Saturday, 1 November 2025 - Being the first Saturday of the month, I tried to get the nautical flea market at the marina going again since snowbird boaters from up north have started showing up in the marina again. Unfortunately, I and one other seller showed up along with about 4 or 5 gawkers and no buyers. I didn't stay long this time.
                    There is some good news. First, the Hurricane Restaurant will reopen tonight after having closed down right after Covid 19 hit years ago. It will be interesting to see how it has changed now that there are new owners. Also, the buzzards are back from up north. The theory is that the buzzards leave for hurricane season and don't return until the hurricanes are done for the year. I hope they are right. We have been extremely lucky this season having not even had one close call, although Melissa made me a bit nervous when they kept saying it would turn to the east and for about four or five more days it crept slowly westward building in ferocity. Obviously and thankfully, it finally turned northeast, much to the detriment of Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, and part of the Bahamas.

Saturday, 1 November 1 - Being the first Saturday of the month, I tried to get the nautical flea market at the marina going again since snowbird boaters from up north have started showing up in the marina again. Unfortunately, I and one other seller showed up along with about 4 or 5 gawkers and no buyers. I didn't stay long this time.
                    There is some good news. First, the Hurricane Restaurant will reopen tonight after having closed down right after Covid 19 hit years ago. It will be interesting to see how it has changed now that there are new owners. Also, the buzzards are back from up north. The theory is that the buzzards leave for hurricane season and don't return until the hurricanes are done for the year. I hope they are right. We have been extremely lucky this season having not even had one close call, although Melissa made me a bit nervous when they kept saying it would turn to the east and for about four or five more days it crept slowly westward. Obviously and thankfully, it finally turn east, much to the detriment of Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, and part of the Bahamas.
                    Writing this later I must say that the much anticipated re-opening of the Hurricane was a terrible disappointment to Susie, Me, and other friends that we saw there. Today was their opening day and even though they had not advertised, the word had quickly spread and the place was packed. Anticipation and reality were very different, especially for patrons that remember the previous iteration. The place was very bright, much like a very large cafe or diner, the dance floor has been shrunken to a space just about large enough for two, maybe three couples right in front of the now small stage and the prices are at least triple what we're used to paying. Cocktails are $15 and dinners ranged from $35 to $300. There's no classy ambiance or even feel of the Keys and since it is right on the highway, no ocean views. It was extremely loud. In fact, Susie, I, and most of the friends that we saw there were there not only out of curiosity and anticipation, but to hear the music and dance. We first chose a spot next to the band but moved outside before we even got to order because it was so terribly loud. The Florida Steak & Lobster restaurant about a quarter mile closer to the marina is much nicer and, although I consider it to be high priced, it is about half to a third of the price of this new Hurricane. I think they've totally misjudged their patrons and location. This isn't Key West or South Miami Beach. For their sake I hope I'm wrong but I think tonight will be my first and last visit. That's a disappointment and a shame.

Sunday, 2 November - This morning wasn't too conducive to working on the outboard motor which has begun having very erratic starting. It only takes one pull on the cord one time and, under seemingly duplicate conditions, the next time it takes 40 to 60. I just can't figure it out. I try full choke, half choke, and no choke. I try absolutely no throttle, just take up slack in the throttle linkage, half throttle, and even full throttle...and every combination, but it starts with a different combination every time. I must say, however, that it starts every time. Not every time I pull the cord, but every time I go somewhere. If it didn't start, I wouldn't go anywhere, but I have been tempted to row ashore a couple of times lately after having yanked on the starter rope around 50 times. Since it was raining off and on I defrosted the freezer again...it was certainly due. This evening I met Susie at Dockside even though it was still raining. People here are amazed when it is raining and I arrive dry in my dinghy. That's because they wear jackets and are drenched from the waist down and I wear a rain coat that reaches to my ankles. Since I wear Chaco sandals 99% of the time wet feet don't matter.

