Week 37 -POTW

You have to admit, this is a great country.
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Where else do bitter national Presidential rivals call a truce to show respect at the site of a national tragedy? Our political system is actually pretty enlighted and civilized.... compared to what it could be, and despite the pettiness that the press likes to hone in on.
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I wonder if Sarah Palin knew what she was in for when she accepted this nomination. For that matter, consider the plight of her future son-in-law. Imagine that poor bastard waking up one morning and thinking, "Oh Shit! I knocked up my girlfriend! Man - Am I in Deep!" Buddy, you have no freaking idea.
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And that leads us to the all important weekly selections, that virtually the entire country is waiting for.....
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ANNOUNCING...
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for 37th week of 2008

Matt Damon
Emily Engardia
Vince Willfork
Sarah Crawford
Ben Orichi
Bill Hillegas

Can't wait to see what self righteous, all-full-of-themselves, celebrities that Sarah Palin pisses off next!!! This is getting to be fun.

Good Matt Hunting

Matt Damon was on the news this morning saying he doesn't want a Hockey Mom a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
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But apparently, Barach Obama, a community organizer who bought his house for $300,000 below price from a Felon is an OK choice. I personally would be leaning toward the Hockey Mom, aka the Governor of Alaska.
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Naturally, my statement is as outrageous as Damon's.
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Don't treat us like idiots Matt, as you preach from your celebrity bully pulpit. You're one of my favorite actors, but it is obvious that you are stuck in pretend world.
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Plus, you're losing the adoration of Hockey Mom's everywhere.

9/11

This is one of those days when you can recall exactly what you were doing when you heard the news.

Kennedy's Assassination - I was a sixth grade traffic boy performing street crossing services at the corner of Hollingsworth St. and Rockaway St. across from the Highland Elementary School in Lynn, MA.

Explosion of the Space Shuttle - I was watching TV in the basement of my house at Hawthorn Rd. in Marblehead, MA

OJ Verdict - I was in the office of my namesake lawyer, John N. Nestor of Lynn.

9/11 - I was commuting on Route 128 to the General Dynamics office in Needham, MA.

Those are the four events that freeze my surrounding environment in my mind. All really bad things.

Thank God, we haven't had one of those days since Sept. 11, 2001.

Obama Boo Boo

So I'm sure you're waiting for me to sound in on this "Lipstick on a Pig" controversy by our man Obama.
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If you think a comment like that wasn't directed at Sarah Palin, then let me know what the lunch menu is in La La Land, because I want what you're having.
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Now he's all in denial and blaming the Republicans and the press for creating a fire and fanning the flames.
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The fact is that he made a gutteral, back room remark and whether it was directed at Palin or not, he had to know that it would be interpreted that way after her famous "Hockey Mom with Lipstick" joke. If he didn't, he is a stupid politician and a stupid lawyer... and I doubt this hypothesis.
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One thing is crystal clear - He has shown really Bad Judgement... and he is getting his ass kicked by McCain and Palin

Displaced Priorities

It's a crystal clear September morning in New England.
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I feel like I'm irresponsible if I don't blow off work today and get out on Marblehead Sound in the WhaleEye.
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But the odds are that I'll keep banging at Nanepashemet Telecom. Something about "making hay while the sun shines".
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Call me irresponsible.

Need for Strong Leadership

I hate to get back on the Palin issue, but if I was from Alaska, I would be pretty pissed at the backhanded remarks that the duly elected Governor of Alaska has no qualifications. She's a FREAKING GOVERNOR!!!!
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She is the Governor of the largest state in the Union with huge energy and environmental issues.
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Obama is one of two Senators in the State of Illinois.
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Let's get off of the experience issue and actually listen to these people.
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I also get a big kick out of those who think they can put horns on the head of George Bush, and say that if you agree with the President of the United States, that you are somehow ominous.
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All I know is that after September 11, 2001, when we thought that we were under seige by fanatical, suicidal, murderous ideologues, George Bush pinned the assholes back into holes somewhere in Whatthefuckistan, and there have been no more attacks on American soil.
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Do you realize how easy it is for some suicidal sociopath to wreak havoc in our urban areas? I give Bush the credit for the safety we have enjoyed for the past eight years. Can you imagine if we had a weakling like Jimmy Carter in there with his hands at the wheel? People forget that Iran flipped us the bird for over a year while Carter was President, holding our diplomats hostage, and released them the day that a strong leader, Ronald Reagan, was elected.
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Like Harry Truman before him, history will be kind to the judgement and courage exhibited by President Bush, taking strong stands on controversial issues despite the rockthrowers and naysayers.
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"At one point in his second term, near the end of the Korean War, Truman's public opinion ratings reached the lowest point yet recorded for any United States president until George W. Bush. Despite negative public opinion during his term in office, popular and scholarly assessments of his presidency became more positive after his retirement from politics and the publication of his memoirs. U.S. scholars today rank him among the top ten best presidents." - Wikipedia

Getting Weird

Lately, quite a few people from the distant past have been contacting me over the WEB. I guess that when people browse the internet, they tend to explore their past. There are a lot of people that don't show up so easily though.
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I wonder if there will be a kind of electronic archeology in the future. Will all of these miserable blog entries be archived and saved, only to be dug up by some future anthropologist, wondering how the world was at the dawn of the electronic information age?
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People tend to think that there is a type of immortality on Earth, but we forget the past with frightful speed..... to the point where we don't even know the names of our Great Grandparents.
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I'll bet a bottle of Lagavulin that you don't know the name of your Father's Grandfather - a person critical to your being on Earth!!! I don't. And I can't Google him either. Did his existance have meaning if we can't even know that he lived?
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Sorry about the weirdness.

Shed

It was a hot weekend. Hurricane Hanna ended up to be a overnight rain shower so we were able to get stuff done. I used the bonus weather on Sat. and Sun. building the tool and lawnmower shed.
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It's fun to do rough framing. As a world renowned boatbuilder, I'm more attuned to exact tolerances and finished surfaces, but the shed was much more rugged and rustic.
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I made the mistake of showing it to Joanne before it was finished, which is always a a problem because people can't see your finished vision. She said that it looked good, but I could tell by her face that she was horrified.
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No matter. It will be fine when I'm done. The'll be pictures.

Tuna Lips said...

Nothing like the privacy of a shed fer boppin' yer baloney. Spent a lot of time in pappy's shed, "fixin' the lawnmower". To this very day, the smell of gasoline and mildew gets me misty, thinkin' on thems care free moments, northwest corner of the shed, by the broken window, eyein, Ms. McSorley hangin the launderin, sweat tricklin' off her brow, wind blowin' her hair and frock this away and a that, her massive udders quaking as she stretched to pin up her tent sized nickers, . . ooh, I must pardon myself. Carry on with yer shed constructification.

Hurricane Threat

We're watching Hurricane Hanna motor up the coast and threaten to end the fishing season early. I'm not pulling the WhaleEye out of Salem Harbor. I think we can ride this one out, because fish still have to die at my hands this month.

