If you are in a good mood you may want to skip all the way to the Wordle blurb at the bottom. Tomorrow will be positive, I promise.
It’s tough planning for an uncertain future. I’ve had little motivation to do even simple things like go to Lowe’s for WLF needs. This year has been my toughest, and not 100% due to the situation in Florida. I’ve been in some disconcerting problems very recently, which I was hoping would resolve itself, but hasn’t. Even for a body which has had more than its fair share of weird maladies, this isn’t right. Later this week I plan to make a doctor appointment to investigate this. I’ll not say more until I know more.
Short term planning (September) includes a trip up to Raleigh this Labor Day weekend, the Wilson 100 on the 9th (I signed up just before the price increase Saturday. The weird thing was that I couldn’t get an XL t-shirt because it wasn’t an option, so I settled for a L), and making a commitment to myself to go midweek camping for a few days (I’ve not camped since BRAG. Admittedly the thought of camping in the heat we’ve had this summer has made it unappealing.) at least once. I’m also thinking of doing some day-trip cycling again this year, though the thought of rogue country dogs and mechanical problems in the middle of nowhere concern me more than they did in the past. While I still am unemployed I want/need to take advantage of my availability.
What a nerve wracking day for the team time trial at the Vuelta a España on Saturday! Rain, wet roads, a slick start ramp, and darkness wreaked havoc.
I went to the Atlanta United game on Saturday night. I decided to ride Marta, but it’s been so long since I’ve ridden the train that my Breeze card expired. What a fucking money grab Breeze cards are. I had to pay $2 for the privilege of riding Marta and owning another card that will expire some day. Packed like sardines on the westbound train after the game, I got off just in the nick of time as a chorus of “Sweet Caroline” inside the train started as I stepped onto the platform.
It’s Monday during Bundesliga so if you guessed that I am a dejected Werder Bremen fan you’d be correct. Werder Bremen, who seem to find new ways to disappoint, lost 1-0 to Freiburg by giving up the losing goal five minutes into extra time at the end of the game. After two weeks at the bottom of the table (league standings) I predict that Werder Bremen will again get relegated to Bundesliga 2 at season’s end, and with that I will stop being a supporter; I hope that I am incorrect.
I solved today’s Wordle in three attempts; my starter today was RUGBY.
Wordle in 3, starting with EIGHT (it was #800)
Keep putting one foot in front of the other. It has been a hot, long summer and hopefully some relief later this week.
Augusta was the hottest I have ever worked a bike race. I even had it easy, as I was in a car, but the riders, volunteers and our 2 judges had no such relief. As I left Saturday to come home, the car read 104 degrees. One rider Friday complained we “forced” him to ride in dangerous conditions. No, we didn’t. You always have a choice. Many made the choice not to. I’m amazed so many did!
A very lazy Sunday. I wanted to ride my scooter and Debbie wanted to go to breakfast, so we met in Senoia at the “new” diner. Really good- we will go back.
Almost done shoveling out my in box.
-FP
Wow. Sounds like a brutal weekend.
I hope you can get some answers Paulie. Be curious, ask questions. Wordle in 3 for me too and no mistakes in Connections. Storms woke me up last night. They were pretty loud. Not sure what happened on Saturday as I didn’t hear any storms but I lost power for most of the night. Dirtbag potluck was fun using camping lanterns to see. I made a granola, yogurt fruit pie to take. There were no leftovers. :). Yesterday I opted to go to the Cohutta Wilderness instead of Black Sheep. Jack’s River trail is a fun 17 mile loop with over 30 river crossings. A good trail to do in the summer!
Thanks Sal, will do. (BTW- if for any reason I can’t do the BRAG trip next year, though I will 100% try, you will benefit by getting your own room. 😉 )
I just did Connections, managed to get it all right as well.
The brunt of all weekend storms went around WLF, which could use a good dousing.
BRAG trip is over a year away. Don’t be an Eeyore this far in advance! :). Anything could happen between now and then. Think positive.
