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.