I'm Always Mentally on Vacation

Bugs Under My Rock

It is kind of strange that recently I have picked up a solid dozen new readers of my blog when the trend for personal blogs is so 2008.

I know all of them. They read and never comment. Occasionally they will call me about a post. They tend to be more vocal in their opinion but never take the time to write.

And they remember stuff I write and recall it back to me.

What most of them have in common is they want to remain anonymous and unseen. But they love to pry up my rock and look for bugs.

That's all fine by me. For some reason I gotta be out there and they don’t.

Thanks for stopping by.

© 2010 wReggie’s I’m Always Mentally on Vacation. These Terms and Conditions of Use apply to you when you view, access or otherwise use the blog located at www.wreggie.com (the “blog”). Terms and Conditions can be found at http://reghunnicutt.com/terms.html.

Family

For those who wondered...I actually have a mother and two sisters. I’m the tall guy.

Cloud Juice

I woke up last night in kind of a semi state of consciousness and I was thirsty. I wanted 100% pure cloud juice and nothing else would do.

For some reason my brain had reprogrammed refreshing cloud juice as the only solution.

I grabbed a bottle, uncapped it and drank deeply. The cloud was becoming part of me and I was becoming part of the cloud.

I woke up and thought this was a dream until I saw 2 empty water bottles by my bed side table.

I love Winter

These cold days of winter make me glad I have this trip coming up. We almost didn’t make the trip this winter but decided at the last minute to go. Last minute to plan a good trip was in October. Usually we have plans squared away by July.

I found a small place for Gigi and I and we will be on the same end of the island as our usual group.

Yesterday I called about a rental car and provisioning the house.

Last night I dreamed about diving.

The Christmas Package

A package arrived yesterday addressed to me. It is always exciting to get an unexpected parcel. Kinda of the opposite of a certified letter. Nothing good ever comes from a certified letter.

It was carefully wrapped with duck tape too.

Inside held morsels from the rich California soil and abundant summer sunshine. Fresh walnuts from Phrankie.

They are ever so meaty. I am a lucky man. Thank you.

Compuserve

I go way back online and still remember my first email address, 75037.1171@compuserve.com. They charged me by the hour for connectivity. This was the early 90's when true nerd pioneers like me flourished.

By the mid 90's the world wide web weaned me off of an old friend. Those were fast times with Netscape and Windows 3.14.

Remember the awful noise your modem made when it was connecting?

A Cultural Moment

My Pick Up

I get my money’s worth from my big red pickup. Saturday it was outfitted with scuba gear and celebratory beer afterwards. Sunday it is a tailgate platform with grills, steamers, food, tent shelter, and stove tops.

Inside it is an old friend equipped with whatever I need. I can listen to St Croix Radio Stations, fire weather and traffic, Bloomberg radio, AM/FM/iPod, a GPS, updated sound, and plenty of cab room for stuff. Heck I even have TV on my iPhone.

At times it is a work horse towing my RV or horse trailer.

It has been the last ride of my dying dogs on the way to the vet or a complete joy ride for my dogs in the country.

Today it will be my commuter truck to the office.

Big Red is creeping up 250,000 miles. He’s starting to have some serious medical bills but for now I am aiming to keep him in top running shape. The alternative is a $50,000 truck with payments to go along. No thanks.

Miracles Do Happen

We thought we'd seen everything in politics, but yesterday was truly miraculous: There in the White House press room was none other than former Democratic President Bill Clinton appearing with current Democratic President Barack Obama to endorse the tax cuts of Republican George W. Bush. - Wall Street Journal

A Dive Anyone?

Today is 12-11-10 in American circles. I know you Europeans mix it up a bit on dates.

Also today I continue training for operation Grey Goose. I will do some classroom and three quarry dives to get certified in using a dry scuba suit. Diving dry takes away the chill and I have discovered cold water diving as fun as warm water as long as I stay warm.

Plus visibility in these parts is far better after the algae dies off and the water settles from fewer divers stirring up the water.

