Jay Taylor

The motorcycles have been washed, stabilizer added to the fuel, tires pumped up, and covered for the Winter. Easy to uncover and drive them, but as little riding we've done this year, that probably won't happen. We're not planning to take the motorcycles South with us this Winter. #HarleyDavidson

Since he bought a new one, my neighbor was going to put his old Craftsman Tool Station tool chest at the curb with a "Free" sign on it. I claimed it before that happened! I cleaned with the leaf blower, then wiped it clean. It's a nice addition to my garage. #Garage #Craftsman #ToolStation

Hey, y’all… it’s sweater weather! #Dogs #DogsOfBluesky #SweaterWeather #Autumn

#Vote2026 #Vote #VoteEarly #VoteBlue #BlueWave #Midterm2026

When one travels to Michigan in the Fall, one visits cider mills. There will be another one visited tomorrow. #Michigan #CiderMill #UncleJohnsCiderMill #AppleCider #Donuts #AutumnInMichigan

The place where we board our dogs has an Instagram page of current doggy daycare photos. It’s nice to be able to check in on the girls. #CorgiCrew #Corgi #PembrokeWelshCorgi #DoggyDaycare

A great bourbon find in Michigan! I found an early batch Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend (Batch #24), developed by widely revered Master Blender, Nancy Fraley. These early bottles have a glowing reputation, and I had never found one in the wild before. #Bourbon #JosephMagnus #CigarBlend #TheFruitBomb

The ongoing dirt work doesn’t seem to bother Frannie. She’s just snoozing away in the sunshine on the deck. #Corgi #PembrokeWelshCorgi #CorgiCrew #CorgisOfBkuesky

Doing some outdoor projects today, including getting the old Craftsman two-stage snowblower ready for the season. I bought this when we lived in our first house, and we got 17 inches of snow over 2 days (and no neighbors volunteered to help with their snowblowers). It must be almost 30 years old.

The yard work is done for the week, so it’s time to sit outside, have a #Bourbon and listen to the KC Chiefs football game on the radio. #Autumn #Weller #WellerAntique107 #OWA #BuffaloTrace

#Iowa has a higher rate of several cancers, possibly linked to high levels of nitrates in the water supply. I installed a #Waterdrop #ReverseOsmosis system at the kitchen sink last year. I just added a pressure tank inline so that ice and water from the fridge is RO also. #Cancer #WaterQuality

The neighbor’s 8-ft Halloween werewolf used to freak Frannie out whenever we walked by it in the Fall. This year, no reaction whatsoever. #Halloween #Corgi #CorgiCrew #CorgisOfBluesky

My uncle, Keith Taylor, who passed way last month would have been 84 years old today. RIP, Keith.

There was a great crowd at the #CoverThat gig on Friday night. People were up and dancing for all three sets. I was also using new software for the lighting, and there seems to be some bugs in the control interface. Hopefully, that can be ironed out with the support people. #SoundMan #MaestroDMX

I have all of the vegetables cut up, and I've got the stew on the stovetop. I make enough to have meals for the week. #VegetableStew #HomeCooking

I had multiple sound mixing gigs last week. September is a very busy month for sound gigs. I'm also going to hit the road to record a birthday show/concert for a chicago-based musician this week. Pictured below - outdoor gig in Slater, IA for Cover That. #CoverThat

Have we finally reached peak douchebag? #HolyStainlessSteelBatman

The church near my house is getting ready to drain their pond as a part of a building project they planned. Earth moving gear is staged, and work started this morning. A new deeper pond will be made near the old one. I’m happy to report they will not be connecting their parking lot to our street.

Riding my e-bike to lunch with former coworkers today, I noticed the bracket holding my computer to the handlebars was broken. I called the shop where I bought the bike and found I had to replace the whole unit, as bracket/computer are 1 piece. The old computer had 631 miles. #Mokwheel #Obsidian

The wife redid the succulent plants setup tonight. I like! #Succulents #HenAndChicks

Baby got some new shoes yesterday. Costco had a sale starting, so I pulled the trigger on four. My pickup gets the tires rotated at every oil change, and sets last for 50k to 55k miles. Pretty good for a big diesel pickup. This was not an unexpected expense, but the bank account feels empty today.

