You Guessed It!!!

Yes, it is Sunday evening. Yes, I drove down to the OH Yacht Club to see if the boat is in the slip. Yes, you guessed it!!! The slip is empty...........

High Tea

Lara treated me to High Tea at a wonderful Tea Room for my birthday last year.

I Am So Angry!!!!

Why do people steal???

Some things have been stolen, details are not going to be put on the blog but I have to say how violated it makes a person feel.

It is sad that a person has the compulsion to take what does not belong to him.

It is sad that a man that would give you the shirt off his back.... no, not the shirt off his back....he would buy you a new shirt instead of giving you the used one. A man that is so trusting, caring and giving, is constantly being taken advantage of/from. In one way or another, whether it is a man hired to do work, a man selling a boat, a man fixing a boat, or someone that works for the same company, he always gets the short end of the stick.

I have jokingly said in the past, we need to have shirts made that say, If You Want To Take Advantage Of Us, Get In Line. Now I know that would be pointless because someone would steal the shirts off our backs.

God be with the thief/thieves, as well as with us, and help us to forgive them!!!

The Time Is Getting Near...Or Is It?

The last 2 times Jerry has seen/talked to Mr. Boat Fixer Upper Man the time for launch on the boat has changed from by the end of next week to this week-end. Of course, just like by the end of next week, this week-end never comes. Jerry talked to him yesterday and he said it would be in the water tomorrow (which is today) or Sunday. So far today, it isn't. I will let you know if it happens tomorrow.

UPDATE==When Is The End Of Next Week????

Thursday afternoon Jerry and I go to check on the boat. I expect to find that not much will be accomplished, because since we were there last week it really has rained here. About 3 days worth, this by the way we greatly appreciate because our lawns, ponds, lakes, rivers, etc. need it badly. We can use more. Back to the boat, we arrive at a time there is human activity. Once again, I stay in the pick-up and Jerry gets out. He walks over to the boat. Mr. Boat Fixer Upper Man joins him. They talk for a long time. The entire time Jerry looks very serious, which naturally makes me curious and a little nauseous. They climb up into the boat. I can no longer see either of them.

I sit in the truck watching one of the workers. He is sitting on the ground at the rear of a trailer. He is putting on a rubber looking skullcap type thing that has goggles in it. I think to myself, good. I am glad he is using protection because he picks up some sort of electrical tool. (I wonder if that thing is wearing is hot. I don't think I could wear it. I would smother to death). I can't tell what the tool is but, apparently, from the sound it is a drill of some sort. I watch as he puts the tool to the metal and hear the sound that reminds me I need to make a dental appointment to have my teeth cleaned since I let Jerry have my scheduled time. Can't do that now though, I do not have my calendar with me & I think they are closed at this time of day. Can't call tomorrow because they are not open. Will have to remember to do it Monday. I, also, have a filling in a front tooth that needs replacing. It fell out as I was flossing one day. The original filling repaired a chip caused when a cousin pulled a chair out from under me & my tooth hit the kitchen table many years ago. Weird that it chipped a lower tooth, *shrug*, but it did. I fear the dentist is gonna want to put a crown on the tooth. That seems to be the norm these days. Back to the guy. I have not been thinking about him because I am off in my mind thinking about the dentist, then who knows what else. I now notice he is using the tool but he is no longer wearing the skullcap. Although I know I would not be able to wear that headgear, it bothers me that he isn't. As I am thinking, he at least needs to put some goggles on. They can be bought for a dollar or less. I know this because I bought some a year or so ago. I had to spray bleach water on the dining room ceiling where there was a water stain from when the roof leaked. Not wanting the bleach water to go in my eyes, I wore safety glasses. As I think this, he picks up a pair of safety glasses and puts them on. Yay!!! I am so proud of him.
Finally, Jerry and Mr. Boat Fixer Upper Man climb out of the boat. They stand and talk more. One or the other will pick up something from the ground & look at it then throw it back on the ground. Jerry has a prop in his hand. I am not sure where or when he picks that up. He continues to hold it, as he & Mr. Boat Fixer Upper Man go into the shop. I can see them, but cannot tell what they are looking at. They come out. Jerry comes to the truck; Mr. Boat Fixer Upper Man walks back toward the shop.

