Tales from the Steppes

2005-03-17

12:25 a.m.
Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start

The frequency of the headaches is much decreased and the neck pain is starting to leave as well. I am ecstatic and once again making excellent progress. I have gotten more written since Monday than in the last month. I even went swimming last night, which is the first exercise I have done in a long time. The neck still sounds like Rice Krispies when I move my head but in my book, that is a minor annoyance.

It is a wonderful thing to have my brain back. Now I just have to work to get my body back. Too many drugs, too many simple carbs to buffer the system and too little exercise is not a good combination for me. Fortunately, this is one thing that is under my control so I really have no excuse for not getting my act together. Besides, I got rid of all clothes that were too big for me and I absolutely refuse to go buy new ones that are any bigger.
Not going to happen.

While I had wanted to take a few easy days to build back up gradually, that is not going to happen either. Today I have work, then school, leaving studio early for a job interview, and finally back to school for a lecture. I am not cetain how many miles of driving that is tonight but probably more than I want to do.

It has been a long time since I had a job interview and I have mixed feelings about this one. While I am interested in environmental protection and helping developers find alternative designs to minimize their impact, it is not really my primary area of design interest. But there is something to be said for having a job with good benefits so I am not paying COBRA over $1000 a month. And I do enjoy doing field work, especially at this time of year. It would give me the opportunity to learn some new skills. While I have a good understanding of wetland delineation, I have never actually done it. So we will see.

Besides being Saint Patrick's Day, this also marks the 10th anniversary of the SU's first cancer surgery. I am honestly not sure what approach to take with this, as he could view it several ways. As the surgery left him physically changed, he could view the day as being the day he lost a big chunk of his lower intestines and some associated organs or as the day he had surgery that let him live for another 10 years. I prefer the latter myself but he does not always appreciate my optimism. Perhaps I will just try to locate some shamrock temporary tattoos. The night before the surgery we put one on right above where the surgeon was going to operate. Dr. Choti thought it was hilarious and still talks about his surprise.