So long…

Its been so long since I’ve been here, but I definitely need a place to write and not have people from certain quarters catching on. Its great to be super connected, but I think that there is a tipping point where it becomes more dangerous/worrisome than not.

One problem with my job is that while there are thousands of people who work in my “company” seasonally, the people who are permanent are few and far between and we know each almost every one else if only on the periphery. I can easily play 6 degrees of x with anyone and make the connection in probably 3 jumps.

Makes it hard to have a bad day.

The other problem is that if you HAVE a bad day or are a bit cynical, you are definitely looked down upon. They want chipper people, even if that means that they aren’t the smartest or best qualified for their positions. And I am definitely not that anymore.

Either way, I’ll be back. It is good to have a place to my own. Even if no one else is really listening…

So authentic

It was cold at the Destruction of the Tea (aka The Boston Tea Party) this year!

The War of 1812

So, being that it is 2012…it is the bicentennial of the War of 1812. And being that I work in a place intimately related to that war, I need a new dress for this year. Unfortunately, our budget being what it is, there was no money for me to use to buy a dress. So I’ve decided to make my own regency style/Jane Austen dress. Now, I’m trying to do this on the cheap and so far have spent under $40 for fabric, my pattern, and part of my hat. I would like it to stay that way.

Pattern I’m using, I’m doing the dress on the right:

Simplicity Pattern 4055, bought for $1.00

Fabric I’m using

Linen-Look fabric "Potting Soil", on sale

The hat…hats have always been problematic because they are expensive. So I am attempting to make one myself.

It looks slightly like this, but has black decoration on the brim, $7.00

 

I’m also using some simple muslin to line the skirt so that it is not see-through and will be wearing my American Revolution shoes or a pair of simple shoes from DSW if they don’t cost a lot.

The pattern pieces have all been cut out, now I just have to work up the courage to start sewing them together. But that will wait until tomorrow. I have been told that nothing good comes from sewing after 8:00 pm and I am beginning to believe that!

 

 

Vandals

I cannot stand people who vandalize buildings, especially National Monuments or other places of importance.  It happened once at the Bunker Hill Monument where people believed that the monument was dedicated to the British who died there.

Unfortunately, it happened again to National Park property the other day. As we drove around the base of the Dorchester Heights Monument you could see the vandalism that occurred.

Dry Dock One

Sometimes I get to do really fun stuff because of work…on Saturday, under blue skies and with no wind, I got to go into Dry Dock One at the Charlestown Navy Yard and learn all about its history.  Not only did we get to go into it, we got to spend about an hour wandering around, taking pictures, looking at fish and crabs, and climbing up and down the edges. It was awesome.

We found really interesting objects inside the dry dock (a skull!! How did that get there? Seems to be a prey and not a predator like I originally thought) and saw lots of numbers around us.

Most of these had fallen off of the walls as the epoxy used to secure them to the surface dried and cracked in the heat and cold. I sooo wanted to take a few home with me.

Then, we went into the Caisson…this is the thing that keeps the water out of the dry dock, and I was inside of it. It is actually very clean inside, which was slightly impressive.  It is also impressive that so little metal is keeping the ocean out of that dry dock.

Next field trip may include the Chain Forge and the Rope Walk…and a trip to Lowell to look at their education program. Sometimes I love my job.

Mr. Backwards

Dear Asshat,

Yes…I know that apartheid did not occur during the 1800s. I was trying to tell you all the important events that had been debated in Faneuil Hall over the years.  The list of: apartheid, child labor laws, women’s rights to vote, union rights, religious rights, and others should NOT be met with the reply: “So nothing of significance happened here”.

When I tell you that I love having the right to vote and that my Grandmother, 90 years old this May and on Facebook, loves the fact that she was BORN with the right to vote, you should not reply back with “Stop being defensive. That is the problem. You are a woman and women get defensive”.

You should also not tell me that I am a waste of tax payer money and an embarrassment to civil service everywhere. I am not a civil servant and you are an Ass Hat. Please do not come back to Boston…go back into your hole and back to worrying about the fact that some of our nation’s greatest treasures are in the hands of Massholes like myself.

