The Doctor Said: "Don't Sell the Scooter!"

I'm not supposed to be driving but I recently violated my driving restriction. Well, maybe just a little bit. I am guilty of backing the car out of the garage a few days ago and parking it on the other side of the driveway. Never even left the driveway. You should have seen it though. With precision I expertly engaged the clutch pedal while carefully managing the complicated steering maneuver. Forward and reverse movements were a work of art, if I don't say so myself, and the whole process was, shall we say, breath-taking.

Later that day I repeated the maneuver, albeit in reverse, as I moved the car back into the garage. I didn't hit anything either. I guess I still remember how to drive.

Unfortunately, it now appears that it might be mid-August before the doctors feel comfortable in removing my driving restrictions. It turns out that a 6 month moratorium from operating a motor vehicle is, sort of, standard procedure for someone like me.

The reasons for the restrictions from driving are a bit complicated. Frankly, texting or talking on a cell phone while driving are just as much or more dangerous than my circumstance, in my humble opinion. But I recognize and understand the reasons for my restriction and have agreed to abide by them.

This, however, has caused some changes in my own personal methods of transportation.

First, I have been catching a lot of rides with other people particularly with my wife, but I am now well known to try and bum rides off of other people as well. I still do this a lot, but others have become tired of me, especially my wife. I don't blame them. And they never want to go where I want to go when I want to go. Friction is frequently the result. We don't want that.

Second, I have resorted to taking the city bus back and forth to work. This method of transportation has actually worked out quite well for me. The city's bus system is not world renowned for its convenience to residents. For instance, one day I tried to figure out how I cold get from my home to my doctor's office on the west side of town, maybe 12 miles away. Best I could tell, after two transfers, I could do it as long as I left home 3 hours before my appointment.

The building where I work as viewed from the 18th floor of a building just down the street

But actually, for my usual bus ride from home to downtown where I work, it is very convenient. I can get off and on the bus a block away from my office. On the home side of the trip I need to walk about a half mile, but that is actually a very good thing, as long as the weather is not crappy. It forces me to get a little walking exercise which pleases my doctors and is very good for my heart.

This was and still may be the tallest building in Kansas. Don't laugh! I think it's about 21 stories.

Third is becoming my favorite method of getting around, just because it involves 2 wheels instead of 4. I have restored my old mountain bike (his name is "Bruiser") to working condition and he is going to be very helpful to me in getting around in the next few months. The doctors have actually encouraged this. The exercise is good for me and it gives me even more of a feeling of independence to go where I want to go when I want to go.

I haven't been riding a lot yet. I just haven't felt strong enough until recently. And I don't anticipate long rides for awhile, but short rides of a few miles will be easy to do.

I thought that maybe a little comparison would be in order, scooter vs bicycle.

Model:                        Scooter:      SYM "HD200"                       
                                     Bicycle:       Specialized "Rockhopper"

Brand New Grips, the old ones were falling off from disintegration

Year:                          Scooter:      2008

                                   Bicycle:       Not certain, 92-96?

Country of origin:       Scooter:      Taiwan

                                    Bicycle:       Taiwan

Proof of Taiwan Origin, sort of like Barack Obama's birth certificate

Weight:                      Scooter:      approx 289 lbs

                                   Bicycle:       approx 29 lbs?

Horsepower:              Scooter:      15 bhp

                                   Bicycle:        hmmmm  <1

Transmission:            Scooter:       Automatic CVT

                                    Bicycle:       3 chain rings, 7 gears at rear,
                                                       21 possible combinations,
                                                       only really use 10 or 12

Helmets:                     Scooter:      Scorpion EXO700 full face,
                                                       very small vents
                                    Bicycle:       Specialized fancy styrofoam thingie,
                                                       lots of big vents

I always wear a helmet!

Gloves:                       Scooter:      Aerostich Hot Weather Vegan

                                    Bicycle:       Specialized palm padded fingerless

Hairy Arms

Don't Laugh! The padding works, plus I look "Cool"!

Tires:                         Scooter:      16 in, (tubeless)

                                   Bicycle:       26 x 1.95 in knobbies (tubes)

These are the original tires. Currently 50 psi, plenty hard. Road bikes generally have over 100 psi

Tool kit:                     Scooter:       Yes

                                   Bicycle:        Yes

An assortment of tools for the road

Tachometer:              Scooter:       None

                                   Bicycle:        None

Accessories:              Scooter:       man bag hook, Shad top case

                                    Bicycle:       bottle cage, Cannondale rear rack bag

Bad pic of bottle cage and frame pump

I carry a couple of extra tubes and have room for even more crap

Seats:                         Scooter:       comfortable for many hours
                                    Bicycle:        comfortable for about two minutes


Top speed:                  Scooter:       approx 70-75 mph
                                    Bicycle:        Unlimited?!
                                                        Let's say 20 mph downhill
                                                        with wind behind you.
                                                        (Not geared for speed)

Possible FARKLE:     Scooter:      Heated grips, luggage,
                                                        Blaupunkt Stereo System
                                     Bicycle:       speedo w/ heart rate monitor,
                                                        another bottle cage,
                                                        Blaupunkt Stereo System


There you have it!



