I suddenly woke up to the gagging sensation about 30-45 mins ago, not the most pleasant thing to wake up to. My throat was hurting and I was doing that thing where you are half awake, repeatedly swallow, and just want it to go away so you can keep sleeping.
The cat climbing on me woke me up the rest of the way. I woke up Kasey, which I feel pretty bad about now, it’s her first day back to work in a while. It hurts to talk and my throat is smaller. It sucks. I’m gurgling salt water to get the swelling down, I should take some ibuprofen.
I had a mini-panic attack as my first thought, as I was chilling and shaking due to getting out of bed and the A/C being cranked, oh fuck; I somehow got BA5/COVID again. Maybe I had another strain and I have another now due to being out in public and foolishly thinking I was good for a while.
My general body temperature is still elevated at night per my Oura ring. Here’s the night of July 29th, when I was hit like a freight train with COVID
My fever seemed to break on the 5th day. It’s been like 17 days since, clearly out of the woods for major respiratory issues, thankfully!
I did mow the lawn yesterday, I hit some tall weeds and I’m wondering if this is just post-nasal drip and general allergies. My brain fog has been subsiding a bit and I don’t feel so depressed. I was active all day yesterday starting at 7am! I’m going to take it easier today.
Anyway, it’s been about 45 mins since taking the ibuprofen. My nose is running and I’m spitting up some shit from the back of my throat, yep. Very likely post-nasal drip coupled with the bedroom being 64 degrees. Relative humidity in the bedroom has been between 50-60%, so not super dry or anything. I’m going to need to close the vent in the bedroom again.
About the Jeep! Selling the Tesla and good riddance. There are some cool things about the car, it’s just super buggy when it comes to software and it’s unreliable. The speakers and microphone stop working in heavy rain and the car wash, the climate control is fucky, meaning, the aircon sometimes gets confused and just blows at your feet. The climate keeper (runs the A/C when you run into a store, etc) fucks off sometimes for no reason “climate keeper unavailable due to system fault). And as for Autopilot, it’s garbage compared to openpilot. Like, I don’t know how it can be so bad in some situations.
I had an FSD sub, a 99 driving score, and 100 miles under my belt, still didn’t get into FSD during the last opening. They should recall FSD and make the 98% use case acceptable, Autopilot and semi-autonomy.
I also feel like a tool when driving it. Not that a giant Jeep doesn’t make me feel like a different kind of tool, but I’m tired of people thinking it’s “cool” and everywhere I go getting compliments on the car. That may seem like a weird sentiment to have, but like, it’s the Elon worship I can’t stand for a car that’s kinda cool in some areas, but mostly meh to terrible in others.
It’s also insane to think that this thing only weighs 600lbs more than a Tesla Model 3.
It is ironic that as much as I make fun of Chryslers and the people that drive them, here I am with a slice of American Excess. I went to college in Kokomo around the recession and when all of the Chrysler factory workers were laid off and in my classrooms. Dumb as rocks, ignorant people. Driving through Kokomo and seeing yet another Chrysler with a wheel that fell off on the side of the road.
They make exotic car transmissions right along with your Chrysler 300 transmissions in Kokomo, Indiana LOL.
Something about driving it just feels primitive, raw, yet, comfortable due to the curb weight and long wheelbase. The truck wanders a bit in the lane and there’s a bit of a tire thudding due to the mud tires at low speeds. The windscreen is a brick and your view peering outside is a little restricted, like you are inside something going down the road instead of just floating down the road. Opening the top and going open air is exciting, suddenly the lid of the sardine can is ripped off and the infinite sky greets you.
There’s no automatic emergency braking, no lane keep. No blind spot alerts or adaptive cruise control. The transfer case is heavy and the first few times I shifted into 4wd I felt like I was going to break something. There are exposed hex bolts (intentionally) integrated into the cabin space, and there are holes in the rubber floor mats, and undercarriage, so water can drain onto the ground.
We still have heated cloth seats, a heated steering wheel, and an Alpine audio system with amp and subwoofer. Remote start, fog lights. Built-in nav and some tech features like off-road pages with vehicle vitals. The dash has screens and you can display your range, current media, and so on.
I removed the “Willys” badging and the cheap “Renegade” decals as I considered them to be tacky. I’ll leave the JEEP, trail rated, and 4-wheel drive badging.
I have some upgrades planned and some installed. Door still protectors, cloth flip top for the front as wrangling hard panels suck, and bed cover.
Sun visor organizers with a morale patch area. Some interesting patches
I’m going with a mostly function over form build to remain true to the tacti-cool, rugged aesthetic, with some accents to actively make fun of the masculinity and tactical cultures. Think of my Glock, tactical gloves, along with a rainbow Apple Watch wristband. Or dude showing up to the gun range with an AR-15, rainbow suspenders, driving a Prius.
That’s pretty much my brand right there, LOL.
I loaded up my fancy first aid kit, a new Scott respirator with two cartridges, and my bugout bag with food, water, etc for 72 hours. I have a dechoker onboard and I should remember to pack along a fire extinguisher. Lighter, knife, multitool, flashlight. I would like to figure out some sort of jerry-can mount with lockable fuel to complete the preparedness aspect. I should also install my low battery disconnect.
My goal is to have everything onboard that makes me feel safe so I can just jump in and go, but not so much that it becomes absurd. I think I have a healthy balance right now.
Well, I have a bit of a sore throat now, but I no longer feel like I can’t breathe so that’s cool. I’m getting snot running down the back of my throat which isn’t as cool. Time to take some allergy meds and go the fuck back to sleep.
Ross Fisher 