Williamstown, MA (part 9)

I can't end this blog chapter without a dining & B&B recommendation. The 1896 House just 2 miles south of the campus. http://www.1896house.com/home.htm Jamie and I dropped in twice in one evening. It was that impressive. This photo has us dining on a walnut pear salad, a very good bowl of New England clam chowder, and a spicy spaghetti dish called Fra Diavalo, which had clams, scallops, and shrimp. Very tasty and relatively reasonable. The dinner ended with a white cheddar topped apple dumpling with a very nice glass of port. Total bill = $50.00 So not to bad considering the region. The B&B has three buildings. Brookside, Poolside, and Barnside. (quite clever names) Prices range from a low of $70 to $200/night depending on your wallet.

Fort Housac (part 8)
Ok, I promised you a photo of Jamie's room after having arrived less than 12 hours ago. (top photo) Bottom photo is work in progress with the help of two friends from Sierra Nevada. It wasn't completed when I left, but major progress had been made, by Jamie, and her promises to be the best decorated in the entire house. Of course it will be! It's Jamie.

Williamstown (Part 7)

The town is somewhat spread out and if there was a main street, which is called Spring Street, it would look like this. The building with the water truck in front of it, is the Post Office. The other pic is that of the B&L building and houses a very nice coffee shop that is looking for workers.

Williamstown is the northwesternmost town in Massachusetts. The town is bordered on the north by Pownal, Vermont, on the east by Clarksburg, North Adams and Adams, on the south by New Ashford and Hancock, and on the west by Berlin, New York and Petersburg, New York.

Originally called West Hoosac, the area was first settled in 1749. Fort West Hoosac, a blockhouse and stockade, was built in 1756. The town was incorporated in 1765 as Williamstown after Ephraim Williams, who was killed in the French and Indian War. He bequeathed a significant sum to the town on the condition that it were named after him and started a free school. In 1791, the school opened, becoming Williams College in 1793. So it's kinda old compared to Manteca, CA.

Williamstown is a town in Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,424 at the 2000 census. A college town, it is home to Williams College, the Clark Art Institute and the Tony-awarded Williamstown Theatre Festival, which runs every July and August

Williams College Campus(part 6)

Students number about 2100. That's undergrads and grads, with only about 50 grad students. 12 of which are Art/History majors. 11 of which live in Jamie's house. (Oh, the name of her house is Fort Hoosac) The buildings you see here are, from the top, Stetson Hall, Hopkins Hall (coincidence, I think not) and a view of the Thompson Memorial Chapel with The Eyes which are on the lawn in front of the Williams College Museum of Art. Jamie tells me Louise Bourgeois gets the credit for those sculptures. (like I don't know that) And they light up at night, which could be quite the fright after a few glasses of .....)

Williamstown, MA (Part 5)

The kitchen! A big wow! Something you might find in a restaurant. Several seating areas, multipule refrigerators and stoves, dishwasher, many shelves, and 11 grad students. There has got to be some food stories developed in this culinary atmosphere. Can't wait to hear about them. I know one of the students is from Beijing, China.

Williams College (Part 4)

175 South Street, Williamstown, MA 01267 for those wanting to send a card. More on the 'house' with these three pics. The dining room must be close to 800 square feet with a grand table and seating for 12. The photo only shows half the table. The place has beautiful hardwood floors throughout. The 'family' room, also 800 square feet, boasts a huge working fireplace, numerous couches, a piano, and library, almost as large as Jamie's. It was also my bedroom for one night.

Williamstown, MA (part 3)
Can you spell 'r-u-r-a-l'? These are two pics from the back of the shack. Nice covered deck, a bike rack (strong hint from Jamie that she wants a bike) and doors that lead into the dining room and family room. Absolutely a gorgeous setting for a college, for museums, and for grad student housing.

Pre-pics. More on moving in day for Jamie and Williams College. Does a college grad really need all this 'stuff'? We got it all in her room, now what to do with it? Leave it to Jamie to be creative. Stay tuned for the post shots. 200 books! And more on the way.

Thursday, August 28th

Roundtrip flight from Milwaukee to Balitimore = $157.50. Avis mini-van rental for 3+ days = $210.33. Gas to drive 889 miles = $131.24. Maryland, Delaware and NY tolls = $24.60. Parking in Milwaukee = $25.60. Seven hours in the car with your daughter = PRICELESS! So what do an Art/History major and an EX-explosive safety engineer talk about! Everything. 7 states in 7 hours. Welcome to the East Coast.

