CLet's take time for Christ this Christmas. So often we here in the news about people trying to take Christmas from us, or a "War on Christmas". There is no way anybody can take it from us if we truly keep it as we should, with Christ and Christ alone at the center.
The reason this stuff (link below) is so harmful is that so many people get their "facts" from television and Hollywood movies. It seems there is no critical and objective thought out there anymore.
Link to JIMMY AKIN.ORG: The Nattering Nabobs of Know-Nothingism
I don't know if I have documented adequately the problems I've been having with my training for the MS-150. The entire thing can be paraphrased in one sentence; I have not been able to get on my bike since April 26th.
I may have mentioned pain in my left ankle, knee, hip and lower back in a previous post or two. Well it got so bad I couldn't even ride on my indoor trainer for more than 15 or 20 minutes!
I went to the guy who did my Lumbar Fusion in 2003. He thinks I have inflammation and possibly nerve damage in my Sacrum. He tells me that when the spine is fused as mine is at the lower Lumbar area it can no longer move in relation to the Sacrum as intended. He said even small changes in a persons gait can over time lead to inflammation and other damage. That could make sense. When I ride I usually ride at a cadence of 90 rpm. That means that in one 60 minute ride my legs revolve 5400 times.
Anyway I'm doing physical therapy now, taking anti inflammatory and using plenty of heat and ice. The bottom line though is I cannot get on my bike and I can only walk about 20 minutes per day. That is NOT where I needed to be by now in my training. I was shooting for 10 hours per week on my bike.
Facts are facts, I just have to accept the ones that tell me this is not going to be the victory I thought it was going to be in my recovery. As it turns out this is something else to recover from.
"Pope John Paul II has pointed out to the whole Church the example and doctrine of St. Teresa of Avila who in her life had to reject the temptation of certain methods which proposed a leaving aside of the humanity of Christ in favor of a vague self-immersion in the abyss of divinity. In a homily given on November 1, 1982, he said that the call of St. Teresa of Jesus advocating a prayer completely centered on Christ "is valid even in our day, against some methods of prayer which are not inspired by the gospel and which in practice tend to set Christ aside in preference for a mental void which makes no sense in Christianity. Any method of prayer is valid insofar as it is inspired by Christ and leads to Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
I have just finished a fairly short experience with Centering Prayer. I was guided by the book Open Mind, Open Heart by Thomas Keating. I have had this book for years and began reading it recently. I was intrigued by how easy Fr. Keating made it seem to achieve contemplation and/or union with our Lord. I was disconcerted however about how thoughts of our Lord were eliminated by this type of prayer.
When my son was home from college recently I talked briefly with him about it. He presented me with the article I have linked below. Needless to say that as soon as I read the article I discontinued my practice of Centering Prayer.
Fr. Keating and authors like him are able to entrap people like me by the promise of something for literally nothing. I'm seeking a deeper prayer life. In my current condition my cognitive abilities limit what I can understand when I read. I know the writings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross are correct. However, they are deeper than I can go on my own. It is too bad there are no teachers as anxious to take up teaching the way of these great saints as they are the false promise of Centering Prayer.
Source: Catholic Culture : Library : A Closer Look at Centering Prayer
91% of the facilities that admitted that a crime had been committed agreed to conceal it.
This is where millions upon millions of our tax dollars go every year. It seems to me that even pro-choice people would be disgusted that so much money goes to an organization that looks for ways to break and circumvent the law at every turn. Lets not also forget the number of young lives that are devastated by the encouragement to protect the predators that prey upon them and the torture of the rest of their lives dealing with the killing of a child. Rest assured that if Prolife organizations received that kind of tax support pro choicer's would be crawling all over them to look for behavior like this in order to stop the flow of money.
My heart goes out to the daughter of the PPLA worker that said she would have aborted her! How do you deal with something like that, the daughter and the mother. Oh yeah, by lying and hiding it.
Source: Planned Parenthood Caught on Tape Covering Up Statutory Rape – Threatens Lawsuit to Hide Evidence
Michelle Malkin: Another Great Moment in Public Education
“balance with having the fun and experimenting and enjoying what you’re doing, whether it’s learning, or sexually or with drugs or alcohol ... But keep focused.”
If you haven't read the piece by Vincent Carroll of the Rocky Mountain News about the disgusting events at Boulder High School you can find it here. Michelle Malkin has a lot more information about the background of this. Basically everyone can be assured that Boulder Colorado continues to show just how out of touch an entire city can become. Boulder High school is attempting to single handedly role back decades of say no to drugs and illicit sex programs. The reason is simple the Conference on World Affairs would do this. If there are no moral or ethical boundaries life becomes a lot easer and a lot more "fun"; in their minds. It also helps if they can draw others into their liberal, relativistic way of life. Misery and people who know they are promoting evil, love company. They get a feeling of justification by having a lot of people around them that are doing the same thing.
Or maybe this post should be titled 'Lack of Training for the MS-150'.
I have not been able to get on my bike since April 26th. On that day I began getting what can only be described as excruciating pain in my left ankle, knee, hip and my lower back while riding. It was so bad I could only pedal for a couple minutes then I would have to get off my bike or if I could coast unclip my left foot and let it hang.
I went to my Doctor and had x-rays of my lower back to make sure my fusion was still intact. Those were OK. I then had a bike fit done at the shop where I bought my bike. Even after that I still couldn't ride. So... I now have an appointment at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine with the famous Andy Pruitt. It is a medical evaluation but I can't get in until May 30th. That does not leave me a lot of time to get ready for the MS-150 on July 7 and 8.
Stay tuned....
I really don't think anybody looks at my blog. But if somebody did in the past week or so they would have received the message that it is a private blog. This is no longer the case.
You see there are unscrupulous people out there that Spam blogs with unwanted (to be nice) comments. The blog was hit so I made it private until I could at least clean things up.
Why is it that all crooks, when they get caught, claim they want to crusade against other crooks committing the same crime they did. Basso is on the same level as a street gang banger that finally gets caught and then claims he wants to help "kids" stay out of gangs. In some instances these jail house conversions may be genuine but the vast majority of the time they are conversions of convenience; appeasing prosecutors, judges and in this case fans and sponsors who have paid him millions.
On a sad note it is getting harder and harder for me to stay committed that Lance Armstrong was the only clean guy out there. It's my understanding that Lance Armstrong has urine samples dating back years. I think it is time for the guy at the top to stand up and prove himself. He owes it to millions who have bought into his story.
'Basso said, 'The moment has come for me to assume my responsibilities. I only hope that I will be understood,'' Martelli said, adding the rider would 'plan his future around the fight against doping.'
Source: Basso Said Admits Role in Doping Scandal
This is a very interesting article on Relativism, Duh!
The problem I have with the philosophy of Relativism is that it denies any universal truths, except that is, the universal truth they believe... that everything is relative. I know it's simplistic but I can't get past the logical error that they make. They try to prove there is no universal truth by declaring a universal truth.
So, Benedict XVI is going to the UN. This will be a fun event to follow. Let's get ready because the Holy Father and the Church are going to be blamed for everything from the spread of AIDS to global warming. This visit should bring out some of the most entertaining protestors and special interest groups that we have seen in... well since John Paul II visited.
UN Secretary-General said Pope Benedict XVI has accepted his invitation to visit UN headquarters "at a mutually convenient time".
