Meanderings...

The ice cream aisle at Livingston ShopRite has gotten completely out of hand. It has reached a complexity that is not meant for mere mortals looking for a cold sweet treat. It's now worse than the yogurt section. I counted 13 new brands of ice cream on the shelves. 13. New.

what the hell??

It's like everything else in the world. I have serious nostalgia for the days of having two or three choices for things like bread or cereal, not 100.

FWIW,  futurelearn.com has a new course starting in June on exercise prescriptions for rehab and for preventing chronic conditions. No pre-reqs for study, although primary audience is assuming some health knowledge. It's through the Uni of Reading.

Futurelearn.com is a worldwide consortium of universities, offering free online courses, the time commitment is usually manageable even for busy folk. I'm amazed at how easy it is to sign on and be involved, even before the courses start - I'm enrolled in Food As Medicine, through Monash University, starting 2 May (well over 5100 students worldwide so far), as well. 

Reason I'm mentioning it here is to help manage movement while recovering, perhaps finding a safer way to play racquetball (maybe modifying your movements through awareness or equipment), or finding an alternative that lives up to the excitement. 

on a lighter note, I've been obsessed with this video since I saw it a few days ago. It's just amazing and the selection and the placement of some of these clips is just genius.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1F0lBnsnkE

wow, no post since april 20th.

I been busy. This layoff at work (did I mention the layoff?) has caused work hours have gone up dramatically. So I'm doing more work, at lower quality! Good job management!! Way to satisfy those stockholders.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

so I finally got my mri's done and got the results However, I am not impressed with the administrative staff of the "finest spinal center in new jersey". And I'll leave it at that.

So apparently I've got two things going on.

In my cervical spine ( the neck) I've got a couple of vertebra bulging and impinging on my spine to an uncomfortable degree.  But this is likely causing my numbness (which has improved, actually) and maybe pain in my shoulder which I thought was muscular. It might be neural. Apparently it's treatable through physical therapy.

Which is on hold as I schedule more mri's on my brain and my spine to try and explain the mysterious spot on my spine.

Yes, I have an un-explainable spot.  Just like a movie-of-the-week. (do they still have those?)

Wonderful.

drummerboy said:

so I finally got my mri's done and got the results However, I am not impressed with the administrative staff of the "finest spinal center in new jersey". And I'll leave it at that.

So apparently I've got two things going on.

In my cervical spine ( the neck) I've got a couple of vertebra bulging and impinging on my spine to an uncomfortable degree.  But this is likely causing my numbness (which has improved, actually) and maybe pain in my shoulder which I thought was muscular. It might be neural. Apparently it's treatable through physical therapy.


Which is on hold as I schedule more mri's on my brain and my spine to try and explain the mysterious spot on my spine.

Yes, I have an un-explainable spot.  Just like a movie-of-the-week. (do they still have those?)

Wonderful.

Good luck  I hope all works out okay health wise  

Good luck with that, DB.  I hope you get good news very soon.

debby said:

Good luck with that, DB.  I hope you get good news very soon.

Yes!  Best wishes from me too.  Hope all is well.

Well, at least we've determined that my shoulder pain is not neural but rather from a strain. I know that because I aggravated it playing racquetball today, after a 3 week layoff.

Got a cortisone shot for my knee and that's worked out pretty well, but my shoulder puts me back on injured reserved again.

Gotta figure out an alternative form of exercise. About the only physical activity I ever enjoyed doing apart from racquetball was riding my bike. 

There's an idea....

What about hiking?  There are a couple really good hiking groups around.

drummerboy said:

 About the only physical activity I ever enjoyed doing apart from racquetball was riding my bike. 

There's an idea....

We love "rails to trails" bike paths and there are lots of them in NJ:

http://www.njhiking.com/nj-bike-trails/

drummerboy said:
Gotta figure out an alternative form of exercise. About the only physical activity I ever enjoyed doing apart from racquetball was riding my bike. 

There's an idea....

Much, much better for those joints.

jimmurphy said:

drummerboy said:
Gotta figure out an alternative form of exercise. About the only physical activity I ever enjoyed doing apart from racquetball was riding my bike. 

There's an idea....

Much, much better for those joints.

Yeah, but I really get a rush from the competitive moments playing RB. There's nothing like running from the front wall to the back wall to reach for an impossible to hit shot and then nail a killer to the front corner.

OK, I've only done that once or twice, but it was pretty cool.

ok. let's see....

I've had two cortisone shots recently. Knee and shoulder. Have played one hour of racquetball in last 3 weeks. Going stir crazy.

Had my second set of MRI's last week. Won't see the doc to go over them for another 2. I'm not liking the administrative aspect of my neurologist office AT ALL. I had to fight to get two weeks - originally it was three. To go over a damn MRI?

