So, didn’t love this week at all, apart from a couple of very brief bursts of seratonin.

For the most part, thanks to allergies, that muscle pull from last week, garbage weather, long work days, and unexpected adventures in busted ignition switches, tow trucks, and navigating warranty conditions, I spent a lot of the week miserable and overwhelmed. It sucked.

Chained to the desk, stuck on the phone, and lingering pains. Yay.

As for that last bit, my lovely spouse and the youngest ended up stuck in the city with a car that wouldn’t start after an appointment thanks to a faulty ignition switch on Tuesday afternoon. I kind of expected this eventually, as there’s a lot of chatter on the internets about the issue on this particular model. So, after navigating a bunch of phone menus with the warranty company (we’ve only had this car a couple of months and it’s covered for a while yet) to arrange a tow and locate an approved repair facility, I logged off early and headed into the city to retrieve folks and deal with the various customer service issues (those, at least, in person, were exceptionally pleasant).

Got the news Wednesday that my suspicions were correct that it was indeed the switch, but my warranty from the seller wouldn’t cover it, because the manufacturer had extended the warranty on that particular component. So, to get the thing sorted, I needed to get the car to the dealership (luckily, only two miles away from the independent shop); but schedules (especially owing to the fact that we were down a car) prevented my being able to arrange another tow and take care of shop paperwork until Thursday, which I did between work calls (and still ended up having to do one from the road). Again, the dealership was pleasant and very helpful, though we’re going to be without a car until at least the middle of next week.

Yay again.

So, yeah, that’s life right now; I’m sore, frustrated, and definitely exceeding my whelm limit. And this isn’t even taking into account the constant headlines about rising COVID rates and yet another looming government shutdown* pissing contest.

Oh, those nice things? My chiropractor appointment on Wednesday afternoon was a high point; I knew I was experiencing tension, though the feeling of my spine cracking like a zipper felt amazing and provided at least a few hours of relief. As was date night Sunday evening when the lovely spouse and I went to the drive-in movie theater (yes, they still exist) and caught a screening of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; thumbs-up to both the film and the company. Finally, I logged in this morning to find a co-worker offering up unsolicited praise of my efforts to management regarding a project that got reviewed this week. It’s nice to be recognized.

Nothing really, for the weekend. I had to cancel some plans (though honestly, I don’t know if I was up to that level of social interaction anyway), as we’re a car down and offspring need to get to work. I’m hoping I’ll get some biking in (not much this week – see weather and muscle pain), maybe combined with errands that need done, and hopefully, some down time where nobody really needs anything from me for a while.

Closing out with tunes..lots of uptempo roots rock and americana, which is, y’know, fine with me. It’s one of my go-to comfort genres. #2 is a bit of a classic, I’ve really started digging the stuff that artist #9 puts out, and #10, as the kids say, slaps:

1. “Burning Photographs” – Ryan Adams
2. “Hard To Handle” – The Black Crowes
3. “Keep On Knocking” – Death
4. “Gone Ridin'” – Chris Isaak
5. “Laid” – James
6. “Cowboy Song” – Thin Lizzy
7. “Unpublished Critics” – Australian Crawl
8. “The Perfect Crime #2” – The Decembrists
9. “Cumberland Gap” – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
10. “Positively Lost Me” – The Rave-Ups
11. “In A Daydream” – Freddy Jones Band
12. “Always A Friend” – Alejandro Escovedo
13. “Tumbling Dice” – Linda Rondstadt

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*- I really wish didn’t get so much mileage out of this song….