3/13/22 Gruene River Grill?

     We celebrated my father in law's birthday Saturday morning at Gruene River Grill, which is really more than a restaurant, but a spot to spend a relaxing afternoon.  The whole block seems to be in a dead-end street where the buildings are all kind of frozen in time, and the German heritage of the area is celebrated.  I don't know how we have lived less than an hour from this little gem and never visited it before.  Maybe it was the weather being so pleasant, but I really enjoyed just coming out here and walking around for a couple hours.

    The restaurant itself borders the river and I would say sits cliffside to it, as I could see the river down below, but it is on the backside of the restaurant and we sat inside, so I didn't sit and focus on how deep it was to really determine if it is a cliffside or just sits a few feet lower.  We could have sat outside, but honestly, the wind was still a little too cold for me, we got probably the last cold front the day before, and the morning started in the upper 20s.  It was very mild by the afternoon, up in the 60s, so we couldn't ask for nicer weather.

    Other than the restaurant, there are areas with live music playing randomly, and many little shops to walk through, and window shop.  Boy joined us and he was very excited to go check out the antique store, which he has in recent years become a collector of a bunch of old stuff, like cameras and old video games.  There were all sorts of nick-knacks to see.  The whole area probably has about 30 shops and eateries to walk around and see.  We walked into a store that focused on olive oils, and balsamic vinegars, which were interesting to say the least.  I wasn't in the mood to buy anything, but it was still fun to take it all in.

    The food itself was good, I can't say it was the best.  I ordered catfish and although the flavor was very good, I found very little fish between the layers of corn breading or whatever it was dipped in prior to frying.  Still, it didn't take away from the whole meal.  The building looked to be quite old, with exposed beams everywhere, and big fireplaces in all the different halls to make it nice and cozy.  I liked it enough that I am planning on taking my parents out here when they come to visit later in the week.

3/12/22 Exciting Start To Spring Break?

     Friday afternoon was the official start to Spring Break, of course, it wouldn't be normal without Baby A needing to be somewhere.  I am really surprised at the transformation, he was totally like us, in that he did not like being away from home, and now he is at all sorts of sporting events multiple times a week.  Anyways, he "needed" to be at Nelson Field before 6:00pm, he is now part of the trainers, so he needed to be there for a soccer game.  It kind of sucks that the team took such a small bus that he didn't fit with them, so there goes Dad, taking him across town.  It was actually quick, I thought it was going to suck, driving from south Austin to North Austin at 5:00pm and then back home to pick up Wife and then back up to get him around 7:30pm.

    I got home by around 6:15pm, Wife had just arrived as well, so we both went inside and then found ourselves with nothing to do and the house alone.  I, of course ran to the bed to lay down and try to sneak in a nap, we had about 40-50 minutes, I told Wife not to be a pain in the ass and just chill.  She laid down to, after admiring the new icemaker and the ice it was already making, with no leaks in sight.  Since we were alone, it didn't take long to decide we could have a little fun and we got going, both of us completely in our birthday suits.  It was a good time, until the door opened (the door has a combination lock which she knows), and we were caught in a surprised panic.  It was Girlie, Wife had told me to invite her to dinner with us, but I had told her we would pick her up on the way to get Mijo.  We all screamed in a hysterical panic (I yelled "who is it?" thinking it was Boy dropping by after saying he wasn't coming), it was funny to me, she quickly realized what was going on and ran to the front of the house, and after seeing the coast was clear, Wife ran to the bathroom.  I asked her what she was doing there, she said it was unclear whether she should come over or we were going to pick her up, I did re-read my text, and it did say we could do it either way.  Just as we were laughing, Mijo called to head to him, which we did.  I underestimated the time it would take since it took about 20-30 minutes to get up to the stadium, we left right away when he texted, but there was an accident on I-35 right downtown, it seems like there is an ongoing accident all the time on that shitty stretch of road, it really does suck 90% of the time.  We didn't get up to Mijo until 7:45pm or so, and I felt a little bad for him, he was trying to hide from the cold wind against the little ticket building.  Luckily, there was a second game, so there were still plenty of cars and the stadium lights were on.  We don't usually run late, honestly, we attend most functions he participates in, but he is not playing in these games, he is part of the background crew, taping up injured and stuff.

