Engaged!

I had been toying with all kinds of proposal ideas before and after buying Char's bridal set a few weeks ago. The idea that seemed to be the best was proposing on Christmas Eve, when we normally open one present that night. Since we had the evening to ourselves, we had some wine, dinner and a bottle of wine and watched Gran Torino. I really wanted to incorporate Mayfield into the proposal considering how much she meant to us, especially Char. So I put the ring on a picture/ornament of Mayfield on the tree and told Char that I had somebody very, very special help me with her ring. There was a time when I had used Mayfield in this manner a while back where I had a big bow on her collar. It was a special memory between Char and I that added to this occasion. Anyhow, it worked out perfect, was very emotional and best of all- Char said YES!

I'm pretty excited for Avery to come over later today and we all open presents. After that we are headed down to the Smithley's for Christmas dinner. Should be an awesome day!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Puppy

It's tough to determine how soon you should consider another dog after losing one. But after some long talks, it seems like the best decision for us was to offer our loving home to another rescue considering there are so many boxers in NE Florida without a home. That next rescue is Nessie- a one year old boxer stray that was missing most of her fur due to mange and has several pounds to gain. She is beyond sweet and has settled right in with her new family and home! Thanks again to BARC for all that they do for boxer rescues! Welcome home Nessie-Ness!

Man, Kentucky basketball is killing it right now! 13-0! I'm not going to get too deep into the season thus far but after beating North Carolina, UConn and Indiana, I am looking forward to the Cats beating the Cards in Rupp Arena Jan 2. It was great watching UK highlights the other night on ESPNU leading up to UK winning their 2,000th game. Wow- good stuff! Char and I scored tickets to the UK/Florida game down in the O' (high school gymnasium) Dome on Jan 12. Should be a killer game. Go Big Blue!

Rest well, beautiful girl

This past Monday our beloved Mayfield passed away unexpectedly from a possible heart failure of some sort. This was a total, devastating shock and we are still trying to find our way through the pain. She was the most loving, perfect little companion that we will deeply miss and will never forget. Her kisses, her wagging tail, her smiles, her wiggly butt, her kidney-bean of excitement, her unconditional love...her total essence of being Mayfield gave us so much joy and a lifetime of memories in the short time she was with us. Mayfield never knew a stranger. Mayfield never had a bad day. Mayfield never stopped trying to please us. Mayfield was love.

Sweet dreams pretty puppy, I love you.

Believe the Hype

Hell Yeah!

No substance

Ok, so it seems like I've posted crap since I've gotten back to this blog. Talking about school is boring, talking about reading books is boring, talking about work is boring, talking about sports, funny stuff, current events and bike stuff seems ok, I guess. It was fun when I talked about training and racing and traveling. Hell, it was fun just doing that stuff period. Talking about working out just to stay fit instead of training for a race or races seems rather boring too. I see people at the gym all the time- big whoop. I see people running all the time too but most of them are probably training for something. I'm sure some are like me and are just doing it because it's the quickest workout with the most bang- or maybe because some of them like to run. I also see people out on their bikes, which has got me thinking- I'd love to sit in a group ride. It's been quite some time since I've hit the group ride scene here in Jax. I used to love group rides and would think about them most of the day when I was going to hit Open Road, or County Line- you know, the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday big boy circuit. I remember when I first started riding Open Road when my goal was to hang on as long as possible. Same with County Line. Before long I was taking lots of pulls, attacking, responding to attacks, sitting in, planning strategies and contesting the final sprint. Ah man, the thrill of the weekly local road race! Then there are the AB rides. You know, the ones that are not as fast. Those were cool to sit in on and check out the routes and group dynamics... and to crush the AB fast dudes! Or they were just nice to have as a recovery ride. Anyhow, since I have gotten into half way decent shape and my heart seems to still be working ok, maybe I'll show up and sit in on one of the many rides around town...just maybe...

the last weekened....

...before school starts both Avery and myself. It looks like my fun-n-gun training schedule will drastically slow down next week. Not that I was training for anything, but my internal desire to be uber-fit had taken over the last few months. Also, I had done a little internet research and soul searching and came to the conclusion that I would be ok to pick things up a notch. I haven't come anywhere close to the training and racing efforts that I was doing up to last year, but I have been pushing my HCM heart a bit. At this point, I know how important hydration is and I know when to back off when things in my chest don't feel right. But I have actually felt great the last month or so- running, lifting and RIDING!

