The good news thread

I have family in Gilbert, if I could talk the wife into it, I'd be gone in a heartbeat. Great wheeling in AZ.
Congrats .
 
The good news is that I have the best girlfriend ever.

Kimberly is a special education teacher, primarily young (4yo) kids with downs syndrome & autism; it has continued virtually which you can imagine is extremely difficult. She’s a single mom of 3 kids, one in college, one just graduating from high school & one just finishing middle school. She works part time as a yoga instructor as well. To say she’s got a lot on her plate is an understatement.

With all that she has been coming over to check on me and spend time with me. Like so many others I’m entering about the 7th week of total isolation, living and working alone I don’t see many people except when I hit the grocery store once a week.

I’ve been the custodian of a feral cat for going on three years, I call him Nero & he lives on my porch in a cat house I built for him & I feed him dry food/water daily to supplement the fresh meat he kills. He’s a true wild animal, always getting into brawls with God only knows what, but I see the aftermath when he returns home beat up. I can’t imagine the pain he’s inflicted on others too, he’s one super muscular beast.

A few weeks ago he limped home on a bad driver’s side rear wheel, apparently he was in a pretty vicious smackdown. At first I didn’t think much of it as it’s par for the course. But when it didn’t work itself out I boxed him up & brought him to the Vet. They said it appears to be an infection likely brought about by a bite so they gave him antibiotics & pain killers. I figured it was a good idea to keep him off of it for a while but that’s tough to do living outside so I picked up the necessary items to bring him in, kitty litter & a bed, I’ve got him sequestered in the laundry room so he has nowhere to walk… but alas I forgot a litter scoop. I was telling Kimberly about this & she offered to bring one over, she has a few cats & all sorts of extra gear.

Now to the point of this post. The video is her arrival, I was sitting in the hut (my outdoor kitchen) just listening to music when she appeared dancing her way in, this is pretty typical as she often arrives with a dance & it really captures her nature – always happy, always upbeat, & always looking to help anyone and everyone she can. She’s the best ever & today marks the third anniversary of the day we met, one of the best days of my life and I knew the moment I saw her I struck gold. It’s been the best 3 years of my life.

Look for the litterbox scoop in her hand:


Bonus, she also gave me a haircut which beat the hell out of the butcher job I did on myself last month 😁.
Love the story (hope the cat is doing better), and laughed like hell at the dance. That's a hoot! Seems like a happy, happy gal, for sure. (y)
 
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Love the story (hope the cat is doing better), and laughed like hell at the dance. That's a hoot! Seems like a happy, happy gal, for sure. (y)

this is one of those good news/bad news situations, as related to my cat Nero. We ran into some more difficulties, maybe the best way to describe it is to re-post a copy of the letter he wrote, he tells the story much better than I can:

"I’m not sure when I was born, or where, my memories from those times have faded. I vaguely recollect being with people I thought were my family, I thought they loved me, but they sent me away and they did it in a way that I couldn’t find my way back no matter how hard I tried. I wandered for days, weeks, maybe longer, trying to find home. I grew tired, & when I was about to give up I found my real home, right in this very spot, as soon as I arrived I knew I was home forever. I can’t quite explain it but it was beautiful, warm and comfortable, it felt safe.

There was a strange human living in the house close by, at first he didn’t notice me and that was ok but after a little while he started to watch me. It wasn’t long after that he started to watch over me. He brought food to my spot. Each time he did this I hissed wildly at him and ran under the shed; he seemed nice but I had been fooled before. After a little while I got used to the idea of sharing my new home with him; he wanted me to come inside and stay with him but I wasn’t having any of that. You see, I’m a true outdoor cat, a predator, and an American so I love my freedom, and none of that was going to change, however I did agree to spend some time in a warm & dry shelter he made for me next to his but without walls. It was great and exactly what I wanted because I had the best of both worlds, I could stay inside whenever I wanted but still return anytime to prowl the night or sleep in my favorite spot, warm in the sunlight. He made sure I had all the dry crunchy tasties I wanted which really went nice with the fresh meat I killed. That always made him smile.

Life was good, it was really good. We had a little set back a few months later when I bit him. It wasn’t on purpose, we were playing, however I knew it was trouble when he had go to the hospital for shots that hurt, but that’s also when I knew that not only had I found my home but I also found my family, because even after all that he still loved me. We were a good team, just a couple buddies living the good life at la casa. We spent a lot of time together just doing nothing, he slept in the hammock and I slept underneath it. He slept a lot. He would always forget I was underneath and then I’d stand up & touch the bottom of the hammock and he would scream, it was funny, I did it on purpose just to scare him, he would yell at me and then he would tickle me. We also spent a lot of time in the garage staring at our Jeep. He thought I loved it as much as him but the truth is he was just goofy, I would have been just as happy staring at the wall as long as I was with him, and that’s when I knew I loved him too. The best part was when the pretty girl came to visit us, she took good care of us both, I loved when she rubbed my belly and brushed my hair, and she smelled nice, much better than him. We used to tease him all the time, we laughed, he laughed too because he loved us both, she was like an angel. Life was good, it was really good.

