Grumps can suck it, it's Friday!

[j44ke]

Used tools and axes and threw pieces of wood around and generally made a mess of our firewood and then cleaned it up (still have more to do.) Set aside three nice rounds of maple, sanded the tops and rubbed in some beeswax so we have places to put coffee next to our bench in the warmest sun least windy spot on our porch during the winter. I had an achy back from all of it, but otherwise felt great and more human than I’ve been feeling for a while. I see the pros fly through the air in a crash then jump back on and keep going, while I fall over like a bag of potatoes @ zero mph and can’t walk straight or sleep or sit upright for weeks.

[Tom]

This post was 9 hours ago - how you feeling now?

At the time you wrote that I was in the front room with a dram of whisky looking out the front window. It was a lot harder to leave than I thought, I was there for 30 years. I was thinking of all the good ones gone. You look forward to the day but then all kinds of thoughts and emotions rise.

[72gmc]

At the time you wrote that I was in the front room with a dram of whisky looking out the front window. It was a lot harder to leave than I thought, I was there for 30 years. I was thinking of all the good ones gone. You look forward to the day but then all kinds of thoughts and emotions rise.

Good luck in your next life, Tom. I’m pretty sure I will be no less busy when I get to that point.

[j44ke]

At the time you wrote that I was in the front room with a dram of whisky looking out the front window. It was a lot harder to leave than I thought, I was there for 30 years. I was thinking of all the good ones gone. You look forward to the day but then all kinds of thoughts and emotions rise.

Be prepared for the best accomplishments of the following years to occur while walking in the woods.

[bigbill]

My son texted me this morning after a week in the field at Quantico. He said the first two days were nothing but rain, but the remainder was pretty "chill." I was career military, and some of my most memorable times were the result of hardship, but hardship with friends. We all shared the suck. My son is learning the value of "embracing the suck" and owning it. If you know something will be hard, the best solution is to be ahead of the situation and control it, even though it will suck.

As a follow-up to his birthday a week ago, it was spent in the treeline with his fire team. His platoon sang happy birthday to him.

[bironi]

Posting a day early, but this Thursday did not suck. My 10 yr check up on my partial knee replacement went very well. I may get another 10 or more out of it.
Whoopee!!!

[Marvinlungwitz]

Fever broke, cough improving.

Suck it, COVID.

[rwsaunders]

Our youngest received an engineering graduate internship offer for next Summer with a robotics firm that’s based in Japan, but this particular position is based in Michigan. I told him that if he has the chance to head to the corporate HQ, his old man will be right beside him packing a rinko bike for the trip.

[72gmc]

Heck yes, go with him to make sure everything’s OK. Could be an excuse to pick up a rinko bike while you’re there.

[vertical_doug]

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (buses). Essentially the UK is having a general strike in December in all but name.

[Marvinlungwitz]

I’m glad we (the good ole USA) don’t have 1982’s double digit inflation, double digit interest rates, and double digit unemployment.

And that my kids now realize what the 1980s were really like (for most people).

[robin3mj]

Today for the first time since July, my alarm is off. It goes back on on Jan 3.

[ldamelio]

No acute event to report, I'm just very happy. The last 9 months of my life (retirement) have been the best ever. Health, a great wife and kids, and no meaningful stress. It's nice to have the time to catch up on everything I missed for the last 40 years. Happy Holidays to everyone here at VSalon.

[72gmc]

Out of the office until Jan 2. Still paying attention to a few in-office things, but those are good developments for good people so I'm glad to do it.

Family time, gifts for family members ... got in some good work on both before the freezing rain. I'd give more given the chance, but I'm also OK if the ice keeps me at home.

[rwsaunders]

We are headed to Ann Arbor this weekend to celebrate our youngest’s birthday and he scored tickets to a Wolverines v Buckeyes hockey game at “The Cathedral of College Hockey”. I’m not sure if I should wear my ancient #66 Lemieux Penguins jersey or go with the locals and wear the tattered Wolverines hockey jersey that I found on eBay for $35. One is never too old to remind their kids that their old man knows how to have fun too.

[72gmc]

Don’t forget to black out one of your front teeth!

[bigbill]

Since retiring last summer, sometimes I look at a calendar to remember what day it is. In a perverse way, it's almost like I'm back in the military when weekends didn't matter. Weekends are what you make them. Every day is a weekend now. I thought I'd bring this up since it is Friday, I checked.

TBH, retirement is much busier than I thought it would be. I have my home office up and running again to prepare lectures for the community education classes starting later this month. I also have some GI Bill remaining and I'm looking at Ph.D. programs.

[Dave Thompson]

As Dame Maggie Smith, playing the Dowager Countess Grantham, said on Downton Abbey: “What’s a weekend?”

I’ve always liked that line since I’ve retired, and use it frequently when among my non-retired friends.

[rwsaunders]

Don’t forget to black out one of your front teeth!

Dan…I wasn’t allowed to bring my Ogie Oglethorpe jersey.

[gregl]

Dan…I wasn’t allowed to bring my Ogie Oglethorpe jersey.

"Slap Shot" should be required viewing for all hockey fans! I remember going to Blazers, Dusters, and Comets games as a kid. And I've played in three of the arenas used in the movie. Long live the Federal League!

Greg