I woke up Saturday morning and saw a message from one of my Florida riding buddies that was a quote from another one of my buddies that I have ridden with in California. The message was that Dawn was involved in a very serious crash. Dawn crashes once in awhile so I didn’t think it was horrible until I found out it was.

She was doing another 100 mile+ ride but it was still going into the night. She was on a bike trail along a river. There was a pretty sudden turn to the left that she did not see/react to in time and the result was catastrophic. She went off the trail and fell onto a steep concrete embankment that had stones embedded in it. She was likely going 30MPH plus when it happened. Her injuries are massive and she was literally touch and go for quite awhile with multiple internal injuries, a brain bleed, a collapsed lung and more. There was a very real chance she could die.

She has been in an induced coma for a number of days. She is more stable now but the total extent of her injuries is yet unknown. When the reality of the situation hit I sort of went numb. It was the sort of news that you wish was a dream that you can wake up from. Unfortunately there was no escape from this.

There was a gofundme created which has been generously contributed to by hundreds of people. The reality is that the financial distress that is potentially awaiting on the other side of this will be massive, far exceeding any donations that could be made. Assuming she is out of the woods there is still no clear idea of the extent of her injuries and what a road to recovery would even look like.

I had people ask if I was going to fly out to California because of the close relationship Dawn and I established over the last year. To me it makes no sense to do so as until she improves nobody can even see her except immediate family. I don’t really know exactly what I can/could do.

I have not had much contact with Dawn over the last month and a half so to get this news out of the blue was like a punch you didn’t see coming. At this point all I can hope is that whatever injuries she has suffered are not of the long term debilitating variety. If my near death accident in October didn’t teach me a hard enough lesson regarding the potential frailty of life, especially when riding on a one wheeled self balancing device, this incident engraved it in stone.

Yes every day you are rolling the dice, you never know if something could take you out. But when we willingly place ourselves in situations where only a moment of unawareness can lead to such catastrophic results you have to really do a thorough evaluation of your risk/reward equations. If you have a family that equation gets even more complicated.

I’m not a religious person but if you are, please say your prayers for Dawn. I have been trying to send her positive energy in my own way. There may be a hiatus to my posting anything in the blog for awhile. It just doesn’t feel very important.

Yesterday my back pain was somewhat improved from the previous day. I was able to get myself upright without major issues. I even went to the gym and worked out, albeit limited in what I could do. Two advil helped that effort. Last night I once again laid on the ice pack for 20-30 minutes to numb up the problem area. I am hoping that by the end of the weekend I am more or less normal.

Last night I started a new print on the A1, an articulated Sponge Bob model for a friend. This model was not multicolor but I was able to transform it into one with Bambu Lab Studio. In that software you can “paint” color onto a model in any way you please. It can be a bit tricky so I am curious to see how it turns out in the end.

Yesterday Inmotion announced a new wheel the V9. This wheel is the smallest and lightest suspension wheel on the market while containing a lot of great features. It also is priced very well in today’s overpriced electric unicycle market. I had the pull to snap buy the wheel more than once, sitting on the checkout page a few times during the day but I resisted the urge. I already have a new wheel coming and I need to get my financial reality a bit more settled than it has been for a good portion of 2024. So despite the impulsive urge to buy the wheel I closed the browser window, knowing it was the most responsible thing to do. It was a good thing I did.

You may recall that Inmotion sent me their unique starter wheel, the E20 to evaluate and keep around the holidays. They liked the content I put out regarding it. I guess they liked it enough that they asked if I wanted to evaluate a V9 as well. Of course I said yes. I would have been very annoyed with myself if I let that impulse buy through only to find out the next day I was getting one sent to me. I am glad that fiscal restraint was exercised in this case.

Below you will see a true piece of art. It started life as a regular Eagles schedule but thanks to the amazing artistic ability of my buddy Rich it has been transformed into what you see below. The detail and thoughtfulness that has gone into this blows my mind. I envy his creativity and talent. Have a good weekend, I hope to do the same.

