Measuring Recovery by Kitchen Carts

We used to have a kitchen island when we were in SF. The small kitchen needed more counter space and 22x50" kitchen island from Overstock.com fit the space perfectly. The 100 lbs furniture made of MDF and pressed wood cost $250 back then, and it took me multiple days to assemble it. I'm sure how many days, but I do remember parts strewn across the living room for several days. That was in 2014. When we left SF for the NYC in 2017, I got rid of it rather than keeping it in the storage along with other furniture; I wasn't sure if we'll need it when we move to a new place and I was running out of space in the storage. 

Then we moved to our current apartment when we came back. This old fourplex has an alley kitchen with the counter abruptly ending two thirds of the way. Too bad, the kitchen cart I got rid of would've fit perfectly in the remaining space.  We've been using my camping table as an extra countertop instead.  I wasn't sure how long we were going to stay here, and I didn't want to invest time and money to get a new one. So I used my camping table as a temporary solution.

What's temporary has ways of becoming permanent. It's been over 3 years and we were still using the camping table as a countertop. I finally had to reclaim the camping table for it's intended use as I am planning to travel for a year boondocking and camping.

There must've been a great inflation in furniture industry. The kitchen cart that I bought and assembled for $250 before was selling for $500 on Amazon. I finally found another one for $260 at Walmart. Turns out, it is exactly same kitchen cart, only in white to match my kitchen. It took only half a day to complete the assembly this time. I had to break it into 4 sessions with 30 minute breaks in between though. 

From multiple days to half day to complete the same task? Now that is what I call progress. And it only took 7 years, LOL. Maybe I'll be able to assemble my next kitchen cart without taking a break. That'll be a measure of full recovery.

I spent the next day mostly lying around. The hamstring and calves along with triceps were sore as hell and I was groggy from fatigue and the lack of sleep -- I only slept 4 hours.

That's been happening over and over again this year. I come back from skiing, I become "tired but wired" and unable to sleep. And a half day exertion to assemble a furniture has the same effect. Last year I was sleeping 8 hours after skiing. Something has changed this year. 

The recovery required 4 days. Two days after I was up and running after 7 hour sleep. It would've been a normal recovery if it ended there. But I gradually descended to PEM as dopamine faded and it took 3 more days to recover.

Skiing #7

 Another squeaky snow, another slow slopes. On the first run, the snow grabbed my ski as I leaned to turn and I toppled over. The ski pole hit my thumb in the process and reinjured it.  It's been a series of bad lucks for this thumb. I first injured it some 20 years ago while skiing and it took several years to heal. The range of motion remained shrunken. Then I injured it again 2 years ago by sleeping on it folded under my head. It almost healed and I was about to get back the full use of it. Luckily it appears to be more of a bruise than ligament injury this time.  It's going to take a while nonetheless, before I regain the use of it. Let's just hope that it won't be another 2 years.

The slope slope is the problem with skiing right after it snowed. In Utah or Colorado, it would've been a fluffy "champagne" power. California unfortunately doesn't get light powder too often. Sierra mountains squeeze out moisture from storm clouds from Pacific and clouds dump wet snows. Then the clouds, deprived of its moisture, drop dry powder on Utah and Colorado. That's why California snow is usually wet and heavy. It's great for building snowman, but not so super for ski slopes. The wet snow turned the slopes slow once again, and I stayed on blue and black slopes as such.

But I managed to stick to 2 session of 8 runs each. And the aftermath pattern has been the same as before. I slept fitfully and was wide awake the next day. Then the bottom fell out on the 2nd day. Another struggle on the following day and then I was back on my feet by Tuesday. The recovery from skiing #7 took the mandatory 3 days.

So, the aftermath of skiing #7 wasn't any worse than skiing #6. That means there will be skiing #8. I'll keep at it as long as it takes 3 days or less to recover.

Skip Skiing #7, For Now

 I was all set to hit the hills on yesterday; I bounced back on Wednesday after struggling for 3 days and the car was fully charged up for the trip.  Then it dawned on me that I was going downhill as the season progressed. On Tuesday night I was reduced to beating my thighs with my palm to relieve the ache and remembered that I used to do that with a spatula in 2010. I was struggling and yet I was blaming random things, like not resting enough before and after the trip, for the struggle when the skiing itself is the mostly likely culprit.

How strange that you remember things while you sleep. Things that you've forgotten in waking hours. Last season, I felt fully recovered from CFS after skiing for a month. Then I was trying to replicate that feeling of recovery while my condition progressively got worse, eventually ending up with PEM struggle of 5 months. And here I was doing the same thing.

I may give #7 another try next week. I should be rested enough after a break of 2 weeks.  If it results in another struggle, then I'll pack up and call it a season. 

Getting Jailed for Violating 3 Day Suspended Sentence

 It's one thing or another. Last time, one lift was out. This time both of them were out, thanks to the power outage. Strong wind blew the day before and either PG&E line went down or they killed the line to prevent fire. They've been de-energizing the line whenever they have fire danger ever since the Paradise fire that put them in bankruptcy I waited for 30 minutes in the car, the power came back up, and the skiing #6 went as planned.

It was a sunny and warm day. The nicely packed slopes were fast and skiing was fun once again. The only problem was that I wasn't well rested. I fixed the bike tire the day before and had to move the bike up and down a flight. They were repairing the garage roof, so I had to move the stuff out of the garage. I was tired in the morning, but I went skiing anyway. Which violated my rule for making sure that I'm fully rested before the day of heavy exertion. (I should write the ten commandment for avoiding PEM someday). 

Then I violated another rule of giving 3 days of rest before returning to routine. I worked on the car before the 3 day recovery clock expired. I've been looking into installing an AC inverter in my car so that I could power a few appliances while camping and avoid carrying propane fuel. Before making the commitment though, I needed to ensure the viability. I had get down on my knee to figure out how to remove the backseat, mistakenly believing the 2500w internal 12V converter is located there. Then a better sense prevailed, checked one more time, and gave that up after finding that only applied to Model 3. So I moved to the front and poked around under the hood to see if there was a place to install the inverter.

That was enough to knock me out for the rest of the day and I'm still struggling today.  It'll probably will last another day or two, but I'll recover in time for the skiing #7 on Thursday or Friday.