Drambuie Update

After 6 weeks work the varnish is finally stripped, teak sanded and its ready to coat. Hazel and I applied the first coat yesterday but felt it was a little too warm and caused slight bubbling. Planned to start early today but the sun beat us to it so further work has been postponed for a few days. Earlier indications are that it will turn out good. I look forward to posting a picture of Drambuie with her new coat. And, Hazel and I plan to go out to dinner to celebrate.

Exxon Money

Talking about BP reminded me of the ABC newscast last week. I was very irritated by the newscast, not at Exxon (although they may deserve some of my irritant) but at ABC. The show trumpeted the huge profit Exxon had made and played with the numbers such as "this is $$$$ per second...," "more in 30 seconds than many families earn in a year" and "you paid for...at the pump,". In my mind this was flagrant yellow journalism. Designed to incite (entertain?) it was strongly biased reporting. Nowhere in the newscast was the net profit percentage given, or for that matter any other data which would enable analytic evaluation of the report. Its all relative and for me to get excited I need to know what the norms are.

Does this mean I endorse the high profits earned? Not necessarily but it does appear that Exxon does a good job managing their business and I always thought that was desireable.

Slug Update

Haven't seen slug for 4 or 5 days. Don't really miss him, in fact, glad he seems to be gone. His personality matched his name and as for his looks...ugh. But then, maybe I misjudge the poor thing. I don't think he has a cell phone so maybe he has gone to use someones phone to call his mommy and daddy like a good son.

Slumload BP

In 2005 sixteen people lost their lives in an explosion at a BP refinery. In a 60 Minutes interview, Carolyn Merritt, appointed by President Bush to be chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, said BP management knew enough about the problems to have prevented the disaster.

"Absolutely," Merritt says when asked whether the blast was preventable. "The problems that existed at BP Texas City were neither momentary nor superficial. They ran deep through that operation of a risk denial and a risk blindness that was not being addressed anywhere in the organization."

BP is the 3rd largest petroleum producer and got that way by acquiring old companies and then cost cutting. Seems like a pattern here. BP is the owner of the Alaskan pipeline that started gushing into the Arctic Ocean. There were charges (from employees) that they stopped using a chemical preventative that slowed or stopped corrosion of the pipe.

Seems to me that BP is the slumload of the petroleum industry. Better not trust the quality of their fuel if that is the case, think I'll shop elsewhere.

Retirment Note

Retirement is tough! I've discovered that since I'm not working I no longer really have weekends or, put another way, everyday is a weekend. That being the case, and being a type A list maker, everyday is a workday to work on that damn list. No time off! Retirement is tough! I know many will feel sad for me.

Slug to the Rescue?

Worked on the boat again today. I was standing in the dinghy along side the boat while stripping varnish. Our friendly alligator (I've named him Slug) patiently floated nearby keeping an eye on me. What a sweetheart. Slug stood by in case I fell overboard and he could rush to my rescue.

Alligator Thoughts

Shortly after we moved to St. James we met our next door neighbor. She told us that the week before they (Fish and Wildlife) had removed a 6-1/2 ft alligator from the pond behind our house. Then, this year while in California, we were told they removed a 9 ft. alligator from the pond behind our other the neighbor's pond. Hmmm, are these alligators real? Yeah, I've seen small ones at nearby Orton Plantation but none here. Why only when we are gone?

Well that has changed. Our marina now has a resident gator and I've seen him/her. Only 4-1/2 ft it still qualifies. Not only have I seen it but it likes to watch me when sanding the teak on our boat. It lurks in the waterway and watches and I wonder; do I look like a tasty dinner? Not likely, too old and stringy. No, maybe it is in awe of my skilled work and wants to learn from me. I may be its mentor.

Today I was told that fishermen had seen 5 alligators in the channel entrance to the marina. Maybe my gator has told others about me and they are coming to see. Maybe I can sell tickets.

How Many are Me?

Thanks to SiliconValley.com I found this web site that tells how many people are in the US with the same name as I have.

HowManyOfMe.com

There is: 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Hate to burst their bubble but I know of another site that shows me that there are three or four of us running around in our skivies.

The Olde Days

I joined a camera club that meets in Wilmington. That requires a 50 minute drive to the meeting so not very convenient (yeah, I know in the California Bay Area I would do it without a second thought).

It was the nearest club I could locate on the internet. At the meeting I found out a club has recently been started near me. Wow! I'm interested so came home and checked the internet again - still no hits. How did we learn about these things in the Olde days?

Sometimes the internet takes away old skills such as how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together - anyone ever succeed that way? They sure don't on Survivor.

I'm not a Purist

I enjoy working with Photoshop and have no compunctions about using it on my photos. Of course, I attempt to obtain my best shots in the camera but do not always succeed. While traveling I took a picture of a building across the street from where I stood. It was a narrow street and my perspective forced lens distortion. Not sure why I shot the building in the first place but it offered me an excellent chance to learn more about photoshop.

I love that program, its designers constantly improve its capabilities and not simply bloat the program to sell more software. The image on the left is before and the right image is after "adjustment" (sounds like a chiropractor).

Active Retirement

Retired

The definition for retired is "no longer active in your work or profession" but in reality it has a much greater connotation. I'm retired. And I dislike the term. Retirement infers someone that becomes inactive in life, not just work.

It brings to mind old men hanging out at the barbershop, or country store, or local pub. They are on the sidelines watching others and sometimes making comments to their companions about life observed.

That is not my retirement. I swim laps, work out with weights, sail, drum, bowl, bike (occassionally), enjoy photography and photoshop, read, etc, etc,...and blog. I wish there was a better term to describe this stage of my life. I'm not retired!

Drambuie's New Coat

Drambuie is getting a new coat. Over the past two years, every time I got on her, she would nag me.

She'd say "Just look at me! I know you couldn'’t strip me when we first met but good grief, we'’ve been together for two years. I don't think you are committed to our relationship."

I'd say, "Dram, you know I'm committed, think about all the time I'’ve spent playing with your engine. But yes, you are right, I promise to do something about your appearance as soon as..." She'’d interrupt me with "“there you go, 'as soon as" -– it'’s always one thing or another. It'’s too wet, or too hot, or you have something else to do that's MORE important than me!"

She won; I'm now giving her serious attention. I have her half stripped and struggle to get her totally naked. Even though she wants a new coat she seems to have tight hold of the old. She is probably just shy. However, once in a new coat (actually there will be five) I am sure we will both be happy and ready for more intimate times.

Thus far I've spent three weeks (or more) working on her and expect at least three more. I devote the morning and into the lunch hour each day (when not raining).

The process is tedious and time consuming. Typically the way it works is (1) strip the old varnish with a heat gun, (2) use two applications of chemical stripper to get residual varnish out of the grain, (3) sand with coarse sandpaper,
(4) sand again with a finer grit, (5) wet sand with a very fine grit - some do not go to this trouble but I like the high smooth gloss achieved, (6) apply three coats of base coat and (7) apply two or three coats of gloss urethane, (8) buff and admire. Then start remounting all the hardware that was removed. Hopefully by putting a coat or two on each year IÂ’ll never have to strip her again.

Learning about Blogger

I started a post back in September and just finished it. Blogger insists on placing it at the date when I first started my draft. So, look further down for September 28th.

Mt. Tam Hike

I like to work with Photoshop and this post includes a technique I learned in Photoshop magazine.

Cow Abductions

Busy as I am I simply had to take time to alert my faithful (and otherwise) readers to a new terrorism that is quietly striking fear in the cattle industry. PLease check out: Cow Abductions