June update

It's been a while and I thought I'd post an update.

The good: My "bad" (left) shoulder is doing fantastic. Much better than I expected. Weather permitting, I bike to work on a regular basis. Unfortunately, due to the weather, that hasn't been as often as I would like. I have a goal of riding 90kms in one outing before the end of the summer. I managed to do 68.8kms once without even trying so I think I should be fine. I've already reached 40% of my 2000km overall summer goal.

The bad: My good (right) shoulder is bothering me. I think I have a pinched nerve in there somewhere. I didn't do anything to injure it, as I did with my left shoulder, but it really hurts if I move it in certain ways. Thankfully, cycling isn't affecting it. Sleeping on it seems to have the most adverse affect on it. It's been like this for a couple of months, but I've decided to give it more time before becoming too concerned with it. Besides, I'm almost due for my annual physical so I'll bring it up then, but I suspect my doctor won't be too concerned about it and may just refer me to physio or something.

The weather for the rest of the summer is supposed to be much better than it has been for June, so I'm hoping to get in a lot more cycling. Despite my goal for 2000kms, I think I might push for 3000kms. :)

An so it begins...

I've gone cycling four days now. Once last weekend (40kms), once this past weekend (33kms), yesterday to and from work (42kms), and now today (21kms so far, until I ride home).

My shoulder and neck feel pretty good (knock on wood). There have been a few times that I felt my bicep tingle, as a result of my neck, but pulling my shoulders back seems to alleviate that.

The morning rides to work are still a little on the chilly side at 10c.

I'm finding it a little difficult to motivate myself to ride. In past years, I wouldn't hesitate to go, but now I have to guilt myself into doing it. :) I haven't done any Nike+ workouts in weeks, so this is my one and only major physical activity.

Pebble: E-Paper Watch

After almost a year of waiting, my Pebble E-Paper Watch finally arrived yesterday!

I invested in this Kickstarter project at the $115 level a few weeks before it had ended. Because I'm in Canada, I paid an extra $10 for S&H.

What this got me was a black Pebble watch.

The box it arrived in was pretty cool. The unboxing was really uneventful  Pull the cardboard "zipper", flip open the top and voila.

A watch and a USB charging cable, with instructions on the inside telling me to go to go.getpebble.com to configure it.

I already had the iOS app installed, so the phone was paired via Bluetooth and running in no time, after it received a firmware update during this process. (I read messages after on the Pebble Facebook that some people's watches were bricked during firmware updates..)

Some of the watch faces I loaded,
displayed with the backlight on.
Even when off, it's still very readable.

Using the phone app, I can send a "ping" to the watch to verify that it is paired (it makes the watch vibrate), or I can choose from 11 additional watch faces to add to the 3 or 4 that came with the watch. You can't load them all at the same time. I tried and it told me I had to remove some before I could add more. I narrowed my choices down to 7 for now. I assume if I ever add an other functionality to the watch in the future, I may have to remove more to make room.

I don't think the app does much else that I can see. During the initial fundraising they talked about a cycling app to track stats in conjunction with your phone. I hope that's still coming because that's the main reason I invested.

The watch itself is plastic and seems quite durable and lightweight. The strap is some kind of rubber and I think it'll last as well. It supposedly a standard size strap so can be replaced by any watch strap if I wish.

One thing that I'm not particularly fond of is its size. Maybe my wrists are a little narrow for a 6'3" 230lb man, but as you can see in the photo, it's fairly large.

You can also see how readable it is without the backlight
in this photo.

On top of that, I haven't worn a watch in a long time so this will take some getting used to.

There's a grand total of four buttons on the watch. One on the left, beside the magnetic charging... err... nubs? This is basically the "home/back" button. On the right, there's an "up", "select/menu", and "down" button.

The watch can be turned on by holding down any of the buttons for 2 seconds. Pressing the middle (select/menu) button opens the menu where you can choose the music feature (to control your phone's default music player), set an alarm, choose from the installed watch faces, or go into settings where there are some very basic configuration settings, and an option to shutdown the watch.

What exactly does the watch DO?

Well, I can only speak for the iPhone pairing, but when your SMS/iMessages are configured to display notifications on the home screen, they will also appear on the watch. The watch will also vibrate to let you know. That's pretty handy if your phone in your pocket or bag. Not that you can only read the message while it's displayed. If you press the home/back button, it's gone and you'll need to read it from your phone. I know that's by design, and probably not such a big deal to most people. I just think it would have been cool if it cached a few messages to read later. It also does the same thing for emails. If the message is long, the up/down buttons will let you scroll to read it all.

It can also control the iPhone's default music player. Play/pause and skip fwd/rev. It seems to play your music list in shuffle mode.

That's about it. For now?

The battery life is supposed to be 2-7 days. That seems like quite a varied range. The last firmware update supposedly improved it after some were complaining it was less. We'll see how this goes.

The charger cable is kinda cool. It connects via two small magnets and plugs into any 5v USB port/charger. This also makes the watch waterproof up to 5ATM.

Because it is waterproof, there is no way to replace the battery when the watch finally dies. That's it, that's all, it's dead.

The watch now sells for $150 USD from the Pebble web site. They're still fulfilling Kickstarter backers and then the pre-orders, so expect a very long wait if you decide to order one. Many backers are becoming irate.

Is this watch worth $150 USD? I'm somewhat undecided, at least with its existing functionality. If apps start coming out for it, then may I'd lean more toward yes. I'm still hoping for the cycling stats app.

But then again, if you're the extremely geeky "must have" type, you might want one anyway.

Almost time

Today I was thinking that it's almost time to start cycling again. I checked my saved GPS logs to see what day I started last year and it's actually 1 year ago tomorrow.

There's still a little bit of snow on the ground due to a surprise snow storm over the last two days, but I think next weekend will be the first time out for this year. I hope so anyway.

My shoulder has been feeling pretty good, overall. I've had a few days where it didn't feel quite right, but I can associate those days with not doing any workouts in the days prior.

Whenever I go for a couple of days without any workouts, I can feel my arm and my shoulder begin to stiffen up, and then I also feel it in my neck.

Ever since I pull my calf muscle, my workouts have been very sporadic. I'm sure there's some laziness thrown in there, but mostly it's because of a fear that it's going to happen again. A few times last week, I felt the calf muscle tighten up just from walking up stairs. It's been ok for the last week though.

I have to make more of an effort to do something. Anything, to keep them loosened up, or I'm going to be in the same situation as last year.

For such a lazy bastard that I can be, I sure love cycling. Without it... I don't know what I'd do. I don't think of it as exercise as some people might. A motorcyclist could probably relate to the same feeling that it gives me. Except this is under my own power.

A 360 degree sight and sound freedom experience.

Do you really "Like" it?

Complaints about advertising on Facebook aren't new. Neither are the complaints about the type of advertising being shown. Some are outraged and what appears on their timeline because it's so unrelated to the type of things they like.

I mean, does anyone really like "Spamlamdex Quick'n'Easy Hair Removal"?  So I made that one up, but it isn't too far fetched if what this article describes is true: Facing Up To Facebook Scams

It's apparently called "Like farming". I'll paraphrase what the article says:

1. Your friend "likes" a photo, for whatever reason (we'll get into the reasons in a moment)
2. You see that they liked it and you decide to like it too.
3. The photo goes viral and receives tens of thousands of "Likes".
4. The person who posted the photo sells the group the photo was posted in to some shady product/brand.
5. That product/brand now has a group with thousands of likes on one of their photos, and in return — because you "Liked" their photo — they can share their advertising with you on your timeline.

