Category: Family

Day Job Happenings – The big news around the Manor is that I formally requested a transfer from the current day job to my old day job. The new job was poorly conceived and the politics of my current place morphed it into something where I often dread going into the office. Not to say there weren’t parts I liked, but it wasn’t worth the stress. I have to take a pay cut, but since The Wife and I budget relentlessly, it’s more of an inconvenience than a hardship.

Anyways, I’m in that wonderful time where I’ve notified my supervisor (who was not surprised), but I’m waiting on a timeline for how the transfer will occur. Most likely it will take about a month. Maybe more, maybe less. Then comes the fun of informing everyone else. TBH, some of that will be fun. Others will be less so.

Weather Happenings – We got our first semi-decent tropical near us for the season. This meant pulling down the bird feeders. Also gave me the reason to replace one of the poles which wasn’t holding up too well. It’s always fun explaining to newbies that while, yes, the storm is going to make landfall north of us, we’re going to get some interesting weather from it due to the size of the storms.

Fortunately for us, all we got was some real sporty thunderstorms and wind. Our lanai got a bit flooded due to rain coming in – sideways – faster than it could drain. The pond out back probably rose about six inches. The county as a whole saw about 14″ of rain drop over a couple of days, but my little corner saw almost 19 inches. There was pretty nasty flooding across the county and one of the dams south of us had to release some water causing more flooding. So, we’re good, but a lot of our neighbors are going through a rough time.

Derek’s Mind Works In Odd Ways – I’ve recently started picking up some of the GI Joe Classified series figures. For those unaware, these are mostly based on the old 80’s toys, but at six-inch scale, with more articulation and more gear. Okay, I know GI Joe was known for, let’s just say, a unrealistic edge to their weapons and gear. I mean, a motorcycle with a gatling gun sidecar is neat, but not feasible. However, I’m hitting an odd “uncanny valley” issue. For instance, I recently picked up this set. Shockwave was one of my fav’s back in the day, and I’m looking at putting together an urban warfare scene with some Alley Vipers I picked up. Anyhoo, here’s my brain conundrum. The idea of a SWAT-style guy on the team lives on one side of the uncanny valley, while the gatling gun-armed motorcycle lives on another. The double-barrel AR falls directly into the valley. Why? Because it’s a real thing, but there’s no way I can see an elite unit actually using it in combat. I can’t tell you why that bothers me, but it bothers me.

For the last couple of weeks, the Ward household traveled to Washington State for two big family events. First, we needed to spread FIL’s ashes where he wanted. Second, The Wife’s nephew and his fiancee decided to get hitched out there. This trip had been in the works since shortly after FIL’s passing. It was almost derailed when COVID blew through the Ward household the week prior to leaving. I was actually recovering from COVID when we left.

The TLDR is both events went off splendidly, if not with some hiccups.

So, one of the things we decided to do was splurge a bit on our rental car. We ended up with a BMW X6 hybrid. It was fun to drive and easy to speed in because you just didn’t realize how fast you were going just by the feel of the car. I also really liked the little HUD for the driver and the fact that it was a bluetooth carplay. The range was amazing, which with a 20 gallon tank is not surprising. What I didn’t like? First and foremost was that it was overly complicated for a short duration trip. It took us far too long to find the important gauges (like the fuel gauge) and functions. I also dislike cars where the environmental controls have to be handled through their touchscreens. I want tactile knobs for those kinds of things so I don’t have to take my eyes off the road. I also don’t like that when its put in gear there’s no idle until you hit the gas.

Days One and Two

Flying while wearing a mask is not fun. I wore one because I was still dealing with COVID symptoms, and I didn’t need to be coughing and sneezing on folks. It didn’t help that TSA pinged FIL’s cremains as possible drugs/explosives. They were surprisingly polite (which is not the normal experience in Tampa), but it was a bit of annoyance.

Fortunately it was a straight flight from Tampa to Seattle, and we sprung for first-class. We picked up the rental car and drove to the AirBnB in the Tri-Cities area. This is where we learned about how easy to speed with the BMW when The Wife was hitting nearly 100 mph without noticing it. Fortunately, we had a spacious place in West Richland, and the Tri-Cities have almost non-existent traffic compared to our area. I spent most of the first couple of days resting and watching anime while the others visited with family.

Days Three and Four

We traveled to Mazama in the Methow area of Washington. FIL’s family have a small cabin in the area that’s been in the family for many decades. It was a special place for him, and this is where he asked for his ashes to be spread.

The Wife and her family met up with folks they hadn’t seen in nearly forty years from her father’s side of the family. There was many reminisces about days spent at the cabin. The original plan was to spread FIL’s ashes along the bank of the Goat Creek. However, in the intervening years, many of the open spaces have been purchased, which limited the number of public parking spaces along the creek. So, the family agreed to spread FIL’s ashes among some trees at the cabin. The Wife did a wonderful job of reading the eulogy.

