Applied Indifference

I’m going to go out on a limb here. I’m going to state (without any backup) that this is the latest “first snow” the central Connecticut valley has had in my lifetime. Sure, there was the little squall back in November, but it didn’t stick. And I don’t care what happened in the Northwest hills.

This is, on the eighteenth day of January, the first snow that managed to stick to anything for more than an hour or two. I fully expect to wake up with snow still on the ground tomorrow.

And that’s what constitutes “snow” for me - it’s still here when I wake up.

Nearly a full month after the Winter Solstice (which marks the ‘official’ beginning of winter), and two months after Thanksgiving (the unofficial beginning) we finally get snow. Granted, it’s less than an inch, but it’s still snow.

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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It’s midnight on December 1st. It’s 60 degess out.

Last week there was frost on my windshield. Now, I could be out riding my motorcycle.

I’m ready for the cold. When’s Algore scheduled to speak up here about global warming?

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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Holy Shit Batman! 29.8 degrees (Fahrenheit) at 7:30 AM. And we’re only looking at a high of 43 today.

So much for Autumn.

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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We had a bit of rain yesterday. And then the wind came. Gusts strong enough that leaves were blowing across Maple street and staying at the height where they left the tree. Big winds.

So, not surprisingly, trees fell, wires fell, etc.

I was over Todd’s house with Ken, and we needed to come back to my place for drill bits.

When we pulled in to the driveway, this is what we saw:


That’s Todd (all 6 feet plus of him) for reference.

Of course, I immediately panic. Run to the back to make sure my bike wasn’t hit by any shrapnel. It’s fine. Figuring that someone’s gonna be here to deal with the tree tomorrow, I decide to move the bike to Todd’s for the night. Smart move, truck showed up today.

This is what they saw:

Amazingly, no damage to the house is apparent.

When the tree guys showed up, they couldn’t get the truck into the back yard, since the driveway slopes up steeply at the beginning. These guys have the hacker nature, however. See, the truck has three axles in the back, since it’s used for hauling logs. But that third axle at the back isn’t driven. And it was lifting the drive wheels off the ground.

So they tried to make the truck lift its own tail up:

But, that didn’t work. The driveway was too much for their silly rope. It was then that they decided that the hydraulic boom could double as a winch. I have no pictures of that, since I didn’t want to be around if the rope broke. But they tied a rope around one of the remaining trees in the yard, tied that to the extended boom, and pulled the truck up the hill. Once they got the drive wheels back on the ground, they were home free.

A couple hours later, and the trees are all but gone.

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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Trees turning funny colors. Leaves all over the damn place. Dark before supper time.

Yup. It’s fall.

And it’s not going to get much over 70 for the next week, and it’s gonna be near freezing at night. Which means it’s everyone’s favorite time of the year: HEAT PURGE DAY!

Open all the windows, crank the heat to 100, and go for a walk. Otherwise, the last six months of accumulated cruft on the heating system will choke you.

I’d hoped to delay this a bit longer, but nature is a Mother.

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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My dog is stalking a fly. Humor ensues.

She’ll be so proud of herself when she catches it.

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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I’m staying in Room 427.

I thought that was moderately cool.

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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Yeah, it was a good week. Internet? We don’t need no stinkin’ Internet! Hell, cell phone was spotty at the house.

Which was beautiful. I want it. One of these years, I’ll post pictures.

Saturday - travelling to the Canada. There was wind, rain, cold, hot. finding the Hilton in St. John in the dark was interesting. Oh, and the ride from Portland to St. John? Not recommended. That’s a lot of miles to cover in one day.

Sunday - Confederation Bridge. 9 miles of bridge across the Northumberland Strait. Interesting, that. You can see the island when you get on the bridge. but on either side? Nothing but wet.

Tuesday - drove to Charlottetown to wander about and see ODP (with genuine Harp). Off to Peake’s Wharf to wander before the show. Rachel was introduced to the wonder that is Cow’s.

Wednesday - back to Charlottetown. Gordon Belsher was performing. He was joined by his lovely daughter Savannah (what a voice), and Todd MacLean on sax. Completely different fare than I was expecting, which was wonderful.

On Thursday, Joe and I rode pretty much all the way across P.E.I. and back. That is one windy island, I’ll tell ya. 300 miles round trip, fighting to keep the bike going where it was aimed.

Friday - East Point Lighthouse. Harry lives next door - he’s the last remaining lighthouse keeper. After him, there will be no more. Now, they just have young people tending them as they are really nothing more than tourist attractions and historical footnotes. Still worth a visit, if for no other reason than to see how we got here in the first place.

Saturday - winding down, packing, cleaning. Gotta be out by 10 on Sunday. Rachel challenged Joe and I to a game of Trivial Pursuit. She lost twice. I am the master of useless information!

Sunday - Departure. One last lunch at Peake’s Wharf, and a final visit to Cow’s before going over that bridge again.

Tags: Motorcycle, Randomness by Brian Corbino
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OK, Outsourcing has finally hit me in the ass. Literally.

Pants. I can’t even buy pants right, apparently. I venture forth to my local retailer of pants to acquire two pairs of Levi’s 550 (for the large-assed) jeans. For the record, I take my pants in a 38/30 size. I have a pair of Levi’s 550s on right now in that size. Needless to say, they fit. Which leads me to believe that if I purchase another pair of them in the same size, they ought to fit, right?

Not on your life.

The pair on my butt now were “Made in Haiti, finished in Dominican Republic”.

Pair one (pre-faded) were made in India. I can put them on, but my thighs feel like sausages. These are “relaxed fit” jeans, not “skin tight”. So, 38 in India doesn’t mean the same as 38 in Dominican Republic.

Pair two was worse. These were made in a country I have never heard of: Lesotho. Apparently in this suburb of South Africa 38 means 34, or maybe 32. Because I couldn’t get those pants above mid-thigh.

So, I now have to return two pairs of pants (I am now happy that I Billyed out and forgot to put them in the wash with everything else last night without first trying them) and try to find ones that actually fit.

This is ridiculous.

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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Marc and I went on another quest to the Digital Press store in Clifton, NJ yesterday.

What a fiasco - took 4 hours to get there. 287 was a parking lot from the Tappan Zee all the way back to the Merritt. 13 miles, 2 hours. Why? Not a clue. At least the water pump held up! Oh, and the advisory on Thruway Radio was posted at 1:30 PM (we hit the traffic at about 4:10), so it had been this bad for two and a half hours when we got to it.

We finally got in to Clifton around 7. Between us we ditched 4 boxes of old video games (the purpose of the trip). We had a bunch of commons, and putting them all on eBay is such a pain in the ass. At least they’ll find happy homes.

So, after hanging around, talking games, searching for pieces to fill in the holes in our collections, and general BS, we take off at about 8. Needing dinner, we stop at a little Italian restaurant.

Where I had the best food I’ve put in my mouth all year long.

Pasta e Fagioli made with a chicken stock instead of tomato. Very subtle, and delicious.

And the sauce on the gnocci was like a tomato and cheese sauce with cream. Rich enough to not need any additional cheese. Even the iced tea was better than any other I’ve had.

Sure, it was a bit expensive by my normal standards. But worth every penny.

La Riviera Trattoria on Piaget Ave in Clifton NJ. A block and a half from the Digital Press store.

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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