Colonial Pine Furniture

Peeps. I put this furniture up for sale on Craig's List, but would much rather convey it to a deserving Nanepashemet Peep. Let me know if you are interested.
http://boston.craigslist.org/nos/fur/321027862.html

Great Ads - Slowsky's and Cave Men

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The irritations in these ads are hilarious.
______________________________________________
The Turtle tolerating his wife and losing it.... the "Cave Man getting back with Tina" being humiliated. Don't you wonder why these things are funny? I don't know the psychological reason, but they make me laugh.

Nestor Women

That's enough, Stop staring at them.


Tripoli Tasmir said...
How much for your women? A camel and three bushels of figs for them. I throw in a tent suitable for festivities

Waterfront Offerings

Land Offerings

Going Green

Big week. Can you feel it too?
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By the end of the week, all of the leaves will be on the trees, and we'll be surfing on the Nanepashemet tsunami. Green all around. A spirit of newness and prosperity is in the air.
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We'll do a gut check Friday to see if the optimism prevails.

Manatee at Feeder

Amazingly, I caught this rare shot of a Manatee just as it left the bird feeder on my deck.
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It seemed to prefer the sunflower seeds.
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Let's see if the Discovery Channel blows this off!!
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Equal Rights for Rodents

I actually get a lot of grey squirrels in the feeder. I don't view them as a nuisance and I like them as much as the birds.
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Avid Peeps will remember that I actually caught one on video, and submitted it to the Discovery Channel as the first recorded instance of squirrels feeding from a bird feeder.
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No response from "Discovery".
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They obviously don't care about really significant issues, although they probably get a ton of submittals from nuts.
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Must be hard to sort through.

Regular Visitors

Birds are Cool.



































So far this Spring, visiting the feeder have been...
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Tufted Titmouse
Mourning Dove
Cardinal
Blue Jay
Common Sparrow
House Finch
Chickadee
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How has your feeder been doing?

Tender Time

So I used my carefree Saturday to lay out the cedar seats for the Tender. Lots of trial and error on the bandsaw to get them to fit right. With the seats in, I can eliminate extensive sanding of the epoxy where it won't show. This should ultimately save me time. I'd love to say that we will launch in June, but there is bound to be time a consuming crisis that prevents a logical conclusion to this project.

Woe Unto Fish

Lately, a lot of you have been asking me about the boat launch date.
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I've told Mid-Harbor Marine that I wanted the mooring ready by May 1, and Ryan Marine won't launch the boat until they are assured that Mid-Harbor is done. So I have to coordinate that. Ryan Marine will tune the motor, charge the battery and paint the bottom before putting the boat on the mooring.
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In the meantime, I am going to replace the helm seats with a bench cushion that has rod holders that I am ordering from Boater's World. Ryan bought a new Garmin fish finder which Ryan Marine will install.
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We have to epoxy down all of the screw holes at the hatches and rod panels which have become loose and the boat has to be thoroughly cleaned.
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Finally, the WhaleEye and Marblehead graphics have to be applied to the sides.
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With a little good weather this year, we will send many tuna to fish heaven.

No Problem

This is the first Saturday coming that I can remember not having to attend to a must-do crisis. There is nothing that I have to do tomorrow!!!! No taxes, no moving, no lifting, no painting - no nothing.
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I suppose that I could manufacture some task that has to be done, or dire consequences will occur.
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But there is no pressing priority.
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Seems like the perfect opportunity to work on the Tender, or lay down some more basement tiles, or repair my oak desk, or all three. There must be something that I'm forgetting. It can't be this carefree.

Bring it ON

Definitely a power day.
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Great conversations. Building a surfboard to ride the tsunami.

Week 17 - Peeps of the Week

Peep of the Week day at last. Thursday night is the best night of the workweek. Not just because of the POTW stuff. You have one more day of work left and you can feel the weekend coming.
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Thursday Night is the evening of hope. I like to think that Nanepashemet has something to do with it. Not that I am searching for any type of humanitarian award or anything. Although some of you may feel that this would be an appropriate gesture.
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The fact is that selecting the Peep of the Week just isn't that easy. You have to be in a deep meditative state, where your thoughts flow unimpeded by ego or emotion. There is a purity, a higher consciousness at work here that can't be turned on with the flick of a switch.
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All of the great masters made it look easy.
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Tiger swinging a golf club.
Seinfeld telling a joke.
Shakespeare writing a sonnet.
Orville Reddenbacher popping popcorn.
Nestor picking the Peep of the Week.
Jordan dunking a basketball.
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Do you see my point???? OK, so this is a stalling tactic. I might as well get on with it.

