This photo above is from a spot down in Orleans on the Cape that when I get the chance I like to escape from for a while. There’s a bunch of staircases like this one along Little Pleasant Bay.
Last night while watching the premiere of Real Housewives of Rhode Island (the jury is still out on to whether we’ll keep watching it) we noticed Carson going nutty in the sun room. At first we thought he fell but when I went out there I could see what he was watching on the deck. At first I thought it was another cat because when he sees on of these he gets a little ornery but when my eyes adjusted better to the darkness and I saw it’s face it was unmistakable. It was a big ass racoon!
We don’t live to see all the ripples we make, but we must make them all the same.
I put on the plastic cover for the mirror this morning as it arrived last night. Seems to be ok now, little tricky getting it to snap in. Last night we watched an older movie called Bernie starring Jack Black. I had learned of it by watching a rerun of 48 Hours of all things. Basically it details the 1996 murder of 81-year-old widow Marjorie Nugent by Bernie Tiede, a popular assistant funeral director in Carthage, Texas, who shot her four times in the back and kept her in a freezer. The movie was a little weird but I was curious to watch it. It also stars Matthew McConaughey and Shirley McClain, If you have an hour and a half to kill it’s something to see.
As for Scarpetta, I thought it was pretty good. I thought the ending sucked though, maybe that’s why it gets middling grades. I also could have done without the space and Thor labs crap.
I noticed this morning after parking that the top cover to the rear view outside mirror of my car was totally gone, exposing the innards. Like, WTF? I checked it out and it doesn’t look broken or anything – where the heck did the assembly go? I don’t recall it breaking off or anything, although that must have been what happened? The actual mirror and assembly itself look and work fine, it’s just missing the plastic cover. Again, WTF?
Anyways I looked around on Amazon and ordered the part, should be here sometime tomorrow, and then I guess I’ll just snap it on. If it’s not one thing, it’s another but I never expected this.
John 12:14-15: Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’
Happy Palm Sunday Everyone!
Dropped off some donations, picked up some groceries, put together a new wire rack for the basement, and picked up our palms earlier today.
Currently Watching: Scarpetta on Amazon. Gets middling reviews but LD read most of the books and really likes it. It’s not at all.
Mr. History Post 16: Social Work Pioneer! Before gaining fame as a pilot for being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, Amelia Earhart worked as a social worker at a settlement house in Boston. She educated adults and young girls, organized women’s clubs, and coached girls’ sports. Amelia Earhart advocated for gender equality before becoming a trailblazer as a woman in a male-dominated field, insisting on fair treatment for female pilots.
We tried out our hands at working with glass last night. Originally we thought it was the blown glass class (which the place also does) but it ended up being the fused glass class. Still cool, but I did think we’d be turning our glass creations in the oven on a pole and all that. At first I was a little disappointed but I got over it pretty quick. Fused glass is basically you come up with a design and then cut and create your piece and stick it to the glass which then gets baked in the oven basically to set. I had a hard time coming up with a good concept for mine. I didn’t have much time to prepare and also this isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do, you seem to need a lot of patience. I need to work on myself more in that department! We’ll pick up out finished products next Saturday. It was cool that another of our couple friends was able to join us, they’re always fun! Afterwards we went out to dinner in town. The place is pretty cool though, I’d do it again – maybe next time the blown glass class! LOL!
That’s where I learn the Connecticut Sun were sold to a family in Houston Texas so after this upcoming season, they’ll be moving down there. Really stupid of the league to move them to a place where it failed before and there’s such a rabid fan base here already. We’ve seen it firsthand! Heartbreaking for Connecticut and all New England women’s sports fans. We could’ve had them at the Garden.(they always sell out there!)
Shamrock Shales!Shamrock ShakesDinner at Mary’sDrinking the Green Potion at the showTrying out the MetaQuest VR HeadsetHuh!?
Some stuff from the last week or so with more or less a “green” theme. Of course I had to get some vegan Shamrock Shakes down in Providence for LD and myself and to use the opportunity to show off my hat. Hanging out with dogs was cool and that MetaQuest was a fun distraction for a few minutes. While in Providence I noticed an ad for the play Next to Normal playing at a theater down there in the summer. I saw the play years ago in NYC with LD but I’d go see it again. I remember not really liking it because it felt too “real” but I do recall the music being very good. I’d probably appreciate the story more now then the person I was back then. I’ll try to update this post later with our “Mess Buckets!” Huh? You’ll see.
The mess!
As promised, the mess “bucket” from last night! What’s a MESS? It’s a mystery recipe, unique to Comella’s, made fresh every day. It’s a combination of pasta, cheese and sauce and it may contain bits of eggplant, lasagna, and shells!
We went down to Jersey this weekend, mostly to see a HS play, Shrek: The Musical because LD’s niece does a lot of the makeup for the actors. I got to say from what I’ve seen she does a pretty amazing job. Actually I was impressed with just how professional this production was in total, from the orchestra, to the actors, and the props – the dragon was freakin amazing! Are all high school plays of this quality nowadays? Like I said, I was really impressed. I’ve never even seen the movie Shrek so it was all new to me. Finished it all out with a visit to Mt Tabor for the great pizza.
Here’s a pic I took today of Zeppy, a dog that I’ve been taking care of for a neighbor now and again. He’s a little bit of a nut, but very sweet. Who knew I would become such a dog person?
Participating in the Cambridge Bike Winter Ride and then visiting some old haunts of mine on the way back. Schedule permitting I’ll do the spring ride in May or so. I always like going through the underpass just outside Harvard Square.
