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After the "severing" on Wednesday, I closeted myself in my office to polish my resume and begin waking up all my possible contacts. Several went big for me. Alteryx, a low-code analytics platform I have contributed to heavily both in my previous role and outside of it, is standing firm with me. I received word from them they not only still want me for the conference next month, where I was to be a "Company" speaker, but they are covering my expenses while there. They also have asked for my CV and already have spoken to someone to at the least become a paid consultant for them for a Professional Services program they offer to their clients. Might even get a real offer out of it too. My network here in Tampa is heavily in the Tech space, with many meetups for young devs, data science, and other groups I am active in. I've already had 3 initial interviews today. Two of which seem like realistic positions I can see myself in. Two other interviews and a lunch meeting with a CTO on Monday too. I was pretty down on Wed/Thurs but to see the amount of support I am receiving and the kind of ridiculous response, I did not expect to have any interviews for weeks, let alone a practical half dozen in 48 hrs. The effort I put in doing meetups, speaking engagements, going to coding sessions, or mentoring the young and beginning coding groups over the years has paid serious dividends.

In the fall of 2022 our youngest son had asked us to consider a 2nd home, one it the Minneapolis area. His reasoning was that ask the grandkids got older and into more activities, we would want to see them more throughout the year. We had been renting a furnished one bedroom apartment for a month or 2 in the summer in Brooklyn Park MN, through a firm that assists with corporate relocations. We could see we would need a bigger place going forward. Last summer we met with a real estate agent in June, to start the search, but, that search got derailed. In December I contacted the agent again to restart the search. About a week ago I made an offer for a 2 bedroom townhome near where my son lives. The offer was accepted and the closing will be in mid May. It has a 2 car garage, so, room for bikes and a Big Green Egg. The inspection and walk through was yesterday, which my son and DIL did for me. My main residence will still be AZ (especially in the winter....). I will likely drive to MN this year, rather than fly.

Restoring a 1956 Harmony archtop tenor guitar I bought in pieces for 10 bucks. Here's what I started with: Here's how it looks now.:

Thursday I went to Mancelona, MI for the SpringFest2024 Dryland sled dog race. I wasn't racing but was helping put on the race. Took the SXS, radios for workers and the large coffee maker. Some there thought the coffee was the most important thing. Thursday I spent the afternoon riding ORV trails in the area then when the family who were putting on the race got home from work after 5pm we set up trails. 3 mile and 1.5 mile. Friday morning I went out and rode some more ORV trails then went back and reset some barriers that blew down over night. The other help who were not morning people got there about 11 to finish setting up the race. I was the only one camped there Thursday night. Racers started arriving about 9am Friday morning. With 150 teams racing the field filled up by evening. This was one of the biggest dryland races since it was a qualifier for the North American championship and World Championships. Many of the TeamUSA from 2023 were there and racing in their team uniforms from the world championship in Spain last November. The first time the top two 4 dog teams in USA raced together other than the world championship. This time the daughter of the race hosts won by 2 seconds over the 2 day race. Mandy and Dan put on a very exciting show. I went up with 3 dogs and came home with 4. Kilo is the grandson and nephew of the 3 I took with me. Meet 6 month old Kilo. He is a very good boy. The official trail help on duty. Lemon, Mandy's retired leader and mother of many of her racing team with Beretta. One low quality cell phone picture till I get the hundreds of better ones and the video processed.

Driving home from work yesterday I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food. I like to park near the side entrance as it’s not as busy as the main entrances. Also they have a few self checkout spots near that door so it’s a win win. A lady was pushing one of those enormous carts made for toddler entertainment with a toddler and some bags. She goes right to the two empty spots I was shooting for and blocks one. I park in the other and get out. By then her groceries are in the car and she’s getting ready to unload junior. I say, if you’re finished with your cart I can take it in. She was overwhelmed by the offer, like, nobody asked this before? She said thanks so much I’ve been up since 2:30 and a little frazzled now. No worries, I doesn’t cost me anything to return the cart for you, have a good day. Little dude gave me a fist bump. The world is a better place when we look out for each other.

One of the guys I have been doing wheel building and repairs for the last number of years is moving up from his mobile repair business to a brick and mortar shop in Toronto. He hasn’t fully opened yet, the front door is locked and the windows are covered in paper, but the service department is operating and he has a dedicated and loyal clientele that keeps him busy. He asked if I could come in for a few hours a couple of days a week to help out so I said sure. Mostly high end road stuff which is great to work on. Plus he is a great guy and an awesome mechanic so a good opportunity to learn stuff.

