Reborn As An Early Retiree, I Now Wander America’s Costliest City: Volume 3, Chapter 10

WHAT’S ON MY MIND

Bah, humbug! My brother was discharged from the hospital Tuesday night, and then was readmitted less than 48 hours later after an incident. He will be transferred to a lockdown facility, and I’m very distressed over the circumstances of how this all went down. On top of that, my sister never spends the holidays with family and The Muse will be out of town for Christmas (pet sitting). 

The realization that I’ll be spending the holidays alone like I have every fucking year since 2020 is depressing, but I haven’t surrendered myself completely to the darkness or the urge to give life "Middle Fingers Up". I’m still sending out those Christmas cards I mentioned earlier, and I also picked out gifts for Bert and The Muse.

WHAT I ATE

Those Dudley’s apricot macaroons are so sinfully good that they are now banned from my household. I should also lay off the chai lattes while I’m at it. More on that later.

WHAT I BOUGHT BEFORE SHIT WENT SIDEWAYS

• Le Creuset fondue set, $380 (Williams Sonoma)
• Le Creuset trivet, $49.99 (Amazon)
• Two bottles of Olio Santo roasted garlic EVOO, $39.99 but marked down to $24 (WS)
• One bag of peppermint bark meltaways, $18.95 (WS)
• A bathroom towel set (washcloth, hand and bath towels only), $73.50 (Pottery Barn)
• A bottle of highly rated (90+ Wine Enthusiast score) pinot noir, $19.99 (Total Wine)
• A bottle of highly rated (90+ Wine Enthusiast score) sancerre blanc, $31.99 (TW)

I planned this shopping spree for a few weeks. It just happened to be a coincidence that I learned the latest news about my brother after I snapped this photo of Miku’s boot (the British term, y'all!) upon returning home. 

WHERE I’M GOING

I’m meeting Bert for lunch and it’s 100% guaranteed I’ll be the weirdo ordering the Caesar chicken salad and a glass of water. You'll see why at the end of this post.

WHAT MADE ME EUPHORIC

I took a cruise with Artoria Friday night to clear my head, and when I drove by Costco a minor miracle happened. There were no lines at the pump, and 91 octane was only $4.39 a gallon! After I returned home, I grabbed Miku’s keys and topped her off too. That saved me roughly $0.77 a gallon off Chevron’s current prices.

LET’S PLAY MAXI MINI MAXI

On Thursday Miku was parked between a Hyundai IONIQ 5 and an Audi Q8. Fucking hell that Audi is huge.

WHAT I LISTENED TO

Selected tunes from Def Leppard’s “Retro Active” album. On the electric version of “Two Steps Behind” there’s a hidden track of “Miss You In A Heartbeat” featuring Joe Elliot and a piano. I love how he serenades me into a bliss that makes my thoughts drift to a certain someone who’s also under a tremendous amount of stress right now…

WHAT SACRED TEXTS I READ

• The King’s Beast, Volume 12
• Date A Live (light novel), Volume 13

Also from J-Novel Club…

• The Royal Hostage Has Vanished: The Black Wolf Yearns For The Persecuted Princess, Volume 2 (final volume, finished)
• The Hero And The Sage: Reincarnated And Engaged, Volume 3
• The Poison King: Now That I’ve Gained Ultimate Power, The Bewitching Beauties In My Harem Can’t Get Enough Of Me, Volume 3 (finished)
• An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels For Me!, Volume 9 
• Duchess In The Attic, Volume 3 

WHAT I WATCHED

Nothing worth mentioning. Moving on…

WELCOME TO SLAPSVILLE

I had worthy candidates, but I nominate myself as mayor of Slapsville. I forgot to buy shredded cheese and I didn’t notice I was out until I attempted to make an omelet this morning. I settled for an unsatisfying scrambled egg and sauteed veggie bowl.

A FIST BUMP GOES TO

Retiring Nissan factory driver and Italy native Ronnie Quintarelli. He announced he’s staying in Japan, never racing overseas, and may do Super Taikyu (Super Endurance) races in the near future. He has a Japanese wife, is fluent in the language, has two children and has been part of the Japanese auto racing scene for two decades. I’m assuming he’s no longer a gaijin at this point?

WHAT’S UP WITH MY HEALTH

My weight jumped to 259.2, a +3.6 pound gain, which isn’t a surprise. Stress and a lack of quality sleep will prevent anyone from losing weight, and when you combine that with excess sugar intake it never ends well. On top of the apricot macaroons and the chai lattes, the Julian Apple Nut bread might also be a culprit in my weight gain.

Thankfully the asiago olive bread isn’t to blame. Other than a little higher sodium, the latter is similar to Dave’s Killer Bread in nutrition so I will continue to buy it once a month weather permitting.  

It’s not all bad news on the health front. I gained 1.5 lbs of muscle and I did full workouts all week. My left knee is improving but it’s not 100% yet. I spent all Friday sans a knee brace or a sleeve to see how it’s doing. I felt a twinge of pain at the very end of my Zumba workout, but it went away in about thirty seconds. My knee hasn’t bothered me since.

I will not beat myself up over this week’s results. I’m still under 260, and I’ll focus on my mental health to improve things. I must KTFO (Knock The Fuck Out) this malaise ASAP so I can comfort The Muse while she goes through her enduring ordeal called freelance work. She deserves the best version of me, and not my my own version of The Jameis Winston Experience.