today, i had a slight bout of insanity.
karen was working late tonight, so i had some time to kill before picking her up at the subway station. you'd think with the extra free time today, i would decide to do something fun or possibly take a nap or something. nope, i decided to go running today.
i haven't gone running in quite some time. because i have not run in quite some time, i figured today would be a good time to start. after all, i am apparently running a road race in four days. my favorite sister-in-law (janine) heard about a two mile road race in chelmsford on the fourth of july. the road race is known as the john carson road race (not to be confused with johnny carson... insert ed mcmahon's "yes!").
anyway, karen and i ran the john carson two mile road race several years ago. the race is actually pretty fun because 1) it's not that long (only two miles) and 2) people are all lined up along the course cheering you on. (there is a parade immediately following the road race so people line up early to get seats.) plus, there is always food after the race. food is always good.
needless to say, after hearing about the race, janine was excited to run the road race. i'm quite proud of janine. she seems to have made working out/losing weight a lifestyle change (and not a cyclical activity that most others fall prey to). so in support, karen and i said we'd run with her on the fourth of july.
so naturally, with the road race approaching in four days, i figured i had to start some sort of distance running. as i was in quincy and in need of a course to practice running on, there was only one course that i knew of... the degan road race course. unfortunately, the degan road race course that i know is 5k (which is a little over 3 miles).
thinking nothing about the distance, i started running the 5k course. i suck at running. of course, the heat and humidity did not help. i could never run in the humidity. add to the humidity, the fact that i was wearing flannel boxers... and you can imagine how dreadful today's run was. (don't ask me why i was wearing flannel boxers... they were the first things i grabbed this morning.)
all in all, my run today was downright awful. i had sweat pouring off of me; i was dehydrated; my knee started hurting with every stride midway through the course; my right quadriceps started tightening (from my dehydration i imagine). the only good news is that i finished the course. i actually think the degan 5k course is short of 5k as i had made a complete loop well within half an hour.
when all was said and done though, i'm glad i ran today. i just hope i'm not too sore (or injured) tomorrow.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
I Suck At Network Troubleshooting
a week ago today, my father-in-law received his father's day present... a new computer. whether it's my genetic disposition or my mad skills with my playstation 2, i was in charge of setting up the new computer. (apparently, that is my designated role... computer stuff.)
anyway, last week i could not get the computer to connect to the internet. the computer was recognizing the router. unfortunately, the router was not connecting to the internet. as i ran out of time last week, i had to leave the computer with its networking problems... until i could look further into the problem.
so today, i finally had the chance to visit my father-in-law to continue with the network troubleshooting. i suck at network troubleshooting. with ample time at my disposal today, i figured i would start from scratch. i would uninstall everything i did last week and attempt to set up the computer again.
needless to say, after installing the applications from the setup discs, the exact same symptom was occurring: the computer was connecting to the router; the router was not connecting to the internet. i logged into the router through the generic ip address to view its settings... everything with the router looked good... except for the fact that it was not connecting to the internet.
so finally, i had to break down and call verizon, who provide the dsl service to my father-in-law. i must say... that was the biggest waste of time. the verizon representative basically had me power cycle the router numerous times (power cycling is the fancy term for turning the thing off... and then turning it back on.) i had to try numerous locations throughout my father-in-law's place because the verizon representative thought the phone jack was the cause of the problem. (the router kept indicating that it could not connect to the internet at the various locations.)
after a long while, the router miraculously indicated it could connect to the internet at one of the previous locations. so from there, the verizon representative transferred me to their network specialist. i must say... that was an even bigger waste of time. even though the router could now connect to the internet, my father-in-law's computer could still not connect to the internet via the router.
luckily, i had my laptop with me. i used my laptop to connect to the router and everything appeared to be working fine. the verizon network specialist sent me a link so that i could share my laptop with him so that he could diagnose the problem. well, the verizon network specialist took over my laptop and went to view the router settings. the router settings looked good.
then, the verizon network specialist suggested something that totally annoyed me. because he did not have an answer as to why my father-in-law's computer could not connect to the internet via the router whereas my laptop could, he asked me to google a solution with my laptop.
i think the reason why that suggestion annoyed me so much is because i could have done that a long while ago and not wasted almost three hours of my time with the power cycling, the computer sharing, etc. i could have used my laptop from the beginning and jump on someone else's network to google an answer. i assumed it would be quicker to contact a verizon representative who was familiar with their own network. apparently, had i known the network specialist was just going to tell me to google the answer, i would not have even bothered to contact them.
needless to say, i thanked the verizon network specialist for his time. in all honesty, i think "network specialist" may be the wrong title for this verizon representative.
anyway, with the lack of help received from verizon and the wasted amount of time spent with verizon, i decided to simply "play" around with my father-in-law's computer and its network settings. i should have trusted myself and done this earlier because it took me no time to actually get the computer up and running. the computer now connects to the internet via the router.
afterwards, i had a quick training session with my father-in-law on how to connect to the internet and all that. when i got home, i was so annoyed with verizon that i decided to go out for dinner with karen. we went to "not your average joe's" (of course), which interestingly enough did not have the two things karen had ordered... perhaps today was just one of those days... in which someday i'll look back on this and laugh. we'll see.
anyway, last week i could not get the computer to connect to the internet. the computer was recognizing the router. unfortunately, the router was not connecting to the internet. as i ran out of time last week, i had to leave the computer with its networking problems... until i could look further into the problem.
so today, i finally had the chance to visit my father-in-law to continue with the network troubleshooting. i suck at network troubleshooting. with ample time at my disposal today, i figured i would start from scratch. i would uninstall everything i did last week and attempt to set up the computer again.
needless to say, after installing the applications from the setup discs, the exact same symptom was occurring: the computer was connecting to the router; the router was not connecting to the internet. i logged into the router through the generic ip address to view its settings... everything with the router looked good... except for the fact that it was not connecting to the internet.
so finally, i had to break down and call verizon, who provide the dsl service to my father-in-law. i must say... that was the biggest waste of time. the verizon representative basically had me power cycle the router numerous times (power cycling is the fancy term for turning the thing off... and then turning it back on.) i had to try numerous locations throughout my father-in-law's place because the verizon representative thought the phone jack was the cause of the problem. (the router kept indicating that it could not connect to the internet at the various locations.)
after a long while, the router miraculously indicated it could connect to the internet at one of the previous locations. so from there, the verizon representative transferred me to their network specialist. i must say... that was an even bigger waste of time. even though the router could now connect to the internet, my father-in-law's computer could still not connect to the internet via the router.
luckily, i had my laptop with me. i used my laptop to connect to the router and everything appeared to be working fine. the verizon network specialist sent me a link so that i could share my laptop with him so that he could diagnose the problem. well, the verizon network specialist took over my laptop and went to view the router settings. the router settings looked good.
then, the verizon network specialist suggested something that totally annoyed me. because he did not have an answer as to why my father-in-law's computer could not connect to the internet via the router whereas my laptop could, he asked me to google a solution with my laptop.
i think the reason why that suggestion annoyed me so much is because i could have done that a long while ago and not wasted almost three hours of my time with the power cycling, the computer sharing, etc. i could have used my laptop from the beginning and jump on someone else's network to google an answer. i assumed it would be quicker to contact a verizon representative who was familiar with their own network. apparently, had i known the network specialist was just going to tell me to google the answer, i would not have even bothered to contact them.
needless to say, i thanked the verizon network specialist for his time. in all honesty, i think "network specialist" may be the wrong title for this verizon representative.
anyway, with the lack of help received from verizon and the wasted amount of time spent with verizon, i decided to simply "play" around with my father-in-law's computer and its network settings. i should have trusted myself and done this earlier because it took me no time to actually get the computer up and running. the computer now connects to the internet via the router.
afterwards, i had a quick training session with my father-in-law on how to connect to the internet and all that. when i got home, i was so annoyed with verizon that i decided to go out for dinner with karen. we went to "not your average joe's" (of course), which interestingly enough did not have the two things karen had ordered... perhaps today was just one of those days... in which someday i'll look back on this and laugh. we'll see.
I Suck At Hot Amy's Cookout
after leaving my friend's (meredith) cookout, karen and i headed to my other friend's (hot amy) cookout. i suck at hot amy's cookout.
in fact, this year's cookout at hot amy's was a little different. for starters, my friend (andrea) was not going to be there. andrea is hot amy's bff. she absolutely loves hot amy's annual cookout. unfortunately, she had a wedding to attend to down in the cape. she usually makes a chocolate trifle for the occasion. luckily, there was still a chocolate trifle there today. (yum-o!)
another strange thing i noticed was that hot amy's high school or middle school portrait was taken down from its usual spot on the wall. i get a kick out of looking at that portrait. in fact, the trouble maker that i am, i took a picture of that portrait last year with my bff kerry with my camera. i had to take so many pictures of that portrait that night because the picture was not coming out correctly. (the picture i took still doesn't really look right.)
the other oddity about the cookout today was the apparent misting and fog (proof again that mother nature does not like me). anyway, the fog was so thick that watching fireworks was nearly impossible. when the fireworks were going off, all i could think of was my friend (jen) doing her interpretive dancing to the fireworks... because i couldn't actually see the fireworks... so i had to imagine something. (even though jen has pretty good rhythm... unlike the rhythmically challenged hot amy... i don't normally think about jen doing interpretive dancing. jen happened to do some interpretive dancing a couple of years ago to the fireworks.)
despite the oddities, i had fun at the cookout. when karen and i first pulled up to hot amy's place, we happened to see my other friends (bill, jen, and my bff kerry). we basically hung around, ate more food, and had fun. my friend (carlos) also came, as did hot amy's friends (sandy and erin). (i had the privilege of being the only one in the group to have met erin prior to the cookout.)
anyway, one of the more interesting events of the night was the donut competition. basically, donuts were hung from strings and the competitors had to eat the entire donut.
(below is the donut competition.)
even though carlos had never done the competition before, he won the event. it will probably be the only time he wins at a hot amy sponsored event because... like hot amy... he will lose when it comes to competing against me. (hot amy and i have a mac 'n cheese wager based on billiards... in that i will be playing carlos in billiards and if carlos wins the game, hot amy will win the wager. yes, carlos has been pimped out to do hot amy's evil bidding.) for the record, i suck at billiards... so this will be interesting.
anyway, hot amy's cookout was a fun time. whether it was having my sneakers smoke by sitting too close to the fire or watching the donut competition, i thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with everyone.
in fact, this year's cookout at hot amy's was a little different. for starters, my friend (andrea) was not going to be there. andrea is hot amy's bff. she absolutely loves hot amy's annual cookout. unfortunately, she had a wedding to attend to down in the cape. she usually makes a chocolate trifle for the occasion. luckily, there was still a chocolate trifle there today. (yum-o!)
another strange thing i noticed was that hot amy's high school or middle school portrait was taken down from its usual spot on the wall. i get a kick out of looking at that portrait. in fact, the trouble maker that i am, i took a picture of that portrait last year with my bff kerry with my camera. i had to take so many pictures of that portrait that night because the picture was not coming out correctly. (the picture i took still doesn't really look right.)
the other oddity about the cookout today was the apparent misting and fog (proof again that mother nature does not like me). anyway, the fog was so thick that watching fireworks was nearly impossible. when the fireworks were going off, all i could think of was my friend (jen) doing her interpretive dancing to the fireworks... because i couldn't actually see the fireworks... so i had to imagine something. (even though jen has pretty good rhythm... unlike the rhythmically challenged hot amy... i don't normally think about jen doing interpretive dancing. jen happened to do some interpretive dancing a couple of years ago to the fireworks.)
despite the oddities, i had fun at the cookout. when karen and i first pulled up to hot amy's place, we happened to see my other friends (bill, jen, and my bff kerry). we basically hung around, ate more food, and had fun. my friend (carlos) also came, as did hot amy's friends (sandy and erin). (i had the privilege of being the only one in the group to have met erin prior to the cookout.)
anyway, one of the more interesting events of the night was the donut competition. basically, donuts were hung from strings and the competitors had to eat the entire donut.
(below is the donut competition.)
even though carlos had never done the competition before, he won the event. it will probably be the only time he wins at a hot amy sponsored event because... like hot amy... he will lose when it comes to competing against me. (hot amy and i have a mac 'n cheese wager based on billiards... in that i will be playing carlos in billiards and if carlos wins the game, hot amy will win the wager. yes, carlos has been pimped out to do hot amy's evil bidding.) for the record, i suck at billiards... so this will be interesting.
anyway, hot amy's cookout was a fun time. whether it was having my sneakers smoke by sitting too close to the fire or watching the donut competition, i thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with everyone.
I Suck At Meredith's Cookout
today was one of those days where karen and i were overbooked.
in fact this overbooking will probably be an annual tradition because of the fireworks celebration for the fourth of july. this year's fireworks celebration took place today. (the fireworks are ignited from wessagusset beach in weymouth. i believe braintree also had fireworks today too.)
as it turns out, my friend (meredith) lives in weymouth. my other friend (hot amy) lives in quincy... in particular, hough's neck... which overlooks the water. anyway, both of them usually have an annual cookout. thus, karen and i try to make both of them within the given day.
after a brief visit from my friend (andrea), karen and i started the cookout/fireworks celebration at meredith's. (andrea stopped by on her way to the cape to borrow some dvds of the show "lost"... such a good show... she's addicted now to the show.)
after picking up my friends (marc and kelley), we headed off to meredith's cookout. i suck at meredith's cookout. as usual, i stuffed myself silly. i couldn't resist the tempting food. in particular, i couldn't resist the corn on the cob.
(pictured below is kelley and marc at the cookout.)
in the event anyone is curious, meredith grills great tasting corn on the cob. apparently, her secret recipe (although it really isn't a secret) involves buttering the corn, adding salt and pepper, and wrapping the corn on the cob in tin foil, before throwing it on the grill. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)
needless to say, i ate three ears of corn. i'm sure my bowels will thank me later for eating three ears of corn. i couldn't resist the yellow goodness (which is something you won't hear me say a lot... not just because of my affinity for asians... just kidding). the corn on the cob was very delicious.
don't get me wrong, i didn't stuff myself purely on corn alone. i had a cheeseburger, a hot dog, some chicken wings, and kielbasa too. dr. atkins would have been proud of me... well, if it weren't for the corn. yum... corn. i probably would have eaten more than three ears of corn had i not had another cookout to attend.
nonetheless, it was great to see meredith. she is a true sweetheart and i had a great time at her cookout. plus, hanging out with my friends is also a bonus.
in fact this overbooking will probably be an annual tradition because of the fireworks celebration for the fourth of july. this year's fireworks celebration took place today. (the fireworks are ignited from wessagusset beach in weymouth. i believe braintree also had fireworks today too.)
as it turns out, my friend (meredith) lives in weymouth. my other friend (hot amy) lives in quincy... in particular, hough's neck... which overlooks the water. anyway, both of them usually have an annual cookout. thus, karen and i try to make both of them within the given day.
after a brief visit from my friend (andrea), karen and i started the cookout/fireworks celebration at meredith's. (andrea stopped by on her way to the cape to borrow some dvds of the show "lost"... such a good show... she's addicted now to the show.)
after picking up my friends (marc and kelley), we headed off to meredith's cookout. i suck at meredith's cookout. as usual, i stuffed myself silly. i couldn't resist the tempting food. in particular, i couldn't resist the corn on the cob.
