So my largest and longest 3D print ever finished up sometime early this morning, a staggering 82 hours after it started. The print tested the vertical capabilities of my new printer to it’s absolute max and I have to say the Chiron passed that test with flying colors. The detail on the model, despite being blown up 250% is still amazing. It simply looks fantastic. Cindy has been chomping at the bit to paint the see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil skull stack. Based on what she did with the smaller model, I can’t wait to see what she does with the super sized version.
Last night I felt like I was on the go doing something most of the evening outside of eating dinner. I even got 60 minutes of WoW jammed in there along the way.
This morning I stayed home to meet up with an installer from our electric company. I had finally managed to arrange to have a Generlink installed on our meter. It is a device that allows you to direct connect your generator to your household wiring during a power outage, allowing you to easily control power distribution via your breaker box. It would have been a huge help during our 10 day outage last year after Irma.
I had been thinking about doing this for several years actually, I just finally did something about that intent. The install itself was extremely easy. The device just plugs into the outside power box and then the meter plugs into it. The installer spent much more time explaining to me the details of the device that the the physical install took, which was 10 minutes, maybe. If it sits unused for years that is just fine by me. I still like having the peace of mind knowing any future power outages should be much easier to work around, as long as I can get gas of course…..
On my way home from work Friday my dad called me to check in on my health status, which there was no real news to speak of. While I had dad on the phone I asked him about the state of them trying to sell their house in Marienville. I did not get a real rosy report card. It seems like the shine from the prospect of getting out from under the load of isolation and seclusion of north western PA is proving to be pretty daunting although that is not a surprise to him. They just got done putting a new roof on the house which was advised by their realtor to make it more appealing. There is actually a lawyer that may be interested enough to make an offer but dad did not sound upbeat about it.
At the same time as they have been trying to prepare their current house to be sold they have been prospecting new places in SE PA, near my sister Meghan. It sounds like so far it has been a Catch 22 because of the current requirement dad has to move with all of barnyard animals. Any property that is more or less ready to move in, with all the animals, is well above what they are looking to spend. The properties that are in their range generally would require a lot of work (and money) to fit that need, which is something that just does not work for dad at this point in his life.
My entire life I have witnessed dad go into homes where he spent countless amounts of money, time, and effort to make the property fit him and his needs to a tee. He did it with the house in Gouglersville, the house in New Mexico, and now the Marienville home. The unfortunate thing is the Marienville house probably has the most invested with the smallest chance of getting the money out of it, because of the area, which is just not going to be attractive to a lot of potential buyers. But my point is it just is not realistic for him to get into another fixer upper scenario at this point. Both he and my stepmom deserve to enjoy life more and not be pulling a heavy weighted sled of work and responsibilities 24/7.
So to the casual observer the answer is pretty simple, they need to find a good home for the barnyard animals and move towards a more conservative property that does not require all of that work and upkeep. Moving while keeping all the animals just relocates all of that work, albeit it would be closer to my sister. If anyone understands a deep attachment to animals it’s me. Hell one of the big reasons we have done less road tripping in recent years is I worry about the care of the chickens in our absence. But, if the ultimate goal is enjoying your golden years I think some hard choices are going to have to be made.
Regardless of the outcome I am not envious of the situation. Staying put is just going to become more and more stressful, as a person’s physical capabilities generally do not increase as they age. Moving will be a task of monumental proportions although I thought the same thing when they moved from New Mexico back east. They had a TON of shit then as well although sheep and llamas were not part of that equation. I hung up with dad feeling somewhat sad for their dilemma. It’s a situation that has big barriers and challenges no matter which direction they turn.
Based on the convo I thought it was funny/ironic that the parting advice dad gave me was to relax this weekend FIRST and then do whatever work I can. If it doesn’t get done, oh well. Well obviously that isn’t the way I am wired. I ALWAYS want to get tasks out of the way first and then relax, if there is any time left over for that. Doing it any other way just leaves me unsettled and anxious.
So as you could predict, I totally ignored my dad’s advice. I spent over 6 hours on the tractor Saturday mowing grass. The reason it took so long was I decided to knock down areas of the property outside the fence line, some of which that have not been mowed in years. Mowing three to four foot tall grass is a very slow process requiring you to go back and forth over each area multiple times. It’s also a very dirty process. I had the chute held open to allow debris to get out easier. The side effect was that debris blowing all over me. Any exposed skin areas had a coating of organic matter on them when I was done.
