Love is a Never Empty Vessel.

Last Monday, Mike and Pam Nestor saw this guy make his debut on the Earthly Plane.



We welcome Drew Joseph Nestor with open arms.  Glad that you chose us to be part of your life in this sojourn.   We are expecting no less than great things from Drew and will strive to help you make them happen.

Uncle Ryan and Auntie Kim gave Jack and Emmy Nestor a three month head start.  But you will catch up with your cousins in no time.

The sixth Grandchild for the MOAM.   This never gets old.  Love is a never empty vessel.

Flooring and Planking.

So today, a frigid Saturday in February, my mission is to put down the Maple Hardwood Floor in the guest bathroom and Nanepashemet World Headquarters.

I've had the 3/4 stock piled in my office for a while now, and today is the day that it all gets pneumatically nailed in place.

No Facebook political battles will deter me.   I don't care if you call me a Nazi, Racist, KKK Member, or that Sexist M word that I can never spell..... you won't lure me away from my appointed task.

By the end of the day, I will be looking at a slab of maple hardwood, sparkling in the Bathroom.

The floor will be finished with multiple coats of high gloss Poly over the next week, then baseboards will be installed and the toilet and sink can go in.

Tomorrow, on Superbowl Sunday, my goal is to get some time in the Peabody Shop routing the cove portion of  the cedar strip planking for the Chamberlain Marblehead Gunning Dory.    I set up the router table with the specialty 1/4" cove bit last week and the test run was perfect.  So there is a chance that I can finish all of the planks in a couple of hours if I can get on a roll.

Course, everything halts in the afternoon as I prepare rituals to insure that the Patriots win their fifth Super Bowl.  Brady and Belichick deserve it... and not just because they are loyal Trump Supporters.

Integrated into all of this high level activity is the need to check in with Drew Joseph Nestor.... the first born of Mike and Pam Nestor and my sixth Grandchild, who made his entry onto the earthly plane last week, on Monday, January 30.  I'm expecting great things of Drew.... and will definitely teach him how to lay down a hardwood floor and plank a Dory.

Window Trim

Facebook and Politics

Peeps....
Over the last few days, as the reality is setting in that Donald Trump is indeed our President, the level of political discourse seems to have markedly intensified.

Facebook exchanges have become increasing polarized and hostile.  The name calling, insults and epithets have been flying in all directions, making many people very uncomfortable and uneasy.   If you do not endure confrontation well, it is not a place to hang your hat in for any amount of time.

Some people have opted to give Facebook a rest for awhile... but they often are back in the fray momentarily.

Others have lamented the mean spirited turn that posts seem to have taken, and are exhorting to stop posting on political issues.

And some have reveled in the atmosphere of conflict, seeking to aggravate and exasperate with provocative posts.

Those of you who are friends with the MOAM know that I don't mind mixing things up with people.  If you say President Trump is a Nazi, or a Racist, or some other label, I generally will challenge you.  Everyone has a right to their opinion.   But Everyone's opinion isn't always right.

And if you study my posts (which BTW is not a particularly productive time for anyone), you will see that I NEVER stoop to calling people names.   And I consciously strive not to insult people, although this is always hard.   Yet, I have run into instances where people have assailed me saying that I insult them by "presenting opposing opinions" to their posts....  Or say that if I support Trump then somehow I must be threatening my own daughters.... Or say that I must somehow have Republican Friends who are members of the KKK.

These unfounded and incendiary comments portend a scary notion.

This nation is based upon free speech, and the ability for people to express themselves in a quest for happiness and the truth.  If you stifle opposing opinions, you enclose yourself in an intellectual hovel that bans reason and creativity.  It is the path to totalitarianism and ultimately to the loss of liberty.

In a pluralistic, democratic society, political discourse should be a cherished right..... Not a feared and vilified activity.   I will continue to express my political opinions on Facebook and elsewhere in this amazing electronic Internet forum.

The world has become a small village.  And in the American small villages like Marblehead, MA where I live, our ancestors would congregate at the markets, public houses, docks and workshops and exchange political discourse.  There was a face to face civility then that is lost now....where people can speak so freely behind electrons and computer screens.

I hope we can find our civility again, but if not, so be it.  You have a huge flaw in character if everyone likes you.... it means you haven't taken a stand and have no standards.

The beauty of Facebook is the ability to Block those that offend you.   Numerous people have blocked me and I, in turn, rarely suffer someone who continually aggravates me before using the Blocking feature.   I have never been insulted about being blocked. It increases the quality of relationships who appreciate your level of discourse.

So don't give up on Facebook.  It is an incredible resource for a Democracy.   And please block me if I offend you, because I will be doing the same.

Adults in Charge.

I have a Facebook Friend who called President Trump an "Orange Nazi" this morning in a post.

The problem with this juvenile and non-intellectual approach is that it negates the merits of any points presented in the argument.

I've seen my own Congressman, Seth Moulton, who has the potential to be an incredible leader, use this approach.

Grow Up.

In a Free Society, we must have a free exchange of ideas.   Calling people wild and inappropriate names negates the dynamic of this, and is completely ineffective.  Present your argument... that is fine.  But respecting the fact that others have differences of opinion is the only way to make your own judgments gain acceptance.

More and more, it seems like the adults are in charge again, and the bratty kids are whining and throwing stones. 

