2026 Mid Year Review

 Same old song and dance. "I planned on doing more blogs...".  I really did, and I don't know why I stopped.  I try to at least do one every 1-2 months, then I stopped.  In May I did something that was worth doing a blog on and I didn't.  It is now halfway through July and I finally decided to do a post.  Not so much for myself, but for people that may have been concerned about me.  I've always said I'd never completely stop with posting, and I don't plan to.  However, I've just been working on things and never been in the mood to post.  Even right now I don't feel like posting, but I'm going to do it.  First and foremost nothing has kept me away from actually posting, I haven't been sick, aside from 1-2 day injuries or sickness, and I haven't been on multi day trips that have kept me away from the internet.  I have had a couple short power outages, but nothing to the scale as others.  Weather while still not being great hasn't been bad where I can't post.  So long story short, I just haven't posted.

With that said, I have done some things that have taken my time away from my usual internet activity which while isn't the culprit, has taken time away from boredom which usually was a catalyst to writing.  So I guess I'll talk about that for a bit.  Around the time of my last post I gave a hard drive to a friend which had a bunch of stuff for him.  We swap stuff back and forth, and it was nothing out of the ordinary.  That was also around the time I started using that big desktop computer I think I mentioned on here I bought second hand.  Its big and bulky and I've had some fun with it.  It has a smaller hard drive (though granted Windows XP and 95 games and activities take up much less space) but I planned to upgrade the drive (which had an extra slot).  My lack of knowledge prevented me from doing that, but I thought I figured it out until I didn't.  Long story short, I bought an adapter for a 1TB hard drive and the drive still isn't being read.  Though a couple weeks ago I found something that might fix that problem.  So I haven't used that computer in a couple months.  Which is fine, because oddly my old laptop, the one which had a loud noise which may have been the fan, has been working great lately.  I let it set for a couple years, and then around 3-4 months ago I started using it again, and it still made the noise.  Eventually it started getting more faint until it stopped.  I has made the noise again a time or two but not too bad.  That computer has allowed me to rip my cd's again to itunes (older version), and rip my movies to make copies of.  So it has been doing a lot of work.  Around the same time my friend returned my hard drive which he filled with more stuff for me and included a lot of music.  So I have been sorting those files and spending time on that.  The greatest thing he found me though was something I thought was lost media.  Among the music he gave me, a lot of which was stuff I had prior to a hard drive data loss a few years ago, was an album called Eat To The Beat.  It was from the Chaotic Spring Jumpers, and that just so happened to be music I created.  I lost it when the drive crashed and I couldn't get it back.  He found it on an old hard drive he had, and I was so happy.  I now have it in three different locations in case one crashed again.  I remember doing a post on the album (which I just found to be in January of 2025), and my memory was mostly correct.  The only correction to that post was I forgot to credit Daddy Yankee to the Lumidee and Peaches song.  I have listened to this about 5 times since getting it back, and again have considered making a new album now that I have the original and some motivation.

Besides computer projects, I have also worked a bit offline on projects including rearranging my display space and furniture.  I dismantled my shelf I had behind my TV, and while I did like it I also felt it was time to change things up.  I did get another shelf to display my movies and I need to take a picture and show that, because I really like it.  It houses all my blu ray movies as well as some DVD's, CD's and cookbooks.  On top of it is a display shelf which has a few things but not a lot.  I will change the stuff out one day but just wanted to see how it would look for now.  I took down all my socks and hope in a month or so will display them again with more additions.  I'm almost stopped buying them, but I think it will look real nice once they are all displayed.  A recent project I've completed took about 6 years or so to finish and I'm glad it did.  At a garage sale a long time ago I mentioned buying a bag that was a to go bag from KFC around 1984 or so.  For years I planned on framing it and never did.  I didn't have the right frame or just never did.  The blu ray shelf I mentioned a bit ago I got at a garage sale for free.  That same sale had a bunch of picture frames.  So I grabbed them too.  Well last week I decided was the time to frame the bag.  Since I got the bag though I have a few other KFC items to display as well and they are odd but new items.  KFC released jelly beans and tbh, they were not very good.  They also released gummy hearts for Valentine's Day.  Now I didn't care about the gummies, but it also included a plush chicken leg, and that I wanted.  My sister got that for me (well the jelly beans too) and the leg came on a box shaped like a heart.  I decided to trim the box and include that and the jelly bean bag into the display.  It's not perfect, but I like how it turned out with very little effort.  So 3000 words into this post, here I am with a picture, yay!

