Category: Family

Christmas List – 2019

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Birth of the Messiah / Fat Man Redsuit Day is tomorrow.  There are some things on my list:

  1. ITMFA!
  2. For the Us Economy not to go insane in 2019.
  3. For the adults in the room to take the reins of the American political system.
  4. Healthcare for all to be a basic right.
  5. A little charitable giving:

Heifer International: Bees (I like to give the gift of bees) or Goats, Chickens, Llama, or the whole Ark… – Success Got Bees!  Donation already sent off.
A little cash sent to Doctors Without Borders/MSF
Go give blood and send me a post card
Tis best gift card

  1. Some stuff I am asking my wife and family for:

Filson Wool Overalls
Book: Campaign Furniture by Chris Schwartz – My Awesome Wife
Book: British Campaign Furniture: Elegance Under Canvas, 1740-1914 – Nicholas A. Brawer
Really nice Ukulele build kit (Solid Koa Item # 5372) Link
A card or hand written letter from my sister and each of my kids – 2 out of three this year – Happy.
Pizza Stone for the oven – From MiL!
2ga. Ear Plugs: Amber, Clear/Red/Cobalt Blue glass double flair, Smoke double flair link -Gift from Santa
Kala U-Base Link
Shruti Box link
Rabbit suit onesie link
Genealogy workbook Link
Genealogy Fan Chart X2 Link
HMS Beagle Book Link My Wife Scored
Shave Soap Link – From My Mom
Razor Blades Link – Also My Mom
Classic (used) Gerstner “Journeyman’s” tool chest Link

Things My Wife Has Said – Volume IV

/ Matt Talley / 4 Comments

My sweet, bubbly, kind, giving, gentle, well-adjusted, funny, smart, awesome wife has the best one-liners.  I have taken to writing them down and saving them like little jewels.   This is the fourth, though not the last, installment of Things My Wife Has Said:

  1. I was trying to be funny and I told my wife that I am sort of like an Uber driver: my beard gives rides for cash. She laughed so hard that wine came out of her nose. When recovered, she gave me $1 and said that she “expected change when her ride was done…”
  2. “Boys who buy their wives sewing machines get favors…”
  3. “Truffle (our female French Bulldog) is a Goddamn snuggle tyrant!”
  4. “Man buns are just comb-overs for hipsters.”
  5. I came home from work and went downstairs to check on how Stamps-With-Foot was doing on the bathroom paint progress. I found her naked, covered in purple paint, and listening to Tupac. When questioned about the state of things she said: “I didn’t want to get paint on my jammies, so I painted naked.”
  6. While out to dinner before seeing a a movie, my wife said: “You might be the Anti-Christ: Since I met you I eat pork, have condoned killing trees for a better view, and was singing along happily to Katy Perry this morning.”
  7. “There should be an escort service for puppies and baby piggies. You could snuggle and love them for an hour and the give them back.”
  8. “I don’t really like any Fructose Corn Syrup, but I really hate it when is high.”
  9. “What is wrong with you?! You bought $60 worth of Girl Scout Cookies into our house, left town, and I am on my period. What the fuck were you thinking?!?!
  10. While standing in the kitchen, very early and wearing a bathrobe: “A yawn is a silent scream for coffee.”
  11. “Budgeting is sexy.”
  12. “Do my boobs look too big in this shirt?” It was a trap.
  13. She went to the wax place on a Saturday and came in the house that afternoon with Vampirella arches above her eyes and asked: “What do you think of my eyebrows?” It was also a trap.
  14. I went snowboarding for the 1st time since hip reconstruction and I was forbidden by my wife to drop into the terrain park. When I got home I was questioned thoroughly. I was honest and said that there were no drops or rails or big air, but admitted taking small jump (more of a hop really) along one of the runs. I got “the look” and she made pre-tirade grumpy noises. I said quickly and defensively: “But I didn’t go into the terrain park!” My sugar sweet, tiny, gentle, accepting, loving, kind wife then said: “Huh?!, that is sort of like you saying ‘but I just got a blowjob from that hooker, I didn’t put it in her butt.'” Seriously, she said that. I was caught unaware, had no response, and couldn’t utter a sound in my defense, mostly due to the shock that those specific words had come out of her mouth at all and in that particular order….. She then hid one of my boarding boots for a couple of weeks.

Fitting and refinishing a walking cane – the video

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

As a follow-up to the knee surgery recovery and how it is all going:

After 36 years or so, I finally fit, cut, and refinished my grandfather’s oak walking cane to my dimensions and need. I have used it every time I broke an ankle/leg or had hip/ankle/knee surgery – there have been a lot of all of those due to a misspent, but exciting, youth. It was never sized right for me though and I just made due, not wanting to cut his cane. The latest knee surgery/rebuild will require me to use a cane for an extended period of time (~4 months), so I finally decided to just get it done.

This fitting is not a shot in the dark or a “..I watched a video once…” sort of a thing. I have literally fit a 100+ canes for other people – I was a PT technician at one point during college – but for some reason never got around to taking care of my own. The fact that is was my grandfather’s makes it extra special for me.

Knee Surgery

/ Matt Talley / 1 Comment

I swear to God, I am falling apart!  Being over 40 is NOT for Pussies.  I tweaked my knee on the last day of snowboard season this year – a season where I took it REALLY easy because of my hip reconstruction surgery last year.  Well, the knee kept bugging me and I finally went in early this summer to the same orthopedic surgeon who did my hip for a check out.  After a few x-rays and an MRI, it looked like I had a small meniscus tear that he could fix in a few minutes and 2 arthroscopic poke holes.  I waited until after The Ruminator’s summer visit last month and went in for a quick “procedure.”  That is where reality deviated from my plan…  After getting into my knee, the doctor found a second tear: 90+% full thickness and a ligament issue.  Two hours later I am out of surgery with a full meniscus repair, lots of stitches, a knee brace for like 6+ weeks, two weeks of bed rest, and months of physical therapy in my future.

Stamps With Foot is not happy.  I have been banned from snowboarding, skateboarding, parachuting, jumping on or off anything at all, no powered paragliding, or “any other stupid boy shit you decide to do” unless I have express Doctor’s permission and clearance.

