LIVING WITH MCL

But then I cried! Proposition 20, removes elected representatives from the process of establishing congressional districts and transfers that authority to the recently-authorized 14-member redistricting commission comprised of Democrats, Republicans, and representatives of neither party. Not necessarily a bad idea, but Proposition 27 eliminates the [recently-authorized] 14-member redistricting commission and consolidates the authority for establishing state Assembly, Senate and Board of Equalization districts with elected representatives who draw congressional districts. That is just getting ridiculous! What happens if both propositions pass? What California really needs is a proposition to end all propositions, or if we don't want elected representatives to run the state, then how about a proposition to disband the legislature, and put everything up for a vote of the people [letting the special interests run the state]?

Since it's raining today, I didn't have much to do [I couldn't ride my bike], so I thought I'd complain about some of the little things that bug me. I know I'm not supposed to sweat the little things, which I don't [for the most part], but these are so minuscule, I figure they don't really count. One of my biggest complaints are walnuts, or any kind of nuts, in chocolate chip cookies. Nuts have no business in chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies are sweet. They're a dessert, and nuts provide an unwanted texture, and flavor that takes away from that. Nuts don't belong in chocolate chip cookies. And come to think about it, nuts don't belong in brownies either, but I don't usually eat brownies (I don't particularly like them), so I don't really care. Still they don't belong. They're OK in Snickers, but that's about it. Another complaint is with people who buy [or rent] a convertible, and then drive around in it with...

Just got back from my visit with the oncologist, and my platelets are back to normal (198 thou/cumm), which is a wee bit better then the 112 thou/cumm reported on my last test . (It looks like my instincts were correct. It was obviously a bad test.) Even my ferritin and Vitamin D levels were within the normal range. Not only that, but the sun is actually shining right now, which is something we haven't seen a lot of over the past week, but hopefully will be seeing a little bit more of in the coming days. It's still so hard for me to fathom my good fortune to have exceeded 8½ years since my diagnosis of MCL, without requiring any treatment. I'm not sure if there are any others in the world like myself, but I doubt there are many. It could just be I was diagnosed so early, that if there are any others, it's more likely they just haven't even been diagnosed yet. However, I choose to believe it's the cycling, green tea and red [and white] wine that has managed to ke...

I've come to the realization I spend way to much time sitting in front of my computer. I've actually known this for a long time, but I just don't seem to be able to do much about it. Some of it is actually productive, like answering work emails, keeping track of my finances, and logging in my miles on the bike, but that only takes up a small portion of my time in front of the computer. Too much time is spent playing around on Facebook, reading emails from other lymphoma survivors (OK, that might actually be considered worthwhile), and reading news and political commentary, sometimes even commenting when the urge arises. Even writing this blog seems to occupy more time than I would like. And now that I have my DroidX, I find myself spending even more time staring at a VDU (visual display unit). Certainly the internet has been a boon to the world in many ways. Most notably for the amount of information that has been made much more readily available to everyone, and something ...

I don't get the Toyota (my commute car) washed for at least 3 months, because I always seem to leave before the car wash guy arrives at work. But yesterday he arrived early, well before my departure time. So I decided to have it washed. He was actually a welcomed sight, as the car was pretty dirty. But guess what I discovered when I woke up this morning? That's right! It rained, and is still raining. It's not raining very hard, but none the less, it is raining. It's just a good thing I didn't plan on riding this morning. I might have really been disappointed then. Now I'm just wandering if anyone is going to show up at the coffee shop.

Well I got my dose of NE Ohio and Pittsburgh this past week, and the experience can pretty much be summed up by those 4 words. I didn't expect much from Newton Falls, but neither did I expect what I saw. The area is unbelievably depressed. Abandoned factories, store fronts and houses are everywhere, and what houses aren't abandoned are unbelievably dilapidated. It was truly depressing, to see a place I lived for 4 years, and where Edie grew up, deteriorate so much. But I was even disappointed in Pittsburgh as well. I had heard so much about how Pittsburgh had changed, and while there where a lot of improvements, especially in the downtown area, most of the city was either unchanged or depressed as well. The streets are narrower than I remember, the houses smaller, the streets in worse condition than in LA, and riding a bike in this city can definitely be hazardous to your health. Plus all my favorite breakfast and deli haunts were replaced by Starbucks and Brueggers. Even the f...

Here's another reason not to like about living back east. Can you believe it's 7:05 AM, as I'm starting this post, and it's still freakin' dark outside. And it's not because there is a heavy cloud cover [due to threatening rain]. Sunrise isn't until 7:23 AM. Heck, back home I'd already have been on the bike for about 20 minutes [not posting to my blog] heading down to the marina for my bike ride. And it's not just the sunrise. Everything seems to start later back here. The stock market doesn't open until 9:30 AM, Sunday football games don't start until 1 PM, and by the time Monday night football starts, I'd be getting ready for bed. Plus it makes dealing with companies out west (assuming you're still working and not retired) more difficult, having to wait for everyone on the west coast to wake up and get to work, before you can accomplish anything. I'm sure the fact I've lived in CA much longer than I lived in Pittsburgh or NE...

3 days into our trip back to Ohio for Edie's 40th high school reunion, everything seemed to be going fine. All the reunion events were behind us, and the only thing left was the open house at Edie's sister's house Sunday to get through. I was even sort of enjoying myself. The weather wasn't great, but we weren't spending a lot of time outside either. But then as I was just standing around talking with family, without warning, and for no apparent reason, my nose starts to bleed. Fortunately I realized what was happening (after Edie gasped), and I was able to get to the bathroom without making a mess, and stop it in a very short time. Unbelievable! This is way too reminiscent of what happened just over a year ago, when I eventually had to have my nose cauterized because of spontaneous nose bleeds. The only difference this time is it's my right nostril instead of my left. Why does this keep happening? Nose bleeds aren't listed as a symptom or manifestation o...