Caught in the Rundown

Bruschi

2009-09-03T20:57:00.003-04:00

Tedy Bruschi is retiring. He's been the rock of the Patriots defense as long as I've been watching the team. He's been one of the central forces driving the team mentality that has led to three Super Bowl titles. He's been a class act, and a player I've been proud to root for. He's built a life here in New England, and we're proud to have him.

Maybe Jerod Mayo can step into his role as the defensive leader. By all accounts he's another bright player with a "high football IQ". Hopefully he's absorbed enough of the Patriot way of doing things to take up the reins.

Either way, I'm glad to see Tedy walk away intact and healthy. It's always sad to see a former player 10 years down the road unable to walk, or play with their kids. Hopefully Tedy dodged that bullet.

So thanks, Tedy. I can't wait to see the #54 get hoisted over Gillette Stadium.

Great Restaurant

2008-05-31T22:20:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted. The move took up most of our time, and then I was out of commission for a few days, after pulling all of my abdominal muscles. Not good times.

I wanted to post about one of my favorite restaurants, though. We went there for dinner this past Friday, and I had steak frites, which came with arugula salad and black truffle vinaigrette. It was wonderful. I love the atmosphere - it's great, inventive food, but it's a casual feel.

My wife had the Moroccan style marinated skirt steak. I love skirt steak. It tastes like no other cut of beef. In this case, it had a nice, cool tzatziki sauce served with it. It was all great. If you live in Metro West, check them out. 51 Lincoln. Yup, that's the name, and the address. Newton Highlands.

The New Apartment, Allergies, and the Other Spring News

2008-05-18T09:07:00.005-04:00

Well, we moved in a week ago. I like the new place. After a few years living in an apartment building that felt like a motel, having a place in an actual house is nice. There are lots of windows, and the street is quiet. It's a nice little neighborhood. We're still unpacking, but the place is starting to shape up. Oh, and my car insurance got cheaper with the move. Always a nice bonus. The Indy 500 is next weekend, and we're having my family over to watch in hi-def. Hopefully we'll have most of the unpacking done by then!

In other news, the only thing keeping me from looking like a coke addict after a bad night is Claritin D. Yup, it's allergy season. Oh, yay. I can't wait until the trees around here are done spreading their pollen - huh, it sounds dirty when you say it like that - and I can get back to normal. In the meantime, Claritin is keeping me functional. Thank you, Loratadine.

My brother returned safely from his trip to Bangladesh. He flew back via Bangkok to New York, then grabbed a shuttle to Boston. He desperately needed a haircut, a shave, and some fresh vegetables. I'm not sure where he's shipping off to next, but for now, it's good to have him home safe.

Oh, and Verizon FiOS is awesome. I love being able to download podcasts in seconds. Totally beats DSL, hands down.

Moving, Pizza, and My Brother

2008-04-20T16:13:00.004-04:00

A few updates, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The lovely and talented Tracy is away for the week, visiting her family in New York. I'm packing up some of our stuff, in advance of our moving date (in early May). We've done some staging work, so all the books are in one area - I only need to empty a couple of bookcases into boxes. We've also donated some kitchen gear that we haven't used enough to justify moving. I'm going to pack the kitchen next, so that'll be a bunch of stuff ready to go.

We're donating a bunch of books, too. We're both pack-rats, so we had a bunch of old textbooks and paperback novels that we culled. If you have books that you no longer need, try GotBooks.com. They'll even come pick up your books. I'll let you know how it all goes, once they've picked up.

I also found a pizza place I like, called Franco's, on Moody St, in Waltham, MA. It's classic thin-crust bar pie. Crispy and thin, with just a little bit of doughy crust. It's nothing fancy, but they have live music on the weekends, and cold beer. It's pretty cool, and a large pizza is less than $10, which is rare these days. Yeah, it's a dive. But it's a good dive. With good pizza. And that makes up for a lot.

Lastly, my globe-trotting brother is due back in the States early this week. He was, you may recall, working on a freighter that was heading to Bangladesh, where it would be run upon the beach and sold for scrap. I'm not sure how he'll be flying back - the last report was maybe via Bangkok. I was hoping he'd go via London, with a nice, 8-hour layover so he could see the city, but as long as he gets home safely, I'll take it. My fingers are crossed.