This week has been pretty mellow in the Big Blue world. Avery is away in Minnesota with her mom visiting family. Char has been knee deep in half-Ironman training. I had a nagging project at work that I completed Friday. I engineered a minor project and saved the company over $8000 by not using the OEM. Not that I hadn't done things like this many times in the past, but this time I just felt a larger sense of satisfaction when it was done. Maybe it was because I had tapped a few more resources, included many more team members than normal and maybe because the equipment and technology was some of the newest and advanced that we own. Either way- it was a relief and it was cool!

So back to school- I decided to go full time until I finish. Not only do I need to get school finished, but I need to use the rest of my GI Bill before it expires. I am a little behind for 2 reasons- 1. is because I took 2 years off in the middle to concetrate on training and racing. 2. I changed majors last year from electrical engineering t0 management. The pre-req's for EE and management are quite a bit defferent so I am playing a little catch up. I picked up all of my books this week and I am ready to get started. It will be a tough balance but I am ready to tackle another one of life's little challenges...

Ok, I need to talk sports! That's one thing that I missed during my blog vacation. Man, it's football season! The preseason is in full swing and college football is just a few weeks away! But before I get into football, there were a few big stories this summer- I'll touch on a few. Vick returns to the NFL- everybody needs to leave this dude alone and let him play football. Het got caught, came clean, did his time and now he is going back to work. Enough! Pitino soiled his image- what were you thinking Rick? He should bounce back ok- I mean he is Rick Pitino and he is in Kentucky, but I think The Pitino Brand took a little hit. Brett Fav... ah, I don't even want to say the name! Make up your friggin mind! I can say that I really care what he does but I am sick of hearing about him. Retire. Not retire. Return. Not return. Hold teams, owners and players hostage. Repeat. Decide to return after camp and 2-a-days? Not cool. Part of me wants him to do well this year, part of me wants him to fall flat on his face and part of me wants him to just go away. But I must say that it must be nice to have some real football excitement in your NFL town...

Last sports topics and then I'm out- the Jags and UK football. Wait, one quickie- Florida is going to be scary good this year. Saint Tebow and the #1 Defense. Damn. Just don't overlook Big Blue when you guys roll into Lexington this year, ha! Anyhow, the Jaguars may be in trouble. Ticket sales suck. Their off season moves sucked. They needed help on offense and some on defense and they tried to fix it through the draft and restructuring the coaching staff (again) and the front office. Our receivers have been horrible for years and they let their top 3 receivers from last year go (not that they were very good) and bring only brought in old man Torry Holt. Personally, I think the receivers have never developed around here because the quarterbacks have not been very good. And I really don't think Garrard is the answer. The Jags still looked boring in their first preseason game against Miami. Tonight they need to have a good showing at home against the Bucs and former Jag QB Byron Leftwich. A good performance by the team may earn them a few more ticket sales- and a little hope of a winning season. A bad game will leave them right where they are- mediocre and ripe for more move talk...

UK should be about the same as they have been the last few years- consistent and consistently getting closer to the big boys. Their SEC schedule is brutal, but they should easily win their 4 non-SEC games, including Louisville. If they could only win one of their home games against either Florida, Alabama or Tennesse- it would be huge! They almost knocked off Bama last year in Tuscaloosa so it could be possible. I look for them to possibly surprise Florida this year after UF embarrassed them last year in the Swamp, a game I unfortunately witnessed in person. Florida will be thinking National Title and looking ahead...kind of like at Ole Miss last year... I'd love to see them crush the Vols and their annoying coach, Lame Kiffin. UK's defense has gotten better each year- a trend I anticipate it again this year with some solid returners. The offense will also be better but how good depends on how much QB Hartline and the young receivers have developed. It will be a fun season, no doubt- and I see them bowl eligible once again.

Go Big Blue!

Scenery?

I like to check out the Facebook pages and blogs of other athletes, especially the endurance athletes that live in training mecca's such as California and Colorado. They post some pretty amazing pictures of their local terrain where they get the pleasure of training every day. Sometimes the pictures of the mountains and everything else that is not Florida is oh so inspiring. But don't get me wrong- I love Florida and will probably never leave... but the scenery thing still got me thinking- what does my everyday scenery look like to those who do not live here? Well, I decided to take the camera with me on a short spin from my house and here are the results...

