Comeback, Where is the line, Running in sand, Dino, ClusterF of coincidence
On Friday my buddy Rich and I went to play pickle ball at lunch. We had the good fortune of being able to play on one of the courts in the covered area which are much cooler in June. We were getting ready to start our first game of singles when an older guy asked if we wanted to play doubles instead. We said sure, having no idea what level of players they were. The one guy was taller, had a decent serve and was good at the kitchen line. The other guy was smaller but was a “banger”. I banger is a guy that just hits most balls hard. He had a compact, whip-like swing that resulted in punishing shots, if you let him. The way to deal with a banger is to not give him balls he can bang, meaning low.
The first game they killed us, something like 11-2 or 11-3. They played well but we also made a lot of unforced errors. The second game was much closer with us losing something like 11-9. It was during that game that we started to neutralize the banger with not only trying to keep the ball down but also by making him move around more. He had knees that made mine look pristine so forcing him to chase a shot was his kryptonite.
During the last game the tables had almost completely turned. Rich and I made less forced errors, served more aggressively and just played better all around, winning that last game by something like 11-4 or 11-5. It felt good to adapt to changing conditions and come out with a positive result, even if it was against two guys that have been collecting social security for years. After the last game we talked to them a bit, it sounds like they are regulars and would be willing to play us in the future if we have an opening. Prior to the match I already made the mental decision that hernias are not affected by playing pickle ball. This decision had no medical research backing it up whatsoever.
Despite getting a good calorie burn from the pickle ball play over lunch, after work I decided to return to my Friday evening road bike regimen, something I bet I have not done in somewhere around 6 weeks due to schedule, weather or various other reasons. It was somewhat blustery which felt miserable when that wind was working against you, in this case after the turn around. I usually like to keep in the same gear and just increase my effort level in most wind. This was severe enough that I dropped a couple sprockets. I didn’t like doing it but I was really struggling. When I got home I was sweating my ass off. I posted this picture of my sweaty fist/wrist to illustrate the conditions but all it did was confuse people. If you look at it the wrong way it looks like I have a Popeye-sized forearm with some weird bulge by my wrist.
So with the likely hernia I have I’ve been trying to mentally figure out where is the line of effort. What can and can’t I do without making it worse? Well at least so far that line sort of doesn’t exist. During the day Saturday I did my normal chores and later in the afternoon headed outside with the loppers to knock down low hanging branches around the landscape that have been annoying me. I was bending down, collecting, grabbing and throwing half a dozen yard carts full of debris. I didn’t notice any sharp pain from that area but I think the knowledge that it is there makes me wonder if I am feeling something time to time. Several times I did quick visual inspections to verify I don’t see anything noticeably different down there.
On Saturday evening Ali and Shuggs came over with Sadie and Ferdie in tow. The purpose was to give them a brief tutorial on chicken duties although I am sure I will have full written instructions possibly backed up by a video walk through for completeness. They picked up a pizza on the way in which we enjoyed while downing some alcoholic beverages. They hung around until about 9PM. We firmed up the plans for Sunday which included me going to see the progress of their home at Babcock Ranch AND picking up a queen size mattress and box spring with them in my Tacoma.
When they left I had already drank at least four White Claws so I was feeling a little drunk. For some reason I decided to fire up another live stream. I have done a bunch of live streams in the last month, averaging almost one per week when the old norm used to be one every 1-2 months. I thought it would just be maybe an hour or so but the stream extended to over three hours primarily because Gladys agreed to come on with me later in the broadcast. It was a fun interaction all the way around but with my drinking another couple White Claws during the stream I was pretty drunk and felt pretty shitty the following morning.
Despite being up late Saturday I was up and moving before 7:30 on Sunday. I was trying to hustle to get things done so I could get on my way to Ali and Shugs. Have you ever had one of those days where it feels like you are grinding and grinding but not making much progress? That was how a good portion of my Sunday felt. The haze from drinking of course didn’t help things but everything felt like I was moving through quick sand. My bill paying session drug on forever because it was credit card statement reconciliation time which is always a drag normally. It was especially so this time because of several charges that were not made by myself on the account. By the time I researched them and then followed up with a call to Amazon I spent an extra 30-45 minutes which in retrospect could have been avoided completely.
