Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
A friend of mine (let’s call him T) and I were talking the other day. It was a pretty tame conversation by all accounts. In fact, some may think chatting about cryptocurrency is about the most boring thing you could ever talk about, but it fascinates both of us. We covered topics like Bitcoin, mining, government involvement, and the possible future of digital currencies. T mentioned that there are already thousands of different currencies and that coders are coming out with new coins every day.
His phone then lights up to interrupt our conversation:
OK, OK! We get it! T hit the button to stop the explanation and we both had a good laugh. From everything he said, his phone picked up on “coming out” hahaha!
Have you ever had something like that happen? Where you’re talking and out of nowhere your phone chimes in something embarrassing or inappropriate? Feel free to share your phone fail in the comments below!
Today I pounded the pavement for a couple of miles, my first time to run since this pretty epic fail last week. I felt some familiar aches but overall I’m happy with how it went. The weather is warm and muggy, but cloud cover kept the sun from blazing down on me. I also liked jogging over fallen fall leaves. I know I’ve got a log way to go to run my fastest 5K time, but I will get there. I must get there!
Do you still get bills in the mail? Like, they’re printed on actual paper? If so, I can relate! And if you’re like me, you don’t want to just throw them in the trash for someone to find later and steal your account numbers. It’s not like anyone would ever want to see my water bill but hey, it’s about personal privacy.
And there’s something gratifying about shredding paper into tiny, unidentifiable pieces.
This might be surprising to you: I’ve seen quite a few shredders at estate sales over the years. Haven’t bought one yet. I guess I’m waiting for “the one.” She’ll be beautiful, helpful, and color doesn’t matter. Which actually describes quite a few things I’ve got my eye out for 🙂
But about those bills. Well, let’s just say they end up in a fiery blaze on cold fall nights.
It was one of those days where almost everything that happened was unplanned. You see, even though my typical schedule is all over the place, most of my days are relatively structured: wake up, be productive, eat lunch, walk the dogs, be productive again, eat dinner.
But this particular day veered off that routine right after I completed the very first task of waking up.
Somebody else’s stuff.
I love estate sales and there was one close to my house. It was advertised as having lots of clocks and, well, I love clocks. I didn’t buy anything but I spent a lot of tiiiime there. 😉
Bark BnB.
Soon after I left the estate sale I was contacted through Rover.com for a last second boarding from a repeat customer, starting that same day for one night. My schedule was flexible enough to say yes and I wanted to do it, even though you might’ve already read that I have a hard time saying no.
Under a shade tree.
The next unplanned event was my friend coming over for a late afternoon outdoor movie. We set up in the back of her pick-up truck, ready for the featured movie, Mulan! It was awesome! My dogs and our guest dog lounged around in the back yard while Mulan saved China.
Playin’ the blues.
After my friend left, I got ready to meet another friend for a show at the legendary Ryman Auditorium. Taj Mahal and Keb Mo delighted the crowd for almost 2 hours with fantastic blues music, and yes, there was a harmonica. Such talent on that stage! This pic was taken after the opener, just before the lights went down for the headliners.
The Chicago au pairs.
Afterwards, I walked down Broadway and over the pedestrian bridge. Lots of people on the bridge taking pictures, chatting, and a group playing a board game (okkkk?). At the bottom of the bridge was a suspicious gang huddled on the sidewalk. While they could’ve had guns and knives and pounced on me, they’re weapons were actually cute accents, luggage, and happiness. It turns out they had been waiting a long time for their Uber ride, who never showed up! #UberFail
They kindly asked if I could give them a ride to their hotel so I thought, why not? If they really were going to steal my money they still wouldn’t have enough for an Uber ride. 🙂 So we piled in my car and set off to their hotel.
We chatted about all sorts of things and it was so fun! I was hoping they wouldn’t realize how much of a dork I am. Hey, I did play Macklemore from one of my Spotify playlists so that bought me a few more minutes, right? I learned they are all au pairs living in Chicago but their accents are from all over the world… take a listen:
We made it to their hotel without incident, said our goodbyes, and then I drove home, ears still ringing from all the music that night.
A day full of unpredicted fun but sometimes that is the best kind, right? Hope you’ve had a weekend full of fun whether it was planned or not!
I met up with a few friends last night for game night. The evening started out with 20 questions (which wasn’t one of the games) about being vegan, something these particular friends are giddy about quizzing me on… while they ate meatballs for dinner. They seem to be really stuck on the mayonnaise thing but I told them over and over that vegan mayo like the Hellmann’s in my fridge is super delicious.
Once their knickers were sufficiently in a bunch about all that, it was on to game night. We played Catan (aka The Settlers of Catan) first and it was only my second and a half time ever playing it. This game of strategy and deal-making is so fun. I was pretty horrible the first game, but then we played again and I almost won.
The next game we played was The Game. A pretty simple card game but really fun. If you’re interested in how it’s played, here’s a good explanation. It takes maybe 20 or 30 minutes to finish.
Lastly, we played Jenga. I don’t think any explanation of this one is needed, it’s a really fun game that can get tense!
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Out of the Wilderness 