Archives December 2020

So after posting today’s year end wrap up I just happened to glance at last year’s post on this day and saw it was titled “Cardboard”.  I had no recollection of what I was referring to a year ago so I took a peek.  When I did I was a bit flabbergasted.  In the post I described how I had been feeling sick for over a week and all of a sudden a new symptom showed up, loss of taste, everything tasted like cardboard.  Now at that time it was not widely known that loss of taste was an almost 100% indicator that you have covid.  My thought at the time was that I possibly was having a Bells Palsy relapse which also caused me to lose taste.  I never redeveloped Bells Palsy but I did have no taste and lingering sickness for awhile.

I have read accounts that covid was actually in the United States way before the alarm bell was sounded in March. This makes me feel it was certainly here for awhile.  I recall my brother telling me how sick he also was last December and when my sisters family visited in February they had all been deathly ill the two weeks prior.  It was quite shocking for me to make this realization that I likely already had the disease I have been trying to avoid for 10 months. Happy New Year to me.

Wow 2020 was something else, and not in a good way. The pandemic and politics have changed our society in a lasting way, and not for the better. But this entry isn’t about the rest of the world, it’s about my little slice of it.  Let’s begin as always with reviewing the goals from the end of last year to see where we stand.

I set goals of continuing my running program and improving physically.  Well instead of continuing the running program I basically stopped it, forever.  Once gyms closed down from covid I started doing ad hoc workouts that included lots of push ups, body weight squats, and running the parking garage.  Two of those three activities lead to serious injury.  The thousands of push ups somehow screwed up my right shoulder to the point where I couldn’t lift my arm for two weeks, requiring a month of physical therapy to get it functional again.  Running the inclines and declines of the parking garage was a fun challenge but also resulted in injuring my “good knee” pretty severely which left me limping for two months.  After I healed up I swore off running and instead use Cindy’s Echelon bike for my intense cardio session.

Around the time I was limping I also started developing serious back issues which at times feel almost debilitating.  They persist to varying degrees today but I am just learning to live with it.  My fitness focus is more about retarding my overall decline.  I’m not about setting personal bests anymore, they hurt too much.  I still hit the gym five days a week and can crank out 15-20 pull ups depending on the day.

On the project front I hoped to get the chicken area elevated and enclosed with better fencing. I also mentioned the pool needing work at some point, the idea of enclosing the covered area of the lanai, and mentioned the windows will need attention down the road.

Well we did get the chicken and other areas of the property elevated.  In total I bet close to $5000 was spent on dirt, sod, and labor.  Elevating the chicken area sort of took care of the need for better fencing since the portions that were rusty from being submerged during the summer were now blocked by a foot of soil/sod.  I was happy with the end result of the work although I wasn’t happy with the guy that did it.  He was constantly promising and then missing work dates and never actually completed the job 100%.  The other potential projects remain with an ETA of TBD.  Enclosing the lanai is probably off the table as Cindy has sort of transformed that space into plant central.

I talked about a goal of increasing my secondary income sources from the 3D store and the YouTube channel.  I definitely hit that goal.  I haven’t run totals yet but I bet I am close to doubling sales this year compared to last on the store.  It’s a lot of work at times but it’s stuff I enjoy doing for the most part.  The YouTube channel has continued to grow.  I hit a major milestone just today, surpassing 10,000 subscribers.  I’m not sure if I can continue the same growth trajectory but I can certainly try. I also have continued to stick money away in a savings account for a rainy day in addition to my two retirement accounts. It’s nice to know you have some financial cushion. 2020 exposed just how many Americans live check to check with no back up plan.

I mentioned the idea of a road trip possibly in 2019.  Well we did travel to PA twice.  In January Cindy and I flew to PA for my step mom’s 60th birthday.  In June I drove the Tesla to PA for Todd’s 50th birthday party.  It was very interesting taking an electric vehicle over 2500 miles and not in a bad way.  Cindy and I both have expressed a desire to do one of our conventional road trips in the future, we both miss them.

I mentioned buying a new tractor and more 3D printers in 2020.  Yep both things happened.  I bought a high end Husqvarna tractor and at least three or four more printers last year (and many other things) Ok so let’s talk more about some details of 2020.

Like everyone, Covid 19 flipped reality on it’s head.  I was never a social butterfly but the way that covid lopped off the head of so many activities that we used to take for granted was a shock to my system.  The toilet paper hysteria, major sporting events cancelled by the hundreds, my work shutting it’s doors to the public for a month and a half, it was and still is just a bizarro world.  I never felt the levels of fear you saw some people exhibit but I also have no doubt about covid’s potential for damage, knowing several individuals that were hospitalized with serious complications from the virus.

