Cargo Trailer, level 2...

I have a love/hate relationship with the solid fiberglass tonneau cover on our pickup - it looks great and protects whatever we want to carry in the bed, but it has to come off when we tow the 5th wheel... and it is a beast to try to move around. It usually takes three of us to get it off the truck and move it onto our patio deck so we can haul the 5th wheel. Joan has been after me to come up with a way to store it in the cargo trailer so we can take it along or just store it in the trailer, out of the weather. Being an old sailor boy, I came up with a block and tackle for raising to the ceiling inside the trailer, but the top supports just couldn't handle the weight (I did mention that the thing is a beast). So, today, I went back to Plan B... which was really Plan A a couple months ago: we'll heft it onto some 2x4s mounted on the walls with joist hangers. Cheap and simple; and plenty solid.

Yep, that works...


There is just enough room to clear under it with the windshield on the motorcycle, and no loss of any other storage space! And with the truck parked just behind the trailer, it's relatively easy to move the beast back and forth with just the two of us!

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And now back to our regularly schedule blog.

Who pooped on the dock?

We haven't gotten out for a couple days while I recuperated from the crud I caught. It was just too nice today. Well, a bit breezy, but sunny and upper 70s. We decided to take the boat out for a lunch date. Around the back side of our island, down the ship channel, and just a bit north to Pier 19. They have a grand total of one dock for diners arriving by boat...


See the guy sitting on the post behind our boat? Well, he had about 7 or 8 friends sitting on the dock. And, they have a pretty fishy diet. And, apparently we startled them as we approached the dock. They gave up their spot, but they left plenty of evidence of their diet behind them... watch your step!

A couple dockhands from the one of the bay fishing boats that is based there came over and took lines for us. Once we had the boat tied off and appropriately fendered, we went inside for lunch... well after Joan washed her hands... twice.

The food is always good there. I stopped to shoot that photo above before we headed out. The ship channel was lumpy on the way back, with wind against the tide - Joan was happy to have a functioning windshield wiper on her side again.

Back home, we took the kayaks off the cabin top; the next couple days we'll be prepping the boat to haul her out for a while...


I finally remembered to get a good shot of the new helm seat...

Three days and I'm done!

I can't believe I finished the whole thing... I haven't slept in three days and I am in dire need of a shower, but... I'm done. Yes, I read the entire internet! I'm kidding, but this 4G connection sure is nice.

We are switching gears, prepping for the swap from house and boat to 5th wheel once again. I spent most of yesterday working on a "lift project" for the cargo trailer, making a place to store the fiberglass tonneau cover for the truck bed.

Whoa! That was FAST!

I got up this morning, dragging my butt to the medicine chest to find more near worthless cold medicine. I know all that stuff about "nothing you can do for a cold," but I am willing to treat "symptoms" if it makes the body aches less and slows the Niagra Falls of snot running out of my nose.

With the cat fed, the coffee maker ready to go, and the Alka Seltzer Cold Plus swallowed, I turned on the wifi hot spot feature on my phone.... well, there's something I haven't seen before: a "4G" signal. That must be a mistake, because we get a really lousy signal down here. I opened up my computer and got... no signal at all. Checked the phone again, and it was showing "NO Gs" or whatever you call it when the phone can't find a data signal. I restarted the phone and there it was again: "4G." I opened the computer again and ... ZOOM - my home page came up in a heartbeat! I pulled up a site to check the data download speed: almost 15 megs!!

It may be a test... or maybe some flukey solar flare thing; but, I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

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On edit: I keep checking speed on my connection, waiting to receive a "Just Kidding" notice, but the download speed seems to vary between 7 and 14 megs - NICE!

Something else fast today: I received an upgrade on Photoshop. I have been plugging away with CS2 since we retired. It always seemed slow. Slow enough that at one point I switched back to the PS7.0 program that I still had on the computer. CS5 has been out long enough that it is likely due for another upgrade... and Adobe only allows 3 incremental steps up to upgrade. Knowing that the Consumer Electronics Show is coming up soon, and predicting that event would be a good time for Adobe to unveil an upgrade, I ordered CS5... and it showed up at the house about 48 hours later. Yes, I know it's available as a download, but until this morning, we didn't have enough speed for that.

The install went well with CS5, and it is SO much faster to work with than CS2.

Zoom, zoom, zoom.

I'm a loafer, she's my chauffer...

Anyone get the old Grand Funk Railroad reference? ;-)

Still feeling lousy today, but I suggested to Joan that we go out for lunch, but she should drive. The weather was absolutely spectacular. While having lunch, Joan said, "I should take you out for a boat ride."

"That would be nice," I said, expecting to do the driving. I took off the window covers and got the boat ready to go, while Joan got drinks and cameras. She slid onto the helm seat and said, "I've got this." I sat back on the co-pilot seat while she went outside to take lines off, then back to the helm, and rotated the boat in our canal, and headed out.


We cruised out to the Gulf, then played around in the jetties. Not a lot of people out on boats, even with this beautiful weather - I guess everyone is back to work or school. There were excursion and fishing boats out, but not a lot of people on them.

While coming back up the ship channel, I laid in the v-berth for a short nap. I heard the motor pull back and asked, "What's up?"

"Dolphins!"


We hung around for a while, watching them play before heading back in. It was nice to get chauffered around.

The thickening of America...

Here's a link to an article that basically says: Americans are getting fatter and passenger capacities on boats are going to have to be lowered...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/us/coast-guard-raises-assumed-average-weight-per-person.html?_r=1&hp

Average caloric intake is up over the past few decades, and as a whole, we've become more sedentary.

I haven't posted anything for a couple days due to the sickening of this American... seems like whatever bug got me right after we came back to Texas got me again, and knocked me on my butt. Head cold, upper respiratory crap, and every square inch of my skin hurts.

And wouldn't you know it - the weather has been pretty darn gorgeous since Steph and Dan left.

I need someone to sing me "Soft Kitty." (Big Bang Theory reference)