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Our front yard project is 90% done. We need to have a mason fix some things, trees are getting air spaded soon, and we'll plant some more native plants in some spots. Before: Intermediate: (the trees show how high dirt, mulch. leaves were piled up, someone thought aluminum flashing would protect the house from conducive conditions. That aluminum was completely rotted, and you can see how high the dirt was against the house). I estimated we dug and moved 45-50 wheelbarrow loads of dirt from near the house to behind the new retaining wall or the backyard.) Halfway through the retainer wall build, staged material (gravel, sand, 3-4" river rock and limestone blocks). Today: A big driver for this work is to fix water flooding into our porch. Someone had just put a PVC pipe that emptied into the garden bed on one side, but with no output. We put in a French drain going all the way across on the other side instead. We also had to divert water/dirt away from the A/C unit. In a highly sloping yard, dirt is always migrating: The side is maybe 70% done. We decided to focus on finishing the front and have not progressed on the side. The big issue is basically a creek flowing during rainstorms, eroding the dirt, etc. I got the idea of the concept from my airbnb in Bella Vista, AR. For those of you that follow me on Strava, if you have seen my post a strength/weight session, it was all this stuff. Those blocks made for some pretty good deadlifting. Who needs crossfit?

Suppose I should be concerned when my drinking posts outnumber my biking posts, but what the hey! Settling into a nice whiskey rotation, but there is still much to try. I'm a bit limited given my $60 max per bottle, but I finally got around to picking up this one that's been on my list based on reviews I've seen. It's definitely good and different, but at $59 I would have preferred either the WT Rare Breed Rye or the Russel's Reserve Single Barrel Rye. In fact, I could have grabbed a Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye at 115 Proof which I haven't tried, but suspect would be more to my liking than this one.

I've never seen the quad guy, but about a month ago I did manage to finally catch a teenager on a dirt bike that had been riding Double Down. Caught up to him the BCRT by a taking shortcut through the trees and popping out in front of him. I grabbed his handle bars and politely told him dirt bikes are not allow. He called me sir and apologized, haven't seen him since.

Made some more progress on project GTFO with the addition of a new fence. Price was right for what we got, and they did 40ft in a couple hours. Pretty impressive. Now have to do some refinishing work on the exterior, new countertop for the wetbar and flooring in the master bathroom and study.

They will send it. But the unwritten rule in my world is that you only accept things like that if you are going to actually write about them. This is why I have a closet full of networking equipment and an empty beer fridge.

1971 Fender Precision Bass. Badly abused before it ever came into my possession in the late 1980's. In late 1980's I restored it as much as I could, but never touched the metal. Spent this crappy weather fixing a few things. Next week I go after the electronics.

I was going to suggest Austin Bolt Company on Rutland Dr., which has been bought by ServPro. RIP Here's a Yelp review from April 2021: Austin Bolt used to be a "go-to" place if you needed a handful of fasteners. Now (post-Covid), they have bailed on their previous "customer-first" business model and only do wholesale accounts. Will-call and walk-up business is gone for retail customers. FastServ charges $20 shipping for web orders. Sayonara....