The only downside were the accommodations we rented in Mazama. The place wasn’t bad, but 1) we were not its expected demographic, and 2) the area was in the midst of a pretty decent heatwave. The rooms did not have A/C and the only fans were oscillating desk fans. It was pretty miserable sleeping there due to lack of airflow. Some of our party ended up sleeping in their cars.

Still, the local shops were pretty neat.

Day 5

The family descended on the city of Leavenworth. This is a former logging town that turned itself into a tourist area by remodeling into a faux Bavarian village. In some ways, it kind of reminds me of the historic district of St. Augustine in that it’s a bunch of little shops hiding behind a facade. Not that I mind in either case.

I found one of those carousels in a store where they have pocketknives with people’s names engraved on the handle. Very touristy. Much to my surprise, they had one with my name spelled correctly. The Wife pushed for me to purchase it, but as I told her, I’m more discerning with my knives. She did find a fake street sign with my name, so we bought that. We also ended up getting this nifty wall thing that has small versions of the first six Star Wars movies along with film cells from each film. The other interest find was a store that sold bubble tea as well as “fish croissants”. These were essentially taiyaki. The Wife and MIL looked on with confusion as I ate a red bean filled one. I just wanted to try one after seeing them so many times in anime. Not bad, but not something I would go out of my way to get another.

There was some interesting drama on the way up to Leavenworth. As we were traveling up to Leavenworth, a beat-up Pontiac Vibe came up on us. Veering all over the road. With its windshield wipers going. Yeah, this dude was clearly intoxicated on something. Then a Washington state trooper came up behind with lights going. Oh good, this was going to be over quickly. Then the guy just kept going. At first, I thought the guy was just so intoxicated he didn’t even notice the big SUV with the flashing lights behind him. Then, the speed increased. We followed them for some fifteen miles before our GPS routed us off the highway. As we joked, we would probably find out what happened on an future episode of “Body Cam” or “High Speed Chase.”

Days 6 to 11

We spent a lot of time in the Tri-Cities visiting with The Wife’s family and relaxed around the AirBnB. We also visited a couple of little shopping districts in the area. I ended up with a CRKT fixed blade knife.

We also spent some time with The Wife’s Childhood BFF and her husband. There was much reminiscing among them while. Plus, Husband and I had long discussions on prepping. Yeah, I get along well with him. We also got to see their new #vanlife Ford Sprinter van. It was kind of neat, and The Wife and I have been discussing if we want something similar. It would be interesting for little trips where we didn’t want to rent hotels. Plus we could make sure we have some of our CBFF’s Husband told us about a dealership in Gainesville that might be able to rent us something similar. We’re going to experiment if we can deal with the small confines of #vanlife.

One thing that kept coming up was The Wife becoming disillusioned with some stores and restaurants she loved as a child. I guess that happens to everyone as they age and their tastes change. We did find a couple of good places to eat and the Indian restaurant that the Wife and I discovered when we were in the Tri-Cities a couple of years ago.

We also traveled up to Lewiston to visit one of The Wife’s aunts. I don’t know if it’s a Washington thing, or a PNW thing, but they do seem to love to make oblong burgers on sandwich rolls.

The last day we had a send off breakfast for some of the family. We found a place in the Tri-Cities called Spudnuts that makes doughnuts out of potato bread. Those were some damned good doughnuts. When we make it back out there, we will definitely need to hit there.

Day 12

We left the Tri-Cities for Seattle. Over breakfast, we decided to return our rental cars a bit early and use Uber to get around Seattle. None of us wanted to deal with Seattle traffic, or deal with Seattle’s bus between the rental car place and the airport. We had a lot of luggage. Let’s just say the ride back to the rental kind of proved our point. Seattle traffic is fucking nuts.

Day 13

Wedding day for the nephew. I spent the day getting as much packed as possible as The Wife and the bride got their hair and makeup done. Then I got into my kilt suit. Much to The Wife’s chagrin, I think the Stetson complimented the suit nicely.

There was a bit of a hiccup at the beginning. When we arrived, the venue was all locked up. And there was no one around. For about twenty minutes we were unsure if we were going to have the wedding in the venue or have it on the lawn outside. Finally, an employee showed up, but since she was from another section, her keys didn’t work. However, this employee was not daunted and did some ninja shit to find a door she could access. Just as the bride was arriving to finish getting ready, we were able to get into the venue.

The wedding went off beautifully. Many happy tears were shed. The Wife did a wonderful job officiating the ceremony. I couldn’t be happier for Nephew and his new wife.

