Missed us again

The winter storm missed us again. Drats! I was sort of in the mood for the landscape to be covered in whipped cream today.

Speaking of whipped cream... I had my fitness assessment today and fat boy here has got to lay of the whipped cream and everything else for that matter. It was really sad folks... really sad!

Last night at spin I was sweating like a pig in Helena in August. But then the class was upped a notch too. there is a drill they we do that has always blown me and that's a sit sprint, then stand recovery for 1 minute then a stand sprint then a sit recovery for one minute then repeat. That is followed by as much tension as you can handle and still make the pedal turn. To me it feels like sprint then climb Overlook (the road that goes up from the Big Bridge to the Heights). The drill makes me HATE chocalte, Coke and doritos! HA!

I have to give credit where credit is due... You know that theory of the blood flow, oxygen and my bike riding causing me to hear better? Dr. Jordan King, my Audiologist guru came up with that. She'll end up rich dicovering my syndrome! HA! No really, she is smart as it gets. Glad she is the one who cranked my CI.

Life is good!

Dropping it

Oh man! The wind is w.i.l.d!!!!!! North AR dropped from 71 to 29 in 4 hours and it's in the middle of doing that here. The wind is 43 mph with gust of up to 50. It's roaring outside. Sounds like the building is creaking. This is insane stuff.

Then the sun came out!

Knocked out media at 2 services this am, had lunch with the girls then spent the afternoon on the bike. That weather guys was just wrong this weekend! Saturday was supposed to be sun at 48 and today was supposed to be sunny and almost 60. Instead we woke to dense fog. I mean really dense.

When we came out of church is was still foggy and chilly. I was getting bummed. While we were eating lunch Emmy said, "Look! The sun came out!" When we walked out it was a beautiful clear blue sky!

Now today's riding was a lot different. Well, still mostly winter gear but the lighter weight stuff. The difference was that there were folks walking, running, in line skating and biking everywhere. I stayed on the roadside bike paths rather than the river trail due to the families. I'm very glad they are out there enjoying the nice afternoon and don't mind riding in a different area at all for them. I spotted JBar and Diane but like so many winter rides, everyone is so covered up you don't know who is who. Well, I knew which was Jbar and which was his wife but other folks would wave and say Hey Geo and I couldn't make out who that were. I'd wave and say howdy anyway. Also spotted the Arkansas Bike Club out for their Sunday afternoon ride.

Sorry, no photos today. I wished I had take the camera because there was a section off area of one of the unused soccer fields and there were small orange cones everywhere. Then i saw what it was for... there were a bunch of adults who were racing these hopped up mini motorcycles. It was funny to watch. I sort of secretly hopped to spot one of the Arkansas Psychos but no luck. These are the guys to see on the cool motorcycles riding wheelies at 70mph down the interstate around here. Insane stuff. One day I was going home for the hospital and two of them rode by on wheelies in rush hour traffic. It was one of those things you just sort of wonder if you really saw what you think you saw. I know, it's wrong and I shouldn't be glamorizing them.

CI Moment #1: Have I mentioned hearing birds while riding? Now that is a trip! I've never heard birds while riding along. When the CI is covered a tad it allows you to hear all sorts of stuff really clear. Sometimes I change gears just to listen to the click. I've caught myself breathing hard and just laughed.

CI Moment#2: OK, now I'm sure there is relation between oxygen, blood flow and hearing during exercise. No question about it. It will happen to me each time at around 20 miles out. I really caught it today. I was not listening for it or had even realized what my mileage was when it happened. But when it did it was very noticeable. I'm pushing our audiology department to look into it. Maybe it's some unknown syndrome and they would name it after me! HA! Wouldn't you like a syndrome named after you?!

Tomorrow is spin class! Will be interesting to see how the legs feel after logging over 55 miles in 2 afternoons of riding. I know cycling buds, 55 miles is cheesecake stuff....

Life is good (and fun!)

Full winter gear today

No one around today

Got the tunes, got the bike... happy camper!


It was a good day. I had the whole river trail to myself except for 2 other bikes and a hand full of folks training for the upcoming Little Rock Marathon.

