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Weblog -January 2007
Well, a new year has arrived. We went to bed around 10 o’clock last night but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds because we enjoyed a nice dinner at Jim and Peg’s –with Ian and Anke, as well.
Today, Kathy and I went for a paddle on Stony Lake. I don’t think, but I am not sure, that I have seen open water on the lake on January 1. Certainly, I have never paddled a canoe at this time of year. Really, I would prefer to be skating all over the place.
We were able to paddle around Engleburn point and down to the Wilson cottage before ice blocked our way. In the other direction, we got almost to the Tranter place. We had thought about paddling down the lake to the MaGuire-Middleton-Reid complex but that idea turned out not to be possible.
We will stay only 2 nights at Bedrock and then head back to the city. It would be different if there was snow and ice here to enjoy. Lindsay doesn’t start school until the 8th, Amy has to start tomorrow. Kaylee has another week off but she needs to get back into the pool for training. Last week she did a crash course to get her lifeguarding certification, so she has missed a lot of the intensive ‘Christmas Camp’ that is supposed to get them in shape for the January and February swim meets.
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This year I have a New Year's resolution. I am going to stretch every day. Kathy also has a resolution –-for me to do more housework.
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Another guy that I work with had a heart attack! He’s the second one in only a few months. Both of these guys are younger than I am, both do a very similar job, and both are way down my list of guys that I would have thought would be heart attack candidates. Except for one thing -they both have a lot of stress in their job. They were both willing to be pushed to incredible limits to get the job done. I never have.
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I was reading a booklet that my friend David loaned to me. It’s written by a chiropractor that I've met at David’s house. The topic is lower back pain (and what can be done about it). What the chiropractor says makes a lot of sense and it makes me want to go in for an assessment. The problem is that unless my doctor gives me a referral my extended health plan will not cover the visit. And my doctor says she will not refer me to a chiropractor! Now I will have to wait to see if Kathy’s extended health care plan will cover a trip to a chiropractor without a doctor’s referral. Another problem is that I’ve always been told that chiropractors are quacks. I’ve never gone to a chiropractor before, and I am sure that some of them are quacks –but I suppose it is not fair to tar everyone with the same brush.
One interesting thing that the booklet says is that people should walk far more. I sort of had this figured this out myself but I had not gotten around to doing anything about it. Now I have resolved that I will walk for at least half an hour every day –especially on days that I am not skating or going to the gym.
I am sure that in the past year there have been plenty of days that I did not walk even 200 meters total throughout the entire day. I just drove around in my pickup, starting and ending at home, and walked a short distance around the jobs, or into a coffee shop (if it didn't have a drive-through). It’s really no wonder that my pelvis is unstable and my lower back is sore.
I’ve started my new walking program already. So far, my back has not improved. Two months down the road, however, I should be in better shape.
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For the past 30 days the weather has been incredibly warm. At work we’ve been pouring concrete and applying concrete sealer all over the place. At home, I have not yet shoveled any snow whatsoever –and in my real life I’ve managed to go inline skating every week. December was the warmest on record. Global warming is a reality.
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I can’t believe it. I have gone for walks for the last 4 days and my legs are stiff! This is ridiculous! Now I know I need to walk more.
Today I am optimistic that the walking and stretching that I am doing will largely eliminate my lower back woes. I just hope that I have the fortitude to carry on with the program when I don’t have the constant reminder of pain in my lower back.
I’ve been doing my stretching routine for long enough to notice a difference. Perhaps I will soon be sitting in the lotus position while I watch WWF on TV.
It occurs to me that my brother Roger both walks a lot and does yoga besides. He probably also eats a lots of vegetables, gives huge sums to charity and is kind to his partner and his kids. He’s damn near perfect!
I am not the only one in our house with lower back woes right now. In fact, all 3 of us are suffering. Kathy has a sore muscle on the lower left from manhandling her mother’s wheelchair and assisting her mother around the house. Kaylee has a similar problem from “doing a Tarzan swing off the lifeguard chair” during her NLS course.
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My neighbour, Daryl, had a huge problem in his house. His basement floor was a real mess because tree roots had buckled the concrete and gotten into the drains as well. He broke up the floor with an electric jackhammer and I helped him out by taking it to work, 1000 lbs at a time, and dumping it under the bridge.
On Saturday, I got some guys from work to come over and pour a new basement floor. They did a great job and took a little less time than I expected. They were paid in cash for their efforts and everyone (Daryl and the labourers) is happy.
I was half expecting a crowd of old Italian guys from around the neighbourhood to gather around the concrete truck and start telling us young whippersnappers how to pour and finish concrete. It was a relief that it didn't happen because we were busy enough.
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Kathy’s mother was scheduled to go into a 'home' last week but it didn’t happen because the whole place was locked down because of a virus. This happens all the time in ‘old folks homes’. Now Kathy and her 3 sisters are going to have to provide 24 hour care for their mother for the next 10 days or so. Kathy is not too happy about this because she is going to be tremendously busy at work for the next couple of weeks. (She has to organize a visit to the school of roughly 500 grade 8s –who are potential students at Kathy’s school).
