Month: August 2026

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Every Project Has Another Layer: Unexpected Home Renovation Problems

Brian’s fitness journal after a brain stroke

Today was one of those days that seemed determined to test both my patience and my problem-solving skills, especially when it comes to unexpected home renovation problems.

The adventure began before I had even put on my running shoes; I came back because a tile installer was visiting.

To his credit, he arrived right in the middle of the scheduled arrival window, a small victory that I appreciated after watching the weather ruin my running plans.

Unfortunately, that was where the easy part ended due to an unexpected home renovation problems.

After inspecting the materials, he discovered that two of our three boxes of tile had arrived broken. Even better, we were also missing a backer board that, interestingly enough, had never appeared on any of the supply lists we had received.

Fortunately, he quickly contacted the supplier and arranged for the missing materials to be delivered.

Then demolition began.

As anyone who has renovated an older house already knows, demolition is less about removing old materials and more about discovering what previous homeowners have been hiding from you.

Once the old tile was removed, we discovered that a leaking toilet had rotted part of the subfloor.

The tile installation immediately came to a halt.

The installer explained that the damaged flooring would need to be replaced before any new tile could be installed. Unfortunately, that repair fell outside his scope of work, and he couldn’t recommend anyone who handled it.

So the phone calls began.

I contacted Home Depot to find someone to perform the repair, but I am still waiting to hear back.

Meanwhile, my wife suggested an excellent temporary solution. Since we had already planned to install a new toilet downstairs after the flooring was complete, why not simply install it upstairs instead?

That solved one problem.

I called our plumber, and, remarkably, they were able to come out almost immediately.

While the plumber was here, I asked whether their company handled subfloor repairs, since the damaged area was directly related to the plumbing leak.

They didn’t.

However, they did have someone they trusted.

One referral later, another contractor arrived to inspect the damage and prepare an estimate. Hopefully, the quote will arrive this evening.

Hopefully.

The project has already become more expensive than expected, and I suspect our renovation budget quietly sighed when nobody was looking. At this point, I can only hope we have reached the final surprise.

Home renovation projects have an unfortunate habit of behaving like onions. Every layer you peel away reveals another one waiting underneath. With a little luck, today’s subfloor will be the last layer we uncover.

Of course, every homeowner knows that saying those words out loud is probably tempting fate.

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Why Scheduling Time for Fun Can Make You More Productive

Brian’s fitness journal after a brain stroke

One thing my wife and I have been working on lately is balancing our schedules. Scheduling time for hobbies isn’t wasted time

Like many people, we enjoy staying productive. The challenge is remembering that productivity is not simply about filling every available minute with work.

For example, I regularly play online games with friends two or three evenings a week. Those sessions give me a chance to relax, laugh, and mentally step away from everything else for a little while.

My wife is a different story.

She always has a project in progress. If she isn’t working, she is planning the next thing to work on. For a long time, she found it difficult to justify spending time on activities that were simply enjoyable. Reading, drawing, and crafting often felt like luxuries rather than worthwhile uses of her time.

This weekend, however, we managed to accomplish everything we had planned.

Even better, my wife found time to work on several crafting projects.

I was especially happy to see that because she has been carrying a heavy workload recently. Between reconciling recent IEEPA government refunds, working through JSOX responsibilities, and preparing for the quarterly financial close, her mind has been occupied almost constantly.

Weekends can disappear surprisingly quickly when every hour already has an assignment.

One challenge she faced was guilt.

She felt that every moment should be spent doing something productive or meaningful. Ironically, that way of thinking made it difficult to relax, even when relaxation was exactly what she needed, which was scheduling time for hobbies.

Her solution was wonderfully practical.

Instead of waiting until she “earned” free time, she scheduled it.

Art time.

Crafting time.

Reading time.

They all became appointments on her calendar, just as legitimate as meetings or work projects.

What surprised her was the result.

Once she gave herself permission to enjoy those activities, she discovered that she actually worked better afterward. By the end of the weekend, she felt refreshed, focused, and ready to return to work with renewed energy.

Sometimes the most productive hour of the week is the one spent doing something that produces absolutely nothing except joy.

That realization has changed the way we think about our schedules.

