LIFE'S AN ADVENTURE

Yesterday someone came to take a look at the bookshelf I have on Kijiji and she liked it... it matched the red for her son's room perfectly. She called later to ask if I would take $125 for it and I said no. I paid over $700 for it new, albeit 15 years ago, and I am asking $150. If twenty five dollars keeps her from buying it, then so be it.

I call the agency that hired me for the Olympics to find out just exactly how much work I can expect and I find out that the job they hired me for, supervisor of resident assistants, is no longer mine as VANOC went and hired a bunch of kids to do that job. So now I will be a supervisor at a 'staging area'. This means that buses with athletes, their families, or spectators will need to have various drop off and pick up places around Vancouver. Each of these areas is called a 'staging area'. I will supervise the crew at one of these spots. Not sure what that will look like. Will I have somewhere to go out of the rain and cold? I guess we shall see.

I also found out yesterday that the apartment on English Bay that I was hoping to sublet won't be available as someone had spoken for it earlier for more money. She hadn't heard back from them so wasn't sure they would take it but now she has talked to them and they are. So was wondering where I would be living at the end of the month. But I just heard from my friend Denise who I stayed with for five months last year and she said I could stay with her again as her daughter has gone to Europe until August. So that is GREAT news as I loved living there and I love Denise. She has been just the best friend to me through all of this.

Speaking of good friends, I dropped off a minivan load of boxes to my friend Fran's house on Saturday night. She is going to store stuff in boxes for me in her crawl space. So now I just need to get more packed so I can take a load up this weekend. I need to get motivated.

Because I have no idea what I will do when the Olympics are over I have been exploring a couple of options. One that has opened up, due to still having a profile up on Findacrew.com, is a boat that is in the Caribbean and plans to be there for several years. Right now it is in St. Thomas but is heading down to Barbuda and Antigua for the annual races in April. I have been emailing the chap, who is from Scotland, and he would be willing to wait for me in Antigua before carrying on to ports farther south. It is extremely tempting and I will give it serious thought. I still really want to sail the Caribbean and I am not getting any younger and can't see doing it any other way. This guy is super laid back and likes to take the journey slow and stay as long as one is enjoying the place so that sounds like a great match for me right there. I hate moving on before I have had my fill.

I am also continuing talking to the guy from Mexico who wants to sail down to Ecuador but I am still not sure about his itinerary nor his age. He's in his seventies and that worries me. I don't want to be out in the Pacific with an incapacitated (read, dead) captain and have to bring the boat in alone. Not at all.

I also found out that the likelihood of me getting a settlement from the mall is slim to none. I spoke to a lawyer on Friday who recommended a personal injury firm in Vancouver and he said that if they passed me off to someone else, then the chances of my winning in court was slim. They passed me off. So, very reluctantly, I guess I will just drop the whole thing. It is very frustrating to me because it was a hard fall, I did have injuries and the concussion took a lot out of me over the summer. I feel cheated and I don't like that feeling. It seems nothing is going my way these days when it comes to making some money. Not even something like this which would seem like a sure thing. I certainly read enough on line about people getting offered cash and merchandise (a 50" flatscreen TV and $2,500 cash in one case) on the spot when they fell in a store, so why not me?

Ahh well, bring it on. I will always have Palm Springs.

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGITY JIG!

So we do get water hooked up right away and I go turn on the heater. While I wait, I start dinner; chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots. Jake and Nancy have left to drop Bob off at home and then pick up Jake’s car at the Pet Resort. Before he left, Bob gave me a big hug and said he had really enjoyed getting to know me and hoped I'd had a good time in Florida. I tell him that this trip and the snorkeling trip he took me on were the highlights and thank him for taking me out on the water. He thanks me for rescuing him from falling in the water earlier today. He says he totally over-reacted but he was really afraid that he might get run over by the houseboat. I tell him he had a risk of getting crushed between the hull and the dock, the way things were going. He blanches and says he hadn't thought of that.

When Jake and Nancy get back, dinner is pretty much ready and so we eat. Then I get my much longed for shower and I finish off with a cool water rinse. It feels fabulous but the trouble with doing that is, the heat hits you that much harder when you towel off. But it is worth it.

There is a gorgeous sunset and I grab my camera and take some shots of it. It's one of the nicest since getting here and it's like a going away present for me from Florida.

I dry my hair and then try to figure out how to get the blow dryer and the rest of my stuff into my bags. They are literally bursting at the seams but I manage to find just enough space. I put the blow dryer in my carry-on. I decide to haul the heaviest suitcase out to the car. I have been a bit worried about lugging it from the boat to the dock but they are butting up against each other almost level and it’s a piece of cake. Lifting it into the backseat of the car isn’t quite so easy but I get it in and slam the door. One down, one to go.

I get dressed in the outfit I will wear to go home and then sit in the main salon and think I will watch some TV with Jake but he is sitting there watching the Direct TV logo bounce around a black screen. Apparently the dish is not pointing in the right direction, now that we have moved, and so he can’t pick up the signal. I can’t believe he is sitting there, out of habit I guess, watching a logo. He is drunk and so in a mood to regale me with stories again. Some I have heard already but I just let him talk. He has a good laugh over poor Bob hanging onto the side of the boat; he has brought it up at least 8 times throughout dinner and the evening. He asks me a strange question. “As a WOMAN, what was going through your mind when I told you the cleat was at your feet and you saw it?” “The one I picked up, you mean?” “Yeah.” “I thought, he can’t mean this but it’s the only one I can see.” He shakes his head. “What a blond moment.” he declares. “Umm, I hope you realize I wasn’t serious. It was meant for comedy relief.” He doesn’t say anything.

Eventually he heads off to get some sleep and I stay up and read. At about 1a.m. Nancy gets up to see why the light is on. I guess it is bothering her so I turn it off and watch the electrical storm over the everglades for a bit and then go to my room. It’s looking very bare now. There is just my purse, my straw hat, and my backpack. I lie down on the bed and read for a bit and then turn off the light and nap. I doze in and out of consciousness, listening to the wind howl and rock the boat, until 3 a.m. when I get up and put some makeup on for the first time in two weeks. It’s not hot inside and just nice and warm outside and I will be in a climate controlled atmosphere for the rest of the day so I figure it won’t slide of my face in 15 minutes like it has been doing. Once that is done, I try to wake Jake, who moved into the salon and is dead to the world on the couch. I can’t rouse him. This is the guy who told me last night that he ‘just has to talk to himself about what time to get up when he lies down and that’s it, he wakes right on time.’ Ya, right. I decide to haul my remaining suitcase out to the car and when I go to the back deck, the boat has shifted in the wind and now the small cement dock is to the far port-side of the stern. Fortunately I can still step off ok because it has become wedged hard between the boat and the land. The wind has whipped the water into a foamy chop all around the back deck and the water splashes over the carpet. I roll my pants up to my knees and wrangle the bag off the boat and onto land. I try to watch for poisonous frogs and any other critters that like to come out in the dark. It's hard to see much but there is a powerful light on the neighbouring property about a hundred feet away and so it isn't pitch black out. I don't see anything moving. This suitcase is much easier to get into the car. I go back for my backpack and once that is in, I have to try to wake Jake again.

I loom over him and poke his shoulder, “JAKE!” I say loudly. His breathing changes. This is progress. I repeat the process and his breathing quiets. I repeat one last time and he wakes up with a laugh, of all things. “Hehehe… I was right out of it there.” he says. “It’s time to get up, we need to get going.” I say. It is now 3:35 and I wanted to leave at 3:30, as in - driving away. Nancy has heard us and gets up to make Jake a cup of tea to take in his thermos cup. By the time we are in the car and pulling out, it’s 3:45. Jake say’s it takes an hour and a half to get to Fort Lauderdale Airport. My flight leaves at 6:30 and I want to be there no later than 5:00. He says I don’t need to be there ‘till 5:30. That is shaving it too close for me, thus my wanting to leave at 3:30. Looks like we have split the difference.

He moseys on at a leisurely pace, going 40 in a 55. At this rate it will take two hours to get there and I start to worry. He picks up the pace a bit but the whole way there he keeps dropping way below the speed limit and then, eventually, getting back up just to drop back down almost right away. I am on pins when the clock reads 5:30 and there is no airport in sight. Not even a sign on the freeway saying the airport is ahead.

