The Big DumpTruck

We filed our taxes about a million years ago. Or maybe it was a week ago. Anyway, we are due for a refund and I would really like for them to pay me because I have some bills that aren't going to pay themselves, doncha know! Plus Mr. Dump's vehicle was making a $386 noise. When he took it to find out what the problem was and get an estimate...oops, we fixed it without calling you to tell you how much it was going to be. That's so not cool. I won't name the place because I really like them, and the work they do, but this was a big stinkball to have to pay it today.

Also, for those of you in the Leominster area, we popped in to the Blue Marlin for lunch. You have GOT TO SEE THIS PLACE! The decor is beyond excellent. I'm not even going to spoil it for you, but you have to go. I know, it looks ultra swanky from the outside, but the menu is definitely not. Heck, I could have gotten a hot dog for lunch. Or dinner (because the menu is the same). Go go go and then come back and tell me what you think of the place. (p.s. I can highly recommend the clam strips.) Everything is freshly prepared on-site except for some of the desserts, which they get from Auntie Ellen's Creative Confections next door. Oh, by the way, we popped in there to check it out. Take your wallet and GO. We took the triple chocolate mouse and the bananas foster cheesecake home with us, and we couldn't decide which was better.

Labels: food, Leominster, money

I have to work today. I have to work Monday as well, but that is not the point of this point. This is the point of this post.

There are songs that immediately put me in a different place and time. Like brings back smells sounds, everything. I'm listening to my iPod on shuffle and the song The Ballroom Blitz by Sweet comes on. Suddenly, I am at Mason's Bowling alley on a Saturday morning (I was on a bowling team - the Pink Panthers. I have no idea why I can remember the name of my bowling team all these years later, but there you go). There are whole bunch of songs that were on the jukebox at Masons for years - I assume the owner just stopped buying new 45s at some point - because in junior high I was on another bowling team (after school league) and a bunch of those songs were still on there.

But Ballroom Blitz is the one song from that bunch (Telephone Line by ELO was another one) that when I hear it I'm back at Masons. (There are a couple of songs that bring me back to the Mason's mini golf. I think I spent too much time there one summer, but my best friend lived around the corner and it wasn't that bad a walk from my house, so it's not all that surprising.

So anyway, Ballroom Blitz came on and I was just back in that bowling alley in a split second. Candlepin, for you out-of-towners. I think I need to go bowling now.

Labels: childhood, itunes, Leominster, music

Labels: award, Lego, Leominster, photos, Robots

Okay, maybe not the world, but they are invading my life. You see, I signed on to coach Junior's FIRST LEGO League Robotics team. They started a league at his elementary school this year (and one other in town - it will expand out next year) and he's on team Funny Bones. Our team, plus the 4 others from our school and the 4 teams from the other elementary school attended the Mindstorm Madness tournament in Shrewsbury yesterday, 6 weeks or so after our team formed. We were up against 17 other teams, some of them middle school teams who had better robots and competition experience. Our plucky little robot soldiers, after 9 challenge rounds, were seeded FIRST(!!) for the playoff rounds. FIRST! Our average score over the nine rounds was the highest! Was that even possible? I can tell you, I almost cried I was so proud of these kids, and so shocked. When I went into the gym during the break and saw the list of teams, and saw #7 listed first, I refused to believe it was a ranking. But it was.

So we explained to the kids that really, that was the highlight of the tournament, because that's the REAL show of who did the best. Anyone could get knocked out of the semi-finals by just having a robot malfunction.

Except they didn't have a robot malfunction. They won each of their semi-final rounds, and won the final against a team from the other Leominster elementary school by a mere 5 points. We won the tournament, the whole thing. And we also got the robot performance award. Our simple little last-generation robot was a tireless little engine that could.

To say I was beside myself about the whole day is an understatement. 7 of the 9 Leominster teams made the elite 8, and 3 of the final 4 and both of the finalists were from our schools. I don't think I'll ever see such a thing again, and I will be happy HOWEVER they do at the Leominster Tournament this week. Funny Bones rule!

Labels: Lego, Leominster, Robots, school

Forgive the yelling, but the National Weather Service is all about the caps, and I am just copying and pasting.

Just yesterday I was telling people that one of my biggest phobias is fear of bad weather. Driving in a thunderstorm can reduce me to tears. A tornado warning puts my blood pressure into the stratosphere. So this is what I just read.

