Montana Thoughts

     It's been a rough week here and that's the reason I haven't posted.      This past Saturday morning Michele and I had to put our beloved Brookie Dog down after 14 1/2 years. The last week was a dramatic down turn in her quality of life. The last 8 months we've had to clean up after her uncontrollable bowel movements. We've had blankets covering the floor to protect the carpet. She's a Rottweiler Malamute X and for a big dogs, 14 years is a long time. She had dramatic  weight loss and her hips were so bad that she could barely pull herself up and stand. When she did she couldn't walk far before falling over.      We were giving her a cortisone shot monthly and daily doses Tramadol  an it helped for a while but over time she just got worse.       She was my boo boo dog and I was really attached to her. and it pained me a lot I will forever love her and remember her as she was, not what she became at the end. T Brookie 1999-2015 We

                                                                                                                                              Jan 17, 2015      Michele and I got up early and headed to Montana City to pick up 2 bountiful Baskets. one for us and one for her daughter Krystle. We decided we needed to do a little shopping and headed to Wal-Mart. We bypassed Wal-Mart to head to Shellie's Country Cafe to get some good breakfast. Michele had the Breakfast Burrito with bacon and I got the Country fried steak. Both were good and filled us up. Off to Wal-Mart we went.       On our way home from Wal-Mart I called our friend Tim, who I was going to help remove and axle we had purchased for out friend Albert. A few months ago Albert was heading in to Helena from his cabin above Marrysville, MT and the rear end went out of his 1989 Chevy 4X4. Tim found a newer 3/4 ton axle for a better price that we could fix the old so Tim, Michele and I all went in on the axle and will spli

                                                                                                                                              Jan 16, 2015        Woke up a little after 4am to the sound of Brooke moving around and the smell of poop. Yep, Brooke pooped and tracked it around the living room. Good thing we have blankets down. 4:30am, started laundry and tried to go back to sleep but just tossed and turned til about 6:30am.        Got up, showered and made some breakfast. Sat on the couch and read through Facebook to what was happening in the "Real" world. Played with Sasha before heading to work.        I was ready for Friday at work.We got some circuit boards moving through production and got orders boxed and ready to ship out on Monday.       Ended the day at home with some grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken tortilla soup and DRV TV.       Goodnight.

                                                                                                                                              Jan 15, 2015       The last couple of days I'm been feeling really bad about not keeping up with my waking and calorie counting. The temps have been in the single digits for the last week and that doesn't make me want to get out there and walk. Also, instead of eating a healthy, balanced breakfast I've opted for the local market on the way to work for greasy fried breakfast.  Today the temp was again single digits. the temp was 7 but I forced myself to get up, shower, throw on some clothes, adding long johns and go for my walk. I walk along side  the Missouri River and the wind there today was brutal but I completed my 2 miles. At the end I sat in my truck with the heater going full blast, warming up before heading to work.      Got to work and bagged up our "Goody Bags", a ziplock  filled with cables and connectors that

                                                                                                                                              Jan 14, 2015      Woke up to 7 degrees and didn't feel like walking, so I didn't. Lounged around the house for an hour before heading to work. I don' lead that interesting of a life.      Work was good. Got a few orders in that I box up and ship out. Got a few that are waiting on parts  to come in. Seems we're always waiting on something.Once we get our new inventory system up and running we're hoping that cures all that. Fingers crossed. I did however get all the batches what were in mid production finished, tested, labeled, bubble wrapped and stocked on the shelves. I am ready for Michele to run more circuit boards through the pick and place Machine so I can inspect, final assembly, test, label, pack and stock. It's a viscous cycle, but most of the time a good one. Glad we have new and existing customers that buy lot

                                                                                                                                              Jan 12, 2015 Here I go again....      Monday was a relaxing boring day in the life. Got up, showered, fed the dogs got dressed, played with Sasha before heading to work.       Work was productive and got some inventory on the shelves. Shipped a few orders. Kinda of a boring day.       Got home, played with Sasha and noticed that Brooke had something seeping from her ear. At first we thought it was blood and that Sasha might had been playing a little too rough with the old dog. we washed Brooke's ear and think an infection in her ear is draining. We decided to check it in the morning  and go from there.        We relaxed after that and watched Mysteries at the Museum that we recorded on the DVR before heading to bed.                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                               Jan 11, 2015       Today was the one year anniversary of us bringing Sasha home from friends house in Kalispell, Montana. Our friend, Don found her and her brother in a tote in a shopping cart at the Wal-Mart in Kalispell. Don could not keep Sasha or her sister so he posted pictures on Facebook and Michele decided we needed Sasha. This morning I took Sasha for a ride in the truck, something she thoroughly enjoys to check on cache and went to a walk in a new place for her. She really enjoyed herself, stopping and smelling tons of things and playing in deep snow, something else she enjoys.                                             Sasha a few weeks after we brought her home       Returning home after checking on the geocache and letting Sasha have some fun I another exciting task, laundry. A necessity and boring task that needed to be don

                                                                                                                                           Jan 10, 2015       Saturday turned out more productive then I had planned. I had no real plans for the day but since I've been having some truck issues and I decided that after hearing others claims of what it might be I took it to Auto Zone and after telling the person what it was doing he had some ideas. While we were trouble shooting those we came across an unplugged heat sensor. We plugged it in and voila, the "Check Engine" light went off and she started to purr like a kitten again. There was a little damage to the connector so I bought a new one and will replace it in warmer weather. So far the current one is working fine.       While I was already in town since I live 12 miles out of town I decided to to a local toy store down on the gulch and get an item I needed for a geocache of mine that needed replaced. If you don't

