Wow! What a busy summer this year! Most of it was spent in Portland with my daughters and girlfriend, but we have all had a chance to get away and have a break, too. The girls went to both day camp all summer and had a week away at a YMCA camp in Gresham, OR. They start school on Monday! 2nd and 5th graders this year, wow!

My family came out to visit Portland over the 4th of July weekend and then they headed down to watch the 2016 Olympic Trials in Eugene! We had a great time going to the beach, sampling food cart fare, browsing books at Powell’s, and enjoying the mild summer here. Bernadette and I took a trip to Vermont for her brother’s wedding and got to spend some time at the Shore in New Jersey. We went over to Philly and had some Pat’s Cheesesteaks (WIT WIZ!), walked around South Philly, and cooled down with some Water Ice.

Unfortunately, there was also a loss in the family this summer: Toby, the family dog of 12 years, had to be put down due to laryngeal paralysis and issues with comfort/movement. We adopted him at 8 weeks from an accidental litter of two farm labrador retrievers. Great genes, his grandfather was a champion AKC hunter. He helped raise both my daughters and was always kind and protective with them. Toby was a people dog. He wanted to smell, nudge, and kiss everyone he met. He was a great dog and will be missed for years to come.

Onto some better news! I have been very active in the global mechanical keyboard community this summer. I’ve made a couple custom keyboards (below), had a very successful meet up of the keyboard club I run: Portland Keyboard Club (PDXKBC), and am running a global group buy for a custom keycap set, Barebones Stormtrooper. I’m very excited to bring this set to 20 countries!

Hoping you had a great summer, too!

Matthew AKA MaNiFeX