If you have been following our blog for a while, you know by now that I and Mary Margaret have a few differences in our respective personalities. One of the major ones is that after a fairly short time, I get what I call an "itchy butt" syndrome. By that I mean I get the urge to get going and move on to explore other anchorages and parts of the world. It usually kicks in after a week or so of being in one place. Mary Margaret is much better than I on this issue as she is able to cuddle in her nest on board Leu Cat and just be as cozy as can be. At times, I envy her mentality.

Usually, I can stay in one place for longer periods if I have a number of things to do, such as boat projects. I find that seldom am I bored living on a boat simply because I have a never ending list of boat projects to work on. A friend of ours once told me that a boat is like the old PAC-MAN game. In that game you had one or more PAC-Men racing around the screen of this 1980s era video game, eating up the little dots that were in its way. This same is true with a boat with corrosion and wear being the PAC-MEN eating their way through the boat. My job is to try to stay a step in front of them, fixing the various things on a boat before the PAC-MEN eat their way through things and in the process, cause a disaster.

Whenever you return to a boat after a long absence, you always have a list of boat projects just crying out for attention. Such is our situation now, since we just returned from a 3 month holiday back in the States. You would think that I would be in seventh heaven right now, being up to my neck in work. However, the opposite is true. Instead, I am getting frustrated and antsy: ergo, the ol' "itchy butt" syndrome is starting up.

What is making things so difficult for me is the stifling heat we have here. The high temperatures and high humidity make working outside past noon impossible. By the time I have breakfast, write the blog for the previous day, and get my act together, it is 0900 and I only have about 3 hours to work on my long list of projects. After that, it is just too hot and I get physically drained by being out in the oppressive sun. The result is I get frustrated by not being able to plow through my list of things to do.

While I must admit, I do enjoy my afternoon stroll over to the resort to indulge in my daily ritual of enjoying the shady hammock along with my Cuban and Manhattan and then swimming some laps in the cool pool waters, I am a yachtie, not a fellow on vacation. I am anxious to start sailing again and letting the wind blow my hair and fill our sails. Opps, I forgot, we are in Malaysia and there just is not a lot of wind out here. But, anyway, you get the idea. I guess that I will just have to adapt better to this environment, slow down a little bit and have a lower expectation of things that I can accomplish in a day. However, for a fellow with my type of temperament, it sure is hard to do!