My 75th Birthday Card

Granted I put away more alcohol than I intended during the Christmas movie I watched late yesterday afternoon and into the early evening, but I honestly felt myself pretty much normalized when I took to my bed a little before 10 p.m., intending to rise at 1:30 a.m. to begin readying for a five-mile+ walk.

Something else must have stricken me.

When my cellpone alarm sounded, I was in horrendous condition. I rose, but it was starkly apparent that normalization was impossible ─ I was desperately short on sleep, and I was bereft of all vitality and well-being. And I still had that occasional stabbing pain in the region of my left ear that had not been bothering me in bed. (This pain began assaulting me after I rose yesterday morning.)

I saw that my wife had come home after working the latter part of Friday at the Thai restaurant where she has part-time employment, for her bedroom door was pulled closed.

I had a pee, and then set my alarm for 4 a.m. in the desperate hope that rising then would prove realistic. Yet despite how needful I felt for sleep, it never came easily.

When my 4 a.m. alarm chimed, I was already awake and had been considering checking the time and rising ─ I felt somewhat improved.

I rose to the alarm and hurriedly dressed and was outside and on my way at either 4:16 or 4:18 a.m. ─ I had little time to spare because bus service would soon be commencing and more and more people would be abroad.

At the elementary school three or so blocks away, I dutifully visited the playground thinking that I would at least put in three sets of pull-ups and chin-ups ─ and if the equipment was dry, I might do more.

But it was wet ─ I had to waste time wiping a jungle gym monkey bar dry with a bandana. I didn't feel like taking off my heavy denim jacket, so I fully expected that I was easily matching the possible 189 pounds that I had weighed early Thursday a.m. when fully dressed.

With considerable struggling, I kicked and heaved my way to a total of five pull-ups in a first set. Only then did I decide to go for another set, and then tackle two sets of chin-ups with the following results: 5-2-3-3.

These were acceptable numbers for me fully dressed as I was, but I was too loath to experience the strain of two sets of pull-ups between a pair of gymnastics-style rings because the final of those pull-ups normally sees me holding it at peak elevation for a nearly agonizing 40-count, and I was not feeling myself able to withstand that strain.

I also skipped the set of decline push-ups. My thinking was that maybe on my return, I might then tackle the skipped movements.

And so I continued with my walk.

I had a decent pace, but approximately ¾ of a mile into it, I suddenly 'hit a wall'. All vigour seemed to just fade out. I not only felt weak, but I was experiencing some muscle aches, and my knees and even the tissues around them ─ such as my quadriceps tendons ─ felt the nearly painful sensitivity of having been recently overworked.

I was also aware of hip pain ─ actually, the front where I suppose both of my femurs join my pelvis. The sensitivity was in that major crease or fold that results when we sit, raise our legs, or bend forward.

The stabbing ear pain would resume from time to time.

I kept on walking, but none of what I had ─ prior to hitting that invisible wall ─ returned. My steps were pathetically listless, my pace slow.

This was ridiculous, but I had to at least have a token walk. Thus, I virtually halved the distance and settled on 2½ miles.

I could not 'push the pace' ─ I was so stagnant that even going downhill I was unable to accelerate. I even had the realization that I might possibly be able to lie down somewhere and obtain some sleep ─ I felt so unnaturally depleted.

When I cut through the back of the school grounds, I could not even consider trying any further exercise. I just wanted to make it home.

My eldest stepson apparently had one of his 6 a.m. 12-hour shifts, for his car was gone.

It was 1⅓ hours since I had left home ─ which was ludicrously poor time, for I am seldom very much over two hours when I walk the full five miles and whatever might be a little extra. My pace this time would have had me taking 30 - 40 minutes over two hours had I attempted the full distance.

And there would be far too many other pedestrians abroad, besides heavier street traffic.

Today is my weekly Sabbath fast, so I am unable to tell if the overall feebleness, sleepiness, and muscle and joint sensitivity I am experiencing can all be attributed to caffeine withdrawal and hunger ─ whatever had stricken me last night didn't affect my hunger, for I had it considerably when I was into the second half of my walk. Thus, whatever the problem was, it had nothing to do with my stomach.

Not too long after I was home and seated here at my bedside computer, I heard enough suspicious stirrings from my brother's bedroom that I knew he was about to come forth even though I don't believe that it was yet 7 a.m.

So I shut myself into my bedroom just in time, and not much later returned to bed in search of needed sleep.

When next I rose, I don't believe that it was too much past 9 a.m. ─ maybe 9:15 to 9:20 a.m.

I very soon joined my brother for some T.V. after I had boiled up some hot water ─ I am abstaining today from even black coffee, so the hot water was for sipping.