I HATE the post-op pain killers.  They make me loopy and make it so I cannot poop.  You don’t know how important that is until you cant do it for like 5 days.  Seriously!  Have decided to take it easy, follow my recovery plan exactly, and I may heed my wife in all of her wishes this time as I am tired of bed rest and hydrocodone and could do with out either for a few more decades!


Video Update:

Proud Father

/ Matt Talley / 1 Comment

My son sent me this text message about something he heard during a sermon at his church:

“As illegal aliens, these children are criminals and deserve to be punished!” – my preacher, a white man… the descendent of immigrants… lmao…  OK…

He threw a fit and argued – loudly.  I could not have been more proud of him!

I think we Christians sometimes forget that when Jesus said “love thy neighbor,” He meant:

thy LGBTQ neighbor
thy old neighbor
thy black neighbor
thy asian neighbor
thy addicted neighbor
thy homeless neighbor
thy rich neighbor
thy poor neighbor
thy jewish neighbor
thy weird neighbor
thy muslim neighbor
thy atheist neighbor
thy white neighbor
thy immigrant neighbor
thy sinful neighbor

Jesus taught love, inclusion, and acceptance. We should never forget or ignore that.

2018 News Year’s Resolutions:

/ Matt Talley / 3 Comments

A year ago, to the day, I said that I would do a bunch of stuff in 2017.  I did OK, but not great. I could blame it on my old man hip, the surgery, or the recovery time, but mostly not getting stuff on the list done was all me. All my own laziness, stuborness, or my A+ skill level of procrastination. These are the promises I made to myself that I kept:

Take a pottery class
Take a Blacksmithing class at the Pratt
Read 1 book every 2 weeks – minimum
Play my uke, banjo, and guitar with others
Give lots of $$ to Heifer and MFS
Make movies and post: Adventure, craftsmanship, and family.
Make Stuff!!
Ride my skateboard because I am not too old or too fat
Road trip in WA more
Take my wife on vacation
Plant a spring garden
Fix up the front and back yards

The following is what I am committing myself to do in 2018:

  1. Organize my chaos in the shop and basement.
  2. Sell, donate, recycle, or throw away shit that I do not use.
  3. Use my planner and notebooks as tools not as something that I “have” to use.
  4. Eat my veggies.  Seriously.  Salads in my future.
  5. Take my desk at home back and make it a conducive writing space.
  6. Cut WAY back on sugar and carb intake!
  7. Lose weight – back to 175! and put on 5-7lbs of muscle
  8. Go to the gym 3-4 time a week – minimum.
  9. Box more at the gym and at home
  10. Write more: Blog posts, REAL letters, Thank you notes, fiction, and non-fiction
  11. Take more great pictures
  12. Fly my drones more
  13. Take at least a 45 minute lunch at least 4 days a week at work
  14. Show up to yoga at least once a week
  15. Take another pottery class
  16. Finish my CJ-7 Jeep restoration
  17. Look into getting back into the judo dojo
  18. Sign up and compete in the Gambler 500 car race
  19. Sign up for a letterpress class at SVC Downtown
  20. Take another blacksmithing class at The Pratt
  21. Read 1 book every 2 weeks!
  22. Learn how to play the mandolin and banjo better!
  23. Play my uke, banjo, and guitar with others
  24. Build a skin-on-frame canoe for two
  25. Road and mountain bike
  26. Take the puppies to Lincoln Park for a walk at least once a week
  27. Ride the living shit out of my Single -Speed
  28. Bike to work at least 5 times this year (12 miles each way)
  29. Volunteer more at the Center for Wooden Boats
  30. Pay off all credit cards
  31. Go sailing in Puget Sound
  32. Turn some amazing and useful stuff on my lathe
  33. Give lots of $$ to Heifer and MFS
  34. Make at least 1 movie a week for YouTube and post: Adventure and craftsmanship
  35. Monetize my YouTube account and increase my presence and standing in that community
  36. Lessen my Twitter and social media activity…
  37. See my kids and grandchildren more
  38. Be involved in politics more: financally and with a time commitment
  39. Work on my Genealogy database and organize all my info.
  40. Finish the house remodel –  even if I have to pay a contractor to do it (…shudder…)
  41. Finish the garage/shop/GROP build
  42. Make.More.Stuff!!
  43. Ride my snowboard and skateboard because I am not too old or too fat
  44. Road trip in WA and on West Coast more
  45. Have two hives of healthy, happy bees
  46. Kayak lots!
  47. See my friends more
  48. Take my wife on vacation
  49. Plant a spring garden and have a really bountiful fall harvest
  50. Have an awesome Griswald-like Christmas light display!

I am printing this list out and pasting copies in my notebook, work planner, in the shop, at my desk at work, on the fridge, and in the basement above my warranty voiding workbench.

Film Friday – Oak and Maple Pizza Peel Build

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

My Father-in-Law, The Chatty Buddha,  wanted me to make him a pizza peel and while I have built cutting boards and boat paddles, I hadn’t yet made a peel. I agreed, sourced the lumber from a local salvege store. It used to be flooring, but after some magic with the table saw, jointer, some glue, and a hand plane or three – he has a pizza peel that I gave to him for Christmas.  I hope to be enjoying pizza from it for years to come.

Christmas List 2017

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

I would really like for the fat elf in the red suit to grant me one little wish: For the adults in the room to take the reins of the American Political System. I would be good from there if that were my only gift for the rest of my Christmases. I already have a bunch of crap, so if you want to grab something, please first give to a worthy cause and send me a note about it:.

