10 digit

Cliff and Summer stayed last weekend. We all went to the Lincoln Presidential Museum and had an overall good weekend together. Elsa, Emma and I continue to practice dutifully for the Little Shop of Horrors musical for next weekend. Jack had a ballgame cancelled yesterday. I guess next Tuesday will be his last junior league game this year. For the Fourth of July we all sat in the high school parking lot. It was a good time! We have our itinerary set for our LA trip in a couple of weeks. Going to Disneyland, Universal, the beach a couple of times. Going to a Padres game for sure….Jack and I may go to an Angels game Saturday night. It’s good to have a set itinerary, knowing that you can deviate from it if need be. But if not, you’ll always have something planned and you won’t waste your time looking for something to do, and trying to get everyone to agree to do it.

I may stop doing this blog. I feel like it is running it’s course. I’m not really feeling the need to get my thoughts down on paper anymore. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe this blog has served it’s purpose.

Last Thursday Jack had a Junior League Baseball game. I think they lost. But after the game we packaged again, this time for the travel ball tournament in Bartonville (Peoria). Friday the wife came home from work and her, Jack and Elsa and myself headed up to Chicago to see Stevie Nicks and Billy Joel at Soldier Field.

We stopped in Pontiac to charge up at the Wally’s gas station. Only this place is more than just a gas station; it’s a freakin’ oasis! It was huge, had fresh pulled pork and the cleanest bathrooms. It is such a nice organized little place that I couldn’t believe that there are only two locations. I think they’re trying to be the Buc-ees of the Northern USA and that’s alright with me.

After that we made good time to Solider Field, only to hit stop-and-go traffic in Chicago. This quickly turned into “stop” traffic. We did manage to get parked and ran into the venue and got to our seats while Stevie was still on her first song. I had thought that we had good seats (first row on the upper deck across from the stage) but wow, I couldn’t make out anyone on stage. I think it’s the furthest I’ve ever been at a concert.

I took out my hearing aids and put in my earplugs. It’s not the same, being at a concert, wearing earplugs. Like, you need to be engulfed in the loudness to let it shake your soul and change your mood! Oh to be young again and to not care about my body lol.

I still had a great time though and part of that was just standing, dancing with Elsa, and singing at the top of my lungs. Who knows, this may be the last time I ever see Billy Joel. Like, I’ll never get to see Rush play again, so Billy is the only other #1 artist in my personal opinion.

After the concert, at 11:30PM, we began the long journey to our hotel in Peoria. I call this part of the trip “My Failure to Plan Accordingly.” We ran into “stop” traffic, not once, not twice, but thrice, even on the interstate. Seriously, how do three lanes of traffic go down to one? On an interstate? At 1:30AM? On a Friday night? It was forever getting out of Chicago but we eventually made it back to Wally’s to charge up again, use the facilities, and get food. This was around 3AM. We cut across the state to Peoria, getting into our hotel at 5:30AM. Seriously, it was getting light out. Birds were chirping. Jack had a game at noon. He had slept in the car the whole way down and he did manage to get more sleep in the hotel and was ready for his game.

His team won the Saturday game and we didn’t play again until Sunday at noon. So we did some Costco shopping, went to Texas Roadhouse, then went and played putt putt golf. It was actually a fun little mini-vacation.

We headed back to the hotel, where Jack and his teammates played in the pool. The next morning we got up and went to Big Mike’s Donut’s in Bartonville, which was really really really good. Jack lost this game, which meant we were done. We headed home and rested. Jack had another Junior League game on Monday. He caught the whole game, in 90 degree heat, after running 5 miles Monday morning for cross country practice. Also after swimming for two hours with Elsa. I wish I was half the kid that Jack was at his age. I have to applaud his mother for raising him and Elsa to be such fine kids. I try to chip in and mold them too but mainly I’m backing up my wife’s decisions.

So it’s been a busy couple of weeks. I’m just now getting around to updating this blog. Three weeks ago the wife and Jack went on their school trip to Washington DC. They were supposed to fly out but that got changed to a bus trip when so many people canceled. So they had a 13 hour bus ride from town to DC. Only the bus driver forgot to pick them up at their rendez-vous point in Champaign. So that added another 1.5 hours to the trip. But once they got there they got to see all the sites. Oh and the wife had her purse stolen but somehow magically recovered it by looking in the trash cans in the bathroom. She was smart in that she carried her CC and driver’s license on herself, not in her purse.

While they were away I got to spend some time with Elsa and Emma. It was frankly kind of boring lol. I mean, I’m boring. I went to bed early every night. The girls and I did go out to eat a couple of nights. But the house is not the same without the wife around to direct traffic.

Then Jack had a ball tournament in Jacksonville. He pitched another good game, only giving up 1 or 2 earned runs. He also started the Pony League games, playing for the Prestige Worldwide team lol. But he got to catch, so he was happy about that. Maybe he caught because he’s the only one with catcher’s gear lol.

He had to miss the later Sunday games because we had to leave for St Louis to fly into Orlando to stay the night. We got the house ready and took off Sunday night and had a quick flight into MCO. We stayed at the Embassy Suites just by the airport. These are always decent hotels. There’s enough room for all of us and they have free breakfast and airport shuttles.

