1. Sometimes I can anticipate something happening before it does. Despite knowing the possibilities, I still do it. No, this isn’t very serious. I bought a gel knee wrap from Job Lot that can be heated or frozen to help with knee pain. I thought it was a great idea, and it was only $5. I used it the same night. I only microwaved it for 45 seconds. It came out warm but not hot. I wrapped it around my left knee and sat to watch some TV. The gel didn’t really stay warm, so I decided to give it a refresh. In my mind, I was laughing, thinking that the gel might explode. Obviously, I didn’t think it would really happen. So I put the wrap back in the microwave. This time I set it for a minute to try to get the gel properly hot. I walked away and heard a pop. Yup, the gel exploded in the microwave with 2 seconds left on the timer. There were hundreds of little blue gel beads strewn all over the microwave. I had to grab the turntable and scoop the beads into a Ziploc bag. They were hot and kind of slimy, so I had to go scrub the turntable and wash my hands. It was a few minutes of me finding rogue beads on the floor. Needless to say, that gel wrap was returned with the receipt. I also bought a knee compression sleeve, but I don’t think that it will explode if I wear it.
2. Being someone who once prided himself on being a borderline elite runner for a little while less than a decade ago, the fact that someone just finished a full marathon (26.2 miles) in under two hours is mind-boggling. Kenyan Sabastian Sawe finished the London Marathon in a staggering 1 hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds. It broke the men’s world record by 65 seconds. To put it into perspective, here are some stats. Sawe ran the equivalent of a half-marathon (13.1 miles) in an hour. At my absolute physical peak as a runner, I could finish a half-marathon in 94 minutes. That’s a 7-minute 10-second pace. Sawe’s pace for a full 26.2 miles was an other-worldly 4 minutes 34 seconds per mile. Again, at my peak, I could pull off a 5-minute 30-second mile. One mile. Then I’d either start wearing down or just be totally gassed and fall over. He was nearly a minute per mile faster than my best for a full marathon. Incredible. Lost in that accomplishment is the fact that the second-place finisher, Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia, also finished in under two hours. He clocked in at 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 41 seconds. Oh, and it was his first-ever marathon.
3. I was eagerly anticipating Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 when it dropped on Netflix last week. It’s an animated spin-off that takes place between seasons 2 and 3 of the show in canon. I am already enjoying it because the voice actors all sound almost identical to the original characters. It is 10 episodes, each clocking in around 30 minutes. That means most of you could probably binge the season in an afternoon. Me, I am taking my time. I have a tendency to only watch one episode of any show I am watching per night. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I think this is a great little side quest for anyone who enjoys Stranger Things. Also, based on the timeline of these 10 episodes, I could easily see there being a second season if the Duffer Brothers chose to do so. I will always be longing for a spin-off in the future where Mike travels and finds Eleven by the waterfalls, but this is also good. Plus, it is low-risk since I know none of the characters are going to die, since they all obviously make it to season 3. All in all, a fun, easy, engaging watch. UPDATE: Season 2 of Tales From ‘85 has been announced for this fall.
4. It’s confusing the way that things are monetized online. My blog, the same one this post is a part of, routinely gets 100,000 or more views per month. In full transparency, I believe that the vast majority are bots that have infiltrated my blog since I don’t do any of the CAPTCHA junk. Still, it’s a lot of views regardless. I researched that if you use Google Adsense, as I do, a blog that has 100,000 views in a month should earn at least $500 or more in that same month. As of this writing, my blog has 140,000 views in April. How much have I earned? 40 cents. I have no clue what the deal is. If bots aren’t counted toward monetization, then why are they counted toward my overall view count? Fix it one way or the other. I’m fine with 40 cents if that accurately reflects the number of views on my blog. I see the total, though, and unless there’s some glitch on Google’s end, I feel like I should be earning way way more than I am. I sent them feedback about it. We’ll see if anything changes.
5. I have mentioned before that I have a 12, now 13, year old client I train. I have to basically do the same workout in order to get him to stay engaged. In the end, I’ll typically burn anywhere from 250-350 calories in 30 minutes as I kill myself to make sure he exercises. We chat as we throw medicine balls, and one thing I have learned is that he is very big on computer repairs. He finds and repurposes computers from the dump or ones that are given to him by others. I believe he has something like 6-8 working computers and nearly a dozen that don’t currently work. I made the mistake of mentioning that I had a pair of old laptops at home. He asked for both, and I compromised with one. I didn’t mind giving it to him since it’s been collecting dust in the closet for probably 5 years. My only mistake was giving it to him before the training session started. It was impossible to get him focused as he tried starting the laptop and checking to see what its specs were. He was happy with it and said thank you, but our workout was not great since he was pretty distracted the entire time. Oh, and he did ask again about the other old laptop, but I said I was holding onto it.
6. The brace and wrap for my knee that I mentioned earlier were bought because I’ve had an issue with my left knee that’s gotten a little worse lately. The area where the patellar tendon attaches to the lower leg has been inflamed and is pretty annoying when my knee is fully flexed. The issue is stability in the lower leg. Another product I bought to try to help with that is a strap that is attached right below the knee at the top of the calf. When the strap is on, it almost immediately stabilizes my left ankle. I went for a long walk after putting it on and was amazed by how stable it felt and how confident I felt in it. Maybe it was just a mental thing, and the effects weren’t that great, but who knows? I even tried to do a little running. It was a positive first try. Only time will tell if this strap can put an end to the knee issue, or at least lessen it. It’s just another thing I need to take, or wear, to keep my body running as best it can. Soon, it’ll be a 12-step process just to step out of bed in the morning.
