Small Town

Living in a small town used to mean that you dealt with gossip and people who wanted to know everything about you.
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But the information age now means that the entire world is really a small town for purposes of finding out anything about anyone.
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That's why the news seems to be so prone to gossip about celebrities and low life situations.
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Gossip seems to help people let go of the absurdities and incompetence in their own lives as they search for the failings in others.  Now we don't have to hang in the village square to find our topics.  They are brought to us electronically from the four corners of the Earth.

Pisc said...

My tuna lips winter cap arrived today. Perfect

Crap Shoot

My friend, Will Murray, called yesterday and asked that I attend a zoning hearing at the City of Peabody this evening.
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Naturally I'll be there.  Will seemed pretty worked up about it. 
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A big part of my livelyhood is getting permits from various municipalities.  And there is always a lot of anxiety around it, because people you don't know  can really drop a monkey wrench in your path.  But things generally work out the way they're supposed to. 
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My company has gotten over a hundred permits in the last two years.   And I have been skunked badly once in that time in a little Berkshire hill town... didn't see it coming at all.
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This one tonight is not business for me... I'm just there to support a friend.  Betting that he beats the odds.

Couch Visualization

Today will be a long day.
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Sometime late tonight or in the early hours of tomorrow, I will be sitting here on the couch after traveling to New Haven County this evening for a zoning hearing and then deadheading back to Marblehead.
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I anticipate a positive outcome, but you never know.  I've been submarined at these events before.  If I get the petition approved, it will be worth it.

UPDATE
I'm back on the couch as predicted at 12:06AM.  Our petition was accepted unanimously, which was nice... but the six hours or so in the F150,..... down to New Haven and back...was  freaking exhausting.  Living the Dream has its limitations.

Birthday Bonus

It was my birthday yesterday... which I share with my grandson, Ethan, who was born on the same day of the year.  This guarantees that my family will always remember my birthday, because they are too scared to forget Ethan's.  If you saw the pic that I posted yesterday, you would know why.
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Sometimes, being a Mountain of a Man means that you have to step back and quell  personal excitement for the sake of others.  So I was pretty low key about my day.  But Joanne and I did go down to our favorite Marblehead restaurant, Cafe Italia, with Dale and Gail Johnson and the Johnson's picked up the tab.
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That took the sting out of the wait staff calling me "Big Guy".
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I continue to harbor the theory that calling people "Big Guy" is a euphemism for "Fat Shit".   So Dale never misses the chance to tab the "BG" moniker on me.
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Did I mention that he picked up the tab?  Let him have his fun.....

Should Have Seen the Other Guy

This is a photo of my Grandson, Ethan Nestor, who ran into some trouble down at the local YMCA.
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Here he is patiently waiting with his balloon for Santa.
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If I were Santa... I'd give him what he asks for.
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He turns 3 years old tomorrow.

A Shame about Cain

It's not like Herman Cain was going to get the Nanepashemet Nod, but I have a real bad taste in my mouth about him leaving the Republican nomination race and the way he had to leave.
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It seems to me that he didn't force himself on any of the women who came forward about him, and I don't see the motivation to throw yourself into the national limelight just because someone made a pass at you..
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Unless of course it was money.
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I believe that the truth will come out that these women were scamers or corrupted by bribes.
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A conservative Black Republican candidate is so dangerous to Obama and the Dems, that Cain had to be derailed at all costs.
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I wonder how much it actually did cost?

Postgame Belichick

Just finished watching Bill Belichick's Post Game press conference as the Pats beat the Colts 31-24.
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His answers are always the same...

• Individual stats don't matter.
• They did some things well and need to improve on other things.
• They are only interested in focusing on the next team that they are going to play.

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Basically... it's a team game and keep your focus on the next game.  In many ways, it is a prescription for success in almost any field of endeavor.
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It seems like he's always in a big hurry to get off of the podium.

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I do feel bad for the new reporters who throw themselves into the breach once more to ask questions that have been answered the same way for weeks and years on end.

Christmas Shopping Salvation

OK Peeps.

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In a magnanimous effort help you with your pathetic attempts at Christmas shopping.... I'm going to make it easy for you.... plus, these are the classiest gifts this side of the Pecos.

