By the time I got home, the snow had all but disappeared. I thought my rig looked pretty nice on the thinnest of snow blankets. So I grabbed these pics while goofing around out front of the garage.
2026-01-22
Winter is coming?
I was out running errands a few nights ago and got hit with this little squall. The predictions for the weekend sound dire… What are the chances they’re right? ;)
Some of the guys at work were messing with me…
This was their use of AI to show me either putting the spilt beans back into the can, or combining our two meeting threads back into one. Regardless, pretty fun version of "me", hahahahaha!
These are really cool!
There's a gazillion of these floating around all the socials. I'm trying not to get sucked into any of them as most are probably too good to be true. This particular supposed design, coloring and quality looks pretty good on the screen. I decided to satisfy my self by saving a pic. 🤪
2026-01-21
Watching a video about an abandoned IBM training facility…
The urban explorers in the video stumbled onto some cool artifacts behind the rear projection room of the main training area.
Imagine the days of being the guy that had to find a keyboard, make the little arrow, stick the printing on it, then frame it up on a film camera to make this one slide to add to the projector carousel to be shown in a training presentation on where the enter button is on a computer! 🤪
This facility was in its heyday about the time I was entering the work force. It gives you an idea how things have changed during my career timeframe!
Back at it again - Kendama
Andy and I are headed to one of our two annual competitions again soon. So I have my trick list and have run through it a few times. I added a couple new ones I can do (nightingale and hanging pinch start-tama grip-spike for example), got better at some that used to stop me (one turn lighthouse), but I still have a couple that are always gonna give me trouble (whirlwinds and juggles). At least I make a little progress every year 🤪
Julie bought this cheese at Kroger!
It's a sheep's milk cheese laced with black truffles. It is REALLY good! Just the right firmness, texture and flavor!
Cracking open Papua New Guinea coffee!
Julie got me a k-cup maker for Christmas. It lets me use my own coffee and still enjoy the convenience of Keurig. So I ground up some of this I had in the freezer that Dave and Deb gave me when they visited. It's a unique and flavorful brew. It also helps remind me to pray for their work and ministry translating God's Word. :)
Just too cute!
I thought this was just too adorable a pic of the boys. I had to post it for old time's sake❣️ It's fun to think of the light saber days gone by.
2026-01-20
Ok, one last comparison…
I found these "factory" pics of my first and second Jeeps. This is roughly what they would have looked like stock. The bottom pics show the last time I had them out for some fun and give a nice comparison for all that had been done to them along their journey. Really happy with my current build, its drivability, and it's trail prowess! :)
What kind of wild monsters roam our place…?!
I discovered this huge, clawed footprint while on our walk!
Then I realized it was just Chloe, hahahahaha! She's so scary ;)
Hands free walking belt…
I grabbed an old army surplus belt and a "swivel" so that I could walk the pups and not worry about holding onto their leashes or getting them tangled the whole time. I do really like the "no-pull" harnesses that have the leash connections in the middle of their chests, they are a 93% improvement!
This setup works pretty well for me and makes it more enjoyable for all involved 🤪
Been playing with watch faces…
The amount of data you can get on one screen is just crazy silly these days. 20 pieces of info displayed on the left one, and access to 5 or 6 more by touching the screen. The right screen is my standard walking/biking workout data. Nuts!
2026-01-19
So much evil… 😈
Pepper's taking this whole "pretending to be a dog" thing too seriously! Hahahaha.
Starting a new sticker spot…
I have this poster on the back of my office door. It's cool and brings back fun memories of years past at work. But it's also dated, and has lots of spare sticker real estate so here we go… I started with Hothead and GOAT guns on our former CFO 🤪
Isaac got me thinking…
I decided to do a before and after of my first Jeep too. Top is before, bottom is after (from each side. The top left is the day I took it home. The top right is the first time I saw it.
Julie’s tank is looking great!
Top is the middle of the day, bottom right is during "sunrise" and the bottom left is during "moon rise". She found a $25 light on amazon that goes through a normal day/night light cycle every 24 hours. Pretty cool. The mystery snail is busy cleaning the glass to the right of the top pic too.
2026-01-18
Isaac wanted a comparison
He thought it would be cool to see a before and after picture of my Jeep, so here you go. The top pic is the during my test drive the day before I brought it home June 2024. Bottom is Andy and I swinging by B&Bs on the way home from Hothead dinner this past week January 2026.
And the pic below is about what it would have looked like from the factory:
Speaking of memory lane…
I found this in one of my drawers. Reminds me of all the years working in Awana with my kids, nephews and nieces. I think these were actually the dog bones I earned somehow, although I don't remember how.
Enjoying memories with Isaac
I forgot to put my coffee mug under the coffee maker so it meant I had a little bit of a mess to cleanup. That meant I had to pick things up and dry them off, and it took me on a sentimental journey down memory lane. Good times, good memories, good kids❤️ So what did I learn, don't grumble when things don't go your way 🤪
2026-01-17
Ther brother just as enthused…?!
Andy and Johnny both got to do Hothead runs with me to use our hockey coupons. They both had the same reaction lol. I can always count on them to make me laugh!
