Stovepipe's Corner

FINN@THEBEERGUYS.COM

 

Day 24:

 

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Well, the class has finally been together enough to start getting on each
other's nerves and picking up each other's bad habits. Now, anyone who has
solved the mysteries of the world with me at the Red Lion will know that I
have a kleptomaniac streak when it comes to stealing bar glasses. I find
they make great evidence to escapades and they're great souvenirs of by-gone
times. Since I've been here I've proliferated four (and passed them out to
known suspects of the previous nights debauchery). In fact, it has become
something of a contest now to see who can get the next best thing! Turns
out, that a couple of the boys went to Sam Adams brewery this weekend (the
rest of the crew is going this Saturday, and yes Linda will be joining us)
and said individuals proliferated three glasses right out of the tasting
session! Bastards! That will be tough to beat! Stay tuned faithful readers,
I shall prevail!

 

Other irritations have also become present. One of our compatriots has an
irritating habit of raising his hand and making "two points", today he
raised his hand and the teacher said, "Wait, don't tell me, two points?"
Rounds of laughter and jeers! Another habitual problem is Jerry Kalmar's boy
jumping in to make a statement. Not necessarily contributing anything to the
dialogue, just pointing out how "we do it in our local" which is immediately
followed up by his Canadian counterpart with , "Well in Canada...". We've
taken to calling them the "Soul Patch Twins" because of their prominent
facial hair, (I wanted the Suck Ass Twins but was voted down). Anyway,
things are rolling into the tired, half-crazy, horny, drinking too much at
night, snacking and phone answering section of the trip. Elaine Bernard, the
Director has been trying to get everyone to "reconvene" but she even
admitted that week four was the "breakdown" week. Hilarious stuff.

 

Other than all that, had a pretty dreary day. The Carpenters showed up to
tell us all how they are reshaping the Labor Movement, which was followed by
Public Sector shit, and finally Mexican Labor History, (quite frankly the
most BRUTAL subject being taught. No one can stand listening to Juan Pablo's
problems, when we have enough of our own)! Class room antics have escalated
with Jelly Belly tossing, text messaging, bad jokes, and people berating
each other's Unions! HA! The good thing is that I get left alone because
they're afraid they will show up in a cartoon, (which they will anyway,
which of course is the best part). A Lot of new cartoons on the web if you
haven't been there, although they wouldn't post the one of Sam and I in
nothing but our socks, ("Too explicit", Harvard pussies). One last thing of
a brutal nature, one of the Canadians had an infection called a "deep tissue
infection" between his nut sack and bung hole and had to have an operation
over the weekend to drain the puss! OH MY GOD! He's doing okay, but can't
sit down, obviously...there's no way they're going to publish THAT cartoon!
HA!

 

Stay tuned, same Bat Channel, same Bat Time!

 

Day 23:

Salem Witch Trials!

Headed up the road to Salem with Jerry (a teacher rep from San Francisco)
and Greg (our director's husband). I had been previously warned that the
trip wasn't worth it, but I had to see for myself.

 

We took a leisurely route up the coast in the midst of snow "flurries".
There is a Nor'easter heading in and the locals version of flurries can
definitely be debated. Greg didn't seem to have any worries, although he is
a Teamster truck driver (married to a Harvard professor no less) so we
trudged onward. Our first stop was a quick visit to Paul Revere Beach in the
snow. Very nice, and VERY cold. We continued up the coast to Gloaster(sp?)
it was the place George Clooney was from in The Perfect Storm. Beautiful old
homes and colder than HELL! We stopped at an old Revolutionary fort for a
few more pics, and finally made it to Salem. And then it got weird! We
headed to a museum...a CHINESE museum!!?? What the fuck you say? Well, me
too. I think Greg has some Chinese fetish or something, and Jerry is married
to a Chinese man so I had to suffer through a three hour tour of chink shit.
Needless to say I was a bit perturbed and starting to believe the warnings
of my fellow classmates when they said "It wasn't worth it". Turns out that
Salem was home headquarters of the East India Trading Company of pirate
legend...like I gave a shit.

 

Finally after suffering through many rooms of Chinese crap Greg says, "You
guys want to look around some more here or..." "WITCH SHIT! NOW!" We
trundled off through the "flurries" to what the REST of the world knows
Salem for: WITCHES & WITCH TRIALS! The museum was tiny and cost $8. I
passed, already highly disappointed in chink history, I was afraid to see
Salem's Idea of Witch History. Took some pictures, and having already heard
that the trial papers were on display in the old Customhouse (which had
closed while I was suffering through Moa Tse Tongs cultural revolution) I
requested a trip to the local cemetery.

 

SCORE! FINALLY! The graveyard is the high water mark of Salem, and I
thoroughly recommend it. It looks just like the one outside Disneyland's
Haunted Mansion, only for real. We finally headed back to Boston, much the
worse for wear and a little burned out. My co-travelers had a better time
than I did, but it wasn't all bad. I know where to go and what to do next
time.

 

So the recommendation for Salem? Thumbs down on Chinese culture, thumbs up
on graveyards!

 

Don't make me release the flying monkeys people! I'll get you and your
little dog too!

I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore!

 

Day 22:

Australia Day!

What a Party! Every single student who was in town showed up as well as a
few professor! We had to suffer through a weak rendition of "Australia The
Fair" or some such nonsense, but altogether a great day. We even has a bite
of Vegemite! Tastes basically like Dirt Jelly! But none the less we ate it.
We were trying to support the criminal bastards!