    After getting him in the car and helping him warm-up with the car heater, we drove around and ate at Outback up north.  I wanted to eat at Sea Island, there used to be one on Research, but I guess it closed down.  I remembered Boy had just given me a $25 gift card to Outback, he found it in his room while we were cleaning.  I figured this would pay for the blooming onion and a meal, if it even worked.  It was another good meal; we were sat as quickly as we arrived and the place was just perfectly filled, not too many people but enough that it wasn't dead.  I had a steak and a salad, which it had been a while and the meal overall was good.

    We got back home by 9:30pm or so, Girlie left, and I was probably asleep by 10:30pm.  We are supposed to meet my in-laws for my father in law's birthday brunch, somewhere in New Braunfels.  I like getting up early, I did, at 6:50am, but when I "have to" for an event, it seems to hurt me.  Still, I figure it'll be a meal, and then we can come back home and chill the rest of the day.

3/11/22 Replacing Our Icemaker?

     I knew it was coming and I think this morning Wife had enough of the BS.  She called me on the phone to come downstairs, she had the broomstick and was basically fighting the ice in the freezer like a knight on horseback.  The icemaker developed a leak or two, it is now over 15 years old, and I could see it.  We've been having these blocks of ice form in two different spots where the ice is supposed to form into the nice little cubes we are used to.  As long as we remove them about twice a day, there wasn't much of a problem, but sometimes we just aren't here.  Over the past month, the ice buildup has been getting worse, and I think it came to a head this morning.  When I came down, Wife had a bunch of ice knocked off and out of the freezer.  We have a fridge with the freezer on the bottom, so it is hard to access the very bottom and I think the block in the back shifted a bit so she couldn't get the door to close all the way.  She was standing there stabbing at the ice with the stick side of the broom, trying to knock the ice out so it would close, and at the same time telling me she really had to get going to work, so, handle it.

    I cleaned up the mess, then decided I would go ahead and try and replace it.  After dropping off Mijo at school I went to Lowe's to see if they sold them there.  The lady was nice but said they did not have my model.  She sent me to Home Depot, according to their online site, they had one in any of the closest stores, so I went to the one closest to my house.  This old man was not nice, he said they don't keep them in stock because they rarely go out.  Then he gave me a card to an appliance store, to which I asked "they'll have them there?"  He not very nicely retorted "I don't know how the man runs his store, maybe he does, maybe he'll get your information and order it."  I just said thanks and left, fucking old man.

    It took a minute to fin the store, but I got one, brought it home and just said F it and took off the old one and inserted the new one.  It required a lot of prep, such as removing all the food from the freezer and even the door, but I had figured out how to do that a while back, so it wasn't hard.  The hardest part was working in the awkward position since the icemaker is down at knee level but up against the ceiling of the freezer.  I was working on my knees and having to bend up, not a great position for a fat ass.  Still, it was pretty straight forward once I knew the unit was identical and all I did was replace one for the other.

    A Youtube video I saw said it could take 24 hours to get ice, but as I was sitting here at the kitchen drinking my coffee, I already heard a batch of ice cubes falling, so it is working.  I'll throw the first and second batches away, then I figure it'll be good to use for drinks and stuff.  By the way, I wasn't sure which model it was or it would have been around $65-80.  At this appliance store, the same unit cost me $130.  It was a bit more, but I guess the peace of mind of buying the right thing is worth something?

3/10/22 Second Track Meet Of Season?

     This was an interesting track meet, as far as I could tell.  It was held on a Thursday, which I am always curious how it is okay to miss school to come out here and do a little sports activity, but I digress.  I love this core group of boys; they are mostly the linemen from the football team and the bigger wrestlers, although out there against so many other schools, our boys tend to look small.  It almost pisses me off that it is the norm for our boys to barely scratch 6ft tall while these other schools have some monsters walking around at least 6ft 6in and taller.  I was standing next to some Bowie boys and my head was probably at their shoulders.  Regardless of this, as Baby A told me, he is only doing this to stay active and hang out with his friends, so he is trying his hardest not to take it too seriously.

    The meet was supposed to start at 10:00am, so I dropped off Mijo off at 9:00am and he is a typical "my family's last name", he is so moody when we aren't rushing at his command.  We left the house at 8:30am, he tells me we have to pick up one of his friends which I don't mind, but don't act like I'm the one making you late, it's your buddy we're picking up.  He acts like the sport can't start without him being there.  I decided to leave, there was nothing happening at 9:00am, so I went to gas up car, get some money from ATM, then go home and pay some bills, it was payday, then head back.  The boys had just started throwing, they do all the field events early in the day, so that the ones also involved with running also have a chance to rest and be ready for those activities later on.  I was told the relays didn't start until 4:30pm.

