A new thing that Dunkin Donuts and some other chains that use drive thru’s are doing is automatically playing a recording when you pull up. The recordings ask a question typically. In DD’s case it asks if you are going to be using their rewards app. For whatever reason I find this practice very annoying. Of course I never reply to the recorded question but I do find myself wondering just how many do.
Yep, that’s all I got for you at the moment.
Yesterday I had my dryer vent cleaned. Clay, a friend of mine who is an avid One Wheeler also owns a vent cleaning business so I asked him to do the work since I had no idea when this important maintenance item was last done, if ever. He pulled out a massive vacuum that is designed for this type of work as well as a holster filled with various brushes and extensions.
I let him get busy but then came back into the garage later in the process. What I saw was pretty nasty, a pile of lint and debris on the floor that could almost fill half of a wash basket, it was bad. Clay said it was a good thing that I had it cleaned, it was dangerously filled. Not only do vents like this create a potential fire hazard, it also makes your dryer work much harder to dry clothes, consuming more electricity.
Clay asked if I used fabric softener after looking at the filter in the dryer. I told him I threw in a Bounce dryer sheet with every load. He advised me not to do that for two reasons. First the softener dissolves and accumulates on the dryer filter, clogging it over time. Second he said fabric softener has known carcinogens which are very bad, well damn. I am going to start drying my clothes without bounce and see if I notice an appreciable difference. Imagine the lunacy of coating your clothing with chemicals and then having that clothing sitting on your skin. I also found out the laundry scent balls which I have used for a number of years are filled with similar chemicals.
So I was standing out in the garage with Clay talking for maybe 15 minutes. Although I was just standing there by the end of those 15 minutes I was soaked with sweat. The heat and humidity is that oppressive. I wound up putting on a new shirt before returning to the office, it was that bad.
Last night I returned to volleyball after missing last week. Based on sweating through my shirt standing in the garage earlier in the day I knew it was going to be rough playing in those conditions. I was instantly covered in sweat and sand after a couple dives. Overall I played pretty well including a couple clean hits I would have been ok with 15 years ago.
When I got home the sky looked like it was on fire. I took this picture from the street when I got home. I like my new location, a lot.
Yesterday I went to go see Openheimer. Christine I had said she wanted to see the movie and yesterday was her birthday as well so I invited her to go. We took her new vehicle a 2022 Dodge Challenger RT. She let me drive. Getting behind the wheel of a muscle car with stick shift was pretty awesome, transporting me back to how I used to feel when I drove my 2005 Chevy SSR. It just sounds and feels so good.
The movie is about the origin of the atomic bombs that were used to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, more specifically the man that ran the program. It was interesting but far, far too long in my opinion, topping out at over 3 hours. I would have a hard time convincing anyone to spend that sort of the time in the theater for this type of movie. I’d give it a B.
I’m back to work today, armed with a different outlook on certain situations. Let’s see where it gets me.
On Friday night I became motivated to install my new Gleam toilet. I had watched a few videos about the install and determined it should not be all that difficult, it wasn’t. As always I had a few bumps along the way but got the install completed in a little less than two and a half hours which included me running to Home Depot to get a longer water line hose. The new toilet looks nice, is higher, and flushes well.
Of course like most significant home improvement projects I made a video documenting the process.
My Saturday was pretty chill. I made arrangements for Ali and Shugs to come down during the afternoon. They had never had a chance to see my new place. We had a nice time chilling, drinking and watching the original Karate Kid movie which Ali never saw. Afterwards we went to dinner at Carrabbas and enjoyed a nice meal. It was nice to have them visit, Elsa sat next to Shugs most of the time.
On Sunday I took my Patton out for a speed test. I got it over the 40MPH mark but encountered warning beeps afterward which made me cut back. I thought I was at 100% battery for the test but it turned out I wasnt so that could have been part of the issue.
I did some chilling afterwards, watching another couple episodes of Game of Thrones.
Today I met up with Jason the guy I helped with learning to ride about a month ago. He gave me back my V10F that I let him borrow while he was in the stage of learning where you drop the wheel a lot. He has done close to 350 miles since I last saw him and he is riding much, much better. In total we did somewhere close to a 10 mile ride. At the end of it I even let him try my Kingsong S22, a much heavier and powerful wheel than the V10F. He handled it better than I expected, riding it cleanly around the lot for several minutes. He is down to ride whenever I want so I expect us to roll together more in the future.
Yesterday during the day I got notice of a delivery of something I ordered in email. The email included a picture of the box but it was not in front of anything that looked like my house. My first thought was UPS somehow messed up so I jumped into the order status page and realized the fault was not theirs. The address it shipped to was my old address, f me.
This was the first time I ordered from this place. Evidently my LastPass browser plug in filled in my old address and I was not paying enough attention to catch it. I was frustrated with myself. I contacted the new owners of my place and told them of my mistake. They said no problem and that they would leave the box out front for me to grab.
