Andy got himself a new hammer drill

This was our gift in celebration of him getting his journeyman license.  Now I will make use of it this weekend!! :)

Not the greatest quality, but a cool pic

I was on the way home from some work at the range.  Julie was following behind me.  The moon and the clouds just made for a pretty and peaceful drive through the country. 

My best friend and my sidekick…

…you decide who's who. ;)

It’s nice to have a place to sit and talk at the range now.

Thanks to Pam, Paul and Bill!!!

It was fun to spy on Julie helping teach a class ❤️

Cool video showing tracks working by eating the snow.

 

I like looking at where Zoe and I go on our rides.

I never realized, if you turn a jeep upside down…

…it looks like it spells beer!? I thought this was a pretty funny bumper sticker at the show.

Nice colors and a strong witness for Jesus on this Jeep

The snow mixed well with the red accents on this Jeep.

Nice weather for the off-road expo this past weekend.

This was the scene as I pulled into my parking lot.  It does look like I must be in the right place at least. ;)

I came home from HQ with a pickle and two bananas…

Apparently, that's a thing now.  You get pranked by people.  I ended up with this cute ornament and two banana shaped cases for you lunch box.  Beware when people walk up to you in our HQ and act friendly, they may trying to give you something. Hahaha.

Noon on Friday…

It was a creepy yet cool low render distance kind of day Friday… and chickens. Haha.

Andy’s Quick Lock reemerge adapter drops right in :)

Seeing this coming around again brought back all kinds of fun memories.

Awana and the games were a fun age and time with the kids.  Both while they were clubbers and helping with the leading (LITs)

Bitty’s insanity…

If that's not a look of slight insanity, nothing is… hahahaha.

We got it lapped to a perfect fit with this sharpening stone :)

Andy's adapter hack is a success.  

Pam has REALLY spruced up the range!

She's made it welcoming and spacious.  There's a nice area to sit and talk, a table for gear, and even coffee. :)

We’ve been on a banana kick at work…

I got this in a newsletter for Blade Show.  Maybe I should add it to the banana shenanigans?! Hahahahaha.  My colleagues at work got a kick out of the picture at least.

Percy found a perch on my knee while we watched Desperado Ranch

I think he was interested in my food…?

Andy helped Percy make me a great skillet bowl!

Andy and I both LOVE this kind of breakfast food and will eat it any time of day!

This was a little bit of a shock when I opened Andy’s kitchen cabinet…

He invited me over for dinner.  When he asked me to get a plate, General Grievous greeted me!

It’s never the gun, only the shooter…?

I always say it's never the gun that hits or misses, but rather the shooter, but this gun sure helps!  A friend of mine loaned it to me to try.  I have to say, it's a nice one!  There is something about single action only that just makes it easier.  Not what I would carry, but it would sure earn you bragging rights in a marksmanship competition.  That's four holes touching the number 4 at 25 feet.  Iron sights too.

Hitting a dive with Johnny

While I was working on Andy's adapter, I happened to be near John's work during lunch time.  So we decided to hit up this dive just south of the range.  Jeff used to talk about eating there with his brothers in blue.  We thoughts we'd give it a try.  It's about what you'd expect.  Decent food, decent price, decent service, and nostalgic atmosphere. We enjoyed catching up on our week a bit.  I need to go back and try them out for breakfast too.  

It pays to know the right people…

I used to work at a shop with a full range of machining capabilities. An old friend totally took care of us and put these hex features onto the end of Andy's Quicklock extension we cut off.  The even gun blued it up for us to match the color and protect the new machined surfaces.  I took it home to try out.  It was the tiniest bit oversized, so we hand lapped it down to fit.  Even that was a fun, careful, learning experience for both Andy and me.  Good times. :)

Skills!

First try, I totally "bottle flipped" this 50 gallon barrel backwards over my head up into the loft, and it landed just like that. I could never do it again if my life depended on it, but it was utterly amazing the first time ;-)

I found a version I could tolerate…

This is the perfect size for us to sample without having a bunch of carbs lying around to tempt me. ;) One Oreo for each of us.  I liked the frosting flavor.  It reminded me of the decorative icing you would use to add letters or flowers to a cake.  The pop rocks added an extra element that hit a little later while you're enjoying each cookie.  Fun to try.  

Congrats to Andy and getting his journeyman plumber’s license!

Funny that a friend of mine (who watched Andy grow up hanging around the range) sent me this cartoon on the same day Andy picked up his license. 

I’m learning how to put a nice razor sharp mirrored edge on Julie’s knives :)

I like our little spot of country❣️

It’s fun to swing by Boston Stoker…

…and think of the days when it was a bank I used to clean in high school.  Before I could drive, I would walk to this one from First National up the road.  I had to pass Bill's Donuts every night.  Well, I was never successful in "passing" it. Hahaha!

