Tuesday, May 28, 2019

I HATE the floods! Careful what we wish for!

I really am mixed about the weather.  I dislike the extreme cold as it is challenging to ride a bicycle in the spring rain and floods.  Then come the heat of the summer.  So really, there are three months that I really can enjoy biking, which is between early August and the middle of November.  So, looking at the bright side, of winter, at least in the tundra it can’t flood.

Even with the miserable weather, as of today, 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, so it adds 10 miles a day, 36 miles compared to shorter 26 miles.  A week ago, the river was just low enough I had hoped I could take the shorter route, then a week of rain and 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 wait out 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 bleeding still with the stomach pain and, well, you can image 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 that combinations get lame quickly.  I have tests on June 4, and my guess is another infusion is looming!

Work is still difficult. We remain about 20 percent below the 2006 level when the economy was in full swing.  I would assert we have a more significant workload not than we did then. Therefore, I am working most every weekend and losing vacation.  TO date, I have lost 32 hours of vacation and have and average work week over 50 hours. That is only the time at the office, and it does not include the many hours remote.  The stress is at an all-time high.  If I would not be so close to retirement (a few years) I would leave and not risk the health.

My son has been traveling excessively (in my opinion) for work lately.  I have seen him once since going to Houston in early January.  He was working in Germany for a majority of the spring.  I am not sure where his next assignment is yet I hope it is in the United States so he can at least get a sense of life again.  His girlfriend is currently working in Alaska, so he is working 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 hard so for the past year and I think 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 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 have dinner for about an hour before she gets home.  Funny how during the week, we see each other for about four to five hours, and we live in the same house!

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

So, its Porter and I often hanging 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!

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