If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

 Life  No Responses »
Jul 192008
 

If anyone out there has tried to comment on my blog lately, you might have discovered you can’t.

It seems that in the process of upgrading to the latest version of WordPress (v2.6), my custom permalink structure no longer works, and you have received a ’404 error’.

Well, I have managed to fix that problem, so you can comment now should you desire, but until WordPress can fix the bug, many of the links I have embedded in my posts won’t work. I could go back and correct all the links in the 381 posts I’ve written in the past 3 years, but I’m not sure that would be worth it.

And not only that, I just realized people searching for information on lymphoma etc. on Google, Yahoo, or whatever won’t get the benefit of my wealth of knowledge, until those search engines can update the links, if they ever will.

Oh well, that’s what I get for trying to be fancy. Next time I’ll keep it simple [stupid], and I won’t upgrade until I’m sure all the bugs have been worked out, especially when it wasn’t broke in the first place.

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 Posted by Marc at 7:41 pm

Never again!

 Cycling, Life  No Responses »
Jul 182008
 

Well, at least not for a long while.

I typically pass on offers to ride Glendora Mountain Road (GMR) on my bike. I decline, because I know what a tough ride it is, but mostly I hate driving the 45 minutes minimum to get to the start.  Plus it’s either too hot or too cold, and if you know me, that’s usually enough of a reason.

But for some reason, today I agreed to do GMR with an old bike riding buddy, who also is a lymphoma survivor. Even under those circumstances I normally have declined, but since it’s been over 4 years since my last trek up the mountain to Mt Baldy, I decided this would be a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

Well if nothing else, today certainly reminded me why I’ve avoided this ride for the past 4 years.

It’s a tough ride, made even tougher by the fact it was particularly warm today, 80°F at 9:45 AM when we hit the turn around point at Mt Baldy Village.  (It was 88°F when we got back to the car 2 hours later.) Plus there was an unexpected 3.5 mile climb, in the middle of what I remembered as a section of rolling hills, after the initial 9 mile 2800 feet of climbing, which just about did me in.

Total, the ride was 51 miles, with 5400 feet of climbing, and lasted 4.5 hours [with rest stops]. It was just fortunate the return trip was a lot easier than the ride out, otherwise I don’t think I would have been able to make it back.

But, I persevered and managed to make it back with little trouble. I’ll just think long and hard before deciding to that ride again, regardless of who’s doing the asking.

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 Posted by Marc at 5:03 pm

Life imitating art

 Health Care, Life, Off Topic  5 Responses »
Jul 122008
 

Just like the Visa commercial depicted below, the seemingly efficiently flowing checkout line, Edie and I were standing in at our local Costco today, came to an abrupt stop, when the couple in front of us, decided they would pay cash for a $900 Visio LCD TV.

Now while these people did not appear to be criminals or otherwise trying to evade paying taxes, non the less, when someone pays cash for a TV worth $900, it sure raises suspicion with me.

It obviously raised suspicion with the Costco personnel as well, since the cashier had to call for a supervisor to approve the transaction.  Not only that, but the cashier inspected each bill to ensure it wasn’t counterfeit, after which both individuals (the cashier and supervisor), counted the payment at least 3 times, to be certain of its accuracy. Then the cashier had to close his register, while the supervisor collected the cash to transfer off the floor, before reopening the register, to check out customers in what now had become a pretty substantial line.

Haven’t these people ever heard of a credit card? You get to use the banks money, at least for a little while for free, and many times you get points which can be exchanged for cash, trips and many other different things.

I just don’t understand why the government doesn’t mandate the use of debit or credit cards.

At a minimum, it would speed things along at the check out counter, do away with the underground economy, make the IRS’s job of collecting taxes much simpler, eliminate losses due to counterfeiting, and it would do away with the need for the US Mint, all of which would save the government countless billions of dollars.

It might even save the government enough money to provide health care for everyone living in the US [like in every other civilized country in the world].

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 Posted by Marc at 9:41 pm

And yet another bad day

 Life, Work  3 Responses »
Jul 102008
 

I knew I should have stayed home today. Of course that wouldn’t have made any difference, but at least I wouldn’t have to make the drive home dwelling on this problem at work, and how to resolve it.

And to think I almost had the problem solved, until I realized I forgot how to properly calculate reduction of area. Plus I already reheat treated the parts once, which is what I think caused the problem in the first place, so that option is out.

And to top it all off, Becky decided to sleep in this morning!

Oh well, now I’ve really got my work cut out for me deciding what to do.

Maybe I’ll just retire.

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 Posted by Marc at 10:56 am

Oh the humidity!!

 Life  3 Responses »
Jul 072008
 

Although several people had commented to me over the past weekend about the humidity, it never dawned on me until this morning, why I had been feeling so sluggish lately. But when I checked the weather forecast this morning, I realized my suspicions may just be correct. [At least I hope that's the reason!]

The humidity this morning was 87%. Yesterday it was 90%. No wonder, I have been so uncomfortable, despite relatively moderate temperatures.

It’s the damn humidity!!

Now I know many of you must endure far worse conditions, and my condolences go out to you, but after 26 years in southern California, I’m just not used to that anymore. Remember, LA is a desert.

The worst part is, today I’m marshaling at the Long Beach Men’s City Championship. Fortunately it’s only supposed to get to the mid 70′s, and the humidity is supposed to drop to about 50%, but even that may be too high, out in the middle of a golf course.

Hopefully I can find a good shady spot with a nice breeze to sit.

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 Posted by Marc at 6:50 am  Tagged with:

How much longer?

 Cycling, Diagnosis, Edie, My MCL  5 Responses »
Jul 052008
 

Getting through everyday seems to be a bigger and bigger challenge.  Even getting out to ride my bike is getting more difficult.

Today I really didn’t feel much like riding [of course that's nothing new], but I went out anyway, and pushed myself to the edge, something for which I am paying for right now. Mostly I do it because I believe if I don’t, things will rapidly start to go down hill for me.

The problem is I just don’t know how much longer I can continue putting on a happy face, and pretending to fight the valiant fight.

But it’s not just about the bike, it’s the myriad of thoughts that go through my mind everyday, as I ponder what’s next in store for me.

How much longer can I continue to put off treatment? How big does my spleen have to get before it presents a problem? Are my counts too high, or too low? Is that an enlarged lymph node in my neck, or is it just my imagination? Am I tired all the time, because I ride my bike too much [and too hard], because of my MCL, or am I just getting old? And can I wait too long before beginning treatment?

And on top of that, it’s not just me I worry about, there’s Edie as well.

The other day, Edie asked me, since her heart was better, do I think she should now have the transplant, that was canceled back in January.

Why ask me that question, when she already knows what my answer will be. As far as I’m concerned, transplants are a procedure of last resort, after all other options have failed.  And for now she seems to be doing good, so why even consider it? But ultimately the decision is hers, not mine.

The real problem is, I understand her dilemma. Everyday, she has to confront the same demons I confront.

It’s so easy when you’re healthy to go on with your life, and even assume how you would react under similar circumstances, but until you’ve walked in the shoes of a person confronting a terminal health problem, or any other life changing situation, there’s no way anyone can ever understand, or know how they will react under those same or similar circumstances.

And it’s even harder for anyone to imagine how easy it is to simply want to give up!

Oh well, at least I have the Tour d’France to look forward to for the next 3 weeks.

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 Posted by Marc at 12:31 pm
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