Running around today getting packed up and ready for our trip to Germany. We're going to Atlanta today to Nicki's and we're actually flying out tomorrow.
Not sure if I'll have Internet access over there or not. I'm not even bringing my laptop which I could have used in places with free wifi... just too much more to haul. Plus, we'll probably be too busy anyway from what I gather.
I'll of course have photos after we get back... bringing 10 GB of memory cards along with me - enough for ~1100 photos. I figured it was better safe than sorry since I won't have a computer to download the images to and free up space.
Also picked up the ultra-wide 10-22mm Canon lens a couple days ago. I've been wanting it for years and rented one for our cruise. It's the lens that lets you get the really wide sweeping sky type shots... hopefully we'll have good weather over there to get some nice keepers.
All in all I think we're ready... not looking forward to the pair of 10 hour flights, but definitely looking forward to the trip itself!
Had a good Memorial Day weekend, though still a little pissed we weren't sent home early yesterday. Having to work on Memorial Day is bad enough, but every year they let us go early but not this one. And all afternoon the main Dean's office had it's lights on but the doors were all closed up and no one was around. Yeah... thanks for letting us know!
And it was a gorgeous Memorial Day here too. Would have loved to have spent it on the lake like Sunday, but I need to just keep reminding myself we get the extra time off around Christmas instead.
Saturday we tried to take the boat out and it ended up in its first rain storm. Only rain of the day and it lasted all of 5 minutes, just enough to be annoying. I really just wanted to get out on the boat to take care of a few miscellaneous things.
I added an MP3 player input, though no drilling and flush mounting yet, instead I just plugged it into the back of the stereo and will just let it hang there until I bring the boat by the house again to install it properly.
We also got one of those stern light flagpoles and an American flag for Memorial Day that you can see in one of the pictures from the 25th linked below.
Added a medium sized Gamecock Block C decal above the ski tow hook and two small identical decals in the side corners of the windshield too.
So, it was looking pretty good and we had good music for Sunday - the day turned out pretty well. Had good weather, picked up Brian and Debra around 11 that morning, got lunch at Quarterdeck, anchored for a couple hours at Sandy Beach where there were probably 40 other boats beached and anchored, met up with Tim, Kristi, Dave, and Janna and the kids on their pontoon, and then all headed over to Dockside to watch Tokyo Joe play. And, the water was finally warm enough to swim a while while we were anchored.
Anyway, there are a couple of new galleries in the link below from this last weekend, one for the 24th and one for the 25th:
Not a whole heck of a lot going on.... can you tell?
It's been a boring week really... and thankfully the only craziness at work hasn't really involved us. Christina's had two incidents this week out where she works. A co-workers wallet was stolen out of her purse Tuesday morning and later that day another co-worker collapsed in the bathroom. She had a stroke in multiple parts of her brain apparently and got rushed to the hosptial. Still not really recovered and she's seeing a neurologist today. Scary stuff indeed.
That's why I'm posting this info that my Mom emailed to me a while back about how each and every person can diagnose a stroke just in case anyone reading this hasn't heard this before:
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the individual to SMILE. T *Ask the person to TALK . to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. . . It is sunny out today) R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
{NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue... if the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke}
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
Sitting here IM'ing Christina about this weekend wishing it was already tomorrow. High is going to be 82 with full sun tomorrow - can't wait to get out on the lake, it'll be perfect cruising weather. Would even consider going tonight execpt we've got a ton of stuff to do at the house.
Also trying to find more info about the campground we've reserved in June. Going camping for the first time in years and going on my birthday weekend, so it should be a good time.
BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!
JOHN McCAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.
HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me, although I clearly remember having to dodge enemy fire as Chelsea and I tried to cross the road.
DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of t he road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW' problems.
OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.
GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.
COLIN POWELL Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road...
JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wro n g road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.
NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.
PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.
MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.
DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain. Alone.
RUSH LIMBAUGH: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth?' That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white washes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.
GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.
BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that intewesting? In a few moments, we will be wistening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a sewious case of molting, and went on to accompwish its wifewong dweam of cwossing the woad.
ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.
BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2007, which will not only cross roads, but will lay e ggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never cra...#@&&^(C% reboot.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken
BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?
AL GORE: I invented the chicken!
COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?
DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?
AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.
Last Thursday was our Hooding ceremony for graduates in the School and I got to run around playing photographer again this year. Click the image or link below for a gallery of the 309 images that ended up online:
Had a good weekend - not on the lake nearly as much as I expected, but the weather was a big part of that. Plus, Saturday morning before we could leave I had to add a couple of things to the new boat. I'm one of those types who have no qualms about drilling into or modifying new things right away, be it a good trait or a bad trait.