Why doesn’t everyone do it? Well they don’t rent dry suits and they are expensive to buy compared to wet suits. So most folks opt for the return of summer and hang up the fins in the winter.

I have tentatively pencilled in Operation Grey Goose for January 23, 2011. Operation Grey Goose will be a dive in the waters of Smith Mountain Lake with two other divers to recover a bottle of Grey Goose that went down when my brother in law’s boat sank in 2005.

The Bounty

Upon coming back from the NC tour I traded eggs and Miss Anna’s Hot sauce for shelled pecans, oysters, and shrimp stock.

A note about the shrimp stock (not pictured). Shrimp stock is made from rendering shrimp heads down to a think liquid after at least 8 hours of cooking. The stock pot will retain the smell after many washings.

Recipe to follow. I hear it is very good.

A Day on the Road

In my business I will follow leads and instincts that force me on the road sometimes. Usually these ventures are profitable and as always self funded.

I hit the road yesterday morning and got a call on the way to Durham... made enough money on the call and subsequent trade to more than pay for my fuel, hotel and food over the next few days. That was blind luck I get my road trip financed and help out a guy.

I had lunch with my mother and sister at my mother’s home.

Then on to Knightdale where the real pay dirt is. This guy is huge and the planning is slow so maybe this will pay off next year....I am patient. We talk, I gather information, give him fresh eggs and he give me freshly shelled pecans from his farm. We agree to meet again.

The meeting didn’t go exactly as I wanted but the relationship is more solid now.

It is dark now so I decide to head toward the coast for tomorrows meeting. Tomorrows meeting would have paid for the trip if it wasn’t already so this is gravy.

Before I leave I see an email that needs attention so I pull in a Bob Evans to steal Wifi and have a cup of coffee. Oh what the hell...pumpkin pie too.

From Raleigh to Wilmigtion is like the autobahn. 75 MPH and the only thing to watch for is deer. I cover 100 miles in no time.

Then as I approach Wilmington I fire up the Priceline app on my iPhone and find the nicest hotel for the bet price. It is a Courtyard Marriot for 65 a night. Not bad at all. As a bonus it is beside a Cracker Barrel and Ruby Tuesdays making hunting and gathering an ease.

As lazy as I can be I ordered a Pizza from Dominos watch some TV and drift off for a fitful nights sleep.

Why in the hell doesn’t Dominos bring napkins on a delivery? I feel creepy using a wash cloth as a napkin.

Old and New is Much The Same

When I was a kid we had an old AM country radio station nearby where we could just walk in and see the teletype machines churning away. One was from Associated Press, One from United Press International and a third was a CBS radio feed.

I would read all the news and weather and sports almost live and I thought it was so cool.

So yesterday I heard an older fellow ( maybe 70) ask a young woman (maybe 23) if she used Facebook and why.

She tried to explain in her vernacular and he tried to understand in 1950’s technical terms.

So I turned to him to intervene and used some 1960’s technology to bridge the gap.

Fred, Facebook is like old fashioned teletype except everyone has one. You get news feeds from everyone you are friends with. There is no mound of paper just computer screens.

I saw the light go off for Fred and the young woman clearly was frustrated and looked at me like “whatever”.

Sobering News

I had one of those major adult situations yesterday...the kind when you are faced with something that is unstoppable, you don’t like it, and you have to deal with it.

My business partner’s cancer has returned and it is more aggressive than last time.

So we talked, made some short term plans, laughed a little and then some “what if” and longer term scenarios. We know this round will be a much more difficult battle.

Still all day the sobering news kept running through my mind.

I have known him for 24 years. I saw his kids grow up and have kids. I saw wife one and current wife two. He is the one who talked me into going to St Croix the first time.

Situations like this cause me to pause and take a look at life and how fragile and quick our visit here is.

I Need Fresh Air

I like my air moving. Anywhere I am there you’ll find a fan nearby. I sleep with a ceiling fan. I don’t mind being hot but I can’t stand to be stuffy.

