I haven't written anything for a few days. I've been busy. There has been a birthday party for a friend, I've played a lot of Morrowind instead of writing, and on Sunday, I bought a car. Not a new car by any means, but lower miles and better fuel economy than what I have been driving. I am giving up cargo capacity and all-wheel drive, but I am getting easier parking.
Monday was a complete mess. It would be funny if it weren't all so infuriatingly screwed up. Aside from getting insurance switched to the new car, nothing went to plan, and I wasted hours trying to go do things that didn't work out. Snow delays, bad roads, scheduling conflicts, shortages, a flat tire, and so forth. No one got hurt, but it was a complete wreck, and I hurt my back again. It was just a day where nothing went right, and I was drained of all energy.
Today was a bit painful, but I survived. Good news: I don't think I did any permanent damage to my back, or inflamed my old injuries too much. Better news: new tires are installed, an oil change is done, and no surprises were found with a full inspection. The mechanic didn't see a need to sell me new brakes, tie rod ends, radiator hoses, or the like. Best of all: Work was largely unremarkable, with as much routine as one can expect from a job where weird things or encounters with strange people happen almost every day.
Tomorrow, I should be able to finalize the title transfer with the state government goons. Why do we really tolerate all this bureaucratic nonsense? It seems like a perverse inertia maintains old government offices long after any real or imagined excuse for their operation is long gone. My insurance company cares about how good a driver I am, what car I own, and how safe it is. Government just wants tax money and leverage to control us. Modern blockchain technology could conceivably treat car ownership like an NFT tied to a physical object. The Vehicle Identification Number is already practically a public key for that purpose. I'm sure auto dealers and auto insurers could easily create a unified registry identifying ownership and tracking exchanges with a high degree of security.
Anyway, despite some hurdles along the way, it still looks like progress toward some of my goals. I am trying to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves to improve my options and open up further opportunities. Some days I only have the energy to just keep treading water, but it's time to swim for a destination.
