Thu Jun 1 = This morning I phoned Jody at the Moose & Jody Morning Show on Beach 104.1 FM in Nags Head. He said that their show was full for the day, but he said he would let people know about my shows.
- It took me two days to get my little Epson WF-100 printer to work in the Wi-Fi Direct mode. It's supposed to be so simple :(
- I did not even count this evening's Comedy-n-Sunset as an appearance. One older guy, Jack, happened by. He was interested mostly in visiting, heckling and arguing, so I did only a few minutes of comedy. It was interesting to say the least.
Fri Jun 2 = I added 3 qt of water to my van's radiator, topping it off, before starting the engine this morning.
- I put up my Comedy Posters in Buxton etc. as I made my way down south as far as the Billy Mitchell Airstrip in Frisco. I saw lots of old friends.
- I stopped by Auto Banks and had Glenn look at my van's radiator, which is leaking. It looks as though it will have to be replaced BEFORE my next scheduled flush & fill. That's the bad news. The good news is that the old one lasted over 340,000 miles.
- At the airport they resurfaced the runway, ramp, and parking lot; refinished the porch and made some other improvements. In the pilots lounge their switch to a Nest thermostat, in my opinion, is a very expensive downgrade, as the thermostat looks for patterns of use and adjusts accordingly. There is no pattern for the lounge. Besides, neither the Nest nor the AC have power, so I phoned Jimmy Capps at the Aeronautics Division of the NC DOT about the AC problem. Now I have a new job: finding some one to fix it, since the state lost their local AC guy.
- At 7:10 PM I got to the Sands of Time Camp Ground to set up for the Comedy at the Camp show. Gracie and I make a good team. We had an audience of 24 out on the grassy area. My PA system worked great, although my old Samsung Galaxy SII did not cooperate and provided music as it was supposed to. We had lots of fun with lots of chuckles. Next time I'll have to pump them up and make them feel comfortable being a little rowdy. Also I'll try putting audience mic on the opposite side as the PA system speaker.
Sat Jun 3 = I added about 2 qt of anti-freeze to my van's radiator, topping it off, before starting the engine this morning.
- I met Jack and Sue, my neighbors who live to the north of the campground. Jack suggested Tater, who lives across the street, for the AC problem at the Frisco Airport. Since Tater was not there, I phoned him. We agreed to meet at the airport at about 4pm. At noon I drove down to the Bath House south of Frisco and lay in the sun for 20 minutes. The first sun this trip. Of course I followed it with a 3-minute beach run.
- I spent most of the rest of the afternoon at the airport, got some work done and met some nice people flying in... but never heard from Tater.
Sun Jun 4 - This morning I drilled little dimples in the top face of my 110v inverter to facilitate the use of a small dowel, propped to my couch frame, to keep it plugged in to my
.
- I added 1 qt of water to my van's radiator, topping it off, before starting the engine
- Today was busy, for a day without a comedy appearance. I started by seeing if the giant pot I bought at the Hot Line Thrift Store was big enough for dying my giant towel. It is not. Then I put a load of laundry in. The main ingredient was my giant new white beach towel; preparing to dye it. While the load was washing I took a shower. While the load was in the dryer I tried to work the kinks out of the Bluetooth music with my PA system and my old cell phone because it did not work well at Friday's show - the phone's fault.
- For today's trip, I stopped by several shops to find who they would recommend for the airport AC repair. Then phoned them. Got all voice mails as I expected, because it is Sunday.
- In the pilot's lounge at the airport I got an email from Travis Carl, who says he can get me on Sunday at Cozzy's Comedy Club in Newport News, VA. It is about a 3-hour drive from here. It'll be cool if it works out.
Mon Jun 5 = Tired, but happy tonight. I got the AC fixed at the Billy Mitchell Hatteras Airport. Turns out someone hooked up their fancy and expensive Nest thermostat wrong and shorted it out. The thermostat now is a much more simple and cheaper Honeywell digital. I mailed the guy who did it a thank you note this afternoon. The note was delivered and in his PO Box within 30 seconds. It is cool to know the whole post office staff here in Avon.
- We had increasing southwest winds most of the day so I went kiteboarding, locally, at Planet of the Apes. I saw some of my old kiteboard friends and met some new ones.
