Nine Years Gone (Part1)

    Reflecting back to September 11, 2001, watching archived news feeds from that fateful morning, brought back the feeling of stunned disbelief I felt that day.  The anger, confusion and shock we all felt came rushing back.  But rather than discuss and review the events of 9/11 I would like to relate my adventure of a few days after.  Looking back now it all seems a dream.

    I was, at the time, Secretary-Treasurer of the Tunnelworkers Local Union 88 out of Quincy, MA and as such was elected as a delegate to the Laborers' International Union of North America Convention in Las Vegas.  The Convention is a once every five year event where the Constitution of the Union is amended by vote of the 2,500 or so delegates.  It is a big deal.  The Convention was to open with a welcoming dinner on Saturday night September 15th.  I had already secured airline tickets for my wife and I to arrive on the 14th but in light of everything that happened I expected the Convention to be cancelled.  I called the Regional office to check and to my surprise was told that the Convention would go ahead as planned.  Of course all the airports in the country were closed so how was one to get his ass to Las Vegas from Quincy?  How about drive?

    With no flights and thousands of people stranded you know rental cars were scarce but after a few calls I managed to get the last car available in eastern Mass.  It was a Pontiac Grand-Am and it would have to do.  So about 11:00AM Thursday the 13th we picked the car up in Dedham and took the next exit to I-90 heading west to begin a cross country odyssey.  I told the wife if she got us past Buffalo (400 miles) I would take us the rest of the way.  She did better than that and got us past Buffalo and down I-90 almost to Cleveland.  The drive was surreal.  Every state's troopers were out in force and every other car you passed had a rent-a-car sticker on its back bumper.  Speed limits were not enforced by the police and zipping by the mounties at 80 MPH soon became the norm.  I thought for sure there would be roadblocks at some point as the whole country was on alert but so far that was not the case. We were all in this together.   Since this post is going to be kind of long I'll finish the story in a second post.

Right On Tom

Thomas Jefferson On Banksters, Yes, In 1802.

BeforeItsNews.Com

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
   
    Man,  that Thomas Jefferson was a smart guy.  Here it is 200 years later and his warning has come true!  The banks and corporations of 21st century America are raping the people with the government's blessing no matter which party is in power.  The "hope" Obama sold us has turned to the sickening realization that it's just business as usual in Washington.  Foreclosures, homelessness, unemployment and corruption continue apace while Congress fiddles.  People are fighting so hard just to keep their heads above water they don't have the time or energy to confront the daily assault on their pocketbooks or their rights.  Where it will end or how it turns out in the near future should be up to the people but it really isn't.  Big money rules the day, corporate media clears the way and the peons fall in line.

The Way We Were

 

This Just In

University of Massachusetts Rated One of the Best Universities in the World by Times of London

September 16, 2010
by Office of Communications
University of Massachusetts only New England public university to make “gold standard” list

The University of Massachusetts was rated as one of the best universities in the world in the 2010 World University Rankings released today by the Times of London newspaper – the only public university in New England to make the prestigious list.

UMass ranked 56th in the Times of London’s Top 200, which the newspaper describes as “the gold standard for world-class research institutions.”

In announcing this year’s World University Rankings, Times Higher Education editor Ann Mroz said: “We would like to congratulate the University of Massachusetts for its performance in this year’s rigorous rankings. Being ranked 56 in the world top 200 is an impressive achievement. The top 200 universities in the world represent only a tiny fraction of world higher education and any institution that makes it into this table is truly world class.”

In this year’s World University Rankings, the University of Massachusetts:

• Is the only public university in New England to make the Top 200

• Ranks fourth in Massachusetts (behind Harvard, MIT and Tufts), and sixth in New England (after Harvard, MIT, Yale, Tufts and Brown)

• Is the 14th highest-rated American public university and is the 33rd highest-rated American institution public or private

Just goes to show you what I said in my previous post.  UMass is BOSS!

Missing School

 

  A great university in a beautiful setting with a distinguished faculty.  Many of the professors and graduate students are involved in leading edge research in a number of diverse fields. Real strong in the sciences and a leader in environmental study.  I met a lot of hard working kids carrying full class loads and holding down a job (or two) so next time someone says this generation of kids

is lazy I beg to differ.  I'm proud to call UMass/Boston my alma mater.

    The scenery is spectacular and not just the ocean views, but the thousands of lovely women that go there, especially those first warm days of spring when the flowers shed their bulky coats and sweatshirts to absorb the warmth of the sun's rays and the "buds bloom" after a long, cold winter.  Truly a phenomena not to be missed.

It's Like Everything You Buy

This ad says it all about the junk we spend good money on and what we really get.

 

    Everything you buy these days is junk.  Nothing delivers on its promise.  Cheesy materials, unfathomable instructions,planned obsolescence and idiotic design are not what we paid for but  that's what we get.  Well, you tell yourself, I'll spend a little extra to get more quality,but do you? No. You just end up with more expensive junk. 