It was freezing rain yesterday and caused complete chaos on the roadways. So bad just outside of my hometown that they had to detour I-30 traffic. I think when it started sleeting and lots of folks freaked and took off for home and grid locked traffic. If you waited until about 3 the road crews had had a chance to work the roads and I drove home like it was just a normal rainy day.

I got out to ride today and it was supposed to be sunny and 48 but it was just breaking through the clouds as I was finishing up this afternoon. I had a great ride for this early in the year and coming back from slack-o-rama. I was surprised to see a 17.3 average for 24.67 miles.

There was a huge soccer game going on so I stopped for a moment to watch towards the end of my ride but I got cold and rode on in.

I used my hearing aid for tunes and the CI for hearing. It worked out great!

I really liked this shot due to the reflection on the water

It's freezing over

Friday at noon and the roads around town are bumper to bumper due to sleet. Schools are starting to get out and it's going to be a messy afternoon.

It was good

Got to the gym and was a few minutes early so i climbed up on the spin bike and started warming up. Before I knew it the class was about full. Julie came in and got the class going and before I knew it, time was up and I was a bucket of sweat. It felt great to do that again! And yes, I feel fine and can walk today! HA!

I wish someone would do a study of hearing and sports. Serious, when I am sweating like the over weight pig I am and i have my hearing aid and my CI on, I hear even better. I always said this about my hearing aid. Dr. D said maybe the sweat causes a vacuum seal. The heat pulls it in tighter. But last night it seemed as though my CI was kicking in even more as well. That's sound is not going through my ear drum.

Life is good!

Hell's Gate opens at 5:30 tomorrow

That's right, you heard me! Hell's Gate opens at 5:30pm tomorrow.
I return to the fitness center for training. All that slacking has come to an end. The demons will greet me at the entrance tomorrow holding billy clubs and whips. They will roll their eyes if I even mention pain or shake. They are evil but I love them and they make me a better man. I will sweat so bad that I'll fry my hearing aid and CI... and then I'll smile because I have coverage!

I've got that Coldplay song "Clocks" stuck in my head again... goes right along with the feeling of the night before training starts...
Lights go out and I can't be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
You've put me down upon my knees
Oh I beg, I beg and plead (singing)
Come out of things unsaid, shoot an apple off my head (and a)
Trouble that can't be named, a tiger's waiting to be tamed (singing)
You are, you are

First order of business is a spin class at 5:30 tomorrow. Those will be Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Tuesday and Thurs and maybe Fridays will be core training. I will be told to walk around with a bottle of water and cut the crap food. You know that stuff I've been eating for the past 3 months. I will be the first to admit I did not train as I should have last year for my cycling. Don't get me wrong at all here... I had an awesome coach (Mark)last year and he pushed me but I should have stayed on the core training as I did when I looped the state tour. Man, I wish I had time to pull another one off those tours.

Saturday may find me heading back to the farmlands for a building base miles ride. Temps are going to nose dive then come back to normal by the weekend. Of course Friday they are using that "freezing rain" word. In my mind, I tell myself to use the word "commitment" again and again and again.

Big news.... Arkansas Children's Hospital made the Forbes TOP 100 Employers in the US to work for! As a recruiter that's like the gold card! By the way, we had almost 10K applicants apply last year. Gee after this I wonder how much that will jump?

Life is good... r.e.a.l good

Just too cold

Just too cold to do anything right now. **BUT** The weather for Sunday is 60!!
Thinking about watching the weather for a bit and taking a day off when it is going to be 60 or higher with a light wind and go out and spend the day on the bike. I need to do at least a 50 miler. I'm planning to grab my first century of the year in April so I better get on the stick.

The Rock Racing crew are all out at camp this week. Rashann has some great photos of the team including Tyler Hamilton. Can't wait to see these guys in May! Fun spring coming!

CI stuff: We had a "songbook" service at church and I was actually sitting in the crowd since it was Sunday night and I had set it up to work on auto pilot. The song leader said the numbers of the song and I heard and understood all but one. Usually I flip pages real slow and peak to see what age the person sitting on either side of me turned to then I turn to that page. You would not believe what all tricks hearing impaired folks know to do to make it look less painful than what it is.

Emmy is sick with that stomach stuff... n.a.s.t.y

Other than that... life is good.