Monday morning we took the shuttle back to MCO and checked in at the Disney Cruise Lines desk for the shuttle over to Port Canaveral. It was nice to be able to drop our luggage off and not worry about it until we got on the ship. We made the boring (by now) trip from Orlando to Canaveral and parked next to the majesty of the Disney Wish. None of us had ever been on a cruise before. We’d only seen ships off in the distance, and it’s literally awesome to see the size of this thing up close.

We waited on land in the boarding area until our group was called. Then we walked onto the ship, gave the MC our family name, and they announced it over the sound system. It was then, walking into the grand hall of the ship, that I was kind of taken aback by the whole experience. So many floors, so many people, so many details. Disney knocked this out of the park. They really know how to be magical. They are so good at being creative and wrapping yourself up in the experience. They do a great job of not making you think about what to do and where to go. It’s easy to get lost in yourself while in a Disney park and boat. They remove all external pressures and just let you live in the moment. Which is good for them; this dreamlike state makes it easy to open the wallet and buy tangible items that represent the experience.

We went around on the upper deck and tried out some of the food court items. They were all free. Free drinks, free ice cream, free pizza, free barbeque, free wraps. At times it seemed like there were more employees than passengers. There was never a table that set dirty for too long. I mean, Disney is the ultimate in themed experiences in the whole known universe. They can afford to pay attention to details, because they charge for this ultimate journey.

We waited around until 1:30PM when our room was opened. When we entered we were delighted to see just how habitable our 273 square foot room was. There was a porthole that took up one side. There was a fold-down bed and another bed that dropped from the ceiling. The wife and I had a queen bed. Elsa slept on the fold-out couch. And in another “they though of everything” touch, the shower room was separate from the toilet room. So two people could be using either room at the same time.

We got everything unpacked and headed back up to the pool area. I thought there would be like a big pool with some depth, but there were about 5 separate little pools. There was the Aquamouse ride though, the tube ride that circled the whole top of the ship. That was fun to ride.

I have to say that I had some trepidation about this trip due to my hearing issues and having to wear hearing aids. But it turned out not to be much of a problem. In fact, I hear better now with my hearing aids then I did before I developed my problems last August. So that’s a bright spot. I just left them out when I knew I was going to get wet and kept them in all the other times with no problems.

That night we ate at the Avengers restaurant. I don’t think any of us were too terribly hungry after eating like ravenous wolves all day. I was surprised at how “hoity-toity” the menu was. I guess Disney wanted to make their patrons feel like they were getting their moneys worth. But the most awesome part of the night (and the whole trip for me, really) was when Spider-Man came out and starting darting between the tables, quickly posing for a picture with every group.

When I think of superheroes I think of when I was really young and really into comic books. I was probably 7-8 years old, going three blocks down to Meyer’s Red Fox grocery store. I can still remember the tall rotating rack with comics, all about 50 cents each. When I was really really young I had a subscription to Green Lantern and Iron Man. I liked Green Lantern but Iron Man was a little adult for me. But I grew more into liking Marvel comics over DC. DC was a little old-fashioned whereas Marvel was more “hip” and exciting. I really got into Spider-Man for a while. Like him and The Falcon, they were my favorite. The Falcon has a cool outfit. Spider-Man is even cooler though. Stan Lee and the guys really captured lightning in a bottle when they created him. And since Spider-man was young in the comics he was more relatable to me. Even today, while I’m not a comic book nerd, I still identify as a Spider-Man aficionado.

So Spider-Man was darting around with these crazy quick movements all over the place. And this was a big dining area mind you. It took him about 10 full minutes to cover every table. I was anticipating when he would get close to us and I got a selfie with him! I mean, like, I know it’s just a guy in a suit, but Disney just does this thing where they bring out the childlike innocence in everyone. Jack was even caught up in the character experience, wanting to get his picture taken with as many Donald and Goofys and Mickeys as possible.

Spider-Man finished his round and then came back again! I got another picture of him with our group! It was just one of those things where your face hurts from smiling so much. This is probably the reason why there were more adults on the cruise than kids – Disney experiences are really made for the kid at heart. Years ago we went to Disney World for the first time and I was hooked on how well everything was executed. The kids had a blast, of course. But when we came home the kids also had the same amount of fun playing in rain puddles. Disney is wasted on the young lol! You might think that adult fans of Disney are creepy but I disagree. Disney has been around for over 100 years; they are a cultural institution. Me liking Disney is no different than people going into Harley Davidson shops and buying shirts and whatnot.

After dinner we went to the Bayou area and listened to The Wish Band, which was really neat. It was a compact band with a drummer playing an electric set, a keyboard player, a bass player and a singer/guitar player. They played very stripped down cover songs of Motown classics but really, the sentiment and emotion showed through. It makes me wonder why I ever thought every band I was in had to be a loud, big production.

So that night we came back to the room to sleep and discovered that the whole room had been set up for us. The beds were revealed, Jack got the top bed, Elsa took the couch underneath it and Emma slept on the murphy bed. The wife and I slept great in the queen size bed, with the boat gently rocking everyone to sleep.

