Say What?

It's good to feel the sun on me when I'm out on the road...the heat helps too. It's been cloudy, rainy and cool almost all of the month of May. The sun and heat are exactly what I need to help lift my spirits. Coming off the prednisone took a solid month and I think I'm totally back to normal as of a few days ago. Rachel had a violin recital a couple weeks ago. It was the first time she played with an orchestra. The piece wasn't very difficult according to her and she really enjoyed the experience. She was sitting next to the first violinist who is also the most senior member of the Dakota Valley Symphony. She had some nice compliments for Rachel. I asked if she gave her any pointers but she didn't. Rachel was hoping she might. Tammy and I were so proud of her. The weekend before last was Rachel's dance recital weekend. She did four performances over three days. She's so poised up there. I asked her how she feels being on stage and she said she...

Mat Kearney, Tomorrow I hear a voice crying out from the bellies of their mammas Hold on for today don't worry about tomorrow Though the rains of today seem to fall with sorrow Let me be and we'll see this life for tomorrow I hear a cry going out in the middle of the night Under the scatter of the stars from a voice cracked with fright And as the tears stripe cheeks from pain running south The taste of salt hits the corner of her mouth Resting on tied tongues with no breath left to speak Sick of throwing up with no bread left to eat Tired and confused from disillusionment Sunny days turn to grey and away he went Ripping the hooks out your heart from the promises at dark The words found their mark as the sheets came apart Every spoken word broken As he flipped you a token Kiss on the cheek as his feet found the open door What's in store for you he didn't question Shook his burden to the floor to leave you guessing About the future and what it will unfold But your still ...

I'm glad this week is over. The weather was cold, windy and rainy which didn't do much for my depression as I try and come off the Prednisone which took me through my headache cycle. Every day was an effort to do anything other than just sit on my butt. It made it easy for me to make excuses for being lazy but I'd rather have the normal me back. There isn't much information online about prednisone withdrawal but they do mention dizziness, tiredness, and irritability and I've definitely experienced those. I was hoping to find something which would tell me how long I can expect to feel this way before I'm back to normal. It really depends on how long a person has been on the drug and at what doses. My adrenal gland which produces steroids for my body shut down as the drug did its job. Now that the drug is no longer there the adrenal gland needs to wake up and begin production. It's different for everybody. I was hoping that exercise would cause it to kick into...

I was hoping that when I came into work today I'd have my medical back but that's not the case. Actually, I'm expecting a call at any minute telling me I'm good to work traffic again. I can always hope. I met with my doctor last Wednesday and he gave me the green light to get my medical back as it appears my cluster headache cycle is over. I'm waiting on the regional flight surgeon from the faa to act on it and get back to me. In the meantime, they've got me doing some menial stuff in the control room which I don't need a medical for and which needs to be done anyway. It's not all that bad but I'm anxious to work traffic again as this is the longest I've ever been away from the boards. Coming off the Prednisone hasn't been fun. The injuries I received in my crash 10 days ago hurt more now than they did then. I'm not sure if that's because the Prednisone was helping to reduce the swelling and overall pain. Anyway, last Friday I decid...

I crashed my bike today in the rain on our group ride. I have an idea what happened but I can't be sure. There were about 15 of us die-hard types in a steady rain. I was talking with Rob next to me as we rode side by side (much the same as this photo from last week's ride) in a paceline with plenty of room between riders. I saw up the road that a couple guys had broken off the front and were maybe 20 seconds ahead of the main group. The next thing I noticed was that one of them was turning back in the direction of the group and at the same time I could see that the riders in front were beginning to slow. Out of nowhere, I began to go down. It all happened so quickly but in very slow motion. From what I can tell, the rider behind me was a bit too close and was unable to slow in time to avoid me. I talked with Rob later and he said that Leonard made contact with me from behind. He said it looked like I was going to be able to keep from crashing but with the wet roads and all I w...

Where does the time go? It's not like I haven't been at my computer...too much so lately. I'm redoing our website so it renders itself in browsers other than IE. I've got it all done now except for the family photo pages and I hope to have those done over the next couple weeks. I rode with Silver Cyclists again today and had a good ride with them. We had 30 of us at the start and finished with half that. The winds were southeast at 20 gusting to 30 so there were many people who were blown off the back in the early miles. We attempted to wait for them a few times but we finally realized there was no way to keep a group like that together. Too much variation in abilities to expect that to happen. It was tough to keep a paceline with the quartering crosswind and at times we simply had to form mini echelons and find cover from the wind where we could. Sometimes though with more of a direct headwind, we were able to form a nice pace-line and work together. The final 25 mi...

He's just a man. He's not a god. It's time to move aside and let somebody else lead the church. The pope is becoming a joke. Why is he so stubborn to relinquish power to his successor? Is he that important that the world can't get along without him? He's just a man.