Just when you thought we were going to do the impossible and get through hurricane season without an actual hurricane, Hurricane Isaias has appeared and is due to strike the Alabama/Mississippi area. It ramped up quickly and now has touched Category 3 strength. It’s not a beast of a storm but still will inflict major damage when it lands. We had some rain the last couple days that was sort of connected to the storm. On Wednesday we got pounded, I bet we got close to a half foot of rain.

Yet another week has passed and I don’t have much to show for it. I have been trying to get settled back in to my normal daily routine that does not include Elsa. It’s been hard to do. Motivation has been hard to find and my overall energy level has felt low. Yesterday I felt even worse with some sort of GI discomfort going on. I am not sure why but my initial hunch was it was the brussel sprouts we had on Wednesday night. Those are a type of cabbage and if I recall the last time I had any sort of cabbage my body didn’t like it either. It could be something else, who knows. I do feel better today, not normal, but better.

My sister and her family made arrangements to come visit us in early January which should be nice. When I first moved to Florida family visits were not uncommon however that changed for reasons I am unsure of. I do not believe I have had anyone from my family visit in something like a decade. I am not 100% sure if any of my family had ever met Elsa whom I had for over 10 years. My dad may have during his last visit here. Anyway, it will be nice to have my sister, BIL, niece and nephew on my home turf for a few days.

I have had a busy week at work dealing with a very important once a year process. My work week is going to extend into Saturday as I need to replace some network equipment at the office. It will probably consume the morning which means pickleball is off the menu which wouldn’t be the worst thing for me based on how my body has been feeling the last few months.

The Eagles play in London this week with a thrown together offensive line and missing Smith and Barkley. Lane Johnson who was their best lineman retired this week abruptly. He has had multiple situations where he would miss games due to “personal reasons” which apparently are mental health issues. Then the Eagles traded their two time pro bowl center Cam Jurgens to the Ravens. They got good value for him and he did not play well in 2025 and even worse so far in 2026 so maybe that is a nice move for the future however four games into the 2026 season the Eagles seem to be in disarray. I am not optimistic about their results this weekend against the Jaguars.

Late last week my girlfriend suggested that we do some sort of quick get away this weekend. With all of the negativity surrounding Elsa’s passing she thought it might be nice to just get away. It would only be for Saturday and Sunday so we wanted something relatively close. I suggested Siesta Key.

We weren’t going to leave until 10AM so I wanted to get my pickleball fix in. I woke up early and arrived at the courts shortly after 6AM when they start play. I never have played at that time slot, there were only a handful of people there. Despite it being well before sunrise the air was dripping with humidity. I couldn’t believe how much I was sweating after only one game. In total I played five or six games against a group of solid players and was home by 8.

The drive to Siesta Key was quick when compared to the Orlando slog I have done three times recently. We got to the resort around noon although check in isn’t officially until 4PM. On their web site it said that you may be able to check in early but you also get access to their parking and amenities which sounded good. Before 4PM we visited their pool and walked into Siesta Village to grab lunch and a margarita. This resort was within walking distance of the beach and the shopping/dining district which was awesome.

So we never got a call that our room was ready early so we showed up at 4PM. I was a bit annoyed that when we arrived at 12 they had two people at the front desk but now that check in time had arrived they only had one. It seemed like poor staff planning which resulted in a line of people in the lobby. When we got into our room I immediately noticed it felt warm. A glance at the thermostat showed it was 80 degrees despite it being set to 69. I was really aggravated by that, mostly because we only had one night there and I didn’t want to waste time addressing room problems.

I called the front desk and got voicemail so I had to drive up there and again wait to talk to the single employee because she still had a full lobby. I told her the issue and asked if we could just be moved to another suite. She said she would send a person down to check the AC right away. She said they didn’t have any more rooms of our type available. Right away was closer to 30 minutes. When the guy came in he opened up the door to the air handler and had to empty the pan for the sump pump that the condensation line connects to.

This annoyed me as well because I am positive that the room was already hot when it was being cleaned and just ignored. In addition the suite which was supposed to sleep up to four only had one set of towels. I called again before we left again to go to the beach asking for more towels to be dropped off. They never were and I had to make another trip to the front desk to get them myself later.

I may as well get the other negatives out of the way. The TV’s in the room were connected via wi-fi. Evidently their service was pretty abysmal as while you were watching something it would pause every 30-45 seconds to buffer for 15 seconds. Finally, the mattress was either worn our or just poor quality. You sunk into the middle so much it felt like you were laying in a bowl. We both had aching backs when we woke up.

