829 Southdrive

829 Southdrive

A New Jersey state of mind



Saturday, October 29, 2011

Sneak Peek




No snow here in Chucktown!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Moving Day




I had to move the boat from the State Marina by the 31st, and
since we're not around this weekend, I brought her to a friend's
 lagoon to spend a week or two until I figure out to whom I'm gonna 
give the honor of hauling Bay Rhumb for the winter.  

Cormorants are nervous birds.  They see you coming,
and unlike seagulls who stay put and almost dare you to run them
over, panic and take off flying or dive under and re-emerge
fifty yards away,  all the while looking for a tasty mouthful.





Steaming westward into a very stiff breeze.  I'm not real familiar
with this channel and will cut the throttle soon to avoid being 
thrown over the wheel if I unexpectedly hit bottom.  Panning North,
then South, it hits me:  summer's over, and except for the few
sailboats to the South, there's nobody out this October Tuesday
afternoon.  




Nestled snugly in her temporary berth, I tied up Bay Rhumb 
and installed a couple of bumpers to fend her when the wind
invariably shifts to the Southeast.  It's nice to have good friends
with such nice accommodations.





See you in a week or two.





Only other thing I needed to do before heading home was to
drop Charley's spinnaker pole off at Beaton's.
Any excuse to swing by my favorite boatyard is a good one.
I counted at least five A Cats in this shed, along with several
smaller 'filler' boats.  Yep, summer's over.





In any other place, this little skiff would be rotting away, but it's
obvious by the looks of this one that there is full intention of
restoration.  I'd still love to know how that boat on the right 
made it up here from Mississippi.





It amazes me how some of these boat owners choose to get 
the work done in the fall, rather than waiting 'til spring to decide 
whether or not there are enough funds to do so.  
Deep pockets.  Deeper than mine. 




I'm thrilled that Tom has decided to expand (I originally said 
modernize but that would be something I prefer he didn't do) 
and build a bigger office and ship's store building.  As stated earlier,
 there are enough deep pockets around here to keep an 
old-fashioned place like this operating for a long, long time. 
 I just hope that they make it look weathered like all of
 the other sheds surrounding it.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Pictures at a Competition




Generator, satellite dish, 2 HD TVs, deep fryer, gas grill, tunes,
2 coolers, and a bean bag game.  Why even go inside?  I'm
not sure they ever did.




It's either wait in line to see what the people before you needed
to expel, because you know there's a melange of matter in there,





or take a walk into the swamps of Jersey.




Senator John Blutarsky was in attendance.




Coconut-curry chicken skewers.  I shoulda made more.
A hell of a lot more.





Still the tallest building in Manhattan, but not for long.




Robert is the luckiest Parking Technician at Giants Stadium.
We always park in the same spot, game after game, and he's 
always there to greet us and wave us right in.  Amazing how
we get a spot so close to our tailgating group every time, even
though we're arriving as much as two hours after the gates open.
In turn, he eats like a king all pre-game long: ribs, chicken wings,
sausage sandwiches, baked ziti, filet mignon, grilled oysters 
and clams, shrimp cocktail,  and desserts of all sizes and shapes.
I've seen him directing traffic and yelling at someone while holding
a paper plate full of food.  I love that guy.





Friday, October 14, 2011

King Cole




Two sets tomorrow, Saturday, October 15 at 
the Record Collector in Bordentown, NJ.
Pete, you and Uncle Jim gonna make it down 
there?  Tell Richie I said hey.



Sunday, October 9, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Johnny Come Lately




And to think that I just got my own first iPod on Monday.  I'm still
trying to wrap my head around the whole concept of  not having to
gently lay the stylus down on the record.  I've got 160 frigabytes 
of memory!  That's 40,000 songs.  And I can load photos, movies,
and TV shows to boot.  I wonder if the Honeymooners are out on
iTunes yet.  I suppose I'll never run out of music while mowing the 
lawn.  How long does it take to cut my grass, you ask?  
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.   The album.

Steve Jobs didn't just influence a generation, but several of them.
Everyone else out there is a copycat. The letter i will never be
looked at the same way again, and i am just getting started.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

We'll take it!




Hakeem Nicks was born with Stick-um on his hands




Larry Fitzgerald gives $1000 to charity for every pass he catches.
In keeping with being charity-minded, the Jints should give 1k for
every pass defended against Fitz.  I'm thinking they can swing it.


\


I'm loving #71 Dave Tollefson.  Big, white defensive
linemen are hard to come by these days.




Victor, next time you want to give up the ball, make sure you hear
the whistle first.  Phew!  Good job boys, on not giving up and 
coming home with a road win.  We'll see you in two weeks
against Buffalo.  K-9 if you want to tailgate; we'll have plenty.