The Black Penny

Our new home for the next 8 weeks or so is a 68-foot, “motor sailor” (well a motor boat / trawler with some sort of a mast that we have yet to figure out). What can I say about the Black Penny, well, she's a diamond in the rough, answered the Kitty Kat, when asked by the captain! Better yet, a work in progress and we are definitely the workers. It should be interesting and never boring.

Work will have to wait though, as we are off on our very own Tour de Ireland. Besides the Capitan and his first mate / Engineer – Tom, have a couple more things to do before we come aboard, like finish building our bunks!

After off loading a majority of our gear onto the boat (in a small out of the way corner), and taking a few suggestions of where to go/ what to see in Ireland, we head to the newest hotel for the night. Very tired kitty indeed!

Goodnight & good luck!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katnbrian/sets/72157621152982329/

First Contact

We arrived in Dublin (the Republic of Ireland) at 9am in the morning after a 24 hour trip (we had a lay over in Philly for 3hrs), on Thursday, June 25th. Immediately, we hit the ground running as we breezed through customs and found our rental car. Climbing into the driver’s seat, with no steering wheel, just re-edified the obvious differences. Even though they drive on the correct side, it’s not right! He, he, a little Ireland humor. And, oh yeah, if you didn’t get it , they drive on the left here, steering wheel on the passenger side, stick shift for the left hand. Great for a left paw like Brian, but extremely difficult for a normal paw like me! Good thing I have not driven yet, nor plan to! Ever. Meow (feed me, pet me, hold me). About 30 seconds after getting the car out of the lot Brian was driving like Formula 1 driver.

Making our way downtown Dublin, we stopped off for some lunch and to see the sights. Using the good book - Lonely Planet Ireland, we find our way, and have an amazing meal at “Gruel”. Off to the Dublin castle and a quick look around the gardens. In the essence of time, we take off to Newry to meet up with Peter, the captain/owner of the boat we will be traveling on. A quick stop at the Internet cafe to print out an old,, 1908 letter from Brians Irish kin and a failed phone call attempt later, we get on the road.

With me navigating and Brian driving, we were making great time, except for one small detail - Jet lag! Brian just couldn’t take it any longer, and we had to pull over for a 15 minute nap midway. Recouping and back on the road, we pulled into Newry and located the boat straight away. Brian and I just walked up to 1 of the 4 boats docked on the canal, and asked the gentleman working on it if he knew Peter. “Aye, tis here is his boat, let me get eim.”

To Peter’s complete surprise, we had arrived. He was so shocked as he had been sending us Skype messages for days, with no reply from us. To our equal dismay, we had sent him a couple of messages as well, that he did not receive. Therefore, we both were not getting through and he thought we had fooled him and were complete flakes! He was so shocked that it took about ½ hour for him to believe it, and as he did, his whole demeanor changed. Before long, He was jovial and so excited as he took us all through the boat.


Good thing we decided to make contact instead of going on our tour of Ireland. All is well, and this trip is going to be so fun!

San Francisco Days

Our days in the Bay Area (and beyond) were filled with films, festivals, food- lots and lots of it, friends, and fun! I swear we both gained a good 5 pounds each.

We started off our time celebrating my birthday with (carrot) cake, of course. Then visited friends, did some shopping, re-packed some gear, etc. After all, our next trip takes us from Newry, Ireland, latitude 52 (like Juno, Alaska) to Lankawi, Malaysia, latitude 2 (the equator is 0)! Can you say bikinis and Parkas!

The highlights;
-Brian flew into Phoenix, picked up the van and drove back to the Bay Area via Yosemite. He drove all night and arrived at 9:30am the next morning to surprise his mother, who was in the park for a day. He met her at the Awanehee hotel for brunch. She was floored as she thought he was in Mexico.
-A quick trip up to Tahoe ensued, where we sipped champagne directly on the lake. No, we didn't win big, or anything at all. Oh, well, next time!
-Another one was a Giants (day) game. Giants lost due to sloppy infield play.
-We also managed to get in a couple of movies - The Hangover (hilarious) and Star Trek (of course - great).
-We took a walk on the beach (Fort Funston in San Francisco). I know, we know, can't get enough of the beach and just love this one.
-Summer Sailstice, A huge sail experience event held at Treasure Island, on the longest day of the year, in our yacht club parking lot. Lots of people, sailboats, rides, treasure hunts, fun bands, good BBQ, and strong drinks, as Brian and I were the yacht club bartenders!
-For Father's day, I treated my Dad (and Mom & Brian) to a trip to the newly re-done Cal Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park. And what a treat it was, for everyone! Fishes, and Penguins and living rooftops oh my!
-We rounded out our time back in California with a quick trip up to Napa, getting the grand tour of our friend’s new house.
-On our last evening we dined in SF or should I say feasted, for what one would call, the last supper. Oh, and another 5 pound gain!