Today I had an EEG to check out the ole brain waves. The lines were squiggly and not flat so in my book I passed the test.
All this stems from my episode last Easter weekend when I lost memory completely of almost three days. This is the second time it has happened and last time there was nothing physically wrong just like I'm sure is the case this time. Since I have the seizures so frequently they wanted to mainly make sure the medication was holding them in check. Oh well, I lose a nights sleep but I get some peace of mind. That should keep my brainwaves mellow like they are sipping a Pina Colada on a Caribbean beach!
I don't know what is up the last several days but I can't ride my bike more than 25 minutes without getting excruciating pain in my left ankle, knee and hip. I end up having to "limp" home either getting off the bike every few minutes or if I can coast I can unclip my left foot and let my left leg hang.
This is not good as I was hoping to increase my training days by 1 each week and start increasing my time on the bike to. I'm set up for a bike fit a week from this Saturday. We'll see if that helps but if it was something in the fit of the bike I don't think it would come on so suddenly.
There must be some standardization in how the rules of cycling are applied to each team when it comes to doping. Teams like Discovery that have the will to be ethical should be applauded. But I wonder if other teams don't take similar stands will the ethical ones simply be drummed out of the sport because they can't compete?
Three cheers for Archbishop Raymond Burke! He gets it! It is more important to save souls than have a PC attitude that "This is about helping kids.". Come on, how can a person who claims to be working for kids accept a person who advocates for killing children. And how serious can Costas be taken when he claims to be for kids but wouldn't include a "litmus test" for somebody advocating killing kids. Are these people for real? Are they that ignorant and caught up in themselves that they cannot see the contradiction?
"It's very painful for me," Burke said during a news conference Wednesday. "But I have to answer to God for the responsibility I have as archbishop.
Well, as many may know in my never ending search to find fun and interesting substitutes for my boring and tedious cognitive therapy I took up learning to play the Recorder. Normally it is used with Elementary school kids to get them interested in learning music.
Well it has proved to be a very daunting task for me. I got a book for kids and it has taken me over three months to get to the point that kids get in a couple of weeks. BUT, yesterday was a milestone!
I made it through the first several bars of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. If a person listens carefully, in a abstract sort of way, I'm sure that at least 2 out of 10 listeners would recognize it as Ode to Joy. I'm even more sure that at least half of all listeners would even recognize some notes and a hint of rhythm.
On the serious side it is so cool to actually play something! It has been a long road getting hear but I've had fun and will continue on with my journey in music.
As far as the cognitive value of my learning it has been far greater than I expected. To learn to read music, keep time, finger the Recorder etc. has taxed my cognition greater than 100 of the word search and 'follow the instructions' therapies my therapists give me. I still attempt some every day, but to work on the Recorder and then have tangible results is incredibly gratifying.
In closing I would like to offer apologies to Ludwig. I promise to do better in time.
This happened about three months ago...
I created the blog post but I never posted it. Awesome Chick and I were talking to some friends and they said I should post it. So here it is......
I love all kinds of hats, even hats that I'm too much of a stiff to actually wear. I recently bought myself an Australian Outback brand Wax Cloth hat that sort of looks like the one Indiana Jones wears. The only problem was that it was a bit too tight. The large was tight but the extra large was way to big. I came up with this idea to really soak it with water and wear it around and see if it would stretch.
So I'm wearing this hat around the house that I'm keeping so wet water is dripping down my face. I don't know why but I decided to go outside. After a while, I'm not sure how long, the strokes took my sense of time, I start to get a headache. It starts to get really bad like my head is in a vice, so bad I'm getting nauseous. I'm thinking "this is the worst ice cream headache I've ever had".
I literally stumbled into the house, feeling like I was going to throw up. I reached up to grab my hat off my head and the darn thing was not only frozen almost solid it was frozen to my head! As awesome Chick and I jokingly say now I had turned my head into an Australian Outback popcycle. I had to lay on the floor with my head in the sun wondering if I had killed more of what brain I have left.
Well just like when you eat ice cream to fast my head thawed out and I went to our computer and logged onto the 9 News web site to check the temperature. It was only 20 friggin degrees outside!
I usually have these "stroke moments" when I'm alone. I can tell Awesome Chick is a bit concerned about the time when the weather warms up and I trade my indoor trainer in for riding outside.
Yep Dr. Romain is are right, when things get tough to explain lets ignore and change them, even if they lead to the Truth. Come on that is spiritually and intellectually week. Dr. Romain has an ally in the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. He wants to change Holy Scripture so that people opposed to and for homosexuality can read the same verse and be happy with it. Boy when he is judged I will be interested to see how our Lord deals with him if his watering down and manipulation of Holy Scripture causes one person to lose their eternal soul. Of course Hell is a hard and unpleasant teaching to so maybe we should change that in the spirit of everybody feeling good about everything they do.
Are you serious Dr. Romain that "One of the great puzzles today is why there is so much turmoil associated with faith"? The reason is the rejection of faith and truth that you and many like you propose.
Link to If thy scripture offend one of another faith, pluck it out-Comment-Faith-TimesOnline
It's astounding to me how Pullella can make it sound as if it is Archbishop Amato and Pope Benedict "coming up" with these truths about evil. A true Catholic will understand that we must hate the sin and love the sinner (I now that sounds corny but it is true). But to not call a sin a sin is to not only endanger the eternal soul of the sinner but to endanger the soul of the person who is not educating the sinner. We cannot condemn our fellow man, only God can do that, but we will be held accountable for our actions, or inactions, that lead to God condemning our fellow man.
The Vatican's second-highest ranking doctrinal official on Monday forcefully branded homosexual marriage an evil and denounced abortion and euthanasia as forms of "terrorism with a human face."
Source: Gay marriage evil, abortion terrorism: Vatican - washingtonpost.com
I noticed today that the spell checker on my email and blogging clients, both Microsoft products, do not recognize the words:
prolife and Magisterium
However it does recognize prochoice and protestant. Dictionary.com recognizes all these words.
Source: Rowan Williams says anti-gays misread Bible | Top News | Reuters
This is what happens when you reject a 2000 year old Magisterium, Tradition and Deposit of Faith and break up into 30,000 + denominations that get to make up their own meanings for Scripture.
Yesterday I rode with a friend. It was my first ride that I was not alone on in a long time. I know that Awesome Chick was a bit relieved. She asked John to take me along the same route that ended with me in ' the hood' a few days ago. I think AC may be a bit nervous about me riding around there. I wonder why?
Anyway we couldn't identify the specific place that I made the wrong turn at but we found some candidates. The problem is I could only remember a few snapshots of the previous ride. I can only remember a few snapshots of the right with John. We plan on training together at least 1 day each weekend. That will be nice. I spend so much time alone I really get excited about seeing family and friends.
Well I must read Dominus Iesus again but it seems to me that pope Benedict is being true to what he found as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation that the Church knows of and therefore He is the only way that the Church can truthfully teach.
The Church recognizes better than any of us the infinite love and mercy of God. So the Church has hope that Got has provided a way to salvation that we don't not know of.
This is what the statement on Limbo has done. It states that the Church dose not know how unbaptised babies are saved but she hopes our merciful and loving God provides a way we do not know of.
The media is making a big hubub about this statement as a change in Roman Catholic teaching. What this is, is a statement of the consistency of Roman Catholic teaching; or for the media at large, a non-issue that they will make an issue of.