Jerry gets in the pick-up & starts the engine, as well as telling me the different things Mr. Boat Fixer Upper Man & he have been discussing. I will not go into the different things that have "now been found" that need fixing. *deep sigh*. Amounts to another $100 here, another $200 there. Nor what they settle on doing, but with those things needing to be done Jerry is told the boat will "make a splash" in the water either this Fri., or Sat. morning. I am wondering how this will be accomplished when it has taken so long complete the other things. I keep my mouth shut. Yes, I know that is amazing but I do.

Friday comes. Friday goes. No phone call. Saturday morning comes. Saturday morning goes. No phone call. Jerry goes out to the boat on his way in to work Saturday afternoon. No one around. He can tell they ran water through because the leg and something else are wet. He wonders what is up. I suggest he try to call Mr. Boat Fixer Upper Man's cell phone. He says he will do that.

At this point I do not know anymore, but I still wonder, when is the end of next week???

When Is The End Of Next Week????

The boat was taken to the shop in Aug. 2006 for repairs. Most of you know, we had a small accident due to not paying attention and getting into shallow water. The fact that happened is probably a good thing. It appears a previous owner had a worse accident and tore a whole in the bottom of the boat. Rather than fixing it properly, they elected to spot patch the damage & cover it over. We were given the option to so the same & sell the boat that way or invest way more money than we ever meant and repair it correctly. We could never knowingly sell someone a boat that is not properly repaired so we elect the later.
Since it is coming up on the end of boating season & will take a few weeks to repair the boat we agree there is no rush, as long as the boat is ready for the water by spring. Oh, yes, of course, says Mr. Boat Fixer Man. We, also, give up the slip at the Yacht Club, not wanting to pay out money for a slip that we cannot use. Jerry brings home the swim step, the bimini, and a few other pieces to get them all clean and ready to back on the boat.
Anyway, work is gradually begun and we pay a few hundred dollars, here and there. Around the end of Feb., he says the boat will be ready in a week or two.
In March we find that there are only two slips available at the Yacht Club so we arrange for the slip as of April first. More money, but the boat will be ready by the end of next week so that does not seem to be a problem.
Telephone calls are made to Mr. Boat Fixer Man to see how things are going. Oh, she should be ready by the end of next week. Oops, I guess we must have forgotten to specify which spring??? Remember a few entries ago I said I try to remember to be very specific about things? Well, I am not the one actually handling this deal, although I doubt it would have occurred to me to specify the spring of 2007.

Next week comes and goes. More calls made. I say calls because no one is answering the phone, and messages left on the answering machine get no response. We drive out almost weekly to check on the progress. No progress most of the time. Occasionally a little has been done here or there. Finally, contact is made, when will the boat be ready? I promise, by the end of next week. "We have had too much rain and have not been able to get the glassing done." Hmmmm, I know it rains in one spot and not another but this has been the driest, hottest spring and summer ever. Too bad some of that rain couldn't have landed in our yard.

We are now coming up on Memorial Day weekend. Yeah, she will be ready. We are now into month two of slip rental for a slip we can't use. I suggest to Jerry that he offer it to the family that live on the street in front of us, to use until we need it. They have a boat and Jerry found out the week before they keep it on the trailer in the safe zone at the Yacht Club. We figure it might be nice for them not to have to hook up & launch the boat every time they use it. The guy tells Jerry, that will be great because I need to do some repairs on the trailer and that would give me a way to get that done.

The couple uses the slip for a few weeks then go back to trailering their boat. Memorial Day weekend has come and gone. Time to pay another month of slip rental. Boat still not ready.......it will be ready by July 4th, I promise.