What looks like red tape was actually the sides of the heart box, and was an unexpected surprise.  Initially I kinda threw it all in there with the idea of having a better background, and making it more straight, but I really like the outcome.  When I hang the socks, I hope I can display this nearby.  The only catch is I don't trust the frame much and its real glass, So I might hang it above a little shelf and so it can hang but also rest on the shelf.  Maybe the chicken leg can sit in front of it.  I am looking for another frame because I plan to retire a puzzle this year at Christmas after working on it a final time.  The famous Christmas cookie puzzle is a favorite but after 5 times, I think its time to let other puzzles vie for a spot in the Christmas collection.  Instead of getting rid of it, I want to frame it so I can display it each year.

Speaking of puzzles, my mom has done a lot of puzzles this year, but I haven't worked on too many.  However I did help finish a 1500 piece one last week, to celebrate America and it was quite fun, and much easier than I anticipated.

We had the leaf in the table so the length was fine (its like a 36 inch puzzle), but the width of the table was just barely enough to hold it (28 or so inches).  None of our puzzle boards would fit it so we just had to sit it on the table.  Luckily the table is out in the open with only one side against a wall, so we could move around quite easily to work on it.  The weather has at least kept us indoors to work on more puzzles, and the next one is similar in size and also 1500 pieces.  We have added more puzzles and plan to purge others, so it has been fun to work on those again.  We also got a lot of puzzles at that free garage sale too but oddly most of them were missing one piece.  We didn't keep them, we weren't mad because they were free, but still a few we probably would have kept if they were complete.

I have also been reading books, and have read 10 books so far this year and closing in on 11.  I haven't really been in the mood, but my motivation has been to purge some books when done, so I have done that.  I haven't taken them off my Library Thing account so I won't mess up like last year, but at least I know when I do that post I can right after. I think part of it is the books I've read haven't been that great.  They were worth reading, but I either haven't learned much or just didn't care for them.  I will admit one I kind of did a hate read, but it might have been the most telling.  I'll save what books I've read for the end of the year, but let's just say I've read sports bios, business bios, a couple fun reads and a couple random reads.  I don't know what I'll read next but it probably won't be baseball.

Speaking of baseball, in May I should have made a post, but I didn't.  I went to my first MLB game in 10 years.  The last time I went to a game the Royals played the Indians.  A lot has changed since then.  This time I saw the Royals play the Guardians.  Well, maybe just the name.  In the end the Royals lost, but I had a lot of fun with my friend, and what could be my last game at The K, I was happy I went.  Our seats were high up but we explored the entire park and found some empty seats much lower and enjoyed half the game from there.

Just a few of the pictures I took.  We explored the Royals Hall of Fame again.  Not a lot has changed, but it was still fun to explore.  I think I could visit every time and still enjoy it.  We met Sluggerrr.  I wanted to take similar shots as I did last time to try to compare but I haven't really compared much since then.  I also wore the same shirt and undershirt as well.  I thought it would be funny to compare pictures.  I took photos of the prices of food, and nope, I decided not to get any food at the game.  In fact I didn't even buy a soda for the cup.  My friend did find a discarded stadium cup after the game so I have a souvenir at least.  My friend also got a picture (not shown) taken with Sian Proctor who was the first female commercial spaceship pilot.  It was kids day at the K so it was a kid friendly event which meant for a couple middle aged guys.... it was loud.  In the end the Royals lost, but they did keep it entertaining.  I also got to see what is probably Salvador Perez's last year, so if nothing else, that was worth it.  Here are a couple more pics I took from the game as I tried out different features on my phone.

