No fort for us

 Oh hi my boy,

Even though I can’t think of much to say today, I’m going to miss writing these letters to you. I’m feeling a little pressure now because mom’s pushing me to get some projects done. I have some more painting to do, still have to fix our backyard sprinklers—the grass in the backyard is all but dead. There are plenty of things that won’t get done too, but there will be plenty of time for that. Mom’s got your room ready, but feel free to do anything you want with it. Joey got rid of his bunk bed and now mom’s helping him fix up his room. She’s been on a tear since schools been out. We’ve taken three trailer loads to the DI, and one to the dump. The old couches and trunk are gone, the “The infamous Kick” is now only part of our memory. The TV is up and the new furniture is in. The couches are a little big for the room, but I think in a good way.

My car project for the week was servicing my 4Runner. It’s the first time I’ve done it myself so there was a bit of a learning curve. I think it’s important for me to get to know that car a little better because it’s taken on remote adventures far from service. The oil change went fine even though it uses a slightly different kind of filter. I did have to remove a skid plate that was a bit on the heavy side. The other thing I did was rotate the tires. Normally that’s an awkward job because the tires are heavy but it’s fairly brainless too. But I could not get these off, they were frozen to the hub. I thought of taking it to the tire store (mom had the idea that you should apply there since they pay like $22/hour). Then I figured I needed to learn how to get them off myself. What if we were in the middle of nowhere and we got a flat and I couldn’t get a wheel off? So I kicked and I twisted and I pried and even pounded the tire with a hammer. I actually did get the first one of after all of that. The second one would not budge. So I soaked it with PB Blaster, put it back together and went to bed. I was determined to fix it myself so I watched a bunch of YouTube videos. They all had different ideas including the things I described above. There was this one English guy though that suggested using the weight of the car to pop it loose. So the next night I jacked the car up and lowered it back down with a chunk of 2x4 under the edge of the tire. Then I fired up the car and turned the wheel back and forth. (Don’t worry, I had loosened the lug nuts slightly but left them on. I heard a satisfying pop and knew it had come loose. Got that side rotated and did the other the same way. I guess when aluminum and steel touch corrosion occurs which can bind them together. And Toyota seems to have tighter tolerances than Jeep does. That plus I’ve taken my 4Runner through mud and water several times this year, plus it was a very salty year with all of the storms we had this winter. So when I put it back together I smoothed out all the mating surfaces with an abrasive pad, the smeared anti seize grease all over them. Hopefully next time I have to remove a wheel, it will take far less struggle than it did this time.

Work is getting interesting. I’m going to Boston next week, my first time traveling for this job. My boss has been very impressed with my work, including the big project I did over last weekend. I also wrote a proposal for a brand realignment project, that’s a little outside of my job description, that she’s excited about. Things have been so crazy that last week I told your mom that my prayers about my job were starting to be answered, but at that moment my blessings were coming in fast and creating a lot of pressure on me, and for a bit they felt more like trials. Believe me, getting up at 4 next Monday to go to the airport is not going to feel like a blessing. But if I can keep being intense and keep delivering, I think it could turn out well.

Your brothers are very excited about your San Francisco trip. I think it’s a wonderful thing for you guys to do together. These next few months are a really special time in your lives, and I’m glad you get to enjoy them together. Let’s be intense when you get home that first week. Hopefully you can get a job and get going on signing up for classes quickly. This trip was all their idea and they were very generous. 

Yesterday we took a day trip to Logan because Joey had the Saturday off. We were going to go camping but with how busy we’ve been I didn’t really get anything planned. We got up early, got gas and got McDonald’s. The weather was perfect and everything is super green and lush going up the canyon. I had wanted to visit the American West Heritage Museum, which, as I’m sure you can imagine, is another term for a Fort. We had actually gotten a too early start and it wasn’t opened yet. So no forts for us. We kept driving and ended up at the Logan Tabernacle. It’s being renovated so we weren’t able to enter, but it was neat to look around. Then we went to the temple, I was impressed by how busy it was. We hadn’t planned on doing any ordinances but again, it was fun to walk around. 

We then headed over to the USU campus to walk around. Honestly, I just wanted ice cream. It was fun to be with mom up there, she has good memories of being there. We did get ice cream, and let me tell you Jacob, the ice cream there is the best I’ve ever tasted. I got Caramel Apple Swirl which is now the best thing I’ve ever eaten, wow. After ice cream we went to the small art museum up there, which honestly was pretty lame, but Ben did find his dream girl (see photo).

Mom wanted to go to the Pepperidge Farm outlet, remember when we went during Covid? Well, even though the store was now reopened, but not any less lame. We did get a few bags of Flavor Burst Goldfish crackers though. By then we had had enough snacks so we decided not to stop for lunch. We did stop by Gosner’s dairy on the way home where we got delicious whole chocolate milk and squeaky cheese curds (I haven’t pooped since). 

We got home and for some reason I was so tired I had to sleep, which I don’t like to do on Saturdays. Mom made delicious poutine out of the squeaky cheese and homemade fries. Wow was that good.

I’ll finish this letter later tonight. Grandma invited us over for dinner so I’ll fill you in on any uncle Tim isms. 

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We’re back, No great uncle Tim quotes this time though. It was nice to be there but we did stay forever. Everyone is sure excited to see you.

I know I sent the note about Joe getting his papers in. I expect his call to come next week or the Tuesday before your return. What an exciting time in our family. I must admit that it has me fairly emotional, even more than normal. Yesterday I took mom’s car to Walmart for an oil change in the morning before work. They were playing Coco on the tv in the waiting area. It was towards the end and it was all I could do not to weep openly in public. I had to go walk around the store. Then last night we watched this movie called Flaming Hot. I told you guys this story a while back about this Mexican immigrant who got a job for frito lay and invented Flaming Hot Cheetos. It was such a good story my eyes watered through the whole thing. Mom and Ben look down on such displays of emotion, but for me, they’ve been pretty near the surface lately.

I better go kid. Mom is already in bed. I surely love you and hope to chat tomorrow.

Pops