Most of our riding and running takes place around UNF, which is less than a mile from our front door...

The closest "cities" to Jax...

Pretty much all new roads come with bike lanes, even side roads...

I've grown fond of riding up and down the "new" Kernan Blvd. BTW- all of our climbing around here is done on bridges...

There are plenty of these signs everywhere... but there those one percenters who don't give a damn...

The beach is a few miles down Beach Blvd, which you can see has good bike lanes...

Tons of golf communities...

Love the driving range at UNF- open late, serves beer and is VERY close to home...

My ride ventures back into UNF and thier fresh blacktop roads...

The new student center at UNF- this school has really grown over the last few years....

And back home to our cozy townhouse tucked behind the St. John's Town Center...

Yeah, this is a little boring when I look back at it but it is at least different from most things that people see online. Anyhow, I got some new beer at Total Wine this week- Stone Imperial Russian Stout. Strong stuff at 10.9% but good nonetheless. I recommend drinking this after a hard ride so that it'll hit you like 4 beers should- considering that that is about what it is. I didn't have a koozie to fit the big bottle, so I squeezed it into a can koozie... Go Big Blue!

At the Links

Yesterday we hit Cimarrone Golf Club for a mega-hot round of 18 holes with Brett & Raina. Those 2 are pretty solid golfers and would have killed us but the match-up was boys vs girls, which worked out perfect. The wager was the losers had to pony up for pizza and UFC. The winner/loser thing wasn't so much of a big deal compared to how fun (and humbling) the day was. After yesterday, Char and I have the bug to get better and play more. I'm sure I'll start hitting GolfPlex down the street at UNF more and try to get my drive and... scratch that- I need to get everything worked out! Maybe now we'll get serious about that coaching we looked into a few months back...

Here's Brett teeing off on the front 9- on his way to a PR...

My driver was as erratic as Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn...

Raina: the model of consistency...

Char showing me how to hit it straight...

Still looking gorgeous after 5+ hours in the 90+ degree sunny FL heat...

The Champs...still adding up my score...

I'm sure we'll hit the golf course again soon enough but our next challenge is a tennis match. That should be interesting....

So after golf we headed back to their place for pizza with the kids and then UFC. We hook up from time to time to check out UFC on PPV, which is always a blast! I don't want to recap the whole card but I do want to comment on the Forrst Griffin/Anderson Silva fight- FG has always been one of my favorite fighters for many reasons. This dude brings it every fight but I do not know what in the heck happened to him last night other than sheer embarrassment. He didn't even seem to be in the same league as The Spider. Now, I know that Silva is considered one of the best ever right now, but he toyed with and humiliated Forrest. I felt bad for FG, especially how he ran out of the ring after his 3rd and final knockdown in the 1st round, but I sure hope he can bounce back from this somehow some way. Either way, UFC rocks!

Coolness

A few weeks ago I ran into The Bergers at the XTERRA First Coast and they told me that I was on the flyer and t-shirt for the 8 Hours of Labor in Gainesville next month. How cool is that? The 8 Hours of Labor last year may have been my last race (ever?) and even though it was the final straw that sent me to the Mayo Clinic, it is an awesome race at an awesome course! I would love to be able to do this race again with Char and redeem myself for my unexplained shutdown that took place 30 minutes into an 8 hour relay race. Either way, I appreciate the gesture of being put on the cover. Gone Riding has to be one of the top race promoters in the country and I have thoroughly enjoyed being at their venues over the past 5 years. Thanks!

Oh, I bet sbc doesn't know whose Spark that is with the 139 bolted on the front...

So tomorrow Char and I are playing golf with the Smithley's. This should be something! I haven't actually "played" golf since one time in high school and I have no idea when Char played last. I do know that I have new clubs, have been to the driving range a few times this year and Char has touched clubs twice since I met her. I do not know what Brett & Raina have as far as golf games (other than they practiced today) but I do know that there will be 4 mega competitive folks on the course tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Happy Birthday Char!

