Anthony

The Roof is on!

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Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailWe’re getting close.

Dad, My good friend Anthony and I spent 3 days up at camp last week, getting the roof in tip top shape. My Uncle Jerry stopped by on Monday and helped all day while we finished placing the end cap and prepping the roof for shingles.

The three of us then shingled the entire roof in a day and a half. Up to the ridge cap anyway, at which point we had to head home. Not too shabby. Next trip up the plan is the ridge cap and the remaining OSB wallboard. At that point we’ll be ready to place the Tyvek wrap, windows and doors. We might even get to some of that, depending on how long we’re up there for.

It’ll be nice to get ‘er sealed up.

Thanks to Anthony and Jerry. We wouldn’t be anywhere near as far along without all the help. You guys rock!

2 of 46ers – Cascade and Porter

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Cascade Mountain SummitThere’s 2 more people on the Trek to becoming 46ers.  We’ve only just begun but we’re in it for the long haul.

We were spending the weekend in Lake Placid due to a great deal on the High Peaks Resort.  We booked the trip a few weeks ago and while the weather was great Friday and Sunday, rain was expected for Saturday afternoon.  Despite that we decided to hike up some of the 46 High Peaks anyway.  After all, we were staying at the High Peaks resort.

To start our journey on the 46er goal we climbed two peaks.  We’ve climbed mountains before, Hunter mountain was the highest so far with an elevation of 4,040ft and that was last summer.  We’ve now successfully summited 2 of the Adirondack High Peaks, increasing our highest mountain’s elevation to 4,098ft.

We took the Cascade/Porter mountain trail up from route 73 just east of the mt van hoevenburg recreation area and just west of the Cascade lakes (in case you’re trying to find it).

Porter Mountain Summit

The trail goes steadily up for about 1.8miles where it Y’s.  From there it’s .3 miles to the summit of Cascade with an ascent of a 292ft and .7 miles to the summit of Porter with an ascent of 270ft.  While the rest of the Cascade trail was relatively easy, only a few hundred feet to summit Porter is a bit missleading.  First you descend several hundred feet through what can only be considered a mud slide, then you cross a valley and travel back up the hundreds of feet you descended plus the original 270ft.

The top of Cascade Mountain felt more like the top of Mount Washingtain than the top of one of the smaller Adirondack High Peaks.  Winds were constant at easily over 60mph with gusts probably topping 80mph. The wind caused the slight rain coming down to feel like your skin was getting sand blasted.  Porter Mountain wasn’t quite as bad since it wasn’t as open, but the wind was still incredibly strong.

This isn’t the first mountain we’ve climbed and it won’t be the last, but it is the first one we’ve hiked up and down in the rain.  Having the right gear is vital for hiking and we made use of some new equipment, our new Eddie Bauer RipPac jackets, for the first time this trip and it made our experience enjoyable despite the bad weather.  They will certainly remain a staple in our hiking packs.


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Congrats Anthony

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Anthony and RoccoMy Friend and Best man in our wedding Anthony graduated with his Masters Degree yesterday.

He’s been in school for a long time, and so upon successful graduation he planned a little shindig last night.  Low key but a blast.

His brother Rocco has been traveling a lot, and was also recently quarantined for swine flu concerns so if I suddenly come down with something…  Anyway, he came back from mexico a short time ago and brought some premium cigars with him.

They were very enjoyable.

Cheers to Anthony, you earned it man.

The High Peaks Resort

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I’ve been meaning to climb some of the Adirondack High Peaks for a few years.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any grand illusions of becoming a 46er (Although, as a side note, that would be awesome).  I simply enjoy climbing the occasional mountain.  Climbing some of the highest peaks in New York State seems like a good goal.

highpeakshotelroomWith my parents recent purchase of a camp in South Colton, NY I figured I’d use that as a base camp.  I still probably will, although in a few weeks I’ll get to use the High Peaks Resort.  A short time ago they started running the Elevate Your Rate promotion which is basically a deal for 75% (+) off.  They’re featuring one of the High Peaks for 46 minutes for 46 days.  During that time the promotional rate will be the same as the elevation of that featured peak.  For example, our peak was Mount Emmons which has an elevation of  4,020′ which turned out to be a daily price of $40.20 which is pretty darn good.

My experience thus far has been via Twitter and I’m thoroughly Impressed.  There has been a great amount of communication from them and I’ve felt they’re really going the extra mile.  We didn’t get the dates we really wanted (due to availability) and I let them know.  They promptly look into it and got back to me within an hour with an explanation why those dates were blocked out.  They tried to see if there was any room available but unfortunately there was not.  That’s OK, the dates we got work fine anyway, and now we get to go with my friend Anthony and his wife Meg!  I really didn’t expect that kind of service at $40.20/night, and that’s just through twitter.  I’m excited to see what kind of service they offer in person.

We’re definitely looking forward to the trip.

BBQ with Cake

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For my birthday Rachel organized a surprise party by tricking me into a dinner at Dinosaur BBQ.  It was a load of fun and completely unexpected.  It was my first surprise party and I’d call it a success.

