As promised, I’m posting again after the procedure. So, clearly, I am still alive. This entry is posting a little later than would be expected. I have not been lax in updating though. When I arrived for the procedure on Tuesday I discovered the doctor performing the surgery was sick with the flu. So It was delayed to Friday.
On Friday, he was fortunately well enough to perform. Although I have no actual evidence of that; I never saw the doctor. I was wheeled into a room with a large number of people and then anesthetized before the doctor showed up. But he signed the paperwork so I assume he did something.
I think it was successful. According to my Apple Watch, my heart rate is now more steady than at any time since I got a watch that could track that. Which would be November 2018.
But it was still a big deal so I’m recovering in other ways. My chest hurts, sometimes a lot. (Not unexpected.) But it clears up with some Ibuprofen. I’m supposed to be careful of the entry wounds that they made to slip the tiny tools into me, but then Belle went and stepped on it after I fed her. (She was fidgeting and thought there were more interesting places to go than on my lap.) I think the bruising has increased, but I don’t appear to be leaking anything.
We were supposed to go to a New Year’s Eve party tonight, but taking it easy and recovering looks like a better idea. Which is unfortunate because I don’t see many parties in our future anymore, so we should always take the opportunity when they present themselves.
And with that, I bid you goodnight.

I started this blog in January of 2004. I’ve been doing my best to update it ever since. But, let’s be honest, my interest has been less for the last few years. I’ve tried to make at least one post a month, and I’ve been doing that (although I haven’t always gotten them up by the end of the month, I’ve always written them in the month.) Why have I not been posting as much? It could be social media makes it more conducive to do a micro-post. Or that I have no evidence that anyone actually reads this. And WordPress isn’t exactly secure; my website has gone down due to hackers every so often, and I blame security holes in WordPress for that.
So I’ve decided that my last post will be in this month. Twenty years of posting is good enough. If I do want to blog again, it will be a more targeted forum where I’m only discussing one aspect of my life. Probably iCartographer.
Now the big question is whether this will be my last post.
My Atrial Fibrillation is still ongoing. I’ve been taking blood-thinning pills because my heart doctor recommends it. But this is not a solution and it would be better if I wasn’t medicating myself for the rest of my life. So that leaves pulmonary ablation, which I liken to “Death Rays to the Heart”. Basically they will try and kill the muscles that are causing the irregular heartbeat. The doctor thinks this is the best way, but I’ve been avoiding actually doing the procedure for a long time. I mean, I feel fine except when I stop daily running. Why should I go through with it?
Tomorrow I’m going through with it.
Now the doctor has made it clear that there is little risk during the operation. The bigger risk is the recovery afterwards where I might start bleeding out through the groin (where they are going to be doing the operation from.) Plus pulmonary ablation only has a 75% success rate. So there is a non-insignificant chance that I won’t improve.
I’m scared.
I’m going to be put under twice: first for an ultrasound down my throat, and then again for the actual operation. This always scares me because what if I don’t wake up. Coma or otherwise. It is probably an unfounded fear.
I’m a parent now. I want to be there to take care of my family and watch my baby grow. So, yes, I’m scared. I’m pretending to be fine, but the anxiety is building.
I’ll post again after the procedure.

I survived my colonoscopy. I’m always a little nervous when I am put under anesthesia; it’s controlled dying. But here I am, still alive.
I, of course, embarrassed myself. I have a tendency to babble when I am nervous. So the nurse getting me ready had to put up with a lot of dad-jokes. Even worse is that I try and be helpful. Right before they were going to put me under, I admitted I had a slight need to go to the bathroom (number one). If it was normal circumstances I could hold it easily, but if I am being made unconscious, who knows what will happen. After all the care of them rolling me in a bed into the operating room, they just let me walk out to the bathroom with just a request that I cover up th back of my robe.
When it was time to put me under anesthesia, I started doing the “Gashleycrumb Tinies” poem. The last thing I remember is “G is for George smothered under a rug.” No one could tell me if I continued on after that.
They did tell me that I rolled a lot, and I was halfway out of my gown when I woke up. I was still out of it, so I didn’t care.
No polyps, so I don’t have to get checked for another ten years.
Of course they forgot to remove the heart monitor stickers on me. I was still dazed when I left, so I didn’t remind them. I finally ripped them off this evening. Chest hairs were lost.

I’m getting a colonoscopy tomorrow. That means today I need to fast.
It hasn’t been too bad. I’ve caught myself a few times thinking of having a snack: There are Lifesavers hanging about; My wife was verbally enjoying the blueberries she had just purchased; The big bag of pistachios isn’t going to eat itself. But I haven’t eaten anything but chicken broth and Jello. Now that I talk about it though, I’m craving that big box of Stroopwaffel that I know is hiding in the pantry.
I’m not as weak as I would have expected. That will be tested tomorrow morning when I go for a run. I have to get up fairly early so I can be done before my appointment. I did today’s run before my body had realized it wasn’t getting any meals. Hopefully I’ll manage tomorrow without collapsing.
The medicine I have to drink to encourage a good fecal outflow hasn’t been as bad as expected. When my wife took it, she took an hour to drink it all. Afterwards she had a lot of nausea. I just chugged mine and was done. No nausea. I still have to drink a lot of water, and I’ve been very good at that: runners know how to drink a lot of water.
Hopefully tomorrow will go well.

