Kind of a busy Friday, between getting an oil change this morning, and then taking my mom to get her license renewed, then meeting LD for lunch, and even trying to catch up on a little work. So here's a picture from York from a little while ago.

Parsippany, NJ

Long Valley, NJ

What a whirlwind of 24 hours. We're exhausted. From trying to find a hotel room (everything was booked solid throughout in a 25 mile radius for some strange unknown reason) to the long drive back and forth. Still, all in all, a pretty good quick visit. And I got this year's gourd from the field.

Great. On the way home from work the front derailleur on my bike snapped right in two. Nice metal piece. Well, I can still ride it though - can't shift gears but hadn't been able to do that in a while anyway. I think next spring I'll bring it to the shop and have the whole drivetrain assembly redone as it probably needs to be done anyway. Just how far can I take it before it totally craps out?

Other things from today: car washes, dropping off books at various little libraries, cooking up out grown eggplants, and using the instant pot to cook chicken breasts.

These beauties we planted earlier in the season are starting to pop all over the deck. I'm trying to guide it to get it to go over the railings and up along the top and the sides of the deck. I think it'll look cool when it does that. This particular one has two different colored flowers, blue and a purple, although you can't see the purples from this particular picture.

Also my laptop might arrive later today! I ended up going with an Acer 15.6-Inch FHD Notebook (Intel Core i3-7100U 7th Generation , 4GB DDR4, 1TB 5400RPM HD, Intel HD Graphics 620, Windows 10 Home) in Obsidian Black. I don't need anything super powerful these days - just the basics, although I probably won't begin messing with it until Monday night.

Actually I just popped on a new laptop. It was time for an upgrade anyway. Should be here in a few days.

This cat loves me, by the way. Don't you think so?

I've noticed it looks the photo database that I use on the left hand side of this page crapped out again, so some of the images aren't easily retrievable when you click on them and the count is screwed. I'll probably get rid of that - maybe the whole left side entirely as well seeing as I haven't really updated it in a while. Don't really care to put the time into that I used to these days.

Checked out Waterfire last night. Even met up with M&M at the event. Was a great night to see the fires burning.

I rode the bike in today, surprisingly it was the 1st time this month, as scheduling and weather (and maybe some plain old laziness) conspired against me doing it more as in past months.

However, I'm currently reading The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, which is about, you guessed it, the first couple. (Book #13 for the year so far). It's not a religious book but no so about the history through the ages, sources, interpretations, influences on art, etc. that they've had on humanity. I've gotten through the first two chapters so far and I'm really liking it.

Sadly tonight my desktop computer died. I think it might be the PSU since nothing powers it on now. I can get a new PSU but not sure if it's worth it, comp is old and runs sucky now. Guess I'll have to though. Been so long since I've built this thing. Trying to remember the specs and where what plugs where. Might be time for a new rig. Well, I went ahead and ordered a new PSU to arrive next week. Going to try to get my files off there and look for a new system soon.

As my computer was on the verge of croaking I did notice my all time favorite Law & Order original series episode was on, Aftershock, so I watched that. I like this episode because it's not like all the others, it goes into each character's private lives and how each one of them is broken in some way. I especially like the insight into McCoy's character, a side that is never seen, and to why he's so driven.

Looking around for our seats

Good night for a game, place has a pretty fun atmosphere, enough so that I feel myself really dragging today. Getting there early enough scored me a Xander Gnome statue giveaway. I got to attend for free and had a 25$ voucher for concessions since this was our summer outing event from work, so they paid for everything. I apparently missed the banner controversy though as it came out just as I was probably wandering around and then leaving the park. Just as well as it starting raining as soon as I got home, plus I heard they lost anyway. If you haven't deduced, I'm not really a baseball fan, however, being there was fun like I mentioned.

I look a little beefed up here - PEDs?

Summer ain't over yet! Got some fun things on the docket over the next couple of days. Just in the last couple we had a double date with M&M at a new sort of hip cool restaurant in Braintree, a visit with our animal friends on a nice afternoon, and a scary movie with one half of M&M (the other half was too scared to attend) on a Sunday afternoon. The shed is finally finished with both painting and the final trim after what seemed like ages getting it done.