So we pulled into the driveway of this tiny little Williamstown bungalow, and I took this photo. There's 1k of words.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Moving Day! I flew from Milwaukee to Baltimore where I met Jamie, rented a van, and drove up to Robin's place to attempt to fit 20 tons of 'stuff' in a 10 ton vehicle. We did it! 200 books included. Thanks to Robin who was gracious enough to store the stuff over the summer and put us up for a night. The next morning we braced ourselves for a 7 hour drive and the 'unloading' of a full van.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

A great day for a Sunday drive. Brother Pete and I decided to head West on this particular fine sunny day and Lake Wisconsin was our destination. Located a few miles from Poynette, WI and a stones throw from the Wisconsin Dells. (not sure if anybody could throw a stone that far, but the saying fit) So why pick this lake? Perhaps it was because our older sister, Bec, (in the black & white outfit) but not by much, was having her family reunion. Perhaps? All 5 of Bec's kids attended along with 17 plus grandchildren. yep. 17! wow! (and another on the way) Besides Ethan & Laura, (Tiffany's) I don't think I had met the other 15, so it was a pleasure to finally put some faces with the names I didn't know. Mike & Heidi, with her 8 plus, Brett & Cheri with their two, Karl & Rachel with their two, Tiffany with her two, and Julie with her three. Bec & Len had rented out 5 cabins right next to the lake and they had a huge backyard for the kids to run around. A perfect day and beginnings of a perfect week. One of Heidi's kids came up to me and in the most polite manner said, "My name is Abigal and I'm six. If you want to write that down, it's spelled A-B-I-G-A-L. I laughed, and I did write it down. Thanks Bec for the invite.

August 22, 2008
Retire in 8 years or less! That has been my slogan, one that is on my business cards and tee-shirts. For those that haven't heard my 'speech', the basis for this is based on a simple program of saving $1.50/day, and investing it wisely. That's about $45/month. I call it my spare change retirement account. Just last week I deposited $39.00 in spare change. Note the key word: deposited, and not spent or cashed-in.
Every month I find ways to save at least this amount and today's tip is rebates. I needed insulation for my garage project, and when the local hardware store put it on sale, I was there. Then I learned that the manufacturer was offering a 25% rebate, so today I'm mailing that in for a nice $16.50 rebate. Yeah, I had to cut off the upc codes and fill out a form and spent 47 cents on a stamp, but so what. I would do that for a $1.00 rebate. Where else to you get a 100% return on your investment in a just a few weeks!
Designing your weekly meals around the grocery sale items, can also save you many dollars and freezing those sale items also works. Finding a good IPA for $6.00 versus $8.00 has saved me thousands. lol When TP went on sale for $4.00, I backed the truck up and saved hundreds. (extra tip: it doesn't work to freeze it) It doesn't take long to save $45/month, is my point. Now where you invest it is also very important. If you're getting 5%/year from your savings account, it will take you 47 years to amass $100,000 and then what, can you live on $5000/year? But if you were to make 5%/month, then it would only take you about 8 years to reach the $100,000 mark, and could you live on $5000/month?
I shall leave you with that thought for now.

August 20, 2008

I was gently reminded that I had not made a posting to my blog in a while, so here is some fairly recent evidence that I'm still alive and healthy. Some of you ask "how do you keep such a nice figure, John?" These three pics are my answer. How bad is it when you talk a 10 year old into pulling you around the EAA show in a wagon. (Julia) I asked a stranger to take the picture. It turns out she was from Germany and got a kick out of it along with a few others walking past. I have no idea what stories they are going to tell their friends.

The office shot is just that. My office in the basement of 56 15th Street. Quite comfortable and cool. Don't mind the disarray of things, it's all work in progress, especially the guy sitting there. So my friend Phil caught me in middle swing of a dingleball throw. Note the lifting of the right leg which is critical if laughter is be had.

Friday, August 8th
For those that love numbers, twice today it will be 08-08-08-08-08-08.
Now this picture might need some explanation or you can make up your own story. Your choice. For my birthday, a good friend of mine gave me a gift certificate for a pedicure. Perhaps a strong hint that my feet smell and my toes look gross! It was sooooooo nice to be pampered while they ground off my nails, sandpapered my scaley hooves, and painted. The short twinge of feeling gay left quickly. Thanks Lisa. I highly recommend such a treatment to all the guys out there. BTW, the lucky girl to do the work is Andrea Gilson who works at Rob's Riverwood Salon & Spa. I misread it the first time and thought it was saloon & bar, so I was pretty excited when I walked in and they asked me what I wanted to drink.

