So everything requires maintenance, well everything man-made anyways. My office chair squeaks, it didn’t when I first got it, but over time, it started to. I honestly didn’t notice until the other night when I did my usual get up in the middle of the night and get some work done, alone and the only one awake I heard it, and then I couldn’t hear anything else. I sprayed, lubed, and tightened but it still squeaked. So last night I took it into the garage and overdosed it with WD-40, that did the trick, and no squeak today. I guess the moral is to keep trying to fix the things you don’t like, you’ll eventually get it…

The shortest day of the year is here, the start of winter, the winter solstice. While we know that the days will now start to get longer, who knows what the weather will prove to be. I’ve gone ahead and started stalking up while the sun is still shining. Exchanged 2 propane tanks the other day and I think that gives me 3 full and 3 partial, probably a month’s worth of heat in the RV. Hit Sam’s club today and picked up another 6 cases of water giving us 7 in rotational storage. And I’ll fill the gas tanks up on the truck and Xterra. The 50-gallon tank on the back of the truck would power the generator for about 7 days while running the RV so good to go there. Enough food to last a month, even if it is old beans and rice. Not sure what nature has in store this year but we’re as prepared as we can be.

I’m not a huge fan of Sundays, it’s not that I have anything against the day on its own but its placement in the week means that it’s Monday’s predecessor and that’s enough to taint its usually good name.
I actually read an article saying that this is a thing and was rather shocked as I believed I was the only one suffering this affliction. To celebrate this revelation I registered the domain name sundayangst.com although I have yet to figure out what to do with it.
I probably should have gone to the church musical today but I got up too late and I’m behind pretty big time on my studies so I’m going to hit the books and see if I can’t make up some time.

I’m selling 1012, I’m not sure if I posted about this before but I’m finally parting ways with that property. The proceeds will pay off 712 and when I turn 50, I’ll owe nothing. The house, paid for. The Xterra, paid for. The RV, paid for. The truck, paid for…

I’m sad to see the place go but what used to be a nice little place in the suburbs is going through pre-gentrification. That’s where all the old people that used to care about their places died and the block goes to hell. At least it’s going to a family instead of becoming a rental, I went through pains for that and I hope it’s helped someone start building a life.

What’s really sad to see is how hard it’s become for the younger folks to buy a house, close to impossible around here. This is going to have long term ramifications because buying a house allows you to build passive wealth. Had I not bought 1012 15 years ago there’s no possible way I could be thinking about retirement.

We had our company Christmas party today, it was online so it wasn’t all that bad. Still feel that I’m terribly lacking in social skills but that’s just me. Some really gut-punch news in that one of my co-workers has a cancer diagnosis. The last time that happened was Nancy at PDS lord rest her soul. I’ll keep good thoughts and hope for the best for her. What else can I do.

So a new year is only a couple of weeks away, I’ve got a lot to be thankful for and more things I want to change. One of those is to write more. So my new year’s resolution is to blog daily, even if it’s just something simple. Hopefully, that’ll get me in the place to update my blog.

Well preseason anyways. The Cowboys are playing this afternoon and there isn’t much to cheer about. The curse is real and they won’t go anywhere again this year. So that it’s in writing, I believe that because we’re looking at a 17 game season they won’t be 8 and 8! But I believe this doesn’t bode well for the boys and will result in a more pathetic than usual 7 and 10 season. They’re due a pretty big pummeling in the opener with Tampa Bay and that will set the tone for the rest of the season.

But beyond how badly they’ll be playing I’ll be hoping I’m wrong and they win. It’s also nice to have football back on. Once you get past the whinny people complaining that someone is taking a knee or what anthem is playing, it’s good to see physical competition in the goofy American ritual called football. It signals the start of school and the promise of cooler weather coming.

Life is good but life is short, enjoy the things that make you smile!

I don’t think it’s been a year yet since an old high school classmate committed suicide and we’ve lost another member of the class of 90. Mike Wassink passed. I didn’t know him, I knew I went to school with him but that’s about it. Great guy from what I understand, we just never ran in the same circles.

For some reason I started looking up folks from the past, one of them used to be my boss when I drove a truck, Ralph Paglia. Good guy, evidently was one of the founders of auto sales marketing at the dawn of the internet. Passed due to Covid late last year. His Facebook, and linked-in are still sitting there, an algorithm someplace keeps track of the days since last log in. I wonder how long it will count before something is done.

It’s sad even if it is part of life. It is the final and unavoidable end to life, all life and as much as we try to comfort ourselves with religion and thoughts of an afterlife where we share eternity with loved ones, it’s hard to believe it’s real. At least it is for me.

If you live in Texas you’ll know that the summer is hot, you’ll also know this year we’ve dodged a bullet because it was only yesterday we got our first 100 degree day. We’ve been blessed but nothing last forever and we’re sitting at 102 with a ‘feels like’ of 108. I took about 10 minutes and mowed half of the backyard. The mower is self propelled so it’s more like taking a walk than anything else but still pretty hot. I know, why do yard mowing now in the heat of the afternoon. While I don’t believe in doing actual work in this heat I think it’s bad not to embrace it just a bit. Yeah it’s hot but it just means you have to take the extra precautions, limit exposure and stay hydrated. All part of the summer in the south.

So since the last time I posted, I’ve been to Arkansas and Missouri camping, finished a class, and have made great strides on the organizational changes at the house and am weathering a concerning work environment that we’re watching closely.

And I guess I didn’t have anything to say about it. Ugh, I’m such a procrastinator. Oh well the future is in front of us and we can’t do anything about the past. I’ll work on doing better.

To that end it’s Monday morning at 0749 and I’ve been awake since 4:30ish, drank a 20oz red bull and walked 4300 steps. Already two emails from work taken care of which unfortunately may be the extent of my work day. But I’m going to keep things moving forward as best I can and be thankful for where I’m at and what I’ve got. I’m blessed, just need to get it through my thick skull:)