Melançon Enterprises • a multidivision multinational since 1980

5/25/09 12:53 AM
So I paid my taxes a month late (99% done at midnight April 15, and then never got back to them) -- don't need to use your check personally, but maybe could use a thousand or two to lend to someone else. Giving a heads up / request for thoughts. Ireland is beautiful.

Veronica was over, she has appointed herself my office manager. We walked Zelda and CJ and Veronica pulled up wildflowers to plant at home.

I also mailed a check for Cathy to work on securing the PWGD name, and a big flat rate box of garden dirt to Mary ($10.35 for some 25 pounds... maybe this gets back at them for being so slow with the hummos i mailed last year...)

Cooked for myself and instead of saving some or all to maybe eat with Anjali, or Veronica, or anyone tomorrow, I stuffed myself tonight.

Saturday night. Quite fun.

I gave him my 'real' external hard drive (most impressive casing) for his birthday and told him to treasure the random data i left on it forever.

***

Rich, Manda, and Andrew went— and arrived before me.

Manda brought excellent, truly excellent vegan and gluten free brownies -- the brownies themselves were excellent, with carrots and raisins in there somehow, and there were vegan and non-vegan versions of the frosting (the vegan was sugar, margarine, and tofutti cream cheese, making that the first cream cheese of any kind that I liked).

(June 5 Friday afternoon to June 6 Saturday morning)

Jack is very cool and understands the importance of drumming up business for the suburbs:

Ben and his mom were awesome hosts! Even Zelda the dog was nice (dogs
generally dislike me). They provided excellent vegan feasts and super
conversation right up until my bus departure, not to mention the materials
necessary to pack my bike according to greyhound standards. And without Ben
to whisk me to the station in the nick of time I would have surely become

Helping clean Grandpa's boat, I was dumping some relatively benign cleaning water out of site of the harbormaster. This involved (not exactly out of necessity) climbing down the side of the boat with one hand holding the bucket. With hand on the top railing and toes on the first ridge, I lowered myself so that the toes were on the lower ridge. I estimated that I could let go of the top railing and grab hold of the cleat quickly enough to not fall backward into the water... and I was right.

Grandpa is really angry with me for being on the computer so much while I was there. It was immediately before a site going live...

Good wrap up meeting and dinner in Cambridge on Monday for this large site Agaric was a big part of bringing to completion (ok, not completion, initial launch).

Back in Providence went to "India" with Kathleen and Peter for lunch. Good restaurant, yes, Indian food, vegan options (when dishes are asked about), and they're really putting a lot of effort into the decor and the patio and seating outside.

Went to a fundraiser for EarthWorks Boston, an awesome organization. I had heard about it before because a friend applied there, and I really hope my friend gets the job.

I knew about the fundraiser, though, because it was posted online by a person i'm interested in. Even with my bad relationship sense, i was pretty sure she wasn't too interested in me.

Skype call and a we think NAT-related issue with taxonomy terms becoming their own parents and children on Ventus (treated but not cured) were the work, uh, highlights.

Lucky enough to spend some time with Anjali, including a lovely, carefully if impromptu arranged vegan dinner at the Forber-Pratt's, before she heads back to Illinois tomorrow, and then to Bermuda to speak on behalf of the Paralympian Association -- she was asked to do this on Thursday i think.

Ireland is consistently breathtaking, but Natick has its beautiful spots too. With all the rain of late we have our own burgeoning of green, wilder here than in Ireland, and the (cold) spring mist over the lake matched the feeling of ancient, or rather timeless, beauty.

Anjali and I went to dinner (lunch?

2009 May 26 Tuesday:

sent letter on scholarships
posted RDF session to boston drupal design camp
finally finished biblio moderation for PDOnline

did not even walk Zelda

There's a window by the bathroom in the back (aft, for those nautically/aviotically? minded) of the plane that angles down, looking out, at the small white clouds over the blue-black rippled ocean:

Life is awesome.

***

Saw "Last Chance Harvey" on the flight. Rather liked it. I'm a sucker for the finding love, of any sort, stories.

***

Boston is rather pretty too. Green and brick if you look in the right places leaving the airport.

Unrepentent nerd. This is fun!

so Dan's eating raw, i have a ton of organic kidney beans, i figured i'll soak them and do something without cooking them

turns out (looking for a recipe) raw red kidney beans are the most poisonous thing i could try to serve

they have to be boiled at least 10 minutes to get rid of a natural pesticide

Spent last day-and-a-half at Kathleen's learning DBScripts, for when she goes. Zelda with us. I'll be taking Taedyn back with us while Kathleen goes on a much-deserved vacation.

Rich and Manda look fantastic. They've been doing a workout regimen together

And Rich has been taking vitamin D to try one of his doctor's theory that it reduces the body's autoimmune overreaction, and his chart of things he's allergic to has dropped to practically nothing!

But every time i look over the finances, all i can think is, 2008 was one heck of a year for travel.

Mom saw Ellis Clarke talk. She didn't remember the name when telling me but ambassador from trinidad & tobago 1965 meant there's no question.

She said he was an amazing speaker, expressed a love like unto the Dalai Lama. He went on to become the country's president and is still alive and the most venerated political leader.

"And I must say, too, my exposure to black people was very limited back then. There were a lot of Polish people" [in Webster].

Too much work but some good catching up with friends via phone, e-mail, and chat.

Did have the family here in person! Dan, Eva, Cassidy, Xavier, and the newest addition, John.

Missed dinner with Ashly some weeks ago due to work.

Drove out to the cape way later than planned also.

Grandpa walked out on me and went to dinner while I was still 10 minutes away from sending an estimate back to Dan and Gus.

Boston Skillshare was great. Notes and links elsewhere here on mlncn.com

Economics workshop on Tuesday night also very good.

Also sitting in on the klezmer playing session at the Boston skillshare at Ash's insistence. I hover at the door and then walk in, and I have to say loved how it sounds so... Jewish.

Teacher is playing an accordian, there's a guy on saxaphone, a girl on a trombone, a girl on flute, and Ash on ukulele and a guy on a sorta large triangle shaped ukulele type thing.

And then when they lay, it's all familiar, though I have heard almost no actual klezmer in my life, just the traditional melodies that are part of it.

Mostly in 2, 4, 3, our leader says, but all kinds of different rhythms.