To top off the great BBQ dinner at Dinosaur Rachel got everybody together for the Cake concert.  Cake is one of my favorite bands and she had been making excuses for why we weren’t able to go.  When I opened my birthday card at dinner and found 2 tickets for the concert I was ecstatic.  The concert was better than I could imagine.  Cake turns out to be one of those bands that sounds just as good if not better live than on their pre-recorded music.

An awesome birthday thanks to the worlds best wife.

And yes, I know this post is 2 months late.  Sue me.

Friend Quotes

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Continuing with the quote theme, the following is a list of quotes from my friends, last updated in 2002.  Some are funny, some are just weird.  Sorry.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing has been added or made up. Names have not been changed. Screw the innocent.

Eating a Wegmans Cream filled donut is like an orgasm in your mouth.
~Brian

Randy: but I think I’m actually going to make money on the deal 🙂
Anthony: lol
Randy: they already gave me $270
Anthony: With you involved I’d be disappointed if you didn’t

The thing that drives us in life is coincidentally.. death. Without mortality, humanity would never strive to make things better for ourselves and more importantly for our children
~Brian

Partying without you 2 (Randy & Brian) is like sex without the ass slapping
~Tim

Jen from store 82: not that I have even come close to proving my thesis
Jen from store 82: because I don’t even understand my thesis

Randy: Yeah they’re gonna know we had a women navigator cause we’re late.
Anthony: Yeah but they’ll know she wasn’t in the drivers seat cause we actually got here.

If she and I were the last two members of the human race, stranded on an island; I’d rather **** in the ocean and hope to inseminate a fish than **** her.
~Jeff

my balls are like dynamite, wanna bang
~Jeff

Be careful in the winter this summer
~Rachel

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. my teammate wrote a class, I wrote a class.
they interacted but they didn’t. I adapted and he didn’t. I was right, he was wrong. I won he lost.
~Random CS student

freeman is becoming a non-exister. I say let it fly. it can’t hurt us, only him.
~Matteo

if somebody washes that kid before the next class I’ll give him a cookie….
~Lars

Brian: btw Zack is gay

Don’t criticize someone until You’ve walked a mile in their shoes, that way, when u criticize them you’ll be a mile away and you’ll have their shoes!

There are 10 types of people in this world; those who understand binary, and those who do not.
~Tim

Randy: hey
Auto response from Anthony: off takin pic’s of my cocker 😛

There is a priest, a rabbi, and a golf pro and they all come up to this lake. Priest goes, “Bless this lake”, Rabbi goes Mimpf Minshkoosh Mincki which means, “Bless this lake”. The golf pro walks up and goes, “Wheres my ball”. And the lesson of this story, “The Devil took the ball and the lake”. No really…there is still no point to this “joke”
~Rob

Patience is:
-letting that driver in front of you go slow without pulling up to the side of him and swearing at him (actually…its usually a her).
-learning to slow it down once in a while in this fast paced society.
-just waiting for her to happen.
-expecting to be disappointed and growing on it.
-realizing how short life is and accepting what you are doing with life.
-finding a target “her” and realizing its still out of reach.
-hearing someone out before you panic
-taking a chance
-is life
-is reading this whole thing and adding your own instance of choice.
~Rob

Fighting for Peace is like Screwing for Virginity
~Anthony

Sometimes I wish I was you…
So I could have sex with me
~Lindsay – AIM Profile

Elena: poor canada
Randy: truer words have never been spoken

Randy: dork
Auto response from Corey: Randy is a dork!
Randy: hey thats not cool I didnt even talk to you yet
Auto response from Corey: yes randy is still a dork

but you were all about boobs your senior yeat
~Randy

Yeah…perhaps…I don’t think so… I don’t know.
~Randy

Matteo: did you hear about the new S-Box??? It’s great. Even better than the real thing. Yep. Microsoft teamed up with Satan to create a hybrid video game system that will make you scream. The X-box hasn’t been doing good and a new IMPROVED game system should change that statisic. I just saw a commerical yesterday for it and it was so funny. Satan was marketing it and had a little boy playing with a few of the games. Here’s a few that I can remember. Satan vs. Jesus, Hitlers final solution, Angel wars, and my favorite Terrorist Air 666!!! All great titles that will make this the greatest game experience you’ll ever see. Konard from Gamestop gave it 8 fingers up!!! He is preordering 3 of them. Stocking stuffers I guess. Well, thats about all. It’s going to be HOT!!!

My chaps are lipped.
~Rachel

make sure the munchkins put some rocks in their pockets tomorrow,
we don’t want them blowing away
~Liz

a true wise man does not play leap frog with a unicorn.
~Brian

Randy: dork
Mary Beth: am i giving you a huge…….?!
Randy: ?
Mary Beth: lolllllllll
Mary Beth: wrong screen!!!!!!

Randy: so what the hell do you want anyway?
Liz: I want you to lick Brian’s foot
Liz: that what I want

A Whole lot of nothin….
~Rachel

SmarterChild: Whatcha laughing about?
Randy Aldrich: your face
SmarterChild: Yeah? I think you’re the one with the funny face.

