How are ya now?

[Pyrate Jim]

Keeping busy. Forecast of a long, hard Winter has me dropping trees and dragging them out for firewood. Not always an easy get. But a dozen trees this past week and a dozen more marked as standing dead wood. I spend more time getting to them than actually pulling them out. And a lot more I haven't gotten to yet. Not to mention the amount of blood I'm losing wading through the thorns. But I should have 4-5 cord cut, split and stacked before having to fire up the wood stove.

I've also shot two bears, both were inside the pen for the birds (geese, chickens and guinea hens) so one freezer is pretty well stocked up. Where I'm at, there's no restrictions about shooting predators getting at your livestock, although you have to report it.
I'm pretty far out in the sticks, like an hours drive to the nearest dunkin donuts, and even further to the nearest paintball field. So all I can do is target practice and try to get out a couple times a year, which really bites after living where the closest field was five minutes away and a dozen fields within an hours drive.
But hey, I get to shoot bears.

[Jonnydread]

That's some rustic living you got there! Sounds like you should set up an outlaw field

[Pyrate Jim]

I could set up an outlaw field, but the customer base would be my niece and myself.
80% of the homes out here have their own shooting range, you hear gunshots almost every day.
Which is why there's no crime out here, and the few neighbors who have even heard of paintball aren't interested in playing with toy versions of what they're used to.

[Jonnydread]

Gotcha, that's fair. I like shooting real steel, but it doesn't fill the same void as paintball. Targets don't usually shoot back!

[BrickHaus]

Met this spunky little girl today. We cant take her home for 2 weeks, but I cant friggin wait.

This alone makes me feel so much better than my last post. Backs still a bit sore, but Im happy to say my injury isnt cripping this time.

Life pretty good.

[Jonnydread]

My goodness what a face! And the ear flop! I now have diabetes.

[coyote]

Newly minted therapy dog!

[Loophole]

Hey man i really appreciate the homie check! You are a real one Jonny. Doing pretty swell. Work keeps me busy when i'm not with my son or working on the house. He is on his way towards 2 years old so the toddler tantrums are starting to roll in. On the bright side he is happy %99 of the time so we feel like we hit the kid lotto. My local paintball field closed 6 months ago.. So i have been out of play for quite awhile. Still tinkering and doing some backyard shooting but i definitely miss actual paintballing. Hope everyone is healthy and happy inside and out!

[Jonnydread]

The terrible twos! My nephew is just about at the end of those, but like your son he is a good and happy kid so we are fortunate. I will kind of miss the random temper tantrums over nothing just for the sheer comedic value, though I bet his parents feel differently since they can't leave. That sucks about your field man, did it get nailed by COVID stuff or was it on its way out beforehand? I'm surprised we haven't lost more fields in my area to be honest.

[Tarsun2]

when we moved in, we had an old preway fireplace insert. (it was literally splitting in half.)
we removed the insert and sealed up the wall, cut the hard woord flooring and inlayed a tile hearth, and installed a jotul wood stove.

it heats the house so well that we dont use the heat in the winter. (north eastern PA - we get snow and it gets cold lol). i grew up with stoves and fireplaces and really enjoy the smells, and look of the falmes, and warm yellow glow with i come downstairs at night and all the lights are off, and the sound it makes. its really relaxing. the maintenance is a pain though. and the dust it a drag.

[Jonnydread]

Mannnn I feel that. We have a nice pellet stove, but it's not the same as wood-burning. I miss the whole ritual of it, plus the fact that it works when the power goes out!

[punkncat]

When we purchased this house the previous owners had cooked/broken the plenum on the propane heat the house had at that time. They burnt fires so hot in the "prefab" fireplace that it cracked the ceramic plates and at least at one point caused a fire inside the chimney surround. It was astounding they didn't burn the house down.
It rarely gets that actual way down cold here in GA, and certainly cannot understand having the heat or a fire of the manner that caused these damages. We ended up removing the fireplace altogether and put a window in it's place.

[bored383]

I became a cyborg on 10/1 - living the 21st century life

[Jonnydread]

What part of you is robot now?

[bored383]

I have an electronic spinal column

[iamthelazerviking]

Interviewed internally for a different spot as a QA analyst. Got it. Have to wait until December to start due to coverage on my current team. It's considered a lateral move "for now" and they keep saying "for now", so hopefully the money comes with the title change soon enough, but I am soooooo stoked. This is huge for me. And I won't have to talk on the phone all day or have a super set schedule anymore.

[Jonnydread]

Right on man, congrats!! I hope you enjoy the flexibility and that for now becomes now quickly!

