Say What?

We were due to have our house painted later this month but due to a cancelation, our painter could fit us into his schedule earlier than planned. As of a few weeks ago, it's all done! And they did it during the year's hottest week (so far). We kept a cooler filled with drinks and nutrition bars available to keep the guys fueled.  It's been 15 years since we last had our home painted and we're happy with how it's held up so well but it was definitely time to give it a thorough power washing and painting. We're very pleased with the job they did. If you're anywhere near us and need a bid on some painting work, give me a shout and I'll send you Josh's contact info.  I wrote in my blog back in January about having my Christian fish ankle tattoo removed. I've had 4 sessions so far (each spaced 6 weeks apart) and none of them have yielded much in the way of results. It's faded some but it's not changed much at all. I went in for another round ...

I received a phone call from my sister-in-law two weeks ago this morning. Tracee was sobbing heavily but I could make out that she had some terrible news to tell me. For a moment, I imagined that my brother Keith had passed away and she was letting me know. It wasn't that. Their grandson Madden had died the night before after a fall off his bike. I didn't press her for details and we soon ended the call. I was so stunned by what I'd just heard. Madden had just turned 13 and he meant the world to Keith and Tracee as well as to his mother and father and so many others who were part of his life. Madden's life cut so short is nothing less than a tragic loss. Here's a news report from one of our local stations. I didn't know Madden well but I was able to spend time on the golf course with him last summer and fall with Joe (his father) and Keith. He was an exceptional golfer for his age, that was clear, but he also had a talent for basketball and football.  I feel t...

It's been nearly one month since I last updated my blog. With a myriad of distractions for me outdoors, I find it especially hard this time of year to sit at my laptop for very long. A lack of updates to my blog is part of the cost. I was on a ride last Friday when I got a text from Tammy telling me that she "just saw a hummingbird". That makes it official—spring, my favorite time of year, has begun! We spent the better part of the last few days shopping for flowers and getting them planted in our gardens. It's always nice to have that work done. My mother liked to wait until after Memorial Day to plant her flowers out of concern for frost but the long-range forecast shows no hint of anything close to freezing. To date, Pit  has been arguably the most fun game we've played with our Saturday night crew–if we use loudness as a measure. The game has been around since 1904 and is based on commodities trading. It's very fast-paced and fun as well as being simple to...

I just had Charlie out for an aborted walk. Even he is tired of our very cool weather and wanted to turn for home after barely getting started. He didn't have to ask me twice. I don't mind the cool temps (39ºf / 4ºc) as much as I mind the stiff wind. For all of my unhappiness with the weather, I haven't allowed it to slow my roll too much. I've managed to golf 4 times in the past 8 days. There's a benefit to this cool weather if you don't mind being out in it. I golfed 18 holes yesterday in 2 hours and 36 minutes! A typical round of golf is closer to 4 hours but there was nobody in front of me to slow me down. It's been nice to be on the links again. I had my 6-month checkup with my dermatologist a couple of weeks ago. She sent off two samples of blemishes, one from each calf, to be evaluated for cancer. One of the areas came back positive for basal cell skin cancer and the other came back positive for squamous cell skin cancer. They're both very treatab...

My energy reserves are at low tide today. I had plans to get out and walk this morning, followed by a TNG ride with friends in Northfield tonight, but I'm lying low. It's a cool, blustery, and overcast afternoon. I just don't have it in me to battle the wind tonight. My body thanks me because I've not taken a day off from working out since the end of January. My meditation streak remains alive at 57 consecutive days.  I'm enjoying my walks so much lately, especially now that most of the walking paths are clear of snow and ice. While on my walks, I've been listening to books on my Audible app. Most of what I've been listening to has been books related to Christianity as I try to make sense of my faltering beliefs: When Everything's on Fire ,  Do I Stay Christian , and The Case for Christ . They're thought-provoking books, but still, I find myself where I was before reading them; leaning ever more in the direction of agnosticism with a budding fascinat...

It's been 3 years since my last cluster headache phase, leaving me with a foreboding sense that another round of headaches can't be too far off. I'm glad that I've made it this long free from them because ten years ago I could expect a cycle of headaches to appear every 15 months, give or take a few months. They're incredibly disruptive to my life, leaving me anxious as I await the next attack and leaving me somewhat tethered to an O2 tank for relief from a headache once it starts. (High doses of oxygen at the rate of 15 liters per minute can work miracles at aborting a cluster headache attack.) The search function of my blog will reveal some extensive writings I've done about my headaches, or, you can read this post  from 8 years ago which will give you an idea of what they are. Toward the end of the post I linked to above, I talk about psilocybin mushrooms and LSD and the success that's been had by the use of these psychedelics in aborting headache phase...

We had to take Charlie to the vet a couple of years ago because of a persistent cough. At the time, the vet told us it was esophageal collapse; a not uncommon condition in dogs, possibly brought on by years of using a collar and leash when walking him. She said it wasn't a fatal condition and then prescribed prednisone to see if that would help. When it didn't, she gave us oxycodone to use as necessary. We used the drug a few times and neither of us liked the way it left him tired and not his normal self.  Charlie's coughing has gotten worse in the past few months so Tammy went online to research the matter more. She found another possibility of what is happening with him; a condition called acid reflux , with the remedy being Pepcid or another long-lasting antacid. He's been on the drug for about 5 days and the coughing has mostly stopped. We're happy for our little guy. Also, when the condition was first diagnosed we immediately stopped using his collar and switch...