Logan Talley was born at 9:41AM on February 18, 2023. She weighed 8 pounds and was 20.5 inches long. Laurel and Logan are both doing well and we are beyond grateful.
Logan was born on my father’s birthday, so there was an added measure of joy for me. Happy birthday Daddy. Happy Birthday Logan.
My van needs a little love. Ok, a LOT of love. The transmission and engine have 236K miles on them and have never been rebuilt. The engine is sad and tired and my transmission is slipping, had a synchronizer gear issue, and I could stand a new clutch. I am having Dave and Steve at Parnell Autowerks in Bend, OR pull everything down and do the engine rebuild. I know and trust Dave to do a great job.
For the transmission wizardery, I am taking the trans to a secret mechanic in Salem, OR that comes HIGHLY recommended by a guy I know that has been blowing up and rebuilding VW Syncro vans since before I was born. They are going to cast spells and mold steel to make it so my van has a new and long life – cross country road trip with the family shall ensue without worry of my transmission grenadeing on a mountain pass between Oregon and Colorado.
Parnell Autowerks: https://www.parnellautowerks.com
My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattofmanyt…
Our Steel Roof was completed yesterday! Next we get new gutters and then the solar system installation.
I love goats. They may be my 3rd or 4th favorite mammal, with dogs taking the top spot, otters 2nd, and 3rd is a toss up between goats and horses. Humans are a distant 9th…
To start the year off right, my wife and I spent some time hanging out with a local heard of recued goats and reside on a local teaching farm on New Year’s Day. Two hours just spent walking around, scratching, brushing, and hanging out with the herd.
My wife and I took some cash from the sell of our Seattle house and bought a place in Eugene to rent out. The plan was for us to stay in our currently rented duplex while we built our new home and have the newly purchased rental house bringing in a little extra income. That was the plan… If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans!
My very pregnant with does not want to live in a rented duplex with plumbing, parking, other issues with a new baby and ABSOLUTLY, 100% does not want to have a baby in or near a construction site, so the plan changed. We are moving into the “rental house” for the next “5ish” years, according to her, and then we “can see about building a house after that.” Umm, OK, I am getting with the program and will make this happen. I just need a minute to process not building a house that I have been obsessing over for the last 2 years.
We have to alter the current remodel designs for what was going to be the rental house, add a few more things, take out two walls, put in a 6′ door, build an addition, install a new roof, and have solar installed before the end of the year. Doable and I think she wants this stuff in-part to try and satiate the house building bug that I have.
I will update with progress pics as I have them. As this is a 1970’s house and very much of that era, it has been dubbed: Das Brady Haus.
Eagle Scout
Marine
Fireman
Judge
Historian
Texan
Horse Trader
Cowboy
Blacksmith
Raconteur
Bibliophile
Teacher
Patriot
Author
Master Mason
Story Teller
Contrarian
Plumber
Electrician
Philanthropist
Son
Father
Grandfather
The fires Valhalla will burn brighter and the songs grow louder with your presence.
Biographical write up in High Country Magazine, March 2023
Paris News Obituary
Colfax Gazette Obituary
High Country Magazine Obituary
High Country Magazine Article – June 2023
100th Anniversary Maverick Rodeo Memorial
Memorial Service Transcript – Cimarron, NM July 2023
Memorial Marker
First and foremost, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to the High Desert AirCooled Volkswagen Club. Cesar guided us in and Brian, Dave, Steve, Jimmy, Jinny, Jonah, Scottie, Laurie, Sara, and the rest of the group treated us like family and made the event for us!
We will be in the circle next year! The camping and music and vans were all great. We didn’t see one fight or any ruckus and folks just seemed to be having as good a time as we had. There were so many YouTubers and folks on InstaGram that I follow or that follow me, which is not something I am used to. It was cool getting to know everyone in real life.
Make sure to check out @drewlens Descend 2022 video – it is fantastic! My only regret is that we missed the the synchro run this year – life and work called us away, but our van Schnitzel will be in the pack next year!
It is official, We are having a baby!
Today is the day… Our home is sold, money has transferred hands, and we are moving south to Eugene, OR. Life will be in flux for a little bit as we look for a site to build a new home (or buy an existing one), figure out new doctors, dentists, drycleaners, shops, stores, a new shop for me, gyms, etc..
Leaving Seattle is bitter sweet! We loved the city, but it has changed, we have changed. Leaving our friends and neighbors is probably the hardest part.
