Saturday, November 13, 2010

No Doubt on Deadline

We're half way through November and the deadline to complete the ground floor of the Sundance building is starting to loom large.  Plus we have Thanksgiving and the Annual Night Before Bash within that timeframe.
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I've got a ton of stuff to finish, including drywall mud, raised panel wainscotting, crown moulding, baseboards, and finally painting all of it.  The carpet is due in the first week of December.
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There's no way that I won't be ready.  As I Mountain of a Man, there can be no question that the work will be done, and at the highest quality by the time the carpet is delivered.
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Pictures to follow.
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That's how I roll.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Stupid Costco Run

Peeps...
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 Remember when I told you how stupid it was to have a couple of beers at lunch on a Friday afternoon, then stop in a Costco on the way home?
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And how you end up buying $300 bucks worth of bulk goods????
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Like 16 sticks of salted butter, 40 packets of microwave popcorn, three pairs of boxer shorts, two gallons of margarita mix (naturally a liter of tequila... and I don't even drink tequila), and 2 lbs. each of slice provolone, cheddar and harvarti cheese.
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Because when you have two beers and a scotch chaser in you, money is no object.  You can afford anything because nothing can stop you.   
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But by the time you pull up in front of your house, reality sets in. 
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Stupid.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Veteran Service

Today is Veteran's Day.  I'm not a Veteran.
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My Grandfather, my Father and my Father-in- Law served in World War I, World War II and the Korean War respectively, and all three were disabled American Veterans.   I'm so proud of them and thankful for their service.
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My turn was Vietnam.  A decent amount of guys who graduated ahead of me at Lynn English did tours there.  In those days, the draft was in place, and you had a number placed on yorur birthday based upon a drawing.
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I was at UMass, Amherst, and had gone through the first two years of a very unpopular Army ROTC program where I had attained the rank of Corporal by the end of my sophomore year.  I actually enjoyed it.  We learned about military strategy in wars from the ancient Greeks to World War II.  We learned how to march and conducted drills in the athletic field.
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It was tough in the dorms, because we had to wear full military dress uniforms and had to keep our hair short, which was a problem in the early 70's.  We were open targets to anti-war hippy types.  That never bothered me though.  I think I intimidated the Hippy's a lot more than they did me.
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Those of you who know me can probably picture that.
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Aaron Boykin and I were the only kids in the James House dorm who dressed up in uniforms twice a week to go to ROTC Class.  Aaron was a black kid from Springfield, MA in the 70's with a full 70's afro that went way past the ROTC dress code.  He played lead guitar in a rock band, and most of the time, really looked the part.
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The morning before each ROTC class, Aaron would grease down his afro so that his hair would fit under his military dress cap.  Since we never took those hats off in class, he got over every week.
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The morning came when Aaron didn't have the time to go through the greased down hair routine.  He lived across the hall from me, and we got dressed in our uniforms and headed for the half mile walk to the ROTC building.  The whole way, Aaron kept trying to stuff his Afro hair into his Cap.  When he stuffed it in one way, it stuck out the opposite site.   It was freaking hilarious.
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By the time we got to the ROTC building, we were running a little late, and the Captain in charge of the program was standing outside the door.  I forget this guy's name, but he was bit of a Psycho, had a bad temper, and there were a lot of wild stories circulating around about what a crazy bastard he was.   Plus he had a huge scar on the side of his head.
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Right away, the Captain started in on us.  "Gentlemen, you are running late... don't you know what time class starts?"
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Aaron and I tried to shuffle by quickly , but then the Captain zeroed in.  "You... Corporal Nestor... fix Boykin's hat."
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I positioned myself behind Aaron's head so that the Captain couldn't see my face. Aaron had his back to the angry Captain.  So there we were face to face positioned so that the Captain couldn't see either of our expressions.  Every time I tugged one way, that freaking cap popped up the other way.
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Boykin and I were killing ourselves with suppressed laughter.  I was summoning every ounce of my then developing Mountain of a Man power to keep from breaking out into an unrestrained howl.  Finally the Captain ended our predicament by bellowing for us to "Get the Hell into class".
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After that Sophomore year, my draft number came up at 354.  There was no way that I would be drafted.  I folded up my uniform, took it to the ROTC building and handed to the officer there, telling him what my number was.  We both understood that Reserve Officer Training Corps had ended at UMASS for me and I would not be signing a contract in my Junior year.
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Vietnam ended anyway a short time later, and I never would have gone.
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So I never served.   Which I regret today.
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But there is a deep resevoir of gratitude that I hold for those who did.  It is incomprehensible how different our life would be today, if those in our direct families hadn't made such sacrifices for us.
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For starters... we don't talk German, Japanese or Russian.  English is still the official language here.... although that is probably the topic for a different post.

