Bald Truth

  My son, Patrick, sometimes teases me about my thinning hair.  I was once sitting next to a girl on a plane and she pointed out the miracle laser combs from the Skymall catalogue, that are supposed to stimulate hair growth. (AnnaMarie bounce between telling me my hair isn't thinning, then immediately pointing out all the handsome bald guys.  Her list starts with Kelly Slater.  It also ends with Kelly Slater)
  I tell them the same thing---if any of those products worked, I think Donald Trump would have used them by now.  But then I realized Bill Gates can probably afford a comb and some hair products, so there goes THAT theory.
  Here's a picture of me eating bull testicles

Something You Need To Know About Power Tools

  There's something that doing this building stuff taught me about power tools I didn't know before I thought I'd pass along.
   When they build power tools, they install a little packet of blue smoke deep inside the tool.  I think they do the same with blenders, actually.  There's some sort of timing device that's bluetoothed to your bank balance, and a logic circuit that weighs how badly you need that tool at that moment, your financial status, and how long it's been in service and at the proper moment it automatically activates the packet of blue smoke. 
    It's an important feature.  The blue smoke is a power tool's version of an expiration date on a carton of milk.  It's trying to tell you it's time to go get a new one.
    The other thing that will set it off is if you've borrowed the tool; not always, but it is a bit like Russian Roulette-- You could have gone to buy yourself a brand new tool, but you borrowed one instead--it blue smoked, so you have to go buy a new one anyway except you don't get to keep it.
    I think the old Dodge has the same technology

Date Night

Hey Cool!  They are letting me post pics here again.  I guess data space is expensive or something.

It is hard to describe how awesome it is to be over there.  Three times now we've packed up food and drink, walked across the street to her cottage, and had a nice evening.  Sometimes with a movie, this last time not---we cooked each other dinner.  She decorated up for Valentine's, making all these hearts out of a variety of stuff---my favorites are the ones from my work jeans.  That 'tree' behind her is copied from something she saw on Pinterest, made from scraps of flooring and jacareuba trim.  It was supposed to just be for Christmas but looks like a year 'round addition.

After three years of trying to design and build AM's perfect place, and imagining what it would feel like, it's indescribable to be there.  It's taken on a life of its own.  But it only comes to life with AnnaMarie there and if I'm there without her it feels like I shouldn't be there.  Also I love this dress on her ($18 The Closet)