Thursday, January 13, 2011
I'm sorry!
Ok, ok, so I have to clarify 1 thing and sort of apologize for 2 others. First, I said that I was not calling out to Dwayne on Bread&Butter because it seemed that they were keeping me from calling for one reason or another. Well I didn’t listen and made the call and arranged for Conan and I to be there today. I should have waited for a sign because I guess they got mad. I woke up to dreary, windy, cold rain this morning with a rough surf. So we pushed our trip off until tomorrow. It’s been cold, windy and drizzly all day today. We’ve pushed our departure to Saturday now. Next I said I was glad not to have 27X7 internet because I got my life back by not feeling tied to it like I was in the states. Today we ordered wireless internet for Kismet and it will be installed tomorrow. Conan is totally lost without it and Tricia will have another selling point for Kismet, plus she can charge for it for those not staying but wanting access. If it becomes a moneymaking proposition for her Conan and I will have to renegotiate our contract (LOL). I’ll have to pretend we don’t have it though so I don’t lose my life again although I might be able to resume my downloading of movies and TV shows again. The 3 of us will split the monthly cost of US$65 with Tricia paying the US$112.50 installation. Finally, I want to apologize to all of you whom I’ve been telling that you should move here to Belize because of the cold temps you’ve been experiencing. I think I jinxed myself because today I’m freezing! I actually have dungerees on and thought of breaking out a jacket and putting on shoes before coming to Thong’s tonight for the internet! Sad thing is that you all will hate me because it’s 72 degrees! But there is about 10 knots of wind so that makes it feel like 62. LOL!!!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
And life goes on for the Fatboy...
Life has been pretty quiet for the Fatboy since he returned. Lots of really interesting and international quests that I’ve eaten, sat around and talked, and, of course, fished with. At times I think Peter is a bit perturbed with the number of people I bring to the lagoon with me but I instruct them that they need to keep out of his way, or accept when he throws his net across their fishing line, because that’s how he supports his wife and 5 kids. At times there are lines going in every direction in the water. I try to keep them out of his way as best I can. Of course I do want them to catch fish so it’s a juggling act. He’s more upset when several people are casting at the same time because it moves the fish in directions he’s not expecting or that his net can’t reach. But he’s still making the money he needs to pay his bills and feed the kids. I told him to feed the kids less, skip a couple of days each week, and he’ll have more change in his pocket. He says they tend to cry when he does that and he can’t sleep. I told him there’s room for him to sleep in the chicken coop and he laughs. Anyway…
With the many fun and interesting people staying lately, and more already scheduled to come in the next month (including my fishing buddy Bruce from Maine around 2/9), my evening life has changed a bit. In the past I’d watch a movie every night, or a couple episodes of one of the TV series that I downloaded. Now I sit with the guests, and sometimes eat one of Tricia’s family style meals at 7pm. It’s like being with family, with everyone sitting around the table eating and gabbing for a couple of hours. Fishing twice a day takes up most of my time. Five to 7:30am or later if I take my canoe (sometimes as late as noon); breakfast around 8:30 and a visit with the guests; a couple hours in my hammock on the beach with my iPod, book, and cigar to read and nap; 3:30pm is dinner (if I don’t plan to eat with them at 7pm); and back to the lagoon at 5pm until about 6:30. head for bed around 9pm or so to start all over the next morning. Hopefully all of you will get to retire and live the life you dream of after so many years of working and raising a family. It’s a tough life but some has to do it!
Conan still hasn’t decided which way he’s leaning, whether to rent a house, buy property with an existing house or build one on, or buy a Mennonite house and have it delivered to Kismet. He did buy Ron’s ’84 Ford van though so has wheels at least. He’s enjoying living in Belize and Hopkins and seeing some of the sights. One of the things that he says is a requirement to live here is having his own diving tank air compressor so he can fill his own tanks. It seems that none of the places here that have one will fill the tanks of others. Not sure if it’s an insurance thing or what. So he’s talking about having a friend pick one up for him and ship it in pieces as replacement parts to make the duty fees more manageable. With that and a motorboat he’ll never want to leave. One of the bad things about hanging with Conan is that he has to hit the internet every day. Here I was so used to going once a week or so. Now it's almost like I have to come along. Not that I don't love hearing from you all and seeing our family's lives through Facebook, but it was one of the things I liked about not having full time internet access...you aren't living your life online.
