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Category: CREATURE FEATURES (Page 22 of 37)

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! (Plus dogs and cats)

Retirement is not without Hassles: Dogg #838

February 11, 2019 / / 0 Comments

If a couple of bad I.U. basketball losses this week aren’t enough to lower my spirits then certainly reading the first draft of my latest Last Will will! I’m in the final stages of updating this document, along with healthcare directives. It’s contents are certainly in that same life or death category as I.U. basketball. At least, unlike most college basketball enthusiasts, I’m not waiting for that first National Championship. Been there…done that.

With my wife out of town on business, the dogs and I watched the Grammy Awards last night. It looks like the “Snowmageddon” that they were predicting for our area has instead turned to rain. There should be few problems in getting to the airport tomorrow morning for an early flight. Our pet sitter will be here to take over my responsibilities, as I’ve updated the specific “Pet Care Instructions.” I’m sure she will give them more attention than I do. Tinker, our eldest schnauzer turns 15 in a few weeks and needs more help than Tally. Tally can never get enough walks, while Tinker can never get enough naps. They were hoping that Snoop Doggy Dogg might finally get a Grammy after 17 nominations. I told them that I thought the 47-year old rapper and actor had given up after a third straight year of no recognition. They particularly liked his second album, Tha Doggfather and assumed it was written about me. (See Post #763). One of my close Portland friends has a brother who’s currently touring with poor, win-deprived, Snopp.

I watched the Ray Romano comedy special on Netflix yesterday. My wife and I both met him at the Final Four in Indianapolis back in March of 1997 just after CBS launched Everybody Loves Raymond. The popular TV show first aired on September 13, 1996, so he was still a virtual unknown celebrity to most of us. My future second wife and I had yet to get together but worked for the same CBS affiliate WISH-TV8. We were the suite hosts at the RCA Dome for him and did the introductions to some of our advertising buyers. Twenty-two years later, the Netflix special reminded me of what a great guy he was to meet, and it still doesn’t look like success has gone to his head. Although it was hilarious, I still somehow managed to fall asleep after getting up a 5 a.m. for an unexpected drive to the airport. After my nap, I watched the last 15 minutes and would recommend it to anyone. Pretty clean, too!

Arizona beat Kentucky that year to win it all. Any Kentucky loss is a big win for me! Indiana last won the National title in 1987, but surprisingly got to the Final Four in 2002 when it was played in Atlanta. I mention this because it was really the last good year of I.U. basketball, now struggling with a 17-year drought. Basketball life has not been good, but I now have the “Will to live,” once these final revisions are made. The pets are mentioned in our “exit plan,” along with the division of our other important assets. Speaking of 17 disappointing years (and 105 dog years), I hope for the dogs sake that Snoop Dogg finally wins a Grammy Award. Which will come first to win the trophy- I.U. or
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr ?

Diary of an Adoptee: Roots and Wings #837

February 11, 2019 / / 0 Comments

I like the phrase “roots and wings” when it comes to describing genealogy. With every family tree, there are the welcome new additions as more roots sprout to support those who have earned their wings and flown from the nest. In my case, it’s the Jerry Banister Family tree that keeps me busy accounting for all these comings and goings. It’s a tedious process trying to distinguish who’s who, so thankfully I have help. People that have been working on the Ban(n)ister lineage for 30 or more years have indicated that the family was often times not very creative in naming their children. As a result, there are too many first names of William and James to properly identify one Banister from another.

I’m a newcomer in “Banister World,” and trying to play catch-up from being a Johnston for most of my life. However, thanks to modern day DNA technology, the story of my birth and subsequent adoption is becoming less murky. I am clearly genetically linked to Charles B. Bannister (1875-1940) and his brother Henry Otis Banister (1879-1921). They would both be considered to be my great, great, grandfathers. Charles B. links to Cecil Ralph Banister through his son Arlie Adam, while brother Henry connects with Ivan Otis and daughter Edna Faye. If my family math is accurate, this would make Edna and Cecil third cousins at the time when I was “accidentally” conceived.

