20201031 + BUSY DAY

20201031 + Up in the am and G at basketball and L doing yard work and I headed out! First stop was CVS to exchange a Gahanna Lions jacket L got for my bday that had a broken zipper. Next hit the pharmacy for a refill. Then the gas station where I spent a ton on gas for the cars and empty shed gas cans and 2 propane refills. Home and unloaded everything. Back out and headed to 2 auction houses where I picked up winnings from the last couple weeks. Home and unloaded everything and went through it with L, she didn't want much of it. J home and I got him started on resetting my old PC so he could use it in his room. After a bit I headed out to the post office and the grocery to get supplies before the second COVID wave and election... It was a trip for staples and things are missing from the shelves, cleaner, flour, etc... So I am not the only one worried about the next couple weeks... I had a mounded cart full and only made it through half of my list... Checked out and headed home. LJ&G helped me carry things in and we then got a bite to eat and settled in to watch the OSU game. It was a great game and nice way to relax after a BUSY DAY!

20201030 - Trouble Backup

20201030 - Up in the am and L at work, J at school and G online. I got some things done in the am, G came down for lunch and then headed to the shed, and I headed in to my home office. Finished the day and G had Owen spend the night. We played trouble and I got beat in the first round so the boys headed to the basement to play the xbox and make noise. I worked on finalizing all of the backups of data on my PCs and NAS.

20201029 - Pretty Pumpkin

20201029 - Up late from another rough night. L at work and J&G on their PCs for school. I got rolling and organized and started getting things done. L home and I helped her get the garage ready for trick or treating tonight. We had some dinner quick and then G&I headed to his hitting lesson L out to the garage and J to work. G had a good lesson and we got home in time to sit with L a bit. I didn't get to see any kids but L said we had 17 stop by for candy. In and we watched some football until late. I stayed up again for no reason, my internal clock need readjusted...

20201028 - Two Sore Arms

20201028 - Up slow, had a rough night trying to sleep on two sore arms... Today was a bit different: L was at work, G was on the PC for school and J got to go back to school! I got busy at the desk and L got home and ran G to the orthodontist in the afternoon for a wire not in the brace in the back bottom right and poking him in the mouth. All home and LJG&I had a nice dinner together. J told us all about his day and how it was so different and hard with one way halls that made it extra hard to get where you needed to be on time. L ran G to basketball practice. We hung out for a bit before I picked G and Owen up from practice, dropped O's off and G&I headed home. We hung out in front of the TV for the evening and I was up too late doing nothing.

20201027 - Near Miss

20201027 - Up early, L at work and boys online for school. I headed to Dr. office for 50yr checkup... the lady at the desk told me I wasn't on the schedule for today and my appointment was for tomorrow... HUH? so headed out, got in car and double checked email... YES I DO have an appointment today, they even emailed me to confirm it last night... So went back in and had her double ck, showed her the email... saw a paper schedule laying on the desk with my name on it! Yep I had an appointment! So after 20 min of convincing and a lengthy COVID screening I sat and waited... Eventually I was taking back, weighed in, given a tetanus shot, a flue shot, the first part of the shingles vaccine and an EKG. The Dr came in and we chatted for a long time about COVID and what all tests we should and since I hit my deductible for the year could have done. he gave me the once over and all good. He scheduled me for a colon party and then took me next door to have blood drawn to ck my cholesterol. All checked out I het the gas station on the way home and saw kids on the corners by the high school waiting to cross the street and get to their next class AMEN! It did my heart a world of good to see the kids out there! Home and jumped on a couple calls and got my day rolling. L home and arranged dinner. Gma&paW were down for an eye appointment and swung by afterwards. They brought me a cool customized fire ring with a bunch of accessories. We had some subs for dinner and chatted a bit before they headed home before it got dark. L ran G to basketball tryouts. We relaxed and waited until time to pick him up. I headed out and got to the school at 9, when they started taking each boy individually in to the office to discuss their fate. Eventually they started coming out. After many kids came out, G emerged and ran to the car. G made the basketball team! We headed to get him a celebratory frosty from Wendy's. On way we heard loud smashing glass and clang and a light pole had fallen right behind our car! Home and G told L all about the tryout.