Tue Jun 6 = Tonight, for my Comedy-n-Sunset 7:00 show, I succeeded in eventually walking my entire audience of six, and learned a few things. When a mother and her eight-year-old girl joined us. I should have asked the mother if she expected a Sunday-school clean show. As usual I used no foul language, but did delve into a few concepts with adult overtones. The two excused themselves after six minutes and my History/Blue Jeans segment. The original group of four excused themselves in 10 minutes and after my Columbus segment. I don't think one of the ladies appreciated my Moses stuff. I packed up my stool and comedy things, then...
- A group of eight 20-somethings stopped by for a 7:40 show. They were fun and fine with pretty much the same material that walked the first group. This show ended after 14 minutes so they could get pictures of themselves with the colors of the cloudy sunset.
- As expected, I felt kinda down during the evening. Now the key is to remember what I learned and forget about how I learned it.
Wed Jun 7 = On the way down to the Billy Mitchell Airport I stopped by places looking for a container suitable for dying my giant beach towel. I didn't find the container, but DID find a sewing machine already for me to sew the ends of the towel. The lady there just happened to have it at the Changing Tides Attic to work an ottoman cover. It was electronic and was amazing... and so lightweight!
- About 5 I plunked down the $10 (up from $5 previous years) for a day pass at the Frisco Woods Campground where I
kiteboarded... on the water for 1:08 hours, covered 9.75 miles and had a maximum speed of 21.7mph. Got in a few decent jumps. Still working on the timing.
Thu Jun 8 = This morning it was rainy. My 49 new T-shirts were delivered to the campground, by FedEx... in a wet box. Fortunately, none of the shirts were damaged as a result.
- I went KITEBOARDING with my 8m kite and a good north wind at Kite Point about 5 this afternoon. It was to be a quick, half-hour session, so I could get up to Haulover for my 7:00 Comedy-n-Sunset show. About a third of a mile out my front (tension) line broke resulting in no control and the kite straight downwind in the water producing power. I flagged it out on one steering (back) line and wound the tangled lines onto my bar until I reached the kite. Another kiteboarder took my board to shore for me. Then I turned my kite upside down, converted it to a little sailboat that drug me into shore, downwind from Kite Point. A guy I met yesterday while kiteboarding at Frisco Woods Campground waited for me in his van and took me back to Kite Point. The world is full of good people!
- In spite of it all, I made it to the Haulover by 6pm to prepare for the show. There was no audience so no show, but at least I was ready if there had been one.
Fri Jun 9 = At noon I did a beach sun/run at the Bath House south of Frisco.
- Jimmy Capps, from the Aeronautics Division of the NC DOT flew out in his Moonie to meet me at the Billy Mitchell Airport. We checked on things like the AC that I had fixed and a few other maintenance type concerns. While there, I updated my website and inventoried, sorted and repacked all my new T-shirts.
- Comedy at the Camp was interesting, with most of the 10 audience members standing. A mother requested and got a clean show for her 12-year old boy. The PA system still had a delay echo in the recording. More work to be done to determine the actual cause, although I suspect it's the wireless USB microphone.
- After the show I headed for Newport News by driving up to Rodanthe to spend the night at Kitty Hawk Kites.
Sat Jun 10 = On the way to tomorrow's show, I stopped by the OBX Sports Club (Silver Sneakers) in Nags Head for a shower and light full-body workout.
- In Newport News I located Cozzy's Comedy Club and spent a couple of hours at the Main Street Library. Getting online with their Wi-Fi was a real pain. Their Library Behavior Guide pasted to the tables is made for comedy. It lists two things that are O.K. and lists 21 examples of what's Not O.K., including Unhealthy Personal Hygiene and Kissing. I will have to think of some things they missed.
- At Cozzy's I met Lorain Cosgrave the owner/booker, got to visit with James Camacho, the feature, and Pat Godwin the headliner. It was interesting and educational to see how Pat worked with an audience of 19. It was a fun good time. As James said, you give every show everything you've got, regardless of the size of the audience.
- I spent the night at the Walmart west of Cozzy's instead of the closest one, where the security guard explained that overnight parking was not permitted unless approved by the manager; the manager was inside the store; the store was closed and no one was allowed in.
