Sunday, February 14, 2016

Broken-Hearted

That's not the only thing wrong with me.

"A couple at home and the office? It can work" by Katie Johnston Globe Staff  February 12, 2016

The idea of working with a spouse is unfathomable to some people.

Separating work from home is crucial to a happy marriage, they say: We’d get sick of each other. We’d be at each other’s throats.

Do you know what I'm sick of?

Yet plenty of couples do it — and love it. Yes, it’s harder to leave work behind, but the “Honey, how was your day?” conversation is much more engaging.

Work is where many people find love, after all. More than a third of workers surveyed last year for the employment site CareerBuilder said they had dated a co-worker, and about a third of those relationships led to marriage.

But complications can arise.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, the Globe tracked down happily co-employed couples to talk about intertwining their personal and professional lives....

This slop isn't for me anymore.

In fact, when you read through of the Globe it reads like junior-high gossip, who ya' datin' and all that kind of crap.

--more--" 

What we have reached, dear readers, is not only the end of the love affair with the Globe but diminishing returns at this blog. 

Saturday is usually my big blog day, the one afternoon effort I make each week. Had a series lined up to be worked on and, well, never returned after lunch. Thought I would give it a rest and spare my body aches and pains in the elbows, wrists, and fingers.

Well, when I awoke this morning the pain was searing in my left thumb and wrist. It's the receptive accumulation of ten years of this shit, and I've been in denial about it. Pure and simple.

Thus I face a dilemma. I will never get to all the work I had planned whilst keeping pace with the rapidly evolving events in our world that are not as the jew$paper portrays. So consolidate months of backlog would take time and promote further damage. In fact, each letter I type aggravates the discomfort I already feel.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not angry, I'm just sad.

"Berkley man charged with brutally killing friend in jealous rage" by Travis Andersen Globe Staff  February 12, 2016

WAREHAM — A Berkley man allegedly shot his 70-year-old friend 10 times inside the victim’s home Monday night, killing him in a jealous rage after learning the other man had carried on a romantic relationship with his recently deceased girlfriend, authorities said.

The details of the love triangle and brutal slaying were disclosed Friday in Wareham District Court in the case against John B. Wittey, 70. Wittey pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the death of John E. Williams, also 70, of Wareham.

Wittey was ordered held without bail. His lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.

Williams’s daughter, Mary Ellen Travassos, 36, of Dighton, said in a brief phone interview after the hearing that her family was having difficulty processing what happened.

“I will tell you that he was a great man, and a great father,” she said.

The medical examiner determined that Williams was shot 10 times and stabbed on the right side of his abdomen, according to an affidavit filed by State Trooper David B. Collett.

“That’s a pretty vicious, brutal homicide,” Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz told reporters after Wittey’s arraignment, praising investigators for “making sure we can get somebody off the street [who] would shoot a 70-year-old individual 10 times between his back and his head. . . . That’s outrageous conduct.”

Unless it's cop! 

Then he/she is cleared, absolved, and sainted.

Just wondering why he was on the street to begin with.

Good way too keep the "law enforcement bu$ine$$" going I gue$$, the $olution of course being more $urveillance tyranny as they open up the jails with sentencing reforms due to state budgets going broke after allegedly eight years of economic recovery (the recovery turned out to be all at the top for people who benefited from the whole thing by buying low and $elling dear and scooping up properties with help of government).

According to Collett’s affidavit, Williams’s girlfriend, Roberta Delorie, 66, discovered Williams lying in a pool of blood inside his home on Glen Charlie Road in Wareham late Tuesday morning.

Travassos later told investigators that her father had previously been romantically involved with a woman, identified as Judy Attaya-Harris, while Attaya-Harris was living with Wittey, the affidavit said.

Attaya-Harris, 66, died last month of cancer, records show, and Travassos told authorities that her father sometimes drove Attaya-Harris to doctor’s appointments. Attaya-Harris and Williams belonged to the same ham radio club, and Wittey got to know Williams through the group, the affidavit said.

