106 days later

I saw Dr. Ritchie again today. I was surprised when he cleared me for easy mountain biking and Karate. He said I can ride on easy trails that are smooth and relatively flat. Nothing that is technical or too steep downhill where I would be leaning heavily on the handlebars. I can go back to Karate and do katas and weapons, but still no grappling or sparring until next year. It's more than I expected, so I'm happy to be able to start those things again.

Success update

It's been one week since I stopped drinking energy drinks and soda. I haven't had any withdrawal symptoms, but I am more tired. Part of it has to do with the fact that my back hurts so much that I don't sleep well. It definitely affects everything I do. It sure didn't help today. Days like this really make me evaluate what I'm doing. Still waiting to find my place in the universe....

No more

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. A few days ago I decided to stop drinking energy drinks and soda, so yesterday I finished the two I had left at work- Rockstar No Carb and Monster Lo-Carb. I have to live differently instead of relying on an energy drink to get through the day. I big part is also the taste, and I will miss that, but I have to live cleaner.

Things you need to know about Chuck Norris

Ben and Susan Byerly just gave me a T-shirt for my birthday- Things you need to know about Chuck Norris:
Chuck Norris can slam revolving doors.
Chuck Norris counted to infinity twice.
Chuck Norris refers to himself in fourth person.
Chuck Norris does not leave messages. He leaves warnings.
When the bogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.
Chuck Norris can split the atom with his bare hands.
Chuck Norris doesn't use scuba diving equipment. He just holds his breath.

Cheesecake Factory

We went to Cheesecake Factory for my birthday. We were joined by Agent and Lisa Peck, Pesh and Liz Patel, and Paul and Liz Chavez. Paul Chavez is my Team Lead at work. His wife Liz is in our Training department. Liz Patel is another Team Lead at work. Agent Peck used to live in Eagle Mountain with us before he moved to American Fork like a Nancy Boy. He also used to work with me until he became an Infidel. The food and company were both great. Not a bad way to spend the day after a birthday.

37ish

Today I turned 37ish. It was my first day back to work after our Boise trip so that sucked. And it took most of the day to catch up on my work. Brian Peterson gave me a Lehi Physical Therapy T-shirt after he tortured me. I taught two Karate classes, then rode my Micargi Falcon GT cruiser and drove my Corvette. Mom and Dad called me and Melissa Dearden got me Baja Tacos and Key Lime cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. Shawn Clark called me from Baghdad yesterday, but I missed his call. His excuse was that it was the 29th in Iraq even though it was only the 28th here. I will hold on to that voice mail message. Not a bad birthday. At least DeLana will always be older than me. ;)

Boise

We got home from Boise yesterday. It was the first time I've done more than pass through. We camped at Givens Hot Springs and took a mineral bath. It was about 112' F. I've been looking for a hot tub that temperature my whole life. We bought fruit at an orchard on the way back to Boise. Erick gave me a tour of Meridian, Eagle, and the local Harley-Davidson shop. Someday. Erick and I watched The Dark Knight on the IMAX screen. That was cool. We took our kids to Ann Morrison and Kathryn Albertson parks. It was strange to see two deer in a park in the middle of the city. The kids loved the water fountain and playground in this picture. Utah should have parks like that. We had a great time and enjoyed our time with Erick, Tami and their funny kids. I wouldn't mind living there at all. Chissa'.

Independence Day

I got to take my girls to Stadium of Fire in Provo last night. They were very excited to see Miley Cyrus perform. I was excited to see the Blue Man Group. I've wanted to see them for a long time, so it worked out well for me. Glenn Beck was the MC, and though I haven't seen or heard any of his programs, I was very impressed with him. He gets it. He understands what this country is about. Six stunt sky divers landed on the field, followed by four jets overhead. The fireworks were impressive, and we were close enough to get hit by the debris. It was a great chance to reflect on what the Independence Day means to me. I thought about Shawn and Darin, and how thankful I am for what they are doing. I don't understand what they are going through, but I know it is hard on them, and they still do it. I'm proud of both of them, and I can't wait until they get to come home. This is the greatest country in the world, and I hope we can live up to our destiny.

