Monday, February 27, 2006

slow learner

big d's random thoughts

so after my previous post, what would you expect the next natural step to be? i mean, after my stellar experience, isn't it obvious what i would do next?

wrong!

i went out and bought roller blades for my five year-old and two year-old! see? i told you it made perfect sense. i mean mom and dad already had blades. of course saturday night was the first time mom's had been used in several years. (i'm still looking for mine.) i'm sure you can follow my logic now! mom and dad were never very good at skating, in fact haven't even tried in years, so the perfect progression is to get some for the kids...

actually, the part that does make sense, was the fact that i alwo purchased knee pads for the kids, and knee and wrist guards for mom and dad. we already have helmets, so after the next pay day we'll only have to keep an eye out for elbow pads, leather gloves, butt pads, safety goggles, shin guards, shoulder pads, ace bandages, crutches, ibuprofen...

of course it is still too cold and wet to do much with our new gear. i guess that buys me some time to come to my senses.

i'll let my guard down and admit that this is all about my pride. see, instead of trying to get my kids to do what i never could, i'm trying to use them as an excuse to try again. while i wasn't any good at it, i want to be. it looks fun... you think i'd learn from this. after all, "pride cometh before the fall."

Sunday, February 26, 2006

the danger of the olympics

big d's random thoughts

the winter games in torino went according to my standard olympic habits. i look forward to the olympics every two years. for whatever reason, i don't actually start watching the games until a few days in. then i get into it, and don't want to watch much else. (the obvious exception was 2002 in salt lake. you can't help but be into it from start to finish when it's your olympics. it was fun seeing all the media coverage of things happening in your backyard!)

anyway, much of the coverage i have seen this year, is of the various speed skating and figure skating. last night was a neighborhood party at the local roller rink. you can probably guess what followed. that's right. me, on my backside!

now, i am no athlete. i'm not incredibly coordinated. i'm not even in great shape. but, you know how it goes. your kids are wanting to try it, and you remember having fun in younger years, so...

quick note. things are almost opposite what you'd think. roller skates are much worse than roller blades! you'd think four corners is better than a straight line. what you don't realize, is that you have two feet, so you can control your side to side tipping easier. unlike the long roller blades, the wheels are both well under your feet, so your front to back tipping is the concern. its like learning to stand on feet that are suddenly four sizes too small, and that are on wheels. long story short, roller blades, ice skates, (figure or hockey) banana peels, are all much easier to stay upright on than roller skates.

anyway, even after the kids are bored and off the rink, dad feels like he needs to make at least a few laps, just to feel like he can at least do something he used to do. (not well. ever.) i can usually ice skate without ever falling. i still don't turn really well, and i've never been able to stop quickly! but i want to be able to, so i keep practicing.

so as the story goes, my downfall isn't some great olympic attempt at speed, or some kind of trick. it came from not wanting to kill the little kid that blindly cut right in front of me. that's right, as you can imagine, in a rink full of kids of all ages, on every kind of wheeled device imaginable, the danger was inevitable. so a two or three year-old boy on a small three-wheeled scooter basically makes a wide u-turn right in front of me. (you recall my inability to turn sharp, or stop fast.) that's right, my awkward attempt resulted in the kid having no clue that anything had happened, me landing on by butt and right elbow. hard. after waving off the appologies of his mother, i made another lap, purely out of pride, and then returned my deathtrap skates to the counter.

so in the end, i didn't have protruding bone, or flowing blood, or any of the other things this kind of pain had me imagining. i had nice floor-burn slightly larger than a quarter. it had to be worse than that. didn't it?

well the day after is always worse. my elbow still hurts like crazy when i bump something, or flex it completely. the sad thing is the myriad of other muscles i am now keenly aware of. yes, i am out of shape, and i need to do something about that, but haven't i just proved that fat old men shouldn't exercise. therein lies my dilemma. i guess until i figure this out, i'll just add these pains to those of my sickness (see previous posts) like the pain in my back from coughing so much, and have myself a good old-fashioned pity party.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

i found something worse.