A donation to Heifer International: Bees (I really like to give the gift of bees) Goats, Chickens, Llama, or the whole Ark… – My mom gave me some cash for the bees 🙂
A little cash to Doctors Without Borders/MSF
Go give blood and eat some free cookies
Money sent in for Diabetes Research

These are also fine ideas:

Some time in a Tattoo Artist’s chair
Metal Collar Stays –  Santa dropped these in my stalking
An Amazon Gift Card
A sweet pair of these work shoes (UK Men’s size 8 or 42 in Euro Size)
Book: Campaign Furniture by Chris Schwartz
Book: Bees of the World by Mitchner –  My wife is AWESOME!!
New razor blades
A gift card to Hardwick’s Hardware in Seattle
Two or three sets of Shoe Trees
Genetic genealogy testing from 23&Me
Starbucks Gift Card
Sweet new socks. – My wife Came through!
Coupon for The Art of Shaving
A card from each of my kids
Sign up for the 1 or 2-Day Rally School Course at DirtFish
Amber 2ga. Plugs (bonus points if they have insect inclusions)
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey.  – My guys at work are awesome and got me a sampler pack
Porto (Cálem Vintage, Ramos Pinto, or a Taylor’s). Again, my guys at work went all in and picked up a 10 year old Taylor’s that made me giddy with happiness.

Thanksgiving 2017 and the judicious exercising of my liver.

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

We drove 6+ hours each way for Thanksgiving this year and it was all that an annual family Thanksgiving Hell weekend should be: A late start, Farting dogs, forgotten items, foul weather, snarled traffic, booze, weird family drama, unhappy wife, alcohol, some yelling, miscommunicated plans, mountains of guilt, one dog escape, unmedicated crazy, some tears, no turkey, more alcohol, slamming doors, heartburn, someone that showed up super-high, fits thrown, 1 minor meltdown, fitful dreams… You know, the usual stuff.  It is going to take a week and a cleanse to get my liver and mood back to a moderately-normal functionality.

After we got home LATE Sunday night, I started a fire in the living room stove insert, fed the puppies, we ate a little something, unpacked, and said a little prayer of thanks that no one went full-postal.

“Next Year” we are doing something different. Seriously. Like a cruise or our own private affair with a fried turkey, soft white rolls, butter, cranberry & pine nut stuffing, corn on the cob, more butter, apple pie, peach cobbler, expensive/tasty booze and ZERO drama.

Birthday #44… F*ck I am getting old!

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

My birthday is almost here. I will be taking the day off from work, the next day as well and enjoying doing stuff that makes me happy! A strait razor shave, brunch, an afternoon movie, steak dinner with my wife, cookies, etc… Below is a short birthday wish list in no specific order. Just putting it out there:

Peace on the Korean Peninsula
For the Adults in the room to take the reins of the American Political System
Heifer International: Bees (I really like to give the gift of bees) Goats, Chickens, Llama, or the whole Ark…
A little cash to Doctors Without Borders/MSF
Go give blood and send me a post card
Money for Diabetes Research
Some time in a Tattoo Artist’s chair
An Amazon Gift Card
Book: Campaign Furniture by Chris Schwartz
Book: Bees of the World by Mitchner
A gift card to Hardwick’s Hardware in Seattle
Genetic genealogy testing from 23&Me
Starbucks Gift Card
Coupon for The Art of Shaving
A card from each of my kids
Sign up for the 2-Day Rally School Course
An Ash Pack Basket (Sling-style harness)
Amber 2ga. Plugs (bonus points if they have insect inclusions)
A fine Anejo Tequila
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey
Porto (Cálem Vintage, Ramos Pinto, or a Taylor’s)

Garage, lawn, and house work this weekend

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Worked in the basement a bit to make Stamps-With-Foot’s sewing room/project space usable.
Made two trips to the dump.
Built screw clamp holder.
Did a little Amazon shopping for a gift and a part that I needed.
Went shooting at the range – shot like a blind squirrel.
Cleaned pistol, muttering disappointment in self whole time.
Hip super-hurt all weekend.
Went to see Atomic Blond for date night. Great movie.
Bought two bookshelf cabinets for garage at Second Use – got a super good deal (hard to do these days at Second Use)
Picked up 2 cases of oil at discount from NAPA
Put down a little 1/4 round trim in dining room.
Washed Stamps-With-Foot’s car.
Filled the washer fluid.
Worked on a couple of films.
Cleaned lighting contacts on the trailer light harness.
Took a load of recycling to the dump.
Organized shop a little and hung the two cabinets.
My shop now has all the storage I will ever need – until I fill it all up 🙂
Consumed some rosé while sitting in sunshine in back yard.
Snuggled wife and puppies.
Installed my welding cabinet and filled it with helms, jacket, gloves, sticks, and welding tools.
Made a happy face.
Did not mow lawn…
Ran two lighting circuits and one 220VAC circuit in garage.
Need to install the 4 florescent lights.
One 220VAC circuit to run and all shop wiring will be complete!
Flew drone a bit to work out new firmware update.
Took a few macro photos with camera
Spent too long on Instagram and Twitter.
Ignored the grass some more.
Changed oil in my father-in-law’s truck.
Picked-up/was given wrong oil filter!
Said dirty words…
Made it to parts store 3 minutes before they closed for new filter.
41 more oil changes and the lift pays for itself!

Da Grind 2017 Outrigger Canoe Race

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Years ago, while living in Newport Beach, CA, I paddled some with the IMUA Outrigger Canoe Club. I LOVED it and learned so much about stroke technique, timing, Hawaiian paddling culture, and open ocean canoeing. SUPER respect for ancient Polynesian mariners! I made a crossing from Newport Beach Back Bay to Catalina Island (26 miles of open water) and it was crazy scary, really tough, beautiful, smelly, exhausting, and I will love the memory of that day for the rest of mine. I have wanted to join an OCC club in Seattle, but it is only just this year where my work schedule has allowed that and then hip surgery happened. So, this summer I am refinishing my 51″ wooden outrigger paddle (new varnish and adding a little Koa insert) and applying a “F-Bomb” logo to my carbon paddle in preparation for when I am back in fighting shape. I am also living vicariously through the local club and doing a little event filming and one of their big races this year, Da Grind 2017, happened in almost my back yard.

I drug my father-in-law over to Alki Beach early this past Saturday morning to watch the race with me and help out a little if I needed a hand with moving on the beach or hauling my pack – I am still not even 80% with the hip. I did fine though and he was into the race and event as he lived in Hawaiian for a number of years.