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Today I was told where my next job will be. It’s at the Danforth GO Station. It will be refreshing to work on a railway site again. The job is to extend the existing tunnel (which allows Go users to get to the other side of the tracks) and construct a couple of stairways up to the platform level. They have to do this because GO Transit is building another rail line to improve service. I have this job nailed already because I did the new station at Exhibition a few years ago.
The job is so close to my house that I could walk there in 5 minutes. I guess I’ll be coming home every day for lunch. Sweet!
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Kathy and I have some underwear that looks similar at first glance. As a result, I threw a pair of Kathy’s panties in my gym bag to change into after my workout and shower. So, there I was, in the middle of the men’s change room when I grabbed the panties and started to hoist them up. I think I realized the error before anyone else was aware of the scene. I quickly removed the garment and proceeded to dress commando style.
If I’d gotten them hoisted up I’m sure it would have been a horrifying site.
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I had an interesting stroll today. On my way home, I realized that I had not gone for my 30 minute walk so I stopped at Taylor Creek Park (off of Don Mills Road). A contractor had blocked off the route to the main parking lot so I parked in the lot to the north and decided to walk up the side of the Don River. I’d only gone a few hundred meters when I saw two cops and a police dog coming toward me. The yelled out not to move so I stood there and watched them come toward me. I didn’t like the look of the dog but he didn’t seem too interested in me. The cops asked me what I was doing and I said I was going for a walk. They asked if I had seen anyone coming toward me and I said that I had not. Then they asked to see the bottom of my boots so that they could see what kind of tracks I was leaving. Finally, they told me that I probably should not walk any further upstream because there was a guy with a gun hiding somewhere –and he’d already shot somebody! But they also said that I should give them lots of room before I returned to my truck. So I stood there for a while contemplating what I would do if some crazy guy with a gun came running out of the woods. Then I returned in the direction I had come and continued the walk in a different direction.
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For the second time this year I showed up at the gym without a pair of shorts. I went next door to Zellers and purchased an inexpensive pair of cotton ones. They are basketball shorts so if they were only a little longer they would be a pair of sweat pants. When Kaylee saw them she said they were ‘Gangster’. That means she likes them.
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Either all the walking and stretching is working or my back is getting better on its own. I’ve made great progress in the last couple of weeks despite the fact that I have remained pretty active. I haven’t managed to get skating in about 10 days and I don’t think there will be any outings in the near future.
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Today I shovelled the walks for the first time this winter. There was only half an inch in places where it hadn't melted already.. Tonight and tomorrow we are suppose to get 2 to 4 inches.
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My stupid back suffered a setback when I had to use a scraper to remove an inch of hard packed ice pellets from the driveway and sidewalk. It’s the twisting motion in the act of shoveling snow or scraping ice that really hurts. Anyway, my back only hurt for a day and then I was back on the recovery process.
Up until my early 40s I could hang from a bar and pike my legs to 90 degrees. It was no big deal. Lately, I have realized that I am not even close to being able to do this now. I had been suspecting that my 'core strength' is not what it used to be but now I know for sure. I must have lost a lot of core strength with my back problems. The only other explanation is ‘old age’.
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I finally got the drawings for my next job and everything is ‘as expected’. There is a lot to be said for experience in the workplace.
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I have realized, in the past few months, that I can’t tolerate wine. It gives me insomnia. I first noticed this last summer -with red wine (good stuff). Now I have had a similar experience with home made white wine. I guess I am off wine for life. Whiskey and beer will have to suffice.
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Both my hips have been bugging me lately. It can’t be skating because I haven’t been out lately. This leaves only stretching or walking as the factor that’s causing the problem. I am assuming it’s the stretching. Now the question is this: should I continue with all the stretches in the hope that, in the long run, I will be better off –or should I back off? For now, I am going to keep going. I enjoy my daily stretch and still feel that it is beneficial. I just hope that my hips will recover.
A year ago I was having a lot of trouble with my elbows. I wasn’t 100% sure what was causing the problem. I suspected that it was caused by the way I was holding my arms behind my back when I was inline skating and I started wearing braces as well as doing some arm strength exercises. Now, I am positive that the elbow soreness was caused by the skating and I am still wearing a brace (band) when I skate. I have concluded that arm exercises will not help my elbows but stretching my shoulders will –so that’s what I am doing.
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Winter has definitely come to Southern Ontario. I don’t think it’s been above freezing for a week or so. For a while, it seemed as though we would miss winter altogether. Still, it’s January 22nd and we have not had a ‘major winter storm’. In fact, the most snow I have shoveled to date is one inch. However, that one inch took as long to clear away as six inches of ordinary snow –because the one inch was compacted ice pellets which had coagulated and bonded to the ground.
