TIRED OF VACATION

I have dined with wonderful friends on the porch of a great Greek Restaurant while digging through the remains of a great shop where I used to work - right here in Kemah - called
Tropical Express. The smaller store on 6th St is still in business but the Bradford Avenue store was totally destroyed.

I have taken beautiful pictures from the balcony of the condo, early in the morning after the heavy dew.

I have been in Montgomery, AL twice - had a teriffic time; in Panama City Beach, FL for eight days - had a teriffic time there too. Went to a boat show. Ate at Margaritaville twice (and bought a shirt of course). My condo host - cousin John - was very gracious, especially since he was trying to get the condo remodeled and being put off by one person (the contractor) or another (me).

I have relaxed at the home's of cousins Bill and John in Killen and Montgomery, AL.; lounging in front of a beautiful fireplace and in the warmth of a tropical setting on the 18th green of Bay Point Golf Club. Enjoyed entertaining company, succulent food, wonderful places visited; downtown historic Montgomery, a Sail Club, a Boat Show, a Corvette Show, a live musical performance at an newly formed theater in Florence, AL; and outing in the country with 5 cousins - how could one ask for more? Bill lives in Killen on the banks of the beautiful TN river; with two kayaks, a boat house and deck on the water and a great deck on the back of the house overlooking the water.

I am currently in Indianapolis at my son Mike's house (for the past almost two weeks) - it is Mike who has made my home (the 37 ft Irwin I live on) a wonderful place to live. I haven't been to Mike's in almost three years and it is great seeing all the changes he has made to his home; tile floors, new cabinets, new woodworking, sink fixtures all around, remodeled bath; a brand new house you might say. So why am I not living in my newly remodeled boat? IKE - that is the reason. We still don't have any electricity at the marina. The office is even running on a generator. And the restroom/showers are not ready, and the place is still a mess. So here I am still on the road.

I am planning to leave Indianapolis on Wednesday morning (11/12/08) by way of Nashville where I will stop to visit a dear friend and head on home Thrusday and Friday. I am getting homesick.

Evacuation - I call it Vacation

This is the mess I left in Kemah - both across the street, at the marina and all over Kemah. What a big mess this is. No water or electricity at the Marina and no job to go to with the fences down and docks torn up; I think they call it 'laid off'. I put some clothes, the computer and other odds and ends in the car and took off for Montgomery, AL - where my cousin John has a beautiful home. Don't have pictures of it, but the other one is of the condo he has in Panama City Beach, FL - which is where I am now. The condo is about to under go some remodeling, so will be going back to Montgomery when that starts and then on up to North AL to John's brothers house who has a home on the TN river in Killen, AL. While I am there I will do some genealogy research for the family website, visit with family, do some kayaking on the river and generally enjoy myself. This has been a fun and exciting trip. As I was leaving the area, just north of Bay Town saw a man selling "I Survived Ike" tee shirts and just had to have one of those of course. Drove for about 8 hours and was somewhere just west of Gulfport, MS and stopped for the night. Not sure where, but at an Econolodge that was a really big mess, but I was too tired, after signing into a non smoking room that smelled like smoke, with lots of mold on the ceiling in the bathroom, and moldy stains on the carpet. Started to take all my stuff back to the car and go somewhere else and decided there were a lot more people in worse condition than I and stayed. UGH! I also got to spend about 1/2 and hour in stand still traffic along I-10 where it goes through the swamp. Never did figure out what the hold up was. Spent a couple of nights in Montgomery at John's, going out to eat and doing some shopping for the upgrades at the Montgomery house - he is just remodeling everywhere. The contractor called John; he couldn't get at the work on the condo until the next week, so I headed down here to Panama City Beach in FL. So nice and peaceful here on the 18th green at Bay Point. Went for a walk yesterday and found my next home - the Bay Point Marina. Have always liked it here in PCB and have decided to come and stay for a while. Even have a Parrot Head Club here, which I am looking forward to joining. Think I will take another walk over to the marina - it is so comfortable over there. I miss my boat. Hope everyone who experienced Ike is on the way to recovery.

