Rainy day

I'd hoped to go back to Tavern of the Damned today but it's raining and the cleaners are coming so I'll put it off untill tomorrow.  It's also the end of the month and time to deal with paper again.

Mike brought home a free Pizza from Sud Pizza that BB and I had for dinner with a salad.  He's still hoping for a job there.

Sun and a walk in the woods.

BB and I slept in and had our usual quiet Sunday mourning reading the paper and spending time together.  In the afternoon we went geocaching.  Tried to find Tavern of the Damned but the short access has no parking.  I'll have to go back the long way.  Then we went to Simple and Sweet.  Had a nice walk in the woods and found it OK.  That's our first found geocache.  Hurray!

From Geocaching

I smoked a Cornish Hen and some Salmon for dinner and we had fresh greenbeans, sweet potato, and cranberry relish.  Yum.

Rainy Saturday

BB and I slept in (aren't weekends great), spent a quiet mourning together, and planned menus for the week.  Later she went shopping and I cooked things for the week. 

I'd found some frozen smoked chicken the the freezer so I heated it with some sweet potato and sauted brussel sprouts.  Very good.  Surprisingly Mike had some!  Later we had fruit salad for desert.

Quiet rainy day

BB was back to work today.  It was rainy and a bit cooler.  I spent the day reading and looking at geocaches.

Took Miriam into Logan this mourning.  The traffic was relatively light although it was raining very heavily.

After all yesterday's food we had a light dinner of eggs and pancakes.

Thankgiving

Had a very nice Thanksgiving.  MM invited us to share Thanksgiving with their family at the Wassermans.  It was good to catch up with them again with lots of food, of course, and plenty of visiting.  In addition to the usual turkey there was a wonderful pot roast.  Bob W made a number of deserts.  He's quite the baker.  My favorite was a flowerless chocolate cake.  Yum.

Miriam came back with us since she has a 9AM flight out of Logan.

Mike was off to his grandparents with Bob.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

Tomorrow being Thanksgiving it was time to get ready.  We're spending it with MM at his sister's house.  It should be an interesting time.  We'll bring a fruit salad so I went out to a very busy grocer to buy fresh fruit.  BB and I will make the salad tomorrow AM and then drive over about 2PM.

Miriam will stay with us thanksgiving evening as she has an early flight out of Boston Friday.  It will be nice to have company.

Dinner was left over pork roast.  It was one of the nicest roast I've made in a bit.

Quiet Day

Spent another one of those quiet days reading while it rained.  I did no some more research on GPS devices and after thinking it through have decided on the Garmin 60 Csx.  While it's another $124 it would make a good second GPS for boating etc.

Dinner was left over ribs and potato salad.  Yum.

Quiet Day at Home

I've been thinking about Geocaching as a retirement hobby.  After somewhat disapointing results using my Garmin Nuvi (really made for auto use but it does have Lat/Lon readout) I spent some time looking at various GPS devices.  There are three Garmins that make some kind of sense.  Top of the line is the 60CSx.  It does everything but at $248 (Amazon) is expensive.  One thing I like about it is that it would be a good device for biking, boating, or most any other use save auto.  There is a less costly Garmin the eTrec Venture HC that is half the cost but doesn't have all the features.  It also turns out that the new smart phones (either Droid or Blackberry) have good applications as well.  I'm not sure how good their receivers are but I could upgrade my phone for $50 to $100 to use them and have the advantages of a smartphone.  The Droid application GeoBeagle is particularly functional when coupled with an augmented reality application.  What I don't know is what that would do to my monthly Verizon bill.

I looked into the Tavern of the Damned cache and am now reasonably sure I know where the cache should be hidden.  I'll go back in the next several days to check.

I cooked a pork roast with roasted vegtables for dinner.  We'd been wanting a roast for some time and this was right on the mark.  Yum!

Geocaching

BB and I slept in after being up late with last night's dinner.  We enjoyed a relaxed mourning reading the paper, having a late breakfast, and spending some time with each other.

We went geocaching in the afternoon with John and Marie.  We looked for Tavern of the Damned Redux - Smiley's Revenge.  We found the site well enough but didn't find the cache.  The clue was a bit off as it referenced the south corner of the east wall.  What it really should have said was the south corner of the West wall of the fireplace foundation.  At any event both BB and I looked into a cavity there and didn't see the cache.  I may go back tomorrow to check it.  At any event we had a nice walk in the woods.

