Up Portland April 2021

APRIL 2021

Up Portland April 2021 In Print * On The Web At: www.upportland.com * On Facebook Page 1

Photos: Sharyn Peavey

Page 2

Up Portland April 2021 In Print * On The Web At: www.upportland.com * On Facebook

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Hello Folks!

Sauntering

With Charlotte

By Charlotte Collins / Up Portland Adventure Writer

I cannot tell you how excited I was when I stepped foot out of my door one day recently

and there, right next to the white steps, were three soft purple crocuses, pushing

through the dirt and the last remnants of snow. To me, the coming of Spring means the

smell of fresh rain and mud, the sound of peepers before bed, and the emergence of my

friends from their winter hibernation.

Spring also sadly means

the disappearance of

snow and therefore

the end of ski season.

However, have no fear,

because I made sure to

take advantage of the last

bit of snow in the valley

by cross country skiing

just in time to share my

adventures.

with softer, more forgiving snow, which I appreciated greatly, especially on the hills.

We skied alongside a beautiful burbling stream that danced around snow-covered

stones and ran under sections of ice in the shade. Even though I was tempted to stick a

toe in, I resisted the urge and kept moving through the field.

As we headed back on this one section of trail, the rounded peak of Spruce mountain

stood in contrast to the clear blue sky beyond the trees and compelled me to stop and

take a moment to marvel at the subtle beauty of Winter before Spring finally pushes

through.

One of the best things about Spring skiing is that it is a time to be goofy and have fun.

The best conditions are usually mid-Winter so there is no pressure to ski intensely this

late in the season.

Lucky for me, my XC ski buddies know how to have a good time. When the trail became

patchy and we had to ski over mud and when I snow ploughed my way down a

steep section and screamed most of the way, we just laughed it out.

Late this March, I

grabbed a friend I know

from college and met up

with my partner, Jack,

at Jackson Ski Touring

in New Hampshire. Jack

had been frequenting

the Ski Touring Centre

for a couple weeks prior,

so when we arrived,

we definitely expected

more snow. In the week

between when Jack had

been and the day we all

arrived, there had been

some rain and warm

weather, so it maybe

would have been wise

to check trail conditions

before leaving.

Despite the large amounts of ice on the main trails, we decided to go adventure and ski

on their less-known paths — The Eagle Mountain Fields and the Hall Trail (off of Rocky

Branch parking) — places we were promised would have more snow. We clipped in our

boots and went off on our patchy snow adventure.

One thing that readers should know about me is that I’m actually not very good at cross

country skiing. I am terrified to go down hills and will often fall over, even if I am standing

still. My friend Maya and Jack both raced Nordic skiing in high school, so to say I

held them back would be an understatement.

Despite that, we still had an absolute blast. The day started out just below freezing

which meant that the snow was a bit icy and kept us moving at a fast pace, and ended

Page 4


On the Hall trail, we even found an old broken-down car in the middle of the woods.

Even though we didn’t ski fast or break a distance record, we really enjoyed ourselves,

and afterwards, bathed in the bright Spring sun with our shoes and socks off in the

parking lot. What else can you ask for out of a March weekend? Sitting in the trunk of

the car, our feet hanging out, eating sandwiches taken from the dining hall — Nothing

could make me happier.

If you also want to check this place out, go to jacksonxc.org! There are over a hundred

miles of trails, and we barely scratched the surface of all that this place has to offer.

Who knows, maybe we’ll have an April or May snowstorm, and you, the readers, can

check it out before next Winter arrives and gives us glorious snow all over again.


Wine Talk

Daniel Toolan / Up Portland Wine Critic

Riesling is a wine I have neglected my whole life, and still have been neglecting. But for

one moment in 2019, the wine explained itself to me on its role, ability and importance.

When you are beginning your wine journey the quick assumption is that Riesling is

sweet and should cost less than $15 a bottle.

That, however, is far from the truth. Riesling is versatile and complex. The first time I

started to appreciate the importance of Riesling was about ten years ago when I met

Raimund Prum, former owner of S.A. Prum (now owned by his daughter Saskia). There

were two things that I remember vividly that day: How steep the hills were in his vineyards

that overlooked the Mosel River, and the relevance of vintage (The 2019 vintage is

highly touted).

On his travels to Maine, Raimund showed a vertical tasting, which means showing the

same wine from different vintages. Each of the three Rieslings I tried that day were all

beautiful, however, each was unique in their own way. I do not recall the exact differences,

but I do remember there were subtle notes that differed amongst the vintages.

It was also the first time I learned that the hillsides along the Mosel River were so steep

that workers had to be tied by rope and had to hand harvest the grapes. At this point, I

should have dived fully into the world of Riesling, even if merely out of respect for those

who harvest the grapes in such an environment. But, alas, I shelved the idea.

It was not until 13th December 2019 that I had my “aha” moment of Riesling. My father,

brother, brother-in-law and I travelled to Cincinnati to watch the New England Patriots

play the lowly Bengals. The trip came with a solid guarantee that the Pats would

win, which would make the journey home a more pleasurable event.

The previous year (2018) I had travelled back from a game where the Patriots lost on

the last play. That made for a very tough trip back home. Knowing that this time, we

would be in the mecca of German influence, which Cincinnati is, we sought out the

proper fare for our dinner on Saturday night. I had found a restaurant called Bauer

Farm Kitchen, at 435 Elm Street, and the menu was fully German. Each of us looked at

that menu for months, internally debating the right choice.