(pictured below is kelley and marc at the cookout.)
in the event anyone is curious, meredith grills great tasting corn on the cob. apparently, her secret recipe (although it really isn't a secret) involves buttering the corn, adding salt and pepper, and wrapping the corn on the cob in tin foil, before throwing it on the grill. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)
needless to say, i ate three ears of corn. i'm sure my bowels will thank me later for eating three ears of corn. i couldn't resist the yellow goodness (which is something you won't hear me say a lot... not just because of my affinity for asians... just kidding). the corn on the cob was very delicious.
don't get me wrong, i didn't stuff myself purely on corn alone. i had a cheeseburger, a hot dog, some chicken wings, and kielbasa too. dr. atkins would have been proud of me... well, if it weren't for the corn. yum... corn. i probably would have eaten more than three ears of corn had i not had another cookout to attend.
nonetheless, it was great to see meredith. she is a true sweetheart and i had a great time at her cookout. plus, hanging out with my friends is also a bonus.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
I Suck At The 1727 Old Town House
today, i finally finished the marblehead walking tour that i had downloaded from marblehead's chamber of commerce website (complete with accompanying marblehead map). the download from the chamber of commerce website was an .mp3 file that could be listened to via the ipod. (basically, someone narrates the tour while you walk around marblehead.)
i must say, i'm glad that the walking tour is finally over. even though i enjoyed sight-seeing and learning about the town of marblehead, i felt a little silly standing by myself in front of certain residential houses or whatnot, looking at the exterior of the house, and listening to my ipod of the downloaded walking tour with map in hand. for anyone who did not know i was doing the walking tour (which is the entire population of marblehead), i must have appeared to be that strange creepy guy.
regardless, there really was not much to see today. after a while, every old house looks like the next one. don't get me wrong, the old houses of marblehead look amazing with its exquisite details and whatnot. (not to sound old, but things were definitely built better back in the day... the fact that these old houses are still standing and inhabitable is a testament to that.) if i were into architecture more, perhaps i could truly appreciate the house designs. as it is, all i can really say is... "that's a pretty house".
anyway, the highlight from today is the 1727 old town house (yes, it was a slow day). now i suck at the 1727 old town house. the old town house is apparently referred to as "marblehead's cradle of liberty" because there were many pre-revolutionary war meetings held there. it is also one of the oldest town halls in america that is still in use.
(pictured below is the 1727 old town house.)
it's funny. everything in marblehead is "old". there's the old brig; the old burial hill; the old north church (not the one in boston); the old town house. (i wonder at what point does the moniker "old" get used. when i reach that point, i may want to refer to myself as "old mike".) anyway, i guess the whole historic thing is what gives marblehead its charm. marblehead is like trip back in time.
needless to say, i had fun walking around marblehead and getting to know the town. now if only i can sell my friends on that picnic idea.
i must say, i'm glad that the walking tour is finally over. even though i enjoyed sight-seeing and learning about the town of marblehead, i felt a little silly standing by myself in front of certain residential houses or whatnot, looking at the exterior of the house, and listening to my ipod of the downloaded walking tour with map in hand. for anyone who did not know i was doing the walking tour (which is the entire population of marblehead), i must have appeared to be that strange creepy guy.
regardless, there really was not much to see today. after a while, every old house looks like the next one. don't get me wrong, the old houses of marblehead look amazing with its exquisite details and whatnot. (not to sound old, but things were definitely built better back in the day... the fact that these old houses are still standing and inhabitable is a testament to that.) if i were into architecture more, perhaps i could truly appreciate the house designs. as it is, all i can really say is... "that's a pretty house".
anyway, the highlight from today is the 1727 old town house (yes, it was a slow day). now i suck at the 1727 old town house. the old town house is apparently referred to as "marblehead's cradle of liberty" because there were many pre-revolutionary war meetings held there. it is also one of the oldest town halls in america that is still in use.
(pictured below is the 1727 old town house.)
it's funny. everything in marblehead is "old". there's the old brig; the old burial hill; the old north church (not the one in boston); the old town house. (i wonder at what point does the moniker "old" get used. when i reach that point, i may want to refer to myself as "old mike".) anyway, i guess the whole historic thing is what gives marblehead its charm. marblehead is like trip back in time.
needless to say, i had fun walking around marblehead and getting to know the town. now if only i can sell my friends on that picnic idea.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
I Suck At Old Burial Hill
today was day three of my walking tour of marblehead. i didn't know there would be that many things to see around the town of marblehead. lucky for me, the weather was beautiful today for my tour.
anyway, today i got to see the town wharf, lovis cove, fort sewall (again), the gas house beach, the old burial hill, redd's pond, the old north church (not the one in boston), and the elbridge gerry house (for anyone who is curious, elbridge gerry was a signer of the declaration of independence. he was also one of three men who refused to sign the constitution unless it had a bill of rights. he was also the 5th vice president of the united states under james madison and a governor of massachusetts. he is also the namesake for "gerrymandering", a process by which electoral districts are drawn with the aim of aiding the party in power. yes, it's that elbridge gerry who was born in marblehead.) interestingly enough... with all the places seen today, i still have yet to complete the entire tour. i am guessing that i have one more day left before completing the walking tour of marblehead.
the highlight from today is the old burial hill. (the actual highlight would have been fort sewall had i not already visited fort sewall earlier.) anyway i suck at old burial hill. i've never been one for graveyards. i always thought it was a little odd to take pictures of graveyards. and yet, i couldn't resist taking a picture myself because it was... well... pretty... and i like pretty things. i have also been known to be drawn to shiny objects.
(pictured below is the old burial hill.)
apparently, old burial hill is one of the most picturesque graveyards in new england as it has views of marblehead harbor. old burial hill is also the burial site of approximately 600 revolutionary soldiers. (i don't know how they all fit up there because the place is not that big.) even though there are 600 soldiers buried there, only a few of those graves are marked. the place apparently was also the site of the first meeting house in marblehead... i can't think of a better place to meet than a graveyard...
needless to say, even though old burial hill is quite scenic and pretty, i would still choose fort sewall and crocker park for a picnic with my friends.
anyway, today i got to see the town wharf, lovis cove, fort sewall (again), the gas house beach, the old burial hill, redd's pond, the old north church (not the one in boston), and the elbridge gerry house (for anyone who is curious, elbridge gerry was a signer of the declaration of independence. he was also one of three men who refused to sign the constitution unless it had a bill of rights. he was also the 5th vice president of the united states under james madison and a governor of massachusetts. he is also the namesake for "gerrymandering", a process by which electoral districts are drawn with the aim of aiding the party in power. yes, it's that elbridge gerry who was born in marblehead.) interestingly enough... with all the places seen today, i still have yet to complete the entire tour. i am guessing that i have one more day left before completing the walking tour of marblehead.
the highlight from today is the old burial hill. (the actual highlight would have been fort sewall had i not already visited fort sewall earlier.) anyway i suck at old burial hill. i've never been one for graveyards. i always thought it was a little odd to take pictures of graveyards. and yet, i couldn't resist taking a picture myself because it was... well... pretty... and i like pretty things. i have also been known to be drawn to shiny objects.
(pictured below is the old burial hill.)
apparently, old burial hill is one of the most picturesque graveyards in new england as it has views of marblehead harbor. old burial hill is also the burial site of approximately 600 revolutionary soldiers. (i don't know how they all fit up there because the place is not that big.) even though there are 600 soldiers buried there, only a few of those graves are marked. the place apparently was also the site of the first meeting house in marblehead... i can't think of a better place to meet than a graveyard...
needless to say, even though old burial hill is quite scenic and pretty, i would still choose fort sewall and crocker park for a picnic with my friends.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
I Suck At Crocker Park
today, i covered a lot of ground during my continuation of the walking tour of marblehead. as luck would have it, the rain did not come until after my lunch break. i guess mother nature felt bad for me yesterday.
picking up from where i left off (the abbot house), i visited the mansion of col. jeremiah lee a few blocks down. apparently, col. jeremiah lee was the wealthiest man in massachusetts in 1771. he was a merchant who owned one of the largest fleets of vessels at the time. in addition to leading such a tough life as the wealthiest man, col. jeremiah lee served on the revolutionary committee responsible for amassing men, supplies, food, provisions, and weapons for rebel militia companies in massachusetts. apparenly, he also did a lot of undercover activities like procuring weapons from france and spain and meeting with john hancock and sam adams. unfortunately, he had an early death and was thus thrown into historical obscurity (just not in marblehead of course).
from there, i visited the king hooper mansion. king hooper was not a king, although he was a wealthy shipping merchant. (i am thinking everyone in marblehead was wealthy.) robert hooper was given the title "king" by local seamen because of his reputation for being fair. king hooper mansion is currently the home of the marblehead arts assocation. so, there are tons of paintings and artwork throughout the mansion. the main attraction of king hooper mansion is the basement. (yes, i know, it sounds like a cheap ploy to lure people for some x-rated activity.) the basement is... simply old. there's an old kettle and fireplace down there... and some hanky panky action... just kidding.
along the way, there were other interesting looking houses. one of the more interesting houses was herreschoff castle, which is a residential home built to look like... a castle. it looked neat.
the most attractive site today, however, was crocker park. yes, i suck at crocker park. crocker park has some amazing views of marblehead harbor. the park was originally known as bartoll's head, but was renamed after uriel crocker who donated a large portion of the land to marblehead.
(pictured below is the view from crocker park.)
one of the things i actually like about crocker park is that there is a bench known as "bud's bench". according to the plaque on bud's bench, bud courted his wife on the bench. the bench was his favorite spot because of the happiness he found in his marriage and life. there is even a quote from bud: "do a good deed every day and find something to smile about". it's a very nice quote.
needless to say, i'd settle for a picnic at crocker park as well.
picking up from where i left off (the abbot house), i visited the mansion of col. jeremiah lee a few blocks down. apparently, col. jeremiah lee was the wealthiest man in massachusetts in 1771. he was a merchant who owned one of the largest fleets of vessels at the time. in addition to leading such a tough life as the wealthiest man, col. jeremiah lee served on the revolutionary committee responsible for amassing men, supplies, food, provisions, and weapons for rebel militia companies in massachusetts. apparenly, he also did a lot of undercover activities like procuring weapons from france and spain and meeting with john hancock and sam adams. unfortunately, he had an early death and was thus thrown into historical obscurity (just not in marblehead of course).
from there, i visited the king hooper mansion. king hooper was not a king, although he was a wealthy shipping merchant. (i am thinking everyone in marblehead was wealthy.) robert hooper was given the title "king" by local seamen because of his reputation for being fair. king hooper mansion is currently the home of the marblehead arts assocation. so, there are tons of paintings and artwork throughout the mansion. the main attraction of king hooper mansion is the basement. (yes, i know, it sounds like a cheap ploy to lure people for some x-rated activity.) the basement is... simply old. there's an old kettle and fireplace down there... and some hanky panky action... just kidding.
along the way, there were other interesting looking houses. one of the more interesting houses was herreschoff castle, which is a residential home built to look like... a castle. it looked neat.
the most attractive site today, however, was crocker park. yes, i suck at crocker park. crocker park has some amazing views of marblehead harbor. the park was originally known as bartoll's head, but was renamed after uriel crocker who donated a large portion of the land to marblehead.
(pictured below is the view from crocker park.)
one of the things i actually like about crocker park is that there is a bench known as "bud's bench". according to the plaque on bud's bench, bud courted his wife on the bench. the bench was his favorite spot because of the happiness he found in his marriage and life. there is even a quote from bud: "do a good deed every day and find something to smile about". it's a very nice quote.
needless to say, i'd settle for a picnic at crocker park as well.
Monday, June 23, 2008
I Suck At Abbot Hall
after today, i am considering a career change. i am thinking that i should work for the post office. after all, "neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor heat of day nor dark of night shall keep this carrier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds." in this case, my appointed rounds is the marblehead walking tour.
(in case any of you are curious, the above quote is from the greek historian, herodotus. it is not the official slogan of the postal service. the us postal service does not have an official slogan. apparently, the reason the quote is associated with the post office is because the new york city general post office has herodotus's saying engraved all around it... and it just stuck.)
anyway, i started my walking tour around the town of marblehead during my lunch break. even though it was raining, i was not going to let the weather stop me. all right, so maybe i was not thinking correctly when i decided to go walking in the rain. it wouldn't be the first time that i got caught in the pouring rain during work hours. i was just so excited about learning about the town of marblehead that i was determined to see the sights. too bad i began the tour by getting lost through the mean streets of marblehead.
when i finally found my way, i ended up at abbot hall. now, i suck at abbot hall. i've never been to abbot hall... in part because i've never been to the town of marblehead up until my new job there.
according to my friend wikipedia, "Abbot Hall contains the original of the widely-reproduced Spirit of '76 painting by Archibald MacNeal Willard, the deed to Marblehead from the Nanapashemet tribe of Native Americans (dated 1684), and a number of other historical artifacts." one of the other intriguing things about abbot hall is that it has a huge clock tower with a functional clock that is wound weekly.
(pictured below is the famous spirit of '76 paining... also known as yankee doodle.)
i must say... the painting... is ginormous. it takes up almost the entire wall of the room. the painting really is quite patriotic (which i suppose it is meant to be since it is commemorating us indenpendence). i believe the model for the old man in the picture is willard's father; the fifer a friend and civil war veteran hugh moser; and the drummer a military school cadet from cleveland named harry deveraux. there is actually a painting of general deveraux also in the room. unfortunately, i forget how he is related to the town of marblehead (other than being the inspiration for the drummer boy).
anyway, after abbot hall i had to return back to work. (i spent too much time wandering around the mean streets of marblehead looking for the starting point of the walking tour in the rain. i realized i was headed in the wrong direction when i noticed i was exiting the entire town of marblehead.)
needless to say, i'm looking forward to continuing with the rest of the walking tour. i'm hoping to learn more about the town of marblehead.
(in case any of you are curious, the above quote is from the greek historian, herodotus. it is not the official slogan of the postal service. the us postal service does not have an official slogan. apparently, the reason the quote is associated with the post office is because the new york city general post office has herodotus's saying engraved all around it... and it just stuck.)
anyway, i started my walking tour around the town of marblehead during my lunch break. even though it was raining, i was not going to let the weather stop me. all right, so maybe i was not thinking correctly when i decided to go walking in the rain. it wouldn't be the first time that i got caught in the pouring rain during work hours. i was just so excited about learning about the town of marblehead that i was determined to see the sights. too bad i began the tour by getting lost through the mean streets of marblehead.
when i finally found my way, i ended up at abbot hall. now, i suck at abbot hall. i've never been to abbot hall... in part because i've never been to the town of marblehead up until my new job there.
according to my friend wikipedia, "Abbot Hall contains the original of the widely-reproduced Spirit of '76 painting by Archibald MacNeal Willard, the deed to Marblehead from the Nanapashemet tribe of Native Americans (dated 1684), and a number of other historical artifacts." one of the other intriguing things about abbot hall is that it has a huge clock tower with a functional clock that is wound weekly.
(pictured below is the famous spirit of '76 paining... also known as yankee doodle.)
i must say... the painting... is ginormous. it takes up almost the entire wall of the room. the painting really is quite patriotic (which i suppose it is meant to be since it is commemorating us indenpendence). i believe the model for the old man in the picture is willard's father; the fifer a friend and civil war veteran hugh moser; and the drummer a military school cadet from cleveland named harry deveraux. there is actually a painting of general deveraux also in the room. unfortunately, i forget how he is related to the town of marblehead (other than being the inspiration for the drummer boy).
anyway, after abbot hall i had to return back to work. (i spent too much time wandering around the mean streets of marblehead looking for the starting point of the walking tour in the rain. i realized i was headed in the wrong direction when i noticed i was exiting the entire town of marblehead.)
needless to say, i'm looking forward to continuing with the rest of the walking tour. i'm hoping to learn more about the town of marblehead.
I Still Suck At Father's Day
due to unforeseen circumstances this past week, karen and i celebrated father's day yesterday (with her father). luckily, i still suck at father's day.
we had met up with my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and her family. it's always a treat to see my niece and nephew (kaleigh and pj, respectively). it actually seemed like kaleigh and pj were in rare form yesterday. it was as though both of them were on sugar-highs... before actually eating any sugar. in fact, i'm not sure pj ever paused when he spoke. he just kept going on and on... much like the energizer bunny.
