First Ride in 50+ years: 2023 Update

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Very cool Steve! Good to get the whole family out riding!

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Looks like you are enjoying it too! :)

Luke.
 
Snuffy's and the Brothers

Thanks Jerry, Nagant and Luke!:)
You are so right Luke, I love riding to a restaurant with these guys!

Sorry, I've been a total slacker lately with FIL's thread. We have been getting out lately but with the amount of work that went into the 56T and the rainy weather on Sundays we've haven't been riding as much.

A few weeks ago, it was down-pouring off and on so first we stopped at the bike shop to dig for last minute build off parts.
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Then off to Snuffy's Malt Shop for burgers and a malt. Sat in the kid's section because the wall murals are fun.
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The malts came first and FIL went at it with gusto LOL. Had to remind him that he had to slow down a bit so he'd have some for his burger too :rolleyes:
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I really like this place! Usually when you ask for blue cheese on a burger (bison that is:)), you only get a little smidgen but at Snuffy's full tilt! MMM:):). Had plenty of fries left for my Wife and gave her half my fudge scotchie malt.
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Last weekend we went to FIL's brother FILB's 87th Bday party, 87 WOW! He hasn't been doing too well lately so his Daughter cheered him up with a nice party.
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Cut from the same clothe LOL
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Yeah it was good to talk with FILB. He remembers more of the stories of their youth. Good to see the brother get together and enjoy each others company.
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So I'm going to finally get some tune up work done to FIL's bike today and hopefully, if the weather cooperates, we'll take our ride and DQ tomorrow and I can ride 56T:)

Thanks for looking
Steve
 
Thanks Nagant and ctaccruiser!:)

This summer hasn't been so good for getting FIL out on the bike. Between lots of "Life" going on, a cold spring and now too many Sunday afternoon showers, we haven't put too many miles on.

But we've been trying to at least get him out of the house (and to DQ ;)).

A few weeks back (17Aug), it was raining again so we went to Smashburger, again. Thought I'd switch up the strategy of having pop with our burgers and then heading to DQ. FIL did his prerequisite "That's a lot of food!" and my response "Better than not enough!". Told him I'd share the smash fries (with rosemary and olive oil MMMM) with him and he ate at least half LOL
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FIL gets a real kick out of seeing people renting the covered 4 wheel bicycles. The best way to get out in the rain :)
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It seemed like Fall in the middle of August with the cool rain and the acorns dropping already. Another DQ in the car:rolleyes:. Only good thing about it was being able to carry home a extra DQ for my Wife along with an extra order of fries:)
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Last weekend (21Aug) we had a long drive home from Chicago and I was really beat. On top of that, it was 90F and 95% humidity so I get a bit worried about getting FIL overheated. With that kind of heat and humidity it meant storms/tornadoes which meant more reason not to ride so my Wife gave him some IC at home. Even though it got pretty crazy later the clouds looked cool
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This one had a lightning going on inside it which looked cool but dropped down a small tornado on the edge of the cites.
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Yesterday (21Aug) It started raining again in the afternoon :rolleyes:. It sure makes stuff green but not great for making sure FIL doesn't wipe out on his bike. Most of the time, we are kinda in a drought in late summer and year's past meant riding with FIL every weekend but not this year.
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Was able to sit outside with the little bit of rain but the wind was strong (~25mph) so I'm glad we didn't ride, though I wished we could. FIL loves making the "Ready to eat face" LOL
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So we took a little drive along the river just to get him out of the house for a while. Think he enjoyed it.
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So hopefully things dry out a bit before all the leaves drop and we have to be more careful.
I'll try to keep up with the thread now that all the summer business is slowing down a bit.

Thanks for looking
Steve
 
Belated Update

Sorry, fell off the grid for a while. Our good ole computer went down and it took us a long time to decide whether to fix something that worked well or "upgrade" to something that doesn't LOL. But now I'm back and swearing my way through windows 8.1 Arghhh!

You are right Luke, he is a character!
Thanks Jerry! sorry it's been so long.
Thanks a lot Dale! I'm glad you like it

Anyways, Life continued even without posting. We had gotten so many rainy Sundays during the summer that we didn't get much riding in. September was better and had a swing of really warm days and cooler days.

