What is this?  My third post in three days?  Sitting in hospital waiting rooms gives you a lot of time to do nothing...so I'll blog.  This particular hospital waiting room gives you buzzer/pagers and buzzes you when there's a status update.

I looked at a couple places to live today.  I've settled on a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with a trail right out of the back yard.  The trail goes through the woods to the BEACH!!!!

Backyard trail through bird sanctuary directly to the BEACH!

I looked at a few other places and they were too small or didn't allow dogs.  There was one place that was 4 bedrooms, had a pool in the back yard and a fenced in yard, but they wouldn't do a shorter term lease.  Moose would have loved the pool, but he'll have to settle with the docks about a half mile from the house.  The way he runs and jumps over waves when he fetches a toy in the water makes me think he'll love jumping off the docks into the water.

Where Moose will get to perfect his dock diving!

This is how Lady sleeps all day.  

Moose will also get to play with Lady.  She needs a little exercise. Or maybe a lot of exercise.  Springer will get to chase geckos.  I didn't realize there were geckos on Dauphin Island, but there are...just one more similarity to Hawaii.

Dauphin Island geckos!

That is the only hill, the peak is about 100 feet above sea level.

Everything else is FLAT!

I'm actually looking forward to training again too.  I love running on the island.  It's flat and there aren't a lot of routes, but just like in Hawaii there are parks with bathrooms and water fountains sprinkled around the island.  I mapped out bike ride from my door.  Zero stoplights, one stop sign, two turns, at least fifty miles.

I could probably ride a lot longer distance and still not see a stoplight, 

but 50 miles is good enough for me right now!

Swimming will still be a pain.  There are swim clubs I could join, but I refuse to join a club that you have to have two current members recommend you.  That just reeks of racism to me, especially when one member told me, all of our current members are white.  Once I start classes in NOLA I'll have more options, until then it might be twice a week at a YMCA and maybe once a week masters in Mobile.

Tomorrow I'll get a good taste of island life.  It's a crawfish boil sponsored by Island Mystics Mardis Gras Krewe.  A little known Mardi Gras fact....Mardis Gras started in Mobile.

Sweet Home Alabama

My parents moved to Alabama when I was in college.  I NEVER thought I would move there.  But that is exactly what will happen sometime in the next month.  For the past six months I've been looking at jobs on the mainland.  Mostly for when I finished my MPH, but if the right job came about I would probably apply and take it.  I applied for a lot of different jobs and was offered a few of them, but in the  end they weren't worth the move to a place that I wasn't excited about.

The surgery on my dad went well, they were able to finally get usable tissue and do a biopsy.  The result is exactly what we expected.  Stage IV lung cancer that has metastasized to the brain.  We are looking at six months to a year.  I know my dad and am saying a year at least.  He starts radiation treatment on Monday.  I wil still be here for that, then fly back to Hawaii on Tuesday and my brother and sister will be here a few days later.  My brother for the long weekend, but my sister indefinitely.  I will fly back to Alabama early to mid June.   

When my dad got sick my brother, sister and I talked a lot about who was going to be there, who would make sure things were in order, what we would have to do to help my mom in the future etc.  It's a conversation we started when my mom was diagnosed with cancer, shelved it for a bit, and now it's back.  My sister has been looking for jobs outside of NYC for years, and when she decides to leave the city, she gets a better job in the city.  We are both moving down to Alabama.  She went to college at Auburn, so it's not as unknown to her.

I am pretty sure I will start taking classes at Tulane this fall.  I looked into Tulane when I was looking at Public Health programs, but in the end decided University of Hawaii was the best choice for me.  Tulane was one of the few schools I looked at that stuck in my mind because of their Global Health and Development program.  (It is a perfect fit for someone for someone with my background and interests).  I still have to take the GRE since the one time I took it was so long ago (UH did not require it because I already had a masters degree).  I will start taking classes this fall even if I'm not admitted, with the expectation that I will be admitted for the Spring 2014. Until the start of classes I will be on Dauphin Island.  As I was talking to my sister about our plans, where we would live, etc, I got an email about a job opening in Mobile.  It's a temporary position as an economist.  It's an entry level position but it offers flexibility in hours etc, and like I said is temporary...so I'm applying for it.

