OT: Off Topic 2018 part III - Here comes the heat again

[Gee Wally]

Got some long emotional days going on this weekend.
Tomorrow our two youngest, the twins, pack up a uhaul and had out to their own apartments to finish their education at UMass.
My garage is packed full of beds, bureaus, kitchen table, chairs, couches, love seats , and on and on.

My oldest whom some of you have met when he was a little guy flew home this past Monday. Drove out to UMass Tuesday to take an exam for his Masters in physics. Got word today he passed and his Masters will be issued next week. He had a job offer from Livermore Labs in Calif contingent on this degree/ certification.
So, although its a tremendous start to a career, we will miss him terribly. But too good to pass up. Dept of Energy. 6 figures to start. Full benefit pkg. Hell even a 30K allowance to ship his meager stuff to Cal.

The Bride and I will go from a house full to official empty nesters within a weekend. All 3 . Gone.

Tomorrow will be exhausting on several levels.
Hard to get my head around. One day and you’re putting them on a school bus for kindergarten and in a blink they are moving away.

Next week Im getting together up in N Conway with some old friends. I think Im gonna need it.

 

[Chief Nine]

View attachment 137147 Got some long emotional days going on this weekend.
Tomorrow our two youngest, the twins, pack up a uhaul and had out to their own apartments to finish their education at UMass.
My garage is packed full of beds, bureaus, kitchen table, chairs, couches, love seats , and on and on.

My oldest whom some of you have met when he was a little guy flew home this past Monday. Drove out to UMass Tuesday to take an exam for his Masters in physics. Got word today he passed and his Masters will be issued next week. He had a job offer from Livermore Labs in Calif contingent on this degree/ certification.
So, although its a tremendous start to a career, we will miss him terribly. But too good to pass up. Dept of Energy. 6 figures to start. Full benefit pkg. Hell even a 30K allowance to ship his meager stuff to Cal.

The Bride and I will go from a house full to official empty nesters within a weekend. All 3 . Gone.

Tomorrow will be exhausting on several levels.
Hard to get my head around. One day and you’re putting them on a school bus for kindergarten and in a blink they are moving away.

Next week Im getting together up in N Conway with some old friends. I think Im gonna need it.

All that tells me is that you and the bride did very, very well Wally. Success like this is bittersweet

 

[Fenway]

View attachment 137147 Got some long emotional days going on this weekend.
Tomorrow our two youngest, the twins, pack up a uhaul and had out to their own apartments to finish their education at UMass.
My garage is packed full of beds, bureaus, kitchen table, chairs, couches, love seats , and on and on.

My oldest whom some of you have met when he was a little guy flew home this past Monday. Drove out to UMass Tuesday to take an exam for his Masters in physics. Got word today he passed and his Masters will be issued next week. He had a job offer from Livermore Labs in Calif contingent on this degree/ certification.
So, although its a tremendous start to a career, we will miss him terribly. But too good to pass up. Dept of Energy. 6 figures to start. Full benefit pkg. Hell even a 30K allowance to ship his meager stuff to Cal.

The Bride and I will go from a house full to official empty nesters within a weekend. All 3 . Gone.

Tomorrow will be exhausting on several levels.
Hard to get my head around. One day and you’re putting them on a school bus for kindergarten and in a blink they are moving away.

Next week Im getting together up in N Conway with some old friends. I think Im gonna need it.

Wally - Beats having a 30 year old in the basement trolling on HFBoards 24/7

You and the Bride have done well.

 

[BMC]

USA need advanced network of high speed trains.

I can see this on both coasts but I have my doubts about cross country

 

[Pia8988]

I can see this on both coasts but I have my doubts about cross country

US is just too big. It’s always fun to compare Texas alone to Europe

 

[b in vancouver]

When I take the train it's AMTRAK- there is wifi so if I want to I can use my phone or my Kindle but I usually take a couple of "real" books instead. No stress from driving and I get to enjoy the scenery (although as you say sometimes that scenery is pretty awful lol), just a great way to travel IMO.

