A Rose By Any Other Name

Roses in Wifey's garden.  Always beautiful.

From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1600:

JULIET:

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.

What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,

Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part

Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!

What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;

So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,

Retain that dear perfection which he owes

Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,

And for that name which is no part of thee

Take all myself.

On The Beach

A captain's nightmare is being in a dangerous situation that's difficult, if not impossible to get out of, especially when the safety of your passengers is at risk.  Here's an example of just that. .. a captain experiencing just that and living to tell about it.

Hurricane Irene hits land and the captain of this 30' craft is out in it.  I'd like to think he was seeking safe harbor from the hurricane.....that he, his wife and their cat had been sailing miles and miles off the US shores and had no choice but to make a run for it to beat the hurricane.  It's not likely that the captain was out for a pleasure cruise in such foul weather.

The first photo is of the rescue with the aid of a bystander.

And this, the video of the boat being beached.   

It's a fairly new and expensive boat which was probably insured for loss.  The good news is that the captain and his crew weathered the experience. 

Here she sits. 

I'd like to sit with the captain of this boat and ask him some questions.  The first being, Next time, if there was a next time, what would you do differently?

I Got Yew Babe!

Look back on your life and think about that fork in the road that you took.  You know the one.  It's the fork that changed your life forever and ever.  Had you changed up and not taken that fork but the other, what would life have been for you? 

Seeing a photo taken last week of Chaz (formerly Chastity)  Bono made me think of that fork in the road of life.

Well, I'm just sayin' and not judging.  Not. 

But it makes me wonder about that fork in the road.



 Chaz went from there (the video above) to here.  It must have been one hell of a fork.  And that's all I gotta say.

To each their own. . . . . .

Could Have Been Prevented

This Tanzer 26 would have gotten through Hurricane Irene in one piece but it looked like the pennant parted at the deck. More than one pennant line of greater length (longer is better) with chafing gear probably would of saved this boat.  A lesson learned the hard way.

Luv Luv Instant Netflix!

What is it, two years?  Three years?  Whatever the case we've had instant Netflix for quite some time.  If you don't know about "that", Netflix streams movies to a computer which streams them to a device connected to a television.  Convenient. 

Last night a close to five star (like 4 1/2 stars) film made in 2005 caught our attention.  Turned out to be quite the movie.  Wonder why it never got our attention before now.  Even though the film doesn't have any trace of cowboys, murders, military gunfights, nudity, cops and robbers, or vampires I'd still say that it's well worth watching.

Check it out:

Nice Rack!

Usually when someone says, NICE RACK!, they're referring to a part of the female anatomy.  In this case, NICE RACK!!! is about something you can grill with.

For years chicken was always less than what I had hoped for when it came off of the grill.   Isn't that a problem for just about everyone?   Burned.  Raw.  Never right.  Then I found this little beauty:  The Norpro Nonstick Adjustable Roast Rack on Amazon.  Food that's grilled doesn't stick!

Cradle the chicken or chicken parts (I usually grill splits or breasts) on the rack.  Heat the grill to at least 400 degrees.  Place the rack on the middle of the grill.  Turn off the burner under the chicken (our Weber has three:  Front, back, middle).  Maintain a grill temperature of 400.  A whole chicken needs to grill for an hour.  Splits take 45 minutes. 

Monday I used the rack to grill a 10 pound turkey:  Just under two hours start to finish (and using an electronic thermometer to monitor temps throughout grilling).  About as moist a bird as you'll ever get.

Here's the thermometer that's used.  The prob goes in the turkey and connects to a remote.  The remote transmits the temperature of the meat to a second device in the house.  Bed, Bath and Beyond stocks the Redi-Chek remote cooking thermometer for about 40 bucks.  Well worth the expense when it comes to well cooked, not over or under done meat.  There's no guessing when using this little device.

The key to success using this thing is making certain it is inserted in the right spot.  Anywhere but that will yield a rare piece of meat.  You've been warned.

And that's Bob's grilling tip of the day.

Kiri O'Leary

Kiri's a year and a half old and already she's been certified both as a pet therapy dog ( visiting assisted care facilities and hospitals) and in the Read Program. 

As a Read Program dog Kiri likes to get the attention of the young readers she's working with.  Standing at attention helps to reel them in.  Smiling doesn't hurt, either.  Kiri smiles all the time.

