Exercise!

So after dropping off TC at school, I took a 40 min / 3 mile walk home. That was nice. I needed the exercise. The sun had not come out just yet. I had a good walking pace and my calves only slightly tightened up during the last mile. I have to incorporate this somehow in my weekly routine.

Bad Karma on the guy who snaked my camera

OK, so we're out on a nice morning at Balboa Park yesterday to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its 1936 Exposition. PASACAT was performing at 1130. I'm taking pictures with wife's Samsung digital camera in the fourth row. PASACAT is about to perform so I switch from the camera to the videocamera. I'm pretty sure I put the camera in (or more likely "on") my backpack and start videotaping. While videotaping I can see out of the corner of my eye, wife taking pictures. I "assume" she took the Samsung camera and was taking pictures. However, when the performance ended and I started packing up, I asked wife where the Samsung camera was and she said she didn't know. She was taking pictures with her Panasonic camera. Huh? Then where the heck did the Samsung camera go??? Couldn't find it anywhere. After talking with friends sitting next to me, the most likely story is that "someone" sitting behind us snuck their hand in and stole the camera. Aw crud. Come on now. Really? Gads I was ticked off. Of course I'm looking behind and there looked like a "nice" couple and a "nice" older lady (who complimented wife on her eyeglass frame). To me they looked honest. So who were the scumbags that took my camera? Dang it! Why can't people be honest? Yeah, yeah, lesson learned. Friends were trying to keep me positive by saying "don't worry, it'll come back to you" (meaning Good Karma for me, Bad Karma for them). OK, I'll force myself to look at it that way.

I have officially started

Well, yesterday was my first day biking to work. Took me a whopping 10 minutes! Funny thing was, even though it was a short ride, I was a little tired. I was a little late getting out of the garage so I had to push myself a bit more than I would have liked. My coworkers were all smiles seeing me roll up and said it looked like I was riding a long time. One coworker told me it looked like I may have come from IB (Imperial Beach, that is). That made me laugh. Well, hopefully I'll look better after a few more bike rides to work.

65 bucks for gas???

Yikes! I just paid $65 for a tank of gas for my '98 Camry. My goodness, I remember when $10 was more than enough to pay for a fill up of my '87 Toyota pickup. Just one more reason to start biking to work. Alas, I can't seem to work that into my schedule since I have to do stuff immediately after I get off from work. "Stuff" that requires driving a car. So... looks like I've still got a week to go to start my bi-pedaling routine.

Only a quarter into 2011 for my first post.

Hey! It's 2011 and this is my first post! As I mentioned in my last post, I plan on riding my bike to work now that Spring Daylight Savings has passed. Unfortunately, we've had a case of rain lately so it hasn't been the best weather for biking. Hopefully this next week will have nicer weather.

I'm still within my "Year Probation" period working at SWC. I've had good 3 month and 6 month evaluations. My 10 month eval is next and I hope that goes well. So far, so good. I do feel very fortunate to have a job and even more fortunate to have one so close to home. Today we drove to a friend's house in San Marcos. 45 miles! We took 5 north getting there, then 15 south getting back home. Yikes! I tend to forget how a long drive can be exhausting until I have to do it. I can't see myself driving far anymore on a daily basis. Of course, if I have to because of a job, then so be it. However, I think I'm going to ride this thing at SWC as long as I can.

As for my blog here, I think I may just use it more often in 2011 to just rant. No theme posts or multi-posts as my wife enjoys doing. Just blah blah this, blah blah that. Maybe it'll help me clear up the things in my mind that I need to work on.

Just a slight delay...

So I took a ride this morning. Yes, it's been closing in on a year, but hey, at least I'm out there again. Just did the nice loop via E Jst, Paseo Del Rey, E Hst, and back.

Near the end of my ride, I took a little detour through Andalucia to see how to get to Southwestern College through the "back way" to avoid H St. It was pretty easy. Just follow E Jst to its end and go through the walkway that passes by Chula Vista Hills Elementary. Just cross the street and there's another walkway that goes to SWC. Now that I work for SWC, I may just ride my bike to work while there's still plenty of daylight.

At the very least, I hope to crank up my morning mileage again. I'm shooting for about an hour ride, 2-3 times a week before I head into work at 10am.

oh my aching leg

Ever find "drugstore beetles" in your pantry? Well, last Monday (Oct 26) I did. These are little things (2mm - 3mm) that can fly and love dried goods (flour, beans, etc). We had stored some chick peas in the upper pantry from earlier this year and apparently these little things enjoyed it. Yuk!

Anyway, after the source of the beetles was found, I cleaned out the upper pantry. It took a while to vacuum bugs, shake and take out items, repeat. After the pantry was cleaned out to my liking, I sat down to relax. Then it hit me. My whole left leg started to go sort of numb and my hips hurt when I tried to get out of the chair. Damn! What happened? I couldn't sleep comfortably that night and was miserable the next morning taking TC to school. My only mild comfort was laying down on my right side. It seemed that my left leg had no blood circulation anymore.

I went to my chiropractor and told him about my leg. His diagnosis was that I hyperextended my lower back when I was reaching up to clean the pantry. He said that the muscle that stabilizes the left leg was overworked and is causing my discomfort. He said this type of injury is common for many rock climbers who are constantly reaching up while trying to keep the lower body stable. He said to ice down my lower back and the problem should go away after time.

He was right. I was limping for 7 days, but now my walking gait is more normal. Still not 100% but I think I'll be back on the tennis court next week. Whew! I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious now that I'm 40.