Farther into November

Hola Lurkers,

Yes it is getting towards mid-November, and after a couple of chilly nights last week, we had a couple of days where the daytime temp got into the 70s...nothing like sitting outside having lunch while wearing shorts.

Last Friday I did something I had not done in many moons...a friend of mine was having her birthday celebration at a bar....ended up staying out till 0130 in the morning....(fortunately I showed some restraint at the bar)...good music and amusing people.

Currently into week 6 of semi-consistent productivity at work..which leads us to the important part of this posting.

Ron itches for a vacation in Jan/Feb (or maybe for 1 or both months)...so where to go
on the list are (I plan on doing 2-3 "vacations" early next year)

RI for a long weekend
Las Vegas
Random Islands/boats in the Caribbean
Whatever has a flight special on a Wednesday that leaves on a Friday
Key West
Snorkeling

comments?
interest?

and in rolls November

Hello All,

Well..I hope all had a fun Halloween. I had a quiet one hunkerred down in the condo enjoying the smell of the vegetable beef soup that was cooking (24 hours on low in the old crockpot). Sunday was a fun day full of good football (Redskins had their bye week) and eating the soup that I had been smelling. Now leftovers for weeks!

October

Hola Lurkers,

Yet again...long time no post. Still not much going on here...work has picked up which means that all of us are actually working semi-real hours this month! My vacation itch is growing....so I see a trip or two coming up for next year. Perhaps January in the Caribbean.

This weekend, for high excitement, I suffered through another Redskins loss.....and played scrabble at the local pub for amusement. A butcher shop has opened downtown...first steak that I had from there, a ribeye, was tasty. Combined with late season corn from the farmers market....a good dinner.

Still in shorts here, even though the mornings and nights are starting to cool off a bit. I get the occassional odd glance as I walk around in a poncho and shorts...just need to find the appropriate hat.

Long Time No Post

Hola Lurkers,

Yes I forgot to post in August and most of September....mainly not too much going on.

Had a pleasant visit from a Floridian cousin....saw the folks (and some other random relatives) at lunch one day (which was amusing).

Looks like a busy fall is upon us here though. Football to be watched, and potentially a large influx of work (which means I might need to consider a long vacation to avoid this work thing).

Later in July

Hola Lurkers and those that stumble across this page....

Not much new or at least of value to report out. The walking thing was going well...until about 2 weeks ago when my knee got angry with me (nothing like it getting so swollen I could not bend it enough to get into my car and drive)... Hoping I can get back out and start walking again this weekend.

Currently no vacations planned. However I am sure something will come up for action this fall.

Ah..how could I forget..my other fun this month has been jury duty. Nothing like calling in at 6PM to see if I have the priviledge to attend the next day. So far I have twice had to attend to do my duty. The first time it was rather interesting, but I was found to be undesirable while being questioned so I was not selected to be one of the jury members. The second time, we all just waited in a conference room for 2 hours or so and instead of needing a jury trial some type of last minute settlement occurred. One more chance this month!

Post Beach

Hail,
The beach visit was survived and enjoyed. Now to get a small bit of work done this week and perhaps have guests up for the 4th.

To the Beach

Hola Lurkers,

Todays fun.....getting ready to drive to VA Beach...will have to have some crabs and beer with Jim S (hoping the Gods of Gout do not attack me for my foolishness this trip).
The big question of this trip though is will I survive being around their 2 small children for 3 days.....or will the small children survive being around me...

Thursday

Well what to babble about today. Many relatively small things going on these days. Work keeps me off the streets, except when I go out walking or riding the bike (which is probably a good thing after a friend of mine saw me walking/wandering around town and asked why I was becoming a street walker).

Currently itching for another vacation. The desire to get back out on the water for some sailing (and some snorkeling would also be very cool) is strong.

With that

Relaxing Weekend...and now what work to do while the boss is vacationing

Hello Whomever,

This weekend was a pleasant weekend sans rain. Managed a walk and bike ride for fun. Saturday morning, that was followed up with a trip to the local farmers market where someone was selling fresh fish he caught yesterday. That just had to be turned into my dinner...so i also purchased some green beans and an onion to accompany the fish. Baked the fish in a lemon butter sauce with onions, dill and some random salt type seasonings....yum.

