All posts by Duf

So last week I pushed my body that has been trying to recover from what appears to be chronic IT band pain. I played pickleball, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with a session of sand volleyball thrown in Thursday evening. This was more or less the athletic schedule I was maintaining before I got hurt.

I got through the four days with out limping afterward but I could tell I was pushing it. I felt some dull pain in the hip that seemed to fade away pretty quickly. I know my body is going to have to go through some discomfort to become acclimated to my asking it to do this once again. I can deal with discomfort, I just need to avoid injury. It’s a thin line to travel at this age.

I have ridden my brand new Kingsong F22 Pro surprisingly little since receiving it a few weeks ago. Yes I have been busy with other things but one of the big reasons behind it is the wheel is painful for me to ride because of the dihedral angle of the pedals. In the picture you can see just how steep that angle is. With the way my body geometry is, having my feet at that angle gets very uncomfortable, very quickly. I’m not sure what my long term resolution is going to be to this issue.

I keep finding myself looking at Silverado EV content. On the FB group dedicated to owners of the truck I keep reading positive feedback that keeps feeding that itch to swap out my current vehicle tandem for one of these long range electric trucks.

One of the cool features that the truck offers is a pass through from the bed to the passenger compartment. In the picture shown there are full 8 foot long pieces of plywood in there. They can fit without the bed cover or tailgate being opened. Of course this cool feature is only available on the higher end versions of the truck. I know the sensible thing for me to do is just stand pat and be content with the vehicle arrangement I currently have. I will do my best to remain sensible.

Last night I played volleyball for the second week in a row. Last week I played no pickleball during the week because of the US Open. This week I played on Wednesday so it’s the first time I have put the two activities back to back in a long time. To add to the fun I did lower body weight training at the gym at lunch on Thursday.

It was warm and humid last night. My volleyball stamina is going to take some time to rebuild. After four games my legs felt dead. I once again played ok but still felt woefully lame trying to jump out of sand. My highlight play of the night was a ball that I dove for, stretched out my one arm and punched it back into the air with the back of my hand. It’s been quite awhile since I pulled that sort of move off.

I managed to escape the session once again without limping but my body felt very beat up, more so than the week before which I guess is to be expected. I’m going to find out just how resilient I am at this point as I am supposed to play pickleball once again today at lunch.

I have had the idea floating around in my head of consolidating my two vehicle fleet down to one for a little while. That idea is trading/selling my Tacoma and Model Y and sliding into a Chevy Silverado EV, a vehicle that is best of both worlds. Unlike the Cybertruck, these trucks can do any and all truck duties I would ask of it. I have looked at their pricing both new and used and I could do it except for one issue, the dramatic dip of value in the used Tesla market.

When I had Carvana give me a number on my one year old MYP with only 6000 miles on it I swallowed hard, it was around 10K less than I was expecting. We are a long ways out from the glory days of Tesla when I sold my original RWD Model Y to Vroom for more than I paid for it new. Maybe moves like that is one of the reasons Vroom is now out of business. 🙂

The idea of only maintaining one vehicle is appealing along with only paying one insurance premium. I love my Tacoma and sort of like hedging my EV bets by still having an ICE vehicle in my possession but the reality is I would probably be just fine with a long range EV pickup truck instead. The GMC/Chevy EVs have range that far exceeds my Tesla, 400 miles plus. However the only way I would entertain this option is if I can do so keeping my payment roughly around what it currently is. Being upside down on the Tesla makes that very difficult to do.

This weekend is Mother’s Day. Even though my mom has been gone for over a decade I still think about her regularly. I hope that she would be proud of the road I have traveled with anticipation for what is yet to come.

Last night for some reason I decided to turn on my Nintendo Switch. I bought it when I still lived at my old house. Since moving it has sat in it’s charging dock behind the TV in my bedroom, hidden from view. Perhaps that is why I have not turned it on since moving, yes a period of over two years…

I was sort of curious if it still worked, it did. After connecting it to my wi-fi network and downloading the latest system update I was up and running. I looked at the games I had loaded on the device and didn’t really feel like playing any of them so instead I downloaded a tower defense game that I have played with my nephew on my PC before. I have always been a fan of tower defense format. I chilled out and played a full round on easy mode as I acclimated to the controls. It was a lot of fun. I predict it will not be two years until I turn on the Switch again.

My Switch session was just part of an evening where I just felt good. I was thinking about how I got to the point where I am at and the irony that my moving, which is key to the change, was initially motivated by the relationship I was in with what turns out to be one of the most toxic women I have ever known. Yet as bad as that entire mess was, I am where I am as a result of it, ironic.

For a good portion of the last two years my personal relationships were a tumultuous sea, never bringing me a feeling of peace that I was hoping for. I now am in a relationship that feels real where I am appreciated, respected, and valued. For the last 6 months I also have been dealing with chronic pain in my hip/knee that greatly limited my ability to do what I enjoy doing. Finally that appears to be on the mend in an appreciable way. As I sat out on my lanai last night watching the sun fade from the sky as I drank a Cayman Jack I thought to myself that maybe, just maybe, I finally have reached the sweet spot that I have worked my entire life to reach.

