I went out last night with B, a friend of my cousin's, hitting up the Front Porch at about 7:30. It actually got a bit windy on my way there, so I wasn't completely fried as I rode my motorcycle the 4 or 5 miles to midtown. +1 before the night even started. We stay there just long enough to watch the Astros blow it in the bottom of the ninth with a bad call rounding third on a double with two outs. We then went to the Little Woodrows on W. Alabama for a quick drink, but didn't really like the atmosphere, followed by the Gingerman in the Village. Let me just say for the record that the Gingerman has the best hot pretzels this side of Philadelphia. They bake them up just right - a bit crispy on the outside - with the right kind of salt, and they are soooo good. After that snack we headed back to the Front Porch again (I'd left my bike there) but decided it was too early to go home and had another. By the time I left it was about a quarter to 2, and the ride home was actually a bit chilly with my summer jacket on. Joy!
Today it's actually cool for once. As of 11am it's only about 75. It hasn't been this cool this late in the day since early May! I'm loving it. Last night was a lot of fun, but I'm definitely not used to going out on weeknights. I'm wallowing around in that slow, stuffy headed realm where all I want to do is fall asleep, but it was completely worth it. Maybe we'll go see A History of Violence tonight.
9.30.2005
9.28.2005
Surgery Scheduled
My shoulder surgery is now scheduled for October 12 at 7am, and I have to be there at 6. Why so early, I ask? My pre-op appointment is the day before at 1:40, where I get to ask some final questions, get my meds, and so on. Boy this is gonna be fun!
I've got two weeks before I'm a one-armed gimp for more than a month. So what do I do to make sure I enjoy my bi-manuality? One thing's for sure - I'm gonna ride the hell out of my motorcycle before I mothball it till January. Maybe a couple of pushups, too, if my shoulder can take it, just for the hell of it. (I never could do one-armed pushups. Maybe now's the time to start.)
I've got two weeks before I'm a one-armed gimp for more than a month. So what do I do to make sure I enjoy my bi-manuality? One thing's for sure - I'm gonna ride the hell out of my motorcycle before I mothball it till January. Maybe a couple of pushups, too, if my shoulder can take it, just for the hell of it. (I never could do one-armed pushups. Maybe now's the time to start.)
9.27.2005
Bone and Joint Clinic
So the follow up visit to the MRI with Dr. Labbe went about as expected. Surgery is still an option, not a necessity, but I've decided that I don't want to go through life worrying if stupid things like jumping jacks or stretching are going to dislocate my shoulder again. So the doc's going to re-attach my labrum to the socket, but to do that they have to drill at least three small holes in the bone to set polymer-composite anchors so they have something to initially attach the labrum to. Yay. At least it's arthroscopic. On top of that, he'll have to effectively score the bone - rough it up and "make it bleed" (his words - can bones really bleed?) so that the labrum can eventually grow back tightly in the right place.
As much fun as the actual surgery sounds, the recovery will be much more of a test. Assuming surgery is on a Wednesday, I could go back to work Monday at the earliest. That's a hell of a lot more initial recovery time than I'd hoped. After that, it's 4 weeks of immobility, then 6-8 weeks of physical therapy to get range of motion and then strength back. Of course, it will be a 6 - 12 months before it's back to normal, but then I hopefully won't have to worry about random silly dislocations any more. Egads, I hope it's worth it.
To be honest, it seems that Dr. Labbe really knows what he's doing. At the Houston Bone and Joint Clinic of 8 or 9 doctors, he's the shoulder, elbow and knee specialist, and is a really nice guy to boot. I'm not worried that he'll screw anything up, just a bit apprehensive in general. As of now, I'm not sure of a surgery date, but October 11 or 12 seem the most likely candidates.
As much fun as the actual surgery sounds, the recovery will be much more of a test. Assuming surgery is on a Wednesday, I could go back to work Monday at the earliest. That's a hell of a lot more initial recovery time than I'd hoped. After that, it's 4 weeks of immobility, then 6-8 weeks of physical therapy to get range of motion and then strength back. Of course, it will be a 6 - 12 months before it's back to normal, but then I hopefully won't have to worry about random silly dislocations any more. Egads, I hope it's worth it.