Both of our jobs are fully remote, so there won’t be any career changes for the foreseeable future, but some other stuff is in work and we are looking forward to navigating our new life in Eugene and the challenges that the future has in store for us.
Our boy Brodie has crossed the rainbow bridge. May Valhalla welcome him! He was the best good boy…
It is with both a heavy heart and a boat load of optimism that we have decided to sell our home in Seattle. My wife and I have remodeled, rebuilt, upgraded, and remade EVERY single room in this house – even the closets. Every system has been modernized with new wiring, new plumbing, new HVAC, and it will have a new sewer line in a week. During the almost 13 years we have owned this home, we have put heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, cash, and a lot of dirty words into making it amazing.
Our utter and only hope is that the next keeper of this home will love it and care for it as much as we have. The house has its own website at detailing the house blueprints, upgrades, our neighborhood, the garage, and the garden. https://593334thavesw.com
The Real Estate listing for our place is here: https://www.compass.com/listing/5933-…
My wife has a fantastic sense of humor. It is dry and witty and she comes up with fantastic one-liners! She is HILARIOUS without forcing it. Her humor is natural, unpracticed, and off the cuff. What comes up, comes out.
This is the sixth, though certainly not the last, installment of Things My Wife Has Said:
My partner in crime, my BFF, the one person on this earth that I could be marooned on a desert island with. My wife is amazing. I do not deserve her. She makes me a better version of myself.
The garden stakes for the blueberries were looking a little ragged… Ok, a lot ragged! I decided to come up with a more permanent solution and while welding up a large piece of furniture, I took a few minutes and used a little weld bead for good.
I made eight signs, one for each vitality of tree that is planted. Materials used were 3 scrap sections of 1/4” think flat bar and some twice repurposed 24” long 1/2’ rebar that I had forged points on, welded a 1/2” washer, and had used previously as awning tent stakes.
I spent maybe an hour of time in total between cutting, welding, grinding, and bending the stakes. Maybe $5 of gas, $6 in electricity, and $2 of wire were used for plant ID signs that will last a lifetime and then some. I over-build stuff, it is what I do.
I had planned to take my VW Syncro Vanagon to a specialist just after Christmas so that the high-top could be refurbished and resealed. There was a major engine issue the night before our planned departure, some serious ($$) work, and a two week delay.
Once on the road, it was smooth sailing between Seattle and Kennewick, WA, but a planned weekend away was interrupted by an emergency at home and the mini-vacation became an out and back, 11:22 hour long haul, iron bottom, road trip.
The van will be in surgery for a bit, but will be ready for spring camping, road trips, and adventures soon!
After a 4 year wait, I have installed the hand rails for our upper and lower stairs. It took a little bit of doing with some compound angles and a custom forged bracket (by yours truly) on the upper (attic) stairs and a fight to get a warped pit of lumber strait on the bottom (basement) stairs.
They need to have the edges on the ends eased, a little filler in a few trim screw holes and a final coat of paint before calling the task 100% done. I also need to put up the banister and paint the stair stringers on the basement stairwell, but that is another project 🙂
September 29, 1971 – January 14, 2022
My friend passed away suddenly and un-expectantly last week.
Melger was one of my favorite people. He was a gifted CAD designer, always ready and eager to help anyone out, and could be counted on to work an issue to its absolute resolution: whether it was a work challenge or how to fit 2 full-sized bikes into the trunk of a compact car. His euphemisms, one-liners, and nicknames were LEDENDARY. There are people that we worked with 10 years ago that I don’t remember what their actual name was, but I 100% remember the name that Eric gave them! He was super quick witted and was a master at verbal judo – one of my favorite examples:
He was fairly tall and I am not. He was having a bout of lower back pain and was grousing about being “old” and not being able to touch his toes anymore. We are only 2 years apart in age and I bent in half and put my palms on the floor and said with a certain amount of smugness “it is not the age…” Without skipping a heartbeat Eric quipped, “You started out a LOT closer to the floor than me.” There were 6 or 7 people just standing there watching him just slay me… I am smiling ear to ear as I remember that deep burn.
He had this saying when something was going really wrong or when we were about to have to do a crap-ton of extra work: “Whelp time to do some deep knee bends in the ol’ cucumber patch boys.” I can still hear him – saying this with his Wisconsin mid-west clip in my head
Among so many other things, Eric and I shared a love of bikes, sushi, classic architecture, notebooks, paper, pencils, and pens. He gave me a blue lead mechanical pencil that I use weekly and his love of a #2HB Ticonderoga is widely known – he passed them out at work like he was a flower girl at a wedding. I had not converted him to fountain pens, but I think he at least had a nodding respect for them.