 

Earlier in the day I did the laundry so I'm set for a tourist day tomorrow
in Salem! Just a couple of stragglers left, but we're going so what the
hell. Tom's wife Stephanie made it up and she was at the Australia Day party
too. Now apparently the Aussie's have a couple of days, to which I have been
privy to a definition: There is Australian Independence Day which is January
1st. Since "New Year's Day" is already a holiday, the Aussies felt they were
jipped out of a drunk, so they celebrate "England Occupation Day" i.e.
Australia Day. I pointed out the fact that here in America we celebrate the
day we exiled the Brits, but it had little effect on the drunken "blokes".

 

 Gotta be honest here, I was truly impressed with the turn out. I'm not sure
if there was an aura of solidarity, or just a weak excuse to get drunk. But,
none-the-less we had a hell of a show! Kalani and I (the Hawaiian rep) have
promised to do a singing at next week's Super Bowl party with me playing the
ukulele while he sings. Needless to say we were pretty drunk. I guess I'll
have to practice this week. All in all a good day!

 

Viva criminals and kangaroos!

Viva Australia!

 

 

Day 21:

Night Out!

Well, quite a day today. We went over a few cases that were pretty brutal.
Started with labor history, which is definitely my favorite subject. We were
subjected to watching the cops shoot the 1937 steel-workers in the back. The
footage was originally suppressed by the FBI but this was the unedited
version which was extremely brutal. At first I thought it was some
reconstruction footage because it looked so staged, but it was real. I am
amazed that the labor movement wasn't completely solidified by that act.
Watching the cops mow down strikers in that fashion really hurt your
sensibilities. When a member whines about how bosses are unfair really puts
things in perspective. I requested a copy of the DVD to bring home, and I'm
hoping to add it to the "Local 501 Oral History Project" which Professor
James Green wants a copy of when we're done!

 

Next came couple of cases regarding negotiations. The Local 501 boys shined!
It never ceases to amaze me how few of our contemporaries actually
negotiate. The stuff they showed us was run of the mill regular negotiations
in Canada. I was a bit appalled by the lack of true leadership shown by our
neighbors to the north and said as much to the professor. I seem to have an
uncanny ability to see things through a "wide angle" lens, because I pointed
out the flaws and kind of ruined the surprise for the rest of the class. At
break the Local 3 guy, Dan Reding approached me and said, "you know, you're
actually really sharp aren't you?" I didn't know how to respond to that, but
he said, "you'd never know it because you're always drawing those damned
pictures, but you really are on top of this shit." I took it as something of
a compliment, egos aside. He really seemed to warm up to me for the first
time (and even went drinking with us, but I'll get to that later).

 

Next came  a case of a two man walk out in 1968. Pretty basic stuff really.
I again told the professor what the law dictated and was again accused of
cheating, by looking up the conclusion on the internet. You see, what they
do is give you a case, and leave off the ending. If you know the NLRA it
really isn't too hard, but I'm amazed by how few of our brothers in the
labor movement actually know the law. Anyway, I assured the professor I
hadn't "cheated" and in fact didn't even read the case, (I fell asleep while
reading the prior case), it seemed to come down to a matter of NLRA law to
me. Which, ultimately was correct. Anyway, pissed off the class with my
"know it all" attitude. I shut up at that point, and rode out the rest of
the day.

 

Several of us decided to run over to a local haunt at 7:00p.m. to have a few
brewskies. Dan from Local 3 showed up to "hang out with the 501 boy" (Tom's
wife is coming in tomorrow so he was being good). We drank a few and told a
few obnoxious jokes. Even one of our professors showed up! Drank about six
or ten beers and stumbled home to write my daily report. All in all a really
good day. Really looking forward to the wife showing up, no offense, but
after "doing without" for a few weeks I'm convinced I could never be a monk!
A lot of pretty girls to look at, but none that could up with me, and none
I'd like to put up with!

 

Gonna do laundry tomorrow and head out to Salem for the Witch Museum Sunday,
since I missed last week!

 

Hope all is well with everyone on the receiving end of these diatribes. I
can assure you all, I miss you and want to get back to work! Student life is
fun, but there is work to be done!

Got a ukulele delivered today because I missed my guitar and couldn't afford
a replacement. By the time I get back I'll be a ukulele pro!

 

Don't forget me!

 

Day 20:

 

BIRTHDAY! January 24!

Well, another year on the road on my birthday! But, what the hell. Started
off being just another day and then got an early morning call from the wife,
(apparently she still loves me despite the odds). That cheered me up some.
Got to class and Tom had gotten me a birthday card. Definitely looking up!
We suffered through a couple of brutal sessions regarding the National Labor
Relations Act and what it means to be an "employee" (Jim, you can rest
comfortably assured that "Independently contracting" your Business Agents
will be fought with swift retribution from the communist left).

 

 Then we moved on to the problems inherent in the construction movement! The
builder boys came alive! The professor decided it would be fun to play
"Devil's Advocate" until Dan Reding from Local 3 started yelling, "Listen
you fuckin' cocksucker..." HA! Funny funny shit. Needless to say they cooled
it off, damn. Then lunch and mail call! We received our "Care Packages" from
back home! What a haul! Tom started passing on things, but we made sure to
share out some of it, so needless to say Jim is the most popular Business
Manager here now, everyone else sent t-shirts or buttons, we sent food!

 

Brad, our Employees Association rep from Louisiana had a "King's Cake"
shipped all the way from home! Apparently it is a Mardi Gras tradition so
John and I (he's the fire fighter form Arizona who also had a birthday
today) cut the cake! Great times had by all! Later Norman Hill arrived. He
was standing next to Martin Luther King when he was shot so he had some
powerful stuff to say. Of course the Hawaiian and the Navajo walked out, but
what the hell! I finished up and lugged my 40 pound box of Birthday goodies
home! Ordered a pizza and caught an episode of The Simpsons!