[Shaftski]

I did a "lateral move for now" situation in QA at Nortel many years ago. Stay on them about your pay if it's an actual promotion with more responsibility. All I heard were excuses about budgets and the economy. Get the time frame of title change/pay increase in writing because spoken words won't mean anything.

[Shaftski]

Well, now my remodel project has a screwed schedule. Was pulling trim around windows prepping for redoing drywall in living room. Hired a company earlier in the summer to do spray foam in all the exterior walls of the house, which were completely uninsulated. Supposed to be a 2 day job, took a full week, forcing me to miss Stockstice because I wanted to verify they cleaned up after themselves while they were still there. Just a mess to deal with. Said they cleaned up nails but hit one 3 days later in the driveway on one of my bikes too but I let that one slide.

So I Iook behind the plaster around the windows, no spray foam. Look above and below windows, no spray foam. Took a 2" hole saw to random spots on living room exterior wall, and none of these cavities are filled all the way. Some don't look filled at all. I kept wondering why I could hear my neighbors talking with the windows closed, now I know why.

So now they have to get down here, explain to me what happened, explain to me how they are going to fix it, then actually fix it. Before I can do any of the finish work I gotta get done by the end of the month, we're trying to move in there. I need a 2nd house spray foamed and a garage and these clowns sure as hell aren't getting the gig.

Stress of having so much money tied up in 2 properties right now really sucks. There will be a worthwhile end to it all but the ride to get there blows.

[Jonnydread]

That's brutal man, I can barely keep up with one house I couldn't imagine having to juggle two properties. Hope it all gets figured out and cleaned up right quick.

[A.Greenleaf]

Doing ok, new son has the household sleeping weird hours and when we are not sleeping we are still so exhausted we can’t get much done.

[A.Greenleaf]

5 months on the 13th. We are getting there, but he has had a long 5 months. He was I. The nicu for two weeks and then he had to have surgery when he was three months. This last week he has been getting over rsv. He is still smiling and laughing which makes it worth it.

[Siress]

That is a rough run of it. So glad to hear he's on the upswing. We really started to find a rhythm in that 8-12mo age for each of mine, so I hope you're on the back stretch. Hang in there.

[glaman5266]

My younger boy had kidney nefrosis (sp?) and had to be hooked up to a pee bag until he was old enough for surgery at maybe 6 weeks old, so I have an idea of what you're going through. Keep at it, man. You got this. :thumbup:

[Tarsun2]

i hear that... lol

2 and 4 yo at the moment.

one would sleep through the night and the other would wake up. then it would switch, and then switch again.

one thing i learned was not to try and force a sleep schedule... that it was much easier and much more consistent to work around whatever natural sleep schedule each one had at the time. The 4yo is aware of the moon, and night time, and the concept of sleep and being "recharged" for the next day and all of the potential activities.
the 2yo still goes to bed early and wakes early. nothing crazy through.
but now the 4yo comes in our room and kicks me out of the bed. we have a king bed now and have tons of room, so i get to stay lol

some people voice a strong opinion about having the kids sleep in the room/bed with you. i have to say, figure out what gets you the best night sleep and go with that. youll be a better "you" if you can get sleep.

[Jonnydread]

I don't have kids so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I don't see any harm in letting the kids sleep in the big bed if it helps everyone get rest. If they're still doing that when they get their license you may want to rethink things, but for now I can't imagine it's overly problematic.

[Cdn_Cuda]

The key is if everybody gets sleep. Usually having a kid in the bed means mom or dad isn’t going to be comfortable. No kids sleeping in our bed, but after 6:30am they can hop in for cuddles. Otherwise kids wakes up, we cuddle in their bed. Be smart, buy a good mattress for the kids. You’ll be sleeping there, so worth the money. Mine kids are 4 and 7 and I am writing this laying on my 4y/o’s bed who woke up the first time I tried to leave….

[coyote]

I've worked 23 of the last 25 days.

My manager thanked me by screwing me on a scheduling commitment we agreed on.

I'm dropping retirement docs on his desk next week. The way our labor situation is right now I'm pretty sure I will hear his anatomy slamming shut.

[Jonnydread]

Dude! First, good for you for not taking that BS. Secondly, 23 out of 25 days is friggin asinine what in tarnation?!

[coyote]

The long haul was because of my department heads vacation. I knew it was coming, and I agreed to it.

Instead of getting a "thank you" I was met with "I need".

The union hall is literally calling retired butchers and letting them pull a pension and work as many hours as they want. The industry got rid of the training regimen, so there are zero bodies in the pipeline to replace guys like me.

2022 is gonna be a sweet year $ wise.

[Headshotted]

I should become a butcher.