Month: September 2021

People are Weird Sometimes

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A weird thing happened today while I was at my job. A woman pulled up to the light and did what appeared to me to be taking my picture on her cell phone. Uhmmm….why? It only took a second. I suppose she could have been looking at her phone for directions but to me it seemed more like she was taking a photo. I normally don’t mind having my picture taken but it just seems a bit unnerving when someone does it who who knows what purpose. Maybe I’m overreacting. It just seemed weird.

Otherwise it was a pretty good day! Fall is definitely in the air, though – bit chilly in the morning. After my shift I went to the reopened gas station which had been closed for renovations and got some gas for the mower as it was empty. I’ll probably do some lawn maintenance tomorrow in between commitments. I also have an appointment to get my windshield repaired tomorrow. Should be a fun day!

No More Shutdown Worries for Me

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Autumn things.

I heard another government shutdown may be looming. I’m so glad I don’t really need to care about that anymore, My previous job did much work for the government but when it shuts down most projects are put on hold and then it would be a stressful scramble to try to find work. And unlike the true government workers who get paid for while they were away for however long when they get back, we did not. It would be on another project, if you could find one, or overhead which would be a big nono because the place nickel and dimed everybody so much. Anyways, it’s just nice to not have to worry anymore about crap like that.

My long sleeve jacket came back from the tailors today and it looks super spiffy with its new accoutrements. In a couple of weeks I’ll need to go back and drop off the short sleeve for the same treatment.

Have you heard of these things called kiwi berries? I just tried some and I really like them. They are like tiny little kiwis but you eat them just as is, peel and all. And they taste really good. I had no idea this thing existed.

Heart Rock Love

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Heart Shaped Beach Rocks Find.

Nothing too special happened today. I had to go down to HQ to get some more paperwork just detailing their IT stuff. Now I have another email address – great. I don’t think I’ll ever use it though. Gmail works just fine for me. I also needed to reschedule my windshield repair. They hadn’t got the deets from the insurance company yet so I figured I’d give it a couple of more days and set it for Friday morning, Still plan on going to the tailors tomorrow though for my pickup. We also went to the pharmacy this afternoon because LD needed something.

We’re trying out a new meal delivery service this week. New cards and all. This particular one seems a little more upscale and with some better ingredients. We’ll see how I do trying to prepare the first one tonight, although generally, these things aren’t too hard to put together.

I still have the rock in the picture above. It’s sitting right on the windowsill next to where I have my laptop. For the longest time I could never find heart shaped rocks on the beach it seemed, but when I saw this, it was amazing and I was thrilled.

Monday Motif

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Motif No. 1

Today I started my shift solo – finally out of training and in the field all by myself. It’ll be this way from now on. What a journey it’s been so far, with all the various hoops to go through – I finally made it.

I set up an appointment this morning to have the car windshield guys come down to repair the crack that appeared last week. Figured I might as well get it done, the sooner the better, before it gets any worse. They had one appointment each day if I wanted them to swing by but with my schedule it didn’t seem ideal so I set it up that I’ll go down to their place on Wednesday and just wait down there while they work on it. I’ll be in the area anyways to pick up some things from the tailor that’s nearby.

Return to Rexhame

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The scene this afternoon at Rexhame.

The calming movement of the sea along with the restless ocean breeze gently caresses me creating a soothing trance which lulls me to a place of peace.

Spent another beautiful afternoon out at Rexhame again. So peaceful today and relaxing. We also like watching the dogs play in the water that people bring along.

Somerville Sojourn

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While I was in my hometown this afternoon I decided to take out one of bikes and go for a ride around town, just to see how everything was looking. You can see some of these if you follow me on Insta under my stories. Some of the highlights were hitting some little libraries, catching some of the fluff festival down in Union Square – although by the time I got there it had appeared to be winding down, a visit to the Round House (which looks likes it’s finally being renovated and looks really nice), and going through Davis which is a mess due to the outdoor dining – not much room for the cars to pass through. I also passed by the place were the Ladydoc and I first met on our very first date. There’s a bit of trivia for you! The rest is history!

I guess I am a bit not used to riding though, because now I’m so tired and sleepy. I didn’t intend to do as much riding as I did but once I got going I wanted to keep checking out other things so I ended up doing an hour and a half of bicycling around the town.

Piers

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So far the week’s been going good. Getting the hang of it all. Still under observation this week but I took the helm midweek because I wanted to. Next week I start all by my lonesome.

Looking to have to get a new kitchen faucet installed. We noticed it leaking over the last few days.

Relaxing in the Peaceful Dunes

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A cormorant crosses in front of a tugboat in Marshfield.

Tomorrow’s my big first day, wish me luck. What else? Not too much going on, just having some chill time around the firepit, watching tv, etc. I do need to make another appointment for a windshield repair. Darn thing had a pebble hit it while I was travelling down Route 1. This is the 2nd time now, last time being May 2020. I think this one can just be repaired though, as opposed to last time when I needed the whole thing replaced.

