They say.....

... a sailor's happiest day when he buys a boat and when he sells a boat. We have found that not to be true. We have had great days on our Ericson. We were sad to se her go. But we are happy to welcome our new Catalina 36 and are looking forward to new adventures.

Yes we bought a new boat. Well not new but new to us. Yes that's it in the picture. No I'm not kidding. It's being fitted out ( almost like a new boat ), with a/c and some other stuff. We'll have it sometime next month. We have to drop off the Ericson in New Jersey ( stay tuned that sounds like an adventure ).

The Happiness Lecture

Marilyn and I went out to see The Happiness Lecture at the Philadelphia Theater Co. It was comedy about .... well I'm not sure. It had clowns, puppets, Asian theater and the occasional massacare. By far the best production I've seen at this new theater.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to Marilyn's Mom! Her birthday was this weekend and it was great that the whole country stopped and celebrated!

Memorial Day

Memorial day weekend Marilyn and I went down to the boat. The shifter cable is not fixed so we stayed at the slip. We put on the sails and cleaned out the inside. It really needed a good cleaning. We also varnished all the teak. We still have a few more coats of varninsh to go yet.

We saw Bill and Pat Rock zip by on their tandem as we out for a walk. They were so shocked to see us they had to stop and make sure. Nice new yellow and black tandem guys!

When we came home we threw a few burgers on the barbie.

In the water

The marina splashed our boat into the water yesterday. The new engine has roared to life and the boat is now in the slip. But the shifter is still not working well and they are getting a new shift cable. We'll be able to go down this weekend but we won't be able to take it out. It needs a good cleaning and we have to set up the sails and varnish anyway.

Roof Leak!

Looked up in the living room and found a little brown stain. Oh Crud..... A roof leak. Gave a call to Bill Rock and he came right out and fixed it! Turns out it was the guys who installed the windows stepped on a vent. Took him about 10 minutes to keep us dry.

It's a Hurricane

Got the latest helicopter kit put together. On Sunday tried to start it up in the driveway to see if it was all working as expected. Everything worked except for the motor. It would not turn the main rotor. I took it to the basement to check it out and I found a bad solder joint. Fixed it and ..... It was raining. I'll try another day.

Bottom Paint

We painted the bottom today. Not our best job but it is done and ready to splash! New engine and rerigged stairs and bildge pump we are ready. The boat yard still has a few items. Exhaust system, shift cable, hour meter, and start the new engine. Memorial day weekend we'll spend getting things in order and cleaned up. Sailing season has begun.

Computer Updating

One of Mike's guys was having trouble updating a old computer over at the shop. Seems that updating Windows can be a real pain in the .....hard disk. He got it all snotted up and it took a few days to get back in order.

Not what we expected

Marilyn, Meg, and I had tickets to a comedy at the 1812 productions. So we all were looking forward to a dinner and mojitos at Cafe Habanna. Well... Cafe Habanna is now closed. So we ended having dinner at La Fontanna. Great dinner, but I was looking forward to the mojitos! The show Beautiful Boy we thought to be a comedy. Well.... It was a developmental play about an actor with an autistic child. Not a comedy. Good play though. Just not what we were expecting.

Movies

We went out to see Iron Man over the weekend. It's another great movie ripped form the comic books. I'm just glad the Comics Code didn't kill all the great charaters in the 50's. Not the most intellectual movie but just plain fun.

Tomatoes!!!!

Nice day today so I roto tilled the garden and Marilyn planted this year's crop of tomatoes. We put down newspaper and straw to prevent weeds from invading the garden. Herbs and lettuce is next to be added to the garden.

Hot Dog!

The new grill arrived. So we had some hot dogs for lunch. ( Any one remember where we parked the weiner mobile ?!? ) The Weber has been great and should last a long time.

Saving Gas

You gotta love Oscar Mayer for trading in their foot long SUV of a weinermobile for this. A cocktail weiner sized Mini. They can still hot dog around town on less gas and more gape. It cuts the mustard environmentally at 31 mpg. Smaller dogs also take less time on the grill!

Oh I wish I had an Oscar Mayer mini weiner!

Heli Modifications.

The heli collection is now down 4. One crashed and is not worth fixing any more. One is just a toy. One ( pictured ) is lightweight and for flying in the living room. One is the TREX that I just fixed from the last crash and I have been flying in the back yard. Lastly, the Hurricane the biggest one so far with a rotor span of 4 feet is still being built. The little black one is also being rehabed. I got some parts from a place in Hong Kong, ( you gotta love globalization and the internet ) that I'm putting on to it. I'll be finished with the modifications in a few days.

Weekend

Not much happening this weekend. I was trying to stay in the house as my allergies are killing me. Marilyn spent much time planting herbs and flowers in the garden and working in her sewing room. I stayed in the basement building a new heli. The bbq grill did not show up this weekend. Have to call to see where it ended up. Next weekend we have to get the boat painted and ready for the water. Also, I have to get the motorcycle running as gas prices are killing us. $50 to fill my little Acura Yikes!!

Podcast from the Phillies Game

Marilyn and I went to the Phillies game on Wedensday night. We went with the PRSA group and got to tour the press box and we got onto the field during batting practice. The had a pre game dinner and great seat behind home plate. The Phils played the San Diego Padres. It was cool for a baseball game night and we only stayed to the 7th inning. It was a great event too bad the Phils lost. Created a podcast at the Phillies game click here.

New Gas Grill

A few weeks ago we tossed out the rusty wreck of a gas grill. I finally ordered a new one. A nice shinny Weber gas grill is being delivered to out backyard by Ambler Fireplace.

Garden Notes

Marilyn spent last weekend planting flowers. She had a winfall too as she won a gift certificate from Home Depot at the flower show. The front and side garden are looking up already!