Thursday, November 24, 2016

Thanksgiving


Obviously, Disney has been on my mind a lot of late, which is why I chose this image. There's a lot that I'm thankful for this year, probably the highest on the list, though, is Michelle's new job. Yes, it's keeping us from doing Thanksgiving today, but that's a small price to pay.

Here's hoping that you and yours have a very Happy Thanksgiving this year. Or, if you're not in the US, Happy Thor's Day!

=========================
Like what I'm doing here on the blog and podcast? Why not check out my Patreon Page to see how you can help me do more? http://www.patreon.com/TheHammerStrikes

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Rocky Run - Year 2 (sort of)


Well, it turns out that my prediction that I wouldn't do as well in this year's Rocky Run was correct. Not because I wasn't able to train (which was true) but because I wasn't able to go.

You see, my wife got a job at the new Amazon Fullfillment Center in our town (Woohoo!) working nights. This is perfect because it means that Kira is never home alone. The side effect of this, unfortunately, is that I can't closet myself in the office and work on podcasts while watching her. So I have 3 episodes sitting and waiting to be edited & released. I promise that I'll get to them, but family will always come first.

Now, back to our story. Since Kira had a Girl Scout camping trip this past weekend, it actually worked out so that I could leave for Philly before Michelle got home. Then a spanner got into the works and the trip was changed from Friday & Saturday nights to just Saturday night. So, I could leave her home alone (not happening), leave when Michelle got home (and not make the race), take Kira wih me (and force her to walk 3 miles in the cold before going camping), or not go.

I think I made the correct decision.

=========================
Like what I'm doing here on the blog and podcast? Why not check out my Patreon Page to see how you can help me do more? http://www.patreon.com/TheHammerStrikes

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Evaluating Vacation Options - Pet Care

"No mouse ears for us."
Last month I was reading information on the Walt Disney World closures/modifications due to Hurricane Matthew and I came across this line:

"Best Friends Pet Care is closed through Friday, October 7, 2016. A crew will remain with the animals."

My reaction was, "Wait, what?" I had absolutely ZERO idea that WDW had a kennel! This really doesn't change our plans, since we'd have to get two German Shepherds from New Jersey to Florida and back. As I've already established, we're taking the Auto Train, which means this is a no-go, but it's nice to have that option if you're a pet owner and live closer than we do.

So, what are the options that we have? Not many, really. We could either have someone come in and feed the dogs/let them out during the day, but I can't really ask anyone to take that on.*

The only real option for us is a kennel, which is where we take them any time we travel. They like it, it's on the same property as a vet, and they offer grooming. Plus, their rate for large breed dogs (aka over 50 lbs) is only $25 per day, so it's quite reasonable.

* Not that I'd turn down volunteers, you understand. ;-)

=========================
Like what I'm doing here on the blog and podcast? Why not check out my Patreon Page to see how you can help me do more? http://www.patreon.com/TheHammerStrikes

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Current Projects


I tend to have a good number of irons in the fire with regard to what I'm doing for entertainment. Having recently finished off listing to The Marvel Superheroes Podcast, and reading the first 250 Marvel Age comics (as listed by The Complete Marvel Reading Order and using Marvel Unlimited), I figured that I'd switch gears a bit.


Inspired by Kyle Benning, Christopher Warden, and Van Zee on Facebook, I'm going to be re-listening to all of the Tales of the Justice Society of America episodes. As part of that, I'm also going to start a read through of All-Star Squadron. Of course, that's not enough for my multi-tasking mind to go with, so I'm also going to be listening to The Amazing Spider-Man Classics podcast for the first time, now that it's been revived. I'm also going to start a re-read of the 1984 Star Trek comic series from DC, for a reason to be announced.

As a family, though, we are currently watching the original Star Trek episodes on the 50th anniversary of their original airing. I've seen them all, multiple times, but Michelle has only seen the occasional one, and Kira normally walks out of the room when Trek is on. Now, though, we're all watching them as intended, once a week, as a group. Some interesting things are showing up, mainly with Kirk NOT being a womanizer in the early episodes, and with some of the discussions we have during & after the shows.

I have no idea when these projects will be completed, or if I'll see something shiny before they are, but I figured that I'd share them in case anyone wants to join me on this journey.

=========================
Like what I'm doing here on the blog and podcast? Why not check out my Patreon Page to see how you can help me do more? http://www.patreon.com/TheHammerStrikes