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.

Seditive

That Petersen screwup really got me riled up. I think I'll have to pour a Lagavulin to calm down.

Lucky Sperm Club

Apparently, Rep. Doug Petersen from Marblehead told a group of Swampscott voters that Lynn needed good schools so that the Lynn kids could work for the "Captains of Industry" growing up in Swampscott. All these insults from a Marblehead guy.
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Now he'd doing the usual retractions... saying Lynn kids are also Captains of Industry, etc., etc.
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“There’s not a bone in my body that doesn’t think the world of Lynn public schools,” Rep. Doug Petersen (D-Marblehead) told the Herald. “There’s not a bone in my body that doesn’t think that Lynn kids won’t be captains of industry.”
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Now he's a liar as well as an elitist. Hey Dip Shit... Just shut up!!!
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As a Lynn guy who has lived in Marblehead for the last 22 years, I'm feeling that Petersen has struck some nerves, and entered a psychological place that he can never return from. He dropped his guard and let his class bigotry come to the surface.
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Coming from Marblehead, he obviously doesn't have a clue what it feels like to live in Lynn and travel through Swampscott to Marblehead, with the subtle slights and unspoken innuendos that you sense. Call it class consciousness, elitism, or whatever.... Petersen embodied the type of response that Lynn people are all too familiar with.
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Now he's getting all phoney about it.
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In the words of Bush the Elder, Marblehead is a "kinder and gentler place". I love it here, and feel blessed to have been able to bring up my kids in this Town. But I'm a Lynn guy, a graduate of Lynn English High School, a product of a lower economic stratum, who was born from hard working parents. No shame in that. No need for a low life, lucky sperm club graduate to rub my nose in it.
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Petersen can kiss my ass.

Choo Choo

The Train is leaving the station. There is so much on my plate, that even I could be intimidated. Good thing it isn't fishing season!!
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Sundance informal move is in place. Joanne and Amy Mann want me to help them. But Ryan and Countney are using my truck to move stuff into their new house this morning.
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Tyler Gill need details on our scheme to make Maddie a multi-million dollar, Paris Hilton type heiress.
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Mike Rockett is planning a road trip to look at a deal in Maine for the end of next week. Gulp!
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Tons of Nanepashemet Telecom prep work is sitting there.
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My basement tile job has been started and is screaming for attention.
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Taxes still not complete. About 8 hrs of Sundance corporate is required before that task gets a check.
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The garage has so much shit in it and needs a major reorg.
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I have to send the Nanepashemet Boatbuilding book proposal to a New York book agent who seems to have a bit of an attitude.
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.... and the Herreshoff Columbia Yacht Tender still isn't finished!!!!
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See what I mean? If I wasn't such a mountain of a man, endowed with an iron trap mind and steely determination, even I could be prone to falter. It will never happen.

LATE POTW

Yesterday was a mixed result.
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Elevator was delivered but installation is not complete...
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Couldn't get the occupancy permit because Verizon missed the schedule and didn't install the fire alarm line.
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Lunch in NH at a Mexican Restaurant was really painful.
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On the other hand, my blood pressure is fine again, a new Madison Ave. book publisher has shown interest, and our latest Nanepashemet telecom venture shows real legs.

A day of ups and downs.
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So the Peep of the Week Selection is a day late. What's the problem??? Deal with it.

ANNOUNCING
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week 13 for 2007
Vin Burnham
Sarah Crawford
Dr. Louis Casale
Tom McMahon
Mark Vona
Paul Lynch

Let's try to end the week on an up note. Change your attitude.

POTW Day Again

Man... These Thursdays come at you fast, don't they?
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By the end of the day, Sundance will have an elevator attached... I will have had my humiliating checkup with Dr. Casale.... DiMatteo and I will have met at lunch in NH with a smart currently unnamed party... and we will have a yea or nay decision from the Marblehead Building Department about the temporary occupancy permit.
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All of this and more will happen before the solemn duty of Peep of the Week Selections is undertaken this evening.
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A lesser man would buckle under the strain.

Bring It On.

More adventures at the Marblehead Building Department.
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The ruse of observing state law and protecting the Town is getting old.
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I will get our permit for Sundance Pre-School, no matter how much it ultimately costs, and we will eventually find out which interest has been served.
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Good service by Sundance Pre-School over the years will generate the type of political support that will make all the present "public interest" actions petty by comparison. Every dog has his day.

Hotel in Salem

I've been consulting lately for the Salem Waterfront Hotel, which is ironic, because the thing I hated most about my jobs at General Dynamics and Darwin was traveling and staying in hotels.
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But the Salem Waterfront Hotel is a diamond in the rough. A great location, and beautifully appointed rooms. Mike Rockett has emerged as a brilliantly creative manager and I'm very impressed with his ideas for this great facility.
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My consulting role has been to be a catalyst to make his ideas happen.
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If I have a general Nanepashemet Peeps hoedown.... it will be at the Salem Waterfront Hotel.

Whoa

I'm tired like it was Friday.... And it's only Tues.
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I wonder what I'll feel like on Friday!!
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Working at home is tough. There is no let up. No coffee breaks. You are always on. I am an asshole boss to myself.