I am once again at odds with social media networks. Thank goodness I haven’t even tried Instagram, TicTok, and new social media platforms. I am still on old school platforms. I use Twitter primarily for web development and Vietnamese typography. Twitter seems to work out OK, but it has been taken over by the richest motherfucker in the world. I am not sure how it would change. Although I had been on LinkedIn for a while, I only started to post a few months ago to promote my professional work. I don’t see anything in return. I haven’t landed any career-changing or freelancing opportunities.

I use YouTube to post videos of my kids and I skiing and skating. I just wanted a place to post my videos. I don’t interact much with YouTube, but I do use it quite a bit for all sorts of DIY activities including skating, skiing, and home-improvement.

Facebook is the one that I am disillusioned with. I post photos and videos of our family activities. I am not sure if they come across as showing off or just to let family and close friends see what we’re up to. It made more sense when mother was still alive so she could see her grandchildren. After she passed away, I deleted every post, photo, and video. Then I started posting again. Now I am beginning to wonder what the fuck is the point.

I am not going to deactivate my social media accounts, but I want to return to my blog. My blog is where I can be true to myself. It is liberating to just be able to put down my thoughts without having to check in with anyone. I can write 100 words or 1,000 words on my blog. I can decide how my blog looks and feels. Posting the big hero text alone on my homepage is just so satisfying. The grid layout and the typography are the fun part of improving my blog. My blog feels most personal to me. I have no problem shutting down all my social networks, as long as I still have my blog.

Me: Đán, do your homework.
Đán: I don’t need to do my homework. I already got a PhD.
Me: Yeah? What is a PhD?
Đán: A Pretty Huge Dick.
Me: OK, we are done listening to Kanye West.

The pain in my ass has significantly subsided. I no longer feel the sharp stab every time I get up or sit down. The downside is that the swell is still there as if I have grown a third ball right next to my asshole. I am hoping that the swell will also subside on its own. Right now I don’t mind if it doesn’t cause any issues. As long as I can still skate and rollerblade, I am fine with taking the time for it to flattened.

I am still contemplating on contacting my physician to get an expert examination, but I think I have a pilonidal cyst, which caused by ingrown hair. I didn’t realize that ingrown hair can cause such a huge problem. Now I have the reason and motivation to shave my hairy ass. I would love to pull out my ingrown hair too, but I can’t do it myself.

It seems like the older you get, the more strange issues you encounter. I have never experience any pain in the ass in my life until the last two weeks. I finally understand the true meaning behind “pain in the ass.” It is irritating as fuck so just don’t be a pain in the ass.

I spent a chunk of my time over the weekend taking selfie of my own ass. Is that a sign of becoming a narcissist? The pain in my ass got worse in the past three days. Every time I stood up, I felt a sharp stab to my buttock. Nevertheless, I was still able to rollerblade with a minimal pain as long as I bent my knees and not my butt.

On Saturday, the bump had started to swell and the pain was excruciating. I couldn’t sleep much. Last night was the same deal so I stayed up googling. The closest symptom I could diagnose is a pilonidal cyst. The treatment is to drain the pus or surgical removal. As a keloid former, I don’t want neither, particularly surgery. I don’t want to have keloid on my ass.

I planned on calling my physician this morning to get an expert examination and to see what I should do. The pain, however, reduced since I started taking Aleve on Sunday afternoon and evening. Should I waited out for it to seal on my own or should I consult my doctor? I am going to wait for a few more days hoping it will pop on its own.

The Founders is engaging and Jimmy Soni is an excellent storyteller. I was also curious about the story of PayPal since I have been using its service forever. Nevertheless, I could only get through half of the book. I am just tired of reading about fucking Elon Musk. This guy is taking up way too much space already.

Replacing the water heater has been on my mind for about a year now. I don’t want it to bottom out and flood our basement. A few months ago, I asked around for a few quotes and the price range was between $4,000 to $6,000. Thirteen years ago, I had a water heater replacement for $600 or $800. I can’t remember the exact number, but $4,000 to $6,000 is a bit too much.

When Ricardo came by last Wednesday to fix the dripping pipes, I asked him about our water heater. He told me it still looks good. A water heater could last 20 to 30 years, but if I wanted a peace of mind, he can replace it for me. I just need to buy the tank and he only charges the installation. I also asked him about flushing it, but he said it is OK since our water heater is electric.

After thirteen years, I finally flushed our water heater. I didn’t even know about it until recently when my brother-in-law casually mentioned to me and I started to look into it. This morning, I decided give it a shot after watching this helpful YouTube video from AmplifyDIY. I followed his steps closely and I flushed it about six or seven times. I saw rust coming out of the pipe as I drained the water. I wonder if it should be replaced. I’ll call more companies for estimates.