Tommy McMahon Commemorative Peep of the Year UniSex V Neck T - a steal at $21.90.
Official Nanepashemet Atty Jeremy Johnson Y front Wannabee Boxers - only $17.74.
Official Nanepashemet Tommy O Taking Out the Trash Bathrobe - unheard of price of $39.88.
Official Nanepashemet Mountain of a Man Couch Potato Pants - giving them away at $28.90.
Official Nanepashemet Tuna Lips Skull Cap  - underpriced at $18.90.

Just click on the links and order to your hearts content.
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Since most of the guys at the Indonesian sweat shop that manufactures these fine garments are Muslims, there is no slowdown during the holiday season.  So production is kicking along like a MoFo.

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There is a lot of other cool stuff in the store also.

John Forbes Kerry said...

Where can I gut me a Tuna lips Skullcap?

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You would certainly stike a figure on your Rhode Island yacht with the TL logo stuck on your forehead, Senator.   Have your people contact me and I will cut a bulk deal for you, Heinzy, and the rest of your crew.

500 Point Blessing.

The Dow Jones Stock Market Average rose by 500 points yesterday.
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Isn't it funny that when the stock market increases, it gets far less play than if it drops?
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If the market plunged by 500 points, it would have been major headlines.
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People tend to whine about problems much more than count their blessings.

Chasing Cain

If you want to get on the TV news, have a deer run through your home of business and get it on film.  The second most popular technique seems to be saying that Herman Cain made a pass at you.

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Both methods are highly successful and good for a news story every week or so.

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Both are also only possible due to the high levels of communication in this internet, information age.

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Deer have been crashing into buildings for years, but surveillance cameras are relatively new.  And politicians have been trying to get laid for quite a while as well, but it has never been so widely reported.  

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I don't care too much about the deer, but the politicians part has me perplexed.  If we rejected our leaders due to their sexual proclivities, we never would have had guys like John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Bill Clinton wielding positions of power.

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Now if Herman Cain smashed through a store window chasing a deer..... that would be real news.

Out of the Haze

It was time to break out of the Thanksgiving Holiday Haze today, and I think I pulled it off.  The key was to touch all of the outstanding projects and get responses and inquiries out on everything.  Then the emails and phone calls kick in in response to your action and it is off to the races.
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By 1:30 PM or so, it was like you never took a four day eating and drinking overindulgence binge with virturally no redeeming activity in between.
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I even ate right today... keeping clear of carbs and getting 20 min. on the Cybex.
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Made a Doctor's appointment for Jan 30, 2012 which is two days prior the end of the FreshAyer ordeal, and it seems like the two months between here and then might be nice period of time to get my weight and blood pressure down through a little self denial and discipline.
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This time, the only thing that I can guarantee is that I'll try.

Dump Etiquette

In a concerted effort to fend off the Thanksgiving Haze, I loaded up the the F150 for a much needed trip to the dump.,
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The Marblehead Transfer Station, aka the Dump, is  a tight turnaround with a scale and a hydraulic packing unit that has a one car wide entrance.  In a perfect world, you would pull into the turnaround, neatly back up to the packing unit pit, efficiently dump your trash, and quickly drive away.
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But at the Marblehead Dump... it's not a freaking perfect world.
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It could be though, if people would only practice some simple dump etiquette. 

• Like when you back up to the hydraulic pit, get out of your vehicle promptly and get to the business of dumping your crap.  
• And you may want to move a little faster than a snail with the flu while you discard your trash from your vehicle. 
• And you should refrain from striking up a neighborly conversation in between throwing your trash while other people, aka me, are waiting patiently to use the pit.
• And when you're done dumping your shit, you really shouldn't stay at the pit to sweep your BMW station wagon clean and dust free while parked at the pit.
• And when you're done taking up my time, while you primp and preen your dumping experience.... it would be nice if you moved your ass just a tad quicker to get back into your soccer mom bus and pull the hell out of the pit area.

Listen Asshole....
Your didn't lease some time at the freaking dump pit.  It's not like your timeshare in Cabo.   Get the Phuck In and get the Phuck Out and stop wasting my Phucking TIME!
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I love to go to the Dump.  You meet the nicest people.... and they meet you.