Fri 12 Jun 26: Kinda like this new schedule -- ticks all the boxes, great --- A weird morning. Du nn o how to put my finger on exactly how, just the normal rhythm's changed somewhat. The morning commute's weather were a lot better than the past wk, which were at least that much better than rain... but all the usual touchstones haven't been working, as if goalposts have moved somehow... Not for the important stuff, really... but as an aspie I tend to notice details more than most. Patterns are things that sort of buzz under my skin... and I get used to those frequencies as a sort of familiar, calming thing, best I can figure. So when they change, I notice. People are oddly beginning to diverge in their habits, between accelerating pace, and decelerating. So the delta between's become broader and more noticeable. The feeling's collectively more disjointed, more cynical (which I'm convinced, the bulk of drivers on-road on this island, are looking for any trigger to leave a semblance of unity and order), whilst the new slow-and-fine-with-it group I've noticed and settled into, are actually slowing down even more -- past the practical speeds the 5G needs to get best mpg -- which is pretty slow, given I'm rarely over 55 now, if can be helped (old average was about that, so peak speeds were 60 - 65). Not only on-road tho -- even walking around, for a Friday it all seems rather scant... and who is there, actions feel quite scattered. Little things at the usual haunts, are being left undone all week (even thru the flaky weather which can unnerve us tropical schlubs and fortune-paying tourists). Usually Friday has the tweakers doing their dumbarse shens near pau hana time... but today, mostly they're absent. But little bits of sand in the figurative speedos, were everywhere. For example, no straws at Starbies in Target, all week. They constantly run out for a day, but never a whole week. Next were prices at the co-op market I love, which had snack preserved plums and other treats from China, Taiwan, and Japan I lurrrv: anything savoury with animal meat in it (mostly seafood), were over $12 a bag now, of perhaps 4 - 6 oz of product (pretty sudden jump from the ~$8 - $10 it used to be for same just 2 mos ago. Guess need to check up more often, as couldn't eat these snacks on the med). Next two were close calls, all because I'd resisted the urge to listen to the dying-but-still-present voice, to rush (behind wheel of 5G). Lastly, the bank employee, who were usually literally seconds off my wristwatch for opening at 0830 sharp... got there 2mins late and for the life of her, couldn't get the door to open -- we in line outside uncharacteristically waiting for her to get it together All are examples of things usually as reliable as life can be in this day and age... failing all at once, today. Being careful and taking that extra second, made these events roll off the back without incident... but still not as in-the-pocket as has been -- oddly enough, when it were raining more. Does someone born in a storm, still fit into the fractal of daily life better, when it's crappy outside? Nah, doubt it -- otherwise I'd have noticed. But doesn't rule out that certain things may tend to fall into line, at least as relates to the course of my life...? Have noticed signs of that, more than in-general. So maybe I think the kicker that let me know, someone up there wasn't going to let me keep riding this luck wave any longer than I have... was spilling a very troublesome food on the carpet, once home. Needs vacuuming and chemical cleaning... so a down-tools, non-deferrable FFS moment. These, am not all that good at figuring out the purpose of... as in past they've both heralded something good (almost like paying Charon the Ferryman, passage in a few coins), or just reinforced my day was going to be like this, until something (rarely known to me what) changes. So just trying to stay present, trying not to miss anything obvious, either everyday-practically, or in the weeds with my batshirt personal exps, I do know what to do about... Sorry if this seems overly foo-foo today -- not my intent. But more than other days, this feeling I need to be on alert, seems obvious enough to overcome my typical cognitive density --- more when afternoon's clients arrive
Sat 13 Jun 26: Sorry -- yesterday's client's cut in half by someone's classic excuse: 'O hai, left my place on the West Side 30 mins later than I shoud've, and didn't scout out the route despite a week's lead on the appt... but am going to be late 30 mis, is that alright...?' Nope -- times 2. So only two others for a very short day... and unfortunately didn't have anything really to talk about not already mentioned here. Better luck next week... Tbf, that excuse used to be epidemic for this biz, when I charged a lot less for fewer modalities and exp, before covid. Apparently have moved into a new demographic where people are much less apt to act like children and much more to show to appts on-time... seems important distinction, is they do the the xtra work for that eventuality never to happen, which is how everyone around me growing up and especially in mil, were socially-contracted to conform to. Am very sorry your life is hard enough, you can't bear to take a few mins to even look at the email and directions video I send every client, with detailed maps and instructions in plain English (refined over many years)... then when you're late, blame me for being unreasonable. Nope, not having it, better luck next time (or with another provider). And to be crystal-clear, this is from the past and not a phenom