Been a Wild Ride

Hurricane Ike, Sept 11, 2008

To the left is a dock walk between D and E docks at the marina, tosses up in the air, a part of a building blown under, so it could now set back down into the water. To the right is a small bongo drum left on the dock by the storm.
A hurricane is headed right for your marina – What do you do? Get out of Dodge, of course; so that is what I did. My friend Barbara Pusser called me a couple of days before and suggested that I come to her son’s house – in Magnolia, TX - with her, and it sounded like a really good idea to me. I had been to KC with all the kids for (on and off) 10 days, so was caught up there – sort of. I was debating about where to go – KC was too far away as I would want to get back to the boat ASAP. Riding out the storm aboard my boat did not sound like a very good idea. I got the boat all prepared – almost anyway – threw some odds and ends of clothes together and off we went on Thursday morning. The highways were already crowded with Ike evacuee's; being only 36 hours or so away. We went along at a speed varying between from 2 to 3 mph to 70 mph – arriving in Magnolia which is 73.5 miles away from Kemah, driving time about 1 hour and 35 minutes’ Ha! It took us five and a half hours of gritting out teeth, clutching the wheel, tensing our bodies, and swearing (under out breaths of course). Barb was in her friends SUV with the two Dalmatians which she is baby sitting and I was in my car, following her because I had no idea where we were going.

The Dalmatians were out of their regular element so of course they were extremely hard to handle. If it hadn’t been inhumane, we would have killed them. We would both be so glad to get them back home if the darned storm would just go away, the county clear the roads, the water recede and the gas stations would open (which they didn’t).

We went out to eat at Chili’s the night before the storm and Mark ordered a hamburger WITH NO ONIONS – repeated at least three times to the server. Onions came on the burger, but hidden inside where Mark couldn’t see them. He took about three big bites and that was it. The third one he got to the onions and he immediately got sick. What a night.

We left about noon on Monday to return to whatever mess we had incurred. I had been informed (by a dock mate and friend, Chuck, much to my relief) the boat was fine but I needed to see for myself. The boat was fine but the marina was upside down and backwards. The storm pictures will be at http://www.flickr.com/photos/scorpiomermaid/sets/ if you would care to see them.

Alas, when we got home, hoping to turn the Dalmatians loose in their own back yard to romp and play – wouldn’t you know two sides of the fence was down? We could have cried if it had put the fence back up. A generous parrot head friend, whom we now call Saint Chris, came to put up a temporary fence. Let me tell you – these parrot heads are all saints! They really know how to “come to the rescue”.

After the storm was over I realized there were two things I didn’t set on the floor that I probably should have. My ice maker, which sits on a “dresser top” as what I call it. There were no fiddles attached in that area – they were cut but have not been installed as we are not through refitting the cabins. That ice maker was sitting in the same position it was when I left it. I could just see it sitting on the floor, with a big hole in the floor, and all dented. I will forever wonder what kept it there through that storm that devastated the marina – but not the boats.

I have a medium sized container filled with pennies, nickels and dimes (I don’t save my quarters because I use them for laundry) which was also sitting on a shelf where the fiddle had not been replaced and I could just see the pennies, nickels, and dimes all over the salon and galley floors. Not the case at all. The container had slid forward and dropped down between the tow settee seats and was just sitting there, with the top still on.

I took some wet rugs out and hung them on the lifelines, which we usually don’t do in a marina, but this was an exception. Aired out the boat and it is fine – if I only had water and electricity. But that will come.

Last night Mark called his mom (Barb) to tell her how much he appreciated the Pedigree gourmet dog food she left for his CAT. And also to tell me how much he appreciated the French ONION dip I left in the frig for him. Oh, well. You have to leave something behind – I guess. At least I always do.

I have been very blessed through this storm and I know it was because of all the wonderful prayers everyone was saying for me. Thank you – family and friends. I love you all!

MY NEW LEXAN DOORS

WARNING WARNING
If you are looking for nice lexan work – cutting, finishing, and installing – for any kind of boat openings, don’t look to Bay Area Glass in Kemah, TX. I had them make two cabin entry lexan doors using the original teak doors for a pattern. I wanted ½ inch instead of 1 inch, (which is what the teak doors were) because of the weight - they said they could do that. They would use a small spacer where the doors slide in and finish the edges so they wouldn’t hurt your hands when picking them up. All right! I was going to get nice new hatch doors that looked nice, were easy to handle and let a lot of light in.

The windows came back with rather sharp edges – so I finished them so I wouldn’t cut my hands when handling the doors going in and out of the cabin. Darn - they said they would do that. Not one to take things back when I can do something about it, I sanded them smooth.

