All posts by Duf

Yesterday I played pickelball at lunch with Kerri and the gang.  I was not sure how effective I would be after playing nearly three hours the night before.  The answer was not very effective.  We also played outside of the covered courts for the first time in a couple months which upped the sweat output considerably.  My play lately frustrates me.  I have these sporadic shining moments where I make some nice shots in difficult situations but then I have an equal if not greater amount of times where I make stupid unforced errors that frustrate the f out of me.

For some reason I got to thinking about the other sports that were a major focus of my life for many years, baseball and volleyball.  I then thought about the moments in these sports that I cherished, the moments in those sports that I loved.  I was a pitcher who threw hard.  When I felt “on” it was an amazing feeling.  I loved the one on one challenge of pitcher versus hitter.  Firing a fastball and having it crack into the catchers glove as the hitter swings and misses was a rush that I could not get enough of.  I was a decent hitter as well.  Swinging through a ball so cleanly that you don’t even feel it hit the bat was another magic moment, my favorite of which was when I hit a ball into the creek beyond the outfield as a 15 year old.

With volleyball there were a number of things that would get my adrenaline going.  Before the regulation size of courts was shortened I used to hit an aggressive serve that almost moved like a slider in baseball, down and over.  Having that hard serve shanked by the opposing team was always a shining moment.  Although I was only average defensively, when I did get up a hard driven ball or run down another to turn it into a side out, that was rewarding as well.  However the best feelings were always tied to hitting.  I loved hitting the ball hard.  I liked playing on sand for joint reasons but nothing for me beat playing doubles on grass where I could jump better and hit consistently.  The sounds of impact of the ball with your hand followed milliseconds later with the sound of the ball impacting the ground was amazing. Having a blocker up and hitting such a hard angle that went either over or through him just made me feel unstoppable, at times.

So that brings me to pickleball, what moments in this game that is seen by much of the outside world as something for old farts, light me up? I think they are actually pretty similar to volleyball, although I don’t yet have the nearly the confidence in my play in this sport that I had in volleyball or baseball.  Many times I am hitting with a more defensive, “just keep it in” mentality instead of an aggressive approach which keeps other players on their heels.  However when I do allow myself to swing more freely on a serve or ground stroke that definitely feels good.  The short game at the kitchen can get intense as short lobs turn into high speed back and forth action which tests your reflexes and coordination.  When I come out on top of one of those exchanges it is satisfying.

The best thing for me, although it happens infrequently, is being able to get a hard overhand smash where the outcome is almost always favorable.  To clarify, a high overhand smash with my LEFT hand.  Pickleball is an oddball compared to the other sports I mentioned where I play primarily with my right hand.  Baseball and volleyball I play lefty as most other things EXCEPT paddle/racquet sports.  The reason for this is when I was young my mom signed me up for tennis lessons.  The instructor forced me to play right handed because somehow playing left handed was a negative, I guess.  Ever since I was some weird partially ambidextrous mutant in sports.  I also kick right footed, go figure. So anyway, I have way more snap and power in my left hand but if I try to do regular shots left handed the results are very unpredictable.  But when it comes to an overhand smash, the left handed variety is my favorite.

So all that being said, despite my best efforts yesterday I lost every game I participated in at lunch.  In the last doubles match I lost to Kerri which she reminded me of, repeatedly, the rest of the day.  Although I have always not liked losing, in her case it also means that she is getting better and better which is a net positive outcome.

I feel like I am getting into the crunch period of the holidays, so much so that I think I am going to need to crank out a list to make sure I stay on point.  This feeling comes every holiday season and I always emerge cleanly out the other side so I don’t expect this year to be a different outcome, hopefully. I think the feeling of compression is amplified by my LA trip which is going down right when I would normally be crossing my T’s and dotting my I’s for Christmas.

Last night I flew out of the house after feeding Elsa to meet up with Kerri and her volleyball crew to play some pickleball.  I like her friends and get along with all of them.  We played a a TON of games with a near equal split of doubles and singles matches for me. Despite the gang being relatively new to pickleball, they are all natural athletes so they are very good for the amount of time they have been playing.  I wound up the session playing three singles matches against Jake, who I vibe with well.  He also has expressed interest on getting on my OneWheel which I think would be a ton of fun.