The other horror we all were forced to endure was the presidential election and all of the toxicity it involved.  It exposed just how brainwashed a segment of America is as a result of Donald Trump.  I railed enough about it in various entries throughout the year I won’t go overboard now.  I am just thankful he will be kicked out of the White House soon and hopefully goes directly to the insane asylum or jail once state prosecutors are let loose from their current chains.

My sister and her family came to visit pre-covid which was nice.  We had not had any longer term guest for awhile.  We had a lot of fun with the kids.  It was nice for them to get a chance to interact with me face to face instead of just knowing me as the uncle that sends them things at Christmas and their birthdays. For a decent period of time we also had Deb coming over on weekends to hang out during the deepest parts of the lock down.  It was nice to have non-virtual interactions with another human being.

It was not a good year for pets either.  We lost four more chickens this year, Ginger, Katie, Dot, and Georgie. We lost one to disease, two from perch falls and one from a coyote attack where it jumped the four foot fence, grabbed poor Georgie and was out in 10 seconds or less.  The coyote attack resulted in me spending $1000 on fence extensions that added another four feet to the height of the fence.  So far it seems to have worked as we have not lost any more hens to predators.  We are down to only 5 birds at this point.  We tossed around the idea of getting more but the chickens and their required care have been one of the big reasons we have abandoned road trips the last several years.

The loss of my dad’s two dogs, Maggie and Clara was terribly sad.  My dad’s existence for the last decade and a half was all about the dogs.  To have them both pass away months apart is a tragedy for both my dad and step mom.  Even though I only saw Maggie and Clara on a limited basis every time I saw them it was like we never were apart.  I loved them too. Shug’s had one of his dog’s die a few weeks ago and Sadie and Ferdie are both getting to elderly status which is hard to witness.

I continued my battle with rodents in 2020.  My refusal to use lethal traps/solutions has left me with live trapping and sonic deterrents as my only option.  I have probably trapped/released around 10 of the palm rats this year.  I also sealed the area under the coop where they like to hang out in a more substantial way to make it less convenient for them to come and go as they please.

My purchasing in 2020 was done at a historic pace.  Even though I am saving more money than I used to in the past I am also spending more than ever, without a doubt.  On the EUC front I bought three new wheels, two suspension models and the Sherman which is a high speed, ultra-long range wheel.  I did try to offset that expense by selling two of my other wheels as well.  I bought a Skydio 2 drone, a 360 camera, two new action cameras, a handful of 3D printers, a new high end PC and far more things that I can’t even begin to accurately recall.  I can claim a lot of it as a business expense since it is used as part of content creation but still, it adds up to a huge amount of money.

I already mentioned the ground elevation project, Cindy, with a minor assist from me transformed two of our landscaped areas, the pond and the orchard.  The old pond liner was disintegrating so we ripped it all out and put a new one in.  After that Cindy took over trimming back the overgrown palms and filling the space with rocks and plants.  In the orchard the transformation was even more dramatic.  She turned it into a peaceful and beautiful rock garden.  My major contribution to that project was building the overhead structure that provides some shade and convenient places to hang plants and swings.

This was the first year I relented and paid someone to do the majority of the tree trimming, my most hated chore of every year.  After getting a quote that seemed reasonable I watched a crew of full time trimmers knock out the job in a few hours.  I had them also trim the two oak trees which have never been professionally tended to.  They looked much better as a result.  The older I get the more I expect to be doing these cost/benefit decisions when it comes to jobs that require a  large toll on my body.

My biggest and most expensive project from 2019, the solar array didn’t quite live up to expectations.  It was specced to supposedly supply enough power to offset a typical year of electrical consumption based on our prior usage.  Well as we sit a couple days from the end of the year we are about 5000 kwh in the hole comparing what we made versus what we consumed.  I thought the long hot days of summer with the sun directly overhead would provide tons of power.  The reality was my summer production was actually quite poor because of the near daily thunderstorm activity and cloud cover.  I’m still glad I went with solar and there are things we could change to consume less electricity if I want to come closer to a break even scenario.  I am still trying to get the system paid off within 10 years so I can get some real value out of it.