Wittey told investigators on Tuesday that during the prior week, he became upset after discovering an e-mail that Attaya-Harris sent to Williams in September 2014 that contained details “of a sexual relationship between Judy and the victim,” Collett wrote.

But Wittey insisted that he never brought the note to Williams’s attention, the affidavit said. He also said he took a “joy ride” on Monday night because he was upset and traveled all the way to New Jersey before returning home on Tuesday afternoon.

Wittey claimed that he had never visited Williams’s home, according to Collett.

GPS data, however, showed that Wittey drove to Williams’s street on Monday at about 9 p.m. and stayed for an hour, and then returned shortly after midnight before leaving less than 10 minutes later.

In addition, court-authorized searches of Wittey’s vehicle and residence yielded several firearms, ammunition, and empty Beck’s beer bottles, according to the affidavit. Investigators discovered a Beck’s bottle at the murder scene, and Wittey told authorities that he drinks Beck’s, the legal document said.

Investigators also seized several firearms from the home of Williams, who was discovered lying face down with his right hand up by his head, records show. Two live bullets and one spent casing were also located near his head.

Wittey, who was convicted in 2013 of assaulting a disabled person over 60, is due back in court on March 14, according to legal filings. In addition, Attaya-Harris took out a restraining order against Wittey in February 2003, and the order was closed two months later, records show.

--more--"

Sorry I no longer give a fuck about some fatal love triangle over there.

Here's your damn flowers:

"Boston Flower Exchange vendors to close by year’s end" by Tim Logan Globe Staff  February 04, 2016

Another Boston institution has set a closing date.

Vendors at the Boston Flower Exchange in the South End have been told they need to move out by the end of the year, to make way for a new owner at the 5.6-acre site in the South End.

It’s still not clear who that new owner will be, or what they will put there. When the building went up for sale last year, a bidding war among big-name developers drove the price north of $40 million, according to people familiar with the deal. But closing the sale has taken longer than expected, said Joe Cefalo, an attorney who sits on the Flower Exchange board and is handling the deal.

“It’s a complex situation, more complex than a regular straight real estate deal,” said Cefalo, who has declined to name the buyer. “I’m hoping it’ll wrap up in the next couple of months.”

In the meantime, the Flower Exchange’s 13 vendors — who sell flowers to retail stores — have been wondering about their future. The prospect of a sale has been hanging over the place for a year now, and leases were set to expire at the end of 2016. Vendors asked the exchange’s board for guidance, Cefalo said, and the board decided to let the leases run out.

“It’s only fair that we’re forthright with them so they can plan their future,” Cefalo said.

That process is starting now, said Gerry Cupp, owner of Cupp & Cupp Corp. and a longtime vendor in the exchange. With real estate prices surging across Boston, finding good warehouse space close to the city’s core — and to its customers — won’t be easy, Cupp acknowledged. But he was hopeful.

“We’re trying to get organized and get another building together,” he said. “We’ve located a couple of possibilities and we’re trying to sort out financing.”

First though, the flower vendors have a big holiday to get through.

“Valentine’s Day is a big deal around here,” Cupp said. “After that, hopefully we can get down to business.”

--more--"

Gee, sorry I wilted on you

Maybe you would like the box of candy instead?

I think I'll just skip the candy and get you some clothing:

"Army looks to recruit more women, adapt physical testing" by Lolita C. Baldor Associated Press  February 13, 2016

WASHINGTON — Beginning this summer, a visit to a local Army recruiting office will include a new set of gymnastic tests to help determine what military jobs a recruit is physically capable of performing.

Prospective soldiers will be asked to run, jump, lift a weight, and throw a heavy ball — all to help the Army figure out if the recruit can handle a job with high physical demands or should be directed to a more sedentary assignment.

The new tests come as the Pentagon is opening all combat posts to women, a process that involves setting physical standards for every job that both men and women will have to meet.