Shady, low, sneaky, evil... but genius.

What kinds of images are we talking about?

The linked article mentions images with "Name a city without an 'R' in it. It's harder than it looks!", "'Like' if you hate cancer.", "'Like' if you hate bullying.", "If I get enough 'likes,' my dad will quit drugs."

Others that come to mind are "How many squares in this picture?", "Type (some word) in the comments to see what happens next!", and any mathematical equation images like "4+1x0+2=?".

There are hundreds of groups that consist of nothing but funny pictures. Humourous greeting cards. Cute kitten pics. Inspirational sayings. Funny quotes.

It wouldn't surprise me if many of those exist for this very reason.

If you Google "Like farming" you 'll find other similar articles about it.

The way I see it, unless your friend actually uploaded that image you Liked, expect the unexpected to appear on your timeline.

You can probably minimize the like-related ads by going into your Likes on Facebook and cleaning them up, "Unlike" anything that looks suspicious or that you don't remember liking.

They say that all good things must come to an end

A long, long time ago

I can still remember how that music used to make me smile

And I knew if I had my chance

That I could make those people dance

And maybe they'd be happy for a while

On April 2nd, Don McLean's "American Pie" will be the very last Rock Band song.

Ever.

Supposedly.

But from what I read on Twitter, it may not be the last ever, but it is the end of the weekly download content that has been flowing for years.

We bough so many songs. We probably have more invested in Rock Band songs than we do in the Xbox and all the other games we own.

I have some good memories of playing Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 3 over the years. It's the only video game that my wife played often on our Xbox. She refused to play any instrument other than guitar. Bass was boring. Guitar was a challenge. And she was pretty damn good at it too.

I remember struggling to move from Medium difficulty to Hard, and having to deal with more than 3 buttons. I thought for sure that I would never learn to play without looking at the neck of the guitar and be able to transition my fingers up and down the neck of the guitar without forgetting where I was.

I remember the first time my wife and I gold starred a song and how awesome it felt. Sounds silly, I know, but it was a cool moment.

I remember the day my wife and I decided to go for the "Never-ending Setlist" achievement, and how it took much longer than we expected, and how patient our kids were waiting to be fed, late, that evening. :)

I remember the first time playing drums. And how "real" it felt to nail a tricky beat on expert as if it had never been a problem.

It still amazes me how my fingers seem to magically press all the right buttons in sequence to a seemingly impossible stream of notes cruising down the TV screen.


I remember the first time I got 100% on a song, on expert, and how it made want to thrust my fist in the air and yell "FUCK YEH!"

And sometimes I did just that.

There has always been criticism from the naysayers about how "real" Rock Band is — or not real, as the case may be. "Play a real instrument!" they'd say.

It's a game. A fun game. And for some people, it inspired them to learn real instrument. How can that be so bad?

Good times. Lots of them. With family and friends. And as long as I can make our remaining guitars and drum kit last, the good times will last.

Calf Update

That almost sounds like I'm a farming blog entry...

Anyway, my left calf seems to be healing well. I still don't know exactly what was wrong with it, but I'm limping less and the discomfort isn't happening as often.

At one point last night, while I was walking up to my front door, I realized that I wasn't limping at all and there was absolutely no tightness for about 10 steps. That's promising.

I'm anxious to resume my workouts, but I think when I do I'll be skipping anything that involves jumping or hopping or jogging for a while. Doing half the routines will be better than none at all.

I had a dream last night that I was cycling. I'm hoping that's a good omen of what's to come this spring. :)

The Otter Box arrived

It took a little longer than the last time, but the new warranty replacement Otter Box for my iPhone arrived today.

Again, I love the no hassle warranty on these. Clearly the original investment was worth it since it has spared my phone from damage after (more than) a few accidental drops. While it's a bulkier case than most, it does the job and it does it well. I don't think I could use any other case.

Pop

I was nearing the end of a "fitness evaluation" in the Nike+ Kinect game yesterday afternoon when my left calf went pop.

I think it was like a pop.

Whatever it was or whatever it felt like, it put a quick end to the evaluation/workout. Worst feeling ever.

The best way I can describe it was like it was a really bad muscle cramp. I tried to massage it out and it seemed ok until I stood up, leg straight, and tried to put weight on the ball of my left foot.

Not gonna happen. Instant cramp-like feeling.

The rest of the day was spent on my ass, leg up, alternating hot and cold compresses.

My left calf doesn't look any different. Pretty much the same as my right. No obvious swelling. No bruising. I can move my foot in all directions without any difficulty. I can stand, knees slightly bent and squat without discomfort. No pain or discomfort while resting. No burning sensation. So I don't think it's torn or anything like that.

It's only when I try to walk and put weight on the ball of my foot that I get that tight cramping sensation in my calf.

I guess I'm now out of commission for a while.

Fuck.

Otter Box update

I received an email from Otter Box on the weekend, informing me that I didn't send correct photos. Apparently, my name and address had to be HAND written on the piece of paper. I'm not entirely sure why that makes a difference. My best guess is so that I'm not using someone else's photos, where it would be easier to put a digital name and date on them?

I dunno.

I sent off new photos and within the day got another email informing me that it's no being processed.

Beergasm.ca

After much "encouragement" from a friend at work, I started a beer blog for fun:

Beergasm - http://www.beergasm.ca

Bay 5 Brewing - http://www.bay5brewing.com

Questions or comments... read the "FAQ" page there. :)

Otterbox, take 2

Back in July, I received a warranty replacement Otterbox case for my iPhone after the one I purchased about 8 months earlier cracked.

Today, I noticed that the replacement case is now cracked. :(

They claim it can withstand bumps and drops. I've dropped my phone a few times on carpet at work, or the laminate floor at home. I guess that's how it happened.

I'm not sure if they'll replace this one, so I went to their web site and filled out the form, also asking if the replacement comes with the same warranty (which I believe is 1 year)

I received the familiar automated reply asking for a photo. This time it asked for 3 photos: one of the front, the back, and one indicating the damage.

For all of the photos, they ask that you take the photo with a piece of paper showing your name and date.

I really like their cases, so I hope they'll send another replacement.

Beer fueled ramblings

More of an all-encompassing update kinda post.

WinterBrewed

My wife and I (and daughter and niece) took a trip down to WinterBrewed last Saturday to sample some fine craft brews. Just to clarify, my our daughter and niece didn't do any sampling, they were there for the food. :) Our timing must have been good because we didn't have to wait long for anything, unlike those who arrived later in the afternoon and had to endure 30 minute lineups just to purchase tokens to sample the brews. This was the first time they held one in the winter, and the first time on Sparks Street. Hopefully they work out the glitches for next year.

Since my wife was DD, I did most of the sampling. :)  My favourite was the St. Ambroise maple. I would have liked to sample more, but we ran out of tokens and it was rather chilly. I'm sure the next National Capital Craft Brew week this spring will be much more comfortable.

Shoulder, fitness, etc.

My shoulder felt pretty damn good since the last physio appointment. I had another appointment this past Friday as well. I mentioned to my physiotherapist that I had been doing a lot of workouts, focusing more on upper body. She said the increased blood flow to my shoulder is likely why it's been feeling good. I'm really looking forward to spring when I can try cycling again.