To be quite honest, as an adopted child I never paid much attention to inner family relationships. For the record, the genetic risk associated with second cousins having children is almost as small as it would be between two unrelated individuals, let alone third cousins. Consequently, this does not account for any of the “drain bramage” that some of you may associate with my bazaar behavior. However, considering presumed misaligned heath concerns, marriage between first cousins is legal in only about half of American states. Just out of curiosity, I copied this explanation from The Spruce:

What Is a Cousin?

There are many degrees and types of cousins. While first cousins are close relatives, second and third cousins are not. Here are a few definitions:

  • a first cousin: the child of your aunt or uncle (your parent’s sibling’s child) is your first cousin
  • a second cousin: the child of your parent’s cousin is your second cousin
  • a cousin once (or twice) removed: a cousin separated by a generation (for example, your parent’s cousin is your cousin once removed)
  • third cousin: the children of your parent’s second cousin

The chances are that you know and spend time with your first cousins. You may happen to know your second cousins. But unless you have a particularly large and close family, you may never have met third or fourth cousins or cousins who are once or twice removed. In the case of Indiana where I was born, first cousins once removed can be married only if they are over a certain age or cannot bear children. With regard to my inferred birth parents, they could have gotten married, but that’s not what happened.

All this aside, I made a few new discoveries on the Ancestry.com Jerry Banister Family tree this past week that further solidify my place in “Banister World.” Another first cousin connection on Cecil Ralph’s side of the family was revealed (shared DNA: 1,109 cM across 38 segments). This is now my #2 connection overall – the niece of my #1 match (shared DNA: 1,719 cM across 40 segments). My #3 connection, also a first cousin (shared DNA: 991 cM across 41 segments), according to the scientific charts, is linked to Edna Faye’s direct family – her niece. This is as close as I have come to confirming their presumed relationship that led to my birth. Adoption records definitely show her to be the mother, with only bits and pieces about the father. She is still alive but continues to deny what all this science can supposedly prove.

In addition, I added four more DNA relatives to my growing tree of 12,308 “members.” Some are Angels and some are Roots, but all have one thing in common – a distant connection to Laborn Banister (1801-1885). Experts have not yet found evidence of his father that some believe to be Burrel (1779-1837). This is where too many William Banister, Bannister, and even Banester identities destroyed the trail. Also, sometimes the only clue that people were related is the fact that they are buried next to each other. It’s easy to add someone else’s speculations to your family tree, but only a true professional genealogist seeks the factual details that lead to the truth.

My detective work this week also uncovered connections for second cousins, Ava Hope Simpson Crossfield Alama (shared DNA: 229 cM across 15 segments) and Gladys Marie Brooks Eikenbary (shared DNA: 221 cM across 13 segments), both falling in my Top 13 Ancestry matches. There is now a growing cluster of these folks that are related to me through the twisted Cecil Ralph branches.

As I was raised by my adoptive parents (my only true parents), I was introduced to my cousins. However, I’m not sure I really understood what a cousin was with respect to blood lines. To this day, they are still my cousins that continue to share of life-long bond of familiarity. All of my new DNA cousins might involve a natural connection but there is little of life in common. Regardless, it’s been a fulfilling experience to meet and talk with others interested in the fascinating Banister history of Angels and Roots.

Retirement is not without Hassles: “Got A Lot O’ Livin’ To Do!” #835

February 8, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Another week is coming to an end and warmer Arizona temperatures are thankfully in the forecast. Here in Portland there is talk of up to 14 inches of snow accumulation over the next week. Our pet sitter will have to navigate the neighborhood hills and use our crampons to safely walk the dogs. Phoenix will at least be in the 60’s for our “Valentine Getaway.” It starts with budget meetings for my wife and ends with friends in Tucson, but in the meantime we’ll get some alone time at a Marriott Vacation Club villa.