I tried my hand at panorama's and despite a bit of a stitching problem, I think they turned out fine.  The top one is the seats we had.  The bottom is the seats we found.  Not only were they cooler but we actually got to see more of the game than I thought we would.  They also rallied back in those seats.

After the game my friend and I went to eat.  It was a place I've wanted to try for a long time, but never been and he has been many times.  

I think I've only been to Kansas City once since the first Whataburger opened, and was nowhere near the locations.  I really enjoyed the burger and the fries.  I want to go again one day, but in typical fashion, I kept the wrapper and the cup and fry carton.  I guess its time to see how I can organize that into a picture frame.  Overall it was a real fun day. My only issue was I have a pinched nerve in my leg and it bothered me a lot of the day, but I recovered and I was fine.  I would like to go to another game, but then again, I'd like to go when they are good.  The Royals are planning to build a new stadium near Crown Center in the next few years, and I figure I could go to a game or two there, but I mean I haven't gone to a game in 10 years before this year so its not like it was a regular trek.  As for the Chiefs, when they move over into Kansas I doubt I'll go to anymore games.  Not because of the move itself so much as its a further drive and I haven't been to a game in 10 years either.  I figure their ticket prices will be much higher and likely less attainable.  So if this is the last Royals game I did get to see Salvy one last time, and Bobby Witt for the first time (not to mention a Pasquatch sighting). 

I could write more, but I think I'll mention one more thing then wrap it up.  My town has been adding sidewalks the last few years and so far this year I've heard a lot of construction sounds with the windows open.  Hopefully they are mostly done with that but another project they are working on are water and sewer lines.  They have been working on them a lot and I think more construction will be happening right in front of our eyes.

I took this picture in November of last year.  At the time I thought I should take a picture of the tree in case something should happen to it and because of the colors of the leaves.  Little did I know that 8 months later, the tree would look like this.

We were told early last week that the tree had to be cut down because of the sewer/water line work and the roots played a major part in that.  This tree is less than 10 feet from our front door, and on Thursday morning we heard a bunch of trucks.  The first photo I took on Thursday afternoon after a lot of the limbs were cut.  We also said the tree had a face, so I wanted his face one last time.  He had some shaving nicks on him, but by Friday mid morning the tree was down.  It was fun to watch since it was right outside our windows, so I had something to see.  I should have took more photos, but oh well.  Since the trees are down (another down the sidewalk was also taken down) we now wait to see what work needs to be done to either the water or sewer (I forget which one).  I have a feeling it will be a trench like with concrete or maybe covered to allow water runoff but I don't know.  Either way I have a feeling it will take more than a week to do, and I hope its after the temps cool down to the 70s because I don't really want to hear that daily.  Bad enough I heard the sidewalk noise for like two months.  That said, I am happy these projects are being done and are updated.  

So with all that, and by the way my mom always worried that tree was dead inside.  I told her no way, its solid.  That tree was pure solid inside.  There were like 3 dead limbs that have been clinging on the tree for years, otherwise it was perfect.  It will make good firewood or good furniture making wood.

Anyways, that wraps things up.  I don't feel bad about not posting, but have a bit of remorse not reading blogs as much.  I haven't read as much online lately.  I went to the TCDB for the first time in months a few weeks ago because I got a message.  I closed up my account on Disqus and stopped going to my wrestling sites.  In fact I stopped watching wrestling.  I was upset with some releases WWE made and bored of the product.  I only check now to see if something like a death occured or something, not caring about results of shows.  As I say that, I think I have more access to wrestling than I ever had, but choose not to watch.  If anything I'll look up old stuff on Youtube but it hasn't been a priority either.  So maybe I will start reading and commenting on blogs soon, but as for posting, I don't try to force myself, and I wouldn't be surprised if my next one is my book wrap up at the end of the year.  Who know's maybe I'll post inbetween, but if not, thanks everyone for reading, I really appreciate it, and hope everyone has been doing okay.  Have a great week.

