Miles are up, not sure about weight

Today is the end of July 2019. While the month has many positive aspects, there are also lingering issues and minor setbacks. I still experience anemia and chest pains and need infusions to maintain iron levels. As previously stated, these are about half the frequency from 2018, but they are still required.

Against the physician’s advice, I refuse to continue taking omeprazole.  I started having some real issues in January.  All the problems were signs of kidney issues.  Kidney failure is a potential risk of omeprazole.  I have been off it for four months now and believe the kidneys are starting to function better, and I have fewer issues. I mainly focus on gut bacteria, as I firmly believe that if gut bacteria are balanced, many problems will be reduced.

In February, I decided not to weigh myself anymore. My weight feels lower, and only with significant effort. When I get to the physician next, whenever that is, I will see if I have lost weight. I am focusing on eating as well-balanced as possible while riding the bicycle more than in past years.

As of today, I have 132 rides and 1,796.3 miles.  I have stayed within that level since 2014 and had a low year of 760 miles a few years back.  Since 2010, my top year was 2,543.3 miles in 2012.  I am on pace to exceed that this year.  A subtle fact, in July, I only drove the car for four days. Otherwise, it was on the bicycle.

With my health issues that are lingering from the 2017 hospital stay, it is fortunate my son has been very busy.  Seeing a parent struggle with health issues is just as hard as seeing a child with issues. So, I am happy he is working and does not recognize my struggles.

He was in Germany for most of the first six months and was promoted to work, which increased the demands on his limited time. He has only been able to visit three times this year, and one of those times was a pass-through trip. The timing for this could not be better.

Here is to August and hopes of a 400-plus mile month, as July was 481 miles. Until the following report, carry on, my friends.

I HATE the floods! Careful what we wish for!

I really need clarification about the weather. I dislike the extreme cold, as riding a bicycle in the spring rain and floods is challenging. Then comes the heat of the summer. There are three months between early August and the middle of November that I really can enjoy biking. So, looking at the bright side of winter, at least in the tundra, it can't flood.

Even with the miserable weather, I have 59 rides (28 commutes to work) and 1,006 miles.  The mileage is high now because the flood makes the trip 5 miles longer each way, adding 10 miles daily, 36 miles compared to the shorter 26 miles.  A week ago, the river was just low enough. I had hoped to take the shorter route, but after a week of rain, the river is up about 2.5 feet!  See the chart below that shows the river levels from the last time I could ride the short route, March 19, through today.

So, I await the weather and look forward to the day I can take a shorter ride!

Health-wise, I was doing great after the last iron infusion.  Then, after a few weeks, I started to lack sleep again.  I know I was still bleeding with the stomach pain and, well, you can imagine the other indicator.  Last week, my average sleep was about 4 hours.  I try everything, but insomnia is the first thing I notice when the iron is low.  I think I will start eating more tofu, sesame seeds, and spinach, which seemed to help last time, but those combinations get lame quickly.  I have tests on June 4, and another infusion is looming!

Work still needs to be solved.  We remain about 20 percent below 2006 when the economy was in full swing. We have a more significant workload than we did then.  Therefore, I work almost every weekend and miss vacation time.  I have lost 32 hours of vacation and have an average workweek of over 50 hours.  That is only the time at the office, which only includes a few remote hours.  The stress is at an all-time high.  If I were not close to retirement (a few years), I would leave and not risk my health.

My son has been traveling excessively for work lately. I have seen him once since going to Houston in early January. He was working in Germany for most of the spring. I need to find out where his next assignment is. I hope it is in the United States so he can get a sense of life again. His girlfriend works in Alaska, so he works remotely from Alaska.

That is good as he can spend some time with his mother.  Alaska is a long flight, and he does make it work sometimes.  I know his schedule is demanding, so for the past year, he has been in Alaska as much, if not more, than Minnesota (I think that is a good thing!).  I hope he can continue to get up to Alaska more often, as I know he enjoys the time there, at least when there are 20 hours of sunshine a day!        

My girlfriend has been very busy with work, and we spend less time together each year. She leaves for work in the morning about three hours after I do and gets home two hours later. So, I have breakfast at the office and dinner for about an hour before she gets home. It's funny how, during the week, we see each other for about four to five hours, and we live in the same house!

Then, I work every Saturday on weekends, and she is busy with the grandchildren. That is expected now with three grandchildren (ages nine months, 18 months, and four years old).  She is GREAT with young children; if she could, she would see them as much as possible, but work gets in the way.

So, Porter and I often hang out, which is good.  He has a very odd personality, so we get along just fine!

He thinks he owns the bed!

We found something good to do

That is an update.  Carry on, my friends, carry on!

745.4 – Good? Bad? Not ugly!

As of May 6, 2019, 745.4 is the number of bicycle miles yearly.  Most of the miles have been commuting to work.  I am still determining if 745.4 is good or if I need to catch up, so I evaluated a few years of data.

