The foliage between Silverton and Ouray was incredibly beautiful. We caught peak Aspen tree colors, it seems. These photos don’t do the beauty justice. 289 miles riding in the mountains is good for the soul! The bikes are loaded and we head back tomorrow.

I’ve also been #BourbonHunting here in Colorado. I’ve found several bottles that I haven’t seen in Iowa, including a Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse: CNB (2024), Four Roses SBBS OESQ, Penelope Estate Collection SB, Smokeye Hill BP, and WT Jimmy’s 70th Anniversary. Pictures to come… #Bourbon

Motorcycle trip to Colorado has begun. Mike and I are in Colorado Springs tonight, sipping bourbon from the back of the trailer, with a Rocky Mountain back drop as scenery. We arrive in Durango tomorrow. There seems to be a good shot that Mesa Verde Nat’l Park will be closed w/the Gov’t shutdown.

Got my performance review.

No more Chobani yogurt for me!!! 😡 #BoycottChobani www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

I painted the lower front section of the house where a new window was installed. Zoey was right there ready to help me out if needed. #Painting #DoggySupervisor #NewWindows

Since I was painting the new siding boards by the front door, I decided to start painting the rest of the new boards that were installed with our windows. In this case, the siding had rotted because of run-off from the bump out. Once the new paint gets a little mold growth on it, it'll match.

We've had a couple of pieces of siding by the front steps that rotted, so I replaced them myself. First time siding project. Working around the concrete and brick steps was a pain, but ultimately successful. Once painted, you can't tell these were new. #DIY #SidingProject #HomeRepair

Frannie always appreciates the excitement of "Fall toad season" here in Iowa. #Corgi #PembrokeWelshCorgi #CorgiCrew #ToadSeason #AlsoBigAssSpiderSeason

My friend, Mike, and I decided to trailer the Harleys to Colorado instead of ride them this time. It's getting pretty late in the season, and didn't want to chance riding in terrible weather. Plus, we'll be less tired when we get there. #Harley #Harley-Davidson #Motorcycles #TrailerTrash

I rode my bike to lunch today to meet with former coworkers, then biked over to a local brewery, and am now enjoying a beer at 1:30 in the afternoon on a sunny patio, with a nice breeze.

Bottles of Wild Turkey 101 Aged 8 Years have just hit the shelves in the state of Iowa! I’ve been looking for a while. Stores are apparently limited to receiving one case per week right now. I'll have to do a comparison review to the Jimmy's 70th Anniversary 8-year. #WildTurkey101 #Bourbon

About 3 years ago, I arrived early to an #IowaCubs game. Two guys offered me a beer while we waited for the gates to open. I took their photo with my #Rolleiflex camera, liked how it turned out, and made prints. I searched for them trying to deliver these prints. Today I found Brian. #Photography

The activity for Sunday was a long bicycle ride with my friend @zoorat.bsky.social. My bike computer showed 72.6 miles, while his showed slightly less. I was tired after this one... #Bicycling #WokeUpWithLegCramps

Frannie the Corgi has our window contractor wrapped around her little finger (paw). She runs out to greet him, and he gives her treats everyday he comes over. Nobody seems unhappy with this arrangement #CorgiCrew #FrannieTheCorgi #Corgi

Another day of bicycling for me! I logged 45.4 miles today, for a total of 100+ miles for the weekend. We rode to Easter Lake on the East side of Des Moines and saw the Goats On The Go crew clearing brush around a pond nearby. Now enjoying a bourbon… #GoatsOnTheGo #Bicycling #BuffaloTrace

Went out for a bike ride today, and logged 54.3 miles from my house to Perry, IA and back. Had some lunch there, stopped for ice cream in Dallas Center on the way home, now enjoying a Don’t Call Me Shirley beer in the driveway, Frannie keeping me company. #Bicycling #DontCallMeShirley #CorgiCrew

This photo doesn't do the enormous size justice, but here is our newly assembled OTA antenna. The current antenna doesn't pull in our local channels very well anymore. This new one is 8' 8" at its longest point, and 6' 8" wide. I'll get this hooked up soon... #OTA #TelevisionAntenna

Yay! The final two windows have arrived! We're almost ready to call the window replacement project complete... #NewWindows

We spent the afternoon with our next-door neighbors at the ICubs baseball game. Cubs won 4-3 vs. Omaha Storm Chasers. The season is winding down. #ICubs #Baseball #MinorLeagueBaseball #CubsWin #Iowa

My wife, the dogs, and I spent a few days in the Black Hills of South Dakota visiting friends. Frannie got to burn energy off with Cody the Corgi, who is less than a year old. Cody’s Dad calls this Spit Wrestling. Zoey wanted nothing to do with this… #BlackHills #SpitWrestling #CorgiCrew

My kingdom for a fu%#*>g “Edit Post” button on Bluesky Social!! #BlueskyImprovements #BlueskyFeatureRequests #BlueskyTweaks #BlueskyTechSupport

I had a sound mixing gig on Friday night for my friends in the Cover That band. They played a private 40th birthday party. We also had about a 45 minute rain delay to deal with. It was a smaller crowd, than the public gigs, but everyone was enjoying the music. #CoverThatBand #LiveMusic #RockNRoll

Getting ready to mix live sound for my friends in Fast Dolly. @andyfilean.bsky.social #FastDolly #LiveMusic

I finished Thursday with my friend’s bike riding group, and logged 52.6 total miles for the day. Here we are enjoying at beer at the Cumming (, IA) Tap. The rest of the group stopped at The Chicken for dinner on the way home, but I skipped dinner and went home for a protein shake.

I went to lunch with a friend on Thursday at a local brew pub and picked up some of their popular Don’t Call Me Shirley beer. Delicious! It tastes like Shirley Temple.

