Day of rest, hair hysteria, some decisions to make

Yesterday I used Veterans Day, a day that is all about honoring men and women for their service to our country, as a day of personal rest.

After the tree trimming from the weekend I really needed to just chill out.  I did make sure I did SOMETHING productive by hopping on the tractor and mowing the yard for hopefully the last time in several weeks.

I sprinkled in catching up on some Tivo recordings, Boardwalk Empire and Walking Dead.

Over the weekend I slapped the 1/8 inch attachment on my clippers and went nuts, shaving my head completely in less than 4 minutes. I had the Flip cam going.  Historically, videos of shaving my head always do well in YouTube world, satiating the need of some individuals that REALLY like watching heads get shaved.  Well I certainly didn’t want to miss out on potential AdSense dollars.

This particular video for some reason is off to a super fast start.  It already has 500 views in only TWO DAYS, the fastest start of any video of mine in recent history.  Perhaps it is because this is also the quickest buzz of mine on video, beating the prior best by over 90 seconds.   Give the people what they want…. even if it is weird…

I have shaved my head this short two or three times before.  No matter how often I do it I always get the same initial gasp reaction from people.  It’s a huge visual impact, maybe that is part of why I do it.

Over the weekend Ali and I did some talking about the financial aspects of our split.  Of course the biggest object in that discussion is the house.   Basically a decision has to be made on how important the house is in my life.

Now having this discussion on the same weekend as I killed myself trimming 28 trees may have slanted my thought process a bit but it just put an exclamation point on just how much work I put into maintaining the place.

When I start to analyze my living at the house by myself over the last 7 months there are some very big cons.  As I mentioned the work that I have been putting in to maintain the house and the 3 acres it sits on is borderline insane at times.  To make that pill a little more bitter, there is nobody around to appreciate all that effort.  All Tuki cares about is when I give him Nutriberries and little else.

Then we have the nearly 50 mile round trip I log to work everyday.  The house is extremely inconvenient geographically.  Granted, I have been doing the commute for so long I don’t even think about it normally but damn it would be nice to cut 10 or 15 miles each way off that daily journey.

Then obviously there is the financial commitment associated with the house.  Thanks to our disastrous investment in two Lehigh Acres parcels during the real estate boom and our subsequent failure to sell them before the bottom dropped out, there is a much larger nut on the house to be paid, thanks to using an equity line to purchase the land.  To be out from under that debt load would be refreshing to say the least.

Finally there are the constant reminders the house relentlessly provides me of what my life was for the last 11 years.  Although somehow I have managed to not dwell on it much, it is always there, right under the surface, where it will jump out at random times, delivering sobering jabs of pain.

On the plus side, I love the house.  I look out across the property with a sense of pride.  I have put SO much sweat equity into it I couldn’t add it all up.  Although the location is remote it is also quiet, peaceful and uniquely mine. The house is comfortable and fits me like a glove.

I know everything on the property inside and out, down to minute details.

Then you have the sentimental part of me.  You know the part that makes me still have 30 year old t-shirts in my drawer.  To walk away from the house would be an excruciatingly difficult moment.

There have been many tough moments since the split so I am getting more and more accustomed to absorbing them.

Although I like the place that Ali is living now, a condo/apartment existence would probably not suit me all that well for very long.  I DO like having stuff to do around the house, just not so damn much.

If I could find a happy medium between the two, that might be the ideal.