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 330 PM EDTFOR CENTRAL WORCESTER COUNTY...AT 252 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PENNYSIZE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THESE STORMSWERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM CLINTON TO WORCESTER...ORALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LEOMINSTER TOWORCESTER...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR... BOLTON...NORTHBOROUGH AND BERLIN BY 300 PM EDT...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM EDT WEDNESDAY EVENING.

This is part of the the current warning for Leominster:

IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORSIMMEDIATELY! LIGHTNING IS ONE OF NATURES NUMBER ONE KILLERS.REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

Well now, that's just what I needed to hear!!!

Actually, I was on the phone with Mr. Dump (he was using a cordless). He's working from home and told me that right before one lightning strike that seemed VERY close, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. I would need a lot of medication right now if I were at home. I would also be in the basement, crouched in the corner, wimpering.

Labels: Leominster, weather

There's an article in today's Telegram and Gazette that made me double check the date. Apparently Nestle Waters, the kind folks who deliver Poland Springs water right to my doorstep by the case, are looking at some aquifers in Clinton as a potential source for spring water. That's right, I could be paying a premium for water coming from Clinton. I know, I know, Boston drinks Clinton water every day courtesy of the Wachusett Reservoir, but if you see a headline like "Clinton water may join Perrier" bells and sirens sort of go off. I'm just saying.

Of course, this news is offset with the news that Leominster water is not as good as it should be. There's a byproduct of chlorinization called trihalomethanes that may cause an increase of cancer if they are consumed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. As in, you swim in it, get some steam up your nose when you're cooking with it, or bath in it. Which we all do, or at least should. I'm not sure how to take this report. I'm not going to stop bathing, but this is not a comforting news story.

Labels: Leominster, scary, water

I remembered what I was going to write about! I should probably save this for a novel or short story, but don't you think you have earned a special posting? I think you have. All 3 of you who read this site regularly.

Sunday night there were a lot of odd conversations. VERY odd. We had my niece and nephew over for a while, and then when my sister came to get them, we all went to TGI Fridays. So here are the things that occurred after we got the kids in the van:

1. I became an eastern European tour bus guide. I pointed out helpful things along the lines of "In front of you is road. Behind is road." I pointed out the rubbish barrels on the side of the road. I told them that if at any point they noticed the bus driver missing, they should "Press ding button". They seemed greatly amused by the whole drive.

2. There were two shows on the TVs in the TGIF bar - on one was a car race. On the other, I don't know because I could only see TVs with the car race. I pointed out that race car drivers probably wore diapers. There was some discussion about "pit stop" means something different in non-racing circles. We call it a pit stop when we want a potty break. Mr. Dump pointed out that race car drivers don't exit the car during the race.

3. Whatever was on the other television involved bees. I asked what it was about and Mr. Dump said it was a story about how they are training bees to sniff out drugs. We envisioned a world where they would release swarms of bees in airports to look for drugs. I thought maybe they meant farms where they were growing pot. We wondered if it would be helpful to attach little cameras to the backs of the bees. Then Mr. Dump admitted he made the whole thing up. I still think you'd get a lot more people admitting they had drugs on them if swarms of bees were circling their heads.

4. Nah, I'm saving this one for the re-write of the nano-novel. I have to have SOMETHING to replace all the crappy stuff I have to remove.

Labels: 01453, bees, bus, Leominster, odd

Okay, Junior and I were taking photos today. That was our activity. We did take a bunch of pictures up at Skyview Middle School, which can be seen in my personal Leominster set (they are also in the Leominster group I linked to below.)

That little trip went fairly well, considering it was about 500 below zero up on top of the hill so we decided to take most of the pictures from inside the car.

When it was closer to sunset (i.e. good light) we headed over to Evergreen Cemetery to get a few more shots. I went in the main entrance to see if I could get a good shot of the sign (I couldn't) and then headed up the road to the right that goes into the "old" section. I got to the part that curves uphill...and it was snow-covered with big ruts. Uh oh, my van was not going to make it up the hill. But when I went to back down, the car didn't turn, it just sort of slid straight down. I didn't hit anything but snow, but that snow got good and jammed and my car got stuck. So I tried to rock it back and forth and started to get nervous that I was getting too close to the stones, given that I was trying to do this by myself.

I eventually called Mr. Dump to bring a shovel to save us. How embarrassing. But I don't think this is my fault. If the city didn't want to plow that whole road (it was plowed up to that curve) they should have blocked it with a barrel or something. And looking at that immediate area, it looks like I wasn't the first person to get stuck there.