I did this when I turned 40, so now that I have turned 50 I should do it again; let’s count down the 10 life events that affected me the most.
1/10 – March 2014: Met Catalina: A person I got along with almost immediately. A person I would fall in love with, marry and would make me feel like I was finally doing life correctly.
1/10 – March 2014: Met Catalina: A person I got along with almost immediately. A person I would fall in love with, marry and would make me feel like I was finally doing life correctly.
2/10 – May 2023: Birth of Belle. Maybe it is too soon to judge this event as it happened six months ago, but I do feel it has a lot of potential.
3/10 – August 2008: I ran the Canadian Death Race. This was my first ultramarathon, and turbo-charged my love of running. Ultramarathons forced me to travel off the beaten path to do them. I’ve run hither and yon, over distances and terrain undreamt of by mortal man. Running has introduced me to new friends and kept me in good shape. (See also February 2003 for my first half-marathon and June 2004 for my first marathon.)
4/10 – December 2006: I attended my first “Friday Feast”. This weekly event has greatly increased the number of people I know. I have met good and true friends here that I greatly value. My circles have increased.
5/10 – November 2004: I went to Jamaica and met a new circle of friends from all over the world; friends that let me explore a new side of myself, never judged me, supported me, and helped me improve as a person. These people would eventually lead me to meeting my wife.
6/10 – November 1995: I left home and moved to Edmonton. I was now responsible for keeping myself alive. Edmonton has been good to me; I’ve made lots of friends, and it is a beautiful place for running.
7/10 – September 2016: Moved to Vancouver. The economy in Alberta wasn’t great when I lost my job and a friend was able to recommend me to a great company in B.C. This shook up my life and gave me a different perspective on life and living. I could now experience a different climate and a bigger city.
8/10 – 1985 and 1987 – Le Morte d’Arthur and the death of my Grandfather. Arthur was the first dog I was ever close to and my first experience with death. My maternal grandfather was a great man that I wish I had known him better; a man without fear and always doing something. I’ve tried to live my life like his.
9/10 – 1984 – The family got its first computer, an Apple //e. I had an earlier introduction to computers than a lot of people, and I’ve been coasting on that ever since.
10/10 – November 1973 – I was born. I believe this had a significant effect on my life.

Halloween is a little odd this year. 

The first thing I’ve noticed is that Halloween decorations aren’t as prevalent this time. Last year there were more of them. This is especially true in the Sugarland area. I have a theory about that: All the gated communities are bad for decorating. If you can only impress the people in your immediate area, you have less incentive to go all out. And Sugarland has been getting locked up tight.

I was running through there last night. There is one gated community where the fence ends at the sidewalk, but if you take two steps onto the grass there is nothing stopping you from continuing on. But that was only one of the sections. I tried to get it to another neighbourhood that had an open wilderness next to it, but I discovered that they have since added a fence blocking pedestrian access. I feel as a runner that fences are a bad thing; feels antisocial.

In any case, there weren’t many decorations of note in the neighbourhoods where I could run.

Now, in my current neighbourhood, there are no gates; anyone can come and go. Here there are houses that have gone all out. Giant skeletons abound; horrific figures that move slightly and make threatening comments; many inflatables. It’s actually quite cheery with all that I can see; makes the runs more interesting.

I took the family out trick-or-treating and I tried to be a good guide. From my runs, I knew where the biggest decorations were, so we just went around to see those. If we happened to get some candy along the way, so much the better. It is not like Belle is going to be able to eat any candy so I’m going to have to confiscate it for her own good.

There have been some concerns about our baby’s head. Let’s be clear, she is as cute as a button, but the pediatrician has noticed that her head is misshapen. It is not completely symmetrical.

A couple of weeks ago we went to some specialists in this area. They had a neat setup with multiple cameras that all took a picture at the same time to get a 3D scan of her head. Note: Belle was not a fan of the hood they put her in temporarily; worst experience of her life. From the scan they determined that she had moderate plagiocephaly. The best way to solve this is for her to have a medical helmet for a few months.

But first, they wanted her to see a physical therapist to see if there was a better way to deal with the head shape. I think this may have been for insurance purposes. So today we went to a nearby baby physical therapy place.

It was a very good place, and they made Belle feel very comfortable and loved. She seemed to be enjoying the new experience. The PT thought that Belle should be wearing a helmet but she also gave us a good overview of her development.

Essentially, Belle is a bit advanced in her development, but not too advanced. (Interestingly, if a baby is doing some activities too prematurely, it may indicate other issues like cerebral palsy.) She won’t be crawling soon, but she is well on her way to figuring it out.

Conveniently, Belle also figured out how to use her voice a couple of days ago, so she is cooing, trilling and singing quite a bit. She also has not learned how to flip from her back to her stomach, so she is practically rolling all the time. We can’t trust her to sleep on her back anymore. She demonstrated a lot of flipping to the PT.

The clinic was a sobering place. You could see several children there who are clearly struggling through bad issues. I’m haunted by the one child I saw with a shaved head showing medical scars who was trying to learn to walk with two crutches. Belle is very lucky if the worst she has is an asymmetrical head.

I did not join the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee this year. I had a baby coming and I wasn’t sure I could do the 1000km I would need to do within four months. (Also, I’ve done it three times already and none of the swag is that compelling.) Today would have been the last day. According to my calculations I did 988.23km in the time frame. Part of me was tempted to do the 12km to get over, but I held strong. I wasn’t going to get a prize anyway.

I also see, from looking at the course this year, that the total distance required is actually a bit more at 1015.5km.

I probably could have done it. If I had signed up I would have pressured myself to run a bit more. I’m glad I didn’t. Belle is more important than any virtual race.

Belle is three months old today. I think I’ve been told that this is the point that she can start picking up routines, and also bad habits. I need to be a good dad from now on.

The last month has been stressful. At two months she was supposed to be able to lift her head up during “tummy time” (when we put her on her stomach.) For us, we could only get her to lift her butt up; she has very powerful legs and wants to use them for everything. So I guess her arms were not getting enough exercise. It did make it amusing to watch her act like a slug, moving across the floor by just legs alone.

If she isn’t lifting her head by three months, we may have to take her to a neurological expert.

For the last month we’ve been doing all we can to encourage head lifting. It has actually been going well. We watched videos and tried to do best practices. It led to a lot of crying (on her part) and adults acting spastic to make her look up. She wasn’t as interested in noisy toys as she was in human faces.

Eventually though, she lifted her head. For the last two weeks she has been able to keep her head up for long periods of time. Most of that comes from arching her back, so we still need to work on arm strength. A lot of her progress came within the single week my mother was visiting, so she got to see it happening.

Educational videos say that a crawling baby is a happy baby, so getting the arms to do more is the next step. She really just has to figure out that crawling is a thing and work towards it.

Mental development is going well too. She is able to hold onto things and even pass them between hands. She is making a wider variety of noises. Raspberries happen often, but there is a delightful cooing she does.