The next stop on our “Travelin’ Tour” will be Seattle for a baseball weekend with college friends. Our Indiana Hoosiers will face defending National Champion Oregon State in one of several college baseball match-ups at Safeco Field, home of the Mariners. Just after we get back from Arizona, Major League spring training will start along with several similar college pre-season tournaments. Last year I attended one in Surprise also featured Oregon State, so I’ll see my first game a few weeks later this year. Nonetheless, as Spring quickly approaches it’s time to “Play Ball.”

Indiana basketball did not fare well against hot-shooting Iowa last night, so my Alma Mater is once again not likely to make the post season. There was a brief breeze of hope with last week’s unexpected victory in East Lansing, but this home court loss puts an extra long nail in the coffin. It’s funny how the I.U. Alumni Association caught up with me last week in my temporarily insane condition and it resulted in the purchase of a digital directory to support the 200th anniversary of the school. Try getting that money out of me this week?

I got my Valentine’s cards out to the grandkids and wrote the traditional poem for my wife. We celebrate the twentieth anniversary of our first “date” tonight at the Outback bar that has become a regular dining favorite for ribs. “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” is what Elvis might serenade us with. He would have been 84 last month, while Frankie our aging cat (named after Sinatra) is 18 years old today. They once did a great duet of “Love Me Tender” (not the cat).

Mid-week “Date Night” was at Rosa Rosa, the new Paley restaurant downtown that proved to be disappointing. Tomorrow night’s movie will be Stan & Ollie. It may be a challenge getting there in the snow, since I’ve already bought the tickets. Maybe Uber to the rescue? My wife already plans to order a car to get her to the airport the next morning for her business meetings. I won’t fly out for another two days.

As you may have noticed, I continue to avoid specifying the days of the week. It’s been my experience in retirement that they are now all really the same, and there’s no need to use the typical Monday thru Sunday labels. Also, vacations and holidays no longer apply. It’s simply today, tomorrow, and the next day on the retirement calendar. By the way, this week’s 1,000 Places To See Before You Die calendar features India, Malta, and Tokyo that are on our yet-to-visit list, and Slovenia, The Bahamas, and Greece that we’ve already seen. As Elvis might sing to his Valentine, “Got A Lot O’ Livin’ To Do!” Make that Travelin.’

Oh got a lot o’ living (travelin’) to do
A whole lot o’ loving to do
Come on baby, to make a party takes two
Oh yes I’ve got a lot o’ living (travelin’) to do
A whole lot o’ loving to do
And there’s no one who I’d rather do it with-a than you!

Retirement is not without Hassles: Icy Roads #832

February 5, 2019 / / 0 Comments

I drove to work today…but didn’t stay. Due to a light snow and icy conditions, my wife did not feel safe behind the wheel of her sports car. As a result, I’ve added chauffeur to my list of retirement responsibilities. There are some steep hills getting out of our neighborhood and even my heavier, front-wheel drive car has trouble navigating them in winter. Environmentally conscious Portland has not yet gotten the hang of using salt like we were used to in the Midwest. Also, there were no hills in Indiana and Illinois where we once faced slippery roads. City trucks throw down useless gravel that does little for traction and results in dangerous projectiles hopefully only bouncing off the windshield.

I dropped my reluctantly employed wife at the office (especially on a snow day) and went straight to the DEQ (Oregon Department of Environmental Quality) to get my plates renewed. This was something that I planned to get done at Jiffy Lube last week as part of an oil change, but for some reason they could not complete the test. I was worried that my 11-year old convertible with 130,000 miles had finally gotten to the point where repairs might outweigh payoff, but I successfully got my new tags good until 2021. Maybe I’ll get 2 more years out of her, although we had another discussion about needing an SUV after it barely made it up an icy incline. I’ve been stubborn about buying a new car, especially since I rarely drive any more…except when I’m the chauffeur.

I was relieved yesterday when the statement arrived from my recent Emergency Room visit (See Post #808). As seems to be the case now every year, there’s a new insurance company to deal with. My wife agreed to an upgraded policy to start the year and it is already appearing to pay off. The total expense was $10,176.89, including just over $5,000 for the Cat Scan and $2,000 for Magnetic Imaging. There was also a charge of $177 for the follow-up visit with my doctor. Between both bills, we paid $220 in co-pay. She’s also had a couple of recent tests that will probably also be covered, and it’s saving us money on prescriptions. I’m impressed, plus it keeps me from paying for Medicare!