No cookie for you,
Me

 

Dear Lovely Canadian Men,

I love you. You helped me be able to detach myself from that Ass Hat from somewhere America. Thank you for being the sweet Canadians that I know most are. I hope that you are dating each other because you would make a cute couple. Please come back to Boston anytime you want and bring all your friends.
❤

Me

USS Constitution

I had a great post here about the neighbors who want the USS Constitution to change the way she fires her cannons because they feel lit is too loud.  They want the cannons to be quiet until 9 AM on the weekends and the National Anthem to not be played so loudly and the charges to be smaller.

To which I say: shut up.

This tradition has been going on since before 1800 and the charges have been made smaller over the years already. They barely use any black powder to set the cannons off already and oh yeah, we are at war. These cannons are shot off twice a day in honor of the men and women who are serving and who have served. Many of these sailors will be going off to active duty combat after their 3 years at the Constitution is up and many of the National Park Rangers have also served in some capacity.  This ship is the mascot of the entire Navy and it is only appropriate for her to fire her cannons off as a sign of respect…and its pretty cool to watch them do it, as well.
I was lucky enough to get to take a trip on the Constitution a few years ago with my Dad. It was Armed Forces Day and so there was a 19 gun salute (why are they always odd numbers?) to the men and women of the Armed Forces. While I couldn’t really see over the sides of the ship, I knew enough to get down to the gun deck in time to see them load and fire the charges. Afterwards, I got one of the shells as a souvenier of my trip…it stunk to high heaven for a few weeks, but it is awesome. See:

So, be quiet people living at Flagship Wharf…Nomar would have never been a jerk like you are. Oh, and I hope you enjoy it next summer when they are turning the Yard back into a working one and putting the USS Cassin Young into drydock! That should be exciting…lots of banging and crashing and melting and tearing. Its going to be awesome to see what kind of letter you send to the NPS unit.

Radio Boston/WBUR at Faneuil Hall

Snagged from their website:

WHAT: Radio Boston taped before a live audience.

WHERE: Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall.

WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 17 @ 8pm

WHO: Jane Clayson, David Boeri, and YOU!

We’ll be talking about gang violence in Boston, and an innovative new program designed to stop it in the streets.

For FREE tickets, email us at radioboston@wbur.org with your name, phone number, and the number of people in your party (limit four tickets per request). We’ll get back to you.

Hope to see you there!

Running

And not in the good way. I have been flat out running for the last few weeks. Not only did we have a housewarming party, we participated in a snow covered charity walk that didn’t go as well as we wanted it to. Because of the weather, half the members of our team were not able to walk…which really annoyed my Dad as it was in his honor that we were walking. However, if he had gotten sicker at the event, I would never forgive myself.

I have also had a presentation, 8 page paper (which turned out to be 7), 3-5 page paper (which is at 4 right now), 1 page response paper, lit review, children’s program, registering for my last semester of school and a few other things hanging over my head. People at work have been getting hurt (falling off of a stage, fake appendicitis, staph infection) and others have had family members die.

And I haven’t been able to spend any time on my costume 😦 I ran into Salvation Army today to pick up a “bomber jacket”, really just a red faux-leather jacket (for 6.99) and a Halloween store for a pilots hat and goggles and gun. I have my brown shoes, zip pants, and I might try to make a scarf out of an old t-shirt tomorrow quickly…not sure. I’m slightly annoyed that I’ve tossed out certain things and can’t find other things but whatever.

Paper is done, computer will be plugged in for school tomorrow, costume is mostly together. I didn’t get to make my Guinness cupcakes, but that is fine. I’ll make them on Saturday to eat with our pot roast.

From whence they came…

At work, we have some maps up and try to encourage people to mark where they are from with pins. At the end of every week, we take the pins down and “reset” the maps. I took down the old maps the other day because certain areas (like Hartford, CT and the Netherlands) were completely obliterated, but it was really interesting to see the distribution of all the pins. Here are some pictures (and proof, if you’ve ever needed it, that people come from every continent to visit Boston):

Visitors from the South Pacific

Visitors from Europe, Asia Minor, Northern Africa

Visitors from Africa

It will be interesting to see how the map morphs and changes over the next few weeks as most of our visitors will be from New England and Western Europe. Most of our cruise ships are carrying people from the New York/New England area or Britain to Canada and back again, so probably fewer South Africans or people from the South Pacific, but who knows!