Doug's photo blog — originally a photo a day, now not so much
OK, it’s not Throwback Thursday but I had to post this one. This photo of a photo is me, at New England’s first chairlift, in about 1977. I am told that my grandfather (my mom’s dad) saved opening day one season by fixing the lift — he worked for Gates Rubber Company (which made industrial belts), and was able to repair the main drive. Can anyone name the ski area? (I do know the answer).
Day 2 of offsite training — at a hotel in Mansfield, MA, of all places. I was disappointed that the conference room next to this one was not called “Funkadelic”.
Bonus picture: here’s Weird Al Yankovic being White and Nerdy.
I had day 1 of a 2-day training for work today. They gave us pipe cleaners (now called “chenille sticks” evidently) to play with to drain off some fidgety energy. Evidently they’ve dealt with engineers before. I took full advantage.
Lis is flying back from Arizona today and I am meeting her at South Station so we can ride home together. Her flight is, of course, delayed so I had to find some way to pass the time.
JohnK was kind enough to bring me a bottle of 3 Floyds Zombie Dust, a beer currently sitting at #17 on Beer Advocate’s list of the top beers in the world. Here is my review: it’s very tasty, a well put together IPA. And it (like Heady Topper before it, currently at #1) has taught me something important about myself: I can recognize the difference between a beer like this at the top of the field and a (still quite good) Dogfish Head 60 or Smuttynose Finestkind. But I don’t enjoy the better beer proportionately more: once I pass a threshold of quality, I am happy. And knowing that, itself, makes me happy.
I did not get a chance to have real Maryland crabcakes while in Annapolis earlier this spring, and have been craving them ever since. So with Lis out of town, I made myself a feast this evening.
Sadly, the crabcakes were slightly disapponting — the pasteurized crabmeat available in this part of the country just doesn’t have the subtle fresh flavor I remember from my childhood. The enormous diver scallops, however, were fantastic (as was the 22-oz. Hennepin).
Track work closed our nearest commuter rail station one day this week — the timing didn’t affect me, but Lis had to use a different station. Here you can see they’ve replaced some sort of clip under the rails. I’m told they’re pre-stressing the rails in preparation for (one of these years) no longer needing heat-related speed restrictions in the summer.
This road construction project in front of my office is a huge drain on my productivity. Yes, I’m still an 8 year old boy at heart — I love the construction equipment and process. Today was especially fascinating as they uncovered old streetcar rails. Sadly, they’re being removed. Of course, the Red Line is only a few hundred feet away.
The road construction in front of my office has shifted to the next set of 2 lanes.
I installed some shelving for my dad today. He has medical issues that make him very short of breath even just getting up out of his chair, and these Ikea cubbies will, we hope, put a lot more of his daily life right at his fingertips.
