I attempted a time-lapse video showing a couple of hours of this project but it was just too boring to post. Not boring for me, mind you, but the state of flow this induces for me doesn’t come across in a video.
Default Face
I recently watched an episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee during which Sarah Silverman explains the concept of your “default face.” This is what your face looks like when it is without expression.
Ms. Silverman says you can “change your life” by simply changing your default face. I believe she is correct. I first noticed this about a month ago when I hung a small mirror from the windscreen in the Jeep (to watch the angry motorists forced to go slow behind me). I am also able to see my own face and I immediately saw my default face. Not pretty.
But when I smile… voila! I take five (ten?) years off my face. It will take a while for this to become my default face because it takes a) awareness and b) some extra facial muscles that don’t get used that often.
The Truth About Cruises
Ms. Madigan nicely sums up why you’ll never find me on a cruise ship.
UTV (utility task vehicle)
I moved some brush this morning using my neighbor’s UTV (utility task vehicles), also known as a SxS (side-by-side). He has repeatedly offered the use of this thing but I resisted. I don’t much like borrowing tools and I felt like I needed the exercise I get from dragging brush up and down our hill. But was pretty hot this morning and the hill gets steeper every time I climb it so I borrowed his UTV. I didn’t have all that much brush and I wasn’t moving it that far. I can see why people are fond of these things.
Pickup truck?
What makes a pickup truck… a pickup truck. What is its essence, if you will? A bed for “picking up” stuff? The Oxford Dictionary definition is: “a small truck with an enclosed cab and open back.” So, yeah, this is a pickup truck. But will it ever haul a load of cow manure or gravel or a greasy engine block? Will the owner ever climb into its luxurious cab in sweaty, dirty work clothes? Maybe.
But it just doesn’t say “pickup truck” to me. I’m not a farmer or rancher or anyone that needs a pickup truck. So I have no standing for this kind of snobbery. But a truck like the one above can cost $68,000 dollars. And it seems to be more about a comfortable ride for the driver (and passengers) than getting work done. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Jerry Seinfeld would say.
From my friend (and car aficionado) Phil: “nearly certain that’s a 2024 GMC 3500 Denali Ultimate. If so, $101-105,000 (with massaging seats!) if it’s just a regular Denali, it’s still a $95K+ truck… $68K might get you a used 2020, but not one of those.”
Another friend reports: “2015 GMC diesel/Denali still books at 50K!”
Rats
The Jeep makes me smile
MAGA Dress Code
“An untucked, oversize t-shirt in red, white and blue, a fanny pack, billowing cargo shorts, tube socks, a ball cap and at least one ace bandage. It’s a look that says comfort, gun ownership and I-whine-about-the economy-while-driving-a-brand-new-truck.”
— Paul Rudnick
2,100 consecutive days
Light and moderate drinking could reduce the risk of long-term heart disease
“Light and moderate drinking could reduce the risk of long-term heart disease by lowering stress levels in the brain.” Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital found a connection between light to moderate alcohol consumption—defined as one drink per day for women and between one and two for men—and a long-term reduction in the brain’s stress signals to the body, serving as a possible explanation for the long-documented tie between light drinking and improved health.”
“Participants who had a history of stress and anxiety had even greater health benefits: Researchers found people prone to high stress and anxiety levels who drank a light or moderate amount had twice the cardiac-protective effects than those without high stress and anxiety.”