Whew! Even though we had the biggest snowstorm we've had in a few years(24" all told, and now 0 deg F temps), the power crews perservered and as of 4:00 Saturday afternoon, our power was restored. What a relief.
Big thanks to PSNH and the crews from all the other States and Quebec! You guys rock!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
El Hielo
The ice storm wreaked havoc...we still don't have power and with another storm today, the kids are home from school again.
We have a woodstove, a gas cookstove, a water filter and a good stream out back, lots of candles and headlamps etc. We shower at the office (here) but it's still a big pain in the ass...and its dark around 4pm.
My mom pointed out that the people in Iraq haven't ahd power for 5 years...thanks Mom...it's still a pain in the ass. :)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
An essay on friends...beware, it's a long one
Its funny how the circle of friends changes over the years, and which circle that you decide is the “The gang”. I can think of so many circles. The gang of five or so guys in 5-8 grade in our small town of Westmoreland. Our class/grade had 22 kids, and we were the dudes. At Keene High School, there was the football team, as a crew, and an overlap of guys from football and soccer that all hung out. In college at KSC, we also had a circle, but as the years went past, as a group, most of the guys started a fraternity, and I chose to go off with various girlfriends and off campus people. The frat guys were nice, but just that…Frat guys. Guess I was more of a hippie/granola/ Deadhead and didn’t fit in. My hair was much too long and beard much too bushy for these guys (ha ha)
After the college years, I came to the place where I truly got close with people. One of my best friends, incidentally from the 5-8th grade crew, Sam, introduced me to house full of people he lived with. Sam & I took a cross country road trip to LA, where he stayed, and I moved into his old pad on my return.
That’s where “The Tribe” started. There were 3-5 of us living and paying rent and any number of people crashing at our place on a regular basis. Molly owned the place and lived downstairs with her boyfriend Peter (until he moved on a couple years later. Chris & I each had a room upstairs. Kevin, Rob, Peter, Gunner, Dan, Wendell, Chad, John, Diane, Elizabeth, Emily, Jacqui, “Yuk-Truk”, Zoe & Bill were regulars. Eventually, Tracy came into the picture, and after a short stay with Molly downstairs, moved upstairs with me. (We stayed together, and got married and now have 2 kids).
We all had so many adventures; concerts, bonfires, road trips to Boston, mind trips to who knows where; quite a few aided by beer, tequila, red wine, pot, mushrooms & acid. There were a few naked parties, a number of changes in who was with who over the years, and a little drama. I spent some of the time on the road, surveying portions of the Appalachian Trail, and Thursday night through Monday morning at “the house, with a lot of cash and free time :). We were all closer than family and knew each other soo well.
Today, as I said, Tracy & I are married and together in Westmoreland with our two kids. Chris is married and lives in Keene and has two twin boys. We see each other less and less as the years go by, although we spent an awesome spring coaching our sons’ baseball team, together. Kevin is out near Aspen, Colorado, single, and still living the high life; Sam is still in living near LA with his awesome wife Jen and 3 niños. They are so much like us, they are wavering about moving back this way and we always push them toward that decision. It would be a blast to live close. Craig…a latecomer, is up in Alaska, and Bill is in NY somewhere. Molly, my once soul-sister, has seemed to drop off the planet. Diane, Chris’s sister and once my girlfriend, lives in Boston.
I keep in touch with Chris, Kevin and Sam regularly through the Phone or E-mail, but not really anyone else.
In later years, we had the CHA gang and now the SVE gang, work friends, some of whom are great and are real close. I keep in touch with Joe, and still work with John P & Robin. She & I are best of friends and have been the “JP & Liliana” of CHA and now SVE survey for about 15 years.
Lately I’ve been putting forward to meet more people and make new friends. Of course, the kid’s school and sports teams are a great means for that. The kids go to Monadnock Waldorf, and I’ve met some fantastic people there…people who are kind of crunchy, involved in stuff, have similar interest, and even have a lot of language background, there are so many who speak Spanish. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve kind of been more of an introvert, so I’m pushing myself to get to know people.
