SPRING TRAINING

Now that we have had our hard frost, 20 degrees F or -4 C for you others, spring is here and all the summer bugs will appear. It should be 70 F (18 C) this afternoon. Of course, we could use another hard frost in about a week to kill off a whole generation of breeders.

The big news is that by the end of this week the pitchers and catchers will report for SPRING TRAINING. The first workout for most teams will be Monday Feb. 16 and then by the end of the month Spring training will be in full action. I had hoped to be able to catch some of the exhibition games this year, but I will have to be in Tortola by the time of the first game. OH bummer! I am sure that I am getting all kinds of sympathy from anyone who may look at this post. Well, in the words of the Brooklyn Dodgers fans "Wait 'til next year".

At least I will be insulated from that craziness in Washington. Might it occur to our congressional representatives that any person who wants a a/d converter box for their TV already has one. Graig's list and e-bay are already full of them for sale by those trying to make a fast buck off another gov giveaway program. I don't want one and I won't get one. I only use my TV now to play Cd's(the sound is good enough for me) and DVDs.

As for the stimulus package, does anyone really think that the 5,000 laid off by Bill Gates at Microsoft are going out to learn how to run front end loaders and road graders? There is a lot more garbage in that thing but I have to close now. If I really get on my soap box, I could go on for hours and I have to get back to the boat show.

I was there yesterday and there are several cruisering trawlers of the type I want in the price range I am looking for. Prices on older boats are coming down fast.

But don't worry kids, I will not spend all your money on a boat, at least not this week.

I will have more to say before I leave.

Love to all.

HOME AGAIN

I'm back! Been back about 10 days and not entirely sure that I want to be back, but I did miss my family and friends, even though I haven't had a lot of time to see them. I am back out of here next week and this time I will be going to see my daughter Kathy and her family in Florida and then off to the British Virgin Islands and the Leewards on a sail ship. This time I'll be gone until about the first of April, if I don't run out of money or credit before that.

I don't take my computer with me any more because the TSA has made traveling with it too hard. Also, Internet access in that part of the world is spotty at best. I will try to check my e-mail, but no promises. I see there are instructions now on how to post when traveling, but I don't know if this old dog can learn that trick.

I love Jamaica and the people are wonderful, but it is so poor. The government is ineffective, the politicians corrupt and the police are a bunch of thugs. That is no different from home but the weather and the people are warm and friendly so I can tolerate it during a Virginia Beach winter. They even have an illegal immigration problem of people from even poorer islands and places where the government is even worse, like Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti. Some of the comments about that sounded just like the ones I hear in the US.

The weather here is seasonal and many of the restaurants are closed for the winter, or the recession, or the minimum wage increase. Take your pick.

I may have some things more to post before I leave again or I may learn to post from another computer or maybe the pig could learn to fly!

LOL, Jim