There is an adage that I have heard my entire life that generally speaking, the more you know about a person, the less you will like them. It’s a pretty sad statement about human beings but I have found repeatedly throughout my life that more often than not, it’s true. The people that are the exception to that rule are the ones you should hold onto and nurture relationships with. The ones where too much information makes it clear they are not the person you thought they were should be left in the rear view mirror destined to wander through life wondering why things are what they are.

I have spent a lot of time, energy, emotion, effort, and money on people that ultimately fell into this adage over my lifetime. Despite this I have this flaw where I still want to believe that people are honest with good intentions. Maybe someday, I will learn.

Friday evening I was getting a few things done around the house when my phone vibrated, indicating a text came in. When I saw it’s sender I think I stopped breathing for a second, it was from Dawn. I talked about Dawn’s terrible accident that happened on February 21st. After a period of her being in an induced coma for a couple weeks her progress, at least the progress that I knew about was slow. It did not sound like she would be in any condition to use a phone. Well I was wrong.

Evidently Dawn has been conscious and responsive for over a week but her phone was sitting at her house dead. She finally had someone get it to her evidently. After a few texts back and forth I asked if she was able to talk a bit, which she could so I called her. It felt a little surreal to hear her voice since at one point I was unsure if I ever would again. It didn’t take long until it was clear that at least mentally she was ok. Physically she is a mess. Her injuries are going to take a long time to heal. She has no memory of the day she crashed which is probably a good thing.

It was a relief for me to know that at least the Dawn I know is still present. She later posted something on social media letting people know that she was back among the land of the living which made hundreds of people happy. I am sure she is going to be absolutely deluged with people wishing to see and offering to assist her which is good to know. Unfortunately there also has been an undertone of less than good energy from certain people surrounding her situation that I hope can be resolved one way or the other. I told Dawn that if she needed anything to let me know, although I know that she is not adept at asking for help, at all. The world felt a little brighter by me knowing although Dawn has a long way to go, she will be ok.

On Saturday afternoon I took my V9 out to the swamp. I had not ridden the swamp in a number of months. While I was out there I drove by my old house as well as take in the changes around the area. There is a lot of new retail space around there. My house looked much as I last saw it although I did notice the orange Husqarvana tractor that I included with the house had been replaced with a new looking John Deere tractor.

The V9 is a commuter wheel that is primarily designed for hard surface riding but I was curious how it would perform in a more challenging terrain such as the swamp offers. Because it was late in the day and hot I only saw one gator during the ride. The wheel performed well, better than I initially expected. In total my ride was 12 miles and I enjoyed all of it outside of the last couple when my feet and knees were hurting a bit.

On Sunday I was on the road for close to 7 hours in the Tesla. I activated full self driving for a month and utilized it once again. It truly is set and forget in almost all situations. I rarely have to intervene. It drove me all the way back from Tampa without as much as a hiccup, pretty crazy. Elsa was along for the ride and was quite content laying in the back on her dog bed and fuzzy blanket.

Speaking of Elsa, she provided me with close to an hour of work over the weekend running the spot bot in the office. She threw up. When she throws up she insists on doing it on carpet instead of the vast areas of hard surface in the house. Usually when she throws up it’s due to her eating something she shouldn’t like stuffed toy parts or grass. She also is miserably bad at chewing her food. In the throw up was a quarter sized treat I gave her that was swallowed whole like a pill.

So instead of just giving me one spot she evidently walked around the room, leaving me trails to clean up. In total I filled and emptied the Spot Bot three times until I had all of the mess cleaned up. My desire to replace the carpet in the bedrooms with a hard surface like vinyl plank is 80% motivated by dog activities.

I have had a fast charger from Pidzoom at my house for probably a couple months. I have used it on a number of my wheels but I have been negligent with doing any sort of video review on it for no specific reason. The procrastination ended last night as I finally made a video explaining the features about the charger I like. There is one feature about the charger that would only appeal to me but I’ll keep that to myself.

I did a later in the evening trip to Costco which is always my preference to avoid the flood of humanity that is normally cramming the store. I got the few items I was looking for but also grabbed something I was not looking for, two king size pillows. When I moved into the new house two years ago I bought new pillows that I immediately were annoyed by. They were on the thin side, so much so that every morning I would wake up to the pillow cases being half off because they just were not on snugly.

Maybe I didn’t want to admit I made a bad purchase, maybe I was just being lazy but I have put up with this for two cycles of the calendar. The Sealy pillows I got at Costco are much more voluminous while still being soft. I immediately put them into service last night and woke up with pillow cases snugly and firmly in place just as they were when I fell asleep. It was a nice way to start my Friday. Now I have to get two more the next time I am in the Costco vortex.

