Weekend Progress

To my surprise, I got all of the mahogany cut and secured on the deck cap today. Now, I can add the oak accent undersides, and rout in the oak center accents.
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Hopefully, I'll be doing the laminated stair railings by mid week. I'd like to wrap this project up midweek and ambush some Lake Umbegog trout by next weekend.
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It all depends on weather and the Nanepashemet Telecom workload.
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We'll be in New Hampshire on Tues., and Will Murray is lending me a pulley winch to hoist equipment up to the top of the New Hampshire Liquor Commission Headquarters.
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Everything else is classified.

J Boat

I keep telling my friends that when Nanepashemet Telecom starts to hit stride, then I don't want money to change me. They think I'm joking, but I'm really serious.
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The advantage that I have is that I made a lot of money in my thirties with the attendant cars, boats and high end homes. I also attracted quite a few phonies who hung around me as "friends".
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When the real estate bubble of the eighties burst, and we took the financial hits, only a few friends remained. They remain today as my most trusted confidants. It took a disaster to discover them. But now I can spot the phonies a mile away - those pretentious, polite gold diggers who only care about what you can get for them. They wear their disguises well, and can be very convincing, but they don't stand a chance with me as we experience our long awaited financial resurgence.
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I see them around others on the upswing, and I know what the surrounding phonies look like. You want to warn people, but everyone has to experience their own pitfalls I guess.
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I believe that mine made me a better person in the long run, even though you wish others wouldn't have to go through the same pain.
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While my kids were in college, I went the conservative corporate route and didn't take the kind of entrepreneurial chances that can lead to big scores. But now they are out on their own, doing well financially, and it's time for this J Boat to set sail again. There will be no phony crew members, and this boat will steer clear of the rocks because I've already been through these waters.

Real Estate Investments

I had a chance to help a good friend with a real estate deal today which was quite gratifying.
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It's nice when people understand and appreciate what you do for them.
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Real estate is great to be involved in as a method to accumulate capital and wealth. If I had maintained the investments that I was involved in during my thirties, I would be happily retired by now, but it was not in the stars.
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Things happen for a reason.

Bluefishing

It just hit me that in my conversation with my son Mike this afternoon, he mentioned that I was a Bluefish fisherman.
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I know that he was intimating that I never have much luck with stripped bass, but I usually catch bluefish.
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He's right. And I have to say that it is a good observation. I think that I will concentrate on what I am good at, and leave the stripped bass to others.
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Blues fight a lot harder anyway. Also, you have a chance to tie into a football tuna if you are bluefishing.... especially out by Halfway Rock.

Years ago, in my old Mako, Joe Collins and I were into Bluefish out there when something hit that stripped Joe's line. In hindsight, it was a tuna, although we didn't know it at the time. Tuna will take the same kind of Rebel lures that we troll for Bluefish with and actually feed on the Blues.
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So, I'm going to key in on the Blues.

Weekend Goals

There's a couple of things that I'm going to try to do this weekend.
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Tomorrow, I have to test the Broadband equipment that we bought for the New Hampshire State Liquor Commission with Elsier and DiMatteo.
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So don't you think it is appropriate that we taste some fine single malt scotch afterwards? Me too.
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On Sunday, I really have to devote some time to the deck railing project, but that shouldn't preclude a spin around the Marblehead Harbor on the Tender.
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There's a bunch of other things I'd like to do too, some that I can't, and some that I won't.

Friday Decision

OK Peeps.
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It's 2:00 PM and I've finished both pricing submittals with DiMatteo and Elsier and heard from Mikey in DC. Time to commence the weekend.
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I'm going to head down to Silver Shears for a trim and then maybe get some work on the deck railing done. Tomorrow, we are testing some broadband equipment that has to be installed next week, so I don't feel too bad about quitting early.
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I'll have my cell phone on, just in case.

Courageousness

Just to let you know that I am not afraid of anything, I'm going to reveal the following fact.
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I'm a big fan of Martha Stewart.
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I don't watch her show or anything, but I admire her determination and steadfastness. She took a stint in prison, got out, dusted herself off, and resumed her career with a lot of class. She is a model of how to handle the setbacks in life.
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Now....

Give me you best shot.
Attack my manhood.
You gutless wonders.

I think I just wrote a haiku!

Competition Heats Up

Lots of great Peep of the Week logo submittals already. So far, these are the best.
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I knew that this would be tough.