 

Time to smoke cigarettes and phone home! Thanks to all for great birthday!

Good will to all!

 

Day 19:

 

BRUTAL DAY! The day started off with "Inequality in America" which basically
means black people are screwed. Now it's not that I disagree, in fact I do
agree that blacks are screwed. And the long and brutal screwing was
presented to us all morning long. Truly white America has screwed these
people for years and years. However, as the professor demonized the white
overlords of America, our Native American Navajo brother just sat quietly
listening in. Then Professor X made the critical mistake, "I want to go
around the room and hear what you all think". Bad idea. Now fortunately for
the Operating Engineers, they hire pretty intelligent Business Agents (that
could be debated, but give me the benefit of the doubt here and assume we
know when to shut up), not so for most of the building trades! The first to
go was the Texas Cop...SWEET! He might as well have just started a cross on
fire on his table, no matter what he said he sounded like Foghorn Leghorn
wearing a Ku Klux Klan suit! The racial tension was building. Next came the
New England laborer who defaulted to the old "history proves that the fight
for equality started right here in the north!" Pussy. The Italian Carpenter?
"We were discriminated too!" Weak performance, no one was buying it.
Operating Engineers? "We agree. Terrible." Next? The Navajo! Crucified not
only the whites, but the blacks, chinks, Mexicans, Canadians, and anyone
else who got in the way. Which of course set off the Native Hawaiian! ALOHA!
We're all invading devils who took over his island and made it a LEPER
COLONY! HAHAHAHAHAHA. I was fucking dying!

 

After that nothing else stacked up. All the adrenaline was out of the room
and we simply listened blankly to the rest of the days speakers. The black
participants huddled together at breaks, the whites huddled together and the
Natives were definitely restless! HAHAHAHA! And some people think I'M
offensive? I could be Dean of Harvard! HA!

 

I have a dream people!

 

No pics today, but I got a new camera, so tomorrow for sure!

 

 

Day 18:

 

Woke up this morning with light in my eyes, and then realized it was still
dark outside...wait a minute, that's Mr. Spaceman by the Byrds playing in my
head! Anyway, starting over...Woke up to a fairly brisk 36 degrees with an
80% chance of snow. No snow yet, but it has been RAINING since about 3:00
o'clock. Turns out the weathermen in Boston are no better than they are in
L.A.

 

More Leadership Skills and Turning Your Union Around dictum today. Tom & I
burned Jim in effigy and danced around a pyre. The guy from Louisiana is
showing us how to make Business Manager voo-doo dolls so it's my job to
bring the cotton for Jim's beard. I keed, I keed because I luv!

 

Anyway, today was "OPERATING ENGINEERS DAY" at the class. Six of us here, me
and Tom from the GOOD local, one of Jerry's suck ass boys Steve Hatch (he
looks like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo), a big guy named Clay Benally from 953 in
New Mexico 100% Navajo Indian AND he speaks that "click-click-whistle"
language, and Dan Reding and Kalani MaHoe from Local 3. I kicked it off and
took credit for the STATIONARY side forming the Union in 1886, and for LOCAL
501 forming the 9th ranking pension in the entire country the CPF all to no
avail...Local 3 stole the show. Being that this course is vastly oriented to
Union leadership and violent overthrows, we had to hear about the very nasty
recent election and all the shitty things John Bonilla did. And, like the
average American, these boys and girls couldn't get enough of a train wreck.
The rest of us slowly sank into the background and piped up occasionally to
say things like, "Now that was only their local...ours is okay!" and "Not
all Business Managers are corrupt!". Those Local 3 guys are pretty proud of
their coup, and with good reason, but I don't think I'd go around bragging
about how I "offed" the last administration. To each his own.

 

Got my first letter and package from home! More long John's! If the snow
shows up I'll be ready. Tomorrow is SEIU day so it should be pretty
unbearable. The Carpenter said he was going to start drinking around 7:00
a.m. so he could sit through it! HA! Nothing on TV, I guess I'll have to do
my reading, Tomorrow's list: "Housing Education and Inequality in America",
"Police Association Power, Politics and Confrontation", "Disorganized Labor:
A History and analysis", and "The Prospects of Economic Growth", sounds
riveting eh?

 

Solidarity! Solitaire...& maybe a little Minesweeper too!

 

 

Day 17:

 

Nothing going on today. Turns out that 900 beers, half a pizza and countless
Buffalo wings works better than Sominex for sleeping. Had the best night
sleep since I got here. I've been getting maybe three to four hours of sleep
a night, but with last night's consumption I slept great!

 

Laid around all day watching the History Channel and eating microwave snack
food. Just your basic fat & lazy day off. Absolutely great. Took a couple of
naps, read a few pages of homework. Just a nothing sort of day. I think the
Simpsons is going to be on later, so I'm hoping for the best. They had some
big Martin Luther King celebration down on the campus, but I watched his
biography on TV instead.

 

Hopefully a more exciting report tomorrow. Gotta go, my microwave pizza
snacks just dinged!

 

Day 16:

Patriots Day

As it turns out, the Patriots are extremely popular around here. Go figure.
Anyway, one of our class mates, Martin the Aussie, decided to have a
football party. Roaring success! About 10-15 people showed up and we had a
real good time. Lots o' drinkin' and horse-shit, so a real success.

