Author: doug

A bunch of friends joined me on Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor in celebration of my 40th birthday today.  We had perfect weather for it, and had a great time.  Here Jeff is helping launch Andrea’s kite.

My coworkers decorated my office for my 40th birthday today.

But this is nothing compared to my coworker Jan, who was “abducted” today for his Bachelors Party Weekend.

This is our old stove.  It was supposed to be replaced today, but the new one has not shown up at the warehouse yet. 

As a result, I did a stir fry (stir simmer?) on the old stove tonight.  I only had to check 3 times if I had maybe accidentally turned off the burner.

We’ve got a box w/ cat fleece in the kitchen for the time being, since we’re locking up the kitties at night until we’re through relocating their litterbox.

Winnie needs no encouragement to avail herself of the box.

Over the last decade or so as I’ve grown to appreciate decent wine (damn you Kat!), there are a few discoveries that I’ve made: when in an Italian restaurant order the Chianti Classico when in doubt, never cross wits with a Sicilian when death is on the line, there are great bargains to be had from South America, and Old Vine Zinfandel is really tasty.  Tonight I opened a bottle of one of my favorites, to go with good old Chicken and Dumplings:

Someone came in over the weekend and saran-wrapped my coworker Jan’s office.

We’re not quite sure why — it’s early to be hazing for his impending wedding.

Lis and I went for a walk in Newton Cemetary today.  I was going to post a perfectly nice photo of a flag at half mast (for Kennedy, for 9/11, who knows).  But then we saw this:

As mentioned a while back, Lis got herself a new Mac Mini and I’ve repurposed the old one as our house server.  This picture is of my computer screen as I migrate MovableType, the blog software we’re using to post these Project 365s — so you are now using the new server to read this entry.

The purpose of the server migration is not so much speed (though the new computer is faster than the old) as it is for power savings.  My kill-a-watt claims we’ll save about 60W (running 24/7) once I can retire the old server.

Lis bought curtains for our bedroom, and we installed them this evening.  Besides being more light-blocking than our Venetian blinds, and and insulating in the winter (as it says on the package), I also anticipate them being somewhat sound-insulating, taking the edge off of our morning neighborhood birds.

First day of school in Newton:

My vacation from traffic is over.