Well She did promise to mourn me until the Insurance Check clears

Justin & Jeff,

Congrats to both of you, and to many more cancer free years to come.

-Phil

Been really blessed lately.

Recently had an amazing fellow member hockeyhockey help me out with a mislabeled PSA card. Not only was he nice enough to help me out he paid the fees and return shipping to me. He also had to deal with trying to fix the label on a mislabeled card. So he went way out of his way to help me and it is much appreciated.

Now this one is crazy. A few days ago the mailman showed up at my house with a Priority tube, the kind bats are shipped in. I opened it up and here is a Wade Boggs Professional model bat with all the PSA/DNA paperwork. I have a decent Boggs bat collection so this 1989 LS B349 fits in very nicely. I can't thank fellow member JoeDfan enough for his extremely generous gift.

Then today I got the first floor seat in row one for the Shaw Classic(Strongman Contest) next year. It comes with 2 meet and greets with the strongmen and a goodie bag. They got released today pre sale for members and I just got lucky.:D

Trey for 3 peat at the Shaw.

Since we have went too long without a card.

Didn't know he had a card. I need to get a bunch and have him sign them.

thats great^
I just went to the Doctors this morning for my bladder cancer checkup (cystoscope) now that i am on the 6 month checkups (instead every 3 months)
It been a little over a year 1/2 for me as well. All things still look clear and no signs of what i thought was a hernia. Just need to lose weight.

Congrats and glad to hear it.
Same thing weight control is needed for me

That's great news. :)

Today makes 25 years that my amazing wife has somehow tolerated me.:)

Congratulations! 🥂

I made it 30 years with my wife putting up with me. :)

47. Almost married twice as long as I was single. Hopefully there is a statute of limitations on changing your mind at some point

Last month- i went for my 1st colonoscopy.
Despite some breathing/apnea issue, found only 1 polyp which was benign.
Good news- i lost 10 pounds of crap, but they still couldn't find what crawled up there and died.

I'm 37, and I've had 6 colonoscopies and 3 MRI with barium, or whatever they make me drink. it's gross. Welcome to the club!

Did you do anything funny after coming out of anesthesia? On my first, I told me wife I was James Bond, pulled out my finger pistol and said "pew pew" as I shot her.

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congrats Ben! I'm nearing 12 myself.

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Good news on the negative colonoscopy results guys . They're not fun. I've had more than I want to remember. :o

Tim, did she still give you a ride home after ? :rolleyes:

Here’s a little number about good news

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ItHhDSlyQvo

Just bought my 1st ever cell phone...i heard those giggling in the background!

Nice, did you get a plain flip phone or a nicer smart phone? We use tracfone and pay around $80 a year for a new phone and one year of service. Weirdly it is cheaper to get a new phone and service than just to buy the service itself.

I wouldn't giggle at you about the phone. You just can't see my silly grin. :D

i went to Verizon..i didnt want a new phone, and they said i was covered up to 700....so a Iphone 12 was in my option and works great so far.
i am locked in for 3 yrs at the 80$ plan. The dude was great setting it up and all the acessories i needed.
Busy now- changing phone numbers from banking and doctors and etc.

It’s impressive to have waited so long to get one. I was one of the kids waiting in line for hours to get the original iPhone and I have a hard time picturing life without one now (or similar type device). Family, friends, business, it’s the best tool for most of my life. Though every time I see my usage statistics, I start to think those who don’t have a cell at all might be the wiser and better among us for not being tuned in to the rest of the world 24/7/365.

Heck i am 45+ now, and its gotten where my banking & doctors want to verify identity thru text and i was unable to do that. So i was being forced basically to get one and trying to rely on my brothers phone was being a bit bothering to him.

Give you credit for holding out but sad that you missed great stuff in between. My elder parents were not tech savy but they were one of the first to jump on board and loved it for Facetime ot communicate and see the grandkids play, perfrom etc.
And Mom used it to read and surf the web and dad to watch movies and sports.

Congrats and enjoy

I request modern card donations on Twitter. Last year I received 12 x 400 count boxes + 5 packs per kid; enough for my little league team. This year I expanded the operation. I received 10k cards. I collated them so no one received doubles. I (or WE) donated 29 x 400 count boxes at opening day ceremonies. They were randomly given away at the ceremonies we held in early May. This year, the desire of kids who wanted cards exceeded my supply. It was very fulfilling to watch. My two kids kept telling others, "My daddy did that. My daddy brought the cards."

If anyone wants to donate modern cards (2022 - present) please contact me. I guarantee you they will get into the hands of kids. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d29ab97d24.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...221e78589e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f0266d5b01.jpg

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Very cool. Sorry, I don't have any modern day cards for you.

