OT - NO POLITICS We’re on to April & May

[Bruinswillwin77]

I'm actually surprised one still existed.

 

[BMC]

We had a tree fall and hit the house back in January. Thankfully the tree was too far away to cause major damage, but we did end up needing to have the roof replaced since it clipped the gutter and broke some of the wood. Our insurance paid for the repair minus our $1K deductible and they were really helpful with us throughout the process. Definitely happy we had the coverage that we did!

I love stories like this. I always hear about the bad things that can happen with a claim so it is great to hear from someone who had a good experience.

 

[Bruinaura]

But how will the Machine get in touch with Harold now?

 

[Fenway]

To all our valued customers,

Join us in commemorating the legacy of iconic “You-do-it” Electronics Center. For 75 remarkable years, we've been the cornerstone of the electronics industry, delivering exceptional products and unparalleled service.
After many fulfilling years of serving our community, we're announcing the closure of our beloved store. While the decision to close is bittersweet, we know that the memories created will endure.
As we prepare for this transition, we encourage you to come say goodbye and take advantage as we sell off our existing inventory and place special orders for popular products. Additionally, we will be selling office furniture and industrial shelving at deep discounts.
Please note we will be closed Saturday, May 25 through Monday, May 27 for Memorial Day Weekend. Our new hours of operations starting Tuesday May 28 will be 10am to 5pm Monday through Friday.
Thank you for your patronage. Stay tuned for details on the exact closing date and any special events in the upcoming weeks.

 

[Bruinaura]

The new Blue Angels documentary on Amazon is fantastic. Highly recommend. The video footage is outstanding.

"Put your hands above your head. The distance from your fingertips to the top of your head is how close we fly to each other."

 

[Troublesome 85]

First day magic

 

[Mione134]

First day magic

Looks delicious!

 

[Bocephus86]

We added a whole house generator last year, we’re on the South Shore and surrounded by trees so we lose power here frequently and for prolonged periods. Some of the best money we spent here so far.

This is one of the things that I have on my improvement list, pretty high up after we get through the bathroom remodel & deck replacement this year. My in laws are in Houston and have one that is connected to their natural gas line, it's invaluable to them. They were the only ones to have power in their neighborhood back years ago during that massive hurricane & then just recently with the storms. I have a portal back up generator but I've found it's not worth it with a shorter power outage, the pain to set it up and run the right extension cables just to save ~70 bucks worth of fridge food and have a light on isn't a trade off I'm willing to do in a storm. The whole house and just flicking a switch to convert is a totally different animal though.

First day magic

I love a good tuna tartar as an app, eye opening first time I had it.

 

[DarrenBanks56]

First day magic

yum. deviled eggs

 

[EverettMike]

Since I share the memorial toy drive I do every Christmas in my sister's memory most of you already know a lot about me, so this piece, while highly personal, won't be a total surprise.

I was recently one of the media members Disney hosted at Walt Disney World for its Level Up event. I wrote a four-part series about it and how the video games offer something the parks thrive on. It's a really fun series and if you love Disney you'll almost certainly enjoy it (even if you don't care about video games.)

What Going To Disney Taught Me About Disney Video Games Part 1 – Magic Kingdom And Disney Dreamlight Valley

(That's only the link to part 1. There are links to the next installments at the end of every piece, and the series covers all four parks.)

But I also wrote a separate piece about how this trip taught me something about Disney, "Disney adults," and why they love going back again and again. Those who are kind enough to read it will understand why this one is so personal.

(Those of you who just want to laugh at me, which is fair, can also see a picture of 10-year-old me opposite what I look like now. Spoiler: it's much worse.)

Disney Didn’t Turn Me Into A ‘Disney Adult,’ But It Helped Me Understand Them

 

[RoccoF14]

Since I share the memorial toy drive I do every Christmas in my sister's memory most of you already know a lot about me, so this piece, while highly personal, won't be a total surprise.

