Mornin' Masters.
At yesterday's PT session, she confirmed that the remaining aches, pain, swelling, and stiffness in my knee are all typical, if not less severe than in most cases, for being just a week off crutches and the leg brace. That was reassuring to hear, so I'll keep doing what I've been doing and will keep looking forward to a little more progress each day.
Today, after this morning's 8:30 meeting and some consultation on a grant proposal, DW and I have to pack up what feels like half the house and then head down to Long Island (NY) for a Christmas visit with a good old friend. We're targeting to leave by about 2:30, but we don't know if we'll be ready to go by then. So it goes.
i got out for about a 1.8 mile slow & EZ walk yesterday afternoon. I got up at 3:45 this morning, did some work on that grant proposal, then did 75 minutes of knee and core work and stretching. I dunno if I'll be able to get out for a walk today, but we'll see.
Have a greta short Thursday, and then start looking forward to longer days.
Jay
Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.
4 mile tempo run this morning. Back on track on my plan.
Father-in-law is moved to his new room. The TV is working and the phone will get hooked up today. He wasn't too happy about moving rooms. He was calling it jail, or prison. Despite talking about the move every day for a week he was taken by surprise in the morning. It is going to take a burden off Cindy. She is with him multiple times every day. She has do give him his medicine, get him to meals, take out his hearing aids at night, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Now there will people to help with that.
You folks talking about your bad sports teams don't know what you are talking about. Chicago had won a Superbowl, multiple NBA championships, multiple Stanley Cups, and World Series. Detroit has won NBA championships, Stanley Cups, and World Series. Buffalo has never won anything unless you count a couple AFL Championships from before the Superbowl era. If Buffalo ever won anything, I'd just quit watching games after that. I would quit while I'm on top.
Marathon Maniac #957
Good morning folks.
Safe travels, Jay.
Dave - glad you got FIL in his new digs.
As someone who doesn't follow sports, any sports, I don't know what to tell you.
happy winter, folks.
If you are sensing my lack of enthusiasm for winter, you are correct.
3.4 miles for me this morning in 30ish degrees.
Only 10 weeks until March!
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."
Thanks, Jay, and good walk. Dave- glad you are back on track and FIL is installed. My father used to refer to senior home residents who left to live somewhere else as "going over the wall", although he actually liked the place in Charlottesville, VA where he and my stepmother stayed the longest. The final place in Alexandria was sort of depressing, in my opinion. I feel for your wife- it's a rough job.
As for sports- try being a Vanderbilt fan. It just breaks your heart most of the time. And, of course, my spectacular Phila Eagles are imploding.
I am going to a funeral for an elderly member of our church this morning, so I need to get going. Got in 4.1 chilly (not by Sub7 standards) cloudy miles. Last night we went to a pop up Christmas bar at a Franklin restaurant. They had special holiday drinks and snacks. I had this fabulous peppermint martini thing (I don't drink martinis, but this was more like a candy cane). I actually had two of them. We sat outside under those pole heaters, which weren't quite adequate. My feet finally thawed out during the night.
Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth
Glad toread you are making good progress Jay. Not that we would expect anything less though.
sports - we are big NFL fans and college football fans. But with the demise of the Pac12, who knows what our college football enthusiasm will be like next year.
DH is happy his Niners are on top this year. I'm a Niner and Seahawks fan. (yes, a slight conflict there since they are same division) and of course, I always like to see the Vikings do well. DH been a loyal fan since the 80's, maybe even 70's, so he's certainly ridden his fair share of being stuck in the losing end of the spectrum as well as the winning end. Needless to say, he's loving this year!
dental cleaning this morning, then I'm stopping by a nearby park that several homeless are residing at. Each time I drive by this park, it's kept clean, no trash around, just homeless folks getting by with what little they have. I bought some new fleece lined mens socks to give to a couple older men that are regulars there. and I still have some more dog food to hand out for anyone that needs any. Hoping to finish up what I need to get done for work today so that tomorrow I don't have too much to do and can leave whenever I feel like. I need to do a big grocery shopping trip, including the items I need for my Christmas meal contribution.
Tammy
Jay is the poster boy for doing exactly what he's supposed to.
Tramp's video of the flooding.
Now there will people to help with that.
This is such a blessing. So often the caretaker ends up going downhill faster than the person who needs the care, simply because of the physical and mental toll.
If Buffalo ever won anything, I'd just quit watching games after that. I would quit while I'm on top.
I like sports, but not as much as The Hub. He's a HUGE college football fan. HUGE. His favorite team is Notre Dame. Has been since he was a kid. A number of years back, he got to see a game in live and in person, including going to a pep rally the night before. He was in heaven.
He likes pro football, too. His favorite team is whoever's playing the 49ers.
I hate having cold feet.
5 predawn miles this a.m. under mostly clear skies. My hamstrings didn't start to tighten up until about halfway through. I'm getting a massage after work, so we'll see how things feel Saturday for my trail run.
Had Christmas dinner with 2 of my best peeps last night. I sure do love those ladies. We've been friends for going on 20 years and have stuck by each other through thick and thin. I'm blessed to have them in my life.
