Good Day Beginning to End

Yesterday was one of those rare days of almost uninterrupted excellence as we moved from one enjoyable scenario to another and another and another.  I awoke and hurried to get the blog updated and was soon joined by the wife who created a fantastic keto breakfast while we awaited the awakening of our son.

Mother and Son Yesterday

Buddy the wonder pooch frantically took up a post at the bottom of the stairs beseeching the upstairs to divest itself of his favorite human.  They were shortly chasing each around the house.  Buddy felt he was one of the guys and even tried to join us for breakfast – a keto diet most definitely agrees with his palate.

Buddy Wanted In on the Breakfast

We all trooped down to the theater to see the latest destruction of the White House with the movie White House Down.  Channing Tatum once again established his action star credentials and even found ways to have his shirt ripped off a couple times (for the ladies).  There were some absolutely gaping holes in the plot but we’re talking popcorn fare here.  I had some serious problems with the military scenarios which were obviously thought up in Hollywood and not Ft Bragg.  I ended up really liking the flick because there are a lot of funny side comments while things are blowing up left and right and any movie with Maggie Gyllenhaal is worth a watch.

Good Flick

After the movie we had to bid a sad farewell to the son as he journeyed north to link up with his beloved MEF.  We were not allowed to wallow in our disappointment because we were heading down to Rhode Island to help celebrate the 25^th wedding anniversary of my sister’s sister in law (she of the arcane powers of Red Sox predestination).  She and her husband are two of my favorite people, so my wife and I were psyched.  We first had to escape the wifely wardrobe challenge event where my wife went through no less than three separate outfits before departure was allowed.

The party was at the home of the mother of my sister’s fantastic in laws.  This was appropriate since so many great times and memories are associated with that venue.  The food was definitely non-keto so I had to content myself with beer – so – win!  It was a fabulous collection of friends and family, young and old, just fantastic people gathered to honor two of their own. 

Daughter Making Speech - Anti-Keto Weapons Deployed on the Left

The daughter of the honored couple made a very touching speech that caused severe eye irritation throughout the crowd as well as a slide show of old photos.  It was understated but a completely appropriate and heartfelt salute to some truly superb people. 

It was one of those nights that I didn’t want to end despite the repeated attacks on my keto-diet.  They even unveiled the doomsday weapon – A DONUT CAKE!!!!!  I must really be into the diet at this point because I foiled all attacks, but damn, it was hard.  Due to my liquid diet the wife assumed driving duties back home after a day of uninterrupted pleasure.

The Superb People We Honored Yesterday

Friday Fun Times

This past week was not a lot of fun at work but yesterday totally redeemed the efforts expended earlier.  First I had a very good experience with Amazon.  I received an Amazon gift card for Father’s Day and in a huge surprise move - I ordered some movies.  I absolutely love Amazon who have raised ease of shopping into a totally new dimension which is important when someone loathes shopping as much as I do. 

Love You Guys

Strangely the movies had not shown up and were over a week overdue so I sent an email to Amazon and didn’t think anything would happen.  Imagine my surprise when less than two hours later I received a detailed response apologizing for the delay and informing me that a replacement order had been processed with next day arrival shipping – now that is customer service! (As long as this order does not end up in the same black hole as the first).

Brew City Table With Boss and Son

My winning streak continued when my awesome boss decided we needed to drown the sorrows of the work week with a First Friday celebration.  Talk about winning streaks, shortly after we arrived my son walked in as well.  My boss knows my son well and we had a great time exchanging how tough our work weeks were.  I think I won the contest when I showed my son the picture of a bus in a house (he doesn’t read the blog so it was a surprise).

Buddy and His Favorite Human

We headed home for a joyous reunion with his mother and Buddy who immediately demanded attention from his favorite human.  We learned that he and the MEF have selected a wedding reception venue which is spookily only a couple blocks from where my first fiancé lived. He took his mother through the selection process which she found fascinating.

Wedding Reception Venue Review

We then adjourned to the Friday staple of Zorba’s, home of the exotic waitress who passed by our table a few times.  I looked mournfully on as my son consumed a pepperoni pizza.  I assuaged my grief with a healthy cut of prime rib which made it almost bearable.

We returned home to watch the Red Sox win yet another game while we also caught up on all wedding related news.  After the former Sox closer gave up his obligatory home run to blow a lead in earlier innings than normal, my son encouraged me to start watching a TV series he loves, Falling Skies.  Its aliens invading the greater Boston area so right in my wheelhouse. 

Friday was a much better day.

Politically Meat Pied

Yesterday was our bi-weekly meeting for anticipated changes to the bus routes.  It turned out to be fairly entertaining as the IT guy finally seems to be melting down under the pressure of all the new technology.  The politicos were looking to find scapegoats for the failed schedules they had directed.  I, less than politically inclined, finally told them you can have pretty schedules or accurate schedules, but not both.  They were at least chagrined enough to acknowledge their decisions led to the mess.  Now I have to fix it, it’ll be fun to be busy.

I’m really liking this keto diet thing and not just because of breakfast cheeseburgers.  Weight is down over twenty pounds although the rate of weight loss has slowed, probably a good thing.  I noticed it yesterday when I forgot something upstairs and literally bounded back up taking the stairs in bunches.  I used to be semi-famous for that (in my distant youth) but it had been years since I could do it.  While the bad knee did not fully agree with my activity I was a little shocked when I reached the top effortlessly.  That has been the biggest benefit – the reduced stress on the knee.  I didn’t realize the slight pain in my knee had become part of my daily routine until it was gone.  The reduced weight has given me that and I’m intensely grateful (big hug to son in law next time I see him).

Empanada Construction Zone

The disappointment of missing my weekly lunch with my son will be assuaged later today when he comes home for an overnight visit.  In preparation for that his mother and I spent some time last night creating one of his favorite treats, meat empanadas.  My wife impressed me into service on empanada construction years ago and I think she regrets it a little because now I know enough to make cogent (to me) observations on her technique.  Buddy circled like the proverbial shark below the table picking off bits of refugee hamburger trying to escape entombment in dough.  I find that it’s the little things, like sharing this exercise with my wife, that fills more than pastries.

Truly Humped Day

Yesterday was supposed to be one of the days I really look forward to but it hasn’t been that kind of week.  My weekly lunch with my favorite son, always a highlight, fell victim to a series of meetings that raised plodding to an art form.  I was literally in meetings (something I hate) from 8am through 1pm.  About two hours of the meetings was worthwhile, the rest did not justify the sacrifice of time with my son.

Finally Some Common Sense

It was a big news day yesterday, one good and other exceedingly bad.  The good news was the Supreme Court finally deciding to shred the Defense of Marriage Act.  Although I’m semi-famous for my annual anti-gay Christmas rant; I was doing that to poke fun at my hyper-liberal sister who was always appropriately aghast.  I honestly believe people should be free to join with whomever they find that elusive connection with (as long as it’s between humans).  The single most important thing in life is finding love and it’s certainly not the government’s role to get too deeply involved in that process.  You should be free to find that special person no matter what color, religion, beliefs, or sex that other person might be. 

It’s also a recognition that we, as a society, have moved beyond the point where homosexuals need to hide in closets. I’ve always thought it meant less competition for the rest of us, not a bad thing.  If you talk to most young people, you realize they are free of the hidebound shackles we were chained with on the subject, a very good thing.

Less well received was the news on the now former New England Patriot, Aaron Hernandez.  The week long drama surrounding the death of his friend culminated in Hernandez’ arrest for first degree murder.  The Patriots did the right thing by immediately releasing him.  The Patriots do an admirable job in trying to connect with the communities that support him.  Even though Hernandez is innocent until proven guilty the fact that he placed himself in this situation speaks volumes about his lack of common sense and abundance of arrogant idiocy.

Arrogrant Idiot (on the left)

He was a poster child for the good that can come out of sports.  Sports provided an avenue out of a gang influenced life which promised millions of dollars the rest of us can only dream about.  As with so many fawned on athletes he let the gang life draw him back in believing he was above the law.   The real tragedy here is the death of a young man, not Hernandez’ arrest or the Patriots’ sudden thinness at the tight end position.