Monday, 3 November - I played pickleball for a couple of hours this morning then went to the van and removed the passenger side headlight assembly. It had seemed dim when I looked at it the other night but I couldn't find anything wrong with it. I gave it's connector a good squirt of silicone lubricant and reinstalled it. Since it was broad daylight I couldn't tell if the light was any different. I'll need to check it out after dark again. I also realized that I hadn't seen the battery so I looked it up in the owner's manual. It's located under the driver's seat. It is covered so well that I had looked right at it without seeing it. Low battery jumper access is under the hood with designated studs well away from the battery itself. I still haven't seen the battery. It is encased under a steel plate and must be an AGM, sealed so there's no need to check fluid levels. I'll have to check it out better later.>
                    Diesel Don Shuler is back from his brain tumor surgery and doing well. I asked to see his scar from the surgery. The surgeon had sewn it up well. It is about a foot long starting over his left ear, circling around to the back of his head and then back across the top of his head almost to his forehead.

Tuesday, 4 November - Pickleball again this morning then I spent about 3 hours at the van refreshing my memory and learning more about the features that it has before going to Dockside to meet Susie.

Wednesday, 5 November - I got up and 5:30 AM, had breakfast, went ashore and left the parking lot at 7 o'clock headed for Miami to get the side, sliding door that has its handle damaged and can't be opened repaired along with the gasoline filler door replaced and a couple of other minor repairs done. I got those things taken care of but they didn't have a couple of other parts; pull handles for removing the back two rows of seats and a rubber gasket that runs along the upper edge of the passenger side door. They agreed to mail those to me tomorrow. They should be easy for me to install myself. I was glad that I had returned to have them fix the door. They had a specialist come in to repair it and he even had a difficult time with it, spending several hours for the repair...and he knew how it should go together. One thing that they couldn't fix is the spare tire lowering cable. They really didn't know how it worked and how far the tire should come out from under the vehicle in order to detach it from the two cables. They tried to convince me that the cable must have come from the factory too short. I'm convinced that the cable has just gotten tangled within the mechanism much like a backlash on an old fishing reel. I don't know how I'm going to deal with that yet. I arrived home at about 7 pm and am glad to have the side door operable. It was a stressful day because only one of the four men at the dealership speaks anything but Spanish, or more correctly, Cuban, and he was a manager that actually knows nothing about the mechanics of the cars they sell and couldn't stick around for the full time of the repairs. I tried using a translator app on the phone with them but that was pretty slow and inefficient.

Thursday, 6 November - Four showed up for pickleball, two, an hour late as others were leaving. I played for an hour and a half. After that I went to the van still trying to learn all the features it has.

Friday, 7 November - About 12 pickleballers show up today although 4 came together and played on a court by themselves. I went to Home Depot and bought a bottle jack for the van then to Publix and bought a holder for my phone to mount it on the dash while driving so I can use it as a GPS. After installing it, I think now believe I'll be taking it back. it's too hard to mount the phone in it each time I get in the car.

Saturday, 8 November - I had fully intended to go to the park next door to the marina, get a spot in the shade and try to fix the cable system that lowers the spare tire. However, every spot in the park was occupied because they were having a religious music festival of some sort.

Sunday, 9 November - Since the music festival was only one day, Saturday, there was plenty of room to park my van in the shade today. I got an early start and it's a good thing I did. I dropped the spare tire and decided that since it was in better condition than my front right tire I'd switch them out. I believe that at some time in the past the last person to remove and replace the front passenger side tire, and maybe all the others, used a pneumatic socket drive with its pressure set way too high, and it tightened the lug nuts way too tight. It took me almost two hours to remove the wheel even though I had a three and a half extension on the lug wrench. A ratchet would hove cut that time considerably but the lugs were so tight that I kept expecting a stud to twist off and I was sweating like a hog. Three out of the five were extremely hard to turn even with the extension. I finally got them off and hoped that I had a die to renew the threads onboard the boat to clean up those threads. I returned to the boat but, of course, discovered that my set of dies was one millimeter to small of what was needed. I did switch the tires and then proceeded to attack the problem that was my primary goal, freeing up the cable that raises and lowers the spare tire. Even with help from Bill Greene that was not possible. In fact, previously, I could extend the cable that raises and lowers the spare and then raise it again, although not far enough, but now, after I "fixed", it neither lowers nor raises. Cranking on the system does nothing. After a couple of more hours I gave up and headed to the showers to clean up before heading to Dockside to meet Susie.
                    Tonight it seems to be the night before the storm. The harbor is lake a mirror, but the wind is predicted to pick up tomorrow as a cold front approaches. Tuesday is supposed to feel like winter here. At 11 o'clock pm now it is about 78°F, but tomorrow should have a low of 60° and Tuesday very windy with a high of about 67 and a low of 66, winter! Floridians will be donning their fleece and Uggs.

