2016 in Review
So I haven't seen this page in almost a year. I have been busy.
I have made a couple of motorcycle trips this year. One out to Arkansas that was a blast. I have only 37,000 miles on the bike. I had originally hoped to have made a trip to a Alaska on it by now. Unfortunately it looks like the 24k maintenance will fall right in the middle of 2017's riding season. I finally found some road tires that last a good while. I have over 10 miles on this set. Previously, I had been putting on dual sport tires and only got about 8k on the front tire and 5k on the back tire. I could probably get 2 or 3 more out of the back tire and maybe 4k out of the front. They are Angel GTs. I was running a Avon Distanzias, but they are discontinued and so I had to try something else.
I am still working at a machine shop. Was hired on in April of 2015 and have been here since. I still do work for the counter top shop occasionally, but not much. Work has been slow since I hired on. Most weeks I only work 32 hours. Since November I have been getting 40 hour weeks thankfully. I was hired on as a Quality Control Technician. Back in July I obtained a class A CDL so that I could possibly get more hours and because my employer needed a CDL driver. It has been nice to get out of the office and shop and see different places and things. So now my job description is Quality Control, Manual Machinist, CNC Machinist, and driver. It is kind of fun to come in and not know what will be happening that day. I have enjoyed the driving aspect. I am considering going into Hot Shot driving. Been adding up what it would cost to buy a truck and keep it legal. I am thinking hot shot because then I could decide when maintenance should be done and be able to actually make the decisions on how to keep from getting tickets and make the vehicle last. I could also decide which loads to take and nother take. I considered Line Hailing for a local freight company, but they want 2 years experience driving a semi. Unfortunately, the best way to do that is work for a starter company and make nothing for 2 or 3 years and do it over the road for months at a time. Not interested. I would like to stay in East Texas. East Texas has oilfield, medical, and grocery. Medical and oilfield are the two main providers of money for the area. When the oilfield tanked, most all the companies either closed or moved their equipment out of East Texas. So, until the oilfield comes back, I need to stay in my current position because hot shot in this area mainly does oilfield stuff.
Still single. I have taken a couple of lovely gals on dates this year. I don't know if I have my bar set too high or what, I can't seem to find anyone that believes the same things as I do. I have been looking for a 5 point Calvinist that is Presbyterian. Many of the folks I have run into don't know what they are. So dating has been more "missionary" dating than anything else. Many of the gals I have ran into just aren't interested in Christ (as in don't want to go to church and don't even claim to be Christian), but that doesn't stop me from trying to evangelize to them. They call this the Bible belt why? I guess I should have done something besides college so that I could pursue a gal before I got too old and fat.
I am still a member of my local PCA church. I have been trying to keep active in it.
I got into cooking when I moved back to the Tyler area the last round. Some of it was to try to impress a particular gal, but the main reason is because I enjoy it. I like to make stuff folks enjoy. I mainly make sweets. I found out last night it is not as fun to make the same thing over and over. I like to make new recipes. I have been getting better at picking out the the recipes and changing them to make what I want out of them. A couple of weeks ago I made several different pretzels. In the end, I joined a couple of them together to get what I wanted. Still not mall quality, but they were ok. I am going to have to step up my game this holiday season, so far I have only made 2 batches of fudge. Last night's batch is good, but, like I said, it was one I have made before. I hope to make more stuff when I get home tonight for the Christmas Party at work and then some for Christmas day.
Owning (paying the bank) for a house hasn't been too bad yet. Since buying the place 2 years ago I have put in an outside condenser, a hot water heater, replaced some paneling, and replaced a valve on the dishwasher. Utilities are a little higher than I would like, but the house is a good size. Roof needs to be replaced. I am not looking foward to that. Just putting shingles on or upgrading to a metal roof won't be too difficult but will be expensive. Outside of the cash required, I am concerned with what I will find under the shingles that will need attention. Before I bought the house, we had to rebuild about a 12 foot square section of roof decking. It is relatively easy to plan for shingles and the like, it is difficult to plan for what you can't see.
