowing I would be leaving soon would motivate me to get off my ass and get some of these projects around the house done.

If I knew for sure there was no work (not still hoping to get some), I might decide to take the enforced time off to take the TEFL course. Or just take the time to concentrate on fixing this blog (the total disaster of moving it still needs to be fixed). Or work on photography. Or writing. Or painting.

Or, I might look harder at some of those sailboats looking for crew. That would be a cool adventure! I only wish they paid something, but there are always so many people out there willing to go for just the experience, or even to pay themselves! I know I would make a good crew on any passage. Too bad I don’t have the money now to put in for costs, or pay for transportation. 🙁

So, limbo. I wish I knew something to do to motivate myself (other than having a job pop up).

Cherry Pie Moonshine

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Cherry Pie Moonshine – Sweet C’s Designs.

OK. Here’s a new moonshine recipe. I double checked the link and it DOES work!

It looks delicious and very easy to make. I agree, it would make a great Christmas (or Valentines) present.

Time to get cookin’

🙂