We still plan our time carefully, but now we recognize that rest, creativity, and hobbies are not interruptions to productivity. They are part of the system that sustains productivity.

Next weekend will look quite different.

After a long wait, workers are finally scheduled to reinstall the tile in our downstairs bathroom. Their calendar has been packed for quite some time, so we have been eagerly anticipating their visit.

Fortunately, we have already checked every delivery and confirmed that all the necessary materials have arrived.

Everything is ready.

Now all that’s left is to let the professionals do their work while we try not to add any “helpful suggestions” from the sidelines.

Sometimes planning ahead is the hardest part.

Sometimes it’s remembering to leave room on the calendar for life itself.

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Maintaining Weight with Kidney Disease: The Unexpected Challenge of Summer Exercise

Brian’s fitness journal after a brain stroke

When you have kidney disease, you will face the unexpected challenge of summer exercise. This evening, you’ll find me doing something many people would probably envy.

I’m deliberately snacking.

A bowl of dry cereal now sits beside me, and I keep reaching into it every few minutes in an ongoing effort to replace the calories that disappeared during today’s exercise. It may not be the most glamorous recovery meal, but it is crunchy, convenient, and currently working overtime.

Every summer, I face the same struggle: the challenge of summer exercise.

Keeping my weight up.

Our backyard isn’t especially large, but it is built on a steep hill. Mowing it is far more demanding than people usually imagine. It feels less like ordinary yard work and more like a long endurance workout that just happens to leave the grass looking nicer afterward.

The physical activity itself isn’t the real problem.

Replacing the calories is.

Because of my kidney disease, I have to be careful about almost everything I eat. Protein, sodium, potassium, and phosphate all require close attention. Those restrictions eliminate more than just large steaks and salty snacks. Even foods that most people think of as healthy, certain colorful vegetables, dairy products, and many fruits, have to be eaten thoughtfully and in moderation.

Rather than relying on one “perfect” food, my wife and I constantly rotate what I eat so that no single nutrient becomes excessive.

Managing my diet has become something of a long-term strategy game.

Protein and sodium are the nutrients I monitor most carefully. I also take medication for high blood pressure, another condition closely tied to my kidney health. Every meal becomes a balancing act between providing enough energy and avoiding foods that could make my lab results less than ideal.

Last summer, I thought I had found the perfect solution.

Melon.

It seemed refreshing, easy to eat, and ideal for helping maintain my weight.

Unfortunately, blood tests revealed that it contained far more potassium than I could safely consume on a regular basis. So my brilliant nutritional discovery quietly retired after one season.

Sometimes your laboratory results become your least forgiving food critic.

Of course, exercising is not optional.

Running, strength training, and even mowing the lawn are all important parts of maintaining my health. If I burn more calories, however, I also have to replace them.

Hence the cereal.

Tomorrow offers another opportunity to replenish those calories. After our grocery trip, I’ll finally get to enjoy a slice of cake and finish the leftover pizza from last weekend.

Before anyone concludes that I have discovered the world’s greatest fitness program, there is one small detail.

Tomorrow is also my regular 10-kilometer run.

So those extra calories already have a job waiting for them.

Such is life.

Most people spend the summer trying to lose weight.

I spend mine trying to convince the scale to stay exactly where it is.

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Maintaining Weight with Kidney Disease: A Small Victory After Lawn Mowing

Brian’s fitness journal after a brain stroke

After finishing today’s lawn mowing, I stepped onto the scale and was greeted by a pleasant surprise. I had finally climbed back into my target weight range. Maintaining weight in kidney disease can be challenging.

Admittedly, I am still hovering near the lower end of that range, but after several weeks of watching the numbers drift downward, I’ll gladly celebrate a small victory.

Summer has a way of turning my weight into a moving target.

Our backyard is built on steep hills, so mowing the lawn is far more demanding than simply walking behind a mower on level ground. If I attempted to finish the entire yard in one session, it would take somewhere between five and six hours.

That is less “yard work” and more “accidental endurance event.”

Before I took over the mowing, my wife managed it herself using a hand-push mower. Looking back, I honestly wonder how she did it while working full-time. She often had to divide the job over several days simply because there weren’t enough hours or enough energy in a single evening.