We went to Rexhame beach again this afternoon. The waves were killer. We didn’t go in the water of course, just sat in our chairs after a little hike around the river marsh in back. We found a nice secluded area above the river up a dune that was really peaceful and hung out there for a while. On the way back we got some open faced turkey sandwiches from a turkey farm place that’s on the way. We were going to eat them at home but ended up eating them on one of the picnic tables they had set up outside. It was really good too.

CPR done

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Alright, my CPR training is done! In case you were wondering, they don’t have you do the mouth to mouth stuff anymore because , duh, but you still do learn about it.

Unfortunely I did cut myself again last night accidently on my thumb again, in the exact same spot that I did it last time while preparing dinner. Thankfully it wasn’t as deep this time.

A Quick Look Inside

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Morning coffee with a view

Feelings That I Love:

Seeing the sun rise in the morning
Making someone laugh
Listening to a snappy song
Being recognized for a job well done
Being counted on to come through, and succeeding
Getting personal emails
Getting lost in the amazement of this universe we inhabit
Getting the chill up my spine from a dramatic or surprising scene of a movie
Hugging a soft warm body
Growing Up

Feelings That I Hate:

A song that ends too soon
Feeling Pressured
Feeling Stressed Out
Regret
Being Frustrated
Biting Winds nipping at my face
Saying Good-Byes
Growing Up

Dancing the Paperwork Shuffle

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Nauset Light and Birdhouse

Enjoy this picture from the Nauset Light that I took back in early spring while we stayed next door to it. That was such a nice trip. This shot was just sitting in my archives – figure I’d pull it out and finally post it.

Spent a good part of today filling out and going over all the paperwork for the HR department. Kinda crazy how many things there are. I’ll be handing that in on Thursday after I finish the CPR training. Looking forward to actually getting started, feels like it’s been weeks (which I suppose at this point it kind of actually has been).

Watching: Season premiere of Ice-T’s In Ice Cold Blood. This series is pretty much like all those shows on the ID network. I was intrigued by the description of some kid’s great grandparents “melting.” I feel that the best episode is one from the first season called Money Pig or some such. That story was so whack how could it have all been true. Worth searching for.

My new beach chair I ordered finally showed up today. This was the one that I originally wanted with the built in head pillow rest, lumbar support, side cooler and tons of pockets/storage. I’m giving it to LD to replace her old one which is needing to be retired already.

Did Someone Say Wine Slushies?

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Last night we went to a winery with another couple friends of ours. We had seen this place featured on an episode of Chronicle which I just happened to randomly catch. The two things that caught our eye was that we saw in the video people that we knew and that they had this stuff called wine slushes, which is what you think it is. The place is really cute and we had a great time. We will definitely be going back there, especially since out friends became members, I personally sucked down two slushies while our friends did the traditional wine tastings. They liked their flavors so much they even bought a bunch of bottles. After staying there for a couple hours, we all headed back and sat around our fire pit for a few hours more. I didn’t get to bed until 2 am, I really enjoyed myself and I think everyone else did too.

This afternoon we went to the beach again. We are really becoming late summer beach bums this year. We ended up going to Rexhame, The water was pretty cold though but yet refreshing in a way. Must of stayed there around 4 hours or so. Once back home, I decided to use the grill to fire up some burgers from this week’s Hello Fresh instead of following their directions to fry them on a skillet. I think it worked out rather well, with the basil pesto and tomatoes. I did follow the directions to bake the potato fries though and used the oven for that.

Meeting the Team

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Went down to HQ for my first meeting with the team of my new job. I think I’m going to like working with these folks. Got some more details and training and we watched a orientation video. I spent a bunch of extra time down there after the meeting was over just and meet and greet the folks. I want to get my face and name out there and network with the group, etc. Let them know that I’m a team player and thankful for the opportunity. It’s going to be a lot different than the corporate world crap I did for the last 30 years but I’m ready to try something new and different. Plus who knows, it could lead to other more lucrative opportunities. Lots of folks have done that I have learned. I’m not saying I’d never go back to the corporate world but for now I’ve no desire to do the typical nine to five, dog-eat-dog, anymore. Plus I’ll have a lot of room in my schedule for other things that I’m still working on, including my photography side hustle business.

Rango and I

The above picture came through in my “memories” today so I figured I’d share it here. The goat was named Rango. Sadly, he passed away of a heart attack earlier in the year. He loved to be brushed and was quite a character. Very soulful eyes, and would always bump the other goats out of the way so that he could be continued to be brushed.

Rather rainy, drizzly day today, although feels quite humid. Makes me want to take a nap.

B.E.A.C.H.: Best Escape Anyone Can Have.

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Blue Gray Skies and Schooners

Here’s another shot above from the Schooner festival earlier in the week.

LD got done early today so we went to Rexhame in the late afternoon. The waves were really big, possibly due to Hurricane Larry way offshore? It made quite a sight. I also watched a gull eat an entire crab on the beach, so there’s that.

Don’t worry, beach happy.

Started to watch Impeachment: American Crime Story on FX last night. The latest season of that show.

Weeding It All Out

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Yes, I’ve gone back to the previous design. Maybe I’ll change it again if the mood strikes but I really like to show off my photos and this design I think does that pretty well. So for the moment, we’re back to this view.

