The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey August 18, 2013

Working weekend

It was a working weekend. Not as much as others in my department, but several hours yesterday, plus early morning snapshots and patching this AM. I note this not to whinge about it, but to observe how important it is for me to do things the right way, regardless of the time of day or week. Some tasks require commitments outside of business hours, and I'm happy to do that, and enjoy a job well done. "Well ... enough." anyway, as GladOS would say. I'm also caught up on the coffee roasting, did the shopping and a self-inflicted hair cut…

Brian Bilbrey August 11, 2013

1400 miles later ...

Saturday last we departed for the big vacation of the summer, and spent a week in Saugatuck, Michigan, with family from Marcia's side of the tree. Good times, picnic with grand-nieces and -nephews, etc. Oh, yeah, and three days of fishing. We did some shore fishing on Kalamazoo Lake, and managed a couple of dozen fish between us - all catch and release. Here's one of the carp that Marcia reeled in: The drive was 700 miles each way, taking about 10 hours and change on each of the Saturdays. Overall, we got 34.8 MPG out of the 328i for…

Brian Bilbrey August 4, 2013

Cool times

Very oddly for July and August around here, it's been quite cool. Lows were in the high 50's, and highs in the mid-80's, with mild humidity. Quite strange. And a month of solid rain, followed by heat, did nothing good for the garden. It's dying early, sad to say. * * * Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:  

Brian Bilbrey July 30, 2013

Garden bonanza

Garden bonanza! Serrano and habañero peppers, lots of several different types of tomato, a few cucumbers, and a bunch of potatoes - all this came out of the garden this evening. Some of that stack became first salsa of the season: Tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro from the garden, yellow onion and a bit of garlic from the store: Yum! Oh, yeah ... the salsa became dinner. I'm likely to regret that, but it was super delicious.

Brian Bilbrey July 29, 2013

Home Office Done!

Here's the picture I envisioned for the office, back in October, when I was in the home-stretch on the degree warpath: I started working on the project in mid-December, apparently moments after I was done with the final paper of the last course I took. In early February, I installed the first shelving unit. Today I installed the final piece - the back counter, which is fabricated from 3/4 cherry ply and banded with hard maple (thus complementing the desk in the center of the room). I've built every piece of furniture in my office, discounting the Aeron chair ...