My son-in-law's training keeps getting postponed because of quarantine. Idiots leaving base causing lock-down delays. They were supposed to be done in February, but now they won't be done until sometime in April. My daughter is due in mid-April and is freaking out that now they won't be moved into their new place out west and she will still be here with us instead and her husband most likely will miss the delivery. I feel bad for her, but she did marry into military. I'm sure traveling west will be a lot of fun with a three year old and new born. I'm thinking that I might take off two weeks to drive them out and be an extra set of hands to help. We'll see what happens over the next couple of months. Last night my wife and daughter were talking about all of this and my grandson snuck downstairs while they were occupied. He came over and sat on the couch with me while I was watching a documentary from PBS about Fiddler on the Roof. He just sat there and watched with me. It was so nice. He watched about forty minutes before his eyes drooped and his head slumped. All was right with the world from my view. Good health to you all. Life is good.
Well, the heat has put a cramp in the roofers. They're about half done and haven't shown up yet today. :( I haven't fared any better with any of my house projects. On the plus side, I got to go into the office yesterday for the first time in two months! I really miss the separation of home and work that the office provides, but I don't miss the hour commute each way. I have taken the family's old Mac Mini and beaten it into submission. I installed Proxmox on it and have been setting up various containers to selfhost a bunch of services. Currently trying to get HAProxy to shuttle requests to the various containers so that I can eventually access them outside home. My oldest child still remains employed although his girlfriend was furloughed for COVID. Luckily his meager income covers their big bills, although he still needs our help each month so they don't starve. Middle child ran off and eloped. This makes my wife super duper sad, but I understand why she did it. I am sad that she posted it to facebook before telling us, but again I understand why she did it. Her husband seems like a good dude and I wish the two of them great joy and success in their marriage. The youngest has been given the choice by the school to home-school, distance learn, or attend in person classes for the fall. She is eager to get back to school; my wife and I are conflicted. She learns best in school, but COVID. Overall, life is good. We have our health, our jobs, our home, and the bills are getting paid. What more do we need?
Yay! I am in the office today. Got here at 7:00 and realized that no one is here to open the building until 8:00 during COVID. So I used my laptop and connected to the wifi and worked in my car until security arrived. I am so excited to be in the office today. Sitting in a real chair. And I never realized how much lag there is working remotely. Everything just feels so much snappier. I have the second COVID vaccine shot scheduled for this afternoon and hopefully it doesn't kick my butt like it has other people. My coworker got it yesterday and ended up taking today off. CEO got it last Friday and was sick all weekend. So, now I am feeling a bit anxious. We got 18" of snow with this weeks storm. Didn't get to go snow shoeing last night, hoping to go tonight. We are expecting mixed rain/snow on Friday, then again on Sunday. So today and tomorrow are my chance. I didn't die from shoveling snow, so that is good. I am getting vaccine so I won't die from COVID, so that is good. I have a job still, so that is good. Life IS good. Hoping things get better for everyone!
House Well, the final bit is done (of the things we paid other people to do). The garage door was just installed (like, finished 15 minutes ago). It looks good; much better than the cheap second-hand door I half-installed ten years ago. It feels good to see so much progress on the house that didn't require me to do the work. Now it is my turn to get back to the grindstone and accomplish some projects. Middle Child Found out last week that middle-child's husband is being transferred to Chicago. They leave sometime next month. I am excited for her. She really needs to get out and see more of the world. Also it will give her more clearly defined separation from my wife and I. This is killing my wife, but I know it is what is best for our daughter. As a going away present, I build a bookshelf for my grandson. It was the first piece of furniture that I have built. I am not happy with the result, but it isn't terrible. Hopefully I can build something better during the fall and present it for Christmas. Youngest Local High School has decided on a hybrid plan for classes for the Fall semester. Two days in school, two days home, rotating pattern. Looks like they will stay in same classroom all day and the teachers will move between classrooms. This at least minimizes the student interactions. We'll see how it goes. Oldest Oldest child lost power at his apartment for five days because of Isaias. He and his girlfriend and her other boyfriend came and used the shower each day, but preferred to go home rather than stay with us. My wife was overjoyed by the chaos of having the three of them and their two dogs. She really does thrive on a full house, where I require copious amounts of solitude. Work I am so blessed that my job has allowed me to work remote since end of March. Right now they are "allowing" people to voluntarily work from the office one day a week. There are a lot of staff that have been asking for that. I get it. They have spouses and kids and what not at home and don't feel they can focus on their work and be productive. If more than just the three of us lived here, I would certainly feel the same way. But, right now, I am enjoying the lack of commute and the ability to get laundry done during the day. We may be returning to the office full-time sometime in October, but the agency is still figuring things out. They won't reopen until they have a solid plan in place and staff have bought into it. Overall, life is good. Sometimes I have to remind myself.