For 2017, my total was 1,763 miles, and for 2018, the total was 1,659 miles.  That seems low, and I would like to know if I should have tracked some miles as the bike computer shows well over 4,000 miles and is two years old.  Therefore, based on the data, I am almost 2/5th of the way to the 2017 and 2018 totals, so it sounds like an excellent achievement.  I am crushing it this year compared to my 760 miles in 2016. I could do better.  The mind is a terrible thing to battle!  I will keep going and hope we have a little rain.

Due to the flooding, the ride to work is nearly 18 miles one way.  It is 13 miles via the Old Cedar Avenue bridge route, but that route is about 10 feet under the floor water on the Burnsville, MN side.  I wait and, of course, increase my commute miles by 10 miles a day.  That means 190 extra miles, as I finished the 19th commute today.  There is a chance flood waters will recede next week, but we have heavy rain forecasted for two days later this week.

I continue struggling with fatigue, mostly related to anemia.  I am down to infusions less frequently, yet I can tell when issues start, as four hours of sleep is a good night when low on iron.  After infusions, I sleep SOLID and feel better!  I just wish we could pinpoint the issue. 

Either way, I am still alive and doing better. Increasing the miles is nice, but the weight and body stiffness remain issues. Time will improve those issues, provided I keep exercising, so I must not give up anytime soon.

Carry on, my friends, Carry on!

Snow like no other!

I live in (and love!) the great state of Minnesota.  I've been here for over 20 years.  Minnesota is one of the best states to reside in!  Even when many residents complain about the winters!  Winter here is beautiful, just like MN's other three seasons.  Each has a different allure.  You can't beat the beauty in a quiet snowfall, the countryside dusted in white, or having a white Christmas…the list goes on, yet there is an ongoing love-hate relationship with Minnesota winters.

I admit it can be a bit rough.  Last month, the temperatures reached a windchill of about -60 degrees.  That was intense.  Then, three days later, 37 degrees—a 97-degree swing!  It has also been decades since I recall snow, as we have experienced in the past two weeks.  Oh well, spring is around the corner.  I'm beginning to think the below is true!

I had a battle with the Flu about two weeks ago, and it took me out for six days! Each year, it seems worse. Is age the reason?

I have worked out a little after the Flu.  I was able to get two bike rides of 6 miles each.  It was challenging with the weather, but I was glad I went.  I arrive 20-30 minutes each week, hoping to feel better.

I know I feel better when I get these old ones moving.  It just gets hard to be motivated with my job sucking the life out of me.  It is so hard to do my best each day and have the mental capacity not to try to find a hole to climb into until I have to leave for work.  But I must remember that terrible experiences are about how we handle them daily.

Well, I am still alive and kicking and hoping for better days.

Carry on, my friends, carry on!

Time escapes faster as I get older!

It has been a while since I posted anything, yet I'm not sure why, as there have been activities in my life.  I need to allocate time to write!  I would like to know if there will ever be a time that I can keep up with the writing as I desire.  I need to get life in order; all who know me agree.  I have been busy!

One issue was last year, I had a goal to work less, and I made the goal.  In 2016, my average workday was 7.0 hours.  That increased to 7.3 hours in 2017.  In 2018, that was reduced to 7.1 hours.  That may seem like shorter workdays, but that is the average daily hours, all 365 days.  Yes, all 365 days, and no, I do not get paid overtime.  Just crazy how they cut the staff by nearly 20 percent yet expect we still accomplish the same output.  It is challenging, yet I am getting closure to retirement, so I will stick it out a little longer instead of struggling in a new position for a short period.

In November, I treated myself to a new car.  I did not need a new car, but I never purchased a vehicle for comfort my whole life.  It was always a means of getting from point A to B, I did have my Smart cars, but they were less than $15,000 and fun to drive.  I decided to spend almost twice as much on a vehicle and get a smooth-driving vehicle with all the bells and whistles and excellent gas mileage.  What I purchased was a Kia Niro Touring Edition.  It is a hybrid, and I get about 50 MPG!

Healthwise, I had an issue over the holidays.  I had struggled for two weeks with chest issues.  Finally, on Christmas Eve morning, I went to the urgent care and found I had pneumonia.  They put me on a series of medicines that mess up my system.  It took weeks to get back to normal.  I was concerned as I had planned a trip to Texas to see Jordan and attend the FCS National Championship game.  I would also deliver plenty of things to him, so I drove.

The trip was tiring but enjoyable.  I averaged just over 6 hours a day in the care for the six-day trip.  I was part of the Bison migration, a fun app.  The game was an event to remember.  NDSU defeated Eastern Washington 38-24, yet there were many tense moments.  Jordan and I had a great time.  It was excellent, as I have seen him so much less in the past few years, but that is part of children getting busy with their own lives.

I wanted to find a way to ride my bicycle more and drive less.  That is harder in the winter, so I pulled the trigger and purchased a fat tire bicycle—a juiced Ripcurrent S.  It will not arrive for about another week, but I should be able to ride it in February.

So, in general, it is the same old, same old.  I am alive with little time for relaxation!

Carry on, my friends, carry on...