My surface thoughts and musings…
For the past year, I have been killing myself trying to upgrade PHP and get the code to work on my blog! Turns out, that it’s been my ISP all along with some wonky versions of PHP. Ugh! Now that it’s a standard version, everything is working fine. All I have left to upgrade is MySQL and its associated admin stuff…
-Rat
My shoulder has been bothering me since last year. I have been sleeping with a pillow wedged in my armpit (thanks YouTube). Figuring a rotator cuff issue, I begrudgingly went to see an orthopedic guy. He said that I currently have 2 choices – 1st, is get a cortisone shot and in 6 weeks, either get an MRI or be satisfied with the progress if it doesn’t hurt. Or 2nd, go to P.T. and take NSAIDs for 6 weeks and make a judgement call if it still hurts, do an MRI and go from there. Either way, it’s MRI if pain after approximately 6 weeks. I chose P.T. So, that is the direction I am heading.
The kids are in town this weekend and its farty’s (I lovingly call Leo that…) baptism. Hopefully Anne Marie will be good from a COVID perspective.
-Rat
Today, we busted out the telescope for the Eclipse. I couldn’t see shit with the solar filter and any of the lens on. Only when I took the lens off, I could at least see the sun and the moon (what the eclipse looked like). I don’t know if it was a cheap (functionally shitty) filter because it certainly wasn’t cheap from a $$ perspective. The inexpensive cardboard sunglasses worked better that the telescope. Who’d a thunk? It was another experience under my belt with the scope. Each time, I learn something else. I was able to figure out how to use the app to control the scope via Wi-Fi and that in and of itself was a good experience.
A sliver of the sun during the 2024 eclipse!
-Rat
I have been starting to study for my Azure AZ-900 test which is broad-based Azure concepts. It’s been fairly interesting and a lot of things I can apply to my website (from a concepts perspective). Which has been good for me. I would really like to put my site on Azure, but I wonder how much that would cost me? It would probably be cost prohibitive since my stuff is just a glorified blog and a personal opinion blog at that – lame.
I started doing a portrait last week of Leo. I am planning on using acrylic paint tonight painting and a smallish 11×14 portrait, with the plan on cutting it down to fit an 8×10 frame – matted.
In duo lingo, I started doing Russian in lieu of Dutch. Just for a break. I’ll come back to Dutch. Russian is like an old friend. I learned Russian back at the university for Physics.
-Rat
Yeah, I’m kinda bummed that I haven’t rode since last weekend. I need to do something for cardio and strength training between my sparse rides and my one night at the gym. We shall see. I am going to my brother’s house to celebrate Easter this next weekend. All the family should be there – can’t wait! I love family get togethers.
My arm tendonitis has been bugging me lately and my pectoral/shoulder tie in has been painful, which may be some more tendonitis. It’s hell getting old. I’ll see this evening. I am going to head downstairs to my home-gym. Also, I have some work to do after work – a CDC table synch that should improve performance on the portal.
I got my blood draw this morning but as luck would have it, I forgot about it, and I ate breakfast – doh!
-Rat
So Saturday at noon, Vikash and I went to do the “Old Plank Trail” in Frankfort. It was windy as hell and we only got 2.5mi in and Vikash got a slow leak and we had to turn around and head back to the car. Which was fortuitous, because by the time we made it back to town, his tire was completely flat. We drove to Rick’s and he got his tube replaced and we went our separate ways. Anne Marie and I later went to the hospital to visit her mom. We stopped by “Doughs Guys” bakery to pick up some cookies on the way. Kevin was at the hospital and she was in and out of consciousness.
On Sunday, I did some needed cleaning and then we went to “Ashford House” and had a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner with potatoes and carrots. Yummy, with a cup of rice pudding for dessert. We stopped in at Winstons and grabbed some traditional brown bread for this morning’s breakfast.
-Rat
My mother-in-law has been in the hospital, and she needs your prayers. She is fighting dementia, UTIs, and a spiral fracture of the femur, not to mention having undergone leg surgery to have a rod inserted of course, with screws to said femur. And did I mention she is 91? I’m hopeful but of course, contrary to my normal, I’m not optimistic. She’s a tough Irish girl from County Mayo, but not that tough. Ugh.
This week on Monday, we got the bikes out for our first ride of the season. Tomorrow, we are going again to a different trail – slightly longer and straighter. This week when it hasn’t been cold, it’s been raining in the mornings. I’m trying to stay active with a focus on recovery, but I need slightly more time during the day – about an extra hour would be wonderful.
Had my gloves on… was chilly…
-Rat
Happy New Year!!! So, what the heck is new?
Been learning Music on Duo Lingo and its ok – not great, but ok. A few of the features that I don’t like are that the notes traverse too fast – there should be a way to slow it down, and the virtual keyboard is too tiny for my hands. Other than that, it’s been fun. I can’t wait to bust out my little electric piano and test my music chops 🙂 Also, I’ve been working on my Dutch. Being a grandfather has been fun and seeing the little fart grow is interesting.
I joined something with Peter Attia to work on my health (he’s a longevity doctor) and have been actively working on my health. After reading his book “Outlive”, I decided that if I wanted to healthily retire, I’d better get off my ass and get healthier. So, I’ve been doing just that. My trainer retired in August, and I hadn’t done a lick of cardio or strength training since. Got a new trainer and am looking forward to getting healthier for a new year.
I am (have been) studying for Microsoft Azure Cloud certification (AZ 900). It’s kind of a high-level Azure certification. Trying to get current concerning cloud computing and big data. It would just be more of an evolution of what I do.
-Rat
Did you ever have something stuck in your mind or imagination – having no idea where it came from – maybe a dream or fantasy, so strong, that you truly believe it will happen regardless of your direction, reality or observation?
Looking at this post from a mid-February framework – get your head out of your ass you fucking dreamer. Nothing in life happens without preparation and hard work (some tough self love).
– Rat
Holy crap, where has the time gone this year? I’ll be a grandfather soon (the end of the month) and I have been trying to research heart disease and such, to see what’s possible from a mitigation standpoint and what’s probable from an outcome standpoint given such a crappy family health history (flippin’ CHF). What exercise I can do, and what I should not. What are the genetic markers I need to look at and what kind of diet (realistically) should I do?
Update : Leo was born 11-27 and I went to Tampa 12/1 to help out
-Rat