Well, things move quickly. I leave Friday night to make the 2,800 mile journey to deliver my daughter and grandson to their new home. We planned on traveling through the northern part of Texas, but I am considering alternate routes now that the Governor has decided masks aren't necessary. Don't want yokels giving me crap if I stop for gas wearing a mask. Even better, I plan to hit a couple breweries while out there and will bring some stuff back for friends. My plane ticket home includes two free checked bags up to 70lbs each. That's like 120 16oz beers. My youngest wants to go for the ride with her 3yo nephew and 7-month pregnant sister in an economy car. When asked why, she says she doesn't want to be stuck home having to entertain her mother for a week. My wife has never been left alone more than a few hours her entire life. Between growing up in a large family, surrounding herself with friends in her twenties, then me and kids, she has always been in company. And she prefers it that way. It has been an adjustment for me. I only had one sibling, everyone in our house stayed away and did their own thing. I went out and did things alone a lot in my twenties. When I got married it was a shock to find that I could never really get time alone. Luckily I have had the kids as a buffer when I needed time to myself, but in a year that won't be an option any more. With Spring hurtling towards us the projects around the house are looking a bit more appealing. If we don't get any surprise snow storms this month I plan to start building a new fence around the whole property. It's not large, just under an acre, but expect it will take a couple months to complete. Years ago I put a fence around a small section of the yard one weekend, but used shortcuts. The fence lasted five years before it started to rot and lean. This time I want to do it right so that it lasts. Part of it where it runs along the neighbors driveway and entertainment space will be a privacy fence. The rest will be rails with hog-wire backing to keep the dogs contained. I've been dreaming of this fence ever since we first got dogs, so it will be nice to finally be able to let them loose in the yard. As a bonus it will help keep the deer from our bushes and gardens. And our large dog loves to hunt rabbits so that will help the gardens as well. Work is still talking of a June return, so my days at home are numbered. I am going to miss the extra time around the house in the summer, but it will also be good to see my coworkers again. And have time to listen to my audio books. And soon, mountain biking and kayaking. Glorious! What can I say? Life is good.
House Totally lost interest in working on the house this weekend. Managed to do some painting on Saturday, but had no energy on Sunday. So, I let the wife talk me into going to the nursery on Sunday to look at plants. I thought it was just window shopping, but we ended up getting some shrubs and planting them and moving a bunch of other plants. So exhausted from digging on Monday, I convinced the wife to go kayaking after work during a lull in the rain. And finally, yesterday I got to rest and relax. Family Our middle child came for a quick visit on Monday evening. It was good to see the three of them. Looks like they won't be shipping out until late October now. So we might be taking our grandson for this weekend! Everyone else is status quo. Not a bad thing. Me Planning to go brewery hopping in a couple of weeks with some friends. We're going to camp out for the weekend and spend two days hitting as many Rhode Island breweries as we can. I could really use the brake and am looking forward to it. Had a conversation with my wife over the weekend where I complained about home office and my thoughts on improving it. She told me to do it, that regardless of when I go back to the "real" office, the improvements won't go to waste. So now I am shopping for a new ultra-wide monitor to replace my two crappy monitors, a new webcam and microphone, new chair, redesigning the desk, etc. Guess this will be my birthday and Christmas presents this year. I really should be putting the money towards the house, but I'm greedy. Life keeps moving, I keep chasing it. It's all good.