Eventually those signs start to appear and the road divides repeatedly and more than once I have to call out, “You need to be in that lane there!” Or “You have to exit here.” “Where?” “There, coming up on the right. Now. NOW!” I can finally see the airport on our right and the exit for it is clearly marked as right ahead. The two far right lanes both exit and he is in the left one, which also leads to a second exit. He misses the exit we need and now we are headed onto a different highway, despite my calling out, “You need to go right. You need to BE OVER THERE. Great, you missed it.” He gets annoyed. “Maybe you should drive.” “No, I just want to get to the airport and we are short on time.” It is now 5:40. He, once again, takes this opportunity to say, “I don’t know how you think you could go sailing. You can’t handle a bit of a problem without panicking.” I want to tell him to sod off but I say nothing. He takes the next exit and now we are on a normal street. He turns right at the first light and it’s a private road leading into some sort of work-yard with a big security gate. He pulls a U turn and when we get back to the light I see a sign that says to turn left for the airport. I tell him to turn left and, thankfully, he does. I keep my eyes peeled for more signs for the airport and eventually, with me telling him when to turn, we get there. He asks me which terminal I am going to and I have just seen the sign that lists them and they are color-coded. I quickly pull out my E-ticket but there is nothing on it about what terminal. Jake has just seen a sign for Continental Airlines and so follows the yellow signs. I tell him to get in the far right lane for departures but he stays where he is and we go down a level to arrivals. It is now almost 5:54 and I am really worried. He stops at the Continental sign and I jump out to go find a cart for my bags. When I get inside, the place is deserted except for a big guy in an orange shirt waking towards where I am. I see the baggage carts but they cost $4 in coins and I don’t have any change. I practically accost the poor fellow and beg him to help me. I tell him that the person who drove me missed the exit for departures and I need to get up there as soon as possible. He asks where I am flying to, I tell him and he knows my flight number. I tell him I don’t have the change for the carts. He asks me where my bags are and I tell him they are outside still. I walk to the doors and he comes with me. When we get out there, Jake has literally dumped my bags all over the sidewalk. They are upside down, on end, and my backpack, which contains my laptop, is lying on its side. I don’t think of it right then as all I am concerned with is getting to the check-in desk but later I wonder if he tossed my bags and if my computer will be ok. Gladly, when I get on my flight in Houston, I get it out and turn it on and its working fine. Jake is getting back in his car and I am sure would have just driven off and left them there, but he sees me and asks, “Do you have everything now?” I say that I do. He gets in the car and drives of without so much as a good-bye. I was planning to give him something for gas and tolls. Oh well.

The big guy takes both of my large bags and lifts them. I tell him they have wheels and he drags them inside and to the elevator. I follow behind pulling my backpack, which is also on wheels. When we get to the check-in the line-up isn’t too long and I am relieved to see it. The fellow drops my bags right in front of the desks. I thank him profusely and press $2 into his hand. He doesn’t want to take it but I insist and tell him I wish it were more, as he has been a hero, but it's all the small bills I have. He takes it and leaves and I wait my turn to check in.

I am soon called up to the ticket desk and then the agent promptly walks away and leaves me standing there. I look down and realize that I need to check myself in on the computer that is there. It takes two tries as it won't read my passport but it finally works. Once that is over and I pay for just one overweight bag, even though the other was one pound over but she let it go, I head back downstairs to security. I hate this part. I have to go through the line with the thing that puffs air at you and I don’t like that either. It always makes me jump when it goes off. Then when I go through the metal detector, I set it off. I forgot I had my cell phone in my pocket. I take it out and go through again. All is good. Well, not so fast. They are looking at the x-ray of my backpack and see something they don’t like. They call a guy over and he asks whose bag it is. I say it’s mine and he takes it and me over to a table to go through it. He opens it up, removes a couple of things, pokes around at what is left and then puts it all back together. That was easy.

When I get to my gate, which is close to security for once, they are already boarding and have just called my row. I walk right up and, once my pass is checked, right onto the plane. That is a first for me. Usually I am there 2 to 3 hours before boarding. I hate being stressed out with last minute rushing and so never, ever check in less than 3 hours before my flight, and more often 4. I really wanted to buy a bottle of water as I am parched but there was no time. When I get settled into my seat, I am in the back of the plane, second to last row. The drink tray starts right at the front. The couple beside me sip, somewhat smugly it seems to me, on the lattes and waters that they had time to buy before boarding. Ah, well. I am on my way HOME and other than a dry throat, I couldn’t be happier.

I am leaving Florida without seeing Key West or going to Disney World, the only two places I would think to go if I was going to take a vacation here. It seems a shame but, one day, I will come back and do both. With some or all of my kids.

I didn’t get to learn how to sail, or dive either. My whole purpose for coming never happened. But it wasn’t a waste of time. I got to spend time with my cousin who I hadn’t seen for 18 years. I have a fantastic tan and feel very rested. I got to go snorkeling and see everything in perfect clarity, thanks to my prescription mask. I saw dolphins in the wild and experienced the thrill of one swimming with our boat. I made a new friend. And best of all, I had time to think about what is really important to me in this short life and, as I always knew, it’s my kids. Even though I was feeling like my job was done and they didn’t need me anymore, I now know I couldn’t leave them for more than a few months at a time. They mean the world to me and my world without them in it isn’t much of a life. I can't wait to see them.

THE BIG DAY

It’s Tuesday, the big day. I am awake early but don’t want to leave my room just yet so I sit in bed and type up my blog for the past few days. I get carried away and before I know what time it is, Jake knocks on my door and says I better get up. I poke my head out and see on the wall clock that it is 9:30 already. “You have about 20 minutes before we have to get off.” he says. We can’t be on the boat while it is on the lift. I hurriedly dress and grab my camera, phone and water bottle. I down my vitamins and run a comb through my hair and catch it up in some clips. It’s getting really long and I am thinking of going short again when I get home. And blond. Really blond.

We get off the boat and I take pictures as the process of getting the boat off of the supports and lifted begins. It takes a while. I walk out to the dock for a better vantage and look down into the water to see a huge school of Parrot Fish. Looking closer I see a small Ray of some sort as well. He is just sitting there not moving. I take some pictures of the fish and one of the ray and then I take some of the boat as it is driven to the water and lowered in. The houseboat looks so much smaller once it is in the water. It's weird to see it that low. They turn off the big rig’s motor and everyone walks away. I turn back to the water and look for more fish, and there are lots of them and I snap some more pictures

Sam, the owner of the boatyard calls out to me and asks where Jake is. I say I don’t know, that I thought he was over with him. “No. That cheque he gave me, the bank says there isn’t any funds.” “Sorry, I don’t know anything about it,” I say, “I am just visiting.” “Oh.” he says and walks back to the rig, fires it up, and lifts the boat back out of the water and lets it dangle there as he walks away. Ok, that's not good. It’s then I realize that Jake’s car is gone and he has left yet again without telling me and now I have nowhere to go. I can’t go on the boat, obviously, and it’s blazing hot out here with the shade rapidly leaving. I am not happy. I walk down the dock to where the people who live in a small houseboat there have set up a little makeshift bench of breeze-block and a plank. It’s in the shade and I sit down. I check the clock on my phone and it's almost 10 o’clock, which means it’s almost 7 at home. I dial Ashleigh so that I can wish her a happy birthday. I hope I am not waking her. I needn’t have worried as she is on her way to work. We chat for about 20 minutes and she tells me she can’t wait to see me. I feel the same and talking to her just makes me long all the more to get back. I am so glad tomorrow is the day!

Jake comes back while I am on the phone and when I look up after hanging up, he has gone again. Now there is no shade and I am broiling. Half an hour or more ticks slowly by and just as I think I might pass out he pulls in. I tell him Sam was looking for him and he says he knows. “That idiot tried to cash the cheque before we are even out of here.” he says. “I have been back and forth to the bank to sort it out.” “Is it sorted?” I ask. “Yeah.” I ask if that is why Sam took the boat out of the water and he says, “Of course it is. That’s the problem with being a thief; you think everyone else is a thief as well.” Funny because just the other day he was telling me a story about how he used to steal steaks in California, stuffing them down his cowboy boots and inside his jean jacket. He claims he did it so the kids could eat but I don’t think they needed steak. Takes one to know one I guess.

We wait around for 15 minutes or more for the guys to come back and put the boat in the water. When no one shows up and we are both dripping with sweat, he gets in the car. “It’ll be cooler in here.” he says as if I am stupid for not thinking of it myself. “Yeah it will. If it’s running and the air is on.” I reply. “What?” he says. I don’t repeat it. He starts the car and I get in. I have no idea where we might be going but I don’t care. The air is blasting and it feels fabulous and that is all that matters at the moment. He drives up to the yard office and gets out, leaving the car running. As I sit there I notice that there are three buttons on my arm rest and they each have a picture of a car seat on them. Two show waves of heat coming from just the seat on one and then from the seat and back on the other. The third button does not have waves, just a bright sun beside the seat. I push the button and immediately my seat cools right down. Amazing. Before long Jake is back and he tells me that when Sam lifted the boat back out of the water, a lot of water ran out of the bottom. I tell him I didn't notice that. Now Jake is freaking out that the welding job isn't good and the boat leaks. “Why doesn't he come and put the boat back in and take it out so you can see for yourself.” I say. “That’s what he’s gonna do, isn’t it.” he snaps back at me. Okay then. So that is what happens and I stay in the car and watch while there is a lot of talking and arm waving between them. Then Sam goes back to the lift, drops the boat back in the water and starts to maneuver it out of the slip. I turn off the car and get out as it seems wasteful to sit there with it running for so long. The heat hits me like a wall. Jake gets on the boat and one of the yard workers comes to help move the boat to the dock. I watch the slow process of easing out of the slip. Once it is free of the lift it starts to float to the dock and I can see that it is going to hit it. I run down the dock and get there just before the boat does and reach out to try to hold it back but there is no way I have the strength to push it away and it hits with a loud crunch and bounces off. I see that it has smashed one of the lights on the bow and it now dangles in pieces at the end of the wires. Jake runs forward and I say, “You just lost one of your lights.” “Oh, thank you very much. I really wanted that to happen.” he snaps at me. I am way too hot and cranky to take it lying down so say, “Oh, I’d guess you’d rather not know then? Rather I not tell you?” He doesn't reply, just gets the bow rope and holds it out to me. I take it and hand it off to the yard worker who ties it to a cleat and then I notice that the back end is drifting in towards a small dinghy that is tied up to the dock. “Oh no, we are going to hit that boat.” I say. I run back to see if we will clear it "We aren't going to clear it!" I yell, and we don’t as the boat hits with a sickening crunch. The yard worker runs to pull the dinghy out of the way but it is tied up too tight, there is no slack to move it. Somehow we get the houseboat down the dock enough to clear the dinghy and then I grab the stern line and tie it up. Jake gets off and then I see that it’s a bit loose so I go to tighten it up and he grabs it out of my hand. “THIS is how you tie up a boat.” he says and proceeds to do it just as I had. “I know how to tie up a boat.” I say. He scoffs and then yells, “Look at you getting angry because I am showing you the right way to do it. THIS is what you did.” he says and then proceeds to make a mess of it that looks nothing like what I did. “THIS is what you should do.” and then proceeds to do exactly what I did. I just get on board and walk inside.