On Saturday night Cindy and I got out to see Venom, a movie I had been looking forward to for awhile. Although it was a Marvel affiliated movie it was not a Marvel production, and I could tell. It was entertaining and I liked the movie but it definitely was not up to par with what I expect from a Marvel film. There was lots of funny moments in the movie and many a few too many of them to be honest. For an origin story, I felt like there should have been more serious plot and substance. But like I said, I liked it overall but just don’t expect it to live up to any of the Marvel stand alone character movies of the last 10 years. I’d give it a B to weak B+.
So before we left for the movies I had to close the garage door on the big shed. This task has been becoming more hazardous over the last month or two because of my refusal to eliminate a wasp nest that has been constructed in the door frame. My compassion for living creatures has governed that decision. It felt like the wasps and I had a mutual understanding. They knew I had to open and close the door, which would bump their nest each time and I did not want to destroy their home they have been working on for weeks on end. Each time I accessed the door the nest would get jostled which would send some of the wasps off the nest but they never were aggressive towards me, they simply landed right back on the nest.
Like I said this nest has been growing and as of this weekend it had close to 20 wasps actively working on it. It had gotten to the point where Cindy was afraid to go in the shed. Despite the growing size I continued to let the nest be as I would do my best to keep the door disturbance minimal and the wasps continued to ignore me, until Saturday evening.
So when I went to close the door this time a bunch of wasps came off the nest and I could instantly tell they were aggressive. It looked like the smaller, younger wasps were actually the aggressive ones, perhaps they didn’t get the memo that I was a good guy. So as I see the small wasps looking for a target I hunched down as I was closing the door. As I did I felt the distinctive burn on the top of my head as one of the little bastards stung me. Instead of anger, my initial overwhelming feeling was one of sadness, as this meant the wasps had officially broken their peace treaty with me. I could not have them stinging me or Cindy.
I did not address the situation immediately. Instead during the night I felt sad that I was going to have to take the nest down. Sunday morning I did the deed however I tried to do so in a non-lethal way. I stretched a hose over there and blasted the nest with water to knock it down and off to the side. I figured water wouldn’t kill the wasps and possibly allow them to rebuild their nest elsewhere. When I saw one wasp later trying to initiate a build at the same spot I hit him with some insecticidal soap that should annoy him but again not be lethal. I’m not sure exactly when in life I developed this seemingly at times strange compassion for even the littlest of creatures but it is ingrained in my personality for sure at this point. Pretty much the only things that die without remorse at my hand are fire ants or mosquitoes, once they bite me.
Sunday morning I did not go out riding. Instead I hopped back on the tractor to mow the back yard that is inside the fence, consuming another couple hours. I figured I had the time to ride in the afternoon since the Eagles game was late. After we ran errands late morning I didn’t get out to ride until around 3. I drove out to Ave Maria with the Meepo and One Wheel. In the video I talk about a lot of things I mentioned here, just because I felt like it.
I got home to watch the Eagles game, which in retrospect was not a great thing. The team again played very sloppy ball and for the second consecutive week lost to a team they shouldn’t have. I see several differences from last year that seem to be impacting the outcome of the games. First off the secondary, outside of Malcom Jenkins is pretty awful. Last year the front four of the D-line was able to get pretty consistent pressure on opposing QB’s, allowing the secondary, which still was not great last year, to make some plays. This year the pressure does not seem to be there, exposing the poor secondary play even more.
I also hate the soft zone the DB’s seem to play the majority of the time, lining 8-10 yard off the ball most plays. Doing this allows receivers to get a full head of steam to either blow by you as you are back pedaling or cut in front of your back pedal for easy yardage. I much prefer a bump and run coverage where DB’s challenge the receivers during the first 5 yards to slow down their routes while playing man coverage. I guess Schwartz just doesn’t like that play style or thinks he doesn’t have the talent in the secondary to do that.
The offense has been very inconsistent as well and a lot of that has to do with a lack of solid pass protection. The O-line has been pretty awful with keeping Wentz upright since he returned. The end result has been a lot of sacks and knockdowns as well as Carson making some poor decisions and not protecting the ball, resulting in big turnovers.