Speaking of getting older, in the last year or so, I’ve also started checking of the list of stuff I always wanted to do, but never did. You gotta start if you want to do it. (More on this some other time) One of the things was to learn Spanish, so last spring, I bought a few books on grammar and a good dictionary and tried some on-line stuff with varied success. I read an article that mentioned an internet podcast site called SpanishPod and joined. What a difference…life changing for me! I’ve really learned so much and it’s now an enjoyable hobby, something I do like gardening or playing guitar. And as a side benefit (back to the friends theme), I’ve begun to make some really good friends. Albeit online only, but friends never the less; people I’m interested in, who seem interested in me, and whose well-being I care for. I correspond with Lily & Esti, and only in Spanish, so I get two benefits; being friends with wonderful, attractive, interesting women, and a serious motivation to keep learning Spanish. Leo & ‘Pito have corresponded with me, in English and Spanish, even outside of the SP medium, and are real cool guys that I’d chill with anytime!
I was trying to think what constitutes “a friend” for me. I realize that I like almost everyone and anyone I meet; I’m pretty easygoing that way. Are people that you see each day and hang with or talk with your “friends”? Not necessarily. I see some people everyday, whom I like, and enjoy talking with, but probably wouldn’t put them on the list of true friends. I never see Sam and only talk a few times a year, maybe visit once a year, and yet we are the same best friends from all the way back to 5th grade.
I think for me, it all comes down to DINNING. Who would I choose to share a meal with and chat with, especially who would I chose to prepare a dinner for. Cooking is one of my greatest loves and to prepare a meal is a gift I give (maybe not one you’d like to receive (ha ha), but given with love nevertheless). When I think who would I invite to dinner and to spend an afternoon of evening at my house, that is who I count as a real friend. Perhaps it wouldn't be likely they could attend, like my friends in Shanghai, California, Colorado, amongst other places (who know the invitation is open). I think for me…that is the test.
After the college years, I came to the place where I truly got close with people. One of my best friends, incidentally from the 5-8th grade crew, Sam, introduced me to house full of people he lived with. Sam & I took a cross country road trip to LA, where he stayed, and I moved into his old pad on my return.
That’s where “The Tribe” started. There were 3-5 of us living and paying rent and any number of people crashing at our place on a regular basis. Molly owned the place and lived downstairs with her boyfriend Peter (until he moved on a couple years later. Chris & I each had a room upstairs. Kevin, Rob, Peter, Gunner, Dan, Wendell, Chad, John, Diane, Elizabeth, Emily, Jacqui, “Yuk-Truk”, Zoe & Bill were regulars. Eventually, Tracy came into the picture, and after a short stay with Molly downstairs, moved upstairs with me. (We stayed together, and got married and now have 2 kids).
We all had so many adventures; concerts, bonfires, road trips to Boston, mind trips to who knows where; quite a few aided by beer, tequila, red wine, pot, mushrooms & acid. There were a few naked parties, a number of changes in who was with who over the years, and a little drama. I spent some of the time on the road, surveying portions of the Appalachian Trail, and Thursday night through Monday morning at “the house, with a lot of cash and free time :). We were all closer than family and knew each other soo well.
Today, as I said, Tracy & I are married and together in Westmoreland with our two kids. Chris is married and lives in Keene and has two twin boys. We see each other less and less as the years go by, although we spent an awesome spring coaching our sons’ baseball team, together. Kevin is out near Aspen, Colorado, single, and still living the high life; Sam is still in living near LA with his awesome wife Jen and 3 niños. They are so much like us, they are wavering about moving back this way and we always push them toward that decision. It would be a blast to live close. Craig…a latecomer, is up in Alaska, and Bill is in NY somewhere. Molly, my once soul-sister, has seemed to drop off the planet. Diane, Chris’s sister and once my girlfriend, lives in Boston.
I keep in touch with Chris, Kevin and Sam regularly through the Phone or E-mail, but not really anyone else.
In later years, we had the CHA gang and now the SVE gang, work friends, some of whom are great and are real close. I keep in touch with Joe, and still work with John P & Robin. She & I are best of friends and have been the “JP & Liliana” of CHA and now SVE survey for about 15 years.
Lately I’ve been putting forward to meet more people and make new friends. Of course, the kid’s school and sports teams are a great means for that. The kids go to Monadnock Waldorf, and I’ve met some fantastic people there…people who are kind of crunchy, involved in stuff, have similar interest, and even have a lot of language background, there are so many who speak Spanish. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve kind of been more of an introvert, so I’m pushing myself to get to know people.
