Note: This was originally drafted in late April, 2017

I took a short break from my normal use of technology in March. It was a nice change as I’m often on the computer after work and the weekends. Unless I’m doing house or car repairs, I’m usually I’m studying new concepts, doing research, updating my Gentoo desktop, tinkering with one of my SBCs, or working on one of my personal projects. More recently I have gotten back into automotive work. Besides usual maintenance on my Audi, I’ve been working on putting my 1962 Impala back on the road, plus it was time to put my 1973 VW Westy camper bus back together.

Long before the fibromyalgia affected my life I was a very active person with multiple active projects. Late summer of 2006 a friend and I bought this rusty bus from a dude in Orlando, saving it before it went to scrap. We talked a lot about what we would do with the bus, cleaned it out a bit and tinkered on it. It had no engine, scary looking electrical, but was solid. A few years later I became sole owner of the bus and decided to take it apart. I wanted to teach myself auto restoration on it, then I could restore my Impala. At the time I was working on my masters degree and a very demanding job. It took a few years of very intermittent work for me to pull it apart with help from friends. During that time I obtained a couple of engines, a nice transmission, and various used parts, with the bus interior becoming furniture in the house.

I finished my masters degree and started work on the bus, just in time for me to experience bilateral carpel tunnel and guyon’s canal syndrome. I could barely use a keyboard much less lift a wrench. Months after surgery, in late 2011, I tried, but could barely work on the bus for 15 minutes before I would flare up. I gave up on the bus and focused on my newly acquired Benz. The Benz didn’t require the body and interior work I had planned for the bus.

In fall of 2013 I moved away and said bye to my bus, with the intention of handing the project over to someone interested in it. Life got in the way and the bus sat in the garage while the family renting my house became squatters. Fast forward to 2016, I end up moving back to my, discovering the bus and all its parts were left untouched; all I needed to do was body work and throw the bus back together.

It’s now 2017, late winter, and I need a break from Technology. The bus and all of its parts are taking up too much space, constantly getting it my way. It was time to start putting it back together. First thing was rust repair, which, because most of my body working tools, welder, and welding supplies were stolen, would mean rust removal with my die grinder and power drill, then fiberglass. While the fiberglass repairs were drying I started cleaning up and reassembling the interior, including stripping and refinishing all the wood panels. The more I worked on it, the more excited I became about it and the more work I found needed to be done. I’m dreading installing the electrical.

Now it’s April and I’m back to using computers. The bus I work on a few days a week, it’s coming along nicely. The break from tech was nice and recharging, I no longer feel burned out using computers after work. It also feels healthier to split my free time between house repairs, bus work, and computers. The house repairs are exhaustive and stressful, computers are my passion, but I’m on the computer 10+ hours nearly every day, cars are a nice break.