Grumps can suck it, it's Friday!

This thread needs a bump. In no particular order, things that have me in a good mood:

- Many good friends both old and new. This weekend jammed with good stuff with many of them.
- Retirement continues to be bliss. I smile and laugh in the mirror every morning knowing that I survived an unspeakable grind and am free to live life on my own terms.
- I've recently found a riding group that gets it. Fit and fast but no egos or 'secret races', lots of great routes, etc. Grateful that they have included me.
- I've gotten heavily into HPDE/sports car racing. After 62 years, I've finally found a sport where I have some intrinsic talent. A great community also.
- The Phillies have won five in a row.
- Trump has been indicted. Again.

I know it’s not Friday but I’m asking for an extension because this is a good mood story. Talk about team spirit, and I love the way the other competitors congratulated her.

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/...ave-belgium-dq

Because Grumps sucking it is relative…during the 4-6 they think it will take to get my back ready for the knife through the use of various meds and injections to try to build back some of the goop in between the vertebrae…I got some good news.

First, Doc said I am never to run again. Which I wasn’t planning to do as I overdid it evidently in the Bronze Age when we wore track flats to run Cross Country and the 2 mile in Track. But thrilled that I now have a doctor’s note excusing me.

MOST EXCITED, that he said I can ride if I want to for the duration. No drop bar. No roads. No pushing hard. No pushing it period. No bouncing off of stuff. Gentle Gentle. It is to be ONLY on a beach cruiser and MAYBE my fat bike if I can get the bars up into a major upright position.

I have never been so excited about a beach cruiser…but it is so much better than the answer that I expected it truly is a major Grumps suck it.

And, I will still be able to live through you all vicariously.

Got a call from the doc - C. Diff - went to the pharmacy and got an antibiotic new to me and now after two weeks of no fun it's just a matter of time before I'm fit as a fiddle again. Apparently the hornets lead quite the degenerative lifestyle here in the Dorptown.

get some Milhouse handlebars and cruiser out the fatbike!

Attachment 123985

Please allow me to introduce Jack Tyler Kirby to the world. Our first great grandson! Mom, dad and baby are doing great.

Mike

Yesterday, I rode to beat the rain and just barely did. My road bike spent the night in the travel trailer and now it's ready to go this morning. No rain in sight.

7 days ago at 5 PM the doc said, if you follow the instructions exactly until then and then you do NOT use the drops, you do NOT go up hills that require you to stand out of the saddle for more than 10 seconds, you do NOT go up hills that seated take you more than 30 seconds, you DO stay very upright in the saddle and you DO go really slowly…you can ride one week from right now and no sooner for no more than one hour but you must stop if you feel any tingling or pain and get a car ride home and call me immediately.

At 3 pm, the rain stopped and I went. Best lazy 12 miles and hour and 3 minutes EVER.

I didn't see anything about wheelies in that guidance. Good luck with the recovery, glad it's starting well.

When I had my microdiscectomy L4-L5, the surgeon said no cycling for six weeks, and after that, no more than an hour at a time for an additional six weeks. During the first six weeks, I was walking an hour a day after work. I went from one mile to four miles in an hour. I was fortunate to have access to a one-mile flat gravel loop. On the bike, I rode on a flat rail trail on 35mm tires. After a few weeks, I was gaming it a little. I'd ride an hour east, get off and walk around for ten minutes, then ride back. The surgery was in November 2015. I rode 8800 miles in 2016.

I arrived at our home in Arizona on Tuesday afternoon. We lived in our travel trailer in Wyoming from early May until 9/11. I had a good drive home through Colorado and Utah to get home. The investment in new trailer and truck tires earlier this year provided some peace of mind on the road. All summer, I was taking three-minute showers in the travel trailer and driving to town to use a laundromat. Now I still take short showers, but I'm not worried about a grey or black water tank, and laundry is at my convenience. The thermostat is also set higher for A/C because I adapted to warmer sleeping temps.

