Category: Memories

Look at these Mugs! Hanging with Lenny!

Posted on by Markman
The return of Lenny!
Look at that face!
Hi guys!
Where the treats at?
Downward facing dog?

I got a chance to hang out with Lenny again! This time over at the yoga/healing arts studio that he’s been hanging out in on the weekends, talk about a lucky dog! His guardians were busy for part of the afternoon so I said I’d look after him for a bit. We had a good time together. I like Lenny – he’s my buddy! Anyways that was probably the best highlight for today.

The kitchen flooring has finally arrived. Pretty soon the kitchen will new floors and a couple of new appliances to go with – this place is really shaping up this year!

Oh, I forgot to mention something that happened the other day. It must have been around 6 pm or so and then I heard the doorbell ring and a pounding on the front door. I thought it was the stupid neighbor kid again saying that his ball flew over into the back yard and wanted to get it. However, when I got up and answered the door, a policeman with papers in his hand was there. Immediately in the back of my head, due no doubt to all the cop shows I’ve watched over the years, I thought, “Are they going to serve us papers or something?” However, come to find out, someone had reported their packages missing from their doorstep in the neighborhood and he was wondering if I saw anything, which I did not. He then went on to other houses in the neighborhood and tried to get as much information as he could. Anyways, it was quite a sight to see the guy all in the whole regalia and all on the front steps.

Ended with a massages tonight. – probably hadn’t had one in like, over a year, so I was definitely due. Tried out a new person, and it was pretty good, I would go back to her again. Now it’s off the watch some tv and settle in for the night. Have another busy day tomorrow!

Some YouTubers I Follow

Posted on by Markman

Thought it would be interesting to let you know some Youtubers that I watch regularly to get a sense of my tastes. So without further ado, here we go:

  • Britec09 – Little tidbits about Windows tips and tricks.
  • ChrisTitusTech – This one is really technical and lots of Linux information.
  • ComicTropes – really good channel. I don’t collect comics anymore but I still have a love for them. Very entertaining and informative.
  • JamieMarsland – really good tips and learning tools to get the most out of WordPress.
  • LonTV – this Youtuber does a lot of reviews and I also find him quite informative.
  • PowerCertAnimatedVideos – if you ever wondered about IT these videos explain them pretty well.
  • RickBeato – the man. He really knows music and has given me much appreciation about the craft.
  • TechsYouCantLiveWithout – a variety of videos showcasing the coolest products on the planet and ranked so you can pick the best.
  • TheReportoftheWeek – ReviewBrah is the man, keeping us up to date on the best fast food items.
  • The Art of Guitar – cool channel about music. For some reason the guy reminds me a little of John Cusack.
  • And finally for now, ThioJoe – more computer knowledge mostly.

You might be beginning to see a pattern here. Hmmm. Music, Computers, Fast food reviews. Maybe I should diversify a bit. Comment by clicking on this post if you have any Youtubers you follow that you think I might be interested in!

Lavallette Visit Year 2

Posted on by Markman
Beach days in Lavalette, NJ

Spent a few days down in Lavallette, NJ at a Airbnb, in fact the same one we stayed in last year at this time. It’s a great location and a pretty good place to hang out. We had a some family stay overnight with us at the beach house and I do think they all had a fun time. We were able to see two sunsets (all three days had gorgeous weather), a full moon one night, and even whales breaching right off the shore. It was quite the sight to see, especially since they were so close to the shoreline. There’s a picture out there of one literally right next to a surfer, like he could touch it with his hand, it was that close. Had some good food (some takeout but we also made some stuff and gobbled that all down over the time stayed). We were able to enjoy the takeout meals while seeing the sunset at the end of a neighboring pier. The following night, we had our guests picked up by driving them to the JBJ rest stop area so that we wouldn’t have to travel all the way back to the Airbnb because we were spending an additional night. There were some amazing pictures taken there of LD belting out the hits with the guests. It was a really fun time. Maybe I’ll add some more pictures from this trip at a later time but these are some good ones for now. I’m a bit tired!

