Yeesh!
That’s the best way that I can describe the vast majority of the first half of 2025.
Starting with the health, I got some good news about my a1c and blood sugar. The a1c had dropped from 10.9 in November to 6.4 in April, while the blood sugar had dropped from around 250 to around 120. I have been out of insulin for a little over a week (can’t afford it), however, so we’ll see if I can keep those numbers in those lower ranges for the next 2 months.
The INR has mostly stayed steady in the acceptable 2.5-3.5 range.
The feet have not been good, at all. The left foot is heading back towards the problem times of a few years ago; the right foot is insanely tight, with waves of pain, on occasion. I’m tired of fighting them, but can’t afford any trips back to PT or a different Podiatrist.
The gaming side has been very fun! I have mainly played 3 games: Elden Ring, Diablo 4, and currently, Baldur’s Gate 3. Just the few cosmetic, class, and race mods that I’ve download have me on BG3 for months, trying different paths towards Act 3 and Baldur’s Gate. I slightly burned out on Diablo but might return to it over the summer, while Elden Ring has a lot of unfinished business left on the table.
Kentuckiana Marching Pride (KMP) has a successful “season”! We performed at the Southern IN Pride Festival on June 7th, then marched in the Kentuckiana Pride Parade on June 21st. For the Southern IN performance, I actually had my own horn this year, so I got to perform. Overall, I think we sounded good. Personally, I was OK until I started seeing very bright lights and got very dizzy during the 3rd song. I don’t know what caused it but it was disconcerting. For the Parade, we met up around 10, got a good warmup in, and lined up for a noon stepoff. There was a big, loud crowd for the parade. It was also HOT: 92 degrees F (with a Heath Index of 102). I was a little worried how my worsening foot would hold up, but it held strong. It was the heat that got me; about 3/4 mile in, I started to tire. At a little past the 1-mile mark (the parade was between 1.3 and 1.5 miles), we went under some overpasses where interstate 64 crosses over River Road. I dropped out under the last overpass, less than 2 blocks from the finish line – Heat Exhaustion. In over 25 years of parades and marching performances, that was the first time that I did not finish a performance. Not thrilled about it. Other than that, it was actually a fun parade. We might have some standstill performances in the fall (TBD) but it was another successful KMP season!
I am burnt out with my first job, while my second job has been hit-and-miss with consistent work. I wanted to wait until late August to take a few days off from my first job, but I might ask for time off as soon as in 2 weeks. I’m not positive (yet) if it will be 1 week, a week and a half, or 2 weeks off, but it needs to be multiple days away from traffic cameras, loud yawning and coughing from others, complaints from others, and 4:45-4:55 AM weekday alarms. There have been some big-time semi crashes, plus quite a few fatal crashes, that can be wearying. I have no grand plans for a possible vacation – I do not currently have the money to do much of anything, or go anywhere, unless my next pay check is much larger than anticipated. I also do not get a lot of invites to do much, outside of Sunday Trivia (which has been one of the year’s highlights) and some D&D sessions. With my second job, I’m strangely not as concerned about unsteady work – if it’s there, cool. If not, then it’s a mental break for the afternoon and evening.
- Thunder Over Louisville was canceled (Louisville’s Riverfront was under water). Dayton Air Show did not happen (for me; money). GenCon will not happen in August for me (money). The NHRA U.S. Nationals probably will not happen (money, especially if go to the Drum Corps International World Champions, 2 weeks before them). I’m hoping to go to something before the St. James Art Fair in October.
- I do own my own Marching Baritone – thanks, Scott
My best/favorite moments of the first half of 2025:
- Going to the WWE Royal Rumble! That was a ‘Bucket List’ item. It was so much fun to go with a group of friends to see one of the big WWE events
- “Sparker’s 40th Birthday” Party – always a good time when I get to hang out with Sarah; this one was a fun evening/night!
- Winning Trivia Night – last week, our group won a Sunday Trivia for the very first time (I’ve been going sporadically since December; they’ve been going for a few years)! After trying to recover from the previous Saturday’s Heat Exhaustion, it was cool (pun intended) to end that weekend with my best friend, one of her co-workers, and another long-time friend.
Apologies for the slight doom-and-gloom post but there’s no real better way to spin the first half of the year, other than “trying”. Burnout, physical issues, and a lack of disposable income (plus a touch of frustration over a lack of any intimacy and some off-and-on monotony) were the name of the game. There is still hope for a turnaround in the second half. I will keep working at it; something – a lot of ‘somethings’ – needs to change.
The Nexus 