Bogieblog

Redneck Hog Riders

From one of WS's SILs

So Long Dear Friends Until Next Year

Jimmy had a bonfire last night. The occasion was to allow peple the opportunity to come see Ray and Christine before they leave to head back south and west. They will head to Tennessee first, to see some friends, then will eventually make their way to Arizona for the winter.

We didn't get to see them much this year. The only time we got to ride with them was when we went to Bike Week in Loudon. Unfortunately, in late July, Ray had to ride the bike thru a newly dug out ditch to avoid running over a bunch of bicyclists who had taken over the entire lane. Ray came out okay (bumps, bruises and a scrape down his arm), but the bike was totalled.  As an aside, you know how it's said that bad luck happens in 3's? During the same week, we found that a woman I used to work with was rear-ended (she was on her bike, the other vehicle was a car), and one of our neighbors just down the street died when he wrecked his bike in MA, coming home from a concert (no, drinking was not involved - and he did have a helmet on). Anyway, they decided not to get another bike until they get to Arizona.

Anyway, we had a great time with Ray, Christine, Bear (the dog), BIL & SIL, Jimmy, Lisa and and several of their kids watching the fire, standing in the drizzle, and of course telling stories. After several hours, the moon made a short appearance - so Ray and Christine were blessed with the Harvest Moon before the cloud cover closed up again.

Until next year - have safe travels!

Present From Karen

We haven't seen Karen for a while and she finally got to come over last weekend. WS's BD was at the end of August, as was our anniversary, so she brought presents. We really enjoyed the salt and pepper shakers she got for us:

There is a magnet between each riders lips to keep them lip-locked.

Too cute!

Presents From Cop Car

Cop Car emailed me the other day to make me aware that she had sent packages. they arrived the middle of last week, and there was a bounty of goods.

Most of the jars are of beets and onions, of which we will be trying soon - but they look fabulous! The two jars at the front and right are of homemade taco spice. WS and I have tacos, on average, once a week, so the spices are welcome. One jar is of no salt taco seasoning. I mixed some with my scrambled eggs the other day (with a little diced beef) and the seasoning is great! We'll be trying it on tacos this coming week.

Another box held a quilt. Cop Car is going to have to remind me if her mother made it or was one in grandma's collection. It seems to me that it was not made by grandma, it is pretty non-the-less.

Then there were zip drives with stuff only interesting to the family - but welcome! I haven't taken the time to check out the contents yet, but will soon. .

Of course Fuzzzy thought CC had sent one of the boxes just for him.

It was like Christmas in September!

CF Ride For the Cure 2012 Update

The Cystic Fibrosis Ride for the Cure has been postponed until October 14, 2012 because of expected rain. There are several departure points Isee link) for the eventual destination of Gunstock Mountain.

Last year it was a wild ride from the departure point in Manchester. I think we will try the one that leaves from Freedom Cycle in Concord (which wasn't a choice last year). They have a "leisurely ride" leaving at 9. The "direct ride" leaves at 10. The leisurely ride sound more our style. If that turns into something we aren't comfortable with, this time we will stop and catch up later at Gunstock.

Ocean Circles

Via Scott, comes the facinating discovery that there are sea "crop circles". After much filming, they determined what was making them. That is one determined little guy!

Texting and Driving

The Weekend Pundit has a great (or not so great) story on a guy and his phone in traffic:

Passing through the town where Deb works, one of the main roads passes over the main north-south Interstate highway, meaning traffic can be quite heavy just on either side of it. One fellow seemed to think the heavy traffic gave him leave to cease paying attention to driving and more attention to his cell phone. As we stopped at each set of traffic lights (there's quite a few of them on that stretch of road), he paid less attention to the traffic lights and more to his phone.

At the first set of lights just past the Interstate, he didn't finish texting (I assume that's what he was doing) until just before the lights turned yellow. He, the truck right behind him, and I made it through before the lights turned red. At the next set of lights he again didn't move when the lights turned green and actually raised his index finger on his right hand as if to say "Wait a sec!" as the horns of the vehicles behind (including mine) him blared. Not a single vehicle in his lane made it through the lights before they again were red. At the next green light cycle he (and the rest of us) moved. At the very next set of lights he was once again fooling with his phone, the lights changed to green, and he didn't move.

At this point the guy in the pickup truck directly behind him apparently had enough, got out of his pickup, walked to the car, grabbed the guy's phone out of his hands and tossed it into the back seat. Over the sound of the still blaring horns I heard the pickup's driver yell something along the lines of "Put down your effin' phone and effin' drive, s**thead!" By the time he got back to his truck Texting Guy had taken off and we didn't see him again.

The only good thing I can say is that if he was texting, at least he wasn't moving, so he wasn't running over someone or running someone off the rode.

Wedding Days

Last Saturday morning, we left for The Cape (Cape Cod, MA - 3 hours away) to attend WS's niece's wedding. It was a beach beautiful setting for the wedding.

The foot wear de rigueur was flip flops. The fine beach sand would have worked its way everywhere and filled socks and shoes. Thanks for the heads up SIL!

As the bride's father said, "I may be predjudice, but she is a very beautiful bride." I couldn't agree more - and I don't think it was bias on our parts! The groom was handsome too.

The reception was at the Cultural Center, which used to be a bank - not everyday one sees a vault door in the reception hall!

And there was a father-daughter dance - taken without a flash (and on my phone) so it came out a bit blurry.

We also had a slow dance where all couples danced and the DJ would call out years together; 5, 10, 15, 20 etc. At 25 years, WS and I, and the brides mom and dad (BIL&SIL) were the only ones left. BIL and SIL have actually been married over 30 years.

We spent the night and headed back shortly after noon (we toured a few other beaches before heading back. So, the wedding took up most of our weekend - nice and relaxing and kept WS from going to work!

Still Looking

I've put in my resume to a lot of different places. All of August, the phone was quiet, then just after school started (after Labor Day Weekend), I started getting calls. Guess everyone was waiting until people got off vacation before starting the interview process. A place that I applied to the Tuesday after I was laid off called a couple of weeks ago. I've had two interviews with them, but now they are misteriously silent and don't respond to email inquiries (calling is forbidden). I'll chalk that up to a "No".

I had two inteviews this week, and the guy at the second one said I'll be in for another interview next week. We'll see if they actually call back on Friday to set it up. I have sent follow up notes to each of the parties.

3 out of 4 interviews have been in Massachusettes. And the job that I would most likely get (if either) is in Braintree, a bit south of Boston. It's about 90 miles away, and a 90-120 minute commute, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Someone I know on facebook tagged this video (I haven't figured out how to embed it), a timelapse of Boston, and I thought it showed the city in a whole different light. At 2:39 in the video, those cable triangles are the supports for a bridge that I would go over every day if I get the job in Braintree - it is very beautiful when approaching it.

Meanwhile, I'm still on the hunt.

Monster Hunter

The latest book in Larry Correia's Monster Hunter series is out: Monster Hunter Legion. Go buy yours!