Finally a Friday

I can't beleive it's Friday. It was a fast week. I only worked three days.
Hopefully I'll go diving this weekend. It seems like good weather so far.
Yesterday at work I went over to the Newspaper to try to point their satellite dish. What a mess! It is as messed up as a soup sandwich! You can't even accuratel tell the elevation or bearing. It needs a lot of work.
I can't think of anything to post today, so instead of wasting your time I'll just try to come up with something for tomorrow.

Pictures

I was sorting through some of my junk last night. I have three 50-pack CD cases that are full of pictures that I have taken over the years also old files, those CD's you get with each and every thing you buy for your computer and all kinds of miscellaneous junk. I've contemplated dimly in the past, way out on the edge of my foggy little mind, that I should compile all the pictures I've taken by date. And by subject. The way I have the CDs labeled now is very vague, like "Pics 2002" or "Important vacation pictures". Plus, I'd have an excellent collection of "Then and Now" pictures. I was looking through a few of them last night.
But the way it is now I can't find anything when I want it.
It will be a big project.

Half my luggage

I'm home again, I got home around 2 yesterday afternoon- along with half my luggage. I had one suitcase and one box and the box didn't make it. Well, it did finally make it, on the next flight, late last night. And in good shape too. It was/is a kitchen cart. Just like this. Did I ever mention there that my kitchen has only one drawer? Well, I have two now. But now I have to de-clutter my kitchen, and that means re-organizing or getting rid of some scuba gear.
Then when I got it home, I stayed up and put it together. It was easy and I went to bed about 12:30, which is late for me. I got up at 3:30 US time, 2:30 my time and went to bed late. I may be a little sleepy later on.
I'm glad to be home, with good coffee and a lightening-fast internet connection. (I can't believe how many people still have dial-up. A fast connection is worth the money!
I'm going to work. Just to see what's up.

Less that 24 hours

In 24 hours, I'll be in the air, headed SOUTH. Today I'm going to see and ex-girlfriend and her kids who I haven't seen since They were 5. They're 21 now. Born the same day I got out of the Navy.
That's a long story. A major reason I don't have kids today. In a nutshell, I waited for her through two marriages, in between which we were going to get together but she ended up fucked up on dope and pregnant, in that order. But her kids are fantastic and everything happens for a reason. I used to do a lot of dope too, and I could have taken more action than I did.
Anyway, tomorrow at 12:30 I should be back in Cayman. I may never see my Dad alive again after today and I've got a lot to think about and get sorted in my brain.

Back at Moms

I went down to Vrginia, I left at 9:30 in the morning and didn't get there till 5:30 PM. The trip normally takes 4 hours but I've done it in 3. I planned on spending two days and one night there but because of the trafffic, I really only got to spend one.
My parents have dialup internet service. But my Mom doesn't know her password so I can't connect. I am connected to someone elses wireless network but it is excruciatingly slow. I'm going to have to go to Starbucks if I want to get some speed!
Here's a pic of my house in Chesapeake, Va. It looks really good to me. It is staying in good shape, the tennant is taking good care of it, and the value is going up and up! Here it is. The trees are getting huge. It's going to be time to replace the roof tiles soon.


I also saw some friends, (not nearly all I wanted to or planned on) and went to Virginia Beach just for a few minutes, I pulled into a parking spot and the already meter had 20 minutes on it, I was back in 10. Here's a pic from the southernmost point in Virginia Beach,


That's about it for now, tomorrow is my last day here, Tuesday first thing I go back to Cayman, I am quite ready!

Heading South

I'm heading south to Virginia soon. I'm looking forward to it.

Yesterday my Dad focused his eyes on me. I asked if he knew who I was, and he nodded. I was giving him water and ice cream. I told him to drink lots of water, because it was dehydration that would get him in the end. Then he fell asleep. I wonder if I'll ever see him again, if you know what I mean. I felt like I was looking at someone in the back window of a train, waving good-bye, as the train disappeared around the curve of a dark tunnel. Then I rode with him in the ambulance back to the nursing home. He seemed more comfortable there.


Wanna know something funny? I used to work at this McDonalds in 1976 or 77. It was the crappiest job I ever had. I worked there one week, then put in my two weeks notice that I was quitting. I took this pic with my call phone camera as I drove by yesterday. It's near the corner of Randolph Rd and New Hampshire Ave in Silver Spring, Maryland USA.

Back to the nursing home

They're sending my Dad back to the nursing home today. The effort from now on is to make him comfortable more than prolong his life. He seems very uncomfortable in the hospital.

