Bank of America Scam

So I bring the check that I received from the United States Treasury to the pleasant teller in the Bank  of America, Vinnin Square, Swampscott office and make the deposit.  She politely informs me that there will be a hold on the check until it clears.
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Honey.... I don't mean to sound condescending, but if that check doesn't clear, then you and your big bureaucratic, faceless bank can kiss your ass good-bye.   If a check from the US Treasury bounces, then we all better buy a 22 caliper rifle from LL Bean and head to the woods to kill rabbits, because we won't be eating otherwise.
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Let's face it.  Bank of America is holding my money because they are scammers.   They just want the free use of it. I put up with this Bullshit because I have so much time and information invested in their on-line Internet payment system to my vendors and creditors.... and that's it.
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One of these days, I'll stop being so lazy, pull my money out, and find a better deal. 
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Stupid, big, bureaucratic bank.  I feel bad for the people who work there, because they are eunuchs, with absolutely no decision making power whatsoever.

Alex Ferrier said...

With interest rates where their at your better off just keeping your money in your house hidden in a safe.

dougmaxfield said...
Personally, I like small, local community banks that care. Anyone know where I can find one?

Tuna Lips said...

In the great American tradishuns of our forebears, Ise will be stuffing myself a bird and giving thanks fer such. Henrietta Thistletwat is Ole TL's latest muse.

Panel Cutting Rack

This week is crucial to getting things done.  Next week is Thanksgiving which will be full of nice disruptions and distractions.  Got  a ton done on the Sundance building this weekend, but this week will be key to meeting the deadline of carpet in the first week of December.
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Yesterday I got the system down for transporting sheets of MDF.  Have some Home Depot guys help in the loading at the store, and when I get to Sundance, slide it off to a cutting rack of 2x4's that are mounted onto portable work benches set up at pickup gate height.  The MDF slides off of the back of the F150 and onto the rack with literally no heaving lifting, where they are cut to sizel using a 7 1/2" circutlar saw with a straight cut jig.
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Pictures to follow.

Tommy McMahon, former POTY said.....
You realize you didn't do a peep of the week for last week when probably the most deserving peep, Shalane Flanagan, should have been named?



You're better than that J, come on now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You're right, Tom.... I'm so ashamed.  Flanagan did deserve it.... with her second place in the NY Marathon.  But then again... she let that African beat her, which was hard to overlook.

No Doubt on Deadline

We're half way through November and the deadline to complete the ground floor of the Sundance building is starting to loom large.  Plus we have Thanksgiving and the Annual Night Before Bash within that timeframe.
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I've got a ton of stuff to finish, including drywall mud, raised panel wainscotting, crown moulding, baseboards, and finally painting all of it.  The carpet is due in the first week of December.
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There's no way that I won't be ready.  As I Mountain of a Man, there can be no question that the work will be done, and at the highest quality by the time the carpet is delivered.
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Pictures to follow.
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That's how I roll.

Stupid Costco Run

Peeps...
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 Remember when I told you how stupid it was to have a couple of beers at lunch on a Friday afternoon, then stop in a Costco on the way home?
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And how you end up buying $300 bucks worth of bulk goods????
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Like 16 sticks of salted butter, 40 packets of microwave popcorn, three pairs of boxer shorts, two gallons of margarita mix (naturally a liter of tequila... and I don't even drink tequila), and 2 lbs. each of slice provolone, cheddar and harvarti cheese.
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Because when you have two beers and a scotch chaser in you, money is no object.  You can afford anything because nothing can stop you.   
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But by the time you pull up in front of your house, reality sets in. 
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Stupid.