I don’t know that there is any magic formula to get the team back on track. They just are not making big plays this year when they need to. Last year they had an uncanny ability to do exactly that as well as getting just plain lucky at times when they needed to. So far this year, the luck has run out.
On Friday evening I started the biggest print I ever attempted. It was estimated to take two days and a few hours. As of this morning it was only 66% complete. If the print is successful it will be pretty epic. If it fails this late into the print it will be pretty damn depressing.
Hey Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed! What an incredible, unifying and progressive move. It’s a hugely, very, very, fantastic win for Trump and the republicans. It was just the latest of a string of never ending examples of just how f’d up the political system is in this country and why we continue to accelerate towards the bottom of the bowl where winning an argument has now become paramount to acting for the greater good. It’s not a #metoo world, it’s a #mefirst kind of thing. Please register to vote for the mid-term elections and do your part to try to end the insanity.
So I have had interest in having a Generlink installed at the house for quite awhile. It is a device that gets installed onto your electric meter that allows you to plug your generator directly into your house wiring during a power outage and then control the distribution via the fuse box. It will be a HUGE improvement over the extension cord nightmare we have had to deal with in the past.
So I originally called our power company about this option in May. At that time I was told they were out of stock and I should call back in September. So I set a reminder and called almost two weeks ago. AT that time I was told there was noone available in that department currently (huh?) but someone would call me back. Well I called twice over the next 10 days and was told the same thing. The second time I gave the phone rep some attitude, saying I thought it was bizarre that I wanted to pay them for a service but no one could be bothered to call me back.
Well finally yesterday I did get a call back. I was prepared to give the woman shit for such a terrible response time but she immediately disarmed me with her pleasant attitude and friendly demeanor. My install is now scheduled to happen sometime next week. It’s testament to the power of how simply being nice to someone can swing a negative situation into something positive.
I had two of my printers working overnight cranking out Halloween themed models. Having 3D printers is a little like Christmas. You go to sleep with anticipation of what will be waiting for you the next morning. Maybe that is part of why I like it so much.
Cindy is really good at painting the 3D models I create, as you can see.
This weekend we are going to get out to the movies and although I don’t have anything huge on the to do list there will always something worthy of my attention, in my mind.
So during my five decades on the planet I have tackled a large number of household tasks and repairs. However somehow I managed to escape ever having to replace the faucet on a tub, until last night. The spout fixture on our tub was beginning to rust on the trim ring and looked pretty shitty. Cindy had bought a replacement fixture on clearance several weeks ago but it has sat around untouched. For reasons unknown to me, I decided that last night after dinner was the time to install it.
I really had no idea what was involved with replacing a tub faucet until I watched a quick video which revealed that it is pretty straightforward. Faucets are either attached via a slip fit with a retaining screw or threaded on. When I looked at our old rusted fixture it appeared to be a slip fit configuration.
The position of the faucet made accessing the screw underneath tight. I had to awkwardly lean over the edge of the tub while on my knees (always a bad position), while trying to get my head under the faucet to see what I was doing. Eventually after some futzing I got the screw loose and was able to slide the old faucet off with some twisting and yanking.
So as I read the directions for the new fixture it indicated for a slip fit the pipe stub coming out of the wall needs to be between 2″ and 3″ long. I took the measuring tape and confirmed our stub was 3.5″ long. My initial reaction was “guess it won’t fit” but of course there was another option, cut the pipe. I wasn’t in love with the idea at first.
I had visions of me trying to cut it with the Sawzall which would be insane, trying to keep the pipe from vibrating while working in such a confined space. However when I went out into the garage I saw the brand new DeWalt hacksaw that I bought when I installed some shelving for Cindy’s mom. I determined that was a much better way to cut the pipe. It took awhile but the saw made slow and steady progress through the copper pipe. I lopped about 3/4 of an inch off.