Speaking of getting older, in the last year or so, I’ve also started checking of the list of stuff I always wanted to do, but never did. You gotta start if you want to do it. (More on this some other time) One of the things was to learn Spanish, so last spring, I bought a few books on grammar and a good dictionary and tried some on-line stuff with varied success. I read an article that mentioned an internet podcast site called SpanishPod and joined. What a difference…life changing for me! I’ve really learned so much and it’s now an enjoyable hobby, something I do like gardening or playing guitar. And as a side benefit (back to the friends theme), I’ve begun to make some really good friends. Albeit online only, but friends never the less; people I’m interested in, who seem interested in me, and whose well-being I care for. I correspond with Lily & Esti, and only in Spanish, so I get two benefits; being friends with wonderful, attractive, interesting women, and a serious motivation to keep learning Spanish. Leo & ‘Pito have corresponded with me, in English and Spanish, even outside of the SP medium, and are real cool guys that I’d chill with anytime!
I was trying to think what constitutes “a friend” for me. I realize that I like almost everyone and anyone I meet; I’m pretty easygoing that way. Are people that you see each day and hang with or talk with your “friends”? Not necessarily. I see some people everyday, whom I like, and enjoy talking with, but probably wouldn’t put them on the list of true friends. I never see Sam and only talk a few times a year, maybe visit once a year, and yet we are the same best friends from all the way back to 5th grade.
I think for me, it all comes down to DINNING. Who would I choose to share a meal with and chat with, especially who would I chose to prepare a dinner for. Cooking is one of my greatest loves and to prepare a meal is a gift I give (maybe not one you’d like to receive (ha ha), but given with love nevertheless). When I think who would I invite to dinner and to spend an afternoon of evening at my house, that is who I count as a real friend. Perhaps it wouldn't be likely they could attend, like my friends in Shanghai, California, Colorado, amongst other places (who know the invitation is open). I think for me…that is the test.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
It was a dark and stormy night…
Grace & I waited patiently for 6 O’clock to drop off Tracy and Jeremiah at cello lessons, so we could start our weekly bout of SNACK-MANIA.
Tonight we are headed to Borders for a Mississippi Mud Pie Brownie, Cocoa and Coffee, after which we’ll browse the books. When Cello is over, we’ll pick up those two and hit Amici's Pizza for dinner,a large, thin crust pepperoni, one huge slice of pizza for Grace and 8 buffalo tenders with blue cheese.
Don’t let anyone tell you the Huntley’s don’t know how to live large!!
Maybe TV tonight, we have the new Angelina movie or a recording of Monday’s Heroes. Choices, choices.
Hope it’s not icy on the way home, it’s supposed to be crappy out tonight and tomorrow. Maybe they’ll Cancel the NHLSA Exec meeting.
Tonight we are headed to Borders for a Mississippi Mud Pie Brownie, Cocoa and Coffee, after which we’ll browse the books. When Cello is over, we’ll pick up those two and hit Amici's Pizza for dinner,a large, thin crust pepperoni, one huge slice of pizza for Grace and 8 buffalo tenders with blue cheese.
Don’t let anyone tell you the Huntley’s don’t know how to live large!!
Maybe TV tonight, we have the new Angelina movie or a recording of Monday’s Heroes. Choices, choices.
Hope it’s not icy on the way home, it’s supposed to be crappy out tonight and tomorrow. Maybe they’ll Cancel the NHLSA Exec meeting.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Y Tu Mamá También
I love watching movies, although lately I’ve been batting about .250 in picking good ones. I like weird stuff, sci-fi. drama, thrillers, etc almost everything except maybe the Friday 13th/Saw genre.
So Friday night, Tracy & picked out Y Tu Mamá También. Now there’s a different Movie! Not mainstream, it seems kind of weird; I liked it…though some of it has haunted me the rest of the weekend. It made for a fun evening after the movies was over though :).
Anyway, aside from the describing what I like, which might be a spoiler….I’ve had some odd thoughts on the movie itself, given my last 9 months of learning Spanish.
1. We watched the movies with English Subtitles on…It’s in Spanish. I found much of it very distracting and somewhat of a sensory overload. I understand enough Spanish now to know, much of the time, what people are saying, if I can see a context. So I listened in Spanish, Read subtitles in English, Listened to English songs on the radio in the movies and tried to absorb some pretty wild scenes. I think I would have been better just to watch it in Spanish.
2. There was so much slang, used in context; I’m hoping I picked up some more uses.
3. I wonder how true to life the movie mirrors real-life and attitudes in Mexico. Most movies have some sort of basis in reality (if not sci fi etc)
4. There seems to be a cultural difference in what is OK to show in a Movie. Spoiler alert!!! There was a lot of full frontal male nudity in this movie, way more than a movie from the US, as well as some pretty graphic male scenes. Less so with the female star. Some nice ass shots (which was very nice…Maribel Verdu has a beautiful juicy big round butt) but really, not much female nudity in general, and nothing frontal below the waist. Everyone talked more about sex though, than in a US movie and more than I though Latinas would. Of course, it is just a movie :)
5. It’s only the second Spanish movie I’ve seen, but it does seem like everything’s not all happy endings, good guy gets the girl. The protagonists surely don’t end up very well.
