Scherzinger.Org 2024

With only 100 miles on the new Lexus and Eileen in CA visiting her sister Sue, Bruce forgot the loaner for the Fusion was still in the driveway where he parked it himself, and backed the new car into it, damaging both. Brilliant move!

Bruce reluctantly retired from Northrop Grumman after 47 years of being an embedded software systems engineer!

Bruce and Eileen traveled to Napa CA to visit their oldest child, Day, and of course to tour some wineries. They also scoped-out homes for sale in the charming town of Yountville, which they both fell in love with. We'll just have to see if/how that pans out.

Our 2019 Fusion was starting to become an electrical/electronic maintenance headache, so we decided to replace it with a 2025 Lexus ES300h. What a beautiful car! And for future reference, Carvana is most definitely the way to sell a car. They buy it sight unseen (you have to give them an honest description) and gave us $2500 more than Carmax offered (also sight unseen),

Bruce and Eileen went to the Wilmington Delaware area on a whim. Eileen remembered her friend Wendy Girnis lives up there, so she contacted her to let her know of our plans. Wendy and her husband, Paul, arranged a whole itinerary for the first day there that included visiting various historic sites, wineries, and other area sites. Bruce and Eileen visited Longwood Gardens the next day and then headed home.

Bruce finally got to go on a group bike ride with the E-Bike Lovers Washington DC Meetup group and use that new trailer hitch for his bike rack. The 33-mile ride was in the St. Michael's Maryland area, starting in Easton, looping through Oxford, crossing a river on a ferry, then looping back to Easton. Eileen drove the "chase vehicle" in case Bruce got into distress, which fortunately did not happen. It was a beautiful weekend filled with relaxation, site-seeing, and (for Bruce) hard work.

Bruce and Eileen finally spent her retirement gift from AFPM and dined at The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, VA. It was quite an experience. It's a tiny town with only a handful of restaurants and B&Bs. We did not stay at "The Inn", but at a much more reasonably priced B&B at the other end of town (about 3 blocks walk). During our 9-course meal, Martha Stewart and a few of her friends were seated at the table just across the room from us. I know she saw me (and lots of others) snapping a photo of her.

Bruce and Eileen joined their good friends the Kellmans on a midday catamaran cruise around the Chesapeake Bay. Isn't it interesting the calming effect being on the water has?

Bruce put a trailer hitch on the Venza so the next group bike ride he goes on won't require squishing the bike into the cargo area.

Bruce had a second opportunity to go on an e-bike ride with the same group, but when he put the bike on the rack the night before, the rear tire was flat. No way to get that fixed before the ride started the next day, so he missed another one.

Eileen's diverticulitis flares up yet again and the third scheduling of her surgery is cancelled. It probably won't happen now until 2025.

Bruce was supposed to go on a group bike ride with the E-Bike Lovers Washington DC Meeting group. The ride started at the Arlington Marina and some of it was along the river; a very nice setting. However, when he arrived and removed his e-bike from the back of the Venza, it would not operate. Later he discovered that manipulating the bike into the back of the car had stressed and broken half the wires going into the control display, So, he packed it back in and went home.

Eileen contracts diverticulitis and has to reschedule her surgery again.

Bruce switches to half-time at work to have better flexibility in his schedule to accommodate Eileen's ever-changing medical issues.

Eileen was supposed to have a major surgery this month, but Rachel's hospitalization forced that to be rescheduled.

Bruce and Eileen took Amtrak to NYC to visit her cousin Andy and his partner Billie. While there, they looked at a few apartments in Brooklyn Heights. Gorgeous places, awesome views, but too expensive for our budget.

Rachel was admitted emergently to the hospital after another bout with aspiration pnemonia. It's clear her body no longer heals itself from this type of incident, so Eileen and Bruce setup a palliative care plan for her going forward.:(

Day moved out of the house and into an apartment.

We scheduled to have our house completely soft-washed.

David and Brie divorced and her name legally changed to "Day Anna Welch".

Bruce surrendered his campus office and started working from home 100% of the time. Woo hoo!

Bruce started having to take daily insulin shots in addition to his other 3 diabetes medications.

Eileen had her second cataract surgery.

Happy New Year!

We start the year with Eileen having recovered from COVID in December upon her return from Amsterdam, which caused her to have to reschedule her many doctor appointments and surgeries until this month. She's pretty much exhausted from being sick on and off for over a month now and just wants it to all be over.

Eileen had the first of her two cataract surgeries.

Bruce traded his 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe for a 2024 Toyota Venza. The main reason? To get some better tech!