LIVING WITH MCL

As I sit here at my computer, staring outside at the overcast skys (a storm is brewing and expected to hit California sometime this afternoon or evening), and trying to motivate myself to go for a bike ride, I wonder, why am I doing this? Is it because I want everyone to know what I am going thru, hoping more people will feel sorry for me? Is it because I think it will benefit others, who may know someone in a similar situation, to better empathize with them? Or is it just an outlet for my feelings, and a diary of my thoughts? I choose the latter, simply because it would be selfish of me to think it was the first reason, and arrogant to think that I have the ability to help others. But like I have always said, you never know what you are capable of, or what affect you may have on others unless you try. I did manage to motivate myself for a 44 mile bike ride this morning after all. I worked a little harder than I had planned, since I did a pretty hard ride on Saturday with Velo Alle...

I'm a Lifer! To you, a job is what pays the bills. You put in your hours, follow the rules, and then go home. Occasionally, you consider quitting, but then you think of how bad the job market is and you reconsider. Whatever happiness you get, you get from your life outside the workplace. Relationships, family, hobbies, and outside creative pursuits are what really matter to you. You're probably taking this test at work because you don't have anything better to do. Talent: 41% Lifer: 59% Mandarin: 44% Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.

This is always the time of year I hate the most. I'm sure I'm not alone in that belief, but that still doesn't make it any more reassuring. This past week did, however, seem unlike any other I can remember in a long time. It's not so much that it was cold in the mornings, which is typical most of the time for soCal, but its that the cold never seemed to mitigate throughout the day, making golfing and cylcing more difficult. I still managed to get in 3 rounds of golf on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday last week, although Saturday was somewhat difficult due to the added rain. Fortunately it only rained for a total of 3 holes, but the sun only shined briefly, and it never warmed up any significant amount. I did manage to ride my bike on Friday, but haven't ridden since then, and may just take off another couple of days to rest up. I was a little sore on Sunday, I hope from all the golfing I did the past week. The biggest problem I have right now is, I just don'...

Although the two topics are not necessarily related, I didn't want to do two posts. First, my wife found this one. This is old news, but since we're both big wine drinkers (mainly Pinot Noir's), I thought it was worth repeating. Whether the effects can be translated to humans is really a stretch at this point, since studies have only been performed on short lived species i.e. worms, fruit flies and small fish. Still, I figure anything to rationalize the enjoyment of wine has to be a good thing. Red Wine Ingredient May Delay Aging By Jennifer Warner - WebMD Medical News A new study shows an ingredient found in red wine, ...previously shown to prolong the life of worms and fruit flies, may extend the lifespan of vertebrate animals like fish and possibly humans. Researchers found adding resveratrol, an organic compound found in grapes and particularly in red wine [more concentrated in Pinot Noir] , to the daily diet of short-lived fish prolonged their lifespan and delayed...

Even after riding my bike 30 miles this AM. Didn't score very well (101), but I had at least 4 - 3 putt greens, and 1 - 4 putt green. I did have some good shots, and was mostly able to control my tempo the entire game. Consistency should come with more practice. Tomorrow I'm playing in my first tournament this year, at Recreation Park in Long Beach, with the Honeywell Hackers. It's a relatively short course, although there are a number of long par 4's that are difficult, since I'm not a long hitter. It also has a lot of elevation change which make it a challenging course considering its short length. Next week I have another tournament with the Sold Out Survivors at the SCGA members course in Temecula. That is a much more difficult course, and should be a good test of my come back. The weather has warmed up slightly over the last couple of days, so things are looking up. Anybody out here in SoCal interested in playing golf, let me know. I'm off on Wedne...

A little over one month into 2006, and so far things are starting out pretty good. I'm gradually recovering from my accident, and starting to get back into shape. I'm finally able to swing a golf club to a point that I'm going to play in my first tournament this weekend, at a local course. This is actually a warm up round for another tournament I'm playing in at the Southern California Golf Assoc (SCGA) member course in Temecula on 2/18. My oncologist suggested that Rituxan only would be an acceptable treatment plan initially for my MCL. Of course he is moving to Texas soon, so I'm hoping my new oncologist will be of the same opinion. And after a 26 year drought, the Pittsburgh (the city where I was born and raised) Steelers won the Super Bowl yesterday. Unless you're a Steeler or Seahawks fan, I'm sure the game wasn't overly exciting, but at least it was close for most of the game, which is lot more than can be said for previous games. And I certa...