I have also made a discovery that is helping me sleep better. She has been crying in the middle of the night for awhile, but I recently noticed that she was still asleep while she was crying. Rather than waking her, changing her, feeding her, and trying to get her back to sleep, I instead give her a pacifier. I’m not proud of it, but it does seem to work. It may take a few attempts, but we all get to continue to sleep.

I have a baby. It is a large responsibility.

Initially she was just a lump that made loud noises. Since sleep deprivation is a form of torture, we referred to her as out CIA interrogator. But after two months she is starting to show signs of a personality. She is very manipulative: she knows that her smile (which lights up the room) can get anyone to do anything she wants. 

This is our first baby, so we don’t have a lot to compare her to. She is a lot of work, and we just have the base goal of keeping her alive. We both have a lot more respect for single mothers; it is hard enough for two people to keep this baby going.

That said, I think we have a good baby. For a long time she would sleep all night. Lately she has been waking up in the middle of the night, but if you change her and feed her, she goes right back to sleep. And she sleeps most of the day. For awhile, the period between 5:30 and 10:00 was when she liked to have a good continual cry, with no way of knowing why. I think she is past that.

My mother is currently visiting to meet the baby. She has been overall helpful, willing to do some of the simple baby duties to allow us to do other parts of life maintenance.

We’ve also been enjoying watching the reactions of other people. Yesterday we visited the mother-in-law’s place where she had some friends over. One acted like an excitable little kid; she was so happy and telling everyone that the baby had smiled at her, like it was the greatest moment of her life.

Belle was born on May 13th at 12:34:06 in the morning. However, the hospital recorded it as 12:33. 

The surrogate mother, Margaret, was going to be induced on the 12th. However, on that day we were told that there were two pregnant women ahead of her so they would reschedule. Fortunately, a few hours later we learned that they had a spot for her at 11:15 that morning. I was in the middle of a run when I heard, so I headed back to our AirBnb (mostly) promptly.

We got to the hospital and got to the room before Margaret did and we setup our stuff. Margaret arrived shortly thereafter (she had trouble parking) with her support sister, Christine. They were very nice, and we pretty much spent the day together waiting for things to happen. They gave her Pitosin to help get the contracting going. 

We spent a lot of time walking Margaret around the birthing floor to help her get the contractions. At one point we actually got out of range of the monitoring equipment because we went to an atrium that was too far. We got into a little trouble for that. Nurses don’t like when they can’t track their patients.

We also gave them boiled quail eggs that they really liked. And a red envelope with money for luck.

After awhile Margaret and her sister became comfortable enough with us to open up a bit. When Margaret first got pregnant, they were unsure what to call the baby; they already had a child they called “Baby”. But they had been told it was a girl, with two X chromosomes. Being of Spanish descent, they started calling the fetus “Dos Equis”.

Our Doctor, Hanna, broke Margaret’s water at nearly six o’clock. It would have been earlier, but she wanted to do it after her office hours. The water had a green tint to it, which mean she pooped in uterus. So they would need to have a pediatric team ready in case anything goes wrong. If she inhales her poop, and gets into her lungs, that would be a problem.

The doctor then left to go home and would be back when things started happening.

When it was time for the epidural, there was some entertainment. The hospital was busy, and the available anesthesiologist, Wilson Lee, was stressed. When he entered the room, the first thing he said was “What a s#!tshow downstairs,” about his previous patient. Apparently things were bad downstairs. He also seemed very short and wanted everyone out of the room. No pictures! So Catalina and I took a little walk and tried to get some food; it didn’t go that well as there was only a little convenience store that we could grab pre-packaged food at.

Her epidural was fentanyl and a numbing medication, 10mg an hour.

We returned and Margaret was getting her Hydro-Cortisone injection for her rash. She was feeling a bit nauseous. She wasn’t eating because she didn’t want to poop during the birth.

Dr. Wong was the anesthesiologist we were supposed to have, but she had been too busy which is why Wilson came in. But when Margaret started hurting, she came in and gave her an injection of 5mg of pure fentanyl. 

At around midnight, Margaret was dilated to 10cm. Hanna returned and things started happening. By 12:30 Margaret started pushing and things happened quickly. A few minutes later we could see the top of the head, and then out came our baby girl. She promptly screamed, which was actually a relief to the doctors. Her head was very pointy.

Margaret did poop during the birth. Christine and Catalina both started crying, but Margaret just had a big grin on her face. The baby was very warm too.

Catalina cut the cord, and then she was placed in my arms. I was shirtless to encourage skin-to-skin contact. She cried; understandable as she had a traumatic day. She pooped Merconium all over me. And suddenly I was a father.

After awhile, the other part of the cord was cut by Catalina; we don’t want a long umbilical cord leading out from her bellybutton. According to her the cord was harder than expected and felt full of cartilage.

We looked at the placenta; they put it in a box. It was smaller than expected.

Within the hour we had some statistics: 7lbs, 6oz. 20.25inches tall.

Today, we drove into San Francisco so that I could run the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ve been wanting to do it for awhile, and Catalina was supportive of letting me do it.
On the drive there, we noted we were passing close to the wavy part of Lombard Street; and there was no traffic on a weekday. So we took a slight detour and drove down it. Then we turned around the block and did it again. Third time though was the best as there wasn’t a slow car in front of us.
Once we got to the west side of the Presidio, we found a free parking spot on the side of the coastal road. Lovely view from there.
Then we split up. She went off to walk along beaches and cliff sides while I did my run.
I had planned to run on the ocean side of the bridge going out, but after trying to navigate the many paths in the area, I discovered that the west side was closed; I think for maintenance. So I had to do the Bay side for both the out and the back.
I will admit, I was slow. It wasn’t because I was a bad runner, but because I was taking pictures all the time. It was a nice sunny day, if a bit windy, and there are scenes that you don’t want to forget. I even got pictures of me touching the main cable supporting everything.
At the far (north) side, I did a bit of running, mostly up to Hendrik Point. That is where you can get the most scenic pictures of the bridge. And it was a good day to be there with the conditions.
On the way back I was more focused. I already had the pictures so I could concentrate of trying to pass slow bicyclists. I even got kudos from some of them for passing them. Of course they passed me when it started going downhill.
After that, I found my wife and walked along the beach with her. Following dinner, we decided to take the long way home and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge again. Then we stopped off at various scenic places, because I had properly scouted them a few hours before. Best part of being a runner tourist is doing research for the other travelers.

