A blessing and a curse

I read an article yesterday about brain injury. It got me to thinking ... this has turned out to be the longest, most frustrating, depressing thing that has ever happened to me. It's really easy to wallow in "why me"?
On the other hand, I would be the first to say, "why not me", and expect somebody else to get on with life. After all, I've now known two people who've died around my age, and neither of them was "asking for it" either.
That's the perspective I really need to have, in that as a whole, I got off light. Most of my function is back, and I'm only slightly limited in what I can do. Overall, the world is my oyster, and I've been given an extraordinary chance to both (a) see it for what it is (a second, more aware, chance), and (b) the freedom to go and do something with (a). There's a line that  Stephen Covey has in "Seven Habits ..." about how you should strive to "live, love, laugh, and leave a legacy". I have the first and third covered, the second is always a work-in-process, and the last is why we have religion. Being an arrogant atheist, the "leave a legacy" part is the hardest. What I can only hope is that my grandchildren one day will say "my grandpa was crazy, and did a lot of strange, interesting things".

Brodie bike decision

I finally "bit the bullet" and got a bike that I hadn't even considered until a few days ago ... a Brodie Elan. Supposed to be strong enough to take whatever damage I can dish out, and the price was considerably lower than what I expected to pay. I ordered it loaded up with x-county tires, rear rack, kickstand, fenders, an adjustable head-stay (to fine tune the fit without cutting lots of metal), and water bottle cages (3). I hope I'm happy about the decision a month from now.... I go on Thursday to have the bike fitted to me.

Life, the universe, and everything

Have been on the bike for many days in a row, and I think that having a day off (today) is probably a smart thing to do. Sleep has reared it's ugly head again - no sleep in the past two nights ... so I hope tonight is different (will change up the meds a bit). I feel so much better after I've had some good, quality sleep - without it the day just drags. Either way, I both anticipate and dread going to bed at night. If I fall asleep it's great, if I don't it's awful.

Have pretty much decided on a new touring bike for yours truly. I was ready to travel all the way to Seattle to get a semi-custom bike made, but have read enough reviews to be OK with this one (plus its cheaper). I hope that this bike will last me the rest of my life - I do have to say that I tend to wear out this stuff, rather than have it gather dust in the corner. Laura is looking at either a new bike (cruiser) or I'll see what we can do with my (worn out but with $100 put into it just fine) mountain bike.

I feel torn between not being able to fully enjoy the summer (sleep, walking, hiking) and being grateful for the mobility that I DO have. Regardless of how far I can walk or hike, I seem to be able to bike just fine. Still some problems with balance on the bike. I get nervous around small gaps, like a gate, and tend to "overthink" the thing and have to stand (ie: not ride) the bike to get through. I haven't really fallen off in several weeks, so I guess that's improvement.

I told you about going to the speech pathologist a couple of weeks ago, and she mailed me some exercises to try and reduce the "nasality" of my voice. I have to admit I probably haven't done the exercises as much as I should - mostly because I can do them all (no challenge at all), and she wasn't sure that they'd help regardless. This, like everything else, seems to be a matter of time. Anyways, I do them whenever I think of them (which is a couple of times a day).

Bikes and boats...

OK, I'm pretty sure that Laura won't let me have another boat. So here's the latest plan. How about a new bike (at about 1/50th the cost of a boat). I'd be looking at a touring bike, useful if I wanted to load it up and travel some distance (let's say ... Prince Rupert, or Alaska, or Cross-Canada). Anybody interested in biking for a long while?

I have to admit, this long term biking idea came to me when I watched "Long Way Down". Motorcycles are not very environmentally friendly, and do nothing for your fitness. I figure if you start out out-of-shape, you would finish a long ride in incredible-good-shape. Plus you'd see stuff you've never seen before.

Bikes...

Today I threatened to take the 22km bike ride that I did the day before my stroke (PoCo Trail). Laura convinced me otherwise, because I'd be gone too long, and we were invited out to the Plymouth Crescent Annual July 1st BBQ in the Rain. I'll try for tomorrow, and maybe convince someone tonight to come with me.

Funny thing, I still cannot go over a sidewalk curb (up, not down ... down a curb is no problem because gravity takes over). When I try to go up a curb, my brain says "lift the front fork of the bike and stand up", but my body just sits there, waiting to fall of the bike. So I fall of the bike (it's no big deal, since I'm going 1/8 mile/hr). Sometimes, I feel just like a kid who's five, learning to ride a two-wheeler for the first time. Hmmm.