Having moved up to a slightly less antiquated 'puter than our old Gateway 166 (which we had souped up to a whole 64 MB of RAM) which finally went belly-up, I guess I have to take another reach into the mudcat cookie-jar.

Indeed, that was a hoot moving the China Seas, as it usually is.

I don't think I've worked harder since we moved them out of Dana St. about a year prior.

Our toils were occasionally lightened with a snatch of Chanty, and while warping the 8-pounder (so called because of the weight of a solid iron ball it could shoot) "Gunnade" from the truck to the door of the new (but considerably more compact) China Seas, Nor struck up a rousing round of "General Taylor" (to which of course CN and I pitched right in), which rather amused - if not bewildered - passers-by on Fore Street.

A couple of gents pitched in to help us while their kids watched on from the sidewalk in bemused wonder while we crammed a "Real Pirate Cannon" into the circa 1800 brick storefront.
I wish somebody had taken pictures to share.

The barrel alone on that sucker has gotta go at least 650 pounds!
But I wanna tell ya; Yow!; that Guinness over at Rosie's sure hit the spot afterwards!

Ye know, I about had Management talked into coming down to the Press Room Yesterday, but we were treated to alternating snow, freezing rain, and spattering slush pretty much all day well into the night - so much for that!

As to places to hold a Chanty-hoot; Charlie N. made some overtures to our Waitress at Rosies about holding one in a side room there. She advised that it would be a decision to be made by the Owner, so we hope to hear more about that possibility later.

Another suggestion; I was having breakfast at the modern and capacious cafeteria at the beatifully renovated Pineland Center (Thanks to the LIBRA Foundation) where I used to work for about 12 1/2 years the other Morning.

Pineland is the former State Institution for Mentally Retarded (later re-defined as "Developmentally Disabled") Citizens that sits on an elevated tract of rolling land on the Pownal/ New Glochester border, among tall, stately pine trees. On a clear day, you can see Mt. Washington to the NorthWest.

It seems that over half of the Campus is still vacant, and they have plenty of space available for various functions.
I got the name and number of the Facilities Use Manager there and could invesigate what might be available for non-profit, charitable, educational or "artistic" groups... like US!

Even if we could get clearance to meet in that Cafeteria, there is plenty of room and both the view and accoustics are grand.

Should there be a usage fee assessed (despite my best efforts to wangle a 'freebie') we could pass the hat to recoup expenses if need be, if it were not too much, I suppose.

Let me know if this needs to be looked into furthur, Mates, as it's not far from our Quarters.

Aaaarrggh! - }B^{!~ UJ };^{)~