March 2025, Schiller Park, 

Columbus, Ohio, USA. 

Halina 35x with Fuji 400.

 

I’m still alive.

 Since my last post, 15 years ago, my wife died, all the pets mentioned previously have died, my two best friends have died.  I’ve also lost about 60 pounds.  I pinched a nerve in my butt and somehow my feet and lower legs are partially paralyzed and rather numb.   This sucks.   My current passion is photography (again) and being somewhat immobile, at least bound to my own property, as I can’t drive when I can’t feel my feet.  That also sucks.   

I’m 70 right now.  Hopefully I’ll see you before I’m 85.  

A little bit of work out has happened.  Been on the exerbike for increasing amounts each night.  Building up slowly, but I can tell the difference each time.  I am also trying to remember to use the stairs at work. Four floors don't feel as bad as 3 floors did a couple years ago.  I guess that's good, too.

I decided to go clipless and got a pair of wide shoes from eBay.  I know I've not tried them on,  but if they do fit, I can resell them, I guess. They are Diadora Team Racer Magnum shoes and the price was very right.

I had kind of sworn to clips.  I wear them loose just to hold my toes back.  I had no complaints, but I decided to modernize.

Now my quandary is pedals.  I've looked at a lot the last day or two.  Every pedal has another clip style.  There's the Shimano SPD and a couple flavors there. the Look-Keo pedals are supposed to give great support.  Every kind has it's supporters and detractors.

I'm leaning towards Shimano 105 SPD-SLs.  They look great and I've read that they provide good support with a medium amount of float.  Then again there are some other models that allow you to flip them and pedal without cleats.  Decisions...

The other big item is my diet.  I don't want to go crazy with some fad diet, but I need to work out something more sensible with protein, and a reduction of carbohydrates and fats.  I'm a carbohydrate junkie. I could live on grain products and sugars. That need to stop or at least to go back to less processed grains.  I've got to study up on that.  On to tomorrow.

I re-directioning this blog.  Actually I am now giving it a direction since it had none before.  So here it is...

I am going to ride TOSRV 2010.

It will begin on May 8th, 2010, 88 days from this post.  TOSRV is a 200 mile, two day ride from Columbus, Ohio to Portsmouth, Ohio, along the valley inhabited by the Scioto river.

Actually it may be a half TOSRV.  They have a half TOSRV from Chillicothe, Ohio to Portsmouth and back, but that's not what I plan to do.  I'll ride the full length on day one, and that's it.  Still for a person of my experience and conditioning, that's a very uphill path I have to take. The longest I'v ridden before was just over 27 miles.

I'll be riding with my friend Steve and about 2000 other unnamed folks. I've ordered a new bicycle that should help a little, and maybe inspire me to earn that bikes respect.

Each day or so I plan to update my progress and reveal my plan to make myself capable of this acheivement.  Tonight's plan is to restart this blog and to ride 1/2 hour on the 30 year old exer-bike upstairs.

Thus I begin.

2010 - Cold as hell so far. Obviously it will get better then only to suck again. Weather. I hate it. Always something different, but it's never nothing truly new.

Hot/Cold, Wet/Dry, Windy/Still. And combinations, thereof. Nothing new.

This is the first winter I've halfway tolerated in several years. But it's still way to cold to do anything than to run between buildings and cars.

Last summer was a new awakening for me. After years of slowly declining health due to slowly declining thyroid and adrenal glands, I fell ill enough for a doctor to pay attention. Diagnosis, treatment and life again!

I began to ride bicycles again last summer shortly after the "bee incident". I still have scars from those stings, a symtom from the adrenal gland failure.

Anyway, I rode a good bit last summer, and am certainly riding more as soon as it gets back up over 50-60f. I am chomping at the bits to get rolling again.

I did buy nice Specialized Globe Vienna 1 Deluxe. It's a trekking bike, a city utility bike. It seemed kinda neat at the time, but I have kind of set it back in favor of my old Raleigh.

The Raleigh is a c.1981 Rapide. A low end bike, but still with lugs, and a nice old classic. Turns out it it rides nicer and easier than the Globe. Who'da thought that? I've been refurbing it, and di so until it got too cold for me to enjoy wrenching on it. More on it next.

I'm 55 years old today. As far as I am concerned that puts me right in the middle of middle age.

Emmy is long forgotten. Long live Sascha. Sascha is a Pomeranian, just over 6 months old, her birthday was January 22, 2008. She's a sweatheart and a monster at the same time, just like all puppies. Now we have three dogs, Chauncy, Hollie and Sascha. Hollie is a white Pomeranianm, Sascha is red and black Pom, while Chauncey is a black Schipperke mix (we think). More about Chauncey in a moment.