Today we did a day hike to Mount Diablo. I found a trail that looked nice and we decided to go do it. Unfortunately, I approached it with a very Canadian attitude: I’m in California, and I’m Canadian therefore I won’t get cold. Shorts and t-shirt for me!
I started having doubts with my approach when the ranger at the park gate was commenting how cold and windy it was at the top. Still, I wasn’t going to back down.
When we got to the trailhead, the temperature was around 9°C, and there was a cloud floating across the parking lot. And I will admit that I should have brought a jacket along, but I was okay for the most part as long as I kept my hands in my pocket. But there was one pass where the wind was whipping by and clouds were making it difficult to see.
After that pass, we started going down and the clouds went away. It was a pleasant temperature for the rest of the hike. Even after we started going up again, the weather was lovely.
There was only one other person we encountered on the trail (a senior doing a different eight hour hike.) The flora was different from what I was used to (tree trunks that were red), but there were a lot of wildflowers; probably due to the atmospheric rivers from winter. Beautiful views all around. I get to say I saw the Sierra Nevadas.
Towards the end, we were near the summit, so we went off the planned trail to go to the very top. There is a museum there, but they did a good thing. The museum is AROUND the summit, but not actually on it. So you can go inside and stand on the actual rock that is the top.
Written 2023-5-11 11:05

Another day of work; I had such a nice experience I decided to go again.
I did get to say “Bless you” to the only other person in the cubicle room when he sneezed. I was somewhat known for that back in Vancouver. However, I did not enjoy that the person continued to sneeze and was sniffling and blowing his nose a lot too. I started wearing a mask while I was at my desk.
In the evening, I did a different run. There is a large park next to town that leads all the way to Mount Diablo. I wasn’t going that far, but it was a nice change from continuing to get CityStrides streets. (After three days, I’ve covered 3.4% of town and am currently at 13th place for coverage of Walnut Creek.)
This was a slow run as it was more hilly than the city streets. I went to Mini-rock city, which sounds more impressive than it actually is. It was just some rocks jutting out of the ground, one weathered more interestingly than most.
Written 2023-5-11 10:51

It is Monday, and I decided to go to work. I could have worked from home, but there is an office in San Ramon, which is about half an hour away. I haven’t really worked in an office since March 2020 (except for my final day in Vancouver back in September 2021) so it was a nice experience.
The office is in a beautiful business park. Lakes and trees all around. The place was mostly empty so I got to pick any cubicle I wanted; I got a lovely window view overlooking the lake. The biggest external monitor I’ve ever seen was at every desk. There is also free pop, and not much competition for the free fruit.
My biggest issue was that I haven’t figured out my breakfasts here yet. So I was getting very hungry early on. A lot of fruit went missing before noon. But I got a $9 stipend from the receptionist to use at the food court of the building. (A lot of different companies were in the buildings in the area.) There were only two restaurants though (and a small pre-packaged meal place that I ignored) so I went with the one with the longest line. I wasn’t that daring, so I just got a gourmet burger. It was very nice; I’ve been craving a good burger for awhile.
After that, the day went along smoother, and I had a nice drive home, with just a bit of a traffic jam. (I believe they are endemic to California.)
I did an evening run after dinner. I am quickly discovering just how hilly this place is. Houston is completely flat. Each day I run here, I cover more elevation than I would in an entire month back in Texas.
Written 2023-5-11 10:46

We came to the Bay Area a few days before the earliest chance of our surrogate delivering so that we could have a chance to do some touristing. That was represented on Sunday by us going into downtown San Francisco to sightsee. I also had a plan to abandon Catalina at one point and try to run across the Golden Gate Bridge, so I was dressed for a run.
We took the train into the edge of town and walked along the waterfront. It was nice, although a little windy. There was a man selling “fresh” oysters right on the street. I am allergic to shellfish so I have an excuse not to partake, but I did encourage Catalina to try; she did not.
Things got interesting when we got to Pier 39. It is an amusement park style area with lots to see. However, out first target there was to check out the floating docks that have been taken over by sea lions. They came in all sizes, and most seemed content to just lie around in the sun, or bark at each other when one tried to get a better position on top of another. There were a few doing play fighting in the farther areas; we heard it was in preparation for when mating season does come around.
The other thing we did at Pier 39 was check out the mirror maze. Back in 1986, there was a Scientific American article about a new mirror maze where the mirrors were all at 60° from each other, instead of right angles. It made the maze actually confusing because you could not tell how far hallways were; at a right angle you can tell where there is a wall if you can see yourself. I thought this was the maze from that article, but afterwards I saw an actual map and realized that it was very different from the one I remembered. (1986 maze was square-shaped; this one was a long rectangle.)
The maze was a lot of fun and we went through it several times, backwards and forwards. Eventually I figured out to just look for a landmark, go to it, and then look down the “hallways” until you see a different, new, landmark and make your way there, always looking for the image that looks closest. Eventually you get to the end.
At times, due to the reflections, you can see yourselves from the back, some distance away.
Afterwards, a lot of the real world became confusing. I distrusted anything I saw because I kept expecting there to be a mirror somewhere.
After that I was supposed to go for a run (I wanted to cross Golden Gate Bridge) but it was windy, and we were running out of time before a planned meeting with a coworker for dinner. So I just stayed with the wife and we continued wandering about. Fisherman’s Wharf was very touristy. Really everything was touristy, with a lot of sugar being peddled.
I did get to run up and down Lombard Street a couple of times. Unfortunately they don’t allow pedestrians on the curvy part, and you have to take the sidewalks/stairs instead. That is probably much safer because most of the drivers were taking selfies while they were on the road. And there were a lot of drivers; there was a literal traffic jam of cars trying to go down it.
If you decide to do Lombard Street, do it in the morning, the sunlight will be better than in the afternoon.
Written 2023-5-11 10:38

We have a baby coming. The surrogate is in the San Francisco area, so we need to be there before she delivers; and for at least two weeks after, because babies need to be at least that old to fly. So we are going to have to be in the area for three weeks.