So as I worked on getting the new faucet ready I tasked Cindy with sanding down the end of the pipe stub to remove burs and expose fresh copper as the instructions directed. So I found myself getting confused as I followed the directions. According to what I was seeing/reading there were couplers and washers that I was supposed to be assembling but I didn’t see them in the parts packaging. Everything seemed to already be installed and inside the new faucet. I questioned Cindy if the the package looked like it was opened before because it didn’t make sense. She said it was not. So after a couple rounds of head scratching I took apart the pieces that were inside the faucet and assembled them as the directions said, just to be thorough.
There were some more minor confusion at the final steps but we got it all sorted out. The end result of maybe 60 minutes of work was a functional, unblemished, and modern looking replacement faucet. Who knows we may go nuts and try to replace the tub valve next.
The last two nights I have spent tending to multiple small issues. Monday night I worked on fixing up the technical difficulties we have had with our EUC livestream the last two episodes. I think I finally have the problems corrected and did some real world testing to verify it. Last night I was working again on in the hobby room, getting some Halloween 3D prints started and recording a one week review of my new monster printer. I just feel like I have so many things I can be doing at any given point in time.
So Friday evening around 8PM the Segway buyers from Kansas arrived in their Ford Focus. They looked tired as anyone would be after an 1100 mile drive which they did basically non-stop except for pulling over very briefly for a very short nap. I really had no idea what to expect since I only corresponded with Jarod via the Ebay messaging platform and a couple text messages. I could tell very quickly he was the type of person I like, hard working and hard headed.
He told us a little bit about his journey and himself. Before we even turned our attention to the i2 we took him into the hobby room so he could see my collection of PEVs as well as my 3D printer setup, which he found instantly intriguing, so much so that he asked I forward him info on one of my printers and where I get a lot of my models from.
Well when it comes to the adult toys department Jarod has me beat by a mile. He has a ton of vehicles and is one of those guys that has the prized ability to do both mechanical repairs and body work. The 2012 Ford Focus they drove down in was a wreck with a salvage title. He repaired/replaced the front clip and repainted the car. It looks great. I lost track of how many different vehicles he has/had but a few stuck out like the motorcycle trike, an Airstream, and a hovercraft.
In addition they have two MiniPros like Cindy and I have. Jarod has a spinal disease that causes him a lot of issues, one of which is poor balance and weak ankles. The i2 is going to be fulfilling a specific need. His job entails overseeing four warehouses, instead of doing this all on foot, which is increasingly difficult for him, he will be using the i2 to get around the grounds. We took the I2 out on the driveway and let him take it for a spin, he never rode one before but liked it immediately.
I was amazed he was able to get the i2 in the back of the Focus without taking the steering bar off, considering there was already a huge subwoofer and some luggage back there. There was no exchanging of money since it was all handled on Ebay courtesy of Paypal. They were staying one night in Naples before pushing back to Kansas on Saturday as he had to be back to work on Monday. I was happy that he texted me Saturday saying he had a blast riding the I2 around Naples Saturday morning. This transaction, which at first I thought was going to at the very least be problematic and likely be impossible, instead turned out just about perfectly.
Saturday morning parts of the property still had standing water but it was manageable enough that we could mow. I am just so sick of wet, humid, and hot conditions I don’t think I can adequately describe it. I just keep telling myself that 30 days from now summer should finally be ending for us.
We headed out to run errands after chores. At Home Depot I picked up this year’s addition to the Halloween decorations, a cheesy pumpkin headed witch. Buying this sort of stuff now means you pay a premium for it but for whatever reason, I don’t mind it. Putting out Halloween decorations means the holidays have officially started.
Saturday night we watched the latest and I assume the final movie in the Maze Runner series. To be honest I remembered far less of the plots of the first two movies so a lot stuff made little sense to me. Even if I did remember I don’t know if it would make a huge difference. The movie had lots of action and good special effects but I really found myself not giving an F about the eventual outcome. I’d give it a B.
Sunday morning I did a LONG ride on the One Wheel. Cindy joined me for the first 6.6 miles of it on the MiniPro. At that point she went into Target to do some shopping and I pushed back out on the One Wheel, heading to North Collier Park to ride around. This doesn’t happen often but I actually was tired of riding by the time Cindy came and got me. My feet hurt, it was melt your face hot, and I was just beat. In total I traveled just under 16 miles.