Thank you American Veterans.  For preserving our way of life in the greatest country in the world.

Pisc said...
Good story, good thought. Thanks.



Addiction Fix

Even though Nanepashemet Telecom is crushing it with the normal end of the year  business crunch, I've still found a way diversify our site acquisition offering with our highly touted Buyer's Brokers services.  It's important to remember that the final output of any business is not just a product, service or a sale.
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It's customer satisfaction.... or dissatisfaction as the case may be.
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So when I found out that some Peeps had been screwed around with in the market and needed some real estate service to purchase a home.... what choice did I have????  We had to rectify the situation... creating some satisfaction.
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But the funny thing about making people happy, is that it's a two way street.  The happiness comes back to you exponentially.  To the point where it can be addictive.  Given my experience, strengths and weaknesses... the Buyer's Broker service that so many of you are asking for, is the perfect fix for me.

MORE

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

The Real Estate Opportunity

 More
Ever since I've offered a $2,000 American Express Gift Card to anyone who closed on a real estate purchase using our Buyer's Brokers Services... It's been havoc.
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Peeps... if you think that you are putting me to the test.... you're fighting out of your weight class.
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I don't care how many of you sign up.... I said it and I'll do it.  The more of you that sign up, just means that I have to dig deeply into my Mountain of a Man reserves.....
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It's a Buyer's market now, and you have to make hay while the sun shines.   With prices remaining stable and mortgage rates at an all time low, you'll be happy in a short time that you decided to buy a new home. 
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If you're willing to make the move, I'll be there to see this through with you.
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Many of you don't know that former Peep of the Year, Michael "Murph" Murphy was one of the first to jump on this offer, and ended up with the home of his dreams.
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Murph said....

"The best thing that I did was to hire J. Nestor to represent me and Beth as our Buyer's Broker. There are so many sharks looking to take advantage of you in the real estate business and we met our share of them until Nanepashemet stepped in and paved the way for us to fnd and purchase the house of our dreams.. I would recommend J and his company to anyone."
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Contact jnestor@nanepashemet.com for details. Or call 781-727-6516 anytime.
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Just don't wait to buy Real Estate.... Buy Real Estate and wait.
 
Click for More information

Saturday, November 06, 2010

Checking the Polls

So many of you Peeps have emailed me, called me, or stopped me on the street to ask me what went wrong.... Why did the Democrats carry the day so completely in Massachusetts????
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What the hell do you think I am?.... some sort of poltitcal pundit prophet???  I don't have any freaking  definititive answers.   I do have a theory though.
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In Massachusetts, the Democrats had a huge wake up call with the victory of Scott Brown over Martha Coakley for "Ted Kennedy's" Senate Seat.   The lesson learned was... nothing is given, and you have to work for things.
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The Dems in this state may seem stupid and naive at times... but they are not lazy.  And when it comes to elections, they know that, regardless of the issues, a political organization that is organized at the precinct level can guarantee election if the effort is sustained.
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This involves the initiation and organization of precinct captains, poll checkers, telephone callers and drivers to the polls to a minute detail.
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In the City of Lynn for example, there are seven wards and twenty eight precincts.  With a separate precinct captain in each, and a small cadre of poll checkers and telephoners, it used to be a simple process to determine who had voted on Election day, and who had not.   By the end of the day, with a little motivation like picking up people and driving them to the polls, we were able to guanrantee that all of the people who were in favor of our candidate had voted.
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Every time we worked this system, our candidate won.... without fail.   And I'm talking about some guys that were elected, who the pundits had ruled out without a doubt.  It was a mechanical process... make sure that your supporters made it to the polls, and ignore anyone who was neutral or against your candidate.
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By virtue of the fact that the majority of the voters in a community don't vote in elections, this process was highly successful.
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Last Tuesday, as I went to my polling place in the Marblehead Senior Center, I noticed poll checkers sitting behind the ballot workers for the first time since I moved to Marblehead over 25 years ago.  When I asked the checker who he was working for, he said, "the Democratic Party".
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In Massachusetts, Democrats carried every Congressional seat as well as the Governor.  The Democratic sweep here completely bucked the trend as nationally, Republicans picked up over 70 seats to capture the majority of the House of Representatives.
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Did Scott Brown wake up the Democrats in Massachusetts?  Maybe he did.


Tool Shop Owner said...
Time to get to the bottom line. We need to stand for something.