I think it may the most important meal of our lives. The wine menu was prominently

Riesling, which makes sense, and so we took their guidance and ordered a bottle of

Riesling. It will always be my favourite bottle of wine I have ever had, because of the

moment. I believe that a wine’s most important quality is when it is consumed and with

who. We all have those moments at a restaurant or someone’s home where a special

bottle of wine is opened. Of course, those memories are the most important quality, and

almost any bottle can achieve this outcome. A special bottle of wine can and should be

appreciated, but it should never be more important than the people sharing the bottle,

and the moment it was enjoyed.

That bottle of Riesling at Bauer was the last time the four of us would share wine together.

My father would lose his battle with cancer a year after that trip, but we would

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always talk about how fun that weekend was and how great that dinner was.

The key to the bottle of Riesling that night was how it worked with each of our apps and meals

(It was two or three bottles that we drank). It was also one of the most special moments spent

with my father, and Riesling will always remind me of that memory.

So, go out and buy some Riesling.

The weather is warming up and friends and family are getting vaccinated. There should be

many opportunities this year to create and make memories.

Here are a couple of wines that should get you started drinking Riesling:

--- S.A Prum Essence Riesling ($13.99), the grapes are sourced from vineyards along the

Mosel River. The acidity is balanced, and the notes of peach, apricot and green apple are pronounced

on the palate. Next time you do take out Asian Cuisine (Sichuan Kitchen and Mi-Sen

would be perfect) grab a bottle of Essence.

--- Willm Riesling ($14.99), the grapes are from the Alsace region of France, not far from the

southern border of Germany. Alsatian wines are gorgeous! This Riesling shows green apple

with a zesty lemon palate, and a dry and clean finish.

Get yourself a nice side of sauerkraut on a sunny day (Hint from my editor: Pat’s Meat Market

over on Stevens Avenue has Maine’s best kraut from Morse’s in Waldoboro) and sit outside

while enjoying this wine. Drink well and be safe. Make a memory you will cherish forever!

Editor’s Note: Bauer Farm Kitchen, has, we have been informed, closed for good, due to COVID-19

and a redevelopment plan for the block where it resided, making this an even more unique memory.

Page 7


Hackin’ The Net

By Ted Fleischaker / Publisher

This is about how much size matters. No, no, not that. Minds out of the gutters, please!

This is about a recent “emergency” call I got from a friend who told me he changed

from one internet service provider (ISP) to another and was baffled as to why his iPad

quit working from his favourite chair.

“Did they change out your WiFi router?” I asked him.

“My WHAT?” he replied, as if I’d asked something truly personal.

“Did the new company (a cable firm versus a telephone company) change your WiFi

router and antenna?” I asked again.

Again, very vague answers which told me he did not have a clue what I was talking

about nor was he curious as to why he should care. I pried a bit more: “Did they put

their box where the old one used to be?” I asked.

“Nope, they told me that was not where their wiring came into my house so now it’s

behind the TV in the living room by the fireplace. The old one was upstairs.”

Lights in my head went off and I told him that was the whole issue: there simply was

not enough signal to reach his easy chair reliably with the new location for his router.

And on top of that, I wondered (and asked him) if their new equipment was as strong as

what they took out.

I could tell after a bit that I would be getting just as far speaking Swahili so I started to

explain, which is what I plan to do for you readers. The explanation, too, is simple (at

least on the face of it) — the power and the location of your WiFi router will determine

if things work and work well on the net in your house or wherever you are. If there’s not

enough strength, you will need to relocate the router or add a booster.

It’s the same at the local restaurant or coffee shop: only there, you don’t own the place

so if you can’t connect (or connect well) you’ll need to move tables or actually talk (Remember

how to do that?) to those with you and switch off your computer, pad or other

device for a bit.

But back to my friend. Turns out he has a house on the Peninsula built in 1929 with

what he proudly says are “real plaster walls” and not wallboard. The house is also on

three floors — a basement, main and upstairs. Add that up and exactly where the router

is placed and how much “juice” it’s pumping out will determine if and where a laptop,

iPad or anything else works at all.

There’s also the issue of demand --- as in which rooms are demanding most of the signal

which does exist. He has an Apple TV, a desktop computer, he and his wife both have

laptops and iPads and he has kids so that means a games console to boot. All of those,

while not in use at one time will need their share of bandwidth, but also to receive that

bandwidth, adequate signals from the WiFi.

I’ve talked before many times here about speed and bandwidth, so suffice to say I think

he made the right choice going from the connection he had (about 10 Megs download)

to that cable modem (close to 200 Megs, with options, had he wished to pay for them,

up to a gig). He basically multiplied the size of his “pipe” coming in, by 20, but if he

can’t get the smaller pipes from the main hook-up to connect to his TV, iPads and so

on then he’s not going to notice any improvement. In fact, in this case he was whining

about a worse signal because the new location for the WiFi router (and apparently the

strength) left huge open “dead spots” in his house.

So what to do? Well, there are a lot of different possibilities. The easiest is to relocate

that router back to where the old one was (if possible, given where the cables enter the

house) and see if that helps. Going from upstairs to behind the TV downstairs means

losing a bit of height advantage, plus there’s the ever-present issue of having enough

power to get a reliable signal through those thick plaster walls — walls I’d be willing to

bet contain wire mesh or framing to hold his plaster in place.

