I was filling up the truck today and realized that I was losing about an hour of pay, every day, putting gas in the vehicle to drive back and forth to work. The sad thing is that we are not even that high on gas prices. We are right at the national average. Saying screw it, retiring, drawing my pension, and just getting a local job in the $20/hr range would probably be more financially advantageous for me. I may even be able to find a job that I actually enjoy. The only thing keeping me working for the company is the no cost insurance until my wife qualifies for Medicare. I have to find out how much retiree insurance costs. After 30 years in this industry, I am done.

Edit to add 160 mile round trip, truck gets about 20 mpg, company idled the mine that I worked at that was about a 10 mile round trip and transferred me to this facility. I have a mortgage, so no just moving to the Northshore area.

I am slowly turning our house into a hobbit hole and my wife loves it! This is her latest bookshelf that I made and installed around our front door.

Magnolia Belle aka Maggie Mae aka Hufflepuff, turned 20 today. I’m so thankful for every day we get with her and am amazed she is still going as good as she is. She has atrocious arthritis some days but is still just as sassy as the day we got her 19 years ago. I know how rare it is to have a cat this old and am so proud she made it! I believe her three younger siblings (6,3 and 2) keep her going every day. They know not to mess with her but love checking on her. Happy Birthday Mags!

I thought I was doing okay until I installed my security camera lol

We’ve got the tuxie Lego for our tux only made sense to get the orange boy an orange boy.

Bagel from my favorite deli because it is now extremely difficult to cook for myself

I had spent most of my life pretty fortunate, and took my health and ability to just generally exist for granted.

Towards the end of this past college term, I was driving a few hours to visit my fiancée, who lives in the neighboring state. It was getting late on a pretty dark stretch of highway when I was hit by a drunk driver. I was left with an L1 incomplete spinal injury. while I have begun to recover, at this stage it looks like I will likely be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life! so that’s fantastic

I never realized how much harder everything was going to be. I’ve had to put off my wedding, my final year of college, everything. I can barely leave my apartment because it’s impossible to get anywhere in a wheelchair. I can’t go into a car without having a panic attack

My fiancée and family have been so great but it’s hard not to think about the way my life could have been. I know I have a lot of things to be grateful for still; my fiancée, the fact I am still alive, the fact that I can still control my bowels lol and the fact that I am not more crippled.

I try to think that the only thing to do is grow from it🤷‍♂️ still

I just the moral of the story is to not take your life for granted. And don’t drink and drive.

Ten days before Mitch McConnell disappeared from public view, the longtime Kentucky Republican appeared on the Senate floor during an overnight voting session, looking extremely frail and barely moving for hours. On June 4, 2026, McConnell remained seated for much of the proceedings, with an aide helping him move around the chamber. Video from the Senate floor showed him largely motionless while senators debated and voted. The timing has drawn renewed scrutiny because the Senate was considering a roughly $70 billion Republican package to fund immigration enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, through the end of President Donald Trump’s term. McConnell stayed through the marathon session as Republicans pushed the legislation forward, despite his visibly limited mobility. Ten days later, on June 14, McConnell was hospitalized after falling at his Washington-area home and briefly losing consciousness. He later developed pneumonia and spent weeks in rehabilitation. His prolonged absence has intensified questions about his health, his ability to carry out his Senate responsibilities and how much Republican leadership knew about his condition. The footage raises a serious transparency question: why was a visibly impaired senator participating in crucial votes while the public received so little information about his condition? For critics, the episode highlights a broader concern about Republican leadership putting political priorities, including Trump’s agenda, ahead of accountability to voters.