Sat 04 Apr 26: Chilly overnight (for us, of course). probably high 50s, which is indicative of high pressure -- so hopefully some nice weather for Wash Day tmw... Recently chg'd bedding from the prior setup (expensive memory foam atop cheaper dbl-layer foam) -- which was fine for some time... but had an inkling the way the supposedly higher-value mattress topper were made, were more for some almost-indistinguishable amt of cooling (wif a blended white-&-2-blues color scheme baked in from the factory, apparently to reassure buyers )... plus a quickly deteriorating capacity to actually wake w/o pain. It's so compromised for add'l features rather than actual support -- which is the whole reason why you pay extra for memory foam, the support. What were actually happening... is my hips and torso'd sink into the stuff > 80% of its unloaded thickness (2"), and body warmth would degrade that to < ¼". Leaving the lighter bits of my body floating atop it, esp shoulders and arms. The cooling effect also would last about a min before feeling like slipping on a very oversized neoprene wetsuit over the contact half of my body Comp'd that wif a pair of cooling fitted sheets... but needing allergy protection due to the ever-persistent dust issue downwind from miles of poorly-managed cropland, meant they had to be very poorly moisture-wicking -- resulting in only slightly less soaking during the month... plus 100% humidity bain-marie-baking us like Cinnabons in our beds, esp when power'd cut out. Procrastinated on the solution, since you can't test a mattress topper in the store before buying But finally tired of waking wif shoulder and thigh issues from wonky sleep support... so dove into the problem. In essence, simply dbl'd the dbl'd original cheaper memory foam, resulting in a luxurious-sounding 4" of topper. This cheaper stuff doesn't have all the claims-to-feature the pricey $50 one did... but significantly more supportive in a way I prefer (not waking w/ upper limb / joint issues). Also sh*tcanned the more impervious (and far more expensive) cooling allergy-barrier fitted sheet of the two, and replaced wif an identical flow-through cooling one, lower allergy rating. Weirdly like two layers of lycra, stretching around like women's leggings... but I'd not steam like a bao in a rainy week. Attached the somewhat-comical elastic suspenders underneath, to keep the show tucked and in-place*... and found the whole setup was about half inch less thick than before, hmm. A quick lie-down had me cheering tho, as this simpler setup was indeed far more like a $400 foam mattress -- much more supportive. A sleep would be the litmus test so reserved final judgment for it... Got up about 4am (fell asleep ~10pm). Obvi expected the body after using that wonked setup from last summer to now, would object a little bit... and did so, mostly in the neck (old setup allowed shoulders to sink whilst leaving the head suspended, stretching the neck and causing slight neck issues at first, then body adapted). However, turning the head to the other side 45º (an adaptation pre-CPAP to allow more airflow past my apparently fatso-gullet), resulted in 0 pain, which felt weird tbbh. Amazing how when forced we make friends with pain, Stockholm-syndrome-style Moreso the longer hours I'd sleep the worse this issue got... so if rousing before 7 hrs, no problem for sleep length nor pain. And the protest this time were also in neck and L shoulder, but far less than even the best day on the old. So need to give the body a minute to adapt, as injured R knee -- which hated the merest fraction of a point off perfectly fluffed and positioned on the aging conventional mattress underneath -- popped up, no problem. The old setup let the heel sink further into itself than calf or thigh... so knee's bent under tension all night. Apparently this new setup chg'd that, hopefully indefinitely -- can get used to waking w/o needing to nurse both hams / quads a few secs on random days (a sign your knee joint's interior tissues are being held in a position damaging to it over long-term). So yeah. Realising and thus confirming, I didn't need to spend almost dbl the amt for the useless, all marketing-blather old topper, was a horse pill. But all fixed now, hopefully * got them at Wally's in the search for toppers -- attach wif these odd silicone knobs which wire loops fasten around when sheets cover the knob. Seems like any movement'd sproing these things off in mins... but they've held onto the thicker bad topper + good dbl'd foam, so see no issue wif the thinner setup. Installed correctly, tho... looks like you're trying to hide the fact your topper has both suspenders and a G-string on --- bodywork story after day's clients --- sorry, client work today was routine, not enough to remind of past stories. Hope Mon brings something more reportable