Think of it like listening to your car radio under a bridge or in the basement of a parking

garage. Once you go into those cement walls even your favourite FM or AM station

will get static-filled or vanish altogether due to lack of signal. And FM stations have

3,000 to 100,000 watts, not a few milliwatts like that router pushes out. Add the whole

thing together and it’s not an easy “fix”.

Next he has the problem of several floors. WiFi signals are not much better than lineof-sight

and they often do not travel well through modern (i.e.: cheap, thin) wallboard,

much less brick, plaster and dense materials folks used to build with in 1929. Plus

there’s the issue of which rooms he wants to reach. A kitchen with metal back-splash

and microwaves plus signals of its own from appliance motors and controls (the appliances

themselves are metal) won’t be easy.

So the other possible fixes?

The second easiest (after relocating the router back to where it was and trying that)

would be to add an extender. There are many models and companies making such

devices (some shown above), and they come in a number of flavours. There are power

extenders and there are powered antennas and there are combinations. Different ones

work slightly differently, but with the same goal in mind — to up the amount of signal

from your WiFi which can reach the parts of your house or rooms you most often use to

surf the net.

To quote from one such device’s description, “Extends existing Wi-Fi coverage area so


you can enjoy wireless networking on compatible devices, including Apple iPad and

iPod, e-readers, mobile phones, tablets and more...” In other words, to beef up coverage

by being placed where the current WiFi signal starts to fade and retransmitting it with a

second full power signal.

There are also other possibilities.

Every device using WiFi has a small receiving antenna somewhere inside. You can try

turning or reorienting your iPad or game console to grab more signal. Or, while this

won’t work for an iPad or iPhone, an internet radio I have kept cutting out until my

partner opened the back, pulled out the receiving antenna for the WiFi and extended

the cable. Now the antenna sits on a bookcase — maybe not the prettiest — but it’s only

the size of a thumb drive — and my reception is rock solid. Problem solved!

Then there’s the solution I am using with the computer this is being edited on: I have

ditched my WiFi totally for it and have a hardwired connection from the router to the

computer. It means a cable along the baseboard and under a door frame, but it’s reliable

100% of the time --- always.

But back to the wire-free method most of you will pick: Remember that there are some

limitations to even the biggest, best and baddest antennas and boosters. Chief among

them is just like your car has a limit to how fast its motor could go (even were there no

speed limits) there is a limit to what you can cover and what is economical to be worth

covering from your WiFi.

If you are shooting a zillion watts out and still can’t reach that favourite chair, you

might consider moving the chair or going with a wired connection (for a laptop or desktop)

as we did.

I did warn this would be complicated and there ARE limitations, despite what your ISP

has sold you. There will be times and spots where WiFi signals just will not work well.

And there will be places where (despite all the claims from makers of extenders and

helper antennas and boxes) that you will only make things work reliably if you use a

wire. One such example is my computer. It’s wired. It has a WiFi connection, but in the

spot where my desk sits and in the Old Port area where I live (with a lot of signals —

from mobile phone antennas to police dispatchers, radio and TV stations and more)

there’s just not a totally reliable WiFi made that will guarantee what my wired connection

does.

Is this a fix-all for everyone? Not hardly, so two final suggestions to check.

For one, make sure it’s your WiFi and not your device that’s got issues. Remember that

iPads and computer WiFi connections and built-in receiving antennas DO sometimes

fail. If in doubt, go to a friend’s or coffee shop and see if it connects reliably there.

Now’s The Time To Get The Oil

Changed, Take Off Those Winter

Tires & Get Ready For Spring &

Summer Trips!

Free Summer Check-Up

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Or, in a pinch you could ask the folks you buy your internet from to send a tech over to

have a look. They may be able to help, but be warned, there could be a service call fee

so do ask first.

Finally, if things work just fine now, ask a lot of questions before you consider or make

a change. While my friend gets four times the speed he used to with that new cable

modem, in his chair he gets nothing. And what fun’s a nap while enjoying internet radio

or Netflix if you have to sit on a hard seat at a desk?

In Print * Online * On Social Media


Hello everyone!

Beyond The

Forecast

By Jack Sillin / Weatherman & Meterology Student

It’s been a rather tame end to the Winter season here in southern Maine, and as of this

writing, Spring hasn’t exactly come in like a lion.

While the quiet weather has been good for getting outside, it has continued to open

up the precipitation deficit we’ve been working on since the big Christmas rainstorm.

We’re now about 3” below normal for precipitation since January 1st, and while that’s

not the end of the world, it’ll be good to get some more precipitation in the mix as we

move deeper into spring. Thankfully, some is on the way as I write this column on

March 31st!

With rather little in the way of local weather to discuss, I wanted to take this month’s

column to shine some light behind the scenes at recent news regarding the weather

models I and other forecasters use to make predictions for everything from snowstorms

to hurricanes to severe thunderstorms.

These models are dizzyingly complex computer algorithms run on massive supercomputers

that essentially reconstruct a digital version of the atmosphere and simulate

what it might do going forward through the next couple weeks.

The algorithm that powers most weather forecasts, at least here in the US, is developed

by NOAA and is known as the Global Forecast System (GFS). In mid-March, this algorithm

got a big new upgrade that will set the model (and us!) up for better predictions

going forward.

