Beach and Brewery and Bros

I decided to head up to New Hampshire to hang out with my old friends on a Friday night.

I left the house at 3 pm, and headed for Hampton Beach. The traffic was so bad on 495 North, that it took me two hours for what would normally be about a 75-minute drive. But once I hit the sand, and the salt air hit my nose, I didn't care anymore. I took a few photos (including one of "LEGO Ken" holding a 'Hi Miss K! ♥' flag, which I messaged to Karley), and then hung out in the surf for a half hour, swimming, floating, and just enjoying the feel (and taste) of the Atlantic Ocean.

At 6:15 I headed to the Red Hook Brewery to meet the guys for beer and food. First, I changed in the car, and then I went to the bathroom to wash the sunscreen and salt water off my hands and face. I got an ESB at the bar, and bought Erik a beer too when he walked in 2 minutes later. Brian showed up soon after, I snagged him a beer, and then we got a table. Chris showed up about 30 minutes later, and we all shared tortilla chips & salsa and some cheese quesadillas. Brian's girlfriend Jackie arrived later, and Rob soon after, and I had a crappy burger and chips, Brian got the mac & cheese, Erik snagged some buffalo tenders, and Chris got some nachos.

After we settled our bill, we all got in our various cars (minus Jackie), and drove over to Chris' 3rd-story apartment in Exeter. Brian & I walked to Gerry's Variety for beer, and then we all hung out til around one am, drinking beer, reminiscing about old times (Barnes & Noble, music, ex girlfriends, etc...).

I drove home with the stereo blasting either WXGR or my current favorite pop songs, and arrived home at 2:30 am, a very happy guy, for having spent an evening with 4 of my best friends.

Early Resolutions

2015

I think my two biggest New Year Resolutions for 2015 are going to be:

• A) truly honing my drawing skills (I want to get better with shading and line thicknesses).
• B) finally putting major work into learning to play the guitar I bought back in 2009.

The rest of my usual resolutions (lose weight, go to many live music performances, travel more, etc...) will have to manifest of their own accord...

Okemo Thanksgiving Getaway

Wed - drove up in the now, arrived around 11 pm. 

Nearly slid down the mountain in my car!

Thu - Ma's awesome Thanksgiving dinner.

Fri - Sarah's kick-ass pancakes & bacon breakfast. 

Headed home around noon.

Great holiday trip.

Read; drew with all 3 girls; played pool w/the twins; 

played LEGO Marvel Super heroes w/Hayden.

Football all day Thursday with Dad.

Off to Vermont!

Thanksgiving is once again in Vermont. 

Dad & Ma, and Sarah & Hayden & Celia all got up to the house in Ludlow (on Okemo) earlier today; Jon is at the Celtics game with Helena & Georgia, and I am leaving in about 20 minutes (just before 8pm).

12 Years Ago

Maine Round 2

I spent Tuesday the 28th - Wednesday the 29th doing Operations work at the Maine mall store. I spent most of the first day tearing down the big section of the back room, and organizing it. The second day was sorting through/tossing out paperwork & binders, doing shipment, and positioning the staff for success. The team  is great, they have 3 new hires ready to go, and it was a fun second trip (better weather, too).

Maine Commute

My approach to the border between NH & ME last Friday:

Mission: Maine

My district manager wants me to undertake two work missions in Maine over the next week or so:

1. Work Friday and Saturday (11am - 9pm) and focus solely on sales in our severely-understaffed (3 employees!) store up there.
2. Work Tuesday and Wednesday (1pm - 10pm  and 9am - 5pm, respectively) teaching the staff operations and observing their daily routines & paperwork management.

I plan on hitting Old Port Friday night after work (Gritty McDuff's!), and maybe stopping in Portsmouth on the way home Saturday night to hang out with Brian & Rob.

I'm actually more excited about this weekend's work shifts than I am about the two days off I am currently in the midst of. Weird...

9 Days - SIX

I woke up at 9:30 (another great night's sleep), threw on some clothes, and went down to Mocha Mott's for the third time in three days for a large coffee, and another sausage, egg & cheese on a plain bagel for breakfast. Then it was packing, showering and getting ready to head off-island.

My reservation was for 5 pm, but I opted for an early exodus, and got in the stand-by line at 11:30 am. There wasn't room on the noon ferry, so I read a big chunk of "A Tramp Abroad". As a result, because I drive a Honda Civic, mine was the only car that would fit on the 1:15, and I got to cut in front of many SUVs - HAHAHA!

It was a nice drive home. My box of books from Amazon was waiting for me when I walked in, and Sabrino was ecstatic that I was back from being gone for over 54 hours. My cat is the best. He sat on my lap for awhile, and later, when I unpacked my suitcase he spent a good thirty minutes happily rolling around on one of the shirts I had on during my trip. I love him so much!

I spent the rest of the day emptying my DVR, catching up online, and then watching tonight's shows.

9 Days - Prequel

I have the following dates off: Saturday February 16th through Sunday February 24th.

I have many plans, which can be found under the "9 Days" Tab at the top of the page.

Headed Off-Continent

I just booked a room at The Nashua House on Martha's Vineyard. I'll be staying overnight in order to enjoy a mini-vacation of walking, local beer, fresh sea air, and sightseeing.