A Fun Christmas Game...

As you may know we are having our family Christmas today..  wahoo!  I've still got shopping to do..  luckily it doesn't start till 6pm..  It shouldn't be too difficult - only one game gift to buy..  Yes.. we have the traditional "Christmas Card Game" at our gatherings..  most people play this game a little differently than us.. here are the rules in case you have no idea what I'm talking about..

Here's what you need:

   Everyone brings a generic gift (we limit to under 20 bucks)

   2 decks of playing cards (we actually have to use 4 - everyone needs to be able to receive 3 cards from one deck - we've got too many people so we go to 4 decks - 2 decks with different designs for handing out - and 2 decks for 'calling')

 

Ok..  everyone puts their wrapped gift in the center of the table and receives 3 playing cards.. 

 

the caller then begins calling out the cards from the second deck - if your card gets called - you get to pick a gift.. and here's where it gets good..  you can pick from the table.. OR you can steal a gift that someone else has chosen...  great fun.. you get to steal that interesting looking present from your little brother and he HAS to give it to you!

 

UNLESS.. and this is very important..  the gift was chosen with his 3rd and last card.. that is known as his "keeper".. 

 

Alot of people play this game but as the participants select their first gift they unwrap it..  we prefer to leave people in suspense.. keeping all the gifts wrapped until the final person has their 'keeper'.. 

 

We've seen all kinds of things brought as gifts - from really nice blankets and sweatshirts to a 5 pound tin of MRE (military food "meals ready to eat") of peas and carrots..  (that one made an appearance at 4 Christmas games until little brother got really hungry and really broke one year and actually ate it!  Now THATS hunger!)

 

It's great fun..  really like being a kid again, where greed and torment are a natural occurance..  usually there is one particularly attractive gift that gets stolen repeatedly and passed among 3 or 4 people, only to be opened and found to be a roll of paper towels and a bottle of windex..  awesome..

 

So we all get to be mean and steal each others gifts while we have the excitement of trying to guess what's in the brightly wrapped packages..

 

Then.. once everyone has their "keeper" we go around the table one by one and open what we managed to snag..  it's fun not only seeing what you ended up with, but to see what you passed up or had stolen from you.. and then..  the trading begins..  watch as the poor person that got stuck with the tacky chip and dip bowl tries to trade it for that really cool flashlight...  ok..  lets trade the dip bowl for the crossword puzzle book, and then try and trade that for the flashlight.. 

 

Oh the joy..  it really has become the highlight of our family christmas gatherings.. the entire family gets into it.. selecting the perfect gift - either funny or wonderful - wraps them as attractively and as disguised as possible - and sneaks them into the house so no one knows who brought what (that's another fun aspect - trying to figure out who brought the MRE! (it was my husband who started it btw!))

 

Anyway..  I hope you'll consider adding this game to your family gathering - it really is alot of fun - just like being a kid again... 

Later..  I'll let you know what I manage to snag..

ps..  if you need more-better instructions, drop me a comment and I'll clarify..

I have not forsaken you...

Sorry for the lack of post-age here lately, but with the Holidays fast upon us all, my life has gone into hyperdrive...  as I'm sure everyone else's has as well..  oh.. but I got an added bonus this year.. my 'family christmas' has been bumped up a week this year.. as luck would have it my 'missing sister' is going to be in Mass this coming weekend - she hasn't been able to attend a family christmas since moving her clan to Georgia around 10 years ago - so we've decided to do Christmas early so she and her family can participate!  Wonderful idea - but it deducted a week from my shopping calendar.. Oh well.. for the joy of seeing Deb - I can deal.. Add in the extra holiday work from clients (we want 3 newsletters this week - not 1!) my work load has tripled..  thank you so much.. that's ok.. it'll be awesome when I get triple the pay as well!

 

Anyway.. excuses, excuses... I'll try and do better and post every day..  in between shopping.. cooking.. wrapping.. triple work loads.. and putting up the Christmas tree (maybe we'll just have to start a new tradition - the tree goes up on Christmas eve.. yeah.. right!) I'll keep posting.. really I will..

Later...

And our first award...

Goes to:

CINGULAR WIRELESS

Yes.. congratulations to Cingular Wireless.. for making my life a living hell every 31 days.

In December 2003 I foolishly signed up on the internet for Cingular Wireless family plan, complete with 3 phones and their corresponding phone lines.. Upon receiving the new phones, with much anticipation, we booted those puppies up, only to discover that we had no service at our lovely country home.

After receiving the appropriate permission, we returned the phones, per their directions, only to be hit with an 'early cancellation fee'.. I of course called and fought the charges, which, to their credit was removed, save the $50 "Activation fee"... although I argued that "How can you charge me an activation fee, when the phones were never able to be activated!" my pleas fell on deaf ears and I was consequently charged $50 for the pleasure of this hassle...

OH.. but that's not all.. every month since then - for one FULL year! I have received a Cingular Wireless bill for 1 of the 3 phone numbers... I then get the pleasure of calling their lovely tech support people, repeating my story to 5 different people, hearing them apologize for the problem, admitting they have no idea why it won't cancel, reversing my charges, and promising that it will never happen again.. 45 minutes out of my life... every month.. for the last year! So I've started talking to supervisors.. I'm on my third.. Mr. Robert "Thureau" Smith.. He assured me 2 months ago that his middle name is not "Thorough" for nothing.. that he will thoroughly resolve this matter for me.. (yeah, I laughed out loud at him!) and here's my email address just in case.. right.. like a bad penny, my wireless bill appeared in my mailbox last month.. and did I receive even a 'read receipt' from my email that my message was received? ummm.. NO... so.. here I sit.. in my own little cell phone hell.. anxiously awaiting my next Cingular bill (I've already received email notification that the online version of my bill is now available... Oh the FREAKIN' JOY of it all!), that I'm sure will have a late fee on it because Mr. Thorough never got my email and reversed out the charges from last month..

So yes.. Cingular Wireless.. Congratulations... I can't think of anyone else that deserves the honor of the very first "Silver Toilet Paper Award" more than you! So let's all "belly up to the bar" and raise a glass to Cingular... cause you know I'm gonna need a drink!

Later...

New Award Announced!

Occasionally here on 9 2 Bay 2 9 2 10 I tend to go off on a rant about something or other (surprised?). Well it occurs to me that I should offer some kind of Award for these annoyances and then I received an email that brought it all to a 'head'.. the perfect award was handed to me by Sarge.. So without further ado.. allow me to introduce the all new

"Silver Toilet Paper Award!"

In the truest tradition of all Awards, the Silver Toilet Paper Award shall be used sparingly - and only awarded to the most deserving a**holes.

The committee for nominations of this newest award shall consist of one, ME.

This committee shall not be influenced by outside ranters unless they are able to produce a candidate so worthy, so deserving, that this committee cannot help but nod knowingly in agreement with their assessment of the possible candidate.

The decision of this committee shall be final and irreversible.

The Silver Toilet Paper Award is non-returnable, non-refundable, and non-redeemable. Do not even attempt to notify the committee of the redeemable behaviour of the Award winners, once an award winner, always an award winner.

In consideration of a nominee, this committee promises to perform due diligence on the worthiness of the potential award winner and will only apologize to unjustly awarded awardee's when this committee encounters giant pigs flying thru a raging blizzard in Belize.

All nominations are final and no amount of pissing and moaning shall influence the committee. Should this committee receive a complaint, the complaintant should expect to be the next nominee considered for this award.

Sincerely,

The Nomination Committee for the Silver Toilet Paper Award

A sad detour...

Driving home last nite that damn Northampton/Hadley bridge was just jam packed...  after fighting my way thru I was greeted by a "road closed" sign blocking off the Bay Road cutoff.. luckily I was able to take the next entrance onto my favorite ride, the cops had just blocked off the small cutoff road..  there was a fire engine.. several cruisers, many many people and the place was lit up brighter than a Christmas tree..  Assuming it was a driver that had missed that last curve before the stop, I whispered a little "hope their all right" and went on my way..  Well... reading the news on Masslive.com today I found the real story.. it seems they were searching the woods last nite, looking for the shotgun that was used in that horrible murder up in Amherst the other nite..  from the sounds of what has been released to the press so far..  it was a case of friend killing friend.. so very sad...  22 years old...  one is dead, the other in ruins..  they have yet to release a motive in this case.. although the mother of the alleged shooter has referred to her 'criminal-justice-student son's steriod withdrawal'..  it sounds like the young man will get an education in the criminal justice system - first-hand... 

