Nick’s LIFESTYLE Newsletter Vol. 9 No. 2

THIS IS AN INTRODUCTION

Hello again everyone. It's been a few weeks. Weeks where I intended to write this, but was ABSORBED by Hades 2. Weeks of catching up with old friends and making new ones (hello, new readers!). Weeks of discouragement and restlessness. Weeks of working on a TOP SECRET PROJECT that may mildly excite you. More details next issue. Important bullet points:

• Not to make these emails all about Japan, but they are at the forefront of technology (in very specific areas): Japan now has a special desk for people who work at home with a pet cat
• Planning for the JAPAN 2026 trip is nearly complete! We were able to time things with Melonie’s academic schedule and the hellmouth to grant us 16 days in Japan. If you are interested in my daily travelogues like I did last time, email or text me and I’ll add you to a list. It's like these newsletters, but daily and with pictures!
• I have joined the ranks of human fathers (after being the world’s best CAT DAD) as I watched WWII in Color: Road to Victory on Netflix and Rise of the Nazis (a reader recommendation). No parallels at all between then and now. None. Everything will be fine, we learned our lessons in the 40's. If you need another sad dad at your gathering, I’m available for hire.
• Sports corner. The best moment in Olympic history: DOG AT THE OLYMPICS
• This was an absolutely interesting exercise: How far back in time can you understand English?

ITEM THE FIRST:

A BROKEN MAN (PHYSICALLY):

In the ongoing saga with my dumb supraspinatus, I have graduated physical therapy, not because I am healed, but because I need to see a sports ortho to continue. Since I’m deep in running training, I’ve put myself on weightlifting ban until June to see if that heals it more (along with continuing my PT exercises).

I was planning this issue would be a big deal about my progress and my fitness journey over the past few years, but that will have to be tabled for now.

As part of the PT, earlier in the year I shared my fitness goal with my therapist, which was HANDSTAND PUSHUPS. I saw Prince Devitt do them once and was amazed. My PT said, NO FUCKING WAY BUDDY. Not on that shoulder, old man. So, I had to pivot to a new fitness goal. Everyone knows I hate running, so the goal obviously needed to be RUN A HALF-MARATHON.

Since I was doing something I hate, I figured I could at least turn this into a positive. When AEW launched, they partnered with a charity called Kulture City. They are an organization that works with people who have sensory issues to enjoy things that can be overwhelming. They do a lot of work at events, like concerts or sporting events, to provide kits with headphones, fidgets, nose plugs, etc. that allow people that would be too overstimulated to enjoy these large events. They also run sensory inclusive rooms in venues (US Bank Stadium, Varsity Theater and the Mall of America have them) where people can go to calm down.

On a personal note, when I went to Las Vegas a few years ago, we went to see the Battlebots live show. It was so loud and overwhelming for me. After about five minutes I knew I was in deep waters. Thankfully, the person who brought us there was able to secure some earplugs and after about 10 minutes, I was able to enjoy the show (as much as I can enjoy Battlebots…).

As someone who gets overstimulated with smells and noise, I appreciate that there is an organization that helps people like me be able to experience the joy that concerts, sports and sports-adjacent things bring.

That was a lot to say to get here, but once I had the idea to run a half, I knew I wanted my pain to be others gain. Kulture City sponsors athletes and other marathons. Big ones, like the London Marathon, the NYC Marathon, the Sydney Marathon. I wrote them, explained my idea and how dumb it was and they loved the idea and set me up with a fundraising page.

Nick’s Half Marathon

I figured I would run this where I run my Parkrun every Saturday, since I know the course well. It has a loop that is exactly 1 mile, so I would just be adding laps. Ok, now I have a cause and a location. I started training five weeks ago. I didn’t want to announce this until after the first trimester, obviously.

You would think I would stop there with my dumb idea, but I do not. I decided, let’s make it a public event and INVITE THE FRIENDS OF THE LIFESTYLE AND BLOW MORE MONEY.

So, here is the pitch. On Sunday, 7 June 2026, I will be running my half-marathon at 9a. My race pace is slow, 6 MPH, as I am NOT A RUNNER. I will start at my house, run .6 miles to Thomas Lake Park, do 12 loops and run .6 miles back to my house, which is 13.2 miles total. At race pace it should be a little over two hours.

This is where you come in. Who doesn’t like a walk or run in the park? Those early days of summer are magic in Minnesota and I would love to see you. If you come and walk a minimum of one mile along my path, I will DOUBLE your donation. However, if you ENDURE THE HATE of running and jog a minimum of one mile along my path I will TRIPLE your donation. My pace is slow and you have weeks to train. I may even be too tired to acknowledge your existence. It’s a public park, there is a lake and playground and all that stuff, so you don’t just have to watch me run a circle.