To be honest, it seems that Dr. Labbe really knows what he's doing. At the Houston Bone and Joint Clinic of 8 or 9 doctors, he's the shoulder, elbow and knee specialist, and is a really nice guy to boot. I'm not worried that he'll screw anything up, just a bit apprehensive in general. As of now, I'm not sure of a surgery date, but October 11 or 12 seem the most likely candidates.
Tuesday Morning
Summer's not letting go of Houston easily. The last few days have had record highs with mid afternoon temperatures hitting 98 - 100 for a good 2-3 hours. The heat index has also been in the 110 - 115 range, which is what really kills you. I'm completely ready for summer to be over in so many ways. Since I spend most of my day in air conditioning, I can't really complain, but with pending shoulder surgery I'm seeing my last few motorcycle-riding days burned up rather quickly.
On that note, my MRI follow-up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon is today, so hopefully I'll find out the details about the expected shoulder surgery and recovery process. I'm really not looking forward to it - one might say dreading it. After all, who wants to scar this perfect body? Right. I'll update later when I'm back from the appointment. I've yet to spend fewer than three hours in this place, and I doubt this will be any shorter a visit.
On that note, my MRI follow-up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon is today, so hopefully I'll find out the details about the expected shoulder surgery and recovery process. I'm really not looking forward to it - one might say dreading it. After all, who wants to scar this perfect body? Right. I'll update later when I'm back from the appointment. I've yet to spend fewer than three hours in this place, and I doubt this will be any shorter a visit.
9.26.2005
Rita and the weekend
As of last Wednedsay evening, everyone was forecasting doom and gloom for Houston, with Rita still a category 5 storm and still projected to make landfall in Galveston bay. Basically this would have been pretty bad for Houston - not New Orleans bad, but certainly not a place you'd want to be. Aaron's flight out on Friday morning was canceled, and he was hell bent on leaving, but I had yet to make up my mind as of Thursday morning. With an invitation out to my ex-girlfriend's parent's weekend place outside San Antonio, I couldn't really not go, since Aaron didn't know how to get there. So we foolishly left at about 10:30 Thursday morning, at the height of the hellish traffic.
13 hours later in a drive that should have only taken about 3.5 hours, we got to the golf resort-ish Tapatio just outside Boerne. We went fishing friday morning and evening, each catching 3 or 4 large mouth bass - cool. But spending time with my ex girlfriend is something I really didn't need, especially since the only thing it cleared up is how much she just doesn't care about our breakup. Whatever. It's still too fresh a wound to really start probing it anyway. Her family is all insanely nice and gracious, and I'll miss stupid little things like fishing with her dad, but it's been nice knowing them.
Saturday morning we decided to leave at about 5:30 to beat the traffic back into Houston, since all reports were that the city missed the brunt of the storm. Indeed, after an uneventful 3h 15m drive back, we found nothing damaged, but were without power till early afternoon. Not a big deal. Rice apparently never lost power, which is amazing since it tends to lose power in even moderate thunderstorms.
In other random news, I got an email from my old roomate Quad Pugh this morning. Apparently he's living in Philadelphia now, but I've yet to get more details about how his town of Lafayette La fared in the two hurricanes.
13 hours later in a drive that should have only taken about 3.5 hours, we got to the golf resort-ish Tapatio just outside Boerne. We went fishing friday morning and evening, each catching 3 or 4 large mouth bass - cool. But spending time with my ex girlfriend is something I really didn't need, especially since the only thing it cleared up is how much she just doesn't care about our breakup. Whatever. It's still too fresh a wound to really start probing it anyway. Her family is all insanely nice and gracious, and I'll miss stupid little things like fishing with her dad, but it's been nice knowing them.
Saturday morning we decided to leave at about 5:30 to beat the traffic back into Houston, since all reports were that the city missed the brunt of the storm. Indeed, after an uneventful 3h 15m drive back, we found nothing damaged, but were without power till early afternoon. Not a big deal. Rice apparently never lost power, which is amazing since it tends to lose power in even moderate thunderstorms.
In other random news, I got an email from my old roomate Quad Pugh this morning. Apparently he's living in Philadelphia now, but I've yet to get more details about how his town of Lafayette La fared in the two hurricanes.