I was exposed to the world of virtual reality in 2020, buying a Quest 2 headset which screws with your brain in a mostly magical way.  The ability to transform yourself into a different environment easily just by slipping on the Quest is pretty incredible.  I liked it so much I bought Katie one for Christmas as she loved playing with mine.  My other two mainstay games of Hearthstone and World of Warcraft still held a similar role for me as in recent years, something I enjoy doing but don’t get as much time to enjoy as I would like.

2020 was the year that DJ went from being a baby to a toddler, running around like a little whirlwind.  He has become my best buddy when he is in the house.  For whatever reason he always seems to pick me out of a crowd.  It’s a unique and special thing for me to have this bond with him that I never really experienced before in my life. By this time next year he should be a full fledged mini-person.  I love the little guy.

Like I said, there weren’t a lot of trips or social events on the docket this year due to our new covid-reality.  Even so Cindy and I made the best of what we had.  That is the good thing about our relationship, we don’t need exterior events to make our lives fun.  Sure I would love to be able to go on another cruise someday but we have fun just sitting on the couch every night watching a show while we eat dinner.  I appreciate the value of being with someone that appreciates your value.

Ok so I am sure I could go into far greater detail about 2020 but hey, it sort of sucked for the entire world so I don’t feel the need to dwell on it further.

So this is the part where I make up goals for the following year with no real knowledge of how viable they may be.

I don’t know how realistic travel plans will be this year.  Perhaps when mass vaccinations occur things can start to resemble normalcy.  I know I won’t be rushing out to get vaccinated early but if after some time has passed and no significant adverse reactions are reported I may consider getting shot.  I know in some situations it will be nearly a requirement to get it.  As I mentioned, I really enjoyed going on that last cruise but I would also love to pull off another western road trip, in the Tesla.

My physical goals right now focus on just feeling more or less normal which right now means getting the chronic back issues to subside.  I have no plans to run, just ride.  I’ll continue my weight training albeit in a scaled back manner at the county fitness center. At least the mystery fatigue I suffered from for a good portion of 2019 has relented. 2020 was also the year I said goodbye to Planet Fitness, the worst gym chain in the country.

I have not given much thought to major projects for the upcoming year.  Anything truly major would likely involve a contractor like window work or pool repairs.  The fence at some point will need some attention as some of the posts are getting suspect after 15 years or so in the ground.  The house could use new paint to better match the metal roof but again, I would pay someone to do that unfun task as well.  Most weekends I find myself with a pile of smaller tasks to complete, I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.

I hope the 3D store continues to grow along with my content creation side businesses.  There is more and more competition out there so it takes work to not fall by the wayside.  Despite my track record of off the rails spending I plan to keep working on paying down debt at an accelerated pace while building on plumping up the  savings account.

I know this is ridiculous for me to say but I honestly don’t have any major purchases targeted for 2021.  I don’t need any more 3D printers or PEVs or computers or gaming systems or insert thing here.  If I bought any bigger item it would have to come with the trade off of selling or giving something similar away.  My Tesla continues to serve me flawlessly and will hopefully do so until I get my Cybertruck in a couple years, maybe, if it ever comes to be a real thing.

My personal hope is 2021 is the year when we can start actually looking forward to things again.  We won’t have to wake up every day getting angry at the latest thing Donald Trump said, did or tweeted.  We will have a president that doesn’t crave adulation and the spotlight.  It will be great to know that we will have people in charge that actually care about science, the environment, and cleaning up the shrapnel from the last four years.  If the covid vaccines truly do move us past the isolation/cancellation culture we have all become used to it will be a bright day for all of us, until the next pandemic rolls around.

I’m happy that despite all the misery the last year has contained I have a partner in life that loves and supports me the best she can.  Finding joy in simple things is a lost art for many.  I’m glad that we can come home and enjoy our little sphere of life, together.  Thank you Cindy.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my last 365 days.  In the big picture I am very lucky to have the good fortune that has been bestowed upon me, there are so many that have struggled terribly in 2020.  I wish the best for your family and friends and hope we can all look back on 2021 with much brighter memories as we all turned the corner, together.

This three day weekend I will be doing stuff, as always.

One the miseries of pet ownership is when you lose an animal that you consider to be part of your family.  You may think that as you get older, the cycle of life and death may affect you less.  At least for me the opposite is true.  It seems the older I get, the more attached I get to my animals.  Recent years have not been fun, in the last 5 years I’ve lost a number of pets including Tuki, a ton of chickens and of course Nicki which was the hardest of all.  This year my dad and stepmom lost both of their dogs which was hard for me and had to be crushing for them.  A few weeks ago Ali and Shugs lost one of his two dogs, Latte.  Animal loss has been a sad part of my reality.