Some cool themed knives…

They just might be catering to my generation that grew up Star Wars… ;)

Julie’s Valentine’s Day roses look really pretty!

I heard Dave Ramsey say marriages have a good chance if they agree on religion, finances, children and in-laws. Julie and I score 4/4 on those so maybe we'll work out after all. :) ❤️

The Off-road Expo is this weekend.

I get to be a judge on Jeep and booth design and volunteered for a stint as the club and show photographer. 

Zoe and her ears! She can sure stand the out.

Crafting with Andy.

He's trying to make an adapter that has Milwaukee Quick-Lock on one end and this 3/8 hex on the other (to adapt to Reed reamers).  We tried our hand at it with an angle grinder and drill press, but it was just too sketchy and inaccurate.  It was fun to try.  Now off to see if we can find a machining shop to help out…

Lunch for the help…

Andy looks a little mental here.  ;) Otherwise, it's a cool pic at Jimmy John's.

It’s hard to see the prices when they put them on the floor…

My legs look like I got run over by a fork truck or something… they had the price signs for the lower rack attached under the bottom beam of the supports.  Andy decided to take advantage of the moment and capture it, hahahaha!

A balisong, butterfly knife

I like the way the logo, the stonewash, and the handle color looks together.  

A pretty evening for a bike ride Saturday

 It was a little chilly, but Zoe and I still enjoyed ourselves.  The snow made it very quiet and peaceful.  It was cold enough that the snow squeaked under our tires the whole time. 

It’s nice to have the sun out for the last few days.

It was a pretty day so Zoe and I decided to run some errands.  I opened my top and we soaked up some rays.  40º is plenty warm enough for an open sun roof.  I like how you can see the moon along the power lines.  

John and I played a few games after too.

They're going such a good job of making their house nice.  Warm, inviting, cozy and fun.  I even managed to beat him at one of his fighting games once.  I had an unfair advantage since he let me use his fight stick and he was stuck on a regular controller.  I didn't let that stop me from laughing the whole time. ;)

John and I had brunch this past weekend.

Smash burger opens at 10! I had a hamburger covered in brisket, bacon, and egg!!! We had a nice side of Brussel sprouts too.  Yummy, and a good time to catch up on life.  

Johnny made an overlay graphic for his joystick

There are a lot of cool design elements.  This is one of the characters he plays.  When you move the joystick in the combo the arrows depict, then press the correct button (the hole with the starburst on it, she does her power move called a Dauro.  Pretty clever.  He sent me this pic of the design and mock-up he did.  I guess you can do this kind of stuff for fun when you're in graphic design. :)

My view was getting worse…

By the time I got into the Columbus area, it had started to snow.  This is I-71.  There weren't many crews out and it was pretty slippery and slow.  Luckily I made it home safe, just an hour or two later than I hoped.  I was able to avoid the major jams and keep moving all the way.  

My view of the sunrise while heading west Friday morning

I was on the way back home and like the look of sunrise in the east reflecting off the clouds in the west.  

Poor Zoe, bored out of her mind…

This is how she "sits" around when she's bored.  It's a lot worse when I'm on the road.  Julie sent me this while I was on the way home from Boston on Friday.  I was gone three days.  You would think it was three weeks…  Then agin, the kids pointed out to me that 1 year is 7 dog years so that means on day is seven dog days!   I guess her missing me is justified when I go away for three weeks in her mind? Hahahaha.

We’re proud of Andy and his accomplishments!

He passed his plumbing journeyman's test with flying colors.  He picks up his license this week!   Good job mister!  It's also fun to see the support and love in our family with the dialog in our chat too.  

I was in Boston a couple days ago.

This is Friday morning when I was loading up to head back home.  I've been staying at this hotel since my first trip to Cognex over 25 years ago.  I liked the look of their lights, the early morning blue sky and a little dusting of snow (foreshadowing…). 

I thought this was a pretty cool knife

Squid Industries released it to celebrate Chinese New Year.  Pretty cool texture and pattern.  I like the gold hardware too.  Kraken are just a solid, affordable balisong. 

The pack is all in one square meter…

I’ve scaled the height of Mt. Everest once a year since 2014…?!

Since I've been tracking, I have climbed the height of Mount Everest about 10 times. More than once in my workout elevations and nine times or so assuming 8 feet per flight of stairs! Total distance on feet is approximately equal to my house to New Zealand and back. 

This makes me wonder: Is this why my knees hurt, or did that keep them in shape longer…? Hahahaha.