Aftermath

Yesterday was pretty low key which is exactly what I needed.  The only person still in the hospital is our driver and he should be there for a while as they reconstruct his shattered legs.  We're all still trying to figure out how such an unbelievable accident happened - hopefully some answers today when the black box from the bus is analyzed.

We finally got an air conditioning tech back home who knew what he was doing because I got home on this balmiest of days to find the house, including the problematic upstairs, comfortably cool.  Even Buddy approved, when he wasn’t chasing squirrels that’ve discovered the back deck bird feeders. 

The wife and I went to see World War Z last night which was in a word – AWESOME.  I’m a huge fan of the book which my daughter got me to read as I’m not into this whole recent zombie craze.  This was a well done movie that pushed tension to incredible heights.  It was a little light on the back story but Pitt was a perfect choice for the understated lead.  This was definitely a new take on an overdone genre and even my wife enjoyed the ride which is saying something.  She normally dismisses horror movie out of hand and refuses to watch them.  My little finger, which has some encroaching arthritis, was tortured all through the movie by her very real death grip. 

This ranks right up there with Ironman and Star Trek for the top summer movie so far.  What is funny is that I started watching Les Miserables at home before we left for the zombies and finished it afterwards.  There might be a possibly wider range in viewing options which I would like to hear.  First time I’ve ever descended into Les Mis territory and the zombie break was exactly what the movie needed (see movie blog for review). 

My Daughter Had Her Own Adventures This Past Weekend at a Catskill
Bachelorette Party for a Close Friend - I'm Still Trying to Figure Out Which One She is

Downer Day

Yesterday was actually going pretty well.  I was still feeling pretty good about the return trip to Keene and even though it was stifling hot things were looking up.  The upstairs air-conditioning doesn’t work so I’ve got to get a technician in today to fix that.  My wife operates in a very narrow temperature range despite her tropical upbringing. 

I was on my way home from work when I realized I had forgotten a couple of errands I was supposed to do.  I have five separate routes I have taken to/from work and I was on the northernmost route and had to get to the southern route (of course) to accomplish the mission.  It’s kind of cool I’ve lived in a place long enough to make the transition through a series of back roads.  Never underestimate the importance of reconnaissance – something that drives my wife crazy (also why she always gets lost). 

I had accomplished my assigned tasks and was just pulling into the driveway when my cell phone started going crazy.  I learned that one of my bus drivers had somehow driven his brand new bus directly into a house.  I said a quick hi and bye to the wife and headed back in.  Strangely the accident occurred on one of those back roads I used to travel from north to south.  It must have happened less than five minutes after I passed through. 

Not Where the Bus Should Be

I arrived at the scene and started coordinating with the police, ensuring they knew what wires they could cut.  I’ve got a great team working for me and soon I was surrounded by them helping the police and emergency workers find their way around the bus.  The driver was still trapped in the bus and screaming in pain (multiple fractures to legs will do that).  I was amazed he had survived because there is not a lot between the driver and the windshield.  He had plowed into this house at what seemed like full speed and had knocked the house a full ten feet off of its foundation.  We’re guessing he had some kind of medical event like a seizure because the brakes were never applied.  He was eventually cut out of the bus a full and a half after the accident and loaded into an ambulance. 

Before the Bus Arrived The Left Side of House was Even With Stone Wall

The worst part was the house was occupied and a mother and three young children had already been transported to the hospital along with six bus passengers.  At that point I was just going through the motions because my sole concern was the health of those poor people who had been sitting at home or riding the bus when that bus crashed through the wall.  We’ll eventually figure out what happened but a huge sense of futility embossed itself.

Another View

It wouldn’t leave even during the final Bruins meltdown of the year or phone calls from both of the kids (something that always lifts my spirits).  A huge thunderstorm blew through to add to the mood and the thundershirt seems to finally have some effect on Buddy’s panic attacks.  After the Bruins debacle my wife wanted to head to bed but I couldn’t go until I knew something more about the people on the bus and in that house.  I turned on the late news and there was my bus in living color on all four channels.  Then the best news of all, they were interviewing all three of the kids who just had some minor cuts and a complete load of the bejesus scared out of them. 

