Stingrays and Steve

So much news yesterday about Steve Irwin's (the Crocodile Hunter) death. It certainly was a surprise ... or was it? I think that was the whole point of his shows. That he was facing death every time. "Don't try this at home!" But to get it from a stingray?! Now *that* is surprise. I sure wonder if it's a different kind of stingray than we have in the Carribbean? I've pet stingrays many times. They're very smooth and soft. I remember a trip to the Cayman Islands and we visited Stingray City (hey Mom ... do you have any video?) These guys are tame. You get a handful of squid to feed them and just hold your hand out, keeping your fist closed around the squid. The stingrays smell that and they're all over you. Literally wrapping themselves around your fist, your head, all over. It was fun. I was never the least bit scared. Take a look at the Video of Stingray City that I found on YouTube. It shows what I remember. Thousands of people do this every year. They say that Steve Irwin's legacy is a strong voice for conservation and environmental issues. I sure hope so. I'm afraid his legacy his legacy will be fear of stingrays ... they kill you! Oh well, if that makes people leave them alone, it may be a good thing. Meanwhile, if the network is looking for another crocodile hunter, they'll find him in Florida. Manny Puig spoke to our dive club years ago and he's the real thing. Known as the Shark Man, he also jumps on and wrestles alligators, but he does it in the murky swamps of the Everglades. Here's a video trailer of his movie, also from YouTube. I love YouTube!

What a difference a day makes!

As dark, stormy and wet as Saturday was, that's just how gorgeous Sunday and Monday were. Here's the ocean and here's the bay When, just the night before, Jim and Jimmy had to do some fast work to keep the dock from floating away. Jimmy posted a few photos on sea-lyon.com also. Except for a couple short walks on the beach, I was glued to the computer all weekend. I really wanted my clients to have a new program waiting for them when they went back to work Tuesday morning. I'm just about there! And, remember that computer that Jim was trying to bring back to life? He picked up a new hard drive for it, worked a little magic, and now it's even *better* than new! We visited Tom and Betty, some old friends of Jim's, on Saturday night. Got a nice picture of Jaimie and Betty. Jim has known Betty since long before Jaimie was born. Jaimie just started college last week! And Tom sent us some more photos of the evening. I especially like this one of Warren, me and Jim. Warren also dates back to early high school years with Jim. You gotta like someone who throws their head back when they laugh!

Stormy Day Island Views

We ventured forth this morning to get some breakfast and take in the sights. It's just a normal, stormy day now. Something that LBI (Long Beach Island) is quite accustomed to apparently. People still talk about the storm of 1962 where there were places that the ocean flowed over the island and met the bay. You see it is a very long (I bet you knew that, given the name huh?) and very skinny island. Here's a satellite photo from Google Maps: Where we are staying is on the bay side, so we are protected. On our drive this morning we visited Barnegat Lighthouse: I wouldn't want to be coming thru the inlet today! Then, just a brief stop for a shot of the ocean. Surf's Up! OK, that's enough, take me home.

Hurricane Magnet?

I thought we left hurricane country?! We traveled 1700 miles *away* from hurricanes. So how did we end up in the middle of tropical depression Ernesto? It sure reminds me of the night we spend in Fort Lauderdale going thru Hurricane Katrina. The wind seems as strong (that's my memory for ya) and it's lasting a LOT longer. We were rocking and rolling all night - and it's still the same this morning. Actually, the stormtrackers show that Ernesto died before it ever hit New Jersey. I beg to differ. This link will take you to a map where you can select any year and any storm and see it's path - pretty cool. I'm also reminded of when we left Florida last year and Hurricane Rita followed us to Texas. Do we have a hurricane magnet in our motorhome? Jimmy says his windometer has recorded 40mph gusts - and it's not in a position to get the full force. Here's Jimmy taking his boat to a safe harbor yesterday. And here's our scene this morning. Oh well ... we're safe and comfy-cozy. It's kinda cool being in the motorhome and really hearing the rain and feeling the wind - Jimmy said he was getting seasick after sitting out here for a while :-) I do feel sorry for the businesses on the Island here though. Labor Day weekend should be a big money-maker and this one's a washout. I think we're going to go out to breakfast with the excuse that we're supporting the local economy. :-)

Work, Weather, etc.

Believe it or not, both Jim and I worked yesterday. I'm working on a client's database project and Jim worked on a guy's dead computer trying to bring it back to life. Database (MS Access) is *real* work for me ... read, "Billable". Yippee. This is what I did for years before we took to the road. This is an application I created in '96 that is in serious need of updating. Thru the magic of the Internet and remote desktop connection, I can do this work wherever we are. I've been working on this for about a week now and already I'm feeling overwhelmed and incapable of keeping up with Blogging and website work. I seem to recall a day when I could multitask. What happened to those days? Oh well, at least we have some down time planned here at Long Beach Island. It's working out perfectly. Jim was unable to bring the computer back to life, but he did get most of the data recovered from the hard drive. The owner wasn't kidding when he said the computer was dead. He recalls working on it and hearing a thud, then the screen going black. That's called *CRASHING* and it's only a matter of time for every computer. All his photos are on there. Several years worth. And he hasn't backed up in a couple years! This will never happen to you right? 16,000 photos Jim recovered! Wow. Meanwhile, as we're working away and glancing occasionally out the window. We see a boat go drifting by. No driver, just a boat. Jim went out and snagged it as it bumped into the dock and tied it up. When Jimmy got home, he recognized it and called the owners - they were in Pennsylvania somewhere. So, he picked up their trailer, drove the boat to a launch and pulled it out. I got a fun boatride. Notice the not-so-lovely weather we're having. It's even worse this morning. We took Odie for a walk over to the beach to take a look. A bit different from our first few days here. Here are a couple photos I hadn't posted yet because they came from the film camera and had to be developed first. (how primitive huh?) Jimmy taking us all 'tubin' We actually swam (or splashed anyway) in the ocean. Here's Jim diving in. And here's me, not being quite so proactive. Alright ... back to work. Bye for now.