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Sooo yesterday I did something awesome worth bragging a bit about. I defended my masters thesis at my university and was awarded the highest possible grade. This means that I can finally call myself a sociologist! During the last months I’ve struggled a lot with my own ambitions which resulted in some bad cases of anxiety, postponed deadlines etc., so finally finishing it up successfully is the greatest relief for me in the longest time. I plan on celebrating this with a fitting tattoo of the good ol' skull-with-an-academic-cap-on-top-of-a-stack-of-books situation soon. Oh yeah, I've also booked a trip to Barcelona next month, which might involve getting a lil' something from Javier Rodriguez if things work out. Good times ahead!

Oh, and @Devious6...your new toy looks like a nice piece of equipment. Come on over to the house. I could certainly put it to good use. If you get on the road now, you could be here by Wednesday. :)

No grit, no pearl filler by Nick Kohlmeier @ Permanent Vacation Tattoo. A little SG I picked up in Kansas City before a U2 concert. (on my U2 arm, 'a red guitar, on fire, desire') Matching Navy tattoos with my son (he's a submariner). Mine is black & gray, his is color. By Nick Kohlmeier @ Permanent Vacation Tattoo.

I've been playing around with buying one of these for years. We've got an ATV that we use for work around our 57 acre property. It's a 2004 and still running strong but in the winter I use it to plow our 750 ft driveway and my mother-in-law's driveway, too. As I've gotten older, I am less and less thrilled at sitting out in the cold, snow and sleet on the Quad while I plow and then have to get off to change the plow angle every time. I saw that Cub Cadet upgraded their line - got great reviews on 3 or 4 ATV/UTV publications for their value and standard amenities - checked them out and ordered one. I didn't expect it until early next year but I got the call yesterday that not only was it in, but they were ready to deliver it. I took it out for a 15 minute ride around our property last evening - and really like it. To the basic package - which is really loaded (gas adjustable shocks, 4-wheel disc brakes, locking front and rear differential, dump bed, hard lower doors and cab/ROPS cage, tilt wheel, lights horn, turn signals, winch) - I added upper doors and a rear window to close the cab, a cab heater, windshield wiper, a roof light bar and a power-angle snow plow.

Kinda hate to term anything I do as 'awesome', but this as close as it comes for me lol. I retired from my 'real job' specifically to be able to chase my passion (over used term) of woodworking. Now days I spend 6-8 hours in my shop making anything that catches my fancy. Here are a few recent pieces that I finished as Christmas gifts.