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  1. A good time was had by all
    32 points
  2. No glasses! I had my second cataract surgery this morning. After over 50+ years of being nearsighted, I'm now farsighted. However I do need reading glasses in something like +2 or +2.5. I've already bought Tifosi sunglasses that have built-in readers.
    29 points
  3. G had his heart surgery. Then VS now.
    27 points
  4. I put my two weeks in two weeks ago. My boss took me out to lunch and has a sense of humor. Her brother in law is a cop. In her office with everyone gathered a cop came in and sternly said, "Mr. Grubbs, you need to come with me." And he led me out--to my car and then to the Greek restaurant I like. I left for home from the restaurant and I'm not going back to work.
    27 points
  5. Hello all, Wanted to make a post a week or so ago but got dragged away. Sorry, I haven't been here for a bit, have missed partaking in the not-so-witty banter. Life's been a bit hectic as of late. Here's a small play-by-play if you're interested: (TL;DR at the bottom) MIL has been visiting us from Turkey since November, she leaves this Friday. It's been nice having her around, as much as any elderly mother can be. She's gotten to teach Lyra a bunch of Turkish and they've done a pretty good job bonding. My freezer is literally bursting with complex Turkish dishes that she prepped en masse. Lyra has been doing pretty OK in 1st grade. We got her tested and we are not surprised she's ADHD. We're working with a therapist specializing in ADHD young children. She, and us, have been improving. She "retired" from competitive gymnastics, much to the sorrow of a few gyms that were courting her last year. Although she was extremely talented, some drama at her gym caused her to have a sour taste for the sport. She switched to figure skating and we took it easy, hoping she wouldn't immediately gravitate to a competitive level. And now, 3 months later she's ranked Excel beginner and has a coach working with her. Oof, my wallet. WoGolden started a new role where she's now doing data quality analysis in big HR systems. She's been in HR for her career but always gravitated to reporting and processes rather than employee-facing roles. She's challenged, but happy. As for myself, work has kept me head down on a few massive projects that are technically awesome, but forum boring. Work has also kinda pissed me off so I'm slowly putting the feelers out for a new position. We'll see what we'll see there. As for sport, I focused last year mostly on distance for running and ran two half marathons. Almost bonked the last one due to a mess up by the organizers not having water at the mile 7/9 station. Lesson learned, bring my hydration belt. Now that the halfathon distances have dried up in my area for the season, I'm gonna focus mostly on 10k. The goal by the end of summer is to break 48 minutes. TL;DR Busy as hell but happy and hale. Missed you guys and will try and make a better effort in dropping and being engaged.
    26 points
  6. I hate to add to the bad news (Hugs @smudge ), but mrs_az_cyclist passed away Tuesday morning. It started with a pain in her side, the last week of June (while we were in MN visiting our youngest son and his family), so she didnt walk with the grandkids that day. On July 8 while at a festival in a small town in central MN (Holdingford, @petitepedal ), she got dizzy and may have passed out briefly. EMTs checked her out, her vitals were ok, and she didnt go to the hospital. A few days later she did go to Urgent Care, but again, noting big noted. But, from then on, she gradually had less appetite and energy, and began sleeping more. Finally the weekend before we were to fly back to Phoenix, we convinced her to go to the ER (August 12). They kept her all day, and a CT scan indicated a mass in her liver. They transferred her to another hospital in the network, where she stayed for a week. for any treatment to be done in Phoenix. She was released (and looked much better) on Aug 18 and we flew back to Phoenix on Aug 19. She seemed better in Phoenix, more appetite, more energy, but, that didnt last. We started to process of getting referrals to the oncologist and any other specialists. We met with the oncologist (mine, btw, so we respected his expertise) on Sept 14. He said he would start chemo and other treatment as quickly as possible, as he felt the window for treatment was narrow. She had a chemo port installed on Sept 22, at PET scan on Sept 25, and we had an education meeting with the chemo pharmacist on Sept 27. On Sunday Sept 24 she didnt feel up to going to church, and that "miserable feeling (her words)" continued until Wednesday the 27th. At that meeting the nurses wanted her to go to the ER, which we took her there. They kept her for observation, and at about 1 pm Thursday the oncologist came in to see us. He went over the CT and PET scan images, and told us that chemo would have to be so toxic that she probably could not withstand it. The best course of action would be home hospice and make her remaining time as comfortable as possible. Somehow I was able to ask him , how long. His response was, "quickly", and that she could be discharged to go home. I met with the hospice Friday morning, and they delivered drugs and other items (hospital bed, wheelchair, etc) that afternoon. I had called our sons Thursday, and the younger one was due to fly in Sunday morning with his wife. The older one would be in Wednesday evening. She did not really regain much consciousness after Friday evening, but she would appear to respond when she heard voices and names. By Monday evening we had to start giving her more medicine (morphine and lorezepam (sp)), and , Tuesday morning she found peace. My youngest son and I were both with her at the time. @smudge, I know how you feel (HUGS)
    26 points
  7. I have been part time wrench at the LBS for two days a week since March. I told them up front I was only available until mid June and they were good with that. I helped get them through the seasonal rush. Anyway they gave me a little send off with a delicious strawberry cake. There was enough left to take some home to share with the Mrs.
