Testing the Water

Jim Cramer says it's time to get back into the stock market.
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It does seem like the market has hit bottom and is starting to turn back up. The telecom stocks seem to be fairly undervalued.
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The trouble is that every time I've entered the market, I have lost money.... not a ton, but enough to feel like a dufus.
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Maybe I'll just stick my big toe in.

Peep of the Week - 13

I had the opportunity to select the Peeps yesterday.
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Thursday is the official selection day. But I didn't feel like it. And you can't make quality and responsible decisions if your head isn't into it. After all... the POTW selections are just too important to handle on a casual basis.
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But this morning is another story.
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I got up feeling ready to challenge the day, and my first task will be to Purposefully Perpetuate this Pathetic Peep Process. ("P" is one of my favorite letters.)
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ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 13th week of 2009

Ryan Nestor
Mike Rockett
Kathy Peabody
Lauren Crawford
Peter Krupp
Jeremy Johnson

Next week, I'll try to get this done on Thursday, but I'm not promising anything.

Bad Addiction

Everybody copes somehow.
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My coping mechanism is to buy tools on Amazon late at night.
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And ... Oh Baby!..... Have I been Coping lately!!!!
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This week's stress has been Amazon's gain.
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Did I need a Specialized Power Mortising machine??? Nope.
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Did I get one?
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Yep.
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Did I need a Tenon Jig for my tablesaw???? Nope.
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Did I get one?
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Yep.
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Did I need an upgrade kit for my Leigh Dovetail Jig???? Nope.
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Did I get one?
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Yep.
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Believe me... this list can continue to the point where you can ascertain that I have a real problem. Lucky for me that Joanne doesn't read this Blog too often, because the cost of this stuff is really starting to add up.

Pier Four

After a lovely afternoon at the Joe Moakley house, we went over to the venerable Anthony's Pier Four restaurant, which is still serving one hell of a slice of prime rib with a popover after all of these years.
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It was Joanne's birthday, and the dinner was spur of the moment, but we couldn't have planned a better venue.
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Maybe we'll grab another meal there around August or so.

Deferring

Normally I like to multi-task..... Handle a bunch of issues at the same time.
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But for the next two days, I really have to limit my focus. Emotionally and intellectually, I just don't want to take on too much.
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So if you have some big problem to lay on me.... wait until Thurs. You'll simply have to deal with the fact that I won't be addressing you until then.

Tuna Lips said...

Did ye git on yer bike and ride this mornin', like youse was supposin' to do? Or did you slather some cream cheeze on a bagel and get to thinkin' "the other feller must be doin' this, too, I can lean on my shovel a few more minutes."

Layin' about is the road to ruination, sure as corn likker and peep shows at the road house, so mammy said. Mammy was one to talk.

I'm gone.

Establishing Routines.

I know that I've been harping on the weather lately.... but it's been so cold and clammy, wet and miserable. It is permeating.
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This day came together well. I've decided to take the advise of my friend, Lisa Rowe, and work out first thing in the morning. Especially if you are not traveling, it seems to make the most sense. So today, that's what I did. Jumped out of bed, had coffee, took a massive dump, exchanged niceties with Joanne, then hit the Cybex for 12 miles.
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By 8 o'clock, I was on the regular Nanepashemet conference call, and already had an item ticked off of my to do list. Everything else seemed to come together pretty smoothly after that too.
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So tomorrow, I'll try the same routine.

Tuna Lips said...

I gots an established routine of loosin' my bowels when i arises to greet the day, and then pleasuring myself whilst perched atop the porcelain honda. I find such ablutions most effifecious, and quite effevesent. Multitaskin, the Wall Street types calls it. On Stall Street we call it Coppin' a squat and rubbin' one out.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.