I stumbled into a yellow jacket hive a few days ago. There were some bees in a garden barrow next to the side door on my house. I lifted a booklet laying on it and the yellow jackets shot up in a column then swarmed me like a fat family at a free buffet.

I've about 20 stings on me. A bunch of stings on my left arm, a few on my right arm, one on my left ear, two or three on my left foot, one pretty much in my left armpit (that one must have happened while I was flailing), a couple on my right shoulder and one on my right upper butt cheek. I ran down the street past 4 houses before they stopped chasing me. I was wearing corduroys and there must have been 30 bees fighting to get though them (one did). There was also a bunch in my hair which was kinda unruly since I had drove home with the windows down. That was gross pulling bees from my hair.

I wonder what people driving by thought when they saw me hightailing down the street jumping up and down waving my arms about. "Hey honey, you should have seen what I saw on they way home!"

The first night they hurt all night, but by now they just really itch. My ear is driving me nuts.

Well, hell. My cat Emmy slipped out the door Friday night and hasn't been seen since, that’s 5 days ago. I feel crappy about it, since she ran off on my opening of the door. But I'm glad she didn't slip off on my wife.

My wife seems to blame me and I'd rather it be that way than her blaming herself. She's not taking it too badly, at least outwardly, but I did hear my wife tell someone that she blames me for it and that makes me feel crappy about it.

Emmy was a tiny cutie from Cat Welfare Association. They are a no-kill shelter. Remember this, Adopt a Pet and Save a Life. Cat Welfare does not kill the cats, but once they are fully occupied, they can take no more lost little souls.

She was a long haired tabby, petite and cobby, with a face that always had a dour look, as is she wasn’t going to say anything, but she knew you could do better. Have you ever seen a Maine Coon Cat? She looked like that, but tiny. We called her our Mini-Coon Cat.

Emmy was a sweetie who like to sleep on the bed, and for a long time she was boss cat in our house. We had a great big grey cat called Smokey who ran the roost. Smokey developed a tumor on this stomach and had to be out down a few years ago. His heir apparent, Angelo, another big boy, a handsome Black and white beast assumed the position for a very short term in office. Emmy had other opinions, and as small as she was, set Angie right and took over for the next few years, until the appearance of Hollie.

Hollie, a white Pomeranian, set our house into chaos, creating an anarchy, an every cat for itself world, where Hollie kept the cats hopping and scattered.

A few months ago we had some kind of cat disease going thru the house, first PK (Pretty Kitty), our old long haired black and white girl, withered and then came back to health, fat as ever. Then Lillie, our Birman look alike, did the same. Emmy was next. Being little she took it a little worse. Times-a-being as they are for us right now, we could not afford a vets visit. Shame on me, but sometimes money gets tight.

Little Emmy finally seemed to be turning the corner. While we always kept her inside, she began to sneak out every chance she could get. Our next door neighbors thought she was a stray and began to feed her. Emmy was looking good and was quite strong. She had even been climbing the back door curtains in her attempts to get out.

So Friday she got out on my watch and never came back. My hope is someone else thought she was a stray and took her in. If not, I hope it was quick.

I miss her and feel bad about losing her.We try and keep all our cats indoors, but once in a while, there's one that's not going to be denied. My vets once told me, "Nothing good can happen to a cat outside."

It's actually been pretty good lately.

The warming sun of spring has cheered me up and energized me. Since the last post (almost 5 years ago, ha!) I am now a member of STAR Riding and Touring http://www.star300.org/ and recently, I became a Freemason.

STAR is OK, the rides are too early for me, I'm not much of an early riser, but rather somewhat of a night crawler. I ride a Yamaha Venture, a V-four touring bike. It's a great bike, a behemoth of an albatross, it's like an Lincoln towncar. Big and comfy and handles like a boat. Actually it handles well at speed. Low speeds turn it into a crippled moose. There is a fix for the slow speed handling issues, I just have not done it yet. After all, I am a lazy man.

Freemasonry has been wonderful. I have enjoyed every minute of it. I am a member of Sunrise Lodge #783 in Westerville Ohio. Freemasonry provides me with a inspiration to lead a better life, and to be a better man. Maybe that's why I have been feeling so much better the last few months.

I've also joined York Rite, a Masonic order that provides further inspiration in Masonic ideals. I am now a Sir Knight in Mt.Vernon Commandery #1, Knights Templar. Mr. Vernon #1 was founded in 1818 and is the oldest Commandery east of the Alleghenies. Members have included Governors, Senators, and the likes of me. History and honor lives on in Mt. Vernon #1.

I do not intend to get lazy in Freemasonry or York Rite. And they meet in the evening. After all, I am a nightcrawler.

Things could be better, things could be worse...