Enjoying a noon Iowa Cubs game in Des Moines today with @bigspatula.bsky.social #iowacubs #cubs #baseball

The window installation project continued today. Our bedroom window got replaced, and had practically no rot. This was *not* what I was expecting (based on the others). We spent time staining and applying urethane to the windows/trim pieces also. #NewWindows #ProjectsThatTakeLongerThanExpected

Feeling stuck? Try breaking your overwhelmingly big tasks into an overwhelming number of smaller tasks.

A friend and former co-worker went to KY for her step daughter's wedding, and visited several distilleries while there. She picked up a couple of Four Roses Single Barrel Barrel Strength OESO bottles for me. I'm cracking one open tonight Cheers, y'all!! #FourRoses #Bourbon

The window/door replacement continues today, with our old French doors being swapped out. Also, I squeezed in a 36 mile ride to the town of Cumming, IA. I used about 1/2 of the battery for this trip. I tried to stay on pedal assist level 1 as much as I could today. #Ebike #MyLegsAreLikeRubber

Sunday Funday with my friend, Glenn, on our e-bikes. We traveled the paved bike trails to downtown DSM, visited a couple of breweries and a bar along the river. After about five hours of fun, I had almost 40 miles on the bike, with about 60% battery left. To me, that is fantastic range! #Ebike

#FrankTedesco is a bright spot in the dark world in which we live. He listens to songs that people request, then by ear, he plays his interpretation of them on the piano. This is one of my favorites. He's a talented man, and his videos make me smile. Check him out on YouTube, and other socials...

After a successful and enjoyable test ride yesterday, today I bought the e-bike that I test drove. I picked up a #Yakima OnRamp LX hitch rack too. This rack can hold two bikes up to 80 lbs each. #TimeToGetInShape #MokwheelObsidian #Biking #Bicycle #Ebike

After lunch today, I stopped by a local store and test drove an e-Bike. A friend had loaned me his for one weekend while he was out of town. I liked it a lot! I used to ride my road bike all the time, but I'm older and heavier now, and really liked the assistance that a motor provided. #Ebike

The window replacement continues. Today was the walkout slider in my basement office. The panes were so bad, one could barely see thru them. The new one is now in place, and look fantastic! Although, it seems abnormally bright in here now. #NewWindows #NewDoors #GoodbyeAndGoodRiddance

The park near our house has started tearing out the old playground equipment. During the process, the walking path is now closed. Frannie doesn’t understand what’s going on… “Why can’t we follow our usual path, Dad?” #CorgiCrew #Corgi #PembrokeWelshCorgi

My wife and I attended a bourbon raffle yesterday morning. There were a couple of bottles that I was interested in. My wife's number was called first, and she picked the Blue Spot to purchase. My number was called too, and I picked up a spare Blanton's. #Bourbon #BourbonRaffle #BlueSpot #Blantons

Another window has been installed. The leaky, fogged-up front room window is out, and the new one has been installed. #NewWindows

Busy day at the Taylor house yesterday. The Bradford pear tree came down and we hauled it away, and the first window was removed and replaced. #GoodThingMyIncomeStoppedLastMonth #MyBankAccountWillNeverRecover

I just got the water quality online test results back, and the reverse osmosis system seems to do a good job cleaning up our city water. Nitrate levels went from 6.6 to 1.5 ppm, plus arsenic and the byproducts of chlorine treatment (like chloroform) went to Undetectable. #ReverseOsmosis #TapScore

My tree guy texted and said that he could come over tomorrow and remove the remaining part of our broken tree. So long, Bradford pear tree. We enjoyed having your shade in the front yard all these years. #BradfordPear #TreeRemoval #GonnaBeSweatingMyAssOff

A neighbor of ours has a carved log piece of art that she says, “reminds me of you, Jay.” What do you all think? #ModernArtMasterpiece #FullMetalJacket #GomerPyle #MyBeardIsMySpiritAnimal #MoMA

I had a high school senior photo session last night. We went to a local flower farm. The lavender rows died off this year because of growing conditions, but other flowers were available. The "photographer-in-action" shot provided to me by the Mom of the subject (aka my assistant). #Photography

I was starting to run low on my Poor Man’s Pappy bourbon mix, so I started a new batch today. The recipe for PMP is 40% Weller 12-year and 60% Weller Antique 107, then let it rest for a month. I use a 1-liter Buffalo Trace bottle with a custom vinyl sticker. #PoorMansPappy #Bourbon #WheatedBourbon

I removed the bushes from the front of the house to make the window installation easier. In the process, I put a deep scratch in my calf that soaked my sock and shoe with blood (hidden for sensitive eyes). It’s not as bad as it looks. #WeveGotABleeder #NotTheFrankOrBeans #TheresSomethingAboutMary

My former workplace has their monthly in-office day today. I got a text from a friend who sat across from my cubicle - "Thanks for the laugh." Cardboard Jay has struck again. I'm actually meeting my former co-workers tonight at the after-hours gathering at a local bar. #CardboardJay

I and my wife, along with neighbor, Mark, made short work of the broken tree clean-up. These are the “after” photos. #BradfordPear #TreeDamage #NotGonnaMakeIt #NewChainSawBrokenIn

We had a severe thunderstorm move thru last night, and one tree was damaged. Luckily,the section missed the neighbor’s fence and our house completely. The section where I put threaded rod for support survived OK. Now I have a Saturday project. The whole tree may need to come down. #LumberjackJay

A friend showed me this shot from my retirement gathering in June that was on Facebook (I shut my account down at the start on 2025). @andyfilean.bsky.social and the other guys from Fast Dolly stopped in to celebrate with me. #FastDolly #SoundGuy #Retired #DoingTheBest