Peep of the Week - Week 36

I know that a lot of you will paint me with a Republican brush because of my fawning and swooning over Gov. Palin.... but I'm not going to fake my feelings will a sense of false objectivity.
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After hearing John McCain's acceptance speech, the McCain-Palin ticket overwhelms the Obama-Biden team. I was surprised at the depth of truth and sincerity that came through when I listened to Cindy McCain who backs up her sense of compassion by adopting refugee children from Bangladesh, and who has seen her son go to Iraq.
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And the story of John McCain is inspiring in the service of he and his family to this country and his independent and maverick approach to politics and policy.
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Sorry, but I just didn't get the same emotional movement from the Obama's, Kennedy's and the Clinton's that I took from the McCain's, the Guiliani's and the Palin's.
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I still view myself as an Independent.... as someone who seeks the truth, no matter who utters it. And that would find me as an ardent supporter of McCain and Palin, not necessarily a Republican. It is annoying to be labeled... which segways nicely to the truly important task at hand.

ANNOUNCING.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 36th week of 2008

Jim Nestor
Sarah Palin
Lance Armstrong
Geoghan Coogan
Sammy Khairi
Kenny Daye

Enough of politics. Now I have to concentrate on something truly significant - building the tool shed under my deck so that I can clear the way for a run at the Marblehead Gunning Dory construction.

BahBah WaWa and Perky

Barbara Walters and Katie Couric are so devastated. A female leader has emerged and she can't be manipulated and won't pay homage to the superiority of the Liberal Media.
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The largest criticism is Palin's characterization of community activists, as being less responsible than a small town mayor. Palin is right, and the topic wouldn't have come up if Obama hadn't taken the first swing.
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You can really see the wind come out of the sails of these self-righteous. elitist bitches.
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Right on Sarah!! You Go Girl.

A Star is Born

Sarah Palin has just finished her speech at the Republican National Convention, and blasted one out of the Ballpark. What a brilliant, charismatic, poised leader! What a huge job by John McCain choosing such a talented running mate!
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Hillary must have messed her pantsuit.
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So tough, so erudite, so centered and down to earth, a great sense of humor. American has witnesssed the birth of a great leader.
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The Democrats and Liberals will throw the kitchen sink at her, but they had better take cover because she has the ability to hurl it right back.
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She's forthright, honest, balanced and confident. What a surprise! I like her a lot.

"What is the difference between a Pit Bull and a Hockey Mom?
Lipstick. " - Gov. Sarah Palin

Tuna Lips said...

Hills waren't the only one with a mess in her shorts - I started humpin' the throw pillow when sweet Sarah Pecan Pie (thats my pet name fer her) went on about wearing lipstick and laying pipelines. Ooohey. I feel like Bugs Bunny when he kissed that robot Rabbit with the nice taters and got hisself a shock. No need for the $3.49 I drop every month on "NaughtyLibrarian.com"! The economics just got trended up!

Fair Game

The Democrats are freaking out over Sarah Palin. Republican's aren't supposed to be the one's who break the glass ceiling. President Bush has never gotten credit for the important role that he created for Condoleeza Rice in his administration. That just gets overlooked.
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One female pundit on CNN disgustingly called Palin a gimmick. The duly elected Governor of Alaska is a gimmick???? I didn't catch the pundit's name, but she is a bona fide moron who is lucky enough to live in the land of the free.
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I was startled today to hear Obama saying that his campaign budget was so much higher than the muncipal budget that Palin managed in East Bumf_ck, Alaska. So What!!!! She was also elected Governor of the largest State in the Union. Seems like the Dems are pretty cool to Alaska. If you come from Alaska, you're not qualified to be a VP????? Stupid argument.
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Obama is basically saying that he is qualified to be President because he is running for President. An interesting proposition. Obama is starting to look small to me by stooping to this type of pandering. And now he has Barney Frank rushing to his aid, saying that the attacks on Sarah Palin's private life is fair game. Oh Brother!!!
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Tell us what you stand for Barach??? Who cares about the budget of Podunk, Alaska??? Just as I didn't buy into the attacks on you through your racist Pastor, don't insult us by coming up with ways to demean Sarah Palin.
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BTW, I was one of those who was concerned about McCain's age of 72. But then I saw his 96 year old Mom standing erect and vibrant. That makes me feel better.
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So enough talk about politics.... let's discuss something less controversial like religion or something.

Hurricane Anxiety

Gustave was a bust. I was expecting to be horrified and mesmerized by devastation and destruction. Instead, I'll have to settle for the Republican National Convention for my fix of angst and anxiety.
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Speaking of politricks, the pregnancy of Gov. Sarah Palin's 17 yr. old daughter is something that the Democrats will stear way clear of.... since Barach Obama's Mom was 18 when he was born... which most likely put her around the same age at conception.
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In so many ways, McCain has pinned back the Dems by the VP nomination of Palin.... Hillary and her glass ceiling, Obama and his experience.... and this personal instance is another one.

Tuna Lips said...

I bet them eskimos is thinkin' on some hot "mommy and daughter" action likes thems offers up on the information superhighway dirty pages. Naughty redskins.

Mystery of the Links

My son Michael bought a new set of Cleveland golf clubs yesterday, which I'm sure he will put to good use. Ryan is also a pretty good golfer and can drive the ball over 300 yds. on occasion.
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So Mike decided to make small talk this afternoon, by asking me why I thought that I sucked so bad in golf. Normally, my response would be a kindly but firm, "Kiss My Ass", but the topic is one that has intrigued me as well.
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After all, the two boys are good golfers, both captained the Marblehead HS Golf Team in their senior years, and my father was a natural athelete who just about mastered any sport he tried. I remember he always would come home with trophies for bowling or golf - every time he got involved with some sort of organized activity. He was also a hell of a baseball player, spending a season down south in the Yankees farm system.
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Like I told you earlier, my tennis game was once such that I felt I could play with anyone, and I always could hit a baseball. So why can't I at least play golf with a modicum of competency???
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My drives are erratic and short.
I can't chip to save myself.
Putting is an atrocious embarrassment.
I never open a sleeve of balls that I don't lose in the woods.
A round is something that I survive, not finish.
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WTF is going on????
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So Mike, it's a legit question, and deserves a thoughtful answer. And the answer is..." I have no freaking idea....so Kiss My Ass".

Tuna Lips said...

"I likes to go swimmin' with bowlegged women and swims between their legs, swims between there legs, o swim betweens their legs . . ." oh ascuse my little ditty, I was just ponderin' how Willie Clinton is kickin' hisself fer selectin' that Al Gore ninny he run with. Shoulda got hisself an office mate he could play grab ass with like this Sarah gal, wearing her hot pants and toting a double ought, he'd a had a big ole party and kept that feller hillary off his back. Shucks, titties and guns, throw in some bourbon and take out, you got yerself the life of, well, Tuna Lips, heh heh heh. I'm gone, see ya, wouldn't wanta be ya!

I Believe This....