He leaves again without saying a word and while he is gone I take another look at my luggage situation and hit on a solution of sorts. I am going to be overweight no matter what so I decide to put all the heavy stuff in one bag and therefore have just one overweight bag to pay for. Not ideal but the best I can do. So I set about switching everything around and because we now have no power on the boat and so no air conditioning, I am sweating like a pig. But I am so focused on what I am doing I barely notice. And to think I never used to let myself break a sweat. It seems that is all I have done since getting to Key Largo.

Jake returns in about an hour with Bob, the captain of the dive boat that took us out on Sunday. He helped Jake get the boat to the boatyard 5 weeks ago and now will help to get it back. I am relieved that Jake won’t be doing this on his own.
Bob asks Jake, "Are both motors running?" Apparently they weren't when they brought the boat here; they came the whole way on one engine. Jake replies, "I don't know." and I can see that Bob is not impressed. He shakes his head and grimaces as he heads for the cockpit.

Bob turns the key for the starboard engine and it starts up right away. Twenty seconds later there is a loud constant beep from the console. Bob groans. "Something is wrong with the engine" he says. He turns it off and goes back to where Jake is at the engine. They can’t see anything wrong but Bob thinks maybe it needs oil. Jake takes off to buy some oil. While he is gone Bob tries to fire up the generator but it won’t start. He calls Jake and tells him to pick up some starter fluid.

Jake gets back and they do whatever they need to do and the generator runs fine and now we have power. As for the engine, apparently the connections to the battery were really loose and have now been tightened. Once Jake is out of earshot, Bob shakes his head and comments to me how unprepared for this trip Jake is. Five weeks of sitting high and dry with nothing to do all day, Bob thinks that would have been a great time to check the engines and make sure the genny was running well, not to mention cleaning up all the crap on the decks so that a person could actually get to the ropes without tripping over something. I can't disagree.

Bob starts the starboard engine and the beep starts up again. They can’t figure out why but they decide to go with it. We cast off and Bob is soon yelling that he doesn't have any steering. We bump hard into the dock on the stern. Jake is yelling from back there that we are hard on the dock and Bob yells back that there isn't any steering. He turns off the engine and goes back to see what is up. Jake is yelling something about fluid leaking all over the place from the genny or somewhere. They seem to get that taken care of in about ten minutes and then Bob starts up the engine and tries again. He still doesn’t seem to have steering and Jake is yelling that we are about to hit something. And we do, hard. Bob tells Jake to take the wheel and he goes outside. It isn’t long before he yells, “JAKE!! HELP. QUICK!!!!” He sounds terrified. Jake doesn’t move. “JAKE!! QUICK, GET OUT HERE.” “WHERE ARE YOU?” Jake asks. “PORT SIDE FRONT. HURRY!” Jake doesn’t move. I yell, “HE NEEDS YOUR HELP JAKE, HE'S FRONT PORT SIDE.” I cannot believe that he still isn't moving so I run out onto the front deck. Bob is hanging onto the side of the boat with his fingernails and toenails. The fly screen is zipped up all around and he can’t get in and he is about to fall off. “HURRY!” he screams. I can’t find the zipper head. I reach down but can't feel it and then up but it isn’t there and then down again and find it way at the bottom tight to the hull. I force my hand in and rip the zipper open, flinging the netting out of the way. “GRAB ME!” he yells. I grab his arm thinking that there is no way I can keep this big guy from falling off and I can't see how he is going to be able to step over the railing from where he is without losing his grip. I suddenly see that there is a gate right in front of me in the railing and I yank up the catch and kick it open with my foot. I am still hanging onto Bob for dear life with my right hand. Jake now decides to come out and says “Just step in Bob, for f***s sake.” I pull hard on Bob’s arm and he makes a giant step sideways and falls onto the deck. Meanwhile, the houseboat is drifting and Bob yells “We are about to hit that wall!” and we do with a loud crack and a shudder. Jake runs to the back to push off and I lead Bob inside and he collapses on the couch. He is shaking like a leaf, sweating, and his face is beet red. All that coupled with his laboured breathing has me worried he might be having a heart attack. "Are you ok?" I ask. "No." he says. Ok so now I am really worried. "Are you having chest pain?" I ask. “I’ve hurt my back.” he says. I ask if he wants something for it but he doesn’t. “This is a disaster.” I say.

After a minute or two of rest, he gets up and takes the wheel again. Apparently it was just a spasm and he is fine now. Jake yells from the back that we are about to bottom out. We have drifted into the shallows. Bob is pulling forward and Jake yells that the props are hitting the bottom. Bob yells back that they aren’t, it’s just really shallow and it’s kicking up silt from the bottom. Jake comes in and says, “Then why did I hear thumping?” Bob hands the wheel over to Jake and tells him to guide the boat out to sea by keeping the sticks on the port-side and the boeys on starboard to stay in the channel. “STICKS ON THE LEFT, JAKE!” he yells. “I AM TRYING” Jake yells back, “I HAVE IT HARD OVER TO THE LEFT.” I guess boating terminology goes out of the window at a time like this. “YOU NEED TO BE HARD TO THE RIGHT JAKE, YOU WANT TO GO BETWEEN THE STICKS AND THE BOEYS.” I can't bring myself to look out of the window. I just don't want to know. Jake finally turns the wheel. I am wondering why Bob doesn’t just do it himself. He is a captain, after all.

By some miracle, we make it out of there without totally wrecking the dock, running aground, or otherwise hurting ourselves or the boat. But I am seriously wishing I had taken up Nancy’s tongue-in-cheek offer to spend the day at the Pet Resort with her. She wants so bad to be here for this but at the moment I think she is having the better day. I am just praying we get there alright. I am having serious doubts.

Once we are clear of the shallows and out where there is no danger of hitting anything other than a turtle or another speed boat, I take my water bottle and sit in a chair I have moved from the roof onto the bow deck. I am watching the water and I can see all the way to the bottom. I can’t see any fish down there, we are going too fast for that although we can’t be going more than 5 knots. Along the way I see a small fish skip along the top of the water like a rock. I ask Bob what that could have been and he tells me it was probably a needle fish. That’s what it looked like to me, I recognized it from seeing one when I went snorkeling, but I didn't know they could do that. He tells me it is how they escape their predators. Every now and then I see a big splash ahead but I never manage to see what made it. At one point it feels like we're veering back and forth and I look back at the wake; sure enough. We aren't 10 minutes underway and Jake's already having trouble keeping the boat on a straight course. I can't imagine what it'll be like when he's had half a dozen or more beers.
A bit later I come inside and see that Bob has blood all down the sleeve of his left arm. "What happened to you?" I ask. "Oh nothing much. I was down in the engine compartment fixing a leaky hose and rubbed up against the fan-belt. It's nothing." I am thinking how I boated for 6 years or more and not once ever did anyone go into the engine compartment while it was running and fix something. I can't believe that it's a very safe practice or a good idea.
This is going to be a long trip, apparently it took 9 hours to get the boat to the boatyard. Bob doesn't think it will take that long to go back, "At least I am hoping not." he says. They both crack open their second beers and then I am hoping it doesn't take that long either. If both of them are going to drink the entire trip, they won't be in any shape to tie it up to the mooring balls and dock when we get there. And I know I won't be able to do it. I am more than a bit worried about the drinking on this trip. I am a firm believer in not drinking while underway on a boat. It just isn't safe. And considering the trouble we have just had while they were both sober, it just doesn't bode well. I decide I better be keeping a sharp eye out for the rest of the trip.

We motor past Ocean Reef, the exclusive community on Key Largo where we went snorkeling from a few days ago. Bob points out a HUGE house and tells me it belongs to the family that owns Chiquita Banana. He says that they bought the property with a big house on it for 7 million and then bulldozed that house and built this one for 20 million. Oh to be wealthy. What must that be like?