While on this bit of adventure I tried using my Garmin GPS.  It worked OK to a point but almost immediately showed low battery!  I'm not sure what that's about but it doesn't seem like a good device for this.  I've looked into using my phone as well but that seems like it's going to increase my phone bill $10/month.  I also looked into GPS units but they run anywhere from $170 to $400.  Amazon has a good one for $248.  It's expensive but I'm tempted.  I'll think about it a bit and then decide what, if anything, I want to do.

We had eggplant parm for dinner and some more of the Mozzeral salad BB made last night.  Yum!

Smoked baby back ribs and friends for dinner

BB and I invited John and Marie over for dinner.  I'd been wanting some smoked ribs and german potato salid so that's what we had for dinner.  The ribs were good, not my best but good none the less.  I had some trouble getting the smoker operating as I'd wanted mostly because the wood was not good.  I'd bought some hickory several years back and it's gone mostly to rot now so it isn't good for smoking any more.  I suppose I'll have to break down and buy some more or see if I can scrounge up some.

We had a bit of misadventure with the ribs.  BB had bought some St Louis style ribs at Shaws.  When I opened them the meat was spoiled!  We exchanged them of course but there were no other St Louis style ribs left so we got another rack of baby back ribs.  We also had some Shaws milk spoil and exchanged it as well.  That has happened several times now and I've decided to stop buying Shaws milk.

We had a nice evening with John and Marie.  John brought some beer over including some Fishermans which I really liked.  Interestingly, I'd sent BB out to buy beer and she came back with some Sams Winter and O'Doules.  Amongst the things the girl just doesn't understand is beer.  Sigh.

Rainy day

Friday was mostly rainy.  I worked in my office a bit and spent the day reading.

I looked into some geocache sites near by with a view to going for a walk with BB to see if we enjoy that.

BB and I had catfish for dinner.  It was even better than yesterday as the spices had permeated the fish.  Yum.

We've invited John and Marie for dinner saturday for ribs.  I think I'll also make some german potato salid and BB wants a garden salad.  We'll pick up some beer and have an end of summer smoked rib dinner.

Usual Thursday

BB and I spent our usual Thursday.  We got a late start since Mike's car had to be dropped off for service.  After BB got back we went shopping at Ocean State then got some fish (cat fish) from the grocer and coffee from Karma (Harare, Espresso, and Somalian).

We had an interesting experience at Ocean State.  If you don't know Ocean State it's a low end somewhat shabby discount store.  Prices are good though and they have some groceries and cloths that we buy.  BB got some discount coupons from the Internet and we used them.  What was interesting was what happened when we went to check out.  To make a long story short the clerk misrang a pair of socks, noticed her error as she was entering the coupons, and when to some trouble to correct it.  It was interesting that a clerk at a discount store would go to that amount of effort over a dollar particularly given our recent experience with other high end stores.

After lunch BB went out again and came back with more groceries.  When I asked her why she didn't buy them when we were out she said that she wanted to use coupons and thought I'd be impatient.  She was gone for rather a long time shopping I suspect at several stores.  She does like to shop.

Mike's got a second job at Sudbury Pizza.  If it turns into a regular thing then he'll quit DeAngelo's.

I've decided I need to be more active and out and about.  I've considered a number of things and am thinking about Geocaching.  It would provide some nice exercise and get me out more.

Last of the leaves?

Mike and I did what I hope is the last of the leaves today.  It only took an hour or so.

I finally turned on the heat as we had some ice on the decks overnight.  It looks like winter is finally here.

BB is out tonight with friends from work.  So I'll eat alone.

Driveway light

Tuesday was fairly quiet.  I'd picked up a two year bulb at Lowes and used it since changing the driveway light is a bit of a chore.  I'm not sure why but it's a struggle to put the light back together again after changing the bulb.  Next time I select outdoor fixtures I be very attentive to how easy it is to change bulbs.

BB and I had left over rice and chicken for dinner.

I spoke with Mom.  She seems to be doing OK but as usual bored.

Such is life.

Quiet day at home

I spent a quiet day at the house.  I've begun to organize things to get back to getting the house ready for sales.  In that regard, I spoke with  Marlyn Green.  We are delisting the house tomorrow and will put it back on the market in the spring.  There is some interest from a couple of buyers.  If anything comes of it during the interval the house can be sold.

I made an interesting rice caserole with chicken for dinner.

Sunday - Quiet day at home

BB and I spent a quiet day at home and did some work around the house.

M&M called late afternoon and we met them for dinner at the Cheateau.  It was good to catch up.  They are off in early december to do a weeks sail in the islands.  Should be fun.

Saturday - rain, then some rain, followed by rain and them more rain

Ida's remains finally reached us Friday night with lots of rain but not much wind.  It continued through Saturday.

BB and I ran errands then spend the day reading and doing things around the house.

