Duffy Lewis

This is about Duffy Lewis, Not Monica Lewinsky.
If you are looking for Monica, click Here.

Duffy Lewis was always one of my favorites.

Boston Red Sox (1910–17) New York Yankees (1919-20) Washington Senators (1921)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion: 1912, 1915, 1916

"In 11 seasons, Lewis batted .284 with 38 home runs, 793 RBI, 612 runs, 1518 hits, 289 doubles, 68 triples, and 113 stolen bases in 1459 games.

During his tenure in Boston patrolling left field, Fenway Park featured a ten-foot-high mound that formed an incline in front of the left field wall, now better known as the Green Monster. The young outfielder mastered the incline to such an extent that it was nicknamed "Duffy's Cliff". Sports cartoons of the period often depicted him as a mountain climber making catches amid sheep and snowcaps. The mound was eventually reduced in 1934, long after Lewis had left the Sox, and was not completely eliminated until the field underwent a major renovation following the 2004 season." - Wikipedia

John Stamos

Every once in awhile, you take a swing and drive the ball right out of the park.
~
Everything that we intended to accomplish in the business meeting came out better than expected.
~
It's like the turning point in "Step Brothers" when Will Farrell asks John Riley....
~
"Did we just become Best Friends?"
~
"Yep."

Sweating the Small Stuff

The appeal of running a small business at Nanepashemet Telecom was getting my hands dirty. At General Dynamics, I was very far away from the action at all times. And you don't get too much dirt under your fingernails giving Powerpoint Presentations.
~
That's not to say that I don't do the executive sort of things at Nanepashemet. Especially when we have to pitch new business.
~
But usually, we don't have to be executives and get sweaty at construction sites on the same day.
~
Tomorrow will be different. We'll be finishing up a site in the morning, then pitching an account by lunchtime. Not sure how I will deal with the sweat issue.

Philosohical Phallout

I didn't mean to get so philosophical in that last post.
~
It just kind of slipped out.
~
I mean, I'm not a freaking guru or something.
~
I'm not forming a cult or anything.
~
So don't be pledging me your life long loyalty and asking me to father your children.
~
It was all a big misunderstanding.

Life, Liberty...

As Americans, our government was formed to provide us with the opportunity for "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness".
~
These are rights that say that the rank and file of us can live to freely try to find happiness.
~
When you reflect on the seemingly tormented life of Michael Jackson, it becomes obvious that talent and wealth do not guarantee happiness. So many celebrities seem to live a life of pain amid their possessions. Even when you can totally control your environment, as Jackson did, happiness and contentment are elusive.
~
The answer seems obvious.
~
Pursuing happiness is not the pursuit of things, or talent, or relationships.
~
The Pursuit of Happiness is a search to find a way to see the good in all things.... to see the glass as half full.... to be comfortable in your own skin.
~
The Pursuit of Happiness is an inner journey to let your soul resonate in harmony with any surrounding that you choose to associate. James Taylor sang, "The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time." Happiness is that natural state of the universe.... with electrons harmoniously rotating around protons and neutrons whether you are Michael Jackson or a piece of granite.
~
Happiness is a choice. You can choose to see the harmony in each passing moment, or you can resist and long for a different moment or environment causing anxiety and discord.
~
If you can't see the the harmony in your current situation, then pretend that you can.... because it is there. You just are not tuned into it. I know of no person, myself included, that doesn't have some massive adversity that imperils their well being and state of mind. But each adversity carries its open or hidden benefit, despite the apparent absurdness of this assertion.
~
Don't judge the rightness or wrongness of the situation. We are eternal beings and each experience has its lessons and insights for us that benefit and enrich us for the long haul. In the context of eternity, all adversity is just a detail.
~
Nobody can give you happiness. It is your personal choice. The Pursuit of Happiness is to constantly remember to choose happiness in each moment of time.
~
You can choose to embrace this, or to ridicule and degrade it.
Again... it is all up to you. But open your eyes and test it before you fade back to black.
~
Choose happiness. Bitterness, hate and despair suck compared to it.

Photogenic

There was a stiff east wind heading into Marblehead Harbor during my row this afternoon in the Tender. Tough going against it, but when when you turned around and rowed with it, it was possible to go six knots with ease.
~
I noticed two people at different times taking a photo of me in the Tender.
~
Since people don't ordinarily take random photos of me, especially when I am currently solvent and haven't any pissed off creditors, I have to believe that the attraction is the Tender and not me.
~
But then again, you never know.... being the rough, tough, hard to bluff, damn good looking mountain of a man that I am.