Now I do wish to finish up with an apology to readers of this blog.

It has been a bit difficult for me recently to keep up with posts to this blog. In addition, I haven't been able to keep up with reading other blogs as much as I would like.

There are a couple of reasons, first being my health as I recover from the heart attack and sudden cardiac arrests I had earlier this year. Let it be known I am doing very well, it's just a very slow recovery. Secondly, tax season was a bit of a bear, I am still only working part time, but everybody else worked their asses off and we made it through. But finally, and probably most important is just merely that I haven't been riding and don't have a lot to write about. I am hoping that will change eventually, but be advised that posts to this blog may be irregular and infrequent.

In essence this blog may get "parked" for awhile.



But also know that .......



I'm Not Selling the Scooter!



I Guess I'm Gonna Have to be Patient

Something I am not known for is Patience.

Jack Riepe told me I needed to read something funny. I may have been sounding out of sorts on my blog recently. He suggested a couple of authors, and wouldn't you know it, one of those authors was himself. :)

The other recommended author was Lewis Grizzard, who I remembered from a number of years ago as being pretty funny. So I broke out the Barnes and Noble E reader, connected to the internet and searched for the authors Jack recommended. Jack Riepe didn't turn up on the search, at least not in the form of an e-reader book even though he has a book that you can purchase at his blog site, "Twisted Roads". There was also only one book by Lewis Grizzard in e-reader format. It was called "They Tore Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat". With a name like that I couldn't resist, even though at the time I had no idea what the book was about. I ordered it, downloaded it to the reader and started reading immediately. Turns out the book was about the author having had heart surgery about 25 years ago.

At first I was not sure I wanted to read about someone else's heart problem because I had just had some of that myself, thank you very much, and really didn't care to hear more about the subject. But as I read on I began to enjoy the author's lighthearted(pun?) poking of fun at all things medical in nature such as doctors, hospitals, nurses, ex-wives, beer and whatever else seemed to come into his mind, and the book turned out to be lots of fun.

When he was released from the hospital Lewis says the doctor told him not to have sex for 2 weeks and not to drive a car for 6 weeks, or was it the other way around. So, in the end he promised not to have sex while driving for 6 weeks and let it go at that. :)

And hence we get around to the purpose of this little blog post. Me, Driving, or the lack thereof as it turns out.
The last time I drove a car was on the morning of January 21st. I remember that day very well. At about 9:15 that morning I experienced a very classic myocardial infarction. I have not driven Max at least since then plus a few days, and I am not sure exactly when that was. Now my wife in particular and my kids have been very understanding and kind and provided me with transportation when needed. Their generousity has been wonderful. But let me tell you, there is a significant feeling of not being in control of my destiny, and a certain kind of feeling of dependency that exists now because the doctors have suggested that it is not a good idea to allow me to operate a motor vehicle of any kind.

For the first few weeks after it happened, I certainly didn't have any desire to drive. I didn't feel good and was very sore. I didn't do a lot except sleep, read and eat. My chest was very bruised and sore, primarily because two weeks after the original heart attack, I had passed out and they had to perform CPR on me and use those little electric paddles to revive me. I don't recommend going out and having CPR done on yourself just for fun. If done properly, it can result in bruises and sore ribs for many weeks. The idea of CPR is to get your chest to pump oxygenated blood through your body. It works a lot better with the cooperation of your lungs and heart as opposed to an outside force on your body doing the same function for you. It is an aggressive procedure. My wife really got to beat on me for a few moments there, and it was all legal. I can't sue her, according to my attorney. She gets a little twinkle in her eye when she tells people about this.

This little event of passing out and having to be revived actually occurred twice to me. The doctors seemingly don't even have a good name for what it is called when this type of thing happens other than to maybe call it a "sudden death event". In essence my heart went into what they call a fibrillation, a sort of fluttering, if you will, and no good oxygenated blood gets around to the other parts of your body, such as the brain, kidneys, etc. Death can occur in a matter of just a few minutes. Only about 25% of the people that this happens to actually survive it. I feel very lucky.

In essence I was "mostly dead" for a little while there. This has even become a little joke amongst the family around the house. I plan to use this often as an excuse in the future when I might screw up or forget something.

"I'm sorry, I was mostly dead that day!" I wonder how long I can get away with that. (Probably not long) .