My weight loss isn't going so well, but at the same time it's not bad either. Although I really haven't lost much, I haven't gained either. (I blame the beer and weekly pizza, but I'm not about to give up either)  When I can, on the weekends, I've increased my workouts. I've combined the Nike+ workouts with the 'ol Your Shape Fitness Evolved workouts, and a little Kinect Sports Season 2 thrown in at the end for fun. That ended up being 2 hours worth of exercise today. :)

Music

My wife and I went to the Bon Jovi concert this past Wednesday. We sat in the 300 level, and they only cost me about $40 per ticket (after surcharges and tax)  I have to say that they were the best cheap seats I've ever had for a concert.

They still sound as good as they did about 25 years ago when I first saw them. Clearly, they're still just as popular too — the arena was packed.

Health, weight, shoulder, etc

The weight loss goal is going slow, with ups and downs.. and unfortunately, more ups than downs. I'm hovering at just below 230lbs. It's not bad, and it's been worse, but it's far from 199.

I know why.

I like beer.

My beer sampling weekends are definitely not helping me reach my goal. I don't think I want to stop beer sampling, so the only other options are to either stop eating altogether, or ramp up the work outs.

I think the answer is obvious.

I increased my Nike workouts to 4 times per week this week, and will continue with that plan. After I completed my work out today I felt pretty good so I threw in the old Your Shape Fitness Evolved disc and went through a couple of rounds of cardio boxing, that I used to do with this game.

I really enjoyed it. It's not super heavy on the full body cardio, which makes it fairly easy to keep up with. I decided that I'm going to continue to do it on the days that I'm not doing the Nike workout.

So my schedule is now as follows:

• Sun - Nike Kinect
• Mon - YSFE Cardio Boxing
• Tue - Nike Kinect
• Wed - YSFE Cardio Boxing
• Thu - Nike Kinect
• Fri - YSFE Cardio Boxing
• Sat - Nike Kinect & optional YSFE Cardio Boxing

I used to do the cardio boxing with 3lb weights, but since I have shoulder issues I'll probably hold off on that for a while.

Today's Nike work out was actually a fitness evaluation since it has been 4 weeks since I started. I'm pleased with the results:

According to the Nike app, I'm ahead in every area of fitness than men 40-49. I'm pleased, and somewhat shocked. Are men my age really that out of shape? I'm hardly the model of fitness, and to be ahead in this age bracket makes me feel pretty good.

News on the shoulder... I went to see my doctor last week about my shoulder. He doesn't seem as keen as he did before to get me an MRI on my neck since it has been fairly good, for the most part. He said if it feels like it's consistently worse, then we'll take that next step. While I was there, I asked him for a written referral for massage therapy for my shoulder, as my physiotherapist recommended. Now I just need to find a registered massage therapist and begin that. I was originally thinking of getting it at Carleton University, where I go for my physio, but if I can find somewhere closer to home that may have weekend hours, I think it would be more convenient.

Door repair completed

My wife dropped off the Escape Jim Keay on Monday evening for the door repair. We got a 2013 Ford Focus as a loaner. Not a bad car, but not very roomy. I've driven some of the older ones and they had more room. It was fairly comfortable, once I was able to squeeze in though. The heated seats were nice too.

Originally, the work was supposed to be completed by Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon I received a call at work from a Jim Keay employee updating me on the repair. The door had been fixed, repainted, and the they were reassembling it. He said they wanted to let the paint dry over night and would wash the entire truck in the morning so we could pick it up on Thursday.

We drove there after work and arrived at around 5:30pm or so. We pulled up the the garage and an employee came out as we got out of the car and asked us if we were the Patersons. I handed him the Focus keys and he gave my wife the key to our Escape. He checked the gas in the Focus (we were to make sure it had a 1/4 tank), did a quick walk around to check for any damage and said that there wouldn't be any paperwork today because it hadn't been printed for him. Seems a little odd, but he said we could pick up on our next visit. I think it's pretty unlikely that we'll be going back. 15+ years as a loyal customer down the drain.

As I walked away, he apologized for the inconvenience. My usual instinct response to that is "No problem", but I held back and didn't say anything, because... well, it was a problem, and an inconvenience.

I did a quick check before we left and it seems like a good repair job. You'd never know the difference. However, the light wasn't the best as the sun was going down. I'll have to wait until there's more light (and it's not as cold) to have a better look.

The repair process has begun

A rep from Jim Keay drove to my wife's work in the west end of Ottawa on Thursday morning and picked up our Escape to drive back to the east end so they could examine our door and determine if there's any additional damage.

It wasn't long before they called her back to give her an update. Apparently, the work required to fix it isn't as much as they thought it might be, so they did a temp fix and told her that we can drop it off on Monday for the repair. They will provide us with a loaner car and we can pick it back up on Wednesday.

She asked about any future problems, like rust, but they assured her it would be fine and said they were going to repaint the entire door.

So far, we're pretty happy with the responsiveness.

The temp fix. Basically flattening it out so there aren't any sharp edges.

Door Damage - taking responsibility

It looks like we won't have to fight for this after all.

I got a pleasant surprise yesterday when my wife called to say that the service manager called her and said that one of the employees who worked on our vehicle showed up for work early, with a guilty conscience, and admitted to accidentally damaging our door.

My wife said that the manager was the most pleasant he's ever been when talking to her too.

He said that they are still backlogged with repairs for the hail storm months ago, but he'd do his best to make sure we didn't have to wait long. He said they wanted to get our Escape in as soon as possible to make sure there was no structural damage and to prevent the damage from getting worse until they can repair it.

They're willing to drive from the east end, to the west end where my wife works, pick up our Escape, drive it back to the east end to do whatever they need to do, gas it up, and drive it back to her work when they're done.

While I'm really happy with the way this is going, the pessimist inside me is hesitant to heap praise on them. I'll give credit where credit is due once this is all over. But for now, this is a huge step in the right direction.

Body Damage Update 1

After I ranted a little on Twitter about the damage our Ford Escape received at Jim Keay Ford on Saturday, Ford Canada sent me a msg on Twitter apologizing and asked for our VIN, the dealer name, and our phone number.

Before I could send them the info, the service manager called my wife and asked her what he can do for her. She asked him if he was aware of what happened on Saturday and he asked her if she wanted to know what the message said that was left for him. She said sure. He read (going from my memory here):

Dear Mr. Carey, this customer wishes to speak with you regarding damage to her Ford Escape. She won't be calling you because she doesn't like you.

Now, my wife did mention to a couple of employees there that she didn't like him because of our past dealings with him. But to offer to read the message to her, instead of just confirming the details... that tells me he's trying to start a fire, rather than put one out.

She admitted to him that based on past dealings, she full expects that we'll have to go above him for satisfaction, but seeing as how they do have procedures to follow, we'll follow them.

He said the photos left for him were not that good and asked that we send him others. I sent him three via email this afternoon and included a link to more that are publicly available on Flickr. I also told him that Ford Canada had requested information, and that I sent it to them.

Free body work, courtesy of Jim Keay Ford Lincoln

We have a bit of a history with Ford and Jim Keay Ford Lincoln. Click here to read if you're interested.

We've been dealing with them for about 15 years now. We've leased 4 vehicles and purchased one in that time. There's been good times, and there's been bad times. After today, regardless of the outcome, I think we'll be severing our ties with them.

My wife brought our 2008 Ford Escape in for an oil change, check-up and tire rotation. After the service and paying the bill, they mentioned to her that they "noted" there was some door damage. She didn't think too much of it. We have the odd minor door ding here and there, received from not-so-careful people who park beside us in mall parking lots. Who doesn't?

When she got to our Escape she saw this.

She walked back into the dealership and told them that this was not there before she brought it in.