I muddled through the day yesterday with my aching lower back. I still went to the gym although there were certain things I just could not do. Of course my IT band issue still remains so the combination of these two things had me pretty miserable.

When I got home I got the idea to use my heating pad that also has a vibration function. I laid on it for at least a half hour with both the heat and vibration on the max setting. When I tried to get up afterwards it was awful. Instead of feeling better my back felt worse, way worse. I had to struggle mightily to just get myself upright to walk. The pain turned to anger. I was angry at my body for failing me.

A little later I got the idea to try my oversized ice bag on the area. It seemed like that was more effective than the heat/vibration. Maybe it’s just because everything felt numb afterward. I took three Advil before bed as well as a Unisom, hoping I would wake up magically feeling better.

I am marginally better and am at least functioning at a base level. I obviously am not going to attempt a yoga class today although I may still slowly walk over to the gym and find things I can do that don’t aggravate my lower back. I currently have four or five parts of my body that are consistently problematic right now. As always I will keep hammering away until I I can hammer no more.

Yesterday was yoga day which has been one of the ways I have been trying to work on my IT band as it incorporates both stretching and strengthening of the hip/ass muscles that are involved. However yesterday was the first time I figured out a way to also use yoga to hurt myself. I’m not quite sure what movement did it but I walked out of class with some bad pain in my lower back that steadily worsened during the afternoon.

I was going to the movies last night. When I got home to shower and change it was an absolute shit show. Removing and putting on socks was on the verge of mission impossible status. I popped three Advil and headed to the movies anyway.

I picked a really bad time to attend my first ever movie in 4DX. It is basically like watching a movie while sitting in one of those theme park simulator rides. Not only do the seats move, very violently at times, there is also water sprayed on you, air blown on you and other sensory triggers. The activity is supposed to mimic the action on the screen I guess. The film is also displayed in 3D so glasses are required. It took very little time until I found the experience annoying.

To be fair the fact that my back already hurt going in did not help but generally speaking I did not feel like getting thrown around did anything to add to my enjoyment of the movie. If anything it detracted from it. I found myself almost waiting for action sequences to end so the endless rocking and shaking of the seats would calm down. I mean it’s good that I experienced 4DX so that I now know I have no need to do so ever again I guess.

The movie itself was weird. As I saw in reviews it was as much a movie that continued the story line of the last Incredible Hulk movie as much as it being about Captain America. When Marvel decided to hand the Captain America role over to Falcon I was not a big fan. I still am not one. Despite never being injected with super soldier serum he seems at times to have similar attributes which just doesn’t make sense. They may as well give him the shot. I’d give the movie a B overall which is pretty low on my Marvel scale. I could have watched it at home and been just as happy while not being shaken like a bad martini.

I had a good but seemingly fast four day weekend fly by. On Saturday morning I played pickleball with Sue. I had some discomfort in my leg/hip/knee but we still managed to win every game but one. I took three advil prior to playing to help. Well evidently they started to wear off around the time I took the truck to go get groceries. I had this consistent pain in the hip that I just could not get to subside. I spent the entire drive to and from the grocery store shifting my position while driving to try to escape the discomfort. It was very annoying. Later in the day it relaxed but man, I am so tired of it.

Over the weekend I consumed the final 5 episodes of Cobra Kai a show I have always been fond of. I thought they did a real nice job of bringing the story full circle. If you ever enjoyed the Karate Kid movies you really should check the series out.

Over the weekend my YouTube channel hit a milestone reaching 15,000 subscribers. It has been a goal of mine for a little while. I even did a couple channel promotion campaigns with Google to help get me there a little faster. In the big picture a 15K YouTube channel is small potatoes compared to big creators however to me it’s a nice little feather in the hat. It’s a weird feeling knowing that there have been close to 8 million views on my channel in total. 20K, here we come.

With no football to watch anymore I had some extra time to get out and ride. I took my Veteran Patton out for a ride Sunday afternoon and enjoyed it. This was only my third riding video of 2025. Once my F22 Pro arrives I expect that pace to accelerate.