today, charging what I'm worth... My rules are simple: treat me like your medical provider. Do they let you slide when you're 20 mins late for an appt in a packed waiting room? Nope. Do they care your sister's boyfriend's mom's dog died? Of course not -- it's not their problem. There have to be rules, boundaries that are clear and apply to every client. You can't make your appt, call 24 hrs ahead and reschedule. You can't make them on the day? Reschedule again, take the hit and learn from it -- it's not my fault you didn't make it here by 15 mins after the hour you're supposed to be at the door (yes, do grant 15 mins grace, just like the local clinics do). But you don't make even that, don't get in my face, or sh*t-talk me on your choice of echo chamber, because you didn't make you own chosen appt on time, when goalposts hadn't moved a micron That used to be the stressor pretty much 3x / wk, back in those lump-taking days. And these kinds of clients now, apparently had very coddling providers to spoil them (and will never completely go away). But can't run a business like that -- nigh-on impossible to accomplish anything worth the price of admission in 45 mis -- need often more time (and more cash) for select but common problems. Can't see whether they do, until on the table... so need more time to start, then atop that, show up >15 mins late... penalises the following client w\ severe hits on their time. So have to draw the line somewhere... Rant over -- the client in question yesterday, wasn't anywhere near as aggravating as those older clients in the day. But just goes to show this gig should be more about healing and vitality, than it ends up being in practice. And yep, I still love it
Mon, 15 Jun 26: Interesting -- my Sunday post was taken down. Hope I didn't hit any nerves... --- Weird day, in doesn't feel at all like things are settled, like in past 3 wks -- which felt a relative lull in the storm that's been '26. Summer is bona fide here... but tbh on-road of late, has felt like any other time of year, save the ghost town of tax time. Except today People are defo triggering hugely in traffic -- most of it blowing by almost at tweaker-ish (normally rare) levels, but today it's everyone. Have missed a big event locally in past, and people zipping around doing the weave thru the bulk of us, as w tf moments... but nothing big's happening here, other than World Cup? And that's oceans away... Could people actually be this effing excited about futbol? Thousands of miles from a sideline seat? There are zero WC matches happening any closer than Seattle, LA and SF, all 5 hrs away at least. So if say, flailing doing rounds for buying stuff for viewing parties after work are what's actually causing this mess... futbol will go in the same mental bin as US ball sports -- unless your gear includes an engine / EV motor, count me out of that glandular jock stuff Oh don't worry, I don't discriminate against US sports exclusively -- never offer to take me to Japan's or SK's version of baseball, as I will doze off in my seat on the amazing food -- yep, and they've been doing it better a lot longer than US. Then there's the traditional bloody violence of esp UK football... man whatever, I'll be at this supermoto or local WRC stage, dodging marbles and not drunkard spittle Don't remember my dad driving like an idiot prior to Super Bowls growing up -- in fact back then, were so much fewer tech-enabled runs on nosh ingredients and beer and such, had to shop ahead -- which prevents these bottlenecks procrastinating, I guess. The last one I regret attending, made my inclusion of a Central Market 7-layer dip and blue chips feel slightly insulting to the host, grilling effing wagyu burgers and poor wife slaving over something in a molcajete, whilst he poured a row of shots on a home bar. Count me out -- this isn't leveling-up, it's increasing the cost of entry for a sport I care nearly 0 about, other than quasi-socially that one Sunday a year Haven't gone to a SB party since -- and that were 17y ago. Slight aside... do like watching Olympic sports, because you don't need as much advance, season-cultivated knowledge to be wowed at what they can do. Like women's judo esp -- and last year Japanese judokas handily cleaned up. Do love the lightning-quick decisions from exp at that level, without a lot of the jock posturing I see in that sport on the men's side (not as much with male Japanese senshu, but other country's judoka, oh yeah -- some even on the women's side). Today's sessions were kind of aggravating, as one had to be interrupted because of an emergency I provided the solution to the person responsible, years ago and constantly, just to be ignored until it drops in my lap as a showstopper, right in the middle of my f***ing session. I comp'd the client for the trouble (they ended up rescheduling, seeing the pickle this had put me in w\ no option)... and found the issue couldn't be resolved without a part swap -- meaning it couldn't be fixed anyway. FFS... But past that... pretty smooth for bodywork 2 & 4 hrs after that. Nothing like a great (and new -- even better) client exp, to iron out the scorched earth from a hardheaded procrastinator's problems cutting into my income
