Randall recap, Blood in your eye
Randall arrived Friday evening. We didn’t do anything thrilling, he agreed to join me in my Friday night frozen pizza tradition while we drank beer, talked and watched Moon Knight and Daredevil episodes on Disney +. Randall is my first guest to officially try out the conventional gel foam mattress and queen size platform. He said the combo was much improved over the blow up bed he slept on a couple months prior. Randall also told me that he quit his job since I saw him last. He took advantage of his one week off to go biking, paddle boarding and camping in the Ocala area. He starts his new job on Monday.
Saturday morning I skipped weeding (gasp) and just cleaned up the chicken coop before we ran out for coffee with Elsa along. We then walked the park with her. They had some soccer tournament going on so there were a lot of people which made Elsa more nervous than normal. She got over it, eventually she calmed down and we had a nice 1 mile walk around the park perimeter.
I suggested to Randall that we go down and catch the last day of the US Pickleball Open as he had never seen a pro event. Since it was the last day the venue was even fuller that last Saturday when I went. We grabbed some food, ate it and then settled in to watch some of the matches. Almost on queue the skies opened up maybe 15 minutes later, halting all play and sending everyone under cover. When we looked at our local weather apps it showed the rain was supposed to last for at least an hour with a high probability of more on the way. Not only did the rain need to stop, the courts would need to be cleared/dried before play could resume. It would have meant standing around for at least two hours which did not sound appealing to either of us so we said screw it and left. At least there is no cost for admission.
When we got back out toward the house the weather was still holding. We decided to grab our pickleball gear and go play at the park. Randall was the first person I ever played pickleball with when he was last visiting. I was curious how my skills have improved since then. It was also my first opportunity to try out my new high end racquet.
Going into the match both of us were hurting, Randall from his week of mountain biking and paddle boarding and me from the same lower body IT band/knee pain that has been bothering me for a couple weeks. However once I got warmed up the discomfort lessened. The first couple games were pretty competitive with a lot of siding out and the customary trash talk that always goes on when Randall I do almost anything competitive. I managed to win those early games, once coming back from being down 9-4 or 9-5. After that things got pretty lopsided, I could tell Randall was out of gas. We played a total of six games and I won them all. The new racquet feels good to me. We had the GoPro running for most of the match which gives a good feel for the silliness that was going on.
Saturday night we went to Brooks for dinner. I thought I would show Randall one of my new solo drinking/eating spots. Ironically the bar was much busier than my prior visits which was nice as we got to talk to more people near us. We talked to one guy a lot, so much so that we exchanged numbers so we could get together to play pickleball. He has wanted to learn but wasn’t sure how to get started. I had their lasagna for the first time and it was really good. By the time we got home I didn’t stay up real long as I was pretty worn out.
Sunday morning we again woke up ready to have another active day. I threw my two one wheels in the trunk of the car and we headed down to the abandoned golf course to ride. Randall had ridden my OneWheel years ago and he said he rode a friends OneWheel Pint recently so he was down to ride.
When he first got on the XR he was VERY unstable, dangerously so. I wasn’t sure how we would be able to ride the golf cart trails which can be a little tricky at times. Before hitting the trail we had him ride in a flat open area for awhile to get his feet under him. He was still far from perfect but at least rolling and turning adequately.
Early on in the first lap he had a wobble that turned into a big wobble that sent him rolling to the ground. Luckily he didn’t hurt himself seriously as the only gear he was wearing was a helmet. As he put more time in he slowly got more stable and confident. By the time we finished riding the first lap of the course he was ready to go ride another half loop. He definitely appreciated the One Wheel “stoke” by the end of it. I shot video of the ride but haven’t had a chance to edit it yet.
We went home and went back out in less than a half hour, this time to Ave Maria. Randall had brought his frisbee golf set with. I mentioned to him that they have a course out at Ave Maria. I think I played the game once very casually with Alison when we were on vacation somewhere, 20 years ago maybe. Elsa who normally runs and hides when I ask her if she wants to come with instead was at the door, ready to go which was surprising. Perhaps she didn’t want to be left home again for the second time of the day. She had never been to Ave Maria so I thought it would be fun to let her walk with us as we played.
As we drove east the horizon was filled with very ominous clouds. I was wondering if we were setting up for a similar scenario as the US Open where it will downpour right after we arrive. The course at Ave Maria was only 9 holes so we thought we may just be able to squeeze a game in. I am a complete noob to the game. I didn’t realize you had “driver”, “mid-range” and “putting” discs, each with their own characteristics. Each hole was typically around 100 yards long, give or take 25 yards. I quickly realized that throwing a frisbee far and accurately is not very easy. As the holes went on I got a little more hang of it. We finished up the last hole just as the rain and wind started in earnest. Randall beat me by one but I didn’t care, it was a fun and simple way to spend an hour or so. As a bonus he left one of his two sets of discs with me so I could play on my own if I wanted, which I am likely to do.
By the time we got back we were both beat, it was a very busy weekend. We drank a little as we watched some F1 racing, which I never watch. We then finished up Randall’s visit with some Mario Kart on the Switch which was fun of course. The trash talking was unavoidable. After I claimed my two race to one victory Randall said he needed to shove off since he had the long drive back across the state to prep for his first day of the new gig. It was a fun weekend for both of us which forced me to deviate from my norms, which is a good thing.
This morning I had my first skin cancer procedure, removing one of the two spots on my forehead. Once I came back to get stitched up and was re-numbed I felt what I thought was water running into my eye. I already had my eyes closed. The nurse gasped and told me to stop, it was actually blood running from the wound, into my eye. I had already wiped my wet finger on my pants, getting blood on them as well. They did a good job of getting me cleaned up.
This is the start of a week that will more or less be a chinese fire drill. I will be on the run almost every day of the week. By mid-May I am hoping for a return to a more normal daily grind. These surgeries will keep me out of the gym as well which is never a great thing for my state of mind.