I'm Baaaaak!

Wow! been gone from here for a while. Lot's of stuff been going on.
The Title of this whole Blog is "Random Thoughts from a Baby Boomer" and Ive been thinking about things from that viewpoint for a while now.
I'm now 63 years old and have had a fairly eventful but normal life up to this point. Planning on a bit more for sure!

As you may know by reading previous posts, I'm in the process of dealing with Prostate Cancer.
Until it entered my universe, I had little knowledge about it. As it turns out, it's pretty prevalent in men my age. It's been said the "more men, at age 80, will die WITH Prostate Cancer than from it". I guess my lack of knowledge was mainly due to the "threat potential" (or lack of it in my mind) of the disease. That is not to say that PC is not a threat, it is and can kill you though a process called metastasis. The Cancer can spread from the prostate, via the lymphatic system, to other parts of your body like the bones or brain. Part of the "staging"process in the cancer treatment cycle is to determine if it has gone extra-capsular. (moved out of the actual prostate gland) There is a term "clear margins" that applies to the post operation biopsy of tissue removed during the operation.
There were a number of post operation procedures on the table. Primary was anti-androgen treatment with a hormone suppressor called Leupride. Its job is to suppress the hormone Testosterone which is thought to "feed"the cancer. The regimen is one year on Leupride with shots given every three months. I'm on # 3 now. We started before the operation.
There are a number of potential side effects of Leupride; Impotense, weight gain, muscle loss, something called gynocomastia (man tits) and loss of libido or sex drive.
I've not experienced all of them but some are a bit of a bother. The loss of libido and impotence sort of go together. Wouldn't do much good to have a strong libido and and nothing to work with. LOL Oh! another one is HOT FLASHES! Boy, those are interesting. Out of the clear blue you start to sweat. I bit annoying sometimes. Thankfully, those have subsided.
On the up side, the PSA (prostate specific antigen, a marker for this type of cancer) is down to almost undetectable with normal blood testing. The idea is to have it stay in that range AFTER the Leupron has been withdrawn and has vacated my body. If so, Cancer Free! WOOT! time will tell.
Another of the recommended treatments on the table was pelvic radiation. A course of one treatment a day, five days a week for seven weeks. "Just to be sure" I opted to do the Leupron thing and see how that goes. I'm not big on radiation. Too many additional side effects and risks for my tastes.

One of the side effects that does bug me is the weight gain (about 20 lbs) and the loss of strength. In combination, it does impact my day. I got locked out of a house I was inspecting the other day and had to climb over a back fence to get back in because the Realtor had left and wasn't expected back for an hour or so. (the house was vacant) Oh Great! Now I have to sit here doing nothing for an hour or more! Then I remembered that the door to the back yard was open. I proceeded to TRY to climb the fence. It was comical. I'm not a little guy at 6 foot 2 inches and 260 pounds. Trying to get that over a 5 foot high iron gate was a struggle. I would have normally just grabbed the top and hoisted myself up and swung over. Not this time. I tried but couldn't even pull my self up far enough to swing a leg over the adjacent and lower block wall! I started laughing and that didn't help at all. I finally made it over and finished the inspection by the time everyone got back. Ahhh Well. This will pass.
Later All

Update on "the big C"

Hi again,

It's now October 2 and I thought I should update this situation.
Last time (see previous blog) in March, I said that I had been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer.
The next step in the process is called "staging" to determine the extent of the cancer. This involved many, many tests. I've had MRI's, CAT scans, Ultrasounds, blood tests (seems like dozens) EKG and the infamous DRE. (digital rectal exam)
I thought they would never stop poking and prodding me through every orifice they could find!
The bottom line, yeah, I have cancer and it needed to be operated on to remove my prostate.
I had mentioned about the Di Vince Robotic operation but that was not an option since my HMO didn't have that available and my urologist was not trained in it's use. We went the old fashioned way, big incision down my belly.

Attractive isn't it? Much better now but still ugly

It was scheduled for August 3rd and I was in the hospital for 4 days, pretty much out of it on Morphine drip. At first, even with the morphine, it felt like someone was twisting a hot knife in my guts when I coughed. That gradually abated. Took some Vikadin for about a week or so then stopped that too. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. I also got to wear a catheter for three weeks and diapers or pads after they took that out until I regained control. That was a major PITA!

