The Dog woke me up at 1.30 am, exhibiting all of the same behaviors that previously resulted in him having explosive diarrhea in the street. Twice. I tried to get him to do it in the yard. No dice. I threw on a t-shirt, and Jen joined as we walked him at 1.30 am through the neighborhood. His pace was one of urgency, as had been the case before. He was momentarily distracted by an Oreo sighting but resumed the frantic walk quickly. Mid-way around the block, he "made," but nothing like I'd expected. The pace continued, and we returned without any more incident. All this on the night I was trying to get sleep due to the 5.30 am wake up and drive to Dodge Ridge awaiting me. I got about 4-5hrs sleep, total, interrupted. I got up early to start the coffee, and the damned machine has been getting slower and slower. Mental note, clean it out. Mineral deposits are building up within. We picked up Vikjtoria and headed out. She slept most of the way and I listen to a fascinating episode of The Hidden Brain, an NPR show. I'm hoping it'll be on Apple Podcasts tomorrow. It was about how people think, how people struggle with conflict when challenged, and how people don't separate the' task' aspects of seeking truth from a personal attack. It was great. I hope to find it because I want to read the book. We made good time, parked, and I got Lauren's bindings reset, had her board waxed, and had a stomp pad added too. I listened to two chapters of "The American Story: Conversations with Master Historians", being interviews with authors of biographies on key figures in our history. I listened to David McCullough on John Adams and Ron Chernow on Alexander Hamilton. I want to rewatch John Adams after listening to this. I also started reading "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair, which has been on my' to read' list since reading Fast Food Nation in the mid-'90s. I also just rested my head out of fatigue. We returned at the end of the day. Although I made good time, in hindsight, I drove too fast and even a bit recklessly. I need to remember my neck situation. I need to be mindful that even modest incident somebody else might walk away from is an incident I likely will not. Tommy was at his mom's, much to my surprise. I think he might have sincerely gone there with good intentions, but the dynamic is that her seeming depression drives him further away. It's a messy situation and very hard to see playing out. Ironically he accused his mom of living to argue, but that's also who he is and what he does. Again, it's tough to see playing out and even harder to be the recipient of that abuse. I don't know that I can handle much more of it. Best part of the day was coming home to Jennifer, who'd taken care of the coffee maker, cleaned the house up, and was just a loving presence in welcoming me home. I'm so grateful for her.