Dairy Queen. Ice cream makes me happy :)

My brother got 3 packs of guitar strings, now I can steal a pack and put onto an old guitar I haven't played in years.

Today I received an offer of support to move to a warmer climate. I've been really struggling living where I do, especially since Thea left. The warmer period is too fleeting here for my current state of health.

This coincides with reconnecting with my best friend from high school, who has just purchased a 3 acre property in north-east Queensland that he wants to set up to be self-sufficient, and he has asked my help in doing so. It appears that some of the skills I have been accumulating might be put to a more practical use than for writing about them and "what if?" scenarios.

It is about 1600mi/2500km from where I currently live and I will be making arrangements soon for a visit to see if it is feasible to move there. If it wasn't for my cats, I could move far more easily, but they are my kids and I cannot leave them. I feel so relieved to know that even if this isn't the place to move to, that I have an out before the cold and snow hit where I currently live.

Three GOG members in particular have been extremely supportive these past few challenging months, and I'd just like to give a special shout out of thanks to Sage, Chadjenofsky and Lugum, all of whom have put a tremendous amount of energy and love my way.

The back spasms went away without too much drama or difficulty (and no meds beyond acetaminophen), aided by a weekend with few physical demands.

The semi-trailer arrived from San Diego Thursday morning and I was able to unload my stuff within a couple hours - without re-injuring my back - and the trucking company picked up the empty trailer early so I didn't get into any hassles with the village ordinances. Everything survived the trip in good shape so I can now work sorting, cleaning, and refurbishing parts and assemblies to put them in my salable stock.

There are a few potential orders waiting in the wings and hopefully they'll go through quickly so I can begin to recoup the expense of this salvage job. Because of the distance between the machine and home, I spent a whole lot more on this machine than I normally do so it will be tougher to reach the break-even point.

Aw jeez I gotta take a leak so bad I can taste it!
When she does, instead of hello say "Xin Chao"

Pronounced: Zin - Chow

It means hello.

Source - my vietnamese wife.

I would greet and thank the lovely woman who owned the sushi shop in Wentworth Falls in Japanese every time I grabbed something to eat there. She seemed to really appreciated hearing her native language :)

I'm a big statue collector (amongst MANY other collecting hobbies) and I came home the other day to find 2 statues sitting on my doorstep, Daredevil & Machiko Noguchi (female Predator). Daredevil I had been looking forward too for the last 9+ months (was on a Flex pay payment plan from Sideshow Collectibles) and Machiko I thought had sold out. I was on the fence about buying her for a long time and it sold out before I decided one way or the other. Collectors started posting pictures of Machiko online and she turned out amazing so I was really bummed I didn't buy one. Then I found out that Big Bad Toy Store still had them in stock so I ordered one immediately. Again, both showed up on the same day and they were both amazing additions to my collection.

On top of that, that same day I wound up pre ordered what could be my single favorite statue of all time, the new Red Sonja Premium Format statue by Sideshow. Its looks absolutely amazing!! Its a little pricey, but if it turns out anything like the prototype, it will be well worth it. So basically I got 2 amazing statues and pre ordered what could be my all time favorite statue. So that was a pretty good day in regards to my statue collecting.

Oh, and I am done working for the year (only work from mid April to late September). I wont start back up again until mid April of next year. So the fact that I am done working until next April makes me happy every day! It allows me to work on my hobbies, spend time with my family, play lots of video games, sleep in to my hearts content, etc. So I am generally happy every day this time of year, simply due to not having to go to work.

I slept well last night.

As soon as I woke up in the morning, there was a handwritten thank you card in the mailbox from a very dear friend. I thought my day was made and I couldn't be happier; and just then, as the icing on the cake, I smelt my wife baking a chocolate cake... Heavenly!

Learned some very interesting things in a meeting.

I now a lot to contemplate but in a good way.

Just one of those oh wow I need a minute kind of moments.

The last game i am ever going to buy on Steam, has finally been announced. I feel really bad, i really do; alas, this one isn't getting a pure retail, or on any other distributor, release. And i really want it. Doubly so, since i meet the minimum requirements, too...

Thrice so, since my nephew is itching to compete against me on that one.

Hoping this turns out to be good news. A machine dealer called a couple days ago to let me know about a machine ready to be scrapped. Before I took a moment to call the owner, he called me instead yesterday morning. Looks like a decent machine, with some parts that are oft-requested but that I rarely acquire. Might even be able to sell a huge assembly off it that I never otherwise take because it's larger than a car and I don't have the space or equipment to deal with it.

Best part is that it's in the same town as my in-laws, so this can be a business-deductible working vacation just before the Christmas holiday. I'll put the wife to work with me for a few days and then we'll hang out with her folks for the rest of the week.

The schedule is pretty tight and I'm crossing fingers that she can get the time off. Her department (Payroll) isn't normally able to spare anybody the last week or two of each year - because of all of the end-of-year stuff they have to get done - but maybe this is early enough (14th-18th) that they can let her go this year. We'll find out today.

I looked out the window this morning and noticed that everything was covered in white. I love the winter. I mean, what's not to love right? There's christmas, riding snow mobiles, New years, my birthday, cozy evenings in front of the fireplace and a bunch of other stuff as well!

The point is, I freaking love the winter!

Yeah, we got nailed last night. I kind of love it and kind of don't because I might have to go do some work out in it. :P

The donkeys seem to love it though. :D

Donkeys? Do you live on a donkey farm or something? If so, that would be really awesome!