Announcing....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week - 2007 Week 17

Sean Morris
Robert Towne
John Diamont
Dave Tivnan
Kathy Peabody
Joanne Nestor

There it is. Another masterpiece of sorting through the annoying and inspirational on an entirely subjective basis. I have to rest now.

Project Closeout

Operation MoonShadow - the acquisition, construction and transport of the Sundance Pre-School is complete.
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We first started the process in Oct. 2006 looking for a property, found it, bought it, permitted the school use, built it, and occupied it in April 2007 - a six month plus process.
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By and large, it was only possible because of the people who do work with Mike Rockett. His team of staff and subcontractors made the transition ultimately successful. Virtutally everyone who worked on the project, including architects, lawyers and myself are part of his team, on a formal or informal basis, and work well together because of the catalyst tendencies that he provides.
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I have yet to hear any negative comments about the facility, which says a lot because the Pleasant Street Building that we originally built for the Van Otterloo's was really nice. Pre-School parents can be particularly opinionated. But this has a better scale and a better location next to the Gerry Park and the Harbor.
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Joanne is thrilled.
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Move On

Lots of moving going on. In the last two weeks, both Katelyn and Ryan moved, and we completed the Sundance move. How could people ever be nomads??? Moving is such a pain. I'm sick of lifting stuff. Can't imagine what I'd do without a Ford F150 Pickup.

Ramp Up

Time to shift gears. As much as I have envisioned a scenario where I could keep the Nanepashemet business small and avoid staff, financing and bureaucracy, the opportunities are looming too large, and we are going to have to complicate things.
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Have to plan a serious staff and resource ramp up. Normally this would have me pretty psyched, but I am haunted by mistakes made in the past and determined not to repeat them. That means meticulous planning and attention to detail - work breakdown structures and projections - daily accounting and review.

Spring Fever

Spring is definitely here.
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Buds on the trees and all that.
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Got to make arrangements with Ryan Marine to get my boat launched.
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Got to finish the Tender.
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Fish are going to die this season.

Gellin

I'm almost too tired to blog. After concentrating on cleaning up the existing Pleasant Street Sundance School, which incorporated two big dump runs and moving the oak desk and couch, I met with Tyler on the EnerNOC Deal.
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Also set up meetings with Lec and Sprint.
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Tomorrow, I'll turn the keys over to Eyk and end the first Sundance phase.
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Things are starting to gell.

Sports Circle

UMass Track Alumni has been contacting me. Considering that I only ran for two seasons, and not very well at that, I'm surprised that they have a record of my participation. My old coach, Ken O'Brien is still there. I don't think he liked me much, because I started beating some of his highly recruited kids right away, and I was a marginal walk-on. He used to call me "Maverick", ostensibly because I shouldn't have been doing what I was doing. But in Track, they can't bench you. When I saw their email list, it was interesting that not too many of my teammates were contacted.

It was fun to run at UMass, but I was not particularly talented and only had a few races that I was proud of. We won the Freshman New England Cross Country Championship and there were great guys on the team. I lost touch with all of them.

Collegiate athletics is a huge committment. Ryan and Katelyn competed in lacrosse for St. Mike's through their senior year. Mike asked me if I minded if he stopped playing in his sophomore year, and I actually felt a little relief. He had played at Tilton, and had great years at Marblehead High. When he was at St. Michael's on a Friday afternoon, I called him because I was excited for his weekend in college... kicking back and revving up with his buddies. He said that he had Lacrosse practice at 9:00PM that night, and I felt pretty bad for him. Friday nights in college are not for lacrosse.

I missed a lot of Ryan's games because I was in California for GTE his senior year. But I flew back across the country on a Wed. to Bentley College for his last game... an expense that my boss, Art Hadley, wasn't too excited about. I had been tying Ryan's skates and going to his games for 15 years, and this was his last - and I wouldn't miss it, even at the risk of my job. He was the Captain of the team, but they had a poor record, and I think that he missed a lot of recognition because of that.
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Some of the most exciting games that I remember were played by Katelyn's Women's Lacrosse Team at St. Mike's. It always seemed to be raining and miserable at the games, but she had a very competitive team her Senior year, and we were thrilled when she was named MVP.
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Now we're waiting for Kid Nestor to emerge in June for Ryan and Courtney. It won't be long before we're tying skates again.

Time for Tender.

By this time tomorrow, all of the heavy lifting to get Sundance Pre-School moved to the new Gerry Playground location will be done. Joanne has done a great job and has really concentrated on the task at hand. I'm proud of what she's accomplished. The site is perfect and the facility is getting rave reviews. It has been exhausting - emotionally, financially, and physically. But it's done.
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Now I'm going to finish the Herreshoff Columbia Tender and launch in June. The basement tiling job can wait.
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Sopranos are on. I'll catch you later.