Anyway, by this time I had played a ton of games and my body was just running on empty.  I didn’t eat dinner and had fueled myself with only a few sips of water during the night.  My knees were burned out from all the stop and go that pickleball, especially the singles variety requires of your body, but my mind wanted to keep going, so I did.  When we finally finished up I was beat.  As a bonus my nose was running like a faucet for the last hour or so of play, something I have been dealing with for around a week.

We wrapped up play and said our goodbyes to her friends.  Kerri had not eaten anything either but it was approaching 9:30 so our eating options were limited.  She suggested going to IHOP, a place I probably last visited when I still lived in PA 25 years ago.  Sure, why not?  We split an omelette and pancakes which tasted great, regardless of what the clock said.  It was a unique Tuesday night experience for me.  Does it sound strange to say that unique experiences are getting more routine for me?

Yesterday my tree skirt arrived.  Kerri had helped me pick out both the tree topper and the skirt.  They have some coordinating elements that I think look good together, something she pointed out that would have flown over my head.  I like the 2022 edition of my tree.

Last night I spent a couple hours editing two videos. The first one was from a very quick ride Sunday where I talked about what I have been doing and why I have not been posting many videos recently.  Hint, Kerri’s name comes up there as well.  I also got around to posting the footage from the return trip to PA which had nothing earth shattering in it, just a documentation of what happens to a human being after hours and hours on the road.

After finishing up the editing I thought I would dive back in to working on the S22 since I had the replacement tubes in hand.  I had a modest goal to just get the new tire/tube installed since that was such a struggle previously.  I took a different strategy, trying to start mounting the tire near the valve stem and then finishing on the opposite side to hopefully minimize opportunities to damage the tube.  I entered the task with a positive attitude and high hopes.  Many times if I struggle with something if I step away from it and come back later I get better results.  This was not one of those times.

Once again the tire was a ridiculously tight fit.  I tried using my body weight and hand torque to muscle it onto the rim but I just couldn’t.  Instead I had to again pull out the 9 inch tire levers and even with those it was a tremendous struggle.  I would prefer to avoid using these as they have the potential for mass inner tube destruction.  In total I bet I was fighting with the damn thing for close to an hour.  My reward for this struggle was the tube again not holding air, because I tore it……again.

My frustration level was very high as you can imagine.  I have done at least a half dozen tire/tube changes on EUCs, never has one been this difficult.  I ripped the old tube out, after fighting to unseat the tire, again.  I have one more tube left, it’s do or die time.  I need to give myself a little mental break before attempting this again.  My hands are sore from all the cranking on the stiff tire.  I will make sure the next attempt will include use of dish soap on the tire/rim to make things as slippery as possible.  I probably should have lubed from the start, lesson learned.

I had a unique weekend which was loaded up with random, great experiences.  It started out immediately on Friday after work.  I met Kerri at Blue Martini over at Mercato for happy hour.  Blue Martini was the rage when it opened years ago but I never stepped foot inside the place.  I also do not think I ever had a martini before in my life.  I ordered the same variety as Kerri did, strawberry/basil and was surprised how much I liked it.  We sat in the corner of the bar area where we were surrounded primarily by people that have been collecting social security for years.  After we left we walked around to a few more stores. We were both a little relaxed from the drinks which made even doing something as mundane as walking around Whole Foods, fun.

I had to go home to let out and feed Elsa however I headed back out afterwards to meet Kerri and some of the people she plays VB with at Rusty’s, a place I had been to once before.  I had dinner there and had a good time talking to some of the VB crew.  I had a couple more drinks there but weirdly did not feel very affected by the time I left.  I am hoping to do some VB drilling with Kerri to see if my body can hold up to sand volleyball at this point first, and then hopefully regain at least some of my former abilities to move/jump in the sand.  It will be a slow process.

