We said goodbye to my dream vehicle – the 2018 Wrangler JLUR – back in August after a devastating mid-trip fire. The first fire truck to respond wasn’t officially in service and didn’t have enough water to engage their pumps, hence the drizzle and the truck eventually backing up to my JL to attempt to ‘spill’ the water they had on to the fire.

After the dust settled, we ordered a 2023 Wrangler 4xe JLUR, which just arrived. It reminds me very much of my previous JL but with a lot more neat tech =0)

The JL on fire

Fire truck backing up to ‘spill’ water on the JL.

Fire finally extinguished

At the graveyard

The 4xe parked in an EV spot, awaiting pickup!

The 2023 Wrangler JLUR 4xe

Sitting in the driver seat, I feel like my old Jeep is back, but with more toys!

We made it back out to Windrock Park in Tennessee and this time we were joined by vacationing Rickards!

We had just gone a few weeks prior, but didn’t have a chance to hit the Jeep Badge of Honor trail #51 AKA Panther Rock.

This time, with some pretty awesome friends, we conquered Panther Rock / Trail 51 and had a ridiculous amount of fun.

A clip from our 1st Windrock trip

Meeting our friends for the first time in a while :)

Brooks is here with his new JL, Alice!

We set out following the newest JL

A helpful tug in reverse

Brooks going over our 1st obstacle

My turn to hop over

A heated debate ensued post-ride

the debate continued over radio waves

...but we worked out all our differences over super tasty food

After dinner, Brooks gave me a tour of Alice

On the way home we hit the newest Buc-ee’s – in Tennessee!

Windows 11 changes the class blue BSOD to black BSOD :o

The familiar (formerly blue) screen of death has been around since Win 3x days.

Yesterday, I made my first ever attempt at a lasagna.

I opted for Coach Greg’s Anabolic Meat Lasagna which turned out, like all of his recipes I’ve tried, to be a real treat.

Instructions

Turkey meat sauce

Spinach and ricotta cheese

2nd bake finished

It’s warm

Time to cut it up

Time to eat =D

Check out Coach Greg’s Cookbook 2.0

Windows 10 updates fluent design icons from WIndows 10x appeared in the latest Windows Insider release and, I must say, it’s a nice update =0)

New icons shown in ‘Start Menu’

New icons shown in ‘My Computer’

Took advantage of the warm weather and sanded and painted the #LicensePlateRelocation bracket, #camerahousing and #3rdbrakelight / plate light bracket.

The rust was actually worse than this pic – the license plate frame and 3rd light were getting quite bad

Everything off

Painting camera housing

Painting motobilt license plate relocation bracket

Painting 3rd brake & plate light

Camera housing finished

All back together. In hindsight, I should have painted the washers. Soon.

Fun things to come!

#Peppermint Belizean #PowderBun with #raisins and #cranberries and they’re #red just bc I can ❤️

I came up with usheremail.com in 2016, when I wanted to learn about setting up and hosting my own exchange servers.

Now usheremail.com is now open to anyone wanting an usheremail.com address. It is aimed, of course, at family and those sharing the surname Usher, but the service is open to all who are interested.

These days, I no longer host the server myself, rather usheremail.com is hosted by GMail. You login and check your e-mail at gmail.com and it’s really just a branded gmail account.

If privacy is paramount, I also have pm.usheremail.com accounts hosted through ProtonMail a service that prides itself on privacy and encryption tech.

If you’d like a usheremail.com account, send me an e-mail with your desired username. I’ll create your account and send you a temporary password.

Dmitriy

#GarlicRoastedPotatoes were the star of tonight’s meal and they did not disappoint ❤️❤️

garlic first for the potatoes

salt, black pepper, parsley, and olive oil in the potatoes

everything mixed up

finished product

dinner time

with the steak

Weekend pics batch 1 #doubleChocolateChipFudgy #GlutenFree #cookies #garnachas and outdoor time with some worn out #puppies

Double chocolate fudgy cookie dough

Ready to bake

Cookies came out splendidly

Yummy garnachas

Puppies relaxing after enjoying the yard and sunshine

Baked #salmon in special #spicerub w/ #MangoYoghurt #salad @ Lake Villa, Illinois

I’ve really been enjoying the dijon sauce I typically make for salmon but didn’t want to wear it out so did a throwback to my favourite spiced salmon rub and the result was fantastic.

The salad was good, as always, with the mango yoghurt dresssing, blueberries, granola, and strawberry.

I wanted to try something a bit different with my 2nd time making ribs so, instead of the custom apricot bbq sauce I’ve made before, I followed a suggestion in Snoop Dogg’s cookbook and used a spicy arrabiata sauce for to coat the ribs after baking but pre-broil.

While I had my reservations, it was actually amazing. The spicy arrabiata sauce contrasted very nicely with the sweet from the brown sugar/garlic/pepper rub on the ribs.

The mango yoghurt salad dressing always makes the salad a nice treat. Topped with french vanilla granola, strawberries, and blueberries, it really feels like eating a dessert.

I decided to try something new (to me) for our special night and I made #SauteedClams in #CurrySauce from the #FourKitchens cookbook. They were fantastic <3

The finished product

Prep

The homemade curry sauce was added to boiling white wine and tamarind juice

The clams opened up nicely whilst being sautéed

Tonight was my first exploration into #GlutenFree foods with #BlackBean and #RedLentil #pasta with #potatognocchi and #homemade #PumpkinPastaSauce all gluten free and all quite tasty @ Lindenhurst, Illinois

The Belize Black Fruit Cake was my first experience with any type of fruit cake and turned out exceedingly well.

The recipe I used came from prehiSPAniccocoon and I recommend you follow her page for lots of other great recipes.

The large cake

One of the medium cakes

One of the smaller cakes

Elected & Impeached

On 16 November 2018, I was elected as Mayor of Hell, Michigan. Later that same day, I was impeached. During my time in Hell, I met with the locals (my constituents), enjoyed some food and toured the town.

Video of my appointment as Mayor of Hell, Michigan.

My time as Mayor begins

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My tour of Hell begins at the Gates of Hell

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My tour continues beyond the chapel and weather station near the Lovers Bridge and river.

During lunch the founder of the town, John Colone, presented me with my Deed for 1 square inch of waterfront property in Hell, Michigan – complete with soil analysis indicating high concentrations of sulfur, brimstone, and human bone.

After hearing rumours of my impending impeachment, I snapped a shot near the Hell, Michigan sign at Screams Ice Cream.

Video of my subsequent impeachment and removal from office.