6. The erotic nature of the movie sure had a positive impact on the rest of my weekend.
7. If I found “Heaven’s Mouth” I wouldn’t leave. I’d grow some food, fish and enjoy life…looked like such an awesome place.
So Friday night, Tracy & picked out Y Tu Mamá También. Now there’s a different Movie! Not mainstream, it seems kind of weird; I liked it…though some of it has haunted me the rest of the weekend. It made for a fun evening after the movies was over though :).
Anyway, aside from the describing what I like, which might be a spoiler….I’ve had some odd thoughts on the movie itself, given my last 9 months of learning Spanish.
1. We watched the movies with English Subtitles on…It’s in Spanish. I found much of it very distracting and somewhat of a sensory overload. I understand enough Spanish now to know, much of the time, what people are saying, if I can see a context. So I listened in Spanish, Read subtitles in English, Listened to English songs on the radio in the movies and tried to absorb some pretty wild scenes. I think I would have been better just to watch it in Spanish.
2. There was so much slang, used in context; I’m hoping I picked up some more uses.
3. I wonder how true to life the movie mirrors real-life and attitudes in Mexico. Most movies have some sort of basis in reality (if not sci fi etc)
4. There seems to be a cultural difference in what is OK to show in a Movie. Spoiler alert!!! There was a lot of full frontal male nudity in this movie, way more than a movie from the US, as well as some pretty graphic male scenes. Less so with the female star. Some nice ass shots (which was very nice…Maribel Verdu has a beautiful juicy big round butt) but really, not much female nudity in general, and nothing frontal below the waist. Everyone talked more about sex though, than in a US movie and more than I though Latinas would. Of course, it is just a movie :)
5. It’s only the second Spanish movie I’ve seen, but it does seem like everything’s not all happy endings, good guy gets the girl. The protagonists surely don’t end up very well.
6. The erotic nature of the movie sure had a positive impact on the rest of my weekend.
7. If I found “Heaven’s Mouth” I wouldn’t leave. I’d grow some food, fish and enjoy life…looked like such an awesome place.
Friday, December 5, 2008
NHLSA
Thursday & Friday are the annual meeting and trade show. I went yesterday. I've been feeling tense all week, and I figured out this morning, it was because I had to give a presentation to 200+ people and sit and eat with the same...most of whom I don't know.
Well...I didn't die. The day actually went great! Met and mingled with a bunch of great people and gave my report as the Director of Education. It tokk all of 2 minutes.
There was fantastic chocolate desert!
I had had enough, though, by dinner time. My stomach was upset, didn't have anone to sit with at diner (so, I'd have to mingle and meet yet again) and I was tired of sitting...just wanted to go home...so I bolted.
I had contemplated letting my term lapse or even resigning...sometimes I get stressed out by this stuff. But I enjoy the monthly executive commitee meetings, chatting and discussing common issues with other guys like myself, who are licensed, business owners or managers, who have the same life events etc. There are awards to strive for and personal/proffesional goals to work on. It gives a place to gain that little "atta boy" burst of of endorphins that you don't get when youre already at the top in tyour own sphere of work.
I wonder if NHLSA is what it's like to belong to a college fraternity, only of respectable adults. I look at all these good, important people doing cool stuff for the profession, for NH and survey law, for education, with scholarships and such...and this morning realize that to anyone else at the meetings looking at me...I'm one of those people. Kind of wierd.
Maybe I should strive to be more active in the association.
So I'm feeling pretty energized and relaxed at the same time today.
Well...I didn't die. The day actually went great! Met and mingled with a bunch of great people and gave my report as the Director of Education. It tokk all of 2 minutes.
There was fantastic chocolate desert!
I had had enough, though, by dinner time. My stomach was upset, didn't have anone to sit with at diner (so, I'd have to mingle and meet yet again) and I was tired of sitting...just wanted to go home...so I bolted.
I had contemplated letting my term lapse or even resigning...sometimes I get stressed out by this stuff. But I enjoy the monthly executive commitee meetings, chatting and discussing common issues with other guys like myself, who are licensed, business owners or managers, who have the same life events etc. There are awards to strive for and personal/proffesional goals to work on. It gives a place to gain that little "atta boy" burst of of endorphins that you don't get when youre already at the top in tyour own sphere of work.