Now down to the business of reading.  Here Kiri's reading a cookbook that once belonged to Wifey's grandmother.  No doubt she's thinking of what she would like for dinner.

Reading all of those old school recipes tuckered out little Kiri.  That's hard work!

The Read Program will be using one of these photos to put on a bookmark one of which will be given to each of the children Kiri reads with.  Which one is your favorite?

Christopher Robin

Last week I shared the words of Christoper Robin with Gracie:  They're  about perpetuating self esteem and confidence.  Words that have helped me through the toughest of times both personally and professionally.

Ya gotta think like a winner to be one.

National Go Topless Day!

I missed another National Topless Day protest.  Damn.  I do it every time.  It was Sunday.  Where was I?  Crap.  Better put this one on the calendar for next year.

Only the best protests have people speaking aided by a microphone.

And only the best protests have people carrying signs...just as long as the signs are held up and not covering any part of the person carrying it.

There were all types of boobs at the protest:  Ski jump boobs.  Raisin on the string boobs.  Here's looking at ya boobs.  Looking at the feet boobs.  Looking sideways boobs.  Melon boobs (watermelon, cantalope, casaba).  Mounds Bar boobs.  Bump in the road boobs.  Torpedo boobs.   Holy Molie! boobs.  How much is enough? boobs.

A good protest has to have at least one set of twins.  These two are about as close to identical as you can get.  Ya think?

This person just had to wear nipple covers.  Check it out.  Interesting way to cover up.  Why bother?  Do nipple covers make going topless legal?  Maybe this gal is in the Navy and nipple covers are the only way to get back on her ship.

Here's a photo of one with and one without nipple covers. 

Okay, they're just a bunch of boobs.  I get it.  Boobs.  No big deal.

Not.

The Spider and the Fly

Released in 1965 by the Rolling Stones on their Out of Our Heads album (and they really were) and the B-side to (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.  An oldie/but goodie that's rarely heard.

The Spider and the Fly

Sittin' thinkin' sinkin' drinkin'
Wondering what I'd do when I'm through tonight

Smoking moping, maybe just hopin'
Some little girl will pass on by

Don't wanna be alone but I love my girl at home
I remember what she said

She said, "My, my, my don't tell lies, keep fidelity in your head
My, my, my, don't tell lies. When you're done you show go to be.

Don't say hi, like a spider to a fly
Jump right ahead and you're dead"
Sit up, fed up, low down go round
Down to the bar at the place I'm at

Sitting, drinking, superficially thinking
About the rinsed-out blonde on my left

Then I said, "hi" like a spider to a fly
Remembering what my little girl said
She was common, flirty, she looked about thirty
I would have run away but I was on my own

She told me later she's a machine operator
She said she liked the way I held the microphone

And I said my, my, my like the spider to the fly
Jump right ahead in my web

Boobs Gone Wild

I found this photo this morning on the Fox News webpage.  It's Aubrey O’Day with one boob gone wild.  How does that happen?  Men have testicles that go wild (one up, one down. . . ya gotta be a guy to understand. . . in the fashion world it's called "dressing" on one side or the other - - -men are asked by their tailor, "What side do you dress on?").

I guess boobs can dress on one side or the other.  In this case Aubrey better call her plastic surgeon for a consulation.  She's got one boob gone wild!

Tripping Out

With school starting and everyone back at work it's time to start thinking of a little traveling.  In anticipation of doing some trailer traveling repairs were made last week to the trailer and new tires installed.  You could say we're good to go.

We're both looking forward to getting away.  There's a beachside RV park in Oregon we'll camp at and a week or two will be spent at a small lake which is just down the hill from Crater Lake.  There won't be many people camping or on the road.  That's my cup of tea.

There were thoughts of traveling into Canada but it gets expensive when it comes to filling the truck's tank with diesel.  Think about it:  A tank of diesel runs $150.  While pulling a 12,000 pound trailer the truck gets +/- 200 miles a fill-up.  If we go 600 miles north and back that amounts to $900. Staying closer to home is a good thing.

Ya think?

School Days-School Days

The first day of school was Tuesday, August 16th.  Whatever happened to school starting the day after Labor Day?  Geeze.  It's hot.  It's summer.  Kids should be out having fun not reading, writing and arthmetic. 