I'm here, although I don't participate as much as others. Life is good. I know I keep saying that, but it is. My bills are under control, mostly. My wife and I have stable employment. I like my job and the people I work with. My kids are doing well. I've been making progress on house projects. Sure there have been glitches along the way, but nothing earth shattering. The one area of my life that isn't going great is my health. I haven't put in the time or effort to get in shape. I am 40 pounds overweight and my blood pressure is creeping up because of it. I keep promising myself that I will start exercising and eating healthier today, but when push comes to shove, I just don't do it. But yeah, I can't really complain.
I have spent several months since signing up with hubski being a lame stalker. Mostly because I forgot my password. Finally reset it so I can participate. :) I had big plans this weekend to get things done around the house, specifically finish all of the trim/moldings in the upstairs hallway and home office. First window in the home office required a bunch of fancy cuts and zapped my energy. Then the heat kicked in and I struggled to stay motivated; then got sidetracked sanding a bunch of old fencing boards that we are going to turn into a floating deck (low priority project). Sunday was a second chance at getting things done, but the heat was again oppressive. Instead I cleaned the garage. On the plus side, roofers finished replacing the fascia and rake boards last week and started on the roof this morning. Then they will be putting the gutters on. So glad we were able to work out the financials so that we could pay someone else to do the work. I am so tired of hammering screws.
Well Howdy and Hello! The weather has finally changed, from summer to winter, skipping that pesky Autumn that I adore. Kayaks are put away, house painting is all done (except for windows), new garden completed and bedded down for the winter, pellet stove serviced and running, and yes, at my wife's request, holiday lights have started going up. I have completed some small projects inside, trying to keep the momentum up. My hope is that by Spring all inside projects will be completed. I really, really want to be able to enjoy next Summer without the guild of unfinished projects hanging over my head. I don't truly expect to be done with house projects forever, I just want to be done with the ones that have been lingering for years. New projects are ok. I am hoping that with the change to winter after the gorgeous summer we had this year, that we will get a good amount of snow on a regular basis. The summer was so sunny and dry (great for doing things outside) that we went into drought conditions in August. A good base of snow fall will help get us out of that. And as a benefit to me and my wife, we will get to use our snow shoes that we bought a few years ago. The last few winters have been a complete let down with very few snows that accumulated, and then they melted off before the weekend came when we would have had time for snow shoeing. A bonus this winter (not related to winter itself) is that our son-in-law is temporarily stationed for additional training until February, so my daughter and grandson have come to live with us until they transfer to the west coast. The boy is such a typical boy. He loves rolling around in the dirt and climbing things he shouldn't and then jumping. Had him helping me with the garden and moving dirt to fill in holes and low spots in the yard. Had him on the ladders while doing some of the siding and painting on the house. Lately he has taken a shine to sliding down the stairs, getting brave enough to start from the top, sometimes on his backside, sometimes on his stomach. And the giggles! Working from home has been such a blessing, freeing up two hours a day not having to commute so that I could get more done around the house. Being able to dip out for a few minutes to say good morning to my grandson and have lunch with him. Sneaking in a few minutes to do dishes or do laundry so that I have less to do after work. Our youngest started a medication for acne. It took a couple of months to get it in hand with all kinds of requirements including multiple pregnancy tests. I didn't see anything in the literature that stated there was a hormone component, but there must be. Within a week of starting it she has been more open and connected to me and my wife. She has even expressed interest in decorating for the holidays and watching stupid hallmark movies with us. Two things she has avoided the past few years after puberty hit. Even some of the surliness has gone. Or I guess it could be desperation for social interaction finally overcoming her teenage need to distance from parental figures. Maybe the COVID lock down has a silver lining. I miss getting together with family and friends and brewery hopping and look forward to being able to do that again. While a few coworkers have gotten COVID, none of my family or friends have been adversely affected (for which I am very thankful). Time to count my blessings. Life IS good.
