Posting Pause

Peeps -
If you were wondering what happened to the Blog this week, it's fairly simple... I went to Las Vegas.  Met up with some old telecom buddies at the CTIA convention and kicked the gong around pretty hard.
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But I'm back now.... none the worse for the wear.   And no... I'm not going to tell you any of the juicy details. but suffice it to say that this MOAM met up with the only other legitimate Mountain of a Man in circulation these days, Bobby Brown, and the moments of collision were momentous.
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It was nice to be out there among friends, but the traveling part was horrendous.  I would take the New Haven commute anyday.

Harry Truman Rolling Over

Then Buck Stops Here..... at Lower Level Employees.



What would Harry Truman say?

Facebook Lull

Maybe it's just my perception, but it seems like Facebook has lost it's edge.   The people who post are generally new to FB, and nobody gets too revved up over political exchanges or other stuff.
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Basically, I lost it when I couldn't goad people into defending our Indian Senator Warren's claim for her conveniently manufactured Native American heritage,  and the Obamanistas overtures into IRS thuggery, Benghazi lies, and AP email snooping have got the Libs on the run, and they are not really forthcoming to engage.
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I don't blame them.
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So the result is that Facebook has been taking a step back.
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Even though the Lefty Slogan,  "It takes a village" (i.e.   you should depend on the government and not yourself) is particularly loathsome to me, it does seem that Facebook and social media has brought people together in the fashion that village life used to be... with a lot more interaction.
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But village life was often fraught with shunning, cliques, and small town gossip... and could get old quick.
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Facebook was fun while it lasted... now there is a definite lull in the action.

Saturday Ambitions

Went for Fried Clams at Essex Seafood, the Official Nanepashemet Clamshack last night  with the O'Shea's and the Peabody's.  Got a little chilly outside while we were eating, but the seafood didn't dissapoint.
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This Saturday morning, I am out straight with a big run at finishing the rough cut work on the Grandkid's bunkbeds, then getting under the deck and cleaning out all of the crap that has accumulated there, culminating in a dump run.
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If everything works right, the day will end up with the pram on sawhorses in the driveway, ready for fit out work and remediating that disgusting weather proofing that never cured on the gunwales.
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By 4:00 PM, when rigor mortis sets in, I hope to thoroughly enjoy kicking back on the deck with a Sam Adams or three.

Radial Arm Saw

I forget when I bought my Sears Craftsman Radial Arm Saw.   Easily over 25 years ago.  I had lent my DeWalt Radial Arm out to some contractor and missed having one, so I bought what was a state of the art model at the time.
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For some reason, Radial Arm Saws have fallen from popularity.   The rap on them is that they are dangerous, but every power tool, and especially stationary saws are dangerous.   As experienced as I am, I am always a little fearful when I switch on the power and the blade starts spinning, and I'm sure that this is a healthy emotion.

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The other frequent criticism is that the RAS is notorious for slop and inaccurate cuts.  I never had this problem.... until today

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The Radial Arm is the best option for making dado cuts in my opinion and as I was setting up the dado blades today in gearing up for the grandkids bunk beds, I noticed a lot of slop in the swivel of the power head.
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So I downloaded a manual for the Sears Model off of the web and quickly found out how to make the adjustment to eliminate the problem.   How cool is it that the Internet was not even invented when I bought this saw, and now I can instanteously get any information that I need to fix the tool.!!! 
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The radial arm is unsurpassed for making accurate repetitive crosscuts, when it is aligned correctly, while the table saw is my tool of choice for making accurate and safe rip and panel cuts.  The luxury of having each of these tools in my shop is a blessing that I should be more thankful for.
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The radial arm saw should be good for another 25 or so.



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Totalitarian Annoyance.

Peeps...
I'm not much of a conspiracy guy.  Sure, I'm as paranoid as the last person, but I don't really believe in vast ideological conspriracies designed to somehow control us.
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But the incursions of the Obama administration into harassing conservative organizations by the IRS, and the blatant lying and propaganda surrounding the Benghazi attacks sure give the feeling of totalitarianism..... the kind of stuff that used to happen in Communist countries.
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I personally don't believe that the Obamanistas have the experience and competence to pull off anything that would significantly hamper us.... but the effort is a bit annoying.

High School Seniors, now the Real Thing.

Thanks to some of my Facebook friends, got a little jolt of nostalgia today with this photo showing up.


Peeps... when I tell you about being Rough, Tough, Hard to Bluff, and Damn Good looking... it started way back then.  Just not a recent trend.  These guys were all of the seniors on the Lynn English High School Cross Country team and everybody is still living, as far as I know.
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Phil Freeman, the kid on my left got me on the team my sophomore year.  I had known Phil since the 2nd grade and played CYO Basketball with him.   He became a phenom in Cross Country, and I figured that I could beat him, so I went out for the team when indoor track started.
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He kicked my ass.  I only legitimately beat him once in three years... when I came in 3rd in the Essex County Championship my senior year with Freeman fading to fifth....., and the only cross country race that I ever won was because Phil was sick from school that day and couldn't compete in a dual meet against Peabody.   There was no way that I was going to lose that race with Freeman out of contention.
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He lives in New Jersey, I think.  I hope he is well.
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The guy on my far left is Jim Lundgren, who was legendary for singing the theme song from "Exodus" during cross country races.   Lundgren was a hurdler anyway and now is one of my best facebook friends as he thoughtfully presents the Democrats' position in highly entertaining Facebook threads.
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I have fond memories of all of these guys.   Don Gorski - a good golfer who moved to NY, Bob Hill- now retired from the Phone Comany, Billy Quirk- the only kid that I knew who legitimately went to Woodstock and is now a proud ex-Marine, and Mike Cole- a tough quarter miler.
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Not sure if Coach Civiello is still alive.  He was a good guy and very active in the Lynn Italian Community.
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If only we had Christos Laganos on that team, who now pedals 100 Miles through the Mountains and is currently hiking the Appalachian Trail. Chris would have been a hell of a distance man.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Peeps who are Moms.
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When Joanne finishes scrubbing the floors, cooking the meat, and taking out the trash, I will urge her to take five minutes or so and enjoy the day.
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Sometimes, being a Mountain of a Man means that you have to be extra considerate.

