The Slow March

For all of last week the improvement in how I have been feeling has been on a very slow escalator upward.  I had already determined that regardless of my current state of wellness it was time to reengage with life.  On Friday when I got home I went out to get the weeding out of the way.  I have started to once again use the scuffle hoe as a big part of the process which for some reason I stopped doing awhile ago, which makes no sense.  It allows me to clear big areas of unwanted weeds without bending over or getting on my hands and knees, both desirable to avoid when possible.

I was feeling pooped afterward but I had to refocus my energy to finally do the live stream that I had postponed for a week due to being sick.  20 minutes before the 8:30 start time I was laying on the couch with my eyes closed.  I was able to get myself awake enough to get through the stream although it only ran for two hours, short for me.  As expected a number of people were very surprised when I pushed the huge box containing the KS22 into the field of view.  The reason for the surprise was at the beginning of July I did a video stating how I canceled my order for this wheel that I had been waiting for for almost a year.  However about a week after that happened a series of events lead to me getting one anyway, from a different source.

On Saturday Elsa and I did an errand run which included Trader Joe’s.  TJ is an excellent source for decent frozen meals for one so I loaded up.  When I got home my afternoon goal was to weed whack the property thoroughly, something that had not been done in awhile thanks to vacations and equipment issues.  This was my first run of the new Ryobi weed whacker.  It performed superbly throughout although it took FOREVER until I got through it all, over two hours of whacking.  It felt good to get it done. I even went in the pool afterwards, something I have not done the entire summer.  No I am not kidding.

Earlier in the week I had ideas about getting out to see Thor or maybe go sit at a bar Saturday night.  However by the time I was done with the marathon outdoor session all I wanted to do was veg out.  I caught up on some DVR/streaming content and then slept like a log Saturday night.

On Sunday I knocked out my bills which included paying one of the largest credit card bills I have ever had, if not the largest, thanks to the concentration of spending that has occurred over the last month or so.  A prolonged period of fiscal mindfulness will be required as a result.  I then had most of my day cleared out to go to Alison’s new place to help her with a number of things.  Shugs was out of town visiting his mom.

The first priority was looking into why her internet wasn’t working.  She has fiber coming into the house and then a Century Link wifi router connected to that.  Once I connected to the wifi network and got into the router UI I could see that it was not receiving an IP address on the WAN.  We called tech support but confirmed there is something going on that is going to require a line tech to come out.

Next I helped Ali bring in some larger items that were in the garage like the furniture and desk for her office.  We got it all in there and then I hooked up the PC equipment for her.  I then suggested I take a whack at hanging the monster 84 inch TV they bought on the wall.  This thing is a beast.  We tried to use great care in unboxing and moving it around.  Since I have hung several TV’s on walls I was relatively confident I could do this one as well, despite it’s dimensions.

After measuring more than once to determine center and an appropriate mounting height I worked on getting the bracket affixed to the wall.  When the house was built this area intentionally was fabricated with a large sheet of plywood behind it, making it convenient to wall mount onto.  The bracket we got was just barely big enough to accommodate the TV, every adjustment was maxed out.

I did everything myself except hoisting the 100lb plus set onto the wall.  For that I required Ali’s assistance, it was not an easy lift as it went pretty high on the wall.  On attempt one we bailed and then reset, putting the TV on the old TV stand to allow Ali to get more under it.  On the second attempt we were successful, getting the top hooks onto the bracket, whew.

Even though it was on the wall it wasn’t sitting evenly.  Trying to manipulate the bracket/mount with the TV on the wall was challenging.  Finally I found the culprit and the TV clicked into place assuredly.  Because of the lack of internet in the house there wasn’t much more set up that could be done but the hard part was finished, which Ali was very happy about.  She was feeling overwhelmed by the scope of work that was remaining.  The things we got done helped her feel better which I was happy about.

Ali had a special reward for me.  She went into her pantry but then backed towards me so I couldn’t see what she had.  I could hardly believe it when she revealed two boxes of grape Poptarts.

Grape was always my favorite flavor growing up however many years ago they stopped producing the flavor.  I distinctly recall looking at various grocery stores for it 10-15 years ago, while Ali and I were still married.  The reintroduction of my favorite flavor brought an instant smile to my face, almost as big as when Zima was brought back on a limited basis.  Hopefully it sticks around longer than Zima did.

Ali thanked me for all the help.  Elsa and I piled back in the truck although I had to leash her up to get  her out of there since there were some storms around.  The drive to and from Babcock Ranch is long, taking at least an hour, depending on traffic.

I got home about 5PM but I wanted to get at least a quick ride in on my new wheel to get a feel for it.  The skies looked menacing all around me but I targeted going to the nearby DD which is only 3 miles away.  I had a really good experience, adjusting to the feel of the wheel almost instantly, compared to the extreme awkwardness I felt on the EX20S a couple weeks prior.   Now that I am off the vacation circuit I should be able to focus some time on riding.

Sunday night I spent editing video, twice.  I had almost completely finished editing the footage when the software locked up, which can happen from time to time.  It isn’t a big deal because it auto-saves your progress every minute.  Normally once you restart the software it will ask if you want to reload from your last save point.  Well for some unknown reason there was no auto save file this time.  I was pisssssssed.  So I redid everything, pushing past 10PM to redo it.  Hopefully the end result was worth it.

I noticed on Friday when I saw the blog entry from last year, I talked about (in an indirect manner) the final conflict that wound up in my relationship with Cindy ending.  Seeing that entry and recalling the feelings surrounding that time period felt strange.  It’s hard to imagine that a year has passed already, a year that has been filled with many, many twists and turns which are still going on as far as I can see in the horizon. The path ahead is foggy with no clear outline.  It will be interesting to see what comes my way as time continues to march on.