the adventures of a girl, her dog, and two cats.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

frosty docks


Although there was a little frost on the docks yesterday morning, this morning was the first where the docks were white. Little paw prints were visible from the dock dogs getting their morning walks. Where the cool weather had been useful insofar as I could store extra beer in the cockpit and keep it cool, (the fridge does not hold much), I now worry about it freezing and exploding--cleaning up frozen beer is a sticky mess.





Speaking of things freezing, my mission to find the "sweet spot" for my fridge's thermostat continues. I am trying to find a spot where a few items can be kept frozen, but beer and sodas do not freeze. I have already had yogurt, cheese, beer, and ginger ale freeze, and Red Bull and diet Dr. Pepper explode in the fridge. But if I turn the thermostat too warm, the frozen items thaw and must be thrown away. And, alas, I have a large bottle of orange juice that should have been used by yesterday and two cheap bottles of champagne to make mimosas with it, but have not been able to get friends over to help me drink it all up. I guess I'll be having a lot of mimosas for my Thanksgiving dinner afloat.

I have planned to go over to my office today to work on unpacking, cleaning, and photographing items to sell. I am unable to get released from my office lease, and so must try to find a way to pay that overhead; hoping business will pick up soon. Although I will likely have to keep the office through September, I plan to move ahead with dramatically downsizing, selling the bulk of items there, and just holding onto sufficient items to furnish the office for meetings with clients.  While I am over there I may try to actually cook--a luxury I have done without for almost two months now. I will be very thankful if I am ever able to get my propane stove and oven hooked up and working.

Naturally, as soon as I bragged several days ago about Buttercup going up the stairs herself, and without towels or anything down on the steps, she promptly stopped doing so. Now she will not even go up them with towels down and simply pushes the towels off the steps and fusses for me to lift her. Not a situation I can live with much longer so I guess I will have to go back to my plan of ordering ample black nylon cord and either wrapping the steps and including decorative knot patterns for tread (the solution suggested by the floppy-haired sailor guy) or making decorative rope mats that are nailed onto the steps (a suggestion from The Marlinspike Sailor). I have decided ropework will look and feel better than Treadmaster and will be a nice opportunity to learn and practice the decorative knots.

I look forward to getting to a place where I have the skills and funds to simply handle all my boat issues on my own. I do not think there is anything wrong with asking for help, as much as I dislike doing so. We all have different skills to offer and I help others often in the areas where I have the skills to do so. However, there comes a point when there are simply too many cooks in the kitchen. I am lucky to live aboard in the sailing capitol of the US, if not the world, and be surrounded by people who have ample boat repair and sailing experience. At the same time, unrequested advice is tiring and despite every person feeling expert, there are many ways to skin a cat and only I am the one to decide which is right for me. 

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Thanks for reading! Have you had a similar experience you'd like to share? Have a link to an interesting blog fellow readers and I might enjoy? Just want to say hello? Post your comments below. I'm a smart, resourceful girl doing things her own way, so I just ask that folks keep the unsolicited advice to themselves.