7. I have mentioned before that my new favorite thing is to shoot videos while driving. I extend my selfie stick up through my moon roof and hold it while I steer with the other hand. I only do it on less crowded roads and also only drive slowly. I know it sounds like I’m defending something dangerous. Typically, I film while driving to beaches since people like those videos. One thing I’ve started noticing is the stares I get from people, especially those walking, as I drive by. In fact, a little girl was walking with her dad on one day, and since I was driving slowly, I could see her point and ask What is that?’ It made me wonder what people think is going on with my car when I go by. Do people think I am a Temu version of the Google Maps car? Like, they didn’t want to send the official vehicle to Cape Cod, so they stuck a camera on an old Toyota and asked me to just drive around? As stupid as that sounds, I could see someone thinking that’s what it was. I should get a Google Maps wrap for my car. Then maybe I’d be allowed to drive into private places like Great Island and Oyster Harbors. This is an example of my driving videos.
8. After what seems like a few years of planning, the new Parker’s River Landing recreation area opened this week in West Yarmouth. It is where there was a drive-in when I was growing up in the 1980s. Amazing that I am of that age where I can tell younger people, ‘back in my day this used to be (whatever)…’ The opening day was cloudy and cool, but even with less-than-stellar weather, the place looks great. There is a huge green field for play and probably for festivals, concerts, and things like that in the summer. There is a playground, a kayak launch ramp, and the biggest attraction, which is an elevated boardwalk that extends over the marsh. There are beautiful views of Seagull Beach to the north and Parker’s River to the east. I have a feeling that I will be visiting there a lot in the future.
9. The real main reason I went to Parker’s River Landing had to do with that boardwalk I mentioned. Located out on the boardwalk, there are probably at least a few dozen engraved planks that people bought. One of those planks is in honor of my Uncle Eric. He passed away a little over 3 years ago from pancreatic cancer. My aunt and cousin got the plank with his name on it. I waited until there wasn’t anyone else out on the boardwalk so that I could take my time and search for it. I was torn. On one hand, it is a beautiful spot, and it will be nice to use that area as a place to reconnect with him every now and then in a roundabout way. On the other hand, I’d much rather be chatting and laughing with him at a cookout than sitting next to a plank with his name on it. I made the best of it. I sat and played a song that always reminds me of him for a bit. Other people eventually came out, so I had to cut it a little short. There will be another time.
10. I have been going to my local Planet Fitness gym for many years. In fact, when I first started there, it was called World Gym. Last year, they did a major upgrade on all of the equipment. Before that, you’d have a handful of machines out of order at any time. They added common equipment that any reputable gym has, like kettlebells, bands, BOSU balls, medicine balls, and foam rollers. Yes, for years, they had none of that stuff. I still wish they had more specialized equipment to make my workout more complete. That being said, I was shaking to my core with excitement over the latest addition to Planet Fitness. No, it wasn’t battle ropes, or barbells for deadlifts, or red light therapy. No, it was even better. Little digital advertisements over the faucet at every sink in the bathroom. They are called ‘sinkside billboards.’ Are you kidding me? No money for equipment upgrades, but they waste it on little TV screens that make it so I can’t see where the faucet is at the sink. I guarantee you if one of those stupid things shorted out, they’d have maintenance in there in five seconds. If a machine breaks down, it’s down for weeks. Absolutely one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen.
11. In honor of the opening of the Parker’s River Landing on the former grounds of the Yarmouth Drive-In, I took it upon myself to go for another trip down memory lane. This involved another former drive-in site. The Dennis Drive-In was open from 1949 to roughly 1986 on Hokum Rock Road. Since closing, it has been allowed to become overgrown. Despite forty years, you can still see the asphalt of the parking lot. You can also see the roads where the cars would drive and park with their front end elevated slightly on a hill for the best view of the screen. The peak of treasure hunting comes from looking for the old speaker poles that have been left strewn about the grounds. When I was there, I counted four that I found, but I am sure that in an area that used to be able to fit 600 cars, there are probably more. It’s only when you see one of these poles that you realize what used to be there. Otherwise, it just looks like an abandoned lot where some jerks dump trash. Who knows, maybe someday they will turn that property into something useful. Right now it’s just a scavenger hunt.
12. The first week of May meant it was finally time to get rid of my Halloween pumpkin. You heard right. I still had the mini pumpkin I bought in early October. It was honestly still in good condition, which is why I think I forgot to get rid of it. I can’t just throw it in the trash. Where’s the fun in that? I made a whole short film about me seeking revenge on the pumpkin because it wouldn’t help me shovel snow in the winter. This all culminated in my driving to Scargo Tower in Dennis, climbing to the top of the 30+-foot tower, and heaving the pumpkin over the side. Amazingly, it didn’t explode when it hit the parking lot. I had to come back down and slam dunk it onto the pavement for the full effect. Then it was tossed into the nearby woods to be food for animals. All of this was filmed for some laughs.
