Last night the small water pump I ordered from Amazon arrived which allowed me to finish assembly of one of the more involved 3D prints I have made. In total it was over a dozen parts. Some of it snapped together although most things required gluing.
After carefully putting the pump in place I put the top half on top of the bottom, added water and fired it up. The water came shooting out at high velocity, I probably should have added water more slowly. However the flow normalized and I then had a functioning waterfall that was 3D printed entirely. Even though I have been 3D printing for many years I still appreciate how awesome it is to build something like this yourself.
A good part of my weekend was spent just tending to small tasks around the house like fixing the dishwasher brackets, tending to the garden, packaging 3D orders and a long list of other things. I did take my F22 Pro out for it’s second real ride over the weekend. Although the wheel seems very good in many regards there is one thing I really don’t like, the pedal angle.
Pedals on EUCs can utilize something called the dihedral angle. If you look at the wheel from straight on that angle can be seen when the pedals are in the fully down position. Well the F22 has a significant dihedral angle which puts my feet in a position that is just very uncomfortable. It’s so bad that after 10 miles I was ready to get off the thing. It is pretty painful and takes away from my overall enjoyment of the wheel. Some riders like a steep dihedral as it makes them feel more locked into the wheel. With my body geometry it just feels awful. I’m not sure what I am going to do about it. I need to have a more flat angle, somehow, yet these are not adjustable.
Some of you may recall this dwarf mulberry tree that I ordered online last October. When I planted the tree it had a few tiny leaves and didn’t look like it could ever amount to much.
I continued to tend to it over the weeks which turned into months. It had a period of time a couple months ago where it was not looking so great where it dropped leaves and just seemed unhappy.
I moved it to a different pot and paid more attention to it’s watering regularity. The tree rebounded
and now has a ton of leaves. It looks quite healthy to my untrained eye. I am hoping to eventually move it to the yard where it can continue to grow and prosper, just like I hope to do.
Yesterday I saw the new Marvel movie, Thunderbolts. I had been looking forward to this movie for quite awhile based on the various trailers. I came out of it underwhelmed. It seemed like this one of those films where the best parts of it were already shown in the trailers.
The movie went way too far into the emotional wellness aspects of the characters IMO. However the thing that really got me shaking my head was how they ultimately “defeated” the main bad guy, The Void. I would love to say it here but won’t to avoid spoilers. When you see the movie I am pretty sure you will understand what I mean. I stayed for the post credit scene which was supposedly a big deal however it was basically just a promo for the Fantastic Four movie that comes out in July. For me Thunderbolts was just not great, I’d give it a B.
It’s been awhile since I have shared any annoying people at the gym stories but yesterday was a first in the nearly 40 years I have been going to a public gym. I started my workout and was talking to some of my gym buddies when all of a sudden I heard the sound of man singing. As I focused in I realized he was singing what sounded like church hymns. The guy was tall, rail thin, wearing a weight vest and his work attire of khakis and polo shirt while walking on a treadmill, singing.
He had airpods in so evidently he was listening to music that he was then singing to. It was loud. I found it hard to believe this guy thought nothing of singing hymnals in the middle of a gym. The lack of self awareness was pretty remarkable. What was at first odd and then funny became outright annoying. Church music is probably the least conducive sound you can imagine when trying to workout.
Before long myself and my buddies relocated to the other side of the building where his non-stop singing was less noticeable. After a period of time who walks over but Mr Singer to lift very light dumbbells. He stopped singing at this point but myself and others again left the area. Maybe he took the hint.
On the way back to the office my one buddy said this guy actually works in his office. He said he sings in the choir for a church. I guess he thought a treadmill at the gym was an ideal place to rehearse. The lack of f’s about everyone around him was pretty impressive. It was definitely a first for me and hopefully a last. If he decides to perform again in the future I will have little choice but to ask him to abstain, for God’s sake.
So I made my return to sand volleyball last night for the first time in approximately 6 months. My biggest goal was to see how my body would hold up. I knew my skills would not be great after not touching a ball in so long. I didn’t play great but I didn’t play awful either which was somewhat of a surprise. My team went 4-2 on the night.
The two biggest negatives was that I could hardly jump at all so most of my attempts at hitting were awful. Part of that is just being hesitant to put a lot of energy into jumping and of course my timing was terrible too. I had similar hesitation when going after some balls that would require a quick scramble or dive. There were several balls that I would have gotten in the past that I just didn’t even go for. It’s all the end result of not trusting my body yet. I have a similar hesitancy now when playing pickleball, not going for balls that would require really fast acceleration.
But the most important thing I wanted to accomplish last night was play a full night and be able to walk off the courts without a limp, which I did. Yes I felt various little tweaks as I was playing but that is to be expected since my body is no longer accustomed to volleyball movements. I woke up this morning still limp free so that was good news. I’m hoping this is the start of a slow ascent back to where I was around a year ago physically where I was playing pickleball four times a week and still playing volleyball. Physical ascents at this age are slow at best and have lots of potential potholes along the way but I will keep pushing forward. Giving up isn’t something I am very good at.
I’m looking forward to a good weekend ahead. Most of mine have been recently.
One of the big attractions of the years US Pickleball Open was Andre Agassi was playing. Andre was a very well known and successful tennis player for a long time from the mid 80s to the early 2000s. His long mullet hair, headbands and style made him look more like a rock singer than a tennis player. Fast forward 20 years later and Andre now has a shaved head and is 55 years old. He also now is an avid pickleball player.
He was paired up with Ana Leigh Waters who is 18 years old and the best female player in the world and has been for a few years. The idea was this was a great way to bring more visibility to pickleball, having a great tennis player brought into the pickleball spotlight. I think it is.
They had their first two matches yesterday. They won the first match but it was not easy. They were eliminated in the round of 16, losing 2 games to 1. It was obvious that the opposing teams were trying to target Andre. Despite his pro tennis player status, pickleball does have some significant differences. Andre being 55 doesn’t help either, by the end of the match he was soaked from head to toe and just looked tired. Another former tennis star Ivan Lendl is also playing in the tournament albeit not at the pro level.
It would have been great if Andre could have gone deeper in the Open but hopefully it accomplished the goal of growing a sport that already is accelerating at incredible speeds. There is talk of pickleball even showing up in the Olympics sooner rather than later, who could have imagined that?
Since I have not played pickleball all week I think I might try to play sand volleyball for the first time in at least 6 months tonight. Although my right side IT band related problems are not gone, they are definitely better. I am anticipating a rough go of it as my volleyball muscles, skills and reflexes probably all have a solid layer of rust on them. My main goal is to see how my body holds up, hopefully getting out of the two hour session without major impact.
