I did it! I recorded the guitar parts for one song tonight! 50/90 is back, kiddos! Only a whole mountain of work left to go! Woohoo!
Category: Generic
Market Basket
We drove past the Market Basket warehouse/headquarters in Tewksbury this morning at about 6:30. There were employees picketing at three different spots on both sides of the street. There were police officers at the truck entrance and it looked like only Ryder trucks were getting in.
I am amazed at the awesomeness of this whole movement.
First, as a former union guy it’s nice to see the workers standing up for themselves. This case is very different though. They aren’t asking for more money. When was the last time you saw anything like this that wasn’t related to money? That alone is kind of heartwarming. Also, this isn’t just the workers, it’s the management too. That is amazing, but even more it’s the customers. It’s not a strike. Staff are still showing up to work. The stores are empty though, as the customers are staying away in droves.
The sad thing is, I don’t see that this will amount to anything. I think the best they can hope for is that the company gets sold. Maybe Artie T will be given his job back (or something similar) after a sale happens. Can the workforce really hope for more than that? The board is not going to just put him back in place, are they? How could they? I also read about all of the store management staff threatening to quit and I can’t help but think that few if any of them are going to be able to get new jobs.
What I hope comes out of this is that Artie T becomes a role model for CEOs. This is a guy who stood by his employees when they needed him. He treated is people like human beings and showed them the respect that they deserved. Now that the tables have turned, those people are returning the favor and standing by him. In our ridiculous little greed-fest of a society, that is flat out stunning.
I just hope it all works out without a shit load of people losing their jobs. Fingers crossed.
Musical Lull
I haven’t done anything musical in days. Really, like three days or something.
Tomorrow… I promise.
Vacation Picture Explosion
I figured I’d pick out a few vacation pictures to post. I meant for three of four. Instead, you get this absolute explosion of vacation snaps. Enjoy.
The best part of Montreal was the guy throwing soap bubbles around the square in front of the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. There were gigantic bubbles everywhere.

So… okay… I know that the enjoyment I take in snapping pics in humongous churches might make me a bit of a hypocrite… well, it does. Deal with it.

Especially when I take pics like this.

Can we get an organ like this in our house?

I asked Jen, and she said it was okay if we took the red brick house with the green trim home with us.

In 2007 Jen and I visited Mike and Tammy in Wisconsin and we drove to lake Michigan. On this trip, we stopped at my second Great Lake, Lake Ontario. We also drove across a bridge over Lake Eire. That’s three Great Lakes for me.

Toronto was great. I would go back there in a second. I wish we could have spent another day or two.

Here’a a little Blue Jays, Rogers Stadium art work.

The view from the Canadian National Tower. Is this YYZ? Cue the music!

The street musicians outside of Blue Jays games are… different… than those at Red Sox games.

Obligatory blurry subway train pic.

Toronto lead to Niagara Falls. Get ready for a billion pictures of falling water.

The view from our hotel room was pretty spectacular.

They told us the walk from Table Rock to the Hornblower would be 10 minutes. Ummm… no.

It used to be The Maid of the Mist. It still is on the US side of the river, but on the Canadian side it is now called The Hornblower. The boats are bigger but they still make the same trip. Right into the mist on the Canadian side. Ponchos were supplied, and you did get seriously soaking wet.

The view from the Skylon Tower was pretty spectacular too.

Next door to a place we stopped for breakfast was a place called Gippy’s Place. I’m working that into 50/90 somehow. Somehow.

This is something you don’t ever see in the US. Never, ever.

On the Canadian side there is a little attraction called Journey Behind the Falls. Once again, ponchos are issued. There is an outdoor viewing area right at the edge of the water, and there is a tunnel with viewing ports that runs behind the falls themselves.

These elevator things were out of order when Jen and I came here last year. They made the whole thing so much easier.

The kids and I went for a walk. There was a water fountain that my step daughter saw from the 29th floor that she wanted to check out for real. I took the obligatory street lamp pic.

I took a picture of the love of my life from the street. 29 floors and a steep hill and a couple of blocks can’t keep her away from me.

This is the water fountain she wanted to see.

The falls are lit up every night, but the fireworks show is only on Wednesdays. We watched it from the room.

So we crossed back into the United States and celebrated by visiting the Hall of Fame of our nation’s pastime.

There’s a George Brett display, complete with the Pine Tar Bat.

Just a few of my favorite players…

Tom Seaver spit on my brother once. True story. I’ll tell it sometime.

Our next stop was Fort Ticonderoga on the shores of Lake Champlain.

The troops were re-enacting a division from Pennsylvania who had just retreated out of Canada in 1776.

Do you think this is authentic?

Next to the fort is a garden called King’s Garden.

Our last photo op was a ferry across Lake Champlain that connects route 74 in New York to route 74 in Vermont.

And there you have it. A few photo highlights of a trip that took us through four states, two provinces, and two countries.
50/90 Needs to Get Rolling Again
My guitar is sitting next to the fireplace, begging for me to start working on 50/90 again. I want to get back to work. I have a whole bunch of stuff on my iPad that I came up with while vacationing. There’s lots to do.
Still…
I cut the grass today. There ain’t much get up and go left in me.
Maybe a nap first. Maybe 48 hours or so.
More Proof
Proof
Home
We’re home. At last. All is well. The cat is being incredibly affectionate, and we have a pile of laundry eight feet high… but we’re home.
Market Basket
Homeward!
Heading home to our overgrown lawn! Woohoo!



































