Yesterday’s games were truly exceptional. I was particularly impressed with Rae Burrell and the players from Vinyl BC. Kelsey Plum demonstrated remarkable clutch performance, and she will be a formidable opponent. Phantom proved to be exceptionally strong, even without AB.
In the second game, I initially believed Breeze would emerge victorious, with “Paige Buckets” delivering her usual outstanding performance, while Mist started the game at a significant disadvantage. However, Mist’s experience and composure proved to be a decisive advantage, which became evident in the closing moments.
Both contests were incredibly exciting, and I am thoroughly enjoying the Unrivaled League. I am looking forward to the finals on Wednesday. I am supporting Mist, as the team features the daughter of LD’s trainer. Go VB!
Oh forgot to mention! Went to Il Massimo last night to try out their Dine Out Boston Menu and it was really good, so props to them!
Hung out with some baby goats that we got to dress up in pjs yesterday and hung out with some of the other animals as well. This was a rescheduled meet since the original date got postponed because the weather was just too cold that day, so this actually worked out much better.
Been busy digging out from this historic snowstorm this week. Totally sucks but thankfully the next few days look to be much nicer.
Had my implant fixed this morning but there’s a couple of other issues that need addressing so I’ll be going back for a few more times over the next couple of months and then hopefully after all that I’ll be good to go for a long time.
Had a pretty fun Valentine Day weekend overall. We got to do a bunch of stuff, like get heart shaped pizzas from a local restaurant and trying breakfast at a place called the Purple Rooster, which we went to years ago when they were in a different location than they are now. Went to Like No Udder for some treats and I got a hoodie. Pretty chill. Got to learn the new car a little bit more, like what does what with the various infotainment screens.
Had a dentist appointment this morning, Have to go back next week. Something is up with an implant I had done 15 years or so ago. Nothing too major, think it just needs a little updating.
Hi folks! Haven’t been too many updates of late as there hasn’t been that much worthwhile to update with, but that should be changing as the weather is getting better and some hurdles are behind us. I have taken on caring for a neighbors dog now and again, so that’s new.
What a nerd.
This popped up in my head this morning and I can’t believe it’s been 30 years since this was taken! That’s me sitting at the computer during my days at Arthur D. Little doing AutoCAD work. I believe the image on the screen was the plume of contamination we were investigating at the time over at the Natick Army Labs. This was a promotional shot that the company wanted to do for some marketing or newsletter or some such.
Now that I think about it, ADL had their own photography lab people and would do all this stuff inhouse for their own newsletters that would go out to the employees. Who would ever do that! Of course that was before we got email and all that stuff. Memos would have to be written and printed and then someone from the mailroom would deliver the memo to our mailbox and then we would physically get it and work it out from there. They would reuse the same manila envelope but just cross off the previous office address and we’d write in the next space where we’d want it delivered to next. I had forgotten all this stuff but now it’s flooding back to me.
The white table like thing next to my right was the digitizing tablet. This big piece of tech that basically I could trace over hardcopies to get the images into a digital format that I could manipulate or use later. Generally a geologist would draw out what they needed on the hard copy, I would tape it to the tablet, calibrate the tablet, and then digitize the image they had drawn and get it into the computer. I must have drawn and created thousands of images in my time doing that kind of work. I would then save them as “Layers” which could be turned on and off on the figures to display different things, or to show change over time for instance. A lot of these finished drawings I would then print on a plotter, basically a giant printer. I must have printed thousands of plates that were 44″ x 34″. Then you had to physically cut the drawings to size with a razor and fold the maps to fit into pockets that would go into the reports. Everything was hard copy in those days!
Thank you Needham Police Department, Babson College, and Gabby Petito Foundation for raising awareness around the red flags of domestic abuse and how we can help survivors safely escape. What a powerful event. They had the parents of Gabby do a talk. We weren’t able to make it unfortunately but we were able to get some coins to help support the event and cause.
Between going into Boston a few times with Ubers to help LD out with her procedure to a dead car, which thankfully got all up and running again today, to this damn ass cold weather and snow everywhere, all I have to say is “Whew!” and grateful that everything worked out rather perfectly.
It was almost as if things started out as if something could go wrong, it did, but then things started to turn around and everything that could be a problem, worked itself out with the best possible outcomes, so I’ll take that as a win! Now we just need to get rid of this frigid weather and all this friggin snow laying around. It’s coming.
Currently Reading: Across the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle
After shoveling out this morning, which I actually had to go through the cellar and shimmy out the back gate because the doors to the house were snowed in shut, I can’t wait for this weather to return! ☀️
My knee and the back of my leg hurts – muscles I haven’t used in a while getting a workout. Now I hear there may be another big storm next weekend buit lets hope it goes another way – still too early to tell.
Went to go outside this morning to start dealing with the over foot of snow we got last night and couldn’t get out any of doors, the snow blocked it in! I was able to go thru the cellar and squeeze through the back yard gate though after a little digging. In the course of two outings I was able to get areas cleared and the cars dusted off and stuff. Took about 2 hours or so total. Here’s a pic from the back that gives you an idea of the snow levels so far. Oh yeah, we’re supposed to get a little more later!
The snow pretty much completely covered the fire pit, you can barely see it! This stuff kind of sucks but it did remind me of when I was a kid playing in the snow, especially this morning as I was trudging through the knee deep drifts.
We did spent a lot of yesterday cooking various things and soups so that was a good day for that. Also who would have thought that that Pats are Super bowl bound? I watched the game and it was pretty incredible!