    26 points
  8. But Emmy tossed her first high school no-hitter last night VS Corydon Central High School. Second pitch of the game she hit Corydon’s lead-off square in the shoulder and put her aboard. Second batter was a 3-2 walk. We know both of those girls well from travel ball. Two kids you DO NOT want to put on base. But Em settled in to get out of the inning. After that first inning she cruised to an 11-0 win by run rule striking out 10.
    25 points
  9. When I was admitted to the hospital a couple weeks back, my eGFR was at 18. The eGFR indicates the percentage of your kidney that is functioning. An eGFR of 18 meant that my kidney was functioning at 18%. That is Stage 4 kidney disease. Stage 5 is at 15% and dialisys is required. My kidney doctor said it had improved to 23% when I was released which is still stage 4. She expected I might see additional improvement but not to expect my kidneys to fuction at much more than 30% I took a renal function panel last week. The tests showed my eGFR is at 89. That put me at the very top of Stage 2 near Stage 1. All she cautioned against was to watch my salt and to drink lotsa water. I am doing cartwheels! 🤸‍♀️
    25 points
  10. I met John the summer before 7th grade and we have been friends ever since. We shared so much life together when we were younger it was almost as if I had another brother. I won't get into all the crazy things we did together but many of them would of and should have landed us in jail for being just plain stupid. While I was in college, John was involved in a very serious motorcycle accident and spent the last 36 years of his life in a wheelchair. I remember my closest friend in the world calling to tell me about John. I fully expected John to die from his injuries, but he pulled through. His faith was and is greater than mine. I know I would be bitter facing what John faced, but I do not remember him complaining one single time. He always had a smile on his face, a twinkle in his eye and a laugh in his voice. No matter what John was going through, he was always gentle and caring. I remember going to visit him in the hospital and him asking how I was doing, not the other way around. John never lost his faith in God. No blaming, no questioning, just pure simple faith. And he was always willing to share his faith with others. He loved his friends and family in the way that God loved him. I take comfort today knowing that John is once again whole, and perfect and not suffering. I am going to miss my friend and I hope that I do a better job moving forward of cherishing my blessings, not focusing on the negative and just telling people that I care about them and love them like John always did for me.
    24 points
  11. I can't believe this. Scott died this morning around 6 am. I heard some gurgly breathing and then a loud cough. I listened for a couple minutes and then decided I'd better check on him. I made a stop in the bathroom and then went into his bedroom. He was covered up to his face with blankets, but I wanted to check if he was breathing. As I was looking at him I got scared. I started patting him and saying his name louder and louder. Nothing. I called 911 and told them I can't wait for the ambulance, they need to send someone now. Two police officers were three blocks away and got here immediately. They started CPR. They attached the AED pads, but the machine said to continue CPR. I was later told that was because the machine couldn't detect anything to grab onto for the jumpstart. In total seven people were here working to bring him back. Six shots of epi. Nothing. They called it after half an hour. The lead medic heard my story about the gurgling and cough and that CPR had been started within a few minutes. He said it was probably a major cardiac event, and there was no bringing Scott back. It took a while for the hearse to get here, and I was glad. It gave me time to sit with Scott for a while; hold his hand, stroke his hair, touch his cheeks. I cleaned him up a bit too. I'm still in shock. I'm dreading the moment it really hits me. The kids are on their way home. This was Tuesday. We had a really good day even though we were at my cousin's funeral.
