Some updates from recent life

Well, we certainly are moving out of Sudbury to Gorham Maine. We found a beautiful house, (Pictures Here) I feel like I've had a cold more or less since November 2004. I still have one.


maps.google.com is great. It's only a matter of time before Google takes over Microsoft and creates their own Nation.

I Find your lack of faith disturbing

hair boogies

Tess sits in my lap, looking up at me and says "Daddy, I have boogies in my dose.:
Then she puts her hands up, cradles my face in her hands, leans in close with a biiig smile and says "Daddy, you have HAIR boogies!" and starts laughing.


Really time to trim the nose hairs I think.

Secret Electical Rocket

For some reason, Nate's been all about "secret electical" stuff lately.

As for me, I've been sick for what seems like forever.

I have the flu!

Go, me.

Christmas eve, went bunny hunting early in the morning. Got there at an hour before sunrise or so, saw one rabbit on the walk in, but it was way too early to shoot. HE hopped almost up to me before I told him it was his lucky day, and kept walking. Saw nothing else that morning, other than some local crows and a flight of geese heading north for some reason.

Matt Nicole and Penelope came over later in the day, and Matt gave me a cool R'C plane. We flew it for 15 minutes or so until Nate crashed and had to be brougth home screaming. We lost the remote somehow so haven't been able to fly it again.

Christmas day- good fun, exhausting.

Nate has the runs, all the time

My five year old Nate is not physically capable of not running. He seems to be actually hardwired to run rather than walk. Maybe most five year olds are like this, I don't know. From one room to another, he runs, or at least jogs. From activity to activity, he runs. from house to car and vice versa, he runs. He tries to run at school in the halls, and is constantly told that he has to walk in the halls. He even runs in his sleep!

At night, when he wakes up and wants to either go to the bathroom, or find one of us, he runs. Even when he is so barely awake and can not even talk coherently, he starts to run. He'll stumble out of bed, barely able to stand upright, and start running for the bathroom. He'll do his business, slam shut the door, and run back to bed and crash in. And be asleep instantly.

We're trying to plan Christmas now, and who we will see when. Molly wants Sunday to be a kind of wind-down day, and wants to see Dad, Merge, Matt Nicole and Penelope on Christmas eve. Mom and Vic will be over Christmas morning, as per usual. I think I'd rather do nothing Christmas eve, and do an early morning sunday with the family, leaving the afternoon to decompress. We'll see.

Christmas list

The nice thing about no one in my family knowing about this blog is the secrets I can tell. Here's what I'm getting for people this year:

Molly: Health club membership.

She can bring the kids to this place, and they can play. It's a great setup. It's a thousand bucks. This one is going on a credit card, and I guess I'll have to do a lot of mileage at work to pay it off.

Nate: Toys. A cheapie electric train, to see if he like electric trains. A hovercopter. A toy helicopter rescue thing. A set of electronic drums.

Tess: No idea. Molly got her doll shit and stuff.

Dad: A surefire flashlight. He seemed to really like the one I got Matt for his birthday.

Merge: Photo stuff, a little collage in a frame from the beach last summer.

Mom: We agreed, in the spirit of de-cluttering, and relative poverty, to not give each other anything this year. They'll just do a couple small things for the kids.

Vic: Same. I had gotten him a Surefire flashlight too, but that was before we agreed to not give anything this year.

Matt: Benchmade knife. Looks nice, Vic says it's good quality.

Tom: Surefire flashlight.

So excited to give people things. Hopefully it will be a great Christmas. Can't wait to give Molly her present. :)

coffee tree

So I was at a gas station the other day, and being desperate for gas, I had to stop at a local joint that pumps the gas for you. I noticed the attendant, an older guy, repeatedly looking down at the back of my car with a puzzled look on his face.

I remembered I have an "All your base are belong to us" license plate frame.

Hell, it was sort of passe when I got it in 2001, now it's really old, but I guess it's still a mystery if you aren't part of tEh in4r-web.

It's one week 'till Christmas! I need to go get Molly's gift- a year's membership to the local health club. She can bring the kids, and they can play in a big, reasonably allergy-safe area so it might be cool.