The weather is changing and over to the left just past Ocean Reef there is a bank of dark clouds and forked lightening. We never sail into it but the sky does cloud over and it cools off considerably. Earlier in the trip I tried sitting on a deck chair up top but I came down after 20 minutes, it was just way too hot, and sat back down on the fore deck. As we get closer to the canal that goes through the mangroves I spot a dolphin in the water ahead. I jump up for a better look and it swims right towards the front of the boat. I am worried that we will run over it and it appears that we have. I lean over the bow to see if it's OK and there it is, swimming in our bow wake. I yell to the guys that there’s a dolphin. Bob comes out to look. I just took my camera inside. I run in to get it and by the time I get back he is gone. DANG! Up ahead I see two more dolphins breaching and I snap a picture but it’s just as they go under. They swim right towards the boat again and I am hoping they will swim in the bow wake when a wave runner races up and scares them away. That’s disappointing. Bob tells me that he is out on the water almost every day and has been for the past 25 years and has only seen that happen one other time. "It's a rare treat," he says. "I am thrilled to have seen it and even more so that you got to." he tells me. What a sweet thing for him to say.

It's been about 5 or 6 hours since we banged our way out of the dock of the boatyard. We have just passed under the bridge that links Key Largo to the mainland and are making our way to the property where I can see Nancy is waiting in her truck. We slowly troll up to the first mooring ball and Jake hooks it with the boat hook on the first try and then gets me to take over and lift it out of the water so he can clip the line onto it. That goes off without a hitch, thankfully. Now, in theory, the current will swing our back end around towards the cement dock tied to the permanent dock. It doesn’t happen and what ensues is a back and forth, pulling lines, yelling at Nancy to grab the stern with the boat hook she is holding (yeah right), bottoming out with the props, and so on. After about an hour of this we are finally lined up. Jake has to get off the houseboat and onto the pontoon boat and bring it around for the second line, which is then tied to the second ball. At one point Jake is on the pontoon boat just off our starboard bow and he tells Bob that he can tie the line onto the cleat right at my feet. I look down and there is a cleat there all right, but it isn’t screwed down to the boat, it looks like a spare or something. “Down there, right at your feet!” he yells impatiently. So I bend over and pick it up and hold it out. “This cleat?” I ask. Bob cracks up and so does Jake. He doubles over and doesn’t straighten up for a full 30 seconds or more. Turns out there is another cleat that is screwed down about two feet behind me. Not exactly in my line of vision, nor 'right at my feet'.

Now if we can just get the water hooked up and heated so I can take a shower and use the head. I have been dying to go all day.

Our Voyage Marked in Red

A NEW FRIEND

At the Holiday Inn pool, a place I am spending a lot of my time, I meet a woman. She is ordering lunch while I am at the Tiki bar ordering an iced tea. She comments on how hot it is and I agree. We get to talking and end up spending the afternoon together. She lives in Key Largo with her boyfriend who works for Ocean Divers as an instructor and she is a teacher in Miami. She commutes there every day to teach her class of fifth graders. She is originally from New York and she has that great accent. I finally ask her what her name is and it’s Carolyn. We get along great and at the end of the day we decide to spend more time together. She has just started her holidays from work and looking for stuff to do. She mentions that she is leaving for Key West, once her boyfriend is off work, to go see a friend and will be back tomorrow night. I mention that I had wanted to see Key West but don’t think I will make it down there. She offers to go with me one day before I leave. That would be fun and I tell her I would love it if she really wants to. She says she does.

Later in the afternoon we meet a guy at the pool named Peter. I have seen him there before. He is late 50’s and super tanned. We get to talking and it turns out he has been in Key Largo for two months. He travels around the states working at various nuclear power plants. He spends a lot of his time pool hopping around the islands down here and tells us that the Hilton has a great pool and a really nice beach with decent snorkeling. He invites us to join him there on Thursday so we agree to go.

Wednesday I am back at the Holiday Inn pool and meet a couple that I have seen there on several Saturday afternoons, a time that a lot of local people make use of the pool, it seems. Actually, the husband and I talked for a bit last Saturday. I found out that he and his wife live aboard a 45’ trawler. We talked a lot about retired life in the Keys and the sort of people that live here. Today I meet his wife and we have a long talk about the Keys and then my line of work. They are a very friendly couple and I really enjoy my afternoon.

I am starting to dislike the evenings.

Getting picked up at the pool and going back to the houseboat, I am so reminded of my childhood where I would be filled with dread walking home from school every day wondering what sort of mood my mother would be in when I walked through the door. The odd night, Jake will be in a bit of a better state of mind and that translates into him telling me more stories or at least quietly watching his sports and news instead of mouthing off at Nancy. But most nights he is in a foul mood and ranting at the smallest provocation. At one point tonight he tells Nancy “You amaze me. You’d be dangerous if you actually had a brain.” It is so hard to keep my mouth shut. He is in an especially foul mood these days as the situation with the houseboat sitting at the boatyard instead of back at the property, where it should have been by now, is causing a lot of tension. He feels like he is being held hostage by the owner of this place, and rightly so. It’s ridiculous that he won’t give Jake a price as to how much this is adding up. But to take it out on Nancy is mean. She is having just as hard a time with this situation as he is.

It’s Thursday and by the time I am up Nancy has left for the day. Jake drove her there in the truck and has brought it back. He needs it to do some work at the property today. He is still around though, watching the telly. I make something to eat and then go out back to read for a bit. After an hour or so it's just too hot outside so I go back inside to read in my room. After about an hour, Jake walks by my room, goes outside and gets in the truck and leaves. Doesn't say a word to me. Turns out he is gone all day and I am now stuck at the houseboat. His car is there and the keys are in it, as usual, but there is no way I am assuming that it is alright for me to just take it and go to the pool. I spend most of the day inside, where there is air conditioning, reading or watching the Hallmark channel. They keep showing a commercial for a movie that I did a couple of days calls on. It's working title was 'The Wedding Dance' and it's now called 'Come Dance at My Wedding'. I'd like to be able to catch that, if I can. It's on tomorrow night at 9.

It's Friday and on Wednesday I arranged to meet with Carolyn at the Tom Thumb gas station across the road. She said to call her in the morning. When she said that, I sort of hesitated as I don’t want to use my phone to make calls down here; it is far too expensive. But that would mean me having to ask Jake to use his phone and I am not crazy about the thought of it. I brush off the feeling thinking it’s stupid; he surely won’t mind me using his phone for a local call. By the time I am done cleaning up from breakfast it’s 9:30 and I am pretty much ready to go. I ask him if he would mind if I used his phone to make a local call. He just looks at me. So I say, “The woman I am spending the day with asked me to call her this morning, just to make sure.” “Didn’t you tell her you don’t have a phone?” he barks at me. I want to say 'No because I didn’t think it would be an issue to use yours for a two-minute local call'. But I don’t say that, saying instead “Never mind, I’ll just use my phone.” “Well, what did she say when you told her that?” he asks. “I didn’t. Don’t worry about it, I will use my phone.” I go get my phone and come back in the kitchen for my phone book and he holds out his phone. I thank him, take it and call her but get her voice mail so say that I am heading to the gas station and will see her there at 10 as we arranged.

I head over to meet her and after going inside to buy a bottle of water and use their bathroom, I wait on the side of the building that has some shade. Fortunately that is the side she will be driving in on. Ten o’ clock comes and goes and at ten-fifteen I pull out my phone. Looks like I am going to have to use it after all. She answers and says that she called the number I used earlier and left a voice mail saying that she got up late but she will be here in ten minutes. She pulls up before too long and when I get in she says she isn’t comfortable going to the Hilton, she wants to go to a place called The Islander instead. I say that I don’t mind going wherever she wants to go but we can’t just leave Peter waiting for us and then not show up. She shrugs like she doesn’t care. I insist that we go by and at least let him know that we are going to a different beach for the day so she heads over to the Hilton.

When we get there I walk down to the beach while she waits in the car. Once I walk through a breezeway to the back of the hotel, there’s a bark-mulch pathway running along the waterfront through palm trees and sea grape and there are hammocks strung up here and there. It’s gorgeous. The water is a lovely shade of blue-green and the sand of the man-made beach is white. There is rustling in the underbrush as I walk along and I see lizards and geckos as they scramble to hide. Up in the trees there are some very big spider webs and I hope that I don’t see any of the occupants. It’s a long way to the big open beach that Peter told me he would meet us at but I finally get there and spy him out in the water. He waves at me and I wave him in. When he walks out of the water and up to me he asks where Carolyn is and I tell him that she isn’t comfortable spending the day at this beach as she doesn’t think locals are welcome and she doesn’t want the embarrassment of being kicked out. He assures me that he comes there a lot and it isn’t ever a problem. I am not going to sit here and mediate so I tell him that, if he wants to, he can come back to the car with me and talk to Carolyn himself. So he does and she decides to try it out. We walk back to the beach together and get settled in some lounge chairs. We aren’t there 20 minutes and I can tell she is not enjoying it. Since we arrived it has really filled up and now it’s a very crowded beach and there are a lot of small children. She insists that The Islander is a much better place so we let Peter know that we are leaving and he has decided that he is leaving as well. He wants to go to a place called Holiday Isle which Carolyn says is a dive so we stick with our plan.



We drive the 30 minutes down to Islamorada, the next island in the chain, where The Islander is located. When we get there, I love the sign for the place, it looks like something right out of the 60’s. We pull off the highway and drive down the winding drive to a large dirt parking lot. We get out and the air outside of the car is hot, hot, HOT as we gather up our stuff from the back seat. We walk a few hundred yards past one-storey buildings of hotel rooms, to the large pool area. It’s gorgeous. The pool is large and meandering. There is a second, smaller pool up a few steps next to a Caribbean style bar and restaurant. The beach, man made again, is HUGE. It’s the typical hard-packed white sand but it has palm trees dotted all over it. There are wooden steps down to the ocean and the rocks have been cleared out of the water to create a large swimming area. Lounge chairs are scattered all over the beach as well as surrounding the pool. The place has the look of an all-inclusive resort and I love it and it is much nicer than the Hilton.

