Father, Family Historian, Woodworker, Cook, Traveler, and Hokie.
Joined May 2016
- Tweets 6,695
- Following 543
- Followers 564
- Likes 10,245
990 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
22 Nov 2023
Introductions
I’ve become much more active on X/Twitter since Elon Musk bought the company, so I thought that I’d introduce myself.
My name is Justin and I’m a few weeks away from turning 51 years old. I grew up in the cornfields of rural Northern Illinois, and I have lived in Virginia since 1990. I’m a proud Hokie. I founded a boutique consulting business about 15 years ago which is how I earn a living. I have two children from a previous marriage. I have a fantastic and beautiful girlfriend named Debbie.

I’m looking to make connections with cool folks. I like traveling and the outdoors, from-scratch cooking, fine woodworking, camping/RV’ing, and gardening. I write about my occasional adventures from this interesting life I live, which is quickly transitioning to a life with adult children.
Thus the handle: “Glimpse Of Us”
Have any questions? Ask away!
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Finished the front brakes on my 1-ton diesel pickup today with about 5 hours of work.
I was upset and discouraged yesterday after running into a number of problems. I feel better today having gotten this done.
I’m tackling the rear brakes next weekend which is a little more involved.
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Jun 14
Okay, after breaking a tool yesterday getting started, I replaced it and am back in action. Disassembly completed. Now comes the cleanup and reassembly.
Jun 13
Update: I gave up for the day.
I broke the torx (star) tool trying to remove the first bolt on front rotors.
I moved to the rear brakes. I don’t feel like I’ve lost my strength, but I could not get the caliper bolts off. There’s just no room to get more leverage.
I might just pay someone. I’ve changed brakes and rotors about 18-15x on various other vehicles but never had these problems.
A little disappointed, but I may retry tomorrow.
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Jun 11
I bought my first home at age 28, and 25 years later I still live in the same home.
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Jun 7
Hey @VSPPIO, before there’s another major accident with fatalities in Northern Virginia why don’t you go investigate @HEPACOLLC and their drivers. Truck has hazmat placard, too.
I had to emergency brake from 45mph to 20 mph, because this jackass doesn’t understand the rules of the road. Geez.
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Jun 7
Happy Birthday, Grandpa!
Gage Paulson was born June 6, 1921, the son of Arne and Nettie Paulson. The photo of the church is where Arne was baptized (and his great-grandchildren, Meg and Will, got to see this about 10 days ago while visiting Norway).
For anyone that never knew him: Gage was a veteran of WWII. He volunteered in the 350th Infantry Replacement Battalion, served in the Normandy Invasion 82 years ago, and was wounded by friendly fire in the Battle of Saint-Lô France in July 1944. After surgery he was transferred to the 170 Field Artillery CO-C to fight in the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944/45 and fought all the way to Berlin. He received three bronze stars, Normandy, Rhineland, and Central Europe. After the war he returned home to marry Mildred, my grandmother.
He lived on Lake Waubesa in McFarland, Wisconsin, where every summer I would catch bass, crappie, and pike. Later he moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, to get away from the water which made his bones ache! I would drive up to have lunch with him on a regular basis.
In 2010 he was signed up to go on the Honor Flights (in early 2011) to be honored for his service in WW2. But in July 2010 he was diagnosed with a heart valve issue and wouldn't live to do the honor flight. BUT, his favorite grandson lived in Washington DC along with his two great-grandchildren; we took him to see the WW2 memorial in October 2010 and my good friend, Jim Brinker, gave us a 4-hour private guided tour of the Udvar-Hazy Center of WW2 aircraft. It was a wonderful experience for me, too, because I got to hear about his service during the war. Like most WW2 veterans, he never spoke of the war.
Well, happy birthday, Grandpa Gage! I'm trying to document and to share all the stories, so they aren't forgotten.
He would have been 105 years old today.
Jun 6
82 years ago Today, the largest amphibious invasion in history began along the coast of Normandy, known as D-Day.
Real footage in color.
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Jun 4
A school bus passed me this morning on my walk. A few seconds later I hear little steps running behind me. A young lady was running after the bus to catch her ride to school.
Kids are so funny.
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Jun 4
A lot of history in Virginia.
Jun 3
On this night in 1781, one man on a horse saved the American Revolution from losing Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and half of Virginia's government in a single morning.
You were never taught his name.
June 3, 1781. The British had chased Virginia's entire government out of Richmond. Jefferson, in his final days as governor, and the legislature had fled to Charlottesville, thinking they were safe in the foothills.
They were wrong.
That evening, 26 year old militia captain Jack Jouett was at a tavern in Louisa County when roughly 250 of the most feared cavalry in the British army came pounding down the road. Their commander: Banastre Tarleton, nicknamed "The Butcher," the man whose dragoons had cut down surrendering Americans at Waxhaws.