After driving over to the shop and finding no one working for several weeks there is a note posted on the door stating that due to the hot weather they will be in at 7:30pm. We go back that evening and sure enough they are there. Is anyone working on Me~n~You. Well, no. When Mr. Boat Fixer Man sees us pull up he comes out toward us and yells at me his usual "hello, darling." I do not like this familiar phrase but have put up with it until now. This time I respond with, "I am not your darling." With that he takes a step back and says something like, oh, okay. We have met half way between the boat & the truck. I do not know if I would have said anything or not but after his too friendly greeting and under the circumstances I confronted him. I started by asking how long the boat has been here. He says coming up on a year. I say, no we are past a year and this is ridiculous!!! I go over the fact that every time we talked to him he would say it would be ready, he would say the end of next week. He agrees, then starts giving excuses. I call him on each one he offers. Each time he agrees that I am right and he apologizes. I tell him he needs to learn how to prioritize. He admits he has a problem with that. I point out we have seen any number of boats come & go and our's still isn't near ready for the water. He agrees. I ask him to tell me the truth about when the boat will be in the water. He says he will have to think about that. *rolling eyes*. I also bring up the fact that he does not return our phone calls. Again, he agrees. That is another area that he has problems. (The thing is, he only seems to have that problem after he has the boat up on blocks and the engine out & all of the trim pieces in his shop. Previously, he either answered the calls or returned them if he was not available & a message was left).

Finally, he says I don't have to take this. Now is my time to agree, I tell him, "no you don't have to take it". He says we can take our boat somewhere else and be done. I say he knows we can't do that. He agrees then he walks off. Oh yeah, I forgot the part about him starting to walk off when I first start questioning him about things. I ask why he will not look at me. So he turns around and looks me in the face.
We leave with no answer as to when the boat will be ready. Jerry said that he noticed him look over and see his guys standing watching our conversation when he said he didn't have to take this. I found that amusing.

This afternoon we go over to get something out of the boat, not expecting anyone to be there however he is there. I stayed in the truck this time. Jerry goes to the boat & then into the shop and Mr. Boat Fixer Man comes out with him. They talk for a while as he shows Jerry some things on the boat. Jerry comes back to the truck and we leave. Jerry tells me what has been accomplished and said upon asking when, honestly the boat will be in the water, Mr. Boat Fixer Man, said the end of next week.
Does the end of next week ever come???? Not yet.........


(For those of you that don't know, this boat is an older boat that needs a lot of things done to it aesthetically, as well as electrically, and we know it is going to cost quite a bit to get it like we want it. We did not anticipate having this added expense. We could have a pretty nice ski boat in the slip that we have paid rent on since April (6 months now). (I fear, it is going to be a $100,000.00 boat by the time we finish, just kidding, sorta).

Paris In February

Burnt Toast

I recently read Burnt Toast by Teri Hatcher. It is a very enlightening book. Who would have ever guessed that a person as physically attractive as she is would have the same insecurities as I?
There are so many parallels; being uncomfortable in our bodies, not feeling attractive, although, I believe she does admit she knew/knows she is pretty. There have been times in my past when I was told I looked nice or that I was cute but I did not see it. I can look back at photos of myself when I was younger and waaaaaaaayyy thinner and say, Hmmmm, I really did not look that bad, I only wish I had known it then, could have seen the good qualities I had.
Many of Teri's insecurities come from sexual abuse as a child by an uncle, as well as never being told she was good enough by her father. Sometimes she was told she could do better or should do something different. It seems she could never please him. That is one of our parallels, for sure, always needing parental approval. A pat on the head, a kind word that says "I am proud of you" or "you do that really well." Would it have made a difference in my life? I cannot say. I think it could have, but I will never know.
At forty, Teri seems to be on the right track to realizing she is beautiful, not only physically but she has inner beauty as well. (I do wish she would clean up her language, though. Some of the words she elects to use detract from the person, I think, she is).
She portrays herself as a very loving, thoughtful, although not perfect, mother. She seems down to earth and in spite of her fame well grounded at this point in her life.
At fifty-eight, I am still trying to find myself, my talent. I always believed a talent had to be in the arts, I have no talent in that area. I now realize that talents come in other forms, too. You do not have to be an artist, singer, actor, etc., but I still have not been able to find mine or recognize it. I am still looking....
Where does the burnt toast fit into all of this? It is the fact that Teri grew up feeling it is the mother's place to eat the burnt toast because that was what her mother did & give the perfect toast to others. I think the percentage of women take the leftovers and give the best of themselves to their children and/or husband, friends, extended family. I know my mother's focus was on her husband, parents & siblings, nieces, nephews, aunts & uncles, and, at times, her children.