daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
I went to get my yearly eye exam today. My astigmatism got a tiny bit worse so I got an updated prescription. I’m really looking forward to some new glasses! 👓 My current ones’ right lens has fallen out a couple times because the screw on that side is a little loose, so it is definitely time for a replacement! Now I just have to decide what style to get.
It’s something I see every day – our mailbox! There’s a huge oak tree above it, and it often casts some cool shadows. This one looks kind of creepy… like a Nosferatu shadow.
I replaced the Hoya UV filter I had on the X100T with a new B+W 49mm XS-Pro filter. The B+W seems to be a lot less reflective than the Hoya – at some angles, you can’t even tell there is a filter over the lens. It’s very nice!
My preferred way to carry the X100T around is to not use a lens cap. However, I am worried about scratches and having to wipe the lens element so I have a filter on it for protection. Plus I worry less about wiping or scratching the filter. The reason I had the Hoya UV on there was that it was a leftover filter from another lens that I had. But I really wanted to get the best filter possible (and I don’t care about UV). On my DSLR lenses, I preferred to use a lens cap, and no filter, but the X100T is different in that I carry it around with me almost all the time and don’t want the hassle of dealing with the lens cap if I want to take a quick snap. So I got the highest-rated protective filter as to reduce as much distortion/flare as possible. Plus, knowing I got the filter I really wanted, and did not compromise, gives me peace of mind and no regrets!
This past week has been a bit tough. On Sunday Oct. 18 I hurt my back and and just now back to maybe 95%.
It happened at my kids’ Japanese school sports day. One of the events that takes place is a tug-o-war and after the kids compete, the parents have a go at it. Sometimes I join, and sometimes I pass. This time I joined in and had a lot of fun. I did not get injured! But… I my core muscles got a bit tired. After lunch, and before the events started again, I was throwing the baseball with Koa. During one of the tosses, I heard and felt something pop in the lower-right part of my back. I immediately knew something was wrong… then the blood started rushing from my head and I felt dizzy, so I sat down. I told Koa, “I’m done,” then walked slowly back to the our chairs.
The rest of the day I was sore and it hurt to bend but it wasn’t too bad. That night, however, my back got worse and I was pretty much bed-ridden. On top of this, I felt sick from possibly allergies, so I was hurting on multiple fronts. Getting in bed took me several minutes. I had to gingerly move inch by inch while enduring quite a bit of pain. This sucked on several levels, one of which was that while lying on my back, scooching along, my shirt was being pulled down in back and the collar was strangling my neck in front. It was awful. So the next time I got out of bed, I just ditched the shirt and went topless.
As mentioned earlier, I also was suffering from allergies, so I had a runny nose, felt feverish, and had a cough. Luckily when I coughed it did not involve the pulled muscle which seemed to be pretty specific.
I took a sick day on Monday and spent most of the time in bed resting my back. Monday happened to be my birthday so it was a really unfortunate way to spend it. And being my birthday, we had tickets to see The Martian that night. I did not know if I could make it! But by the evening I felt a little better and we went to the movie. The theater was the fancy type that serves dinner and drinks, and they also have these really great recliners, so I was able to lean back pain-free and enjoy the movie! It was awesome. After that, we had cake back at home. So it turned out to be a pretty good birthday after all!
The rest of the week my back (and allergies) kept improving and by Thursday I was able to drive. The weekend was filled with rain so a lot of activities got cancelled and I could give my back some more rest. It’s now a week after I hurt my back and I am almost all healed! But boy, I need to be a little more careful… and maybe no more tug-o-wars for me!
Went deluxe on today’s hot dogs. Hebrew Nationals, Jarlsberg cheese, onions, tomatoes, pickles, jalapeños, yellow mustard, and Sriracha. I usually don’t dress up my dogs like this, but we had leftover fixings from last night’s burgers. This was a really yummy hot dog!
