When:  Saturday from dawn to dusk – 2/10/2018
Weather: It started out bad and got worse–freezing rain was threatened
Observations/Thoughts

My Friday evening was cut short.  I needed to get to bed so I could be ready to go Saturday morning.  What did I do ALL day Saturday?  I volunteered/worked at a robotic meet.  A team of judges and I, plus  “fans” (Yes, robotic teams have fans–some quite loud.), spent the better part of a day helping support and cheer 48 teams through the strenuous but necessary process to allow the “winners” to emerge.  (There is not just one winner.  Seven teams move on to the super-regional by way of their robots performance and/or team judging results.)

• Robot Inspection:  This was the role I “signed up” for on this day.  Not being a coach, I am somewhat of a pretender when it comes to inspecting the robots.  In previous meets, the inspection takes place.  However, in this meet, it was for ALL of the marbles.  Also, with some robots never seeing more than one meet before they are completely dissembled, the ancestors of the original robot need to be inspected during each meet.  To protect myself from unfairly giving a “Pass” when a “Fail” was the correct response (All robots at this meet passed.  The minor offenses likely just required multiple trips to the judging station.), I was able to coerce my cohorts to take a team judging approach.  I read from the checklist as my partner verified the particular robot met that requirement.  (Because of the various components available, some requirements did not apply to many of the robots.)  I checked off the box before reading the next one.  Due to the specific components used, I did not complete one of these myself.  I kept the “real” inspector on task.  I tried to stay in the background enough to allow him to be the authority.  When the checklist was done, I gathered the signature from the team before passing on the completed inspection.
• Field Inspection:  Field inspection became a “Battlefield Promotion”.  This is usually where the backup occurs.  And, because it is a little more complex, fewer volunteers seem to favor this area.  The event organizer showed my partner and I the tricks to effectively doing the field inspections.  While my partner was there, I read off the line items and marked them off when he said they were completed.  When he went to the bathroom and didn’t come back, I handled them on my own.  I hit the highlights pretty well.  Once you know the key points of the field inspection, I enjoyed it more than the regular robot inspection.  It was fast!!  When you are the inspector, the teams assume you have knowledge.  It is much easier to do this with the field rather than robot inspection.
• Referee…who touches the right mouse button once at the beginning of the match:  The biggest responsibility I had the rest of the day was pressing the button and starting 18 matches.  (I really should have only started 17.  One clock starter left early.  I was drafted to help.  Thus my 18th.) . After the match was done and the teams agreed with their scores, I was responsible for putting the “glyphs” (brown and grey blocks) back into the starting area.  The glyphs must be within the taped area and not breaking the 4th plane.  (They can’t be stacked 4 high.)

On the personal side:

• I got a t-shirt.  They always give you t-shirts when you volunteer.  This year, the color was a military green with the necessary sponsor/event information.
• There is always a lounge for the volunteers.  Knowing less healthy food would come for lunch and dinner, I picked up a couple of clementines.  Once the clementines were peeled, I didn’t bother eating the sections individually.  I chucked half of the peeled clementine into my mouth.  My body wanted to breathe but neglected to tell my mouth.  The clementine went down the wrong pipe.  Really, it went nowhere.  The juices were a poor imitation for air.  I choked and coughed while attempting to assure those also in the break area I was not dying.  Words did not come out easily.  The cough was arguing to have its life extended.  It gradually died.  As the cough died, I immediately “hopped back on the horse” and consumed the rest of my clementines.
• I got a meal.  Dickies catered.  The brisket was excellent.
• We ate at “Meteor Hamburgers” for dinner.  They offered powdered sugar or salt on my sweet potato fries.  I was advised to go with the salt.

