BenSpark Family Adventures

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01703 There is this new online shopping site called Temu and it carries a bunch of interesting and eclectic stuff. I received my first delivery from them yesterday but today I took one of the items that I had ordered and added it to my car. I got these decals of the Autobot symbol silver on black that fit the middle of my wheels of the car. I put them on the car today. I have several Autobot symbols on the car in various locations. I try to keep with a theme, although I am considering putting the Thundercats decal on the car, too. But I may just hang on to that for the next car or for something else. I originally ordered from Temu for the Optimus Prime figure in the photo above.It was only $1.25. I thought that it was going to be much much smaller and when it arrived I was really surprised and happy that it was such a decent sized figure with great detail. If this was a legit Hasbro figure it would have cost $32 or more because Hasbro has been price gouging their...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01702 Today was Eva’s first day of school. It was only a half day for the school to take school pictures and have the kids get their lockers and go over their schedules. Eva had a nice first day and after school she and three of her friends went to one friend’s grandmother’s house for a pool party. they hung out, had pizza and a great time together. This morning I had my first stripe test as a black belt and it was rough. It is so easy to fall out of shape after a month off from classes. I’ve got a lot of work to do to get back into it and not suck wind every class. But I was able to get my first stripe on my black belt so that was good. It was nice to see some other friends back as well.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01701 Andy decided that they would no longer like to have a bunk bed so took it apart and listed it on Facebook Marketplace. I have a deep dislike of Facebook marketplace because You get many inquiries and things take a long time to pan out. I got a message today from a guy who was really interested in the bunk bed and messaged me all through the day. The time that he was going to come kept getting pushed back. He was supposed to come between 4 and 5 and even messaged me that he was on the way. He never showed. I messaged him around 6:30 and he never looked at the message. I can’t help thinking that this guy was simply messing with me all day long for kicks. This is why I dislike Facebook marketplace.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01700 today was the first day of school for Allison and Andy. This was also the first time any of the kids were in a public school. This will be a whole new experience for us this year. While it will be different Andy is quite excited for the change. This year Andy will be taking band and starting to learn the trombone. Andy will have gym a couple of times a week and they have the option of free school lunches each day. Allison is back to school today with the kids this week. her school has half days for the next few days and Friday and Monday off. Andy has 3 full days of school and is getting right into it. I picked Andy up from school today, Allison and I had dropped Andy off together. When Andy got out of the car they saw a kid from karate that recognized Andy. So, it was nice that Andy was greeted almost immediately. We learned that there are a few kids that Andy knows from karate. This is nice to know and will help ease the transition a bit. While Allison an...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01699 Life in an old house is interesting. We’ve been having plumbing issues since back in May when the house trap pipe overflowed with sewage. My dad suggested that we tear up the basement around where the pipe was to replace it. Today we tore up that space. We were also running snakes through the pipes because in addition to the pipes backing up at the trap they now seem to have a clog between the washing machine and the trap. About 30 across the basement floor. We snakes with a hand snake and then with a larger one. Neither worked to clear the clog despite the snake going all the way from the washing machine area to the area where I am standing above the house trap. So the snake got through but once that was removed and we ran some water things got filled back up. Tomorrow we are trying the largest size snake. Lets hope that works.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01697 I say not again but this time it is something new. A whole new adventure in suck. This morning Allison had me come to the basement because the floor around the washing machine was all wet. There was water all under the washing machine and around the utility sink and even on a file cabinet that we have propped up with a dehumidifier on top so it can drain out into the sink. I noticed some water in the sink and it would not drain so I hit it with the plunger. water came spilling out over the white pipe to the left of the sink. I wanted to see what exactly was happening. I went to the pipe in the back of the house that has the house trap and I ran a snake through that. I ran into no blockages and then I ran it back toward the house away from the street and there also no blockage that I could get. So the problem appears to be happening close to where all the pipes converge near the laundry. The new pipes that were recently installed when the bathroom was put in...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01696 I occasionally get some great mailers from General Mills and their family of brands. We received a back to school box of treats that not only had treats for the people in the house but also the dogs in the house. However, we do not have dogs so I did give my sister the free samples of the Blue Buffalo treats that were sent to me. We kept the Cascadian Farm samples and are looking forward to trying those. I am looking forward to the granola. It was nice that both Blue Buffalo and Cascadian Farm thought of me to send me some great free samples.