How I did on my goals that I wrote in January

Every January I write my outdoor goals for the year. At the end of the year I look back on how I did. I just copied and pasted the original post. Below in bold is how I did




I have two goals that I really want to accomplish. These are the most important to me. I'm not going to try to my break my record for number of birds species I can see. If that becomes a goal every year then it is no longer about the experience. Maybe I will see more, maybe less. I suspect the number of birds I see will coincide with the number of stripers around ( good fishing will mean less birding). Also I'm not going to try to accomplish things I can't control. I can't say I want to catch a bunch of fifteen pound blues. I can only catch them if they show up again.


1. Finish the mountains in New Hampshire over 4000 feet. I have six left that can be done in four hikes. They are Adams, Madison, Wildcats, Cabot, Carrigain. I had planned on saving Carrigain for last, but since Adams/Madison is harder, I'll use Carrigain, which isn't an easy one anyway, to get in better shape for Adams.

I did not finish them. Hurt my foot. Managed to do two out of four of the hikes which was two more than I would have thought in August

2. I don't want to break or loose anything this year. I also don't want to loose any money. This goal is going to take diligence the entire 365 to accomplish. As I brought up a couple of times I had money stolen out of my car. It was money DJ paid me back for paying his car insurance. Since then, I lock my doors every time I get out. I don't want to misplace any paychecks or loose a twenty falling out of my pocket.

As for things breaking, sometime it happens. Sometimes a camera will just stop working. If it is no fault of my own, I can deal with that. I don't want to have to replace something because of my own stupidity. An example of my own stupidity would be, when the money was stolen so was a small point and shoot. I had no choice but to replace it. I need a small camera for hiking and long walks fishing. I don't want to take my SLR near saltwater.  After I replaced it, I brought it with me fishing. I took a picture of a small blue. Instead of putting the camera back in my pocket I put it on my surf bag ( I was sitting next to it)... then forgot about it. When I picked up my bag to fish another spot, the camera fell, and I watched it bounce into the drink. So I replaced that camera.

I need to buy a new surf rod this spring. I asked for BPS gift certificates for Christmas to help cut the cost. Other than that rod, I am trying not to make any big expenses this year. I don't need any big camping supplies. I have all I need for birding and picture taking. I need to replace some fishing gear I lost during the season, but other than the rod, nothing expensive. I'd have quite a bit more money in the bank if I didn't loose or break money, cameras, and my rod. This year, I'd like to leave it in the bank.

I did extremely good on this. Other than the camera lens there isn't anything I had to replace due to loss or negligence.  I was mindful of this goal all year. Hopefully I can have another year where I don't do anything stupid that costs me money

3.  Continue to learn to ski. Hopefully next winter I will be taking the lift and feel comfortable on intermediate slopes. That said, I just want to enjoy skiing. I don't want to get injured and I'm not going to rush the learning curve. If I need to keep practicing my turns for two more times, then I will. This sport is too dangerous to get overconfident.

Quit skiing when I hurt my neck. I gave it four tries. I got good enough where Dave thought I should go down the big intermediate hill but it just wasn't for me.

4. Try fishing for Northern Pike

I succeeded in trying for northerns but did not catch one

5. I'd still like to see a sea turtle and photograph a bull moose (two failed goals from 2016)

No and No

6. This one is actually going to happen because I bought tickets. I want to see Dropkick Murphys play "I'm shipping up to Boston". I'm not the biggest fan of theirs but listening to that song with a bunch of Bostonians around St. Patrick's Day must be incredible. It's on my life bucket list

I saw them. The Murphy's put on a hell of a show. I really became a fan after the show when I bought a couple of their cd's

7. If Don Henley comes to town I want to go to his concert. I can't see the Eagles without Glen, ( I did see them once in Foxboro). I want to see Don Henley one more time.

