Two dead, one a child 8, 50 to 100 injured.

It is now being called a terrorist attack. It's a holiday in Massachusetts. Patriots Day. The day that the first shot of the Revolutionary War on the Lexington Green was fired. The birth of our country. Perhaps that had something to do with it. Perhaps it was knowing that in the running world this is about as big as it gets. Over 27,000 runners from around the world. Spectators from around the world. Thousands of people line the route particularly when the runners hit Boston. I've seen the crowds. It gets bigger every year. What will happen next year? For now I mourn for the injured and the dead. And though I don't live in Boston proper I am very close by and it is my city and I mourn for my city. A city I love.   

The marathon tragedy

It is difficult to find the words to write concerning this. As I write this the situation is ongoing. It's about 4:23 in the afternoon and I'm still watching the event on television. Nobody at this point knows what really happened. I was out taking care of a few errands. I have just heard that two more bombs were found at this point. It's almost 4:30. I was actually on Massachusetts Avenue which intersects Boylston Street, the street where the marathon finish line is. The finish line is only a few blocks I was in Cambridge about two miles away. The bombs went off around, as far I can tell about 2:50. I was on my way home, almost there as I drove into the city square. As I approached a fire station one of the doors opened and out came a fire truck and went about 500' and turned to head towards a high way. This highway goes right into downtown and if the traffic is light you can be downtown in about 8 minutes (my estimate). At the time I didn't have the radio and didn't think much concerning the fire truck. I was home about 4 minutes later and turned the television about 3:05 and found out what was going on. 

I am quite familiar with the area. We had a store right near the finish line. It has since been rebuilt a block behind. I worked at that store and was there for three marathons. There are thousands of people everywhere. It's a very festive occasion and one that we who live here are quite proud to have in our back yard. It will never be the same. It's 5:10 and I am going back to the television.    

I went to the movies and other assorted blathering.

Yes indeed I did go to the movies. I had a rare Saturday off. I didn't ask for it and was a tad ticked off when I found out because I didn't ask for it. It was done in the name of saving payroll. I will get paid for it but it comes out of my vacation time. Now I get (allegedly) slightly over 6 weeks off a year and I admit that isn't too shabby. The only problem is I don't get much of a chance to utilize those weeks. Last year, for instance, I only took two weeks off and a handful of single days. Makes me wonder what happened to all that money that was supposedly set aside for employee vacations. I also use the word employee as opposed to the new term used "associates". I don't go to work to associate with people. I go to work because the company pays me to perform tasks on behalf of the company. They employ me. There's nothing wrong or degrading about the word employee. It's a very accurate description of the situation. Simple and to the point. Associate is just another softened word used these days. Perhaps they (business) think somebody will find that word offencive and sue? I suppose it's not beyond the realm of possibility but I think they have much bigger problems than the possible misinterpretation of one word and how it might offend somebody. One of my favorites is restroom. I have yet to see anybody resting in there though I suppose you wouldn't really want to label it for it's actual intended purpose. It would make me laugh though and we can always use a laugh.

I have veered off course. Yes I went to the movies to see "42", the story of Jackie Robinson. The movie was top shelf. I highly recommend it. The actor playing Jackie Robinson was tremendous as was the entire cast though I think Harrison Ford stole the movie. He played Branch Rickey, the owner of the then Brooklyn Dodgers, who made the decision to bring Jackie up to the major leagues as the first negro player. Jackie Robinson endured so much but Rickey had faith in Robinson ability to take all that was going to come his way and still succeed. My only complaint about going to the movie wasn't the movie itself or the crowd or the $4.00 for a small coffee, it was with the theater itself. The movie was advertised for a 1:30 start. We walked in at 1:15. Oh the screen came to life at 1:30 but all we watched were silly animations on all of their over priced snacks, and seemingly endless movie previews, television show previews punctuated with more ads for the snacks. This went on for 45 minutes. I seriously thought about walking out. The movie began at 2:15. In the future, if I can avoid going to an AMC Theater, I will. At least we got to have dinner at a local restaurant in my hometown whose name I never mention but I think you already what it is. It's a personal favorite and it's about 5 minutes from my house. I'll give them a plug even though none of you can go there, Raso's, pronounced Razo's. We started with our usual antipasto plate of fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, marinated eggplant, caponata (not quite sure what it all consisted of but it sure is tasty), sopperasata salami and prosciutto with a heap of leafy greens in the middle along with a basket of fresh baked bread and some calamata olives in olive oil. My main course was a simple but delicious. Chicken, ziti and broccoli.

Beth's last blog mention the show Boston's Finest which I confess I have never watched, though I watched an episode on YouTube this morning. I did like it.I have said this before, I have been slow to appreciate my own home area. It took my acquiring a digital camera to find out all this area has to offer. I guess it sounds like bragging but I don't mean it that way. I just took it for granted and didn't even know how much came from here until I started to research places to take pictures and explore. Boston itself has come a long way in the last 40 plus years. Up until then the city had been in decline for the first 60 years of the 20th century. Then the 52 story Prudential building was completed in 1965 and every other skyscraper you see in pictures of Boston was built since then. We've also have a little brother complex because New York is just down the road apiece and let's face it New York is the largest U.S. city and New York is, well New York. Still despite the awful traffic, big dig or no big dig (I do feel sorry for visitors trying to make their way around the organically grown roads of the original Boston before all the landfill.) I have grown to love the place whereas before I was pretty indifferent to all the history and innovation that exists here. And though I don't live in the city proper, depending on the time of day, I can be in town in about 10 minutes. Finding a place to park is another story. I also got a kick out of hearing the Boston accent on the show and trust me none of those guys had a real strong accent compared to a lot of the locals. I find myself fighting it but occasionally a word slips out like cah instead of car.

Speaking of vacations I booked my vacation on Martha's Vineyard this morning. It's still 6 weeks away and I am chopping at the bit to get there. I'll be there June 3-7.

Alrighty then, it's time for either a late lunch or an early supper. With that said,
I'm outta here