I wonder if NHLSA is what it's like to belong to a college fraternity, only of respectable adults. I look at all these good, important people doing cool stuff for the profession, for NH and survey law, for education, with scholarships and such...and this morning realize that to anyone else at the meetings looking at me...I'm one of those people. Kind of wierd.
Maybe I should strive to be more active in the association.
So I'm feeling pretty energized and relaxed at the same time today.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Sounds Crazy
I've been feeling very fuzzy minded and crappy for a few months. Concentration just isn't there. Then all my started hurting, especially my knees, ankles and wrists and fingers. T has an aunt who uses an intuitive doctor and geve us the number, so she called about me. Apparently I'm in great health, except for a couple "stealth" virus's and some liver/pancreas/prostate problems or imbalances. She bought the herbal mixtures he recomended.
Well, I'm always a little skeptical about these things, but what the hell!!. I know We (the We of the human race) certainly don't have the answers to it all, and if something works and helps, who cares why. And...it definately works!! My joints have stopped aching and my mind is feeling so clear. I have a ton of energy, even in the mornings, and I'm losing about 1/2lb every two days.
I've cleared so many nagging little items off the "to do" list, got up the nuts to talk to people in Spanish, and I'm remembering my Spanish studies so much better. Who Knew?!? I've even started enjoying some of the things I used to do and had lost touch with, such as meditation, reading for pleasure, playing guitar more.
I'm thinking the more positive it gets, the more it'll breed positive energy! Que Bueno!!
Well, I'm always a little skeptical about these things, but what the hell!!. I know We (the We of the human race) certainly don't have the answers to it all, and if something works and helps, who cares why. And...it definately works!! My joints have stopped aching and my mind is feeling so clear. I have a ton of energy, even in the mornings, and I'm losing about 1/2lb every two days.
I've cleared so many nagging little items off the "to do" list, got up the nuts to talk to people in Spanish, and I'm remembering my Spanish studies so much better. Who Knew?!? I've even started enjoying some of the things I used to do and had lost touch with, such as meditation, reading for pleasure, playing guitar more.
I'm thinking the more positive it gets, the more it'll breed positive energy! Que Bueno!!
Monday, November 17, 2008
I'm not a virgin anymore!
I'm so excited, so I want to share. My kids go to Monadnock Waldorf School in Keene, and every Fall, we have a Christmas crafts fair. We were working at our booth this weekend. A mother of one the kid's classmates was standing near our booth, talking to some older people (her parents?), and at first I only noticed it wasn’t in English, Then BAM! I realized I understood what she was saying… in Spanish.
First Breakthrough!
Then, this morning, who do I meet at the doorway, when I’m dropping off the kids, but this same lady. Without a thought, I said "Disculpe, Habla Español?" We talked, and I told her I was learning Spanish from the Internet, but that I didn’t have anyone to actually speak with. Then BAM!…the second breakthrough, we continued an entire conversation in Spanish. (well...Spanish mixed with a little English, and with mostly Gloria talking and me nodding like a bobble head...but still I spoke) She said we could arrange a time during the week to get together and she would help me practice. She is from Lima, Peru.
Afterwards, Gracie and Jeremiah were like..."Wow...I never heard you talking with someone is Spanish before!"
Wooo hooo
First Breakthrough!
Then, this morning, who do I meet at the doorway, when I’m dropping off the kids, but this same lady. Without a thought, I said "Disculpe, Habla Español?" We talked, and I told her I was learning Spanish from the Internet, but that I didn’t have anyone to actually speak with. Then BAM!…the second breakthrough, we continued an entire conversation in Spanish. (well...Spanish mixed with a little English, and with mostly Gloria talking and me nodding like a bobble head...but still I spoke) She said we could arrange a time during the week to get together and she would help me practice. She is from Lima, Peru.
Afterwards, Gracie and Jeremiah were like..."Wow...I never heard you talking with someone is Spanish before!"
Wooo hooo
Monday, November 10, 2008
So it's Monday and I've started this Blog
I guess this is my first Blog. Just a babble I guess
So it's Monday morning...and I'm doing my usual Monday Morning ruitual...checking on Spanishpod, doing my timecard, preping for tomorrow's meeting, responding to e-mails and hoping to get outside this afternoon.
That's it for now.
So it's Monday morning...and I'm doing my usual Monday Morning ruitual...checking on Spanishpod, doing my timecard, preping for tomorrow's meeting, responding to e-mails and hoping to get outside this afternoon.
That's it for now.
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