I’m also thankfully making progress on my taxes, reducing the total due from nearly $5,000 to less than a more tolerable $2,000. I’ll continue to work on them up until the deadline, searching for other deductions, but there’s still unfortunately going to be the need for an electronic transfer rather than a refund. With regard to my other retirement projects, I’m also expecting to hear back from the local attorney preparing our will. This is another no-charge benefit from my wife’s employment package. As always, what we save means more funds for travel, and a warm escape from these chilly Portland conditions.

Retirement is not without Hassles: Overtime #830

February 4, 2019 / / 0 Comments

My working wife is working extra hours this week. This means that I’ve been relinquished of any stressful cooking responsibilities tomorrow night. She’ll be dining out while I’ll be eating frozen dinners. I love a good chicken pot pie, and it’s just what I need in retirement – less responsibilities. I’m down to running, stretching, sleeping, writing, genealogy, banking/bills, maintenance, trash, personal hygiene, vacuuming, mail, dusting, kitty litter, laundry, dog walking, reading, and TV watching, with very little overtime. This week I’ll include tax and will preparation. Even I can handle that much of a “work” load!

Last night’s Super Bowl was boring, but the baked wings and iced football cookies were great. Congrats to Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the New England Patriots…again. I’m still riding high on the I.U. basketball victory at Michigan State. It made my weekend a 10. We went out to dinner Friday night and saw the movie The Favourite, another must on my wife’s Academy Awards list. It’s a bizarre production, but true in many ways. My wife also rented Roma, but I was busy in “Banister World.” It’s my own little soap opera, based on my true life story of adoption. In the process, I found a few more DNA matches on my massive Ancestry.com Tree.

This Friday marks the 20th anniversary of our first “date.” It’s also the 18th birthday of our cat Frankie, with blue eyes like Sinatra. Two causes for celebration before we head to Phoenix next week. There’s snow flurries in the forecast for this afternoon, so some Arizona heat will be a welcome relief. I have to get some sun before we spend a week on the Thailand coast of the Andaman Sea. It’s just six weeks away! I like my routine at home, but travel is what I really want in retirement. Plus, my wife needs a break from research projects and budget meetings that keep her working extra hours. It makes me feel guilty about being older and enjoying retirement.

Creature Features: Let’s Pawty #819

January 25, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Tally, our youngest schnauzer celebrated her 9th birthday yesterday. Did she get cake? No, she got a trip to the vet to check out a lump on her underbelly. It wasn’t as if I cruelly planned it this way; it was the soonest available date. They did a quick biopsy and found it to be nothing but fatty tissue, so it turned out to be a good birthday gift. Let’s Pawty like it’s 1999! Tally is typically a very healthy dog and hopefully that will continue for many more years. Other than an eye issue and required annual physicals, she has kept us out of vet debt. Pet.Vet.Debt.

Our older schnauzer Tinker, will turn 15 in another month. Pawty Time Again! Like her dog-sister Tally, she was adopted so their actual birth dates may not be totally accurate. Frankie, our Burmese kitty, on the other hand, was purchased at birth from a breeder 18 years ago next month. Unlike the original dark brown variety, Frankie is pure white. We like the fact that she has hair rather than fur and rarely sheds. Apparently she’s a descendant of one female cat called Wong Mau, which was brought from Burma to America in 1930 and bred with American Siamese. The average life span of a Burmese is 16-18 years, so with this upcoming birthday in a few weeks she will defy the odds. Pawty On, Garth!

