Steve

We're getting a group together for Austin's

I was walking by the mental hospital the other day, and all the patients were outside shouting, "13, 13, 13." The fence was too high to see over, so I looked through a hole in the fence to see what was going on. Somebody poked me in the eye with a stick! Then they all started shouting “14, 14, 14.”

The inside AC Blower Fan is dead. We were told to stay tuned for updates on approvals/parts being ordered/etc. Got our little window unit running to cool the back of the house. Going to be a long weekend though! Happy Friday everyone, except Republicans.

Oh, what joy. Our house AC went out. The outside is blowing, but not the inside. Good news: American Homeshield is sending a contractor out the next day after reporting. Bad news: they generally send shitty contractors and this one is rated 1.5 stars. Hoping for the best anyway...

Horrors: Tonight was chicken wing night and they are replacing pipes in our cul-de-sac so the water was shut off. Eventually used some pool water to wash the muck off our hands. Thankfully, it is back on now and we are human again. Fuck Trump.

Went to the UT Symphony tonight and was really impressed. Will be looking at their season's programs and seeing what else we might want to see. Opera?

Have cancelled HULU and severed final ties with my Trump-loving family. I won't support fascism.

I just can't with my Trump-worshiping family anymore. My mother was my last tie to them, and I'm ready to cut it. I know she's waiting on me to call her to "prove I'm thinking of her sometimes" but every call from her is a bitter reminder that my bio family advocated for all this hate.

The trip in the new car was wonderful. Got home with still over 3X the range I had in my old car. Still have a few kinks to work out technically, like getting the split screen to work and Alexa turned on, but loving it. And the Ruben at Vaudeville was the best I've ever had.

My BMW 2015 i3 finally died (AC and Drivetrain errors that BMW could not figure out). Traded in for an i4 and am loving it so far. Taking it to Fredericksburg today for its inaugural run.

I'm ashamed to be a veteran they are now pawns picking up garbage IN UNIFORM while armed against American Civilians. Now they're caving to the dictator wannabe: USAF announces military funeral honors for Ashli Babbit, the traitorous insurrectionist who was killed while breaking into the Capitol.

My tumor marker came back negative, so I don't have to go back until late October. Yea! I have been to the gym TWICE this week. Wears me out, but it is good to get back into it. Happy Hour at our house Friday, so I'm making a King Ranch Chicken Casserole to feed folks. Fuck Republicans & Abbott.

Austin, Tx 58

I made Torchy's Tacos Copycat queso last night. I will make the accompanying guacamole this afternoon for a pool party/happy hour this evening at friends' house. Going to get my oncology results today...hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.

I made a sweet chili jam to go on Peri Peri Sandwiches and it was deliciously sweet-heated meal with chicken thighs, red onion and halloumi cheese. Nom.

And here is our little Diva.

Sadie and Diva got their Summer cuts yesterday.

I made copycat McRibs last night and they were surprisingly authentic. Retaining wall folks finished today. I cannot recommend Stark Construction in Austin enough. They did a great job from start to finish and cleaned everything up nicely. It will be nice to not have the dogs barking at them.

Hit my 10K steps again yesterday. Whoop! Made a loaf of wheat bread from scratch that turned out nicely. And they're starting on "the wall" today. No idea how long this might take, but at least there's movement. Mother finally mentioned the family reunion, a week after it happened. (Sigh)

This pic (from a while back) popped up today on my screensaver, and I was reminded how much I loved that bathing suit. It accidentally got tossed down a hill after someone removed it when I was in a hot tub for a party and was never to be seen again, until today! : )

Got my walk in this morning and am on track to hit my 10K steps today. Interestingly, my biological family had a reunion last weekend. I received the flyer with a half-assed "hope you can make it." Mother never mentioned it during our weekly 3-minute phone calls. I'd have hated it anyways!

And that goes for my Trump-loving family as well. It's been years since we spoke, but there will be no reconciliation, no coming back from this.

Sorry to have missed you! We rarely go out other than Happy Hour any more. Hope all is well in your corner, handsome!

Made it back to the gym today. FFS, I did the machines using old man weights and after 30 minutes, I was spent. But it felt good to get back at it. Fixing to make homemade yogurt and enjoy wine Wednesday.

I gave up on System Pavers. We went from a $9K quote, to a $71K one and finally, a $25K quote. Had one issue with the contract and instead of trying to find a solution, they ignored me. I went with another contractor and am posting my story on SP's Facebook site daily.

Liver biopsy was negative, so I get to coast for another two months. Yea!

Got in the pool for the first time today. Chilly still, but good after a minute.

Had a good weekend! Happy Hour at friends' house on Friday and we had a brunch for friends on Sunday. I made biscuits/gravy, a ham and a decadent chocolate cake for Greg's birthday. Fortunately, we had the foresight to take Monday off to recover.

Tonight I made a roast that has been in the sous vide for 48 hours. I made gravy from the drippings. All this was incredibly delicious. I also tried to make artichokes in the pressure cooker. I had a Mediterranean Aioli to go with them. The Aioli was excellent, but the artichokes were horrific.