Yesterday I again came back into the office to have a vendor try to install a new circuit. You may recall this happened as well last week where they were unsuccessful. This time a new switch was brought that was supposedly pre-configured. The tech should have been able to just connect the new switch and everything works. Of course that didn’t happen. I instead got to stand/sit around for an hour and a half while the guy was on the phone with a network tech.

It was very clear to me that they had no clue what was going on when the tech was instructed to clean the fiber connection and reseat the SFP module multiple times. As time elapsed my patience was eroding quickly. They assured me this was the fix, they were wrong.

The on site tech was Haitian with a pretty thick accent, it was tough for me to get a clear description of the issue. Once he raised the white flag and left I sent an email to our contact with the company expressing my dissatisfaction with the way things have been going in no uncertain terms. I requested that another tech is not sent out after hours until they are certain the issue is identified and corrected. I am normally easy going and patient in the vast majority of situations however when people waste my time due to poor planning on their part my irritation meter can move pretty quickly.

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.

Here are the videos I posted regarding the F22.

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.

Last night I had to come back to the office to meet a vendor to install a new internet circuit. Things did not go well and they were unable to complete the work because of some poor planning, from what I could ascertain. I brought Elsa with as she loves going to the office. She gave the installer a thorough sniff down. Elsa was also involved in a funny incident when I got home.

I normally take her for her walk as soon as I walk in the door. At the end of the walk when we are right across the street from my house I will let her off the leash so she can run back into the garage which I did once again last night. Well there was an Amazon truck out front making a delivery. At that time it seemed like the driver was still in the back of the truck. So the guy, a young Haitian kid emerges from the van as Elsa is in the garage. Elsa sees the guy and turns around and barks once. An instant look of fear flashes onto his face and he RUNS back to his truck. I assured him she is harmless and I tell her to go inside. I can only assume he has had too many run ins with dogs whose bite is as bad as their bark.

The other day a friend of mine sent me a link regarding the launch of another electric car company, Slate. Well to be accurate it’s an electric TRUCK company. Slate is taking a very different approach to building a vehicle. Instead of ballooning costs by including all sorts of tech and features into their truck they make ONE model and then offer a TON of ways you can tweak it as desired. All of the pictures you see are the same truck just with different accessories added.

It’s base form is a two door pickup truck but you can actually convert it to a 5 person small SUV if that better suits your needs. The best part is if you are somewhat handy you can do all of these things yourself. The truck is designed to be user maintained which is almost non-existent nowadays. This concept is cool of course but the most attention getting thing is the potential price. If federal EV incentives remain in place the cost of the vehicle would be just under $20,000, an absolute bargain in today’s market where the average new vehicle price is 50K.

The truck is intentionally no frills, manual roll up windows are standard equipment. But all the basics you need are there and you can dress it up right up front or down the road if you want to. I LOVE the concept. However I have been down this road before. You may recall I was an early Elio supporter, plunking down $100 to reserve one over a decade ago. That was a three wheeled vehicle that looked like a great commuter at the time. That company lead people on for years and never came to market despite repeated promises to be right around the corner.

I also plunked down a deposit on the Cybertruck when it was first announced. At the time I was caught up in the excitement, ignoring the reality that it’s design made a lot of basic truck things inconvenient. When it finally came to market 62% higher than it’s initial projected price I had no problem saying no thanks.

The Slate is projected to begin production 4th quarter 2026. As good as it looks I know the reality is launching a new vehicle company is extremely difficult and there is a good chance it could fail. Despite this knowledge I plunked down a $50 deposit to put myself in line, a small price to roll the dice IMO. I am pulling for Slate to come to reality, I like their middle finger approach to conventional auto makers that love to inflate prices any way they can. During the Slate presentation they said since 2000 the average price of new cars has doubled. It would be nice to be able to step back in time and get a new electric truck with pricing from 25 years ago. We will see.

The Last of Us is a show on HBO Max that is based on a popular video game that I never played. It recently started season 2 and is sort of a Walking Dead kind of vibe but when that show was actually still good. Of course I can’t spoil it but what happened in episode two was unexpected and shocking. I said “oh my god” out loud more than once. If you liked Walking Dead you should be watching this show.

One aspect of life is how people can cycle through it. Someone who was once a stranger can become a friend or even a romantic partner yet eventually they can find themselves moved out of your circle of importance or value due to circumstances beyond control, actions either by yourself or them, or just apathy. Depending on the relationship you have with these individuals their coming/going may or may not have a significant impact on your life. I have had it both ways, many times.

When you cycle someone out of your life it’s of course best to harvest the good aspects of that relationship as opposed to feeding on the negatives. Even with some of the most chaotic and toxic situations I had over the years with other humans there was always good that could be found and remembered. Although if I am being honest the negatives are often the most impactful, best teachers and long lasting on my memories. Every situation is different but they all give us the same opportunity to learn from them, hopefully taking knowledge forward that will help us make better decisions as we build up that cumulative trait of wisdom that only comes from such experiences.

If someone is bringing nothing positive to your existence, let them go. Value those that you choose to keep.