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August 2008
Politics (I'm an Independent supporting Obama)
Well, it is official. Obama / Biden 2008! I know everyone has an opinion and thinks they might have chosen differently, but looking at the big picture... it was the obvious choice. Personally, I like Biden. He's as close to a blue collar guy as you can get in politics and he doesn't hesitate to say what's on his mind.
The Dem's Convention..... I thought the speeches were good. Again, critics can nitpick, but what needed to be said was said. The final night's speech was pure Obama magic. I'm always blown away that people criticize him because of his ability to make an inspirational speech...that's a big part of the job. There's a lot to do....we need to inspire EVERYONE to get off their ass and do something. Besides I'm tired of having to apologize for our shmuck of a president every time I'm out of the country (smart or not he comes off like a mental midget). Might be nice to have someone who is intelligent in the office again (as opposed to Mr. "I finished near the bottom of my class" McSame). People don't seem to realize there are no shortage of policy wonks in Washington to actually do the lifting... it isn't the President's job. Although, I shouldn't be surprised...far too many Americans would fail the civics portion of the US citizenship test.
The Usual...
I ended my tenure as Manager for the Escalation Support Group I was working with in Lexington. Driving all the way to Lexington when I needed to be there was rough (90 miles each way). I will be starting with the Carrier Business Group for ALU in August, specifically the North American RSC (Regional Support Center) for Applications doing Proposal Management (PreSales stuff). The company itself (ALU) is still in the upheaval of trying to make the merger work, so it can be stressful.
House (NOT) for sale! 6 year old, 2 (or 3) bedroom, 2 bath log home on 3 wooded acres in Sutton NH. Pictures are here on this site... Yup, we tried selling the house and looking for something a little bigger and closer to work (we all know gas is getting pricey), but it isn't such a great time to sell (great time to buy!). Maybe we'll try again next year.
On the computer lately: Second Life, mostly in RP sims. Tried Portal and played quite a few tracks on Trackmania Nations Forever (try it...it's free!). I also spend a little time going retro with my emulators, (C64, Atari, Nintendo...).
Great story of this month: Big company threatens legal action on wrong little company
On the Wii: GuitarHero
Latest tunes: Mindi Abair, Rippingtons and Podcasts. All that driving, I wouldn't be without my Sirius Satellite Radio Tuner!
Latest books: The Amber Spy Glass.
Final Bee update of last season below. No bees this year... too hard to move them! :-)
IF YOU ARE VIEWING THIS SITE AT CHARTER.NET, THIS IS THE OLD SITE...YOU NEED TO GO TO http://personalpages.tds.net/~jazzn2day/ AND BOOKMARK IT WHILE YOU'RE THERE!
Alternate Realities...
In Second Life, I am now "landed gentry"...just kidding... visit me (and the lodge room I recreated) there in Stanlee. For those of you SLers looking for a cool idea: Check out the Holodeck buildings they sell with actual furniture scenes "stored" until you bring it forward. No longer do you need 1/2 a region to build a 15 room house and support for a 1000 prims (as long as you only need them one room at a time).
The Recent (and not so recent) past events of note...
Karen & I are discussing some major issues involving family and maybe a relocation soon (to a bigger house). We looked at a some nice places in Bow and Concord so far.
Been a bit of a downer lately as far as recent losses (deaths). Our older ferret Puff passed (she was ill) in February and we just lost my youngest sister-in-law's husband. Willy was only 26, we still don't know what happened (forensic report will take a few weeks) it was sudden and unexplained. He leaves behind his wife and two children, one just born in January. He was a quiet guy, always friendly and helpful. He will be missed.
Just before Christmas, I broke my 38 year streak of never breaking any bones. While on a ladder with a snow rake (trying to pull some snow down before rain might add to the problem and cause damage) the ladder was not footed well enough (in a rush I guess) and down slid the ladder with me aboard. Broke my left wrist real good. Could have been my neck I suppose, so I am lucky.
SCHOOL IS DONE!! I presented my Capstone project the 16th. Grades submitted (another A!) and Degree Conferred as of 8/31/2007. Finished my MBA with a 3.82 GPA. I am very happy to be done!! Yes, I was pretty happy to finish with my undergrad in Feb. 2005 and I said I'd take some time off... well that didn't last long. I started an MBA program at Daniel Webster College in Nashua back in Sept 2005. Now I am done...finis...no more please.
The New Beekeeper saga: I went back to Betterbee April 28th, picked up the package of bees. Got them installed later that day...they were settling in nicely till week 3 when a hungry bear came by and knocked everything all out of whack. Put it back up and it was down again three days later. Some bees still there clinging to the frames, quite annoyed, nothing broken but two plastic frames. So I installed a "critter gitter" motion sensor alarm and electric fence. Left them alone to recover for a week while I was away in London. Checked in and we have another issue: no queen activity. I went over to Linden Apiaries in Charlestown, NH for a new queen (ASAP) and put her in. Final update: they just had too small a population to recover. Looks like ants and yellow jackets finished them off. I'll try again next year.
