Figure The Odds Jan 11, 2009 3:44 pm 131 Views I have a date with someone from Adult FriendFinder for Tuesday night. And she lives in Rio, a little bit of a town between Jensen Beach and Stuart. Was kinda funny how she is reacting to her first weeks on Adult FriendFinder. We ended up talking on the phone for quite a while. She's lived here for almost 8 years and we have run in a lot of the same circles but never met. Of course a good bit of that time I was a single parent and not really available to date anyway. But it's just kinda funny how someone can live in your own neighborhood for years and even be into many similar things and yet never meet. I have a feeling we could be good friends. I don't think you can get enough of them. I was able to get the finishing touches on the Dragonfly board. I went for simple pinlines instead of big color. I'm a kinda understated guy anyway. I was going to try and glass the first side this afternoon but got hung up with some other things. My buddy Dave finally got a job at the bike shop here in Jensen. That is great that he has something. Any way he has been an avid cyclist a long time and is the guy who got me interested in Kona mountain bikes when I was looking to buy my new ride. I saw him riding early this morning and we were discussing my bike. So he came by while I was home for lunch and a nap. Took my bike to do the big clean/lube and get me some new brake pads, tune my wheels etc. I usually do all that myself having been my own mechanic and bike builder all the years I raced. But it is good to see him hustling again, so I gladly let him take my baby. Then I got some home projects out of the way and went to the shop to try to work on a project there. But was just to many distracting people down there today. Now it's time to get ready for the week ahead. Pasta salad sounds like a good choice for lunch this week. I'll make a big batch tonight and have lunch ready for the week. 4 Comments

Quietly Jan 10, 2009 6:17 am Mood: hopeful, 116 Views Was a quiet beginning to the day here. Cool and sunny. Even the surf was quiet. There were 3 older couples walking/fishing up at the point. That was nice to see. Each couple was decked out in their preferred gear. It was kinda interesting to note the equipment choices and teamwork that each couple used. They all had fanny packs with extra tackle and wind breakers of various design. All had graphite rods. Penn Reels were in majority though 1 couple did have Shimano Reels (I'm a diehard Penn man). Each couple was using their preferred lure and working in tandem, walking along, canvassing the beach. One couple had silver spoons (Crocodile), one couple was throwing surface plugs (Zara Spook), and the other couple was throwing swimmers (Mirrorlure). It was interesting to see the way each couple worked together. You could tell that all of them had been together as partners and fisherman for a long time. Simple things like casting in compliment to one another's placement. Working areas without even saying anything to each other about fishing. Switching position automatically when one had a fish on. Lot of small things that added up to 3 very close knit partnerships. I was envious of what they had. I have never had that sort of relationship. Of course, up until the last half a dozen years I wasn't fit to have one, or wouldn't have noticed all those things as relationship based. Sometimes I think about all the relationships I squandered and chances I squandered. I wonder if I have used up my chances at the kind of relationship I seek. I certainly had it in my hands enough times and let it go. But at least now I see it, recognize the beauty of it. Before I never noticed or cared. So at least I have made progress towards what I seek. I just have to be ready and stay hopeful that it will come along[image[image] 2 Comments

The Long Way Home Jan 6, 2009 5:22 am 157 Views Made the long journey home. I drove most of the way while sis slept and knitted. Their flight was 2 hours late getting in, so they had a 24 hr. traveling day. I thought she might want to take a day to rest before we headed back but she was as anxious as I was to get home. It was thankfully an uneventful 600 mile ride. We did have a big discussion about the idiot siblings and what will have to be done for the house. But right now I am concentrating on getting ready to get back into my life. It may be kinda boring, but I like it. 2 Comments

Turbulent Thoughts Jan 2, 2009 7:09 am Mood: becoming pissed, 226 Views During my stay here at home I have been doing some hard thinking. It is obvious that eventually I will have to come back here. For good probably. I had always thought that I would build a cottage on the back of the property and a nice dock out front for my boat when I sold my house. Then I could cruise and always have a home port. But the condition of the house and property tell me that I need to be more diligent about getting here twice a year. 2 years ago my sister and her husband and I worked our asses off for 5 days to completely clear the property on the waterside to just beyond the house. We haven't been back because my bro-in-law got sick and died and we were a little too busy at our end of the state. But all our work was completely regrown, much of the interior work sorting and cleaning has been negated. It looks more like I will have to be here more or more often. If I sell my house and get the boat I could live with that. Then at least I would be able to do the exploring and traveling I want and still be able to maintain this place. It is more than obvious that my brothers are not going to do a damn thing. And personally I can't see them allowing this beautiful piece of property and the home we built going to ruin. It is really pissing me off that my sister and I have to take time off (without pay),drive 10 hours, to keep our family home from rotting away and being overgrown, when I have 2 brothers who live right here and won't lift a finger to help. 1 lives on the property rent free and the other lives 1/2 block away. But other than that I am having a wonderful time. 4 Comments