My Globetrotting Brother

2008-04-10T16:06:00.004-04:00

My brother is a recent graduate of Mass Maritime Academy, and is at sea right now on a ship out of Corpus Christi, TX, that up until recently hauled asphalt up and down the east coast. It's a neat gig, and so different from what I do that I'm frequently in awe. This isn't some little barge - it's a real live freighter, like the one on which you'd hitch a ride as you went off to join the Legion in an old adventure novel. I say, "up until recently," because the company that runs the ship just sold it. While it was at sea. To an Indian firm. For scrap. Yeah.

So now my kid brother is steaming through the Indian Ocean, having crossed the Atlantic, and rounded the Cape of Good Hope. They're heading north-east, toward the Bay of Bengal, where they will anchor in the harbor at Chittagong, Bangladesh. They'll sit at anchor for a few days, waiting for papers to pass and the tide to cooperate, at which point, they'll run the ship up on the beach. No, that's not a euphemism. They're going to beach her. Literally. Then they'll fly home. The flight should take, oh, 128 hours, give or take. But what a hell of trip.

He's been sending regular e-mails to us back home via the ship's satellite link (something they didn't have in those old adventure novels). Below is his most recent, in which he explains one of the ways in which the crew is combating the boredom of not seeing land for weeks. Remember, these guys are used to a few days between ports, all of which are in the United States.

What can I say? My kid brother's a heck of a guy.

Hey everybody,

It's Thursday, April X, 1045 Z, 0645 EDT.

We're out here in the Bay of Bengal, proceeding for Chittagong, Bangladesh.

We should be arriving the morning of the XXth, around XX00, and going to anchor.

Haven't had any more word on beaching and going home since the crew meeting we had yesterday.

Latest is beaching on the XXth and getting on a plane that afternoon or the next, so home by the XXst.

I know, you've heard all this already.

With the lack of action onboard the Asphalt Commander, the crew has taken to speed walking and jogging the deck.

The Captain started it just after leaving Curacao, speed walking a zig-zag obstacle course across / around the deck.

A weight vest adds to the challenge. Before long most of the crew was doing it, some speed walking, others just jogging laps around the deck.

I myself went for the laps around the deck. By my measurements, its about 5 laps to a mile. I had been doing it pretty regularly, but have fallen off it the past week with the heat, rain, and wind we've been going through.

Today was the Official First Annual Asphalt Commander Speed walking Championship, with all entrants being timed on the course.

The course began on the bridge, down the stbd. side ladders to the main deck, up the deck, zig-zagging rail to rail, following a spray-painted course, up onto and around the foc'sle deck, down into the foc'sle, where the punching bag must be struck 10 time, back up out of the foc'sle onto the foredeck, back down to the main deck, and again zig-zagging down the deck, following the spray-painted arrows to the house, up the port side ladders, back to the bridge.

Judges were placed along the course and in the foc'sle to ensure that no competitors jogged or ran, and that all rail markers were tagged as the competitor passed.

The official ruling has been made that one foot must remain on the deck at all times to define a walk, where as a jog is constituted by both the competitor's feet coming clear of the deck during the stride.

You can't make this up.

Sounds pretty easy, but doing it for competition, the speed walking really does wear you down. Its actually a grueling 7 to 9 mins on deck. And the speed walking seems to be tougher that just jogging it at an easy pace.

Anyway, got an ok time, had fun.

Can't wait to be back on soil.

Especially of the US variety.

How the heck am I supposed to compete with that?

Yes, apartment hunt finished.

2008-04-10T12:03:00.001-04:00

Yup, we signed the lease last night. It'll be ready for May 1. Yay! Now we get to see if FiOS really is available. Verizon's website said it is, but you never know. I'm glad the hunt is over. It was getting frustrating. Now I can't wait to move in.

Apartment hunt finished?

2008-04-09T10:39:00.003-04:00

Well, we may have found a new apartment. We're meeting the guy to sign the lease (and give him the check) tonight after work, and he says it's a done deal. Of course, I won't be sure it's done until I've signed something, and he's holding my check, but he said it was ours, so I'll assume we're all set. I'm glad that search is finally over.

It's sunny and warm outside today - and it'll be raining this weekend. Oh, yay.

In other news, for a few years now a friend has been telling me I'd really like Coldplay. I've been apathetic, and haven't really looked into it. Last night, I listened to a few clips on iTunes. Well, OK, then. She was right. Neat! I like finding a new band that already has a few albums out there, since it gives me a bunch of new stuff, all at once. This jives with my theory that you never start reading a sci-fi or fantasy book series until it's complete. I've already been burned by the Wheel of Time.

