Ten Romeos were present and were Joe Lapiana, Mark Ryan, Ed DeSchuytner, Jim Terlizzi, Jack Tweetie, Joe Pignatiello, Steve Winter, Jim Sicuso, Paul Girard and Mike Zapantis. You can see some photos at the web site link ….
https://picasaweb.google.com/108806068200291783388/Romeo121411?authuser=0&feat=directlink
We were seated at a large round table at the back where other tables began filling up with groups. Most of the other patrons were of the older set. You could see the elderly lovelies eyeing us older gents and vintaged stallions as we pranced over to our assigned stable (sorry table).
Jim Sicuso, who still works in Revere joined us and started off the table laughter with a joke. I’m terrible with remembering jokes, but here goes. “An elderly lady was asked about her longevity and life with here husband who had recently passed away. She said that it was due to their romantic activities during the day. They lived next to a church and would make love at the sound of the church bell which went ding and dong. They would take turns with their romantic moves. He would start with a ding and she would respond with a dong. The rhythmic ding and then dong was slow a steady and suited their age. Everything was fine until the dam Ice Cream truck parked outside of their house. The husband died from too much ding.”
The waitress then took our drink orders and gave us menus to look at. The drinks were beer and soda and martinis and manhattans and were served quickly. Joe Lapiana then asked all to toast the two Romeos that recently passed (Joe Loduca and Peter Gabriel). Joe also read a prayer that was composed by Brother Tim Paul and we all said Amen.
Several attended the wakes and funerals for both Peter and Joe Loduca. Joe Lapiana said that there were 800 visitors at Joe Loduca’s wake. Jim said that he attended the funeral for Peter and the Meal after. There was a long line of cars for the travel to the cemetery and Jim got separated with other cars but eventually made his way back to the restaurant. It was a sit down dinner and well attended.
The waitress then took our food order which consisted of various dishes of fish, steak and chicken. The special of the day was a fish trio of scallops, shrimp and haddock which many selected. The meal came quickly and was delicious.
The conversation was lively as always as it bounced around the table but mostly between three or four since it was hard hearing across the table. Mike was interested in teaching online courses and asked Ed about them. Ed said it was good for the college since they could add sections at will and were not constrained by classroom space. They also charged the same amount of money for online or at school courses. Ed also was worried about student honesty in taking exams online since there was no way to check who actually took the test.
Mike was also interested in teacher supervision jobs and asked Jack who is presently supervising 4 teachers. Joe Lapiana had mixed feelings about the pay since the supervisor was paid about $800 a semester and had to make six visits for each student, travel to and from the city school, write evaluations and communicate by email with the student and others. Too much work?
Mike was interested in the iPhone and iPod and I showed him some of the APPS that were available. Paul recently got an iPhone and is having a great time with the functionality of a smart phone. We talked about the Occupy Boston movement and the cost to repair the area as well as how well Mayor Menino handled the affair without much confrontation.
Before long it was 2 PM and we ordered one large ice cream dessert and 10 spoons. We also ordered coffee and cappuccino. However, the cappuccino machine was broken and we got coffee instead. We then talked about next time and several restaurants were suggested and we decided on one in Winthrop on January 7th. Jim T. will send an email to give particulars.
