Thursday, June 28, 2007
3000 Hits for Craig Biggio
Congratulations to 20 year Houston Astros veteran second baseman Craig Biggio on getting the 3000th hit of his baseball career. He achieved this milestone on a night where he had five hits, a first for any of the 27 members who have gotten at least 3000 hits. The Astros ended up winning the game 8-5 in 11 innings over the Rockies as Brian Fuentes gagged away his third game in less than a week for Colorado.
Completion of a Long Awaited Project
After 31 1/2 long months, I finally was able to empty my storage room in Aurora and transport my property to WY on Wednesday 27 June and end one long, frustrating, and at times seemingly endless chapter in my life. Over the next two weeks I will get fully moved into my new place and make myself a home again. Hallelullah...
The process actually went quite well. I caught a break in the weather as it was partly cloudy to cloudy for the most part and the temperature got no higher than the low 80s. I was able to catch a ride from Todd's wife Tascha and her son as they were already planning to see her sister in Denver so that worked out extra nice as it saved a round trip back and forth (about 3 1/2 hours) and a tank of gasoline. I was able to load the truck completely by myself in about 4 1/2 hours with only one glitch--while reaching for a coffee table that was stored on top of the mattresses, I slipped and fell off a short ladder. I cut the shin on my lower right leg above the ankle and broke a brace that holds the coffee table leg to the table. The damage is completely repairable. My big 36" Curtis Mathes TV was able to be put in and out of the truck rather easily as I used the center cabinet of my entertainment center to wheel the TV out of storage right up to the back of the truck and then lift the 175 pound beast about four feet for placement into the back part of the truck and brace it between the mattress and my recliner. After an uneventful drive up to WY, I then unloaded the vehicle in about 2 3/4 hours by myself in largely ideal weather conditions (cloudy and 65 degrees) into the garage that comes with my unit. Everything went into easily with room to spare as I carefully engineered the placement and stacking of furniture and boxes. I only had to repair about four boxes, but I plan on replacing about two to three dozens boxes that I store keepsakes, memoriabilia, and other items in as some of those boxes have been in use for those purposes going back to the 1980s when I moved from NM to AZ.
The U-haul took about 12-13 gallons of fuel for the trip which wasn't bad --- I ended getting right around 10 mpg for that big truck with all that weight aboard.
I drank lots and lots of water to keep hydrated and fresh. I probably drank about 4 gallons of water in total for the day, and my designated moving hat served its purpose well. It was totally soaked and drenched in perspiration but the absorption was excellent enough to keep perspiration from flowing onto my faces, into my eyes, and on my glasses. Add that to taking breaks about every 20-30 minutes and towelling down my head and neck thoroughly and the level of discomfort was minimal from that point of view. Workgloves as usual were very helpful in handling the materials and eliminating any external wear and tear on my hands and wrists.
Wearing shorts and a t-shirt along with socks and tennis shoes were excellent choices for the job, allowing for comfort and ease of movement.
I did work hard but having the hand cart helped out tremendously reducing physical labor and make things more efficient. I was quite sore and stiff by days end as expected, but I took about a 20 minute hot shower to soothe my bones and muscles and then generously applied Ben-Gay ointment across most of me before going to bed. I slept solidly and uninterrupted for over 9 1/2 hours. When I awoke this morning, there was some lingering stiffness and soreness but quite a bit less than I anticipated. And I then worked all day being on my feet with bending and stretching and made it through the day with surprisingly little discomfort. I do not feel a whole lot worse than I did when I started working again fulltime in April. I surmise I must be in the best shape I have been in a very long time, perhaps back to over 15 years ago. Working jobs that keep me on my feet for hours on end and having to go up and down stairs sometimes as much as 30 times a day obviously has helped plus having a decent but by no means perfect diet. I absolutely do not believe I could have done this project with as much time efficiency and minimalization of pain 2-3 years ago so thats some good news.
People that I go without seeing for 4-6 months do tell me I look better and have lost weight so, even though I do not see it so evidently, it must be happening. Maybe in the next year or two I can get back down to 220 lbs or less which I have not been around in about 25 years.