There was only one place they could be going. Charlottesville. 40 miles away. And the capture of Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, would be the prize of the war.
Jouett couldn't outrun them on the main road. So he didn't use it.
He swung onto overgrown backwoods trails and the abandoned Old Mountain Road, riding 40 miles through the dark with only the full moon for light. Legend says low hanging branches whipped and scarred his face for life.
Tarleton stopped his men for a 3 hour rest. Jouett never stopped.
Before sunrise on June 4, he came up the mountain to Monticello and woke Jefferson. Then he rode down into Charlottesville and warned the legislature.
Jefferson got out with minutes to spare. British dragoons were coming up his mountain as he left. The legislature escaped over the Blue Ridge to Staunton. Tarleton caught only seven stragglers, one of them a frontiersman serving in the legislature named Daniel Boone.
Paul Revere rode about 12 miles in 1775 and got captured before reaching Concord. Longfellow wrote him a poem and made him immortal.
Jack Jouett rode 40 miles, lost nothing, saved everything, and got a thank you gift of two pistols and a sword from the Virginia Assembly.
No poem. No fame. Almost no memory.
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Jun 3
Respect. ✊
Jun 3
🚨🚨NO WAY🚨🚨
Offensive lineman Ethan Lawson announced his commitment to #WVU by burning a couch while “Take Me Home, Country Roads” played in the background.
Peak West Virginia energy.
This is an all-timer.
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Jun 1
Quick hop to Copenhagen to stand in line at passport control. CPH needs to figure out how to handle travelers more efficiently to get people through faster.
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Jun 1
Does anyone else have any crazy AirBNB stories?
Here’s mine: This was an old farmhouse in rural Norway where we spent the night before departing. Despite the outside, it was really nice on the inside and very clean. Just one issue: There were no p-traps under the bathroom sink or attached to the dryer, so sewer gasses freely came into the bathroom. Barely noticeable when we arrived, but after two showers it filled the entire house with that stale smell of the NYC subway system. Needless to say, there was little we could do at 10pm other than open all the windows and doors.
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May 31
This is Norwegian lefse. It’s not as good as my grandmother’s lefse, but it is close and brings back old memories.
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May 31
This is what my grandmother’s used to look like…with butter and cinnamon.
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May 31
I’ve never had so many problems with my credit and debit cards in Europe as I’ve had on this trip.
I called @USAA banking services for help, and they completely let me down yet again. Their AI agent couldn’t help and it wouldn’t transfer me to a real person.
I don’t know who is running that organization these days, but after 35 years I no longer have insurance through them (so many problems earlier this year) and I will now be canceling my banking services, as well.
Juan C. Andrade, I’m looking at you. 😡
Thank you @AmericanExpress and @apple pay for solving my unmanned-pump problem today.
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May 30
Finally I had some luck.
I parked in the only open spot I could find for 3-4 minutes, ran inside to help someone one crutches, and when I came outside a police officer was writing me a ticket.
He says, “I was about to hit ‘send’ but I haven’t, so this is your lucky day.”
Thank you Mr. Police Officer.
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May 29
A different view of the Blue Origin rocket explosion you haven’t seen.
This is from my nephew’s buddy’s Ring Camera in Melbourne, FL, about 45 miles south of Cape Canaveral.
That was one hell of an explosion.
@rossiadam
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May 29
I didn’t have “See a Submarine” on my Bingo card today.
Who knew that Bergen is a major hub for Norwegian and allied submarine activity?
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GlimpseOfUs retweeted
🚨Appomattox Commonwealth's Attorney Les Fleet & Sheriff Robert Richardson announce that they will protect their residents from the Virginia state government's anti-2nd Amendment overreach. Thank you, Sirs!
From the Commonwealth's Attorney:
"I have been asked by a number of Appomattox County residents what my stance is regarding the new gun laws that will take effect on July 1, 2026. I want to be very clear, the Sheriff and I are in total agreement that we will not enforce the new Assault Weapons and Assault Weapons Carry bans just signed into law as we believe they are Unconstitutional on their face. Case law is explicitly clear that this governmental overreach flies in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the citizens’ Second Amendment Rights. I took an oath to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution at 18 years old when I enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and subsequently as a police officer and your Commonwealth’s Attorney. These new gun laws not only violate the U.S. Constitution but also the Virginia Constitution and the Sheriff and I stand with other Virginia Sheriff’s and Commonwealth’s Attorneys in putting the Constitution above politics. While I believe that our joint February 2026 post states this stance, I now want to unequivocally clarify it."
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May 29
Well, our kids tested Norway’s “free” healthcare system. They visited an urgent care via ambulance after one of them fell. Sprained/strained knee. Cost: $0 to us, as the government picked up the tab. Thankfully everyone is fine, but in the US this likely would have cost several thousand dollars.
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