That’ll do.

wReggie’s wRoasted Chicken

I was chatting with a blogger colleague yesterday and the subject of roasted chicken came up. He does some fantastic looking chicken on his out door cooking contraption. I do fantastic roast chicken on my grill. But I also do some mighty fine chicken in a roaster.

So with roasted chicken on the brain I went to the store to procure a bird and noticed that an organic whole chicken is selling for $17. I personally have 11 head of chicken so that is another $187 that will get added to my net worth statement next time I’m at the bank.

The chicken I purchased was a factory chicken for $6.44. Since it was sleeting outside I opted for the roaster in the warm in doors.

I washed the chicken and added the seven secret ingredients. I toss in the giblets cause they are so damn good. I could have saved the parts for a gizzard transplant but decided my chickens are healthy now and didn’t need any spare parts.

Then I covered the chicken and put it in a 350 oven and poured a glass of wine...for me, not the chicken.

Yes that roaster looks dirty but it’s not. It has cooked decades of chickens and those brown spots just won’t scrub out.

The waiting begins....heavenly aromas drift in the living room.

21/2 hours later and it is falling off the bone. Oh sweet Melissa!

Diving in Winter

Vladimir wReggie’s return from Soyuz 65? No.

Yesterday was December 3 and it was 27 degrees when I woke up... and I went scuba diving in the quarry.

How I did it and not die?

Remember the dry suit I said I wanted? Well I finally sprung for it and it arrived yesterday. A dry suit allows one to dive and stay dry.

I met my dive buddy at the quarry at 9AM. The air had warmed to the low 30’s. The surface temperature of the water was 60 and it went down from there. At the bottom is a constant 45 year around.

A dry suit has built in boots to size and rubber seals around each arm hole and the neck. One climbs in through the front zipper, gets the feet settled, then the arms through the holes and then the head. Then each seal is inspected to make sure everything is seated.

In the suit I wore two pairs of heavy socks, long underwear, a long sleeve tee shirt and a sweat shirt and sweat pants.

Lastly the whole thing is zipped up with a waterproof zipper and the rest hooking up a pressure hose and then the usual stuff.

I went in the water and was amazed to realize it actually worked. As I got deeper the water would squeeze on the suit and I would allow bursts of air in to push back. This is a bit tricky and will take some practice. The way to exit air is through a valve on my left shoulder. So I had to keep my body aligned so that the left shoulder was the high point when I wanted to bleed off some air.

The hood is not the proper hood for the suit so that will have to be changed but otherwise I am very happy to be able to dive now in cold water up to freezing with as much clothing as I need to stay warm.

WARNING - Side effects may include: gas with oily discharge, headache or diarrhea.

2 Thangs Before the Blog

When one live lives in rural NC a firm appointment is before dinner (lunch) or after dinner. It is then assumed that 4 hours either way of noon is on time.

All the women broke out their leather boots yesterday. I swear some I saw are going to have a vacuum lock when they try and pull those boots off.

And now on to our regular blog already in progress....

Haley was barking loudly this morning around 3 AM. I got up to comfort her and asked her to stop barking.

At 3:30 AM the barking continued. I got up and rebuked her. Surely this will work... after all the governor of SC was rebuked and all is well now..

No, at 4 AM the barking continued and I got up and gathered the pack and called for a formal censure. Rarely have we called for a censure.

The last time we had a censure was 1998 when Peaches uprooted the Hibiscus and shook the root ball flinging soil all over the house.

I hate to be this severe and harsh but by golly if Congress can deal out this kind of punishment every 20 years then I should too.

The house is quiet now.

WARNING - Side effects may include: gas with oily discharge, headache or diarrhea.

It is Winter

Dang...out of nowhere it is winter. The trees are stripped naked and it is cold all the time.

I guess it is time to do what I do in the winter.

It came through rather dramatically and I like that. It rained, got windy and picked the trees clean then left us with calm cold.

What was it that I do in the winter?

