There are my cousin, Lynne, and her boyfriend, Malcolm, our visitors from England, in front of the boat from the movie Master And Commander… and a Russian submarine… see, I told you we like to take pictures of each other taking pictures of each other.

I like boats… did I mention that?

The San Diego Maritime museum is a good place to go to see boats.

The ‘lesser of two weevils’… I loved that movie…

Malcolm wanted to see the Midway, a carrier built during the Second World War… but not finished before the war was over.

It had a long military career, and is now a floating museum…

Unfortunately, it was closing by the time we got there… which is a shame. I actually used to be a volunteer on the Midway when it was first towed to San Diego.

In those days, I could have gotten him on free… if it was open still… I was part of the restoration crew. I hand-painted… or repainted by hand, a mural in engine room three, done by the original crew. I also hand painted the lettering and numbers in the mail room and other places, before we tracked down original stencils…

I used to explore all over that ship… in the dark… with just a light strapped to my forehead. It was so cool… and I was on carriers when I was in the Navy long ago… when I was 17.

I know it’s funny that I am mixing pictures of the English relative visit with photos from my trip through the desert to visit my daughter and her fiance… and other stuff… but that is just how my crack squirrel-infested cranium works.