The Body's Shock Absorber

It's often been said that the knees are the body's shock absorbers. If that's the case, it seems that one of my shock absorbers is on the fritz. It's always been a little off, but, just like you do with your car, you ignore it or write it off as a quirk and adjust to it.

That works, until something happens to aggravate that "quirk". I don't know what did it, if it was the yard work I did to get ready for the Father's Day BBQ at my house, if it was kneeling on the floor to play with the dog or if it was just a simple misstep, but all of the sudden, man it hurts.

So, now I get to pay a visit to my orthopedic surgeon. Same guy that did my shoulder a few years a go. Back then, he told me at the time that my knee would probably need some work at some point, but that it didn't really need anything at the time. Well, this time, I'm sure it needs something. So I go see my doc next week. I'm sure an MRI will shortly follow.

But here's the dilemma. If the MRI shows something (and I'm guessing it will), and if my experience with my shoulder is any indication, the conversation next week (or post-MRI) will likely end with some options. Option 1 would be to get a cortisone shot in the knee (if you've never had a cortisone shot, it's not exactly a pleasant experience) and do six months of physical therapy and see if that works. Option 2 would be to schedule surgery and just get it over with.

So, what do you do? Get the shot, do the physical therapy and hope you can stave off the surgeon's scalpel for a while or just have them knock you out and fix the damn thing as soon as possible?

That's the thing, I just don't know. On the one hand, I can understand the approach of the cortisone shot and physical therapy. The hope being that you can make the joint strong enough on it's own that you don't need surgery right away. But if the surgery is inevitable, why wouldn't you just do it right away and get it over with?

Of course, this is all assuming that there's nothing terribly wrong with my knee. If something has gone horribly awry, I'm sure surgery is going to be the top option, but I don't really feel like something is horribly wrong, it just hurts. I guess we'll find out next week.

It's the not knowing what's wrong that kills me...

"Old Friend"

I was online today, and was fortunate enough to have found a friend of mine online. We chatted for a few minutes, caught up a little bit. Long enough to have enjoyed our conversation, but not as long as I'd have liked. These conversations always make me feel nostalgic. I'm not sure why, but it always makes me think back to my younger days and wonder, just a little bit, where all the time has gone.

I checked my friends blog later. She mentioned me, saying, "I talked to an old friend from high school." "Old friend"... The term could illicit any number of reactions. For me, it was... nice. It made me feel good, maybe even special. When I think of "old friend", I think of a good dog, or that old blanket that you've had for years. You know, the one that's a bit worn, not as thick as it used to be, but still, that's the one you go to when you get a little chilly.

I'm not sure how it was meant, but I'd like to think this was how it was intended. Something familiar that you enjoy. When it comes down to it, it really made my day that I was a big enough part of someone's day, that I was worth mentioning, especially with such an endearing term.

Thanks for making my day.

Graduation

Last week was the Commencement ceremony for SLCC. As I said in my last post, I received my diploma a while back, but they only do commencement once a year, so I had to wait until May to walk.

I went back and forth for a long time, trying to decide if I really wanted to do it or not. It seemed kinda stupid for me to walk when I'd already received my diploma, but at the same time, it's part of the whole, graduation tradition. So, finally, I decided I'd do it.

I thought it would be a little lame, but I figured at worst, I get a day off of work and that's never a bad thing.

Most of the day went as expected. Show up two hours early, stand in line outside in the 80 degree heat in black polyester robes until they're ready for us (I'd like to find the guy who thought THAT would be a good idea...), and the obligatory speakers. We had the Assistant Labor Secretary speak at commencement. Yeah, a politician. Ironically enough, the politician was the SHORTEST speech of them all. Kinda threw me a bit.

Anyway, after all of that, they had us leave the room so we could come up on stage and have our names read as we came through. Everything was going as planned until I got on stage. The lady read my name and I smiled. It really added a sense of accomplishment to the whole thing. I was surprised. I didn't think it would be that kind of an experience, but I'm certainly glad that I did it.

It's been a while... Time to catch you up.

You know when you haven't seen someone in a long time, and you finally get to talk to them and you ask, "What's new?" or "What's going on in your life?" and they say, "Not much."? You know it's usually a lie. They've got a bunch of stuff going on, but the never think it's important enough or impressive enough to share.

