Where has this summer gone! I can't believe that we are on the verge of Labor Day already. It only feels like Memorial Day was 2 weeks ago. The weather started changing here in Maine just after my last post. The daytime highs are now in the mid-70's and the evenings in the mid to upper 40's. Fall is in the air.
It's been a busy 2 weeks. The past 2 Saturdays I was DJing weddings. One of the weddings was in Port Clyde, ME which is over 2 hours from my house. It was a good, relaxing, laid back reception. Last weekends wedding was more of a party atmosphere and was only 20 minutes from home.
My Sunday's still consist of diving. I have been underwater at least once, if not twice, a week in the last 15 weeks! That is pretty darn good.
September proves to be another busy month! Labor Day weekend, Saco River weekend, Monhegan Island weekend, Common Ground weekend, and now possibly Vinalhaven weekend. There goes every weekend in Sept.
Stay tuned for more!
Man... Where has the summer gone. I can't believe it is August already! Summer just felt like it started and now it is almost over!
This weekend was a pretty quiet weekend. Friday night we went to the Thirsty Whale and watched Eric Green perform. Saturday we slept in late, got up, went for breakfast, and then for a hike. We parked cars at opposite ends of the hike. The hike was 3.9 miles from the Tarn, up over Huegonot Head, then Champlain Mtn, down to the Bowl and finally out at Sand Beach. It was a sunny day with very little clouds in the sky. After the hike we got home, showered, went out for dinner and then went to a party. Sunday, diving was cancelled so I got to go home early and fix the motorcycle. I replaced the starter solenoid and now the bike starts like a champ. I also cleaned out my truck and vacumed the interior. After that I tore into the basement. I've got 3/4 of that cleaned.
Today... is the start of another busy week!
Here is the machine and the mask I have to wear.
Man it has been another busy couple of weeks. This latest round was very interesting.
The weekend of June 29th. I drove to Watkins Glen, NY to DJ a wedding for some close friends of mine. It was one long ass ride. 10.5 hours from my house to the hotel. I realized that I will not do something like that again with proper compensation for my time and travel. The wedding was awesome and everyone had a blast. It was good to catch up with Pete and Jessica since it was almost a year since they left Bar Harbor. The reception was at the Wagner Estate Winery... Finger Lake Region of NY (Wine Country). My travel down was on Thursday the 28th, the wedding was the 29th and then I drove home on the 30th. My friends have a theory about traveling.
"If the drive time exceeds the amount of time stayed at one location, then the trip wasn't worth it."
I agree with my friends on that one, but seeing it was a special occasion I could overlook it.
On that Sunday, July 1st. I went scuba diving with the seals on Little Duck Island. While I actually saw no seals, it was great being underwater.
Monday the 2nd. I started my new after work routing... running on the treadmill. I am trying to get into better shape and control my breathing better for scuba diving. So far so good. I am on week 2 and will be increasing my speed tonight.
On the 4th of July... I got up at 8AM and headed for the starting spot for the annual parade. I marched the 2 mile loop with my friends from Friends of Acadia. It was the start to a long day. After the parade, Emily and I walked around town, had some lunch, met some friends, and then watched the fireworks. We got home just after 11PM that night. All in all a great night.
The rest of the week was fun. Friday night we went to see Robin Williams new movie "License to Wed". It was a good movie with funny parts. On Saturday we headed back in to Bar Harbor. Our friend, Eric Green, was performing at the Thirsty Whale. We watched him and then went home to bed. Sunday was 8 weeks in a row with scuba diving.
Any how... I'll post some pics from all of the events soon.
So this weekend was a busy one!
Friday after work I ended up going home. I needed to get everything packed up for our big adventure. On Saturday morning, Emily and I headed south around 8:30 AM. We were off to Gloucester, MA for a weekend of Diving for me. We stopped in Augusta around 10AM and got gas and hung out at a Barnes and Nobles until Mike and Lynne caught up to us around 25 minutes later. From Augusta, we continued south to Portland. In Portland, we stopped to do some shopping at the local dive store there. We actually spent 1.5 hours there. Emily was getting frustrated by now... you see, she's a non-diver. After shopping, we ate lunch at Becky's Diner, right next door to the dive shop. We continued our drive after lunch to Gloucester.