Sunday was a let the body recover and play games kind of day. Managed to get a few games played. I was generally lazy.

Monday, the boss is on a cruise.....so the office is even quieter than normal. I think the work day will be a bit short today followed by listening to the early part of open mic night at the Colonial Tavern. I hope all of you are managing to have as an enjoyable day as I shall today.

Oh the pain...of walking

Hola All,

Yesterday I went out for a morning walk and instead of the moderately paced 3 miles, we did a bit over 4 at a faster than my normal pace (I blame my pace coach Carole T) (note all this pace stuff is relative questionable since I am walking....). All felt good for the first 3 miles...then the feet started to get a bit sore. However, I survived. But later on was quite sore. The recovery consisted of soaking the feet twice in water/w epson salt, a dose of Ibuprofin, iceing the knees down once and a nap....then a nights sleep (no liquid painkillers from the local pub were taken either).

Today, muscle soreness and feet/joints feel relatively good. So there is hope!
Currently attempting to work while killing ants in the office.

Upcoming weekend. Hopefully another walk or bike ride (Fri or Sat) followed by some guitar playing (currently unscheduled) some board gaming (also currently unscheduled) and probably no trips to the office this weekend.

Hello Monday June 1st

Hail Lurkers and welcome to the month where summer starts,

So what is new? From my end things have been steady, slightly busy but enjoyable.
I have signed up to walk a half marathon in VA beach over labor day weekend for fun...so for the last couple of weeks (and then for the entire summer) I have been getting into a walking/biking routine that includes some stretching. Except for the occassional rebellions from the joints the overall body feels better.
My attempt to learn how to play bass guitar continues...and I must say that they guys that I play/practice with have made it a fun experience so far.
With luck I will go down and visit Jim S. and family for some fun and crabs later this month.
Vacations...nothing exotic and exciting scheduled at the moment.

Later

Surviving Rhode Island

Hail Lurkers,

I have returned from a multi-day foray to the wilds of Rhode Island. Spent a few days with my college roomate (or 20 years ago....) and his family. Twas enjoyable. Gaming, cards and food (plus the occassional semi small child comments). Pete's wife, Cathy, likes to run....and invited me to tag along on a bike while she ran...no problem I thought. But then I tried to bike up some hills......survived the Sunday excursion..so I tried it again early on Tuesday morning before taking the train home. Now I am actually glad to be back at work.

For the gamers that may or may not read this...we played many games of BattleLore, Manoeuvre and Spades.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25417
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17396


awfully nice outside...how long will I last at work today....

May Update

Hail Lurkers,

Yes I got lazy and never finished my trip commentary. However, the pictures and video are all up.

Currently just in the work mode here. Did the mortgage refi for fun as well recently. Going north to Rhode Island next week which should be enjoyable for a few days. Will post when something new and/or exciting occurs.

Day 7 - Thursday

Yesterday Paul and Matt spoke with a local that, I think, used to do some fish guiding work. He and Matt met shortly after sunrise to take a trip to try and do some fishing. No luck with the fishing...but evidently and amusing dingy ride with the surf level coming in/out of the channel to Little Harbor.
We moved the boat outside of the Harbor to await the end of the fishing fun...and taking the guide back to town. U/W again..this time to an achorage between Lubbers and Elbow Cay within view of Tahiti beach. Once again, due to weather/seas, we skipped the intermediate snorkel spot..which was a plus because it allowed us to get into our anchorage before low tide struck...(we came in from the south which has shallower water than approaching from the north)
Cool snorkeling here...while not tons of fish...was neat anyway. Saw a submerged lawn chair, many starfish, some conch, random small fisht and a larger fish 1.5-2' long i would guess. The highlight was a submerged 55 gallon drum that had become the home a a Lionfish.....this fish was a cool find by Captain Paul who said that they are rather rare here...twas the first one I had seen. Initially looks like a small fish..but when irritated it puffs out (tis also poisonous). When puffed out it reminded me of a giant spider hanging from something...very cool.
Had burgers and dogs at anchor this fine night...entertainment was (most of) the crew deciding it was dancing on deck night.......
I also learned about a musician named Jerry Jeff Walker (if memory correct) amusing songs...somewhat similar to Buffett.
...all crashed by 2130....another day when it was great to be out on the water..and not in the office...

