Summer in Baltimore

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Friday, August 21

The day started out sunny and cool but by lunchtime the sky became partially overcast in advance of the rain expected much later in the day.  I managed to do a couple small boat tasks in the morning while the temperature was still relatively cool.  (I applied the 3rd coat of five coats of Cetol to the companionway handle and stained the plug I made for the cabinet just below the companionway.  I also reinstalled the recently filled propane tank to its under helm-seat compartment.  These were all relatively simple tasks.) 

Reinstalling the second propane
tank after refilling. Our propane
tanks are stored beneath
our helm seat.

I got a call from my urologist around mid-morning to discuss the results of my recent MRI.  There was one significant area of concern on the MRI image which requires a very focused needle biopsy in mid-October.   Further corrective action depends on the outcome of this needle biopsy.  If no cancer is found as result of the biopsy, my urologist expects to use medicinal means to reduce the swelling of my prostate.  If cancer is found, a whole different list of alternatives opens up--I don't even want to think about these yet   The only impact on my life at the moment is my stride has been reduced when I walk.  Getting old is hell but is still better than the alternative, so everybody tells me anyway.  

This whole situation has taken the steam out of my bigger boat projects intended for this summer.  It's made me look at my list of boat projects differently: (1) those can can be accomplished in a short amount to time now (or in a series of small tasks), and (2) those that could be postponed (maybe even into next spring).

In the early afternoon, Maggie left for a weekend visit with her daughter and son-in-law in central Pennsylvania.  I mostly got caught up on my reading and watching YouTube videos in the afternoon.

Saturday, August 22

It had rained lightly during the night.  Small rain puddles appeared in the low spots of our cockpit cushions in the morning.  By 11 AM the sky cleared up and the sun came out.  It was still cool when I applied the fourth coat of Cetol to the companionway handle just after 11 AM.  I really don't have an agenda for today but I do want to take my camera for a walk around the marina and capture some interesting images--maybe tomorrow.

I heated up some leftover beef stew for lunch.  It was just as good, if not better, after reheating.  However, I got sick a bit later--it was the beef stew!  This kind of ruined my afternoon...

Sunday, August 23

I was woken by a noise on my iPad--it was a game noise--an invitation to play Words with Friends from Maggie, still a hundred miles away in Pennsylvania. 

 

The last move of our first
game of the day. (My
word tiles are green.)

She won the first of two games we played (as shown above) but I had a strong comeback game. 

My day started out slow but I had a number of tasks I wanted to accomplish: my weekly cleaning of the raw water strainer for our A/C, applying the fifth (and last) coat of Cetol on the companionway slide handle, and starting to refinish the teak frame around the companionway. 

Here, I'm using my Fein Multitool
to sand the frame of the
companionway.

What is Qanon?

Qanon is a cult-like belief in many very whacky conspiracies.  One of their earliest whacky beliefs was that leading Democratic politicians and many famous Hollywood actors were involved in a massive child molesting and sex trafficking ring coordinated from a pizza shop (Comet Ping Pong) in Washington DC--this particular conspiracy dates back to 2016.   (They also believed that the only one capable of breaking up this ring was Trump or "Q."  "Q" is the anonymous leader of the cult.)  Back in 2016 a believer made several shots into the pizza shop at the center of the conspiracy and was later arrested on gun charges.  No one was hurt in this incident.  (Since Trump was the only one to gain through this craziness, I think he and his Russian friends actually started the online postings, though there is no proof of this.)

Since then, the conspiracies have continued to expand.  Today the cult is loosely made up of anti-vaxxers (people who don't believe in vaccines), believers in the "deep state", some new right-wing politicians who need this type of attention to get elected, people who don't believe in wearing face masks during the pandemic, and a lot of other very gullible people who believe in almost everything posted online (but not in science nor the mainstream news).  (Yes, this is happening in 2020 and we are not living in a third world country.)

The sky over Baltimore's harbor just
prior to an oncoming storm.

Rain came down very hard, starting at 6:45 PM and ending at about 7:30 PM, as the thunderstorm rumbled through the harbor.

Stay safe and stay tuned...thanks for following our blog!