BenSpark Family Adventures

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01549 I was sent a box of fun stuff for the upcoming super Mario Bros. Movie. Mario and Luigi hats, t-shirts, stickers, buttons and bags. Lots of fun stuff. I made a video unboxing the swag. The movie hits theaters on April 5th.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01548 Tonight we enjoyed some meatballs that Allison and Andy made a few weeks ago. Andy was quite happy with the meal. we had our Krav classes today and Andy was back at it and having a good time. Eva as well. They both worked hard in class. I had my class in the morning and it was fun, I’m still very nervous about tomorrow night’s evaluation but excited, too.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01547 Andy has started their third session at rock Spot Climbing. I came in at the end of classes and Andy was attempting to climb a 5.9. This is the level that their shooting for this session. Andy got a little further than you can see in the photo and came back down. Mind you, this was after an hour and a half of climbing. Andy had already worked their butt off prior to this. As Andy came back down they looked more dejected than ever. I caught a photo of the look on Andy’s face and it was very sad indeed. On the ride home I talked with Andy about how their Rock Climbing journey was a marathon rather than a sprint. I then worked through that concept with Andy. I tried to relate it to my Black Belt journey and how I did not achieve my own goals the firs time out of the gate. It continues to be something that I am working on. That must be on my mind because evaluation is coming up in two days. And I am very nervous. I think I’m in a good position physically and my...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01546 As if I didn’t have enough things in my office that lit up, I picked up a new light up seat cover for my gaming chair. This is is cheap, I got it at Big Lots so I wasn’t expecting much. It is powered by a USB plug so that does not make it super practical and I am wider than the cover so no one can see it anyway. I thought it might be cool for my videos. However, no one will see it and plugging it in doesn’t make much sense. I also picked up a cheap light up keyboard so that I can use it when the automatic lights go off on me at work. They can make me go in, they can’t make me sit with everyone else listening to Bob all night long.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01545 For a few years, Skylanders was my jam. They were the thing that I worked on all the time, playing the game, reporting on the game, collecting toys and pretty much anything else with them. Then they disappeared almost overnight. I’ve got a huge display cabinet with every Skylander ever except for one, Master Ro-Bow. That one was impossible to find because it was the very last one out. I held it in my hand once but did not buy it because I thought that Activision was going to send one to me. So instead that one is not part of my collection and it goes for several hundred dollars on eBay. I’d love to find it and add it to the collection one day but it is unlikely. I guess I should take my collection and start playing through the last game, Skylanders: Imaginators on my YouTube channel. Give some new life in these Toys To Life Toys.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01544 The other day when Andy got a haircut they were talking with Zack. Andy thinks the world of Zack and even puts together lists of topics that they want to discuss with Zack. They talked about how I have several Pez dispensers. Andy knows that I have a few, but forgot that I have a ton of Marvel Funko Pop Pez dispensers as well. I guess that the next time that I go to see Zack myself I should bring him some photos of my office, it’ll blow his mind.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01543 For 90% of the time my Dexcom G6 is great, it monitors my blood sugar and is very accurate. However, when you replace a sensor there is a warm up time. When you replace a transmitter it takes some time for it to connect. I replaced mine this morning when the alarm for it woke me. Then I tried to get to sleep and it was just not happening. Then when the transmitter and sensor warmed up things were looking good and then the numbers crashed down. They really were not crashing because I checked them the traditional way. I calibrated the app and ate a little something just in case. Tried to get back to sleep and couldn’t. Got another alarm and recalibrated again. I’ve got to stop changing these things on the weekends or at least wait until after I wake up.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01542 I took this using screenshot mode on my XBox and so it is a photo I technically took. There was an open beta for Diablo IV on XBox and I created myself an avatar that looked as close as I could make it look to me, if I was a shape shifting giant druid. There are a few character types to choose from and I chose the Druid specifically because they can use magic and also become a bear or a werewolf. The druid can also have a pair of wolves with them to fight all the crazy enemies that home their way. The game is fun to play, I played the original Diablo and Diablo II way back when but now it is much more detailed and the gameplay is rather fun. A good change of pace from Fortnite. I’m not sure if I will continue past the beta since the game itself is $100.