    I walked up to the shotput field just in time, I might have missed the first few throwers, but I got Mijo's throws on camera, not that he cares.  I also saw our other boys do their thing.  They are improving, Mijo improved 4 feet from the week before, throwing for 32ft and change.  It sounds good until you hear the winners threw like 45 ft this week, last week some kid threw 49ft.  I would be more invested if Mijo was concerned about getting better, but he seems content to just be amongst the team.

    I was there from 10:00am until 1:00pm, got a nice suntan according to Wife, I looked red in the evening, indicating I spent some time in the sun.  It was a good time, after the varsity boys threw, we walked over to see the girls throwing discus, on the opposite side of Burger stadium, the coach does both shotput and discus and both boys and girls.  It is really cool to be accepted amongst the team and the coaches now know us pretty well, since we are always around.  Mijo was getting compliments that he has the best parents; we are always there to see him and support him.  He just shrugged, it probably gets uncomfortable for him, especially when some of the other boys add "yeah, I don't even have a dad."  Other than those little moments, which somehow are still said in joking fashion, it was a good day.  Right next to the discus ring, we could see the high jump, the pole vault, the triple jump, and the long jump.  Some of these kids take their events seriously, either Dad or coach filming the action, then the kid is reviewing their technique.  I love that some of these kids care enough to do what they do, competition is important.

3/9/22 What Happened To Respecting The Upper Classmen?

     Baby A was kind of complaining that these new kids just don't respect like back in the day when he was coming up.  I understand what he means, when he was a freshman, I would look at the football players and think "dammit, Mijo has to go against those big guys at some point."  His freshman year was good, he stayed on the JV team, there was no freshman team, but the growth was good, and he was with his friends having a good time.  His sophomore year was a challenge, Covid hit in the spring of his freshman year, so we weren't even sure if there would be football in the fall, but a season was had.  It went well for him, he started as a back-up on Varsity, but quickly found playing time, and by the end of the season was playing on both sides, of the ball, as a lineman.

    All through this, he kept getting stronger, and never getting out of line, and definitely not trying to disrespect the upper classmen.  He was noticed for his play, getting a 2nd Team All District Lineman nod, so he played well enough to get noticed by the coaches in the district.  At the start of his junior season, he even got a mention in a magazine that the offensive line for the Cougars will be strong and coming off with our son leading them.  He had another good season, even with missing two games with an injury to his shoulder, he still made the 2nd Team All District Team again.

    At this point right now, he, along with a couple of other guys, are the leaders for the next season.  He is at the top of the lists for squat, deadlift and all the other weightlifting lists they keep hanging on the wall, so he feels that he has worked hard to get where he is at.  Then in come the new kids...

    I can't help but laugh, one kid who shares his name with one of the other juniors who has also been doing like my son, playing lineman on varsity since sophomore year, even with a broken hand was called out.  The freshman told the junior that he was coming for him and that "he was the better Jose."  Who does that?  This kid also told Mijo that my son was going to "eat his shit" (I don't even know what that means) and that he wanted to go against him head-to-head.  Baby A says this kid is like a gnat, he can barely squat 200 pounds, while Mijo is squatting 600.  Kid can barely bench-press 100, while Mijo is maxing at 300.  This kid was on the wrestling team at the start of the season, he had me laughing as he was really good at talking shit, my son says he needs to knock him down a peg.

    I do like that in part, the coaches have helped break down the curtains of mystique between the different classes.  Mijo has a couple of freshman and sophomores that are "his" projects.  He is supposed to be coaching them and making them stronger.  Our son takes great pride in his boys, he likes that they have his attitude, they are the kind of kids who want to do good.  Like he said, they are not the strongest, but they don't quit and have the right attitude.  Saying this, because they spend time together, they also don't have this realm of gravitas because they are upper classmen.  These freshmen also are comfortable enough that they joke around with him all the time.  I've gotten to know some of them, they followed him onto the wrestling team, so I see them joking with Mijo all day long.  I like the energy around my son, he's a good role model for them.