I can understand that. In 2004 I moved from Mass to D.C. while working for a Fortune 100 company. I did not keep in touch with anyone so I did not need a cell phone. A few years later they had this offer from Verizon - 20% corporate discount on every plan. I said what the heck and got a free flip phone with 50 minutes per month (yes, minutes!) for $20 per month. A few years ago my wife paid $99 to replace the original one when it no longer held a charge. It was a 3G phone. Last year they sent me a 4G flip phone for free and upped my calling to unlimited with no contract. I paid $22 last month. Even though I left the company 14 years ago I still get the corporate discount. In all of the years I had the 50 minutes I only exceeded it twice while travelling and needing to call my wife. Most months I used no minutes. I don't text, tweet, take pictures or anything else. To me it is just a phone. A few weeks ago they sent me an offer for a supposed free 'smart' phone - Samsung Galaxy 5G. They also offered the competitor, but I don't do the cult of Apple. For sh#ts and giggles I may check out the offer as there is a Verizon store in the mall across the street from my complex.

That is awesome. If I had new stuff I would send some.

Thanks to the generosity of fellow Net54 member Clydepepper, I gave my 10 yo summer baseball team individual 400 ct boxes of cards at our end of season party. He sent the kind of cards you might imagine kids would love! Chrome, Panini, shiny, pop, and sparkle. Plus Heritage, Topps base, Bowman Draft. We had a great time and the kids were excited. Sorry there aren't more pictures. The best quote from a mother was "Nicholas! You wash the pizza grease off your fingers before you touch those!" My wife talked to another boy, first year player, and he had recently received his first cards. She said he was all aflutter about receiving this box of cards. His dad walked up to my wife and I while they were leaving and said, "I've never seen someone do that. You're alright." Finally, for those of you whose cards met the fate of bicycle spokes, you would have been proud of the young man in the picture whose cards were spread all over the table. He handled those cards like a boy who doesn't see $$$. He wanted to show me his best players, and his Mike Trout had a nice crisp crease through the corner just like it had been clothe pinned to bike wheels.


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I fixed my granddaughter's post nap hair. My first ever attempt to be a stylist. :)

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that's harder than it looks sir! job well done.

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Great job there grandpa. :D

My son attended a local BMX camp this weekend. He has a need for speed. Anyway, he broke his wrist earlier this summer and missed sports for 6 weeks, including most of BMX season. But he's restarting with camp and then hopefully he can get in a month of riding before school starts and hockey takes over. This will be our first hockey season. He will be 10u.

If you have never done BMX, we have found it to be a wonderful family environment. It's worth a try if your kid is into racing. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6651f6e25d.jpg

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After a horrible 4 weeks I am feeling much better. I am also on vacation and am going to watch giant men pick up outrageously heavy objects this weekend at the Shaw Classic.

I just worked a new country, Georgia on 20 Meters SSB!!!!

Yeah me!

Butch

A former student of mine, Kenneth Rooks, will be competing in the 3000m Steeplechase at the Track and Field World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 23. He just became the US Champion in July. He is set to become a senior at BYU in just a couple weeks. He was my student at College Place High School, WA.
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My former student, Kenneth Rooks, moved on to the finals of the World Championship 3000m Steeplechase.
https://www.deseret.com/2023/8/19/23...ships-budapest
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Wow, that must feel great to see a former student progress like that. Awesome.

My oldest son, who is a PhD grad student in astrophysics, just got his first paper published. It's far above my level of understanding, but if there are any astrophysicists or even physicists on the board who want to give it a shot, I'd be happy to forward a link. Very happy for him. He worked hard to get where he is.

That’s a huge deal. To make the finals at worlds in of itself is a HUGE accomplishment. Very cool and thanks for sharing!

He's having a year he'll never forget. He wasn't allowed to enter a professional race in LA in May because the organizer thought he wouldn't be competitive. He was listed as an alternate and eventually won the race. Then he won the NCAA steeplechase championship. Then he won the US Championship. And now here he is in Budapest. I couldn't be happier for him! And I think he recently got engaged, but I can't confirm that. But the girl had a ring on her finger.

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CONGRATS! My wife had her senior thesis published. It was a huge achievement for her. I have her publication on my trophy cabinet. She likes seeing it near my prized baseball items.

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Entered my collage in the fair and I got a blue ribbon the size of my pinky. Fine Art was the only exhibit to give away ribbons that size. Everyone who sees it gets a very good laugh. My son won his for guessing the champion pig during pig racing. It's a lot of fun if you've never seen it! And... someone at the fair left their name and number hoping to buy it. I'm not sure I want to sell, but if they make me an offer I can't refuse, I guess it's worth considering.
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You should add 'magician' to your list of talents as well...because I swear that Gehrig is levitating!!!!