When:  Mid-Afternoon Friday – 2/9/2018
Weather: High 60’s–excellent day to walk
Observations/Thoughts

I am rather embarrassed to admit I am writing this Sunday morning.  The past two days did get away from me.  As this and the following posting are published, I hope to give an adequate explanation. And, if no one is reading these and I am only writing them to fulfill a New Year’s commitment, then the quality of the explanation will be of lesser importance.  Somedays are so very overwhelming! “Today’s Walk” may ultimately be written about the time I am on my feet on any given day. I hope to push off that possibility until, at the earliest, the second half of the year.  Should I have another weekend like the past couple days, I will have to allow “walk” to be a metaphoric expression of the day that was mine.

• While the day was great for walking, my observational skills seemed to be resting.  With one exception, nothing of the bicyclists or dog walkers caused me to take special note.  As the walk neared its close, I wandered down the “path to nowhere” I have continued to walk despite it being closed for the park renovation.  As I neared the turn around point, there is a rock bench along the left side of the path.  There was an older gentleman sitting with a couple days of grey beard growth on the bench leaning on his elbows.  He had taken off his outer shirt.  It was laying on the bench next to him.  The upper half of his body was just wearing a white t-shirt.  As I passed, we acknowledged each other.  As the path forced my turn around, my new friend had arisen.  He had put his shirt back on.  It was a shirt he wanted to tuck in.  He turned his posterior my direction and dropped his pants to his knees.  My mind said he was just tucking in his shirt, but the skeptical part of me wondered if a “flasher” was in my midst.  My paranoid mind was proven wrong.  The only “event” of my walk proved to be a non-event.
• While slightly inaccurate in claiming the title of “walk”, a later walk led to my inability to maintain my “write it the day it happened” goal.  My daughter’s school is small.  While she has athletic talent, she has not previously put much effort into cultivating her basketball skills.  Today was Senior Night.  Without any practice or guidance, my wife and I gathered at my daughter’s side following the boy’s varsity game.  When they started reading a bio on my daughter, we struggled to know where to walk.  Somehow, we found an agreeable path to center court.  Following her being presented with a gift and some flowers, we again looked for clues.  Where were we supposed to “park” while the other seniors were given a similar treatment? Through body language and my wife’s common sense, we ended up on the right side of the court.  Eventually, an “arch” emerged of athletes and parents.  With the exception of some anticlimactic pictures, the “Senior Night” became just another basketball game with pre-game warmups.

When:  Mid-Afternoon – 2/8/2018
Weather: High 50’s to Low 60’s–excellent day to walk
Observations/Thoughts

• My first observation was not related to my walk.  As I was driving to work at 5:30, I saw the same guy walking his two little dogs for two days in a row.  Never having been a dog owner in a traditional neighborhood, I didn’t realize dogs enjoyed walking in the dark–let alone doing their business in the dark.  They were bundled as well as their owner.  (It was even freezing in Texas today at 5:30.)  It is moments like this when my ears become nearly deaf to my daughter’s suggestions of getting a dog.
• Chain leashing:  Usually when I see someone walking two dogs, they are holding on to 2 leashes.  Today, two golden retrievers were being walked a different way.  The owner was holding one leash.  It was attached to the dog closest to him.  The second dog was a little farther out.  He (Yes, I know the dog could have been a she) was farther out from the owner.  His leash was attached to the leash or in some other way to the “first” dog.  They were well-behaved dogs, so it was not a problem.  Shortly after passing the leashed dogs, I passed the “crazy dogs”.  They love barking at humans, but if you have a dog you are walking as well, they will push the bark meter to an 11.  Most of the dogs that walk past don’t respond in kind.  It leads me to believe maybe the owners of these dogs are a little lax in their dog ownership responsibilities.