Crazy Boredom

Does this Blog seem boring lately to you? I just read the last couple of posts, and it was tough going if I say so myself. What do you want me to do??? Invent exciting stuff??? Make stuff up??
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Sometimes life flattens out. It can't be all crisis and triumph.
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In the meantime, suck it up. Something screwy will happen soon.
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Apparently, some guy from the Shangdong Province in China doesn't think it's so bad.
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He or she Googled the blog and had it translated into Chinese characters yesterday. There was no Chinese character for "Nanepashemet" so that stayed in English. The Site looked pretty funny.
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I was able to tie into this because there are free "hit trackers" out there that can show the IP address of anyone who hits the blog site.
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The tracker also notes what site it came from before it accessed the Blog. So if someone gets on the Blog after a Google search, you can see what the key words of the search were and what Google results occurred. If a Google translation occurs, you can see that too.
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Since the Nanepashemet site gets so many hits, it comes up early in a Google search. Anybody checking out a Peep of the Week name always shows in the Google list. For example, I got a lot of hits from people looking for "Kristen Bitter Silk", when Kristen's Boston Globe article was posted on the Blog last fall.
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If you think that this is cool, then you are slightly more depraved than I am.
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How's that for breaking the boredom? Time to get back to the cubbies.

Sunday Projection

Big push tomorrow for Monday's Sundance opening. It's supposed to be stellar weather again.
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First thing in the morning, I have to spray paint the backs of the cubbies because nine of them will be exposed on the floor with coat hooks attached to them.
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After spraying, I'll install the closet shelves while waiting for the cubbies to dry. Then the cubbies have to screwed in place on the floor or on the walls, after which the coat hooks have to be attached.
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I'd like to think that this will all be done before 12:00 noon, but nothing has gone according to plan on this project. I'm leaving Monday morning free to get the rest of the bookcases, the desk and the rugs out of the old building, otherwise, I'll try to get this done tomorrow if everything goes to plan.
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Sound like a fun Sunday to you?? Pretty mundane. I can't wait.

Watching Paint Dry

When I finished cleaning up after two coats on the cubbies, it was 6:09 PM. Emory Glass, the next door neighbor told me I could use his outdoor water spigot because we don't have one at the new building, and I need to fire up the pressure washer to clean the playground equipment.
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A day of painting behind me. The key to the Wagner Spray unit is to really thin the Latex with Floetrol and water... almost to the point where it doesn't seem like its going to cover.

Spring Weekend

It's Saturday morning and sunny. Time to paint the cubbies. I'm feeling pretty optimistic that the Wagner will do the trick. Otherwise, at 30 minutes per cubbie unit, I'm looking at 7 hours of brushing. That gets me done around 3:00 PM.
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I still have to hang the closet shelves and get to the Pleasant Street clean out.
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Katelyn is painting her apartment this weekend. It's Mike's birthday tomorrow. Hope he's having a nice weekend in DC. I hate to paint. Fishing season will start in a few weeks. Ryan kicked in for a new Garmin Fishfinder and I am supposed to upgrade the seat cushions, but I am behind in this. Lyrid Meteor Showers are tonight. 30 shooting stars per minute. I guess it's time to get to the cubbies.
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How is your weekend shaping up? Mine sucks.

Stymied

I spent virtually all day trying to get two paint spraying systems to work with latex paint. My Fuji HVLP system, which performed so well with the marine varnish on the Yacht Tender, failed miserably with the latex. So I went to Home Depot and bought a Wagner Spray painter, which gave initial promise, but then also shit the bed.
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Meanwhile the cubbies could have been completed by brushing.
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The weather was great... what a wasted day.
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But tomorrow, I'm going to give it one more try by thinning the latex paint. I think that was the problem. If not, I'll be brushing well into Sunday.

Keep it Clean

Earth Day.
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I'm all for environmental legislation. The effects of the regulations have been dramatic, even in my lifetime. Fish are in Boston Harbor, and turkeys stroll down my driveway.
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But you have to admit. Environmentalists typically are obnoxious, alarmist and annoying.
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Al Gore - my point exactly. I suppose that this is the price of a cleaner Earth.

Tsunami Warning

Tomorrow, I have to pull out the HVLP sprayer and spray paint the fourteen 1'x8' cubbies that I made for Sundance between eight and six years ago. They've held up pretty well but are really dirty and stained from usage. I'd love to get two good coats of white gloss enamel on before the end of the day. It's amazing how much faster spray painting is than brushing. I love to spray and hate to brush.
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While they are drying, I'll put some 1x12 shelves in the closets.
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I hope that most of the new Sundance work will be done tomorrow, so that I can turn my Saturday attention to cleaning up the old Sundance building for a good transfer to Eyk Van Otterloo. Somehow, I don't see this push being complete until Sunday, but I'd love to get some Tender or tiling work in too.
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I know what's going to happen. As soon as the Sundance work is done, the Nanepashemet Telecom tsunami is going to strike. I can feel it. Rest will have to wait.

