Nothing new

Well nothing exciting happening around here. Joy has started subbing. The Red Sox should clinch the division soon (magic number is 2 with 4 games left). The Patriots are destroying all competition, which is actually quite awesome. The team this year is crazy good with Moss being as good as he was in Minnesota and Tom Brady, well, Tom Brady is being Tom Brady. Not to mention Welker and Stallworth, and Thomas on defense. Yup, looking good for another Patriots superbowl victory!!

Going to King Richard's Faire, hopefully, on Saturday, should be good...

wEak Machine is dead : (

Well, my wEak Machine finally died today. It was a good 6 years for the little pc, which lasted 5 years more than my Dad's E-Machine and my Brother-in-laws. I got it right after I graduated college, when people still got new desktops for school. Now they just buy laptops.

In all reality though, it was kinda like Darth Vader. More machine than...err, E-Machine. It had the original mobo, chip, and 256mb stick of RAM, and that was it. I put in a more RAM, new optical drives, new power supply, new hard drives, a new graphics cards (GeForce FX5200, still works!!), and I even "transplanted" it into a new, larger, more roomier case, with a couple of extra fans.

Yup, it lived a good life. It went from being my everyday machine, which I used extensively to program, play games, watch movies, to being a server, which it was on for months at a time straight, to being a Linux box, which Joy took to school with her for a year, to being Joy's PC now that we are married. Yup, well it looks like Joy gets to get a new computer now! I think we are going to get her a laptop though, they are the way to go nowadays...

Doctor vs Dentist

Went to the Doctor's yesterday for my yearly checkup. Let me just say that the Doctor's office is far better to go to than the Dentist. I really don't like the dentist. I have the same lady every time and its always the same routine:

Have you been flossing?
Yes.
Do you brush twice a day?
Yes.
You really need to take better care of your gums, you don't want to get gingivitis do you? You should brush your teeth for 2 mins you know?

On and on and on. Twice a year for the past how many ever years?!?!?!
Anyways, when I see the Doctor, this is the routine:

How are you doing?
Good.
Anything bothering you? Any questions?
No and no.
Do you need anything?
No.
Okay let me check the usual stuff...

And in 5 mins I am done, my body is healthy, blood pressure is good. And thats it, I go home, feeling happy!!

Stupid dentist...

Laboring hard

This past weekend, Labor Day weekend, I found myself back in New Hampshire again. In fact, I was in New Hampshire three of the past 4 weekends. I'm really starting to take a liking to the state. My sister is always saying I should move there. What can be bad about a state that has "Live free or die" as its motto? And no sales tax either? Well for starters, property tax is really high, and cell phone reception is limited in most of the really mountainous areas...



Anyways, RI does not even come close to the grand vistas and views you witness in NH. The rolling hills of green and mountains or rock surrounding you on all sides. The rivers and waterfalls, dense forests, tall trees, and even the lack of it all when you get above the treeline-vegetation that is struggling to stay alive in the strong, often hurricane type, wind. Ah, the beauty of it all. And once again, I found myself in New Hampshire enjoying the beauty of creation all around me.



So, the Thomas Clan somehow managed to round up all of itself plus one Cackett and Beth's boyfriend (Tim was busy working and such so he couldn't come)-thats Me, Joy, Mom, Dad, Kyle, Beth and bf (though he didn't arrive till late Sat. morning), and Kelly-and headed down to Bartlett, NH (right by Attitash and North Conway) to stay at Attitash Woods Condo #7, located in the Mt. Washington Valley. The view from our deck was spectacular-the two pictures above were both taking from there. Notice Mt. Washington in the latter picture, its the bald peak above the condo, just left of the tree in the picture. The condo itself was very nice. Its mainly used during ski season, but was still very sweet. It had the usual full kitchen, 2 full baths, master bedroom, guest room, loft-type bedroom that slept 4, deck, tv with surround sound on the main floor, tv with surround sound in the basement, along with a Foosball table, ping-pong table, and laundry and dryer. Not bad at all!!

Joy and I met my parents and Kyle, who were driving the Maxima, right off of 295, and followed them in the Orange Crush (aka SRT4). The "deal" was that we had to pick up Bethy in Boston at the train station (she's interning in NYC right now). However, her bus was late, or she took the wrong bus, or something, and we had to stop off in Quincy around 12 to waste some time at Barnes and Noble. (got a signed first edition of the newest-and last-Dune book, yeah!) Then off to Old Navy, McDonald's, and finally South Station to wait for Beth. You know whats fun? Following somebody in Saturday traffic in downtown Boston. Anyways, Beth finally arrives and we drive to Nashua, NH to pick up Kelly. When we get there, we then drive the remaining 2 hours or so to our Condo in Bartlett. We went on the Kangamacus (spelling?) highway part of it, which was cool. There were long hills which I coasted down and great views of the valley. The rest of the night is spent relaxing and watching a movie.

We wake up on Sunday to great weather. The sun is shining and there are no clouds in sight. I can see Mt. Washington from our deck! Last time I was up here all I could see were clouds everywhere! Its amazing to actually see the top of the mountain that I had hiked two weeks earlier. Unbelievable! The girls decide to go shopping, my brother and Beth's bf join them, and my Dad just relaxes. I decided to take care of some unfinished business with Mt. Washington. No, I didn't bring any of my hiking stuff, but I do have my car, so Joy and I decide to drive up to the top of Mt. Washington!