3

I know I'm getting this up a day early, but I'm not so sure that she checks my blog anyhow. But in case she does, I hope she has an awesome birthday and I hope she loves whatever it is that I may or may not do tomorrow... ;)

Oh, and since she likes to try and sneak recording me when I bust out some crazy dance moves- I'll let the little fella above handle my goofy dance...hehehe...

Happy Birthday Char!

Love you!!!

3

Quik Hitterz

An extended thought to yesterday's post- possibly the 2nd biggest scam to insurance is college text books. These people have to be raking in the loot! I'm glad they finally offer an option to rent books for the semester but this nonsense of expensive books that you either get stuck with or sell back for pennies on the dollar is outta control! I guess there are websites out there for selling used text books but I am too lazy to figure out that option... I'd rather bitch.

Oh- big scam #3 is OEM's selling OEM parts. "We can charge whatever we want because we are the only ones that have it!" I see this one at work all the time...

While I have a few weeks of downtime between semesters I have gotten back into the James Patterson Alex Cross detective series. After reading a few books into the series earlier this year I got hooked. Right now I am about half way through the 14 book series and this week I started reading Mary Mary. If any of you like a solid bad-a$$ detective solving some gruesome murders, check out one of these books. If you haven't heard of James Patterson, he does have one book that went to the movies- Kiss the Girls (with Ashley Judd!) Thats about as far in depth as I'll go talking about the series but you can always Google for more detailed info...

Oh man- this weekend I pulled a complete bonehead move and busted my arm...at home...in my house...sober. I won't get into the details of how I smashed my forearm into the 2nd floor stair-rail-gate-thing deal but I think I may have cracked my radius or ulna, whichever one I hit. Man, it hurt so bad when I did it- I wasn't sure if I was going to faint or vomit but I danced around like a loon in crazy pain for several minutes! From there, after some rugged caveman reasoning, I decided to go mtn biking to test the damage. Surprisingly it did not hurt that bad (maybe because my whole arm went semi-numb) but I did learn that the faster I went on the bike and the harder I pushed, the less my arm hurt. So that was Sunday. Monday and Tuesday has yet to see the pain and swelling subside. Maybe Wednesday will provide a clearer decision on going to get this sucker checked out. My gut feeling is that it may be cracked but besides it being swollen and looking awful, it hasn't kept from doing much...besides bitching... Man, I hate going to the doctor...

What else? Oh- Char's birthday is Thursday. I may have a thing or 2 up my sleeve...

in...Shadysurance

Man, I'm usually not one to rant on here but BCBS has got me full-on hot! Ok, so I had a ton of tests done on my heart at Mayo- like last year. Every test that I had done was first ok'd by Mayo with my insurance before it was performed. Wait a second- let's first think about hospitals and doctors and the word "investgative." Now when you go to the doctor with a problem, don't they have to run "investigative" tests to figure out what in the hell is wrong with you? That is what I always thought. If the doctors knew exactly what was wrong with you as soon as you told them your symptoms then I'm sure they wouldn't need the millions of dollars worth of "investigative" equipment. Right?

Ok, so getting back on track here- BCBS denied a claim for an MRI on my heart and dismissed it as "investigative." This was after the Mayo had called to get it approved. At the time, BCBS said that that kind of test did not need approval. But a few weeks after the test the rules changed, it now needed approval but the BCBS rep assured me that the test would still be covered. That was BEFORE my written appeal just came back- DENIED! WTH? Not only did BCBS and their physician reviewer deem that test as "investigative," but they also went back and decided that another claim that they had PAID to Mayo should have been denied and now they want to go back and request a refund. Man, I always thought I had great insurance because they had always covered so much (even though the ridiculous deductible and co-pays go up annually)- but this is retarded. Not to mention that the MRI was the final test that confirmed the HCM diagnosis.

So now I have to formulate a game plan but I know it will start with a 2nd appeal. I always hear so much about insurance issues that people have, especially people with my heart disease once they start getting hardware bolted into their chest. Ironically, I just read yesterday about the top reasons for bankruptcy and the #1 cause was medical bills. Not that I have any crazy bills (yet) but I can see how nightmares can come from punk-a$$ insurance companies.

Well, now that that's over with- enjoy a slick shot of my roll dog plowing through her share of my Bluegrass Brewing Company American Pale Ale.

Cheers!

Should I?

