The journey begins - purchased a truck.

Oops - on I29? My apologies.

Wait - were you the guy in the white Volvo with his foot up on the dash that I kept passing ?

 

I left it alone the day you left, and attacked it the following day. Took about 5 hours at a guess. The blade/cut on the moving video and adjusting audio levels and matching in some music probably took the most time. The interview portion I like to leave fairly raw, boost audio and cut out camera checks, but otherwise leave as is - to represent subject and story.

Format is as rich as allows - our internet speed here is poor, so uploads can take 8hrs per 1 hour of completed footage, but I often hotspot the cell phone out here until the carrier decides to throttle it back. Otherwise it's a trip to the step son's house to use faster internet in a larger town.

Thanks for stopping by, and cooking steak here. I hope you'll do so again.

 

Here I am!

Thank you sir.

@Opus and I have talked a little about this in the past, and some others may know a little more about me than what they let on.

What appears on the outside is largely a farce most of the time, in the last year or so, more than normal. I essentially put on 'a face' to deal with the world when I leave the house, or in company of others. Lately it has become more difficult. I used to have hobbies, passions and interests, but no longer find any joy in them. Trucking, music, creating videos, woodwork, general hobbies. It devolves into a state of paralysis at times - days and weeks pass with no urge or intention to be productive, or at times communicate.

I may have mentioned before that my body has not produced testosterone for 20 years. The injections are supposed to be bi-weekly, but come with waves of benefit. The normal range is some 400-800 at my age, I sit somewhere less than 50. Depression runs in my family, alcoholism too. Truth is - I am the only one responsible for dragging myself out of the depths and putting the boots on in the morning. I'll have to find a solution myself, other factors - whether experienced or perceived cannot be blamed.

Last year came with much death and loss. Mechanically I can function through it, but realize I have switches inside that have been 'turned off' most of my life. The stark realization of that came when I failed to deal with the loss of a simple animal.

Ed Sommers died a few weeks back, so it's not like 'A Happy New Year' changes anything. Humans are born and die every day. He was a neighbor and friend, served in Vietnam in the Army. Perfectly healthy the last time I saw him.

We've been helping Tom - 84 years old - with , well life in general. His late wife's sister, Miss Betty, also 84, has needed some help here too. After going to banks for meetings, assisting with Medicaid applications, and attempts to relay this information to their children, 2 close by, 2 in other states - the level of apathy and contempt for their own parents - has somewhat sickened both of us. But it's like trying to clean your hands when you're kneading dough, we stuck our hands in, and extricating ourselves is a little difficult. We're just 'concerned neighbors' - the ones that will be available to tote groceries, or pick them up off the floor when they cannot get up, when their own children have answers simply consisting of "Call 911" . . .

Many thanks to those of you that have reached out - personally, or on here. I discovered a couple of years ago, that helping others brought me a sense of happiness. When I discovered that the purpose and function of that felt meaningless, I had to reconsider things.

With hope for the future.

 

I did have the 'opportunity' to pull an RGN minideck, a crash course in trailer and freight that I have NEVER pulled. All went well, with some solid help. Basically I was 'tagalong', which made the process 95% easier.





It did provide some insights. End of January this year.