On Saturday we flew out. It was not easy. We checked a car seat and a suitcase; and there was certain juggling to try and get it so that we didn’t have to pay for either. We travelled as if we were doing an international flight: we arrived two hours early. We had hoped we would be able to get things done quickly enough that we could relax in the United Lounge that we had passes for. But by the time everything was done and we got through security, we only had about half an hour before boarding. Considering the United Lounge costs $60 without passes, it didn’t seem worth it to use the passes for such a short time. Hopefully we can on the way back.

We started asking people who were there with babies how they did it. It gave us good advice, so we have a better idea of what to do when we are coming back.

When we checked in 24 hours in advance, we picked a window and an aisle seat with the hope that no one would come between us. Unfortunately someone did, although they spent most of the flight sleeping. When we were about to deplane I asked him how long before the flight he had purchased the ticket. And that opened up an interesting story. He got his ticket 20 minutes before the flight. He had missed his previous flight because he was late and running to his gate; apparently the TSA does not like people running in airports. They stopped him and put him in handcuffs. For the record, this was a white man, although he was a music producer with longish hair and a goatee, so I’m not sure how much profiling was involved. I can’t believe that running isn’t allowed in airports though; romantic comedies thrive on that trope.

On landing and after we got our luggage, we picked up our rental car. The rental company put the fear of god in us: crime is rampant in the city and you should expect anything you leave in your car to get stolen. We then drove to our AirBnb. The place seems suitable for our needs; it is only five minutes from the hospital.

But there is no rest for the weary. We immediately went out shopping so that we could have supplies for our time here. This was followed by a run just as the sun was setting. I think there might have been some nice views with all the hills I ran, but it was getting to dark to appreciate them.

Written 2023-5-9 23:30

Last Thanksgiving, turkeys were on sale in the grocery stores. Since I thought I would soon be making a turkey, I purchased a nice Butterball. I’m somewhat known for making a turkey dinner for friends/family. However, the grocery stores will also give you a store-brand turkey if you are buying enough. Fine, we can use it later. However, Thanksgiving was a busy time and I was out of town for a big part of it; same for Christmas. We have a chest freezer, so it wasn’t a big deal.
Then a couple of months ago we were at Aldi where they had a criminally cheap price for Butterball turkeys.
In other words, we have three frozen turkeys in our freezer. We need to do something about this.
The last time I tried to cook a turkey in our home, it did not go well. I blame our oven here; I think it has gotten damaged and doesn’t go to the temperature it should. The fan doesn’t seem to do anything. It has given me trust issues with gas appliances.
So, we looked into doing another turkey dinner somewhere else. The in-laws are out of town, and they have a provably good oven. However, they live far from anyone else. (And I think my cousin-in-law is squatting there, smoking things that stink up the place.) We then got the brilliant idea to contact some friends that live in the centre of town and see if we can borrow their oven to cook a turkey for them. They seemed quite agreeable to the idea.
We loaded up the car with half of our kitchen and headed out there on Saturday. Unfortunately we saw there were some very good deal at Costco, which is on the way, so we did a surgical strike on that place to grab some good deals; with a turkey in the car the entire time. It seemed to work out.
I spent the rest of the day cooking. The others went out for lunch and then for a bike ride. But that turkey needs basting every twenty minutes, and I’m not going to let people down. And the turkey came out beautifully. Golden brown, and juicy.
I got the best compliment: “The white meat is so juicy that it doesn’t need gravy, but that gravy tastes so good I have to put it on.”
The only problem was that we didn’t leave until close to midnight. And by the time we got home, unloaded everything, and finished carving up the turkey, it was two in the morning.
Sunday was practically a write-off. We slept in. I would get up, do a minor chore (like eating), then take a nap. Repeat throughout the day. I was still tired by the time bedtime rolled around.

My atrial fibrillation continues. Despite taking medicine daily, nothing seems to affect it. I have a CPAP machine that was supposed to help; it does help me sleep but it doesn’t affect my heart in any meaningful manner.
On Tuesday I saw my heart doctor again. He is a family friend of my in-laws so he is highly recommended. He is now floating the idea of Pulmonary Vein Ablation. This sounds rather invasive as it involves blasting away muscles in the heart. This feels like a bad idea, but I’m not a doctor. The doctor says the recovery rate is 70%.
The thing is that a different friend of the family had it done to himself recently. It worked initially but the fibrillation came back a few weeks later. Now this person is older and was unhealthy in the past so that may have some bearing. My doctor is recommending the exact same specialist though. (And from the descriptions he was very old and made the patients wait a long time for their appointments.)
My heart doctor did listen to my heart and, while it was irregular, the beats were very strong. And let’s be honest, when I was having heart trouble previously, it was when I had stopped running. So it sounds very important that I keep running. Always.

I’ve missed running with dogs. I don’t have a dog, and the closest I can get to being with one is when I visit my family and can abscond with one for a bit. However, most dogs can’t keep up with me; over short distances they are fine, but once the kilometres start getting up there, we get in the reverse-dogsled situation. (I’m pulling the dog instead of the dog pulling me.)
However, my neighbours have a dog, Luna, who is in fact a husky. A few weeks ago it did the typical husky thing by being an escape artist and wandered off. It hung around outside our house for a bit before wandering off to explore the neighbourhood. It had roped in another dog that was clearly just a follower, and had no idea what to actually do. So this was an active dog.
On Saturday, these neighbours were out selling girl scout cookies in the late afternoon. I was about to go for my run, so I stopped to say hello and talk a bit. I jokingly offered to take Luna with me for my run; it got negotiated down to a run around the block and I took it. Luna was a little excited and pulled a lot but she calmed down enough afterwards. Still it was over quickly, but she looked happy with the results. After I returned her I continued on with the rest of my run.
On Sunday, I saw them again and asked if I could take Luna out on my Monday run. Monday is usually a shorter run, around 6.5km, so not too far. It is also not on any major roads without sidewalks. They agreed.
So today, I messaged them and arranged to pick up Luna around 5:30. She was prepped for me with a good harness that contained poop bags. She lunged out the doors into my arms. I don’t know if she was excited to go for a run with me, or if she just greeted everyone at the door that way.
In any case, we went off. She was, once again, a little bouncy and pulling, but she calmed down. She paced well didn’t try to tug me too much. After 3km she was a little slower, but still going. I think she did enjoy hearing other dogs bark at her from behind fences. She did perk up some energy when a cat crossed the street in front of us.
But as tired as she was, she was still able to do the ending sprint.
Then she insisted on immediately going home, probably wondering why I wasn’t opening the door for her. When the neighbours opened the door, she just went in without looking back. I suspect she was looking for her water bowl.
I don’t know if she will ever want to join me again. If she does, I might be able to work her up to longer distances. But for now, the 6.5km neighbourhood run should be good.