Monday morning I got over to the gym in the government center. I wanted to make sure I got my chest day in. In addition I got on the cross trainer and did a solid 20 minutes of cardio keeping my heart rate between 140-150 BPM the entire time. This is the one aspect of my fitness regime that has been lost in the shuffle.

For a long time I was doing significant cardio via running. I then switched to the road bike once a week. Since I moved regular cardio was dropped and sort of replaced with all of the pickleball and volleyball I was playing. Since I am not playing volleyball and my pickleball court time has been cut in half I feel that I need to put more focus on keeping my cardio fitness at at least a decent level. It may require me to add some after work hours sessions at the gym to do so.

Yesterday was also Elsa’s 10th birthday, a big one of course. It was celebrated with balloons, a hat, presents and a birthday cupcake. Elsa was a good sport about it all. It’s very difficult for me to wrap my head around that fact that the little scared dog that was adopted from under a table at Rural King is now 10 years old. The speed of the passing of time nowadays is sort of terrifying. Anyway Elsa seemed to enjoy the attention.

It was a good four days.

Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with something to put into words. Maybe it’s the full moon that crested yesterday, maybe it’s a lack of motivation, or maybe it’s something else. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. If anything I feel like my head is in a calmer and more peaceful place than it has been for quite awhile. I’m hoping that is a trend that continues.

I am taking tomorrow off and we also have Monday off for President’s Day so I have a nice four days ahead of me. Elsa’s 10th birthday is on Monday which seems hard to believe. It feels like the day she was adopted as a scared little 9 month old that was hiding under a table in Rural King was not so long ago.

Last night after work I had to run to the local gun dealer that I had the AR pistol sent to. I had to once again fill out the clearance form and be submitted for yet another background check, something that has to be done for each gun purchase, even if you bought one recently. Since I do not have a concealed weapons permit I also have to again wait three business days to pick it up so I guess it will be a Valentines Day present for myself. I also bought myself ammo for both the 1911 and the AR Pistol to be used at the range. Ammo is not cheap, to get 200 rounds for each weapon cost well over $200.

After completing my mini-workout and eating dinner I ran over to the local Walmart to pick up a few things. This Walmart is old and has never been updated. When I walked in the door I saw two massive lines of people waiting to check out. I’m talking at least 20 people in each line. For some reason they only had two registers out of a dozen open.

As I was walking down one aisle I stopped in my tracks when I saw what looked like urine at the base of a pole. Did someone really take a piss in the store?? The likely answer is yes. When it was my time to checkout they finally figured out that they needed to open an additional register.

Even with doing so the line was long and slow. I found myself getting very annoyed with the cashier that seemed to move at a snails pace. Hell I even felt annoyed with the people in front of me that had more items than they should have in the “speedy” check out line. It was at that moment that I realized that the full moon was almost here.

My mood the last couple days has been on the dark side. My patience has been limited and my ability to interact with other human beings is strained. Some months I cruise right past this cycle but most of them there is a discernible change in my demeanor and outlook. Right now is one of those times.

When I got home I didn’t feel like doing anything else so I just binged a couple more episodes of Battlestar Galactica. I was a huge fan of the series back in the day. Enough time has passed that I don’t recall much detail of the series so it’s almost like seeing it all over again. I have been enjoying it a lot. It’s a good way to set my brain on cruise control until calmer water is under me.

Saturday morning I got up early to play pickleball with Sue, the first time we had done that in nearly two months. Sue had a foot injury while I was staying away because of my persistent IT band issues. We played a couple hours and had mixed results as I would expect. It was fun regardless. This was the longest I played in awhile and I could feel it in my right leg afterward.

I made a quick video describing the process to make one of the cool multicolor prints on the A1, just because.

Saturday night I did a two and a half hour live stream, my 109th, where I talked about the new wheel I purchased, a Kingsong F22. As always the stream had a lot of side topics. I was tired from a poor night of sleep on Friday so I didn’t go as long as I sometimes can.

The weekend itself was on the slow side. I wasn’t feeling overly energetic or motivated for whatever reason. Thank goodness the Eagles did not suffer from any lethargy.