The guy at the counter went to speak with the people who worked on our vehicle and, not so surprisingly, came back to say that nobody knows what happened.

They told her that the customer service manager would call her on Monday. She tried to get the name of someone higher because we've dealt with him before and he lacks customer service skills. She didn't get very far. Apparently, his boss is Jim Keay himself, and nobody there seems to have any contact information for him.

She also had to tell them to take photos of the damage for their own record. She had two photos taken with her cell phone, but they would have had none.

I'd like to think that they'll immediately own up to this and make good on it, but based on our history with them I fear this isn't going to be easy. Someone there already had the chance to come clean and chose to lie.

Shoulder issues continue

I may have over-worked my left shoulder on Sunday. I think it was due to a combination of an unscheduled workout that I decided to do, and then installing shelves on our living room wall.

The burning sensation in my shoulder and bicep drove me crazy while I tried to sleep Sunday night, and most of the day on Monday. Monday was also my scheduled workout day. I was hesitant to do it, figuring I'd give my arm a rest, but in the end decided to go ahead and skip anything that seemed like it might be rough on my arm. Luckily for me that only meant skipping one set of knee push-ups. The rest of the workout went fairly well.

I slept a little better last night, but still not as good as I would have liked. I was sure that today I'd have a better day, but I think it was worse. On a few occasions today I had to get up and walk around. Sitting just seemed to make my arm worse. Strangely enough, this evening as I type this it's not too bad at all.

I may have figured out part of the cause at work. Although my chair is one of those ergonomic styles, I think the arm rests were a little too low, so my arm was doing more hanging than resting. The big test will be tomorrow. I can't put up with more discomfort.

On the plus side, it looks like the Nike Kinect Training game is syncing better with the Nike web site. My score is still a little off, but it's not giving a disconnect error anymore. Xbox support had also posted a msg in their forum that they were aware of issues and they took it down temporarily to fix it. That was before I tried it, so hopefully there's still some fixing to do so my scores are in sync properly.

One week done

I have now completed one week of the Nike+ Kinect Training. I don't recall the YSFE (Your Shape Fitness Evolved) being this tough at the start. I guess my age could have something to do with it. :)

But, it is getting easier the more I do so I have to keep at it.

My shoulder is really bothering me more often than I thought it would. There are some floor routines, like Burpees, Mountain Climbers and The Plank or Plank to Push-up (or whatever the hell they're called) that are killers. I hope they get easier and aren't making my shoulder worse.

Today I decided to squeeze in an extra workout and discovered how to skip a set. It was plank to push-up and my left arm could not go beyond 8 reps to the required 10. I've always been weak with my left arm and push-ups, so having a weakened shoulder definitely didn't help the situation. Hopefully it improves over time.

The biggest difference I've found with the Nike game compared to YSFE is the affect on my abs. I never felt it this much in my abs before. They hurt, but it's a good hurt. No doubt the floor exercises play a big part in that.

So far there hasn't been any real weight loss difference. It fluctuates 5lbs both ways all the time, and that's all I'm seeing right now. Once it goes down more often than it goes up, I'll know it's making a difference. At least I feel good that I'm doing something. I hate how being inactive makes me feel like shit.

I hurt

I have now completed two days of the Nike Kinect Training.

While it is broken out into many smaller routines in a workout, I have to say that I think I ache more after than I recall with YSFE (Your Shape Fitness Evolved).

One thing that I really like is that it gives you a break between some routines. It may only be 30 seconds or so, but it is much needed. :) YSFE didn't do that. You had maybe 5-10 seconds max during the intro for the next routine.

One thing I don't like is that you can't quit. Maybe that's a good thing? I've always sucked at doing push-ups my entire life. Now with my bad shoulder, I suck even more. My "trainer" had me do 15 knee push-ups. They're obviously easier than standard pushups, but I stopped at 10 and she wouldn't give up. I thought the game might recognize that I was laying flat on the floor after 10 seconds or so and move on but nooooo. So I had to do half-assed, pathetic pushups to get it to at least count them up to 15 so we could continue. O_o

This was my Fuel Print from after the fitness evaluation that I completed on Friday. I have some work to do.

One last thing... there seems to be a problem with connecting to the Nike servers from within the game. I checked the Xbox forums and everyone seems to be having this problem. The result is that the in-game stats are not syncing with those on their web site, or within the mobile app. Someone posted a tweet that Nike is aware of it and working on it. I hope that's true and is resolved soon. I don't want to see a repeat of the YSFE sync issue.

Done deal

I managed to get the domain redirected and have dropped posterous and returned, entirely, to Blogger.com. All links — scottpaterson.org and www.scottpaterson.org — should point to here now. From a reader's standpoint (all two or three of you) this should be transparent.

Over the next little while, I'll probably play around with the different templates to find a look that I like.

I have also linked this blog to my Google+ profile.

Photo test post

Testing a photo post direct to Blogger. They used to post in an odd way. Wanted to see if they work better.

Slackin' and updatin'

Yup, it's been a while. Way too long. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and all that crap. :)

So, to update... my iPhone was replaced and is fully functional. (knock on wood that it stays that way) Restoring the data from the backup was relatively painless, although I have to admit that I held my breath a few times as the phone updated.

Once I was back online, I got some strange error that seemed to be related to the Telus network, for which nobody had a solution for. It cleared itself up after a couple of days. I suspect it had to do with transferring the SIM card and auto-registering the replacement phone with Telus. I have no clue, but since it doesn't happen anymore I don't really care.

My shoulder and neck issues still exist. Some days are good, some not so good. I've been to physio twice since the last update. I always feels great when leaving there. I really have to get an appointment with my family doctor so he can give me a referral for massage therapy, which my physiotherapist recommended for my shoulder.

Again on the health front, I think I have Olecranon bursitis (aka water on the elbow) My elbow doesn't look different, but man does it hurt when I lean on it a certain way. It started off as a small area of pain that was difficult to find and increased to a larger area capable of causing a nasty burning pain when leaned on. And there's really nothing I can do for it, other than try to avoid leaning on it.

In other news, I have decided to get off my ass again and resume workouts. My weight hasn't been very stable lately as a result of too much holiday indulgances and my recent hobby of trying new beers. In fact, it's on the increase and since I don't want to stop enjoying my new hobby, I have to start paying the "beer tax".

I first went back to the Your Shape Fitness Evolved game. While it worked for me the last time, it's now way out of date. I considered getting their 2012 version but the bugginess and lack of support from Ubisoft for well-known issues left a bad taste in my mouth. After reading their forums, it would appear that some of those issues still exist with the new version. I also found out that they're not making a 2013 version for the Xbox, only for the Wii U.

So, I decided to give the Nike+ Kinect Training game a go. I've only completed the fitness evaluation and one workout session so far, but it's pretty intense and I'm still aching after yesterday. My workout days (for now) are Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

On a different note, I'm thinking about maybe ditching the blog on Posterous and only having it on Blogger.com. I currently write it out and publish it on Posterous, and then autopost it to Blogger, but I think most of the traffic is heading to the Blogger location. In fact, it's rare that I get any comments here, but I get them on Blogger. If I can figure out how to get the domain to redirect, any changes should be transparent to anyone who happens to read this.

Wi-Fi-less

This is how my weekend started.

I got home from work on Friday and checked in on FourSquare on my iPhone (ya, I added my home) :) I noticed that I wasn't connected to my home Wi-Fi. It happens sometimes. I launched the Wi-Fi configuration and it didn't show any Wi-Fi networks in my neighbourhood. There are usually at least 5 or 6 of them.