We pass a lovely, relaxing day there. We go up to the bar and split a huge Asian chicken salad for lunch. I haven’t had much salad since I left home and it tastes wonderful. It is far too hot to spend much time out of the water so we enjoy first the beach and the ocean and then move to the pool. At some point I ask Carolyn about what day she wants to go down to Key West. She doesn’t answer the question but makes a lot of comments about how it’s not all it’s cracked up to be and that I might be disappointed and more along those lines. I sense immediately that I am not going to be going with her, she has had a change of heart and doesn’t want to go. I am bummed but don’t say so.

There is a woman at the pool who looks so familiar and I realize that she is the image of Claire Foriani the actress from Meet Joe Black. She is gorgeous and there is something about her and the way she carries herself that makes me wonder if she might be an actress herself. She is with a few teen girls and a young boy who turns out to be her son. I can hardly take my eyes off of her, she is so beautiful.

Four o’clock rolls around far too fast and we gather up our things and head back to the car. Carolyn is as red as a lobster and I am so tanned it’s ridiculous. On the way back the bridge is open between the islands and we have to wait in a line of cars for about 15 minutes before it closes up and we can proceed across it. When we get to the boat yard Carolyn asks me if I want to join her and her boyfriend Alberto for drinks and dinner tonight. They are going to a place called The Pilot House. I say I would love to and so she says she will pick me up at 7. It will be nice to spend an evening somewhere new and I am looking forward to it.

When I get to the boat, the guys have painted the swim ladder up the back that we use to get on the boat with the same thick black paint that they have painted the bottom with. Fortunately they haven’t left yet and tell me that I will need to use the stepladder to get up on deck. I hate stepladders. They stand there waiting, it seems they want to see if I can climb up it and make it aboard ok. I am not about to climb up with them all watching me so I just stand there and they seem to get the hint and leave. The ladder is just leaning up against the boat so I jostle it a bit to make sure it isn’t going to topple when I get up on it. It seems solid so I climb up and gingerly step onto the boat. It wasn’t too hard to get up but I am not looking forward to having to go down it later.

After a refreshing shower and clean clothes and some makeup, Jake and Nancy come home and I tell them my plans. Nancy thinks that it’s great that I have made a friend and am going out for the evening. Jake tells me to get the gate card key out of the truck so that I can get back in later (the yard has a security fence and is gated once the staff leave for the day). I carefully climb onto the step ladder and get down to the ground without falling off. I really don’t like the ladder leaning up against the boat this way so I open it up and stand it on all four legs properly and then put the side of it up against the boat. That will be a lot easier to climb up when I get home later, in the dark. Carolyn picks me up at Tom Thumb’s again and we drive over to Ocean Divers, which is in the same building as Sharkey’s, to pick up Alberto. I met him the other day at the Holiday Inn when he came over to check up on her. I gather he is the jealous type because he had called her while we were sitting at the pool together and she mentioned to him that she had made a new friend, meaning me. He must have asked her if it was a guy because I heard her say, “No. It’s a lady. She is from Vancouver, Canada.” Not an hour later he just ‘happened’ to be in the area going for lunch and thought he would stop by to see her. She called him out on it, saying he came to check up on who she was with and he didn’t deny it. He is a big Italian guy and he too has the New York accent. He’d be perfect for a role on The Sopranos.

When we get to The Pilot House, I notice that the floor under the stools at the bar is plexi-glass so that you can see down into the water. There are lights under the water and it is very green and murky and I can’t see a single fish. There is live entertainment and it’s awful. Two guys, two guitars and amps, and not a shred of vocal talent between them. Ahh well, the view is gorgeous; right over the water, and the company is great. He orders fajitas, she orders nachos, and she invites me to pick at them with her as I have declared that I am not very hungry and so will just have something to drink. The heat is oppressive and I don’t have much appetite as a result. I ask him a lot of questions about his job as a diving instructor and he asks me a lot of questions about life in Canada, particularly about our health care. Universal health care is a political hot topic down here at the moment and he wants to know what I think of how it operates at home.

Throughout the evening a lot of people who know Carolyn and Alberto drop by the table for a chat. It seems everyone knows everyone down here. It’s the same when I go to The Big Chill with Jake and Nancy. At one point a guy that I met just the other day at the pool comes by. His name is Robbie and he has a deep southern accent that makes it really hard for me to understand him. He has just quit smoking and is encouraging Carolyn to quit as well. Alberto has gone to the restroom and he returns while the two of them are talking. Eventually Robbie takes his leave. Alberto turns to me and says, “Now that really bothers me. Did you see that?” I have no idea what he is talking about. “That guy that was just here. Now why did he wait until I left to go to the restroom before he comes over here to talk to Carolyn?” I hadn’t made that connection, I barely remember Alberto leaving. “That’s just not okay in my books. If you want to come over here and talk to my girl then have the decency to do it when I am here, you know?” So my hunch was right. Jealous type. Yikes. Other than that he’s a really nice guy and I enjoy my evening with them.

They drop me off at the boatyard gate and Carolyn tells me that she will see me at the Holiday Inn Pool tomorrow. As I walk through the yard to the houseboat I savour the warm night air. It reminds me of summer in the Okanagan and I love the memory. I had a voice mail message from Club Penguin, or Disney Online Studios - as they answer the phone, on my phone this morning and they want me to come in for an interview Tuesday the 23rd and I am excited about it. I wouldn’t mind living in Kelowna again, especially in the summertime. The idea of giving up the film industry is not an easy one, I love it so much. But if I have to then I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather work than Club Penguin (other than the bar on Anegada, that is). And summers in the Okanagan? Well, it's not the BVI but I wouldn't mind it.

FUN TIMES AT THE BIG CHILL

We are at The Big Chill after eating at Sharkey’s, the usual Friday night routine.

Nancy and I are sitting in one of the big chairs on the deck when Jake walks up, holding his beer. “I’m ready to go whenever you are.” he says. Now to me that sounds like he wants to go. It sounds like that to Nancy as well. “I’m not ready to go, we just got here.” she says. He gets his back up right away. “Did I say I want to go?” “That’s what it sounds like to me.” she answers. He turns to me, “Did that sound like I want to go to you?” Oh, oh. Instead of saying, ‘I have no opinion.’ like I did earlier today when Nancy asked me to agree with her about Jake’s swim shorts not being good enough for an evening out, I forget myself and say, “Yeah, it sounded like that to me.” He shakes his head and says nothing and I think that might be the end of it. I should know better by now. He turns back and says, “This really pisses me off. So what way should I say it, eh? All I am trying to say is whenever you want to go we can go. I’d stay all night if it were up to me. But I am trying to be considerate.” Nancy says, “I don’t know.” She thinks for a minute and says, “You could say, ‘just let me know when you want to leave’, I guess.” Turning to me he says, “What do you think I should say?” I don’t know if he didn’t hear her so I repeat what Nancy just said. “OH…. so I should bend over and kiss your ass should I?” he replies. NOW I remember that I have no opinion and I keep my mouth shut. Nancy says, “No, you can just say, let me know when you want to leave.” He flops his hand at us dismissively and walks away. I turn to Nancy and say, “He asked. If he doesn’t want to know he shouldn’t ask.” He comes back and starts in again so I get up off the chair and walk to the rail to watch the fish around the sunken lights. I have had enough of this.

Soon Nancy joins me. We stand there for about 15 minutes and watch and comment on the condition of the water (lots of weeds) and the fish. She decides she’s had enough and I am getting eaten alive by noseeums and mosquitoes, so I am fine with going. We look around for Jake but can’t see him anywhere. She pulls out her cell phone and calls him. He is waiting at the car. As we walk over there she says, “He’s in a mood.” Oh great. I say, “I have nothing to say, I have no opinion and I forgot that earlier.” She laughs uneasily.

We get to the car and he is leaning on the hood and doesn’t even acknowledge when we walk up. We get in the car and then he shakes his head, gets off the hood and gets in. He starts right away. “What does it mean to women when a guy says ‘I’m going to pay the tab’?” Nancy doesn’t say anything and I sure don’t. “I am asking you, what does that mean to you?” “You’re going to pay the tab I guess. I don’t know.” She says. “I went and paid the tab, I look around and I can’t see you anywhere. I goes over to the chair you were on and you weren’t there. I go back to the bar and ask Jenny if she’s seen you and she says no. So I goes back to the chair and you aren’t there so I think you must have gone to the car.” Nancy replies that she was at the rail right by the chair. “I went back over there and you weren’t there.” He says. She say’s again that she was at the rail. “NANCY!” he yells, “I went back there. You weren’t anywhere around.” “I was at the rail looking at the fish. I didn’t know you came back over there.” “When someone says they are going to pay the tab, it means they want to leave.” He says. “Are you stupid? I honestly think there is something wrong with your brain.” He rants. He goes on and on for the next 3 or 4 minutes, yelling at her and calling her names and putting her down. I am so not used to this sort of thing and it upsets me to no end. I just look out of the window and say nothing, but inside I am churning. He finally runs out of mean things to say and is silent the rest of the way back.