(pictured below is kaleigh in her attempt to hide behind the couch. my brother-in-law pj is in the background.)
needless to say, dinner was great (sausage casserole). kaleigh seemed to have immensely enjoyed the meal. she got her forearm in a piece of yogurt pie that she licked off. she had brownie chunks all in her teeth and fingers. it was very interesting to watch.
afterwards, all of us gave my father-in-law his present, which was a new computer. he has been using an old computer for quite some time to do things like surf the web and download pictures from his digital camera. i think that computer was created before the dawn of time... the dawn of time being the year 2000. that is how old the computer is. because the computer was so old, it did not even have a cd burner or a dvd burner on it, which my father-in-law really wanted so that he could burn pictures to a disc and share them with his friends.
so, rather than getting him just a burner, all of us decided to get him a new computer. my father-in-law was amazed at how fast the new computer was (which in comparison to the old computer must have made it seem lightning fast.)
needless to say, i spent the rest of the time setting up his computer and installing software. (apparently, that is what i do... that is my "role" according to my in-laws... computer stuff...) unfortunately, i could not get the computer to connect to the internet. the computer was recognizing the router. it just was not connecting to the internet. as it turns out, my father-in-law says that happens a lot with their dsl. as i did not finish yesterday, i'll have to check in with him again later today to see if the computer can connect to the internet.
i was actually pleasantly surprised to receive a present from my in-laws as well. they gave me a survival guide for fathers-to-be. i loved it. although i haven't read the guide yet, i wonder if there is a section on dealing with pregnant women. just kidding.
anyway, last night was good. i think everyone had a good time which was probably needed by my in-laws.
we had met up with my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and her family. it's always a treat to see my niece and nephew (kaleigh and pj, respectively). it actually seemed like kaleigh and pj were in rare form yesterday. it was as though both of them were on sugar-highs... before actually eating any sugar. in fact, i'm not sure pj ever paused when he spoke. he just kept going on and on... much like the energizer bunny.
(pictured below is kaleigh in her attempt to hide behind the couch. my brother-in-law pj is in the background.)
needless to say, dinner was great (sausage casserole). kaleigh seemed to have immensely enjoyed the meal. she got her forearm in a piece of yogurt pie that she licked off. she had brownie chunks all in her teeth and fingers. it was very interesting to watch.
afterwards, all of us gave my father-in-law his present, which was a new computer. he has been using an old computer for quite some time to do things like surf the web and download pictures from his digital camera. i think that computer was created before the dawn of time... the dawn of time being the year 2000. that is how old the computer is. because the computer was so old, it did not even have a cd burner or a dvd burner on it, which my father-in-law really wanted so that he could burn pictures to a disc and share them with his friends.
so, rather than getting him just a burner, all of us decided to get him a new computer. my father-in-law was amazed at how fast the new computer was (which in comparison to the old computer must have made it seem lightning fast.)
needless to say, i spent the rest of the time setting up his computer and installing software. (apparently, that is what i do... that is my "role" according to my in-laws... computer stuff...) unfortunately, i could not get the computer to connect to the internet. the computer was recognizing the router. it just was not connecting to the internet. as it turns out, my father-in-law says that happens a lot with their dsl. as i did not finish yesterday, i'll have to check in with him again later today to see if the computer can connect to the internet.
i was actually pleasantly surprised to receive a present from my in-laws as well. they gave me a survival guide for fathers-to-be. i loved it. although i haven't read the guide yet, i wonder if there is a section on dealing with pregnant women. just kidding.
anyway, last night was good. i think everyone had a good time which was probably needed by my in-laws.
Friday, June 20, 2008
I Suck At Fort Sewall
today was day five of my new job.
during lunch, i decided that it was time. it's been five days now... i'm a big boy now. i can do it. so, today during lunch i psyched myself up and decided to go out for lunch by myself. (previously, i have only been out to lunch with my coworkers or not at all.)
i ended up walking down to marblehead harbor to see what was around my place of employment. after all, i know nothing about the town of marblehead other than the fact that commuting there from my home takes quite a long time.
i generally try to acquaint myself with my surroundings. usually during vacations or whatnot, i take walks around where i stay (like hawaii or washington dc, etc.) to familiarize myself with the area. work is no different. when i worked in town, it was great. there were so many things to see and do in town.
so, today i decided to walk around marblehead during my lunch break. unfortunately, i did not get too far. i ended up walking down to the harbor and then stumbled upon an area known as fort sewall. now i suck at fort sewall. i've never been to fort sewall. the place, however, is quite scenic and beautiful.
(pictured below is the view from fort sewall.)
what drew me to fort sewall was the fact that the other day, my "buddy" (suzy) had mentioned there was a fort in marblehead when she gave me a quick driving tour around town. intrigued, i decided to check it out during my walk.
when i first arrived at fort sewall, i could immediately sense the beauty of the area. truth be told, my first thought when i arrived at fort sewall was that it would be cool to have a picnic there... as the views overlooked the harbor... with any of my friends. the problem of course, was convincing a friend to travel all the way to marblehead to meet me for a picnic. i actually had a similar thought when i first walked around boston as well... when i walked around the charles river when i had worked in town. (in case anyone was curious, i never did have that picnic by the charles river with any of my friends.)
needless to say, i was captivated by fort sewall's views of the harbor. of course, it's probably not hard for me to get captivated. i actually enjoy the view from my friend (hot amy)'s house. hot amy's house overlooks water as well. maybe i'm simply drawn to bodies of water... or possibly things that are beautiful in nature.
interestingly enough, i just learned that there was a download of a walking tour around the town of marblehead. (and fort sewall is mentioned on that walking tour... so hopefully i can actually learn more about the fort, other than the fact that it has beautiful scenic views.) the download of the walking tour would be for your ipod and guide you throughout town while you listened to the presentation during your walk. it is quite an interesting concept. i am glad the town's chamber of commerce came up with that idea because now i can actually walk around town at my own pace, listening to the tour.
i am quite ecstatic now to have something to do during my lunch break (other than eat). i figured i would break up the tour into sections and visit certain places during my lunch throughout the week. i guess we'll see how next week goes.
all in all, i had a great time at fort sewall. truth be told, i'm still hoping some of my friends will come and visit... so we'll see... i may have to bribe them.
during lunch, i decided that it was time. it's been five days now... i'm a big boy now. i can do it. so, today during lunch i psyched myself up and decided to go out for lunch by myself. (previously, i have only been out to lunch with my coworkers or not at all.)
i ended up walking down to marblehead harbor to see what was around my place of employment. after all, i know nothing about the town of marblehead other than the fact that commuting there from my home takes quite a long time.
i generally try to acquaint myself with my surroundings. usually during vacations or whatnot, i take walks around where i stay (like hawaii or washington dc, etc.) to familiarize myself with the area. work is no different. when i worked in town, it was great. there were so many things to see and do in town.
so, today i decided to walk around marblehead during my lunch break. unfortunately, i did not get too far. i ended up walking down to the harbor and then stumbled upon an area known as fort sewall. now i suck at fort sewall. i've never been to fort sewall. the place, however, is quite scenic and beautiful.
(pictured below is the view from fort sewall.)
what drew me to fort sewall was the fact that the other day, my "buddy" (suzy) had mentioned there was a fort in marblehead when she gave me a quick driving tour around town. intrigued, i decided to check it out during my walk.
when i first arrived at fort sewall, i could immediately sense the beauty of the area. truth be told, my first thought when i arrived at fort sewall was that it would be cool to have a picnic there... as the views overlooked the harbor... with any of my friends. the problem of course, was convincing a friend to travel all the way to marblehead to meet me for a picnic. i actually had a similar thought when i first walked around boston as well... when i walked around the charles river when i had worked in town. (in case anyone was curious, i never did have that picnic by the charles river with any of my friends.)
needless to say, i was captivated by fort sewall's views of the harbor. of course, it's probably not hard for me to get captivated. i actually enjoy the view from my friend (hot amy)'s house. hot amy's house overlooks water as well. maybe i'm simply drawn to bodies of water... or possibly things that are beautiful in nature.
interestingly enough, i just learned that there was a download of a walking tour around the town of marblehead. (and fort sewall is mentioned on that walking tour... so hopefully i can actually learn more about the fort, other than the fact that it has beautiful scenic views.) the download of the walking tour would be for your ipod and guide you throughout town while you listened to the presentation during your walk. it is quite an interesting concept. i am glad the town's chamber of commerce came up with that idea because now i can actually walk around town at my own pace, listening to the tour.
i am quite ecstatic now to have something to do during my lunch break (other than eat). i figured i would break up the tour into sections and visit certain places during my lunch throughout the week. i guess we'll see how next week goes.
all in all, i had a great time at fort sewall. truth be told, i'm still hoping some of my friends will come and visit... so we'll see... i may have to bribe them.
I Still Suck At Casting
i forgot to mention this in my last post.
it came to my attention today that the intern who works with my friend (hot amy) had recently read my blog about casting. (i apologize to the intern because i do not know this particular intern's name... so i must refer to this intern simply as "intern".) again, i use the term "work" loosely because hot amy works for the commonwealth of massachusetts.... so if this intern actually works with hot amy, the two of them must do a lot of shopping downtown.
anyway, i imagine being a dietitic intern for the commonwealth is quite interesting. i have met up with hot amy many times when i used to work in town. it seemed like every time i met up with hot amy, i would be introduced to a new intern. (in fact, i actually attended the red sox rolling rally parade with one of the many interns. well, hot amy was there too. that was the parade where she got to swoon over jacoby ellsbury.)
the number of interns that go through the commonwealth of massachusetts reminds me of a tv comedy where there is a cast of main characters and then there is this quirky situation where there is always a new minor character... in this case, a new intern. (for any of you who remember "murphy brown", think of the executive admin situation for murphy brown in that show where every week murphy brown would get a new executive admin.) thus, there could be tv comedy called "the commonwealth" or something where every week, there is a new intern.
anyway, the intern who read my post about casting started to wonder who would play her in the movie about her (or perhaps this tv comedy called "the commonwealth"). i heard that no actress was selected. now, i've never met this intern. luckily, i still suck at casting.
based on the picture that i have seen of her (from the rolling rally), here is my choice to play the intern: marisa tomei.
i hope the intern likes my choice. it would be really interesting if the intern liked short bald men (a la seinfeld).
it came to my attention today that the intern who works with my friend (hot amy) had recently read my blog about casting. (i apologize to the intern because i do not know this particular intern's name... so i must refer to this intern simply as "intern".) again, i use the term "work" loosely because hot amy works for the commonwealth of massachusetts.... so if this intern actually works with hot amy, the two of them must do a lot of shopping downtown.
anyway, i imagine being a dietitic intern for the commonwealth is quite interesting. i have met up with hot amy many times when i used to work in town. it seemed like every time i met up with hot amy, i would be introduced to a new intern. (in fact, i actually attended the red sox rolling rally parade with one of the many interns. well, hot amy was there too. that was the parade where she got to swoon over jacoby ellsbury.)
the number of interns that go through the commonwealth of massachusetts reminds me of a tv comedy where there is a cast of main characters and then there is this quirky situation where there is always a new minor character... in this case, a new intern. (for any of you who remember "murphy brown", think of the executive admin situation for murphy brown in that show where every week murphy brown would get a new executive admin.) thus, there could be tv comedy called "the commonwealth" or something where every week, there is a new intern.
anyway, the intern who read my post about casting started to wonder who would play her in the movie about her (or perhaps this tv comedy called "the commonwealth"). i heard that no actress was selected. now, i've never met this intern. luckily, i still suck at casting.
based on the picture that i have seen of her (from the rolling rally), here is my choice to play the intern: marisa tomei.
i hope the intern likes my choice. it would be really interesting if the intern liked short bald men (a la seinfeld).
Thursday, June 19, 2008
I Suck At Chauffeuring
feeling all nostalgic for the good o' days when i used to work in town and could go to a rolling rally whenever there was one, i decided to meet up with my friend (hot amy) on my way home from work.
hot amy used to work around the corner from me when i was in town. (i use the term "work" loosely because she "works" for the commonwealth of massachusetts, and you know how diligent and hard working state employees are...) on my commute home, i drive through boston, so making a pitstop to pick her up was not much of a problem.
the last time i was supposed to meet up with hot amy, i stood her up. thanks bottle of scotch. just kidding. although, it probably is a good lesson to not drink hard alcohol during working hours. needless to say, i may have felt some residual guilt from that incident. so, i offered to do what i haven't done in quite a while... chauffeur her sorry butt home.
(pictured below is hot amy leaving "work".)
i suck at chauffeuring. as it turns out, it's a good thing i offered to drive miss daisy (hot amy) home because she actually had no way of getting home from the subway station. (she recently sold her car with the blood splatter stains of her past ex's.)
anyway, i had a very enjoyable ride home. my regular commute to and from work the past few days has been extremely boring as i simply listen to the radio by myself in the car. thus, having someone else to talk to definitely made the ride more fun. plus, having hot amy in the car was almost like the good o' days when we would take the subway home together after work.
truth be told, i wouldn't mind chauffeuring her sorry butt home every week or so. after all, it would almost be like the times where i had to drive her and karen home from simmons college during the spring semester. i think all i need to do now is convince her to go to braintree so that we can use the hov lane. just kidding. or i suppose i can always drive the sorry butts of my other friends too who are in town... like aimee and jen. we'll see how this shuttle business goes.
hot amy used to work around the corner from me when i was in town. (i use the term "work" loosely because she "works" for the commonwealth of massachusetts, and you know how diligent and hard working state employees are...) on my commute home, i drive through boston, so making a pitstop to pick her up was not much of a problem.
the last time i was supposed to meet up with hot amy, i stood her up. thanks bottle of scotch. just kidding. although, it probably is a good lesson to not drink hard alcohol during working hours. needless to say, i may have felt some residual guilt from that incident. so, i offered to do what i haven't done in quite a while... chauffeur her sorry butt home.
(pictured below is hot amy leaving "work".)
i suck at chauffeuring. as it turns out, it's a good thing i offered to drive miss daisy (hot amy) home because she actually had no way of getting home from the subway station. (she recently sold her car with the blood splatter stains of her past ex's.)
anyway, i had a very enjoyable ride home. my regular commute to and from work the past few days has been extremely boring as i simply listen to the radio by myself in the car. thus, having someone else to talk to definitely made the ride more fun. plus, having hot amy in the car was almost like the good o' days when we would take the subway home together after work.
truth be told, i wouldn't mind chauffeuring her sorry butt home every week or so. after all, it would almost be like the times where i had to drive her and karen home from simmons college during the spring semester. i think all i need to do now is convince her to go to braintree so that we can use the hov lane. just kidding. or i suppose i can always drive the sorry butts of my other friends too who are in town... like aimee and jen. we'll see how this shuttle business goes.
I Suck At Rolling Rallies
today, the city of boston held a rally for the newest nba champions... the boston celtics! it was the 17th championship that the most decorated sports franchise in the nba (the boston celtics) won. congratulations celtics!
to honor the achievement of the boston celtics, the city of boston had its usual parade of duck boats carrying members of the team. boston has been the sports mecca of late, as the red sox and patriots have also recently had rolling rallies. (the patriots would have had one this year had they not choked in the superbowl... stupid new york giants!)
anyway, i suck at rolling rallies. (apparently, the new england patriots also suck at rolling rallies this year too.) even though the celtics have not won a championship in over twenty years, i did not attend today's rolling rally (which i heard went in the reverse direction of the normal parade route).
the main reason for my absence from the rolling rally... my new job. as i just started my new job this week (and also the fact that my new job is located in marblehead), it made attending the rolling rally a little difficult for me today.
missing the rally definitely felt awkward. my previous job was located smack dab in town near the state house. so, it was quite easy to see the rolling rallies of the past world champions (the red sox and the patriots) within the past five years that i worked there. perhaps i was a little spoiled working in town because there were plenty of rallies to attend within that timespan.
needless to say, i felt a little nostalgic for the good o' times when i could just walk out of the office and watch the parade of champions with my friends. so sad. i wish i went to the rally today. i heard it was amazing.
to honor the achievement of the boston celtics, the city of boston had its usual parade of duck boats carrying members of the team. boston has been the sports mecca of late, as the red sox and patriots have also recently had rolling rallies. (the patriots would have had one this year had they not choked in the superbowl... stupid new york giants!)
anyway, i suck at rolling rallies. (apparently, the new england patriots also suck at rolling rallies this year too.) even though the celtics have not won a championship in over twenty years, i did not attend today's rolling rally (which i heard went in the reverse direction of the normal parade route).
the main reason for my absence from the rolling rally... my new job. as i just started my new job this week (and also the fact that my new job is located in marblehead), it made attending the rolling rally a little difficult for me today.
missing the rally definitely felt awkward. my previous job was located smack dab in town near the state house. so, it was quite easy to see the rolling rallies of the past world champions (the red sox and the patriots) within the past five years that i worked there. perhaps i was a little spoiled working in town because there were plenty of rallies to attend within that timespan.
needless to say, i felt a little nostalgic for the good o' times when i could just walk out of the office and watch the parade of champions with my friends. so sad. i wish i went to the rally today. i heard it was amazing.