I toggled the Wi-Fi off and back on again. Nothing changed. I toggled Airplane mode on and off. Still nothing. I turned the phone off and back on again. Nada.

This is where things got really ugly. When I went back into the Wi-Fi settings I found... oh wait... I couldn't get back into the Wi-Fi settings. It was disabled.

I hopped onto Google and discovered that this is actually a fairly common problem. For most people, it seems it happened right after updating to iOS 6.0.1, and it only happens with the 4S and iPad 3. Some say it can happen after dropping your phone. There are many different suggestions (including something called "the freezer trick?)

I tried some of the more sane suggestions, like resetting network settings. Resetting all settings. Nothing.
This is the point where I began to hate technology. I used to thrive on technical problems. I found them a challenge. That's why I once had a job in technical support. Those days are long gone. My years in technical support wore me down.

Back to my phone. I did more searching and found that I may have to do a restore to factory defaults. I did not want it to get to that, but what other choice did I have?

I first made sure I had a backup in iTunes and then started the process. It downloaded the latest firmware (6.0.1), which I had already installed and it proceeded to install it.

Once it was done, the phone setup started and it asked me to connect to my Wi-Fi. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was as happy as I should have been. If this happened once, what are the chances it would happen again? I went through the setup and chose the option to restore all of my data from the backup. I started that and set the phone down to do its thing.

At some point during the restore I noticed that it was no longer connected to my Wi-Fi again. I went back into the Wi-Fi sett... disabled, again.

By now I'm on my 2nd or 3rd beer.

I decided to once again restore it to the factory defaults, but I was prepared to not restore my data. I was secretly hoping that it wouldn't work because I didn't want to lose my data.
It didn't work. Wi-Fi was still disabled.

I recalled that when we bought our iPhones, the Telus rep told us that for support we'd have to deal directly with Apple. But the Telus trouble-shooting web site said to call Telus, or visit one of their stores. So I called them.

I explained the situation and the tech had me check a few things and told me that I'd have to contact Apple. I questioned why the web site said I can go to their store and she said that was if I wanted them to send my phone back to Apple for me and/or if I wanted a loaner until I get the replacement. Seriously... what's the point?

Anyway, she transferred me directly into Apple's phone queue. After about 5 minutes listening to hold music, the tech came on. Once again, I explained my predicament. She walked me through checking a few things (or trying to) I mentioned that it appeared to be a common problem that was hardware related. She agreed that she did find the same article on the web and asked if she could put me on hold while she consulted with her supervisor.

A few minutes later she returned to say that her supervisor confirmed that they have seen the issue and the only solution is to replace the phone, which she said she could arrange to do since it was still under warranty.

So now I await the replacement, which will have a box and information to send the old one back to them. She said it would take 3-5 days.

I suppose I could have called up an Apple store and made an appointment to see someone there and maybe get it swapped out.

I didn't bother restoring all of my data back onto my semi-functional phone. It's going to suck the life out of my provider data plan if I keep using it without Wi-Fi.

It's a little disconcerting to know that there's a chance it could happen again, or even to my wife's phone, and there is no other official solution (yet?) other than swap the phone. I wonder what would happen if it was out of warranty? I mean, this doesn't sound like something that occurs with age, it could happen at any time.

Here are some articles about the problem:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/28/3422024/ios-6-disabled-wifi-issues
http://www.zdnet.com/apples-ios-6-wi-fi-problems-linger-on-7000004799/
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/092512-ios6-wifi-262787.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1559

And the long thread in Apple's community forum:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/19619592#19619592

MRI results - the good, the bad, but no ugly

Haven't been in the mood to write. I'm still not, actually, but I will anyway because my brain is nagging me to write what the results of my MRI were.

The good is that the muscle is not a complete tear. That actually surprised me. I fully expected the doctor to say it had completely torn, as he suspected. In some strange way, I'm a little disappointed. That sounds odd, I know, but at least it would fully explain why it felt like it had completely separated.

So what exactly is wrong with my shoulder? The summary paragraph says:

"Longitudinal delamination/tears of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendons are likely to be concealed at arthroscopy although is not possible to exclude pinpoint communication of the supraspinatus tear to the bursal surface."

The doctor explained that this means the muscle and/or previous tear is rubbing and causing small wear tears on that muscle. It's being compressed in the joint.

The solution? There really is none, other than to continue physio to improve the strength. If there's no improvement, surgery could be an option but it's unlikely.

I made an appointment with my physiotherapist to show her the results so we could plan our next course of action. She said that this condition usually occurs with males 45 yrs and older. In my case, the original injury is just adding to it, along with my poor posture.

The course of action? Keep doing what I'm doing with regards to the exercises and focus more on better posture (says me, as I slouch in my chair typing this...) She also suggested that I may want to consider massage therapy for my neck, but I'll need to get a referral from my doctor for that if I want it to be covered by my health insurance.

The bad is that my cycling will likely aggravate it. :( The only thing I can do to minimize the discomfort is to adjust my seat and/or handlebars so that I'm not bent over the handlebars as much, and perhaps take more frequent breaks while I'm out cycling.

I'm not happy about it. A few people have suggested a recumbent bicycle. While it would help with my shoulder and pinched neck nerve issues, I'm not to keen on the thought. I ride in a lot of places where a recumbent bike would simply not work. I read a little about them and if I were to consider one, it would definitely be the tricycle style.

I have the winter to work on improving my shoulder and neck and I guess I'll see what happens in the spring when I resume cycling.

MRI results are in... soon

I got a call this afternoon from the Carleton University Sports Medicine Clinic, to book an appointment to discuss the results of my MRI. The date is next Tuesday at 9:30am.

I'm really glad that I don't have to wait a long time. I knew they'd get the results in 7-10 days, but based on how long I had to wait to see them in the first place, I expected to wait about a month to find out what the scoop is.

The waiting is almost over.

Waiting... again

I went for my MRI on Sunday afternoon. It felt weird strange going to a children's hospital (CHEO) for it.
I can't recall where I went for my last MRI 4 years ago, but at CHEO they let me choose between listening to my choice of radio stations, or watching a movie with headphones and goggles while in the MRI machine. Seeing as how it was only going to last 20 minutes, I chose to listen to the radio. Unfortunately, many of the sounds the machine makes were still quite audible in the headphones.

I was much more comfortable this time than I was the last. My shoulder didn't ache at all, despite being squished into a shoulder cup and the machine itself.

After it was done they said that they got some excellent images of my shoulder since I was able to remain perfectly still.

Now I have to wait a week for the results to be sent to the doctor and then for an appointment to get the results from him.

My physiotherapy sessions are also on hold until the results are available. My last appointment was last Wednesday. Once I get a copy of the results I can book another appointment so my physiotherapist can determine what, if any, other exercises she can have me do. I can still do all of the home exercises, although I'm getting really bad for not doing them.

My neck (pinched nerve) issues are still present, but not as bad as they were when this all started. I still get some tingling in my arm, usually when I forget to keep good posture, which occurs more than I'd like to admit.

As much as I hate to say it, I think cycling is over for this year. I have to bring my bike inside soon so it's available for mounting onto the trainer, should I decide to try that again.

I'm baaaaack... back in the saddle agaaaain...

Today I went cycling for the first time in 67 days. I was a little unsure about it, but overall it went much better than I expected it would. I rode for about 45 mins in total, travelling a distance of around 16kms.

I did have a little tingling in my arm and hand occasioanally, but it wasn't continuous nor was it unbearable.