The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast. Then we made our way to Castaway Cay, which is Disney’s private island in the Bahamas. I guess when you have that kind of $$$ and clout you can just buy an island. The snorkeling was ok; the water was kind of cloudy. The swimming was ok too. The whole day was overcast, which I really liked. We ate lunch and the seagulls showed up. One swooped down in front of the wife and took a whole hot dog out of the bun and flew away.

We got back on the boat and swam and hung out on deck. The kids ate a metric ton of ice cream. That night we went to Arendalle for dinner. They had a nice show from the Frozen characters.

The next day ate breakfast and went on shore in Nassau. There were some nice shops along the dock. We got a couple of the pina coladas right in the pineapple shell. Then we left the tourist shop area and went into the tourist trap shopping district, where everyone was soliciting for Bahama adventures of one sort or the other. We went to a couple different shops and got some nice shirts. We saw Atlantis off in the distance. Maybe we should have gotten a ride and went over to it. I doubt we’ll be in the Bahamas ever again to go check it out. Who knows. We also didn’t see the swimming pigs that Emma wanted to originally see. But it was nice to get out of the country for a while lol.

We went back to the ship and hung out. They had adult-only sections that were nice. They had a pirate themed dinner and a pirate party on deck. We got to see Alladin and Little Mermaid productions. Jack and I spent a lot of time together, just wandering around the ship. We waiting in line to get pictures taken with Spider-Man at 11PM. He signed Jack’s ball cap lol. Actually there were times when I got to wander around on deck and I would literally be the only person out. It really made me feel empowered, like I owned the ship. The next day was a day at sea, going back to Port Canaveral.

Friday morning we ate breakfast on the ship one last time then disembarked. Our magical cruise was over. I’m certain that we’ll take another Disney cruise. I put a deposit down for 10% off of a future cruise. It’s fully refundable, so that was a no-brainer decision.

We took the shuttle back to the Orland airport and got on our flight. Since I didn’t have cell reception 24 hours prior, I ended up getting crappy C section seats on Southwest by the time I was able to check into our flight. We all ended up sitting next to strangers. It was fine though. It was only a 2.5 hour flight. By the time you take a nap and watch some shows the flight is over.

We got in the car, which was at 49% charge. I’d left it with 47% charge. So it warmed up so much since we left that the car battery actually gained energy. We went to the Spanish Lake supercharger and charged up to 90% for our trip to Peoria with a quick detour at home to swap luggage.

When we got home we got everything ready to go for Jack’s ball tournament in Peoria and were ready to leave when suddenly the water pressure went out. Damn. That meant that I was going to have to open the concrete cap on the pump house in the outside well, get the ladder, and climb down in to check the wiring on the pump switch.

So I did all of that. I jiggled one of the wires and heard the pump kick back on. We had water pressure again. So I closed the lid and got ready to leave. Only the pressure went out yet again. So I had to again open the damn concrete lid and climb down. I took the one wire off the terminal and screwed it back down tight, thinking this would fix it for good. But Saturday evening mom called to say that the pressure was again out. So I got to spend Father’s Day Sunday working on the switch. I put a curl in all the wires and made sure that the terminal screws made great contact, then screwed everything down tight. Knock on wood, it is still working 4 days later. If it stops again then I’m going to have to see about moving the tank and switch into the basement and out of the pump house. That won’t be cheap.

So Friday night we did actually make it to the hotel in Morton at midnight. It was the same one we stayed at last year, with the same Tesla chargers. Nice!

Saturday morning we got up and went to Costco and Crumbl cookies and Target and had a good little time shopping. Then Jack’s game started at noon. He was the starting pitcher, “fresh off the boat” as he coach said. He did really well, pitching three scoreless innings. Then he and the defense fell apart in the fourth. He gave up 7 runs but only 2 were earned. Jack tops out at about 70 pitches. Plus it was around 90 degrees with high humidity, like everyone was tired.

They lost that game and the next game which meant that there were no Sunday games. Saturday night all the parents and kids got together behind the hotel and had a good time. I took a couple of kids on a ride in the Tesla. They thought that was great.

Monday night Jack’s junior league team had a game. They played the team coached by his travel ball coach, which was interesting. He had 3 travel ball teammates on his team, the other team had three travel ball teammates. I think they all had a good time playing against each other.

Jack got to catch the whole game and made some good throws around the bases. He was hoping to impress his travel ball coach enough so that maybe he can catch in travel games. His team won 3-2 in seven innings and the game was very exciting and close throughout. Jack was at bat and got hit in the head. I instinctively ran out on the field to check on him. He’s my boy! I love him! I got to check on him! Luckily the ball hit his chin guard first before hitting his other cheek. He was ok and only has a little scratch today.

Yesterday I took the girls to musical practice. This year it’s Little Shop of Horrors. I saw the four different plant models. Lucky for me, there is someone else running them! I want to be backstage and help, but not a whole lot. I need time in the evenings now for 3D printing.

