Guitar Necessity

I've been keeping my eye on a Yamaha FGX730SC Acoustic Electric Guitar.  It's offered on line for less than $500.00 and since my other acoustic guitar was stolen about a year and a half ago, I've been looking for a suitable replacement.

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The problem is that I'm not a very good guitarist.... and just a little better on the Banjo, so it's hard to justify an expenditure like this.  But the other night, my grandson, Ethan (who with his older brother, Will constitute the best Grandkids on the Planet.... just ask their Nana Joanne) asked me to got get my guitar and play him a song.

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My Epiphone Les Paul is hardly appropriate for this type of request.   I mean that is an ax made to wail the blues.... and what the hell does two and a half year old Ethan know about the blues anyway?
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It is true that his Dad is doing prison time, but Ethan doesn't know that.   He thinks that FreshAyer is just a cool place to wrestle with his father around the fenced in picnic tables.  By the time he figures out what the annoying biweekly trips were all about to see his Dad every other Sunday, he will have forgotten what transpired in our lives before he turned three.

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So playing him a tune on my blues electric guitar is out of the question.

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Which is a perfect reason to purchase that Acoustic Yamaha.

Deck Push

Big push to get the deck finished today.  The stair railings and banisters have to be installed, stair risers need finish boards,and the deck door has to be trimmed out.
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Then some serious clean up and dump runs have to occur before the dump closes at 4:00PM today. 
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After that, the priority will turn to getting the rowing boats repaired and coated so that the months of Aug. and Sept. see them on the water.
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It never all gets done.

Singular AHoy.

Yesterday, we went for a nice shoreline cruise in the WhaleEye with Dale and Gail Johnson.  It was a perfect warm summer evening in late July.  You would have thought that everyone with a boat would have been taking in the perfect conditions.
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But it seemed like every boat was on its mooring.  There was little or no boat traffic.....the only other boater I knew was Tyler Gill, who gave the WhaleEye a hearty "Ahoy".
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I thought that I was the only one staying away from the boat this year.  Maybe the economy is keeping us away from recreational pursuits.
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It was nice to be crusing around Marblehead Sound by ourselves with the Johnsons.  But weird that we were the only ones around.

Private Jet Taxation

President Obama wants to increase the taxes on people who fly in corporate jets.  Does he know what turmoil he is really about to cause?

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If the CEO's and corporate BigWigs all travel by commercial airflight, it will screw things up for everyone.  Bigger lines in security, no seats in the airport clubs and the uneasy experience of potentially having to sit next to the Big Boss for endless hours in the air.

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What if you burp, fart, or snore?  Now it can have career consequences on middle management types, who are generally struggling to keep their jobs as it is.

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Plus, the poor smucks who cater to bigwigs in the private aircraft industry will be jobless.

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I had the experience of traveling on a Gulfstream with the Big Boss when I worked for General Dyamics.  Trust me... you want to keep these guys on their personal jets and avoid their appearance in commercial airports where you can fade in with the general public..

You have to think harder on this one Barack.  Once again, the middle class bears the burden.

Bitter Medicine.

There is another financial crisis looming is Washington.  This one involves legalizing a higher debt limit in order for the federal government to borrow and pay its bills.
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Imagine if everytime you had to pay the bills, you just got a new loan to do so.   And that your expenses vastly outweighed your income, and you had no plan in place to reverse the situation and balance your finances.
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Peeps.... that is our  situation in a nutshell.   And the people who vote to increase the debt have no real personal consequences.... no motivation to make the tough descisions about the expenses that have to be cut back to bring this situation under control.
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We are into financial pain... which will get worse every year if we don't take some bitter medicine now.

