Party On

Seen at the feeder this morning....

• Common Grackle
• Downy Woodpecker
• House Finch
• 2 Blue Jays
• Chickadees
• Tufted Titmouse
• a flock of about 50 Sparrows (no exaggeration)
• Mourning Dove
• ....and the freaking squirrel.

It's like a Homecoming celebration.

Cool Bird

I shouldn't pick favorites, but it's hard not to especially like the chickadees.
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They are bold and will land on the feeder despite a flock of aggressive sparrows.
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They don't sit on the feeder and hog seeds, but fly to it, pick up one or two seeds, and quickly fly to a nearby tree branch.
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Their calls are distinctive, like their names..."Chickadee, dee, dee."
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Researchers claim that the number of "dees" indicate an alarm of a threat in the area to other chickadees in the flock. The more "dees", the bigger the threat.
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They hang out with other cool birds like the tufted titmouse.
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Some of the many reasons to like the Chickadee.
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What??? You don't have a favorite bird??? Why don't you get a life!

T-Shirt Phenomonon

I ordered some T-shirts for Nanepashemet Project Management today.
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It always amazes me how effective shirts can be as customer or vendor giveaways. Grown professionals, who sport varied accomplishments and command substantial salaries, get all excited when you give them a free shirt. I know I do.
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If business keeps up at the current rate, we'll be handing out plenty of Nanepashemet T-Shirts.
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Which gives me an idea.....
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How much do you think people would pay for a POTW shirt??? The demand would probably be so high that I'd have to go to Asian manufacturers to handle the volume. Peeps would be hanging around my house worse than a Harry Potter book release.
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It probably wouldn't be worth the pandemonium and hysteria.

Deck Views

With the deck substantially completed, I reinstated the bird feeder and the birds returned in force. This morning Tufted Titmouses, Chickadees, and a flock of Sparrows were the guests for a breakfast of bird seed. It's neat to see the different and distinct characteristics of the separate species. Each approaches the feeder and acts differently.
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I'm pretty happy with the way that the deck railing and cap came out. It's how I originally visualized that it would look, but took a long time to materialize it. Now I'm going to stain the pressure treated deck planking with a dark, water resistant stain.
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I had envisioned a laminated and curved stair railing, but the mahogany 2x4 that I bought from Moynihan Lumber, for a totally different purpose, fit the bill nicely. It still has to be epoxy coated and varnished.

Onward and Upward

I politely declined an invite to Falls Church. Now is a time to remain positive and focused.

Milestone Burgers

So I'm headed back from Hartford when Joanne calls and tells me that she's on her way to North Conway. I'm stuck in Marblehead this week, at least until after Wed. with business obligations. The first challenge was dinner tonight.
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Sure I could get a pizza at Vesuvius, but I was feeling a little lazy from driving to and from Connecticut. When I checked out the freezer, there was a fresh box of Bubba Burgers and we also had some sesame rolls. Dilemma solved.
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Fired up the gas grill, threw on two Bubba's, took out cheddar cheese, pepperoni slices and peach mango salsa. All this on the sesame rolls and a little salt an pepper produced some of the best burgers consumed in my slightly overweight, middle aged life.
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I bet my dinner was way better than Joanne's.
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Frozen Bubba Burgers are something that you should check into.

Smart Business

Down in Hartford, Ct. this morning after setting up a small project. Panera Bread has the right idea - free internet. It makes you want to stop when ordinarily you would be dead heading to your final destination.
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I'll be checking my email, after having an asiago cheese bagel and a hot chocolate, then back to Marblehead to work on the business plan.

The End is the Beginning

Finished the deck rail today. I even built the banister on the deck stair. Then the decking and painted railings were power washed. It all came out pretty good, but now the window and house trim look crappy in comparison. They have to be painted.
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And the area below the deck has to be completely overhauled.
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It never ends... but I guess it's not supposed to.

Fireside

What is it about sitting around an outside fire into the night that feels so satisfying???
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It must be something primeval in the human psyche.
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Starring into the fire in the deck chimura with a Dark and Stormy or a Lagavulin.... or both in short succession.... makes for a most enjoyable evening.

Tender Under Sail

Tommy O'Shea took these action photos of the Tender under sail.

Note to Self : Sailing is freaking hard.... Especially if you have no idea what the hell you are doing.

