Just pondering the meaning of life and other such mysteries.

Merry Christmas y’all.

If this has happened to you, no need to be ashamed or embarrassed.  This phenomenon has happened to many others.  A good number of people, more serious and studious than yourself, have fallen prey to Internet-Time-Suck.  But this does put you in a spot.  You turn the question over in your mind for a few days – should you “share”?  Do you even know anyone crass enough to enjoy these sites?

Well, I’ve decided to share a couple of total time-suck sites I’ve stumbled upon.  These sites are addicting partly due to the incredibility of what common Americans will do.  Honestly, these are some flat-out disgusting sites; the photos are nightmarish.  Riveting too, in that car-carsh, can’t-look-away, horrific sort of way.  You may find yourself losing hours in a blink of an eye, so I warn you, proceed carefully.  Do you dare take a look; do you have the time to lose?  (Whatever you do, don’t look at these sites at work!!  At best, you’ll be fired for wasting company time.)

With no further ado, I present to you the following freak-shows of Americana:

• The People of Walmart – Definitely not some of America’s proudest moments.  Make you want to move to Canada?
• Subway Douchery – Catchy title for site, isn’t it?  OK, the photos aren’t strictly American – international public transit freak-shows.

You’re welcome!

After recovering from my stress fractures, I began running again in late January, ramped up my mileage very slowly, eventually reaching long runs in the 14 mile range in May.  (I love long runs – it’s one of my favorite ways to spend time, so I was exceptionally pleased to be able to do long runs again.)  In late May I had some  muscle soreness (so I thought) and took a few weeks off from running.  In mid-June I ran a wonderful trail race on Angel Island.  This is one of my favorite races.  The scenery is terrific, it’s fairly easy to get to, the group I ran with (Pacific Coast Trail Runs) is one of the best.  That day I chose the 10 mile race – they offer 4 different distances from a 5 miler to a 50 miler.  Felt fine during the race and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I waited about 5 days after the race for recovery and then went for a short run.  Much to my displeasure I had pain in my hip flexor/adductor area.  I stopped running and didn’t try to run for about a week.  Then I ran again, and I had to admit that I had another running injury.  Took several weeks off from running, hoping desperately that that would be all it took to recover.  I did the usual stretching, strength training, and non-running cardio in the meantime to maintain my fitness (and my mental health).  The next time I attempted to run it didn’t go well, so I decided it was time to see a professional.  Saw my doctor and shortly thereafter ended up back at the physical therapist’s office.  She diagnosed me has having some muscle weaknesses that caused undue strain as other muscles were overworked.  (Stand on one foot and note which muscles are keeping you balanced – those are the muscles affected.)  So I began a 6 week PT regiment, going to PT frequently and not running.  I also continued to ride a stationary bike at the gym and I was diligent about doing strength training in the weight room.

Finally, 2 weeks ago, my PT gave me the green light – I could begin to run again, provided that I ramped my mileage back up super extra slowly.  The very next day we left for our hiking trip in Lassen National Park, so I decided to wait until we returned to run again.  Hiking trip was fine; had no pain or muscle strain or anything.  Generally a good trip.

The day I returned from Lassen, we spent the afternoon doing laundry, relaxing, and watching some shows on TiVo.  That night, as I rose from the sofa I noticed an ache in my back, but didn’t give it much thought.  The next morning, I had considerable back pain.  I did very little that day, didn’t even leave the apartment.  The next 4 days were the same - I was housebound and the pain increased each day.  Finally it started to get better, and after nearly a week as a shut-in, I ventured out into the world.  I walked about a mile that day; each step caused a wave of pain and nausea – but the pain wasn’t terrible.  So I figured I was on the slow road to recovery.  For the next couple of days, I went for short walks.  Within 3 days I had managed to increase my distance to about 2 miles and my pace increased from that of someone twice my age to that of a spry 60-year-old.  I was encouraged and figured within a few days I’d be back to normal.

I was wrong.  That very same night I was loading the dishwasher.  The dishwasher.  That evil @#*%$ dishwasher!!  I stood up after placing a plate in the dishwasher and had the worst sharp, breath-taking pain!  It was severe and so sudden – I think an involuntary scream may have echoed throughout our building.  Managed to hobble to the sofa, though I was in a great deal of pain.  That was Wednesday night – the day my backache took on a new phase.  I had no pain in some stationary positions, but any movement caused that sharp horrible pain.  I could barely move, sit up, walk, etc..  I was stunned – I had thought I was getting better.  The next day, Dan went by my doctor’s office, explained my condition, and asked for some meds that would allow me to move enough to come in for an appointment.  Dan was then kind enough to work from home the rest of the day, and look after me.  The pain was that debilitating.