As a fellow blogger blogged, this really only deserves a TINNY COMMENT.
"Although it doesn't actually dismiss limbo altogether," Weinandy added, "it argues for other ways of dealing with salvation for infants who died unbaptized."
Source: Vatican panel condemns limbo to eternal dustbin - Los Angeles Times
My preparation for my ride is going average at best I have to say. I was supposed to start riding 5 days per week this week but I had to hold it at 4. My legs have felt like lead! I did have a good ride today though. I also learned something. Never follow a rider you don't know; expecting them to get you where you want to go.
I got a bit disoriented on today's ride so I started to follow a rider who seemed to be going in the direction I wanted to. When this happens, and it happens often, the rule is that I'm supposed to call my wife. The problem with me and rules though is remembering them. Well I lost my guide and I ended up in the projects', the hood, the barrio around downtown Denver!
As I rode through a group of 6 very large African American men (did I say VERY LARGE!) standing in the middle of the street, wearing blue 'doo rags' I realized that I didn't really blend in. Nobody else was riding a fancy, red Spanish racing bike, wearing a Helmet, gloves and goofy, skin tight, Lycra shorts. Let's please try to forget the image of the milk white legs sticking out of them. (A little honesty here is in order; even on Lance Armstrong cycling shorts look GOOFY! The more high tech they are the goofier they look.)
My wife, who is full blooded Mexican, lived part of her childhood in that neighborhood. Her Dad lived in that neighborhood. My older sister lived there for several years with her children. My Dad was brought up not in that neighborhood but just blocks to the north. Sometimes I have gone there with my wife and her family or my family. But only StrokeBoy would end up there alone, on a bike, wearing those damn skin tight Lycra cycling shorts and not having a clue how he got there or how to get home. Thank the Good Lord my shorts are black and not some silly color like pink that you see in the Tour De France. The only way I could have made this worse is if I had done it in the middle of the night. Stay tuned because I very quickly unlearn the lessons I learn.
Anyway it all ended fine because I ended up home and I'm writing this. The part that amuses me is that I almost never remember how I get home, I just end up here. I'm sure my wife Awesome Chick is just thrilled about that. I remember a few details of my ride, like today's visit the turf of the Crips, but very little else. Geese if a cop had seen me I would have probably been arrested for simply being clueless and out of my mind. No doubt I would have been guilty on all counts and sentenced to life I'm sure.
I pray that "warning Catholic politicians" is not the last step. It does nothing but cause scandal and confusion when people see leaders living live that are contrary to the faith they profess. To be honest I consider that a serious personality flaw which leads me to think a politician is not being honest with me.
Christ never made any compromise. Holy Scripture has many places where even his disciples found a teaching hard. Jesus never once compromises His teaching but made it very clear that to follow Him meant accepting everything, even to the point of giving up all worldly attachments and relationships. Following Him should mean even if you have to give up some votes and risk the election.
He has warned Catholic politicians who must decide on such issues as abortion, euthanasia and marriage that the faith's values are "not negotiable." And he has closed the door on any relaxation of the celibacy requirement for priests.
Source: Papa Ratzi Post
Let the spin machines begin! Take a look at the link below to take a look at the volume of information that is already available concerning Gonzales v. Carhart.
I just wanted to print out today's US Supreme Court decision. Just the decision is 75 pages long.
I wonder, is the average, everyday guy in this country, let alone a brain damaged StrokeBoy, EVER going to be able to fully understand the laws we have to live by every day. The answer to that is a big fat NO with lawyers running everything.
Link to Gonzales v. Carhart, 05-380 - FindLaw US Supreme Court Center
Cardinal Justin Rgali is sounding very optimistic about today's Supreme Court ruling. In this ZENIT article he quotes language in the decision that is surprisingly prolife which would give reason for prolife Americans to be optimistic.
I however believe that the opposition has just begun the fight. This is something too important for the Culture of Death to taking lying down.
The cardinal, who is archbishop of Philadelphia, added: "Especially welcome is the court's explicit recognition of certain key facts: that abortion is the taking of a human life, and that government has a legitimate interest in protecting and preserving this life at every stage."
In the quote below he is pleased that the court recognizes the devastating affect that abortion has on many facets of society. I'm sure that he was mindful of the absence of the mention of men and how being involved in the killing of their child may affect them. That may be too difficult of a leap for the court right now as it would strengthen the idea of a family having two parents, male and female.
He further praised the court's recognition "that 'respect for human life finds an ultimate expression in the bond of love the mother has for her child'; that abortion may also cause grief and sorrow for women, which is only made worse when the reality of the procedure has been withheld from them until it is too late; and that the ethical integrity of the medical profession, as well as the fabric of our society, is threatened by the acceptance of practices that are difficult to distinguish from infanticide."
I have not read the text of the actual decision, but I plan on it.
In the mean time the best course of action is still to pray, fast and do penance.
Today is exactly 1 and 1/2 years since my first stroke. I also had an appointment with my neurologist.
This really has been an Eclectic Journey. One that continues. Along the road I've been able to find things that in spite of my disability I have been able to enjoy and even improve at. In fact one of those things has come directly from my cognitive therapy; writing!
In an effort to remember what goes on from one minute to the next my cognitive therapist has had me writing down EVERYTHING. So I kind of got into the habit of writing down not just my actions but my thoughts and emotions. I've written volumes (whatever a volume is) in the last 18 months. In fact, between my journal I write by hand, my PDA and computer I'd venture to say my life is probably one of the most documented ever. For some strange reason, even though when I talk or even think to my self my thoughts are broken and get confused, I can write and the thoughts are smooth and well, less confused. I have a theory that my writing, which is slow, causes my brain to work at the speed of my fingers and thus can do a better job of processing.
Then there is riding my bike. For some reason anaerobic exercise causes me to have nerve pain. Sometimes I have to stop and sit down after walking up the steps in our house to get the nerve pain to settle down. I found though that aerobic exercise does not cause me the same pain. I can ride my bike for a long time with no pain. In fact the longer I ride it, the more "in synch" my anaerobic and aerobic systems become and the longer I can then ride. This could be because I was riding a lot before my strokes.
My neurologist was happy with where I'm at. I have to say this. Considering what I thought my life was going to be when I first heard those words, "he has clots in his brain and is having a stroke" and everything going dark, I'm pretty happy with where I'm at. I have to do another EEG. That's because of an episode I had over Easter. I seem to have completely lost three days. He is going to check to see if perhaps my medicine that is supposed to stop my seizures isn't pulling its weight.
Celebrate, but only a little!
It should be painfully obvious to everybody now that a so called 'right' to kill an unborn child is never going to go away by depending upon legislation alone.
Until we change the hearts and minds of an entire nation we will be continually pulled from one extreme to another. As the winds constantly change from political conservatism to liberalism the volume of innocent lives taken and people ravaged with the aftermath will decrease or increase. Americans will change their value system based upon the last election or as in this case nine individual judges.
The 5-4 ruling, which upheld the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, marks a significant shift to the right by the US’s top court on one of the country’s most divisive issues.
All people who respect life should feel a cold chill in there blood when reading the quote below by Justice Ginsburg. What have we done as a society when we have made the taking of an innocent life so mundane that in her words it is a central part of a woman's life?! We must pray and fast for those that hold this as a "centrality" of their life.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote a dissent on behalf of the court’s liberal wing, called the decision “alarming”. She said it “cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court – and with increasing comprehension of its centrality to women’s lives”.