Monday, 10 November - About 10 players showed up for pickleball this morning, not all at once. I played from about 9 AM till 11 then headed back to the boat. I looked up three tire stores that were advertised as being able to align the wheels on my van but was disappointed by all three when I drove there. Two had no alignment system at all and the third couldn't get my van in their shop because it is about 1 inch too high. As usual, I'm shocked at prices. I'm pretty sure I'll be paying over $200 per tire and the alignment is going to run $150. No one on this island can align my tires, I'll have to go about four islands down the Keys to get that done.

Tuesday, 11 November - Veteran's Day Holiday - The marina was closed today and last night a cold front moved over us. It got down to about 62 degrees last night so I added a blanket to my bed. It was blustery with clear skies today with a high around 67 degrees. I didn't play pickleball today but instead defrosted the freezer and spent several hours trying to figure out what tires I need for the van and where to get them. Buying tire has changed since I last bought any. It's much more complicated than it used to be. In the past it seems like about all I needed to know was the size and whether I needed passenger or light truck tires, highway or snow. Now they've added a lot more parameters to the process. Load ratings are measured in numbers or letters and they're not the same, load range and tire pressures are different for each axle. And I learned that if I don't match the tire pressure on the axles to the prescribed amount the tire pressure sensor light on the dash will stay on all the time. I'm heading to Dockside to meet Susie in spite of the cold. I need a break. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, the house band, the JibSea Cowboys, cancelled this evening so I met Susie there, we each had one drink and headed home.

Wednesday, 12 November - We had about 14 pickleballers this morning. Afterward I went to the van and tried to open the key box again but without success. One of the players this morning asked if I have a pop rivet gun that will handle 1/4" rivets and I said yes. He'd like to borrow it so I returned to the boat and dug it out. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a store that has that size rivets so he postponed until he can get some ordered online.

Thursday, 13 November - I called the mechanic in Big Pine Key yesterday afternoon to confirm that he was expecting me this morning and he said he can't get to me until Monday to do the wheel alignment so I played pickleball instead. I played for about two and a half hours then went to the van. I could see an outline in the paint that a sign had covered that had the previous owner's phone number in it. That gave me hope that I might be able to call them and find out what the combinations for the front, driver's side digital lock is and also that of the key box on the back door. I'm still hoping there is a spare key in the lock box. If there is and if it is another smart key I can buy another key for $70 which will let me program the third key. For some reason ($) it takes two keys to be able to program another. The alternative is to pay a Ford dealer well over $300 dollars for another.
                    I also paid $26 for the renewal of my Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation today. Their website seems to be screwed up. I hope it went through.
                    The previous owner of the van appears to have been a medical facility and they have no record of those combinations for the locks; at least they aren't interested in taking the time to look them up. That kills my hope of finding the combinations the easy way. I do think I have figured out the combination but it still won't open. If it's been mounted above the rear bumper for several years it may just be rusted up too much to open.

Friday, 14 November - We had over twenty players at pickleball today. It's obvious the snowbirds are arriving from up north. I showered at the marina and attended the Friday Cruiser's Happy Hour at the tiki hut for about an hour before picking Susie up to dine at El Molcajete Mexican Restaurant.