Yesterday with Dan’s help and door to door cab rides, I made it to the doctor’s office.  The doctor said the type of backache I have generally clears up within 2 to 6 weeks.  No you didn’t misread and I didn’t mistype – up to 6 weeks!  (And I foolishly thought I’d be back to running soon!  “Hah!”, I write mirthlessly.)  He prescribed some heavy-duty meds, which come with the typical warnings not to drive or operate heavy machinery.  When I say heavy-duty I’m not kidding, using this keyboard is about all I can manage, and at that, I’m not quite sure if I’m thinking clearly – so forgive me if this post is foggy and makes no sense.

Prior to this experience I’d never had any sort of back pain.  Dan assures me that it is not age related.  (He’s had back pain off and on – his first bout of back pain was when he was 17 years-old.)  I have no idea what triggered this, which is a little alarming because that makes it difficult to prevent in the future.  (The doctor suggested I go to PT when I’m finally mobile enough to get there.  I should buy stock in the PT’s business.)

Meanwhile, I alternate my time between reading and watching repeats of “Law & Order”.  And occasionally I manged to sit at the computer for short periods of time.  (Currently I think I’ve overextended that amount of time and may need some help getting up.)  Ugh… 

Hey, on the good side, at least it’s not permanent.

This national park centers around Lassen Peak, a volcano that last erupted in 1919.  The peak and area around the peak were devastated during a series of eruptions  in the years between 1915 and 1919.  Since then, the ground has remained ash gray in some parts, but other areas are now covered with vegetation.  There is one area (Bumpass Hell) where the ground still bubbles, smokes, and stinks of sulphur.  Bumpass Hell got its name when a settler named Bumpass fell into one of these boiling pools and lost a leg.  It’s still that dangerous; the Bumpass area is covered with warning signs and hikers actually walk on a raised platform to prevent injury.  Bumpass Hell was interesting to visit, but we enjoyed the other trails much more because we sometimes hiked for hours without seeing another person. 

This park has a real remote feeling.  It’s also at a high altitude.  At its lowest point, it’s sits at about 8000 feet above sea-level and many years the park road doesn’t open until July due to snow.  As much as 40 FEET of snow can accumulate by the end of winter, which takes a while to melt.  In fact, Lassen Peak was still covered with last winter’s snow when we visited in September.

I’ve included a new link in the right part of my blog for a small batch of photos, but I’ll include the link here too.  Check it out if you’d like to see the photos.

The issue hit just after we returned from Barcelona.  A small spot of skin on my nose became irritated.  I went to a dermatologist, who took one look and said I needed a biopsy.  A few days later she called with the results.  It was skin cancer - basal cell carcinoma.  Again.  Yes, again!  I had skin cancer (basal cell) at that same spot about 4 years ago.  At that time, I had a second surgery that was supposed to have “gotten it all”.  (Apparent not.)  That surgery 4 years ago took about 3 minutes and I’d recovered completely within a month with no scar.  So, that’s about what I was expecting for the surgery this time. 

In March of this year I had a “Mohs Procedure”, which is the suggested surgery for skin cancer.  This turned out to be a more significant surgery than what I’d had 4 years ago.  On the morning of the surgery, the area was numbed.  Then the surgeon removed a small area of skin and had me wait about an hour while they tested the skin cells for cancer.  The test was not good, and so the area was numbed again and more skin was taken.  And so on and so on.  This went on all day.

Recovering has been more significant than I expected too.  Since such a large area of skin was taken I needed a skin graft on my nose, which was done the same day as the surgery.  For several weeks after the surgery, the area was covered with a bandage.  Once the stitches (over a dozen) were removed, I covered the area with antibiotic gel and no bandage.  Turns out, that was a bad idea.  Immediately the area of the skin graft turned brown due to sun exposure.  I hadn’t been sunning myself by a pool; this just happened when I was out walking around, running errands of daily life.  So then, not only did I have a scar, I had a scar much darker than the rest of my face.  Plus the scar is raised and a different texture from the rest of my nose.  I began to notice that when people look at me, they look at my nose first, which has made me very self-conscious. 