So for my 3D printing I went ahead and got an LLC. I’m an official business now. I was able to find an online bank that has no monthly fees and has debit cards, so I can further distance my personal affairs from the corporation. I don’t know what the future holds for my business. I’m don’t have a clear vision or business plan, and that’s fine with me. I just want to have fun with my hobby and hopefully make a few bucks (and a few business contacts) along the way. It’s just a thrill for me to be able to design my own creations and bring them to life in plastic. Ever since I can remember I’ve loved action figures. And now I’m getting closer to the day when I can design and print my own. It’s a fun journey.

Saturday we held Emma’s graduation party at our house. It was a smashing success. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been surrounded by some many people that I cared about and wanted to talk to. It was also a mini family reunion for my mom’s side of the family.

The week leading up to the party was fairly hectic. We really had to push the painters to get the ceiling done. They had already removed the popcorn, we just needed them to finish up the mudding and painting so that we (the wife actually) could start cleaning and prepping the kitchen full time.

I spent a week getting the basement totally 100% re-organized and cleaned. I had to forgo my exercise routine and my 3D printing to do it, but it was worth it. The basement is the cleanest it’s been since we moved in. So when I brought people down to show off my printers I wasn’t mortified at all the clutter.

Summer stayed with us Friday night. Everyone woke up at 7AM yesterday to begin getting the party ready. I had no idea that Summer was going to work as hard as she did, helping the wife get all the food and decorations ready. I finished cleaning out the garage and got out the sidewalk chalk. Elsa and I decorated the driveway with it.

Tom and Marcie and the other immediate family showed up around 11AM. It’s always great seeing them. My brother Tom has been one of the most influential males in my life. Like first of all would be Dad, obviously. I think I learned how to be curious about life from him (dad), and to always have some weird side-hustle going on to make money. Not to make a lot of money, mind you. I think he just wanted to see what he was capable of creating and then to see if other people liked it enough to pay some amount for it. Like selling night-crawlers, mocassins, or produce. I get the feeling that he just liked to be involved and useful in other peoples’ lives, and since he didn’t have the social skills to come out and just directly talk to people, he used his hobbies as a way of getting to know people and having some topic to discuss. Or maybe I’m just projecting that from how I feel about hobbies lol.

From Tom I learned how to be a father. Now, from my own father I learned how to be a grandfather lol. You see, my dad was 40 years old when I was born. And let’s say that I’m not a full self-conscious person until I’m 12 years old (the age when I first became aware of my clothes and how they compared to my classmates). So I didn’t really get to know my dad until after he was 50 years old. And at that point, being that old, and having already raised two sons years earlier, he was in his later middle-age stage. Most of the activities that he and I did together would be more of like a grandfather and grandson type. But my brother Tom is only 9 years older than me. I got to see how he raised his kids and the type of dynamic that he used. So he was my “father figure” or role model for when I had kids. But more importantly Tom showed me that I didn’t have to accept a blue-collar/redneck existence. Tom is very good at electronics and technical fields. He showed me that it was possible for someone in my family to be highly intelligent and to be rather nerdy when it came to technology. So I thank him for that.

What other males have shaped my life? Well, there’s my mom’s twin brother Jack, who I think I’ve already mentioned in previous posts. From him I learned how to have a calm and even temperament. He’s literally the male version of my mom and her temperament, very stoic. So Jack was very influential in that sense. Then my dad’s brother Jack was influential in the computer/technology realm. He really seemed to the the white sheep in a family of black ones. The only other male I can think of right now, besides all these, is famed author Dave Ramsey. I’ve never met the guy but his financial guidance, attitude about debt, and philosophy about money has forever changed my family’s life for the better.

Back to the party, Tom and Marcie showed up. Then both John and Sariah showed up. I knew that John was coming but Sariah was a pleasant surprise. These are two people that I’ve spent almost my whole life with. It’s great having friends like this where, even if you haven’t seen each other in two years, when you get together you talk and it’s like no time at all has passed. You just pick up right where you left off.

I was showing off my printers when the wife came down and said that people she didn’t know where showing up. It was my cousin April and her father Stan. Stan is mom’s brother-in-law. It was great to see both of them, especially Stan, who was so nice to dad in his final days. When dad was in the Quincy hospital Stan would come by every day to visit with him.

Then the floodgates opened and everyone in the world showed up lol. I was so happy to see teachers at our house, people who had never been here before. Emma’s friends all showed up. Elsa had a friend show up. My uncle Ted and his wife showed up. My cousin Jeff and his wife and son Phil showed up. Uncle Jack and his family showed up. Marcie’s mom and sister showed up. I think there were probably 70 people here at once, maybe 100 total. There were people who I had no clue who they were. But as nice as it was for me to be able to meet-n-greet and entertain all these people, it was touching that they all loved Emma enough to stop by and hang out. Emma had all her sports banners, track medals and plaques out for display. It was really very impressive to see all at once what she had accomplished in school.

John brought his drone and I asked if he could shoot some video. And the video turned out awesome! Normally I frickin’ hate drones with a passion but it was different in this case. Like, I know the guy operating it and I know the situation and environment. But I hate going to large events and seeing these random drones out shooting footage. It feels like an invasion of privacy.