House is finally starting to look "done". Still so many projects, but the bulk has been tackled. Before: Now: And: Working on cleaning up the dog yard last week and ask my daughter to get something out of the basement. She comes back out and informs me that the basement floor is wet yet again. Go down and find a leak in the main water line before anything branches off. Shut off the water, replace the section of pipe, turn the water back on and another leak announces itself a foot from the section I just replaced close to an elbow. Looking at the pipes I realize that I would be better off yanking the cobweb of pipes added over the years and streamlining it. Needless to say I spent the day doing plumbing and didn't get anywhere on the dog yard. Last night decide to get back to working on the dog yard. As we're wrapping up for the evening I hear what sounds like someone frying some food, but my wife is outside with me and my daughter doesn't know how to fry food. Crap. That isn't frying food, it is spraying water. Go in the basement and find that the waste line coming from the washing machine has come detached and is dumping all over. Thankfully a quick fix with some pvc glue and all is good. I hate this house. Spent last Saturday with friends from several states that came down and camped in a friend's backyard. We hopped on our mountain bikes and rode the rail trail hitting several breweries and a few bars along the way. With my schedule this summer I don't know that I am going to be able to join in any other trips with the group so I am glad I went. Youngest has completed her Junior year of High School. She was promoted to Deputy Commander in her AFJROTC program for the fall semester of her Senior year and will be Commander in the Spring. So proud of her. She is also going to be captain of her Marching Band Color Guard team. Got to video call with middle child and our grandsons the other night. They seem to be doing very well. The infant is standing with very little assistance already. Everyone is healthy and happy. So grateful. Oldest child's car needed a bunch of work to pass emissions inspection and then decided it was good time to have the alternator die. Looking at nearly $3k in repairs, he determined that his money was better spent in getting a new used car. Used cars have jumped in price, but he found one he likes and made the commitment. He even managed to sell his jalopy. A few weeks ago wife and I went to visit family in Vermont and our van died a half hour into the drive home. Sister in law was generous and let us borrow her car so we could get home while our van was towed to local dealership up there. It took 4 days for dealership to say it was a bad battery and that the alternator was fine. Drive up the next weekend to return SIL's car and get our van, then an hour into the drive home the van dies again. This time had it towed to our local mechanic. Monday morning he calls us an hour after they opened to let us know that the alternator was bad. Had it fixed and back to us that day. What did the dealership do for four days? Geez. The puppy has not been slowed down at all by losing a leg. She is still digging holes and chasing and tackling our big dog. New dog fence is too tall for her to climb or jump, but she is already trying to dig out. Might have to shore up a few spots with rebar in the ground so she cant get through. Ugh. Got a raise at work and a bonus. Working at a non-profit I really didn't expect one. Thankful for whatever I can get. Life is Good and I'm enjoying the ride.
Had a good weekend camping and brewery hopping. I think I need to invest in a beer fridge now. Between what I brought back from California and what I picked up last weekend I have taken over two shelves in our fridge in the kitchen. It should last me a couple months. Had to repair our washing machine last night. The lid switch broke (again). This time I got a replacement instead of trying to jerry-rig it to make it work. Today I have easily 10 loads of laundry to do to get ready for our vacation next week. It is nice working from home so that I can run down every 40-45 minutes and switch the laundry. Even better since we got a dryer a couple years ago. I miss the fresh smell from line drying outside but I don't miss the effort of hanging the laundry and having to shake bugs out before folding it. Our puppy got a hold of my wife's wallet and chewed up a couple of credit cards (no loss in my eyes) and her vaccination card (thought she was going to blow a gasket). Only reason I noticed was because I heard her chomping on a quarter and was trying to figure out where she got it from. We were spoiled by our first two dogs that were never anywhere near as energetic as this puppy. It's the simple things in life that make it good. I'm going to just keep rolling with it.
I absolutely hate to agree with you. The likely hood of a PR stunt is too high. And for his detractors, if he doesn't get seriously ill, it will be hard to prove that it was a PR stunt. For his supporters, it will be all the proof they need that they were right.