the Why

The other day somebody asked me why I took the time and effort to add to this Blog every day.
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It certainly is not an income producer, nor is it necessary to massage my ego and self esteem. That can happen in a lot of other ways.
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Part of the reason is that I like to write and always have.  I started keeping a journal as a sophomore in college and have always made notebook entries throughout the years.  Maybe it's the Irish in me, but I get a lot of satisfaction in turning a word.
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But that is a relatively small part.
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Another part is that it is good emotional therapy for me which helps to even out the highs and the lows.   A professional friend years ago told me that he always writes letters to people that irritate him, then decides whether to send them after he's all cooled down.   Writing does tend to mellow you out somewhat.
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I would say that this factor holds a little more weight, because I can write about the politcal issues that tend to irk me quite a bit, and diffuse the energy that can overcome and occupy my mind to an unreasonable extent.
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After a little bit of introspection, I can truly say that the largest reason that I publish this blog is to share.  To share thoughts, ideas, advice and observations with my family and friends... and yes, my enemies.  What I say isn't always right, but it is absolutely always what I believe.  And even if some of it is in parables, it is always pure truth... or my version of reality.
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Sometimes, it is fun to spice things up with a little satire.... like when I call myself a Mountain of a Man, or when I call the Peeps pathetic lesser beings.    I hope you can tell when my tongue is in my cheek.
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I want my friends and family to see benchmarks... to feel free to agree or disagree... to see if my insight or remarks can help them in any way.    I've been accused in the past of thinking I was always right about everything.  That was an accurate observation then, and I stand guilty today.  Going forward, I always think I'm right.  Looking backward, I realize that sometimes I miss the mark.
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But being wrong has value.  You have a benchmark to measure and probe so that the truthful reality ultimately shows up.
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Sometimes my posts are personal and other times they are pretty mundane.  I know that most of you really don't give a shit if my deck gets built and stuff like that.   These are usually communications to my kids or close friends.
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What this Blog has really given back to me is a sense of the depth and richness of life.   There is no way that I can communicate a sixteenth of the stuff that drifts by my earthly position every day.

Tuna Lips said...

Further to them points, yiz pervide a service to this here communitization, an "open mike" iffin' y'll allow, fer folk of bright cogitatin', such as myself, to get the message out on issues that effects one's day to day machinations in this woebegone vale of tears. Fer instance, I got me a stubborn case of crotch rot, and with no swamp weeds to swabble my whoochin' stick in, I am suffering like Jesus on the road to Calgary. Anyone, help a brother in need. Send yer homestyle cures for this most pernicious of malladies, forthwith. And on the double, too.
I digressify. Big mammal, you are a community organizer. Next step, the White House. And I will accept your nomenclature for head of the moonshine, smokes and gun shootin' board, straighten' things out right proper, I would.

Rock Star

Don’t want to be a Rock Star,
Take the chance of dying young.
Drugs and drink will come to stalk me,
Hold their fully loaded gun.

A demon drives my music,

Makes me think I’ve gone insane.

Need to find some peace and quiet,

Amy Winehouse Dead at Age 27

Next to the roaring freight train.

Where to find my self composure,

Riffs and chords to guide my ax.

Put a sheet to my exposure

Ease it up and just relax.

Don’t want to be a Rock Star,

Just want to jam and play..

Find some lyrics, write some music,

Live to rock another day.

A Moral Duty

I've never disclosed this to anyone, Peeps, and maybe the heat has gotten the best of me... but my secret ambition in life has been to be a Philanthropist..... someone who gives their money away for worthy purposes.
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I feel that it's my calling... my special purpose... to make billions, and give millions away.
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Not for Nothing, but you're really not chipping in here.
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I mean, not many of you have stepped up to the plate and bought my book.  Put your money where your mouth is so to speak.
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How the hell can I live my dream of being a Philanthropist, if you won't even shell out a little coin to buy my pathetic book???  I don't mean to lay guilt on you, but think of all of the needy people who won't be getting grants from me, if you don't start the ball rolling.
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So order the freaking book.  It's the moral thing to do.

Beat the Heat

Thought I could get through the summer at the Sundance House without having to install a room air conditioner.
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No Freaking Way.
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I broke down yesterday and bought two 5000BTU LG room air conditioners at Home Depot in Salem.  I was looking for a 10,000BTU for our bedroom, but Home Depot only had a few 5000 BTU's left, so I installed both of them into the master bedroom, giving it the distinctive appearance of a double wide house trailer.
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Seems like yesterday when we were battling snow drifts to move into this house.  Now it's time to beat the heat.
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Cool.

National Source of Pride

The United States Manned Space Program ended today.
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It's a little sad.

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I don't know anything about the economics of the program, or it's production capability.

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But having the US in space and the only nation to put its citizens on the Moon was a backdrop of national pride.  It said.... despite our many faults, this nation is indeed special.... and can literally reach heights that are unattainable to other nations.

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A lot of rightwing dialogue says that the Obama administration has a distaste for America and is determined to bring it down to a level that third world nations can relate to.

