Sunday, June 25, 2017

Coasting...

The view for part of my daily commute.
I'm taking a break from my NATO series. Sometimes a series can be taxing for the reader (no, not another NATO post) and sometimes taxing for the writer (have I told that story before, better go look). Variety is indeed, the spice of life. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

So, I've been working these odd hours, roughly noon to nine in the evening as after five is the best time to get access to the equipment we need. The day shift guys are doing things of a higher priority and it is, after all, their equipment. It's no use trying to get everyone in there at the same time as sometimes what we want to do screws up their testing. So we improvise, we adapt, we overcome. (With apologies to Gunny Highway.)

I suggested the classic second shift (swings we called it back in the day) starting at 1500 and running to midnight, but some of the team are still young and have lives. I'm old and decrepit, it's just me, The Missus Herself, and the two cats. So I can pretty much work any shift. The cats and the wife really don't mind. As long as I keep getting paid, we're all happy.

Anyhoo. Over the last couple of months the state has been performing some much needed maintenance on the Mount Hope Bridge which runs between Bristol (where I live) and Portsmouth (where I work). So from time to time traffic is one way and we motorists have a few moments to contemplate life and take pictures (like that one above).

Here's the bridge as seen in Google Earth (a thing I love to play with, in case you're interested) -

Bristol at the top, Portsmouth at the bottom. Google Earth
During the summer it's a joy to live in this area (even with the bridge work), for the most part it ain't that shabby in the winter either. Sure, it gets a little cold from time to time and we see some snow now and again. But it's relatively mild compared to what I grew up with in Vermont, experienced in Korea, Colorado, and Nebraska. Not bad at all, all things considered.

Yes, the politics in this state are a bit further left than I care for but the screaming hotbed of progressivism is more towards Providence, which I avoid like the plague. For that matter, most of that crap is only seen on the news and in the papers (those which still exist). It's not something one sees day to day. We avoid politics at work, though there are a fair number of conservatives where I work, defense industry, go figure, so many of us are of like mind, so to speak.

Speaking of Google Earth, when I loaded it up earlier, I was presented with this -

Google Earth
Obviously I didn't have to wait quite that long for it to load. (ICSFTH)

So life goes on, I have my health, two of the grands are in town and The Nuke and her beau (along with the grand-dogs) will be in town for the Fourth. Things are good.

One thing I should mention about Little Rhody, there are a crap ton of decent restaurants in the area and they are open year round (southern coastal Maine has a lot too, but many of them close in the winter). Places where you can get this -


I do like a good porter and Aidan's is a superb Irish pub. The beer menu and that sign on the back wall tell the story pretty well. Okay, the food is good too, the bangers and mash, the fish and chips, I'd match them against any other place. No, really. You haven't really lived until you've had their 14 ounce sirloin with Irish whiskey gravy. It tastes as good as it sounds!

So, enjoy your Sunday, I shall be relaxing and enjoying life.





Not a bad view to have when you're stuck in traffic!

Yup, life is good down by the pond...





26 comments:

  1. Shure is Purty up there!

    We've had a string of 100's down here, broken yesterday by a short rain shower which was welcome but raised the humidity quite a bit when the sun came back out.

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    1. It is lovely up in these parts. Temperature has been moderate with a couple of days of high humidity. That's what can make summer miserable here, the humidity. Still not as bad as Biloxi!

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  2. Purty indeed! Enjoy!

    Today's the day they start selling fahr-crackers. Which means noise and litter and fires. That'll keep everyone's minds off 1776!

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    1. Ah yes, the approach of the Fourth has the local nutters firing off their crackers night and day.

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  3. I'm averse to large puddles of water, having grown up where there wasn't much. Sitting on a bridge that has warped side rails with bowed reinforcement panels, over a big puddle isn't my idea of fun. If the boat has wheels on the bottom, I'm okay with it. If I can't walk home if it sinks, I'm probably not going....

    I worked swing at a TV station for almost 2 years. I HATED it. I don't know why I have such a hard time with finishing work at night. I can start working at 5AM fine, but finishing up well after dark just eats at me. Woodbadge was pure pain.

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    1. Our realtor told us of a couple who moved here from the Midwest. She hated the water. Asked for a house no where near the water and where she wouldn't have to see the water.

      Realtor suggested Vermont. Mentioned that the commute was a little long.

      The lady didn't see the humor in that.

      As for me? I need to be near the sea. It's something I've wanted since I was a kid. So I'm good with the big puddles.

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  4. Chocolate Hazelnut Porter, so, pretty much Nutella beer? I'd actually like to try that. Years ago when my wife and I were playing around with the homebrew thing, we made a chocolate raspberry porter that turned out well.

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    1. Nutella Porter? Hahaha. Actually didn't taste much like Nutella (which I love) but was most excellent all the same.

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  5. If you must be stuck in traffic, those views make it worthwhile.

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  6. I've been stuck on bridges in Jersey, but didn't think anyone would be interested in pictures of big oil tanks...at least that stink in the Meadowlands area is gone (not the Giants, I think it was a slaughterhouse) anyway RI is a beautiful State. Jersey has its places too, just not along our major highways.

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    1. New Jersey does have some beautiful spots, the part along I-95 in the north gets all the attention.

      I, for one, would be interested in pictures of big oil tanks. If you look real close at that first picture (to the left above the bridge rail), you can see big oil tanks.

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  7. Thanks for the post and photos. It is indeed purty where you live.

    Paul L. Quandt

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  8. And Dogfish Head, too :)

    Unfortunately most of the bridges here in the D.C. area aren't as scenic.

    I was out at the local beer & wine super store yesterday to restock the fridge, and happened to notice on the shelf a brew strongly recommended by Juvat here a few days ago. This evening I'll be trying a bottle of Brewery Ommegang Rare Vos.

    Also picked up a sampler six pack of Shiner, to see if the rest of their lineup is as nice as the Ruby Redbird I'd tried last summer. Odd, when I was at Aggieland, nobody I knew would stoop to drink Shiner. It was Lone Star Beer (and Bob Wills music) all the time. Lone Star is now but a faded memory, and Shiner seems to be a craft brewing darling.

    /
    L.J.

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    1. And we expect a full report on the brews you sample.

      ;)

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  9. Lone Star used to be the keg du jour at Webb AFB in the olden days.

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    1. Oddly enough I don't think I've ever had Lone Star.

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  10. I was just thinking that Li'l Rhody sounds a lot like C'fornia, politically.
    Certain parts control the rest of the state and are not necessarily representative of the populace.
    That's much too progressive for me.

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    1. Well, most of the population lives in urban areas and urbanites tend to be progressive. So yeah, there is some imbalance in control. But Rhode Island isn't as bad as California. Though many here would like that.

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  11. They're STILL working on that bridge? It's a welfare program at this point. As for Providence being "the screaming hotbed of progressivism," you know that mere geography can't contain that kind of stupid. It's a gas that permeates society once it's released from the legislature.

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    1. They neglected that bridge for years. Now they work on it every year. Stands to reason, you gundeck the maintenance, it's gonna bite you in the butt eventually. You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.

      I think you're right about that gas.

      Delete
  12. Hey, I can see my brother's house from there! Well, his vacation house. Which I probably won't get to visit this year, because work and grumblemumble.

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    1. I so get the "grumble-mumble."

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    2. I'd rather be sitting on the deck with my feet up, beverage in hand, steaks on the grill, watching the twinkly lights on the Mt. Hope Bridge...

      It's too long for a bumper-sticker slogan, but I like it :P

      Delete

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