Stuff for choo-choo fans!

Coming this weekend, December 1-2, is the NMRA HUB Division
New England Model Train Expo. It will be held once again at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, MA. You can download a copy of the show flyer, which contains more info, including directions, HERE.

We’ll probably go to this one tomorrow. We skipped the Greenburg show in Wilmington that was a few weeks ago, because that one seemed more oriented towards children. There were unruly kids running all over the place the one time I did go to that show. And Mike also complained that the vendors didn’t have any good stuff to sell there.

Well, NO DUH! Kids were manhandling the merchandise, and some of that stuff is EXPENSIVE! If I were a vendor, I’d not want to have a booth there, either…not if kids were being allowed to run rampant and destroy my profits.

This year they actually advertised this thing on TV, and the ad was ALL about the kids. I guess they must have done some market research, and decided that they’d get more people in if it were a kid-friendly event. So that’s why we didn’t go.

But the show in Marlborough has been consistently good over the years. It’s mostly aimed at adults who are serious railroad hobbyists. Children do get in for free with adults, but they are better behaved at this show. Running around and manhandling the merchandise is not tolerated there.
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Another train place that is more for kids is Edaville USA, which is down in Carver, MA. This used to be a serious railroad museum sort of place, but now it’s pretty much been turned into a kiddie park. It’s a great place to take the kids, especially this time of year, as it’s all lit up for Christmas.

So that’s another place we won’t be going to. But fear not…all of the good stuff from Edaville has been moved to the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum up in Portland…and we’ve seen it all there, sans having to deal with hordes of screaming kids, kiddie rides, and such. This is more of a serious train museum.

But they do have things for kids, as well. The Santa Fest runs on Friday, Saturday & Sunday (4-7 PM all days) through December.
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If you are in the Portland area for the Santa Fest, why not drive down to Kennebunkport, to the Seashore Trolley Museum? There, you can enjoy trolley rides in heated cars, as well as shopping at the museum store. The museum is normally closed during the winter, but they open it for two weekends in December (1-2 and 8-9) to coincide with Kennebunkport’s Christmas Prelude, which is held those weekends.
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Looking to 2008, there is the mother of all train shows…the Amherst Railway Society Hobby Show. This will be held the weekend of January 27-28, at the Big E fairgrounds in West Springfield, MA. This show is so humongous that it takes up two large buildings. There is so much to see, that you might want to book overnight accommodations if you don’t live nearby. You might need both days to see the entire show!
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That’s all the train stuff I know of for now. Enjoy!

Top 10 new golf courses…

….as named by “Travel + Leisure Golf” magazine. Click here for the complete list.

The good news is that one Massachusetts golf course made the list…The Golf Club of Cape Cod, in Falmouth, MA. It came in at number 6…not too shabby.

It’s certainly too cold to be playing golf on the Cape now. But if you live or vacation in the area, you might want to consider packing up your Adidas golf gear and check it out next spring. Remember, it’s never too soon to start planning your next spring/summer vacation!
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Believe it or not…in all of the years I’ve lived in Massachusetts, I have NEVER been to the Cape. We prefer to go up to Maine for summer vacations. But I would like to visit the Cape sometime, even if I don’t join the new golf club there. Maybe we can go for a weekend sometime before Memorial Day, before it gets really crowded.

Slick Nick

I MUST have some!  Last year, we got to taste some at Robert’s Maine Grill…it was very tasty, but too high octane to drink when one has to drive home.

Slick Nick is the seasonal winter ale brewed by Sebago Brewing Company.   I was pleased to see that they do bottle it, and that we can get it in Massachusetts.  So far, we’ve not seen it in any store yet, but tonight, Mike is going to the big Kappy’s store at Wellington Circle.  They might possibly have it.  If not, we’ll be going to Sturbridge in a couple of weeks, and we can hit the Yankee Spirits store there.  Now, if THEY don’t have it there, no one does.  That is the most Awesome Beer Store In The World!

Gotta have some Slick Nick for our holiday celebrations!

Why we’ll be changing insurance companies in 2008

We are currently using Commerce insurance. Why? Because when we bought our Ford Escort years ago, that’s who the dealership set us up with. We were never given the chance to shop around…here, you can’t register a car and get plates unless you have insurance first, and so the dealership took care of that for us. But I’ve really never been thrilled with the company they picked for us…we just stayed with them because here in Massachusetts, shopping for good rates was never an option. We get fleeced no matter where we go, so why bother switching?