Preach, sister! 🙂
I don’t consider being concerned about my health as being an Eeyore, but that’s just my opinion.
well if it’s your health you’re worried about….get that doctor’s appt so they can figure something out! Hopefully something simple. Not sure what is going on since you haven’t elaborated.
Is this a running trail? Sounds like fun on a hot day!
Consider the source. I’d bet money that a “fun 17 mile loop” is a running trail, for Sal. 🙂
*I bow down in her general direction*
we never lost power over here – only a mile away. NO idea why the power went out.
And -I didn’t even hear the storm last night – but I took a Benadryl (got stung by something & it itched.hurt) – so that had me knocked out.
True dat.
It is a running/hiking trail. It’s wilderness too so a lot of blow down to climb over and under. But it is a fun trail on a hot day!
Maybe 20 years ago, before my “wife” lost her sense of adventure, we were at Fort Mountain State Park, and some guy started a conversation and asked if we’d ever been to the Cohutta. He told us about a road that goes through it. I said I’min a Volvo sedan, and he was like, “Oh, you can do it.” And so we did, and I made it through with my oilpan intact. 😉 I cannot imagine running through that, so props to you, Sally.
Thanks! It is a beautiful place.
Agreed! That drive through it was a spiritual experience. I remember the road now, it went to Lake Conasauga.
My starting word matched out of 5 letters, although in the wrong positions. Coulda had it in 2, but took 4.
Saturday was brutally hot. I went to Summer Shade to watch False Hearted Lovers play at 1. I had to go home and take a nap after that. Thankfully my house was 100 yards from the stage. I then spent a couple hours in David’s pool, and then another couple hours in the evening in David’s pool with a friend.
Met up with another friend yesterday, she and I have recently reconnected after a 10 year hiatus that was caused by a confluence of events related to others in our friend circle a decade ago. Regardless, it’s a special gift to have friends that it feels like you last saw them yesterday even though decade(s) have gone by. I reconnected with another friend this summer who I hadn’t talked to in 30 years, just because of life.
There was a time when my only friends were my “wife’s” friends. I set an intention to fix that, and I have. Recently my friend Jamie said “Dude, you have a LOT of friends!”
Paulie, let me call you out on one thing, ALL of us have an uncertain future. As a person who spent most of his life with one arm in the past and the other in the future, the place to be is this moment. Right here, right now, today. Yes, we do have to keep a weather eye on the future, but it rarely plays out the way we think it will. And if something ominious is on the horizon, deal with it when it gets here. No need to chew your food twice man.
I’m basing out of Aurora Coffee today in Little 5 because I have an odd window of time to kill this morning. I haven’t been here in forever. It feels like a spin-off of the EARL.
I had a 7 month streak going with the NYT crossword that I broke by missing a day last weekend, and I’ve been off my game ever since. I’m working on catching up, and will see if I get current or not.
Point taken. My intent was that it feels harder for me to plan long term than it did even a couple of months ago.
Good luck with getting your work done. It’s been an age since I’ve been to Aurora.
I get that planning long term can be daunting especially when dealing with aging parents and not sure of their status. But just take it a day at a time. As David says….live in the moment. I know it’s easier said than done as I also struggle between an arm in the past and one in the unforeseen future. But I have some brutally honest friends who put me in my place. hahahaha
I hear you. I’m navigating a long-term separation with an uncertain date to legally end it. For much of this year it’s been wildly uncertain where my kids and I would be living. That is getting solidified today. All through the chaos I have kept telling myself that whatever wild scenarios my brain comes up with haven’t happened yet, and I’ll deal with them if/when they get here. And none of them happened.
To that end, I think I may have finally cracked the code on my fucked up sleep pattern. It’s super rare for me to sleep through the night. I finally realized that if I wake up, I do not touch my phone any more. I spent decades thinking I needed to know what time it was that I woke up. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that my alarm hasn’t gone off yet, so go the fuck back to sleep, and stay off of the goddamn phone. I figured out a new super power in Belize when I was snorkeling. I literally talked myself down in situations that in the past would have caused a blind panic. Our fucking brains believe what we tell them. In the ocean when that panic started to creep in, I kept telling myself “You’re OK, you’re OK”. I did that over and over until my brain believed it. Now I’m applying that lesson to my sleep.
