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Diane's DiaryFebruary 24 Tuesday Today is the last day of Carnival, thank God. PLC has really been a zoo and I will be glad when things return to normal. So, we haven't left the marina for the last several days. Larry worked on the head the whole day today- the outgoing hoses were clogged. There was NO problem at all with the head itself. So, since today is a holiday, some of the stores are still closed so we'll get the hoses we need tomorrow. We still don't have use of the head but I guess one more day won't make that much of a difference. I cleaned the port side of the water line- it was really bad. I would use the dive equipment to clean it except the water is absolutely filthy here and I don't want to risk getting some disease in the water here. Anyway, we watched another excellent movie Elias rented for us- Smile for Mona Lisa with Julia Roberts- a chick flick for sure but even Larry liked it. February 25 Wednesday Elias came a half hour late today along with coming 1.5 hours late yesterday. We hope this coming late does not become a habit with him or we will have to talk with him about it. Anyway, we left as he was coming in. We went to the Auto Boat Center, EPA, and the small strip mall before coming back to the boat. Larry managed to get the hoses he needs to fix the head. I will be glad when this is fixed again- it's difficult using the bucket! But at least we can use the bathrooms in the marina during the day. February 26 Thursday I did some emails in the morning while waiting to go to the 10:30am cooking class. I went to the class at 10:30 but the teacher never showed up. Later we found out the streets were blocked due to some local people demonstrating in the streets. Apparently, a local kid was kidnapped and the police were not investigating the crime so the locals were protesting. Anyway, the cook finally came after 11am and we had the class. Unfortunately I had to leave before it was over because we had a dentist appointment later in the day and we needed to have lunch. Andrea from Midnight Stroller gave us the name of the dentist but unfortunately she got the time wrong; she told us the appointment was at 2 but the office doesn't open till 3 so we were there way to early. Anyway, the dentist gave us both a very good cleaning and we were both pleased with her work. We only paid $15USD each for the cleaning. In the US, we pay almost $100 but usually have some type of insurance coverage. Anyway, the dentist told us both to come back- Larry has some small cavities and I need to get some old fillings replaced. Larry went to the Internet café while I was in the dentists' chair. Than we went to the bakery, walked around for a bit and than headed back to the boat. February 27 Friday Jim from the old Lady J (they sold the boat) came into PLC today and stopped by. He will be joining Midnight Stroller as crew for as long as possible on their around the world journey. It was nice seeing him again. I went to Plaza Mayor with Lena from Jacobite. I got a pedicure and she got a manicure. A pedicure is only about $4 and a manicure $2 so it's the cheapest thing a female can do for herself here that makes you fell great. Larry went to help Jim and Midnight Stroller with their SSB modem, as it's not working properly. I have a nail fungus, which I understand will take months to clear up. I'm not sure if I got it from the manicures here in PLC but when we go home, I'll buy all my own equipment to use. I took a little nap as I was up at 5am the day before. I didn't really sleep at all though. We went to dinner at the restaurant, as I didn't have time to cook. We had stopped by Midnight Stroller to get some names of contractors so I didn't have time to prepare anything for dinner. February 28 Saturday I did some finances this morning to update our spending while Larry put the headliners back on the boat in the parts where Elias has finished the varnish. In the PM, I took a nap, as I was very tired. February 29 Sunday Leap Year! I made some bacon and cheese omelets this morning for breakfast. I also made a big pot of homemade spaghetti sauce and will make meatballs this afternoon after dominoes. I scored a 331 in dominoes- I don't play on a regular basis so haven't improved my score much. But it is fun playing and I am enjoying the game. I got back around 3:30pm and wanted to make the meatballs but Larry was working on the engine so he had the stairs out. So, I went to the pool with our neighbors Tundra and Scrammin instead. I made the meatballs after I came back for the pool and we had a nice dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. March 1 Monday I did some emails in the morning and also made a chocolate cake for the potluck tonight. Larry went to the machine shop to see if we could get the motor fixed on the windlass. In the PM, I updated the financials in the PC. Today was the day the decision on whether a referendum will be held in VE was supposed to be announced but so far no decision has been reached. I also worked on the taxes this afternoon- we are not going to owe anything but have to file as we had a stock sale. Larry took the stairs out of the boat again as