Eventually most of the guests left. Mom’s family stayed longer and we all talked about Shaun Livingston and his life. We talked about the olden days too. For a while I felt like I was 7 years old again, being the youngest at the huge family reunion. These old relatives we discussed, some passed away 50 years ago. Heck even in mom’s family there’s only her and two brothers left. Someday they will be gone. Someday I’ll be gone. My kids (and hopefully grandkids) will talk about me. But what about in the far future when they’re gone too? No one will remember me. It will be like I never existed. Maybe that’s why I have this blog. It may live on in some electronic form. Maybe it’s now the year 2154 and you’re reading this. Hi there, future person!

Yesterday was Emma’s actual graduation ceremony. It was great except for all the people who now think it’s ok to bring noisemakers and whistles to this event. It’s cool that you want to celebrate but c’mon, there is a time and place for that. You don’t need to make the whole gym sound like a cicada invasion. You don’t need to do a tribal warrior dance in the hallway, blocking people from leaving.

So Emma and I will be spending lot’s more time together. I’ll probably wake her up fairly early every morning and the wife will have a list of chores for her. Who know what her future holds?

Last night I set up my LLC through Legal Zoom. I figure that it’s cheap enough, it let’s me learn more about the ins-and-outs of running my own business, but mainly it protects me in case something I sell ends up south. Not saying it’s likely, but if I have a booth someday selling 3D printed stuff, and some kid chokes on it, at least my personal property will be protected in case of a lawsuit. Once I get my EIN I’ll get a bank account. I really don’t see me making any large amount of money, but it’s still worth it for a learning experience.

There are definitely opportunities for me to make money with prints. But in order to capitalize on them I need to modify the prints and files so that they are worthy of being sold. That takes time and also a continuing journey up the learning curve. But I am having an awesome time doing it so far. It’s not really a case where I wish I would have done this sooner; the printing technology is so new. I’m still in at the ground floor. I just really need to get better at 3D modeling so that I can create my own designs and not rely on others.

This weekend Jack played four games in Jacksonville. On Saturday morning he pitched a great 6 inning complete game, only giving up 2 earned runs and a few walks. The wife and I were on pins and needles the whole time watching him pitch. He didn’t do so well his last outing but this time he totally redeemed himself. The boys lost the second game. Sunday morning the boys won the first game and again lost the second game. I don’t blame them for losing though. It was almost 90 degrees by noon, and sitting around waiting for the next game (and actually going out there to play it, just standing around in the outfield) is punishing. I was beat down just from sitting in the heat, and I didn’t do anything more than that!

Because these were long, tiring days, I didn’t feel much like doing anything around the house to get ready for Emma’s graduation party. But I did what I could. Jack and I really got the yard looking nice last night. We got the mirror hung up in the living room. The kitchen area looks freakin’ fantastic now, with the flat white ceiling, white tile backsplash, and white granite counter. I’ve made really good progress on getting the basement cleaned up and reorganized. All I have left to re-org are the Christmas decorations. Since there’s a chance for rain Saturday morning, I’m thinking that we may have a ton of people inside the house. Maybe we can stick a group in my office and in the basement. It’s going to be a Graduation Party and Family Reunion all in one shot, so that will be interesting. Plus my friend John said he will be here, so I’ll have to find some way to keep him entertained.

The wife and Jack will going on the school-sponsored Washington DC trip next week. I’m trying to find something neat for Elsa, Emma and myself to do. Both the Cardinals and the Chiefs are out of town. I don’t want to do a big ballgame trip, like go to Pittsburgh, Cleveland or Detroit. Pittsburgh will be a short family trip someday, to see the ballpark and Fallingwater. Cleveland and Detroit, eh, maybe we could drive there, see a game, then drive back. I’d have to take a couple days off of work though.

There was a lot of interest on the cup holder/ball holder/helmet holder chain-link display during Jack’s first ballgame. I had his name and number printed on it, which I think signifies that someone (mainly me) has created this by hand. I didn’t design the object but I did make some modifications to it to make it stronger. The fence-holder part broke so I printed another one Saturday night with a reinforcement bar on it. I still need to make some modifications to it to get it to a point where I could sell it. But all of my time has lately been consumed with getting everything ready for Emma’s party. Like, I haven’t worked out in 3 days just because I’ve been busy. I need to finish putting the gutter guards on the garage gutters. Those are turning out to be pretty cool looking.

I’m just about done reading my book on the Art of Logic. It’s okay, I guess. There’s some interesting points the author brings up. But some of the examples she uses, like white guys automatic have privilege, are kinda head scratchers. There’s a lot of weird socio-economics brought into this book about math and logic, a lot of examples that are just presented as fact. So it has taken me out of the subject and forced me to read it now with a critical eye. I’m not saying that there’s no room to debate and pontificate on socio-economic-racial-class issues, but I didn’t buy the book for that reason. I bought it because I thought there would be an intersection of Art, Logic and Math. 1/5 stars, would not buy again.

It’s Mother’s Day today. Life is good.