"Successful and unsuccessful people do not
vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in
their desires to reach their potential."
- John Maxwell

Physical Phatigue

This is the second weekend in a row where my body is wracked with self induced pain. Last week we decided that cycling 15 mi. a day in the mountain roads of North Corway was a good idea.... this week, landscaping at Sundance Pre-School did the damage.
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Specifically, all we did was weed, cultivate, trim some overgrowth and plant about 30 chrysanthemums. How physically taxing could that be???? In truth, the weeds had so taken hold that I made four F15o truckloads to the Marblehead dump. There were big ones, thorny ones, and some really rooted weeds. Then a few hours of tilling and tree trimming.
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By the time 4:00 PM rolled around, I was one hurting Buckaroo. Which would have been easy enough to endure if I wasn't tortured by taunts from the likes of Will and Lynda Murray, as well as Brendt and Kerry D'Orio, as they cruised West Shore Drive ostensibly looking for action.
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My friend "Who doesn't want his name mentioned in the Blog" saw me at one of the Dump runs and invited me over his house for a beer. That would have been nice if I wasn't so sweaty and filthy. Plus he is not over the euphoria of landing two Bluefins at Stellwagen yesterday which I am unabashedly jealous about. So I declined.
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At the Marblehead Garden Center, while picking up the last ten Mums, a fetching Marblehead SUV Mom asked if I worked there. Not really flattered by that assumption, I said, "No... but do I look like I work here?"

"Well, you look like you know what you are doing," was her glib retort.
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Maybe that's good... I'm still not so sure. But it did take my mind off of my painful physical fatigue for a few seconds.
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Anyway, there is no excuse for letting the weeds take over at the Sundance Pre-School. I have to resolve to stay ahead of that game.... so I can bike more on the weekends.

Weekend Focus

It's a long Labor Day holiday weekend.
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Normally, this would be a good time to kick back. But I want to get the Sundance landscaping looking real good for the opening of the school next week.
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And I want to get some nagging maintenance issues done around Beverly Ave. Like waterproofing under the deck to store the lawnmower and powerwasher etc. there rather than in the garage.
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I have to put the garage back in shape for some serious boatbuilding work on the Marblehead Gunning Dory. So I suppose that you forgot about that project???? After all, it is one of the primary focuses of this pathetic Blog.... or so it is supposed to be.
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Despite all of this Puritannical attention to labor, I still have to catch some fish this weekend. Maybe a football tuna or striped bass.... Maybe.

POTW Week 35

I'm not ready to concede the end of summer.
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I haven't caught nearly enough fish, haven't rowed the tender, and spent a lot of time trying to grow a front lawn only to see it burn up through overfertilization. I'm sure that the neighbors get a chuckle over that. But I'm not giving up.... not with the whole month of September ahead of me.
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We'll make up a lot of time in September and we'll keep the Tender going easily into November.
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At least I can look forward to the Republican National Convention.
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Announcing
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 35th week of 2008

Susan Raich
Katelyn Nestor
Sarah Crawford
Caroline Bruett
Eric Johnson
John Kerry

We have the whole month of September.

Dems in Denver

Watching the Democratic National Convention makes my teeth hurt. It's like idiots pandering to idiots.
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Bill Clinton, welling up in tears and mouthing "I love you" to Hillary while she spouted from the podium, was particularly painful. Everything seems so pretentious and staged.
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I doubt that the Republicans will be much better.
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Choosing the leader of the most powerful nation on earth is such a sell job. You would think that we could figure out a better way. Maybe program a computer to be ultimately logical, just and wise.
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I ultimately will vote for McCain as the lesser of two evils, although I remain thrilled that a non-white has overcome the deep seated racial insecurities to emerge as a Presidential candidate. Within my own lifetime, the nation has made a quantum leap and has become a better place to live.

Admitting to Weakness

The last couple of days have been a whir of activity at Nanepashemet Telecom.
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So naturally this pathetic blog has had to suffer. What do you want from me? I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. No trust funds, no inherited wealth. I generally have had to work my ass off everyday to make a living.
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And even if Nanepashemet Telecom is cruising along now, there is always the chance that it can fall off of a cliff. So I have to work hard and be vigilant, even in the good times.
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So.... How's that for a nice dose of paranoia????
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At any rate, I can sense a bit of workaholic creeping into my character, and will try hard to screw off more often in the future.
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It's especially hard to admit to weaknesses when you are a mountain of a man like me. But I do have my shortcomings.

Inflation

Suspecting that the tire pressure was off, I bought a bicycle pump which had a gauge on it from Joe Jones and found that the pressure was 25 psi.
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The tire stated to use 65 psi for on road and 45 for off road, so I inflated to 65 psi. A big difference. Took 4 minutes off of the 14.6 mile loop and felt a lot better during the cycle. The small seat does a job on your glutes though, and can get downright uncomfortable to the boys. I suppose this will take some getting used to .
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Joanne wants me to take her bike home and that she'll ride it there. Since the Cybex hasn't felt her on it's seat for over a year, I have my doubts. But I'll hump it home anyway.

Encore

I couldn't believe how bad I felt on my 15 mile bike ride yesterday.
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So much so that I went the same route today.
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The difference was that I brought a 16oz. bottle of iced tea, which made me feel much better... but my ass has still be dragging all day since.
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Maybe tomorrow will be better.
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BTW, I'm pretty sure that the "Bud Collins" guy is an imposter. The real Collins would never have the balls to call me a Bitch.

Tennis Return

After about 140 practice serves at the Northbrook courts, I could sense that the magic was returning. My tennis game was coming back.

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By the end, I had the right pace, could place the serve and could throw in a hook or two. I completely obliterated my imaginary opponent.

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Get ready Stevie. I'm coming back for you. And Bud Collins.... if that is indeed your real name.... it's time for you to take the whupping that you deserve.

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Now for another bike adventure.

Bud Collins said...

I write for the Boston Globe, sir, and have played tennis since before you were born and commented on it for major media outlets since the 1974 season, in which Ashe beat Connors in 4 sets at Wimbledon.

Nevertheless, I am not voting for Obama. Like you. Bitch.

John Nestor Said....

Excellent Trash Talk. Unlike you, I will let my racket do the talking. I'll have to bring two though because the first one will be sticking out of your ass.

Peep of the Week - 34

It was a day like any other day up in North Conway, NH. We went to the shoe store to get my pair of Sperry Boat shoes that I'll wear for the next five years or so, then we went to the new Eastern Mountain Sports on Route 16.
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We have been patrons at Eastern Mountain ever since we bought our first pair of XC skis from their Amherst, MA store back in 1973. It was pretty embarrassing lately when I saw the same models hung on a Pub wall as antiques!
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Oh Well... Tempus Fugit.
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Anyway, in a complete impulse buy, I bought two mountain bikes for Joanne and I. Joanne was fairly horrified, but within an hour, we wwere pedaling around on our new IronHourse Maverick 1.0 26" mountain bike beauties.
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The IronHorse is made in China where billions of people pedal as a way of life, so that sounded like a good deal to me.
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Naturally I immediately overdid it by biking fifteen miles over to Intervale and back. It's not the same as 15 on the stationary Cybex, and my back was screaming.
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We bought cool helmets too.
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Announcing....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 34th week of 2008

Abby Bruett
Lindsey Kepnes
Lauren Rathbone
Brian Butler
Jason, the guy from Eastern Mountain Sports
Linda O'Shea

Tomorrow will be more reasonable.

