Representin'

In the lingo of the hood, this past weekend, the Matthews was representin'. Allow me to explain:
Our Bible study group decided to have a weekend get together at the beach. It would be a guy's only weekend, a time for bonding, worship, fellowship and.....COMPETITION! Now you may realize that I was not at all comfortable with that last part. I'm the Un-sportsman if there ever was one! No skills, no interest. It was suggested that we bring along a few of the older boys, and this included Ian. As it turned out we had 16 people there, 12 men and 4 teenagers. Greg has a huge house at Holden Beach and we rolled in there Friday evening, just in time for a fabulous barbecue chicken dinner. Good praise and worship session after the meal: we really have a great bunch of guys.
Saturday AM we drew lots for teams: Ian and I ended up on what I felt would surely be the "losers" team. The events would be 2 men on each team run together, relay style. The second group of guys couldn't begin until BOTH of the previous guys crossed the finish line. The run was an out and back run on the beach which totalled 1-1.5 miles, per the estimate of the runners in our midst. Ian and I were the 3rd pair in our group to run. By the time our team got back to the finish line, the competition's 3rd pair was already on their way out. We were already 100 yards behind before we started. Ian was confident we could catch them however, so off we went. Before I realized what was going on, we were in a full sprint down the beach. About half way to the turn around point, we were closing in on the other team. We caught them at the 3/4 mark. Ian was saying "lets pass them" while I was more like "let's hang just behind them for a while and prevent a heart attack". That strategy paid off, because at the turn around point, the other pair slowed down even more, while we kept up a brisk jog. About 3/4 way to the finish line, I was ready to puke, but the cheers of the team provided an extra burst of strength (as intended no doubt) and we finished our leg more than a minute ahead of the other team. With that lead, our last pair of guys headed out and handily won the relay for our team. So the Matthews' leg went from 100 yards behind to more than a minute ahead: we had won this race for our team!
Next up was a 2 man kayak race. Most of the guys had little or no experience in a kayak. I sugested that Ian and I race in the last leg, as I suspected we could make up a deficit if it were needed. It really wasn't needed: we started our last leg of the race with a good lead over the other team. We were half way back from the turn around point when we passed the competition on their way out to the turn around. Several people asked us "how did you get that thing to go so straight?" Another victory for our team.
The next event was a 2.5 mile out and back bike race (on montain bikes). Once again, Ian and I easily created a huge lead over the opposing team that handed the competitors their third consecutive loss!
Next came a basketball game and a volleyball game capped off with a beach flag football game. I wanted to sit on the deck and rest after the bike race, but I wasn't allowed. Our team lost the first two ball games but won the football game and the overall sports competition. Ian was so psyched that he secretly called his mother to tell her about our sports domination. I could not have asked for a better day for us. Did I mention that Ian was not thrilled to go on this weekend in the first place? Those guys really showed him some love and I think he summed up the weekend as "awesome".
Although I wouldn't change the weekend for all the world, I don't think I have ever been this sore in my life. My quads, my shoulders, my lower back, the soles of my feet (from all that sand time). I'm too old for this!!! We have already decided we need to do this again, but I'm going to try and figure out what we can do BESIDES sports. Any ideas???

Sucked again today..

Another crappy ride today. I rode with a group of folks that I don't normally ride with. I joined the ride because it was listed as 15-17 mph. I figured that would easily fit my riding style at this point in the year (middle of winter, holiday pounds still hanging on). I had heard some talk that this group liked to occasionally pick up the pace on some rides, dropping a few people in the process: even though its advertised as a "15-17 mph", no drop ride.
I was able to hang for the first 20 miles and that was it. I knew where I was at that point, so I rode the last 10 miles solo, I took a shorter flatter route back, to finish the 30 miles with a pace of 17.3 mph. I would really like to kwow what the average of the group was at mile 20!
There is another local ride with a faster listed pace at the very same time as this ride. I just can't figure out why these guys don't just go to the faster ride to begin with??? Maybe it makes them feel better to see a dropped rider like myself come straggling in? The beauty of it all is that only 2 guys in the group new I took a different route back, and I ended up hitting the parking lot mid pack with the original riders anyhow. Boneheads!