Solid does not even start to describe Eric. If he told you he would be somewhere or do something, you could take that to the bank. Anyone that knew Eric is full of tales of times he went out of his way to help. I worked with him at Carlisle and at Blue Origin, where our desks were joined for a time. I will forever miss him leaning up over his monitor to give me a ration of grief, ask me about a part specification, or draw my attention to a matter of idiocy happening in our vicinity.
His taste in beer was awful, but a lukewarm Pabst on a hot day enjoyed while chunking 1 of his 17 specialized golf discs was absolute heaven for him. His epicurean delight and skill more than made up for his poor decisions on the quality fermented beverages. Eric almost glowed when talking about Yakatori street food, French baguettes, stinky cheese, BBQing, and out of the way, unknown mom & pop fantastic eateries. A Monday morning routine was his full account of dinners that he had made for and with his wife Tracy that past weekend and the cocktails that he thought worked the best with the different meals. There was a certain sense in those discussions that Eric expressed love through food and by preparing deliciousness to share with his wife.
The last time we spoke was just after Christmas. We had a text exchange about family and holidays and then he launched into diatribe about how I was more of a hipster than he would ever be. Classic Eric. Said with a wry smile, full of equal doses of affection and sarcasm.
I will miss Eric very much and I will think of him every time I open my Japanese pencil bag, wear a mechanic’s shirt, see a frisbee, go to a specific Sushi place in West Seattle, or whenever I hear someone crack a great on-liner.
Rest easy my friend.
Our French Bulldogs/monsters tear up my wife’s flowers in the corners of our front year every year! She had enough last year and I got an assignment…
My solution was to make a semi-circle section of removable steel fence that would keep both me and the monsters from getting in further trouble. Success. I added some laser cut lanterns from SendCutSend to make the fence sections even more awesome.
This is the final installment of a 3 part video documenting an old-school cabinet build in our pantry that seemed to have taken me forever! I had shoulder surgery and there have been a few other things going on in the world and in life lately, but after a year and a half, we are done! To recap a bit: We live in a 1928 Craftsman bungalow in Seattle and have attempted to replicate what would have been in the house originally when we have remodeled or updated. There is NO crap-tastic MDF faux-Victorian crown molding, no modern melamine, no exotic wood finishes on the kitchen cabinets (ours are painted white), and no light fixtures that would be at home on the set of Lost in Space. If we would have wanted a mid-century or something out of the 1980’s, that is what we would have bought.0
Our last major undertaking with remodel/rebuild/remake projects at home was the building of the butler’s pantry off of our dining room. I have matched the original cabinets and hardware on all my projects so far and wanted this to be the star example of that attention to detail. My sincere hope is that when someone looks at all the cabinets in our home they say to the effect of, “Your original built-ins have held up really well! How did you very find a place this intact?” I am building the pantry the old-school way: solid wood face frames and quality plywood carcasses, under cabinet storage, a granite top, matching the arches in the kitchen, and matched door styles with the rest of our home.
1st Video in the Series: https://youtu.be/4XcHJONOCBo
2nd Video in the Series: https://youtu.be/i6IGnkw6g5E
The Cup Storage Cabinet Build: https://youtu.be/7CMWeYtoHaw
I have a little bit of a VW problem and REALLY want a specific German VW sign for may garage wall, but it is $140+ on eBay and I am just not paying that for an 8×12” piece of painted tin advertisement. Nope! I decided to use some of the machines in the shop and just make one myself.
15 minutes of design time in Easel and I moved out to the shop. My sign is not identical to the original, but it is my own take on it. I cut off a portion of 1/16” duel color acrylic sheet that I had in the scrape bin to rough size on the table saw – using my newest and sharpest panel blade. Then, 30 minutes of cut time on the @inventables X-Carve is all that it took – even with a bit change half way through.
I painted the 1/4” mounting screws white with a bit of rattle can special and let them dry. I hung it the next evening and think that the sign turned out great.
My wife and I got up early on Labor Day this year and took a short trip to a very secluded 40+ acre lake near Seattle. We slipped our canoe into some beautifully clear water and soaked up the sunshine, blue skies, and crisp air.
Brodie is now almost 14 and is a grumpy old man. Deaf as a post, but he still LOVES his mommy. if she get out of his sight he will lose his shit. When she leaves the house he sits at the window waiting for her for hours.
