Category Anything and Everything

I have had several inquiries from friends and family asking if everything is ok.  The reason for the question is for the better part of the last two decades I would be sharing pictures and comments about whatever my Christmas experience that year contained.  Today, December 27th, I posted Merry Christmas on my Facebook timeline, jokingly of course.  It was the first thing I posted since the 24th, which was actually only a repost of a memory from 6 years prior.  If you are pressed for time, the short answer to this mystery is, I’m busy.  If you would like further explanation, continue reading.

Since returning from California things have been just hectic.  Getting back a couple days before Christmas is less than ideal as any last minute holiday tasks needed to be tended to along with my normal desire to get things back to normal after being away.  I am still working on obtaining the normalcy part.  On Christmas Eve Kerri and I went to her parents place for a nice visit.  Kerri prepared a charcuterie board there.  I helped prep as I could while enjoying some of the wine that was on hand.  Kerri’s son was there as well.  I get along with her family and enjoyed spending Christmas Eve with them.  I got to watch the end of the Eagles/Cowboys game while I was there.  Unfortunately the Birds lost but it was a competitive game, especially considering  Jalen Hurts was out.

I had an equally memorable Christmas with Kerri.  She spoiled me with gifts and I also had a number of things my family had sent me as well. Kerri got me a bunch of badly needed clothing upgrades.  I had previously given her the green light to help me redo my wardrobe which is admittedly out of style, worn and in dire need of refreshing.  She seemed to like the gifts I picked out for her which I was happy to see.  Even though we have only been together a couple months I think we both have absorbed a good sense of one another.

I also have to tell on myself.  We had been so busy that I forgot to buy Elsa gifts.  When I realized this on Christmas Eve I felt horrible.  I wound up wrapping some of her existing toys.  When she opened the first one she seemed excited.  When she got to the next two she seemed less so.  I will make it up to her.

Late morning we went back to Kerri’s parents for a Christmas brunch, again with Cory.  Once again Kerri was the cook making scrambled eggs, sausage, french toast casserole and more.  I pitched in as needed.  I also had a few mimosas that her mom prepared, another drink that I have very rarely indulged in.   The family exchanged presents.  Her mom even bought me a DD gift card which was unnecessary but thoughtful.  Several times during the visit I took a moment to appreciate I was sharing the holiday in a family environment as I thought back to how my holiday was one year prior, which was anything but happy.  It felt good to be relaxed, at peace, and happy.

Originally there were some plans to go to a holiday party that one of Kerri’s friends was having but we wound up instead having a quiet and peaceful time back at the house.  We wound up bringing over Kerri’s dog, Zoe to stay with us.  She almost looks like Sadie did as a younger dog.  She is very sweet and I was confident her and Elsa would be fine, they were.  Elsa was her normal cautious self but Zoe fit right in and seems very happy both in the house and roaming around the property.

The one thing that has not been great about the days around Christmas was the weather.  It was really cold by Florida standards and PA gray for almost three straight days.  There were 2-3 days where the temps barely cleared the 40’s.  Even with those conditions Kerri and I still got out to play pickleball at the local park a couple times.  Yes it was cold but eventually you warmed up with play.  I love that Kerri is so active, she keeps me on my toes. The majority of our Christmas evening was spent under the soft pickleball blanket I bought Kerri for Christmas while we watched a movie. I appreciated every moment of it. I felt content and grateful how my 2022 Christmas turned out.

So I also had off Monday and Tuesday.  A big focus of those days was to help Kerri with whatever she needed in regards to her temporary move.  She seasonally rents her place and has to be out by the end of the week, so there was a lot to do.  In addition I had a woman I know from the running club who is a realtor coming out to the house to talk more about the possibilities of selling it.  Yes, I am that serious about it.  She also was the one that sold Alison’s place.

We walked the grounds so she could get a lay of the land both inside and out.  She recognized some of the unique things the place has like three outside storage buildings, full house solar, whole house reverse osmosis, a new roof, new impact windows and more.  When we went inside and sat down we went over the hardcover material her office prepared for my property.  I was glad that Kerri was there as she has done a number of real estate transactions and had some good feedback that I think was helpful.  The interaction was productive and I was given some tips in regards to how the house would be best prepared to show well to perspective buyers.  The only thing that I had to drag my feet on is timelines.  Originally something was said about having the house ready to list in mid-January.  That instantly hit a mental wall for me.  I don’t like to commit to things that I don’t think I can realistically do. This was not realistic.

The reason it is not realistic was because of the suggestions for prep.  Having the entire interior of the house repainted was a serious suggestion as well as having the east exterior wall painted after patching some spider cracks in the wall that follow the cinder block.  I am open to both of these things but it is far easier said than done as it would require massive effort on my part to make the house ready for paint.  On the plus side Kerri has an awesome source for painting, he is supposed to give us a quote on Thursday.  I would even go as far as having the garage painted.  The realtor said nothing makes a house look more inviting than fresh paint.  Both Kerri and her suggested a lighter paint that will maximize the look of space in the house.

The other big requirement is de-cluttering/de-personalizing the house.  That will be both a physical and mental effort on my part.  This house has 21 years of me in it.  Although I have always done my best to stay mostly organized over the years there is still a tremendous amount of things inside these walls, much of which has to be removed, stored, donated, thrown away or sold.  Of course Kerri would help me do this but I would be lying to myself if I said it will be easy, it most definitely will not.  I have seen this space evolve from a concrete slab to a home I have created so many memories in over the last two decades plus.  Taking it all apart is going to be one of the tougher things I have had to do.