This falls under: it takes a village to raise a child.

My 10yo son just went through fundraising for hockey. The Association vomited multiple selling opportunities on us at once: Xmas wreaths, discount hockey tickets, and raffle tickets. We told our son that hockey is too expensive for us to cover all of the various costs, so if he wants to play hockey year after year he needs to take fundraising serious. This was his first experience fundraising, he has never done Boy Scouts, or Camp Fire, or anything like that.

He ended up raising about $1300. $200 were anonymous donations; some of the anonymous donations included a comment like, "He's doing a great job," or "I'm glad you're teaching him to do sales." Lots of positive vibes. Many people talked to him about their experiences with youth hockey.

Anyway, he has been attending goalie clinic; they have a gear closet, but that doesn't include masks or sticks. So he has been practicing with his regular helmet. I've been waiting for a puck to hit him in the Adam's apple. After fundraising, we went down to the hockey shop and, with the money he raised from his hard work, he bought a goalie mask and goalie stick. He was very proud!

I'm hoping that he has learned a lesson about the rewards of working hard.

Tickests for pre-sale to the 2024 Strongest Man on Earth Strongman competition went on sale at 11am CST today. I got extremely lucky and got the first seat in the front row floor seating again this year.:D

Operation success
 

My grandpa just had surgery to remove a "cancerous cluster" in his stomach.

The operation was a success, and he's back at home recovering already.

Filled with gratitude that he's okay and wishing health and happiness to all of you as well!

That's great to hear. :) All the best to your grandfather.

The first flower opened on my Jade plants yesterday and 6 are open now. In a couple weeks I will have several hundred of them open.:)

They are tiny flowers but the entire flowering process takes easily 3 months. It was 5 weeks from the start of the buds forming until the first flower opened.

Found a nice 4 pedal flower so I add another picture.

After a very long and difficult battle with his health over the course of the latter portion of 2023, my father successfully underwent a Triple Bypass surgery at the end of December. He has since made near a full recovery. Still in the process of getting back to 100% but overall, he's doing very well. He will be back to 100% by the time my parents are able to celebrate 40 years of being married, which is something my tight knit extended family, is looking forward to. We have a big party planned for them.

It's through this most recent situation where I've been able to realize how wonderful life is, and how blessed I am. As long as everyone is waking up in the morning, healthy and happy, the other issues and problems of life will sort itself out.

James, that's terrific news. :)

Ben, Jade plants are cool. I worked in a greenhouse at an agricultural high school. I've never seen any of the Jade plants with buds or flowers.

Glad to hear that I remember you posting concerns a while back ,
On lesser news Paul McCartney got his bass back

Awesome, wishing him a full recovery.:)

I learned how to make them flower by accident a few years ago. I just removed the dead dried up flowers off the plants 2 days ago. I have 5 of them that are 2 1/2 to 3 foot tall. They should be way bigger but I have accidently froze them a couple times.

Here is a pic of them in full bloom.

Very cool. Thanks for the photos.:)

Thank you for all the kind words. He's only 64, and has plenty of time left, God willing!

I was in an accident and got wacked with some health problems at the same time about 8 months ago. I have been trying to get back to working out since then. I have finally been able to lift weights for the last month. I am also just learning to deadlift.

So my good news is yesterday I deadlifted as much as a fellow members 5' 4" 130 pound wife does. I pulled 300 pounds yesterday. It is nice finally being pain free.:)

That's great to hear Ben. Keep up the good work.

Good work man [emoji106]

I wanted to update this with some recent news. Started out bad but has become more positive as of late.

My father unfortunately suffered a stroke. It has been a challenging time for our entire family. For many of you that have older/elderly parents, or have gone through this experience, it's very difficult seeing those you care about encounter these sorts of problems.

However, it's been 10 days since this occurrence. My father is conversing with little, to no speech issues and is in physical therapy. He may need some sort of assistance for the rest of his life, but he is alive, talking and thankful.

Each day is a blessing, and there is always a positive to every situation. Life always presents challenges but we are able to get through them.

Very happy for your extra opportunities with your dad. Hopefully your dad clears these hurdles and gets another 10 years of quality living.

I lost my father 2 years ago. I understand your struggles.

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Appreciate the kind words and wishes.

I think this is one of the things I have struggled with the most. I feel like in many cases sons think of their fathers as pillars of strength. They always seem they're the strongest people in the world. Even as I see him now, I still see the man that raised me, more than I see how he is in his current state.

He's a good man, I feel terrible for the struggles he's going through. We've been talking plenty of baseball though lately, and a ton about cards. Somethings, thankfully, never change.

I hope the best for your father.