    24 points
  12. Recently, mom has been very tired and out of breath and was diagnosed with A fib and a bad heart valve. She had a TAVR procedure on Tuesday of last week. Dr. was okay with the pulse and BP so she had an external heart monitor installed and was sent home. I was with her on Wed and Thurs day and she was getting around okay but was still very easily tired. I was at a Scout camp this weekend and missed a call and text from mom as my phone was silenced. She started feeling bad on Friday night and ended up at the ER. They thought is was medicine related and sent her home. Saturday eveng she started really feeling bad and had a friend take her to the ER and this time they transported her back to the hospital in Tyler. At some point, either during a walk or a trip to the bathroom, he passed out. They got her revived and ran a CT scan and an EKG. They found out she flatlined for about 20 seconds at least once. She had a temporary pacemaker installed last night and has been admitted to the ICU. She is currently in the OR having a permanent pacemaker installed and will stay in hospital for a day or two and then be released to a rehab facility for a week or two. My brother is with her today and was there yesterday. I will take over tomorrow or Wed as needed. When she gets home, we are going to make sure that she has a home health aide / maid / housekeeper of some sort to help with laundry, cleaning, errands, etc. as we cannot have an 80 year old lady that is starting to pass out behind the wheel. I started this conversation with mom last week about getting some help and my brother has reinforced this. Keep a good thought for Doris. She is the glue that has held our small family together for over 60 years.
    24 points
  13. So, we arrived in Gander the other day and our parking stand was right beside the perimeter fence. When we deplaned, there was an excited 12-year-old and his Mom there. He was trying desperately to get my attention so I walked through the grass to talk to him. He clearly wasn't quite right but he loved airplanes. I invited him and his Mom to come out and have a look. They did, took a few photos, sat in the pilot's seat, had a soda and a snack, and sat in literally every passenger seat in the airplane. The day we departed, he was there again but this time, he had a vest, protective headset, and marshaling wands and he asked if he could marshal us out. I agreed but told him he had to do it from outside the fence for safety. He actually did a very good job. Better than most ground personnel. Talking to his Mom before we left, she said he had the best weekend ever because the crew talked to him about airplanes. She let me know that he was autistic and had other medical issues. She brings him to the airport 10-12 times per day to look at planes. She says he won't stop asking until they do. I don't know that I could achieve her level of dedication but I have never had to so, who knows..
    24 points
  14. @KrAzY and I converted @Randomguy into a Republican.
    24 points
  15. She is the one who had the car wreck a couple months ago. She came out with a mild concussion and some joint pain. She has not been rock climbing since. The other party’s insurance is really trying not to pay fair on anything. She got a lawyer. Even so the whole ordeal has been stressful. She went for a casual hike with her BF yesterday. As they were coming back, she had to remove some rocks from her shoes. She said she had to consciously think about the process. It wasn’t automatic. Her BF said she then started speaking nonsense. He took her to the ER. They did a blood test and CT scan. Both came back negative. As she came out of it, she said some of it felt like an out of body experience. They recommended a neurologist and she will try to get in today. Poor girl. Everything is happeyall at once!
    23 points
  16. He had dealt with numerous health issues the past 10 years so this was not totally unexpected. My mom found him semi- unresponsive Wednesday morning and he was taken by ambulance to hospital and passed around noontime. I will miss him greatly but am also thankful he is no longer hurting. We had a memorial service on Saturday.
