Tuesday, 2 June 2020 - I pulled my small set of tools, a tarpaulin that I keep in there, and some other items out of the dinghy and dried them out. They and the dinghy registration got very wet from all the water that had accumulated in the dinghy from the rain over the weekend. In the afternoon, Phong Long, the young harbor volunteer shopper bought and delivered my groceries to me, so I spent about an hour storing those away.

Wednesday, 3 June - I spent a couple of hours today removing rust from the flooded tools for the dinghy, then oiling them and putting them into a peanut butter jar that I believe will keep the water off of them in the future. Time will tell.

Thursday, 4 June - I spent a couple of hours rejuvenating a couple of flashlights that are supposed to be water proof, but apparently aren't. One is a small one that I keep on the dinghy and got submerged in the dinghy in last weekend's deluge. With that one, I had to switch out parts with another that had failed to get one working light. The other is a large, 6 D-cell light that I keep by the companionway to the saloon. I couldn't find anything specific wrong, but after cleaning all the internal contact points that I could access, it now works, but will not stay on of its own volition. I have to hold the switch in. I also found new waterproof containers to put the "waterproof" dinghy flashlight and the owner registration for the dinghy into to try to keep them from getting flooded again. It was so overcast and we had so little wind today that I believe this is only the second time my batteries didn't get topped off by either my solar panels or my wind generator during the day since I got the solar panels. If it doesn't do better tomorrow, I'll need to get out the Honda generator to recharge the batteries.

Friday, 5 June - I started the day off as Net Controller this morning. A dinghy drift was planned since this evening brought us a full moon. A dinghy drift is simply several or many dinghies tying up together for an outdoor, social distancing social. We usually share snacks and beverages, but with the Covid-19 situation, the plan was to skip that informality and everyone stay on their own dinghies. It worked out even better than that. Susie and I were the only ones to show up at all, so social distancing situation was no problem whatsoever. We enjoyed our wine, chips, and dip by ourselves and it was a very nice evening on the water. I didn't expect a big showing, but I was surprised that no one else showed up. On the bright side, four other dinghies assumed that me might need assistance and came over to offer help. The solar panels topped off my batteries today, so I closed the boat up and headed to Susie's for the weekend. Question

Saturday, 6 June - Susie and I both had items we needed to mail so we headed over to the Key Colony Post Office. We arrived just as the lunch hour was over and stood around for about five minutes for them to reopen before another customer came in to get their mail from her mailbox and told us the post office isn't open on Saturday anymore. Later, we walked across the parking lot from Susie's and got one of the worst pizzas I've ever had. Since it was takeout, we didn't realize that until we got back to her house. I don't know if the chef was mad or just bad. The pizza had garlic on it, which we both like...in moderation. I guess we expected a bit of ground or chopped garlic sprinkled on it, however, this pizza had whole cloves strewn over the top. A bit too much for either of us. I can't imagine anyone liking that much garlic on a pizza, but then again...I was wrong once before, although I can't remember when.

Sunday, 7 June - With neither of us yet willing to venture out amongst the recently returned mainlanders, it was a very laidback day at Susie's until late evening when we had chicken and spaghetti that Susie cooked.

Monday, 8 June - There's a new dentist in town and I had a "New Patient's" special there this morning. Seventy nine dollars for x-rays, exam, and teeth cleaning. A very good price...however, I thought his pricing for the work he says I need, at about $900 per hour, a bit too extravagant. He also refused to do the fillings in my teeth without giving me novocaine. I haven't had novocaine while getting my teeth drilled on since before I was in the military and I haven't bitten a dentist yet. The shots hurt me more than the drilling does. I don't know that I'll be returning for that work. I need to do some further research and thinking about that.
                    We also stopped to see if the nearest computer repairman could replace some batteries for me. The fellow insisted that he'd have to have the laptop and phone in his possession while the batteries were being ordered and repaired. There were over 100 repairs to be done before mine, so it would take at least several days. I suggested that I pay him in full for the batteries and he could give me a call when they arrived so I could bring the devices in to him and that if I didn't return, he'd have the batteries to sell at pure profit to the next guy. Nothing to lose on his part, but he wouldn't have it. Goodbye! I'm not about to go without both devices for an undetermined amount of time.

