Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Beantown

I managed to get a relatively cheap flight to Boston at 8:30 this morning. The plane left at 9:45. I don't know how I made it but I'm glad I did. It's a 12 hour drive, and while I like driving, it would have eaten up too much time.

It's been just over a year since I last saw my Dad but upon arriving at his Chelmsford home my first impression is that he looked better than the last time I'd seen him. Yes, he's in a neck brace, but it's not as scary as I thought it would be. He's got lots of energy, no scars or bruises. His color is great and apparently he lost a little weight in the hospital. Damn.

His mobility is impaired. The collar bugs him, as it would anyone. He's taking Ambien to help him sleep and it seems to be working. Over the last two years my sleep cycle has kinds sucked and I'm wondering if it might help me.

We talked a lot, which he (and I) love to do, had a great meal and watched his ginormous projection TV. I've managed to make myself useful by getting his printer to talk to his computer again. His DVD-Rom is not working, but that should be a quick fix.

It's hard to relax after so many weeks of busting ass on the house. I need to shop for some jeans. I managed to destroy three pairs doing house stuff. I also wiped out two of my most comfy tshirts but I have lots of those.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Ta Da!!!!!!

The party went pretty damn well. Good weather, maybe too good. A bit warm for all. Many huddled under the new roof chowing down on the amazing amount of food that was available. We got a lot of compliments about the new roof and stucco.

As always, there wasn't enough time to sit and talk with anyone at any length. And there were a lot of people. I got to try a friends new bow, very nice. Alas, I didn't have a string for the crossbow I got on ebay. Frisbee hack had a few new twists this year, and once again, no one cut their own head off. I had hoped to have fighting radio controlled Pirate ships but only one was ready. Maybe next year.

The record for longest distance travelled to attend was 1160 miles by Ms Aleta who narrowly beat out my long time friend Jim Taber who came 1158 miles. I need to find some friends in the UK. That was this can be "An International Party".

The fireworks.... well, what can be said. We got a lot of them. Maybe too many. This was supplemented by my friend Travis. As always, safety was the watchword. (Stop snickering) Last years theme was "The Polish Space program" this year? "Here, hold my beer".

So loud and so large was the display, that we actually had a neighbor complain about it. Luckily I have 'people' to handle such annoying persons. He threatened to call the police . We calmly informed him that it was only 9:30 at night and that we had a licenced, trained pyrotechnition on hand and that the show would be over soon. Some of those statements were actually true.

What was really cool was the clean up crews that picked up the trash and helped clean up the fireworks debris.Very cool. It made Sunday's clean up much easier. People were also very generous with donations to help defray the cost of the fireworks. Thanks guys.

If anyone has any pics (As I once again too none) please email them to me. I'll throw up a gallery for them.

If you missed the party, it sucks to be you. You missed a great shindig. If you didn't get an invite, I apologize. I try to exclude no one. Send me your email and snail mail address for next year.