When:  Mid-Afternoon – 2/7/2018
Weather: Low 40’s with sun…
Observations/Thoughts

• Dressing for Walking Success: When it is in the low 40’s, I know how many layers to wear.  I cover my ears and wear gloves.  When the breeze varies and the sun is not fully committed to performing, the layers of clothing may be inadequate.  I was mostly right on the layers.  For quite a stretch, the wind was nonexistent.  Any thoughts I had of enjoying the extra warmth were made impossible by the sound of my swinging arms rubbing against my coat.  When it is 70 or up, I only have to decide on pants or shorts.
• Soulless:  I  literally saw no people on my walk today. (I did see someone across the drainage ditch, but I passed no one.)  If dogs had souls, the walk could have been salvaged.  Without any type of walkers or bikers, it is very difficult to be inspired.  I started this writing project assuming I would have outside stimulation.  Without any company on the path, I am dependant on utter creativity rather than unique observations.  With my early wakeup and my typical afternoon urge for a nap, it typically takes something beyond the norm to jumpstart the limited mental resources I have available.

When:  Distractions, distractions, distractions- 2/6/2018
Weather: Low 40’s with clouds…LOTS of clouds AND precipitation
Observations/Thoughts

I came home from work today with clouds and no visible sun.  There was construction on my normal route, so I took a slightly longer way home–more roundabouts and more school zones.  At home, I was greeted by a crew of Hispanic gentlemen working to install a new drainage pipe in the backyard.  Rather, when I got there, they had nearly completed the underground portion of their work.  Before they called their job complete, they ran all of the sprinklers.  They wanted to find out if the changes made to improve the drainage impacted the sprinkler heads.  They fixed a couple, and I talked them into raising a couple of other sprinklers not impacted by their yard grading.

The problem came when they started commenting on all of the heads that were old and in need of replacement.  To get pricing on their suggested upgrades, their supervisor needed to come.  The workers marked out the suggested changes to the present sprinkler system.  After the supervisor reviewed and calculated, he was ready to translate their efforts into a cost for me.  To get to this point, it took over an hour.  The quote allowed me to make a decision without consulting the boss–it was within my signing authority.  All sprinkler/irrigation guys had just left when it started raining.  On the positive side, this allowed me to confirm the new drainage was working.  On the negative side, my walk was at risk of being canceled.  (As the rain continued and my need for a nap came to the forefront, the walk was postponed until the weather was more accommodating–like tomorrow.  I still got almost 3 miles in between work and groceries.)

At the risk of looking generous, I dangled a 2 liter of Coke in front of the workers.  It took close to an hour before they finally had time to drink it.  I also included my special banana bread–neither my daughters or wife deemed it appropriate to take the bread to school/work.  When the same “team” comes back next week to move the sprinklers, I can’t promise my wife will treat them so well.

When:  Late afternoon, 2/5/2018
Weather: Low 40’s with clouds…LOTS of clouds
Observations/Thoughts

• Sidewalks were bare:  The temperates probably bare some of the blame.  And, the hour I walked can’t be ignored either.  Those who thought about walking and didn’t are likely smarter than me.  Really nothing to see here or there.  The Armadillo was wiser than I or had caught his daily nourishment earlier in the day.  The only wildlife was 3 Longhorns in a pasture on the west side of the path.  Lonely walks are times to be thoughtful.
• Nemesis Road:  I may have to just quit posting anything related to sidewalk previously under construction.  None of the neighbors with property adjoining the path are issuing further threats.  Today, they would have had a very difficult time connecting me to the pedestrian wearing shorts of a few short days ago.  A jacket and ear muffs smothered any hopes of recognition.  After the first threat and iPhone pictures, I imagined a future where any suspicious characters would be delayed on the path.  Their images would be compared to the paparazzis extensive catalog of likenesses of “lawbreakers” who couldn’t wait the extra day before walking on the “post-construction” path.

This new project at work is not very enjoyable.  They are exploring the upper limits of daily productivity.  As I try to be a team player, I am trying to hard to hit those goals.  Attempting to hit the goals is not bad.  Trying to hit a goal your peers don’t have an interest in makes for a very frustrating day.  So, with nothing to give the desired level of distraction from my thoughts of work, I will likely plan some heavy reading before bed.

