My former coworker and BFF

Another attempt to put Ronald Reagan on U.S. currency

Another attempt to put Ronald Reagan on U.S. currency

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Sliding doors at FedEx!

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My AeroGarden herb garden is up and running.

My birthday at work.

Happy Festivus!

Monday John called me from the hospital. He had to beg someone to use their cell phone. He was losing it. He has been in the hospital for 2 weeks and it was really starting to get to him. They moved him into the Community Living Center, but unfortunately he is surrounded by very old people dying. His breaking point was when some woman who was visiting someone else told him that this is the ward where they stick people to die. He was so upset when he finally reached me by phone. Crying. I was able to talk him down from the ledge. He's not in pain; not taking any pain medicine; the doctors ruled out cancer;he is starting to eat;and most importantly, the antibiotics are working! I told him I would see him Tuesday after work. I was able to get out a few minutes early, but all hell had broke loose by then. We had wind storms that were slowly closing all the main routes to the I-10. Since I needed to fill up my tank, I drove down to Ramon Rd heading towards Date Palm. Traffic was bad until I made it over the bridge for the wash. Didn't have any problems after that. The freeway was not congested at all. I stopped at Stater Bros to get flowers, a vase, and a get-well card. When I finally got to see John, he was so happy to see me. He told me that they would let him leave the hospital to get some Chinese food. That's what we did. He has been walking a lot in the hallway to try to build up his strength. He did good on our outing. He is looking to get released Saturday. It will be so good for him to get back home.

X-MAS

One of the most annoying Christmas decorations ever.


In other news, John is doing much better now. He answered the phone when I called today, and I can tell just from the sound of his voice he is much better. He only takes pain medications when needed now. I think he's on the way to a full recovery. They haven't gotten the results back from the biopsy yet, but I think it's going to be negative for the big C. Knock on wood.

John is still in the hospital, it's been a week now. The nurse says he's doing better, but they have him so drugged up it's hard to tell what's up with him. He sleeps so much that he doesn't answer the phone when I call him. He can't dial out, because you need to PIN code, which I guess you have to buy some kind of phone card. He might need to stay for another week in the hospital. He had a biopsy done of his pancreas, but the results won't be in for a few days.

Hospital

Tuesday, I brought John to the VA hospital emergency room because he had been having severe stomach pain that wouldn't go away. At first we thought it was a bug, but when it persisted after several days, it was time to take him in. Took him there after work, arrived about 6 PM. They took him in right away, and I was allowed to go back in the little triage room with him. They took him for x-rays, and tried to draw blood. He had become so dehydrated since he hasn't been able to eat & drink for some time now. The blood was almost too thick to be drawn properly. They put two bags of saline into him the time that I was there, and a third was to be started. We went upstairs twice for CAT scans. They finally decided that he was having a problem with his pancreas. Not sure if it was cancer or pancreatitis. I hope it's the latter, because the big C is what Patrick Swayze died of. One of the worst cancers you can get, very high mortality rate. That is because they can't detect it in advance and once you experience pain from it, it has already spread to other organs making it impossible to stop. Nasty stuff. He was finally admitted into the hospital at 2:47 AM, I got to leave at 3 AM. I drove home, it took about an hour. Got up at 7 AM to get ready for work. It took them most of the day to get him into the main hospital. He is still there, and now they want to do a biopsy to try to rule out pancreatic cancer. The doctors really don't think that's what he has. On the "brigher side," it is not unusual for bypass surgery patients to experience pancreatitis afterwards. It happens. At least it can be cured in 80% of cases.

Fast and Fun

Here's the completed scarf.

A New Day...