Oh, and I shit my pants yesterday morning without realizing it. Had to sorta go, farted a few times, and one of the farts was of the liquid variety, but I didn't realize it 'till I went to go take a crap and saw the long brown stain! What the fuck was that about?

Yestderday was the anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge in 1945. May we remember their sacrafice, and celebrate what they won for freedom and out country.

golf vs. guns

I've decided that this blog would be a lot more fun if I knew I could do it anonymously.

It's a rainy dismal Saturday. I've already been out three time this morning, once to get trash bags, and twice to the dump.. Excuse me, Transfer Station. It's ten o'clock, the house is nice and warm, I have a chocolate muffin waiting for me that the kids don't know about, and I have to mildly take a shit.

I discovered something wierd about myself the other day. I often get the urge to hit annoying people with a golf club. Any time I'm confronted with an idiot, I have this vision in my head of picking up a club, sometimes a driver, sometimes an iron, and smacking them till the club breaks, then smacking them with whatever is left over.

When most people run into an annoying person, what I hear most from people is the desire to get a gun and shoot them. I own some guns, and I never get the urge to shoot anyone. My urge to punish idiots involves golf clubs, however, I don't golf and don't own any clubs at all.

Weird, huh?

Overheard in the Bathroom on Thanksgiving weekend:

Players: Nate, small boy. Cate, aunt.
Scene: Cabin, on Sugarloaf mountain, Thanksgiving weekend, 2004.

Nate:(In the bathroom) "Auntie Cate!!"

(Cate comes in from the living room)
Cate: "What is it, Natie?"

Nate: "The good news is you get to wipe my bottom! The bad news is that there's no toilet paper!"

(Stunned silence from Cate, then doubled over in laughter)

fin

Hunting Report

The hunting trip went off as planned over thanksgiving. Thanksgiving morning, I got up at 5 AM, (not unusual), and Brother-in-law Tom, along with Cousin Tom, all assembled in the living room. We piled all the gear into the truck, and got going.

We drove for a short bit on paved roads, the went off on a dirt road. Twenty minutes down the dirt road found out parking spot- a small turnoff from the dirt road. The road seemed to keep going, but we all got out of the truck. I had expected cold weather, so had brought long underwear, pants, and arctic insulated Carhartt bib and jacket and hood. As I put all these on, I noticed that it was actually rather warm. It was raining lightly however, so I figured I'd wear the stuff at least to keep the rain off. We loaded up and set out on foot.

It was sort of a long hike, uphill on the road, which narrowed to a wideish ATV trail. We hiked up it for about a half hour, and I was soaked with sweat. We arrived at the power lines, which we were to hunt on, and sent Cousin Tom down the path of the lines to set up a half mile or so away on a small hill, and BIL Tom and I would slow hunt through the woods on the right to either suprise a deer, or drive him toward Cousin Tom. At this point, I decided to ditch the insulated jacket, but as soon as I did, the rain, which had stopped for a while, started up again, so I elected to wear it to keep me dryer.

We got into the woods, within sight of each other, and waited for the legal time (one half hour before sunrise) to start hunting. We'd walk slowly through the woods for a couple of steps, the stop and look all around, then take another slow step, then look all around, etc. Takes a long while to cover ground this way, but is quiet and a good way to sneak up on deer.

It was beautiful in the woods there, and the going was more strenuous than I had imagined. in about half an hour, I ditched the arctic jacket because the rain had mostly stopped, I was soaked with sweat anyway, and was getting really hot. I fired up the GPS and got a waypoint on the jacket so I could find it later.

We saw a little sign, some deer scat and some tree scratchings, but nothing really fresh, no scrapes, etc., and certainly no deer. We walked for a long time, until I was barely able to lift a foot over one more log. We called it quits for the woods, and walked out to where Cousin Tom was- he hadn't seen anything either. At this point I ditched my insulated bib, and it was a huge relief. We decided to walk up to a hill where Tom had seen lots of sign a few weeks ago. This time there was nothing. I was quite tired bu this point, even though walking was easier without all the weighty insulated stuff on.

