Day 5

This is not a good day. I am having some kind of adverse reaction to the percocet - it makes my whole body itch and instead of knocking me out, it makes me edgy. I called the nurse at the hospital. They need to put me on something that will kill the pain, but not turn me into a freaking tweaker.

And Sunrise International is at a Bhuddist school in Cambodia this morning, so I guess maybe China is not the only place they film.

Hopefully I can get some real painkillers today that will work. Right now, I just want to squeeze something until it pops and guts squirt all over the place. Good thing I don't own a hamster.

Day 4

OK. This Sunrise International seems to focus on China being the "International".

This time its rice patties. Beautiful, yes, but worth a full hour of HD broadcast?

Anyway, I did my physical therapy exercises this morning. They suck. Seriously. But I won't be able to lift a beer properly unless I do them. Wouldn't want to disappoint at my first Circle back from surgery.

This convalescent leave stuff? It's all right, I guess. I can paint the nail holes in my trim with my left hand - and I do have enough use of my right hand to do so as well. I can re-design and publish a new Kimchi web site. Oh, and I can make fun of Net's Mom.

Physical Therapy

Um ... Let's just say that the physical therapist must have apprenticed with Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition.

But I'm going to do what they tell me to. I want to get this shoulder in shape for those 12-oz curls, not to mention all the beer-pong rehab I have to do in order to get back into playing shape. Ugh.

So, you should see the pretty designs the doc carved into my shoulder. We should play "connect the scars" during circle some time and see if it looks like a beer label. My guess? PBR

Day 3 of convalescent leave

And I'm watching "Sunrise Earth International".

This morning, it's the Li River in XingPing, China, where fisherman have trained cormorants (one of my favorite birds) to fish for them. They tie a string around the bird's throat at the base, so that the bird can not swallow the fish whole the way it would naturally. Then they kick it off of their little bamboo raft into the water, the birds catch two or three fish, they pick the bird up by having it stand on the pole they use to propel the boat and they make it "drop" (read: barf) the fish into a little basket.

This is almost as much fun as watching paint dry.

I need a hobby.

By the way, surgery went well. Looking at the pics from the orthoscope, which I really don't have a clue what they are, it looked like things were pretty fucked up in my shoulder. But they gave me this cool thing called "Game Ready". You load the box with ice and water and put on this bladder contraption over the appendage in question (my SHOULDER you perverts!). Then you set it and it pumps icy water through the bladder, and can also add compression. Makes for much less swelling, hence, much less pain. Apparently, this is the pro athlete's alternative to sitting in an ice bath. Sign me up.

Damn, I really do need a hobby, don't I?

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Family, turkey, pie, beer. Mmmmmmmm ... beer.

Mt. Belford

Finally got my computer to stop giving me grief!

Wanker pics are here, click the pic above for the serious ones.

FR379

I've been contemplating selling the Truckie - my 1984 Toyota LandCruiser FJ60. I decided that the best way to advertise this awesome piece of Japanese engineering (NO sarcasm here - this truck ROCKS!!!) was to go get it dirty and take pictures of it in action.

We loaded up our goofy dog (he's talking to us here when we asked his if he wanted to go for a ride) and packed some lunch and headed for the hills.

First, we went up Gold Camp Road and ended up going through Bear Creek Park - some neat views there, none of which we remembered to take pictures of, but it was fun.

Then, we headed into Broadmoor and up Old Stage Road, where I knew there were some good jeep tracks.

It didn't take us long to find some killer trail, and I had Truckie in four and rarin' to go. The first obstacle was some washed out roads - light sand, very loose terrain and kind of a pain - except that I have some very good all-terrain tires and locking hubs, solid axles and four-low. First obstacle? No problem.



Notice the flex, how deep the tires reach and then think about this: this is the STOCK suspension. The clearance and amazing abilities of the LandCruiser frame would prove themselves several times during the drive.




This is amazing. No lift, nothing special. Stock 4x4. This truck will crawl a wall in four-low and not even break a sweat. It's straight-six engine is a dog on the highway - I'll be the first to admit that, but get into a four-wheeling situation, throw it into low and watch out! Torque is where it's at in this kind of situation and Truckie's got it! It handled trail other rigs couldn't, and we even stopped and helped get a Land Rover (cheap wannabe, if you ask me) out of a rough stick.

Here's the whole album - some nice scenery shots in there. This was a really fun afternoon, and all it cost was some fun and 1/4 tank of gas. And I got to embarrass a Land Rover driver with my old-ass Truckie!!!