I’ve been wishy-washy about calling Dwayne to set a date for Conan and I to stay on Bread&Butter Cayes but it seems as if my Angels are having a hand in that. Every time I think of calling, and forget, the weather the next day or 2 is iffy. We want serious reef fishing time and not to be sitting in-doors with bad weather. So I’ll play it by ear and when my Angels think the time is right I’ll make the call and we’ll head out.
Strange but true, I found out tonight that Hopkins has an official website (http://www.visithopkinsvillagebelize.com/) and a Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hopkins-Village-Visitors-Page/100909679962574)!!! I’ll have to tell Tricia about it so she can get Kismet onto both. The website and FB page are new so don’t tell about all the inns and restaurants yet and still has work to be done on some of the links that go nowhere. But take a look and see some of what Hopkins is about.
And so, life goes on for the Fatboy in Belize… As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!
With the many fun and interesting people staying lately, and more already scheduled to come in the next month (including my fishing buddy Bruce from Maine around 2/9), my evening life has changed a bit. In the past I’d watch a movie every night, or a couple episodes of one of the TV series that I downloaded. Now I sit with the guests, and sometimes eat one of Tricia’s family style meals at 7pm. It’s like being with family, with everyone sitting around the table eating and gabbing for a couple of hours. Fishing twice a day takes up most of my time. Five to 7:30am or later if I take my canoe (sometimes as late as noon); breakfast around 8:30 and a visit with the guests; a couple hours in my hammock on the beach with my iPod, book, and cigar to read and nap; 3:30pm is dinner (if I don’t plan to eat with them at 7pm); and back to the lagoon at 5pm until about 6:30. head for bed around 9pm or so to start all over the next morning. Hopefully all of you will get to retire and live the life you dream of after so many years of working and raising a family. It’s a tough life but some has to do it!
Conan still hasn’t decided which way he’s leaning, whether to rent a house, buy property with an existing house or build one on, or buy a Mennonite house and have it delivered to Kismet. He did buy Ron’s ’84 Ford van though so has wheels at least. He’s enjoying living in Belize and Hopkins and seeing some of the sights. One of the things that he says is a requirement to live here is having his own diving tank air compressor so he can fill his own tanks. It seems that none of the places here that have one will fill the tanks of others. Not sure if it’s an insurance thing or what. So he’s talking about having a friend pick one up for him and ship it in pieces as replacement parts to make the duty fees more manageable. With that and a motorboat he’ll never want to leave. One of the bad things about hanging with Conan is that he has to hit the internet every day. Here I was so used to going once a week or so. Now it's almost like I have to come along. Not that I don't love hearing from you all and seeing our family's lives through Facebook, but it was one of the things I liked about not having full time internet access...you aren't living your life online.
I’ve been wishy-washy about calling Dwayne to set a date for Conan and I to stay on Bread&Butter Cayes but it seems as if my Angels are having a hand in that. Every time I think of calling, and forget, the weather the next day or 2 is iffy. We want serious reef fishing time and not to be sitting in-doors with bad weather. So I’ll play it by ear and when my Angels think the time is right I’ll make the call and we’ll head out.
Strange but true, I found out tonight that Hopkins has an official website (http://www.visithopkinsvillagebelize.com/) and a Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hopkins-Village-Visitors-Page/100909679962574)!!! I’ll have to tell Tricia about it so she can get Kismet onto both. The website and FB page are new so don’t tell about all the inns and restaurants yet and still has work to be done on some of the links that go nowhere. But take a look and see some of what Hopkins is about.
And so, life goes on for the Fatboy in Belize… As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!