I got the drone in the air early and caught the start of the first leg and then the finish. The weather, wind, sky and sea was perfect for the race and for shooting video. I wish I would have brought another battery and that I would have had my big Cannon DSLR instead of my iPhone for still and zoom shots. Lesson learned.

Grilling Cedar Plank Salmon

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

The very first meal that my father-in-law ever made for me was a semi-traditional cedar plank salmon. It was delectable and I have asked him for the magic recipe a few times since, but it was only this weekend that he had the time & opportunity to go through it all from start to finish. I, of course, documented the whole thing with my iPhone (GoPro battery was dead). As a note, he is a professional chef and on this visit hooked us up with a version of his recipe/process made for and on our tiny 10-year-old, much loved and used Weber grill.  The meal was AMAZING! Here is the whole process:

Long Holiday Weekend and the Official Start of Summer in Seattle

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Our 4th of July weekend went really well this year. To kick things off right, I found out on Friday afternoon before the weekend that I could have Monday July 3rd off. A surprise and unplanned FOUR DAY WEEKEND!!

The 40th Annual Seattle Wooden Boat Festival was being put on and I took a Lyft down to south Lake Union and the Center for Wooden Boats on Saturday morning and hung out till about 12:00. I have mixed feelings about the show/fest this year and will expound on those in a follow up post, but while there got to see some boats and talk shop with a kayak builder and sail-maker. Before leaving the house, Stamp-With-Foot made me promise not to buy a boat. I succeeded in that, but I did look at a cute little 16’ sailing skiff that made me feel fuzzy and a 22’ day/weekend sailor…

Matt Talley_Wooden Boat Fest_2017 (1) Matt Talley_Wooden Boat Fest_2017 (2) Matt Talley_Wooden Boat Fest_2017 (3) Matt Talley_Wooden Boat Fest_2017 (6) Matt Talley_Wooden Boat Fest_2017 (7)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also saw Opus again – my favorite weekend boat/trailer sailor in the PNW. She is a Wee Seal MKII, designed by the noted Australian/Scotsman Iain Oughtred. Her owners weren’t there, but I still enjoyed seeing at such a sweet little boat. If Opus were for sale, I don’t think that the promise to my wife would have been kept…

Matt Talley_Wooden Boat Fest_2017 (4)

We went to a colleague’s early 4th of July BBQ on Saturday afternoon/evening (the 1st of July). It was down in Enumclaw and had an AMAZING view of Mt. Rainier from the deck and rest of the property. There was beer, laughter, wine, 4-wheelers, BBQ, and fine people. The fireworks started at dark and no one lost any fingers and nothing burned down, so a successful party.

Matt Talley_Mt Rainer_BBQ_2017)

Monday and Tuesday were spent in our yard, my shop, and the house fixing, building, moving stuff around. I hired some labor on Monday the 3rd and spent 8 hours cleaning the yard, moving bricks, pulling weeds, re-finishing the patio table, cleaning the hot tub, moving boulders, and making 2 runs to the dump. I swear the people at the city dump know me so well by now that I will be getting Christmas cards from them.

Matt Talley_Shop and Yard Projects07_2017 (1) Matt Talley_Shop and Yard Projects07_2017 (2) Matt Talley_Shop and Yard Projects07_2017 (3)

 

The yard came together about 9:00pm the night before our scheduled BBQ on the 4th. We had friends, family, co-workers, neighbors come over for charred meat, chips, dip, booze, desert, and laughter. The holiday was also my backyard’s coming out party. She was finally ready to join the world and everyone fawned over the green, luscious grass. It made me so proud! It was also the puppies first time being allowed in the backyard unsupervised. They rolled and sniffed and frolicked like I made the yard just for them. There were no fights (human or puppy), no one got sick, everyone left full, no grass was destroyed, no cuts or scrapes, no fires, nothing blown up, and we had some very tired happy puppies that night – so another successful party.

matt talley_07-04-2017_BBQ (1)

matt talley_07-04-2017_BBQ (2)

matt talley_07-04-2017_BBQ (3)

matt talley_07-04-2017_BBQ (4)
BBQ_2017 (1) BBQ_2017 (2)
More 2017 07-04-2017 BBQ (1)

More 2017 07-04-2017 BBQ (2)

More 2017 07-04-2017 BBQ (3)

New Summer Vacation Plans

/ Matt Talley / 1 Comment

My summer plans have been changed for me.  I had planned out another summer vacation spent with The Ruminator, but he is 16 now and has decided that he wants to stay home in Arkansas and be a lifeguard for the summer.  I get it, I am his boring dad and it is hard for me to compete with ladies in swimsuits for the summer.  I had pigeon-holed some time off and funds for sailing lessons/trip, diver certification for him, some diving, and ending the summer with a rock climbing road trip all the way down the west coast.  While all that sounds cool to me, I am not a handsome young man facing all the unsaid possibilities of tanned ladies in my close proximity, hanging on my every word for 2.5 months.

I now I find myself, for the first time in 14+ years, in a place where my yearly vacation time is my own and I can spend some time/money taking my wife and myself someplace where it will be just be just the two of us – cue the romantic accommodations, bubbling hot tub, chilled champagne, soft candle light, and put Barry White on the turntable.  As an aside, my wife felt super sorry for me over the canceled summer plans and after a glass of wine, she has agreed that I can buy a sailboat to soothe my wounded heart.  I almost fell over stone cold dead from the shock of her statement and recorded her saying it a second time for legal reasons 🙂

I flew down to San Diego last week and took a look at a 33’ sloop-rigged blue water boat for sale in the marina.  It has way too many issue that need to be addressed to make any serious passages and I am not willing to spend the time covered in fiberglass bits, retrofitting a 15 year old toilet, huffing hull paint, and wading in stagnate bilge water.  While a steal of a deal for what the boat is/could be, I will keep looking.

Right now though, I am thinking of starting the summer with a little road trip to see her family in Oregon, wine tasting in the Willamette Valley, and a couple of days taking advantage of my friend Dr. G’s house and hospitality in Northern California.  There will be a long weekend in the Bay Area and Napa with friends and family.  We are also going to make a good part of the local Washington/Oregon festival circuit this summer.