big d's random thoughts

so, as mentioned in my previous post, having your entire family sick at the same time really sucks. as does winter. anyway, it has escalated again. the five year-old is still coughing, but otherwise seems fine. the two year-old throws up on occasion, and is still grumpy and intermitently fevered. i am still stuffy and tired, but better that yesterday.

mom, on the otherhand is worse. she has strep. for the third time since christmas! that's right. barely two months after getting if for the first time in her life, she has it for a third time! crazy right? what could that mean? well, this is where it continues to grow. if strep comes back after the uber expensive, fancy shmancy, super rx given this time around... surgery.

that's right! the medical establishment's solution to everything: cut something out/off. (sorry. another rant for another time.) so, it appears that tonsils harbor the strep. naturally, we're all a bit upset right now.

i guess for the time being, we'll just hope the spendy wonder-drug works, and everyone can get healthy again. i'm not too proud to beg, so any prayers you want to offer, would be appreciated.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

what's worse than being sick?

big d's random thoughts

it's that time of the year. still.

winter, that unholy time of year that brings a plethora of sickness, and precious little else. seriously, in utah winter is like five months of cold, wet, dark misery. what do we get to show for it? snow? it's pretty for a few days. thanksgiving? christmas? not enough. we could have these in warmth just fine. ok every four years we get the winter olympics. that's pretty cool, but that's just over two weeks! why do we need to suffer for months?

ok, sorry, back on subject: if you hadn't guessed by this post, i'm sick. nothing big, just a sinus cold that sucks! just one of the standard things that winter routinely throws at you. but, i digress...

you know the one. you're tired, and your nose is only slightly stuffy, but the back of your sinus feels like you got a lump of play doh just hanging off the back edge of your palate, and you can't get it out in any direction. of course nine times out of ten, your sinus tends to fill and congest and press until you have the sinus headache. (the one where you have a lead baseball just behind your nose.)

i didn't really start this post to wallow in self-pity. i asked what is worse than being sick? obviously, there are a lot of things, including the popular death, tax audit, transmission failure, etc. specifically, i meant that the only thing worse than being sick, is seeding someone you love sick.

so, naturally, the sickness coup-de-gras is the simultaneous sickness of the entire family! that's right, mom has a sore throat to go with nausea and exhaustion. dad has a sinus headache with post-nasal dangle. (a drip i could deal with.) the five year-old has a hacking cough, and the two year-old has a goopy nose and case of the clingy-tired-grumps.

now you know. if you're sick, i feel for you. if your loved one(s) is(are) sick, i know your sorrow. if your whole family is sick, i understand. join me in wishing for a rapid, warm spring, with no relapses. if you don't suffer such a winter in your area, be grateful. if you like winter weather, you're not welcome here! please seek professional help.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

big d's random thoughts

big d's random thoughts

the calendar says tuesday, but it's a monday. regardless of the actual day of the week, the first day back at work after any holiday or day off, is a monday. the meeting schedule may differ somewhat, and the routine may vary slightly, but the feel is all monday!

the only exception is when the first day back is also the only day that week. luckily, the feel of a friday can overpower that of a monday. unfortunately, this is much less frequent.

of course even with a monday on a tuesday, a four day week is still better than a five day week! plus, the real friday seems get there quicker. usually.

the worst is when your internal clock gets screwed up for no apparent reason, and your real tuesday feels like a thursday, cause then the rest of your week just drags!

all this being said, if you got presidents' day off, you'll get through this "monday" and enjoy a short week. if you didn't get the holiday, well, you're already on tuesday, so your week shouldn't be much different that any other. although you may want to protest the anti-american undercurrent at your place of employment. (responsibly, not violently!)

Monday, February 20, 2006

and so it begins...

well, since we're now six years into the twenty-first century, i guess i can finally get a blog.

everyone seems to have one now days, and i'd hate to be out-of-touch. plus, now i can bore people all over the world!