My Little Guy, Catching Up and Considering the Virb

My special little guy Toby had a seizure Friday afternoon. He was slow to get up when I went to let him out and I thought that maybe he had pulled a muscle in his leg or had a cramp. He made his way outside but was struggling. After coming back inside a few minutes later it was obvious that something wasn't right. I called Tammy over and she said he was having a seizure. He was trembling and his eyes were fixed straight ahead. I held him and whispered softly to him telling him how much he's loved. This has never happened to him that we're aware of. He wasn't himself the rest of the day and night but he was content to sit in my lap or by my side. It's ridiculous how much I love that little guy!

He looked to be his normal self Saturday morning, jumping up on me and giving me kisses, excited to eat. The only lasting effects from the day before being a little hesitancy coming down the stairs. He did fine but was just a little slower than usual.

I spoke with the vet's office and they told me it wasn't urgent for him to be seen but to make note of the day of the seizure on a calendar and any other episodes. One thing Tammy noticed was that his collar was very tight and may have been part of the problem. He's put on weight over the winter but I didn't think it was enough to cause a problem with his collar. I wish I'd have paid more attention to that. We made an appointment for him to be seen on Tuesday but considering how well he's doing today we may cancel instead.

We went out with Job on Friday night. He and Tammy worked together for several years at Masonic Home in Bloomington and he was always one of her favorite people to work with.

Job is from Kenya and has lived in the US since the late '90s. We always enjoy discussing a little about politics both in the US and his homeland. But most interesting this visit was learning of a new business he's getting off the ground: Edith's Mobility. A transportation service named after a dear resident of his who died several years ago. He transports residents to and from doctor appointments as well as persons needing rides from hospitals to temporary care units and such. He's busier than I think he ever imagined he would be so early on. It was nice to see him again and catch up.

There will be no ice dams for us this winter. I was watching the news last night and they were talking about how they're the worst they've been in years in this area due to our freezing and thawing cycles coupled with the amount of snow we've had. I was a little surprised to hear that. Anyway, all I know is I've been diligent about keeping the snow raked off the one problem area we have. This time last year and this year. My efforts appear to be working.

I ordered a chest mount for my GoPro camera thinking it would be a more stable platform than my handlebars, meaning it would be less susceptible to road vibration and the turning of the bars. I was wrong. I had a chance to use it a couple of times this past week and I can't say I'm all that happy with the results. It's very difficult to get the camera angle just right and the angle easily changes as you adjust your position. Not good. It also gives way too much arms and hands in the view. That may work for a video or two but not anything more than that. I'll be returning it.

A friend turned me on to a new camera put out by Garmin that's piqued my interest. It's called Virb. It's a little bigger than my GoPro but that also means it can handle a larger battery for extended use. What I most like about it is its ability to take my heart rate, speed, cadence and elevation data from my Garmin Edge and superimpose it onto the video. It also has the ability to include power-meter watts data by importing the ride file data. I'll likely wait a year or two before jumping onto one of these.  Here's the most detailed review to be found on it.

I'm officially the oldest controller working at Minneapolis Center. I'm not sure if that's something to be proud of or not. But, I do think I've likely bid my last schedule, a schedule that will take us to April of 2015. I can reasonably say that the end of the line for me as a controller will come sometime during this schedule period.