Today is our 42 year wedding anniversary and I asked Wo46 on where she would like to go out to dinner and she said..............(drumroll)..........Arby's I have a coupon. Seriously no steakhouse restaurant, no fancy Italian restaurant...Arby's.

Friday evening, I picked up my rider packet and signed (but didn't read) all the waivers. I was also told they were out of "Large" so I could have a Med or XL jersey instead. Thankfully, I really wanted a Med, so got that and was happy with my choice. Same brand of jersey as my earlier post on my new team kit (Athlos). There was dinner and a ceremony, but I bailed so I could get stuff in place and also a nice night's rest before the ride. A good call as I got everything squared away and loaded the bike in my wife's car plus set the coffee maker to start an hour earlier! Saturday, at 5am, I was up and getting ready. Drank my cup (just one) of coffee, ate my overnight muesli breakfast, and got dressed for the ride. For the first day, it was the team (company) kit. My company was also a sponsor of the ride, so it was a good complement the ride jersey (my final day option) that many folks were wearing. We hopped in the car and my wife drove me to the start at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City where I hopped out, handed my overnight bag off to the ride coordinators, finished setting my bike up, and met up with the other folks I'd be riding with - 3 I knew, 2 I didn't. At 7:00am, we all assembled on the road in front of the hotel for the "big start" and special announcements. About 375 riders in total. Top fundraisers were announced. Team leader announced. Sponsors were announced. And then the riders with special circumstances were stationed at the front, the national anthem played, and at 7:15 we were off! For the first ~10 miles, we had a full police escort. Motorcycle cops would rotate around our group closing off intersections and keeping traffic at bay. We meandered our way from Crystal City over through JB Myer-Henderson and around the perimeter of Arlington National Cemetery as well as the chapel on base where my BiL's funeral took place before his burial in the cemetery. That was a bit emotional. Then, out the other side of the base and off for a loop around the Iwo Jima Memorial and past the Carillon and then through Rosslyn, across the Key Bridge into Georgetown, out past the Exorcist Stairs, and up MacArthur Blvd and then a steady ramble into Maryland and the increasing countryside heading NW. We passed through Potomac, kept going past White's Ferry, and then out into places I vaguely recognized, but never knew the name of or could pinpoint on a map. We wrapped up at the Frederick Fairgrounds for the end of Day 1 and the starting point of Day 2. Beautiful scenery and lots of fun. The ride (Face of America - Gettysburg) is a charity ride for enabling wounded vets (and non-vets) to continue being active and, for this particular ride, focusing on cycling in all its current forms for soldiers missing a limb(s), with paralysis, hearing or sight impaired, traumatic brain injuries, etc.. I rode with a woman who had lost her leg and was riding with a prosthetic - amazing to see her on the hills. Also amazing to see her reconnect with another rider who also lost his leg, and they were "neighbors" when recovering in the hospital. Ebike and motorized trikes were also big helps for many. Lots and lots of trikes, and a few handtrikes. We'd clear out if possible for the trikes on any downhills so they could get some momentum to get up the next hill. When they struggled, there were always folks riding with them to grab their "push" bars or keep them going straight. Generally, a pretty inspiring show of determination for many of these folks to get up and over hills that I wouldn't think twice about. Seeing one guy missing a leg, but riding without a prosthetic (but e-assisted), was pretty amazing too. It's hard to characterize it all in one way, as each of those folks (and ones I didn't see/notice) were uniquely handicapped, but finding ways to keep moving. Pretty impressive but also a gut check on how good most of us have it. Most of these folks were Iraq/Afghanistan era soldiers, and what we see is the stuff that would have killed soldiers back in Vietnam or before, is now often just taking a precious limb or sight. Body armor worked to keep folks alive in awful circumstances, but the parts not fully protected often meant they were saved on the battlefield, but in some way profoundly injured. Human spirit, though, kicks in, and the lucky ones figure out how to keep going. There were a lot of them on the ride. There were many rest stops scheduled through the day 1 route. I think four plus the final at the fairgrounds. So much food and drink, and plenty of time to talk to other folks and hear their stories (or just chat about bikes). Lots of volunteers out helping out and cheering the riders on. With the ride being a "rolling" escorted ride, there was a front led by the ride director, a wide variety of motorcycle support, and then the SAG and other support bringing up the rear. Very rarely did we stop other than at a rest stop, and it was really nice to have clear roads ahead of us (opposite lane traffic was open). It was a VERY hodge-podge collection of riders on a wide variety of bike. The pace of the ride - averaging 12mph or so - was one that made it doable for so many folks, and for me, it really allowed it to be a "conversation" ride where I could find random suckers people to chat up and hear about their "why" and other stuff. Folks from across the country and I definitely had a few interesting stories from folks I'd usually never get a chance to talk to. We wrapped up the ride with some food and drink at the fairgrounds, before shuttling off to our hotels for the evening. The boss took us out to dinner, so that was nice too. Thought I would watch some tv after dinner but was out like a light in minutes with the alarm set for a 5:20am start the next morning. I figured a slow 60 miles wouldn't be tough - it wasn't - but a long day and lots of "on" time chatting with folks really added up to me sleeping like a baby.

