Wiring, Wine, Salem, and Coincidences

It was a busy but fun grab-bag of a weekend, primarily with my sweetie.

First, of course I have wandered down to Sarah's basement... and I quickly noticed that if was going to organize things onto shelves, I would need some more light. So I spent half a day turning this:


Into this:


It went from 1 light -> 3 lights, plus a wall switch instead of a pull chain, and a convenience outlet. Also, I installed a bike hook--and her bike is now tuned up, and has lights!

She rewarded my efforts with a burrito from Anna's Taqueria, and a great big smooch. Heck--check it out, I was even wearing my BCD safety glasses at the time!


That evening went a bit more highbrow--a wine tasting at a friend's house in Framingham--Reds: Argentinia vs. Chile. For some reason, that sounds like a soccer match (GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!). I have to say that eight glasses per person make the table really hard (and nerve-wracking) to navigate.


Sunday was a day trip up to Salem (with sides trips to Home Depot and REI)--meeting up with Sarah's friends Jen, Marcey, Eliza, and baby Asa--we had a fun wander around town:


Also: strange coincidence #1. That evening, I received this message on Facebook, from Amie's friend Alexa:


Did my family nearly run you down on the sidewalk at the Friendship in Salem this afternoon? If so, I apologize for not stopping and chatting. It was running into dinner time. It was also Peter's first time out on a bike of any sort in over 7 years, let alone with a 5 year old on a trailer attached.

If not, there is someone running around the North Shore looking very much like you.

Hah--cool! Yes, I definitely remember a family with two tag-a-longs attached to two bikes, that I waved past our group. Very funny.

While browsing around the various tourist-trap stores in Salem, I found a store that sold wine and mixers, including this one:


Um, bottled simple syrup? As in sugar, water, and heat? Wow... seriously lame. I am not sufficient hard-core as a bartender to keep a supply at hand, but I can easily pop some water + sugar into the microwave to a boil/dissolve, then chill it down. Check out the ingredient list:

Ingredients: Triple Filtered Water, Cane Sugar, Lactic Acid

Anyway, a very nice wander around Salem.

Had a lovely dinner at Green Land Cafe, a new and classy place in Salem, with great food. Although we did go lowbrow, and our dishes included fried oysters and pork cracklins'.

Over dinner, I found out about odd coincidence #2--it's complicated enough that I'm putting it in diagram form:

Sarah -> [is friends with] -> Jen -> [who is sorta-dating] -> Jeff -> [who went to Grove City College, and took classes from] -> Big Bird's Dad (a.k.a. "Helfy" among the students). I've met Bird's folks a bunch of times, so it was funny to get an outside perspective--he has a reputation as a really hard grader.

A full and busy weekend.... and this upcoming weekend (Memorial Day) is NYC with Sarah--and she gets to meet my family. Yikes!