    I bought a gas can at Home Depot a couple of weeks ago.  I could not for the life of me figure out how this thing works; a friggin' GAS CAN. It has a green twisty device on the neck that is on lock or unlock but what it locks I have no idea.  But the best part is, the lower end of the neck has a pinhole for the gas to go through, locked or unlocked. I showed it to two salty old dudes who have been around and they were clueless also. I got a funnel and pour the gas out the large hole and forget about the neck piece.

    What is really grinding my stones is this: I totally renovated the house I live in to bring it into the 21st century.  In the process I decided to go with a Corian countertop in the kitchen with the sink all moulded into the counter.  Very sharp looking.  Corian is supposed to be the Cadillac of counter materials and as such carries a hefty pricetag.  Well yesterday as I was wiping down the sink I noticed what I thought to be a hair in the corner of the sink.  It wasn't; it was a crack.  A CRACK in this miracle material after two years of light usage.  It carries a ten year warranty but still how does something like this happen?  If I had opted for a plain old stainless steel sink it wouldn't have happened.  Now we will see if duPont honors their warranty or jerks me around.  Stay tuned and caveat emptor. 

Letter to the Editor (Secret Ingredient Revealed)

Dear Creepyolderguy,
    I don't think it's fair for you to tease us with this so called awesome pasta sauce recipe and then withhold the "secret ingredient" from us.  What kind of person does that?  You're just like every other man.
Signed,
Pissed in Peoria

Dear Pissed,
Yikes!  I did not mean to aggravate you by holding back my secret ingredient so without further delay I'll give it to you now.  You must be careful about telling loved ones what it is, as it is my experience that most people turn up their nose at the idea of ingesting this stuff.  It will give your sauce a depth you never could of imagined.  The envelope please... it is ANCHOVY PASTE.  Yes that's right squeeze one inch of anchovy paste into the onions as they are sauteing, stir it good and it will dissolve in the oil with no one the wiser.  Anchovy paste comes in a tube and can be found at grocers everywhere in the canned fish section.  Mangia!!
PS:  I'd be pissed in Peoria too.  The recipe is here.

Wisdom

"Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires."
  Francois de La Rochefoucauld 

"When you are through changing, you are through."

 Bruce Barton


"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."- Thomas Jefferson


"By a lie a man throws away and, as it were, annihilates his dignity as a man." - Immanuel Kant




"Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." - Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)


"Be fearless. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no." 
 Graham Hill

I love quotations.

Patriots to Win Super Bowl XLV

    You heard it here first kids, the New England Patriots will win  Super Bowl XLV.  In what will be his most heroic season yet Tom Brady will lead the Pats to another Super Bowl win.  Overcoming the handicap of a young, unproven defense and the loss of uberlineman Logan Mankins the Pats will score at will against their baffled opponents.  Who cares if the HBO Jets march downfield for seven minutes to score, for when the ball gets back to Tom it'll be bing, bang, boom touchdown Pats in a 1:25 minute, seventy five yard drive totally demoralizing the overmatched defense. I can't wait to hear the doomsayers and haters in the national media start kissing Tom's ass around week 5 of the season when the truth finally becomes apparent to those frauds.  I'm backing up my opinion with a $500 bet on the Super Bowl XLV future line at 12-1.  I'll be laughing all the way to the bank!  Jump on the bandwagon now.
   One prediction I made eight years ago that I hope I live to see:  Tom Brady will one day be President of the United States.

Rachael's Hot Poppers

ItalianRach in a more playful mood away from the kitchen!  Love those poppers!

Italian Poppers from the world's sexiest cook

• 10 small plum tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 small Spanish onion, cut into small dice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 6 slices prosciutto, chopped
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup basil, chopped
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF.
Slice the tomatoes in half across the middle, making two tomato cups per tomato. Scoop out the tomato guts and discard.
Place a small skillet over medium-high heat with two turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Sauté the onion and garlic until soft, 3-5 minutes Transfer to a medium size mixing bowl and let cool.
Add the mozzarella, prosciutto, breadcrumbs, basil and parsley to the bowl, then season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Divide the mixture among the tomato cups. Transfer the tomatoes to a baking sheet, then transfer to the oven and bake until the tops are golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.



 

Miners over 18.

Ah the good ol' days.

The things we do for money, eh.  This is from 2004, the Narraganset Bay Combined Sewer Overflow Tunnel. 12 hours a day 6 days a week.  Not a lot of fun but the money was excellent.

WTF?

    It's incredible to think that we need a law against texting while driving.  How can anyone in their right mind imagine they can responsibly operate a car weighing two tons with a couple of hundred horsepower while typing on a tiny keyboard.  It's bad enough when people are talking and driving.  You can spot these idiots a half a mile away weaving, hitting the brakes for no reason, sitting at a green light or holding up traffic with their erratic acceleration and braking.  Most of my driving is in heavy traffic and the cell phone gabbers and texters contribute mightily to the logjam.  How can you use your turn signal when you have one (or both) hands on your cell phone, ah why bother.  I think some of it has to do with the general inconsideration for others that's part of our culture today.
    I am against any laws that infringe on our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of which there are far too many these days, but cell phone usage should be banned while driving a car although I suppose hands free units might be OK.  Please try to pay attention while driving and save your insignificant messaging until the car is shut off.  Come on people wake the fuck up.