Today, the United States celebrated our 250th birthday in epic fashion.
I started the day discovering that a domain I lost back in February of 2025 was finally available again. I quickly purchased it and got to work. The tough part is that it was recently owned by a foreign entity that used it for suspicious activity, leaving it blacklisted on a wide variety of sites. It will take some time to restore what it used to be and rebuild its reputation.
It was a beautiful morning and I got to share it with my buddy Rider sipping coffee on the balcony.
Early this afternoon, we picked up my wife’s Tri-Glide from the service department at Ironclad Harley in Portsmouth, VA. We grabbed our milestone gear while we were there. We officially locked down the first odometer reading sticker, 500-mile keychain, the 1,000-mile coin, and a flashlight for the 2,500-mile mark. We have our eyes on the 5,000-mile ballcap next.
Who else is out there crushing the 2026 Let’s Ride Challenge – Ride For Heroes? There are plenty of great causes on the list, but Liz and I are proudly riding for the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Associationยฎ.
I put my drone in the air for the first time in over a year this evening.
I launched it in the upstairs study, flew it out the door onto the balcony, turned it around, and flew it back through the door into the study and safely set it down.
I’m making sure all firmware and software is current and I’m legal to fly around here.
That was fun!
When it was time for the fireworks, I launched my drone and pushed it higher than I’ve ever flown it before. Each time I heard an audible explosion, I turned the drone in the direction of the sound and was able to capture a nearly endless 360ยบ view of the fireworks going off all over the area!
In my excitement, I forgot to put the SD card in the drone and the internal storage filled up within the first few minutes. As a result, I don’t have any footage to share but believe me when I say it was amazing.
I flew until the battery ran low so the drone took over and performed an emergency landing. Thankfully I had the foresight to set “home” in a location away from trees, power lines, and anything else that might get in the way. As a result, my bird came home and landed safely.
Happy Birthday America!!!