Sunday, March 29, 2009

Went flying today...

Got a chance to go flying today - off my bike and into a small grove of trees at about 10mph.



The stupid rider who blindsided me going the WRONG way up a race trail had the nuts to ask me,

"Where's your helmet?"

as I lay crumpled in the gravel.

I couldn't rise to my feet fast enough to punch him in the face. In fact, rising to my feet was quite a task in itself, and I had to limp around a bit leaning on the bike before I felt brave enough to ride again.

The funnest part about crashing on a bike is not knowing EXACTLY what you've injured for a few minutes. You usually spot some blood on your hand or maybe something is in your eye (a skin avulsion) and you have to do a body/bike check before moving on. This time, I was lucky. I narrowly avoided tearing my face off in the bark of a small oak, but ripped up my right knee and right forearm on some ugly rocks.



As I half stumbled/half rode away, the rider managed to come back around and almost knock me over again!

I made some comment about, "I keep running into you" but was in too much pain to do anything but keep moving forward. I don't know what the dude's problem was, but I managed to run into him AGAIN as I crested a small hill to allow my blood to cool off in the stiff Southern wind. At this point, I sank into Delta Wave mode and just watched as he went by - ready to tear something off him (like an eye or nose) if he got too close.



Adding to the joy was a 4 mile ride home, with some ugly black abrasions down my knee reminding me that I was hurt and needed to do some wound management. As I swept into my neighborhood roads, I was almost hit from behind by a woman driving a small Hyundai.

*sigh*

The pain set in as I rode into my garage and managed to clean up the bike of dirt and blood for a few minutes with an old t-shirt. Spent some time scrubbing off my arm and leg wounds with isopropyl alcohol and soap. The word "burn" does not sufficiently express the pain I felt while doing this.

Anyway, nothing a rum and Advil cocktail can't fix.

: )

Monday, March 23, 2009

Heavy Metal Histogram

I've always wondered about 'ol Ronnie James Dio's crazy song lyrics. In fact, I've often suspected the average Dio song could not be written without the words "rainbow", "dragon", or "night" occurring at least once. Perl line. Well, here's a fun histogram of some Dio songs to get an idea of what words the Metal Master likes to use:


cat dio.txt | tr '[a-z]' '[A-Z]' | tr '\t' ' ' | tr ' ' '\n' | sed '/^$/d' | sort -d | uniq -c | sort -nr


I am using "Diamonds - The Best of Dio", which is a collection of the more popular Dio songs, as the sample set:




216 THE
103 YOU
58 IN
50 WE
50 AND
47 A
42 TO
37 OF
33 DON'T
32 BUT
29 FOR
28 THEY
25 YOUR
25 CAN
24 IT
23 ON
23 EVIL
22 THAT
21 NEVER
20 WE'RE
20 DREAM
19 SEE
18 YOU'RE
18 ROCK
18 JUST
18 IT'S
17 ROCK,
15 UP
15 RAINBOW
15 HIDE
14 NO
13 THERE'S
13 ONE
13 BE
12 YOU'VE
12 I
12 AWAY
11 ONLY
11 OH
11 KNOW
11 IS
11 FEEL
10 SO
10 LIKE
10 HEAVEN
10 ARE
9 THEY'RE
9 NIGHT
9 LOCK
9 LET
9 LAST
9 HEART
9 AT
9 ALL
8 YOU'LL
8 OUT
8 ME
8 LINE
8 LIGHT
8 I'M
8 GOT
8 FIND
8 DOWN
8 DARK
8 COME
8 ALWAYS
7 WITHOUT
7 WE'LL
7 WAS
7 SCREAMING
7 SAIL
7 OVER
7 MAKE
7 LOOK
7 IF
7 HUNGRY
7 HOLY
7 GO
7 DOOR
7 DO
7 CHILDREN
7 'CAUSE
6 WORLD
6 WOLVES
6 TIME
6 THINGS
6 SACRED
6 RUN
6 ROLL
6 RIDE
6 OR
6 OOH
6 MIND
6 MIDNIGHT
6 MAY
6 MAGIC
6 GET
6 FLY
6 FIRE
6 DIVER
6 COMING
6 CAUSE
6 'N'
5 YEAH
5 WITH
5 WILL
5 WILD
5 WHEN
5 WAY
5 TURN
5 THAT'S
5 TALK
5 SING
5 REALLY
5 MORNING
5 LEFT
5 HE'S
5 GONNA
5 CARRY
5 CALLING
5 BEFORE
5 BEEN
4 WERE
4 WANT
4 TOO
4 THROUGH
4 THEY'LL
4 THERE
4 THEM
4 TAKE
4 SUN
4 STRANGERS
4 STILL
4 SOMEWHERE
4 REAL
4 PAIN
4 NOW
4 LOST
4 LEAVE
4 INTO
4 INSIDE
4 HERE
4 FIRST
4 EYES
4 CORNER
4 BACK
4 ALONE
3 YOURSELF
3 YEAH!
3 WORTH
3 WORDS
3 WOLVES,
3 WHAT
3 UPON
3 TWO
3 TRUTH
3 TIGER
3 THEY'D
3 THEN
3 STEEL
3 STARTING
3 SPELL
3 SOUL
3 SONG,
3 SOMEBODY
3 SIGN
3 SHOULD
3 SEA
3 SAY
3 SANCTUARY
3 RUNNING
3 RUN,
3 RIGHT
3 REACH
3 OWN
3 OPENS
3 OOOH
3 ON,
3 OH,
3 NEED
3 MEAN
3 LIES
3 LIAR
3 HOUR
3 HOME
3 HOLD
3 HIS
3 HELL
3 HEAR
3 HAND
3 GROUND
3 GOTTA
3 GOES
3 FREE
3 FOUND
3 FOREVER
3 FALL
3 DIVINE
3 DARKNESS
3 DANCING
3 CRADLE
3 CRACK
3 COULD
3 COLD
3 CLOUD
3 CAT
3 CAN'T
3 BRING
3 BLEEDING
3 BLACK
3 BEHIND
3 ANOTHER
3 AN
3 AGAIN
3 'EM
2 YOUNG
2 YEAH,
2 WRITE
2 WON'T
2 WOMEN
2 WIZARD
2 WITCH
2 WHO'S
2 WHEREVER
2 WHERE
2 WHENEVER
2 WHEEL
2 WHAT'S
2 WATCH
2 WARM
2 WALL
2 VISION
2 UNDERSTAND
2 TRACES
2 TOSS
2 TOMORROW
2 THROW
2 THINK
2 THEIR
2 STRIPES
2 STARS
2 STARLIGHT
2 STAR
2 SONG
2 SOMETIMES
2 SOMEONE
2 SOME
2 SNOW
2 SLAMMED
2 SKY
2 SIGHT
2 SHOUT
2 SEEN
2 SEEMS
2 SEEM
2 SEE,
2 SAD
2 RETURNED
2 RELEASE
2 RAINBOWS
2 RAIN
2 PRAY
2 PLACES
2 PENETRATE
2 OUT!
2 OPEN
2 ONES
2 OFF
2 NOTHING'S
2 NEVER,
2 ME,
2 MAN'S
2 LONG
2 LITTLE
2 LIGHTNING
2 LIFETIME
2 LIE
2 LEARNING!
2 KILLING
2 KEY
2 I'VE
2 HOW
