Read this and weep...literally

I have to give one little political plug today. My home page is MSN and there was a feature to compare the politics of Kerry and Bush and see with whom you align yourself ideologically.

Check it out here. Don't cry too hard when you realize that the candidate on the left is actually a viable option to millions of people.

So much to say

First of all, I wanted to share pictures from the weekend's apple picking adventure. I am going to attempt to put a link to Ofoto under a new Pictures section to the right (under the Cool Blogs section). You can usually view pics without signing in or registering, but if you have to register, either let me know and I will give you my login & password, or register - they never bug me and it is a useful site for sharing pictures.

**Postscript, Tuesday, 9:30am. I realized I didn't say much about the apple-picking experience. The orchard was kind of weird because they don't let you walk among the trees; you have to take a hayride to the specific trees they want you to pick from. Once in the those trees, it was a tad difficult to find enough apples to fill our 10lb bag. But the apples we did find were tasty, there were several varieties, not just the usual McIntosh (Cortland, Gala, McCown, Honeycrisp), and I got to be about 8' tall for a little while. There were plenty of farm animals to marvel at and the homemade apple donuts were delicious. On the downside, eating more apples at one time than ever before, Bryan loosened the front tooth that he had broken when he was 11 years old. He lost it completely biting into a particularly vicious onion ring during our late lunch at Kelly's Roast Beef. An emergency trip to my uncle the dentist, Dr. Bob, and he has a full-sized fake temporary in place. Could've been a great, authentic Halloween costume.

Secondly, The Boston Red Sox have clinched a playoff spot. WOOHOO!!! I wasn't too worried (I can't believe I am able to write that with such ease), but it is nice to be official. And I love to see a 4 dinger game.

Thirdly, the impending presidential election has my stomach hurting. I was listening to a report on NPR this morning about women voters and the shift in their allegiance away from the Democratic party toward George Bush. The PR people for Bush's campaign are brilliant. They have labeled women with children "Security Moms" and convinced them all that those children will only be safe with Bush in the White House. Meanwhile, Bush has pulled troops out of Fallujah, which has now become an absolute hotbed of terrorist activity that no one can touch because they lost all control of it when they stopped paying attention. I am not personally too concerned about another terrorist attack. I think that it is possible, but if no one could prevent 9/11, what makes everyone think that anyone will be able to stop another well-planned attack? In fact, I think that most people are more aware of their surroundings and more people are trained to notice out-of-the-ordinary things. The Bush campaign is actually using terror to get more votes. "Women: Be afraid of other people hurting you and your families. Vote for Bush." Fucking amazing.

What I am more terrified of is another 4 years of a conservative, religious fanatic running the country I live in (and love pretty well) and appointing judges and cabinet members who will further the incidiously constrictive agenda of this administration. I fully support the right of people to choose their religion, their medical practices and their moral tenets. I don't believe that Jesus should be thrust on people or that freedom fashioned after a government that has been working on it for just over 200 years should be forced upon an entire country that has existed for so much longer under such radically different precepts. The arrogance of this administration is eschewed by so many in the international community. I fear for America's standing and her dignity if this hubris continues unchecked and unfettered.

Course, after the NPR report on the 'new' attitude of women in the US (I don't remember being asked), they reported on the danger of antidepressants to children. Apparently millions of American children, ages SIX and up, are being prescribed drugs like Zoloft and Prozac. It seems that these children find life too difficult and when they find themselves in a situation they can't handle, like a big move or a divorce, doctors pretty quickly turn to a physiological answer: Drugs. Why aren't mothers concerned about this? We have a large number of drug-induced zombie kids who can't 'deal' with life and Bush has women convinced that their kids are going to die in a bombed building? AMAZING!

In book news, the Man Booker Prize shortlist has been announced. This is usually a good place to go to find some great, new fiction. Some of the nominees seem a bit too grim for my taste, but I am interested in reading the book about Henry James, The Master by Colm Toibin.

I am currently reading the autobiography of cat burglar/jewel thief Bill Mason. The book is called Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief and it is interesting so far. He describes many of his scores in detail (each kind of making me want to don a black outfit, learn to pick locks, scale a wall and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in diamonds) which have been the most intriguing parts of the book. I absolutely love that every once in a while he throws in a tip to the reader about what not to do to avoid being robbed (like put 4 locks on a thick wooden door next to a full-sized glass window). This man remained largely in the shadows getting caught only once or twice and with relatively short punishments. He did spend a total of 5 years in jail, and while I think that this is a pretty damn long time, it's incredible that one who pulled off so many heists only spent that long, total, behind bars. He has now 'retired' from the life and the statute of limitations has been reached on all of his jobs, so he wrote his autobiography. As my colleague Renee pointed out, this is just another way to get a thrill. He stole for the thrill (he really didn't need the money b/c he was a relatively successful real estate manager) and now that he is finished, he is taking responsibility for all of his illicit deeds, perhaps once again putting himself at risk of retribution from those he robbed. An interesting read in any event.

