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.