So what’s new under the hood and why does it matter?

While the real atmosphere is a continuous fluid, any attempt to simulate its behaviour

with computer algorithms will rely on slicing the atmosphere up into a bunch of little

cubes. We can then do various calculations for the air in each cube, without forcing

ourselves to attempt complicated computations on every single molecule of air comprising

the atmosphere.

lines during Winter storms. The new system also makes some major changes to how its

digital copy of Earth is created every six hours: a process known as data assimilation.

To turn a thermometer measurement at the Jetport, a buoy observation off Cape Elizabeth,

and weather balloon data from up at Pineland Farms (all taken with different

instruments at different times) into a semi-continuous picture of what’s happening

everywhere in between (both in space and time), we use data assimilation algorithms.

It’s similar to what you might do when walking through a neighbourhood for the very

first time. As you walk down the street and observe the shops, the parks, the cars, the

people, etc., you gradually build a series of impressions about what the neighbourhood

might be like in other ways. The new GFS model has sharper eyes ingesting more information

and will be able to place it in better context than the old version. The result will

be a (slightly) more complete picture of what the atmosphere is doing right now, which

is a key step towards better predictions of the future.

The new vertical levels and improved data assimilation are by far the biggest upgrades

to the new GFS model, but they are also far from the only ones. All the others are painstakingly

small and way more niche than anything I’ve described so far. They range from

trying to trick the model into seeing the effects of tiny waves a little better to tweaking

how much sunlight gets reflected by a certain type of cloud.

This is often how progress proceeds in the world of weather modelling: slow, steady,

and incremental. In a system where the key to anticipating a hurricane’s path of destruction

lies buried in a nondescript cloud hundreds of miles and days earlier, every

decimal point counts. Even before this big update went live, scientists across the country

and across the world are already chasing the next set of improvements to push the

boundaries of the forecast just a little bit farther.

Try to remember them if you can the next time the rain shows up a little sooner than

expected, or when your much-anticipated snowstorm changes over to sleet. Especially if

you’re getting your forecast straight from the computers!

I’ll be back next month with more weather.

-Jack

Up Portland Is A Proud Member of the

This discretization makes the assumption that all air within any given cube is homogeneous.

The smaller your cube, the better an assumption this is, and generally the better

your forecast will be.

The old GFS had cubes that were about eight miles on each horizontal side and on

average a little over a mile in the vertical. Living in Portland, you know that eight miles

can make a huge difference in the temperature, wind or even where the rain/snow line

sets up. What’s happening on the Eastern Prom may be rather different from the West

End. Not so in the land of global weather models (at least on this scale... I’ve run some

experimental models recently with cubes only three hundred meters wide/long, but this

requires an extraordinary amount of computational horsepower).

The new GFS has cubes that are still about eight miles on each side, but they’re about

half as tall. This makes a huge difference when forecasting precipitation types in the

Winter, for example.

Thin layers of warm air aloft can turn a foot of snow into an inch of sleet, and every unpleasant

cold rain is just a thin layer of subfreezing air away from being a damaging ice

storm. The new model is much better at figuring out where these layers exist and how

deep they might be, and will thus improve our ability to pin down the rain/snow/mix

May Edition

Deadline

Up Portland is edited in Portland’s Old Port and printed the last week of every month in Concord, New

Hampshire. We may be contacted at the e-mail or phone number below. While every effort is made to ensure

accuracy and fairness, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors. Liability is limited to the cost of

said ad. Ads not cancelled by published deadlines may be billed at agreed-upon price. Ads may be edited or

rejected for content at the discretion of the publisher. All items appearing in Up Portland, as well as the name,

logos and design are copyright 2021 by BBS, A division of High Speed Delivery Fork Ltd. & Ted Fleischaker

and may not be reproduced in any form without prior written approval.

Contacts: Phone: 207 / 536.0922

Text: 317 / 985.8840

Web: www.upportland.com & On Facebook

e-mail: ted@upportland.com

Wednesday 28th April

Papers On Street:

Tuesday 4th May

Please Read

Then Recycle!

Page 10


Jack’s Radar Buyer’s Guide

While weather models provide our best look at the forecast from several hours to several

days in advance, when you want to know if it will start or stop raining within the next

hour or two, a quick glance at the actual atmosphere via doppler radar is your best bet.

But where do you go to get such information?

Most weather radars in the US, including the one that provides the best coverage for

us here in Portland, are run by the National Weather Service and the data is publicly

available for anyone to see. Unfortunately, it takes a special computer programme to

turn the jumbled mess of 1s and 0s produced by the radar into a map showing where it

is, and isn’t, raining.

Some of these programmes come with a cost, others are free.

For a long time, the best place to go for “post-processed” radar data was the National

Weather Service website. They had a nice display for each radar that showed where

rain/snow was falling as well as some basic geographical information. It wasn’t anything

fancy, but it got the job done.

My number-one source for radar data is RadarScope, an app for iOS and Android.

While admittedly a little pricey for an app ($10), its elegant interface and good performance

in areas with low cell signal have earned it the distinction of being the only

weather app on my phone (Yes, really!). For those not excited to fork over cash for

publicly-available data, there are a number of perfectly serviceable free radar apps out

there, too. Anything that lets you display your location on the map will prove useful. After

that it’s mostly a question of aesthetic taste (which colour scheme do you like best?).

