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The drive out was beautiful. Kansas was long, flat and straight, but I enjoyed it. Denver driving sucks ass. The truck and trailer did great. The first day we went white water rafting at Clear Creek. Elevation 8,200 ft. I got tossed from a raft. No matter how hard I tried I could not get back to the boat. I would be right there and the current would pull me away. Spent about 3-4 minutes (at least) in 40 degree water bouncing off rocks. The current was too strong to try to stand up. I had a wetsuit that was very constrictive and a life jacket also. Those combined with the water pushing me under made it very hard to catch any breath. I finally got to the side and managed to hold on to a boulder (after slipping off a few others). Staff drug my ass out of the water. Emmy had to watch the whole thing. (Griffin and Jen stayed back because of the wrist). I got beat up really good, was cold AF and out of breath. But I survived. When Emmy saw me climb up out of the water I could see her burst out in tears. The coach was right next to me. He took it really hard, like it was his fault that he couldn't get me back into the raft. Later on we learned that every year at least one dad drowns at this event while rafting. It was really close to being me. Glad it wasn't. Day two we went to red rocks and Garden of the Gods. Simply amazing. I have no words to describe the beauty. Day 3 we went to Estes Park and RMNP. We drove up the damn trail ridge road and I about shit my pants. I hate heights. The tour guide was very nice and understanding. We got to 12,000 ft. I took a pic and we got the fuck out of there. Again, beautiful. We played the rest of the days. The girls got drummed in the first game. It was a team that had no business being in our bracket. We played well the rest of the time. We won 3 games by run rule. Our other 2 losses were only 1 run losses. Made the cut to championship sunday. Came home at 5 and 3. Really made a lot of noise out there and people knew out name. I was super proud of them. Emmy played amazing. On the way home I stopped at a BP. Every other station has green handles for diesel. Except BP. I put 8 gallons in the tank before I realized it. Had to get towed to a dealership that drained my tank and changed my fuel filters. That mistake cost me about 6 hours and 500 bucks. I will never do that again. Got home at 9 last night and back at work this morning. I put 3100 miles on the truck this week. It was an amazing time.

A sloth cam from the Philadelphia Zoo. At first I barely saw the sloth because it was resting in one of the baskets, but then I saw the arm sloooooooooowly move a bit. I don't expect to get much work done tomorrow. https://philadelphiazoo.org/sloth/

I miss dearie.

Some people seem to forget we live in FL. It's a pissant tropical storm. Yet daycare closed, vet canceled appointments and people are grabbing sand bags for areas not even in typical flood zones. Meanwhile; we've got some father daughter time together by me playing hookey.

I call this one, "Kirby on velvet tapestry."

So if you job hunt like you car shop, as soon as you find the new job, it will be time to retire....

It sounds really super cheesy, but I kept thinking back to my military training. Now they didn't teach me to survive rapids like that, but the overwhelming take away that I had from everything military i ever did was "keep calm, trust your training, and above all.....KEEP CALM". So I just tried to keep my cool, breath when I could and remember the tips they gave us right before heading out. And guess what? They worked!

Edgar now has a 24 hour cam. Tonight he's taking the neighbor's collie out for a spaghetti dinner. He's washing the cabriolet now

I love it. It isn't a couch like some of these can be. You gotta work for it to control. Not the most sleek and fast Pau Hana, but a good middle of the road for difficulty. I took the day of working on the house yesterday to ride my bike, spent the afternoon on the SUP and went for a nice walk after dinner.

The best time to look for a job is when you already have one. That way you won't feel pressured to take any job that happens your way. I was always open to new opportunities and switched jobs about every 5 years once I left the military.

Ok, in all seriousness... How much longer will you need to work? 65? I think that the smart money would say just suck it up until retirement.

Well it's over. Heavy rain and winds started about 11pm. Tje stronger gusts would wake me up but for the most part it was a 6+ hour thunderstorm. Just went out and surveyed the area. Neighbors lost a good sized branch off their oak, some knucklehead left their basketball hoop up and now it's in the road in a few pieces. That's it. We're all just a bit more wet then usual.

34 miles, sunny, 91 degrees, no wind.

I felt WoScrapr in the room with me after she passed. A few months later she touched me on the arm. I startled & woke up. That made me mad. Maybe we could have talked. I have a lot of stuff to ask her. She came to our boy the same night. She talked & sang to him

We can add kettlebells and med ball slams...this week..probably in the 10 pound range...my meet with the PT tonight was to look at a few exercises for the nerve glides...I told him I left August 3rd as a session..and he said we may not need it... I am doing great.

To set land speed records Its the best use for salt

We biked to the end of the world....ok it might not be the end but you can see it from here. Looks like Lake Michigan

I was wondering if this statement was correct and verified it is. Steroids were first discovered for medical use in the 1930’s. Carry on…

I would look around some -- especially at other senior places. Your age may be a benefit there

I'm not sure I like the summer Olympics as much as the winter. I miss curling. For the summer I'd suggest that they combine rally racing with the biathlon and shoot from the moving cars.

almost killed yourself Almost killed your undies almost killed your truck Tell us a again why Emmy continues to travel with you?

21 miles with WoJSTL on the tandem.