Peep of the Week Day

And you thought I forgot!
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Oh ye of little faith!!
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Normally I'd have to give that Korean psycho the nod for the ultimate annoying act. But screw him... he gets nothing.... not even POTW.

Plus NBC is such a whore for publishing his "manifesto". You give a mass murderer his ya yas. That's such bullshit. Somebody's media executive head should roll, but it won't.

Now back to business.

ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peep of the Week for Week 16 of 2007

Amy Mann
Mike DeLia
Mike Elsier
Bobby Brown
Ryan Nestor
Robert K Cheruiyot

All for good reasons. I couldn't bring myself to choose some annoying candidates because they were way off the charts.

Armed and Dangerous

This Virginia Tech stuff is getting more and more bizarre. At first I thought that the problem was gun control... just keep the guns out of the hands of insane people. And that is the central focus.
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But toss in the effect of violent video games as well as shoot em up, body count movies on the criminally insane and you have a mass murderers merit badge training program. I heard an expert on the radio saying that you can't control society to eliminate this risk. It is the price of freedom.
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I don't buy that.
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I would never keep a gun in my house. You never know when you might flip out over some non-sensical event, and five seconds of insane passion buys you a lifetime of grief. Even when I thought we had an intruder in the house a dozen years ago, I relied on my pal, Louisville Slugger, as my weapon of choice.
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Unfortunately, it was a false alarm.

Right to Bear Arms

The 2nd Amendment to the Constitution gives Americans the right to bear arms. But not automatic weapons that can wreck mass havoc.
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At the time of the 2nd Amendment, we were talking flintlock rifles that shot one round at a time.
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I'm willing to let the rifle lobby and libertarians keep the right to carry flintlocks, but not Glock Automatic Pistols.

More Marathon Disgrace

Robert Cheruiyot claimed another victim Monday in Tom McMahon, 2006 Nanepashemet Peep of the Year, who covered the Boston Marathon course in 3:08:12.
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Excellent time Tom... but you still lost to the Kenyan. Better luck next year.

Costco

I did a run to Costco yesterday after my lunch with DiMatteo and before I went to the Salem Waterfront hotel. Picked up the essentials....

Cat Litter
Cat Food
Cheddar Cheese
Poland Springs Water
Birdseed
Dress Pants
Swiffer Pads

Happy Birthday today to Dave Bruett. You will love the Gerry Club. A very thoughtful present.

Sore Legs

I didn't get any tiling in today, but I needed the day off. My inside thighs and gluteus muscles were screaming. If the Crawford Brothers wanted a real workout, they would have foregone the Boston Marathon and did some basement tiling with me.

Spanning the Generations

This is a picture of Ryan Nestor, and a photo of his great great granduncle, Darby Nestor.
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Picture Ryan with a Derby, Clay Pipe and Beard, and the family
resemblance is uncanny.
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I wonder if Darby was a financial planner.

A Bitter Loss

Chris and Will Crawford gave it their all, but they still lost to Kenyan runner Robert K. Cheruiyot, who claimed his third Boston victory, with an unofficial time of 2:14:12.
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Cheruiyot said shortly after his hard won victory," I knew that the Crawford Brothers were in the race and had been training since December. It weighed heavily on my mind and I thank God that I was able to defeat these formidable competitors."
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The Crawfords were uncharacteristically bitter in their remarks.
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"Cheruiyot had a big head start over us, and that was our major impediment to running him down", said Chris. "
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"Yeah, He sucks! If we started when he did, we would have kicked his Ass", Will added.
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Some bystanders were appalled at the lack of sportsmanship exhibited by the talented siblings, but this reporter disagrees.
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They have a right to be bitter.
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The laurel wreath should have been theirs.

Unfortunate Luck

BTW.... I'm glad that the shooter was not a Muslim. Can you believe the hysteria that would have been compounded if this was a terrorist act and not some kind of deranged idiot with an unknown purpose?

