Progress and Master Interaction

I woke this morning to smell of hot asphalt which meant our sometimes construction crew was back on the job. I think this is the busiest I’ve ever seen them. By 8am we had a brand-new sidewalk in front the house courtesy of another one of their very cool machines. They poured asphalt into the top of the machine as it crawled up the street and a sidewalk came out the other end. They also laid down a base coat for our future driveway. I was concerned when I saw them pouring that it would be woefully thinner than the part they cut out and went out to speak with the guys. They assured me that this was only a base coat and there would be another layer added at some point to bring it back to the same depth as it was before. Right now, they’re burrowing into the new asphalt in the street to find the buried access points for storm drains and sewers. I’m guessing once that is done, we’ll get the final coat of asphalt and then some dirt and grass to restore the street back to the state they found it, albeit with a much less bumpier road.

Driveway Starting to Return

The Cool Sidewalk Machine

Current State

I just finished a week with the author I always refer to as “The Master”, Stephen King. I’ve read everything he’s ever written which is a prodigious amount of reading and I just polished off his latest novel, Billy Summers. This is a departure for King in that it is a straight fiction novel without his usual horror elements, although there is a very cute reference to the Overlook Hotel from Shining fame. The plot involves a heart of gold assassin, the title character, working on his supposedly last job who acquires a sexual assault victim as his last chance at redemption. King, as usual, makes you care about the characters deeply, even ones that you know are doomed by their choices in life. Billy is one of the best heroes, really an anti-hero, that King has ever created. Somehow, he makes the reader care and hope for an assassin. As stated, above, The Master. Great read!

I just noticed, actually it was last Friday, that we are now less than 100 days until Christmas! As Covid creeps back into our life thanks to the insanely idiotic antivaxxers, I’m hoping against hope we can work our way through this before the holiday season kicks off with the birthday pub crawl in November. Hope can spring eternal. Worcester re-instated a mask mandate today and it was interesting in the lack of hue and cry (at least around here – which I think is related to educational levels as compared to our Southern neighbors). I was already carrying a supply of masks in the car, so no biggie. Sadly, mask wearing has become routine. I can remember, just a couple years ago shaking my head when I saw news report from Asia where people always wore masks because of the smog and thanking the Big Guy that I lived in better climes. I guess the Chinese felt the need to share their lifestyle with us.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn