Leg is better. CBS screws up. Esplanade Evacuated In Boston « CBS Boston

Just a quickie because I have to see the doctor at 1:30 today. My leg feels better but it still gets fatigued when I stand and walk for about 4 hours. I'm hoping for another week of a reduced, restricted shifts. 20 hours instead of 40.

If anybody watched the fireworks from Boston last night. CBS really did a strange thing. They never reported that there was a brief but severe thunder and lightning storm. Everybody in front of the stage (100,000 to 250,000 people.) was ordered into a nearby tunnel because of the lightning. There were several lightning strikes in the area including two people who were hit while standing near a grill. This was not on the Esplanade but in the Boston area. What CBS showed at 10pm was a tape from the previous nights rehearsal concert. They never informed national viewers. If you were watching locally, the show actually starts at 8pm. So local viewers were informed that everybody in front of the stage was evacuated into a nearby tunnel. Everybody on the other side of the river, another 100,000, 200,000 (who really knows) were evacuated to a local mall in Cambridge. I do find it hard to believe they got that many people to got into a mall. By the time the fireworks started everybody was back and that was shown live.

Esplanade Evacuated In Boston « CBS Boston
The local CBS station had informed us that the 1812 Overature shown was from the previous night. It does make me wonder about the news in general. They can decide what to tell you and not to tell you. Walter Cronkite must be spinning in his grave.
OK it's time for me to get ready for the day. 

I'm outta here.

My vacation didn't cost me an arm and a leg, just a leg.

So I ended up taking another week off after my vacation week. I went to the doctor, had an x-ray and an ultra sound both which were negative save for some mild arthritis which I never noticed. The swelling didn't go down but my leg was feeling better until I went back to work on Tuesday. Just standing up for 8 hours put too much strain on my upper leg as I tried to compensate. I went back on Tuesday and after 6 hours I just couldn't take it anymore. I told the powers that be that I needed to see an orthopedist.

Here's an update. I started the above two weeks ago. I have seen an orthopedist and am going back on Thursday July 5th. I have worked half days as it becomes too much to work more than 4 hours. It is getting better but it still is bothersome to do anything outside home for any extended period of time. I proved that last Thursday when I went to a Red Sox game. I went in by train because I wasn't going to pay those licensed thieves $40 to $50 to park my car (pahk my cah). It wasn't that long a walk from the subway station but I had to stop and rest about half way. It was a nice day and I've had the tickets since March so I wasn't about to miss it.

Bottle of water outside the park $2.00. Inside the park $4.00. I had  cup of beer, $8.75. What a racket! The Sox ended up winning 10 to 4. We left earlybecause not only would you have to deal with the ball park crowd on the subway but the rush hour crowd as well. It still wasn't very pretty.

The view from my seat.

The wind up...and the pitch.

This is the first batter for Toronto. He flew out to left field.

This is Dustin Pedroia of the Sox. He ended up walking here.

This is actually before the game started. We were looking for our entrance gate. This wasn't it but they would have been very good as you are facing home plate. This is the ballpark's 100th anniversary and they are not shy about promoting it. They are top notch hucksters. Not only is the food and drink the most expensive in the major leagues, but you can buy all sorts of memorobilia from a... I'm going to finish this in big print.  

As I was saying in the caption, you can buy a bat autographed by a Sox player for $399.00.  You can get a Red Sox 2007 World Series ball with 24 players autographs for a mere $3,399.00. You can get an autographed player print for $699.00. As I said they are promoting the hell out of the 100 year anniversary of "America's most beloved ballpark"  How do they know this? You can get a red clay brick with a personalized message of your own inscribed on it and placed in the floor where the food and drnk area under the grandstand. I saw then there and I guess it's kind of neat. (Did I say neat?) I did a bit of reserch on the web and found the average cost of a red clay brick is $0.67 to $3.50 depending on size. The Red Sox are selling them for $250.00 or $475.00. They come in two sizes. But listen for that kind of scratch you also get an exact replica for your home. They even throw in a "complimentary display case". I'm sure it's made of the finest plastics. Still when you get down to it, they are basically selling you two bricks for either #250.00 or $475.00. It's just a brick.