I think I'm over my cold; most of the crud has cleared out of my lungs & nose. I haven't been to the gym in two weeks! The muscles will come back quickly, but it's the cardio that goes to pot so fast. So I have to ease back into that routine. I think I'll be ready on Monday to go back.
I got one of the solos in my choral concert this December. I'm singing a line from "The Truth About Christmas" and it's pretty accurate about how I feel. I'm programming it into my computer so that I can learn it.
I'm knitting a scarf for my friend Lynne in South Dakota. She wanted a long scarf, so I made one my height. I just need to weave in the loose ends and put fringe on it. It went incredibly fast. I used a double broken rib pattern. The yarn is nice; 55% wool, rest is acrylic and cashmere. Very soft and a nice cinnamon color. Hope she likes it. It gets pretty darn cold in SD, so I'm sure it will get a lot of use.

Any Dream Will Do

Brook singing at karaoke on Tuesday.

Socks!

While my calf heals, I've been knitting socks. I made several so far, just working on perfecting the technique. Trouble spot appears to be the gusset; especially where it meets the leg of the sock. I've read some pointers online, and they say to grab an extra stitch on the previous row before and after the juncture of the two needles. It does close up the hole, but seems to pull the stitches awkwardly as well. Everything I've read says that it just takes time before your results improve. Practice, practice, practice.
My calf finally feels like it's back to normal. I've resumed going back to the gym, doing upper body and just walking on the treadmill. I'm thinking I have to go easy on the calf until I know for sure it can take the abuse. It was very busy at the gym on Wednesday. I went there after my "so you think you can knit" class at Denise's house. I had to jump around on whatever machine was open at the time. I really like to start with the military presses but had to do that toward the end of my workout. Couldn't do all my reps, but I did what I could. I can feel the strength coming back. I took a jacuzzi that night, just to try to prevent the soreness from the workout. My legs were hurting Thursday, primarily around the hip joint. I did walk on the treadmill that night, and I feel fine today.
I finally put my bike together and took it for a couple of quick rides around the neighborhood. Of course, it's supposed to rain this weekend. So I'm not sure if I am going to get a bike ride in. But it's a nice bike, and I feel comfortable riding it.

The Olden Calf

I don't know what's going on. About a month ago, I started having back spasms. Fearing that it was my left kidney, I promptly stopped taking my creatine supplement. I would only take it on days that I lifted weights. Then about two weeks ago, while I was minding my own business, my left calf decided to cramp up. I was walking across the CSA office at work, slowly & without any sudden stops or turns. I figured it was a cramp, and it would ease itself out. I did go to the gym that night, but only for upper body weight training. I cut out all cardio until my leg felt better. That weekend, I rested my leg, but the cramp still remained. I went out on Tuesday, having G & T's at Hunters and then going to Streetbar for karaoke. I had a couple of bud lites while there. When it was my turn to sing, I got up on stage and did my number. While coming down the three steps, something happened to my calf; it felt like it popped or tore or something. Not good. It gave me troubles the rest of the week. My leg got swollen and pink by Thursday. I really should have gone to see a doctor then, but I gave it one more day. When I thought that it could possibly be deep vein thrombosis, I decided it was time to go to urgent care on Friday. The doctor examined me, then sent me to Eisenhower for an ultrasound to rule out a blood clot. The test came back normal, no problem with the vein in my leg. I stopped at Walgreens for a supply of Naproxen. I'm thinking all that extra running at the gym was more than my calf could take. The muscle is sprained, and needs to heal itself. Being on my feet for extended times at work is probably not good. But what can I do? I tried to make an appointment with my regular physician, but she has been on vacation and her schedule is really full. I called a sports medicine doctor in Rancho Mirage, but all I got was a recording. I want to know what I should at this point. I still walk like an old man, can't really use the leg fully. I was doing good the other day, but by quitting time, the leg was back to being stiff & swollen. I'm hoping this weekend I can rest it enough to where it starts getting normal again.
Worst part is, I got my new bike and I haven't even put it together yet. Since I can't ride it with my calf the way it is, I don't know what the point would be. It is kind of hot to be riding a bike, anyway.

New toy at work.

While I fall apart...

Here's a fun clip to watch:

Delicious!

Fresh baked cherry pie from scratch.
Cherries on sale at Stater Bros. The most labor intensive part of the process is pitting six cups of cherries. But well worth, I'm sure. Still is cooling off on the counter, but can't wait to eat it!