Around 9:30, we decided to get back and go home again. Collected the bib, and fired up the GPS to find the jacket. As I did, I found a path that had lots of sign, inclugin what looked like fresh scratching, but I just went in , got the jacket, and came back out. We went back to the path, and started down back to the truck.

Halfway there, Cousin Tom sees a snowshoe hare huddling on the side of the path, about ten feet away. Conversation breaks out as to wether to shoot it or now. BIL Tom says he can't because his wife Sally had a pet rabbit once, and it's the only thing he's not allowed to hunt. Cousin Tom wants to shoot it. I ask if it's in season. Consensus is, shoot it, but BIL Tom walks away to be no part of it.

Cousin Tom aims his rifle, and BANG!- misses the bunny, which hops off another fifteen feet to get between some trees. Tom get appropriate ribbing for missing such a close stationary bright white target. I tell him to put crosshairs above bunny's head, so the shot goes into his head. Tom goes up the embankment a couple of feet to get a shot again on stationary bunny. BANG! Rabbit dissapears. We both figure he got him, but upon investigation, no bunny was to be found. Tom gets additional ribbing for missing an easy shot twice.

Tom, the week before, had shot a 225 pound buck at 150 yards, clean kill, with the same gun. He tried to make me promise to keep the bunny incident a secret.

The next day we went partridge hunting with Nate and got skunked again, but that's another story.

phone bag

For hunting this year, I was going to use a gun to kill the deer, but I think I'd rather go back to using less traditional methods.

I plan on using a rubber band, some zipties and an old Richard Simmons workout tape to bag MY deer this season.

Some people say it's cruel to use the tape, but I say, hey, for the wild animal in the winter, would you rather they starve to death, get eaten alive by other carnivores, or have to watch the tape?

And you know, that's a really tough question.

hankie rumbling

The Patriots are on a roll again. Good to see them demolish another team at home.

Things are getting lined up for Thanksgiving weekend. I have the time off work, I have my hunting license all set up (ninety bucks- the most expensive part of this trip!), all my warm clothes, and hopefully all the stuff I need for hunting. All I have to do now is get my gun sighted in a little better.

I winterized the hot tub yesterday, hopefully there isn't any water left in it to destroy it when it froze last night. At least we are now saving the $50 or so per month it was costing us in electricity.

Veteran's Day

Yesterday was Veterans Day. While at work, I had been visiting a number of hospitals to connect some of our referring doctors. One time, the elevator opened to reveal a car half full of an all female Air force Honor Guard, complete with a few M1 Garands and a flag. It was great. You don't usually see really cool rifles in a hospital.

The Honor Guard was there for a ceremony that had just finished on one of the upper floors.

Early Morning Report

I haven't had a shower in three or four days.

Not that that has anything to do with anything, but I thought I'd share.

I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. The plan is, we are going up to Maine, to Sugarloaf, to Sally's Parent's condo. Nearby is the Martinelli's hunting/skiing camp. It will be just Tykie, Molly's siblings and me and the kids. I wish my family would be there too, but a 5 hour drive is a lot to ask.

We plan on doing some deer hunting while we're up there. That will be fun, it's something I've never done before. Can't wait to show off the Mosin-Nagant M44, with it's freshly mounted chapie red dot scope. I was at the range a few days ago, and at least I could hit an 8" circle or so with the red dot at 100 yards. Tom might be bringing me an old 20 guage to borrow for a while so I can hunt around home too this season.

Sounds like we're getting some snow this afternoon. It would be the first snow of the season!

Tess gets respect, inadvertently

Well, I've been remiss in blogging due to the elections and the crap flying all around as a result of same. Thank goodness it's over. :)

Yesterday, Nate and Tess were running up and down the hallway racing along. Nate runs past Tess, bowling her over onto the floor. She starts to cry, devastated that such fun has suddenly turned into such a bump (like it doesn't happen a hundred times a day). Nate rushes off and buries his head in the couch, obviously embarassed and not knowing what to do about it.

Molly comforts Tess, and calls over to Nate: "You know, you would feel better if you came over and asked Tess if she is okay".