Things began to change when I started feeling pain in my hind leg. I tried to keep it to myself but eventually he noticed. I convinced him it was just another battle wound, I had many of those over the years and I always recovered. But in time I couldn’t hide it anymore and he got worried so I reluctantly agreed to go to the doctor. She was a nice lady but really didn’t know how deep my troubles were, but my human did, eventually. He took me to another doctor and she understood what was happening to me, and how much pain I was in. I was there when she explained it to him and I knew he would be very upset, but I also knew that his love for me would allow him to follow my doctor’s advice and relieve my pain forever. He did that for me on May 18, 2020 and I will be eternally grateful. I love my human and his love for me did not stop on that day, he took me back home, to my home, and laid me to rest here, my favorite place on earth, so that I could always be with him. Nero.

p.s. I always heard him say that he wasn’t a cat person, could’ve fooled me."

R.I.P. Nero ?? to May 18, 2020

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with his angel

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this is one of those good news/bad news situations, as related to my cat Nero. We ran into some more difficulties, maybe the best way to describe it is to re-post a copy of the letter he wrote, he tells the story much better than I can:

"I’m not sure when I was born, or where, my memories from those times have faded. I vaguely recollect being with people I thought were my family, I thought they loved me, but they sent me away and they did it in a way that I couldn’t find my way back no matter how hard I tried. I wandered for days, weeks, maybe longer, trying to find home. I grew tired, & when I was about to give up I found my real home, right in this very spot, as soon as I arrived I knew I was home forever. I can’t quite explain it but it was beautiful, warm and comfortable, it felt safe.

There was a strange human living in the house close by, at first he didn’t notice me and that was ok but after a little while he started to watch me. It wasn’t long after that he started to watch over me. He brought food to my spot. Each time he did this I hissed wildly at him and ran under the shed; he seemed nice but I had been fooled before. After a little while I got used to the idea of sharing my new home with him; he wanted me to come inside and stay with him but I wasn’t having any of that. You see, I’m a true outdoor cat, a predator, and an American so I love my freedom, and none of that was going to change, however I did agree to spend some time in a warm & dry shelter he made for me next to his but without walls. It was great and exactly what I wanted because I had the best of both worlds, I could stay inside whenever I wanted but still return anytime to prowl the night or sleep in my favorite spot, warm in the sunlight. He made sure I had all the dry crunchy tasties I wanted which really went nice with the fresh meat I killed. That always made him smile.

Life was good, it was really good. We had a little set back a few months later when I bit him. It wasn’t on purpose, we were playing, however I knew it was trouble when he had go to the hospital for shots that hurt, but that’s also when I knew that not only had I found my home but I also found my family, because even after all that he still loved me. We were a good team, just a couple buddies living the good life at la casa. We spent a lot of time together just doing nothing, he slept in the hammock and I slept underneath it. He slept a lot. He would always forget I was underneath and then I’d stand up & touch the bottom of the hammock and he would scream, it was funny, I did it on purpose just to scare him, he would yell at me and then he would tickle me. We also spent a lot of time in the garage staring at our Jeep. He thought I loved it as much as him but the truth is he was just goofy, I would have been just as happy staring at the wall as long as I was with him, and that’s when I knew I loved him too. The best part was when the pretty girl came to visit us, she took good care of us both, I loved when she rubbed my belly and brushed my hair, and she smelled nice, much better than him. We used to tease him all the time, we laughed, he laughed too because he loved us both, she was like an angel. Life was good, it was really good.

Things began to change when I started feeling pain in my hind leg. I tried to keep it to myself but eventually he noticed. I convinced him it was just another battle wound, I had many of those over the years and I always recovered. But in time I couldn’t hide it anymore and he got worried so I reluctantly agreed to go to the doctor. She was a nice lady but really didn’t know how deep my troubles were, but my human did, eventually. He took me to another doctor and she understood what was happening to me, and how much pain I was in. I was there when she explained it to him and I knew he would be very upset, but I also knew that his love for me would allow him to follow my doctor’s advice and relieve my pain forever. He did that for me on May 18, 2020 and I will be eternally grateful. I love my human and his love for me did not stop on that day, he took me back home, to my home, and laid me to rest here, my favorite place on earth, so that I could always be with him. Nero.

p.s. I always heard him say that he wasn’t a cat person, could’ve fooled me."