Lucky Striper

Ryan and Alex are out at Stellwagen right now and sent this picture of the 42" Striped Bass that they boated.

~

Federal Law prohibits taking Stripers from the Stellwagen Sanctuary, or we would be chunking this bad boy up for the deep fryer this afternoon.

~

So this fish gets a reprieve.

~

Ryan said that the football Bluefin Tuna are breaking water, but so far no strikes, and that conditions are mostly foggy.

~

But he has that co0l new Nanepashemet sweatershirt on.

~

I'll be taking the Tender out for a rowing workout around 11:30AM when the tide is half high rising.

~

Joanne says that there are thunderstorms forecasted, but I have to get a good row in. Not worried about getting wet, and if I get struck by lightning, then this pathetic Blog would come to an abrupt end. So all in all, it seems like a win-win.

Boss Man

This morning I had to struggle to get out of bed and had all intentions of calling it in.
~
It was Friday, I already had completed a ton of stuff for a very successful workweek so I was thinking of taking the day off. I'm the boss of Nanepashemet Telecom... right??? I can do whatever I freaking want.... Right????
~
So I was ready to report on the morning conference call, then kick back and start the weekend..... and then the waves starting hitting the beach.
~
Wave after Wave.
~
Things didn't stop until I finally pulled the Ford F150 back up to the house at 5:10 PM.
~
So much for being the Boss.

Tuna Lips said...
You needs a broader spectrum of workin' stiffs to horse whip to do yer biddings, that's all. Many a summer day I spent sippin' corn likker and pink lemonade with a barefooted harlot fanning me whilst I spectatin' the lesser folk fufillin' my obligations to Colonel Sartoris, he of the old stars and bars, bossman of the Chickesaw county.

POTW Week 25

Ryan and I grabbed some time this afternoon and pulled eight lobster pots, yielding 9 keeper lobsters and 2 fairly large crabs.
~
We rebaited the traps and if the same production occurs, we should have about 25 of the tasty crustaceans available for the 4th of July celebration cookouts. Remind me to pick up some more butter and Old Bay Spice before then.

ANNOUNCING.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 25th week of 2009.

Steve Farrar
Michael Murphy
Barbara Walters
Jorge Quiroga
William Nestor
Gail Johnson

It was finally nice on the water with the sunshine breaking through

Farah and Michael

We lost the American cultural icons of Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson today.
~
These were people, who had weaknesses and frailties, but made a definitive statement and added richness to our culture.
~
Tempus Fugit.

The "P" Words

The morning news is really into the story of the South Carolina Republican governor, Mark Sanford who went AWOL for a hot date in Argentina.
~
Sex sells.
~
Plus Sanford was a Republican Presidential Maybe, who had the audacity to criticize President Clinton when he diddled Monica Lewinsky.
~
So often, those who stray into the swamp of sexual scandal have a history of criticism of others indiscretions.
~
I personally believe that unless you are screwing with me or mine, where you point your pecker is not a part of public policy.
~
But it's probably proper for policiticians to keep their pee pee in their pants.

Pisco said...

Nice use of alliteration in making your point about public policy, pointing peckers and your peeps.

You Can Bank On It

Getting back into the banking game.
~
Mountain of a Man historians will note that I used to deal with the banks all of the time in the 80's before the savings and loan crisis brought everything to a crash. I always felt comfortable with bank talk. Business finance holds a lot less mystery to me than a cellular antenna installation. Although there's really not a heck of a lot of mystery to installing antennas.
~
Anyway, I always vowed that if I got on my feet again after the 80's collapse, I would never again leverage business through financing.
~
But here we go again.
~
Maybe this time, I won't get that "Nothing Can Go Wrong" bullshit attitude that characterized my last go around.
~
This time, I'm really sure of what can go wrong. And there's no way I'm going to go through that crap again.

Tuna Lips said...

Ise, too, am wisened for havin' kept my moneys with so called bank & "trusts", only to have the whole thing go south just acause of somethin' I said, or dun, or maybe I exposed my weddin' tackle, and then find the bank & trust feller run off with his wife's cousin, all the while usin' my cash to bankroll a stag film starring the before menshoned cousin, who I comes to find out was with child due to fornicatin' with the boys in her sophomore english class. And that movie was my idea. John Ford was a major influence in my creative uprearin,' as was John Holmes. That banker screwed me.