Veteran Service

Today is Veteran's Day.  I'm not a Veteran.
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My Grandfather, my Father and my Father-in- Law served in World War I, World War II and the Korean War respectively, and all three were disabled American Veterans.   I'm so proud of them and thankful for their service.
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My turn was Vietnam.  A decent amount of guys who graduated ahead of me at Lynn English did tours there.  In those days, the draft was in place, and you had a number placed on yorur birthday based upon a drawing.
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I was at UMass, Amherst, and had gone through the first two years of a very unpopular Army ROTC program where I had attained the rank of Corporal by the end of my sophomore year.  I actually enjoyed it.  We learned about military strategy in wars from the ancient Greeks to World War II.  We learned how to march and conducted drills in the athletic field.
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It was tough in the dorms, because we had to wear full military dress uniforms and had to keep our hair short, which was a problem in the early 70's.  We were open targets to anti-war hippy types.  That never bothered me though.  I think I intimidated the Hippy's a lot more than they did me.
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Those of you who know me can probably picture that.
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Aaron Boykin and I were the only kids in the James House dorm who dressed up in uniforms twice a week to go to ROTC Class.  Aaron was a black kid from Springfield, MA in the 70's with a full 70's afro that went way past the ROTC dress code.  He played lead guitar in a rock band, and most of the time, really looked the part.
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The morning before each ROTC class, Aaron would grease down his afro so that his hair would fit under his military dress cap.  Since we never took those hats off in class, he got over every week.
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The morning came when Aaron didn't have the time to go through the greased down hair routine.  He lived across the hall from me, and we got dressed in our uniforms and headed for the half mile walk to the ROTC building.  The whole way, Aaron kept trying to stuff his Afro hair into his Cap.  When he stuffed it in one way, it stuck out the opposite site.   It was freaking hilarious.
 ~
By the time we got to the ROTC building, we were running a little late, and the Captain in charge of the program was standing outside the door.  I forget this guy's name, but he was bit of a Psycho, had a bad temper, and there were a lot of wild stories circulating around about what a crazy bastard he was.   Plus he had a huge scar on the side of his head.
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Right away, the Captain started in on us.  "Gentlemen, you are running late... don't you know what time class starts?"
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Aaron and I tried to shuffle by quickly , but then the Captain zeroed in.  "You... Corporal Nestor... fix Boykin's hat."
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I positioned myself behind Aaron's head so that the Captain couldn't see my face. Aaron had his back to the angry Captain.  So there we were face to face positioned so that the Captain couldn't see either of our expressions.  Every time I tugged one way, that freaking cap popped up the other way.
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Boykin and I were killing ourselves with suppressed laughter.  I was summoning every ounce of my then developing Mountain of a Man power to keep from breaking out into an unrestrained howl.  Finally the Captain ended our predicament by bellowing for us to "Get the Hell into class".
~
After that Sophomore year, my draft number came up at 354.  There was no way that I would be drafted.  I folded up my uniform, took it to the ROTC building and handed to the officer there, telling him what my number was.  We both understood that Reserve Officer Training Corps had ended at UMASS for me and I would not be signing a contract in my Junior year.
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Vietnam ended anyway a short time later, and I never would have gone.
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So I never served.   Which I regret today.
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But there is a deep resevoir of gratitude that I hold for those who did.  It is incomprehensible how different our life would be today, if those in our direct families hadn't made such sacrifices for us.
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For starters... we don't talk German, Japanese or Russian.  English is still the official language here.... although that is probably the topic for a different post.
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Thank you American Veterans.  For preserving our way of life in the greatest country in the world.

Pisc said...

Good story, good thought. Thanks.

Addiction Fix

Even though Nanepashemet Telecom is crushing it with the normal end of the year  business crunch, I've still found a way diversify our site acquisition offering with our highly touted Buyer's Brokers services.  It's important to remember that the final output of any business is not just a product, service or a sale.
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It's customer satisfaction.... or dissatisfaction as the case may be.
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So when I found out that some Peeps had been screwed around with in the market and needed some real estate service to purchase a home.... what choice did I have????  We had to rectify the situation... creating some satisfaction.
~
But the funny thing about making people happy, is that it's a two way street.  The happiness comes back to you exponentially.  To the point where it can be addictive.  Given my experience, strengths and weaknesses... the Buyer's Broker service that so many of you are asking for, is the perfect fix for me.

MORE

The Real Estate Opportunity

 More
Ever since I've offered a $2,000 American Express Gift Card to anyone who closed on a real estate purchase using our Buyer's Brokers Services... It's been havoc.
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Peeps... if you think that you are putting me to the test.... you're fighting out of your weight class.
~
I don't care how many of you sign up.... I said it and I'll do it.  The more of you that sign up, just means that I have to dig deeply into my Mountain of a Man reserves.....
~
It's a Buyer's market now, and you have to make hay while the sun shines.   With prices remaining stable and mortgage rates at an all time low, you'll be happy in a short time that you decided to buy a new home. 
~
If you're willing to make the move, I'll be there to see this through with you.
~
Many of you don't know that former Peep of the Year, Michael "Murph" Murphy was one of the first to jump on this offer, and ended up with the home of his dreams.
~
Murph said....

"The best thing that I did was to hire J. Nestor to represent me and Beth as our Buyer's Broker. There are so many sharks looking to take advantage of you in the real estate business and we met our share of them until Nanepashemet stepped in and paved the way for us to fnd and purchase the house of our dreams.. I would recommend J and his company to anyone."
~
Contact jnestor@nanepashemet.com for details. Or call 781-727-6516 anytime.
~
Just don't wait to buy Real Estate.... Buy Real Estate and wait.
 