I was holding his hand and he feels around someone like guessing what an object is while blindfolded. His grip is strong, he still has a lot of strength, but it won't last. The doctor says he'll slowly dehydrate because they can only feed and give him water orally, as per his "no life support" instructions. The doctor said there is a blood clot in his heart that is spraying bits into his brain. Yesterday I thought I heard him say "let go" when he was trying to take off his oxygen mask and I was holding his arm back. Yesterday the nurse said he was talking a little. He doesn't look like he had strokes to me and I'm a little skeptical. But I've only been here a couple of days and my Mom has been through it all.

My Mom seems ok but starts crying every once in a while. She seems hyperactive and it makes me feel bad that I get mad at her. For example, I asked about the pool hours and then she just kept going on and on obsessively about me going swimming, till I told her to stop talking about it. Constant little things. My sister is coming Saturday.

I'm going down to Virginia for a couple of days tomorrow. It will be good to see the Ocean, my house and some diving friends.

Maryland USA

I'm at my Mom & Dads condo. I saw my Dad, he doesn't look good, there's no intellegence in his eyes. He didn't seem aware that anyone was there, but when I held his hand he was feeling my hand, like trying to figure out what it was. If he has an itch, he scratches it, but that is about it. He can't talk or walk or get out of bed. He is always trying to take off his oxygen mask and he pulls his IV tubes out.
My Mom is doing things like showing me where paperwork is and discussing wills and burial plots and stuff.
Not happy days.

Here I go again

Here I go again, on another trip I'd rather not make. I'm gone for one week. I'll be seeing my Dad and also Iplan on going down to visit my house in Virginia. Right now I'm waiting for a taxi. I'll be posting while I'm gone, so I really won't be gone-gone, just somewhere else.
Here's a picture I took from the car on the way home from work.

I've got much better things to do . . . . .

Than go to work today. Yesterday I went diving, then to the beach. Then came home and the next thing I knew the The OI Girl was calling and it was 6PM. So I must've taken a nap too. I could do all that again today, it'd be MUCH better than working!

The dive was excellent, it was turtle and grouper soup. We must have seen a dozen turtles and many more big groupers

Chris B and Turtle, clik to enlarge

Don't eat grouper, they are becoming rarer and rarer.

Yes, this baracuda WAS as close as he looks!

Tomorrow early I am going to the US. I don't have any desire to go, I'd rather stay inside the Marktic Circle, but I must. I haven't been to my parents house in about 4 years. I'll be gone a week, but I think I'll be posting. They have internet up there. Allegedly.

Under 40 minutes

Well, I did the mile in under 40 minutes, but I will never know my exact time or what place I finished.

At the end of the race there is a kind of funnel that lines the swimmers up so there can't be ties. The exit was too wide and too many swimmers could get through at once. Then there was a que to get your number card. There was people butting in line and I know that at least the girl who was right behind me got a number ahead of mine.
There were over 500 swimmers, and at the starting line, I saw maybe three people I knew. At the finish line, I saw a lot of people I knew, and they all beat me! Hmmmmmmm, I'm thinking maybe they didn't swim and just showed up at the finish. . . . All of them, everybody I know!

At The Finish Line

Let me tell you about the girl who finished right behind me. For a long time, she was right next to me, and with every stroke, the water would open the front of her tiny red bikini bottoms and I could see all the way down the inside. Talk about distracting! (I'm not complaning) It is very difficult to swim with my head cranked over to one side the whole time! Makes it kind of hard to swim straight! (She was totally shaved, by the way!) I'm not sure whether having her next to me slowed me down or sped me up! I was staying right next to her but sped up and passed her at the very end.
After the race, they gave away random prizes but I didn't win anything. (Remember last year? I won an airline ticket!)
Then I took down all the broadcast equipment and took it back to the station. My ankle was really sore after the swim, but feels surprisingly good this morning, and I'm going diving!

Out the door

I'm out the door for the Queens BDay parade. Then straight to the sea swim.
Yesterday afternoon I went across the street and swam my (somewhat) measured half mile. I swam OK and felt good. That was all the training I did for this swim. I came home and sat down and a half hour later my ankle was so stiff I can still barely walk. YOW! I have my boots laced tight and my only worry is walking down to the start from the finish line after I set up the equipment for the broadcast.

busy day

It's Friday, this has been a very fast week. But it's not over, tomorrow will be an extremely busy day. I have the parade in the morning and the swim in the afternooon.
My Dad is worse. He was in a home because my Mother can't take care of him by herself anymore. He is not unconscious, but doesn't talk or walk or recognize anyone. Now he has pneumonia and is in the hospital. I'm going to see him Tuesday of next week. I'm dreading my next credit card bill!
The swim is tomorrow, I haven't trained at all, and my leg and foot hurts from where it was injured several weeks ago. Plus I have to set up the broadcast equipment before the race and take it down after.
Very busy day tomorrow.

