ditto! post a torrent link too

Coming off two successful seasons to start MLR, I still consider them a good team. I've been a Seahawks and Mariners fan since I was little, and a Seawolves fan since MLR started. Even with this year's terrible record they are still the best Seattle team in my books :)

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.

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.

Congrats!

Can I encourage you to get vet insurance for a year or two? I never thought I would need it, but last week has proven that young dogs, especially those that are energetic might need it.

I wish you all the best with your new family member!

Thank you.

The crazy thing is that she didn't act hurt. Like she didn't even notice. Even when i picked her up from the emergency clinic to take her to the surgeon she seemed normal if a little less energetic. According to the surgeon, she'll be up and walking on 3 legs today. We'll see tonight how she really is.

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.

Have you been able to get The Rugby Network to stream to a TV? I hate watching games on a laptop. Trying to cast from Chrome to my TV hasn't worked either.

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!

My wife has agreed to make this her new alarm. She is terrible about getting up in the mornings.

We finally gave up on our old (gas) dryer, it was too expensive to move the gas lines and I'm not comfortable doing that myself. I did try but couldn't get the nuts to loosen without flexing the line. The dryer works fine, I replaced the belt a couple of times and the element once. It was purchased in 1986 according to the sticker on the back.

We remodelled our kitchen in 2008 and bought a beautiful set of appliances from Sears. The dish washer is having issues and I have had to repair the feed hose twice for leaks. Our refrigerator we bought new for $1600 is no longer made and the new compressor that it needs is $1000 without labor. We got a great deal on it, separate freezer / fridge setup like a commercial kitchen. Then we designed the kitchen around it. To get a new matching set is going to cost like $3000. It'll be cheaper to get a normal fridge and rework the cabinets.

Whalers is a great place to hang out. I enjoy that they have corn hole and pool tables.

Another neat place to visit is Sons of Liberty. Total basement vibe with leather couches.

I picked up a some IPA's from San Diego:

- Modern Times

- Belching Beaver

- AleSmith

- Duck Foot

- Pure Project

- stopped at a few others but didn't bring anything home

Last weekend in Rhode Island I grabbed some from:

- Long Live

- Buttonwoods

- Moniker

Long Live is by far my favorite right now. I haven't had a bad IPA from them in four trips in the past two years. They have a good variety with very different flavors, but everyone is good. If you are into IPAs and live near RI, I would highly recommend a visit there.

We had a friend ship some Pliny the Elder and Younger to us last year. I wasn't as impressed as I had expected based on the reviews everyone gives it. I found it too malty.

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'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.

Other than my eyes bleeding, life is good.

Heading camping this weekend with some friends to go brewery hopping. They're headed up today, I joining after work tomorrow, so I will be missing out on a bunch. But that is ok, because the one brewery I really care about is on the list for Saturday and our appointment is booked. Everything else is gravy. I'm bringing a bunch of the beer I picked up out while I was out west a couple weeks ago. Going to have a little tasting at the camp site Friday night.

My daughter's school has decided to stick with hybrid attendance because of a local spike in positive COVID infections. Which is good. So she is in school Mon/Tue and every other Wed. And next month they open vaccine availability to 16 years old so she can get the shots. Too bad she couldn't get vaccinated before we head south to visit my mother next week.

My wife and I finally agreed on a fence design, so I will be starting that project after we get back from vacation. Hopefully I can get the materials. I would order them but last time I ordered supplies from Home Depot it took three weeks to arrive. So I am going to try and source it locally.

Sounds like a win to me. You had a good date and are better prepared for the future.

I am very thankful that I don't recognize anyone in this list. People I went to school with and grew up with have disappointed me with the direction they have gone. But at least they didn't go completely over the edge.

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.

Sounds like heaven.

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.

posted to wrong week!

I'm glad to hear you got your meds dialed in. Taking needed medications is not a weakness and don't let any fools tell you otherwise. I'm proud of you for overcoming societal barriers to do what is best for you and your health.

My friends and I go there a few times a year to mountain bike. This dude really put a strain on the locals with all of his malarkey. It seems it triggered some resentment from the local land owners that use to allow trails through their private property for a small fee and last year it all came to a big brewhaha. A number of the trails were closed and other locals that aren't part of the trail system stepped up their complaints about the number of tourists that converge on the town every year. I haven't been keeping up with all the details, but have hope that they will get things worked out this year or next. I can't wait to get back there and go camping and riding again.

My wife and I were discussing my planned route last night. She has a cousin in the Denver area that has been inviting us to visit for years. We're both torn on whether risking a snow storm is worth it. Being in such a small car we are limited on how much we can pack. I would rather not risk getting stuck in the middle of no where without proper winter weather gear. And selfishly, I would rather save suitcase space for beer on the return trip :) .

Of course the conversation veered into a discussion about finally taking our honeymoon when our youngest graduates next year. Although she not a fan of sitting idle in car (and detests driving) for extended periods of time, we talked about taking a cross-country drive. We could stop to visit family in Ohio, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, and of course our daughter in California. I want to go to Glacier Nat'l Park, Yellow Stone, and Moab. She wants to stay in cabin with a view like the one in the Longmire tv show.

We even talked about flying to Chicago and then getting a bedroom on the Empire Builder train to Seattle, but $3K+ is a bit rich. Renting an RV would be a bit more expensive but give us the freedom and flexibility to stop and do things along the way. I really should talk to a travel agent... But then that starts the conversation about using the money to go some place like Iceland or New Zealand. Rabbit holes everywhere!

Thanks for the offer. Our northern route would take us through Denver, but I picked the southern route to potentially avoid winter weather. We're traveling from New England to SoCal coast.

I haven't been west in many years. When I was about 10 we moved from Seattle to New England. My mother, grandmother, my sister and I with our cat. My mother took us on a tour of the country, hitting as far south as Arizona and as far north as South Dakota, taking a lazy zig zag route across. Somewhere in Utah my grandmother was driving while my mother slept and started keeping time with the music tapping her foot on the accelerator. My mother woke up and flipped a gasket. Then in, I think, Iowa my grandmother demanded my mother pull over at a "rest area" so she could use the facilities. But it wasn't a rest area, it was a weigh station. My mother dutifully exited the highway and pulled up the the booth, smiled, then drove along after the staff waved at her in confusion. We still laugh about that.

My daughter has only been west of the I-95 corridor once when we went to my grandmother's funeral in Ohio; she was about the age I was when we moved from Seattle. I am excited for her to see how vast the landscape is in the south west.

It would be better to bite the bullet and get a dog now while your wife has time to train it, rather than fighting the urge for two years before caving and getting one. :)

We always planned on getting another rescue after our first dog past last summer. Then just before Christmas my wife had a weak moment and decided on a puppy. We're a few years younger and I realized that by the time this dog passes, we may be at retirement age (but not retired).

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.

Good luck with the move. Exciting times!