Last night I had my 5th consecutive week of volleyball.  I didn’t play as well as I could/should have making far too many errors passing the ball.  I found myself getting genuinely angry at myself.  Ironically the anger turned into some better play towards the end when our team of four beat a team of four much younger guys that had some decent skills.  The most important part of the night was I got to keep building on my sand volleyball strength and endurance while managing to escape once again without any significant injury. It’s a good thing I’m not hurt because it looks like I will be playing pickleball three times this week as well.

I think this weekend I will start doing some packing in earnest.  I also think I will mow/weed whack the property for the FINAL time before the sale closes on the 24th.  Man that sounds weird, but in a good way.  I will be leaving a lot of my yard equipment for the new owners.  At the new place I plan to rely just on my electric weed whacker and if I get a mower it would likely be an electric variety as well, if I don’t just pay for a lawn service.

This transition is coming, fast.

Yesterday I scheduled my final walk through of the new house I am buying.  Originally it was going to be on Sunday as the current owners were supposedly moving Friday.  I got word that their plans have changed and now they don’t plan to actually vacate until Monday morning which I thought was a bit odd since we are supposed to close on the sale Monday afternoon.  Talk about waiting to the last minute.  The purpose of the walk through is to make sure nothing significantly has changed since the sales contract was signed.  I am sure it will be fine but better safe than sorry I suppose.

I also am supposed to be meeting with the people that are buying my house this weekend for basically a show and tell session.  There are lots of things that the new homeowners will want to know in regards to how the house works.  I want them to enjoy the house so I will do my best to fully educate them.

Last night I shot what should be my final video with the V13 where I gave my feelings about the wheel which were overwhelmingly positive.  I then compared it to another wheel in the same category, the Sherman S, which I already own.  I think the video turned out well.  The difference with me compared to a lot of influencers that get sent wheels by dealers is I will do more content on a wheel.  Many of them just do one video, I typically will do a half dozen or more.  With the V13 that number worked out to be 7.  I’m hoping to be sent another wheel on the demo circuit, the EX30 but we will see if that works out or not.

Tonight I am planning to hit the sand volleyball court for the 5th consecutive week.  It’s been one change in my routine which I have enjoyed.  There is going to be truckloads of change coming my way so I may as well get used to it.

Saturday morning I hopped on the V13 and took it into the swamp, a staple of testing that I do with wheels.  Since we are in the midst of dry season I hoped the path would be muck free, it was thankfully.  The parking lot was jammed with spillover parking in the roadway.  I saw two gators in the first couple minutes, just hanging in the water like statues, as they often do.  As I continued riding I got reports from two different groups of an “agitated” gator on the path.  I never had that description told to me before about alligators in the swamp, although they obviously can be aggressive.  The second group that told me about it said they turned around because the gator started walking at them which freaked them out.  I was intrigued.

So as I rode a bit further I saw it, a gator walking right down the middle of the path.  I never saw one walking casually like this.  I got closer.  As I was about 40 feet away from him he suddenly flopped back down and laid there, looking at me.  I have ridden past a ton of gators on my wheels, but they are always already laying still, not moving towards me.  I nudged myself even closer which verified this was a young gator, he was probably only 6 feet long nose to tail.  After some inner discussion I decided to just go for it.  Just as I mounted the wheel the gator stood up and started walking towards me again.  I was committed at this point and rolled by him without incident but it surely spiked my adrenaline as I was not quite sure what was going to happen.

Later in the ride I had another first when I smelled/saw a dead gator floating in the swamp.  It’s carcass was pretty decomposed already with a dozen buzzards feasting on it.  It was right about that point where I decided I had enough and turned around.  Some people that saw the video were in disbelief that I rode past an advancing gator.  Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith/stupidity.

Saturday night I decided to go see the new Ant Man movie solo at Silverspot.  I was a back and forth if I wanted to go or not for two reasons.  I have heard several reports that the movie was not very good and second, going to a movie yourself is kind of depressing, although I have done it a few times since I became single.  I decided to pull the trigger and go last second.  I wish I hadn’t made that decision.

