Sunday, March 29, 2009

Waiting for Trust Funds

Someday, when all of my trust funds kick in, I will buy a beach house in some warm tropical place, and go there for the entire months of March and April every year.
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I don't really suspect that I have any trust funds, so this is probably an unrealistic fantasy.
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But what is definite reality is that March and April suck in New England.
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It's not cold enough for winter stuff, and typically wet, muddy and uncomfortable. Plus, the temperature is just below a nice warmth that starts to make you feel good.
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I would rather go from the winter right to the summer, hence the tropical beach house fantasy.
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Maybe I can substitute the trust fund approach with a couple years of kickass business years with Nanepashemet Telecom.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Weather Delays

It was supposed to be a nice sunny spring day today.... in the sixties. Instead it lurked in the low forties, with clouds and fog.
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Once again, the freaking weatherman throws us a curve ball.
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If he was under oath, he'd be doing time for perjury.
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But I've always prided myself as being a forgiving person. Forgiving is fine, but forgetting is not my policy.
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Anyway.
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I got into the driveway, built the case for my workbench tail vise, cut the tails and pins for two dovetailed DVD cases, and milled the top for Mike's coffee table.
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No freaking weatherman is going to slow down this Mountain of a Man.

Friday, March 27, 2009

POTW - Week 12

Joanne and I headed over to the Salem Country Club this evening with Harvey Rowe and his lovely wife, Lisa.
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They've just completed the insurance claim adjustment on our New Year's Day fire and did a most excellent job. The Salem Country Club serves a damn fine meal.... much like the Oakley Country Club in Watertown that my archrival, Joe Collins, espouses to.... but the good ole Boston Yacht Club beats them both..... hands down.
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That's not to say that it wasn't a great meal. It just didn't beat my club.

ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the Twelfth week of 2009.

Bill Hillegas
Bobby Brown
Tom Raich
Emily Ingardia
Lauren Rathbone
Tyler Gill

I mean.... It's no big deal if your club isn't as good as mine.

Harvey Rowe said...

You will have to take us back to the BYC to see if I agree.

Bird Preference


So the other day, I get this annoying Peep question that went like this....
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"Which do you like better??? Blue Jays or Cardinals?"
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As I've often said.... there are no stupid questions.... only stupid people who ask questions.
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The answer is that I like any bird that seeks to take nourishment from my feeder. Don't care if it's a gull or a crow. They all make a mess, and they all shit everywhere.
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So they are pretty much equal in my view.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Herreshoff Maintenance

Took the tarp off of the Herreshoff Yacht Tender this weekend. What a mess. Looks like at least ten hours or more of sanding and varnishing to get ready for the season. It will be worth it though.... that boat has such nice lines.
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I'll probably buy a case of Epiphanes Marine Varnish from Jamestown Distributers and wait for a good weekend to sand and start spraying coats.
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No wonder that wooden boats from the past century are so rare. There is a lot of work and care just to make them presentable each season. If left fallow for a season or so, it would probably seem like an insurmountable job.

Tuna Lips said...

Prioritize getting us a peep of the week. I makes book on this sorta thing, and the street don't likes to wait.

What is wrong with you son? Snap out of it!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Getting Back to It

Even though the temperature never reached 50 degrees this afternoon, I got into the driveway, set up the workmates and cut the 3/4" maple plywood into two 2' x 6' pieces that will be laminated together to provide a heavy enough top for the long awaited workbench project.
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The 3" thick plywood top will be trimmed with 3/4" solid maple that will be attached to the 1 1/2" thick mahogany endpieces with half blind dovetails. Plus we have to precisely cut in for the end vice that will be integrated into the top.
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Tomorrow, I will glue and screw the top pieces of the worktop, then design and layout the end clamp.
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It's good that the long awaited workbench project is underway, but I must simultaneously start the coffee table that I promised Mike that I would build for his new condo in Southie. That tabletop will be constructed from the thick fir mantle piece that we removed from the living room after the fire.
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If this Spring proves to be relatively warm and dry, the Marblehead Gunning Dory will be resumed in full swing by June or so. It's conceivable that the Dory hull be substantially complete by the end of the summer, although the interior fit out will take quite a bit more time.

Fire Away

Is it so wrong to desire peace? The world has an infinite number of moving parts... all colliding and smacking into each other. Every day offers challenges that you can never predict.
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I almost dread an outlook of peace and quiet when I get up in the morning, because it is so certain to be shattered by some crazy unforeseen circumstance. Maybe the best outlook is to get up, stare the world in the face, and goad it to give you its best shot.
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Then at least, you won't he so shell shocked when the bombs land.