MM called late afternoon.  They were up our way and we arranged to meet for dinner at the Chateau for some reasonable Italian food.

IDA cometh

According to the weather this mourning IDA should show with very high winds and heavy rain as a noreaster sometime around 3PM this afternoon.  Soooo ... first thing this mourning I got up and went to work getting the leaves out of the gardens again!  The new Black and Decker blower I purchased yesterday does a very good job particularly with the oscilating knozel.  It only took a couple of hours and I got out most everyting.  I did try the vacumn.  It was not particularly useful.  It's a shame someone doesn't make a yard vacumn that really does work.

BB and I had orange salmon for dinner.  It was farmed fish and didn't turn out expecially well.  

Thursday - More Leaves and Errands

BB and I slept in this mourning.  I'm not sure what got in to me but I slept soundly until 8:30.  BB was up earlier of course.  I'm not sure how she manages on so little sleep.

After a late start and a quiet mourning with each other we made a grocery/errand list and off we went - library, Lowes for a new blower, Framingham for several things, lunch at the Agean, gas, and finally home.  It was almost 4PM by the time we got back.

I spent a quick 45 minutes with the new blower doing the driveway and adjacent gardens.  It has a somewhat bigger motor and an oscilating knozel that really works well.  It's a bit heavy but given the job it does it's well worth the extra weight.

We never managed to get groceries so I'll do that tomorrow.

Dinner tonight will be some lunch left overs.  Neither of us has a big appetite anymore.  It seems a shame that about the time my taste gets more sophisticated I can no longer eat much.  Such is ageing.

Wednesday - Leaves, leaves, and more leaves

Mike and I cleaned the yard AGAIN!  Even so, when I look at the trees I suspect that I'll still need to do it one more time.  I'm not sure why though I suspect it has to do with the wet spring.  I'll need to do the gardens tomorrow since the rain is now forecast for Friday.  It seems that IDA has reorganized and will be a large Northeaster.

BB was home a bit early.  We had salad, eggplant parazan, and garlic toast for dinner.  Tomorrow we'll do food shopping and go out to lunch.

Quiet Tuesday

Spent a rather quiet Tuesday reading and looking at boats.

The leaves continue to fall and I'd like to delay as long as possible.  The remains of huricane IDA are coming up the coast though so I think I'll do the yard tomorrow afternoon.

I made a spiced flank steak for dinner with cauliflower made like potatoes.  The meat was good the vegetables not so much.

Realistic Boat Choices

I've been looking at boats that we might afford.  The Mainship 350/390 looks interesting.  There are also a few 400s available.  On the plus side they are

• Affordable - Several reasonably current and equiped are available for under $150,000.
• Adequate accommodations for a couple - These are 1 1/2 stateroom boats with an acceptable bow birth and a small guest birth that could be used for storage and personal gear.
• Head with separate shower - While there is only one head, it's large enough to have a separate shower.
• Adequate galley - It's not that large but it IS big enough and there is a separate refrigerator/freezer under the lower helm.
• Adequate salon - The salon has reasonable seating with a couch and one or two chairs
  
• Dual helms -
  
• Good draft and bridge clearance
  

There are some negatives of course

• Single head - This is an issue for BB but from my perspective is not all that important.
• Salon and galley share space - This is not a configuration I particularly like but is a trade off I'd be willing to make.

All that being said, the boats are still expensive.  It would be nice to find something even less expensive.

In that vein there are a number of gas powered express cruisers at prices well under $100K, often $50,000.  Cruisers (som 3575 Esprit), Regal, Sea Ray, Carver, and Chris Craft all have models in the 28' to 32' range with a place to sleep, a cudy that could be used for storage, a head, and a limited galley.  They are clearly weekenders where one 'camps' comfortably on the boat but could indeed be used to do the loop.

Quiet Day

Spent the day reading and attending to several house chores.

The yard is covered with leaves again but since it will be sunny for the next few days I'm going to wait.  Hopefully this will be enough time for the rest to fall and this will be the last time I have to do the yard.

BB worked late so we had eggs for dinner as neither of us wanted a big meal when she got home.

Thoughts on boats

After the boats we've seen this summer BB and I have begun to settle out on what we're looking for in a boat.  We've more or less settled out on a low to mid 40' trawler.  We've seen several we liked including an American Tug 41 with a nice mid ship cabin.  We also have seen a 50' Symbol (I know, over long) that we liked a lot.

The problem with these boats is cost.  At the end of the day we'd be looking at $300,000 to $500,000.  That's rather more than we can afford.  So, it's time to get serious and make some compromises to get the cost down to something reasonable.  As a first step we'll need to start looking at things we can afford.