2025 Book Review (Mostly)

 A couple years ago a fellow blogger named Jon told me I should read more.  It wasn't a demand or anything, but I mean I had a lot of books, so why not read them.  If not might as well get rid of them.  So since then I've started reading books.  This year I also purged a lot of books.  A few I should have waited to purge, you'll see why in a moment.  It all started because my mom had a ton of books and was tired of keeping them.  In total we had a combined over 1000 books, and maybe 10% was mine, but I felt it was right to get rid of ones I wasn't reading.  Most of them we took to the local recycling center.  I think a lot were taken by people, but there's a chance some might have just been tossed into the recycle bin.  At first that bugged me, but I realized that they at least weren't thrown away, and they aren't mine anymore anyways.  I have an account on Library Thing, and I kept track of all the books were purged this year.  Well about a week ago I decided to delete those books off my account because why did I need to keep them?  Well, it turns out I forgot 5-6 of the books I read this year I purged.  So I forgot what those books are.  My goal this year was to read a book a month, because I figure I could do that.  In the end I read either 18 or 19 books.  I still have 13 that I remember I read.  The most recent I finished last week and had doubts I would, it was by far the longest book at over 400 pages, and I'll discuss it in a moment.  Overall most of the books I read I was happy with, a few were just short ones I wanted to knock out, but overall, I'm more than happy to exceed my goal.  I don't know what my goal is for next year, but I just hope to knock a few more out.  My bookshelf is a lot smaller now, and its actually split in two parts- books to keep, and books to read and purge.

So what books did I read?  Well let's take a look.  I will say most were biographies or true life stories, as I'm not a big fan of fiction. I think its because I want to learn when I read and fiction I can just watch a movie its a lot shorter.  But first we'll look at books that were fiction.

As I start that I just remembered a book that I lost track of, so 14 books I remember now. We'll get to that one but first we'll do another one.

Technically this wasn't fiction either, it was idiots who did dumb stuff.  I found this book for a quarter and I did read the first one, so I figured a second one might be just as good.  I was a bit disappointed with this volume, but I think its because I hear dumb news stories quite often now, so these either seem not as bad or not anything fascinating.  For those unaware the Darwin Awards started as a website where they would post stories of people who did dumb stuff and most of the time they died.  They would range from like shooting a gun at a propane tank or something to jumping out of a plane without a parachute.  Those weren't ones in the book, but that's examples.  There's a chance I would read a volume three if I found it, but I'm okay if I don't.  I'm not going to rate the books on a scale, and I really don't plan on re-reading any, but I decided I didn't need to keep this one.

This was a book of pure fiction... and I loved it.  I was a fan of the show Entourage, and was intrigued when I saw this book at Dollar Tree a few years ago (when it was still a dollar).  It shows how long books sit on my shelf, and I have others from childhood I never read, so I have catching up to do.  Anyways, I tried reading this a couple years ago but fiction isn't my thing.  This time I gave it more of a try and figured if I didn't like it still I could still dump it.  I got to the end of the first chapter and it read as a biography/self help book written as if it was by Ari Gold, which was played by Jeremy Piven on the show.  His character is brash, and... an a-hole to put it mildly (yes thats mild), and the book is no different.  Its not a book for kids.  Once I understood the concept it was quite fun to read and one of my favorites of the year.  At least top 5.  While I liked the book a lot, I decided not to keep it but I don't want to keep a lot of books that I have no plans of re-reading.  The ones I do are like all-time favorites or ones that hold sentimental value.  This doesn't qualify.  If I had more space I would have kept it.

A short book of quotes, my mom had this book and was going to purge it.  It feels like cheating counting it but it took a few days and I read it too.  While I may be all things Missouri, there wasn't much substance to it to actually keep it so it got purged as well.  If it was a biography, maybe I would have kept it, but then again, I don't know I would have read it.

Next is the only author that I read two books from.