Day 6 - Wednesday...Onward to Little Harbor

Up by 8...overcast temp in the 60's. Perfect for my morning swim....(and no one else was interested). Listened to the local forecast (marine version) on ch 93.5 or ch 68 (marine vhf) for local weather, sea state information, tides...done with some fun local color.
U/W by 0900 enroute to Little Harbor with the hope of a side stop for a snorkel. Water too rough in the desired snorkelling spot today..so straight in to Little Harbor. Ran aground in the shallow channel..for a short bit of time. This cat can power through and not get caught like some of those monohulls with the bigger keels might have. Definitely want to hit this one at high tide (or close to it...to allow for some slop). Also tough to determine shallowest spots to avoid in my opinion. Made it in and grabbed a mooring ball. We got it on the first attempt.
Ashore to tool around this part of the island....a fairly destroyed lighthouse, Pete's Pub, an interesting local artist and some caves were explored by most. Had Queen Triggerfish here for dinner...an interesting white fish that was not flaky, nor was it like a swordfish in texture...kinda like a chicken cutlet (for texture).
Back to the boat....a noisy night on the mooring ball....with the cat having a wider cleat setup as compared to the monohull, the eye of the mooring line can slide a bit which can cause noise. Good thing to experience......

Day 5 -Tuesday

Woke up early...caught sunrise...then back to bed for a few more winks. U/W ~0900 to make the "No Rock" passage heading back toward the Marsh Harbor area. Shallow ~3 (wondering where the zero point truly is for this boat's depth finder)..used spotters...much calmer passage...definitely hit it around high tide.
Decided to push past Marsh Harbor and look for a deserted anchorage for the eve...so no day stops. I (with some Bonnie help) made lunch for the crew of PBJs today. Finally had an opportunity to do a bit of pure sailing. twas fun to not have the engine noise. Moved along nicely with a reefed main, jib and the ongoing good winds 20 ish or so today.
Anchored off of Tiloo Cay north of the long sandbar on the chart..winds out of the east/se (if memory correct) so decent calm anchorage.
Crew dinghy'd ashore...i stayed on board..knees not up for the challenge. Decided to snorkel...very cool.. More starfish,littel blue and yellow fish by the few rock clumps. Also swam under a pier and disturbed a 3' ray..not sure who was more startled....way cool to see though.
Good meal of grilled chicken on boat tonight. Peaceful eve with no boats around. Lost 2nd game of Cribbage to Bonnie so far this trip....not good.

Day 4 - Across the Cuts

A good night sleep on the boat. Had some minor issues....maybe the local water...so a light breakfast. U/W mid morning (ish) heading to the NW end of Great Guano Cay to hopefully find a spot to park the boat so our two divers can go diving. Got up there and didnot find the "supposed" channel in...and the surf was looking kinda rough so diving was cancelled...instead we went to Shell Island (aka Spoil Bank Cay). Most of the crew went ashore via dinghy to look for shells...i stayed on board to relax/read and snorkel. They enjoyed their shell hunt..and I enjoyed my snorkel. Water was again cool.
Onward to Green Turtle Cay...On this trip we were exposed more directly to the Atlantic Ocean as it pours into the Sea of Abaco through two relatively small channels between the islands. These channels are known as Loggerhead Channel and Whale Cay Channel..passing by (are you ready for this) Whale Cay..no whales sighted. roughest passage of the trip here...swells in the 5' zone with some larger...the largest one broke high enough that I got soaked....and unfortunately for someone..a hatch was left open and a mini lake was made on their bed. (Poor Chris and Brad..hopefully that is how to spell Mrs. Brad's name)
Once through the channels we ducked back inside and went up behind Green Turtle Cay through some very shallow water...which we "bounced" off of a few times. Had spotters up front trying to visually determine the safest passage. Anchored behind Green Turtle Cay...went ashore in search of entertainment and food....found golf carts. (Story omitted..one of the few bits of mini drama involving golf carts, and an accidentally split party...one group at Pineapples and the other waiting for the group back at the dinghy.....)
In town ..(New Plymouth Town) we found Sundowners and little else. Ran into the group that we would see off and on again there..and learned about another way back through "No Rock Passage" that while not recommended due to water depth, was much more protected from the waves.
and then another night of sleep on the boat