I have to focus on the big picture.  For years and years I have been complaining about how my time is consumed by requirements of the house and the nearly three acres of land it sits on. I have always known there was going to be a time when it was going to finally be right to release myself from the self imposed chains that it puts on me.  This may be happening sooner rather than later but it needs to happen.  I have loved so many things about my life here but I think it’s time to start a new chapter where choices are less restricted and more paths are open. I did not sign the real estate contract yet.  I want to get some time frames for the work and numbers in place before signing anything.  I’m not in a rush to do this but have to be aware that once it goes on the market, I could be rushed.

After the realtor visit much of the last two days were focused on getting Kerri’s place ready to go.  We were working off a shared note to keep us on track as to what we did and have yet to do.  Kerri and I seem to make a pretty good team and knocked a lot of things out in a relatively short period of time.  I go back to work tomorrow for a lighting fast two day work week.  It feels like I have not been at work forever which is because I haven’t.  The last time I set foot in the office was 12 days ago.

That time off has been filled with so many memories starting with the awesome birthday surprise dinner, the California trip where I hung with formerly virtual friends as well as explored with Kerri, and then rolling straight into Christmas and all that it has contained.  As I stated at the beginning of this, my normal routines have been turned upside down recently.  You would think that as a person that usually functions best in defined situations I would find this unsettling.  It is, somewhat.  However to me it is a continuation of what I have been pushing forward with for all of 2022, doing the hard thing, because the power will come and the journey/reward is worth it.

Wow it has been an eventful few days.  Kerri took me out for my birthday Friday night.  She did not tell me where we were going until right before our scheduled reservation time.  The restaurant was called C Level and it was amazing looking.  As soon as you walk in the door you are greeted by soothing blue light and video screens all over the place simulating extravagant fish tanks.  The host greets us, Kerri gives our name and they say oh yes, party of 6, odd…..

So we walk down toward the table and I see Juan, Jeff whom I play pickleball with as well as their wives.  I was in shock as I had no clue Kerri arranged this.  She did very well not letting on, even expertly delaying our arrival when she heard one of them were running late.  I was blown away, in a good way.

This was a high end establishment with fantastic food.  Kerri and I wound up splitting a scallops entre which was delicious as well as having some mixed drinks.  All six of us had a great time eating, drinking and laughing.  Juan insisted we all visit the restroom because of it’s unique aesthetic with more soft blue light, peaceful music and a blue spotlight on both the toilet and the sink.  It was such a nice time.  The fact that Kerri put this all together for me was amazing, and much appreciated…..

Saturday morning we got out by 6AM to make our flight that departed at 8:45. We grabbed coffee on the way where I had a funny interaction with the clerk who called me out for mistakenly ordering a pancake breakfast sandwich. I had made a change to get us seated together on both non-stop flights.  I was happy to be able to get us together.  Unfortunately doing so put us in a row with limited leg room and non-reclining seats.  It wasn’t ideal but better than us sitting apart.  I thought a direct flight was a nice bonus and time saver.  I did not think much about the reality of sitting on a plane for 5 hours plus, which was a loong time to sit there for both Kerri and I.  We rotated between napping, watching American Sniper on my phone and talking to a sweet woman next to us who had just lost her husband recently.  She said they were married just short of 60 years, which is incredible. She lives in Marco but was going to California to stay with her daughter over the holidays.  She gave Kerri and I cute compliments.  I think she thought we have been together longer than reality which was very sweet.

We finally landed, standing up felt amazing after so much time.  After making our way to baggage claim I texted Larry who was picking us up.  It was a tight fit with our luggage and the EUC and accompanying gear.  We had a good drive to Downey with Larry telling us a lot of stories along the way.  Larry and Kerri also talked martial arts as he has taught Kung Fu for years and Kerri is working on her 3rd degree black belt in karate.

We were looking for lunch and stopped at a small Mexican place that only had tacos and they were made out of various cow parts like beef cheek, not a great fit so we got back in the car and headed towards central Downey.  We wound up having lunch at this place called Porto’s.  It was busy, very busy.  They have incredible baked goods and conventional food.  I figured it was good stuff based on how busy it was.  I was right.

All three of us enjoyed our food which included some diverse choices including potato balls.  We also snagged some baked goods for us to enjoy in our AirBnB later.  Even though we were a bit earlier than the official 3PM check in we decided to see if we could get in awhile, which we did.  The woman that owns the listing was there and talked to Kerri exclusively because she realized she spoke spanish fluently.

When I saw the picture of the listing online before booking it looked fine, for me, as originally I was coming solo.  It became quickly apparent it was not ideal.  The room has an odd assortment of furniture scattered about which leaves very little practical usable space for someone that is traveling.  This issue was made worse by the abundance of random things scattered around the space including 4 different bibles, Mickey Mouse dolls, a kettleball, fake plants and more.  It was very clear that this room was a DIY project that had corners cut everywhere.  I feel safe in assuming no permits were pulled in the construction of the space.  One of the things the woman told Kerri was that you weren’t supposed to flush toilet paper in the toilet as it could cause problems. Instead you are supposed to throw paper in some can. Really….. I wasn’t renting in central america where this is common practice.