The movie was not great, despite it’s over the top usage of crazy CG.  I could only give it a B and wished I just waited to see it on Disney+ instead of wasting 40 bucks on a ticket/food. The multiverse story line Marvel is running with now takes away from the importance of most plots IMO because if you beat one arch villain there are thousands of other versions of him still in the multiverse, it’s dumb.   I also may discontinue going to movies myself, it just feels like that is something that needs to be shared with someone. Weird, I know.

Sunday morning I got up and out early to do a range test on the V13, the second time I attempted to do so.  The first run I developed that weird tapping sound that cut the ride short.  For some reason, me taking the wheel apart, twice, seems to have minimized the tapping sound, despite me not really seeing anything obviously wrong.  The ride went well with me covering almost 53 miles before I ran out of juice.

There was a funny moment during the ride.  I mounted the wheel in a pavilion out at Aver Maria after taking a quick break.  When I did so I was next a metal picnic bench.  My balance was off and I shifted to the left, there was no room to go that way.  The end result was me diving off the wheel onto the bench.  As I fell I pinned my selfie stick under me, bending it.  I also smacked my face on the hard surface, thankfully my full face helmet prevented knocking out any teeth. It was ridiculous.

On Sunday afternoon I started working on clearing out more stuff in advance of moving.  I took a bunch more items down to the curb with the majority of it being scooped up by people before dark.

I talked last week about my strategy of how to get rid of the furniture items I don’t want/need.  An idea struck me during the day, maybe the new owners want this stuff?  So I took a picture of each item and sent them to the buyers realtor, telling her I was going to get rid of these things but if the new owners wanted it, they were welcome to have it.  She responded later that they actually want the items, all of them.  That is fantastic, greatly simplifying my requirements.  I went through and cleaned out all of the unwanted stuff in each of those pieces of furniture.

I may even be offering them my 70 inch TV as I have no real spot to use it at the new house until some remodeling is performed.  The TV is something like 6 years old at this point so I would be just as happy getting the latest and greatest for my new house when the time comes.

My buddy Don texted me during the afternoon asking if I wanted to grab dinner, I said sure, knowing he is still working through the difficulty of losing his dog a couple weeks ago.  We met up at the Yard House, a bar I went to with him once before.  I was thirsty and finished my first 23 ounce Miller Lite very quickly, putting me into my friendly and talkative drunk state pretty quickly.  I had an Ahi Tuna sandwich which was really good.  Don and I had a good time just talking about whatever came to mind, similar to when we met up the week prior.  It was a good way to wind up a busy weekend.  They only will get busier from here.

Last night when I got home I did another quick century circuit in the backyard.  I am going to have to decide if I want to erect a pull up bar at my new place.  I don’t know that I would go through the hassle of building a free standing set up with 4″ x 6″ like I have now.  A simple wall mounted bar might suffice, I’ll have to think about it.

I headed out on the V13 last night for a quick ride around the park to shoot a video about five things that I love about this wheel.  As much as I like the V13 I am still glad that I bought a Sherman S for myself, it’s an all around better fit for my needs.

This morning I was back at the dermatologist office having my latest set of stitches removed, a 5 minute job that was a little more uncomfortable the normal because a lot of stitches were used to close the area which was stretched pretty tight.  As always I am hoping to not revisit the scalpel for at least a little while.  I think since my late 30’s I have not been able to go more than a couple years without getting cut into.

Yesterday I officially got a closing date of March 13th for the house I am buying, a scarce 10 days away.  I need to start making some decisions in earnest regarding what will and will not be making the trip with me 25 miles away.  There are a number of furniture items still in the house that either I don’t need or don’t have practical space for at the new place.  Sure I could get everything jammed in there if I wanted to but the truth is that would run counter to my mindset of having just enough instead of too much.