When:  Late morning, 2/4/2018
Weather: High 50’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

• Armadillos are forever:  This little-armored guy seems to be like the gold prospectors of nearly 200 years ago.  He has been looking for grubs and insects in the same section of the neighborhood for days.  He doesn’t appear to be digging any holes.  Somehow, he must be getting nourishment.  He also has claimed part of the grassy area along the creek bank as part of his foraging area.  If he keeps up his appearances, I may have to read up on these fellows to see what other behaviors to look for.
• Gait practice: As the paranoia diminishes, I am still having fun with traveling nemesis road.  On the outgoing part of the journey, I switched my gait to a planting of my right foot and then an extension of my left foot.  The garage door was closed at the paparazzi’s house.  My gait change was mostly just for my own entertainment.  On the return along the same path, I attempted to skip.  I did need to delay my skip until I passed a walking couple.  I greatly miscalculated my skipping range.  Walking is certainly different than skipping.  If I continue to play this “gait game”, skipping is off of the rotation.

When:  Great day for a walk, 2/3/2018
Weather: Mid 50’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

Unfortunately, this post did not occur on the day it transpired.  Both of my daughter’s involvement in a school play eliminated the time when this is usually written.  However, I may be up early enough to complete this while it is still yesterday somewhere.

• A Boy and the Creature:  As my walk began, I was coming up on the first bridge.  A couple of spectators found me looking for what they were observing.  In today’s case, it was my armadillo friend.  The person walking their dog ahead of me let the father and son know the armadillo is there nearly every morning. Not meaning to be outdone, I had to relate my own story about this creature image occupying many spots on my iPhone.  I let the father know some facts about armadillos in general and this one specifically.  I said, “He used to hunt grubs under the trees over there.  Not sure how many grubs he is going to find here.”  The dad held the family dog back as his 4-5-year-old son was amazed by a live armadillo.  “Roadkill” armadillos are not uncommon.  Seeing them alive and living their lives are not common.  As the “poor man’s pig” (Google said it was a legitimate nickname) lived his life, the dad couldn’t help but comment on how the little-armored mammal appeared to be nearly domesticated.  After seeing Armand so frequently, I couldn’t disagree.
• Gait Change: As I left the house, I said to my wife, “If I get one phone call, I am calling you.”  Why would I say such a thing?  I might again be braving the path where the homeowner threatened me with certain arrest.  I might again be braving a path of uncertain safety.  To increase my odds of returning home safely, I wore a different hat and coat.  It was a cooler day, so the rest of my attire would also have altered my appearance.  As I approached the “decision point”, it appeared the first orange webbed fence had been removed.  Somewhat hesitantly, I continued on.  When the second fence (it might also be called the “mid-point fence”) was absent, I thought all the thoughts I could think to minimize me being recognized.  Having read a few spy novels, I stumbled across the paraphrased thought, “Even if the appearance changed, often a person’s gait does not change.  It can give them away” Quickly, I chose a gait far different from my normal stride.  I didn’t stretch out my stride, I put a little pause between the left and right stride.  Being very comfortable with how I walk, it certainly felt altered.  I took sideways glances to the left as I passed the house of my personal paparazzi.  No movement was detected.  Once his driveway (the path and driveway were parallel.  They both ended on the road.) was gone, I resumed my normal stride.  As I walked a couple of miles before I again returned to the stretch of pathway I referred to as “nemesis road”, I experimented with some other strides.  The gait I chose for the return had a little “hitch” in it.  My left stride was followed by my right foot rising and pausing slightly before completing the stride.  This passage heard a few noises in the garage, but otherwise, it was also uneventful.  If I can’t get gaits out of my head in the coming days, I may need to have someone video me walking.  I would be interested to see if the temporary changes I made, in fact, were visible to anyone but me.  The visual appearance would be much more important than the perceived.
• Slalom:  I think I passed a fan of the Olympics today.  As I walked the “long” stretch of sidewalk that runs along the cow pasture and the fracking well, there was a bicyclist coming toward my quickly.  He seemed to be weaving back and forth as he came south in the center of the sidewalk.  Once he realized I was ahead and possibly seeing him, he reverted back to the “normal” spot along the left (my left) side of the sidewalk.  Once he did this, I noticed the dashed lines divided the two sides of the sidewalk.  When any spectators were absent, he was navigating his bike along the outside edge of each of the dotted lines.  It certainly would keep him looking down and oblivious to those further down the path. As with my stride, I am sure he hoped he was performing for an imaginary audience.

