Accomplishment, 8 bit
I did not get to resume my Friday night road bike workout because I had not received the new mount for the headlight which will go on the handlebars. Having the light on my head was an absolute fail and I did not want to experience that again. Friday night I did a cliff notes versions of watching some of the DVR content that had built up while I was gone. I basically watched the first 5 minutes and last 5 minutes of several shows. It was during this exercise that I decided certain shows I have been watching for awhile are going to be cut from my viewing menu in the future. There are other things I would rather do with that time.
My Saturday was pretty open since I already weeded Wednesday and no yard work was required. Elsa and I went on a big errands run that took all of three hours to complete. The stops included Costco, which is asking for frustration if you are dumb enough to go on a Saturday. Even the far reaches of the parking lot where I normally chose to park were stuffed with vehicles. As I grabbed needed grocery items I also snagged a couple Xmas gifts.
Saturday afternoon I had a number of smallish things to take care of but nothing that took more than 15 minutes each. Later in the afternoon I tool my wheel and camera for a ride to Dunkin Donuts. Evidently I had something screwed up with the mic and did not catch it. The end result was audio free footage that was more or less useless. I tried to salvage it by just posting some B-roll footage with a music bed. It was frustrating.
Sunday morning I had to run to Home Depot to grab a couple things. The last time I was there with Elsa she unceremoniously shit in the store. Of course I was conscious of this and I made sure she did a two at home before we headed out. So as we were walking the store I made sure she was in front of me so I could see what was going on. When she shit the last time she was lagging behind. I noticed she was sort of fast walking, which made me a bit nervous but I was pretty confident we were in the clear since she emptied prior. Imagine how my heart swelled with Xmas spirit as she suddenly started dropping logs, again.
I couldn’t believe it. I scolded her but the damage was clearly already done. I had no employee assistance this time. I went up to the self checkout register, grabbed a plastic bag, and returned to the scene of the crime. The bag actually worked out better than the paper towels used during the accident last visit. I was also glad to see no patrons stepped in the land mine while I was getting the bag. At this point I am afraid Elsa has now made the connection that Home Depot = bathroom time, this is the third time she has done this. I don’t think I will have her walking the aisles there anytime again soon.
When we checked out we saw Sandy, the dog loving older lady that always gives Elsa treats when she sees her. Cindy and I always would have nice interactions with Sandy when we would do our near weekly Home Depot runs. Since the split my visits there have been less frequent. I had seen Sandy a couple times soon after. She asked where Cindy was but I made up some excuse for her absence, not wanting to get into it. The last few times I have gone to the store Sandy wasn’t there but this time I decided it was finally time to let her know the situation.
After giving Elsa her treat she once again asked about Cindy. I blurted out that we had split up several months ago which surprised Sandy in a major way. For some reason telling her this sent an instant wave of emotion through my body, making me pause awkwardly for a few moments while I pushed it back below the surface. Sandy said she was very sorry to hear that and that she has gone though it herself, twice. I turned the attention back to Elsa to exit the conversation. I walked away sad but feeling better that I didn’t need to be disingenuous with Sandy any longer.
Early Sunday afternoon I headed to Fort Myers to attend a luncheon/party for Ali. She is completing her Master’s degree, which she did entirely online over the course of almost three years. It was a relatively small gathering of 12-13 people, some of them I knew and had not seen for a very long time. It was held in a back room of some higher end Mexican restaurant. It was really a nice time, I enjoyed hanging, drinking and eating with those in attendance. Having the desire and commitment to reenter the higher education system at this point of life is something I would not consider, even remotely. It’s quite the accomplishment for Ali and hopefully will open up more doors for her down the road.
On the way to the party I was listening to the Eagles/Jets game. When I turned it off it was a back and forth affair. The thing that surprised me was the Eagles were starting a QB I never heard of, Gardner Minshew. Evidently he used to be on Jacksonville and became the Eagles backup when they traded Joe Flaco. Evidently Jalen Hurts is hurt, a sprained ankle. Well regardless of my lack of recognition of who the guy was, he had a great game, amassing passing statistics that were better than the vast majority of Jalen’s performances. It was cool having a pass first instead of run first QB in there although Hurts will be back after the bye week. Minshew directed the team to a convincing victory after a close start. I still don’t think the Eagles have a chance to do anything significant this year, regardless of who is taking snaps.
Tonight Ali and Shugs are dropping off Sadie for nearly a week long visit. They are going to Mississippi for Ali’s official graduation ceremony. Ali has been taking Sadie to physical therapy sessions every week and evidently they have been surprisingly helpful for her mobility. I look forward to seeing how she does walking around the property during her visit.
When I got home last night I set up a late addition to my 2021 Xmas decorations, another LED tree. I have always liked the smaller white tree I already have but it is in rough shape. The new tree is bigger, 6 feet versus 4 feet, and has full color LEDs instead of all white. I am starting to appreciate decorations that don’t require inflation for various reasons.
Last night I watched 8 Bit Christmas on HBO Max. I loved it. It was sort of a more modern take on A Christmas Story. I thought it was really well done and instantly injected itself into my stable of Xmas specials I could watch repeatedly, A+.