Tropical Depression

Wednesday, 19 July, 2006 by Beachbums1

I’m talking about the weather and not my mental state ~ another storm is brewing off of Guam and we’re expecting at least six inches of rain today with winds up to 30 mph. Right now, the sun is out but I learned from the last tropical storm to skirt Guam, that the weather will change in a matter of minutes so being prepared is essential.

Tropical Storm Bilis was here about 10 days ago and went on to cause a lot of death and destruction in Asia (Philippines, Taiwan, and China). Billis gave me a feel of what the rainy season is all about. It would have been nice to stay inside and ride out the storm but the dogs require their walks regardless of weather so I got to feel the storm. The wind was so strong the rain was coming sideways at me and rain was blowing directly into my ears. The other danger for me was the falling debris from the trees and the flyaway items the neighbors neglected to secure. Should a larger storm come through, I hope the housing inspectors will check that people have put away those dangerous items.

After getting completely soaked and having a better understanding of what I’m up against, I went on-line and ordered one of those sailor-style storm suits. Unfortunately, it hasn’t arrived yet so I won’t be able to test it on today’s storm.

I have no doubt the storm will blow by and be gone by tomorrow afternoon which would be great because the Liberation Day Parade is on Friday. Why am I so confident of good weather? FM is due back from two weeks TDY to Ft.Lewis and Ft. Knox tomorrow night and he always manages to miss out on wacky weather when he’s gone. Whether it be snowstorms, tornados, or tropical storms, he has great timing for missing them. Then I have to put up with the “what’s all the fuss about?” attitude.

Posted in Guam, Islands, Travel | 1 Comment »

St. Patrick and the snakes

Saturday, 15 July, 2006 by Beachbums1

FG went to Catholic Kid’s Camp this past week and the theme was St. Patrick. For my family, St. Patrick’s Day celebrations include lots of food, fun and more than a little green beer. My father had a blow-out party every year and it was considered “the” party to go to in our small town. He planned for it all year and even had invitations sent from Ireland. My mom provided lots of help but really it was my Dad’s day. When I saw some of the same decorations i.e. shamrock centerpieces, stickers, etc. I couldn’t help but smile. Good memories.

In keeping with the theme of St. Patrick, who drove the snakes out of Ireland, the camp organizers invited the Department of Agriculture to put on a demonstration about the Brown Tree Snake. I snuck away from helping with the snacks to check it out and it was fascinating. They brought in several live snakes to show and one was over 5 feet long.

This was definitely not for the faint of heart ~ they let the big snake slither across the floor for a moment and he was not a happy camper.

Introduced accidentally to Guam in the late 1940s, the Brown Tree Snake has caused extensive ecological damage to the island. Snakes have exterminated most of the indigenous forest birds and also greatly reduced the population of fruit bats and lizards. They are not poisonous to people but could leave a harmful bite mark on a baby or young child. Unfortunately, it has no natural predator here, but there is a dog who would like nothing better than to tear one apart.

The working dog did a great job sniffing out the hidden snakes. This Jack Russell was so small and cute but he was all business. He sniffed out the snakes like they were steak.

They use the dogs at the two airports (Commercial and Air Force) as well as at Big Navy. An average of 50 snakes a day are trapped and killed here in Guam. Yes, he said every day. Can’t believe I haven’t seen one on our walks. I’ll have to look harder.

We were told there is a problem with people letting the bait (the mice) out of the traps ~ I plead the fifth. 😉

Posted in Animals, Guam, Travel | Leave a Comment »

Flashback Friday: July 2004

Friday, 14 July, 2006 by Beachbums1

FG took ballet classes for 4 years in Germany. Her official dance recital was held in July 2004 at the Max Reger Halle in Weiden. FG was so excited to actually be on a real stage where we had seen several professional shows. I forget why they were covering their ears ~ it was a song about the Elefanten-Tanten (Dancing Elephant).

FM was not able to attend since he was out of town but I did drag my neighbor, Stephanie, since she only has boys and probably wouldn’t have many chances to attend a dance recital. It was a fun night and the only problem was I sat in the center of the second row and FG saw me as soon as she walked on stage. She froze for a minute but thankfully she didn’t wave and yell “Hi,Mom.” Her teacher, Kathrin, was so energetic and fun with all the girls in the class and they loved her. FG had such a positive experience that now she wants to be up on the stage all the time.


Posted in Flashback Fridays, Germany | 1 Comment »

G.A.I.N.

