Grumps can suck it, it's Friday!

[Marvinlungwitz]

Not Friday, but I was going through stuff on my desk at home, tossing things in preparation for the move.

I was looking at cards and notes that clients have given me over the years, and I found some I had never opened as they came during a period over a decade ago when life was very hectic. As I went through them, I found I had been given a Dick’s gift card. We went to the local store, and the card still worked, so I have a new pair of Hokas.

I thought I’d send a very belated thank you to the kind person who gave me the gift, but his or her handwriting isn’t legible (other than an S), so I don’t know who it was.

[72gmc]

Hokas are good shoes! Nice work.

It’s not Friday here, either, but it’s sunny. I plan to search for work, play with the dog, drink coffee, read good writing, send notes to good people, and go for a ride in shorts. Lots of anxiety right now but today is what I have to work with, so I’ll try to make it a Friday no matter what day it is!

[bigbill]

I know it's Thursday, but I'm enjoying a snow day with no place I have to be. We've had about 8" so far with another twelve hours of snow forecast. I have plenty of things to do inside since we're still unpacking from the move and some work to do in the garage. It's 30 degrees so I won't need more than a sweatshirt in the garage. I had a nice ride on Monday in 75 degree temps and light winds. I ran over goatheads at least twice that I know of. The one in the front tire didn't come out on it's own so I stopped and pulled it out. Some air hissed out of the hole so I spun the tire and let the Orange Seal do its thing.

In more positive news, I had asked two different contractors for estimates to install aluminum fascia and soffit. I asked one of the contractors about painting the house and replacing some rotting siding. I paid $25K under market for this house knowing that I'd need to spend quite a bit making it nice. One contractor came back with $10K for just the fascia and soffit, while the second one came back at $11K to paint and do the metal work. The cheaper guy has already done work for me and the other guy is known for being pricey so it was an easy decision. He wants me to purchase the fascia and soffit (which was part of the estimate) knowing that my brother-in-law was the contractor rep at the local building supply, so I'm paying $2600 in material and $3K in labor while the other guy wanted $7K in labor. In a month or so, the outside of the house will look great.

My "small" projects include moving a shed (I have a tractor), digging a trench to run power to the shed, building a French drain, repairing her pottery wheel with a new controller, and installing a 220V weather tight outlet on the porch to power her kiln. And in return, I have bikes.

[rccardr]

When you're retired, every day is like Saturday, but with less traffic. Regardless, a busy but happy couple of days ahead. Making crust dough for a quiche this morning and letting it refrigerate for a few hours until forming and baking it this afternoon. Then will bake the quiche while Mrs. Doc attends Good Friday services. Following that, making a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (no pineapple- Mrs. Doc is allergic) for Sunday dessert. Tomorrow will be filling up plastic eggs for the grandkids egg hunt on Easter Sunday, prepping the remaining brunch menu and chilling the prosecco.

Meanwhile, need to pack up the Dave Kirk and related items for a weeklong tour in Marin and Santa Rosa environs next week with a half dozen good friends. Early Monday flight to SFO.
I suspect beer and laughter will be involved along with lotsa miles.

[htwoopup]

This article about charity from within the bike business brought a smile to my face and warmth in my heart.

https://gothamist.com/news/brooklyn-...r_member=False

[bigbill]

The rear brake on my Red AXS equipped bike does not work properly and requires pumping the lever to get any kind of response. My other disc brake bikes are Shimano and I have a nice bleed kit, but not for SRAM. The woman who owns the LBS said she bought a SRAM bleed kit but has never worked on SRAM disc brakes, so she is letting me use the kit which will require me to watch the SRAM YouTube video to do it right. I made a deal that I'd bleed the wonky rear caliper and she would do the front which is okayish but could use bleeding. It's a win-win, I get to fix my bike and she gets experience and practice before someone brings in a SRAM disc bike. My number is on her bulletin board in case someone brings in a campy mechanical bike. I'd still fix it in her shop. IME, the only major difference is the UT bottom bracket and I have two sets of cups (Ita/Eng) and two sets of bearings.

[Clyde]

Today marks a week into our new house in Saluda. Of course the array of boxes and re-arranging of stuff is not pleasant, however the sunset at night, and the immersion in the woods is beating down many of my infantile complaints.
IMG_4506 by Clyde the Pointer, on Flickr

[rec head]

Tim, I'm glad it didn't burn down. I bet the girls are loving it.

[ides1056]

I will finish the 88 pilgrimage in three days or so. Calculated my mileage for the day and found it’s over 24. Sure, why not. Some trails involved too.

[ides1056]

I forgot to mention the rooster next door began to warm up at 4:02 am. Yesterday began with a stem-winder of a service at Zentsu-ji that began at 6 am sharp. Temple 80, next door here, keeps bankers’ hours. Was closed when I arrived after 5:30 yesterday, and won’t open till after 8 today. Otherwise I would already be on the road.