Don Henley played the Bank of America Pavillion in June. I could have went. Unfortunately, I looked up his setlist from other shows this spring. He didn't play some of the songs I would have wanted to hear, so I couldn't justify the $70 seats. It was a much thought out decision

8. Go to New Hampshire as many times as I can (reoccurring goal)

Only went three times, but that was as many times as I could this year

9. Catch a Channel Catfish

Check

10. Catch more carp than last year

Yes

11. Fish more for trout

Believe it or not, despite only going a few times it was more than last year

12.  Go to Sachuest in June to see if the fawns are easily photographed. I go to Sachuest a lot mostly in the winter. I've never taken the trip when the fawns should be out

I did not go in June

13. Go to Southwick Zoo

I went to the Southwick Zoo with Amber, Kirsten, and Laurie

15. See the AC/DC tribute band Dirty Deeds

Nope

16.  Daytrips that I do every year or try to (that I want to do again this year) include:

        a.  Fish for Golden trout     -yes

        b. Plum Island Overnight (birding and Shad Fishing)--- my trip got rained out

        c. Charlestown Mudflats Birding-   three or four times though I spent a lot of time looking for quahogs

        d. ALBIE FISHING (of course)-   pretty unsuccessful but I went

        e. Mt Wachusetts Hawk Watch- I went in late September not many hawks but saw a couple bald eagles and a Perigrine

        f. Race Point looking for whales and seabirds-  I went, probably my highlight for the first half of the year. We watched Right Whales feeding on the surface

        g. Newport Stripers in June-  I went during the new moon. I caught a bunch of stripers but they were all micros

Looking back I was only successful on 8 of the first fifteen goals. Some were choices I decided to make (such as not going to Don Henley) Some were unavoidable like getting hurt skiing and my foot holding me back from hiking. 

I was one for two on the ones that meant the most. I really wanted to be more careful with my gear. Wasting money on things you already own sucks. I really wanted to finish the 4000 footers but just couldn't. Still I cut my magic number of hikes from four to 2. So it really doesn't feel too bad. With any luck I'll will be a member of the 4000 footers club in July 2018.

As for number 16 where I had 8 daytrips I wanted to do; I did all but one. I look forward to my Plum Island birding trip every year. I plan it for the same weekend in May. This year, it was a washout. Instead, I went carp fishing on the Connecticut River both days and caught some decent carp. The other seven trips went as planned. I did get a few albies just not as many as I would have liked. 

I find it interesting to look back. What seemed important last year while thinking in the middle of winter may not have been nearly as important when the weather warmed up. I have certainly paid $70 to go to a concert before but after seeing Don Henley's setlist plus the hassle of just getting to Boston, it did not seem worth the time or money. As Bill Belichick says "it is what it is".  

   

End of the Year Review

Usually my end of the year review is three blog posts. One for fishing, one for goals, and the last for everything else. These posts are just a way to put my year in journal form and to give myself a place to write down stats from the year. This year I combined everything except how I did on my goals, which will be another post.

Polo is so much fun to watch

Theme(s) of the year
Every year seems to have its own theme. This usually comes organically and I do not try to plan it. It just sort of happens. One year all I did was hike in New Hampshire. A couple years ago I spent many days trying to see new birds, just because it was fun and what I wanted to do. This year had two themes.

The first is- It was the worst of times then it was the best of times. My year was really two different halves. The first half did not go as planned. It rained almost every day I didn't work this spring.  This made me cancel a camping trip and change many other plans. Also, I had to do a lot of extra work in May when one of our drivers got hurt. Of course, I made some extra jingle, so I wasn't complaining. It did mean a few missed fishing trips.

 The second half of the year was awesome. I did a ton of fun stuff. As opposed to the spring, every time I had a planned day trip it would magically be sunny and 70 degrees, even in July and in the mountains in October.

The second theme was just to go experience new things. I went to multiple things I'd never done before. Many of which I wrote on this blog. Admittedly, I was a spectator to these events as opposed to actively participating (such as jumping  out a plane). Normally, I just do what the calendar tells me. April is trout, May is birding and stripers, September is albies, etc... This year I also found time to go new places. Many examples would be Dropkick Murphys, Femmes of Rock, a Drive In, Newport Polo, Providence Waterfire, Montreal, Philly Cheese Steak, and Concord on the Forth of July, Rhode Island Philharmonic.

