fdsailor.blog-city.com — October 2005
11:27 - soo far behind
Oh dear, I have gotten so far behind on my blogging. I am not even going to try to catch up - at least I got some pictures published on yoj.smugmug.
My obsession (and it has been intense) for the last week has been trying to accomplish the impossible - and I do mean impossible, as the last three attempts have failed. I am trying to form a new sailboat fleet at Canandaigua Yacht Club. Why is this hard? Well, the trick is one forms a fleet to race. To race you need, say 6 boats of the same kind. Boats cost money to buy - in this case from $2000 to $5000 each. A limited number of people (myself included, although I am not sure where I will get the money from) ARE willing to spend the money, provided that at least 5 others are willing to also - THAT is the problem. Getting interest is pretty easy - but finding out who is actually able and willing to shell out money is another. So it is a very binary outcome - either you have - boats or you have at least 6.
Starting in the fall, when it is quite cold already is not the best time to start this effort, but here I am. The good news is that you can get some great deals on boats this time of year... Well, I prepared a persuasive letter, I got all of my materials collected, and I made a web site. If you want to look at it, it is http://home.rochester.rr.com
More later, hopefully.
11:08 pm - running again
I don't usually complain about the weather that much, but this last week has been really depressing. Yes, we got some wonderful weather before, but last week was around 10 degrees, and always cloudy. No sun whatsoever - none! Oh, and did I forget to say - it was raining most days... Well, this didn't help me get much exercise. And volleyball on Thursday night was really stupid, because (it is a long story), we only had one court, and so three people were rotated out on each side at any given time. And everyone was pissed about it, so everyone played lousy.
So since I didn't get much exercise (and ate quite a bit at the party Friday), I promised myself I would go running today. Well, today, although it was very windy and cool, was very nice - the sun finally came out, and there were many large clouds in the sky (but not Russia sized - never seen such big clouds as the Novgorod region can get in the summer!). We went to the dog park to walk, and visited the lake shore. Wonderful time.
And finally, at 10 pm, I went out and ran around the block (about 5 km).
Tomorrow I get to show the boats - so everyone keep fingers crossed, as I will finally find out more on how interested people actually are. This could go either way.
Now, what else does one do at 11:15 - Wegmans!!!
9:24 pm - a weekend closes
This weekend has been rainy, so it is hard to get excited about much. The trees are starting to turn color, however, and at times the sun will peak out and remind one what beauty can be found in pockets here and there - nature is not put off by rain, it takes a long view of things.
So, let's see what has been happening lately. In no particular order:
This Sunday afternoon we were feeling a bit "house bound", so went on a mini-adventure. It didn't really matter where, as long as it was a change of scene. The most important came first - getting pumpkins...
You can't have Halloween without pumpkins, and small things make us happy. We then wandered through a garden store, several office supply stores (we really like office supply stores, it seems!) and Pier 1, where we love to look at all of the things there and smell the incense and candles, while at the same time knowing we don't have to buy anything.
Later on we went to a small party at one of our neighbors, then went to the yacht club to eat dinner. G has not been feeling that well in the last week or so, so this was her first real "meal" in a bit - it seemed to work.
On Saturday I played a concert as part of my Wind Symphony at U/R - it went just fine. Well, for me it went just fine. It was "parents weekend", and this makes parking on campus nearly impossible. G had dropped me off (since I was late to "call", and then went looking for a place to park. Well, she did not succeed, and instead spent the time in Starbucks studying. Bummer!
My other significant accomplishment for the last two weeks is starting a Vanguard 15 Sailboat fleet at Canandaigua Yacht club. It is hard to start fleets, but I succeeded in convincing 7 other people (in addition to ourselves) to buy Vanguard 15s for next year. It will be fun, and should be a great little boat to have around. Here is a picture of the boat:
Pretty cool, eh? Well, the boat we (and 7 others) will buy will actually look almost exactly like this boat, although the top deck will be light grey instead of white. I know, we have too many boats already, but this will fit in nicely - much easier to sail and rig than an FD (which I will still keep and sail at regattas), and very fast to go down and get in the water - actually faster than a laser. No trapeze, though - you have to hike!
11:35 pm - Oboe!
OK, this may seem uneventful to most, but for me it has been over a year in coming. To make a long story short, for over a year I have not played my oboe. My life has just been too full, and something had to go. So oboe it was. However, since I am still on the steep part of the learning curve with this instrument (in about another 20 years I may have it mastered :-) it is important for me to keep after it.