I Suck At The Mad Dash
tonight, the ymca had a party to celebrate the mad dash. the mad dash is the ymca's version of the biggest loser. participants of the mad dash are judged on the following criteria: body composition; weight loss; and before/after pictures. whoever scores the highest on that criteria is the winner of the mad dash.
now, i suck at the mad dash. i attended the party to support my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and my friend (jen). by the way, the mad dash celebration party was held at the local library (the thomas crane public library). for anyone who hasn't been to the library, the thomas crane public library is very nice. the library has come a long way since the good o' days when the library cards had that metal plate that imprinted ink.
the mad dash party was held in the old room where the periodicals used to be. (the room has been renovated since the good o' days.) as well, the food was catered by eatin' healthy, which is a restaurant located in quincy. there was also desserts by konditor meister of braintree fame.
needless to say, the food was delicious. (cue rachael ray's yum-o sound.) i must have eaten so many quiche squares, avocado dips, and pieces of fruit. the chocolate konditor meister dessert was also very tasty.
anyway, i was hoping that janine would win one of the prizes. she has worked very hard (especially when participating in my bosu army) and she looks great. i'm sure she has lost some weight. i would never ask, of course. unfortunately, janine did not place in the mad dash. as it turns out, none of the hardcore women from hanover placed either... so it is possible that i beat the personal trainer known as tyson. well, even though janine did not place, she is still a winner in my book.
speaking of winning, jen managed to win something at the party. there was a raffle near the end of the party and her number was called. it turns out that she won a biking shirt, which should come in very handy when she goes spinning with her brother (bill) and janine.
(pictured below is jen with her new shirt. also in the background is one of hot amy and karen's former students/ymca intern, mary kate.)
all in all, the ymca did a great job for the mad dash party. the food was great. the live music was great. the presenters were great even though they shamelessly plugged the talbots stores. (one of the board of directors is affiliated with talbots.) and like i said, even though neither jen nor janine won the mad dash, they are both winners and should be commended. they did a marvelous job.
they'll win next year...
now, i suck at the mad dash. i attended the party to support my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and my friend (jen). by the way, the mad dash celebration party was held at the local library (the thomas crane public library). for anyone who hasn't been to the library, the thomas crane public library is very nice. the library has come a long way since the good o' days when the library cards had that metal plate that imprinted ink.
the mad dash party was held in the old room where the periodicals used to be. (the room has been renovated since the good o' days.) as well, the food was catered by eatin' healthy, which is a restaurant located in quincy. there was also desserts by konditor meister of braintree fame.
needless to say, the food was delicious. (cue rachael ray's yum-o sound.) i must have eaten so many quiche squares, avocado dips, and pieces of fruit. the chocolate konditor meister dessert was also very tasty.
anyway, i was hoping that janine would win one of the prizes. she has worked very hard (especially when participating in my bosu army) and she looks great. i'm sure she has lost some weight. i would never ask, of course. unfortunately, janine did not place in the mad dash. as it turns out, none of the hardcore women from hanover placed either... so it is possible that i beat the personal trainer known as tyson. well, even though janine did not place, she is still a winner in my book.
speaking of winning, jen managed to win something at the party. there was a raffle near the end of the party and her number was called. it turns out that she won a biking shirt, which should come in very handy when she goes spinning with her brother (bill) and janine.
(pictured below is jen with her new shirt. also in the background is one of hot amy and karen's former students/ymca intern, mary kate.)
all in all, the ymca did a great job for the mad dash party. the food was great. the live music was great. the presenters were great even though they shamelessly plugged the talbots stores. (one of the board of directors is affiliated with talbots.) and like i said, even though neither jen nor janine won the mad dash, they are both winners and should be commended. they did a marvelous job.
they'll win next year...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
I Suck At Foodie's Feast
today was my third day at my new job.
as it turns out, part of the new employee orientation for my new company is the assignment of what is called a "buddy". according to my new company, a "buddy" is someone from another department who is assigned to you to show you around the company and the town itself.
my "buddy" happened to be suzy, who is a project manager. she lives in marblehead (where my new company is located). so, she was quite the knowledgeable tour guide when it came to learning about the town of marblehead.
part of the "buddy" program is lunch on the company. we ended up at a place called foodie's feast. now, i suck at foodie's feast. i've never been there. in fact, i've never been to many of the places around marblehead.
(pictured below is the entrance to foodie's feast.)
foodie's feast was delicious. i had a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce. as a side, i tried the barley salad. both were very good. (cue yum-o sound.) i was actually hesitant about the barley salad... especially since i had my sandwich on 7 grain bread... that's a lot of grains... luckily everything was good.
anyway, i had great time with my "buddy". suzy even got me a map of marblehead. i'm now looking forward to exploring more of the town of marblehead. i hear marblehead has very nice beaches... not that i'm a beach guy or anything. i just happen to enjoy beautiful things.
as it turns out, part of the new employee orientation for my new company is the assignment of what is called a "buddy". according to my new company, a "buddy" is someone from another department who is assigned to you to show you around the company and the town itself.
my "buddy" happened to be suzy, who is a project manager. she lives in marblehead (where my new company is located). so, she was quite the knowledgeable tour guide when it came to learning about the town of marblehead.
part of the "buddy" program is lunch on the company. we ended up at a place called foodie's feast. now, i suck at foodie's feast. i've never been there. in fact, i've never been to many of the places around marblehead.
(pictured below is the entrance to foodie's feast.)
foodie's feast was delicious. i had a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce. as a side, i tried the barley salad. both were very good. (cue yum-o sound.) i was actually hesitant about the barley salad... especially since i had my sandwich on 7 grain bread... that's a lot of grains... luckily everything was good.
anyway, i had great time with my "buddy". suzy even got me a map of marblehead. i'm now looking forward to exploring more of the town of marblehead. i hear marblehead has very nice beaches... not that i'm a beach guy or anything. i just happen to enjoy beautiful things.
I Suck At Bugaboo Creek
yesterday, on my long commute home, i picked up karen at jfk subway station. our original plan was to head straight home so that we could weed our garden. the garden in our front lawn has been invaded by weeds. in fact, i can't tell what is a weed and what is not a weed in the garden. that is how bad the garden is.
anyway, mother nature was not cooperating because the clouds simply poured on our ride home. (had i still been working in town, i would definitely have needed hot amy's umbrella... and possibly the $2 sheeley shuttle... had the shuttle not been sold...) as both karen and i were hungry on our way home (and also unable to weed due to the rain), karen decided to call my favorite sister-in-law (janine).
as it turns out, my nephew (pj) is going to first grade this year. to celebrate, pj wanted to go to bugaboo creek located in braintree. now i suck at bugaboo creek. i haven't been to bugaboo creek in quite some time. regardless, karen and i got to tag along for the celebration.
my nephew cracks me up. apparently, he loves the animated talking moose head that hangs on the wall inside the restaurant. every time the moose started talking, pj would just intently watch.
needless to say, the food at bugaboo was delicious. (i had grilled trout.) afterwards, karen and i got to hang out for a little while back at janine and pj's. while there, i got to play with my niece (kaleigh). playing with kaleigh always cracks me up because she is just so bossy when she plays. she likes to "jump" as high as she can; sometimes even swing. and we got to play with pj's magnets and marbles. anyway, although it doesn't seem like much, playing with kaleigh definitely made the day a good day.
anyway, mother nature was not cooperating because the clouds simply poured on our ride home. (had i still been working in town, i would definitely have needed hot amy's umbrella... and possibly the $2 sheeley shuttle... had the shuttle not been sold...) as both karen and i were hungry on our way home (and also unable to weed due to the rain), karen decided to call my favorite sister-in-law (janine).
as it turns out, my nephew (pj) is going to first grade this year. to celebrate, pj wanted to go to bugaboo creek located in braintree. now i suck at bugaboo creek. i haven't been to bugaboo creek in quite some time. regardless, karen and i got to tag along for the celebration.
my nephew cracks me up. apparently, he loves the animated talking moose head that hangs on the wall inside the restaurant. every time the moose started talking, pj would just intently watch.
needless to say, the food at bugaboo was delicious. (i had grilled trout.) afterwards, karen and i got to hang out for a little while back at janine and pj's. while there, i got to play with my niece (kaleigh). playing with kaleigh always cracks me up because she is just so bossy when she plays. she likes to "jump" as high as she can; sometimes even swing. and we got to play with pj's magnets and marbles. anyway, although it doesn't seem like much, playing with kaleigh definitely made the day a good day.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I Suck At Starting A New Job
yesterday, i began the post-working-in-town era. too bad i suck at starting a new job.
after working in boston for the past 5+ years for the same company, i decided to try my hand at a company located way up in the northern booneylands of marblehead. as it turns out, there is no commuter rail or mbta subway station in marblehead (at least, according to the mbta website). the closest public transportation station is in salem, which is a nearby city. so even if i wanted to take public transportation, i probably would have to take buses and whatnot from salem. thus, the commute would be very painstaking... and definitely not fun like my old subway train rides home with my friends (hot amy, aimee, jen, and carlos).
anyway, my first day at the new job went pretty well. it's weird being the "new guy". when i first arrived at the reception area, i was pleasantly surprised to receive a goody bag. inside the goody bag was my name plate, pads of paper, a tape dispenser, tape, scissors, pens, pencils, highlighters, a company mug, a solar calculator, and a box of tissues. it was definitely a nice welcome, although i'm not sure what i'll do with some of the items.
from there, i met my new team. i had a quick tour of the facilities (after all, i have to know where the bathrooms are) and i got to meet every tom, dick, and harry in the company. i'll be lucky if i can remember even one of their names. truth be told, i'd be lucky if i can remember where the bathrooms are too. from there, i got to set up my desk, my computer, and stuff in my little cubicle.
(pictured below is my desk in my cubicle. i will definitely need to decorate it some more.)
i'm not actually a big fan of my desk. the desk squeaks. i suppose that is part of being the "new guy" though... getting the old squeaky stuff.
once my cubicle was set, i got to go out for lunch with my new team. we went to bertucci's. interesting fact i learned yesterday: marblehead does not allow chains. apparently, it was a struggle for starbucks to open a place in marblehead. thus, bertucci's is located in a nearby city, not marblehead. (i would tell you the city that bertucci's is located in, but i don't know anything around the marblehead area.) i found that tidbit of information very strange.
after lunch, i had another orientation training with human resources about how to use the phones. i won't be able to remember any of the training. the next thing i know, it's time to go. (well, it was time to go according to my new boss.) my boss let me leave early to avoid the traffic. plus, he knew i arrived early in the morning. in fact, he set up my working hours as 7:30am to 3:30pm-4:00pm. i must say... leaving before 5:30pm felt so odd. i'm not complaining though...
anyway, we'll see how day two goes. i've been itching to actually get my hands dirty and do some work. hopefully soon...
after working in boston for the past 5+ years for the same company, i decided to try my hand at a company located way up in the northern booneylands of marblehead. as it turns out, there is no commuter rail or mbta subway station in marblehead (at least, according to the mbta website). the closest public transportation station is in salem, which is a nearby city. so even if i wanted to take public transportation, i probably would have to take buses and whatnot from salem. thus, the commute would be very painstaking... and definitely not fun like my old subway train rides home with my friends (hot amy, aimee, jen, and carlos).
anyway, my first day at the new job went pretty well. it's weird being the "new guy". when i first arrived at the reception area, i was pleasantly surprised to receive a goody bag. inside the goody bag was my name plate, pads of paper, a tape dispenser, tape, scissors, pens, pencils, highlighters, a company mug, a solar calculator, and a box of tissues. it was definitely a nice welcome, although i'm not sure what i'll do with some of the items.
from there, i met my new team. i had a quick tour of the facilities (after all, i have to know where the bathrooms are) and i got to meet every tom, dick, and harry in the company. i'll be lucky if i can remember even one of their names. truth be told, i'd be lucky if i can remember where the bathrooms are too. from there, i got to set up my desk, my computer, and stuff in my little cubicle.
(pictured below is my desk in my cubicle. i will definitely need to decorate it some more.)
i'm not actually a big fan of my desk. the desk squeaks. i suppose that is part of being the "new guy" though... getting the old squeaky stuff.
once my cubicle was set, i got to go out for lunch with my new team. we went to bertucci's. interesting fact i learned yesterday: marblehead does not allow chains. apparently, it was a struggle for starbucks to open a place in marblehead. thus, bertucci's is located in a nearby city, not marblehead. (i would tell you the city that bertucci's is located in, but i don't know anything around the marblehead area.) i found that tidbit of information very strange.
after lunch, i had another orientation training with human resources about how to use the phones. i won't be able to remember any of the training. the next thing i know, it's time to go. (well, it was time to go according to my new boss.) my boss let me leave early to avoid the traffic. plus, he knew i arrived early in the morning. in fact, he set up my working hours as 7:30am to 3:30pm-4:00pm. i must say... leaving before 5:30pm felt so odd. i'm not complaining though...
anyway, we'll see how day two goes. i've been itching to actually get my hands dirty and do some work. hopefully soon...
Sunday, June 15, 2008
I Suck At Father's Day
to all those fathers out there, happy father's day!
i'm so happy that karen and i have finally told all of our family and friends about our little expecting news. i would have told everyone when we first found out karen was pregnant if i could. unfortunately, karen wanted to wait until we received the official word from the doctor. anyway, after telling everyone yesterday about the news, karen is a little less stressed now... which is great because i don't think stress is good for a baby.
although i'm not technically a father yet, today is my first father's day. too bad i suck at father's day.
karen and i ended up at my favorite sister-in-law's (janine) for lunch for a little cookout. we also got to wish my favorite brother-in-law (pj) a happy father's day. as always, it was also quite fun to see my niece and nephew (kaleigh and pj). it was probably more fun for kaleigh because she got to "jump" today. anyway, even though i did not expect it, karen and i received a cute onesie from janine, pj, kaleigh, and pj. in addition, we received a book about food for kids and a book about "giggling with daddy". the gifts were very thoughtful. i totally appreciated it. in fact, i can't wait to read the giggles book.
from there, karen and i ended up visiting karen's grandfather to wish him a happy father's day. janine, pj, kaleigh, and pj also went at the same time. it was a riot to watch karen and janine's grandfather joke around with kaleigh. kaleigh was telling karen and janine's grandfather about the dentist. suddenly, karen and janine's grandfather took his dentures out and showed kaleigh. kaleigh was instantly surprised. it was funny.