I was recently one of the media members Disney hosted at Walt Disney World for its Level Up event. I wrote a four-part series about it and how the video games offer something the parks thrive on. It's a really fun series and if you love Disney you'll almost certainly enjoy it (even if you don't care about video games.)

What Going To Disney Taught Me About Disney Video Games Part 1 – Magic Kingdom And Disney Dreamlight Valley

(That's only the link to part 1. There are links to the next installments at the end of every piece, and the series covers all four parks.)

But I also wrote a separate piece about how this trip taught me something about Disney, "Disney adults," and why they love going back again and again. Those who are kind enough to read it will understand why this one is so personal.

(Those of you who just want to laugh at me, which is fair, can also see a picture of 10-year-old me opposite what I look like now. Spoiler: it's much worse.)

Disney Didn’t Turn Me Into A ‘Disney Adult,’ But It Helped Me Understand Them

Great read, Mike. Thanks for posting that.

I've got a soft spot in my heart for Disney World as well...

 

[Gee Wally]

Since I share the memorial toy drive I do every Christmas in my sister's memory most of you already know a lot about me, so this piece, while highly personal, won't be a total surprise.

I was recently one of the media members Disney hosted at Walt Disney World for its Level Up event. I wrote a four-part series about it and how the video games offer something the parks thrive on. It's a really fun series and if you love Disney you'll almost certainly enjoy it (even if you don't care about video games.)

What Going To Disney Taught Me About Disney Video Games Part 1 – Magic Kingdom And Disney Dreamlight Valley

(That's only the link to part 1. There are links to the next installments at the end of every piece, and the series covers all four parks.)

But I also wrote a separate piece about how this trip taught me something about Disney, "Disney adults," and why they love going back again and again. Those who are kind enough to read it will understand why this one is so personal.

(Those of you who just want to laugh at me, which is fair, can also see a picture of 10-year-old me opposite what I look like now. Spoiler: it's much worse.)

Disney Didn’t Turn Me Into A ‘Disney Adult,’ But It Helped Me Understand Them

Really good read. I love going there every so often.
You will get a real joy out of it when your little guy is big enough to actually have a blast and live in the ‘magic’. Your enjoyment will come from doing it again but through his eyes. Like Christmas.
Then later in your years, like me and the Bride, we go at a much slower less hectic pace. Just us. But we get to remember and reminisce of all the ‘remember when they were little and we……..’.

The ‘magic’ to me is the memories that get made there.

 

[sooshii]

Since I share the memorial toy drive I do every Christmas in my sister's memory most of you already know a lot about me, so this piece, while highly personal, won't be a total surprise.

I was recently one of the media members Disney hosted at Walt Disney World for its Level Up event. I wrote a four-part series about it and how the video games offer something the parks thrive on. It's a really fun series and if you love Disney you'll almost certainly enjoy it (even if you don't care about video games.)

What Going To Disney Taught Me About Disney Video Games Part 1 – Magic Kingdom And Disney Dreamlight Valley

(That's only the link to part 1. There are links to the next installments at the end of every piece, and the series covers all four parks.)

But I also wrote a separate piece about how this trip taught me something about Disney, "Disney adults," and why they love going back again and again. Those who are kind enough to read it will understand why this one is so personal.

(Those of you who just want to laugh at me, which is fair, can also see a picture of 10-year-old me opposite what I look like now. Spoiler: it's much worse.)

Disney Didn’t Turn Me Into A ‘Disney Adult,’ But It Helped Me Understand Them

I am neither a Disney adult nor a gamer, but this is a great piece.

Disney might be timeless, but we’re not. An amusement park can remain a simple joy, but we get old and life gets more complicated as our memories fade. And the older we get the more we say goodbye to people we’d like to hold on to forever. At Disney, where time doesn’t exist, we can. I did.

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

Since I share the memorial toy drive I do every Christmas in my sister's memory most of you already know a lot about me, so this piece, while highly personal, won't be a total surprise.