[summilux]

The kid and her fellow sailors aboard HMCS Margaret Brooke returned safely home to Halifax this morning after a 4-month deployment. We were initially planning to welcome her dockside but she said she had a week's worth of admin to do and wasn't going to be in a congenial mood. We'll see her soon enough. During deployment she racked up some important sailor milestones: crossed the equator, crossed the Antarctic Circle, set foot on Antarctica, rounded the Horn using both Drake's and Magellan's, and transited the Panama Canal. It's nice when your kid does doper things than you.

Picture below cribbed from the Margaret Brooke Facebook page.
Screenshot 2025-05-09 at 10.01.07 AM.jpg

[rwsaunders]

So we moved our youngest to Chicago this weekend as he’s starting his first robotics gig after grad school. Of course, I scouted the neighborhood and scoped out Dollop Coffee…all is good. I’ve moved our three kids more times that I like to count, and this is the first time that I’ve driven a UHaul through a dust storm…yes a dust storm, while I was battling the traffic and winds near The Loop when an alert came over the phone. I’ve never seen anything like it and I hope that I don’t again. The winds of change…I don’t know. But I do know that he’s settled in, he has quite a school few friends from Ohio State and Michigan in the area, he’s psyched and we’re headed back home tomorrow.

[bigbill]

The kid and her fellow sailors aboard HMCS Margaret Brooke returned safely home to Halifax this morning after a 4-month deployment. We were initially planning to welcome her dockside but she said she had a week's worth of admin to do and wasn't going to be in a congenial mood. We'll see her soon enough. During deployment she racked up some important sailor milestones: crossed the equator, crossed the Antarctic Circle, set foot on Antarctica, rounded the Horn using both Drake's and Magellan's, and transited the Panama Canal. It's nice when your kid does doper things than you.

Picture below cribbed from the Margaret Brooke Facebook page.
Screenshot 2025-05-09 at 10.01.07 AM.jpg

It's hard to transition out of "deployment brain" when you're used to a certain routine that was your "normal" for months. I never went to Antarctica or rounded the Horn but I got to do the other things before I retired. My son will do greater things than me, but that's the thing about doing your best as a parent, you raise the kid you wanted to be, even if you didn't know it at the time. BTW, Craig Baines was my neighbor when I was stationed in Norfolk, VA in the early 2000s. We were Scotch aficionados in his backyard. He was the commander of the RCN for a year or two before retiring. Poor decisions get you to retirement earlier.

[72gmc]

So we moved our youngest to Chicago this weekend as he’s starting his first robotics gig after grad school.

Congratulations! To you and him. Chicago is a city I’d have been happy to live in when I was at his stage of life.

[rwsaunders]

Congratulations! To you and him. Chicago is a city I’d have been happy to live in when I was at his stage of life.

Thanks Dan…he is definitely seeking to explore the big city life and his apartment is in Wrigleyville…pretty hopping.

[summilux]

It's hard to transition out of "deployment brain" when you're used to a certain routine that was your "normal" for months. I never went to Antarctica or rounded the Horn but I got to do the other things before I retired. My son will do greater things than me, but that's the thing about doing your best as a parent, you raise the kid you wanted to be, even if you didn't know it at the time. BTW, Craig Baines was my neighbor when I was stationed in Norfolk, VA in the early 2000s. We were Scotch aficionados in his backyard. He was the commander of the RCN for a year or two before retiring. Poor decisions get you to retirement earlier.

We met up with her in PEI for the long weekend. This was fantastic even though it rained a lot. We brought the dog for some much needed pet therapy and a cooler full of home cooking (Indian, Ethiopian and Korean). This isn't her first deployment so we know the drill: Let her sleep, feed her lots and don't get angry if she snaps at you.

[bigbill]

We met up with her in PEI for the long weekend. This was fantastic even though it rained a lot. We brought the dog for some much needed pet therapy and a cooler full of home cooking (Indian, Ethiopian and Korean). This isn't her first deployment so we know the drill: Let her sleep, feed her lots and don't get angry if she snaps at you.

In 1997, I did a special projects submarine deployment where we spent 117 days submerged. The day after we returned to Bangor (Washington State), my grandfather died so I flew to Dallas for the funeral. Back then on submarines, we lived on an 18 hour cycle instead of 24 hour, so my sleep cycle was messed up, my brain still in deployment mode, and my eyesight was not adjusted to distance. Usually it was 2-3 weeks before I could function well in public. But nope, I had to see all my extended family, deal with the loss of my last grandparent, and stay awake all day. You could say I was grumpy. All I wanted was to be left alone and a nap. I ended up getting a hotel room, which might have saved some lives, or at least some feelings.