20201026 + More Than I Expected

20201026 + Up in the am and L at work and J&G online for school. L ad some decorations up for me and some gifts out. I got on calls and getting things done at the desk. Both J&G came down at some point and wished me a happy bday. L got home and warmed us up some chili and then she gave me my main present, a video montage from folks wishing me a happy bday -> https://share.vidday.com/b-xjx5zp It was super cool and emotional, hard to believe I've been around this long... I received texts and calls throughout the day and more videos from folks that missed L's deadline. Very nice day. In the afternoon G had the first basketball tryout. L&I ran to the post office an then waited for G to come out, he made the first cut! We then swung through El Vaquero to pick up dinner and headed home to eat. J joined us for dinner and it was nice. I opened my presents from them and then settled in my chair in the pitch black out at 7:30. Penn swung by the house with some fancy bourbon and stayed and chatted a bit. Eventually G came in from the Xbox and L served us up some carrot cake she made me, I had 3 pieces YUM! and we watched some football before heading to bed for a sleepless night.

20201025 + Up LATE

20201025 + Up LATE, I mean real late. L had almost everything cleaned up from the party and I helped her just a little bit and put the garage back in order. G had been to a hitting lesson with a couple of guys from his team. We spent the rest of the day watching football and hanging out cleaning up. We watched 60 minutes, which made us sick at the bias lopsidedness of our media... Chris stopped over to watch zombie TV with me and talk about the crazy political mess our country is in... All boys to bed ready for a new week.

20201024 - 15th Annual OSU Football Party

20201024 - Up early and started the chili and final preparations for our OSU Party. Things were running smooth, got the hot dogs steaming and Dave showed up to help a bit before others showed up. Right around kickoff we had more folks come in and it was GREAT to see people! I wan't sure how many folks would show up with all the crazy COVID stuff going on and honestly couldn't remember who all got invited. But was had a nice crowd, about 30 folks, that should up and stayed social distanced and work masks and hung out and chatted and had a good time. L&I were happy that the crowd was smaller, it allowed us time to actually sit and catch up with folks rather than run around refilling buns and bowls and host duties that we normally do. Nice calm day and the Buckeyes looked great and WON! Several of the guests brought 50th bday gifts, expensive bourbon and Dave got me the coolest little bourbon cask I've ever seen. The party wound down and everyone except a couple neighbors headed out. The 2 neighbor guys stayed until 1:30am watching football, drinking and chatting. It was enjoyable, but WAY too late for me. VERY NICE DAY!

20201023 - Final Prep

20201023 - Up late and L at work, she left her phone on the counter and J&G at school. I got on the PC and had calls and texts coming in from everywhere this morning. I glued myself to the desk and got a bunch done. L home and I headed out to run across town and do some more inventorying, but got to thinking as I was driving this is crazy to head out on a Friday afternoon for an hour on the road with everything we had yet to do this evening and there was no rush on this stuff so I turned around and headed home. Back home and was able to finish off some important coding before the end of the day. I headed out of the office, sent L&G out for dinner and I did final pre-party layout updates. We had dinner and then I ran to Kroger and had to make 2 trips in and out because I got so much, buns, beer, ice, chips... Home and put things away and we are ready to roll. Not up too late with a busy day tomorrow.

20201022 + Good Dr. Day

20201022 + Up in the am and L home from work waiting on her COVID test results. I headed to the Endocrinologist for a visit and all my numbers are good and or headed in the right direction! Home and got the PC fired up and watched some of the Supreme Court nomination process with L and got notes from the Dr. visit recorded. L got a message from her COVID test that she is NEGATIVE! I headed to the desk and was there the rest of the day. After work LG&I ran to Steinmart as the store is closing to check it out, J was at work. I got some stuff I could resell and we swung through Arby's on the way home to pickup dinner. Home and we ate and then G hit the Xbox, L recovered a footstool and I did some things on the PC. We watched the debate which was much better than the first one but so deceiving from both candidates... hard to pick... I worked on a app until 4:18am...