At the finish there will be a party, which MAY OR MAY NOT be near my 47th birthday. There will be cake. I will be sweaty and tired, so I may just collapse in an oversized dog bed and give you side eye between naps. It would be lovely if you could join us. If cake was not incentive enough, we are RESCINDING RULE #1 OF THE LAVELY ESTATES and allowing people under 18 to be on premises for the first time in 10+ years.

If you are interested in joining, let me know. I’ll send more details when it gets closer and will notify you if I reschedule due to weather or leg injury.

Here is that link again: Nick’s Half Marathon

ITEM THE SECOND:

DISPATCHES FROM THE WAR FRONT:

Following up from LIFESTYLE Newsletter Vol. 8 No. 8 and the topic of working from home. When I approached my boss about working from home I was told I needed to present my reason to him, his boss and a VP. That didn’t sound right to be because of HIPAA. I’m obviously not going to disclose my SPECTRUM LIFE to a bunch of people I don’t know at work, but I talked to another coworker (one of two people I chat with casually at work) and she was able to get an ADA exception to work remotely. I was initially hesitant because of the game I have to play where I don’t want my unique ways to be disclosed to work, but she convinced me it was worth a shot.

I met with a telehealth doctor, who told me they could not do anything about this remotely. I then met with a doctor, who turned out was not a full doctor, more of a PA, but then she referred me to my new primary care provider (and pretty amazing doctor so far). I told her my issues and she went to bat for me like Kirby Puckett. After a few weeks, everything was approved and I am now a fully remote employee. Since TR self-insures, it cost $250 + $450 + $600 to their insurance fund, hope it was worth it when they could have just said “yes.”

Years of disappointment have prepped me to enjoy this before something happens and my employer clutches this slice of joy from me, but for the time being, my burnout is about 1% better due to this change.

I was also included in the long-term retention program for another year and granted more TR stock, which is hilarious when you look at this chart:

Consider me motivated.

ITEM THE THIRD:

THE NAVIDSON RECORD:

House of Leaves might be one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever created. It is more of an experience than a book. It is very experimental and metafictional in a way that makes my brain tingle unlike other books of lies.

In it is described a house, with a doorway that opens to a hallway that is bigger than the house itself. Made of walls that that are pitch black, the depths of the void are infinite and dark.

I recently had one of the best conversations in my life with a new FRIEND OF THE LIFESTYLE. Top 10. She was my boss for a brief period of time and has recently left the hellmouth. She was a super good people manager and I looked forward to our meetings (as much as I could at work). When Melonie was having issues trying to figure out her new role at her job, I immediately thought to get the two in contact. She was a wonderful advocate for me when I worked for her, which is something I typically need from a manager. Her empathy and understanding were some of the best things I've experienced in 23.5 years. Now that she is free, I am able to consider her a WHOLE HUMAN BEING and I reached out to her to have coffee.

While we had several good conversations in the context of the office, I keep the walls high and thick at work so I was nervous how it would go, but if something makes you nervous, that is just a sign to plow ahead.

Buds, let me tell you, it was like someone had plunged deep into my void, with their tether line and could tell me exactly how sad and dark it was inside the hallway. It was simultaneously heartbreaking and encouraging that someone could see a bit behind the curtain since they have experienced burnout in many of the same ways. She offered support and talked about some of the decisions she made in life to get out of the fog. It took me a few days to process and internalize the conversation.

I wish I could say that it inspired me to quit, but I am HIGHLY risk adverse, unless I am playing board games where that is a mechanism. Paying $13,000 + $12,000 deductible for health care is terrifying in a way that delays retirement. Worrying that if I quit and Melonie needs to continue working that some resentment will build up, silently, and kill our relationship is terrifying. Doing the math of what makes rational fiscal sense leaves no room for these thoughts. However, the worry of having nothing left mentally at the end of it all is also something on my mind.

She did not give me a tree, but she planted the seed and for that, I am eternally grateful.

THE HOPE SPOT:

Time to cheer up a little after more stories from the fog of burnout. I will try to make the next issue more full of joy as I train for my marathon. The least joyful thing I can do.