In other news, I submitted my paper for the Northern Great Plains History Conference. The time spent with the Crow gave me some insights into legal issues they have faced in the past decades.

Enjoy, bigbill! Good luck with the conference.

After reading all the horror stories about passports this summer it was with some trepidation that I mailed in my passport renewal on September 6. Today, opened the mailbox and wow-here it is. Only 16 days. Impressive.

I visited a school today that needs a once-a-week technology instructor and an art instructor. Tech is on Tuesdays, and art is on Thursdays. It's a K-8 school adjacent to an Indian Reservation in NW Arizona, about thirty minutes from our house. I'm an engineer, and my wife is an artist with 20+ years of teaching experience. We should start the second week of October. Eighty percent of the students are Hualapai Indians, and there is a significant opportunity to expose these kids to the world outside the Reservation. We will be contract instructors paid a flat rate for each day with no benefits. I am retired military, and my wife and I both have full medical and dental, so it's perfect for us. It won't interfere with our summers in Wyoming. We're calling it "tractor money."

In other news, my paper has been edited and reviewed for the history conference next week in Sioux Falls. It has been a learning experience concerning Indian Treaties and the court system. I think this could be a dissertation topic.

Kitchen Reno is done and the pup is mostly sleeping through the night.
Soccer rained out all weekend so I am focused on making chili and rugby World Cup tomorrow.

Happy Friday!

Wrapping up the history conference. My paper on the Crow Tribe in the Supreme Court was well received. This evening, the keynote speaker was a professor and member of several nations that spoke on the Second Wounded Knee (1973). I had never heard the entire story; it was fascinating and depressing. A few survivors were in the audience. It has been a rewarding experience. Next year's conference will also be here (Sioux Falls, SD). At least I'll know where to find good coffee.

My younger daughter (7) tolerates soccer as an excuse to run, fast. That’s all she wants to do. She races cars on our street along the sidewalk and sometimes wins (there are intermittent speed bumps.) And now she’s on a track team- today won the 100 (by about 15m), 400 (by literally 80m), and fourth in the mile against a wider age group.

I tell my wife we’re saving for all three kids to go to a Georgetown/Princeton and every choice of state or UK (England, not Kentucky) school or athletic scholarship moves our retirement up a bit. Not getting my hopes up but it’s fun to watch in the meantime.

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Originally Posted by robin3mj

My younger daughter (7) tolerates soccer as an excuse to run, fast. That’s all she wants to do. She races cars on our street along the sidewalk and sometimes wins (there are intermittent speed bumps.) And now she’s on a track team- today won the 100 (by about 15m), 400 (by literally 80m), and fourth in the mile against a wider age group.

I tell my wife we’re saving for all three kids to go to a Georgetown/Princeton and every choice of state or UK (England, not Kentucky) school or athletic scholarship moves our retirement up a bit. Not getting my hopes up but it’s fun to watch in the meantime.

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I hope she keeps her love for running. My son ran the mile in high school, and as a track parent, it was awesome. "Dad, my event is at 4 pm." I could show up ten minutes before the race, shout encouragement to my son, and walk to my truck at 4:06 after a hug. I despised swim season; spending a long day in a natatorium was just miserable. Every meet was at least two hours away. My son's team and their cross-town rivals did their workouts at the municipal pool.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigbill

I hope she keeps her love for running. My son ran the mile in high school, and as a track parent, it was awesome. "Dad, my event is at 4 pm." I could show up ten minutes before the race, shout encouragement to my son, and walk to my truck at 4:06 after a hug. I despised swim season; spending a long day in a natatorium was just miserable. Every meet was at least two hours away. My son's team and their cross-town rivals did their workouts at the municipal pool.

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Yeah our kids do swim team at our neighborhood pool in the summer and the meets are brutal. There’s basically a 1:1 ratio of kids to parent volunteers too, so you have to work like every other meet.