Truffle is 7 and her personality is so big! she is built for snuggling and has to be touching one of her Hoomans at all times.
The new front and back bumpers are installed on the Van! I spent last weekend doing it and some other small mods. The paint touch up for the holes drilled took the longest time.
D-rings, brush guard, and 2′ Receiver hitches front and rear for my 10K winch mount. I couldn’t just leave a blank spot in the front, so I made a euro plate holder for our German plate (Hamburg, meine Perle!)
Our street got hit twice Tuesday night/Wednesday morning with car prowls. At 2:20 a male that appears intoxicated came by looking for easy targets: jiggling a few handles, looking in the backs of pickups and jeeps. Looked into my jeep and appears to try to get into the center console and then the back seat. Then at 6:00 two people in a white truck opened a van on the street, cleaned out our car, and a neighbor’s truck. We lost a big roadside emergency kit, lithium battery jump pack, a few tools, the entire contents of our glove box, a blanket, DeWalt drill/driver battery with charger, and a couple camp chairs. Not enough to claim on insurance, but a felony amount.
It was a white male and female in an early to mid-2000s white Ford Ranger with chrome rims – the ARE style with the small holes around the perimeter. The male was wearing long shorts, an orange reflective safety vest and appears to be 5’8 – 5’10” (based on height of the car roof), overweight, and long-ish dark hair. The female passenger second thief is shorter than 5’4” and was wearing sweats and a hoodie. If you recognize the truck or the occupants, please notify SPD.
We have almost constant car prowls on our street. My camera or the neighbors’ cameras pick up someone checking handles every other night or so. We are diligent, but not enough apparently. It looks like there may have been an RF scanner, but I can’t tell for certain. It looks like the lights flashed when the truck stopped at our car. I have made 3 reports of theft in the last 4 years, most of the folks on our block (24 houses) have anywhere from 1-5 in the same period. My wife and I have made numerous calls and made reports of people checking handles. Zero follow up and the theft continues. Very frustrated with the policing of property crime in Seattle.
We are the couple that goes to lots of live shows and music venues, or we WERE until the “RONA hit. We have not seen a live showing 18 months. Our last show was and Atmosphere concert.
We are double vaxxed, and itching for live music. Marymoor park is a killer outdoor Venus near Seattle that is/was running a series of shows with good separation and you have to be vaccinated to get in the gate. deal!
18 months to almost the day, we saw Atmosphere (and Cypress Hill) at Marymoor last night. Great shows and fine venue! Really happy to get out and see music with my wife!
I ordered a custom German License plate (Kraftfahrzeug-Kennzeichen or Nummernschilder) for the front of our van. It is a 1987 Syncro so I wanted a classic car (kraftfahrtechnisches Kulturgut) plate, which have a red border and letters/numbers. It is not 100% authentic as the plate number does not start with “07” or end with an “H”, but close enough for an American. I did include the HH city designation because we used to live in Hamburg and the city is part of our soul (Hamburg meine Perle!)
We have a RMW front bumper with a 2“ receiver and I decided to make a front plate holder that would deter theft AND be stout enough to plow through snow/bushes/bison, etc… Drew it up in AutoCAD, and sent it to SendCutSend to laser cut the bits out of 0.188” steel. I Designed it with weld-through tabs to beef up the structure and will weld it up with a 0.125” border all the way around it and paint it as soon as the parts arrive. I have never been accused of designing to the bare minimum of necessity…
I gave the Jeep a little bath this weekend than ended up driving around for 2 hours because it was just so nice to be outside.
Meet Schnitzel. She is our 1987 VW Vanagon Syncro and she is about to have a proper refit with new window seals, AT tires, breaks, passenger side awning, fluid swap, and valve tune. I will also be fabricating front and rear skid plates and a bombproof badass winch bumper – with a new Warn 10k-pound stump-puller bolted to it.
My bride and I are discussing the interior color scheme as well as the exterior changes. Will leave the paint the OEM color, but I DO like the red accent stripe I have seen on some gold vans.
A stack of BFGs TA tires layin’ in wait! Will drop them off at Les Schwabe to have the mounted and balanced.
About once every two years I miss my auction-scored Weaver Tire Changer and Wheel balancer. They were both just so big and I didn’t use them enough in my home shop so I sold them and used the cash to upgrade my 2×72 grinder, which DOES get used constantly. It was a good decision, but at times like this, I do second guess myself and long for a giant shop.
We took a mini-vacation in an A-frame cabin in the wilds of Bigfoot Country! Here is a short video of the cabin and time spent there.