Sorry if we didn’t get to see you in SF as we were there for just a couple of weeks and we did have to pack for our next trip.

Yours Truly - the FAT Kat ~ Meow
Enjoy the pictures and blog at you later. Off to Ireland we go!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katnbrian/sets/72157620551359921/

You Say it's your Birthday...

Dun an una una.... Yes, today is the all kitties birthday (my kitty girls Morta & Bella celebrate on this day too)! Meow! and in true kitty style I'll be having tuna and cake, but not neccassarily together or in that order :)

How old am I, you ask? Is that in human years or kitty years? Well, lets see. In kitty years, I take my age and divide by 9 (lives that is)! So, I'll be 4 ish. Oooo, that multiply not divide. Okay so in human years I am 39 or 3x3 which is 9 and 3 is my lucky number and it is the year 2009, and I was born on the 9th day in June (which is a 6 but it's 3+3 so it's still okay)....

Meow!

La Paz, Part II

So Brian and I find ourselves back in La Paz, again. Not to fret, as we really like the city. It is colorful city with its long bay front walkway (malecon). Many aquatic sculptures are on display along the beach. La Paz has many good restaurants but they have the best fish taco carts in all of Mexico. A fun fact, La Paz (LP), just celebrated is 474th anniversary as a city. Wow! That is older than the first settlement in the USA. That would be Jamestown in 1608. As long as we are talking history, La Paz was settled by Cortes in 1535 but by 1570 it had become a resting port for the British pirates who preyed on the Spanish galleons returning from Manila. The galleons would sail due east for the Philippines and hit the California coast. Then they would turn south for Acapulco and when they sailed past Cabo San Lucas the Brits would raid them.

That was then and this is now. Settling in, our standard routine became going to the pool, drinking margaritas & evening cocktails, and catching a current movie. Well, it was 101 degrees out, not much else you could do. Life was good and the movies are cheap! We saw Angels and Demons for a total of $12 US including popcorn, drink, hotdog, a 2 cheese crepe, and a bag of cashews. However, it wasn't going to last forever and we needed to find our next gig. To the Internet, batman!

Cruising through (he, he, just a little cruising pun) the net, and numerous crew finder lists, we come upon some interesting stuff. In the end we decided to go with a 3 month gig from Northern Ireland, Latitude 52N, to Malaysia, Latitude 2.3N.

We tentatively leave out of SF, June 21st! Yes, we're back!

Meow & the Man

Books I've read so far....

Just so everyone knows, I am not a book reader. I have read more books in 8 months, than I have in the last 20 years total. I prefer the trashy magazines that I can complete in a couple of hours by the pool. My attention span is just not that long people - Meow! So, this is a huge accomplishment for me, and I am quite proud. Not to mention, I'm kinda into it!

Here's the Kat's List:

American Wife by Curtis Steinfield - This is a lose fictional story about Laura Bush. It was okay. I just couldn't get over the visual imagery and love story with W (Bush). I know, it's fiction.

The Grass Dancer by Susan Power - This is a disjointed story with no real plot or climax based on the Native American Lore. Each chapter and story is good, but the author doesn't really pull it all together for the reader in the end. At least for me, it felt unresolved, but it had great promise.

Fatal Tide by Iris Johansen - Great adventure on the sea involving dolphins and sunken treasure, oh my! Highly Recommended

Special Circumstances by Sheldon Siegel - Great murder mystery, lawyer book, set in San Francisco. Highly Recommended

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham - Easy, fun read set in Italy about American football, and I liked it! Recommended

The Purfect Murder by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown (this is the author's cat- no joke) - This is a fun, good read. It's murder mystery where the animals have dialog. Anything with talking cats, I'm gonna love. Anyhow, this is part of a series of murder mysteries. The latest one out. Recommended

Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell - This was a fun, well written, easy read. It was like a magazine, trashy, and juicy with rich characters. Recommended

Hot by Julia Harper- this was labeled a "Modern Romance" but I didn't realize it until I got to the sex scene parts. Anyhow, really enjoyable bank robbery, cat and mouse type read. Highly Recommended

Boomsday by Christopher Buckley - This is a political satire, very witty, and funny about baby boomers coming to retirement age. This is a must Read! Highly recommended!

Cat on the Scent by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown - Another in the series, this one early than the last one, but my favorite out of the two so far. The cats have more dialog, and the murder mystery is better. Highly recommended!

Body Movers: 2 Bodies for the Price of 1 by Stephanie Bond - Actually, I am just in the middle of this one now but I am really liking it. You might have to wait for the final judgement however, until I am back on a boat with no tv :)! Still out for review

Count 'em - that's 11 books! OMG, and you thought kitties couldn't read! ~MEOW

State closing Parks!

Did you hear, the state government decided to close all the state parks in the bay area, and others state wide?

I signed, did you?

Sign the petition:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/save-california-state-parks-from-closure