Hi all! I’m thinking that some of my posts will be “Ask Amy” style. Like Dear Abbey, only different. I’ve seen some earth-shattering questions in the comments section and emails. If I were a good girl, I’d respond to each individually, but the reality of writing professionally most days means reader-response time is more likely to happen if I batch process my answers into blog posts. (Plus, then I get credit with Bozo for a post and he has to do dishes.)

So killing two writing tasks with one stoner, let’s start with the most important question I’ve received: Is MondoBud a member of our family? More like a budding member of our support group! But no, I have no idea who MondoBud is in real life (assuming he has a life). Some of the commentators here—such as Beotch, Sea Bean Queen, and Dad—are clever aliases for people who know us but don’t want to admit it publicly (OK, Dad might be easy to figure out), but MondoBud is not, to my knowledge, among them. Honestly, given the low naked-chick-to-word ratio here compared with the rest of the internet, I’m not sure why he follows along.

And another critical issue: Did Bozo get peed on when volunteering at the vet? YES! And more. Let’s just say he is now aware of how many pet owners ignore the “don’t feed your dog after midnight if he’s going under anesthesia” directive. We destroyed his clothes upon his return. Next time, he gets scrubs.

In other news, my biking post has apparently robbed two children of their two-wheelers when they come cruising, and I’m hoping they won’t hate me forever. Sorry little people! But at least the sacrifice is easing marital discord. Karma point for Amy!

As for those worried if we wore protective gear when biking, I will tell you honestly…uh, sometimes. (You can rap my knuckles later.) Given that we are always somewhere hot, my tolerance ends at a helmet, so maybe lack of gloves, etc., plays into my road-phobia. But in my mind, only those Kevlar-reinforced suits they use in Moto GP are adequate for Great Exuma.

Another reader, obviously very impressed with our photography (uh, not), asked if a GoPro would be adequate gear when they come out. I am no expert, so maybe others want to weigh in below…but you asked me, so here it is. Sure! The most important feature we’ve found in a camera is whether we’ll actually carry it. My original, expensive, bulky foray into photography spent too much of its life safely ensconced on Dream Catcher until it was outmoded and I gave it to a 13 year-old friend to see if she could start now on becoming a professional photographer. You never know.

A piece of kit that’s generally impervious to the dangers of life aboard (basically the GoPro) is a good candidate. Now, I have heard that the GoPro is slightly less capable for still photography than for HD video. I don’t have one (yet), so I can’t say. I would, however, add that I enjoyed having a camera with interchangeable lenses, particularly a mega zoom . Maybe it was because said camera was so often aboard, but it always seemed that what I wanted to photograph was waaaaay over there. Most of our better wildlife, sailboat racing, and other shots were done with the external zoom.

Dream Catcher is considering some new photo/video gear to keep up with the demands of our readers (Why can’t you do videos with high production value? Because we’re lazy and boring!) If and when that happens, I’ll probably detail our search and results in the blogs, but that mission is probably a ways off. We don’t seem to have much time right for extra hobbies at the moment.

And since I’m working my way down in importance, next up will be that little issue of MONEY. That’s a topic unto its own, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, if I missed your questions (or complaints), feel free to nag me below. I’m sure our new head of reader complaints will be happy to assist you.