Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Better Health Through Gadgets and Diet

My life is good and what some people dream of. I live on a boat, my job is challenging, but not too much and pays well, and I’m married to my soulmate. I should be singing Disney songs and dancing with bluebirds every day.

But…

I’m human and I want more. It’s true. My lifelong goal – I don’t say ‘dream’ because Doug says dreams are not real; goals can be accomplished – is to make enough money writing that I don’t have to go into a sterile office every day. I don’t need crazy success like J. K. Rowlings or Stephen King, but enough to write, sail, chase my husband around on the beach, repeat, would be great. And I’ve been working for over twenty years to make this happen. Recently, I took a break from my corporate job and focused on writing, writing, teaching writing, and more writing to make this happen.

Zippo. Nada. Zilch.

No, wait. It wasn’t that NOTHING happened; it’s just that I spent a lot of money, time and effort and received very little in return. And I got depressed. Really depressed. Not quite ‘throw myself off a building’ depressed, but enough so that I cared more about eating and drinking than I did about accomplishing anything. Or looking halfway decent. So, I ate and I drank and I played computer games. And gained weight. A LOT of weight.

I want to be clear about this. I’m not talking about ten extra pounds, eating disorder kind of weight, I’m talking about couch potato, not exercising, eating bad foods, becoming unhealthy kind of weight. My husband became concerned, but he didn’t understand why I was so depressed. This means he dismissed it and focused just on the symptoms, not the root cause. Bless his heart. He said some accurate, but somewhat cruel things, recommended all kinds of diets and supplements that I rejected, but still loves me and doesn’t give me too much of a hard time. I knew turning this around had to be my decision and happen on my time.

Compact Elliptical Trainer
A few weeks ago, I hit rock bottom and realized I had to do something. I hadn’t written anything in a while, so I started slow with blogging (ergo, this post!), tweeting and various other social media outlets that didn’t involve games. And I tackled my health. Since I’m a lover of gadgets, I went shopping!

Compact Elliptical Trainer: living in a tiny space means everything you obtain has to be scaled down. I really like this little trainer. It has a very small footprint and I can hop up and down on it while I binge watch Columbo on Netflix. I add in some dumbbells and I get a full body work out without having to leave my boat. Even work up a sweat sometime.

Exercise Ball - 65 cm


Exercise ball (at work instead of a chair): Claims are that it helps your posture and you burn an extra 350 calories (2 chocolate chip cookies) a day while using it. It was mentioned that it’s fun to bounce on it as well. However, no one told me that it would wreak havoc with my motion sickness. Yes, this lady sailor nearly lost her lunch after an hour on a bouncy ball…





FitBit Flex
FitBit Flex: Simple idea - if you know that you’re leading a sedentary lifestyle, you’ll do something to alleviate it. I wanted to see it before investing, so I traveled to Bed, Bath & Beyond to see one in the flesh. The first one didn't have it in stock (Flex 2 is coming out end of October - inventory is down), which means the sales clerks tried to sell me a different model, which they also didn't have in stock. At which point, they ignored me and began talking amidst themselves. In a huff, I traveled to ANOTHER BB&B and purchased the item. So far, so good… I’m walking more and feeling better. However, the slim band on my wrist is stoking my competitive nature. Every day I want to better the activity from the day before. At the rate I’m going, one day I’ll take my walk at lunch and wind up in Bangor.

Tea: Studies have proven over and over that green tea improves weight loss, particularly if you drink 4-5 cups a day. Also added rooibos tea, which is supposed to improve digestion and overall health. Not sure if the actual ingredients are doing anything, but since I now have to go to the bathroom every ten minutes, it’s definitely upping my exercise quantity. Which feeds the FitBit. See what’s happening here?

Food: Dietitians everywhere will scream to the high heavens about this, but I eat one big meal a day. Anything I want. The rest of the day is grazing on fruit, vegetables and popcorn. Don't tell my husband, but I'm having a weird love affair with an old dude with glasses and a polka dot bow tie.

Results: I feel better and I’ve lost 10 pounds in two weeks. And I have a cool buzzy blinky thing on my wrist that I was able to buy 12 brightly colored bands for.


Living the dream – one step at a time…

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

What's a Solitary Not Single Lady to Do in Boston?

Turns out, quite a lot.

As an independent consultant, I have to go where the work takes me. Right now, my primary boat and home is in Fort Lauderdale, while I'm working on a long term contract in Boston. Actually, Quincy, but Boston helps you know the general area. And it sounds a little more poncy to say "Bahston" than it does to say "Quinzy". If you're from around here, you know what I mean... But they're both beautiful and I'm proud to live in either.


Anyway, being separated from my lovely husband and my beautiful yacht makes me sad, bordering on depression. And I really hate being either sad or depressed. So I fight it by keeping busy.

It's fun to catch up with friends, but that only takes up part of the time. After all, they have lives. Cool, fun, interesting lives. Like my friend that flies in her spare time. No, not airplanes. Trapeze!
Terribly impressed with her and her abilities, but I'm a little more sedate. And fearful. Seriously. I'd fall on my head way too many times.