I was recently one of the media members Disney hosted at Walt Disney World for its Level Up event. I wrote a four-part series about it and how the video games offer something the parks thrive on. It's a really fun series and if you love Disney you'll almost certainly enjoy it (even if you don't care about video games.)

What Going To Disney Taught Me About Disney Video Games Part 1 – Magic Kingdom And Disney Dreamlight Valley

(That's only the link to part 1. There are links to the next installments at the end of every piece, and the series covers all four parks.)

But I also wrote a separate piece about how this trip taught me something about Disney, "Disney adults," and why they love going back again and again. Those who are kind enough to read it will understand why this one is so personal.

(Those of you who just want to laugh at me, which is fair, can also see a picture of 10-year-old me opposite what I look like now. Spoiler: it's much worse.)

Disney Didn’t Turn Me Into A ‘Disney Adult,’ But It Helped Me Understand Them

EM. Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to read the series. Long post coming your way.

My 26-year old son is autistic. More or less like a 4-year-old in an adult's body. I can't imagine caring for another human as much as I do with him.

In any case, he loves all things disney. Finally grew out of the stuffed animal stage, but he has a couple of hundred VHS tapes of Disney movies. And boy, does he love Walt Disney World.

First time we went as a family, he was maybe 6 or 7. As we walked through the park, you could see the excitement growing in all 3 kids as they realized the vastness of the place and how much there was to do. At the end of our first day at the Magic Kingdom (about 12 hours), on the way out he turned around and made the ASL sign for "more." What a day.

As my girls got older, they outgrew many things, but never got tired of seeing Disney through their brother's eyes. My daughter's friends would have a contest where they would queue up a Disney playlist, and try to name the song before my girls did. It was my girls against the field, and they always won. When my daughter was a senior in HS, we asked her where she wanted to take our family vacation to celebrate her graduation. She picked -- you guessed it -- Disney.

My favorite part -- my son became obsessed with Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Hollywood Studios. One trip he saw 18 shows. I took him to 15 of those shows. The workers all knew him by name and greeted him like a rock star.

For me and the Missus' 25th anniversary, we took a family trip to Portugal. We were asking the kids where to go for our 30th, and both girls said Disney. So it's on, once again. The place has gotten more corporate and more expensive, but once my son walks into the joint, that all goes away. I wouldn't trade that for a billion dollars.

LFD

 

[Mione134]

Since I share the memorial toy drive I do every Christmas in my sister's memory most of you already know a lot about me, so this piece, while highly personal, won't be a total surprise.

I was recently one of the media members Disney hosted at Walt Disney World for its Level Up event. I wrote a four-part series about it and how the video games offer something the parks thrive on. It's a really fun series and if you love Disney you'll almost certainly enjoy it (even if you don't care about video games.)

What Going To Disney Taught Me About Disney Video Games Part 1 – Magic Kingdom And Disney Dreamlight Valley

(That's only the link to part 1. There are links to the next installments at the end of every piece, and the series covers all four parks.)

But I also wrote a separate piece about how this trip taught me something about Disney, "Disney adults," and why they love going back again and again. Those who are kind enough to read it will understand why this one is so personal.

(Those of you who just want to laugh at me, which is fair, can also see a picture of 10-year-old me opposite what I look like now. Spoiler: it's much worse.)

Disney Didn’t Turn Me Into A ‘Disney Adult,’ But It Helped Me Understand Them

Absolutely beautiful, Mike. Beautiful.

 

[Bruinaura]

Have an appointment to get checked for binocular vision dysfunction next month.

Never heard of it? Me either, until recently, but I sure have a lot of the symptoms and they haven't discovered any other reason for them.

I found this video last night. When he's talking about driving and going in the store, he is describing two of my issues perfectly.