The great thing about Kerri is she can roll with the punches.  Each silly or poorly executed thing we found was just another thing for us to laugh about, like the heater that popped a breaker ever 3 minutes, the barking dog outside our window, the corner of an uneaten sandwich on the counter, and much, much more.  The bed was comfy at least although it had to double as the main place to put our luggage to go through it since no other practical space existed in the room.

Saturday night we were on our own to explore and explore we did.  We utilized Ubers to get around.  We had dinner at a place called Ola.  They had massive margaritas that Kerri and I both enjoyed.  We also made another pit stop at Portos to grab some of their outstanding baked goods.  The Uber driver experience was very diverse.  We had one outgoing very talkative guy that revealed to us he was currently teaching himself to learn German and Russian at the same time.  He is using just YouTube to  do this which I thought was impressive.  We had one guy that evidently spoke next to zero english although he knew how to say seatbelt, which he wanted us to secure.  His app pointed him to a different address than we requested.  He wanted to let us out in the middle of a residential neighborhood.  We refused and got him steered to the correct address.

Our first night in the Air BnB was “interesting” as we got to admire the half assed efforts that surrounded us throughout the room. The bathroom was the most egregious example but the entire space was kind of a mess.  We also had a barking dog next door that thankfully quieted down before midnight.  The bed was comfortable enough but really there wasn’t much more positive to be said about the arrangements.

Sunday morning I was up early as I was supposed to meet Marty to for our big Mount Baldy ride.  I hopped on the wheel that Larry loaned me and rode to the nearby DD AND Starbucks, they were basically side by side.  When I rolled the wheel into Starbucks and put my Dunkin Donuts coffee on the table so I could place my order I got a number of curious glances.  Riding back to the room was a bit hairy as I had one cup of coffee in each hand meaning I had no way to grab the wheel if I needed to.  Luckily I made it back without launching coffee.

I grabbed all my gear, threw it in a backpack and pushed off for Marty’s which was only roughly a mile away.  It felt weird rolling through neighborhoods that I recognized from Marty’s years of videos.  I pulled up into his driveway and saw he was already loading up the truck for the day.  When I saw him I gave him a handshake/hug combo.  Despite never meeting him in person I felt no awkwardness as our interactions over the years made us both feel comfortable.  He gave me a quick tour of the workshop/garage where I had seen him work on dozens of wheels.

For this ride I was going to use Marty’s Sherman since it has a big battery.  The one thing it does not have is suspension which turned out to be quite a challenge for me during the day.  As we rode to the meetup point Marty and I caught up on the latest and greatest in both of our lives.  When we arrived at Mt Baldy there were a number of other local riders already there.  In total I think our group had 13-14 riders.  Many of these people knew me from my YouTube channel and I knew a handful of them as well.

Marty warned me about how cold it could be at the top of this ride.  As a result I had a bunch of layers on that had me sweating very early, however it did eventually get cold enough that I needed every piece of it.  The first 10-15 minutes of the ascent was fine however then Marty pulled off to tell me we were going to hit a brief trail section so I could experience it.  I definitely experienced it.  There was lots of ruts and washboard areas that were beating the hell out of my lower body.  With no suspension your legs/knees become the shock absorbers, my body simply was not accustomed to this type of abuse. Most of the riders had suspension wheels allowing them to gobble up the off roading with minimal issue.  There were even some riding seated while off road, crazy. By the time we came back onto the main road to ride my legs were already feeling way too spent for being this early in the ride, it only went downhill from there.

On the ride up I was consistently towards the tail end of the pack which is not surprising.  I really didn’t care, my goal was to simply survive the ride.  During the last half hour of climbing the cold really kicked in with icy snow by the sides of the road. My hands were frozen by the top.  My GoPro battery died early thanks to the cold as well so I only really recorded the first half of the ride.  At the top was a ski lodge where the group enjoyed a nice meal along with warmer temperatures.  I sat with Marty most of the time.  Some riders were charging their wheels over lunch just to make sure they had enough juice to continue their high speed descent down the mountain.

The ride down hill was brutal, for me.  My knees were already screaming along with quads that felt burned out.  When you are going downhill on a wheel for long periods of time you are doing nothing but pushing your weight back, using primarily your quads.  It was a shit show.  I now fell far behind most of the riders.  I have never ridden long, steep, extended downhill sections before.  Because of my lack of confidence I tried to keep my speed down.  As I was trying to brake downhill I was consistently experiencing wobbles which can result in a crash if not managed.  The issue was my legs were so tired I just did not feel safe trying to push speed, so I didn’t.  I kept my slow and steady pace all the way down.  The group would stop along the way to allow me to make up distance as needed so it was fine.  I felt badly being the anchor of the group but the last thing I wanted to do was go down hard, on Marty’s wheel no less.

When we finally exited the mountains it was a major relief.  I was wiped out. When we returned to Marty’s truck I tossed my gear on his truck bed and just stood there, trying to stretch a little bit.  Marty was very surprised I felt as beat up as I was as he said he felt next to nothing.  Of course he wasn’t factoring in that he does 100 mile rides routinely.  He has ridden these routes for 5 years or more.  I don’t think any flatlander would have done great in those conditions.  Some of the riders in the group were extremely fast like Roger and Dawn, they flew by me again and again.

