Minor Win thread - Life is good!

We have had a long run of really inexpensive avocados.

Honestly, I go through them almost like they grow on trees

I bought a nice strap for my camera back in 2018. It wasn't cheap but I really liked it and it came with a lifetime warranty. Lately the rubber grip on the strap started deteriorating and sticking to my camera bag and clothes. I finally contacted the company about it and they requested a couple pictures. They responded within 24 hours and said they would ship a new one out ASAP. 

I did not have to set a riding mower on fire in the last two that I have sold

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

There are several legendary threads/posts on GRM, ala Amy,  Fogger, Jr., etc...

Lighting a mower on fire to prove a point ranks among them.

I'd sucked most of the life out of my Colorado, and wanted to get out before it bit me in the ass.  That was last year so I've been without a truck that long, and wasn't really looking for another.  But a near perfect one - and I have a very narrow set of parameters that I would consider, came up on MP and I'm going to see it tomorrow. I'm kind of excited. And avocados are on sale again this week.

Deployment steaks!

Someone made a smoker cooker thing from a steel barrel.

We bought some hardwood wood chunks and apple wood chips.

Some salt, pepper and a bit of steak seasoning.

I cooked it a bit more than I usually do but I wasn't taking any chances since I'm at a forward deployed location. Turned out pretty good!

Just finished the corned beef brisket my wife cooked for St Patty's day. It was incredible.

TL:DR My cheap ass wins again.  

Sunday night PW yelled upstairs, there's leak in the basement, hurry. Walking downstairs I heard the dishwasher running, and sure enough, it was leaking out of the DW and draining through a hole in the floor into the basement. I put a bucket under it and told her to finish the cycle, I would look at it in the morning.

In the midst of looking at it, she yelled (she yells a lot) from the downstairs bathroom, I just flushed and the water level is going up in the toilet, not down. Great.

I determine that the leak in the dishwasher is from the pipe that takes the water from the bottom to the top. Could I fix it? Probably, but it's 15 years old, and PW has been mumbling about how loud and ugly it's getting (isn't that ironic), and that we should probably think about getting a new one. The toilet problem,  after a little troubleshooting, is in the pipe running from the house to the septic tank. Great, don't flush unless you really have to.

I do the research and buy a dishwasher over the phone for pickup the next morning, then head to work to grab the big industrial snake. Home depot wanted $75/day to rent one, berkeley that, the one from work is new and free. I text apprenticeboy and ask him about the snake, he has experience with it. I'm not busy, if you go, pick me up, I'll give you a hand.

We snake the pipe - he snaked the pipe, it was packed. I call my son, he brings the camera from work the next day, and we see that the pipe is OK. We're not out of the woods, but at least we now know where to look next, and what to watch for. As he's wrapping that up I install the new dishwasher.

How is this possibly a win? It was time for the dishwasher anyway. The appliance store I deal with had them on sale, it was an effortless transaction like usual, and PW is happy as a bug in a rug. All the snake and camera work? Not only are we back in business, we can poop again, and it didn't cost a penny. As we sat around patting ourselves on the back, we concluded that if we weren't able to do all this stuff ourselves we'd probably be a few grand deep instead of $400 for a dishwasher, a little hard work, and some dirty hands. berkeley yeah!

If life gives you lemons, have a Weizen

I just got an email from Horace Mendez (randomgenericcrap@gmail....) and it's just a screenshot of a PayPal email saying they saw I was fraudulently charged $799.99 for bitcoin, and to contact them to fix it.  Man, they're not even trying anymore.  A screenshot of an email, sent by email, from a very generic email address.

It gave me a good chuckle so I count it as a win.

Heard from a long time client who has some work for me at their new company. Finally something positive in this crummy year.

I did a very hard thing today. 

I let a bike go. 

I bought a 29" Sunday cruiser a couple years back. It's a great bike. I put some neat little touches on it, a better seat, some color matched grips, etc. My intention was to ride it around and get some cardio. 

That never happened. I DID ride it some, but it was 100% the wrong bike for that. It did more miles on a bike rack than it ever did under my ass. It spent the last year collecting cobwebs and lizard footprints in my garage. 

I am fortunate that I have an excellent relationship with my LBS bike guy, and he said he'd take it in on consignment for me. He also does a ton for the local BMX kids, always building and giving away bikes to the younger riders, so I unloaded a bunch of my parts stash as part of the deal. 

Today I took my last ride on the bike as I dropped it off at his shop. Had a moment of regret, and walked home. 

Not all is lost though- I've been talking to Pete Gossett and I ordered quite frankly WAY too much mountain bike for me last night- and that should be here this weekend. Wins all around. I did a hard thing AND i get a new toy. 

I had to go to Walmart to pick up a prescription yesterday. The line was pretty long, so ended up conversating with the people around me. There was a huge age difference (I recently turned 18 and the other people were in their 70s or 80s), but it makes me so happy to know that there is always a way to make other people feel appreciated and included no matter where I am. 

If you're wondering, the conversation started by a man asking about the flower seeds I was buying. It was such a sweet interaction all around :)

First MtB ride of the year, on a cool little trail system that I didn't know existed before last Fall. Every time I ride, I am reminded how much I love riding, and I seem to enjoy it more as I get older.

The_Lily said:

I had to go to Walmart to pick up a prescription yesterday. The line was pretty long, so ended up conversating with the people around me. There was a huge age difference (I recently turned 18 and the other people were in their 70s or 80s), but it makes me so happy to know that there is always a way to make other people feel appreciated and included no matter where I am. 

If you're wondering, the conversation started by a man asking about the flower seeds I was buying. It was such a sweet interaction all around :)

I get a lot of that. Those that know me know I carry a...unique look and it's a conversation starter. I think people are surprised when I turn out to be fairly well spoken and willing to engage despite what my exterior might suggest. Though- I do need to change my lead-in joke. It's old.

In reply to Jerry :

I got that one too. Chuckle, yes, but I still reported them to spoof@paypal.com 

914Driver just hotlinked another GIF.

Maybe a major win. On Sunday, while riding my XR150, I got smoked by a Toyota Matrix  who was at fault blowing through an intersection. Broke my nose and cut up/bruised but on my own two feet again. I hurt and I'm sore as hell but I'm here to tell the tale.

In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :

Holy crap! I'm glad you're here to tell us about it. Sorry to hear about the injuries and wrecked m/c.

My win: I finally got a new car for my parents and it feels good to have checked that off the list. I still have 9,999 other things to do, but that's a big one done.

In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :

Wow dude. You win! LIFE IS GOOD major win right there. Heal quickly.

In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :

That's why I won't ride on the street. Seen it happen too many times.

Walked into the shop tonight after running my sales route and got told to clean out my truck. I thought I was getting E36 M3 canned but it turns out I'm getting a new F-150 tomorrow. The wind here is not the new truck it's that I'm still employed!

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

Congrats! Enjoy the new ride and continued employment.

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

If it is pushbutton start, try shutting the engine off while stopped and the shifter is in Drive.

Cool things will happen.  If it's column shift, make sure your arm is under the shifter when you do this 

I got my espresso machine back from repair.

In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :

Holy crap... I'm glad you're as much in one piece as you are!