Flying weeks

The days crawl but the weeks fly. Here it is almost another weekend already. I'm working the afternoon shift today, I'm waiting till the shade gets over to the side of the building where I'm working. I have a little sunburn (on my nose) from yesterday. I have lots of hats, but never one when I need it.
Saturday is the Sea Swim, and I forgot to mention that the Queens Birthday Parade was rescheduled after all last week. So Saturday is looking kind of busy. In the morning is the parade, then I have to move the equipment to the finish line of the sea swim, then swim, and then take all the equipment apart and back to the station.

Here's some pics I took while Iwas in New York. I remember the Globe from the Worlds Fair when I was 4 years old. One is the Whitestone Bridge and the other is the Skyline, see the Empire State Building?

Well, it's Wednesday

I have no idea what to write about today. Last night was an outside broadcast, so Ihad a split shift. I went to the beach at lunch. Todday is the regular talk show, so it's split shift again. I've still not completed the BBC satellite dish, yesterday I finished putting it together and today I have to point it at the satellite. It will be hot work outside. I like it!

June 13th 1991

The day I last saw my my younger brother Bruce
alive was June 13th 1991, when he came and visited me in Virginia.
He stayed with me at my apartment. We went to Virginia Beach & had hamburgers on the boardwalk the day he went back home to Bridgeport, Connecticut. He and his girlfriend, Karen, were murdered approximately June 30th 1991, in Tucson, Arizona.

It's Monday , Queens Birthday holiday. I'm glad for the day off. Yesterday the sun finally shone, for the first time in a week or more. (The parade ended up being canceled after all, I only found out after I went down to the station to set up for it.) NOW, it's next weekend, the same day as the sea swim. Did I ever tell you my work motto? "I love Radio fuckin' Cayman, 'cause Radio Cayman loves fuckin' me!" Not really, I have a great job, and it's nobodys fault at work that it was rescheduled when it was, but I think it's a pretty snappy motto!
I've been trying to buy a piece of land here in Cayman for about 8 years. I don't get along with real estate agents. I refuse to buy when I know they're ripping me off. So I don't. I gave most of them a chance, but ended up finding my own deal.
I was going diving ond day and found a brand new road, a cul de sac. I drove down and it looked like house lots being measured out. I called a friend who lives in the area and he found out who was selling. I called the seller and told him I was interested. I didn't negotiate, I offered what he was asking. He was waiting for Lands and Survey Department to assign block and parcel numbers so he could sell them. The other day he called and said he received the info and is ready to sell but he's leaving the island for a few weeks and will be ready as soon as he gets back. I have the cash in a CD and it matures about the same time he returns. I hope it works out. I'm nervous!
The OI girl is here, sleeping still. I'm drinking coffee.
I feel like I could type and type and type, but I'm not, it would just be nervous chatter.

I told ya!!

click to enlarge

Tropical Depression One

Continuing from yesterday. . . . .

When it rains like this (yes, it's still raining), it will usually move away as it becomes a tropical depression, or storm. It is raining soooo hard, the rain was louder than my alarm clock radio.
I'm going to the Queens Birthday Parade, which somehow will be held indoors. Yesterday, I think everyone expected the Governor to postpone it but we had the rehearsal like it was a sunny day. All the police and firemen and boy scouts standing in the middle of the street in the rain...
I dug out my rain pants and rubber boots this morning, I found that my boots are dry rotted at the top, but the business end of them seems OK. I'll be totally waterproofed!
Have a great day!

Rain Rain Go Away!

It hasn't stopped raining in a long time. Seems like months. Enough already!
Tomorrow is the Queens Birthday Parade. This morning is the reheasal. I hope it's not raining like this tomorrow.
Maybe I hope it is. . .

titleless

The OI girl is coming Saturday, although it's been only weeks since I've seen her, it seems like much longer.
Yesterday, during my split shift lunch break, I came home and heard hissing when I got out ot the car. It was the sound of steam. From my radiator. I put water in it (it took 5 gallons, must've been empty) and then drove it back to work. After work, I took it to the shop and dropped it off and I was walking home and somebody picked me up.
Now I have no car, just for today I hope. Bus or hitchhiking to work for me!
My Dad is worse, he can't talk or walk. My Mom put him in a home. I am going up there as soon as I can. Probably next week.