Never forget, the right to kill unborn children was brought to you via Roe v Wade in 1973 by the same institution that brought America Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1856. Both decisions have cost millions of lives and incalculable suffering and division. That is NOT something that more legislation can fix.
Pray, fast and do penance! The war is far from over.
Link to FT.com / World - Legal victory for abortion opponents
Yesterday I made it up a hill; I call it The Fox Hollow Hill. Let me explain. The last time I made it up that hill was roughly 19 months ago. It is a long steep hill and it comes at the mid-point in my ride so I was not real fresh. Nineteen months ago I spun up that hill with a cadence of 75 and in a mid-range gear! Yesterday I made it up in the tiniest gear my drive train has to offer with a cadence of roughly 30 rpm. (That can be decoded using the StrokeBoy Super Secret Decoder Ring as… WAY below 30)
The Fox Hollow Hill is important because a couple weeks after riding up that hill 19 months ago an artery in my neck broke and sent clots to just about every part of my brain, including the largest clot in my brain stem. Praise God that he guided those clots as He did and that He held me close as they went about doing their damage.
I started training again prior to September of 2006. I started out 10 minutes per day, three days per week on a stationary bike. That was almost TOO MUCH! I have tried The Fox Hollow Hill three previous times; only to be forced to turn back; once I think before the grade even started to increase. Is that possible?!
I'm not talking about victory over illness; I'm still StrokeBoy and will be for the rest of my life. I’m not talking about a great training goal attained.
I was riding at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. At the top of the hill I could see almost forever to the North, East and South. To the West were green, purple and brown snow capped mountains. The air was crisp at about 50 degrees but the sun was so warm I had to remove my wind shell. I just sat there experiencing the view, the temperature, the silence and feeling of being King of the Hill. As I peacefully sat there a coyote walked within 20 feet of me. He let me know I was more the Court Jester and he was the King of Fox Hollow Hill.
I love riding. Riding my bike takes me back to the time when things were different, simpler; not better mind you. The pain and monotony of training are only so I can capture moments like today. There was nothing heroic or strong in the moment; quite the opposite in fact. As reality set in and I contemplated the journey of me and my family this past nineteen months a lump formed in my throat and I couldn’t hold back the tears. More than anything my wife, son, daughter, all my family and friends gave me that moment. No, no feeling of victory, just profound thanks.
Lord grant peace and healing of all those touched by the shootings in Vermont.
Or maybe that was StrokeBoy Strikes again!
Awesome Chick and I are always looking for things that are constructive for me to do yet therapeutic. All the assigned therapy I do can be so tedious, boring and there isn't much of a feeling of accomplishment. Yesterday I was assigned long division and multiplication of two digit numbers. It turns out I have a long way to go to be able to do that. That's kind of depressing for a person whose favorite classes in college were 4th and 5th semester Calculus and Partial Differential Equations. Hey I couldn't do that stuff now anyway but common... give me a break will yah?!
Now for the topic of today's post. Awesome Chick and I try to come up with things around the house that I can do that have a detailed set of instructions. That's another thing my therapists are working with me on. It seems all my elementary school teachers were correct and I can't follow instructions. Well the task for the day was a set of instructions from the trusty Home Depot Home Maintenance book. Yep I was to unclog a drain in our bathroom. It went pretty well to start. Things took a turn for the worse when the instructions said do rinse out the trap I had just removed from underneath the clogged sink. Hey it didn't say to NOT rinse the trap in the sink that you just removed the trap from. I got that darn trap clean as a whistle but just about flooded out the cabinet and the rest of the bathroom. So my next assignment was drying out all the stuff from under the sink and letting the wood dry, and hopefully not mold. Details, details, I think those instructions were flawed.
Another fact to keep in mind is that it has never been shown that one pieces can or ever has developed into another pieces. This is a huge hole in the theory of evolution.
Additionally I've seen other articles on the same topic titled things like 'Pope says evolution can't be proved'. Keep in mind there are many things in our daily life that we accept that cannot be proved.
The Pope also says the Darwinist theory of evolution is not completely provable because mutations over hundreds of thousands of years cannot be reproduced in a laboratory.
Michelle Malkin: "Danny belongs to the nation"
Danny Dietz Memorial Coverage
“The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage." ~ Pericles
Thank you Danny Dietz and thank you to your family and thank you to all those who have gone before you!
I live blocks from where the memorial will stand. I will be there when the monument is dedicated. I'll visit it often. If I could I would have it in my front yard. Danny personifies what Pericles reasoned almost 2,500 years ago. Courage, backed by action, not in-action, gives all of us a chance at the happiness and the freedom we desire.
Dietz has helped to ensure that in our great country; people who have ideas or agendas are not required to also have great courage; something Pericles could only dream of. He ensures that people are not required to be heroes simply because they have an idea. Indeed having an idea and getting it heard requires little more courage than to be a bit countercultural. Simple people with no outstanding courage, just ideas, can be heard and make a difference. Danny Dietz helped ensure that.
Don’t the people who would use a monument to Danny's efforts for their own agenda, see any irony in the fact that they perform their act on the shoulders of Danny Dietz? What they do is almost by virtue of the ‘permission’ granted to them by Danny and all the others that have gone before him. If this is about eliminating gun violence, which is a truly noble cause, don’t desecrate or attempt to whitewash from history the people who have given you the opportunity to speak out.
Thank you Danny; that for us to have an idea heard, we don’t have to fear the hail of bullets you endured. Thank you Danny that for us to have an idea heard, we don’t have to endure the bombs going off that you endured. Thank you Danny that to have an idea heard, we don’t have to endure crouching in the dirt in a far off wasteland. Thank you Danny that to have an idea heard, we don’t have to witness our friends bloodied and dying around us. Thank you Danny that in order to have an idea heard we don’t have to decide between our own lives and the lives of our friends and comrades. Thank you Danny that in order to have an idea heard we don’t have to have the courage that you had.
I guess, simply, what I’m trying to say to Danny Dietz and those that have gone before him; I offer you my simple, heartfelt, tear filled Thanks, well done and Gods speed.
I was never a fan of President Clinton when he was in office. But it seems he has been doing some good since then. This seems to be the presidential pattern. A guy gets elected, then when he is out of office he does more good than when in office.
On thing I wonder though. Why do the rich and powerful seem to think that solving problems around the world are more important than solving the problems we have here at home? Granted, even the poor in our country live like kings compared to the ' real poor' in other countries but sometimes I suspect the actions of the rich and powerful are more for the publicity impact. I'm not thinking of president Clinton here, I'm thinking mostly of the entertainment people who think adopting a child in another country rather than one her is more selfless or something.
I don't think I will ever accept that I had a stroke. In fact I make an effort to not accept it. I know some people say they only look forward and that they don't look back. I won’t do that. Just like when I was tired of being a butcher I didn’t accept that. I did something about it and got through school and became a Software Engineer. In life acceptance to often is an excuse for stagnation, for doing nothing.
I wasn't the only one there before the thief in the night, my first stroke, slithered into my life. So, so, so many people had helped me get to where I was in my life and helped me make my life what it had become. Everybody from my wife, my kids, and all the rest of my family and friends to teachers, counselors and even those people I I disliked or didn’t have a lot in common with. All were partly responsible for who I was.