So the latest rounds of Trump tariffs went into place on April 2nd, artificially raising prices on many things overnight. I heard a lot of grumbling about it in the various EUC circles I am in as the prices on many wheels which were already stupidly expensive went up several more hundred dollars. There is one wheel that now costs $5000. Yes that is not a typo, 5K.

Yes I have heard all the rhetoric about why this is a “good” thing. To me it’s very ironic that Ronald Reagan himself made a speech about tariffs and why they ultimately fail. Just search it on Google. To me this current policy is nonsensical. It’s like the reality that nearly everything that the American consumer buys is made in China has been overlooked. The stock market clearly is not a fan of this latest move but that won’t dissuade the hard core who will believe the sky is green if their leader tells them so.

I was surprised to hear that there are rumors that Trump is talking about distancing himself from Elon after the Wisconsin supreme court outcome and the general vitriol that has been flowing his way in recent months. It felt like Trump sort of liked having a meat shield but perhaps Elon has outlived his usefulness for the administration. Oh well.

This weekend is looking enjoyable but that truly is my outlook most weekends since I have moved. It’s odd how it feels like I was in PA much longer than a week ago for some reason.

Last night I made a quick video demonstrating just how much waste is created when you do a print that has multiple colors in every layer. I printed a relatively small model. If it was printed in a single color I would guess it would be done in 5 or 6 hours however with changing colors that time ballooned all the way up to 25 hours. In addition I had two full “toilets” of waste for the print.

Taking the path of least resistance in your life is a strategy followed by many. Avoiding conflict, hard decisions, and having moral boundaries can be bumpy and uncomfortable. Living behind a white picket fence where you create imaginary scenarios that fit your sunshine and rainbows outlook while ignoring realities that don’t conform to it is a strategy that may make your life easier. Does it make it better? That is a question each person has to figure out for themselves I suppose.

Last night after work Gladys’s sister Monique asked if I could help her pick up some outdoor furniture she was getting a good deal on. The place we picked up from was off Immokalee Road, my old stomping grounds. It was a lot of stuff that had the bed and back seat of the Tacoma stuffed. The ratchet straps I normally use for holding down loads were not ratcheting. The mechanism was rusty and jammed from being in the bed of the truck. Instead I just wound up crossing and tying the straps in place. It wasn’t as good of a solution but it worked, keeping the items in place for the 20 mile drive back.

Luckily the furniture was very light so it was easy to lift onto and out of the truck. Monique thanked me repeatedly for the help which I was happy to offer. When you own a truck helping your friends move stuff goes with the territory. By the time I got home I was starving. I devoured some food and then got caught up with Daredevil episodes, the end.

With how the world feels like a three ring circus nowadays it’s good to be able to distract yourself by having AI make cartoon versions of your pets. I had ChatGPT convert a picture of Elsa into a cartoon yesterday. I think the end result is cute and impressive. AI can do very cool things side by side with pretty awful things, take your pick.

Last night I tended to a bunch of post trip tasks like doing massive laundry, going through my bills and picking up the scattered remains of my travel that were not yet put away. I watered the garden which is currently doing well with very healthy lettuce, cherry tomato, onions and cilantro growing in it. Yea things have swung back to normal pretty quickly.

I got up a little after 4AM on Thursday for my trip north to PA. My flight left bright and early at 7AM. The flight up went smoothly. I rented my car through a company named Payless. I stood outside in the very chilly air for a very long time as I saw vans from other companies roll through consistently. There was another woman standing there most of the time and she eventually asked me if I was waiting for Payless too. I said I was.

She said that she called them and was told that you have to call and let them know when you need a pick up. WTF, I have never had that scenario before. When the van finally did arrive I was chilled to the bone. Usually rental car lots are relatively close to the airport but this one seemed very far away, taking over 15 minutes to get to. I was given a a nice Jeep Cherokee which was more than I expected.

I drove from Philly right to the place I was renting a tux from, Mens Wearhouse. I actually got measured for the tux in Florida but could pick it up in Lancaster which was cool. I am pretty sure the last time I wore a tux was for my wedding back in the 90’s.

I had a few hours to kill before I was supposed to meet up with Troy and other family members and friends of Troy and Jess for a dinner. I checked out the Doubletree Hilton gym which was surprisingly nice having everything I needed to get a decent workout in.

I had a very difficult time finding the place for the dinner. Troy just gave me an address but that address also happened to be the one for some college building. It took me about 10 minutes of walking around until I found where I was supposed to go. The place the dinner was held was very nice. I got to see Troy’s brother, mother and sister for the first time in over 25 years which was a bit nuts. I also got to meet Jess’s mother and brother which was nice as well.

