Meandering Back onto this Blog

"True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment."

-William Penn

Back at my post here in the office after an early morning workout. Per P's advice, I tried the Planet Fitness in Callaway as a means of avoiding the crowds and the lunky, jacked-up bodybuilders and the horrible traffic associated with slogging up to the location above the mall. Sure enough, the drive to Callaway was easy, the place deserted for the most part, and I happily switched my membership there.

The workout itself involved a lot less weight than over the last couple weeks. Lately I've been aching all over, and figure it has something to do with a fairly aggressive weightlifting regimen over the last month or two. Muscles may grow, but those bones and that connective tissue are still sixty and well out of warranty. We'll see if the new "more reps less weight" approach helps.

Meanwhile back at Wyldswood they're hanging sheetrock in the barn, and George is out there every day trying to get it finished.

Oh and the house is brilliantly white!

Maybe too white, actually. When we first arrived on Friday P was excited, then concerned that maybe this wasn't the right shade of white, wasn't as warm as she'd hoped. There's also little contrast with the trim work, which is a slightly more muted shade of white.

So on Sunday we made a decision to stay overnight so P could speak directly with the painters first thing Monday morning. This, in turn, gave me a day to play a full eighteen holes of golf (shot a 98, which isn't great but what do you expect?), then crawl around on the porch building Peg's new Pollywood Adirondack recliners and assembling the 360 degree swivel umbrella that both provides shade and privacy from the trailer people when P wants to jump into the hot tub in her birthday suit, which happily is a frequent occurrence while we're there.

All the while the Braves played the Yankees on the radio, providing the perfect background for a perfect spring Sunday. Well, almost perfect: the Braves lost 9-8, giving up seventeen hits to the Yanks.

The end result brought Peg a new outdoor party room, with hot tub, comfortable chairs, and shade, accessible only from our bedroom.

Peg got a little windburn out on the golf course, and it shows. She's looking better now.

Monday morning P met with painters, chose a new trim color to soften the antiseptic glow of the new walls, and then drove me back here so I could work in the truck. Now here we are back in PC on another brilliant spring day.

Meanwhile, NPR reports this morning that folks are becoming concerned about pilots falling asleep at the controls of passenger jets.

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/12/1237888119/pilots-often-take-micro-naps-how-much-of-a-problem-is-it-globally

I guess if the plane flies off course or past the destination airport, which apparently has happened occasionally, it's an issue. Otherwise, so long as the two pilots aren't asleep at the same time, or for very long, it doesn't seem like such a big deal.

Have I fallen asleep in the Columbia? I can neither confirm nor deny. I will admit that I always bring a Kindle book for the long drone between here and NY, and in other contexts I've been known to fall asleep after a few pages of pleasure reading. You can draw your own conclusions.

I'd also observe that autopilots have come a long way since I first started flying jets and dinosaurs roamed the tarmac. These days the entire route of flight is programmed into the computer, and my only job is to get us leveled off and the fuel mixture set, then work the radios and switch fuel tanks every hour or so. Add a little classical music on the XM radio beamed into the cockpit by magic, and one could easily slip into the land of nod on a long flight.

One could make the argument that this isn't a bad thing if it's properly managed. The most stressful part of any flight is the arrival, particularly if it's dark and the weather is lousy, which describes most of my trips north from Florida to Elmira. Being fresh and focused at that moment really matters in a way it doesn't at 14,000 feet watching the hills go by. A little micro-nap during the lull could be a great benefit, particularly on flights that begin after a full day at work.

Speaking of which, I need to get after the list of projects today. Not much on my calendar, but mountains of thinking work looks to fill the week. Plus, I want to get this knocked out so I can go hang with P not long after she gets off work. It's not forever.