(pictured below is karen and janine's grandfather with kaleigh.)
afterwards, karen and i made a quick pitstop at st. elizabeth's hospital in brighton to visit karen's grandmother (nana). (st. elizabeth's incidentally happens to be the hospital i was born in.) nana unexpectedly had to enter the hospital yesterday with some cranial bleeding. she looked rather good today which was quite a relief. she just seemed awfully tired and sleepy when karen and i were there. anyway, i'm glad nana appears to be doing better. i hope she gets well soon.
anyway, from there, karen and i capped off father's day at my parents' house. as usual, my mom cooked a lot of food for all of us. it was a good thing that my cousin (betty) and her son (marvin) were there too. as it turns out, marvin is going to hong kong for the summer. he is even going to beijing for the 2008 olympics. that is very exciting. needless to say, my mom's cooking was delicious. i also think my dad was quite happy with all of us there.
all in all, it was a good father's day. again, happy father's day to all you fathers out there.
i'm so happy that karen and i have finally told all of our family and friends about our little expecting news. i would have told everyone when we first found out karen was pregnant if i could. unfortunately, karen wanted to wait until we received the official word from the doctor. anyway, after telling everyone yesterday about the news, karen is a little less stressed now... which is great because i don't think stress is good for a baby.
although i'm not technically a father yet, today is my first father's day. too bad i suck at father's day.
karen and i ended up at my favorite sister-in-law's (janine) for lunch for a little cookout. we also got to wish my favorite brother-in-law (pj) a happy father's day. as always, it was also quite fun to see my niece and nephew (kaleigh and pj). it was probably more fun for kaleigh because she got to "jump" today. anyway, even though i did not expect it, karen and i received a cute onesie from janine, pj, kaleigh, and pj. in addition, we received a book about food for kids and a book about "giggling with daddy". the gifts were very thoughtful. i totally appreciated it. in fact, i can't wait to read the giggles book.
from there, karen and i ended up visiting karen's grandfather to wish him a happy father's day. janine, pj, kaleigh, and pj also went at the same time. it was a riot to watch karen and janine's grandfather joke around with kaleigh. kaleigh was telling karen and janine's grandfather about the dentist. suddenly, karen and janine's grandfather took his dentures out and showed kaleigh. kaleigh was instantly surprised. it was funny.
(pictured below is karen and janine's grandfather with kaleigh.)
afterwards, karen and i made a quick pitstop at st. elizabeth's hospital in brighton to visit karen's grandmother (nana). (st. elizabeth's incidentally happens to be the hospital i was born in.) nana unexpectedly had to enter the hospital yesterday with some cranial bleeding. she looked rather good today which was quite a relief. she just seemed awfully tired and sleepy when karen and i were there. anyway, i'm glad nana appears to be doing better. i hope she gets well soon.
anyway, from there, karen and i capped off father's day at my parents' house. as usual, my mom cooked a lot of food for all of us. it was a good thing that my cousin (betty) and her son (marvin) were there too. as it turns out, marvin is going to hong kong for the summer. he is even going to beijing for the 2008 olympics. that is very exciting. needless to say, my mom's cooking was delicious. i also think my dad was quite happy with all of us there.
all in all, it was a good father's day. again, happy father's day to all you fathers out there.
I Suck At Flag Day
after going into town for the pride parade, karen and i then met up with some other friends for flag day.
my friend (jen) has an annual flag day celebration. apparently, (and i just learned this yesterday), the entire flag day celebration tradition started when jen and karen went rollerblading and accidentally stumbled upon quincy's flag day parade. ever since, they have been celebrating the event... lucky me, because i suck at flag day.
this year's cast of characters at the flag day celebration included jen, her friend tim, tim's photographer friend gregg, her brother bill, her mom nancy, deb, carlos, kerry, hot amy, karen and myself. in honor of flag day, jen even went and got a margarita machine. for the record, the margaritas were very nice. basically, we had a little pre-parade cookout. (by the way, jen... is very good at grilling. the burgers and hot dogs were delicious.) we hung out and had a good time.
when it was time for the parade, we all staked out the usual territory (which is the masonic temple on hancock street).
(pictured below is bill and carlos on the steps of the masonic temple. i would have liked to put the picture of all of us here, but i didn't get a group shot. i'm hoping someone can send me their pictures.)
the parade itself was actually better this year. a float with three women in short skirts got a big round of applause. they were singing some song... that's about the highlight that i remember. well, there were the bagpipers too... i love bagpipers. hot amy liked the sailors. just kidding. oh yes, my former track coach... dissed me... that was the other memorable highlight. i yelled his name... he looked... then he looked away. (my former track coach is now dead to me. just kidding.)
truth be told, i actually had a good time at the flag day parade. i think part of the fun was sitting on the steps of the masonic temple and laughing with my friends. jen cracked me up because she kept trying to take self portraits with all of us around her. needless to say, her self portraits didn't work.
after the parade, all of us headed to bill's friend's (bruce) place. bruce lives in the penthouse in the building across from the adams academy. well, bruce used to live there as he is moving this week to a townhouse elsewhere in quincy. it so happens that bruce was not even at his place when all of us showed up. (bruce had yet to return from a brewery biking trip, but he had invited all of us there for the fireworks.) luckily, bill had his key. from the balcony of bruce's place, we watched the flag day fireworks. it was a very nice view of the city and the fireworks.
all in all, i hate to admit it, but it was a fun flag day celebration.
my friend (jen) has an annual flag day celebration. apparently, (and i just learned this yesterday), the entire flag day celebration tradition started when jen and karen went rollerblading and accidentally stumbled upon quincy's flag day parade. ever since, they have been celebrating the event... lucky me, because i suck at flag day.
this year's cast of characters at the flag day celebration included jen, her friend tim, tim's photographer friend gregg, her brother bill, her mom nancy, deb, carlos, kerry, hot amy, karen and myself. in honor of flag day, jen even went and got a margarita machine. for the record, the margaritas were very nice. basically, we had a little pre-parade cookout. (by the way, jen... is very good at grilling. the burgers and hot dogs were delicious.) we hung out and had a good time.
when it was time for the parade, we all staked out the usual territory (which is the masonic temple on hancock street).
(pictured below is bill and carlos on the steps of the masonic temple. i would have liked to put the picture of all of us here, but i didn't get a group shot. i'm hoping someone can send me their pictures.)
the parade itself was actually better this year. a float with three women in short skirts got a big round of applause. they were singing some song... that's about the highlight that i remember. well, there were the bagpipers too... i love bagpipers. hot amy liked the sailors. just kidding. oh yes, my former track coach... dissed me... that was the other memorable highlight. i yelled his name... he looked... then he looked away. (my former track coach is now dead to me. just kidding.)
truth be told, i actually had a good time at the flag day parade. i think part of the fun was sitting on the steps of the masonic temple and laughing with my friends. jen cracked me up because she kept trying to take self portraits with all of us around her. needless to say, her self portraits didn't work.
after the parade, all of us headed to bill's friend's (bruce) place. bruce lives in the penthouse in the building across from the adams academy. well, bruce used to live there as he is moving this week to a townhouse elsewhere in quincy. it so happens that bruce was not even at his place when all of us showed up. (bruce had yet to return from a brewery biking trip, but he had invited all of us there for the fireworks.) luckily, bill had his key. from the balcony of bruce's place, we watched the flag day fireworks. it was a very nice view of the city and the fireworks.
all in all, i hate to admit it, but it was a fun flag day celebration.
I Suck At Pride
yesterday was quite the eventful day.
i suppose watching an entire family of geese walking through our backyard in the morning basically set the pace for how the day was to unfold. as it turns out, yesterday was the day of parades. if anyone knows me, i am not too fond of parades. i suppose you could say i suck at parades. i think the reason i am not too fond of parades is because i like to be actively doing something. (hence, i am not too fond of lying out on the beach either.)
anyway, in the morning karen and i met my friends (marc and kelley). we had plans to go into town to catch... a parade. the parade so happened to be the gay pride parade, also known as "pride". now, i suck at pride. i have never been to a gay pride parade. so, this was my first time. it was actually very interesting as far as parades go.
in the event you were wondering how the four of us ended up at a gay pride parade when none of us are gay, well... we went in support of marc's sister (de). de and her partner (carol) have been together for quite some time (yet only married for a brief time thanks to the legalization of gay marriage in massachusetts). in fact, we met up with them after the parade. we even got to meet their dog (gracie). for the record... trying to find a couple of lesbians after a gay pride parade... very difficult.
the parade itself was quite fun. the parade started off with a bunch of lesbians on motorcycles. from there, there were the usual parade marchers. there were even some men walking in speedos (they were representing some swimming thing). speaking of men, there were a ton of men dressed up as women. some of them even wore stiletto heels. i imagine marching through a parade with those heels must have been difficult.
for those men who were not cross-dressing... i was quite impressed. a lot of the shirtless gay men... very nice abs. it has been revealed to me after the fact that the gym is the gay man's church... who knew? based on seeing their well sculpted bodies, i would probably say that gay men go to church more often than straight men on both meanings of the word "church".
(pictured below is kelley and marc waiting for the parade to start.)
all in all, the gay pride parade was very interesting. the floats were blaring dance music (and apparently gay men also have rhythm) and the crowds were quite into the entire parade... clapping and dancing. the only disappointing thing about the gay pride parade was the politicians. mayor menino marched in the parade. interestingly enough, the governor (deval patrick) whose daughter came out did not march. there were a bunch of other politicians too, but for someone like me who is not into politics... i couldn't pick out which one was the politician.
needless to say, i had fun at the gay pride parade. as far as parades go, it was definitely interesting. karen even got a free t-shirt from one of the parade people. while kelley and i were attempting to get beads from a float (which we didn't because the float people threw the beads at nearby lesbians), some parade person was walking around with this t-shirt, saw karen, and put it over her head.
karen... loves the t-shirt.
i suppose watching an entire family of geese walking through our backyard in the morning basically set the pace for how the day was to unfold. as it turns out, yesterday was the day of parades. if anyone knows me, i am not too fond of parades. i suppose you could say i suck at parades. i think the reason i am not too fond of parades is because i like to be actively doing something. (hence, i am not too fond of lying out on the beach either.)
anyway, in the morning karen and i met my friends (marc and kelley). we had plans to go into town to catch... a parade. the parade so happened to be the gay pride parade, also known as "pride". now, i suck at pride. i have never been to a gay pride parade. so, this was my first time. it was actually very interesting as far as parades go.
in the event you were wondering how the four of us ended up at a gay pride parade when none of us are gay, well... we went in support of marc's sister (de). de and her partner (carol) have been together for quite some time (yet only married for a brief time thanks to the legalization of gay marriage in massachusetts). in fact, we met up with them after the parade. we even got to meet their dog (gracie). for the record... trying to find a couple of lesbians after a gay pride parade... very difficult.
the parade itself was quite fun. the parade started off with a bunch of lesbians on motorcycles. from there, there were the usual parade marchers. there were even some men walking in speedos (they were representing some swimming thing). speaking of men, there were a ton of men dressed up as women. some of them even wore stiletto heels. i imagine marching through a parade with those heels must have been difficult.
for those men who were not cross-dressing... i was quite impressed. a lot of the shirtless gay men... very nice abs. it has been revealed to me after the fact that the gym is the gay man's church... who knew? based on seeing their well sculpted bodies, i would probably say that gay men go to church more often than straight men on both meanings of the word "church".
(pictured below is kelley and marc waiting for the parade to start.)
all in all, the gay pride parade was very interesting. the floats were blaring dance music (and apparently gay men also have rhythm) and the crowds were quite into the entire parade... clapping and dancing. the only disappointing thing about the gay pride parade was the politicians. mayor menino marched in the parade. interestingly enough, the governor (deval patrick) whose daughter came out did not march. there were a bunch of other politicians too, but for someone like me who is not into politics... i couldn't pick out which one was the politician.
needless to say, i had fun at the gay pride parade. as far as parades go, it was definitely interesting. karen even got a free t-shirt from one of the parade people. while kelley and i were attempting to get beads from a float (which we didn't because the float people threw the beads at nearby lesbians), some parade person was walking around with this t-shirt, saw karen, and put it over her head.
karen... loves the t-shirt.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
I Suck At Talent Competitions
last night, i got to see my friends (hugh and jenny).
hugh and jenny's daughter (allison) wanted to have a talent competition. no one knows where that idea of the talent competition came from, not even hugh and jenny. anyway, hugh and jenny invited a bunch of us over for a cookout/talent show. (it ended up being cass, ellen, karen, and myself.)
it was interesting. for the record, i suck at talent competitions. i think i have come to face the fact that i have no talents (other than instigating and beating hot amy in any challenge imaginable).
during the cookout (which i devoured every imaginable meat product and non-meat product... which could be a talent i suppose), everyone performed their respective talents. karen, who was stressing over what to do for her talent, created an origami house. (she had to google how to make an origami house.) allison's eyes lit up when the house was created.
next, cass did his infamous talent... tying a knot in a cherry stem with his tongue (lucky ellen). i must say, cass has got that talent down to a science because it took him a mere matter of seconds to tie the knot in the stem. allison was equally impressed with cass's talent. in what basically amounts to bribery, cass even gave allison the remaining jar of cherries. i guess that's what godfathers do. (cass is allison's godfather.)
jenny was told by allison that her talent was to jump off a swing... which she did.
as for me, allison tried to have me juggle... my juggling was not pretty... considering how the things i was "juggling" looked like i was just tossing things in the air. she then had me try to shoot a basketball into the hoop... my basketball shooting skills were also not pretty. i missed every shot. needless to say, i have no talents.
allison, however, is quite talented. she did some gymnastic move on the swing set that was quite impressive. it was so impressive, that she declared herself the winner of the talent competition. it was funny.
(pictured below is allison playing with a vacuum hose.)
all in all, i had a great time (and not just because i got to play "super smash brothers" which is a video game on nintendo's wii with hugh and jenny's son, hugh jr. apparently, hugh jr loves the video game and actually pretends to play it in real life. very cute.) it was good to see all of my friends again. i sometimes feel like i don't see them enough.
it's just fun to laugh and hang out with my friends... especially when we learned that ellen got so drunk once that she smashed a piece of cass's furniture... with her head. that cracked me up.
hugh and jenny's daughter (allison) wanted to have a talent competition. no one knows where that idea of the talent competition came from, not even hugh and jenny. anyway, hugh and jenny invited a bunch of us over for a cookout/talent show. (it ended up being cass, ellen, karen, and myself.)
it was interesting. for the record, i suck at talent competitions. i think i have come to face the fact that i have no talents (other than instigating and beating hot amy in any challenge imaginable).
during the cookout (which i devoured every imaginable meat product and non-meat product... which could be a talent i suppose), everyone performed their respective talents. karen, who was stressing over what to do for her talent, created an origami house. (she had to google how to make an origami house.) allison's eyes lit up when the house was created.
next, cass did his infamous talent... tying a knot in a cherry stem with his tongue (lucky ellen). i must say, cass has got that talent down to a science because it took him a mere matter of seconds to tie the knot in the stem. allison was equally impressed with cass's talent. in what basically amounts to bribery, cass even gave allison the remaining jar of cherries. i guess that's what godfathers do. (cass is allison's godfather.)
jenny was told by allison that her talent was to jump off a swing... which she did.
as for me, allison tried to have me juggle... my juggling was not pretty... considering how the things i was "juggling" looked like i was just tossing things in the air. she then had me try to shoot a basketball into the hoop... my basketball shooting skills were also not pretty. i missed every shot. needless to say, i have no talents.
allison, however, is quite talented. she did some gymnastic move on the swing set that was quite impressive. it was so impressive, that she declared herself the winner of the talent competition. it was funny.
