Saturday Challenge

High Tide in Marblehead Harbor is not until 2:00PM this afternoon.
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I definitely want to get the Tender out for some serious rowing and fishing by that time, but before then, there are some errands that can't go amiss.
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Pick up the lawn mower at Salem Rent All and cut the grass at Beverly Ave. and Sundance, make a bank deposit, pay some Nanepashemet bills, and pick up the stock for Joanne's corner cabinet at Moynihan Lumber in Beverly.
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It's 8:45 AM. We'll see if I can get these done before High Tide.

POSTSCRIPT
Everything got done with the exception of some Nanepashemet vendor payments which I will get to tomorrow morning.
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Got the usual oohs and ahhs about the Tender during my row in the Harbor. That's getting tiresome. Paul Lynch yelled across the water that he wanted me to build him one, but he'd have to handle a hell of a lot of zoning cases to pay for it.
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I have to admit that I do enjoy the banter that the Tender elicits from people. Somebody even took a picture of me today, and I'm not sure of the proper technique for sucking in my gut while rowing, without potentially hurting myself.
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The truth is that the Tender cuts a nice figure in the harbor and I don't want to respond falsely modest when I am genuinely proud of the way that the Tender looks. When they ask if I built it, I just say yes, but if they ask if it was a kit, that tends to piss me off a little.

Pregnancy Pact

So the City of Gloucester has really hit the big time with this cult of pregnant girls. It's too bad because Gloucester deserves better. It's a hard working, blue collar town with a character that befits it's windswept, wave pounded location on Cape Ann.
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Somehow, there was a cultural breakdown that allowed having babies to be a teen fad. Bringing up kids was the toughest thing that I have had to encounter in my 50 odd years of existence. For somebody to reduce it to a high school "go with the crowd" thing is a serious breach of judgement, and these kids will be paying for this lapse for a long time.
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Ultimately, it is their own fault, but I wonder what type of influences they had to enable this type of behavior. I'm not blaming the parents or the schools, but it's obvious that someone was asleep on their watch.

Automatic

Joanne bought me a bottle of Lagavulin to celebrate our recent business success.
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That makes her an automatic.

Spinners

I never was too good at the blame game. Had a nasty tendency to take responsibility for my own actions.
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But there are some real pros out there who are masters at the art of blame, and have furthered their careers by skillful manipulation.
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Knowing that they could never survive outside of their protective corporate walls, they frenetically point their fingers and spin the facts.... all to protect their disgusting jobs in a phoney hierarchy.
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It's a purgatory that I have very successfully left behind.
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So keep spinning and pointing. I'm happy to watch you fade from sight in my rear view mirror. You know who you are.

Week 24 Peep of the Week

This was an important week.
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Nanepashemet Telecom kicked it into high gear and showed some real potential to reaching the levels that were predicted in our original business plans. As promised though, success hasn't spoiled me. I wouldn't change this loud, obnoxious personality for all the tea in China.
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Speaking of obnoxious, it's time to pick the Peeps of the Week. There's lots of inspiring/annoying stuff going around, and precious little bottles of Lagavulin coming my way.
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BTW... I said "precious"... and it felt FABULOUS.

ANNOUNCING
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 24th week of 2008

Peter Crawford
Paul Lynch
Abby Bruett
Sam Khairi
Peter Caruso
Rajon Rondo

Anyone for tea????