Click for More information

Checking the Polls

So many of you Peeps have emailed me, called me, or stopped me on the street to ask me what went wrong.... Why did the Democrats carry the day so completely in Massachusetts????
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What the hell do you think I am?.... some sort of poltitcal pundit prophet???  I don't have any freaking  definititive answers.   I do have a theory though.
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In Massachusetts, the Democrats had a huge wake up call with the victory of Scott Brown over Martha Coakley for "Ted Kennedy's" Senate Seat.   The lesson learned was... nothing is given, and you have to work for things.
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The Dems in this state may seem stupid and naive at times... but they are not lazy.  And when it comes to elections, they know that, regardless of the issues, a political organization that is organized at the precinct level can guarantee election if the effort is sustained.
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This involves the initiation and organization of precinct captains, poll checkers, telephone callers and drivers to the polls to a minute detail.
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In the City of Lynn for example, there are seven wards and twenty eight precincts.  With a separate precinct captain in each, and a small cadre of poll checkers and telephoners, it used to be a simple process to determine who had voted on Election day, and who had not.   By the end of the day, with a little motivation like picking up people and driving them to the polls, we were able to guanrantee that all of the people who were in favor of our candidate had voted.
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Every time we worked this system, our candidate won.... without fail.   And I'm talking about some guys that were elected, who the pundits had ruled out without a doubt.  It was a mechanical process... make sure that your supporters made it to the polls, and ignore anyone who was neutral or against your candidate.
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By virtue of the fact that the majority of the voters in a community don't vote in elections, this process was highly successful.
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Last Tuesday, as I went to my polling place in the Marblehead Senior Center, I noticed poll checkers sitting behind the ballot workers for the first time since I moved to Marblehead over 25 years ago.  When I asked the checker who he was working for, he said, "the Democratic Party".
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In Massachusetts, Democrats carried every Congressional seat as well as the Governor.  The Democratic sweep here completely bucked the trend as nationally, Republicans picked up over 70 seats to capture the majority of the House of Representatives.
~
Did Scott Brown wake up the Democrats in Massachusetts?  Maybe he did.

Tool Shop Owner said...

Time to get to the bottom line. We need to stand for something.

Offers Open for Heaven in Marblehead

Peeps....
Maybe I'm naive, but my expectation was that minutes after announcing that 32 Beverly Ave. was for sale, that you would be flooding me with offers.
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Even if the Nanepashemet Blog had not started here, and even if boats that are works of art had not been crafted in the hallowed garage... 32 Beverly Ave. would still be a great place to live.
~
Tommy O lives across the street.  That fact alone should spur you to make this life changing investment.  Plus, I've thrown in the American Express Gift Card.   Maybe I'll include a kayak or two.
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C'mon.... I'm getting sick of waiting.  Time to move on to West Shore Drive.

POTW Week 45

I know that I've let a couple of weeks lapse in this weekly duty.   Not sure why.  October was the slowest month in the 5 year history of this pathetic blog.
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I'll try to be a better person.
~
Announcing...
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 45th week of 2010

Brian Donovan
Pat Piscatelli
Stacey Butler
Charlie Baker
Emily Engardia
Tommy O'Shea

There.... now we are back to abnormal.

Raised Panels

I've been busy this week making raised panel wainscotting out of medium density fiberboard plywood (MDF) for the family room at the former Sundance Pre-School on West Shore Drive.  Still don't know if this is a good idea.
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On the one hand....
MDF is a stable material, with no voids like other plywood, and it routs and cuts very cleanly and crisply.  It doesn't chip like #2 pine,  requires virtually no sanding and you have the option of unlimited panel size.
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On the other hand....
It is heavy as hell.  Even a Mountain of a Man like myself has a hard time lugging the 97 lb. 4'x8' sheets around the work area.   And the sawdust that it exudes is fine and irritating.  A dusk mask and vacuum is crucial, but the sawdust still gets out of control.
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I haven't gotten to the point where I can evaluate the ability of the stuff to accept coats of primer and paint.  That will come soon though because I have all of the stock cut to rails, stiles and panels and hope to have all of the wainscotting assembled by the end of the weekend.
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I'm convinced that the raised paneling is a good idea though.  It lends a lot of character to a room and is worth the effort.   I had initially wanted to go with bead board throughout, but my daughter Kate thought that it looked cheesy compared to the raised panels.  I agree, but the raised panels are super labor intensive.
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Even with the router tables, and raised panel bit set that I invested in years ago, it is a time sucking activity.
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Ultimately, since raised panel wainscotting is so expensive, or such a pain in the ass to do from scratch as I am doing. it generally adds value to the property.
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That is my ulterior motive, but if I'm going to live there, I might as well be surroundied by the fine woodworking detail that I have become accustomed to.

Election Results

Interesting Election.
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From what I saw, Barney Frank is a pompous idiot, but kept his job and Nancy Pelosi, that out of touch Facist, lost her job.  So that was a wash.
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I was happy for reasons that I won't be sharing with you that Deval Patrick and John Tierney kept their seats in Massachusetts.

Tuna Lips said...



Ise thinks Nan is one good pleasuring from behind by ole TL from seein' the light. Not so many is such a way. My work is never done.