Sadie, who just turned 13 (we think) has been struggling with her rear hips/legs this year.  Both Nicki and Maggie suffered the same ailment as they got older.  With her pain she has become less active which has resulted in a lot of weight being packed on her frame the last year as well which only exacerbates her problems.  Despite her issues she had fun out at the house with Elsa, rough housing and even jogging in short spurts.  However Ali said that she has been in bad shape since I dropped her off Monday, having a tough time walking and eating. Presumably she overdid the activity at the house. Ali lives in a two story town home with upstairs bedrooms so the stairs are an absolute killer for a dog with bad hips.

It’s a Catch 22 that not only affects dogs but humans as well.  You age, things hurt and you do less.  As you do less you gain weight or suffer other negative side effects which continue to cause you to shrink your box of capability, until you can’t do a damn thing at all.  The trick is to try to stay ahead of the curve because at a certain age trying to play catch up is a mountain sized task.

I have gone through this scenario enough to know what is coming, I just hope to be able to manage it the best I can.

I enjoyed my last day of vacation more than I did the second to last day when I was undeniably in a sour mood.  Once again I found myself attending to little things mostly inside the house.  I also had another impulse buy, responding to a GoPro email about a special bundle price on the new GoPro 9.  I snagged it quickly almost totally ignoring I just bought a GoPro 8 a few weeks ago.  There have been some issues with the 8 that annoy me and I may just give it away as part of my 10,000 YouTube subscriber celebration.  I justified it as something else I can write off as a business equipment expense and I paid for it out of my PayPal account which is funded entirely by 3D store sales.  I have been in an impulse buy mood lately, and they can be dangerous.

Mid-afternoon I geared up for a different style DD ride.  I surely looked ridiculous with one camera perched 8 inches on top of my helmet while carrying a second camera on a selfie stick.  My plan was to record a 360 video of the ride but use the audio from the selfie stick camera to make for better production quality.  Well the plan didn’t work out thanks to a technical limitation I didn’t think about prior to the ride.  The end result is I have three videos, a 360 version of the ride there, the ride back, and the footage shot from the GoPro.  It’s kind of silly but entertaining. I talk in depth about my post Christmas blah sensations.

When I got back from the ride Katie and DJ were there so I got to hang with my little buddy for awhile which is always fun for me.

Monday night was a demo of how technology can bridge the distance of isolation many people have felt since covid became a thing.  Katie and Cindy were both in VR playing Beat Saber together which was really cool.  Not only were they in the same virtual space, they had real time voice communication going on as well so they both had a ton of fun.  Cindy played through most of the battery charge on the headset so I knew she was having a great time.  The previous day Cindy participated in a VR exercise class which was surprisingly fun and engaging.  You are definitely working hard but hardly realize it.

I just had no idea how crazy VR can be.  I’m glad I discovered it sooner rather than later.

I’m on the last day of my Christmas extended weekend so I thought I would try to recap the happenings for the 2020 version of the holiday.  Our Christmas Eve was on the quiet side.  We had a nice visit from Katie and DJ for a few hours but the lack of a traditional family get together was something I found myself missing.  Instead I spent a good portion of the day just working on a bunch of small tasks.

I was first to arise Christmas morning.  I headed outside first thing to say hi to the hens and give them a few extra snacks as their Christmas treat as I cleaned the coop.  I then walked up front with the intent of turning on all the blow up decorations since it was Christmas.  I found stuff blown all over the place from the wind associated with the cold front that was blowing in.  I put the stuff back and tried blowing them up but shut it down shortly thereafter, it was just too windy.

By the time I came back inside Cindy was up and doing some prep for the food she was preparing.  We probably didn’t actually start present opening until after 8AM which is way late by 1999 standards but pretty normal in present day old man reality.  Usually I put codes on Cindy’s presents that help me prioritize and sort the opening process as of course you want to save the best presents for last.  This year everything was code free.  Although there were still a lot of presents, there wasn’t one ore two BIG ones so I was ok going codeless, especially since Cindy finds my coding practice annoying for some reason.

Cindy seemed to like what I got her, a number of the items were to help with some of her issues with pain, like vibrating gloves, hand heat pad, electric acupuncture/tens device and a few other items.  I got cool stuff too like a cordless angle grinder, a cool WoW book, clothes, and gadgets.  After opening the first round of clean up commenced as we had equal if not more presents for Katie and DJ when they arrived.