So cold that the coop heater came on in the hen house.

It is time to buy that snuggy I tells ya.

WARNING - Side effects may include: gas with oily discharge, headache or diarrhea.

The Homeless

I read an article the other day that in many circles local governments consider people who live in RVs homeless and therefore undesirable.

People who live on boats are treated as eccentric, if not well to do free spirits.

Folks within the cabin doors they are the same people. One is a floating RV and the other being a dirt boat. Both are self contained living quarters.

How they choose to remain mobile is different with its own set of challenges.

So buy a half million dollar RV and you are trash. Buy a half million dollar boat and you are caviller and living life to the fullest.

Makes perfect sense.

WARNING - Side effects may include: gas with oily discharge, headache or diarrhea.

2010 Vacation Recap

I started to write this morning to defend myself on the amount of leisure time I take.

You see the book by Tim Ferris, The Four Hour Work Week, tries to do what I already do but my way is better.

I prefer to work in long spurts then take a week or so completely off. Tim professes that one should derive income some way passively, adjust your lifestyle to that income, and then enjoy.

Fortunately I don’t just work to sustain myself, I do a job I love. And I love my time off. What could be better...all the while I never shun my responsibilities of saving for retirement, health care, taxes, giving etc.

So let me recap a year in wReggie terms, February a week in St Croix, March 5 days in Las Vegas, April 6 days at The Masters, May 7 days in St Croix, July 10 days at Jekyll Island, GA, September 7 days in St Croix, October 14 days in Jekyll Island, GA, December 4 days in Banner Elk, NC, December 4 days in West Plam Beach, FL.

None of these vacations were comped and I paid for them all. All were taken inexpensively except for the annual Feb Trip to St Croix where we tend to live it up more on air fare and lodging.

Who would want to retire from a job they love and a lifestyle others dream about?

HOME WORK ASSIGNMENT - copy and paste the following into Google Translator: pv zk pv pv zk pv zk kz zk pv pv pv zk pv zk zk pzk pzk pvzkpkzvpvzk kkkkkk bsch . Then set the translator to German to German. Then listen.

WARNING - Side effects of this blog may include: gas with oily discharge, headache or diarrhea.

A Pizza Induced Dream.....

I dreamed I was dropped hanged for a crime that I did not remember. It was efficient and painless.

I did remain in a state of awareness after I died and literally got up and walked around. Some people could see me and others couldn't. I could see some folks that were hidden from the living.

Everything was free now. I could eat meals and tab was on someone else. I stayed in hotels for free.

But I was alone and lonely.

I woke up very thirsty and remembered that I ate anchovy pizza before bed.

WARNING - Side effects may include: gas with oily discharge, headache or diarrhea.

The Holiday

There have been a couple of highlights over this long holiday weekend.

First Gigi and I celebrated 31 years of marriage Wednesday. I bought some nice champagne and we enjoyed the bottle in front of a fire after dinner out.

Then Thanksgiving Day I picked up the father in law from assisted living. He sat on the sofa and did what he does at the assisted living facility and work cross word puzzles.

My sister in law fixed some wonderful grazing food including a variety of stinky cheese.

My mother in law armed with the rumor that her ex now may be wearing adult diapers started swearing that the father in law had shit his pants. She walked around the room sniffing the air and settled on a spot between the FIL and the freshly cut cheese. I asked her to sniff the cheese and she settled down.

This blog is going paperless. All content is electronic and you should feel good! I might go and could my curly bulbs now.

Water?

Like most folks I am drawn to water. Since I don’t live on water front property I have decided to explore the possibility of creating waterfront property right here at my home.

The house sits on a hill with the lower ⅓ acre down the hill with access to a creek. This lower ⅓ acre could make a stunning landscape addition. Ideally It would make a beautiful black water pond. I assume it would turn black in a few years from all the acid in decaying leaves.

Even more beautiful would be to reroute the driveway to bring guests around this pond.

It’ all a matter of money now. I have three contractors and hope to get bids soon.