 

Later...

Dog Tales...

As you may know, I've got a "woman's best friend".. an angry little Corgi-Jack named Gretchen... Gretchen and I have a special relationship... I do everything she wants and things are good.. and that about sums it up.. this 16 pound dog has taken over my home life.. I no longer am allowed to sit on the sofa alone, the little dog has to sit on my lap... I am escorted to the bathroom where she waits patiently outside the door and if I forget the make sure the door completely 'catches' the entire house gets a free peak courtesy of Gretchen jumping at the door and knocking it open.. I cook in front of a very attentive audience of one blonde.. I eat in front of that same audience... we've had to install a makeshift barrier on the stairs so that I may be allowed to sleep in peace.. she was allowed to sleep with us, but the morning I awoke to a fuzzy little body curled up under the blanket next to me and rolled over to come nose to wet nose on my pillow that was the end of that!

Well.. due to schedules and the icey storm I spent the last 5 days working from the house, Oh.. lucky doggie days.. all day attention.. as I plugged away at the computer on the kitchen table the little dog happily snoozed on the sofa taking occasional breaks to come in and see what I was doing, insisting with a determined wet nose, that I pat her... give her a cookie... no, not the cookie, a chewie this time please... let her in.. let her out.. I ended each work day with a pile of stuffed toys scattered around my chair.. brought to me one by one to play tug with.. her favorite being the unstuffed, legless, armless, tailless monkey carcass..

Well... yesterday I actually made it in to the office... went on a couple of outside calls with my office mates.. and as luck would have it.. encountered an office with nothing other than "an office Corgi"... a friendly little girl named Lindy with one floppy ear and a passion for bellyrubs.. and OH.. but how I paid for that little indiscretion.. upon returning home I was assaulted at the door by one very angry, very jealous little pooch.. and the games began.. I must be made to pay.. pay dearly.. you left me alone... you cheated on me... who is she and how could you have rubbed her belly? I was immediately set upon and not left alone for a second right up until bed time.. sitting on my lap was not enough.. no.. not today.. "Today I must sit on her and strategically place my wet nose one inch from hers and stare into those cheating eyes of hers... she will not watch tv... she will not be allowed to drink from her glass.. she will look at me and only me until she realizes the error of her ways.." and so it went.. I was stared at.. stomped on.. made to play 'quadrapalgic monkey' for an hour straight.. sniffed at... swiped with a wet nose.. until I couldn't stand it anymore and strolled off to bed a half hour early.. and what have we learned from all this? Well, I don't know about you, but I learned.. don't leave the dog alone after 5 days of being there for her and never, ever pat another dog and then come home and think I can get away with it... I'll be a good human from now on.. I promise... Can I have a treat now?

Later...

Christmas tunes...

Looking for a good, cheap Christmas music alternative..  Fire up your Windows Media Player - Click on "Radio" - and select your flavor of Holiday Favorites.. there's Pop, Country, Vocal, and Instrumental versions...  and virtually commercial free.. just a deep voice every now and then asking you to subscribe by clicking on the banner, I just ignore him.. 

 

Jingle Bell Rock on..

Addition to Meme List...

I'd really like it if Blogger would post my entries in a timely fashion.. lately the only thing that will kick an emailed post into the rotation is to go into the blogger interface and post another message the old fashioned way... and sometimes that doesn't even work.. but lucky for you.. you get 2 for the price of 1!

Later...

My meme list...

 According to Straight Dope, a meme is:

...is a reproducible idea and as such is the basic unit of cultural transmission. In [Richard Dawkins'] words: "Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches."

This meme is basic. It won't create a new religion or even share how to make pot(s). It's a holiday wish list meme.

 

I list my top ten wishes and if you can make them happen, great. If not, thanks for reading but make sure you leave a link to yours in the weblogs forum so we can help you with your wishes. The exact instructions will follow my list.

1. The name of a restaurant that makes really good Kentucky Derby Pie...
2. Enough time to learn to play piano - and a really good (patient) instructor..
3. An affordable personal chef
4. 15 minute Dinner recipes (in case the chef thing doesn't work out!)
5. An easy way to socialize an angry little dog without risking friends fingers...
6. A receiver for a surround sound system
7. A non-suspicious way to break my son's X-Box so I never have to see or hear Halo2 again.. Flag taken.. Flag returned..  *sigh...
8. A pair (or brand name) of women's jeans that actually FIT! Big waist - no hips.. save me...
9. A sleep number bed. (King size)
10. Throw pillows.. lots and lots of throw pillows..

Now for the meme rules:
Step One

Make a post to your weblog/journal. The post should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related ("I'd love a Snape icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.

Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines, or link to this post (it'll be public) so that the holiday joy will spread.

Step Two:

Surf around your blogroll (or friend's blogrolls, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:

Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free--do it.

If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true.

You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call.

There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just...wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.

Original meme link here.

 

If you can fulfill any of my wishes - leave me a comment.. and Thanks!

Going into the closet...

I'm gonna sue I tell you...  just for the sheer frustration of it all.. AND if their lousy directions doesn't get us an extra million dollar settlement, nothing will..  If you've been reading along here, you know we are in the process of some home improvements, namely, finishing a new room in the basement.. We've been plugging away at this project since that 'tax-free' day when in a fit of madness we went to Lowes and purchased everything for the new room.. from the carpeting, to the ceiling tiles, to the electrical wire.. everything.. right down to the putty knife to spread the 5 gallon pail of wall spackle.. 

 

Now, to be clear, we are no strangers to home improvements.. we built our entire house ourselves...  purchasing what has to be the biggest piece of unfinished furniture in the world, a log-home kit..  my own fingerprints, tears, blood and sweat are on EVERY freakin' log in this house.. I spent 8 month swinging a 7 pound sledghammer driving 10 inch spikes, every 2 feet, in every course of logs..  mark my words, we are not 'virgin carpenters'..  we've done it all.. from building walls, to laying tile, to running electrical wiring..  so what is it that has us so frustrated..  those freakin' bi-fold closet doors..  we spent an ENTIRE day trying to figure these things out..  we built and re-built the closet opening no less than 4 times trying to get these things to fit!  So where were the rough opening dimensions?  Which by the way, is the MOST important part of installing doors..  they must have been the first thing in the instructions right?  WRONG...  one little sticker on the outside of the box and that was it..  we started with their minimum height 'suggestion' - went to install the doors and couldn't get the freakin things in the opening.. there was absolutely NO wiggle room to manuever them into place.. so.. rip that down and make the opening the size of the maximum suggested opening..  well.. we got the doors in, but one of us would have had to spend the rest of our lives holding the doors in place cause as soon as you let it go it would fall out of the little metal holders and crash to the floor.. so.. rip it down and try again..  this went on ALL DAY!  Put them in, take them out, adjust the frame, and put them in again.. hours later, we finally have closet doors..  wonderful you say..  not really..  even after an extra hour of adjusting these damn things we still can't get them level with each other to say nothing of the huge gap at the top of the doors!  I'm gonna sue I tell you or at least make a nasty phone call!  I even looked for the website of the manufacturer of these instruments of home improvement torture.. but no.. no website..  no 800 number.. just an address.. in freakin' Canada...  I'm sure they have a phone, everyone has to have a phone right?  How else can Lowes call them and say "Hey, Dudes.. we sold 10 more sets of your doors last month and all 10 of them were returned by previously happy homeowners, who now have bloody knuckles, high blood pressure, and are missing half the hair off the tops of their heads." 

 

OH.. don't you worry.. I'm gonna track these people down if it's the last thing I do..  even if I have to do it the old fashioned way and take pen to paper and slap a stamp on an envelope..  I'm sure they have a 'special' file bin just for letters like mine..  but just knowing that my letter will, for a few seconds, be on the top of their wastebasket will have to be enough..  Yeah.. I'll do that..  as soon as the broken blood vessel in my left eye clears up and I can see out of it again...

 

Later...

 

 

Sleep in?

And I bet you thought you were lucky that you got to sleep in this morning? The sky was on fire, and you missed it.. You know what they say "Pink in the mornin', Sailors take warnin'"... It sounds like we're in for a storm today, and from the look of the sunrise, they aren't kidding..