Sun Wash Day, 05 Apr 26: Got the 5G finally cleaned thoroughly and ceramic laid down (now past 2wks since getting it back from the body shop). It was filthy... Something odd about this week's chore, which came from nowhere, really: I wasn't that sore. Still can't kneel down as in years past due to R knee but wasn't as bad as it has been. Have been on this med ~70d now... and a worrying trend is as I stay on it (haven't missed a dose since the start)... the weaker I feel esp during this once-per-week exertion. But the knee's actually better -- and dovetailing into bodywork... something also happened during the wash & wax, that improved it even more. Very strange to go about the tedious task of digging grit and road spray deposits out of every hiding place in the doors and jambs... but oddly, it didn't hurt. Exhausted and feeling a bit older due to it, but none of the wincing pain I normally had on caffeine. Given this was the first real wash in over a month... guess my body's compensating by releasing some tone, esp around the knee. Can almost get to a squat, but at the very end have to bail as pain quickly jumps to 9 and above. However today, just working around the fact I can't just drop to a sit on the pavement (to do end caps)... very strange not to have the usual groaning-uncle bleats getting up, or walking to the head after eating lunch (before the wax)... Also... reinforced what a waste of time and money it'd been, trying to orbitally-buff the vertical surfaces of the car, esp doors. I'd developed a routine that got max lustre and refined it over months... but ever since giving up on Griot's on those surfaces (leaves a white powdery residue it doesn't on horizontal surfaces), have been using the old trusty Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Wax. But it too doesn't like the buffer... so out of pure frustration, bunged it on by hand, with a couple of microfibre cloths -- and f***ing voila, the best shine of all -- rivalling the Griot's on the roof, which is as flawless as a driveway ceramic wax can be. F***ing shake the bottle, set nozzle to ON and pump a few sprays onto the ground (clears the tube of old ceramic polymer which can affect the finish), and spray a bit on the door. Spread with one cloth, buff with the other, 45 secs max. Like a f***ing mirror, optically shiny So a job that used to take 45 secs per pass x 4 for final finish... now takes 45 per door, and blows the old buffer jobs out of the water. I give up But was pretty happy the outer surfaces let go of the week's dirt, after just washing and not waxing lest week. Griot's on horizontal surfaces and layered many dozens of weekend's worth of ceramic, is the real deal. Loves the buffer moving even faster than I'd detailed here in a past post, so this is the current Griot's protocol: using the same microfibre towel you use to clear beaded water from the rinse... start on one side of the roof, and gently wipe away any grit and dust, until your fingernails don't catch on anything on random spots. Then shake the green stuff thoroughly, and 4 short brief pumps... immediately followed by the cordless orbital buffer on its lowest speed. Move the bonnet fast -- 1m/sec -- in 1m passes over the roof in tight formation, just to spread the liquid wax. When you can see the buffer making swirls on the paint vs. moving liquid around... change to figure-8s from the midline of the roof to the door opening, the entire roof half. Once you begin seeing lustre poke thru hazy areas, change to small circles in the opposite direction of the orbits of the buffer, and slowly move over the roof-half one buffer-diameter at a time, until the haze turns to a mirror lustre. The more layers you set down, the better this will look when properly done: that foot-deep shine that mirrors everything around it. Apparently... same with the layers of HS on the doors. Sure they'll collect spots and road grime thrown from the front wheels... but just a wash w/ a weak Meguiar's Gold Class wash solution, then a hand application of HS... can't be happier. Just blown out tho, with this liver-stunting, caffeine-depriving med still needing another 30d to do its job... need a nap but have other Sunday chores to do --- Epilogue: whilst reaching over some stuff to get to the back seat... lost footing and hyperextended my R knee slightly, which hurt a bit. But felt a loud but muffled 'pok' near my fibular head walking it off (where a bunch of scar tissue from the injury set in)... and now feels better. As if needed a bit of hyperextension to pull a bit of scar tissue free, or re-seat the knee on the damaged meniscus. We'll see how it feels tmw morning... Also: we're expecting more sloppy weather with yet another low-pressure system to our NW, drawing hot humid air across us from the SE. Great... at least I know the car's further protected in case I need to wash / no wax thru that