I spent a little part of the afternoon weeding out the raised boxes. I’m a bit ashamed to say that I pretty much let that go this year, but in my defense the weather we’ve had all summer was not that conductive to our plantings. Still, I have been a bit remiss with the gardening. Getting ready for fall cleanup soon anyhow.

In the early evening we went and got some Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza and watched the last four episodes of Chicago PD which had been sitting on the DVR since the early summer.

A Parade of Schooners and a Hidden Grotto Makes for a Lovely Morning

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Parade of Sail 2021

Checked out the Parade of Sail up in Gloucester this morning. Like I mentioned before I hadn’t seen it since 2018. This year didn’t seem to have as many boats as that year but still a good time to view some scenic boats float by. LD came with this time and liked watching the dogs play in the water down below the boulevard, fetching balls and pieces of wood from the water thrown by their masters. Good thing we had the foresight to bring our beach chairs, which we set down right along the boulevard and watched the action. Toward the end I ventured over to more mountainous area and discovered what I like to call the hidden grotto. Pretty cool location. There was talk of maybe hitting the beach but the weather didn’t look that promising, plus we went yesterday, and there’s always tomorrow as a possibility.

The “hidden” grotto.

We then headed for lunch at a place we like to go when we’re in the area. No wait! Got there just before it started getting busy. And it was outside with umbrellas! It spitting rain at us off and on but really nothing and didn’t effect us negatively. We ordered a bit too much this time so we’ll be having the leftovers for sinner tonight.

Finished off the early evening with a fire pit for a while. Did that for a few until the skies decided to start to drizzle again but thankfully I had been done with the fire by that point. After that we finally finished our leftovers while watching some 48 Hours reruns we had recorded from the night before and a movie on HBO, which was a recommendation from some friends of ours. I didn’t watch much of the movie as I had fallen asleep on my heating pad. Yes, it’s getting close to being that time of year again where I lay on this thing and end up napping for an hour or two.

End of Summer Beach Outings

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Green Harbor

I had to go out and buy some black work sneaks and boots for my upcoming position so I did that yesterday afternoon. I lucked out in that there’s a DSW not too far from here and I was able to find what I needed right away, so that was nice. I’m the type of person who likes to have everything I need at the ready, even if it won’t be needed for months in advance. That’s just me.

Spent the day at Duxbury beach again. Went into the water a couple of times. I ordered LD a new beach chair as we noticed hers was starting to be too worn. I actually ended up ordering for her the chair that I myself originally wanted but got sent something else that I ended up staying with because I actually liked it. Anyways, while we were in the water we noticed these weird gelatinous beings all around that your skin would brush against. Picking them out if the water they looked like some translucent sort of worm. Come to find out after looking it up, they were salps. I found these beings to have a fascinating life cycle – I had never heard of these creatures before. I assume the recent storm blew them more inland than they usually are.

By the time it became after 5 o’clock we were getting hungry so we headed over to Green Harbor – our go to place after the beach there. They are closing after Monday to end their season. They were out of lobster rolls but LD got shrimp and I went with the clam plate. The wait took over an hour which was annoying but we didn’t have any other plans so we just waited and got a little hangry. We finally got the food and ate it while watching a sunset over by a nearby marsh.

I had originally planned to do a fire pit tonight but we’re too tired now and it’s rather late. Perhaps I’ll light one tomorrow night.

Tomorrow my plan is to be getting up early to check out the schooners in G-town!

Summertime and the Loving is Easy

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End of summer approaches

Well, we ended up having some very minor flooding in the basement from last night, but overall, not bad. It’s mostly dried up on its own already, but I wetvacced a little bit, got some fans going, and opened windows. I’ll probably swing by the Home Depot later today and get some more of those tubs that suck water out of the air.

I had my physical this morning and everything looks good. I got my employment letter and signed it and all that good stuff when I visited HQ after the appointment. I’ll be starting officially in my new position on the 20th. So, go me! I have to the meet our coordinator next week to go over some stuff and then the CPR course and then I am ready to roll. Another thing on my to-do list is to help code get and LD’s website for her business up and running over the next few weeks. Very exciting stuff!

The story behind the photo: This is one from about a month ago when we spent some time at the Cape. One of the many sunset photos that I’ve taken. This is from Orleans. When the tide goes out here, it’s so flat, you could walk quite a ways before you find water deep enough to swim in. Anyways this photo makes me think of summer’s end for some reason.

We ended up watching this show last night detailing the events of Chyna’s life, the female WWF wrestler. Pretty amazing story, so sad it ended the way that it did for her.

Here Comes the Invasion

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Driving around Earth-1 yesterday you couldn’t help but notice all the furniture and things all out on the sidewalks as the students move in. Kinda crazy. I mean, it’s always like that this time of year but somehow this time it looked much more pronounced, at least in the neighborhood that I grew up in.

Gearing up for the remnants of Ida. I really hope the basement doesn’t flood again at all. I don’t think it will but time will tell.

I have my physical appointment tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!