2020-07-18 — Peace, Be Still

Hello, all you fabulous people, you. 😊

Today has been… wonderful.

About time, huh? Two weeks of roller coaster madness, and today I’ve been pretty much calm and in a good mood all day; And starting… I don’t know… about 7:30, maybe? I’ve been happy and completely at peace. Peace!!!

Oh, it’s been a while. It. Has. Been. A. While!

That word looks funny to me. ‘While.’ Well… it looks fine without italics. With italics… huh… it looks wrong. Like I spelled it wrong. Weird.

SQUIRREL!!!

Aaaaanyway, so it’s been nice to feel this way for what… 5 hours now? And do you know what? The complete peace came right at a moment when you’d think it would have run screaming the other way with the situation that was about to happen. But I chatted a little bit with the Man Upstairs, told him I was gonna trust him… and then… peace washed over me like a river–along with a little message from the Man: “Don’t worry about tonight. I’ll take care of it.” (something like that, anyway)

I honestly don’t know what did end up happening tonight in that out-of-my-control event potentially happening far far away. But… whatever did or didn’t happen, whatever does or doesn’t come of it, it’ll be fine.

This is soooooo nice.

I’ve missed this. 😊

So… I overbooked today and forgot about some people, so I ran out and worked a bit to make sure I got everyone taken care of. Now that my poison ivy has mostly reached the itching-because-the-skin-is-dry-and-flaking-off stage, which only a handful of secondary exposure rashes popping up in random places as well, I’m able to work relatively comfortably–not with the nasty nasty sweaty rash feeling that’s so uncomfortable–especially in the lovely Arkansas humidity. 🤪

I was grateful things went relatively well. The first job was a radiator and thermostat replacement. Everything went fine with the exception of the stupid clamps that hold the tranny cooler lines on the radiator. Those things were a beast. Why? Well, because the manufactures make the clamps just wide enough that normal pliers can’t grab all of both sides. None of my pliers are wide enough for that particular kind. Crazy engineers. It’s like they get a chuckle out of knowing they make life so much harder. I mean… 30 minutes to get two clamps on and off? Really? Even with my special hose clamp tool set it was a nightmare 🙃.

It was still fine, though.

The second job was supposed to be an alternator, but his AC compressor pulley was so screwed up I was like… dude, your alternator might actually be fine, and the whole system is just dragging badly because of your compressor pulley. So I just let him know he had an oil leak, added some oil, and charged the normal service call fee, because why spend $500 replacing an alternator that might be fine when you know the compressor is bad? Yeah…

Oh, hey! Guess what!?!?! Remember that thing from yesterday about my friend and that medical condition I was determined to figure out? Guess what?!?! We have a solid lead!!!!! I’ve been gathering data about the condition, and I started doing some research, and I found this syndrome that isn’t that common but is known, and it looked like it fit pretty well, so I called my mom (I had to go out to work, so I couldn’t follow up on it right away), asked her if she’d heard about it (she’s a nurse), she hadn’t, but she said she’d take a look. Not too long later, she sent me an email with a link to a major GI institute’s web site with a super good explanation of the syndrome, along with the new name the medical field was giving the syndrome, and…. we have a solid lead!!!

The down side is there isn’t really a cure 😞. But there are definite things that can be done to improve the quality of life and everything, so… part of me is happy that I think we might really be on to it, and part of me is hoping it’s still something else… something that can just be fixed. Boom.

Crossing fingers.

But… hey, potential progress in one day after doctors were clueless for ages? We’ll take it!

Guess what else!?!? I actually ate a full dinner today! Two whole sandwiches! Perhaps my freefalling body weight will now level off (was 169 today). That’s 33 or so lbs down from my months-long sugar binge highest in my life high, and 13 lbs down from where I was about 15 days ago or so, which was actually a really good weight given my body type. Hopefully, we’re leveling off, and hopefully, I’ll get some of that weight back. It’s a bit weird to look in the mirror and see… that guy looking back at me. It’s like… uh… what did you do with my face?

Aaaaanyway…

#1. I’m grateful that there was a nice wind on a hot day. That helped tremendously.

#2. I’m grateful the radiator lady kept bringing me waters to help with the heat.

#3. I’m grateful for peace. Real peace.

#4. I’m grateful for the friend who said what was said yesterday that got me to where I am today.

#5. I’m grateful to be able to be working less. My income is about half what it was, but it’s nice not to be going crazy all the time. I mean… I’m still crazy, but… yeah.

My peeps. Y’all rule. Thanks, for everything. Loves and hugs to all! ❤️

Lift the World.

~ stephen