Journaling

Why, when I call for scheduling appointments with Tim, even nine weeks away, are the only openings typically on Fridays? It’s on my bucket list to meet Tim and there never seems to be an in-person appointment available.
 
But! Yeah! I will be crossing off an item from my bucket list in a few short days. However, recently after creating my list I have learned there is a big difference between the types of want lists. List taxonomy—the complete picture via Claude:
 
Bucket list—big life experiences, often once-in-a-lifetime, tied to identity, meaning. Finland. Kayaking.
 
Goals—outcomes with steps and timelines. Body rebuild. Custom earrings. Princeton Club routine.
 
Wish list—things you want but have no clear path yet. A relationship. A dog someday.
 
ToDo list—tasks with clear actions. Watch batteries. Sharpie from the art chest. Reply to Tracy about the fish cat toy.
 
Projects—multi-step endeavors without a deadline. The journal app. The cast of characters meadow image.
 
Someday/maybe list—term from Getting Things Done — things you’re not ready to commit to but don’t want to forget. Learning Finnish. The tattoo design.
 
Meeting Tim in person is a wish list item. Wanted, meaningful, dependent on circumstances outside your control, but not so distant it belongs on a bucket list.
 
Claude writes, “The jealousy of Tim’s other clients is very real and very funny. Somewhere out there are people taking all the Tuesday through Thursday slots and they have no idea what they’re doing to you.”

Bedford Crossing parking permit hand tag and garage door opener. How long have I had the Escape? I haven’t picked up my stuff. I drove to my physical therapy appointment in the blizzard but I couldn’t go get the stuff for the new vehicle.

Instead. Today.

I thought I knew the location of the property office. I had been dreading the errand because there’s lousy parking by that building. But it turns out when I compared the address in my text message to the place I showed up at, the property management office isn’t there anymore. I needed to take a look at the map.

Traveling on University Avenue in mid-morning. There are a lot of people crossing the streets.

Reading the street numbers and driving is more than a little frustrating. Once I identified the building I needed to go to, due to the median, I had to go down to the next street light and turn around. My turnaround on a tiny off street was definitely not elegant. And then once I got to the building, I had a little bit of a “no you go, no you go, no — go on — get out of the fucking way” pedestrian who wouldn’t keep going along the sidewalk so I could pull into this weird tunnel to get to the parking area.

Inside, no one at the reception desk. Luckily someone called out asking if they could help me. I explained what I needed. He looked a little confused at first. Then he looked for something and he found it. There was actually a blue Post-it note with my name, hang tag and opener. I could drive home and start my work day.

Escaped through the drifts to see Cynthia Monday morning. Considered the snowy trek a more thorough test drive. Not letting this winter day be an excuse to derail operation Body Health/Rebuild Muscle. Ribs are near healed. I was coached through my full weight training routine. Actually I received extra attention/time due to being one of the few who showed up.

Tim directed me to ask AI for the Four Steps to Building a Routine. I did. Turns out Claude says I’m already doing better than I thought—many of the steps are already in motion. One missing piece: a wall calendar for tracking. Rather than X’s, I’ll use short codes to log what activity, when, and where. I’ll need to track down an appropriate Sharpie out of the art chest. Over the weekend I stopped at Half Price Books and found a 2026 calendar for $1.06. I chose penguins. Exactly appropriate for a blizzard Monday. Showing Cynthia the calendar was worth every cautious, snow-covered mile.

The November drive north in a rental Escape offered some winter driving experience — but different vehicles, different snow, fresh nerves all the same.

Jon, the Ford salesman, sent me a post sale inquiry. The email was still inbox, unanswered. Finally, the weather offered the perfect prompt for a one line reply to him about my snowy test drive. My positive report won me a cheer.

A calendar check off activity the penguins will witness is a complementary Princeton Club personal trainer session. I will investigate InBody assessment.

I went to two different concerts.

Back To The Future – The Musical on March 12, 2026 – Overture Hall at Overture Center for the Arts. JC and I had seats in row G at the very top. The climb up and then down the stairs was a workout. Sore knees. Doug played guitar; he had been practicing for months. The part I most looked forward to was Marty (Doug) playing Johnny B. Goode.