Ever since the team utterly collapsed at the end of last season I became very skeptical and cautious about their ability to win it all again. This entire season I felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the collapse to ensue, it never did. Instead they saved their best performance of the year for the Super Bowl, obliterating the Chiefs. Even when the Eagles were up four scores in the 3rd quarter I still did not feel secure in the idea that they would win. Once the score reached 40-6 I finally felt the outcome was secured.

The defense was ruthless, pressuring Mahomes the entire game, sacking him more times than he ever was previously. Despite KC focusing on shutting down Barkley the Eagles still found ways to move the ball, relying on Hurts arm and legs more than normal. Even Jake Elliot shook off the inconsistency that he suffered from this year and hit a bunch of field goals as well as extra points without a miss.

It was an unexpected yet amazing win that I was happy to be able to witness. It’s hard to believe that seven years have passed since their last win. When I thought back to what my reality was at that time it was so, so different.

What a game……

Thanks to the short video I posted regarding my issues with mounting filament refills I now know what the core issue was. The filament spools have a small plastic notch in it. The cardboard center of refills of filament have a notch in them as well, but only on one side. I did not realize this so I suspect I was trying to jam the refill onto the no notch side, causing it to not seat fully. Yes I will need to do another video on this telling on myself. I rarely have an issue with admitting I did something stupid or made a mistake as is the case here, once again.

Last night I got some more WoW time in after making dinner. This time I was on my shaman who was just frying things left and right. I gained 8 levels in the roughly 90 minutes I played. I had not streamed leveling my mage on Twitch but I did fire up the stream once again last night. I had a lot of people watching me play last night, I believe the count was two, lol.

This upcoming weekend will likely include a Saturday night live stream but the main focus of course will be the Super Bowl Sunday evening. The Eagles will be trying to dethrone the Chiefs for the second time in three years. I have not felt confident this entire season with the Eagles yet here they are. I will be glued to the tv hoping for what seems like an improbable outcome.

It’s hard to believe we have already clocked over a month into 2025 already. I came into this year with a renewed desire to put more effort into doing things that make me happy and I think an important part of that is a shift in my attitude. I’m trying to embrace more of a give what you get approach in my life.

If you are giving of yourself at a high level and not getting similar back in your direction it creates a constant leak that drains you until little remains. The path to happiness for me is existing in a dynamic where people I care about want to give to and receive from me willingly, happily and without reservation. That is my sweet spot that I am targeting. Go Eagles!

So I have had my A1 busy cranking out cool multi-color prints. I have been giving these away, some of which at work. Unfortunately what happens is one person gets a print, others see it and then they all want one as well. Then we have people that not only want one but they want me to make it a certain size or color, as if they were paying me to do so which is somewhat irritating. Those people are given low priority. With one printer and each print taking between 10 and 20 hours it is not a fast production line. There is something fun about waking up each morning to a new creation on the build plate for sure. Yes I am certain a second Bambu printer will be coming sometime during this calendar year.

Yesterday I did a short video outlining yet another mistake I made trying to install a filament refill on a spool. The mistake wound up making the refill basically worthless which was frustrating as you can imagine.

So I have been an Amazon Prime member forever. The free fast shipping on many products was worth it to me, even after several iterations of price increases. Another benefit is Amazon Prime Video, their streaming service which was included in your membership. Well sometime last year Amazon changed things up and started putting forced ads into their streaming content which I found annoying. You could still get an ad free experience IF you paid an additional monthly fee. It was a minuscule $3 a month but the principal of it bothered me.

Over the weekend I was watching some content on Prime and an ad popped up. I guess I was in some sort of mood and I quickly hit the button to sign me up for ad free. It took 6 months or more but they finally broke me down. I have been chain watching Battlestar Galactica lately and it has been nice being able to do so without two or three ad breaks per episode.

I have my second yoga session of the week today. I played pickleball yesterday at lunch and did so without feeling significant consequences afterward. I definitely am less aggressive when playing now. Balls that I would charge forward for in the past in the hope I could make the play I just let go now. It’s not worth it to go all out if I am not feeling 100%.