Jump Thursday Rundown

Who else is enjoying these loooong June days? In this part of the country the sun begins to rise at 4 a.m. and sets after 9 p.m. I always advocate to take advantage of this surplus daylight as much as possible. I also advocate that you take advantage of my excellent Thursday Rundowns (sarcasm). I present to you tonight’s five topics…

Star Wars Merchandise – At last weekend’s yard sale, my brother-in-law was selling some of his collectible items, including these Star Wars Lego kits. Although they were the subject of much interest from our sale’s customers, they didn’t fly off the shelves. But that is a good thing because that means these rare editions can be yours. If you are interested in some Star Wars stuff, just let me know and I will put you into contact with my brother-in-law.

A look at my brother’s Star Wars Lego setup at last weekend’s garage sale.

White Men Can’t Jump – The movie that Sidney and I watched together this week was “White Men Can’t Jump.” I had seen bits and pieces on TV before but never viewed the film from start to finish. Let me tell you, it is early 1990s cinema at its finest. We enjoyed the humor, hustling tactics, and the Jeopardy angle that was worked in. You want to know a fun fact? Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes did all of their own basketball scenes and the coach that was hired to develop their skills said both men could have had collegiate basketball careers if that acting thing never worked out. “White Men Can’t Jump” can be streamed on Peacock.

We were very entertained by “White Men Can’t Jump.”

Dude Night – Yesterday evening, our family split off. Sidney hung out with Sloan and I paired up with Beau. The girls crawled into our bed and watched shows. I took Beau for a bike ride around the neighborhood followed by play time at the park capped off with some ice cream. Lately I have realized that I haven’t spent a lot of one-on-one time with Beau so it was nice to just have a “guys’ night.”

Beau and I finished our night together with ice cream.

Gas Price Insanity – Three months ago I addressed surging gas prices. At that time, I didn’t think it could get much worse than the $4.39 per gallon that my local gas station was charging. Boy, was I wrong. Today, a gallon of gas at most places in Spokane is $5.29…yes, I said $5.29. I think most of us are fed up with the madness at the pumps and the stark reality is that relief won’t be coming any time soon. How crazy to think that in 2016 we were paying $1.79 per gallon?

I took this photo at our local Maverik gas station in Spokane Valley.

Bachelor Party – On this date six years ago, I had my “bachelor party.” I use the quotes because I didn’t necessarily have a stereotypical, wild bachelor party that is now common in today’s culture. My dad, father-in-law, and groomsmen went on an Intracoastal Waterway boat cruise and stopped at one of the restaurants just off the water for lunch and cornhole. Although it wasn’t an out of control bender, we all had a lot of fun.

My bachelor party was relaxing, low key, and fun. In this photo my father-in-law is driving the boat and is seated next to my dad. I am in the back pointing, my friend Kenny is in the middle, and my brother is in the red.

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That will do it for me tonight. I am looking forward to a pretty significant date this Saturday and I hope your weekend is significant in some way too. Don’t Blink.

Great Fourth Of July, Now Atlanta

This past week some organization came out with a list of the “50 Most Patriotic States” and South Carolina took the very coveted number one spot. With that designation, you can probably imagine that anywhere in the Palmetto State is the place to be for the Fourth of July. Luckily for me this very red, white, and blue state is now home and I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s holiday.

What do you think about the hat I had custom made for the Fourth of July?

What do you think about the hat I had custom made for the Fourth of July?

My Fourth of July started off with me taking my holiday message photo down at the beach at 7:30 a.m. Sidney volunteered to take the photo and showed immense patience with me as I had her take multiple shots while beachgoers gazed at the weird guy in a tacky American flag dry fit shirt sporting an even tackier smile (me). A little before noon I set sail with Sidney, her sister, and her parents. Riding on the very nice boat of Sidney’s dad, we cruised up and down the Intracoastal Waterway for a good six hours in the beautiful weather. I had a great time relaxing on the boat, exploring the South Carolina waters, and spending time with Sidney’s family. We finished our cruise at a little after 6 p.m. and I returned to my apartment for a little rest.

I had a very nice Fourth of July.

I had a very nice Fourth of July.

Once night hit Sidney and I went back to the beach to enjoy fireworks. While sitting on the sand we enjoyed a professional fireworks show off in the distance but we also watched all the amateurs up and down the shore lighting off their own pyrotechnics. It was a cool scene, especially for someone like me who has never experienced fireworks at the beach before. It put a nice cap to a relaxing Fourth of July.

A firework goes off in the distance as Sidney and I watched from the pier of the beach.

A firework goes off in the distance as Sidney and I watched from the pier of the beach.

Today Sidney and I take off for Atlanta! By 6 a.m. we will be on the road heading west 360 miles for another weekend getaway. While we don’t have a set itinerary for this trip one thing is for sure: We are going to today’s 4:10 p.m. Atlanta Braves vs. Arizona Diamondbacks game at Turner Field. I can’t wait to visit another MLB ballpark and to watch a team I grew up watching a lot because of the TBS contract. We will stay the night in downtown Atlanta and then come back at a TBD time on Sunday.

Sidney and I will be attending today's Atlanta Braves game.

Sidney and I will be attending today’s Atlanta Braves game.

What a weekend this is shaping up to be! I had a splendid holiday yesterday and now I get to go off to a major city and watch Major League Baseball. Most likely on Monday evening I will have a recap of our Atlanta experience. Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your weekend. For updates from Atlanta, follow me on Twitter/Instagram/Snapchat by searching @brentreser. Don’t Blink.