Until the Day is Done

The short weeks are the long ones. Five days of work condensed into four. It doesn't help that I have two book deadlines this week, which means lots of editing for yours truly. I was even too busy to go to the gym the last few days. Add to that the fact that they're doing work on the roof, so in addition to the occasional concussion blast, there's debris flying past my window like Martin Sheen in The Departed.

The big override vote is coming up next week in Beverly. Deb's been transformed into a serious activist working to help pass the override, which would provide enough money to save Hannah's school from closing next fall. Opposition forces have been out doing their part to keep the override from passing. It's hard to say what will happen. Any time you bring up the idea of raising the t-word (rhymes with "schmaxes"), you're going to get folks in an uproar, but the current economic climate makes it even less appetizing for a lot of people. But there are plenty of people who are willing to pay a little more for education, so it should be interesting next week.

Memorial Day was fun. I got up and ran a 5K in Swampscott in 22:33 (22:28 by my watch), which wasn't my best 5K time but still wasn't bad for a hilly course on a warm day. You know it was a small race because I finished 28th out of 165; too bad they spelled my name wrong in the official results. Ruh roh, Rumar! Afterwards, we went over to our friends Deb and Pete's place for a cookout with a few other families. The kids had a blast and we ate like pigs all day. Muy excellente.

Pass the dutchie:

• Crazy stuff happening in this area in the last few days. Last night, two MBTA trolleys collided in Newton, causing a mass of twisted wreckage and killing the operator of the second trolley. It's amazing there weren't more injuries given the damage to the trolleys. Then this afternoon, there was a huge fire at a condo complex in Peabody, forcing 900 people to evacuate.
• After Detroit totally dominated the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals with two shutouts of the Penguins, Pittsburgh finally woke up last night and took Game 3, 3-2. It was a really exciting game, with great scoring chances, big hits and good goaltending. It was a welcome change from the first two tilts, which had the life sucked out of them by the Wings. Hopefully, the Penguins will win Saturday night and make a series out of this thing.
• You know I'm a sucker for Van Halen/Hagar news. While the reunited, DLR-led VH played in Providence last weekend (my buddy G-money tried to get me to go with him but I didn't have $50 to spare), Sammy and Michael Anthony announced this week that they're teaming up with Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Joe Frickin' Satriani to form Chickenfoot. Hey, Sammy knows about supergroups. Of course, with a name like Chickenfoot, they should have gone with Buckethead as their guitarist. That dude's all about the chicken.