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I don't buy that.   Seems a little far fetched... even though Michelle Obama claimed no pride in her country until her husband's Presidential campaign.  In Madison, Wisconsin, she said,   "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."

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I'm sure that the Obama's have a perspective spawned by guy's like Rev. Wright, their longtime former lefty pastor who said a lot of off-the-wall incendiary stuff.

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Is it coincidence that the space program... our major source of national pride has taken the plunge during the Obama administration?   You make the call.

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Already, there are those who make the conspiracy claim that the US never landed on the Moon at all.  And it is easy to imagine that the space technology could be lost in a short period of time... like we never even did it.  

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It's happened before.  We don't even know how the Roman's operated their catapults... and that was only 2000 years ago.

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Emanating from the vow of President John Kennedy, the Space Program has always been about national ego, and pride.  Not sure what we have lost, but I feel a loss with its demise.

Trophy Wife

There certainly are advantages to having a trophy wife.  Rupert Murdoch seems to be enjoying his.... and Lord knows that I enjoy mine.
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An added benefit for Rupert is that his spouse, Wendi Deng, has catlike reflexes and a great right hand, as she smacked a humiliating cream pie out of the hands of a dipshit trying to embarrass her husband who was testifying before the British Parliament.
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Not sure if Joanne could move that fast, but I bet she cooks better than Wendi.

Maintenance Phase

We've moved from the development phase to the maintenance phase at the Sundance House.  Which is a big plus in the quality of life.
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In the development phase, you live in a mess.  Tools, building supplies, and debris are left out and always in the way.  The job is always weeks in length.  The development phase involves a lot of sawing, sanding and dirt.  Nerves, Tempers, and relationships get frayed.   That's how it's been here for the last six months or so.
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But now in the maintenance phase, it is more caulking, painting and cleaning, with no heavy lifting.   You can sneak in a job, take out the tools, do the work, put everything back and everything seems normal.  You may even get a compliment or two.  Spouses and family don't get nearly as crazy.
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Plus the maintenance phase makes everything look nicer when you are done, while the development phase always ends in a mess, even if you worked your ass off.
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Course, the maintenance phase will last for another six months.  But  it will be more tolerable.

Accurate Accounts

It was one hell of a Monday at Nanepashemet Telecom.  A computer glitch caused me to lose a major file and I had to reconstruct.  Luclily, there is a lot of redundancy in what we do.  There are financial tracking files, project milestone tracking files, and in the Cloud accounting files.... all of which look at our data from a different viewpoint.
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So the reconstruction of a file is a nuisance and not a disaster.  In fact, it sometimes allows you to think of the status of an action in a different light.  So it is really a management exercise to reconstruct the file.
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But the bottom line is to keep your accounting up to date.  Without accurate accounting information, you are the victim of your assumptions, and whims, and ultimately fears.  Did I say fear???? It goes without saying that a Mountain of a Man doesn't know the meaning of the word.  But I bring it up because ordinary Peeps like yourselves can actually project all sorts of bad situations in the absense of the right information.
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At least, that's what I've heard.

Deck is Done

The deck is done.  All of the railings are up, the slider is roughed in, the staircase has an Ethan proof gate, and Tommy O helped me move the grill up.   We had our first successful night on the deck with grilled sausages, chicken, beer and Dark and Stormies with Linda and Tommy O on Saturday.
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I have to add lights and an outlet, trim out the slider and build the stair railings, as well as put up a screen on the West Shore side and straighten out under the deck.... but otherwise... the deck is done.

Making Room for WhaleEye

It's the middle of the summer, and tommorrow the deck is usable.  We will be moving our grilling operations out of the driveway, which had a sort of white trash charm to it.
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There still is a ton of finish work on the deck, particularly with the slider and staircase. And the deferred maintenance to the rest of the landscaping will hit first priority now that the deck is up an running.  Stuff like cutting the grass and trimming the bushes.
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But by next weekend, I'll have to take the WhaleEye out for some striper fishing.
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Enough is enough.

200 to Go

200 days left in the FreshAyer ordeal
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Time to reflect and give thanks to all of the support that has come our way.  We knew that our true friends would tip their hand, but didn't expect the volume and outpouring.  You know who you are... and so do we.  And we hold our gratitude to you for the long haul.   We will support you unconditionally on the road ahead in any way possible.
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Those who perjured and betrayed were also totally exposed, and that was a plus.   No need for phoney friendship in the future there.
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This is actually a harder time than at the start.  With 1000 days initially, it was absurd to tick off the days, but now every day seems to have significance.   For all of you who are talking about the homecoming celebrations, you should take it down a notch.
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There are still 200 days to Go.