It felt awesome. Man, did I ever miss it. I will no doubt go back out again sometime soon. I'm not sure if I'm ready to resume riding to work or not.

Physio is still going well, but I'm now on a 2-week schedule. My next appointment is on Wednesday. My phsyiotherapist is awesome and I can't wait to go back.

I finally got a call on Friday to book my MRI appointment. I'll be having it done at CHEO (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario), of all places, on October 21st at 2:30pm. Seems kinda weird having it done at children's hospital, but if that's the only MRI machine available that's where it gets done. Of course, it could still be cancelled if someone needs it more urgently. I'm anxious to find out what's going on in my shoulder.

Physio — Part IV

Had a really good physiotherapy session yesterday morning, and a pretty good day over all; a big difference in comparison to the day before.

I've got a couple of stretching routines added to my exercises. Maybe they helped? Or maybe I'm just being more aware of my posture sitting at my desk. Regardless, I felt pretty good and I had a good sleep last night, without waking up every hour or two. It'll be a week until my next appointment, so it'll be interesting to see how just doing my exercises will work out.

I'm still fighting the urge to try cycling.

Physio Part III

My first day back at work after 3 weeks of vacation and it started with a double-appointment of physiotherapy. Got more deep massage to work out the tight muscles and knots in my left shoulder and neck, more of my usual physio exercises — plus two new ones — and ended with the electro-therapy.

My physiotherapist said that the muscles in my shoulder and neck are definitely looser than they've been. I can also feel my left arm regaining some strength. I'm still getting the occasional tingling in my left arm, which she says is due to posture.

Trying to remember to sit up straight at work was a bitch. I kept catching myself slouching. This is probably the biggest challenge.

The two new excercises are tough. I don't know what they're called, but one involves standing on one end of the exercise band, and then pulling up on the other end to the side with a straight arm, and the other is almost the same except pulling up 45 degrees from the side and front with thumb facing down. That's apparently where your arm is the weakest. I can really feel these ones.

I'm feeling pretty sore right now from when she worked out the tight muscles in my neck and shoulder. My next appointment is on Wednesday morning so I'm hoping they're not still achy then.

Physiotherapy continued...

I had my second physiotherapy appointment this morning. It was a double appointment. That's what my physiotherapist wanted because we need to work on my neck and my arm.

It was a little on the painful side at times because the muscles on the left side of my neck and the bad shoulder are pretty tight and she pressed pretty hard with her fingers to work them loose. I asked her if they were tight beause of the pinched nerve, and she said she suspects it's because the shoulder injury is causing me to shrug as I raise my arm to compensate for the weakness.

I could really feel them loosen up. She'd press hard, it would hurt a little and then they'd slowly give way. It was kinda cool, in a weird way I guess.

After about half an hour of that, I did my physio exercises and then got hooked up to the electrotherapy machine for 15 minutes.

I left with an arm and shoulder that fell pretty damn good. My arm is still very weak, but I think I'm seeing some improvement. Slowly, but surely. The physio exercises feel like the're getting a little easier. What's depressing is when I do them with my good arm for comparison and see how easy they should be, and how much trouble I have doing them with my bad arm. It just reminds me of how far I have still to go.

I've pretty much accepted the fact that any more cycling this summer is not going to happen, unless it's on the trainer in the basement where I don't need to lean forward on handlebars. I'm pretty bummed out about that.

My next appointment -- another double -- is on Monday, and the one after is on Wednesday. I'll be back at work that week, so I tried to get them as early in the day as possible.

Physio assessment

My first physiotherapy appointment at the Carleton University Physiotherapy Clinic went very well.

My therapist wants to work on not just my shoulder, but the pinched nerve in my neck as well. I didn't expect that, but I'm really pleased about it. After the assessment, she said that it's likely due to poor posture at work, sitting in front of a computer, not from cycling. If we don't see an improvement with my pinched nerve, then she'll send me back to Sports Clinic Doctor for a follow-up so he can include my neck in the MRI that I'll eventually be getting.

Today also included some exercises and electrotherapy on my shoulder. That was kinda weird but my shoulder felt pretty good after.

I was sent home with some exercises to do twice a day and a tension band to use for the exercises. I also booked my next appointment for Wednesday morning.

Good news & bad news?

Our family vacation in PEI went well. Some of the driving really bothered my arm though. Certain positions occasionally cause nasty discomfort. It's weird because the same positions at other times are perfectly fine.

I think the pinched nerve in my neck is getting better, slowly. It still cause a weird sensation in my arm when I tilt my head back.

I went to my appointment at the Carleton University Sports Clinic this morning. I explained everything to the doc and gave him a copy of my MRI results from 4 years ago. As soon as I mentioned weakness in my arm, he had me do some strength tests. He seemed pretty certain that the muscle I had torn 4 years ago is now completely separated. I asked him about what my famiily doc said about being in pain if it was torn more and he said that's not always the case. But the fact that my arm is weak moving in certain ways and not in others is a good indicationt that the rotator cuff is torn, and may require surgery. O_o I also asked about my neck and the occasional arm numbness. He said that's a separate issue, so there are two things going on. He didn't seem that concerned about the pinched nerve.  

But, we won't know if it's torn until I get an MRI. He filled out the paper work and I guess I'll be awaiting a call to book that appointment.

First things first; an X-ray and physiotherapy.

Even if it is completely torn, he said that 70% of the time, strength can be regained with physiotherapy and the muscle may not need to be repaired. The other 30% requires surgery. I'm not looking forward to that option.

I could go anywhere for the physiotherapy, but I decided to stick with Carleton University since shoulders are one of their specialties. I walked over to the Sports Therapy Centre and booked my physiotherapy appointment for Monday morning, which also happens to be the same day that I have a follow-up appointment to see my family doctor, and also fill him in on what I've done I suppose.

I then went for the X-ray at the Merivale Imaging centre. The Doctor said he can get the results on the computer from them. I'm not sure why my family doc didn't send me for the X-ray at the same time as prescribing the Celebrex. It would have made more sense than waiting.

I guess the good news is that I'm closer to finding out what's wrong. The bad news is that it may not be that good. :(

Partial relief

I had a good day yesterday.

First of all, my day was relatively comfortable, all things considered. One of the better days I've had in a long time.

My family doctor appointment also went really well. He's still convinced it's a pinched nerve though. That's a good thing, I suppose. More on that in a bit.

He prescribed 3 weeks worth of Celebrex with the hope that it will help. I have a follow-up appointment on the 20th, where he will decide whether or not to send me for an X-ray. If the Celebrex doesn't help and the X-ray indicates anything questionable, then we will look at getting an MRI and possibly some "nerve studies".

On Sunday night I did a little internet research. Yeh, I know... they say that the surest way to convince yourself that you're dying is to search the internet for your syptoms. ;-)

One thing that I've known for a while is that a possible side effect of taking Crestor for my cholesterol is a muscle degeneration condition which can lead to kidney problems. That crossed my mind. My doc put that thought to rest. He said I have other issues with my arm and shoulder, and that the condition doesn't usually focus on a single muscle. My other thought was that the muscle tore more than it did 4 years ago. Again, unlikely, because I have full range of motion without any obvious discomfort while moving my arm.

So a pinched nerve is the best diagnosis for the time being.

Something else I discovered while doing my evening "research" was that taking multi-vitamin supplements can apparently cause muscle aches and pains, and dizziness.