Day 3 - Setting Sail

Up bright and early to shower on shore for the last time for a while (yeah boat showers). Another fine breakfast at Curly Tails (Curly Tails has a sign a big local lizard type hanging on a wall with a really long curly tail....). Today Salmon, cream cheese and bagel. Underway in the generally noonish time frame from the Marina. Twin props looks like they are useful, as expected, in the tight Marina for getting out of the slip and underway.
Once out of the Marina today goal is a short motor sail to some place off of Great Guana Cay for a lunch stop. First snorkel attempt of the trip. Saw and touched my first Starfish. Very cool. Water cool but pleasant (others thought the water was cold..believed to be in the 60's for temp). Starboard engine had an ugly vibration when put under a bit of power. Found out that the shaft was not packed tightly...i could move it by hand. After the lunch and snorkel time...we motored over to our protected anchorage by Great Guana Cay (pronounced Key) near the town of Settlement(?).
Happy hour occurred (this will be a theme). Then we dingy'd in to shore and wandered around the island. Started off at Nippers looking for a pig roast that was not...First shot with the local rum drink "Goombay Smash"...tasty. Nippers had a good view of the Atlantic Ocean side...glad we were parked on the calmer side. Saw someone kite sailing in the surf..looks cool. Wandered to Grabbers next...also a nice little bar/restaurant with live music. Ran into a group of people that would shadow us off and on for the whole trip (they had about 10 of them on a large power cat charter for the week).
Back to the boat for an early bed. As expected the light pollution was minimal and the stars and constellations were cool to see. Bonnie was playing with her glow in the dark star chart....as some of you can imagine.
Noticing that the water depths are a bit shallow and that tide times could become important. Also not tons of nav aids...but enough in daylight..and the GPS system is nice and seems to work.

Day 2 -Exploring Town, Provisioning and Pre-Board of the 43' Cat "Boss Lady"

Day 2
Woke up to an overcast day....but the pool water still felt nice. The part of the crew wandered over to check out our digs at the Lofty Fig. Then on to breakfast [left one of the cohort behind....one to many Kaliks the night before perhaps :) ]
Breakfast at Curly Tails...had a good spicy eggsandwich called the Turkish.
Post breakfast we did a group wander around our section of Marsh Harbor. Some trinket selling shores along the main drag....this was followed by a wander toward the main section of town in the early/mid afternoon for lunch at Snappers (i think)..more fresh fish (blackened grouper)..yum.
Onward to the local mart for the chaos of provisioning. It was chaotic....8 people trying to work together to get both the general group things and some individual items in a somewhat crowded grocery store......
Followed by an extensive trip around town looking for 5 gallon jugs of water....3 gas stations, 1 water supply store later....we were able to procure 3 of them.....
Back to the boat for loading up. Oh...how could i forget...we also, while walking to the grocery store...hit the beer/wine/liquor store to provision the boat for the week (an interesting bill and a whole other story......).
Loaded up all of our gear on the boat...and for those of you that have done this before...it can be a warm sweaty pain in the but....however...with 8 of us generally working together in ways to stay out of each others way....it went ok. For my part, I got to pass things from the pier to the boat and to take away garbage (cardboard on boats is bad ususally...must avoid the possible cockroach eggs). Followed by stowing away my personal gear in the huge room that Bonnie and I shared. (See video for just how large that room is...by monohull standards).
After that the sun was setting and we were all kinda worn out. Not much occurred that night...just ended up snacking and sleeping on the boat....and checking out some of the boat parts.
Also finally felt like i was truly beginning a vacation......

Day 1 - The travel day

Up a bit before 6am and on the road by 0638. Fast acceptable traffic for a friday morn to the Richmond airport. Took off from Richmond around 0920 to Charlotte NC...onwards to Nassau, Bahamas (through customs) to Marsh Harbor, Bahamas..arrive around 1750. Small airport....did not even go inside..the luggage was left on a cart by the exit gate. Travel was relatively smooth.