Sun Jun 11 = At Walmart I spent about $150 this morning on three yards of terry cloth to replace that which I must have left down at the Bath house on Friday, a 2TB pocket hard drive to back up the 1TBssd I use for my media because it is getting a little flaky, and antifreeze. I have been topping off my radiator each morning with about 1.2 qt of water or antifreeze. Hope my van makes it back to Hatteras Island.
- Back to the library, then to Cozzy's Comedy Club. A group of congenial comedians gathered before the show.
Sunday Funnies was hosted by Holly Owens, who ran a good show. I pretty well killed with my OBX/Yoga/Voice routine. It is surely relaxing not having to worry about offending someone with something that is not clean enough to suit them. Some people spend their time looking for an excuse to be offended... and they're usually successful.
- I sold four of my T-shirts - two to Lorain. She's a good gal and apparently a good business woman.
Holly said I could be on next week's show :) so I'll drive back up and plan on doing Holding.
Mon Jun 12 = Back to Hatteras and the Billy Mitchell Airport to work on my website, do emails etc. On the way I stopped by the OBX Sports club for a medium full body workout and HISS and Real Watersports to research the latest kite bar technology.
- Spent the night by Hwy 12 traffic at Auto Banks so my van will be cool for the radiator replacement tomorrow morning.
Tue Jun 13 = I spent most of the day sitting in my van while Josh of Auto Banks replaced the radiator. It was pricey, but equal to about one car payment. The rest of the driving is almost free because the van is paid for.
- Most of what I did in my van was to backup my 1T SSD media drive to the new 2T My Passport (small) hard drive I bought from Walmart.
- This evening there was no audience for Comedy-n-Sunset, but I DID find a good way to publicize the upcoming events. Hang around the Haulover Day Use Area just before sunset. Of course that is after it's too late for a show but will let people know of the future shows.
- It was certainly good to be back home at The Sands of Time Campground: very quiet... and very shady!
Wed Jun 14 = Around noon I did a sun/run at The Frisco Bath House. I looked at kite bars, since mine is broken.
Thu Jun 15 = I drove up to Waves and bought an Airush race bar for my kites. A greater de power throw is what makes it a race bar. Barton, at Hatteras Island Sail Shop was helpful and full of information as usual. And the bar was on clearance!
- I spent most of the afternoon processing media and got Sunday's video from Cozzy's ready and started to upload it. then I ran out of time, so kept my
Vaio
Sony Vaio Duo 11 computer with 11.6" touch screen, Windows 10, 8gb memory and 256gb SSD
powered the rest of the night to not close the upload window.
- Comedy-n-Sunset tonight was probably my best show yet... starting with an audience of just two, Lynette and Freddie, who were OK with PG-45, as Lynette said. They laughed their heads off for the entire 63 minute show. No foul language, of course. I adjusted the material as families with kids came by and listened for a few minutes on the way to their cars. What fun!
Fri Jun 16 = The Cozzy's YouTube video from last Sunday that I started uploading yesterday is still stuck at 22%, 24 hour later. I transferred the rent money for
Dahlia
my Phoenix rental house located on Dahlia Drive
and downloaded my June checking statement.
- Comedy at the Camp was completely different this evening, and quite interesting. A little first grade girl and hir Kindergarten friend (boy) rode around the campground announcing the free comedy show. I rewarded them with front-row seats, along with two other kids about the same age. The back row (the only other row) consisted of two pair of unrelated grandparents. Everyone had chairs on this beautiful grassy area.
-The kids were totally uninhibited, treated the show as an opportunity to visit with the comedian. They WERE enthusiastic, outgoing and full of energy. Once I had to let them know that chasing each other around the stage was not OK. I let the two who wanted to, take the mic and do a couple jokes each (mostly knock knock). Who knows, they may be the future of comedy. During the show the little boy decided he would try reversing the position of his head and feet in his beach chair and watch the comedian upside down for a while. Some of the others thought it was cool so tried the same thing. No, the grandparents did not try it.
- I spent the night in Rodanthe on my way north to Newport News, VA.
Sat Jun 17 = My OBX/Newport Plan is the result of two weekends of driving up to Newport News to do comedy:
Friday evening, after Comedy at the Camp, head up to Rodanthe for the night.
Saturday, after a possible little kiteboarding, drive the rest of the way to Newport News to:
Anytime Fitness; 16 Town Center Wy, Hampton, VA for a heavy legs workout.