I'm glad a couple of you guys like taking the train. I'm definitely not a train afficiando or one of the obsessed, but when I casually mention I take the train with my kids when I can, people look at me as if I'm from Mars. I'm like 'but it's relaxing and scenic and the kids can move around, a nice way to see the country and not that expensive. It's just sorta - nice.'

Part of the non-computer stuff for me, and it can make the trips a bit more difficult, is that I don't want the kids to think it's o.k. to be watching a movie or playing a video game while the landscape is whipping by. The kids get it. Especially since we're often going to or coming from the cottage for a month and it's kind of our transition time, away from schedules and screens and work to the more open ended kinda free time - where it's all bonfires and boardgames and climbing trees and giant rocks and making sandcastles and jumping off the dock and swimming and bocci and canoeing and quads and catching frogs, snakes, their tree-fort... etc. Which is just way too hard to consistently provide in the city.

 

[Gee Wally]

Thanks guys.
Its funny to think that I first came across HF 20 years ago when I had the 7 to midnight shift with the twins as newborns.

Id feed ‘em, change ‘em, and put them in their little seats while I cruised the interwebs looking for hockey stuff.

20 years ago, even feels crazy to type that. So fast. All so fast.

 

[sooshii]

You should be proud Wally.

 

[Kovi]

you done good dad!

 

[talkinaway]

@Fenway Congrats!! $2.55

 

[McGarnagle]

Wally - Beats having a 30 year old in the basement trolling on HFBoards 24/7

You and the Bride have done well.

Leave @dabid and @Scruffy out of this

 

[Fenway]

I can see this on both coasts but I have my doubts about cross country

The most frustrating thing with Acela is the 59mph speed restriction between New Haven and New Rochelle.

The high-speed corridors in the US and Canada are obvious.

Boston-Washington.
New York-Albany-Buffalo-Toronto.
Boston-Montreal
Philadelphia-Pittsburgh
Toronto-Montreal
Tampa-Orlando-Miami
St. Louis-Chicago-Milwaukee
Portland-Seattle-Vancouver
Dallas-Houston
San Diego-Los Angeles-San Francisco-Sacramento
Edmonton-Calgary
Phoenix-Las Vegas-Los Angeles

The reality is we can't even fix the existing infrastructure.

From Penn Station in Manhattan to New Jersey there are TWO tracks - one in each direction that also have to use a 100-year-old bridge. ( Google Portal Bridge ). Those 2 tracks are used by both Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.

There is no direct connection between Grand Central Station and Penn Station

This should be a no-brainer but...............

 

[sooshii]

Playlist from Aretha’s homegoing courtesy of my friend Lauren at NPR

 

[sooshii]

Funerals. Too f***in many.
In the past 2 weeks 2 30-somethings I know have died from heroin. Another of my friends should have been celebrating his son’s 32nd birthday yesterday, but he died a few months ago. Same thing. And another friend lost her beautiful 18 yo granddaughter.
What. The. f***.

 

[DKH]

View attachment 137147 Got some long emotional days going on this weekend.
Tomorrow our two youngest, the twins, pack up a uhaul and had out to their own apartments to finish their education at UMass.
My garage is packed full of beds, bureaus, kitchen table, chairs, couches, love seats , and on and on.

My oldest whom some of you have met when he was a little guy flew home this past Monday. Drove out to UMass Tuesday to take an exam for his Masters in physics. Got word today he passed and his Masters will be issued next week. He had a job offer from Livermore Labs in Calif contingent on this degree/ certification.
So, although its a tremendous start to a career, we will miss him terribly. But too good to pass up. Dept of Energy. 6 figures to start. Full benefit pkg. Hell even a 30K allowance to ship his meager stuff to Cal.

The Bride and I will go from a house full to official empty nesters within a weekend. All 3 . Gone.

Tomorrow will be exhausting on several levels.
Hard to get my head around. One day and you’re putting them on a school bus for kindergarten and in a blink they are moving away.

Next week Im getting together up in N Conway with some old friends. I think Im gonna need it.

Love it- you’re a great dad

George Harrison once said ‘one day I was 17 and the next thing I was 57.’

The only thing that doesn’t go by fast Wally is the Friday afternoon commute.