The Late Night News

I learned this morning hat the driver will eventually recover.  The house will have to torn down and the $600K bus is a total loss, but those kids are okay.  Those kids are okay.  Those kids are okay.   I’m going to keep saying that to myself all day.

One Small Victory

 

Cataclysmic Granite State Return

Buddy knew something was afoot yesterday morning.  He immediately began his campaign to be included in whatever adventure my wife and I had planned.  His campaigns consist of being literally underfoot for every step I try to take.  He totally lost it when I started moving his cage towards the car and spent the rest of the prep phase tied to a pole.

Buddy Imploring the Humans to Hurry Up and Get Moving

We headed back to New Hampshire for the day since my Keene Friend finally had a day off.  As stated earlier, he had the absolute temerity to land a job which directly impacted on our ability to have fun with him.  Since he is one of Buddy’s favorite humans we could not leave our impatient canine behind.  I’ve really missed getting back to Keene as often as I did before my friend’s inconvenient employment.  My wife was equally jazzed to get another shot at tax free shopping. 

Buddy Immediately Took my Friend Out for a Walk

After arriving and the obligatory Buddy love fest, we headed out for lunch where I completely rocked my friend’s perceptions by ordering a salad instead of french fries.  The term flabbergasted leaps to mind.

The House I Grew Up In

My wife soon abandoned us for the gentle embrace of T.J. Maxx while my friend and I took a drive around Keene, waiting for a movie time.  We drove down the street where I grew up and noted my mother’s old house has been admirably fixed up and looks great.  We then happened on the Cantankerous One down the street who was performing filial chores for his infirm parents.  The sun must have been getting to him because he didn’t even recognize me when we pulled up.   He was suitably cantankerous so we checked that block.  It was good to see him despite his lack of recognition.

Excessive Demon Phallacy

We went to see the movie, This is the End, one of the comedies I tried to convince my wife to see earlier in the week.  My friend and I both agreed that I dodged a bullet because she would have hated it.  Not one but two demon penises is well beyond her limit as well as an f-word count well into the hundreds and peeing into one’s own mouth. The movie starts out incredibly funny as we see actors portraying themselves in all their pretentious glory and poking merciless fun at themselves.  The apocalypse arrives and they don’t handle it well.  The movie founders badly in the middle but rallies at the end.  Literally dozens of cameos, some of which are incredibly funny, especially Michael Cera and Magic Mike himself.

Since my wife was not yet ready to emerge from her shopping frenzy my friend and I repaired to the local miniature golf facility to pass some time.  He’s a much better golfer and we were both confounded when I was ahead after the first nine holes.  I told him not to worry and my comments were shortly thereafter validated in a two hole melt down.

Keene Friend Mounting His Comeback

We then decided since it was too hot to play another round we would head for Margarita’s to wait out my wife’s immersion therapy.   While admiring the surroundings I once again shattered my friend’s illusions about me by declaring he would be drinking beer while I would not.  Since Sunday is a school night I decided to behave.  Our waitress, she of a very deep, husky voice, had served us before and was equally shocked.    

The Seacoast Champs - My Son Middle of Front Row

While seated there we heard from my son whose coed flag football team won two playoff games and emerged as the Seacoast Champions.  They did this despite the absence of the MEF.  I got the impression my son was celebrating and can now reclaim some of his lost athletic mojo in that relationship.

I Don't Know Where He Gets This From
Celebrating the Win

My Wife Arriving at Margarita's and Successfully Blocking the Photo

My friend noticed that our time at the bar had climbed past the closing hours of stores and less than thirty seconds later we saw my exhausted wife wandering up the sidewalk.  We passed a great time learning of her adventures over dinner.  Our fantastic waitress tried to do me an unasked favor after I ordered my typical dead animal flesh but told her to hold the fries.  My steak arrived with a huge helping of squash.  She complimented me on eating healthy and said she was trying to help.  As soon as the waitress departed my wife descended into a paroxysm of laughter, knowing I would never touch the squash but had politely thanked the well meaning waitress.  My wife was out of breath from laughing so hard at the prospect of me and squash, I was less than convinced it was so humorous.