Daytrips, Vacation, and Hiking Stats

I went on 71 day trips this year. To compare I did 61 last year, but went to New Hampshire seven times to this years three. I did 67 in 2015. A daytrip is a broad term for me. It usually just means something I'm really looking forward to. I don't consider afterwork fishing trips or hikes a daytrip. However, I usually consider ticketed events such as plays, concerts, and museums, a day trip. All day fishing trips or fishing trips with long rides count.

Philly vacation was awesome. No need to write about it here. I did five posts on it before

View of Big George across Pinkham Notch
from Wildcat D Summit

Hiking stats- Despite being a cripple for most of the second half of the year I managed to hike up three 4000 foot mountains (Wildcat A, D, and Carrigan). I saw 7 mountain lakes  (Carter Lakes, Lost Pond, Heron Pond, Mountain Pond, Peaked Hill Pond Sawyer Pond) and two waterfalls (Crystal Cascade, Thompson Falls). Unlike most years, I did not add up my trail milage. My guess is somewhere around 25, which is not much for me.

Fishing-

Because of the wet spring, everytime I had to change my plans, the back up was a fishing trip. Because of this, I caught a lot of big fish the first half of the year. I mostly went saltwater fishing once the stripers came in. Until then, I spent more time carp fishing than I did trout fishing.

I could catch these all day

Saltwater

 As with my friend Dave, schoolies were easy to come by. Catching as many as you wanted was only hindered by how long you fished. Many times, catching was almost  a guarantee just by casting Admittedly too high of a percentage were micros, and I found myself less likely to drive any distance to catch them.

One thing that has baffled me the last 2 years has been the lack of big schoolies. The year class of 2011 was very large. Those fish should have been just under keeper size this year. Two years ago, they should have been 22-24 inches, yet I caught very few in that size range.

As for keepers, I didn't kill them but got my share in the spring. I got a 20 and 15 pounder in May. Both were far away from the craziness near the menhaden in Providence. I got a few other small keepers.

During the summer I followed the fish to the Canal just like everyone else. I only had one good day of the four or five attempts. However, I did see the basking shark and that is a highlight.

Striper Grade

Micro 8-18 inches- A+
Schoolies between 18-27 inches) F
Keepers c+

It was a banner year for albies. But, I just did not get lucky. On my days off, the albies were scarce. I only got a couple. Other days, I'd rush down after work. Fish would be busting all day, but shut off around 2 pm. This happened multiple times. As they say "them's the breaks".

No grade for albies. If you could fish for them everyday it was a banner year. I can't judge the albie season based on my bad luck

There were a few big blues around this year. Again, as Dave said in his end of the year review, the blues were scarce. They never really hit the RI oceanfront this fall. Still, the few bluefish I caught were huge. I caught them all three times I targeted them in my kayak. I caught one that my scale says was 19 pounds. Other times when I got bored catching micro bass I'd put on a popper or Jumpin Minnow hoping to get a big blue. More than once (and ALWAYS) when I had my small freshwater bass rod, I'd hook a big blue. I had some memorable fights this summer with ten pound fish on medium freshwater rods.

Grade for blues- in terms of numbers C-. In terms of size A+++++. Of the twenty five or so blues I caught I think the smallest was 8 pounds

Carp-

One goal I had this year was to fish for carp more often. That goal was accomplished. I fished for them a lot from March-May. I ended up getting my second largest ever at 28 pounds even. I also got a 25# in the Connecticut River. I had the pleasure of landing three carp for Dave that were over 30 pounds. And when I say I "had the pleasure" what I mean was, I was frigging jealous!!!

Trout-

I only went trout fishing a few times. The highlight was a tiger I caught in Seekonk. I didn't fish for them in New Hampshire. I can't say I had a successful or unsuccessful season because I only fished for them a few times.

Others-

My fishing highlight for the year may have been catching a salmon and two lake trout in the same day at Wachusett. Other highlights included tons of sea bass from Eric's boat.  I caught 24 species of fish this year. I got lazy and missed a bunch of fish that could have put me around 30 species. Fish that I missed include yellow perch, brown bullhead, and yellow bullhead. One fish that eludes me almost every year are tautog. I fished for them three times without a hit.

I did have one great trout day. The day we went for Golden Trout, I ended up with 11. Also caught my largest trout to date, a 20 inch rainbow (along with a 19 inch golden) I took my friend Eric and his son. They both got 20 inch fish and their first Golden Trout.