2 HOLE
2 HE
2 HAPPEN
2 GETTING
2 FROM
2 FRIEND
2 FOLLOW
2 FEAR
2 FACES
2 EYES...
2 EVER
2 EDGE
2 DOES
2 DEAD
2 DAY
2 DANGER
2 DANCE
2 CROSS
2 CRAWL
2 COLDER
2 CLEAN
2 CEILING
2 CAUGHT
2 CARPET
2 BUSHES
2 BURN
2 BORN
2 BLINDING
2 BETWEEN
2 BEST
2 BEND
2 BECOMING
2 BEAST
2 AWAY,
2 AROUND
2 ANYWAY
2 ANSWER
2 ANGEL
2 ALONG
2 AIR
2 ABOUT
2 ...
1 YOU,
1 YOU'D
1 YES!
1 YEAR
1 WRITES
1 WONDER
1 WISH
1 WINTER
1 WHY
1 WELL
1 WAITING
1 VOICES
1 VELVET
1 TURNS
1 TURNING
1 TRIED
1 TREASURE
1 TRAIN
1 TOUCHED
1 TOUCH
1 TOOTH
1 TODAY
1 TILL
1 THUNDER
1 THROWN
1 THRILL
1 THOSE
1 THIS
1 THAT)
1 TERRIBLE
1 TEAR
1 SURVIVE
1 SURRENDER
1 SURE
1 SUNLIGHT
1 STUMBLE
1 STRANGER
1 STORM
1 STONE
1 STARING
1 STAND
1 SPIRIT
1 SPEAK
1 SPARKLE
1 SOUND
1 SORROW
1 SOON
1 SOMETHINGS
1 SOMETHING
1 SMOKE
1 SMELL
1 SLIPS
1 SLEEP
1 SKIES
1 SHOULDER
1 SHIP
1 SHINY
1 SHINE
1 SHE
1 SHADOWS
1 SEARCH
1 SCREAMED
1 SAME
1 SAID
1 SAFE
1 RUNNER
1 RUMBLING
1 ROCK!
1 ROAD
1 RISING
1 RHYME
1 READY
1 RAN
1 RACE
1 QUICKLY
1 QUICK
1 PUREST
1 PROTECT
1 PROMISE
1 PRETTY
1 PRETEND
1 PRAISE
1 POINTING
1 PLEASURE
1 PLAY
1 PICTURE
1 PARADISE
1 PAPER
1 PAGES
1 OUR
1 OTHER
1 OLDER
1 OLD
1 NOWHERE
1 NOT
1 NOBODY
1 NO,
1 NIGHT-TIME
1 NEEDS,
1 NEARLY
1 NAME
1 MYSTIC
1 MYSTERY
1 MY
1 MOVES
1 MORE
1 MOON
1 MMMMH
1 MIND,
1 MIDNIGHT,
1 MIDDLE
1 MEANT
1 MATTER
1 MASTER
1 MASQUERADE
1 MANY
1 MAN
1 MAKES
1 MADE
1 LUCKY
1 LOSE
1 LOOKING
1 LISTEN
1 LIGHTS,
1 LIGHT,
1 LIFE'S
1 LETS
1 LAUGH
1 LATE
1 LASTS
1 KNOW,
1 KITCHEN
1 KILL
1 JUMP
1 INSANE
1 IMITATION
1 IMAGE
1 I,
1 I'LL
1 HOUSES
1 HOT
1 HOPE
1 HOLDING
1 HEY
1 HERE,
1 HELL,
1 HARM
1 HARD
1 HALL
1 GUESS
1 GOODBYE
1 GOOD
1 GO!
1 GLASS
1 GIVING
1 GIVE
1 FRONT
1 FLOWERS
1 FIN
1 FIGHT
1 FAIR
1 EVEN
1 ENDING
1 EMOTION
1 EAST
1 EACH
1 DRUG
1 DRIVE
1 DREAMS
1 DREAMER
1 DRAGON
1 DOORWAYS
1 DONE
1 DIFFERENT
1 DIES
1 DIE
1 DIAMONDS
1 DEVIL
1 DEMONS
1 DECIDED
1 DARKNESS,
1 DANCER
1 CRY
1 CROWN
1 CRIED
1 COMES
1 CLOSE
1 CITY
1 CHOICES
1 CHILD
1 CHASING
1 CHASE
1 CHANGES
1 CHANGE
1 CANNOT
1 CALL
1 BROKE
1 BRINGS
1 BREATH
1 BRAIN
1 BLUE
1 BLACK'S
1 BEWARE
1 BELIEVE
1 BEGINS
1 BECOMES
1 BARGAIN
1 BAD
1 AWAY-GET
1 AWAY!
1 ATTACK
1 AS
1 ANYONE
1 ANYMORE
1 ANY
1 ANGER,
1 AM
1 ALL'S
1 AH
1 AFRAID
1 'TILL
1 'ROUND