Enter Meetup! Type in your interests and et voila! As many meetups as you can schedule within whatever radius you choose. Since I'm interested in writing, I decided to join a book club. The best way I learn is by examining the work of people I admire. I figure this way, I can be introduced to trending books, meet people with like interests and get out of the boat every now and then. In Fort Lauderdale, I tried a cerebral book club that selected Pulitzer Prize winners, controversial and socially significant books.

Truly hated it.

Here in Boston, I followed my true love - horror. So I joined Boston Horror Readers and became a Horror Fiend. What fun! And by the second meeting, it turned out that the organizer was moving and nominated myself and another fiend to be co-organizers.

Yay.

But it's still great fun. This month, we're reading The Imago Sequence and Other Stories. Hey, there may not be a Pulitzer Prize winner in there, but they're somewhat controversial and, if an ancient evil tries to eat you, that would be quite socially significant, at least for you...
Meanwhile, I also discovered Boston Horror Society. Yeah, yeah...  There's a theme. But I was able to watch Vertigo and The Creature from the Black Lagoon presented by The Cooldige at the Greenway. For Free! Great people, great entertainment and this weekend, we're going to Count Orlok's Nightware Gallery in Salem.


And yes, I'm still writing and I still miss my husband, but these movies, books and galleries won't enjoy themselves!

Living the dream - alone but not lonely...

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Pump Repair - A Seriously Disgusting Aspect of Being a Liveaboard

Since you've been avidly reading my blog, you know I bought a 30' Sea Ray motorboat and am living on it in lieu of paying exorbitant rent in the Great Boston Area.  All is coming together nicely and I love, love, LOVE my two minute commute.  I'm actually living like a human being instead of an animal, especially after replacing the aerator in the head (bathroom) in order to make use of the hand held shower. This was, of course, after I got the new hot water heater installed.  Later, in the middle of washing dishes, the water slowed to a trickle and then just died.

Naturally, the location of the water pump was not part of my discovery period.  Since I could hear it run, when it ran, I knew it was on the port (left) side, close to the stern/aft (rear).  Exploration begins. Checked the lazarettes (storage areas) in the cockpit, but only found hoses. Then remembered a panel under the berth (bed) in the cuddy with about a hundred screws holding it down. Luckily, my husband had bought a drill when he visited and I was able to remove the screws fairly quickly. It took longer to pull out the junk that I had decided to store in the place (including a new toilet waiting to be installed) and find a place for all the cushions.

Well. I found the pump and the water tank. Yay! However...

When I bought the boat, the boatyard had left the doors open and the cabin was full of water in various storage areas.  The pump compartment was no exception. Trust me. That area is not supposed to be full of gross, sludgy water. Especially since the wires to the pump were submerged in it.

And, when I inspected the wires, I found the same level of abysmal hookup that I had encountered when I fixed the bilge pump. Even if you're not an electrician, you should know the following realities:

  1.  Butt connectors should NEVER leave exposed wire (the insulation is what the heat shrink portion bites onto, leaving no bare wire subject to corrosion), 
  2. Although tempting, never, ever, EVER twist two wires together and insulate them with electrical tape
  3. Wire nuts are not meant to be used in a marine environment - THEY ARE NOT WATERPROOF! And humidity is water. Even if they're in a place where water is not typically found, it happens.  Don't use them!
Unfortunately, all three of these no-no's were used to hook up the pump. And the compartment was flooded, submerging the wires. Bad, very, very bad.  So I cut out the offending wiring and replaced it with professional level connections. And the pump ran!

For about a day...  And then it died while I was washing dishes.

Back to the cuddy, pull out all the junk, including the toilet and the cushions (luckily I hadn't screwed down the panel) and checked the wiring. It was good. Beat on the pump with a hammer. And it started! for about an hour. Died once again as I was rinsing dishes. Back to the cuddy.


The clear mushroom looking thing is a filter. From over a decade of being a liveaboard, I know that ~80% of all issues can be tracked back to filters. Removed the filter and - oh gross! This is the single worst filter I've ever encountered. And yes, I think those little squirmy things are maggots. GROSS!!!





I scrubbed it off, soaked it in hydrogen peroxide (the bleach was in a lazarette covered with cushions and a toilet) and reinstalled it. And the pump ran! Yay! For about an hour. No dishes this time; the filter was so gross I may never eat again.


This time, air was leaking into the pipes and causing air bubbles. After several trips to West Marine and Home Depot (three different types/sizes of plumbing connections), I replaced the semi-rigid pipe with flexible hose and fewer connections. And the pump ran! Yay! For about a day. And then, while washing dishes, it died.

Nothing revived it this time. No wiggling wires, no shaking out air bubbles, filter is clean. Notice the wiring is cleaner as well as the compartment is now dry.

Sooo... I bought a new water pump which will arrive in a couple of weeks. On our other boat, we went through a lot of ShurFlo pumps, which use as their quality control an admonition to buy the extended warranty and just replace them WHEN they fail. That's not an acceptable solution at the best of times, an absolutely horrible solution when blue water cruising. Sooo...  Enter a new type of pump that's a fraction of the cost, a Diaphragm Pump from Five Oceans. Wish me luck!