Got lucky and found 4 other crew members (whose flight was a bit delayed) getting into a cab for a drive to the various lodgings. Cabs are not cheap here 5 of us spent about 30 bucks for a (maybe) 3 mile ride.

Unloaded at the Lofty Fig (nice place pictures to come). Jumped in pool....ah that felt good. Met the rest of the crew in our Captain's Room at the motel associated with the Moorings (boat charter company) Had a happy hour..then the rest of us went up to Curly Tails for a few more and some food. I was diggin' being in shorts and short sleeve shirt even with the nice breeze. Finally feeling relaxed.....awesome fresh, fresh, fresh, fresh, fresh, Grouper fingers for dinner...accompanied by a couple of rum drinks and mildly amusing live music.
Crashed around 11...could still hear the bar music in the background (glad we stayed at the Lofty Fig instead of at the Marina......)

[admin notes: pictures were taken from 2 different cameras..my Kodak digital and my RCA Small Wonder which also did the videos..currently I have posted the Lobzilla video on google videos and the all of the Small Wonder pictures on my Picasa photo gallery which is linked here...more photos later which show the Lofty Fig to start with...and our end residence at Treasure Cay at the end]

Return of the Nor (Insert appropriate theme music)

Hail all,

I have returned. In the semi near future I shall put up some pictures and videos (Boat Cam)...as well as some commentary for each day.

One more day....

Hail Lurkers,

Yes a reprieve is coming for you....I will be sailing/snorkeling in the Bahamas (as you dedicated readers should know) so you will not need to lurk here until April. Assuming I remember to pack a camera there should be some pictures for your viewing pleasure here next month.
The weather looks like 60's in the dark and 70's in the day with some intermittent showers the first few days.

Any requests/recommendations feel free to comment here today ( I will check this tonight while packing).

Also, should we start a betting pool as to whether or not my luggage makes it....nothing like having to catch 3 different planes and use 4 different airports.

Sailing time is closing in...

Hola All,

Currently a busy Ron. After having been relatively lazy this weekend, I have a busy schedule this week. Currently finishing up a work project or two prior to the Friday departure for the sunny islands. Also have to figure out what to pack (I might even have to purchase some new clothing (shudder)). Other fun includes the joy of taxes, and locking in with someone on the refinancing front prior to vacation departure.

With luck, I will post again in early april and possibly have some trip pictures for those of you that like that sort of thing.

Fitness or Death

Hail,

Today kicked off the start of the 2009 biking season. I thought it was going to be a short, flat easy ride...however my friend Stu came over and convinced me to do a longer ride.....14 miles (or so we think), 1.3 hours and too many hills later...i came home..
Boy am I out of shape and over weight...however I did not die......twas a great day for this with good temperatures and few vehicles on the road. Time to do some other riding before doing this again.

other fun..I then went on to try a new boardgame called Hammer of the Scots...which is set in the time of "Brave Heart". Twas interesting and fun ... since it was the first block game I have played and it had a pleasant amount of the fog of war involved. Unfortunatly, i lost...as the english.

other fun....still prepping for the upcoming sailing adventure.

http://catamaransailing.com/Bareboat/Moorings4300.htm

probable boat of interest.

March

Hail,

Time for a quick early March update. I am still having fun attemting to learn Bass Guitar and playing with some friends..tis quite amusing. This weeks weather changes have gone from about 12 degrees on Monday morning while walking to work, to today when I am in shorts...with expectations of being in the 70s this weekend.
Introduced Steve and Carole to a new cooperative game called Shadows over Camelot which was fun (more info on the provided link http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15062 ).

Otherwise, staying busy enough with work, and slowly gathering stuff I need for the upcoming sailing adventure in the end of March. The trip is in the Bahamas with the boat chartered from the Moorings company. Here is a link showing the general area.
http://www.moorings.com/Destinations.aspx?Destination=ABA

Hope all is well with ye Lurkers!

Later in February

Hello Lukers, Mutants and Others,

Currently relatively warm and sunny here in Fredericksburg. Lunch today was Pho! (with the addition of siriachi chili pepper goo).