Mon 06 Apr 26: Quite a pleasant day out there... so far. Found a bunch of gnats and mosquitos lying in state atop the 5G's dew-soaked roof... great, forgot many of these damn things got to breed with millions of gallons of muddy slop sitting around, waiting to evaporate. Haven't worried about mosquitos since moving here really (wif the exception of similar downpours... but rarely result in actual bites more than a day)... but with a month's goddamned rain and more on the way... may as well mentally think 'Seattle mode'... Tbf... Seattle (or at least where I lived) didn't have that many mosquitos, tho esp in hot weather you could still count on millions of them across your windshield / helmet visor / gear / radiator fins. But as far as getting piranha-frenzied like I grew up wif here in the sugar plantation days... Seattle was rather merciful (DC and AZ were actually far worse). Maybe more natural predators getting them in the larval phase, maybe standing water doesn't really last that long w/ the topography and glacial prehistory (unless of course, people / biz leave used tires out -- which have been vectors for several infectious disease outbreaks -- one I lived thru in AZ in Y2Ks, West Nile). The bugs needed watched for in WA I found, were roaches at home, and stinkbugs, and bees whilst riding -- let a big ripe stinkbug hit you in the partially-tipped-up crack of your helmet visor @std-freeway-pace 70mph, spraying its guts into your mouth... and see if you ever sport-tour at speed wif a cracked visor again. Bees, same reason, except barbed stinger in the cornea's another firm suggestion not to -- getting them under the chin of your helmet's bad enough (always toted around beesting ampules under the seat on any ride longer than a day trip). Wolfies were comically-bad in WA too... but harmless unless they crawl in bed with you seeking warmth and you roll onto them. Hand-sized furry spiders shared a couple of places I lived in, not a single bad incident if I also took the steps to keep them out of my spaces. Black widows exist in WA, but never saw one. When I lived in central CA, the place is literally infested with them, esp in properties near fields of whatever in the middle of the state. Used to work at a moto shop there, and the farmers would dump their carbs-gunked-from-sitting ATVs in our laps to get fixed for the harvest, sitting in sheds inert -- and several big widows wif grape-sized arses would be your job to discover -- often when they're crawling on your hand, illlch Target were open after being shuttered over Easter Sunday... and noticed something diff again today. Shelves are haggard, many items gone like the cans of soup I sought. A worker mentioned they'd only gotten one shipment since re-opening, with few of the things they'd ordered... so the problem isn't just that the store were closed 3w... but their restarted shipments have been... selective. There's a main distro warehouse for the chain in Honolulu... so like many other biz have discovered working for big franchises on Maui wif warehouses on O'ahu... when other locations have physical access to the port your order's coming in at, and you do not... they have and will take what they need and dare you to do something about it. Just like O'ahu takes everything else and leaves the neighbor island counties to suck it, basically. Thought this'd be different in a big mainland chain like TGT... but seems Honolulu shens are still the standard. But in big news (for a party of one)... the TGT SB kiosk is finally getting compostable plastic cups, like the corp stores have had over a month. Not in my Trenta size tho But once the paper's spent there'll be leak-proof plastic preventing wiping tea out of my cupholders, hopefully for good --- hopefully a table story after today's clients --- Okay got one... Resembles a case I got about 4y ago, and has moved off-island since. Were a bit tense wondering if the day's client -- both a regular and wif chronic issues -- would be more of same as yesterday... but had mixed feelings when their usual malady wasn't on display. I don't want clients to come in with different presentations to entertain you; you get what's on my table and the relationship should never be reciprocal, that's what grownups do, I hope. But it was interesting to see this regular with something more from left field: a numbness. Saw this client for about 6 - 7 mos at this time, and their regular checkup was to fix a hip issue. Re-align the pelvis, re-set the sacrum, balance thigh muscles attached so they don't regress, send them off. Avid runner but had taken up spinning as a way to get around a knee they'd effed up dancing at a wedding (not a rare story at all, believe it or not). Well all the usual hip issue signs were