I have been on a hormone therapy called Lupron that suppresses the production of testosterone, which apparently feeds the cancer, since two months before the operation. Each shot lasts three months. I got another one two weeks ago. This treatment totally suppresses your libido and I have been getting hot flashes as a side effect. Great fun.

More Joy! I've just been to see the radiation oncologist and he feels that a course of radiation is called for since there was some residual cancer in the surrounding area per the post-op pathology report. He recommends the Lupron for at least a year along with a 7-1/2 week course of radiation. Once a day, five days a week. That should be great fun. Talk about disruptive of your life schedule! Actually, I'm lucky in that I'm partially retired and only work in the afternoons so it shouldn't be too bad.

Stay Tuned
Dana

The Big "C"

Yep, I've been told that I have the "Big C". Diagnosed with prostate cancer in January.
Not great news but imminently survivable. Most men that reach age 80 will die with prostate cancer but not from it. It's that prevalent in our Western society.

I've been going through the "clinical staging" process for the last two months. Bone scans, MRI's, biopsies etc. So far, no spread, so due to my age (I'm 62) surgery is indicated. The down side of the surgery is a very low potential for incontinence and impotence if the surgeon can't spare the nerve bundles that control those things. Not good!

I'm looking into the new procedure called "Davinci Robotic Surgery". I've seen some video of it and it's pretty cool. Being a "techie", it really seems the way to go. A lot less time in the hospital and much faster recovery. No work, no eat! I'll be down for four weeks at least if everything goes well. Need to build up the war chest a bit for that much time off.

Rather than cut you open from navel to nuts, the robotic method works through 5 small incisions in the abdomen with robotically controlled tools and manipulators. the tools and manipulators are actually able to do things the surgeon cannot do due to a better range of motion. Plus, the whole thing is done under magnification so the surgeon can see much better and be much more precise.

I'm waiting to see my Urologist now to discuss the options and timing. I'll keep you posted.
Dana

Getting "Hooked Up"

In my last post, I told of the move to a new home. As any of you that have done so recently knows, getting all the places notified of you new address can be a pain.

One of the benefits of being a "techie" and virtually living on the Internet is that this part went rather smoothly. I use a password manager to keep track of all the places I visit and/or do business on the Web. It's called "Roboform" and it's a huge time saver. It can be found at http://www.roboform.com/ Check it out. One of the features is the ability to set up a profile that will "auto fill" forms for you with all the proper information. It is password protected. I simply marched through the many "passcards" I had for all the various sites. Click on a passcard and the browser goes to the site's login page and RoboForm logs you in. Then I just went to each profile or "My account" section and used the saved profile to change all my info to the new address etc. I handled the changes on over 150 sites in about two hours.

The next hurdle was getting my DSL transferred to the new location. Whoa! Big Shock! I had been paying for and getting 2+MBs speed at my old location. Sweet! But that was not to be at the new digs. Because of the increased distance from the Central Office (CO) I could only get about 700 KBs down. Only 1/3 of my previous speed. Oh Well! It works okay for now. Nothing I can do about it anyway but hope for a "booster" station somewhere in the future. I use satellite for my TV so no high-speed cable access. I've been on DSL since 1999.
The transition did not go smoothly. The were supposed to kill the service at my old location and start it at the new place the next morning. No such luck. It finally took an on-site call from AT&T tech and a new dedicated line to my computer room to get it going.

My business depends on the Net, it's where I get my work. I planned for such outages and have a high speed data plan (SprintPCS) and Ev-DO card for my tablet computer. I had to run on that for four days till AT&T got it together. It was well worth the $60 a month that costs me.

I remember not all that long ago when I ran a company with 8 crews in the field, no cell phones and only pagers for contact. Seems so primitive now. He He !

Later, Dana

I'm Still Here! (damn)

It's been a while since I've posted here. Lots going on. Last time I talked of getting out of LA. It almost happened! A certain "health" challange cropped up that requires I stay a little longer. This is where my doctors are located and it wouldn't be all that convienent to commute from the SLO area for appointments and treatment. Oh Well, this too will pass.

I did manage to get out of the one-bedroom dump I was living in. My new wife came complete with three dogs and a cat. That was a bit much for the space so we found bigger "digs".