Nate comes over: "What do I say?"

Molly: "Tess, are you okay? Can I give you a kiss to make you feel better?"

Nate: "Tess, are you okay? Can I give you a kiss to make you feel better?"

Tess stops crying, stands up, and says "Yes Nate. Right (she reaches around and points to her butt, on which she had fallen) HERE."

Molly falls on the floor laughing, Nate kisses Tess's ass, and they keep racing on.

Free! Garbage!

You know, it's amazing what people will grab when it has a "FREE" sign attached to it. Past places I've lived, you could put out an old, broken chair, a couch that had been physically sawn in half, a shadeless lamp, a lampless shade, or spare pieces of pipe, electical bits, and other detrius that collects in garages and basements, and once on the sidewalk, it would be gone within the hour. I've had people stop and take stuff before I had even made it back to the house after propping up the "free" sign.

I was a bit nervous here in Sudbury, because it's kind of a swanky neighborhood and they might frown on this sort of activity, but I spray-painted the word "FREE" on a couple of spare pieces of cardboard, and propped it up next to an old wicker loveseat and table that came with this house when we bought it. Under these was a wicker-type rug, ruined in some summertime rains. Next to this was the clonky old riding mower that I bought from my brother Matt after we moved in here. It has no brakes, and the throttle is stuck at full speed. Plus, lately, you can't mow for more than twenty minutes or so before it eats the belt that turns the mower blades. I only fill it up every so often with gas, but I have a steady supply of belts to keep it running.

Anyway, the mower disappeared after a day. The wicker junk left us after two days. I am quite happy, and my faith in people's strange need to get something, even if it's crap, even in a swanky neighborhood, is quite restored.

Medium-pimpin in da hoooood

There she is, my new ride. 1999 Audi A6 Quattro 2.8. 37,000 miles.

Not as fast as the subie, not as fun, but so much easier to drive, and it has the BLING and a few toys.

I was sad to see my beloved WRX go- my first, and so far, only new car, and the only car I've really loved. You know, in that special way. But it went to someone who had never had a Suabru, so it has a chance to become someone else's favorite car.

Already my new car has thrown a check engine light- pulled it, it's an air sensor flow meter. I'll bring it back to the shop if it comes back.

The Old Timer

Wednesday night I got the opportunity to go to the Old Timer in Clinton, MA.

The Old Timer is a small little restaraunt with an Irish theme to it. It's run by "Jimmy", a sad faced, quick witted man in his sixties.

One walks into the Old Timer, and goes down a dark, narrow hallway back to the main dining room. The Old Timer looks like it used to be a church, or a theatre, or a playhouse or something that was converted into a restaraunt. The lighting is yellow, there is lots of dark wood, and the seating reminds me of church pews turned to face each other. At one end, up high on the wall, is a large enclave, big enough to provide ample seating for midgets, or a large nativity scene (parts of which, including lights and fake snow, are present year-round).

On Roast Beef night, you are less than American if you don't order "The Buffet." The Buffet is small, including only corn fritters, green beans, Mashed Potato, and a huge honkin' slab of roast beef.

French cuisine it ain't, but the mashed potatos are good, and the roast beef is good, provided that you like roast beef. The old Timer's roast beef night isn't really about the food though, it's about the atmosphere.

Atmosphere is provided by Jimmy, in cook's whites, large apron and running sneakers, belting out traditional irish tunes, american tunes, show tunes, and whatever else comes into mind, while walking around the dining room, carving and serving the roast beef, and otherwise directing the activities in the dining room. Jimmy is accompanied by a pianist banging away on a baby grand set right behind the buffet. The music is like the food, solid, but not technically good, but it's not about the quality as much as the quantity, and the amount of good humor that comes out of it.

I had only been here once before, and I had forgotten how much dman fun it is! Did I mention that they have a really good selection of draft beers? Guinness, Harp, Bass, Sam Adams etc. are on tap, and help to out you in the mood for singing along with your mouth full, swaying back and forth and generally having a great time. With the beer and music and sense of fun, it's kind of like a bizarre Irish Octoberfest. I can't wait to go back.