Survived the driving to and from Philly the other weekend and it was worth it to meet my fellow sailors prior to our trip in March. Curtesy of the Marsho's I was introduced to Rock Band 2 (or maybe it was Guitar Hero) which was amusing. One could go blind or just get mesmorized following the colored dots on the tv........

Survived a walk with Steve and Carole yesterday....even walked up a hill! (and more importantly my knees are letting me walk around today)

So, the gist of this post is to say not much is going on at the moment and that is ok.
I am considering taking pictures of Fredericksburg as I walk more over the next month. If anyone has requests let me know.

Monday

Ah yes, a fine Monday morning. Currently working from home, but will have to relocate around lunch I think to submit another project. For those that saw my video clip showing holes in the wall..the repair work was done well, but the clean up job was poor...so I had them back in here on Friday to clean. It is nice to not have drywall dust every where...............

Also worthy of news note. This is the third day in a row where I am wearing shorts.....in February (unusual here in VA).

This weekend I will be up north meeting the people that I am sailing with in March. Hopefully it will be amusing.

Babbling Post while taking a break from writing an Application

Hola Lurkers,

What is new out there?

In F'burg, not too much new. Still waiting for them to finish the wall repairs to the Condo (should be finished today...but I have heard that one before). With luck I will post a video so you all can compare the before and after shots.
Weather
some snow on the ground this morning..all gone now. And to think, I ate lunch outside yesterday and could have worn shorts......
Superbowl
Good game (2 years in a row the game was decent to watch). I watched it at the local watering hole....yum to my chili dog dinner.

New food joint. Tested out Amy's cafe on the other side of the river for lunch and all 3 of us enjoyed. Remus got his steak, I had an open faced roast beef sandwich and Steve had the Reuben.
Facebook
been dabbling with Facebook a bit more, recently. Mildly amusing to catch up with some of the folks from Mt. Hebron and get the life synopsis. However, these random 25 question things which answers some questions and forwards it on to many others hoping for more information need to go away.....
(so saying from some one babbling now)

Holes in Condo

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3801422005295622271


Had another gas leak issue at the condo...and they had to rip into my walls and ceilings to find the pinhole leak at a fitting. Hopefully the above link shows the new home landscape

Snow

I look outside and we have white stuff falling from the sky and sticking to the ground...first time in over a year down here I think.....

debating over the challenging commute

good thing the rough draft of my project was due and submitted yesterday.....

My Chinese Horoscope

After reading this bit of gibberish (or so it seems to me as I take the vague comments and attempt to apply them to me) I decided to share it with you.




hmmm...linking failed....

so never mind this completely irrelevant post.

Football Championships Day

Hello Lukers and I hope you are ready for some football.........

Today is the Football Championship Game Party at Chez Nor, the one day during the year I actually let people bring more than one small child at a time into my abode. (If I had a bigger abode and was less Kidaphobic I would be able to invite more people) This year the Kellermanns and Wongs will hopefully make it as well as Steve/Carole. With Baltimore in it (and Philly to a degree) some people are actually intereted in the teams this year. This also marks the one time of year I prepare food......be afraid.

Todays fine menu includes many courses.....such as an appetizer course, a spam course, a 4lb hunk of beef course concluding with the sugar course (brownies and cookies courtesy of Tricia K). Each course is of course preceded by the alcohol course since this is a football party.

Otherwise, work has kept me relatively busy and will do so for at least the next two weeks. Also on the horizon is the Bahamas sailing trip (must get plane tickets soon....) as well as my current foray back into the world of music...this time trying to learn bass guitar and playing with a few friends in a basement.......amusing or scary ---- you decide.

Another New Year's Eve survived

hola all and Happy New Year,

As the title implies, there was some enjoyable celebrating at 3 of the local dining/watering hole facilities. La Petite had a fantastic New Year's Eve menu (crab Norfolk, beef filet or duck). Followed by wine sampling at Kybecca(s) ending with live music at the Colonial Tavern.

All survived and were actually up by noon the next day.

Introduced some folk to that classic game "Illuminati" as well as an unusual but mildly amusing card game called "Munchkin".

Now trying to get back into the work swing...which has started off with more work to do than previous Januaries have.

Must do some creative writing (and photocopying) prior to calling it a day and working on the latest hobby.