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Fun with blood pressure!

Now that I am back in the fray, I spent some time at a top-notch dentist.

Background: The only thing NOT broken on me is my teeth. The occasional cavity or plaque is about as exciting as it gets in almost 4 decades.

So aside from having to remove my gold necklace during a panoramic X-Ray, I was a bit disturbed to find my blood pressure was some 20 points over normal for someone my age. Granted, the morning had been fast and stressy, but I was still unhappy about the mechanized readout just before the tooth cleaning. As the hygenist scraped away, I mulled what yet another high BP reading might mean to me.

Several months ago, I wandered in to a doctor's clinic to find out if I was healthy or whatnot. The diagnosis was a resounding, "yes", but I registered high on the blood pressure meter. I am aware of the fact that a certain anxiety exists when visiting the Doctor/Dentist/CPA, but this flew in the face of my medical history and the struggle I endured as a child/teen to keep from passing out due to low blood pressure. In many ways, I welcomed the ability to not faint from standing up too quickly at a public event, or even have a pulse that kept medical professionals from freaking out when hooking up random equipment to my body.

I still remember getting my wisdom teeth extracted and the Orthodontist proclaiming how low my blood pressure was at the time. It still didn't prevent me from almost punching him in the face under anaestheasia when he cracked one of my teeth to aid in extracting it (this is not an exaggeration).

DENTAL SUPRISE!

Regardless, today has been a harrying experience. What made matters worse was talking with my mother and father in two separte conversations about the day's developments. One suggested I should start on ACE inhibitors while the other reassured me it was a transient event and I should re-check when I was rested to get a truer reading. All this happening as I was driving home from work, so I took a chance and decided to stop by an urgent care clinic to see if they could take a BP reading with me in my current condition.

This is when things took a comical turn.

I would laugh if it wasn't for the fact that it was ME suffering from potential health problems, but I pulled into the parking lot of a local clinic and marched in to the waiting area to be seen.

The young female clerk was busy outprocessing a woman who had just had her child seen by the clinic doc, and I patiently waited (with an ugly throbbing pain near my clavicle - is that the subclavian artery?) while they finished. After a minute or so, I leaned up against the counter.

"Hi. I am feeling like shit today. My blood pressure is really high - there's a pain near my chest and I was wondering if someone might be able to take my blood pressure? Anyone who can put a cuff on me and take a reading?"

The poor girl almost fell backward in her chair in an attempt to alert the nurse on duty, but she ushered me in and I flopped down in a chair with an armrest while she fumbled with an automatic BP cuff and meter.

Now the funny part:

As I sat in the medi-chair half aware of what was going on, the young desk clerk was trying her hardest to secure the BP cuff to my forearm. Even though I had my shirtsleeve pulled up, she kept insisting on wrapping the cuff midpoint of my Ulna. I am a fairly lighthearted person, so I gently insisted that I had "seen it wrapped around the upper arm" in the movies. The poor girl embarassedly wrapped the cuff about my upper arm and set the computer to task. Within a few seconds, the entire contraption was beeping loudly and flashing the following display:

146
101

Said young woman almost knocked me over in an attempt to turn the whole thing off with the POWER button.

Even at this hour of the night, I don't know what scared me more. The fact that I had a high "situational" reading, or whether the clerk was trying to shut the machine up since it was alerting that the BP reading was NOT NORMAL.

Fortunately, I talked with the NP on the floor and she reassured me not to panic regarding the high reading and to rest a bit and come back later to get a baseline reading.

Sensible? Maybe.

Getting old sucks.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Wow - Injuries galore at 38

Big surprise!

Your body at 38 can't put up with the rigors of crazy shit like BMX wall riding.

I am recuperating after nearly paralyzing myself with some very aggresive BMX riding two weekends ago. Somewhere in the C-3 area of my spine.

Slowly but surely, I can turn my head left again without too much pain.

Getting old sucks.