Docwagon

I have gotten back into videogaming a bit, and picked up Fallout 76. I've enjoyed it in it's current state. I'm on PC, Docwagon1776, if you happen to see me around. I'm not a terribly social player, usually just do my own thing, but if it's someone from here I'd certainly be willing to catch up. The Atlantic City expeditions are more enjoyable than the Pitt ones, I think. The Pitt got boring for me in the scavenger hunt stuff where if you didn't know the possible spawns you just spent forever looking for things once you'd killed all the enemies.

New leaders were recently added, if you have the anthology pack you get them all for free as well. I've started a game as Abraham Lincoln, who seems pretty well set up for domination victories.

We did, in Beatty they were walking through while we were getting tacos from the taco truck.

Portugal was a blast. Being there at Christmas time was a lot of fun with all the little holiday markets and fairs. If you have Discord and are interested in pictures, see: https://discord.gg/gdANcvFJ TAP airline was pretty nice. Clean, relatively roomy, friendly staff. Food wasn't that great, but that's the general rule on airplanes so no surprise there. We flew Economy there and got an upgrade to Premium Economy on the way back. We ended up seeing Lisbon, Evora, and Sintra on this trip. We'll definitely return to see more.

Landed safely. Full of cod, beer, and custard tarts. Good start...

We went out to California again, visiting the in-laws in Anaheim and taking the opportunity to go back to Death Valley and the Mojave Preserve. We didn't get to do everything I'd hoped due to flood damage closing some roads and trails, but we did get to see things we hadn't done last time. I couldn't sneak my Power Wagon into checked bags so I made due with a rental Ram Classic 1500 4x4. Only one hill was a little sketchy, it did everything else without drama, though I did get a little nervous on one section of softer sand. My wife wanted to stop for a photo but I was afraid we wouldn't be able to get going again if I lost momentum and I didn't want to rely on random Jeep Bros to help us out, though I'm sure they would have. Those are all from Death Valley. Temps were in the 60s most of the day, colder at higher elevations and warmer at lower elevation, so we did a lot more hiking the canyons and trails then last time. We stayed in the park again, but this time at The Ranch at Death Valley. Nice hotel, terrible restaurant. Avoid. Drive to Beatty NV or at least to Stovepipe Well village in the park, much better food. Various places in the Mojave Preserve, including the Lava Tubes, which was the main goal for the day. These photos were taken on the trail network behind my BIL's house. At least 18 miles of trails that start about 2 blocks from his back door. I think the last rock formation looks like a mummy, but some have said nun or mermaid when I showed it to them. I have a ton of other photos, but many are too big for my free host to accept and share. We went to Huntington Beach and climbed around on the rocks, found tidal pools with sea urchins and other little sea creatures living in them, went to the Santa Monica pier, and several other little day trips. I have to say I've rarely met anyone as nice and nobody more generous as my BIL that we stayed with. He's the one who donated 2/3 of his liver in a futile attempt to save SIL's life. Just a genuinely incredible guy and we got along great the entire stay. MIL was still there and of course that was great. I met two more BILs I hadn't met before, but work schedules and distance kept us from spending a lot of time together. All in all, a really great trip.

I bought a new truck. I've had the same Ram since 2012, but gave it to my son. So now I have a 2021 Ram 2500 Power Wagon. I wanted something to off-road with and the PW is, IMO, the top of the line full sized truck for the sort of off road trails I have access to. I wanted to order a 2023, but order banks are closed and once they reopen it will still be an estimated 6-9 month wait to get one. I decided to go used instead and focused on the 2021 for the 75th anniversary package, which has a unique 2 tone interior that isn't available in any other Power Wagon. This thing is absolute tits for everything but fuel economy. I'm ditching the steps for actual rock sliders, which I've already ordered. Also need a bed cover, but otherwise don't intend any additions or modifications until it needs tires and I go to 35". PW comes factory with front and rear axle lockers, front sway bar disconnect, and is a 2500 (so heavy duty frame, axles, running gear) but sprung light closer to a 1500 for better ride and offroad flex. The 75th anniversary adds a ton of luxury features. Heated/cooled leather seats (mountain brown over black), 360 camera with tire paths, adaptive headlights (the lenses make the headlight beam sweep with the steering wheel so you're always in the 'sweet spot' and it's amazing), etc. This one has the sunroof and every option but the safety group (didn't want) and ram boxes (didn't care one way or the other). I bought it with 8107 miles on it and in pristine condition.

Just about time to head out. Flying on Monday.

Will do. We'll probably be traveling more often since we don't have to work around my son's school schedule any more (he graduated and is likely off to the US Coast Guard early next year) and I'm making more money thanks to promotion and overtime availability.

We ended up getting direct flights by bumping our date up to Nov 28, so no London this go round. I'm sure we'll be back through before too long, though. This will be our first time flying with TAP, not sure what to expect.

We've already got travel booked in November, going to CA to visit my wife's family and then do our own thing. My MIL is in from Jordan. She spent 2 weeks with us last month and is now with my BIL, so we'll see her again while we are out there. My MIL is awesome so I'm really looking forward to it.

Hello assorted FGers... Come December, we (wife, son, and I) will be traveling abroad again. The "dead time" between US Thanksgiving and Christmas is pretty cheap right now, and for under $1300 US in total the 3 of us can fly out of Chicago, do a stayover in London, then on to Lisbon, then back to Chicago. We're looking at 1-2 days on the ground in London/surrounding areas and 6-7 days on the ground in Portugal, unsure of exact plans for Lisbon the entirety or get to Porto or what. I understand it'll be cool to cold during the trip, but I have a week of vacation I need to burn or lose and the pricing is tough to say no to. I'd like to see Stonehenge while we're there. We've done the Big Ben/Tower of London/Big Eye thing on a stayover before, but our son was too little to remember anything. He's 17 now...fuck me time flies. Trip advise for either destination in December?

4X game I picked up in the Ukraine Humble Bundle. Anyone tried it yet? Seems rather complex at first glance, trying to get through the manual but tired and not braining good.

My 3 year old Fenix 5X Sapphire refused to power on and could not be reset by me or by the customer service rep over the phone. She told me I was out of warranty so they couldn't repair it, but they would send me a replacement for free. I was floored. I expected to send it in for service at my expense or just be told it was now a brick and to buy a new one, I didn't ask for or even remotely expect a free replacement on an out of warranty *refurbished* watch that had a 90 day warranty originally. I got my replacement in a few days and have used it on several walks/hikes/runs since and it works with no issue. I'm pretty pleased with Garmin's customer service.

About a month ago I got word from the brass that I was presumptive 'next up' for any openings in Homicide, but no opening was expected for a few years. NP, I'm fine parked where I am. Thursday I got a call from the Homicide Captain asking if I'd be interested in Night LT spot, the current LT decided to retire abruptly. We haggled out hours and the like, and unless that LT backs out of his retirement at the last minute I'll most likely be taking over next month. I won't have my own office any longer, physically or literally. There are four Homicide shifts (Day, Middle, Late Tac, and Late). I'll have Late Tac and Late. Still have about the same number of detectives and 2 sergeants, though. I share an office with the Day LT, but our hours don't overlap so it's more of a 'don't hang pictures on these two walls' sort of deal. I still have a window. I'm excited to get back to going to scenes, to having some more involvement in real police work, etc.