3/8/22 Feeling The Effects Of Getting Old?

     I hate to admit it, but I am getting old.  I was on a twelve-hour shift for almost 20 years and never felt it as taking a toll on me, it was just what I worked.  Over the last 5 years or so, I have gotten away from the long shift and slid down to working 10-hour days.  The difference with the 12-hour shifts was that in a 2-week period, I would work 4 days one week and 3 days the next and repeat this pattern, getting paid every two weeks.  Now I work 4 days every week, still getting paid every two weeks.  There are less hours per day, but an extra day per pay period.

    On top of that, with Covid, we had gotten in the habit of working even less hours, as we were told, do whatever work is due in the next day or two and go home, there was no interest in hanging out and possibly exposing ourselves more than necessary to our co-workers.  This meant that for about a year, I got used to working about half the night.  I got into some good habits and short cuts, such as running multiple tools at the same time, to cut the time I had to be there and still get the work done.  All this came to a screeching halt a couple months ago, we were talked to and told this had to stop, we must be there the full shift, so we are gradually trying to get back to an antiquated way of doing things, it really doesn't make sense, they should care about the work getting done, not us sitting there watching movies on Netflix to meet some time bandit they built.

    Anyways, if there is work, I don't have a problem doing it and as slow as things were a month ago, now we are in the middle of a busy period.  I am sure no one from management is going to complain "Why are you staying so late?"  Nah, the whining is only when it doesn't benefit them.  Consequently, I came in Monday and there was a lot of work from one particular customer.  It wasn't all due the next day, but most of it was, so it makes sense to prep it all together and run it all at once.  That, on top of a few other jobs that were also due the next day had me there for a rare 12-hour shift, and I can honestly say that two days later, I still feel it.  I was on my feet most of the Monday, running between the two analysis tools and the prep hoods and it made for an exhausting afternoon and night.  I didn't get home until almost 1:30am, and then it takes me another hour to settle into bed.  I felt like I slept 4-5 hours before getting up to take Mijo to school.

    I was looking for an easy day Tuesday, but the work just keeps coming, and even as I don't like it, I still ended up doing too much.  We have new customers and not that the work is hard, but it requires a little pre-planning, and that takes time, and before you know it, the day gets away.  Oh well, two more shifts and I get a week off for Spring Break with the family.

3/7/22 Awesome Gift?

     I wasn't expecting anything this morning but to drive Baby A to school, come back home and drink my coffee with some toasted fancy bread from Central Market that I bought Friday afternoon.  Mijo came down the stairs and said Coach had a small gift for us that he wanted to give to me, so Mijo would get dropped off by the gym and the coach would come out.  This seemed a bit of work, it gets busy with the drop-offs and the busses, but I figure we would go and see.

    In my head, I thought maybe it would be a mug, like the ones we got in the basket we bought at the football banquet, they are very nice, metal, colored black on the outside with a gold Cougar, they look great, even if we already own a coffee mug and tumbler.  Still, a gift is a gift, and I appreciate the gesture.  Whatever we did for the team was not to gain points with the coaches, we honestly felt like part of the team, wrestling is very different in that the kids are sitting for hours waiting for their few minutes of fighting, so we would sit amongst the team, and we got to know a lot of the individual kids.  These are great kids with great attitudes, they need to be of a certain attitude to take the beatings, the winnings, and the losses all in the same day.  To voluntarily get up at 3:00am to go to a meet, starve yourself to make weight, it just takes a certain personality that loves the sport.

    After the first meet we found that the team did not really have a budget to spend, the kids were supposed to be bringing money to buy from the concessions, which they didn't all do and there weren't always concession stands, so we took it upon ourselves to get them a cooler full of Gatorades, waters, Capri-Suns, and then a bins worth of different snacks like Rice Krispies, nuts, protein bars, Cheez-its, Nutella and peanut butter single serve packs, and any other snacks we could think that kids might like to every tournament.  These meets also did not seem to care about time, often starting at 7:00am for weigh-ins and going as late as 11:00pm on several occasions, it was kind of crazy.

    Apart from all the mayhem, I really loved the sport, Mijo still says the wrestling team felt like a family, the kids spent so much time on top of each other that they are just all very close.  The gifts were a couple of tumblers with pictures from their picture day with Mijo in all of them, it is a one-of-a-kind gift that is going to be pretty hard to beat as best gift ever.