Dinner afterwards was at one of Seattle’s upscale steakhouses. Most of the group were enjoying some exquisite cuts of Fillet Mignon. I am one of those unfortunate souls whose palate cannot distinguish the full richness of the different cuts and preparations of steak. It all kind of tastes the same as long as its cooked medium rare to medium. So, I just got a NY strip which was enough meat for me to enjoy and not over indulge.

Day 14

Travel day home. It was a long day. There was also the specter of the earlier cancellations from that screwy Microsoft update hovering over our travel plans. We figured if worst came to worst we would rent a vehicle and drive home. We manged to get to SeaTac around 0600 local. Checking in went relatively smoothly. Then we went to TSA. Let’s just say that Pre-Check is not well marked and it was only through the intervention of a helpful TSA agent (another surprise) that we were guided to where we needed to be. Fortunately, the small amount of FIL’s cremains didn’t flag another in-depth check.

The flight from Seattle to Detroit went smoothly, but our connector to Tampa was delayed. We didn’t get into Tampa until about 2230 local. Then there was a mix up with our ride as to whether she was in short term parking or economy parking. Hence, we did not arrive home until after midnight. Being us, we did our unpacking and crashed around 1am.

TLDR; We replaced a hedge. First, for those of you who don’t understand the reference, please go here and read the comic. Important panel below.

Anywhoo, when Ward Manor was freshly constructed, the landscaper decided we needed a hedge out the back. Which is what they did for houses that backed up to other houses, but why they decided we needed it to block the view of our pond, I have no idea. We finally pulled the trigger and replaced the hedge with some low growing plants. It looks much better, and we can also get a good view of the pond from our dining room. Plus, it helps with lawn watering since a couple of the sprinklers were having a hard time arching their streams over the hedge.

Speaking of the sprinklers, this is another example of when someone says an item is “builders grade” I’m going to translate that into “the cheapest shit we could cram in that would pass inspection.” Let’s just say we had to add another head to make sure the back lawn didn’t die. And we’re looking at more replacement in the futured. Because builder grade.

Kilt Fitting

The Wife’s nephew is getting married in a couple of months. After some discussion with the bride, it was agreed I could wear a kilt – as long as I did the whole formal kilt thing. So, after some emailing with the proprietor of Lothian Kilt Rentals, The Wife and I trekked up to Tarpon Springs for a fitting. Which was a good thing because the formal kilts are very different than my 5.11 kilts. Let’s just say it’s a good thing The Wife will be there to help me do up all the buckles. I do regret not getting a pic of me in the full gear, but I will make sure to post one from the wedding.

Nephew’s Birthday

We trekked over across the state for my nephew’s birthday shindig. One of the things he asked to do was a mini-tournament between Nephew, Rocket Engineer Brother, The Brother, and me. In L5R Empire Edition. With sealed deck boxes. I managed to put together a Unicorn deck, but damn am I out of practice. I went 1 and 1 with REB curbstomping me with his Lion deck, and me out-honoring my nephew against his Crab deck. My prize? A little trophy with a horse on it labeled “Not My First Rodeo.”

FPC Red Dot

When I bought my S&W FPC, I put a Sig Romeo red dot on it. I wasn’t really happy with how quick it drained the little battery, and it didn’t seem to hold very well. So, I swapped it out with a Vortex. I prefer the single bead red dots. Now I just need to get some BIUS, but those will have to wait until I get some more cash.

Almost eleven and a half years ago, The Brother and I adopted the two males out of a litter that were on Shootin’ Buddy’s back porch. The Brother named his long hair tan and white Dr. Watson. Because he was The Brother’s trusty companion. Watson was a very easy going cat, but clearly a single-person cat. I think it took months before Watson would let me pet him. This caused some frustration with The Wife who loves all cats and wants to show that.

The last six months have not been good for Watson. It finally caught up last weekend.

The family will miss Watson.

Last weekend we had a belated birthday party for The Brother, Shootin’ Buddy, and another family friend who share birthdays very close together. Since The Wife and I don’t get to catch up with Family Friend much, this was a good chance to share what was going on in our lives. There was a wide ranging discussion on the state of our lives, new jobs, the annoyance of HOAs, the state of our county governments.

This was also the day The Wife and I got to meet the newest member of the Ward Extended Universe family. Shootin’ Buddy and his partner welcomed their new daughter at the end of March. This was the first time we got to meet the little one. She was a sweet infant with very spiky hair. Until I come up with a better moniker, I think I will dub her “Eighties Baby”.

Dinner was cut semi-short because The Wife and I were informed we needed to take SIL to the Tampa airport at oh-dark-early because BIL was ill.

It was a nice way to spend a Saturday.

This one actually took place in St. Augustine when The Wife and I went up to celebrate our anniversary.

We’re in the hat shop, and I’m looking for a straw hat. My other hats are felt and they get hot in the wet season. The Wife pulls one down.