As part of the effort, the Army will increase the number of female recruiters to better target women. The goal will be to add 1 percent each year for the next three years in order to get at least one woman at each of the Army’s more than 780 larger recruiting centers across the country.

Right now, only about 750 of the 8,800 Army and Army Reserve recruiters are women.

The head of Army Recruiting Command, Major General Jeff Snow said adding more women as recruiters will give female recruits someone more credible to talk to about options for women in the military and how an Army career could affect married or family life.

Oh, Ash Carter came out and unveiled a series of family-friendly proposals in ongoing effort to modernize the military and make it more attractive to job seekers in order to be more like the private sector

At least we know the military isn't ending any wars and is no doubt planning the expansions of such along with new ones. 

I'm seeing China, Russia, and Iran just ahead, how about you? 

Going to need you, ladies. All hands on deck! Or whatever.

But he said getting that increase will be tough because other commands across the Army are also competing to get more women in their units.

As women move into combat roles, Army commanders want to have women in leadership positions across the force to serve as mentors and role models. In particular, Army leaders want more women as drill sergeants and platoon sergeants as recruits go through basic and advanced training.

So much for the "if women ruled the world" garbage, another divisive diversion to take your attention away from cla$$. The power elite are as diverse as they come, folks, as are the illuminati celebrities and crowds they surround themselves with, The rest of us are on the outside.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in December ordered the military services to allow women to compete for all combat jobs. But he and other military leaders have said the physical standards for the jobs will not be lowered in order to allow more women to qualify.

Brigadier General Donna Martin, deputy commander of Army Recruiting Command, said that despite the added recruiting efforts, there may not be a flood of women rushing to compete for combat jobs. But she said the Army may see an eventual increase in women enlistments as they see the array of options.

‘‘I think it’s all about awareness — about a choice,’’ Martin said. ‘‘It’s not forcing any women to go into combat arms. It’s about making them aware that this is a choice.

Yup, any time you frame a women's issue that way how can they be denied?

‘‘It’s the whole question of can you have it all,’’ said Martin, who has been in the Army for 29 years, has been married for 21 years, and has a 19-year-old son. ‘‘You can have as much as you want.’’

The new physical tests will evaluate all recruits — men and women — and will judge their core strength and endurance. Recruits still will have to take the routine aptitude tests and physical evaluations.

Snow said Army leaders are trying to finalize what scores will be needed to qualify for a highly physical job and what would limit recruits to less physical occupations.

The physical assessment test includes a standing long jump; an interval, aerobic run; a dead lift of weights; and a seated power throw of a weighted ball. Snow said the tasks test upper and lower body strength, body core strength, endurance, and power.

Snow said it will cost about $3 million to get all the testing equipment to the Army’s 1,300 recruiting locations.

Good thing this nation doesn't have loads of other problems.

--more--" 

You didn't like the camo outfit?

Well, there are always maternity clothes (will someone please get that kid to shut up?) and a long marriage with which to look forward.

Sorry to have such an icy heart; I thought it would have melted a little before this morning, but I was wrong.

And now I have a decision to make: do I go do something I love at the expense of this blog?

Related:

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy (2012) Valentine's Day From the Boston Globe

Happy (2014)Valentine's Day From the Boston Globe

In searching for past posts I became aware that I have been doing this way, way too long.

When you are repeating titles over and over again.... (sigh)

Valentine's Day Vaccinations
Snowstorm $poils Valentine's Day in Boston

Cold did it in the city this year.

Stapling Together a Valentine For You
A Grey-Hearted Valentine From the Boston Globe

That's about all I can take. Go play with your doll or something.

Sorry to be turning you down for a date today, but I did arrange one for you:

Blind Date With A Book.”

At least you can curl up with that.

UPDATES:

Record cold put the deep freeze on Valentine’s Day

Pileup of 64 vehicles kills 3, sends 73 to hospital

Shouldn't be driving drunk.

Demolition next door puts archaeology museum on shaky ground

Blood-boosters may give tiny preemies a developmental edge

They want to inject the kid at birth.