Kerri originally had some plans for Saturday but they were postponed so we wound up spending the majority of the day together.  We stopped at the grocery store to stock up on baking supplies, she needed to bake cookies for her office.  She went above and beyond making a second huge box of cookies for me to share at my office which I thought was very sweet.  While she was inside baking I hopped on the tractor and got the grass mowed which had not been touched since prior to me going to PA.  Later we even got some pickleball games in at the poorly lit courts at the park by the house. There were some kids playing tennis on the dimly courts at the same time.  It seemed every other point someone was complaining that they couldn’t see.  There were too many comments to even count. It made me laugh.  Saturday was a full and enjoyable day.

On Sunday Kerri was shopping with a friend.  During the trip she grabbed me a pair of shoes, a good pair of shoes which I really like. I hope to lean on her sense of style to help me update my very mundane wardrobe.  While she was out I buzzed around the house getting some tasks done, a lot of it cleaning related, which like the grass, was overdue.  I also got a quick EUC ride in where I talked about not having much time to get EUC rides in, sort of ironic.  I still am working on the edit of that video and still have the return trip footage from PA to go through.

Kerri came back to the house later in the afternoon where we made another trip to Publix for only two things this time, tomato soup and havarti cheese.  When she said she was thinking about grilled cheese and soup for dinner I immediately embraced the idea.  It’s a combo I had not had in a long, long time. The rest of our night was very chill yet great, simultaneously.

I am sure at this point most astute blog readers would have read between the lines but just in case, yes, Kerri and I are dating….

Yesterday my latest and greatest pickleball paddle arrived, the Diadem Vice.  I bought another Diadem paddle a couple months ago, the Warrior which is nice.  Kerri has been using that paddle and doing quite well with it.  I ordered the Vice the week or two before I left for PA.  In the meantime I have been using my Ben John’s Joola Hyperion which I also like.  Unfortunately the top right corner has a crack from a brief loss of control awhile back where I may or may not have smashed the paddle into the hard surface in frustration. It still  plays ok as far as I can tell.

The Vice uses a core material and construction that is not yet approved for tournament play.  Supposedly it offers a unique combination of power and control so I am very interested in seeing how it feels when we play today.  Of course I do realize that I am an average pickleball player at best, no paddle is going to dramatically elevate my game. Yet, it is fun trying out different higher end paddles to contrast and compare them, even at a 3.0 level. (only pickleball players will get that)

Last night Kerri again prepared dinner, despite the rumor that she doesn’t cook.  I got to help more this time, cleaning the shrimp before she made shrimp scampi.  She also donated one of her bottles of red wine to the cause which I appreciated.  I am finding that I actually am enjoying drinking red wine, at least with her. It takes less volume to get me feeling warm and relaxed than beer, which is a good thing.  Afterward we chilled and watched the Patriots/Bills game. Kerri is a Patriots fan….. yes, I know. It was a nice way to spend a Thursday evening, we both seem really to enjoy the others company.

I need to get hopping on some Christmas shopping soon.  With me being gone 5 days right before Christmas I feel like I need to have my ducks pretty lined up before I leave on the 17th. It feels like 31 days of December will be gone in a blink of my eye.  I need to pay similar focus to getting some things knocked out around the house this weekend in addition to putting the S22 back together, which is going to be a challenge.  Kerri and I will be hanging out as well.  We seem to be able to have fun in pretty much any environment.  I joked with her that even when we dumped heavy construction debris at the county landfill the other day it had a fun element to it, weird, but true.

Last night I was in one of those modes where I just needed to get shit done, a lot of it.  As soon as I got home I changed and was like a chore buzz saw.  One of the first things I did was get the tractor out.  Duf, isn’t it dark by 5:45 nowadays? Why yes it is.  However all I wanted to mow was the raised area in front of the house because I also wanted to put some exterior Christmas decorations out.  So by headlight I mowed down the roughly 50 x 50 section of yard before I parked the tractor back in the shed.  I then grabbed the crates with outdoor decorations and pulled them out front.

In the past I have gone nuts with outdoor decorations.  I used to do every cabbage palm in the front yard, the fence line, the roof line in addition to a handful of yard inflatables. It would take 2-3 hours to do it all.  This may change, but as of now, all I put out was the LED string tree I bought last year and some of the LED stake decorations along the sidewalk.  I still have not been able to get my tree trimming guy to come back out this year so it makes no sense to do the trees.  I also as of now am not putting the inflatables up but who knows I may get inspired to do so.