Insanity

The Virginia Tech shooting is something out of Hollywood. One guy kills 32 kids. There are all sorts of issues here.
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Gun control. When our Constitution gave citizens the right to bear arms, the technology was such that an expert marksman could fire two rounds in one minute... and accuracy of the firearm was not at issue. The cheapest Saturday night special outperforms this exponentially. You don't need an automatic weapon for protection.
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Time for gun control. Even in the Wild West, the Sheriff used to tell the bad guys to leave their guns out of town.
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Anyone who murders anyone is insane. There are many forms of insanity, and it is unlikely that we will ever be able to prevent insane acts from occuring. Anyone who is intent upon killing himself in the course of killing others is virtually unstoppable.
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Keep access to firearms away from these people by barring them from society. Screw the NRA and the Hunting lobbies. Give them fishing rods and bows and arrows. I'll take an overpopulation of deer over 31 dead Virginia Tech Hokies.

Smokin Server

An incredible amounts of hits on the Blog today.
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What the Hell is going on???
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It was Stacey's bridal shower.... not the latest video of "Girls Gone Wild"!!!
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Jeez.

Shake your Booty

Looks like Katelyn, Mary, and Stace got down and jiggy at Stace's Bridal Shower in Vermont.
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This photo, purported to be taken at 2:00 AM, indicates the three white women, apparently in their late twenties, trying hard to get their groove on.
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Katelyn said that Stacey's Mom and Sister's pulled off an AWESOME event, ending at approximately 3:00 AM with virtually no police intervention.

Marathon Day

Lousy day for the Boston Marathon. A record setting Noreaster with high wind, a coastal storm surge and heavy rains.
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Alison Peabody and the Crawford Brothers are running. Thank God Ryan isn't.
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My own personal marathon today involves a lot of phone calls and a stint of floor tiling.

Rigor Mortis

I'm beat.
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Joanne and Amy worked on the school move today, so I felt obligated to work on the basement tile job. With the constant moving around on your knees, floor tiling is one of the most uncomfortable and tedious jobs. I can't imagine what it must be to do this for a living. There is a great sense of accomplishment though when you see your tile colors and patterns start to emerge on the floor.
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After a few courses of 6x6 quarry tile and a course of 4" patterns, Greg and Dave Bruett dropped by to see if I could rip the width of some stair treads that they were installing at Dave's condo. It was a welcome respite.
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I did a few more courses then established a pattern of accent slate and natural stone tile. When I found myself standing around in a stupor around 2:30, it was clear that the job was done for today.
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I have a long way to go. This is not going to go fast, but if I keep a steady contribution, the job should get done in the short term.

Dream Job

What would you do if you had no need to make a living?.... If money was not a factor?
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I'm pretty sure that I would build boats... take the cedar strip built method to a mass production status and make them affordable. Powered by sail and oar, they would be economical to own and use, and healthy to be around.
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The mass produced stuff that you see today in plastic and fiberglass is so ugly, that people use them only to get to larger boats, which are becoming prohibitive in price.
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Wouldn't it be neat if there were clubs and classes of these beautiful boats? And that families had multiple boats to sail and compete with each other? They could be trailered to all kinds of ocean harbors and inland lakes for fishing, racing, picnicing, and just chilling on them.
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Keep expenses low and fun high. Great rowing exercise and sailing skill using free sources of energy - wind and muscle power.
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My Nanepashemet line of boats will include...

• Herreshoff Columbia 12 1/2' Tender
• Matinicus 14' Peapod
• Nipmuc 17' Canoe
• Alpha 14' Dory
• Haven 16' Day Sailer

All except the Nipmuc will be equiped for sail.

The boats will be available in a turnkey package with oars, sails, fishing options, life preservers, battery powered GPS, and trailers.

Email me for an advance order. I accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

Status Update

Ryan and Courtney were moving into their new house today, and Joanne and Amy were doing the Sundance move.
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Tyler Gill helped me to get the computer desk into the new Sundance building and I set up Joanne's computer, then pretty much got out of the way. I finished the taxes for the most part and then headed to Home Depot to get accent tiles for the basement.
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Katelyn is is Burlington, Vermont with her St. Mike's friends for Staci's bachlorette party and Mike is out in Seattle on a business trip. Hillegas called and said he was in Seattle today, so I put his number on Mike's voice-mail, while he was in the air. Bill could show Mike and his friends a good time in Seattle.... maybe too good.

A Crock

If you have never tried slow cooking with an electric crock pot, then you are definitely not keeping up with the latest in haute cuisine.
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Seriously, take chicken or pork frozen from your freezer, put it into the pot, throw in a little garlic, spice, mustard, honey or barbeque sauce as you feel necessary.... set it on low and come back five or six hours later to awesome barbeque.
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Don't forget to take the wrapper off of the meat.
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So get a crock pot, and start eating.
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Do I have to tell you everything???