Thu 18 Jun 26: Whoa -- that was a lull Nah, just trying to flow with the summer schedule heating up, I guess. Some interesting clients since last post, but realised I'd written about similar problems less than a month ago, drat. Anyhow, did some volunteer work as well for O-Bon season here on Maui, and the temple I go to had some interesting exps to share... Haven't volunteered for this event in pro lly 6 - 7y -- mostly due to work as summer's the bumper crop... but also since had little interest in noodling with the public vs. just temple members (as is New Year's ceremony, which I don't miss). Luckily, found tonight was just prep for the cooking tomorrow, as the temple will sell food, nice. I like busywork. Think about a restaurant family in Taiwan, gathered at a table before opening, to make the next day's pot stickers and talking shite. Same sort of vibe, except with us, were untangling sticky flat noodles for the dish we're selling. Come in compressed bricks, that must be cut in 4 then oiled to loosen their defrosted carb manes (otherwise the noodles don't cook evenly in the pot). Think of Fruit-Rollups cut into cm-wide strips, then stuffed into a bag and compressed for weeks -- that's what we were unf*cking for 4 hrs Tasks that require strict attention to detail, but once you know what to do, very little other mental i/o... been attracted to it since kiddo days. My dad used to gather up these tangles of fishing line from a generation of lines and weights and floats in the bottom of his tackle box, toss it to me, and say 'see if you can untangle this', whilst he fished. Knew he was doing, because I'd be both stationary and quiet, the whole time Whenever I'd get frustrated, he'd say to calm down, there's always a way to untie a knot, just gotta find it. Then I'd be back in aspie-hyper-focus-land, and look up to see the sun was about to set So really enjoy doing this 'potsticker work', which was a delight for NCOs in mil, as they knew I wanted the kind of bonkers tasks that'd drive most people nuts with boredom. Not raking leaves or scrubbing heads... but things like 'SPC, look thru all the fan-fold printouts in these 15 boxes of output, find and remove all the pages that have '0056D' printed at top right, tnen bring them to me'. Done... So was nice after a lifetime away from that environment, to again lose myself in this task, riding vs. fighting the aspie urges... whilst five other people all doing the same thing, were also silent and rapt in their own worlds, untangling noodles. Plus we had chicken tenders in ranch as a reward. Don't mind a bit of junk, if I've worked for it --- What is the deal with young people in the news dying all over the country? Run over, mauled by bears, drowned, fell from a horse carriage in NYC? And the fires (not Moscow btw, which tbh are spectacular) and explosions and plane crashes and other mayhem? Was Spring just a calm before the storm or wut? --- Times like these, get curious if the Chinese zodiac reading shows any interesting parallels, in the rollercoaster-like Year of the Horse. And the Horse is known for even more mayhem, when its element is Fire -- 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse. Even less auspicious -- think about it, the mercurial, hair-trigger and fickle nature of the Horse, with the all-consuming nature of Fire. Yeah, sounds like this year alright
Fri 19 Jun 26: Whoof, getting warm all of a sudden. Which is weird then, that despite not having the A/C on all night (just the fan)... the towel atop my bedding hasn't been soaked in sweat for once. Did stand for 3 hrs doing volunteer work yesterday, but also sat for 2 more. This to me, reinforces the notion that low-level busywork most of your day... keeps you healthy. Slept like a rock (had already been taking Mg glycinate for sleep... but last night was a noticeably more lovely night of rest). Bit ache-y, as not used to standing that long doing a task at just-above-waistline-level... but obvi body liked it in the end, even if protesting from lack of familiarity -- means I need more of it. Back to warm: yeah, that summer's here-on-Maui heat what saturates the air, defo back. Had been getting my tea (hallelujah, drinking actual Camillia sinensis with lemongrass again!) w/o ice all winter & spring... may have to get it back in at this rate. The 5G seems not to mind, at least not yet. It's not late August / early September, after all -- that's usually when the b*tching starts But didn't mind much last summer, or the August I bought it. Still up in the high-80s / lo-90s for mpg... which is stunning. Refueled before the volunteer work yesterday... and found my last fillup was 19d ago, getting close to dbl the 12 it used to be at one point. If you want a reason to adopt the micro-pulse-micro-glide method, that should be it In other news... holy crap, avoid cheap motels (and business-traveler ones apparently) in MI and OH Even generally-tidy SK and JDM have problems with their hostels and BnBs being infested with these nasty things, so be careful and check your bedding, ulch
For some odd reason, things were going good for me today. While shopping at Harbor Freight, for new car ramps, I ran into the guy that borrowed and still had my old ramps. We went to the lot, he got them out and put them in my car. For that, I gave him the 25% coupon I was gonna use since it expires tomorrow, and I no longer needed it. The point of all that is that I was able to do the front-end body work I have put off. HERE it is … Prior to work: Post work: Prior to work: Post work: There was a lot more biffage on that second corner, so I used considerably more tape; Gorilla Tape. LOL, it just happens to have the same example for a “Pro” and a “Con”. It don’t come off easily. It was a serious drag getting the old stuff off. If/When I ever do this activities again, I will probably just put new tape over the old tape. Whatever. In maybe an hour or so I’m gonna do the headlight covers. If it comes out good … I’ll post it up.
