Middlesex Village Trading Co

12/13/2024

I came down to the shop for about an hour to symbolically "open" before I leave for my first cardiac rehab session. The rehab sessions are going to be Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons for at least 12 weeks. We will be adjusting the shop hours accordingly.

The reason I came to the shop today for the gesture of it is because today is MVTCo's 31st anniversary and it would be a bummer to not be open (at least symbolically) on our anniversary because of something as lame as a heart attack LOL.

It'll take more than an assortment of coronary artery blockages to take me down because Yankees are stubborn like that.

Miraculously, there is no damage to the actual heart muscle, but it did get beat up a bit, hence the 12 weeks of rehab.

After a series of doctor visits and consults, the cardiologist has given me permission to carefully go back to work, provided that I pay attention to any messages my body might be trying to send me.

We plan on opening for real (not just symbolically) on Monday, December 16th with adjusted hours to fit in the rehab appointments that are in the afternoon. The 16th is exactly one month after I was flown to the cardiac unit at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for emergency treatment by the specialists there.

Thank you for your patience in this unexpected situation.

11/19/2024

We will be closed for the next few weeks because of a medical emergency. Over the weekend Pete had a surprise heart attack and was flown via helicopter to an area hospital with a specialized cardiology department where he is likely to undergo a triple bypass surgery which has an estimated 6 week recovery time. He cannot access his email from the hospital so please do not fill his inbox with emails checking on order status. When he gets out of the hospital he will be able to catch up on communications and a few weeks later he should be healed enough to work in the shop again. Thank you for your patience in this difficult time for the family.

02/06/2023

All of that time spent upgrading website security paid off.

This morning, just after midnight, a hackerbot tried to use our website for a "testing scam". A testing scam is when a bot tries to exploit a website by testing out randomly generated credit card numbers to see if they work.

Looking at the log, after a couple of test transactions (both failed) the bot launched into bulk testing mode and tried to use 12 different randomly generated credit card numbers, each with the same expiration date, over the course of just 12 seconds.

Our system didn't even let him in to the point that an invoice was generated because it shut him down under the security protocols. Then the credit card processing company shut him down, which interrupted his connection and he went away.

They use a fake name and fake address to create the account. In the past, attacks like this would tie me up for several days dealing with the mess left behind, but this morning the defenses held!

A disgusting amount of time is spent dealing with stuff like this over the course of a year.

10/05/2022

Cancel culture strikes again

A highly anticipated trip back in time for Medfield students will look a little more modern-day this year.

08/23/2022

Open rebellion....it is what Americans do!

On this day in history in 1775: King George III declared the colonies to be in open rebellion to his authority and were subject to severe punishment. This proclamation asserted that patriots were dangerous traitors and any person failing to report them was also subject to penalty. Our brave founders did not cower at this enormous threat from the king as he failed to strike fear in the hearts of our patriots. Less than one year later, America declared its independence, showing the world that America would never be ruled by tyrants, but by its own free people.

08/20/2022

On this day in history in 1812: The USS Constitution defeated the British frigate Guerriere in the Atlantic some 600 miles east of Nova Scotia. This victory provided the ship with its immortal nickname “Old Ironsides.” During the battle, the British sailors were astonished as their cannonballs bounced harmlessly off the Constitution’s hull which caused one to exclaim, “Her sides are made of iron.” The Constitution garnered a sterling reputation and provided a bright spot in what was at the time a failing war effort by the United States. The Constitution remains in service to this day making it the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat. She can be visited in the Charlestown Navy Yard in Massachusetts.

07/04/2022

05/25/2022

On Saturday, June 11th, The Fort at No. Four here in Charlestown will be holding a Scottish Heritage and Highland Games Day.

Info at link: https://fortat4.org/events/scottish-heritage/scots-heritage.php