2011 Nanepashemet Peep of the Year

It’s December 31… the last day of 2010.
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Man, that decade flew by didn’t it?
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I should have some sort of reflection of the last 10 years. And maybe that will be the subject of a future post…. But not this one. This one is saved for that all important annual selection of the Nanepashemet Peep of the Year for 2011.
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Let’s be honest with each other. Despite all of the hype and high emotion that goes into this process, it’s just not that much of a big deal. Some poor bastard among you gets stuck with the title for a year… for whatever annoying/inspiring reason that can never be disclosed.
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His or her life goes off on a 365 day supernatural jaunt of boring/outrageous experiences… the year speeds by and then another hapless Peep gets tabbed for the same gig next December 31.
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So what’s the big deal???? Granted, outgoing POTY Jeremy Johnson was made a partner in a big Midwestern Law firm during his reign. And other POTY's had seen momentous personal chahges during their special years, but nothing is guaranteed.
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I personally think that the power part of the POTY designation is a little overstated, but the prestige aspect is an empirical fact.... which brings me to this year's selection.
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The Nanepashemet Peep of the Year for 2011 already has all of the prestige that he can handle. Especially since he has been marked up as a character in the upcoming screenplay about the Nanepashemet Blog.
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By now, I'm sure you have guessed who it is, so I might as well tell you.

ANNOUNCING.....
Nanepashemet Peep of the Year for the Year 2011.

Tommy O'Shea

Yes... the famous Tommy O must now endure the exaltation and distain that will now engulf his life as he strives to get through the next 12 months.
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Please join me as we extend our sincere congratulations/condolences.

Strap on your seatbelt TommyO, and enjoy the ride.
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TommyO said...
What a Day, What a Year.


First, Jay gets me into the Gerry 5 now this.
What an honor, Tommy M, Lauren, Murph and JJ. Their names are truly Ionic.
To be mentioned in the same breath as these POTY's is truly humbling.
The power of the blog is absolutely amazing, people come up to me in parking lots, supermarkets, hockey arena's and other sporting venues and shout out "TommyO"
As a Sales Guy out there on the road, I can only imagine the onslaught of business I will get with this gem on my resume.
I am sure there were many deserving candidates out there for this POTY and to them I say "nothing" because gloating and trash talking is not my nature. I only hope that some day you feel the awesomeness that I feel this first day of 2011. There are many people who are part of my life (you know who you are) that helped me along the way and I am grateful to you all.
I will do my best to represent the "title" of Nanepashemet Peep of the Year 2011. I look forward to your questions and comments. Anything having to do with "feet" is personal so don't even bother asking.
Thanks Jay
All my best to all of you for 2011 - TommyO

Must Be Nice to Be Barack

The Obama family is on vacation again.
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Just to be upfront with you, I'm sick and tired of all the time that they have off.... Not to mention the 46 rounds of golf that Barack has played this year.
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Question.....Before he was elected President, how much vaca did he get? I bet not close to this amount.
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Do I sound jealous? Well It should because I am. Seems like we are working our asses off to stay in the same place, and this guy with the big government job has some unbelieveable time off perks.

POTY Frenzy

The anticipation of the Peep of the Year Selection is in high gear lately with all sorts of nominations and suggestions being proferred in a somewhat irritating fasion.
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Peeps.... It's important to remember that a Peep of the Year cannot be dead, or be an animal. So that eliminates fully 50% of your pathetic suggestions.
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And it goes without saying, that the POTY must have done something particularly annoying or inspiring in the past year.
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Think of the past title holders....

Tommy McMahon 2007
Lauren Rathbone 2008
Michael Murph Murphy 2009
Jeremy Johnson 2010
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It's obvious what categories they fell into.
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So if you have a need to make a nomination, please keep it within the boundaries of the simple freaking rules. And rest assured that your suggestion has almost no chance of being chosen.

TC

trouble with cyberspace

Another Dud with a Sprinkle of Hack

The Blizzard was a dud.
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Sure... there was a decent amount of snow, but it was just another snowstorm.    Not the State of Emergency that Gov. Patrick predicted.   We even got computerized phone calls from a local Town of Marblehead hack saying to keep your cars off the street and that trash collection will be delayed.
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Really needed those life saving instructions.
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Once again, the government has us in diapers and eating pablum.  I resent it when they think that we don't know how to pick our nose.   I know... and I'm very experienced at it.

Blizzard Anticipation

We are sitting back here waiting for a blizzard.
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Since I'm an old Bastard, I have many memories of substantial blizzards over the past 50 years, including the Blizzard of 78.  The Perfect Storm in October 1991 wasn't a Blizzard because of the lack of snow, but the flooding and property destruction that it brought makes that really memorable.
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The coming Blizzard means a lot of extra work for us at Nanepashemet Telecom.   Just to enter a cell compound will require substantial shoveling, and there is extra peril for our climbers going up the towers.   And there is no way that we are compensated for winter conditions in this highly competitive business environment.
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I'm betting that this storm will produce some memories too.  The predicted accumulation keeps going up and they are now saying 20 inches of snow here in Marblehead.  Plus it's not supposed to start until this afternoon, but there is a steady snowfall going on already at 7:30 in the morning.
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So it's time to get my ass in gear, head up to the Sundance Building to prepare the hardwood for finish, and pull out the shovels.  Then it's the Patriots v the Bills at 1:00PM.

