Paddling On the Air

So that was too cool - there I was getting ready for work, turned on my radio & the first thing I hear is two old friends from my Hudson River days introducing themselves!

Very cool.

I, unfortunately, managed to do myself out of participating in the City of Water Day. Too many balls in the air & that's the one I dropped. I'm sorry to be missing it but it's my own darned fault. My alternative's a good one, I'll be guiding in CT, that'll be fun too, plus I actually get paid (I'm enough of a mercenary that that's something I generally consider a plus), but hearing that piece did make me wish that I'd been just a teensy bit more together.

Basically, originally I was going to do this. Then I was going to be up in Lake Champlain trying to get my disorganized self certified as an L-1 coach under the NEW BCU scheme like I'm supposed to try to do to hold up my end of the deal for the great free training the club gave me last year. The course ran Tuesday through today but trying to do both would've been biting off way too much - the J-bay to Gov's I contigent launches at 5 am, I was just going to stay up there an extra day.

Then something very sad happened to someone very close that made me want to get back some vacation days to spend with that person, and serendipitously, it turned out that Atlantic Kayak Tours was running the same class broken out into 2 weekends, yay, so I signed up for that. Last weekend it hit me that that meant that I was free for City of Water after all - yay - except that it turned out the signup deadline for paddlers & rowers was last friday - boo - I was dissappointed enough that in a moment of jerkitude I tried to see if people would pull strings for me because, well, because awww, come on guys, it's me!!! - then I instantly felt bad for asking people to pull strings because they are doing this right, with coast guard approvals & guidelines & all & asking them to make an exception to their careful planning was really really LAME - so I said never mind - and then for about 5 minutes I thought I would still go on the ferry (like anyone can, follow the link!), just to hang out, and then I got the offer of guide work & being a moneygrubbing sellout at heart, I decided to do that instead.

Of course the funny part is now I'm getting all the instructions so, er, it would seem that somehow I am on the list after all...but of course I've already accepted the work, that's the commitment I'm sticking with & it will be fun, too.

.O
:o\>
...O

(patented Frogma kayak smiley, bracing the wrong way...well could YOU keep all that straight?)

Hope a great time & a fun, safe & joyous day is had by all!