Yet another update…
Media Logs
Vlog
Github Study Respository
Link to my Github repository containing music notes.
General Session Records
| Date Session | Duration (Minutes) | Public Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-09-01 | 21 | Berklee Vocal Technique. |
| 2025-09-02 | 20 | Berklee Vocal Technique. |
| 2025-09-03 | 20 | Reading Lilli Lehman. (Sick.) |
| 2025-09-04 | 20 | (Sick. Voice resting.) Reading Lilli Lehman and experimenting with guitar. |
| 2025-09-05 | 20 | Berklee Vocal Technique. |
| 2025-09-06 | 20 | Berklee Vocal Technique. |
| 2025-09-07 | 49 | Berklee Vocal Technique. |
Memories to Share
Getting in Better Shape
I’m feeling pretty good about the way I’m finding time to improve my health. My arms are feeling a bit stronger and my weight isn’t as high as it used to be. I’m also using MyFitnessPal to keep track of my calories.
Going Back to a Low Point in My Physical Health
A few years ago (2022), my physical health found a low point when I tore the meniscus of my left knee.
A meniscus is a horseshoe-shaped ligament in your knee that acts as a cushion between your thigh and calf bones.
Given that the knee tear took place during the middle of our family’s divorce, the event was quite an ordeal.
A Little Backstory
Please allow me to provide a little additional context as to what was happening at this time.
In 2020, I had chosen to be a stay-at-home dad when my children lost daycare during the COVID-19 pandemic and our family seemed to need a dedicated at-home person. However, with our marriage ending, I needed to renew my personal means of income.
Searching for a Job
I did not have any skills that were applicable for in-person work in Fairbanks, Alaska at that time.
I did have one promising position with a remote job in a blockchain-based company and it would have provided quality employment. The interviews went well and I was told that I was the leading candidate for the position. Supposedly, the company had already written up the contract that they would have me sign.
However, there were a number of concerns that arose during the final moments before I was told I could sign. For example, even though the position was remote, the company was hoping that I would find a way to be less present in Alaska and more present in another state where they had more in-person workers, such as Colorado. The idea was that I would engage in frequent travel and have a secondary home elsewhere.
Their desires for my long-term partial relocation were understandable, and if I had been in a stable marriage our family could have made this work. However, with the marriage breaking apart and two children under foot, the sad reality was that if I allowed myself to begin the process of leaving Alaska, even if only on a partial basis, there was a strong possibility that my children would feel abandoned. This is reputedly a dangerous situation for children and a father’s relationship with them.
I turned down the offer at the last minute and felt that it was the right thing to do. However, that left me, again, without income, and in a situation where I needed something else, and fast.
A Quick Solution
Needing immediate income, I applied at the local temp agency and obtained a position as a late-night janitor at the local hospital. I was and still am extremely thankful for the employment.
The pay wasn’t much, but the late-night schedule allowed me to have my days free to meet with therapists and other medical professionals so that I could start wrapping my head around how we could heal our family.
Even better, shortly after obtaining the position, the administrative staff showed me the healthcare benefits I would receive if I signed on as an actual employee, rather than as a temp worker.
The benefits package was astoundingly amazing. I still miss it to this day. The company had everything one could imagine. The deductible was peanuts, the coverage was beyond comprehensive, and there were loads of extra perks, time off for healthy behavior, customized healthcare courses, paid lab tests, and more.
I immediately signed the contract and figured I’d resolve my long-term career needs once my personal life was more stable. Perhaps I could even move up within the hospital itself into a position more congruent with my long-term career path, such as media creation or something similar.
Things Get Interesting
Going from being a stay-at-home dad to pounding the hospital floors with my feet for eight to nine hours at a stretch was hard on my body. In addition, I was going through all the stress of separating out our family, which was wearing me down.
At one point, my knee was visibly swollen after work and I went to see a doctor. At the time the doctor did not conclude that my knee was torn, but he sent me to see a talented local physical therapist to see if we could start the healing process.
Despite a few months of wonderful physical therapy, my knee was still aching with pain. Sometimes, the pain was so bad I could hardly walk. The administrative staff at the hospital were understanding, but the situation was clearly not good for either of us.
All the while, the breakdown of our marriage was in full swing. To prevent our children from seeing their parents at emotional odds, I bought a shipping container and plopped it next to our off-grid cabin. With the help of an acquaintance, I cut a hole in the side of the container, shoved a chimney through it, and hooked up a gravity-fed drip stove. I permanently moved out of our house and into the shipping container not long before the first snowfall of the arctic winter seasons.
All this time, I was struggling to walk. Given the severity of the size of my knee on one occasion, my physical therapist recommended that I request immediate medical attention.
The doctors pulled me in for an MRI scan where it was discovered that my meniscus was torn. The sharp shooting pains I was feeling while working on the hospital floor were possible signs that my physically active work as a janitor was tearing my meniscus deeper and deeper.
The doctors put me on crutches and told me that I would need an expensive surgery.
A Crucible
The health insurance company that was covering the cost needed time to assess the situation. The waiting period would take, if I recall correctly, close to three months. During this time, I was placed on unpaid leave — although, thankfully, the insurance did provide a reduced stipend.
This took place during the winter months — November through January. Keep in mind, this is Fairbanks, Alaska, where temperatures are typically -20 degree or lower, and the roads and sidewalks are covered in ice. I had to put metal tangs on the feet of my crutches to keep them from slipping.
To get my kids to school, I would have to hold my two-year old child in my arms (in addition to the crutches) as he could not yet walk on the frozen sidewalks.
My four-year-old child was attending preschool and I would drop him off whenever I could in the mornings. Those were crazy times: walking with my children in the dark and snowy morning hours, carrying one child in my left arm, holding my right crutch in my right hand, and trying to hobble along after my nimble preschooler as he ran across the busy, frozen parking lot.
Coming Back to the Present
The Surgery Provides Relief
Eventually, the insurance kindly covered the cost of the knee repair and the surgeon cut away the torn part of the meniscus so that it could make a reasonable attempt at healing.
My knee will never fully be the same, I suspect. It hurts in cold weather; sometimes when I am putting my weight on my left leg, I will get a sudden twinge of pain in several places near where the tear took place. They say getting old ain’t for sissies.
Finding Time to Improve My Health
Nevertheless, with my life finally stabilizing, I have been attempting to get my body back into shape. I’ve been lifting weights and doing cardio on a semi-regular basis for the last several months. What a pleasure.
My body is still overweight and I don’t see too much of a difference in the mirror yet. All the same, progress is progress. I think I’m on the mend.
Artificial Intelligence Transparency Report
No artificial intelligence was used for the writing or performing portion of this blog post.
I used Google’s Gemini AI to help me create and manage my sql database for tracking relevant data. For example, I used Google Gemini to write a script that exports my singing data records from my custom PostgreSQL database and format the data as an HTML table.
How You Can Help
I need your help to become established as a teacher and storyteller.
Here is a link to a blog post that describes how a supportive reader can help me in my quest.
In short, you can…
Buy a copy of my children’s novella, Westly: A Spider’s Tale
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