Thursday, 13 July, 2006 by Beachbums1

G.A.I.N. stands for Guam Animals in Need. It’s Guam’s animal shelter and I got a chance to volunteer there yesterday with FG. We went with a family who had already been there and they showed us around. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was very clean & organized.

I’m all about the dogs ~ getting them out of their kennels for a walk in the “park” which is located on the premises, making sure they have water, and cleaning their kennels. FG preferred to snuggle with the cats and kittens.

A woman who works there asked if I could foster a puppy but I think Ben & Sport (my old dogs) would be more than a little put out if I brought home a puppy.

For any animal lovers living on Guam, I would highly recommend volunteering at GAIN. It’s very satisfying to make a dog or cat a little more comfortable. And best of all, the shelter provides very reduced rates on spay and neutering which is the only way to combat the pet overpopulation problem plaguing the island.

FG already wants to go back and I have no doubt we will spend a lot of time there.

Posted in Animals, Dogs, Guam, Travel | Leave a Comment »

Crazy Computer

Thursday, 13 July, 2006 by Beachbums1

My computer hard drive crashed this morning as I was reading my e-mail. I called the Compaq help desk and was told I would need recovery CDs which would be here in about five days. Interestingly, my “warranty” had just expired 9 days ago. Hmmm…sounds a little suspicious since the help desk person didn’t sound even remotely surprised at my description of what happened to my computer and he was all ready to sell me the extended warranty so I could speak to the more advanced tech dept agent. Well, I’m not one for waiting so I kept playing around with the computer and finally, by sheer brute force, got it to do a system recovery on it’s own. Who knows how long it will last.
Unfortunately, I lost everything in Outlook 😦 including e-mail addresses. If you’re someone I’ve e-mailed in the past, please send me a blank e-mail and I’ll add you back to my contacts list. Lesson learned: I’ll keep a hard copy of my e-mail addresses. So much for being paperless.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »

Guam Supports the Troops

Wednesday, 12 July, 2006 by Beachbums1

Since moving to Guam, I’ve noticed the people of Guam are very supportive of the troops and I see their unabashed displays of support everywhere I go. I’ve had to make a couple of trips to the airport in the last few weeks and the sign on the entrance never fails to put a smile on my face:

And in another display of support, just this week Route 8 was renamed as Purple Heart Memorial Hwy. There are already three major roads named in honor of the military including Marine Corps Drive (named after the Marines who built it after WWII), Vietnam Veterans Highway and Army Drive.

Many of Guam’s sons and daughters are in all branches of the military: National Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force & Coast Guard. It’s great to see the ton of support and love they get from everyone here.

Posted in Travel, US Military | Leave a Comment »

Dog’s Eye View

Sunday, 9 July, 2006 by Beachbums1

Until now, we’ve always lived in homes with fenced yards. One positive aspect of a no-fence yard is I have to walk my two dogs several times a day. Besides the great exercise for all of us, I get to see a lot of the base that I would otherwise ignore if I were driving. Actually, I’ve become a reluctant voyeur. It’s hard not to observe things and some days the neighborhood feels like ‘All My Children’, others days like ‘Animal Kingdom‘ but most days like ‘Top Gun’ with all the fighter jets flying above.

It’s the dog’s eye view which gets me in touch with all the nature around us. Their keen sense of smell take me in different directions whether it be chasing a toad, shrew, bird or even a boonie dog who lives on base.

All over the housing area there are black birds who are very protective of their nests and, for some reason, go after runners in particular. I can be walking along with the dogs and not be bothered by them but the minute a runner comes by, the dive bombing commences. Very early this past Friday morning, the dogs and I came upon a man, wearing an orange safety vest, crouched behind the side of his car. He was shooting a .22 at the birds in the coconut tree. As you can imagine, I was not pleased to see someone shooting in a residential area & only 5 doors down from where I live. I stood and watched while he shot about 20 times and wounded one bird. Turns out he’s with the Wildlife Department 😦 Surely there is a better way to handle the birds.

Another ‘nuisance’ animal on Guam is the brown tree snake. Haven’t seen a live one yet but there are traps set everywhere for them. The other day the dogs pulled me in the direction of one of the cylinder snake traps tied to a tree. I saw a tiny & very cute white mouse inside. My first thought was he accidentally got in the trap, then I realized there was food in there for him and he was bait for the snake. Where’s PETA when you need them? Needless to say, I stay away from that particular trap ~ too sad for me to see the doomed mouse.