Midweek... snow? No Snow?

It's midweek... that's right kids... I took out the trash this morning to the curb so that means only one thing... the weekend is coming!

First off congrats to Wes and his wife DeeDee for conquering the Disney Marathon last weekend. Those two ran 26.2 miles around Disney with hundreds of others. What to read the write up? Click over to your right on the link for Code Geeks Tail. It's a great write up.

Rumor has it there could be some snow during the night. I hope it plays nice and no ice. I can work from home so that part is not a big deal. Since Emmy is a senior, they don't have t make up any snow days so she is hoping for a blizzard. HA!

Dad is scheduled to FINALLY be released to go home from the hospital Saturday! I had a guy go to their house today and flip the doors on the bathroom to open out rather than in. That way if Dad ever gets in a jam in the restroom someone can get him out. Peace of mind. I drove down and hung out with him after work last night and had to to myself (rare!). We laughed a lot and had a good time.

Not much else going on. CI is doing great and I'm used to it now. I got to speak with a guy who is a big time water skier today in the Audiology center and he is considering a CI. Super nice guy. He and his wife asked questions and the wife said she didn't even notice mine! Mine is dark gray to match my hair. Fashionable man that I am! HA! Still need to work with the music program more. Practice practice.

Life is good!

Saturday

Had a blast today! Rode 24 miles and even snuck in the back of DWonn's noon ride and rode with them from the sub to the golf course. I dropped off and did my own thing when they turned I knew I couldn't keep up with a group in mostly Carve jerseys on the hills. Spotted JBar on his bike and also spotted Mike Mitchell out getting a run in.

After that I cleaned the garage. All Christmas junk is finally back in the attic. Oh geez, only about 10 months and it comes back down.

We then went to see National Treasure. Movie was supposed to start at 4:20 but after all the trailers then a stupid Goofy movie we finally got to see the feature. It was a good movie but to me not as good as the first.

Then we drove down to see Dad in the hospital a little bit. He was doing really well and seemed to be having a good day.

Then we went to Colton's for dinner. Prime Rib was some of the best I've ever had.

Busy day and more of the same tomorrow...

Life is good!

Maps and rides

I go in for my CI mapping tomorrow. I think I'm going to see if I can get Jordan, my audio guru to play music and map to that some. It's weird, I can hear radio/CD music and the bass is one thing then the high pitches are like a completely separate thing. Got to figure this out. Sort of like part is far away and part is in my ear. I did a speech exercise tonight and it was easy at first then I moved on to listening to answering machines and had to understand and answer questions at the end. Details details... there are words like shutter and shoulder and shimmer. Serious. It's crazy but fun at the same time.... solve the puzzle!

I'm really still having moments everyday where I just stop in awe and listen. So far one of my favorites have been cracking my office window and hearing the birds. Yesterday I had to walk across the parking lot to the main hospital and it was raining and I asked a coworker if the rain was always this loud. She just laughed and said this was a quite rain. We have a lot of construction going on and I have finally learned to tune out the beep beep beep of the heavy equipment backing up. And how many car alarms go off everyday? Geez louise!

Tomorrow I think it's going for a warm 58 degrees so I'm thinking an afterwork ride might be in the picture. It will turn dark on my while I'm riding but I'll be on a bike trail with no cars really to worry with.

Speaking of bikes get this... Rock Racing has invited Landis to come hang out at camp starting the 18th. The director has left the building. I liked Frankie. He was really a personable and approachable guy. I jut hope Ball doesn't think they are too good for the Joe Martin Stage races in Fayetteville this May and not show. Makes me think, I wonder what is going on with Healthnet and United-Toyota teams these days? All are in the hills of CA getting whipped and ready for the spring racing season.

I'm planning to head down to Ridgeland, MS on April 12th for a ride on the Natchez Trace Parkway. I'm going to try some new rides this year. I saw one the first week of Feb in Longview TX called "Freeze Your Fanny" ride. Bet the t-shirts are funny!
May be missing the Carti Tour de Rock this year since I'll be in FL in mid June. Bummer.

