Thursday, July 31, 2008

Mobile Capability

I bought an Internet Data card for my laptop from one of the carriers. ( I can't say which one, because I'm trying to work for a number of them, and I don't want to piss anyone off.)
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It works great. Sitting up here in Rockland, Maine at a remote site waiting for our subcontractors to show up, I have all the capabilities of my office in my F150 Ford Truck... except for laser printing.
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Technology is the Balls.

Tuna Lips said...

dialin' up some of that there internetted porn in the front seat of an F150. Sooooeeeee! I needs to get me some of dat!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Getting Under My Skin

I'm definitely done with Manny Ramirez. He gets paid millions of dollars to play a game, and decides not to hustle to first base. GET a GRIP!
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Speaking of out of control behavior, can you believe that "Bud Collins" dude????
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Thinking he can call me out and trying to get the last word in!!! ON THIS BLOG!!!!
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They don't call me the Crusher for nothing, as our "Buddy Boy" is about to find out.
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He's just lucky that I'm heading for that Maine job site for the next two days, and don't have the time to plan a suitable revenge.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Crusher Comeback

Years ago (i.e. before I was overweight and out of shape), I was a pretty good tennis player. I could beat all of my friends, some of whom were real good athletes. Then, like most things, I let it go with the pressures of family and career.
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But now I've played twice in the past week and a half.... and I even bought one of those Titanium new fangled, light weight rackets with the huge sweet spot.
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So this morning, it was the battle of the Tennis Titans as Stevie Lewis confronted The Crusher. Even though The Crusher lost (6-0, 6-0), it was an interesting match.
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Enjoy your victory Steve. Your glory will be short lived when I get my old serve back.

Bud Collins said...

Most people, when they get double bageled, have the good sense to sit quietly and reflect on how much they suck.


John Nestor said...

That's fine for you, Bud (if that is indeed your real name)... but I have a higher standard, and must remain man enough to give Lewis his temporary elation.

Bud Collins said...

Now the question remains, who will get the last word in. Backhand volley to Nanapashemet . . . . take up ping pong.

John Nestor said...

Advantage, Mr. Bud Light.

Bud Light.

Bud Collins said...

Net cord, will he get to it, yes! lob to the baseline . . . Manny is being villified for business reasons, not on principles.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Bragging Rights


My son Michael hasn't yet caught a Bluefin Tuna this year like his big brother, Ryan, but this is still one fine Striped Bass that he landed on Mark Vona's boat.
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Nice fish, Mike!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Obligations

I'm very conflicted today because it is a beautiful Saturday, suitable for fishing or anchoring at Brown's Island, but I still have some nagging details to take care of - both at Nanepashemet Telecom and at the Beverly Ave. homestead.
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We grilled the first of the tuna last night. It's hard to believe that food can taste that good. It has a consistency almost of beef and a rich flavor that has no resemblance to opening a can of tuna fish.
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We cooked it medium which is heresy to the sushi crowd, who would have you just lightly pass the flame over the tuna steak. But it was so damn good.
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We will be serving the fish out on our deck Tues evening to some important guests, so this was a nice trial run.
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So I think that I will sacrifice the fun things to do today and try to get my obligations out of the way. We'll catch up on the good times by Tues.

Tuna Lips said...

I take my straw chappie of to the young buck who tangled with the great blue beast, and, having what some might call a spitual bondage with things of the wild, the birds of the skies and the fish o' the sea, i am moved to speak in praising words. Youse never fergets the first tuna youse wrassle with. A man just a boy til he gets that there tuna. So says the Injuns my pappy sold moonshine to. After they had a few, they was full of that sorta wisdom. And injuns are deeplike with the spirits.

So says the One with Lips like Tuna.

Gotta bolt, some enterprisin' sorts are sellin' gas for three bucks a gallon down at the Gas n' Sip. Fellers porking up theyse company Amex card and takin' cash. Look like meth heads. Sweet.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Week 30 - Peeps of the Week

Funny how a tuna can screw up your work week. I was all set yesterday for a boring day of paperwork after spending Monday and Tues. on the Maine coast. Doing mundane research work and accounting is an activity that can be satisfying, but it definitely can't get done when adrenaline is surging thoughout your body.
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Even though I had nothing to do with catching the Bluefin..... running around getting ice, coolers and plastic bags to coincide with meeting the fish at the Richard Rockett Landing, then helping to butcher it..... All this contributed to well above the dosage of adrenaline I needed to screw up the mundane work.
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Speaking of mundane/adrenaline is a nice segway here.

ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 30th week of 2008

Lauren Rathbone
Ryan Nestor
Tom Dellacamera
Sarah McCormack
Will Nestor
Susan Raich

Today was much calmer, and I got a lot more done.

