March Nemesis (Monthly Mini-Rants)

There are smart scales that tie into the rest of your health metrics. I don’t own one. I do own a regular scale that I bought a couple of years ago on a doorbuster sale…it’s still in the box.

Make a mental note of where the speedometer needle is for certain speeds & then learn how to read an analog clock & you’re all set.


Yesterday morning the alarm goes off, I toss off the covers & it's cold...*too* cold. I put on some sweatpants & go downstairs & look at the thermostat. It 60° in the house despite being set for 69°. Grumble, grumble, grumble I put on some shoes & go to the basement & turn on the light, which probably took me longer than to fix the problem. I have a high efficiency heater, if it doesn't get enough air it won't run. Fix? Remove the PVC pipe, pick up the leaf that got sucked in from outside & is sitting on the filter, which is blocking the system from getting enough air. Replace PVC. Went back upstairs & had breakfast (just cereal); by the time I was done it was already a couple of degrees warmer in the house. It happens a couple of times a year, usually overnight so I realize when I get out of bed (& therefore, not wearing a lot of clothes) which means it's had hours to drop because I was slumbering peacefully.

This morning was a group run on the rail trail ersatz expressway. – We start out running towards the east, which was slightly blinding as the sun was still low on the horizon. I notice a vehicle coming towards us but can’t make out any details because of the sun glare. I think that the park rangers are out early this morning. Nope, it’s an old dude driving his EV on the trail. Now I know he can’t get out at the trailhead right behind us because there’s a locked pole in the middle that prevents unauthorized vehicles from driving down the path. Person I’m running with calls the cops. Sure enough a few mins later he’s turned around & is now going eastbound, coming up behind us. Get to my turnaround point & then there’s one cop coming down the trail, then a minute later, another one. Then the first cop has turned around & comes back, then a park ranger comes driving down the trail. Every time a bike came up on me I got a bit jumpy; I had to turn around & make sure the tire noise was just from a bike & not some type of automobile.