Waves crashing on pier. We ate out on the end of it watching the sunset both nights.
Loving Lavallette!
Namaste, bitches!
Visiting up in Yonkers, NY

We had a late checkout in the morning, so we took our time, ate breakfast on the beach at a local coffee house we like called Lava Java, and enjoyed a little more time at the beach as the sun was feeling quite wonderful. As we were about to return to Boston, we decided to take a detour and visit our old friend Chris and his two young girls in Yonkers, New York. There was a park right next door where we could all hang for a bit outside and the kids could play in the meantime. Beautiful looking children too. Quite the weekend! Then the long ride back home last night. I had to get back because I had CPR training down at HQ this morning so I didn’t want to miss that. Needless to say I am certified once again.

Trolley Square in Autumn and Long Weekend Travels

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Autumn along the Somerville/Cambridge town lines

We’ve decided to take a trip for this long weekend we have in store. In fact, it happens to be a place that we visited around this time about two years ago. Long time readers may remember but I did list it as my second favorite location in a certain state. Anyways, they’ll be updates after I get back as I’m not bringing the Chromebook on this particular trip. There could be some updates on my socials in the meantime, Speaking of meantime, enjoy this picture of autumn from the Somerville/Cambridge line along the bike path that cuts through both cities. I used to bike this route on my way to work all the time, back when I worked in that area. Happening upon this scene I knew I had to capture it. The wagon like thing in the center is basically an artwork that depicts some of the tools that the locals used to make things in that area back in the day, In the early 1900s, the corner of Massachusetts and Cameron Avenues in North Cambridge is where trolleys for the original Boston street car system were stored and repaired. A hundred years later, the site has been given new life as a development named Trolley Square. So there you go! Be well and I’ll update soon.

An Appearance of the Goat-a-Gram

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Goat-a-Grams for the Ladydoc

Yesterday I was able to get a couple of baby goats to visit LD for a continuance of her celebration this year. They were the cutest things, named Speck and Ziggy, brothers as it were. A nice thing that along with all the goat snuggles is that they were going to town on eating all the fallen oak leaves. I think they had as good a time as we did. It was a fun experience and they came right to the house. We also had a couple of guests visit which was also very nice. I’m glad the weather held out and didn’t rain. It was a bit windy (the remnants of Hurricane Ian) but nothing us hardly New Englanders couldn’t handle.

Little Speck and I hanging out

IF anyone in the area is interested in doing this sort of experience, hit me up and I can provide you with the details on how to get it all set up for yourself.

Ziggy and Speck
Just eating leaves
Goat Whisperer
Holding squirmy Speck
Just a sampling of the 185 pics taken today (click to enlarge)

Visitors from Afar

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I was able to take my my Mom from Somerville to Westwood to the local AAA place to get her license renewed yesterday and she passed. I was worried about the traffic but apparently Fridays are the way to go because we made it in record time. When I visited her Tuesday it took me slightly more than an hour and a half one way. This time the trip up and back took just about an hour, tops. Well, within the time I had allocated for us to get it done. So, score!

Today, an old collogue of LD’s swung by to pay a visit, as they were going to be in the area on other business. Ended up having a lunch/brunch with some takeout from the Muffin House that just opened up about a couple months ago down the road. It was a a fun little gettogether for a couple hours.

Getting In on the Dynamic Island Craze

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Nubble from Afar (a Thursday Throwback!)

Yes, I have an flagship Samsung Android phone but I wanted to see what the buzz is all about with this new iPhone 14 feature called Dynamic Island. Just my luck someone has recreated it for Android and you can get it from the Google Play store here if you want to try it out. I do kind of like it, but I know its just some gimmick. I’ll keep it for a while and see how it goes.

Gametime: Currently trying to get through Dying Dreams.

A Reverie of the Girl Crying in the Window

Posted on by Markman
 I now return you to my scenic landscape sunset photography. 😄

We’ve spent the last few days starting to return some of the tables and chairs to the people who were so kind as to let us borrow them; they were very useful, but we’ll be keeping a few just a little while longer because this weekend is a smaller, more private gathering, and this time, a goat will be involved, if you can believe that! I don’t think that it could compare to Lenny to me, but we’ll see! We’ll be using some the games that we didn’t get to and such that we used for the party for this small group of folks who couldn’t make the main event.

