Promise Ship's (b)Log

Bill Clinton and Other Liars

2005-11-03T20:03:00.000-04:00

Leave it to Bill Clinton to make political hay out of the death of civil rights activist Rosa Parks.

Bubba is now claiming that Rosa Parks was an inspiration to him. Supposedly, when he heard that Rosa Parks had refused to sit in the back of the bus, he started refusing to sit in the front of the bus.

Yeah, right, like Slick Willie ever rode a bus or any other kind of public transportation! He must have meant he refused to sit in the front of the limousine while on his way to classes at Oxford.

And speaking of liars....

Is it just me or does "Scooter" Libby sound like a character straight out of Atlas Shrugged?

Hurray, White Sox!

2005-10-27T19:33:00.000-04:00

Finally, my team comes through. Chicago White Sox, winners of the 101st World Series of Major League Baseball!

Too, too bad Cubs fans. :+((

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

Introducing, Karen!

2005-09-22T02:13:00.000-04:00

Karen is my best, oldest and closest friend. We worked together at another very crazy employment situation long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away.

I'm writing about her because she paid a visit to my little blog today and then emailed me asking me to write about her. *chuckle*

Gladly!

Karen is really a wonderful woman. She is probably the nicest person I've ever known, and she also happens to be the one truly good friend of mine who has stuck beside me through thick and thin. And vice-versa, too. I don't know what we'd do without each other.

She has a beautiful daughter named Gabriele whom I've never actually met in person because we now live so far apart. I'm not even sure how old Gabriele is. Maybe Karen will chime in and let us know.

Here's a picture:

I'm so glad the internet allows us to stay in touch!

Fair Winds/Blue Skies.

Tragedy and Triumph

2005-09-11T16:44:00.000-04:00

Today is the fourth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States. It was the worst failure of Big-Government to protect us since 1941.

And what was the response? Yet bigger government, more intrusive government, costlier government. We were promised that the government was now ready for any emergency.

And what were the results? Are we safer, more secure now? Obviously not.

The destruction and chaos caused by Hurricane Katrina showed, quite glaringly, that Big-Government is completely unprepared for any civil emergency. Amidst the governmental inaction, all we see is finger-pointing and blame-passing. And all the would-be terrorists out there can now see where our weaknesses are -- all they have to do is figure out how to exploit them. They will.

Meanwhile, private organizations and individuals from all over the country have stepped up to take on the daunting task of helping perhaps hundreds of thousands of people who've lost homes, livelihoods, even families. (For details on how various individuals are making a difference, go here.) This generosity and willingness to help those less-fortunate is one hallmark of the American Spirit. On this anniversary of national tragedy, let's not forget that. Let's not let the terrorists, and Big-Government, win.

Fair Winds & Blue Skies to all.

Just a Thought

2005-09-10T16:56:00.000-04:00

Why doesn't the state of Illinois change it's official motto from,

"The Land of Lincoln"

to

"The Land of Lost Opportunity"?

It would be more fitting and more honest.

Deaf and Disabled Dogs

2005-08-07T01:21:00.000-04:00

Tonight I was visiting the Deaf Dogs Atlas web site to update Shep's information there. I was stunned to see a little Australian Shepherd puppy there from Virginia named Stevie. Stevie looks almost exactly like Shep at that age (about 4 months, I'd guess from the photo), from the pink on his nose all the way down to the blue spots on his rump! I couldn't believe it.

Stevie

But seeing these deaf dogs made me want to post a message here to encourage you to seek out and adopt, or at least help find a loving home for, deaf and disabled pets. Many people think that disabled animals can't possibly be happy, because they believe, mistakenly, that since they themselves wouldn't be happy in such a condition, then a dog or cat certainly couldn't be. It's better to put them out of their misery, they say. How wrong they are!!! I am so glad I gave Shep a chance at a good, happy life in a loving home. Yes, he was deaf and vision-impaired, but he was very happy and his happiness was contagious to all those who met him. I'm sorry he died before his time, but he and I had 11 great years together that some would have denied us!

Please visit the Deaf Dog Education Action Fund to learn more about deaf dogs and how they CAN be trained. Like Shep, most learn sign language or hand gestures. While you're there you may even see a deaf dog that you'd like to adopt. If so, please do.

Xena: Requires Urgent Adoption

I'd also like to encourage you to visit Special Needs Pets to find a pet that needs you to adopt it. There are many pets there waiting just for you. Maybe you'll find a new first mate.

Diamond: Paralyzed

Thank you.

Worldwide Weather Page

2005-07-30T14:06:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Promise's NEW AND IMPROVED Worldwide Weather Page! Now bigger, now better, now truly worldwide!