Saturday, 15 November - I got invited to go kayaking through the mangroves and decided it's been way too long since I've been there so I joined the group. I haven't been there in about two years or more when Bob Dahmer returned my borrowed outboard motor with the starter rope shortened leading me to tear my right shoulder rotator cuff. It seemed obvious the leaders of the group didn't know much about the trip when they said we'd start at two o'clock. It takes four hours to make the full loop. I guess we'll miss a lot of it. Save it for another day. Later: Well I was wrong. Due to people bailing out of the trip it ended up with just three of us, Maja and Dan Zarnstorff, and myself. And they had been to the mangroves before. They also paddled fast; about twice as fast as the groups that I have lead through the trails before. Of course, when we travel with a large group we always travel at the speed of the slowest person. Maja and Dan were out for the exercise. They, however, had not been through but a small part of the trails and I showed them a lot of trails that they were unaware of. We left their boat at two o'clock and returned after paddling the whole tour at four thirty. I think that's the fastest I've run the whole route. We didn't see many fish this trip and amazingly, absolutely no jellyfish. There are usually thousands. On several trips I've been on the Cassiopia jellyfish have virtually lined the bottom of the shallow lakes and ponds within Boot Key. They stay on the bottom upside down and let the symbionts within them produce food for them from sunlight. We did see some egrets and ibis and one beautiful heron that let all three of us approach to within about ten feet of him and he never took flight. It was a good trip.

Sunday, 16 November - I didn't go to shore today but oiled the pruners and saw that I used in the mangroves to clear a couple of paths and put things away on the boat that seem to accumulate either not where they belong or that don't really have a "place." I entered a few things into my data base, too. At 6:15 in the evening I went to Dockside to meet Susie. When we got there the place was packed because they were having a conch blowing contest. Luckily, Susie got there just ahead of me and snagged a table as some people were leaving. Lots of people left when the contest was over and the winners were announced but a few more showed up for the open mic night music. For some reason there are always more drummers that want to play than any other instrument. I would have thought the guitar players would dominate since there is only one drummer and three guitarists in the band.

Monday, 17 November - I got up at just after 6 AM this morning to be able to arrive several islands down the string of Keys by 8 AM. There were already several cars waiting at the gate when I got there but they opened within 5 minutes. I went in, told them I needed my wheels aligned, which they already knew, but that I also need to buy two tires. They suggested that since they would have to order the tires that I should come back Wednesday to get the tires mounted, then get the wheels aligned. That made sense so I'll return Wednesday morning and get it all done at once. About a quarter mile from the mechanics my low pressure light came on so when I got there I had them check the pressure. The first one he checked was the tire that had been the spare. It was at only 30 psi and should have been at 52. I made it back to Marathon just in time to play pickleball at 9 o'clock. After that I returned to the boat and defrosted the freezer. I returned to the marina to pick up a package, then to Home Depot to purchase a tire pressure gauge that will register to 120 psi. I don't need 120 but the choices seem to be a top of 50 or 120. My rear tire are supposed to run at 74 psi.

Tuesday, 18 November - I played pickleball until about 11 am then went to the van with the intention of going to buy groceries. I backed out of my parking spot, turned down the lane in the lot and drove about 50 feet. Something felt really wrong. I had a totally flat tire. I pulled straight ahead into another parking slot parked and spent the next two and a half hours changing the left front tire. The first lug nut that I tried to loosen twisted the stud off. In order to keep the wheel from spinning I had not jacked the wheel off the ground. I got the four other lug nuts off and tried to raise the tire off the ground. The jack wouldn't raise the vehicle high enough. I needed another jack and a couple of 4 X 4 wooden blocks. The marina had some blocks that I could borrow and I scavenged the 12 ton jack that I had bought several years ago and left on the floor press in the shop. That got the tire high enough and I put the spare on. After pickleball and fighting to get the tire changed I was too tired to go get groceries. I returned to the boat, rested awhile, then met Roland and Leta Kok, who have just driven down from Destin to visit for a while, and Susie at Dockside. Roland and Leta got a very warm welcome by everyone at the bar.

