We may have to move...

One of my favorite parts about living here is the water access - it is SO convenient to be able to keep a boat at our dock, just steps from our deck.  The canals cut into the island are arranged to get the maximum number of water access lots.  We put a lot of thought into the lot we bought 20 years ago: on a canal, but great protection from storms.  Our section of the canal has a small bridge over it, connecting our street with the next street over.  That bridge essentially cuts our canal in half; some people think that is a detriment because it means you have to go all the way down the next canal over, then come back in our canal to get to our place.  It also means that we are essentially near a "dead end" thanks to that bridge.  That means there is no "boats passing by" traffic - big plus from my perspective.  It is worth a couple minutes more to get to our dock to avoid passing boat traffic.  That bridge also gives us great protection from any wind having a north component.

The down side: we are three sites down from that bridge, so the boat is very visible to anyone crossing that bridge (about 120 homes on that next street over).  So, if I am out working on the boat, messing with the boat, or even on the dock, people crossing that bridge want to talk.  It is too far away to have a regular conversation, you have to shout.

For the record, I have met a lot of nice people who have had questions about the different boats we've owned over the years... it is how we met our dear friends Herb and Wilma.  But, since getting the pontoon boat, there are even more people that want to talk about it... being a nice guy, I try to answer questions.  We've even taken some out on our boats.  After coming back from a scooter ride this morning, the wind had piped up, so I went out to put the full cover on the boat.  That is a chore.  And already 85º at 9:30am.

Of course, a guy stopped on the bridge and started hollering questions to me.  While I was wrestling with the cover.  In the heat.  I finally said, "Come around to the front of the house so we don't have to holler."  He seems like a nice guy - just moved here from Phoenix, and loves the water.  And wanted to know about our SunTracker.

I almost had the cover done before the hollering.  Missed it by this much.  (Get Smart reference)  ;-)  We may have to move so I can stuff done.  Yeah, that's a joke.

I had a nice scooter ride this morning; mostly just bopping around, but I got the scooter tag and put out a new one...

Your scoot with sea critters.

I also found out that the disc brakes on the Vespa do a fine job... a taxi pulled a "left turn" on me. At an intersection, where I was going straight, and he (of course) wasn't using a turn signal (turn signals are a sign of weakness here), and didn't slow down before his abrupt turn. I was doing less than 30mph and the brakes hauled it down with no drama, not even much front end dive. I barely had time to shout out, "You stupid son of a bitch!" In reality, the guy's Mother is probably a nice person, but he is an asshole.

 The drivers here really do suck.  Not all of them; about 92% of them.  So, if you live around here and are reading this, I am sure you are in the 8% of good drivers.  Really.