The Day After the 4th

Did you enjoy your 4th of July, USA? We sure did. Alas, it is now in the past and today is just plain old July 5th. I have to work today, but I get to work from home. My beloved wife has the day off but is going to be working hard on a number of non-work things at her desk, so she’s sort of working from home too. The kids woke up here today, but their father asked if we could please bring them to his house as if it were a normal Friday. He must have something planned for today. I hope the kids have as much fun today as they did yesterday.

So today started out like a normal Friday. Jen got up, then the kids got up, then I got up. All around 6:00am. The kids got ready for the day. I took a shower and got ready for the day. At a couple minutes past 7:00 the kids and I went up North to their dad’s house. I stopped at a convenience store and dunkin donuts on the way home.

When I got home the first thing my beloved wife said to me was, “want to go to Ontario?” She was referring to tomorrow night’s Rush show in Hamilton, Ontario. (What’s the correct abbreviation of Ontario now? It used to be ONT, but Canada has gone to a two letter system like ours, haven’t they? Ontario is ON now, right? Or is it OT? It’s ON. I think. I’ll just spell it out until I Google it. Ontario it is) Me being slightly psychotic said, “Sure!”

Are you aware that if you drive from greater Boston, Massachusetts to Hamilton, Ontario (Neil Peart’s birthplace) you will go past Niagara Falls? Fascinating, eh? Did we just stumble upon a major league weekend road trip?

I sure hope so!

WOOHOO!

Rush in Canada!

Tyler Seguin

So the giant bear at the Granite Steak and Grill in Rochester, NH and I were talking tonight. I told him that I read on twitter that the Boston Bruins had traded Tyler Seguin. I couldn’t believe it, and neither could the bear. What an idiot move!

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4th of July

Two years ago we spent the 4th of July at Lake Winnepisaukee. Last year we spent it on Long Lake in Maine. This year, back to Lake Winnepisaukee. We didn’t have a specific beach in mind, but we discovered Carry Beach in Wolfeboro.

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We got there before noon and it was wonderfully quiet with only a few people. The water was cool but not too cold, and it was crystal clear. There was even shade on the beach.

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As the afternoon wore on it filled up quite a bit, but it never got obnoxious. I would definitely go back there again. I can assume that it will never be as crazy as that other beach. The one in Laconia.

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After our beach visit we took the long way home and drove all the way around the lake. Once we got home we watched Monty Python’s The Holy Grail. My step son has declared it the best movie ever. I generally agree.

An unknown error occurred (4002)

I’ve been getting a message from iTunes stating, An unknown error occurred (4002). I get it constantly. Every few minutes it pops up. It’s been driving me nuts. It’s so annoying!

I finally got fed up enough to Google the error. Apple’s support forum states that I should turn off iTunes Match, turn on Genius and let it run all the way through, and then turn on iTunes Match again. Well, Genius is finished and Match is running again. Why do I need Genius on? Why is that suddenly a requirement for Match?

Fireworks

Well, we didn’t make it over to the Methuen fireworks show tonight. We all went out to eat in Burlington and we were too late getting back.

We can, however, hear them from our house. Based on the frequency of the BOOOMs, it sounds like a pretty good show!

Happy (slightly early) 4th of July!

Lecavalier Signs with Philly?

Vinny Lecavalier was bought out by the Lightning. He’s one of those guys who was scarily awesome while playing in a market that had about six total hockey fans, all of whom were actually transplanted fans of other teams. Vinny won a cup with Tampa Bay. He also had the honor of getting beaten by the Bruins in seven games in 2011 with the seventh game possibly being the single most intense game I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching.

But, Tampa bought him out. His contract was massive and long and he was too expensive at a time when the salary cap was dropping, so pack your bags Vinny and hit the road.

And he signed with Philly. Umm.. Philly? Most people thought he’d go home to Montreal, but only a true idiot would want to play there. Boston would have been a nice fit, eh? Especially with Nathan Horton taking his post season game winning goals onto the open market. But Philly? Philly had to buy out Danny Briere, but they have enough dough to sign Vinny? I can’t imagine the shift from Tampa Bay, where hockey doesn’t exist despite the presence of an NHL team, to Philly where the fans are psychotic is going to be a healthy one for Mr. Lecavalier. If he has a cold streak they’ll eat him alive!

This does not appear to be a good move on your part, Vincent. You should have gone to another small market team, or done a short term deal with a big market team and lit up the universe, and then signed with a small market team. Either that, or you should have gone to Boston.

I am still not going to talk about that damn game, or that damn series. It’s too soon. It hurts too much. Maybe some day the hurt will lessen, but it will never go away. A man can only witness so many colossal chokes before he loses interest forever. Know what I mean?

Anyway. Danny Briere would be a good guy for the Bruins to sign, but I hate him and I want to continue hating him so please don’t sign him. I don’t want anything to do with anyone who played for Philly in 2010. Ever. And the guy played for Buffalo too, which is even more reason to hate him. Don’t sign Briere. Thanks.

Daniel Alfredsson now… that’s something else entirely. I don’t particularly want to see him in a Bruins uniform either, but I think he would be a good addition in the way Mark Recchi was a good addition, and Jaromir Jagr could have been a good addition. He’s a great player on the down slope of his career who probably has a mountain of knowledge to give to the Bruins youngins. I doubt he’ll leave Ottawa, but never say never. Today there is talk about Jagr being resigned after the team announced that he would not be coming back. I kinda hope they do resign him. He was a bust in the scoring department, but he was fun to watch. He was also the source of many a laugh around these parts. He’d be fun to keep around.

One final thought. Patrice Bergeron needs to be signed to an extension that will make him a Bruin for the next 100 lifetimes. We can never let this guy go away. Zdeno Chara needs to step down as captain so Bergeron can wear the C as he was always meant to. That’s not to be taken as a slight against Chara at all. Chara is a beast and I hope he spends the rest of his NHL days in Boston as well. I’ve just had Bergeron marked as the team captain since his rookie year. You could see it all the way back then, when he was a whopping 18 years old. I saw him on the ice with Joe Thornton and I somehow knew that the number 37 would be hanging in the rafters long before Thornton’s 19. I had no idea Thornton would be gone so soon, or so painfully, but I just knew that Bergeron was the guy. Bergeron was the Bruin. Sign him forever. Sign him, his kids, and his grandkids. Sign him now. Never ever let Patrice Bergeron get away.

A Bad Dinner Experience

The love of my life and I went to dinner at Bertucci’s tonight. It was a bad experience. The food was fine, and so was the service, and obviously the company was brilliant and wonderful and beautiful.

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So what was bad?

The waiter. He was taller than I am.

I just didn’t trust that dude. I feel out of sorts whenever I’m not the tallest guy in the room. It’s just so wrong.