Lying D- Bag

So it's apparent that the US State Department and the White House knew that we endured a full fledged and calculated terrorist attack in Libya, and then they coolly and boldly lied to the American people saying that it was a spontaneous reaction to a video that insulted the Muslim Libyans into riot and murder.
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And they stood by while four Americans were killed in the attack.
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Friends, we have caught Hillary Clinton in lies before.... like when she said her husband Bill was the victim of a "vast right wing conspiracy" when he was lying about getting a blow job by an administrative intern.... and when she concocted a story about her being "under fire" in Serbian airspace.  Not to mention, the aides who committed suicide during her reign as out First "Lady".
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She got passes on these... from me at least.   Everybody is prone to an embellishment of sorts or an exaggeration at times.
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But in the Benghazi attacks, four people died as Clinton became arrogant and dismissive with any explanation of the facts, and vowed to get the people who developed that "video".
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Peeps... Hillary Clinton is a lying douche bag.   There... I said it.    And I'm not taking it back.
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That said... I realize that that I'm so out of touch with things that she will probably waltz into the White House as the next disingenuous POTUS, courtesy of the herd of sheep that disguise themselve in the Democratiic Party as the American electorate.
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Sorry to be so serious today, but politics is fine, until you are glib and not forthcoming with the loss of American lives.

Nice Weather and 3D

The nice weather has definitely hit the Boston area.  Even though it rained with occasional thunder and lightning today, the colors of the spring foliage..... different shades of green and flowering shrubs.... were spectacular.
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Thunder and Lighting are fairly commonplace here in New England, so I was really surprized with I did my stint in the East Bay of San Francisco about ten or so years ago when everybody rushed to the windows when some lightning flashed.
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It turns out that thunder and lightning rarely happens out there.... which I didn't know.
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But I digress.
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Good weather to me means ramping up the projects.... today I helped Ryan pick out some lumber for the grandkids' bunk beds that he wants to build.   It  will be built with nominal framing lumber, but we will sand the hell out of it and then finish it with paint, so it should serve the purpose.  Kid's love bunk beds.
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I pulled a plan down from the Sketchup Warehouse, but it turns out that it is for a non-standard twin bed size, so I have to redesign a little bit.   Which is no real problem, because I'm starting to get really comfortable with Sketchup.    My forty hour initial learning curve is almost over and I'm tying into some tricks and techniques from the extensive tutorials that are found in You-Tube.
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As a 3D modeling program, SketchUp makes you change your approach to drawing a plan, but once you get the hang of it, it beats 2D hands down.   I even bought a 3D Mouse called the

3Dconnexion 3DX-700028 SpaceNavigator 3D Mouse

which will allow me to navigate around the model far more efficiently while performing commands and actions with the standard mouse.  

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Right now, the process is build a Component, swich to a Navigation command to work on  a different side, switch back to a Component build or measurement commend.... and over and over.    The 3D mouse with make this much quicker and more intuitive as a single initiative to move around the model with one mouse and perform design commands with the o

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I think that SketchUp is to CAD what Quickbooks is to accounting programs.  A real logical and intuitive approach that even a dufus like your favorite MOAM can master.

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I highly recommend that you download the free program at www.sketchup.com and add it to you software toolchest.   Why should I have all the fun?

Maggots and Monsters

To those perverted animals who kept the Cleveland girls locked up for ten years.....
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There is no torture that I can imagine that you wouldn't deserve....   and I hope your fellow inmates in Federal Prison have a more vivid imagination than I do.
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Lately, with the Maggots who bombed the Boston Marathon, and now these Monsters who feel that they could dominate and control another human being, we've been seeing a particularly dark side of the homo sapiens species.
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Let's hope that these sicko's are an extreme abberation.

200,000 Hits

Sometime tomorrow, this Blog will be hit for the Two Hundred Thousandth Time.  As crazy as it sounds, this has some significance to a sentimental old MOAM like myself.
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I mean, I'm not going to go all "Sally Field" on you, and start gushing  "You like me, You really like me."
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Because I know that a certain amount of you don't.   Which is fine with me because it's right back at you from your's truly.
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And I know some of the haters and disenchanted have contributed mightily to the 200k milestone. ....  Which is actually a burdensome thought.   Why waste time tormenting yourself by checking out this loathsome cyber rag?  Especially if I annoy you.   Some of you even hit it multiple times a day.  You know who you are ( and so do I, for the most part.)
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But before you start another cycle of a couple thousand hits, you really should do some soul searching.  Look closely in the mirror and make an honest assessment of who is looking back at you.   It's never too late to stop lying to yourself, and when you do there is a chance that you could find some direction or a positive purpose.  And stop blaming others for all of the Bullshit that hits you everyday.   That image in the mirror is there to tell you that it is all you, and no one else.
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Course the vast majority of  you Peeps who hit this Blog are cool dudes.  Rough, Tough, Hard to Bluff and Damn Good Lookin.   Like myself.  You know that we're all heading for a long dirt nap at the end of this run, so you don't take everything so seriously.   Because a hundred years from now, nobody will even know that you existed. 
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So sit back and enjoy the ride that Mother Earth spins for you.  And every day will get a little easier.