Ok back to the positives. The buildings were old but remodeled and modernized nicely. They had three different pools and included stuff like free bike rentals which was nice. But like I said the best part was the location. Being able to walk everywhere was so nice. It made our Saturday night mini-bar hopping tour much easier and safer. We very much enjoyed our time there.

On Sunday after a 10AM checkout we again went to the beach for a couple hours. I was under an umbrella on Sunday but on Saturday we were there for maybe 45 minutes to an hour where I didn’t have a shirt on. Just that little exposure left me with a very red chest. After rinsing off the sand we hopped in the Tesla and headed home. We wished we had an extra day but the mini-trip served it’s purpose.

On the way home I listened to the Eagles game. Again they collapsed at the end thanks to failing in all facets of the game, questionable coaching, an inept offense and a defense that went limp at the end of the game, allowing the Rams to conduct not one but two long drives to win a game they should have lost. We are only four games in and I already feel like we are reliving last year, despite a significant change in characters. However last year they did manage to finish 11-6 and then lost in the first round of the playoffs so they have shown some resiliency before. The one stat that amazed me yesterday was that in twelve 3rd down situations in the game they were unable to get a first down a single time. That is an indicator of a team that just can’t get it done. What is the fix? I have no idea.

I made a mental pseudo-commitment to head to our county wellness center sometime in October for two things. I want to schedule a cardiac follow up since it has been a few years since I last had one. With my mom dying from a widow maker heart attack at 67 and my younger brother having a more minor heart attack in the same artery last year I would be foolish not to be proactive about it.

Secondly I am going to see if I can get a referral to an orthopedist. My right hip, lower back and both knees are a mess and have been for quite awhile. I have had no imaging done on my joints in at least 10 years, possibly closer to 15. I am pretty positive it isn’t going to be a pretty picture. It would be nice however to have a better idea of exactly what is breaking down so I can decide what I want to do about it going forward. Both my dad and my younger brother have had a hip replacement done as well. I was hoping I could buck the genetic inclination towards these sorts of issues via my mostly healthy lifestyle choices but it isn’t working out that way. I am tired of the near constant pain when doing most anything that has me upright.

The days this week have sort of blended together. It’s only been a little more than two weeks since Elsa passed. It’s been an odd time. In some ways it feels like it happened longer ago but in others it seems like it just happened. I have tried to keep myself emotionally insulated most of the time but there are times when it just rushes in. One day earlier in the week I was doing my normal preparations at home before work when all of a sudden I just started crying, hard. I usually lament the passing of time and how rapidly it seems to occur at this point of life. This is one time where I wish time would pass faster to help dull the pain of her loss.

This weekend has no real major focal points in it. The time will be filled with a balance of productivity and enjoyable activities. That’s all I can hope for.

I got to actually watch instead of just listen to my first Eagles game of the year last night. Witnessing the 27-7 loss to the Bears was not the best time to do it. In the first half the Eagles had some good things going. Saquon actually looked like the version of himself from 2024, running hard and effectively. Jalen actually showed some emotion and fire, something Eagles fans have always felt he was lacking. The Eagles scored with a split second left in the first half to bring the game to 10-7. However that was the end of the positivity.

The second half was pretty pathetic. The Eagles defense got torn up by Case Keenum, the Bears third string QB. The offense suddenly had no clue. Barkley couldn’t run anymore and they had a ton of 3 and outs. The 27-7 loss was in a word, embarrassing.

That being said, the fact that the Eagles were 2-0 coming into this game was misleading. They were fortunate to get those two wins, they certainly did not play impressive or consistent ball during that time period. Despite the various changes in the offense this year, including yet another new coordinator, it feels/looks like the same old song and dance. The defense seems to have lost it’s way as well.

I finished up my quest to level all of my characters in “Retail” WoW to the max level of 90 last night. That meant bringing 13 different toons from 80 to 90, 130 levels in total, a pretty sizeable task that I have worked on for most of 2026 in the spare time I have found to play.

Normally once you reach max level you turn to doing end game content but I chose a different path. Blizzard recently announced WoW Forever, a version of WoW Classic that is designed to be evergreen. Instead of releasing expansion after expansion it will be one game with a max level of 60 that will not increase. It’s something a large part of the community has been asking for for a long time and now it’s here.

So I jumped into WoW Forever which is in Beta right now and made a level 1 warrior to check things out. I didn’t have much time because I had to watch the Eagles stink up the field but I am looking forward to exploring this new flavor of WoW and see if it speaks to me.

We got to enjoy some pretty nice weather down here in SW FL with lower humidity and slightly lower temps. Unfortunately it came courtesy of the Noreaster that smacked the Atlantic coast. The rotation of the storm shot cooler northern air across Florida. My girlfriend and I took advantage of the weather by going on AM bike rides both Saturday and Sunday, her on her e-bike, me on a wheel. Mia once again rode in the bike carrier strapped to the handle bars and loved it.