(pictured below is allison playing with a vacuum hose.)
all in all, i had a great time (and not just because i got to play "super smash brothers" which is a video game on nintendo's wii with hugh and jenny's son, hugh jr. apparently, hugh jr loves the video game and actually pretends to play it in real life. very cute.) it was good to see all of my friends again. i sometimes feel like i don't see them enough.
it's just fun to laugh and hang out with my friends... especially when we learned that ellen got so drunk once that she smashed a piece of cass's furniture... with her head. that cracked me up.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
I Still Suck At Installing Bifold Doors
the home improvement projects never seem to end.
with the pieces of wood stained and waxed, i spent most of today framing the finished opening and installing bifold doors for the other closet in "kerry's room" (the other bedroom in the addition). for the record, i still suck at installing bifold doors.
the highlight of today's project was the slight scrape i received above my left eye. karen thinks i am accident prone. i, on the other hand, like to think it is the fact that i work on a large number of home improvement projects that there are more opportunities to get some sort of injury. probabilities.
although after today's incident, i may be inclined to agree with karen. as i was framing the finished opening for the other closet area, i had loosely tacked the wood board to the stud with some nails. (by stud, i mean the wooden upright in the frame... not me... although please still feel free to think of me as a stud.)
anyway, with the wood board tacked up, i then went to reach for my drill (to drill more pilot holes for the nails). unfortunately, my drill was on the floor. naturally i bent over to pick the drill up. as i bent over... wham! the loosely tacked wooden board came crashing on my head.
needless to say, the board hurt. in fact, it still feels a little weird right now when i squint with my left eye. apparently, the wood board also warped the frame of my glasses... so much so that not only was the lens popping out, the temples (the part of the eyeglass that extends over the ear) were also bent at an awkward angle.
luckily, there was no blood. after reshaping the frames of my eyeglasses, i finished framing the opening for the bifold doors. the framing took forever... unless of course it was simply the fact that i had been knocked unconscious from the wood board which caused the time to pass so quickly.
anyway, the bifold doors were soon installed.
(pictured below are the bifold doors to the other closet in kerry's room.)
(so as to not to be confused with the bifold doors installed the other day, pictured below is the other bifold door in kerry's room with the finished trim.)
i hope kerry likes the new closet doors to her room.
with the pieces of wood stained and waxed, i spent most of today framing the finished opening and installing bifold doors for the other closet in "kerry's room" (the other bedroom in the addition). for the record, i still suck at installing bifold doors.
the highlight of today's project was the slight scrape i received above my left eye. karen thinks i am accident prone. i, on the other hand, like to think it is the fact that i work on a large number of home improvement projects that there are more opportunities to get some sort of injury. probabilities.
although after today's incident, i may be inclined to agree with karen. as i was framing the finished opening for the other closet area, i had loosely tacked the wood board to the stud with some nails. (by stud, i mean the wooden upright in the frame... not me... although please still feel free to think of me as a stud.)
anyway, with the wood board tacked up, i then went to reach for my drill (to drill more pilot holes for the nails). unfortunately, my drill was on the floor. naturally i bent over to pick the drill up. as i bent over... wham! the loosely tacked wooden board came crashing on my head.
needless to say, the board hurt. in fact, it still feels a little weird right now when i squint with my left eye. apparently, the wood board also warped the frame of my glasses... so much so that not only was the lens popping out, the temples (the part of the eyeglass that extends over the ear) were also bent at an awkward angle.
luckily, there was no blood. after reshaping the frames of my eyeglasses, i finished framing the opening for the bifold doors. the framing took forever... unless of course it was simply the fact that i had been knocked unconscious from the wood board which caused the time to pass so quickly.
anyway, the bifold doors were soon installed.
(pictured below are the bifold doors to the other closet in kerry's room.)
(so as to not to be confused with the bifold doors installed the other day, pictured below is the other bifold door in kerry's room with the finished trim.)
i hope kerry likes the new closet doors to her room.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I Suck At Zain's
today is my usual day of the week that i hang out with my friends (marc and kelley).
as i see marc and kelley once a week, i weighed myself on their scale. the scale said 181.4 pounds. so, it's good to know that i have maintained my weight loss since my high intensity interval training from a few weeks ago.
that, however is besides the point. marc usually does not save newspaper articles, but he kept one in particular to show karen and i. marc had recently read in the patriot ledger (local newspaper) about a new afghan restaurant in quincy. the place was called zain's and had received some very favorable reviews in the write up. thus, marc was quite excited and wanted to try to the place today. now, i suck at zain's. i've obviously never been there.
event though i have never been to zain's, i was surprised when all of us approached the establishment. hanging in the window was a sign that said "falafel king". at first, i thought... how odd. there's a place in boston called the "falafel king" that i love to eat at when i worked in town. (in fact, the "falafel king" was the first place i brought my friend, hot amy, to when we were running around town taking pictures of cows.) naturally, i was a little skeptical of "zain's" because the place was not going by "zain's" but calling itself the "falafel king"... i've had the "falafel king" and the king is definitely in boston.
as it turns out, when i walked through the doors of the place... who should greet me? a familiar face... one that i've seen many times at the "falafel king" (the one located in town). in fact, he immediately recognized me too. he must have remembered my stunning good looks... my debonair smile... or maybe my giggle. it was quite a pleasant surprise.
and similar to the "falafel king" in town, he gave all of us a falafel to try while we waited. karen never had a falafel before, which is surprising because she likes things like that. (a falafel is a fried chickpea patty.) anyway, when she took a bite of the falafel, she immediately loved it. (cue yum-o sound from rachael ray.)
needless to say, the food at zain's/falafel king was delicious and very reasonably priced. (i had the lamb kabob plate... yum-o.) in fact, we even got a side dish of falafels for free. (i showed a little leg... batted my eyelashes... the usual.) actually, i think we got the falafels for free because the guy simply remembered me. regardless, i would definitely recommend this place to anyone. karen, marc, and kelley are already talking about going back... that is how much all of us liked the food.
i also can't wait to let hot amy know about the place too. it'll be like the good o' days when i worked in town... except now i can take pictures of cows in quincy... should there ever be cows in quincy. hopefully, the place does well at its quincy location. i'm obviously a big supporter.
yay, the king has come to quincy!
as i see marc and kelley once a week, i weighed myself on their scale. the scale said 181.4 pounds. so, it's good to know that i have maintained my weight loss since my high intensity interval training from a few weeks ago.
that, however is besides the point. marc usually does not save newspaper articles, but he kept one in particular to show karen and i. marc had recently read in the patriot ledger (local newspaper) about a new afghan restaurant in quincy. the place was called zain's and had received some very favorable reviews in the write up. thus, marc was quite excited and wanted to try to the place today. now, i suck at zain's. i've obviously never been there.
event though i have never been to zain's, i was surprised when all of us approached the establishment. hanging in the window was a sign that said "falafel king". at first, i thought... how odd. there's a place in boston called the "falafel king" that i love to eat at when i worked in town. (in fact, the "falafel king" was the first place i brought my friend, hot amy, to when we were running around town taking pictures of cows.) naturally, i was a little skeptical of "zain's" because the place was not going by "zain's" but calling itself the "falafel king"... i've had the "falafel king" and the king is definitely in boston.
as it turns out, when i walked through the doors of the place... who should greet me? a familiar face... one that i've seen many times at the "falafel king" (the one located in town). in fact, he immediately recognized me too. he must have remembered my stunning good looks... my debonair smile... or maybe my giggle. it was quite a pleasant surprise.
and similar to the "falafel king" in town, he gave all of us a falafel to try while we waited. karen never had a falafel before, which is surprising because she likes things like that. (a falafel is a fried chickpea patty.) anyway, when she took a bite of the falafel, she immediately loved it. (cue yum-o sound from rachael ray.)
needless to say, the food at zain's/falafel king was delicious and very reasonably priced. (i had the lamb kabob plate... yum-o.) in fact, we even got a side dish of falafels for free. (i showed a little leg... batted my eyelashes... the usual.) actually, i think we got the falafels for free because the guy simply remembered me. regardless, i would definitely recommend this place to anyone. karen, marc, and kelley are already talking about going back... that is how much all of us liked the food.
i also can't wait to let hot amy know about the place too. it'll be like the good o' days when i worked in town... except now i can take pictures of cows in quincy... should there ever be cows in quincy. hopefully, the place does well at its quincy location. i'm obviously a big supporter.
yay, the king has come to quincy!
I Suck At Weeding
this morning, i woke up bright and early to finish working on the trim for the closets within my bff (kerry)'s room. (kerry's room is the other bedroom in my house.) all i had to do was add a coat of polyurethane to the pieces of wood. so while i waited for the polyurethane to dry, i decided to work on the front lawn.
for those who do not know, karen and i had dug up front lawn. we did some sod-busting, we added new loam, we replanted grass seeds, etc. well, the good news is... the new grass is growing. the bad news is... there are weeds growing everywhere in the lawn.
this is one of the reasons why i hate working on landscaping/gardening projects... mother nature simply does not like me. i water the lawn... only to have the clouds pour... i plant grass... only to get weeds. in fact, my relationship with mother nature is almost like arch-nemesis proportions.
anyway, silly me, i decided to weed the front lawn while i waited for the polyurethane to dry. i suck at weeding... and i don't mean of the mary jane variety. although, if it were of the mary jane variety, i'd probably suck at that too because i wouldn't know how to smoke it. that's beside the point.
well, four hours later i managed to complete my weeding of the front lawn. the sad thing is... you still can't tell that i had pulled up all the weeds with my bare hands because there's just that many weeds in the lawn. curse you mother nature!
and to make things worse... i am sporting a styling farmer's tan. i hate having a tan. i would have weeded shirtless, but i didn't want to scare my neighbors. as it is, my neighbors probably already think i'm the town drunk who regurgitated everywhere and missed his own party. oh well...
for those who do not know, karen and i had dug up front lawn. we did some sod-busting, we added new loam, we replanted grass seeds, etc. well, the good news is... the new grass is growing. the bad news is... there are weeds growing everywhere in the lawn.
this is one of the reasons why i hate working on landscaping/gardening projects... mother nature simply does not like me. i water the lawn... only to have the clouds pour... i plant grass... only to get weeds. in fact, my relationship with mother nature is almost like arch-nemesis proportions.
anyway, silly me, i decided to weed the front lawn while i waited for the polyurethane to dry. i suck at weeding... and i don't mean of the mary jane variety. although, if it were of the mary jane variety, i'd probably suck at that too because i wouldn't know how to smoke it. that's beside the point.
well, four hours later i managed to complete my weeding of the front lawn. the sad thing is... you still can't tell that i had pulled up all the weeds with my bare hands because there's just that many weeds in the lawn. curse you mother nature!
and to make things worse... i am sporting a styling farmer's tan. i hate having a tan. i would have weeded shirtless, but i didn't want to scare my neighbors. as it is, my neighbors probably already think i'm the town drunk who regurgitated everywhere and missed his own party. oh well...
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
I Still Suck At Casting
it dawned on me today that my bff (kerry) was not the only friend of mine who was recently out of the commonwealth of massachusetts. my other friends (hot amy and andrea) were attending a wedding in the home of the gateway arch (st. louis). aside from the gateway arch and the anheuser-busch brewery (beer), i'm not sure what other attractions are in st. louis. i am sure there are more... i just don't know them.
regardless, i started to think about my casting skills again. yep, i still suck at casting. (apparently, i have too much time on my hands while i wait to begin my new job.) the reason i thought about my casting skills is because i originally thought about kerry... and then julia stiles... naturally, as kerry was out of the state of massachusetts... hot amy and andrea were out of the state of massachusetts... so it then only made sense that i would cast people to star as hot amy and andrea in the movie about their lives. yes, this is how my mind works.
for hot amy, i was originally thinking amanda bynes from all those teeny bopper movies like "she's the man" (the rehashed movie about a girl posing as a boy) and "what a girl wants". then i started to think... amanda bynes is too young... and as much as hot amy likes to hang out with the young crowds these days, i decided that amanda bynes just wouldn't work in the movie about hot amy. plus, amanda bynes is not hot enough to warrant the "hot" moniker. so, i had to resort to someone else who had eyes that could melt mortal men... my choice... kristen bell of "veronica mars" fame... and most recently... "heroes".
(pictured below is kristen bell as hot amy.)
as for andrea... this casting was difficult. you would think that with all the hours i spend in front of the television set, that i would know more actresses who are italian-ish. sadly, that is not the case. so, for lack of thinking of any other italian actress at the moment, i chose drea de matteo of "sopranos" and "joey" fame. drea de matteo was also in the movie "assault on precinct 13".
(pictured below is drea de matteo as andrea.)
with so many actresses, all i need now is a script. that reminds me, i should work on that screenplay from last year... oops, forgot about that.
regardless, i started to think about my casting skills again. yep, i still suck at casting. (apparently, i have too much time on my hands while i wait to begin my new job.) the reason i thought about my casting skills is because i originally thought about kerry... and then julia stiles... naturally, as kerry was out of the state of massachusetts... hot amy and andrea were out of the state of massachusetts... so it then only made sense that i would cast people to star as hot amy and andrea in the movie about their lives. yes, this is how my mind works.
for hot amy, i was originally thinking amanda bynes from all those teeny bopper movies like "she's the man" (the rehashed movie about a girl posing as a boy) and "what a girl wants". then i started to think... amanda bynes is too young... and as much as hot amy likes to hang out with the young crowds these days, i decided that amanda bynes just wouldn't work in the movie about hot amy. plus, amanda bynes is not hot enough to warrant the "hot" moniker. so, i had to resort to someone else who had eyes that could melt mortal men... my choice... kristen bell of "veronica mars" fame... and most recently... "heroes".
(pictured below is kristen bell as hot amy.)
as for andrea... this casting was difficult. you would think that with all the hours i spend in front of the television set, that i would know more actresses who are italian-ish. sadly, that is not the case. so, for lack of thinking of any other italian actress at the moment, i chose drea de matteo of "sopranos" and "joey" fame. drea de matteo was also in the movie "assault on precinct 13".
(pictured below is drea de matteo as andrea.)
with so many actresses, all i need now is a script. that reminds me, i should work on that screenplay from last year... oops, forgot about that.
Monday, June 9, 2008
I Suck At Casting
speaking of my bff (kerry), i started to think about her today. kerry recently came back from her business trip to sunny florida. (it must be tough working for the commonwealth of massachusetts.) upon her return, she asked if we missed her.
naturally, i always miss kerry. when kerry asked, i started to think about the movie "save the last dance", which is a movie that kerry apparently enjoys. from there, my wandering mind led me to think about julia stiles... the actress in the "save the last dance" movie. julia stiles has been in a slew of other movies too. (but, this is how my mind works...)
anyway, i suck at casting. if there were ever a movie about kerry, i would choose to have julia stiles play her.
(pictured below is julia stiles... as kerry.)
kerry is "slammin'".
naturally, i always miss kerry. when kerry asked, i started to think about the movie "save the last dance", which is a movie that kerry apparently enjoys. from there, my wandering mind led me to think about julia stiles... the actress in the "save the last dance" movie. julia stiles has been in a slew of other movies too. (but, this is how my mind works...)
anyway, i suck at casting. if there were ever a movie about kerry, i would choose to have julia stiles play her.
(pictured below is julia stiles... as kerry.)
kerry is "slammin'".
I Suck At Installing Bifold Doors
in addition to my exciting day of bringing the car in to be fixed, i worked on installing bifold doors.
the other bedroom in the addition (also known as "kerry's room" because she has stayed in the room the most... and not because she has marked her territory with urine... to my knowledge) has had two rough openings for its closet areas.
well, with the warm weather, i have been able to work on the stained finish for one of the closets. (i, however, still need to work on the casing around the closet doors.) anyway, today i created a finished opening for the bifold doors. because i am relatively anal, the framing took me quite some time. (i like things to be level and square.) in fact, i ran late for the ymca meeting because of the door installation.
needless to say, i finally finished installing the bifold doors.
(pictured below are the bifold doors.)
hopefully, the closet area on the other side of the room will not take as long.
the other bedroom in the addition (also known as "kerry's room" because she has stayed in the room the most... and not because she has marked her territory with urine... to my knowledge) has had two rough openings for its closet areas.
well, with the warm weather, i have been able to work on the stained finish for one of the closets. (i, however, still need to work on the casing around the closet doors.) anyway, today i created a finished opening for the bifold doors. because i am relatively anal, the framing took me quite some time. (i like things to be level and square.) in fact, i ran late for the ymca meeting because of the door installation.
needless to say, i finally finished installing the bifold doors.