For websites, I like to recommend WeatherUnderground’s radar page https://www.wunderground.com/maps/radar/current

which has a good overview and options to zoom

in for a more detailed look. They also don’t “smooth” the radar as much as other sites,

which can wash out important details.

If you want to take your desktop radar analysis to the next level, Gibson Ridge software

has a permanent space in my arsenal as it does for pretty much every meteorologist. It’s

expensive, but if you’re a diehard weather nerd like I am, there’s nothing better!

Recently, the NWS revamped its radar page from the one seen below left to be a bit

more modern and user friendly, which is below right. If, after reading those words and/

or visiting the new site, you’re sceptical that such a mission was accomplished, you’re

not the only one.

A combination of technical glitches, design flaws, and general inertia led to a less-thanstellar

reception of the “new and improved” radar site among most meteorologists ---

and many other users, too.

So where should you get radar data?


By Bryce O’Brien

Feelin’

Swell

Hello Feelin’ Swell! I hope you all have been able to get some vitamin D lately - I know

I’ve been enjoying the warmer weather. Despite my ability to walk my dog with only a

light jacket, I am still surfing in the thickest wetsuit I own.

In fact, this is the time of year when the sea reaches some of its coldest temperatures.

With an average seawater temperature of about 37°F, March is one of the coldest

months for surfing in Maine. I realise that this is misleading (especially when you’re

able to scope out the waves while it’s 50°F and sunny on the shore) but with nearly the

entire Winter behind us, the water has had ample time to get cold. There is a long scientific

explanation as to why the water lags the air temp by weeks or even months, but

just think of a kitchen example: You can make a slice of toast way faster than you can

boil soup on the stove. The liquid takes longer to get hot, but once it does, it retains that

heat way longer than the toast does.

This is why wetsuits are still an absolute necessity for Spring (and even Summer) surfing

in Maine. In this month’s column, we’ll explore everything you need to know about

purchasing and taking care of your own wetsuit.

A good place to start is by differentiating

a wetsuit from a drysuit. A

drysuit keeps you completely dry

and is often used for coldwater diving

and sailing (not surfing). These

suits are not skin tight, so when my

brother sails in his drysuit he will

often wear cozy sweatpants and a

fleece jacket underneath.

A wetsuit on the other hand, does

not keep you dry - hence the name.

Rather, the thick neoprene holds

water almost like a sponge. This

water is warmed by your body

heat, meaning the wetsuit is most

effective when it is wet and you are

moving. So when I paddle on my

surfboard, the heat that my body

generates helps the water that is

trapped in my wetsuit feel nice and

toasty.

Oftentimes, the coldest and most

uncomfortable part of a surf session is actually when I am out of the water trying to

peel off my suit.

There are several different types of wetsuits. The main differences are in the amount of

coverage and in the thickness of the neoprene. A shorty (also called a springsuit) is a

type of wetsuit that only partially covers your body - so it may stop at the knee or elbow.

These wetsuits are less common in Maine because the water temperatures are only conducive

to a suit like this for a short window of time. Almost all Maine surfers have full

suits with a hood (full suits do not include gloves and boots, which are also required)

but the thicknesses in these suits vary drastically.

The thickness of a wetsuit is measured in millimetres. Generally, there are two numbers

for thickness --- and they are separated by a slash.

The first number is the thickness of neoprene in the torso area and the second number

is the thickness in the extremities. For example, in my 5/4 wetsuit, the neoprene that

covers my torso is 5 millimetres thick whereas the neoprene that covers my arms and

legs is 4 millimetres thick. If you are looking to buy one wetsuit that will enable you to

surf year-round in Maine, I would recommend looking for a 5/4.

With this suit, you’ll be a little chilly in the dead of Winter (and may only last 30 minutes

in the water) and little warm in the late Summer, but you can get away with the

same suit for all your Maine surfing adventures!

The above is important because purchasing a wetsuit is definitely an investment. Prices

vary between thicknesses and brands. For the most part, a thicker wetsuit is more

expensive: the price of a new 5/4 ranges from $200-400 whereas a new 2mm springsuit

goes for around $125.

Like jackets for snowboarders or skiers, some brands like Patagonia tend to be more

expensive, so I often gravitate towards brands like Quicksilver and Billabong. There

is a used market for wetsuits, too, but be warned: that used suit has almost definitely

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been peed in! It may be worth your time

to browse the new suits and assess all of

your options.

Regardless of your pick, definitely try it on

before purchasing and know that it will

stretch a bit with use.

Once you have a wetsuit of your own, it is

important to practice basic wetsuit maintenance.

This means hosing it down after

every session because saltwater is bad for

the longevity of the suit.

Another trick for good wetsuit maintenance

is to store it as a pile in a bag

rather than on a clothes hanger. I know

that sounds counter-productive as all our

moms told us to put our shirts and pants

on hangers, but if the wetsuit is stored on

a clothes hanger for a long period of time,

the weight of the suit will cause the neoprene

to stretch and might affect the fit.

Also, if you damage your suit, make a

repair ASAP or the rip or damage might

get worse. There are special glues to help

patch up holes and tears - you can find

these at your local surf shop for around

10 bucks. Taking these easy steps will go a

long way in wetsuit longevity.