So all week I was trying to get my painful lower back to feel better to play in the pickleball tournament Saturday night. It was still painful Saturday but I loaded up on Advil and headed to the facility in Bonita. The place seemed nice enough with a long row of pickleball and sand volleyball courts down the one side.

My girlfriend showed up about an hour later with Mia to cheer me on. Unfortunately a couple minutes after she arrived someone from the facility said that dogs were not allowed there which got a WTF face from both me and my girlfriend. I asked why was that. The bullshit reason was that they spray a lot of pesticides to keeps the weeds down for the sand volleyball courts and they don’t want dogs exposed. Yea, sure buddy. I mean the guy was nice about it but still, it was very lame IMO since Mia would have been held the entire time. So after driving 35 minutes to get there she had to turn around and head back home. In retrospect it was sign how the evening was going to go.

This was the first time this facility had run this tournament and it showed. They had issues utilizing the app that is supposed to run things and instead resorted to using paper and pencil which caused more errors and delays. They also had an issue with the PA system where this annoying as fck interference sound would be broadcast through the speakers that they apparently didn’t know how to fix. Oh, and their wi-fi went down at some point as well.

We played in the 3.25 to 3.75 skill level division. The tournament only had two divisions with the second being 4.0 to 5.0. It became apparent that there was considerable sandbagging going on in our division. Even so, we should have done better than we did with an awful 2-4 record after starting 2-1. I struggled physically with my back hurting even with the Advil. When you have pain it affects how you move and do things, obviously. I did not play nearly as well as I can when I am my version of healthy. Brian struggled a lot too. If we would have cut down on all of the unforced errors I am pretty sure we could have flipped our record around, at least.

Brian and I also were clearly the oldest people in our division which surprised me. Our last game were against two young guys, one of which hit some of the hardest serves and drives of anyone that I have played against in my 5 years plus in the sport. This was made even more difficult to handle because of the bad lighting on the courts. The lights are only on one side of the courts so visibility was a real issue for both of us. The courts also did not have adequate space between the back line and the fence which caused issues returning deep shots multiple times. I was not a big fan of the facility when all was said and done. I would play another tournament there but only if it happened during daytime hours.

I was pretty bummed about the result of the tournament. Up until that point I have had good results playing in 3.5 tournaments, winning one and placing second in another. One of our losses Saturday night was a pickle, meaning we lost 11-0. After that happened I was mentally pretty much checked out. Even though I know I had multiple reasons the performance was not up to par, my competitive nature was very unhappy with the end result.

Last night I did my first live stream in two months, one of my longest times in between live streams in awhile. I knew it would be a tough one because I talked about the loss of Elsa. I managed to get through it without totally breaking down but there were some awkward pauses and difficulty speaking at times, as expected.

All week I have been dealing with a very sore and tender lower back. When combined with the normal issues I have with my right knee/hip it has been a very challenging week physically. I have been trying to be mindful of what I am doing. I have still been going to the gym but I have not played pickleball this week which can put your lower back in all sorts of compromising positions. Each day I make small incremental improvements but I am still far from good.

I have been trying to get healthy enough to play in a pickleball tournament on Saturday with Brian, my buddy that I played my first ever tournament with. This tournament is unique in two ways, it doesn’t start until 5:30PM and it is being held at some courts in Bonita Springs that I never played at before. My plan is to pop plenty of Advil and cross my fingers that my back holds up.

Incremental is the word I would also use to describe the slow process of getting past the loss of Elsa. One of the things I did this week was 3D print a number of picture frames which I used to put various endearing pictures of her around the house. It’s a Catch 22 sort of thing.

As much as I love seeing my sweet girl’s face in these pictures it also triggers the tragic sense of loss that she is no longer here. I know the only medicine for this is the passing of time along with trying to focus on all the good she brought into our lives instead of the dark emotions surrounded with losing her. It’s a daily battle.

The weather this weekend is supposed to be nice with lower temps and humidity than we have had in probably 5 months. I hope to take advantage of it.

Late last week I received back Elsa’s ashes. The place also included a paw print that I did not know I was receiving. Getting her remains back was emotionally impactful as you can imagine. It’s hard to wrap your head around the fact that she is gone, for real.

The days since Elsa’s passing have been a mixed bag. Most of the time I have kept my mind busy and occupied. I played pickleball last week, and on Sunday despite having some significant lower back pain just because I wanted the distraction, the appearance of normalcy.