Breezy Saturday

It's a bright, cool, breezy late summer Saturday. High tide is around 3:00 PM. A perfect time to really test out the sailing abilities of the Tender.
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I'll use the morning to sand and put a coat of UV vanish on the deck cap. Then I'll fix the damage to the Tender seat that happened when Jim Peabody slipped getting in last week. By that time, it should be time to go sailing.

Threat of Success

I love it when someone doubts that we can succeed in business. It's better than high octane gasoline in the motivation engine.
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Living well is the best revenge.
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I'm thinking we will be very vengeful.
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BTW - it is not the sentiment that we will fail as much as the fearful knowledge that we will succeed that prompts our doubting friend. Success by others while the backbiters plot has to be threatening indeed.

POTW week 32

• We had a fine North End dinner with DiMatteo, Elsier and two very ethical gentlemen at the Piccola Venezia on Hanover St. in Boston tonight.

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I do have a dilemma though.
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Elsier brought me a bottle of Lagavulin in settlement of a wager that I had won from him.
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Does this give him automatic status as a Peep of the Week if I get the Coveted Single Malt as the result of a bet, rather than a gift from a Peep?
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Definitely worth some pondering.
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I have to conclude that the receipt of a bottle of Lagavulin, under any circumstances, is worthy of automatic selection.

Announcing.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 32nd week of 2007.

• the waiteress at Piccola Venezia with the four daughters.
• Mike "Lec" Elsier
• Tom Lannon
• Len Cameron
• Geoghan Coogan
• Norm Chicoine

Not a bad dilemma.

Pasta Shapes

Why is it that pasta shapes taste differently?
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I like shells, but I dislike bowties. Vermicelli is good but I'm not a fan of fettucini.
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I assume that the shapes have the exact same chemical makeup... but some taste better than others.
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BTW - Macaroni and Cheese is my ultimate comfort food.... even better than Vesuvius Pizza with garlic, pepperoni and extra cheese.

Proud History

Marblehead was once the 15th largest town in the colonies. It always looked outward, to the sea and was not a Puritanical community.
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It's people were independent minded, fishermen, who rallied to the cause of American independence, and fought with Washingon in many instances, including the famous crossing of the Delaware during the mini ice age of 1775..

Stupid Name

Seems I caused a great deal of controversy with my assertion that Kate and Mike were messing with me about the Magic Hat Circus Boy brew.
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So I was wrong.... it really does exist.
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Who ever names a beer "Circus Boy" anyway!!!!
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I'd never drink it.

Business Development

"The first shall be last, and the last shall be first."
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Another Bible quote that always confounded me.
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But it seems to describe the way our Nanepashemet Telecom is progressing.
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The deals that I thought would be the first in the door are lagging, and most of our work is coming from customers that we didn't initially anticipate.

Productive Delay

I know you were wondering how the sailing launch went. After rigging up the sprit sail to the mast, and getting all of the lines in place. I pretty much lost the high tide. The sprit sail rig took a little time to figure out, but now that all of the mystery is gone, it looks rather forthright. It will be interesting to see how it sails.

So I devoted the afternoon to finishing the deck railing cap., and decided to catch the tide tomorrow morning. A good decision in that all of the rough sanding and shaping was fininshed, a final sanding at 180 grit and then the penetrating coat of West System 207 clear coat epoxy was applied. The wood will drink up this initial coat.
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A coat tomorrow morning before the sail launch should see the cap coming to life. It actually looks pretty good. Pictures to follow.

Not So Secret

A nice evening at the Oakley Country Club in Watertown with Joe Collins and Michelle. Joe shot a 73 yesterday in preparation for the Club Championship this weekend. Pretty impressive. I carefully protected my secret that I suck at golf.
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We promised to get them on the WhaleEye in Marblehead before the end of September.

Tight Schedule

This weekend the Tender Sail launch is rolled out. I have to get it done in the morning while the tide is right. After that it is do or die on the tax submissions that I have on extensions. I also really need to get a Bluefish run in, and sand the deck cap.
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Theoretically, it could all happen, .....but no way this will all get done. Monday morning will show up real soon with a 4:00 AM wake up call to get to our job on Cape Cod.
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BTW... Has anyone ever heard of a Magic Hat brew called "Circus Boy"? I think Kate and Mike are setting me up on this one.