There are about 60-some choices for headlight lens cover cleaners. I made my choice using three(3) metrics; price $14, ease of use w/ no extra tools and only two(2) steps, and name brand, “ArmorAll”. HERE’S how it came out: Before: After: I’m thinking they look good. I’ll find out the next time I’m driving at nite.
Sun Warsh Day, 21 Jun 26: Zepp: thx for the update on your car bodywork repairs -- they look good! If it keeps another Prius on the road, by all means... However, this thread isn't about automotive bodywork. It's about deep-connective-tissue bodywork. Well, mostly If it's what you feel's best for sharing your car bodywork adventures tho, I'm willing to let it slide. Just as long as this thread doesn't become one for Bondo and fender benders, you get a pass --- Welp, the forecast seemed to portend a clear day -- not much wind, no rain at all; < 5% chance around here usually rounds down rather than up. But that all fell apart, shortly after leaving the house Did get up somewhat rested... however was in a weird headspace. Couldn't put my finger on it, but was distracted more than usual. Best culprit: missed taking my glycinate does last night, as was a rough day on the table with a last-min client, of course more difficult than expected. So tired once out of the shower, hit the pillow 2000 hrs and were out -- as in, didn't rouse until 3am... and of course, couldn't fall back asleep... so just watched NF until 5am and the Sunday Warsh rigamarole Well sh*t -- can't forget to take that stuff anymore -- esp after enough of a hard table day, my hands still ache But missed my turn to go to the warsh place, 3x -- hoooly. Got the 5G washed and dried... then saw it. The car was 100% as clean as if I'd already waxed it. Didn't feel freshly waxed... but damned if I could tell the difference, walking around the car. Even the feel under a fingernail, were just like it'd been waxed. Well guess the universe were trying to tell me something... as realise it now... after summarily ignoring it So headed south to the secret place (I am a servant of the secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Arnor... ) and began to inspect what my eyes were telling me, I'd done this warsh day, for almost nothing but the initial warsh. And yes -- the vertical panels were so untouched by the past week's weather (which wasn't totally dry, btw)... the reflection of my feet 2 - 3m away, is exactly what it usually is post-wax. Why do it? Well, because it's my day to move, to peractice what i preach. There was other stuff to do like the sills and interior... so left the vertical panels alone. Also found something rather irritating about the Hybrid Solutions ceramic spray: despite it not doing all of the things I dropped Griot's like a lump of lava from my ever using again... it does have limits (like it's inferior durability to Griot's on horizontal surfaces... but for how much it costs vs. Griot's, reasonable to overlook that, waxing every week). But just found out today, pro l l y 8y after finding and using it for my silver cars... that it can fix the Griots's problems -- with an orbital buffer Recall, one of the reasons I even sought another ceramic spray, were the HS were clouding up vertical surfaces when orbitally-buffed. So went to hand-buffing on doors and nose & tail cap, Griot's for roof and bonnet. Soon found the less you mess with HS, the better it initially shines to... but after a day or so of exposure to UV and / or heat... it looks even better -- and gains more desirable qualities, like resistance to scratching and deeper lustre. So when Griot's (which I'd been using on the roof almost since buying the 5G) began to give problems w\ the rising heat and earlier sun exposure (Griot's is not great at being applied in direct sunlight as opposed to HS which shrugs it off), thought I'd have to clay-bar the whole roof and bonnet, then start virgin with HS. After doing the roof by hand, ah sh*t -- see some splotchy areas, probably where the two brands don't like each other (I'd guess the carnauba in the G's hates the all-polymer base in the HS). So a bit dejected, drove south to my spot and resigned to scrub the roof until it went away. Except, I didn't... Just to see what would come easy and what would fight... dribbled a bit of HS on the splotches... then rubbed with a clean microfibre cloth. And stepped back, to see how much of a fight this stuff would put up. Nothing -- that dribble of a few drops of HS and a hand rub, erased 90% of the flaw. Hit it with an orbital buffer with a spritz of HS on the microfibre bonnet (on the buffer, not the car)... and like magic, it all f***ed off... So you mean to tell me , that I could've used HS on this roof, with a buffer, and nothing like the mess on the doors would've happened...? The answer, to Fyooch's dismay... was 'yes, you moron' Why the eff didn't I try this earlier? Guess I were still under the spell of the Project Farm test where Griot's 3-in-1 dominated all ceramics in '24... but of course that test didn't use bottles that sat in a 120ºF car interior in Hawai'i for the other 6 days of the week I wasn't warshin'. Griot's, do better. For now, my magic warsh day potion, is Hybrid Solutions ceramic spray, in the green and silver bottle, $5 cheaper