So after the speed decorations were done I turned my attention to the Tesla which was cruddy from it’s 2300 mile road trip.  I washed it using the Ring spotlight floodlight as my main source of illumination.  I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed a few spots but the car looks much less cruddy than it did.  The worst part of washing in the dark are the gnats being attracted to the light and the car as an end result and of course, mosquitoes.

Speaking of the Tesla, I added up how much I spent on supercharging for the trip.  It was more than I expected, $276.  It was interesting seeing the difference in rates per KWH, some as high as 44 cents but most were closer to 30 cents.  It also is weird in some states they use this tiered schedule to charge you based on the current amps you pull instead of just a flat and simple formula.  If you had a high efficiency hybrid vehicle you would spend less on gas if you figure $3.50 a gallon than I did charging.  But you also have all the other drawbacks of ICE vehicles too so it doesn’t bother me.  I sure did like when my supercharging number was a steady ZERO for the prior 3 years.

I then headed inside where I had laundry cycling, dinner to eat, and Kerri’s vacuum to check out.  She said it felt like it lost suction so I pulled the filters and cleaned them and looked at the hoses/seals.  The filters have to dry for 24 hours so hopefully once I snap it all back together it sucks again.  Most of the night I continued to multi-task addressing smaller but numerous things that just have been in a holding pattern, it felt good to knock them out.

My most immediate next target is to reassemble the Kingsong S22 that has sat disassembled in my hobby room for going on three weeks as I waited for parts and time to do the work.  I need to set aside probably a good three hours to do so as well as stock up on patience which will surely be tested during the rebuild. Hey 3 is better than 8, most of the time, right?

Yesterday I had the PM done on my AC.  With the smell I noticed after the trip I was curious what the service would turn up.  The tech said my drain line was not flowing well and he attributed it to the smell.  Hopefully that’s all it was but I probably should resume sucking out the drain line myself every couple months, I just fell out of the habit for whatever reason.

As the AC guy was getting close to finishing up Kerri showed up to make us dinner.  We actually had bought the groceries to do so on Monday. She made a pasta primavera dish that turned out really well.  She has told me repeatedly she doesn’t cook but somehow manages to prepare healthy and good tasting meals repeatedly.  We wanted to drink the red wine I had sitting in a cabinet since summer of 2021 but when I went to look for the wine opener I realized I no longer owned one. That happens routinely nowadays, I discover stuff that I used to have in the house is no longer there. I did a quick run to Publix to secure a new opener. The wine was good and hit me equally well.  It lead to funny, quality conversation that I appreciated and enjoyed.  It was an excellent meal overall as well but I can’t say I’m surprised.

I finally got around to posting some of the footage I recorded during the drive to PA.  I need to add chapters as it’s on the longer side but there are some interesting moments in there for sure.

I took off my Apple Watch this morning.  I have complained recently about the dog whistle effect it has on me with it’s constant beeps, rings, vibrations and chimes, offering constant distraction which I don’t think is good for me overall.  So I am leaving it on the table for now and if it returns to my arm it will be with almost all notifications silenced. I need less information, not more in my life.

I guess I haven’t had time to recap anything since my return from PA on Sunday afternoon.  I pulled out of Todd’s place a little before 7AM.  I gave everyone hugs and thanked them for their hospitality.  Of course I also gave big hugs to Oakley and Bailey, my canine niece and nephew. I knew that I was going to push myself to go as long and as far as I could tolerate.  Luckily driving 15 hours plus in a Tesla is pretty enjoyable.  I used a lot of music to keep me going since I had already consumed the podcasts I am subscribed to.  Coffee was consumed three different times during the day as well.  I managed to avoid the DC traffic this time but got stuck in a mess near Richmond that slowed my progress by maybe an hour.

I was eager to get back and my vehicle speed reflected it.  Most the time I had autopilot programmed to maintain 80 miles an hour.  If traffic around me was moving faster than that, so did I.  The first 10 hours or so went ok, the last 5 involved some Jedi mind tricks to keep moving forward.  Kerri gave me a few calls during the day to check in on me and keep me alert, which I appreciated greatly.  My last charging stop for the day was in Brunswick Georgia.  There was a Hilton right near it.  I paid nearly $200 to lay my head on a pillow for around 6 hours which was stupid but I was too tired to care.

