Spinal Tap . . . for Reals!

You know that feeling you get when your life is just ticking away and you feel like your just going through the motions? Yeah, we all do.  But this time it was one of those things where everything was in motion.  All that was required was to meet our end of things.  You know, show up on time, follow directions, basically be there.  Yeah, just like taking an airline flight somewhere.  Well, this week was just like that.  It included all of the pent up fears of all that can go wrong right before, during and even after the flight.  The plane could be delayed--we both caught a cold the weekend before the operation.  The plane could have some mechanical error or the pilot could be drunk or have an epileptic fit during the flight--the sciatic nerve and/or herniated disc could be something or the doc or someone could sneeze during the procedure, etc.  Our luggage could've gotten lost--records could've gotten mixed up, etc.  Anyway, you see my point.  Life is a big crap shoot and we're--the survivors--all lucky to be gettin' on about our lives each day.


Well, we made it.  Lisa's discectomy of the L5 - S1 lumbar regional heriation on the sciatic nerve was a "boring" success!  She was up and walking the very next day!  Modern medicine.  I remember spending a week or two back in '73? for appendicitis.  Sure it was at Philadelphia Naval Hospital during the Vietnam Era.  I didn't get a general anesthetic but got a spinal tap instead and was conscious during the procedure.  In fact, I remember the anesthesiologist giving me water soaked sponges for my dry mouth.  I even asked for one during the operation, "sponge please".  One of the nurses heard it and thought the surgeon had requested it and handed him one.  Come to think of it, that might explain why I'm so thirsty all the time.

Anyway, Lisa was out for her procedure so that wasn't an issue.  However, when she came to, she was quoted as saying, "Wait, wait, I'm still on my bike." I spent the night next to her in the hospital on some funky vinyl covered taco shell of a mattress/cot.  Every hour or so, the nurses would creep in and take her vitals 'n' stuff.  My cold was not a concern as it was nearing its end and not in the contagion phase nor did I have any sort of fever.  The only real issue was when she had to relieve herself.  It required her being assisted out of bed and lead to the bathroom.  "Roll like a log" the nurses would say, never mind the pain.

We stayed an extra day within five miles of the hospital, at Hotel Deca in the U-District, just for good measure.  You know, in case she started growing a third arm or leg out of her fresh incision or her sutures pop and her spine comes sliding out and she becomes a candidate to replace the current boneless chicken farmer or some such thing. All went well though and we even took a walk to Performance Cycling and Trader Joe's.  We spent most of our time though, just lounging and watching Seattle do it's thing.  That or whatever the idiot box had to offer.

We did catch parts 3-6 of The Pacific on HBO.  After watching The Hurt Locker last weekend, it was enough just to be thankful that I never had to serve during any major conflict.  We are all indebted to the veterans who've had to do our country's bidding during war time.  I just vote against it when I can see no need for it. Nonetheless, whatever the reason for the conflict, we owe our thanks to those who've served honorably.

Got a little off course there.  Back to Lisa's recovery.  We're home and recuperating.  I actually got a ride in yesterday and did a few errands and "enjoyed" the soon to be typical afternoon 12mph westerly headwinds. I even made it to the Elwha Pedestrian Bridge.  Lisa's sister was able to watch her while I got a much needed ride in.  All I could think about though, was how soon she/we would be able to ride together again.  It was a gorgeous day, wind and all and the only thing missing was my riding partner.  She loves the view from Kacee Way down to the pedestrian bridge.  Soon my dear, soon.

April . . . used to be a girl I know . . . not really.

Yeah, it's late.  I'm half in the proverbial bag.  Hey, it's Friday F-ing Night!  But, anyway, I've been dealin' w/ some issues.  Yeah, our household has taken on some extra bodies an' all . . .  Anyway, what're ya gonna do?  Kick 'em to the street?  Besides, who doesn't like the smell of chihuahua shit?  NEVERMIND!

Dark Days Ahead (and it's almost summer!)

Got some disturbing news today.  Turns out BAPman (a.k.a. Bruce P.) got the low down from his Dr.that the chemo didn't do what it was targeted to do and his tumor under his arm has actually grown some.  Talk about taking down a hero, this man led the way last summer for our victorious debut as the Cascade Bicycle Club's Summer Bike League champions.