Tue 23 Jun 26: Ach, drizzle and wet flingable spots on road from an early-morning squall. Weather is turbulent, and didn't feel great about keeping the Prius non-filthy another day, as had to stay in town for errands Wind was also in front of it blowing slightly north-northeasterly (for those not Navy vets or aviators, wind coming from the NE. I didn't know this until an embarrassing age, so just paying it forward )... so were another sign the weather pr0lly wouldn't be cooperating. Had to go to the vampire clinic to donate blood again (have been stuck more since turning 50 than the previous 50y, 2 - 3x easy by now). Wasn't too happy about the last stick... as for the first time at this clinic, got a massive bruise. Nothing had changed what I'd done for years to avoid them, so had to be the tech. Brought this up to today's tech, and they said to put more pressure on it. So what was the elbow-bend I'd been doing since a child, not doing all of a sudden? So a bit miffed, bent the elbow as I'd done for years. No bruise Poopdeck-CPAP-y requires destilliertes wasser, so headed to Wally's for my $2-per-gallon jugs of steam-descaled... when the dumbest handles ever designed for lifting something as heavy as a paper-thin water gallon jug, of course broke off the neck, and just missing my foot. Great Value, my arse No damage to the jug, so tried to reapply this DHED back onto jug... and of course, didn't want to go back on. So left a non-leaking jug of distilled with the handle off on the floor, so no one else gets a gallon of water dropped from waist level on top of their arch --- Yesterday's client was an interesting one... reminds of one from about a year ago, last September thereabouts... Know the month, since last Sept the rains came early -- which cooled the island off a lot, but brought with a lot of wind, too -- filthy days. Client drove thru a nasty run of that from West Side over the winding Pali cliff road (around the south point of West Maui, where traffic backups are legion), and got to me a few mins late. Tbh am usually a stickler for punctuality... but given the backups over the Pali at the time... being a hardass wasn't appropriate. They made the proper effort, and I'll never turn pennies into wire when due diligence even close to military initiative's, actually executed They did come in pain, tho. Listening to Client's routine (described by their daughter), they're defo not the sitting type -- actualise just about all the things I try to drill into clients on the table about actions catching up w\ procrastinating about moving around more. But their usual routine of busywork, like human beings over thousands of years keeping problems out of their bodies, had recently been too painful to do -- and I know more than many... that's a very bad thing for a family matriarch. Looked at the front of the core and lower body -- usual atrophy... but for their age, nowhere near what it could be (and usually is, if they're here). But laying them on side and palpating the lower back, posterior hip, and ham area... bingo Even touching certain areas of the 90º-flexed hip joint whilst on their side, produced audible gasp and jump-sign, where the client involuntarily reacts to pain with jerking movements away from my hands / elbows / knees. About 1 - 2 lbs, or the weight of a nice steak and potatoes meal, was impossible for the client to bear without jump-sign -- classic sciatic nerve adhesion. Got worse when extending the hip joint (legs straight whilst still on side), and palpating the same depth. So had them lay semi-fetal on the same side again... and felt around the back of the hip joint -- where dragons live. Turns out after a bit of probing questions, found the reason for this suddenly rising to kneecap their daily routine: they'd recently had to get a procedure done, which left them convalescent for a few months. Was their usual chair, a recliner? Daughter looked at me puzzled, how did you know? Well, when one has to inhabit a recliner (usually La-Z-Boy -- the bodyworker's jokes write themselves), your hip joints are bent nearly to 90º, but your knee joints are nearly fully-extended. I couldn't feel the sciatic nerve tense bending / extending either knee, so had to be a recliner (or an F1 car seating position, can't be ageist ). Addition of medications possibly increased rate of inflammation, which brings on faster dev of the bodily glue that eventually binds a body into permanent, irreversible debility. Luckily we caught it before then... but just. More howling and rest, howling and rest... as we systematically tore apart the funnel-web-made-of-soft-caulk adhering the nerve to surrounding structures, like the piriformis muscle esp. Then between the greater trochanter and pelvic ischium (the loops on the bottom of Halloween skellington pelvises), where the sciatic's supposed to slide free of bondage. It was defo not... and unfortunately after clearing the majority of the R hip... there's one more to do from scratch. But the difference