    23 points
  17. @ChrisL was in town doing his high security secret agent stuff and was nice enough to reach out to me to let me know he was in town. We were able to meet for lunch at a BBQ joint that served a decent brisket. I arrived on time, which is five minutes early and Chris was already there at least 6 minutes early. It was nice to meet someone else who knows what on time means. We talked work, life, football and people with funny accents. A few members of the Sunshine committee may have been outed.
    23 points
  18. Well, I hope it's not my last one on earth, but it was my last one at this job. I decided I can't let @shootingstar and @Square Wheels have all the fun and I'm retiring this week. But I don't want @sheep_herder's retirement schedule, it's too tiring
    23 points
  19. Got a call from my Physician’s assistant yesterday. I had a CT scan on my lungs this week and she was copied on the results. The scan happened to shed light on nearby organs. 3 more issues to worry about. A heart issue, they will schedule a stress test to look at. A liver issue, which will be monitored and gallstones. She also said that my lungs have deteriorated, although doesn’t appear to be a drastic change. My lungs have felt worse lately. See the pulmonologist next month after another pulmonary function test. Prayers are welcome. Not sure if any of these are acute issues, but will be issues to battle in the long run.
    22 points
  20. G man is up in Indianapolis. Has been there since last Monday (on the company dime} Last week was basic climbing school. They lost several people that didn't pass the class or quit. He was pretty beat up. Lots of climbing, drills, weeding out. His calves were all chaffed up from the climbing gear and he had blisters and rub marks all over his hands. He said he drank more water than he ever has before and still lost weight last week. This week is advanced climbing school, less physical more mental. More classroom tests. Still a lot of climbing. Today is the final hard day. He has to climb the "big" poles today. 65 feet. He has been up to 50 feet but not quite up to 65. He is feeling good. Not stressed or scared. But that is still a different animal to get that high up off the ground (physically and mentally) They also start pole top rescue classes today and that should finish tomorrow. Tomorrow should be an "easy" day. He is back at the local REMC next week and then the final week of october is basic apprenticeship training. He could use some positive energy today. And me? I have to replace the drain pump in my dishwasher tonight. I need some positive thoughts so I don't just rip that fucker out and toss it into the middle of I 65 South.
    22 points
  21. Our offer was accepted! There were four offers for the place and evidently the tie breaker was that I'm retired Air Force and the people selling the place are active-duty Air Force.
    22 points
  22. Rice, bread, hard boiled eggs, crackers, and whole veggies. I like all these things. Always look on the bright side of life. <whistling> One more round next month and no more MS meds, forever.
    22 points
  23. Had a wonderful time today
    22 points
  24. He has been like this for more than ten minutes. He is draped across my shoulders.
    21 points
  25. The new furnace is being installed today. The geothermal is being removed. They said they might have to do two days. And they might have to leave me with electric heaters for the night. Wuuuuuuut??? Ah well, it's getting done.
    21 points
  26. Lots going on at the Parr8 house lately. G man brought home a young lady to meet us. She was very nice. She seems like she is very sweet to him. And as of yesterday we are the proud grandparents to a baby kitten named Poncho. G has been a good dad to it so far. Em got her license this morning and drive herself to practice today. softball season is upon us. Well, at least pre-season conditioning and pitching. and I put up some new lights in my cycling and workout rooms. the cycling room with the ambient nightlight on. workout area with ambient light on.
    21 points
  27. My wife was sitting on the kitchen floor brushing Peony this morning. They both seem to be enjoying themselves. Enter, Molly (the cat). She watches for a while and then pushes past Peony to get closer to my wife. Eventually Molly pushes in, so that she is the one being brushed, and Peony just watches. Finally Peony leaves to find something else to do. They do get along relatively well with both sharing time together with my wife on the bed and couch. The end!
    21 points
  28. We signed for the new house yesterday and were moving stuff today. WoJSTL started feeling bad and went to the ER. Looks like it's a heart issue. She had a heart attack two years ago. It might be an issue with her stent failing. We were supposed to do a half marathon tomorrow. Last week we did a 10-miler at a good pace for us. Wednesday she did her second fastest 10K in the last 5 years.