Lately I’ve been having thoughts of when I was little and a couple that keep coming up is with me and my sister. I can remember a friend asking me to come over his house and I was game to do it. My sister who was quite young at the time kept crying and didn’t want me to go. maybe we were playing together at the time or something, I don’t know. Anyways I can remember being sort of adamant that I was going to go. I can remember reaching the front gate to the driveway and looking back at the house and in the window I could see my sister crying. She really didn’t want me to go, and I debated staying in my head but ultimately I went anyway. I mean, he had the latest KISS record Double Platinum at the time and I wanted to listen to it! The friend I was visiting lived over by the Powerhouse so it was only a 10 minute walk. But I never forgot the crying. I always felt something changed a little but between us after that, but that can’t be. I actually mentioned this to my sister today and she laughed about it. Didn’t remember, and of course nothing changed. (Right?) I also had thoughts of us walking each other back and forth to school one year, the one year where it overlapped in such a way that we were in the same elementary school at the same time but in different grades. I think I was in 6th and see must have been in 1st.

I miss those days, looking back now.

And today’s photo is one of those lovely sunset images that everyone seems to enjoy. This one is from Rock Harbor, which is in Orleans, Massachusetts. One of our favorite places, and I’m sure you can tell why.

Meeting Cindy Brady

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The story behind the photo: A few years ago, we went to the Fluffernutter Festival in my hometown of Somerville, MA. It’s a yearly celebration now honoring the invention of the product Fluffernutter, which was invented by a door to door salesman in town, Eventually he sold it to the company that still makes it today with their factory in Lynn but originally it all started right here. Anyways, this one particular year they somehow got Susan Olsen to come down and check it out, How could I not go? I grew up watching the Brady Bunch. I would get out from school and go home and put on Channel 56 which reran them everyday. I think it was a couple of cartoons, and then the Bradys and then the Monkees – amazing how TV has shaped me. In fact, I believe everything about life can be explained in various Brady Bunch episodes but that’s a discussion for another time. (Perhaps one day I will write a thesis about it but I digress.) Anyways, she was amazing. Kind of makes me want to meet the rest of the “Bradys”. As a side note, Florence Henderson visited the local hospital here a few years back and had I known this at the time I probably would have met Mrs. Brady, but it was sadly not to be. Also Peter Brady has visited Dedham a few times at Kings in Legacy Place so there was a possibility of seeing him as well. We missed Jan once in NYC, she apparently was downstairs from a restaurant we were frequenting at at the time but another miss. I figure Greg and Marcia would be the hardest to get to meet. I have no desire to meet Bobby (sorry!)

Meeting “Cindy Brady”

Party a Smashing Success! Plus Lenny!

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Finally got to meet Lenny!

The party was a great success and I think everyone who attended had a great time! We were scrambling a little bit as the party start time drew near, with getting tables set up, and picking up the cake, getting a balloon and such, etc. Everyone who said they would attend did and we even had three dogs visit, including Boomer all the way down from Maine, and Lenny, a dog I’ve been wanting to meet for a long time. He was one solid boy weighing close to over 50 pounds! We played a game that made you meet and talk to people to learn things about them and it actually worked and everyone was into it. Another one of LD’s friends was kind enough to pick up the main entrees from Canton so that was a great help. The camera was all set up for the selfie station and I promise to set up a shared google drive directory so that folks who took one can download their pictures. The weather was perfect for a party day! We had some pretty great homemade props which I’ll be saving to use for future events.