Although the arm and shoulder issues began in May, it was only recently that it got worse. It was mid-June that I started taking a multi-vitamin supplement. Whether this is a coindence or not, I stopped taking it on Sunday and since then my arm has been doing better. Also, last week and the week before I had been experiencing occasional dizziness when standing up too quickly. Kinda like a head rush. That has also stopped. Needless to say, it's unlikely that I'll resume taking the multi-vitamin.

I so miss cycling. I've already put a few pounds back on since I stopped. It's difficult to keep that in check without being able to work out on my bike. :-\

Boredom

It's been 5 days since I last rode my bike. This is driving me crazy.

My shoulder and arm have had good and bad days. I'm not sure what it is I do — if anythiing — that causes the bad days, but they are unbelievably uncomfortable.

Sleeping can be difficult as well. If I can find just the right position, I'm out like a light, but I've had a few nights where I constantly wake up because of the "vice".

My appointment at the Carleton University Sports Medicine Clinic is on August 16th. I also have an appointment with my own doctor this Tuesday.

Man do I miss biking.

Pain-free... almost.

Today is the first day that I've been relatively pain-free. So far.

The pain came and went yesterday, but stuck around for most of the day, despite taking anti-inflammatory meds.

It's actually more discomfort than pain. It hurts, yeh, but the feeling is like my bicep is stuck in a vice and there's a blunt object jammed in my shoulder. And they're on fire.

I tried an ice pack for a few hours last night. Not very comfortble, but I think it made a difference later on when I went to bed. I had a little trouble finding a comfortable sleeping position, but I managed to get to sleep eventually. I'll use the ice pack again tonight.

I woke up this morning with a bit of pain, particularly when I got out of bed causing my dangling arm pulled down on my shoulder, but I popped a few Advils and made it through to now. I have had a few instance of "bicep in a vice"  but they went away fairly quickly after flexing my arm a few times.

I'm going to call the Carleton University Sports Medicine Clinic later this afternoon to see if I get an appointment.

Pain

Cycling home yesterday was unbearable. I seriously considered stopping and calling my wife to come and pick me up.

The pain and tightness in my left shoulder and arm was crazy. Not as bad as when I tore my rotator cuff years ago, but pretty damn close to it.

I rode most of the way home using one arm, and almost sitting upright.

To say that I'm a little upset is an understatement. Faced with the possibility that I won't be able to cycle for a while (at best) really bothers me.

I did a little searching when I got home and it appears this could be the bursitis that I was diagnosed with at the time they did the MRI on my shouder years ago. I was thinking it had to be more than that, but from reading other people's symptoms this seems bang on.

Of course, I'm no Doctor, so I do plan on making an appointments soon and having a talk with him.

A friend recommended contacting the Carleton University clinic. He said they specialize in getting people back up and running "ASAFP". I had never even heard of then, so I Googled it. Sure enough, that's what they do. According to their web site, they "provide care for not just the competitive athlete but the general public with musculoskeletal injury or pain who are seeking to be more active than their medical condition allows."

I'll see what my doctor has to say first. If all he says is "rest it" then I'm going to get in touch with the CU clinic to see what they have to offer.

Dear dumbass...

Instead of yelling "you ran a red light!" at me as I rode my bicycle through the intersection this morning, perhaps you should be watching for the "walk" signal.

The light changed to amber as I entered the intersection. It changed to red when I had to come to a near stop because your ass had stepped into the dedicated bicycle lane — while the "don't walk" signal was still on — as I got to the other side.

Otterbox Rox

On Monday I noticed that the Otterbox case for my iPhone was cracked. I knew these things had a warranty, so I paid a visit to their web site and found where to submit a warranty claim.

This was at around 11:30pm. I filled out the online form with the required info. After submitting it, I received an email asking for a photo of the case, showing the damage, along with a piece of paper in the photo with my name and date written on it. I replied with the photo.

The next day, I received a confirmation that they were sending me a new case. The day after that, I recieved an email invoice (for $0.00) for the new case.

Today, I recieved the new case.

4 days to send me a new case is amazing customer service. It's probably more like 3 days, when you consider that I submitted the claim after business hours on Monday.

Thank you Otterbox!

Bike issues and weight update

My rear wheel developed a slight warp last week. I'm not sure how it happened, but I took it to the bike shop next to where I work on Friday morning and they fixed it by noon. $17 for the repair. Cheaper than a couple of months earlier when they had also replaced a spoke.

I rode it home on Friday and it was fine. On Saturday, I went out for a long ride and about ½ way on my ride, about as far from home as the route would take me, I noticed the wheel had a warp again. I continued riding, but took it easy and tried not to put too much torque on the wheel. What choice did I have?

After 10-15 minutes, I pulled off the path and decided to check it out. I had a very loose spoke. Or so I thought. I cut the ride a little shorter than I had planned and when I got home I looked at the spoke again. It was actually broken. Detached near the wheel's axel hub.

I guess the question now is was this the original reason for the Friday warp? Or was this just a coincidence? I'm not too happy about having to pay for a repair again if it's related to the Friday repair, but if it's a coincidence I'll bite the bullet.

This is the third time my wheel has needed a repair. I don't ride my bike hard. There is an occasional nasty bump on Ottawa roads, but it's no rougher than it's been for any other bike I've ridden. Ugh.

Despite the unfortunate wheel incident, I did have a good ride yesterday, totally just under 55kms. I skipped today because I'm riding my bike to work tomorrow, and will hopefully get the rim fixed for the last time.

On the plus side, when I stepped on my scale this morning it showed me at 213.8 lbs. That's just over 4 lbs away from my lowest weight last year. I've almost lost the ~30 lbs I gained over the winter, and it didn't seem to be as much trouble as last year. Of course, still have ~15 lbs to go to reach my 199 goal. :)

Rain sucks

The topic says it all.

It was bound to happen sooner or later, and Monday was the day. I got rained on, while cycling home. Up to then, I was fairly lucky and the worst I got was a light misting.

The worst part wasn't so much the rain, but the puddles I had to ride through at the side of the road. My shoes were soaked.

I got a sports cam for my Birthday earlier in the month and I've begun filming most of my rides. Sometimes there's an asshole who cuts me off, and other times there's something cool to see. This is one of those "something cool" moments.

I'm really pleased by the steadiness of the camera, considering it's mounted to my handlebars. It's a Contour ROAM, but it doesn't have any kind of stabilzation feature. I've tried mounting regular video cameras or pocket cameras and the quality of the footage is terrible. I plan to eventually post a video of an entire ride (sped up around 300%), just for fun. By the end of summer, I may also have enough for a compilation video showing how bad some cyclists are.

Hoping it's not a setback

A few years ago I tore a muscle in my left shoulder. An MRI indicated the tear as well as bursitis. After over a year, the muscle pain subsided and I was left with about 95% mobility.

Up until about a month ago, it's been fine.

I started experiencing a pain/tightness in my left shoulder. The pain ranges from hardly noticeable to a fairly intense burning sensation. In can be anywhere from my shoulder joint to the bicep. Sometimes I can feel it while sitting at work typing on the computer, other times while cycling. Most of the time I can get some temporary relief by doing a few stretching exercises, and/or taking some Advil. If I tilt my head up, to look at the ceiling or the sky, my shoulder and neck feels tight and there's some pain.

When I wake up in the morning, I usually feel no discomfort at all. It tends to build up during the day. This morning, for example, I'm pain-free. I feel great. Last night, my shoulder and bicep had a nagging pain.

I'm starting to wonder if it may be due to my cycling. At the same time, I'm really hoping it isn't. I could stop cycling for a week or two to see if it gets any better, but that's a lot of working out that I'll be missing and I really don't want to do that.