Celtics Reinstatement

Looking for the Celtics to clinch the championship tonight. I'm not sure that I can stay up for the whole game, because I'm still wiped out from our tuna sojourn, and I have to get up early for a commute to Maynard tomorrow morning.
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When I was younger, this would be no sweat, but it truly gets harder to answer the call now that I'm a middle aged guy.
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Seeing the Celts in contention brings back a lot of memories. I saw Russell play with Sam Jones, and Satch Sanders in the Garden in my early teens. Back then, we were like floor rats, running all over the Boston Garden and in the corridors during half time. I remember standing on the floor during warm-ups and marveling at the size of Bill Russell.
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When I was at UMass in the early Seventes, Havlicek and Cowens had their run. Havlicek was such a winner... it's weird seeing him all grey with a few extra pounds now. The Knicks were great rivals then with Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, and Earl Monroe. In my dorm, there were a lot of kids from New York and the New York and Black kids all rooted for the Knicks against the Celtics. There definitely was a Black/White thing going on in those days. It was uncomfortable, but we sucked it up, especially since the Celts won most of the time.
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There was a down era for a while with some guys from UCLA and Cedric Maxwell, before Red Auerbach assembled Bird, McHale and Parish in the Eighties. The bad guys then were the Pistons and the Lakers. Philadelphia and Dr. J were huge too. I loved Julius Erving and had seen him in person many times at UMass before he turned pro.
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It's been a long drought since then, but now Paul Pierce has been joined by Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen with a talented supporting cast, and they lead by 23 points over the Lakers at the end of the first half of the sixth and deciding game of the playoffs.
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The Celts are back where they belong. There's justice and hope for the world.

Toy Chest Critique

Yesterday we delivered the Toy Chest for grandson, Will's, first birthday.
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Most everyone was complimentary, but Katelyn's dog, Jack Dog, gave it a critical eye.
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What the hell do you know about woodworking Jackie??? You're just a dog.

Skunked at Stellwagen

Zippo, Zilch, Zero, Nada, Nothing.
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That's how many tuna we caught after getting up at 3:15AM and banging through 3 ft seas at 15kts to get to the Northwest corner of Stellwagen Bank by 6:00 AM.
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And it wasn't a glorious sunrise either, with overcast skies and a cool breeze with 60 degree temps.
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The ride out was an uncomfortable, wave crashing affair, but when we got to the corner, we saw whales immediately, and thought that the tuna would be close behind..... but they didn't respond to our elaborate squid sets.
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After 3 1/2 hours crisscrossing the corner, we stopped and jigged, hooking three sand sharks and one striped bass. If we were inshore, the bass would have been a keeper, but we obeyed the federal regs that prohibit taking bass on the Stellwagen National Sanctuary.
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Tyler Gill's father, Greg, hooked the fish and was happy with his catch, but it wasn't a tuna.

Up for the Bite

We're preparing to get to Stellwagen tomorrow by 6:00 AM when the tuna bite is on. That means that we'll be on the WhaleEye around 4:00 AM.
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I'm concerned that it is dead low tide at that time and I'll have six people on board... all anxious to hit the gas and deadhead to the Northwest corner of Stellwagen Bank.
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Plus six is going to get crowded if we hook into a decent size fish.
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Both Mark Vona and Doug Maxfield have been into tuna this year, and the inconvenience could really be worth it if we lay into some Bluefin.

Peeps of the Week - 23

So Joanne and I went to dinner tonight at the Boston Yacht Club with Katelyn, Mike and his girlfriend, Kelley Clark, and Mike and I order the Dark and Stormies.
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I fully expected a weak imitation of the masterful national drink of Bermuda..... certainly nothing approaching the versions that I regularly concoct over at Beverly Avenue.
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But I was pleasantly surprised! Those BYC bluebloods have pretty much got it right. A tall glass, not too much ice, with the Gosling's Black Seal Rum resonating within the Ginger Beer!
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Not as good as mine, mind you.... but a damn good rendition.
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That reminds me.... I'm a day late on the POTW selections.

ANNOUNCING.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 23rd week of 2008

Kobe Bryant
Kelley Clark
Bobby Brown (standing in for Big Brown, because an animal can't be a POTW)
Dustin Pedroia
Brian Butler
Tyler Gill

BTW, the WhaleEye is on the mooring now and many many fish are taking their last, watery gill breaths.

Called It

With the Celts down by 24 at the half of the fourth game of the Championship Finals with the Los Angeles Laker, I coolly predicted that Boston would pull if off. And naturally, they did, winning 97-91 and capping the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history.
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I continue to amaze myself. A Proficient Prophet of Prognostication!
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It shouldn't have come as a surprise.... Today was a day when everything turned to gold, including watching the Celtics game.
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The only problem is that tomorrow I have to get in gear early for a morning meeting with NSTAR in Sherborn, so my ass will be dragging come 3:00 in the afternoon.