After waiting in line for an hour just to pay the fee to take the road, we finally are able to drive up the auto road. Its a pretty cool experience. The road is pretty steep and narrow in a lot of places. Some places its just dirt with nothing more than a few inches separating you from a long drop. The views are awesome though. I still can't believe how different the weather is compared to when I hiked it! I was in first gear the whole way up. It def. takes some skill driving a stick up the Mt. though. People don't go as fast as you want them too, then you are close to stalling cuz the RPMS are so low. And on dirt roads too. Thats just what you need to do is stall out or peel out on a dirt road and a really steep hill with no guard rails. Awesome.



It takes about 30 mins to get to the top and I finally get to see everything without 60 mph winds, rain, hail, and freezing cold. I can't stress how awesome the view is-100 miles visibility-insane! I finally get my picture on the actual summit, Joy too, and enjoy the view. Good stuff.





After we drive back down the Mt. (when you drive back down you are supposed to stop every so often to let your brakes cool-I don't because I use engine braking and don't have to use my brakes nearly as much as everybody else who is riding their brakes big time) and get back to the condo, we eat burgers for dinner, go in the jacuzzi, and watch some more movies. A good fun day!



The next day we head out early, eat at the usual Tilton Dinner, then head our separate ways home. This will prolly be one of the last times the whole family is together, as Beth is in New York now, Kelly and Tim in NH, and Kyle is going to basic training. It was still a lot of fun though! Especially the part where Kyle and I jumped off our 10+ foot deck then climbed back up it and the neighbors looked at us funny!



Joy and I did visit Purgatory Chasm on the way home, which I must say, was disappointing. Yeah, the rocks might be fun to climb, if they let you, but it was a lot less impressive than I thought. Oh well!

Why I dread getting my oil changed

For some reason I dread getting my oil changed. It was that time of the year yesterday. Well I should say one of the 4 times a year that I should get my oil changed-all things being normal. I was actually 3 weeks overdue for it, but I've been gone the past 2 weeks, so this was the weekend to get the dirty deed done.

Even the fact that I had a coupon for a free oil change didn't brighten my mood either.

I even told myself that if there was a line I wasn't going to do it. But luckily (or unluckily) there was no line.

So, on Sunday, around 3pm, I went to the Jiffy Lube on Route 2 to get my oil changed in my 2005 Dodge Neon SRT4.

As soon as I pull up, the oil dude starts eyeing my car.

When I get inside the waiting area I hear him drive into the garage. By hear him, I mean not only do I hear my dual exhaust, I hear many revs followed by the pshhhhhhhhhhhhh sound of the Mopar Blow off Valve I have installed. Every time I go to Jiffy Lube they make a point of revving the engine as many times as they can!

After a few mins they call "Dodge Neon" and I walk outside to talk to the dude.

"You going to keep using Synthetic?" he asks me.
"Of course" I say.
"This is a nice car you got here."
I nod my head. "Yup."
"Its a turbo isn't it?"
"Yes it is." Did he read that off my windshield sticker or actually check out the engine?
"You got a blow-off valve don't you?"
"Yes I do." What gave you that idea?

Then he tries to sell me on the usual stuff-new wiper blades, radiator flush, tire rotation, etc. No thank you.

Twenty mins later they are actually done. They usually only take 10 mins, but it looks like they had the usual Sunday crew they used to give me when I managed at BK, you know, the "B" team. Out of 4 people in the waiting area with me, there were 2 complaints.

But, I guess I can't complain, I got a $50 oil change for free with the coupon, even if it means a longer wait and the crappy job they do of vacuuming, etc. I think next time I might take it to the dealership, they don't go crazy everytime they see my car...

The Highest Point in...

Today Joy and I traveled to the highest point in RI at a whopping 812ft above sea level. That place? Jerimoth Hill in Foster. There's a sign by the side of the road and then a two mintue walk (a 5 foot elevation gain-whoa!) and you are at the actual spot/rock which has a small cairn stone at top. There's also a mailbox with a notebook that you can sign, which Joy and I did. At the spot where the rock is, there is a small clearing with a few sheds and a telescope pad and at the point the property is owned by Brown University. The path to get there however is private property. Strangely enough, for the longest time (until 2005 I think) it was almost impossible to get to the actual spot because the owner(s) never let anybody!!

Anyways, I've now been to the highest point in 2 states! (NH and RI) It would be fun to join the Highpointers Club, climb the highest point in each state, however thats a lot of Mountain Climbing, Alaska's Mt. McKinely being the highest at 20320 ft.

The clearing at the top of the "hill"



The trail that we "hiked" to get there



Me at the unofficial highest point (actual spot is mere 5 feet higher)



The wife at the actual highest spot in RI

Eat cold steel!

Just got my 2007 COLD STEEL product catalog in the mail. You know, the makers of knives, more knives, swords, throwing knives, etc, etc? That Cold Steel. It also came with a DVD that showcases how good their swords really are. I want a sword. More knives would be fun too. Maybe some more throwing knives (since somebody lost one of mine...) But yes, thats s-words. These are words that begin with the letter S. I think I'm going to try and talk my wife into getting me a sword at King Richard's Faire this year. The talk was unsuccessful last year, but it might work this year! If not, kettle popcorn and seeing the Liger is always a lot of fun...