Cape Cod

I remember an electrical appliance we used for starting charcoal briquettes in the barbecue. You put in half of your briquettes, then lay down this loop attached to an electrical cord, and put in the the rest. It’s basically a heating element, so you plug it in, and it heats up the briquettes.

Apply this to snow: You’re expecting a storm (we are right now, anywhere from 6 to 16 inches), so you have something that looks like an electrical cord, but that puts out heat when you plug it in. Leave it turned off, let the snow fall, then plug it in in the morning. it puts out heat, and while you eat breakfast, your snow melts, and you can walk to your car without shoveling.

Maybe you need two, one for either side of the walkway.

You could also put them behind your car, on the driveway, where your tires will go, so you can drive out.

Maybe it’s a net between two of these cords, that melts the whole patch.

Another way to think of it: a waterproof outdoor heating pad. Or a drip hose that puts out heat instead of water.

Add an automatic timer so you can set it to start while you are still asleep. The other idea was a remote control, but a timer is better.

Alternative: do you put these on TOP of the snow instead of under it?

You also want to plan where the water will run off to. You don’t want it to refreeze and create an ice rink.

#2) We have these basic, plastic sleds, with a rope attached, for sledding. Leave these outside while it’s snowing, in a line behind your car’s tires. In the morning, grab the rope and drag off piles of snow!

Only problem is when it’s windy. Like what we are expecting today. They would fly off into your neighbor’s yard. So have to temporarily secure them.

Other problem is when your family calls you crazy for leaving sleds behind your car.

Skymall catalog, here I come!

“A smashing time in Truro” — CapeCodOnline.com 9/21/2009

I have to say. I am already missing the snow. No one around here thinks the same thing. Long-time Mass-Cape Codders included.

And this is the first time I have cared.

It’s because I started walking around in the woods behind our house. In the snow, it was more work. Also more exercise.

But now, it’s time for bugs. And stuff is going to grow. It’s going to make it tougher for my exploring. I’ve already found a couple of ticks on me. They can be bad news.

Oh well.

On the flip side, it will be interesting to see what the changes are like!

The Boston Globe published a town-by-town look at prices homes are selling at. Hyannis was down to a median $205,000, but Truro was up 11% and Wellfleet up 8%!

Is that good or bad? It sounded positive to know the value is still there. But I realized if you’re not selling any time soon, it just means property taxes will go up or at least you’ll get no break.

But it’s a good time to buy in some towns…

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Blueberries are on the bushes, finally, in Truro. It seems like we are the last ones to change seasons.

They’re still green overall, but yesterday and today I went on a couple of short runs and saw them changing color.

It’s been a long time since I did any running. I finally got interested in knowing more about the different trails behind our house. I did some searching and mapping on Google Maps, and found some trails off the beaten path/road.

My first day out, yesterday June 30, 2008, I came up alongside a fellow doing some walking. I asked if he knew about a trail off the main road that would circle back to where I started. He did, and we chatted for a bit as we walked. It turned out to be pretty easy to find and follow, and interesting.

Today I went a different route that he suggested, along the fire road and out toward the air force base. That was interesting too, with several offshoots that kept my interest going in a way that running on a treadmill can’t.

Shocking–I even didn’t bring along anything to listen to–and survived.

So the exploration keeps the interest going, and although I didn’t make it all the way to the cliff overlooking the shore, I discovered new stuff and had some ripe blueberries along the way. Wouldn’t Bear Grylls approve?

Tags: capecod, 2008, national seashore, truro, outer cape, outer cape cod, cape cod trails

You Know You’re from Cape Cod when… — A list of funny stuff from a group on Facebook.

With over 50 items on the list—here’s the first thing on it:

• …you know where Truro is

I actually get most of it!

Let’s see…what broke today?

The storm really wasn’t that bad. A large tree branch did break off one of the pine trees next to the clothesline, but it didn’t hurt anything. It was still suspended from where it attached to the tree, up about 15 feet. I spent a little while this morning climbing up and sawing it off then chopping it up with the machete.

Also during the storm I discovered a leak by the back door in the basement–the one to the outside from my office. It was coming in pretty steadily, but I just put some towels and a bucket, and although they were all soaked, there’s been no permanent damage so far. I don’t really know what’s wrong, some kind of seal I guess. It only happens during heavy rains, so maybe it will go away by itself if I ignore it.

Our power hasn’t gone out, but there is some unnerving power “flickering” going on. Yesterday the new cable modem I had installed just went dead. I got this enhanced service because a client needs me to have an IP address that doesn’t change, and it just got installed Monday. So I plugged it back in and still no go. Tech support said plug into another outlet, and it’s fine. Today I plugged it back into the original socket and it’s still fine. The guy couldn’t explain but apparently the modem and the socket won’t talk to each other after a surge, but it gets better after a while. Who knows. I hope this flickering stops, I’d hate to lose something computer-related.

Oh and the dishwasher electronics stopped working again. At least the dishes were washed. And we got a one-year full-service plan which says if the repairs cost more than a new machine, Sears gives you that money toward a new machine. Back to hand-washing for a little while…

(Dec. 13, 2006 - Age 8 1/2 months)

We’re hearing some fa fa fa and ba ba ba coming from Sophia…

And she started playing actual Peek-A-Boo! She covers her eyes with a cloth/blanket, then looks out. When you react, she clearly laughs. Then she does it again, and you can tell she gets it because I also saw her close her eyes even when the cloth wasn’t covering her eyes.

Finally a child that actually plays peekaboo–Nathaniel never did and I thought they all did. The next step is to get Sophia to say the “peekaboo.”

Papa Razzi Restaurant
What a great place. I keep getting more and more impressed with Papa Razzi and its sibling restaurants such as American Joe’s. The basics are that the one in Hanover, MA as well as the one off Newbury St in Boston have interesting food, but not pretentious or dull. Plus, it’s food that Maggie can eat, with her limited food choices. Even better, prices are pretty low–especially when you consider some of the overpriced junk out there.
The restaurants themselves are classy but not stuffy. They’re kid-friendly but not in the overt way that say Olive Garden and other big chains are. Those places are dumbed-down for children who couldn’t function in a regular restaurant. But Papa Razzi manages to have an environment that has those kid features (like crayons, coloring pages) but still have an adult feel to it.

But these things are not why I’m writing this. What’s amazed me is the quality of the people who work there. How do they get such great people? Every time I go I’m perplexed. In any workplace it would be hard to staff well, but I’d think a restaurant would be especially challenging. I bet they have incredible training and hiring.

* Every single person has been friendly, every time we’ve been. And friendly in a down-to-earth way.

* There’s often a senior-level hostess or maitre’d, but there are also quite young people also greeting people, and it shows that the younger ones are being mentored or groomed for leadership.

* Now that we have young kids, it can get crazy at the table, as hard as we try to stay normal. But they’re always accommodating and never seem to flinch at things flying, food spills, or the disaster area we leave behind.

* They have a rewards program where you pay $25 or so to start, but you accumulate credits as you spend. They were great when they even mailed in the forms for us because I said I just never get around to signing up. They even credited me for a previous meal since I had the receipt.

And finally, I just got a hand-written thank you card in the mail today.

“Mr. James Prickitt,

Thank you for choosing Papa Razzi’s for your dining ‘on the road.’ I hope your trip home to Truro went well. Please, join us again.

Thank you, Julie. “

How’s that for personal attention? I doubt they outsource that overseas…

I wish I could buy stock in Back Bay Restaurant Group!