Yep, there is a lot of fires in the world right now literal and figurative, but here is some cool shit going on:

• While the US hampers the world’s fossil fuel infrastructure and makes it all great again, China is seeing the benefits of decarbonization. BYD just introduced their 2nd gen battery pack for EVs that gets about 600 miles on a charge and goes from 10-97% charge in 9 minutes. My EV goes from 20-90% in about 45 minutes for 240 miles on a charge.
• United will permaban passengers who don't use headphones. Now do this everywhere.
• Behind the Curtain: America's big lie. I fully agree with this, but I we need to figure out how to combat the oversized influence the terminally online have. To be fair, gun control and universal health care have been majority opinions for 25+ years (with some brief dips) and nothing has been done, so 🤷
• What if we had politicians that were not too old to legally fly commercial aircraft? More of this!

and this!

• They did it, they actually did it: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ousted after 'painful' election result, ending 16 years in power

Although Orbán’s political party has skewed governance in Hungary to make it hard for him to lose at the polls, as well as censoring the media, Hungarians turned out today in record numbers—77% of registered voters—and gave Orbán’s opposition party more than two thirds of the seats in the parliament, a supermajority that will let the opposition undo some of the changes Orbán’s party made to cement their power.'

Heather Cox Richardson

• Behold Statler, a 33 year old bat in the GERIBATRIC WARD:

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (please mark "ok to print"):

Dear LIFESTYLE Newsletter,

Thanks you for providing a YouTube playlist of your top music of 2025. It made the music very easy to access and enjoy.

Sincerely,
A Long Time Fan

Thank you! Absolutely my pleasure to share things that bring me joy and I hope you found something in THIS IS MY JAM (2025 edition) that you enjoyed.

IN MEMORY:

Sadly, as we get older, this part of the LIFESTYLE expands. It is why it is so important to prove love every day.

First is one of my earliest political loves and inspirations. When I was in 4th grade I bought a book at the Scholastic Book Fair. Other kids bought Chronicles of Narnia or Fartpants or whatever dumb shit they were reading. Me, I bought a biography on Jesse Jackson. I read it cover to cover many times, learned about the Rainbow Coalition, the SCLC and it may have been one of the first books to help me realize the color of your skin grants you different treatment.

He was a fierce advocate not only for African-Americans, but was also one of the first politicians to support LGBTQ rights and marriage equality. When even very liberal people like Paul Wellstone bailed on LGBTQ rights, Jesse never wavered. He understood the plight of any marginalized community is the plight of all of us.

“Stand together, raise your first together. I am somebody. I may be poor, but I am somebody. I may be on welfare, but I am somebody."

Next is a member of one of my favorite bands, the pillows. Their drummer, Shinichiro Sato, went to the hospital in the beginning of March, was diagnosed with stage four esophageal cancer and given six months to live. He passed on the 23rd of March.

the pillows are a Japanese rock band that were together for 35(!) years and I’ve always thought of them like the Japanese Foo Fighters or Weezer. They announced they were disbanding in January of last year after a hell of a run.

I first heard them in 1999-2000 then picked up a compilation album, Fool on the Planet, when I was buying shit tons of bootleg Japanese CDs from a shady eBay seller in Taiwan. It is a hell of a compilation and intro to the band, I highly recommend giving it a listen if you like that alt-rock sound.

Sato-san was a fun drummer. He’s no Neil Peart, but his drumming reminds me of Steven Adler, very loose and fun.

This is maybe the most signature song for his drumming:

However, this is probably my favorite pillows song:

FAVORITE THING TO GO IN MY EARHOLES THIS WEEK:

I mean, this is obvious.

Nine Inch Noize, the collab album between Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize that was performed at Coachella the last two weekends.

I am NOT CONVINCED Trent is doing live vocals on the album. It sounds VERY MUCH like they took the original vocal stems, or Trent has not aged vocally in 30 years. I thought the Coachella performance was fine. I really didn’t think it was the second coming like some music people did. The album sounds EXACTLY the same as the Coachella show which leads me to believe it was more “performance” than performance. That is modern large concerts...

All that being said, it is amazing. Solid banger album of new and old Nine Inch Nails Nails songs made current (or remixed). I think artists that try to update their sound often fail as it alienates their older fans and younger fans already see them as an older artist. I think of Rush’s Presto album or The Smashing Pumpkins ATUM as albums where an older band is trying to stay relevant. Rush eventually pulled it off, not sure if the Pumpkins will.

I think there are two ways to go, the Nine Inch Noize route where they take something old and update it, though maybe not as directly or The Cure route where they take something beloved and make it again, like on Sounds of a Lost World. Both are equally valid, but hard to pull off.

Trent & Alex, you did it.

THIS IS THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER

LET’S DO SOME GOOD FOR THE WORLD WHILE I SUFFER FOR YOUR DONATIONS.

THAT IS ALL.