Lighted boat parade

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Tom

Tom

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Last evening the Discovery Bay annual lighted boat parade came into our bay (every year they visit alternate bays, and switch which bays they visit). Chris invited several friends over for cocktails and munchies before watching from our deck. A good turnout this year (didn't count them), but the motorcycle was my favorite. The houseboat with the dancers was good too. Chris' fire table was a hit, as was her hot toddy.
 

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The motorcycle really is cute!  Looks like a good time was had by all.  Please tell Chris hi and Merry Christmas.

ArdraF
 
Will do Ardra, and happy holidays to you and Jerry too.

Chris had set this up before they brought her knee replacement forward. So I wasn't sure if she'd be OK. But she's a real trooper and made sure all our guests were fed and entertained; She prep'd a lot of food, so folks could help themselves in the kitchen. She finally had to take a break when the last guests left, and asked if I'd clean up.
 
[quote author=Oldgator73]You live a charmed life.[/quote]

???
 
The parade enters our bay and makes a detour to an adjacent sub-bay. While they did this, I spotted a small fishing boat on our bay, apparently to view the boats from the water. I knew that the boats would come back around in front of our house and, if he stayed there, would likely cause a collision. So I yelled at him to get out of there, which he promptly did. It was a near-neighbor who apparently hasn't previously observed the parade.

The parade starts on the "other side" of Discovery Bay around 5:00 pm, and it's around 8:00 pm by the time they arrive in our bay. By then, many of the folks are quite inebriated, and they're also keen to get to the "finish line" at the local yacht club. I was really concerned that someone would get hurt, and was glad the boater heeded my yelling, even if it wasn't very polite.
 
You live a charmed life.
Click to expand...

I can't help wondering why you'd make a comment like that. Chris and I worked our butts off for many years on different continents to put food on the table. I sometimes worked two jobs, while she worked three to pay the bills.

While working, we planned and purchased our "future retirement home", including downsizing to a much smaller, single family home. We purchased an older home in an area where we thought we'd like to live out our lives, and did some remodelling to serve our "retirement" living.

Since being retired, we've been very active in non-profit organizations, and concurrently Chris volunteered as an unpaid caregiver for an elderly (90+) neighbor for 7+ years.

Which part of this is "charmed"?
 
Don't take it the wrong way Tom. What I mean is many people would love to live on the water get to see lighted boat parades like this. My comment in know way was meant to mean you and your wife didn't work hard for everything you have. In the future I will keep my comments to myself and just read what everyone else has to say. I'm sorry you misconstrued what I had to say as meaning you and your wife had an easy life and everything was handed to you. Not my intention at all. I guess I am just a bit gobsmacked you would take my comment that way.
 
A lesson to be learned by those who have enjoyed this forum but have not followed this forum for many years. 

These two people (Tom and Chris Jones) are about the most down-to-earth unselfish, dedicated people you will every meet.  Ed Juge, founder of this forum, "gifted" the leadership of this forum before he died to Tom Jones.  In addition to his leadership abilities and integrity, Tom also had the funds to keep this forum growing from its infancy to what it has now become.  He has accepted this responsibility graciously and has absorbed the costs without complaint for years and years and years. 

The costs have increased over the years.  This isn't some "rich guy" making money from a forum.  This is an authentic good guy who really cares about furthering the legacy and vision Ed Juge believed in.  Nobody could have fulfilled Ed's hopes and visions more successfully than Tom Jones. 

If you enjoy this forum as much as I have over many long years, please consider hitting the Donate button and contributing whatever you feel comfortable contributing to continue his informative, well monitored, forum.

 
Old Gator and I are far from the best of friends but I sort of took the boat parade post and the charmed life post as a compliment to you Tom.  I guess it was just looked at differently from your end.  It is hard to measure intend when the words are written instead of spoken.  In any case, I thank you for all you do for this forum and enjoyed the boat parade post.  I was wondering why all those young folks on your deck had grey hair so take that only as a bit of humor.

Bill
 
Living by the Mississippi River we have enjoyed numerous lighted boat parades. Amazing how creative some people are and how much effort they put forth.

Tom
 
It's been said many times here that comments can be easily misunderstood in this medium. I know only too well that many of my own comments have been misunderstood or taken the wrong way. Occasional use of a 'smiley face' could help communicate humorous intent, and I don't use them often enough. I accept Oldgator's explanation that his comment was meant in a different way than I took it, and apologize if I jumped too quickly to the wrong interpretation..

One thing I failed to mention in my initial post was that several of those 'young folks with grey hair' are RVers, and two of them own RV storage lots, one being where we store our coach. So inevitably, some of our 'campfire on the deck' discussion included RV-related topics such as the virtues of various brands, boondocking v campgrounds, and why folks spend a lot of time in Quartzsite.
 
[quote author=Heli_av8tor]Amazing how creative some people are and how much effort they put forth.[/quote]


Agreed Tom. We've only participated in one such parade, and that was as passengers on a friend's boat - on the San Joaquin River in downtown Stockton, CA. We always enjoy watching and 'cheering on' the participants.


Edit: Fixed typos.
 
Regrettably, Oldgator deleted his account.
 
[quote author=Rene T]How long was he a member Tom?[/quote]


Rene, since he deleted his account, his profile no longer exists, but he mentioned "a short time" in a PM. Sometimes I wish we had a "save draft" feature in our forum software, so I could sleep on some of my replies before posting  :(
 
I enjoyed Oldgator's contributions and also hope he reconsiders.

I've deleted many of my comments before posting that could be taken the wrong way. But a few invariably slip through.

Tom
 
Meanwhile, be advised that I looked at the definition/explanation of "a charmed life" before posting my response that resulted in this negative discussion. If you check it out, you might understand why I reacted/responded the way I did.

It's probably time for me to lock this discussion. Too bad I can't share a great evening with friends and neighbors (all of us are olde fartes) without things being turned so negative.

Thanks to long-time forum member Margi for providing some info about Chris and I, and how I came to be the steward of this great forum.
 
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