I woke up rested this morning...well rested... for the first time since my surgery

I thought this was a euphemism for something. I no longer have any interest in this thread.

Owing to the arrival of the Hellbeast, I only got out for maybe a dozen rides last year. The last one was mid September. Despite the forecast calling for rain and temps in the low 50’s, I said “to hell with it” and jumped out for a quick ten. ”Quick” relative. That was the hardest I’ve worked for a 14MPH average, in quite a while and uphill overpass sprints still suck, but the last stat is the most important:

I just got home after a 7 mile walk tonight with my wife to find some very nice tea sent to me via Mr. Amazon in the post office box. I am pretty floored that somebody went to the expense and trouble sending me some high end quality tea. I am really excited totry it and will be sipping some tonight. My wife and I thank you.

3 Fancy Restaurants in 5 days. Last night was Oban Inn, upscale Canadian dining. Rack of Lamb 🐑. https://oban.com/dining.php We had a bottle of local Niagara Merlot Tomorrow Night Big Ditch Brewing BuffCarla was invited to a dinner celebrating the completion of building a factory in Florida. She arranges the logistics for these huge capital projects. This one supplies industrial gas to the space industry at Cape Canaveral Florida. Since I work at the same company, and She doesn’t like night driving, I am taking her. The dinner is in downtown Buffalo, which is where the Engineering and procurement activities took place. Finally, on Wednesday, celebrating my birthday at a favorite Italian Restaurant, Fortuna’s in Niagara Falls NY, going with BuffCarla, my daughter and her Fiancé. The neighborhood was lower middle class Italian when it was built but is now the heart of the hood. https://www.fortunas.biz I’ll be stuffed like a sausage by Wednesday night.

I was accepted and my work is placed front and center of the entrance.

Does anyone want to know what a manic episode is like? Everything is sped up. I'm up at 2;00. Up at 4:00 playing drums in the house. Mind is racing and the drums help me focus. And I feel like a pro. Senses are in high gear. The moon is spectacular! I completed morning chores at 6:30 - woke the chickens up. My body temperature won't seem to regulate and my heart is beating fiercely. Talking incessantly with coworkers and struggling for the right words. And I surpirsed my contractors on site this morning. Kinda got that "deer in the headlihgts' look from them. But it feels great. I'd ben in a depressive state for so long. So long. I yearn for the high now. This is supposed to be a bad thing. But I can't see it like that. Why would it be bad to feel good? I told the dr. that I didn't want to give that up, that I like it and it's scarce. She said yeah, it's good until it isn't. Lets see. Carry on.

Couldn't find the right size bridge, so I had to make one. It's made from black walnut my great uncle cut over 50 years ago.

Very satisfying. She did great. I fried off the corn tortillas and pureed the chilies while she shredded the chicken. Then I grated cheese, minced onion, and walked her through the green chili sauce. She was surprised how easily the sauce comes together. I made shortcakes yesterday when MiL came over for brat supper. So, we also ate strawberry shortcake for dessert. mr was surprised that whipped heavy cream keeps overnight.

Twice a year the condo arranges for bulk disposal so people can throw out things not generally permitted in the regular trash pickup. It's a wonderful chance to see what has been lurking in my neighbors' homes and quietly judge them and their stuff. If I'm not posting much later, it's because I'm busy driving around the condos and observing.