So, I'm sitting at my desk at work. It's 8:03 in the morning. I am supposed to be in a car, on my way to Vermont for a work retreat. My entire company is gathering 2 and a half hours away to hold a strategy meeting. The Vermont setting gets us out of the 'usual' work frame of mind and should allow for some good thinking. The reason I'm not in a car traveling to this meeting is one very large, very full tractor trailer truck. The driver of this truck managed to flip over on the highway, spilling 100 gallons of oil fuel and 90,000 floor tiles, thus blocking traffic for miles. My colleague who is driving my butt to Vermont is sitting in that traffic that is being redirected for miles and miles.

I have been in one car accident that I caused when a dog ran out in front of my car and I swerved to avoid hitting the little guy. I totalled my car, caused some damage to the guard rail, but none to myself (at least physically) and none to any other vehicles on the road. I did block one lane of a two-lane highway for about 40 minutes, but it was a Saturday morning at 10am, so it wasn't too bad. I do understand that accidents happen; that's why the word exists. But to flip a huge truck carrying that much cargo? That amazes me. Did the drive fall asleep? Did s/he bend over to pick up the CB that had fallen on the floor? Was it too foggy to see the road? Anyway, maybe they could send a grout truck to the scene and pretty up the road. Think of all the tile that will go un, um, tiled this day.

The Sox are killing me; they gave up another winable game last night. Tonight starts a 3 game series with the Satans that the Sox have to bring their A-game to. George Bush still thinks it was a GREAT idea to invade Iraq and once again defended his stance (not 'ours', his) to the UN, even though they have determined that it was an illegal invasion. Please go out and vote against this moron in November.

Apple picking this weekend and maybe a trip to the Big E. Enjoy the weekend. I am going outside to wait for Paul.

Fall

Today is the first day of fall. This has caused me to think about all of the reasons why I love the fall.
Apple picking
Caramel apples
The slight chill in the air
The sharp smell of leaves
Amazing leaf colors
School starting - feels like a time of new beginnings
Baseball playoffs
Halloween
Halloween parties
Haunted houses
Fall festivals
Jack O'Lanterns
Pumpkin pie
Football games
Frost on the grass
My birthday

What I don't like are the ever-shortening days and looming snow and ice storms. I enjoy winter, but I like it much more in December and January than in Feb, March, April and May.

I am swamped at work (in a good way) and am looking forward to some good baseball for the rest of this week. I am appalled at the beheadings occurring in Iraq and at people's apparent lack of shock. Have we, as a society, truly become desensitized to innocent men losing their lives in such a brutal way so that they can be used as pawns in a game that no one can win?

That's all I've got for you today. Have a good one.

Whiskey, You're the Devil

The weekend festivities in NH were Malveylicious and whiskey-lickin' good. We drove north through the remnants of Hurricane Ivan to find a sunnier (not by much, but I'll take what I can get) Rye, New Hampshire, a whole lot of Malveys, good food, good music and plenty of tasty spirits. Rich celebrated his 60th in grand style and I was happy to be a part of it. The only thing missing were lights in the bathrooms and light switches in our hotel room (but, hey, we had 2 Bibles). Rich is an incredible, generous, fun-loving person, and the same is true for his family. So, cheers to you, me fine Irish lad:
"Up the long ladder and down the short rope.
To hell with King Richard and god bless the pope.
If that don't do, we'll tie 'em in two,
And send 'em to hell in their red, white, and blue."
Or my personal favorite:
"Here's to you, here's to me;
Best of friends we'll always be.
Should we ever disagree,
Fuck you, Here's to me."

I am quite consciously NOT mentioning the Sox cause they break my heart when they forget to play baseball, especially against New York. I still love 'em and I still have faith that they will make the post season, but why oh why do they gotta drop such ugly games. Enough of that.

Today is September 20th and it is the best September 20th I could possibly be having. Besides spending my day at my job, which I love, I am going to spend it at the b-day party of a 4 year old with the person I love best beside me. Life is good.