If the city is going to plow the roads in the cemetery, they should plow all the roads in the cemetery, or block them off so that people like me don't get stuck and there isn't a risk of anyone damaging the stones.

So Mr. Dump freed us, and we went home photo-less. I told Junior we'd go back...after the snow melts.

Labels: 01453, car, Leominster, photos

I just created a Leominster MA group on Flickr. There was already a Fitchburg group. I'm going to make the description that it's not just for photos of Leominster, but for photos from photographers from Leominster.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/leominster/

I'm going to try to go out and take a few photos today. I am really going to try to take advantage of flickr and the communities. I've already learned a couple of things from the Canon Rebel XTi group I joined.

Labels: flickr, Leominster, photos

Okay, I don't think I should open THAT can of worms, knowing most of you are probably up late every night trying to work that puzzle out on your own. But the Worcester Telegram did figure out a way to annoy me today, and I figured I'd complain about it here because that's why I pay hosting fees and domain registration fees every year. That's what it's all about, my people.

The Telegram, a good source of local (Leominster) news, decided that instead of having a page of news items of specific interest to the "North" (which is where the Leominster, Fitchburg, Gardner, etc. stories were), and another for West, and another for Blackstone Valley, etc., they would just lump us under the heading "Suburbs".

Great. No offense to Hopkinton, but your news stories aren't really all that important to me. And I'm sure mine are not to you. So what the Telegram has effectively done, is go the Boston Media route of closing their eyes, blocking their ears with their fingers and saying "Nya nay nya I can't see you! You don't exist!" to anything outside of the 128 belt.

If I didn't have such a long history of being completely annoyed with the way the Fitchburg Sentinel is run (I love LOVE LOVE! when they run stories about events after they happen, not before, so that I can sit and feel badly that I didn't know about it. No, really, that's fantastic.

So ya, there may be a war going on, people dying and starving, etc., but I'm really ticked off that the paper has decided they can't be bothered to give us our own page any more.

Labels: 01453, Leominster, News, Sentinel, Telegram

Apparently, there was a report of a pipe bomb on the side of the on ramp to route 2 from Route 12 in Leominster. We had made arrangements to meet my parents for lunch at UNOs at the Twin City Mall at noon, so we gave ourselves an extra 10 minutes to get there, assuming there would be some extra "NEXT TO THE LAST SATURDAY!" Christmas shoppers out there.

We did not anticipate route 12 being shut down while the police and the bomb squad dealt with the pipe bomb issue. We did NOT allow ourselves enough time to get through the horrific backups that the pipe bomb caused. For those of you familiar with the area, it took us an HOUR to get from the Brooks Pharmacy on Main Street (near Prospect St.) to Unos. We were just trying to go down Main, turn right on Hamilton Street, straight through the lights at North Main (Route 12) and up Lindell.

Problem is, everyone trying to drive toward Fitchburg on route 12 was being sent either up Lindell or down Hamilton. That is, when the cop directing traffic decided to actually let people from Hamilton Street move forward. Can someone explain to me what would possess the guy directing traffic to let us move 1/2 the number of cars as the other lanes? We were backing people up all the way to Main Street! Plus, with people trying to pull out of streets and parking lots (the Shaws back entrance, the cheerleading place), there was a level of gridlock forming that would not be relieved unless he actually allowed some of us to flow through the intersection. Dude, you see how they are all backed up? That's because they can't go anywhere. If you keep letting people take a left, and they get stuck, we will be blocked and nobody will be able to move for the rest of the day. Do you understand that you are CAUSING this problem?

Do they not teach "directing traffic effectively" anymore in policeman school? As we went into insulin shock in the car, I mentioned to Mr. Dump about the time I was stuck at "7 Corners" (or whatever it's called) in Lancaster and the guy directing traffic literally let each street completely empty (like 4-5 minutes, no lie) before letting traffic on the next street move. I sat there TWENTY MINUTES without moving, and this bozo was actually directing traffic. And *I* was on the only street that actually had the legal right of way (no stop signs).

Do officers have to pass some kind of test on the best way to direct traffic at a major intersection before they are allowed to do so? I am not trying to be mean. I am trying to prevent them from being run over by hundreds of drivers experiencing police-induced road rage.

So I'm glad the police detonated the "bomb" (results pending) and nobody was hurt and my parents only had to sit in a restaurant for 45 minutes waiting for us to make the 5 minute drive over. But what a damper it puts on the day.

Labels: 01453, christmas, Leominster, restaurant, traffic