I've always liked Tom Brokaw, and I found these books for a quarter each a year or two ago, so I figured this is the year to read it.  The first one was about him growing up in North Dakota, and his early years.  I really enjoyed it, and I haven't actually purged it yet, but not sure I will keep it.  I thought about reading more of his books and start a collection, but I really don't think I will.  The second book was more of a plan for America which was released pre-Trump era (however you view that, whatever, not a political post).  I think he had some good ideas, but it was also a bit tedious to read, and so I didn't enjoy it as much.  I think I will purge both of them, but the first one I am on the fence about.

Last year when I read books, I read a lot of sports ones.  I tried not to this year, but this one I've had for a while and I was curious about it.  I was never the biggest Michael Waltrip fan, but he had a long career and his biggest day of his racing career was also the worst day of his life.  He won Daytona 500, which was also his first Winston Cup victory, his teammate finished second and his car owner, best friend, and legendary driver would have finished third... would have but Dale Earnhardt crashed protecting the lead for Mikey and Dale Jr. and he died that day.  This was a really good book, and I learned a lot more than I thought I would.  It seems NASCAR biographies are some of the best ones because every one I've read I've learned a lot.  It was published around 2012 or so and from the writing it doesn't seem like him and Darryl Waltrip were all that close.  Michael wanted to be just like his older brother, but Darryl never really gave him much guidance.  Another brother helped him out though and it opened doors which lead to Michael getting a Cup ride.  It was a good read, and for now I'm keeping it, but if I do another purge it may not make the cut.

I've had this book for a few years (I think when books were like 25 for a quarter days at my local second hand store).  I didn't get it because I wanted to read it, but wanted to reach the 25 goal.  Either way I finally read it this year.  I didn't know anything about The Bull, and I learned some stuff, but it didn't make me want to learn more about him.  I will say that it was nice to see he went to a rough and tough guy with anger issues to finding Jesus and turning his life around.  He also had a close relationship with Elvis growing up as they were a couple years apart in age and talked about after Elvis got famous he'd still return home wanting to get the gang together to play football.  I decided not to keep the book, but I was glad I did read it.

Some of the books I purged I don't regret getting initially because it was usually a similar 4 for a buck or 25 for a quarter.  My bookshelf has been overfilled for years and even after getting rid of quite a few, its still overfilled but its getting better.  I don't plan on a larger bookshelf, so it just motivates me to read more to get rid of the ones I don't need to keep.

A couple books from HGTV stars.  I wasn't expecting much from either book to be honest, but I enjoyed them both.  Drew and Jonathan not only talked about their upbringing in Canada, but also their other dreams and how they initially got into home remodelling and selling.  Oddly it was just something they did to stay afloat and realized they were good at it.  I'm glad I read the book, but its another I purged.  No need to keep it with an overflowing bookshelf.

The Magnolia Story was really good too.  In fact I'm on the fence about keeping it.  While Joanna does most of the writing/talking in the book, Chip also has some good insights too.  It talks about their upbringings, how they met, and how they built their empire.  This book is a few years old, so it doesn't capture them getting their own network, but it does talk about them buying the silo in Waco, but not much since it was pretty new at that point.  On TV they sometimes seem a bit fake, but this made them look much more genuine.  I am thinking of keeping it for now, but if I need the space it may not make the next cut.

This book I do plan on keeping.  I got this book from Disney Rewards points, and I actually waited a year or two to read it, but I'm glad I did.  It wasn't like a must read, but initially I was just going to look at the colorized pictured throughout, as its more of a coffee table book, but it actually had good information in it, especially if you are a Disney fan.  I know it takes a lot to plan and build a theme park, but I didn't realize how meticulous Walt was in the design.  He also lived there.  It was a fun book and I'm keeping it because it feels like a gift so it means a bit more than the other books I've bought second hand.

I'm not sure if this was my book or my mom's but it was in her collection and was going to purge it.  I held on to it to read, and I'm not sure if I kept it.  I'm not big on reading books turned into movies, but this was the second one this year I read (the other will be mentioned in a moment).  The last time I did I hated the book (Shoeless Joe was nowhere as good as what Field of Dreams turned into).  At least these are biographies, so they shouldn't veer too far from the movie.  I enjoyed the book because Bethany gave a little more background of who she was and how she grew up.  Talked about how her parents met and how she learned about surfing.  It gave more insight than a movie could.  I liked the movie, and I'm glad I read the book.

