If one were given to wallow in cliche, absence, they say, makes the heart grow fonder. Honestly, though, based on the stats, mostly don’t think anybody much cares.

Apart from a couple of playlist posts the last couple of weeks, I’ve been largely absent from this space. And if I’m absent, pretty much everybody’s absent; I’m aware I keep this thing going primarily as an enhancement for my own memory; visitors from out in the rest of the world, and people who might want to buy my music are really just bonuses.

In that spirit, here’s quick run-down of the things that I’ve been dealing instead of brain-dumping here the last couple of weeks:

Thing The First: I’m pretty sure I actually did have COVID there in the beginning of May; I never tested positive, and apart from feeling a little run down with what I thought were allergies, I was never really totally out of the game. What makes me think this is the fact that I seem to have lost a step when it comes to endurance, particularly on the bike. I may indeed have ridden sixty miles while in the throws of the ‘rona, but since then, hitting my usual stock twenty-miles-after-work ride has been really difficult, particularly in terms of breathing; more so than if I’d just taken off for a week or so. It’s frustrating. To build back, I’m scaling back my goals a bit; starting from scratch and rebuilding. Spending the next week or so ensuring I can do 10-12 miles at a shot without killing myself, and building back up from there. We’ll see how it goes.

Thing the Second: Work, one could say, is kicking my ass. I’ve been very busy shepherding way too many projects – actual spend plan projects as well as ambitious “reorganize the agency as we know it” efforts that, if successful, will be amazing, but I know better than to get too optimistic about, because people. It’s been eating a lot of my time, and has been exhausting. AND…I’ve actually got to show up in person in the office tomorrow to glad-hand contractors for a bit…joy.

Thing the Third: A kid totaled the van the other weekend, so I’ve been neck deep in car insurance wrangling for the last couple of weeks, which has eaten up most of the rest of my active brain cycles. It’s been a constant game of exchanging paperwork, checking statuses, and shopping for a replacement. After a bunch of false starts (including one vehicle we were interested in getting into a wreck on the way to meet up with us to ideally exchange money for wheels), we ended up with a cheap but decent Toyota/Scion that should, with care, last at least another 100k miles. That, of course, adds registration, more insurance, and mechanical inspections to get this thing legal for the road. The light, as they say, is starting to show at the end of the tunnel, $diety willing.

Both young drivers have had their first wrecks now with no injuries, so that’s at least out of the way.

Apart from that? Well, there hasn’t been time for much of anything else, especially since we’re in the midst of dance recital season, on both teaching and studenting fronts. Add to that all the usual life crap, and all I want to do is collapse.

Here’s to hoping it gets better.