Looking for a rental here in LA is no fun. The ads depict a palace but most turn out to be suitable for raising farm animals. And they still want a crap load of money for them. The landlords out and out lie in the ads. Things like saying there is a garage when all there is, is a metal frame and a canvas tarp. One place advertised "four car garage parking" Guess what? A falling down lean-too with plywood leaning against the front for doors, holes in the roof and many posts holding up the collapsing roof timbers blocking access to anything but a bicycle is not four car garage parking by any stretch of anyone's imagination. Sheesh! What balls some people have.

Well....we lucked out and found a great place at last. The landlord had been raised in the house. They then completely remodeled it for their son. New plumbing, electrical, HVAC, custom paint, crown moldings, refinished hardwood floors throughout and a complete new kitchen with new appliances. Even a new washer and dryer in the garage. Nice detached two-car garage (the real deal) and a huge fenced back yard for the dogs. They are in heaven.

We are still in the process of moving the last things in. We overlapped the rent for a month so we had time to do it right without a huge one weekend thrash. Smart move. You do get a little smarter as you get older. Last thing to do is my garage. Bringing the last things over this weekend.

TTFN, Dana

I'm Tired of LA!

I'm tired of Los Angeles! I'm burnt out on the traffic and the very expensive rents for crappy housing.
My rent is fairly low at $895 but that only gets me a very old one-bedroom duplex that has not been well maintained. To move to a larger, newer place with more modern amenities would cost $2000 per month or more plus several thousands for the "deposits".
The basic things like electrical supply and plumbing are very old and worn out. It can take a half hour to fill a bathtub because the water pipes are clogged up. I cannot run my computer and my wall A/C at the same time because the electrical service was installed by Thomas Edison himself! Only 30 amps of service for the whole place. It seems that every outlet in this four room unit is on the same breaker. One hot days, the breaker trips every half hour or so. I put a UPS on the computer so this constant breaker tripping would not kill it.
It's been very hot here as many know. This space is unusable without the A/C. And the A/C works poorly when it is running.
As for the traffic! When I have a full schedule day (I'm a Home Inspector) I'm out of the house for 13+ hours a day. About half of this time is spent driving or waiting. What a waste! If I get a scheduled inspection on the West side, (only 20 miles away) it can take me two hours to get home because of the traffic. I made one trip home from there and never got out of first gear till I got within about 3 miles from home.

I am seriously looking at moving out of this area to the Central Coast area of California. It's about 220 miles north of Burbank. I've spent several weekends up there and love the area. It's the San Louis Obispo county area of Paso Robles, Atascadero, Santa Maria area. There are also very nice beach area communities of Morro Bay and several others along the coast. After all the driving I've done down here (to get nowhere effectively) driving 20-30 miles up there only takes a half hour. Big difference! The rents are reasonable, vehicle insurance is about half, gas prices are similar. Now if I can only get my inspection business going up there, I'm set!

Till the next rant..............Dana

Comments about MS Office 2007 Beta

Hello My Friends;

I recently downloaded and installed the new Microsoft Office 2007 beta. So far, the experience has been great! I put it on both my Compaq desktop 2.4 Ghz running Windows XP SP-2 and my Motion LE-1600 slate tablet (same specs except that the tablet is only 1.5 Ghz). I added OneNote 2007 to the tablet as well. I was already running OneNote 2003 on the tablet. Great application, but more on that later.

I love to run the latest and greatest so I also use the new Windows Media Player 11 “Urge” and Internet Explorer 7. So far, no serious glitches or incompatibilities discovered.

I writing this Blog using the new blogging system in Word 2007. I works very well. Compose and publish right from within Word! What could be simpler?

I really love the new “ribbon” UI in the 2007 Office products. It is very intuitive. I’ve been a Office user for years. My current version (until now) has been Office Premium 2000. It has done yeoman duties for me for many years. Nothing the MS has offered up till now has tempted me to replace it. Enter Office 2007 with a complete re-work of the UI and a lot of new features. I think it’s time to upgrade. I will buy this one when the trial expires in February, 2007.

The setup on the UI is very intuitive as I said. Being an Office user for a long time, there was almost no confusion. Everything is setup in tabs across the top of the screen. Activate the tab and the “ribbon” interface switches to a large menu ribbon along the top that is specific to that particular task. All the things you can do with a Word document are displayed and easily accessed. None of the options that do not apply are shown. Same for each application in the suite. Very Cool! This makes working with any application very easy. I read in another story, linked from Digg.com, about how MS spent a lot of time working out the UI to be immediately useable with little or no training. I think they succeeded for the most part. At least I have had no transition issues. In fact, I love it. Every day, I find a new “wow” item or feature. Just ask my wife. I’ll be playing around on the computer and utter another “wow” comment. She’ll say “What now?” It’s become somewhat of a joke around my household.