It was not long afterwards that my brother started dressing to go out. It seems that he had an appointment to have the ignition interlock device "recalibrated" that is installed in his van. The device was mandated to be installed at his own expense and is to remain for six months, and he chose to have this recalibration done every two months rather than monthly as 'the Powers' had prescribed ─ so two months have now elapsed, it would seem. I did not realize that he has had this impediment to his usual drunk driving restricting him for that long.

Darned if I can remember if he was still here when my wife left around 10:10 a.m. on her fairly long drive for a full day's work at the restaurant. She had risen around 9:40 to 9:45 a.m. to have a shower and otherwise get ready.

This past Friday ─ was that only yesterday? ─ was my 75th birthday. After she had worked Thursday and then come home after midnight into the early beginnings of Friday, she realized that my birthday had arrived and proclaimed that she would get me some birthday cake on Saturday.

Well, that has not happened.

As yet my brother has failed to acknowledge my birthday, so I wondered if he might possibly return home from his recalibration appointment with the usual gift of a bottle of booze that is our gift-giving tradition; but he got back home around 11:40 a.m. empty-handed. Or to correct that, he had done some shopping at Walmart for himself, so he had whatever it was that he bought there, but no booze for me.

I am curious how much longer he is going to be able to forget that my birthday has both come and gone. I was gifted a 24-pack of cans of Cariboo Genuine Draft beer (5.5% alcohol) last evening from my two stepsons, along with a very touching birthday card. The youngest lad made the personal delivery here to my bedroom where I was seated here at my bedside computer.

Early this afternoon I placed the card on our stereo stand, so sooner or later my brother is going to notice it. I'm wondering how well he will then wear the 'egg on his face'.

I had a darned nice and dreamy early afternoon nap, and didn't force myself up until possibly as late as 3:20 or even 3:40 p.m.

The stabbing left ear pain seems to have abated.

I had thought that maybe I could manage some token exercise here at home, but I've got nothing ─ no verve or drive. I feel absolutely listless.

Something obviously went wrong with me overnight after I had retired, but it may have passed ─ I always feel listless on fasting days (which span from nightfall Friday to after dark Saturday evening).

It's been a sunny day, by the way. Also, my brother and I did watch one video this morning, after he returned from his outing. The video ran us into the noon hour, for it was 24 minutes long (24:14).

Published yesterday at Rumble's AnitaKrishna channel, the video was CTV News VP tells committee they're losing money and viewers.

CTV News VP, Richard Gray tells parliamentary committee the broadcaster is losing 40 million a year and viewership is declining. He also answers questions about the dodgy Pierre Poilievre edit on CTV National Weekend News.

He sought some bed rest after the video, but was back out of his bedroom to head out on whatever errands(s) he felt himself to have. I hadn't yet submitted to my afternoon nap, but during it he returned home to leave his van and then head off afoot to catch a bus and go drinking.

I am not pleased with the results of today's fast, for very late in the afternoon I stripped naked for a weigh-in on our analogue scale: possibly 177 or even 178 pounds. Still, at least I am below 180 pounds.

Okay, three photos now ─ the first is the lovely message that was written inside the earlier-mentioned birthday card. I have full confidence that my youngest stepson (25 years old) composed it:

I took the next two photos ─ of a far unhappier composition ─ at 7:50 a.m. on Sunday, August 11. The printing was on either a section of cardboard, or else a section of wood from a sign or box or something similar.

My guess was that a homeless woman likely composed it, for the message seemed genuine enough. The wood or cardboard was lying at the debris-laden edge of a sidewalk alongside Fraser Highway just a short distance past 144th Street's termination at the highway.

I was walking on the opposite side of the highway from that street's terminus, and walking 'down' (or south-east) as you look at this Google Map.

I had seen the message there on at least a couple of earlier occasions, but never thought to photograph it, so I haven't a clue how much earlier the author created it, nor where it may have come from, for I do not believe that anyone just sat on the side of that isolated stretch of highway to create the message, and then just walked on and left it there.

None of the questions I have can ever be answered.

I have been working on this post piecemeal over the latter afternoon and on into the evening. At this point I have broken my fast with a rather bland meal that now has me uninterested in anything like a beer. And so I have instead prepared a big mug of instant coffee. I have had to force myself to drink any water today, and I did little of that. This meal will dehydrate me if I do not supply it with a quantity of very warm and delicious liquid (the coffee has been sweetened with some honey and creamed with liquid whipping cream).

I fully expect to be back to my usual Sunday activities, so I will be getting to bed soon after 11 p.m., probably ─ we shall see. My cellphone alarm is going to be set for 4 a.m. to get me up in copious time to be leaving here around 6 a.m. on a grocery shopping expedition that will be exceeding five miles as a round trip.

It is 9:37 p.m., so I might as well fold up shop for today where blogging is concerned. I will not be watching any T.V. shows that I follow on my own ─ I drink something alcoholic when I do that in order to enhance my immersion into whatever I choose to watch.

But enough typing on this post ─ it is done.