Ferry To Ocracoke

Ramp 49

Fort Wool

Hmmm…

My posts are so sporadic any longer. I remember when it was a ritual for me to post every morning on Journalspace. I actually loved that format.

I’ll do bullet points.

1) Last weekend we had a live band in the neighborhood. This is a “First Friday” ritual.

2) Saturday? We had a parade (I drove my golf cart in the parade) we also had breakfast for all the residents. We then hopped on a boat and watched my buddy get married at Fort Wool. It has been deserted forever. Gorgeous day

That was the neatest wedding ever. A 15 year engagement is an awful long time.

2) We drove to Cape Hatteras on Sunday. Ramp 49 (The Village of Frisco) is possibly the calmest place on Hatteras Island and we could see 10 -12 feet into the water. Nurse ratchet saw a sandshark in the water and didn’t freak out. She said it simply swam away. (It was a pup and only about 3 feet in length). We hung out with my Sister and Brother-in-law.

3) We all hopped on the Ferry on Monday morning and went to Ocracoke Island. Absolutely gorgeous. This is one of my favorite places on the planet.

4) Back home by Tuesday morning.

5) We Going to the Shenandoah this weekend. I rarely if ever go to our mountain house in the Summer. Greene county is loaded with Black Bears so we should be in for a treat.

6) We have a concert Sunday evening in our Neighborhood at 6pm so I have to be home in time for it. We have art shows, music and activities all of the time. I live in a retarded place.

Summer is my favorite season without a doubt. I could live like this forever.

Peace be with you,

Bobby

Brought to you by the insane world.

Long story short.

My daughter called me in hysterics Thursday night about a cop pursuing a fox behind our house @ 9:45pm. Mind you this is one of two documented fox families that reside in our neighborhood.

I told Kelly  that the officer was probably observing the fox like all of the other residents in the neighborhood.

She was emphatic that the officer had more dubious thoughts.  Seven minutes later Kelly calls me back to report that the fox had been killed by the officer and the officer was still on the scene with the dead body.

I arrive on the scene about 5 minutes later from my meeting and find the officer in his vehicle parked next to the body.  We begin to approach the cop car and the officer leaves with his lights still off.

I RAN after the car and got the Patrol car number. The cop noticed this, turned left then made a U-turn in an effort to pursue me. I ran back to my house and sure enough he was down my back alley looking for me.

Long story short, I fired off a letter with all of the details to the captain of the precinct, the mayor and The Office of Professional Standards as well as our neighborhood patrol captain. I also made numerous calls to the non-emergency police hotline. I called some other very high ranking city/state officials and unfortunately our conversations have to be off the record due to our personal friendships. I’m sure they made calls however.

I also called our city environmentalist and immediately brought him to the scene of the crime (He lives 3 houses down from me)  We took several photos of the fox and moved the body so the cop would not be able to come back and dispose of the evidence.

Fast Forward.

The Captain,  Lieutenant, Forensics, Animal Control etc were on my front porch @ 8:30 am the next morning to interview me and my daughter about the incident. We took them to the scene and described it in full detail. The City Environmentalist was there to corroborate our story.

Fact - There was no complaint registered about a rabid fox in our neighborhood.  The officer acted unilaterally.

Fact - The fox died of a blunt trauma force to the head.

Fact - My pics show this clearly.

Fact - The officer was the only one on the scene before during and after the demise of the fox.

Fact - There has not been reported case of a rabid fox in our city since 2007.

Fact - It is illegal to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal.

I don’t know what is to become of this incident but I know we have a crazy cop and a massive internal investigation. We have corresponded over the course of the week and weekend.

I’ll leave you with this thought.

Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter.

Peace be with you,

Bobby

The Inner Circle: Stupidity

The path to my backyard June 2010.

Oh wow, our 23rd Anniversary will be here on June 27th. I better go out and get some presents PRONTO!

What the hell do you get a lady that already has everything? Jewelry? She has that out the wazoo already.

I’ll think of something nice. Flowers, dinner and perhaps a couples massage or something. Ahhhh, I’m not much for rolling around in a spa getting all these weird treatments. I’d rather be doing something outdoors. I always try to adhere to “man code” you know? Maybe I’ll take her for a bike trail ride and pack a nice picnic for the end of the ride…of course I’ll get her a gift or two.

We are having a party this afternoon with my girls (now young ladies) soccer team. I’m sure that will be crazy. I’ll bring a couple of soccer balls, a cooler full of drinks and we will sit around and talk about the past and the future. Who knows, maybe a soccer game will break out…

Most of them are either going away to Virginia Tech or UVA. The others received athletic scholarships (For different sports) to ODU and The university of Miami. We have one more year in the u17/19 division and then who knows what happens after that?
I remember them in the u-12 division.

