Dave's Journal, Sep2014
Ogunquit, MEOgunquit is a beautiful little place. Quaint homes, gardens and streets, artistic people, nice shops, beautiful beach and a fabulous cliff walk (they call it "The Marginal Way"), and we go there once or twice a year.
The place gets overpacked with tourists in the summer, but that crowd has gone home now and yesterday it was really nice to visit.
Here is their official website: Town of Ogunquit
Here are our pictures: Ogunquit2014
Why I smell like shellac.... Along with the new wine batch, I needed another 30-bottle rack, so I got to work last week, and just finished it today.
I even ran the router and table saw off the generator !
(I am wiped out from a busy week. Going to sleep all day today.)
I'm not emotionally ready for an implant.
The audiologist is pushing me to get a cochlear implant on my right side, and I said that I would look into it. But I can't have that electrode sticking out the back of my head. Just can't do it.
Not much going on these days. Garden and yard work - tearing old stuff out, putting new stuff in.
I reminded myself last night why I don't watch TV. I stumbled upon this program, watched it for half an hour, waiting for these guys to bust out laughing and say into the camera
"We're just kidding you folks, this is just some fun we're having 'hunting' local monster legends". But . . . nope, they never said anything lke that. Last night they were hunting The Cherokee Death Cat (give me a minute, I just laughed my coffee back up into my nose) . . . okay we're back . . . The Cherokee Death Cat ?? . According to the leader of this team of scientists, that little picture over there is irrefutable evidence of this creature's size and ferocity. (That is the largest and best quality picture available - they spent about $10,000 on their guns but they use only their cell phones to take night pictures while running through the woods, gun in one hand, cell phone in the other. Sh#t guys, buy a #&%$ing camera !!)
I'll skip the laughable details, but let's call these six geniuses the Best Bullshytt Actors in the USA today. They speak - and probably smell - just the way they look, too !!. You're on national TV guys - would it hurt to wash your clothes and take a bath ??
For a fun 30 minutes, I highly recommend that you search YouTube for a few of their episodes. They are on a TV channel called Destination America.
After that stupidity, I turned the TV off and watched Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla IV (on DVD)
A friend donated this beautiful Bauer film movie camera to my little collection. It's so pretty that I wrapped a new "cafephoto" around it.
I must have said "Thank you, God" about 165 times today. It was a day no one actually "deserves" but they come along and you flow with it. We trek'd into Boston and walked along the Greenway through a "Local Food Festival" (it was okay, I had fried noodles with onions and bean sprouts washed down by a wicked spicy Boody Mary), ate lunch (raw tuna !!) and drank at Joe's on the shoreline, and walked back to the train along the Harbor Walk. The day was as perfect as days can be, and I'll have to remember this when the dark times come that I need a good old memory to look back on.
Here is the last Summer2014 yard picture, before I start hacking and ripping at stuff. That pink rose bush has to go, and the hosta patch under the tree is going to get larger. And I know that once the hedgecutter and pruning saw get fired up, nothing will be safe.
Back when I was making money, I bought some ridiculously expensive Hawiain shirts from a catalog. Since then I am on the list for every "upscale" catalog house in the US. I get a big kick out of the really stupid items for sale. Here is a pair of underpants that sells for $39/pair. At first I thought it was $39 for 3 pair and I thought "Gee that's expensive". Silly me. But . . . there's some guy out there (you probably sat next to him on the train or in a restaurant) who is wearing $39 underpants !!
OrigamiCatherine was telling me that she does origami, and I thought "that's cool, but I'm sure it's hard". She says all it takes is practice, but neglected to say exactly how much practice. But, I was intrigued, and studied up on it.
I was going to make a paper airplane as my first project, but that didn't work out so well. I decided then to lower my sights down to my skill level. I made a ball (shown there on the right). I think it looks cool. It rolls pretty good, and you can throw it across the room, but it doesn't bounce very well.
My journal pages here have been "hosted" on a NetSolutions server for years. Last week things got seriously weird on their end, and everything that I have tried to upload gets erased. It's worse than that, but why belabor the point. Things just got weird.
They tried to convince me that the problem was on my end. I kind of knew that was BS, but I did lots of troubelshooting and spent lots of time looking for problems "on my end". Eventually, I verified that it ain't my fault.
What seriously pisses me off is they have not been very honest about this, because I am certain now that they knew the problem was (is still) at their end. But they let all their customers spend a bunch of time chasing wild geese.
Screw 'em. I'm looking for a new web host. HostGator looks very good to me.
I am writing this even though I cannot upload it now. In fact the whole month of September2014 has been erased by whatever virus those guys inherited. But I keep writing because at some point, "davesjournal" will go back online.
Friday. Deb's working. It's the next to last day of summer. The cat went to the vet. The cleaning chick is on her way. I train'd into Boston. It was a glorious day.
The produce market just outside the Italian North End was buzzing, and I got off a few nice pictures before treating myself to a double espresso and chocolate cheese cake at Caffe Paradiso. { I sent Mike and Debbie a phone picture to show them how much better my day was going than their's was :)) }
Around 1900, Grandpa Leo (Dad's father) came over from Italy and lived in one of the apartments in this square. I always drop in here to pick up the vibes.
Great little cafe for espresso and cake.
Well, in addition to my website problems (now mostly solved), I have been working a few computer system updates. First, Mike had me install VirtualBox on my little netbook. Then install a 30-day trial copy of Microsoft Windows7 (I have been running Linux for probably 15 years now). VirtualBox allows you to run any "guest" operating system inside your host (normal) system. So you don't have to shutdown and reboot into the guest OS . . . it runs right inside a window like any other application.
