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Random Thoughts

I plan to - I want to be an excellent prepper and a survivalist, just like @Win4us ! :p

I accidentally discovered his channels a few years ago when I saw one of his videos using a cast iron skillet to cook. I use cast iron to cook a lot of things and took some time to watch. He cooks a bit differently than me, but not too much.

Then I started watching all of his other vids and was hooked. Great stuff.
 
I don't miss my hometown of Virginia Beach. It has changed way too much.
VB is my hometown too. If it's been a while since you've been there, you wouldn't even recognize it anymore. I'm living in Norfolk now, but up until 2016 I spent my entire life in VB.

When I left NC and went back to VB in May, just a few years changed so much. The Jewish Mother is at Hilltop now. The Kmart across the street is now a Walmart. There's a new Lesner Bridge, with a sidewalk and benches. They're finally removing the feeder roads from Laskin and widening it. Princess Anne Rd leading up to the courthouse is a 6 lane highway now full of lights instead of the 2 lane trip through the woods. Shore Dr is 25mph now. Kellam High School was torn down and relocated. Princess Anne headed toward Sandbridge has massive shopping centers now with Food Lion, Walmart, Target, Harris Teeter, etc. Pembroke Mall is better and sometimes even busier than Lynnhaven, when it was on life support 10 years ago. There's a roundabout at the Oceanfront on Laskin. Oh, and there's a massive on and off ramp for 264 (route 44 might be more familiar to you depending on how long it's been) on Great Neck Rd. now (long overdue), and to build the ramp and widen Potters Rd, they tore down all those houses that had been there forever.

And that's just what's happened recently that I can think of off the top of my head.

Edit: I almost forgot - Farm Fresh is gone.

My brother visited from Austin, TX for New Year's. It was his first time back in 19 years. He said it's such a dramatic change that if I had sent him a bunch of random pics, he'd never guess it was Virginia Beach.
 
I've always said that I wouldn't be "that dad" that pushed his dreams on to his kid when it came to sports. I loved all sports, played all sports, and was "good" at all sports. The only one I was ever cocky at was swimming.

My middle son has joined wrestling. I was hanging with a dad during flag football season and he said it would be good to get energy out for him, plus its in the middle of winter so what do I have to lose. Now, I know wrestling. I wrestled, I had friends who wrestled, and I know the strictness of weight and intensity of the training. We agreed and he said he wanted to try it.

First practice: Wrestling practices are twice a week and 1:45 each. He does easily 100 pushups, crunches, lunges, etc. He does neck bridges and then in the drills. Kid comes out after it sweaty from top to bottom and leaning back against the wall sucking down water. "Dad, my everything hurts". Coach looks at him, "Hey, you good?" He didn't even stop drinking...just a thumbs up. It was ****ing classic!

He's good. I'm not bragging on him because he's my kid. The coaches say it to me all the time. He's freakishly strong. He has a natural way about him to hip toss, he drops his center of mass, and gets PISSED if he loses.

He is currently 14-3 in tournament action. He pinned a kid in :12 yesterday because he was mad that I said he wasn't focused enough and was going to lose. He pals around with all the other wrestlers and will walk out of his room wearing all of his medals like he's Kurt Angle or something. I am so proud of him, but I am constantly reminding mys victory.jpgelf to not get too intense. This is his path and not mine. DSC02600.jpeg.jpg
 
That's awesome. Yeah - I think one of the biggest gifts we can give our kids is to let them find their own way and make their own decisions. It's very hard to do that. My Dad had nothing but the best intentions but he put a tremendous amount of pressure on us to do certain things, follow certain paths. I never gave much thought to what I wanted to do because I always had to filter it through what my Dad's reaction would be. That's probably unfair in some ways - because I know he never intended we feel that way.

One thing I've learned as a Dad, that no matter how laid back, non-judgmental, and tolerant of my kid's freedom to choose for themselves I have tried to be - I am still DAD. DAD is an epic figure in a kid's life, no matter what kind of Dad one tries to be.

I firmly believe, if you love your kids, try to set a good example, help instill solid values and ethics in them, be humble, work hard, give credit to others, excel... that no matter what direction life takes them, they will thrive.
 
VB is my hometown too. If it's been a while since you've been there, you wouldn't even recognize it anymore. I'm living in Norfolk now, but up until 2016 I spent my entire life in VB.

When I left NC and went back to VB in May, just a few years changed so much. The Jewish Mother is at Hilltop now. The Kmart across the street is now a Walmart. There's a new Lesner Bridge, with a sidewalk and benches. They're finally removing the feeder roads from Laskin and widening it. Princess Anne Rd leading up to the courthouse is a 6 lane highway now full of lights instead of the 2 lane trip through the woods. Shore Dr is 25mph now. Kellam High School was torn down and relocated. Princess Anne headed toward Sandbridge has massive shopping centers now with Food Lion, Walmart, Target, Harris Teeter, etc. Pembroke Mall is better and sometimes even busier than Lynnhaven, when it was on life support 10 years ago. There's a roundabout at the Oceanfront on Laskin. Oh, and there's a massive on and off ramp for 264 (route 44 might be more familiar to you depending on how long it's been) on Great Neck Rd. now (long overdue), and to build the ramp and widen Potters Rd, they tore down all those houses that had been there forever.

And that's just what's happened recently that I can think of off the top of my head.

Edit: I almost forgot - Farm Fresh is gone.

My brother visited from Austin, TX for New Year's. It was his first time back in 19 years. He said it's such a dramatic change that if I had sent him a bunch of random pics, he'd never guess it was Virginia Beach.