I wasn't paying attention I guess, but a neighbor pointed out that the laminate they used (teak laminate) for the spacers in the door openings to accommodate the difference in door thickness would not hold up in the rainy weather we have. I hadn't even noticed they were laminate. Then on top of that, when they glued the laminate spacers in place they used some kind of soft sealant instead of a strong 2 part mixture. The spacers are only sealed (or glued) through the middle of the 27 ½ inch long spacers, leaving them vulnerable to water from the top (and the bottom).

I will have to take the spacers out, cut some solid teak to fit and then use a West Marine two part mixture to glue them in place – but this should have been done in the first place. So, people, beware of Bay Area Glass - 826 Clear Lake Road - Kemah, TX 77565

Round and Round We Go

Let me introduce you to my three youngest "Keets"; they are Landry Satterfield, age 4 (to the left), Aidan, her brother to the left and Vickie McCormack (in the middle). Got to visit with them and get a years worth of hugs from them, to last me until next years trip to KC.

I left the Third Coast early Monday morning (Aug 25) on the way via SWA to KC where my son Dutch and his wife Jan picked me up at the airport. And it was non-stop for 10 days after that. After getting up at 4:00 that morning to get to the airport to catch my flight, we all went to Dutch's friends house for dinner and party until almost 2:00, so I did a little slowing down on Tuesday. Not a whole lot, but some. Went cruising around in Dutch's Roadster, seeing the changes in KC since I had been up there. That is always fun. Hot little go fast car he built - doesn't look very fast, but when he outruns the Vett's that want to race, it is big time fun. Wednesday and that night I was over at Jen and Chris' home in Lee's Summit for a family dinner. Spent the night and what did we do the next day? Took Aidan, Landry's 6 year old brother to school and us 'girls' went shopping. Had to buy a long sleeve light weight sweater. I was freezing up there. Back home Thursday evening to get ready for our trip to TN and AL for the family reunion. But that is another story.

Myspace Graphics

You'r Getting Older?

MySpace Countdown Clocks

So-So-So Excited

I have finally gotten started on a web site for my family genealogy. Have been struggling, learning (some) and chewing my nails (a lot), and pulling my hair out for some time now. It wasn't until I 'found' - was it really lost, or was I the one lost? - this great blogger spot with Google. Decided to try their premium web builder and off I am running; finally. Got to do some 'stuff' before I put the link to the web site here - but I will be adding it here soon. So, is there is anyone out there wondering what the Matthews Family is doing? There surely must be droves - I will have it up and running soon. In the mean time, let me introduce you to my four sons:

The pictures above - in order of their appearance - are:

Top left: Gordon McCormack, better know to all as Dutch, in the Roadster he built; right: Scott McCormack and his son Bobby. Bottom Left: Mike at Oshkosh, WS - at the airshow, standing beside a plane like the one he is building - in his garage; right is the youngest son, Doug McCormack and his daughter, Brittney at the Parthenon in Nashville, TN

What Does Your Music Say About You?

What Your Taste in Music Says About You

Your musical tastes are reflective and complex. You are intellectual to the point of being cerebral. You are very open to new experiences, and even more open to new ideas and theories. Wisdom and personal accomplishment are important to you. You are naturally sophisticated. You are drawn to art, especially art by independent artists. You are likely to be financially well off... and not because you were born that way.

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What's your pirate name

Your Pirate Name Is...

Lieutenant-Colonel Fanny La Bouche

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Going To Kansas City - Kansas City Here I Come

THE REASON FOR THE TRIP

Hey, Hey! This Scorpio is going to Kansas City. Back home, so to speak. Got my tickets and am all but on my way. I have 10 days to spend in KC and points south (AL and TN) visiting friends and relatives and going to the family reunion. Got kids, Grandkids, and Great Grandkids there. Son Dutch and his wife, Jan are going to TN to the reunion too, so the drive down together will be great. Do some kayaking while I'm down there, as cousin Bill has two. And if the sailfish is in working order, Dutch will probably do some sailing. Will have to check with Bill on all that. Haven't seen to KC since we had to evacuate the coast for Hurricane Rita - when was that? - three years ago? Going to do some geocaching in the Liberty area, and in the Killen, AL area (I hope), hone my skills a bit maybe. Hey, Hey - I'm on my way!