They Actually Thought I would Eat This!?
The Source of my Wife's Hilarity

We headed home last night completely happy to have spent time with a good friend in my beloved home town.  I also confirmed something I already knew – I don’t need french fries and beer to enjoy the time there.

Saturday Yarding

Today we get to return to New Hampshire to visit our Keene Friend who had the temerity to land a job which severely restricts his availability.  He’s got the day off so we’re heading up there to spend the day.

To accomplish this sought after trip we had a lot to accomplish at home yesterday.  My wife, had a plan, of course.  A plan that involved some significant work, of course.  From me, of course.  Truth be told, I really enjoyed the day.  There’s a comfort and rhythm to working with someone you know better than anyone else in the world and she was pitching in right next to me.

The last of the refugee plants from Maine found a home which thankfully did not involve expanding the existing garden tracts.  The lawn was mowed under another fantastic New England summer day.

It was funny to see my wife and Buddy the Wonder Pooch interact.  They spend the entire week alone together when I’m at work and it’s obvious this has created a real bond between them.  Buddy does that people.  Since he’s terrified of the lawnmower he was tagging along after my wife as she maintained her vast gardens.  She would say one word and Buddy would obediently take up his assigned post, obviously a division of labor established during the week.

I glanced at my car’s windshield this week and noticed the annual inspection was due and I had ten days to get it done.  There’s a crusty old guy just down the street who runs a garage.  I used to take the cars there for inspections until a couple years ago one of his co-workers inappropriately passed a vehicle which resulted in losing his license for a while.  I took a chance that he got it back (he did) and he was up to his usual rascally self although his dog who usually kept me company was definitely showing the years.  I like patronizing a small family owned business instead of the robo-franchises.  Kind of cool that I’ve been in a place long enough to experience that (not so much for the aged dog though). 

Local Crust

I’m not going to talk about the evening watching the Boston sports teams – it was too painful.

Ranting Old Flames

I did something weird yesterday.  I had about 45 minutes left at the end of the day with nothing on my plate for the first time in a couple days.  I decided to see if I could find out anything about some old girlfriends.  I didn’t think it would be possible since the latest information I had on them was more than thirty years old. 

It was way too easy, almost scarily easy.  In that forty five minutes I tracked down seven of my old flames and found current pictures of five of them.  I seem to have had excellent taste in my youth because all of them still looked pretty good.  It’s a comment on how much of our lives are available online nowadays.   This caused me some concern because I immediately thought these gals, some of whom I split with on less than peaceful terms, could track me down.  It was funny that I could find out about them but I could not find a lot of info about myself.  I guess that explains the lack of assassination attempts.

My wife and I ended the evening at our favorite Friday haunt, Zorba’s where the fabulously gorgeous waitress was back for admiration from afar.  She even stopped by to say hi, but when I looked across the table at my date, I realized how lucky I was with the still young lady I’m married to.  My taste in females of thirty years ago once again validated.

My Daily Breakfast

I’m coming up on a month on the keto diet and have lost over twenty pounds.  I only find it difficult when we go to the movies and the smell of popcorn overwhelms me or when I have to walk by the weekly supply of chocolate chip cookies I used to regularly plunder in the payroll office.  I’m into a fairly good rhythm now and find that I like the early mornings alone making breakfast again.  It’s almost like a flashback to my youth where I remember waking up to the smell of bacon and eggs and watching my parents eat while reading the morning newspaper.  I’m now the reader but connections to the past can be anchoring, in a good way.  The best thing about the diet is the reduced stress on my knee.  What had been a daily painful episode or two has disappeared completely, taking that twenty pound rucksack off seems to have helped.

I’ve spent my last few days wandering through the bizarre world of Chuck Palahniuk with Rant: An Oral History of Buster Casey.  This had all of Palahniuk wildly inappropriate characters and anti-social messages.  It reminded me a lot of Fight Club with a one man biological weapon bomb as the “hero.”  Casey is a young man who’s taken it upon himself to change the future society he finds abhorrent by infecting everybody with rabies.  Palahniuk chose a format of telling the story through hundreds of short, almost diary like, telling of the story as seen from the eyes of other characters.  It was kind of tough to follow at times.  It’s rescued by the author’s innate ability to be incredibly funny and to challenge the reader’s comfort zone.  Palahniuk seems to be wandering a little bit here as the book seemed at shocking without the normal well thought out twists and turns.  It seemed almost like a prequel.  Now on to something safer.

