Speaking Freely

We’re finally home. It seems like we’ve been gone for several months. I think we put something like seventy-six hundred miles on the odometer. Nearly a years’ worth of driving per our insurances yearly estimates.  My butt feels every mile of it but the other problem with travel is eating very rich foods. Not necessarily eating more but more in the food you eat. These restaurants are most assuredly putting some extra calories in their food to increase the appeal of their food. Unfortunately, this didn’t end by merely getting home, the first night back we headed to the local Italian restaurant. This oddly, the only genre of food we didn’t eat while travelling, that is if you don’t count pizza. I am putting pizza in its own food group. Now back to the reality of home ownership, at least for a couple of months. We head out again for our final trip in September spending near two weeks in Hawaii. Our oldest son and family are joining us and should be a fun time. We have two more years of our vacations to Tahoe and Hawaii and then we plan to sell them and take up more time in the trailer and exploring the lower forty-eight states and more specifically, National Parks. But first…

I am having surgery again. This time, its my ankle and calve muscle. More a few years, I have been suffering from and issue in my ankle. I’ve believed for some time that it was a result of an injury when I was seventeen. But what we have now been told is a congenital issue with a calve muscle that is too short and as a result over time the compensation in my foot has caused an issue with the toe and with the ankle joint that allows side to side movement. Long story short, they will bone graft into that joint and fuse it. Certainly, will be stiff for the rest of my life, but pain will go away and hopefully the swelling in that ankle. I have this surgery within days of returning from Hawaii. I get all the old man checks this month too, you know, from both ends. And finally, the repair of my torn bicep and should rotator cuff. Hopefully by late 2026, I’ll be moving, lifting, living a better life. Two major surgeries and lots and lots of PT and massages.

With only three and half more years of enduring the orange idiot and the incredibly stupid people that can’t think for themselves. I listened to a couple of friends that openly admitted extremely poor if not non-existent relationship with their kids and grandkids. After talking to them quite a bit about current events, it was easy to see that their beliefs and their inability to listen to others with differing opinions, it was pretty easy to understand where the problem lies. They are so locked into their religious beliefs and misguided biblical beliefs, along with being entrenched into the MAGA world and all the conspiracy crap that goes along with it, that they can’t listen to their own kids and put their beliefs and probably have drummed their kids with their beliefs. I give my dad a lot of credit as he opened his eyes and chose to understand not only my generation thinks but also his grandkids. Opinions about everything and everyone is so damaging to the younger generation and the inability to try to understand LGBTQ equality, socialism is not bad and is not communism, Trump is wrong, his followers are even more wrong for blindly following his bullshit. Personally, not sure why I still work being friends when most integral thoughts they have are in opposition to my own beliefs. They seem okay with the idea that it is their kids responsibility to mend their relationship, and no effort should be put forward on their part. Sad, but they are blind to the idea that they may be the cause.

Why have I lost most of my ability to be coordinated? It seems that every project or task I get into, I just get frustrated and call someone else to do what I could have taken care of myself easily just five years ago. The latest was a sprinkler valve. I had already tried to open the valve and had replaced the diaphragm, only to discover that I had slightly gotten it pinched when putting it back together. I had tightened a screw down so tight that it was stuck and the only action was to cut out the old one and install a new one. By this time, my back hurt, my foot hurt, I was hot and frustrated and only wanted to shower and then get into the pool. So, I did as I seem to be doing more and more these days, I picked up the phone and called someone to come and fix what I had given up on doing. The joys of getting old. I finally got into the pool and was listening to the Rolling Stones and what song comes on, “What a Drag It is Getting Old”. At least Mick gets it!

I wake this morning to hear The Donald, in his quest to make trade fair in his mind by adding even more tariffs to countries, especially the ones that have not acted on his previous tariffs. Sooner or later, a smart man realizes he is wrong, but not Trump, he doubles down on his ideocracy and tries again to flex his flabby muscles and think he can control not just the USA, but everything in the world. Nostradamus warned us this blithering idiot, but I don’t remember his warning of all the even more stupid followers. Will no one in the Republican party ever stand up to this destroyer of America? I said America, but he is ruining relationships with Mexico and Canada too. I just wish this friggin fuckwad would just go away and allow the trance to be lifted of the Congressional zombies.

Jen and I are trying to get the things done that need to be done before I can’t. More time in the boat, maybe taking a trailer trip somewhere for a weekend or two, and still getting about three or four things done beforehand. Hopefully, I can paint, install trim, clean up the game room, redo the storage room, get the vehicles all running well, and reduce my worry of things not being done and done right. Maybe I can do these things without screwing them up. That would be nice.