Come On Down!

Click to enlarge

It's that time of year again, time for the Flowers One Mile Sea Swim. Remember last year? I won an airline ticket! There's specials on airfare and hotels, so it's a good time to come to Cayman. You don't have to be an expert swimmer, you just have to like to have fun! I'll be looking for you there!

The Marktic Circle

Historically speaking, traveling in northerly direction has been a bad sign for me. It's colder for one thing up north and the sun is lower. But I've aways been more comfortable and happier heading south.
Take the last two days for example, I got on a plane, went north to Miami. In Miami I had a couple of hours so I got in a cab and spend $66 to go to a store that didn't have what I wanted.
Then (after getting practically strip searched and air poofed and had every item in my bags wiped with a mysterious round cloth that was put in a machine to be analyzed for chenicals) I got on another plane sat on the tarmac for two hours because it was raining and apparently the union workers don't have to load baggage in the rain or something. Finally we went north to New York. Then I got in a car and drove north where I got lost in some exceedingly crappy neighborhoods because of exceedingly crappy directions that I got from the hotel. My cell phone didn't work in the US either because they don't have cell phones there or because DIGICEL SUCKS! (I'll be getting a new phone today, I've had it with them)
Finally I found my hotel and the next day drove north where the servce for my Uncle was. After that everybody got in a convoy and drove north to the cemetary and I parked and walked north to the gravesite. He got buried next to my Aunt and Cousin.
I was at the northernost point of my trip.
At the cemetary, after the burial, I said my goodbyes to my family and began heading south.
Travelling south, I felt better and better. I never got lost, never had a hitch, a glitch of any problem at all.
I was designed to live South. It is a scientific fact that the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn describes a band around the middle of the Earth. It is a lesser known fact that this band is known as the Marktic Circle. It is called the Marktic Circle because I was meant to stay inside it.
I'm glad to be home, Now I have to go see my Dad. He lives North of here.

I'm Off!

I'm off to New York, the Big Rotten Apple!
(I wonder if they have internet access there. Probably not)

Har De Har

Yesterday I bought my ticket to Miami, went and picked it up, arranged rental car and hotel and when I got back to work and called my cousin (my Uncle's son) and gave him the flight details.
Silence . . . .
But we're burying him in New York.
SO thanks to the great people of Cayman Airways I went back and they voided my transaction and un-did everything without penalizing me. They didn't have to do that and I appreciate it. Next I went to International travel, and for over four times the cost, they booked me on a flight to New York City. The Big Rotten Apple. I'm leaving Sunday morning and I'll be back Monday night.

Today I was supposed to have a broadcast from a dive boat. For this broadcast, I made a little unit that lets me plug my entire audio system into a cell phone and broadcast from anywhere there's mobile coverage. It wouldn't be good for music or anything but it will be OK for voice. It cost less than $50 for me to build but you can buy one pre-made for about $1500. Of course, yours will bigger, bulkier and not as nice as the one I made. Also I put a belt clip, and earphone jack on it so you can just plug a microphone into it and broadcast walking around or whatever.
It came out great and works really well.
Anyway, the broadcast got cancelled. But I'm glad to have the day off.

Loss in the family

My Uncle Ben passed away yesterday afternoon. I felt really close to him. He's been in my life my whole life. When I was 7 he cut off a pool cue so I could play pool. There's distant relatives and theres close relatives. He was a close relative to me.
My Mom is putting my Dad in a home where they can take care of him. He has lost his memory and can't walk. Hopefully if the they can stop the brain bleeding, he will get better. They can't find the cause.
It has always made me uncomfortable to come across blog entries of th is type. I didn't ever suppose I'd be posting one.

Nice Morning

June First. Hurricane Season, Day one.
So far, so good!
I walked the dawg this morning and it was so nice outside I stayed out there for a while and drank some coffee.
Nice and quiet.
New neighbors'll probably start moving in today. They'll probably have a monster stereo and I'll be coming home to a nervous dog every day.
I opened my mouth to a work blabbermouth and blabbed about someone else, I'll probably catch flak about that today, or I'll hear wildly exaggerated versions of what I said. Or I won't, and that'll be worse.
I try to get order, serenity and happiness in my life, and when I get it I screw it up by worrying I'll loose it, or I just go ahead and screw it up myself.
Sometimes I have to laugh at myself.