He single handedly rode well over 1800 miles between June and September (http://www.cbcef.org/tracker/report_riderstripsdaysmiles.cfm?instance=21&orgid=3005&session=).  Yeah, that's me, REMZilla with just over 1600 miles.  Ever since I met this guy, he's been one pedal mashing maniac that I've been wanting to keep up with.  Now he's facing some seriously dark days ahead and I wish there was something, anything anyone could do.

Then, shortly thereafter, I received word that our Fisheries secretary who'd been commiserating with me about back issues had found out via MRI that she most likely has a brain tumor.  She was just telling me that she'd been having back spasms and numbness in her leg and trouble lifting her foot.  It's not looking good what with this info.  I'm not looking forward to the prognosis for either.  (Just happen to be listening to Robert Cray's, The Forecast Calls for Pain at the moment).

Matt Good Man Crush

It was a Monday night show in Seattle, at the Triple Door (http://www.thetripledoor.net/).  We had bought tickets within a day or so of finding out Matt Good would be in a small, personal, upscale venue in Seattle.  I've seen a few concerts in my day, but this venue and performer take the cake, so to say.  I'd been in the Triple Door Lounge once before, but we were just cruising downtown Seattle and bar hopping at the time.  It was few years back and they had some wild salsa or tango thing going on at the time.  People were all threaded up in swing/tango style clothing and all.  We didn't stay long and I had no idea there was an entire stage and show room behind the bar.

Well, we decided to get a booth as far up front and centered as possible.  The tickets were will call and I asked for front row center seating for four.  Lisa, Mike, Dave and I were set for what I would call the best concert seating/venue ever.  On the day of the concert, Mike, Lisa and I headed out early Monday afternoon while Dave would meet us at the show.  We missed the Bainbridge Island - Seattle ferry by a few minutes so we sauntered over to the Classic Cycle Bike Shop (http://www.classiccycleus.com/) and were duly blown away by the historic showcase of racing bikes and gear.  I spied a Trek Soho carbon single speed with belt drive and began falling in love.  Lisa put a quick word in to the effect of, "save your money and it's yours."  Hmm . . . $3K for a single speed, really!?  Maybe not the wisest thing to spend money on in this economic climate.  After all, what would my four other bikes say?

We eventually scurried off to the show on the next ferry and were pleased to be seated RIGHT UP FRONT (just left of center)!!  We had a waiter (thank you Patrick) and menus and drinks served right to us during the show.  Dave joined us shortly thereafter and we ROCKED IN STYLE, BABY!  The show opened with Automatic Loveletter.  We all thought Juliet Simms wasn't wearing anything under those skank-a-licious fishnet stockings but she assured us she was.  Gotta love them short shorts (micro?)!  AL came across up close and personal with acoustic sets and raw tender and belting vocals.  We determined Juliet's still angry about something and although AL is a talented trio, we were ultimately anxious to see Matthew Good take the stage.

It didn't take long between bands and the next thing we knew, we were at least one martini and a few glasses of wine and Asian fused dinner into the show when Matt Good, et.al., took the helm en force!  It was AWESOME to say the least.  We all knew Matt from listening to Canadian radio and know him to be a tortured soul of sorts.  But, the man has f#%king TALENT!  I bought a shirt and his new CD, "Vancouver" (consumer PIG, I know).  He played a lot of songs from his new album that night.  I wanted to hear his vocals more but aside from that, the show ROCKED!  He took some time between sets to banter with us and the rest of his band, which is, or so I'm told, quite rare.  He appeared unassuming and wore a San Diego Chargers T-shirt which I thought was odd for someone notoriously NOT a big fan of Am'rica.  Perhaps our recent political shift AND the lure of money has changed his tune (so to speak) of late.  In any case, we were blown away by his performance and to a person would all like to see him again some day.

I heard him sing "The Boy Who Could Explode" that night and caught a few lyrics despite the guitar/drum barrage.  "What're you thinking, what're you thinking, what're you thinking, aaah what're you thinking . . ." followed by "Just goooo, explooooode, What time is it your waiting for?"  I've thought and felt that before.  But, they've anger management sessions for that.  Needless to say, Matt Good's touching a chord deep within.  After all, one of the most common questions I hear today is, . . . "where's the outrage?"  Look no further, Matt will get you there.  You just have to listen (it helps to read the lyrics too).  The man crush is ON!  Oh, and BTW, here's the setlist for that night: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/matthew-good/2010/the-triple-door-seattle-wa-6bd4b6f2.html.  And you can catch his blog at http://www.matthewgood.org/ (when he's not touring?).