      Well here I am again playing catch up. Missed yesterday and today.       Thursday was a good day all around. it was a good day at work. Got a lot of product made and and orders out to customers. The boss and the wife stopped in for a bit and discussed more on the inventory. It's going to be a long process getting where we need to be but it will better in the long run.      Got home from work and we decided to have steaks for dinner so out on the deck again in single digit temp cooking. It's so worth it. We ended up with steak, garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. After a few hours of senseless television it was bed time.     Got up this morning and let the dogs out  before getting some breakfast and checking my email and Facebook. Threw on some clothes and started my truck and while that was warming up I threw the ball for Sasha. Done with Sasha, and said my goodbyes to Michele so off to work I went.     At work I knew I had a few products to finish up for c

                                                                                                                                            Jan 7, 2015       Today was good day.       Got up early and felt good and that's always a good sign. I did however have a slight miss hap. I got a bowl of fruit loops for breakfast and set it on top of my laptop while I fed the dogs. Little did I remember that I had the laptop fan under the laptop set at an angle. As I turned away I heard the bowl side and turned around to watch the bowl slide off the laptop and on to the love seat spilling everywhere. Sasha puppy rushed over and tried to help clean up the by eating the fruit loops and milk. After cleaning up that mess and getting the dogs food I attempted another bowl of cereal and success was completed.      After throwing the ball for Sasha I headed to work. I was at work by myself this morning and had to get some product assembled, tested, packed and stocked before Michele got there

      Missed a day and now gotta make up for it.      Yesterday, Jan 5th wasn't a good day in the life. Truly, I had my first bad day at work and didn't do much. Truthfully, I can't hardly remember yesterday. I do know that Michele made a great, delicious winter beef barley stew. The best part of the day was coming home to Michele, Sasha, Brooke and the smell of  dinner. Watched some TV and went to bed.      Today didn't start off well. Another bad beginning and middle of work. After a little blow up and venting, the work day ended on a plus. A few changes are going to implement at work in the new future and I was a little confused and under informed. It's going to be a growing experience for everyone. Michele has been there longer and me and is better adjusted of how things work there. Plus, not much bothers her,  and I envy her.      Didn't keep track of my calories but I know I didn't eat much.      It's amazing how the adrenaline building up for

      Woke to it snowing and really didn't feel like to doing anything but pulling the blankets up and sleeping but that didn't last. I did have one errand to run so I forced my self out of bed, getting dressing and out the door. As I was leaving, Little Sasha really wanted to play with her frisbee. I told her I would play when I got back and through the gate I went.       I decided to take  the scenic route on my errand and drive over the causeway at Lake Helena. As I approached the causeway I could see people out on the ice fishing. It was 4 degrees and a decent wind and they're out there sitting, some in huts and some not. "Crazy", I thought was I drove past.      Upon returning home, Sasha was waiting and ready.  I Stepped in the house, told Michele I was home, grabbed the Frisbee and Sasha and I were out the door. After giving Sasha 15 throws we headed inside to relax.       After having  a coupe of Orange sweet rolls I managed to not much after that. Turn

     I really didn't do much today. The only real accomplishment was getting a haircut. I really needed one because I was starting to look like a long haired hippie.  I do like having longer hair in the winter to thwart off the cold weather.      After getting a haircut I decided I would head downtown to the walking mall to stop by a local store, Lasso The Moon to pick up something for a Geocache of mine. If you don't know about Geocaching, you should check it out at www.geocaching.com. To my surprise as I got to the store there was a sign on the door that read "Closed for Inventory" Bummer! Well it wasn't all in vain as I got some cool pictures of the gulch (walking mall) and the fire tower covered in snow.      Upon returning to the  house I was a little hungry and decided on making some Coney Dogs with some on the Chili Sauce I received in a care package from my family. The coney dogs were delicious and filling but full of calories. I'm better sure I blew

Well I did good today.      I managed to get up early, drink a breakfast/weight loss shake and get a 2 mile walk in before work. It was a cold walk at  5 degrees along the Missouri River/Hauser Lake at Black Sandy Recreation area. The walk was nice and the river frozen, which surprised me because just a week before I was kayaking in this location. Not today though. There were a couple of ice fisherman trying their best nearby.      Got to work and got some of the older orders complete, boxed up and shipped out. After that I worked on re organizing our KANBAN card system before returning to soldering componets on to the circuit boards I inspected earlier in the week until quitting time. Remind me to explain my work in more detail in another post.     At home now and relaxing with the dogs, Sasha (Husky Mix), Brookie (Rottweiler Malamute Mix) and my girlfriend Michele. Michele has Lasagna in the oven and the TV on watching Anthony Bourdain.      Got a care package from my family in m

Greetings!      I hope everyone had a great new year's eve and looking forward to the coming year.      Well, again this year I'm going to try and write every evening about my day. This, I hope will help me remember what I did throughout the year so can have a year in review and keep track of my goals. I'm sure they're will be some skipped days as we plan to do some hiking, camping and traveling along the way.       My main goal is to lose weight. I did very well two years ago, losing 50lbs before heading back to Pennsylvania to visit family and friends. I fell off the wagon and can't seem to get back on it. Damn! I'm also turning 45 this year and after back surgery, 2 hernia surgeries and a torn quadriceps I want to get into a little better shape.      I plan on walking every morning before work and weather permitting plan on adding some kayaking to the list. I also plan on using the Bow Flex that's in the garage to tone up a little. I  have an app on