People also got to see the new basement and bathroom to help us decide on colors by voting. So we had a lot going on, between everyone meeting everyone, eating all the various dishes, watching LD smash her piñata, cutting the cake, playing the games, and having a good time. LD even went out of her way and cooked some gluten free things for some guests who could not partake of the main entrees. All the desserts were a huge hit, from the cake which truly was delicious to the special ice cream sandwiches we got from Providence. As the party was ending (the last guests didn’t leave till around 10 pm!) we saw the SpaceX rocket in the sky although at the time we didn’t know what it was, circled around the fire pit. The main thing was that everyone who came genuinely came to celebrate LD and you could feel the joy. We have to remember that we really are surrounded by wonderful people who care and love LD and I’m very appreciative that I was also able to partake in that.

Now that we’ve cleaned everything up we are taking a well deserved nap!

Party New England Style

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New England Shot

The party plans are coming apace! Hard to believe the time is almost here. More planning yesterday and today. Tomorrow I’m due to make a big supply run with some helpers. The weather looks to be gorgeous this weekend for the event so I couldn’t be happier about that. The props should be arriving this afternoon for the selfie station. Got what I think is a pretty good assortment of different things, yes there probably will be a bunch of photos taken at this event. I won’t post many of them here but there will be lots I am sure. Might be good to grab some candid ones too. Just have to work on getting the final food stuff together and arranging the space! This will be the first time hosting almost 20 guests at one time, could be a bit daunting!

Party Preps!

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Getting sooner to the big party day. I went ahead yesterday and mowed all the lawns, might go over it again next week just to make it sure it looks all pristine. Working on getting the food and decorations together for the big day. All the invites have gone out and just about everyone that was invited is due to come. Not going to lie, I do feel a little nervous, but it’s all going to be a good time. Working on getting the propane tanks full as well, for possible grilling but also the outdoor space heater just for the off chance that it might be a chilly day, but hopefully the weather will be good all around. Also been messing around with my tripod for the selfie station. It’s been forever since I missed with it so I’m a little rusty. Decided to go with the DSLR to get some real high quality photos instead of or in addition to cell phone pics. Really want to make this a time to remember for the folks who are kind enough to join us in the celebration.

LD remembered a great place for the food that we’ll be offering. Super psyched to dig into that. Making me hungry just thinking about it. Might also need to take a trip down to Providence RI to pick up some very special snacks.

Getting a little ahead of myself – today is really about nailing down the specifics and planning. So to that end we were able to accomplish the following things today: visiting a bunch of places to see if we could get things that are on our list of things needed to get, pumpkins and mums for fall decorations. To that end we visited a couple of places and even a local farm. Really need to narrow down the rest of the list today and get everything locked down and ready!

Two of the Three Sisters

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Drove to drop off 2 blank CDs in Walpole to someone online who asked for them in a social media group that we belong to. Got a bunch of free stuff off of there that was useful so just sort of giving back. I’m looking for some stuff for the game room that I’m hoping will show up on there at some point.

Made an appointment to take my mom to get her drivers license renewed at the end of the month at the local AAA office, forget going to the RMV! It took a while to get one, you basically have to keep clicking online every 10 minutes or so and hope you bump someone else out of the way. In hindsight now I’m realizing it may be a little tough to be able to make it there on time but I’m going to try.

We got these special lily bulbs from LD’s garden lady friend yesterday. I’ve been soaking them overnight to be able to put them in the ground today. For some reason the lady said they should go in as soon as possible. Just need to find a spot where they’ll actually fit. We have too many things growing! I eventually decided to put split them up a bit, putting some in the main round area and then the rest out toward the back corner of the back yard. Fingers crossed they come up next year!

Here’s a pic I took of two of the three sisters lighthouses in Orleans. These gals were replaced by the Nauset Light that’s there now but they saved these ladies and set them further inland and used to adorn a park now. Thanks to Lighthouses around the World for featuring me!

A Case of the Mondays

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Beacon Hill Alleyways

For the start of the week I finally decided to swap in some new hydroponics. The lettuces we had growing there were mostly used up by now, from me either eating them or giving away some of the leaves for a friend’s Guinea Pig pets. So this time around I’m mostly going with herbs such as chives, mint, parsley, lemon basil and oregano. Also had an extra spot so I stuck in a mini cherry tomato. If it all goes to plan they should start sprouting in a bout a week or so. I find that herbs and lettuce do the best in this little hydroponic garden of ours.