When we get inside the houseboat, I go straight to my room and close the door. I just want to be alone. Nancy takes the dog outside and Jake turns on the TV and sits down. I change into my PJ’s, get into bed and start typing this before I forget exactly what was said.

As I am sitting here, I hear Jake walk by to the back of the boat where Nancy has gone to bed. “You know, Stan says that women are just c***ts, and I have never agreed until tonight.” I hear him say. ‘You just come in here, the both of you just go to bed without saying a word to me, like I am not even on the boat. It is f***ing unbelievable.” I don’t hear the response from her, if there was one. He walks back to the TV.

Is he kidding??

I wish I were flying out of here tomorrow. I have had enough of Jake.

DECISION MADE, VISITORS, AND A GREAT READ

I am looking for flights to come home in two weeks. The plan is to stay with a friend in Langley for a couple of nights and then drive back to Kelowna with Shonah as she is in Vancouver for a ColdPlay concert on the 20th. A good friend in Kelowna has invited me to stay with them and so I will do that until I figure out what is next for me. I have applied for a job at Club Penguin and will go in and talk to the management there. I am also expecting that Ron’s two movies will finally get green-lit sometime this summer and, should I be right, that will mean at least five weeks work of decent pay, maybe seven weeks if they have the three movies they originally wanted to shoot. Barring those two events, I will find work doing whatever I can and then figure out what sort of life that will support. The thoughts of setting up house and gathering together all of my belongings makes my head hurt. I will face that when I come to it and then a bit at a time, I think. I will also need to decide if I will stay in Kelowna or move back down to the coast. And I will have to figure out how to get a car. It’s near impossible to live anywhere but downtown Vancouver unless you have a vehicle, everything is so far-flung and public transit is a joke.

Meanwhile, work at the Pet Resort is very slow. All the snowbirds have gone back to Canada and the phone does not ring much. So Nancy informs me she won’t need me to come in tomorrow morning. This is not good news for me. I am counting on making at least $150 a week so that I can have some money in my pocket after I pay for my plane ticket home. I shake my head at writing it. Not that long ago I was making $500 a day! Now I am desperate for $30 a day. It would be laughable if I wasn’t so broke.

Jake has gone back to his normal self. I am hoping it stays that way. I don’t want to go through another event like last week for anything. Even as his normal self, he is hard to be around. He comments on everything I eat that he thinks isn’t healthy, making remarks about my weight. He talks while I am trying to read, or will talk over the TV program that Nancy and I are watching. He does all manner of things that he would not tolerate for one second if they were done to him. I won’t be sorry to leave him behind. I will miss Nancy, however. I really enjoy being with her and I think she could still be a lot of fun if not for having so much to deal with. She seems really beaten down and, even though Jake knows she has changed from who she used to be and comments on it all the time, he seems clueless to the influence he may have affected on that change.

As I am not required at the Pet Resort, I go with Jake to Sharkey’s and use the internet there to get caught up on emails. I walk over to the Holiday Inn to use the pool for the rest of the afternoon. I have not felt well for the past two days, my stomach has been really hurting so I haven’t eaten much in the past 48 hours. When I get to the pool, I realize that the pain is gone and I am ravenous. I have a feeling that if I order something to eat from the Tiki Bar at poolside, I will just get served and Jake will arrive. I ponder this for about half an hour, on and off, as I read. It is about 4:00 and I am not due to be picked up until about 6, 5:30 at the earliest. I finally decide I am safe to go ahead and order a sandwich and some iced tea. In about 15 minutes the iced tea arrives in a pitcher with a glass. I am surprised because I ordered iced tea here last week and just received a glass full and I am happy because this will last quite a while. I go ahead and pour some in the glass and have no sooner taken a sip than I hear my name called. I look up and there is Jake, leaning over the fence.

I get up and walk to him, and he is gesturing me to go back and get my stuff. I am frustrated and swear under my breath. I get to him and he says, “Go get your stuff. You’re leaving.” “I just ordered lunch, 15 minutes go,” I say, “I just knew you would come before I could eat it.” “Well, go cancel it.” he says. I turn and go back to the Tiki Bar and ask the waitress if I can cancel the lunch. She says I can have it to go. I tell her I can’t wait; I have a very impatient man waiting for me who arrived two hours early. She says it’s ok to cancel and I ask her how much for the iced tea. She tells me $1.95 and I hand her a $5 and tell her to keep the change, as I feel so bad about this. I go back to the table and don’t rush as I pack up my stuff. I top up the glass of iced tea, and reluctantly leave the rest of it behind. We walk out to the parking lot, and instead of Jake’s Cadillac, there is a red sedan waiting. His nephew, Ken, has arrived in town on his visit to Florida from England and it is his rental car. I dump out the iced tea on the blacktop. Jake’s car is filthy and he always has a cup of beer inside so I wasn’t too worried about taking my iced tea in there but I am not going to chance spilling it in the rental car. I get in the backseat with Jake. Ken is traveling with his girlfriend, Lisa, and she is sitting up front. We exchange greetings and get underway to the houseboat.

Ken is 25, very handsome and very polite. He and Lisa are a very sweet couple and having them around is a breath of fresh air. Nancy arrives at the houseboat shortly after we do, and we order pizza. Jake tosses the menu sheet at us and tells us to decide what we want as he will only eat one piece. The young couple decides on the barbeque chicken and bacon, I choose the 6 cheese Tuscany, and Nancy wants pepperoni. I am elected to call the pizza place as I have the closest thing to an American accent and so won’t have any trouble being understood. I order two large pizzas, one half cheese the other half with pepperoni added, the other chicken and bacon with pineapple chunks added to half. Apparently my ability to order this combination impresses everyone with my organization skills. They should see me at work on a movie set.

Jake and Ken leave to pick up the pizzas and when they return we dig in. I am ravenous, as I still haven’t eaten. I can’t eat more than two pieces of pizza, as a rule, but tonight I manage three. This does not go unnoticed by Jake and he comments on it later. I ask him how he knows how much I ate; is he watching me all the time and keeping tabs on me? He claims that I said myself that I ate three, but I never did.

I make conversation with Ken and Lisa asking where they work and how they met. They visited Disney World just a few days ago so I ask them all about it. I still have the four passes to go there that Shonah gave me, but it doesn’t look like I am going to be able to go and I am disappointed about it on one hand, but on the other – I wouldn’t want to go alone, there would be no fun in that. I would rather wait and go with one or all of my kids one day. Lisa hands me her camera so that I can look at the photo’s they took and I scroll through them. When I get to Epcot, it looks way better than I had ever imagined. I hope I get to go someday.

Ken and Lisa have been bitten by mosquitoes and she is worried about it because she is to be a bridesmaid in her brother's wedding in a week. Her dress is strapless and knee length and she doesn’t want to be covered in bite marks. They need some Deep Woods Off and so Nancy goes to get them some, as she has to run out and get something else anyway. When she comes back she has a can for them and tells them it was $5.00. They can’t believe it. Apparently a can half that size sells for £10.00 in England. Ken decides he needs to buy a few cases of it and resell it on eBay there. I think he is joking but it sounds like a good idea to me.

During the night there is a HUGE thunderstorm right overhead. The thunder shakes the boat and I can hear Katie the dog whimpering in the next room. The rain is beating down on the windows and I sit up to close mine and the quilt at the bottom of the bed is soaked through. The storm goes on for at least an hour and I plug my ears with my fingers as the thunder is deafening. I am hoping we don’t get struck by lightening but I don’t think we will as there is tons of metal stuff around here a lot higher than we are.

Ken and Lisa are talking about the storm when I get up in the morning; she was terrified and didn’t sleep much. They will leave for Key West in an hour or so. Jake is telling them spots on the way down that they mustn’t miss. Hearing them talk, I am trying to figure out how I can see all this before I leave but at this point I don’t know if I will even make it to Key West at all. That would be a shame as apparently it’s really lovely, and it is the home to Mel Fisher’s museum - I would love to see that. I say as much and Jake immediately disses that idea. “I don’t know what you see in that guy. I think he is despicable.” he says. “Well, all I know is that his life’s ambition was to find the wreck of the Atocha and he finally managed it and the wealth he discovered was immense.” “Yeah and didn’t some of his family die?” “Yes, he lost a son in the search. He drowned.” “Yeah. Despicable.” he says. Whatever, is what I want to say but I bite my tongue, yet again. His opinion is the only correct one and to dispute it …. well, I found out where that leads last week.

The young couple leaves and I retreat to the relative peace of the back deck and continue to read my book. It’s AZTEC by Gary Jennings and it is a gripping account of the life of Mexican Indians before the Spanish invaded and decimated the place. It’s a very thick book and I started it yesterday. I will finish it tomorrow at this rate as I can hardly stand to put it down.

After about an hour out there, Nancy drives up in her truck. It is only noon. She is home early because there just isn’t anything going on at the shop and so she has left Elliot in charge. She tells me she is going to take me to a few stores, one of which is an outlet discount store much like Ross. So we head off and spend the afternoon browsing the dollar store for cleaning products for the Pet Resort, and Bealls a the discount store for clothing etc. Nothing there for me but I did see more Katherine Van Zeelander purses at half price and I picked up some cheap earrings for Shonah. Done there, we hit the grocery store for some food.

