A very busy summer is underway. There’s no grass growing under my feet, or any other part of my body, for that matter…
Time for the second quarterly report regarding my on-going quest to un-fuck myself (my battle cry from January). In April, i reported my progress after the first quarter of the year, and am dutifully reporting the latest update as the second quarter comes to a close.
The good news? i’ve stayed with the fitness quest. As of today, i’ve lost a total of 25 pounds since January. Had hoped to see 30 pounds vaporized, but i’m good with what i’ve done so far. Would like to double that for the year-end report… Many happy miles on the bicycle, regular gym habits, and an accountability buddy have been critical.
Not such a good report on the ‘de-cluttering’. Wanted to see another three or four trips to the thrift store, and a few more full-dumpsters during the quarter, but that was not to be…. Many hours on the bicycle, when i should have been excavating, perhaps….
During the month of June, the mechanical shit in my world was breaking as fast as i could fix it — and i was fixing it like a motherfucking ninja! Mostly, the category of “things with wheels” was vexing — having an abundance of ‘wheeled’ things, it goes with the turf, but damned if it wasn’t aggravating.
Jeep was stonecolddead, and i couldn’t get it to hold charge, so it went sailing away on a flatbed at the beginning of the month. The day it returned? The Jag overheated when i got to work the next day. i poked around and identified that problem as a slow leak in the coolant resovoir, and topped it off during my lunch hour.
Glorious weather on the next day got me on the motorcycle – which led me to the next headache: Weirdness and overheating as i got the bike home that night.
Decided that rather than put myself at the mercy of the Motorcycle Repair Mafia, i was going to dig in myself — and i did. Drained, flushed and filled coolant, replaced a thermostat, and did an oil change. The service manual and a bunch of crazy old coots who post repair videos on youtube were my best friends for a few days. For extra support, i joined an online forum – and promptly realized that i had, in fact, repaired something that wasn’t broken*. But it did it myself, damn it… and the bike is operational.
Not so much the Jeep… Two weeks of joy, and then the transmission took a massive, and noisy shit, the following Friday night. Executed a nationwide search, and within two days i was able to buy a rebuilt transmission, have it shipped to my repair shop, and have them perform the transplant. As of today, it is back in my stable.
To be sure, i know that these are truly first world problems. Problems i bring upon myself through the choice to operate a fleet of aging vehicles. i could be rational and functional, and sell the entire lot, buy myself a nice, dependable new sedan, and avoid the headaches.
Not gonna happen.
The upside? My mechanical confidence is strong. i’m ready for what lies ahead. Rolling into the third quarter of the year, i will press on with the fitness goals – always easier to keep moving in the summer. The de-cluttering will get an assist, as The Girl will be coming to visit, and i’m going to put her to work going through her abandoned belongings! She’s been living abroad for 3 years. If she doesn’t want it, she is going to give it away.
Plenty of other adventures ahead… and a project or two that shall be revisited. Life is good. It can all turn in a heartbeat, so i’m going to enjoy the ride while it lasts. Onward! Speed ball to the finish line!
~~~~~~~~~~~
*Suzuki VX800 is a weird beast. Combination of air and water cooling, there is an on-board fan that kicks on in slow traffic, or long idle. i did not know that. When the fan kicked on for the first time, i assumed overheating. The coolant needed a flush anyway…
Trailer Park Refugee 
If you’ve had enough of your wheeled trouble, I shall offer up my PC 800. It quit starting during February when I stopped by to give it some TLC. Your magic caressing would make her feel much better. When can you come to visit her?
Ouch! We just drove down the PCH and were thinking how nice it would be to hit it on cruisers! Don’t give up on the PC just yet… maybe the warm weather, some fresh fuel, and a few electrons is all you need?
I really like my 1988 half ton pickup truck, which starts reliably and purrs like a kitten. So the radio doesn’t work and hasn’t for over a decade? Oh well, I couldn’t hear it if it worked because it was never the possessor of an air conditioner either… so I drive with the windows down all the time. The Toyota is enjoying the usual rice-burner reliability too. But I miss my muscle car.
In the physical realm, I have been working hard in the gardens and put myself on a 1200 calorie per day diet. That effectively took care of any drinking problem I might have had — alcohol is just full of empty calories. Since I got back from California after my last class in mid May, I have lost 12 pounds. And the gardens looks splendid.
Thank you for the inspiration to unfuck myself. I have no clue how one goes about decluttering as we have not succeeded in doing anything except buy more books … etc. And somehow rocks find their way here. At least I have a labyrinth to stick them in.
Congratulations on all your progress!
With your lifestyle, you don’t have to work out…. you just work! Need to burn some calories? Go lift rocks and dirt in the garden! That’s healthier – and far more productive – than running in place for 45 minutes a few days a week! And i certainly know that if i gave up alcohol, i’d have lost those extra five pounds… trying to keep the drinks to the weekend only, but summer (and pool-time) makes that a challenge. A cold beer after a bike ride? Heaven!
Your truck sounds dreamy…That is the one vehicle i would still love to add, but have absolutely no room for more. i can use the jeep to haul a lot of stuff, but ‘big stuff’ requires a rental…
Wow. Awed wonder from the sidelines.
I really, really need to make a similar commitment. Or more accurately several similar commitments.
Unfuck body, Unfuck mind (possibly the hardest) and unfuck home. More maintenance work on the house and in the garden.
An unfuckery coach would make a killing. World-wide. And what a job title.
Ha! i can make that business card! Can’t imagine charging for my services, though… i could make it “Freelance Unfuckery Coach”?
One key difference for me this round is getting it in my brain that i’m tackling small goals – rather than trying to lose 50 pounds, i’m targeting 4-5 pounds/month. Far more rewarding to build in the short term goals. Something that works for me, anyway…
The ‘unfuck mind’ has been a work-in-progress for several years – and the blog has helped. Fortunate to have worked through most of the major demons (which is probably why i’m not feeling compelled to write much out here these days). At least for now… as i learned the last time i ‘closed’ the blog, we are all just one gunshot away from needing to vent the ol’ spleen.
Nice to hear from you every now and then. It’s a shame you fell short of your de-clutter goal but at least those hours weren’t spent bellied-up to a bar or in front of the box. On a bike instead, is the way to go.
What of your son? Is he enjoying his adventure?
You know we’ll stay in touch, my dear. i’ve batted around a few more memoir bits that i would like to write. Those things still rattle around in my brain, and will eventually need somewhere to go. i’m just a bit kinetic these days — i gain energy from motion, rather than reflection. The balance will shift at some point, as it often does, and i’ll go back to a bit of reflection. For now? It’s full throttle!
The Boy is winging his way homeward for a little summer visit as i type this! Yes, i am going to have both of the spawn home soon. They haven’t seen each other in 2 years, so it’s pretty cool that this worked out! They overlap for about a week, and i’m going to take some time off work to just vegetate with them both… Pretty sure they are both as excited to see the pets as they are to see me.
He’s good at this Army thing – although there have been some unexpected adventures along the way. Expecting deployment for him one of these days – who the fuck knows where… bridges to cross, mostly for him, but it will be new territory for me as well.