Later...

Oh.. ok.. here it is in case you slept in..

Handy Dandy Sidebar

A good friend of mine hooked me up with this handy dandy FREE computer program.. it's called Desktop Sidebar (you can get it here) This thing is awesome.. you can dock this little program on the side of your desktop and it's fully customizable.. it'll deliver the weather, news headlines, memory usage and even a picture slideshow direct to your desktop in an unobtrusive little, well, sidebar... I even subscribed to a few of my favorite blogs (including my own) and it displays the latest 20 entries with full text and pictures when you hover over the subject line.. here's a screenshot of mine so you can get a better idea

As long as your favorite blog has initiated the Atom feed, all it takes is going to the blog and right-clicking on it, in the menu that comes up click on "Subscribe in Desktop Sidebar" and voila'.. that's it.. you get the newest entries automatically and will never miss a post again.. Now that's handy!
Later..

Friday musings...

The unofficial start to the weekend...  oh the joy.. but then I've got quite the list of weekend activities planned:

• Finish wallpapering the new room..  wonderful.. we started this last weekend and quit 3/4's of the way in...  who knew wallpapering was so physical.. we were both so sore we missed a friend's birthday party Saturday nite "I'm not getting off the couch, you getting off the couch?" "I'M not getting off the couch.."  and in unison "We're so freakin' old!"
• Climbing Mount Laundry...  I've somehow avoided that mountain for the past couple of weekends, but I'm down to the cardinal sin of wearing mismatched socks..  well.. not totally mismatched.. the trick is to find two socks that are of the same basic wieght and thickness..  that way at least it doesn't feel like their mismatched.. 
•  Decorate for the holiday..  at least that task is already partially done.. a couple of years ago I ringed the living room with large white christmas lights and loved it so much I've never taken them down..  we use them nearly every nite...  well..  to be perfectly honest, yeah, we love the soft indirect lighting, but mostly it was because the only other light in the room is the cieling fan - 22 feet off the living room floor - and the last working lightbulb in it quit on us about a year ago..  YOU try and change the freakin' bulbs in it - it's TWENTY TWO FEET HIGH!..  ok.. so actually we already did change them, but it's been so long you forget that if you hit the switch on the wall now, something actually happens.. 
• Avoid all sappy Christmas movies...  see the previous post..  I've finally shaken that air of depression and I DON'T need to go back there.. I already almost caved in..  last nite they showed that movie with Olivia Newton-John...  then I remembered.. oh yeah..  2 cute little girls with a dead daddy..  a sick sheep... no money for "real" Christmas presents.. and a house repossession.. Oh.. the joys of Christmas!   
• And last but not least.. try and wrangle a Christmas wish list out of the man-child.. I fired up Amazon.com yesterday, intent on at least starting my xmas shopping and after 5 minutes of staring at the screen not even knowing which section of the site to click on I gave up..  what do you get for a 20 year old male?  He's already "mad" that he got 2 new tires for his birthday, Christmas needs to be a little more 'personal'..   I guess I'll have to ask...

So that's it for now from 9 2 Bay 2 9 2 10... 

Later....

Quickies..

A few quickies from 9 2 Bay 2 9 2 10:

 

Save the balloon animals!  Those huge wind gusts last nite had a horrifying effect on all the balloon-type yard ornaments..  There is a house in Belchertown (left side just before the Bay cutoff) that has to have 15 of the things in their yard..  Not one was standing upright..  Oh the carnage!

 

Watch the cops!  The Staties are back to their usual spot..  the little dirt lot just before the turn for 21 off of 9 in B-Town (near the old Dorey Jeep building)..  take it slow people, they've got guns and their pointing them at you (radar guns of course)...

 

It's not so bad!  So in an earlier post I complained about the house with the 6 foot wicker snowman..  well.. their side yard still looks like Ticky Tacky Christmas Land exploded all over the shrubbery, but turns out, when you flick the switch on the wicker snow dude.. he's really kind of cute!  Sparkly even..  So I stand corrected on that bit of Christmas tackiness.. 

 

What's up with the center of Northampton?  I'm ready for the christmas decorations now but the center of Northampton seems quite lacking in the Christmas electrification contest...  Oh, someone did hang a wreath around the truck eating bridges "11 ft" sign..  now that's a smart move!  You can hear the truckers now..  "Oh.. look at the pretty wrea.....   SHIT!!!"

 

Anyway..  that's it for now..  gotta head out and do my ride... 

Later...

 

 

How to get a comment!

What's the quickest way to get a comment on your blog? The quickest way to get a comment is to misspell a word:

Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 12:09 PM

Subject: [9 2 Bay 2 9 2 10] 11/30/2004 12:09:01 PM

Odyssey. Oh Dee Why Ess Ess Eee Why. Odyssey.

--
Posted by Anonymous to 9 2 Bay 2 9 2 10 at 11/30/2004 12:09:01 PM

 

funny thing is, I'm known as the "Spell-Check Queen"..  I can usually spot a misspelled word a mile away..  but here in 'blog world' I just don't care..  my work is punctuation, grammar and spelling intense so when I write for fun, I just write. Let someone else worry about the "i before e except after c" crap..  as long as you get my point.. perhaps even smile a little.. I'm happy..  no spell-check required..  so..  thanks for pointing out my error.. I promise it WILL happen again..  feel free to point it out again..  after all, a comment is a comment.. at least someone is reading along..   and just for your time, here's a little cheer for you..  :)

"You Pee

Why Oh You Are Ess!"

Let me know if you get it.. and if you do..  'just kidding'..  no really..  :) 

Later... 

 

 

Freakin' Merry Movies...

Well.. I won't do that again..  I'm so depressed.. I can't shake it..  it's not only Monday.. but it's a Monday after having watched so-called Christmas movies all weekend..  it's enough to make you want to go play in traffic.. by the time I got done with my Christmas television odessy (that's the word for the week!).. the body count was 15..  alzheimer's victims 3...  heart attacks 2...  broken relationships 12... family drama's freakin' in the hundreds and George still didn't make it out of freakin' Bedford Falls!  By the time I made it around to watching ole' George Bailey I found myself screaming "just jump and get it the hell OVER with" as he stood on the bridge about to end it all..  but no.. Clarence just HAD to show up..  but the topper had to be Frasier Crane singing (and I use the term EXTREMELY loosley here) his way thru A Christmas Carol..  yeah.. I caught the last half hour of that little gem last nite as I drifted off to sleep..  at least that one was funny.. I don't think it was supposed to be funny, but it was..  frankly a nice change from the dead/insane/incarcerated/ill wives/husbands/parents/siblings that I was watching.. 

 

So that's it for Christmas movies and me folks.. if it doesn't have a singing snowman or an animated reindeer it in, I'm NOT watching it.. oh.. Merry Freakin' Christmas!

 

Later...

Alternate routes

So I said I would blog the Route 9 from Ware to Worcester Thanksgiving odessy...  one word can sum it up I guess...   "eh"..  it was ok..  nothing special.. nothing really spectacular..  nothing really noteworthy...  although I did enjoy the quick trip down memory lane as we drove through Spencer, where yours truly was raised..  we even took a quick detour off Route 9 to drive past the old family homestead...  it was rather disappointing.. they are doing alot of work to the place.. an addition..  new siding...  closed in the sun porch (BIG mistake in my opinion.. we spent many a warm summer nite out there sitting on the glider and watching the world go by.. wonderful memories!)  but the place was a mess... crap everywhere.. garage door wide open.. broken down vehicles.. toys..  Dad would have killed all us kids if we had left that kind of mess around there.. so it was kind of sad in a way..  to see something that Dad took such loving care of, resembling a junk yard..  *sigh... you really can't go home again, and I guess you shouldn't drive by it either..

 

The rest of the trip was reasonably cool...  the DQ.. many wasted youthful hours spent in that parking lot!  The High School.. the bowling alley.. fond memories.. and as we drove through Leicester - the Annual T'Day rivalry football game between Prouty and Leicester.. more memories..  indeed, a great start to a great thanksgiving day.. but for a daily commute..  9 2 Bay 2 9 2 10 has it beat by many miles!

Later... 

Thanksgiving Turkey Tales!

