Say What?

Today marks ten years since my mother's passing, ten years since having the hearing in my left ear restored, and ten years since I retired. It feels fitting to make mention of it. The years are passing by so fast in my life now. I recall how my four year enlistment in the Navy seemed to play out at a pedestrian pace, but now, four years gets away from me in such a hurry. And this train just keeps rolling down the tracks faster with each passing year. Here's a blog post I wrote where I talk about that day ten years ago. Until Tammy's recent brush with death, it was the most emotion-filled day of my life. Tammy continues to work to regain her strength from a cardiac arrest event 2 1/2 weeks ago. She was discharged from transitional care on Saturday. Her ribs are still very sore, and she's extremely tired from some meds she's taking for her heart. It's going to take time before she feels normal again. Oscar and Rudy are happy to have her home. Cliff loves his bal...

We had a scare, but I'd like to begin by saying that Tammy will be okay. She woke me up at 4:35 on Saturday morning (11 days ago), saying, "I can't breathe, call 911!" She repeated it at least twice more. I hurriedly called 911 and explained to the dispatcher what was happening—what little Tammy could tell me and what I could observe. They continued to ask questions about Tammy and her condition. I explained the best I could, having only just awakened, while pleading with them to please hurry. Time seemed to crawl as we waited for help to arrive. I paused the 911 operator and ran to disarm our alarm and prop open the front door to save the arriving help whatever precious seconds I could.  A Lakeville Police Department officer arrived shortly after Tammy appeared to lose consciousness. He announced his presence at the front door, and I yelled for him to come up the stairs. He hurried up the ten stairs to our bedroom and stood assessing the situation for a few seconds. ...

  I finally went for a ride on my road bike last night for the first time since last summer. I've been content to ride my gravel bike until now because it allows me to unclip from the pedals more easily, placing less lateral force on my right knee than I experience when unclipping from my road bike pedals. (My nephew just reminded me that I can adjust the pedal for the amount of force it takes to unclip.) I nearly forgot how much fun it is to ride this bike —how nimble and responsive it is. It was a shorter ride of only 24 miles (39 km), but I had so much fun and returned home amped about my ride. More of this, please.  One thing I noticed right away from my Favero Assioma power meter pedals was how much less power I'm generating with my right leg compared to my left. The data indicate that my left leg accounts for 60% of my power output, while my right leg accounts for 40% (approximately the same as before surgery). This is despite my focus on trying to involve my right leg m...

The odometer on my 2014 Subaru Forrester turned over 100,000 miles (160,934 km) this week. There are a few small areas of light rust that will probably be full-blown rust spots in a few years. I don't have plans to address them, but I may rethink that. I don't usually purchase extended warranties, but I made an exception for this car. The warranty is a lifetime warranty and has more than paid for itself already.  I've never been one for flashy, expensive cars. My only desire is that they roll me safely and relatively comfortably from place to place. My Forrester is my first vehicle with a temperature and directional gauge, so I'm living large. It's been a good car for me.  Last week, we celebrated Oscar and Rudy's first anniversary with us. They have fully wormed their way into our hearts and are enjoying family status. Their antics have us smiling and laughing at them throughout the day. We can't understand how anyone could abandon them the way they did by ...

When Trump walked out onto Lafayette Square in Washington, DC, in June 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests and after having a peaceful gathering of people broken up by tear gas, he stood in front of St. John's Episcopal Church and held up an upside-down bible—a prop. He didn't quote any scripture from it. He just held it in his tiny hands. It was then that I began referring to him as a fascist. For the most part, then, he had people in his orbit who kept him reigned in from his more fascistic tendencies. Later, retired U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley would say former President Trump is "a fascist to the core." Other senior staff in Trump's administration echoed the same concern. None of those people (respected people with decades of experience) are part of his administration anymore, and it shows.  It should be clear to anyone paying attention to the destructive moves Trump's administration has made since his inauguration that fascism has arrived here.  ...

Rudy and Oscar have been with us for 11 months. Because they were strays, I sometimes wonder how they came to be abandoned. The scenario I've thought makes the most sense is that their original owners moved out of wherever they were living at the end of May and turned Oscar and Rudy loose when they left. They may have been on their own for a week or two before some kind person was able to get them and take them to the Humane Society. They were initially adopted by a woman, but she returned them after five days. They were probably too much for her. That's when we were contacted. Because I'm curious about where they were left to wander, I asked the Rochester Humane Society if they could provide us with an address for where they used to live. They're unable to divulge that information. I get that. It was worth a try. I've been a member at Planet Fitness for not quite a year. It's such a good value, and it's never overly crowded when I'm there. It feels grea...