I start Tuesday with a good mountain bicycle ride to the old yacht club and back to home. I had thought about starting back in with the road bicycle, but I'll do that later this week. Near noon I drive over for a blood test - doing a pre-radiation treatment check and seeing how low my hemoglobin and hematocrit are. We know they are low, just how low are they? After the blood test I get to the library to return two books and get new ones. From last week's trip to the library, I get home to discover that one of the books I already read and another one just isn't doing anything for me. And I make a quick trip to the grocery store. The afternoon is consumed with the MotoGP race from Assen and some work on the Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force website. Later the Dodgers' game occupies my time.
I start Wednesday with a second bicycle ride in two days since Thursday morning is taken up with doctor's appointments. Expecting to be tired from yesterday's ride, I'm surprised with strong legs and have a good ride. Back at home I trim the roses and mow the lawn to get extra tired. A warm shower refreshes me as I read the news and markets and work on some websites. Late in the afternoon I watch some of another Dodgers' game as delayed by rain.
On Thursday I squeeze in a quick sixty minute walk adnd get a shower before driving down to Tustin to visit with a radiation dentist. A radiation dentist? Yes, I guess its a specialty. The dentist has had a fair amount of training in oncology and we have a nice visit. He gives me all of the rules regarding oral care during and after radiation and after taking molds of my teeth, he builds the "screens" that I will need to wear during each radiation session. I drive on home and get into my physical therapy exercises and then relax with some golf. Later in the afternoon I work on preventing spam at the Fair Trade Long Beach website and watch a bit of Netflix and the Dodgers' game.
On Friday I get in a Longer bicycle ride where I go down to the old yach club but skip the Del Amo exit for home and add a 10 kilometer loop. At home I rearrange chemicals in the garage (some still a bit askew from the possum visit), trim the roses, and grab a shower. F1 qualifying from Austria is next on the list and its goes according to plan. Later, feeling productive today, I work more on the Fair Trade website, dust and oil some furniture, watch a bit of the golf tournament, and then catch some of the Dodgers' game. Since I've started watching the Dodgers' games in the last two weeks they've won five of six games against quality opponents.
After yesterday's longer bicycle ride, today I just go down to the old yach club and back to home. I feel strong throughout and will probably triple up on SUnday with a longer road bicycle ride (and then take Monday completely off from cycling or walking). At home I turn the bicycle upside down and gear the gears and derailleurs and then grab a shower. The F1 sprint race from Austria is exciting because it is wet to start with all drivers on intermediate tires but the rain stops and some drivers switch to dry tires. During the F1 race, Ruby, Joseph, Lisa, and Boomer come to visit so the F1 race is on pause for two hours (just as drivers are considering the switch to dry tires). We have a nice visit and talk about times past, things we're working, the future, as well as everyone's health. Later I watch some Netflix, finish off the Fair Trade website, and catch some of the Dodgers' game.
I've moved the alarm ahead to 5:30 am and I'm out the door for a third straight day of cycling at 6:25 am. I have a good ride and feel no fatigue from the previous days' rides. After a shower I go to the grocery store and buy supplies and return to home. The F1 race from Austria is enteraining because there are different strategies as the teams plan for rain in the middle of the race - which doesn't come. Later I watch some of the Dodgers' game and the golf tournament and I don't quite have the motivation to work on a Python idea that I had last night in bed (and noted on paper so that I didn't forget about the idea). It's a slow Sunday and this is good since I'm tired from three straight days of cycling and I look forward to a day off of working the legs. Today I shave for the first time since the surgery more than six weeks ago. I need to shave so that the radiation screen fits consistently. I was avoiding shaving to give the incisions around my neck time to heal. And I recall how my Dad shaved too soon after a carotid artery surgery and had to go back into the hospital with a nasty infection for which we had to gown, cap, and glove up to visit him. Since I'm using an electric razor the threat is less. Nonetheless I shave like a sissy and do not do any damage. And I note that the swelling in my neck looks a lot less conspicuous as I'm clean shaven.
Monday is a planned day off from working the legs. I have a craving for blueberry muffins so I take a short walk to the store to buy some. At mid morning I get out and lift weights and it feels good - I need to be more diligent about lifting weights now that the legs are sufficiently making great progress. The day wanders away from me with a visit from a nurse and the IndyCar race and the Dodgers' game.