What I Want Thursday – April 13th, 2017

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Below are the things that I really want and that are present for me today:

To unclutter my life: less superfluous stuff
For my hip to be 100% and to never have to use crutches again
A wish for Brodie to be well and 100% cancer free
More time with my children and family.
Sunshine!!
Summer BBQs and cold rosé in the back yard.
For the basement (mostly the bathroom) to be done.
Hand-written letters – on actual paper – from my kids, friends and family.
A warm, sunny beach vacation
For the US Political system not to be dysfunctional and a little/lot less crazy

Boat Lust

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

So, you may or may not know this about me, but even though I currently own a couple of small boats, I have MAD Boat Lust.  I am a member of the Center for Wooden Boats, I get Wooden Boat Magazine & Small Craft Adviser Magazine every month, go to the Lake Union, Seattle, Portland, and Port Townsend boat shows every year…  I follow four sets of Blue Water sailors on YouTube, am trying to con my wife into taking a sailing vacation (I am getting a hard NO! on that one currently), and almost bought a used 22′ lead keel sailboat last summer for “my son.”  I tried to sell it as his “learner Boat” and play up the father/son bonding time angle with it and my wife saw right through it.  To date, however, I have not come home to tell my with that “We” just purchased an Amel 55 blue water sailboat, a 47′ diesel powered Cabin Cruiser, a Chris-Craft in need of some “light repair”, or a Hans Christian 33 kept in Bristol Fashion that “I” am planning to live on since said purchase would leave me homeless, devoid of my puppies, and divorced.

If my son, The Ruminator, lived in Seattle I wouldn’t mind a swing keel Columbia 22 or a Catalina 22 to gunk hole around the Sound in with him.  A Catalina 270 LE would make my heart go pitter-patter as well, but I am a realist (-ish) and very aware of my current budget and available storage space.   A sailboat that I would only use a few times a year and have to pay moorage on, would make me very unpopular at home.  But, if someone has a 19′ WW Potter taking up space in their life that needs a new home, I would be game…

While what I WANT is a sweet little sailboat, what I NEED is a small outboard that that sits on a trailer in or beside the garage, that I can pop over to Blake or Vashion Island on, run up the Duwamish River a little piece, do a little salmon fishing on with my son or friends, haul a crab pot or three in season, find a secluded weekend beach for summer camping, etc…   It needs to have a cuddy cabin to get out of the shifty weather here in Puget Sound, some storage space to keep gear dry, needs to be light enough to be pulled behind the jeep when fully loaded, and fast enough to handle the tidal flow in the PNW.

Buying a finished boat, even used, like a Ranger Tug 21, a C-Dory 19, or a Boston Whaler 21′ Cuddy are WAY out of my price range, I have been perusing Craigslist for a 16′ -21′ hardtops, but the ones I have found are either gold plated & upholstered in unicorn foreskin or needs to be sunk.  So, in due course, I have been thinking about building the boat of need mentioned above.  I know, I know… I have a shit ton of projects already with the shop and house, but I won’t start the boat until Stamps-With-Foot agrees that the house is good and all the little projects at home are squared away.  Happy wife, happy life.

To digress a bit, my current home-built boat want is a Devlin Boats Dunlin 22 Cruiser with all the bells and whistles, but that too would be spendy, require me to quit my J-O-B to obsess over the details properly, I would have to rent out boathouse space for the duration of the build, have the time to build it, and would probably cause my sweet bride to up my life insurance just before “accidentally” pushing me into a wood chipper.

dunlin22side-1024x721 dunlin22top-1024x841

 

 

 

 

Back in reality, I am looking hard at building a couple of boats, including a Devlin Noddy 18.  It is something realistic to build over the fall and winter, in the space I have available in the F-Bomb Garage, and within my current budget.  Powered by a 4 stroke 50HP Honda or Yamaha, with homey little extras like: a sardine wood stove in the cabin, a crab pot winch arm on the stern, and lots of LED lights.  noddy16plan-devlin-boats_2017Devlin Boat Works in just south of us in Olympia and in addition to being a design house, they are a boat works and build all manner of craft there at any given time.  I sent a couple of e-mails and made some calls about the possibility of going down this summer if they have a Noddy or similar hull under construction.  We will see if it can be arranged.

I will have to wait just lust a little while longer to satiate my boat lust…

Update: May 2017

Nope.  Devlin is off the list.  I can’t find anyone on the boat forums that has built the Noddy AND I have not had a single phone call or e-mail replied to.  I don’t need to do business with someone who I have to beg to take my money.

Film Friday – Closing Out 2016 with a Snowboard Trip with My Son

/ Matt Talley / 1 Comment

For Christmas break this year my son, The Ruminator, wanted to do a little Snowboarding. I figured it would be a nice positive cap to a so-so year personally, physically, politically, etc…

Note:  This is the fist film edited and made since my switch from GoPro Studio to iMovie and since my conversion from a Windows 10 computer to my Mini Mac for video and Audio editing.  It was so much better to use and just worked!  See this post for more detail.

Stuff My Wife Says – Volume II

/ Matt Talley / 5 Comments

I have written previously about some of the things that have come up in conversation with my sweet, bubbly, kind, giving, gentle, well-adjusted, awesome wife. Well, with the passage of time I have… err… SHE has more to say on the subject. Enjoy:

  1. I was splashing my wife in the hot tub the other night and she yells “Onomatopoeia! Onomatopoeia!!” It is apparently her new “safe word”. My safe word is bacon.
  2. While Living in France, we bought a lot of wine that we brought back to the US.  Most of it is in the normal .75L size bottle, but there are some .375L demi-bouteilles, a few 1.5L magnums, and one 3L double magnum bottle as well.  Stamps-With-Foot has taken to calling the .375L bottles “Juice Boxes.”  I teased her that it is because they would fit in her lunch box.  She looked up at me with smiling, happy, dreamy eyes, then over at her 1984 metal Thundercats lunch box (really that is what she takes to work) and said, “Yes…  they would…”
  3. Long story short, I made a crude off hand remark about a lady who’s “carpet matched the drapes”. Instead of smacking me for being a misogynistic and sexist asshole, my wife looked at me with great annoyance and said sarcastically “Great, now I have to think about her snatch!”  I had nothing more to say.
  4. I failed to use my turn signal in moderate traffic while driving near limousine, France and lamented that I was being a bad/unsociable driver. Stamps-With-Foot said offhandedly while looking out the window: “Fuck that. This is France, do you know how many of these motherfuckers have cut me off over the last two years? Fuck them.” 30 seconds later she got all excited, bright eyed, wiggling in her seat with joy & happiness over a fortified Chateau we were passing.
  5. My lovely bride walked into the living room the other night with her phone and computer in hand while wearing mix-matched PJs. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she shot back with, “This is as sexy as it gets tonight, maybe all weekend.” Fair enough.
  6. We went out to my company’s winter event just after New Year’s and Stamps-With-Foot looked killer in a long tight velvet dress. As we were getting ready, she looked at me and said, “Tonight is a two drink minimum night”. I started to correct her and she stopped me, making it plain that she did not misspeak and that I was the Designated Driver for the evening.
  7. “I love puppies, diamonds, and PJs – in that order.” Not sure why she said this. It just popped up out of the blue one Saturday afternoon.
  8. Two months after the 2016 presidential election, I casually mentioned talking the “Bernie” sticker off her car window. She snapped back, “You will not touch it! I love that wrinkly old motherfucker and I need to hold onto the faith for a while.” Ok… Me no touchy…
  9. Our female French bulldog, Truffle, has a big personality and is super lovable. She is also pushy, selfish, sneaky, petty. During one painful week long interlude, she puked on my chest while I was asleep, pissed in Stamps-With-Foot’s car seat because we “made” her wear a sweater in 30 degree temperatures, tried to pee on my pillow because I had the audacity to move her from my spot at bedtime, puked on an antique wool Persian rug, took a dump on the front porch because the grass was wet, fucked up a couch pillow, tore the heart out of Brodie’s favorite toy, she chewed up 3 pencils, stole food from Brodie, and went all Cujo on a contractor working at the house. My wife looked at me one morning and said, “No more girl dogs. They are too much work. Just boy dogs – they can be gay though.” I had no words.

A open letter to GoPro:

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Dear GoPro,

I am afraid that our relationship isn’t working out. It is not me, it is you – most definitely you. I have been a loyal fan-boy for years, but 2016 has undone us. Let me explain:

I have 4 GoPro cameras, 2 originals, one Hero Session and one Hero 4 Black. There must be $400 worth of mounts and accessories in my video equipment cabinet and mounted to almost everything I own. I was the first in line for the KARMA Drone, and I own a few shares of your stock. Hell, I was at your booth/jam box at NAMM 2 years ago and gushed to the staff there like teeny-bobber. I was at the 2016 NAB show when you guys won the “Best Of” award. Trust me, that I was all in and committed to making it work between us.

I can’t say enough great things about the cameras I own. I love them and use them while biking, boarding, cart racing, 4-wheeling, diving, running, working in the shop, etc… I am happy that the engineers, programmers, and employees in the SF Bay Area can go to work and do cool stuff, get paid a living wage, and work on tech that millions of people use every day. So why are we breaking up???

I mentioned that I own stock. Have you seen those numbers lately?! Hmmm… Screwing up the Amazon relationship before Christmas and not having production capacity did not help after the KARMA fiasco. Did your Contracts Team not even flip through “The Wal-Mart Effect” before negotiations started? Yes, I am somewhat irritated at losing money because a great product line is managed like a PTA bake sale. Additionally, I have had a DJI Phantom 3 Pro for a year or more and it has never once fallen out of the sky. I had the KARMA for 3 days before I had to climb 30 into a pine tree to retrieve it after it fell out of the sky. Camera was OK after the fall, but I sent the drone back for a full refund. One of the smarter things I did in 2016.

The final straw though is GoPro Studio. Holy sweet baby Jesus, I wish I had all the HOURS of my life that have been lost due to crashes, auto-overwrites, searching web forums for patches, and completely re-processing almost half videos I have made in the last 10 months. A recent attempt to make a film out of a Christmas snowboard trip made me want to beat my computer with a hammer for even associating with GoPro Studio. I know, I know it is “free” software… Bundled software with a $500 camera and an $800 drone is not free. As of the writing of this post, the last update to Studio was in October of 2015 – that was 15 months ago, eons of time for software.  I finally had to drink the Kool-Aid and use my wife’s Mac Book to edit the film in iMovie. I made a killer little film in like 50 minutes. The software didn’t glitch, hang, or overwrite my project. It was easy to use even the first time and it just worked. As a note, iMovie is “free” as well…

To be clear, I do not see any of this as a production, software, or engineering failure. It is an issue with program & senior management. Hire professionals that understand product launch logistics, QA/QC, beta test management, vendor & supplier relationships, and the impact all of this has on your business and investors.

In closing, I am sorry that you made me do this on such a public forum. I am sorry that I can no longer support the hard work of your engineering team and production staff by purchasing your products. Spend some time on you, work on who you are and who you want to be, and get some professional help. Maybe someday we can sit down at the table again, but I am going to need my space for now.

Christmas Vacation 2016

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Christmas vacation this year was pretty good. I got great stuff Christmas morning, my mom stayed over Christmas Eve, and Stamps-With-Foot made a yummy Honey-baked ham for dinner on Christmas Day. I took the week between Christmas and New Year’s off from my J-O-B. The time was spent just hanging out with The Ruminator, finding a little adventure in the mountains, and getting some stuff done around the house and garage. My vacation this year looked like this:

Up at 6:00 Christmas morning and made coffee.
I got an XBox One and Battlefield 1 for I could play with my 40-year old adolescent friends online.
Got lots of other great stuff!
Worked a little in the basement on Boxing Day (the 26th).
My son, The Ruminator, flew in the day after Christmas.
Second Christmas morning with son on the 27th.
I put him to work that afternoon moving stuff in the garage and basement.
Pulled 4 circuits worth of wire in the garage.
Hung 3/4 of crown molding in the dining room.
Hired a carpenter to help with the finish of the crown molding and window install in dining room.
Hung pocket door and built last wall for bathroom downstairs with carpenter.
Installed structure in attic for chandelier installation.
Went to see Rogue One.
Loved it.
Snowboarding trip to Crystal Mountain in the Jeep.
The Ruminator rode really well
I am a fat old guy, but can still ride.
Owners rented the cabin we had reserved to someone else – insert grumpy face
Drove home.
Snuggled with wife.
Up early and drove to Snoqualmie for 2nd day of riding.
Glorious day in the mountains!
Watch a movie all together for New Year’s Eve.
Had family over on the 1st for long lunch.
Tried to edit snowboarding trip film.
Failed.
GoPro Studio sucks balls!
Serious online gaming session.
Brunch at Easy Street.
Got The Ruminator’s cracked iPhone glass fixed.
Picked up new kitchen floor tiles at Lowe’s special order desk.
Dinner with Nana.
Dropped off Ruminator at Airport.
Teared up in Jeep on the way to work.
Worked late first full day back to work in 2017 – an inauspicious start.

matt-talley_snowboarding_christmas-2016-1

matt-talley_easystreetrecords_12-2016

matt-talley_christmas-morning-wife_-2016

matt-and-carlton-talley_christmas-2016

matt-talley_snowboarding_christmas-2016-3

matt-talley_snowboarding_christmas-2016-2

2017 New Year’s Resolutions:

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Stuff I will do in 2017:

Eat my veggies
Lose weight – back to 175!
Go to the gym regularly
Box more
Write more: Blog, letters, notes, fiction, non-fiction
Take a lunch at least 4 days a week at work
Show up to yoga at least once a week
Take a pottery class
Take a Blacksmithing class at the Pratt
Read 1 book every 2 weeks – minimum
Play my uke, banjo, and guitar with others
build a skin-on-frame canoe
Run and bike
Start a guitar building class
Pay off all credit cards
Go Sailing
Give lots of $$ to Heifer and MFS
Make movies and post: Adventure, craftsmanship, and family.
Lessen my Social Media presence (Blog doesn’t count)
See my kids and granddaughter more
Be involved in popitics more: financally and time wise
Work on my Genealogy database a little
Finish the house remodel
Finish the garage/shop/GROP build
Make Stuff!!
Ride my skateboard because I am not too old or too fat
Road trip in WA more
Have two hives of healthy, happy bees
Kayak lots!
See my friends more
Take my wife on vacation
Plant a spring garden
Fix up the front and back yards
Climb more inside and outside
Have an awesome Griswald-like Christmas light display!

Christmas List – 2016

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Fat man in a red suit time again…

Gifts that Keep giving:

  1. Heifer International:
  2. A little cash to Doctors Without Borders/MSF
  3. Go give blood and send me a post card
  4. Habitat for Humanity
  5. Money for Diabetes Research

Books:
An Amazon Gift Card
Campaign Furniture by Chris Schwartz
Bees of the World by Mitchner

Stuff:
A gift card to Hardwick’s Hardware in Seattle
Genetic Genealogy testing from National Geographic
Starbucks Gift Card
XBox One with head set and Battlefield1
A coupon for a Royal Shave at The Art of Shaving
A class or two at the Pratt Center in Seattle
French Bulldog cufflinks
Maybe a Woodcraft gift card
Letters from my kids – written on actual paper.
A 2-Day Rally School Course
The Apple Watch 2. Simple black band – Stainless Steel bezel
An Ash Pack Basket (Sling-style harness)
Amber 2ga. Plugs (bonus points if they have insect inclusions)
Tiffany blue silk tie and matching pocket square
These new bad-ass cufflinks

Booze:
A fine Anejo Tequila
Franziskaner or Paulaner German Wheat Beer
Hakushu 12 Whisky
A bottle of Fronsac or Canon-Fronsac (Château Lafond, Château La Vieille Cure, La Dalphine…)
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey
Porto (Cálem 2011 Vintage, Ramos Pinto, or a Taylor’s)
Glenfiddich 21

Using My Dad’s Tools

/ Matt Talley / 1 Comment

In 1982 or 1983 my dad made me a ball, bat, and glove rack for Christmas. I was super into baseball and it was cool to have your gear up on the wall ready and waiting for you to be able to grab it all and run out the door to a game at a moments notice. Getting the pocket for the ball cut correctly and rounding over all the edges and corners took him forever. He decided that he HAD to have a router and for that same Christmas, my mom bought him a Craftsman 1-1/2 HP, Model #315.17492 Double Insulated router. He was as happy as a puppy with a new bone and looked for stuff to round over, “ease the edge…” everywhere in our lives for months. He was so proud of that router and for years a wood project around the house wasn’t complete until it had been kissed by a 1/4′ shank bit, whirling at 25,000 RPM.

When my dad passed, I got all his tools and the router was part of the deal. I have used it for years and while it is a little funky to adjust and has a base that isn’t perfectly round, it still does a fine job of “easing the edge” on shelves and cabinets. For the most part I use a 1/2 or 3/4 round-over bit in it and use my trim router for 1/4 and 1/8 round overs. Technology has much improved since the early ’80s and I have other routers to do fancy stuff these days but, Daddy’s still gets used a good bit.

I few years ago I had a garage break-in and a bunch of tools were stolen. I lost a lot of Daddy’s wrenches, power tools, my grandfather’s chisels, all sorts of stuff, but the big funky router happened to be in the basement where I had left it sitting for weeks on a long undone project. I am thankful it didn’t end up in a pawnshop somewhere and I am still able to use it to do a little work and connect with my dad, all these years later, just by using the router that he so badly wanted. I used Daddy’s router today, while building a walk-in closet for my wife. I thought about my dad, his smile, his quiet manner, and his patient love for his small son.

Matt Talley_Dads router_2016_1

Life Lesson – you can’t text message your wife that you have a tumor…

/ Matt Talley / 2 Comments

So… I have had a bump on my forehead for a couple of years. I went to a Dr. about it in France and she said it was a bone spur. I sort of ignored it after that, but it still bugged me as a cosmetic thing. Right after we moved back to the US, I let a buddy of mine , who happens to be a Dr., take a look. He felt it was a dermoid cyst, but he couldn’t take it out for me because of location and recommended a plastic surgeon. I finally got an appointment week before last to see a guy and holy crap… Not a bone spur, not a cyst. It was a lipoma – a tumor. He recommended immediate removal. I walked out of his office and sent my wife a text that said:

“Not a cyst. A tumor, probably benign. I will call him Harold. Removal next Tuesday.”