We discuss such matters, and the unduly influencin' of internationalized bankers on the US of A every now and agin, like minded folk, down the holler, burn us a fire now and again. Real hush hush stuff. Sorta.

Evidence.

So I'm watching that big egotistical blowhard, Terrell Owens, get his ass kicked in the "Superstars" competition on ABC tonight. His female teammate is taunting him.... asking what he gets paid a million dollars as an athlete for.
~
Further evidence that there is a God.

Weather for the Week

It's cloudy and rainy. Tried to get out and see if a few of the traps could yield enough lobsters for dinner, but even in the inner harbor the nor'east wind was whipping up whitecaps, and seas reportedly hit six feet on Stellwagen.
~
A reprieve for the lobsters.
~
Now it looks like we're in for a whole week of this. Which is probably not at bad thing for the grass seed that we put on the dirt patch called our front lawn. But it doesn't bode well for all of the grounding cadwelds that we have to accomplish for Nanepashemet Telecom.
~
This is a big week - lots of moving parts in lots of areas - both personal and business. It will be interesting to see what Blog entry goes in next Sunday night.

Tuna Lips said...
One part I hope gets movin' is my bowuls. Criminiy sakes, Ise bound up like a treed pole cat.

Bound for Bait

Despite the threat of rain, tomorrow I have to get out early and catch bait to tend to the lobster traps.
~
My plan is to take the WhaleEye straight out to Halfway rock and jig for mackerel and pollack, then head down Bluefish Alley by the ledges to see if some early Bluefish might want to give it up for the traps.
~
Tide should be high enough and I should be back by 10:30 AM or so.

POTW Week 24

More rain.
~
The wet weather kills our efforts to finish some telecom work, because you can't CADweld safely around moisture, and CADwelding to support the extensive grounding systems at wireless telecom facilities is a daily, essential task.
~
There is only so much ditch digging that we can do.

ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 24th Week of 2009

Pat Piscatelli
Bill Hillegas
Chris D'Orio
Kelsey O'Shea
Courtney Cox
Ben Wallace

The rain delays won't kill us, but they are really annoying.

No More Snore

In the spirit of total honesty and open disclosure, I have to admit to you that I snore.
~
Really Bad.
~
Each and every time I doze off.
~
And incredibly loud... like an old moose with a head cold.
~
I know that it bugs the shit out of Joanne, but there was nothing I could do about it.... until now.
~
Being sensitive to all of Joanne's needs, I decided that it was time after 36 years to take on this snoring problem. Plus it seems to have worsened over the last 2 1/2 years or so.
~
So I extensively researched the problem, and after 10 minutes of browsing, I came across a product called "SnoreMeds". Amazon sold it for about $39 bucks.
~
This is a plastic mouthpiece that you put into boiling water and then mold it to your mouth, causing the lower jaw to jut about a bit and create an open air passage past the offending palate.
~
It's the palate which vibrates when relaxed as you are sleeping, and that is the source of the gutteral snoring noise which Joanne loathes so much, but I don't even hear.
~
Tested SnoreMeds on a catnap today for about 1/2 hour and it is the first snorefree slumber that I can remember. So now I will be even better in the bedroom.

Pisco said...

Dude:

It puts a strain on your heart as well. I would not hesitate to mention it to your doctor. You might end up wearing one of those vacuum thingamajigs that make you look like you are ready to shoot down a MIG, but it could save your life. Plus, you can act like you are shooting down MIGs.

Lauren Rathbone, reigning Peep of the Year, said...

My mom has this problem with my dad, she wears industrial ear plugs every night. So much so, that my brother orders her them from some industrial safety catalog he gets at work.

Lauren's Dad must be cool.

Bunker Hill Day

There is a little commotion in Boston today, because it is Bunker Hill Day, and only Boston has it as a holiday. All city and state offices in Boston are closed.
~
The crux of the issue is that we have economic problems and can't afford this holiday, or the other Boston only holiday - Evacuation Day.
~
If people knew the history behind these days, the hue and cry should be why the whole country doesn't have these days off. Apparently the effects of a foreign occupation and the loss of American lives to throw tyranny off of American soil aren't very important any more.
~
Naturally, our Governor, Deval Patrick, has his finger in the wind and is making statements that he and his staff will be working.
~
Bunker Hill Day has nothing to do with the present economy and everything to do with remembering who we are and what our forefathers did to create this country for us. We are losing our true identity when we are so callous with our history.
~
I think that Deval caught the wrong wind on his finger.