Yesterday Elsa had her final track meet of the year, this time in Moroa-Forsyth. It’s kind of frustrating to watch her run because we all know she is capable of doing much better. But I’m happy that she’s in an organized extracurricular event. Jack did not do track this year. He just comes home every from school instead of staying there and practicing for some team or event. Granted, he’s a good kid. He doesn’t just come home and play video games or watch TV or hang out. He will work out in the basement or go outside and take care of the yard. Still, I wish he would be in some school event. I realize now how important these school-age years are and that it’s important to wring out as much activity as possible during this time. Sooner than I know it, Jack and Elsa will be out of High School. Then the next phase of their lives will begin. There will never be another opportunity like High School, where everyone dotes on you and treats you like a special child. Then it’s all work, all the time.

We’re getting the house ready now for Emma’s graduation party in two weeks. I know Emma has gotten as much out of high school as she possibly could. It will be interesting to see the path she takes from here on out.

We got new granite countertops and tile backsplash for the kitchen. And we had the popcorn ceiling removed and redone. The kitchen looks like an AirBnB house now, which is great. I guess I’m lucky that all of my wife’s hobbies are those build equity, as opposed to mine that don’t lol. Actually I take possible resale value into my hobbies, whether they’re guitars, Legoes, 3D Printing or whatever. I like to think that if we ever really needed the money I could sell some of my belongings for a decent price.

Emma’s last track meet was Wednesday in Metamora, out past Peoria. It sucks that our school is in a different classification now. We have to drive 1.5 to 2 hours to get to these meets because of that. It was much better when we just drove over the bridge to Rushville.

I got the Tigers design back from the guy who I commissioned it from. I love it. I know it’s probably a little out there for everyone but that’s ok. I was going for something that was different from all the other boring schools’ designs I would see around. Now I have to see about getting it printed on shirts and a hoody. I never thought that I’d be paying someone to design something like this for me, but what’s the point of having money if you can’t change the world in some small way with it? Also, I know I could have fed a description of what I wanted through an AI machine and probably gotten something close to what was created. But for something like this I like paying real people to create real designs. It’s going to be a different world, with all this AI stuff coming along. Ultimately I think it will be good for humanity but it will be very disruptive in the meantime. AI will definitely weed-out all the low hanging fruit type of jobs. Maybe subpar graphic designers will be out of jobs. And those who would normally think about going into the graphic design field will change their minds and go into other professions. But by letting AI do what it does, it will force humans to think about and realize the essence of what it means to be human.

It’s the end of April 2024. Time keeps a’ truckin’ along. The weather is warm and nice.

Emma and Elsa were in The Descendants school musical over the weekend. Emma is really growing into her role as an actress. She really gets into the roles with wild abandon. Elsa was in the background, aggressive throwing a teddy bear to other kids in a circle. What a weird show.

Elsa ran a track meet here in town and got PRs for her runs. She’s fast!

Jack had three ballgames on Saturday in Quincy. They won the first two morning games in convincing fashion. Jack had a couple of hits and did perfect defensively. They lost the afternoon game but ended up getting first place out of the four teams competing. He’s excited to get his ring.

Cliff, Summer and Wyatt stayed with us over the weekend. They brought their new giant dog with them. Luckily she is a good well-behaved girl. I printed a dragon for Wyatt and gave him a cat that I printed earlier.

The wife and I have sold about 9 Bogg Bag pins that I printed, with the Gnats mascot on it. I’m getting pretty good at dialing the settings in and getting a good print. I would like to start printing them on the Bambu but it is less forgiving for the SVG Gnat picture file than the Prusa. So I’ll have to spend some time to clean up the SVG and then load it on the Bambu. I also need to start testing Croc pins for Gnats and get that perfected. I made a decent helment/bottle/bat holder for Jack using PETG filament but one of the printed hooks snapped off. But I would like to print these Croc pins with PETG because it’s a little more flexible and wear-resistant than PLA. Maybe I’ll get a .2mm hotend for the Bambu and test that out.

I went to the ENT on Monday and told her that I have no improvement in my hearing since the last appointment. I’ve been taking Flonase and Zyrtec everyday but nothing has helped. She basically said that there’s nothing more than can do. I was a little bummed at first to hear this but was actually pretty happy the rest of the day. I feel like I have some closure on this and now I can move on. I still kind of hate that I have to wear hearing aids, just because it’s another device that I have to charge up and take care of. But really, it does improve my hearing, especially the high end frequencies that my wife and kids talk in. I can hear better with the aids than I could even before my hearing problems started in August. We’re going on a Disney Cruise in June and I’ll actually be able to be present and part of crowded conversations now, as opposed to other trips where I’m basically silent the whole time we’re out in crowds.

I still sort of kind of think that there’s something that could fix my hearing. It’s pinched frequencies, like no high end or low end. I can only hear this mid-range frequency, which is usually the range I turn down on my stereos and guitar amps. I think it’s pinched because of fluid or something.