 

This morning I headed over to the laundry mat to wash the dirty skivvies and
such. That was quite an experience. Turns out, the "short bus" arrived about
ten minutes before me and that set the stage for a rather weird morning.
Now, being the father of an autistic-mentally retarded child, I was better
prepared than the average washer this morning. Strange people making demands
an laundry baskets was the norm. Sam, our AFSCME representative from Alaska
had a unique moment when confronted with a "short bus" rider, "hey lady, I
think you got my basket..." "NO! THIS IS MY BASKET! I HAVE CLOTHES TO
WASH..." "Bullshit! This is my basket!" In comes Finn to save the day,
"Sam...I think you should walk over here...", "But that's my basket?.."
"Sam, let me explain...."

 

Somehow me and Sam survived, although he was a little confused and upset.

 

Tom had a hard time accepting Green Bay's loss, but fortunately there was
plenty of people to rub it in. Go Giants! We drank way too much beer, so the
philosophical discussions wore him down either through acceptance, or
belligerence. All In all a great day. Going to suffer the repercussions in
the morning, but what the hell...

 

Go Giants!!

 

Day 15:

 

Negotiations!

Met a contingent of my classmates at "Grafton's" a local night club after
filing last night's report. Before the evening was through a 17 person
contingent had arrived. Almost everyone "bought a round" and the few early
arrivals had to be VERY careful about the evenings overflow of jubilation.

About 60% of the class has headed home for the long weekend leaving the
"long-distance" learners here to fend for themselves. I couldn't tell if we
were drowning our sorrows or celebrating their departure, and by the sixth
or seventh round I don't think anyone cared. Many jokes were passed and we
tried to teach the effeminate black Englishman how to "jive" talk. There
wasn't much success, but I can guarantee when he yells, "Shit Mutha fucka"
in his slightly homosexual English way, you will hemorrhage yourself
laughing.

 

I was good, and left relatively early...it was still yesterday anyway. The
alarm clock sounded like the trumpet blast of the arch-angel Gabriel at 6:00
a.m. this morning and ignoring the rage I felt at being unable to find the
dog who shit in my mouth,  I dutifully rose, dressed, swallowed a gallon of
coffee and mushed through the bitter morning cold so I could ride through 17
whistle stops, three transfers, and countless miles of the Massachusetts
countryside to do my job! Samuel Gompers would be proud. I was met at the
station by Mitch, (the Lawyer from Baker Commodities) and taken to their
plant. Built in 1864, it is still nicer, cleaner, and smelled better than
the 1965 Los Angeles plant. And, there were no Mexicans! We negotiated for
three hours over pointless crap and reached a verbal agreement. Management
is going to provide some language regarding department mergers and we should
be done. Back on the train, countless miles, three transfers, and 17 whistle
stops home.

 

Picked up some groceries, went out to eat with Tom and now I file the first
in week three's reports. Temperature has been dropping steadily all day, and
tomorrow there is supposed to be snow. Tom's money is holding out better
than mine, which makes little sense since he eats out every day and I don't,
but haven't had to resort to cannibalism yet, so we'll have to pray it holds
out longer yet. Heading over to Martin the Aussie's apartment to watch the
games tomorrow, should be fun. Of course I have to do some laundry first,
but we will survive.

 

Signing off with the words of Big Bill Haywood, "Reward your friends, and
punish your enemies!"

Boola Boo-ya!

 

Day 14:

 

Hostage Week two COMPLETE!

Labor history again, good stuff. More on the I.W.W. the "wobblies". Crazy
bunch a bastards there! Then we had a near fist fight break out in the
Public Sector group going over poor teacher performance. And you'll never
guess who quelled the riot. LOCAL 3! Dan Reding stood up and shouted "What's
the contract say!" Good man.

 

The rest of the crew is headed off to Salem Massachusetts tomorrow while I
head to North Billerica to negotiate. DAMN! Oh well, I guess I was married
to a witch once so there can't be much I haven't seen. Still, the dunking
stool...

 

Weather here is bizarre. Started the morning with freezing rain, and then
the sun came out to turn up the heat to about 50+ degrees. I still had my
long-johns on so the crack of my ass could have supported an equatorial
forest. Some of the Brits and Aussies are headed to the tavern for some
International Labor relations Studies...I may have to join them, just so the
"yanks" are fairly represented of course.

 

Tie me kangaroo down sport, God save the queen and all that rot...what the
hell "Don't Tread on ME!"

 

Day 13:

 

Still pretty cold outside, and now there's another storm moving in. Spent
the day with arbitrators, and left-wing communists. All in all an enjoyable
experience.

 

Our brother from Louisiana had some Chicory Coffee shipped up for us. Pretty
good stuff really, but strong as hell, and blacker than a woman's heart,
(yes, I know there are females on my mailing list...but you all know it's
true!). Become a bit of an irritant to my classmates I think, (shut up Jim),
I keep my head down and doodle while the teacher speaks but still manage to
ask some of the "stump the band" type questions. I know I've irritated one
of the AFSCME woman so much she finally said, "can we just hear from the
teacher?" to which our professor replied, "Actually Finn is pretty on target
here..." I think she was crushed. I know she didn't invite me dancing. Oh
well, damned turd-burner anyway.

 

I think I'll keep my trap shut tomorrow and just listen (shut up Jim). All
is well. I'm sick of microwave food. Need more Long-John underwear and
heavier socks. May have to go on a provision run Sunday. Out of milk, diet
Coke, and bread has turned green and fuzzy like Yoda. Have downloaded Lime
wire so I can have some music. Too cold to drink beer, may have to switch to
rum.

 

Yo ho yo ho me hearties!