The Lord has really blessed me. Yes I have been through some thing that I would rather have not seen and done, but I would like to think that the Lord is leading me. I am not sure where, but I know it will be good. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I have made a couple of motorcycle trips this year. One out to Arkansas that was a blast. I have only 37,000 miles on the bike. I had originally hoped to have made a trip to a Alaska on it by now. Unfortunately it looks like the 24k maintenance will fall right in the middle of 2017's riding season. I finally found some road tires that last a good while. I have over 10 miles on this set. Previously, I had been putting on dual sport tires and only got about 8k on the front tire and 5k on the back tire. I could probably get 2 or 3 more out of the back tire and maybe 4k out of the front. They are Angel GTs. I was running a Avon Distanzias, but they are discontinued and so I had to try something else.
I am still working at a machine shop. Was hired on in April of 2015 and have been here since. I still do work for the counter top shop occasionally, but not much. Work has been slow since I hired on. Most weeks I only work 32 hours. Since November I have been getting 40 hour weeks thankfully. I was hired on as a Quality Control Technician. Back in July I obtained a class A CDL so that I could possibly get more hours and because my employer needed a CDL driver. It has been nice to get out of the office and shop and see different places and things. So now my job description is Quality Control, Manual Machinist, CNC Machinist, and driver. It is kind of fun to come in and not know what will be happening that day. I have enjoyed the driving aspect. I am considering going into Hot Shot driving. Been adding up what it would cost to buy a truck and keep it legal. I am thinking hot shot because then I could decide when maintenance should be done and be able to actually make the decisions on how to keep from getting tickets and make the vehicle last. I could also decide which loads to take and nother take. I considered Line Hailing for a local freight company, but they want 2 years experience driving a semi. Unfortunately, the best way to do that is work for a starter company and make nothing for 2 or 3 years and do it over the road for months at a time. Not interested. I would like to stay in East Texas. East Texas has oilfield, medical, and grocery. Medical and oilfield are the two main providers of money for the area. When the oilfield tanked, most all the companies either closed or moved their equipment out of East Texas. So, until the oilfield comes back, I need to stay in my current position because hot shot in this area mainly does oilfield stuff.
Still single. I have taken a couple of lovely gals on dates this year. I don't know if I have my bar set too high or what, I can't seem to find anyone that believes the same things as I do. I have been looking for a 5 point Calvinist that is Presbyterian. Many of the folks I have run into don't know what they are. So dating has been more "missionary" dating than anything else. Many of the gals I have ran into just aren't interested in Christ (as in don't want to go to church and don't even claim to be Christian), but that doesn't stop me from trying to evangelize to them. They call this the Bible belt why? I guess I should have done something besides college so that I could pursue a gal before I got too old and fat.
I am still a member of my local PCA church. I have been trying to keep active in it.
I got into cooking when I moved back to the Tyler area the last round. Some of it was to try to impress a particular gal, but the main reason is because I enjoy it. I like to make stuff folks enjoy. I mainly make sweets. I found out last night it is not as fun to make the same thing over and over. I like to make new recipes. I have been getting better at picking out the the recipes and changing them to make what I want out of them. A couple of weeks ago I made several different pretzels. In the end, I joined a couple of them together to get what I wanted. Still not mall quality, but they were ok. I am going to have to step up my game this holiday season, so far I have only made 2 batches of fudge. Last night's batch is good, but, like I said, it was one I have made before. I hope to make more stuff when I get home tonight for the Christmas Party at work and then some for Christmas day.
Owning (paying the bank) for a house hasn't been too bad yet. Since buying the place 2 years ago I have put in an outside condenser, a hot water heater, replaced some paneling, and replaced a valve on the dishwasher. Utilities are a little higher than I would like, but the house is a good size. Roof needs to be replaced. I am not looking foward to that. Just putting shingles on or upgrading to a metal roof won't be too difficult but will be expensive. Outside of the cash required, I am concerned with what I will find under the shingles that will need attention. Before I bought the house, we had to rebuild about a 12 foot square section of roof decking. It is relatively easy to plan for shingles and the like, it is difficult to plan for what you can't see.
The Lord has really blessed me. Yes I have been through some thing that I would rather have not seen and done, but I would like to think that the Lord is leading me. I am not sure where, but I know it will be good. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
posted by mechcanoer at 10:59 AM
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