One reason for my absence from Blogger is this computer game a friend lent me. It's a strategy game. Not a race or shoot 'em up. It's basically a world domination game. I was hooked. It took me a few games to get the idea on how it worked. Once I understood it better I finally did it. I went to the end of the game and won. I should mention I had it on the easiest setting. Still it took me a week and a half. Apart from working 4 hour a day shifts for the last week and a half I have done nothing but play this game. It was an obsession. I won it on Saturday morning before my shortened evening shift.

So the leg is better but far from right. I am looking to get another week of half shifts. I'm still on light duty and should be for at least another week. Well that's it for now. It's getting late and I'm tired.

I'm outta here.    

The Vineyard part two.

Growing up I don't think I was even aware of the existence of Martha's Vineyard. I suppose it was just an idyllic little place known to local New Englanders who found it a nice little getaway that's not too far from home. I don't know if it was the filming of the first Jaws movie or the fact that a couple of Presidents chose to vacation there but it has grown as a tourist attraction over the years. I myself first gave thought to going there only a couple of years ago. Until then I was only aware of it when President Clinton stayed there for a bit back in the 90's. One day it suddenly hit me. Here's a place that's not all that far away and if you go before or after the summer rush is relatively inexpensive. I would never go there in the summer because 50 to 75,000 people invade the place during the summer. I have a friend who lives on Cape Cod and I have been there many times during the summer and it's just a mass of people. Fortunately after he moved there he knew all the back roads so getting around wasn't that much of a hassle. I would go there for the weekends to fish. Strictly freshwater as there are many lakes and ponds. My late Uncle Sam had a place on the upper Cape that we would go to when I was growing up. It's taken me a lot of years, plus getting a camera to appreciate all that I have around me. For years I just took it for granted. Yeah there's a lot of history. Yeah there were and are many firsts that happened here. Sure it's a major educational and medical center. It's also crowded with a screwy road set up that certainly contributes to our reputation as notoriously bad and or rude drivers. As a local I can tell you it's true. I do feel bad for out of stater's who come here and try to get around. It's pretty bad sometimes. Still if I want to getaway,  say Cape Cod or the islands, it's an hour and a half drive and a 45 minute ferry ride and you're in a different world.

Despite my injury, which will eventually heal, I enjoyed my stay on Martha's Vineyard and wouldn't hesitate to go back in the fall. I even decided before I left that I would take the plunge, literally, and go for a swim in the ocean. I haven't done this in 35 years or so. I didn't own a bathing suit so I grabbed a pair of shorts as a substitute. I should have inspected them before I packed them. When the time came to hit the beach, I went to put them on and discovered that the zipper was broken. I didn't want to walk down to the main drag and pay $20-$25 for a bathing suit so I could spend an hour in the water. I decided to put a long t-shirt on and take it off (the t-shirt that is) when I got to the beach. Fortunately at this time of year there aren't many people on the beach. The last thing you want to hear is,"The Buick is out of the garage." Of course my lady friend thought this was hilarious. I guess it was. I decided it was time to brave the water and a certain amount of embarrassment and take the plunge. The water was surprisingly warm, relatively speaking, 55-60 degrees. Normally, minus any storms the ocean around there is quite calm as it was when I went in. I stayed in about 15 minutes realising that after all the years I still knew how to swim. An luckily for me there were no embarrassing incidents when I came out of the water, if you know what I mean. I went back again the next day, the day of my injury, and went in again. Sea water can only help.

As of this writing, I can get around OK. It only really hurts when I get up after sitting for a while. Once I work the kinks out I can walk around fairly easily though I do have to be careful and breaking into a trot or run as I do on occasion is definitely out.
Below are 4 videos from my 5 days on the island.

 So to wrap all this up, I would say learn to appreciate where you live. The fact that while I was on the island I saw license plates from New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Nevada, California, New Jersey, Florida, Alabama and the rest of the New England States tell me how special this place is.  Enjoy the uniqueness that the place you live has to offer. I have grown to really love where I live in the last few years. I have learned to appreciate what makes this state and the surrounding states special to me. Despite the high cost of living, the infuriating road structure, the sometimes not so nice people, the high taxes, and way too left leanings of politics, this is a wonderful place to live and I am fortunate to live here. Thanks Mom and Dad for choosing Massachusetts and the Boston area when you left the old country to start a new life in America.

I'm limping outta here.