So Much To Do

The last WHILE has been busy as all get out. My friend of some 42 years came to help me pull the BMW diesel from Zulu's hull last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Heavy and dirty and, at times, dangerous work. The engine weighed some 300 kg/660 lbs and was NOT an easy thing to get off its mounts. Once loosened by disconnecting electrical, hydralic, steering, fuel lines, it had to lifted off using a hoist, only three inches to get it off the mounts but it took us over an hour to do the job. Then we waited for the owner of the yard to clearify how we were going to lift the engine from the engine room and place it on the bed of my truck. Smallish problem, he wasn't there. Yes, we worked in the yard alone. Not enough business to keep a staff either, times are hard in the boat maintenance business. People are more likely to want their boat pulled from the water but then to do the repairs, maintenance themselves instead of having Mr. Walton and his able crew do the work for them. Tough times indeed! Mr. C and I accomplished our deed in the same manner except that I've had Zulu up on blocks with a major hull repair for three years now. Eventually we completed the engine placement below the large deck openning and decided to call Tuesday a day, then as we drove north out of Rio Vista S saw a grouping of CRANES, not the birds, the giant winches (not wenches either!) and had me pull into the yard and stop in front of the office. Once inside we addressed our little job to the secretary who promptly forwarded our request for a price to another individual over the phone who quoted $650 at first then after S balked at the price, asked S how long did he think it would take...S replied 20 minutes and then the price went down to $50!!! Wow, what a deal! So back to Zulu we went to remove the rear roof and prep for the giant lift exercize. We completed the removal and positioned ourselves opposite Zulu on the other side of the fence. About 1/2 an hour later here came The Beast...a HUGE 35 foot long firetruck-like vehicle with a long hydralic powerred crane mounted thereon. This thing was huge! Capable of lifting Zulu herself if need be! Within 20 minutes it had lifted the diesel and placed it gently on my truck's bed. Then the travesty, upon going to pay the driver for the lift of the engine S gave him the 50 dollars, the driver BALKED...he wanted MORE, much more...550 USD! S Balked, the driver babbled about how much the rig normally charged for such a job then said $350. S balked again, "The guy said $50 dollars", another exchange and he called the BOSS. He reiterated the 550 dollar amount and finally S offered all he had on him...$120. They accepted and the deed was done. It was still a bargain. Steve and I spent Wednesday morning cleaning up around Zulu then came back to put both of the diesels in his van in preparation for his trip to NC in a couple of weeks. The van nearly touched the ground with the Farymann and BMW tied within. What a job that was. What a job. Thanks S!!

Tai Chi, WTF?

Ok, ok...yes Tai Chi darlings. That Chinese exercise-looking slow movement thingie. Always a mystery to me, I liked how it looked without the slightest idea of what the hell was going on. Why so slow? How can you stand on one foot that long? How much exercise can it be? Marsha ran into us one day last week and was all a-flutter about the wonders of Tai Chi. She had taken A class the day before and was excited as all get out about it. She then invited us to join in, at only 6 bux it was cheap and would improve everything in out miserable lives. Ah well, what's to lose except your sanity. So last night was THE night. We went early, went thru the signup routine at the kiosk near the Joe Nelson Community Center door, paid the fee and sat outside Room B awaiting the arrival of our friends, the instructor and whomever else found this interesting enough to slog through. Soon the instructor came, changed into his Tai Chi costume and was followed by several others who did likewise. We, dressed in our sloppy but suitably loose fitting sweatpants and shirts as instructed by Marsha, our connection to this new world. Soon it was 6 pm, we went inside and lined up as it seemed we were supposed to and the action began without a single word being said...as though we KNEW what we were doing. I just tried to keep an eye on someone who looked competent and follow along as best I could which was...er ah... not very well. An Incompetent Waltz resulted with several episodes of falling against the adjacent wall or stumbling over my own two feet. Kelly had wisely positioned herself at the other end of our row so she wouldn't laugh at me. Soon the instructor, who has remained un-named to this point in the program, was at my side pointing out the (many) error of my ways. Leg straight, arm loose, no toe pointing...on and on. While quite kind in his criticisms I definitely did NOT fit the description of a competent trainee. The class was scheduled to be 1.5 hours long, we repeated the basic moves over and over again, very stiffly at first but soon less stiff and more sweatily (new word). I struggled through until an hour into the program I received a cramp in my right side and soon retired across the room into a chair to watch the torture of the rest. Over at 7:30 I thanked our Master for his kind instruction and waddled out the door in near agony, sweat pouring off my face. Home to cook dinner, watch some tube and climb into bed to read for a while before dropping off into the infinity of sleep.

Here's an example of the Torture of Tai Chi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvF6r6DOvc

This morning I awoke to a plethora of pains, my knees cracked as I walked, my shoulders hurt, my back was stiff as a board and even my arms ached. Oh boy, when do we suffer the pangs of hell again? Next Tuesday. Shit!

On another distant but sensitive subject...They Want To What?! You've GOT to be kidding! But I fear they are not...a read for you. Remember we are IN Earthquake Country and have damned little water as it is and the last time I checked you need LOTS of water to cool these reactors. LOTS! Here's the latest:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/30/BU071BB587.DTL