So, Paulie, you’re OK. Yes, you have a lot of shit going on. We all do. But in this moment in time, you’re OK. None of your scenarios have happened yet. Wait until the shoe drops, don’t be dragging the goddamn ceiling down on yourself. Keep telling yourself that, and in time you’ll come to believe it. It sounds woo-woo, and I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t experienced it.
I never sleep thru the night, but I have an old school alarm clock on my bedside table – so I see what time it is without trying hard at all.
I leave my phone in another room at night.
I used to have a clock in sight of my bed. A few years go I was working with a wellness professional by way of my doctor’s office. She advised me to remove that clock. I did, and it helped. In my case I had trained my brain to see what time it was, which ultimately led to me waking up at 2:00 AM pretty much every day. I have determined that I do not at all need to know what time it is in the middle of the night any more. It’s not time to get up, that is all the information my brain needs.
My bedside alarm clock is a very old iPod Touch (remember those?). It hasn’t been eligible for an iOS update in a decade, so it’s comical to recall what iOS looked like back then.
I have really bad insomnia. I can’t fall asleep or stay asleep. I never, ever, look at the clock in the middle of the night because that just tells me how much sleep I’m not getting, which in turn keeps me awake. I do sort of what Bob describes below, which is to just lay there as still as possible and restfully rest. For the past three years I’ve had sleep data through my Fitbit, which tells me I get anywhere between 1.5-4.5 hours of sleep per night. It sucks.
The blog ate my comment to this earlier, so I’ll try again. I’m right there with you Jenka on the janky sleep pattern. 1.5 to 4.5 hours of sleep absolutely sucks, and periodically I’ll get exhausted enough to sleep through the night. I have been absolutely impervious to the multiple sleep medicines my psychiatrist has tried on me.
Upon reflection I think my earlier comment ended up in moderation. You can delete it, Paulie, I didn’t use the word this time that I think triggered it.
I forgot to mention that I learned that Steve Miller is going to be at the Fox in December, and now I’ll be at the Fox in December as well. This is a bucket list concert for me that I had feared would never come around. I now have three concerts on deck this year:
Chicago at Chastain
Brian Jonestown Massacre at Variety Playhouse
Steve Miller Band at the Fox
Woot!
Steve Miller Band – I saw them as a teenager or in my early 20s in Iowa – he was drunk or high or something, it was a horrible concert. Since I went to plenty of concerts back then, and it’s one of the few I really remember, I know I’m remembering it correctly.
I’d guess he’s cleaned up his act since then. You can let me know.
(I’m still jealous I can’t go to Chicago)
It’s a total crap shoot seeing geezer rock, but my intution is telling me it’ll be an epic show. Grand Funk Railroad put on an epic show, and a couple years I saw Peter Frampton, and he really brought it too. There is usually a benefit to seeing last hurrah tours. Although Elton John… At least I finally go to see him. I can’t unsee him decrepitly walking back out on stage in his fucking bathrobe at the end of the show.
If I can get my ass up to Variety when their box office is open I will buy a ticket for Old 97s, and perhaps Rick Beato. Perhaps I can get this done Wednesday, tune in tomorrow to find out why…
Hey, I’ll go to Old 97s with you if you want to make a night of it. My “wife” is a Rick Beato nut, and his son is a classmate with my son. I haven’t gotten on board with his work, but props to him to make a living in the fashion that he does.
Sounds good. I will confirm Wednesday.
Great!
Though I don’t dislike Roll and Vande Velde, I wish that Peacock had a commercial free international feed for the Vuelta that I could watch.