Call In The Reinforcements Dec 31, 2008 1:12 pm 270 Views For some reason one of my brothers decided to help this morning. I had already gotten everything cleared back from the house down two sides and around the grotto in the back. But any help would be nice. So I cut him loose (hahaha) with the chain saw and brush cutter and I continued to take out the briars and wysteria. There is something theraputic about ripping briar and wysteria vines out of the trees they are smothering. I did shred another pair of leather gloves though, that's 3 pair. Some of the brairs are many tightly packed small thorns and some are big giant thorns. Both do a number on the heavy leather gloves. Anyway, mom's small tractor was refusing to start so my uncle (who lives on the property next door) came over with his big tractor and front end loader to remove the huge piles of brush I had already cut. In 2 hours he had removed everything I had cut in 4 days to our big burn area in "the meadow". Then he cut loose with his bush hog on the overgrown bamboo and scrub oak down by the water. Much quicker and easier to do it with that baby than with a swing blade and machete. Also climbed up on the roof and got all the pine needles and oak leaves cleaned off that had collected there and begun to rot. The big valleys on the roof tend to collect them and they have to be raked off every year or so. Some of the gutters were so clogged with leaves they were actually growing small trees themselves. It's a huge house (7 bdrm,3 bath) on 5 acres of waterfront jungle. And mom just isn't up to the constant maintanence anymore. I have missed my last several bi-annual trips to work here and it really gets out of hand fast. 3 Comments

No Point Dec 31, 2008 7:01 am Mood: beginnings of boredom, 219 Views I worked all afternoon and called it quits. Got cleaned up and was hoping to hear from an old friend. I needed a dinner partner. A bunch of my relatives decided to go to "The Point", a very colorful local restaurant for some fried mullet and hush puppies. This is a real old school redneck type of joint with bluegrass and country music live, fried fish and raw oysters, boiled shrimp by the bucket. I have been going to the point since I was a kid and my family is friends with everyone there. But I really wasn't quite up to going stag. So I ended up doing more projects around the house and eating the last of the leftovers, at least the stuff I wanted. Later on I just decided to go to bed early and keep plugging away at the projects tomorrow. After I check the beach of course. I will have to get to The Point before I leave but It would be nice to have some fun company, I mean I like my relatives and all but I am about over them this trip. And I still have another week to go. Starting to miss my normal quiet life. 0 Comments

Snow White Sand Dec 30, 2008 9:11 am 221 Views Woke up to 40 degrees and crispy cold. Still no surf but the gulf was beautiful. Bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Decided to take a walk on the National Seashore toward Ft. Mcrea. From the end of the road it is about a 3-4 mile walk. I didn't go the whole way as I had to turn back. My hands were full of sand dollars. I hadn't thought ahead and actually brought anything to put shells in. But I did get some good pictures of the beach and the dunes. The sand is so damn white it is blinding when it's this bright out. Actually found a survey marker from the US Geodetic Survey Dept. by accident. And found a dead dolphin. He'd been there a while. He was really big, so I imagine he was fully grown and probably died of old age. Other than that it's back to trimming trees and pulling briars. 0 Comments

Out Of Luck Dec 29, 2008 6:18 am 240 Views Had a great day yesterday. It was foggy early and I went on out to "Bama Point" without being able to see it. But I was rewarded with another nice session. It was spooky and dreary at first. After a while the sun came out and it was pretty nice. The water had warmed up in the last few days due to the temps in the mid 70's. Lots of "Blue Bottle" Portuguese Man-o-war jellyfish in the surf. Got cleaned up and did alot of running around to hardware stores and such. Needed another pair of heavy leather gloves. 2 days and the other pair was already destroyed by all the briars. Later, after more tree trimming and briar pulling, I went to another meeting then on a big adventure. Into town to find their Barnes and Nobles. Wasn't too hard to find but not much looks the way it did 20 years ago. Pensacola was a pretty decent sized city back then, but it has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last 10-15 years. Which accounts for all the expansion out west toward my old neck of the woods. Anyway, the bookstore was hopping for a Sunday night. It is between the campuses of PJC and UWF and most of the people seemed to be of the college age. Their B&N is bigger and a bit more well stocked than poor little ole Jensen Beach's. This morning my luck has run out. No surf. Actually I would have been surprised if there was still a swell. The Gulf is much more fickle for swell than the east coast. Guess I'll have to work more today 1 comment

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