So, I don’t think I’ve been keep up this journal/blog as frequently as I would have liked. I’ve been in a funk for a couple of weeks due to my hearing issues. I’ve been doing the flonase/zyrtec treatment per my ENT specialist everyday for about a month but with no changes. I was hoping to really see some difference by now. It seems like the days when my hearing clears up and I don’t need my hearing aids are the days when my ear beeps and pulses. It’s ironic that two years ago I wanted to slow down time so much because it was moving by so fast, and now it seems I’ve gotten my wish. My hearing issues force me to take every day one day at time. Sometimes there are good days, sometimes there are bad days. This is all well and good but I would really like to have some sort of resolution on what’s going on so I can plan for the future. But really when I step back and look at my life I see that I have so much to be grateful for. These ear issues are really just a tiny drop in the bucket. It only consumes so much of my energy because it’s ever-present; I’m always having to be conscious of it and deal with it. Even after typing all of this out I feel better now. Maybe that’s the power of journaling and putting ideas down on paper (or screen). I’m getting problems out of my head and out into the open. So that’s good.

Yesterday we left at 7:40AM and drove down to Centralia to see the total solar eclipse. We stopped in Vandalia along the way and charged the car up to 90%. I figured that would be enough to last us in Centralia plus whatever crazy traffic we would encounter going to St. Louis afterwards.

We got to Centralia around 11AM and made sandwiches. We stopped at a beautiful park with nice ball diamonds and fields. There wasn’t any traffic on the way down. Around noon is when the eclipse started and everyone pretty much settled down to continually check the path of the moon over the sun.

It started to cool down about a half hour before totality. The wife had to put a sweater on. It started to get darker too. Finally the last sliver of sun went a way, the ring came out, and we were in totality. It was awesome to be able to take the glasses off and see the sun/moon with the naked eye, against the purple sky. The corona was flaming out from the sun. It was much cooler than the eclipse I say in Missouri in 2017.

Ted was congratulated by the local Rotary Club for being the furthest traveled. I took all their pictures and they are going to put it in their newsletter. This is nice, especially after Jack and I were playing catch, and Jack throw a wild pitch that rolled and hit the Rotary guy in the foot lol.

After that we drove to Busch Stadium. It was decent traffic for the most part. It probably only took an extra 10 minutes to get to downtown, so we had plenty of charge left. We dropped off Jack and Ted at the Hyatt then went to charge up all the way before the game started. That way we wouldn’t have to charge after the game. I made another sandwich while the car charged. Life was good.

Then we went and parked at the garage across from Busch. It was $20 last year to park, now it was $40. Damn inflation. We went and found Ted and Jack and waited in line at the gate to go in. Once inside we made our way to the cheap seats. Laina, Elsa and I went to get the stadium giveaway (Peppermint Patty bobblehead). I will sell 6 of these to recoup the cost of the tickets. It’s nice to see Peanuts still get some love. It was one of my favorite comics growing up. We had multiple Peanuts books around the house. I would read them over and over and over. I remember going to TG&Y and buying the “Flash Beagle” album, which was Peanuts take on the Flashdance craze. We had the Peanuts drawing board thingy, where you moved the green gel sheet over to progressively draw Snoopy or Charlie Brown or Linus or whomever. It’s a core memory!

[Wow, my back is spasming bad while typing this. I don’t know what I did this weekend to hurt it but my left side muscle on my rib cage just squeezes for no reason, then goes away about 5 seconds later. Hurts like hell!]

The Cards lost to the Phillies. It was weird to see so few fans in the park, but that’s because of the shitty year the team had last year. The Cardinals have a winning culture and it seems like the front office didn’t do much to fix anything this year. But still, baseball is great to watch and Busch Stadium is still my favorite MLB ballpark by far.

So last Friday I went to St Louis by myself to pick up Ted from the airport. Beforehand I went to Microcenter to pick up a Bambu X1 Carbon 3D printer. I have it set up and have done a couple prints. So far the thing is awesome, much better than the Prusa MK4. I hate to say that because I love Prusa. The are based in the Czech republic and have awesome tech support, and all their software is open source. Plus it is a fast printer and is great when it works. But the X1C has so many more advanced features. I bought one because of all the amazing word-of-mouth I saw on social media about it. I literally did not believe all the glowing reviews. I would check out reviewers’ Facebook profiles to make sure they were legit people and not some Communist China hacks. But it’s all good! I’m actually proud of China for building this. Usually all of their stuff is Amazon junk that tries to pass itself off as some American brand. But the Bambu is obviously Chinese, and it is great new original technology. So kudos to them for actually creating something good and new.

I can’t wait to start testing out the multicolor printing on the X1C. That’s the main reason I got it. I won’t be limited to one color per layer like I am with the MK4. But Prusa just released their own multi-material unit for the MK4 this week. So maybe I’ll get it later and have two multi-color printers. It depends on how well I can make items that other people want to buy. I have some ideas.

Saturday we all went to Obed and Isaacs in Springfield for dinner. The whole family plus mom and Ted went. It was okay this time. I think my buffalo chicken horseshoe had been sitting under a heat lamp for a while though. Then we went to Scheels. Jack got a new glove and we all got some new Hey Dudes (or “Oh Boys”, as Ted called them).

I went to Jack’s scholastic bowl in Rushville yesterday. I am all for trivia and such, but these events are boring as hell to have to sit through lol. Gimmee some rasslin’!

