Just..... REALLY Tired

 

I have not written for a few days, but I am just feeling REALLY tired, much like the fellow in the image above.  My mental, emotional, physical energies are ALL low.  I am not actually sad or happy..... just feeling tired and run down.  Even though I am not sure, I *think* it may in part be due to the prolonged heat wave we have had the last 5-6 days.  I do know it takes me a while each year to acclimate to the high temperatures and high humidity of Summer in my region.  Even with air conditioning, it is still a noticeable change because I spend a fair amount of time outside most days in one form or another.  I AM very thankful for air conditioning for sleeping at night and relaxing in the late evening.  My mind is not focused enough to compose much more than another bulleted list of basic thoughts:

• I ran 10.2 miles (~16km) on Monday and 11 miles (~18km) today (Tuesday).  It was so very warm both days even at 5am (~75 degrees F (~24 C)) that I ran both days in my "Sasquatch Mode" (shirtless so I was a rather frightening, beastly furball to anyone I would run past.  But, at least at 5am there were not many folks out, and I also did not need to put on sunscreen as it was early sunrise time. 
• My community band had its first concert in a park last night.  In one song, I was not focused enough and like a complete doofus, I came in four measures ahead because I stupidly did not count out the 8 measures of rest accurately.  So, I felt embarrassed as hell for the three wrong notes before I figured out my idiocy.  It was in the second song of our 10 song set, so it flustered me a bit and I felt "off" during the other songs of the evening. I do not believe I made any glaring errors, but I do not think my phrasing was what it could have been either. 
  
• I went vehicle shopping with my wife again, and in some ways it is like walking on eggshells.  BEFORE we go shopping for her, we are both in agreement on wanting to get her a vehicle that is good quality, but also is at a fair and reasonable price.  But, my wife (in a similar way to my father) is VERY easily swayed and swoons at the b*llsh*t the salesmen throw at us.  This then makes my wife suddenly become enamored with each and every high priced widget/doodad that she hears about, and before long, the vehicle price is much, much more expensive than what we had talked through before with the features she wanted and we talked through BEFORE the sales pitch.  But, when I try to steer her back to our at home discussion, she becomes a bit grumpy at me because at least at that moment, she is all about the shinny tin whistles and add-ons.  I try to not say much, and hope when the faux luster of the sales pitch wears off, we will be able to again work through this to get her, her next vehicle.  
• The new edition of my book (just a dry, small academic textbook) is about 95% done, but I am just struggling to feel the motivation to get it finished and off my plate.  But the deadline is looming so I have to find the fire in me to do so.
• When I went to water our garden at the community garden today, I was surprised and happy that the one chard plant we had that had been damaged (an errant rock crushed it shortly after planting... and I thought was a goner), struggled and put forth a new, very, very tiny leaf, so it may be able to recover.  I have five other chard plants in the garden, so I will try to nurture this one to continue on its recovery.  
• PCS scores the last few days have been in the 3-4 range.  
• Theoretically, we are in an area where we should have had the emergence of the 17 year old cicadas.  But, I never heard or saw any.  
• We need rain.  It has been dry as toast in a desert wind here.  
• I guess I will conclude, but I want to give you a link to a new music group I stumbled across that actually really intrigues me.  It is very MODERN and the kids playing are very young, but it is... to me.... quite striking and enjoyable.  It has a bit of a jazz feel and a bit of a rock feel at the same time.  I ask you to take the 3 minutes of this song and listen and watch (it is YouTube).  The three fellows are damn amazing in my opinion.  It features a contra bass clarinet, a tenor saxophone, and a drum kit:
  

                                       "Moon Hooch - Contrabass Dubstep" 

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