Regardless, I added Cobra Fins to each jet nozzle that help with low speed steering control and some metal spring clips in the clean-out plugs in the back of the boat. The plugs are where you can get at the impellers to clean out weeds and such if the jets suck up nasties and get clogged. Lots of reports of those plugs blowing out and getting stuck pretty good or even breaking the cover hatch over top of them. So, you drill a hole all the way through the T-bracket (plastic and metal) and you add these metal spring clips and the handles can't pop up and therefore the plugs can't blow out.
Only other mods planned for the boat is an AUX MP3 adapter for the stereo that Yamaha sells for like $20 so that we can hook up an MP3 player easily. Because when you forget to bring CDs like we did Saturday, local radio stations always play the worst stuff.
Speaking of Saturday, that was the only day this weekend we went out on the lake and even that was only for 4 hours or so. Wind and choppy water drove us off early... plus there was a Poker Run on the lake so all the big cigarette racing boats were out there adding to the chop. And yesterday the wind was crazy strong, so we stayed in... had other things to do anyway. We even lost power for about 3-4 hours last night. It was really odd seeing a perfectly clear sky and still have that strong of winds.
But, Saturday was fun... we cruised around going through the break-in speeds for the boat. Had lunch at Quarterdeck, got our storage all set up, and even stuck around after docking to watch the boat get lifted up for the first time. Unsettling watching the boat you just bought the day before being lifted up so high over your head. It's stored up on shelf level 4 in the storage building - top floor!
Click on the photo or link for some photos from Saturday along with some of the photos already posted here on the blog:
Not because I go weeks sometimes without posting on it and not even because half the stuff I post is boring either.
Basically, it's hard to have a (self-described) "Boating and Bowling blog" when I don't bowl in a league anymore and we sold out boat.
So, for the greater good... for the sake of this blog (and a handful of other reasons obviously), we are no longer boatless.
Brought home the new 2008 Yamaha SX210 jet drive bowrider today:
Here's the boat at the marina when the dealer got there for the test drive:
Here's the boat getting wet literally for the very first time:
And here's the boat moored back at the dock after our half hour test drive:
Everything went very smoothly... way too much I love about the boat to list them all here... these Yamaha jet boats have so many advantages over traditional stern drives that once you do the research, they pretty much sell themselves in their category.
We're headed to the marina where the boat will live tomorrow morning to set up storage. She's going to live inside on dry rack storage... the kind where you call them and they forklift the boat out of the big building and to the water so it's ready when you get there. Cheaper than a wetslip and after a year with a boat in the water, Lake Murray is way too good at growing algae to leave this pretty of a boat in the water full time.
Anyway, it doesn't take too many guesses to figure out where we'll be tomorrow... it's calling for a beautiful 86 degree sunny day here in Columbia.
Christina got the coolest little thing the other day... one of those Amazon Kindle e-book readers.
They have certainly got those little devices all figured out... it showed up knowing who she was, it had all of her book suggestions on it already from the Amazon site, she could log into her account and buy e-books right away, and the readability of it is amazing. The screen was designed to be the same grayish color of regular softback book paper and the text is crisp and dark black. It's not backlit and doesn't have the option, so that's a little bit of a drawback, but it's not like real books are backlit either, right?
One of the coolest things is that it has free wireless access from anywhere you can get a cell phone signal. No monthly charges since obviously they're getting you to buy e-books with that Internet connection. However, there is an Experimental menu on the thing that allows you to view webpages like blogs and other message boards. I have a feeling that will be a paid option in the future, but right now it works pretty well for it being free and all.
Wasted a trip up to Seneca, SC yesterday - about 2.5 hours away.
Went up there to check out a used '07 Yamaha SX210 they just got in at the dealership there. Thought it might be a good chance to save a little money by getting last year's model slightly used.
The boat was in decent shape I suppose... It seemed like it wasn't used that much. Apparently the owner of the dealership brought it out to his lake house last summer and he had just brought it in a couple days ago to try to sell it.
I guess I couldn't look past the dirt and pollen enough to make it worth a couple thousand off the price of a 2008 SX210. Plus, the seats looked like the vinyl had permanent (?) water drop staining on them - something that probably can't just be cleaned up.
Anyway, we went up there hoping the boat would sell itself, but it really didn't seem worth the savings over new. With that said, the boat search continues... I'm scheduled to test drive (test sail?) one of the 2008 SX210s on Tuesday, should be interesting.