Very few books do I get excited to read.  Even if I do, it takes a while for me to actually get around to reading them.  This was an exception.  Having said that when the year began, it wasn't even on my radar, much less my bookshelf.  In March I did something I wasn't doing much- I was browsing on Listia.  The site that kept me afloat for many years of this blog, I just didn't care about much anymore.  By 2025 I wasn't collecting cards, and there wasn't much else they had with the few points I did have.  So I would look maybe once a month or so just to see what was for sale.  Books never go cheap, but I still look, you never know if something eeks through.  Well, I found someone listed Moneyball.  HOLY COW!  I watched the auction and it was a low starting bid.  I figured I'd be priced out soon enough but with a couple days to go it was still low.  I think I had like 4000 points at the time maybe a lot less, so I put in a bid figuring it wouldn't hold.  I look the next day and I won.  With 501 points.  To put in perspective right now I have 9,000 points, that is about $1.  I can spend 10 bucks and get 80,000 points.  So 501 points is...  let me get a calculator.... carry the two... is like 6 cents?  Sometimes math isn't my friend.  At any rate is was under a dollar and free shipping.  Ever the worrier, I wasn't excited until I got the book in hand.  I think it was 2 weeks later when I finally read it.

I will be keeping it, and what I liked about it was unlike the movie who made a big deal out of the numbers and stats, the books dived more into the actual analytics.  It wasn't telling the story of a season, but the story of a movement.  It didn't make the movie or the book different from one another, just different perspectives.  The 20 game winning streak was more of an afterthought in the book unlike the movie.  They complimented each other.  Think of it as like the DVD commentary to the movie.  If there was ever a book I would consider re-reading, this might be the one.  It was my top two books of the year.

The book I didn't think I would finish, I finished last week.  My mom was going to purge this book, and I wasn't aware she owned it.  She got it from the local second hand store and never read it.  When I started to read it I'll admit I didn't have high hopes, Jann had a bit of a controversy a couple years ago, so he wasn't in the greatest of lights, but still I wanted to know about how the magazine started and more of the business aspects of it.  I know most people don't like that stuff, but I do.  That was his life's work afterall.  I was pleased with the information he gave out about the magazine (in addition to learning he also started a Men's health magazine and either bought or started US Weekly), so I learned a lot.  However it was 400-500 pages and it read more like a Forrest Gump tale of all the celebrities he knew and was friends with.  I don't fault him for talking about them, but I after hearing about how close he was to John Lennon, then Mick Jagger, then Bruce Springsteen, then Bono, then... it got a bit boring.  It was almost like just name dropping.  Of course the focal point, Rolling Stone magazine did bind the book together and he discussed the different eras of the magazine, up until he sold it.  I think people how are more avid readers will enjoy it more than I did, and the stories of Hunter S. Thompson, or Tom Wolfe might interest people more than it did me.  I'm not saying I didn't like it, I just wish with a book of this size, it had more details about the magazine, especially in the 80s and 90s then stories of his political friendships.  The begging of the book was pretty good talking about his growing up and San Francisco in the 60s and how the magazine started.  The book by the mid-80s though moves more away from the magazine into his own life which I understand, its about his life not just the magazine, but as I said you could change the names of the singers and they'd be almost the same stories.  I also didn't need to know every holiday excursion he took each year.  After the Hunter stories, it gets a bit boring, but picks up again towards the end as he starts talking about his mortality and his sons growing up and taking up parts of his company either through photography, writing, or running the business.  So I'm glad I read it, but if my sister isn't interested in it, it will likely be purged.

So there is 4 or 5 books I can't remember that I read too, and I really am drawing a blank.  I think 1-2 might have been smaller sized books, and if I remember them I'll give an update.  Having said that, its time for my favorite book of the year.