At that point I began to bandage my nose whenever going outside (especially when biking or running) to prevent the sun from hitting the newly grafted skin.  (Just wearing sunscreen wasn’t enough – when I exercised, sweat would wash off the sunscreen.)  I also stopped swimming outside, since water washes off sunscreen.  Around this same time, I began using a series of prescription creams on the scar, trying to improve the look.  Then in June I began to have laser treatments on the scar.  I’ll probably be doing that for several more months.  The area still looks different and is still raised, though it’s a little less noticable now.  Hopefully the area will eventually not be noticable.  Oh, and none of the treatments other than the surgery have been covered by our insurance.

A few notes about skin cancer:  doctors keep telling me that I’m very young to have these issues.  I can only assume that this is something that begins to happen to fair-skin folks as they reach their fifties or sixties.  I wish I could go back in time to impress upon my young self to ALWAYS WEAR SUNSCREEN, but that’s impossible.  If anyone is reading this, please take this warning and wear sunscreen.  And if you have children, it’s especially important to use sunscreen in one’s early years.  Can’t stress that enough!

According to The Skin Cancer Foundation, one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.  To put it another way, if there are five people in your family, one of you is likely to develop skin cancer.  Fair skinned folks are most likely, but others are also at risk and should take precautions.  (At age 36, the Jamaican musician Bob Marley died of melanoma, a type of skin cancer that can spread to the internal organs.)  For skin cancer facts, read this page by the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Regarding basal cell:  it’s not a life threatening type of skin cancer.  It’s the most common skin cancer – in fact, it’s the most common type of all types of cancer.  Thankfully, it’s the least serious type of skin cancer.  I knew this and wasn’t too worried when I found out I had basal cell.  After my surgery, when I saw how the scar looked, I asked the surgeon “what would have happened if I hadn’t had this surgery?”  He said, “You had a tumor.  It would have continued to grow and since you’re so young it would have had many years to grow.  Eventually you might have lost your nose.”   He has seen that happen when people didn’t address the issue early enough.  I’m thankful that basal cell isn’t life threatening, but now realize how important it is to detect and treat basal cell, as well as all other types of skin cancer.

Prevention of skin cancer is all about sunscreen.  Protection from both UVA and UVB rays is necessary – this is sometimes referred to as “broad-spectrum protection”.  I wish I could recommend a sunscreen, but picking sunscreen is not easy.  There are so many choices and every doctor I’ve asked has recommended different sunscreens.  Google and you’ll read many conflicting things regarding what to look for in sunscreen.  The Skin Cancer Foundation has many resources – check this page to read which sunscreens have earned the Skin Cancer Foundation seal.   Here’s yet another page from the Skin Cancer Foundation regarding sunscreen.  The Environmental Working Group (EWG) also has a page with ratings for many brands of sunscreen.  The EWG and the Skin Cancer Foundation do not agree on which are the best sunscreens, making this decision even more difficult.  After reading both sites, the Skin Cancer Foundation recommendations sound the best to me since they say that the EWG’s claims are not proven.  Regardless, the key is to wear sunscreen whenever going outside.

I’ve found a number of social networks that are specifically for bloggers.  I even found one that is for people who blog about books.  Through these I’ve picked up 8 new followers this week.  That sounds like a decent increase until I look at some of these other book blogs.  Other blogger’s followers number in the hundreds.  (One had more than 700 followers!)

Since I’m currently taking a break from the working world, I’m experimenting with blogging.  A small number of people earn enough from blogging that they don’t have to have a 9-5 job.  That sounds awesome, but note that I said “a small number” – most do it for a hobby.   Regardless, I enjoy blogging.

I also love books.  Looking back over my life, I can remember my librarians in school, but not my teachers.  I can also remember so many times that books have changed my perception of life and the world.  Plus, reading is so enjoyable and entertaining. 

Anyway, here’s the link for my book blog:  http://www.primoreads.com/  It’s a work in process.

We tend to walk or bike to most places that we visit in the city.  We also take MUNI (SF’s mass transit) to some of the places we go.  Driving here is problematic because you have to find parking, which is a hassle and often pricy. 

The main places we drive is on out-of-town trips, either for a long weekend, or when we drive to surrounding areas for trail runs or hikes.  We’ll probably join Zip Cars or City Car Share for those occasional short-distance car trips.

 As expensive as cars are, it amazes me that many couples/families have 2 cars.