As usual, drove up to NoVa to spend Christmas with the family. Nuke’s parents went to the Left Coast for the Holidays so he drove up with me.
Had a good time.
Got there Christmas Eve and had dinner (again, as usual) at a Chinese restaurant.
Christmas Day - my sister made a traditional English Christmas Dinner – roast beef, roast vegetables, Yorkshire pudding, etc. It was great.
It snowed in North Carolina during the weekend so we delayed our drive back by one day. Went out to Warrenton Virginia to spend the evening with my brother (CA) and sister-in-law (BA). Had a great time there too.
The next day we headed back to the Greater Moncure Metro Area.
CA and BA also had other guests while we were there. A friend of theirs and his 7 year old son. The kid, LD, had a remote control helicopter. That thing was a blast to play with.
The next day after I got home, I went by Best Buy. They were sold out and wouldn’t get anymore in for a couple of weeks. I ordered one online.
What a great, well played game. State won 23 to 7. This is going to sound contradictory, but the game was played much closer than the score. And (here’s the contradiction) – State should have won by an even higher score. Both teams moved the ball well but both defenses made huge stops to prevent touchdowns. State’s defense was just better than West Virginia’s.
It's a good day to be a Wolfpack Fan.
Unfortunately, I’ve picked up a head cold – again. Dammit.
The story is, my dad ‘acquired’ a ship’s clock off the Liberty Ship he came back on from Europe after WWII. Or, it may have come from an uncle who worked at the Newport News Shipyard also during WWII. Either way, it’s my dad’s clock and it came to me after he died.
Around 5 or 6 years ago I took it to a clock shop in Cary for cleaning and maintenance. It came back broken and has never worked since.
I subsequently took it to two other shops – no one was able to fix it. I also contacted two different shops on the internet. Neither was willing to fix it and both told me that replacement works were not available.
Then, searching on line, I found a shop called Clocktiques in Wake Forest. The reviews for Clocktiques were all raves.
The reviews are true.
I took the clock in and once I described what had happened – the owner said the main spring may be ‘gummed up’ due to the typical cleaning method - which is to soak the works in a solution in an ultrasonic cleaner. He explained that often the springs will react to the solution and old dirt and debris can also remain trapped and turned into a gunk instead of being cleaned out.
The correct way is to remove the spring and hand clean it.
Anyway, he took the clock and said he could certainly fix it and that it would be about 8 to 10 weeks (he has a LOT of work).
Got it back today.
Here’s what he did: The spring was corroded so it was replaced. Two tuning fork jewels had been replaced at some point in the past with the wrong size and shape jewels. And even those weren’t set in properly. They were glued in instead of being enameled in. Also, the main stem was broken – probably from the ultrasonic cleaning. The replacement stem was handmade as none were available.
It would have been far easier and cheaper to replace the works – but repairing the broken works was important to keep the clock fully original.
End result – completely cleaned, jewels replaced, rebalanced, mainspring and stem replaced.
He did NOT clean the face plate or repaint / enamel the numerals. He said that should NEVER be done as the faceplate, arms and case should be allowed to age and acquire a natural patina.
The clock is beautiful, back in its place on my living room wall, and running perfectly. I'm beyond thrilled.
If you have a rare, expensive, antique or clock of great sentimental value – Clocktiques is the only place to take it for repair and maintenance. It’s expensive – but worth penny.
Just got back from a cruise. This time for 11 days instead of the usual week. The extra days were great.
The Celebrity Equinox is the most beautiful ship I’ve been on. Very modern / contemporary sleek design.
The clientele was upscale – due to the Celebrity line (and cost) and the fact it was a longer trip. I’d rather travel with these older but active people any day over the “whoo hoo” crowd.
Most of the on board entertainment was sophisticated adult fare – string quartets, jazz combos, big band, piano soloist, etc.
Overall I liked St. Kitts the best. First time there. It reminded me of Bermuda – but Bermuda of the 1960’s before it became fully developed. Very British, prosperous and not developed – yet.
It’s starting to happen. Their first resort, a Marriott has just opened. There are beautiful beaches on the southeast peninsula which has become accessible by construction of a paved road in the past 4 years. The beach bars there are still rustic – similar to Costa Maya. But that won’t last long. Oh yeah, before the beach we went to an old British fort on top of a mountain at the edge of the ocean. Very nice visit.
Had the most fun on St. Maarten. I’ve been there several times. Always gone to Orient Beach - which I think is the most beautiful beach I’ve been too.
This time we headed over to a little beach near the airport. The end of the runway is literally at the beach. There’s the beach and the sand goes right up to a tiny 2 lane road, then the airport fence and then the runway lights and runway. The planes land and take off right over you.
Dominica (which I’d been to about 15 years ago) is volcanic with high peaks and is mostly rain forest. It has 365 waterfalls and most of the island is preserved as a National Park. But – it’s desperately poor.
We took a cruise line tour and saw a couple of waterfalls and then on to the “resort” beach with volcanic black sand. The fact that this was the “safe resort area” said it all. It’s a row of slum houses / stores / bars on the beach. And I don’t mean US slum – I mean 3rd world slum.
But, the drinks were good, the beach pretty, and it was a nice place to hang out once the beggars and dope dealers finally grew tired of pestering us.
In Barbados we went to a public beach instead of a hotel / resort beach. It’s a National Park beach which the locals use. I like going to local places to get a chance to see the real island / country (albeit brief) rather than always going to the resorts where you’re insulated from real life.
The USVI were the same ol same ol. Been there a dozen times. This time I walked around town sightseeing, bought a dress shirt and spent the rest of the afternoon back on the ship.
Photos are found by following my links to the right.
Glad to be home. On the down side – while I was gone a pipe burst on the hot tub. I drained the remaining water out of it and will check out the problem later this week.
It’s cold. Unseasonably cold. Forecast to get down to the teens at least 3 nights this week and even colder next week. Yikes!
And that is why one goes on a cruise ship vacation.