Stop by the Main Street Library if I want a cool place, table and electricity, but NOT if I want high speed Internet, reasonably-priced printouts or to use a paper cutter.
Head down to Cozzy's Comedy Club to take in their Saturday night show.
Publicize my Sunday appearance and spend the night at the 12401 Jefferson Ave Walmart where there is good shade all morning and also all afternoon.
Sunday: do necessary shopping at Walmart; maybe update my website with their free Wi-Fi.
Go to Anytime Fitness; 16 Town Center Wy, Hampton, VA for a heavy arms workout.
Stop by the Main Street Library if I want a cool place, table and electricity, but NOT if I want high speed Internet, reasonably-priced printouts or to use a paper cutter.
Head down to Cozzy's Comedy Club if I'm on the bill for Sunday Night Funnies there.
,
through the tunnel and spend the night in Suffolk, VA at the 6259 College Dr Walmart.
Monday Go to the Anytime Fitness, 7386 Harbor Towne Pkwy for a heavy torso workout.
Drive the remaining distance to OBX - maybe as far south as the Billy Mitchell Airport.
- Sonja White was great at Cozzy's Comedy Club this evening in Newport News, VA.
Sun Jun 18 = I followed my OBX/Newport Plan (above) for today, without the library. My comedy set was Viagra and Holding. I should have put the Viagra last, although I wasn't able to think of good segues for that order.
Mon Jun 19 = I followed my OBX/Newport Plan for Monday (above) and also stopped by Kitty Hawk Kites, put on sunscreen and swim trunks, didn't like the wind direction so drove down to The Bath House in Frisco. There, on the wide beach, I rigged my 8m kite and familiarized myself with my new Airush kite bar and extra long (30?m) lines. I also practiced self landings, which uses the safety system. I learned to bring the kite down faster.
Tue Jun 20 = This afternoon at The Haulover Day Use Area, I met Hunter Stich, about 28 years old, who does programming for Android phones for a Korean (I think) company. What a neat job for flexibility. He can do his job any place on Earth. All he needs is occasional Internet.
Wed Jun 21 = Susan Eovaldi from the TSA happened in to the Billy Mitchell Airport terminal for her annual airport inspection while I was there today. She doesn't fly but is responsible for inspecting the airports in the northern part of North Carolina. Typical of the way the federal government does things, eh? We had a nice visit. I got to meet her 95 year old mother she had with her in her car.
- It took me three days to upload to YouTube this video of my June 11th appearance at Cozzy's with my Holding routine.
- I took my van in for a fourth time to ABX and they could not find how it is losing coolant. We DID purge and check out the overflow system.
- I made and delivered event-specific posters to Turner's for Comedy at the Camp.
Thu Jun 22 = Got a lot done today: This morning was for chasin' down stuff, I went to Connor's Grocery in Buxton to check with Donna about my giant white towel that she has. She was off, has sprained her ankle and won't be back 'till next week. If she can sew the ends, fine. Else I'd just like my towel, as next week is my last here. I appreciate her willingness to sew it for me. If that does not work out, I can take care of it all when I get home to Phoenix in August.
- I finally got the Please Close Gate signs up at the Billy Mitchell Airport. It took about two weeks to find (in Newport News, VA) a suitable plastic cutting board as backup plates and someone down here in Frisco with a table saw to saw the cutting board into backup plates. Dale Cashman of All Decked Out took care of the sawing. Thanks, Dale. Also the pilots who fly in to Hatteras thank you.
- At noon I did a beach sun/run in slightly hazy sunlight - just about perfect conditions.
- I got my Viagra etc. June 18th Cozzy's appearance uploaded to YouTube and published (below). Uploading went better than the previous one, but I did have to turn the Wi-Fi off and back on when it got stuck at 63% and CANCEL and restart the upload when it got stuck at 88%.
- Tonight, with nothing else to do I resolved my checking account - on the first try!
Fri Jun 23 = The biggest event today was my fifth kiteboarding session this trip. I went 4.18 miles in 4:50 minutes. It seemed that I got a little more hang time with the new, longer 30 meter (100') lines.
Sat Jun 24 = It was a wonderful day doing things I love to do... kiteboarding, comedy and spending money. Well, not spending money, but sometimes you've got to.