More Olympics

Some of the sports in the Olympics that you don't see often are really cool.
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• Team Handball - a combination of Basketball and Lacrosse.
• Badminton - Not your backyard lawn game.
• Water Polo - Something fun to do at the pool.
• Table Tennis - Definitely not Ping Pong.
• Wrestling - has nothing to do with the bogus stuff on TV, which shouldn't be call wrestling.

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I'm not really interested in the baseball, basketball or tennis where the Olympics are not the pinnacle of the sport.
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Course Track and Field still rules. I'm disappointed that Shalane Flanagan hasn't received any televised recognition though. She runs in the 5000 meter final on Friday, but since she wasn't a medal favorite in the long runs, the networks televised pre-planning hasn't keyed on these events.
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If she medals again in the 5000, the networks will have missed out on a great story.

Tuna Lips said...

Howdy, and apologies for my absentee being. Hoo yow! I am flush with pocket money and tales to spin from the road, wherein my jug band, the Foghorn Leghorns, just come back from. Called it 'Tunapalooza' in these parts, hit every town fair and roadhoase juke joint from the Ozarks Hempfest to the Winnebago Muddy Water festival. Ussins blazed a trail of toe tappin' fiddlin' and bumpin', liquor fueled misdemeanors and amorous involvifications with BBWs. This here money I lifted from an invalids' panhandlin' is burnin' a hole in my trousers. I am gonna git on down to the oriental health spa (next to the coin-op launderin')and get my road weary bones a rub down, and mayhap a welcome home hand release! Coo Coo!

Truth Beckons

A few people who know the truth gave me a call today.
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No spin, no angles, no color commentary, no ass covering, no distortion.
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I knew what they were calling about, and I didn't call them, they called me.... and I appreciate it.
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I got no satisfaction from what they said, only felt good that they were compelled to say it.

Lesser of Two Evils

Yesterday was a long day. 7 hours on the road, 10 1/2 hours at the Maine jobsite. Thank God for Red Bull. Joanne and Kate say that it is bad for me, but it can't be worse than dozing off on the highway. Clearly the lesser of two evils.
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So I got up this morning feeling ready to go, but I was super irritable. Even I noticed it. It wasn't a day to aggravate me or make a stupid, unthinking remark, as two hapless individuals found out. I don't feel bad about teeing off on them though. Even if I felt fine, they still deserved it.

Hidden Benefit

Back to Rockland again to punch out the Coast Guard job. It's getting bad when you feel like leaving the house at quarter of four in the morning is starting to seem like routine.
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But that's where quitting drinking has its benefits.
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Joanne and I took the WhaleEye up the Annisquam River in Gloucester yesterday with the Murray's, then back over to Brown's Island where we tied up with my "Friend who doesn't want his name mentioned in the Blog", and his lovely wife Nancy.
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The weather was perfect, and normally the beer would be flowing like wine and I'd be paying for it today.
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Instead, I bounced out of bed and made the 3 1/2 hour trek to be at the jobsite by 8:00 AM.
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Course, driving home will tend to suck, but that's to be expected.

Flanagan's Shocking Third

It's a fact!
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Exactly one day after she was named as a Nanepashemet Peep of the Week, former Marbleheader Shalane Flanagan placed third in the women's 10,000 meter run.... earning a bronze medal and gunning down two Kenyans to do it.
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I know that the POTW has power, but even I had no idea that it could have this type of effect.
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There were no pundits who predicted this amazing finish for her on the elite international stage.
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Congratulations on a great run!

Semi-Successful

I suppose I should respond to several irritating emails asking if I accomplished the lofty work goals that I set at the beginning of the week. Since I only select six POTW's per week, I can't include all of the annoying Peeps who emailed me, but believe me, I'd like to.
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The week started with the Merrimack Golf Tournament with the Two Bobs and talented newcomer Previte. You will recall that I gave the portable beer can container that we won to Superpeep, Ben Martin.
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I did travel to Gloucester and Bourne and filed for the Coast Guard permits. Only received Glocester, Bourne is in the mail.
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Had some very important customers over to the house for an evening harbor tour and then some tuna steaks. ( I still can't believe how much like prime rib a grilled fresh tuna steak can taste.)
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Headed to Maine to close out the first phase of the Rockland Coast Guard installation. Couldn't close that deal for various shit-happens reasons, and will have to return on Monday to punch it out.
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Filed most of my taxes, so that I wouldn't be legally harrassed by this government of the "Land of the Free". (Don't get me started on this one!!!)
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So I guess I covered a lot of what I set out to do, even if everything didn't end up all packaged with a bow on top. It still was more that the vast majority of you could get done in half a month.

Bar Harbor Maine Lunch

We enjoyed a great lunch right on the water in Bar Harbor at Stewman's Lobster Pound.
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Joanne had the lobster cobb salad, and I went with the staple of life - fried clams.
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Highly recommended.
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Then I bought a cool T-shirt with a lobster on it. I'm sure we'll blend right in with the locals.

Aim High

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

- Michelangelo

Michelangelo would never last in a big corporation. I'm pretty sure that his relationship with the Vatican was contentious as well.

Can you imagine the freaking paint-by-numbers mess that the Sistine Chapel would have become if Michelangelo was a corporate, ass-covering weenie???

Week 33 POTW

When we finally got to Rockland, Maine at about 6:00PM this evening, we headed straight for the Somerset Resort Hotel. Their website said they had plenty of rooms available.... but not so! We were turned away.
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Even with my natural charm and persuasive ability, I was not able to convince the young check-in meister that I was not your average guest, and that my presense would lend intangible prestige to his lodging house for the next two days.
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Who needs the freaking Somerset anyway??? Been there, Done that.
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We ended up in a brand new extended stay room at the TradeWinds, complete with a jacuzzi, fireplace, and nice view of the harbor. And far cheaper than the Somerset.
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See That??? When God closes one door, he opens another. There is no bad luck - only our limited vision, and time impaired judgement of events.
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Speaking of bad luck, it's time to announce the Peep of the Week Selections.
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ANNOUNCING
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 33rd week of 2008

Bob Brown (automatic Lagavulin criteria)
Bob Wojcik (also an automatic)
Michael Phelps
Bela Karoli
Tom McMahon
Shalane Flanagan

Plus, Joanne is within walking distance of all of the downtown Rockland attractions - galleries, museums, shops and restaurants. I'll have our car parked two miles from town at the freaking cell site all day..... pounding away on line with the excessive documentation that this job entails.

Business Focus

It's Thurs. and I'm about ready to head up to Maine as soon as I can finish my tax filing.

That will be a relief, but there is a big deadline on the Coast Guard project that we are trying to accomplish by the close of business Friday.
~
Joanne is making the trip with me to Rockland, but she will have to cope at staying at the Samoset Hotel Pool by herself as I will be at the cell site closing down the first construction phase.
~
It's all Business Baby. What can I say? I'm focused on the ultimate dominance of Nanepashemet Telecom.
~
I know that you're probably worried that I'll forget about the POTW selections this evening.... well Chill OUT!!! I've got it all under control.