So I trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Had your fill of turkey and spent quality time with family, did you? Or is it the other way around? Your fill of family and quality time with the turkey? Either way I hope you both enjoyed it and survived it... My Thanksgiving? Well, thanks for asking.. lovely.. and I lost my bets in more ways than one.. it wasn't the turkey that suffered from the slow oven at Sarge's it was the rolls.. crunchy on the outside and gooey on the in.. LOL but everything else was wonderful.. thanks guys..

and the other way I lost my bets? Playing penny Black Jack with 2 sisters, "baby" brother, and Mom.. they kicked the tar out of me, and they wonder why I don't spend time down at Mohegan or Foxwoods.. Oh.. but what fun it was.. and I didn't think I would EVER say this, but it was Mom that made it so much fun.. a quick highlight? Mom's dealing.. I lost my bet.. 'baby' brother won his... as Mom dutifully paid off the baby, I remarked "yeah.. Mom always DID like you better!" Mommy-dearest without even thinking (which is what she does best btw - NOT think).. burst out with "Yeah RIGHT!" LOL it's a good thing the baby has a good sense of humor.. we all almost lost it laughing so hard.. and Mom.. she had no clue what she just said.. but then this is the same woman that after 'baby' had pegged me in the eye with a stick of deoderant one morning as we were readying for school (which turned a lovely shade of black and blue) turned and yelled at me for "not ducking fast enough".. Mom.. gotta love her.. we're related! :)

Anyway.. that was my Thanksgiving.. a lovely day was had by all.. even the man-child remarked "that was fun" on the way home.. "and all is right with the world"..
Look for more
Later...

Happy Thanksgiving!

So it's Thanksgiving morning.. the activity at my house?  I'm blogging in between baking brownies, the man-child is still abed, the little dog is happily running around chewing on my only pair of navy blue pantyhose, and my husband is painting the new room in the cellar in preparation for the wallpaper..  Lucky me, I'm off the hook for cooking the bird this year!  Well actually I've been off the hook for the past couple of years.. My sister and her 'other' (sorry Sarge - we love ya' but what else are we gonna call ya!) are again ponying up the bird!  Woohoo..  So today it's not Route 9 to Easthampton (via Bay and 10 of course), but Route 9 to Worcester..  I'll be sure to blog that opposite version of my commute, you can be sure..

 

Anyway..  the last couple of Thanksgivings with Sarge and Jeannette have been interesting to say the least.. the first year it was dinner at 2pm.. yeah.. I think we ate somewhere around 5pm..  blame it on the oven..  it was previously untried and who knew it ran somewhere around 25 degrees too cool.. dinner was wonderful anyway.. albiet late..  can you say "slllooowww roasted!"..  and last year?  Well last year as all of us gathered around the oven to give the bird that final "is it done" test, Jeannette remarked how little breast meat the turkey seems to have.. looking closely at the nicely browned poultry I noticed - Huh?  They had put the bird in upside-down!  Oh well.. again the bird was still delicious..  so when I got my annual invite this year I of course asked what version of the bird are we having this year?  Late or Inverted?  My sister replied.. "It will be perfect.. we bought an oven thermometer and the butterball with the pop-up timer - no guessing this year when it will be done and which end is up.."   Yeah.. right..  my money is on the thermometer being wrong..  Either way..  it's sure to be a great day..  good food.. good music (courtesy of that musically inclined brother-in-law of mine Fiddlin' Ed).. and good company.. 

 

Later...

Oh.. and I still be cooking a bird - rotissiere style - thank you Ron Popeil.  I'm not in the habit of buying things off an infomercial - but apparently my in-laws are - couple of years ago it was Showtime rotissiere's for everyone!  And thank goodness..  this thing is AWESOME - a couple of Xmas' ago I was expecting more family than available oven room so I did one bird in the oven and one bird in the Showtime..  there was NO competition..  well.. there was competition..  at the dinner table as everyone fought over the Showtime bird..  yummy!

Thankful - Part Dos

Let's try and finish this up...  Things to be thankful for...

• I'm thankful for our troops.. whether you agree with us 'being there' or not.. this T'day hug your local soldier..
• I'm thankful we're almost past that T'day hump.. ok.. bring on the lights.. the carols.. the annual running of "It's a Wonderful Life" maybe George will make it out of Potterville THIS year!
• I'm thankful for a blog-worthy ride (or so I think) everyday.. makes going into the office in the morning a pleasure.. even on a Monday!
• The $2.87 bottles of Wild Vines wine from Walmart that made dinner on the back porch with my family an "event", whether it was a Monday.. Wednesday.. or Saturday..  just add a candle and even Monday nite meatloaf was special..
• Cable internet, a laptop and a wireless router.. can anyone say "blog from the sofa!"  Life is good...

And last but not least...

•  I'm thankful for the television show Survivor...  a bunch of people.. dirty... hungry..  exposed to the elements...  fighting for food, water and sleep while fighting with each other..  makes you appreciate how far humanity has come when people are willing to do this for 'fun'...  makes you appreciate your hot meal, warm bed, and being surrounded by those you love and who love you...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone..  eat too much.. kick back...  and take a moment to tell those that you love how you feel about them...

 

Later...

Things to be thankful for...

Ok.. so here's the obligatory Turkey day blog part one..

Things to be Thankful for:

• family friends - you know who you are
• a recovering economy, we're back to pre-911 levels, people seem to forget the effect that the attack had on the economy, and whether you love Bush or hate him, you gotta at least give him that, the economy has recovered reasonably well and rather quickly - no easy task
• blogs and bloggers - everyone gets a word even if I don't agree with them - rock on!
• the digital camera & camera enabled cell phones - now everyone can grab a quick shot of what they had for dinner last nite and post it to their blog - it's not only a "had a ham sandwich" but now it's illustrated as well - priceless

I had a little more than a ham sandwich!

To be continued...
Later...

The power of music...

Flipping thru the tv channels this morning I came across a guy - standing in a field - playing an accordion for a herd of milk cows (there really IS nothing good on tv these days!).. the bovine really did seem to be interested in the music... if you can call the accordion 'music'.. I suppose it has it's place - in your local Polish American Hall - where I am not likely to be assailed by it's shrill wailing.. but they found something interesting.. the cows produced 21% more milk that week.. was it the power of the music or did the cows all get together in the barn after and agree to crank up the production so that guy with that instrument of torture wouldn't come back again.. ever..

Who knows.. and no.. I don't know why I'm blogging it.. I just found it interesting.. music does really have a 'power' all it's own.. it can calm you - crank you up - make you drive way too fast - move you to tears - make you smile - and apparently increase milk production.. maybe all the dairy farmers need to pick up a cd or two of the Beer Barrel Polka, just try and explain that one to the IRS when they question the expense entry of 10 cd's all from Happy Louie's Polka Extravaganza on next years tax return! Really.. it's for the cows!

Later..

Another possibility..

Another possible explanation for this stupid picture... "She was so elated to receive the nomination she broke out into a rowsing rendition of the Macarena right in the middle of the press conference"..


Later

Internet Travels...

Well..  I guess I've begun the weekend early..  here's ANOTHER interesting tidbit from the news today.. courtesy of MSNBC and Newsweek..  referring to todays generation as "generation tech support"..  how kids are coming home from college for a helping of turkey and good dose of fixing their parents computers.. been there.. done that.. but then I'm the techie in the family.. so in actuality it's not just the 'rents puters that I get to be caretaker of, I've got 5 brothers and sisters, all with various levels of computers that eventually get 'sick'..  this was fine when I was a 'hobby' techie.. I didn't even mind the late nite phone call from Georgia (the STATE) where I was asked to troubleshoot the Mac (ick!) of a friend of a friend of my oldest sister - long distance..  but now that it's my bread and butter it's a little more annoying.. I do this ALL day, and apparently half the nite as well.. (yes.. I wake up with a jolt  and a "THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG WITH XYZ'S NETWORK!).. 

 

Owning your own tech company has it's perks but unfortunately sending a bill for a virus removal to a sibling isn't one of them..  or a friend.. or a friend of a friend of a second cousin twice removed..  family.. love 'em.. but I swear I'm gonna have a t-shirt made up to wear to the family Christmas dinner that reads "Sure, I can fix your computer.. but I'm taking your Christmas present back!"  Which would probably work.. if I gave them Christmas presents.. oh.. but then maybe I do.. their present is the late nite call "it crashed".. "it won't boot"...  "I installed this screen saver and now all I get is porn!" Yeah.. they get gifts alright! 