After being stuck on bills forever I then tried to quickly handle a number of other things before heading out the door, none of which seemed to go as expected. Hey I know, shit happens but man the pile was stacking pretty high. I got up to Ali and Shugs place a little before noon. We first went to pick up the bedding. Their house is supposed to be done in about a month so we just took the two pieces back to their apartment where it will live for a month stacked against a wall.
We then made the half hour drive out to their new house which has progressed considerably since I last saw it. It now has tile, cabinets, a rear patio and the pool cage looks ready to assemble. Despite all of the progress it still seems there is a LOT to get completed in a little more than 30 days. It will be interesting to see if that date gets slid back. On the way back we stopped at Chili’s for a quick lunch as I needed to get back home for a movie meet up last night.
So I was going to go see the new and supposedly last Jurassic Park movie, once again with Gladys’s sister Monique. This time we went to Silverspot which used to be the most high end theater in the area but has been outpaced by places like the Cinebistro at this point. We ordered our dinner which was then brought to our seats just as the previews were starting which worked out well. With all of the alcohol I drank Saturday night I had no desire for any more, I stuck to a Coke.
The movie was on the long side, pushing two and a half hours but the time passed pretty quickly. It was cool seeing the major cast members from all of the series together at one time. The movie had all of the typical dinosaur jump scares Jurassic Park is known for and I liked it overall, just not as much as the new Top Gun. 🙂 I’d give it a B+. Monique enjoyed the movie too. It’s been nice getting to know her. She has a lot of unique qualities that are interesting. I suspect we will continue to do things as time allows.
When I got home after 10 Sunday I still had things to attend to. My Tesla was scheduled to finally get fixed Monday, something I have been looking forward to. I gathered up the stuff I was going to need as my plan was to drop it off and then ride my V11 to the office. I was then going to have Rich take me home Monday after work. I staged everything last night and then packed my lunch in my soft sided cooler since it has a strap I could use while riding. I pulled into the body shop a few minutes before eight and went inside. What follows below is not fiction but a story of incredible and frustrating coincidence.
I walked up to the counter and said I was here for my appointment and gave my name. The receptionist pulled my paperwork for “Duffy” and confirmed I was dropping off a Tesla Model X. “No it’s a Model Y” I replied. Weird she said, they must have just made a typo. I asked her if that meant the wrong parts could have been ordered? She said no, they order based on VIN. Ok… So next she asks me to confirm my phone number. She reads off a number I never heard of before. “That is not my number” I tell her. She flips the paperwork around and let’s me see it. I do a double take.
The paperwork is for “John Duffy” who owns a Model X, has Geico insurance (not Travelers) and lives elsewhere. He evidently contacted the body shop around the same time as I did. The woman said she didn’t see any email from me in early May with my Travelers claim info. She asked who I talked to. I told her it was another woman whom evidently also works the front desk. I told her I sent the estimate from Travelers to the email address I was given and I even followed up a day later, confirming it was received. I did one more follow up on Friday just firming up that all parts were in and the work for Duffey was ready to go.
I dug in my sent emails and found the email I sent on May 9th, as I indicated however the woman did not see it. I told her to check her junk mail, there it was. So basically because of this odd coincidence of two Duffy’s a day apart, when I double checked everything was in order they assumed it was for John Duffy.
So I couldn’t really get mad about this, it was an honest mistake and the odds of all of the stars aligning they way they had in this confusing way was just weird. They were very apologetic about the mistake which could have been avoided with a little more attention to detail but I have been guilty of the same if not worse many times in my life. I basically now start over at square one, they order the parts and based on that timeline we will set a new appointment date. It’s disappointing but not the end of the world.