Micargi Falcon GT

My Micargi Falcon GT cruiser bike arrived today while I was at work. I wanted to make myself throw up so I could come home, but Paul was gone and I had to stick it out. DeLana put it together and left me to tighten the seat and handlebars. I didn't get much of a ride in yet, but enough to know that I like how it feels. I won't be able to mountain bike until late October or November, so I'm glad to have something to ride for the rest of the summer.

Supreme Court affirms individuals' right to own guns

By Associated Press
Published on: 06/26/08

I copied the link to this article. I'm disappointed that the ruling was 5-4 instead of 9-0, but I will take it. I'm glad I live in a state that values the rights of law-abiding citizens over that of criminals.

50 days later

I saw Dr. Ritchie's Physician's Assistant today. My shoulder was sore from physical therapy yesterday. Brian is trying to kill me. I expect more of the same for the next several weeks as we work on the range of motion. The experience has been much better than I anticipated, so I can't complain. I still won't be able to spar or grapple in Karate until spring, but I'm hoping to get back to mountain biking in late October. Hopefully I can pull off another St. George trip.

Celtic Pride

The Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA Championship by dismantling the LA Lakers 131-92 in Game 6 tonight in Boston. It was beautiful. I've never been a Celtics fan, but I hate the Lakers. I wanted the Celtics to close it out on Father's Day in LA, but doing it for their home crowd must have been a dream come true. The Celtics broke the Finals steal record, completely embarrassing the Lakers. Defense was the key as Boston shut down Kobe Bryant. MV what? This series goes to show that basketball is a team sport. Kevin Garnett (center), Paul Pierce (right), Ray Allen (left) and James Posey shared the load to bring home the trophy. Ray Allen hit seven three point shots. Clutch. This was the best series since the Detroit Pistons beat the LA Lakers in five games.

37days later

I had my shoulder surgery 37 days ago. Today was the first day that I didn't wear my sling at all. I also started physical therapy with Brian Peterson at Lehi Physical Therapy. I saw him when we tried therapy before it was obvious that I needed surgery. It hurt, but the pain wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Next week should give me an idea of my timeline for recovery. I will avoid anything that puts my shoulder at risk so I can get back to my life as soon as possible. If nothing else, this gives me time to think.

DEWmocracy

Today Joel Brown brought me the three new Mountain Dew drinks to work. Rachel Midgley brought me one too, so I felt obligated to drink all four while I was at work. The new drinks are Supernova, Revolution and Voltage, all designed by Dew drinkers. You can vote for your favorite one at www.dewmocracy.com. There are 50 days left, and you can vote again every day until the contest is over. The winner will become the new Mountain Dew flavor. My favorite is the Supernova, and a close tie with Revolution and Voltage fighting for second place. Ben Byerly, Erick Hull and I went on a Dew run tonight so they could try them. I tried to get them to drink all three, but they are being Nancy Boys. I don't really like Mountain Dew, but these three are pretty good.

22 days later

I saw Dr. Ritchie again this morning. I wear the sling for two more weeks, then start physical therapy. I get to see Brian Peterson at Lehi Physical Therapy. He helped me when we were trying to do therapy and avoid surgery. Eight dislocations offsets the therapy, so here I am. At least I'm not in constant pain like I anticipated. I haven't taken any painkillers for over two weeks. The stormy Utah weather makes me forget it's summer and that I should be mountain biking. I'm not a patient person, so this will be a good exercise for me. At least it's temporary.

Eight days later

I had my follow up appointment with Dr. Ritchie today. The nurse took out my blue stitches before Dr. Ritchie came in to discuss the extent of the damage to my shoulder. It was bad. It sounds like some things may not return to normal for close to a year. He tightened up one of the muscles to try to prevent further dislocations. I will have to work through that and stretch the muscle, but it's better than the alternative. He doesn't want me to do Karate for the rest of the year, but I think I can return to things that don't put my shoulder at risk. I won't rush that, but I want to get back at the end of the summer if I can. I should be able to return to teaching next week.

I only know what two of the pictures are. The top one with the metal device is Dr. Ritchie removing a piece of calcified cartilage that was floating around. The one with all the red is where they injected my platelets to try and help the area heal. Everything else is damage.