 

Later...

Crashing Deer...

Actually this is kind of a serious entry today despite the silly title.. there is an article on http://www.MSNBC.com today about the number of crashes between cars and deer.  It seems 4,000 times a day someone hits a deer with their car, resulting in the deaths of 210 people last year. 

 

Driving Bay and Route 9 (especially past the Quabbin) this has always been a concern of mine, especially now that it's dark on the way home.  There are those 'whistler' type attachments that you can put on the front bumper of your vehicle that is supposed to drive the deer away, or even just warn them that you are coming.  I can't say that they work, at least not for my husband.  He drives a GIANT diesel pickup truck that came with a couple of these whistlers on the front bumber.  You would think that between the earthquake volume noise of the engine and the 2 whistles that he wouldn't see a deer standing in the road.. ever..  but not so.. at least once a month he has regaled me with a tale of 'the stupid deer in the road/driveway"..  who knows maybe we have a herd of handicapped deer in the neighborhood that are all deaf as a post.. 

 

Anyway.. lets be careful out there people..  they also stated that November is the peak month for deer crashes.. at various times in my travels on Bay and 9 I have been treated to the site of deer, coyotes, possums, ducks, geese (with babies), raccoons, and even (I swear) a wolf..  Click here for the blog entry on that one!   But the best was probably the time my vehicle was assaulted by a flock of angry turkeys..  but that's a story for another day..

 

Later...

Who picks the pics?

The photo on the front page of CNN.com.. they couldn't come up with a better shot than this? Is he really checking out her manicure?

Random happenings...

Lots of little observances today....

That house on 9 in Belchertown with the 6 foot wicker snowman decoration has added a herd of electric deer interspersed with wire trees to it's yard display.. at least they aren't lighting it at nite yet..

The cows were rioting yesterday.. Nellie was booking it across the field.. running jumping and mooing at all once in a veritable frenzy.. very funny.. and I bet you thought cows just stood around and chewed all day...

Quite the thread on bloggers-block going on at masslive.com weblog forum.. luckily that isn't an issue here.. usually it's the other way around.. sometimes I should just shut up..

Road construction at the Hartsbrook School area.. their ripping up the pipes under the road.. AGAIN.. it seems like they've done that 3 times already this summer.. they even had to build a little earthen dam for the cars to drive over they are ripping up so much of the road.. careful.. it can be a little confusing and it comes up pretty quick from around the corner..

The modern day chain gang was cleaning up the center of the Northampton again this morning.. at least that's what I assume they are.. one of them was wearing a vest that said "Honor Court" on it.. so I'm assuming they are people that got a community service type sentence.. great idea in my humble opinion.. frankly we should put the people in prison to better use as well.. get them all into the schools over summer vacation painting and cleaning.. walk them up and down the highway picking up trash.. some of the worst offenders could get 'sewer plant cleanup' duty.. we had to put up with their shit, they can put up with ours! Renovating the Veterans Hospital.. Start a state run dairy farm that provides milk to school children and put them all to work mucking out the barns.. The possibilities are endless..

ok.. enuf for today..
Later...

In case you misunderstood.. again

The preceding post should have been labeled..

here's something..

I took some crap for making writing a book sound like the 'easy part' in my entry on self-publishing below, although I still stand by my response that if you don't have the book already why would you need a publisher? It's like buying a lawn tractor in case you happen to grow some grass someday.. maybe the instructions with the lawn tractor should go something like..

1. purchase property, which may not be easy, banks don't hand money to just anyone..

2. plant grass seed, which may not be easy, you MUST loosen soil first, rocks will make it difficult..

3. water grass seed, which may not be easy, watch out for leaks and kinks in the hose...

4. fertilize grass seed, which may not be easy, be sure to get your mixture correct..

5. once grass has reached 1 to 2 inches, which isn't easy by the way.. then

6. purchase lawn tractor, which may not be easy, there are alot to choose from..

so whatever, I'll post the blog disclaimers later... here's a pretty picture to look at...


Later...

Internet Travels..

It's the weekend, so it must be time for "Internet Travels" here on 9 2 Bay 2 9 2 10.  So here's a really cool item I found in my online travels...  Self-publish your own book!

 

  That's right, all you budding writers out there.  Cafepress.com has what seems like an awesome deal.  Write your "great American Novel" - convert it to PDF's - design your cover - upload it to them - make a free store to sell it from - set your markup price - and watch the orders roll in.  Cafepress does the printing, order fullfillment, returns, money exchange - everything..  then they send you a check for the markup you specified.  No minimum orders.. no setup fees..  absolutely free..  they set a base price for each book depending on the size of the book..  A 100 page perfect bound book is $10..  you mark it up to $15..  it sells..  they print and ship.. and you get a check for $5..  not a bad deal...  all it takes is your time to write the thing.. (OH.. and they also offer all kinds of other items..  t-shirts, bumperstickers, bags, mousepads all with your designs on them for the same deal.. base price, you set the markup and if it sells you get the difference!)

 

So come on people.. there's never been a better time to get that masterpiece of the written word down in ones and zeros..  get typing!

 

Later...

I can't escape...

With all the complaining I've done lately about the rushing of the Holiday you'd think someone would have heard... but no... what walked in my door tonite?  Santa Claus... courtesy of my husband and Coca Cola Bottling.. all I wanted was a Coke, and I got one.. with a serving of Santa on the side of the bottle!  *sigh.. I'm just gonna have to give in..

 

Later...

It's EVERYWHERE now...

So back on Tuesday I was complaining the "Signs o' the Season" around 9 2 Bay 2 9 10 were popping up a bit early this year..  and I didn't even mention that house on 9 in Belchertown just before Bay that has it's Christmas decorations up.. complete with giant wicker snowman..  but now Mother Nature has gone and gotten into the act..  yes.. the snow is lovely.. a great photo op.. and I'm sure the skiiers and snowboarders are ecstatic.. but it is all still way too early for me..  I prefer a 'fall' looking Thanksgiving..  with the soft brown oak leaves covering the ground with a few last holdouts clinging desperately to the tree limbs..  the last of the pumpkins and corn stalks still visible in peoples yards gaurded by disjointed crooked scarecrows.. the fall harvest of apples, squash, gourds and turnip still fresh from the fields..  fall this year was disappointingly short and this snow is just too 'holiday' for me..  it's too soon.. way too soon.. I don't like it and I shall not go softly into that goodnite.. 

 

Later..

First Snow...

The first snow of the season greeted me at my doorstep today!







Laura

Passing llamas...

I don't know if I just never noticed him or if he's new to the neighborhood but as I drove by the little sheep herd that dwells just after Hampshire College on Bay there was a medium sized (as llama's go) dark brown llama stretching his neck out over the fencing.. a rather scruffy looking fellow (or lady.. who can tell with llamas) but cute just the same.. check him out if you get the chance, it's not everyday you get to see a llama.. but then again, I guess I will get to see a llama everyday now! 

 

Later...

Cool?

Great day in the mornin'..  this blog was just picked up by Masslive.com and added to their Weblog listings under "Cool WMass Weblogs"..  awesome.. thanks so much Masslive..  I'll do my best to keep it updated and current (and on-topic although I do reserve the right to tangent now and again)..  funny though.. it feels a little strange.. "Cool" Weblogs?  Cool..  hhhmm.. I've been called alot of things over the years... but 'cool'... nope.. I don't think so.. 

 

interesting?.. I hope so.. 

fun?..  I know I have fun writing it.. 

informative?.. at times.. 

picturesque?.. I try to put interesting pleasing pictures up there..

 

but "Cool"?  I didn't think I was doing "Cool"..  sounds like a challenge.. I guess I'll have to come up with 'cool' content so that I can fit into that catagory..  maybe a poll?  but then you have to have a readership thats willing to take the poll..  or for that matter.. you have to have a readership..  Oh the dilemma.. alrighty.. so if you've got some 'cool' ideas out there, leave me a comment in here and we'll see if I can live up to the "Cool WMass Weblog" title..

 

Thanks.. and Later....   

Signs o' the Season...