Tuesday, 9 June - ??????? I don't know what I did Tuesday. Anybody else out there have that problem?

Wednesday, 10 June - I spent quite a bit of time today looking for a repair service to replace the batteries in my MacBook Air and iPhone, but no other local shop could do it. The two choices are both about the same distance away; one east in Islamorada and the other in Key West. The one in Key West says they actually have the batteries for my 6 year old devices in stock. I'm amazed!

Thursday, 11 June - This morning Susie was gracious enough to take me clear down to Key West to have my MacBook Air's and iPhone's batteries replaced. I was lucky to find a repair center that actually had the batteries in stock. I'd been pretty sure that wouldn't happen and wasn't totally convinced until I got there and had both of them back in my hands within about thirty minutes. I wouldn't have been surprised if we'd been told, upon arrival, that the one they had wasn't the right one, after all. On the way back, we stopped at the Hurricane and had lunch on their back patio with only one other patron there.

Friday, 12 June - I started off the day by hosting the Boot Key Harbor Cruiser's net, then moved on to trying to make some sense of the stock market as it stands, or rather falls. Not much luck there.

Saturday, 13 June - I had tried to turn the ceiling fan in Susie's living room on Wednesday while I was here, but it wouldn't come on. Today Susie and I worked on that fan. I assumed that the switch had gone bad and that was confirmed when I disassembled it. Parts of the switch just fell apart, so off to the hardware store we went and got a new switch. Unfortunately, when we returned to install the switch, I discovered a fourth wire and we had purchased a three wire switch. Back to the hardware store, of course. The fan is supposed to have OFF and three speeds and since the switch had fallen apart, we had no idea which wires went to which terminal, so I decided to test the wires for voltage. We didn't have many tools on hand and the only tester was just a continuity tester. Guess what. I couldn't get voltage through any of the wires that go to the switch, although we did have current to the lamp base in the ceiling. Doing the testing and running back and forth to the hardware store consumed most of the day, but one of the trips to the hardware store allowed us to return Susie's mother's borrowed walker that had been borrowed from the American Legion right before the Covid 19 virus closed down all the businesses three months ago. Also, we ferreted out what all the different circuit breakers control in Susie's house except one. There is one that didn't seem to render anything unusable...and it is a 100 Amp breaker, the same size as the main. The chart on the panel was wrong for several of the breakers.

Sunday, 14 June - This morning we removed the ceiling fan and Susie ordered a new one. After that I whipped the ends of some strands on a rope, tied a double Mathew Walker knot into it, and added racking and seizing onto a hanging patio decoration Susie has fashioned out of a trio of wayward crab and lobster pot floats that she's rescued from the channel in the back of her house.

Monday, 15 June - Around 10 o'clock this morning Keith "Stitch" of the S/V Moonlight Sue came over to let me show him some items I need either modified or made up for me. He has a heavy duty Sailrite sewing machine. These are all items I asked one of the ladies in the harbor to do for me about 3 months ago and she told me she wasn't interested, but to call Mark Brewer on S/V Born Free. He replaced my SSB antenna, and did it well, but dropped the ball on the sewing so now I'm trying another sailor. I've been disappointed in the performance of my main anchor in the past so I've decided to invest in a more modern, heavier, expensive model. This afternoon I spent several hours doing some follow-up research and called GroundTackle Marine in British Columbia to ask a few questions about their Sarca Excel #7, 80 lb anchor. They answered most, but needed to take a measurement directly off one of their anchors, which he said he'd do immediately and get back to me via message on the phone. I had hoped to get the answer and order the new anchor today, but he never got back to me. I'm slowly realizing that very few people follow through on anything they say they will do anymore, even when it's in their own best interest.