Finding the bright side in the darkness, GT
For the second time in as many nights I found myself mowing in the dark. This time I decided to tackle the back half of the property. As I did my endless loops I did something rare for me, looked for a bright side to mowing four hours over the last two days, half of that in darkness. I realized I got to observe two beautiful sunsets from the seat of the Husqvarna. I also did not have to worry about oppressive heat, sun exposure, or afternoon thunderstorms. Doing this on a weekday evening also relieves the pressure of needing to dedicate an afternoon over the weekend for the task. There was a simple solitude in the experience that I sort of enjoyed, in a weird way.
Ali’s boyfriend Shugs dropped off Sadie for me to dog sit for several days last night as well. Her mobility is really going downhill, every step is a struggle due to her failing back legs/hips. It seems that moving into the 1 bedroom apartment has furthered her challenges because of even less movement. Ali has started taking her to a dog physical therapist to see if she can be rehabbed since surgery at her age is not really an option. Shugs dropped off some sheets from the therapist with some mobility stretches that should be done at home.
It’s more and more a Catch 22 situation. Sadie is probably at least 10-20 lbs overweight. Added weight on weak legs is a bad combo. She needs to move more but there is a fine line between beneficial and detrimental. One time after we had her walking a bunch during a visit to the house she was almost immobile once Ali got her back, she overdid it. These are the sad realities of a 14 year old dog. I can’t help but feel sad when I think back to how Nicki went downhill and Sadie was always running around, trying to play with her. I now see the same scenario when Elsa tries to play with Sadie. Sadie’s eyes say yes, her body says no.
Yesterday I made a snap purchase of the new One Wheel that was announced. Up until a few days ago when I saw the announcement of an announcement, I had no idea Future Motion was releasing anything new. They actually announced two new devices the Pint X and the One Wheel GT.
The Pint, which I loved, had one shortfall, a small battery. The Pint X addresses that, having more than double the range of the original Pint albeit at a $500 higher price point. I thought that was sort of cool that they did this although I am not sure I thought it was worth an additional $500.
They acted at first like this was all they were announcing which the live stream audience was generally unhappy with. However then the Future Motion CEO came out and made the BIG announcement, the One Wheel GT. This is the long awaited successor to the One Wheel XR, which I own. The GT addresses pretty much every complaint XR owners had, offering more range, more power, more tire options and a more water resistant design, similar to the Pint. The live stream audience almost unanimously approved this time. The GT looks pretty awesome, awesome enough that I placed my order almost immediately after seeing it.
As is usually the case with new PEV’s, patience will be required as the GT will not be shipping until January and based on past One Wheel releases, I am expecting it to take even longer. I will sell my XR to offset a good chunk of the expense. Like the Pint X, the GT costs more than the board it is replacing, about $400 more, however in this case I think what you get is worth it.