Apparently, one should not text message about a tumor nor make jokes about same. I missed that section in the marriage handbook and my wife called me immediately to freak out a little let me know of the transgression…

I went in the last Tuesday and had Harold removed. It ended up being about the size of a small strawberry that was tenacious and adhered to the bone. The surgeon had to get out the lifter/chisel and the procedure took about 45 minutes, instead of the planed 20 or so. To close it all up, I had 5 interior and 12 exterior stitches. There is lots of swelling, two black eyes, and I can’t feel my forehead, but they said feeling will come back in 3-4 weeks as nerve heals. I also have had an on & off massive headache – feels like I got smacked with a 2×4. I took a couple of days off from work and popped Vicodin while watching movies and looking at Pocket yachts/trailer sailor videos on You Tube – dreaming of weekends sailing on the Puget Sound, camping on a small deserted tree covered island with my wife and bacon – it was a nice way to take my mind off the swelling and recuperate.

It all Looks good though as the Dr. feels Harold was benign. Sent to pathology anyway and I will know for 100% when I have stitches out this Wednesday.

Matt Talley_Garage 2016_004

Matt Talley_Garage 2016_003

Matt Talley_Garage 2016_002

Matt Talley_Garage 2016_001

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9-27-2016 Update:
The bump was completely benign. The pathology looked good, all my stitches are now out, and the scaring is minimal. I am very happy and wife is very happy. Best possible outcome.

Birthday list – 2016

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

In about 4 weeks I will celebrate the 14th anniversary of my 29th year.  I want cake (moist yellow cake with chocolate butter-cream frosting), snuggling, two fingers of a great scotch after lunch, lots of tiny cups of coffee all day, a nice glass of wine with a steak for dinner, laughter, and a few well thought out gifts. I will not be working that day and I plan to pamper myself with a haircut and a strait-razor shave.

Below is my birthday wish list for my wife, family and children.
Gifts that Keep giving:

  1. Heifer International:
  2. Doctors Without Borders/MSF
  3. Go give blood and send me a post card
  4. Habitat for Humanity
  5. Diabetes Research

Books:
Campaign Furniture by Chris Schwartz
Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenous Life
I could stand a Kindle Paperwhite
A volume on handplanes or a tome on traditional woodworking
Bees of the World by Mitchner
A Lost Art Press volume of The Essential Woodworker
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
James Krenov’s Cabinet Maker’s Notebook
Two Classic books on Shaker Furniture: here and here.

Stuff:
Forging class at the Pratt starting in October
Letters from my kids – written on actual paper.
A 3-Day Rally School Course
A bottle of Pre-Shave Oil from The Art of Shaving – Lavender
A couple of thoughtful cards
The iWatch 2. Simple black – the cheapest one
German Wheat Beer is always welcome
Zombie shooting targets
An Ash Pack Basket (Sling-style harness)
Amber 2ga. Plugs (bonus points if they have insect inclusions)
2ga. Dark Jade plugs
The AKcooltools Stainless/bronze Clamptite and the lg roll of stainless .041 wire
24 Provence lavender plants for my front yard
Tiffany blue silk tie and matching pocket square
These new bad-ass cufflinks
A Global Sashimi knife
Classic Cartoon DVDs (Wanrner Bros., Tex Avery, Bugs, Tom&Jerry, Loony Toons, Road Runner, etc…)
Christopher Ward Quartz Trident with black rubber strap

Booze:
A fine Anejo Tequila
Hakushu 12 Whisky
A bottle of Fronsac or Canon-Fronsac (Château Lafond, Château La Vieille Cure, La Dalphine…)
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey
Porto (Cálem 2011 Vintage, Ramos Pinto, or a Taylor’s)
Glenfiddich 21

Still a Subaru Family

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Stamps-With-Foot has some sort of internal need to be a Soccer Mom. She has been dreaming about owning a boxy Subaru Forester for years – since at least 2005 when we drove our friend Brauning’s Outback up the California coast and on to Oregon that summer. When passing a forester on the highway, she would smile and mentioned her admiration. It happened a LOT…

Fast-forward to 2016. We moved back to the US from France and Laurel needed a new ride. 1st choice, only choice, a red Subaru Forester. Off we went to the local Scooby Dealer and my sweet wife went into full Turkish carpet-seller mode. She bargained hard over two days, made them explain everything to her, and wrangled some free car washes. With the car she got the cargo rack, all weather floor mats (in addition ti the carpet ones), rear cargo rubber mat & cover, and heated seats. I think the sales guy just wanted her to leave and gave up the last bit in hopes it would make her stop trying to deal.

We took her new ride on a road trip to the Oregon Coast last weekend with five people and all their gear in it. It handled the hills, rain and wind like a champ and with the cargo box on top (same one we have had for 7 years) everyone’s stuff fit just fine.

Matt Talley_New Scooby_2016_1

What I Want Thursday – Febuary 2016 Edition

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Below are the things that I really want and that are present for me today:

More time with my children and family.
I want to stick to my diet and workout schedule and not fall off the wagon and back into the cookie/café Mocha/lethargic/big-belly/back-hurting abyss.
For the house remodel to be done
For my Garage build to be 100% and my new lift and tools installed and waiting for me.
Growler or two from West Seattle Brewing Co.
Letters – written on actual paper – from my kids.
A longboard skateboard
I could stand a new Kindle
A handsome tweed vest – or two
Brown Redwing Engineer’s boots
Huge antique pattern lathe found in a barn or a PM4224 with all the add-ons.
A pair of 1/2 round and a pair of Snipe Bill molding planes
A 1.75 – 3Hp SawStop Table Saw
One fine compound sliding miter saw
>8″ joiner/planer
A Grizzly G0752 Benchtop Lathe and G0801 Vertical Mill