I have been a fan of Geena Davis for a long time, I'm not even sure what the first movie I saw her in that made me a fan.  I think it might have been Thelma & Louise, but A League Of Their Own is what cemented my fandom.  I never watched Beetlejuice or some of her earlier work, but a few years after it was released, I watched her in Hero, with Dustin Hoffman, and it made me like her so much more.

This was another book not on my radar when the year began.  I found it at the local second hand store, and I have actually been wanting to read it but figured I never would.  The same goes for the Matthew Perry and Matthew McConagahy (I can never spell his name right) books.  Though finding this one in the wild was so cool so I hope I can do the same for those.  Anyways I finished the book I was reading at the time then dove right in.  This book mixed biography with humor, and she didn't sugarcoat anything.  Nothing was off limits and I really liked it.  She talked about pretty much every movie she was in to some extent, her TV shows, and even her marriages.  She talked about her philanthropy and raising her kids, what's she's been doing the last decade.  It was a complete biography and I loved everything about it.  Its not currently on my bookshelf because my mom wanted to read it.  Once she's done with it though it will go back on my shelf and won't be going anywhere.

I was quite surprised I read so many books this year, and again my goal for next year isn't so much as reading more but just to thin out my collection more.  I have some books I might read, but right now I'm not in the reading mood so I'm taking a bit of a break.  The books to read if I decide not to, I still have more I've never read that I need to read.  A lot of wrestling ones, but want to space those out. As for the ones to read now, those are a lot more sports biographies, mostly baseball.  The problem though is I haven't been into sports as much lately.  I still watch, but win or lose, I don't care how my team does.  Last night I listened to the Chiefs game, they lost.  I didn't care much (much because they had a chance to win if Chris Jones didn't do his weekly "I don't know where the line of scrimmage is so I'm offsides" bit).  Its not because my teams aren't doing well, I'm just starting to get over sports I think.  The same is could be said about wrestling.  Since Raw moved to Netflix, I never watch, and Smackdown on USA I hardly go out of my way to watch.  The only show I will watch is NXT but Booker T's commentary causes me to watch less and less.  So in a few years I can see myself phasing out sports and wrestling, something kid me would think was crazy.

Speaking of the Chiefs, I guess I discuss the Chiefs moving across state lines to kansas (yes its not capitalized, suck it beakers!).  I don't know where to start, I guess disappointment is my first reaction.  The Royals seemed hell-bent to leave their old stadium behind and made no qualms about it.  The Chiefs seemed open to renovate Arrowhead if they got a package good enough to build up around them an entertainment district.  I didn't really like the design plan, but did like the idea.  So what disappoints me is its the Chiefs that made the first move.  Clark Hunt kept saying how much he loved Arrowhead then bolted rather quickly in my opinion.  I don't fault the state west of me, as it sounds like a good deal.  I think its funny our used car salesmen could pitch a better deal, though I am also glad the state isn't giving a billionaire more money to build a stadium that the billionaire will profit off of.  Two things stick out to me, first our leading a-hole of the state (used car salesmen governor) pointed out the Royals were "in the drivers seat".  A statement that is true, but how much leverage do they have.  It seems kansas wanted the Chiefs not the Royals, so they gave what they could to them, and probably don't have much for the Royals.  Missouri made offers to both teams, but always seemed to play catchup instead of leading the charge.  That said, if kansas isn't fighting for them, what offer does Missouri need to make now?  Royals may be in the drivers seat, but I'm not sure how much leverage they have unless they tease a move out of KC alltogether.  Maybe Nashville or Charlotte will make an offer, but unless they do,the Royals may not get what they want which seems to be a downtown stadium.