Olympic Progress

So how do you think the Olympics are turning out????? Here's what jumps out at me.....
~
Michael Phelps can freaking swim.
~
No way are the Chinese Women Gynnasts 16 years old.
~
Bela Karoli, the Romanian who runs the US Women's Gymnast program, is just a little over the top.
~
The Chinese really overdid the opening ceremony and lost it with the lipsynching kid.
~
The Water Cube is very cool architecture.
~
As much as I am fond of President Bush, he should get his ass back to Washington.
~
Synchronized diving gives me the creeps.
~
Alicia Sacramone, from Winchester, MA, on the Women's Gymnastic team is very, very cute.
~
The NBA Basketball players seem out of place.
~
Women Gymnasts are better looking than Women Swimmers, but the US Women's Beach Volleyball Team is by far the hottest.
~
Dara Torres, the 41 year old Californian Mother, is the most incredible swimmer at the games.... Phelps included.
~
It's been interesting so far, but the real deal for me begins with the Track and Field events. Shalene Flanagan from Marblehead is running the 10,000 meters. I've followed her career a little and have seen her running in Town here, and it will be interesting to see if she can get into the Final and be competitive at this level.

Merrimack Football Tournament results

So I receive hundreds of emails from you Peeps asking how I golfed yesterday. Since you already know that I suck, you can imagine how irritating this is.
~
I pretty much delivered on my reputation, although I did have to carry the foursome on my back on a number of occasions. The "Crusher" was in attendance and managed to mangle a few of the dimpled spheroids.
~
Bob "Mountain of a Man" Brown was clearly off his PGA rated standard game, and Bob "the Insidious" Wojcik (the one who screwed up my knee) was not particularly impressive. But they totally redeemed themselves by giving me a fifth of Lagavulin which obviously has automatic POTW connotations.
~
The one bright spot was talented newcomer, Jeff Previte of EBI Consulting, who consistently rained vulgar insults on himself after every other shot. Quite entertaining.
~
At least we cleaned up on the raffle at dinner after the game, with three winners out of five tickets. I gave Ben Martin, the worthy Merrimack Offensive Line Coach, one of the prizes... a collapsable gadget that holds thirty beer cans. I'm sure he can get some use out of it.
~
All in all, the Merrimack Football team stands a little taller today, and Nanepashemet Telecom was happy to oblige.

Packed Agenda

This week is shaping up to be a real doozy.
~
Did I just say "doozy"? If I did, I apologize.
~
Anyway....
~
The week starts out with getting permits in Gloucester and Bourne on Monday and Tues. And I have to fit in the Merrimack Football Golf Tournament in Windham, NH today. In retrospect, I really can't afford the time to golf, but I've lined up a good foursome. Hope my game shows up.
~
Wed., Thurs., and Fri., I'll be up in Rockland, Maine to close out the first phase of the Coast Guard site that Nanepashemet Telecom is building. All of the issues with other customers will be handled remotely because my Internet Card works great up there.
~
In the middle of all this I have to file the Sundance taxes by Friday.
~
"How will it all get done???" you ask.
~
Why don't you just pay attention to what you have to do this week, and let me worry about that.

Root Ball

I've been thinking about moving the fir tree in my front lawn for some time now and today was the day. Not sure where that motivation came from, but I put my work boots on and went with the flow.
~
The tree is about 12' tall with a 4" caliper trunk. I cut the lower branches with my sawzall so that I could dig a ring about 1 1/2 feet around the trunk. The soil was relatively easy to move because of the heavy rains of late around here.
~
After digging about eighteen inches down around the circumference of the truck I rocked the root ball back and forth until the ball was separated from the surrounding hole. Then I got out my six foot iron crow bar and used it to leverage the root ball onto a dolley.
~
Archimedes said that if he had a place to stand and a large enough lever, he could move the earth. I don't know about that, but the crow bar worked fine on the root ball.
~
From there, it was simply to transfer the tree to a hole that I had dug in the corner of my backyard and backfill the tree and the hole in my front lawn.
~
I know that this isn't particularly fascinating, but nobody made you freaking read this now... did they? I mean... I could have written about how I weed crabgrass, but that would have even bored me.

Olympic Recollections

The Beijing Olympics start tonight. It's the 29th Olympiad.
~
As a former track athlete, this was always a huge highlight for me. I particularly remember the Mexico City, Munich, and Montreal Olympics.
~
Then President Jimmy Carter decided to boycott the Moscow Olympics due to the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan. What an idiot, but that's getting off of the subject.
~
The Russians returned the favor and boycotted the Los Angeles Games four years later.
~
Carter accomplished nothing but screwing up the lives of athletes who simply wanted to compete against the best, with no other pretense. After Carter made his so called "point" eight years of athletes non-political highest hopes had been dashed. So the ensuing Olympiads were not as memorable to me, and I had to pay attention to making a living anyway.
~
I remember .....
~
Jim Ryun losing to Kip Keino in Mexico City in the 1500M.
Dave Wottle with the stupid hat, coming from behind in the 800M,
Dave Hemery, who became a coach at BU, winning the 400M hurdles,
Joan Benoit Samuelson winning the Marathon,
Frank Shorter doing the same with an imposter coming into the stadium before him,
Tommy Smith and John Carlos on the 200M medals stand with their fists raised in the air,
Steve Prefontaine losing the 5000 to the Finn, Laisse Viren, who I always thought was a blood doper.
Al Oerter winning the Discus - for the fourth time,
Jim Toomey and Bruce Jenner winning the Decathlon,
Bob Beamon, popping a 29' long jump, that obliterated the world record by a foot and a half,
Flo Jo Griffith Joyner with her fingernails, winning the 100 and 200m sprints.
Dick Fosbury, reinventing the high jump, with his backwards, "Fosbury Flop" (I actually used this technique to get my earth bound body over a 5'1" high jump bar, which still amazes me, since I could just manage to touch the bottom of the net in basketball.)
Michael Johnson, with his weird backwards slant, winning the 400.

Lots of others......
~
My brother and I were big track fans, and we knew of all of the athletes and their records in the 60's and 70's. My best track times were 4:30 in the mile and 9:44 in the two mile, and I had a couple of cross country races in high school and college where I exceeded my ability, but I was always a better fan than participant. Since then my interest has waned.
~
Back then, all of the sprinters were Black and all of the distance guys were White. The jumpers were Black and the throwers were White. There were articles in Sports Illustrated that tried to say that the trends were due to the different muscle fibers found in the races, but time has proven that the classifications are made more around cultural and political lines than biological ones.
~
Since those analyses, we've seen the Kenyans dominate distance running and many white and Asian sprinters emerge... I think that it really has to do with the priorities and choices available to some groups over the other.
~
I'm probably opening a can of worms here, so I think that I'll just do a slow fade.