We haven’t told Frankie that we will be traveling to her homeland of Thailand in two months, but she’s apparently a native Hoosier and made a part of our family while we lived in Indianapolis, Indiana. Tinker is from Decatur, Illinois, while Texas Tally is from Austin. I guess you could say we have a world of pets, although we likely won’t have a Portland pet, breaking the tradition of a pet in every “port” where we’ve lived. With our plans for extensive retirement travel in four years, taking care of pets simply won’t fit in. If we’re fortunate to still have Tally around, we’ll probably have also somehow resisted the temptation to find her a Tinker-like companion.

Tinker and Frankie would probably react with separate thoughts of “I’m not dead yet.” This was my very reaction to sentiments from friends and family after last week’s unexpected visit to the Emergency Room. (See Post #810). Frankie is getting a bit frail and apparently gave one of her nine lives to Tinker and they’re both very much alive despite their combined 33 years. A year ago, Tinker was constantly at the vet for ear infections, arthritis, dry eye, lumps, moles, and allergy concerns. This is when I originally started writing about “Pet.Vet.Debt” and “Schnauzer on Steroids.” (See Post #67). Yesterday, was the first time that I took both dogs to the vet and Tinker’s ailments were not the center of attention. In fact, they all commented on how well she was doing. Tinker may very well be around when my wife finally earns retirement and our celebratory trip around the world.

Until then, we’ll be celebrating the birthdays of Tinker, Tally, and Frankie, all within a one-month span of Pawty after Pawty. Tinker and Tally will be back at the vet for their annual check-ups just before Frankie’s big day. Frankie is an indoor kitty and seldom leaves the comforts of our home. She has, however, gone to the vet due to two urinary tract infections and taken long car rides from Indy to Decatur to Austin to Portland, so she’s a well-traveled cat. I doubt she can talk us into taking her with us to Thailand, but we’ll bring her back a souvenir. While we’re gone, all of our fur buddies will be under the care of our pet sitter. Maybe…they will all Pawdy in our absence?

Retirement is not without Hassles: Selling what you’ve Saved #816

January 22, 2019 / / 0 Comments

It’s been a busy retirement morning, but probably nothing compared to those returning to work after a 3-day holiday weekend. My Iwatch alarm went off at 6 a.m., and after some strength and stretching exercises, I dutifully walked our two schnauzers, who definitely had their legs crossed in anticipation. Still in a precautionary mode from last week’s ER visit, I did my 5k run on the treadmill with still no aftereffects from the alarming dizzy spell. It’s been 5 days since my morning run staggered to a halt and after this afternoon’s doctor appointment, I plan to return to the streets, even despite the usual forecast of rain.

My next project this morning was to watch Outlander in anticipation of next week’s season finale, but paused in the middle to make a couple of important phone calls. The first was to the vet to schedule an appointment for Tally. My wife noticed a lump on her underbelly yesterday and wants to have it checked. The only opening they had is in three days, sadly the day of her ninth birthday. Hopefully, we’ll celebrate that along with a positive check-up. I then placed a phone call to sell some of my IRA investment.

My financial adviser is also a friend so we chatted a bit about joining her at their home in Steamboat Springs. We went last year so I could ski, but this year’s date is too close to our trip to Thailand. She also gave me a quick overview of the market that appears to be fairly positive this year, but with a much gloomier forecast for the future. The market has rebounded the last couple weeks from a year-end downward spin, but I need to pay off some mounting credit card bills. Sell! I follow a similar pattern of charging to collect Marriott Rewards Points and then selling some of my retirement savings to avoid interest charges. Most of my credit card bills are travel related, including monthly payments and maintenance fees on our Marriott Vacation Club time share. I get a 6x bonus on points for these charges that helps with overnight stays when we travel. As my wife often jokes, “he loves his Marriott Points more than me.” While that isn’t true, I do enjoy free nights with her away from home in luxurious surroundings.

Three of our upcoming trips to Phoenix, Seattle, and Thailand are Marriott Rewards related. The whole purpose of our retirement accounts are to pay for travel. All those years of working and saving are beginning to pay-off, although the money is going faster than I would like. After all, they say to save for a rainy day, but in Portland that’s nearly every day this time of year. The sun finally comes out in April and the lush benefits of months of rain are revealed for the next six months. It makes the rain tolerable, if you look at it from this perspective. Otherwise, the miserable gray seems to last forever, as was the case when we first moved here from sunny Austin, Texas.

