A Lot

Since you last heard from me I have been to the Space Center for three days of training with a weekend thrown on the tail end as well, let’s see what I can remember.

I left work around 11 on Wednesday so I could get home and head to Titusville. I had not even completed my packing so I had a lot of things to knock out at home in a short period of time. I wound up leaving my house right around 1. The drive north and east went pretty well, the Tesla is very comfortable to cruise long distances in. I made the trip in almost exactly 5 hours. If I wanted to push my luck I might have made it on one charge but I stopped in Orlando to charge for literally 5 minutes, just to make sure.

I checked into the hotel which was a beautiful Marriot, it seemed very new. When I got into my room I wanted to use the bathroom but I couldn’t get the lights to turn on. Just as I was about to call down to the front desk I saw a device by the front door that looked like it would fit the room key. Above it was a sign that said in order to activate lights put the room card in. I did and the lights in the bathroom came on. That was a first for me.

Even though I was tired I had no time to waste. There was a kickoff dinner event nearby at a steakhouse on the water. I arrived maybe 20 minutes after the event kickoff but no one had even gotten their food yet so it was fine.

I drank two of these large beers you see in the picture, the first one being downed quickly before eating. I was definitely a bit drunk but it was somewhat helpful to deal with the need for continuous social interaction. There were a lot of new faces that I did not recognize from previous conferences. I had a good meal and was happy to simply return to my room, shower and veg out. A number of people went to the Space Bar on the roof of the hotel where they got to pay outrageous prices for alcohol.

Thursday was the first day of the conference. I got there early, probably too early as I wound up waiting a half hour for the Space Center to open. I had my free ticket in the lanyard we were all given. Once inside I and a bunch of other attendees managed to find the education center where the event was being held. They had a great spread of food which was welcomed since the hotel gave you absolutely nothing for breakfast, unless you wanted to pay for it.

We moved to an adjacent space where the sessions were held. There were various presentations, some held my interest, some did not which is a normal situation. Afterward we again were presented with a nice spread for lunch and then we all headed over to the bus area for a free tour of the space center.

This was my fourth time at the space center and I was just there a couple years ago with Cindy so not much had changed since then. The fact that it was the last trip I did with her made for some odd feelings while I was there, so much so that I really had no interest in doing the full tour. After getting off the bus and seeing the two mandatory presentations before entering the Apollo center I did a quick walk around of the facility before getting back on a bus to take me back to the main part of the space center. Once I got back and grabbed my laptop bag and headed out. I was not alone, I saw a number of other guys that were in the class following the same path.

I decided instead of looking to do something with the members of the group I would instead hop in the Tesla and head to Cocoa Beach. I wanted to stop at the Ron Jon headquarters there and I had my One Wheel and gear in the trunk.

I hopped on the One Wheel and did a 6 or 7 mile ride that was basically a straight line paralleling the coast. It was not the most exciting ride and again I had weird feelings because Cindy and I rode that area as well when we were there. It wasn’t feelings of remorse I was experiencing it’s sort of hard to explain. I did shoot video of the ride where I talk about those feelings a bit.

When I finished up I found a very cool dive bar that was along the beach. I sat at the bar and enjoyed a couple beers along with fish tacos. It was a very chill vibe and a place I could have spent more time at if I wasn’t solo. I headed back to the hotel and again chose to just relax the rest of the evening instead of seek out more social interaction at the bar on the roof.

The sessions on Friday were more interesting for me because it was more or less the various county staff sharing ideas, issues, and solutions as a group. When I got to talk some of the things I brought up had other guys talk to me during a break to discuss further. The tech sharing is normally the most valuable thing I take away from these events.

The sessions ran up until almost one, there was one more free lunch provided and then that was it, we were free to go. You were able to continue touring the park or just get the hell on the road. I chose the latter. The drive home was much rougher than the trip up. I hit the fangs of I-4 traffic which resulted in a 6+ hour journey instead of 5.

During the day on Friday I got the call from the cabinet guy. I let him in remotely so he could install the new cabinet in the guest bathroom. When I got home I checked it out, it looks great. All that remains in the counter install and plumbing reconnect in there, thank goodness.

Saturday morning I headed up to Babcock early to pick up Elsa. As usual she had a fantastic time with Ali and Shugs. I know since Sadie passed they really love having Elsa around. On the way back I grabbed groceries. During the day I worked on a number of clean up tasks around the house as I still had not put everything back post-counter install.

Part of the counter install was a new kitchen sink fixture. I got a touch free model again, this time with the sensor on the left side. When I first tested it it did not appear to work. My first thought was the controller did not come with batteries. When I popped the lid I saw it did have batteries so I wondered if just the included batteries were shit, so I bought more.

When I put the new batteries in and had the same non-results I was frustrated. I started wondering if the plumber installed the faucet and never tested it. I turned the faucet on and then waved my hand in front of it repeatedly, expecting it to turn off, just like my faucet at the old house did. Well this wasn’t the same faucet model. What I discovered was you leave the handle in the off position with this faucet, which is actually a better solution. Once I did that it worked perfectly. I felt dumb for not realizing this earlier.

The Tacoma was due for an oil change. I did not have all of the supplies on hand so I thought just this once I would go to an oil change place and get it done. There is a Valvoline shop close to my house. When I pulled in both bays had a line of four cars waiting to get in but I figured it should go pretty quickly. It did not. Instead I spent at least an hour and a half on the process. When I got the bill it once again reminded me why I started doing all my own oil changes some 15 years ago. I wound up paying probably triple what it would have cost me to buy the oil/filter and do it myself. I was not happy with my decision.

During the afternoon I also ran out to get a haircut. My stylist, Princess, told me all about the challenges she is having with her 13 year old boy with some school issues. I listened, but did not say much. My hair was feeling shaggy based on my norm, it felt good to clean things up a bit.

Saturday night I went to see the latest Guardians of the Galaxy movie with Christine. We went to the Cinebistro, the fanciest theater in town. We had nice dinners and both really enjoyed the movie. The Guardians series always has a lot of laughs. I would give it a solid A.

On Sunday I wanted to tackle the biggest challenge with getting things back to normal post cabinet/counter install, reinstalling the master bathroom mirror. This mirror is huge with a wood border around it. I slid it back to the bathroom with stupid ideas of doing it myself but I soon realized this would be physically impossible.

I had to have Christine come over to lend me a hand. On the first hoist it was obvious I didn’t have enough space. I thought removing the second medicine cabinet would provide it. I was wrong. What I realized was the issue were the new faucets that were installed which sit several inches higher than the old fixtures. There was literally no way to get the mirror in place as is so that left me one option, remove the faucets.

I didn’t totally disconnect them but I removed the hardware that held them in place, undoing what I paid the plumber to do. Once I did that I was able to pull the fixtures up and lay them in the sink. Once I did that Christine and I were able to finally get the mirror back on the wall, what a PIA. I then re-secured the faucets and reinstalled the two medicine cabinets. Finally I had a mirror in the bathroom once again, negating the need for me to go to other areas of the house to see what my hair looks like. I felt bad having Christine do grunt work on Mother’s Day.

During the afternoon I worked on a few things including emptying a a couple more boxes in the garage. As has been the case with most box openings at this point, more stuff found it’s way into the trash can as it’s use to me did not merit keeping it around. Later I went to a Mother’s Day dinner with Christine and her boys which everyone seemed to enjoy.

This should be my first “normal” week in awhile. I was able to use my dishwasher for the first time in over a month last night. It was glorious.