Spinal Tap Anyone? ( x 3, AGAIN?)

So pain is just weakness leaving your body . . . or so a long lost friend of mine used to say.  He was in the Army so that's just masochistic machismo talkin'.  I had a rough set of indoor soccer games last weekend and after the second game, well, let's just say break dancin' to stop an onslaught of shots on goal ain't for the weak of heart OR back.  The schedule was set for at least two semifinal playoff games last Sunday.  I was recruited to play goalie for the Gold Division team ETOH (as in alcohol).  FTOP (Freight Train of Pain) is the Black Division team for which I've played goalie for the last 5 years.  All games are played in the Peninsula College's basketball gym on weekends.  The Gold Division is the upper division while the Black Division is a bit more recreational in demeanor.  However, any given game has it's own competitive spirit so you never know just what to expect.

FTOP had a game at 1PM and ETOH had a game v. the Pine Trees (college kids) at 3PM.  FTOP won 7 - 2 so we were going to be playing at least one more game, the final at 6PM.  But ETOH got hammered v. the Pine Trees 13 - 3.  We played them earlier in the season and they won 10 - 1.  Needless to say, we didn't expect to win (and we obviously didn't).  Somewhere during the onslaught of goals, I was able to slap, stop, spin and twist--sometimes all at once--to block a few shots on goal keeping the game somewhat respectable.  But, the Pine Trees began picking our defense apart and had several three pass, pinball style, plays that basically left me out of position and a striker with an easy tap in.  Embarrassing to say the least.  Nonetheless, I hung in there.  Dylan asked me a couple of times if I wanted to play the field.  I declined thinking better of being run around like a pylon on the field when I had at least the Black Division final to play.

It was during that game and continuing after it into the Black Division final that my back had experienced something it decided it didn't really like and started to cease like Jimmy Buffet's margarita blender he's been using since he wrote Margaritaville filled with sand and running on puree mode.  The only thing missing was smoke and that smell of electrical stuff catching on fire.  We, FTOP, won our 4th championship in 5 years beating Everwarm by a rather handy margin of 8 - 2 (or something). They're the team we've faced in the finals for the last 4 years and the team who beat us only once, last year.  Their first goal was a well fought break by Donnie from my right with a pass to the crease that I thought I'd just reach down and pick up.  What I didn't see was Jimmy coming in from the front and sticking his foot right in front of the ball such that it shot up over my shoulder and into the top of the net (DAMN).  At the end of the half it was 4 -1 so we were sitting pretty already.  The second half seemed slower and longer with the exception of a few moments of defensive lapses, rather uneventful.  Oh, except that one where Josh came back to keep the ball from going into the net and me calling "KEEPER BALL" and then he turns from facing the net, 180 degrees, and punts the ball off of my chest into the net, OUR NET!  Oh well, we won anyway.

But then there's my back. It was sore just like my legs were on Monday and then worse come Tuesday.  I played racquetball Tuesday night which was entertaining for others as I moaned with each serve.  Wednesday I was undaunted by my lingering pain and rode my bike to work and back.  I felt pretty good.  My leg soreness went away for the most part but by Thursday morning, my back was not having any of it.  Lisa had already made massage appointment for me for Thursday morning and I was looking forward to it.  I had a meeting in Blyn that afternoon and all went accordingly.  Except for the never ending pain and then the sudden stabbing pain that hit 7-8 on the WTF-O-METER.  After the meeting I drove Mike and me back to town.  Lisa came home from work and we sat down for a bite to eat.  Then it happened again!  The WTF-O-Meter went off the chart for about 10-15 seconds and Lisa witnessed the contorted grimace on my face.  It scared her and subsequently me and we decided a visit to the ER was in order.

I didn't know what was going on so I got a tad nervous.  Carol had severe back pain just a few weeks ago (the Seattle/Portland trip) and that landed her in the hospital for gallbladder removal.  It could also have been kidney stones, I hear they're rather painful.  It could be a bruised organ or worse, a tumor!  I wasn't taking any chances and . . . three classic hours later, after x-rays and whatnot, we find out it's bone spurs on my vertebrae.  Whew!  Apparently, while I was pirouetting on my head to stop various voracious attacks, I aggravated das spurs und ze muscles und nerves. Just give me drugs and I'll be on my way.  Still, what can be done about it and what should be?  Stop playing?  Surgery?  Dunno, but I'll recover and return.  That's what I do.