Downhill Construction Progress

Political Garden Expansionism

Yesterday was one of the days where my opinion on the morality of politicians was once again confirmed. We had the monthly board of advisors meeting and the same two morons from the public made their monthly statements (see blog on Voices of Inappropriate Worth) claiming everything was wrong with the system and we were all criminals. This time one of the board members, a career politician, who’s apparently running for state office, rose to the bait and made a long winded self-serving statement that only fanned the flames. It was disgusting to watch a guy who was obviously playing to the crowd to serve his own self-interest. Well at least he garnered the moron vote, they’ll be voting for one of their own.

The rest of the day was consumed with trying to overcome the damage caused by this egotistical idiot.

R.I.P. Big Guy

I was extremely saddened to hear about the death of James Gandolfini, AKA Tony Soprano. I cannot think of another actor who so defined a role as he did as Tony. An absolute monster who could still get you to root for him. Everything I hear about him is that in real life he was one of the sweetest, most down to earth guys around, even after he achieved superstardom. I think that’s what we saw lurking behind Tony’s menacing visage – a good guy trying to get out. I’m going to miss him.

The stress of the day was replaced when I returned home to find myself once again drawn into the ruthless garden expansion program of my wife. She returned from her Maine visit last week with yet another parcel of plants that needed to get into the ground. I reminded her daily that they needed to be planted and yesterday she sprung her trap.

The Garden Pre-Expansion

I was directed to expand the front yard garden since all available garden space was already taken. After an escorted trip around the yard to confirm her assertions I was once again lifting turf. If this keeps up I will no longer have any lawn to mow. Buddy was my constant companion and seemed to wonder why I got to dig (all the time) and he gets in trouble if he starts to.

Me, Filling Garden After Expansion
Note Buddy's Tail as he Supervises

I finally got the garden expanded far enough to include her newest acquisitions. I should have just kept my big mouth shut.

The Final Product with my True Supervisor in Upper Right Corner

Intern Investigation

Since yesterday was Wednesday I was looking forward to my weekly lunch with my son.  Wednesday’s have also come to mean I will be walking into an absolute buzz saw at work as soon as I show up.  Tuesday had been so quiet that I was lulled into a false sense of security. 

I was in the office less than 5 minutes before my boss (the great one) walked into my office and appointed me as an investigator for an alleged incident of inappropriate employee conduct.  That was followed by a barrage of emails from our tech consultant who needed reams of information, before noon.  The techie is a great guy but totally lost in managing his time and seeks to become a donor of that attribute.

While I was calming him down, a series of employees wandered into my office to offer suggestions on a wide range of subjects.  I think a good manager has to keep his door open so employees feel they’ve got a voice in the process.  While all of this was going on my wife called because she wanted to discuss the invite list for an upcoming party.  I was nervously watching the clock climb towards the time I was supposed to leave for my lunch while keeping all these glass balls circling in the air.    

Lunch Savior Yesterday

I was able to make the lunch barely and it was exactly what I needed.  Both of my kids have the ability to immediately put me in a good mood – probably the opposite effect I had on them growing up but there it is.  My son, along with a couple emails from my daughter, provided me with the boost I needed to get through the rest of the day.

The afternoon was spent diving into the investigation which I actually enjoy.  My last assignment in the Army involved high level investigations and I prided myself at being kind of good at it.  In another life I’ll probably be a detective.  I’ve done several investigations here at work and at least two of them have been instrumental in winning arbitrations.  This one is going to be a little hairy because it involves an allegation of racism.  I was asking some tough questions yesterday afternoon.  The very worst thing that can happen to racism to have light shined on it. 