When I got back to the AirBnB I was very tired.  Kerri and I were going to the party hosted by Larry that night.  After showering I laid down for at least a few minutes although it did very little to recharge my batteries.  Marty offered to pick us up and drive us to the party which was much appreciated since he was also going.  Larry lives right by LA, his house is in a beautiful area.  When we walked in we were treated to just fully decorated space that really gave you no choice but to get in the holiday spirit.  Kerri and I wasted little time before heading to the wine room, as alcohol is a near necessity for me when it comes to socializing in this type of scenario.

Larry had a company providing fresh tacos for the party, including the fish variety which I appreciated.  For most of the night we hung with the fellow EUC crowd, Marty, Roger, and Dawn primarily.  We also got to talk to Larry some but since he was the host of the party he was pulled a million directions.  Kerri and I found the desert room that had a huge table covered in baked goods.  We took a few small samples back to the table we were hanging at.  Within a few minutes I managed to spill some desert on Kerri’s pants, Kerri’s white pants.  Despite her being totally cool about it I felt terrible.  We tried to clean them up the best we could with napkins and tonic water.  Kerri got along well with Roger and Dawn as all of us chatted through the night.

Originally we were going to head out about 10:30 but I was told we needed to stick around a little for reasons unknown to me. It turns out Larry had a birthday cake for me, even though we were a few days after the event.  It was a unique combination of flavors that I enjoyed.  I even got everyone that was in the local vicinity to sing me happy birthday which was much appreciated.  After we finished our cake Marty, Kerri and I headed out.  I was really appreciative of Larry’s efforts.  He had gone out of his way to accommodate me as much as possible during the trip.

On Monday I woke up feeling extremely sore as expected.  Kerri and I decided to get out and walk to Porto’s, our eating establishment of choice during the trip.  It felt good to move my legs.  Kerri and I planned to go visit her half brother in Ventura on Monday.  The thought was we would go there, stay the night and then come back Tuesday.  Well after two days of Ubering around we realized that our original idea of not renting a car would be a cost savings was just not true.  Our original plan was to Uber to a train station, take a train to Ventura and then Uber again as needed.  This had two big disadvantages, cost and lack of flexibility as there were only two time slots for the train, neither being ideal. So I told Kerri we will just rent a car.  I reserved it Sunday night and we picked it up after breakfast on Monday, a Rav 4.

We went back to the room and headed out to Ventura early afternoon.  I recalled from my trip to Cali 20+ years ago how unfun it was driving in the state due to immense traffic.  The nice part was I got to drive with Kerri who can be very entertaining.  Even being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic is more bearable when she is the co-pilot.  The drive to Ventura took roughly two hours.  Kerri had not seen Tom and Rob for a very long time and was excited.  We pulled up to their beautiful house and got a very warm greeting from both of them as well as their adorable dog Oliver.

After catching up for a bit we made plans for the evening to go to a restaurant downtown that Tom and Rob have enjoyed many times.  Neither Kerri or I had packed a coat, thankfully we were able to borrow a couple as the temperatures had dropped significantly as soon as the sun went down.  We actually sat outdoors for our meal which I thought at first would be problematic but the place had strategically placed heaters around the seating area so none of us were bothered by the temperature.

The food was outstanding, all of us enjoyed our meals while the conversation flowed.  Afterwards we decided to walk the nearby main street.  Most of the establishments were closed at that time but a few were open, one of which we snagged this sweet charcuterie book that Kerri really liked.  We also had a cute picture of us taken in front of the big Christmas tree in the street.  With no space heaters to save us the cold air made our main street tour on the brief side as we fast walked back to the car. We had a great night.

On Tuesday I had even worse second day soreness.  Originally I had ideas of meeting up with Larry to ride during the day but his available time slot and my location being two hours north of LA would have made it logistically difficult to impossible so we instead planned to meet up on Wednesday as part of Marty’s group ride.  After hanging with Rob and Tom for a little while in the morning Kerri and I headed out to grab breakfast at a cozy little place.  Her and I often share meals which is something I never realized that I liked, until her introducing me to it.  After eating we went to a nearby Patagonia store, it seemed like their HQ location.  Kerri likes their clothing so we figured we would check it out while in the vicinity.  They had some nice stuff but we didn’t buy anything.

We then cruised up to Santa Barbara to look around.  It was beautiful but most of the places we thought to check out were not really doing much until evening, we were there around noon.  It was still a beautiful day so we just took some time to walk around and enjoy it before finding the car and heading back south.  Kerri had suggested that maybe we could find a nearby pickleball court to play when we got back.  We found a supposed good one about 6 miles away.  I strapped on my knee braces and took a fresh dose of Advil before heading out.  The courts were in the middle of beautiful park but there was a hitch.  There was no fencing, anywhere.  Instead the three courts were side by side, in the open.

The court itself was nice but the lack of barriers meant you had a lot of interruptions by balls coming from the adjacent courts and you were chasing balls down constantly as they rolled unobstructed for 10-20 yards on many points.  We both had fun playing although we probably put in a couple thousand steps chasing down balls along the way.  We could not play that long because I had a date to go live stream with Marty at his place, something we always thought we be cool but never had the opportunity to do in the more than 6 years we have known each other.