…but she too has figured out what the beeping of the waffle iron means…

Do you remember those? I saw one on this morning’s commute. It was in very good shape for the age. No visible rust but at 6:00 am there wasn’t enough light for a better look. Pennsylvania tags. I wonder what his story was. Looked similar to this:

I have and luckily she was very good at cleaning so she was never dirty.

Running errands on my bike. Bird food, coffee beans, whole grain bread. Great Harvest gives out slices of their freshly baked breads, too. And she hooked me up with a massive chunk of cranberry orange bread. Heading home, I’ll have to ride northwest a little before turning around at a street with a bike lane. My usual route south and east from here cuts through a high school parking lot and out into the neighborhood, but all of our schools are closed off now with fences and locked gates.

@jsharr?

Taco Bell??

The hitch mount bike rack worked just fine. We took the wheels off the tandem to save weight. Not so much bouncing around as we were afraid of. We took one of our favorite 11.5 mile routes, which our friend @groupw rode with us during a trip between NE and AZ before he moved.

Well… Ava got her home run off Emmy. It was a good pitch. Congrats to her for getting it. But Emmy got the last laugh. Floyd won 16-4. Emmy pitched 4 innings getting 8 strike outs. She went 3 for 4 at the plate with 2 RBI’s.

My old neighbor Karen..inspite of our different political views...she allowed me to use a key..and watch the TDF...some mornings (she was not a morning person) she would join me..eventually learning the names of some of the top riders... She would have hit 89 in August RIP Karen Erickson

moral of the story - don't eat canned beans

Was it from this brand?

Pulp fiction edition

The pulled pork came out really well. It was cooked in the crock pot for 8 hours on low, sitting on top of a bed of onion slices to keep it out of the grease on the bottom and basted with a very nice BBQ sauce. The pulling didn't really shred it down to stringy but left it about half way between sliced southern BBQ and stringy pulled pork. I served it up on dinner rolls with a pile of cole slaw on top.

In New York we'd pronounce it "get out of my way!!"

Wow, well said. Very well said. I've had various jobs since I was 13. Told HoSmudge about a year ago I was thinking of retiring June 1. He said he was wondering when I was going to retire; said it in a way that sounded like, "Bout damned time." I have six weeks until I retire. I'd like to live a little before I die. Man, Dottie! You nailed it! ❤️

Where will the boomers store all the crap they own that their kids or anyone else wants? The bigger houses are essentially a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and storage unit.

With leftover meatloaf that I took from the freezer, it was a quick dinner. Also Lima beans. I have zero energy today so wanted easy choices.

This little girl will take her team and try to open up a can of whoop ass!

I buy several grand in branded clothing for my security team a year & have been using these guys since 2018. I hit them up yesterday stating I need 3 new shirts as I lost weight & don’t want to wear baggy polo’s to the meetings. As we have a lengthy approval process I told them I’d pay with my CC. I got shipping confirmation today, I sent an email asking for payment link and was told Josh (owner) said not to charge, his thank you for 6 years of business. I’m never leaving those guys!

By a recommendation from a friend, I bought the Dynaplug pro plug thingie for gravel. I haven't used it yet. Anywho, Since I'm only using it on my CAADX for gravel riding it would be nice to frame mount it. It did not come w/ a frame mount which made me bummed out Then I thought, I could design & print one. This made me excited So I modeled one up in Solidworks and printed it. It took a couple iterations, but it works great, this made me happy I have a frame pump mounted to one bottle cage, so I designed the plug holder based on that concept for mounting to the other cage. I've ridden a few gravel rides and its still on the bike👍 It comes loaded w/ four plugs, 1 big, 3 not big. Another reason I want it on the frame is for ease of use. When a puncture occurs I want to be able to access it quick, and not fumble around in a saddle bag or jersey pocket. This cost about 57 bucks. Worth it if it works great.