So it’s easy to understand and it’s understandable.
~Kristy

A Wedding and a Party

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My best friend Anthony’s wedding was this weekend and I had the honor of being best man.  One of the biggest (or at least the most stressful) responsibilities of the best man is the toast.  I’ve never had to speak in front of that many people before but I think it went over relatively well.

My Speech:

Ladies and gentlemen, if there’s anybody here this afternoon who’s feeling nervous, apprehensive and queasy at the thought of what lies ahead, it’s probably because you just got married to Anthony Ventura.

When I sat down to write this thing I had no clue where to start.

Some people tell jokes, but I’m not that funny.
Some people write a poem, but I can’t rhyme.
Some people give advice, but I’ve only been married a year so the only advice I have is to shut up and let her do the talking.

Since I can’t do any of those the best thing I came up with is to tell everyone how I got to know the lovely new Mr & Mrs Ventura.  The only problem is, I’ve known Anthony for so damn long I have no idea how we met.  What I can tell you is a few things that he’s taught me over the years.

I’ve learned that the Ventura’s really know how to raise a son, but I have no idea how they deal with both of them. (Harriet you’re a saint)
I’ve learned that Rollerblading down giant hills can lead to war scars the size of your fist.
I’ve learned that Mascara really does look horrible on a guy (Ask me later, I have pictures).
I’ve learned that transformers and Lego’s are fun to play with at any age, wait no not really.
I’ve learned how good friends stand the test of time.
And I’ve learned that a list like this can go on for days so we’ll just stop here.

The really awesome part of having a friend like Anthony is that every time we see each other, even if its after months or years apart, it’s back to the same old shenanigans, drinking past 2am and befriending trashcans (or toilets).  He’s always only a phone call away any time you need to patch a hole in a wall or get away from your pets for 2 weeks.

I remember the first time I met Meg. It was Anthony’s birthday and he wanted me to come out to MacGregors to meet this stunning girl he had been seeing.  A few Irish Car Bombs later and there we were, 2 country boys and a beautiful blond stuck in front of Deer Hunter the video game.  When Meg proved she had what it takes to kill more Bambies than us I told him:

“Any woman that can shoot a toy gun like that is worth keeping!”

I was right because he’s definitely getting the better end of the deal.  Anthony, you are a lucky groom – you’ve married Meg, who’s beautiful, smart, funny, warm, loving and caring, and she deserves a good husband. Thank God you married her before she found one.

I’ve been told that Meg is good at a lot of things but directions are not one of them.  I don’t know how she found her way to their first date, but I’m pretty sure one of the biggest reasons she keeps him around is because she can’t read a map.  Anthony, whatever you do, don’t buy her a GPS device because she might not need you anymore.

I lied, I do have one small piece of advice. If I have learned anything during the past year it’s this. Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that.

From the moment I saw them together I could tell that they’re very much in love and would bring each other happiness for years to come.  It was truly an honor for me to be a part of their day.  I would like to propose a toast to the happy couple, wishing them years upon years of blissful happiness. 

To Anthony and Meg…

May your love grow ever stronger as you share your lives together, and may your future be  more wonderful than you dreamed possible.

Thank you Everyone!

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One and a half years of planning, four months of frenzy, a one day celebration and 2 weeks of relaxation… We did it!

Life as a married couple has been good to us so far. We’d just like to say a final thanks to everyone who made our wedding the most beautiful and blissful day a couple could wish for. Not to mention all the fun we had! We couldn’t ask for a better start to a long happy life together.

Special thanks go out to:

The Parents, without your love and support we wouldn’t have been able to do it at all

The Bridal Party Consisting of:

  • Lisa Jordan – Maid of Honor
  • Anthony Ventura – Best Man
  • Lisa Day
  • Miriam Cortez
  • Tess Hey
  • Jennifer Lehr
  • Brian Wilson
  • Charles Rich
  • Michael Heath
  • George Heath Jr

Claire Masten for her touching reading from 1st Corinthians

Elizabeth Fino-Radin from The Starry Strings Quartet for the beautiful violin

Annette Dragon for all the beautiful photography

Whirlin’ Disc DJ for getting everyone on the dance floor

Mike from The Burgundy Basin for making sure everything went smoothly

Phaedra Andalora from Liberty Travel for putting together our Honeymoon

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

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Gasoline 1, Bon Fire 0

Rachel and I have been up to a lot lately. For the 4th I ended up going to my friend Anthony’s for some fireworks and some general crazy pyro behavior. One bon fire lit with gasoline and a roman candle another lit with a gasoline trail.

Saturday I went fishing with Anthony and his father in Fairhaven bay. When I got home Rachel had steak, salt potatoes, corn and beer waiting. Yeah, she’s that awesome.

A Joust

Sunday we took our annual trip to the Sterling Renaissance Festival. On the way we got to see an awesome lightning storm. I wish I had my tripod it would have been perfect. The lightning started out at the horizon and then we drove right through it. While there we saw a few shows we weren’t able to catch last year but was overall uneventful. We have determined the next time we go will be with people that have not been yet, and we’ll probably dress up.