I also ended up catching two lifefish. I caught a wild Goldfish in April. I caught it while driving an hour to meet my friend Dave after spending the day down the Cape getting absolutely nothing trout fishing. I came home for 20 minutes from my Cape misadventure, drove the hour and was rewarded with two Goldfish.

The other lifer was a Channel Cat from the Connecticut River. I was pumped to get it.

Birds-

Really the only way to see a lot of birds is to go birding a lot. I didn't do that this year. Because of that fact I only saw about 140 species this year. That may sound like a lot but my personal record is 182 in New England. To put either of those numbers into perspective the leader in Rhode Island has seen 289 in that state alone this year.

A barred owl that DJ and I saw the day before
he left for the Grand Canyon

I did manage to get three lifebirds. They were King Eider, White Faced Ibis, and a Tufted Duck. By far, seeing the beautiful King Eider swimming around the Herring Run at the Canal was my favorite birding experience. I drove down three times to see it and spent over three hours just admiring it and taking pictures.

Other cool animal sightings include-

My first ever Right Whales at Race Point
The Basking Shark in the Canal 
A couple of coyotes at Matunuck
Cow and calf moose in Crawford Notch

Summary-

If you read each section, you can see that I did not catch too many trout, albies, or carp. I didn't see nearly as many birds as I have when I put in the time. Other than the albies which was just bad timing, the other low numbers were to be expected. When I fished I was usually looking for stripers and blues. I especially like targeting big bluefish from the kayak. Your not going to catch a lot of trout when you are out in the bay with a Jumpin' Minnow.

 I spent a lot of time this summer just looking for new things to visit/see/try. I have absolutely no regrets. I made some great memories. Truthfully from July 1 on this was a great 180 days. One of my best years ever. My vacation was way more fun than I expected (I'm not a city guy).  The three times I went to New Hampshire the weather was almost perfect. The sky was bright blue everyday. I can only hope that the folks reading this also had a great year full of happy memories also.

RISD Museum Lines of Thought

Drawing of Anubis in the Egyptian Book of the Dead

My boss Steve talks about food a  lot. When we drive around, I'd estimate 40 percent of our conversation revolves around restaurants. Usually, the conversation starts with him telling me about a place as we drive by it. Then he tells me the best dish there. So it was a bit of a surprise when Steve started a conversation last week like this

Steve " You really got to go to this place in Providence"

Me expecting a food review

Steve" The RISD Museum has a special exhibition  about Michelangelo.

Me" I'm listening!"

After a few minutes of research RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) Museum has a special exhibition on loan from the British Museum called the "Lines of Thought". What it is, is a series of drawings from as far back as Ancient Egypt to the present. Many of the drawings are from Old World masters. They would sketch outlines of people or things they planned on putting in their paintings. How a body would be presented, position of the hands, a farmhouse in the shadows, things like that. Others were full on drawings.

Rembrandt self portait

The exhibition is only there until January 7. Laurie comes over on Thursdays, and coincidentally the  museum is open late (until 9) on the third Thursday of the month, and it is free that evening. So Laurie and I left for Providence after the evening traffic subsided.

We went directly to the Lines of Thought exhibition. The first drawing you see is from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Immediately, I thought this could be really good. Around the wall from the book of the Dead was a Rembrandt self portrait and then a drawing from Leonardo da Vinci!!!!!

Needless to say, I was awe struck. I had done a little research on da Vinci in the past so I know a little about his lust for knowledge, and his penchant for procrastination. None the less, I so admire his thirst for learning and his  interest in so many things. To see any da Vinci wasn't on any of my bucket lists since I have no desire to visit Europe. So to see one 20 minutes from home was awesome Admittedly, a quick sketch is not the Mona Lisa, but it is irrelevant, it came from his hand.

After looking at the da Vinci, I walked around the room. There were drawings from Picasso. Two from Michelangelo. The room also had a drawing from French literary genius Victor Hugo. There were also drawings from Gilray and Seurat. There was some contemporary stuff that I mostly passed by.