Finally, it may just be the case that I am a

recent college graduate and don’t have the

money for a new wetsuit, but I am hoping

to get ten years out of my current one (as

reference for life expectancy).

I hope this helps you find a great wetsuit.

It never feels good to bite the bullet with

an investment like this, but especially in a

place like Maine it is a necessary step for

all surfers!


Food For Thought

This is a can’t win for losing situation, and from the sound of things it might be getting

worse before it gets any better.

It’s been a tough past 12 months for restaurants... and it’s been a tough past 12 months

for customers as well. The problem really goes well beyond restaurants, and as we discussed

in this column some months back, when Lois’ Naturals closed on India Street, a

lot of the issues are perception, but in with that is a heavy dose of reality.

Take the sign on this page. We took that thru the window at a small spot in the Old Port

on the first of April. It baffles us this late in the pandemic how some ideas which were

considered valid in the first days have hung on and hung on, including that cash should

never be accepted. Money has always been “dirty” and passes thru a lot of hands, but

almost everywhere has started accepting cash again. Pay and use sanitiser if need be.

But it goes well beyond just that. Too many restaurants have changed, re-changed and

adjusted their schedules and policies so often that a lot of even we regulars have no clue

when we might find the doors open, or in what way they might be open.

What do I mean? Many have given up on Mondays; some Tuesdays. Others are not open

Sundays and a few have returned to their regular hours. Still others are doing only

carryout and curbside, while a row has developed of late between several of the delivery

services and the restaurants.

The reason for that is simple: when a delivery service brings food from restaurant X or

Y, the restaurant has to get paid, the driver has to get paid and the service who keeps the

infrastructure has to get paid.

Some parts of this get paid better than others, and who gets to call the shots is becoming

an issue. If you own a restaurant and want one service to handle your deliveries, how

do you stop another one from snatching that bag off the counter and delivering it to a

customer?

Right now that, too, is an issue which is facing city officials in Portland and elsewhere to

help decide.

What was it we said about this all being complicated? And we have not even arrived at

the issue of which places will let you or I eat inside, which won’t, which will let a few in

and the rest left to dine on the sidewalk or in special outdoor “tents” and “igloos”. Is it

any wonder doing restaurant reviews, much less going out for a meal has become more

and more and more complex

in the last few weeks?

Let’s, too, go back to that

sign you see on this page.

Note the item second from

bottom: No Public

Restroom.

For many of us considering

a meal or even a coffee out,

this has become a major

issue as place after place

has decided to close their

“comfort facilities” leaving a

lot of us doing the “pee-pee

dance” or just plain staying

at home.

Trust me: it is a problem,

when even the corner coffee

shop announces that their

restroom is closed.

Meanwhile, in the midst

of all of the above, there

is more keeping restaurant owners awake at night. Seems like almost every day the last

week, we have seen a social media post or heard about one of the places where we buy

our food shutting down for a day, a few days or even a week or longer to clean and regroup

after a member of staff turned up positive for COVID.

We feel for the staffs and the owners and while it’s more than inconvenient to go elsewhere

or eat in, we agree with the decision that they close out of (talk about a shop-worn

phrase) “an abundance of caution.” Seriously, we as consumers would way rather know

first-hand and get real, reliable advice than gossip from somewhere, much less get

COVID, so we do appreciate this abundance.

See why this is a can’t win for losing situation for all concerned?

And yet there’s at least one more constituency to be heard from: our friends who are staff

at the various restaurants, groceries and bakeries. Many of them are on the “front line”

and as such they face the belligerant customer who refuses to properly wear his or her

mask (or wear one at all) and the boss who might ask for extra shifts because someone

else is ill. They need the cash to pay rent and buy their own food for themselves or their

families, but they, too, feel the need for that “abundance of caution” to stay well.

That said, I will comment that some folks have grown testy in recent weeks, and that is

also not helping much. Take one restaurant staffer I ran into on the street and who asked

why I’d not been in. I confessed it was because the restaurant was not allowing indoor

Page 14


eating and had a closed to the public restroom. “When,” I asked, “is the boss going to

allow at least some of us in socially distanced and open the restroom?”

Instead of a polite “yeah I know” or “we will remind him” I got a lecture in the street that

it was “obvious” I did not care about her or other employees health and I was being a selfish,

nasty person who wanted to expose her to COVID and worse, nasty people like me.

I said “thanks” and apologised for bringing it up, but the more I thought about all of it,

the more I was left to be upset that she was working in hospitality and refused to be even

remotely hospitable. In fact, were she my employee, I likely would have fired her on the

spot for that attitude. Once again, this pandemic has brought out a lot of differing attitudes

and views as we all suffer along together.

So this reviewer’s best observations: do keep up with your favourite eateries and dine

there or take out as often as you are able to keep the owners, staffs and rents current.

Do call ahead (as many websites seem to not be getting updates as often as they need)

and make sure the place will be open and if so, under what conditions (dine in, dine

outside or take away only) and make the best of it. Don’t forget to wear that mask except

while you are actually eating, to stay as distant as you can from staff, and to tip generously

to those putting their lives on the line to put food on your plates or in your bags.

And tune in next month for a more traditional food review, including some new spots set

to open on the Peninsula in the coming weeks. We have heard of some wonderful additions

coming, despite the current uncertainties.