Does make me want to read the book now though.

Pick it up at fine record stores today!

Currently Reading: Crash Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate (book #12 read on my list for the year - don't think I'm going to hit my goal of 50, hey, I've been preoccupied!).

On the docket:

The Politics Of Murder: The Power and Ambition Behind "The Altar Boy Murder Case"
And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records
The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve
No One Cares About Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America (actually might be planning on seeing the author talk about this book in a few weeks).

In other news: Got my free Red Sox ticket for a game next week. Hopefully the remnants of Irma won't impact it but we'll see as the date gets nearer.

Great day to get out on the water.

I was jonesin' for a little ocean air so we hopped in my SUV and headed down for some ocean vibes. Great day to be outside. I really love living close to the ocean, I don't think I could live in a place where it would take forever to get there - like the midwest. There's just something about the smell, the breeze, the waves, the peaceful serenity and the terrible power...We also had a nice lunch down there at a tavern we like to frequent when we're in the area. I had the Shrimp, Broccoli & Penne.

Minot Beach (a little beachy area with big boulders and Minot Ledge Light (the 1-4-3 lighthouse) in the background.

Ended up going to the movies ans saw "Wind River." (review here). A movie that I've not seen advertised or knew anything about. It's pretty intense, great acting - I recommend it! Like I said, it gets really intense once it gets moving.

Crashed at like 8 pm yesterday. So tired! Here's another pic from last week just sitting on my phone.

Good luck in retirement Marcia!

No kidding.

Some random notices from today:

Lady Professor who just moved in across the street flew some dude in from MN to do some reno work on the house she just bought. Odd character friend of their family apparently, rate seems extremely low and was asking us for sights to see in Boston, but not the nice sights, ghetto sites - weird. Most people when visiting town don't ask to see the ghetto areas. Actually that whole group over seems a little off and odd, we haven't even had an actual hello from them yet.

In the shower this morning I was looking at my chest and reminiscing back to when I had 6-pack abs. Now it looks like I only have 2-pack abs. Sad.

I'm trying to get this morning glory vine we planted in the spring to grow and climb a certain way. It's going up the deck banister, which I wanted, but I also want it to climb up the side and along the roof eaves. Very much like I had the clematis vine growing in the front. Little by little - although it kind of has a kind of its own.

Next door neighbors are removing their above ground pool to put in an inground pool. The destruction of the previous pool is very noisy!

Swan Boats Away!

Spent some time at the Sanctuary today - it had been a while - such a tranquil place, really a great place to unwind because it's so peaceful. As shown below I got to spend some quality time with Hannibal Lector (really just Bean).

Going to grill up some of the squash, cucumbers, and other veggies we've been growing in the raised boxes. All that'll be left are the eggplants. Also planning on tossing together some watermelon with feta cheese and some other accoutrements for a jazzy summer salad to go with.

For some brain action, I've been playing Get It Filled - pretty good puzzle game.

Spent the day tooling around Boston, it was a great day to be outside. I pretty much walked all over the North End to the Seaport District and everything in between, ending my tour in Copley (where I ended up mashing up my thumb pretty badly). Yes, I finally got a chance to check out Eataly. I don;t see what the big deal is personally but it was cool seeing the pasta being made by hand, plus all the different varieties.

Lately I've been trying to experiment with taking shots from different angles than I normally or would expect to take them, depending on the circumstance. Not sure how successful I am at it or the process itself is yet.

One if by land, two if by sea...

Downtown Boston

I like the way this one came out - especially the full size one with all the details (which you really can't see in this miniature sized version). I'm planning on being in Btown tomorrow so maybe if anything catches my eye I'll get some more shots. Also some of my previous work is actually hanging up in some offices downtown (I'm totally floored and flattered!) so I'd like to check them out. I have to be a little careful though - I seem to have slightly strained my Abductor Digiti Minimi in my foot, no doubt from walking on uneven surfaces and possibly my choice of current footwear.