The wedding was Friday at 5PM. I had asked Troy if there was anything he needed help with during the day but he really didn’t. I hit the gym once again and took a nap. My main responsibility was to make sure that other people that were staying at the hotel got on the full size tour bus which was driving us to the venue about 20 minutes away.

In the hotel lobby I met a number of owners in the fantasy football league that Troy has organized for over 30 years. Most of them I have only known via electronic communication. Meeting them in person was a bit surreal. Some were as I expected, some were not.

The wedding venue was a beautiful old place that was in the middle of Lancaster farm land. Originally the wedding was going to be outside but the threat of rain forced them to move indoors. The ceremony did not take very long but it was touching to see the genuine love between Troy and Jess. There were a number of people there so to grease my social interaction skills I immediately started the flow of alcohol. Other than one mixed drink I stuck to Miller Lite.

The reception was held in another building. I was at a table with three other owners from the fantasy football league. Two of them I had met before during a prior trip to PA. One of their wives turned out to also be an avid pickleball player so we talked about our love of the game quite a bit.

One of the odd things that I noticed very early was the man pictured above. The entire evening he was standing in roughly the same spot doing just what you see here, looking down at a tablet. If he spoke a word to anyone I did not see it. I finally had to ask Troy and Jess who this guy was and what was he doing? Evidently he was the live bands sound man. His job was to control the sound levels via the tablet I guess. I did not hear any radical shifts in the sound volume during the entire night so I can’t imagine he had to do much. For all I know he was watching movies on Netflix. I left the wedding a little after 10 with two of the guys at my table instead of hopping back on the bus. On the ride back to the hotel some interesting stories were told. It did not take me long to fall asleep.

Saturday was my day to visit my family. I set an alarm to drag my ass out of bed to get on the road to get to Lenhartsville to visit my dad and step mom. It had been at least two years since I have been to their house, possibly closer to three. Things looked similar except there are significantly less sheep.

When they moved back east from western PA they had 16 sheep. Now due to old age and some health problems they are down to six. I said hi to them but they were not very interested in socializing.

Dad suggested we go out to breakfast. I offered to drive in the Jeep since it had space and was nice. Dad directed me on a route that included driving on a crushed stone road. It made the drive feel more exciting to him I guess. We had a nice breakfast at small family place in Lenhartsville, the type of place my dad enjoys. Everything in there seemed to go at a slow pace which is what he seems to enjoy most of the time.

On the way back we stopped at Dietrich Meats, a place I have visited and talked about before. The purpose of the visit was for me to grab some shoo fly pies to take back to Florida. This place is in a time capsule, looking like nothing has changed since the 70’s, giving it some of it’s charm. If you are heavily into meats, this place is for you.

On the way back I suddenly had a tire PSI warning come up on the screen. It showed one of the tires was in the low 20’s while all the others were pushing 40PSI, great. By the time we got back to their house it had dropped all the way to 15PSI meaning this was not a slow leak. My dad brought out his compressor and I started adding air but I could actually hear the leak hissing. I eventually found it. Whatever cut the tire was not stuck in it making air escape fast. My assumption is it happened on the rock road but who knows.

It became clear to me that trying to drive with this sort of leak was a recipe for disaster. I called the rental car company to seek their guidance. I didn’t know if they would want me to fix it and/or put the spare on. The answer I got was I was responsible for road hazard so I had to get it fixed. Ok, great. So I checked to see if the Jeep came with a spare, thankfully it did. I put it on and threw the leaking tire in the back. I said my goodbyes to my dad and Teresa and headed to the nearest tire shop, Mavis.

I was pleasantly surprised when they said they could roll me in to look at it. I found myself getting a bit annoyed at the pace of the repair. The guy that was doing it seemed to be taking his sweet old time doing it. I sat there for more than an hour however it was hard for me to stay annoyed when the guy said there was no charge, he just plugged the hole. I gave him a $20 tip for helping me get back on the road. Every trip has it’s hiccups and I thought this was mine. I was wrong.

So after a couple hour delay to address the tire I drove to Todd’s house. It had been over a year since I saw him and he recently had a health scare so it was good to see him. I also got to see Bailey which was bittersweet. Her big brother Oakley died several months ago. Bailey was still a big lovable teddy bear like she normally is.

I got to see my niece Caroline for a bit and saw the place that she is renting. We went to dinner at Ganly’s, a nice place I have eaten at before. It was myself, Todd, Mindy, her daughter Mackenna and Mindy’s mother. We had a nice meal and then went back to their place. I didn’t stay long as I had to still return the tux and get prepped for leaving the hotel early Sunday morning.