Well, I'm the guy saying, "Not much". But in reality I've got some stuff going on. First of all, the 10 pursuit of my 2 year degree is finally over. I finished out my classes in Fall of '06, I received my diploma a few weeks ago and I'll be doing the whole commencement thing in a couple of weeks. Huzzah!

On the work front, I've (apparently) impressed the right people and in the next couple of months will be in a new position for the bank as an IT Liaison, basically bridging the gap between the IT Department and the rest of the bank. I'm pretty excited about it. 1) You can't turn down a raise. 2) I'm excited for a new challenge. 3) There is the possibility of more travel for me, which as you all know, I love.

The misses recently got a new job as well, along with a substantial raise which has given us hope that we may actually get out of debt (at least a little bit) and maybe be in a position to purchase our first home in the next year or two.

I've also started playing hockey again. I know, spring is a weird time to start playing hockey again, but hey, just be glad I'm getting some exercise. Believe me, I need it. lol First few times are going to be a bit rough, but hey, it's all worth it, right? Please, tell me it's all worth it... I'm begging you...

Now, other than the above, there really isn't a whole lot going on, unless you want to hear about doing laundry or playing video games. But I'm fairly sure that is pretty trivial stuff that not many care about. lol

And, in parting, let me recommend a great book that I'm reading. "In The Company of Heroes" by Michael Durrant. A great read for those of you who like a good military book. And a great story about his time in captivity in Somalia in 1993. (For those of you who saw or read Black Hawk Down and liked it, this is a GREAT book about that incident from the point of view of one man.)

Three Day Weekend in Phoenix

So, Phoenix for ten days with a three day weekend in there, just for kicks. Sounds like a good time, eh? Well, I thought so too. Got here on Wednesday, worked on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday then had three days off... Sounded great. Got tickets to Saturday's Phoenix Coyotes game and figured it would be a great weekend.

Saturday morning, well, I started to feel a little ill. No big deal. I've been working 12 hour days for the last three days. Feeling a little run down is to be expected. Went to the Coyotes game, felt ok, nothing too out of the ordinary.

Sunday morning, however, it's a different story. Scratchy throat, stuffed up nose, my back hurts, just don't feel well at all.

I think that maybe it's just that I haven't eaten something decent in a while... That must be it. I get in the car and head out to get some food. Doesn't help. Went to bed early on Sunday, hoping that rest would help me. Not so much.


I've spent the better part of a three day weekend in my hotel room. 80 degrees outside and I feel like crap... Figures.

Hope your weekend is going better than mine.

Well, it finally happened. After two years of complete domination of my younger brother on the golf course, he finally beat me. By 4 strokes. Not a large margin, but enough to sting a little.

Now, before I get too far ahead of myself and my younger brother protests that this is, in fact, not the first time he's beaten me, let me say this: he has beaten me before, however, the times he has beaten me were times where I was experimenting with new swings, attemting different styles of shots, etc. In other words, I wasn't trying to win.

Now, I could blame my loss on the fact that he's got custom fit Callaway clubs, or that he glofs 3 or 4 times a week, while I only go once a week if I'm lucky. But, the plain and simple fact is, he beat me. I had a good round of golf, he had a better one.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I just always thought it would be later rather than sooner.

Did I mention that my younger brother is 12? :(

One month later...

Well, it's been about a month since I last posted. Haven't had a whole lot happen, work has kept me too busy for anything major.

I start school again this week. I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. I have 2 classes left to get my Associates degree, both of which I'm taking this semester. It will be good to get those classes out of the way and finally (after 10 years) have a degree to show for it. On the other hand, it's been nice to only have to worry about work for the last few months. Doing work and school kinda sucks. So, it's Math 1030 and Media Management and Sales. I'm not really looking forward to either class. Could be interesting. We'll see how it goes on Wednesday and Thursday I guess.

Meanwhile, it's been a month since I stopped drinking soda and replaced it with water. I haven't lost any weight, but I have been feeling better. The headaches stopped after about 2 weeks and 3 near homicides. I did slip up once and have a bottle of Dr. Pepper about week 4, and absence makes the heart grow fonder. That bottle was GOOD. But the more water I drink, the more I find that my body craves it. It's fantastic. Good and good for you. Who knew?

Good to be posting again, even if it's just a short note to let you all know what's up in my world.