Marlene Anne Sassaman's Blog (140)

Does anyone know how to print blog posts. I only want to print the posts that I have made. When I click print, the printer only prints the outer columns but not the center where the actually blogs are......

January 11, 2013 seems like eons ago. The frenetic pace that moved me from a comfortably numb existence to living the dream is overwhelming. Where have I been these past three months, where am I now, and where am I going are the questions I am learning to answer in the present tense. Following the philosophy of Eckhart Toll in his books about the "Power of Now" it is clear that doing so empowers one to enjoy the roses along life's twists and turns.

Weaving philosophy throughout my…

So long, bye, bye, its time to move on. What started as a means to focus on my dream while enhancing my writing skills is ending with the light at the end of the tunnel. Just as soon as I can rid my house of my most precious possessions and tidy up my financing arrangements, I am out of a comfortably numb existence into a strange new world. With adventure and romance calling to me a life at sea, I bid thee a heartfelt good bye.

Thanks for your encouragement these past few…

Ay, forget relaxing; who can relax at a time like this. The housing market is sinking which puts my investments on par with a dear friend who lives in the buy hi, sell lo world of bad decision making. Its not my fault the country's economy is killing the locals due to cuts in the space program. Maybe it is my fault based on my voting habits. Either way, today was my first day of real retirement. While my colleagues went back to school I spent 14 hours organizing for a sailing departure of…

Pronounced:  er lick  da

It has a commanding jolt with its harsh beginning and end; yet it supposedly means to slow down, you know kind of smell the roses as you go along kind of thing; something I have a hard time doing. Yet as I edge my way into the cruising world, I work at it each day. Take for instance this moment. For the past hour I have been online ordering a no longer made radio, the Icom MC 422. First I learned that I missed a seemingly good deal on a used one by…

Pronounced:  er lick  da

It has a commanding jolt with its harsh beginning and end; yet it supposedly means to slow down, you know kind of smell the roses as you go along kind of thing; something I have a hard time doing. Yet as I edge my way into the cruising world, I work at it each day. Take for instance this moment. For the past hour I have been online ordering a no longer made radio, the Icom MC 422. First I learned that I missed a seemingly good deal on a used one by…

In the words of Jackie Gleason, "How sweet it is."  Well, I think it was Jackie Gleason. Either way, it is pretty crazy wavering between the excitement of an unknown future and the fear of an unknown future. The minutes drag by while the days fly. With only 3 major boat tasks to do and 3 household items on the list, the common denominator of my paying attention to what is really important and not dwelling on things like dating, reality is making sleep difficult.

 For example, after…

Having just learned the meaning of irreverance it se ems a perfect descriptor for anyone who chooses to set sail across an ocean all by themself. Am I right? From my understanding an irreverant one would be one who shows disrespect for conventional wisdom. Just as the majority is not always right, does it not stand to reason that conventional wisdom made it difficult for our good buddy Christopher Columbus to seek funding for his voyage off the face of the earth. Did his desire to prove the…

Why does it seem so easy for others? I don't know maybe it is my faulty belief system. While friends of mine seem content with the trials and tribulations of renting, when the time came for me to rent I got cold feet. My financial planning, or more accurately, my discipline sticking to the plan, leaves a lot to be desired. It is just that sometimes I want it all and I want it now.

My boat needs minor things; namely an SSB transceiver which I decided is a necessity. Then, last week the…

How did you transition? Did you sell your house? Did you sell your possessions?

I can sure use help with this. My retirement date is set for Dec. 20.

How did you transition? Did you sell your house? Did you sell your possessions?

I can sure use help with this. My retirement date is set for Dec. 20.

And, what have I accomplished? First, and perhaps most importantly I have a realistic view of my finances. Second, I have a serious concern about my boat's seaworthiness. Third, I am overcome with sentimentality. Fourth, I am emerging into those feelings that accompany the Grateful Dead's bemoan, "I Could Be Going to Hell,,,," Fifth, same ol' same ol.

Being precise with my expenditures is critical. For the past 23 months I have lived in ignorance. Not in the sense of being too stupid…

Convinced I should launch SPRAY despite feelings of a poorly executed sealing job, there was a feeling of relief when she stayed dry upon her initial splash. For the next three hours the repaired sections stayed bone dry. Eventually I drifted off to a light sleep but easily woke up while shifting positions. With a bit of hesitation I checked the propellar shaft area and noted only a teensy bit of water entered during the night. Replacing the properllar shaft, by a workman at the yard,  was…

Well, well, well, for two days I have been practicing how to screw. Now, don't get the wrong idea. All of this screwing has to do with adhering two wooden disks designed to cover and seal out water from the center board's swivel pin. First, the 4 disks had to be epoxied. If you saw my epoxy work you would know that goo went mostly in places other than on the disks. Consider that one of the disks had to be put on in a narrowing compartment barely 3 inches wide where the bottom screw goes.…

Poor SPRAY, back on the hard after an innocent, albeit expensive, mishap about 1/4 of a mile outside her slip. It seems the safety line thrown out the day before was not retrieved before setting off to join the Melbourne Yacht Club's annual seafood raft up. Just as SPRAY headed into the wind for the hoisting of the main, that suddenly aburpt coming to a halt engine sound went burrplllllllllllup. To which I responded, "oh shaboom, something is…