The good news thread

Technically south central PA, I suppose, York County. I regularly passed through most places along 11-15 north as a kid, my grandfather had a camp up in Wellsboro, Tioga County. Used to love visiting that place.

Other than traffic jams on Rt. 30, York area is nice. My son used to live in Helam.
 
Our oldest has a BA in music, a BS in psychology, and an MS in Sociology. She works in those fields. She works for the state of Maine working with folks who are losing their vision. Her side gig is music therapy. She's not going to get rich doing it but as she says "it pays enough."

Our younger one has a BA in music and an MBA in Accounting. She does some stuff in the music field but kicks ass in the financial world. She started out as an intern at the Fed in Chicago, was hired on full time within a month as a Forensic Fraud Investigator. Like me, she traveled a lot. Moved over to Chase after a few years where she did the same thing but was called a 'Systems Analyst' with VP after her name. She moved to her current gig that lets her work from home full time and pays a hell of a lot more than Chase. If I had her money I'd throw mine away.

I made it through high school and wanted nothing to do with college. Went to work right away. 23 years in the first gig where I started out as an assembler and worked my way up to assistant supervisor. Or as I was called the Chief 'Finder and Procurer'. That job went south and got hired on a week later as a 'Small Engine Mechanic'. That one lasted 27 years where I did mechanical, automotive DC, welding, machining, hydraulics, rigging, and training. It's also where I learned, too late, that when management asked if you have a passport, the correct answer is "Why?" not "Yes." You' ll end up living in airports and hotels, while spending weeks in other countries only to find out that the drinking training you got in Wisconsin will leave you woefully unprepared for places like Australia, South Africa, or the UK.

I rarely worked on small engines.
 
Other than traffic jams on Rt. 30

You mean the bypass that isn't? That absolute shitshow has actually been used in official civil planning meetings elsewhere in this world for how NOT to build a highway bypass (a known fact). The massively overbudget "fix' that came about 20 years too late did nothing but allow more cars to park on the road, and the quality of the construction work was disgraceful (looking at you Kinsley). Absurd.

My son used to live in Helam.

You mean Hellam. :)

Seems most maps now refer to it as Hallam, but we always knew it as Hellam. Can't recall the number of times the Hellam exit signs on Rt 30 were defaced when I was growing up. Apparently the "Exit to Hell" was too tempting for some individuals of ill repute... :ROFLMAO:
 
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Proud of my daughter: She’s 14 and since she was little(er) has wanted to be a Marine Biologist. For the past year she’s been building out her fish tanks and learning why we support local businesses instead of “just ordering from Amazon”. After almost weekly visits, many emails, building a relationship with the owners of our local Aquatics store, and asking for a job almost every visit, they finally relented and offered her an internship.

She’s too young to be paid formally, but lots of life lessons in working for a small business, including scrubbing algae off the back tanks for two hours, and that if you work for good people, your hard work is usually rewarded. She got an array of new fish comped by the owners since she’d worked for it and hopefully this is the start of a long term relationship.

Sometimes I have hope in humanity.

Nice, what kind of fish does she like to keep? At one point I had 15+ tanks up to 125 gallons. I drilled 7 of them for a central heating/filtration and was breeding some. I am down to 1 tank and a 5000+ gal koi pond.
 
Nice, what kind of fish does she like to keep? At one point I had 15+ tanks up to 125 gallons. I drilled 7 of them for a central heating/filtration and was breeding some. I am down to 1 tank and a 5000+ gal koi pond.

Wow. We spent the last year with a 5ga heated tank learning about water management, what lives with what, and how to keep everything alive. Last month we moved to a 14ga which is apparently easier to maintain since the scale is larger and supports more diversity. Currently she’s got a mix of Otto’s, guppies, tetras, Shrimp, and 1 or two others. If we’re still committed a year from now I’ll consider moving to a 25ga or something larger scale.
 
Wow. We spent the last year with a 5ga heated tank learning about water management, what lives with what, and how to keep everything alive. Last month we moved to a 14ga which is apparently easier to maintain since the scale is larger and supports more diversity. Currently she’s got a mix of Otto’s, guppies, tetras, Shrimp, and 1 or two others. If we’re still committed a year from now I’ll consider moving to a 25ga or something larger scale.

I would go to a 40 or 55 gallon next. A 5 ga is quite a bit more work to maintain than a larger tank. More filtration options like a good canister filter.
 
A little joy in Mudville this weekend. Owen played four hockey games over the weekend, winning two and scoring the opening goal in the first game. Eli came off another loss.

E's game was the first he's played this indoor season where a kid on the opposing side was as tall as he was. E probably had 25 lbs on the kid. The other kid tried to establish dominance on E but wasn't having any luck. There was a lot of pushing and shoving between the two of them until the ref stopped play and spoke with both coaches. What E's coach told me after the game was that the ref told both coaches not to have the two kids cover each other. The ref has covered all of E's games and told the opposing coach that all his kid will accomplish is making E mad and it won't end up well for him. The opposing coach said his kid can handle himself. The ref said, no, he can't. Because E has two black belts and has competed internationally. When E has had enough, your kid will be carried off. So they got separated.
E ended up with a blue card later and his coach just had him sit out the rest of the game. E was hot because the ref wasn't calling fouls on the other team as often as he called fouls on E's team. Most were against E. E had had enough and took down a different kid who'd been shoving E and getting away with it. With a well placed elbow to the head.
After the game, we asked E why the elbow to the head. He said he used his shoulder. Both myself and the other grandfather answered, "Bullshit", in unison.