It's definitely beginning to look like late fall on 9, 10 and Bay..  there are signs of it all over the place..  the fountain in the center of Northampton is now dry.. you know the one, it looks like a big pile of rocks with a funnel sticking out of the top of it, and it squirts a single stream of water out of the top..  for such a creative town you'd think the fountain would be a little more.. well.. creative..  but it gets points for simplicity I guess.. rocks.. funnel.. pipe..  just add water..  instant fountain.. okay..

 

A little further down the center of Northampton I swear I heard the tinkle of a bell.. could that have been a Salvation Army bell ringer?  Already??  Not that there isn't a "Holiday Bazaar" sign out on Bay already as well.. television is starting to show some Christmas commercials... the biggest of which seem to be from Target.. it's all I can do to not shut off the tv and run from the room screaming.. "NOT YET!"..  I'm one of the biggest kids when it comes to the holiday but this is too early even for me..

 

Later.. please! 

In honor of Thanksgiving...

I imagine these ladies are just happy I was on a "shoot" of a different kind..

Internet Travels..

Oh.. but did I luck out today.. in my travels thru bloggers recently updated blog listings I came across this gem.. Anne de Haas.. a canadian photographer who has posted alot of her work to her blog.. there are MANY wonderful photographs on here.. definitely worth several minutes of your time.. so check it out if you get the chance..

Off on a tangent...

Well.. I did eventually get to the Town Hall to cast my ballot.. it did take 'tandem voting' of a sorts, my husband circled the block while I ran in and voted (he had managed to vote earlier).. it took all of 30 seconds.. my morning guess did seem to be correct.. there were far more people standing on the sidewalk holding up signs than there were inside actually voting.. so all those cars in those precious few parking spots more than likely belonged to the sign bearing zealots.. and I mean that in the nicest possible way.. zealots for all the candidates.. local and national.. me.. I just don't get it.. has anyone actually walked up to these people and said "I wasn't sure who to vote for, but just seeing you.. in all your over-zealousness.. you've convinced me.. I'll vote for the person on your placard.." I don't think so.. and they were EVERYWHERE.. sitting at the light in the center of Northampton on the ride home was almost claustrophobic.. so MANY zealots with their "Kerry" signs.. it made it difficult to watch out for those "screw the light and the crosswalk I'm gonna run out into traffic and cross right here.. right now!" assholes.. which frankly I WISH someone would at least ticket if not arrest for their sheer stupidity.. they've got freakin' 8 crosswalks to choose from.. stay off the freakin' road cause that area belongs to us drivers.. and NO.. I WILL NOT STOP FOR YOU! Get back in your crosswalk where you belong! I use the road and the crosswalk depending on my mode of transportation and dammit.. you will too! Wow.. major rant tangent!

Anyway.. I did my civic duty.. excersized my rights.. did the proper thing.. I voted.. AND I used the crosswalks to get into the polling place.. I hope you all did too!

Later...

You can Vote.. but you can't park!

So I tried to excersize my rights this morning.. I went down to the polls to cast my vote.. and who did I vote for? Well I didn't.. I couldn't find a parking place.. I circled the Ware Town Hall for over a half hour and there were 3 spots available.. all handicapped.. the rest were taken.. so much for doing the right thing..

Who's brilliant idea was it to make the Ware Town Hall the polling place anyway? It has all of 5 parking spaces behind it and if a 6th car drives in EVERYONE is deadlocked and the only thing that will get them out is 3 tow trucks and dare I say it.. a traffic cop.. Then there's the town parking lot across the street, with its 20 spaces.. all of which were taken up by those people out there holding up their candidate of choices placard.. come on.. if you don't know who your gonna vote for by now, chances are your not gonna be swayed by a cardboard sign.. move your car so we can vote for those candidates.. it would be a more efficient use of your time!

So now I'll have to see if I can get out of the office early tonite so that I can go vote.. then I'll have to wait till my husband gets home so we can go together.. at least that way, one of us can keep circling the block while the other one runs in and casts their ballot, runs out.. takes over driving.. and circles the block while the other one votes.. tandem voting.. only in America!

Frankly, I wanna vote for where we go vote.. Who says it has to be at the 'official Town Hall'.. let's just put up a tent in the Walmart parking lot and everyone go vote there.. at least you can find a parking space and you can pick up a pork roast for dinner at the same time!

Democracy for all.. and parking for none! Lovely!

Later..

I got my own lane!

They finally painted in a right-hand "turning lane" after the Coolidge Bridge for us Bay Road travelers.. It's about time.. not that we all haven't just been using the break-down lane all this time... well.. most of us anyway.. there was always those few that felt they had to merge to the left, only to pull back to the right to go up Bay and frankly they were a hazard to those of us who knew what we were doing..

You know these people.. their the same ones that have never colored outside the lines in their entire life.. they've never chased a rainbow.. gone down a street they didn't know just to see what's there.. they always use coupons and only buy what's on sale..they purchase a mask and put on black sweats and call it a Halloween costume.. they don't 'get' Dali.. a spontaneous change of plans leaves them queasy.. parties are to be planned months in advance - complete with a program of events..

Now I'm not saying these people are wrong.. but I'll take the breakdown lane anyday of the week.. the unknown around the next corner.. the surprise ending.. and I hope to meet you all at the end of the rainbow hunting for that pot of gold, just don't find it before I do!

Later..

Alternative Transportation!

Some times it pays to take a slower version of transportation...

To sleep.. perchance to dream...

So there was an interesting article in the Republican today on epitaphs.. those clever little sayings that people leave as their final words to the world carved into their tombstones.. as a fan of the 'art of cemetarys" I have given this quite some thought, what would I like to say? Having a love of cemetarys and the written word this is an important choice for me.. although, strangely, I don't think I want to be buried in a cemetary.. nope.. burn me and dump me under the biggest tree you can find.. but yet I'd still like to have a 'memorial stone' somewhere.. and what do I want to have engraved on it? Well it depends..

If I manage to "go" in my sleep - then I want "To sleep, perchance to never awaken again."

Otherwise give me "Now what?" or maybe "I won't do THAT again!"

Either way, hopefully, I won't need to make that decision for some time now..
Later.. much later, thank you!

Don't Even Think About It...

Wow.. this blog has gotten a little sparse with the "Bay Road to Route 9 Observations" lately.. sorry bout that.. it's the thinking that will do you in every time.. I should take a little lesson from the wise words of BoSox Johnny D. "We don't think - it only hurts the team."..

There's just been so much to think about lately.. the ALCS.... The World Series.. The Election.. Oil prices.. Gas prices.. Why are the apple fritters at Atkins always burnt on Mon, Tues and Wed and yet OH so perfectly done the rest of the week?..

It's all too much I tell you.. my beautiful ride is slipping on past the windshield while I drive and ponder.. ponder and drive.. I promise I'll take a step back and take a good look around on the next trip down Bay... once I figure out if Papa George or P&P has the best cheese pizza of course..

Later..
AND AGAIN>>> watch for a double post on this one.. Blogger is being difficult about posting my emailed entries..

Home - Trash Talkin'

So I chickened out and decided to forgo the ride into the office today and avoid the mess on Bay Road altogether.. Paving.. Paving means delays.. Delays mean Traffic cops... and if you've been reading my blog you all know how that can tank a perfectly wonderful day.. if you missed it.. here's the permalink to the entry..

Anyway.. had a somewhat fun day trash talkin on the Masslive Weblogs Forum in between actual work.. I tell ya' though.. it's more fun when you can get someone to trash-back.. I'm rather disappointed.. with all those 'great writers' in there.. (take THAT one with a grain of salt.. Hey.. why stop the trash now?) you'd think there would be a little more imagination.. a little more passion.. a little more humor.. a little more.. something.. maybe as writers they look at everything as a 'critique' even when offered in fun.. if that's the case.. well.. TOO BAD.. no really.. I did manage to get a couple of them fired up... over punctuation.. of all things.. some days I probably should just get some work done.. huh?... nah... "How 'bout a few more ellipses, Bombpop... .... IN YOUR FACE!!" ;) <--- that's more trash talk for those of you that needed to have it explained!

Later...

How bad can it be?