I was so happy to get home and link up with the wife and the wonder pooch.  Squirrels have invaded the back deck bird feeders and Buddy almost caught one that gave him a merry chase completely around the house to the front yard.  The ballsy little rodent returned an hour later and when I gave Buddy the warning order he anxiously posed at the door for a lethal attack.  He charged out of the door not bothering to locate where the squirrel was.  The squirrel noted his passing and went back to eating bird seeds.  Buddy returned from a lap around both the neighbor’s house and ours looking extremely pleased with himself.  He’s not an exceptionally bright canine, but lovable.

To escape the Boston sports debacles of last night I went solo to a movie – The Internship.  My wife claimed it looked “stupid” and I was thinking well, yeah – that’s why I want to see it.  It was stupid and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson have the same chemistry they exhibited in the much funnier Wedding Crashers and portrayed the same kind of lovable losers, which is kind of sneakily endearing.  A middle ager such as myself could certainly identify with the struggle these two older characters had as summer interns at Google struggling to survive in a crowd of tech savvy young ’uns.  Really light stuff, and kind of stupid but exactly what I needed after a typical Wednesday.

Traitor Purging

I’ve been quiet about this idiot who’s broadcasting the country’s secrets from Hong Kong.  The civil libertarians are jumping to his defense claiming he’s a hero. 

He’s anything but that.  He signed a document pledging not to reveal the material he was granted access to.  A man’s word has to be his bond and this guy is criminally negligent to that bond.  It’s not for some low level clerk to decide that he knows better than the elected leaders who are paid to make the decisions to protect us.  This is a deeply flawed guy searching to find notoriety and doing so at the expense of the lives he will eventually cost.

Loser

Make no mistake, his actions will cost lives, be it here, or somewhere else in the world where this data mining effort has been successful in thwarting attacks.  The same people who are lionizing his courage will scream bloody murder when the government they so detest fails to prevent an attack because the terrorists have changed their methods of communication.  This guy isn’t a hero – he’s a pathetic loser.

I’ll climb down off my soap box long enough to talk about the movie I saw last night – The Purge.  It was set in the near future where crime had been virtually eliminated by having one night a year when all crimes are legal.  The story revolved around one rich family’s defense of their house against a gang of smarmy rich kids looking to break in and kill them.  Despite the gaping holes in the plot this movie sports almost relentless tension as the family fights for survival.  Several times it seemed almost like a slasher movie due to the incredibly stupid moves made by the good guys that expose the family to greater levels of danger.  It was however a much higher concept and you feel literally exhausted by the end.

Hail Storm in the Back Yard Yesterday
Buddy Was Not Pleased

We watched the movie around the two games the Red Sox played yesterday against Tampa Bay.  The Sox took two which was a nice surprise.  They must be wondering about their closer though as he feels the need to issue an obligatory gopher ball each time he comes in.  That doesn’t work when the score is only 1-0 at the time.  Luckily the bearded one, Mr. Gomes, rescued them in the bottom of the inning.

Thank You Gimli

 

Will Imposition

Downhill Construction Progress

It was tough going back to the office yesterday after such a fun filled weekend but those weekends have to be paid for - both literally and figuratively.  It didn’t help that yesterday started out as one of those perfect New England summer days.

That resolved itself shortly after I got home with a line of menacing thunderstorms appearing on the horizon.  My thoughts immediately turned to Pendejo (Buddy’s name during thunderstorms).  It was time to launch the much vaunted thundershirt!  While it did not solve the problem completely, he didn’t suffer his usual complete break down when the storm arrived.  He made his way down the basement and somehow figured out how to worm his way under the basement stairs and shed the thundershirt in the course of his worming.   I would therefore grade the thundershirt as a very limited success – I’m not sure it’s been up against as determined a foe as the Wonder Pooch before.  We’ll keep trying.

Buddy Attired in his Thundershirt

Hard to See but Buddy Wormed his Way Under these Stairs
Thundershirt on the Right

My wife and I settled in to watch the Bruins’ playoff game against the Chicago Blackhawks.  On a very hot, humid night in Boston which directly affected the ice surface, the Bruins imposed their will on the faster Blackhawks.   There is almost an art to the type of defense the Bruins employ and it must be frustrating going up against it.  You can see the Blackhawks shying away from contact and looking over their shoulder expecting to be thwarted which becomes a self-fulfilling action.  Two games away from a championship but this series is a long way from being over.

Dominating