I got most of my family calls done in the morning.  I was happy to hear that my niece and nephew were very excited for the 3D printer I got them.  They wasted no time getting it set up.  During my call to Todd I found out they gave my other niece the dream Christmas gift of a car.

The real fun started when DJ and the kids came over.  DJ didn’t quite get the concept of opening presents yet, he preferred to sit on the unopened boxes while we opened up the presents for him more or less.  He of course got lots of cool toys but his favorite oddly enough seemed to be an electric toothbrush that he carried around with him the rest of the morning.  They headed out  a little after noon with plans to come back later to enjoy the ridiculous amount of food Cindy had prepared.

I actually made a Dunkin Donuts run in the morning, I read online they were open.  I was bummed when I pulled up to our normal location and saw they were closed.  However I didn’t give up and headed to the next closest DD a few miles away which was actually open.  I was grateful that their staff was in there on Christmas morning, grateful enough that I threw a $20 bill in the tip can.

During the afternoon I had more time to get stuff sorted out.  It went well enough that I had some time to mess around more with the mixed reality testing I have been doing with the Quest 2.  I had my green screen set up in the great room which surely looked silly.  The output is getting better but still not close to where I want it.

When the kids came back close to 5 we dug into the food in earnest.  It’s one of those love/hate relationships.  You love eating the food but hate how you feel afterward.  I can’t wait to get back to some cleaner eating.  It had been quite chilly all day with temps barely reaching 60 degrees.  I did not realize that Katie and Daniel still wanted to ride wheels, I thought it would be way too cold for them.  However they said they were down for it so I certainly wasn’t going to be the party pooper.  I threw on a few layers of clothing and rode my Sherman to the school where I met them.

By the time we started the temps had dropped into the mid-50s.  It was cold, very cold.  Despite all three of us being chilled to the bone we rode almost the entire Waterways development, taking in the dozens of Christmas displays.  It was fun to say we did it, despite the conditions.

Later Cindy and I sat down to watch Wonder Woman 1984 which was being released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.  We both were looking forward to the movie, we liked the first Wonder Woman movie and expected the same this time.  The movie started out ok but I felt it got real dumb, real quick as time went on.  All of a sudden Wonder Woman had all of these Superman level powers that I had no knowledge of.  The plot was just weak and the villlian(s) silly IMO.  Sadly I can only give it a B.  It was just another example of DC super hero movies being the ugly stepchild of Marvel films.

Saturday was again quite chilly.  We picked up Sadie for a quick weekend visit while running errands.  I spent most of the day just working on small tasks with a lot of them being in the hobby room.  I had a couple printers to work on, stands to build and just some general clean up.  I’m sure I did more than that but any other details are escaping me at this time.

Yesterday I felt the post Christmas letdown in full force.  It was combined with an impending full moon and a dreadful Eagles loss to the Cowboys to make for a bad mood filled day.  My big project for the day was adding RGB lights to my Sherman.  It was a relatively easy project which adds a lot of visual flair to the wheel.

So earlier in the day I received a “present” I bought for myself.  It was an impulse buy, a 3D scanner.  In theory it allows you to scan small objects and create 3D models out of them which you can print.  This was an expensive impulse buy of over $700 which I felt somewhat guilty about.  I hoped once I set it up and saw how well it worked the guilt would melt away as I thought I may be able to use it in my 3D store to create items that would be difficult otherwise.  The set up of the scanner was easy and my test scan of the included rubber duck went ok.  However as I tried to scan other objects I was not impressed at all.

Every object I tried was messy and unusable.  There all sorts of issues when scanning, the object can’t be too big, too shiny, and the room lighting is very touchy.  I tried about a half a dozen scans  with no acceptable results.  Obviously this only worsened the guilt I had about spending that much money on something that under performs.  I decided to relieve the guilt by boxing up the scanner and returning it.  Luckily Amazon makes it pretty easy to reverse impulse buys.  This experience added to the bad mood that was already in full swing.

That Eagles game was terrible, for many reasons.  Despite playing lousy this season they still had a chance to make the playoffs if they beat the Cowboys and the Redskins, as long as the Redskins lost yesterday, which they did.  They had everything lined up, all they had to do was win their game.  The team started out strong, jumping out to a 14-3 lead.  However suddenly the wheels came off and they got blown out by a final score of 37-17.  It was embarrassing.

The Cowboys had the WORST defense in the NFL, allowing 30 points per game on average.  After those two quick scores the Eagles were just bungling idiots, not making plays and committing penalties left and right.  The defense was atrocious.  It seems for the last 5 years we have said that the Eagles secondary is terrible and for some reason they just can’t fix it.  They got absolutely taken apart by Andy Dalton. It was a very hard game to watch.