There was a lot of running this month. My Vancouver run club has a challenge where we compete against other run groups. On an individual basis though, it comes down to trying to run 400km in a month. That is more than I usually do these days, but was close to what I used to do. So I decided to join and relive the old days. I successfully completed the distance a few days before the deadline. I think we didn’t do that well as a group because we don’t have enough women willing to run stupid distances.
One of the things that helped motivate me was a discovery I made.
Along West Little York road there was broken marble. It looked like a solid countertop had fallen off the back of a truck and the pieces dumped on the side of the road. Interestingly, it wasn’t in one spot; it was actually in three different places, separated by about a kilometre. It was nice marble too, Italian Bardiglio, which retails for $25 a square foot. I know this because one of the pieces still had the label on it and I could look up the price. The whole thing is apparently 121 x 72, which I presume are inches. But that makes it 6 feet by 10 feet…
Really the whole thing looks like a big jigsaw puzzle. And I like jigsaw puzzles. So I started collecting the pieces whenever I passed. I have to run on West Little York road often because it is one of the few places with a bridge over the bayous; a lot of traffic on that road too. Initially I took small handfuls of rocks and carried them in my pocket.
Then I graduated to bigger pieces. Fortunately I could grab them on my way home when I only had to go about 800 metres to finish. One day I just decided to focus on the marble entirely. Instead of exploring the far reaches, I just went out and back carrying the pieces, and some of them were getting heavy. That was a rough day.
The final piece was 1.2km away, and was too big to carry. I convinced Catalina to support me as we drove out to the area, and under cover of night, I was able to get it into the back of the car.
Unfortunately it was too big. While trying to maneuver it so I could clean off the dirt, I caused it to fall and it broke into several large pieces. I feel terrible about that, but nothing I can do about it now. It was probably inevitable though; the marble had been through a traumatic experience and there were probably small fractures just waiting to become big ones. I think I still see more cracks, so I’m going to be gentle with it.
I’ve now got all the pieces strewn around the basketball court (that we never use). I’m trying to put it back together again, but it is not easy. I’ve found very few pieces that fit together. It is a big joy whenever I can get anything to connect, but it is rare to happen.
I’m also really doubting that I have enough pieces to make 6 feet by 10 feet. So either my scale is off, or I’m missing a lot of the parts.

It is the holiday season. So people start throwing holiday parties. My wife’s family has businesses and business partners so there are a surprising number of parties that I needed to attend. Surprisingly, my own company is not doing anything for me to celebrate.
The first party was for my wife’s family business. This involved going to the Cheesecake Cafe for a lunch. (Note: I don’t actually like cheesecake. But that is my cross to bear.) Last year, I ordered the filet mignon, because why not? This year I asked for a recommendation from the waitress and instead got chicken Madeira. According to the menu, it had more calories than the filet mignon. From looking at the dish, I’m guessing that all the calories were coming from the heaps of mashed potatoes that were piled on everything.
A week later was the real test, and there were three parties in three days.
Thursday was a business partner throwing an extravagant party at a Brazilian Steakhouse. I have now learned that this is essentially an all-you-can-eat meat place. There is also a salad bar, and they are honest that it is there to fill you up on cheaper food. Same story for the bread. I checked the website for the cost of a dinner there and it is quite high, so we were being treated well. However, I don’t think I would ever pay for that for myself. Some of the meat was better than others, and frankly, the salad bar was really good; if forced to go back I would only order the salad bar. Unlimited avocados and tuna. A bit of a damper on the whole experience was that the parking lot got changed into a valet parking lot when we arrived; it felt like a needless money grab.
The next day I had a meat hangover for most of the morning.
On Friday evening it was off to the Christmas party for the hospital that the family owns. This was held at a brewery so as much beer as you could want to drink. For the record, I still don’t like alcohol, beer included. There was a pasta buffet dinner catered from a local restaurant. It was nice that there wasn’t much meat there. But actually there was a lot of candy that was free for the taking. The arcade machines were fun too.
On Saturday was the final party: A friend of my wife’s was having an open-house party to show off a house he was putting on AirBnB. The caveat was that this was in Galveston, which is about an hour and half away from where we live. We went early so that we could walk along the beach. It was not a Caribbean beach, and the water was a muddy brown, but it was nice enough. Afterwards, my wife went to the house, and I did my daily run, this time along the ocean Seawall. It was good to have a different area to run around, and I’ve missed the Vancouver Seawall. I ended the run at the house in question. At which point I learned that it was actually a hundred year old mansion. It very well renovated, but I don’t think I could afford to stay there. Besides, it wasn’t on the beach. I tried to limit the amount of appetizers I ate that they had laid out.
And the next day we rested.

November is the traditional time to vote in America. This year I was able to get myself registered so I can have a say in the government. It is a very tiny say since my vote doesn’t actually matter; this state will always vote Republican so my vote is essentially wasted. Still I want to do the right thing, so I went with my wife to vote.
It is surprisingly hard to vote here. We were doing early voting, but there was still quite a line.
But the big difficulty was the number of options. There were four pages of positions and candidates to vote for. I can’t see how anyone could make an informed choice over so many things. Judges; Boards; Comptrollers; Commissioners. It takes about five minutes to use the computer to help you go through all of the options. Then it prints a sheet summarizing your choices and you put it into the tabulator.
I can see why all this would discourage voting; just too much responsibility. It is impossible to make an informed choice. I did my best, but I really just went along party lines. Except for one county judge that my wife informed me had been making very bad decisions.
Is Canada better with the politicians appointing people to these roles? I feel it is, but I welcome someone making a case otherwise.