 And, I think I'm giving up on washing dishes.  The Inn at Bay Pointe delivers :) And this lovely restaurant ensures Lost at Sea is my new favorite rum punch and not my situation, pumps aside.

Living the Dream - in spite of bad pumps :)
Fried Plantains Filled with Pulled Pork and a Habanero BBQ Sauce
served with Lost at Sea (AMAZING  rum drink)

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Memorial Day Weekend in Boston, 2016

Forecast for Memorial Day Weekend was warm and sunny. And Saturday was actually HOT and sunny. 95 degrees. For Northerners and even this transplanted Floridian, it could be compared to at least one level of hell. Especially as I don't have air conditioning. 30' Sea Ray, remember? Some of them have air conditioners, this one does not. And yes, that's how I survive in Florida, just like people in the North survive the winters with furnaces. Technology. Gotta love it...

Anyway, today, Sunday, I woke up to low 50's. Forty degree shift in one 24 hour period.  Yup. That's New England.  Not a problem. I closed all the windows, made a cup of coffee and started breakfast.

Aaaannnnd...

The power went out. Checked the breakers - installed a new hot water heater, running the stove, could've exceeded power input. Nope. Breakers fine. Put on my neon green, velour track suit and head outside. Main breaker is fine, shore power cord secure, remembered that boat next to me had a problem with the pedestal. About to swap my cable to the other pedestal when, much like moles, people begin to pop out of the other boats. All missing power. Trundling a cart along is a gentleman who has a boat at the end of the dock. He offers to check his power and give a thumbs up if he's live.

At the end of the dock, he shouts back. "Yep, I've got power and so does my neighbor. You should check your BREA-KER (enunciated carefully so I understand) - it's a SWITCH inside the pedestal. Also, your power cord may have come loose."

Duh. Electrical engineer, remember?  Not worth the effort, so I assure him I had checked all these things. He bustles down the dock and opens my pedestal to check the BREA-KER and the shore power connection, all the while pointing out each one so that in the future I can do this myself. Or ask him or my husband if I'm not up to it.

Yeah...

Meanwhile, it filters through the marina that power is out all over Quincy Point, including our marina. So, Mr. Breaker had power?  He may know what a breaker is, but I suspect he doesn't know the difference between 110 A/C and 12 V D/C. Maybe I should check it for him...

Finally, power returns and I finish cooking my interrupted steak and eggs. Yummy! Crosses my mind that I do have an alcohol option on the stove. Should really check that out to stave off starvation and hypothermia.

Short aside: The stove is pretty cool. It has a ceramic cover to expand the counter space when it's not being used. Open it up and there are two burners inside, electrical coils with alcohol ports in the center. I did have to discover that there's an interlock switch on the rear to ensure that if the cover is closed, the power is cut to the burners. You don't have to be an Electrical Engineer to live on a boat, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

  

Living the Dream even when it's cold and gray and dreary...

Friday, May 27, 2016

New Boat, New Home, New Friends, Old Job

Since it's been over a year from the last post, I figure it's time. Not sure an annual blog would be that popular, so I'll try to do better...

After taking the Triumph from Boston to Fort Lauderdale a year and a half ago, my favorite company to work for made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I packed up the stuff necessary to live comfortably (who knew I had / needed that many purses???) and headed back to Boston.

A gracious friend gave me a place to crash until I sorted out my temporary permanent place, unfortunately he lives on the North Shore and I work on the South Shore. BRUTAL commute, but it's just for a short time and there's a lot of choices. Extended Stay, Short Term Lease, maybe even a roommate situation off Roommates.com or Craigslist. How hard can it be to find a place to stay???

Pretty frickin' hard...

Not only is it expensive, but I'm just too ornery to deal with the rules. When I brought up my husband coming to visit, one potential roommate nearly had a stroke. A friend offered "My girlfriend had the same problem - we just sneaked up to her room when no one was around. Oh, and you probably can't have food in your room. Sneak it in too..."

Seriously???  I wasn't good at that in college and I haven't gotten any better...

Back to the commute - I can make this work! Nope.  School bus turned sideways in the tunnel, garbage truck caught fire in another tunnel, one too many three hour commutes and I'm back to checking out alternatives.

Hmmm...  I live on a boat in Fort Lauderale, I lived on several different boats in Boston Harbor, maybe I should get another boat.


Off to Mendon and Certified Sales. There were a few other boats, but that's a story for another post. The pictures posted of Hypnautic on their website looked like a marine version of the house from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which was great because no one else bought it or even wanted it.  I bought it, brought it to Quincy and now I have a summer home. After buying the boat, paying for the Marina and taking care of minimal utilities, I'll pay less than I would have for half the time in an extended stay apartment setup.

The boat, a Sea Ray Sundancer 300, will be renamed Lady's Choice and improvements continue, but for now I'm four blocks from work and happy as a clam in, well, water.



Continuing to Live the Dream