I set my alarm for 5:45 and drug myself out of bed.  My body said “what the f are you doing?” but as always, my inner taskmaster won out as I got ready in 15 minutes and was back in the car, skipping the complimentary breakfast because 7AM was just too late for me to wait around.  I crossed into Florida in a little over a half hour and the push was on.  Despite having a great trip I just wanted to get home, ASAP.  The miles flowed pretty quickly.

Just as I did on the trip up, my path took me right past Babcock which was convenient since I had to pick up Elsa.  When I walked in Ali’s place she was unsure for a split second but when she realized it was me she went crazy, dancing around and being adorable.  It was great having her with me for the last hour of my journey home.  I managed to pull into the driveway somewhere around 3:30, a much better day, cutting nearly 8 hours off my Saturday travel time.

As soon as I walked into the house I got hit by a mildew smell which surprised me.  I left the AC at its normal setting for the trip so I didn’t get it.  I immediately jumped into action opening windows, cranking the two air filters in the house and lighting a candle.  The thermostat was set a degree lower than I recall leaving it at so I am not quite sure what the deal was.  Luckily things returned to normal after an hour or so but I do have my AC company coming to do the overdue 6 month maintenance today.

I was like a whirlwind, trying to get things sorted out.  I was darting around the house, at times starting one task, remembering something else I had to do, start that and then jump backward to finish the other task.  It happened 11 or 12 times at least, crazy.  I was rushing because Kerri was coming out to visit which was great.  We talked a lot during my trip but I was of course better to see her in person.

I took Monday off as well.  Whenever I am away I feel like I have a log jam of work around the house that MUST be completed immediately.  Well yesterday I realized that isn’t necessarily the case.  Sure I got some stuff done but I wound up spending a good portion of the day doing things I enjoyed instead of things that were on the long mental list that is always circulating.  Sometimes it feels like 23 out of 24 hours of my day are spent doing, thinking, or planning various aspects of my life.  I am hoping this holiday season is filled with a lot more special moments instead of tasks.  The work will get done but the fun and enjoyable parts of life can’t be sacrificed as a result. I mean washing sheets and making the bed is necessary but not very memorable.

It was a great experience for me to see my friends and family up north.  It reinforced my desire to connect more, generally speaking, in my life.  I am grateful for many, many things and feel fortunate to keep moving away from the dark and dreary days that enveloped this same time period last year.

Today I woke up to rainy weather and an indefinite game plan.  After grabbing DD, I decided I wanted to visit the good old Berkshire Mall and I emphasize old.  It was Black Friday after all.  This mall was a staple of my childhood, it was cool to go to the mall, always.  The biggest draw for me was the kick ass arcade that used to reside on the second floor.  I spent an infinite amount of hours and quarters in that place.

I snapped a picture of the seating around the center court area, unchanged since my earliest memories of them.  I recall sitting there and watching the old fountains dance in front of me, many, many times.

Of course everyone knows that brick and mortar shopping, especially malls are a dinosaur nowadays.  Even with this being the busiest shopping day of the year the place was not jammed.  All of the big stores had closed, leaving only Boscov’s as the lone survivor.  I went in a few stores that interested me and actually bought a couple items but the real deal was just being back in a space that was such a big part of growing up. It was a bit surreal.

I grabbed lunch at another old staple, V&S sandwich shop.  Todd said V&S has gone downhill significantly in recent years.  My tuna sub was quite good and I had no complaints whatsoever.  However at 11:45 AM there were only 4 or 5 customers in the place which was a bit shocking.

The rain had stopped so playing more pickleball immediately jumped into my head.  However my hip was sore from falling on it after crashing on the OneWheel on Thanksgiving and both of my knees had some annoying soreness going on.  Like a true addict I ignored these things.  I stopped at CVS and bought two knee braces, popped some Advil back at the house and headed out. Todd and Mindy were out setting up for some monster craft show all day long so it worked out.