20201021 - Inventorying

20201021 - Up in the am and straight on a call. L home again today and has a COVID test scheduled this afternoon, and J&G are online for school. J ran out for lunch and I got on more calls. I headed out after lunch to pick and order new glasses. $750 later they are ordered and will take 3-4 weeks to get... On to the storage units for work to take inventory. Back home and finished off the day. L made us dinner and LJG&I ate together before J headed out to go thrifting and G hit the Xbox in the shed. L&I watched TV and I got a couple more things done. J came home with a manikin arm from his shopping spree... G in and we did logic puzzles while we watched the World Series and then headed to bed.

20201020 - Jack Cooks!

20201020 - Up in the am and started my day. Lori home today, she had a low grade fever and stayed home from school, J&G online for school. I spent the entire day in the office on calls and updating an app. With L down J cooked a very nice meal for us and it was delicious. J&G got on their electronics, I did a bit of work in the garage and then got on the PC and watched some TV. Chris stopped over and discussed some legal things with me. G in from playing the Xbox in the shed and we watched game 1 of the World Series. I stayed up to late watching TV and doing nothing.

20201019 - Brace Repairs

20201019 - Up in the am and L at work and J&G on their PCs. The teacher strike is over but I am guessing the re-start up is going to be a mess for the next couple days. I got things rolling and had to take G to the orthodontist at 11 to get his braces fixed. Home and I got back to the desk and worked the rest of the day. L wasn't feeling well, but made us dinner and J&G joined us at the table for a nice dinner. After dinner I spent a bit of time cleaning up the hot dog steamer and then Andy showed up and we hosted a Booster meeting from the garage. After the meeting I got things cleaned up and then watched some TV with L and then stayed up way too late.

20201018 - NO COVID

20201018 - Up in the am and L ran to get G and J home from his friends. I got around and G&I headed to Raising A Hitter in Westerville to meet a couple of kids and dads from his team to practice hitting. Home and got organized for the day and coming week. L got notified that one of the teachers from school tested positive for COVID and freaked out. She was a mess and G&I finally convinced her to go get tested so she headed out. D stopped over and we got his 401k stuff set up as we watched the Browns get the crap kicked out of them by the Steelers. D left, L home, she tested negative. L&I headed out for a couple errands and hit Home Depot and Meijer to get some supplies. Home and I helped GpaW with an impossible logic puzzle while L cooked dinner. We ate and then L ran G to basketball. We then watched some of our scary Netflix series, L was too afraid to pick G up but I sent her out anyway so I could keep working on the PC. L&G home, Chris Pettit over to watch the Beyond zombie shoe, but the TV wasn't working so we just hung out and chatted a bit. Chris left, J home from work, I stayed up too late updating ads for the Boosters

20201017 + Garage Work

20201017 + Up in the am got organized and then I cleaned out the garage and brought party supplies up and got things organized for the OSU Party next weekend. D home for a bit to get some things and the heater for his icebox of a room hes renting. J home from work for a bit before heading out to spend the night at a buddy's L ran G to a friends house for the night. I finished up and L&I had a left over pizza dinner on the back porch watching football with our fire table. Too chilly so we moved inside and watched some football until we fell asleep in the living room. Moved to the bedroom and then I couldn't sleep... up too late doing logic puzzles.

20201016 + G's 14!

20201016 - Up early to get blood drawn and get things rolling for a busy day. One of G's braces fell off yesterday so called the orthodontist but they can't see him until Monday. L at work, G up and we measured him, he grew 4.5 inches this last year and falls right between D&J when they were 14. G&I then headed to the AT&T store where he got a new iPhone 11 for his bday, he was very excited. We then went to Easton and got him a nice case and screen protector. We got some Cinnabon cinnamon rolls as we headed out. We stopped at an eye glass place quick to see if they had the magnetic sunglasses I love, no luck. home and I got to work and G hung out. L home and GmaB and Nicole stopped over. G's friends started showing  up early. I finished my day and J ran with me to the high school to pick up the hot dog steamer and we had to cross the picket lines of striking teachers. The protesters lined both sides of Hamilton Rd. and it was like nothing I've ever seen around here before. 

