It’s been a minute, so let’s catch up. I’m not walking yet, but I’m getting there. In mid-April I had surgery on my busted heel bone, which now contains what looks like a mending brace from the local Home Depot to patch it back together again. At this point I’m just starting to put some weight back on it again, using my crutches to help me walk rather than hobble like a baby giraffe. From this point on it’s just a matter of gradually adding weight and rebuilding the muscle I’ve lost over the past 2+ months of not walking. It’ll get there. The best part is I can finally use my right foot to drive again, so I can actually use my poor, neglected, stick-shift WRX. Unlike the van, it has air conditioning, and it does not have a broken suspension.
A couple of weeks ago I took my first weekend #vanlife camping trip. My girlfriend and I went to Covered Bridge Campground up in the White Mountain National Forest, just off the Kancamagus Highway. I chose it because it was open (most state parks aren’t yet), and of all the various campgrounds along the Kank this one is ADA accessible — a claim that I can personally validate. I wasn’t quite mobile enough to do it alone, but with a bit of help it was a great first run for the van. Unfortunately, on the way home one of the shackles in the rear suspension broke. I managed to limp it home and haven’t driven it much since. (That’s part of the reason why I tried driving my WRX when I did.) But it worked great, and I’m looking forward to trying a solo trip once I’m back on my feet enough to pull it off. I just have to “rebuild” the back of the van after moving my whole camping setup around to make space to pick up a free dishwasher last weekend.
Like many creative people, I started looking at this whole COVID-19 lockdown thing as an opportunity to work on some projects I’ve had in my head for a while now that I have more time. And like many creative people, that didn’t happen. Between the stress of a global pandemic, my broken foot, and now race riots on top of that (racism is wrong, by the way), it’s been a pretty draining time for everyone these days.
I finally have a couple of things in the works, though. I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a Udemy course to help you get your ham radio license. As a Volunteer Examiner and 30+ year licensee, I’m kind of qualified. I’m still working on the writing part of it, but the public question pool itself provides all the organization and framework I need. I’m also pondering some other writing projects, perhaps even a book or three. We’ll see. Everything’s still in the early stages, but I’ve actually started doing stuff, preparing some documents, and laying some groundwork. This, on top of my day job and RideApart work. It feels pretty good.
Justin Hughes 