Go go, Failed rescue, Road trip rider, Transparent

Friday after work I went to Sugden Park to run for the third week in a row.  It was a bit warmer than the prior two runs but still much higher on the enjoyment scale than my track runs have been historically.  There are a good number of people throughout the park and wildlife as well which helps keep my mind from focusing on the discomfort my body experiences running at 52 years of age.

When I got home I got a look at my nearly $800 of sod that was put down in the chicken area.  It’s bahia grass which is native but not nearly as manicured looking as St Augustine which you see a lot in Florida.  The combination of the fill and sod has raised the back chicken yard even higher than “Chicken Island” which I manually built from endless bags of top soil.  It felt good to finally have addressed this issue permanently.  All it took was a big chunk of money.

On Saturday I was on the go all day long it seemed.  I just had one chore after another to complete.  In the morning I did some rearranging of the sod, taking stuff that was on the outer edge outside the fence line and covering a few exposed dirt areas inside the fence.  I also set up a portable sprinkler that I was running a good portion of the weekend to revive the bahia grass which naturally goes into hibernation during Florida winters.

I originally tried to water the grass using my old hose and sprinkler Friday night.  When I hooked it up and turned on the water I was baffled when I saw no water coming out of the sprinkler.   So I went and unhooked the hose at the sprinkler side and was upset with what I saw, a tree frog wedged in the inlet of the sprinkler.  My guess is this frog had decided to camp out in the hose which had been draped over a fence post for months.  My applying water pressure wedged him into the sprinkler.  He wasn’t moving but I held out hope he was alive.

I took the sprinkler up to the garage and started trying to pry open the inlet to get the frog out.  It became apparent there was no way to do this delicately so I grabbed my hand held mini-sledge and started hammering away at my perfectly functional sprinkler, breaking it into pieces.  I did finally get access to that inlet but when I saw the inside of it I saw the frog’s guts squished out so it was a futile effort.  I felt terrible for inadvertently causing the frog’s death, seriously.

After working all morning and into the early afternoon I decided to throw car washing into the mix, washing Katie’s Prius, the Tacoma and the Tesla.  I was not happy to see that bird shit that inadvertently was left on the hood of the Tesla for a prolonged period of time had put a blemish in the paint.  Sure you can’t keep the car living in a bubble but it still annoyed me.

A couple months ago I was contacted by a subscriber on my YouTube channel.  Dan lives in Massachusetts but he was doing a Florida road trip.  He was considering buying an upgraded EUC and I owned the two choices he was considering.  He was wondering if I would entertain him stopping out to test ride the wheels.  I told him that was fine.  Yesterday was the day we agreed to meet up.

Dan drove over four hours the night before from Deland to Naples.  He arrived at our place a little before 11 on Sunday, and came bearing gifts, a DD gift card for me and a watermelon for the chickens.  I told him that was very nice but not necessary.  We took the melon out to the hens and chopped it up for them to hungrily consume, it was cute.  Before riding we hung out at the house for a little while and talked.  Dan, who is right around my age has been dealing with cancer for the last four years which he has gotten past, however it is something that has to be constantly monitored.  His stories of the procedures involved with the treatment made me cringe and feel lucky I have existed to this point in life with relatively few serious health ailments.

We loaded up a bunch of wheels in the back of the Tacoma and headed out.  I originally planned to go to North Collier Park but when we got there some huge car show event was going on and the parking lots were jammed.  It would have been a shitty riding experience so I turned around and headed toward the Naples Greenway instead.

We had a great ride there with Dan taking turns on every wheel I brought including the 16X, 18XL, MSX, and Mten 3.  I also took some time riding Dan’s Kingsong 14D, a wheel I never rode before.  I was surprised how much I loved the way the little wheel felt with ample power and tons of instant torque.  We had a good time with a ride that was probably around two hours in length.  When we got back Dan was very appreciative of my time and said the experience was one of the highlights of his road trip so far.  After riding all of the wheels he seemed to feel the 18XL was the best fit for him, a solid choice.

I got word from my sister that Griffin, who absolutely loves the 3D printed light saber I gave him was upset after he was a little too forceful extending the blade, which caused it to break.  Over the weekend I printed a different version of the light saber which has a removable/replaceable blade which should be helpful in a heavy use scenario as Griffin will likely be subjecting the blade to.  The great thing about 3D printed toys is you can replace them very easily.

I haven’t commented on the incredible steamrolling the DNC is attempting to perform on Bernie Sanders.  The first warning shot was Pete Buttigeig, who I really liked, dropping out before Super Tuesday which made little to no sense to me, at first.  When Amy Klobouchar and Mike Bloomberg dropped in the next couple days it was crystal clear what had transpired.  The strong establishment segment of the Democratic party was terrified that Bernie would keep gaining momentum by winning delegates against a split of moderate candidates.  Their only answer was to prop up Joe Biden as the single moderate choice.

Now I don’t dislike Joe but I certainly am not excited about him as a candidate.  He has appeared downright senile at times and has performed poorly by all accounts in every debate he has participated in.  It’s unfortunate but I can imagine back room meetings at the DNC where they made this plan, where they probably said the country is not ready for a female or gay candidate and Elizabeth Warren shot nuclear missiles at Bloombergs elect-ability.  So they were left with Joe, the only candidate that would not challenge the status quo in any meaningful way, which is what the DNC wants.

Now don’t get me wrong, if my choice was Joe Biden as president or the stable genius, I would vote for Joe, twice if I could to end the reign of ignorance and lunacy.  However my concern is if Biden is shoved down everyone’s throat two things are going to happen.  Bernie’s hardcore supporters are going to throw away their vote on one of the can’t win candidates in spite, just like they did in 2016 or Old Joe isn’t going to excite the electorate enough to get the voter turnout needed to win.  Either of these scenarios would be a nightmare.

I have often claimed I am a realist and that is the case with Bernie as well.  I like him, I support his greater good ideals.  I also know that without the majority of lobbyist owned congress being ripped out of office, Bernie’s sweeping agendas have no shot of taking hold.  However, if Bernie being the candidate gets enough otherwise unmotivated potential voters off their ass and into the booth that is what matters the most at this point in history, in my opinion.  Unfortunately I see the DNC’s plan as being ultimately successful, ironically dooming us to what they proclaim they want to avoid, four more years of the Perfect Big League Very Stable Genius in command.