I continued to spend time in VB when I lived in South Jersey and my last visit back then was in 2012 - then the move to Memphis.

I spent a quick couple of days in VB this past November. I sold my Northend home and had to be there for the closing. I was able to spend some time going around the city and hitting a few spots with the help of a friend. I couldn't tell any of my old friends or Redskins friends on social media - my time was limited.

I was still able to see quite a bit. My final visit was nice and now all of my ties to VB are done. My hometown is still a super friendly place, but it has changed way too much. I wish it well in the future.
 
I continued to spend time in VB when I lived in South Jersey and my last visit back then was in 2012 - then the move to Memphis.

I spent a quick couple of days in VB this past November. I sold my Northend home and had to be there for the closing. I was able to spend some time going around the city and hitting a few spots with the help of a friend. I couldn't tell any of my old friends or Redskins friends on social media - my time was limited.

I was still able to see quite a bit. My final visit was nice and now all of my ties to VB are done. My hometown is still a super friendly place, but it has changed way too much. I wish it well in the future.

I know how you feel. I know exactly how you feel. I'm only 10 minutes away, and other than going to spend time with my kids or my dad, I have no desire to ever return.
 
My daughter decided she wants a tattoo for her 19th birthday next month. I have no problem with it, I just thought it was funny because as a kid she was so terrified by needles that it took 4 of us grown adults to hold her down to get a vaccine, because she'd flip out like she was possessed. I hope she can do it.
 
Today was a very bad day for me. Great for everyone else, horrible for me. We had a massive grease fire at work today. Most of the kitchen ignited, and our emergency extinguishing system failed to activate even though it was inspected and passed just a few days ago.

We use gas, so it got out of control fairly quickly. It was in the middle of a rush, which made it even worse. Everyone fled the kitchen, the restaurant was evacuated, and I stood there frozen and watching the fire.

I've had some traumatic experiences over the years, but none more vivid than when I was 13. I was at my friend Shaine's house when he decided to show me how cool it was to fill a paper bag with propane, then light it on fire. Part of me was worried, but part of me was like omg we're gonna die. I freaked out, and went home, thinking nothing of it. Later that night I learned that he continued to do it, and eventually blew up his house and multiple propane tanks, and he was killed. hey were only able to identify him by the fact he was only 13 and wore a size 14 shoe. I never stopped thinking about ow close I was to being dead that day, but over time I got past it. Or so I thought.

When the kitchen burst into flames, I was standing there in a daze, remembering that day Shaine died. I didn't know what to do or how to react, and I just stood there. After a =bout 30 seconds, m kitchen manager ran back in to pull me out. I looked at him and told him to get the milk. We have a cooler full of gallon jugs of milk. He got one, and started pouring it over the fire. 3 gallons later, the FD was there, but the fire was out.

Eventually, we all went back to work and I thought very little of it. The I got home, and it all hit me and I've been a total wreck ever since. I didn't realize how much it had an impact on me when he died, and I never talked to anyone other than my parents about it.

This experience today made me realize I might be a lot more messed up by it than I thought.
 
The brain is a pretty amazing thing. Traumatic events you experienced as a kid can come roaring back to life. I think we've all experienced that. Glad that yesterday turned out to require nothing more than a work pause and cleanup!
 
today is my boy's 6th birthday. As I drove to work in the dark I cried a little. It was pride and love, thoughts of him growing up, the funny things he does, how smart he is, etc. that made me do it. He is truly my redemption son.
 
a friend of mine died on the 18th. she was barely 38 years old and she died from cancer. she beat it, it came back, she beat it again, and it came back.

I was able to say goodbye to her, but what a really morbid thing to have to do as a human. "It was nice knowing you. hope your death treats you well". just really ****ing crazy to think about that. And, I am doing it more often now than ever due to getting older myself.

life is a trip.
 
That's terrible. Just wait until you get to my age Mike... I work on a stroke rehab unit and half our patients are younger than I am.


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my biggest fear is "dropping dead" and leaving my kids behind. The sins of my youth definitely keep me in constant fear of what may come, but it is just insane how tough yet fragile our bodies are.
 
Questions for the home brewers. Just how time consuming is the practice? Is it worth the effort?

Considering taking it up but know absolutely nothing about it
 
Depends on how fancy you want to get. Extract brewing is pretty easy. I am glad to be your Yoda.
 
Depends on how fancy you want to get. Extract brewing is pretty easy. I am glad to be your Yoda.

Not fancy at all, just wanna give it a go with my own twists of flavors. Basically have enough for friends & family visits.

What’s the average time to make a batch from scratch?
 
Not fancy at all, just wanna give it a go with my own twists of flavors. Basically have enough for friends & family visits.

What’s the average time to make a batch from scratch?

itakes a3 hours to get it brewed on brew day. The
Questions for the home brewers. Just how time consuming is the practice? Is it worth the effort?

Considering taking it up but know absolutely nothing about it

It takes 5 weeks total to make great beer. You can do it faster but quality will suffer. As far as how much actual hands-on time to make the beer. I’d say 3 hrs or so on brew day, an hour during those 5 weeks transferring to secondary, and another hour bottling or kegging. That’s for the extract method. The All Grain method is more complicated by far.
 
22 Years ago tonight. I will never forget it...it was during one of the most difficult periods of my life, and the win gave me a brief respite from all that was going on around me.

 

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As we enjoy today's conversations, let's remember our dear friends 'Docsandy', Sandy Zier-Teitler, and 'Posse Lover', Michael Huffman, who would dearly love to be here with us today! We love and miss you guys ❤

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