Last Wednesday I had a visit with my cardiologist, who, besides the fact that he is leery about letting me drive, is an excellent person and one of the most knowledgable and renowned doctors in the known universe. I am living proof when you get right down to it. They did a sonogram and one of those treadmill tests and the purpose was to see how I was coming along and see how my heart was recovering.

I friggin' Nailed It! Okay, maybe I am not the finest physical specimen ever to walk the face of the earth, but considering what I looked like about 7 weeks ago..........

So, in my mind, we're talking with the doctor afterwards, and I'm thinking, "Where's the Keys?" and "I'm ready to Go!" and "It's been almost 2 months"

Then the doctor said no.

He was nice. He was friendly. He was Polite. He was Firm!

No!

I explained that my blogger friends expect me to come back soon and regale them with tales of my wonderful life on my Taiwanese scooter. He smiled at me and said: Your blogger friends will just have to be patient. You'll have to be patient , too.

Hmmmm.... My first thoughts were about how unfair this was. So I did what a lot of people would do, when confronted thusly, ..... I Googled It!

Damn it, but if there isn't some very good reasons for restricting my driving based upon my own particular circumstances. Just lucky I guess. It's not the physical problems anymore. I feel pretty good although fatigue is still an issue for me. The soreness is gone from my chest. I am very sure I can steer the car and the handlebars on Max without any problems.The problem, statistically (how I sometimes hate that word), is those two little "sudden death" events I had. There is some possibility, (remote) that they just might recur and if I am behind the wheel of a car or on the scooter, then bad things are likely to occur. Insurance companies and trial attorneys hate crap like that. Some recommendations for restrictions on driving might last up to a year for some people. I doubt it will be that long for me, but for now the doctors aren't committing themselves.

So patience I must have. Maybe I should be mad. I'm certinly a little disappointed. But then again, they have some very good reasons. You blog readers may have to be patient, too. Is that possible?

Odds and Ends

Just a few recent random thoughts on another afternoon on the back porch. I worked for about 4 hours again today. It's a sunny day with the temps in the 60's. Wish I could be riding.

..... I haven't been posting much lately just because I haven't ridden recently. Max is sitting in the garage with the cover on as he has for nearly 2 months now. This is by far the longest length of time that he hasn't ventured from the confines of the garage. The doctors are mostly to blame now. The excuse might have been weather for part of that time, but the doctors have been stubborn and said that I will need to pass a stress test on my heart before they let me drive or ride again.

That appointment is 2 weeks away, so I am counting the days. It's hard to be patient. But then again the doctors are probably right about being cautious. After all, I did have 3 little heart attacks, in a two week period, about 6 weeks ago.

Speaking of medical bills.... Some have come in, particularly the hospital. After all these years of writing a sizable insurance check every month and not having hardly any claims, I must admit that the situation has reversed itself with a vengeance. It is absolutely amazing what 8 or 9 days in a hospital can set you back. Luckily the insurance will take care of the bulk of it. I hate to imagine not having the insurance and I am very thankful that I can afford it. There's little doubt I would be dead and or bankrupt without it.

.....

I got a great little present in the mail yesterday. Some relatives thought that because I was sort of a bionic man now, with that implant in my chest, and because they thought I was probably tired of trying to watch daytime TV as I try and recuperate (which I definitely am), that they thought I needed a genuine Ironman comic book to read instead. Too funny! Thanks Bobbie and AD!

I got an update for the operating system for my Blackberry cell phone last weekend. I carefully went through the process of doing the upgrade which involved a backup of the "stuff" currently on the phone such as web page favorites, my calendar and contacts. During the update process, somewhere between the computer and the phone, something "burped", and the process was interrupted. The end result was that my operating system was upgraded properly, but my contacts and other "stuff" were completely lost.

Well Frack Me! (As they say in Battlestar Galactica). Aren't Blackberry's from Canada? Should I declare war? OK, I admit to not regularly backing it up, but Damn!

..... Cathy, the amazing and capable accountant, that along with my wife is keeping our little CPA office functioning while I am off enjoying my back porch half a day every day, received the following error message on her computer recently:

"Unable to Initialize the Calculation Engine"

WTF?

Whose engine are we talking about here? Does the engine need a tune up? Low on Oil? Bad gas? Of course there is no indication of what exactly the problem was or how to fix it. A brief call for technical support revealed that the tax tables needed to be updated, a process that consumed about 10 seconds. Who really dreams up this sh#* !

..... And finally, I thought the pictures of the earthquake in New Zealand were horrendous. Then we see what has recently happened in Japan with another quake and related tsunami. Makes me feel small. Makes me feel lucky, even with my recent health problems, to be alive and relatively comfortable on my back porch, with a cat in my lap, typing this little message to friends out there in cyberspace.

Maybe it's all a matter of perspective. My thoughts and prayers are going out to those whose lives are so affected.

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed (with recently updated tax tables)