 

 

Day 12:

 

FUCK IT IS COLD! FUCK FUCK FUCK! It is so cold your eyeballs hurt. Yes your
eyeballs! AND, AND It's supposed to get 20 degrees colder! COLDER? Jesus!
Not to be too graphic, but if you pulled my pants down it would look like I
had two belly buttons..and they are not "outies"!

 

Anyway, mushed across the tundra to class for more Harvard high class
education. Today was all about the economy. Apparently Barrack Obama is the
"hometown" favorite here. Everyone thinks he'll actually do something for
Labor, even though Edwards is the only who has SAID he will do something for
labor.

 

HERE'S THE BAD NEWS: There WILL be a depression/recession! Just in time for
Vegas negotiations Baby! GOOD LUCK DAN & JIM! HA! All the economists said
that. ALL of them! Damn! One went so far as to reply to my question with,
"...if you put a 7 year old in charge we would have had better luck". DAMN!

 

Also had the AFL-CIO here telling us about their election plans. High
tension moments between them and the "Change to Win" bunch! And John
Sweeney's coming next week! Things are finally getting exciting!

 

I think the Hawaiian may have offed an Aussie on the way out. The cold does
strange things.

 

BBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

 

Day 11:

I'm telling you, Jim who love this place! You should have heard the
communistic warm and fuzzy speech we got today! Almost like listening to
Jim, "embrace illegal immigration", "higher taxes", "public sector employees
increase Union value", "trade Unionist is dead, One Big Union for all", yep
almost.

 

Not too bad really. We had an interesting section on "Leadership" and I
pointed out to the entire class that they were "full o'shit" which of course
caused some consternation...until the professor agreed with me! "What I
meant was I agreed, but I didn't understand what Finn meant..." Right, even
the Prof. said, "I thought he put it quite elegantly". HA!

 

Temperature is dropping pretty fast. I've sized Tom up and figure I outweigh
him by fifty pounds, so no fear of starving in a snow bank. Fried Vegas
Business Agent? Let's hope it doesn't get that bad, although the Hawaiian
guy from Local 3 has been sizing up just about everyone. He's pretty sure
there will cannibalization before it's all over. He thinks the Australians
will have a nice teriyaki tag to them, "Hey Bra, t'row anudda Aussie on da
Barbie, Huh?" HA!

 

Mele Kaliki Maki

 

 

 

 

Day 10:

SNOW! Holy winter wonderland Batman! Went to sleep at midnight, nothing,
woke up to 6-8 inches! Damn when it snow's here it really snows! Luckily I
had my "Uncle Buck" hat! Drew lots of attention. A lot of people hate that
hat!

 

Class was a little painful today: Economist teaching us Union slobs how to
save Social Security again. I finally confronted the guy with, "Doesn't
labor have enough to worry about without having to do the governments job
too?" That seemed to lighten him up a bit. Next we had "Union Leadership"
where we learned all about what we're doing wrong (and by "we" I mean Jim,
of course). So I guess Tom and I will have to stage a coup and overthrow Jim
to start with, but not to worry, we were told that most International
Presidents weren't worth a damn either, so we'll have to throw out Vinny
too! 2008 will be busy! Finally we ended up with the Mexican Labor Movement.
"Go NORTH"! Seriously painful stuff. Did you know that NAFTA actually fucked
up the Mexicans worse than us? Apparently the only people not adversely
affected by NAFTA was? You guessed it, rich white republican business men!
What a shocker!

 

Did the Nanook of the North trek through Cambridge Common back to the
apartment for another delicious meal of fried bologna and cheese & crackers!
Temperature is supposed to continue dropping all week to set a record low
Sunday in the teens or low twenties with 15-20 mile an hour winds. No wonder
the British surrendered Boston! They closed all the schools up here but
Harvard. Why? And I quote, "Harvard has been around for almost 400 years, we
aren't going to give up over a little snow"! Well! Now you know why it is
referred to as THE school!

 

 Святой Черт его холодной! Translation from Siberian: "Holy shit its COLD!"

 


 

 

Day 9:

 

Laundry Day! Spent the day picking up my apartment and doing some laundry. I
walked over to Tom's place and bought some new drawing paper since supplies
were running low. On the way back we stopped and had a pizza. Real good
stuff.

 

The weather called for a drastic change tomorrow, we're expecting a foot of
snow! Holy crow! Obviously the temperature has been dropping all day and the
winds have been picking up. We'll see if the storm arrives.

 

They finally started updating the website and included some cartoons! I've
finally made the BIG TIME, an artist for Harvard! Outstanding! Check it out:

http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/lwp/htup08/

Well, we have 580 pages of homework this week so I guess I better start
reading!

Thought for the day: One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.
Joseph Stalin

 

Day 8: Saturday Walking tour of old Boston !

 

 

Okay, what a great day! LOOOOOOOOOOOng walk, must have been 6 or 7 miles,
but well worth it. We started on the "Freedom Trail". This is a brick path
they've set in the sidewalk. Anyway we started downtown on the subway and
ended up in Boston common. Walked around and saw the old state house, (the
scene of the Boston Massacre people, c'mon you know "the shot heard 'round
the world"? Please!) and then headed up the road The U.S.S. Constitution. To
get there we had to pass the Old North Church, ("One if by land, two if by
sea..." Paul Revere and the midnight ride to Concord? Man you people should
really do your homework).

 

Turns out the Old North Church is in the North End, (imagine that) which, as
most of you should know isn't on the north end of Boston, but since it is
occupied by a bunch of ginny wop goombas I guess we shouldn't complain. They
do have GREAT pizza and Italian food in general. We stopped and had some,
which was great and washed it down with a few Samuel Adams beers just to
commemorate passing his gravesite earlier!