I got up and mowed my grass at 7:30 this morning. Normally, I’m not “that a**hole” who does such a thing but since we have so much construction in the neighborhood I figured nobody was sleeping.

How hot is it today? Africa hot. The humidity is rather thick.

My neighborhood? Party out of bounds from here till October.

I love it.

Peace be with you,
Bobby

We won the sandsoccer tournament for the second year in a row. Last weekend ROCKED!!!

In five games we conceded 2 goals while scoring 19. That statistic is a bit skewed as we won 2-1 in the semi’s and 1-0 in the finals.

Summer is here. Tonight we are going to a “Boxed Wine” party. Holy moly. Not a snob will be on site.

Tomorrow I am going to a party at my Sister’s house. We are celebrating Father’s day. I expect to be on the beach both Saturday and Sunday.

The summer is upon us. Life is grand!!!

Peace be with you,
Bobby

Today? I’m not so sure I have any reasonable thoughts today.

I find time slipping away from me at an alarming rate. I don’t like it.

Memorial Day is almost here.  Ronin (Kelly) starts working @ the marina.  Jovana leaves on the 5th.

We have a large fundraiser to attend as soon as she leaves from the airport. I don’t know how we are going to maintain our composure. She leaves at 3 and this “party” starts at 5. Nurse Ratchet will be a basket case.  A very high profile event I may add. Nuts….

I have an exam for work on the 9th of June. A 3 hour exam. I better get cracking!

Sand soccer tournament the weekend of June 12th to defend our title. We practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I have to prepare for a gig on the 20th and we are the headliner band. Practice whenever we can.

I have to finish my work on the rental property with a completion date of July 1st. I’m pretty much remodeling the whole interior.

I’m doing most if not all of the work.

Blink your eyes for a minute and look in the mirror. I’m tired. I need a vacation.

None in sight.

I feel fortunate to have my faith, friends, family and health…

Peace be with you,

Bobby

Well…

Discovered my daughter has a tattoo of three candy hearts just below the bikini line. I suspect it was a secret I wasn’t supposed to find. Kelly yawned and stretched in front of me on Saturday and I noticed it. Her mother is super ANTI Tattoo. Not sure what to do so I’m gonna step back and recognize it is out of my control.

I’m not going to rat her out. I’ll add that I’m not fond of these kinds of secrets.

Whole weekend was absolutely nuts. We had a graduation party for Jovana and it lasted until sun up on Saturday. I was “man down” near 3am. In fact, I was the 1st man down. Not drunk, just tired.

Next…

I discovered my father has to occasionally use oxygen. COPD you know. Mom and Dad kept that a secret from me for about 6 weeks now. I am taking it rather hard. Maybe I posted about it before; I don’t remember.

Next…

The Little Serb leaves us June 5th. Just to point out, I haven’t seen the other sisters since they were in the states and the last one graduated in 1999. We have to visit next year. It has been way too long. I say that but you never know when a visit comes to pass.

Next…

I am now the frontman for my band. Yes, I sing. I prefer to be the only guitar but some things I can’t sing and play at the same time. Kelly sings “some stuff” with us but is moving in another direction.

Next…

I’m writing music again. Before you get all wound up about it I will confess it is usually dark and very self revealing. I may share one or two at this next music festival we are playing in June. I’ll let you know. I write when I the world is spinning out of control.

Next…

My 1st cousin and oldest friend is a straight up dork mixed in with a lot of geek. He makes me crazy, absolutely crazy. He is learning the guitar and I never hear the end of it. He cannot put his money where his mouth is either.

Next…

I have a tan already. The Beach weather is kicking in like a champ.

See you there…

Peace,

Bobby

Well…

Discovered my daughter has a tattoo of three candy hearts just below the bikini line. I suspect it was a secret I wasn’t supposed to find. Kelly yawned and stretched in front of me on Saturday and I noticed it. Her mother is super ANTI Tattoo. Not sure what to do so I’m gonna step back and recognize it is out of my control.

I’m not going to rat her out. I’ll add that I’m not fond of these kinds of secrets.

Whole weekend was absolutely nuts.  We had a graduation party for Jovana and it lasted until sun up on Saturday. I was “man down” near 3am. In fact, I was the 1st man down. Not drunk, just tired.

Next…

I discovered my father has to occasionally use oxygen.  COPD you know.  Mom and Dad kept that a secret from me for about 6 weeks now. I am taking it rather hard. Maybe I posted about it before; I don’t remember.