I headed back to West Reading, hopeful to get some games in.  The courts were not as packed as they were on Tuesday afternoon but before long I was able to get in on a game.

I honestly am not sure how many games I played in total but I do know that I played for somewhere around 3 hours.  Early on I was not playing great but as I warmed up my play did too.  I finished off the session winning 4 or 5 games in a row.  It was a ton of fun.

Everyone I played with, except one guy that got a little salty if he thought you made a mistake, was very nice.  The social aspect of pickleball where everyone is able to detach from the madness of the world that surrounds us and just enjoy playing is something that is very endearing to me.

Tonight Todd and I had dinner at the Ranch House ANOTHER staple of my childhood.  I used to love going there to get burgers, fries, and a massive chocolate milkshake.  The reason we chose it was this is where my niece is working so we sat in her section.  There is absolutely nothing notable about this place other than it still has it’s straight out of the 70s feel.  Both Todd and my meal was good and it was fun having Caroline be our server.

Tonight I did some prelim packing for my early departure tomorrow.  My plan is to be up by 6 and on the road by 7 so I can burn through as many miles as humanly possible tomorrow.  It’s going to be grueling but I have mentally prepared myself for the journey.  It’s been a great holiday visit.  I hope to make them a more regular part of my life.

We were supposed to get up to my dad and step mom’s place around 1:30 for our Thanksgiving meal.  The gang at Todd’s house and Mindy’s mom all piled into their tank-sized Q45 for the ride.  The vehicle was stuffed with people, food, and we even found room for my One Wheel.  When we pulled up to their house I was surprised to see my brother Patrick’s car there, I thought he was staying in Pittsburgh with his girlfriend.  It was a treat that he was there.

Shortly after we arrived my sister Meg, Paul and their two little girls arrived.  Yes, the same two little girls I had so much fun with in the Adirondacks in July.  It took very little time for them to start engaging me to play with them.  Of course I was happy to oblige.

The meal was split across two tables since there were so many people.  As is always the case, my step mom did an amazing job preparing the food and laying out everything in a beautiful way.  I sat at the younger table which provided a lot of entertainment, especially from Cadence and Kennedy. Another special part of the meal was my dad and Teresa had actually secured and prepared a Tofurkey for me which they certainly did not need to do.  It was a very thoughtful gesture.

Of course football was on throughout the day which we watched off and on as we entertained the girls.  Eventually we moved outside.  I mentioned I brought my OneWheel but Patrick also brought his Segway S2 EUC that I bought him several years ago.  In addition my dad had a golf cart that the girls like riding around on so a plan was devised.  Todd drove the golf cart with the girls while Patrick and I gave chase on our PEV’s.

Todd had a clear advantage on the grass in a four wheel vehicle.  Patrick and I had to be more careful on the very uneven and slightly frozen ground so we couldn’t keep up.  We could however cut angles and get through small spots that they could not.  The girls loved it.

At one point I thought I would show off for Paul and decided to try to jump the OneWheel from one level of the patio to another, some 8-10 inches lower.  Well I didn’t have enough speed and I hit the edge a bit angled instead of straight.  The end result was my eating shit, falling pretty hard on my right hip and elbow.  Of course I was not wearing the safety gear which I had in the vehicle, stupid.  I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and a thick hoodie when I fell so it helped somewhat.  I did entertain the idea of putting on gear and trying again but I reconsidered.

Everyone started leaving around 6ish. It was great seeing everyone, and made me appreciate the effort Teresa put into making it all happen.  Even though I don’t get to see my family much being thousands of miles away, I do love and miss them.

When we got back to Todd’s place I assisted in the holiday transition process.  Mindy is very stylish and decorates the house accordingly.  I was the pack mule in the process helping to transport items and bins up and down the steps as Thanksgiving decor was replaced with Christmas flavor.  The amount of decorations they have is staggering, making me appreciate that my Christmas decorations all fit in a couple bins in the garage.  I also realized that if Mindy saw how I decorate my house for Christmas with inflatables and various light styles and colors, she would probably cringe.

I slept like a log last night.  Today is my last day before pulling out early tomorrow morning so I will be running around looking for a couple things.  It is Black Friday after all.