Perfect riding weather but as FIL says, There's Nothing to complain about LOL. The motivated look, on the way TO DQ.
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He seems to be talking less (and repeating less :)) when we are riding. I think he is enjoying it but his hearing is getting worse. So I wonder he is just riding behind or looking around at things. This behind the back shot shows him looking around and I wondered why he was lollygagging that day LOL. I'm really glad he was getting more input which helps clear his mind. It helps me too!
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Cooled down in the middle of Sept but it was dry and the leaves weren't falling yet. He's hunkered down but still motivated by DQ!
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The famous DQ shot. I had to get some more miles on my 56T and it paced well with FIL's bike.
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Late Sep and FIL's Birthday fell on the same day as the Fall Ride. Really perfect weather and he seemed to have fun.
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Action shoot through the dirt path
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My Wife and FIL posing on the Stone Arch Bridge while we all hanging out and looking at each others bikes.
Another picture perfect day for the ride. It seems like we get lucky every year!:)
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Relaxing during the bike contest. FIL voted for his bike again LOL
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One more really warm day. and in October! One last ride in shorts and t-shirt, Yeah!!
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Our DQ tasted especially good
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As we were ready to leave DQ, I said it was a perfect day to ride our route by the river. FIL says "The only way it could be better was to stop at DQ on the way home (???!!!!) Oh well....

The leaves started dropping and I wanted to be more safe than sorry with the wet leaves being like ice so we started our winter Sundays eating out and DQ. Lots of Bdays and gatherings in October so less eating out but we started in again on cooler Sunday. FIL going for the fries first, just like my wife LOL
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Had the heated seats going for FIL so he didn't get the shakes from eating his DQ so fast:rolleyes::)
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My SisterInLaw (SIL) was in town and it was nice for her and FIL to hang out. Got over to Smashburger and FIL got his Strawberry Malt and ate all his food :eek::)
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Well we're all caught up. Now that I've got all the fall projects done and winter has arrived (below 32F and snow on the ground for 2 weeks in Nov??!! Arghhh!) I will try to keep up a little better. It looks like there was quite a few hits during my "break" so thanks Everybody for following along and being patient.

Thanks for Looking
Steve
 
This is just a great thread, and we all love FIL now! Thanks for sharing, and caring for FIL.
 
A few days ago I thought it had been quite a while since a update and worried something was wrong. Really glad it was just a computer issue and that everyone is fine. When I got my first Windows 8/8.1 machine I hated it the first months as well but after time I don't mind 8.1 now and switch between it and my Windows 7 machines all the time without issue. Hang in there, it just takes some time to earn it.
 
Dinner Drama and a sad note

Thank Luke!
Thans Dale! Yeah, our favorite one closes too. I'm pretty sure they give FIL the frequent customer upgrade :) (see below)
Thanks Donzi!
Yeah FIL is doing okay. Thanks for being concerned Nagant. I'm still cursing daily with 8.1 but I'll adapt, eventually
Good one Deorman!
Thanks JGood.


Well we've been starting go out to dinner now that riding season for FIL is wrapped up. We went to St Clair Broiler again because the have tasty meals. While we were waiting I mentioned that there was old pictures of the Minneapolis (morning) Star and (evening) Tribune. FIL used to be hot metal and line-o-type print setter there for many years. He remembered that he would be working on the next copy and then someone would get murdered in a bar (?!) and then he would have to re-edit the paper and rearrange things at the last minute. It was good to here a new story even though it was a bit dramatic. I suppose that's why he remembered it.

The food came and it was really good. Fill had a charbroiled cheese burger and I had the Cubano sandwich (ham and shredded pork- Yum). Excuse the bad camera pic.
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So I saw FIL had cut his sandwich in half and was eating everything but it. I said he should eat his other half because he had only one other meal that day (eat eats less now). He said "I'm going to take this home because I'm too full". Now my Wife tells me he plays the "substitute teacher" con when she's not around. :rolleyes: So I told him he would be too full for DQ then too. He gives me this horrified look and I felt kinda bad, at first. Then I had to remember it's like a kid would do and held my ground. I know this sounds kinda mean or condescending but he would he would eat only ice cream if he could (and has)).