Wednesday, 19 November - I got up at 6 AM to get to KM Auto Repair on Big Pine Key by 8 AM. I explained about the flat tire and how that changed which tires needed to be moved around the van. They mounted two new tires that had been ordered and remounted and balanced two more to get all the tires in the proper placement then aligned the wheels. They indicated that replacing the broken wheel stud would take about two to three hours and that driving with only four lug nuts should not be a problem. We left the broken one in and I'll look into that more online and by calling the Ford dealer. Actually, I did call Keys Ford in Key West, but they didn't return my call with the quote I wanted. The stud costs $10 but I don't know how much it will cost to replace it. I tried to find a used auto parts store on Big Pine Key where the mechanic is but Apple Maps led me to two nonexistent locations and there are none in Marathon. Ford wants about $230 for the jack that came with the van. I hope to do better. I need a bottle jack that will reach about 19 inches. This evening I'm going to meet Susie, Roland and Leta at Havana Jack's in Key Colony Beach for dinner.

Thursday, 20 November - We had over twenty pickleballers today. Immediately after the games I wend directly to the van with the intent of determining what the minimum and maximum heights are needed for a bottle jack and then I was going to search the web for one to order. I got under the van and did the measurements but then got distracted by trying to figure out how to adjust the headlight beams. The passenger side low beam is, I believe, pointing way too high. I needed a torx 30 mm tip and a socket wrench. I got out the new 1/4" drive socket wrench that I just got and discovered that it won't ratchet in but one direction so I disassembled it in order to see if I could fix it. In the process of reassembling it a spring went sproing and disappeared. I spent about an hour searching for it in the back of the van and on the ground near the back of the van with a magnet and visually but without success. Sherry Thilmont and her friend, Andy, came by to see what I was up to and I explained that I had just given up searching for a 1/4" long spring. She found it in a crack of my bumper in about 30 seconds. I still couldn't get the ratchet to work even after stretching the two springs and trying to do a little filing on the two hardened palls and reassembling it. I found a way to get around using the ratchet and removed the headlight assembly which is unlike the headlights I'm used to. It has the high and low beams, parking lights, and turn signals all built into one sealed assembly; way different than the system on my most recent 1992 van. I hope I never damage it, it must cost a fortune to replace. After about 20 minutes of examination I realized that I hadn't needed to remove the light at all. The adjustment is accomplished by inserting a Phillips head screwdriver through a hole in the assembly that I had mistaken for some kind of venturi and letting the tip engage with a gear that adjusts the light. It was 5:30 and I hadn't eaten lunch and was too light to see the headlight beams to adjust them so I called it a day and headed back to the boat.

Friday, 21 November - Pickleball lasted about two and a half hours. For some reason I felt very tired but went to the van and moved it into the shade at the park and applied touch-up paint to lots of small nicks in the paint to keep them from rusting. I felt so tired that I only applied paint to about a third of the vehicle. Too many hours on my feet, I think. I returned to the boat and actually laid down and took a nap; a rare act for me. While at the park, James that works at Dockside had mentioned that Luke Sommers was playing there with his band this evening. I'd heard him play solo but James said his performances are much better with the band, so I decided to go see for myself. Before going I went back to the van in the dark, moved it to the west side of the marina building so that I could aim my headlights at that plain wall and attempted to adjust my headlights. The left light seemed to low and the right one was pointed way too high. I got the right light to lower but the adjustment mechanism inside the left one wouldn't move the beam at all. I guess I'll have to live with that; it's not too low. At Dockside I thought the band, just Luke on lead guitar, a lady bass guitar player, and a drummer, were ok but not an act that I will go out of my way to see again. I ended up sitting at the bar and talking to James quite a while since he had the night off.

Saturday, 22 November - I spent several hours online today searching again to find another hydraulic bottle jack for the van. The one I bought won't lift high enough to get a new, inflated tire back onto the hub. I also found out that the one that was originally supplied with it wouldn't either. By getting under the vehicle with a tape measure I've determined that I need a jack with a minimum height of about 9 inches and a maximum reach of approximately 20 inches. It was frustrating searching. I looked online at Home Depot, Walmart, Advance Auto, NAPA, Tractor Supply, Ford, Ebay, Amazon, and others. None of them have such an jack. I thought for sure that I'd find one by searching for ones with a two stage piston but all the ones that have that feature are too short; with one exception, and it costs over $600, a bit out of the price range I'd hoped for.