On Tuesday, the 4th of July, I'm out the door for a bicycle ride at 6:30 am. I originally wanted to ride the road bicycle but I just ride the mountain bicycle. I get down to the old yacht club and already see people setting up tents, shades, and easy-ups before 9 am - twelve full hours before the Queen Mary fireworks. I feel strong today and turn for home and add on an extension to get in almost fifty kilometers. It is definitely time to get on the road bicycle and I don't know why I keep shying away from it. I take care of a few watering/gardening tasks and have a nice cool shower. After reading the news I prepare brunch and have a relaxing day. I have ideas to work on in Python related to artifial intelligence and web/database interfaces, but I don't work on them today. Late in the day I watch some of the Dodgers' game and get down for reading and then sleep before the fireworks get serious. Between the fan in my bedroom and my foam earplugs, the fireworks are a non-event for me and I can read about the chaos in the morning.
I'm out the door for a walk at 5:55 am. I get in a god walk for seventy minutes. At home I trim the roses, bring some blooms inside the house, and then trim the front lawn. I cool down with a good shower and then drive to my "radiation simulation" appointment where we go through a typical radiation treatment process without turning the radiation on. The visit starts with the two nurses taking three attempts to get a valve put into my arm for the contrast CT scan. The first nurses pokes through my veins twice - one in each arm - before calling in another nurse to do the job. Then they sculpt a mask that completely surrounds my head and I have to lie still while the mask hardens for use during the radiation treatment. And then they do the contrast CT scan - once with no injection and a second time with the contrast dye. At the end, we schedule the start of my radiation for 7/11/2023. Later in the day I take my road bicycle over to the neighbor for him to adjust the front derailleur so that I can get onto the small chainring. The neighbor does some other tuneups of the rear brakes and steering as we talk about a lot of things. And then I watch some of the Dodgers' game.
I'm excited to be on the newly-tuned road bicycle and it doesn't disappoint. I go flying up the Los Angeles river and over the Whittier Narrows dam and into the El Monte airport area. Discretion is the better part of valour, so I pick a convenient turn around point rather than going all the way up towards the Santa Fe dam. And after I climb back over the Whittier Narrows dam I start cranking along nicely. Before I know it I'm approaching home and I have riders behind me that I've dragged along. After a shower I ponder and work on two things: a Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force website dashboard and a baseball lineup algorithm. (Is there a better way to pick a baseball lineup rather than the standard rules that have been around for a long time?) Early in the afternoon Person M_Fl comes to visit. We haven't seen each other for a long time and we have a good visit. Afterwards IU watch an exciting stage of the Tour de France up the Col de Tourmalet and later irredularly scan the Dodgers' game.
I wake up on Friday with sore legs from Thursday's super road bicycle ride. I gain my balance and get dressed and start slowly walking at 5:55am and then pick up the pace. It's a good eighty minute walk. I trim and weedwack the roses and now the rosebeds are ready to be raked for a good summer of growth. After a shower I check out the news and markets and take the World Rally Car in for an il change and tire rotation. Since this is my dealer's new facility, I don't quite know where to go for service and park in a visitor parking lot. And salesmen start walking towards me and before they can say anything I say "Don't ask me to to sell it or make an offer". The salemen get disappointed looks on their faces because EVERYONE wants to buy my car. They point me to service and I get the same requests from the service people. But I get an oil change and they do not rotate the tires because the tread wear is so even there is no pint to rotating the tires. On the way home I stop in at a grocery store and drive home. My legs are still sore and I watch an inconclucive FP2 for F1 from England, grab lunch, and relax on the couch with the news and some golf. Later in the day I catch the Dodgers' game and do some reading.
I originally want to ride the road bicycle long on Saturday morning, but I'm still a bit hungover from Thursday's cranking ride. So I take the mountain bicycle to the old yacht club and back to home. The legs and organism felt strong - I should have done the longer road bicycle ride. At home I rake up all of the debris in the rosebeds and they are looking ready for some good summer growth. After a shower there's an unpredictable and wild F1 qualifying from Silverstone where there's rain and a drying track and finally a shocking 2nd and 3rd grid positions for Sunday's race. I work on the laundry and some websites and check out the golf (from Pebble Beach for the US Women's Open) nad later I watch some of the Dodgers' game.
I'm just hungover from riding and stuff on Sunday, so I don't ride or go walking. At mid morning I get in a good session with light weights and now its time to increase the weights for the next workout. Rai again threatens the F1 race from Silverstone, but it stays away. And is a fun race with a shock 2nd and 4th place set of finishers. As the laundry gets done I work on the LBHTTF website and a dashboard for admins/webmasters of the site. And I just have a slow day.
On Monday I feel good and take the mountain bicycle out and add an extension to the typical ride - I should have ridden long today with the road bicycle. I trim the roses and make good progress on websites and just think about and prepare for the start of radiation treatment tomorrow.