A Three Hour Tour. er' Voyage

Spontaneity hasn't exactly been my mode of operation these past 8 years, but, well you know, sometimes you just gotta go with the flow.

Spent the better half of my day off yesterday on a mini-voyage on the Atlantic with Ron (Retired in Delaware) and his visiting buddy/reader from Toronto, Patrick. It was most enjoyable and relaxing. (Click on any image to embiggen, if you wish.)

Ron (the dear) and I were "face-timing" last week when he told me of his expected guest and his idea for the morning Pirate cruise on the Kalmar Nyckel (Delaware's Tall Ship home-docked in Wilmington, but here for the month of August) on Tuesday, the 20th.  Since it was my regular day off, he asked me to join them.  Not sure what the schedule would be for this week, I begged off until the schedule was posted on Saturday morning.  

Ron arrived at the restaurant with Pat in tow Saturday afternoon to confirm my status for this event.  It was a go, and I was excited. I had visited the ship a few times when it docked in Lewes, mostly for the tour and the lectures about the original ship's history. I had never dreamed of going out to sea on her.  Ron made the reservations for the three of us and we were good to go.

We met at the dock yesterday morning about an hour before boarding, to take pictures of the lovely and graceful ship. 

Ron, Mary, and me.

Just before boarding, I recognized one of the volunteer crew members.  It was an old friend from my church days.  Mary was the only farrier in lower Delaware for years and she finally gave up the business about 9 years ago.  She joined the crew of the KN about a year ago, and I watched her scooting up the rigging like a very agile squirrel.  Mary and her partner were the first to marry in Sussex County DE, when it became legal.  She's a great gal.  It was wonderful to see her so happy, so alive, and so in love with the Kalmar Nyckel. As you can see in the pic, she is wearing her rigging gear and was happy to see me. 

Johann giving 1600's safety instruction.  

Shortly after boarding, we were summoned for the usual safety talk only this one was geared toward the 16th century safety issues and most everyone listened carefully, so they knew where specific items were kept and could be retrieved in emergencies.

The day was perfect for sailing, though the wind was only about 10mph.  The diesel engine got us out to the bay and sails were set, the engine cut and we glided into the Atlantic.  What a joy for me.  There was story-telling for the kids, historic info for us all.  There was even a story about how pirates attempted to claim the ship, but turned out to be an epic FAIL.

Pat was a delightful conversationalist, Ron began to get a bit seasick until we got him to the railing to focus on the horizon.  He got better almost immediately. 

The winds died down to that the diesel engines had to be revived to bring us back to dock. All went smoothly and by 1:30 pm, we were disembarking and searching for a place to grab a bite to eat.  Ron had read a review of a new place opened at the terminal called "On The Rocks" so we meandered in that direction, found  stools in the shade and perused the menu. The review had been a good one, but I didn't find anything that I was willing to give up my sea-belly to on such short notice.

I ordered a draft beer (which came in a plastic cup, ew!!!) while Ron and Pat ordered munchies and we sat and talked about the experience of the morning.  My beer was piss-warm by the third sip and the munchies ordered by the guys were inedible and ultimately tossed into the trash. The service had been crappy, as well, so I made a note to let the "Rehoboth Foodie" know he got this one terribly wrong. 

In the parking lot, after a few good hugs, we went our separate ways, Patrick promising to keep in touch - maybe even start a blog of his own - and I drove home to the music of Janis Joplin.

The rest of the day was relaxed and quiet.  If you live anywhere on the mid-Atlantic coast, give yourself a treat and visit this magnificent vessel, take a short cruise, if you can.You will always remember the charm, glow, and relaxation of the experience.

And so it goes.

Our Luck Ran Out

We were getting spoiled with clear skies and temps in the 70s over the past 4 days, but all that changed over night (really!); the rains came and brought along high winds and even cooler temperatures.

That being the case, the logical scenario played out like clockwork, as it has for years. Highways at max capacity, movie theaters sold out (before even opening), Outlet Malls packing them in like sardines.

Then, of course, there’s the eating and drinking part. They began pulling on the doors at 9:30 - pointing to their watches and miming for cocktails.  They kept piling up outside in the rain, yes in the rain, waiting for the doors to open.  When we opened them at 10:30 they didn’t close for a good 20 minutes.  The restaurant was full and on a waiting list before 11 AM.  We opened with three bartenders, eight servers, and a kitchen staff of 18 and were hard pressed to keep up.

Fortunately, there wasn’t a grump or whiner in the lot, so it made for a relatively smooth day.  

It remained like that all day, the high humidity played havoc with my back and hands, but we made it through and I have just now waddled home, with a neighbor’s dog close at hand, following me up the stairs for a few ear-rubs and neck scratches.  That always makes me feel better, somehow. She’s such a sweet old girl. She was all wet, but weren’t we all!

If you’ll excuse me, I think I smell olives and without having time for lunch, I am sure the concoction will go right to my head - and that’s not a bad thing.  Just in case, I will prepare supper while I sip.  

And so it goes.

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Caturday Meditation on Medications

I've thought of this many times while reading the PDR or "Good Drugs - Bad Drugs" and those descriptions scare the crap out of me.

And so it goes.
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As Habitats and Species are Being Destroyed...

there is this new discovery.

Olinguito, New Mammal Species, Announced By Smithsonian Researchers

WASHINGTON — Imagine a mini-raccoon with a teddy bear face that is so cute it's hard to resist, let alone overlook. But somehow science did – until now.
Researchers announced Thursday a rare discovery of a new species of mammal called the olinguito. The reddish-brown animal is about 14-inches long with an equally long tail and weighs about 2 pounds.
It belongs to a grouping of large creatures that include dogs, cats and bears.
The critter leaps through the trees of mountainous forests of Ecuador and Colombia at night, according to a Smithsonian researcher who has spent the past decade tracking them.
But the adorable olinguito (oh-lihn-GEE'-toe) shouldn't have been so hard to find. One of them once lived in the Smithsonian-run National Zoo in Washington for a year in a case of mistaken identity.
"It's been kind of hiding in plain sight for a long time" despite its extraordinary beauty, said Kristofer Helgen, the Smithsonian's curator of mammals.
The little zoo critter, named Ringerl, was mistaken for a sister species, the olingo. Before she died in 1976, Ringerl was shipped from zoo to zoo in Louisville, Ky., Tucson, Ariz., Salt Lake City, Washington and New York City to try to get it to breed with other olingos.
She wouldn't.
"It turns out she wasn't fussy," Helgen said. "She wasn't the right species."
The discovery is described in a study in the journal ZooKey.
Helgen first figured olinguitos were different from olingos when he was looking at pelts and skeletons in a museum. He later led a team to South America in 2006.
"When we went to the field we found it in the very first night," said study co-author Roland Kays of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. "It was almost like it was waiting for us."
It's hard to figure how olingos and onlinguitos were confused for each other.
"How is it different? In almost every way that you can look at it," Helgen said.
Olinguitos are smaller, have shorter tails, a rounder face, tinier ears and darker bushier fur, he said.
"It looks kind of like a fuzzball ... kind of like a cross between a teddy bear and a house cat," Helgen said.
It eats fruit and has one baby at a time. Helgen figures there are thousands of olinguitos in the mountainous forest, traveling through the trees at night which makes them hard to see.
While new species are found regularly, usually they are tiny things like insects and not mammals, the warm-blooded advanced class of animals that have hair, live births and mammary glands in females.
Outside experts said this discovery is not merely renaming something, but a genuine new species – with three new subspecies. It's the type of significant find that hasn't happened in the Americas for about 35 years.
"Most people believe there are no new species to discover, particularly of relatively large charismatic animals," said Case Western Reserve University anatomy professor Darin Croft. "This study demonstrates that this is clearly not the case."

I love stories like this.  They warm my heart.

And so it goes.

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Lightning & Death in the Morning.