All the Feelz

Been trying a new meal kit delivery service but so far this one hasn’t been impressive. It seems like they are all kind of the same after a while. They generally start out good but sooner or later, something goes awry with the shipping or you just get bored with the choices. I did learn how to cook a bunch of things though so it has been somewhat educational for me and given me skills that I can use to cook up own own creations or even just recreate some recipes that they’ve shown me in the past.

Would like to try to get through a bunch of little things tonight. Work is changing their communication systems over to Google from Zimbra so I need to go through some setup and change a couple of passwords and such for that to work. Set up 2FA, all that fun stuff. I’ve been putting it off because I had changing settings but if I don’t do it by early October I won’t be able to log in. Speaking of work, they’re also changing up their CPR scheduling so we all have to take that again in a month or so even though we just had it a few months ago but that’s cool.

I caught some of some local documentary yesterday entitled Chet’s Last Call which was about a Boston dive club just above another dive bar called the Penalty Box where Mafia guys hung out across from the Boston Garden in the 80s that hosted local bands. It was sort of a dedication to the bar’s owner, named Chet, who gave a lot of these groups a chance. This was 20 years before I had gotten interested in the local scene so most of this was before my time but some famous type groups who did play there were the Beastie Boys, Hüsker Dü, Bim Skala Bim and the Mighty Bosstones. It was sort of interesting, it definitely was a very different time. Anyways it got me in a Boston remembrance state of mind so I’m reposting this photo from Beacon Hill. I also spent some time at the gym to watch LD do her swimming thing. She invited me to see her do her thing so I obliged. She’s doing great and loves it so much. I found my old ‘All the Feels’ shirt so I wore that trying to make a statement.

Which brings to mind my next point. Is this blog getting stale? Feel like I really haven’t put up any interesting content in a while.

Went (Yacht Club) Clubbing

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Duxbury Yacht Club

Earlier in the day started watching an old movie that was on cable called The Three Faces of Eve (1957). You’ve probably heard of it. I thought it was going to be hokey but I found myself actually enjoying watching it. By early afternoon LD was jonesing to get in some beach time so we headed over to Rexhame for a few. It was actually pretty busy and a lot warmer there than we expected. After a few hours of relaxation there we grabbed a late lunch over at Snug Harbor and ate it while watching the sights along the Duxbury Yacht Club.

You Can Feel The Fall Crispness in the Air

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Feeling It

I can definitely feel the autumn coming in the air as I head out there in the early mornings. Feels good though. The new bathroom is coming along really nice – I am actually impressed at how it all came together so quickly. There’s still more to do aesthetically but basically it’s ready to go for the most part. In the early evening we tried a Greek place I’ve been wanting to try for a while for some take out. It was actually pretty good, but the service could have been better.

A Reverence for the Schooners

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Gloucester Schooner Festival

The schooner has served as the iconic representation of Cape Ann’s seafaring history for more than three centuries. These sailing boats are quick and skillful, capturing the interest of both tourists and locals. On a schooner, sailing is thrilling! Its power and splendor are unmatched by any other kind of watercraft. When you board a schooner, it’s impossible not to feel a strong connection to the countless brave fishermen who risked it along the eastern shores!

What did you do today?

Love for Schooners

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I always had a fascination and love for schooners.

A pretty good Saturday as far as Saturdays go. I saw a coffee table on someone’s curb in the neighboring town in the morning that they were trying to get rid of (the wonders of the Internet to get the word out). I recall my mother stating she was searching for a coffee table for her outdoor back deck, and I believe this one will work out rather well. Therefore, we went and picked it up. I’ll deliver it there on Tuesday and see if she digs it. This one is a little bit smaller and nicer than the free one I gave her the last time, which is fine but in retrospect is just a little bit too big for the space. I think she will like it.

The picnic!