I also had concerns about if I don’t want something, how was I going to get rid of it.  Selling on Facebook marketplace can be a royal PIA with the tidal wave of scammers that contact you and then trying to organize and schedule legitimate buyers.  My buddy Don suggested a much cleaner solution is to contact a charity like St Matthews house, they will actually come and pick up furniture you want to donate.  I believe that is the route I will go.  So one of my goals this weekend is to make a firm stay/go decision on furniture that remains.

I also need to start doing some packing which will once again include more decisions as I clean out cabinets and counters.  I am sure the trash can will be pretty full by the end of the weekend. I’ve taken several days off around my moving date of March 18th to try to get a handle on the countless tasks that will surround relocating my life.  It’s a big hill in front of me but it sure will be nice to coast down the other side.

This weekend I plan to also wrap up my testing of the V13, not because I want to but because I pretty much have to.  I am just not going to have much spare time for the rest of the month to focus on much else but moving.

Yesterday at lunch I played pickleball.  A month ago the idea of playing pickleball the day after playing volleyball would have been something I never would have entertained.  The toll it would potentially place on my body would be more than I could pay.  However fast forward a month and it was no big deal.  In fact I played some of the best doubles I have in a very long time, I just felt like I was in sync and on point, it’s a good feeling.

Last night I helped a friend move some stuff. When you have a pickup truck this makes you a popular person at times like that.  Having a knack for grinding through physical labor is a sought after talent as well.  It went fine and we grabbed dinner in the midst of it. It was a good warm up for the endless moving that I will be digging into in the very near future.

Elsa has been very cute lately.  She has been much more excited and animated when I get home the last few days.  I’m not sure what has spurred the change but I welcome it.  There is nothing better than having another living being thrilled just because you showed up. It makes you feel like a super hero.

Last night marked a month since my return to playing semi-organized volleyball. I got to play with the same woman I did last week.  We both appreciate that the other has basic volleyball skills so we want to stick together.  Again last night we played a number of formats ranging from 5’s to 3’s.  I felt more rust falling off my game as I am passing and setting better with an occasional hit mixed in there.  My serve for whatever reason has been good and getting better since day 1.

I also find myself being the most sandy player on the court.  I am hustling and diving throughout the two hour session.  It feels good to do so even after some of the impacts take me a few extra seconds to recover from than they may have in the past.  Again despite putting myself through some pretty tough play I found my body survived without major impact which is great news.  The ability for me to physically survive beach volleyball is also good for me mentally.  It’s just one of what I am expecting to be a long list of changes/improvements 2023 is going to hold for me.

Last night I finished up my binge watching of Jack Ryan.  I ingested all three seasons in 2-3 weeks.  A lot of times I would watch an episode or two while I was in bed which is not ideal as it is not unusual for me to drift in and out in that position, resulting in some gaps on the story line for me. Regardless I enjoyed the series.  I have a list of three things I want to dig into next, one of them being Yellowstone and another being Picard.

My sleep has been getting better lately since the incision on my head is healing up.  I don’t feel the sharp sting that I did the first few days, allowing me to get better sleep once again, with an assist from Unisom.

I am now at the point with my house transition that I am wishing we could just get it over with.  I know long hard days of packing/moving are coming followed by an unknown amount of time at the new place trying to get things in workable order.  It’s going to be a combination of frustration and fun, without a doubt.

Tonight I am planning to hit the sand volleyball court for the fourth consecutive week.  I am encouraged that things are going better.  Pretty much every time I have played pickleball since I started in 2022 I have worn knee braces, thinking they would help my overall knee stability.  I have had one knee scoped twice for meniscus damage and the other one is not in great shape either.  I have been able to play pickleball but often my knees have not felt great after playing, it is my biggest problem area.