So as soon as I got home after getting a haircut I fed Elsa and we hopped in the truck and took the now what seems long drive out to the Estates. I did not want to bother them so I ran up to front door and just grabbed the box. It’s the first time I have stepped foot onto my old property since I moved. It felt strange which I guess is normal.
On the way home I stopped at Home Depot to grab a toilet, yes a toilet. The guest bathroom which was remodeled sports a more modern toilet. Part of the appeal is this toilet is “chair height” which is more comfortable to get on and off of. Now I am not at a geriatric state quite yet but I have found that I do like this. The master bathroom has the original toilet which is around two inches lower.
Anyway, I decided I would like the master bathroom to have a toilet equal if not better to what is in the guest bath. The toilet I bought, a Kohler Gleam has the raised height as well as an upgraded canister flush mechanism and smooth sides which eliminate the typical bolts that get covered with plastic caps. It looks cleaner and is easier to clean.
The box was a little over 100 pounds so it was a bit of challenge to hoist into and out of the truck but I managed. Years ago I removed and reinstalled toilets when I tiled the two bathrooms at my old house. From what I recall it is not an overly complicated or difficult task.
So once home I still had to figure out what to do for dinner and then fold a ton of laundry. I didn’t get into the shower until close till 10 and wound up not falling asleep until after midnight. I’m a bit slow today but I’ll survive.
So it looks like the highlight of my weekend will be the toilet install. I will backfill from there.
I played pickleball at lunch on Monday and then cleaned up to head towards Orlando for a work conference. The drive up to Orlando is always long and I-4 is always the wildcard in terms of just how congested it is. There is always stopped traffic, it’s just a matter of how much. I made decent time getting up there without charging and arrived around 5PM, an hour before the registration shut down.
This was at a new venue for me, the Hyatt Regency. It’s a huge and very luxurious hotel very close to the Disney parks. I immediately noticed the large parrot named Merlot they had sitting unrestrained in the middle of the atrium, it was very cool. My room was on the 5th floor and was very clean, modern and well appointed. I was pleased with my accommodations.
They had a reception dinner where I sat with 5 of my co-workers who were also attending. The event had an open bar which I took advantage of, making 4 or 5 refill trips during the night. Alcohol always aids me in social interactions after all.
The schedule for the two days was very casual. Breakfast was from 8-9, you had a couple of sessions in the morning with a generous 30 minute break thrown in. When lunch rolled around at noon I wasn’t even hungry because of the big breakfast. During Tuesday afternoon there was one time slot that had nothing that really interested me so I decided to use that time to run down to the hotel gym.
The gym was very well equipped which didn’t surprise me. I got a good hour workout in before I headed back up to the room to change back into my work clothes for my last session of the day.
To get to the gym you walked past a beautiful and massive pool area. The hotel had a TON of amenities available to their guests. Part of me wished I was in a situation where I could have enjoyed them conventionally, with someone. I instead returned to the conference, name badge in place.
It just so happened that my brother Todd was down in Orlando this week with his fiance and her daughter. I made arrangements to meet up with them for dinner. Todd suggested Carrabas since he knew that was a place I used to really like years ago (it’s only so so nowadays) It was the first time I saw Todd since Thanksgiving.
I got the lowdown on how their week had gone so far. I heard expected horror stories of long waits in lines in oppressive heat which is a given this time of year. Todd had his hip replaced a few months back so I got an update on that as well. I filled them in on the latest and greatest in my life as well which has been anything but boring. After dinner I told them they were welcome to drive down to see my new place and hang out for a day while they are here. I’m not sure if they will take me up on the invite. I once again drank a number of beers during the meet up, a theme for the trip evidently.
After dinner I was determined to ride my One Wheel even though it was after 9PM. After parking the car I slapped on wrist guards and my helmet and took off for maybe a 20 minute ride around the beautiful grounds surrounding the hotel. I was glad to at least get to ride a little during the rather hectic couple days.
On Wednesday I was at the conference until almost 4PM. Technically it runs through this morning but nothing else on the schedule pertained to me so I preferred to get back home. The drive back hit more traffic and was on the tedious side. I also was walking the battery high wire as I did not have the car at as full of a charge state before leaving Orlando. I got back with 9% in the tank.
On the way home I grabbed Elsa from Ali’s place. It’s always conflicting for Elsa as of course she is excited to see me but she also loves hanging with Ali and Shugs so much. On the drive home a storm broke out which sent Elsa into a panic. As I was driving I quickly threw the blanket over her in the back to make her feel safer. She hates rain.
I rolled into my driveway a little after 8PM. I buzzed around the home taking care of the number of tasks to be completed, crashing into bed closer to 10. It was a good trip where I used some of the downtime to think and reflect about what comes next.
