Still kickin!

Yes, still kickin but what a bad streak of health issues I have had. Nothing life threatening thank goodness. I did however get the flu six weeks ago to the date, strained my back twice and caught the "Kentucky Crud". At my lowest point during this period I was literally crawling on all fours while drowning in my own fluids. It has been awful.

I am now, as of a few days ago 90% again. Thanks to a very good chiropractor, my back issues are behind me as long as I exercise, stretch properly and mind how I sit and stand. My spine was a mess and my back  muscles were in full revolt! The "Kentucky Crud" is perpetual chest congestion and everyone I know has it. Meetings at work are a cacophony of sickly coughs and hacks that have become the norm. I can not wait to get back to Florida or some other warm place!

Now that you are up-to-date with the minute details of my biological and physiological well being....

I did some boat related work this past weekend! WOO HOO! I built two temporary hatch covers, one for the bow hatch and another for the lazarette. Three coats of paint later and they are protecting the interior of the boat like champs!

They fit perfectly which made me happy. I needed something to go right!

I took the rather beat up teak hatches off so that I could give them new life over the winter. I bought the materials to do so, including a new lens for the bow hatch. With all of the idle time I have had lately, my mind has wandered to taking it a step further and fabricating new ones. Mind wandering is really an understatement because what I have in mind is building a mold and making the hatches out of FRP rather than teak. Teak would be too easy! I will update on this later but I am actively studying the art of making molds and all of that kinda fiberglass science.

Not boat related but still worthy of reporting: I bought a small gas grill and converted it to a lava rock grill of our childhoods. The kind that dad used to burn dinner on but the food still tasted awesome. You remember. Long story made short with pictures!

The last pic is after curing the grill on high with some wet, green oak wood in it for a couple of hours. It cooks like a wood burning grill and does not burn or dry food out like a modern gas grill. I have been using it for a few weeks now and everything cooked on it has been perfect. I am very proud of this baby!

Keeping with this theme: I have lost 19 pounds since my last post nearly six weeks ago! Fried everything is a thing of the past. My new diet during the week; no beer, eat like a King for breakfast, like a Prince for lunch and like a pauper for dinner. My weekend diet is the same; beer beer beer until Sunday evening when I finish off with something extravagant like a deliciously rare steak and veggies. Hey, its working!

Fair winds...._/)