McMahon said....

J.

What is going on with this blog? I think you are averaging like 1 blog every two days. Are you slowly weeding yourself out of the blogging world?

It's summer J there should be tons of blogging to do.
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Because Tommy McMahon is a former Peep of the Year, I'll have to cut him some slack here.
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But Tom, all you have to do is look at the archives to see that this Blog is as active and vibrant as it always has been.... to the overall detriment of all of us.
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Don't be such a freaking, short sighted, moron for a change!

Yacht Town

It was a busy evening with the Sundance Pre-School Picnic at Devereux Beach from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM then a meeting with the Marblehead Selectmen to discuss the neighborhood impacts at Ryan Marine.
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Mark Ryan and Atty Paul Lynch did a great job placating the concerns of the Selectmen, but a couple of the neighbors had obviously decided that they didn't want the business in their neighborhood, and were unhappy with any measures .
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Ryan Marine is the best boatyard in Marblehead, and if you don't like living around boatyards, then you picked the wrong town to live in.
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Politics brings out the worst in some people.

Tuna Lips said...

I sensitizes a conflagration in you, Boomerdog. You live in Yacht Town, which is a high falootin' boat, with lots of loafer wearin' "pinkie in the air drinkin' from a clean glass" types, but you does some equatin' to the ole boat yard, striking imagerie of steel riveted bath tubs, stinkin' of petrol, crawfish and the crabs from Trudie McCann panties. Don't quite match up, yer white short wearing yacht set and the scurvy curs that slinks around the boat yard. I measure this as a conflagration insides, street savvy operator, laysing in wait to rob some rube down by the boatyard, and sophistication mastery feller from a town with yachts in it.

Completion Declaration

I had to trek into Cambridge early this morning for a real estate update put on by Colliers Meredith and Grew - which is one fine, high powered firm - but I digress.
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Before I left, I put on the sixth and final coat of varnish on Will's Toy Chest. The flaws still jump out at me, but I'm sure that Da Vinci had the same feeling when he finally laid down his brush painting the Mona Lisa. When you are striving for perfection, and realize that it is ultimately unattainable, you eventually have to make a declaration that the work is complete and walk away.
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It's not easy being a Master.
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Having to put up with all of the "oohs" and "ahhs" and all.

Project Completion

By now, you surely know that Big Brown failed miserably. His jockey said that he just couldn't find the right gear. That happens.
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BTW, I made the mistake of Googling "Big Brown" and came up with a number of Brazilian porn sites specializing in fat asses. So Big Brown wasn't a total bust... so to speak.
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Man... it was freaking hot today. All I wanted to accomplish was a fifth coat of varnish on Will's Toy Chest, but the warm temps were starting to cause the lid to warp and it had to be stabilized. So I concentrated on installing permanent cleats, and putting on the piano hinge and safety closing hardware. The piano hinge had to be inset, and I spent a lot of time to get this detail done right with the router and some cleanup with the chisel.
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The safety hinge installation was easy and they work to perfection.... gliding the lid to a soft close. I think I lost a gallon of sweat installing them though.
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I'll probably spray one more coat of varnish, but all in all, the chest could be declared to be finished any time now. So piss on you bastards who thought I'd never get it done in time. Plus the Tender is shipshape and ready for some serious rowing between now and November.

Tuna Lips said...

I sees the heat has rolled up to yer neck of the nape. Plenty hot here in God's countree.

I was in Atlanta, or as they call it, Hotlanta, this past weekend. One thing the mercury risin' brings on is some perspratin'. Now that ain't all bad. I seen more boobies, glistening like snow in the lane. All shapes and sizes, flavors, all suitable for lickin' like a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Or whatever choice you might find in yer side of the town.

Big Brown

Can Big Brown do it???
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No.... I'm not talking about that mountain of a man, Bobby Brown.... of course he can do it.
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I'm talking about that magnificent racehorse, Big Brown, who is striving for the first Triple Crown in thirty years. I'll be pulling for him.