I just felt terrible not just because of what was happening on the field but also what was happening off the field.  To see the franchise QB holding a clipboard while trying to be a cheerleader is just depressing.  Jalen Hurts did not impress nearly as much yesterday so that may further muddy the water in regards to who the future Eagles QB is.  I feel bad for Doug Pederson, I really like the guy but man he has seemed frustrated this year.  I hope they keep Doug around. And WTF happened to Zach Ertz? He is like a ghost in the offense now, I don’t get it.

The injuries this team had this year is off the charts, I think many teams have had similar issues, likely due to the impact of covid on normal off season/ pre-season practice and training.  However the Eagles clearly were banking on some players with a long history of injury, I think that was the fatal flaw with this team.  Jason Peters, Deshaun Jackson, Lane Johnson, Alshon Jeffrey, and more are old by NFL standards and unable to be counted on, yet they did.

So do I think Carson deserves to be the QB?  Well I can’t give you a strong answer either way.  He at times has played very well but the one damning thing about him, his bottom line win-loss record is not great.  He is basically a .500 QB.  They flashed a stat that since he was in the league his record is something like 35-33, not impressive for sure.  Do I think a QB like Hurts has a chance for a long and productive career in the NFL?  Probably not, running QB’s like him have a lifespan closer to a running back than normal QB’s, just ask Cam Newton about that. It was a sad way to end the Eagles season, even though they have one game remaining.  Everyone is focused on what happens next as what they have now is clearly not working.

Today I plan to cruise around the house doing whatever I feel like attending to.  It works for me.

Today marks my last work day prior to a nice fat five day Christmas weekend.  I’m looking forward to it for both normal holiday enjoyment and an opportunity to get stuff done as well.  I have no less than four printers sitting in the hobby room that are currently in need of repair and three EUC projects I have ready to roll.  I also have Cindy’s old pc waiting to have some additional hardware installed so I can make it my Quest 2 streaming system.  When you add in whatever stuff I get to play with from Christmas, I will have an action packed 5 days for sure.

I have seen a number of people talking about a very real problem our country is going to be facing now that the election is over, how to deprogram Trump cult members.  Now to be clear just because you voted for Trump does not mean you are one of his cultists.  You are a member of that group if you still have Trump election signs in your yard, posters of Sydney Powell on your wall, and find yourself waking up in the middle of the night screaming “RELEASE THE KRAKEN!”  If you still are participating in the charade lead by the Grand Puppeteer himself, President Big League, there is a pretty good chance you can count yourself in as a cultist.  So the question is, how does society manage to rehabilitate you?

No speech is going to get the job done, only actions.  The non-cult members of society need to press forward with greater good principals that ideally result in better living conditions for all.  It will not happen easily or quickly and for some cult members, there will truly be no hope as they will wear their MAGA hats to their graves. The brainwashing that has occurred is not something new in human history.  TV preachers have demonstrated it’s power for decades as they cultivate fear and money from their blind congregation.  This is just the first time a US president has been able to utilize those same tactics in an effective manner on the general populace, hopefully it is also the last.

So Congress passed a bloated 5500 page plus Covid relief bill.  The main headline that gets blasted out to the public is $600 direct payment checks!  It’s pretty crazy that out of a bill that is longer than an encyclopedia, they are able to summarize it in one sentence.  Well of course that is what works in today’s society, catchy headlines, memes, and one sentence explanations that play favor with ADD ridden, dumbed down Americans.

Let’s first deal with the “highlight”, the $600 to people making less than 75k.  It is a pittance that is unlikely to make much difference in anyone’s life that has been derailed by covid.  When you compare the covid support the US government has provided compared to other modern nations it is unreal.  Just north of the border qualified Canadians have been getting $2000 A MONTH since the pandemic started.  Many EU countries have offered similar levels of support for their population. So for the US, the richest country in the world and the biggest covid bungling as well to offer a total of $1800 in direct support over the course of 9 months is a joke.

So once you get past the anger over the lump sum numbers you can start getting really pissed off when you look at the details of the relief package.  In much the same format as the initial “stimulus”  the bill is filled with pork belly political favors for countless corporations/countries that have absolutely no benefit to Americans.  My favorite is a new exemption for corporate executives allowing them to fully deduct their meal expenses. The 5500 pages is filled with similar nonsense.