We survived the trip. The only trouble we encountered was the first leg of the trip. An hour after leaving the house we found ourselves in a snow storm that lasted for the next five hours; thankfully it just blew around and never accumulated on the road. There were a couple of sections in higher altitudes that got slippery causing two tractor-trailers to overturn, but plows had come through before we got there and salted the highway pretty well. The rest was smooth sailing. We made our first hotel stop in Indianapolis, then made our way to Oklahoma City, then Albuquerque before finally arriving in San Diego. Big highlight was getting to see glimpses of the border wall as we entered California. Seems so silly considering how much space there is around it that you can still get through. Got my daughter and grandson settled in their new home, movers came and we got everything arranged and mostly put away. Just a few odds and ends for her and her husband to deal with when he gets there. I ran out Friday evening and made my way to some local breweries. First one I went to insisted on a flight rather than just a small tasting. And by California law you have to order food. I had already eaten and had a number of places I wanted to go so sitting down for 20oz was not part of my plan. I only consumed about half, enough to not feel like I wasn't wasting my money, but enough to determine if there were any beers I wanted to bring back home. The other six breweries let me have little tasters of 1-2oz. I ended up bringing back two cases worth of cans. Some I am not a fan of, but my local package store I frequent has talked about them so I got some for the owner. Some I got for a friend. A couple of four-packs are strictly for me. Looking forward to a night when I don't have anything else I have to do. My wife is missing our grandson something fierce, so I have to work extra hard to keep her distracted. It has actually been nice being able to spend time together without all the interruptions. It almost feels like we are dating again. We started setting a schedule to take evening walks together. Partly to start getting in shape and partly to spend time alone together. And to get the dogs out of the house. Overall, life is good. Wouldn't have it any other way.
I haven't read any Poirot, but it is on my list. I watched a few episodes of the TV show and it piqued my interest. Just gotta work it into my rotation. Currently reading: Warlords of Karak Eight Peaks (Warhammer novel) Fire & Blood by G.R.R. Martin Planet of the Damned by Harry Harrison (part of The Harry Harrison Megapack) The Guns of August; The Outbreak of World War I by Barbara Tuchman The Long Ships by Frans Bengtsson Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore I have a hard time sticking to one book at a time and using ereaders has allowed me to indulge that behavior. I try to balance reading for escape with reading to enrichment. I just wish that I had a better memory/recall. I really enjoy reading history books and trying to see how it impacts current events, but my brain doesn't retain anything. Then there are the audio books: Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi Nemesis (Warhammer 40K novel) Titan by Ron Chernow The Western Star by Craig Johnson Although I haven't listened to the audio books in a very long time. Not having two hours of commute time has killed that for me during the pandemic. Kind of looking forward to getting back to the office so that I can listen to audiobooks/podcasts again.
Beyond joining Hubski... Family: Saturday evening got to keep my grandson overnight. It is quite the experience when you look forward to an infant spending the night. As a parent, you treasure the nights when the infant stays with someone else. I often come home from work to find my wife fawning all over our grandson. // My son didn't get his license until he was in his twenties. So Sunday I got to spend an hour with him showing him how to change the various break light, turn signal, and parking light bulbs. He also filled his windshield washer resevoir. Good bonding moment. // My wife signed us up for a farm share this summer. First batch of veggies came in last week but we were so busy we didn't have a chance to cook anything. Ended up giving most of them various family members. I kept the chives and romain lettuce for us and made some salads. Work: I continue to love my job and the people I work with. The organization is going through a tough time right now financially, so they have been making a number of changes and attempting to button up some of the holes. A lot of changes. Friends: I went to Burlington Vermont with a bunch of mountain biking friends the week before, but not to mountain bike. We camped out on North Beach and rode bikes around town hitting the different breweries. It was a gorgeous day out and the company was awesome. This was our second annual rail trail brewery tour. I can't wait to see what they plan for next year. // Tonight I am going to a friends house to play some cribbage and perhaps a game of Ogre (pocket version from a few years ago). He usually has an incredible selection of IPA's to choose from. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Community: Spent Saturday at an all-day event with the youth athletic team I coach. The kids performed well and ended their spring season on a high note. I am going to miss those that are aging out of the program. But, in six weeks the next batch starts!
