Staying the Course -- 06/25/2018

[Superbob]

Hello, everyone! Hope your new Staying the Course week is off to a good start.

Mine got off to an absolutely amazing start yesterday when I got to meet Hall-of-Famer Ozzie Smith, maybe the greatest shortstop ever. I may have mentioned a time or three hundred that I am a fanatic fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. Ozzie was "The Wizard" for the Redbirds making amazing plays in the field and delivering clutch hits and stolen bases. Some of the most fun Redbird teams were in the 1980s. Anyway, Ozzie was in town to speak to thousands of kids playing in a tournament at The Ripken Experience/Myrtle Beach, and my son the GM was able to get me in not just for a quick photo, as I thought, but for an extended sit-down chat with Ozzie about baseball past and present. He was totally gracious, classy, fun. Took it upon himself to autograph my 1982 t- shirt (which I was wearing) celebrating Cardinals' 1982 World Series championship (a 7-gamer against Milwaukee, then in the American League). I think I will do a little blogpost with photo, so maybe I will post a link here, in case any are interested.

Other than that, started fitness class off feeling strong today, but our good ol' teacher kicked butt -- wow, what a workout! She has us all doing planks straight off the floor now. That big three-day fitness trainers' conference she went to in NYC must have taught her not to pamper we old-timers -- push us! So, wow, I am pleasantly fatigued but happy to be keepin' on keepin' on!

So how 'bout y'all? Looking forward to hearing from y'all. The weather, oh yes, has been hotter than a hoochie-coochie (to quote an Alan Jackson song). Heat index regularly approaching 110; still 90 when walking dawg after sunset. But hey we're almost to the Fourth of July -- it's supposed to be hot!

Stay the Course!

Cheers all,

Superbob

 

[Paleowoman]

We’re having a mini heatwave here in England - 29C today, that’s 84F. Dh and I are sheltering indoors. It’s too hot to go walking, it’s too hot outside, it’s too hot inside ! Our house is not built to withstand the heat. I had to take ds to see a psych today about his problems, just walking in the midday sun for 15 mins was awful. I see on the BBC it says that today has been the hottest day of the year ! The Met office has issued a weather warning. The railway companies are worried that the train tracks will buckle from the heat. You can tell we can’t cope with heat here ! We can't cope with cold weather when we get it either lol. Sleeping tonight is going to be difficult.

The good news re my shoulder is that for the past week I have had virtually no pain ! The new physiotherapist I see has obviously got the right exercises going for me. After nearly six months of pain I’m so relieved to be pain free

 

[Superbob]

Here is the link to my blogpost about the happenings I discussed in my week's opener, in case anyone is interested. Normally, I would just try to insert it in the piece, but that sometimes (or often) has the effect of vaporizing everything. http://www.steadfastdawgwalker.com/2018/06/staying-course-means-accepting.html?spref=fb

 

[honeybunny]

Wow SB!!! What a treat for you! I’m not a sports fan but I can appreciate your experience. Happy for you.

Anne, 84F is a relatively cool day in H-Town. Nearly every day in May our temps were over 100F with the heat index. Temps in the 90s with a bit more from the humidity. The latter is what zaps my energy. Like you I can get completely exhausted walking from my car into the grocery store mid afternoon. At work I park in a 4-level garage so my truck isn’t unbearably hot when I climb in to go home.

I skipped dancing last week. But on a plus note I bought my Aldis Apple pie over a week ago and have had only one piece. That craving is done with I guess.

 

[FredW]

Haven’t checked in for a while, been busy and out of sorts. I have a son who lives in Colorado that is hiking the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) and I have been posting his daily blog updates. (See summitrounder.com) The PCT goes from the US/Mexico border thru California, Oregon, Washington state to Canada. It is 2600 miles. He made it to mile 1071 in 66 days, when his hike was disrupted with a death in the family.

Last Friday another son of mine who lives in Massachusetts, called to tell me that his son, my grandson, was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was 21 and I’m absolutely heartbroken about it. So the whole family is dealing with this. I’ll be driving there this week for services and next week, my daughter and I plan a 35 - 85 mile hike here in PA. My CO son will pick up hiking the PCT where he left off.

I will try to report back in a week or two, hopefully in a happier time.

Hope you all stay well.

 

[Superbob]

Haven’t checked in for a while, been busy and out of sorts. I have a son who lives in Colorado that is hiking the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) and I have been posting his daily blog updates. (See summitrounder.com) The PCT goes from the US/Mexico border thru California, Oregon, Washington state to Canada. It is 2600 miles. He made it to mile 1071 in 66 days, when his hike was disrupted with a death in the family.

Last Friday another son of mine who lives in Massachusetts, called to tell me that his son, my grandson, was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was 21 and I’m absolutely heartbroken about it. So the whole family is dealing with this. I’ll be driving there this week for services and next week, my daughter and I plan a 35 - 85 mile hike here in PA. My CO son will pick up hiking the PCT where he left off.