We are getting our popcorn ceiling and kitchen counters redone here soon. Hopefully everything is finished and looks great ahead of Emma’s graduation party.

Philosophically I’m still thinking about the Absolute versus the Relative, trying to find examples where each is used. I’m also thinking of how, in an argument, people will switch between “Because Of” versus “In Spite Of”, kind of like how they switch between Absolute versus Relative, whatever fits their argument. Like, I think I’m a fairly successful dude. Is my success Because Of my parents? Like how I was raised, what they taught me, how they acted and the roles they modeled for me? Or am I successful In Spite Of my parents? Like they weren’t the most educated people on Earth. We were basically redneck white-trashian simple folk. I mean, I grew up with muskrat pelts turned inside-out on my porch. I can still remember the smell. And my parents loved me unconditionally. This sounds great on the surface. They were proud of everything I did. But what if they had pushed me a little harder? Like what if they had made me play a school band instrument and be in sports? Would I have been an even better, more well-rounded person today? This is why I push my kids to be in these organized activities. I want them to reach their full potential, and not just the half-potential that I think I reached (sometimes). But I can’t fault my parents. How the hell were they supposed to handle a bright, gifted straight-A student? My dad was a construction laborer, my mom was a stay-at-home mom. They had no reference for what to do with a kid like me. They were probably just happy that all us kids stayed out of trouble and graduated.

Tomorrow is Easter. All the kids are here. Elsa, Jack and Laina are playing Fortnite in the basement. I am happy.

I moved the printer down to the basement today. It seems to be printing ok for the most part but I’m thinking there’s too much vibration on the table it’s on. But I have enough room down there to add the Bamboo X1C, should I decide to get it when I to to St. Louis Friday to pick up Ted.

April 8th is the total solar eclipse. All 7 of us are planning to go to the Centralia/Mount Vernon area to see the totality. Then we’ll go to Busch Stadium to see our first Cards game of the year. The kids and I saw the last eclipse in 2017 and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Well, now it’s a twice-in-a-lifetime deal. But it was awesome.

Next month is also the next Bitcoin halving, when the rewards for mining Bitcoin get cut in half. This happens about every 4 years and is part of the programming, designed to keep the supply of Bitcoin artificially low. I’m hoping for a big bull run after this!

I’ve been taking Zyrtec and Flonase every day since my ENT appointment, to no change. Fingers crossed that my ears improve here soon though.

We’re going out about every day now to see either Elsa or Emma in track, or to see Jack in the quiz bowl. Busy times…

I gave up reading my audiobook “Weapons of Math Destruction” because it’s just too depressing. There are so many ways that our lives can get screwed over by corporate algorithms. I mean, I’m glad I started the book, and I got about 3/4 of the way through it, but life is too short to be that depressed. Also it goes back to my deeper philosophical debate about the Relative vs the Absolute. Like the debate about White Privilege; someone from a poor country could make the case that I absolutely benefit from being White/Male/American/Straight/Middle-Class. But to me myself, it’s all relative. My baseline is my parents and how well they lived and what their standard of living was like. I’m trying to be better off than they were. So that’s my bar, my standard. To a poor person in a third-world country it would seem as though the worldwide bar is low, and I’ve already leaped (lept?) waaaaaay over just by benefit of how and where I was born. But everyone has they’re own relative struggles in life and their own relative battles, regardless of what it looks like to outsiders. I have to ponder more about this. I think I’m own to something.

Today is Saturday March 16. We had a birthday brunch for both Laina and Elsa, who are turning 21 and 12 this year. It was delicious.

Emma and the The Grand Opera House put on their spring play last night. The show was much better than I expected and Emma’s acting is much better than I expected too. She really throws herself into the role. And the other actors are good. It was a good community experience, to see the up on this small stage with one set.

Wednesday was Elsa’s true birthday. I spent the morning of it in court, waiting to see the fallout from my speeding ticket. It was neat, in a way, to sit there and see our court process in action. I ended up having to pay a fine and get court supervision, which was the best I could have hoped for. So now I drive like the proverbial old lady, with a line of cars behind me.

Tuesday I went to the SIU clinic in Springfield to see the ENT about my ears. She thinks that I have fluid in my Eustachian tubes and that I need to take Zyrtec and Flonase for six weeks to clear it all up. If it’s not better then I’ll get an MRI. But she said it was not due to COVID. So that’s nice to know, I guess. I don’t have to wonder if getting vaccinated was a bad idea now.

Monday was Emma’s first track meet of the year, at Illinois College. I was still tired from the time change, plus it was raining all day. Plus I’m still getting over a head cold. So I was dragging ass to go see her run. I’m still dragging the proverbial ass even today. I need to get over this so I can get back to working out and get back into a good routine.

I finished printing some tiger earings. We will probably donate those to the TAC club to raise money for Tiger Athletics. I finished the new 3D guitar too. I’m working on the headstock decal right now, trying to get it to look just right. Then I will donate it to the school to be auctioned off for the music booster club.

It’s been one of the busier weeks I’ve had lately.