For me to say, 'I accept what happened, the past is past and I'm only looking forward, never back' is a slap in the face to each and every one of those people that helped me become who I was before the thief came. It is like saying, 'thanks for the effort everybody, but oh well. Any future is equally as good as the last or the next’.
Hey I'm doing great. I have ups and downs. Sometimes I don’t think I can take another day and sometimes everything goes smooth as silk. I'm carving out a life for myself. I'm growing and continuing my life but my past is there. Without a past there is no present, no future. To simply look forward and try to build a future, disregarding your past, is like trying to grow a fruit tree for food that has not roots. You will quickly go hungry.
My strokes are there and they stole a lot from me and everybody around me. I will search for the reason like a hungry dog searching for a scrap of food. During that search; my life will continue to grow. It will become what I and the people who are once again here for me, make of it. But no, I will never stop asking why and sit back in a Zen like or contemplative ‘false peace’. I won’t get philosophical and giggly about “I don’t look back, always forward”. To be honest I don’t think a human person is really even capable of doing that. I think it is a lie for someone to claim it. The reason I stroked is out there and it is going to be pursued. Along the way my new life will rise out of my past by not denying my past.
It would be wise for Speaker Pelosi to not push the issue of the lack of women in politics in Saudi Arabia. In the U.S. all the rage to think all peoples, belief systems, forms of government, religions, whatever are all the same and have equal merit. However, in Islamic countries in general and those under Sharia Law in particular that clearly cannot the case.
According to the the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, as found in the Koran and Sharia Law which is enshrined in the Saudi Arabian Constitution, Speaker Pelosi has only half the worth of a man in society and since she is Catholic and a Kufar she should be killed. I have no doubt most of the Saudi men around her were thinking should keep her eyes down and mind her own business. (Qur'an 24:31)
"Asked if she raised the issue [of the lack no women in government] at Thursday's meeting with the council members, she said: ``The issue has been brought up in our discussions with the Saudis on
this trip.'' "
Pelosi Visits Saudi Arabia's Council World Latest Guardian Unlimited
Technorati tags: Nancy Pelosi
While not exactly denying His kingship, they instead ridicule His claim to kingship; make light of it, denying that it has any meaning. They do not listen or debate His ideas, they make fun of the man and destroy His message.
That is exactly what our Legislatures try do do here in Colorado every chance they get. Currently SB 124 is being pushed through our State Legislature and it will redefine what marriage in our state means. This is in direct conflict with Amendment 43 passed by the voters last November. In one of her typically elitist statements House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder stated that Representative Kevin Lundberg, R-Larimer "did not live in the real world" because he opposed changing what marriage means and respecting the will of the people as expressed in the overwhelming passage of Amendment 43. I often wonder what "real world" Ms Madden lives in that allows her to change the will of the people simply at her whim and the with the support of her special interests.
Alice Von Hildebrand stated, “(Ridicule) was, for example, the poison tool used
against Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, making him the butt of cruel
jokes. His noble message was doomed.”
I think Alice Madden would have been right at home with the soldiers as they crowned our Lord with thorns and destroyed His message.
A couple days ago I received an invitation to the Ordination of a very good friend of mine to the order of Catholic Deacon!
For Bill this is one of the greatest times and days of his life. It will rank up there with his marriage and the birth of his children. A new and exciting chapter is opening up in his and his family's life. It will be the culmination of over four years of intensive study and formation and a life time of preparation.
Here is the rub, why am I so sad, almost broken hearted?
Because I feel I spent the first 40 years of my life being called to be a Deacon for the Lord, in service to His Church. I spent two years going through a intense selection process just to be allowed into a 4 year formation program. I started the program with my heart full of confidence, commitment and love of the Lord and all his people.
I struggled the first year of formation mostly because my sister became gravely sick, I became her Guardian and Conservator and her teenage came came to live with us. A son that was heavily involved in drugs and gangs. A son that was kicked out of his school for threatening another teenager with a shotgun. A son that time after time brought drugs and gang bangers into our home. That is until we finally could take no more and when he snuck out of the house one night we literally barricaded the doors and windows to our home and then had all the locks changed.
Through all that my employer had me commuting between Phoenix Arizona and my home in Denver Colorado. But still I kept up my studies, did not miss classes and worked at my spiritual life. I went through every evaluation that the Diaconate Formation Board had and I scored top scores for every one.
Then after the first year, just before a retreat all the candidates were going to go on, I received a letter telling me not to go on the retreat and that I would not be asked back to continue the following year. No explanation, no thank you for attempting to give my life to the Church; just a don't show up now or in the future basically.
My heart and my faith have been ravaged by that for years. Now men that had become like brothers to me in a short period of time are about to be Ordained.
Since being told to leave formation I had my strokes, and lost the career I trained for for 9 years. Everything has become so hard. Tasks that used to take me minutes now take me hours if I can do them at all. At one time I looked forward to attempting formation again but I can barely learn at the pace of an elementary school student. There is no way I will ever be able to keep up with graduate level work.
Maybe my weakened and damaged faith is just committing the sins of jealousy, envy and pride. I was preparing to serve my God and His Church for the rest of my life. Right now I'm going to do therapy which includes tasks I haven't done since Elementary School. But yet I can't master them!
For me riding isn't about the pain like it is for a lot of cycling fanatics. Sure I feel it and it is a part of my riding. If at the end of a ride I have not felt at least some pain I feel like I should have ridden farther or harder. But I also feel it is a great accomplishment if I can finish a long ride at a good pace and a few minutes later I feel like I could do it all over again. To me that is a thrill.
Riding for me has also become about freedom, victory and recapturing the former me while building up the new me.
Most importantly by riding and doing certain things I am beating to death that bastard stroke that 1 year, 5 months and 17 nights ago came like a low life 'thief in the night'. Little did the thief know that by calling on me, it had 'bought the whole can of whoop-ass', not just a free sample for the taking. It was not just taking me on; it had encountered an army of dedicated and fiercely loyal family, friends and medical professionals.
I can beat the crap out of the thief by doing things I did before it slithered into my life; before so much was stolen, for no reason at all. I whip the thief by simply doing things as well as I can and not worrying about how I used to do them.
Riding is about freedom for several reasons. One of those reasons is that I will probably never drive again. I hope I will but some things are just as they are. People whose mental processing is as slow as mine, have lost half their vision and whose brain has shifted the midline of the real world by many degrees, usually don't get licensed to drive a 2000 pound hunk of steel through neighborhood streets. I have to rely on family and friends to get me around. Someday when I want to do something simple like go to the grocery store I will simply get on my bike and go. That day is actually pretty close; one more stake in the heart of that thief.
The Thief took so much of my memory that I don't even recognize my own neighborhood and house. I have lived in my neighborhood for 46 years and I have gotten lost walking around in my home. Thank God after a time I recognized my beautiful, wonderful wife and the rest of my family and friends; POW another stake driven into the heart of the thief.
My wife helps me 'memorize' bike routes by riding them over and over and drilling landmarks into my memory. When I’m able to ride a memorized route alone, that is a victory over the thief. When I was able to follow a list of directions and put a computer on my bike, even though it took me several hours and a couple of re-starts; that was a victory over the thief. When I exercise and eat right so that chances of more strokes or heart decease are minimized that is a victory over the thief. When my loved ones and friends spend less time worrying about my health and well being and living their lives to the fullest that is a victory over the thief. POW, POW, POW and POW four more stakes and more to come.