O's games had high and low points. Like I mentioned, O scored the first goal in the first of four games. They did lose that one 3-2, but the teams' were evenly matched. The winning goal happened when O's goalie lost his stick and couldn't control the puck.
The second game they won 5-2. They were tied 2-2 at the start of the third period but exploded for three unanswered goals. What happened after the second goal kind of surprised everyone. One of the goalies' teammates skated up to the said goalie and started wailing on him with punches and his stick. His coach yanked that kid. He was still chewing the kids' ass when the game was over.
Game three was this morning and they won that one 3-1. It was a well played game without much drama. This afternoon's game, OTOH, wow. They lost 4-2. One player on the opposing team earned himself four penalties, which is an automatic game misconduct and ejection. Lucky for him, there was only 45 seconds left in the game so his ass was parked in the penalty box for that time. The third one he got was for slashing one of the girls on O's team. She got a penalty, too, for returning it followed by a shot to the head. There were a lot of missed calls against both teams, though several players on the opposing team did get multiple penalties. Some pretty poor sportsmanship.

So, that's the end of regular hockey season for O. Playoffs start next weekend. O's Mom, and probably O, are hoping for a short playoff series. They are both pretty burned out. I think E has a couple weeks left and he is looking to join a second club. I know Mom is not happy with that.🤷‍♂️
 
Story time:

Years ago my Dad passed and my Mom was suffering from Alzheimer's. We moved in with my Mom because she couldn't be alone. During that time some kids broke into my house stealing a bottle of rum from the Caribbean a friend years ago had got for me. (The rum was Big Dick Rum.) They took some other stuff, but mostly they made a mess.

Yesterday I got a message from the high school that they found an old high school ring with my initials inside. I had forgotten all about the ring. So either one of the kids grew up and got a conscience, or they tossed it and someone found it. Well either way I'm getting my ring back.
 
Owen is 0-1-1 for the playoffs so far.
They lost by 1 yesterday and tied 3-3 against another Coven of Witches this morning. This morning's game was fantastic, though the Witches did cast a spell where the sticks on O's team seemed to be full of holes. They sure were whiffing a lot of shots for the first two periods. Down 2-1 at the start of the 3rd period, the spell wore off and O's team scored two goals on face offs within 90 seconds. O's team held the lead until 2:30 left when one of the Coven lifted the puck high enough that it bounced in front of the goalie and flew over his shoulder. With 4 seconds left, the same one of the Coven tried the same shot but O read it and managed to get himself between the puck and the goalie where he slapped the puck away at the buzzer. Grandma and I treated O and his Dad to lunch at the home of The Worlds Greatest Hot Dogs, Gene's and Jude's. I realized that Mrs.Cheesy and I have been going to that place for 51 years.
O has another game tonight that we won't be going to cuz it's late and we're old. Two more games tomorrow and the final game of the season next weekend.
 
Yeah. Our first new car was a 1975 Honda Civic hatchback. $3558 out the door. My used 2020 F-150 was $38K.

In 1978, my father purchased a brand new 1 ton Chevy with 454 for about $7,000. Eight years later, in 1986, I purchased a brand new 1/2 ton Chevy with 305 for $13,500. Half the truck for twice the price!
 
When we were newly married, skinny, and not having much money, we could get dinner at that place for a buck thirty. Six dogs and four sodas yesterday was just south of forty bucks.

I get it ! , A new 1975 Corvette convertible started around $6550.00 . Time marches on !

Yeah. Our first new car was a 1975 Honda Civic hatchback. $3558 out the door. My used 2020 F-150 was $38K.

In 1978, my father purchased a brand new 1 ton Chevy with 454 for about $7,000. Eight years later, in 1986, I purchased a brand new 1/2 ton Chevy with 305 for $13,500. Half the truck for twice the price!

For an overly simple example of insane prices that damn near everyone has experienced, just look at the cost of a damn chocolate candy bar compared to what it used to be. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $2.00 for a candy bar...🤬

*Apologies. This is supposed to be the Good News thread. As such, I can say that the price of chocolate bars has stopped me from eating something that I don't really need to be eating, anyways...:sneaky:
 
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For an overly simple example of insane prices that damn near everyone has experienced, just look at the cost of a damn chocolate candy bar compared to what it used to be. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $2.00 for a candy bar...🤬

Thats the same reason I don't eat out. I'm not gonna pay what they want for a fast food hamburger, when I can grill one the way I want it with 100% 90/10 lean beef cheaper.

Steaks the same way, buy them on sale vacuum seal them freeze them, I can grill them like I want them cheaper.