DONALD TRUMP VISITING
We got the BIG -DON coming to our town tonite!!!
Yep! downtown been shut down all day-- he is coming 5pm @ the forum
Probably no thanks to Majorie Greene, since she represents our town.
Folks been selling t-shirts & hats all week.

Health Update:
I have been unable to get my Mounjaro 7.5 for a month now...still waiting
Meanwhile i went back on the Metformin...defintly messed my stomach up and diahreaa.
I had to re-authroize it for 2024 for insurance...and they didnt tell me
Been a total mess and lots of phone calls every week.

That has to suck. Hopefully you can get back on it. For a friend it is a miracle drug. He just cares that he can drink and eat anything he wants. It not only lets him drink soda all day but also eat nothing but garbage food. His A1c is low and he has lost a ton of weight on it.

Ben-
thats is wrong that people are taking this for the wrong reasons.
Stars & Actors are doing this for weight loss...yeah it works for that
but some folks need this for blood sugar. Mine A1C is down to 6.0 and need to jump the hurdle and eat more veggies and be more efficient exercising...i do about 10-15K steps per day.
The testerone gel helps in the mornings to get me going..wears off at noon.

My friend has diabetes he just won't change anything and expects medication to do everything for him.

That is awesome you are doing 10-15K steps a day. Weirdly that is also my goal. I got a Fitbit a couple weeks ago to track steps and other stuff.

On a funny side note I now have 3 items that tell time on me. I have to put the Fitbit on my right wrist because of the one small tattoo I have on my left wrist. Then I have a real mechanical watch on my left wrist because I like man jewelry. Then of course my cell phone.

double post

My son's hockey season wrapped up. The local WHL team asks hockey players to sell tickets. if they sell more than 40 they get to sit on the bench while players warm-up. We got 5 free tickets. While on the bench, he got his favorite player to sign his poster. He was the only kid who brought something to sign and have a sharpie! Plus, Chiefs won 7-6 in a real thriller and clinched a playoff berth.
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Another piece of good news is my house remodel, kitchen cabinets were installed. While that is good, it's not the greatest news. Our contractor is assigning us errands so that we can stretch our budget (errands he doesn't want to do himself... like scrape popcorn ceilings which we completed in January). We took a HUD remodel loan, and the HUD agent gave a list of expected fixes not including our desired changes. Because of 60-70 degree temps (this is the good news!), we've been working on the house and these errands since Friday. Most time consuming is scraping and painting the base siding of the house. It did not have rain gutters and when it rained it splashed up and ruined the bottom panel. But we've been saving money on labor, and the contractor will reallocate that money somewhere else!
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I love painting, clean job[emoji41][emoji3589]

Congrats on the progress. Also congrats on finding a contractor that will let you help AND give you a better price for doing it. As a retired contractor in all honesty we will make the bill bigger IF the owner thinks they need to help almost every time.

I have kinda good news or I just wasn't cheap this year.:D I booked the Hilton beside the Strongest Man on Earth strongman contest in Loveland CO this year. The athletes stay there and since there is 3 full days of events it is easiest to just be able to walk across the street to attend the events.

Guys, i get that homeowners like sweat equity....but sometimes you say WTF?
Let them go ahead, but if the homewoner screws up, it will cost 2x as much :D
We had to do that on some of our commercial buildings, those that have in-house so-called maintaince men.

BTW- i had 3 teeth pulled last week...now i feel like hillbilly Joe with a gap.
Luckily i still have 2 baby teeth behind it to fill it in.

On a good note: Today i get text messages from Lara Trump to do a survey to support our Republicans.
Then shortly after, got another to tell the Democrats to keep hands of Trump towers. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Luckily I have prior experience with home remodeling. So removing garbage, painting, basic construction, deck building, scraping popcorn ceilings, taping drywall and plaster, laying pavers for sidewalks.... that's about it. But I also know my limits. Electrical, plumbing, tile and grout, all those are beyond my pay grade. I believe the last chore on my to do list is sloping the exterior away from the home.

Our contractor got a job with a commercial developer and has been given projects over in a development. I'm not sure they want to give us everything they have, but with a HUD loan there are time restraints (6 months max). So this is a simple way to keep work moving to keep HUD happy. But the contractor has also told us certain projects he will not allow us to complete. My sister in law said she can install flooring and our contractor quickly said no.

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^^impressive you can do all that
I work guys with 0 experience—you’re hired
Plus you look young and taking your time
To Make it right- Nice!!
When you go get done- you have satisfaction
Of a job well done and you done that
Makes you feel good

Thank you. I had zero experience when I took my landscaping construction job one summer in college (we built waterfalls), and zero experience when I took a home remodeling job the year after college. but my bosses liked me because I got to the job site on time every morning! Amazing how far basic responsibility can carry you in life!

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