2026-10-20

I remember shopping from displays like this

We used to buy Life Savers, gum, and candy out of shelves like these at the local grocery store and probably the Lakeside Newsstand too. :)
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Limitless aisles of collectibles…

I realized that flea markets and antique shops are just the same as storage centers…. Haha.  Probably worse.  I’m guessing the cost per square foot is higher, but at least you have the “hope” that someone happens to to buy something of yours.  I like my method of selling it at the street better 🤪 So far, I’ve kind of managed to stay out of the storage center trap…
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Antiquing with my girl

Julie decided she wanted a second end table so we hit up some Springfield area antique places (couldn’t find any on FBMP and Waynesville was bombed by the sauerkraut festival haha).  These are some of the cool things we saw in the process.  My favorites were the cabinet maker’s tool box in the lower left and the hardware store bolt organizer in the lower right.
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The process of replacing my Jeep wheel studs…

It took a decent amount of patience and a LOT of force to get these guys pressed into place in order to replace my broken wheel studs. You have to stack up several washer with just the right ID (some that let the threads pass through on top and some that let the larger swage diameter through on the bottom), upper left pic.  Then you have to tighten it enough to swage (smash) the splines into the axle hole (upper middle pic).  I had to apply about 1,200 foot pounds of torque to make it work and that was after chasing the threads of the stud and lug nut with a tap and die AND lubricating them.  Upper right pic shows one of the old studs where you can see how the splines smoosh down.  Lower right shows a new stud, where it fits, and how it compares to an old stud already in pace.  

To give you an idea of how much force 1,200 ft-lbs is… The lower left pic shows the first lug nut I tried it on.  That little stip of metal that look like a wire is where the force was high enough that it pulled all the treads right out of the nut!

In the end, I got them all in place and didn’t break anything.  It was a fun learning process really put my tools to the test too.
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Trying out the “walk-thru” at McDonald’s

Andy and Sophie had fun walking through the drive through at McDonald’s during the sauerkraut festival. It was kind of fun.  McD’s put tables out in the parking lot and catered to the foot traffic all weekend. Pretty fun.  

They even had Grimace and the Hamburgler available for a meet and great! Hahahaha.  They were in the area for the grand opening of the new location that replaced our old Burger King in Beavercreek that same weekend. 
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2026-10-19

It was fun bumping into to this guy at the sauerkraut festival

John was there with his in-laws.  We conquered it from opposite ends and met in the middle 🤪

Andy got to show us his handiwork!

It was fun to hear him talk about the extra required in these 200 year old buildings.  I remember it all too well and feel his pain having experienced some of it on my own…!
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I remember working here

Andy was invited to take us on a tour of where he’d been working.  I remembered working in the rooms as soon as I walked in!  Especially the basement where I had to shovel out old coal to make room.
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Taking donations for this mural

The new owners are trying to raise funds to have this painted on the end of the Hammel House. It was fun to sit and talk with them about my experience working there over the years. He was intrigued by the story of my dad, grandpa and son all being part of it too :)
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Wooden flower arrangements!

As seen at the sauerkraut festival! Very intricate. 
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2026-10-18

Cool things I saw at the festival

Andy and I both liked the design of the knife on the right… Although it was nearly impossible to open without touching the blade… Luckily it wasn’t that sharp. 🤪

Every year, I drool over the pens like the one shown on the left.  In fact THAT’s the exact one I want.  They’re just TOO expensive for what they are.  But they are made of real watch parts.  I like this one because it was a vintage Breitling chronograph dial and you can see some of the ruby jewels (right of the tip of my thumb).  Maybe some day.  I’ve looked at them for the last five years…. Andy was betting this would be the year hahaha.  
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A pretty combo of fall colors ❤️

This one leaf I found lying in a sauerkraut festival booth was displaying about every fall cover you can ever have :)

Drinking from a fire hose?!

This booth had their soda machine hooked up to the fire hydrant.  Pretty funny.  Of course, Andy inspected it and let us know they were in compliance.  With a pressure regulator and backflow preventer, they were good to go 🤪
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Some of the new things we tried

These are some of the things that were new, and/or we hadn’t tried before at the sauerkraut festival this past weekend.  Pumpkin rolls, a new coffee booth (Costa Rica blend), Heather’s Snickers caramel apple, and sauerkraut caramel fudge. With four of us together, we all got to sample a few bites of everything.  All were yummy❣️

10 days of 65º and sunny!

We love the fall weather.  A little nippy at night, but the days are beautiful!
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