A great montage of weekends with Sophie!
It's fun to see Andy and Sophie enjoying their time together goofing around! She's always adding a smile or just the right expression and pose to their shenanigans. Most recently she helped Andy mount Wench on his wall for display! She later spent The Weeknd nursing him through the flu… and is now paying the price for that 😷
The big boys gotta have fun too!
These Jeep rigs are monster builds done by the same shop that helps me with mine. They took a recent excursion to Windrock and hit trail 15 among others. This is the worst part of it at the very top. I've been up that same trail. It's relatively short and VERY demanding. This obstacle manages to make their rigs look small in comparison. You can tell they were workin; from all the dust and dirt they're kicking up! Good times to watch them on some of the stuff I've done. They made it look way easier though…
I snagged these screen shots from their YouTube channel.
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Julie got me some new holsters for Christmas
And I just love the sticker they came with! Now I can carry my new hardware when practicing at the range, and look good doing it haha!
I refreshed the inside of my Jeep
I went with a one piece carpet/floor mat combo. It's now a seamless look and you can just hose it down if it gets muddy. It's supposed to give better sound and thermal insulation too. I have two say they did a good job of shaping and and cutting the pieces. Only three pieces total for the whole passenger compartment (front and back seats). Nicely done.
Picture on the left is the front passenger floor as seen from the driver sear center console area, right pic is the driver side from outside the driver door.
Liking the look and function so far. I will test it out at the next ride.
2026-01-16
A satisfying cluster of zip tie magnets…
This is the way they carefully box them up for shipping. Three layers that make a compact and convenient way to box them up. It made a kinda cool pic too.
Her apple snail came out to say hi
While Julie was working on her plants, she had the lid open. Her mystery snail came out to say hi. He climbed up on the edge, then decided that might not such a good idea and slithered back into the water.
Julie’s getting fish for her tank
Now that we got her old tank set back up and the cycling stabilized, it's time to add some fish. Stef, John, Savannah, and I all stopped by the fish store. She's going for a micro tank. That means all the swimming critters will be super small. Like an inch or less. She's starting with some Endler Guppies and these adorable shrimp. I call them clown shrimp since they look like a clown fish coloring to me. They are actually neocardina shrimp of various colors. She got blue, orange, yellow, and these clown colored ones. 😀
2026-01-15
So many memories and fun emotions tied up in this…
…a sweet message from my mom❣️ It's another example of the love, care, guidance, prayers and Christian spiritual example she's always been. Love you mom!
Just hanging out in the driveway.
I thought my Jeep was looking nice once I got it cleaned up from the most recent adventures over my Christmas break. On to the next one 🤪
I think it does look better sitting at the proper height now that my springs put the lift back to where it should be! I stopped hitting my wheels on my undercarriage now! AND my undercarriage is once again clearing the stuff I'm climbing over. :)
Our current favorite Sushi place
It's pretty at night and they keep adding little details making it better and better. It's fun to watch their progress as we also get to know some of the staff a little bit too.
2026-01-14
Let’s just take a moment…
…to appreciate the lock screen photos iOS 26 pulls out of my photo collection these day. Really nice to see them pop up, and they get the cropping, clock, and icons right in a way that makes them even more appealing. Fun!
This is what a quick multi-cam edit session gets me out of Final Cut Pro…
I can add transitions easy enough and have almost figured out how to do Picture in Picture. Stay tuned…
Wow! Didn’t see that coming.
I figured after this many decades, we would always have "just" a Lego brick. Not any more!
Been playing around with watch face configurations…
This pic might give you a feel for how my brain "looks" to me sometimes, hahaha. It is cool that you have so many options these days all in software. In many cases, you can make it just what you want it to be. Which one do you think I am the most likely to use on a daily basis? Which one do you like the most?
2026-01-13
The Apostle’s Creed
We started a new sermon series at church using the Apostle's Creed as the outline of topics considering the foundations of our faith. In an era where 50% of evangelicals miss som of the major tenants of Christianity, it's probably time for a review!
Playing around with Live Multicam capture in Final Cut Pro.
Three views, on button, all synced…
Here, I’m just playing back the clip it generates. You can see that it has all three views embedded in the project. While it’s playing back, I can just click any time I want to change views. A proof of concept run…
Fun for throwback weekend
We brought out some of our old Bomber Hockey gear for the games on the weekend before last.
10/10 highly recommend this little pocket tool!
Just make sure you heat shrink the driver bit retainer ring. The little ball bearing has a tendency to pop out if you pry with it, but not if you do this little hack.
Add a ceramic blade and I can't recommend them enough! Stay sharp forever. Even when chipped up, kind of like a serrated edge. It's a great tool to have in reach 24/7. Flathead makes a great pry bar. And I carry a spare carbide razor blade in the handle just in case. Bottle opener, wire stripper, wire bender, scraper and edge guide all built in. Home Depot, less than $20. So I don't care if I lose it. Also means most of my other knives stay super sharp. Defensive knives never touch anything. Almost never have to sharpen a knife anymore.
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