This blog is going paperless. All content is electronic and you should feel good! I might go and could my curly bulbs now.

Recovery Missions

I have been asked to lead 4 recovery missions underwater.

Two are anchor recoveries from two different lakes. An anchor with chain and all the rigging gets expensive.

Another is a golf bag recovery at out club from a pond. The bag was on a push cart with an umbrella when the wind kicked up and took it to the middle of the pond. He wants me to wait until after the insurance pays before I recovery it.

The last recovery mission is most intriguing. About 5 years ago my brother in law was repairing a 30 foot cruiser when it caught fire and sunk in 60 feet of water. The boat rests in a fresh water mountain lake.

Our mission is to recover tools and a sealed bottle of Grey Goose Vodka on board.

Once I get my dry suit in and a few dives on it then I’ll be ready to tackle these cold water dives.

NEW- North Carolina is dead to me.

My State is a Very....

The State of North Carolina can kindly kiss my ass.

Today the former Governor is working out a plea deal to avoid prison while the former house speaker is doing hard time. The state government is crooked as a dog’s hind leg. But I knew that.

The coast and especially the Outer Banks are covered in mosquitoes and storms. It is cold and rainy in the winter and dreadfully hot in the summer and there are hurricanes. The waters are treturous hence, The Graveyard of the Atlantic as her waters are known by.

The mountains are cold and rainy.

The middle of the state is orange clay and looks like anywhere else in the lower 48. Nothing special, a McDonalds, Home Depot, a closed box store, interstate highways and trees.

Income and sales taxes are way too high.

But NC has been home for 54 years. But still NC….kiss my ass.

This blog is going paperless. All content is electronic and you should feel good! I might go and could my curly bulbs now.

NFL

So this is how it feels to be a dyed in the wool fan of the worst team in the NFL. I will take encouragement knowing that we have the number one draft pick (if Fox didn’t trade it away) and the knowledge that we will not linger here season after season like perennial losers Detroit, San Francisco and Oakland.

Plus we will have a new coach, staff, labor agreement and perhaps a whole year off for all the bodies to heal if we don’t get a labor agreement right away.

By golly…we will be Superbowl champs in 2013!

This blog is going paperless. All content is electronic and you should feel good! I might go and could my curly bulbs now.

I Miss First Grade Sometimes

Just for you children of the 1960’s when your elementary school teacher would make a seasonal themed bulletin board. I always liked the gaudy thanksgiving cutouts and especially the corn.

Throw in a pumpkin, apple, a few leaves and a nasty box and you got memory lane.

Yes sir.

This blog is going paperless. All content is electronic and you should feel good! I might go and could my curly bulbs now.

Thursday Sermon

I have friends that temper their life with a coating of general misery as to imply that one must be miserable to be alive and one should only be happy when deserving and the proper amount of personal suffering has been attained.

Personally I prefer uplifting people…people whose temper rarely shows.

Life will deliver its portion of misery without you creating your own.

People will disappoint you and you yourself will disappoint others. There are many gray areas in life.

Please don’t fall into the trap of creating misery. You alone are responsible for your mood either good or bad. You have that power. Use it for good.

End of Sermon.

This blog is going paperless. All content is electronic and you should feel good! I might go and could my curly bulbs now.

I'm Always Mentally on Vacation

Bugs Under My Rock

Family

Cloud Juice

I love Winter

The Christmas Package

Compuserve

A Cultural Moment

My Pick Up

Miracles Do Happen

A Dive Anyone?

The Bounty

A Day on the Road

Old and New is Much The Same

Sobering News

I Need Fresh Air

wReggie’s wRoasted Chicken

Diving in Winter

2 Thangs Before the Blog

It is Winter

The Homeless

2010 Vacation Recap

A Pizza Induced Dream.....

The Holiday

Water?

Recovery Missions

My State is a Very....

NFL

I Miss First Grade Sometimes

Thursday Sermon

About Me

Archive

The man...wReggie