I watched the TTT and stage 2 on CNBC. I don’t know if they will be showing more, or if that was just a teaser. My friend Randy Shafer is working it as a comm. He was chief/PCP/HMFWBIC a few years ago. (president of commissaires panel, head MF what be in charge)
Two weeks into my return to Duolingo and I curious to see if/how I am actually learning Dutch. Yes, I can recognize words but without providing any grammar rules such as verb conjugation, can’t say that I would be able to construct my own sentences any time in the future.
Kevin quit Duolingo for that very reason. He says it’s not very good at teaching a language from scratch, and it also doesn’t teach you how to have basic conversations for travel. He switched to Babbel and he must like it because I haven’t heard him complain about it.
I can kind of see what he’s saying, because having been fluent in French before I remember all the vocabulary and most of the grammar, so Duo has been incredibly good for me as a refresher. I feel a lot more confident in my ability.
Yeah, for me it’s better for German since I have been taught the grammar rules, etc.
Happy Monday! A very quiet weekend due to the heat. Saturday we went to see the movie Gran Turismo, which was an entertaining racing movie. The best part for me were the amazing aerial shots of some F1 racing courses. We decided to go to Vickery’s for lunch beforehand, I don’t think we’ve been there in 10 years. For some reason I thought it had probably closed down when all the new restaurants came in, but it seems to have hung in there! Sunday we did not leave the house because it was too hot.
Oh man, I miss the Vickery’s on Crescent Avenue. The Glenwood Park one is a mere shadow of the original. It does indeed continue to hang in there!
I’m going to take Lucas to see Gran Turismo, probably this weekend. It is totally his jam.
I remember going to Vickery’s on Cresent – Deaner used to hang there a lot as a bike messenger. Its been forever since I thought about that place.
Same. In fact my first instinct was to ask which Vickery’s she visited. Then I realized that I used to work at 14th and Crescent and didn’t recall seeing it there when I worked for Ionic.
The Crescent Avenue Vickery’s has been gone for maybe 20 years now? Longer? In the early 90s we lived on 14th Street in the Mayfair and could walk to Vickery’s. Those were the days.
In my defense until I started working in midtown in 2017 I rarely went there with the exception of going to the High, or to Goethe, since moving to East Atlanta in 1999. If you guessed that I hate to pay for parking you’d be correct!
We keep busy all weekend –
Friday night Annette & I decided to do something different – we went to BINGO at the VFW. Been driving past the place for 15 years & joking about going. It was busy, but not that busy -there were 5 of us – but NO winners. I own a dobber now, so maybe we will go back. It was $20 worth of fun for a couple hours.
Interesting fact – its one of the few VFWs that doesn’t have a bar.
Saturday we went for a walk, lunch at the Marietta Square (Johnnie Maccrackens) and then to Ooops & Deposit’s pool. His pool has enough shade, its got cool water instead of the bathwater of many pools this summer. Caught up with then about Eurohash, etc.
Sunday we went to another friend’s pool over in Mableton, haven’t seen them in forever & have been trying to plan a pool day all summer. Good to catch up with them. their pool water wasn’t super cool, but wasn’t as warm as some other bathwater pools, so it was a great afternoon.
Got stung by something – on my hamstring – so sitting in this chair this morning is very annoying,
I had a dobber for awhile and pitched it a couple of years ago during a kitchen cleanup.
Barb, you need to pitch a reality tv show “Pool Crashers”. 🙂
but – we do ask permission 1st. 😉
I’m sure we could have also crashed Slippery’s pool this weekend, but that’s a further drive.
Black Sheep ended at Breaskstroke’s Sunday – but we didn’t feel like dealing with that big of a crowd.
I keep telling Allan we do NOT need our own pool, we have plenty of friends with pools. He still wants a pool here someday.
TV doesn’t need to show that you get permission. Do you think that the Real Housewives is real? 😀
You definitely have a spot for it.
yes – we have room, but I do not want to spend the money on it. (the damn hot tub costs enough with stupid repairs…)
Bob, how was golf? I guess I should have come over to your section Saturday night and asked in person.
Good times, sorry we didn’t connect at the game. Next time we will.