Tuna Bite

Ryan and Mike got up around 4:00AM this morning to test the dawn tuna bite out at Stellwagen with Alex and a couple other guys. Light rain, 56 degrees, 9 mph winds. Can't be comfortable in an open boat like the WhaleEye.
~
But if they hook into a Bluefin, it will seem like tropical skies and summer breezes.
____________________________

UPDATE
I told those guys that I didn't think they had enough gas in the WhaleEye to make a Stellwagen run. Apparently, nine miles out, they found that I was correct.
~
Pretty happy that I renewed my SeaTow membership.
~
One of these days they will find out that.... while I am not always right, I'm seldom wrong.
~
Score 1 for the Bluefin.

Out of the Box

Had some drinks after work today with Elsier, Mountain of a Man Bobby Brown, and Peter Howard, an ardent Peep. Course, we had these drinks after a liquid lunch with our major customer. So you would think that I would be a useless slosh hound.
~
Not so.
~
I paced myself accordingly, knowing that there was business at hand. As it is, at the end of the evening, I ran into two prospects that I had been targeting for some time. They were as surprized to see me as I was them, when we bumped into each other at the Indigo Bar in Newton, just off of the Mass Pike.
~
Sometimes you just have to get lucky. I had been trying to contact these two for some time now. Who would have thought that I would meet them both in the same setting!
~
The lesson here is obviously to get out and drink in bars more often. The way I left Elsier.... I know he would agree.

POTW Week 23

Found myself doing some surreal stuff this morning.

As Joe Collins often said in our formative undergraduate years at UMASS....
"Life is a Weird Boogie."

ANNOUNCING.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 23rd week of 2009

Lisa Panakio Rowe
Kevin Ouellette
David Cheney
Tom Raich
Stacey Butler
Tommy O'Shea

No Shit, Joe.

Tuna Lips said...

I hear ya hummin' there, Kemosabe. The other mornin', I wakes in a David Carradine Kung Fu contraption in the storage shed over yonder, havin' not the slightest clue about how I ended up with a rope around my neck, wearin' Dorothy's ruby slippers and mint julep spilled all over my sister Bitty's prom dress. Surreal.

Ornery Remark

Thanks for all the nice compliments on our 36th wedding anniversary.
~
I guess it is an accomplishment.... definitely beats the statistics.
~
Although..... Joanne gave me some lip because I characterized her as "ornery". Isn't that ironic! Her getting ornery about me calling her ornery!
~
I came so close to dumping her over that. She'll be damn lucky to make it to year 37.

Lobstermen Molt

Around 2:30 this afternoon, we took a break from the grindstone and went out to check the lobster traps.
~
We've got eight traps baited with mackerel around Salem and Marblehead Harbors. Can't tell you exactly where they are, or I'd have to kill you.
~
Of the eight traps, we pulled out six keeper lobsters and about an equal number of shorts. Plus about 5 skates, and numerous fairly large crabs which we didn't keep.
~
So not a bad haul for eight traps that were baited only three days ago.
~
By 6:00 PM the lobsters were dispatched and beginning to be digested. Two went over to Tommy O and Linda's house.

Wedded Bliss

Today is the 36th wedding anniversary for me and my first wife, Joanne.
~
So far, so good, but I still have her on probation, and if she fails to meet my high standards, I'll drop her like a lead balloon.
~
Many of you Peeps have asked me the secret to the longevity of our marriage. I wish I knew, because if I did, I'd franchise it and probably make a ton of money. She can be ornery and controlling, but I always counter it with my levelheadedness and sensitivity.
~
As it is , I've been offering out my services as a marriage counselor, but so far, no takers.

Lisa P said...

The secret to your marriage is Joanne is a saint. Saint Joanne

Tuna Lips said...