Here is my current setup. Both monitors running, one atop the other, with the VirtualBox/Windows window running in the top monitor right alongside a photo editor that is simultaneously runnin in my Linux OS. To geek people like me, this is a major thrill the first time you set this up!!
This change is being mostly driven by my need to upgrade my photo editor from The Gimp to PaintshopPro (for some technical reasons I will explain some other time). The thing is that PaintshopPro only runs in MSwindows. It's one of those "one thing led to another" situations.
So far, all the new stuff seems to be playing well together. What's left is to load in Paintshop and get a full license copy of MSwindows.
Brother BobWho's the "strongest person that you personally know, right this minute" ?
Tough choice...... I'm going with . . .
1. The strongest pretty person I know is Ramona.
2. The strongest ugly person I know is Brother Bob.
This is not to minimize sister Sally's battle, but today's news has me anxious for my brother.
Next time that I bleed my silly problems on you, slap the back of my head.
It's awkward at times to move on with this web journal from very serious topics to the day-to-day crap that Dave is involved in. But . . . actually, this is a journal of my life, and there's good and bad living alongside each other. That's just the way it is and must be, I guess.
I hate computer tasks, and that's what I did today. (See my computer comments a few boxes above here.)
Theoretically I have completed all the system changes to get me up and running this new photo editing software. I do hope it was worth it - time will tell.
I actually felt like I was back working in an office today !! - horrid feeling !!
Cousin Pete is back from London & Paris and teasing us with a few ocassional snapshots. Over there, AbbeyRoadStudios, is where music history was recorded.
Back in the real world, Sister Terie is showing me her four babies (Maddie Rox, Lexie Lu, Brianna Belle and Sebastian Bach).
(Sebastian looks like he's planning an escape.)
I pinned my day's "To-Do's" to the kitchen caulkboard, grabbed a camera and went for a trek at the wildlife reserve. They are getting the meadows ready for autumn festivities (hayrides, music at the new gazebo, etc); the day was nice, no bugs this time of year. The sheep were "cutting the grass" inside an electric fenced-off area. I don't think it was too electric, the sheep were rubbing against it just fine!
A few weeks from now, the Fall colors will be punchy punchy punchy. It was still very nice today.
Now that I think about it. The sheep have this thick insulation of wool protecting them from the fence. Maybe ? the fence is to keep coyotes and wolves away from the sheep ?
After dinner tonight, I fell into the recliner and dialed up my new favorite TV program: Destination America's "Mountain Monsters".
Tonight they were hunting The Sheepsquatch of Boone County, shown in the computer sketch below.
Once again, the team entered the woods at night, armed, locked and loaded. It occured to me now that 99% of what we saw was taken by an unidentified video camera operator who only photographed our team of research scientists, and the only blurred glimpses we ever got of Sheepsquatch racing through the nighttime forests were made my cellphones held by running tripping gunmen.
They did have some kind of infra-red thermal camera but all they ever showed were thermal images of each other, pointing off-camera and yelling "Over there. Over there.".
True, there were some anxious moments when Buford and Claude thought that Ike had shot himself (he hadn't); but the drama peaked when the jeep that RJ and GH were in was actually attacked by Sheepsquatch (sadly they had turned their cellphone cameras off just before that, and also unloaded and safely stored away their automatic rifles so they were unable to either photograph or shoot the attacking monster). Thankfully, although the jeep windshield was shattered and the jeep was totally trashed and thrown down a ravine, the two men didn't even get a single scratch. Whew !
Up here, the first week of Autumn is when we try to pretend it's still Summer, so each town has a first-week-of-Autumn weekend bash that gets families outside and down into town square. In our town of Leominster, its was . . . actually, I forgot . . . no I didn't .... The Johnny Appleseed Festival. And in the next town (Fitchburg), it was the annual Blacksmith Festival.
Debbie had to work the tent for her bank, in the morning. She is in that picture with Sue and Linda. I picked her up, put her on the sofa, stuffed the TV remote into her sleeping fingers and went to Fitchburg for the Blacksmith Festival.
Sadly, the Fitchburg festival was not as great as previous years. It's sad. I like Fitchburg (it's a long story). I decided a few years back that, when my next life gets here, I do NOT want to be a blacksmith, unless there is some spiritually-compelling reason for me to be one.
The Fitchburg Blacksmith Festival
Then I came home and photographed a coffee can . . .
I do kind of wonder now and then, if God re-examines Her creation of this universe, and if She compares it to her Counterpart's creation of His universe. (I may have the sexes inverted there, but that's another topic.)
Do you think They (the Gods of the various universes) are competitive? Do They try to outdo Each Other when it comes to making universes? Are They critical of Each Other's creations ( "You don't call that POS a universe, do You ?") or are They supportive? ( "I like what You did with your Nebula Galaxy but, not to be argumentative, I just don't see why You made Earth chickens so ugly.?" ....or ..... "Did You see how what's-His-name created plant life on the ammonia-toxic asteroids in His universe? That was soooo cool ! "
Back when Charles de Gaulle was the president of France, he made the frustrated comment . . . "How do govern a country that has 250 different kinds of cheese?".
Now, I have to ask . . . how do you run a kitchen that has 250 different kinds of plastic containers, that none of the 250 tops you have will fit any of the containers?
I am purging, purging, if I have to throw them all into recycling and buy a complete new set from one manufacturer so the $#&ing tops fit. . . . today's the day !!
Interlaced with the kitchen cleanup task, I did my semi-annual basement cleanup (at least on the living side of it). Got the wineracks lined against the wall, filled the recycling bin with junk, etc etc etc. Take a good look - two weeks from now, it'll be a mess again.
It must be the Fall cleanup fever - Deb's upstairs emptying closets and talking about a yard sale.