Have a Good Day

Dana

Joys of the Open Road

One of the nice things about living in Southern California is it’s proximity to a ton of great riding areas. Pacific Coast Highway, Angeles Crest Highway , the many, many canyons in the Santa Clarita Valley, out through Mojave to Highway 395 north and on up though Mammoth to the back side of Yosemite and Tioga Pass. The list is endless and varied.

The last trip I took was up the 101 Highway to the Central Coast area of San Luis Obispo, Atascadero and Paso Robles. It was about 225 miles north of Los Angeles, one way. I have long loved this area for it’s unmatched beauty and un-crowded back roads. It reminds me of the area where I grew up in the Southern Santa Clara Valley, before it went “urban”. When I was there, up until 1964 or so, it was still un-crowded and rural. Now it’s a bedroom community to Silicon Valley, full of miles and miles of rooftops of the urban sprawl. There are still some pockets of “ruralness” here and there but not like it was. But then, what is now days?

Back in the day, I rode a collection of beater motorcycles, often as my only mode of transportation. I covered about every inch of the back roads of the south county area . All the foothills had rural back roads leading to nowhere. But, often that was the point! For a true motorcycle rider, it’s about the ride, not the destination. I remember a trip a couple of years ago up to Grass Valley, CA via Highway 49 along the western foothills of the Sierras and then back down 395 to La La land. All the way down 395, I kept seeing these little two lane roads disappearing up into the foothills to the west of the highway. It was all I could do to not turn up those roads just to see what the ride would be like. It’s a wonder I ever made it back home.

It’s summer time here in L A now. Riding in this very hot weather is no joy. It’s time to “get out of Dodge” once again. I’ve discovered a fantastic website called www.pashnit.com who’s author is even more of a touring junky then I am. He has put together a wonderful site that details literally hundreds of rides and routes throughout California. Check out this site, you won’t be disappointed if you are a rider. He has now started leading guided tours through some of the most beautiful areas of the state. I may just have to sign up for one.

After all the many and varied “beater” bikes I have owned, I have finally risen to the top of the food chain. I ride a world class touring bike called a Honda Goldwing . This machine is the epitome of comfort and luxury. It’s got everything but doors. I’ve mounted satellite radio, GPS navigation via a PocketPC and a helmet system with it’s own speakers and intercom. This baby is design for just the type of trip I like. Luckily, my new (est) wife loves to ride as well. It’s a good thing or she might not see much of me on my days off! I may have to add trailer towing capability to the “Wing” to handle the extras that need to come along when she travels with me. She only has two feet, why so many shoes?

Here’s a couple of links to touring groups I belong to: http://www.gwrra.org/
http://www.gwta.org/ If any of you are in the southern California area and want to talk bikes, touring or riding in general or get together for a ride, drop me a line at d.bostick(at)Gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.

 

 

Opening Shots!

Here we go! Just had the idea to post a few thoughts from the viewpoint of a "late blooming" Baby Boomer Geek.

I have always been a SiFi fan and interested in technology. I began reading SiFi novels by the old masters like Heinlein, Pohl, Hubbard etc. in my early teens or before. Not only was it "escapist" but predictive. I couldn't wait for the things these visionaries spoke of in their writings. I've been delighted with the progress and frustrated with the poor implementation or lack of developement of others.

I've been "riding two horses" for most of my working life. While I WAS a Geek at heart, I couldn't seem to make it pay. I tried several times. My fallback was my not unsubstantial talents with my hands. I've been in the construction trades for over 30 years and am still a general Contractor in California where I live. I've been a factory trained auto mechanic for 12 years, a chicken farmer, telemarketer, business owner, ex-Navy & Viet Nam Vet and motorcycle rider. I currently own my own Property Inspection business. This is only a "short list", I've been around the track more than one time to say the least.

Where am I today? Older, somewhat wiser and no richer, sad to say. Not to say I didn't enjoy the trip. I very much did and am still enjoying it.
Having been self employed for most of the time and easily bored, I never generated any sort of retirement plan. Now at 61, I face the prospect of working many more years trying to put something in place. No regrets, just deal with it.

Having said all that, I will return to my first love. Beeing a Geek! Conveniently, Geeks are "cool" now days.