Fun weekend! With Laura out of town Travis and I spent a ton of time together, we don’t do that often enough. Went to the driving range on Saturday to see if I remember how to swing a club then Atlanta United game at night. They have some new players and played an awesome game! They have been struggling for a while and were not as fun to watch but Saturday’s game was great! They play again Wednesday so looking forward to going back down there.
In good news I got word that my tickets for the Miami game sold for $400! Almost pays for next years season tickets 🙂
Sunday played an actual round of golf with Travis, I played horribly but we had a great time. It was so hot I spent the rest of the day inside.
For the sleep deprived, I used to wake up all the time during the night and freak out that I wasn’t getting enough sleep. I learned that just laying in bed and not moving, even though you are awake, you are getting the same amount of rest as if you were sleeping. Now when I wake up I just stay calm knowing I’m getting rest and will drift away pretty quickly.
We’ll be at the game on Wednesday. We listed our Miami tickets but I think we will have to lower the price because they haven’t sold yet. There’s still time, I suppose.
I was going to lower the price if they didn’t sell this weekend so the timing was right. Tickets in my section are still going for over $500 but I put a contingent on mine that all 3 had to be sold together. That is probably why it took so long.
That’s awesome you got the tickets sold for $400/each. NICE!!!!
Jenka- good luck!
I agree 100%, Bob. I had a consulting client decades ago who survived multiple types of cancer, and I’ll always remember him telling me that if you’re laying down, then you’re resting, whether you’re asleep or not. The anxiety of “I’m not sleeping” is a motherfucker, and I’m glad I unwound that some time ago.
The situation to which I am also paying attention is Tropical Storm Idalia which is supposed to reach hurricane strength and make landfall a little north of my mother’s house.
Watching this as well…
Oh yeah, speaking of concerts. Friday night I learned Chris Stapleton was playing at Ameris Bank amphitheater. By learned I mean I heard the opening band from my house. So I grabbed a cooler and a chair and jumped on the onewheel and rode up there. Sat outside the amphitheater and enjoyed the no crowd and cheap beer free concert. Fun times!
I did that for a Toto & YES concert when my friend Gloria lived across from the amphitheater. Its awesome once it gets dark, you can even see the big screen!
Made the slightest of effort today by going up to Lowe’s, who naturally didn’t have the one product I was seeking in stock. Bought some compost and a funnel, but will have to wait to get more 30% vinegar that I use for weed control.
Decided I didn’t really need more food in the house at the moment, so squashed the idea of also hitting Kroger at Edgewood Retail District.
Oh, and it’s hot and very humid again so being outside this afternoon was no joy.
I now co-own a townhome at Ponce and Lullwater, directly across the street from my kids’ school. This is game changing for us in a number of ways. Plus on most school days there will be one less car getting in Jenka’s way. 😉
Wow, I didn’t realize you were so wealthy! 😉 Congrats!
Also. You mentioned the Mayfair above. In 1996 when I was dating the then-love-of-my-life we jokingly walked around one of the units that was up for sale.
Heh, I used my VA loan benefit for a second time in my life to secure 100% financing. I’d have a shot at being wealthy if I didn’t have two kids in Paideia, but there’s absolutely no better way that I could be spending my money. Today’s transaction removes a massive amount of uncertainty from my life. I have stared down numerous twists and turns on the way to getting here today.
WOOT! Congrats! Now get outta my way!
LOL 😉
Thought of going “halfway” to Raleigh on Thursday – Asheville, Black Mountain, or Old Fort. My god people want a lot of money for their AirBnB’s! There is a hostel in Asheville, if I want to be cheap(ish). More than likely I’ll leave early Friday morning and make the trip in one day.
get in touch with Mango – he &Kat just bought a place in Brevard – I’m sure you could “camp” out inside with him. He’s up there working on it.
Hmmm, I’ll consider that. Thanks for the idea.
We rented a camper trailer in Sevierville for the Cades Cove ride for this exact reason. I needed to economize after all of my other travels this summer.