Trying out a new place for a vacation

What with gas prices going up and things in general costing more, we looked around for an alternative. We spent the last 4 years at Herrington Harbor just south of Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay. It was a beautiful place and reasonably priced, but quite honestly the last two years there have been unbearably hot.

This time around we found an inn in the Catskills. A place called the Bavarian Manor. It sits on a hundred acres of woods, walking trails and a lake. Its about the same price as Herrington Harbour but its only a 2 hour drive as opposed to 5 hours so less time in the car and less gas. Just hope it lives up to expectations. I'll be taking a lot of photos there for sure.

I've been Skyped!!!

For Christmas my son gave us a webcam. We set it up on Skype today and its really great. We can now talk to our grandchildren who are on the left coast and see them at the same time.

We tried it out today but the grand kids were out at day care. Will try it again tonight when theu come home.

Max Cries For Attention

This is Max, a somewhat worse for the wear Feral Cat that my sister & daughter rescued as part of their work with Four Legs Good (click link in my favorite links column on the right). He has really had a rough time of it and right now is quarantined to make sure he's going to be alright. I wish I could adopt him once he is eligible, but Regina is allergic to cats. So someone else will get him. I hope they do right by the little guy. He needs some TLC for sure.

Why Do Doctors Take So Long to Make Decisions?

I've been back and forth to hemotologists, pulomanary specialists, hospitals, etc. for the last several months. I have a high red blood cell count according to them. After genetic tests, sleep tests and drawing what seems like a gallon of blood from me they finally arrived at a decision. They say, I have Sleep Apnea which will produce excess red blood cells. I need to have a C-PAP machine prescribed to me to keep positive pressure in my airways so they won't collapse. But its not a simple matter of you have it, here is the machine, have at it! Nope, I have to attend yet another consult, even though I already know I have it. I have to have a seminar of sorts with a specialist who will tell me how to use it, hook it up, etc. then it will be prescribed to me and I can begin using it.

This has been going on forever now........and our dear government wants to know why medical costs are so high. Gawd!, its because of duplication due to fear of malpractice I suppose. I've never seen so much waste. Not only that, but they waste your money and inconvenience you like never before. Try to find a doctor that will deal with you after hours or on weekends! Yet take a gander at them if you so much as intone that they are wasting your time. I told one Doctor once he was going to have to pay for my sick time if this nonsense kept up. He laughed! They have no sense on how they intrude in our lives.

"THERE IS NO TIME FOR THAT! THERE IS NO TIME!"

So says Martin Sheen as he portrays Robert E. Lee chastizing Jeb Stuart during the movie Gettysburg. Well I've been thinking a lot about what time I have and to tell you the truth, there is not much. I work and commute 15 hours a day, do errands on Saturday and collapse on Sunday.

So one of the things I've decided to do is spend less better quality time on the computer. To that end, I've decided to quit Face Book after I received some counsel from my internet buddies Mike and Janie. There is very little quality time on that site. Its more annoying than anything else. I figure if I want to keep in touch with anyone, I can email them or they me.

Another thing I've decided to do is to resign from the Zuni Maritime Foundation as Historian. This took some soul searching since I was the knucklehead who started the effort a decade ago; but I simply don't have the time nor energy required to do the Zuni Tam justice. I'll stay on as an ordinary dues paying member; But the fact remains that the boat is hundreds of miles away from here. I doubt if I'll ever see it again. When you don't see her ( the ZUNI) on a periodic basis your emotional investment dwindles. I have spent way too much time on other sites espousing the virtues and merits of the USS Zuni at least as far as return goes.

That's one of the reasons why I haven't devoted much time to this blog lately. Too darn tired and busy everywhere else. I'd like to get this blog up and running again. Another thing I'd like to do is to be able to help out my Sister's and daughter's not for profit more. Four Legs Good. We see results immediately with the Trap, Neuter and Spay program for cats.They are local and more easily accessible then a ship based in Portsmouth, Virginia.

So with some luck you'll see more entries here......

Some Excitement From Across The Pond

I received an email from the son of the first skipper of the Zuni the other day. He lives in England now. Had some great stories to tell about his Dad. I hope to get him more involved. Here is Zuni's latest photo all dolled up in World War 2 Dark Gray paint. We hope to be home soon,

I friggin hate contractors........

Well we had a bunch of work done on the exterior yesterday and while I'm pleased with the aesthetics, I've pretty much had it with contractors. The back yard looks great, and so does the front for that matter but therein lies the problem. The front was supposed to be an option, not part of the contract. They brought all the material anyway and after consultation with the wife, we decided to go ahead with it.

And they did a beautiful job.........However, they built the walls up too high by the gas meter. I had them remove the dirt around it. Yep, the actually filled it up around the meter. There is room to pull it out if you need to but some alterations need to be made.

One thing is certain. No more improvements on this house. I'll pay a contractor to fix structural damage and return to existing, but this is it.