Resolution Review

So far, I've kept to my Resolution to lose at least a pound per week and have shed 10 lbs. or so.  Twenty minutes on the Cybex before any shower and watching my Carb intake has been the ticket.  The exercise by itself only maintains my current weight.... adding the Low Carb diet has been crucial.

Most days, I roll out of bed and hop right on the Cybex after morning coffee.  As my friend, Lisa, used to say, it's better to get it out of the way early in the morning.  Agree Lisa.

But I feel a lot better with this small start.  Lots of miscellaneous aches and pains that I had taken to be a sign of age have diminished or even disappeared.

Joanne and I have gotten into a pattern of eating meat and salad at dinner, and I usually have three scrambled eggs with cheese for breakfast.  Juice, Coffee and raw nuts fill the need to snack.  I'm not going overboard though.... Bent Water Pearl Beer, the Nanepashemet Classic Winter Cocktail, and Jameson's Irish have not been banned.

And If I have pizza or pasta, I'm not vilifying myself.  I don't want this to be obsessive.... just want to incorporate a basic low Carb habit into my eating patterns.

But this path has been tread before.  And I have veered off.  Just have to keep it up day by day.

A big plus has been that work at Nanepashemet has gotten back to the physical construction mode as we prepare to flip the property at 70 Nanepashemet Street.  It's nice to get out from behind a computer, and probably a lot more healthy.  This morning though I will be concentrating on the bathroom remodel at Nanepashemet World Headquarters.

Joanne doesn't want to invite any dinner guests over until the remodel is done... and I really don't blame her.  The bathroom is ugly and gross.   So I ripped out the toilet and sink yesterday, will be working in the walls today and hopefully install the maple hardwood floor tomorrow.

That may have to take the place of the Cybex this weekend.

No work on the Chamberlain Marblehead Gunning Dory at the shop today, but I'm ahead of schedule on that project.

Have a nice weekend..... next week..... PATRIOTS SUPERBOWL!!!!

Inauguration Day

Today marks the end of political doublespeak in Washington. It is the end of political correctness. It is honesty with the human flaws that honesty exposes. To those who like to have soothing lullaby's from their POTUS, you will be sorely disappointed, But your whining is not reaching the ears of the American Heartland who restored the train of progress on the Trump Train Track.

There is an undertow of joy and celebration that out of touch Libbie Elitists and the Main Stream Media can't admit and won't admit.

God Bless our new President Donald Trump. May you keep tweeting your honest emotions directly to the Heartland that swept you to office. May your God Given management skills restore common sense policy, economic prosperity and true fairness to our great country!

Go Trump!

Go Tom Brady!

Go New England Patriots!

Grandkids Four and Five

Emmy and Jack Nestor.
They are three months old, and I am their Grandfather.
Lord hope they become Republicans.

Narrative Killer.

Sorry for the biased authors of the Liberal Narrative.

I know Trump is supposed to be racist, but unfortunately he received the Ellis Island Award contemporaneously with Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali.



Moonbat heads set to EXPLODE in 3....2....1.!!!!!

Time for Bean

I've been putting off the purchase of a pair of those cool LL Bean Boots with the rubber soles now for a couple of years. But now that the Liberal Moonbats are howling for a boycott of Bean because one member of the Board contributed to Trump's campaign..... time to put in my order.  

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/31178?feat=506796-GN3&page=men-s-l-l-bean-boots-6

Peep of the Year - 2017

So in the last day or so, both wife, Joanne and Daughter-in-Law Kim have asked about the POTY selection for the year 2017.

I admit that I am a little tardy in making this annual momentous announcement, but it is for a good reason and falls appropriately in the Cosmic Plan that the Nanepashemet Blog chronicles from time to time.

Tom McMahon ~ 2007
Lauren Rathbone ~ 2008
Michael "Murph" Murphy ~ 2009
Jeremy Johnson ~ 2010
Tommy O'Shea ~ 2011
Kerry D'Orio ~ 2012
Brady Boyle ~ 2013
Kim Nestor ~ 2014
Pam Nestor ~ 2015
Nathaniel Clarke ~ 2016

These ten individuals all wear the Nanepashemet Peep of the Year (POTY) crown.

Each has had his or her life profoundly changed over the course of their reign.

Some will argue that the Peep of the Year designation has metaphysical power of cosmic proportions.  This  view is pretentious, preposterous, and prone to extreme exaggeration.  And I wouldn't even mention it here if it wasn't for the unfortunate circumstance that I, as your MOAM, harbor the exact same conviction.

How else can you explain the powerful undertow that propels these POTY's in confronting their Karmic Challenges..... each and every freaking day since attaining the ultimate Peep of the Year Plateau?

And now... in 2017.... we come to number Eleven.

Eleven is a very important number to those who dabble in Numerology.   It signifies an awakening of awareness in our true potential.  This Eleventh POTY is a designation that has required a great deal of thought, meditation, and solemn deliberation.

So don't be giving me a lot of WTF style backtalk about the how and the why.... For the last ten years, I have been explaining that the ritual of the choice methodology can never be revealed.... and this stipulation will not be pierced this year.... even if it is the Eleventh POTY.

ANNOUNCING......
NANEPASHEMET PEEP OF THE YEAR 2017 .... Christopher Crawford.

Congratulations/Condolences Chris.  For better or for worse, your life has forever changed.