Week 32 POTW

The other day somebody asked me what the criteria was for selecting the Peep of the Week.
~
I suppose that's not a stupid question.
~
After all.... there are no stupid questions... only stupid people who ask the questions.
~
Every once in awhile, my patience gets severely tested. That's when I thank the good Lord for blessing me with great tolerance and forebearance. But to think that in this advanced period, there are those who still reside in such sheltered, cloistered, and uninformed existences that they ask the ultimate fundamental question.
~
"What does it take to be named a Peep of the Week?"
~
Aggravating, isn't it?
~
Once again... if you've been......

Annoying or Stupid,
Inspirational,
You're Not Dead,
You're Not an Animal,
or
You've given me the Gift of Lagavulin (the King of Scotch) in the past week....

Then there is a slight chance that you may be named a POTW. Of course, you can always take the automatic Lagavulin route, which is the vastly preferred alternative.

The following people have met the criteria for this week's selection.

ANNOUNCING.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 32nd week of 2008

Nancy Bruett
Louis Casale
Dennis Fai
Joan Samuelson
Mike Sullivan
Paris Hilton

Now the criteria should be crystal clear.

Wonder Drugs

So I go to see my physician, Dr. Louis Casale, yesterday, because the gout in my big toe was really starting to make me wince, and I hate to show the slightest bit of acknowledgement to pain.
~
Casale wants me to take a pill every day to prevent gout, which I am reluctant to do because I'm leery of any side effects, but Casale says that the side effect of not taking the med is that I'll be afflicted with mind numbing gout again.
~
The guy has a point.
~
He gives me two prescriptions... one to take the immediate gout pain away, and the other to prevent it's recurrence.
~
Drugs are a wonderful thing. Four pills later and my toe is fine, and I'm feeling freaking good all over. Dr. Casale is a brilliant man. I can't wait to start taking the rest of the pills.

The Joy of Giving

Ben Martin is coming by to pick up the Nanepashemet Telecom check for the golf foursome at the Windham Country Club. It's the fifth annual Golf Tournament fundraiser hosted to support the Merrimack College Football Team.
~
The Merrimack Football Team is a charity that we have taken heart to, and you would too if you saw those deserving young men dedicated to driving their pointy ended ball into opposing end zones.
~
Makes me tear up just thinking about it. I'm bringing some of my favorite customers to donate their golf game to this worthy cause.

Happy Birthday Caroline Bruett

Caroline Riley Bruett stepped onto the starting line for her position in the human race at 7:05PM last night, weighing in with a fighting weight of 8lbs. 9 0z.
~
Give it hell Caroline! Looking forward to seeing you!

Return to Form

If you're like most of the other Peeps who frequent this Blog (for whatever mysterious/absurd reason), one of the first things that you do is check out my training log.
~
It's pretty accurate.
~
I really did miss half of June and all of July, due to throwing my back out while lugging the Tender over the mud flats when I got caught at low tide in Marblehead Harbor. By the time my back improved, my gout reoccurred in my right big toe.
~
But did you see me whining and complaining all the time about all of the pain that I was in???? Pain that would incapacitate the vast majority of lesser men???? No, you didn't.... so once again I humbly assert my inherent superiority over the rest of you.
~
Anyway, I finally broke the pattern and got on the Cybex late this afternoon. Worked up a good sweat and peddled seven miles. Maybe this stretch will get me to where I can get some runs in again.
~
This time, I'm going to swear off drinking until I lose at least 20 lbs. That's no Lagavulin, no Dark and Stormies, no Guinness, no Jameson's, no Sam's. I know it sounds harsh, but I've made up my mind and there's no turning back.

Bud Collins said...

Swear off tennis, too. Please.

John Nestor said...

That's it "Buddy Boy" !!!!! I'll bet you a three pack of Penn Championship Extra Duty Felt Balls that I can kick your serve and volley ass. I'll do my talking on the court. Any time, any place.... provided it's two months from today.

Clean Gutters

Having splurged on a nice evening at the Johnson's house last night and fishing during the day with Katelyn, I resolved today to get some mundane chores done. Cleaning the gutters seemed to fit the bill. After all, they were so clogged with dirt and leaves that a number of plants had vigorously taken root.
~
So I got out the ladders and with a little help from Jim Bob Peabody, then Tommy O, had the extension ladder moving right along across the roof ridge at the front of the house. Cleaned out the gutter, shot in a couple of supporting screws and caulked the gutter seams.
~
So far, so good.
~
When I got to the garage gutter, the complications kicked in.
~
First I ran into a hornets nest and one of the little bastards stung me in my right bicep. God Damn, did that hurt, and it still is sore as hell.
~
I sprayed the nest, but then the thunder and rain rolled in... a bit of a delay. When the rain stopped, the gutter cleaning proceeded without further incident..... until I got to the gutter at the back of the garage.
~
Cleaned out that gutter, but the downspout is completely clogged and the gutter is coming off of the fascia board because of extensive rot.
~
Now I have to remove the gutter, and take out the rotten fascia board. Can't wait to see what the roof joists look like. They are probably pulpy too.
~
All I wanted to do was clean out the freaking gutters, now I have a sore arm and a semi-major maintenance project. And all of you pathetic peeps think it must be so cool to be me!!!

Fishing by Fright

The word around New Hampshire's Newfound Lake is that this five pound smallmouth bass was so distraught after seeing Tommy O on skis, that he floated to the surface belly up.
~
Poor Fish. What a way to Go!

Week 31 - Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week

I broke down and let "Bud Collins" have the last word after all.
~
A big part of being the Mountain of a Man that I am, is letting the little people have their say.
~
A lesser man would have pummeled the hapless "Bud", but I have the God given ability to rise above it all.... be the bigger man.... turn the other cheek.
~
The fact that Bud is a worthless, wiggling, wimpy, weenie doesn't give me the right to shut him down by taking the last word. That would be unsuitable on my part. So enjoy your last word, "Bud", you pathetic POS!!!!
~
Speaking of unsuitable....... time for the insidious weekly selection.
~
ANNOUNCING
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 31st week of 2008

Jeremy Johnson
Charlie Jellison
Jim Peabody
Jack Henderson
Manny Ramirez
Mike McLellan

Time to resume living and let living.

Mobile Capability

I bought an Internet Data card for my laptop from one of the carriers. ( I can't say which one, because I'm trying to work for a number of them, and I don't want to piss anyone off.)
~
It works great. Sitting up here in Rockland, Maine at a remote site waiting for our subcontractors to show up, I have all the capabilities of my office in my F150 Ford Truck... except for laser printing.
~
Technology is the Balls.

Tuna Lips said...

dialin' up some of that there internetted porn in the front seat of an F150. Sooooeeeee! I needs to get me some of dat!

Getting Under My Skin

I'm definitely done with Manny Ramirez. He gets paid millions of dollars to play a game, and decides not to hustle to first base. GET a GRIP!
~
Speaking of out of control behavior, can you believe that "Bud Collins" dude????
~
Thinking he can call me out and trying to get the last word in!!! ON THIS BLOG!!!!
~
They don't call me the Crusher for nothing, as our "Buddy Boy" is about to find out.
~
He's just lucky that I'm heading for that Maine job site for the next two days, and don't have the time to plan a suitable revenge.