Geocachers in Phlocker Land

Any 'crazy in love with Geocaching people' out there? I am just getting started and am hopelessly, kind of lost in it all. I know there is a club in Houston but that is so FAR to drive. Anything of that sort going on in Clear Lake area? Meetings or clubs of geocachers? There are a lot of caches in this area, so is there a place to meet? I am having trouble finding a patch cord for my serial GPS cord to my computer - guess I will do some more hunting for that before I start hunting the caches. Would love to hear from some of you. For those of you who don't Geocache, go check out http://www.geocaching.com/ to see what it is all about. Maybe you will get all excited too.

Family Stuff

Matthews Annual Family Reunion is coming soon. The first Sunday before Labor Day (August 31st for those of you who don't have the calendar handy) is the big family day this year. We meet in the Seniors Center in Loretto, TN (N 35° 04.699 W 087° 26.924 for you Geocachers and other GPS users). We meet around 12:00 noon for an afternoon of meeting and greeting, exchanging year long pleasures and events, updating the family tree that stretches across one long wall, sharing good food - stuffing ourselves into an afternoon nap - sharing pictures and taking pictures to share next year. The group picture with the banner was taken at Floyd Matthews reunion site in Pensacola, FL in 1993 and the other two pictures were taken at the senior center in 2001 and 2006 (Uncle Floyd with Margaret Ann Slagle Clark, her grand baby and Helen Matthews). Uncle Floyd was 103 years old at this reunion. He also attended reunion in 1907. He passed away in March after he turned 105 yeas old.

Current Phlocking

Hey Phlockers - you know who you are - get in to your Meet the Phlockers page, click on the support the Phlockers website link and send a contribution to this great growing, fantastic spot of ours. They are so generous with their time and skills - and money. Wear this badge of honor on your home page. Use their links of your music, video's, badges, etc, on your other web pages or blogs - spread the word.

Cutter to a Sloop

When I bought ny 'new home', her name was Redondo Peach (mentioned earlier) and she is now my second Smiles To Go - or as I named her this time Smiles II Go, since she is the second one. I had been living on her for about a year and the last half of that year griping about not having enough room. I didn't have as much stowage space on this 37 footer as I did on my 32 O'Day - and I was about ready to put her up for sale and get another O'Day. About that time Mike arrived on the scene and looked her over, in his nautical/areonatutical way of thinking said "Mom, you have an awsome boat and I will get you some more storage space". So it was in March 2005 when the refit began. One thing lead to another, taking out old air conditioners that were using both my hanging closets and replacing two smaller units in more acceptable places, giving me two hanging lockers. The wiring was such an awful mess, so Mike, being an electronics technician for FedEx, wiring and rewiring planes a lot bigger than my boat, began the complete rewiring of the boat - 12 volt system and 120 volt system. I now have two 120 volt connections to marina power, two new control panels and a new 12 volt panel. My computer surge protecter even has it's own circuit and is wired directly into the 120 volt panel. Lots of terminals around to control the power surges and the wiring down through the mast is new, as well as new mast lights. They are really cool - one points to the bow of the boat and the other onto my favorite reading spot in the cockpit - so I can read outside at night - that is when the bimini is not up! Then we started on the wood and some more storage place - lots of teak dollars. The aft cabin now has two hanging lockers (instead of one), a 'foot locker' at the foot of my bunk for bedding, an extra medicine cabinet in the aft head (smaller than the original), a long row of cabinets along the port bulkhead with four door openings into it - for folded clothing, a small cabinet under the original hanging closet which has an electrical outlet for charging flashlights, or other handhelds that need charging, and one other cabinet (not sure what for yet, as it isn't finished - but I'm sure I will find something for it). I have posted a LOT of pictures on Flickr during this refit. They sure do need organizing, but I have nearly 1200 pictures and that is big time organizing.

