Author: robertjames1971

I'm wicked tall.

Anywhere in the World

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Daily writing prompt

There is a short, obvious answer to this question. There is also the day dream fantasy answer. I’ll give you both and maybe give a photo or two.

Home is where my wife, Jen is. Where ever she is, that is where I want to live. Right now that is a little ranch house in North Eastern Massachusetts, just a stone’s throw away from the New Hampshire state line.

That’s the honest, real answer. I want to be where she is. Now for the daydream fantasy answer. There are a lot of options. I sort of see myself as a city guy when I fantasize about moving to a new place. I would probably prefer to live in the suburbs close to a big city, but for discussion’s sake let’s say we’re moving to the city itself.

First on the list is San Diego. I went there for the first time on our honeymoon and fell in love with the place. We’ve been back a few times and each time we’ve gone it’s gotten harder and harder to leave.

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The second daydream choice would probably be Manhattan. This is conflicting to me given that I am a Boston sports fan and absolutely loath all New York teams. It would be hard to live in enemy (Yankees) territory, but I think I could manage it.

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The dark horse candidate comes from our honeymoon again. We visited a bunch of places on our honeymoon. One destination was Washington, DC. While we were there we explored Maryland a little and spent a little time in Annapolis. That is a city I think I could live in.

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As far as the United States is concerned let’s just say that I am a New England guy first and foremost. I could live in the mountains of New Hampshire, the coast of Maine, the lake in Vermont, the Southern cost of Rhode Island, and… well… Connecticut… not so much. If I could pick anywhere in New England though, it would absolutely be Boston.

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What about places outside of the US? As we watch in horror as fascism rises here, I often find myself wondering if the time to leave has arrived. I would need to go someplace where they speak English. Canada is cold so I probably would not want to go there, even though Toronto is beautiful.

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Montreal is pretty wonderful too, but that has the same negative that New York has. Living among the enemy (Montreal Canadians fans) and all.

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England would be a decent choice too, but Brexit makes me think that it wouldn’t be different enough from the US as far as the political climate is concerned. Scotland and Ireland would be better. Glasgow or Dublin maybe? I’ve never been so no pictures. Australia would be another option, but I really don’t know much about that country beyond the Monty Python Philosophers sktech.

So there you have it. The correct answer to where would I live is where ever Jen lives. The fantasy answers are San Diego, Manhattan, Annapolis, and maybe some English speaking place outside of the US.

I Really Hate This Time of Year

Today is November 16th. We are a full week before Thanksgiving.

I went to a store tonight. Kohl’s in Salem, NH.

All of their christmas decorations were up and they were playing christmas music over their PA system.

Screw you, Kohl’s. Screw you, christmas. Screw you, greed.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but as christmas gets earlier and earlier I just end up hating this time of year.

Happy/Sad or Sad/Happy or Both?

My sister just got word that my mother’s headstone has been installed. I can’t decide if that is happy news or sad news or both. Both, I think.

I will actually be near the cemetery for a doctors appointment tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the timing will work out and I can pay a quick visit before it gets dark.

I Want the Weekend

My step son has all of next week off from school. He’s coming home tomorrow. He’ll spend a few days here, then a few days at his dad’s new house, then Thanksgiving take two at our house a week from Saturday, then he’ll go back to school. My step daughter will be home at some point though, but she’s no longer a college student and has to work next week. We don’t know her schedule yet but she’ll be here for Thanksgiving take two as well.

With the return of at least one kid being imminent, I am really looking forward to this weekend. As an added bonus, this coming Saturday will also see me and my friends Larry and Mike (the bass player) reliving our roaring 20’s by going to see Letters to Cleo and the Gigolo Aunts at The Paradise in Boston. We’re going to pretend it’s 1996 or so and go check out some Boston music… even though most of the members of both bands don’t live in Boston anymore. So what, it’s going to be nostalgic rock and roll like you’ve read about.

Today has been quiet, apart from the plumber visit this morning. I’ve had a couple of meetings and have one more coming up in a few minutes. I’ve mostly focused on paperwork. It’s been a good day so far. It’s 60 degrees outside, which is nice. Warmer days are rare at this point in the calendar. Granted I haven’t gone outside since 8:00am today and at that time the temperature was in the low 30’s. Timing is everything, folks.

Right then. Time to go and prep for the next meeting. I just wanted to write down how excited I am for this weekend. So many good things on the schedule. I’m ready for them all right now.

Fun with Plumbing

Years ago we had a problem with water leaking next to the tub. It ran through the floor and ate a big hole in the sub floor before pooling up in the cellar. That lead to us having the whole bathroom remodeled.

It kinda didn’t fix the problem. I’ve seen water coming into the cellar a couple of times. There’s some damaged wall board next to the tub. I don’t think it’s a leak, I think it’s just a shower curtain issue. If we are super careful and close it tightly and make sure nothing gets out then there’s no water in the cellar. If we’re lax in our shower curtain workflow then we get some water. Not much, but enough.

We had a plumber in this morning to take a look. He suggested having a contractor come in and try to tighten things up so no water drips out. He added a little calk along the edge of the tub but that will more likely just move any water away from the wall board a little. I think we just need to be extra careful with the shower curtain. We’ll keep an eye on things.

In the meantime, here is a picture of Robin the kitty looking all introspective. She’s pondering the meaning of life here, clearly.

77/365
77/365

Finders Keepers

What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever found (and kept)?

Daily writing prompt

Let’s see now… there is only one thing that fits the spirit of this question fully that comes to mind. When I was a kid I had a paper route. One day while walking up Nelson Ave in Tewksbury I found a cassette tape on the ground. It was a C120 which you didn’t see too often. That means the tape was 60 minutes long on each side. You didn’t see them because in order to fit that much tape into the cassette they had to make the tape extra thin. Too thin, as it turned out. They used to wear out quickly and break easily. Anyway, I took this cassette home with me and gave it a spin. It had AC/DC’s Back in Black album on one side and Motley Crue’s Shout at the Devil on the other. The Crue record didn’t do anything for me, but Back in Black absolutely lived up to the hype. I kept that tape just as it was and played the shit out of the AC/DC side.

I just Googled the release dates of those two records. Back in Black came out in 1980 and Shout at the Devil came out in 1983. That means at the time I was at least 12 years old. That’s about what I remembered. The Crue record must have been very new when it was dubbed onto the tape.

That’s probably the most interesting thing I’ve ever found and kept. I can think of two more things that I found and bought. Both were at used record stores near Harvard Square. First, I found a cassette for sale that had a bootleg of a Big Dipper show that was originally broadcast by MIT’s radio station, WMBR. The station simulcast a show that they played on campus for some reason. That was awesome, but the bonus that made it extra memorable was a few demos that were tacked onto the end. Two members of Big Dipper had previously been members of The Volcano Suns. They never released anything officially, but this demo was definitely that Volcano Suns line up. It even include a song that Big Dipper would record themselves a few years later. It was like finding a little piece of gold.

At a different used record store near Harvard Square I found a copy of The Blake Babies’ self released first record, Nicely Nicely. At that point the record had never been reissued anywhere, so it was the real deal. I had to pay too much for it, but the price I paid was still less than what you pay for an album on vinyl today. I still have it. It’s upstairs in the living room with the rest of my vinyl collection.

So there you have it. One thing I found and kept and two things I found and bought. Nothing really interesting, but they were the first things that popped into my head when I read the prompt so there you go.