Here's Grace with two of her partners in fourth grade crime.  Gracie's the shrimp in her class.  Definitely small compared to her peers as well she should be:  She's the youngest kid in this grade.  Most are are year older. Give her time.  Grace inherited Wifey's long legs and no doubt her height, too.  She'll be at least 5'9", all in due time.

What Grace lacks in height she makes up in brains and personality.  If you met her you'd know what I mean. 

Size doesn't always matter.

On Your Marks?

I snapped this today at the marina across the lake from where Sparkle Plenty is moored.  Most of the sailboats on the lake moor here as the access to where the wind blows is just outside of it.  Kind of looks like they're lined up for a race.  Maybe backwards? 

I visit this marina now and then to check out other boats like mine.  There's always a difference in how each boat is rigged and in the hardware used to secure the rigging or in how the sails are managed.  I picked up a couple of ideas this morning.

What's not right about this marina as compared to where SP is lies in the slips:  Two boats to a slip.  SP and the others on our marina do not share one. 

In foul weather if the other boat sharing the slip breaks loose, there's a strong chance your will be damaged.  Second, in a single boat slip it can be tied so that neither side rubs or knocks against the dock.  Can't do that in a double berth.  One side is always going to rub.

And that's what I saw today.  The side of a boat identical to SP had been scarred from hitting the dock.  Even with cushioning material to protect it, the boat still came up with gouges and scratches.

Now you know why I don't join the rest of the sailors on that side of the lake.

There's another reason.  At our marina there's a store just up the ramp.  Ice.  Drinks.  Ice cream.  Candy.  Chips.  Crackers.  Clothing.   Etc.  SP's marina is more secure, too.  Security is ever present compared to hit and miss across the lake.

It's been 100 nearly every day this month and much too hot to sail morning, noon or night.  Definitely looking forward to cooler weather and strong breezes.  Plan is to sail until the end of November and then pull SP out of the lake for winter repairs, upgrades and wax.

It's a good thing.

Lady of the Lake

Ye gads.  Ten days since the last post.  WTF happened to me?  I guess that's why this place is called, What About Bob?  What about him. .. ahhh, absent again.

This struck my eye a week or more ago.  Unusual.  Art.  Love it.

So, meet the not-so-Little Mermaid that has been having a right old knees-up in the German city of Hamburg.  Oliver Voss's floating sculpture is designed to look like a woman bathing in the picturesque Alster Lake.

The three-piece work of art, which is 13ft high and 98ft long, was turning heads forten days - with many visitors boarding rowing boats to get a closer look.

Voss, head of the advertising academy Miami Ad School, said he wanted the aquatic sculpture, called The Bather, to be 'a topic of conversation in Germany.  But his creation has also caused controversy, with district mayor Markus Schreiber telling de Bild newspaper that it was 'sullying the beloved lake'.
The enormous sculpture, made from steel and styrofoam, does not resemble a traditional mermaid.

Instead of a woman with a fishtail, Voss's lady of the lake has legs bent at the knee and protruding from the water.

Don't you just love this?  Wow. 

One Track Mind

It was close to 100 yesterday and I knew better than to even think about sailing.  No wind equals sitting on a boat that's not moving and sweating.  But I knew better.   Having tracked weather patterns over the past three days I found that around 4 in the afternoon there had always enough wind to power Sparkle Plenty.

At around 4 Wifey and one of her friends met me at the boat and off we went.

Yes indeed, once out on the water there was a breeze that filled the sails. The sail at 4 prediction was right on.

A man on a sailboard cruised alongside the boat several times.  We used to own and sail one.  Fun.  But owning a sailboat and a sailboard just didn't work out.  It was tough to make time to use one or the other.  The sailboat won out and the board was sold.

We sailed until about 7 then called it a day. 

Just another Sunday sailing for a guy with a one track mind.

WHAT ABOUT BOB:  FOUNDED 2006

This is post number 1,640.  That's a bunch.   It all started August 6th, 2006.  The rest, as they say, has been all bullshit (or history, take your pick).

To commemorate this wonderful day in  American history I've found a dog who will sing the praises of this blog and its founder, Bob. That's me.

Here goes: