Living with MCL

I’m not sure why I get so much joy looking at old photos. Well, that’s not exactly true. I do know why. It’s because it reminds me of a much more care free time in my life. And here’s just a few examples.

These first two were taken in the mid 70’s, shortly after Edie and I were married, during a more ambitious time of my life.

I’m putting on a new front porch at our first house in Newton Falls, Ohio. (Actually it was Edie’s home that she inherited from her parents.)

In the background, on the left,  you’ll also notice two of our 5 cats we had at the time. They both helped me out a lot.

Trust me when I tell you I’m not as enthused about performing this project as I may appear. You won’t catch me doing anything like that again.

This next one is of Edie and me during our boating days on Lake Berlin, near Newton Falls. This was also taken in the mid 70’s, when I was a lot dorkier looking, and I had a lot more hair. [Actually we both did]. They say men age more gracefully than women, but I still don’t understand what Edie saw in me back then.

We tried sailing when we moved to Long Beach, but I don’t handle the open ocean that well, so I had to find something more land based.

Now you know how I got into cycling.

And finally, one of my favorite shots.

The picture’s not that old (I took it myself in the 90’s sometime), but it sure brought back memories of the days when I was a lot more daring.

How would you like to be on this plane as it’s coming in for a landing. That’s the runway you see in front, and a [very close] mountain to the right. And it wasn’t that small a plane either. It sat 20 plus the pilot, copilot and lots of luggage.

That’s the landing strip on the island of Saba. A [very] small Dutch Carribean island just off the coast of St. Martin/St. Maarten. (More Heineken is drunk on that island per capita than anywhere else in the world.)

I even had a t-shirt that said “I survived the landing on Saba”. At least I think I did, because I can’t seem to find it now.

I may have given it to Becky. I’m just not sure. My mind isn’t what it used to be, but old photos always seem to help out in that regard.

Among the many news groups I belong to is one from the cycling club at the University of Pittsburgh. I’m not sure exactly why I belong to it, everyone on it is a third my age, but it is my alma mater, and I have the latest cycling kit, so I belong.

Mainly it’s because I enjoy reading the occasional post like the following one that just landed in my mail box a few moments ago.

Hey Everyone,

If there are any rides tomorrow please let me know.  If there aren’t and someone wants to go on a 2 hour ride I am gonna leave the union around 11. We can go where ever you want, as I am sick of being on the trainer and need to actually be outside.

Now some of you may be wondering, what makes that such interesting reading?

Well, it’s because the forecasted high for tomorrow in Pittsburgh is 34°F, and it reminds me of how lucky I am living here in southern California. Can you imagine how desperate he must be to brave those kind of temperatures. I’ve braved temperatures that low before here in soCal, and it wasn’t a lot of fun, but neither was it for very long. The difference being, here they’re the lows [and it's very rare], never the highs.

Except when it rains, there are very few reasons to ever having to resort to ride a trainer indoors to stay in shape.

When I first started this blog, I didn’t intend it to be an outlet for my political beliefs. It was intended only to be about me, describing my experiences dealing with MCL (Mantle Cell Lymphoma), and educating others about some of the pitfalls dealing with the US health care system, so that others could benefit from many of the mistakes I’ve made.

Of course along the way, the blog strayed from its original intent, mostly discussing my exploits on the bike, and dealing with the weather here in southern California, interspersed with the occasional diatribe on the US health care system. Most recently (due to a lack of inspiration) there were even a few posts pointing out how little people in the US really understand our health care system, and the lunacy [IMO] of those few individuals employing alternative treatments.

The problem is, the more I went down that road, the more frustrated I became, ultimately leading to my previous post where I indicated I just had enough. But more than anything I think I just needed a break. There have just been way too many things going on in my life lately. Dealing with my MCL for the past [nearly] 8 years, waiting for the next shoe to drop, dealing with changes occurring at the the company I’ve worked for over 20 years after being purchased by a MUCH larger company, and the continual dealings with unreasonable customers [and suppliers], among other things, just started to take its toll.

So here I sit, having calmed down considerably, deciding it’s time to break my silence.

So in case anyone is interested, I’m still feeling fine [mostly], and I’m still managing to get 150+ miles per week on the bike (despite the rain, and otherwise lousy weather). I just have no intention of dwelling on issues I have no control over, instead choosing to focus more on the positive [hopefully not mundane] things in life.

Hopefully it will make for a better and more interesting blog!

And it’s not just the rain talking. This time I really mean it.

Yesterday was an enlightening time for me. Not only did I resort to writing about absolutely nothing (kind a like the concept behind Seinfeld), but last night, at a birthday party for a friend, I realized there is no hope. The US is doomed, and there is no reversing the course we’re on.

People who I thought were relatively intelligent, and people who I would have thought had much more to lose should we continue down this path, have no clue in the world where we’re headed. They have been blinded to the truth by their own hatred, and the lack of understanding of the true motivations of those skillfully directing us down this path of destruction.

Of course maybe I’m the idiot. Maybe they’re right and I’m wrong. I just don’t think so. I’ve never known my instincts to fail me, and I don’t think they’re failing me now.

So I’m done. No more politics, no more health care debates and no more pointing out the lunacy of others. It’s just going to be bike riding, some wine, a little golf, travel [even work, as long as they want to keep me around], and all the other pleasures I can still enjoy while they last.

I don’t plan on taking the site down though, and I may still post the occasional update on my health status, but that’s about it.

The plan now is to spend every penny I’ve managed to accumulate over the past 60+ years enjoying myself, until I bounce my last check.

My only hope is I make it that long.