I will try to report back in a week or two, hopefully in a happier time.

Hope you all stay well.

Oh gosh,Fred, I am so sorry for this terrible loss of a family member -- your grandson, in the accident. My best thoughts and prayers for you and your whole family. Look forward to you returning to us when you're ready.

Meanwhile, enjoy the PA hike with your daughter and good luck to your CO son with the PCT hike!

 

[jwinter]

Hello all and time to check in for me. I need a good boost of staying the course! I see lots of people are enjoying and not enjoying the summer weather. =

Superbob, congrats on your meeting Ozzie and I am forever thankful for the workout posts. Good, bad, or otherwise.

HB, I don't envy those heat indexes as I know they can zap energy. Like hearing about your dance class and diet related posts. Inspiring!

Anne, glad to hear you have success from pain. I also relate with some of your other "stuff" with my autistic 18 year old granddaughter (that now has a boyfriend, ugh) I am glad her Mom has lots of patience!

Fred, what can I say. I am so sorry for your loss. It must be devastating! Be strong, stay the course, and then shed those tears. Will keep you in my prayers.

My course has been a little shaky as of late. I was in hospital again last week and then flown to Billings ICU. The heart and liver can get complicated when thrown together with a 10 mm stone they found in my kidney. Will it ever end? The day i was flown my son in law passed away also. The funeral director is the county coroner and said preliminary report was an embolism. My daughter is left with a 6 month old, 4 year old, and 17 year old to raise. Lord, hear our prayers!

Time to get off my butt and ready for doc appointment. INR is out of line, not sure if I bridge for this surgery, edema creeping up in legs, ankles (and bathroom scale) Hope to find a course soon and.............thanks for listening, lol

Take care.

 

[Paleowoman]

Really sorry to hear of your losses Fred and Jwinter

I also relate with some of your other "stuff" with my autistic 18 year old granddaughter (that now has a boyfriend, ugh) I am glad her Mom has lots of patience!

Strong patience needed indeed - and with the medical profession. DS seeing the psych because he gets very depressed and anxious, GP who knows him well thinks it’s superadded to autistic difficulties, I and DH think so too. Psych said he doesn’t present as someone who is depressed and anxious - doh, that’s because he’s on the autistic spectrum and shows these things differently. Next minute the psych writes a prescription for Sertraline.

My course has been a little shaky as of late. I was in hospital again last week and then flown to Billings ICU. The heart and liver can get complicated when thrown together with a 10 mm stone they found in my kidney. Will it ever end?

I do hope your issues get resolved soon x

Re the heat: I would not like to live in a country where it regulalry gets into the 90s or 100 as in Texas, I can't imagine it, but I suppose you have airconditioning ? Here in England few people have aircon, and certainly very few hospitals have it either ! Last June I was in the Royal Brompton as a day patient having a TEE under general anaesthetic: the temperature was 91 outside and 80 in my room. I was glad when I went down to theatre as that's the only area in that hospital which has air con !

 

[honeybunny]

Fred and jwinter , I sent you each a private message.

 

[Seaton]

FredW and @jwinter
Condolences and best to you both from London.

 

[Superbob]

A lot of heartbreak and pain in our group this week... I too am sending condolences and best wishes to fred and jwinter, and thinking of others among us facing health challenges.

 

[MartinF]

Sorry to hear the horrible news from Fred and jwinter. I'll pray the families can get through this difficult time.

I'm finally getting back to walking after a couple low mileage months. Yearly walking/running is at 288 miles, well below my 500 target. I still have the second half of the year.

At work we recently hired a couple more engineers and we finally re-distributed the workload. I offloaded about 40% of my workload. Stress is down and I'm able to be an engineer now.

Weather is turning hotter. Probably in the 80's where I work. It's about 10 degrees warmer there than where I live. We have June gloom here in So Cal near the coast so cloudy mornings with it burning off in the afternoon. That won't last much longer.

Tough week and hope it gets better.

 

[jwinter]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the kind words and thoughts. Honeybunny, received your pm and so very helpful. Passed along message.

I know this area of forum is meant for staying the course but our day to day sometimes gets in the way. Anyway, thanks again.

Go MartinF! That 40 percent of workload sounds like just what your heart needed as stress reduction is a good thing! Throughout my last years "trials" they are always telling me to get the stress off!
Regardless of circumstances, I maintain that any form of exercise does help, for both stress and healing. Sometimes I just drag down the hospital halls.....half leaning on my iv pole. (picture that? ha)

 

[DachsieMom]

Sorry to hear of the losses these members have experienced. Sending you positive thoughts....

 

[FredW]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and thoughts. Jwinter, I wish you better times ahead, sounds like you have been through a lot.