As I drove home last nite I passed (rather quickly I might add) one of those portable billboard type road signs.. something about "paving bay" "the 27th" and "expect delays".. Who programs these things? Evelyn Wood herself wouldn't have had time to read that whole thing.. Really though.. thanks for the warning.. not that I have much choice, gotta go into the office today.. although I suppose there is always alternates to Route 9... I suppose I can deviate from my chosen path.. but then again.. really.. How bad can it be?? Yeah.. right.. How bad can it be? I suppose I'll let you know..
Later..probably much Later...
Laura
ps.. was that a hint.. blogger is taking so long to post my entry via email that I decided to paste it into it's own interface.. it'll probably show up twice, but OH well.. is everything gonna be 'slow' today? As long as the Red Sox aren't slow tonite, I can deal...

Missing in Action..

Yeah.. so I've missed blogging here for a bit..  what can I say..  I was done in by all those extra innings.. and then there were all those clever emails that I sent to the poor Yankee's fan that spent the first 3 games emailing me..  I must say it has been a blast..  here's a quote from my favorite email.. I was truly inspired with this one I sent the nite after the big win:

 

"Hey Jon.. sorry if I was too hard on ya this morning.. you were very nice and I was too busy picking on you to notice.. I appreciate it..  here's a website that may make things better..   go here!"

 

So where does the link go?   WebMD.com - their how-to page on "Choking Prevention Procedure"  The Heimlich Maneuver!   What response did I get to that one?  :)  I'll give you a hint...  it was a one-word email.. and it ryhmes with "witch"..  

 

OH.. and then there was this gem I sent yesterday:

 

"wow..  there was like nuthin' on tv last nite..  with the games done I don't know what to do with myself anymore..  oh.. but that's right..  we can all watch the World Series starting on Saturday.. yeah...   OH.. but then maybe you don't wanna watch it .. 

understandable.. 

you and your wife could always rent that movie...  man.. what's the name of it?  it was about that big multimillion dollar ship that everyone said was unsinkable, but it goes down in like 4 games straight.. I mean seconds, 4 seconds straight.. anyway..  Titanic.. yeah.. thats the one.. I hear it's really good!"

 

That one set off a flurry of emails about 1918..  how the curse isn't actually over till we win the World Series..   all kinds of pissing and moaning..  I don't know what's more fun.. watching the games or finding creative ways to torture Yankee fans..  Frankly.. I think it's the torture... 

 

Laura

ps..  the Sox better keep up the good work, or I'm gonna be in some serious trouble!

Nobodys that stupid...

How often have you heard someone say that.. "Nobody's that stupid!"?  Well the next time you hear it, you have my permission to pass along this little story.. and ok.. so it doesn't fit in with my Travel Blog, but then again, it does.. I came across this in my travels on the internet...  so it's travel.. just of a different kind.. and I swear EVERY word of it is true..  people really are that stupid!  At least these 2 characters are.. Anyway.. here it is.. you be the stupidity rating judge..

 

I had just finished posting the previous entry into my blog and was surfing through the listings on blogger.com of the latest updated weblogs for anything interesting.. and OH.. but did I find it..  a little blog called "It's just the thing"..  it seems to have been started by a gentleman (and I use the term EXTREMELY loosely) that is either in Iowa or was raised in Iowa cause his handle was "Iowaboy"..  it seems he has a little jealousy problem..  his girlfriend got hit on by another guy and Mr. Iowa is having a hard time dealing with this..  You see, he can kind of deal with the jealousy he feels toward HER HUSBAND, but not this third guy..  OH.. and the best part is.. she should understand how he feels cause turns out the girlfriend is a little upset when she thinks about Mr. Iowa's WIFE..  after a little lurid detailing of the nite spent together he then compliments her on what a wonderful MOM she is and how he values her assistance with HIS BOYS!!..  And all of this on a public blog!

 

OK.. so "Stupidity Rating?".. I think we have to double up on this one.. rating number one for the stupidity of the whole affair, and then rating number two for the stupidity of blogging about it..  I'd give you the URL of the blog so you could send the lucky couple your comments yourself, but it seems to have disappeared shortly after I posted a little 'anonymous comment' to it.. hehe..  Mr. Iowa and friend have PLENTY of food for thought that's for sure!  Is it wrong that I'm enjoying the thought that somewhere there's a couple of stupid people trying to figure out how I found the blog that they obviously thought was so private?  Panic in Iowa..  the thought just fills me with giddieness and glee..  I can't help it..  Is that wrong?

 

To quote Forrest Gump: "Stupid is as Stupid does" and it sounds like Stupid is DOING Stupid..  

Later

The Sidetrack...

We all get a little side-tracked once in awhile. This was my weekend sidetrack - headed west on 9 - hang a left to Cold Springs Orchard.. Yummy apples, and even yummier views.. Although my son did point out that I didn't shoot left enough and I missed the shot of the 7 Sisters.. Oh well.. I'll just have to head back over there for that one.. Anyway, here are a couple of shots I did manage to get, although I feel a little guilty about the one below.. Cold Springs did an incredible job with this gourd display, I simply pointed at it and pushed the freakin' button! Lovely!
Laura

Herding Cats...

Who's Watching Who? Here's a quick collage of some of the wildlife thats around my home. The dog and the kitties aren't wild you say? Well, obviously, you've never been to my home... I don't hold out much hope for the chipmunk and the cats are the dog's "herd", she'll chase them till her feet are raw if we let her, being part Corgi the herding instinct is ingrained, throw in one part high-jumping Jack Russell and you get a Corgi-Jack that could herd kangaroos. They say "You can't herd cats." Well, nobody ever told my dog that, and frankly she does a pretty good job of it. Sorry for the low res, but when your putting that many pics in one animation they tend to get a little huge!
Later...

It's a leaf riot!

So this is why I live in New England...  Have you looked outside lately?  I mean REALLY looked..  it's freakin' beautiful out there!  We're at peak foliage here on Bay, and it's a peak better than I ever remember.. usually we have gotten a few rain/wind storms that take down a good portion of the leaves before the colors get a chance to peak out..  but we've been really lucky these past couple of weeks, the majority of the leaves are still on the trees.. and they look like their on fire!  Enjoy it while you can.. I've heard we're due for some nasty weather come tomorrow nite and into the weekend, so it may be the last day for the peak leaf peeping!  I'll be hucking the camera again tomorrow and will try not to rush into the office and may I suggest that you all do the same..  slow it on down people.. its red yellow and orange out there and before you know it, it will be brown and *gasp.. WHITE..

Later.. much later please!

Laura

Colors of New England

Macro Photography

Ok.. so alot of the photos I've been taking lately have been macro's.. extreme closeups of the flora and fauna that I've been finding around me as I've been out and about photographing the lovely fall scenery. This time of the year just screams for some extreme closeups and luckily the new camera has some awesome macro and super macro features. This is one of the latest, hope you like!
Laura

I saw you!

Ok..  so not much strikes fear in my heart more than running into a friend/client/aquaintance and having them say "I saw you driving down the road the other day..."   My first thought...  CRAP..  I used to just hold my breath and try and act casual and say "Oh.. where was that?"..  but I've since changed my tactics..  why not come right out with it and get it over with..  so what do I say now.. I look them straight in the eye.. give a little laugh.. and say..  "Oh.... and was I singing?"..  Much to my relief the answer has usually been "no.. I don't think so.."  *whew..  I swear I've sung more backup driving alone in my truck than one of the Pips did in his entire career..  I can't help it.. Warren Haynes (who little does he know that even though there isn't a backup singer to be found in his many albums... and I have them ALL.. )every day there is a woman.. driving alone... along Bay Road..  singing along... "con mucho gusto!"  Elvis Costello...  you betcha Alison!

I think it's been bothering me more than usual because the other day I got stuck in the road construction their doing on Route 47..  As I approached the cop in my lane he held up his hand... stopping the line of traffic right at me.. so there I sat.. first in line.. right in front of the cop.. right in front of the construction workers..  when I realized I had been there a couple of minutes.. thats right.. SINGING... the whole time!  Damn...  my only consolation is that I'm sure he's seen weirder stuff than that..  but I'd be willing to bet he hasn't heard any worse!