Now if you know anything about modern day congressional legislation you know this practice is commonplace.  They constantly throw these riders onto bills that have no connection to the original intent.  They are quite simply paying off obligations congress has to the lobbyist army that truly controls American politics.  If you ever have a chance to look at the details of this stimulus bill or any other legislation passed by congress I guarantee you will get very angry, very quickly.  It’s a broken system that has no chance of ever being fixed as long as the people that benefit from it’s corruption are the same ones responsible for changing the system.

I hope you and your family have a great Christmas holiday.  I’ll try to drop an entry in here before next week but no promises can be made.  Unlike congress I prefer to under promise and over deliver.

You may recall last week that I had an incident where I made a smart ass video in response to someone that made negative commentary on my stands on FB.  I don’t mind criticism, I didn’t appreciate that instead of telling me of any issue he had so I could address it he thought it best to just throw it out on social media.  My video of me standing on one of my stands clearly demonstrated that they are able to withstand high amounts of weight applied in a vertical manner.

However I have always been aware that the stands are much less tolerant of horizontal forces being applied to them, for example if someone isn’t careful and doesn’t get the wheel in over the pedal hangers, allowing it to fall in between supports like a wood splitting wedge.  I had this very scenario happen to me when I was shooting one of my videos this weekend. I was doing stuff exerting side pressure on a stand, causing one of the side supports to snap at the section above the bolt holes.  If a stand breaks, that is normally where it will happen.

So despite my sarcastic reaction to the criticism last week, I decided to address it. The top picture is the new version and the bottom is what I have been using.  I tweaked the model to add much more material around that vulnerable lower section which should make it considerably more resistant to breaking.  It adds a bit to the print time but not in a major fashion.  I did my first test print of the model overnight and it turned out well.  I actually sort of prefer the new design, it balances out the visual better.  I plan to swap over to this design exclusively but I have 12-15 of the old style I need to unload first.

The last few days before Christmas are actually my favorite time of the holiday season.  The anticipation is at it’s paramount level and I have several days off to look forward to ahead of me.  Although of course I still like receiving gifts the vast majority of my enjoyment for many years has come from giving gifts to my loved ones.  With DJ getting older and more aware of what’s what it should only add to that enjoyment.

The forecast for Christmas Day is going to be a first for me in Florida.  It is supposed to be legit cold here with highs not getting out of the 50’s during the day.  It’s the closest thing to a White Christmas I have ever had since moving to a tropical climate.

I had good weekend, the last one prior to this year’s Christmas holiday.  I did miss the 3 days off that I treated myself to the last couple weekends.  On Saturday I decided to get on the tractor to mow the yard.  Overall the growth was minimal but it was looking a little shaggy and I wanted things to both look nice for Christmas and also for me to not have to mow Christmas weekend.

So I have documented my battles with palm rats on our property for a long time.  I have tried numerous things to get them to move on like putting all the food away at night, using minty spray that they don’t like, various sonic repellers, and a few other things, all of which have proven ineffective.  I have not chosen to go the lethal route of using glue traps, poison, or spring loaded traps because despite the great annoyance and destruction they cause me, I hate killing other living creatures.

The only success I have had is using baited live traps.  In total I have probably caught at least 10 this way.  After I catch them we go on a short car ride where I release them into a remote wooded area.  Lately even that hasn’t been working well as the palm rats seem to have realized going into one of these traps is a one way ticket.  Not only do they hang out around the chicken area, they also like the large shed.

I actually ran power to the shed just so I could run sonic repellers in there.  I could hardly believe it when the other day I saw that one of the rats had started gnawing away at the insulation of the extension cord.  I’m not sure if it was smart enough to realize the cord was what was supplying power to the sonic devices but at this point I don’t rule it out.

I recently added a new tool to the arsenal an ultra-repeller.  Not only does it emit high frequency sounds that annoy rodents, it also has strobing LED lights AND prerecorded predator sounds that it plays on a cycle.  Unfortunately the predator sounds were scaring the chickens too so I turned those off.

We bought a metal trashcan that we use in the coop to hold all the food items as metal is immune to their gnawing little teeth.  Well somehow the rats have been able to do quick hit and run missions during the day.  They jump down inside the can and have gotten into some of the treats we have in bags. What is head scratching is how exactly they get out from the bottom of the metal trash can.  You would think the walls are far too slippery for them to climb out so palm rats must have incredible vertical leap abilities. I did manage to catch one of them in the large shed Saturday night.  I was wondering if perhaps I need to paint the trap just so it looks different.  This conflict has no foreseeable end in sight.

