LIVING WITH MCL

A very nice young kid called about 10:30 last night, indicating he found her. Four days she was gone, and it's a good thing he found her then, because she was about 5 blocks away, right at a major intersection with lots of traffic. Who knows what might have happened if he hadn't found her then. She was a little disheveled, but didn't look the worse for wear. Of course the first thing she did when we got her home was head straight for the food. Now all she seems to want to do is sleep. She slept with us the entire night, and today, she's spent the entire day on our bed. It must have been a very trying ordeal for her. I guess it's true that cats have 9 lives. The problem is at this rate (this is the second time she's disappeared), Chloe's going to use hers up before she turns 3 (She's not even 2 yet). But Edie and Morris are happy now. Ok, maybe Morris not so much, but Edie was much relieved.

I've heard it said, things happen in 3's. I sure hope that's the case, and it doesn't turn into 4's or ........... Ever since returning from Vegas things have just not been going as I would hope. First it was the abnormally low platelet count, which fortunately seems to have resolved itself [for now], and then our cat Chloe decides to disappear, and despite repeated searches of the neighborhood has not turned up yet. I just hope if someone finds her they will call (Morris misses her), or at the very least give her a good home. Even worse, this morning I crashed on my bike. It wasn't a bad crash (we weren't going that fast), and fortunately it wasn't my fault (they're always worse when you're to blame). The person in front of me fell, and I ran over their wheel, scraping up my shin and knee, and screwing up the rear wheel. I didn't even tear any of my riding clothes, but now that I'm home, my knee has started stiffening up some, I'm st

Ever since buying my Kindle about a year ago, I've started reading a lot more. I've never been much of a book reader, but the thought of spending more time sitting in front of the TV, being bombarded [for the most part] with mindless jabber, no longer seems appealing.  Plus after reading more of Far Beyond the Stars , I've become inspired. Not only that, but reading has become so much more convenient, especially since there's an app which allows me to read my kindle books on my phone. (There's even this report to indicate I may not be unique to this trend.) It's so amazing when you think about it. Items which not to long ago were big, and bulky and difficult to carry by themselves, can now be packaged in such convenient formats. If you're as old as me, you'll remember when computers took up entire rooms, telephones consisted of two parts, and had rotary dials, and cameras had to loaded with a roll of film before you could take a picture. Now all that st

I've been reading this blog, Far Beyond the Stars , a blog about living minimally, and the quote "less stuff more living" came to mind. That's how a family in Denmark described their life, after an interviewer commented on how small their home was. A home half the size of the average home in the US, without a lot of stuff , but a home none the less, and one that seemed quite comfortable for a husband, wife and two kids. That interview happened quite awhile ago, but that statement has stuck in my mind all this time. (It also came up while talking with the couple from Germany we met at the Aureole Wine Weekend .) It just got me thinking about how materialistic we have become in the US. Even myself, although I don't consider myself overly materialistic, or one who strives to impress anyone. Yeah, we have a lot of the usual stuff, including a 52" wide screen LCD TV, with built in surround sound (we watch a lot of TV), but that's pretty much the only over ind

The further there is to fall. As if it wasn't bad enough I started having withdrawal pains Monday night about not riding my bike, after not riding for about a week, and then over sleeping yesterday morning, and not able to get a ride in before work [and it was too hot afterwards], today I had a visit with my oncologist, and discovered my platelets dropped to a minuscule 112 thou/cumm, well below the norm of 140 to 400 thou/cumm. I had noticed a little more fullness in my spleen the last couple of days, but that isn't really anything unusual. I often have those feelings. They come and go all the time. Even this morning they seemed to have dissipated, and I felt good riding the bike, but that was before seeing my oncologist. Of course now I am experiencing a sensation of fullness again, along with a some feelings of trepidation. Low platelets and fullness in the spleen is a good indication of a malfunctioning spleen, especially when all my other counts were essentially stable. It

Fleur de Lys Aug '10 That's Edie and me having dinner at Fleur de Lys the night before attending the Aureole Wine Weekend at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas this past weekend. Now while dinner at Fluer de Lys was one of the best meals I've had anywhere, it still pales in comparison to what was in store for us the following three days at Aureole . To put it in its proper perspective, I would just say it is probably the only event, or place I've gone to where I didn't miss being off the bike. That's how good it is. The level of the food, wine, and service is unmatched anywhere. It is a little pricey, but there are some things you just can't put a value on. But always remember, you can't take it with you, and the event included 2 dinners, 3 lunches and 2 breakfasts. So it was definitely worth it. Even better is the exclusivity of the event. There were only 28 in attendance, most of whom also attended last year. Some of whom I even remembered. :) One couple even

Last night I discovered I pissed off a friend with one of my recent posts. I won't mention which post, but if you frequent this blog, it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out. Be it known, that certainly wasn't my intention. It's just sometimes I'm compelled to express my feelings of frustration. It's a big reason I continue with this blog. Let's face it, I'm a pretty liberal guy, and when confronted with something that goes against my core beliefs, I vent. I could scream and yell (which I do on occasion), but this blog seems to be a more appropriate venue to do that, not only because it's less confrontational, but I can usually get some support from at least a few people here. But if it's any consolation to my friend (who incidentally I don't hold any animosity against because he doesn't believe how I do) this morning was not a good one. It started off by getting up late. So I was already in a rush when I decided to grease my left bic

I hate Mondays. Monday is a day off for me. A day off from work, and a day off from riding. I did have a golf game lined up in Industry Hills this morning, but golf just hasn't excited me as of late, so I passed. I also could have gone for a bike ride, but I put in over 900 miles last month, and I think my body could do with a little R&R. Besides it was foggy this morning, and that never makes for a pleasant or fun ride. So what did I do instead? I got up (after a lousy nights sleep), surfed the internet for interesting stuff (which there wasn't much of), watched some news and early morning talk shows on TV, and then just got depressed. The ever bleak and gloomy picture[s] being painted by many economic experts is disheartening at best, and the continual bickering and infighting by our elected representatives, and others, repeating the same old rhetoric over and over again, is enough to make a grown man cry. I really need to put a stop to this! Work might have even been m