We arrived in Gloucester around 5PM. We got checked in to our room and got everything unloaded. Everyone had a couple of drinks and then we went out on the town. Gloucester is where they filmed The Perfect Storm. So, because of that... we did the Perfect Storm walking tour. We saw all of the areas that were used in the filming of this movie. Took lots of photos, drank at some of the bars, and then went to dinner. WE got back to the room around 10:30PM, had some more drinks and went to sleep.
Sunday morning came way to quickly. We called Diver Ed and made arrangements for all of us to go eat breakfast. We met at the dive shop, got checked in for our dives and then headed out for food before the charter. We ate at Lee's... this place was small but it had awesome food! After that the crew headed over to the Dive boat to get ready for the day. The Dive boat left early... which was good. The League of Underwater Superheroes controlled the boat! Our first dive... the Chester Poling,
The Chester Poling was a huge oil tanker that sank back in 1977. She broke into 2 and we were diving the stern section. The water was 75' - 100' deep. I initally had some issues with my new mask, but after 10 minutes they were fixed. Because of those issues, I had a shortened bottom time because of air quantity. Mike and I were on the wreck for about 10 minutes. Got some pics and then back up we went. It was a fun dive, just wished we could have stayed down longer. Once back on the surface, Emily wasn't feeling so good. So we ate some lunch and moved on to dive spot number 2.
Paddock Rock was the second dive spot for our day. It was an underwater pinacle that started at 25' and went all the way down to 90'. This was another spectacular dive. There was this huge under water canyon with a sand bottom, saw a skate in there and some flounder too. Mike and I returned to the surface after going down to 83'. The boat ride back was uneventful.
We left Gloucester around 5 PM and started our journey back to Maine. The crew made a dinner stop in Portland and continued on. We got back to my house around midnight. It was almost 1:30AM when I went to bed after cleaning up my gear.
Today is going to drag on because I am so tired. Stay tuned... I will upload some pics after this post.
Forgot to mention that I am now a greaser! I picked up my 1989 VW Jetta Diesel on Sunday. This car is converted to run on straight french fry grease. No longer having to pay for gas will save some $$$$$. I was putting $44 times 2 in my Xterra every week.
Wooo Hooo!!!
It's been a fun couple of months since I have been getting back into diving. Last week I got a used dry suit from a guy in WI. He overnighted it to me in Maine. I did my check out dive on Friday night. Went diving in Sommes Sound on Sat morning and then went out on the afternoon Dive Charter with Diver Ed.
We dove off of Great Head which is in Acadia National Park. The depths were deep! I was to my new personal depth... 110' deep. The nitrogen narcosis is wicked strong when you are that deep. Any how, saw some very cool stuff.
Now the prep begins for the Gloucester, MA trip this coming weekend.
J
It's been a long time since my last update. Work has been super crazy and so has life. Things with Emily are going really well. So guick highlights!
February - Banff Party
End of March - Went to Indianapolis for a wedding of one of Emily's cousins.
April - My birthday, 36 now.
May- hmmmm, oh, taking the PADI Rescue Diver course
June... promises to be a busy month. 1 wedding to DJ in NY on the 29th. A scuba diving trip to Gloucester, MA on the 17th, and other fun activities!
Since I have gotten back into diving, thanks to Diver Ed and Mike... I am now an Underwater Superhero. Check out our website at http://www.underwatersuperhero.com. It's been a lot of fun and have found some cool stuff underwater!
The battle with the weight is a slow one... Need to do more activity to speed that up!
That's all for now.
I have switched over to doing an email update. My last update was the initial test. It looks like it working
pretty well. I’m going to have to experiment with pictures in these posts. It didn’t take the last one. So, maybe
I’ll have to just do a regular post if I want pictures.
I have a new goal for this year and that is to get into shape. I’ve quit smoking, and have started to eat better, and
even began working out. I finally feel like I need to do something, hopefully it will stick with me. Time will tell.
Over and out for now.
J
This is an email update… Is this working?
Joseph Pagan
Network Administrator
This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
Can you believe that it is a new year already. The last post was on the 9th of Nov. My Poker stats have been ok. It is my hope that everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. I just got back from 2 weeks of vacation.
I was home in PA for Christmas and spent New Year's at the Hollow! Those who read this should know what I am referring to.
Check out this site... It belongs to a friend of mine! http://www.lowriderpress.com it contains stickers that my friend makes. This is the rated R site. Don't be shy.... ENJOY!
New Years Resolutions: Lose some weight, eat healthier, get outside more, and enjoy life!
Back soon with some new pics.
