Sunday, October 14, 2007

I think the time has come...



...to forget about motorcycles.

Too many indications have pointed toward not getting a bike than have been toward getting one. And it's as simple as the thought that my son needs me more than I need an alternate mode of transportation. There's that and my elbow. It's not improving and I'm sure that it may never be the same even if I get some treatment other than what I had been doing, which led to the previous post...

Then there's the risk factor for my age group, which since the 90's has been climbing to where it now surpasses the past champion of risk, the 18-25 year olds. Mitigate all you want, but the numbers don't tell lies. I'm sure that I wouldn't be partaking in many of the risk factors that increased the statistics such as drinking, riding at night, riding beyond my ability and hooligan antics, but sometimes you can do all you want and still the blue hair in the Buick or the distracted soccer mom on the cell still crosses your path with disastrous results.

And I think when one is younger, one's reflexes and mental agility are better/sharper/etc, so that handling a bike in an environment such as commuter traffic the earlier one starts the better one has to gain the lifelong skills and knowledge that are a necessity under those circumstances or any other for that matter. I've ridden before, but that was 12 years ago and I only rode for a few years.

Some of what I'd read by riders made a lot of sense when it came to the mental state when riding, and that was if you felt it wasn't for you, then don't push it. Do what your heart and mind are telling you and enjoy what you've got and maybe one day that will change or maybe it won't, it's no big thing life goes on either way.

In the end it was a narcissistic idea to prove to the world I was still a tough and virile male ready for anything the world had to offer or throw at me. Well I guess I'll have to prove it some other way... Stamp collecting???

Saturday, October 06, 2007

I love pain


Please bring me some more.

Last Friday saw me in the ER with what turned out to be gastritis. I thought it was an abdominal blockage or a midget stuck in my gut trying to hack himself out with a knife, damn the pain! It was akin to kidney stones but without the shear intensity of stabbing that that ailment brings to the sufferer (and I have been one of them on several occasions).

The nurse gave me a cocktail of Lidocane (numb the surface of the stomach and esophagus), Simethicone (gas), Donigel (Bella Donna- muscle relaxant), some antacid (obvious) and Phenobarbital I think (to relax me?). It worked a charm, wasn't near as bad as the nurse said it would be and I was feeling myself soon after taking it. Yay drugs!

So how I came into this it seems was from extended use of NSAIDs for my elbow. I was using 600mgs of Ibuprofen regularly as well as aspirin on occasion to relieve the pain from this damnable tennis elbow (I haven't played in 30 years...). I had been trying to work the problem through with home remedy, but now I need to let the physicians have their way with me... or at least my elbow.

Now I have to lay off caffeine, spicy foods and booze for awhile. Damn.