Sunday, 23 November - Since I don't get to listen to the Cruiser's Radio Net in the morning because I'm on the pickleball court, I didn't realize that there was to be a third Sunday of the month brunch today at the tiki hut at the marina today. I would have liked to attend the brunch. It's the first brunch the harbor has had in many months.I had accepted an invitation to go kayaking through another set of mangrove trails today. We left at 10 AM from my boat and spent two and a half hours wandering and exploring Vanishing Lake. It was a quick trip again today, partially because there were just three of us, Dan, Maja, and myself, and partially because I had a previous track in my phone that let us know exactly where to enter the trails and because I remembered some of the trails. It's been five years since I was in that set of trails last. I do like going into that area. Unlike the normal set of trails starting at Burdine's trail to Big Lake and back out Whisky Creek which is hard to get lost, in the Vanishing Lake trail it is very easy to get confused and disoriented. It's definitely more challenging. I met Susie, Roland, and Leta for dinner at Dockside the evening after putting away the kayak and cleaning up. I got to take my first hot shower on board Island Time in about a year because my brother Mike gave me a new sun shower for my birthday. Thanks, Mike.

Monday, 24 November - I played pickleball this morning then went to the marina to pick up a couple of packages that arrived Saturday. About a week ago a small reading lamp the shines over my shoulder while I use my computer at the dining table in the saloon burned out. I ordered a replacement, or thought I did. The one that I received today looks exactly the same in the photos online but the two pins for the connector are a half a millimeter too large and two millimeters too far apart. The other, a mount for my phone for the van implied that its suction cup would stick to any surface on a dash. Well, the suction cup won'd stick to my textured dash so they included a stick-on pad for such instances but I really don't want to apply that because it would probably tear up the dash to remove it. I'm going to have to improvise. That adds another project to my list.

Tuesday, 25 November - After pickleball this morning I went to the van to pick up a 15 inch 2 X 4 that I brought from the boat to make an adapter for the phone holder that I recently purchased. The little hole in the dash is a very odd shape that required seven different cuts in the board so that it would fit snugly. I made the first cut with the chop saw in the project room and all the rest with a Japanese Shark pull saw that my brother Mike gave me about twenty years ago. That saw has been used many times since then; very handy. I finished just in time to clean up the mess I made with all the sawdust, shower and head to Dockside to meet Susie. The place was packed and we joined Debbie and Bill Melton at their table. Shortly thereafter, Roland and Leta joined us, too, as did Patty and Jim Marshall.

Wednesday, 26 November - It rained this morning and I soon realized that only one other pickleball player and I were the only ones doing the work to get the water off the courts. I had gotten most of the water off with a roller squeeze and he was using a leaf blower. Everyone else was just standing around. I decided to let them wait for the sun to dry the courts since they wouldn't help. I went to the exercise class and worked out while the others BS'd. I returned about the time the others finally started playing and played until about 11 o'clock then headed to Susie's to help her assemble a new glider chair that she'd bought. Later that evening we went to the Marathon Community Theater to pick up some costumes that we had used last year for Roland Kok's birthday thinking they might get used again. When we returned to my van about 20 minutes later and I attempted to start it, nothing happened. No turn over, no starter Bendix clicks, no headlights, no dash or map lights; nothing. The battery is under the driver's seat and difficult to access. Luckily, a lady from the theater noticed my hood up and volunteered to give me a jump start although I wasn't sure that would work. Since the battery is under the seat there are jump start studs under the hood and it started right up. We drove the four miles back to Susie's, left the van and went to dinner in her car. After dinner we returned to her house and the van started right up again. I headed home and will try to figure what could have caused the problem tomorrow.