just helping them to a sitting position, then daughter and I slowly putting her back on her feet... was immense. Asked her to sit completely on the nearby couch, and rise to standing -- and could do this like a person half her age. Jumping up and down but warned the work wasn't over yet, needed to insure everything was out. And after roughly 15 more mins doing detail work.. she paid and left, almost dancing out the door. She needed ribcage work for same reason... but seeing her mirth, will cross that bridge when it comes. Whilst doing my yesterday-client's problems... strange thought came to mind, as this'd happened about 8y before: Airbus had planned to debut a system in their passenger planes, to add two more rows to their most-used routes, turning the seats into bicycle seats. Who. in. the-f*ck... is gonna parse that mess over a 7-hr fight? Existing seats already cause enough problems in the lower body, wifout supercharging problems in the pelvic floor, posterior hip and posterior thigh, making your 250+ passenger manifest a giant peleton
OK ... I sincerely apologize for overstepping into your thread. Whereas I don't read all that much into many threads, I just sorta thought that this is where my posts belonged. Foolish me I guess, thinking that this is a PRIUS FORUM in general, and "Bodywork" is a general thing that goes along well in automotive forums, I guess I kinda got stupid a little bit. As I really like to point out ... RIF "Reading Is Fundamental". SORRY. HEY ... by-the-way ... I'm not at all much into Bondo.
No worries at all Zepp -- may find an relevant thread over in Gen 2 Prius forum... but if you feel more akin to the crowd here at the House, feel free
Wed 24 Jun 26: Long 2-parter, you've been warned... --- Another one of those weird days when nothing seems to go your way... but tbh, could be worse -- I could be in the hospital again, like the 1st panc attack Strange -- birds had been divebombing my car out on road... and the morning had a strange, I dUnn0 -- rhythm to it. They always step in front of or refuse to clear the road when I'm driving the neighborhood streets... but to divebomb on hwy... that's a figurative defcon of sorts to keep eyes peeled for... The weather's been quite unusual, even for 2020s-climate-changed-Maui. Windy, but very humid too -- hardly ever a thing outside a big tropical storm, hurricane, or Kona Low. Guess with the biggest, hottest El Niño ever, gonna be some changes to the dance card, on the space station. Nothing seemed to make sense... and people's actions rather reflected this inability to find whatever wild rhythm the day wrought. Cars slowing to a walking pace in the middle of the road for no reason, or people not knowing what I mean when I flash headlamps to go -- I wouldn't call it a petulant or malicious lack of response... more like confusion. And treating it as such... seemed to produce the least amt of unwanted reflected effect back onto me, at least driving around. Another point for micro-pulse / glide as my default It's times like these, where super-interesting to go to my usual haunts for the breakfast run... and see who is and is not affected by this. If they seem normal, know this particular person is either: 1) for whatever reason not subject to these kinds of esoteric changes, but blissfully unaware of such, or 2) they are susceptible, but strong enough these ripples of whatever it is that's disturbed, can't harm them (also without any conscious intent needed). And you can be sure I'm taking notes on who's affected and not -- because from past exps like these... the ones who're actually strong, are often non-intuitive But of perhaps 30 people I say hello to on the regular, 8 were unaffected, and only one seemed actually benefitting from it, in a better mood with more energy (which btw is not me). Those 22 peeps were all over the place this AM, dropping cups, forgetting where things are when they've worked their counter for years, and even calling me by someone else's name (apparently, I have a doppelgänger on island, if the explanation for the flub is to be believed )... There's an old saying here, 'windy days bring misfortune'. Even from childhood, can remember my parents telling me to be careful on windy days... as the roots of belief stretched far beyond 3 gens of living family. When pressed to explain why as a single-digit kid in '70s, my father would always change the subject or mumble under his breath -- because his generation didn't know either, they just obeyed their Greatest-Gen parents. And mother's source of this stretched probably as far back, just not from cane worker roots but Shogunate-era or even earlier Shinto dogma. Though I've come to believe, esp in the past 30 yrs since dojo days... that at least for nature-worshipping Shinto dogma, beliefs are rarely perpetuated that long, w\o some basis in tragedy and stumbling upon a fix, cementing them into people's minds. Oddly this AM winds were only porolly 15 - 20 mph (stiff breeze), not gusting to 50... and were from a trades direction, but so laden with moisture, it all piled atop the ridge near Upcountry (Makawao - Pukalani, where