I was listening to a podcast this morning, and the host said he had done a survey on his Instagram asking how many folks people had in their lives they could truly count on: 0-2, 2-6, 6-10. These are people you can count on to drop everything and come if you called, and who you allow to speak into your life and weigh their words when making a decision. 2-6 was the winner.
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
Thanks, Jay. One day at a time, as the cliche goes.
Steve--I hope the changing of the guard only benefits you.
Marj--Willie! You're welcome.
Doug--thanks for the recommendation; I've added it to my list. Honestly, though, it's likely to be a while. I just bought TriBee a pile of used books for christmas and I usually end up reading most of them myself.
Speaking of which, bioguy, one of those purchases was Bill Bryson's "The Body," which I'm pretty sure you had recommended a while back. Thanks!
I don't follow sports closely enough to know much about non-hockey droughts, so I looked it up. Interesting list here, divided by years and seasons. (The notable absence of Vegas makes me wonder about other possible omissions or errors, though.)
5 mile run for me today under bright blue skies, in the upper 30s, with minimal wind. IRC!
Oh..and Happy Winter Solstice! We usually make it a point to go out and sit by a fire with an adult beverage on the solstice evening, if the weather allows. Should be dry tonight, but a bit cloudy obscuring the stars.
Be safe. Be kind.
DH's job with the Chinese glass factory is just finishing up this week, but the foreman/president/guy in charge gave him a bottle of Macallan 12yo Scotch (sells for $99) and a bottle of some kind of Chinese wine/liquor that sells for $400 (I forgot the name of it). We are not big drinkers, so they will likely last us years, just taking a small serving on special occasions. They really love DH, and were so impressed with his help on their project, which had something to do with moving a water main from underneath a building (who thought THAT was a good idea?), although DH told me he would have done the same job no matter who the company was.
Leslie - I have thought about that question before - who could I call in the middle of the night in an emergency who would come running RIGHT NOW, and really, other than DH and DS and DD, I don't know that I have any of those. Friends, yes, but THAT kind of friend, not so much.
MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803
Steve - good luck on all the past promises and assurances not being null and void, . . . unless you have a different legal system up there than the rest of us.. Jay - good luck on your Christmas week travels, especially take care if the roads are wet and it’s nighttime on the shortest day of the year.
ps - thanks and very nice to be able follow your progress as a model for me too and realize that, if you can still keep plugging along going on seven weeks, so can I, . . . but I doubt it. Do you have any extra meetings I could borrow to help take my mind off it? At yesterday's first of two post-op sessions, it was confirmed that the remaining aches, on-going pain, continued swelling and stiffness in my knee and lower thigh are all typical, if not just as severe as in most cases for being just two weeks out of the hospital and, since I can expect the swelling that’s at the root of a lot of the pain to continue for even up to a month or more, I got refills for the PK’s I never figured I’d need this long but, since I’m down to two evening doses that’ve been helping me sleep for a couple of hours until around midnight and the second dose for five or six more blissfully uninterrupted hours, I feel like I’m making some progress until the Tylenol that, for now, is about about as effective as M&M’s would be, finally kick in and do some good.
pps marj - thanks. no worry about me trying to "rush" anything as it's a word that's long gone the way of "fast" too and, along with Holly, I've got my sights set on March too but for a different reason.
As for sports, with the UW abandoning the Pac 12 to my DD’s WSU and some classmates’ OSU, I’m hoping the UW wins in the Sugar Bowl so, in the unlikely even the UM prevails in the Rose Bowl, UM can beat UW and become a new team to root for, . . . but I doubt it. Kind of odd since I haven’t liked the UM that much ever since the coach of the hated SF 49'ers became the UM coach but, with the UM starting to beat the also hated THE ohio state team again more than makes up for his sins at SF. Other than that, I really don’t care that much one-way-or-the-other about spectator sports.
ps Dave - commiserating about the Seattle Kraken a little with the front desk guy with a Kraken shirt at the orthopedic “campus” yesterday, I mentioned I knew this guy who was a Buffalo Sabres fan to which he said, “Oh, I’m sorry.”
Tramps - though your list has Seattle’s Superbowl XLVIII (Feb 2014) win pushing us way down to no. 31 out of the 49 cities having the longest championship droughts for their professional teams’ losing streaks (vs. some city at no. one and Buffalo no. 2 and your Washington’s excellent no. 37), it was more than invalidated when our otherwise esteemed coach squandered a sure victory the next year in SuperBowl XLVIX when, with less than a minute to go on first down at the one yard line, instead of taking advantage of four chances for the league’s then leading rusher to take a big step over in to the end zone that I could have done, had our formerly beloved quarterback pass, . . . right into the hands of Malcolm Butler of the hated NE Patriots but, fortunately, it was a long time ago and I’m pretty much over it, especially since I don’t care that much one-way-or-the-other about spectator sports anyway, . . . I don’t think.
Holly - for sure. Except for my 2 kids who live in different states so couldn't help anyway, me too.
"Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)
. Do you have any extra meetings I could borrow
Snork!