there... but none of the pain, Instead, their knee hurt so wrapped in a cuff... and their toes were going numb on the injury side. Hmm. Could look at this two different ways: 1) seek the signs the knee issue's accelerated whatever compensation's causing the original pelvic issue, and 2) the numbness is from the cuff causing tissue-to-tissue adhesion (my nerve work tqs had just begun, so wasn't confident enough to try it on clients yet. If this client appeared today, would've handled the problem slightly differently). Enough time to look at both simultaneously... When the pelvis twists... when laying down supine, the ASIS (anterior superior iliac spine) on one side will be low, and the other protruding higher from the table. This is caused by how the powerful thigh muscles attach to the pelvis: the adductor magnus, the huge inner thigh muscle used to guide the femur thus quad and glute forces correctly in aligned gait, originates on the ischium (that loop of bone on a Halloween cartoon pelvis) posterior to the coronal plane (cuts body into front and rear halves) and inserts on the femur anterior to it. So if you say, slip on a muddy puddle and have to forcefully contract this enormous muscle... it can not only yank pieces of the pelvis out on their very-mobile soft-tissue joints (the SI, or sacroiliac joints on either side of the posterior pelvis, and the pubic symphysis at the anterior pelvis where the two halves join each other)... but can also cause knots and tone increase which can pull these joints out slowly, over time. Client had both happen most likely and simply ignored them, letting pain compensation pass for solving the source of the problem -- which is how most men handle such an issue, esp in this client's generation. Trust me, it is a temporary band-aid... and we all know how good band-aids perform in the dirt... Asked them to remove the knee cuff, so I could inspect a very common cause of foot numbness, the common fibular nerve. Wouldn't be releasing the nerve this session, but could see if an adhered muscle were compressing it... and found the nerve was adhered to the long outer hamstring, called biceps femoris, the ham we all think about and what butchers called similar muscles on pigs. Asked about how long they were wearing the cuff.. and it coincided with the onset of the numbness. But gotta understand, with men of their era and their chosen sports esp... you cannot simply ask them to give up what they love doing, even if it's harming them wif full disclosure of risk. So rather than take off the cuff and let the pain of the knee injury keep them from running, even if for just a few weeks... they kept it on, so they could continue running their usual run, and have someone else deal with the numbness So wasn't hard to scold them You want not to feel the ground when you run, and trip into a ditch? Go ahead, keep running wif this tight-a$$ cuff (which wasn't adjustable). Or speed-walk rather than run cuff-free a few weeks to give your knee a break, after I stop these muscles sticking to each other. Hearing they didn't have to fully give up their jam, was a soft landing the probably would react more positively to than cold turkey (reminded them that was their choice, if they continued running wif this cuff. A concussion or broken wrist will defo make you cold turkey running for however long the doc says). Not surprisingly (cuff was on a couple of months, never in my sight but worn every morning for the run ), this was painful. Since I didn't use nerve release tqs, had to pull the nerve off the muscle by manually pulling other muscles off as best as could wif hands... then confirming full ROM by taking hip joint to full flexion, knee extended -- which they of course didn't appreciate. Solved much of their hypertonicity in the peroneal (outer) calf, as the common fibular got pulled free from being attached to the ham, whenever the hip was flexed and knee extended. But the numbness persisted. Okay -- asked if the numbness was more prevalent on top of foot or toe area. Said toes -- bam, know which area to work. Back then, just worked the muscles and fascia... but the issue was the tibial nerve, being compressed. So I used to just shear the large muscles of the calf, laying the client on the table prone... then applying forearm pressure headward and towards L-R centerline of the body (sagittal plane), right on the bulge of the calf we all know (gastrocnemius), which usually breaks any adhesion between sections of the tough rear compartment muscles, since the tibial nerve threads between and beneath them. Today, I'd target the route the nerve passes through, as that's much more surgically-precise and saves many HP of howling pain The tibial nerve turns into the medial plantar nerve, which then splits into common branches that innervate the toes. When you