Peep of the Week - Week 11


Spring has sprung. Astronomcally at least. But by the 20 degree temp this morning, it's not so apparent.
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So I broke down and got an Apple Ipod Touch this week. Holy Shit.... what a freaking device!!!!
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I've downloaded about 100 bucks worth of songs and applications. Everything on freaking earth is online at the Apple iTunes store. Plus, it will go online and you can email.
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But the pain is not just financial. I downloaded a pushup training program that tracks your progress to where you can do 100 pushups at a setting. I haven't done a pushup in over 20 years, and after the first day routine, I feel like someone has been pounding me from armpit to armpit with sticks and clubs. It's a wonder that I didn't throw out my back.
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ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 11 Week of 2009

Courtney Nestor
Liam Neelson
Phil Freeman
Kurt Bagwell
Alex Watts
Mike McLellan
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Who would have thought that an Ipod would be so physically challenging!!!!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Turn on a Dime


The tragic death of Natasha Richardson is a disturbing reminder of how fragile the parameters of your life can be.
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A talented actor with a young family, in the prime of her life, takes a harmless tumble on a bunny ski slope, and dies in a day.
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Never take any day for granted.
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Always appreciate the people that you care about.
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Life can turn on an instant..... at a time when you least expect it .... in ways both bad and good.
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Mark 11:22-24
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
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The power behind this Biblical quotation is so simple as to be unbelieveable. Christ simply says to ask God to give you what you want, believe that you will receive it, and you will get it.
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Be careful what you ask for!
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The hard part is believeing in the receiving.
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Plus, sometimes, you receive what you want and don't even realize it.

Tuna Lips said...

We all gots it comin' to us. Make ready the way of the Almighty, ye sin smeared heathen. The Man comin' round takin' names. What side will you choose?

Like I said, did me some preachin' on AM radio back in Galveston days. Met some wonderful sinners, taught me plenty of what I do.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Better Deal

Hi Peeps.
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Just coming up for air after a worldwind three days this week, pumping the production from the Nanepashemet mill.
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Tomorrow will be no different. We are going in four different directions and will be covering projects from Harrington, Maine to New London, CT.... with two points in between.
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If you want to know where the hell Harrington is, we were wondering the same question. It's six hours drive north from here... about an hour north of Acadia National Park. My partner, Mike Elsier, is handling that one and I'll be in southern Connecticut, pulling permits and attending a hearing. I was feeling bad about having to drive all the way to New London, until I Google Mapped Harrington.
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Now I'm pretty certain that I have the best side of that deal.
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It's a glamorous job... plus we get paid for doing it.
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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Economic Stimulis

How bad is it when you start looking to Tuna Lips for solace and advice???
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It's time to start to turn this tanker around. Set a new course for commerce and prosperity.
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Sometime today, this Blog will receive a hit for the forty thousandth time. 40,000 times people have sought out Nanepashemet for one pathetic reason or another. What really irks me is that not one of you "suspects" have ever sent me a dime to support this oasis of insight and rationality.
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It's not that I haven't asked.
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I am 100% in favor of capitalism. Let the money come and go. It's not like I would take your contributions and invest them in stocks or something.
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Be assured that your money would be recycled in the most worthy of places.
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  • Like buying extra cheese, garlic and pepperoni pizza from Vesuvius of Marblehead.
  • Like purchasing bottles of Lagavulin, the King of Scotch, Stephan's Ginger Beer and Black Seal Rum from Beacon Hill Imports at the Community Store.
  • Like keeping the garage full of meranti mahogany and red cedar from Moynihan Lumber for those beautiful Nanepashemet boats.
  • Like ponying up for rounds of Bud and Miller High Life for the Peeps at the Gerry Club.
  • Like stocking up on paper towels, 48 rolls of toilet paper, and 7,000 packets of Splenda from Costco.
  • Like late night purchases of power tools that I will rarely use from Amazon.com.
  • Like dining on the world's best lobster rolls and Sam Adams at the Boston Yacht Club.
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I'm doing my part to keep this economy going. You can too.... by contributing to Nanepashemet.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Revenge

They say that living well is the best revenge.
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They are right.
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We will have our revenge.... and the naysayers will be continue to anguish as they wallow in their putrid pool of palpitating protoplasm contemplating the utter injustice that we will not be stifled.
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Miss Rogosa, my ninth grade English teacher, would have appreciated the onomatopoeia.
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She was an old spinster who was crippled by polio and got around with huge metal braces.  We used to call her "Rogo Stick" in our insensitive 9th grade way.  Read a lot of Edith Hamilton's "Mythology" in her class, and we spent an inordinate amount of time on the works of Helen Keller. Now I think I know why..
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Haven't thought of Miss Rogosa in 40 odd years.

Tuna Lips said...
My pappy was one fer blowin his stack, no douts about it, and but fer me mammy I think a few more charges woulda stuck.

As I mentioned afore, mammy was visionary, seein' things and oppertunities when ole pappy was just seein' red. She was fer the simmerin rage - she bein' of the lady persuasion - and was all fer servin' it cold. This way, she saw to it taht on the front end, no one bounced us off the mule, and thussin they had nary a finger to point. And when they did, agin and agin and agin, as hard ons like thems like to do, our uncivilization eventually waranted the point no more. It become about them sayin' they was better than someone else. It become them hatin' on us, and they fancy friends all tight up with Jesus had no choice but to think twice.

Give it time. Tehn we'd burn them sumbitches barn down, and cover it good, make it look like the Almighty raining his justice on they asses fer what they had done to us (forgettin on what we allegedly had done to them). Justice with mammy was best done slow, like molasses in winter. Nice and cold.

Think on that. TL is everyman.