Halloween is different here than I expected. When I was growing up in Winnipeg, I expected to be able to go to every house and beg for candy. Here, I’m told, you can only go to the houses that are decorated. You actually need to advertise that you are giving out candy.
At about 8:30 you also start to see what I call “Factory Farms”: a car/truck disgorges a bunch of children who suck up as much candy as they can before returning to the vehicle to drive to the next house. We also saw a lighted golf cart hauling the kids around to get more candy without tiring themselves out.

Last week we went to Cozumel. It was sort of a last-minute plan. There is an annual meeting of friends, and we didn’t think we wanted to go this year, but a month before we changed our minds. We went and bought the tickets. We were better prepared this year than the last; having not just moved made things considerably easier.
The first thing that happened when we arrived was that Catalina discovered she had left her sunglasses in the taxi. She was in a low blood-sugar state, so this was a major crisis. Thankfully I had brought an extra pair so she used those. Also she was able to get some food into her system. By the end of the week, after obtaining new sunglasses, she still preferred my pair of sunglasses. I do think they looked better on her than her usual ones; more sporty.
After eating a bit, we proceeded to jump into the ocean. We weren’t wasting time. It was different for me this year; last year I didn’t have my snorkel equipment, this year I did. Wow. What a difference that makes! As soon as I was in the water, there were fish everywhere. Not a great variety, but lots of them. Interestingly, when we went swimming in a direction, we wouldn’t see as many fish; until we stopped and looked behind us: they were following us.
Later on in the week, we learned that the lifeguard on duty would actually take chips or pitas into the ocean with him. Another person suggested loading the chips into an empty water bottle and use that to control how much you give out. So that introduced us to feeding frenzies. The fish never seemed to have a fear of us, and when food was added into the mix, they got right into our faces to get it.
I think these “wild” animals have become habituated to humans.
On Tuesday we had plans to do our own thing, separate from our friends. It started initially with a plan to run into town. As the day went along, and it got hotter, it was modified to walking into town. By the time we actually left, it had become bicycling into town (the hotel had bikes we could borrow.) We went along the promenade and passed through the tourist areas. We hit the equivalent of Walmart to buy the aforementioned sunglasses; unfortunately I didn’t get to go in because one of us had to stay outside to guard the bikes.
We went a bit farther, but across the street from a grocery store there was a nice coconut lying on the street. We promptly claimed it. When we were heading back, we passed a palm tree that was filled with coconuts and looked climbable. We were able to pick three from it. (It was in front of a bank, so technically we have robbed a bank.) Once we got our stash back to the hotel we were able to get the bartender to cut them open and we got fresh coconut water.
After that, I think the hotel got the idea that people wanted coconuts, so they brought in more for other people to drink. It was a lot easier than going out to collect them ourselves.
All in all, it was a good trip. We stayed up late, past midnight, every night. We were with friends and we were all having a good time. There were fun things to do almost always. Unfortunately staying up late didn’t mesh well with my early morning runs (I have to get my run in before it gets too hot.) So I had to accept caffeine via Coca-cola, into my life to be able to function. I may have precipitated a caffeine addiction though, because since I’ve been back, I’ve been tired almost all the time.
The vacation did end on a poor note. A few hours after returning to Houston, Catalina started to feel sick to her stomach. For a couple of days, she had GI issues and was aching all over. We initially suspected the tacos she had eaten at the airport, but we later heard that a number of people had gotten sick at the resort; we were lucky it hit her a day later than everyone else. But it was better to be sick at the end of the vacation than at the start.

I’m not 100% sure the reason, but there was a neighborhood event tonight. It was called “National Night Out”. I saw a sign advertising it yesterday. This morning the radio was talking about it. I think it is a chance to get to know your neighbours and/or your law enforcement. Honestly, I didn’t care. I stopped listening after I saw that “Frosted Betty dessert truck” would be there.
I dragged my wife out to the park where it was happening and we bee-lined to the dessert truck. It was her birthday, but she was very supportive of my dessert needs. I was able to get a brownie and she got a cupcake. And then we discovered we could get multiple. Thankfully, my wife doesn’t like sweet things, so I now have desserts ready for the rest of the week.
The local constables were there, showing off their cars with flashing lights. We talked to them a bit. One of them had been in the army for 14 years and he looked very intense.
The highlight of the whole evening though were the dogs. Apparently they had found two stray dogs wandering about. So they had put them in the back seat of their car as they tried to find their owners. The windows were open, but there were bars preventing them from escaping. So everyone was lining up to pet and give ear-scratches to these friendly dogs. I think the constables were a little jealous of all the attention the dogs were getting.

I am in the United States. I am working here. Ergo I should be paying taxes. I did file an extension, but that is about to expire. And I’m discovering how just how complicated it is.
One thing that has come up is that apparently I should have been paying US taxes for my entire life. My company was willing to pay for me to do my US taxes for the first year, but the firm refused to do that unless I completed all of my back-taxes.
Through my wife we found an accountant that would be able to help me. She lives in Kimberley, B.C. which is a ski resort town. She seems very knowledgeable and has been helpful. Thankfully the U.S. is forgiving; I only have to do the last three years of tax returns. I suppose I could have just had her do them all EXCEPT for the last one and had my company do those. But it feels safer to just have one party do all of them.
In any case, we went over the returns today and it oddly looks like I will actually get money back. Score! Maybe the U.S. should not have been so insistent I go through this exercise.