The Virgin with the Christ child and a cat
Leonardo da Vinci

After we finished the room we walked around the rest of the museum. I went there years ago but do not remember it being so big. The first thing we saw after we left the exhibition was a Rodin sculpture. Then we walked through rooms to find Monet's, Picasso's, Gilbert Stuart. There is a Greek helmet along with 3000 year old Greek pottery. There were other classical sculptures and many Renaissance paintings. I was floored. Considering I take trips to Boston to go to the Museum of Fine Art and I spent three days in Philly going to museums, I can't believe this place is in my back yard. I am definitely going back again this winter.

A quick Google search can get you directions and hours. https://risdmuseum.org/ 
If you do plan on seeing the exhibition "Lines  of Thought" it does go back to jolly ole England January 7. It is well worth seeing before it crosses the pond for good



More pictures below

Greek Helmet

Rodin
 The Hand of God

Claude Monet

Michelangelo
Studies for the Last Judgement
 1534

Victor Hugo
Pretty damn good for a writer

Monument Valley

While you and I were getting ready for Christmas this week my son was off playing. While I had fun on my nights off from work, I did run a bunch of errands, wrap presents, and make some pies during the day. My son, who had three days off from work at the Grand Canyon had no such worries.

He did not waste his time. He went to Monument Valley in Arizona for a day. Monument Valley is on Navajo land. It is one of the most famous western landscapes. The area has been in many, many, westerns. My favorite is "The Searchers" with John Wayne.

When we were out west in 2010 we had to choose between Monument Valley and Arches. However, if we chose Arches National Park we would have time to hit Rocky Mountain for a few days. It was a tough decision, but after much discussion we chose Arches and Rocky. It was a good call with no regrets. Still, if I could choose one place that was on our national park circuit that I would like to see, it would be Monument Valley.

I was sitting in the seats at the Stadium Theater on Friday night when my phone started vibrating. DJ was blowing up my phone with photos ( I asked him to send pictures). I looked at them during intermission and the next day. He sent over 100. I thought people might want to see some. It was difficult not to post all of them. Almost every photo he sent me was of postcard quality. Please enjoy

Scary Ghost Stories and the Tales of the Glories of Christmases Long, Long Ago

Jeff Belanger and Krumpus in a terrible phone picture
The irony is not lost that this is the first picture I
have posted since I wrote a post called "Stepping
up the Picture Game" I left my camera at home.
Humbug!

This week has been a spooky week for me. On Thursday I went to "A Creepy Christmas" at the Needham Historical Society. The free event was done by Jeff Belanger. Jeff, a native of Massachusetts, has written fifteen books on ghosts.  He has been on every paranormal tv show there is. He really knows his stuff. The presentation  was about ghost stories from all over the world that center around Christmas. I don't believe in ghosts but Laurie does. I do like listening to legends, tall tales and ghost stories.

 What I liked most about Jeff's presentation is that he is a historian. He tries to go back and find the root of the story. The presentation really was about the origins of Christmas. There were scary creatures along the way. Most ghost stories involve taking or beating "naughty" kids. 

The presentation lasted a little more than an hour. After it was over I talked with him for a few minutes and bought a book. He signed it "Nick May all the ghosts you meet be friendly, Jeff Belanger" It was cool.  If you are interested in ghosts, his website is worth checking out. He does a podcast. There is a youtube video about ghosts in the White House (he wrote a book on it). There is a list of where he will be doing presentations. I plan on seeing some of his other presentations when they are local. Really fascinating.  https://www.jeffbelanger.com/

On Friday we put our newfound Christmas ghost knowledge to good use. We went to the most famous ghost story of them all; A Christmas Carol. We went to the Stadium Theater to see it. This was the second year in a row that we saw it there. I overheard a lady talking behind us before the show. She had seen it at Trinity Rep and the show is only just over an hour. The one at the Stadium is two hours long. Tickets are $26, and 21. We got our seats months ago and got third row end seats. The show was awesome. The ghosts fly and there is a fog machine. There are multiple sets. It is really well done. There are still tickets to tonights and tomorrow's show. Pictures below the link

http://www.stadiumtheatre.com/events/a-christmas-carol/114

Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas present

Scrooge and Jacob Marley

The cast

Stepping up the photography game

Independence Hall

When Laurie and I slept in the shelter this past October we were not alone. It was dark out roughly 6:30 pm. Laurie and I had the place to ourselves. We went down to the water and looked up at the stars for an hour. Considering there wasn't much to do in a shelter a mile from the road, we were in bed by 8:30.