I'm not sure how I feel about moving to Alabama.  Actually, I'm pretty sure how I feel about moving to Alabama.  It sucks.  This is not a place I ever thought I'd live.  I got out of the military when they said they were sending me to Alabama.  But it does have it perks.  My dad has been getting three beers a day in the hospital.  In the middle of a rainstorm I had to go to the bank.  There are drive through banks here.  I forgot about those.  I can't think of a single drive through bank in Hawaii.  And there are drive through ice cream cone shops.

Mobile has a DSW.  It's getting a Whole Foods (which blows my sister's theory that as long as you move w/in 20 miles of a Whole Foods there you will not live in a cultural void (Mobile, AL = massive cultural void)...and reinforces my theory that Whole Foods is just like Target, or even Walmart).  Moose and Springer will get to eat alligator!

Dauphin Island isn't a bad place to live.  I enjoyed living in Kaaawa for a year, it was quiet, you had to plan what you were going to eat, therefore I ate super healthy...no pizza delivery, and the ocean is right across the street.  Dauphin Island is much the same.  I'll still live on an island for a while.  The sunrise and sunset views are amazing.  And there is no vog.  Oppressing heat and humidity, yes, but no vog!

Sunrise on Dauphin Island

Sunset on Duaphin Island

It seems to be a triathlon void down here.  Pools are few and far between in Mobile.  The ocean isn't clear like Hawaii, so I just don't see too many solo ocean swims.  I'm researching riding groups, and I'll be able to run when it isn't  hot as heck (and I'm not injured).  But until I get to NOLA full time, I just don't see much regular tri training.  Which won't be much different from the last few years in Hawaii :-)

I'm Living an Episode of House

SIX MONTHS???? It's not that there hasn't been anything blog worthy, it's that when there was, there was no blog writing time.  And when there was time, I wrote posts, but they all seemed whiny pointless dribble.  Then I realized that most of my blog has always pointless dribble, so what's wrong with adding a little whine from time to time?

Warning:  This post will have a little more than a little whining.  But I think if you read on you'll agree it's warranted.

It's the middle of May.  I'm in Mobile, Al.  I should be on my way to Columbus, Oh.  I'm injured.  Somehow I did some serious damage to my achilles.  Other than knowing it's not completely ruptured I don't know how much.  It hurts the same as it did when I partially ruptured it in 1998.  Searching for a root cause of my chronic achilles problems (the immediate cause is scar tissue that's built up) I dug through my military medical records to find the first time I ever saw a doctor for my achilles.  I read my complaint and the pain was described the exact same way I'm describing it now.  In the exact same spot.  So as of right now I can't walk without a limp.

I was going to Ohio to lose my ultra virginity on a race course in a park that I lost my virginity. TMI? It was going to be the first running of the Playin' Possum 50K at Delaware State Park (yes, that is in Ohio; I know this is confusing for some).  I think I can save my ultra virginity for next year when it won't be the race's first year.  That's a mistake I don't want to make again...his first time, my first time... Ugh. I think letting the race get a little experience is a good thing. All kidding aside, I'm sure the race will be awesome this year, and I really wish I was there.  I also wish I'd be able to catch up with some high school friends and spoil my niece and nephews visit with my brother and his family.