Yep, everyone has begun to ask me what "epic" ride will I do this year. Honestly I don't know. I would love to do a fundraiser for the Audiology group of the hospital again this year but it takes so much time to train ...plus... do the fundraising. I was a bit bummed last year when I started because I had a good base of corporations in the NW part of Arkansas but the Foundation worked them for another event so I couldn't approach. I came in short for what I really wanted. There is one piece of equipment they need down there and it's a newborn hearing analyzer. Price tag is about $28,000. My fundraising for them has been in the 10-12 thousand dollar range. I had a crazy idea about riding the river trail loop for 24 hours and that would be such and easy gig to set up... not to ride... to set up. I wouldn't have to worry with driving and hotels and the hospital is just a few blocks from the river trail. Oh well, we'll see. I'm just getting back out to ride and have a good time right now.

Oh yeah, I will add photos back to the blog. I didn't realize you guys liked those that much. Guess it does make it more interesting than just a bunch of text.

Well I'm outta here folks... life is good!

Monday

Yep, just plain ole Monday.

Yesterday I did get out and ride in yet again windy conditions. the nice part was that the temps felt like spring! It's been so warm the past couple of days that a neighbor down the street has a forsythia bush starting to bloom! Next weekend it will be back to winter I hear.

Speaking of hear... I wanted to wear the CI and helmet without a cap but my helmet knocked off the connection magnet several times before I even got started so I just wore the hearing aid. Oh yeah, love that deafening roar! The CI is so much quieter with the wind roar. I'm going to have to find some sort of headband to wear to hold the mag in place.

I did spot the club and rode to their regroup area and got caught up on some friendships. It was good to see the guys. There were several others out I hear but never spotted them. Saw DWonn doing his run. He rode the day before. Yep, he is one of the Ironmen guys. Super nice.

I got on the scale and I'm down 2lbs. Need about 14 more to get where I really want.

Oh I did the media at church and it was fine. We had several things going on but everything went like clockwork and I sat there enjoying the service.

life is good....

I thinking I'm having an affair... again!

That's right folks. I thinking I am getting dangerously close to falling in love again. She's one fast chick. Yep, I rode my bike again today! It was one of those Arkansas sort of days where you didn't know what to wear on the ride. You don't want to dress to warm but then I'm not one to ride if I'm too cold. Today was one of those rare days I got it just right and I enjoyed the ride along the river like none other. I knocked off a tad over 25 miles of pure enjoyment. Saw a couple of folks and said howdy. If all goes well I'll get to go back out there tomorrow afternoon and see a bunch of the gang. There is a ride at 1 tomorrow. Of course they will drop my lard butt but just riding with the Fast Girls Slow Guys for a few will be fun.

Thanks to everyone for the comments and the emails regarding Dad. He is doing a lot better and will more than likely be moved to rehab tomorrow. Last year he was in rehab and it did him wonders. He was able to walk a lot better with his walker and he just had a better quality of life. I'm hoping for that again.

Tomorrow starts my month back in the media control tower at church. I'm looking forward to being back. I put the program together but stayed out of the controls except for one evening while I was getting used to the implant. It's going so much better than I ever expected! I kept hearing this "3 to 6 months". If it's that much better in 3-6 months then man oh man... Jordan told me that some folks are making progress up to two years. I will say I had a CI Moment today while riding. I kept hearing something buzzing and kept thinking it was a car far off but none around. Come to find out it was the golf cart on the course I was riding by. I love hearing the gears clicking and he whiz of the tires on the road. Love it love it love it!! Also hear a funny CI story the other day. Man was on his front porch and he realized his CI wasn't working and then realized it was gone!! He and his wife were sitting on the front porch and come to find out when he sat down he got too close to a wind chime and the magnet jumped and stuck the the chimes!!! I laughed when I heard that.

Well, I'm done with this computer today... by y'all

Thursday night thoughts

Just got back from visiting my dad at the hospital. Seems to be doing better but he's going to be there awhile. My mom, bless heart heart, insists on staying there every night. Dad is in a semi-private room but there's not another patient in there so they have given mom the other bed to sleep on at night and they have brought in nicer more comfortable chairs. He said four good looking nurses came in today and gave him a bath. Oh the thoughts of turning older... HA!

