Troll’s Hole

Troll is touching himself and saying, “I’m feeling MUCH better now”.

Sorry. Those of you who might know me from a long time ago would know what that means, but I doubt that anyone that reads this will get it.

I seem to be recovering, but still feel stuffy in one ear. This makes listening difficult. Two days ago both ears felt this way, so any improvement is good.

I have been suffering from a burst of energy and have been doing many things around the house. It’s about time too. I have let too many things go in the time I was on the road.

I have begun exercising with the Mrs. and this has progressed to the point where I actually got out the bicycle again and put it on the road.

In my long lost past I used to ride almost everywhere and even just a few years ago I was doing 40 mile weekends fairly regularly. I am hoping to take it up again because I have always loved it. Riding is a great time to think and take time to look at things. It is good for the soul and the body.

Now that the kids are grown it is time to make changes in the way I live. I have always looked forward to this time in my life, and I think it has finally arrived.

I just better not get perky and nice. If that happens I will have to drown myself in a bucket of molten lead.

I have been sick again.

I was finally forced to see a doctor this week. They kinda threw me out of work, and seeing as how my former primary doctor will no longer take my insurance, I went to urgent care.

This was not a totally bad experience. I feel that I was treated well and thoroughly.

I have been fighting the ‘Capella Crud’ for far too long and it was winning. I was diagnosed with bronchitis and given a lot of drugs to take after being treated with a nebulizer in the urgent care center. (Twice)

Four days later it is remarkable how much better I feel. My mind was weak and my body was unable to do much. Now I want to dye the dog’s hair pink and give her a Mohawk haircut.

Soon, I have to begin thinking of all the work that is ahead of me. I have at least two projects coming up shortly out of town and probably should be preparing the Doghouse for travel, but have been procrastinating because it has been far too good to be home for a while.

This year had been hard on me. I have been sick for much of it and don’t think I ever really recovered. I hope this is the last round and that I can get back to having a life. I am so tired of being tired that I think I will take a nap.

I just found this file and thought I would post it. If we are being picky it should be read before the one below it, but I am not feeling like it is that important at this time.

From HELL I rode….

Yesterday I left Telluride for (hopefully) the last time.

I am still somewhat in shock at the general conditions at that jobsite. Now that I am home for a short while, I hope to discharge some of the detritus that has accumulated in my lungs and mind.

I found my sense of irony aroused when I was loading my truck for my final escape. I heard a noise that sounded like a worker type person going about his/her worker like business. When I investigated, it turned out to be a woodpecker trying valiantly to peck his/her way through some metal roofing material. That single act seemed to sum up my feelings about my work in this place; trying to bash my head through metal. It won’t hurt the metal and it will give me one hell of a headache.

It is nice to have some unrelated act bring a sense of completion to a job like this.

Now that I am back at Sanctuary I feel out of place here, too. That seems to be one of the problems with being on the road all the time; all places start feeling like you don’t quite belong.

I have been spending time working on the Doghouse to get ready to go back on the road next month. This winter was kinda hard on the place and I am still not done. There was a protective layer of dust everywhere that required industrial vacuuming and a dose of cleaning solution.

Is it just me, or was this last winter dusty in the Southwest? Telluride had incredible amounts of dust to the point that tourists were complaining that someone should clean the dirt from the snow. (True) My truck became brown over red from the accumulated dirt that was falling from the sky. I always thought of mountain snow as white and pristine just to learn that when it is not fresh it is brown and dirty looking.

On my drive back to Sanctuary, I went through all of spring in about 3 hours. Near Telluride there is still melting snow and the spring runoff has just begun. Before long it was 70 degrees and I had the air conditioner running. One whole season in less than three hours. Maybe I am having a time warp?

I have not been here. I know this. I am back in Sanctuary, but have been failing at an attempt to recover from the latest round of the Capella Crud.

I have become convinced that the aliens are using that place as an experiment in disease vector. They have a plan. I think they are creating something more virulent than the swine flu and more tenacious than a summer cold.

Do the aliens have gender? How do you tell a ‘he’ alien from a ‘she’ alien? Why do they want to probe anuses? Do I really want to know?

I am working in Albuquerque for a while. This seems to make some people nervous. After being gone for about two years on the road, readjusting to home life is challenging.
I did not even realize it had been that long. After the first few times, all the days away seem to run together. A place is just another place, and it is still not home.

I discovered that I did not miss home as much as I should.

Home can get away from you all too quickly and become another place. Warning for all you travelers out there; when home becomes just another place, you have been out of touch for too long.

On a lighter note, I have been writing again, just not here. I am certain in the near future the Muse shall bite me on the ass and I shall be back with tongue in cheek and venom on my tongue.