Today I got up, made coffee and breakfast, put on my work clothes, and went out to split some more wood. This involved badgering my neighbor via text enough times that he dragged his splitter over and we set up a (dis)assembly line. In about 4 hours we went through a good number of rounds and made a pile of split, stackable wood that we estimate is about 3 cords. According to this calculator I’ve already got 1.5 cords in my cradle.
The weather was perfect for being outdoors. After lunch we picked up two six-packs of tasty session IPA, one from Burley Oak and one from Firestone Walker, and both were delicious. By about 4:30 we were done, so he hitched up the splitter and took it home while I gathered the chips for kindling and straightened the pile. Then I sat with Finley and showed her how to fix the wheel on her new wagon: drill the axle, add a washer, and secure it with a cotter pin. It got dark before she could really play with it too much, but I’m happy to see it getting love again.
The week was a long haul–lots of early mornings in and late nights out of work. We did close on the mortgage, which is great. Finley assisted with another goal in her soccer game today, before going down in a collision with another player. Jen texted me and said it was “like the Simpsons Trampoline,” which had me laughing after I was assured Finn was OK.
Now I’m laying in bed wondering if I will be able to move in the morning.
Bill Dugan chats about how @worldresources found new ways of communicating w/ data viz. #net2dc pic.twitter.com/u85yTexPUL
— NetSquared DC (@net2dc) October 25, 2016
- Split, stacked and covered enough wood to fill the second cradle. There’s no end in sight.
- Watched Finley make a stellar assist in soccer, resulting in a goal for her team.
- Celebrated said game with donuts.
- Went pumpkin picking and had dinner with the Morrises.
- Picked up the CSA in the Scout
- Fixed our old HP printer, which went on the fritz last year at this time. A new network board solved that problem right quick.
- Put some old electronics on Craigslist
- Watched my neighbor fly his drone 400 feet over our neighborhood with my GoPro.
- Watched the Ravens lose
- Made dinner for the family
- Worked on a presentation for this event on Tuesday evening. 90+ RSVPs. Yikes!
This is wonderful: Portraits of people who want artists to work for free. Via Dangerous Minds
Finley and I have agreed to start running to get regular exercise going. I’d like for her to grow up with exercise as a part of her life, not a chore. This is going to take some dedication on my part, and a guide for How to Start Running, via The New York Times.
I’m tired of having to sign in to my fucking iCloud account every five fucking minutes. Fix that shit please.
Behold: seven posters for each of the Harry Potter books, by Olly Moss. Pricy, but absolutely stunning visually and conceptually.
This picture approximates how I feel after having signed the refi paperwork today. I’m glad to have that behind us, and hopeful that we can get started on our stalled bathroom sometime in the next month.
The picture above was taken at the St. Mary’s County Oyster Festival, our annual pilgrimage to the Ass End of Maryland to sample tasty shellfish and stuffed ham. We were accompanied by our friend Chris, who was in town visiting, and we sampled the culinary delights of the fair while people-watching and enjoying the weather.
Finley tried stuffed ham and was not impressed:
However, a man with a tiny monkey was entertaining the crowds, and for a dollar he sat on Finn’s shoulder and stuck his tongue out for us. I’d consider that a dollar well spent!
As the photos from Saturday suggest, I was at Jalopyrama for most of the morning. The show was huge and apparently is getting bigger every year. The cars shown were beautiful, even the rough ones. I find myself drawn to the rough ones, actually, as they’ve got better stories to tell. There were scores of deuce coupes, both surgically clean and clapped out. There were a lot of gassers, which I was never really a fan of, but have grown to respect. There was lots of original or near-original Detroit iron. And then there were the garish modifieds, usually painted a bright color, with all of the interesting stuff chopped off and a small-block Chevy under the hood. I would be happy if these all just stayed home in the garage. The main exhibition hall was curated carefully with period-era hot rods, which I appreciated, because that’s my reason for going to the show.
After walking the grounds, I found myself desiring a large early 60’s sedan of some kind, preferably with a bubble window and miles of chrome. There was an Edsel Ranger for sale, for $6500, which might have been fun, or a flawless Impala with an Inquire Within sign on the dash. My dream garage is not big enough.
After about three hours I was pretty burnt out, though; much like going to Carlisle for the truck show, I needed some quiet time by myself to recharge. This I did by taking the CR-V to get four new tires installed, something that has been necessary for months now. The tires it was wearing were two pairs of different brands, showing signs of caster imbalance, and balding heavily. The new tires feel tight and solid, and the car tracks smooth and straight. Now, to find a used hood to replace the original, which is suffering from unsightly clearcoat peeling…
Matthew decided his best chance to affect Derek’s thinking was not to ignore him or confront him, but simply to include him. “Maybe he’d never spent time with a Jewish person before,” Matthew remembered thinking.
The Washington Post tells the story of a second-generation white supremacist who began to question his beliefs–and was aided by an open invitation to Shabbat dinner.