Tet - I was going to tell you to make sure you ask for, and get refills of, your PKs, even when you think you don't need them anymore. There will likely come a day when you misjudge and overdo it and then pay for it later. Having the extra PKs in the cupboard may help you get a good night's sleep when you do. Better safe than sorry! Meanwhile, don't forget that you can take both ibuprophen and Tylenol at the same time when you need a stronger non-narcotic PK option.
Leslie - I have read that the caregivers pass away before the person they are caring for about 50% of the time. The strain on caregivers, especially if they are elderly themselves, can be immense.
Holly - thanks. Even though I'm gradually weaning down off them and have been thinking for the last couple of days that this'll be last time, I've learned my lesson and happily agreed to the refills DW is picking up today (as i cant mail order them as our Medicare Advantage does for nonnarcotics)..
However, with regard to the two Tylenols I've hoping will take over for the PKs, for the Tylenol/Ibupropen double, would I take one pill of each every four or five hours, not two of each, I guess, . . . as good as it sounds. Thanks again
Jay, I meant to tell you that the #1 thing that I looked forward to in retirement was not having to sit through any more $@#% meetings! They were always the bane of my existence in those days, to say the least!
Holly's advice about keeping the PKs around reminded me of how I quit smoking back when I was in my 20s. Instead of saying "I'll quit after I finish this pack," which never worked, I quit in the middle of a pack in the middle of a carton and left them in the closet. I think that having them available if I really thought I needed them prevented having an anxiety attack about being out of them (followed by a trip to the convenience store). In any case, it worked, and that was long enough ago that I always put "Never" when asked on a questionnaire about smoking history.
Walked 2.3 miles this afternoon with DW. We were both a bit underdressed as the sun went in just after we started walking and never made another appearance. But not that bad overall considering that there have been years that we've been snow covered from now until March!
Doug, runnin' cycling in Rochester, MI
"Think blue, count two, and look for a red shoe"
Roch - good on you for finding the way that worked for you, so long ago....
I was up so early this morning that it felt like last night. I think it was 3:35 when I gave up on falling back to sleep, and got up and got the hot water going. Even allowing a little time for Solitaire on the computer before heading to the pool, I was in the water at the "other" Y at 6:00. It's ironic that now that I changed my work time from 8:00 to 8:30, I don't have a problem getting to work by 8:00 after a good swim workout and shower and prep anymore. I've been wanting to add strength training back into my morning regimen in January, and maybe the "not enough time" excuse is gone. I certainly don't need 30 minutes of strength training right now - probably half of that.
Today's Moderate workout was supposed to be 3,100 yards, but I skipped the breaststroke kick drills. My legs were pretty much toast after the 4 x 100 flutter kick drills and 4 x 100 backstroke kick drills, and the area that feels like it's going to get injured during the breaststroke kicks was already starting to feel freaked before I even started doing any of them.
Main sets were drills with paddles on my hands. I'd tried doing 4 x 100 freestyle with paddles earlier in the week at a 1:45 interval (1:20 / 25 rest) and that was too much for a moderate workout. So I changed it to a 2:00 interval (1:20 / 40 rest) and I was able to get all four at just about 1:20, but yeah I was working pretty hard on the back end of rep #3 and rep #4. Not enough to call it a hard workout in the log, though.
The other sort-of main set that I usually do when I do this workout is 5 x 50 yard underwater dolphin kicks. It's a misnomer because I can't do 50 yards underwater, or even 25 yards. I push off the wall and try to get to the middle of the pool, or just before, so that I can emerge, catch my breath a little, then do a surface dive and see if I can get close to the other end before coming up again. I can't. I usually swim the last 5 yards or so, in the deep end; if I'm returning to the shallow end, I just do a second surface dive. I think I should probably do these once a week, but if I analyzed my log it would probably wind up that I average once a month over the course of the calendar year. So I guess that should be my first New Year's resolution: more underwater dolphin kicking. Whether it's helping my swimming or not, IDK, but it's definitely a good core workout.
After a shift at the church's food pantry right after work, I think I'm going to have a rare quiet December evening at home. I'd hoped to go to the 99 Restaurant in town for a night of Trivia with DS#2 and his DW, but they have a community group night at their church.
Have a great evening Masters!
Tet - after my shoulder surgery I alternated taking two ibuprophen and two Tylenol every three hours, as in, 2 Tylenols, then 3 hours later 2 ibuprophen, then 3 hours later, 2 Tylenol, etc. The surgeon said I could actually take them at the same time, because he said they work differently from each other, but I was trying to give my liver a break...
Roch - I quit smoking when I was pregnant with DS, 27 years ago. I knew I would never find a better reason than that to quit, and could be stronger for him than I would for just myself.
After the funeral three of us women went down Main Street on foot in search of alcohol (the one related to the deceased woman wanted a Bloody Mary). Well, it was only 10:45 and none of the alcohol-serving restaurants were open except Ruby Sunshine, a fantastic New Orleans-based breakfast place. They had Bloody Marys and I had a brandy milk drink, which was really good. We got some good food, too. So- that was impromptu and fun. Tonight we have a Solstice Walk with the running group. I'm tired....