This is 4 feet from our front door at work

How to get a 14'6" box into an 11' freight elevator. Early this morning, I get a phone call that rudely interrupts my web surfing. There's a truck here to make a delivery of a piece of equipment for one of the new labs. I get the call because I'm the only one here. I go up to meet the driver at the "Loading Dock" - which is just a ground level overhead door near the freight elevator. I go up and meet the driver and he tells me it's a 14' long box and weighs 800 lbs. Hmmm, this could be problematic. The grad student who works in the lab that this is going in shows up. The office guy who called me shows up. There is much consternation as to not only how the hell we're going to get this thing into the sub basement where it's going, but how we're even going to get it off the truck. Office Guy tells me he emailed and called Shiftless Jay -the building facilities guy who is supposed to handle this kind of crap - several times yesterday, but got no answer. The prof in charge of the lab shows up. There is much consternation and head scratching and the conclusion is reached that the truck driver is going to have to deliver the box to Facilities because they have a forklift and a real loading dock. No one's really sure what they're going to do after that, but at least it will get it off the truck. Then the prof mentions that what's in the box is a clean room. "So what if we take the cover off the box and unload the stuff by hand - at least enough to lighten the box to the point where we can lift it?" I receive dumbfounded looks, all around. I thought these guys were like, geniuses and shit? I go back downstairs, grab a screw gun and start taking the lid off. FNG shows up (he doesn't start til 9) grabs a second screw gun and we take the lid off. We unload all the small parts onto a cart and that goes in the freight elevator, along with the shorter pieces of aluminum extrusion. The 14' extrusions - easily carried by two people have to go down two flights of stairs but they manage. FNG and I grab a couple of saws and implements of destruction and make short work of the wooden box. THEN Shiftless Jay shows up.

Well she’s gone! WOChrisL unleashed a tirade on her Sat night and it was a get the fuck out moment this morning. My kids came over to hang out with her and she basically closed herself off in her room talking to the widow. It struck a nerve with my wife as it’s been consistent with her behavior the whole trip. Take me to La Jolla, she does and MIL has her nose buried in her phone. We took her to dinner Friday and other than complain about the service her nose was buried in her phone. WOChrisL is thinking of never inviting her back as she seems totally uninterested in seeing her family. My favorite moment was Thursday. I came home & WOChrisL had cooked a meal. Not being an experienced cook, she barely made enough for two let alone 3. The MIL comes in the kitchen & serves herself about 80% of the dish! I tell WOChrisL I’ll eat left overs and she serves the rest. Then MIL says, oh my eyes were bigger than my stomach & 1/2 her serving goes in the trash!?!! As usual she got hers, to hell with anyone else…

I have said this ever since I retired “Retirement is underrated”. I would have liked to spent my retired years with Esther but that didn’t happen. I was the best husband and caregiver I could be but once she passed I had to move on. Dating in my 70s was a lot of fun. I found a good woman to marry me and I try not to compare. It’s hard to find exactly what you think you want because most people in their 70s can’t do the things they could when they were younger. I still cycle and Judie is ok with that. She probably never will ride a bike again. The special needs ministry I was involved in kind of fell apart while I was the primary care giver for Esther. I still find lots to do to keep me busy. Things change as the years go by. I try to just roll with the punches.

of separation after close to 30 years of marriage. Opened bank accounts in my name today. Told Martha we need to start untangling our joint lives and moving on. I think we will end up selling the house. I have been here too long. It is scary and lonely to think of starting over this late in life. Not sure what that will look like. The coming months will be hard, but they will be better than being trapped in a lifeless, loveless marriage. I know that at some point the emotional dam I have built will break and lots of ugly stuff will come spilling out. This makes me feel scared and alone My biggest concern is how do I tell this to my boys and my mother. I don't want the anger and the hurt to turn me into something I am not. I do not want to say hurtful things no matter how badly I hurt. The numbness is beginning to fade and the pain and hurt grow, but I realize this is part of the process I have to go through. And I have come to the realization that I cannot do this alone. I know I need to find someone to talk too, someone who knows about this, because I have no idea what to do next. This makes me feel lost. I was naïve enough to believe those words I said about til death do us part. That is what is hardest. I am a man of my word and this is one promise I will not be able to keep. This makes me feel broken The End

Cycling in Teton Park

The company provided me with a phone. It was always a few years behind Samsung FE edition Galaxy on shitty AT&T shitty service in Tampa. But hey, it was free. So the phone was of course logged out of it's work profile but they did provide me with options to transfer my number to a new service/line. With the glaring caveat that I had until close of business to transfer the line! So rapid-fire research and I now have the middle "Unlimited" package with Verizon and a shiny new Pixel 8!

A Tesla just pulled up! Damn. Not a rider. Two riders just showed! Off we go.