April 16, 2026. Fell asleep in all my clothes last night. Slept straight through.
For the past few days my friend Shannon has been pestering me to try her OneWheel. I've never been particularly interested in them, but when the opportunity fell in my lap I figured I'd give it a shot. I first tried it around 6:30pm and then kept riding it well into the dark. It's wild how much it feels like a snowboard. I loved it. I don't think I can justify the expense or, more importantly, the space in my van. I'm already past maxed out in here. But that OneWheel is fun.
Our camp is having a rig tour at 2pm today, which means I need to clean up the van and make it presentable for my campmates to take a look. Nearly all of them have never poked their heads in here. It's going to take some work, but it's a task I need to do anyway and it'll be great when it's done.
I've been on a steep learning curve with my video projects. Managing the files that pile up and fill hard drives has been challenging but worth mastering. I think I've got my flow sorted now. I also installed something called Buttercut that works with Claude Code to analyze footage and create preliminary draft edits. I don't know yet if I need it or will use it, but I'm curious. I'll test it today.
Yesterday I went on one of the wildest bike rides I've ever been on. Right along the ledge of a mesa, breathtaking views the whole way, the bike right on the edge with enormous dropoffs. I'm going to go back with one of my drones and have it follow me. I think that'll be some good footage.
It's sunny this morning but supposed to get very windy around noon. I don't mind the wind, but I have to watch my awning, and when the gusts come up they'll often knock over my external solar panels. When that happens I just lay them flat on the ground and they still work pretty well, just not quite as efficiently.
The new freezer has been transformative. My system of defrosting two or three pounds of ground beef or chicken every couple of days has been great. Enough that I'm not cooking all the time, not so much that anything loses its freshness. My meals are completely delicious. What I didn't expect was how much it would affect how I feel mentally. My mood has been stable for a long time now. No swings, no low stretches, no anxiety, nothing like that. And the inflammation I used to accept as just part of being alive is gone. The soreness, the stiffness, the low-grade achiness. Gone. I didn't know that was negotiable until I stopped doing the thing that was causing it.
Before the potluck last night I took an outdoor shower with my $25 solar bag. Works perfectly and leaves nothing to be desired. It amazes me how completely it solves the shower problem. My friend Ladybug made keto shrimp alfredo from scratch with heart of palm noodles, something I never would have thought of, and the night before she brought keto meatloaf with roasted cauliflower. I have wonderful friends out here. I'm eating like a king.
My big luxuries right now are xylitol gum and sparkling water.
I'm drinking my coffee with heavy cream and ghee. Time to go clean up the van.