Archives September 2024

Yes I have been gone for a week in California and no I don’t have time to go into great lengths so you get a cliff notes version.

Dawn, who I have mentioned here several times and I recently decided to explore a relationship. We have been friends for a couple years. She has been in the midst of moving to a new house and there are a mountain of things that need to be done connected to it. I wanted to help.

The week was filled with nearly non stop projects and tasks, far too many for me to even remember. Some of the highlights were removing a 40 year old one piece oven/top oven, dealing with a rotted tire blow out on a trailer while rolling down the highway, redoing a bunch of wooden tables, multiple light/door lock replacements and much, much more.

We did get to do a couple social things although riding a wheel was not one of them. The Sunday I arrived we went to a pool party hosted by one of our EUC friends. On Thursday evening we met up with Marty, Roger, and Larry for a nice dinner as well. Other than that it was nose to the grindstone mode, mostly.

I rented a full size Dodge Ram for the trip and we really got our money’s worth. It was used hard and performed it’s duties flawlessly. I got unexpected practice at backing up with a trailer. I was awful the first couple times but became much better by the end of the week. The entire week forced me to dust off some handyman skills that I already had as well as discover some new ones that I had not.

For almost half of my time there it was brutally hot with daytime temperatures exceeding 110 degrees. I found myself in a constant state of thirst despite drinking as much as I could. Although my body is quite accustomed to working in hot and humid conditions it apparently is not so efficient with working in dry sauna-like temperatures. I survived nonetheless.

By the time the week was done her new place was in significantly better condition than when I arrived which was what I hoped for. With as much as we did I still found myself wishing we could get her to the point where everything that needs to be done is completed, but only more time is going to be able to accomplish that.

I took my first ever red eye from California Saturday night. My hope was to be able to sleep on the plane but I was unsuccessful in doing so. I flew into Charlotte, had a two hour layover and then arrived in Fort Myers mid-morning Sunday. Flying overnight makes flights much more reasonable but I would need to find a way to be able to sleep effectively. I struggled getting through the rest of Sunday as I felt like I was in zombie mode. Once I fell asleep last night I was out like a rock.

It’s going to feel strange sliding back into my normal routine here as my time out there has no structure or routine. Each day we were just tackling whatever obstacles were in the way. Dawn and I work together well which is an important thing for me. It was an exhausting but fulfilling week at the same time.

After I posted my video about the new Pidzoom mirror I installed on my helmet I received a tip that was welcome news to me. Unbeknownst to me there was a second mirror unit that is under the foam that was protecting the first mirror. It’s not obvious at all so I was pleasantly surprised by the news as it meant I could now mount a mirror on another one of my helmets. I chose my full face LS2 motorcycle helmet. Once again the install was simple and the mirror is a large upgrade from what I had before.

I thought about getting another ride in last night but ran out of time and motivation to do so. I instead kept myself busy doing prep for more travel this weekend. If you hear/see nothing from me for the next week or so there is no cause for alarm.

Last night after work was a pretty busy one. In addition to completing my mini-workout routine, laundry and a few other tasks I also shot a video regarding a new rear view mirror for my helmets. I have utilized a cheap bike helmet mirror on all of my helmets for a long time. With all of the riding I do mixed in with vehicles, knowing what is behind and or beside me is very valuable in keeping myself out of harms way.

The mirror is by a new company named Pidzoom. They have sent me a couple of their products in the past for free to review and they were both good. I paid for this mirror but it is worth it. The kit comes with tons of mounting options which allows the mirror to be used in pretty much any application you can imagine. Installation took a few minutes. Once it was installed I hopped on my Master V4 to get a real world test.

At first I thought I would do a quick spin around the block but the ride turned out to be longer than expected because I was enjoying myself. The Master V4 is smooth and powerful. It was stupid easy to get to 40MPH plus and plain stupid to do so since I only had a helmet and wrist guards on. I like the mirror so much that I am seriously considering buying one for all of my helmets that I use for the road.

Speaking of rear views, yesterday I had a person in my past that I have left behind for going on 9 months once again try inject themselves into my present reality. These attempts have been going on for several months and they always get handled the same way by me. I don’t acknowledge their presence. I think in their mind enough time has passed that communication could resume in some manner. They are incorrect.

There have been many times in my life where I found myself trapped looking behind me, dwelling on what was. That is a hard cycle to break as my mind was not willing to stop the negative loop thinking related to the past. The logical side of me knew and knows that allowing the past, which has already happened and is unchangeable to affect my present is a recipe for unhappiness. Even with this knowledge it’s hard to shake the pattern, at least for me. All I can control is today so I may as well put my energy towards making it as positive as possible. It’s a way of thinking I have to work on every single day but worth the effort.

When I got home on Friday I immediately launched into fantasy football draft party prep mode. That means rearranging all of the furniture in the main living area to spots that work to host roughly 10 people with their computers and food/drink. I set out the various snacks I bought as well as ordering three pizzas while I was at it. I realized near last second that I forgot to set up my laptop which I connect to my TV to allow two remote team owners to participate in the event.

As is always the case my draft was basically by the seat of my pants. I utilized a cheat sheet which had players ranked by position as well as the fantasy web site which showed top players available as the draft progressed. Somehow my draft was decent with the automated league assistant grading my picks as an A-, fifth best in the league.

Elsa did her best to be “social” during the draft. Instead of spending the majority of the draft hidden in the corner of the house she spent most of the time under the main table by people’s feet. It was a surprising improvement. The draft wrapped up a little after 10PM. As soon as the last person left I went into high speed clean up mode. I had the house back to normal in less than 30 minutes which was good even by my standards.

Both Saturday and Sunday morning I played pickleball, enjoying myself as the competition was good and the people I played against were friendly and good natured. I tended to a number of small chores around the house during the afternoons which were mostly rainy the entire three day weekend. By the time Labor Day itself hit I more or less had everything I needed to get done, done.

Monday afternoon despite rainy skies I took a ride on my V13. I have not done appreciable EUC riding in quite awhile so it felt good to get out there. I got to confirm I can still ride the V13 seated, the only wheel I own where that is a possibility. I indeed could still do it and probably did the most seated riding ever in a session. I did encounter rain early in the ride but by the time the ride concluded I had dried out. During the ride I drifted between subjects including some general thoughts about life and the choices you make along the way.

I have a shortened week ahead of me that will include some high priority tasks that need to be handled before Friday expires. I love a good challenge.