Reading the news headlines for the past week, I was fully expecting to walk into a crap show at the polls this morning. Luckily, while it is the longest line by far I have ever seen here, everyone was quietly waiting in line, social distancing, and no protesters or folks waving signs, let alone any intimidation. I live in a safely blue zone of the state, a state that as a whole tends to be blue, but has serious red pockets. We arrive at 6:15 to line that stretched out of the building, and around the large parking lot. It took us about 25 minutes to get into the building, then another 15-20 minutes once in the building. I didn't think to count the actual number of people in line, but guesstimate about 200. The longest line I have seen prior to this was 2018 and there were 7 people in front of me. Whatever I may think of Trump and his politics and behaviors, I have to admit that he has done wonders for getting people out to vote. Form the headlines, Texas had more people vote early this election than voted in 2016 entirely. I wonder how many people are voting this year for the first time in a decade, in two, or more. I don't expect any rioting in my area regardless of how the election turns out, but I can see other areas of the country going bananas. For those of you in the danger zone, I wish you peace, safety, and a quick escape route if needed.
Pretty cool! Thanks for sharing the adventure with us and letting us live vicariously through your "misadventures". I don't think I could ever go without running water and flushing toilets, so living off the grid will always just be a daydream.
There is much to look forward to, and don't make your job your identity. Do you have any hobbies? I met many of my friends playing pool and darts after work. I met my best friend working. We still get together a couple times a month, and it has been 25+ years. Don't be in a rush to make friends, just open yourself to experiences with other people. The friendships will come on their own. For 17 years I have been getting up at 5:30 every morning so I can get my family moving and out the door on time. My work day doesn't start until 9:00 after my hour commute. Most days I don't get home until after 7:00. Then after dinner and homework, working on the house, I still manage to find time for hobbies. Unless you work until 10:00PM you should have plenty of time for hobbies, socializing and getting a full night sleep. From my experience, leave the house. Don't get sucked into television and surfing the web. When you go out, keep your phone in your pocket. Be interested in what is going on around you, don't look bored or annoyed to be there. If you do that enough, someone will eventually start a conversation while standing in line, or whatever. When they do, find a way to ask open ended questions, let them talk. People like to talk about themselves. Listen to them, ask follow up questions about what they talk about. I'll get off my soap box now. I doubt you wanted my brain dump, but I hope it helps.
Went to the office yesterday to take care of a few things. At 3:00 my wife calls and tells me that the dog has somehow managed to destroy her front leg in the process of escaping through the fence. Skin split open from paw to just below the shoulder, bone is fractured and partly hanging out. The puppy must have been shock because she was not acting hurt. Wife rushed her to an emergency clinic and I bolted out of work to join her. Waited a couple of hours for them to triage and stabilize her and give us our options and recommendation. For five grand they can amputate it, or for eight grand they can try to repair it with a 30% chance of repair being a success, most likely would still end up an amputation. Ugh. The dog is only 7 months old. Spoke with a good friend that has been a dog trainer for decades and has run animal shelters and she recommended we shop around before the surgery. So I spent part of the morning calling several clinics that she recommended and getting them to review the report from the emergency clinic. They all came back with the same recommendation, but with prices that ranged from 3K to 4K. Only one had availability to do it today. So went to the emergency clinic and it took them an hour to bring the puppy out. Ended up being 15 minutes late to the surgery, but they were cool about it. Ugh. But, she will survive, and tripods generally are just as happy and active as quadrupeds. So, life is good, even if deeper in debt.
We have been so focused on the kids for so long that we have forgotten about paying attention to each other. Being separated for a week (first time in our marriage) and blowing up each others phone with text messages has brought the issue to the fore. We've had some really great discussions and are doing the whole "getting to know each other again" thing. It has the excitement of dating without the stress and fears.
Definitely write them down and then add to a community recipe site so that others can enjoy them too! Those cherry chocolate ones sound scrumptious.