Next…

The Little Serb leaves us June 5th. Just to point out, I haven’t seen the other sisters since they were in the states and the last one graduated in 1999. We have to visit next year. It has been way too long. I say that but you never know when a visit comes to pass.

Next…

I am now the frontman for my band. Yes, I sing. I prefer to be the only guitar but some things I can’t sing and play at the same time. Kelly sings “some stuff” with us but is moving in another direction.

Next…

I’m writing music again. Before you get all wound up about it I will confess it is usually dark and very self revealing.  I may share one or two at this next music festival we are playing in June. I’ll let you know. I write when I the world is spinning out of control.

Next…

My 1st cousin and oldest friend is a straight up dork mixed in with a lot of geek. He makes me crazy, absolutely crazy. He is learning the guitar and I never hear the end of it. He cannot put his money where his mouth is either.

Next…

I have a tan already. The Beach weather is kicking in like a champ.

See you there…

Peace,

Bobby

Bullet points baby.

1) Our exchange Student leaves June 5th. Lots and lots of crying. If you had to go back to her country after living here you would be crying too and she is the daughter of a dignitary. Women (make that everyone but especially women)  in Montenegro are not as fortunate as women over here.

2) Nurse Ratchet? I’m losing my mind with her stress. Working, Real Estate, Post Menopause, Doctoral program kind of craziness….

3) Me? Oh I’m fine. Sand Soccer Practice starts Thursday at 4:15. Band Practice Starts Thursday @ 7:00 and then of course we have a graduation party for Jovana on Friday.  I love where I am working now. I was scared to death for awhile. Change does that to me.  I’m back to running and lifting and doing all the stupid stuff I am supposed to be doing. My heart converted back on Monday. I still don’t know the results of my 48 hour heart monitor.

4) No socks = happy life.  I (We) have a tan already.  Living a block from the beach soothes the soul until bad weather comes.

5) My parents are in town for the month. My father?  Um, He seems to be giving up. Early signs but he seems to be giving up and I don’t like what comes next.

6) My buddy asked a new girl out and she said yes. He got dumped about 3 weeks ago by his girlfriend and this time he started looking elsewhere. Good boy. This new chick is more his speed. I have been his consultant along the way. Time to date other ladies young man…

7) I have millions of pics to post but need to be taught how to post them again. Perhaps I’ll post video one of these days.

Oh dammit, I have to study for a test.  Part of my profession.  More licenses…meetings rank right up there with studying for me.

9) Little birds tell me something big is gearing up in the land of Bin Laden. Really Big.

Peace be with you,

Bobby

My old Buddy “Lang Bang” called to tell me the water was in the 50’s and it was tolerable with a Spring Suit. He is a nationally recognized artist. Love his work schedule. That boy is a machine.

I may have him paint a guitar for me. Sort of like a Frankenstein. Strat body, Warmoth neck. God only knows what kind of electronics? We shall see. I doubt very seriously there will be a guitar to replace my beloved Marie…He paints surf boards and perhaps I will start there….

I’m picking up some more tunes for our band and beginning to expand my repertoire on the acoustic. I could use 4-6 hours worth of new material.

My niece has her 6th birthday party on Friday. Going to be a host of crazy stuff.

1) I get to see his former wife who just lost her boyfriend Wednesday. He saw the light and headed for the exit. I (We) don’t like her and the feeling is mutual. I will be positive and make sure we all say that my brother is the happiest we have seen him in a long time which is absolutely true.

2) My brother is dating a vanilla girl who has three caramel children. I didn’t tell anyone in the family just so I could see the look on their faces. Me personally? I don’t care. His new girlfriend is fantastic. I’m sure the kids are great too…we will meet them for the first time. Hooray!! My parents are in town as of Thursday!!!

3) I thought my soccer coaching career would conclude after this next Sand Soccer tournament. My girls are all going away to college and we are now defending last years championship. I have had this bunch since they were in 6th grade.

4) I was wrong on #3. I get a request from Noah (5 years old neighbor) to “teach” him some soccer. I’m sure the next step is to ask me to coach. I have the experience and the licenses and once they figure that out, it will be a matter of time before I’m asked, especially if they converse with former players and parents…I don’t know..

My heart? I don’t know what happened. I suspect an electrolyte imbalance and PLENTY of stress. I’m wearing the 48 hour monitor (off tomorrow) and will most likely end up having to take other medicine.

Going running tomorrow afternoon and swimming on Friday. If the surf is up I may go surfing or boogie boarding with Kelly on Saturday. Nurse ratchet has school all day. Life is way too damn short!!

Once a cardiac patient, always a cardiac patient. F**K!!!

Thank you for all of your thoughts.

Peace,

Bobby