Offers Open for Heaven in Marblehead

Peeps....
Maybe I'm naive, but my expectation was that minutes after announcing that 32 Beverly Ave. was for sale, that you would be flooding me with offers.
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Even if the Nanepashemet Blog had not started here, and even if boats that are works of art had not been crafted in the hallowed garage... 32 Beverly Ave. would still be a great place to live.
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Tommy O lives across the street.  That fact alone should spur you to make this life changing investment.  Plus, I've thrown in the American Express Gift Card.   Maybe I'll include a kayak or two.
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C'mon.... I'm getting sick of waiting.  Time to move on to West Shore Drive.

POTW Week 45

I know that I've let a couple of weeks lapse in this weekly duty.   Not sure why.  October was the slowest month in the 5 year history of this pathetic blog.
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I'll try to be a better person.
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Announcing...
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 45th week of 2010

Brian Donovan
Pat Piscatelli
Stacey Butler
Charlie Baker
Emily Engardia
Tommy O'Shea

There.... now we are back to abnormal.

Friday, November 05, 2010

Raised Panels

I've been busy this week making raised panel wainscotting out of medium density fiberboard plywood (MDF) for the family room at the former Sundance Pre-School on West Shore Drive.  Still don't know if this is a good idea.
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On the one hand....
MDF is a stable material, with no voids like other plywood, and it routs and cuts very cleanly and crisply.  It doesn't chip like #2 pine,  requires virtually no sanding and you have the option of unlimited panel size.
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On the other hand....
It is heavy as hell.  Even a Mountain of a Man like myself has a hard time lugging the 97 lb. 4'x8' sheets around the work area.   And the sawdust that it exudes is fine and irritating.  A dusk mask and vacuum is crucial, but the sawdust still gets out of control.
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I haven't gotten to the point where I can evaluate the ability of the stuff to accept coats of primer and paint.  That will come soon though because I have all of the stock cut to rails, stiles and panels and hope to have all of the wainscotting assembled by the end of the weekend.
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I'm convinced that the raised paneling is a good idea though.  It lends a lot of character to a room and is worth the effort.   I had initially wanted to go with bead board throughout, but my daughter Kate thought that it looked cheesy compared to the raised panels.  I agree, but the raised panels are super labor intensive.
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Even with the router tables, and raised panel bit set that I invested in years ago, it is a time sucking activity.
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Ultimately, since raised panel wainscotting is so expensive, or such a pain in the ass to do from scratch as I am doing. it generally adds value to the property.
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That is my ulterior motive, but if I'm going to live there, I might as well be surroundied by the fine woodworking detail that I have become accustomed to.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Election Results

Interesting Election.
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From what I saw, Barney Frank is a pompous idiot, but kept his job and Nancy Pelosi, that out of touch Facist, lost her job.  So that was a wash.
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I was happy for reasons that I won't be sharing with you that Deval Patrick and John Tierney kept their seats in Massachusetts.

Tuna Lips said...



Ise thinks Nan is one good pleasuring from behind by ole TL from seein' the light. Not so many is such a way. My work is never done.


Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Sexual Preference

So today when I grabbed a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich and glass of juice during a break in the action at Nanepashemet Telecom, I sat down and caught a little of the Oprah Show.   Ricky Martin was proclaiming to the world that he was a Homosexual.
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What a shocker!
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Lucky me that I picked that particular moment in time to randomly sit in front of the TV.  Otherwise I might have missed this momentous occasion.
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I probably don't have to remind you that this is one freaking phucked up world that we live in.  I mean.... who gives a greasy fart which side of the green that you putt from.    But just when we thought it couldn't get any weirder, I have this revelation to give to all of you.
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I am a Heterosexual.  A practicing Heterosexual.  In fact.... I try to practice as much as possible.
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All of these years, I've kept it pent up inside of me, busting to come out.... so to speak.
I've kept it from my family.... didn't think that they would accept my affinity for women.
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I feel so free now.

TommyO said...

Holy Cow,
Pardon the pun,,,,
But Juice with Peanut Butter and Jelly. Come on Man... Milk is the only way to wash that baby down.... TommyO




American Express Gift Card

The experience of helping Michael "Murph" Murphy and his wife Beth find their home in Southborough was really satisfying.  Regardless of some glitches in the process and a couple of hurdles to overcome, the result and good feelings in the end have made me decide to increase my activity as a Buyer's Broker, representing Peeps find homes and investment properties.
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Even though there is no direct cost for this service, I've decided to sweeten the pot by giving a $2,000 American Express Gift Card to any Peep who purchases a property through my help.  This will set them straight buying furnishings or appliances, and add to my overall good feelings.
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And feeling good is what's important... Right???  Plus, if anyone of you decides to buy 32 Beverly Ave.  in Marblehead, the Gift Card will follow as well.

32 Beverly Ave.