Blogging Mania and a Sad Goodbye

I hardly have time to get work done with all the blogs that I now enjoy reading. And I now feel so much more pressure to blog often and well. I don't have much for the community today. I am a bit tired, having stayed up way too late last night, and I am looking forward to Richard's big 60th Birthday bash this weekend in New Hampshire, complete with an Irish band and the Atlantic Ocean. Should be an amazing time.

I meant to write my condolences to my sister-in-law Karen all week and ironically by the time I am getting to it, it is on her 5 year wedding anniversary. She lost her grandfather unexpectedly last week. He lives in Florida and was out doing some errands at WalMart when he had a heart attack in the parking lot, in his car. I'm afraid that I can't write more about it because it sounds like some kind of macabre joke. Go out for some t.p. and undershirts, end up in the ground. I found it deeply sad when I heard the news. His wife, Karen's grandmother, is a lovely woman and she is devastated. Do you even say a real goodbye when your partner and best friend for over 50 years goes out to run some errands? And how do you reconcile that when you find out he is never coming home? Makes you think about your interactions with the people you love. Go call your mother (father, wife, cousin, friend) for pete's sake and tell her/him you love 'em.

Congrats to JJ and Karen. I know it's not the happiest, but it is worth celebrating.

Have a safe weekend everyone.

Tool Time to Reflect (better known as 'Before and After' to Jeopardy fans)

It's pretty late right now - later than I have stayed up for no particular reason in a long time - and I am sitting in my sparsely furnished office writing with my keyboard balanced on my lap. I spent this evening watching the Sox, the Apprentice (is it me, or is the Donald's hair growing?), drilling holes in a few of my walls to hang hooks for cups, towels, whatever else people hang on hooks, and putting together a large shelving unit for my washer/dryer area. I've realized a few things:

*I love Curt Schilling more and more everyday and I am thrilled at the prospect of watching him in the post season

*My stud-finder is not 100% accurate

*Particle board smells a lot like the pet store (saw dust?)

*Some screws are not meant to be handled roughly; their heads come off leaving 3/4 of the screw still in the bathroom door

*It is satisfying to sit in a room lit only with the computer's glow, a room whose walls are paid for with your own money, in your slippers and pajamas after having used both power tools and your hands to improve some of the other rooms

*As much satisfaction as I might feel, it is no fun if you have no one with whom to share it all

Well, this past weekend went according to plan. I was able to sleep in two mornings in a row (which, of course, meant that I would open my eyes and be fully awake at 9:30 am both days, but I was able to laze and doze thereafter, so it was still amazing). And I did manage to get a few errands done making me feel pretty productive.

Bryan and I actually decided (well, I decided, he graciously assisted) to hang a wallpaper border in my bathroom. It is not a large bathroom and we bought all of the necessary supplies. Easy, right? When will I learn? We followed the directions on the border to a T, even listening to my wallpaper guru (mom) and buying paste in case the pre-pasted stuff sucked. We wet and stuck and pasted and re-stuck and smoothed and sponged and pressed. And the damn stuff came unglued in pockets and bubbles in various, random places as it dried throughout the evening. The next day, we re-wet, re-pasted, re-smoothed,re-sponged, re-pressed. To no avail. The good news: the pockets and air bubbles are growing on me.

We also went to Os-car's to get an oil change for my SAAB. Os-car's is a tiny place in downtown Framingham (read: Brazilian) with one mechanic named...Oscar. I have been bringing my car there for about a year and I love it. Everytime I go, Oscar lets me stand right there as he puts my car up on the lift and drains the oil. He walks me through the entire procedure, usually scolding me for the too-black sludge that emerges when he loosens the bolt on my oil tank. And without fail, three to twelve or more people stop by while he is changing my oil. He talks to everyone as he moves around his small, two-dock garage. This time I met his 3-year old son (Surprise, surprise: named Oscar), his wife, her sister, her son, his surrogate father and a few neighbors. I love the bustle of the shop, seeing what delicious-looking food his wife has brought him, feeling like a member of an elite community where everyone seemingly knows everyone else. And I got to see the finger that Oscar recently lost half of (now mostly healed). All for a $20 oil change. Not bad.

Went to see dingers last night with Bryan, his cousin Jeff and his Uncle Burt from California. It was probably the last live game I will see this season and it was pretty painful. Pedro pitched a gem, but so did Kazmir, a twenty-year old pitcher who just shut down the Sox offense. Nixon hit a great, crowd-ralllying 2-run homer late in the game, but the Sox could not climb out of a 5 run deficit. Uncle Burt got to see Fenway for the first time, but he did not get to experience the ebullience of a win there.

