Cozumel Spring

I do not use my blog site very much anymore but I do like to post my travels here still.

I got back on Wednesday from a wonderful trip to Cozumel. I know. I know. I go to Cozumel a lot. There is a reason...actually several.

There are wonderful people on the island of Cozumel. The smiles. The friendliness. The warmth of everyone you meet, is infectious...in the best possible way.

It is also the people that I travel with. This trips including two friends I have known for a long, long time. Jenny, who hadn't been in 11 years! And Dave, who goes with me or I with him at least once a year. The amount of laughter cannot be accounted.

And this year for the second year in a row, the trip to Cozumel overlapped with another dear friend, Shirley Venard. The story of Shirley on the island is a blog post all its own some day.

I did not get any good underwater photos this year. The stupid Sony camera I bought last year takes horrible photos and I couldn't get my Olympus Tough that I have had forever to work for more than few seconds.

I did get dry land photos with my iPhone and Jenny and Dave got a ton of underwater photos.

I also took a couple of videos. One I will share here that captures something of what makes the island special. This was shot with my iPhone in portrait mode.
Video


As for my photos, they can be viewed on my OneDrive storage site...Cozumel March 2020 Photos

Home Improvement - dish drawers

It is hard to believe that my kitchen remodel was in 2001. Eighteen years ago! It involved stripping to the studs where possible and all new cabinets and appliances.

Two primary reasons for the remodel were to position the refrigerator so it could actually be used and to install a dishwasher. Due to very limited and restricted space, the dishwasher solution was resolved with dish drawers from Fisher-Paykel. Turned out to be a brilliant solution because each drawer can be run independently which saves energy but also means, as a single  person, there isn't guilt for using a dishwasher frequently.

Dish drawers need about 22" to open. Regular dishwashers need at least 24" to open. I don't have 24" to spare.

After 18 years and nearly daily use, the electronics of the top unit were starting to act up. Rather than wait for failure, I bought myself an early Christmas present. A new double dish drawer unit.

Having installed the first one with my brother, I figured I could install this one. It first required uninstalling the first one. Way easier said than done. Since Warners' Stellian was going to take the old one for free with delivery of the new one, I had to get the old one out Friday night. It took a few hours to figure it out but did succeed finally by myself.

The new one was delivered right on time early Saturday afternoon and took several hours to install. But it is fully installed, operational and the kitchen completely back in original condition.

With this model, the top drawer is deeper than the bottom drawer. I'm hoping this works out. I can still get my regular dinner plates and fry pan in the bottom so its good.

Cozumel vacation

Here are some more photos from this year's Cozumel vacation.

Amy and I had a great time not doing very much. It was hot and humid with lots of mosquitos and rain sometimes. But nothing ever prevented us from enjoying the beautiful water, food, drink and people.

We had to trade hats

A type of hydrangea perhaps

Not a trick of the camera lens. This rainbow just appeared.

Shimmering pool tiles

One of many amazing sunrises

A mural off the beaten path

Sailing away

Cozumel snorkeling

Here are the snorkeling photos for this year. My old Olympus Tough was working this year. Yay! It takes much better photos than the Sony underwater camera that I bought at Costco last year.

The new Olympus Toughs are expensive but I am sure better than the cheap Sony camera.

Most of these are right off from the Coral Princess where I stay. Some of the fish photos are from The Westin up the road. The Westin is a beautiful new property. It has a walk in beach area and long pier that you can jump in from.

Annual ginko tree leaf drop

The annual ginko tree leaf drop. The first drop was late last week. Today was the big day.

In 2018 it was October 21.
In 2017, it was  November 1st.
Looks like the latest has been November 7th.
This year looks the to be the earliest.

Saved some money

I am not an auto repair guy but I figured replacing a broken side mirror couldn't be too bad. The Ford dealer was going to charge $310.00 just for the part plus I don't know how much for the labor. But the worst part was I couldn't get it fixed for almost a month.

I backed into a column in the parking ramp at work. Tore off the driver side mirror unit. It is heated and motorized.

Thanks to the internet I found an auto parts shop in St. Paul and multiple YouTube videos on the steps to replace the unit.

The used part was $110.00 and it took less than 1/2 hour to complete!

It isn't perfect. There are some scratches on the black cover and turns out the motor doesn't adjust up and down. But it adjusts in and out and the mirror moves manually up and down. Best of all it isn't going to fall off or flop around.

Before - mirror cracked up

Before - bungees holding it in place

After - it isn't in primo condition with some scratches

After - nice mirror

Gray Jays

When we came back to the cabin after our BWCA adventure, a Gray Jay family was waiting for us. Gray Jay's are very sociable birds that with no prompting ate right from our hands!