Cycling encourages me and helps me do all those things. It is to the point where cycling affects everything from my diet and sleep to the cognitive therapy my therapists give me. Cycling affects what I can go do and when I can go do it. I have woven cycling into almost every aspect of my recovery and my life.
So now everyone has a bit of an idea of why I ride.
P.S. Don’t worry if you see a red flare off in the distance. It just means that StrokeBoy took a wrong turn and is temporarily lost. Awesome Chick will release the bloodhounds and I’ll be found in no time.
I now can recognize the notes A, B, C, D, F and G on the musical staff and I know the fingerings and an alternate fingering for B. I've attempted to play ' When the Saints Go Marching In' with a small bit of success. I played it for Awesome Chick and when I was done I told her what it was. She quickly responded something like "Oh yeah it took me just a second but I knew what it was." She is such a kind person.
Today was the day I learned F. This is the first note that will require me to finger with both hands. Previously all notes I've played have been done with just the left hand.
I've noticed that repetition, repetition, repetition is the key to remembering my notes and fingering. I also find that if I practice two or three times per day for like 10 minutes it is more productive than one long 30 minute session. The biggest problem I face is that the "interface" between me, the music on the sheet and the fingers on the Recorder is VERY slow. Unfortunately that interface is my damaged brain. To see a note on the staff, recognize what that note is, remember what the fingering for that note is and get my fingers into position is a very very loooooong time.
I am fortunate that I come from a VERY musically gifted family. Both of my parents have Bachelors Degrees in Music Theory and my Dad also has a Masters in Childhood Education. He was a teacher for 30 years. Several times I've been stuck on something and asking them gets me unstuck. One idea my dad had that was REALLY helpful was to start out by putting numbers for the number of fingers a note requires to be played below the note on the page. This helped me just concentrate on learning the fingering and I gradually started to recognize the notes and I could do away with the fingering hints.
Well I'm off to go practice "my music". Jingle Bells is the next song I get to massacre.
I'm beginning to seriously think of intermediate goals that I would like to meet on the way to my July 7-8 MS-150 attempt.
I first started on an indoor trainer 15 minutes per day, three days per week. When I started with CTS roughly 10 weeks ago I started training 4 days per week. I had to do all my rides on the indoor trainer as I wasn't conditioned enough to ride on the road. Then I began to ride the first "portion" of my rides outside and finished them up inside on the trainer. I gradually increased the amount of time outside and decreased the amount of time inside. My very first goal became to be able to ride outside 4 full workouts in one week.
This week I achieved that goal, or at least I expect to. It is only Thursday and I have 3 days left to get my 4th ride of the week in. So with that in mind I've come up with the following intermediate goals.
| W/E Apr 1 |
| Achieved |
| W/E Apr 8 | 4 rides, 4.5 hours | Stay here while I get used to new bike and gearing, I went from a triple to double chain ring. |
| W/E Apr 15 | 5 rides, 5 hours | |
| W/E Apr 22 | 6 rides 5.5 hours | |
| W/E Apr 29 | 6 rides 6 hours | |
This leaves me with the entire months of May and June to increase the number of hours that I ride each week using a 6 ride per week plan. As I've noted before, my goal is to be fit enough to finish the ride and enjoy the entire thing. I have more lofty goals in mind after this one.
In this piece an irrational Democrat Melvin L. Stukes becomes irrational and compares refusing citizen rights to Illegal Aliens, to being a black slave in the 19th century. What a slap in the face to African Americans that can truly trace their ancestry to slaves. What a cowardly and back handed way to "play the race card" in a way it should not be played. It's interesting how "undocumented immigrants" as the article calls aliens who are here illegally have no problem documenting they have lived and worked in the state of Maryland for a time when it means getting discounted tuition rates.
"Do I need anyone to remind me of the mind-set that existed then and still exists today, that some people were considered three-fifths of a human being?" Stukes asked, his voice rising. "Are we still saying that some people are less than whole? I don't think so."
Source: House Heats Up Over Bill to Give Illegal Immigrants In-State Tuition - washingtonpost.com
I suppose Daniel Maguire would argue that the Holy Spirit couldn't pass a theology exam. It is the duty of the Churches Magisterium to faithfully and without error pass on and interpret Church doctrine in matters of faith and morals. (CCC 890) Mr. Maguire does not have any protection from error in his teachings. In fact his teachings can be completely false and come from the devil himself and he and no other theologian has any charism of protection from error or inspiration by the Holy Spirit. Come on Maguire, if you don't believe what Holy Mother Church teaches go shopping in the cafeteria and find something that better suits your current flavor of the day.
"I've always felt that candor was the better part of valor," he said. "The bishops are saying they are the only authentic teachers in the church and that all theologians are subordinate to them. But most bishops could not pass a graduate exam in theology."
Source: wfrv.com - Catholic Group Wants Marquette Prof. Reassigned
This post is a follow up of my (click here earlier post). That post is dated yesterday but I posted it a couple weeks ago. Yesterday I realized it was posted as a draft though so I "undrafted" it.
Anyway the first song I play on my recorder was to be 'When the Saints Go Marching In'. Well according to the music notes and my fingering that is exactly what I did. It sure didn't sound like any version of that song I have ever heard. YUK! Our two Beagles started baying like the Hounds of the Baskerville. I thought I was Basil Rathbone in the old movie.
Oh well that's the point of trying to find something fun and interesting as well as therapeutic. You don't mind going back to it as much when at first you don't succeed.
I feel pretty good today considering I had a hard ride yesterday. The adrenaline of being on a new bike I think caused me to push myself a bit hard. I rode all the way to Golf Course Hill at Fox Hollow Golf Course. I actually couldn't make it up the hill, I only got half way up. The reason is conditioning and the Opal only has two chain rings. Welcome to the big legues!
This post actually begins last Friday morning or maybe even Thursday. You see all day Thursday I was PMS'ing, Pre-Migraine Syndrome. My strokes were kind enough to leave me with frequent migraines but I know when they are coming on because ahead of the big ones I have what they call non-specific seizures and sometimes I even see little Oompa Loompas. When the Oompa Loompas come to visit I know it's time to hunker down because most of the time a real head banger, brain searing migraine is about to come on. This time though Mr and Mrs Loompa were wrong. So, I woke up Friday morning to find I was feeling pretty good and my wife, Awesome Chick, who from now on will be known as THE Awesome Chick had stayed home from work. I thought it was because she was concerned about me. That was until she practically bulldozed me into getting showered and out the door. You see she knows the problems I've been having with my 10 year old bike that doesn't fit and I can't get replacement parts for.
She took the day off to take me around town looking at and test riding bikes I had been reading about and looking at in bike shops and generally drooling over for the past three years. What I didn't know is that she had received a nice bonus at work and she intended to use it to get her StrokeBoy a new ride!
The sales lady at the bike shop we ended up at was great. We had a fun time and laughed a lot because I could only go up and down the sidewalk in front of the store on my test rides or I'd get lost. On top of that my short term memory is so bad I couldn't remember one test ride from another. I can recreate a lot of things like this because I'm constantly writing in a journal and I have a small digital voice recorder I dictate my day into. So we worked out a system of the sales lady taking notes of exactly what I said when I got of the bike, I would use my recorder and Awesome Chick would take digital pictures of me riding for me to look at and jog my brain into remembering what the ride was like. Well anyway Friday extended into Saturday and Sunday but when it was all said and done I had my new ride. Awesome Chick got me an Orbea Opal, full Dura Ace, Mavic Ksyrium wheel set and new shoes.