feel numbness in them, them's the source, something along that path not in the right place / not acting normally. When their numbness subsided -- replaced wif a tenderness now, but full skin sensory resolution back -- they walked on it a few seconds, and kept walking slowly around, not making eye contact for a bit. That generation, tended to force anyone who wanted to forward a concept to them... to prove it, or it's the usual bullsh*t. Until that happened... I'll be polite, but you're not in my head until you do. That moment, was the first time in years they'd been coming to me... that the scolding I gave them, actually (and retroactively) had any teeth at all. Apparently I was just this guy getting lucky in a little run-down house in a run-down neighborhood, until that moment. I'll take it Referred a lot more clients in the short time before he'd move away, and good ones I still have on the schedule (who have referred other great clients). Just starkly reminded me, in that moment... that the rigors I'd set myself to, getting into this gig... weren't for nothing. And all those morons in school who got into working bodies yet thought it was woo-woo theatre for an easy buck... this was as good a middle finger to those parasites as could be. Whatever you do, be into it, like be a f**ing geek about it. Less that, be a f***ing influencer talking sh*t, gets loads of money w/o any trust needed. But if you're in a vocation where people have to put their trust you, GTFOMF if you're not gonna be serious about it
Tue 07 Apr 26: Clouds overhead look broken up, flotsam from something faraway causing their environs to stir. Supposed to drizzle a bit in both town and here by noon, and then persist the rest of the week Nice morning otherwise, feels like a cosmic apology. Maybe I'm just projecting, as we just got dumped on a whole month ending last effing week. Or the heavens gave this respite to us, saying 'dry out, 'because more's coming'. Not as torrential as the Ides of March storm... at least 3d-out forecast says so... The amt of f***ing mosquitos on the front of the car's frankly ridiculous, just as bad as in plantation days w\ hundreds of acres of standing water around 24/7. Didn't even look at my radiator grille, as know that's gotta be caked even worse w\ these little organic vampire drones. Good thing for 5G tho, is the Lamborghini windscreen rake does prevent these lighter vermin smearing their little corpses on the glass. Have switched to half-wiper-fluid in the reservoir, and doesn't seem like it affects durability of the ceramic layers on the roof... so can't be happier as that weird skipping and white-powdery smearing on tainted water, is finally gone, along w\ any bug slop. Durp, Fyooch Have been shortening my driving commute since prices began skyrocketing on my staple 89-oct. Seems calmed a bit since things peaked about a week ago... now down to $4.99 for bathwater at Costco. If Costco sold 89 I'd be getting it there, as going to my usual place is significantly more effort and distance. But they don't and never will... so have to deal with substantially more for 89. But man, sure am glad am not needing to spend $30 every 4d, but typically triple that Wanted to check out a movie called 'Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die' w\ Sam Rockwell since it went to streaming last month... but realised ScAmazon was the only place I could get it -- and they chg for rental, $20. GTFOMF w\ your $19.99-for-f***ing-rental. Let me know when it's $8 to rent, and I'll bite, m'kay? Jesus what a bunch of grifters at Blue Orifice --- std wait for clients --- no stories today
Thu 09 Apr 26: Rain's back -- sorry about not updating yesterday; had fires to put out (not literally). Loathe to coat my car in paint chips and non-mud-flapped knobbie-fling... got the day started. Water has an amazing hydraulic ability to pull aggregate from aging highway macadam, all it takes is a brodozer to run their lo-pro Mickey Thompsons on $1500@ chrome fecking wheels over 3mm of water sitting in un-repaired low spots from 18-wheelers using the same highway as everyone else... and voila -- gritty sand in your brake calipers to pea gravel spider-cracking your windscreen. Luckily, am grateful none of that happened today Funny to see who hangs back w\ me behind slower traffic, the slice of society's getting bigger Sure, go ahead and do 30 over just so you're still late to work... but now you've reduced a whole day before you have to refuel your 24-mpg crossover, kiddos (and kiddos in adult bodies). But backing off the usual 2CL behind the car ahead, actually speeds up the right lane noticeably, as long as there aren't SoCA-raised transplants or 4-foot-6 octogenarians driving 10 below the SL in any visible moisture, at the front of the conga line. Young people are petty and stressed, and