I rode Larry’s Hero over to Marty’s place.  In my backpack I had my laptop and webcam, the basics needed to stream.  I got us up and streaming pretty easily.  Despite the limited notice we had pretty good turnout once word got around that Marty and I were streaming together.  We were on live for almost two hours.  It was easy  streaming with Marty because we had done it before many times, just from other sides of the country.

After the stream was over Marty let me test out a few of the wheels in his collection that I had never ridden before.  The most extreme wheel was the Master Pro with a $4000+ price tag and a battery big enough to easily take you 100 miles or further.  It was a great stream, IMO.

Kerri was waiting for me to eat dinner.  She got creative and went to Trader Joe’s to get us some food and wine that she could prepare dinner in the room, which I appreciated big time.  The shitty microwave oven would pop the circuit breaker every 30 seconds or less but it fit in with the rest of poorly laid out room.  Eventually we wound up sitting down and enjoying a meal that I found totally satisfying.  I loved that she was able to come up with it on the fly.

So just like that it was Wednesday, our last full day in California.  The plan was for me to go ride with Marty and Larry for a good portion of the day while Kerri took the rental car to do whatever she wanted.  I got up early enough that I could run and go get coffee for Kerri and I before I rode the Hero back over to Marty’s.  Marty said the say she take us until maybe 4 or 430 so I used that info to tentatively plan with Kerri that we would go out for a nice dinner for our final night which we were both excited about.

The ride for Wednesday was originally pitched to me by Marty as easier than what we did Sunday.  It was broken into two parts, the 11 mile Fullerton loop and then the Queen Mary ride which goes along the river and beach trails, ok, great.  Well it quickly became apparent that the Fullerton Loop was no joke, it was 11 miles of primarily trail riding.  Having a suspension wheel surely helps in this scenario but I knew this was still going to have a lot of suck involved, it did.

Much like Mt Baldy, the downhill sections were the worst.  This was exacerbated by how washed out and rutty certain sections of the trail were.  There were multiple times I was right on the edge of falling.  I did come off the wheel once but luckily it resulted in only a minor fall.  After those 11 miles I was still beat, even with the suspension assist.  The suspension eats up some of the impact on the knees but it does nothing to help the load on the quads when you are going steep downhill, at least not for me.

So when we got back to the truck after finishing the loop I see a text on my phone from Kerri, telling me she ripped the room apart looking for the car key.  As soon as I read it I reached in my pocket and felt the key residing there.  Instantly a wave of anger and frustration washed over me.  I was so pissed at myself.  I was rushing to get out of the room after picking up coffee and simply forgot I had the keys.  We were way too far away to have Marty take me back.  I scrambled for ideas to remedy the situation.  The only tangible thing I could come up with was perhaps contacting the local rental office and see if they have a second set of keys.  However by the time I saw her original message time had passed and she just Ubered over to a nearby mall and was burning time there.  The rest of the day I felt badly that she was stuck because of my mistake.  To add insult to injury I got a text from the lovely Air BnB hosts that the car had to be moved because it was street cleaning day.  Well of course that didn’t happen either so I was rewarded with a citation for that as well.

Kerri did tell me about an altercation she had with the woman that runs the BnB.  There was a washing machine and dryer right outside our room.  Kerri had thrown a load of laundry in the day before.  Evidently the owner did not like this and posted a sign in spanish (all the signs were in spanish) that the laundry wasn’t for guest use.  Well on Wednesday Kerri wanted to do one more quick load, feeling like with all of the rigged accommodations we had been dealing with, doing laundry should not be a big deal.  So she started a load but then came out later finding the woman pulling out the wet clothes and telling her to go to a laundromat.  The end result was an argument where Kerri pointed out just how lacking and misleading the room was in reality compared to the online description.  In the end Kerri was allowed to finish washing the clothes, score one point for the good guys.

The second part of the ride was along river and beach trails to the Queen Mary.  It was flat which I enjoyed but I realized that there was no way this was going to get done in the time guidelines Marty gave me.  It was a little after 4PM and he still wanted to go another few miles to get us right in front of the ship.  Larry had time constraints as well so we turned around and hauled ass back.  The guilt I felt about the key in my pocket was now amplified by the ETA I gave Kerri in the morning being totally inaccurate.  Thanks to rush hour traffic I didn’t get back to the Air BnB until something like 6:15 or 6:30.  I am the type of person that puts value in being on time, doing what I say, being responsible for outcomes, all of that went out the window that day.  We wound up actually having a nice meal at a place named BJ’s, which Marty suggested.  The pink cadillac martinis helped melt some of the stress and frustration from the days events.

So I had been trying to make arrangements to return the rental car to the airport instead of the local Downey office.  It would greatly simplify our logistics.  I called and tried to do it earlier in the week and they said no.  However I got a response from a text I sent to the location saying I could do that for a $50 charge.  I okayed the charge but never got a response that they actually made the change so I was unsure if we were still good to drop at the airport or not.  Kerri suggested that since we have the text stating they would do it we should have our asses covered if it’s questioned.  I liked her logic so we went with it.  I was all ready for an argument about it with Enterprise staff but it never materialized as the final bill included the extra $50 with no additional questions asked.

We got to the airport with time to spare and chilled for a couple hours before getting on the flight.  We had the benefit of a tailwind that made our return trip at least 45 minutes faster than the ride to LA.  It also was nice that we had seats that actually reclined this time.  We got back to Florida a little before 9PM.  The 3 hour time change made it feel less late but we when we did fall asleep it was like a rock, we both were tired.  Ever since the Baldy ride I have had a persistent runny nose which has been a little maddening.  The Nyquil I took last night helped my sleep further.