Week 29 - POTW

Today was a flurry of breakthrough activity.
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If I didn't realize from my ten years in the business that the telecom business development cycle was so protracted and slow, I would be quite nervous by now. But it always takes a long time for the deals to matriculate.
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The ironic thing is that the procurement process is so slow, but then the customer wants the implementation by yesterday.
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I'm going to reward myself by having a large double cheese with garlic, pepperoni and artichokes from Vesuvius in Marblehead. Easily the best Pizza this side of the Coliseum. I might even throw in a Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade. How's that for a celebration dinner!!!

Now for the business at hand.

Announcing.....
The Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 29th week of 2007

• Emily Ingardia
• Rob Wise
• Gail Johnson
• Patrick Piscatelli
• David Letterman
• Mark Vona

Pretty soon, when I am swamped with work, I'm depending upon the Peeps to remind me of my current euphoria.

POTW Logo

I know that today is Thursday, POTW day.
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Seriously... do you think I need a couple thousand of you sending me emails to remind me????
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How Annoying!
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I suppose that it is the price of celebrity.
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What do you think of staging a logo contest for the Nanepashemet Peep of the Week?
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Naturally the sole judge would be me, and the winner would get little or no recognition. I think that it is a really good idea. Start sending your graphic images now.
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Who knows, you might even merit a POTW selection based upon your inspirational/annoying logo submittals.
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Maybe I'll even offer a prize to the Winner.... like a five minute audience with Roenick the cat, or a chance to touch the Tender.

Dory Research

In my research on the Marblehead Gunning dory, I've been impressed with the acceptance of this traditional New England craft all over the world.
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These guys are crabbing in Alaska with a homebuilt model.
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The cedar strip planking method should really make the nice lines of this boat come alive.

Playing with Pain

Peeps, I'm still tormented by pervasive stomach cramps, yet I have carried on today in a spirit that inspires even myself.
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Tom DiMatteo had to do most of the talking at our presentation today, which was good because Tom wowed the customer in my somewhat biased observation. My contributions were anecdotes and sidebars... but I'm pretty good at that, even in my debilitated condition.
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I'm pretty sure that my customer didn't catch on how I played with pain. The mark of a true athlete.
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Someday, when the story of how Nanepashemet Telecom became a dominant economic force on the American business landscape is told, tales of my triumph over stomach cramps will fill the boardrooms and permeate the water coolers.

A Matter of Faith

So the Catholic Church is coming up with over $600 Million in settlement money in LA to pay out to plaintiffs and make the current caseload go away. Cardinal Roger Mahony is off the hook and Cardinal Bernard Law is operating in Rome these days.
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I was brought up as an Irish Roman Catholic. Lots of guilt. Lots of terrifying doctrine. As a public school kid, I was second rate to the nuns at St. Joseph's School in Lynn where I went for my Sunday School Catholic indoctrination. We all felt that the nuns preferred the parochial school kids, who were repressed maniacs by the time they came out of St. Joseph's in the eighth grade.
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Easily the most violent kids at Eastern Junior High School were the transferees from St. Joseph's Catholic Elementary School from Green Street in East Lynn. I still have scars on my forearm from the maniac who took my ruler, split it in two, and stabbed me in the arm with one of the sharp pieces. When I proposed to meet him after school to settle up, he looked at me in a fearful and incredulous manner and asked, "What did I do?"
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That was the product of a St. Joseph's Catholic education.
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Luckily, I was never diddled by a Catholic priest. I was slammed up against the wall and slapped by a nun, but nothing that would turn me into the pitiful protoplasm of the victims who were sexually abused by the priests in Boston, LA and elsewhere.
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Those people have my sincere sympathy. As kids, they were victimized by the ultimate authority figures, priests, who used them for their temporary perverted pleasure. Dispicable!!!
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By the way, the fact that the Catholic Church has $600M to make them go away is a travesty in and of itself.
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Years later, as the Executive Director of the Lynn Housing Authority, I bought the St. Joseph's School with state funds and turned it into 40 units of elderly public housing. At the time, I didn't think of it as revenge, but now I do. By the way, the priests at the St. Joseph's Rectory during the price negotiations were among the rudest, most inappropriately acting people that I have ever encountered in my professional life.in their behavior to the wait staff and cooks of the Rectory.
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All in all, the Catholic Church has produced a completely dysfunctional social system in it's ministerial system, and wide scale reform has to occur. It's probably too late anyway, because the dogma is so non-sensical. I truly don't see how a thinking person can buy into the cosmology of a heaven, hell, purgatory, limbo, etc. Everything seems to be based upon fear and a medieval form of social control.
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This has nothing to do with belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ, his Blessed Mother Mary, or a host of other things that the Catholic Church exposed to me. The Church and my faith are distinctly separate to me, and I am certain that I will pray to Christ for mercy when I eventually contemplate my own demise.
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But I won't need a Priest to perform the Last Rites.

