Going off the rails on the lazy train.
First things first- I haven’t paid a whole lot of attention to The Tour this year, but this is super badass;
All hail Girmay.
Now then- With about two hours of sleep under my belt since last we met, today’s effort is gonna be a struggle so allow me to apologize in advance.
Firstly I’d like to thank Handsome AK from Shimano for generously helping me out with a set of desperately needed rotors;
During the midst of a ride over the weekend, somebody looked at my shiny new set and exclaimed “that’s what they’re supposed to look like?!”
Indeed. It turns out beating the absolute shit out of your bike eventually has repercussions. Who would have imagined such a thing?
Moving on- There’s been a recent thing that’s weighed pretty heavily on my mind and I have been struggling with a way to contend with it. So, as folks who’ve lurked around here for a few years know, I was voted off my domestic island a few years ago. There wasn’t neglect, abuse, infidelity, or anything. There was change, and sometimes a person changes in a way that isn’t advantageous to the health of the relationship. If I’m honest, I never thought we were beyond salvation, which makes the split that much harder to wrap my mind around, but here we are, and so it is.
Anyway, besides losing my person, my home, my studio, and my community, I also lost my cat. To say that undoing the emotional damage that this entire exchange has caused has been difficult would be an understatement so profound it could create a blackhole. Anyway, I’ve thrown all manner of therapy at my brain and nervous system and while I’m at least at a point where my ex and I are able to again enjoy one another’s company, the absence of my cat in my life has been a staggeringly difficult thing to navigate, so when he got extremely sick last week, I was vexed beyond compare. How much financial responsibility do I have? She was draining her personal and business accounts and compromising her own well being to keep him safe, but where do I fit into that? Having to deal with the eventuality of health issues of ‘our’ animal on her own was an unfortunate inevitability, which she obviously established with her decision to send me packing.
Anyway, because I’m not a monster, I sold off a bunch of my records, and anything else that wasn’t nailed down to help them both out, and while it was touch and go for a week or so, I got word yesterday that at least for now he’s stable. There might be a surgery somewhere down the road in which they open his urethra to prevent the potential of blockage.
That’s a future problem for future me though. Or for future them because I will likely still be in debt from helping them out this time around. I always have the lottery to win…
All of this is to say that for now we’re good, so on behalf of Ike, Monika, and me, I sure do want to thank folks for placing orders, or throwing a buck or five at me to offset the financial shitshow that is repeated ER visits.
I’m happy as a clam to report that he’s getting back to being happy as a clam;
Long live Ike.
And now in conclusion, having said all of that, here’s the 134th episode of the Revolting podcast;
And just like that, not only has the train has left the station, but it’s gone and fallen off the tracks to boot.
It is great that you have parted ways with a slice of your belongings for your cat’s health. Not many would do that. Knowing from the podcast how much music means to you, this was certainly hard for you, I believe. Our cat had cancer and needed surgery, chemo therapy, etc. We did all of that to see her recover and get cancer a year later. So, we sent her through hell (surgery/recovery) to get her where she was a year before. We have learned two things from this experience: 1.) Ask your vet for an honest estimate of life expectancy and quality of your cat before doing a large surgery. 2.) I wondered if -sometimes- we simply are selfish to send the little guys into surgery so that they just stick around and lead a miserable and short life for us. Don’t get me wrong, our cat died and it was a tragedy, but we should have known better. If the surgery truly helps your friend to have a good life afterwards, by all means, it makes sense. If not, I would never do this to my furry buddies again.
Monika and I are both pretty good at saying when is when, as we’ve done it twice before. Ike has a lot of kick left in him.
I too was voted off around the same time period. Lost my pup El Che in the deal. Now he’s gone and there is a hole. When change is right for one, it isn’t always for the other.
Man, that’s the truth. I hope the hole is healing and you’re continuing to move forward.
I met 4 Ethiopian kids about 6 years ago at an MTB camp a friend of mine runs. We’ve become friends and now they’re like my nephews. Matthew, Mark, Peter, and Paul. I can’t tell you how excited they are about Grimay despite the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Makes me want to believe that road racing still has something to offer…