The day to day aspects of life: what is happening around the house and in our family
Irene and I have moved to Castlegar from our home in Surrey. And as of today, our old home is ‘sold’ (although the possession date is later in June).
Above is a picture of our new place, and the rest of the body of the post explains a bit more about our relocation process.
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It has been snowing a lot here in Cloverdale the past week or so. This naturally leads me to start thinking about Spring, from which follows feeling out of shape, and somehow mumbly-jibbly-brain stuff bicycling.
Bicycling is something I used to do out of necessity. From about six years of age, I always had a bike: and from about 15 onward, including that time I failed to get a motorcycle license when I was 18 or so, I ended up using said bike to get to places I wanted to go without having to use a bus. At times, I rode a lot: hundreds of kilometres a season, which it bears mentioning was a rather short season as I was living in Edmonton at the time. I used to like riding a bicycle quite a lot, actually: like riding a motorcycle, it was a mentally ‘focused’ process that led to a kind of zen state when I was in decent shape so that the mechanics of riding weren’t to physically challenging.
NOT AN EBIKE- Similar model to the bicycle I bought in 2015: same brand (Achielle)
A few years back with those memories in mind I bought a ‘city’ bike with the idea that I could use it to enjoy being outside a bit and get back into shape. What I didn’t count on was just how incredibly out of shape I was/am. I carry a good 40-60 pounds of ‘excess’ weight: pure fat. And that bike darn near broke my heart: I couldn’t make it up any of the hills in my neighbourhood. And one day trying to ride along while Irene (my wife) rode her horse was a complete impossibility. I ended up getting off the bike that day and never getting back on. So why am I buying a bike again this year? Read on…
I have had an interesting year or so for me in terms of health. Strange pains and fear of tumours culminating in discovery of damage from a couple ’silent strokes’, tiredness and increased depression leading to a finding of extremely low testosterone: aging sucks.
My testosterone treatments have been helping a lot with my low energy, but when my doctor asked I had to admit to still feeling exhausted most days. This led to a sleep apnea test, and discovery that I have a rather severe problem with, well, breathing rather poorly while I sleep.
Bane: he has some breathing problems too
I have holes in my brain. As I discussed in my previous post on this topic, the next diagnostic planned was a CT scan with contrast, and the analysis is back in.
Brain hole: not exactly as illustrated…
It all started with a sore nipple and a lump that I noticed in May of 2018. Why do men have nipples anyway? It is the very definition of ‘useless’, starring in phrases such as ‘like tits on a boar’. But we guys have them, and sometimes things go haywire as they did with me. But the nipple wasn’t the real problem… therein lies a tale.
My brother Ron and his two daughters, Rebeca and Sophia, visited a couple of days ago. We had a barbecue and some good conversation: I really enjoyed the visit.
My niece Rebeca is about to enter high school, which is amazing in itself. More amazing is that she asked me for some advice on whether pursuing computer science / IT was a good choice. I tried to share some ‘wisdom’, but I found it surprisingly difficult to give good advice. This is a crazy old world, and who knows what the future holds? So I thought I’d post some of my thoughts here in a bit more detail.
I have owned several electric power washers over my life, all of which were more or less suitable to my limited needs. I use them to clean my deck, wash my car, and wash my motorcycle: nothing heavy. And every single power washer I’ve owned has failed me in some way or another. This post is an overview of my power washer history and an introduction to my latest ‘pending failure’: the Sun Joe SPX3001
I’m a strong advocate for the exploration of space. I also firmly believe that we need humans out there. Yes, use robotics to validate assumptions, but please let’s get humans on the surface of the Moon and Mars before I die of old age.
But I also think Donald Trump is one of the most comically inept and arguably outright ignorant human beings to walk the Earth. The man quite seriously disgusts me, and strains my ability to show respect for the office of President of the United States, or for the citizens of that country that elected this dumpster fire on legs. So when Donald Trump signs one of his famous Executive Orders in support of space exploration with Buzz Aldrin, an honest to goodness hero, standing beside him, I’m really, really torn.
My wife and I love our critters, in particular our feline family. It has been the norm during our 27 years together for us to have something like six or seven cats sharing our household. This isn’t ‘by design’, but it seems to work out that way.
For the first time in a while, however, we are down to five cats in our house. And it is a hard change to accept.
There has been a great deal of coverage lately regarding the killing of a single particular lion in Zimbabwe by an American trophy hunter. I’m angry, and wish no good will upon the pathetic excuse for a human being who ‘hunted’ this lion- but that isn’t what I want to talk about here.