BUT.... A week ago my dad was admitted to the hospital after seeing a doctor for a vision problem.  The initial 'diagnosis' was grim. It wasn't really a diagnosis, but it was the obvious conclusion for a large mass and multiple smaller lesions in the brain and a spot on the lung for someone who for 45 years (he did quit 7 years ago).  Seven days, six different scopes, biopsies, scans later everything was negative for lung cancer, and there was no other sign of any cancer.  So while the doctors were scheduling surgery to finally get a sample of the mass and/or lesions in his brain, they were also asking a lot of questions about how much pork he's eaten lately and if any of it had been undercooked or what about wild game?  Grasping at straws.  Seriously, there was a House episode about worms in the brain. FWIW, I do not have a problem with the process to reach a diagnosis, I completely understand the logic behind the scans and scopes first before drilling a dime sized hole in his head and getting a sample.  It's just been a really long week.  And I'm injured (so I can't run).  There, there's my whine!

And the trip home was not uneventful. Ten minutes before I left for the airport I knocked my head on a cabinet door.  It hurt.  A lot.  Enough that I had to sit down.  Tears were almost shed, mostly from the stress, but also because it hurt. A lot.  But I was out the door and at TSA before a TSA agent pointed out the blood in my hair.  And I reached up and touched the gash.  Now my hand was covered in blood.  And yeah, it still hurt. A lot.

It pretty much dried on the 8 hour flight to Dallas.  On the three hour layover I washed my hair.  It started bleeding again.  By the time I got to Mobile and went straight to the hospital, it had stopped bleeding.  Of course the dried blood in my hair was a topic of interest and because it was Mother's Day and my mom really wanted me to have it looked at, I showed a doctor.  His unofficial opinion was that it should have been stitched up, but since it was already dried, as long as I kept it clean, it would be fine.  It is.  But it still hurts.  Not a lot.  Unless I try to sleep on it.  Then it hurts.  A LOT!

There you have it.  I'm injured and can't run.  I'm missing another major race due to a combination of family medical emergencies and crazy injuries.  My dad is having brain surgery as I type this.  I have major head ache from an inch long gash in my head and am on the verge of puking from a migraine from stress, jet lag and air conditioning.  I miss my pups.

BTW, Moose turned one and is almost awesome.  He really is awesome, just not all the time.  Almost all the time though.

Fortunately my parents have dogs.  This is Princess at 4:15 AM when my mom and I were leaving for the hospital.  She's not a morning dog.

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving

Wrong holiday?  Oh well, I'm going the 12 Days of Thanksgiving.  Or maybe only the 10 Days of Thanksgiving because I got a late start (hint: there will be some after Thanksgiving too!)

On the first of Thanksgiving I'm thankful for a four day weekend!  Truth is I have a four day weekend almost every other weekend.  I set up my schedule so I  always work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and rotate Mondays and Fridays.  And since my job with the Department of Labor is flexible about when and where I work, I just pile most of the work on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Which right now is super easy because it's just a bunch of computer based training, some videos to watch, a few phone calls with DC and emailing with San Francisco.  But until I get certified to actually work, that's all it is. (And next weekend is a five day weekend, you bet I'll be thankful for that!)

Friday I sat down and plowed through my to do list. And then I decided to just go ahead and finish a paper.  Which meant I got to check something off Saturday's to do list.  Pretty soon all of Saturday's to do list was crossed off.  And about 6PM, I realized it was still Friday, not Saturday.  Which meant Saturday was a day with nothing to do.  Except fun stuff.

I knocked out my run early and decided to push the swim off until today.  I'm adverse to swimming in the ocean when it's not bright and sunny out.  Which means today I'll swim in the pool because the sky is still kind of junk.

But I did pack up the dogs and head to Lanikai.  The goal of the day...wear Moose out.  The Lanikai Loop trail delivered as it usually does it.  And of course he got to swim and play with his sister- by-another-mother-though-born-on-the-same-date named Bella. (They don't have the same father, but they are both labs and were born on the exact same date).  I don't think of Moose as being big yet, until I see him next to other dogs.  He's bigger than Bella and almost as big as her big brother Jake.  He is bigger than Springer, but when I look at them separately he just doesn't look that big.

