It’s tax day here in ‘murica, where 99% of us a happy to pay our fair share to keep America great, and the other 1% laugh at us behind our backs (some right to our faces) as they send their money off to hidden offshore accounts. I actually filed mine way back at the beginning of February, so all I’m really trying to do today is make it through this week. On my way into the building this morning, I walked by a banana peel in the parking lot. All I could think of was this could be my ticket to permanent disability (and maybe a lawsuit for failure to provide a safe working environment). And it would have been such a classic injury. “How’d you get hurt?” “Slipped on a banana peel.” Hah!

But the weather has taken a rather dramatic turn for the better around here (sunny and in the 60s – maybe even 70 on Sunday) through the weekend (I actually go to sit out in the sun for a while after I got home last night – I was tempted to have a fire, but thought better of it. It was a school night, and there’s something about sitting around a fire that induces me to drink way too much beer and stay up way too late). So I don’t wanna be stuck in a full-body cast in a hospital bed. Hopefully that banana peel will still be there on Monday (and that much more slippery after a few days of baking in the sun).

Plus, I’m already somewhat crippled. In my effort to stave off death at least until I after I retire, I’ve been trying to get into some semblance of “shape” (at least, a shape other than “sphere”). Mostly, I’m hoping to not have a heart attack, so I’ve been trying to do some cardio-type stuff. I can’t use my bike, because I started to develop something along the line of Achilles tendinitis. So I bought a rowing machine, and have been very diligent in getting up at 4:00 or so and doing 30+ minutes a day on it for the past month. And I’ve been feeling pretty good, other than a bit of stiffness in my right Achilles tendon. Until the middle of the night last night when it started to ache like crazy and hurt like hell to touch (which made my 5 or so trips to the bathroom rather unbearable).

By this morning, I could barely walk on it. So, no rowing for me today. Instead I put ice on it and took some Ibuprofen. I really hope it goes away, ‘cuz it’s pretty fucking discouraging to actually try to do the right thing, only to suffer for it. Plus, what the hell am I gonna do with a rowing machine that I can row with.

Otherwise, there’s not much going on. We’re basking in the unexpected attention of the candidates for President. Not only are they spending money on teevee ads, but they’ve actually been stopping by to visit in person. We’re really not used to this – typically good folks in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina have already chosen the nominees, so we’re usually spared all this stuff. Herr Drumpf himself will be here on Saturday (I think my wife should bring her dad out to see him – not that he can really see anymore, but I think Donnie’s his kinda guy), and we’re all agog. Well, some of us are, anyway.

Much as I’d love to go hear how Trump plans on making America great again, I’ve got too much to do (god knows when we’ll . My first plan is to get the mower on the tractor (not that the lawn needs mowing just yet, but if the weather stays decent, it’ll be knee-high before you know it). This will probably guarantee a mid-April blizzard, but I can still plow the driveway with the mower on if need be. I also need to get one batch of beer out of the fermenter and into a keg and hopefully brew another one. But I need to whomp up a recipe first.

And of course I have to find a way to get to Costco and do my laundry and all that other “day off” stuff. Plus I have a ton of teevee backed up to watch.

Two days just aren’t enough.