As my own endurance gradually improved, I began taking over the mowing.

My schedule is considerably more flexible than hers. Although my wife also works from home, her workdays leave little opportunity for yard work except on weekends and holidays. In fact, she used to spend much of her vacation time catching up on outdoor chores.

Now that I handle the mowing, she finally has more time to devote to other projects, and perhaps even enjoy a weekend once in a while.

Of course, mowing the lawn introduces another challenge for me.

Because of my kidney condition, I have to limit my protein intake, making it much harder to replace the calories burned during strenuous activity. At the same time, years of regular exercise have gradually increased my muscle mass. I now carry more than 120 pounds of muscle while my total body weight stays between about 145 and 148 pounds.

Muscle, unfortunately, is wonderfully demanding.

It happily burns calories all day long while politely ignoring the fact that I cannot simply eat everything in sight.

Managing my diet requires constant adjustment. Last year, I even discovered that eating too much melon negatively affected my lab results. Since then, I have become much more careful about rotating foods instead of relying too heavily on any single item. Living with kidney disease often means thinking several steps ahead of every meal.

For quite some time, maintaining my weight has felt like trying to fill a bucket with a tiny leak.

Progress comes slowly.

Sometimes very slowly.

That is why today’s number on the scale felt so satisfying.

It may seem like only a few pounds, but those pounds represent careful planning, disciplined eating, regular exercise, and learning how to work with my body instead of against it.

Now I have one small hope.

That tomorrow’s morning run doesn’t immediately erase all of today’s hard-earned progress.

If it does, I will proceed with the scale and continue our ongoing negotiations.

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Finding Progress Beyond the Stopwatch in Running Endurance Improvements

Brian’s fitness journal after a brain stroke

I am finding progress beyond the stopwatch in running endurance improvements.

This morning greeted me with something that has become surprisingly rare lately.

No rain.

Better yet, the air was noticeably cooler than it had been for several days. It was chilly enough that I briefly wondered whether long sleeves might have been the wiser choice. After the recent stretch of hot, humid mornings, however, I was happy to accept a little cool weather without complaint.

As soon as I woke up, I headed out for my usual run.

Within a few minutes, my body warmed up, and so did the weather. Nashville apparently believes seasons can change during a single run. What began as “perhaps I need a jacket” quickly became “short sleeves would have been perfect.”

Unfortunately, ideal running weather did not magically produce an ideal running pace.

I missed my target.

Looking back, I probably should have seen it coming. Around this time of year, morning temperatures can climb ten degrees within a surprisingly short period. Since I usually finish my runs before 8:00 a.m., it is remarkable how quickly the weather transforms.

Apparently, summer in Nashville believes in making dramatic entrances.

Next time, I may pay closer attention to the hourly forecast instead of simply checking the temperature when I wake up. Waiting a little longer before heading out might actually make clothing choices and pacing a bit easier.

Fortunately, today’s run was only five kilometers. Had it been my usual Saturday 10K, the changing conditions would have become much more noticeable by the later kilometers. Also, I have more energy than before after running. I must have gained my running endurance.

After returning home, I moved on to my resistance training.

There was better news waiting there.

This morning, I increased my pull-up total to twenty-five.

I was particularly pleased because many of my strength exercises have received less attention lately. Summer has a habit of replacing gym sessions with lawn mowing, and anyone who has pushed a mower across a steep backyard knows that yard work has a remarkable way of volunteering as leg day.

Still, progress is progress.

Perhaps the biggest change I have noticed this year is the effect of my anemia treatment. For years, I simply assumed that feeling tired was normal. Since beginning treatment, I have noticeably more endurance and energy throughout my workouts.

I admit I have complained more than once about having to visit the hematologist. Medical appointments are rarely anyone’s favorite hobby.

But credit belongs where it is due.

The treatment is making a real difference.

No, I did not meet my target running pace today.

On the other hand, I completed twenty-five pull-ups, something I could not have imagined not very long ago.

That is one of the lessons fitness keeps teaching me.

If you judge every workout by only one number, you’ll miss many of your victories.

Some days, the stopwatch wins.

Other days, the pull-up bar quietly reminds you just how far you’ve already come.

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