carwreck.com: around Boston harbor...

Four years ago, next week, the Brothers Maass moved in to 23 Green Street #2. The week prior to that (this week) Natalie moved in downstairs in #1. It has been a long and good road since then. Many parties have been thrown, much noise has been made; Natalie didn't complain. She even added a husband in the process. Charlie was just as agreeable as a neighbor and even stopped by some of the Maass parties.

This week, four years later, Natalie and Charlie moved out. They are to be replaced by someone new and unknown. The learning process will have to start again.

I have been awake for 39 hours. A full day of work followed by a loooong, late-night offshore tow, followed by another full day of towing. The last two days have been arduous, but very fruitful; the more towing I do, the more compensation I receive. It works out nicely. And I'm a glutton for this kind of punishment. If only I could figure out how to balance this kind of work tempo while still allowing room for outside human stimulus. Would I be able to endure that? Do I really crave something that might be too difficult to manage? What the hell am I talking about? See post title...

I'm in the news again. Well, sort of.

Tow companies take to the open seas - [Boston.com]

I headed over to Drew's earlier this evening to start another batch of beer. Unfortunately, we were all a bit late arriving and didn't have enough time to actually brew a batch. It takes about three or four hours to get all the ingredients in the right places and to do the work of brewing beer. Oh well, next week...

We did, however, have time to take a walk down to Porter Square where we took the picture below. Hmm...

Did anyone see me on TV last night?

A powerboat hit a rock off Point Allerton in Hull yesterday afternoon. The State Police, Coast Guard, Hull Harbormaster all responded. I wasn't at work yet but my coworkers raced to the scene as well. I got the message at home to head over to the dive shop in Somerville and get more air tanks and then headed in to work and joined the party. News helicopters were circling overhead.

We spent much of the afternoon attaching airbags to the boat to raise it from the bottom and then getting five gas-powered pumps running. We towed the boat very, very slowly (the boat tried to sink on us a second time) over to Dorchester where we finally had it hauled out of the water at about 10pm. The damage to the bottom of the boat was extensive.

Long day at the office, to say the least.

"Occasionally, your driver will say something. Then you know you've got less than a second before all hell breaks loose. Crashing is a surreal experience. Everything happens in slow motion and a lot of it is very quiet, although you hear the noise of bending metal and breaking glass. When it suddenly goes very, very quiet, you know you're in trouble, because the next impact will be enormous."

-- Robert Reid (co-driver for Richard Burns since 1991)

Since everone else is talking about it, I might as well post too.

In December, the motor vessel Tricolor sank after a collision in the English Channel. It was carrying a cargo of 2862 Volvos, Saabs, BMWs and other assorted vehicles.

Here is the full story as detailed in a NYTimes.com article.

Here are some pics of the stern section of the ship being brought into the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium.

The salvage of the ship is being handled by four of the largest salvage companies in the world. In fact, they've formed a company specifically for this salvage job. This site has changed considerably from when I checked it yesterday. They are now posting news items at least once a day and today posted some amazing photos. Be sure to check this site if you're interested in this story.

...is that what happened? Is that the story of life? Do I grow complacent with the things which are dearly important to me, and then decide that I don't need them? It leaves me wanting to go back. Back to what I had, to what I knew, to what was comfortable. This is all an excuse? An excuse for the possibility that I might actually still be searching? This is the thought, the idea to which I've had such a hard time giving any credibility. I don't really know what to do with this thing. Where to take it; where to run. Just run. Stop turning and looking over your shoulder.
Run.
Run fast.
Run forward.