    21 points
  29. My dog, Aidan, unfortunately, had to cross the rainbow bridge this week. She's 16 and has been in heart failure for several years. She's been strong and resilient for years on the medications and overall just a happy old-timer. Over the weekend she took a turn for the worst, stopped eating, throwing up a bit, and began to smell sour. Took her to the vet on Tuesday and confirmed the medication for the heart failure has contributed to renal failure. Took her in by myself as there was no way my wife could handle it. This was her first dog and child.
    21 points
  30. Also, I have an exciting update. My MS appears to have been cured by the chemo treatments. I have felt better than I have in years. I am inspired and I want to do everything again. Also, I am hiking again and I met a guy last night with two horses. The horses were super sweet and trained so well. The handlers name is Hank. He is a retired fire man..kind of a loner but he liked us. He has us to his camp for.dinner. He had me feed the horses their grain. Also he had me put the blankets on them. I was scared cause those animals were right by my face. They were docile and really were happy to get the blankets on. He gave us his homemade chilli, which was delicious. I was making jokes about chili making would have to be on the resume for a job in firefighting. He showed.me.his secret kit by bear valley. I teased him about it and said "Firefighter, yeah right,". He liked my naughty joke telling style and we laughed that I have to act normal in 4 days. I made animal growls and said I can't do this at work next week. He puts beans in his chilli. @jsharr Today I am going to paddleboard and hike to a wilderness lake called badger lake. He also dislikes horse people. He said most of them are jerks. He gave me helpful tips on how to read horses when I come across them.
    21 points
  31. Lindy qualified in advanced rally obedience today. It was his first time at this level. Good boy.
    21 points
  32. My sister in law, recently widowed, gave me her deceased husband’s old tractor. It came with a rototiller, back blade, and York rake. I’m pretty excited, I tilled a section of the garden that was just weeds. Sitting and steering beats the hell out of wrestling the Troybilt, and it does a better job.
    21 points
  33. I built this pond last year as part of a big backyard reno project. I originally built it because the SO wanted a water feature. I honestly did not expect to be so pleased with the way it came out. Great for sitting in front of for morning coffee, or an evening libation, and any time in between (now that I work from home and installed a new AP in the backyard, I can work in front of it too if I want.)
    21 points
  34. My non-friend is possibly active. I have lost my balance several times this week and I have heavy fatigue. I also keep using incorrect words. I called the apricot tree a pineapple tree. WTF?! It has been terribly hot. It went from terribly cold to terribly hot in an instant. My body doesn't like when it does that.
    21 points
  35. Finally! I’m looking forward to celebrating that Ethan survived pneumonia. We get a day to visit family in CA and to walk along the beach. Then two and a half days of Disneyland and California Adventures. We were there just last year in August, so I’m hoping we can enjoy a relaxing pace. I’m really looking forward to watching something else on tv with him than Disney movies and listening to something else in the car with him than Disneyland playlists. Swimming practice starts the first week in June. He’s back!
    21 points
  36. Love this car so far! Smooth, quiet, efficient, fun and easy to drive, and a great value. Low maintenance and no trips to the gas station! Got my charger installed yesterday so I can charge from near empty overnight at home. Highly recommend.
    21 points
  37. I’ve been down in Dallas area for work this week. Got to meet up with @jsharr for lunch. His choice of Fernando’s was en pointe! While there, I saw Tom Hanks having lunch with some sketchy guy so I had to get a photo. Had a great visit. I look forward to having a more relaxed visit next time, or return the favor if he comes my way!
    20 points
  38. We're going out to an Italian restaurant to celebrate. First big meal out in 4 months. I'm going to try and limit it to pasta and marinera sauce. Looks like another gym night for me. It's going to be 8 days in a row.
    20 points
  39. I wanted to offer a big thank you to @bikeman564™ for maintaining the milage threads. These threads were the brainchild of @Road Runner, and we are still maintaining them in his memory. @Road Runner did a lot of work tallying for the thread, and @bikeman564™ has picked up in his place. Thank you!
