Where in the World is Douglas?

I warn you up front that this is a longer blog than normal:

I have been estranged from blogging for quite some time, trying to find time to get my thoughts or self proclaimed wit out into this forum, and ‘why?’ you may ask. Okay fine, maybe you wont ask since I highly doubt anyone at all reads this blog (except for the few people who search Google for: “Coldfusion Sucks”) but I’m going to tell you anyway!

At the end of November several things hit me real quick and started to make sense. I’ve been relatively unhappy with my job/work due to lack of productivity, and void of any satisfaction. Designing sites has been delegated to someone new for the most part, and although I am still important to the daily operations of the “boss’s” company, I am little more than a data miner and someone who knows how to cut and paste. What I needed was to actually MAKE something in the here and now instead of sending electronic signals to be stored in a server somewhere for people to browse later when searching for “air conditioners” through Google.

There is/was no way I can simply walk away from what I do to explore something new and hope it sticks. Not with three kids and a mortgage, anyway. Tack on the annual bill paying (or lack thereof) events that happen in December and you got yourself one fine mess to try and cope with as well.

Then it came to me! While shirking my responsibilities and browsing goofy sites I saw an ad for the Envirolet. The Envirolet is a really cool toilet that uses little to no water, and is typically used in cabins and recreational homes where you might have little water available. OK, don’t get too weirded out, I’m not becoming an Envirolet salesman or anything. However the banner ad I saw the thing on had several uses listed – and Yurts was one of the options. What the hell is a Yurt!? I’ll tell you exactly what a Yurt is: it’s my new love affair with “the real world”.

It literally filled my whole being with a purpose again while learning about Yurts and the Mongolian Ger (pretty much the same thing). Not only was it something I could build myself out of relatively few ingredients, but it was something I could envision myself doing for other people as well. If I planned it correctly, these things could be great for outdoor enthusiasts – though I have not made it too far in the process yet, and here it is March already.

While planning the rest of my life around building these circle houses, I was envisioning working side by side with my dad, as a team. It would be a damn fine family business, and he is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to just about anything. My dad once eluded to wanting to make furniture and things after he retired – to which I now thought would be a great addition to the future business, since permanent Yurts and Gers might need to be furnished! I have not discussed this with him at all yet, so that has been back burnered for a while too.

Next month however, I am making a small investment in some lumber to start making some test yurts and get a procedure down for making them and making them weather proof. The lumber is actually pretty cost effective, whereas the canvas or tenting material to wrap them is not cheap at all. I am willing though.

Another thing that has been slowing me down lately has been my wrists and forearms. My pesky wrists have been bothering me for a few years now, while my forearms have just recently been giving me trouble. After doctors visits in January and February I got the confirmation that I had carpal tunnel in both wrists, as well as a pinched nerve in my left elbow. Now THIS was a pain in the ass and something that caused me a bunch of stress before the diagnosis. The pain I had in my arms was different from each other, and my left arm pain was never consistent. This final word from the doctor was pretty revealing and explained a lot – while my apprehension of doctors was not helpful.

I ended up getting a full physical in January and two sets of blood work. My LDH levels were elevated likely due to my alcohol consumption, which I was drinking to help manage the pain from my arms… and to some extent the frustration with my job. But just to make sure, he had me give more blood to do a Hepatitis test. He asked how many sex partners I ever had and if I were married etc. And here I thought he meant Hepatitis like you get from Jack In The Box circa the 1990s. All was clean – he even said my cholesterol levels were “awesome” (his word, not mine), and I was not diabetic which was a concern for me.

To diagnose the carpal tunnel, he had me get an EMG, which was not fun in the least. And then I was shipped off to a neurologist earlier this month for a consultation. This guy says I can have surgery or not, its my choice and that if I don’t it will continue to be irritating, but my fingers and stuff are not going to fall off. So I am waiting a bit and seeing what’s going to happen. The procedure involves him hacking into the palms of my hands and cutting the ligament there. The pictures on WebMD are not all that encouraging and I dislike the thoughts of my anything being sliced open and then further damaged – prompting release of pressure and then healing… I’m therefore not a great candidate for vasectomy.

Speaking of vasectomy, we decided that we are likely done having kids. Of course if God decides different, we’ll be happy to oblige and give birth to another stunningly gorgeous child. But financially and house-wise we are figuring we are towards the end of our baby-scope. I wasn’t excited about this decision, but it was mutual. We both love children so much – though I will not be pushing for my own children to be having kids anytime too soon. In fact, if I am lucky (or if my nerves are lucky) all my children will join the clergy and swear off sex… ever.

I just took on a part-time gig at my old sweatshop to bring in a few extra bucks. This is slightly counter-productive since my arms hurt like the dickens, but a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do. I am hoping I can take that income and throw it right at some bills and make them go away. I am seriously going to be taking our finances in a new upwards direction. This may seem contrary to my wanting to start a new business in working with wood and convincing people to want to live in circular houses… but I feel led in some fashion regarding it.

That’s the other thing that’s been going on as well. I’ve not really been following my deeply embedded desires to follow my faith and do what is right all the time. Instead I have been following that other deeply embedded pull to do what feels good and makes me temporarily happy. Its similar to what I was feeling when I wrote this here blog a while back. The lack of obvious consequences and doubting my blessings is a shallow grave. Those consequences just were not coming in the same form that I spawned them from.

So that’s where I’ve been and what’s been going on. I’ll be writing a lot more from now on, I hope. I have some more business ideas involving blogs – but we’ll have to see how things play out, to see if it will be a valid use of my free time.