The second thing is that I will admit that kansas did a good job snagging them away and if it works out will be making a killing.  I'm not a fan of the headquarters and the training facility being off site, but whatever.  That said, I'm disappointed in all the revenue the state of Missouri will lose.  Sure if this new stadium hosts a Super Bowl, the KC Metro will make a lot of money, but how much more would the state make if they stayed here?  2031 is a few years away but by then many of the Chiefs top stars will be gone and Mahomes probably won't be what he once was, so by then the dynasty if it isn't already (this year could be a fluke) will likely be over.  So will I root for them, who knows.  I don't feel they turned their backs but it does leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.  Maybe this will motivate a KCMO businessman to try harder to bring an NHL or NBA team to Sprint Center.  Both leagues seem like they would be all for it, but expansion doesn't seem to be on the horizon for either.  I thought St. Louis or Kansas City would get a WNBA team but it seems like thats not going to happen for a while.  So in a nutshell, I'm more disappointed in the lost revenue for the state then I am of the Chiefs moving 45 minutes or less away.  Its still in the metro just on the other side of the line.  It is also disheartening that so much stuff is also moving across the state line, like the Kansas City soccer team, and the American Royal which is how the Royals got their name.  So something needs to be done in KCMO to keep all theses businesses and teams from defecting to the other side of the line.

So that will wrap it up for today, thanks for reading, and I had plans for another blog before the end of the year, but I don't think I will.  Maybe next year I'll be a bit more consistent but who knows.  Thanks everyone for reading and another year in the blogoverse, I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and a have a Happy New Year.  Here's to a bright 2026!

EDIT: I just remembered another book I read, here is the link-  The Teammates: A Portrait Of A Friendship. I did enjoy the book and baseball fans should read it.  I just purged it because of space.

I Should Never Make Plans On My Blog

 In August I laid out plans for my blog.... then I stopped posting.  Lesson learned.  In that time since my last post I haven't done a lot worth writing about, and to be honest only doing this now to let you know I'm still around.  This will be a shorter post but did remember I should write something.

So with nothing to write about this will be a bit of a flashback blog.  Some pics I may have posted, some I never have.

This post is made possible by.... wait this sounds like an ad.... it isn't.  I bought this hard drive last year and I put I think all of my files on it, and still have 2 TBs to fill it.  I'm happy with that.  Because all the files are in one spot I can start sorting and cleaning up files, and that's what I've been doing recently.  I am currently cleaning up my photo collection, which is quite large but I have it unsorted and many duplicates.  In fact this photo has 3 duplicates, I don't know why.  So now I've been working on purging the dupes.  Since I'm working on photos I figures I'd show a few others.

A rare one from my youth.  I think I was in second grade at this time, and I searched for years for that shirt.  Two seconds after showing my friend, he found one on ebay but was a blue version.  Literally YEARS I spent looking and this shirt popped up on Ebay in August.  Maybe one day I'll buy it, but not now.  He also noted that in the 30 years since this photo was taken, that classroom looks the same albeit probably with different papers and posters scattered around.

A month or two ago I spotted a rainbow (maybe my friend told me about it).  I don't rush out to take photos of nature like this but I had to get the mail, so eh why not.  If the power line and pole wasn't in the way it would look much better.

In the early 80s the next town over got approval to build a new bridge to replace this narrow looking deathtrap (it was a scary bridge).  This photo was taken in 1998 when the bridge to the right was finally built and this was replaced.  Only took 15 years but at least it was replaced.  I wish I had more pictures of this bridge.

A few cars.  The top one was 1993 or 1994 and is Darrel Waltrip's and Al Hoffmann's Western Auto cars.  I like that photo a lot and have another one like it.  It was fun seeing those cars when I was around 10.

The bottom photo was 2018ish.  It was outside of Kansas City at a hotel my mom, sister and I stayed at.  The driver(s) were Blues Brothers lookalikes who went around and played the part well, and even had the car.  The car even had a half a pack of cigarettes on the dash, and sunglasses.  I wish I could have met the guys, but seen pics online of them, they were legit.

Lastly since Christmas is a month away and you never know when I'll post I have a couple more pics.

Maybe I'll listen to the few Christmas vinyl albums I have this year.  Though I'm not in the Christmas spirit just yet.  Give me another week or two. Also might have to break out my favorite Christmas puzzle.  My mom and I have done it probably 4-5 times and I still love doing it.  I've taken a break most the year on puzzles but might be starting to get back into it.

So for now I'm going to go, just wanted to say hey and maybe next time I'll have more substance.  Who knows when that will be, but as always, thanks for reading and have a great week.