We saw a turtle... yahoo!!!!

Yes... that's how awesome my weekend was. Unfortunately we took the turtle's picture on Kate's cell phone and we lost the charge before she cold email it to me, so any photo illustration will have to wait.

We saw the turtle Sunday on the Brunswick/Bath ME bike/walking trail along the Androscoggin & Rt 1. It was a decent sized snapping turtle and had just crawled out of a nice hole on an embankment.

My Mother, Kate and I went for a nice stroll. My mother's birthday was earlier in the week and I was up to celebrate.

The night before Kate and I went to go see "Up" which was fantastic fun. There is this cool bird called Kevin, and a talking golden retriever named "Doug" amongst many other great items that make the movie a winner. After the movie Kate and I stopped at Walgreens and got a box of chocolate ice cream, fresh from Holland.

I know... pretty cool, right?

Yech... Tuesday

Today was my stand-in Monday after all, so it deserves a little bit of scorn.

Tonight I watched "Noise", a film starring Tim Robbins about a man driven to be a vigilante who punishes the owners or erratic car alarms. I really enjoyed this movie. Really.

It spoke to that anger that I admit I am prone to possessing, the irritation over the complete indifference people have towards one another.

Of course I would never smash car windows in, or even let the air out of the tires.... but I would dream about figuring out a way to putting a stop to it. I personally have called the cops, although like it is mentioned in the movie.... that is pretty useless. (There is a Nissan Altima that parks in the commuter rail lot next to me over some weekends, and a BMW SUV in the neighboring complex lot... both of which have overly sensitive if not broken alarms) It is beyond me why police won't write up citations for these people when they'll pull you over for having a pin hole in your muffler or for being in a slight hurry. I mean the alarm is pretty much intentional, blatant disregard for people, if you know about the problem and have not taken effort to fix it. They need to fine, especially in these times when city coffers are running low, it would be an excellent revenue source.

Anyway... it is on Netflix "Watch Instant" If you want to find joy in someone destroying cars I highly recommend it. It is a good old fantasy film through and through.

Memorial Day Weekend

Kate and I had a great Memorial day weekend, and of course I'm sad to realize that it is over. Friday I rode my new bike (I bought a new hybrid bike) into work which was spectacular. I'm looking forward to biking frequently throughout the summer. My friend from college Jess Wheeler surprised me on Wednesday mentioning that he'd be in town. On Friday night Jess, his friend Carly, Kate, and myself went out to the Sunset Grill. We had a nice meal and a couple of drinks and a lot of good conversation.

(Pictures: Memorial day parade, I believe this group of veterans hailed from Waltham- the three older gentlemen you see sitting across the street were heckling every one who came by, and yes they were drinking something out of red plastic cups, fruit punch I'm sure. Next: me with iced coffee...don't look at my leg too long, it may burn out your retinas, and last, Kate waiting for the parade.)

Saturday of course was my usual days of errands. Kate came over in the evening and I had prepared some BBQ chicken, Italian pasta salad, and corn on the cob per request. We are starting to get the good corn on the cob in the grocery store, a sure sign of summer.

Sunday Kate had suggested that we go watch the Memorial day parade in Somerville which is apparently the largest in Massachusetts. It was pretty long. Aside from the sky looking as though it might threaten us with a thunderstorm, the weather was gorgeous. We walked from Davis Square to Inman Square via Highland Avenue and some back roads.

It was a great walk, and we even took the time to explore the Somerville West End public library which is celebrating its 100th year anniversary. It is a great building with a beautiful interior, despite some obvious modifications that probably occurred in the late 70s early 80s (orange bookshelves and decor accents).

In Inman square we went to the All Star Sandwich Bar, and they made up possibly one of the best burgers I've had in Boston. Kate had a BLT and it looked spectacular. And the fries.... don't even get me started about the fries. Mmmmmm MMMMM!!!! If you live in or near Boston and you haven't been, you had better go. It is right next to Christina's Ice Cream and spice shop too so if you can manage to save room for desert (this time Kate and I did not) check it out.

On Monday Kate and I went out to eat at Zalek's Roast Beef and Seafood, which is a little sandwich shop in Wakefield, in the vein of Kelly's Roast Beef or Liberty Bell. The great thing about Zalek's, aside from decent food at good prices was the patio with umbrella tables to eat at. After a nice meal in the great weather, we played several games of tennis and followed it up with a nice walk at the Breakheart Reservation. There were people swimming in the pond, and actually the water wasn't too cold. We had initially planned on going for a bike ride, but never got around to it. They'll be plenty of chances this summer and fall to go again and again!

Happy Unofficial Start to Summer Everyone!!

$5.99/ lb

Jason, thanks for letting me know about the special at Shaws! Offer lasts till 5/14.

Mmmmm...mmmmm!

I'm Back!!!

And by I'm back, what I really mean is my PC is back, with a new motherboard and all of its working parts, circuits, etc in order! And what this means is perhaps, just maybe I can make up for lost time.

First off, Kate and I had a fantastic weekend. We caught the new Star Trek movie on Saturday night and it was excellent. I had been looking forward to it. I had that same giddy feeling of excitement and anticipation that I used to feel when a classic Spielberg or Star Wars or Star Trek film came out when I was a child. This movie completely lived up to that. It is going to breathe new life into this franchise for certain and perhaps create a whole new generation of Trekkies. They may even potentially make one of me yet, if they can continue to put out stuff like this.

Sunday Kate and I had a nice lunch at the 99 grill, and then spent the afternoon playing some tennis. For a couple of amateurs I think we did pretty good. We didn't hit the ball out of the court once ;)

Tonight after dropping Kate off I picked up some Tandori Chicken and Naan from a new Indian restaurant near by. The Kabab Corner was excellent, and apparently it is run by the same people who own "India Castle" and "Desi Dhaba" in Cambridge. The latter of which I've been to a couple of times. Any way, I'm becoming more and more of a fan of Indian food, so I can definitely see my self becoming a regular. They have a very affordable lunch buffet that runs through the weekend... so I'll probably definitely make use of that!

Other up dates.... Last Thursday Mike Caprio and I caught a great Red Sox game at Fenway, where the team scored a mind boggling 12 runs in the 6th inning. Cleveland did not know what hit them.

At the time I joked with Caprio that I would have to post 6 or 7 entries over the weekend, or perhaps he demanded that.... I can't remember either way. While I have definitely fallen short of those lofty aspiration, I do promise I will make the point to really get on top of this. Even if my day happens to be dull, there is a lot in this world that can be written about, and much that can be and should be discussed.

Till then....

I miss my PC

I'm anxiously awaiting a call from Staples, so that I may go pick up my computer with its new motherboard installed. I miss the blogging, and I'm anxious to get back to it. I've sat in my apartment countless times wanting to look something up on Wikipedia or google something that I saw on TV, only to soon realize that the spot once occupied by the old Dell is vacant, collecting dust.

Well I am reading more if nothing else.

I seem to be having a bad stretch with machines. I hit a pot hole in the car and rattled something lose. I thought for sure that I busted a CV joint or a strut because it was squealing miserably as it drove. It was as though the Focus had come down with swine flu. But I brought it to the shop this morning and they didn't find any damage. They did the alignment and rotated the tires, and mysteriously the car is no longer complaining.

Well, time for bed.

Have a happy weekend!