YAY!

Well we went to get Marie's MRI results today and the good new is... it's nothing that is high risk. She has what is called a Developmental Venous Anomaly (DVA), not the Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) that they originally thought. Phew, that's a big thing to get behind us.

It's late, I just wanted to get that up for today and now I'm going to bed (very, very late).

So much for getting to bed early during the week.

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I didn't get out this morning...

but before GeWilli jumps on this and says that I'm moving on to clothing optional aerobics or something like that, I had to come in early to work so I didn't have time to go for a ride. I'm gonna try to get out tonight and perhaps go a little further than yesterday. I also could't find my old seat to put back on and the seat that's on there doesn't have any way for me to adjust it (it's a big-ass saddle and when I say big-ass saddle, I'm not only describing the size of it, I'm also describing the function for which it was built --- to handle a BIG ass!). If I can't find it I'm just gonna buy another and move on.

I've been reading some interesting stuff on my thyroid condition. It's funny, I tend to dive into things and research them, expecially when it comes to my health but for some reason I always just left this one alone and trusted that I was getting the right treatment. It seems that perhaps there are some ways that may be more effective to treat hypothyroidism, or should I say, things that can be done in conjunction with the medication I take. In addition to my multivitamin, it's being suggested that I take 200 mcg of selenium, 200 mcg of chromium and 400 mcg of magnesium. I'm still in the process of validating this advice but it seems reasonable to me. Perhaps more on this later.
For now, the day is moving and so should I since this has been sitting untouched for about 2 hours now.

Have a great day everyone!

g.

So I finally got off my ass...

and did some physical exercise. I went for an early morning bike ride. As GeWilli pointed out, the caloric burn is lower than a run but to tell you the truth, I didn't really feel like starting the whole running thing yet.

So how did it go?

Well, it was a little harder than I thought it would be but it was good exercise. I did the 10 km route that I have used for running in the past. It has some good elevation changes that gave me a challenge and got me sweatin'. I started out at 05:10 and let me tell ya, it was dark. I hit CTC on my way home last night so I had the necessary lights on the bike which was a good thing 'cause there was some vehicle traffic (okay, only two cars) that passed me on the darkest stretches of the road.

Observations... well, I need to adjust the angle of my seat 'cause I found myself slipping forward and that 'caused more stress than needed. I also need to adjust the gear change mechanisms as they are a little off. The gearing was kinda off for me too and what I mean by that is when there was a slight downhill section, I quickly ran out of gear and either resorted to gliding or was peddlin' like a madman. It would have been nice to have one more gear. I'm also still uncomfortable due to the leaning forward on the handlebars and I get a little pain and numbness as a result of the pressure points. I have those handlebar dew-hickies that look like a bull's horns so that helped to give me a few different positions to alternate through. Finally, I can't wait for the season to progress a little more to give me some daylight in the 05:00 hour 'cause some of those stretches were really dark and it made it hard to see some of the bumps and potholes.

I'm actually glad I did the bike thing and I'm gonna continue with it for a while before I start the running back up and even then, I think I'll alternate the two.

Well, back to work again and in case I don't post again today, have a great day!

g.

Clothing...

how should I dress for my morning ride tomorrow? I don't think bare legs would be a good thing since it's still a little too cold for that and I'm sure that I'm gonna get hot so I won't want too much up top... layers are prolly best. Hmmm... suggestions from the experienced riders out there (or even all-weather runners)?

Reunited

Jim and I got together on Saturday for the first time in I don't know how long. We hashed through a lot of stuff that had been brewing on both sides for a while and I hafta tell ya, I feel a lot better have had some honest, clear communication with a dear friend... my brutha from another mutha!

We talked briefly about CapsizedCanoe 2007 and his solo trip, we talked about our families, I met his new puppy, Jack and we watched the last half of the Leafs game. It was nice to just hang out with a good friend.

I left for work a little late this morning (on purpose) so I got to spend some time with the kids. I just can't seem to get enough time at home these days. I wish I could work from home on a regular basis but that's not in the cards for a while. I made a decision to stick with the company that I'm with for the long haul and "develop" my career there. I figure I should be in a position to replace my director when he's ready to retire in the next 3-5 years. I work for a good company and it provides a means to provide for my family and that's important. Anything I've seen that's closer to home doesn't provide the potential that this job does and certainly doesn't pay the same as I get now so I have to shift my mental perspective to recognize that I'm here for a while and I should strive to leave my mark on the organization.

Oh, yeah, it turns out that my previous employer has made a decision to outsource the IT operations - something they had been trying to do for a number of years but they just couldn't make it work. I'm glad I'm outta there 'cause I would have ended up being an IBM employee and I don't particularly like the sound of that.

Jim has set a goal of doing a "sprint triatholon" and that has got me thinkin', with GeWilli being the biker dude he is and Jim now givin' it a try, perhaps I should give it a go again after many, many years of not riding. I used to do it and enjoy it and we have a route that I really enjoyed back when I was running on a regular basis that take me along the lakeshore. I think I may buy some new tires for my bike to make it a little better on the road. I have a mountain bike with a fairly agressive tire and I think it may be better to have a road tire on instead. Or maybe I should jsut take it out as-is for a few rides and then decide if I want to change the tires or perhaps even the whole bike. GeWilli chime in with your opinion here anytime. I think I'm gonna give an early morning ride a try later this week after I go out and buy some lights for the bike. I used to have all the stuff I needed but like I said, it's been many years and several kids since I rode and some equipment has been lost in moves and such.

Okay, decision made, I just consulted my WeatherEye desktop applet from The Weather Network and it looks like tomorrow would be a good morning for a ride so I'm gonna do it. I'll stop by Canadian Tire and pick up lights for my bike. I took a quick look and I think I'll get these since they are LEDs and should provide longer battery life:


Raleigh LED Headlight


Raleigh LED rear light

Well, with that decision made, I should get back to work so I can leave at a decent hour and stop off to buy my latest gadgets. Marie will LOVE me... perhaps I should pick her up a little something too.

g.

facebook.com

So a group of people were talking about a website that they were looking at and telling each other to join. They were laughing and saying how neat it was.

I asked, "what site is that?"

They told me, "Go check it out and sign up. It's www.facebook.com"

So I went over to take a look. I decided to set up an account since it was free and started to do a few searches. I eventually started looking for people with hometowns listed that were near where I grew up... Tottenham, Alliston, Beeton, Loretto... and to my amazement I started to see names I recognized. I decided to be daring and send a few messages to the people I remembered to see if they remembered me. Every one of them responded saying how long it had been and that they did remember me! I started to learn that there are groups on the site and so I joined a few "networks" and "groups"... one for my elemtary school and highschool, one for Toronto, ON, one for TDIs, and they even have one for Algonquin Park!

Cool.

Anyway, check it out. What I like is that it's free. Classmates charges for the same thing so obviously I like this one better! This interweb thing should be free anyhow.

Well, as usual, I gotta get back to work.

Have a great day everyone!

g.

oh yeah, it's good to be back... thanks for puttin' up with me! ;)

Post-meltdown...

First off, thanks to everyone that sent me an e-mail after I posted my leave of absence post.

I don't really want to talk about it other than to tell you that there were a lot of things happening at the same time and I was emotionally drained dealing with too much drama. It was all serious stuff and I was just on overload.

I've had a mini vacation and I'm trying to get back to normal (well, as normal as I can get) but it still feels a little weird. Anyway, I'm trying to catch up at work from being off for a week so I'll have to post more another time.

Have a good day everyone.

g.