The Trials of Man Solo - It's a Puzzlement!

Before there was a pandemic, muh DAB, Dennis and I enjoyed working the jigsaw puzzles into full images.  It usually happened during weeklong vacations in Palm Springs, where we took our time and did a little every day until we completed it by the time we left.

From this photo of us behind one of our first collaborations, you would never guess that there was a huge divide between Dennis and me. 

The divide is filled with arguments for and against having the box around for reference.  

Dennis thinks it's fine and I am vehemently of the thought that it is cheating!!!  

Even so, Dennis and I work together to get the job done, without me looking at the box.

Then, Covid hit and we were all stuck in our homes, some of us alone.  Jigsaw puzzles became all the rage again!  Dennis already had some on hand, but I was not prepared, as I always left him in charge of our puzzle assignments.  Luckily, Dennis had a few that he had solved and made a contact free delivery to me.  I grabbed one and shoved the others under the sofa, so I wouldn't be able to subconsciously memorize the image and CHEAT!

Here's two...

They were lovely and fun to solve, but the pandemic kept going on, so I had to get some of my own.

 I happened upon a Marvel heroes puzzle on Mondo.com, thought it looked cool and bought it.

Once I opened the box, I noticed this puzzle was different from all the others I had done before.

ALL THE PUZZLE PIECES WERE THE SAME SHAPE!

Look at the pic below.

I was quite intrigued and thought I was ready for the challenge.

I started with the white portion with Captain America's Shield attached.

That was extremely difficult and time consuming... luckily I had a pandemicful of time available.

After the lower part was complete, I thought the upper area with faces and objects would be much easier.  All of a sudden, I felt intimidated by the rest of it because all the the other pieces were red, white & blue and looked very similar.  I soon discovered that pieces didn't fit where I was certain they would.  It was another long test of my sanity to complete it.  Even the last five pieces didn't seem like they would fit anywhere in the puzzle.  Ultimately, I was triumphant and I felt like an actual Avenger.

I was very proud of my work, but also a little traumatized.

It was a little while before I could even think of starting another puzzle.

Believe me, this puzzle spent a lot of time just sitting on my dining room table. 

The day I took it apart and put the pieces back in the box, I cried a little on the inside.

It was my birthday, October 2020 when I got a horrible gift from my friend Stacy McQueen.

It was a jigsaw puzzle.  It was an image of the twins in THE SHINING.  It was all red and black.

It was untouched until November.

I girded my loins and got to work.

I immediately felt the challenge.

Adding to the challenge, stuff was opening up, again,

so I didn't have as much spare time to work on it.

The puzzle sat, unsolved for weeks (Months?) at a time,

waiting for me to get a few pieces in place before moving on to something else.

Time passed and I'd give Stacy periodic updates here & there.

It became even more difficult as I returned to the office half time.

It got so bad that I broke out the box for reference and even then, it was so hard!

Finally, on December 29, 2022

I FINISHED the puzzle!

Over two years later, I was made whole.

I can't tell you how many times it occurred to me to just take it all apart and forget about it,

but that's not me.  I just had to finish it... it was FUN! Right?

And we all know, all work and no play makes Danny a dull boy.

I bought a frame and framed that shit!
I don't even have anywhere to hang it, 

but DAMMIT I'm proud of it.

Also, it's nice to have my entire dining room table back.

 

Getting Out - Cinco de Mayo for Uno

Today I woke up and put on my celebratory Cinco de Mayo t-shirt and started work as usual, then I finally got a twinge.  I don't know if I'm the biggest weirdo in the world, but I have really been enjoying this quarantine stuff!  I don't mind being alone and I don't miss people because I see and hear family, friends and co-workers everyday through Marco Polo and Zoom- Heck I see more of my family now than I did before!  

...But I remembered the excitement I had when I bought this shirt to wear today

I anticipated seeing my friends at Marix, having a couple of margaritas, eating chips & tacos and laughing, like we've done for years before.  Then, I realized by this time in the year, we would have had a few Sunday Fundays or big brunches... just the usual fun get together stuff.  Today for the first time, I feel a twinge of missing life outside.

Then, I think of all the idiots out there, who are not acting responsibly and probably dragging this out much longer than need be .  I think of the people who are risking their lives to help those who are fighting to keep their lives.  I think of those who have lost their lives.  I think of those who have lost loved ones.  I think, "Yeah, I can do this longer."  

So, instead of going out for margaritas, laughs and spotting hotties today, I'll just remember the past celebrations with the crap load of photos I have.  Cripes, why else do I have so many?

So in no particular order here are some fun memories of Cinco de Mayos past...

Finally, a pic from when I spent a Cinco de Mayo with Chico's Angels, performing at Here Lounge (now, dead and gone) posing with a bartender.  You may know him as Dean Phoenix, I know him as one of the sweetest men, ever!