So, after the broken toe, things went downhill. I stopped running and focused on getting my toe to be whole again. Then, on August 4th, I started feeling bad. My chest hurt and I was having trouble breathing deeply. This was possibly related to my Atrial Fibrillation, but it may also be from my chest hitting the pole when I broke my toe.
After trying to muscle through it for awhile, we decided that I should go to the Urgent Care. They did an EKG on me and said I should go to the emergency room. My wife knows many doctors so she called a heart specialist she knew and we went to his hospital, instead of the closest one. I was able to get in quickly because of my wife’s connections.
However, the next part was a bit disappointing. They gave me some blood thinner and then a whole battery of tests. The result was that they could find nothing wrong with me, other than the Afib. All of my muscles and blood vessels were the picture of health. I was eventually discharged, and I effectively slept it off.
But still, my wife’s family was there for me. On August 8th we went to a doctor friend of their family and got some more tests and plans to start addressing my Afib. This was in Corpus Cristi which was a three hour drive away. I got another X-ray for my foot and which point they determined that I had actually broken two toes. But they were healing well.
The doctor suspected that I might have sleep apnea that was causing the Afib. So that night I was part of a sleep study. I was wired up with a bunch of wires and monitored as I slept.
“Slept”
I had a lot of trouble sleeping and never really felt like I was unconscious. However, the person in the next room had trouble staying asleep. So at about two in the morning they turned on their TV. Did I mention that they were hard of hearing? It was not a quiet TV. I complained and the issue was addressed. I’m just surprised that it got as far as it did; why did they let him even turn the television on? It was after that that I did actually fall asleep enough that I was dreaming.
The results of the study was that I had a bit of sleep apnea. I think I was at 14.7. 0 being none, and 30 being significant. They actually showed me on charts that I was asleep more than I thought I was, but not a good sleep.
I also saw a recommended specialist foot doctor who said I could start running short distances in a week.
So I came back the next night for another round of sleep study, this time with a CPAP machine stuck to my face. I was more prepared this time and took some pills to make me sleepy. And I was probably still tired from the poor sleep the previous night.
The results of that study showed that I was sleeping better and that I should start using the CPAP machine. Luckily my insurance covered it, and I had new one that day. We then went home on August 10th.
The next day though, Catalina started feeling ill. We assumed it was a cold. On the 13th I was feeling a bit of a tickle in my throat that got worse the next day. But on Sunday, August 14th Catalina tested positive for Covid. It took awhile for me to test positive as well, but I was feeling bad on Monday.
I don’t feel we deserve this Covid. We were both careful and wearing masks everywhere. The only time we didn’t was when we were with her family. Now that I think about it, I have no idea how careful her family has been about the disease.
Luckily on Wednesday I was feeling better and started doing work. By Saturday I decided to start running. I was still testing positive for a week, but I was feeling fine for most of it. So I’m just continuing to isolate.

Yesterday, at about 8:15, I broke my toe. It didn’t happen while I was doing something epic. Nope. I was crossing a crowded restaurant dining area, tripped on a step as I was avoiding a table and my toe was wrenched into a bad position. I fell, with my chest hitting a pole and my elbow getting scrapped.
My toe was clearly sticking out to the side. It didn’t hurt too bad, but it started aching soon enough. From previous experience, I know that the best medical thing to do was to buddy tape it to the other toe. I procured some bandages and did just that.
The next day, first thing in the morning, I went to the Urgent Care. This would be my first experience with the American medical system. (Thankfully, my work insurance covered all emergencies.) I got an X-ray and it was discovered that I had completely broken the toe. My past experience was just a crack.
So now I am not allowed to run, or hike, or bicycle.
Of course this means my run streak is officially dead. 1250 consecutive days of running are over. I’ve tried to bargain with it in my head; thinking that if I walked/hobbled 5km every day I could pretend I was still running. But I have to be adult and take care of myself.
This makes me sad on multiple levels. My run streak is over, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do it again. If I tried, I’ll always know I’ve done better in the past, and too much could go wrong in the three years it would take to get back up to a the same number. And let’s face it, it is hard on my body. I probably shouldn’t be doing daily runs in the first place. Certainly not at the distance I’ve been doing.
I also eat a lot, because I was constantly burning calories. But my body will not realize I’ve stopped running and will still want to eat. I’m going to have to train myself to eat less.
But running is very core to my identity. If I’m not a runner, who am I? I realize this makes me a boring person because I only talk about running.
On the plus side, my body probably has been needing a break for some time.
This also wrecks this vacation because the plan was to go hiking every day. So today I spent the day reading in the rental, while everyone else went off exploring the wilderness.
2022-7-27 22:51 CDT

Today we looked for a good hike to do. We eventually settled on Mount Sniktau. This would represent the alpine hike that we would be doing this trip. To get there we had to drive over a Loveland Pass which represented the continental divide. So, before we even started we were at significant altitude: 3646 meters.
The trail was very vertical. It took exactly one hour to go the first mile. And then we rested to have a lunch. From there we got to see marmots. I also saw a bird (grouse?) that was camouflaged to look exactly like the rocks in the area.
The trail was mostly along a ridge of several peaks, all leading up to the final top peak. The path was rocky and it was easy to get winded. I’ve been living at sea level for a long time so it was rough on me. The tiredness reminded me of when I used to climb Mount Temple.
Near the summit, half of our group decided to stay behind; they were getting too tired to attempt more altitude. Catalina and I continued up to Mount Sniktau. It was around this time that I started getting a headache. It may have been from altitude, or I hadn’t been drinking enough water, or a combination of the two. I was beginning to have a poor attitude because of that.
The view from the top was great. I discovered that on American mountains, some government service will put a medallion plug into the summit to indicate the top. Or maybe it gives the elevation? I don’t know. The brass plaque was too weathered to read. Conveniently, someone had placed under a rock a piece of paper with the name of the mountain, the declaration of 13,234 feet elevation and today’s date. (My Garmin thought it was 4026 meters.) It was ideal for picture taking of proof of accomplishment.
While we were up there, the other half of the group was practicing their yodeling. The highlight of their whole trip happened: He got a response to his Sasquatch call. He was very convinced it wasn’t human and he kept talking about it for hours. He was very happy.
On the way down, we took a slightly different way. It kept us away from the very vertical trail we had come up, and gave us a more gradual descent. But because it was on a south face, it was very green and covered in wildflowers. I took a lot of pictures.
At the end of everything, we got back to the car and drove home. This was a rough hike for me though. I think the 13km run in the morning may have made it too much for me. I was not feeling well. What did cure my malaise was when I was able to give myself a glass of electrolyte drink. I didn’t feel like I was craving it, but it made me feel much better.
2022–7-25 22:17 CDT