Please patronize the sponsor of the Weather Page:

Current conditions on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands:

To find out if there are any weather watches or warnings posted for your area, or any state in the U.S., go to the

Weather Warnings Map

For marine weather information, forecasts, and links to other weather-related sites, visit

Weather.org

For worldwide oceanic conditions and marine weather, visit

Weather Underground

For current ocean data including wave heights, wind strength and direction, and water surface temperature, anywhere in the world, check out

OceanWeather.com

And from NOAA,

Ocean Prediction Center

For current conditions and weather forecasts, you can visit the following sites:

Accuweather:

Intellicast:

And don't forget WeatherMatrix:

By clicking on the images below, you can see current satellite photos for each respective world region:

Continental United States

Canada

Gulf of Mexico

Caribbean

Eastern Pacific Ocean

Europe

Australia & New Zealand

Asia

Middle East

Northern South America

Central South America

Southern South America

Northern Africa

Southern Africa

Fair Winds & Blue Skies!

How You Can Help

2005-07-26T18:12:00.000-04:00

Promise is finally afloat once again, but unfortunately, the skipper's health has taken a sudden and debilitating turn. He has no insurance and his medical bills are piling up.

There are several ways in which you can show your support.

First, you can make a donation by clicking on either the Pay Pal button or Amazon Honor Box below, as you prefer, and using your credit card or Pay Pal account:

If you prefer to make a purchase, you can click on the following banner link to go to iGive.com where you'll find your favorite on-line stores selling all of their best products. A small percentage of your purchase will go towards Don's medical bills, and it won't cost you anything extra:

If you want to purchase books, there's only one place you need to go:

Lastly, you can help by buying directly from our on-line store:

Promise and her crew thank you for your support.

Fair Winds and Blue Skies.

My Struggles With The Workbench

2005-07-06T15:27:00.000-04:00

April 13, 2005.

As mentioned elsewhere, Promise is currently stored on the hard in the boatyard on Virgin Gorda. Unfortunately, the boatyard is no longer in charge of any work your boat might need. You either have to find someone to do the work yourself, or rely on a particular organization which contracts with the boatyard to do work there. This organization is The Workbench. Promise was stored in the boatyard when I went down to the BVIs to check her out in April, 2003. She needed work, but I figured I could do a lot of the work myself and have the folks at The Workbench do the major stuff. Everyone assured me they do excellent work -- maybe they do, but the hard part is getting them to actually get started. I talked with the owner on the phone once in May before I bought the boat, as I wanted to know if he could examine the motor, which was out of the boat and needed some work, complete any needed repairs and install the motor. He assured me he would be happy to do so. After buying the boat in July 2003, I attempted to contact The Workbench numerous times by phone and email, but none of my messages were returned, so in September I sent them a 2 page letter detailing the work I wished done, and asking them to contact me. I received no response. In November, the broker I bought the boat through made a trip to the BVI and he offered to check in and see how the work was going. He was shocked to discover that they hadn't even started yet. He talked with the office manager who told him that they had indeed received my letter (she even showed it to him), and they were just about to contact me to schedule the work. In fact, he was told, as soon as she was done talking with him she was going to go right in and email me. I never received this email. When the broker returned, he phoned me to tell me what he'd discovered. He was not surprised to find I had received no email, and he suggested that I email them. I did this, but again, received no response. In January, 2004, I emailed a person at the boatyard and asked her to light a fire under the people at The Workbench. This person was also told I would be contacted immediately -- again I was not contacted. Desperate, I emailed The Workbench in April and told them that I assumed the problem was that they either could not do or did not want to do the work and, if I did not hear from them by the end of the week, I would start looking for someone else to do the job. I received a response immediately. It was full of ambiguous BS about the difficulties inherent in the job and various excuses (for example, they claimed they were waiting for the previous owner to deliver the motor -- he claimed he was waiting for them to pick it up -- they both work in the same boatyard, but The Workbench never made arrangements for pickup or delivery). I replied to this email asking several questions, trying to get some information, but my questions were never answered, so I then started actively trying to find someone else to complete the work on my boat. (I also discovered that they were telling people that they had heard nothing from me!!!) This apparently got back to The Workbench as, out of the blue, one day in May I received an email from them saying they'd completed the inspection of the motor and (such a surprise) it needed work, which they apparently couldn't or wouldn't do, don't know which, so they found a local fellow who repairs motors on the side who would do the work for me. At this point, summer of 2004, the slow time of year, The Workbench actually did finally get some work done on the boat, and I started to relax.

Then a new problem developed. For whatever reason, Promise has no cockpit sole. I've been trying to get The Workbench to install a new one since the beginning. I let them know that I wanted it installed as soon as the engine was ready. I didn't want it to get ruined by rain. Well, they put everything off so long that once the rainy season started the hull kept filling up with water. They gave me a choice of putting in a pump or installing garboard drains. Garboard drains are plugs in the hull that can be removed to let water out. Of course, if they fail, they'll let water in as well. Well, my view is that I don't want any more holes in the hull than is absolutey necessary, and besides I could always use a pump, so I told them to put in the pump and asked a few questions about it. My questions were not answered; however, 2 weeks later I received another email stating that they hadn't installed the pump, and asking me to reconsider the garboard drains--in fact, they insisted on putting them in. Meanwhile, Promise had been filling with water regularly for the entire 2 weeks. So I finally gave in and OKed the drains.