(pictured below are the bifold doors.)
hopefully, the closet area on the other side of the room will not take as long.
I Suck At Getting The Car Fixed
as i am on vacation this week, i decided to take the car in to get it fixed. according to the mechanic, the left outer tie rod was worn and needed to be replaced. apparently, a worn tie rod would cause the car to fail an inspection because it is a safety hazard. according to www.carjunky.com,
"The tie rod is part of the steering mechanism in a vehicle. A tie rod is a slender structural rod that is used as a tie and capable of carrying tensile loads only.
A tie rod consists of an inner and an outer end. The spokes on a bicycle's wheels are tie rods. As the ratio of its length to the radius of gyration of its cross section is normally quite large, it would likely buckle under the action of compressive forces.
The tie rod transmits force from the steering center link or the rack gear to the steering knuckle. This will cause the wheel to turn. The outer tie rod end connects with an adjusting sleeve, which allows the length of the tie rod to be adjustable. This adjustment is used to set a vehicle's alignment angle...
It is advisable that your vehicle's steering and suspension systems are checked regularly, at least once a year along with a complete wheel alignment. A worn tie rod can cause wandering, erratic steering and also major tire wear.
If a tie rod is necessary then a wheel alignment will also be required because tie rod replacement will disturb the alignment setting.
As the ratio of its length to the radius of gyration of its cross section is normally quite large, it would likely buckle under the action of compressive forces."
needless to say, i suck at getting the car fixed. after running some additional errands, i dropped the car off at the local firestone located in hingham. the mechanic had told me that the tie rod replacement and the realignment would take a few hours. rather than wait and waste most of the day at the local firestone, i was given a ride back to my house.
i was thinking that the ride home was a nice gesture and that i would then have all this additional time to work on some home improvement projects planned for today. well, a couple of hours later, i received a phone call that the car was ready to be picked up. i had just finished lunch (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches... yum) and thought nothing of it. after all, the local firestone was a little over 2.5 miles away. it would be no problem to walk that.
boy was i wrong. if the weather weren't in the 90s and there weren't any humidity, i may have been all right. the walk seemed to take forever in the beating sun. sweat started to pour out of every pore imaginable. the sweat was dripping down my forehead and stinging my eyes. it was awful. i must have looked like quite the sexy beast with my sweat drenched body walking down the main street. i didn't even have a water bottle or anything to rehydrate myself. i just wanted to die. (for the record, i never used to sweat. since getting old, i seem to sweat now. i don't know why this is the case.)
anyway, when i finally arrived at firestone, i must have been quite the sight. the mechanic even chuckled at me because i made a beeline straight to the water cooler. i must have guzzled a gallon of water before picking up the keys to my car. i suppose the only good thing that came from my walk to firestone is that i got to work on my tan... even though i hate getting a tan...
"The tie rod is part of the steering mechanism in a vehicle. A tie rod is a slender structural rod that is used as a tie and capable of carrying tensile loads only.
A tie rod consists of an inner and an outer end. The spokes on a bicycle's wheels are tie rods. As the ratio of its length to the radius of gyration of its cross section is normally quite large, it would likely buckle under the action of compressive forces.
The tie rod transmits force from the steering center link or the rack gear to the steering knuckle. This will cause the wheel to turn. The outer tie rod end connects with an adjusting sleeve, which allows the length of the tie rod to be adjustable. This adjustment is used to set a vehicle's alignment angle...
It is advisable that your vehicle's steering and suspension systems are checked regularly, at least once a year along with a complete wheel alignment. A worn tie rod can cause wandering, erratic steering and also major tire wear.
If a tie rod is necessary then a wheel alignment will also be required because tie rod replacement will disturb the alignment setting.
As the ratio of its length to the radius of gyration of its cross section is normally quite large, it would likely buckle under the action of compressive forces."
needless to say, i suck at getting the car fixed. after running some additional errands, i dropped the car off at the local firestone located in hingham. the mechanic had told me that the tie rod replacement and the realignment would take a few hours. rather than wait and waste most of the day at the local firestone, i was given a ride back to my house.
i was thinking that the ride home was a nice gesture and that i would then have all this additional time to work on some home improvement projects planned for today. well, a couple of hours later, i received a phone call that the car was ready to be picked up. i had just finished lunch (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches... yum) and thought nothing of it. after all, the local firestone was a little over 2.5 miles away. it would be no problem to walk that.
boy was i wrong. if the weather weren't in the 90s and there weren't any humidity, i may have been all right. the walk seemed to take forever in the beating sun. sweat started to pour out of every pore imaginable. the sweat was dripping down my forehead and stinging my eyes. it was awful. i must have looked like quite the sexy beast with my sweat drenched body walking down the main street. i didn't even have a water bottle or anything to rehydrate myself. i just wanted to die. (for the record, i never used to sweat. since getting old, i seem to sweat now. i don't know why this is the case.)
anyway, when i finally arrived at firestone, i must have been quite the sight. the mechanic even chuckled at me because i made a beeline straight to the water cooler. i must have guzzled a gallon of water before picking up the keys to my car. i suppose the only good thing that came from my walk to firestone is that i got to work on my tan... even though i hate getting a tan...
Friday, June 6, 2008
I Suck... Period
yesterday was definitely not one of my finer moments. i had originally thought that i would name this post "i suck at sucking" but that would be a complete and utter lie. i'm actually very good at sucking. when i mess up, i mess up big time... and it seems like each subsequent time i mess things up, the order of magnitude increases. thus, i suck... period. (in fact, sucking is probably one of my perfected traits like instigating.)
yesterday was supposed to be a celebration. it was my last day at my company. one of my friends (carlos) had planned a farewell get together after work with some of my other friends. we were to hang out, have fun, and just enjoy the night together.
instead, i threw a wrench in the plans... which is definitely not good considering i was the guest of honor. i think what may make matters worse is the fact that i don't remember a good portion of what i did while i was sucking. sadly, i only remember everything up until late afternoon.
i had made a visit to the company's other office at 101 federal street. the other office houses 5 people, and they wanted to give me a little congratulatory send-off party in the afternoon. involved in this congratulatory party was the owner's new bottle of scotch. as homer simpson would say... alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.
needless to say, i imbibed from the bottle. i had figured that i would have just a little so that i could still meet up with my friends. unfortunately, i imbibed a little too much... two-thirds of the bottle too much. apparently, scotch hits quick. i went from normal to sloppy drunk like it was a flick of a switch. in retrospect, i would obviously not have drank as much in the short time frame.
from what i have been told (since i have a tendency to black out during my fine moments), a cab was called to take me home. you'd think that would be the end of the story. of course not... because as i said earlier... when i suck... i suck big time. apparently, when i arrived at my house, i was too drunk to stand. i could not even get into the house. my neighbors had to come over to help. my brother-in-law (pj) had to come over to help. even my parents had to come over to help. i apparently, looked like death... and i must have felt that way too because i had regurgitation everywhere.
everyone did an amazing job of taking care of me. i owe them all my thanks. pj thinks that had i not regurgitated everywhere, i may have had to have my stomach pumped. yesterday was the worst state of drunkiness that he has ever seen, and he has seen a lot of states of intoxication. i am lucky to have him as a brother-in-law. in fact, i'm lucky to have so many people care about me.
i think the thing that kills me the most is that i let so many people down yesterday. i can live with embarrassing myself. no one really takes me seriously anyways so that's easy to do. unfortunately, my actions embarrassed karen. my actions embarrassed my parents. my actions embarrassed my family. my actions probably embarrassed my neighbors as they probably think they are living near the public drunk.
not only that... i dissed all of my friends who wanted to celebrate with me. i stood up my friend (hot amy) who i wanted to have one last train ride with. i stood up my friend (carlos) who organized the party. i stood up my other friends (jen and bill). i even stood up my other friend (aimee) who made the extra effort to find time to attend the party. if there were other people who attended the party that i missed, i apologize for not listing you.
so what it basically boils down to is that i suck... plain and simple. i screwed up. if i can go back in time to change things, i would. i know no matter what i say, my family and friends have every right to excommunicate me. and right now, they have every reason to. and whether it's enough or not, all i can say is "i'm sorry." so to everyone, i'm sorry and i hope you guys forgive me.
yesterday was supposed to be a celebration. it was my last day at my company. one of my friends (carlos) had planned a farewell get together after work with some of my other friends. we were to hang out, have fun, and just enjoy the night together.
instead, i threw a wrench in the plans... which is definitely not good considering i was the guest of honor. i think what may make matters worse is the fact that i don't remember a good portion of what i did while i was sucking. sadly, i only remember everything up until late afternoon.
i had made a visit to the company's other office at 101 federal street. the other office houses 5 people, and they wanted to give me a little congratulatory send-off party in the afternoon. involved in this congratulatory party was the owner's new bottle of scotch. as homer simpson would say... alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.
needless to say, i imbibed from the bottle. i had figured that i would have just a little so that i could still meet up with my friends. unfortunately, i imbibed a little too much... two-thirds of the bottle too much. apparently, scotch hits quick. i went from normal to sloppy drunk like it was a flick of a switch. in retrospect, i would obviously not have drank as much in the short time frame.
from what i have been told (since i have a tendency to black out during my fine moments), a cab was called to take me home. you'd think that would be the end of the story. of course not... because as i said earlier... when i suck... i suck big time. apparently, when i arrived at my house, i was too drunk to stand. i could not even get into the house. my neighbors had to come over to help. my brother-in-law (pj) had to come over to help. even my parents had to come over to help. i apparently, looked like death... and i must have felt that way too because i had regurgitation everywhere.
everyone did an amazing job of taking care of me. i owe them all my thanks. pj thinks that had i not regurgitated everywhere, i may have had to have my stomach pumped. yesterday was the worst state of drunkiness that he has ever seen, and he has seen a lot of states of intoxication. i am lucky to have him as a brother-in-law. in fact, i'm lucky to have so many people care about me.
i think the thing that kills me the most is that i let so many people down yesterday. i can live with embarrassing myself. no one really takes me seriously anyways so that's easy to do. unfortunately, my actions embarrassed karen. my actions embarrassed my parents. my actions embarrassed my family. my actions probably embarrassed my neighbors as they probably think they are living near the public drunk.
not only that... i dissed all of my friends who wanted to celebrate with me. i stood up my friend (hot amy) who i wanted to have one last train ride with. i stood up my friend (carlos) who organized the party. i stood up my other friends (jen and bill). i even stood up my other friend (aimee) who made the extra effort to find time to attend the party. if there were other people who attended the party that i missed, i apologize for not listing you.
so what it basically boils down to is that i suck... plain and simple. i screwed up. if i can go back in time to change things, i would. i know no matter what i say, my family and friends have every right to excommunicate me. and right now, they have every reason to. and whether it's enough or not, all i can say is "i'm sorry." so to everyone, i'm sorry and i hope you guys forgive me.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
I Still Suck At Scollay Square
this is not a mistake. you are not seeing double. this post is also about scollay square. yes, i still suck at scollay square.
today, i had my last lunch in town with my friend (hot amy). if the weather was any indication (with the pouring rain), this last lunch was a sad event for me. the original plan was for me to have lunch with hot amy and her boss (shirley). shirley is quite the character. in fact, i refer to shirley as my mom... not because she has done any motherly things for me or anything. (well, she did offer suggestions on looking for a new job i suppose.)
a long while ago, one of hot amy's coworkers saw me hanging out with hot amy. her coworker thought we were a couple or something. maybe it was the hand holding that gave it away... the long walks on the beaches together... the constant make out sessions... i don't know. (i'm kidding of course). obviously, hot amy set her coworker straight. so as to not confuse any of her other coworkers, i suggested that i should pass myself off as shirley's son because shirley and i are genetically similar. hence, shirley became my "mom"... which i happened to mention to some random people at her work once.
anyway, the original plan was to have one last lunch with hot amy and shirley. unfortunately, shirley could not attend. she had to attend a lunch with one of her closest friends who also was leaving. (yes, i'm apparently the black sheep.) needless to say, it was just hot amy and me. as hot amy had a craving for mac 'n cheese... we ended up... where else? but scollay square.
it was my last delicious taste of mac 'n cheese in town. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) needless to say, as always it was a great lunch with hot amy. as it turns out... i also learned that st. ann's may need to brush up on their teaching skills when it comes to writing. when hot amy was signing the check, i noticed the way she was holding the pen. it was quite peculiar and it immediately made me think of the odd way that karen grips her pen when she writes. naturally, i am wondering if my other friends (pam and andrea) and my favorite sister-in-law (janine) grip their writing utensils differently as well. oh well.
(pictured below is hot amy in the rain... leaving scollay square...)
so long scollay square!
today, i had my last lunch in town with my friend (hot amy). if the weather was any indication (with the pouring rain), this last lunch was a sad event for me. the original plan was for me to have lunch with hot amy and her boss (shirley). shirley is quite the character. in fact, i refer to shirley as my mom... not because she has done any motherly things for me or anything. (well, she did offer suggestions on looking for a new job i suppose.)
a long while ago, one of hot amy's coworkers saw me hanging out with hot amy. her coworker thought we were a couple or something. maybe it was the hand holding that gave it away... the long walks on the beaches together... the constant make out sessions... i don't know. (i'm kidding of course). obviously, hot amy set her coworker straight. so as to not confuse any of her other coworkers, i suggested that i should pass myself off as shirley's son because shirley and i are genetically similar. hence, shirley became my "mom"... which i happened to mention to some random people at her work once.
anyway, the original plan was to have one last lunch with hot amy and shirley. unfortunately, shirley could not attend. she had to attend a lunch with one of her closest friends who also was leaving. (yes, i'm apparently the black sheep.) needless to say, it was just hot amy and me. as hot amy had a craving for mac 'n cheese... we ended up... where else? but scollay square.
it was my last delicious taste of mac 'n cheese in town. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) needless to say, as always it was a great lunch with hot amy. as it turns out... i also learned that st. ann's may need to brush up on their teaching skills when it comes to writing. when hot amy was signing the check, i noticed the way she was holding the pen. it was quite peculiar and it immediately made me think of the odd way that karen grips her pen when she writes. naturally, i am wondering if my other friends (pam and andrea) and my favorite sister-in-law (janine) grip their writing utensils differently as well. oh well.
(pictured below is hot amy in the rain... leaving scollay square...)
so long scollay square!
I Suck At Scollay Square
immediately after my diverse lunch with my friend (hot amy), i met my other friend (aimee) for lunch number two of my "take two lunch breaks in the course of a single day" experiment.
aimee apparently was craving mac 'n cheese tuesday. we ended up at scollay square... or as aimee put it... the place that serves mac 'n cheese that is not silvertone... now i suck at scollay square.
apparently, aimee has never been to scollay square. in my opinion, she chose the best place in town for mac 'n cheese. (pictured below is aimee at scollay square.)
anyway, aimee had the mac 'n cheese with lobster. i think she enjoyed it and i hope she agrees with me that it is the best mac 'n cheese in town. (i had chicken fingers... which actually made it a day of chicken for me as i had chicken salad prior to this lunch.) needless to say, i'm glad i was able to have lunch with aimee before i left. i have felt (and i'm sure she would agree) that we don't talk as much as we used to. so it was definitely a good lunch as we caught up on a few things.
thankfully, the open scramble challenge (where i offered lunch to any of my friends who could beat me in the game of scramble) allowed me the opportunity to take aimee out for lunch. thus, losing is not always bad.
aimee apparently was craving mac 'n cheese tuesday. we ended up at scollay square... or as aimee put it... the place that serves mac 'n cheese that is not silvertone... now i suck at scollay square.
apparently, aimee has never been to scollay square. in my opinion, she chose the best place in town for mac 'n cheese. (pictured below is aimee at scollay square.)
anyway, aimee had the mac 'n cheese with lobster. i think she enjoyed it and i hope she agrees with me that it is the best mac 'n cheese in town. (i had chicken fingers... which actually made it a day of chicken for me as i had chicken salad prior to this lunch.) needless to say, i'm glad i was able to have lunch with aimee before i left. i have felt (and i'm sure she would agree) that we don't talk as much as we used to. so it was definitely a good lunch as we caught up on a few things.
thankfully, the open scramble challenge (where i offered lunch to any of my friends who could beat me in the game of scramble) allowed me the opportunity to take aimee out for lunch. thus, losing is not always bad.