Candlelight: Coldplay & Imagine Dragons performed by string quartet on March 14, 2026 – Monona Terrace – Lecture Hall; I went alone. Unexpected I saw Brady (TaskRabbit) with his wife. He was so happy to see me, gave me a hug. At first I didn’t know him, dressed in a wool gentleman’s coat, and not work clothes. At the end, I was surprised to learn the candles weren’t fire.

Tickets were purchased way before impulse “entertainment” of looking at cars. Of course I’m worried the reader is going to criticize my spending habits when I have a new car to pay for. I want to justify the tickets by saying that I’m doing things. I’m not just sitting at home.

Things I feel like I should report back to Tim about. Tim is my person. I don’t really have anybody else to tell. I tell Cynthia stuff but immediately I feel sad because it’s another person that I pay to listen to me.

Probably Liz is telling me not to bother. But I don’t listen. Yet, why am I telling TK?

Something about it feels good, feels necessary.

Note written in the after visit notes, “…seems likely that she was not able to celebrate the success of this big purchase as much as might be useful.”

The day I drove away from the dealership, I felt quiet with a mood as drippy as the subtle rain. I was glad I didn’t need to use the wipers. I had only learned the right lever a few hours before. The sappy mood may merely meant I was severely tired after the three hour process of talk and paperwork. Maybe an anti-climactic feeling present? I was being turned loose with a single key and Escape. Then the some what unimportant thought: wanting a new, special key chain interrupted. Especially how the new keychain needed to be exactly right, feel right, look right, be mine. Immediately criticism for being sentimental and focusing on the least important thing of owning a new car.

I was making a head list of everything that needed to happen next:

• Call apartment manager for parking permit hang tag and garage door opener and pay the opener deposit
• Arrange parking payment
• Sit with owner’s manual: learn the most important controls before needed
• Finalize Princeton Club membership length (1 or 2 years)
• Make first visit to the resistance pool
• Determine the go and go and go plan
• Know Escape is free of any Focus baggage, but ownership responsibility seems bigger/different
• Calculate degrees of scared about handling the “next”

I knew I wasn’t in big purchase bliss.

Waited perhaps six months for conducting my home sleep test. Picking up the kit, reading the directions, and connecting all the contact points was easy. Following the vet’s approved cat preparation, i.e., how to reduce Max interference, involved two pokes down the throat with sedatives. No biting nor scratching resulted. 🙂

Biggest disappointment was the key component of doing a sleep test is to actually sleep. Most of the night was filled with wakefulness.

Fun fact: a drugged sleeping cat is heavier than a normal sleeping cat.

On the way back from dropping off the sleep test kit, I took a few moments for the first act of making the Escape dashboard and controls mine. Feedback to Ford: the instructions for fixing the clock belongs in the quick start guide. However, that information is not there. Switching to the owners manual and taking a glance at the index: c for Clock? Apparently the time control is not indexed as Clock and clock is not time. I now see: you must know that clock is categorized as a setting. Read the steps and three boops later, I have sprung ahead.

I suppose now that I’m all grown up with a “real” vehicle, I should drive—as instructed—to the apartment management office to pick up my own parking permit hang tag and garage door remote. I suppose it is silly to ask them to drop the items off when I do have personal transportation. Suddenly “drive self” means calculating how and where to park at destinations.

The metaphorical shifting sands of change have affected schedules and roles. The literal shifting has affected balance. Literal is hurting the worse.

The difference a day makes. One day is not singular, the truth commands to three. Two are gone. Keep the third by invoking the sneaky shortcut: send late when the monitoring is done.

When passengers switch to owners… suddenly navigator becomes the prime role that needs a quick tutorial. The hyper-vigilant scanning the road and surrounding areas becomes exhausting. I want a better, personalized, chain for the bulky fob and regular keys.

My last vehicle had manual window cranks. “Pull up, push down” is the mantra now to remember how to run the window controls. Up and down means close and open. Similar to the scrolling direction on the computer, specifically, the “natural” vs. “traditional” setting.

The play: test the core ball with the sand stabilization feature. The first conclusion, stay off the unfamiliar and untrained until the near cracked ribs can heal. Rubberized safety surfacing does not create bounce.

Deep breathe meditation needs finesse.