Big Meandering Day
The Great American Zig-Zag Day 161 | Oak Ridge, TN
So it turns out I was unintentionally under the influence of caffeine yesterday. Unbeknownst to me, the Werther’s Originals Coffee Flavor I was so graciously gifted contained 4mg of caffeine. Now, to a normal person, this minuscule amount would barely be a blip. For me, I was tossing and turning all night. Now, I don’t think it is responsible for my positive mood yesterday, I was in a great mood before I went to church, but it may have been responsible for the continued uptick in energy throughout the day. And now, for other reasons entirely, I end my day exhausted. But let’s start with the beginning.
I started my morning strong by sitting on a curb outside a Planet Fitness and finishing the whittling portion of my project. I took a quick drive then to a woodshop in Knoxville to get some finishing oil. I think the final product looks…home made. I’ll show you, Dear Reader, after the gift has been given. I do think I’ll continue whittling though. I find the creation of trinkets to be an enjoyable activity when I wish to mindlessly work with my hands. It is the perfect activity while listening to a podcast, going on a walk, or chatting on the phone.
Having experience woodworking, I knew that the process of oiling a finished piece would be messy. So I found myself the nearest park to MyEyeDr and settled in to finish my piece. My hands still smell like oil finish. While working, a strange circumstance of events occurred which had me on the phone until 7pm.
At precisely 1:45pm, I arrived for my eye exam. To my great delight, my eyes are the exact same prescription as they have been for the last several years. This is very good because it means when I decide to get Lasik, I won’t have to worry about needing glasses again until my later 50s if ever. I really don’t like that insurance doesn’t cover contact lens appointments. I also don’t like that VSP only covers $180 of glasses OR contacts per calendar year. I only get contacts for my left eye and I only get 3 boxes per year (a full year supply per eye is 4 boxes) because I like wearing my glasses every now and then. And the contacts were $80 per box! Insurance barely covered half the cost of my relatively cheap order! Now, granted, I do have an astigmatism which causes me to need more expensive contacts, but most regular contacts are $30-50. So someone with two eyes needing correction are paying the same as me!
Sorry, I am not happy about the state of our healthcare system, but this journey isn’t about me ranting on different issues with our union. It is about these beautiful parks I walk through. The second park of the day had a massive bell with significance to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima & Nagasaki. It had a low, somber tone that lingered in the brain longer than it lingered in the clear winter air. I enjoyed strolling through this park, the gravel crunching on my shoes.
To close out the day, I closed the Cumberland Gap and arrived in Kentucky. I don’t know what to expect here, but if anyone has authentic Kentucky fried chicken (not KFC) restaurant recommendations, hit me up. I want to engage in the popular culture of Kentuckyans this week. We’ll see what happens, but I am excited to find out what happens in the drumstick state!