They contacted me later about additional work that was needed, new standing rigging, and I asked them to send me cost estimates...which I never received. After numerous attempts to contact them, I finally received an email from The Workbench saying they would be happy to finish the work, but it was charter season now and there would be a bit of a delay while they concentrated on the multi-million dollar charter boats. They said they would get back to me in about a month. This was in September, 2004. I have had no further messages from them. I sent them 2 emails in December and another in January 2005, but have received no response from them at all. I have no idea what work has been done or how much money I owe. In fact, one of the last emails I sent to The Workbench included a request to let me know if I owed them any money -- I have not received a reply, so I'm assuming I owe them nothing!!! Should be interesting when I go down to pick up the boat.

I've come to realize that if I want any work to get done on Promise I'm either going to have to do it myself or at least arrange it in person. Thus, I have decided that no matter what I'll be relocating to the Virgin Islands this summer so that I can get this work done. And what's the moral of the story? Well, that's for you to judge. But, if you happen to find yourself on Virgin Gorda and your boat needs repairs, you'd better be pretty handy or pretty rich, because only then will the work get done.

P.S.: And those garboard drains they insisted I install last summer? They have not yet been installed.

Why She's Named Promise

2005-07-06T15:20:00.000-04:00

April 12--

A little background on why I named the boat Promise. Well, she represents just that, a promise -- one I made to my best friend. His name was Shep. You may have seen him listed as First Mate Emeritus under Ship's Info. Shep was an Australian Shepherd and the love of my life. He and I were "best friends, bosom buddies and life-long pals", as Fred and Barney used to say. Shep was a very special dog -- he was born on St. Valentine's Day and everyone who saw him fell instantly in love with him. I'll get a photo up as soon as I can and maybe you'll see what I mean. Unfortunately, he had a bad birth defect, the result of an accidental merle-merle cross. If you know anything about breeding dogs, you'll know why that's bad. (If you don't know anything about breeding dogs, let me just tell you, that's bad!) Anyway, he was born with what is known among Aussie breeders as "ocular dysgenesis complex". What that means is he had multiple problems with his eyes, he was blind in the right and couldn't see out of the left and, to make matters worse, he was deaf as well. I was the only one who believed he deserved a chance at a happy life, so he became my constant companion. Maybe it was his physical problems that gave him his outlook on life, maybe it was St. Valentine, I don't know, but he was the sweetest, happiest dog I've ever known with a unique personality all his own. But I digress. The point is, I made several promises to him over the years, and I managed to keep all but one.

You see, Shep loved the sea. He loved being on boats or even just near boats. He could stand on a dock for hours facing into the wind, sniffing the sea breeze. Well, we'd both do that. And I promised him that one day we'd have a boat all our own and we'd go sailing 'round the world and find out what that odor was he was smelling and find where it was coming from. But time goes by, and life was rough for us. I had a hard time finding good work and just as I'd get some money saved up something would break or something would go wrong somewhere and just like that the money was gone. But we got by and Shep was happy.

Then on St. Valentine's Day of 2001, his 11th birthday, Shep went into a seizure that wouldn't stop. I took him to the veterinarian who gave him some medication to knock him out and stop the seizure. Despite his physical problems, Shep had enjoyed good health most of his life, although recently he'd developed diabetes. That probably complicated things. He spent a few days in the hospital and had a bunch of tests before he finally came home. He seemed exhausted and for the first time in his life looked old. After a few weeks, he seemed to improve, but then he suddenly developed diarrhea -- a problem with his medications. Back to the vet for more tests. He became weak, and I had to carry him up and down a flight of stairs 3 times a day so he could go outside and do his business. The diarrhea went away after a few weeks, but then one night he started vomiting, and it was obvious he was in pain. This time it was a trip to the emergency vet. Numerous x-rays and tests later, he was diagnosed with a bad gall-bladder. More medicines. He was getting weaker. He could only stand up with my help and I had to continue carrying him outside. I was missing work because I'd rather stay with him. He was still alert, though. Fetch was one of his favorite games. He could barely stand now, let alone chase the ball, but one night we had a fun game of fetch -- Shep laying on his side on the floor and me sitting a few feet away. I would roll the ball towards him so that it would stop just next to his nose. He would watch it for just a moment, as if it might suddenly roll away, then reach out and grab the ball. He'd chew it vigourously for a few seconds, then spit it out right back to me. But he got tired after about 30 minutes. He got tired easily at this time.

After a few more weeks and a few more problems, and to make a long and painful story shorter, Shep came looking for me one day. Something was wrong, and he knew it. I looked at him and he was cyanotic -- completely blue -- he wasn't getting any oxygen. Another trip to the hospital and more tests. He spent the whole day there, but I finally took him home. All he wanted to do was lay in the grass; Shep loved the outdoors. Eventually, I put him inside -- I had work to do and I needed to know he was safe in the house. Later, when I went inside to give him his nightly meds, he was gone. He had laid down and died.

I have always regretted not having the opportunity to take Shep sailing on our own boat, but I haven't forgotten the promise I made to my little buddy. I sold the house, a house I'd bought just for him so he'd feel more comfortable, and used the proceeds to buy a little boat and fulfill a little promise. A promise to my best friend...

A boat named Promise.