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01541 Our friend Wes Molebash published a new book and Allison pre-ordered it for Andy. I went over to An Unlikely Story to pick up the book and I ended up reading the whole thing before I even gave it to Andy to read. The book is very good with Wes’ amazing artwork and his sense of humor spread throughout. I made sure to snap a photo outside of the store so that we could send it to Wes. It would be great if he could come up here and do a book signing and maybe an interview with Jeff Kinney. I also took a photo of the display inside where the book was out for everyone to buy. I hope that it does well and am looking forward to the next one. Tonight we had Krav graduation and both kids were able to move up to new belts. Andy did not have to make up the test that he missed on Tuesday and that is because of the level that he is at. He is definitely ready to advance. Eva had to redo the gun defenses after the graduation in order to be promoted. This I also understand ...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01540 Allison and Eva were out seeing the play, Hadestown tonight so I took Andy to Bliss for dinner. Bliss was his choice, mostly because they wanted ice cream. Andy also initially asked about the build a burger but I put a kibosh on that because I wasn’t going for a $27 burger. We both got bliss specials and I explained to Andy how you can ask for certain things to not be on the burger and also ask for others. We also discussed how to have them cooked, too. After our burgers we also enjoyed some sundaes. Andy did show some restraint in that he stopped when he was full and we took the rest of the ice cream home so that he could enjoy it tomorrow. Allison and Eva had a great time at the play. This was Eva’s favorite one so far and she was super excited when she got home.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01539 Today was stripe test for me and for Eva. Andy came home sick from school so he could not go to class today. He’ll have to make up his stripe test before graduation. I had my stripe test this morning and it was tough. We did a lot of drills and in one of the drills my partner drilled me right in the face. Luckily I just got a couple of scratches that don’t look that bad right now. I didn’t even notice them until I was about to shave and wen I looked in the mirror I was wondering why my eye kind of hurt and where I had gotten the scratches. Then I remembered the stripe test and Dave catching me pretty good on one technique. We are usually very controlled and careful. We’ve been working together a lot lately, too. He’s much faster than me, though. Eva had her stripe test in the afternoon and in the end she got half a stripe because she had to work on her gun defenses. She did a few things that would get you dropped from a Black Belt test immediately. I know w...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01538 Apparently Torrun is annoyed. She is not the most affectionate cat in the world but when she wants to be pet she is relentless. She will not be stopped or put off. She bumps her head into your hand so that you pet her and then whips it away when she’s had enough. She must have wanted us to pet her tonight because she came and sat on Allison’s lap, which she never does.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01537 Andy spent the day putting the finishing touches on several batches of cupcakes. Andy made two kinds of cupcakes for his class. There are chocolate cupcakes that are decorated with a leprechaun hat and bunny cupcakes that are vanilla but the color of the cake is orange because of some food coloring added. Andy even melted chocolates to design gold buckles for the hats. Marshmallow halves are being used for the ears. Andy also emailed their teachers and the school nurse for permission to bring the cupcakes to school. Now we had to go over the timeline of how this should go in the future. As with most things Andy the plan comes after the execution.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01536 It is Saturday and I am back to the office. This is mandatory for my shift despite every single thing that we do can be done remotely. It is more of the usually top down decrees from our upper management who care little for the employees. Supposedly their argument is that people are much more productive in the office and that cannot be further from the truth, especially in this office. I got here, set up my desk for the night and started working on things for later in the night and tomorrow morning. For the first hour there was one guy who came in and talked loudly and non-stop for that entire hour. I couldn’t take it anymore so I packed up everything and moved to the complete opposite side of the building. There is no legitimate point to being in the office but we have to do it once a weekend. This morning I went to the Saturday morning Krav Class. Miss Jen is our instructor for the weekend and we had a shortened class because there was the tournament toda...