I just ran across my blog in my favorites list and when I opened it, I thought about posting regularly again. Maybe I will this time. I'm not sure why I think I'll have any more time than I usually do- especially considering that I'm toying with a full-time school schedule at UNF for the fall semester along with my full-time job. Wait, full time? Well, the time is about to expire on my $25K+ in GI Bill money and I need to pick up the pace. I've really been moving slow the last few years with school, most in part due to my training and racing schedule. But now that there is no more racing (for now), why not go to school full time? I've had the luxury of not needing to be in any kind of hurry with school but with the new revelation that there will be interference between my job and the defibrillator, I need to get hot on something. Another thing, the GI Bill is paying over $1300 a month to go full time- that is just plain hard to pass up. But I'm just not sure if I can handle a full class load- I only took 2 classes over the summer and while they were not very hard, they just ate so much time. Hell, I just need to suck it up.

Anyhow, I thought that my blog would be boring without talking a lot about the trials and tribulations of training, racing, traveling and tying it all into my life with Char and Avery. Ok, so the training and racing is gone on my part but Char and Avery (sometimes) still train and race and that is a huge part of my life. Plus, I still manage to stay very fit and that is kind of interesting. But I still have a cool job, I still have a heart disease and I have some possible big things coming in the near future. I also still ride my bikes quite a bit so maybe- just maybe, I'll take you guys Biking with Big Blue once again...

Long time

Hell, I've been thinking about coming back over here and doing something- like writing a thing or 2 every now and then. Maybe I will at some point. But I got caught up in Facebook and posting pictures and whatnot over there. That novelty seems to be wearing off too. But it's easier on FB- instead of my lazy butt actually writing something, I can type a quick update, make comments here and there and upload pictures whenever. I'm all about easy.

Ok, so now I'm back in school at UNF and still doing the usual with Char and Avery. I workout a lot more, had the testing done at my work for the defib/EMI and still have not had surgery. The EMI testing showed too many bad places at work that could cause problems and not allow me to do my job fully. Crap- back to the drawing board. I have forwarded the tests to Mayo and we are going to set up an appointment to figure out a game plan. Decisions, decisions...

What else has been going on? Well, I guess if you are on Facebook then you know. If not, then you probably forgot about this blog months ago. I will say this- I have the bug to compete again...in something. I have managed to get half way fit with my heart working like a champ. I just have to figure all of this life stuff out while keeping my head above water...

Later...

A few Feb Pics

It got cold here one day...


Violin class picture day...


The boys celebrating TJ's birthday at Fionn's...


Char & Mays strolling about the 'hood...


Avery, Halia & Kai at the zoo...

A real Jacksonville jaguar...

Still kickin'

Man, I've really dropped the ball on bloggin'. Maybe when I posts pictures on facebook I'll post them over here as well. It seems facebook has consumed most of my internet time now so if any of you guys are not on there yet, chop-chop!! Either way, we have some new pics from here and there so I'll get some up over here this weekend.

Anyhow, nothing new really going on. I'm still in limbo on the defib implant- still waiting for the screening to take place at work. Right now its hung up with who is going to pay for the screening, which is kinda expensive. As soon as that gets hashed out, I will schedule the surgery and hopefully get my life back to "somewhat" normal. It sucks not working out and I feel like crap because of it. I gained a little weight but that seems to have chilled out since I got my appetite calibrated to my activity level. I'm just super-eager to get back to jogging, lifting and cycling again so I can be lean and mean (and tan!) for the summer!

Swamp Necks?

Ok, since I haven't posted jack lately, the least I can do is put up a pic of my princess blastin' targets with our new air rifle. I was amazed at her aim- I mean, this was her first time shooting anything and I barely beat her in a target contest...and I was really trying!

Rolling in the dirt

This week I did a little wrenchin' on the bikes- Char got some new wheels (warranty replacements) and I got some new rubber. I traded in my Hutchinson Piranha's (tubeless light) for some Bontrager TLR XDX's. I think the Hutchinson's lasted longer than any tires I've ever had on the mtb- I put them on last January. I will use Hutchinson again, like maybe the Tubeless Light Python. Anyhow, I hope I have better luck with the Bontrager's than I have in the past. I also replaced my carbon Bontrager stem and seatpost with the good Thomson stuff. So far so good!