Moose was sufficiently tired and Springer was too.  Springer doesn't hike very much now, but all the attention she gets at friends' houses wears her out because she won't sleep if there's a chance someone will pet her.

On the second day of Thanksgiving I'm thankful for tired puppies. Moose let me sleep until 7:30 AM.  And for that I am THANKFUL!   And then he didn't make a peep until I got up.  After a walk and a quick bath he went back to sleep.  But not until he managed to dry off on the couch.  Today is MAJOR house cleaning day.  My eye problems have come down to just allergies.  I'm 90% sure it was the vog, but since I've never had problems before, it might also be Moose.  My eyes started to get really bad right about the time Moose's coat changed from super soft puppy fluff to thick waterproof labrador coat. There's no way I'm giving up Moose, so I guess I'll have to vacuum  more.  And get leather furniture.  Which, with a dog who loves water and the couch as much as Moose does, was already in the plan.

Nice photo bomb Moose.

Where Did A Month Go?

Or more than a month?  I've started many posts and then realized they are pointless dribble.  And that I had too many other things to do before I had time to organize dribble into something interesting and maybe even slightly humorous.  Like finish this masters in international relations.  A masters that, if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't have started.  But when you're 4-5 credits and a comprehensive exam away from being done, you might as well keep going right?

When I had to withdraw from a class a couple months ago (due to an eye injury that is still ongoing) I revamped my course schedule and took two classes back to back (which means in December I will be 100% done with my coursework for this degree I don't even want!!!).  I started the first class at the same time as I was starting my fellowship at the State of Hawai's Healthcare Transformation Office.  And the next week I started the second class at the same time I was starting a job at the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Which until just now I thought was the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. I really almost threw in the towel then.  But instead I threw away the training schedule and decided that short 30 minute runs at 4:30 AM were better than nothing or spending all morning trying to figure out how to get to the pool, and then realizing it was impossible and stressing over a missed workout (or eight).  Not that I could really do much but run in the dark anyway.  Thanks to the eye injury. Then I finished the classes, completed the final paper for one class and got really excited about the final papers for the other class.

I spent over 12 hours at either the ER, the ophthalmologist, allergist, and pharmacy in the last 36 hours. I spent a lot of time mentally putting together three different five page papers.  And then I got all excited because I could tie all three papers together into one paper. WARNING: THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH IS ALL GEEKY ECONOMICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MUMBO JUMBO. I'd write a 15 page paper explaining how the black market was the second largest economy in the world and how that was caused by globalization and how globalization caused the global financial crisis and how the global financial crisis caused the world's black market to grow.  And how protectionist policies played into all that.  It was going to be genius of a paper.  I decided to sit down and outline it tonight.

Then I thought about how much work it would be.  For a grade that is so small in the grand scheme of things.  That if I spent 15-20 hours writing this paper, instead of the five hours it would take me to write three separate five page papers, I would ultimately end up with the exact same grade in the course.  And I wouldn't be one bit smarter (because most of  my excitement was that I could write it all from what I've learned from either my masters in economics or IR and no more research was needed).  So I wrote this blog instead.

And then I will write two more pages on China's black market and submit the first of my five page papers.  Without proofreading or editing.  And I will still graduate next semester.  And probably with the exact same GPA if I spent all my free time in the next week writing this amazing 15 page paper.  Not that anyone will ever see my transcript from University of Oklahoma anyway.  But I might get more than 20 miles of running in this week.  Or more playing with this guy.  Who apparently doesn't like University of Oklahoma anyway.

And for those of you who think this blog is becoming a blog about Moose, here's a video of Springer. Playing with Moose. 

I promise I'll be back soon with better stories of how I'm spending my time.  And that more than a month won't have passed before I am.  Unless this eye injury doesn't go away soon.  But even if it doesn't, I got these really cool shades that I can wear to hide my extremely light sensitive eyes from the sun so at least I can run in the daylight now.  I might even try to bike in them.