Roughly 9:45 I was woken to some noise coming up the trail and a headlamp. It turned out to be a New Hampshire native looking to spend the night in the woods. Shelters are communal as long as their is room, no one gets turned away. It is not first come first serve. You can't claim it for yourself. As I made room for the hiker, I found out his name was Jeremy. He is a ski lift mechanic who lived a couple hours away.

Jeremy loves hiking in New Hampshire as much as myself. We talked until almost midnight about hikes we had been on. He only has one more mountain to climb to become a member of the 4000 foot club. While we were talking, he showed me some of his pictures. They are absolutely amazing. He had amazing views from mountain summits to close ups of butterflies. He told Laurie and I his Instagram name, somehow neither of us forgot it. I started following him. I was blown away at his photos.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. I used to go to Caratunk Wildlife Refuge in Seekonk a lot for nature walks. I became pretty good friends with the manager there, Mike Tucker. Mike is an expert birder and naturalist
. I have asked him hundreds of questions over the years. He knows I'm a dedicated fisherman, so over the years he asked me questions about fishing (single digits). Mike left Caratunk a few years ago to start a business. Since then, I would randomly see him comment on Facebook posts of a couple bird groups we are in.

Mike started following me on Instagram a couple weeks ago. I rarely post on Instagram. When I do, it is not "instant" it is usually months later of a close up of an animal or scenery. I probably only have 25 pics total. None the less, Mike started following me, so I started following him. I clicked on some of his pictures, and frankly they blew me a way. So many close ups of birds and also artsy photos.

As for myself, I had camera troubles for much of the year. I ruined an SLR lens and a pocket camera in Philly when I took pictures of the eclipse ( not looking for sympathy or judgement. It was cloudy and I took a calculated risk). I hadn't realized my lens' were ruined until my second trip to NH. Therefore, I wasted great photo ops on half my Philly trip and two New Hampshire trips.

Truthfully, before Philly, I was none too impressed with many photos I'd taken this year. There really weren't many "wallhangers". Of course, some things were out of my control. I got rained out multiple times during the spring when I theoretically could have gotten some good shots of birds and Plum Island. Also, as much as I enjoyed being in Philly, I can tell you it is much easier to get a perfect photo of Mt. Rushmore and all the wild animals than it is to get one on Independence Hall and Liberty Bell. They are just not as photogenic objects.

However, other things I could control. I could have had my camera ready when it was in my backpack multiple times. Sometimes when Laurie and I would be on a walk, I'd snap a few shots just to "remind myself I was there" instead of taking the time to really see things through the lens. I think sometimes, I just got lazy. Other times, I made a commitment "to enjoy the moment" and purposely put the camera down (tough to fault myself for that)

So one of my biggest goals this year is to take more quality photos. Taking a lot of nice pictures is not for bragging purposes. I still won't put many on Instagram. Hopefully my photos will go better with my blog posts. Again, not for bragging purposes, but for pride's sake. Hopefully, the majority of my photo's the world will never see, but will make a nice 2018 photo album.  Laurie and I already have our vacations planned next year so there should be hundreds of great photo opportunities those two weeks. That still leaves 50 more weeks. Hopefully during those mundane weeks that we call life, I can do a better job on day trips, fishing trips, and hiking.

Thank you Mike and Jeremy for the motivation to step up my game

Public Service Announcement about Gem Plumbing and How to Save Hundreds of Dollars

Normally, I don't share real life stuff on the blog. For me, the blog is a way to share my fun experiences with you. Hopefully, some of the things I've done or my fishing reports will entice others to go fishing, hiking, or a concert. However, I had a major plumbing problem the last couple of weeks. I called the Gem Boys from Gem Plumbing and DID NOT have a good experience. I did end up saving hundreds of dollars in the long run. My blog is the easiest way to explain the situation. This story is much too long for Facebook. My hope is that others will learn from my experience.