the mountain's sharp corner of ridgeline usually creates the conditions to dump rain on those two towns before entering the central valley)... cascading like a spectacular slow-motion cloud waterfall around that cornedr. But rather than continue out and dump buckets on Kahului as usual... it stopped and stayed on the mountain. Ha never seen this before, either growing up or recently. Wailuku looked absolutely clear -- were capped with higher cumulus clouds at the peaks alongside, but could see the western sky thru Iao Valley, all the way to the West Maui side -- which means whatever moist air was hitting Haleakala and staying dammed by it, wasn't making it to WMM as usual, petering out on only half the Valley. No idea why... but gut rather screamed to me, this weather's the source for strange behaviours all around, eech Not sure why birds don't approach when out of my car, only underway in my car. Did the same w/ the Honda shortly before trading it in (still had it during the batshirt drum circle in Spring '24 that began this weird relationship with birds, and several freaky occurrences since described earlier in the thread). But birds don't pay me much mind, ambling about? Question mark there too, I guess. --- Back... Interesting one today -- family came in to get b2b work. Tend to reccie bringing family members with, esp if you're a new female client; feels much more secure getting bodywork from a stranger, if you have someone else there with you. Fam work tends to be hilarious, as the banter's good usually. Very rarely have a row on the table (not zero percent) so since people are more comfy, the conversation's good as well. Very similar to a family who's moved since off-island re: covid -- lots of those, I'd say a few dozen of my pool. Local families tend to be easier to work physically (something about their genetic exp with pain mgmt) and a known quantity with soft skills -- something I defo had a hard time with, living on mainland where social contract (mostly deep prejudice) is completely different. Dad, Mom, and daughter along to watch (and drive). Dad had a different issue than today's client, but about the same conditions causing it. Mom had years of intricate work making leis -- which also didn't match today's matriarch. But what does connect them, is how I treated the issues. I'd mentioned AMR once or twice here -- it's a strange modality I still don't understand fully, how on earth it manages to do what it does. Dad had an issue lifting the hand above the head, that nothing except AMR would even dent. We talked about his service in the Marine Corps whilst I found the packs of cards and treated the side of his ribcage, under the arm. Had daughter hold the arm at limit of ROM, whilst I did this... and irt, could lift the arm higher and higher... I'd not been that familiar with AMR yet, so was gobsmacked as well, given how little work AMR costs the bodyworker. To see inches of arm ROM return (not wifout some tenderness and ticklishness in the treatment area -- the bane of working on the side of the trunk in males)... when every other tool in my quiver did next to nothing, was sobering. But the body has rules -- either you obey them and make progress, or you sit diddling yourself for an hour... Was able in the time they could pay for, to get them to place hand atop head -- which he'd not been to do for over a year (even scratching an itch on the face, enforced 6 - 7/10 pain). Had to come back for the other directions of movement, but just being able to wash his own hair again wifout a spaghetti ladle (not a typo) was more emotional than I'd expected. Mom's issue were in the ankles, seeing if I could do something about the L one, as they wanted to walk their dogs again. This one were pre-nerve- and tissue-adhesion-release... so went about using AMR and ZT to try to get their muscle and connective tissue playing nice again. Severe atrophy in the L lower leg; asked after a surgery or nerve damage. Replied no, just got weak in the last 5y. Looked at the front of the leg, not much atrophy. Back of calf however, very asymmetrically wasted away. That's odd... but a flag popped up in my head. There's a TrP affecting the gastrocnemius muscle, where you don't feel it in the calf, you feel it on the same side of the tailbone as your affected calf. I'd seen this a few times but it's not at all a common TrP. Where this knot sits (there are four in the gastroc), was where the calf was most atrophied. So on a hunch really... looked for, and found a whopper of a TrP knot... When the usual therapeutic pressure were applied to this knot... Mom literally yelped and almost jumped off the table. This was a bad one -- but was there an ache in the tailbone? She'd broken her tailbone as a child falling off a swingset so didn't think the pain there was anything new. And a knot was stealthily robbing her of use of their leg, at some time in the past 5y. So with some sweat, lots of breaks, and literally going to the wire for time (had only an hour each they could afford)... declared the knot released. Wouldn't be able to walk properly until the muscle grew back, so baby