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So Much To Do...So Little Time
3/2/00
Blaine Parks
The number of things to do seems to grow
exponentially as our departure time draws nearer. As I write this, I have
56 days, 8 hours, 49 minutes, and 55 seconds left to go before giving up
my job. I’ll still be on the payroll (on vacation) for another 5-6 weeks
after that. But trust me, I don’t think it will be much of a vacation.
Janet has decided on an early June date for her retirement. That will keep
the money rolling in right up to the last moment. I think she has seen our
"to-do" list and opted to let me work on it. Very smart lady!
The boat projects are coming
along nicely. We’ve finished the swim platform. It will be mounted when
we haul the boat in April for some final bottom prep and inspection. Kudo’s
to Janet’s father who pulled off a great job with the swim platform’s
decking (Thanks Al!). The decking is made from the plastic starboard
material which matches the color of our boat. We’re very pleased with
the look and happy to have such a maintenance-free item on the boat. Boats
don’t have many maintenance-free items.
We are also in the middle of
having a stainless steel radar arch built. We found a local metalwork
person who has done a tremendous job for us. We’d recommend him to
others but I’m not sure he’d take the work. He almost turned us down.
He’s trying to stay away from the "yachtie" type of work
because us boat owners can be real arses to work with. We’ve been
perfect customers, of course. He and his partner have created a remarkable
product to meet our needs. If you need a high-quality stainless
fabricator, let me know. We know just the person for you – as long as
you don’t act like an arse!
The boat projects will never end,
but the bigger ones are drawing to a close. Installing the radar, wind
generator, solar panel, swim platform, and changing our inverter to a
charger/inverter will take care of the "have-to-do" boat list
items. Those should be complete by mid-April with the haul-out. After
that, we can piddle with the other projects as we find the time.
It’s the list of other
projects that is driving us nuts right now. Getting the house ready to
sell. Arranging for our insurance and banking needs. Dividing our
belongings up and scheduling HUGE yard sales. Working on our investment
strategies. How will we access & track our stock portfolio? When will
we find time to update legal documents such as our will and a power of
attorney? How will we forward our mail? How will we get along without our
jobs? Oops, nevermind. That won’t be a problem!
We also have some medical
tasks to accomplish. I just had four perfectly functional wisdom teeth
removed as a preventative measure. In fact, I’m still swollen from the
jackhammer that was used to remove them. We also want a good physical for
both of us, not to mention some quality time with our doctor to discuss
which prescriptions to carry in our medical kits. And lastly, my lovely
bride – our Admiral, has decided to have the LASIK procedure on both of
her eyes. She’s blind without her contacts and the thought of having
them washed out of her eyes in heavy weather is not a scenario we’d like
to deal with. Her first consultation is in late March. She’s promised to
do a follow-up article on the visits, the surgery, and the results for
anyone interested.
Well, time to run. Our
"to-do" list isn’t getting any shorter and time refuses to
slow down. We’ll let you know how things go. |