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I have joined a group of skaters who will participate in the 24 Hour Inline Montreal in the middle of July. The idea is that we will all be over 55 years old but at the same time we will be going there to kick some butt. The idea for the group belongs to Stephen Fisher and he did the work to make it happen. His name for our team is “The Flying Fossils”. Stephen has managed to get some of the best over 55 skaters in North America on the team. At least two of them have beaten me in marathons two or three times. I’ve only managed to beat each of them once. It will be a little strange to be ‘teammates’ with some of my closest competitors –but it will be fun.
I love to have a race on the horizon because it gives me some focus in my training. Now, I will be thinking about training hard so I don’t let my team down instead of training hard so I don’t let myself down.
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There is a new movie out right now that glorifies the sea-rescue part of the US Coast Guard. My experience with the Coast Guard is a bit different than the movie trailers. On a trip to Florida, Kathy and I took a casino boat out into international waters (where patrons can legally gamble). Also on the excursion was a big group of Coast Guard employees having their Christmas Party. The ocean was a bit rough that day. I was OK, Kathy was so-so, but half the Coast Guard people got seasick! Even then, I thought the situation was quite comical (ironically comical) –although I did feel sorry for the sick ones.
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As much as enjoy my daily stretching routine there is one thing about it that I don’t like. One of my stretches clearly demonstrates that my left hip does not have the same range of motion as my right. Another stretch shows me that my left shoulder is deficient and yet another makes it clear that my spine will bend better one way than the other.
I suppose that this must be expected after 54 and a half years of wear and tear. The scary thing is that at the apparent rate of deterioration I will be a total wreck in another 20 years. I was hoping I would be one of those old geezers that manage to skate the Northshore Marathon at the age of 80 but it seems unlikely. Somebody a little less competitive than I am would have a better chance of preserving their body well enough to skate up to age 80.
Dad always used to tell me that I was overusing my body and that I was likely to suffer for it in the long run. I remember thinking that he was completely off his rocker. I should have listened.
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I’m pathetic. Since I started back at the gym a couple of months ago I have forgotten to take my shorts on two occasions, my towel once, a change of clothes another time and my running shoes on my second last visit. Dad used to say that I would forget my head if it wasn’t attached to my body –and he was right.
Kathy says that I should make a list of stuff that I need to take to the gym. The problem is that I would probably forget to check the list.
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I can’t figure out why people would spend their time watching most shows on TV. I feel sorry for people who have nothing better to do. At the very bottom of the heap of bad TV shows is “Deal or No Deal”. I don’t understand how anyone could watch it for more than 5 minutes.
Kathy and I have been watching Season One of “Prison Break” (on DVD) and are now a little more than half way through. I’ve been enjoying it but have had some difficulty suspending my disbelief. It’s the same problem I have with “24” -it’s so preposterous that it’s laughable. I could never watch either show as they unfold during the regular season because I would resent the commercials and I would miss too many shows to keep up with the plot.
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End of the Month Skating Report:
I managed to get out skating only twice –and that was early in the month. However I went to the gym on 12 occasions. I’ve ‘stuck to the program’ and started to ramp up my workload –especially with respect to my favourite cardio machine –the Cybex Arc Trainer. I am now able to burn 20 calories a minute for 40 minutes. I feel this is about as much work as I would do in a pretty hard 40 minute skate.
I plan to keep ramping up my gym workload (assuming that I won’t be skating for awhile. I’ll be at a minimum of 3 hours per week on the cardio machines by the end of February and two rounds of the resistance exercises rather than just one. I’ve been really good about sticking with my stretching program and I think I am seeing some results. I am definitely more flexible and my hips are not as sore as they were when I started. Nobody will be hiring me as a contortionist however.
I started a walking program as well (because I believe that walking will help with pelvic stability –and help me avoid more back problems). At first I thought I would walk every day but I’ve decided to walk only on the days that I am not going to the gym. That’s enough!
My back problems are over for now and I have successfully managed to ‘work my way out of’ my recent back troubles. This is good because I tend to just stop altogether in an effort at self preservation. Now I have shown myself there is an appropriate response to a back spasm –other that quitting all activity for a while.
My weight is at 179. That’s because I have been eating like a pig. My activity level is fine. I resemble the Pillsbury Dough Boy but I’m OK with it because I am not over 180 and because it’s the middle of winter.
I have finally gotten around to taking a picture of my new skinsuit. The suits are a gift from Alan Marcossan (one of the members of out team in the 24 hour race in Montreal). Of course, the team is called the Flying Fossils. I am one of only two Canadians and also the youngest member of the team. The team was put together by the other Canadian –Stephen Fisher. 
The 24 hour race in Montreal was a blast. It is a great event (that I should have gone to before now). Just as exciting as the event itself was the online and onsite chatter amongst our group (the Flying Fossils) both before and after the actual race. 
I have discovered evidence that inline skating was not invented recently but rather several hundred years ago by the Algonquin Indians of Southern Ontario. The evidence has been staring me in the face for decades but I did not recognize it for what it was until a recent visit to Petroglyph Provincal Park. The park is situated only a few miles from Bedrock and is a site where the Algonquins carved many symbols into a particularly large smooth rock. The province has erected a large building over the petroglyph site to protect it from the elements and from vandals. 
