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Man, have I been a disgrace to the blogging profession. A month ago, I call out Mr. Wow, boldly proclaim I’m going to “fix” healthcare, and then I do nothing. No promised Part Two to my Mr. Wow call-out post is posted. No half-ass post on anything is posted to keep the masses entertained in the interim. And I didn’t even have the decency to reply to the great comments that my Mr. Wow call-out post generated—even the two comments posted by the illustrious Mr. Wow himself.
Yep, I’ve been a bad blogger. And the only excuse I have is that life got in the way. Here’s what I mean.
Bison Build
The bison build has been kicking my ass lately. I’m working on the inside of the back two legs and that means a lot of bending, twisting, and crouching. Not fun for my nearly 60-year-old knees and back. It’s also starting to get warm here in North Carolina. By early afternoon we’re in the low 80s now. So not only am I bending, twisting, and crouching, I’m also sweating like a sumo wrestler in hot yoga class. And after two to three hours of bisoning, I have little energy for anything else—even something as important as fixing our healthcare mess.
The good news is that I have been making some decent headway on the bison build. The back half of the beast is almost done. Here are some pictures.
Art Work Commissioned
A good friend of mine commissioned me to design a t-shirt. It was for a really good cause and there was no way I could say no. The only problem is that I really haven’t drawn anything since my rather pathetic ode to American Gothic. In other words, my drawing muscles are extremely out of shape. So drawing a picture of a surfer being dive-bombed by some maniac sea turtles wasn’t easy. I’d forgotten just how hard it is to draw the human hand, for instance. Anyway, after a couple of weeks of trying, I finally put together something presentable. Still some work to do. But I’m heading in the right direction. Check it out.
Oakley
We’re on our fourth foster dog now. His name is Oakley and he’s a champ. He’s also extremely smart and a master manipulator. He first signaled to us that it was time to do his business by whimpering by our back door. Perfect. But then he discovered that he could use his whimpering just to go out. And he loves to dig, sniff, and run. So he’s always whimpering now. And because Mrs. Groovy and I are pushovers, we’re always succumbing to his whimpering and taking him out. Bottom line: Oakley is way more work than we expected. That’s okay, of course. It just means I have less time to fix healthcare.
By the way, here are some pictures of Oakley.
Fixing Healthcare Is Hard
Finally, the main reason why I’ve been such a bad blogger lately is this: fixing healthcare is hard—especially if you want to honor the legitimate concerns of the Medicare-for-all crowd and the live-free-or-die crowd. My solution is over 3,000 words now, and it will easily surpass 5,000 words by the time it’s finished. My goal is to have it done by this Friday—I hope!
Final Thoughts
Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. Do you buy my mea culpa for being such a bad blogger? Or do you just think I’m a lazy shit who has shown wanton disregard for his most sacrosanct blogging responsibilities? Let me know what you think when you get a chance. Peace.
I just can’t get over how amazing the bison build is going – looks absolutely amazing! Certainly understandable why the healthcare conundrum has been delayed. Looking forward to Part 2 and the ongoing bison saga.
shannon@retiresgreat recently posted…Surefire Ways to Make Friends in Retirement and Keep Them
Thanks, Shannon. I really appreciate your kind words. And I definitely look forward to your feedback on Part 2. Hope all is well on your end. Cheers.
P.S. Have you turned the comments section off on your blog? I wanted to comment on your great friends-in-retirement post but the comment section was missing.
Thank you Mr. G,
not sure why you didn’t see the comment section, just tested it and seems okay. Would love your thoughts and insights on our friends in retirement post!
shannon@retiresgreat recently posted…Surefire Ways to Make Friends in Retirement and Keep Them
Awesome. Maybe my brain just short-circuited or something. I’ll try again today.
I think you should just bow to the inevitable and keep Oakley. 🙂
By the way, I did a walking tour of Melbourne last week and thought of you two while we were walking by the Yarra river.
I love it. Mrs. Groovy and I were talking about you and Melbourne to family and friends this past weekend. Were your ears ringing? My family is big fans of The Block so they asked about Melbourne. We told them that we loved Melbourne more than Sydney because the Aussies there were much friendlier. And you were a prime example of this phenomenon. We’ll never forget the private tour you gave us of Melbourne and your hometown. Who does such a thing? You only knew us via blogging, and yet you graciously sacrificed a whole day to make us feel welcome. Amazing! Quick question: Are Melbourne people really more friendly than Sydney people? Or did Mrs. Groovy and I just catch Melbourne on a good week? Hope all is well down under. Peace.
P.S. I somewhat feared that we would be “bowing to the inevitable” and keeping Oakley. We’ve had him for six weeks now and he fits in so well. But some really good applications came in this weekend. In fact, I think a woman and her 10-year-old son are coming over tomorrow for a visit. If they succumb to his charms, as they most certainly will, he may be gone in a few days. No one ever said fostering dogs was going to be easy.
just don’t call it a manifesto on health care. we know how that turns out.
be well, amigo.
freddy smidlap recently posted…Horse Pee Analyst – Jobs I Didn’t Get #1
You’re awesome, Freddy. You never fail to bring a smile to my face. Nope. The word manifesto will never grace the title of any of my posts in the future. Stay well, my friend. Cheers.
All is forgiven. All, that is, except the exclusion (intentionally, I assume) of you “sweating like a sumo wrestler in hot yoga class.”. Makes me wonder about your welding outfit…
The bison looks AMAZING, BTW!
LOL. I hear ya, my friend. The sumo wrestler thing was poetic license. I sweat this time of the year, but not nearly that bad. But all bets are off in July and August. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Do you guys have gas? We’re pretty dry. Cars are lining up at gas stations. It’s like the 70s all over again.