Kinda.
Back in the olden days suitcased meant you had your stuff in one container. Back in the olden days of naval aviation I should say. It probably meant other stuff in other milieux (that's the french for the plural of milieu I believe) but of course I'm channeling my long lost youth, so yeah. Having one's stuff in one container, usually referring to a limited set of stuff regarding specific and limited tasking. So you can have a medevac mission suitcased or cleaning the head suitcased or even have -- in rare instances -- your duty section suitcased. Of course you can never have a relationship suitcased or a deployment suitcased or your life suitcased. Doesn't work that way.
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Today was up and down. It started with four hours of phone tag and "your call is important to us, please stay on the line and the next available operator will be with you shortly."
I was trying to get a status update on a neurosurgery consultation approval. After four hours I found that it's in the works and inching its way forward. Once it clears the Senate and is signed into law by the President it'll be off to the races.
All the phone tag and holding was a huge pain in the ass. It made me late. I'm the supervisor so I had to chew my ass about my tardiness but I also bought my excuse so I went easy on myself. Well, pretty easy for me.
Also it was just stupid beautiful outside. Cloudy and 25 degrees but not a breath of wind. I wanted to get out there and charge some firetrucking hills! The waiting (especially the holding) was torture.
Compounding the torture was the forecast. A weather front was in the process of moving through and expected to bring high winds beginning at 1300. By the time I finished with the waiting/holding it was already 1130. Firetruck!
But I got out there and hit it hard.
Such a lovely, beautiful day! By the time I got my stretching done and got stuck in to serious workout hiking the air temp had climbed all the way to 35 degrees. There was a bit of a westerly breeze, but not too bad.
Kinda-sorta halfway point. Fixing physical and mental degeneration. That's what I said in the video anyway. Have to pull myself aside later and see exactly what I was on about.
The weather began to close in. Wind came up and it started to spit snow. Not all that bad. Just a bit (whole lot) more nerve pain than I liked at this point but I couldn't quit -- my ride was two miles away!
Found more glaciers to hike. The snow was pretty. Then it turned to snow/rain mix! Then to rain! Air temp was up around 37 and the west wind was gusting in the 30's, so there's some wind noise in this one.
Now this one is amusing as hell. Thought I turned the camera off but I must have double clutched and turned it right back on. So you can see how attractive my sweatshirt is and hear how much sobbing I do when I don't know anyone is watching.
Finally back at the pickup. Good workout.
I went very, very hard for the first 2.5 miles. I was flirting with 11 minute miles over that distance. But I started to run short on juice so my pace slackened. By the time I finished I'd done a bit more than 5 miles in 82 minutes so my overall pace ended up at 15.7 minutes per mile. Which is terrible. But also good. Very good in fact. Despite a six month layoff and carrying lots of slop fat the cardio is still there and the muscles are too.
A little while later I went to fill Mom's car with gas. While I was blathering on about the beauty of the day I realized that I still had a couple of eggs in my sweatshirt pocket from my second pass through the hen house (first pass yielded eight), before I headed out for my hike. So those eggs had a good workout too. Hope they aren't pre-scrambled.
And the final video of the day -- winter molting hens having a dust bath. Interesting stuff everywhere when you look for it I guess. Also, simple things amuse simple minds.
All of today's videos were done with the phone. I left the new camera at home with the case taken apart in an attempt to install the optional second case back. The optional case has slits in the back and I'm assuming those are at least in part to allow sound to enter the case. Only there doesn't seem to be a way to actually swap the waterproof case back with the optional one.
In the meantime I wondered if anyone is stupid enough to make (and sell on amazon) a head rig for smartphones. As it turns out...
Yeah, one look at the 1980's naval aviation/porn star 'stache on the dummy and I had to have it. I also supersized my order with a bluetooth camera control and a chest rig for the phone. Less than $50. So maybe I'll be up and running hands free soon. You never know.
All in all an exceptionally fine January day out here in western Nebraska.
Be well and enjoy the blessings of liberty.
I have not yet watched them all, but I have seen enough to say good on you, keep it up. I have also seen enough to note that Red needs some cows to hustle. However much fun it may be, leading you around is not going to give her the workout she would probably prefer. Good luck with your treatment, whatever it turns out to be.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark. It's good to return to the ranks of the active. As for Red, you are correct. She loves getting out and 'sploring and checking the status of her pastures. But cows are another dimension and one of the most important parts of her life.
DeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting!
That mannequin, I swear that guy was in 136 with my son-in-law. Or maybe he was a Bullet when The WSO was with them.
ReplyDeleteHeh, '80s porn 'stache. a surefire way to get an airedale to buy something!
Solid post my friend, keep it up, hope the docs can fix that pain.
Oh yeah, Hornet guy all the way. They spent a lot more time on their 'staches after they left the A-7's behind. ;-)
DeleteAnd yeah, they got me with that 'stache.
As for the pain, me too. It'll be okay either way, but I'd sure like to have it go away.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Sarge!
Seem to recall high priase from NCO's back in the day. "He's got all his s%^t in one duffle bag".
ReplyDeleteI'll bet there were Greek NCO's 8,000 years ago who said that (rarely!).
DeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting!
I'm exhausted after that workout in Carhartt's (which have a tendency to make for heavy breathing)!
ReplyDeleteThe Cowman had one of those awesome 'staches and he wasn't Navy so...
That Christmas gift sweatshit was a little too warm for the conditions. It's just right for 10 degrees and lower.
DeleteThe 'stache is a metaphysical thing and certainly not limited to the ranks of naval aviation. Those who know, grow.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Brig!
I had Friday off this week, and had originally planned to get up real early, and go out for fish, ( Friday Night Fish is a Wisconsin Tradition ), but the forecast was for near blizzard conditions, starting at abour 1500, so I stayed up late, and went for fish for lunch. I got to bed around 1400, and slept the sleep of the dead, until a little after 2200, when I awoke. Sure enough, the weather had come through while I slept. I looked out the kitchen door, and saw amble evidence of winds and drifting.
ReplyDeleteSo I put on sweats and sox, and my Crocs, grabbed my Grain Scoop, and went to work. It was in the low 20's. and windy, but shovelling keeps you warm, even at 0030. When I had driven a path to the parking lot, and cleared the deck, I turned to the cabin, and found I had shut the front door, with the keys on the kitchen counter.
My cabin was part of a resort that, when it closed they winterized some of the cabins, and turned them into year round rentals. I live in the former laundry building! Well, I waded through drifted snow to the main house, and woke up Fred, my landlord, and asked if I could borrow the spare key. I was given it, and let myself back in. Not my brightest night, this winter, especially when I found it had been warming, as i worked, and the snow had turned to rain, and I had to penguin walk on wet freezing rain, back to my cabin, after returning the Spare Key! Falling most impressively once. Which made my being a bachelor something of a pity, as I am sure Corinne would have enjoyed that immensely! I am going down to Farm and Fleet, and have some spare keys made, to hide in the gas grill, on the deck, to avoid further such events.
It is 1F here in Lake Delton, WI, right now, with 40MPH winds, so I am glad I am working indoors!
Holy smokes! That's a solid blog post right there Scott. You've got impressive winter survival skills! And remember, falling (especially on ice) is a survival skill!
DeleteWhen you say Crocs, are you talking about the foam clogs with holes in them? Do they make a version that's less holy for snow and ice?
I've locked myself out many times. There's a window I can open and shimmy through with great effort. I have a spare key on my key ring but haven't found time to take it off and properly locate it in a hiding place yet. It's only been a year since I changed locks. I'll get to it someday.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!