First Meal

We spent the best part of 2 days on airplanes and in airports. This is our first "meal" in Spain. It is right on the Mediterranian Sea and we walked there from our condo. We are all ordering some sort of seafood.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Almost Ready to Start

At my retirement party, guests were asked to bring a single seed packet for me to grow in my garden.  There were no restrictions:  flowers, herbs, vegetables or ornamentals.  People were very generous.  Many brought SEVERAL packages of seeds.  The good news is that seeds keep.  Also, I will have enough seeds for second, third and even fourth plantings.  My cruise is during the time I should be starting all the seeds.  So, before I left for Hawaii, I planted 80 different kinds of seeds.  I planted a six pack of each type.  That is close to 500 plants.  Usually, I planted a couple of seeds in each section of the six pack.  Some of the seeds are almost dust like – and my fat fingers planted several particles.  Bottom line, over 1,000 seeds were planted.

 

I arranged for my oldest Grandson – Morgan – to water the dirt.  He must have done a good job, because only two weeks later, the hot house is alive with seedlings.  I took a couple of pictures so you could all see that I am putting your seeds to good use.  The temperature outside today was about 60 degrees.  When I took the pictures, the hot house was 100 degrees.  The plants seem to love it.  If it gets any hotter than that, a fan comes on and a vent opens on the other side of the hot house bringing in that 60 degree air.  In a couple of minutes, it is back down to 100 degrees again.  It is all automatic.  Next year I might put in a heater so we can start even earlier.  We’ll see.

 

When I get back from the cruise, it will be after the official last frost and we can begin planting the seedlings outside the hot house.  I do not need nor want 6 each of four different kinds of cucumbers or watermelons or pumpkins.  So, make a list and tell me what you would like and I will try to get it to you.  When I get back I will make a list so you can pick.  However, for now, just assume I have everything.

 

Now, don’t be angry with Morgan if something happens to the seedlings.  This is my first time using a hot house.  He will be doing exactly what I told him to do.  If it doesn’t work, we will try, try again.  That is what gardeners do.

Luckiest Guy in the World

In 1981, Chuck Briggs and his partner Jerry Siegel initiated a partnership. Chuck developed the software and Jerry sold it.  Chuck worked very hard for nearly 30 years.  Along the way, he was lucky to acquire the finest employees who also worked very hard.  By June 30, 2009 when Chuck retired, International Micro Design, Inc. (dba Health Financial Systems) is the number one Medicare Cost Report Software.  More Medicare health care providers file their Medicare cost reports using HFS software than any other software.  More government contractors use HFS software to review those reports than any other software. 

 

It was time for Chuck to retire.  He knew that the staff could move the company forward without him.

 

For some reason, the talented, hard working staff gave me a retirement present.  They gave me an underwater camera to use in my Scuba diving.  And they gave me a Mediterranean cruise.  I had planned to start the blog when the cruise commenced on March 7.  However, I am currently in Maui and today, I used the camera.  So, I thought I would show you what I see when I dive to a depth of 65 feet.  I also thought the picture of the shark was pretty cool.  Since the employee gift is responsible for the images, I have started the blog.

 

While we were anchoring for our second dive, we saw a baby whale playing with a group of dolphins.  There were about 100 feet from our dive boat.

 

On the second dive, the dive guide was pointing to something under a cliff.  I peered under the ledge and found myself face to face with a white tipped shark just like the one in the picture.  They were both about 4 feet long and very placid.  They showed no aggression whatsoever.

 

I hope you will see how much I appreciate these gifts.