Laura

Thanks for the comments

So I finally got a comment on my blog.. whew.. I was beginning to think I was the only one here.. not that it matters much I guess, I do this because I love it.. I was never very good at keeping a journal, although writing is a passion of mine, and this has become my journal..  anyway.. you can check out the comments on the story below from Cynthia of http://www.creativewritersgroup.blogspot.com   (and check out her blog if you get the opportunity)..  she asked some questions that I'll answer here..  "how do I get the photo's on my blog"..  I have a website where these photo's actual reside - when I wrote that blog (and this only works in the blogger.com interface not in an email) I used an html call <img source="http:// and the address of the actual picture)..  Do I use a Mac?  Umm no.. I like having software for my computers..  Is it a 'special camera'?  Well I think so.. :)  but it's just a regular Minolta Dimage Z1 - digital SLR, loads of features - plenty of manual overrides so I can get the shot that I want, not that the camera wants to give me.. The truck under the bridge photo was pushing it though..  taken at 40times zoom and thru my vehicle window.. happy to say it turned out - albiet a little fuzzy..  so yes.. it's a special camera! 

I'll see what else I can come up with for photo's - after the truck incident I've realized the value of hucking the camera around with me and will now give it a prominent place riding shotgun with me on a daily basis! 

Later

As promised!

Reading back over my posts from the last couple of weeks I noticed that I had promised to post some pictures from my ride. Well I got a good start with yesterday's picture of the truck-eatin' bridge but other than that I've been remiss. It's not that the photo's don't exist I just haven't posted them here. So I'll begin posting some of them up there.. I've managed to pull over and line up a few shots in the past week or so, it's amazing how a new camera will do that to you, all of a sudden you don't HAVE to be in the office at the usual time! Got some lovely shots of the beaver swamp but unfortunately the lovely white bird has been nowhere to be found, Molly and Hector (the shaggy mini donkeys) haven't even been co-operative, and of course the farmer put the windows back in the barn so even the barn cats are among the missing.. although I promise I'll keep trying.. Enjoy..
Laura

How High?

And this truck driver was hoping that it would all just be a bad memory.. lucky I had the new camera with me this morning to record it for posterity! Get a load of the guy on the left talking to the driver.. "The bridge is THIS high!! Yup, that's Northampton's 11 footer claiming another victim.. notice the nice can opener technique it employs at the top of the truck!

Laura

All this debate!

So the presidential election and all the lovely debate about the debates that is going on at http://www.masslive.com/forums/weblogs/ (which I read regularly) almost makes me wish that my blog was a little more 'political' in nature..  but frankly that's not what I'm about.. Oh.. I follow the election news..  the debates.. etc..  and I definitely have an opinion and I will vote.. but that's about the extent of it.. although there is a 'political post' in here thanks to some grafitti artists..  if you travel the length of Bay Road I'm sure you've seen it.. someone.. in their unbridled political frenzy... scrawled in black paint on the stop sign where Bay joins Route 47 "Bush".. making the sign read "Stop Bush"..  very clever..  I will certainly take into account the opinion of someone that drives around the back roads of town with a can of spray paint scrawling graffiti on road signs..  now that's someone who's opinion should be respected and recognized!  Oh.. the cleverness of it..  the sheer simplicity..  the brilliant stroke of genius that must have hit this person had to be awe-inspiring!  I think all the candidates should hire their own gangs of tag artists..  why stop with defacing one stop sign on a little back road when you can reach hordes of drivers everywhere! Stop Bush.. Stop Kerry..  Stop the war..   or how about this gem..  Stop the frickin' graffitti!

Later

House-jacking

Just before the Coolidge in Northampton they are preparing to move that adorable little yellow house (337) that looks remarkabley like a train station.  They've got it jacked up a good 8 feet and on the trailer ready to be hauled away.. I'm glad their saving the cute little bungalow, but frankly, I'll miss seeing it on my travels..  Word is they are hauling it away in the middle of the nite to avoid traffic tie-ups..  small mercies anyway...  they will be setting it back up on Dewey Ct... I'll have to take a ride by in a month or so and check it out!

 

Later

Missing Again....

So, once again, it's been awhile since I've blogged. The usual excuses, busy.. busy.. busy.. oh.. and throw in a lovely one week vacation to Chatham on Cape Cod.. then of course you have the obligatory 3 days of playing catchup.. and that was just the email..
Anyway.. the route in to the office has become quite the treat.. the trees are starting to change.. lovely foggy mornings settling over the corn fields.. the pumpkins are showing their happy orange faces to the world.. Atkin's apple trees are bowing under the weight of the reddening fruit.. and the sunflowers are bowing their heads on these chilly mornings... really lovely..
I promise I'll drag the camera along with me sometime in the near future and get some photo's.. I can only hope that the lovely white bird that has taken up residence in the beaver swamp at the Quabbin doesn't fly the coop till I can get my shots in!
Later

Run Nellie, run...

The cow is escaping.. the cow is escaping...  down across from Hartsbrook last nite one of the cows.. we'll call her Nellie.. managed to escape the confines of the pasture..  so what's so unusual about that? Cows escape all the time.. what was amazing about this one was the support that she received from her fellow bovines..  they were all lined up against the fence, literally reveling in Nellie's escape..  As Nellie cavorted on the outside of the fence they were packed in like sardines at the corner of the fencing, tossing their head, swishing their tales, and jockeying for a better view of their escaped friend..  some definite excitement in that crowd..  makes you wonder if they were cheering her on or trying to talk her back in.. my bet is they were playing 'lookout' for her..  "Quick Nellie... run.. run now.. the warden went in for dinner.. now's your chance..  Run Nellie.. RUN!!"  Pretty funny.. just hopefully the warden caught up with her before she wandered into the road..

Not nearly as fun..

So they put that final coat of asphalt on the Belchertown end of Bay Road..  not nearly as fun driving it as it was when they had the Barrel Gauntlet set up..  but OH so nice and SMOOTH!!  It's too bad the only thing I can think of when I drive it is.. FINALLY..  this had to be the longest construction job in Western Mass history..  ooopss.. scratch that.. there's the Coolidge Bridge project...  OH.. and the *snicker Springfield Civic Center (why can't I mention THAT 'doomed to fail' project without snickering..)  OH.. and the Memorial Bridge mess..  hhmm..  add the ramp reversal fiasco in downtown Springfield..  oh.. never mind..  I guess if you use 'average construction project time' taking 2 years to re-do a mile of road is right in the norm..

Pet Peeve #35 - it's a smelly one!

So technically it's not a Bay Road issue, but this was spotted at the CVS on Route 10 in Easthampton so it kind of qualifies..  and OH is this a pet peeve..  mainly because of the idiocy of it...  so the woman in front of me emptys her hand basket on the counter..  what's in there?  Pineapple scented shampoo..  Coconut scented hair conditioner..  Ocean Breeze scented deoderant, and a 25 dollar bottle of Red Door perfume..  oohh..  Red Door..  love that scent..  I've been wearing Red for a couple of years now and I still love the scent.. the difference tho?  I don't mix my smells.. when I put on perfume.. especially 25 bucks a half ounce perfume.. I wanna smell like 25 dollar perfume..  not like a two dollar stick of deoderant.. 

 

Basically this woman is gonna smell like a pina colada, drunk on the beach, while wearing expensive perfume.. add in the fact that I bet she uses Tide, in the Spring Fresh scent, to wash her clothes..  Downey Pink, which has a smell no-one can even name, and probably Irish Spring soap in the shower.. so we now have a pina colada, drunk on the beach, in the Springtime, while dressed in pink,  in Ireland, while wearing expensive perfume..  don't even get me started on baby powder, hand lotion, wrinkle cream, and those god-awful stinky toilet papers!

 

Just say "unscented" America! 

A Smooth Obstacle Course

So they are finally back to work on the B'town end of Bay Road (and ok, I'm finally back to blogging)..  What a difference.. they finally paved, although it was a 'patch it here.. patch it there' kind of a job, it did kind of cover the whole road cause frankly, the whole road is what needed paving..  so now it's smooth.. a nice smooth obstacle course..  they are still working on the manholes, so every 50 feet or so (less in some cases) there is one of those large orange barrels..  frankly it's kind of fun..  swerve to the left.. then you swerve to the right.. you do the hokey pokey.. oh.. but that's a different dance..  really fun when you have the road to yourself, you can pick and choose which side of the barrel your gonna drive around, but when there's someone coming the other way.. not so fun..  no one stops and lets you go first..  no one.. except me of course.. it doesn't matter if the barrel is in your lane, which of course means you should stop before you swerve into their lane, or if the barrel is in their lane, they are gonna swerve into yours without stopping..  Oh the rudeness of it all.. the only other place I've encountered such driving rudeness is on Route 10 in Easthampton..  but we won't get into that right now..  that's another blog..