Just before I began to write today’s post, I started the preparations for tonight’s Brined Pork Chop dinner. I try to cook one night a week to ease my wife’s work week. Fortunately, she loves to cook because I’m not very good at it. In fact, it’s now the most stressful thing I do all week. This particular recipe has served me well. I simply marinate the meat in a sugary, salt solution with peppercorns and juniper berries for 12 hours before pan roasting the chops. There’s not much to screw up. I’ll probably heat up a can of creamed corn to go with it and enjoy a glass or two of wine before it’s served.

On my way to the doctor this afternoon, I’ll run a couple of errands. He’ll review the results of my battery of tests from the Emergency Room and hopefully agree that the dizzy spell was not heart or circulation related. We’ll then speculate on what caused the incident. It did, however, occur following a stressful night of preparing meatloaf, so maybe he’ll give me a prescription to stop cooking.

Making travel plans, is my next most anxiety related retirement activity. I’ll need to make flight plans for Phoenix to match those my wife’s corporate travel agent will put together for her budget meetings. I also keep double checking flight and hotel bookings for Thailand, hoping I don’t mess up that trip. Finally, I need to book train passage to Seattle for our weekend, but I will go in earlier than her work schedule will allow. I’m meeting some friends for afternoon college baseball – something she won’t miss doing. She’ll join us for dinner instead. My IRA withdrawal will go to all of these activities. Retirement is not about saving, it’s about selling what you’ve saved.

Old Sport Shorts: Lunar Loser #814

January 21, 2019 / / 0 Comments

There was a full, blood-wolf moon, plus a lunar eclipse, so it was not going to be an ordinary weekend of sports. It started with an Indiana University Alumni Association game-watch at a local tavern featuring one of the most intense rivalries in college basketball. This was the 208th battle between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue had won a dominant 118 of these in-state basketball wars, including 51 of the first 62 games, but Indiana boasts 5 National Championships in 39 NCAA Tournament appearances. Make that 119 victories for the Boilers!

There was little doubt from the tip-off that Purdue was the better team. Indiana has been notorious for their slow starts this year, and this game was no exception. One beer was not going to be enough. It was also obvious that fellow alumni held little hope for the Hoosiers since only a few showed up to watch. Those in attendance had fond memories of a last second shot to beat Butler a month ago when the team appeared to come together, moved into the Top 25 nationally, and won their first three BIG Ten contests. However, injuries and poor shooting have prevailed, as we sadly watched their fourth straight conference loss in front of an exuberant Boilermaker fan base. Admittedly, I didn’t have a good feeling about the game and considered not even wearing any Indiana gear in case Purdue fans were also in the bar.

Even a crimson moon could not prevent the Hoosiers from shooting a pathetic 7-18 from the free throw line and 4-20 from behind the arc. While that could be blamed on “gravitational pull,” a Purdue “friend” pointed out that this was actually an improvement over last week’s loss to Nebraska when they shot a pitiful 2-14 at home! Indeed, the rare home loss was even more humiliating, especially to a football school. I just hope we get it together before the Boilers come calling next month in Bloomington. Indiana has already lost 4 straight battles with Purdue, meaning that last year’s team couldn’t hold home court advantage. There will be no Alumni game watch for no one to attend because it’s scheduled for a Tuesday night.

I was in atypical agreement with my Purdue friends on football this weekend, with the Superbowl on the line. Ex-Purdue quarterback Drew Brees and his New Orleans Saints were an easy choice for us to make, while rooting against Tom Brady and his New England Patriots was a given. We were wrong on both counts! Brady was once again brilliant, and the Saints got screwed, as admitted by everyone involved. Both games went to overtime, but the Rams and Patriots prevailed. Most all of America will be rooting for the Rams in two weeks!

