1. Anytime I get a taste of my dream job as a content creator, or filmmaker, or author, it’s a good thing. This past weekend, getting to see my old classmate’s one-man show inspired me. Speaking to him after I made sure to tell him that I use him as an inspiration for continuing my journey. It leaves me motivated to work on whatever my next project is. However, as soon as I walk into my day job after experiencing that motivation, I feel empty. I feel like I have failed. When I have my ‘days off’ to work on my other passions, I think, ‘this is the time I’ll get that big break.’ When it doesn’t happen and I have to go back to my typical work day, I feel like someone let the air out of my balloon. It’s almost like a dream-life hangover. Maybe one day it won’t be a dream anymore.
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| From after the show. |
2. Several years ago, I bought software to convert VHS tapes to digital. I have more than 65 hours of old tapes I recorded during high school, and I am trying to get them all digitized before the VHS tapes eventually break. I have Elgato Video Capture. It has always worked fine. I hadn’t used it in a year or so when I plugged the cables in. For some reason, the software wasn’t on my laptop anymore. No worries, I downloaded the necessary software and drivers to do the job. Or so I thought. It turned out there were certain functions I needed to turn off on my laptop to get the software to work. However, once those were turned off, my laptop said it was dangerous and I needed to turn those functions back on. It was like an ice cream headache. In the end, I needed to delete the drivers for Elgato. Easier said than done. I spent a few hours researching just how in the hell to get them off my laptop. I was reading that if all else failed, I’d need to contact Elgato and get a new CD-ROM of the software. Not bad right? Well unfortunately, my laptop doesn’t have a CD drive, so yay. It was like a comedy skit where I just wanted to vacuum my car, but somehow managed to set it on fire instead.
3. Okay, I have reached the ‘I’m ready for fall’ portion of the summer. When it’s nearly 100 degrees and humid, that’s enough for me. Several years ago, when I was young(er) and crazy, I looked forward to running in all sorts of bad weather. Too hot? Let’s go. Too cold? I have layers. Hurricane or Tropical Storm? Sunglasses block the blowing sand. Blizzard? I can hide in a house under construction. That last one is 100% real. Anyway, this week’s heat and humidity took me out of my desire to do any run or walk. I chose to hide inside in the air conditioning. Hey, at least I am doing some sort of work, like this blog entry. Wake me when Labor Day is here. Sorry, not sorry.
4. There is an age-old line about New England that goes something like this: If you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes. That is how it went this week. I just mentioned it being close to 100 degrees early in the week. Only a few days later, we had rain with highs in the mid-60s. Honestly, if I had to choose between the two, I’m taking the rainy 65-degree day over the sunny, humid 97-degree day. I will say that my idea of perfect weather is partly cloudy, low humidity, and temperatures in the low 70s, but that’s just me.
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| The weather is always changing in New England. |
5. After 2 months and 4 pretty bad injuries, I was finally able to start going back to the gym. I managed to injure my lower back twice, sprain my ankle, and nearly break both hands. The only thing I was able to really do over the past 2 months was go for walks and eat my feelings of being depressed. My first workout was good but man, did I feel my regression. I was so tired and sore almost immediately. Now my joke is how long is it going to be before I injure something else? I’ll take sore muscles. That’s way better than some sort of foolish calamity that leaves me unable to work out for another 2 months.
6. I am now at the age where waking up at 8am is considered sleeping too late. If you had told me 10 years ago that I’d be used to waking up by 7am on most days, including days off, I’d have said something must have gone wrong. I’m not going to start setting an alarm on days off, though. Years ago, the idea of waking up at 5am to hit the gym before work was a definite no-go. Now I am starting to think that within a few years I’ll be naturally getting up at that time. I still won’t want to go to the gym, though, I’ll just surf the net before sunrise.
7. My car is up over 150K miles, so keeping up on the basic maintenance is very important. My goal is for it to get to at least 250K. This week, it was time for an oil change. I usually go to Jiffy Lube since it’s quick and convenient. I mean, they do try to upsell you on a lot of stuff, but that’s kind of par for the course. This time was interesting. Everything seemed to be going well until one of the crew told me they couldn’t get my oil filter off. They said they tried a few ways, but it was rounded and nothing could get it off. What? Is that a thing? They told me I’d need to go to the dealership and they could change it. The irony is that the last few times I’ve gotten my oil changed, it’s been at the same Jiffy Lube. Getting the oil filter off has never been a problem. So what changed this time? I have no idea, but they ended up changing the oil and doing a few other things and not charging me. That was nice. Unfortunately, this means I have to do another trip for routine maintenance, and a dealership at that. You can smell the attempted upselling from a mile away.
8. I don’t know why, but one of my favorite things is shopping in supermarkets that I don’t typically go to. I mean locations that are out of my normal routine. It’s like I go to a Shaw’s or Stop & Shop, and all of them are varying shades of the same color. Still, somehow it’s new and exciting. It’s even more so when I go on road trips. You get me off of Cape Cod and have me stop at a Big Y, Hannaford, Publix, Giant Food, Aldi, or Wegmans? Oh man, it’s like I’ve won the lottery. I have gone to those places on vacations and maybe (definitely) have kept plastic bags with the logos. I even have an insulated Big Y bag that I bought. It is currently holding extra copies of my books.
9. After having a shaved head for about 14 years, it is still weird to me that I have a full head of hair. In fact, my hair is currently probably as long as it’s been, maybe ever. I can spike it up pretty high when it’s wet. The funniest thing is that if it’s not spiked perfectly, I get the hair at the front of my head, right where my hairline and forehead meet, falling forward. It literally looks like I have bangs like my sisters did in high school. I do plan on getting it trimmed down at my next haircut though. Not because of the bangs but the hair will tickle my forehead, which makes me think I have a bug on me, especially at night. Oh well, I know loads of guys around my age that would kill for the ‘problem’ of having too much hair so I should be grateful.
10. We’re now about 3 weeks out from my vacation, and I’ve got to tell you I’m not feeling any sort of road trip. I haven’t booked any hotels yet, and I’m kind of glad. I am looking forward to the time off, but I can’t tell if I am burned out or not. I work full-time and then work almost full-time on my content, such as this blog. It can feel like I am on a treadmill with working. Maybe as I get closer to the actual vacation, I will get excited and make plans to go, at least do one overnight stay, but who knows? Originally, I had plans for three overnights up in Maine and New Hampshire but honestly, as we get closer to the dates, just the thought of driving over four hours has made me lose interest. It is definitely a fake problem to have. Oh no, I have a paid vacation but don’t know what I want to do with the time. I don’t expect any tears shed for my predicament.
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