We head home after being gone about three hours and cobble together a meal of leftover pizza, ceasar salad, and some bought potato salad. And Nancy tells me that Jake has recorded a show I wanted to see and tells him to put it on. He has recorded two episodes of ‘Don’t Tell The Bride’, a British show where the groom has four weeks and £12,000 to plan a wedding all by himself. The bride has no say whatsoever. I had watched this show with Ashleigh when I went to visit her in England. I saw about three episodes. The one we watch tonight is one of those same episodes but it was a good one, where the groom decided to have the bride's dress made as he couldn’t find one he liked, and I don’t mind seeing it again.

When the show is over, I retire to bed early so that I can read some more of my book.

STORM OF ANOTHER KIND

Jake’s watching the news again as we eat dinner. There is a story about Mike Tyson’s daughter dying accidentally. Jake turns and is incensed that Tyson would put his daughter on a treadmill. I hear the newscaster say that Tyson wasn’t in Phoenix at the time of the accident but had flown in after. So I say that Tyson wasn’t involved. Jake says "What?" So I explain that I just heard he wasn’t in Phoenix. Jake gets angry and says that yes he was, that it meant he wasn’t available for questions. I can see that he is really angry so I apologize and say "My mistake. I misunderstood the newscaster." He turns and grabs some papers off of the counter and thrusts them at me. "Here is something else you misunderstood." I take them and see that it is a print of the Q&A page about the Federal Reserve. It is from their own website.

A few days ago I was explaining to him what I had learned in the past year about the Federal Reserve; namely that it is not government owned but rather a private corporation owned by shareholders and the largest shareholders are those who own some of the largest banks in the world. People like the Morgans and the Rockefeller’s etc. I had tried to explain the system of printing money and lending it to the government at interest and how it was not constitutional. Now he is telling me I am wrong by way of this Q & A sheet. I start to read through it and he is yelling at me telling me it says ‘right there’ that it IS government owned and it IS audited and it IS legitimate. As I read through the three sheets I immediately can see that it is very craftily and carefully worded to give that impression but in actual fact, it does not state that the Federal Reserve is government owned. I try to explain this to Jake but he is in no mood to hear it. He is really angry and after a few more attempts to explain, I drop it. He tells me I am ignorant and stupid. Nancy is telling him to stop shouting and just forget it. He doesn’t pay her any heed. She gives up and goes to lie down. I get up and put my dishes in the sink and go sit outside on the back deck. I need some space between us so that he can cool down.

The back door is closed as the air conditioning is running so I can’t hear anything going on inside but after about 10 minutes I get up and go in. Nancy is no longer lying down. I can hear raised voices coming from the living area. I go to my room. They are having a full-blown argument and it’s not pretty. I can hear Nancy telling him that he is a miserable SOB and everyone hates him. He is furious and yelling and swearing at her. I am very upset to hear this and I feel it is my fault but I don’t dare go out there and say anything so I stay in my room and feel sick to my stomach. I can hear him saying stuff about me from time to time so that just cements the feeling that this is because of me.

As it progresses I decide that I have to leave. Not this minute like, but as in - go home. I can’t handle being responsible for Nancy getting more abuse from this guy than she normally has to put up with and, obviously, I haven’t got the skill set to handle him right. I deal with a lot of temperaments and attitudes on a film set, and in the position I hold it is crucial that I possess good people skills. I do very well and in over 52 productions I have only one director I won’t work with due to his impossible temperament. But I haven’t had to deal with outright abuse since a child. I didn't handle it well then, and I don’t now.

I start to organize my stuff. I can’t pack my bags as they are in a cabin downstairs and there is no way I am leaving my room while Jake is still awake tonight. But I get a head start with putting my toiletries in baggies, taking a few things off the wall that I had put up, and packing all my books into my backpack. The arguing escalates and there is lots of swearing and at one point I hear Jake hit Nancy. She hits him back. This is far too reminiscent of my childhood and it is scaring me.

Suddenly it all stops; Nancy goes to bed and Jake goes back to his TV. I don’t change into my PJ’s and I don’t go to the bathroom. I turn off the light and lie down on top of the covers. I am way too upset to sleep. I have $300 to my name and I have no idea if it will be enough to get me home. Last time I looked at flights home they were running about $280 plus $40 to check my bags. Also I have to get from here to Miami airport and I have no idea how I am going to find transportation or pay for it. I am frustrated with my financial situation. I don’t even have a credit card to book a flight so that means I will have to ask my son, Christopher, to do it and hope he will. He did it for my ticket here and I gave him the cash straight away, but I hate asking.

I lie there thinking about my situation and what I can do. Finally I hear the TV go off and Jake goes to bed. I must fall into a fitful sleep because I wake dying to go to the bathroom at about 11:30. I stand at my door and I can hear Jake snoring so I very carefully slide the door open. It doesn’t make a sound. Katie the dachshund doesn’t even hear it - every other night she does and comes running for me to pet her - and I slip across the corridor into the loo and slide that door carefully shut. I make it back to my room without disturbing anyone and lie back down on the bed. It is lightening outside again and I watch it for a bit before falling back to sleep. I awake hearing Jake up and going to the loo. I hold my breath as he goes back to bed. I don’t want him knowing I am not asleep. Later I wake having to go to the toilet again. Dang this old age, weak bladder crap. I stand at the door and listen again but there is no snoring. I slide the door open a crack and I hear Jake tossing and making some noise so I close the door back up and lie down, trying to ignore my aching bladder. That works for about half an hour then I can’t stand it any longer. I slide the door open, hear his heavy breathing, and go for it.

I wake hearing the TV go on. It’s about 6 am. I get up and start clearing out my closet. I open the door as I do it. I am going to have to face everyone sooner than later. Nancy comes in and asks me what I am doing. I tell her. She says she doesn’t want me to go. I tell her I don’t have a choice, I have to leave. I can’t be responsible for them fighting. She tells me it wasn’t my fault; it was hers because she went in and yelled at him for being an ass. That set him off. We talk for a bit, keeping our voices low. She asks me if I want to come to work with her now or if I want to stay here and what will I do if I stay. I tell her I will keep packing. She sighs a deep sigh. She really doesn’t want me to leave. Jake is in the truck waiting which means if I go with her, I am going to have to face him now. If I don’t go with her, he will be back in an hour and then I will have to face him alone. I decide to go with her. I grab my stuff, and swipe at my hair with a brush. I look horrible but that is the least of my worries at the moment.

I get into the back seat of the truck. Jake doesn’t say a word to me. Nancy starts it up and backs out. I take a big breath. "Jake?" He says, "What?" "Can you hear me ok?" "Yes, I can hear you fine." I take another deep breath, "I just want to apologize for last night, for letting things get out of hand. I should have just agreed to disagree and let it go at that." "Letting what get out of hand?" He asks and I don’t get it. "Our conversation. Last night. I am sorry that it caused you and Nancy to argue." "Last night had nothing to do with that. Do you want to know what it had to do with?" He asks. "Only if it has something to do with me. If not, then no." I say. "Of course it has to do with you." He replies. OK then. He then goes on to say that I am not doing what was expected of me at the Pet Resort, namely relieving Nancy in the afternoon so she can get away. Thing is, I have just started to get the hang of what all I need to know - it’s only been a week and yesterday was the first day I felt like I knew what I was doing. And then he goes on to say it isn’t my fault really, it’s all Nancy’s fault because she won’t let people help her. She would just rather do it all herself. He goes on a huge diatribe and basically gives Nancy crap again. I start to cry; I can’t handle that I have caused her more grief. No one knows I am crying as I don't make a sound. He then gets after me for being concerned about some friends at home who are going through a hard time right now. He thinks that is a waste of my time and energy as there isn't anything I can do about it, in his opinion. He also berates me for saying I would like to have taken the truck to Sharkey's last night to call Shonah on my computer (she is down about work stuff and I wanted to talk to her about it). I had, wrongly apparently, assumed that because I have been using the truck since day one it would be all right for me to just say I would like to take it to make this call. He is angry about my presumption and then informs me that I have been driving around without insurance coverage. This is news to me as I am used to the insurance going with the vehicle. Again he blames Nancy for not telling me this earlier.

We arrive at the shop and I get busy with filing and answering the phone. When I have a moment, I go online and find a couple of websites that explain the Federal Reserve better than I can. I find one that is a transcript of an interview with Ron Supinski of the Public Information Department that is very revealing. I print them out and set them aside.

Jake drops by a bit later and he seems to be in fine spirits. He has some pictures of the property barriers that the county installed that he needs to send to the state. He can’t figure out how to get them into one file and then how to email them so I help him out. As he is leaving, I say, “I went online and printed off some stuff about the Federal Reserve, if you’re interested.” “Yes, I am interested,” he turns back to me, “ I am always interested in learning. I am an uneducated man, I quit school when I was 15 and couldn’t wait to get out. So anything I know, I learn from reading.” He takes the papers and leaves. That went better than I expected. In fact, I am quite amazed by the turn around in his whole mood and say as much to Nancy later. ‘Well, that’s Jake for you,” she says, “he blows off steam about whatever is on his mind and then he’s the sweetest guy after.” I wouldn’t exactly call him sweet, but hey, anything is better than last night.