Ise doff my hat to yiz fer keepin' yer floor sweepeer in line fer such a stretch, through all these wimmins liberalizers times and such. Like them no good thievin' Mormon gypsies, I, too, keeps a brood at various locations on my circuit through the belly of this here Obammy Land. More likes a rock star, truth be told. And the more I takes on, the more friends they have that have no knowins' of the power of chloroform and cat tranquilisers. My herd grows thusly, me bein' the good sheep herder and all. I reckon you could hang with me, if I so chose.

F******. Catalina Wine Mixer

More


All three kids are slated to come back to Marblehead today.
~
Everytime they link up here, it's like the F**king Catalina Wine Mixer.
~
Before things heat up, I'm going to get the Herreshoff Columbia Tender out for a row on Marblehead Harbor around mid morning when the tide is right.
~
Maybe a good workout will help me cope.





More

POTW Week 22

My friend Harvey Rowe has developed a blog called "Harvey's Thoughts" which I have started to follow. Generally, it's takes all of my time to keep self centered on my own stuff, but Harvey's Blog is worth a visit.
~
The rap on Harvey is that he is a Lawyer and a practicing Catholic.... both of which can promote some pretty warped thinking.... but he manages to pull it off pretty well.
~
BTW - I can say that, because I am a cultural Irish Catholic who was traumatized by Nuns and force fed the Baltimore Catechism. Purgatory still scares the shit out of me. Plus I get a big kick out of Lawyer jokes.
~
My fervent hope is that a good deal of you will start to bug Harvey on his Blog, and leave me the hell alone for awhile.
~
Anyway....
~
ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 22nd Week of 2009.

Harvey Rowe
Brendt D'Orio
Rick Hudson
Charlie Sheen
Katelyn Nestor
Sarah Crawford

It's www.hrowe.blogspot.com, Harvey's Thoughts.

Must Do

It's 5 o'clock on a Friday.
~
The one thing that I had on my list as a "must do", I didn't do. Everything else I did and more. How does that figure???
~
Now the "must do" moves on to the weekend, because I'm going to bag this and settle down with a visit from Sam Adams.
~
BTW - I can't get into Twitter, and I'm only on the fringes with Facebook. You would think that a wicked cool dude like myself would rule those fashionable sites, but I kind of like the idea of Blogging better. Actually thinking out whole paragraphs. Although, I do admit that the paragraphs that I think out can be pretty pathetic.
~
So have a nice weekend.

Peep Milestones

Lindsay Kepnes got engaged.
~
Tina Rhodes had a baby boy, and Mary Endres had a baby boy on the same day.
~
Pretty good milestones.
~
Life changing, moving on milestones. Feel good milestones.

Well thats it J. I'm having a rough time dealing with this. Lindsay Kepnes is engaged. All my plans are shot.You won this one Lindsay Kepnes's fiance, but you haven't heard the last of me.
- McMahon

Houses of Cards

GM filing for bankruptcy is amazing to me. All of those smart people, strategizing, planning, doing all the things that big corporations do... and it still hits the skids.
~
I'm starting to believe that big government and big business are little more than mega-juggernauts with no real way to understand or control their well being.
~
During my stint in corporate life, I saw many things happen that made no sense at all, but the consequences of the actions were not faced for months later. By that time the spin doctors had expertly redefined and redetermined the outcomes, and were exhibiting their only real proficiency.... feathering their own nests.
~
Hate to sound cynical, but these huge organizations get so complex that many insiders can pick them clean with impunity. The complexity rewards mediocrity, and hides incompetence. A little lie here, a little shaded truth there, and the incompetents save their bloated incomes for years at a time.
~
They know that they could never survive in a fair marketplace based upon real achievement, production and service. So they contrive and conspire and plot, and bend the facts in Powerpoint presentations to perpetuate their phoney careers.
~
I know that this is harsh, but if I didn't see it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn't believe it either. Sooner or later, the House of Cards comes crashing down, and the poor working stiffs and pensioners on the bottom level bear the ultimate brunt.

Passing Funk

I've been watching these great days of summer pass as I toil away with Nanepashemet Telecom. Just not fishing enough, and no golfing whatsoever. That has got to change.... at least the fishing part.
~
I also haven't put the Tender into Marblehead Harbor for any kind of rowing effort.
~
Maybe I'm getting too old.
~
Nah....
~
That can't be it.
~
After all... I'm still the same old rough, tough, hard to bluff and damn good looking guy that I always was.
~
I guess I'm just in a little funk. It will pass... I'll get over it.