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Paid a lot of money for a condo. Final closing paperwork tomorrow. Son and his GF will do some painting and maybe minor work, then move in ~mid-August. Thinking/hoping a ring is next!!

Brother came up this morning on his way to his place in NH. Dropped off 2 bottles of Ardbeg 25, plus additional surprises! The Ardbeg 25's come in a lovely Russian Doll type box set, the inner box has a nice metal design on it. The top of that inner box looks to click open and close on a hinged cover. The Smokiverse is another limited edition, this was an open bottle from a sampling day that one of his clients had. Looking forward to trying it, there's only a tiny bit left.

Next up on "doing good shit for family" agenda: just gifted Karen's car (2018 Toyota RAV4) to my nephew and niece. Came up in a conversation last night that my brother was helping the kids look for a car. I asked what they were interested in, and based on his reply offered it up. Filled out the title paperwork and tax exemption for gift (though depending on blue book value I may have to pay a bit for being over the gift threshold). Kids came by and grabbed it today. The payback is "future considerations," but after chatting a bit my brother will get me a pair of Ardbeg 25 bottles he recently scrounged up at work. Yum!

In an effort to try and finish up some of the gigantic pile of projects, here is a fully DC/DC powered KGSSHV. The unit is close to 10 years old but not really used at all as it ended up at Kevin's with some transformer trouble. A couple of years ago I made an effort to bring all those amps home so I stripped it down for transport and the transformer went in the trash to save on weight. Then I found those lovely 400V DC/DC bricks, added one for 600V bias (with a bit of a trim and filtering) and one for +/-15V, all driven off a 90W 24VDC Meanwell brick. I had to lower the output stage current a bit from stock and there is a tiny bit of coil whine coming from those HV supplies but it works well. The B+ supply is the hottest part in there at 60°C.

Well it's earlier than I expected. I'll miss all of you! But I'm here at the pearly gates, talking to St. Peter. I've had a good life! What's that? Oh, just Peter? Peter Johnson? What? I have to leave now? I can't stay here for eternity? You say that you close at 5:00? Oh, OK. Can I come back sometime? Oh cool, thanks. See you next time Peter! Well everyone has their own idea of heaven I suppose. I'm gathering supplies to build a multi-function table saw jig.

One of the guys on the UK Vintage Radio forum posted: "A little story. In my teens I was a big Black Sabbath fan. I'd heard that Ozzy lived at Ranton, a village near Stafford not too far from where I live. Me and a mate got on our bikes and rode over there. In a field a guy who looked like Ozzy was riding around on a monkey bike that was popular at the time. It was Ozzy's brother and he asked if we wanted to meet Ozzy. Of course we did. So we went in and for half an hour I chatted to him as he lay on a settee plucking aimlessly at a guitar. I kinda interviewed him. After a while his wife (first wife not Sharon) came into the room and said, "We have to go to Billy's now". Obviously Bill Ward, the drummer in Black Sabbath. Ozzy sent us on our way with signed stickers. A day to remember."

Bill Cosby can go fuck himself, but that is a sad way to go for MJW. RIP

A few of a real kitty. My son and GF's cat June, looking in on her while they are on vacation. You can see it a bit in the pics, the kids have a hot dog pillow that is awesome!

Still haven’t tinkered with downsampling or much else but nature is putting on a show this week.

Anyone remember this little gem. Extra poignant today but also distracted by how hot Lita Ford is...

No handles yet, but Steve will hopefully help with the install and then put on the handles in place. He will also frame the closet doorway and hang the doors when the time comes. Photos aren't great but you can get a sense of the finish and how the Rubio oyster pigment works into the grain and enriches the overall tone of the white oak. Pretty darn happy with the results, and the "clients" are going to check it out tomorrow so hoping they feel the same.

Had some friends over. Started with this. Lots not shown. Ended with this. (Ice Cream not shown)

I'll be in my bunk.

Golden Earring - Twilight Zone

RIP Tom Troupe. Honestly, I don't know who are, but anyone who starred in Mary Hartman, The Devil's Brigade, Cheers, CHiPs, Star Trek, The Diary of Ann Frank, Cagney & Lacey, Kelly's Heroes, and My Own Private Idaho, deserves a tribute. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tom-troupe-dead-stage-screen-actor-1236324292/ https://abc7ny.com/post/actor-tom-troupe-dies-97-home-beverly-hills/17217594/

Character lens train. The LLL 50mm f/1.5 Z21 (Angenieux S21 recreation) arrived this afternoon. Only time for a few nearby shots (mostly at f/1.8) due to work, but might be fun.

