Tomorrow I join the great ranks of the unemployed...
Which can only mean a few things.
1. It's time to get back to working on the sailboat!
2. It's time to get back to working on the sailboat!!
3. It's time to get back to working on the sailboat!!!
I have often wanted to wander into the the realm of being unemployed. No, my savings account is not as stacked as it should be. I don't have funds hiding out in bank accounts in other countries or in safe deposit boxes somewhere...
It's possible in a couple months I might be in the line at WinnDixie with my food stamps, but hey, how else does one come to appreciate the struggles of others without experiencing what it's really like to live in those shoes for a while.
I wonder if things look somehow different when one doesn't know where the next dime is going to come from.
It feels I've always been sort of teetering on the edge of poverty... Never having much more savings than what would last a month or so...
In reality poverty could happen to any number of us at any time.
How would you handle it if it happened to you?
Well, my dear friends close to me, consider this a warning... as my friend Capt. John has said, now I must learn the art of showing up at friend's doorsteps in time for dinner ;)
But, back to the boat...
Goals for the first two weeks of unemployment as follows:
1. Repipe the fuel line from the Racor fuel filter to the engine.
2. Give my solar oven to Vicki and make some space.
3. Construct battery box for battery #2, starter battery.
4. Hook up the Cirius radio (maybe this should be priority One!).
5. Strip all teak on outside of sailboat.
6. Reseal all teak on outside of sailboat.
7. Finally finish wrapping more neatly the wire ties on the standing rigging.
8. Reseal some of the through deck fixtures.
9. Send special 7" 304 stainless steel shaft from roller furler out to get treated so hopefully it won't keep rusting.
10. Install new battery switch.
11. See if I can't figure out how to change the forward/reverse handle on the wheel so that when you push forward the boat actually goes forward and not reverse, vice versa.
12. Finish piping up the fuel for the propane stove.
13. I was thinking of installing the manual water pump for the head, but I think I'm just going to get ready to take that whole sink out of the head when I take Athena out of water this summer...
14. Modify one of the storages beneath the starboard bench in the salon.
15. Hang new "weather station", temp/humidity/pressure somewhere.
16. Seal the mast boot.
17. Replace the arms on two hatches.
18. Read.
19. Write.
20. Relax.
21. And... photo document all of the above ;)
All of the above can hopefully be done within the shoestring budget I'll be on for the next couple months ;)
I'll be blogging as often as possible... although I won't have much access to internet!
