Do//
It’s a new year!! 2020 is here, new goals and new things to be excited about. woo hoo!
Basketball
Avery started her basketball league, this is proving to be more stressful for the parents. Amanda and I we those parents shouting…
She is enjoying it and having fun, so thats REALLY all that matters. PS I’m still keeping score.
Guitar
Avery really wanted an Electric guitar and Santa didn’t deliver (shame on him). I totally was inspired after our Matthew Mayfield concert so getting a guitar seemed like a good idea. We did a little post Christmas shopping and got a Epiphone Les Paul, since then guitar has taken over the house…
I have gone off the deep end and have been putting in some time to learn guitar. I’m a huge music nerd and the guitar seems like a no brainer for someone who enjoys music. I have to say learning guitar as an adult is a ton of fun, and is proving to be challenging as well as rewarding.
Snow Sculpture
This snow sculpture whale wasn’t too far from us, one evening the girls and I headed to go see this monstrosity in person. It looks big in pictures but standing next to it and seeing it consume the entire front yard of the home really give it some perspective.
Read//
The Outlaw Sea
This book provides some incredibly important perspective. We all know about Somali pirates, but did you know that there are pirates with big ships that operate today? I guess I didn’t…
This book really shows some perspective just how
wild and distant the seas of the world really are. Even now with all the satellites
and surveillance, you can manage to hide a huge ship in the middle of the ocean.
The most shocking bit to was how ships are disposed of, and how there are very
littles laws once ships are sold, giant companies are absolved of the liability
of how their ship will be disposed or “recycled”.
There is a bit too much of the book on one tragic accident, while important and devastating in my eyes it was not the most important bit of the book.
The book left me wanting more details about the big picture of ocean commerce and crime.
I think there’s a lot of important information covered, for everyone mildly interested in maritime history and modern-day pirates don’t skip this book.
Bumfuzzle
I read this one a while ago – Not knowing Patrick and Ali were from Minnesota that was a fun connection with them and this book. I have been following their adventures ever since. This book details their spur of the moment adventure to go sailing around the world. I love their attitude, total lack of preparation, and eventual success.
Listen//
The Grey Nato (Podcast)
Tim Ferriss Show – Mike Rowe
Godsmack – Good Times, Bad Times – Ten Years of Godsmack
Watch//
You – Netflix
One night I sat down and Amanda said “give this one a chance?” 15 min in and I realized this was going to be a great show. You is the type of show that makes you anxious and wanting more. The satire sprinkled into the show is so wonderful and refreshing. The plot feels unrealistic at times yet totally possible. Watch both seasons. Stick with season 2, the last episode is wonderful.
Fire in Paradise – Netflix
Difficult to watch but worth watching.
Make//
BMG Extruder – Late December my BMG extruder parts arrived! The entire install took longer than I would have liked, but I think it was a worthwhile upgrade. After removing all the old extruder, wires and whatnot I THEN could get started installing the new extruder. The new extruder has a new thermocouple, heat block, etc. this involved soldering all the new wires and ends, not difficult but time consuming. Eventually, I got everything installed and then was able to get calibrating. I ended up having to tweak the firmware and flash custom settings for everything to play nice. It was nice to really dig into Merlin and customize some settings on my own.
Things are printing really nicely now and I’m pleased with the results.