Happy Birthday Becket Rathbone

The rumor is that Becket Rathbone made his entry into the world today.
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Welcome Becket. Happy to share the journey with you.
Plus you have a pretty cool name.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

WhaleEye Lands Tuna


Ryan and Tom Dellacamera got it done out in Stellwagen this morning, bagging this 57" 125lb. Bluefin Tuna.
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The contents of his stomach revealed that he had been recently dining on a snack of 4" long sand eels. He must have thought that Ryan's squid rig looked like a more substantial meal.
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I thought I'd be doing boring paperwork this morning, but instead, there were fresh tuna steaks to butcher.
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Nice Fish.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Waylaid at Samoset

We never made it to Bar Harbor and Mt. Desert Island, Maine today.
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After Joanne and I went to the Rockland Coast Guard Tower site, I took her to lunch at the Samoset Hotel where I had previously stayed for an off-site meeting while I was working at General Dynamics.
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That was enough for her.
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We ran into Sarah McCormack from Marblehead, and Joanne decided that she would be staying poolside at the Samoset wth Sarah, rather than making the two hour trek north to Bar Harbor.
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Fine with me. The Samoset and Rockland are definitely a great destination.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Halfway Rock


Joanne bought me this great reproduction on canvas entitled "Becalmed at Halfway Rock" by Fitz Lane.
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The scene shows ships in the 1850's at Halfway Rock, an island outcropping equidistant from Gloucester to Boston and a few miles outside of Marblehead Harbor, which is the same place that we fish from now.
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We usually start our trips there to fish for mackerel and pollack to use for bait and we've seen a seal on a number of occasions sitting on the rock. And then there is the famous Halfway Rock game, where the winner is the one who consumes the most beers during the five mile trek out to the island.
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It is the landmark that we use leaving Marblehead Harbor for Stellwagen, and signaling the return from that run, which can be very uncomfortable in a rough chop.
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What is bizarrely weird is that Joanne had no idea that this scene was depicted just outside of Marblehead and is a favorite of ours, when she bought the artwork in North Conway. I had a hunch that this was Halfway and Ryan pointed it out last night at dinner. Then we checked for it online for the confirmation.
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Turns out that Fitz Lane painted a number of excellent, mid nineteenth century maritime secenes of the Gloucester and the New England coast, including Mt. Desert Island, Maine, which is our final destination for today.

Tuna Lips said...

Last night after a pile of crawdad's and some luke-warm Piel's i painted a spatter job on my BVDs that rivals anything yer missus picks out at a yard sale in Wherever, NH. I hungs it outside the double wide and Effy Tradwell (whom I pleasured at last years Yankee Wife swap) commented that I have "the stylings of a new age Jackson Pollack." A man fer all the seasonings, TL is.

Norman Carries the Torch


How great was it to watch Greg Norman play so competitively at the British Open Golf Championship?
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As a fellow old guy, I was thrilled to see the 53 yr. old finish in the top five.
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I'm thinking that the 50's are the new 28's.
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Although playing tennis with Ryan, Chris Crawford and Tyler Gill this morning convinced me that the 30's are still way better than the 50's.
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Nothing I can do about it. But nice going Norman.
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BTW, Chrissie Evert is still a Babe.

Annisquam Caution

(Click Map to Enlarge)

I'm considering aborting the Annisquam trip because of the threat of afternoon thunderstorms.

Years ago, we got caught in a squall when we were returning from the Annisquam by circling around Cape Ann. Certainly one of the most terrifying times in my life as a never ending series of ten foot swells threatened to engulf our 21' Mako.

The storm came out of nowhere and immediately the sea changed. If I didn't see it then, I wouldn't believe it now. I never got a chance to put on a life preserver because I was afraid to take my hands off of the wheel even for a second, and nobody else on the boat dared move either.

It was a series of huge waves that the bow had to hit dead on to avoid being swamped. UP, UP, UP then DOWN!!! Over and over again. It felt like we were on the rollercoaster at Canobie Lake Park... but the stakes were much higher.

Joanne found out the next day that a Coast Guard Cutter who was watching our progress was taking odds on when we would capsize. Not "if" but "when".

Ever since then, I've approached the ocean with the respect and knowledge that it has the ability to change and overwhelm you almost instantaneously.

It was terrifying and I had to use all of my superior boatman skills to keep the bow heading into huge swells. Clearly a lesser man would have lost his vessel in this swirling maelstrom, but obviously I prevailed.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Women Priests

So you heard about the three women in Boston who want to be ordained as priests.
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Who do they think they are anyway???
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Women aren't qualified to be Catholic Priests. They can't love God as well as men. They can't preach the Gospel as well as men. They can't distribute the Sacraments as well as men.
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It should be obvious to everyone.
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Just as the Pope and Cardinals are cleaning up the mess of all of the male Priests diddling with children, these pretentious women think that they are qualified to be Priests. I don't blame the Pope for excommunicating these sacrilegious bitches. They should go to Hell for thinking they are good enough to be Priests.
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By the Way, Pope.... Galileo was right. The Earth actually rotates the Sun. You were wrong on that one. But you're right on target with this one. Make sure that you keep these uppity women out of the Priesthood. Keep it pure.