Going to watch dingers in a bar in Cambridge tonight. Maybe we'll have better luck with that. Keep your rally caps on and your cheering voices ready - we've got our eye on October.

Weekend, here I come

I still have an overwhelming disgust for the NY Satans; fortunately, I am not alone as Bud Selig, the commissioner of baseball shares my feeling of distaste. They are such scabs.

I am looking forward to a wedding-free, plan-free weekend. All the sleeping and relaxing I want. Course I have this feeling that I should be doing a hundred things, but I am going to resist it mightily.
Enjoy!

Habla Ingles?

Last night after work, Bryanless because he decided to go get a haircut after work, and cause it's good to sleep apart once in a while so we remember what it's like to sleep diagonally (I'm probably just speaking for myself there), I headed to WalMart to buy some things for the house. I have not been to WalMarts everywhere, so i don't know what the usual experience is, but in Framingham, home to a HUGE Brazilian population, WalMart is a swarming, disorganized, non-English-speaking space. I really do like it in there because of all the noise and bustle, but it can be overwhelming, so I usually walk in the front doors, tuck my head, gather what I need and head to the line with the least children. This night, I ended up in the 10 items or less, having only grabbed Q-tips, a shelf organizer, Pepcid Complete (which I was almost tempted to take to get me through the stress of a Framingham WalMart line), and Band-Aids. The line was 14 people deep, most with just a few items. Not too bad.

I continued to keep my head down and stand quietly in line while the lovely buzz of Portuguese and Spanish and an Indian dialect whirled around me. Eventually a woman got in line behind me with a shopping carriage and 4 kids. The middle two scamps decide it would be fun to push the cart into the back of my legs to amuse the child in the carriage seat. I turned around the first time and smiled. The second time I looked at the mom who smiled back at me indulgently,nodding, as if her progeny were bringing me a side of joy with my bruises. The third time I asked them to please stop; received only giggling in response. The fourth time, I moved to lean against the counter, with a big sigh. They stopped torturing me at this point having found some candy to whine about acquiring from their mom, and I was free. However, my move to the counter, put me closer to the man in front of me. He looked back at me and smiled. I smiled back than put my head back down.
He tapped my hand and asked,
"Habla Ingles? American?"
I answered: "Yes, I speak English. I'm American."
He replied: "Espagnol? Portuguese?"
Me: "No"
Done. End of interaction.
Nope. He then said,
"Born America?"
Me: "Yes."
"I like America. Good"
Me: "Yes, it's a nice country."
"Work, travailo. In America."
Me: smile, nod, break eye contact.
Pointing at me, "Married?"
Me, staring, thinking quickly, "Yes"
Finger snap in disappointment, "Oh. Bad."
I then avoided all eye-contact, eventually got up to the cashier and got the hell out of WalMart before someone tried to give me one of their children.

I really do love the melting pot that is America, and Framingham, in particular, but I find it wildly amusing that I can go to WalMart to buy toiletries and almost end up legless or married.

Attended my first all-staff meeting at work today for which I had actually received an agenda for before-hand. It started on time, ended on time and was filled with interesting information and some good discussion. Granted, like most staff meetings, nothing was resolved and more planning was planned, but it wasn't too painful and everyone participated. At the end of the meeting lunch had been delivered for everyone. Tasty!

Hope for baseball?

Anyone been through a major hurricane?? Been evacuated? Lost valuable property due to wind or falling tree damage? Lost water and/or electricity for days? No? Well, it isn't fun. I haven't had this happen to me too often, but living in New England has brought its share of bad hurricanes with high-speed winds and huge coastal waves. When I was in high school, I had accompanied a family that I babysat for to the Cape for a week when Hurricane Bob hit. Everyone was evacuated to the local high school. Once there, we were given a square of floor to set up a blanket and some paper bags of food and our 5 bodies. Generators ran dim lights for a few hours; one bank of pay phones was available to attempt to call home (before cell phones and call waiting). After about a day and a half of this, the hurricane passed out to sea and we were able to return to the house. We found that we would be without water for 2 more days. We cut the vacation short, packed up and returned home.

My point? The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are from Florida. Florida has recently been pounded by hurricane after hurricane. This latest one has derailed many home games in FL. It has also caused much worry for the players who are constantly on the road, away from their homes and families. The team was supposed to play a double-header in NY yesterday against the Satans. They had a tough time getting out of the state due to airport closures and bad weather, caused by Hurricane Francis. They were late for the first game of the double-header. They played the second game.

