Manny Being Manny

If the Red Sox lose tonight, then Manny Ramirez is a bona fide idiot.
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"Don't worry, be happy", just doesn't cut it sometimes. You just have to hustle a little down the first base line. This walking by Manny after he hits the ball ,is really starting to get on my nerves.
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This is for the World Series. Get freaking serious.
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At least Josh Becket is looking like the stopper. If the Sox can get back to Boston, it's a whole new ballgame. Cleveland is the real deal.

POTW 42nd Week of 2007

I made a huge mistake yesterday.
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Telling a few Peeps who I thought I could trust, that the reason I fell off of my workout plan was because of Bob Wojcik. I should have never followed his suggestion to stretch out my calves at the edge of a curbstone. It's been a ordeal even to walk since.
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But that's no reason for all the resentment, vituperation and vitriol that so many of you have been trying to lay on Wojcik. It's my bad... my fault.... my stupidity.... for taking his advise. He doesn't deserve your derision and blame. You don't even know him (he lives in Albany, NY, about six feet tall, blond hair, vacant stare).
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Even though he really screwed up my marathon chances. I will overcome this.

Announcing.....

Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 42nd week of 2007

• Bob Wojcik
• Brendt DiOrio
• Tyler Gill
• Mirela Marku
• Deborah Norville
• Coco Crisp

I'm begging you to leave Wojcik alone. Even though it wasn't his fault, he really didn't mean it. Being a peep of the week is punishment enough.

Hitting Stride

A Salem Waterfront Hotel meeting, then coordination with our largest carrier customer, then a reconnaissance trip to a Methuen lattice tower made for an interesting day today. And that was just me. The other guys were on another construction job.

Kicking Ass and Taking Names.

Damn... we're getting good.

Mucho Molar

Dr. Danny Levy capped a broken molar for me yesterday, so now I have molar caps on both sides of my lower jaw. There will be trouble free chewing on both sides of my mouth for the foreseeable future.
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The novacaine is all worn off. They didn't even have to use the straps.
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I just thought that you should know.

New Visitor

Lots of Titmice, Chickadees, and common Sparrows at the feeder this morning. Also one solitary Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) made a first time appearance.
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I'm afraid to stop looking at the feeder because I might miss something.

Jitters

Sox are down 4-0 against Cleveland in the fifth and Dice K is not exactly overpowering. This is going to be a dogfight to get to the World Series.
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They just pulled Dice-K. If the Sox can't find a starter other than Becket, they will lose this series to the very talented Cleveland team.

Stoicism

Sunday, I could hardly walk with the calf pain shooting up to the area behind my knee. I'm pretty sure that nobody in the family noticed, because I always take pain like a man. No complaining.... no whining.....no whimpering. Naturally, I laid off the workout.
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Today I had to go to Worcester with Mike Rockett. We met with the State rep, Bob Spilane, and the City Manager, Mike O'Brien - two very sharp guys who were great ambassadors for investing in Worcester. The only trouble I had was trying to keep up with them on a quick walking tour around some downtown buildings.
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If I can't walk a block around Worcester, how the hell am I going to run 26 miles from Hopkinton to Boston????
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It's starting to seem like I'll need a visit to Lourdes to get this bum leg in shape, so I can work out again. Tomorrow, we'll see if the Cybex loosens up things a bit.
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Meanwhile the Dory work lies fallow, and the basement tile project mocks me everytime I go down there. The only thing that is moving forward is Nanepashemet Telecom. For that , I'm very grateful

Patriots Stay Pat

In a football match of the undefeated, the Patriots blew past the Dallas Cowboys like they were just another opponent. They are now 6-0. This is one hell of a season.
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McMahon, and his girlfriend, Alissa, dropped by after the game to drink some twisted teas. And you wonder why he is defending Peep of the Year??? It should be obvious.

Minor Setbacks

Cleveland waited until the 10th inning after 1:00 am in the morning to tee off on Boston with 7 runs. Now the series is tied 1-1. Cleveland is good.
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But what is really disappointing is that my left leg is painful to walk on - forget running. The calf pain now extends to the back of the knee and runs up my inner thigh. I'm thinking that it relates to the sciatica that I suffered maybe ten years ago. Doubt that I will get in a running workout today, so I'll probably row the harbor and cycle the Cybex.
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A little pain in the lower extremity didn't stop me from enjoying a visit from Will Nestor, my handsome 5 month old grandson though. He and I continue to communicate on a psychic level, and he mentioned that the Dory seems to be falling off schedule. Maybe he's worried that it won't be ready for me to teach him to row and fish. Already, he's looking for instant gratification. He also telepathically told me stuff that he didn't want me to repeat.
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The Kid has a lot to learn.

Fenway Layout

Baseball is a weird game, playing on fields that aren't rigidly regulated, with high walls and varied distances to them. Fenway Park is the embodiment of this.

Just marking time until the game starts at 8:00 PM tonight.

Successful Lives

These guys are the embodiment of success. Both Veterans of the 101st Airborne, Easy Company. I don't care how much money you make, the house you have, or the size of your boat.... you'll have to go quite a bit further to be more successful than them.

Edward Heffron, left, and William Guarnere pose with their book in Broomall , Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007. World War II veterans Guarnere and Heffron have written 'Brothers in Battle: Best of Friends,' published by the Berkley Publishing Group. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Harsh Dicotomy

I'm both optimistic and demoralized over my marathon training program. I've never had the discipline to always get a workout in before, but this has been accomplished. That is optimistic.
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Feeling like crap and being in pain in every workout is demoralizing.
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How's that for the Yin and the Yang?
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Over at the Marblehead Middle School Soccer fields this morning, I couldn't even finish three miles on level grass because I was afraid to push the pain in my left leg. It's not as much the pain that bothers me as the prospects of an injury that would force me out of the training regimen.
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191 days to the Boston Marathon. This is a lot harder than it was thirty years ago.