At night, we wander around mostly trying to avoid the tons of toads that are out and about. I never realized how amorous they are at night. I once went to a bar in Cave Creek, Arizona called the Horny Toad and it’s only now that I see how appropriate a name it is.

One thing is for sure though, no matter what route the dogs want to take in the morning, I always make sure we go to the end of my street which has a great view of the Pacific Ocean ~ no better way for me to start the day.

Posted in Animals, Dogs, Travel | 3 Comments »

Flashback Friday: July 1989

Friday, 7 July, 2006 by Beachbums1

I’m going way back on my flashback today. It was 17 years ago that my beloved dog, Cosby and I were staying at my sister’s in Memphis & getting ready to move to the island of Lanai in Hawaii. I had been offered and accepted a fantastic, too-good-to-turn-down job on a management team for a new resort called The Lodge at Koele. I sent all my goods to Lanai ~ which amounted to a whopping 5 boxes of mostly photo albums. I graduated from college the year before, lived in a furnished house and would be moving to a furnished house. Traveling light was easy then.

Life was good ~ moving to Hawaii and a great new job ~ what could be wrong? It seemed that whenever my professional life was going very well, my personal life was in some sort of turmoil.

The team in Lanai wanted me there in June but I put them off a few weeks because my sister was pregnant and due in early July. I really wanted to see her baby before I moved so far away. Unfortunately, my now-17 year old niece had other plans. I was scheduled to fly on 10 July at 6:00 a.m. Wouldn’t you know it, at about 1:30 in the morning on 10 July, my sister woke me up to tell me she couldn’t drive me to the airport because her water just broke. What crazy timing.

So while my sister was having a baby, my dog and I were jetting off to Hawaii. To this day, I wish the timing had been better. My sister understood why I wasn’t there for K.’s birth and, as for the resort in Hawaii, it was one of the best & most rewarding jobs I ever had!

Happy 17th Birthday, K. ~ sorry I’m not there once again to help celebrate but I’m thinking of you and hope you have a great time!

Posted in Dogs, Flashback Fridays | Tagged , , | 3 Comments »

Guam: Golf Anyone?

Thursday, 6 July, 2006 by Beachbums1

I have a serious love/hate relationship with the game of golf. Actually, it’s mostly a hate/hate relationship but right now, I’m in the love phase and, it’s a good thing since the Palm Tree Golf Course on Andersen Air Force base is beautiful and so convenient. The course has ocean views and the club house sits on a hill which allows for the tropical breezes to cool you down as you lunch outside on the deck.

Throughout the summer, FG will be taking golf lessons at the children’s golf clinic. It’s 2 hours in the morning and she loves it.

She is now the proud owner of her first set of clubs (all 5 of them) and a very light golf bag. Wish mine were that light. FM dusted off our ancient clubs which haven’t seen the light of day since we moved TO Germany 5 years ago. We had enough sense to send our clubs ahead of the household goods. FM has already been to the driving range and I am signed up for a women’s clinic.

It would be criminal not to take advantage of having a course so close to our house and the weather doesn’t hurt my motivation either. Looks like golf will be our sport of choice while we’re here!

Posted in Guam, Travel | Tagged , , | 5 Comments »

When you see the Southern Cross for the first time…

Wednesday, 5 July, 2006 by Beachbums1

I love the song Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills and Nash. It makes me want to get on a boat and sail the South Pacific. The places in the song -Marquesas, Papeete, Avalon – always seemed so distant but, now that we’re living in Guam, there’s much more opportunity to travel to, and maybe even sail around, some of these exotic locales.

Last Friday, I finally got a chance to see the most famous southern constellation thanks to Pam Eastlick of the UOG (University of Guam) planetarium. Every Friday, she writes a column for the Pacific Daily News about the stars over Guam. She makes finding constellations/stars/planets really easy with step-by-step instructions. The Southern Cross will disappear from the early evening sky sometime this month until next spring, so with a glass of wine in one hand and a flashlight in the other, I read the instructions while FM did the search of the skies.

After oohing and aahing over the Southern Cross, we located Regulus, the brighest star in Leo the Lion and the 21st brightest star in the sky. Then, it was on to viewing Mars, Mercury and Jupiter. Left of the Cross was Alpha and Beta Centauri. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see Saturn. Hmm..a telescope sure would be nice to have.

Posted in Guam, Islands, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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