Sunday Mill Warf in Scituate

Sunday was very bright and sunny with mild temps.  BB and I had our customary lazy mourning reading the paper and returning to bed.  All in all very nice.

In the afternoon BB and I drove to Scituate and had lunch at the Mill Warf.  It was a surprisingly warm day so we got a table on the deck in the sun.  The food was only so so but it we had a good time watching the boats come and go.

We read and watched TV in the evening.  We've had a Netflixs DVD on boating in the North West.  It was OK but not as good as some of the others we've seen.  The boat this time was a 53' single screw trawler with a bow thruster and seemed very nice.  We weren't able to figure out the manufacturer.

Newport and Wickford Looking at Selene 43

BB and I went to RI to look at a Selene 43.  The plan was to drive to Newport, RI for lunch and then over to Wickford to look at the boat.  Unfortunately when we got to Newport it was the last day of their resturant week (discounts) the place was mobbed and waits were 45 minutes or more.  We didn't have time to wait so we drove to Wickford and had lunch at a nice small place there.  We'd been to a street artist exhibit there with MM some years ago and it's an interesting town.

After lunch we looked at a rather overpriced Selene 43 on the hard.  While it was an interesting boat it really wasn't for us.

Despite a bit of misadventure we had a good day.

Discoveries about Blogger

For reasons passing understanding the editor on this blog was configured for the old one, not the nifty WYSIWYG one.  Well I've changed it and this is a test to see how it now works.

With any luck this should be a second paragraph.  And indeed it is, resolving one of the issues I've been troubled by for some while.

Ain't live grand!

Quiet Friday

Spent a rather quiet Friday around the house.

It was a bit gusty and the yard is covered in leaves AGAIN! So it is with fall. BB and I are going to look at a boat in RI tomorrow so I'll wait until Sunday to do the yard again. While we are down there we'll take the opportunity to have lunch in Newport and try to connect with MM and have a early dinner.

Thursday with BB

BB has been taking Thursday off. It's nice to have a day to ourselves during the week.

We finished doing the leaves in the mourning. BB raked and I ran the blower. When the leaves are heavy it goes much quicker someone moving the heavy piles off the lawn. Mike helped with the side yard. The leaves are particularly heavy this year and there are acorns everywhere. This is the 3rd time I've dealt with the yard this year. It's likely that I'll have to do it at least once more. Sigh!

After getting cleaned up and spending some time with each other we ran errands.

The rest of the day was really quiet.

I called the Symbol dealer that emailed me and arranged for BB and I to go down to RI Saturday to see a 43 he has listed. It's on the hard, wrapped, and overpriced but it's a good chance to see a boat and and spend a day in RI/Newport. I'll give Marc and Miriam a call to see if we can have an early dinner.

I made a nice fish for dinner - haddock with crab stuffing and asparagus with cheeze sauce. - yum!

We spent the evening reading and watching TV.

House Showing and Leaf Blowing and Dr Visit

Busy day today.

Started with a doctor's visit and flu shot. Good news is that I got the flu shot without waiting at all or having to make another trip. I'd been a bit concerned since seasonal flu vaccine is in generally short supply and Lahey had delayed their flu clinic. Interestingly in speaking with BB it seems that not all hospital employees at Newton Wellesly will be getting swine flu shots.

While there I got a call for an 11:30 house showing. Of course Mike's room was not cleaned up and after last weekend's wind and rain the front entry was knee deep in leafs. So did a quick cleanup and showed the house. Nothing from Marlyn Green. I'm rather disapointed and will speak with her tomorrow.

In the afternoon I spent several house working on leafs again and got about half done. I made a nice eggplant parmesan for dinner. I tried to limit the amount of leftovers but we'll have another couple of meals off of the eggplant.

Visit To MIT Lincoln Labs

Went to MIT LL for a second visit. The work seems very interesting and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to do some business. That said, I didn't get a good read on what they might do. Only time will tell. Other than that the day was relatively quiet.

Quiet Monday

I spent a fairly quiet day reading and doing some things around the house. Heard from MIT Lincoln Labs. They are proceeding and I'll go in tomorrow at 1PM for a visit and to decide which group I'll be working with. Given that BB wants to continue to work and that there is no housing market it's a good decision. I'm also looking forward to being involved in a research environment again.

Quiet Sunday

Day was relatively quiet. BB and I have taken to having Latte and reading the paper in the living room Sunday mourning. Sometime along the way we'll have breakfast and start the day sometime around noon or so. Quite civilized! My watch died yesterday and coincidentally BB lost hers. So we went out to deal with things - a new battery for me and a couple of inexpensive watches for BB.