Post-Ian, Pre-Dominican Republic

I figured I’d finally post up here to let everyone know we made it through hurricane Ian just fine. Since the storm shifted trajectory at the last minute, we dodged the majority of the winds and water. As a result, there was no damage to the house. The only mishap we had was that several trees in the preserve out back fell over in a domino effect, with the last tree landing in our back yard. Since we have nothing in the backyard, there was no damage to anything. The tree still needs to be removed, but since it originate from off-property, the CDD is expected to remove it. I reached out to them on October 9. I suspect it’ll be a little bit before they can make it around.

A view from the treeline.
The opposite view, from the lanai.
The trees covering the walkway in the preserve.

Carl flew out from L.A. on Oct 3rd to help his mom, who lives down in Venice. She was without power and water (she has well water and no electricity for the pump). He used my place as a sort-of base of operations for a week and went back to California on the 10th after her power and water came back.

This weekend was pretty busy getting small tasks done around the house. I’m back into using a detailed Excel spreadsheet to plan out blocks of my personal time, so several thing were able to get done. I also have gotten tired of way I feel and have decided to go back to Keto to lose weight and combat how terrible I bottom-out when I eat carbs. I’ve been good the last few days, but had some rice tonight with dinner. Back on track tomorrow. I intend on tracking weight up here publicly at some point, but I need more momentum first.

I bought and watched Clerks III today. I think those movies are a great little trilogy, but this third one really had me on an emotional rollercoaster. Hat’s off to Kevin Smith on a fun one!

Lastly, this week and next is shoring up nicely. Becasue of all the hard work during the hurricance, my boss is forcing me (oh shucks!) to take off Thursday and Friday this week. This is even with the knowledge that I’m off all next week as Cari and I and another couple travel to an all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. So, after I “clock out” on Wednesday, I’ll have eleven days off. The plan is to really relax in D.R. and reboot myself physically and mentally. I hope this makes up for the debacle that was Christmas time.

Louisiana Bound

We’re headed off on a road trip to Baton Rouge tomorrow morning. The car is packed and everything’s ready to go. Since it’s likely going to be a 12 hour trip, we’re waking up at 5:00am and will be on the road by 6:00am or so.

We’ll be in town there for three whole days, and will be driving back on Monday. One of our friends is from Louisiana and she’s going to be there with her boyfriend this weekend, so we’ll likely spend some time hanging out with them.

On deck for when I get back next week: I have some movies in the pipeline I’m adding to my collection, there is some post-DeLorean-build news, and 3D printing lined up.

2010 L.A. Trip

I happened to stumble across my old Tumblr page today. Apparently, I created it around the time I went to L.A. in May 2010 for a short, 4-day trip. I was seriously considering moving out there, and Zeke (Eman) had set me up with a interview at the Ski Channel. The interview didn’t go so well, but I had an opportunity to see what L.A. was like and it was a large basis of why I went back out there again in December 2010.

Anyway, I pulled all of those Tumblr posts into this blog and deleted the Tumblr account. If you go back to around May 2010, you’ll see the posts.

Adios, L.A… For Now.

Sitting at gate 10 at LAX. In about an hour I’ll be airborne, on my way to Charlotte, NC to get my connecting flight back to Tampa.

This vacation was well worth it. I got to hang out with old friends, meet great new friends, and study the lay of the land.

The most productive time so far was Anders’ party last night. I met several awesome people and learned a lot about L.A. from those who live here as well as some visitors like me. I’ve found it interesting listening to why people like being here and what keeps them here. Ultimately, I’ve found there are a ton of “normal” people living in L.A.; those far removed from the Industry douche bags I expected.