Month: April 2024

Nothing But the Best. Well Wishes on a Stellar Career

Posted on by Markman

We took a short jaunt into town yesterday afternoon to wish a dear colleague of LD’s well off on her leaving higher ed. It was an intimate little gathering with mostly her staff and a few invited guests (including us, I was so humbly honored!) She will definitely be missed there. I guess originally it was supposed to be a much bigger thing but with all the stuff that’s been going on there lately it didn’t seem like the right time for something like that. (I have been rather fascinated reading about everything that’s been going down there lately – crazy times). Actually I prefer the smaller gathering personally.

Some other observations that I had was that we got to park right next door (brings back memories) and then I realized it’s probably the very last time we’ll ever visit here. I’ll probably never set foot in that particular building ever again. I did get to visit the 5th floor for the first time ever though. The digs up there are pretty nice. After a lot of the stories were told and the party started to end, the guest of honor was nice enough to bequeath us a couple of her plants. The hat I’m wearing in the picture isn’t mine. It’s LD’s old landlady’s who we took to Revere last weekend and forgot to take it back. My hands were full with other stuff so I put it on my head to bring it in the house. I’ll drop it off later today back to her. It does make for a funny picture however!

As the shindig wound down we both had to use the restroom. They have gender-neutral bathrooms there so we both able to use the same one at the same time, which I will say is really weird and we probably won’t ever do that again. Just seems strange to us. Also there was what appeared to be this mini shower like thing in there that no one seemed to know what it was for. Too small to be an actual shower and I don’t think anyone would actually wash their feet with it like at the beach so what the hell is it’s meaning? Someone said a pipe drains into there to which I though, well why don’t they just get a plumber and fix the pipe? No one really knew what the heck it was for and they all work there so beat’s me! Also it was pretty dirty. I have no idea what this contraption would be used for, but it does intrigue and perplex me so!

Anyways, Congratulations and good luck on the next chapter!

Almost Like that Friends’ Episode Pivot Scene

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Well, not for us, but we were able to get rid of some furniture today that was taking up space and it went to folks that could use it. A woman that we know and her partner were looking for some furniture for their place so this morning they came by to take this big couch out of the basement that we’ve been wanting to get rid of. Unfortunely after a bunch of trial and error they just couldn’t get it out the door as it didn’t seem to fit. I’m not sure how we got it into the house originally. That was a bummer but instead we were able to give them a love seat and an old rocker chair recliner that I used to love but it’s time was due. So it wasn’t a totally wasted trip for them and actually those items will seem to suit their living situation much better anyway so it was a win-win. We still need to figure out how to get rid of that couch though.

Another nice thing was the Dad who also came with them marveled at the juke box that we have. So that was cool. I showed them how it works and all that and they really dug it. I believe he selected “Sherry” by the Four Seasons if I’m not mistaken. Cool conversation piece, as always.

Later in the day we finally got around to making some more of that Lemon Orzo soup that everyone really seems to enjoy.

Checking out the Purple Sands

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We started out the day cleaning off the back deck from all the pollen that had accumulated over the last year. We didn’t plan on doing it, but once we got going we couldn’t stop and I have to say it came out looking really good. Then we had decided since it was so nice out to take a ride over to Revere Beach to check out this purple sand that we had heard about being there. It basically got all swept in by the winter storms back in February, We had to check it out and as a bonus we decided to take LD’s old landlady with us to spend the afternoon and hang, so that was nice.

The colored sand!

LD also collected a bunch of the sand to bring back and possible put into a jar. Naturally we had to have some Kelly’s while we were there. The lady was so nice to treat us! We all ended up going with the roast beef sandwiches and a side of fries and onion rings. Have to say, it was pretty delish and the weather was great. Then after all that we headed back, I mowed the lawn out front, we did some gardening chores (more of which we need to do tomorrow) and then we had our first firepit of the season. Finally!

Currently Watching: The Bon Jovi documentary on Hulu.

Revisiting the Sanctum Sanctorum Soon

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Can you guess by this picture? I plan on revisiting this place in the very near future and this time I hope to get many better pictures! Place kind of reminds me of Dr. Strange’s house from the comic books of the 1970! Strangely I thought that I had some more from this location but I can’t seem to find them. They may be lost forever, but no matter, as I plan to take new ones that will be better hopefully anyway.

Happy Earth Day!