It's too bad our family vacation isn't sooner than August, because I'll be missing a week or so while we're away and it would be a good way to test the theory.

I have my annual physical exam in about two weeks so I'll be mentioning it to my Doctor, although he tends to want to deal with things like that in separate appointments "due to time constraints" (that annoys me)

In the meantime, my stubborness will likely help me to suffer through the discomfort so I can continue cycling. :)

On a different note, by the end of the day over 1515KMs will have been completed with 2485KMs to go.

 

Better than expected

This weekend's weather was supposed to be pretty crappy.

I got rained on riding home from work on Friday. It was a light rain and wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.

Saturday was a write-off.

Sunday was supposed to be more of the same, but when I woke up this morning it was sunny. The weather forecast was calling for thundershowers later in the morning and afternoon.

I decided to take a chance and see how much cycling I could fit in before the rain. I headed west, toward the darker clouds. The logic behind that was if it started raining, I'd turn around and come home, and hopefully stay ahead of the rain, or most of it at least.

I expected to be out for about an hour, max.

2¼ hrs, and 53½kms later, I made it home, still dry (aside from sweat). As I was putting my bike away, it began to rain. The timing couldn't have been better. :)

One of the highlights of my ride was as I drove along the Rockliffe Parkway. Instead of turning off, to ride the side streets home, I decided to continue along the parkway to Montreal Rd since it was closed for the "Sunday Bikeday".

As I rode along, into the wind, another cyclist, hunched over his handlebars, passed me. That's not unusual. :) After passing, they pulled in front of me about 20ft away. My brain must have subconciously increased my pace (or maybe they slowed down?) but I managed to keep up with them. The wind was nasty, so I leaned down on my handlebars to reduce the resistance. I soon realized that I was slowly closing the gap.

I took that as a challenge. I stayed with them for the next 3kms or so, slowly reducing the distance between us. We had a pretty good pace going.

I decided to push harder and regain my lead. :)

And I did. I passed them and pulled back in front of them one I had a ~20ft lead. I think I managed to keep it for a km or two. I had no idea if they were even still behind me, until the wind picked up and started to take its toll on my new found energy.

My mystery competitor passed me.

He pushed pretty hard, and I noticed that he looked over his shoulder a few times. I think he had the same idea. Again, I stayed inline with them, this time about 25-30ft back and they were slowly increasing that gap.

The wind was brutal and we were on an incline. But I was having fun. This guy was setting a pace, and giving me something to strive for.

I did regain the lead one more time, but not until he pulled over about 1km before the end of the parkway. :)

 

Wobble-free

Total cycled this season: ~855kms
Remaining this summer: ~3145kms

I got my rear wheel back yesterday. It was supposed to be done by 5pm on Monday, but when I went to pick it up they told me that they were backlogged and it would likely be ready just before 6pm. Rather than wait almost an hour, I decided to pick it up on Tuesday.

I think it's straighter than when I first bought the bike. I'm really pleased with it, and I'm tempted to take the front rim in because it has a very slighty wobble. It cost me around $20 though, so I'll probably hold off.

Weebles, wobbles...

I went for a shorter than hoped for ride on Saturday afternoon.

About half an hour out, I happened to look down at my rear wheel and noticed a pretty nasty wobble. I pulled off the bike path and dismounted to check for any broken spokes. They were all reasonably fine. I noticed a few looser than the others, but nothing major. I spun the wheel and it didn't see as bad as when I was on the bike.

I got back on and continued to pedal and it seemed worse again. I have no idea how long it's been like that. I'm pretty sure it wasn't like that after I repaired my last flat, because I do recall looking down at the tires after that to make sure they were fine.

I ended up riding for about 38kms instead of the ~60kms I had hoped to ride.

I removed the rear wheel tonight and put it in the truck to bring with me to work tomorrow. There's a bike shop next door, Cycle Power, that I'll take it to to get fixed. Hopefully they can get it done tomorrow so I can get back to riding on Tuesday (weather permitting)

Friday's weigh-in put me at 229.4 lbs. That's progressing fairly well, but the weekends of temptation seem to put a dent in my progress. :) At my current rate, I should be at my 200 lb goal by August. Fingers crossed.

Trimming the winter fat (aka cycling 2012)

To say that I put on a few pounds over winter is a bit of an understatement. If I had kept it to around 10lbs I'd be happy, but I didn't. I put on more like 25-30lbs. I didn't stick with the bike trainer as much as I would have liked too. It wasn't anywhere near as appealing as I had hoped it would be. It was flat out boring, even when watching TV to pass the time.

While the weight gain didn't please me, I wasn't too concerned about it — obviously, since I let it happen. I figured once I could get out cycling, I'd regain control.

I resumed cycling in early April. The good weather came and went, although it leaned more toward the "went" so I only got out 4 times that month, but they were fairly long rides.

This month has been pretty good. I've managed to get out 10 times so far, which includes days cycling to and from work. I'm up to 648kms already this month.

My weight goal this year (aka summer) is to get down to 200 lbs. That was my goal last year and I scaled it back to 210, but I think I'm going to push for the full 200 this time. Or maybe 199 just to see it below 200. :)

My cycling goal is to crack 4000 kms by the time the snow flies, or when it's too cold to ride. I achieved 3000 kms last year, so there's nowhere else to go but up. With a slightly earlier start than last year, I think I can do it.

Home Studio Project

Over the last couple of weeks I've been thinking about taking a crack at portrait photography. I started looking for lighting and possibly making my own backdrop to save a few bucks.

One of my co-workers suggested that I check eBay for backdrops rather than make my own. I had a look last night and found a kit that included backdrop, the backdrop stand, and two lights w/ umbrellas and stands for $230. I ordered it this morning.

I've got enough space in our basement to set something up temporarily and I'll recruit either my wife or my daughter to be my guinea pig model. I'm also looking forward to trying out some of the lighting examples I read about in one of my books last summer.

I've had a rather boring winter with photography, aside from Instagram pics with my iPhone (which are pretty cool), so I'm hoping this will drum up some new inspiration.

Same 'ol same 'ol

One of the so-called rules of blogging is to never aplogize for the lack of updates, therefore there will be no apologies forthcoming.

Hasn't been much new & exciting happening lately, so I'll post a few little odds'n ends.

iPhone. Still diggin' it. Got way too much crap installed on it and have been slowly thinning it out.

Rocksmith. Haven't played it much lately. I have been picking away "unplugged" though to keep up the calouses. They just released an update to fix bugs and make the game a little more user-friendly, so I'm anxious to try it out.

Photography. Aside from the odd photo taken with Instagram on my phone, I haven't done much at all in over a month. Got no inspiration. The cold and crappy weather certainly doesn't help either. One thing I did do was pick up a pretty cool app called Portrait Professional. This is one slick app. I'm all for keeping a more natural look with portraits, but when used minimally, you can fix up the small imperfections without making it appear overdone. Now all I need is people to take photos of.

Computers. I picked up a D-Link DNS325 a couple of weeks ago. I was long overdue for getting a home NAS, and after my wife and daughter lost data with a recent laptop hard drive crash it was time. I wish I had done something sooner. Right now I have an old 500GB drive that I hacked out of an external USB hard drive, and an 80GB. Once hard drives come back to a more reasonable price, I'll be picking up a couple of 1TB drives to replace them.

Music. Look for something new(ish)?  Check out Ravenscode. They're also Canadian, eh? :)

C'est tous.