Cocktail Party

We went to the cocktail reception for new members of the Boston Yacht Club tonight.
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Joanne and I had two cocktails each.
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They were delicious. I had the Dewars on the rocks and Joanne had Chardonnay.

POTW Week 22

So every day this week, I've gotten up at 4:30AM to get some extra work in. It has definitely worked, and I got a lot of paperwork processed and nagging details taken care of.
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But it's Thursday night, and feels every bit like Friday. My conscience won't let me take a day off during this busy period.... And my boat, the WhaleEye isn't even on the mooring yet. It won't make sense to play hooky unless the weather is perfect. In that case, fish would die.

ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 22nd week of 2008

Vince Antonacci
Tommy O'Shea
Lindsey Kepnes
Bill Shanahan
George Boylen
Courtney Nestor

At least I won't be tired from going to the Celts-Lakers playoff game at the Garden tonight. I have my GD standards.

Winds of Change

You must realize by now, that I have no love for Hillary Clinton.
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It's nothing personal.... but I just don't care for someone who lies about being shot at, and will say virtually anything in any situation to benefit her own twisted ambition.
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Like I said.... nothing personal.
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Now that Barach Obama has clinched the Democratic Party nomination, it will be interesting to see how he deals with the Clinton's and their obnoxious sense of entitlement. Sen. Kennedy and Caroline dropped the Clinton's and Obama should take their lead. If he nominated Caroline for VP, I'd even consider voting for him. It would be a huge surge for Neil Diamond's career as well.
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"Sweet Caroline... Whoa, Whoa. Whoa.
Good Times Never Seemed So Good.
SO GOOD .. SO GOOD.. SO GOOD!!!"
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At any rate, a black man, an African-American has been chosen by the Democrats to run for President. That makes me proud of this country.... that in the blink of an historical eyelash, this country, which fought over the rights of states to allow slavery only five generations ago, has overcome this insidious prejudice.
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So I'm proud of the Democrats, and happy for Obama... but I'm pretty sure that McCain has my vote.

Tuna Lips said...

"Where all the white women at?" Just follow the Barack.

Like bee to the honey. Its a matter of nature. Lock up yer women folk and keep yer powder dry. Corperal Tuna Lips showin' up fer duty.

Contrasting Lifestyles

Can you believe that they have located a Brazilian Tribe that has had no contact with the modern world? They are still in stone age mode. Wonder if they would be for Obama or Clinton?
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In our wired Internet world, where technology is rapidly changing how we think and act without us even realizing it, we have people living like cave men. The contrast is staggering.
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Looks like a fun group though. Maybe I'll invite them to be Facebook friends.

Tuna Lips said...

That little critter likes them boobies, he sure do! I wanna party with thems folk!

Early to Rise

Made a quick run to Providence this mornng. For some reason, we are picking up a decent amount of work in Rhode Island, and we have to register the company there if Nanepashemet is able to pull building permits.
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I got up at 4:30 AM to get some work in before making the commute and left by 7:00, but I was still ten minutes late for my 9:00 AM appointment because of the traffic cutting through Boston. Finished the business and was home by noon.
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By 3:00 PM, I took a break from processing invoices and figured to spray a coat of Epifanes varnish on Will's Toy Chest and the Yacht Tender. I'm a big advocate of spray painting, because it is so much faster than brushing, and I hate to paint. So I invested in a Fuju HVLP spray machine a number of years ago, and I'm generally pleased with it, but I've never used it enough to gain proficiency in how it works best.
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The problem with any tools, and software for that matter, is that if you don't use them consistently, then you forget the nuances of how to get the best and most efficient performance from them. It's important to use your tools often....
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The toy chest now has a coat of sealer poxy on the outside and two coats of Epifanes varnish. Will's birthday is a week from Saturday and I'm looking to spray four more coats between now and then. Installing the piano hinge and safety closers will be last step.
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At any rate, just getting up early seems to give you a hedge on the rest of the day. I'll try it again tomorrow.