There was one moment before Elsa was put to sleep where I felt like I knew that this was going to be the end for her. It was the Saturday evening before. She had a very rough day where the small amount of food she ate during the day was either thrown up or pooped out. She was exhausted.

I had her out on the lanai with me which faces west. I was sitting next to Elsa with my hand on her back. All of a sudden I look towards the sky and there is a small rainbow hanging there. It was there for a very long time. As I looked at it with tears running down my face I felt something that told me that this was going to be the last rainbow I share with Elsa. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.

So my goal this week is to get rolling into whatever this new normal is. I didn’t go to the gym last week and in general I didn’t give two F’s about much. Of course that isn’t viable for very long so I need to again resume moving forward, never losing appreciation and gratitude for the time Elsa brought light into my life.

I listened to the Eagles game where they scored with 10 seconds left to survive the game with the Titans. After two games it’s already clear the Eagles have some major flaws that will have to be ironed out but hey a win is a win. Jalen Hurts despite throwing two int’s, including a pick six had a strong game overall. It would be nice to see him throw the ball like that more consistently this year.

This weekend we discovered that Mia likes bike rides. We bought a carrier that is designed to be mounted on the handlebars. I attached it to my girlfriend’s bike yesterday. We took our first test ride with the new set up last night. Mia loves sticking her head out the window when driving so this was like a better version of that for her. We went for somewhere around a six to seven mile ride with Mia loving every minute of it. I was riding my V12S, using the seat I installed a few months ago to get some seated riding in as well. I am pretty sure that bike rides with Mia will be one of those things that becomes part of the new normal.

While we were out there was an amazingly clear and huge rainbow which immediately made me think of Elsa and our moment the Saturday night we were on the lanai. I have to keep reminding myself that life is a book filled with various chapters. Just because I have to close the 10 year chapter of Elsa’s time with me doesn’t mean there won’t be other great chapters to come.

As rough as this has been on me it may be even worse for my girlfriend as she has never had to deal with this scenario before. It’s been very hard for her daughters as well whom viewed Elsa as their dog too. It’s going to be a long and slow process of reconciling the grief. We can tell that Mia is confused/sad as well, wondering where her sister is.

I went on a very wet and short ride on a wheel on Wednesday where I talked about losing Elsa. It was a tough video to make. I made it because Elsa has been in so many of my videos that people that watch them have come to love her too. After I posted the video I was getting tons of comments from people expressing condolences and sadness about losing her from all around the world. I guess even through the lens of a camera her sweet, precious and innocent nature came through.

I got Elsa’s remains back yesterday which added another layer of heavy emotions to an already dark situation. I have been doing my best to keep up a good face for the rest of the world but if allow myself to actually feel the sense of loss, it’s crushing.

I don’t have the energy or desire to go into great details about this awful day however this morning we put Elsa to sleep. Her kidneys had basically failed and there were no other options left short of allowing her to starve to death since she stopped eating. Everywhere I look around the house now I see holes that she would occupy with her beautiful and innocent face, giving me true love without condition. The biggest hole of all is the one in my heart. Only the passing of time will dull the pain. Everyone she trusted loved her so, so much. Goodbye my sweet girl, I will love you always.

Ever since we returned from Orlando Elsa has been having an increasingly bad time with her health. Getting her to eat became a part time job which was mostly unsuccessful. Things she has been good with eating for awhile she started turning away from after one sniff. It’s been very frustrating.

This weekend things got even worse. The only way I could get the appetite stimulant into her was by covering it in peanut butter. The treats I used to hide the pills in were now on the not interested list for her. On Saturday I may have gotten around a small fistful of food into her but then Saturday night she threw most if not all of it up.

Sunday morning she looked awful. She was incredibly weak and tired. Just walking took a lot of effort and she was unsteady on her feet. Again we got a small amount of food in her and again she wound up throwing it up and having diarrhea, some times in the house, multiple times. Late in the day she drank a ton of water at once and within 15 minutes threw most of it back up. It really was feeling like the beginning of the end.

I had an appointment this week for her to go to the vet Wednesday and Friday. I reached out to the vet last night to see if there was any way they could see her today. If I can’t get food and especially water in her, she isn’t going to last long. At least the vet can give her IV fluids which she can’t throw up. Luckily they were able to get her in. I dropped her off at 9AM. (I took the day off)

They will run a bunch of labs on her to see what her numbers are which I expect to be very bad. I will be picking her up at the end of the day to talk to the vet and see where we are at. It could be we are getting to the point where I will have to make the decision every pet owner dreads. If her body is unable to process food due to kidney failure she will literally starve to death otherwise.

It’s a dark time.