Thursday, 27 November - Thanksgiving Day - The battery in the van is under the driver's seat and hard to access. I spent from about 10 AM until 3:30 pulling it out, testing the voltage and charge with a load tester, cleaning the terminals, charging it up with a battery charger, and reinstalling it. I found nothing wrong but think it's possible that I've been keeping the doors open too long which keeps eight overhead lights in the back on, or that I had the stereo/communications system turned down so low that I wouldn't notice it and left it on. It doesn't turn off when the key is removed. I picked up Susie and we went to Thanksgiving dinner with Patty and Jim Marshall at Bill and Debbie Melton's in Coco Plum.

Friday, 28 November - It was cold and windy this morning. I went to the pickleball court but no one else was there. I decided to spend the day switching my bank accounts to another bank. I've had my money at Wells Fargo Bank in Salt Lake City for about 30 years and stayed with them mainly because they have either outlets or ATMs throughout most of the country. Until lately, they had no office but did have an ATM not too far away. Unfortunately, that ATM was removed leaving all their clients that used it with two choices; go 40 miles to Key West or 60 miles to Key Largo. Two other financial institutions are nearby, Keys Federal Credit Union and Bank of America. I went online to see which one would work best for me. Keys Federal Credit Union seemed best so I went there. When I said I'd like to open an account the lady behind the counter said, "That will be $60 to open an account." I said, "You mean that you're going to charge me $60 to take my money? That's not going to happen." I left and went to Bank of America. Even there I was amazed at how much paperwork it took to open an account but I got it done. During our conversation the bank officer asked where I currently banked and when I told her Wells Fargo, but they had removed their ATM, she said that lots of people must have complained and they had installed a new one. I told her that I was one of those and that I had called them several times to complain and asked if they were going to replace it. No one knew. Well they have but it's too late. I think Wells Fargo is a bunch of crooks anyway. Every couple of years they get caught doing something illegal. Unfortunately, they just get their hands slapped and fined about 2% of the money they cheated their clients out of. None of them ever go to prison. No wonder they continue to cheat.

Saturday, 29 November - I defrosted the freezer this morning then attempted to withdraw all my funds and close my account at Wells Fargo. I wanted to get it done before the first of next month, Monday. That didn't happen. Their website insists on sending two small amounts to my new bank first within three days, then I can empty my account. That means that I'm going to incur a fee. I whittled and sanded some final touches on the wood block that I started on Tuesday, then went to see the Wizard of Oz at the community playhouse. It was very well done and so much fun. The make-up was great and the performers all had their lines down pat. Even the little kids the played the munchkins were marvelous...a great show.

Sunday, 30 November - Yesterday one of the pickleball players let me know that they would play this morning so I went to the courts. No one was there so I went to the van, got the wooden piece that I'd worked to hold my iPhone and painted it with a coat of black paint. I thought it was fast drying but it was not. An hour later I went back to the courts and found 6 players; four on the court and the others waiting to play. I joined them and played about an hour. After that I returned to the van and sprayed another coat of paint on the wood. While there I noticed something about 20 feet away in the mangroves. I went in to see what it was and found a full 20 pound aluminum propane tank. It had probably washed up in there during a windy high tide and become stranded ashore. The aluminum tanks are worth much more than the trade-ins that you see at the hardware and grocery stores because they never rust. It's worth $168 new at Home Depot empty and more elsewhere. Filling a tank costs about $25. I already have two and each lasts me about a year so I'll sell one, but not until I empty another tank. After finding the tank I went to the project room and cut two 5 1/2" X 7" pieces off of a larger 2 X 6" board to use as stackable block bases for my bottle jack if I ever get another flat tire on the van. While cleaning up the sawdust I made I had to create a filter for one of the vacuums out of a sock that someone had left in the rag box. The vacuum had no filter and using it without one would have just sucked the particles it picked up directly into the fan, ruining it. I tell people that the only fee for using the tools in the shop is to clean up the sawdust, shavings, and grinding particles when they use the chop saw, drill press, and grinder but they rarely do. I spent about an hour creating the filter and vacuuming the area then returned to the boat to clean up before going to Dockside to meet Susie, Roland and Leta, and others to dance.