Today was the Maiden Voyage. I feel like I went from driving a VW Bug to a Lambragini. I'm used to a triple so the double chain ring showed me I have some work to do on my strength. But hey I have a lot of time. Now maybe I'll be able to keep up with Awesome Chick when we ride. She got her bike a couple years ago.
Stroke Boy
P.S. Unbeliculous is a word my wife and I made up. We were always saying things like "that's unbelievable" or "that's ridiculous" so we combined the two. Unbeliculously Great translates to "unbelievably, ridiculously great".
OK, anybody who has read more than one of my posts knows that I can't stand the exercises that my cognitive therapists give me. I do them because they have a purpose but I look, and I look very hard for things that I can do that I enjoy and will provide a theraputic component.Well I found one that is GRRRRrrrrreat; as Tony the Tiger would say.I went to a music store not 10 minutes from my house and purchased a Yamaha Baroque Recorder. That sounds fancy but it's not. Anybody who has kids in elementary school that take band may be familiar with it. The thing only cost $10 and I got a book called 'Fun with the Recorder' to teach me to play it. When I got it I didn't realize just how it would affect me congnitively. I have to memorize notes, the musical staff, fingering etc. It has been VERY slow going. The book is for elementary school kids. What is 1 lesson for them may take me two weeks to get through. It is so cool though. I haven't played a "song" but I'm playing notes. The first song I should be able to play in the book is 'When the Saints Go Marching In'. Anyway for an investment of $17 for a musical instrument and book I have hours of productive cognitive therapy that is interesting, fun and I can do something with. I hope to be able to play some Christmas Carrols for Christmas and there are tons of classical pieces and Celtic pieces.I'll keep everyone posted but for now, if anyone can do it this is GREAT therapy.
Today I started back at Cognitive Therapy. I haven't been for quite a while for various reasons. I like my therapist and I told her some of the things I've been doing on my own and she thought they were great. But, she gave me the same old basic word search, maps and other junk that I got before. She wants me to do this stuff and when I go back in two weeks she will hopefully have something more suited to me.
It is very obvious why Barack Obama does not want to admit he is Muslim. It will cost him votes. The media is trying to make a villain Romney because he is Mormon, imagine if Obama admitted to being Muslim. There is also another reason. For a Muslim to leave the faith is a death sentence in traditional Islam.
"But whoever of you recants and dies an unbeliever, his works shall come to nothing in this world and the next, and they are the companions of the fire for ever" (Qur'an 2:217). This is interpreted by traditional Muslims as giving the death penalty to apostates. What would happen if we elect a President that millions of Muslims believe must be executed?
Well not really a down day but I'm still wiped out from my class on Saturday. When I do a training ride on my bike two days in a row I'm always very tired the next day. It's amazing how much more mental work can wipe me out than physical work. All I wanted to do today was sit around, sleep and of course eat.Awesome Chick knew I was having a hard time and she knew I was supposed to ride my bike today and she also knew that if I just get on my bike and go I always feel better after a few minutes. So what did she do? She left work early and came home and encouraged me to get on my bike, she even rode with me. She was right, by the time I had ridden two blocks I was feeling like I wanted to ride for hours. I'm so blessed to have a great wife and also that I still have my physical abilities.
Yesterday, that was Saturday, I went to class on the Liturgy of the Hours (LOH) at my parents parish. It is also called The Divine Office or simply Christian Prayer. The LOH is a form a prayer that dates back to the first Christians. I started doing it about 8 years ago. There are a couple links below for anybody who wants to know more. I also went with my parents. It was a day long class and it was the first time I was in a "class" setting since my strokes. On the positive side I was able to last just past lunch before I had to leave. That was about 3 hours of class time. On the negative I didn't make it the entire day.
I noticed that a class and lecturer moving at a normal pace is too fast for me now days. I'm still wiped out today. We went to Mass and lunch and that is about all I could handle. I just got up from a 3 hour nap and I can hardly wait to get back to bed tonight.
Information
Encyclopedia
Today was the big day, my second Field Test! My big plans of doing it outside got shot down but that's only temporary. Once I have more practice and get off the blood thinners it's off the trainer and on the road full time for me; at least while the whether is good.
I was really happy with my results. I worked a lot harder this time but only because I was capable of working harder. If I had anything left to give I don't know where it was. When I got off the trainer each time I felt like I was trying suck every single molecule of oxygen out of the room and get it to my muscles before my legs collapsed.
I recovered real well. My stats on the second 8 minute interval were actually better than the first and both were far better than the last time I did a FT at the end of January.
Previous FT
Interval 1Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 144
Maximum BPM : 158
Average Cadence : 94
Perceived Exertion: 8
Interval 2
Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 141
Maximum BPM : 150
Average Cadence : 89
Perceived Exertion: 8
This FT
Interval 1
Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 153
Maximum BPM : 173
Average Cadence : 95
Perceived Exertion: 9 - very difficult
Interval 2
Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 158
Maximum BPM : 176
Average Cadence : 100
Perceived Exertion: 9 - very difficult
OK, so I have trouble staying focused. If somebody isn't directing me all the time I will get distracted and end up who knows doing what. When Awesome chick comes home at night unless I keep careful notes about my day, or keep recording in a digital voice recorder she got me I won't remember anything. So, my therapists came up with a plan.Awesome Chick puts a list of things I'm to do every day on a white board. When that list is complete, then I get to do things just for fun, like get on the computer and blog. This is a good system for me because it gives me as much structure as I can get when I'm by myself and it helps out Awesome Chick because I'm more consistent about getting things done that help her out.So today I look at my list! Dust and vacuum our bedroom, OK. Sweep and mop the hardwood floors, CHECK. Clean 4 toilets... WHAT??? Hold everything! I'm sure I've seen somewhere in the Americans With Disabilities Act that toilet cleaning is strictly out of the question. I know I've seen the ACLU win case after case where disabled people did not have to clean toilets. I just know Congress passed a law about it. First my Neurologist refused to list doing dishes and housework as official restrictions for me and now this!Oh well, it guess I'll survive. By the way; since I'm writing this and I don't get to get on the computer unless my list is complete I can assure everyone that our bedroom is dusted and vacuumed, the hardwood floors have been swept and moped and yes we have four sparkling clean toilets.
Well I got taken down a notch! Awesome Chick who is always watching out for me made sure she checked with my doctors, I have kind of like an entire college of doctors, and I got some bad news.
My neurologist is fine with me doing training rides but wants me to stick to bike paths for now. This is for two reasons, one is that I'm still on big time blood thinners. I sort of forgot about that little detail. I have a beard now because when I shaved if I nicked myself I'd bleed all day. The other reason is that because I have lost most of my vision in my left eye the center line of "my world" is shifted quite a bit to the right. He wants me to get more practice riding and to be off the blood thinners before I do an all out effort outside, especially on a street.
So...I'll be busting a gut on my trainer in the morning.
I hate it when I have to give in to clear thinking and logic.
Today was a good workout. I did it on the trainer because the instructions suggested doing the Power Intervals indoors. I'm happy with how my heart is responding. I can really control it and it gets back into zone quickly after an effort like a PI.