Blizzard of '78

I have been reading with interest the news stories about the big blizzard of Jan, 26, 1978. While I remember that winter was especially cod and snowy, I don't remember that we had a "blizzard". I remember no power outages, no property damage, no school closings. But then again, maybe I just don't remember it well!! Two days later, on Jan 28th, I was off to Australia for a year as an exchange student. It was quite an adventure, as I recall. First time on a jet, first time away from home on my own (there were no chaperones: I was alone until I got to a hotel in San Francisco and met up with the rest of the students). First time in California. As cold as it was in Ohio, it was 63 degrees in San Francisco. It was even warmer in Honalulu( but it was the middle of the night). When I finally got to my final destination, Perth, I think the temperature at 10:00 at night was about 90 degrees! No wonder I don't remember a blizzard.

Inflation!

People complain a lot about the high cost of health care, and in particular the high cost of drugs. I agree that both are expensive.
In order to deliver health care to you, I am obligated to get an annual license, which runs about $400 per year, and pay about $13,000 per year for malpractice coverage. It's so affordable because : 1) Idon't deliver babies and 2) I have never been sued.
But there is a third item needed: a DEA license. This is from the DEA, and allows me to write prescriptions for narcotics. I don't think there are many new narcotics on the market since I started practice in 1990, if any: just a few reformulations and strength changes.
So every 3 years you have to check off the reapplication questions. Were you convicted of a felony? Were you involved in ilegal drug activities? Has your license to practice been revoked or sanctioned? No, no and no. Same name, same address, same license #, same categories of drugs I have been prescribing since 1990. The ONLY thing that has changed is the cost of the 3 year license.
In 1990, I paid $60. Today, I filled out the form online and printed my own certificate (both should reduce the DEA costs, right). Cost to renew my DEA today: $551. Now THAT, my friends, is inflation! And to think that Medicare thought we deserved a 10% pay reduction for 2008. Hmmmmmmm.

New Years Ramblings

Greetings to all for the New Year. May it rule for you! I wish there were a bigger gap between Christmas and New Years. I mean we pretty much have obscured the celebration of Jesus with the commercialization of His birth, but then once the last present is opened it's "hey, what are we doing for New Years?". Someone check out the possibility of moving New Years back to February 1st and get back to me.

We had a fairly low-key holiday really, hanging with some neighbors. One neighbor, Chris, is a chef and he whipped up a dinner of filet (I had to pass on that) seafood ravioli and sauteed shrimp. Then he created 3 different sauces to go with the entrees; superb! As good as any restaurant I've been too.

In our old age, it seems that staying up for the stroke of midnight gets harder. In fact, ALL of our neighbors left the party early. We then felt obligated to stick around for the big acorn drop (that's right: forget a ball dropping. Here in the City of Oaks, we have a giant acorn!) But at 12:05 or so, home we headed. I had to rest up for the 15th annual Spin Cycle New Years Day ride at 10AM. The weather was sunny and cool and this brought out about 200 riders. We laid down almost 40 miles out around Jordan Lake at a "social ride"...."winter pace"of almost 18mph. I think the regulars enjoy showing the occasionals how fast they can go. Any way, it was a good way for me to start the new year off right.

2008 will be the year of healthy choices for me. Stay tuned....

Another one gone....

I was saddened to learn yesterday of the passing of musician Dan Fogelberg. Actually, I am always bummed out when I read that someone who has made great music dies, (Bob Marley, Frank Zappa, Robert Palmer, Nicolette Larson) but this is especially tragic. Like many of us, I was drawn to his music in the 70's and then his album "The Innocent Age", in the early 80's really increased his popularity. XM played his song "Same Old Lang Syne" often on their Christmas channel "Holly". My wife asked about the song last weekend while we were doing some painting and the song came on. We talked about how we liked the song and wondered if Dan Fogelberg really DID run into an old lover in a gracery store. News accounts suggest that he did not: he said that although his music had a mellow, brooding quality to it, that was not really his personality. In fact, he said one of his best friends was Jimmy Buffet. I"m going to miss this guy. I plan to download his greatest hits from the net.

Winter is here!

OK, I know I'm not having to put up with snow, or even with freezing rain. Nevertheless, Iknow that winter is here. How do I know this? Because of the boxes of Kleenex scattered about the house for the past 2 weeks. Some of those viral bugs people bring to my office daily have gotten to me. I was down for 2 consecutive weekends, just too weak to go out and ride (or do much of anything else, for that matter).
I did finally get a ride in this AM with my neighbor, Jukka. I scanned the weather channel website just before I left: not a speck of green to be seen. A light rain started less than 1 mile into the ride. Where did that come from?? Since it was quite cold (43) and real windy, it made for some less-than-desirable riding conditions. But hey, it was still a ride!