Today, out on the boat, I headed out to the ocean and close to the far buoy an eagle ray jumped 6-8 feet out of the water. Had I not been looking that way it would have quickly been gone. It was fairly calm out on the ocean and I meandered about a bit, ate my sandwich and then headed back to the island to let Abby chase minnows. The ocean and ICW water has warmed up again, reading mid 80's.
Sandy is determined to go out tomorrow. She's still in some abdominal pain but at least the pain on urination has gone away. She is still bleeding though -- which apparently is something to expect from the stent -- irritation of the kidney I guess. If she goes out tomorrow I expect that the porta-potti will be christened. She cannot go too long without visiting the bathroom. Hopefully that will be cured with the visit to the Doctor on Tuesday or our driving on Wednesday and Thursday will have many, many stops.
Tomorrow the work on our guest bath starts. I suppose that I could make myself useful this afternoon and pull the toilet. Sigh. I could put the second toilet in the master bath ... you just have to know which one to use !
It was very quiet at North Causeway Marine. They laid off the full-time forklift operator effective the end of last week. There just isn't enough activity to justify having the extra staff. A nice kid -- he and his wife run a chain restaurant not too far from here. His in-laws gave them the restaurant as a wedding present !
NCW has also dropped the price of their gas. At $3.29 it's only about 50 cents more expensive than mid-grade ethanol road gas. That's more reasonable. I want to give them as much of my business as possible because ultimately if I don't, I'll pay the price in slip fees.
I was talking to Al, the dockmaster when I brought my boat in. I commented that I heard that he'd be working alone at this point and he said yes, it's a bit scary. He pointed to the wet slips that hold a number of very large boats, saying that before the price of gas went up, most of those boats were in and out all the time and they'd have to pull up the diesel truck to fill them off. Now they sit. They never move.
Anyway, gas for the boat is our entertainment. We've never been ones to spend much on entertainment (as long as you don't count bike parts, travel between Loring and New Smyrna Beach, pet food, wine ... ok, I'll stop now, we spend a lot on entertainment).
More later ...
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Ok, I was just browsing a biking forum and someone's signature has the following in it:
"I'm just trying to be the person my dog thinks I am". I'm sure that I've seen this before but it tickled my fancy so I had to record it.
There's a Dilbert that I've been saving too, that fairly accurately describes me. To say that it was frustrating for my kids is an understatement.
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We're having shrimp for dinner -- Sandy likes to stir-fry them. Broccoli and rice complete the picture. She's drinking white wine -- you know when she's feeling better when ... or to put it another way, you know when she's NOT feeling good when she doesn't cook with (i.e. in the mouth) wine.
Oh ... I was just called for supper ...
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Sandy had a hankering for pumpkin pie ... not later, now, so she made one. That was desert. That's the first time that we've had desert since I don't know when -- the two birthday cakes during the summer for Arlene and Sara ? Yes, I think that was the last time we had desert.
It's 5:15; it's 78F out; it's 30F up north ... sheesh. I do have to get up there or my lake pump will freeze along with a number of other temperature sensitive things that must be prepped for winter or brought inside. Since doors are closed -- shed, garage & barn -- those things will survive some low temperatures but not for too long. According to theweathernetword.com it's supposed to go down to 22F on Wednesday night. Being close to the water will moderate that for a bit.
Once we get up there we have just over three weeks before heading south again. Will it be warm enough to go biking ? Is it worth taking up any bike clothes ? I'm starting to wonder about that. I've got some physical labor projects to do when I'm there including moving gravel and building up the berm at the driveway -- that will fulfill my exercise needs. The third week up there Alex will be around for deer hunting, so no biking that week (besides, we'll probably have snow !). Perhaps I'll re-think bringing my bike clothes bag.
Speaking of biking, I guess that I'm done for this visit to Florida -- boating today, Orlando tomorrow, driving the next day -- I can pack up a few things and get them out of the way. By the time we get back from Orlando tomorrow I'll be ready to organize the car for travel. I should probably check the tires and think about rotating them, front to back. I had hoped that they would last until I'm ready to put snow tires on, which will be three more 1500 mile trips, but maybe not. They only have two Loring/Florida trips on them at this point, since the tires were new in June, but there were quite a number of Loring=>Toronto=>Loring trips as well. I've got the paperwork somewhere which will tell me what the mileage was when I put the tires on.
The toilet ? Yes, I removed the toilet. It's in the spare bedroom now on some cardboard. I took the tank off to make it easier to move since Sandy is not able to help me. Jeff will have to reinstall it as he finishes up because the valve from the wall doesn't quite shut off. I have a bucket under the braided hose catching the drips. It will last a few days before overflowing but not until we return. Of course, with only three weeks until we return, the water into the house could simply be shut off ... but that's too easy. I'd rather come back to a fully functioning bathroom, since I'll immediately be gutting the master bath, or at least the tub area -- no, I take that back, I'll be removing everything since we are re-tiling the floor and replacing the vanity. It's getting a complete overhaul. Things to look forward to ...
Ok, enough blathering for this blog ...
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