 

We crossed over the bridge and made it down to the U.S.S. Constitution
docked on the other side. Small sailing vessel that held 500 crew members
AND the first detachment of Marines! Old Ironsides "Leathernecks". Neat
little tour of the ship, little history, no f**king way would I be a sailor
in the days of yore.

 

Started the "trudge" up Bunker Hill! Turns out it wasn't actually Bunker
Hill, but Beane's Hill (?) something like that. Apparently the American
defending the site arrived in the night so the British wouldn't see him and
fortified the wrong hill! Bunker hill was/is about a mile away! HA! Not much
to see there but a big Washington Monument style monolith. There end's the
walking tour...problem is you have to walk back!

 

Well this entry is getting long, so I'll end by saying we made it. Made ol'
Samuel Adams a little richer along the way too.

 

Remember, "Don't fire 'til you see the whites of their eyes boys!"

 

Day 7:

 

Pretty good day today: LABOR HISTORY by Jim Green! He's pretty famous if you
watch the History Channel. In addition to writing several History books,
he's the guy who staged the sit-in over that Black Panther guy in the late
60's at Yale (too bad he's a "Yalie" man). Anyway, woke up to freezing rain.
Cold as hell and soaking wet by the time I got there. Fortunately the
subject matter was of interest and warmed my heart.

 

Ordered Pizzas at lunch for my "group". We have to save Social Security you
know. I think we have it figured out. We're gonna cut benefits for anyone
born prior to 1965 and double tax them, should work great! Unfortunately
since I bought lunch I forget to refill my pockets when I walked a mile
through the rain to the supermarket and had to pay with my credit card. I
know what you're thinking, "Why the hell didn't he wait until it stopped
raining?" Ever wipe with a paper towel? Them gay guys are tough I tell ya,
rough paper hurts me there, let alone a meat missile!

 

Anyway trudged home in the freezing rain and had a good sit-down!
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! Better. You know how much cigarettes cost in
Taxatusetts? $6.00 a pack! Goddamned socialist bastards! And they still have
homeless! Oh well.

 

Heading in to Boston proper tomorrow, so there should be some good pics
later.

 

Semper Fi

 

 

Day 6:

 

Slept like crap! Dreamed of 501 and the B.A. meeting and e-board I missed!
Curse you bastards! Pretty slow day. We had an arbitrator, and another
economist, (the economist was pretty good actually). We went through the
Patco strike and how Reagan shitcanned everyone. Pretty depressing stuff
actually. We all had to play republicans and go through "What were they
thinking" routine. Really irritating.

 

After lunch we had to sit through the Harvard Union schpiel. Basically a
bunch of part time women got together and formed this Union. Pretty
impressive really, but really gender biased. We had to sing a song even (I
filmed that!). Kumbaya type shit. They don't have a grievance procedure they
have "Problem solving coalitions" Jim, you would love it...I gave them
you're e-mail address! HA!

 

Anyway, bunch of reading to do. Tomorrow is a short day so I'm hoping to
grab some dinner with a few people.

 

Hang in there, and don't forget me!

 

 

Day 5:

 

Okay, I got my first cheer! We had the Regional Director from the NLRB here
today. The Professor said we could "lob" a couple of tough questions if we
wanted. Three guesses on who took the bait! I rallied her pretty hard,
having just attended the "Labor Law Update" at the International Foundation
a few weeks ago I shot out the Oakwood decision (Nurses being called
supervisors). That was pretty good, but she shot back with a couple more,
that fortunately I also knew. We went round and round for about thirty to
forty minutes and finally I got her! She started defending the NLRB position
on Oakwood so I told her she should answer the following: If the NLRB is set
up to protect employees rights to organize, and the employees wanted to be
Union, and MANAGEMENT suddenly stated that several employees were
supervisors even though they were never supervisors before, it seems to me
that the NLRB is issuing decision on managements behalf and not the
employees! THE CROWD WENT WILD! No comment from the Regional Director! Take
that establishment!

 

All in all a good day. Pretty boring economist on how to save Social
Security, but we ended the day with Barrack Obama's Law Professor, he is
definitely left wing nut job material! Great guy, but he has that Stephen
Hawking disease so he was all Jimmy'd up in a wheel chair and talking
through an Ipod thing. Light homework tonight so I guess I'LL  write my
newsletter article!

 

Ve Ra Tas (Harvard slogan, I don't know what it means yet...probably "Piss
On Yale")

 

Boola Boola

 

 

Day 4:

 

First real day of school! Holy Shit these guys are serious! 100 pages of
reading on subjects ranging from the LMRA to Unionism in the UK, Australia,
Nigeria (Yes Nigeria in Africa) and the US, Pension reform and "Making
worker's lives better" (we did that when Don retired). Read for four hours!
We took a walking tour of Harvard Yard and saw all the old buildings.

 

There is a statue of John Harvard the founder in the "Yard". One of his
boots is very shiny, and the rumor is that if you rub his foot you'll have
good luck. Several guys ran up to rub the foot before our teacher told us
that "Yalies" come down and piss on that boot regularly! HA!

 

Pretty intense stuff, but I managed to draw a few cartoons anyway. The staff
asked me to sign a release so they could put them on Harvard Laws website!
HA HA!

 

More later!

 

Day 3:

 

Woke up much the worse for wear. Wandered down to registration and took care
of that. Never got too close to anyone because I could still smell the black
'n' tans. Came home and laid around watching TV. Rousted myself around 5
p.m. took a shower and headed to the rubber chicken dinner. They reminded us
several times that this was "HARVARD" and a "once in a lifetime
opportunity". This is a perfect place for a pompous ass, no wonder Blair
liked it.