Of course, it can't be THAT easy. You could just start playing for 45 minutes a day - if you want a cracked (wooden) oboe. No, it takes weeks for moisture from your breath to evenly work its way through the instrument's wood so it doesn't get too stressed. So for the first week 15 minutes playing time per day, then 20 minutes for the next week, 30 the week after that. But that is OK for two reasons - first, I sortta have to remember how to make my reeds play, and remember which of the 15 reeds I have work. And that takes time. Second of all, my lips probably can't take much more than 30 minutes of playing a day for a while.
Well, let's hope it sticks! If it does, it will be good news. I figured it would be a good obsession to replace my Vanguard 15 fleet obsession, which has taken much time for the last 2 weeks.
9:10 AM - Party and Vanguard 15s!
Last night we had the first fleet meeting of Vanguard 15 Fleet #75 - well OK, we didn't actually transact any business, we just had a party. But 7 people physically ordered boats, with 2 more "high probables" - so statistically, I would say our fleet has 8.4 members ;-)
A representative from Vanguard (coming from Rhode Island, on his way to Ohio) joined us, and told us anything we wanted to know about the boat. Food from tortilla chips, veggie dishes, etc to sushi, those funny little micro-quiches, cookies and dessert gave us a head start on the holiday "stuff" season.
We are now listed on the Vanguard 15 web site www.v15.org under the "fleets" listing.
Very cool!
9:30 AM - Volleyball plus Home life getting back to normal
Last night the pickup volleyball was actually quite good. It started off being really good - somewhere between a recreational and power league, which is really good for a Perinton pick-up situation. The play decayed a bit over the evening, as some less talented players arrived and all joined the same team. We tried exchanging one of our good players for one of their bad, etc, but it didn't help. Then we did something I haven't seen since high school. Two team captains (both 190 cm women!) "self selected", and they took turns selecting teammates. I felt sorry the the last two people to be picked (in high school that was usually me), but it was interesting being in the "middle" of the selection for a change. This did indeed balance play out, and things went pretty well from that point onwards.
Life back home is getting back to normal, at least for me. The fleet building stuff is winding down, I am starting to play oboe again, etc. Now I have to get back to exercise again.
3 pm - Beautiful, sunny day
As I sit here, the sun is playing on the leaves of the trees outdoors, and it is really very pretty. The trees are about half changed now - as much yellow as green, with some reds beginning to show. Simply put, a wonderful day.
Tomorrow is going to be reasonably warm (18 degrees) and sunny, so we may go for one last sail down the lake, as we often do at this time of year. But swimming is over I think (unless we use our wetsuits).
Beginning to make some other transitions into fall - putting the furniture on the back deck under a tarp and into its storage position, etc. We cleaned the house, and it is beginning to look like a house again.
Last night, it was quite cold, but I really wanted to go running - once again, it has been raining here much of the week, and I have either been too busy or have not had the chance. Hmmm - so what to wear - 10 pm at night, temperature 4 degrees C, clear sky... Well, I decided to wear my light weight tights and a long sleeve coolmax shirt. Anya joined me.
I started my run - normal pace, dog running alongside, sometimes ahead, sometimes behind, but pretty much being a "pacer poodle - she runs at about 8:45 per mile.... Gee, it is DARN cold out here - hope I warm up. At the one mile point, it is, well, still DARN cold! This isn't supposed to happen! OK, my legs are fine, but my arms? FREEZING! Only one thing to do - run faster. So I start running at a 7:30 - 8 minute / mile pace. Still cold, but at least I am too tired to notice. And the dog? Well, she still paces at 8:45, and falls behind, then runs to catch up, falls behind, runs, etc.
For future reference, Chuck - when this cold with no sun, wear something warmer on top.
11:44 pm - SAILING!
Today was a happy day. I got an extra hour of sleep this morning (standard time began). Still woke up in time to do some around the house stuff. Then we packed our gear and went down to the lake. The FD was sitting on the beach (it gets displaced from the blacktop each fall because all of the other keel boats are hoisted with a crane and placed in cradles), almost ready to go. We put on dry suits, and went for a sail down the lake.
It was really wonderful weather for this - medium west breeze, sun, wispy clouds, and trees changing colors. Really wonderful.
Then we took down the boat for the season and drove it to Joe's barn, where it spends winter vacation.
Another good thing - the V15 fleet order is complete, with 9 boats being ordered. Very cool. Now I can stop working this for the summer.
Nite nite.