Also, while I was online, I saw the story about Mike Tyson’s daughter and he WAS out of state when the accident happened and he DID travel to Phoenix after the fact. I don’t think I will be mentioning this to Jake.

He calls me about two hours later. “Hey, that stuff you gave me. That is some scary shit.” He exclaims. “I know.” I reply. “I have already talked to some of my friends about it and they don’t care, they say ‘so? That’s the way it’s always been’. Incredible.” he says. No apology for yelling at me last night, for calling me stupid and ignorant. Whatever. At least he isn’t angry anymore.

I look online during lulls in the day to find prices for flights home. If I wait two weeks I can save about $100 on a ticket. So I decide, given the turn of attitude, I will hold out for the two weeks. I check on prices for flights to Tortola, as there is nothing I would love more than to spend some time in that paradise. I need some serenity at the moment. It’s not too bad to fly there, but flying back to Vancouver is too much, over $400 and I don’t have it. Even if I work for two weeks more, it would take every penny and that just isn’t going to work, I wouldn’t have any money for food and I would be going home completely broke. I’d give almost anything to be able to go to the BVI for a bit but it just isn’t going to happen.

I call Shonah on the phone to talk about her work issues and while we are talking I mention that I will come home in a couple of weeks. I tell her I looked into taking the Greyhound but it is a 5-day trip and only $60 cheaper than flying and, as much as it might be nice to see some of the eastern states and then all across Canada, I think it would be a long ordeal. She agrees. I tell her, though, that it would drop me in Kelowna, which would save me some money because then I wouldn’t have to pay to get there from Vancouver. She reminds me that she is coming down to Vancouver for ColdPlay and so I can go back with her. That sounds great to me so I write to my friend, Donna, asking her if the invitation to stay with them for a while is still open. She writes back right away and says “Funny thing. I was praying for you this morning and felt I should call you and encourage you to come home and stay with us.” Well then, that just confirms it. I am going home. But I would still love to stop in the BVI on the way. One day I WILL get back there. I am not sure how as it is so expensive, but I just have to. I almost wish I had never gone in the first place. I fell hard for those islands and I just want to get back. You can’t miss what you don’t know. But, it’s too late. I do know it and I miss it. A lot.

I go to my blog site and someone, who I don’t know, has written that I need to go home, make some serious money, and try again at the sailing dream but be better prepared. I laugh out loud. I don’t think so. I won’t ever answer a sailing ad again. What I might do, though, is sign up for some sailing lessons in Vancouver, once I am working again. If I make it as a screenwriter (and Ron the director seems to think I am going to hit it big with this story and the story of a destination wedding) then I will buy my own catamaran, live aboard in the BVI, write and do day-sail charters. Sounds like paradise to me.

A GOAT, SOME CHICKEN AND NOT A HURRICANE

I knew that goat was trouble.

Nancy and I go to the property to meet Jake on Saturday after we close up shop. Jake is sitting on the pontoon boat and the puppies are all on board as well, running around and making mischief. Once we get aboard I notice that Jake has rivulets of dried blood down his arms and then I see a scab on his forehead above his right eye. "Jeepers. What war did you fight today?" I ask him. Turns out the puppies sharp claws are responsible for the arms. The goat for his head. He was bent over washing the puppies tarp or dishes or something and the puppies spooked the goat. He ran towards Jake, who was bent over intent on his work, and head butted him so hard it knocked him off his feet. Blood and sweat were pouring down his face as he dazedly tried to get to his feet, and the goat was freaking out, the puppies yapping... All I can say is I am glad Nancy wasn't there or it would have been her fault, somehow. And I have decided that I hate the goat.

When we get back to the houseboat I cook up some of the chicken breasts I bought, two packages for the price of one, and make curried coconut chicken with rice. It makes a lot and it is a delicious meal. I am happy that there is more than enough for another meal or two; I put it into rubbermaid containers and into the fridge.

Sunday there isn't much to do at the shop so I stay home in the morning and read out on the back deck for a while. Even though it's a boat yard, it's a pretty view and nice and breezy back here. Nancy calls me at around 10 and asks me to come get her so I get in the truck and head over to the Pet Resort. The road is full of Memorial Day weekenders and it seems that NO ONE signals before changing lanes here. Twice someone makes a last minute decision to cross in front of me and over the median without signaling and I have to slam on my brakes. Wouldn't want to miss the '3 t-shirts for $10' store, I guess.

We stop at the grocery store on the way home for some things. I can't get over the prices here. Nothing is cheaper than at home other than booze. The only thing I buy is some of my fizzy mineral water. I bought the last batch of groceries so Nancy won't let me pay anything for these.

When we get back to the houseboat and get the groceries away we're hot and decide to go to the Holiday Inn pool. Because it is the long weekend we don't expect that we will find any free deck chairs but we find two, mine is broken and won't go into a sitting position but at least we don't have to sit on the concrete. I am happy. There are lots of people at the pool today, some are locals and Nancy points them out to me. There is a guy under a grass roof playing guitar and singing. It's fun to people watch down here. Americans fascinate me. They really are very different from us Canadians. I go for a nice long swim, the water is the perfect temperature, and do lots of laps. Got to get that 6 lbs off!

After a couple of hours, Nancy leaves me there to go back to the shop and then to meet Jake at the property and take care of the animals. I move to her chair and read. I am there a couple of hours more and start watching the cell phone Nancy left as she is going to call when she is 5 minutes away. It has started beeping for low battery and I am worried it will die before she calls. As I am watching a couple in the pool, I notice the guy they are talking to is pointing to the sky in the north and gesticulating that something is coming right at us. I get up and take a look and can't believe the big black line of cloud just peeking over the palm trees. I know enough now to realize there is some sort of storm heading this way and it will be here in about 10 minutes. I start to gather my things.

I walk towards the parking lot and as I do the cell phone rings. It's Nancy. I tell her that, "I am waiting for you under the cover at the parking lot, there's a big black cloud headed this way." "I know," she says, "I am leaving now and trying to stay ahead of it." I go back to the pool and take a picture because it is that ominous. I go back to the parking lot and wait, killing as many ants as I can with my flip flops. Ever since I got bit with all of those fire ants, I have a vendetta.

Nancy arrives just as the first drops of rain start to fall. We stay just ahead of the storm as we drive to the boat yard. We talk about what to have for dinner and I remind Nancy of the curried chicken I made last night. I have been looking forward to it all afternoon. We pull up to the houseboat and it is starting to rain harder. As I get out I see Jake headed towards his car, which is parked at the end of the dock by the water, and he is holding a rubbermaid box aloft. Hmmm. Must be going out somewhere and taking his dinner. I run to the ladder and climb up onto the houseboat. I turn around and Jake is right behind me. In his hand is the open rubbermaid and I can see yellow saucy remnants inside. "Was that the container that had the curried chicken in it?" I ask. "I dunno. I guess so." "Where is it?" I ask but I have a growing horror as I know what he is about to say. "I tossed it into the water." "YOU WHAT?!?" I say. Nancy is right behind him and hears. "That was our dinner." she says quietly to Jake. She seems to be afraid to say more but I am not. "I was looking forward to that all afternoon." I say, "What possessed you to throw it away? I just made it last night. It hadn't gone off." He doesn't answer me, just pushes past and goes inside. I am furious. What the heck is the point of buying chicken two for one if you are just going to throw half of it into the sea? And that meal was delicious, far too good for the fish. I go into my room to drop stuff off and I hear Jake going at Nancy. "That fridge is full of crap. There are so many containers of crap in there. It needed cleaning out." "Well why didn't you throw out some of your stuff then?" She asks. He has a reply but I can't make it out. I just can't believe he would do that. I am used to the kitchen and all that is in it being the domain of the woman of the house. The only time my ex would have thrown something in the fridge away was if it was growing green fur. Later, when I go look in the fridge, all Jake's rubbermaided leftovers are still there. Some have been there since I arrived. I am just seething and can't be in the same room as him or I will just go off so I go stand at the back door and watch the weather.

That kinda takes my mind off stuff.

The wind is howling and the rain is coming down in horizontal sheets. Where, this morning, I could look out over the water to the sailboats tied up in mid distance and the mangroves in the far distance, now all I can see is blowing water and grey socked in. This looks like a hurricane to me. I run to my room and grab my camera and video a few minutes of the storm. It's frightening. If this isn't a hurricane, then I don't want to be here when it is. Stuff starts blowing off the houseboat. I hear something on the roof deck blow from one end to the other. I look up, expecting to see it fly off and out to sea but nothing comes down. Suddenly there is a big crash on the front deck. The water cooler and bottle have gone flying. This is seriously scary. The boat is rocking on it's stands again and I run to my room and put things I don't want to lose in my new big fat purse. Just in case we go over and it's all a big mess I won't have to dig through stuff, just grab my purse. If I'm not dead, that is.

Water is pouring off the roof of the boat. I look down to the ground and there is at least a foot of water where all was just packed dirt not 10 minutes ago, and it is blowing out to sea. A plastic bag floats by and then a white silk flower lei. There is a dustpan on the roof of the truck. Stuff is blowing off the house boat all over the place. Jake and Nancy don't seem to care. I ask them if this is a hurricane and they say no. That's it. I am going home before hurricane season hits for real.