Posted on by Markman

I spent the late afternoon bagging up some thorny branches that I cut down last fall and finally made smaller and bagged so that the city can come take them away. I need to get to the home improvement store soon though because the f***in thorny tree like thing is starting to grow back again. Not the greatest thing to be doing with my knee acting up but things need to get done! I cut it down some more but it’s only a matter of time before it rears it’s ugly head again. Stubborn little bast**d! Anyways, enjoy this much nicer scene of spring that I took over in Wellesley, Mass!

Feeling Zen

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Sometimes, the best plan is no plan at all. Today, I’m embracing the art of doing nothing. No deadlines, no rush, no stress. Just a day to unwind, relax, and recharge. Actually I still check the bunny occasionally. One did decide to stay for a bit longer. Seems like there’s always one lone straggler that takes a little longer to leave than it’s siblings. When I saw Carson sleeping back in his house and not watching anymore I knew the bunny had left. Now we have empty nest syndrome again after one day!

Sure Signs of Spring (Baby Bunnies Born Again!)

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I awoke, to my utter surprise this morning, to notice that three baby bunnies had been born in the same old flowerpot that previous generations of buns had been born in, running around the deck, in between the various pots. I suppose we were first alerted to their presence when we realized that Carson never came up to the bed last night. He was watching the bunny action apparently. We put out some carrot strings in the afternoon and by early evening, they were eaten, most likely by the one bunny that is still hanging around, although after today, I would imagine it will be on it’s way to it’s life’s adventure.

Springtime in Boston

Yesterday I spent much of the day over at Earth-1, helping my mom out with various tasks that she needed down. She had a cataract operation last week and is progressing great. Probably going to have the other eye done in a couple of weeks as well. While I was there, one of her cats, Laurel, decided to wear his bowtie. I wish I could Carson to wear one but there’s no way that’s going to happen at this stage in the game.

Spring Time Sprucing Up

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After working my rounds today, I began starting to do a lot of cleanup on and in the gardens. Getting rid of old leaves, cleaning out the beds, checking on the flowers currently coming up and bulbs starting to emerge from the soil. Getting out the various hanging planter tools and preparing the decks. Cleaning out the firepit and buying a bunch of stuff to get the season started. This is a great time of year. Also, looks like the next door neighbors just opened their pool so get ready for their drunken late night loud parties again. Oh, and LD probably has a mild concussion. Great.

Currently Reading: The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle. (review).

Gametime: Ping On Ice

Fist Pumps and Head Bumps

Posted on by Markman
A fun visit
Chicken sammies

Well, yesterday was quite a day. It started off pretty good, having to take a trip out to Weymouth to pick up something and then since it was nice out, we decided to go by the Hingham Shipyards to get some fresh air. Ended up getting a lunch at Wahlburgers. It’s been literally years and years since we’ve been there. I think we might have went when they first opened. Guess it was a good time to go because the whole area was pretty quiet. We ended up getting chicken sandwiches. Came home, took a nap, and watched some television.

Toward late afternoon/early evening we did the cooking thing. Three meals all at once, which I don’t really like to do because I can get overwhelmed with too many things going on at once. We did the lemon chicken-orzo soup we love so much, along with another chicken dish and some blueberry/strawberry oatmeal for LD. Unfortunely while all this was going on, LD happened to bang her head on one of the open cabinet doors and since she’s on certain meds we felt it best to get checked out at the hospital, so off we went to the ER. Long story short, after all-told about four hours of mostly waiting (first in the ER lobby, and then mostly for the results of the scans to come back), her CT scans looked good, but still going to watch to make sure everything is alright. Coming back around 11 pm we had some soup and then went to bed. I guess I crashed our pretty fast since hospitals and worrying and everything that goes along with that makes me really anxious.

Never a dull moment! Although in the grand scheme of things,, everything went particularly well. However, I am instituting a new rule that no more than two meals will be made by us at a time and to maybe slow things down and not rush so much. We’ll try.

A Macabre Morbid Mission

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Remember a few days ago when I mentioned reading about a homicide in Wellesley that occurred almost 20 years ago? So, today we went on an outing to visit where important events from this case occurred. This all came about after someone very close to the case informed us that they were directly involved. I won’t tell who it is, but if you do enough Google searching, you might be able to figure it out. It’s strange to know someone who is literally 0 degrees away from the criminal. It must also be difficult to live in the aftermath of such a heinous crime.

Anyway, the primary area we explored was Morses Pond, which is where all of this happened all those years ago, as well as some other spots mentioned in the book. (I wish I could find the Dateline episode featuring this case S2, E14). We spent the day with our pals M&M who were also into checking out out the locales. It seems so wrong and yet sort of fascinating at the same time, actually locating places where things were left which ultimately led to the conviction.

