Grumps can suck it, it's Friday!

[Tom]

Sitting at The Woodstock Inn listening to the Millstream high, cafe au lait color and moving. Going to go over and have a great dinner, bop around aimlessly tomorrow with Karen until its time to go see Bettye Lavette at the Bearsville Theater, smile that on 9/30/22 we're both fully retired if we get there. Wouldn't have it any other way.

[gregl]

Today I received that phone call all parents love to get: “Dad, I have a great job offer!” My little girl will receive her master’s degree a month from today. She has more interviews next week. I suspect choosing the right offer will be her next big challenge.

Greg

[bigbill]

My kid got his "orders" for the summer following graduation. As a newly minted Marine Second Lieutenant, he has to attend TBS (The Basic School) in Quantico before he does any of his training pipeline which is flight school. He graduates from Annapolis on 5/27 then has a month off followed by six weeks of temporary duty before he starts TBS in mid-August. He found out Thursday night that his six weeks will be spent at the Naval Academy in their leadership department. He'll be able to cycle every afternoon and get ready for TBS which can be physically tough. He will stay at his sponsor family's house during those six weeks so he'll have a chance to save some money out of his O-1 paycheck. Now I just need to plant thoughts in his head about not rushing out to buy a new car since he has a four-year-old small SUV that is paid for. I have no moral ground to tell him to not buy a new bike though since I'm considering another Coconino.

[robin3mj]

Apologies for no photos but tonight I came across a photo of my paternal grandparents in navy dress- early 40s. Nan was too young but used her older sisters documents to enlist.

Within a minute, I found a photo of my eldest looking like a dead ringer for her great Nan and I am as shook as I’ve ever been. Life is beautiful.

[rwsaunders]

Graduation weekend for the youngest and our family is off to Columbus tomorrow to celebrate the event. When each of the kids started their respective undergraduate and graduate schools, I found an “old school” patch, my wife framed them and we have accumulated quite a collection. I really enjoyed this pairing though…Brutus the Buckeye and Biff the Wolverine.

[lumpy]

No. 2 son started his formal road racing career doing the CRCA races in Central Park last month. He won his first. In his second, he got boxed in but found/made a hole at the last minute and got third. On Wednesday they gave him his upgrade to Cat. 4 and I'm going down to watch him race the Bear Mountain Classic tomorrow.

[bigbill]

My son has completed all his classes and finals. Two weeks from today he graduates from the Naval Academy and becomes a Marine Second Lieutenant. I'm so excited for him.

[bigbill]

And just like that, he graduated. Heavy thunderstorms sent us scrambling, but not before I gave him his Marine officer's hat and put 2Lt bars on his epaulets.

[j44ke]

That's a great hug.

[bigbill]

That's a great hug.

It felt great. He squeezed the breath out of me.

[mnoble485]

The question is, did he give you a dollar?

Mike

[bigbill]

The question is, did he give you a dollar?

Mike

He gave a silver dollar to his first salute from an underclassman. You buy your first salute, you earn all the rest.

[johnmdesigner]

We just returned from a 2 week Tapas/Pinchos crawl through the Basque Country and Asturius.
San Sebastian
Bilbao
Santander
Gijon
Valladolid
Madrid
The food was great but somewhat dimished in San Sebastian, a victim of the Pandemic I suppose
We ended up in Madrid on Champions League night and the entire city was rammed. A bit disturbing after mask wearing NYC but we survived. Scared to death we would fail our COVID test the next morning before our flight but we made it.
The best part was the drive through the Picos De Europa mountains. Absolutly beautiful and a place I would like to visit with my bike.
Gijon is a beautiful city with very interesting architecture. Parks, beaches, delicious food and calm all in one place. I could easily live there.
A few pictures attached. Our first real vacation since the plague started and we really enjoyed it. Except the flying...

[bking]

We just returned from a 2 week Tapas/Pinchos crawl through the Basque Country and Asturius.
San Sebastian
Bilbao
Santander
Gijon
Valladolid
Madrid
The food was great but somewhat dimished in San Sebastian, a victim of the Pandemic I suppose
We ended up in Madrid on Champions League night and the entire city was rammed. A bit disturbing after mask wearing NYC but we survived. Scared to death we would fail our COVID test the next morning before our flight but we made it.
The best part was the drive through the Picos De Europa mountains. Absolutly beautiful and a place I would like to visit with my bike.
Gijon is a beautiful city with very interesting architecture. Parks, beaches, delicious food and calm all in one place. I could easily live there.
A few pictures attached. Our first real vacation since the plague started and we really enjoyed it. Except the flying...

My wife and I have been living in Madrid since last Sept. We are serving a mission here with our church, and our area of responsability is from about Valladolid to the north, then south to the Mediterranean. That changes July 1 and we'll go from Madrid to the northern coast. We're pretty excited to see some of the places you mention above. Lisa had read that San Sebastian had more Michelin Stars per capita (think I have that right) than any other city. When you say the food was diminshed, do you mean quality, or places have closed since the pandemic?
Great photos and report by the way. This is an amazing country, isn't it?

[johnmdesigner]

My wife and I have been living in Madrid since last Sept. We are serving a mission here with our church, and our area of responsability is from about Valladolid to the north, then south to the Mediterranean. That changes July 1 and we'll go from Madrid to the northern coast. We're pretty excited to see some of the places you mention above. Lisa had read that San Sebastian had more Michelin Stars per capita (think I have that right) than any other city. When you say the food was diminshed, do you mean quality, or places have closed since the pandemic?
Great photos and report by the way. This is an amazing country, isn't it?

We enjoyed several places in the tourist area of San Sebastian our first trip but this time 2 had closed and the others had diminished menus and the quality of the offerings was not as good.
Many of these are just stand up hole-in-the-wall places so it's understandable that they had a tough time during the Pandemic. Hopefully they will rebound.
We found the best offerings in the local's neighborhoods. I'm working on a list and will PM it to you if you like.
We had a wonderful meal in Valladolid at Villa Paramesa with excellent tapas and suckling pig.
Being in Madrid you must know Orio with excellent tapas for 2.10 each and VI NI TUS on the Gran Via that has excellent seafood at very reasonable prices.
I'm here crying just thinking about it.

[bigbill]

Driving to Phoenix this afternoon to pick up my son at the airport so we can spend Saturday with my dad in Sun City. Each time I see my dad, I think it will be the last time. He's 82, diabetic, and has worsening dementia. His wife cares for him but they're getting home health care soon to take some of the load off of her. After visiting my dad, we'll return to the hotel and take an Uber over to downtown Gilbert and have a nice meal with lots of drinks. Just a couple of military officers out on the town, one retired and the other brand new.

[rwsaunders]

Booster #2 is now in my system and altering the hell out of my DNA as we speak...

[Scott G.]

Booster #2 is now in my system and altering the hell out of my DNA as we speak...

Is this your pre TDF, hemocrit booster ?

[rwsaunders]

Is this your pre TDF, hemocrit booster ?

Yep...Cav and I are ready for action.

[mnoble485]

As of today my lovely and understanding wife has tolerated me for 30 years. She has the patience of Job.

Mike