Crusher Comeback

Years ago (i.e. before I was overweight and out of shape), I was a pretty good tennis player. I could beat all of my friends, some of whom were real good athletes. Then, like most things, I let it go with the pressures of family and career.
~
But now I've played twice in the past week and a half.... and I even bought one of those Titanium new fangled, light weight rackets with the huge sweet spot.
~
So this morning, it was the battle of the Tennis Titans as Stevie Lewis confronted The Crusher. Even though The Crusher lost (6-0, 6-0), it was an interesting match.
~
Enjoy your victory Steve. Your glory will be short lived when I get my old serve back.

Bud Collins said...

Most people, when they get double bageled, have the good sense to sit quietly and reflect on how much they suck.

John Nestor said...

That's fine for you, Bud (if that is indeed your real name)... but I have a higher standard, and must remain man enough to give Lewis his temporary elation.

Bud Collins said...

Now the question remains, who will get the last word in. Backhand volley to Nanapashemet . . . . take up ping pong.

John Nestor said...

Advantage, Mr. Bud Light.

Bud Light.

Bud Collins said...

Net cord, will he get to it, yes! lob to the baseline . . . Manny is being villified for business reasons, not on principles.

Bragging Rights

My son Michael hasn't yet caught a Bluefin Tuna this year like his big brother, Ryan, but this is still one fine Striped Bass that he landed on Mark Vona's boat.
~
Nice fish, Mike!

Obligations

I'm very conflicted today because it is a beautiful Saturday, suitable for fishing or anchoring at Brown's Island, but I still have some nagging details to take care of - both at Nanepashemet Telecom and at the Beverly Ave. homestead.
~
We grilled the first of the tuna last night. It's hard to believe that food can taste that good. It has a consistency almost of beef and a rich flavor that has no resemblance to opening a can of tuna fish.
~
We cooked it medium which is heresy to the sushi crowd, who would have you just lightly pass the flame over the tuna steak. But it was so damn good.
~
We will be serving the fish out on our deck Tues evening to some important guests, so this was a nice trial run.
~
So I think that I will sacrifice the fun things to do today and try to get my obligations out of the way. We'll catch up on the good times by Tues.

Tuna Lips said...

I take my straw chappie of to the young buck who tangled with the great blue beast, and, having what some might call a spitual bondage with things of the wild, the birds of the skies and the fish o' the sea, i am moved to speak in praising words. Youse never fergets the first tuna youse wrassle with. A man just a boy til he gets that there tuna. So says the Injuns my pappy sold moonshine to. After they had a few, they was full of that sorta wisdom. And injuns are deeplike with the spirits.

So says the One with Lips like Tuna.

Gotta bolt, some enterprisin' sorts are sellin' gas for three bucks a gallon down at the Gas n' Sip. Fellers porking up theyse company Amex card and takin' cash. Look like meth heads. Sweet.

Week 30 - Peeps of the Week

Funny how a tuna can screw up your work week. I was all set yesterday for a boring day of paperwork after spending Monday and Tues. on the Maine coast. Doing mundane research work and accounting is an activity that can be satisfying, but it definitely can't get done when adrenaline is surging thoughout your body.
~
Even though I had nothing to do with catching the Bluefin..... running around getting ice, coolers and plastic bags to coincide with meeting the fish at the Richard Rockett Landing, then helping to butcher it..... All this contributed to well above the dosage of adrenaline I needed to screw up the mundane work.
~
Speaking of mundane/adrenaline is a nice segway here.

ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 30th week of 2008

Lauren Rathbone
Ryan Nestor
Tom Dellacamera
Sarah McCormack
Will Nestor
Susan Raich

Today was much calmer, and I got a lot more done.

Happy Birthday Becket Rathbone

The rumor is that Becket Rathbone made his entry into the world today.
~
Welcome Becket. Happy to share the journey with you.
Plus you have a pretty cool name.

WhaleEye Lands Tuna

Ryan and Tom Dellacamera got it done out in Stellwagen this morning, bagging this 57" 125lb. Bluefin Tuna.
~
The contents of his stomach revealed that he had been recently dining on a snack of 4" long sand eels. He must have thought that Ryan's squid rig looked like a more substantial meal.
~
I thought I'd be doing boring paperwork this morning, but instead, there were fresh tuna steaks to butcher.
~
Nice Fish.

Waylaid at Samoset

We never made it to Bar Harbor and Mt. Desert Island, Maine today.
~
After Joanne and I went to the Rockland Coast Guard Tower site, I took her to lunch at the Samoset Hotel where I had previously stayed for an off-site meeting while I was working at General Dynamics.
~
That was enough for her.
~
We ran into Sarah McCormack from Marblehead, and Joanne decided that she would be staying poolside at the Samoset wth Sarah, rather than making the two hour trek north to Bar Harbor.
~
Fine with me. The Samoset and Rockland are definitely a great destination.

Halfway Rock

Joanne bought me this great reproduction on canvas entitled "Becalmed at Halfway Rock" by Fitz Lane.
~
The scene shows ships in the 1850's at Halfway Rock, an island outcropping equidistant from Gloucester to Boston and a few miles outside of Marblehead Harbor, which is the same place that we fish from now.
~
We usually start our trips there to fish for mackerel and pollack to use for bait and we've seen a seal on a number of occasions sitting on the rock. And then there is the famous Halfway Rock game, where the winner is the one who consumes the most beers during the five mile trek out to the island.
~
It is the landmark that we use leaving Marblehead Harbor for Stellwagen, and signaling the return from that run, which can be very uncomfortable in a rough chop.
~
What is bizarrely weird is that Joanne had no idea that this scene was depicted just outside of Marblehead and is a favorite of ours, when she bought the artwork in North Conway. I had a hunch that this was Halfway and Ryan pointed it out last night at dinner. Then we checked for it online for the confirmation.
~
Turns out that Fitz Lane painted a number of excellent, mid nineteenth century maritime secenes of the Gloucester and the New England coast, including Mt. Desert Island, Maine, which is our final destination for today.

Tuna Lips said...

Last night after a pile of crawdad's and some luke-warm Piel's i painted a spatter job on my BVDs that rivals anything yer missus picks out at a yard sale in Wherever, NH. I hungs it outside the double wide and Effy Tradwell (whom I pleasured at last years Yankee Wife swap) commented that I have "the stylings of a new age Jackson Pollack." A man fer all the seasonings, TL is.

Norman Carries the Torch

How great was it to watch Greg Norman play so competitively at the British Open Golf Championship?
~
As a fellow old guy, I was thrilled to see the 53 yr. old finish in the top five.
~
I'm thinking that the 50's are the new 28's.
~
Although playing tennis with Ryan, Chris Crawford and Tyler Gill this morning convinced me that the 30's are still way better than the 50's.
~
Nothing I can do about it. But nice going Norman.

~

BTW, Chrissie Evert is still a Babe.

Annisquam Caution

(Click Map to Enlarge)

I'm considering aborting the Annisquam trip because of the threat of afternoon thunderstorms.