I also needed to snap high-resolution images of LD’s new office for use on her website, so that was another reason to be in the area since the proximity to all this stuff is really close. Afterwards we all had a nice lunch at a place called The Local.

Swan Boats Start Up Tomorrow

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The iconic swan boats of Boston start up another season tomorrow in the Public Garden. I didn’t get a chance this winter to check out the clown heads at Winteractive this time but maybe sometime in the summer I can check out these boats again.

Currently Reading: Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History. Great television show from the 90s, especially the first few seasons. I only got to see the whole series a couple of years ago on streaming, having never watched it when it first came out.

Of Solar Eclipses and Stairs

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Today, the mason, the small elderly Italian guy who built the chimney cap a few weeks ago, arrived and began removing the ancient concrete and brick stairs leading to the front entry of the house. It had all started to deteriorate a while ago, so it was time to have it redone. So, that’s what’s occurring this week. Also, the prior setup was not fully to code standards, so this new one will have better measurements, such as a landing that is the proper size rather than being too little, as it is now. The new brick and limestone landings should help improve visual appeal as well. This will be going on pretty much all week I would imagine.

Earlier today I went ahead and created that solar eclipse viewer out of a shoebox. Didn’t have the time or inclination to get the glasses. To be honest, I could sort of care less about the whole thing, but everyone else is into it, so I guessed that I would try to be as well. I personally felt pretty apathetic about it, to be honest. Maybe I’m weird. But then I got invited to see it with some friends who actually had some glasses so I, at first begrudgingly, went over there and watched it, and I do have to admit, that it was kind of cool, and then my mood changed. Plus being with good friends that make you laugh, really made it enjoyable. The box sucked, it was so much better with the glasses.

I also went ahead today and finally purchased some more storage space from Google. For the longest time I held out at the free 15 gigabytes but I got tired of having to erase stuff from the cloud to backup what I really wanted to backup so now 100 gigabits should hopefully last me for quite some time. Plus it comes with some other editing perks so I suppose it was worth it.

Free Cape Weekend Getaway

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We had a “free” couple of days to stay at the Cape which we obtained last summer so we finally decided to use it up this weekend. So back down to Earth-3 we went. (Earth-3 being the place down the Cape that we regularly stay at – a time share that we have). So we arrived Friday night and we ended up using a gift certificate to a local restaurant that we’ve gone to a bunch of times and got rid of that. (The gift certificate was also a “freebie” since they messed up our later last time and this was the way amends were made). So that all worked out quite well.

Some other fun things we got to do on this mini-vacation was, as usual, our multiple visits to the Chocolate Sparrow, a place we love to get our treats from. We grabbed a brunch from a place called Grumpies and they weren’t grumpy at all. In fact, I’d say the food was actually really good. I would go back there. We got much needed massages from a lady we know down there who is amazing, and those felt really good. Late Saturday night LD got me a surprise experience, my first, being in a meditative salt cave. So that was pretty cool. The weather wasn’t all that great, a bit rainy at times and quite windy which made the air very cold, but nature is nature! We used the down time to catch up on some of our reading. Speaking of which, my next read is called A Murder in Wellesley: The Inside Story of an Ivy-League Doctorโ€™s Double Life, His Slain Wife, and the Trial That Gripped the Nation mostly because we now know a person who was directly involved. And I mean, you can’t get any closer than this person was! More details to emerge as we delve into this case much deeper over the next few days.

The Greatest Gift

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In the beautiful journey of life that we’ve traveled together, every day with you feels like a cherished chapter of a fairy tale. As we celebrate another year of love and partnership, I am reminded of the countless moments that have made this adventure extraordinary. Our love has been the greatest gift, filling our days with joy, laughter, and an unwavering bond that grows stronger with each passing year. Happy anniversary, Ladydoc. Here’s to the countless tomorrows we’ll continue to write together, creating a story of enduring love that is more beautiful with every page turned.

Wild, Windy, and Wet ๐Ÿ’ฆ

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Not the greatest day to be outside today but I persevered. We lucked out pretty good considering, never lost power, no flooded basement, etc. although the outdoor heater blowing over a couple of times bummed me out. Looks like the top is probably pretty warped now but I’ll check it out better when the weather brightens up and assess what happened.. Also the television guide on the Fios doesn’t seem to be populated, might have the reboot the box.

Currently Reading: Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne. So far into the third chapter and I’m liking it.