 

Day 2:

 

Hooked up with Tom after walking about 5 miles in the wrong direction. His
place sucks! One room with a crapper. I have a whole apartment. I told him
it was because he was from Vegas and secretly we hate all of them. We
laughed, but he didn't laugh as much as me.

 

We attempted to visit a couple of sites, but everything was closed (Sunday).
We decided to go to a pub and get drunk. Earlier recon led us to "The
Thirsty Scholar" and we attempted to drink all their black 'n' tans. We were
unsuccessful, but we survived.

 

Came home way too drunk and fell asleep on the couch. Tom took a cab.

 

Day 1:   

 

Well, I cancelled the rooms at the Hilton. The Director picked me up at the
airport and took me straight to my apartment (and said she would do the same
for Tom). Did some fundamental shopping, toilet paper, paper towels,
shampoo, donuts, etc. and ordered a pizza. Tom will probably be pretty upset
because the director, a short communistic female, has a better moustache
than him, but he'll have to get over it.

 

When I asked the director what the dress code was she said casual. I told
her that a co-worker had attended and recommended wearing a suit everyday
she laughed, "We've only had one person do that in the entire time I've been
here! I'm wearing jeans and my Patriots jerseys." We talked some more and
shortly realized that the "one person" was our one-in-the-same Blair. We
laughed some more.

 

I got an individual apartment on the third floor. No one wanted to bunk with
me because I smoke (Finally smoking has a benefit).

Going to pick up Tom and do some recon today. Will report later.

 

Capt. Pette

Local 501

 

 

 

 

4-12-07

12-26-2006

12-26-2006

Keeping the “Spirit” through 2007

 

   Well Christmas has come and gone. Another successful Christmas Eve dinner fest has passed. Well, mostly successful. I guess that’s what this post is going to be about. My last post was an attack on the Big Kahuna’s “I spent all my money to help needy kids and fuck you guys, Merry Christmas” blog, (which by the way, it turns out that he did purchase a gift for his girlfriend, so apparently his “Christmas Spirit” only applies if he wants to figuratively fuck you instead of physically fucking you, either that or he only wanted to “donate” the presents of the people he spent Christmas with because we’ve lost our way…shit, I don’t know).

   Anyway, we had a pretty good time, but soon the Big Kahuna stood up and said “I gotta go. I gotta work tomorrow”, and as soon as one leaves….you know the rest. Everyone had trickled out by 10:30! Now I’m not blaming Kahuna, it isn’t his fault he had to work. I mean he did better than McCool who didn’t even show up because he was working! No I don’t blame him for that. What troubled me was what he said at the door, “Oh, what’s the big deal….Christmas is just another working day!” Sound familiar anyone? If you remember my last blog I cited Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. Scrooge’s nephew explains to him the importance of Christmas and Scrooge replies, “….Bah! Christmas is just another day to find yourself a year older and not an hour richer! Why if I had my way nephew, every fool who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart!” So, once again returning to Kahuna’s Christmas blog, I can most definitely say he was full o’ shit, and never found his “Christmas Spirit” at all…..but I digress!

  

   I’m not sure where the infection started here, but I think The Beer Guys (at least a few of ‘em) could use a visit from three ghosts! 

 

   Christmas is supposed to be a little special, because we, as human beings. Make it special. If you look at it from a universal perspective, there isn’t anything anymore significant about that 24 hour period than any other…except if you stand at the edge of our galaxy and turn toward the center…

 

There, at the very edge of your vision….

 

A small blue dot….that’s us…

 

That’s Earth.

 

And there, though millions of miles of cold and lonely space, through lifeless worlds uninhabited and unlivable, during a small 24 hour period, that same small blue dot is surrounded with a little love for our common man.

 

When you stop and think of it from the perspective of deep space it’s a little scary. It may be just another 24 hour period like any other, but to be able to keep it alive, to keep that one 24 hour period a little more special if only on the surface of that small blue dot, I for one think it’s worth it. Otherwise we might as well be out there on one of those cold desolate planets so we may look at that little blue dot with some envy and wish, if only for a moment that the surface of our inhospitable world were covered with others who go out of their way to say “Merry Christmas” and fill your heart with a little joy.

 

Life isn’t special. I’ve never had a cinematic type of adventure. Life is hard, boring and relentless. We have been given a great gift from our ancestors of celebrating a few special days a year. I say make it a mission to keep those few precious days special. Go out of your way to think of someone else, or decorate your house so the neighbors can enjoy their view. If we don’t labor to keep those few simple calendar day s special….who will?

 

Who knows, maybe one day we will discover that once upon a time there was an ancient civilization on Mars. That civilization swelled and expanded and grew. Eventually it ripened…and then it began to rot. Until, one day…it died. Now the planet is one big red dust bowl. No life, no trees, no lakes, no nothing….no special days.

 

So, I say labor to keep alive in your chest that still small spark that makes you look forward to Christmas. Not for the gifts, or food, or decorations. For that rare moment when someone opens a gift and their eyes light up and they say something that makes YOU feel really great about what you did…maybe something like, “Dude! This is awesome. You know my Mom sewed me a little Dick Butkus Jersey when I was a kid! I’ve never seen a real one before! Thanks!”

 

That’s what Christmas is about.

 

You’re welcome Kahuna.

