Moving to a new location, Zima and One Wheeling, Birthdays, Saint Nick is back!
So during the day on Friday Cindy moved the baby chicks to much larger accommodations in the garage. They have been growing like crazy and had no room in the Rubbermaid container they have been living in for the last month. We followed our lead from the last time we raised chicks and set them up in the garage, utilizing the run portion of the chicken tractor, flipped upside down. It more than quadrupled their space and should be their home until we are ready to move them outside in 6-8 weeks.
The baby birds seem thrilled with their new big living quarters. The only issue is we are raising the chicks in winter this time, meaning the garage can get quite chilly at night which is not good for them. We added a second heat lamp and Cindy is picking up a small electric space heater that should insure a portion of the area will always be warm in case a chick gets cold. They will sort of self regulate themselves temperature wise. If they are cold they will hang under the lamp, if they are hot they have the rest of the run to hang out in.
I got out and ran after work on Friday, it was not much fun. The temps on Friday were into the mid-80’s. Sweating your ass off while running in December just doesn’t seem like it should be a thing. I wore my GPS to run for the first time in close to four months. I knew I was running slow but didn’t appreciate just how slow. Thanks to busting it the last lap I just snuck in under a 10 minute mile pace, averaging a turtle-like 9:55 per mile over the 13 laps. Oh well.
Saturday morning I tended to the chickens. As I did I was mentally planning my additional construction projects in their area. Now that we have blocked off access to below the coop the hens look all confused as to where to hang out during the day. I have seen them all huddle inside the old chicken tractor and jammed up against the back of the coop as well. I plan to make a small, moveable pergola style shelter to go behind the coop as well as putting roof panels across the playground area to give them two additional areas of shelter that we can actually maintain and clean as needed. Later in the morning I ran out to Home Depot where I picked up $200 in roof panels, pressure treated lumber and fasteners to do the work, which will hopefully occur this upcoming extended holiday weekend.
Saturday afternoon we were invited over to Daniel’s dad and stepmom’s place for a BBQ hangout. I hadn’t been there in quite awhile. It was nice to see their dogs Tank and Bowser. Bowser is especially fond of me for some reason. I brought five or six Zimas and my One Wheel to keep the fun level rolling, pun intended. We hung out for two or three hours before heading home.
Saturday night we watched our Netflix rental, Pacific Rim Uprising, a sequel to Pacific Rim. I liked the original of course, who doesn’t like giant robots fighting giant monsters? Well as is often the case, the sequel didn’t quite match up to the original, not that the original set any sort of high bar in cinematic mastery. Still, robots and monsters has to at least get a B rating from me. Cindy would not agree.
Sunday was my 51st birthday, something that I honestly could let pass without celebration. I started it off as I normally would, tending to the chickens and paying my bills. We also did our typical Sunday EUC ride but Katie and Daniel joined us this time, something that hasn’t happened for awhile. We headed to North Collier Park in the Tacoma which was needed because we had the big Dualtron scooter along for the ride. In addition I had my two electric skateboards and the KingSong EUC. We wound up riding a lot longer than I originally expected which was great. The weather was just about perfect for it.
It was the first extended testing I have gotten to do on the Ranger X1 all terrain skateboard. Besides some annoying tire noise, the board performed very well. Daniel and even Cindy rode it through some thick and deep grass and it kept chugging along. We all kept switching up vehicles during the ride which was fun. You can get a good sense of it from the video.
When we got home we ate lunch and then headed right back out. I felt guilty that Elsa did not go on any rides so far over the weekend. When we left to ride EUCs she was very disappointed she was not included. So we loaded her up and went to Rural King and Home Depot for a few items that we needed. Elsa would be fine if we just drove around forever and never got out of the vehicle. She still doesn’t like being out in public, she just likes being with us.
Last evening Cindy and I went to Carrabbas for a quiet little birthday dinner. I think I have eaten there on my birthday nearly every year since I moved to Florida. During the meal I told Cindy how much I liked it before they homogenized and sterilized the restaurant to make it more in line with the styling of the newer restaurants. It definitely doesn’t have the appeal it once had. I may not be alone in those feelings as we were able to sit down with no wait at 6PM on a Sunday night, something that would have been an impossibility in years gone by. We still enjoyed the meal and I even was serenaded by the staff when I got my complimentary desert.
So the last part of my birthday was watching the Eagles/Rams game, a game that I have assumed was going to be a loss weeks in advance. However there was an interesting development this week when it was announced that Wentz was going to miss the game and perhaps the remainder of the year due to back pain related to a fracture which has been bothering him all year. This meant Nick Foles, who orchestrated the Eagles improbable Super Bowl victory last year would get a shot behind the wheel once again. Foles started the first two games of the season and looked mediocre, winning one game and losing another. However, I held out hope that adding him back into the equation would somehow put a spark into the team that has spent so much of this season spinning it’s wheels.
The game was interesting and compelling in so many ways. During the first half Foles was efficient and the defense was in bend but not break mode, similar to last year. The biggest difference I saw was the offense was helping the defense for the first time in awhile. Despite good numbers overall, the Eagles under Wentz this year have not scored a lot of points and have been inept at building long drives on offense which give the defense some time to rest. Last week against the Cowboys the defense set a dubious record for taking the most amount of snaps, a testament to the lack of time of possession by the offense. This has been a problem all year long.
That all changed last night. The offense had a number of long drives, mixing the run and pass pretty effectively. Foles also seemed to better utilize his weapons. Instead of just throwing the ball Zak Ertz’s way 80% of the time like Wentz seems to do, he hit Jefferies repeatedly during the game, who was a play maker last year but mostly ignored by Wentz this year. It’s weird but the team just felt different with Foles back there, maybe because of what he accomplished last year made them feel confident they had a chance, which nobody gave them going into this game. Far too often this year the team has underperformed when it mattered with Wentz behind center. Other than a bad interception in the second half Foles played a mistake free game.
As I mentioned, the defense, besides bending and not breaking (until the fourth quarter) actually made some big plays, something that has been also lacking this season. They got a few turnovers that killed Rams momentum. Miraculously the Eagles found themselves with a commanding 30-13 lead late into the third quarter. I knew there was plenty of aggravation to come as the hated prevent defense was put into motion.
As the Eagles systematically allowed the Rams to move downfield virtually unopposed the announcers started talking about the other games this season where the Eagles blew large double digit leads late in the game. I was hoping we were not about to witness it happen yet again. Well it almost did, multiple times. The Eagles gave the Rams several shots to stab them in the heart.
Jake Elliot, who was partially responsible for the Cowboys loss via his mixed extra point last week had a chance to redeem himself by make a long field goal which would have iced the game. Instead he had a no doubt about it miss wide right which gave the Rams the ball around midfield with no timeouts remaining and a minute remaining. They again marched down the field but thanks to not getting out of bounds on a couple plays had one last shot at a game tying touchdown with four seconds remaining. I was happy to see on THIS play the Eagles finally sent one extra rusher to apply some pressure on the QB. The end result was an incomplete pass in the end zone, preserving an improbable, nail biting, hold your breath win.
It was a great victory that occurred on the road against a team with one of the best records in the NFC. The Eagles no longer control their own playoff destiny but if it was up to me I would keep Carson shut down for the rest of the season so he can take some notes from Foles on how to sustain drives, spread the ball around, and make accurate throws when the pressure is on. It was the biggest win of the year and the perfect way to end my birthday, thanks Nick.
So despite my general apathy and dislike for birthdays, Cindy as always did her best to make sure I had a good day. It’s a fortunate thing to have someone in life that is always working towards your happiness. I just took Friday off to extend my Xmas weekend to five days, I like it.