I'm in the 10th week of my program. The first 4 were actually a bust because of health reasons so I consider this week 6. WOW, Mommy never told me it would be like this! I'm fatigued with heavy limbs and I can't get enough sleep. The good news is my RHR is as low as it has ever been. I'm really having to dig deap just to even look at my bike let alone get on it and ride.
Today's workout includes several Power Intervals and the instructions say it can be good to do those inside on the trainer. That will help me get going.
Today is a day off from my cycling training. It is much needed. On one hand it is kind of a bummer that after only two days with one hour rides each day I need a day off. But a few weeks ago I was in much worse shape after only riding one day for a lot less time. I had to juggle my schedule so I didn't have two days in a row of training. I'd call that progress.
This learning of the Recorder is tough but fun. I'm really finding out how my brain doesn't work anymore. Just to learn four notes, A,B,C and G I had to make flash cards. I still forget about half the time. Then it is becoming obvious to me that in order to really play smoothly you have to read music ahead of the note you are playing on the Recorder. My eyes read ahead but my brain says "No way bud!".
Α&Ω
Today I think was the third time that I rode my bike outside. First I have to say that the Power Starts prescribed in my workout are much harder on the road than on a trainer; as everything else is. But today after I think five weeks of finally being able to get a fairly regular training schedule I felt that high that I get when my heart, lungs and legs are all working perfectly and I'm just cruising along in the zone. I had this feeling that I'm on the verge of becoming free, that my bike is my ticket to freedom.
Really when you think about it I can take my bike 75% of the places I need to go 75% of the time or more here in Denver.
I'm ready to
fly!
March 3 2007
Or at least he was.... Pain is back today. Just testing the waters really, but I feel him there I don't know what roused him, maybe it was my ride outside yesterday, maybe it was the fact I had some wine last night but I pray he goes back to sleep. Why would I feel pain inside my chest, legs, neck head, arms if he wasn't waking up, begriming to move within the nerves of my body?
March 7, 2007 - Today
Hey I'm loving this! I have felt great the last few days. After the 3rd things got better fast. I think it is because of my cycling. If I am moving around I'm doing good. I have to keep things in perspective though. I've been through this before. I can feel great for a few days and then I'm blasted for a week. We'll see, for now I'm going to go on as if I will never be sick again.
Α&Ω
Dean Koontz used to be one of my favorite authors. Well I guess he could still be I haven't read one of his books in years. Amy, through and article written by Time Drake seem to indicate I was missing Koontz's' spirituality. As a matter of fact I probably stopped reading him because of a perceived LACK of spirituality. I guess I was as thick headed then as I am now.
I've been working out on the bike again. FINALLY!! It's been about a month now. I started on the wind trainer, only three days per week, about a half an hour each time. I'm up to four days per week and I even have riden outside a couple times this week.
I signed up with Train Right. It is Chris Charmichael's system. I'm on the cheapest program but right now it has been a great help. It's great to know that I have a good program created for me and to get on the forums and actually communicate with fellow athletes. Did I call myself a athlete. Hmmm maybe the old self esteem is coming back a bit.
Well our new computer came today. It's a Dell of course. What a nice change from the Lenovo piece of crap we dealt with for three months. It is like going from a bicycle to a Ferrari.
ZENIT News Agency--The World Seen from Rome
From being forced to offer contraception and abortions in hospitals to
placing innocent children with homosexual "couples" Christian values are being
threatened at every turn. I think those threats are also becoming more
powerful as people try to enforce anti -Christian thinking with laws. If
we don't begin to stand up for our beliefs they are going to be legislated away
from us.
My friend took me to the driving range today. I guess I can use his name as long as I don't use last names. His name is John. What a great guy. We each hist a small bucket of balls. He is a great teacher. He has been taking me along in small steps. I was actually able to hit each ball. I really enjoyed the whole thing. Then we came back to my house and talked about Iraq and had coffee. It was a great morning.
What people are missing is that Islam and democracy are not
compatible. They never have been and they never will be. Also, our
liberal politicians love to talk of a multicultural, pluralistic Iraq with
Western style freedoms. Do these liberals realize that in Islamic
societies that they are the very people that are killed because of they go
against Koranic law or the are exiled?
I've been driving a bit more the last few days. My Neurologist said that I can drive around the neighborhood if I have a licensed driver with me. This is fine with me as I'd get lost if I drove to far away.
Anyway the idea is to get me competent enough that I can go through a certification program and hopefully make short trips by myself. Trips like to the store or even putting my bike in the car and driving to the start of a trail would really increase the quality of my life.
Iranian Force, Focus of U.S., Still a Mystery - New York Times
Good article I think it would defy logic to think that Iran isn't doing
everything it can to disrupt what is going on in Iraq. Saddam Hussein via his
military killed millions of Iranians while at war with Iran and Iran hates the
U.S. I think they would like nothing better than to move into Iraq after a
humiliating defeat of the Americans. I also agree with Hooshan
Amirahmadi's statement. Bush wouldn't get away with saying that 'The CIA
is part of our government but we don't control what they do'. If these Qud
Forces are operating then the buck stops at the top of the rulers in Iran.
If they are inciting violence against and carrying out violence against
civilians those are war crimes and should be punished as such. Could you
imagine the senseless violence and death of innocence if an Ayatollah was held
and tried for war crimes at the Hague?
It is certainly not possible to completely form our actions based upon history. But, when we see things like this we need to ask are we even learning from the past? I know we want to be an open and pluralistic society but one cannot even make the argument that radical Islam is not a sworn and dangerous enemy of the U.S. specifically and Western society and culture in general. Thanks Debbie.
Well today I made my first post as a seller on Ebay. Yep I'm in business for myself now. Well not really. I'm just trying to get rid of some junk and make a few extra bucks for some fun stuff. It's amazing how simple Ebay and Pay Pal (now owned by Ebay) make online business now days.
I love this Obamanations! Yep I agree with Scott.
We are going to hear a lot more of these. Talk about Cowboy
politics. Calling down one of Americas' closest allies, claiming they are
an ally of a single person, President Bush, demeaning the contribution an ally
has made to the war on terror as not enough to allow them to criticize
Obamanation policy. This guy barely announced running for the presidency
and he is isolating his foreign policy and all the people on the left are
falling all over themselves to get a look at him. I just don't understand
it.
Michelle Malkin: Obama tries to remove foot from mouth...
You would think that politicians, supposedly eloquent people, would be able to get their ideas across without constantly "botching jokes", "misspeaking" or worse yet "Even as I said it,” Mr. Obama said Monday, “I realized I had misspoken.” Hey here is a news flash for Mr. Obama. If you realize you are saying something that is not correct as you are saying it, CORRECT IT AS YOU SAY IT OR IMMEDIATELY AFTER! That is the way any parent would teach their child to behave, why is this so difficult for politicians? Do these people seriously believe that the American people are so stupid as to believe that the people we elect cannot go even a week without saying something offensive, stupid and ridiculous? That my friends is offensive, stupid and ridiculous. I think as Mr. Obama was realizing he had misspoken he was also thinking, "oh well, we'll see what the polls do and see if I can get away with offending and fooling the people, if not, we'll fix it later".
Today my awesome wife took me to a music store to get a Recorder so I could learn some music. I have read it is good for brain injury, both left and right brain. Anyway I had always wanted to learn the saxophone because my dad played it. But that is difficult so I thought I would try the Recorder. Wow, reading music is harder than I thought.