My Musichttp://smilesiigo.blogspot.com/

Island Sounds of Phlockers

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Looking for my next home

I started south from Indianapolis, through Kentucky, Tennessee, AL and on down to Florida, looking for my new home. It had been a long time since I had done any camping, so decided to do that along the way. I had my bike with me of course, a companion I have come to love when driving all around these United States. When you get tired of driving, just stop somewhere interesting and go for a bike ride. Went to Pensacola and worked with a broker there; not really finding what I was looking for, my searches took me to North Carolina, Louisiana, and Texas; where I finally found the Irwin 37 ft Center Cockpit in fair condition; which is what I wanted and is now my home. While in Florida a hurricane was predicted and the camp ground where I was camping was being evacuated, so I headed out of Florida in front of the storm in drenching rain and howling winds - for LA and TX. Decided not to stop in LA; much too close to the storm for my liking, so I drove on over to Texas, stopping overnight 'somewhere' and got to Kemah/Seabrook where my soon to be new home was laying in at the Blue Dolphin Marina. I decided I had enough camping - almost two weeks - so rented a by the week motel and set about the closing process for my boat. My broker, Jerry Muldar and his wife Karol were a big help not only by getting me into my new home but they introduced me to the Galveston Bay Parrot Head Club, which I joined - what a great bunch! Getting moved aboard was interesting - I learned how much extra (I can live without this) stuff I had and settled in to learning, once again, how to live aboard. What a great life once you "get the hang out of it" (as my German daughter-in-law re-phrases). The boat's name was Redondo Peach - anyone know what that means? But that is still another story!

Landlubbing in Nashville

I had come to the conclusion I couldn't even think about being without a boat, so I bought this 'little' - well, it was littler than the O'Day - 26 ft. Pearson. I didn't live aboard her, of course, but she was a delight to sail, even though I didn't get to do as much of that as I wanted. It was my 'escape' from reality. My sister was well enough the first year I lived with her to get out for a few sails and some get togethers at the club. I hosted a Women Aboard meeting at the Harbor Island Sailing Club House (where I kept my new Smiles To Go) and Kathy was well enough at that time to attend. It went downhill for her for three years, and my involvement with a US Coast Guard Auxilary Flotilla in Nashville went downhill as well. Even though I couldn't get out and do much on the water with the Flotilla, I was able to serve as Secretary/Recorder and as Publisher for Division, as both jobs could be done mostly from home. It was my pleasure to be associated with them. My oldest son, Dutch and next to the youngest, Mike, came for Thanksgiving after I bought the boat and we all went sailing. Dutch has a 22 ft McGregor in Kansas City, so this was a 'big' boat for him to play with. One of the really great places to visit - my favorite - in Nashville is the Parthenon in Centennial Park. The statue of Athena is overwhelming. You have to see it to believe it. When Kathy went through her transition I packed up my stuff and moved in with Mike at his home in Indianapolis until I once again got my bearing - before looking for my next live aboard adventure. The picture on the top left is me standing on the rail holding my Women Aboard burgee' (http://www.waboard.com/Content.aspx?page=HomePage) the picture next to it is the Thanksgiving sail and below is one of my granddaughter and I at the Parthenon, standing in front of Athena - she is big, as you can tell by the comparison. On to another story!

My New Love - A 32 Ft. O'Day Center Cockpit Sailboat

I fell in love with 'living aboard' when I lived on my youngest son's 30 ft. Catalina for about three weeks at Sun Harbor Marina in San Diego. What a wonderful little marina that is, everyone is so friendly there. When I went home to Kansas City I announced to my other three son's and my daughter "When I retire I am selling the house and buying a sailboat to live on". Of course they all thought I was crazy - and aren't we all just a wee bit? I did it; I retired in 1998, sold my house and took off for San Diego to look for my new home. I was raised until I was eleven years old in the Southern CA areas, mostly around San Diego, so it was like "going home". I had been researching (deciding) what I considered would be best for living aboard for almost two years, so the search was as much fun as it was work. I lived on the internet for most of my information; joined Women Aboard, The Newwork For Women In Boating; talked to people with boats; and read everything I could get my hands on - My decision was made, the boat was bought and I moved in - er, I mean on. Sailed two or three times a week, learning what needed to be tied down for bay sailing and other stuff that needed tied down when we went into the ocean. I went bay sailing mostly, but did venture out into the ocean, where the sea rolls and the ride is wonderful. One time out the small TV got 'dumped' onto the settee - nothing broken and I was learning. Came back from an evening at my son's home to about 3 inches of water on the cabin sole. To you landlubbers, that is the floor in the cabin. My bilge pump switch had quit working. I put the pump on manual and got rid of the water - my first 'adventure' into TGW' (Things Gone Wrong) on a boat. Installed a new switch the next day. The water had come from a fast dripping packing glan on the drive system that needed repacking. Another lesson learned. I got some charting tools and a chart and I was going to take my first off shore adventure - to Catalina - and all was going smoothly until March, when I was called to Nashville where my sister was very ill. Got her in the hospital, learned she had lung cancer and stayed with her for three years until she went through her final transition. While in Nashville for the three years, being the addict I had become, I bought another boat - and that friends, is another story.