BigJake20

Thanks, MP. I was blessed to be able to spend over 36 years with him. He and my grandma were married for 66 years and passed within 4 months of each other. ** Edited by BigJake20 at 2/22/2026, 8:45:03 AM

He signed with the Pirates out of high school in 1953. So he played in the same minor league system with Mazeroski in 1954 and 1955. Sadly, we lost him last August. But man, he could tell some good stories. He got in a fight with Orlando Cepeda one day.

Bistro 1888 closed. New owners bought it and opened it as Main St Bar & Grill. It is hit or miss, IMO. Molasses Grill is still there. It is definitely my favorite place to go and the best place in Halifax County. Also helps that I live less than 3 miles from there. ** Edited by BigJake20 at 10/30/2023, 11:14:50 AM

I live in Halifax County but here are some places in Danville that I have been to. Brewery - Bricktown Brewery. Though service can be spotty in my experience. Sushi - Tokyo Grill Thai - Moon River Bistro - Hole-in-the-wall type place that has my favorite pho I've ever had. Bar food - Kickback Jack's. I've also heard good things about Me's Burgers and Brews but I've never been. If you are looking for elevated food, I've never eaten at Golden Leaf, but I hear it is great. Would also highly recommend Molasses Grill if you are willing to make the drive to South Boston/Halifax. It's worth it. Only open Thurs-Sun. Reservations recommended. My wife and I go at least twice per month.

Bruce Greenwood was awesome. My favorite part was his rant after he was told "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade". I agree about the kids, but if they didn't suck, would Bruce Greenwood's entire character make sense? He made his fortune by making a deal with Fate that included immunity from all legal battles. He had 6 kids by 5 different women and only married the first one. Then, for selfish/business reasons, he married the only person whose body could handle that much of his main product. His kids had to suck for it to make sense. Also, part of the show was that Fate decided how all of them would die. There was only one respectable person in the family (Lenore), so she was the only respectable death. All other deaths had to highlight the downcomings of each kid.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I do prefer the Islay malts. Lagavulin 16 being my favorite (as is my wife's).

The weld between the members failed under fatigue stresses (cause unknown at this moment). Once the crack progated through, this caused cyclical bending stress of the upright member causing the crack you see on the right side.

I'd need to look at the face of the actual fractured components to do a complete failure analysis. But, looking at the picture, a crack beginning at the welded joint between the upright and diagonal supports seems like a safe bet. Keep in mind that cracks propogate exponentially with cycles, so that crack has probably been there quite a bit but became more noticeable quickly. Either way, there has to (or should) be some inspection frequency. Assuming the above is correct, what could be some possible causes? I would need the answer to many more questions before knowing. What type of weld was this? Full penetration? What is the base metal? What filler metal was used? Interpass temperature? Were pre and/or post heat treatment used? What non-destructive testing was completed? Something was causing excess stress at that joint. Were the flanges torqued or aligned correctly? If too much stress was placed on the support before torquing (e.g. have to pull the supports one way before torquing), the support will live under stress when not in use. Then, add the stresses from normal use on top of that. Mechanical engineer here. I'd love to know who is completing the analysis and find out the actual root cause. Once you figure out the root cause, you can figure out the best way to fix it to ensure it does not happen again. ** Edited by BigJake20 at 7/3/2023, 9:46:08 AM ** Edited by BigJake20 at 7/3/2023, 9:46:37 AM

During the day, it was not nearly as bad. Ten min max.

Moved to a lower cost of living area and was able to put 20% down on my current house. Worked out very well.

5% down. We were 28 and 29 years old.

That's one reason why you see more 4 door trucks now (as opposed to extended cabs) than 15 years ago. That B column adds support for the cab during rollover or impact.

Kids mature at different rates. For example, the best player on our middle school team didn't start by our senior year. He just matured at a faster rate before everyone else caught up to him. Now, I will say that it is a big deal that the higher rated kids want to come play for VT.

Early Christmas morning (~2am), a fire broke out in Mackenzie’s sister’s house in Halifax County. While no one was injured physically (thank goodness), the recently engaged couple have lost many of their possessions. I am asking Hokie Nation to pray and donate (if possible) to help these two. John and Lyndsay are two of my very best friends and two of the greatest people I know. Anyone who knows Mackenzie will not be surprised to hear this. John, a VT graduate, is currently a Sargent in the Virginia State Police. Lyndsay, a JMU graduate, works in the medical field in Durham. While they would never ask for anything, they could really use our help. A common friend set up a Go Fund Me for anyone who is interested.