So looking back on the whirlwind 5 day trip it is with very fond memories.  This was my first time traveling with Kerri which is always a good way to get a sense of how a couple interacts in an extended one on one situation.  I expected that the end result in our example would be positive, and it was.  Time and again she made me laugh and smile, even when things were less than ideal.  I really appreciated it, and her.

Today I have been playing catch up both doing things around the house and online including editing the three videos you see below and completing this blog entry. I am looking forward to one of the best holiday seasons I have anticipated in a very long time and feel lucky in being able to say that.

Last night I focused on starting to pack as well doing some more present wrapping.  I am notoriously bad at packing, I typically pack more than I need as my brain feels better when I have more leeway in clothing options.  Since there will be morning temps in the 30’s and 40’s I need to pack some warm gear which of course consumes more space, exacerbating the issue.  A lot of the day time highs though are forecast to touch the 70’s so I could do shorts as well.  It will all work out, it always does.  The best part of the updated forecast was the significant rain that was part of the picture seems to have been erased.

After her rough night on Tuesday, Sadie has managed to avoid having any other seizures.  Ali said Sadie is tired but ok otherwise which I was happy to hear.  I will see her tonight when I drop off Elsa for her vacation with Ali and Shugs, which she always enjoys.  Speaking of tired, I was beat last night resulting in my showering and being in bed by 10. It’s weird though because despite being tired last night, at the gym this week I was on one of those upswings where you just feel strong.  Cyclical strength has always been a thing for me but it was really noticeable this time around.

Today could be the last blog entry for awhile.  It depends if I find the time and motivation to blog during the trip.  It normally benefits me to do so if I care about an accurate recollection of events that transpire.  The more time that passes between entries the more detail that is lost as well. I took tomorrow off to give me flexibility as needed to get things done.  It also just happens to be my birthday as well.  Kerri has made dinner reservations for us tomorrow somewhere that is still a mystery to me at this point. I have no doubt we will have a great evening.

So yep, I am officially going to be flipping the age odometer to 55 in less than 24 hours.  My feelings about getting older have been well documented here over the years.  The cliff notes version is I’m not a fan.  However if I allow myself to take two steps back and examine the positive aspects of my current state of being where I am relatively healthy, fit, and financially secure, I have a lot to be thankful for.  When you add in my happiness gauge consistently moving upward this year as well as the possibilities my future contains, I should care less about what that number is.  I am grateful for both the road I have traveled and the road that is yet to be traversed.

I am looking forward to a memorable trip that will roll into a Christmas that contains more good energy than I have experienced in a very long time.

On the way home last night I got my hair buzzed again at Sportclips for the LA trip. I had the same woman as last time that has the horrible foot pain.  At first she didn’t remember me but as we talked a bit she recalled my last visit.  Her foot still hurts like crazy, she has no health insurance but still put on a happy face with me. We had another good interaction.  I wished her a happy holiday and she wished me a fun trip in LA, which I told her about.

When I got home I went on one of those get shit done circuits where I am moving about the house, sometimes randomly just tending to what is both in front of me and in my head.  Luckily I did not have to take time out to consider what I was having for dinner as Kerri gave me some excellent eggplant parm that was from her work luncheon yesterday.  I made some good headway but there will be much more to knock out before we leave the house early Saturday morning.

One of the things I did last night was box up my OneWheel XR to ship it to my sisters family in Texas, a rather big Christmas gift.  Originally I was going to sell the board to help offset the expense of my GT but I never did.  When I went to Texas last year for Thanksgiving both Damon and Emily liked riding the XR around so I thought it would be a nice surprise to have it show up at their place (Torrin knows)

Late last night I got a call from Alison.  Sadie had a couple of seizures in rather short order and she was upset, of course.  I talked to her for a little.  Sadie has had a tough road dating back to when we discovered she had cancer in her mouth several years ago that was treated aggressively with surgery and chemo.  She has had tooth issues, severe joint degradation, and most lately eye surgery that has left her with very limited vision.  Ali talked about how much of a fighter she is, which I already knew.  Her mind is willing but her body is failing.  It was painful talking about Sadie’s potential demise and I don’t know exactly what will happen from here.  Both Ali and I would prefer that if she were to pass it would be on her own.  The idea of putting her to sleep would be emotionally crushing, yet perhaps a final act of kindness if she continues to struggle.

So when Cindy and I split I gave serious thought to the idea of selling my house.  As I walked around back then it I felt my sadness amplified by the the constant reminders that were all around me.  However that idea was back burnered because of the chickens, yes the chickens.  The idea of me having to rehome the chickens was a deal breaker as I felt responsible for their well being. I know that sounds crazy to most people.

Within the last couple weeks I realized that the anchor I felt at that time was no longer there.  This was triggered by a random email I received from a realtor that I knew from my days with the running club.  She also was the one who sold Ali’s place in Naples.  I responded to her email and after a few communications back and forth I plan to have her come out to the house after Christmas to get the ball rolling potentially.  Of course there is no pressing timeline to sell.