For yucky water, about 7 minutes. For good water, about 30 minutes. Klamath Lake is gross, unless you go to the inlet to the lake. There is a spring fed creek that is more like a river, and it is beautiful. I will try to take some pics today. At least you know me and didn't say Campy.

15 miles on the MTB. Mix of gravel and asphalt.

In Copper Harbor and the WIFI is spotty so if Wo46 is going to kill me off this will be the time and place. It's been nice knowing ya all.

Personal trainer for a 55+ community.

"Accidentally" drop a heavy weight on your trainer's foot. Take over his job while he's recovering. Repeat as needed until you reach retirement age.

My son was a squirrel 5 YO when we went to the GC. I was amazed how easily someone could fall to their death… I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck everytime the path was near the ledge. We didn’t do any of the overlooks, I just didn’t trust him.

I did some more digging and found steroids were first used in the TDF in 1930 as well! 😁

Hot one today, 91 degrees right now! 12.8 miles in the heat of the day.

Yeah, it took some coaxing to get him in position for this pic even though there was a rock wall. It didn't help that there was ice on the ground. It also freaked him out a little when G and E got close to the edge. If you guys ever come back out, I'll take you to one of my favorite spots on the north rim. It's 65 miles of dirt road to get there and there are no rails or walls. It's also about a 3000 foot drop straight down to the river.

I tried this 'healthy' low sugar cereal made by a company called Grain Berry. I do have to say it was the best approximation of compressed sawdust and cardboard I'd ever tasted. No amount of sugar would have rescued it. Eventually I dumped the rest of the box into the grill in place of charcoal briquettes, and once started with a bit of lighter fluid they burned pretty well.

Very well could have. But we were a small first year team out of Ky. Nobody was looking at us. Her team had never traveled out there. There were some jokes when we first got there about "Smash House"? WTF is that? And what's with your accents? But they learned real quick. A parent was walking by and one of our girls was sitting on a 3-1 count. She absolutely crushed a double out to left center on what would have been ball 4. The parent said "Well I guess they don't call you guys the 'Walk House'"

And then my wife had the nerve to say "I am glad it was you!" I mean WTF??? But what she meant was that there were several other dads on the trip that would probably have not made it out. And I could not even fathom if it were one of the girls. That would be horrible. Would they be able to keep calm? But she said I was by far the best swimmer, and one of the strongest.

BF of Daughter#3 rides a little MTB - not a lot but a few local trails, nothing radical. He's self-employed as a plumber and can't afford a broken collarbone. A couple weeks ago he went to the LBS to pick up some shoes he had on order with them and he came back with a new Specialized Stumpjumper. Is he a keeper?

If it doesn't taste like it smells, it's spoiled. Throw it away and try a new bar.

I know. Something heavy was happening in my life at the time and I honestly think it was my mother. It was a very, very low point in my life and I was heading in the wrong direction. In my unscientific and humble opinion, there were deeper forces at work there. Dreams like that can be random and we can find all sorts of explanations for them -- only I felt something and not just the physical aspect of it. Whatever or whoever it was, clearly was sending me a message and I received it. Twenty years ago I would have said you're projecting what you wanted to see -- but not anymore Scrapr. I believe your experience was real. I'll never forget a few days after my mom died, the TV did a hard power off while my dad and I were watching the baseball game. My mom, dad and I would always watch the games together. Always. It wasn't a short circuit. The damn thing was powered off and we were both across the room. I think that experienced changed my dad's perception of the world. And later that evening, her electric tooth brush started going off in the cradle by itself. I heard this strange noise coming from the bathroom before investigating. In 40+ years, I have never seen or experienced any of that. It seemed pretty clear to me it was my mom making her presence known. She was there with us.

I don't even know if/when his body is cremated yet. The executor/his daughter is handling that..not me. And the lawyer is the infogatekeeper. It really is outrageous what is going on...the communication block because lawyer plays role of saviour for their client. This is why I need vacation with in-person close friends at this time. The journey has barely started. I just released this blog post today about what he and I enjoyed. I tend to post-date/plan blog posts months in advance. But maybe later, I might have to change direction on what I blog about. Thx for your ongoing thoughts and kindness. Ironic you can give it to me and haven't met any of you in person, when others are incredibly insensitive.

I bet you do, star. We all know it and hope you find comfort and a way forward. FWIW, both you and @Longjohn have our support.

I think most advice is that you should avoid making any big financial or other decisions that you don't absolutely have to make for a significant period of time after an emotional situation or other trauma. Don't feel any need to rush into any decisions or make any financial moves, even ones recommended by an advisor, until you are ready and are comfortable making the decisions. You've been through a lot and don't need to do anything until you are ready.

I may leave this open on my second monitor.

That's what I like about you. You are a solid cat guy. ❤️

I say yes he is a keeper. He isn't out buying expensive tequilla or hopping off to Vegas to gamble. Does he have a dog?

Absolutely not. When it comes to daughters, all boys are bad. And unworthy. If he were truly serious about this relationship, he would have bought your daughter and you each a new bike - and that's just for starters - before he thought of a new bike for himself. It's time to give him your most stern 'Dad face' and get him straightened out about how his behavior has to change, and fast.