2025 life updates – Dad, Snow, Beagles and MORE Snow – MDW 401

It’s been a crazy start to the year, with a lot of big changes and challenges. One of the hardest things I’ve gone through recently is losing my dad. He passed away from lung cancer in early December 2024 after a long battle. Even though it was a peaceful passing, it’s still been really tough on the family. This winter has been relentless. We’ve had a ridiculous amount of snow since Thanksgiving, and I’ve spent a lot of time plowing. Now, don’t get me wrong—I actually enjoy plowing snow—but after doing it over and over, it started to wear me down. One silver lining is that I inherited my dad’s 2020 Toyota Tundra. It’s been a solid truck and has come in handy more times than I can count. On a much sadder note, we had a rough time with our beagles, Benny and Percy. Percy started getting aggressive, and on Christmas, he attacked Benny badly. After multiple incidents, including one where Benny needed stitches at the emergency vet, we had to make the heartbreaking decision to put Percy down. It was incredibly difficult, but it had to be done for Benny’s safety. Thankfully, the weather is starting to warm up a bit, and the snow is finally beginning to melt. I had to put my flying on hold for a while because of all the stress, but I’m hoping to get back in the air this spring. Around the house, I’ve been working on a few projects—running conduit for internet and electrical lines. Unfortunately, I had a storage tent collapse under the weight of all that snow. That thing is a total loss, so I’m making plans to build something more permanent to store my yard equipment. Before wrapping up, I just want to remind everyone to stay subscribed and check out my website for updates. I also post daily facts on social media if you’re into that sort of thing. And who knows—maybe in a future episode, I’ll even talk about politics. (Or maybe not!) Thanks for sticking with me, and I’ll catch you in the next one!