While waiting for the water to drain, I came across The Grumpy Plumber who suggests that we should not have to flush our water heater. If I came across this video before I started the job, I would have just said, “Fuck it, let’s just leave it the way it is after thirteen years.” The process was actually quite simple to do. I might as well just do it every year to maintain its lifespan. Yes, another job added to the growing list of owning a house.

Ocean Vương’s poetic intricacy is beyond my comprehension for literary. What the fuck is “black as god’s periods?” Did he mean what I thought he meant? I wish someone could sit down with me and break down his poems line by line. One of his lines reads, “Because everyone knows yellow pain, pressed into American letters, turns to gold.” Yes, everyone knows, but me. I like the analogy though. I do understand a few lines: “Nobody’s free without breaking open.” And these:

I’m on the cliff of myself & these aren’t wings, they’re futures.

For as long as I can remember my body was the mayor’s nightmare.

The second line strikes the political chord. Of course, I knew these lines:

In my language, the one I recall now only by closing my eyes, the word for love is Yêu.

And the word for weakness is Yếu.

I like that Vương incorporates Vietnamese into his poetry. Without diacritics those two lines wouldn’t have worked. He even has a Vietnamese title for his book. He translates Time is a Mother as Thời gian là một người mẹ. If I get a chance to meet him, I wanted to know how he would translate: Time is a motherfucker.

I need to re-read these poems again in order to understand everything he has written; therefore, I bought myself a copy. Gotta support our Vietnamese-American talents.

The following post is literally about pain in the ass. Stop reading now if you want to spare the details. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Last weekend, I started to feel a sharp pain in my ass while camping. I wondered if a bug bit my ass while I was sleeping in the woods. I thought it might be the hot sauce I ate that burned my ass. I don’t know. I just hope it will go away because taking a shit is just painful.

When I reached down my hand and touched it, I could feel a lump on my left cheek. I tried to take a selfie of my ass, but I couldn’t. I am thinking of paying my family physician a visit, but the thought of her looking into my ass is just too embarrassing.

I am just going to wait it out for a few more days to see if I get any better. I don’t think I ever had any symptoms like this before. What a pain in the fucking ass.

I only hit the ice rink once this week. I am still working on my loop jump. I am not making much progress. A three-or-four-year-old girl skated by and gave me a compliment. I felt both embarrassed and inspired. I need to get back to the rink at least three times a week to get the loop jump down.

I have been back to the skatepark almost everyday. My pumps are getting better. I realized that I had been doing it all wrong. To pump, I just need to extend my body and keep skating to the top of the pipe. I jumped instead and that what how I lost my momentum. After I found my groove, I spent an hour pumping yesterday and my body was aching afterward. In the evening, I felt like I had no bone left in my body, but it was a good feeling.

Đạo is now taking over Đán’s Roces Aggressive Skates. He is breaking in and loving the skates. He can drop in with more confidence than before. He can also pump well. In contrast, Đán took over Đạo’s K2 Rollerblade. He is still a great skater. I am not sure if he wants to try skateboarding. I wanted to sign him up for a week-long skateboarding camp in the summer, but he is still unsure about it. He can if he wanted to, but I am not going to force him.

Đạo and Đán are willing to go to the skatepark with me and their reward would be a boba tea. I can accommodate that. I need to get Xuân back to the skatepark as well. He used to be good with the scooter, but he just stopped. The weather is so beautiful now and it would be awesome to be at the skatepark than to sit at home on their computers.

After discovering water dripping from the copper pipe from the main water line yesterday, I called Ricardo, a handyman I had hired in the past. He came by at noon today to do the job. While having him here, I might as well hire him to not only fix the leaked pipe, but also to replace another pipe with black tape wrapped around, and two water valves for the washing machine.

He charged me $400 for the entire job, which seemed reasonable. It took him about three hours. I also bought the two valves for $16. I observed him while he worked. The job didn’t seem to be that difficult. I probably can do it next time if I don’t have to do the soldering, or I should just learn soldering.

We talked quite a bit and drank some hard coffee. He couldn’t resist the caffeinated drink with a kick. He told me that he is getting his citizenship tomorrow after living 22 years in the U.S. He also shared me his DUI story. He had to pay the lawyer 30 grants to keep him in the U.S. He’s a funny, hard-working man.

I didn’t sleep too well last night for the obvious reason. Even though I knew it was not the end of the world, I still worried. I can’t help it. I am a born worrier. I am glad things are fixed. I need to go to sleep early tonight.