But a couple of days ago, I posted about how Massachusetts is starting to allow insurance companies to offer competitive rates. There’s a lot that I’m not thrilled about, most notably that part about sucky drivers having their rates increased by no more than 10%. So we’d still be subsidizing them somewhat. But still, I plan to try shopping around for a better rate for when it’s time to renew our insurance. I’m looking towards Amica…I like their commercials, and they try to give somewhat of a good driver discount…at least as much as they can in this stupid state. Maybe now that they can compete for customers now, we might see a bit more savings over Commerce.

One of the things that annoyed me about Commerce was when our old Escort was hit, in the parking lot of Mike’s old work, by some guy in a Hugh Jass pickup truck. Our car was parked at the time, mind you, and Mike was in his office working. But at least the guy who hit our car was honest, and he went back into the building to find the owner of the car he’d hit.

So, he finds Mike, and they discuss the issue. The other guy gave Mike his insurance info, and Mike said he’d get an estimate for the damage. Mike called Commerce about this, since they’d be ponying up the check for the repairs…and then they’d go and deal with the other guy’s insurance company to get the money from them. Stuff like this is why we carry full coverage, even when it’s not required anymore because we’d paid off the car.

Stupid insurance guy tells us to go to this place called Davidson Chevrolet for an estimate, and whatever that estimate is, is what they will pay. We had to go there, because that was the only way Commerce would pony up. We were NOT thrilled. First of all, this is a CHEVY dealership, and our car is a FORD. This would mean that the repair would take longer, because they don’t have Ford parts and other body shop supplies sitting around on their shelves. They’d have to order the stuff from Ford, and that would mean us being forced to drive (and perhaps pay for) a rental car for longer than needed.

Also, we personally hate Davidson Chevrolet, and would not buy so much as a spark plug from that place.  We went there when we were first shopping for a car, and the salesman was a pushy asshole.  He tried to sell us a car we didn’t want, and refused to show us the ones we DID want.  He also ignored the fact that I said that I didn’t like leather seats, and the car he was pushing on us had leather seats.  Even when Mike said, “didn’t you hear us…my wife doesn’t like leather seats”, he still ignored that and tried to sell us the car.  We ended up walking away in disgust.  Mike was NOT happy to have to take our car there for that stupid estimate.  But, as I said, if we wanted a check ASAP from Commerce, and not wait for the other guy’s company to pay, we had NO choice.

So we got the estimate, took it to Commerce, and we got a check.  But we refused to have the repairs done at Davidson.  We went to the Ford dealer, where we’d bought the car, and got an estimate from them.  It was more than what Davidson was charging, but we knew that Sentry Ford would do a better job and get it done faster, since they are a Ford dealer and have all of the Ford parts needed.

We paid the difference out of pocket.  I don’t think we should have had to, but that’s how sucky Commerce Insurance is.  The insurance guy we have is an idiot, and I suspect he knows even less about cars than I do.  We’ll be saying sayonara to his ass come May, because I KNOW we can get a cheaper rate elsewhere now.

I still can’t wait until we can leave Massachusetts completely and get something even cheaper, like GEICO or Progressive.  But for now, I’ll be happy to be rid of Commerce.  I hate them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

And may everyone have plenty to eat, that they won’t need to take any nutritional supplements that day!

What are you doing for the big day? Mike and I did consider the big buffet at the Oliver Wight Tavern at Old Sturbridge Village.  They are also having a family-style Thanksgiving dinner at the Bullard Tavern.  But in the end, we opted not to go, because we don’t like going out and driving on the holiday.  Besides, we wouldn’t have all of those leftovers!

Anyhoo, we are already planning to spend a weekend in the Village sometime in December, for the “Christmas By Candlelight” event.   There’s still time to make plans to attend that, if you’d like.  I really enjoy this event, because I despise all of the modern day consumerism of the holiday.  Back in the 1830′s, people didn’t go all out buying presents.  Kids got mostly handmade toys and treats in their stockings…parents didn’t get up at 4AM on Black Friday to go to Mall*Wart and get trampled over a cheap DVD player or something.

I refuse to have anything to do with this Black Friday nonsense.  I don’t even buy that many gifts for people…if you get a gift from me, that means I must really, really like you.  I buy most of my gifts online, but I might pick up a few things at the OSV shops…since I’m a member, I do get a discount.  And they have some very nice things there.

I’m mostly doing handmade cards.  Rubber stamping as a craft is really nothing new.  People back in the 1830′s used stamps to make greeting cards, just as many people do now.  They had a demo of this at the Village last year…the stamps they used back then were carved from wood, since they really didn’t have rubber back then.  But it was the same idea…apply ink to the carved design and press it onto a blank card.

So anyway, we’re staying at home for Toikey Day, I’m cooking, and we’ll have all those leftovers.  Whatever you are doing for the holiday, make it a good one!  Stay safe and try not to get into a slugfest with Uncle Louie at the dinner table!