Working on Saturday

I'm working today because tomorrow we are taking the WhaleEye up the Annisquam River in Gloucester with Will and Linda Murray, and Monday, we will be driving up the coast of Maine for a Coast Guard site kickoff.
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So I won't have too much office time in the next few days, and the details really pile up fast. If you don't keep pace, you can be buried in paper easily. I hate to do office work on Saturday and Sunday, but I guess if you fish on Friday, it's only fair.
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Joanne and I will probably spend the night in Bar Harbor, ME and tour Acadia National Park on Tues. This Coast Guard gig is not too tough to take ... between trips to Nantucket and Bar Harbor. I hope we win the job on Block Island, because I've never been there before.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Peeps of the Week - 29

It really feels like mid-summer doesn't it?? I was slepping around on site surveys yesterday and could feel the heat. It would probably help if I was a little bit better in shape.

ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 29th week of 2008

Ben Martin
Bob Wojcik
Tommy O' Shea
Jon Bercume
Bob Brown (Automatic Lagavulin Rule)
Pat Piscatelli

I doubt if I'll have the time to Treadmill or Cybex today.

Stalking Stripers


We will be hunting the elusive Striped Bass this afternoon with some worthy Peeps on the WhaleEye.
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I've got some frozen pollack and mackerel from the last trip, which I will cut up for chucks, and we'll head out to Half Way Rock to dip for live liners.
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Then we will dead head for the back side of Cat Island where stripers like to hang out in the gut. That's where we will stake our luck. I'm thinking there's a few thirty six inchers who will be giving it up for the WhaleEye.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Economy

I've now lived in my professional life through a few of these economic downturns.
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It always seems to have some roots in easy credit, then when things tighten up, the assumptions that you made when obtaining the credit dissolve leaving you holding the bag. When you are riding high, it's hard to imagine that it can turn... but it can!!
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Unless you are borrowing for income producing assets, credit can be a dangerous thing. I feel bad for people facing foreclosure, and those looking to invest in foreclosed properties deserve all of the bad karma that they receive.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Bonus Good Time

Joanne and I brought some Nanepashemet Telecom customers to the Boston Yacht Club last night for drinks and dinner. Usually, I pretend to have a good time at these customer activities, but last night, the good time was for real.
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What a bonus!

Tuna Lips said...

Well bully fer you, Admiral Crotchrot, and yer yacht club jerk off party. I figger this plain folk will wine and dine with my clientelists at Red Lobster on Rowt 142, and retire to Hooters for an after supper round of shooters and boobies with the spray on tan. No economic down turn for thems at Hooters.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Tournament Results

All day long, people kept asking me how I golfed yesterday at the Salem State Tournament with Tommy O.
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First things first.
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Tommy got through the whole day without a single kidney stone..... That was a relief!!
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The Kernwood Country Club in Salem is a nice track - very well maintained with fairways that aren't too long and generally open wide.
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I actually had a good day. My bad back held up, and I shot three Pars including one Birdie attempt..( which I then three putted into a Double Bogy).
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My crusher driver skills returned and I generally kept straight onto the fairway with only one miss hit. Our last hole was a Par 3 that awarded a Chevy hybrid ugly car for a hole in one. I parred the hole and then tried to bribe the Salem State Honor students to say it was a winner hole in one. They maintained their integrity, even though I raised the ante to $40 bucks.
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All in all... A golf round that I had anticipated with considerable dread turned into an enjoyable day. Only lost two balls..... Maybe I can golf after all. At least, not suck as much.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Stephan's Ginger Beer Difference

Wojcik and Brown graced the gazebo of the Boston Yacht Club yesterday.... and had their first Dark and Stormies
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There were no incidents and my membership remains in good standing.
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We ran into Chris Crawford, MegaPeep Brian Butler and the Fabulous Stacey, who is due to bring a new Nanepashemet Peep into the world by the end of the summer. Can't wait for that to happen, even though we don't want the summer to end too fast. What a conundrum!
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They make the Dark and Stormies at the BYC with Stephan's Ginger Beer, rather than Barrett's. Stephan's is just a little more pungent and the Two Bob's may have found it to be a bit too strong for their delicate sensibilities.
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But they both toughed it out... each having two before retiring back to the WhaleEye for some more of the Lagavulin that Brown so thoughtfully brought.
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Tomorrow, I agreed to play in the Salem State College Golf Tournament on behalf of the Salem Waterfront Hotel. Mike Rockett sent over a highest quality Footjoy shirt, Jacket and Umbrella. Doesn't he remember that I suck at Golf??? Truly SUCK!!!
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At least I'll be looking good, but that goes without saying.