The best thing about getting old is you learn to appreciate more

I Think you get an A there

 

[LSCII]

Funerals. Too ****in many.
In the past 2 weeks 2 30-somethings I know have died from heroin. Another of my friends should have been celebrating his son’s 32nd birthday yesterday, but he died a few months ago. Same thing. And another friend lost her beautiful 18 yo granddaughter.
What. The. ****.

It's the end result of the concept of better living through chemistry. Too many prescription meds given out, and when the cost gets too great, the people that end up addicted end up using street drugs.

 

[Chief Nine]

It's the end result of the concept of better living through chemistry. Too many prescription meds given out, and when the cost gets too great, the people that end up addicted end up using street drugs.

Well said Lonnie. Way too many people in this country are addicted to prescription drugs thanks to our so-called health care system

 

[Bruinaura]

Seen on Twitter:

What is Forrest Gump's password?




1forrest1

 

[Jaguar God]

Just got my first session done on a Bruins tattoo. Hoping to get it coloured in by the end of the month.

Oh- I also live in Montreal.

 

[Kate08]

This August beat out August of 1983 for the hottest on record. For 35 years my mom has given me shit about holding out on her until the last day of the month for the hottest August on record to be born.

No more!

 

[Kate08]

View attachment 137147 Got some long emotional days going on this weekend.
Tomorrow our two youngest, the twins, pack up a uhaul and had out to their own apartments to finish their education at UMass.
My garage is packed full of beds, bureaus, kitchen table, chairs, couches, love seats , and on and on.

My oldest whom some of you have met when he was a little guy flew home this past Monday. Drove out to UMass Tuesday to take an exam for his Masters in physics. Got word today he passed and his Masters will be issued next week. He had a job offer from Livermore Labs in Calif contingent on this degree/ certification.
So, although its a tremendous start to a career, we will miss him terribly. But too good to pass up. Dept of Energy. 6 figures to start. Full benefit pkg. Hell even a 30K allowance to ship his meager stuff to Cal.

The Bride and I will go from a house full to official empty nesters within a weekend. All 3 . Gone.

Tomorrow will be exhausting on several levels.
Hard to get my head around. One day and you’re putting them on a school bus for kindergarten and in a blink they are moving away.

Next week Im getting together up in N Conway with some old friends. I think Im gonna need it.

That’s awesome, Wally. Hard, but awesome. You and The Bride should be very proud!

 

[BMC]

The most frustrating thing with Acela is the 59mph speed restriction between New Haven and New Rochelle.

The high-speed corridors in the US and Canada are obvious.

Boston-Washington.
New York-Albany-Buffalo-Toronto.
Boston-Montreal
Philadelphia-Pittsburgh
Toronto-Montreal
Tampa-Orlando-Miami
St. Louis-Chicago-Milwaukee
Portland-Seattle-Vancouver
Dallas-Houston
San Diego-Los Angeles-San Francisco-Sacramento
Edmonton-Calgary
Phoenix-Las Vegas-Los Angeles

The reality is we can't even fix the existing infrastructure.

From Penn Station in Manhattan to New Jersey there are TWO tracks - one in each direction that also have to use a 100-year-old bridge. ( Google Portal Bridge ). Those 2 tracks are used by both Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.

There is no direct connection between Grand Central Station and Penn Station

This should be a no-brainer but...............

It would require billions of dollars to upgrade the rail infrastructure and given the debacle that the California high speed rail project has become ( 9 billion & counting for the entire project without a single track even laid yet) I don't see it happening

 

[BMC]

Just got my first session done on a Bruins tattoo. Hoping to get it coloured in by the end of the month.

Oh- I also live in Montreal.

I salute your bravery & loyalty sir!

 

[BMC]

Seen on Twitter:

What is Forrest Gump's password?




1forrest1

It's so bad it's good

 

[BMC]

Funerals. Too ****in many.
In the past 2 weeks 2 30-somethings I know have died from heroin. Another of my friends should have been celebrating his son’s 32nd birthday yesterday, but he died a few months ago. Same thing. And another friend lost her beautiful 18 yo granddaughter.
What. The. ****.

God that's terrible. One of my tenants ODed a few months ago. Thankfully it frightened the shit out of him and he went to rehab. 46 days sober now, I hope he makes it, he's a nice kid.