The Y****** cried foul. No, not weather. Play. The Satans were on the field at the appropriate time, in NY, where they live and where they are not experiencing any hurricanes. The Devil Rays were not at the field in time for the first game, so NY is lobbying to have the Rays charged with a forfeited game. They don't think that it's fair that they were ready to play and the Rays were not there.

The last time a major league game was forfeited because a team didn't show on time was July 17, 1902, according to retrosheet.org. Yet NY believes that they are so important that they can ask the baseball commissioner to give them a W because they were on the field, in no danger, while the Rays players flew through dangerous conditions to arrive late to work.

I am so overwhelmed with disgust for this team and the perversion and depravity that it interjects into the game of baseball. And it is just a game. It is a wonderful, thought-provoking, exciting game, but it is not life or death and the people participating are not gods. Delays happen and schedules get messed up. And most people have the decency to fold these delays and errors into the fabric of life and graciously say, how can we fix this? how can we find a way to mend this without injuring the game of baseball?

Sorry, it's not by shouting "foul" and "not fair" and trying to use your clout and name to get something for free, especially an unearned win. To me, the tactic smacks of a team that has never been asked to hold fans or fellow players in regard. It is petty and small. Step down, George, and let an owner who respects not only other players, but his/her own guys to run this ballclub and infuse a little more dignity into the word 'Yankee' thereby protecting the legitimacy and honor of the institution of baseball.

Ok,I'm done. Sorry to put you all through that, but I just can't let stuff like that go. In other news, Kate's party was smashing. My Kate Trivia game went over pretty well - even Kate learned some things about herself courtesy of information provided by her brother and parents. Thanks, Heather, for letting us party in your kicked-out condo and beautiful back yard.

Saturday, we did make it to the beach - Wingaersheek in Gloucester. Bryan and I met up with my older brother, sister-in-law (7.5 months pregnant!) and nephew, Noah, to catch some rays and play in the tolerably cold water. It was lovely seeing the wonder and delight on Noah's face as we caught Hermit crabs and sea slugs for him in a bucket. Unfortunately, we didn't find any 'amphibians', which was this 2 and a half-year old's word of the day - that's right. Gets his vocab from his aunt!

Sunday brought us to Tom's surprise graduation party in Connecticut. There was lots of eating, drinking and catching up. And Bryan and I discovered that we are nasty at bocce. We were briefly considering entering some tournaments and taking on 80 year-old Italian men everywhere!

It was my first "normal" holiday weekend in almost 2 years and it was just what a holiday weekend should be. I saw friends, family, ate great food, slept a little more than usual, experienced long stretches of relaxation, and didn't think about work, except to gush about how much I like it when asked about my new job. Beautiful.

So much

This week has been busy with work at a real job, house stuff and baseball. The Red Sox have been on a tear, which has been delightful and amazing. Talk about shock and awe - eat that Bush administration; this is the real thing!!

Work is incredible. I have so much to do and so many appreciative people to do it for. I am going to be able to organize and grow this library within the organization and it is really exciting.

Our washer and dryer arrived, was installed, and was successfully used last evening - Woohoo. What an exhilarating feeling, being able to wash my own clothes in my own kitchen in my own major appliances. Am I living the American dream or what?? The only gripe I have is that we bought a new-fangled, high-energy saving, front-load washing machine and it is kind of slow because it really spins everything around to wring the maximum amount of water out of each piece of clothing. Good for the electric and water bills, bad for my bare ass in need of underwear.

I also had my first mortgage check clear, whew, received a second month of rent, still a little weird, and moved a little closer to a roommate, fingers crossed.

Tonight is the party for Kate in honor of her 27th birthday. Nothing special is planned, just some drinks and some food and some witty reparte. Got that, Kate, nothing special is planned. Nothing. Should be fun.

This weekend we celebrate our laboring 5 day, 40 hours, 2400 minutes each week. If we're not too lazy, Bryan and I will try to get to a beach on Saturday for the last time this summer - pray we don't blind anyone with our gleaming, white bellies. And on Sunday we're heading to Sheri & Tom's in CT for a graduation party in Tom's honor. He is a master of English education now - before he was just playing one on tv. Bryan gets to meet lots of my friends for the first time, lucky guy. I have full confidence that his Bryan-appeal will win hearts and minds.

Have a safe and happy long weekend everyone.