We got the steamer and headed home. L&I set up some games in the backyard and the rest of G's buddies showed up and played outside. J went with me to get the pizzas and we came home and ate, had an ice cream cake L made for G and he opened his presents. The boys went back outside and we kept them out there as long as possible before the enormous sound had to enter the house and take over the basement and then the room over the garage. I think they were up all night...

20201015 - Smithereens!

20201015 - Up in the am and L at school and J&G in bed with teacher still on strike... I joined a call and then got morning things done and then headed in to my office. G up and dealing with his phone that is smashed to smithereens...  unrepairable... We hit a post office and AT&T on the way home and are trying to decide what to do about his phone. Home and finished off the day and G&I had dinner with L, J is at work. G&I ran to his hitting lesson and and then home to watch some TV. J home late with burgers for everyone. G&I stayed up late doing logic puzzles and watching baseball.

20201014 + Tree Tunnel

20201014 + Up in the am and L at work and teachers still on strike... Got things rolling and G up seeing if he has any homework. I was at the desk all day getting things on many fronts pushed forward. With nothing to do both J&G eventually took off to go to friends. L home, I finished out my day and we headed to GFS the back way through one of our favorite tree tunnel roads to get a couple things for the party, but much less than in past years. We ran through McD's on the way home to pick up dinner. G home and LG&I eat together. G took off to the Xbox and L&I watched some TV and relaxed.

20201013 - ON STRIKE!? SERIOUSLY???

20201013 - Up in the am and weird day... L at a work day for school on Zoom training, J&G still in bed because our teacher thought it would be a good idea for the first day of school to GO ON STRIKE!? WHAT? SERIOUSLY??? The first day of a return to normal and this happens?! UGH! I worked all day and G had loud friends over. L home around lunch. Lonie and I joined a call about how the stock market reacts to presidential elections, J headed out for work at 5. I headed to the high school to pick up some programs to ship out and swing by the post office. Home and had some dinner and then headed out to the garage to clean up for the 10/24 OSU party and then ended up getting out the welder to fix up G's baseball net and then clean up. In and settled in front of the TV with L to finish out the night.

20201012 - Bad Dog!

20201012 - Up in the am and L at work and the boys still resting as they don't have school today. I got my Monday morning things done while I chatted with D, he is working for DataField today and it doesn't seem very organized... L home in the afternoon but couldn't get out of the car as one of the neighbor's pit bulls was on our front porch... I had to call to police, the dog ran off and L ran in. J lost his mind for some reason and left and G hanging out with some friends. I finished my day and then had some dinner with L. We then watched some football on TV and G came down to watch after screaming on the Xbox. Unable to sleep tonight...

20201011 + Getting Stuck

20201011 + Up in the am and J and Bryce up and ready. We loaded final things and took off to the Farm. Stopped to get gas and then back home to pick up soup and bread... THEN we left for the Farm. We made good time and we headed to the barn to get things started. Dad and I reviewed many future tasks, redoing some plumbing the basement, railings for the back porch and steps. We then checked on the staking crew, compacted the trash, moved the bush hog and looked for some lumber. We then headed to Minard's and Lowe's to walk around and look at supply options. Home and ready for some lunch but J and Bryce were out on the pug and called because it died on them below the pond... I drove out and then walked through tall brush to get to them and get them running again. They made it back and we had some lunch with the boys and mom and then I got to work retrofitting the back bath fan. The boys helped GmaW with a couple things at the farmhouse and we finished up about the same time, but they took a couple more rides on the pug. We packed up and headed home. We got home as L was pulling out taking G to basketball practice. L home and we got caught up on the day and watched some football. Chris over to watch The Walking Dead, but season 11 isn't released yet... so we watched the new 'Beyond something' or other spin off, it was ok. Up and shutting down and ready for the week.

20201010 + Springer

20201010 + Up in the am and L raking leaves and mowing the yard, I ran J to Wendy's so he could work and got home and got G up, we had cake for bfast. Doc's pool  is gone. L mowed, J at work, I got a couple things done before running to baseball practice with G. After practice D and his buddy Mason stopped by to get some stuff and help me clean out the garage. G&I put a spring on the back gate to keep Lilly in. L&I took Lilly on a walk and watched football the rest of the evening.