Last week, my plumbing backed up. I borrowed the hand snake from work, opened the end cap, and tried to get rid of the clog. No luck. We had a problem many years ago with a clog. We needed a thing called a hydro jet to clean it. The jet is so powerful, it can cut through tree roots that can get in your sewer line. I didn't call a regular plumber and went with the "franchise" because I knew I'd probably need the hydro jet.

I sent a request to Gem on their website and set up an appointment. In the request I made sure to ask for the hydro jet. An hour later Gem confirmed the appointment for Thursday December 7. When I talked to the very nice lady, I again made sure to explain that a hydro jet might be needed.

Mike from Gem called and said he would be over in 15 minutes. When he got there we had to crawl through the hole into the crawl space (which is tall enough to stand in. Most plumbers and heating guys do not enjoy climbing through the hole. However, this guy complained the whole time he put on his knee pads. Then he told me "they never should have built these houses". My house is an old converted summer cottage. So it is old and small. Still it is mine so who the hell was he to insult it.

He DID NOT have the hydro jet. Instead he did have an electric snake. He had no desire to bring it down the crawl space so he suggested we go in through the toilet. While climbing my steps he said they looked like a bomb went off (there are some cracks in the cement). Then when we go to my bathroom which was small, he said "this is like living in a trailer park. Since my bathroom was small, he said he'd have to go through the crawl space with the snake..

He got into his van to get a price.The cost was going to be about $800 to snake it. There is a fee of around $200 that Gem charges just because it is a crawl space. It is not like there is more labor. Sure it might be more difficult to access, but what are we talking here, five minutes?

In  a huge irony, my brother had a sewer back up on Sunday that flooded his basement. Roto Rooter came out on a Sunday for an emergency call with three guys and charged $900. This guy and Gem were coming out for a weekday appointment alone and was going to charge $800. I told him I'd try  to figure something else out. I went inside to write the $59 check for coming out.

When I went back outside he asked me if I was willing to get the work done for $600. I told him yes as long as we could guarantee the clog would be removed. I was not paying $600 with the possibility that I would still need the HYDRO-JET.  He said the only guarantee was that we would all die someday. He couldn't or wouldn't guarantee the work. I told him thanks anyway.

At this point when he realized he did not have to go back into my cellar his entire personality changed. He became a nice guy. He mentioned that Home Depot rents power snakes for $90/day and that I could try that. He even explained to me while looking at his how to use it and gave me tips. Then he took off.

I went to Home Depot borrowing the spare Honey Dew truck. The rental power snake costs $72 for four hours it weighs one hundred and sixty pounds, but it is on wheels. I had a tough time getting into the crawl space. Most of the weight is in the iron coil so I had to unwrap it to get it down. Then I had to rewrap it before I could even start (this took almost 90 minutes)

Once I was in position I fed the snake into my main sewer pipe. The thing spins out of an apparatus that looks like a fan. It took an hour to get it through. I probably used over ninety feet of the 100 it comes with. After I snaked it through, I put it in reverse to rewrap it. Once back, I put a cutting tool on the end and snaked it again. This went a lot quicker because I had broken the clog on the first run.

Mike had told me not to start with the cutting tool because if it came across a big root it would get stuck and I'd never get it out (kind of like getting an ax stuck into a log your splitting, sometimes it gets deep and is a bitch to pull out). Once done, I had to carry the coil out of the crawl space because the machine would have been too heavy to carry if I rewrapped it. Once out, I wrapped the coil back up. I brought it too Home Depot with 3 minutes to spare (they would have just charged me for another hour)

When I got home, I took a much needed shower. Then I washed a couple of loads of clothes. I flushed the toilet about 15 times. It seems like I got the clog. I do not have any backup and the toilet pressure seems powerful.

So because Gem was going to overcharge me, I have $500 in my bank account right now that I would not have had if they weren't so overpriced. My experience with Gem was not good. The fact that he insulted my house multiple times was very unprofessional. As I also said, he complained about the crawl space multiple times also. It also bothered me that the service was not guaranteed. Once I told him  I wasn't going to have him do the work, Mike did help me out with the Home Depot idea.