Sunny Days and Famous Ray's

2008-04-07T11:35:00.003-04:00

The sun is out! And it's actually warm, at the same time! I know!

The apartment hunt continues, with yet another place forgetting to mention the lack of a dishwasher. This time, the person actually said, "all appliances." I realize that a dishwasher is not one of the appliances required by law to rent a place, and thus it was not technically a lie. But seriously, if you reply to a question about a washer and dryer by saying a place has "ALL appliances," and use all caps for the word "ALL," can't I reasonably expect to see a dishwasher? Come on.

We did find a place we like, and we sent in apps today. Hopefully it'll all work out. I just want to be done with the hunt. Such is life, I suppose.

As for the Famous Ray's reference, I've been craving pizza for a few weeks. Unfortunately, most of the pizza near us is, well, not great. Yeah, we'll go with not great. There are three places that are good. All of them are a little bit too trendy to satisfy the craving. I like organic Thai pepper pizza as much as the next guy, but when I'm craving a nice, thin-crust, (dare I say it) New York pizza, there's nowhere convenient to us that does it. I guess a trip to Regina in the North End is in order, and soon. Oh well.

Apartment Hunting

2008-03-27T22:14:00.004-04:00

My wife and I have been looking at apartments for a month now, and I just have to say, it's amazing how frustrating it can be. Every place we've looked has been missing one key detail that we want. And who advertises an apartment these days without mentioning that it doesn't have a dishwasher? Oh well. The search continues.

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, all in Watertown!

2008-03-11T15:00:00.002-04:00

I got lunch at Russo's again today. For those who haven't been there, it's a market in Watertown, MA, where you can get all manner of fresh fruits and vegetables. They have a nice cheese counter, and a small but good deli counter. It's one of the few places within an easy drive of my apartment where I can get speck (think prosciutto, but smoked). They also have a great Italian bakery in the corner, and make subs for the lunch crowd. It's a great deal, and there's always some fruit I haven't tried that looks interesting - a great way to increase your fruit and veggie intake, by the way. If you haven't tried it, it's work a look. Be warned, there's no butcher section to speak of, so it may not work as your only grocery store!

Sol Re-victus

2008-03-07T20:02:00.002-05:00

And now it's raining again, and will continue to rain for several days. Yay.

I'm DONE ... WITH ... WINTER.

Sol Invictus

2008-03-07T11:09:00.003-05:00

I love winter - for about two months. Three at the most. By the end of February, I am ready for spring. The grey skies, chilly weather (if not downright bitter cold) and general dreariness of the post-holiday weeks collect in my soul like a cancer. I don't want to get out of bed. I don't want to go out for a walk. I don't want to go to work. I don't want to do much of anything. I do, of course, because otherwise the paychecks evaporate and my friends and family start looking at me in alarming ways, but I gradually become a grouchy, cranky mess as February progresses.

The last week has been a mix of rain, sleet, wind, and a sky the color of steel. You can imagine my joy and surprise, therefore, when I awoke this morning to a most glorious sight. The sun had returned. I walked out my front door, and realized that unlike the past few months, the sun this time had brought with it a wonderful friend, warmth. I stood in my parking lot, my arms out, facing the sun, and exulted for a moment as the first timid waves of spring washed over me. It was wonderful. I think as I drive home tonight, the sunroof will be open. It's just too damn nice to not take full advantage.

I know in another week it will again be sleeting, and grey, and cold. But for now, for this one moment, this one day, it is sunny, and warm, and alive. Enjoy.

Vultures and Other Despicable Creatures

2008-03-05T17:11:00.004-05:00

Today, a call came to my home number from a woman who said she was calling from a firm that I'll decline to name here. They were looking for me, by name, regarding the affairs of a relative that recently passed away. We'll call that relative Judy Smith, for the sake of anonymity. We'll call the firm Vultures Inc, for the sake of bitterness. We'll call the person who called Amber.

Let me state here that I am not inheriting any money or other property from this person. I have no interest in doing so. I attended the funeral, mourned their passing, and reflected upon the love they had given me in life. That was it, I thought.

I called back to the number left for me. It was an 800 number. I was told that the number had "new information," and I should press any digit to receive a text message with access info. I pressed a number, knowing that I have more texts per month than I currently use. I received a text telling me to reply with a Y to receive access information, and this info could be mine for $9.95/month. I did not reply, and deleted the message. As you can imagine, my vulture alarm began blinking.