Stop the Slide

I've been in a major relapse mode ever since my successful visit with Dr. Casale two weeks ago. Ever since he told me that the blood pressure was normal and that my choloresterol count was great, I've been on this carb binge with virtually no exercise.
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I feel freaking horrible.
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My back has a pinched nerve and my pants are tight.
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Tomorrow, the new Spartan, Buff and Bitching Johnny makes an appearance. Counting the Carbs and getting in the Burn.

Get Over It!

So Bob Brown tells me to "get over it" on Imus.
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I forgot what a wimpy assed, liberal bleeding heart he is.
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All the while maintaining himself as a mountain of a man.

L'audace

L'audace, toujours l'audace.

An Elder Voice

http://www.larryelder.com/bio.html

Finally. A guy with balls emerges who is not pandering to the rush to judgment and the hysteria around Imus. So far, all of the minority leaders including Deval Patrick, Barach Obama, Maya Angelou, Hillary Clinton have been surfing the payback rhetoric wave.
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Larry Elder has shown the courage to see the factual basis of the incident. Apparently, the Rutgers Women's Basketball team has done the same.

Beauty to Behold

Based upon the dozens of emails received, it's so surprizing that so many of you have never seen an elevator permit.. When you built your own elevators, didn't you notice the simple beauty of an encased permit?
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Take the time to smell the roses!!! It's not all work you know.

Week 15 - Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week

A friend of mine said this morning that Johnny Bagadonuts should be a POTW. Two reasons why that will never happen.

1. You can't tell me who to choose as Peep of the Week - Joanne knows that rule only too well.
2. I'm not telling you the other reason.

Announcing.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week - 2007/wk 15

Don Imus
Al Sharpton
The Duke Lacrosse Team
Mike Pressler, the Bryant College Lacrosse coach
Captain Michael Porter
Jack O'Connor, the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Safety elevator inspector.

As you might expect..... the Duke acquittal, the Imus Kangaroo Court, and the Sundance Permit took center stage this week. Hopefully next week we'll return to less emotional selections.

Speech Police

The firestorm that is racism in America has consumed Don Imus. Forget the truth about his mistake, forget the facts, forget his sincere apology about a quote that was stupid and repulsive. This is a set back for healthy race relations, much like the OJ acquittal was. OJ killed his wife. He was acquitted because of his race. It was wrong 100 years ago and is wrong now.
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Two wrongs don't make a right. Jackson and Sharpton are racists and their actions perpetuate racism. They have drawn blood, and are sustaining the hysteria of hate.
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Imus was fired by CBS and MSNBC for making a stupid remark. He was punished for using his freedom of speech. Freedom isn't free - we have to tolerate stupid stuff so that people are free to grow for the greater good. Stifling speech is wrong - we must all take the responsibility to determine what is right or wrong - and not be consumed by those who would police and tell us what to think.
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Maintaining freedom of speech in the face of thoughtless racial slurs has to be particularly taxing for African Americans who have endured a legacy of bigotry and predudice. But do they get a pass? Unfortunately, no - otherwise this society is not free. Which is the case here.
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Judge for yourself.

Quite a Lift

Going for the Sundance elevator permit with the Massachusetts Department Public Safety tomorrow. The One Source equipment company that sold and installed the unit took the time to tell me that the Village Construction people were the best that they had worked with in 15 years. Nice compliment and well deserved by the Rockett crew.
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Without Mike Rockett, Sparky Spillane, Eric Rumpf, Lenny Cameron, Paul Lynch, Steve Livermore, Brian Bingham, Mark Lausier, and all of the guys that work for them, the Sundance Pre-School would have been so far under water that you couldn't teach scuba diving there.
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BTW, the Mariners have just touched up Dice-K pretty well in the top of second inning. It doesn't seem like his fast ball has any movement.

Exasperation

I didn't check my horoscope today, but I should have because it probably would have given me a heads up that just about everything was going to piss me off. Nothing really bad happened, but I succeeded in getting annoyed and aggravated with everything.
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First, my computer just wouldn't cooperate. I spent all kinds of time trying to send a pdf of a Nanepashemet Form W-9 request to DiMatteo. All the while I'm listening to these hypocrites on MSNBC try to crucify Imus just for blood. Obama in particular. See ya. You had a chance with me, but not now.
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Then I went to a Hotel Staff meeting which conjured up all kind of reasons why I left the corporate life. Conflicting functional managers trying to run the show. Get the freak out of the way!!!
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Then I get a certified letter from stupid MLS saying that my Realtor designation had expired. Wonder how much it cost to send that mail???
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Then I hear that they have dropped the charges against the Duke Lacrosse players.... which was a good thing, but it reminded me how innocent kids were railroaded by the idiot, ego laced DA.
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Then I get a call from a guy who wants to participate in Nanepashemet Telecom, but hasn't got the balls to quit his job and swim in the deep end with me and DiMatteo.
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Finally.... after my last rating and raving cell phone call, Joanne showed me a glass with ice and an bottle of Oban and told me to chill. It was the sign that all is right with the world.