I grilled a bunch of salmon and corn in the afternoon for this picnic that our other friend couple had invited us to. It took place in Milton at Houghton’s Pond. Thought we’d give it a go even though we weren’t sure whether we’d be all that into it, but actually once we got there and started hanging out it was actually a rather enjoyable and fun time! So, glad we went. As we were leaving we came upon these two super cute dogs and petted them. There were a bunch of dogs there all day and all were very cute, such as Spaniels, long haired Dachshunds, and a bunch of other dogs that all have very short legs!

Today’s photo is from the Gloucester Schooner fest from a few years back. It’s that time of year again, and so looking at this has inspired me to go check it out again this year, tomorrow in fact. I’m going to try to get some good shots by climbing up on some high rocks so wish me luck and hope I don’t break anything!

Think I might try to watch that new Elvis movie tonight on HBO Max. I’m not a huge Elvis fan but I’ve heard it was a pretty good movie, so maybe. Can only watch so many Dateline reruns.

In Search of New Water Shoes

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Since going to the beach as much as we have this year, it’s becoming time for me to invest in a good pair of water shoes. For the last couple of years I’ve been wearing this pair that I got from ocean State Job Lot but the soles aren’t very thick. Better than nothing but I need something more, especially when it comes to walking on rocks that you can’t see beneath the surface of the water. I’ve been eyeing the Zhuanglin Men’s Quick Drying Aqua Water Shoes. I think I’m probably going to buy those in lime green color.

I ended up mowing the lawn today, not so much because it needed it, it didn’t since it hasn’t rained enough in forever, but to clean it up a little bit as some leaves have started falling off the trees and also to drown out the noise of all these little kids yelling and screaming next door as the neighbor was having another pool party. Not sure why they need to be screaming all the time – can’t you all just splash and have fun without screaming?

Been Making New Additions

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There hasn’t been too much updating lately partly because it’s been busy here getting a new bathroom put in the basement/man cave part of the house(!) Also been working on getting the new appliances for the kitchen finally and working on some upcoming tasks for a major party blowout coming up. More updates on these exciting subjects as the month of September rolls on through.

We did find some time this afternoon to spend a little bit of time at the beach. Although the water was a little bit chilly it wasn’t too bad once you were in. Unfortunely we didn’t stay as long as we would have liked because these annoying flies kept trying to bite our legs, even though we doused in bug spray, the little bastards! I got a bunch of little itches on me but thankfully the itch is starting to fade away on them already, but it was really annoying trying to deal with it there.

For dinner tonight a cooked up some Burundi along with some lemon infused potatoes and side of Greek salad. Now that’s not something I make/eat everyday!

Love Waking Up to Early Morning Sunsets

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Love the shadows on this one.

High point today was watching LD work on her swimming strokes over at the pool at the gym, doing laps and such. She’s become quite the expert! So proud of her! Enjoy this lighthouse pic of the Nauset that I took a little while back as the sun was starting to rise in the early hours of the morning.

Sugary Saturday

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Went down to a place that had a bunch of food trucks today. One was a soda truck and I got a drink called the Unicorn, which was basically Sprite, watermelon, strawberry, cherry, blood orange all topped with whipped cream and candy pieces and it was really good. We also got fries from a different food truck that specialized in various mixtures. I got one with Crispy Chicken, Buffalo Sauce, Blue Cheese Dressing and Blue Cheese Crumbles. It was good. We went with another couple that we’ve done a bunch of things with before. After all that ( we ended being there for a couple hours when all was said and done) we did a little looking around for a couple of new kitchen appliances.

“Udderly” Fun

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Utterly delicious fun

Hibiscus 🌺 slush with vanilla ice cream on top…YES! 🍦 Plus the Fox Point neighborhood is sooo cute! Yes, LD wanted to do a quick trip to Providence RI to check out this dairy free ice cream and bakery type place. Truly delicious, and truly 100% vegan ice cream shop. You can’t tell the difference that there’s no dairy, at least I couldn’t! The nice part is that we were able to get down there, do the stuff, and get back just in time as the skies were starting to darken and the rainstorm was about to occur. The timing of everything could not have been more perfect.