Perseverance, Rolling, The Cake, Moved, Flight for two

I busted ass for a good portion of Saturday.  I had skipped weeding last weekend so I paid the price this time around, it felt like I was running a weed pulling marathon.  The only plus was the temperatures were not oppressive.  I also got most of the weed whacking done, working right up to the edge of darkness.  I mixed in various indoor tasks during the day including going through my closet and pulling clothing I either didn’t wear or was just old.  It added up to a full garbage bag which I dropped off at Goodwill during the day.

So despite a day filled with labor I got the idea in my head that I wanted to take another crack at putting the S22 back together.  To make it more interesting I had the idea to do it live, on the internet, no pressure.  I have hated having my hobby room look like a mess for a month since I started and failed this project repeatedly.   My goal was to get this done before I left for California and this was going to be one of my last opportunities to make that happen.  I set up my laptop with a webcam in the hobby room and had it.

Now you might think that doing this sort of work on a stream could be counter productive as you are distracted with the interactions with the audience however in this specific case it was exactly what I needed.  As I was trying to remount the tire and encountering similar difficulties as the prior two attempts I started getting feedback from people on the stream that have had similar issues.  Thanks to some of their tips I successfully got the new tire back on the wheel in about 20 minutes.  I yelled out in celebration, repeatedly.  I did this without using a single prying tool.

The key was the tip to use a clamp to pinch the tire together on the side opposite what you are working by hand.  This allows the clamped side to sink into the deeper, center portion of the rim temporarily giving you just enough leeway to muscle the rubber into position.  It was such a relief when I applied my inflator and the tube actually held air.  I got the tire on so quickly that I decided to put the rest of the wheel together.  Again there were some hiccups along the way but by the end of the two hour stream I had the S22 reassembled and working, a minor miracle.  Out of my various personality traits, the ability to persevere and overcome hardship is one that serves me the best in various aspects of my life.  I don’t give up easily.

After the wheel was back together and I ended the stream I immediately started cleaning up the hobby room, despite it getting late.  I wanted things back to normal.  I am hoping to take the S22 out for a maiden voyage with it’s new tire and roller suspension this evening.

I also posted the video from the prior attempt where the amount of frustration I was experiencing is clearly visible.

Sunday morning I finished up the weed whacking and then followed up with mowing the yard in anticipation of being away next weekend for my trip to California.  The grass had not hit jungle stage in most spots but it felt good to get the yard looking uniform before heading out.  The Eagles continued to roll, beating the Giants convincingly.  I don’t know how to feel about the incredible season the Birds are having.  I can only hope the momentum doesn’t derail any time soon.

Kerri came over Sunday afternoon.  One of the priorities was to make my famous chocolate cake, the ONE bakery item I feel confident making.  Unlike most of our time together cooking in the kitchen where Kerri steers the ship, when it comes to cake time I was doing most of the steering.  The preparation went smoothly, very smoothly.  The end result was a near perfect cake. It was moist, rich and the buttercream icing was spot on.  She was impressed with the end result.  No we didn’t wait until my birthday to try it.

Kerri also made a chick pea salad dish for her to eat for lunch this week.  It was easy, quick but quite good.  She finds these recipes on the internet and is able to turn them into healthy/tasty meals reliably.  For dinner she prepared some food I got as part of my birthday gift from my step mom.  It was a package from Omaha Steaks.  It sounds odd right, a gift of food from a company that is known for steaks, which I haven’t eaten in close to 10 years.  However they also sell a lot of non-poultry, beef, and pork products.  Kerri made the cod that was in one of the boxes and it was very good.

So the other day Kerri and I were talking about the Christmas tree.  She asked me about where I have it in the dining room.  I told her I have always had the tree in front of the dining room window since the house was built some 21 years ago.  I said I thought it looked nice for the people driving by to see the tree in the window.  She then said something that made me think.

She pointed out that the tree should be something I get the most enjoyment out of first.  One way to do that would be to have the tree in the main living space where it could be a more visible part of the season. Hmm, never have I thought about it that way.  Like many things, I have done it that way each year because I had always done it that way. However when I thought about it for a few moments, I realized she was right.

The end result was her assisting me on sliding the intact tree on furniture sliders to the corner of the great room right by the kitchen.  This is also at one of the highest points of the ceiling in the house so it fills the space well.  Once we moved it Kerri cautiously asked me if I was ok with it.  Without hesitation I told her I was.  As I have documented here repeatedly, the last 18 months have been all about changes.  Just because something has been a certain way for a very long time does not mean it is cast in stone.  It’s a feeling I have been embracing which will become much more clear in a moment.

So last week I threw the idea out to Kerri about her possibly coming to California with me.  At the time we laughed about it but neither of us looked further into it.  Well last night I threw it out there again, more seriously.  She didn’t say no.  So I hopped on the United web site and checked if my flights on Saturday had any more seats available, they did.  The return flight was getting close to booked though.  So now the possibility was real.

Kerri knows the trip is focused on me meeting up with EUC riders I know out there.  There is also a holiday party that I would love to have her accompany me to.  The good news is Kerri is very independent and able to keep herself entertained if I am unavailable.  She is actually excited by that possibility.  So we had now progressed to serious consideration.  The only hurdle was her vacation schedule at work.  She had to verify she could take the time off.  It took some time but she got a hold of a key co-worker that confirmed she should be clear to take off.  As soon as this hurdle was cleared I hit the book now button.

Kerri was very excited and so was I by this unexpected joint trip to the west coast.  It was a surprising way to top off what was already a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon/evening.  Spontaneous actions like this historically are not my norm.  Change is good.