Fond Memories, a Ramble Down the Coast, and Thoughts about Life in the Keys So Far...

Almost a year after leaving California for North Carolina, I found myself on the road again towards a new town and new adventures. My wife and I decided to make the move to Key West after she got offered a great job managing a spa. Last winter I drove across the country in a van and this past week I drove half of the East coast with a loaded down truck, pulling our sloop filled with surfboards and gear on a rusty trailer. It was my first time pulling a sailboat more than a few miles and it was hairy the whole time. I'm glad I took the advice to get the trailer looked at and replaced the hubs and bearings. I saw several dead trailers along the road missing wheels or with broken axels. I usually enjoy long drives through new scenery, but pulling a trailer through winter weather is tricky to say the least. The trickiness factor is raised a bit when you throw all of your belongings into the back of the pickup truck, add an excitable dog, and top it all off with a two day old hangover courtesy of long night with a good buddy watching my beloved Boilermakers do what they do.

Leaving North Carolina for points South, I got a little nervous about things ahead and unknown. Thinking back on the past year on Pleasure Island, I had to chuckle a bit at my lack of a 'real' job. I was employed fully the entire time, but I never had to punch a time clock or sit in a cubicle. My days consisted of rampaging around high end golf courses in a John Deere Gator in search of wily Canadian Geese, kayaking around with families of tourists, or blazing up the inter-coastal waterway on jet skis with tourists in tow. I did work in an office for almost two weeks, but I just couldn't stand being inside on beautiful spring days. The fact that my boss was a raging mega-b@#ch, in every sense of the word, made the 'I Quit' phone call even easier.

My point is that since arriving in North Carolina, I had been in sort of a semi-vacation mode. Hell, even in California, I was on semi-vacation for the last year or so...day-time bartender is a job I would volunteer for. Here in Key West, the game starts all over again. There are people to meet and routines to get figured out. My strategy in new towns is generally to pick a good local bar and meet all of the crusty locals at the bar during Happy Hour. I'll let you in on a little tip...Enjoyable jobs are rarely found in the classified ads or on Craigslist. You get the fun jobs by meeting people and buying people beers. That old guy next to you on the bar stool may own a sailing charter business or a kayak tour concession. He needs to see your face several times and remember that you are an all-right dude before he lets on that he might be able to squeeze one more guy onto the schedule. It will be interesting to see how things pan out here on the island.

After a couple of days here in Key West, I'm pretty stoked about the lifestyle and possibilities. I'm ready to get things unpacked and settled down, because then the exploration can start. Sparky and I have already been on some nice runs around the island and through the state parks.

We had a record low yesterday, it was 42 degrees. The locals were freaked out and wearing every scrap of clothing they had, at once. It makes me chuckle a little bit, the rest of the country is shoveling snow and that qualifies as frigid weather. It's going to be in the 70's the rest of the week.

The political scene is funny down here, it's pretty far left. I can appreciate the liberal attitudes, but I get so tired of hearing talking points from the left. I get equally pissed about hearing about talking points from the right. I just wish that people would read newspapers, books, journals, and then make up their own mind. Both parties and the media are equally vested in keeping people in a constant state of frenzy about some little unimportant piece of political gossip. I thought it was funny that the media cycle has been talking about this 'tell all' book written by advisors to Obama and McCain. They keep going on and on about what amounts to gossip from a couple of guys trying to make a buck. If all of this information is so damn important, then why didn't they tell us about it a year ago? We're talking about that BS and what Harry Reid said about Obama...Who gives a shit? Does anyone really live under this impression that Reid and his ilk were these shining examples of virtue? We should be talking about real issues that need contemplation and discussion. As for me, I'll remain skeptical about the whole shebang.

Keep on keeping on. Cheers. Bah. Stay Tuned...

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