Roger That

Roger Clemens walked on a mistrial.
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Roger is an idiot, and if not for the uncanny ability to deliver a baseball at a high speed past a batter to a waiting catcher's mit, he would have had an uneventful and mediocre career as a truck driver delivering freight over our interstate highway system.
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Roger That!
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But instead, the Lord gave Roger a peculiar combination of sinew, tendons and muscles in his right arm that allowed him to pitch at a major league level.
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Clemens had a great career as a pitcher for our beloved Boston Red Sox, and when his career seemed over, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays and eventually made his way to the hated New York Yankees, where his career saw a miraculous resurgence.  Some of Roger's buddies on the Yankees say that steroids were in the mix, but Roger went before Congress and denied ever taking the banned physical enhancement substances.
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Congress?   Why the hell were you talking to Congress, Roger???? Oh Yeah, I forgot... you're an idiot.
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Now you're up for a contempt of Congress charge by lying blatantly to them that you never took steroids, when all of the evidence points that you regularly let Dipshits stick you in the ass with soringes that were filled with the naughty shit.
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Here's the thing...
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I could care less if you cheated using banned substances to extend your career.  That's stupid and you're stupid, and that's how those things tend to end up.  But you were caught lying to Congress, which never should have given a shit about anything you did.   That was up to the fans, and Major Leauge Baseball to regulate.... Not the frigging Federal Government.
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So for that reason, and that reason alone... I hope you walk.   I don't want to spend money to house you in the Federal Pen just because you are an idiot.

MOAM Progress

Can't believe it is Thurs. already. 
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It's been a hectic and tiring week and the Blog gets the short end of it.  Between work trips to New Haven , CT and Swansea, MA and a lot of paperwork activitiy in between, the activity index at Nanepashemet Telecom was hitting the high level, but I couldn't afford to let that gap in the house stand unattended with the thunderstorms that were sweeping through.
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So I did get the sliding glass door on the deck buttoned up and even got some of the railings in place.
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Being a Mountain of a Man pays off sometimes.
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Hole in the Wall Kudos

There is a 6' x7' hole in the wall of our dining room with an uninstalled sliding glass door leaning roughly against it.  I have to block out the hole with 2x4's and then insert and finalize the sliding glass door.  The problem is time.
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Needed to make the trek today to New Haven for business and tomorrow will be all out with Nanepashemet Telecom production until 3:00 in the afternoon.  So the door and the freaking hole will stay put until at least then.
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Kudos are due for Mike Nestor, Jim Peabody and his son Andrew who helped get the door up on the deck.  A very heavy and stressful manuver.
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And while I'm in a kudo handing out mood, Dale Johnson came up big in a dinner that he made last night for Joanne and I.  From the shrimp cocktail to the raspberry sorbet and everything in between, it was a memorable meal.   Dale has a peculiar way of plating and he demonstrated how he can flip grilled salmon around the kitchen.   That was weird, but everything else was 5 star restaurant quality.

The Ancient Mariner said...

Aye, the gales came fast last night, many a pilgrim lost a sheet or three to the storm. Prithee tell, Master Seafarer, how yonder gaping hole fared through the torrents. Arrgh!

Request for Peep Assistance

Lots of Peeps have been asking me how the deck is coming along.  You know how irritated I get when I get annoying inquiries like this.   But.... Once Again... I have the ability to summon my Mountain of a Man capabilities and overcome the elevated levels of consternation that such moronic gestures impose.
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Anyway... the Deck is coming along fine.
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I finished the planking and all of the roughout of the staircase today, then headed over to Peabody Building Supply to pick up the sliding glass door.  When I got back, Jim and Kathy Peabody were over with some chicken salad and a 12 pack of Corona Extra, so the heavy lifting was done for the day.
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Tomorrow, I'll secure the planking for the top step, then will cut through the dining room wall for the rough opening for the slider.  By 12:00 noon, I will be at the mercy of others as the slider will have to be lugged into place onto the deck.  Mike should be getting back from FreshAyer by that time, but if he is late, I'll be putting out an RFPA  (Request For Peep Assistance) to help me with that task.
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By the end of the day, the door will be in place and we will be planning the trim and finish work.