Sorry Buffy... and Cat Commerical Videos

Buffy came and told me that it was past her lunchtime. I told her that I was sorry, but I've been beavering away...

We then had a bit of a discussion about that.  One can be "as busy as a beaver" but there is no such phrase for cats, that I'm aware of.  There is CATNAP, though.  You can be busy napping, I guess :)

I've always like the phrase "it's like herding cats".


Great commercial.

We don't have a TV so I've never seen this IKEA commercial... You probably have, but I'm going to put it here anyway so I can watch it again later.


I wonder how many cat wranglers they had?

The making of the IKEA cat commercial

Love it!

Buffy's telling me I'm STILL LATE WITH LUNCH!

So It Goes....

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A favorite cat toy... the Palmetto Bug

Warning, this post has a photo that is not for the squeemish.  I don't like it but unfortunately, I've become accustomed to it.

Photo from www.dirtdoctor.com

The other night while we were watching an episode of Lost (we are up to season 4), I heard a cat outside making scratchy noises on the deck like she was playing with something.  A couple of minutes later, Buffy is in the salon under the table playing with something. I pause the DVD, turn on the light and ugh! Buffy proudly displays an upside-down, 2.5-inch Palmetto bug at her feet.  Yes, such a good girl, Buffy. You truly a slayer worthy of your name. Bob gets the broom and dustpan and immobilizes the bug. He goes outside and flings the Palmetto bug over the side after dislodging it from the broom where it is hiding. Buffy is patiently waiting for Bob to finish whatever he's doing and bring her trophy back inside for more frivol & frolic. We tell her that it has gone for a swim and return to our DVD.

About 10 minutes later we hear a similar scratchy sound... Willow, not to be outdone by her sister, has a Palmetto bug in the cockpit just on the other side of the companionway.  Bob, quickly dispatches this one.

It had been quite breezy until that night, so maybe this pair decided to go for a moonlight flight, settled on our boat, and were met by our security team of Buffy & Willow.

Good girls!

Another Bareboat... Why?

What's happening?  Why are we getting an influx of bareboats coming into Christiansted, St Croix?

Bob has a BoatBits post about recent bareboat antics "How not to pick up a mooring or, getting your doofus on..." I loved the woman with the boathook telling me "It's so hard!"

That boat left before 7:30 am this morning, and the one that took over 10 stabs at picking up their mooring must have departed before I got up at 7:00... and the ball is still there!

Anyway, we were having coffee #3 on the foredeck enjoying our view when we heard a bareboat approaching. After telling them not to use the dead mooring to windward of us, they took the one right ahead of us.  Got it on the second try, too.

A long stretch but they managed

Why do they have fenders down on both sides of their boat? It doesn't give us much confidence in their skill level. Are they afraid they will hit someone in the anchorage or did they sail with them down? Very untidy, as my RYA Competent Crew instructor would have said.

Hey, it's Valentine's Day. If you still need to get someone something in a hurry, how about an Amazon Gift Certificate.  Very handy and very easy as they can receive it via email.

Oh no, another one has JUST ARRIVED.  Bob just told them "Guys, bad mooring" so I've got to run and see what they'll do next...

So It Goes :)

The Beatles at the Cavern Club 50th anniversary

Today, February 9, 2011, is the 50th anniversary of when The Beatles played their first gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

Fifty years made me feel a bit old, but then I realized that this picture was taken before I entered the first grade.

The BBC has a nice article about it here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12396322

This week's Little Steven's Underground Garage had a Beatles first time on the Ed Sullivan theme as their first show was February 9, 1964 (47 years ago!). Little Steven's website is being given an overhaul and does not have archives of the old shows, so make sure you listen to it this week.

For you Beatle People, this is a must-have item... The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles. Wow, is it a blast from the past.  Not only do you have the Fab Four, but you get the entire shows with other acts such as the  impressionist Frank Gorshin (The Riddler on Batman 1966-67), for example. We bought ours from Amazon.com

Jules Verne's birthday & Google

Google has a really cool logo today in honor of Jules Verne's birthday

It is a flash thingy but when you go to the Google site, you can use the up/down left/right control on the right side to be at the surface or descend to the depth of the sea floor.  There are people working down there, too!

Check it out today (February 8th)

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Free Music for Valentine's Day

Amazon.com has a 14-song Valentine's Day playlist that you can download for FREE.

Free Valentine's Day Music

Unfortunately, it is only for the 50 States of the USA and once again, the US Virgin Islands is excluded... So It Goes... but maybe you can take advantage of this :)

ENJOY !!!

SUPER BOWL WEEKEND

Wow, can't believe it is the 45th Super Bowl... Hope they have some good advertisements this year.

There has been much talk about Super Bowl munchies, and chicken wings seems to be a favorite.

Check out this recipe for an excellent BBQ sauce from charter yacht Three Moons. It's good on everything... chicken, shrimp, ribs, pork, burgers... you name it!

Do you remember Joe Namath?


Enjoy Super Bowl Sunday!

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Honeywell HW2000i Generator Inverter - Part 2

Yesterday we received the carb elbow for our new Honeywell HW2000i generator-inverter. Thank you very much, Tom (Fall Mountain Small Engine in New Hampshire).

You can read our previous installments here:

• 2011 January 8: Honda 2000i Generator quit. Honeywell HW2000i next up? 
• 2011 January 31: Honeywell HW2000i Generator Inverter - Part 1

We went and bought new oil and gasoline, then Bob replaced the carburetor elbow. Started up after a few pulls and it is running our battery charger.

Doesn't seem much louder than our Honda EU2000i. I thought it was going to be twice as loud.

Click on the photos below to enlarge...

Here's the damaged elbow on the left. On the right, you can see the damage to the ribs on the inner side of the covering panel where I assume that somebody was in a hurry and gave the panel a good whack to close it rather than seating it properly... Maybe it was the last unit of the day.

Interior of cover panel / Broken off carb elbow part attached to motor block

New part installed / "Old" carb elbow as it arrived new in the box

Of course, the Honeywell has a different orientation than the Honda so we'll have to position it differently. The Honda has its control panel on the front with exhaust in the back and the pull cord on its starboard side.  The Honeywell has its control panel and pull cord on its port side and exhaust in the back. So It Goes...

And it is going!  It has been running for a bit over an hour (knock on wood!).

Tomorrow we will try to charge our 48V battery bank...

By the way... Gas is going up at St Croix Marine on Monday by 19 cents.  Today's price (February 4th) was $3.65/gallon and the last time we bought gas on January 6th it was $3.35/gallon.

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