Official beige #introduction post after moving over here from mastodon.social. I doubt I'll regret it, but beigers haven't let me down yet.

I'm Isaac. WI-based (SE corner of the state). Grew up on the west-central side on a dairy farm in the #driftless. Probably a smart move to get away at the time, but days doing my job now make me realize Ayrshire and Jersey cows can be considerably better coworkers and aren't smoking the AI/LLM crack pipe.

Married to my best friend now for nearly 22 years. One son who knows way more than I do.

I work in tech trying to get anyone to care about system performance and capacity. Sadistic; I know. Just throw more hardware at it!!

Aside from paying the bills, I try to be outdoors as much as I can and have a horrible habit of learning new things and having numerous hobbies. Our family enjoys travel; and most of that is by pulling small camper all over and getting out hiking or riding bikes. 31k miles pulled in the last 7 years. More to come with a new rig this year. We have a lake for a back yard, so I do spend a fair bit of time fishing and taking photos of waterfowl and other #birds and anything else I can. #photography is a long-time hobby.

As someone who grew up dirt poor and outside a lot, yes, I hunt. Have record book whitetails on the walls and food in the freezers. Yes, I own guns. Yes, we need(ed) much better regulation of them yesterday. My son is a good competitive trap shooter and I enjoy that as well. Yup, lefties own guns :)

When late winter rolls around, my posts will probably become heavily #maplesyrup focused. It's a jobby that's growing year over year and I plan to make that a piece of my retirement whenever I get there.

I live for 2 wheeled vehicles propelled by pedals. Can't afford motocross bikes or the injuries anymore, but I enjoy #MTB a ton. I am a head coach for a #NICA team (6-12 graders) covering a handful of towns. #morekidsonbikes It's a blast and probably one of the most rewarding things I've done.

If I'm not outside, I'm probably in my shop making things with wood or steel. Although poor, I grew up with a torch and welder in my hands. I also fly rockets I design and build when time permits; some high power. Faster way to burn money than LLMs.

If you're a non-fascist human; high-five. Let's have a beer sometime.

A wonderfully foggy morning in the #driftless region of #Minnesota

Scouting, came up on a gorgeous view.

#SilentSunday #Driftless #NWIllinois

#DairyRoubaix is a longstanding #GravelCycling event in the #Driftless region of #Wisconsin. I hadn't done it in a few year, but yesterday my friend Kevin and I rode the 71 mile medium route. It was a beautiful spring day, and the route is just absolutely beautiful.

Sometimes bicycling to water is the only move I have left to maintain my own mental health.

#RootRiverTrail #Minnesota #Driftless #RootRiver #RushfordMN #PetersonMN #Rushford #Bicycling #BikeTooter

OnlineFirst - "Grass versus trees: A proxy debate for deeper anxieties about competing stream worlds" by Caroline Gottschalk Druschke, Eric G. Booth, Rebecca Lave, Sydney Widell, Emma Lundberg, Ben Sellers, and Paige Stork:

#driftless #rhetoric
#settlercolonialism #streamrestoration #Wisconsin

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/25148486231210408

Twisting up some Pink Squirrels for the weekend ... #flyfishing #flyfishingaddict #Driftless
Watching for the brown truck. Got back into #flyfishing after teaching my nephew and gifting him my #1. Looking for the ideal #driftless #trout stream stick for cheap (I break stuff). Figure this will become the new first-call rod unless I really need the 6 weight.