I Suck At The Ashburton Cafe
on tuesday, shortly after retiring my art project, i decided to try something i have never done before... take two lunch breaks in the course of a single day. my reasoning for the two lunch breaks involved the fact that the multiple lunches would pass the time at work and it would also allow me to see more of my friends before i left my current company.
the first lunch break was at the ashburton cafe. now, i suck at the ashburton cafe. the ashburton cafe is located on ashburton place in boston. in fact, the ashburton cafe is located on the bottom floor of the building that my friend (hot amy) happens to work at. (pictured below is hot amy at the ashburton cafe.)
anyway, hot amy had diversity training for the day and... me being diverse and all... decided to help her out by having lunch with her. i must say, the food is surprisingly very good at the ashburton cafe. i had a chicken salad sandwich (and actually part of hot amy's sandwich). it was very good. the chicken salad had cranberries and walnuts in it. (cue "yum-o" sound.)
in case anyone was curious, amy had to define what diversity meant. sounds like a thrilling class. (if only she could define what her term of "intellectual" means.) i do, however, suppose the class was somewhat insightful. after all, i found out that the term "hermaphrodite" is now considered derogatory. the correct term is "intersexual". who knew? apparently i may need diversity training... which probably isn't surprising for those of you who know me and know my disdain for all things asian growing up.
anyway, as usual it was a fun and interesting lunch with hot amy.
the first lunch break was at the ashburton cafe. now, i suck at the ashburton cafe. the ashburton cafe is located on ashburton place in boston. in fact, the ashburton cafe is located on the bottom floor of the building that my friend (hot amy) happens to work at. (pictured below is hot amy at the ashburton cafe.)
anyway, hot amy had diversity training for the day and... me being diverse and all... decided to help her out by having lunch with her. i must say, the food is surprisingly very good at the ashburton cafe. i had a chicken salad sandwich (and actually part of hot amy's sandwich). it was very good. the chicken salad had cranberries and walnuts in it. (cue "yum-o" sound.)
in case anyone was curious, amy had to define what diversity meant. sounds like a thrilling class. (if only she could define what her term of "intellectual" means.) i do, however, suppose the class was somewhat insightful. after all, i found out that the term "hermaphrodite" is now considered derogatory. the correct term is "intersexual". who knew? apparently i may need diversity training... which probably isn't surprising for those of you who know me and know my disdain for all things asian growing up.
anyway, as usual it was a fun and interesting lunch with hot amy.
I Still Suck At Work
with still nothing to do during my last week at work, i decided to be creative to pass the time away. yep, i still suck at work.
so in the interest of creativity, i raided the company supply cabinet. i found a glossy white folder, a glossy blue folder, envelope adhesive, and double sided tape. lucky for me, i had scissors already at my desk.
with all the supplies now sitting at my desk, i started cutting away. on our floor, the desks have a slight wall that is a little bit shorter than the height of the computer monitor that sits on the desk. my coworkers (particular tim and kristen) were wondering what i was doing at my desk because all they could see was me with a pair of scissors and pieces flying around.
anyway, i told them it was a surprise and cut some more shapes out of the folders. i even grabbed some heavy books from the book shelf next to my desk to add weight onto the glued pieces. as it turned out, i had to switch to using the double sided tape because the envelope adhesive did not stick too well.
when all was said and done, i revealed by creation. (picture below is my creation. it's a baseball jersey with my phone extension.)
my coworkers are part of the red sox nation. so they got a nice chuckle out of my creative project. they had even considered having a retirement ceremony for the jersey at lunch time. unfortunately, i already had plans for lunch.
needless to say, i just stuck the retired jersey on the wall, much like how it's done at baseball stadiums. i give it a couple of days before the owner of the company goes ballistic and takes my art project down. the owner of the company is quite particular about things.
so in the interest of creativity, i raided the company supply cabinet. i found a glossy white folder, a glossy blue folder, envelope adhesive, and double sided tape. lucky for me, i had scissors already at my desk.
with all the supplies now sitting at my desk, i started cutting away. on our floor, the desks have a slight wall that is a little bit shorter than the height of the computer monitor that sits on the desk. my coworkers (particular tim and kristen) were wondering what i was doing at my desk because all they could see was me with a pair of scissors and pieces flying around.
anyway, i told them it was a surprise and cut some more shapes out of the folders. i even grabbed some heavy books from the book shelf next to my desk to add weight onto the glued pieces. as it turned out, i had to switch to using the double sided tape because the envelope adhesive did not stick too well.
when all was said and done, i revealed by creation. (picture below is my creation. it's a baseball jersey with my phone extension.)
my coworkers are part of the red sox nation. so they got a nice chuckle out of my creative project. they had even considered having a retirement ceremony for the jersey at lunch time. unfortunately, i already had plans for lunch.
needless to say, i just stuck the retired jersey on the wall, much like how it's done at baseball stadiums. i give it a couple of days before the owner of the company goes ballistic and takes my art project down. the owner of the company is quite particular about things.
Monday, June 2, 2008
I Suck At Work
today begins my final week at my current job.
with all of my projects delegated to my other team members... and with no new projects to work on because of my departure... i have had absolutely nothing to do at work. so naturally, i figured i would do what i do best... cause trouble.
in addition to the joy street location, my company has an office located on 101 federal street. 101 federal street also happens to be the address of my bank, but that is beside the point. the 101 federal street office consists of 5 people. one of those 5 people happens to be one of my coworkers (natasha) who i instant message a lot during the course of the day. natasha is the executive assistant at the 101 federal street office. ever since i trained her on one of the applications that our company created, she has been keeping me up to date on the coming and goings at the 101 federal street office.
anyway, natasha sits in full view of one of the directors (amy)... not to be confused with my friend hot amy. amy is not exactly the most technically proficient individual i have known. i am probably lucky that she even knows how to use instant messenger. needless to say, i decided to play a joke on amy today.
if you were ever visit the 101 federal street office, you would know that every room in the office has a special clock hanging on the wall. the clock naturally has to be a chelsea clock because the company's owner's brother also happens to own the chelsea clock company. when i was training natasha on the application, she had mentioned how every room had to have the chelsea clock. in addition, she mentioned that there was some joking from the directors about how each room had to have a chelsea clock because there was a camera contained within the clock and that the main office could then keep tabs on the 101 federal office location.
naturally, i used this tidbit of information for my pleasure. with the help of natasha and instant messenger, i asked natasha what amy was doing at the moment. amy was scribbling something in a notebook. so, i sent an instant message to amy telling her to stop scribbling in her notebook. confused, she asked how i knew she was writing something... to which i replied... "because i can see through the camera in the clock."
from what i am told by natasha, amy started to freak out. amy kept peering at the clock and kept asking me questions. she even started to ask one of the other directors something about the clock, to which i sent her an instant message saying that "the camera is a secret, don't ask him!" after that, amy freaked out some more.
i wish i could have actually been there to witness firsthand amy's freakout. natasha was having trouble keeping her laughter in. natasha soon sent me an instant message saying that all amy was saying is that she could not believe there are cameras in the office. naturally, i then sent amy an instant message saying that it was not so hard to believe.
freaked out even further, amy then asked me if... not only could i see her, but could i hear her as well. of course, i had her going. i told her that that there was an ip address that i could get to via my computer to see her and that the audio portion was a bit muffled. that got amy even more freaked out. i was dying laughing at my desk because natasha was telling me about amy's paranoid panic.
eventually, i had to finally tell amy that i was just kidding around with her. amy took the joke well. she's a good sport. i will definitely miss my partner in crime in natasha, amy, and the rest of the people at the 101 federal office location when i leave work. it's too bad i suck at work.
with all of my projects delegated to my other team members... and with no new projects to work on because of my departure... i have had absolutely nothing to do at work. so naturally, i figured i would do what i do best... cause trouble.
in addition to the joy street location, my company has an office located on 101 federal street. 101 federal street also happens to be the address of my bank, but that is beside the point. the 101 federal street office consists of 5 people. one of those 5 people happens to be one of my coworkers (natasha) who i instant message a lot during the course of the day. natasha is the executive assistant at the 101 federal street office. ever since i trained her on one of the applications that our company created, she has been keeping me up to date on the coming and goings at the 101 federal street office.
anyway, natasha sits in full view of one of the directors (amy)... not to be confused with my friend hot amy. amy is not exactly the most technically proficient individual i have known. i am probably lucky that she even knows how to use instant messenger. needless to say, i decided to play a joke on amy today.
if you were ever visit the 101 federal street office, you would know that every room in the office has a special clock hanging on the wall. the clock naturally has to be a chelsea clock because the company's owner's brother also happens to own the chelsea clock company. when i was training natasha on the application, she had mentioned how every room had to have the chelsea clock. in addition, she mentioned that there was some joking from the directors about how each room had to have a chelsea clock because there was a camera contained within the clock and that the main office could then keep tabs on the 101 federal office location.
naturally, i used this tidbit of information for my pleasure. with the help of natasha and instant messenger, i asked natasha what amy was doing at the moment. amy was scribbling something in a notebook. so, i sent an instant message to amy telling her to stop scribbling in her notebook. confused, she asked how i knew she was writing something... to which i replied... "because i can see through the camera in the clock."
from what i am told by natasha, amy started to freak out. amy kept peering at the clock and kept asking me questions. she even started to ask one of the other directors something about the clock, to which i sent her an instant message saying that "the camera is a secret, don't ask him!" after that, amy freaked out some more.
i wish i could have actually been there to witness firsthand amy's freakout. natasha was having trouble keeping her laughter in. natasha soon sent me an instant message saying that all amy was saying is that she could not believe there are cameras in the office. naturally, i then sent amy an instant message saying that it was not so hard to believe.
freaked out even further, amy then asked me if... not only could i see her, but could i hear her as well. of course, i had her going. i told her that that there was an ip address that i could get to via my computer to see her and that the audio portion was a bit muffled. that got amy even more freaked out. i was dying laughing at my desk because natasha was telling me about amy's paranoid panic.
eventually, i had to finally tell amy that i was just kidding around with her. amy took the joke well. she's a good sport. i will definitely miss my partner in crime in natasha, amy, and the rest of the people at the 101 federal office location when i leave work. it's too bad i suck at work.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
I Suck At Gallstones
shortly after my terrible performance as a personal trainer, i received a call from my friend (marc) who i normally get together and hang out with on wednesdays.
marc told me that kelley was admitted to quincy medical center. fearing that kelley would tire of his company, he asked if karen and i would be able stop by the hospital for a little while. naturally, karen and i went to see our friends. (like i always say... always appreciate your family and friends... all right, maybe i don't always say that... at least usually not until christmas time...)
we met marc at his house and then walked on over to the quincy medical center. (marc and kelley live right across the street from the hospital.) in fact, kelley walked over to the hospital before getting admitted.
anyway, it turns out that kelley was craving a burger from wendy's yesterday. after they ate at wendy's, she started feeling discomfort. thinking nothing of it, kelley searched the internet for possible reasons for her discomfort. she took 6 tylenol pills... nothing. she had trouble sleeping. eventually, she decided to go to the emergency room. apparently, the staff already had an idea as to what the cause of her discomfort was. they took an ultrasound and discovered a gallstone.
i suck at gallstones. according to my friend wikipedia, "Researchers believe that gallstones may be caused by a combination of factors, including inherited body chemistry, body weight, gallbladder motility (movement), and perhaps diet."
from what i am told, kelley's gallstone is about an inch in diameter. that is huge. apparently, the stone has been around for some time. it just so happened to end up blocking the passageway yesterday. (fast food always gets you. just kidding.)
anyway, kelley is having surgery tomorrow to remove the gallstone. in what i consider to be somewhat interesting, is the fact that the doctors are going to attempt to go arthroscopically through her belly button to pulverize the gallstone. if that procedure does not work, then they will need to make an incision elsewhere to remove it. as well, she will be out an entire week to recover.
kelley was in relatively good spirits considering she was lacking sleep... and had a ginormous golf-ball sized gallstone. hopefully things will go well... all of us had joked that when the doctors poke a hole through her belly button, that kelley would deflate and fly around the room losing air like a balloon. joking aside, get well soon kell!
marc told me that kelley was admitted to quincy medical center. fearing that kelley would tire of his company, he asked if karen and i would be able stop by the hospital for a little while. naturally, karen and i went to see our friends. (like i always say... always appreciate your family and friends... all right, maybe i don't always say that... at least usually not until christmas time...)
we met marc at his house and then walked on over to the quincy medical center. (marc and kelley live right across the street from the hospital.) in fact, kelley walked over to the hospital before getting admitted.
anyway, it turns out that kelley was craving a burger from wendy's yesterday. after they ate at wendy's, she started feeling discomfort. thinking nothing of it, kelley searched the internet for possible reasons for her discomfort. she took 6 tylenol pills... nothing. she had trouble sleeping. eventually, she decided to go to the emergency room. apparently, the staff already had an idea as to what the cause of her discomfort was. they took an ultrasound and discovered a gallstone.
i suck at gallstones. according to my friend wikipedia, "Researchers believe that gallstones may be caused by a combination of factors, including inherited body chemistry, body weight, gallbladder motility (movement), and perhaps diet."
from what i am told, kelley's gallstone is about an inch in diameter. that is huge. apparently, the stone has been around for some time. it just so happened to end up blocking the passageway yesterday. (fast food always gets you. just kidding.)
anyway, kelley is having surgery tomorrow to remove the gallstone. in what i consider to be somewhat interesting, is the fact that the doctors are going to attempt to go arthroscopically through her belly button to pulverize the gallstone. if that procedure does not work, then they will need to make an incision elsewhere to remove it. as well, she will be out an entire week to recover.
kelley was in relatively good spirits considering she was lacking sleep... and had a ginormous golf-ball sized gallstone. hopefully things will go well... all of us had joked that when the doctors poke a hole through her belly button, that kelley would deflate and fly around the room losing air like a balloon. joking aside, get well soon kell!
I Still Suck At Personal Training
today, i may have had my last session as a personal trainer. i still suck at personal training. i only hope that my efforts have been enough to help my favorite sister-in-law (janine) reach her fitness goals whether or not she wins the ymca's mad dash competion.
anyway, the ymca's 10 week mad dash competition is nearing completion. (the mad dash is the ymca's version of the biggest loser.) thus, janine wanted to do one more workout before the dreaded final weigh in. as proof that i still suck at personal training, janine was not even sore after the bosu workout. apparently, i was too easy on her.
in retrospect, i probably should have ran her through more push-up exercises. janine absolutely hates doing push-ups. normally, i derive some pleasure in making people do exercises that they absolutely hate. today, however, i had removed a number of push-up exercises from the normal routine in favor of some additional abdominal exercises at the request of janine... which we did not complete all of due to time contraints. i'll know better the next time... if there is a next time for my bosu army. i'm definitely getting soft...
regardless, good luck janine! i hope she does well in the mad dash.
anyway, the ymca's 10 week mad dash competition is nearing completion. (the mad dash is the ymca's version of the biggest loser.) thus, janine wanted to do one more workout before the dreaded final weigh in. as proof that i still suck at personal training, janine was not even sore after the bosu workout. apparently, i was too easy on her.
in retrospect, i probably should have ran her through more push-up exercises. janine absolutely hates doing push-ups. normally, i derive some pleasure in making people do exercises that they absolutely hate. today, however, i had removed a number of push-up exercises from the normal routine in favor of some additional abdominal exercises at the request of janine... which we did not complete all of due to time contraints. i'll know better the next time... if there is a next time for my bosu army. i'm definitely getting soft...
regardless, good luck janine! i hope she does well in the mad dash.
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