Maine Jewish Museum

Exhibitions: March 25, 2021 through May 7, 2021

Falling Into Place

Penelope Jones

Fineberg Family Community Room

The Past is Present

Gerry Holzman- Artist in Wood

Spiegel Gallery

Maine Jewish Museum

267 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101

Sunday through Friday 12pm-4pm Closed: Saturdays

Nancy Davidson, Curator in Residence - nancyd.mjm@gmail.com

Nanci Kahn, Photography Curator - photography@mainejewishmuseum.org

Mask required. Please maintain 6ft distance from one another.

Meeting Hall Maine

Michelle Hauser

Jody S. Sataloff Art and History Pavilion


New Phone! (207) 894-8039

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at Eastern Cemetery

Summer’s coming and our gates will soon be open!

• We plan to be offering daily

walking tours starting June 1.

Check website for details.

Upcoming volunteer oportunities:

• Gardening and cleanup - We

can always use help with our

spring cleanup

• Stone Photography - After

documenting every stone on the

site, we are now photographing

each one. Want to help?

Contact us at:

easterncemetery@gmail.com

Spirits Alive - dedicated to the preservation of historic Eastern Cemetery

More info at spiritsalive.org


Mark:

My Words

By Mark Gatti / Mark’s Hotdogs

Where is the little red hot dog cart down at Tommy’s Park? And… what has become of

Mark? Is he still with us in this dimension?

To the first question, the answer is, the little cart is comfortably parked in Mark’s

garage. After a run of 36 consecutive years, as of this writing it has enjoyed a full year

of rest. Happily, I am sure to fire it up some this warm season for family and friends’

get-togethers.

Sadly, I state now that Mark’s Hot Dogs is retired fully from any regular day-to-day operation.

The end of business was abrupt: in main part swallowed up by the vast reach

of COVID-19. Fortunately, my sense of mourning the end of this era is mitigated by the

fact that my end point goal was just two years down the road.

Answering the second question, I am still in the land of the living and thankful for an

encore career. A soft landing spot has been provided by “Mother” Maine Medical Centre.

She has embraced me with secure employment and lot of neat benefits never experienced

in my self-employed years. Of special joy is the paid time off perk. Surely this is

an employment element that has been around for generations. But owing to decades

of self-employment, the idea of getting paid not to work several weeks a year blows me

away – in a good way.

To be clear, my new occupation does pose challenges to battle. The pandemic creates

work strains and layers of safety protocols: hurdles that must be leapt through. It is also

emotionally draining being around the patients battling hard to keep breathing. But

brightness is provided by the radiance of numerous co-workers met and now treasured

as friends. Having the opportunity to socialise with the new friends helps me get

through the loss of contact with old friends and customers at Mark’s Hot Dogs.

Now here are some reflections of my years spent as a sidewalk food vendor...

First, the idea of owning and operating a food cart came to me like a bolt of lightning

one cold grey January day. I was finishing my shift at a plant in Riverside Industrial

Park. Although the job enabled me to fully support myself, it entailed hard physical

labour and the horrible task of cleaning the lavatories at shift’s end.

After cleaning the last urinal this particular day, my epiphany occurred. My idea to go

ahead with this firmly clinched when my foreman snidely remarked “you really like

working for a dollar an hour?” as I was punching out.

Six months later I was open for business, a young guy scared to death. Although in the

work world several years by then, I had no prior experience in the food business. Working

without anyone else added many layers of anxiety.

With blind faith; closing eyes, ears, and

mouth, I took the plunge into the pool of

self-proprietorship. Right off the bat I

was helped by customers and walkers-by

who dispensed advice on serving techniques,

food preparation and food pricing.

I even got a useful tip on when to show up

to ensure everything would be set to go

when lunch rush commenced --- the learning

curve was steep! Innately, my love

of conversation and good listening skills

were a huge help. Without these people

skills I would never had made it.

Looking back, the kindness shown at the

street corner kindles a warm glow in my

heart that is everlasting. The result was a

business allowed to flower like a lovingly

tended garden. Also, the feeling of being

welcomed and needed is a gift I wish

everyone could experience.

The nurturing atmosphere at Tommy’s

Park formed me so positively it became

the catalyst in transforming me from

scared anxious kid to functioning and fairly

mature adult: my quirky nature aside!

And it gave me a faith in humanity that

holds me up in these troubling times.

Friends met were from all walks of life

and different circumstances. The broad

variety of friends offered a treasure trove

of knowledge.

Anyone reading this column who was part

Page 20


of the hot dog culture at one time or other…. Thank You!

Many contributed to the success and duration of Mark’s Hot Dogs. Here I will acknowledge

the people most vital in my street culinary endeavour.

First, my parents. Dad was crucial in his overwhelming support of my idea. Also, he

was the designer, engineer and chief craftsman in the building of the cart. He spent

countless hours of sometimes, joy sometimes anguish, with me as we laboured with this

project. Mom provided great business advice and painted the original logo and lettering

for the cart. Thank you both so much.

Both my sons helped at different times of their boyhood – usually serving drinks during

lunch rushes. They also added to the financial success by bring down countless friends

who became hearty eating devotees of snappy tube steaks.

My biggest supporter was my wife, who stuck with me through thick and thin. There

were many successful seasons, but some lean years as well. She always provided encouragement

and emotional and financial help in lean times. Without her, the business

would never have lasted this long – I love you, honey!