Then, as you might recall, sh!t happens in threes.  Friday morning rolls around and Mike leaves the office on a day when I overheard him say he was going to be "office boy" for the day.  'Turns out he was called to assist his wife, at Dry Creek Elementary School.  Apparently, she got hit on the head by an errant basketball and it knocked her down.  EMTs were called to the scene, she thought she felt her neck vertebrae . . . squish?  In any event, they went to the ER as a precaution and spent 4 non-refundable hours there determining that things were okay (from a, you're-not-gonna-be-paralyzed-for-life point of view).  She ended up at home recovering and we're all hoping for a speedy, worry-less recovery.  So, that's two.  Now I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop . . .

The Chilly Hilly Rides Again (and the weather was . . . perfect)

The weather was best yet of the last 3 or 4 years for the Chilly Hilly. I was, as usual, a bit nervous. But, the calmness of the folks at the packet pick up/registration point helped me to relax a bit. My wife, Lisa, was still recovering from her sciatica at the hotel and basically bumming about not being able to ride the Hilly. So, I was completely solo. I didn't run into anyone at the start that I knew so went off alone, on my own. I figured I'd blow away any past averages but I don't think I did by much if at all. I'll have to research that. I wore my spring gear and it was a tad chilly to start with so I was already looking forward to a couple of hills to warm me up. As some of you already know, that didn't take long. I ended up bumping into Bruce S. at the halfway point with his son-in-law Tim. Once I downed some fuel, I was off again and the weather began to shine. All systems were go, go, go. It was still a tad chilly so I sought another climb soon and wasn't disappointed.  Here's time lapse movie by Garrett Wesley Gibbons: http://vimeo.com/groups/8432/videos/9816679 I didn't actually have breakfast but fueled up on bananas and energy bars and didn't bonk at the end. Lisa was waiting at the finish and we whisked away at from the finish line with our schwag and headed to a quick lunch at Tap Rock in Poulsbo. I wanted to get back in time for my indoor soccer game at 3pm and we barely made it in time. I play goalie and wasn't quite in the game mode during the first half (which ended 1-6). The second half our gold team did their best and finally broke the Elliot code by scoring 6 goals to tie the game. We only allowed 1 goal in the second half. The last goal came from a last second penalty when Josh was hip checked into the drinking fountains. With no time left, Dean scored on the penalty kick. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 105 ft Location: Bainbridge Island, WA, Elev. Gain: -118 ft Date: 02/28/10 Up/Downhill: [+3152/-3270] Time: 10:41 AM Difficulty: 4.2 / 5.0 Weather: Mostly Cloudy 50 F temp; 78% humidity 50 F heat index; winds SSE 5 mph Performance Distance: 32.85 miles Time: 2:11:02 Speed: 15.0 mph Pace: 4' 00 /mi Calories: 1807 Map Elevation (ft) Speed (mph)

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The Springwater Corridor, on a Sunny February Day

Had to ride solo yesterday. It was stellar but quiet and a tad lonely. I wanted to get at least 40 miles in and the weather was exquisite. In spite of a slight detour to 92nd St. it was an out and back ride. The trail markers called it a 40 mile loop, but it's out and back.  I rode into the wind uphill and downwind downhill back.  Stopped in Gresham for a quick bite.  Gresham has quite a quaint little shopping district. My usual riding partner (my wife) was laid up in the hotel room sleeping/reading/watching TV, etc. I missed her. She would've loved Gresham.  Sciatica is nothing to sneeze at. It's quite debilitating. So I rode and took pictures and came back with stories of strange new places (e.g., Gresham). Then I took her out to dinner at the Widmer Gasthaus. It was standing room only which worked out great since sitting really wasn't an option. The food was great and, of course, so was the beer. Nice bartender too. I called in this morning and found out that my boss ended up having her gallbladder removed. Whew! She's a smoker so I feared the worse. I'm quite relieved to learn it was only her gallbladder. I also tried to find out what was up with Marian but haven't heard back yet. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 187 ft Location: Portland, OR, Elev. Gain: -3 ft Date: 02/21/10 Up/Downhill: [+2047/-2050] Time: 04:22 PM Difficulty: 4.4 / 5.0 Weather: Sunny 56 F temp; 20% humidity 56 F heat index; winds ENE 13 mph Performance Distance: 50.77 miles Time: 3:47:27 Speed: 13.4 mph Pace: 4' 29 /mi Calories: 3004 Map Elevation (ft)

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