Hockey in Pittsburgh

The Caps Hockey Academy 4 Team was in Pittsburgh this weekend. They played 4 games. Three were blowouts (1 win, 2 losses) and one was a good game, but they lost 0-3.

Power went out before the first game ... so we missed work/school for nothing

Game 1: Team from Minnesota won 11-1. RJ played hard, team got discouraged.

Game 2: Caps won 6-3, but it wasn't that close ... it was 6-1 until the last 2 minutes. The regular film crew was gone ... so Doug tried to take over. That sort-of worked.

RJ had a good game ... he's number 42 in the video below.

Game 3: 3-0 loss to team from Canada ... should have, would have, could have ... 

Game 4: Team from Albany was a major blow out on the last day. Bummer.

Other Activities

RJ got to know his teammates during paintball and by hanging around the hotel with them.

Pizza before paintball

After paintball

Why you wear layers during paintball

1994 Mustang Convertible

Family has a new car. A 1994 Mustang Convertible. After spending 2-3 years in Washington DC, it migrated to North Dakota where it lived on a farm for a few years. This month it moved to it's new home in Northern Virginia ... but we really, really want to keep FUNYFRM license plate from North Dakota.

Getting to VA

Grandma and Grandpa got it from North Dakota to Cedar Rapids, IA.

Diane says goodbye on July 28. Tear :-(

Next up ... Doug flies to Cedar Rapids to drive it the rest of the way.

Doug makes connection in Denver ... don't ask ... $124 flight on Frontier.

Hung out with the Bueckers and saw an awesome high school football game before a 5am departure to get to South Bend in time for lunch.

Awesome lunch. Got to see Aunt Jo and my cousins (except Larry)

In poor form, I wore a Miami shirt to South Bend the week after the Convicts beat the Catholics in football.

Uh oh! Lake effect rain on Sunday in Cleveland

The Car Takes Over

After arriving the Mustang got a lot of attention. Sara took RJ to hockey practice and The Great 8 exchanged waves on his way out of the parking lot!

The original owner was reunited with the car. Julia was told NOT to be in the picture.

Everybody pitching in to clean it up. Notice the Honda stuck outside the garage.

What's Next?

Operation ABS Control system replacement and brake line flush. Read about it here: https://dougsara.blogspot.com/2025/10/mustang-abs-repair.html.

RJ science lab

RJ made the school newsletter.

RJ thinks to himself, "c'mon ... big explosion."

Recessed Lighting

After living in the dark for several years we decided to install recessed lighting in the living room.

Since the area above the living room was loosely-finished attic the project was not too difficult ... in theory. What we learned:

• Although there was a straight run from the existing single-gong box to the attic (only a single 2' x 4' to drill through), the process still took 3-4 hours.
• 14/2 wire is almost $1/foot.
• Working in the attic when it is 77 degrees out is still sweaty work
• Breathing without a mask while moving dusty insulation was a bad idea
• Wearing a short sleeve shirt resulted in two-days of itchy skin

RJ ran the wire around the attic and helped with the wiring

Turns out that wearing a long sleeve shirt would have saved a lot of itchy skin

Julia took a break from reading to get tools, clean up, and test the new switch (Sara still has to mud)