This past week has been (and will continue to be) chock-full of little odds-and-ends of things being started and/or completed.
The Columbus Day Holiday came in tres handy, as that was the day I actually managed to get a few things done: the boat got washed, the inflatable deflated and stowed, new dock lines and new shore power cable attached. After that, I had a meeting with our local theatre union federation, then did some work on prop pieces I'm going to be using for The Theatre's annual Halloween Event. That was followed by another meeting for The Theatre Staff, after which I spent a couple hours helping to finish painting the set for The Show, and finally rounded out the day by attending a 50th Birthday Celebration for my friend James, wherein much good-natured ribbing ensued, to be sure. I've got one coming up myself in just a few weeks, although - thankfully - not that "big milestone" one yet. Still, only three more to go until I get there - yikes!
Dang - when I look at it all in order - that was a lot to get done in one day!
This week includes finishing up some last-minute PR for the show; starting rehearsals for a 10 minute play I'm directing that will be done as part of an evening of short pieces early next month. Then of course, The Show opens on Friday, on which day I'll also be a guest commentator for the blog site belonging to our local alterna-weekly newspaper, which should be - interesting.
We Know Our Steam And Diesel, But What's A Mainyard For?
Just got a call from Andrew at the boat shop informing me my engine is back up-and-running.
Seems they encountered a number of unanticipated problems along the way, including: about five gallons of water in my fuel tank (from whence they can't tell - the tank itself isn't leaking, and the fuel cap seems tight, so they can only speculate that perhaps it leaked in through a vapor vent), there was a bunch of salt crud in the bottom of the tank which basically fried the electric fuel pump I had just had installed a few months back; and several of the fuel lines had been bent for no apparent reason.
I won't see the bill until I go in tomorrow morning, but one thing is for certain - it's going to put a big dent on my credit card account, probably to the tune of at least one "BOAT unit".
And She's Always Gone Too Long, Anytime She Goes Away
Well, howdy there! Some of you (all six I'm sure) are probably dying to know why the ole' Boat hasn't been rocking these past few days.
Blame it on Blogger.
Turns out they changed some internal server settings that mucked up how the Intertubes identify and direct traffic to certain sites (including this one), causing all manner of hair-pulling, gnashing of teeth, waving of arms, and general boo-hooing among those of us lacking rudimentary coding skills. But, as you can see, it's all been fixed now, and things are more or less back to normal.
So, what did you miss in the meantime?
Spent part of last weekend running box office for SketchFest Seattle, our annual local immersion into the world of sketch comedy. Met some nice folks from a number of groups around the country, including brief interactions with Ted "Joxer" Raimi, who was helping out his friends Keilly And Roeters, and an extremely brief, albiet memorable run-in with SCTV alum, Joe Flaherty.
Friday, as those of you who were able to access my previous post will recall, was the day of the New Tattoo, which is currently a scabby, unsightly mass of dead skin tissue clinging to my leg, but which should emerge from its epidermal chrysalis in a few days to the oohs and ahhs of admiring Company members by next Monday (hope-hope).
On other fronts, the boat mechanic called today with the news that my carburetor has been fully cleaned, sand-blasted, and flushed of gunk. They'll install it tomorrow, and as soon as I recover from the shock of the bill, I'll actually be able to take her out again - just in time for the end of boating season, naturally.
One final bit of newsiness: I got a call from my mom yesterday, who informed me that she and her husband will be visiting Seattle next week - and staying for approximately three months while Dale undergoes some experimental gene therapy at Fred Hutchinson. They've been assigned a temporary residence at Pete Gross House, which is just a few blocks from the Center, and about splits the difference between my apartment and office, so I imagine I'll be seeing quite a bit of them while they're here.
That should catch everyone more-or-less up-to-date.
Oh, remember kids: today be National Talk Like A Pirate Day, so get out yer' eye-patch and peg-leg, shiver yer timbers, and start talkin' pirate-like!
The Ship's Aground On The Shore Of This Uncharted Desert Isle
After several weeks of searching high-and-low for a qualified mobile mechanic, I finally got in contact with the guys at Gallery Marine, who assured me they could deal with a cranky 30 year-old marine engine.
Met the mechanic at the dock this morning, and a mere two hours later he called to inform me of several minor issues that he was able to correct, and oh, by the way, the carburator is full of "gunk" and needs to be thoroughly cleaned. So, he's going to pull it, take it into the shop for some TLC, and with luck, I should have an operable engine by sometime next week.
Just in time for the end of boating season, naturally.
What with the near continuous Spring deluge recently, we finally got a decent weekend's worth of weather (to be fair, we've had decent weekend days recently, but since I spent the last five consecutve Saturdays doing 8 - 10 hours of tax returns, they were easy to overlook), and it got used mightily in a veritable whirlwind of projects.
Saturday: mowed the lawn; raked, piled and bagged the remainder of last Fall's leaves from the parking strip; weed-whacked & edge trimmed front and side yard; pulled up many, many dandelions; turned compost; began clearing box gardens.
Sunday: spring cleaning of the boat, phase I - oiled interior teak surfaces, polished brass, vacuumed, begun cleaning fiberglass interior bulkheads.
There's plenty of both projects left over for probably the next several weekends, and since my back seems to have healed (no relapses this weekend, thankfully), I should be able to get things whipped into shape fairly soon. Opening Day is a scant 12 days hence, and I'd like to at least get the girl spiffed up a bit, even if not exactly "ship shape and Bristol fashion" by then. Not that I'll be showing her off to anyone outside the marina, as I still haven't been able to get the engine started after the last "repair" job in the fall, and so I'm going to have to either find a REPUTABLE mobile marine mechanic, or, have her towed to a repair dock. Either option means $$, which I was otherwise hoping to save for the trip East in July.