R.I.P. Nero ?? to May 18, 2020

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with his angel

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Dude... :cry:
 
I made a grown man cry today, and he's one of my best friends. A few years ago, after retiring from the military, my friend bought his dream motorcycle, a 1976 Honda CB 750. He planned to get it running and tool around the countryside.

Unfortunately, some unplanned health issues sidelined his dream. In a moment of anger, her decided to sell the bike "as is" at a fire sale price. Unbeknownst to my friend, I bought the bike using a straw buyer. I spent the winter doing a mechanical restoration. Today I returned the bike to my friend. As he walked up, I threw him the keys, and said thanks for letting me borrow your bike. I don't have a before picture, but this is how it looks today
Tomsbike.jpg


When I first bought the bike, it looked like it was dropped in a mud puddle and put away wet.
 
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Got to goto lake house again 2 weekends in a row!! Great weather, been in the 80s, of course after helping @AndyG with his U joints and axles!!
 
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I made a grown man cry today, and he's one of my best friends. A few years ago, after retiring from the military, my friend bought his dream motorcycle, a 1976 Honda CB 750. He planned to get it running and tool around the countryside.

Unfortunately, some unplanned health issues sidelined his dream. In a moment of anger, her decided to sell the bike "as is" at a fire sale price. Unbeknownst to my friend, I bought the bike using a straw buyer. I spent the winter doing a mechanical restoration. Today I returned the bike to my friend. As he walked up, I threw him the keys, and said thanks for letting me borrow your bike. I don't have a before picture, but this is how it looks today
View attachment 165870

When I first bought the bike, it looked like it was dropped in a mud puddle and put away wet.
You are awesome. Stay around.
 
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I made a grown man cry today, and he's one of my best friends. A few years ago, after retiring from the military, my friend bought his dream motorcycle, a 1976 Honda CB 750. He planned to get it running and tool around the countryside.

Unfortunately, some unplanned health issues sidelined his dream. In a moment of anger, her decided to sell the bike "as is" at a fire sale price. Unbeknownst to my friend, I bought the bike using a straw buyer. I spent the winter doing a mechanical restoration. Today I returned the bike to my friend. As he walked up, I threw him the keys, and said thanks for letting me borrow your bike. I don't have a before picture, but this is how it looks today
View attachment 165870

When I first bought the bike, it looked like it was dropped in a mud puddle and put away wet.
Now that's a friend! Good for you.
 
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Got to go wheeling today at SMORR in SW Missouri. Great group of friends came along too, my best friend and his wife in their brand new Honda Talon 1000r (I tried hard to get them to buy a TJ but they wouldn't listen). Hit some tougher trails for me, being deemed the "least capable rig" in our group by everyone as we discussed what trails to attempt. Came upon a squad of JK owners at the bottom of a tougher trail as we walked up to see what the deal was, they were all out of their jeeps, we thought they might need help. The leader of the JK goon squad told me to turn around, I wont make it. He had to winch all his buddies up to that point and none of the JKs could make the final climb, so no way I could do it in a "little jeep" his words, lol. Its was clay mud, slick 12" to 18" rock ledges after that a washout all the way to the top you could only hope to straddle without big tires, bigger than my 33's anyway. It was pretty deep, maybe 3-4 feet in spots. My whole group walked up the ledges no problems, next is the washed out climb to the top. First guy in our group is in a JKR on 37's. He straddles the washout clean all the way up and radios me with a recommended line. I walked up it with big dick energy radiating out from my Jeep like the beams of light. JK dudes all had their jaws on the floor. I didn't say a word, like when the good guy walks away from a huge explosion without looking back in an action movie. So proud of my "little" jeep. After I got up we had a stretched YJ in our group who decide to show off and make the washout a little wider by grinding through it the whole way up. Last guy in our group dropped a tire in and that's all she wrote. We tried to pull it with the YJ, no dice. Winch time, epic recovery with coordination and team work. Same guy attempted to cross in the middle of a puddle later in the day. Ended up being way deeper than we thought, and super smelly too. All in all an awesome day wheeling, nothing broken, I didn't have to get pulled out of any trails, and pictures to remember it by.

The JK guys were actually pretty nice dudes, if not a little unprepared. All with open diffs and virtually stock jeeps, down to the OE tires. We had a good chat with them after the winch recovery.

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The sale of Chez Fromage was finalized on Friday. Yay?

I say ’Yay?’ because as soon as our lawyer told us it was a done deal, Mrs. Cheesy went in full redecoration mode. Gak!