The point of this story is, if you have a clog it might be worth your time and effort to try to fix it yourself. If you can rent a power snake, it could save you hundreds of dollars. For the cost of $72 it is well worth taking the chance that you can fix it. Worse case scenario, your out $72. It was a dirty job (although the water in the pipe was relatively clean, since I only washed dished and showered in the week before my appointment. I did not use the toilet in that week). So I got a little dirty but saved what became almost two hundred dollars an hour!

Finding your Christmas

As I have said multiple times, if I go to a one night event such as a concert or a play, it is absolutely useless to you the reader. the only way it is of any use to you is if you are interested AND that musician or play comes around the following year. For that reason, I try not to write about concerts too often. Last year I went to the Wizard of Oz on opening night at the Stadium Theater. When I got home I wrote about it. If the reader was intrigued by my post, this gave them two solid weekends to buy tickets.

I'm pretty sure this scene from tonight is self explainitory

Tonight I went to the Stadium Theater Christmas Show. It was unbelievably fun. For the most part it was a collection of Christmas songs mixed in with a story to piece them together. The level of talent was off the charts. The singing was unbelievable. My advice to you is to go see it next year. I think it would be impossible to be disappointed. Tickets were $26 and $21. We got our tickets over the summer, so we got third row seats ( first row were also open when we bought the tickets, but we like being a little higher.

Even though, you would have to wait until next year to see tonight's show do not fear, there is still plenty to see. Laurie and I have many other holiday festivities to go to over the next three weeks. It is no secret that the early darkness in December kind of depresses me. Having an event to look forward to keeps me positive. Besides keeping me sane, they also allow me to enjoy the holidays for the entire season and not just Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas morning.

With some research it is not difficult to find plenty to do during the holidays. Some of the stuff can be expensive while others are really pretty cheap. The thing I went to tonight, was well worth the twenty six dollars. On the other hand, Boston Pops and the Old Sturbridge Village CHristmas by Candlelight can be pretty expensive, but both are so worth it.

I'm not going to tell anyone what they should do during the Holidays. My advice is always to make it as fun as possible. Do things that make you happy. It amazes me when people tell me they "can't wait for the holidays to be over" You know what comes after the holidays? Answer- January, a big pile of suck!!!

There are plenty of things you could find on your own. But here are a few ideas. Some free, some fairly inexpensive, other you might have to save for. what I can tell you is everything I do during my Friday's and Saturday's out still adds up to less than the PS4 that all the kids want.

Some ideas-

Stadium Theater is having free movie nights on Dec 20, and 21 for Home Alone and Polar Express
La salette Shrine Christmas lights.
Walking around town commons and driving around to see houses
Movies- Bad Mom's Christmas and The Man that Invenented Christmas
Tree lightings

A Christmas Carol- the Christmas Carol has to be the most done play in America. Almost everyone does it. You could go to Trinity Rep to see it for a lot of money or your local Community Theater to see it on the cheap. We are seeing it at Stadium Theater for a second time because it was so great last year Tickets, 21, and 26 http://www.stadiumtheatre.com/events/a-christmas-carol/114

The Motifri Magazine (which is a hipster, stoner magazine, but quite useful when looking for something to do) has a theater listing each month. You can easily find A Christmas Carol along with other holiday themed plays http://motifri.com/

Jordan's Furniture in Avon has a 4-D movie ride, a Christmas Laser light show, an indoor ice rink, and an Enchanted Village.

Old Sturbridge Village Christmas by Candlelight (you can read about it here)http://southernnewenglandoutdoors.blogspot.com/2015/12/old-sturbridge-village-christmas-by.html

Boston Pops Holiday Pops. Seeing the Pops with Keith Lockhart was a bucket list goal for me. We went last year. Absolutely awesome. My  review-http://southernnewenglandoutdoors.blogspot.com/2016/12/boston-pops-holiday-concert-review.html

Although the Boston Pops are the end all when it comes to orchastra, getting to Boston does suck. There are many other places that have holiday pops orchestras. Finding them with a little research wouldn't be difficult.

These are just some ideas. We are always looking for new things to do. Like I said, find your Christmas. However, if you just can't wait for it to be over because you are stressed, you are doing it all wrong.