Milestone Reached

Mike Rockett asked me why I didn't Blog about receiving the occupancy permit for Sundance yesterday. The question actually took me back for a second, and I wondered myself why I hadn't proclaimed to the Peeps about this triumphant accomplishment.
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Upon reflection, I guess I was afraid that it was too good to be true.... that something could arise to derail the progress. Plus, the project has a bit more tweaking on the financial side before I can start pounding the drums of victory.
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But yesterday was pretty satisfying, and I'm extremely grateful for the work that Mike and his Village people performed. There are a ton of kudos to go around, and I'm going to have some type of function to formally thank all of the people who helped us get this far.

Freedom of Speech

We really don't have freedom of speech in this country. Although you may not be legally punished for the words you speak, you are socially and economically punished and judged by phonies who hold a solid perch on the moral high ground.
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Black activists like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson are the worse offenders. They can call New York "Hymietown" and stand by while Black rappers call each other "Niggers" in the most egregious fashion. But if a white guy like Don Imus makes an offhanded remark in a humorous nature, he is roundly condemned.
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Something said in humor is just that... you may not like the humor, it may be bad and in poor taste, but if it can be defined as humorous, the speaker gets a pass. Until, Sharpton passes judgement on the host of Black entertainers who freely use the "Nigger" phrase, he holds no credibility.
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Can't we be free to make our own judgement of a person's use of speech?
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Anybody who took Imus' characterization of the Rutger's women's basketball team as "Nappy Headed Hoes" seriously is the offender, and Imus holds no guilt for the acceptance of an off-handed remark as valid. What kind of idiot would buy into that phrase for a college women's basketball team as having any vestige of truth? That's the genesis of humor in such an outrageous statement.
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I don't need Al Sharpton to tell me that Imus's remark holds no credibility. If Imus continues to say stupid things, I have the choice to refuse to listen to him. Sharpton has every right to disagree, and absolutely no right to have Imus silenced.

~

Imus made a bad joke. Sharpton insults all of us.

Turkey Effects

Joanne made a great turkey for Easter Dinner with Ryan, Courtney and Katelyn. Mike called from Washington DC. It was a nice Day.
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Zach Johnson won the Masters and gave the credit to Jesus. Did Jesus help him, to the detriment of all of the other golf competitors? Probably not. But his faith helped him to perform to the best of his ability... which was good enough today to carry him to victory.
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The turkey, combined with two Lagavulins, put me in a deep, trancelike sleep on the couch. I'll stay up and watch the Sopranos, then get ready to rock and roll this week at work.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter.
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Peabody and I went to that Boatbuilding talk at the library given by a 30 something kid out of Bethlehem, Conn. He seemed like a nice guy. I had envisioned him in a flannel shirt with a pony tail and facial hair, but the stereotype proved wrong and he was clean cut and well spoken. Somehow that disapointed me.
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He started the talk by giving an autobiography which was a bit presumptuous, and ended up saying that he was drawn to boatbuilding because Jesus was a carpenter. Although his knowledge and work seemed good, he pretty much turned me off by that comment.
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I don't see how someone can base his life on a perception of how someone else must have been. It seems artificial and contrived.
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BTW, it is clear to me that Jesus was an Avatar - a more perfect embodiment of God in a human form. Mankind has had many appearances in my opinion. That doesn't lessen the importance of Jesus, so don't tool on me with Inquisition like zeal.

But for the life of me, I don't understand the leap of faith that says Jesus endured crucifixion for our sins. Can't see how that makes sense. How's that for blasphemy on Easter ?!
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On the other hand, a number of New Testament passages convince me that he was in touch with the true reason for man's potential and time on Earth. And I believe in the resurrection. In my opinion, the Shroud of Turin is the real deal.
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So if you want to act like Jesus, knock yourself out. Just remember that as much as he worked with wood, he also mightily pissed enough people off to get himself nailed. So pick your spots.

Lack of Motivation

I know that I said that today was going to be lousy weather, and that I would be working on taxes and the Sundance Web, but I got the web page up in a late night frenzy, and I really don't feel like doing the stinking taxes.
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But the temp is in the 30's and it sucks because it's so nice and sunny and should be comfortable. It's not. By the way, I'm really screwing with the birds because my feeder has been empty for days.
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So I have to rededicate to the tax drudgery.
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Jim Peabody wants me to go to a boatbuilding presentation at the Abbot Public Library at 2:00 and we have to get to the Maddie Gill birthday bash at 4:00.
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I'll put a tax push on until 1:00 and then go with Jim to see this rookie boatbuilding poser.

Web Revision

Sundance Web Site has been revamped. It's really an electronic flyer that directs prospective parents to call Joanne at the school. As I get older, I tend to appreciate straight forward, no frills information.

www.sundanceschool.com

Last week, the Massachusetts Office for Children inspector told Joanne that Sundance is considered the premier pre-school on the North Shore. That took a lot of the sting out of the elevator boondoggle.

Hidden Camera

Digital cameras and the Web can do a job on your privacy.
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Here, a regular meeting of the GD Sales Team is caught by an unscrupulous photographer.
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Mean people suck.

Good Friday

Anytime you have a bad day, it could always have been worse.
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That is what I would call a bad day ---->
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So why do they call it Good Friday?

Holiday Weekend

A weekend of tax preparation and web revisions. Happy Easter.
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I'm resolved to get the Sundance Corporate taxes, and my personal taxes done before dawn on Monday morning. In the lull periods, I'll tend to the Sundance web site which is hopelessly out of date and doesn't portray the new building.
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It's supposed to be 40 degree temps, so it's not like I'll be missing anything great outdoors.
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No ranting about the IRS or the Marblehead Building Department. After all, it's Good Friday.

Week 14 - Peep of the Week

OK Thrillseekers.
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It's your favorite time of the week.
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Why do you torture yourselves so? The chances of you being named a Peep of the Week are almost nonexistant. But still you pepper me with your pathetic emails....pining over the infintesimal possibility that you may be selected. I've told you time and again to get a life... but obviously to no avail.
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So you win. Once again, I attend to the weekly Thursday evening obligation with the stoic vigor that is part of my Celtic composition. Thank God that I have been blessed with the mental endurance to slug it out week after week.
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Enough BullShit?? I think so too.
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ANNOUNCING.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week - Week 14 of 2007

Tyler Gill
Patrick Piscatelli
Valerie Drapeau
Keith Richards
Dice K
Tommy O' Shea

On to next Thursday for the rest of you hurting buckaroos.

Fires of Purgatory

How bad can it be when Joanne reminds me that it is Peep of the Week day?
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Am I caught in a type of purgatory where I tumble from Thursdays to Thursdays in an endless, thankless duty to identify those hapless individuals who have met the annoying/inspiring Nanepashemet criteria?
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What a nightmare!!! What a burden! What a responsibility!!!
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Why Me????
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Nonetheless, she is right. This evening, an unfortunate/lucky few will receive the ultimate disgrace/honor..... selection as a Nanepashemet POTW. My congradulations/condolences.
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In the meantime, I'm heading to the Salem Waterfront Hotel for another day of state of the art professional services from Nanepashemet Project Management, Inc.
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Purgatory can wait. See you tonight.

Jeez

What do you think I do??? Blog all day??? I'm got to make a living too.
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Life is more than Blogs and Lagavulin... watching Rome, building the Tender, and bitching about the IRS and the Marblehead Building Department.
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There is a lot of stuff that I don't tell you about... because it's none of your God Damn Business. If I were you, I'd just keep up the hope that you never get labeled a POTW.

Nerd Employment

Joanne got a Dell Inspiron 1501 Laptop for her birthday, which was a risky move on my part, but she seems to really like it.
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I'm always amazed when I buy a new computer at the quantum leap that the technology seems to take since the last version. The Vista Windows operating system seems really neat, but the hooks are still there that cause enough confusion to give techie nerds job security.
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Everybody needs to eat.

Investing

I'm thinking of going public. But we don't need no stinking VC's.

Inertia Conquered.

You won't believe it.
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I actually worked on the Tender this weekend and made some progress! One of the rubrails had a final sanding, I sanded the inside of the transcom and another tenth of the interior. We have momentum!
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This project will yet see completion this spring.
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I also organized the garage so that it is possible to move around. Between Sundance, Ryan's new house, the basement renovation, and of course the Nanepashemet Boatbuilding extravaganza... I really have to be able to maneuver in the garage freely.
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Nice meeting with Tyler Gill today, and the Sundance saga may soon come to an end. We will try for a permit Wed. That gets me time to hop a plane to Lourdes, France and pray for a miracle, because I'm beginning to think that that is what it will take..

Older and Better

We're taking Joanne to brunch at Hawthorne by the Sea for her birthday. She's worried that she's getting too old. Tempus Fugit.
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Age is weird. There is no denying that physically you feel more limited. But in short bursts, I'm much stronger in my fifties than I was in my thirties. That means that I have to take care of business with one or two punches.
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Mentally and emotionally, there is no comparison. Age and experience wins hands down.