I used a common search engine, the creators of which would prefer we not use the name of their site as a verb - let's just say it rhymes with oogling - to find the company in question. I called their main number, and asked for Amber, both by extension and name. I was put through to a number answered by a man. He was very vague, and said he worked with Amber, but that she was currently "on the other line." He asked if I was "managing Judy Smith's estate." He may have said affairs, rather than estate, but you get the idea. I told him I was not. He asked me if I knew who was. I told him I did not. Both answers were and are, incidentally, the complete truth. I also asked him to note in the file that I do not wish to receive any further contact from his company or any of its representatives regarding this matter. I said that I was sorry I sounded upset, but having lost a relative, I was somewhat taken aback that someone would call me regarding that relative's finances without any evidence that I was the correct person. He muttered something about, "understanding where I was coming from." He also said he couldn't note anything in my account, but he'd "pass along my message to Amber." We ended the call there. My vulture alarm began beeping.

I asked the advice of my boss, who had far more legal and financial experience than I do. He offered some suggestions, and I called back, to ensure that I did not get drawn into any legal wranglings in the future. I called their main number again, and asked for Amber, both by name and by extension. At first, the receptionist didn't know of any Amber working there, but was able to transfer me to that extension. The man who answered said that Amber was unavailable. When I said that I was told to talk to Amber, he said he was Amber's supervisor. I said something like, "Ah, OK," at which point he asked if I was managing Judy Smith's estate. I said that before I answered, I wanted to know to whom I was speaking. He gave me his name, and spelled it. I answered that I was not handling Judy Smith's affairs. He asked me if I knew who was. I told him I did not. I then told him that as I have nothing to do with this matter, I did not want to be contacted further by his organization or its representatives about this matter. He asked me to confirm the number at which they called me, and the name they used when asking for me. I confirmed both. He said he'd note in the file that I had been called, and was not the correct person. He said they didn't really have a way of noting that I was not to be called, but that since I wasn't the person they needed, they weren't going to spin their wheels, so I shouldn't hear from them again. I thanked him, and ended the call. My vulture alarm began ringing like a collision gong.

That's it for now. Hopefully, they'll move on. It really bothered me that they'd just start calling a list of family members, asking if they were handling the affairs of a recently deceased relative. Vultures. Their little system of getting you to pay when you call the number they leave is also really cute. Imagine having someone call and leave a message, asking if you are handling the affairs of a loved one you just lost , and leaving a callback number, only to tell you when you call that number that to get any info, you have to subscribe to a pay service. The absolute, unmitigated gall.

I just wanted to share this wonderful experience, since it brought just joy and light to my day. That was just what I wanted today - to have a relative I had just recently lost thrust back into my mind via a debt collection service. Nice.

Beer of the Week

2008-03-02T18:05:00.002-05:00

If anyone is looking for a beer recommendation, Allagash White is a current favorite. It's a nicely cloudy white ale from Maine, with a little bit of fruit and spice flavor. It's the perfect beer for a really good burger, or a nice ribeye.

I had one at The Publick House, in Brookline, and it was perfect with the Belgian fries. I'd give you a link for the Publick House, but, well, their site is currently disabled. The food's good, though!

Farewell to a Conservative Lion

2008-02-28T21:49:00.005-05:00

A lion of the Conservative Movement - the lion of the Conservative Movement - has passed on.

William F. Buckley Jr. died on Wednesday, at home, in his office. He was 82 years old, and in that 82 years, he defined the well-lived life for all of us, as Charlie Rose noted during one of Mr. Buckley's many appearances on Rose's program. Mr. Buckley helped define the movement as the home of fresh ideas, at a time when "conservative" was a perspective far out of fashion. He served as a rallying point for young minds. He was well before my time, but I tried to take certain lessons to heart. More important to me than any particular opinion or belief, though, is the following, one of my favorite Buckley quotes.

"The purpose of an open mind is to close it, on particular subjects. If you never do, you've simply abdicated the responsibility to think."

I try to be skeptical of every new "grand solution to all that ails." I think of Mr. Buckley, and wonder how he would begin the dissection of the issue, cutting to the heart of the matter. It was a beautiful thing to watch, or to read. I am nowhere near the debater, but I'd like to think I'm better for having watched him go about it. Thank you, Mr. Buckley. Not bad, for a Yalie.