This, my single day off until Labor Day, began about as uneventful as one might expect. Though raining heavily at 6 am, I was to be found running a few loads of laundry and changing the bed linens between washing and drying.

All done - laundry ironed, folded, and put away - I snatched up (and dusted off the last week’s lists and headed out the door. Though the sky was no longer as dark and foreboding as earlier the rain was a constant annoyance none-the-less.

I had gone a few blocks when I came upon the scene of a 2-vehicle accident at the circle that leads into, out of, and around the town. Someone had neglected to yield as directed  by the signs (with flashing LEDS) and a food truck slammed into the offending car almost shearing off the entire front end in the process. All traffic stopped.  The driver of the car had to be extricated from the vehicle, which took quite some time.  

Finally on my way again as I enter Coastal Highway heading north, a jeep suddenly bolts at high speed from a side street and without heeding oncoming traffic patterns, races across all three lanes to get into the left-turn lane at the next traffic light.  Too late for both the jeep driver and the person already in that lane.  There was nowhere either could go to get away from the other. The sounds were horrible, metal scraping, breaking glass and human screams all in a few seconds that seemed a lot longer.  I am sure this one ended badly for both drivers.

I was in the right lane and continued on my way unharmed as those behind went into rubbernecking mode. Arriving safely at the dry cleaners, then market, I wanted to get off the roads as quickly as possible, so the last stop was the liquor store for a few bottles of wine, which ought to hold me for the duration.

Back on the road and heading south into town the rain became heavier, the wind increased, making it impossible to see the roadway. I pulled into a parking lot to wait out the storm - and just in time. There was a sudden flash of lightning followed immediately by a crash of thunder that made the car shudder and the hairs on my arms stand on end; the air smelled acrid and I was scared to death.  I was tempted to crack open one of those wine bottles to calm myself down. I didn't.

As the rain let up I half expected to see a giant crater where lightning hit the ground, but there was none.  Obviously, though it was close, it wasn’t that close.  Thank goodness for that. 

Got back on the roadway and made my way into town via back roads, avoiding the traffic lights and the damned circle in the process. 

It was after noon when I finally got in (I left at 9:15!!!) The car is safe and secure for the next week or so, and plans are to listen to music and maybe even watch a film this afternoon.  Nothing too exciting.  There’s been enough excitement in the last few hours to last the better part of a week. Thank you very much...

And so it goes.

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BP CEO Says He’s Done Paying For The Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Wonder if anyone will call his hand on this.  The destruction of livelihood, land, seabed, and lives is a terrible legacy for BP to leave behind. From Think Progress:

BP CEO Robert Dudley told Businessweek in an interviewThursday that continuing to send millions of dollars to people who claim they were hurt by the 2010 disaster is “not good for America.” While BP is trying to halt its paymentsand reduce the amount owed to victims, Dudley claimed the company has been the wronged party:

We are still committed to make sure that legitimate claimants and people who were true victims of the spill are paid. [...]
Quite frankly, the results have been really strange. The claims going through a claims facility have resulted in absurd results, and millions of dollars are going out to pay people who suffered, in many cases, no losses from the spill. And this is just not right. I don’t think it’s right for America. We’re a big investor in the United States, and we’ve challenged this really strongly. It’s just not right.

Dudley’s claim that BP has in good faith agreed to all of the damages misrepresents the current state of affairs. The company has actually been working to reduce its debts. BP had asked a federal judge to halt spill payments, though the judge decided against BP yesterday. That will not prevent BP from fighting claims with its new hotline that pays watchdogs to report fraud.
Since scientists can’t quite quantify the true environmental or economic consequences of the Gulf Oil spill, exactly who was impacted is still unclear. For instance, tar continues to wash up onto the coast.
Based on the interview, the BP CEO is perplexed as to why Americans perceive the oil industry badly. This negative perception might have something to do with receiving billion-dollar subsidies for a highly profitable industry that charges high gas prices. BP claims it pays too much in taxes, despite receiving an annual $300 million in estimated tax breaks on top of a $12 billion profit last year.

And so it goes.