 

The “Spirit” of Christmas

 

   It’s been quite awhile since anythings been posted here on Stovepipe’s page, (to be frank, I’ve never posted anything although recently I’ve wanted to and as soon as Big John show me how I’m gonna start! Threats and warnings). None the less after reading the Big Kahuna’s latest Blog I feel a “rush to judgment” is necessary! If you haven’t read the Big Kahuna’s latest Blog go there first and come back…I’ll wait.

 

   Okay, your back! So I’m assuming you’ve read it. Let’s begin.

 

   A little history first. The spirit of giving loved ones gifts started before recorded history. I would venture to say that even Cro-Magnon man once they had slaughter a giant mammoth would give the best chunks o’ meat to their loved ones. History bears this out as carved mammoth tusks have been found at burial sites throughout pre-history. Somewhere along the line the church got involved and decided we should celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Of course not to forget our Jewish friends who celebrate Hanukah by giving gifts even before Christ came along. Anyhoo….somewhere along the line an Orthodox Christian Monk named Peter got involved. The way I’ve been told is that people used to put toys in the wooden shoes on Christmas Eve for the good children to celebrate and some evil dictator or ruler abolished the practice. Peter the monk decided he would sneak out and do the deed! Through several generations, corporations and multi-media conglomerations Santa Claus was born! The one we Americans most identify with is the fat jolly guy perpetrated originally by the Coca-Cola Corporation in the 1800’s. In any event the one thing that has remained unchanged throughout all of this is that people like to give gifts to people they care about on Christmas to express the joy they feel about having that person in their life.

 

And now a little personal Beer Guy History…

 

   For nearly a decade ol’ Stovepipe here has hosted a Christmas Eve dinner extravaganza with all of our family and friends. This isn’t your typical gathering of 10 or 12 people, most of the time we play host to 20 plus and one year we topped out at 31 people! Needless to say this is an expensive affair. Mrs. Stovepipe pulls out all the stops and usually decorates the most beautiful table you’ve ever seen. We make special trips to Danish bakers and butchers to purchase all the ingredients needed. One time we even drove over 180 miles to buy the perfect pork roast! Additionally there are the potatoes, red cabbage, meatballs, booze, table cloths and all the rest. At that function we also exchange gifts with all of our family and friends. As I said earlier it’s quite an expensive affair! I want to be clear on this, I HAVE NEVER COMPLAINED ABOUT THE COST! In fact, although it costs quite a pretty penny between the meal and the gifts it is probably the single event I look forward to  the most all year. These are the people I really love and care about and if I were a rich man I’d spend more!

 

Now let’s go back and look at the Big Kahuna’s Blog…

 

You with me here? Okay let’s go…

 

    First of all the Big Kahuna has complained about Christmas and the Christmas Season for years, as he notes in his Blog. So this year he decided to go out and donate a bunch of gifts to needy kids and “hopes” that his friends and family will understand. Well, quite frankly I understand Christmas just fine and don’t need any lessons. Additionally, I think the Big Kahuna missed the boat! As I said in the beginning, Christmas is about showing those we care about that they are something special. In the classic tale “A Christmas Carol” Ebenezer Scrooge goes out and buys the masses all kinds of toys and gifts…AFTER HE GETS STUFF FOR THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO HIM! That is a lesson learned. Charity starts at home! If we can’t show those closest to us how much we care about them, how are they supposed to feel jolly about what you did for perfect fucking strangers? Now here again, I don’t want to be misunderstood. It’s not about getting a gift at Christmas that irks me, what irks me is that some sanctimonious dribble about how the Big Kahuna found his “Christmas Spirit” is what bothers me.

 

   The bottom line is this. No one likes Christmas shopping. No one likes fighting the crowds at Christmas. No one likes getting completely irate trying to squeeze into the last available parking slot at the mall. And no one likes to figure out what someone wants! We do these things because we think enough of that person to waste our precious time and sanity showing them what they mean to us. And I for one am glad to do it, and I will continue to do so for as long as I have friends and family to do it for!

 

   As for the Big Kahuna? No, I don’t understand. And no I don’t think you found your “Christmas Spirit”. I think you saw an opportunity to do something which would make you feel good, was good for society so you thought no one could bitch about it, and you took the easy way out. I’m happy some needy kids will get gifts and good for them, but come Christmas Eve there will be some kids enjoying Christmas Dinner with us and at Christmas all kids are needy. If we can’t start in our own homes how can we expect charity to go anywhere else.

 

So Merry Christmas EVERYONE! And Happy Hanukah, Rashashanah, Kwanza and everything else!

 

I gotta go wrap the Big Kahuna’s gifts now!

 

 

 

Recently we reconnected with some old friends, Steve and Jeff Monroe. Unfortunately it wasn’t for a good reason. There mothers husband died. But anyway we got to see old friends.

JUNE 20, 2002 AND THE BEERGUYS TAKE IN SOME BREW AND LIVE TUNES PROVIDED BY THE VERY TALENTED DAVE ROBYN. STAY TUNED FOR A FULL MUSICAL REVIEW AND SAMPLES OF THIS SOON TO BE STAR.

 

 

 

check out our newest beer guy...gotta start them right

 

 

 

Hello, time for an update. lets see here. Finn has been working hard. He also had a new addition to the Pette family, Oscar Odin Pette. Even with a busy work schedule he has still found time to get together another Wild Horse Race Team in time for 2002.

Stovepipe, Stovepipe Jr. and The Big Kahuna are ready for Cheyenne

 

 

 

WILD HORSE RACE SHIRTS, WESTERN SHIRTS, ETC. HANDMADE BY LONE PETTE OF LONE'S ORIGINALS

 

BACK TO MAIN PAGE