Saturday night Cindy and I saw “The Art of Racing in the Rain”.  By the title you wouldn’t know it but it is a dog story movie, something I would never consider watching in a theater because of the probable emotional reaction I will have to it.  This movie was no different.  Despite the tears it invoked and the rather depressing overall plot I thought it was really well done an A flick for me.

On Sunday Katie and DJ came over for a good chunk of the day which is always fun.  I also did a pedal upgrade on the Veteran Sherman followed by a test ride to Walgreens to pick up some business cards we made for Cindy’s new plant decor gig.  The ride was fast, stable, and fun.  I really do love my new wheel.

The Eagles had another late afternoon game, this time against the Cardinals.  Like most Eagles fans I was anxious to see if Jalen Hurts strong performance in his first start last week was a fluke or  the real deal.  Well despite losing the game, I think it is looking more and more like the latter.  The injuries on the Eagles roster are absolutely ridiculous.  On Sunday they were missing three of their starters in the secondary.  I had never heard of most of the guys that were out there playing.  The end result was the Arizona QB putting up huge numbers, throwing for over 400 yards.

However despite the defense rolling over and the Eagles being down 16-0 early, Hurts was almost able to force a tie at the end of the game.  He threw for three TD’s and ran for another.  The biggest and clearest difference is even with a rag tag offensive line Hurts is able to make plays on his own by either scrambling out of trouble or running with the ball.  Wentz just does not have that ability to take over a game himself.

Despite seeming good natured and supportive on the sidelines I knew how this must be killing Carson Wentz who just last year was seen as the QB of this team for the next 10 years.  I recall expressing doubt about Carson’s ability to perform under pressure last season and he promptly had a string of games to close out the season where he did just that, brought the team back in must win games to get into the playoffs.  I thought it meant great things for this year to see him finally play that way.

So when he struggled so badly this year it was frustrating to watch.  Repeatedly he would make bad decisions, make poor throws, turn the ball over and just hold on to it too damn long, taking tons of sacks.  He definitely has had reasons outside of his control, the injuries on the team this year are ridiculous with the two top wide receivers being gone, the offensive line being decimated, and his number one guy Zac Ertz going down as well.  Carson has faced a lot of obstacles to success this year, that can’t be denied.

However this is the NFL and winning is all that ultimately matters, not excuses.  Hurts has shown that even with a battered roster he can make plays.  If the team was healthy and had their starters in place maybe Wentz would have never struggled as he has.   We will never know but at this point if Hurts continues to impress there is a good chance that the Carson Wentz era in Philly is done, if they can find some way to unload his MASSIVE contract extension.

I get to enjoy a quick three day work week followed by a nice five day break, I can’t wait.

It’s hard to imagine that we are only a week out from Christmas already.  Last night on the way home I picked up what should be my last gifts but I have a hard time not grabbing a few more things right up until Christmas Eve.  Last night I threw together a quick video of our ride in Victoria Park Wednesday night which I captured on my Iphone.

This weekend unfortunately is the conventional 2 day variety for me although I did take the following Monday off to extend my Christmas holiday.  We don’t have big plans for the weekend, instead I envision something similar to last weekend where numerous smaller tasks and activities will fill up the 48 hours.

After a normal day of work I headed home for what was a very fun evening celebration.  Cindy was excited to show me the cake she made for me.  She used mom’s chocolate cake recipe but with an amazing addition, a Sherman EUC and gator on top. She did a great job at capturing the detail of both the wheel and the gator.  It’s the effort that Cindy puts into these type of pop up projects that really reflect  the loving person she is.  I appreciate how much she does to make my life special.

After eating a quick dinner we headed to Victoria Park with Katie, DJ and Daniel, we were doing another PEV Xmas ride for my birthday.  We thought that going on a Wednesday evening would be less traffic clogged than if we tried to go closer to the big day itself.  It wasn’t horribly congested but there were still certain streets that were a solid wall of cars.

This was the first year we took DJ with.  Our set up of Cindy pushing him in the stroller while she rides the Minipro works pretty well although DJ got a little squirmy from time to time.  We didn’t ride real long but that was ok, I still had fun regardless and Cindy said she was open to just the two of us coming back to ride again.

By the time I closed my eyes late last night I felt grateful to have people in my life that care about me enough to make my birthday, which is something I really don’t look forward to, fun and memorable anyway.

I have one more pit stop to make for my 2020 Xmas buying spree and then I should be completely done, hopefully.