I have talked a lot lately about how I have been pushing out of what have been established boundaries more and more.  This would potentially be the biggest push yet.  I love my house, Ali and I built this place.  The house fits me like a glove in many ways.  However the house is also one of the biggest consumers of my free time with the endless projects, repairs and upkeep.  The idea of streamlining and simplifying my life at this stage is something that is appealing to me.  I want to spend more time enjoying things I want to do as opposed to being locked down by things that I have to do.  2023 could be one of the biggest shifts in my life since moving to Florida back in 2000.  Forward movement is what I want.  Endless holding patterns are safe and predictable but the view never changes.

When I got home last night I was buzzing around the house getting a number of tasks done.  I think buzzing around is going to be theme for the week as I feel I need to get almost everything Christmas related handled since when we return from Cali there will only be a couple of days left.

I had also set a goal of getting a road test in on my newly reassembled S22, hoping my many hours of work have resulted in a once again functioning wheel.  I don’t do a lot of night riding but I only went to the park for the test.  As soon as I hit my first significant bump I could feel the difference the low friction rollers make, everything felt smooth.  The new fat road tire definitely felt different as well and will take some adjustment time but I think I like it.

I can’t believe in a couple days I will be 55 freaking years old, blasphemy.

I busted ass for a good portion of Saturday.  I had skipped weeding last weekend so I paid the price this time around, it felt like I was running a weed pulling marathon.  The only plus was the temperatures were not oppressive.  I also got most of the weed whacking done, working right up to the edge of darkness.  I mixed in various indoor tasks during the day including going through my closet and pulling clothing I either didn’t wear or was just old.  It added up to a full garbage bag which I dropped off at Goodwill during the day.

So despite a day filled with labor I got the idea in my head that I wanted to take another crack at putting the S22 back together.  To make it more interesting I had the idea to do it live, on the internet, no pressure.  I have hated having my hobby room look like a mess for a month since I started and failed this project repeatedly.   My goal was to get this done before I left for California and this was going to be one of my last opportunities to make that happen.  I set up my laptop with a webcam in the hobby room and had it.

Now you might think that doing this sort of work on a stream could be counter productive as you are distracted with the interactions with the audience however in this specific case it was exactly what I needed.  As I was trying to remount the tire and encountering similar difficulties as the prior two attempts I started getting feedback from people on the stream that have had similar issues.  Thanks to some of their tips I successfully got the new tire back on the wheel in about 20 minutes.  I yelled out in celebration, repeatedly.  I did this without using a single prying tool.

The key was the tip to use a clamp to pinch the tire together on the side opposite what you are working by hand.  This allows the clamped side to sink into the deeper, center portion of the rim temporarily giving you just enough leeway to muscle the rubber into position.  It was such a relief when I applied my inflator and the tube actually held air.  I got the tire on so quickly that I decided to put the rest of the wheel together.  Again there were some hiccups along the way but by the end of the two hour stream I had the S22 reassembled and working, a minor miracle.  Out of my various personality traits, the ability to persevere and overcome hardship is one that serves me the best in various aspects of my life.  I don’t give up easily.

After the wheel was back together and I ended the stream I immediately started cleaning up the hobby room, despite it getting late.  I wanted things back to normal.  I am hoping to take the S22 out for a maiden voyage with it’s new tire and roller suspension this evening.

I also posted the video from the prior attempt where the amount of frustration I was experiencing is clearly visible.

Sunday morning I finished up the weed whacking and then followed up with mowing the yard in anticipation of being away next weekend for my trip to California.  The grass had not hit jungle stage in most spots but it felt good to get the yard looking uniform before heading out.  The Eagles continued to roll, beating the Giants convincingly.  I don’t know how to feel about the incredible season the Birds are having.  I can only hope the momentum doesn’t derail any time soon.

Kerri came over Sunday afternoon.  One of the priorities was to make my famous chocolate cake, the ONE bakery item I feel confident making.  Unlike most of our time together cooking in the kitchen where Kerri steers the ship, when it comes to cake time I was doing most of the steering.  The preparation went smoothly, very smoothly.  The end result was a near perfect cake. It was moist, rich and the buttercream icing was spot on.  She was impressed with the end result.  No we didn’t wait until my birthday to try it.

Kerri also made a chick pea salad dish for her to eat for lunch this week.  It was easy, quick but quite good.  She finds these recipes on the internet and is able to turn them into healthy/tasty meals reliably.  For dinner she prepared some food I got as part of my birthday gift from my step mom.  It was a package from Omaha Steaks.  It sounds odd right, a gift of food from a company that is known for steaks, which I haven’t eaten in close to 10 years.  However they also sell a lot of non-poultry, beef, and pork products.  Kerri made the cod that was in one of the boxes and it was very good.

So the other day Kerri and I were talking about the Christmas tree.  She asked me about where I have it in the dining room.  I told her I have always had the tree in front of the dining room window since the house was built some 21 years ago.  I said I thought it looked nice for the people driving by to see the tree in the window.  She then said something that made me think.

She pointed out that the tree should be something I get the most enjoyment out of first.  One way to do that would be to have the tree in the main living space where it could be a more visible part of the season. Hmm, never have I thought about it that way.  Like many things, I have done it that way each year because I had always done it that way. However when I thought about it for a few moments, I realized she was right.