20201009 - Front Porch Sippin

20201009 - Up in the am and L at work, boys sleeping in, no school today, and I got on calls. Had a busy productive day. JG&I ran to pick up J's car, expensive repairs... They didn't change his oil so we have to take the car back tonight. G&I headed further out and I dropped G off at Luke's for the day. Home to a quiet house and got a bunch done in the afternoon. After work L&I walked down to Gahanna Grill and had a nice dinner and ran in to some folks we know and chatted a bit. Strolled home and then I ran out, dropped off a deposit at that bank, picked up a prescription, got a couple things at Home Depot and then picked G up at Luke's. Home and dropped G off and headed over to Penn's. We hung out on the front porch and sampled a couple bourbons and chatted on the front porch for a couple hours.

20201008 + Craving

20201008 - Up in the am and L at work, I made sure J&G were up and then headed in to the office for a couple meetings. Took a break at lunch and Lonie and I met Kevin and Derek for lunch. We had a good chat and got caught up. Back to the office for a bit and got a couple more things done. Home and hung out a bit. L cooked some dinner and LG&I and then G and I headed out for his hitting lessons.  I got caught up on stuff and called dad about the weekend while G swing the bat. We picked up some high school sport programs to ship out on the way home. Home and watching some TV with L and she mentioned she wanted some chocolate cake and I wanted something but wasn’t sure what I wanted so I just jumped in the car and ran up to kroger. I ended up with a large macaroni salad, chocolate and carrot cakes, sliced olives, dill hamburger chips, 3 bags of tortilla chips, large salsa, bag of Hershey kisses, bottle or Ready Whip and a pumpkin pie! Home and had a snack!

20201007 - Last 8th Run

20201007 - Up in the am and L at work and J&G online for school. I jumped online and started documenting the software framework right away. Took a moment and had a honest talk with J about grades and then spent the rest of the day glued to the PC flowing. L ran G to XC and J ran me to pick up my car after the oil change and drop off his to get an estimate on his bent rim and bald tires... J&I on to G’s last XC meet as an 8th grader in the ‘Battle of Gahanna’ where all of our middle schools run against each other. G had a good race and came in 4th overall. I headed home and L&G stayed for the awards banquet. When they got home G had an armful of awards. Up late finishing things up and preparing to go in to the office tomorrow. To bad and couldn’t sleep...

20201006 - Isn't it Ironic

20201006 - Up in the am and L at work and J&I on the phone with the high school trying to drop a class before the deadline. He has a couple other classes that he's not doing well in and we had a discussion about them. I had to take a walk afterwards, I'm just not wired like he is and can't understand why it is ok to not care about certain things... I talked to CB on the phone and he gave me some perspective... Back in the house, chatted with J and let him know I really don't care about the grades, I just want him to be able to graduate and be happy in his life. Down to the office for the rest of the day going down through tasks. L home and she ran G to XC, J headed to Wendy's for work and I was still at the desk. G home and changed quick and I ran him to Academy park for baseball practice. I had to go find an L screen that was 2 fields away and drag it back to the field G and his team was on. After that I was done helping and had a seat to write up some ideas on a software Lonie and I are going to build. Someone asked me what I was doing and they found it pretty ironic that I was designing a software to implement the most advanced communication devices available in the world today on a tiny little yellow paper tablet. It works! After practice L&I dropped the car off at Tuffy for an oil change tomorrow. Home and ate, spilled dill pickle juice all over L's kitchen rug (I'm a dead man) :-o We hung out in the living room for a bit watching TV, J home and upstairs studying until I went to check on him at 1:30 am and he was asleep sitting up in bed with his laptop on and in in his lap, he's trying. I was a bit longer mapping my ideas from the little yellow tablet to my online collaboration tool for a review meeting tomorrow and Thursday.