So I got home in time for the Eagles/Titans game. Early on the Eagles looked sluggish but seemed to establish themselves in the second and early third quarter, building a 17-3 lead. I thought to myself, wow how nice, we might finally have a game where I don’t have to be screaming at the TV the last two minutes of the game. Well of course I was incorrect.
The Titans came back in a big way, all the way back to a 20-17 lead. That charge made the Eagles defense, especially their secondary look very overwhelmed. Besides Malcolm Jenkins, nobody back there impresses me. Of all of the defensive backs, Jalen Mills annoys me the most. Somehow he has bamboozled some people into thinking he is a strong cornerback.
From his very first game as a rookie I couldn’t stand him. He is one of those guys that boasts loudly whenever a pass thrown his way is not complete, even if he was completely burned and the receiver just dropped the ball. And getting completely burned is something he does quite routinely. I can’t tell you how many times during the game number 31 was in coverage when Tennessee ripped off long pass plays. When he isn’t getting beat downfield he likes to participate in one of his other big hobbies, getting called for pass interference. I think the guy just sucks and is more of a liability to the defense than an asset. They could cut him tomorrow and I would be thrilled.
So anyway the Eagles managed to kick a late field goal to send the game into overtime and then another during the first drive in OT to put the pressure on the Titans who had to either kick a matching field goal or score a TD. Well the secondary was absolutely dreadful on this drive but nothing was more horrific than the 4th and 15 they gave up for a first down. The Titan receiver was allowed to run past TWO Eagles defenders that were just looking into the backfield, allowing the receiver to make an EASY catch with SEVEN Eagles back on coverage. It was maddening. The Eagles DB’s failed again committing another penalty on what would have been a game ending 4th down stop, giving the Titans the third chance which they used to burn the secondary one more time with a game ending TD pass.
Now I know I have said that the Eagles Super Bowl win should allow me to not care so much about the team’s 2019 performance. But you know what, I guess I was kidding myself. Playing and losing that way bothered the hell out of me and continues to bother me as I type this out. They need some real cover corners that can tackle.
We had our EUC live stream Sunday night and for the second consecutive time it was plagued by bad audio. The problem is a combination of different hardware (my headphone/mic) and some software upgrades that have made things act differently than they used to. It frustrated the hell out of me. I was hoping to get the problems sorted out before by testing with Marty but he was only available a few minutes prior to the show going live. I plan on configuring a second PC here that I can use to simulate his side of the connection so I can nail down what needs to be done to get things running smoothly again.
Today at work was an inservice day where we close the offices to the public but all of the employees meet at a central location for a seminar which included speakers on various topics. One of those speakers was actually me as I was pegged to give a 20-25 minutes talk regarding network security. I had two Powerpoint presentations I was working off of.
Generally speaking I am not a fan of nor am I good at group speaking. As I expected I had several times during the presentation where things didn’t come out as I hoped but I think most of the information was presented ok. Public speaking is something that I would do better at if I was called upon to do it more often. As is, this was my first time talking to 150+ people. It probably won’t be the last.
So I had my follow up appointment with a pulmonologist this morning. As the vast majority of this medical interaction has been, the results were basically a shoulder shrug. The care network we are in is highly computerized, every person you speak to has a computer in front of them entering all sorts of details about the interaction as you go. I like this, it gives me a documented record of what is going on that I can access myself through a patient portal.
Well this doctor was an old guy and definitely very old school. There was no computer in front of him, just paper and a pen. He asked me at least a couple dozen questions and scribbled down the answer to each one on the paper. The questions had to do with prior history and if I had various symptoms. Pretty much across the board my answer was no. He followed up with a very brief physical exam which mostly involved listening to my lungs.
He then said that he thinks it is unlikely I have fibrosis. He said that perhaps the person reading the CT was maybe seeing something that wasnt there. I had the same sort of thing when the person looking at my x-ray indicated I may have a partial bowel blockage. In both cases I have no symptoms of these conditions.
So anyway, the plan is for me to do a breathing test in the next month and during my follow up 6 month CT scan they will request a higher resolution test which would be able to more clearly see any scarring if it is present. That test will also allow us to verify the small nodule in the one lung is benign and not growing.