Didn't entertain it since I had been accepted into the engineering school at VT. I figured if I wasn't good enough to go to a higher-level D1 school, the odds were against me to make decent money playing professional long-term. Looking up minor league salaries versus VT engineering graduates made my decision much easier. I didn't even take a visit there because I knew if I did, I would've been swayed to play.

I'm 6'4" and could barely jump high enough to dunk. That didn't work out well when he came down the lane. Played against Tyrod a bit, too. You can tell that he was good if he turned it on. But, he didn't need to. Saw Prince Parker in there some. I'm trying to remember who else. My friend group graduated high school with Tyrod's freshman roommate. We hung out with them in McComas quite a bit.

I try to support veteran-owned companies as much as possible. My wife and I really enjoy their Blackbeard's Delight roast (see link). We get a bag delivered to the house once per month. A lot of times I'll buy their special brews that they make for good causes. For example, the proceeds for one specific type of coffee benefitted a charity that paired dogs with veterans. When someone asks me what kind of coffee I like, I say, "I like my coffee like I like my a$$es. Brazilian."

Social media and the internet exasperates issues because of instant access to information. It makes it much easier for a mob mentality these days. Before the internet, you only got what was reported on the news or in the newspaper, a lot of which was focused locally.

@HokieDan95, I see you beat me to the punch.

that Wendy, not wanting to give up power, would end up taking over the Navarro cartel. After chastizing Jonah for money laundering, she would try to get him to launder money for the cartel. Because of this, Marty and Wendy would have a falling out and go their separate ways with Marty, Charlotte, and Jonah going back to Chicago without Wendy. I also thought that they set up Ruth to live a good life by the lake. I wasn't surprised they killed her, but I thought it was a lot of work and storytelling just to kill her off in the end. Overall, I did like how they ended it with Jonah shooting the PI.

Wife: Why are they wearing their hats like that?

Me: That’s a rally cap.

Wife: I much prefer the rally tits

Yeah, I’ve got a good one.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Her parents are great people. As are all of her sisters.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Her parents are great people. As are all of her sisters.

On an infamous note, many in my family believe the man who shot Stonewall Jackson was an ancestor of mine. There is no actual proof, though.

On an infamous note, many in my family believe the man who shot Stonewall Jackson was an ancestor of mine. There is no actual proof, though.

Helps create some bark too.

Keely started. Ivy brought in for the middle innings. Lemley closed.

Keely started. Ivy brought in for the middle innings. Lemley closed.

Does anyone actually believe Life Wallet thinks that Nijel Pack will earn them at least $800k? Doubt it. However, by signing these large deals in a new landscape, they were plastered all over the news.

Case in point, I had never heard of Life Wallet until now.

That being said, as the NIL landscape grows, these companies will not be able to be in the news solely because of these deals. Life Wallet struck while the iron is hot.

Does anyone actually believe Life Wallet thinks that Nijel Pack will earn them at least $800k? Doubt it. However, by signing these large deals in a new landscape, they were plastered all over the news.

Case in point, I had never heard of Life Wallet until now.

That being said, as the NIL landscape grows, these companies will not be able to be in the news solely because of these deals. Life Wallet struck while the iron is hot.

Doesn't really make sense to fire up the huge smoker if we are doing something small.

I've got the RT-2500 BFG. We entertain a lot, so the large one makes sense for us. Here's a pic of it on my back porch. Put a brisket on at 1am this morning actually. Well, my wife did. I was asleep.

Customer service is top notch. Warranty is great. Mine came with a 6 year warranty. Although, I think the smaller models come with a less warranty. Wi-Fi equipped. I can view meat temps and control it from my office at work. Had it for a little over a year, and I haven't had any issues with it maintaining steady temperature, regardless of the time of year.

Looks like she’ll stick around VT one more year to finish that degree.

She is an awesome individual from an awesome family. Very, very highly respected in Halifax County, as they should be.
[Post edited by BigJake20 at 04/24/2022 10:08AM]

I'll do it later if I have time.