Years ago, we got caught in a squall when we were returning from the Annisquam by circling around Cape Ann. Certainly one of the most terrifying times in my life as a never ending series of ten foot swells threatened to engulf our 21' Mako.

The storm came out of nowhere and immediately the sea changed. If I didn't see it then, I wouldn't believe it now. I never got a chance to put on a life preserver because I was afraid to take my hands off of the wheel even for a second, and nobody else on the boat dared move either.

It was a series of huge waves that the bow had to hit dead on to avoid being swamped. UP, UP, UP then DOWN!!! Over and over again. It felt like we were on the rollercoaster at Canobie Lake Park... but the stakes were much higher.

Joanne found out the next day that a Coast Guard Cutter who was watching our progress was taking odds on when we would capsize. Not "if" but "when".

Ever since then, I've approached the ocean with the respect and knowledge that it has the ability to change and overwhelm you almost instantaneously.

It was terrifying and I had to use all of my superior boatman skills to keep the bow heading into huge swells. Clearly a lesser man would have lost his vessel in this swirling maelstrom, but obviously I prevailed.

Women Priests

So you heard about the three women in Boston who want to be ordained as priests.
~
Who do they think they are anyway???
~
Women aren't qualified to be Catholic Priests. They can't love God as well as men. They can't preach the Gospel as well as men. They can't distribute the Sacraments as well as men.
~
It should be obvious to everyone.
~
Just as the Pope and Cardinals are cleaning up the mess of all of the male Priests diddling with children, these pretentious women think that they are qualified to be Priests. I don't blame the Pope for excommunicating these sacrilegious bitches. They should go to Hell for thinking they are good enough to be Priests.
~
By the Way, Pope.... Galileo was right. The Earth actually rotates the Sun. You were wrong on that one. But you're right on target with this one. Make sure that you keep these uppity women out of the Priesthood. Keep it pure.

Working on Saturday

I'm working today because tomorrow we are taking the WhaleEye up the Annisquam River in Gloucester with Will and Linda Murray, and Monday, we will be driving up the coast of Maine for a Coast Guard site kickoff.
~
So I won't have too much office time in the next few days, and the details really pile up fast. If you don't keep pace, you can be buried in paper easily. I hate to do office work on Saturday and Sunday, but I guess if you fish on Friday, it's only fair.
~
Joanne and I will probably spend the night in Bar Harbor, ME and tour Acadia National Park on Tues. This Coast Guard gig is not too tough to take ... between trips to Nantucket and Bar Harbor. I hope we win the job on Block Island, because I've never been there before.

Peeps of the Week - 29

It really feels like mid-summer doesn't it?? I was slepping around on site surveys yesterday and could feel the heat. It would probably help if I was a little bit better in shape.

ANNOUNCING....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 29th week of 2008

Ben Martin
Bob Wojcik
Tommy O' Shea
Jon Bercume
Bob Brown (Automatic Lagavulin Rule)
Pat Piscatelli

I doubt if I'll have the time to Treadmill or Cybex today.

Stalking Stripers

We will be hunting the elusive Striped Bass this afternoon with some worthy Peeps on the WhaleEye.
~
I've got some frozen pollack and mackerel from the last trip, which I will cut up for chucks, and we'll head out to Half Way Rock to dip for live liners.
~
Then we will dead head for the back side of Cat Island where stripers like to hang out in the gut. That's where we will stake our luck. I'm thinking there's a few thirty six inchers who will be giving it up for the WhaleEye.

Economy

I've now lived in my professional life through a few of these economic downturns.
~
It always seems to have some roots in easy credit, then when things tighten up, the assumptions that you made when obtaining the credit dissolve leaving you holding the bag. When you are riding high, it's hard to imagine that it can turn... but it can!!
~
Unless you are borrowing for income producing assets, credit can be a dangerous thing. I feel bad for people facing foreclosure, and those looking to invest in foreclosed properties deserve all of the bad karma that they receive.

Bonus Good Time

Joanne and I brought some Nanepashemet Telecom customers to the Boston Yacht Club last night for drinks and dinner. Usually, I pretend to have a good time at these customer activities, but last night, the good time was for real.
~
What a bonus!

Tuna Lips said...

Well bully fer you, Admiral Crotchrot, and yer yacht club jerk off party. I figger this plain folk will wine and dine with my clientelists at Red Lobster on Rowt 142, and retire to Hooters for an after supper round of shooters and boobies with the spray on tan. No economic down turn for thems at Hooters.

Tournament Results

All day long, people kept asking me how I golfed yesterday at the Salem State Tournament with Tommy O.
~
First things first.
~
Tommy got through the whole day without a single kidney stone..... That was a relief!!
~
The Kernwood Country Club in Salem is a nice track - very well maintained with fairways that aren't too long and generally open wide.
~
I actually had a good day. My bad back held up, and I shot three Pars including one Birdie attempt..( which I then three putted into a Double Bogy).
~
My crusher driver skills returned and I generally kept straight onto the fairway with only one miss hit. Our last hole was a Par 3 that awarded a Chevy hybrid ugly car for a hole in one. I parred the hole and then tried to bribe the Salem State Honor students to say it was a winner hole in one. They maintained their integrity, even though I raised the ante to $40 bucks.
~
All in all... A golf round that I had anticipated with considerable dread turned into an enjoyable day. Only lost two balls..... Maybe I can golf after all. At least, not suck as much.

Stephan's Ginger Beer Difference

Wojcik and Brown graced the gazebo of the Boston Yacht Club yesterday.... and had their first Dark and Stormies
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There were no incidents and my membership remains in good standing.
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We ran into Chris Crawford, MegaPeep Brian Butler and the Fabulous Stacey, who is due to bring a new Nanepashemet Peep into the world by the end of the summer. Can't wait for that to happen, even though we don't want the summer to end too fast. What a conundrum!
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They make the Dark and Stormies at the BYC with Stephan's Ginger Beer, rather than Barrett's. Stephan's is just a little more pungent and the Two Bob's may have found it to be a bit too strong for their delicate sensibilities.
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But they both toughed it out... each having two before retiring back to the WhaleEye for some more of the Lagavulin that Brown so thoughtfully brought.
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Tomorrow, I agreed to play in the Salem State College Golf Tournament on behalf of the Salem Waterfront Hotel. Mike Rockett sent over a highest quality Footjoy shirt, Jacket and Umbrella. Doesn't he remember that I suck at Golf??? Truly SUCK!!!
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At least I'll be looking good, but that goes without saying.

Cruise gets Stoned

So we plan a nice evening harbor cruise with Tommy O and his lovely wife Linda, and what happens???
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Tommy gets a freaking kidney stone!
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Just because he's doubled over in pain, we have to return to the Village Landing.
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Wouldn't you think that he could tough it out??? I mean.... how bad can a little kidney stone hurt anyway?
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Regardless of the nuisance, I swiftly brought him to the dock and cancelled the night's festivities. I can be the bigger man. Then, just to rub it in, Tommy gets rushed to the Salem Hospital Emergency Room.
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The nerve of some people!
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I hope he's alright though.