Another work trip to the London area in June. Had a decent time mostly because I brought Karen with me. She had fun while I worked :> Even managed to have lunch with a Lord while I was there (as in: a former member of the house of Lords...somewhat akin to our Senate)
I also have added "Odd site of the month" to the "blogging" area.
Went to Paris again in February for work, took Karen this time. She enjoyed herself. Here's Karen in Paris.
Two ferrets in the house. Oreo and Toffee. Karen didn't want Puff to get lonely (though she just passed away to illness in February). We had to put Spooky to sleep in the middle of May (had an inoperable growth). We lost Cinnamon the ferret the day before Thanksgiving 2006 (about 10 minutes before guests showed up... not good). He was getting up there in age (over 6 years) but it was still a big bummer. It looks like he somehow made it downstairs to the basement (might have slipped by when Karen was getting something out of the freezer) that's where we found him. We were pretty distressed.
Upgraded the commuter vehicle in September 2006. I now own a 2006 Toyota Prius (white w/ package #7). It's really high tech and pretty darned cool.
Karen got into another dinger with her car in September 2006 and this time the insurance company decided it wasn't worth fixing. Now she has an updated version of the old one (bought a 2003 Maxima to replace the 97)
Last year was a busy year for me (besides school, work and everything else) Progress status on the big 2006 "to do list":
1) Raised beds and a small greenhouse in the front yard. Got the lumber for the beds, had the area cleared, graded and gravel laid down. The greenhouse was delivered, construction done, pictures soon (Pictures)
2) A shed behind the house (too much stuff in the basement). (Pictures) Mostly Done. Still needs trim, caulk and paint.
3) Emergency generator. Done (very useful). (Pictures)
4) A small patio (8x10) near the walkout. Done (T&J Excavating & Carpentry) (Pictures)
5) Stumping and grading the area we cleared of trees last year (a barn soon?). Done. (T&J Excavating & Carpentry)
6) Tidy up the driveway (after the flooding in October and May, it needs a little touch up). Done. (T&J Excavating & Carpentry)
7) Screen in Porch. Done. (T&J Excavating & Carpentry)(Pictures)
8) Replace some furniture (bedroom and living room). Done.
9) Elliptical machine (done) and carpeting for the downstairs (gym area done with foam squares...works as good as carpet for that application). September 07'?
Politics? Yes, I was officially elected to the budget committee here in Sutton, NH in 2005. Unfortunately, the meetings all bunched up at the end of the year and ended up conflicting with travel , school and lodge. No repeat in 2006, maybe I'll try again when school is done.
In March 08, I was installed as Senior Warden in my Masonic Lodge (Jewell Lodge #94 - Pembroke, NH). The link now goes to a web site I put up for us.
September 2005 we went on vacation to Arizona was real nice, pictures here. We went to Colorado Springs to visit family for a weekend then over to Phoenix, where we drove to Sedona for a few days. We stayed at a nice B&B, saw the local sites including a jeep tour in the back country. It's really a beautiful area. Then we drove up through Oak Creek Canyon as we headed north. We went through Flagstaff with stops at Walnut Canyon and Lowell Observatory . We ended that day just outside the Grand Canyon park in Tusayan. Thursday morning we headed into the park and met up with our hiking guide at Bright Angel Lodge 8am sharp! We got our equipment loaded up and headed down the South Kaibab trail. Uggh... 7.5 miles of downhill backpacking! We stayed at Bright Angel Campground near the river that night (very nice). Then back up towards the south rim on the Bright Angel trail . We did 4.5 miles to Indian Gardens campground, dumped the packs setup tents and did a hike to Plateau Point for dinner (1.5 miles each way), great views, nice sunset and awesome full moon rise! Our last day finished up the trail around 1pm as we passed all the "hiking tourists" near the rim (they venture down a mile or so...98% of the visitor's to the Canyon never actually enter the canyon itself, how sad!)
Pictures of the trips to Europe 2004 - present (Vienna, Paris, Strasbourg, Baden Baden, Geneva, Windsor and London). Next up...Italy?
Still happy with the house in Sutton, NH. It's about 1500 square feet and it's a log home! Sits on three wooded acres (OK, a little smaller than we originally planned but hey..). Unfortunately, we need something bigger! Time to sell!
Maybe I can get back to the downstairs project some day, (I keep saying that anyway...photos here).
Karen has been pretty busy with work at the store and the day spa. She graduated from a year program for Massage Therapy (follow the link for school info) in March 2003! (Maybe we'll finally get her out of Retail yet). She passed her National Certification test in March '03 and passed her NH State certification in September '03.
My sideline company (M2 Services) is a bit "silent" lately, with the exception of an occasional key dupe or lock replacement at work. Here are the van Pix, (big ones, don't try this with a dial-up!). I'm following my own advice and growing it bit by bit so that some day it'll all be in place.
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This page was last updated on 08/29/08.
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