steps first, no dogs. When they could walk a mile or two wifout needing a rest or feeling burning pain in the calf... then including puppers might be possible. Paid and left on a cloud... and I felt pretty good as well, given the limited number of tools to bring to bear back then. Never saw them again, as another client who knew them said they'd moved to AZ (still baffles me that so many Locals move to Tempe / Mesa / Gilbert / Chandler, as the balmy weather and 90% humidity they're used to, are so far away (maybe it's years of prep going to Vegas for gambling, another Local tradition I can't wrap my head around). So didn't get to hear whether or not they'd followed advice and rid themselves of those not-trivial debilities -- esp the AMR work, which was a new frontier to discover. But current clients are also planning on possibly moving, just ifs for now. But given my modalities aren't widely available on the mainland... hope they find someone they can trust who's more of a badass at bodywork than I am -- heck I'd like to meet that bodyworker
Thu 25 Jun 26: Better morning weather, worse luck Got a great night's sleep -- even a bit more than usual (bit worn out by the fam on the table yesterday, so easily slipped into depths hitting the pillow). But soon as getting s/s/s-ing almost, seemed the whole day would be a fight to stay atop it all Little things first, like forgetting something in the house -- my keys -- and realising it milliseconds before latching the front door. Luckily keep a spare handy, so sorted... but had been what, 6 - 7 mos since last incident? Literally not since last year -- and as pounded in most of '25... were a rather dangerously-shite year to keep eyeballs peeled for, for sure (until of course, the last few hours of the last f***ing day of '25, when let my guard down). Traffic were rather tame, which is always welcome. However that general sentiment causes those who at best get 15 mpg on a good day (Silvies -- esp the older, pre-cat-eye-ones -- plus contractor / commercial vehicles) were slowing down too much -- can't deny barely idling but ambling by at below 50 here, will get a lot back for a 5.7 or 6.0L '90s V8 pickup... but does create the triggering conditions for the morning commute here, unpleasant to be stuck in the middle of. So had to do a bit of passing, sacrificing a tenth. Worth it, as the Gonzales' would be flashing past at their usual regret-it-later speeds anyway... but had to maintain about 54 - 56 in order to get that coveted 90-mpg sortie in the bag. Have changed my diet of late slightly, seeing my blood draw results... so could be my body's visceral reaction to that. If a brain's used to getting a certain supply of resistant starches-turned-sugars to consume... then it'll of course get used to it. Since I've begun transitioning off that hellbrew of pink passion tea back to good-ol' Asian-American green tea... these sorts of days have become more frequent. Sigh Of course this is all a matter not even dreamed of, 20y ago... and just a warning of what's to come, deep into my 60s and later 70s, if I make it that long in my state of health. But whilst that's always going to be a factor in how sh*t my day goes can't account for the things not related to my doing or not doing (not prompted by my moronic self)... like getting every red at every light, no matter where I turned No, that's pretty hard to do on purpose around here... What's helped lever me out of that funk tho... is simple courtesies. Flashing a big commercial truck turning across my lane, letting them turn as they're holding up a bunch of other pre-morning-coffee-adult-toddlers. Rather trigger the one bloke behind me, to defuse the row of 8 behind that truck. This is the kind of thinking alongside my moto-tuned self-preservation, I try to fold into every commute and town troll -- it does help. And the best thing, is when you do this, unprompted, no gain to yourself at all, on principle... people seem to snap out of that dog-eat-dog nonsense passing for adulthood these days... and consider the fact the scriptures emblazoned on their bumpers, their phone backgrounds, and FB pages... were being ignored so often, they literally didn't think they were doing anything wrong. The good ones, pay this forward -- and whilst I beeyotch about how crap drivers are around here... as with discovery of my little 'club' of chill-&-slow drivers in the right lane... there are a lot of islanders here, Local or transplants, that want to feel good too. Desired 5G engine air filter, never once since buying the car, ever been out... out and need shipped from O'ahu. NP, as didn't need it immediately, and will be here tmw for free. Said hi to the stealership faces I've come to know by name... and headed back out. Must be said, still had a bunch of crap still happen Just because you want to do some good and show some aloha to your fellow space station inmate, doesn't result in instant karma erasure. As with anything in life, nothing's truly pushbutton but consequences -- and if you're a good geezer, maybe it'll throw you a bone if you show loyalty to the concept --- more after clients