20201005 - $16

20201005 - Up in the am and L at work and J&G online for school. Had a cable guy in our yard working on the neighbor's house this morning. J headed out for lunch and G made instant mashed potatoes and hamburger gravy for lunch. L was running G to/from practice when I got a call from an auction house making sure I come and pick everything up tonight...??? This usually doesn't happen. The auction houses I deal with have my card on file and once a month I swing by and get the stuff I have won.  But tonight is different... See I go in to some auctions and put $1 on anything I think I can arbitrage on ebay or if Lori or the Boys or someone I know might want it. Well I did that for this auction and bought $16 worth of stuff, I usually get out bid on most things and end up with only a handful of stuff. Tonight I won 2 upholstered chairs and an ottoman, a metal garden sofa and chair, 2 bar stools, 2 shelves, a handful of paintings, plates and other assorted items that took DJG&I 3 trips to get... $16 worth of stuff filled up our garage! We did take a break between loads to have dinner and D joined us. It was nice to have everyone at the table until J&G got in a SCREAMING match about who gets to sort metal posts at the Farm. REALLY!? There are several million things to do at the Farm and they are going to fight about posts that haven't moved in 2 decades.... smh... Eventually everyone calmed down and got the last load. I went out to deposit checks but for some reason the ATM was not accepting deposits last night (handy because I make only 1 trip a month to the bank)... On to Home Depot to return the supplies we didn't use for repairs up at the farm. Home and I thought D was going to stick around to watch some football, be he got out of crazy screaming town ASAP... I stayed up and got a couple things done on the PC until late.

20201004 - Farm Fixin

20201004 - Up in the am and got G and Luke around and we headed up tot he Farm. We made good time and met up with GpaW and headed to the barn where we gave the boys instructions on bundling fence posts, weighed them and got them working. I then removed the old washing machine outlet box and installed a new one. Dave stopped over to help out and had lunch with us. I got a call from a friend that saw a bunch of police cars by my house... Neighbor's dogs got out and were running around the neighborhood with no collars; multiple police cars at their house trying to secure the dogs... Unfortunately all were returned... After lunch GmaW and the boys went back down to the barn to bundle more posts and Dave and I finished up the box install and put in a new ceiling fan. Out of time and we all headed out.

Got home and the boys helped me put the tools away. L took off with G and Luke to drop a shipment off at the post office for me, take Luke home and drop G off at basketball practice. I got a call shortly after they left that G got the package stuck in the shoot at the post office, so I had to go to the post office and see if I could fix things there... package deposited and shoot locked. L home and cut my hair, looks like she was more focused on talking to me than straight lines or common lengths :-o Chris over, today was his 53rd bday, and he J and I watched The Walking Dead season finale. It was GOOD and left plenty of new story lines open. Up late watching a series on AI and and getting organized for the week. 

20201003 - Campfire

20201003 - L got me up to early and we headed to the Pick Lakeview Invitational to watch G run. G ran well today and came in 16th out of about 200 runners with a time of 12:32! Gahanna won the whole thing and G got a couple trophies. We left G there to ride the bus home and L&I stopped at a couple auction houses to look around and pick stuff up.Home and got G and headed down to Beliner, D&J ran and picked up lunch for all of us and joined us at the game. G's team played pretty good for only their second game and G got to pitch and did well. He struck out once but had 3 other really nice hits. The game ended in a tie and we headed home. Home and L getting things cleaned up and G&I ran to Home Depot for a couple more supplies and then picked up some Popeye's for dinner. L's girlfriends over for pizza and hanging out on back porch. G's buddy Luke over for the night. We played Trouble and watched some college football. Not up too late.

20201002 - Can't Sleep

20201002 - Up in the am and L at work and J&G online for school. I got some more done on the new PC and got caught up at work. Had a call with a publisher about printing my blog in to a real book... L&I headed out after work and got supplies for the jobs at the Farm this weekend and then swung through KFC on the way home to pick up dinner. Home and ate with G and then I headed in to the office to work on the new PC until late. Couldn't sleep again tonight...

20201001 + 26 Years

20201001 + Up in the am and L at work and J&G online for school. I got online and got some things done. J worked this evening and it was rainy out today so G's baseball practice was cancelled. L&I slipped out and headed to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. My meal was good but it seemed that they didn't drain the pasta L got and her food was swimming in bowl of water... We walked over to Barnes and noble but it was closing so only stayed a minute. Home and hung out watching some TV until J got home from work.