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01535 We had a very nice Saint Patrick’s Day today. The kids and Allison had a day off from school so they were able to enjoy being home and doing a few things for fun. Andy helped Allison make some Irish soda bread and play with some friends. Eva got to make some videos and have a visit with Auntie Tara. I came home from the Cape this morning and got home in time to enjoy bagels with everyone. I took a nap around the time that Tara was heading to the Cape. Our dinner was very nice. Eva teased Andy about not wearing any green and Andy went up and put on everything great that they have. I enjoyed one of my two drinks of the year with some Guinness in a special glass. I can’t recall when I last drank from this glass either. After dinner I worked from home and it was an eventful night with a down to the wire project with one of our sites. I don’t think I’d like that to happen again, too stressful.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01534 I ran down to the Cape today to see my grandmother and then to stay overnight with my parents. Grandma was in good spirits and very interested in how my kids were getting on in school and other activities. They sent along some cards and I brought her a few photos from Eva’s Confirmation. I stayed there for a few hours visiting, hanging out while she slept and visiting with her visitors. I drove back from Grandma’s house to my parent’s house. On the ride I had been listening to Ready Player One. I haven’t had much time in the car to do much Audible listening and it was good to get back into that book. I really enjoyed it the first few times I read it and it was nice to settle back in. We got back to my parent’s house and we picked up pizza for dinner from Supreme and from Paul’s. It was a nice meal and then we watched the movie The Banshees of Inisherin. This was an Oscar nominated movie and my parents have been watching the different Oscar nominated movies ...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01533 Several years ago I met Lewis Howes at an Affiliate Summit. He was a really nice guy and very interesting. He’s ha d a podcast now for several years called The School of Greatness and he’s interviewed so many different people. He posted that he had a new book out and so I ordered it. I figure that this would be a great book for me to read as I continue working toward my Black Belt. Get myself into a great mindset and all that. I first need to start reading it.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01532 Allison has been crocheting panels for a large quilt of gnomes. Each one his themed around a different month of the year. She is up to May now and has modified this gnome to have a strawberry hat. Each gnome is very cute and she has been making them so that they can hang up in the classroom at school because the teacher that she is working with most of the time really likes gnomes.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01531 When I was growing up, my favorite books to check out of the library were Ed Emberley books because I loved to draw in his style. When I became a parent I bought all of the books I could to add to our library. Eva recently cleaned out her bedroom and found them. I had to save them from her purge and maybe when we have grandkids they will enjoy the books like I once did. I don’t recall Andy or Eva ever using the books that much to draw. They are booth good artists but I guess Ed never spoke to them.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01530 Last night was a group potluck. I was going to get a pizza from Big Y but due to staffing shortages they had to close down at a specific time and so no pizza. Instead I went and picked up some cookies and chips to bring to the pot luck. Luckily other folks brought plenty of great food.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01529 I noticed the crocus are out yesterday. I didn’t think of it at the time to take a phone so I took one today after my Saturday morning Krav class. It was a good class and I was lucky to work with one of the black belts, Shawn. He’s a really good partner. I should have tried to stick with him into the next session which was a sparring class. I feel I can learn a whole lot from him. Classes were tough but I am glad I got myself there to go. Tonight we had a pot luck at work. I guess if we have to go into the office it is nice to have some good food there.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01528 We have this meal during Lent often. It is the last minute have to eat something without meat meal and it always has peas. Today I had PT and it was a tough one. I had to do this exercise called the L pushup. You take a medicine ball and put one hand on that and one hand on the floor. Do a push up, roll it out to the side, do a pushup, roll it back in, do a pushup, roll it forward, do a push up and then roll it back and do a push up. Then switch hands. Do it again and that is 1 rep. I had to do 3 sets of 5 along with other exercises. It wasn’t until dinner that I realized that I had done 150 pushups that way. Yikes.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01527 I grew up across the street from my grade school. I went there over 30 years ago. There has never ever been a school zone sign on that street. This year there is one. The kids in Andy’s class contacted the DPW and requested that signs be put up on Church St. and Richard’s Ave. They were installed this week and WBZ news came to the school and interviewed the kids. The DPW even brought a new football for the kids and in the news segment we have Andy throwing the ball to their classmates.