So where does this leave me? Well with no clear answers. I can tell you that once again yesterday I got some of that right side pain doing overhead tricep extensions at the gym with a very nominal weight. The fatigue I was experiencing is definitely less apparent but I still do not feel normal in that regard. I have a feeling this is just going to be one of those things that melts into the background as just another thing that becomes the new normal as I continue to age.
I did ask about the report finding about calcification on a coronary artery. The doctor said that wasn’t his specialty but told me that a CT can not determine if the calcification is on the inside or outside of the artery which obviously makes a large difference. He said my primary doctor could order a stress test if they wanted to but at this point I really don’t think that’s necessary.
So the buyer of the Segway left Kansas a day earlier than he originally stated so instead of arriving Saturday he should be arriving this evening to take the big personal transporter away. They are driving down in a Ford Focus so I have a feeling we may need to take off the steering arm to make it fit. Once the I2 has safely exchanged owners I will feel safe starting the ball rolling on it’s replacement.
This weekend has normal workloads planned with hopefully a side order of getting our Halloween decorations in place. Should be fun.
So yesterday I got a call back on the results of the CT chest scan I had done on Monday. I found the results somewhat surprising. The entire reason for the CT was a small nodule that showed up on my chest x-ray a couple weeks ago. So the CT confirmed the nodule which is 4mm in size. It indicated that it is likely benign but as a precautionary step they want me to get another CT in six months to ensure there is no change in size. The other lung news I wasn’t expecting.
The scan showed what appears to be “mild fibrosis” in both lungs. Fibrosis is a thickening or scarring of the lungs. The nurse practitioner verified that I never smoked before although my mom smoked during my entire childhood. I don’t recall her smoking around me in closed spaces on a regular basis but in general society was a much more smokey environment in the 70’s and 80’s. She also asked if I ever had any exposure to asbestos which I am unaware of outside of the renovation project at work had an asbestos removal period. I’ve never had anything remotely approaching a breathing problem that I can recall so this struck me as very odd. As a kid I spent endless hours playing in moldy, dusty hay in the old barn, that was the only thing that popped into my head as my inhaling something bad for prolonged periods of time.
The other thing on the report that I found mildly disturbing was the presence of “atherosclerotic calcification in a coronary artery”. The NP downplayed that part of the report but it was sort of a red flag for me based on the heart attack that killed my mom. The description I got from the doc at that time of her passing was plaque broke loose from artery wall and stopped the heart. A quick Google search on the condition didn’t put a smile on my face either. “Simply put, the presence of calcification in the epicardial coronary arteries indicates that the patient has coronary atherosclerosis. This observation is of great significance, because atherosclerotic coronary artery disease is the number 1 cause of death in the Western world.”
So of course none of this information made me feel better, especially considering the emphasis I have put on consistent healthy living habits as an adult. So anyway, I have a follow up appointment tomorrow with a pulmonologist to discuss the results and a plan of action. The thing is, I have never had a chest CT before so I have no idea if these findings have been around for years or even decades. It’s good that I at least now have a heads up about it but man, my 50th year on the planet has surely been a downer from a health perspective.
So you may recall that early this year I came into possession of a non-operative Segway I2, the big daddy of personal electric vehicles. The Segway was given to us by a friend that had it given to them years ago. It sat unused in their garage for somewhere around 5 years. In order to get it working I had to spend roughly $1000 dollars on a used set of batteries and a new “key” for the i2.
Once we got it working we took it out a few times. Cindy especially enjoyed the stability and size of the unit and rode it more than I did. When we got the i2 it had somewhere around 25 miles on it, it now has 101, still an incredibly tiny amount of use for a 5-6 year old Segway. Well the bottom line is we just did not use the big Segway much. It’s size and weight made it a pain to transport and limited where it could be used. It has mostly passed it’s time just parked by the front door.
Well I have been considering yet another type of electric vehicle and it struck me that if I could manage to sell the big Segway, which still can command a surprising number, it would make that idea much more doable. These units were $5-6k brand new and it is not unusual to see used ones still going for 3-4k. However this vehicle appeals to a very niche market. I listed it on Craigslist as well as Ebay, not expecting a great result. Because of the size of this thing the Ebay listing included “local pick up only” as the shipping choice, there was no way I was going to try to ship it.