When:  Another day where I didn’t, 2/2/2018
Weather: Low 50’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

Today’s walk was still nearly 7,000 steps–so claims my iPhone.  I didn’t take a formal walk today. The busyness of work supplied the iPhone app with something productive to do.  I have been testing out a few excuses for myself.  None of them seem to be very convincing.  In the National Guard (and probably most of the military in general), they often said, “The maximum range of an excuse is 0 yards.”  This was a take-off on us having to memorize the range of various weapons we trained with.  So, the truth…

On a good night, I get something less than 7 hours of sleep.  On a bad night, “something less than 7 hours” MINUS “lots of stuff on my mind” EQUALS “6 or fewer hours of sleep”.  This week a project we “anticipated” since I started 6 months ago really started.  Besides the logistical issues, there were moments when people didn’t deal with their frustration well.  I was not immune to the headaches surrounding this change.  After getting home from work today, I chose to postpone any walks until after my nap.  After my nap (Before sleeping, I set an alarm.  I didn’t want to go TOO deep.), I found out I did go too deep.  I had to coax myself back to wakefulness with some mindless television.

After watching the news with my wife with minimal conversation, a dinner of warmups got my probably as close as I will come for the rest of the night to human.  At this point, the only option I have is to promise myself to be better tomorrow.  I am hopeful my “real” trail will be officially open.  I rather write about happy things than about being terrorized by homeowners who wave phones and throw threats at me.  Simply, I want a stressfree weekend.  Monday I get to start the SECOND week of the new project.  Don’t let me disguise my enthusiasm!!

When:  Not as nice as yesterday, but still sunny, 2/1/2018
Weather: Low 60’s with sun and breeze; walked with a jacket
Observations/Thoughts

I didn’t enjoy my day at work. I considered neglecting the whole idea of a walk. When I realized I had to come up with something to write about, I found the energy to get a few steps in.

• Fence repaired:  My walk of yesterday will likely not follow the same path for some time.  Even though the older gentlemen was just trying to rattle me with talk of “marshals” and middle-age delinquency, I don’t want to waste good mental energy getting my conscious poked unfairly.  As I saw the part of the sidewalk in the “closed” zone, I noticed they had tidied up the fence.  It now looked only slightly more foreboding than yesterday.  If there were no fences today and the path was open, I was not going to brave it.  I am hoping the old man will forget about me.  (I will certainly wear a different hat next time I walk through.)
• Little Passer: A mother and son were out riding their bike.  As I came to the point of yesterday’s fateful decision and turned around, they turned around just behind me.  It wasn’t long before they passed me—son then mom.  The son passed pretty close on my left.  The mother gave him some encouraging words like, “Be careful. Don’t be too close to people.”  As she passed me, she apologized for her son’s hastiness.  I forget exactly what I said.  It was something like, “I heard you, mom.  I know you are working on him.”  I hope when people hear what I say, they hear what I mean and just the words.  When I reflect on what I say to others where the conversation is really brief, I seem to say things out loud that are not as clear as they were when the thought was formed.  I did mean well.
• Barking:  When I went “out” on the front end of the walk, the barking dogs didn’t give me much more than a look.   When I returned, they were all about barking and chasing me along the fence.  (Fortunately, they didn’t have any cameras or anything beyond their barks.)  However, since I was still in a “recovering” mood, my head imagined itself swelling up to 10 times its normal size.  My face took on a cartoonesque look.  I opened my mouth wide, and I roared at the dogs.  The force of my roar backed them up into the pool.  They exited the pool and cowered on the other side.  The windows of the house shook.  As I passed their house and came to the bridge, I dared not look back for fear my imagination got the best of me.