Jam it all in
I headed out to the track for a run for the first time in probably at least 3 months on Friday after work. Overall my strength and endurance has felt better recently so I wanted to see if that feeling also translated into being able to run again. Cindy and DJ walked around the track while I ran which was nice. I definitely felt better running than I have been accustomed to, especially considering I hadn’t run in so long. It felt like I also ran a faster pace than normal although the Apple Watch did not feel the same way. Regardless, it felt good to get out there and not feel absolutely awful while doing so.
So even though I had a long three day weekend, I penciled in enough things to probably keep me busy for four or five days. On Saturday after doing normal chores I turned my attention to the backyard. I figured since the solar installers were starting Monday it made sense to get that area nice and manicured. However just mowing the large area wasn’t enough, after I finished I limped off the tractor seat and grabbed the weed whacker.
I knocked down the entire fence line which is a massive chore as you go around the perimeter twice, once on both sides. I also knocked down the growth in drainage ditch and around a few other areas. I had to reload the trimmer spool three times, whacking a wire fence eats trimmer line like crazy. Between mowing and whacking I consumed the majority of the afternoon. I was beat but glad I wouldn’t have to worry about revisiting the chore until spring is on the doorstep.
Saturday night before dinner I fired up the camera and mic for a quick live stream. I had been talking about doing it for a little while. I have no plans to make it a scheduled formal thing but I do enjoy getting to connect to people in this way. Despite it being an unscheduled and unannounced broadcast I had as many 20 simultaneous viewers at one point, better than I had been doing towards the end of the bi-weekly live stream shows.
Today we woke up to off and on rain which would normally put a damper on EUC riding plans. However I had not even made any plans to ride because I had another massive chore lined up, pressure washing. I targeted getting the out buildings cleaned which included the two sheds and chicken coop. The Eagles played at 1PM so I couldn’t fit pressure washing the pool area into that as well. Near the end of the day I decided to included the castle stones in the blasting agenda which were coated with black slime. By the time I got done cleaning the 125 plus stones I was the one coated in black slime. At least the rocks looked better.
In the middle of all of this work I did watch the Eagles go down to the Seahawks in much the same manner as they lost to the Patriots the week before. The defense, which I was regularly critical of for the first half of the season is actually the better performing unit at this point. The offense was missing a lot of starters once again but Carson Wentz did nothing to elevate his game. He missed a bunch of easy throws, made poor decisions, and turned the ball over a couple times. He just is not playing with confidence and it shows. Elite NFL QB’s can take over a game and impose their will onto the opposing team. I have never seen Carson do that and I don’t think that is the type of QB he is.
Wentz is a gritty, determined and athletically gifted athlete but I just don’t know that he has the “it” factor. He has not proven an ability to deliver in the clutch, unlike Saint Foles that seemed to be able to do the exact opposite, play his best as the pressure mounts. The remainder of the Eagles season is favorable but if Wentz doesn’t get his head screwed on right it isn’t going to matter. Their only chance of making the playoffs is to beat the Cowboys for the NFC East crown. They are only one game behind so they still have a shot.
As I said, tomorrow the solar project begins. I have to inform them that all of the painted marks that were laid down last week are incorrect. It will be interesting to see what all gets done. I plan to use a good chunk of the day for pressure washing the pool area which will wrap up my list of shitty home maintenance projects for the rest of the year. If I happen to find any spare time left I need to get the oil changed on the Tacoma and the Hyundai. It never ends.
I did have some good news on my Prusa MMU2S front, I got my best print out of it to date. It seems like for reasons undetermined by me yet, running filament through position 1 on the MMU is problematic but if I use spots 2-5 it appears to work sort of well so that is what I am going to do for now, use what works, not what doesn’t.