Char's trusty steed...

My great white rig...

This week started out being very cold (cold for us!)- a few days it dropped below 30 at night and only got to 50 during the day. But things got back to normal this weekend so Avery and I hit the trails...

Showing Avery how to get over logs...

Avery leading out...

Avery bombing down Mount Sand...

Somebody being persuaded to do one more lap...

The lake...

The ocean...

Ending our ride...


I got back in touch with Mayo Friday and asked them to go with Medtronic for the ICD since Boston Scientific had not contacted me in 3 months. I was beyond tired of waiting. After I talked to Mayo, my doctor called me soon after, then Medtronic called me about 10 minutes after that. Wow! To make a long story short, I am now working with one of their engineers on possible points of electromagnetic interference at work and it looks like the main area of concern will be the large DC motors that we have all over our plant. Monday I will work on finding a way to get the EMI measured (Medtronic doesn't actually do it) so that we know if the device will be affected or not. Standby...

Quick thought

This looks weird...

54

Get this guy in your Player of the Year discussions! Jodie Meeks dropped 54 on Tennesse last night and broke Dan Issel's UK single game scoring record. This guy was unconscious!! I think UK will make a little more noise this year with Meeks and Patrick Patterson (Rhythm & Bruise?) playing at the level they have been so far this year. They just need a few other guys to step it up a notch, especially some of the freshmen. Man, its great to have a little excitement back in UK basketball! GBB!!

So Mayo contacted me and said that Boston Scientific is using a 3rd party to screen my workplace and should be getting in touch with me soon. As soon as the screening is done I plan to schedule the ICD surgery. I am eager to get it all over with so I can move on and feel "safe" when I exercise and sleep. I have read that most heart issues, namely sudden death, happen while sleeping vice while exercising. Either way, exercise spooks me now doing it "unprotected."

Last thought- the HCMA has been incredible during this whole ordeal. They are so unbelievably knowledgeable of this disease and all the HCMer's on their forum provide so much info, feedback and support. HCMA- solid.

The final last thought- promotions at work are cool. 8+ years of hard work and dedication are paying off...

Gator Girls

Man, I've gotten pretty bad at posting since I stopped training. Seems kinda weird though- I have more time yet I post less. Maybe it's because of Facebook... Anyhow, nothing new with my heart deal. It seems to still be working. Hehe.. I am still waiting on either Boston Scientific or Medtronic to come screen my work to make sure there will be no interference issues. I call Mayo every week or so and they seem as baffled as I am on the holdup. I've been waiting 2 months now. Bleh. Oh- there are 2 guys at my work with implants from the Mayo. One has a pacer and the other has a defib and they seem to be ok and had good feedback on Mayo's process.

One other thing, well make that 2 things- I got in contact with Yale University regarding a study involving competing athletes who have ICD's. IF it works out that I can compete again, in either mtb racing or maybe running, I will participate in their study. It will be great to be able to contribute to the fight against heart disease and the unknowns of competing with my disease. I also was contacted by Training Peaks to have a blog profile on their site. It will be a little different considering that I am not actively training or racing, but it will be about the racing and training that I was doing, using their program, my heart diagnosis and where I plan to go from here. I'll put up the link when this all happens...

Man, it sucks that college football season is over but it ended with a solid showing by the SEC! The SEC was a combined 6-2 in bowl games with the big one being the BCS title game being won by the Gators over Oklahoma from the over-hyped Big 12. I was pleasantly surprised that UK knocked off East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl for their 3rd bowl win in a row! ECU beat West Virginia and (soft) ACC champ Virginia Tech this year and without out UK freshman phenom QB Randall Cobb, I thought this game could've been an ugly loss. NOT! Go Big Blue!! Oh, has UofL's bowl game come on yet? Ha! I had take that one for revenge from Sosa's game winner in the annual UK/UofL basketball showdown. Will it ever be The Dream Game again???

Ok, so me and ALL my ladies got together to watch the BCS National Championship. I had to work late that night so they got all the good Gator shirts and I was left with, well, take a look...


The blondes got a real kick out of this! Oh well, tough one for ol' Blue. But do Gator Girls have guns like this?? LOL!!

Ok- parting shot for all the family members far and away- here's Avery sporting some always fly digs from Char...