- The kiteboarding started at The Planet of the Apes with inflation of my 12m Epic Screamer, which did not hold air long enough to even be launched, so I used my 8m Best Nemesis, which was adequate for the run to the south Salvo Day Use Area, including the canals. There I saw Greg, a friend from previous years who had taken some kiteboard lessons and was teaching his kids: Tucker, 14, Hunter, 18 and Amy?, 21. I sold him the 12m Epic Screamer to him for $200. He got a screaming deal and I got rid of a kite that had been a problem with leaky valve seats since I got it from Dimitri.
- I looked at replacement kites at Kitty Hawk Kites and Hatteras Island Sail Shop. Barton, at the latter, was full of information about a lot of different kites. I pretty well decided on an Airush Union. He let me demo a 9m version, so I bought the 12.
- I went to the Rodanthe Watersports camp ground to leave off a bag for Greg for the 12m Epic Screamer. Some other people I knew were there and asked about a comedy show. We decided to have an impromptu show at 8 o'clock, so I went around the campground letting people know about the show at camp space 20. It was a good show, prefaced with music and my PA system. The show was ended by rain after 29 minutes.
Sun Jun 25 = A month ago, Brittany Risher interviewed me about an article she was writing on active Senior Citizens. The article went live this week: 7 Active Senior Citizens Who Are Crushing Their Sports. I feel humbled to be listed with all those great athletes. Thanks Brittany.
Mon Jun 26 = I did a beach sun/run at Frisco's Bath House, retrieved my giant white towel from Donna (thanks for trying to help me) and scheduled some additional comedy stops.
- It was a little cooler tonight, with a forecast low of 72° F so my giant white towel came in handy.
Tue Jun 27 = For the first time this month, I believe, I spent the entire day around the campground, doing a load of laundry while taking a shower and inflating my kites on the grass behind their office: my new 12m Airush Union to check it out and convert to knots instead of loops on the front lines and my 8m Best Nemesis to dry out completely and to reinforce three areas where the canopy is a little scuffed. I also measured my tires' tread wear.
- Comedy: Ike, from Montreal, has been coming out to the Haulover for several days to see the sunsets. He and I have visited a little. Tonight he came out specifically for my comedy show and the sunset. He was joined by a family of four from India, via Asheville, NC. Their boy was 14 and their girl was 10, so I did an age appropriate PG show. A pair of grandparents also joined us. Three others came and went to make an audience count of 10, making my total audience count 14,668 so far. I mixed things up a little to try to keep the interest up. I guess it paid off, as they kept laughing for the 55-minute show. Someone said, It sure didn't seem that long. I was aware of my weak voice the entire time, but it did fine since I used the techniques I learned from the Banner therapy back in Phoenix.
Wed Jun 28 = Today was more preparing to leave the island, including donating a big pot and kite pump to the Hot Line Thrift Store that helps battered women.
- Tonight's comedy was in Avon at The High Moon Bar's Open Mic hosted by Chad. Good show! I planned to do ten minutes of being late, and Viagra. I actually did 9:59. It was a good group.
Thu Jun 29 = I got things pretty well wrapped up for this year's Hatteras Island stay.
- Tonight's comedy was a full show, with some of the stuff from Tuesday, only a PG-13 version.
- Tonight was my last night in Avon at the Sands of Time Campground. Thanks, Gracie and crew.
Fri Jun 30 = Tonight's Comedy at the Camp was cancelled due to the holiday, so this was Heading Out Day.
- On the way I got my oil changed and tires rotated at the Lighthouse Service Center in Buxton. Brian Jones was very patient with me, having gotten the time wrong and shown up at 10:30 instead of 10:00. Also crossing my tires from the rear to the front.
- Heading north toward Delaware, I stopped by the Avon post office to take my poster down. When I got back to my van there was a puddle of antifreeze under it. It was a tough decision, but I drove all the way down to ABX in Frisco to have Glen and Josh look at the problem for a fifth time. I arrived a little after noon, so had to wait until they got back from lunch. They decided that the new radiator cap they installed was the culprit. Glen went up to NAPA in Buxton, got another one that appears to have fixed the problem. We'll see.
- I drove all the way up to the Pocomoke City Walmart in north-eastern VA for the night. On the way it occurred to me that the states are small enough in this area that I could get another one on my comedy list, if... I could make an appearance Saturday. I spent over an hour phoning all the comedy clubs in New Jersey, and sending emails to some.
