Daynotes On A Budget, V6.0

Another OFIM (TM Bob Walder), as it tends to go in my world. Slept horribly last night, and woke up at 4:44 am.  The alarm goes off at 5:45 am for me, so I get a few minutes to sit here, get the eyes to blink in unison, attempt to ease into the day by discovering what, if anything, happened overnight, and then prepare for the day.  By about 6:15 I get the shoes on, pull on my sweatshirt, grab my mug, and encourage the dogs to head upstairs with me.  Once I hit the first landing, I divert to the freezer in the garage, grab breakfast, and then consider if I need additional cold caffeine beverages in the fridge upstairs, then hit the last six steps.   Once I'm upstairs, I unload my stuff onto the kitchen stove, and put food in Cheyanne's bowl, by the time that is complete, she's usually right behind me.  I remove the baby gate blocking off the kitchen - as puppies are well-known connoisseurs of kitchen garbage.  Freyja has a predilection for paper towels ...

I get it.  I am now an old man, though inside me somewhere is still that little voice that says "when you grow up, things will get better..."  I think that little kid needs a bit of education...  But then there's the multiple loads of bullshit I encounter on a daily basis. So yeah, I'm making a mental list.  Recently, it occurred to me that there are quite a few organizations that very clearly do not want my business.  I am a very big believer in good, solid work, solid items, well-made items that last.  I do not follow this philosophy all the time, because there are times you need to learn.   For example, my basic philosophy when it comes to tools is buy the best you can afford/get your hands on - unless you don't know what you're getting.  I could have, and have, spent thousands of dollars on tools.  Some of them have worked out, some have not.  But the general idea for me when it comes to getting a new tool is to step back and as...

 Well, I'm pretty worked up about quite a few things lately, as one might expect.   However, this putz hit the ball right out of the park - foul ball, that is. For the record, here's the link to the article on CNN : https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/03/us/parades-independence-day-july-4-ijdgi-cec/index.html .  This poor, sad fellow has never had fun at a parade. Yeah, I get it.  I'm warped.  When I was a little kid, the memories are still there of hopping onto the back gate of the station wagon with my dad, and watching the parade pass by.  Back in those days, when the American Flag passed, you got your ass up, your hat came off, and you stood at attention.  Every damned time.   But back then it was usually not only showing respect for the flag, but also showing respect for those who carried it.  Often they were older men who had been soldiers.  Most of the early parades I remember are from the late 1960s into the early 1970s.  ...

I glanced out the window a few days ago while working, and the memory of what I would do as a kid during summer days hit me like a brick.   The earliest that I remember my time as my own must have been when I was five or six.  We lived in a ranch-style house in what was then known as "Kutzman's Edition" - seriously, that was what the first sign said.  Out in the countryside north of Sartell, Minnesota, on what I knew as "The Great River Road".  Up where we lived, you could no longer see the Mississippi most days thanks to the larger yards and heavy trees.  We were probably a quarter-to-half mile from the river at that point, which was probably something of a relief to my mother, who was attempting to keep safe one boy and two or three girls. But there were days when I was released to the tender mercies of the neighborhood, where I found a bunch of other boys to hang out and play with.  The rather rural area was slowly succumbing to sprawling housing de...

My wife will insist to you that I do not like change.  Which is why for at least 25 years my chosen field was technology.  Because, you know, nothing at all changes in tech.  </Snark> I am not much of a fan of change that appears to be needless.  I mean, things like new clothes.  I like some of them if they're particularly funny tee shirts, or provide a spark to a memory that I value greatly.  Or, ya know, other stuff like that.  But there are some changes which are kind of hard. Locally, the television station which I watch regularly is about to go through one of those major upheavals.  Last fall, they celebrated their 70th anniversary, and earlier this year, Randy Shaver celebrated his 40th anniversary at the station.  Mr. Shaver joined the station back in the early 1980s as a sports reporter.  The staff around him was incredibly professional and very likeable through the years, as was he.  In fact, going back a chunk of tim...

Yup, two weeks ago I was out of town.  It's rather laughingly called "vacation". My wife found a nice resort up north that was well within our budget.  She'd gone for a few trips without me, because I had decided to spend time at home, rather than traveling.  This time, I went.  Still regretting it. The cabin was very nice, as was the weather.  We arrived on Saturday, unloaded the vehicle with two dogs and two people and stuff for the week.  After dinner from the resort's restaurant which was good we had our first night of ... well, chaos is probably the best way to explain it.  Cheyanne hopped herself up onto the double bed, which between my wife and her did not leave much in the way of room.  When combined with Freyja's patrolling the place, I got up and went into the living room to keep her company.   We ran into Fergus Falls the next day to pick up groceries and a few things, like a dog bed, which we apparently needed.  The seco...

I played baseball and football as organized team sports as a kid.  That is, I played the games in my neighborhood when the other kids were willing to do so.  When the chance came to play the sports in school, I got permission from my parents, and got dropped off the Monday morning after our parish "Fall Festival" which was always held on the third weekend of August, and helped clean up after that.  There were adults taking down the festival booths, we helped them, picked up garbage that had not been put into the trash barrels, and worked hard.  Come lunch time we got leftovers from the previous day's Turkey Festival Dinner - no pie left, but plenty of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy,   Then was the meeting which our coach held in the fifth-grade classroom, which had been my class room the previous year.  Coach explained what he expected, as far as showing up for practices and games, and ... well, there was the absolutely uncomfortable momen...