Yes, I was a Lunar Loser, going 0-3 this weekend with my favorites. However, I really only truly cared about one of these games. The round ball is my passion and I.U. is my team. I was hoping that the round, red moon would be a good omen. Instead, the Hoosier Nation was totally “eclipsed” by Boilermaker Black once again.

Retirement is not without Hassles: Treading Along #811

January 18, 2019 / / 0 Comments

I continue to “tread” along after another morning on the mouse wheel, keeping my 3,673 day running streak intact. At least, I was able to read another few chapters of The House Next Door by James Patterson. I’m nearing the end of the second in the trilogy of crime stories. It kept my mind off the fact that two days ago I got dizzy during my morning run and staggered uncontrollably before stumbling to the pavement. I ended up in the ER without any answers from attending doctors on why this happened? The last two days, I’ve spent on our upstairs treadmill in case it happens again.

I remain convinced that it was inner-ear related, affecting my balance, but my wife claims I’m in self denial. I’m taking Mucinex and squirting Afrin up my nostrils, hoping to relieve an annoying sinus headache that I’ve experienced since the incident. I refuse to believe that it’s anything serious:

I’ll live many more years,
If I had to bet.
Despite this set-back,
I’m not Dead Yet.

Life goes on…regardless. I have my weekly “Leadership Meeting” today, and my wife has a rare three-day weekend. Coincidentally, she did have me complete some paperwork on a life insurance policy that she took out on me. It was a work perk that she signed up for a few months ago. Ironically, one of the questions was “have you had a stroke or TIA?” I answered NO, since there was no evidence of either and numbness or speech was never an issue throughout this ordeal. At least, I’m now worth something if “yet” finally happens. Hopefully, it won’t!

Anyone can suffer a stroke at any age, so it’s nothing to be ashamed of, yet I refuse to believe that it could happen to me. I run to help prevent it from occurring, but you can’t outrun what’s in your genes. It’s the mystery of life that’s locked inside you, and is often more powerful than eating right or exercising more. I go back to the doctor in a few days, and hopefully after that visit I’ll be able to get off the treadmill and hit the streets again.

Retirement is not without Hassles: Treadmill #809

January 17, 2019 / / 0 Comments

If you ever had a pet mouse, as I once did, then you know that as they spin on their wheel they go nowhere fast. I feel the same way any time I run on a treadmill. My preference is to run outdoors, but after yesterday’s incident, I need to build up my confidence. (See Post #808). The only other times I use the treadmill is in really icy weather for fear of falling, since I don’t have the same resilience that I enjoyed even 10 years ago. In addition, my speed is slower and my balance has suffered. I assured my wife that I would get in my miles on the treadmill the next two days with the emergency stop clip attached until we both do this weekend’s planned “Schnauzerthons.” She’ll be able to keep an eye on me as she walks with our schnauzer Tally while I run, pushing Tinker securely in her stroller.

I woke up this morning with the same dull sinus headache that I experienced after yesterday’s spell of dizziness. Since I wasn’t diagnosed with a stroke, it could be an inner ear infection. I’m surprised with all the tests that they performed that they didn’t find something wrong. The MRI was a strange experience with the banging and high-pitched noises that accompanied the thorough examination. It was like something was looking into my very soul, searching for a flaw. I couldn’t help but think of all the people who spent time in that very tube only to learn that their insides were being ravaged by some cruel disease. I was lucky to escape unfazed.

I’m a little more sensitive about cancer and heart problems than I was a few weeks ago. I just learned that my suspected birth father was affected in later life by both of these afflictions that eventually led to his passing at age 79. As an adopted child, I had no concept of these genetic family health issues until just recently. Neither was a factor with the parents who raised me, but our genes were not connected. They both lived into their early 90’s, and their parents also lived healthy, long lives. By the same token, my presumed birth mother is reportedly still alive and well at age 85 but will not acknowledge our relationship despite confirmed adoption records. Yesterday’s time in the Emergency Room, contemplating a potential stroke, was my first eye-opening brush with mortality, so a few days on the mouse wheel is a small price to pay.

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