he was working on the engine so I could not get off the boat until he put them back in around 4:30pm. Larry also worked on moving the voltage regulator. March 2 Tuesday Some roads were closed around PLC today with street protests, as there still has been no decision on the referendum. I don't know if the protests are doing any good though as no decision has been reached. The government is claiming some signatures called the "planas" are not valid as the form was filled out by the people working in the voting booths and only signed by the voters. They claim this makes the forms invalid and want to disallow all of these. The Carter Foundation and OAS are helping out but I don't think this will help out any. The problem is Chavez will do everything in his power to not allow the referendum. I did some more updates in the computer of the February finances. I made another sour cream banana cake and it came out superb- I really like this recipe and it comes from my favorite cookbook. I met with Norma on Happy Hours to go over the taxes- she said we needed to file a return even though we did not incur any tax liability since we had a stock transaction. If we did not file a return, the Fed would probably come looking for us in a few years so it would be best just to file it now. March 3 Wednesday We were able to speak with Mima on the SSB today- propagation has been terrible so we haven't been able to speak with them very much. It was nice been able to speak with them again. We took down the sail cover, bimini, and dodger to give to Orient Canvas to make repairs. Apparently, it looks their there isn't going to be a referendum here in VE. Chavez is trying to do everything in his power to prevent it. I did some emails and than visited with Happy Hours for a while to give them a piece of my banana cake as a thank you for helping us out with the taxes. They also really liked the cake. Looks like this recipe is a real winner. March 4 Thursday I spoke with the US Embassy in Caracas today as I still had not received my new passport and was concerned it was lost. They still had the new passport and will send it by courier - I should have it within the next several days. There have been lots of street demonstrations all around the country but things have been particularly bad in Caracas and a few people have died. Chavez is doing everything in his power to prevent a referendum and it looks like he will win although no one can be certain at this time. Anyway, I went to Makro with Charlie Alpha's van this morning. I was hesitant to go by taxi with all the problems lately, as I was afraid I wouldn't get as taxi to get back. Actually, the streets have been empty as there have been many demonstrations almost on a daily basis. Anyway, Jim from Lady J and the radio technician were over here to see how our SSB radio is set up, as the one on Midnight Stroller is not working properly. Larry then went to the machine shop with Andrea to see about the motor on our anchor windlass. The shop said, "It might not work under load," so Larry is very concerned it may not work right and we'll have to buy another windlass. That's another few thousand dollars for a new windlass. Anyway, I got back from Makro around 12:30, had lunch, put away the groceries and we left at 2:30 to go to the dentist and dermatologist. We both have some skin growths we both would like burned away. I had several bumps on my hands, which I thought were warts but the doctor said these were not and suggested I get my hand x-rayed. So, I'll go tomorrow. He froze off several other lumps I had on my arm - these were growths from the sun but he said he was pretty sure they were not cancerous. Larry also had several lumps taken off. He seemed to be a very good doctor and we were both pleased with is service. He charged $30 for the BOTH of us including removing all the growths. I certainly know going to a dermatologist in the US would be several hundred dollars for each one of us! March 5 Friday I went to downtown PLC this morning to get my hand x-rayed. Then I cleaned the stainless steel on the bimini in the pm. Larry tested the windlass this morning and it's smoking - something it wasn't doing before he brought it in. So, he will bring it back to the repair shop. Hopefully it can be fixed or we will have to buy a new windlass. We both feel an electric windlass is a piece of safety equipment and we would never sail a large boat like this one without it. Being able to get the anchor up quickly in case we are dragging or need to leave an anchorage quickly is a safety issue we both feel. The several times Larry had to bring the anchor up by hand was really too much strain on his back. It's OK to do in a pinch but I would not want Larry to have to haul up the anchor on a regular basis. Anyway, we watched a horrible movie Elias gave us called "21 Grams". It had an excellent cast but the movie was horrible. Oh, well, you win some and lose some! Jim is returning him to the US tomorrow, as Midnight Stroller is just not ready to sail yet. He also needs to buy a new SSB modem, as theirs is not working properly. He treated us to drinks and appetizers at the restaurant for helping him out with some things. |