9.21.2005
Houston Cheese Steaks
Just for the record, I had a cheese steak for lunch today at Jake's Steaks, and have to say I was not overly impressed. It was closer to a real philly steak than, say, Texadelphia, but just far enough to make it unimpressive. (Didn't use Amaroso roles, for instance) On that note, I have to say that Texadelphia gets my vote. It's not trying to be a real Philly cheese steak, and is better for focusing on its differences.
News update
Since no one reads this I'm not sure why I'm bothering to update, but what the hell. Lots has happened in the last week that I feel I need to share with complete strangers.
I dislocated my shoulder last tuesday while running around at fitness boot camp. Here I am trying to get my lazy ass kicked back into shape finally, and my shoulder decides it's had enough. Jumping jacks did it this time (#6). See if you notice a trend here in how I've managed to dislocate my shoulder so far.
1: Basketball
2: Football
3: Racketball
4: Wakeboarding
5: Stretching (I shit you not)
6: Jumping jacks
Easier and easier to dislocate, it's time for surgery. I got a contrast MRI on monday, and a followup appointment with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. I'm 90% sure it will need surgery, and by this point i'm completely willing, even as adamantly as I've refused it in the past.
In other news, Elizabeth and I broke up on Thursday night after a few beers and just over 20 months. It happened so quickly that I'm still questioning myself about it, but It's probably the right thing to do. That sure doesn't make it suck any less at the moment, but any minor consolation is worth holding on to right now. Now I just need to stop questioning myself and be happy with what it was.
Finally, Hurricane Rita has the city in a bit of a tizzy, even though it's forecasted to make landfall almost 150 miles away from Houston. People are leaving (foregoing chances to see the Dalai Lama, for pete's sake) worried not so much about the winds, but more about flooding, lost power, and other inconveniences that will most probably be minor if the forecast is correct. Of course if it decides to turn north at the last minute things could get pretty bad, but that seems less and less likely as time progresses.
I dislocated my shoulder last tuesday while running around at fitness boot camp. Here I am trying to get my lazy ass kicked back into shape finally, and my shoulder decides it's had enough. Jumping jacks did it this time (#6). See if you notice a trend here in how I've managed to dislocate my shoulder so far.
1: Basketball
2: Football
3: Racketball
4: Wakeboarding
5: Stretching (I shit you not)
6: Jumping jacks
Easier and easier to dislocate, it's time for surgery. I got a contrast MRI on monday, and a followup appointment with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. I'm 90% sure it will need surgery, and by this point i'm completely willing, even as adamantly as I've refused it in the past.
In other news, Elizabeth and I broke up on Thursday night after a few beers and just over 20 months. It happened so quickly that I'm still questioning myself about it, but It's probably the right thing to do. That sure doesn't make it suck any less at the moment, but any minor consolation is worth holding on to right now. Now I just need to stop questioning myself and be happy with what it was.
Finally, Hurricane Rita has the city in a bit of a tizzy, even though it's forecasted to make landfall almost 150 miles away from Houston. People are leaving (foregoing chances to see the Dalai Lama, for pete's sake) worried not so much about the winds, but more about flooding, lost power, and other inconveniences that will most probably be minor if the forecast is correct. Of course if it decides to turn north at the last minute things could get pretty bad, but that seems less and less likely as time progresses.
Days 8 & 9 (Saturday & Sunday 7/30-31)
So, the pictures for these two days are really quite sparse - not that you'll mind, I'm sure, after the overload of pictures up to this point.
Saturday, the square and surrounding streets in Santa Fe were transformed into a massive pedestrian area to accomodate the influx of people for the yearly Spanish Market. Tons of people, hundreds of booths, and so much high-priced art that I was actually a bit disappointed. Some of the art was really great, but none of it was even remotely close to my price range.
Sunday we got on the road around 7AM for the long drive back. Stopped to see the half-burried cadillacs along the way.
In the middle of Nowhere.
Lots of graffiti overe the years.
But really colorful, and still really cool.
Saturday, the square and surrounding streets in Santa Fe were transformed into a massive pedestrian area to accomodate the influx of people for the yearly Spanish Market. Tons of people, hundreds of booths, and so much high-priced art that I was actually a bit disappointed. Some of the art was really great, but none of it was even remotely close to my price range.
Sunday we got on the road around 7AM for the long drive back. Stopped to see the half-burried cadillacs along the way.
In the middle of Nowhere.
Lots of graffiti overe the years.
But really colorful, and still really cool.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)