I said he didn't have to eat the bun so he took it off and looked at the charbroiled burger then me with a disgusted look. He started scrapping off the "burned" part which he thoroughly enjoyed earlier and I held my ground. It was kinda embarrassing with other people around but I just kept thinking back to this is how a little kid would get his way and decided not to get upset about it. ;).

So afterwards he thanked me for dinner and the drama was over so we headed to the DQ grill and chill (the other DQ is closed now). Got a medium sundae for him and it looked about half of what a medium was at the other DQ. FIL noticed too and had a another disgusted look and I just said, they said it was a medium. He trundled into the next room and ate it with a vengeance anyway. Next time I might have to upsize it to a large (or senior discount medium LOL). He thanked me for the DQ and the drama was over again. I'm still learning to "work" with him and remember how my own Dad was kinda that way too as he got dementia.


So on a sadder note, FIL's dog, Poppy, had to get put to sleep later this last week. He was a great dog for my Wife's Mom and Dad. My Wife and Stepson actually drove from Mpls to Texas to get him as a puppy from a rescue shelter. It seemed like he always knew that my Wife's family loved him with his loyalty and companionship. I got pretty attached to him myself so it was a sad day for all.

Poppy was 15 years old and had a sharp decline in the last few months. When he developed some severe problems and then stopped eating, it was merciful to put him to sleep. My Wife, Stepson and FIL all went to the humane society. My Wife was hoping it would help FIL deal with it better and it was very peaceful for Poppy.

One benefit from dementia is that FIL doesn't dwell on it because he doesn't remember. He walked in the house afterwards the humane society and said "Where's Poppy?". He is slowly remembering that he doesn't have to let him outside any more. My Wife put a picture of Poppy on the table that says "Poppy is in heaven". FIL still calls and asks if Poppy is at our house or that we buried him. We wished we could get him another companion but FIL struggled more and more with taking care of a dog (and no cats). I don't think we can replace his best friend anyway. I think my Stepson will bring over his dogs to play with FIL more often.

Since he was kinda a regular guest star on this thread, I thought I'd repost some pictures from better days.

FIL doing his word finds with his buddy
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He never "lifted his leg on the bikes" Good Dog!
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Happy Dog!
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RIP Poppy
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Thanks for Looking
Steve
 
Sorry to hear the sad news,been through both myself. I am glad to see you have patience with your FIL,enjoy every minute you can with Him. Thanks for sharing,I hope your next installment will be cheery.
 
Reading this with my "best friend" laid across me sleeping. Im a relatively new dog owner, but now I understand what dogs mean to people. I'm sad for FIL's loss.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
On my second date with my wonderful wife I told her that no matter what she would always be No. 2 to my dog. Though I don't really think that is the case anymore it's pretty close sometimes. Losing a dog has got to be right there with losing a kid. (I don't have kids so I am speculating). With the other issues having a dog gone has got to be traumatic. I hope he either remembers enough to put it in place in his mind or just forget about his pup completely.
 
Always glad to see a update to this thread but sad to learn of Poppy's passing. Really enjoyed the looking back tribute pictures at the end.
 
Hate to hear about losing Poppy. Also glad to get to read some more updates.
Your mention of the Linotype hot lead newspaper process brings back a flood of memories.
I got to work at our local newspaper when I got "promoted" in the circulation dept. up from my paper route. We had 4 Linotypes that set all the type for the paper - usually 8 pages, sometimes up to 16 pages. Hey, it still is a small town! Ha! One of my tasks was to sweep up all of the lead droppings from the Linotype machines, and melt/cast them along with yesterday's type back into lead ingots that went back into the Linotype molten lead pots. I got to work with and see the entire process of publishing a daily newspaper, from typed copy to rolling the press. I think I could still read the Linotype slugs upside down and backwards if I had too! Thanks for the memories!
 
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