Goodman’s Gam
February 4th, 2010To join the conversation, click the link below
According to Quentin the Quahog, my prediction from last week’s post was accurate. Our mollusk with all the answers is now reposing in harbormaster Dave Fronzuto’s gullet after spitting to the left on Tuesday. Only six more weeks of winter would be a respite around here. The third week in March, (chronologically) is the signal for spring. We’ll be lucky if it feels like spring a month beyond that date.
Beautiful fall weather (from warm ocean water) results in a late spring. This is a good tradeoff in my mind. Nantucket has made the big time with Quentin this year. The Boston Globe posted the news on Boston.com late in the day, complete with Mr. Fronzuto’s disparaging comments regarding Punxsutawney Phil. I believe most islanders feel the exact same way. Besides, groundhogs are the last thing we need here.
Then there was the sensationalistic story about Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and part of Cape Cod representative Tim Madden. Traveling between Boston and the three communities he serves made him the highest-reimbursed rep for travel expenses in the legislature at $13,900. Tim is up on Beacon Hill just over 150 days per year.
Aside from the toll of that amount of travel, boats, planes and automobiles (sounds like a movie) the tickets cost money. It’s only fair that the state pays for this. The voters in Mr. Madden’s district deserve his services and he isn’t paid enough salary to dole out travel expenses from his own pocket.
This so-called exposé came courtesy of the Boston Herald, a newspaper that is similar to some of the headlines I read while going through the checkout line after shopping for groceries.
There has been much discussion about the fence a homeowner erected going through the dune at Steps Beach. As much as the split rails look ridiculous, standing alone for a short stretch on the beach, it appears to be legal. My question is: how long will it take for some vandal to trash it? Otherwise, summer is coming and kids are sure to use it for a beach party bonfire. The fence is jarring, to say the least.
Years back there used to be a saying here: you can tell a carpenter by the black Lab in the back of their pickup truck. A contractor has two Labs in the bed of his pick up. Over the past year or so, I’ve noticed at least a half-dozen guys in pickups with small dogs riding in the cab. Poodles are the last thing I expect to see with these big macho builder types. They’re no match for a retriever when it comes to retrieving tennis balls at the worksite.
Cutting the social-services department sounds like a good idea to save the town $30,000 a year, but at what cost? The system is working well as it is. Taking a chance like this could easily fail, which would then end up hurting people in need and costing more money (to us) in the future. We all know the old saying, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” I believe there are several other items in the town budget that could save us thirty grand and wouldn’t hurt a soul.
You have to give Cape Air credit. They’ve sent two of their Cessna 402s to help out the relief effort in Haiti. The planes will be making 10 trips a week to ferry in medical personnel as well as medical supplies. One plane will be flying to Port-au-Prince, while the second one is going to service two cities outside of the Haitian capital. Great job and thank-you for doing a good deed!
Sunday is the Super Bowl, an overhyped contest most years. This go-around should be good. The two best teams in the NFL meet in Miami to duke it out. It’s a tough call for me. I’d like New Orleans to win, but I have to believe Peyton Manning will lead Indianapolis to a victory. Or, maybe The Who will steal the spotlight.
You now have four days to buy cards, flowers or candy for your honey. Valentine’s Day is next Sunday.
If you’d like to get a hold of me directly, call (508) 228-4325, write me at P.O. Box 1263, Nantucket, MA 02554, or e-mail me at dgoodman@nantucket.net.
– Goodman’s Gam appears weekly in this space and periodically in The Inquirer and Mirror.