For Your Pleasure by Roxy Music (1973) https://album.link/q4k7kdbzzrrhh Example: More of an Early Genesis prog sound than I was expecting. Much enjoyed {most of it}

Something I saw recently on YouTube. Bourbon Moth Woodworking. It also has several accessories to build for it as well. It'd take a while to explain everything it does, but cutting raised panels easily and safely is just one. I think I'll also build a splining accessorie too. Al built a basic one, but this should be a little easier and safer. There's a mortising attachment as well, but we built one years back for the router table. Might get a start on it tomorrow. More to come. Now I think I'll go eat at Red Robin, since I'm in Concord, CA. Yes, I bought the prettier Blue T tracks!

I'm voluntarily getting up at 8AM tomorrow (a Saturday) to take photos of Land Rovers. ^ I wrote that last night and forgot to hit enter. Also I think I managed like two hours of sleep last night. With that said, I made it to the Vineyard Series LR meetup and took a ton of photos. More when I'm less tired.

🐔 🌶️ EDIT: Sky

Amazing. Congrats to the happy couple and thank you, dad!

Didn't get a chance to listen to anything yesterday, and over half a century of music is too much to take in, so I'll just listen to this one. In a way it covers it all. vinyl

Listened to Vol 4 and Sabotage earlier, on to my favourite album of (early) Ozzy era: ...which has 5 of my favourite tracks by them (Back Street Kids, You Won't Change Me, Gypsy, All Moving Parts (Stand Still), and Dirty Women).

I saw Sabbath back in '72 or '73 in Newcastle City Hall. Even in those early days Ozzie seemed hell bent on frying his brain with any substance going. It was loud! I'm astonished he lasted so long. He was in fact only 7 years older than I am now, RIP Ozzie!

So long Ozzy. Rock In Peace. We sometimes don't realize how lucky we were to be in the right place at the right time, when it was just a local hometown gig. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_of_Ozz_Tour Ozzy Osbourne Concert Setlist at Odeon Chelmsford, Chelmsford on October 22, 1980 https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ozzy-osbourne/1980/odeon-chelmsford-chelmsford-england-73d652c9.html

This one is huge although not unexpected. What a monumental figure. I'm a fan of everything he's done, but his two albums with Rand Rhoads are my favorite. RIP Ozzy (Prince of Darkness)

I should have more than enough left over Baltic Birch plywood for a splining jig accessorie and even more. T tracks, hold downs (another set of hold downs packaged with the long T track), knobs and a stop. All of this will make more sense once the jig is completed. Plenty of leftover Black laminate (I assume from the chop saw station), and some Ipe to build the bridge part of the jig, that will overlay the existing SawStop fence.

Saw this in a local parking lot. The first thing that came into my mind was "at least it looks a little better".

@Knuckledragger - not kidding, I look forward to this post from you every year. I'll likely never own an LR again due to price/performance/practicality reasons but a guy can dream, right?

This vocal performance is amazing. Her control of dynamics, her vibrato (on the "ng"! Do you know how hard that is?!?), her range (those lows!), just...(chef's kiss)

Congrat, Todd. You’re a heck of a dad for doing this for your kid.

Hulk Hogan croaked. I have very little good to say about him.

...and Patient Number 9 by Ozzy Osbourne (2022) https://album.link/hm7bxmvpdbdjz Example: His final release as my final listen for the day. Thanks Ozzman for sharing your art and pain with us. The Ozzman goeth. 🤘

and.. Scream by Ozzy Osbourne (2021) https://album.link/b02swtdbpb428 Example: Not a fav album, but some gems in there. And the sad...

The Cardigans did a version of Iron Man...

^ yup .. and Down To Earth by Ozzy Osbourne (2001) https://album.link/zbtz4hjjh3tvv catching up, in memoriam, on a few albums that I didn't know that well. I have been very rewarded.

Reasons... Blizzard Of Ozz by Ozzy Osbourne (1981) https://album.link/mbcqtdrxwpk6f Example: Yes I know Crazy Train Exists. But I just like the Album opener so much. RIP 🤘

🤘 May he entertain the dark lord as much as he has entertained us. Time to dust off the old Sabbath albums for a listen. To @robm321‘s point that intro to the song Diary of a Madman is among my favorites in all of rock.

Ad Hoc Surf 'N' Turf.

Aumkar suggested to apply it with an airbrush, but I simply put a little on microfiber cloth and wipe it on the diaphragm. After it dries, I buff it off. It’s dirt cheap and working very well.