My grandson has trained my wife well. When he doesn't want to go to bed, he quietly knocks on our door and comes in, looks up to the shelf with M&Ms on it and signs/says "please". She of course melts and will dole them out one by one while he counts. Yes he uses his manners and yes he is practicing counting, but he has had those two skills down for a year. He has trained me to chase him around the house, which is probably for the best since I need to exercise. Started off the whole COVID-19 lock-down experience losing 15 pounds then put it all back on with a little extra. I am looking forward to the spring and mountain biking again. No I don't ride in the winter; falling on my ass when it is freezing out is just not something I care to do as I get older. The puppy got into a bag of pellets (fuel) and made a mess at one o'clock this morning. But at least she is potty trained now. I need to get off my lazy tail and take her for walks so that she is tired at night. Just playing fetch isn't enough for her energy levels. The older dog would probably appreciate the break from her incessant antics trying to get him to play. He has lost weight with the constant activity. Our youngest child starts hybrid schooling at the beginning of February. I wish I could get her vaccinated before then, but it doesn't look like kids will be able to get the vaccine for a few more months. Although from the news it appears our state is doing better than most in distributing the vaccine. When I was approved earlier this month, I was able to get it the same day. When my wife was approved a week later, she was also able to get it same day. We are both scheduled for the follow-up shot next week. My mother down south can't get in until mid-April. My mother-in-law up north hasn't been put on a list yet. Started listening to audio book version of Jonathan Steakley's Armor. I read the book as a kid and loved it. Not too thrilled with the narrator. Sometimes it is like he is trying too hard. That is one thing that frustrates me with audio books. Some narrators just don't fit the feel of a book. I really miss having a commute so that I can listen to audio books and podcasts. Not to mention the three hour drives north or twelve hour drive south to visit family. I never realized just how much I consumed. At this point I am a few hundred hours behind in my listening. Just plopping myself into a chair to listen doesn't work. There is too much activity in the house. At least in the summer I was able to listen while mowing the lawn, but still have a few months to go before the next mowing. I've tried listening when I go to bed, but either I get sucked in and never fall asleep or I do fall asleep and have to play the rewind game trying to find where I left off. As always, life is good, even when it is not.
No, not Texas. I am in the north east. As a follow up: I drove my daughter to the polls after work so she could vote and there was no line. She was in and out of there in less than five minutes. As predicted, my state voted blue. Well, the cities and the areas where people have higher education and job prospects.
I am happy for you that your wife has stabilized. Loving someone with bipolar is not easy. I hope for both of you that you are able find stable employment and can get back to enjoying your music.
My wife and I tried to watch it, but it was too painful. We hung in there for about 30 minutes before my anxiety and blood pressure skyrocketed. Listening to them interrupt each other and the name calling, it was just beyond the pale. I suspect Biden's plan was to push back on Trump's bluster, but it just came across as childish. When Biden said the debate wasn't "Presidential", I kind of wrote the whole thing off. He was right, it wasn't. I was hoping he would be the adult on stage, but the comment really kind of hit the nail on the head. He tried to "out-Trump" Trump. Biden did reign himself in after a little while, but the damage was done in my opinion. And the fact that the moderator had absolutely no control of the performance was ridiculous. I really hope they install a mute button on the candidates and use it when it is not their turn to speak going forward. And I hope that Biden brings some decorum for the next debate. He isn't going to win over any Trump supporters no matter what he does, but he could scare off independents that he needs.
House Still painting the house. The parts we could reach from the ground and from the small ladder went quickly. Now I'm up on the big ladder and it is a grind. I am weirded out being up on a 30 ft ladder. And having to climb down to move the ladder a few feet then climb back up is not much fun. The worst is actually trying to move the ladder without losing control of it or bashing the siding or a window. But the house needs the paint; the old paint has flaked and peeled away in spots, faded to almost nothing in others. Plus, I really didn't like the light grey we painted it last time. Now it is more of a dark blue and I find it appealing. It looks so much better which is keeping me motivated. Family Our middle child surprised us with a visit over the weekend. She and her husband (and our grandson) came up midday Saturday (getting me off the bleeping ladder) and stayed until Sunday evening. She looked good and was the most stable I have seen her in years. Conversations flowed and there was no arguing. The big news (but not really a surprise) is that they are pregnant! From what she told us the first couple of months have been rough on her, which explains the spastic text conversation she has had with my wife, but things have eased. Their move date has been pushed to the end of the month, so I am sure that stress is not making it easier on her. We're going to have to start saving up for plane tickets to be there after she has the baby to help out. I have a few weeks of vacation saved and will have a couple more by then, so I might be able to help for a month. Not sure if my wife will be able to stay that long. Work I wish I had known back in the spring I was going to be working from home this long. I would have invested in a better chair and desk. We still don't expect to be back before the end of the year, but I can't justify the expense for just a couple more months. I'm half tempted to run to the office one day and grab my chair and desk from there. Overall, still making forward progress, family remains healthy, and a new baby on the way. Life is good.
