Care Package

I was in college in the late 1960s.  Like everyone else, it was my first time away from home.  An exciting thing for us students was to get a "care package" from home, a take on the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere humanitarian organization's aid packages.  It was usually cookies.

Pam picked up a care package at the marina office today.  Daughter Megan sent it for the dogs.  Inside were three rawhide bones, each labeled with a dog's name, and a Mr. Bill stuffed toy.

Olivia and Chevy were especially interested in the talking Mr. Bill toy, who looked at the dogs and said "Oooooooooh nooooooooo!".  But when the rawhide bones came out, Olivia dropped Mr. Bill and pounced on the bone.

Ruby decided to check out Mr. Bill closely.

And we watched Ruby closely.  Ruby is known to rip out the squeakers of the other dog's toys.

So far, all three dogs have been fascinated with Mr. Bill and have been taking turns pushing his stomach to make him say "Ooooooh Noooooooo!".  Pretty funny.

Brunswick Bicycle Thief Strikes Again

After my bike was stolen a couple of months ago, we locked them up to our boat.  The problem with that is they'd move as the docklines stretched and chafe against the boat.  We decided to move them back up to the pavilion a couple of weeks ago.  This morning, this is what we found.

Our bikes are the two on the left.  Both front tires are gone, the brake cables cut, and the seats are gone.  I'm pretty sure it's the same guy that stole my bike before.  He does a brisk business in stolen bikes and parts.

I called the police about 10 AM.  It's now going on towards 1 PM and no sign of anyone yet.  I guess on their list of priorities, this is small stuff.  But it still pisses me off.  

Rattlesnake!

We went to Jekyll Island with our upstate New York friends Andy and Betty.  They've been coming to the Golden Isles for eight years, mainly to play golf and get away from the snow and ice.  We took them to the driftwood beach, walked all the way around the northern tip of the island, and then down the bike path back to the car.  Here are a few photos that I took along the way.

Wood Stork

Big Egret

Doe.  A deer.  A female deer.

A fence like Pamela wants on her farmstead.

Bicyclists on the bike path.

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.

Rainy Day With Dogs. Ugh.

It's cool and rainy today here in Georgia.  Pam is at work and I'm watching the Ravens/Colts football game.  Go Ravens!

Anyway, Ruby and Chevy are good, as always.  Ruby sleeps and Chevy watches TV or looks out the windows.  That is, when they're not trying to get away from The Kraut.  Olivia, the young German Shorthair Pointer, is charged.   She's a bundle of energy.   When she can't run, full bore, for an hour or two to burn it off, she's antsy.  So what does she do?  She torments the other dogs.  She crawls all over them, snarling, nipping at their necks, legs, whatever.

I just yelled at her again.  ENOUGH!  She was all over poor Chevy, who was looking at me pathetically.   Where's Ruby?  I looked under the table and in the crate.  Nope. Galley?  Helmstation?  Nope.  Down in our stateroom?  In the head?  Nope.  On the way out, there she was curled up in a fetal position at the foot of the stairs by the engine room door, next to the cat litter.  Poor Ruby.

Back upstairs, I yelled at Olivia again.  She looked at me sadly, and asked to go out.  Then in.  And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.   And out.  Then in.

STOP IT!

Sigh.  I know she's a high energy dog, and not even a year old to boot, but it would be nice to relax and watch the game.

Hmmmmm....  where's the benedryl?

Connected to the 'Net Through the Grid

This post isn't really cruising related, other than that many wannabe cruisers want to know how to connect to the internet. Short answer. At a marina, you'll have wi-fi. Otherwise, if you're going to anchor, get a Verizon hotspot.

OK, I'm freaked out. My blue ray player updated it's firmware yesterday. It told me a newer version was available and asked if I wanted it. I said OK, very amused, because my blue ray player doesn't have a network adapter, and I wanted to see what it would do. This model Samsung needs a USB adapter.  I had tried other USB network adapters that I have and they didn't work.  I needed a special one from Samsung. 

As I watched, wondering what it would do...  All of a sudden, it started downloading.  

???????

I grabbed a flashlight and looked on the back of the unit.  Pam (I'm assuming, because it wasn't me) had plugged a USB charger for some electronic device we have into the USB port of the DVD player, and that's what connected it to the internet. A USB plug connected directly to the grid.  Nothing else.

I asked Pam about it when she got home from work, and she said that she did that in Savannah.  That's been several months, so I guess that any current coming from the charger isn't hurting the DVD player.

I had never heard of connecting to the internet through the grid, but thinking about it, why not?  Apparently, not only can it be done... it IS being done.  Not even a log on asked.  And the performance was pretty good, as I watched three Netflix movies yesterday, something I don't do on our hot spot because of the 10 GB limit, and not on the marina wi-fi because it's so slow.

So there you have it.  Internet through the grid.  Maybe our Bleecker off-grid house should be connected after all.

Pam Broke Her Big Toe

I haven't written a Drift Away blog for the past couple of days.  I know that because I got a few emails wondering what was up.  Well, I've spent the past two days learning how to use Google's SketchUp drawing program to design the shack we're going to build next year in Bleecker.

SketchUp is a pretty powerful program, although parts of it are a little kludgy.  Sometimes it creates solid objects and sometimes hollow.  Strange.

But SketchUp is a useful program, and best of all, it's free.   So if you need to model something, consider it.

Yesterday was a quiet day.  Pam had to work and I studied SketchUp.  She got home late.  Going down the spiral staircase to the forward stateroom, she slipped and fell down the stairs.  Everything hurts today, especially her big toe, which she thinks is broken.

So she spent the day in bed, and I dealt with the dogs and SketchUp.  Maybe I should use my new skills to design a toe splint.

Starting the New Year with Dolphins

New Year's Eve was unusual for Pam and I.  It was sunny and 70 degrees.  We spent the late afternoon lounging on the aft deck, basking in the warm Georgia sunshine with the dogs.

And the cat.

Later, we retired to the saloon where the dogs promptly occupied the entire sofa.

Today, New Year's day is beautiful.  It's sunny and 77 degrees as I write this.  All the doors were open on the boat and the dogs had freedom to come and go.  Suddenly, there was frantic barking from the stern!

Dolphins came by to visit, and the dogs went nuts as they always do when dolphins are near.  But these dolphins weren't near, they were right at Drift Away's stern, no doubt to look at the dogs.

That was an hour ago, and Chevy is still pacing all around the decks, looking for dolphins.

I'll take that as a sign of good luck for 2013.