Bookmarks

Christmas is such a bookmark in time for people in this culture.
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You can't remember what happened year after year on April 22, (unless that's your birthday or anniversary or something) but December 25 evokes all sorts of memories and emotions.   I feel bad for Ryan and his companions at FreshAyer during this time when separation must make the emotions intensify.
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On Christmas, your parents are young again, all of your pets are still alive, and you relive times when all of the bullshit that you have been sledgehammered with never hit.
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Not that I would change a thing.   All of the past Christmases add up to this morning.... here and now.
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Merry Christmas.

Peace on Earth

It's Christmas Eve. A time to reflect on "Peace on Earth" and "Goodwill towards Men".
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Course... we don't have "Peace on Earth".  And the "Goodwill towards Men" sometimes seems lacking as well.   But Christmas reminds us, that these goals are laudable and should be striven for.
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The life of Christ, for whom this holiday is originally dedicated, doesn't give rise to visions of peace and goodwill..... although his words did.
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So maybe we should hope to attain these states... but not necessarily expect them.
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The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.  -  Theodore Rubin
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I think that Ted is on to something here.  Peace on Earth is not a situation without problems.   It is the ability to face and deal with the problems of life that inevitably arise.  And even rising above that.... aren't problems just a bend in the road from your own perception of "what should be" and God's plan for "what is"?
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So many times in my life, I've been dissapointed by setbacks and outcomes initially, yet time shows that these bends in the road were the best outcome for all involved.
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Attaining "Peace on Earth" must mean that we let go of our singular and egoistic notions of how things should be and allow God and his Universe to show us the way.
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I'm still working on the "Goodwill toward Men" part.  There are some Assholes out there that I just can't offer the goodwill to.  You know who you are.
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So Merry Chistmas everyone.... or just about everyone.

No Deterrence

Peeps....
This morning, I cannot be deterred....
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Not by Phoney Lefty Moonbats.... not by Prospering Passing POTY's.... not by Nanepashemet Telecom ToDo's......nor by the majority of you Pervasive Pestering Peeps.
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This morning, I must finish laying down the Brazilian Cherry hardwood kitchen floor at the Sundance house.  And I cannot be deterred.  The floor has to be completely nailed down so that I may rent a random orbital floor sander the Sunday after Christmas for sanding and polyurethaning the floors for the rest of the Holiday week.
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Some highly deserving Peeps wish to share some Holiday cheer in downtown Boston this afternoon, and I won't be lifitng a glass unless I've laid that floor.

Nina Stupidberg

The other day, that pseudo-intellectual moron, Nina Totenberg of National Public Radio excused herself for using the expression "Christmas Party". 
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The fact that Christmas is an official national holiday, signifying peace on earth, goodwill toward men, and characterized heavily by a non-secular Santa Claus.... seems to have been misplaced by the self-absorbed, lefty "journalist".
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I'm actually past being aggravated by phonies like Nina... they are so out of touch, that they have become amusing.
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Scatch that.... they still piss me off.  Egotistical Stupid Morons.

A Futuristic View

The internet and it's information revolution have given us powerful tools that will profoundly change the way that we act in the next generation.
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For the most part, the demand for office space and retail space should curtail dramatically.  With Skype and other tools, there simply is no reason for people to have to congregate in the same physical space to conduct business.  And on-line purchasing negates the need for retail stores to a large extent.
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Online banking and direct deposits have dramatically reduced the time needed to go to a branch bank office.
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The fact the people continue to go to offices to work, and stores to shop is a habitual mode of thinking that will become increasingly obsolete as the next generation emerges with no such behavioral habit.
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The shift that this will cause in employment and land use practices will be profound.  All new homes will be equipped with home work station offices, and low paying retail employment will shift to logistical, delivery services.  Retail shopping will evolve to "Demo" rooms where people go to actually see the stuff that they will then order on-line, and shopping centers will be characterized more by restaurant choices and entertainment venues.
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Course... all this depends on the Mayans being wrong about  the end of days in 2012!   And if the Internet power sources are interrupted by any means, the new order will come crumbling down.

Powerful POTY Partner Promotion

As most of you know, this Blog monitors the goings on at the Minneapolis, Minnesota law firm of Grey, Plant, Mooty very closely.
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That's because our 2010 Peep of the Year, Jeremy Johnson, has been an associate grunt there for the past few years.   Generally, my opinion of lawyers is pretty low, unless they are protecting me or mine, and I was concerned that our POTY might have surrounded himself with the wrong kind of crowd.
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But GPM did the right thing recently and made the POTY a Partner.
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Peeps.... I hate to have to state the obvious.... but once again we see an example of the overwhelming and undeniable power of the Nanepashemet Blog.    Here Jeremy was laboring year after year as a low rung legal grunt at a huge Minnesota law factory.   Then, with his designation of Peep of the Year, he rises to the top of the ladder in this momentous last twelve months.
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Freaking Powerful POTY Promotion.
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Congratulations Jeremy.  You have served your POTY year admirably and reaped the appropriate rewards.
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Soon, another will receive the coveted mantle, and witness the supernatural powers that the POTY title conveys.

Jeremy said.....

Jay, thank you for the props and the free marketing.  The power of the POTY designation is undeniable.  Exhibit A:  Recent photo of me dazzling a jury.  Next year's POTY better prepare for a whole lotta snappin' necks and cashin' checks.

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Excellent likeness Jeremy.
Grey, Plant, Mooty and Johnson..... has a nice ring to it.