I had mapping number 3 on the CI today. Jordan gave me more mid and high ranges. At first I really couldn't tell that much but I can tonight. I'm still bummed that I'm not getting the radio music in good yet. I did figure out that the car heater fan blocks a lot of the radio sound so if I turn down the fan then I can hear the radio a lot better. I have to not try to listen to the music so much and that's when I can hear it best. I've also noticed that the bass and the high notes seem like they are be processed by 2 different processors. Strange.

Sunny and 62 for Saturday and Sunday has a whooping 68 degrees... and it's about 30 out there right now. This much temp swing is going to continue to cause folks to get bad colds. Terri is feeling better by the way! She went to the doc and Bryon gave her a shot and meds.

As promised here are some more folks who have inspired me:
Huck (Yes, The Huckabee -- yes the Iowa caucus guy) He was our Gov and he got into running and lost a massive amount of weight. Vote for him. He really is a good normal ole guy.
Paul Creel -- always fun to ride with. Best hand therapist in the state.
Kyle, Doug, Rick and Mike -- they got me back on the back a couple of years. They are good as gold.
Paul Britt, Michael Mitchell, Jon Van Pay, Robb Carr -- Still cherish our long ride that day! HA!
Jason Gates -- Awesome rider, true gentleman, kick butt US soldier
Jason Ketcher -- He tells me like it really is. Makes me laugh so hard my tummy hurts.
Charlie Woods -- knocked out over 10K miles on the bike the past 2 years.
Many more to come!

Not much else going on. Speech therapy tomorrow. Counting down to the weekend!

Quick hit Wednesday

Got to do this fast... I'm at work and it's not lunch...

I did ride yesterday! It was crazy stuff! The temp was 39 with 19mph wind and 32 mph gust and all of that along a river! No wind blockage hardly at all.

... but it felt REALLY good to be back out there riding. I mean r.e.a.l.l.y good!

Had a CI moment. When I was riding back to the car with the wind to my back it was like the day I got my new hearing aid and I could her the whizz of the tires on the pavement and the gears clicking but with the CI the wind noise to me is much less! I could hear something behind me that sounded like a wave and it was a gust of wind coming across the field toward me. Unbelievable how cool that was to hear.

Saturday forecast is showing 62 for the high that afternoon with sun! I'm am so gonna be there riding! Yea-izzzz!

Funny story right quick: Ok, who all said no eating in 2008? Well we had a meeting this morning and some fool brought donuts! I passed... ohhhh weee, that's serious!

Card on the table true confession moment: Terri bought some fancy schmizing Weight Watchers scale and I got on it. Poor digital thing didn't know what to do with me. Told me to get off and come back in a couple of weeks. Y'all wanna hear something really sad... 10 lb gain since the CI surgery. Yes, that's why I rode in a freezing hurricane yesterday. I'm sure in the docs notes it prescribed for me to sit on the sofa and eat holiday foods for 3 weeks... I know i saw that somewhere... didn't I?

Hope you are off to a great 2008!

...and then it becomes Oh-Eight

What a year! It ended quite but you know that's OK. My dad has been in the hospital since Friday night. ICU at first but got to downgrade to a regular room. He has blood clots in both lungs. Doc says his body is going to have to dissolve them on their own because the meds didn't work. He was in good spirits yesterday when I when down to sit with him while the others went home to rest. He should be able to go home in several days.

Terri has the crud so that's not a lot of fun either. We did manage to eat out last night, drove around a little bit then back home for the evening. We had a nice fire in the fireplace and watched TV. The new year was sort of,"Happy (cough cough cough) I'm sorry (cough) New Year (cough cough)". Some years are like that.

It's been funny reading Aussie Rodney's blog lately. Downunder is having summer right now so it's summer temps and they are talking shorts and sweating. That sounds nice right now.

I pulled all of my bike gear out and plan to head back to the river for a ride. It's in the upper 40's with some stiff wind but you have to start somewhere. My daughter asked if I wanted anything from Sonic and when I said no she sort of looked at me like one of those curious puppies. I told her I was planning to skip Sonic as much as I could this year. Just not the best stuff for someone trying to hold down weight and save a little dough.

CI stuff: Just getting a little better each day. Nothing really new to say except I have gone dining 2 times and did fine with the CI only.

Well, happy oh Eight y'all!!