The Bahama Years

Winter Sucks!

thebahamayears — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:05:20 +0000

With this south wind that kicks up every other week it makes going out on the ocean a little rough. Visibility underwater gets cut in half, the surge pushes you around and you get hit by saltwater spray constantly while on the boat. I guess there is always the option of sitting on the beach and drinking rum …

Project #7862 …

thebahamayears — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:19:14 +0000

… almost completed!!?

Really, the sailing dinghies are almost finished and ready to go to the beach for the christening ceremony. A lot of work has been done, and it has taken a lot longer than expected, mostly because I have been trying to teach these two jokers …

… how to build the boats, but like I said …

… a lot of work.

Like I always say…

thebahamayears — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:04:06 +0000

… time flies when you have no idea what you are doing!! The days have been getting shorter and the sun a little lower in the sky but the temperatures are unseasonably high. They should be hovering around the 80F mark yet each day they just keep climbing towards that big “nine-o”.

Is that a rain cloud I see???

Am I complaining? As a matter of fact … NO … I am not. After spending a winter or two in conditions such as these …

… I am not complaining one bit.

In fact, I would have to be in the belly of hell itself before I would think about complaining about the heat. There is something not quite right about living in a place that has an average lower temperature, for two months of the year than a country that is named after ice.

Anyway, finally got the guest bedroom painted and sheets for the bed so I guess that means we are officially open for reservations.

What *@$#% is that?

thebahamayears — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:08:46 +0000

I will tell you what that is … that, my good people, is a kidney stone!

Honestly, I was quite surprised when it came out. All this talk about it being the size of a “grain of sand”. Grain of Sand my ass. 7mm is not the size of a grain of sand. Yeah, I know, it is not as wide as it is long … well let me tell you, 4mm is not the size of a grain of sand either.

Trust me, I laid on the beach for a week, in pain, waiting for this thing to pass, and never once did I see a grain of sand that was even remotely close to being this size. Maybe the shell of that hermit crab that kept walking by, mocking me, but no grain of sand.

The thing was so large that the prominent ‘clink’ it made while hitting the porcelain as it came out actually woke up the neighbors.

The up-side, it is gone. The down-side, it was so large it blocked much of what was passing through my right kidney … for the better part of a week … from coming out, and now that my bladder has been flooded with septic juice from my swollen kidney … I have an infection. No small infection either, this infection is so bad that beer does not even taste good and the only way I can tolerate rum is straight up.

Yeah, I guess it all could be worse…

Right? NO left! Right.

thebahamayears — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:36:11 +0000

I am not sure what is funny-er, the question “Is the Bahamas a country?” or trying to explain to people it once belonged to England. Granted, England has had a big impact on islands in the West Indies (ie the Bahamas) over the years many do not realize the effects are still there even though “the sun has set”.

Well, as in England and many other old colonies, you have to drive left in the Bahamas. No big deal, driving left is the same as driving right, except you are on the left side of the road and not the right. Pretty straight forward if you ask me. The draw back of the Bahamas is that nothing ever seems to be straight forward. Although driving is on the left here they do not all drive left, I mean right. More specificly, not all of the vehicles are right hand drive.

What is wrong with ...

I know what you are thinking, what is wrong with that?

How do you say in your country … uhh … blind-spot??

Yeah, that is a car peeking out from behind the door frame!! Granted the still picture makes it seem harmless but when you are entering a round-a-bout at 30kph that vehicle will be in front of you faster than you can say … actually I do not know faster than what you can say but the point is, there is a reason when you drive left you operate right.

Other than blind spots it is easy driving on GB, mostly because they have signs such as these:

to remind you which way to go and which side to be on. On the other hand this sign causes some confusion for American drivers. It says STOP but what is with the subliminal yield sign??

Luckily, when you see this sign …

you know you can stop driving.

Hurricane Season

thebahamayears — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:10:16 +0000

Stormy skies?

Well, you know how it is … rough … hurricane season has officially begun. There has even been five named storms!! So far, we are in the clear.

“Flight Echo-November this is Tower, you are cleared one-niner bearing one-eight-zero”

“Roger tower … Echo-November … cleared runway one-niner-south for sand, sun & FUN!”

Skeptic…Who Me??

thebahamayears — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:18:34 +0000

Okay, I might have expressed a slight amount of apprehension as to the arrival of the container. After all it did say this on the side of it!!

Good reason for concern, considering we did not move to Corsica and Grand Bahama Island is several ‘thousand’ miles from the Mediterranean. Well, it arrived …

and it was actually ours!!!

Granted, I never publicly made a statement claiming miracles were impossible, none the less, I was impressed. One drawback of the shipping container, we were not able to ascertain if anything shifted during transit. Mainly due to the way it was packed.

What I was able to ascertain … I am investing heavily in packing tape!!! Risky, maybe, but I see a future.

But Why??!

thebahamayears — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:02:29 +0000

I will tell you why! Let us call this reason number … uhhh … 81. Sweet nectar of all that is good in the world.

Hello Lovely...

Pure, straight from the source, un-embargoed, un-boycotted, un-censored, un-adulterated. Yes, I know you are confused, and yes there is better, but after such a long sojourn of being locked away in that modern day concentration camp known as the “gud ol’ U S of A” it is the simplest things that shine the brightest.

Then of course there is the Cuba Libra (rum and coke with lime, for you novices out there). How can you really make a true Cuba Libra with out Cuban rum? The answer is, you can not.

I am sure you thought the answer was … just use Barcardi. Well, not to get political or anything, Barcardi has not been Cuban since they left Cuba and swam over to Puerto Rico. What kind of message does it send when you create one of the most quintessential and classic drinks of all time then abandon the country that you name it after?? Heresy I say, I am not having any of it … unless of course, it is all that is left.

Moving, Schmoving?!?

thebahamayears — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:03:09 +0000

I am sure everyone knows this is not the first international move but I do hope it is the last. Currently with everything that is going on it feels a bit like this—>

Oh what a tangled web...

Finding a house, haggling on a price for the house, getting them to repair the house, clean the house, buying stuff for the house, finding the store that sells the stuff you need to buy for the house … the list is long and I am ready for the beach.

Who wants to help unpack?

What do you do?

thebahamayears — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:28:18 +0000

what to do, what to do???

Many people have asked the question, “What are you going to do in the Bahamas?”. Well, with all considered, there is not really any reason for me to do anything other than what I always do. Why complicate things by having to change your routine? Although, if the fancy strikes me, there is a slew of activities that I can partake in here at Ocean Reef Yacht Club. Every day of the week, every hour of the day. The selection is almost mind boggeling when you think about it … darts, billards, merengue, lawn bowling, poker, water sports, my favorite …

What, only an hour??

Do not think this is the worst of my troubles. For those of you who are familiar with the finer points of “Ice Management” will understand that this is a much bigger problem …

… every fridge on the island has an automatic ice maker and all of them dispense the ice out the front. Not only do I not have to go through the effort of emptying and filling ice trays, I do not even have to open the freezer. At this point I am not even sure what step this is, I will have to get back to you on that one. For those of you who do not understand “Ice Management” and think that having an ice maker that dispenses out the front of the fridge is a brilliant idea … trust me, it is not, it goes against all laws of nature.