In Print * Online * On Social Media

Call Us Today & Find Out How

To Promote Your Business

207/536.0922

Pudgy, soft, furry, and affectional describes our dog Scout. That’s her with yours truly

in the photo on the opposite page. What a pleasure and high blood pressure reliever it

was to be greeted by her tail wagging waves of unconditional love after every work day.

Now, 13 years old and deaf, she remains otherwise in decent health. Her love for people

and other critters remains her strongest passion… well, except for food!

A big thank you goes to my sister-in-law, Jill. She is the creator of the iconic dancing

drink and hot dog logo depicted on the cart and other merchandise. Awesome art work

Jill!

Fond love and remembrances to all my friends and relatives, past and present, who

added such a rich luster to the period of time that included Mark’s Hot Dog stand.

Finally, a shout out to my editor, Ted, and the faithful readers of Up Portland. I can’t

thank everyone associated with this paper enough for the enriching opportunity to

share my world through this delightful downtown paper. I will be continuing to contribute

my musings in alternating issues of Up Portland until I run out of ideas and

poems to share.

Until next time, Happy Spring! Mark G.

Looking to

grow your

brand?

Austin Mills

create inspire grow

Be

Page 21


The

Standard Reviewer

By Randy Dankievitch - Critic, TV Never Sleeps/The Mid-Season Replacements Podcast

With “All Sales Final”, NBC Says

Farewell To An Underrated Legend

After an unprecedented 113 episode run, NBC's Superstore concluded its sixth and final

season in March 2021 with the two-part finale, Perfect Store / All Sales Final, marking

the end of an important era of working-class American comedies – and perhaps part of

NBC's identity as a whole, as the network looks at an extremely uncertain future in its

iconic lineage of sitcoms.

It's been a strange ride for Superstore from the beginning; after being green lit in January

2015, the series was given the undesirable “mid-season replacement” label, not

debuting in the NBC lineup until a full year later in January 2016.

And yet somehow, Superstore survived an 11-episode first season in a terrible Monday

night time slot, and was rewarded by becoming NBC's Thursday night comedy anchor

next to The Good Place for the majority of its run.

It seemed Superstore was destined from the start to be one of the 2010's many promising

comedies cut down before they were able to find their rhythm – and more importantly,

their audience. But unlike Powerless, Free Agents, Abby's, or any other handful

of failed NBC sitcoms from the last decade, NBC believed in Superstore – and that faith

was rewarded throughout the series' run.

Superstore, even when it wasn't telling its best or most important stories, presented

itself with an effortless confidence much of comedic television (especially on broadcast

networks) could learn to admire – with one of the most diverse ensemble casts in recent

memory, to boot.

Although Superstore proved in the end to be terrible at romance and bad at endings

(whoo boy, the preachier moments of All Sales Final are a bit rough to get through), it

had already solidified its reputation as one of the most consistent, versatile comedies of

the decade, as witnessed in everything from season two's Black Friday and Tornado, to

season five's Zephra Cares and this season's hilarious Conspiracy.

In the end, All Sales Final doesn't try to make a case for its own legacy; instead, it focuses

its attention on its characters, and offering a hopeful outlook for the many blue-collar

workers built into the DNA of Superstore's setting and cast of misfits.

And though one might fault the show for throwing a bunch of quick, cheap endings at

the audience, there's no denying the powerful final image it offers, the crew of Cloud 9

reunited at a family BBQ, unmoored from the stress of underpaid, underappreciated

work, and embracing each other as family.

Though some of Superstore's smaller points and lessons may fade with time, those

touching last moments spent with the crew, prove that the 40+ hour journey was more

than worth the ride.

DIFFERENT IS GOOD

Anyone who has listened to The Mid-Season Replacements podcast will know I'm

conflicted on whether Superstore will be remembered in the highest echelon of early 21st

century comedy, like its network counterparts Community, The Office, Parks & Recreation

and 30 Rock. All Sales Final only added to those concerns, as the finale shifted to

the Amy/Jonah romance nobody cared about, and spent more of its time wrapping up

plot lines nobody really cared about, and throwing a few cheap and tacky (if undeniably

heartwarming) endings at the audience.

Despite that, Superstore's record as an important comedy of the time remains unblemished:

it is arguably the closest the network's gotten since The Carmichael Show, an

ensemble comedy with an unusual one-two punch combination of hilarious character

bits and punishing capitalist critique.

For a brief time during its 3rd and 4th seasons, Superstore really was a great series, offering

a pro-labour, anti-corporate arc for the ages, as Jonah and Sandra attempted to form

a worker's union, while Amy found herself ascending into the corporate management

structure of Cloud 9's parent company.

But as quickly as that story bubbled to the surface, it dissipated into the background,

leaving a pleasantly hilarious – if not as consciously relevant or philosophically engaging

– series in its midst.

There's something to be said for a series able to build that kind of legacy in the Age of

(Way) Too Much TV: from their arc on Mateo's immigration, to the fantastic season six

premiere Essential, Superstore's ability to mix in ridiculous characters like Cheyenne and

Marcus into meaningful stories about immigration policy and retail work during COV-

ID-19, Superstore was a show that nimbly moved from “socially relevant” to “pointlessly

goofy”, pivoting on a moment's notice (or one of the show's many, many cutaway jokes

poking fun at the observational sport of watching humans be idiots while shopping).

Page 22

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Page 24


Up Portland April 2021

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