As expected I received no interest on the Craigslist ad. However the Ebay listing generated a lot of interest. In the first 12 hours I had a bid of over $1000 and had a half dozen inquires asking for more info. I priced the unit very aggressively when compared to other i2’s on Ebay, especially considering the incredibly low mileage. I had people trying to negotiate me down from that already low number which I declined. Based on the amount of activity so soon I did not feel any need to cave.
There was one perspective buyer who was really interested. He sent me 5 or 6 messages which of course included lower offers. I engaged him and politely declined his offers letting him know I had a lot of interest so I thought me selling it for my asking price was a strong possibility. I guess my information worked as early yesterday afternoon I saw the email that this person did indeed buy the i2 for my full price, wow. To make the sale more crazy, he is driving down from KANSAS this weekend to pick it up, yes Kansas.
Before listing the Segway on Ebay I would have placed my odds on selling it at 20% or less. To sell it in one day feels like an incredible stroke of good luck. I have not pulled the trigger on purchasing my new target yet. I have a few questions to get answered and wanted to wait until the i2 is loaded up and on it’s way back to Kansas before calling the deal done.
So I received back the results of my second round of blood tests. These were testing thyroid antibodies as well as testosterone level. Once again the tests came back with numbers squarely in the middle of normal range. The only other result I am waiting on is the chest CT which should be soon. If that shows all clear I guess I will just continue to march ahead but try to do so avoiding max exertion scenarios if at all possible. My fatigue and endurance has definitely improved so maybe its just one of the growing list of odd things I will write off to old age.
I got a chance to set up my new massive 3D printer yesterday. In order to make space for it I gave away one of my less massive printers to a buddy at work. The set up and first print went relatively well. I am looking forward to testing out it’s capabilities more thoroughly in the upcoming weeks.
So the other large format 3D printer that I ordered close to a month ago finally was due to arrive yesterday. I saw it was coming via FedEx whom is normally fine with leaving stuff at the door. Well the guy showed up when no one was home and of course this box had a signature requirement. The tag that was left on the door said we could either sign the tag and it would be dropped off the next day or it would be available for pickup after 6:30 PM at the local distribution center. Originally I told Cindy I didn’t mind waiting for it but she seemed into us going and getting it instead.
So that’s what we did, it gave us an excuse for a late day Dunkin Donuts stop and to give Elsa a ride as well. The drive there took less time than expected, we arrived about 6:10, 20 minutes before the time posted on the tag. I went in anyway, hoping the driver may have already returned from his run. My hope was not met, the driver was not back yet, the clerk said I should stop back in after 6:30.
So to waste some more time we drove to a nearby CVS for Cindy to grab a few items we needed. When we returned I wasted more time listening to a podcast, not going back inside until 6:40. I got the news that our driver, Chuck, was not back yet but the clerk said he was expected back soon. I asked if soon meant before 7, the time the customer service office closed. The clerk said yes for sure. Back out to the car I went.
So as I waited another 10-15 minutes in the car. As I did I saw several FedEx trucks returning, I was hoping one of them was Chuck. I finally went back inside about 6:55. I asked the big question, “is Chuck back”? Nope no Chuck but it should be “any minute now”. Well I was too invested now so I just stood in the small office waiting for Chuck to return. Well I guess 15 minutes technically counts as being any minute. Chuck arrived around 7:15, allowing me to finally take possession of the huge box which I will hopefully get to open today.
On the drive home we rolled into a major storm. The pounding rain scared Elsa and didn’t make me feel great either, it was very tough to see the road markings at certain points during the trip. Not only was there rain but very intense and huge lightning. The bolts were fat and stayed visible much longer than normal. The ferocious storm turned our property back into a bog after being dried out for over a week.
Today I am home awaiting the arrival of a DirecTV tech to help me rectify my poor signal on the Sunday Ticket channels. It will be interesting to see what the final resolution is.
So my largest and longest 3D print ever finished up sometime early this morning, a staggering 82 hours after it started. The print tested the vertical capabilities of my new printer to it’s absolute max and I have to say the Chiron passed that test with flying colors. The detail on the model, despite being blown up 250% is still amazing. It simply looks fantastic. Cindy has been chomping at the bit to paint the see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil skull stack. Based on what she did with the smaller model, I can’t wait to see what she does with the super sized version.