Wednesday, July 30,2008
Third day of the incredible EAA AirVenture. Very cool planes. Today it was Cathy, her sister, Sharon, and her husband, Steve that attended the shows. The coolers were loaded, the sandwiches made, and the chips were crisp...we were ready. The air show lasted almost 3 hours and the return of the Harrier jet was impressive. The day was gorgeous with a slight breeze and a few clouds, as the photos show.
After the show we headed back to the cars and dined sumptuously on sandwiches and cool beverages. About 8pm we packed up our chairs and headed back to the Theatre in the Woods where the ventriloquist, Jeff Dunham was performing. What a crowd! Not sure if the people outnumbered the mosquitoes or what! The guy is pretty funny, and for those of you that haven't' heard of him, he has 3, 4 if you count the Mexican stick, dummies. Walter, Ahhkmed, and Peanut. A great laugh. It was after 11:30 before returning home. Way past this old man's bed time.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Day 2 of the incredible AirVenture show in Oshkosh. Today I had the pleasure of escorting a beautiful young lady named Julia to the show. (again, thanks Cathy for the tickets) We arrived at 2pm or 13:59 for you engineers and geeks reading this. (same difference, just being polite)

The one photo shows Julia by the Dreamlifter. (mentioned in yesterday's entry) When we entered the EAA grounds, I told Julia that she might see one of the largest planes ever. I pointed it out when we were about a 1/4 mile away and she wasn't that impressed. Her eyes got considerably larger as we neared. As did mine.

She got to sit in a real Navy helicopter and go inside the Duggy: Smile in the Sky Plane. Later, during the show, they used that plane to drop 6 parachutists. Really cool stuff for a 52 year old, and a 10 year old.

After a stroll through some of the large hangars where we gathered the 'free' stuff, and a stop at one of the food vendors for some chicken tenders, we positioned ourselves right on the flight line, sat back in our chairs, feet propped up on the deluxe wagon, that I made Julia pull, and prepared ourselves to be dazzled. And dazzled we were. The first hour was nothing but really cool Warbirds. Nearly a hundred of them. A sight to behold, indeed. Then the regular airshow began. After several incredible displays, we decided to call it a day, and make our way back to the vehicle. (car) A really fun day with a really cool young lady. Thanks, Julia.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Tons of excitement in the area this weekend with the opening day of EAA AirVenture 2008 in Oshkosh. The skies were buzzing with the arrival of all sorts of weird looking planes this past weekend. This the is largest airshow of it's kind in the world. HUGE! Over a half million people are expected during this 7-day event.

Thanks to Cathy who works at the EAA Museum, I will have a chance to attend almost every day, beginning with today, opening day. Thanks, Cathy!

Some of the events today included the only aerobatic helicopter show in North America. The Red Bull Helicopter did some things helicopters can't do, like fly upside down. Think about that for a minute, and wonder. (ok,time's up)

The 4 person team called the Collaborator Formation Flying Team were one of my favorites. Incredible stunts, hard to describe, just had to be there thing.

Perhaps my favorite, shown above, was the performance of the the U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B "Harrier II" jump jet, the unique fighter aircraft that features vertical takeoff. Very awesome and loud.

We watched the Boeing Dreamlifter, shown above, arrive. This colossal modified 747-400 aircraft is one of only three in the world. It features a significantly enlarge fuselage allowing it to carry more cargo by volume than any airplane. Humongous does not even describe this giant.

For those that are old enough to remember the 70's and for those that are old enough and can't remember the 70's, Foreigner played on opening day. It it weren't so hot and shadeless, it would have been more enjoyable.

As you might be able to tell from this blog entry, it was FUN! More coming on Tuesday and Wednesday. Enjoy.

For more excitement and pics and info, go to: www.airventure.org

Monday, July 21, 2008
Following the visit from Phil Z., my good friend, Brenda, from Harrisburg, PA flew into Milwaukee. Shown above with the infamous Fond du Lac lighthouse. A stop at one of the local golf courses, a few antique stores, and most of the local drinking establishments filled the 3 day trip. In tribute to Phil's just about patented breakfast of 'beans-on-toast' (Wisconsin style when you add bratwurst and horseradish) Brenda 'enjoys' a send-off breakfast. Not so sure here fellow passengers did.

Ah Mire! Un pollo! or in English, Oh Look! A chicken.

July 22, 2008 and still my birthday month. When will it end! My good friend, college roomy, former co-worker, Phil the Zablocki popped into town late on Saturday night. On Sunday I showed him the highlights in/around Fond du Lac, i.e. Lakeside park, the infamous lighthouse, Cedar Lodge, cheese curds, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Rowlands Brewery. Life doesn't really get much better than that. Unless you get involved with a heated dingleball game. Not telling you the score. Enjoy.

REO Speedwagon comes to the Fond du Lac County Fair!

The evening began with a great fajita dinner over at Pete/Sharon/Carolyn's place. After a few quality beers and cheap time, I decided to attend the county fair.

You read that corrrectly. With a little encouragement from my roommate, David, I forced myself to attend a county fair last night only for one reason, to hear REO perform. Not the corn dogs and cotton candy or the lure of free cheap stuffed animanls. Hey, for $10, it was worth it. The pictures tell the story, so I won't. Enjoy. They still sound great.