leg day or hump day? sadly, same difference…

i came up with an expression a long time ago…

…”some days you’re the leg, and some days you’re the dog doing the humping”.

yesterday was SUPPOSED to be “leg day” in the gold’s gym sense of the phrase…but instead turned out to be in that OTHER way. it all started with a summer allergy flair up. all that shit you hear about texas flooding meant we got a lot of rain, which means shit blooms and pollinates and shit…especially that last part with your continuing bee issue (more on that in a sec). normally i woulda stayed home yesterday and all woulda been well…but gypsy was getting spayed, and i know the day after is kinda crucial in the healing process, so rearranged my schedule so i could be home with her TODAY, the day after her surgery.

i kinda regret that decision now in hindsight – especially since she’s doing fine today. she’s just chilled out on one of the numerous puppy pillows around our house, this one being just to my left as i type this. but back to yesterday…

…all was good to start except i felt a bit stuffed up. i got up, got gypsy to her vet check in time of 7-8am by around 7:15, grabbed some breakfast tacos and, even with a stuffed up nose, decided that while the bees have kept my from backyard maintenance they don’t seem to mind the front yard looking nice, so i went at it without issue and even felt a little clearer headed for having done so. showered up and off to work.

all was good.

my first stop was our now defunct shop at 2222 & i35. we closed it, but still have it leased till september so my boss told me there was no rush to clean it out, although i’ve been whittling away at it in the month since we shuttered it. the handicapped space in front of the shop isn’t legitimately marked, so you can park there without issue…except for the parking block. it’s a bit high and shoved into the space a bit far and as a result i typically nail it. last time it bent my bumper just right to jostle some of the plastic trim around a fog light and pop a reflector, but both popped back into place with ease. this time when i rolled up on it a bit i looked – reflector looked good, light looked good. from where i sat, all was good…

…just wait for the follow up on that one.

went off to the burnet shop and ran into the bosses, who told me good news and bad news:

good news – now that our trips pushed a week they’re in vegas same time as us and dinner might need to happen
bad news – 290 shop now has to be cleared out two MONTHS ahead of what i’d been told.

fun stuff.

then it was off to our pflugerville shop and i helped a kick-ass artist of ours put together a skateboard, then we took it for a spin – but he hadn’t tightened down the kingpins (the bolts that control the truck flexibility) so when it was my turn, and i run my trucks tight so i can REALLY lean, i got to re-experience wheel bite…

wheel bite (weel bít) n, when the wheel of a skateboard comes in contact with the painted surface of the wooden deck, causing paint to transfer onto the wheel, paint to be removed from the deck, and typically the rider of said board to be launched off it

in this sense, my day was typical. for the first time in twenty years i hit the concrete – hard. nailed my knee, my elbow, and my pride. also re-activated the hip issue i’ve had of late (?!?). this is why the gym didn’t happen. from there off to the 183 shop and then home…but as i was about to get off the toll road i heard a noise…then it got louder…and louder…and then WHAP! i looked in the rear view mirror to see a large piece of black plastic fly out from under my car and into the median. this could be one of two things:

1. something i hit and was dragging and it finally popped free

or…

2. part of my car just liberated itself

turns out it was the latter. remember that parking block from earlier? the one that didn’t harm the easy to pop back plastic trim or reflector? it turns out it HAD popped the screws on the wheel well, and toll road speeds pushed it back into the tire enough to snag, pull, and release. in the process it ripped out the temperature sensor of my car (it now reads negative forty although strangely the sensor IS still actually there, just the housing is gone) and the resistor for my LED fog lights fell out and dragged to the point of ripping out said light and shredding the mounting socket (i haven’t looked to see if the whole lens mount clip is destroyed). so the tally for repairs will be (at least) a new temp sensor kit, a new wheel well, and new led fog lamps.

and all this has to wait till AFTER vegas if possible…

…so then i get home and put the dogs out. i’ve know i’ve needed to take a closer approach to the bees (i.e. get up on the hive entrance and pour liquid into it) but the thought of getting swarmed terrifies the shit out of me so i haven’t. yesterday was the worst i’ve seen them piled up at the hole…and there appears to be a second start up on the bricks below this.

that was it – bees, car issues, physical pain? whiskey and such for my evening, please…

today i tried to sleep in but woke up at 6:45am bright eyed and bushy tailed. i put the dogs out and then looked at the bees…more a normal amount of activity, and i could tell the bee stuff is just “patio dining” because there’s some seepage coming out from the trim and brick (which i assume is honey) and they’re going after it ’cause it’s the easy way to feed. the hole was actually visible and now seems more approachable the way i wanna try it (god help me – maybe tomorrow?). the car still needs its help, but drives fine it just thinks the outside temp is a shitload more blustery than it is (not sure if this will effect the a/c or not) and physically i, like gypsy, seem to be a lot more back to normal today. so while yesterday REALLY sucked, today has a lot more positive potential…the silver lining to the dark cloud, as it were. just figured i’d end on a positive note…

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