that's what works on road to maintain some semblance of calm, at least here -- appeal to the kids' guilt and insecurity, by remaining calm whilst they're flailing, coming off a toke into paranoia TGT still doesn't have its shelves restocked... so the problem's worse than expected. There are pallets w\ things like bottled water and paper towels in certain front-half spots in the store... which next to no one's partaken; same amt as when they reopened. Was told those pallets are there to encourage buying things at discount, most likely due to being partially inundated... but more practically, to hide something underneath them. Didn't ask but going to assume that thing, is utilities damage, perhaps an electrical outlet in the floor (which are supposed to be weatherproof w\ watertight gasketed caps... but who checks things on the floor (which no doubt has been run over by any number of floor-sweep-machine operators) this fastidiously? Almost no one these days, even those normally on the ball... Wondering what's taking so long for restock, even taking into account the pilferage by other stores I'd mentioned on O'ahu being a factor. Even if they didn't rcv full shipments, they'd still get an order of pilfered pallets of stuff delivered... which hasn't happened as nearly all of the products I'd been following aren't restocked. Only asked after worker bees on the floor rather than people who poke their heads out sometimes but work full-time in the warehouse section... so until I get a take from one of them... going to assume will be another week before those missing things gets restocked. Didn't know so many people liked lentil soup, geez --- So more-tangent bodywork tale here, as the issue yesterday was a subtler one... I only take cash, and that's for very good reasons. If you don't like getting cash out, see someone else for your bodywork. My rate, plus all pertinent need-to-knows are mentioned in text to every new client, so there's a record. So when you show up, you're ready. Worked fine the whole gig and don't plan to change it. But a few people want to be slick -- and feign the need to be worked, when they know they don't have cash. Give them one freebie... but next time they're in, have a note about them in the schedule, to have them pay in advance. And if it happens again, they're off the client list. Simple and straightforward -- I'm not a charity, you pay me what I'm worth, or go home unprocessed (and have two layers of defense for those wanting to resort to meatsac methods to get their way) A regular client for a few years (about 10y ago) had been coming in, and begging for a few mins past the usual hour to 'get the last bit of kink' out of a shoulder. Which was fine, up to about 15 mins past the hour, where my policy is to ask for the full half-hour-extra amt. Fair enough -- you ask for free time up to 15 mins, past that, I ask for 30 mins. Worked then and still policy now. But when someone knows I dislike leaving someone halfway processed and try to get the work done in this 'buffer' 15 mins and end up going over, I don't normally ask for the extra since it was my call. But when I can sense the client weaponising this to their repeated advantage... it's time to set some boundaries. Not surprisingly, this client was in for the same problem, every session. Same issues, but seemed to stretch longer and longer each time. Realising this, asked for the extra time, and said we can't keep going, unless you pay in advance for 2 hrs (which is what used to take 1 hr). Client blanched... which rather pissed me off a bit, since there's no way anyone w\ any respect for my intelligence would feign disbelief. But there are those who prey on decency, thinking it's my fault they're losing money, I'm just doing what anyone would do. Nope, just you and your grifter upbringing, buddy... So they stomped off in the usual petulant theatre, claiming they're no longer going to refer me clients. Oh, so you won't mind me letting the clients you did refer, to know what just happened, from my POV then. No answer, and slammed the f***ing door on the way out. Don't let it break your tailbone, slick The fact my biz has suffered relatively few of these mincing parasites in 15+ yrs, speaks volumes for my approach to the work and client compensation. But every once, there they are -- and in these trying times on Maui, pain and exhaustion and fear makes people even less likely to default to decency -- 'too much work', 'not this again', 'wife wants a boat'. Boundaries in yesterday's session had been drawn as well -- I don't care who you are, you can be Oprah -- I'll demand proper compensation for my work, if you wear out your welcome. If you're a decent person, paying what I'm worth won't be a problem. But if you're not, I'll need to draw enforced boundaries around you, like a toddler