My orthopedist, oth, treating my knee and shoulder, has twice fit me in within 2-3 days in the last two weeks.

Also, I am in the middle, and hopefully on the downside, of what I would consider my first major relapse since the surgery. I've stalled before, but this is a little more serious. Looks like I've gained ten pounds in the last 2 weeks or so. Partly related to lack of exercise I guess. Made some obvious bad food choices. (I went on a bender of chicken fried steak and cream gravy.)

Partly related to beer, probably, too. I rediscovered beer recently, after avoiding it almost completely since the surgery - mostly for carbonation issues.,And, as is my wont, I may have dived in to deeply too quickly.

But I'm down a pound or two over the last couple of days, so maybe I'm back on track.

We'll see...

we're playing this in the Maplewood Community Band summer concert this year. It's a nice arrangement - interesting trumpet parts and harmonies.

But what's cool about the below clip is how well the audience follows the conductor when he turns around at the end to conduct the audience in singing. perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUdWWFlYJWY

db says:  "Had my second set of MRI's last week. Won't see the doc to go over them for another 2. I'm not liking the administrative aspect of my neurologist office AT ALL. I had to fight to get two weeks - originally it was three. To go over a damn MRI?"

imo, be sure to let the doctor know about office problems when you see him/her.  Otherwise, how will the doc know something needs to be fixed? (advice given me eons ago by the office mgr at the pediatrician's office)  Granted the doc may already know about the issues and blow off your complaint.

Congrats on getting back on the weight loss track, and enjoy your music!

drummerboy said:

we're playing this in the Maplewood Community Band summer concert this year. It's a nice arrangement - interesting trumpet parts and harmonies.

Sounds like the traditional Wilhousky version minus the chorus.  I played it when I was in high school on the piano.  Hearing the instrumentation made much more sense. Will look forward to hearing it this summer.

Yes - it is the Wilhousky. No voices.

=========================================

Just got a blood test result from my endocrinologist.  A1C is down to 6.6, and that's after stopping all my diabetes meds a few months ago. Fasting sugars are usually in the 130-ish area. It's not perfect yet, but it's going in the right direction. I'm happy. Maybe I can cut down my visits to twice a year now instead of quarterly.

On top of that, I kicked ASS playing racquetball today. First two games I won 15-0 and 15-1. In four or five games I don't think my opponent made 15 points total. I had great accuracy today. Some of my own shots made me whistle in appreciation. I like when that happens.

I have discovered Decades TV.

Dick Cavett interviewing Brian dePalma and Martin Scorcese.

omigod

  For the racquetball.

  For TV.... Too much sitting... We have little half-bikes, so we can peddle while we watch, or 'row'. Also slows the absent-minded noshing. 

Bad news about the plateau and binging, but great that you already have it back under control. And about the racquetball! I hope the rest of the test results are good.

haven't posted here in a few years, but one of my college profs just died.

here's his obit:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/arts/music/joel-chadabe-dead.html?action=click&module=Features&pgtype=Homepage

I came across the photo below in a textbook. At the time I was taking a semester off from college because, basically, I was lost and didn't know what to do next. I had gotten interested in electronic music while at SUNY Binghamton, and when I saw the below pic, I was immediately enthralled. So, because of this pic, I decided to transfer to SUNY Albany.

The decision changed my life. I spent countless hours in the music lab working on that huge synthesizer in the picture. I wasn't all that successful artistically, but working with electronic music got me interested in computer programming, which is where I found my calling. 

.here's another view of the synthesizer, formally known as the Coordinated Electronic Music System.

Ahhh, those were the days. I'm sorry to hear of a pioneer passing.

On another note, I see your avatar and I'm reminded of one of my notification tones. It's Steve Howe hitting that one string and saying "Okay" before "And You and I"

I used to have And You and I as my ring tone back in the day. What a lovely song.

At one time, there was a category or section for blogs with each MOLer who participated having their own blog thread. Others certainly might post in it in response to the blogger's posts but each of them was unique.  Sadly that was long enough ago, 15-ish years I think, that I don't think those blogs are still accessible.  @jamie, am I right?  I'd love to read mine again.  

sac said:

At one time, there was a category or section for blogs with each MOLer who participated having their own blog thread. Others certainly might post in it in response to the blogger's posts but each of them was unique.  Sadly that was long enough ago, 15-ish years I think, that I don't think those blogs are still accessible.  @jamie, am I right?  I'd love to read mine again.  

 Like this one?  https://maplewood.worldwebs.com/forums/discussion/sac-blogging-around-traveling

for Father's Day

who is the freaking moron who approved the (too large for a wallet) size of the vaccination card? I would like to reward them with a big dope slap.

grrr

can I fold it, or will that just make more problems?