    20 points
  40. That I have been riding before work. Every day. No excuses. I have not missed a day since 10/8. Over the summer things got pretty bad. I always get in a pretty good groove of workouts and something side tracks me one day and I get all jacked up. So I promised myself that I get up every morning at 5:30 and hit the bike at least 20 min before we leave for work. About a month or so ago I started to add in weights and/or yoga for 20 min every evening. Just making myself do 20 min when I get home from work or before bed. All on the peloton app. Weights 3 nights and yoga 2 nights. 2 weeks ago I set my alarm at 5:20 and started 30 min a day in the morning instead of 20. I have been consistently hitting that every day for 2 weeks now. Next week I am going to add 10 min of core on top of the 20 min weights/yoga every night. This is all 5 days a week. I currently have the weekends as off days. Feeling pretty good.
    20 points
  41. We always take Jack to our Thanksgiving and so after dinner we took him for a walk in my daughter & her in laws neighborhood. Now this neighborhood is also the neighborhood I grew up in as their development is literally across the street from my moms old house. So we are walking up a street that T’s off my mom’s street and I we see a house for sale. WOChrisL asks if these are nice houses and I said yeah really nice, my child hood best friend lived where all those people are standing. I spent a lot of time in that houses growing up. Now I figured Mrs Greene has passed as she’s my mom’s age so figure this is a different family. So as we walk by we see several decorated ornaments on the yard and one of the older men asks which one I like the best. I pick one & I look at the guy and I say hey you are Jeff Greene (my buddies older brother). He looks at me funny and I said I’m ChrisL I grew up with your brother Dave. I then hear, so you recognize my brother and not me?!?! Oh shit! His mom is still kicking too! After many hugs we spent an hour catching up & reminiscing about our childhood. His mom was such a sweet lady and she wanted to know all about my life over the past 40 years! The last time I saw him was probably 20 years ago, we were doing something at my mom’s house & he was also visiting his mom & stopped by. We exchanged numbers & will likely spend more time catching up.
    20 points
  42. Let's say I said something to someone they didn't care for. That someone relayed that info to HR. HR decided I no longer get to work there. I liked the job. They are mad at letting me go as I brought a lot to the organization. They recently had me take over an additional department as they were struggling. Such is life. I don't think I'll go back to work.
    20 points
  43. I have to tell you something oddly exciting. Apparently getting a thumb print from the deceased is a thing. Scott's body was too beat up (from the CPR) and in rapid decomposition for us to see/visit, but the funeral lady got his thumbprint. I actually like that. At first I was thinking of having it designed into a pendant. Then I had my great idea; I'm getting it tattooed on my right hand so it will be where his thumbprint would be if we were holding hands. I've always prided myself for being tattoo-free, but I really like this idea of having something from him with me. And I've always liked his hands.
    20 points
  44. Mrs Z has put up with me for a long time! I am truly grateful. We’re vacationing and adventuring to celebrate. Did this on Tuesday: What a rush!!! Hitting some whitewater today. Woohooo!!!
    20 points
  45. WoUB and I were married. She hasn't thrown me out yet, so I've got that going for me. We spent the morning at the MIM, then went out to Carefree and had lunch at a nice little Greek restaurant. All in all a pretty nice, and low key, day.
    20 points
  46. Is a floppy-eared, tail-waggin varmint. Almost three months old he is a joy to the household. He has learned to floor-surf after I do food preparation in the hope that I dropped something tasty. He is a master of tug of war and destroying cheap chew toys. We’ve learned to buy quality stuff.
    20 points
  47. I was on my way home from Old Saybrook on a twisty two lane road in a right hand corner when a black car came the other way fully in my lane. I put about half my car off the road to the right and we missed a 70/80 mph head on by inches. It was a spot that had no guard rail and just enough flat dirt to let me get away with that. I never got to see the other driver. Young, old, man, woman, I have no idea. I saw them in my mirror all brake lights and fishtailing in a skid as I went around the corner. Be careful out there folks. Your time on this mortal coil is always seconds away from being over.
    20 points
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