 

[Johnny Upton]

This is one of the things that I have on my improvement list, pretty high up after we get through the bathroom remodel & deck replacement this year. My in laws are in Houston and have one that is connected to their natural gas line, it's invaluable to them. They were the only ones to have power in their neighborhood back years ago during that massive hurricane & then just recently with the storms. I have a portal back up generator but I've found it's not worth it with a shorter power outage, the pain to set it up and run the right extension cables just to save ~70 bucks worth of fridge food and have a light on isn't a trade off I'm willing to do in a storm. The whole house and just flicking a switch to convert is a totally different animal though.

That’s what ours does, it connects to the home’s natural gas so there’s no need to keep refilling it. We had a portable generator and it helped, but we’re prone to prolonged outages (our longest since we’ve been here was almost 5 days) and I didn’t want to be messing around trying to start a portable generator at 2am in the middle of winter. The whole house generator comes on automatically, so there’s nothing to futz around with. Totally worth the money.

 

[Alicat]

This is one of the things that I have on my improvement list, pretty high up after we get through the bathroom remodel & deck replacement this year. My in laws are in Houston and have one that is connected to their natural gas line, it's invaluable to them. They were the only ones to have power in their neighborhood back years ago during that massive hurricane & then just recently with the storms. I have a portal back up generator but I've found it's not worth it with a shorter power outage, the pain to set it up and run the right extension cables just to save ~70 bucks worth of fridge food and have a light on isn't a trade off I'm willing to do in a storm. The whole house and just flicking a switch to convert is a totally different animal though.


I love a good tuna tartar as an app, eye opening first time I had it.

Mom has a generator that is hooked up to the gas line. She can control it from inside the house and it is programmed to go off as soon as it senses the power go out. She got it more in the event of an ice storm. I don't think she's had to use it which is great.

It gets tested automatically every Saturday at noon when the tornado sirens are tested as well. It runs for 5 minutes and you'd never know the house was on generator power. She has a Generac.

 

[Ladyfan]

We added a whole house generator last year, we’re on the South Shore and surrounded by trees so we lose power here frequently and for prolonged periods. Some of the best money we spent here so far.

I have had a Generac generator for 10 years. Every Sunday it turns on for 10 min.

Before I got it, we would lose power for several days in the dead of winter.

Now if there is a blizzard coming, I just make sure I have enough cat food and tea (and book). No problem.

 

[Mione134]

That’s what ours does, it connects to the home’s natural gas so there’s no need to keep refilling it. We had a portable generator and it helped, but we’re prone to prolonged outages (our longest since we’ve been here was almost 5 days) and I didn’t want to be messing around trying to start a portable generator at 2am in the middle of winter. The whole house generator comes on automatically, so there’s nothing to futz around with. Totally worth the money.

What brand do you have?

 

[Johnny Upton]

I have had a Generac generator for 10 years. Every Sunday it turns on for 10 min.

Before I got it, we would lose power for several days in the dead of winter.

Now if there is a blizzard coming, I just make sure I have enough cat food and tea (and book). No problem.

It’s the best, isn’t it? It provides so much peace of mind to not have to worry if there’s an outage.

 

[Johnny Upton]

What brand do you have?

Ours is a Briggs & Stratton 20kw. Generacs are great but I felt that the B&S had a better warranty (10 years vs. 5).

 

[Ladyfan]

Ours is a Briggs & Stratton 20kw. Generacs are great but I felt that the B&S had a better warranty (10 years vs. 5).

I have had mine for 10 and no problems (replaced the battery but that is normal maintenance). I love that I don't have to store gasoline. I love that it comes on when the power goes out and shuts off as soon as power is back. I don't have to do anything!

I get the oil changed once a year.

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

That’s what ours does, it connects to the home’s natural gas so there’s no need to keep refilling it. We had a portable generator and it helped, but we’re prone to prolonged outages (our longest since we’ve been here was almost 5 days) and I didn’t want to be messing around trying to start a portable generator at 2am in the middle of winter. The whole house generator comes on automatically, so there’s nothing to futz around with. Totally worth the money.

I got this installed last year. Total game changer, and definitely worth the investment.

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

Had a bear in our backyard an hour ago. I wish I captured a better photo but it was starting to take off toward the woods.