I have really come to enjoy subs from Wawa since I have moved. There is a location less than a mile from my house. I always get the same thing, tuna sub on wheat. I love that the entire process is automated. You order from a kiosk, you pay from a self service cashier with your phone and the sandwich is ready in a couple minutes.
I also enjoy riding one of my PEVs to get a sandwich, just for fun. Last night I took the Patton to grab a 6 incher. The tuna hoagie and Cayman Jack was my meal for the night. I see this pattern repeating more often in my future.
If I have learned anything about life is it never goes the direction you assume it will go. Best case scenario is you wobble back and forth trying to loosely hold on to your intended direction, sort of like a bowling ball on bumper equipped lanes. Ideally you stay out of the gutter and at least knock down a sizeable amount of your designated pins. I have been doing a lot of bumping back and forth this year. It’s been mentally and emotionally taxing without a doubt but I am hoping the second half of 2023 has less impacts with the walls.
This weekend’s activities are unsure other than needing to drop off Elsa at Ali’s Sunday. I will be leaving Monday for a brief 3 day conference so I need all my ducks in a row.
Last night I met up with Christine to go ride. The skies looked menacing but the roads were mostly dry. Christine suggested we ride towards the beach since the weather looked better that way.
We went a different way this time. Thanks to the time I road downtown with Clay I knew about a pedestrian tunnel that goes underneath Tamiami Trail. By using this tunnel we were able to get to the beach without having to cross any major roadways which is awesome.
We rode to the beach via 8th Ave South. I don’t think I ever had been to the end of this street. The area by the beach seemed like it might have been redone after Hurricane Ian. There was some pristine looking grass and new benches to chill on, which we did for several minutes. The unsettled clouds out over the water made for a cool vista.
Realizing we can get down the water this way was a great addition to the possible routes we can now traverse on the One Wheels. There are many, many more out there.
Yesterday I met up with Dan again to finalize the contract to get the hurricane protection installed on my house. I had a pleasant surprise where the total was about $800 less than I anticipated because I interpreted the numbers he gave me incorrectly. Dan said in about 3 weeks they should be out to measure and the installation should occur in 12-14 weeks. I am crossing my fingers we can avoid any significant storm activity prior to my install. Dan leaves Friday for his three week road trip with his wife, he told me to wish him luck.
Last night I played volleyball for the first time in at least 3 weeks. I played ok but did not even try to hit a ball hard. I just did not feel like I had any ability to get out of the sand, a by product of the layoff I am sure. My energy level just felt on the low side, perhaps because I played pickleball at lunch in the choking humidity.
When I got home from playing I saw this beautiful looking sky. I took a minute to observe and capture it, reminding myself how lucky I am.
Yesterday I had an appointment for someone to give me an estimate on hurricane protection for my windows/doors. The salesman was named Dan. I could tell from the phone call he was an older gentleman. I didn’t realize how much older.
I met Dan at the house. He commented on my Tesla and how he heard it making noise. I tried to explain why that was but he said he didn’t understand how these things work (electric cars). Through our conversation I found out he was 76 years old and he had been married for 50 years. He told me how he was leaving for vacation on Friday with his wife. It will be 100 hours in a car overall and he wasn’t thrilled about it, but she wanted to do it this way.
The entire experience was conversational and casual. In the prior estimates I had told the companies that I just wanted to do the windows but Dan and I talked about protection for both the front door and the massive rear sliders. After taking measurements we sat down inside where he told me stories about his youth as he calculated the numbers by hand using only a calculator and paper. Despite my immersion in technology there is a part of me that likes old school, hence why I still have a budget book that I fill in by hand every week.
He broke the job down into three sections, the windows, the rear lanai and the front door. For the lanai he suggested that instead of trying to cover the two sliders that we instead install large accordion style protection on the inside of the screens. When needed you simply pull them shut and the entire lanai would be protected. It’s a slick but also expensive option. With the front door he gave me pricing on installing panels and also a roll down style which again is more expensive but more complete and easy to deploy.
The bottom line price to do everything was way more than I was planning to pay originally but I never seriously considered protecting the lanai area to this extent. I told Dan I needed to run through some numbers to see if I can make it work. During the day I mulled it over. I plan to stay at this house long term so it seemed like a solid investment and yet another thing that increases the value of the home as well as potentially decreasing my home owners insurance. But another factor was I just liked Dan. I appreciated someone his age out there still plugging away. I called him later and told him I wanted to move forward with the project. I will meet up with him later today to sign the paperwork.
This was the last significant improvement I had targeted for the house when I moved in. Once it is in the rear view mirror it will be time to recast my mortgage to apply the equity from the sale of my old house to the new mortgage. After that it’s time to buckle down on my financial discipline that has clearly been very fast and loose the last several months.