Quite a few projects and missions were accomplished in the last couple of months which is very gratifying personally after a long period of non-accomplishment and frustration. I still need to get a post office box, a new cell phone number, and determine if I need to make any replacements or additions to my household supplies. And the somewhat costly repair expenses loom for the White Night in the next several months. Plus I need to get another job that is higher paying, offers benefits, and is least a little more mentally challenging.
But it sure is very satisfying to have gotten this big project done after such a long period of time. I eagerly await using and enjoying these possessions again in the coming near time.
The process actually went quite well. I caught a break in the weather as it was partly cloudy to cloudy for the most part and the temperature got no higher than the low 80s. I was able to catch a ride from Todd's wife Tascha and her son as they were already planning to see her sister in Denver so that worked out extra nice as it saved a round trip back and forth (about 3 1/2 hours) and a tank of gasoline. I was able to load the truck completely by myself in about 4 1/2 hours with only one glitch--while reaching for a coffee table that was stored on top of the mattresses, I slipped and fell off a short ladder. I cut the shin on my lower right leg above the ankle and broke a brace that holds the coffee table leg to the table. The damage is completely repairable. My big 36" Curtis Mathes TV was able to be put in and out of the truck rather easily as I used the center cabinet of my entertainment center to wheel the TV out of storage right up to the back of the truck and then lift the 175 pound beast about four feet for placement into the back part of the truck and brace it between the mattress and my recliner. After an uneventful drive up to WY, I then unloaded the vehicle in about 2 3/4 hours by myself in largely ideal weather conditions (cloudy and 65 degrees) into the garage that comes with my unit. Everything went into easily with room to spare as I carefully engineered the placement and stacking of furniture and boxes. I only had to repair about four boxes, but I plan on replacing about two to three dozens boxes that I store keepsakes, memoriabilia, and other items in as some of those boxes have been in use for those purposes going back to the 1980s when I moved from NM to AZ.
The U-haul took about 12-13 gallons of fuel for the trip which wasn't bad --- I ended getting right around 10 mpg for that big truck with all that weight aboard.
I drank lots and lots of water to keep hydrated and fresh. I probably drank about 4 gallons of water in total for the day, and my designated moving hat served its purpose well. It was totally soaked and drenched in perspiration but the absorption was excellent enough to keep perspiration from flowing onto my faces, into my eyes, and on my glasses. Add that to taking breaks about every 20-30 minutes and towelling down my head and neck thoroughly and the level of discomfort was minimal from that point of view. Workgloves as usual were very helpful in handling the materials and eliminating any external wear and tear on my hands and wrists.
Wearing shorts and a t-shirt along with socks and tennis shoes were excellent choices for the job, allowing for comfort and ease of movement.
I did work hard but having the hand cart helped out tremendously reducing physical labor and make things more efficient. I was quite sore and stiff by days end as expected, but I took about a 20 minute hot shower to soothe my bones and muscles and then generously applied Ben-Gay ointment across most of me before going to bed. I slept solidly and uninterrupted for over 9 1/2 hours. When I awoke this morning, there was some lingering stiffness and soreness but quite a bit less than I anticipated. And I then worked all day being on my feet with bending and stretching and made it through the day with surprisingly little discomfort. I do not feel a whole lot worse than I did when I started working again fulltime in April. I surmise I must be in the best shape I have been in a very long time, perhaps back to over 15 years ago. Working jobs that keep me on my feet for hours on end and having to go up and down stairs sometimes as much as 30 times a day obviously has helped plus having a decent but by no means perfect diet. I absolutely do not believe I could have done this project with as much time efficiency and minimalization of pain 2-3 years ago so thats some good news.
People that I go without seeing for 4-6 months do tell me I look better and have lost weight so, even though I do not see it so evidently, it must be happening. Maybe in the next year or two I can get back down to 220 lbs or less which I have not been around in about 25 years.
Quite a few projects and missions were accomplished in the last couple of months which is very gratifying personally after a long period of non-accomplishment and frustration. I still need to get a post office box, a new cell phone number, and determine if I need to make any replacements or additions to my household supplies. And the somewhat costly repair expenses loom for the White Night in the next several months. Plus I need to get another job that is higher paying, offers benefits, and is least a little more mentally challenging.
But it sure is very satisfying to have gotten this big project done after such a long period of time. I eagerly await using and enjoying these possessions again in the coming near time.
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