I set a 5:45 alarm on Sunday. I wanted to give myself plenty of cushion to make sure I got to the airport for my flight on time which was scheduled to depart at 10:55, getting me home mid-afternoon. On the drive down to Philly I stopped at a something you never see, a Dunkin Donuts without a drive thru.

This was an old building that obviously started out as something else. Stranger yet that this was in the middle of PA Dutch country but the place was staffed by two Indian dudes. Despite the oddities the coffee was ok and I hopped back in my car and kept rolling. My plan worked and I was in the airport by 8AM with time to spare. I had no idea just how much time to spare I would have ultimately.

The first delay text came somewhere after 9. The delay was roughly an hour, annoying but not a huge deal. I shrugged it off and just watched YouTube on my phone. Then the second delay notice came in and then a third. There was no American Airline staff at the gate to explain, we were just getting these notifications on the app of them, which annoyed me.

Then the notice came that the departure gate was moved to a different terminal so I had to hoof it over there. In total there were at least six or seven delays announced. The later delays were due to weather but we were never informed what started the chain reaction in the morning. Even after we finally boarded the plane we had to wait another 90 minutes because of a ground stop. It was maddening. The only good news was the plane was maybe half full and I had an entire row to myself so I could sprawl out across all three seats.

Once we finally got in the air I tried to keep my mind numb by playing endless games of solitaire on my phone. By the time we landed it was something like 8:45, something like 7 hours later than expected. The cherry on top was waiting another 20 minutes for the luggage to come out. Thankfully Ali and Shuggs were willing to meet me near the airport to drop off Elsa otherwise I would have added at least another hour onto my drive home. My head hit the pillow after midnight. It was one of the most frustrating days of travel I can remember.

So the trip was front loaded with a lot of good memories with a tail end of frustration. I was happy to be able to attend Troy’s wedding. I hope Jess and he have a long and happy life together. They both deserve it. I am happy to be back in Florida and will continue working on carving out my own little ball of happiness.

In case you didn’t know bad guys on the internet are constantly trying to break into your accounts. That’s why things like two factor authentication and using different passwords for every account is important. I woke up this morning with an inbox full of password reset emails. These were attempts by various criminals to change my password.

Unfortunately thanks to the widespread proliferation of data breaches on the internet your data is out there for sale to whomever wants it. So the one piece of data they DO have is my email address. They enter that into the various sites and then try to do a password reset, hoping the victim would stupidly confirm the reset without thinking. I had at least a half a dozen different sites that they tried to reset last night, unsuccessfully. However this tactic points out that the account that you need the strongest security on is your email account. If a thief gets into that it can be game over. Make sure you use unique passwords for every site and utilize multifactor authentication wherever possible to make sure internet criminals have a bad day.

Tonight I need to finalize packing for my trip to PA. I fly out early Thursday morning for what promises to be very much a whirlwind trip. I have not attended a wedding in a very long time but I am sure it will be memorable. On Saturday I am spending time hanging with my family and then I am right back on a plane Sunday morning to head back to Florida. See you on the flip side.

I got out and played pickleball Saturday morning solo. I wound up playing 6 or 7 games, each one with a different partner which is always interesting to me. I played pretty well. In total the session was around two hours which was long enough as I am trying to avoid aggravating my IT band much. I definitely could feel it afterward but it felt less severe than before after playing.

I did a lot of riding on my Inmotion V9 this weekend. I did a Dunkin Donuts ride on Saturday as well as a range test on Sunday. It’s a great entry level wheel and I have been enjoying putting it through various testing.

The rest of my weekend was pretty chill although I knocked out necessary chores as well as starting the mental game plan for what needs to get done before I fly up to PA for a real fast visit to attend Troy’s wedding. Travel weeks always carry a decent amount of stress with them.

For the majority of 2024 and this year so far I have found myself in a pattern of excessive spending that I think I am finally turning the page on. As in most things, the fault for this is my own just as it will be my responsibility to rectify the trend. I think things are finally aligning which will allow me to do that. I once again will be getting a nice little refund on my taxes this year which will be saved instead of spent, what a concept.

I spent a lot of time last night doing editing on my review of the V9. I am sort of doing things in the reverse of how I normally do it, releasing a summary video before I release the series. This is because Inmotion, who sent me the wheel, wanted to see the summary video before I made it public. The cliff notes version of my thoughts on the V9 is I think it may be one of the best values in the EUC market today. I have a lot of videos I need to shoot / produce in the upcoming weeks. I have been dragging my feet quite a bit recently.

This is my last weekend before my brief trip to PA next weekend for my buddy Troy’s wedding. That being the case I need to make sure I am starting to cross my T’s and dot my I’s to make sure everything is in place for a smooth trip.