House Well, we finally settled on a color for our house. It is more grey than I prefer, but at least this time it is more blue than my wife prefers. We painted the house a light grey with blue undertones last time and it grated on me. I struggled with painting it last time and basically felt like a two year old fighting it. It took us weeks of nights and weekends to get it done. This time I am energized and we got a quarter of the house painted in a day. I got up early this morning to see it in the early morning light, and wow, I like it. Can't wait to see how it looks over the course of the day as the light changes. Family My daughter let us take our grandson for the weekend and we went north to celebrate our mother-in-laws birthday. This will most likely be the last time we see him before they move. We're hoping to get him this weekend, but who knows if my daughter will let us take him. Her anxiety is kicking in. Can't say I blame her, moving a 1000 miles away from everything and everyone she has ever known. That can be stressful for people that don't normally suffer from anxiety. Wife and I managed to get on the kayaks while visiting family over the weekend (actually, 9 of us went kayaking together) and again Tuesday after work. That makes 6 different lakes in a month. The smallest is just 60 acres, the largest 1,600 acres. My wife is afraid to be on the water where there are motorboats, so we have stuck to smaller bodies of water. Tuesday I convinced her to go on the big lake saying that there would not be many boats on a Tuesday evening. I was right, there were only 3 that we saw. It gave her a chance to experience some small waves from their wake and get more comfortable keeping her balance. It ended up being our longest trip too; we stayed for 2.5 hours. Eventually I hope to get out on the sound, but she isn't anywhere near ready for that. Maybe next summer. Work Things keep chugging along. I have always been sucked into various meetings (which I appreciate so that I can have an idea of why they are asking for certain projects). And since I end up touching nearly everything and working with nearly everyone, I have a pretty good overview of how things are and how people do and will react to changes. Someone noticed that a couple of years ago and started inviting me to Senior management meetings. When the pandemic hit, I was invited to join the Strategic Committee meetings. Now am apparently a member? So, I sit on the panel for All Staff meetings and get to meet with the Board of Directors this weekend. I appreciate being noticed, but .... I am running out of time to do my job. Everyone is happy and healthy, the dog is finally responding to training, the cat hasn't managed to kill anyone yet, we have stable jobs, and so much noticeable progress on the house. Life is Good (c).
Good luck with the move! I have learned from moving as a child and helping friends move over the years, don't leave anything for the last week. There is more there to pack than you think. That last "10%" is a bear.
Glad surgery went well for you. Years ago I had kidney stones and they gave me a shot of Dilaudid and I really hated it. As it wore off the nurse gave me a second shot as I tried to tell her no. Didn't even get to finish my sentence. If I ever find myself in that situation again I'm going to claim I'm allergic.
Went to visit my mother last week. Weather was beautiful and spent several days at the beach. Went out shopping and walked into a store where not a single person was wearing a mask, not the staff, nor the customers. Spun around and headed back to my mother's house. Decided I was done with public after that. But it was good to see her. Her health is starting to head south so we started the difficult discussion about moving closer to either me or my sister and possibly living with one of us. Ugh. The day before I headed home my coworker called to let me know our office got hacked. Luckily he caught it before they had a chance to do much. From what we can see no data was accessed and only a few machines got touched. We called in outside vendor to handle the mitigation and analysis. Can't wait to find out how it happened. We know a user account was where it started, but don't know how yet. Welcome back from vacation!