This is forcing me to use my left hand, which I never thought I could do. I shaved today for the second time. It takes much more time, but the end result is the same. I do pretty well with the mouse when I'm on the computer. I stopped taking the Percocet yesterday. The pain isn't as bad as I expected, but I have a knot near my collar bone from hunching my shoulder to protect it. The Percocet was fine for the first five days, but Tuesday and Wednesday I was pretty nauseous, light headed and forgetful. Tuesday was definitely the worst and I ended up leaving work early so I could try to sleep it off. The three biggest things I will miss this summer is Karate, mountain biking and parkour.

Recovery

It's been two days since my shoulder surgery. The damage was much worse than Dr. Ritchie thought, so the surgery took twice as long. They gave me a shot of Versed, so I don't remember what happened with the anesthesia. I was expecting to count backwards or something, but I don't know what happened. I'm taking Percocet for the pain, but the itch under my bandage is almost worst. At least that comes off tomorrow. I can't wait to take a shower tomorrow. This will be a fun few months. Five to six weeks in the sling, followed by physical therapy. Dr. Ritchie said I am done with Karate for the year. We will see. I won't do anything that will jeopardize my shoulder, but I still have my left arm and two legs. I should be able to teach again on Tuesday. I'm sure it will be worth it went it's all over.

Cabana

It is Cinco de Mayo, so Paul Chavez and I went to Taco Bell to celebrate. No one else on our team cares about holidays from other countries. Slackers.

When I got home yesterday I found my room had been converted to a cabana. I wanted to convert the room so it would feel like we were in a scene from a James Bond movie. I was leaning toward the beach in Casino Royale. I'm sick of the Utah weather, so I wanted something to help me escape, if only in my mind. Now we have a tidewater blue wall, sand, seashells, new sheets and pillows, and new drapes. I didn't have the details worked out, but I like the way it was done.

The last hurrah

Kevin and I just got back from St. George today. We stayed at Reed's house for a few days so I could mountain bike before I get shoulder surgery on Wednesday. I will most likely miss riding for the rest of the year, so I wanted to get down to the warm weather and great trails. Kev and I rode the Bearclaw Poppy Trail in reverse on Thursday and loved it.

Video of me on the Three Fingers of Death.


Video of Kev on the Acid Drops.


Agent Peck, Bevan Erickson and Evan Le Fevre joined us Thursday night, so we rode at Bearclaw Poppy again on Friday morning.

Video of Kev and Bevan on the Three Fingers of Death.


The store manager at Desert Bicycles said the Paradise Rim ride was better than Bearclaw, and it was really close to Reed's house. It was nice to ride a different trail, but it wasn't better than Bearclaw.

Video of Kev, me and Agent Peck on Paradise Rim.


On Saturday we rode the JEM trail outside of Hurricane. It was a great trail with a lot of variety. Kev's dog Roxy was a little beat up after the ride, but she was a trooper. The JEM trail had great single track, good technical sections, and beautiful scenery.

The five of us on the JEM Trail: Evan, Steve, Kev, Bevan
and Shawn.














Kev, Evan, Agent Peck and Bevan on JEM.














Me by the river.














On Saturday we stopped at Red Rock Bike Shop to get tubes. Kev and I rode the cruiser bikes. I want one.
















We played Guitar Hero II, Downhill Domination and MX Unleashed on PS2. We ate at Jack In The Box and the greasy tacos were just like I remembered as a kid. We ate at Lupita's in Hurricane and the tacos were great. And the steak was great at Texas Roadhouse. So was the peanut M&M's, Bottlecaps, Nutty Bars, pudding, Monster Lo-Carb and Rockstar Juiced. I tried to get it out of my system so I can clean it up after Wednesday.

It was nice to spend time with Kev, Agent Peck, Bevan and Evan. We did some fun trails and avoided any major injuries. Kev won with the biggest roadrash from crashing on a jump at Bearclaw. Bevan took second place on the same trail, but we avoided helicopters, broken bones, stitches and major surgery. Everyone got along and had a good time. I hate to say it, but I think St. George is my new Moab.

Nuked

Tonight I nuked my iPaq. I lost all my tasks, contacts and calendar items for the last five years. I was trying to sync with my computer, but the device wasn't recognized. That was because we had to overhaul our computer after we got hit with several viruses. I tried to do a soft reset, but apparently I did a hard reset. I used my calendar to summarize what I did everyday, including my exercise. Now it's all gone. I knew the iPaq would eventually die, but I wasn't expecting it today. It might be time to switch to a pocket calendar.