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| Fish On!!!!! |
We suffered a little bit of a set back today in my trucking Christa to California project. I received word from the trucker that he is running at least two weeks behind schedule. This jacks up some plans I've laid down and will likely result in me curtailing the amount of time I will spend dilly dallying while driving to California. Bummer.
The trucker was honest and up front about what was going on. He spent the winter totally idle, surviving on a bank loan. His fortunes turned rapidly. Now he has a feeding frenzy on his hands. He had several spots in his schedule where he was "dead heading" (not a la Jerry Garcia) and tried to fill the gaps. The rub is that this allows for little wiggle room in terms of mistakes, break downs or delays. Well he had a couple of boats that were late, boat show delays and had to catch up on trailer maintenance. This info did not come out in drips and drabs, but straight away. I can deal with someone like that. So, we are hoping and praying for a pick up by Memorial Day week or on the outside June the 1st.
This impacts me, but not drastically. No sense in getting all worked up about it. I purposely built tons of time into the schedule. I must be settled in California by August 24th, 2010 as this is when my classes start at Dominican U. However my renters are leaving my house June 15th and this leaves me in a financial lurch. The house needs attention before I can bring other renters in. The delay alters my ability to deal with the house, possibly causing me to eat the mortgage longer than anticipated.
This does leave an unexpected spectrum of time to do as I please. I chose to do boat projects. Mostly sanding and varnishing. I did have grandiose plans of doing all kinds of boat work while in Naples this winter. My job at the restaurant sucked up some of my time and I became lazy with the boat. Another effect of my cruising life and living aboard for so long. I was sick of fixing things on the boat, but I still fixed stuff. Christa's looks suffered. She wants to be purdy again. She was tellin me.
I always have so many things going, it is good to have this time to work on my projects. I will continue to exercise daily, play with my pal Amy when she is in town, work on my Final Cut Express project, think hard about my future life course, play my guitar, walk the beach, slug coffee and buzz around Naples in the Green Hornet, which has 4 new tires. Here is an aside story I just remembered.
The Coast Guard's Motto, Semper Paratus, which means "Always Ready" still holds. I was making my way to the car in the this Friday morning past stoked about an hour a half yoga session on the docket. Suddenly I eagle eye a nail in the rear tire. Aye Chiwawa. I head on over to the Tire King, doing the responsible thing by canceling yoga in lieu of my safety. The fellow says no problem to patch at $22 bucks. I head to Starbucks to gigger with my iPad while the car is serviced. Phone rings with the news. Can't be patched and I need 4 new tires. Don't worry, I cross examined The King pretty hard to make sure he wasn't just casting for work. What with all the wealth here in Naples, I'm sure they are not used to people haggling. He presented a strong case and with my cross country trip bubbling up in my mind I gave The King the green light. I left an hour later poorer by $463 boat bucks. So my point is Semper Paratus. You never know when your day is going to turn, best be prepared. Always have a slush fund for unforeseeables, I certainly sleep better knowing I'm not operating on the financial edge.
Ok, here are some pictures of status of Christa's varnish work.
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| Bowsprit |
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| Starboard Caprail |
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| Tiller |
PS: I may have failed to note that I am no longer working at Ridgway Bar and Grill. The season is over and they no longer need an Expo. Maybe I'll blog about that experience sometime.
PSS: Happy Birthday to Janina!
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