Well when I started playing volleyball I decided to not wear the braces because I basically did not want to get them all sandy.  However I noticed afterward that my knees felt better than I would have expected after playing.  I then thought back to my active volleyball days.  After my knee surgeries I thought I needed to wear a brace so I did, for awhile.  However at one point I stopped wearing it and again I actually felt better.  My non-medical expert opinion is the compression the knee brace creates decreases the amount of space in the joint which in turn creates more opportunity for inflammation.

So anyway, based on this I have also stopped wearing my dual knee braces for pickleball and low and behold, I have noticed I am exiting each session feeling better in my knees than I have for the majority of time I have been playing.  So my plan going forward is to keep playing “naked” and see where it leads me.  My hope is the more I expose my body to the movements in these sports the more reliable it will become.

The other night I stepped on the scale and it actually read 181 lbs, my heaviest weight in probably a year or more.  Now that I am more around where I want to be I need to taper off my eating to more reasonable levels as well as keep focusing on my strength training.  I want any additional weight to be primarily muscle, not flab.  Last night after work I was still able to knock out my calisthenics “century” workout, doing 20 pull ups, 20 dips, 30 hanging knee raises and 30 push ups.  It felt a little more difficult with the added few pounds but I got through it.  I am mentally weighing if I want to build a pull up bar at my new place or not…..

I think I mentioned here about my reconsideration about how much I share on social media a week or two ago.  I have modified my sharing behavior since then.  Part of that change was not even posting links to my blog posts on FB.  Over the weekend I reversed that decision.  Since the blog is private, posting the links to FB isn’t a huge deal, plus I had a few readers reach out to me about how seeing the links there was a reminder for them to check it out.  In addition I gave even more thought to the big picture and how my people pleasing could be connected to some of those changes.  So I decided to please myself, instead.

Friday after work I once again got the weeding done which feels more and more weird the closer I get to selling my house.  I could not touch another weed or mow another blade of grass from now until the sale is finalized and it would not impact anything, except my sense of responsibility.  I feel responsible for keeping the house and yard in order until the property changes hands.  That being said, I am sure my weeding is a little less thorough than it would typically be.

I spent a lot of time digging into the V13 again over the weekend.  When I put it back together the first time I noticed some odd behavior, like the power button acting inconsistently as well as one of the struts not being able to be secured in place up top.  I discovered that during reassembly I somehow pinched a wire harness that goes to the display and power button, damaging it.  I got the power working consistently but now whenever the wheel is turned on the headlight is turned on as well, you can not turn it off. I was frustrated.

I also figured out what was going on with the one strut after having it pop out of place and make a horrible noise during a ride later.  I spent a bunch of hours on this wheel trying to diagnose, dis and reassemble it the last few days.  Although it frustrated me greatly at times I also now have a very good understanding of how to and not to take it apart and put it together.  This attitude is something that has served me well as an adult.  A willingness to fail exposes you to opportunities to learn.

I felt confident enough in the wheel to do speed runs on it over the weekend, setting another new personal speed record of approximately 46MPH.  If I tweaked a couple things I could likely have hit 50.  I also took the wheel out at night to show off the amazing headlight the V13 has.  It lights up the roadway almost to car-like levels.

On Friday I got some awful news that my buddy Don had to put down his dog Lucky.  I have had Lucky out at the house a number of times over the years and I had gone to see him several times over the last few weeks once I heard he was sick.  Even with this knowledge, word of his passing hit me hard.  Don and I went out to dinner Saturday night.  He was deeply impacted, of course.  Lucky was a cornerstone of his life, especially since he retired last year.  There were surges of emotion as we talked about Lucky and the way a dog can become a family member.  The loss is great and lasting.  I was glad I got to share some time with Don.

This weekend I resumed Operation Toss It Out.  I targeted both storage sheds and the pegboard on the garage.  I took many wheelbarrow loads and later yard cart loads of stuff to the curb.  I was pretty ruthless in what went.  I even took all of my old exterior Christmas decorations AND the tree to the curb.  I have no sheds at the new place, although maybe I could eventually add a small one.  With that being the case, unless I want my garage to be a pig sty at the new house, the stuff simply needs to go.