And now something from our “Well, that’s not something you see every day” file - A man on a mobility scooter with his German Shepherd dog in the drive-thru line at Starbucks this morning. #Starbucks #PeopleOfStarbucks #YepHeWentThere

I received my Seestern homage of the Doxa 300T. The watch wasn’t running well. It was gaining 10s per minute and would quit running after a few minutes. A local watch shop opened it and found the hairspring was caught on another piece. It received a hard bump. It’s running great now! #Watches

I see that it’s praying mantis season in Iowa again. It’s a big one! #PrayingMantis #Nature

Zoey, our Mini Fox Terrier, is using the grass at the edge of the driveway as a pillow. She’s a funny little dog… #DogsOfBluesky #ZoeyTheMiniFoxTerrier

I only break out the #RussellReserve15 #Bourbon on notable occasions. Unfortunately, those occasions are not always joyful. More info will be posted very shortly, when appropriate. ¡Salud! #WildTurkey #RusselsReserve #CelebrationOfLife

Oh, no! I'm very sorry to hear this. I never got a chance to see the classic three-piece lineup. RIP, Frank.

The last three times I’ve had a #Cigar in the driveway, little black gnats swarm me after I light up - but not before. Annoying. So, I stopped at local #CigarLounge today and smoked a #Perdomo for the first time. I brought 3 home. I also got to meet this sweet, 11-wk old Lab pup named Cleo(patra).

I have secured the loose skid plate on my pickup ($). I like easy (read “cheap”) auto repairs. The other two unexpected pickup repairs this year have been: 1) New front wheel bearings while down in FL ($$$) 2) New heater core ($$$$). #DIYAutoRepair #HomeAutoMechanic

A couple of years ago, while the dogs and I were walking by a 78-yr old neighbor's house, he greeted me with, "Hey, Al, how are you doing?" I didn't correct him at the time. So, now every time we walk by, he calls me Al. I feel a bit badly, but this one is my fault. #YouCanCallMeAl #PaulSimon

My neighbor mentioned that I had something hanging down underneath my pickup. Sure enough, there is a plate hanging down. It seems to be missing two bolts. I stopped at a big box hardware store and bought some stainless steel hardware to fix this, but need smaller bolts. This is tomorrow’s project.

My brother had a couple of my favorite local beers sitting in his garage beer fridge, leftover from the last batch that was released. I asked at the brewery, and the next run of DCMS is not being scheduled yet. #Beer #Sour #BarnTownBrewing #DontCallMeShirley

I’m outside enjoying some driveway time, smoking a #Cigar and listening to some #ChicagoCubs baseball. Frannie the Corgi is inching closer to Spencer, a neighborhood Siamese cat. Both are acting very chill - more curious and cautious than playing or aggressive. #CorgiCrew #FrannieTheCorgi

My wife and I visited a new veterinary office near our house yesterday. A former neighbor is a vet there. We felt comfortable with the vibe and their answers to our questions, so we booked a new client appointment to move the dog’s care to them. #NoPrivateEquity #PrivateEquityVet #CorgiCrew

I’ve been unhappy with some changes that have been implemented at the veterinary practice that we’ve taken our pets to for the last *30* years. Now I think know why. They were purchased by a private equity firm. Time to start looking for a new vet for our dogs… #PrivateEquity #PrivateEquityVet

The weather is decent this morning, so the dogs and I are enjoying some driveway time in the shade. #MLB game playing in the background and smoking an #ArturoFuente in a light breeze. There’s nothing else on the agenda for today. It’s a good day!

I could do without this… #HotWeather #HeatIndexToo #StillBetterThanWindChill

I’m listening to some MLB baseball and relaxing out in the driveway, and Zoey decided to lie down on the grass - very unusual for her! #DrivewayParty