Thinking Ahead

Even though the sailing rig is not complete on the Herreshoff Columbia Tender, and even though the deck railing hasn't been touched in three weeks, and even though the basement tile job has slowed to a dead halt.... I'm really starting to get psyched about building the Chamberlain Marblehead Gunning Dory.
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I find myself starring at the plans in John Gardner's Dory Book every chance I get.... thinking of ways that I would approach the construction.
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Plus, you wouldn't believe how hot Nanepashemet Telecom is getting. We're pitching two major contracts in the next two weeks and pricing another. If we win all three, plus maintain the other opportunities in the air, my boatbuilding time will be few and far between.

Indian Call Centers

The people who man these things from the Indian subcontinent are persistent to say the least. They force you to be rude.
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And those who know me best, know that I'm a very polite man.
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The earth is really getting small when you get irritated by people who call you from India.

It's Not Just About You

Today was a painful day. Not a metaphor. I had stomach cramps and more all day long. But, as you know, I'm not a complainer.... not a wimpy girly man.... not a bed wetting cry baby.
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So I stayed stoic and took it like the mountain of a man that I am.
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But my tummy really hurts.
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But enough about me. Let's start all over with another story... about me.
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Despite the pain that would cripple a lesser man, I stayed the course with the Nanepashemet Telecom team that was on fire today. Processing everything. Mowing down all in our path. One ball has settled for a time, and I'm nervous about another, four other opportunities are ready to bust out, and one hits the street next week.
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All in all - good productivity

Genuine Great Time

The day went according to plan.... only better.
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Joanne and I were over to Brown's Island by 11:30 AM in the WhaleEye.
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We were able to see Katelyn, Stacey and Brian Butler as well as a bunch of Katelyn's guy friends - the Wise Brothers, JJ McBride and others and still were able to ramp with Greg and Nancy, who had hooked up with Gilly, Chris Crawford, their wives Liz and Sarah, Dave and Megan, the cutie Maddie, and Emma the dog.
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Great company, sunshine, warm sea water, cold beers, grilled chicken wings and Hot Dogs. If you can come up with a better combination to have a great time on the planet Earth.... be my guest.
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No drama, no positioning, no worries about who you can talk to without pissing someone off. I hope I wasn't missing something, but I'm pretty sure that I had a genuine great time.

Brown's Island

It's going to be a scorcher in the 90's today. We're planning to bring the WhaleEye over to Brown's Island to tie up with Bruett's Damp Yankee. There's plenty of beers on the boat, and Joanne just went down to Crosby's to pick up some natural casing hot dogs and chicken wings for the Magma boat grill.
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I wish we could take Roenick, but he would freak out. You don't see too many cats on boats. Dogs yes, but not cats. Roenick probably wouldn't get along with Nancy's dog, Emma, anyway.
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Should be an awesome Marblehead summer day! Hope you have a good day as well.

Gearing Up

Some drawings on the web of the Chamberlain Marblehead Gunning Dory that I will build.

A Fair Trade

So I get a good row in today. All the way from Riverhead Ramp through Marblehead Harbor, around Fort Sewall, into Little Harbor and over to Grace Oliver Beach, where I picked up Joanne and we rafted up with Greg and Nancy Bruett. Greg took a trial of the Tender, and I was thrilled to see how it performed from afar. It even made Greg look good.
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A nice couple of hours.
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Then over to O'Shea's pool and a trip to Beacon Hill Liquors for some Dark and Stormie supply. At the Beacon Hill counter, they sell Nancy Bruett's mystery novel, Dusting.
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A guy was looking at the book and I told him that it was a great read. He said that it should be for $14.95, and I said he wouldn't be dissapointed. He muttered something like, "What the Hell, Life is short." and bought the book.
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I'm thinking that paid for the two beers that I drank on Greg's boat, Damp Yankee, today.
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