The Wife: What about this one?

Me: Hell no.

The Wife: What? Is it too white? To plastic looking?

Me: It looks too Madonna.

I heard the shop clerk give that snort laugh when someone says something funny, but you don’t want to laugh in case someone takes offense. To The Wife’s credit, she immediately understood what I meant.

The Wife and I have different dialects.

The Wife and I had very different upbringings. As a result, there are somethings that we say that the other has no clue.

The two examples recently were “polite fiction” and “tempest in a teapot”.

You know how you use a colloquialism so often, that you forget how best to define it? Yeah.

Home gym set up.

The Wife and I have had a hard time with our exercise. Part of it is even though the gym is only a couple of blocks away, it’s hard getting over there. I know, it only takes about five minutes to drive and maybe ten to walk. Still, it seemed like there was always a lot of prep to get to the gym. Plus, with the way the gym was set up, my back was to the main entrance when using the treadmill. After some local incidents that precipitated making sure I had a sidearm when we went to the gym, that bothered me. Especially since watching something on my phone was the best way to take my mind off the exertion. I don’t like exercise.

So, we found an inexpensive treadmill that was recommended by the Wirecutter. At that price, we could afford two if they worked out. So we bought one. The only real space we could use for a home gym is the garage. Here’s the thing about the garage. With the garage door opener and the sprinkler control plugged in, adding any additional load outside of battery chargers flips the GFI. When we put in the freezer and MIL’s old fridge, we needed to have separate GFI outlets put in. So, when I plugged in the treadmill, the GFI flipped. Great. So, how do we run the treadmill until we can get the electrician out to put in another new outlet? Oh yeah, we have those big Ecoflow batteries for house back up.

So, after testing, we ordered a second treadmill. My only real gripe is the little bracket barely holds my phone, and I really want to use my iPad down there. Easier to watch my anime while working out. I’ll figure something out.

Home back up power

The electrician came out and suggested two new outlets – one for the treadmills and one for the Ecoflow batteries. His company is looking to become certified with Ecoflow, and he was really impressed with them. After chatting, he also recommended that instead of a generator to recharge the batteries, I should get one of their big solar panels. It would work just as well, is designed to provide power while the batteries are plugged in, and it would be cheaper. Plus, I’m not having to store gas or propane. So, yeah, that was convincing. I have one of their big ones coming in.

I still have the plan of once we get the new plugs in and we get our portable AC back, I’m going to run a hurricane test of the Ecoflows. That may require sponsoring The Wife and MIL to take a small break somewhere. But I really need to see how long those batteries should last using what I would consider an expected load for storm.

The electrician also gave me some good advice about adding solar panels to my roof. First, pay cash – do not rent. Second, make sure those panels are connected to a Powerwall or something similar for storage. Three, make sure you have a roofer come behind the installers to make sure the roof is tight. He also mentioned there were new solar tiles that took the place of roof shingles. Is this something I want to explore further? Yes. Am I going to do so in the near future? Not according to the list of home projects awaiting funding.

Back at the office

My employer recently decreed that anyone within a specified distance would now be required to come in to the office one day a month. The party line is that it is a chance for us to “reconnect” and “collaborate” in an in-person fashion. One of the senior executives said the quiet part out loud and said we were coming in because we needed to prove that we needed the space.

The funny part is that the new job took over the space that my old day job was located. In fact, the office they assigned me was about two doors down from my old office.

The Brother and I both work for the same executive, and we were both required to come in. He’s recovering from some rehab surgery. So, we carpooled in. Which required me to drive about fifty miles north to pick him up, and then drive ten miles south to the office. I’m not complaining, because The Brother did need the help, but it was a heck of a lot of driving.

Taking care of old weapons.

Or making up for long-term neglect at least. Many, many moons ago, I bought a Starfire scimitar. Shortly after, my roommate at the time sold me one of their boarding axes. Over the years and moves, let’s just say they both fell into neglect. And rust.

While The Wife was testing the treadmill, I went to work on at least remediating the active rust. Let’s just say both have strong patinas that no amount of scrubbing with WD-40 and steel wool were going to take out. I applied this museum wax I was told about to keep them preserved. Now, I just need to figure out where I’m going to mount them. The office is getting a little cramped.

Last weekend we had a family gathering in celebration of The Brother’s birthday. This was a little different in that it was completely my side of the family – including Rocket Engineer Brother, SIL, Niece, Nephew, and Nephew’s Girlfriend who came from the other side of the state.. I smoked a couple of pork loins, and we had a bunch of other food. This was the first time at Ward Manor for SIL and Nephew’s Girlfriend.

Niece and Nephew’s Girlfriend were enthralled by the clowder. The cats were petted, played, and photographed to a new extreme. It was kind of amusing and endearing to watch.

Much fun was had by all.