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01526 Andy was home sick from school today. When school was out he was able to contact his friend Bella so that the two of them could play Beat Sabre together on their Oculus systems. When I found him he and Bella were chatting through a Facetime call but they both had on their Oculus headsets. We figured out how to connect them through the Oculus app so that they could play and talk with each other at the same time. He has a couple of friends who have the Oculus and now he can play with them and chat with them at the same time in various games.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01525 I was in Target today and I saw that there were a couple of Hot Wheels cars that I found interesting. One was a batmobile from the movie, The Batman. The other was a concept car that hot wheels made of K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider. They really slicked out the car to look modern but retained a bit of the look of the original K.I.T.T. Namely the color and the red bar on the front of the car.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01524 I started taking care of some things in the garage including some solar lights that I had bought a few years ago. Every time I think to put them in the ground it is too cold and the ground is frozen. Well, I finally got a nice day and decided to put them in the ground. They have a really nice starburst effect when they are lit up at night. Now no one has to move about like a ninja, as my sister Tara said, in order to leave the backyard.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01523 The house smells a thousand times better at this point and the basement has been cleaned and sanitized. However, I still had the contents of the shop vac to deal with. So, this morning while Allison and the kids went to church I did my own form of service. I dug a deep hole in the side garden area and filled it with the contents of the shop vac. I then cleaned out the shop vac as thoroughly as possible and set it out to dry. Luckily it was a dry day. With that task completed I showered and decided to reward myself with a donut and some hot chocolate. I got donuts for the family, too. Now whenever I go into the basement I look at this room and make sure that nothing has come out of that pipe in the floor. I do not want to deal with that again.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01522 Today was Eva’s Confirmation. We celebrated that at Saint Mary’s Church in North Attleboro. Mem and Grandfather came form the Cape and Auntie Shelby and Kylie came from their house to attend. Eva’s sponsor was Miss Colleen, our good friend. Eva chose the Confirmation name of Catherine of Bologna who is the patron Saint of Artists. A very fitting choice. The ceremony was very nice and the bishop had a great message for his homily. We enjoyed a very nice event in Eva’s life. After the ceremony we went to House of Fortune and had a fantastic meal together. We got a ton of food and it was all very tasty. We always have a great time there and it was nice to go back again. What was not nice to go back to was the basement when we got home. I worked last night and when I was done work I got into bed and napped for an hour and a half until I had to get up to get dressed for the Confirmation. When I awoke there was a terrible smell in the house. I investigated and di...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01521 The folks at Playmobil set me some Naruto figures to unbox and review. Opinions are my own. I have never watched an episode of the Japanese Anime show, Naruto Shippuden. However, this past year Fortnite did a crossover with the series and it was fun. I learned more about the character and the show and so when Playmobil asked if I’d like an influencer package for the toys I said yes. Here is the video I made of the figures.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01520 I have the ability to play on my XBox remotely. I can pair my XBox controller with my phone and use that to play any of the games that I have on my console. I use this when I am at work in the office so that I can let one of my games, Autonauts run through the night. In Autonauts you program robots to do a bunch of things for you in this little world. Some of it takes a while so I usually have it running at night when I’m watching TV. That way it can just run and I don’t have to do much. The little robots make a bunch of resources I can use in the game to advance in levels. Well, I had an XBox controller phone holder and I broke one and lost the other, so I had to get a new one. I like the design of this new one, however the one thing that is is missing is a stand. The old ones had a stand so that I could place the controller down and it would not tip back.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01519 I’ve only been to the Axe Bar one time and I’ve wanted to go back ever since. shortly after my first time there I hurt my shoulder and have not wanted to go and throw. I’ve been in physical therapy at CSPI Chiropractic Sports Performance Institute for a few months now and I have been working hard on rehabbing that pain. I have made a lot of progress on it and there is virtually no more pain. I may have to give this a try next week when I take Andy to Rock Climbing.