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Caturday: Shark Cat Cleans the Kitchen

Your argument is invalid.



And so it goes.
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Forty Days: I Will Be In New Orleans

Beignets,  Po-Boys, Oysters Bienville, Friends, Étouffée, Oysters Rockefeller, The sister, Escargot, Sazerac Cocktail, and a Pimm's Cup at the Napoleon House for old times sake.

To make a point about the ever-changing, yet never-changing city of my birth I offer these two images:

Milk-cart on Esplanade Ave. 1903

Same Milk-cart image superimposed  into a recent shot of the same scene.

These images were just sent to me and I must say they (and all the others) made me feel much better and lifted my spirits.  Something to look forward to, indeed.

More later.

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The Day Off, or Tuesday Slugfest

Allowing for the fact that I had 2 lists compiled, errands to run, places to go and people to see;  feeling like a slug I couldn't drag myself out the door.  Lists remain on the sofa and unless I get a spark of energy from some unknown source, that's where they will stay until next week.

Sleeping was difficult last night, though a light rain pattering on the skylights helped a bit. I woke up, brushed my teeth with the intention of preparing a nice breakfast.  Instead, I crawled back into bed and drifted in and out of sleep for a few hours.

Hunger pangs finally motivated me to get up and eat something. After a coffee (hoping that would jumpstart my old body - it didn't) I had a slice of melon and a nectarine and went back to bed - again.

By the afternoon I was tired of being tired in bed, so I got up and made an attempt to shake myself out of this funk.  Took a hot shower, had some cheese and crackers, but nothing has helped.

Not eating much lately and that may be one of the culprits. I'm not hungry, is all.  I am always so tired after my long shift that I don't stay for a AS cocktail, only walk those 3 long blocks home and arriving winded and ready for bed.

An Ensure is in my evening plans, but not much else.  Just back to bed to prepare for another long day tomorrow.  If the weather continues to be gray and gloomy (non-beach-day) we can look forward to serving another 250+ diners at lunch alone.

Sorry this is such a downer post, but that's where I am right now and I can't seem to find my "Mary Janes" today.

And so it goes.
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To Curiosity on Mars: Happy Birthday!

Hard to believe it's been a year. Oh, the images and other treasures beamed back to earth from this little (?) vehicle. Amazing. Just amazing.  Today marks the first anniversary of the Rover's landing on Mars.

There are videos and images from the past year HERE.  Go and be amazed, as I was.

And so it goes.
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Slip of The Tongue vs. Snark Mouth.

Just a smidgen of every-day stoopid, here.

Standing in line to get a bagel, a woman five places ahead of him asks the baker, "What's in a bagel?" and before he knew it, his mouth opened and he heard his own voice say, "Are you kidding me?" There was dead silence for almost a minute (seemed like 10) before the whole place broke into hysterical laughter. Hope is that laughter was for the initial question, but all reports  point to the comment.

I swear it just slipped out.  No, honest, really and truly.

This one, not so much.

Having seated a party of 4, suddenly everyone asks (in Unison) "do you have a gluten-free menu?"  He answers, "all gluten-free options are now integrated into the main menu and noted with a "GF" next to the item description."  Ten minutes later, he is waved over to their table where a rather loud argument is going on.  One woman asks, "What is in a Corn Tortilla?"  This devilish man looks from face to enraptured face as they stare at him and says, "dried apple cores and freshly broken promises." and walks away. 

The stoopid was strong with this bunch and you know, they never called this man back for an explanation.  We wonder why...Maybe they fought it out among themselves, which would have probably ended the debate, as well as a few friendships, if you get my drift.

This gluten-free fraud is making super stars out of whiners seeking more attention than they deserve.  One out of every 25 or 30 people asked if they have celiac disease say no, but they want err on the safe side.  WTF?  Safe side of What?  There is never an answer to that question.

Thirty one days til Labor Day.

And so it goes.

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Caturday's Big Mistake

Nothing like a mistaken flip of the switch to turn on the vacuum cleaner and send kittehs flying in all directions.  Heh!