The end result was her assisting me on sliding the intact tree on furniture sliders to the corner of the great room right by the kitchen.  This is also at one of the highest points of the ceiling in the house so it fills the space well.  Once we moved it Kerri cautiously asked me if I was ok with it.  Without hesitation I told her I was.  As I have documented here repeatedly, the last 18 months have been all about changes.  Just because something has been a certain way for a very long time does not mean it is cast in stone.  It’s a feeling I have been embracing which will become much more clear in a moment.

So last week I threw the idea out to Kerri about her possibly coming to California with me.  At the time we laughed about it but neither of us looked further into it.  Well last night I threw it out there again, more seriously.  She didn’t say no.  So I hopped on the United web site and checked if my flights on Saturday had any more seats available, they did.  The return flight was getting close to booked though.  So now the possibility was real.

Kerri knows the trip is focused on me meeting up with EUC riders I know out there.  There is also a holiday party that I would love to have her accompany me to.  The good news is Kerri is very independent and able to keep herself entertained if I am unavailable.  She is actually excited by that possibility.  So we had now progressed to serious consideration.  The only hurdle was her vacation schedule at work.  She had to verify she could take the time off.  It took some time but she got a hold of a key co-worker that confirmed she should be clear to take off.  As soon as this hurdle was cleared I hit the book now button.

Kerri was very excited and so was I by this unexpected joint trip to the west coast.  It was a surprising way to top off what was already a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon/evening.  Spontaneous actions like this historically are not my norm.  Change is good.

My Friday evenings for the last 20 years have followed a very predictable series of events, including consuming pizza while vegging out watching a movie or recorded DVR content.  I always look forward to them typically.  Sure they lack much excitement but after a full week of work and whatever challenges it contained, it’s nice to have that decompression time to look forward to.  Last night I took not one but two steps outside that box of normalcy.  Kerri had asked me to go to a Ben Allen concert, yea the guy that did well on the Voice a few years back.  His band was playing at a bar in Fort Myers.

We went with Amber and Jake whom at this point I have hung out with a number of times.  They are both good people and a lot of fun. Before heading up there I met Kerri for a very quick bite of food which we thought made sense since alcohol was going to be consumed for sure at the venue.  After eating we picked up Amber in the Tesla and headed north.  Kerri and her are very entertaining to drive with.

Ben Allen is a country singer.  I don’t normally listen to country music but I didn’t care.  Seeing a good live performance normally brings a type of energy that makes the music secondary, sort of.  As soon as we got there we grabbed a round of margaritas and despite my lack of experience with drinking them, I could tell they were strong.  By the time I finished my first one I could feel it hitting me relatively hard.  I thought the performance was really good and despite my lack of country music following I found myself dancing much sooner than I normally would.  Kerri is an absolutely incredible dancer, the energy she had out on the floor was nothing short of amazing. She was having a lot of fun.

Jake showed up and I got to talk to him quite a bit.  He and I get along well.  He just is a good dude from what I can tell.  I cut myself off after a second margarita since I was the one responsible for getting Kerri home.  Ben didn’t stay strictly country all night, he did covers of various genres, including Metallica which I was surprised by but enjoyed as well.  We stayed until the very end, somewhere after 10:15.  I would go again.

It was just the most recent example of me forcing myself into new territory, which is a good thing.  Repetition of familiar behavior is safe and comfortable but if you don’t take a chance on something outside of your normal, you never know what opportunities could pass you by.  Life is about movement and learning along the way.

Last night Kerri came over and once again cooked a great meal, despite the fact that she doesn’t cook, supposedly.  I helped a little bit with the prep, skinning and dicing a butternut squash for the meal.  We also had red wine again with the meal that again got me warm and fuzzy much faster than Miller Lite.  I thought the meal turned out well.  I never historically have been involved much in formal meal prep but it’s enjoyable to pitch in, making the end result more satisfying.

Yesterday during lunch we once again played pickleball which I will be repeating today, making this the most hours I have played in a week, ever.  Yesterday Kerri was on the opposite team of a doubles match and won.  She marked the occasion on my calendar, as well as her win the prior day.  She knows it tweaks me, in a funny way, when she wins.  Marking it on the calendar was just icing on the cake.  She is super competitive in most things she does, which makes for a fun dynamic since I am much the same way.

Tonight I will be doing something else I have not done in many, many years, go to a concert.  Ben Allen, who was on the Voice lives around here and Kerri is a big fan so we are going to a performance tonight.  I think the last concert I went to was with Ali to see U2 on the east coast at least a decade ago, probably longer.  I anticipate a good time.

This weekend I will be trying to get as many things handled as possible in advance of my departure for LA next Saturday.  I’m close to having my Christmas shopping done.  Speaking of Christmas shopping, yesterday I got a notice from Amazon that a bunch of stuff I ordered was delivered.  It included a picture of 4 or 5 packages stacked in front of a door.  The only problem was it wasn’t my door.  I immediately assumed the driver perhaps dropped it at the one neighbors house so I quickly walked over there only to see no packages and a door/door mat that did not match the picture.

Immediately my mind started running worst case scenarios, all of this crap got delivered to who knows where.  When I got inside I looked at the order details and realized the reason I did not recognize the door was because it was located in Texas.  A bunch of the stuff I ordered for my niece and nephew were delivered.  I felt a wave of relief that I did not need to play package detective last night.  I have plenty of other things to keep my attention on.

I don’t know what it is, sweating from all the pickleball time or something else but I have been very thirsty lately, consuming water at a torrid pace.

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?