Rave: I'm going on an expenses-paid work trip to NYC for a few days in late september. Rave: Next summer our company vacation is a week-long cruise up the Alaskan coast.
RANT: My 90 y/o neighbor moved to an assisted living home. He's been a really great neighbor for the last 5 years. RAVE: He gave me a brand new, HUGE cantilever umbrella. I looked up the model and it's about a grand for everything. RAVE: Grandson is coming to town tomorrow for a week!
extra rave: when I came out of long covid late last November, I was just shy of 190 lbs (6' ft), wearing XL shirts and 36" waisted shorts which were tight. Being sedentary sucks. Just off building my base for the training, I'm now at 176 lbs, large headed to medium shirt, and 34'' shorts which fit loose. I haven't really changed my diet -- I don't drink alcohol and generally eat pretty healthy -- but I do skew very carb and protein-heavy. Curious to come back to this in 4 months and see what has changed.
Rave: marathon training day one -- rest day you know, I think I'm starting to like this "training" stuff
Rave: Rough patch previously playing live that I mentioned above seems to be over. We played two sets at a festival this weekend and I was one fire, as was the entire band. Most likely our best shows and crowd response ever.
Rave: I typically think work raves are dumb, because work is dumb. However, I just started an opportunity that I couldn't turn down. It's for the Engineering firm I left in 2016. Fully working from home and making almost double what I was making back then. We tried WFH back in 2016, but the guy just didn't think he was getting his money's worth, because it just wasn't what he was used to. Covid changed that, he called me a couple weeks ago. Apparently, he also has a draftsman in the Philippines. So far, it's been cake work, too.
RAVE: So I posted a rave/rant a few months ago, my wife is pregnant with our first kid, but she also has a kidney stone too big to pass and they didn’t want to do any intrusive procedures to get it out since she’s pregnant. So it’s been five months of having her get stents put in and replaced to keep it from blocking her ureter. Yesterday when they did the procedure - I’m not sure the exact process but the doc said “after they put in the new stent and as they were removing the old one” - the stone came out along with it. The think was the size and shape of a fuckin’ raisin. Wife is so relieved, and she just has a stent for a week to make sure any irritation goes away, along with any little pieces that might be there. And it’s just in time for us to go on vacation, so now we just deal with flying pregnant. Also, it’s a boy! RANT: Back in June, our cat of 14 years had to be put down. That sucked, I’ll post in the pet thread about that.
RANT: Washing machine is starting to throw a few error codes. Joy. Ripped it apart this afternoon and have identified 3 major components that could be responsible. The cost for a service call including parts would be more than a new washing machine. Fuck that. I also can't believe just how much parts cost from the manufacturer. RAVE: A few YT videos later and some OEM part matching and I think I've got the pieces/parts I need showing up tomorrow for under $300, as opposed to almost $800 from the manufacturer (Whirlpool). Should take me about 30 minutes to swap out the pump, pressure switch, etc, and it should be back up and running. RANT: I really fucking hate just how hard they make it to service appliances. I had to take out 18 screws/bolts to get to the fucking pump filter that was totally plugged up. It was just packed with dog hair (go figure), which probably led to the drain pump seizing/frying out, but there's no easily accessible filter to clean out.
RAVE: Looks like I've fixed the washing machine. Blown pressure switch and failing drain pump seems to be the issue. Both replaced, first test wash completed with zero codes thrown. RANT: Moving the dryer around I snapped the fucking exhaust hose off of it and now I have to fix it. SERENITY NOW!
RAVE: Finally able to get the butt cam appt done. RANT: Found polyps but from what it sounds like, shouldn't be a big deal. Waiting on biopsy results. RAVE: Booked our Chicago/Mich trip for next month. RANT: Didn't book any Canada stuff as I wasn't sure if my passport would make it in time. RANT: It showed up 3 weeks early. Canada next trip I guess. RAVE: Got to spend the week with this little guy. RAVE: They went home. A week is about my max for a 3 month old to be in the house. RANT: Didn't realize I didn't crop the black bars off my screenshot.
Rave: Iceland continues to be awesome. Rant: Wife's step-mother had a massive heart attack and died while I was there. 4th funeral within the last month. Can't win.
Potential Rave...?: Was approached with a very broad question/offer that might make my 'fun to occasionally do on the weekends' barbecue catering gig an actual full on 'could realistically pay the bills' type of situation. Going to have an actual sit-down and discuss some numbers & logistics conversation sometime in the next month or so to see what's feasible.
Rant: Woke up to a message that the server my websites are on was hacked an an attempt to upload malware made. It's on automatic back up, so we can restore everything, six websites in total, but we'll lose some good posts on the one. Shit...
Rave: Wife took a new position at work. They require you to have your 5th class steam engineering. They are going to pay for that of course. But if she wants they will reimburse her for 4th and 3rd class engineer tickets.
Rant- Pretty sure I have Covid. Tested negative but have that odd sinus pressure I had last time. It's not kicking my ass at the level the last time I had it did though.
RAVE: @malisbad is showing up in Sept with the family to visit the inlaws near me. I'm stealing him away for a couple of days so we can go day-drinking and yakitori-ing in the Tin Can. Really looking forward to it. RAVE: Just booked another 2 weeks after that to get away and work remotely from the Tin Can... just me, the dog, and starlink, on the Northern shore of Lake Superior. It'll be nice and chilly and beautiful and serene and a really nice working vacation. RAVE: Booked 10 days in Cabo to go deep sea fishing end of October... prime marlin, tuna, big fish season. All inclusive adult resort overlooking the marina. It will be a hell of a trip. The fishing charter has an open bar and a private chef. It will not suck.
Rant: Monterey Historic Races this weekend and I had a chance for free tickets. Alas I need to get some work finished. Rave: Got tickets for Ringo Starr's All Star Band in September. The venue is literally 15 minutes from my home and weather is spectacular in September. Wife is excited also as "He is a Beatle".
RAVE: Get to pick up my CPAP machine tomorrow morning. Apparently the normal 5-6 week turnaround time was condensed to a couple of days because "we had to expedite you and get it sorted out because you were bad enough we didn't want you to die before then". Fucking hell. Can't wait to theoretically get a good night sleep for the first time in a long time.