I went around the house and made a list of every piece of furniture that still remains.  I included the measurements of each piece as again, with a third less space in the new place I need to be smart about what will and will not fit.  I eventually see myself getting a lot of new furniture so I don’t want to waste time moving stuff I dont require.  It’s going to be a tight rope to walk for sure but I would rather have too little than too much at this point.

I got the word that the buyers for my house have now dropped the financing contingency meaning there should be no obstacles between now and closing on the sale in a month.  That is good news indeed.  I had my realtor check to see if there was any change with the house I am buying, hoping to get an earlier closing date.  The best they could do was move it up one day, oh well.

Last night I spent a good chunk of time ripping apart ANOTHER wheel, the brand new V13 I am testing.  It developed a weird tapping noise over the weekend and I was hoping I could find the cause by pulling the motor out.  This wheel is massive and heavy, weighing in at over 110lbs.  This made flipping it around for disassembly tedious and less than ideal for someone that has a big incision on his head.  Taking it apart was not horrible but far from fun.  Unfortunately all that work did not reveal anything obvious that could have been causing the noise. Now I wait for direction from the dealer. After the fiasco I had ripping apart the T4 a week ago, I have had my fill of EUC repairs/maintenance for awhile.

Last night was another rough one in the sleep department.  The incision is just in a really bad place when it comes to sleeping.  I fall asleep but if I turn in a way that applies pressure to the incision it causes enough pain to wake me up.  The pain is less each day so I am hoping by the end of the weekend I can sleep normally once again.

This weekend I may start going through more stuff in the out buildings, resuming the parade to the curb to get rid of whatever I don’t want.  It feels strange that I will probably only have to mow the grass at the house maybe once more before I am out of there, very, very strange.

Lately I have noticed a tad more aggression in my everyday existence, especially in driving.  I seem to have very little patience on the road which has not been the norm the last 10 years or so.  Since getting Tesla’s I used to be content to turn on Autopilot and stay in one lane, allowing the car to maintain the lane, speed and distance.  Now I am feeling quickly frustrated if I am behind a vehicle that is going the speed limit or only barely above it.  I instantly am looking for pathways around them.  Now I am not doing stupid aggressive behavior like tailgating or cutting vehicles off with a foot to spare but for me, there is a definite change.  To break down exactly why that is would probably take more time than I am willing to commit here.

Last night I shot a quick update video outlining how my path has progressed since I shot a video on New Years Day announcing that I was selling my house.  It would be very difficult to document all of the twists and turns that have taken place since then but the 10,000 foot version is, a lot of shit has gotten done.  With as fast as time flies nowadays I will be moving into my new place before you know it.  Speaking of moving I got my first quote from a moving company and it was just to move all of the significant furniture.  It was not cheap but I may decide to go that route while I can focus on moving smaller things and boxes myself.  I have a bit of time before I have to commit.

It seems like my gluttony has been paying off.  Last night the scale read 179lbs and change which is right around where I would like to be.  Now I need to taper back the eating to a level where I can hold this body weight.  It will be a bit of a trial and error thing requiring regular visits to the scale.

Yesterday I had yet another skin cancer surgery, this time removing a basal cell spot behind the right ear.  I have had so many skin surgeries it’s old hat.  I now have a long stitch line behind the ear, much longer than the spot of cancer, which is normal.  That area of your head does not have a lot of loose skin so it had to be pulled pretty tight.  Once the numbing injections wore off it started stinging.  I took Tylenol during the night to take the edge off the pain.

Because of the location it made sleeping challenging as I sleep on my back.  Despite taking two Unisom tablets I had a very restless night of sleep as any pressure on the incision area was painful.  Today I have the bandages off and am just tasked with keeping the stitches well lubricated with Neosporin, allowing the rest of the world to see my Frankenstein-like stitches.