it seems like yesterday that we were welcoming 2015 and now we're saying goodbye. 2015 was one of the worst years of my life. i was prepared to say it was the worst but upon reflection, i had no interaction with the police and didn't die, so things could have been worse.
i'm big on new year's resolutions and 2015 was a spectacular success. on january 1 2014 my resolution was to regain a little of my youth through push ups. i started at ten and it hurt like crazy but i had this insane idea that if i kept pushing myself, the body would heal itself and life would be good. well, somewhere in the low twenties my shoulder blew up and that was the end of the push ups but i really, really hate to lose and i wasn't about to let some fucking push ups get the best of me. i resolved to win the battle in 2015.
around mid november 2014 i did one push up and continued to do one push up per day for a few weeks and then graduated to two push ups per day. i kept adding one push up every few weeks until i hit twenty in august. twenty was a struggle so i slowed down the rate of increase and now sit at twenty four. on a good day the first ten are like floating on air. the best part is there were no set backs with the slow increase and that made every day a success! it took me sixty years to learn this lesson; a series of small victories is better than a few large victories intermingled with a few failures. i can say with 100% certainty that a sixty year old body is seriously lacking regenerative powers. somewhere around fifty five it went to shit.
now it's time to settle on a resolution for 2016. i've been retired for 4 months and haven't straightened out the pension and finances so that might be a resolution. i could write a book on my pension fuck ups over the past few months but i don't like to dwell on failure and the pension has been a giant failure so far. maybe i'll teach rip some basic mathematics.
yesterday marked six months since my buddy committed suicide. most suicidal people are lonely and commonly believe "they'll miss me when i'm gone." i had the task of calling his former co-workers and friends to break the sad news and almost no one said, "what a shame, he was such a nice guy." the common reaction was, "what a selfish prick." maybe not those exact words but almost everyone was angry at him for taking the easy way out and most people said "this must be hard on you." fuck, it wasn't hard on me. one fucking idiot even suggested that i see a grief counselor.
i hope everyone has an excellent and prosperous 2016. i'm looking forward to the world cup.
i love you sons of bitches.
14 comments:
it can't be any worse...16 over 15...??? or maybe not.
Congratulations on the push-ups - 24 is a good number given that you initially struggled with 10. I believe the next soccer World Cup will be held in 2018, but there's no harm in looking forward to it now. :)
It wuz damn sure an interesting year. Fort Worthless sur iz a rat race, interesting though.
js - it's a crap shoot, things could get really crappy the giant el nino and the global financial house of cards.
gb - thanks for reminding me about 2018. 2016 is the world cup of hockey so i must have been daydreaming when all the hockey world cup commercials came on and my feeble old brain immediately thought soccer.
king - you had a very challenging 2015 and met the challenge head on, my hat is off to you sir.
I thought 2015 was "small" nothing great or horrible. Got a good stab on some of my goals I made last year, and believe I will keep stabbing at them though out 2016.
Coffee is on
“my shoulder blew up”
I hope you don’t mean a rotator cuff tear. I’ve had three shoulder surgeries (two for such tears) and they were all nightmares, but if your problem persists, and you don’t have it looked into, it could get to the point where it can’t be repaired.
dora - my goal for 2016 is "no bad days". i bought a tshirt with some cool lizards that say no bad days so i'll ride with that.
snow - i've had the shoulder problem for 40 years and consider it unfixable. my latest injury is a ruptured bursa on the right knee. you don't realize how much stuff is done on your knees until they break. it's the perfect injury, it looked horrendous but didn't hurt too bad. it's the knee with synovial fluid problems and scare tissue so the doctor didn't want to drain the blood. i might have to get an injection for the scare tissue in a few weeks when things settle down.
"i've been retired for 4 months and haven't straightened out the pension and finances so that might be a resolution. i could write a book on my pension fuck ups over the past few months but i don't like to dwell on failure and the pension has been a giant failure so far."
Hell, I'm still using my Washington drivers licence, and pissed away a couple thousand dollars last on stupid decisions, but hey, we keep chugging along.
What does "synovial fluid problems" mean? that My left knee bursa has bothered me since 1985. Peggy used to drain it, but the fluid would be back within hours, and since the risk of inflection is high around synovial fluid (and such an infection would prevent one from ever having a knee replacement), she stopped doing it. I had one surgery to “clean up” the joint, only to later learn that such surgeries are scientifically viewed as worthless except for the enrichment of surgeons. The doctor told me during the surgery that if he was me, he would never hike again (something I had loved to do), and I haven’t. It was hell to get used to that, but I’m since faced far worse from my back and shoulders. Now, I’ve gained from 160 to 172, and the bursa stays so swollen that I can’t even walk around the neighborhood most days, so it’s a case of either lose weight or get a new knee. I used to imagine that surgeries were an easy fix, but I’ve had enough by now that I avoid them as much I reasonably can.
“i might have to get an injection for the scare tissue in a few weeks when things settle down.”
Assuming the root of your knee problem is arthritis as opposed to a current injury, hyaluronan injections might also be an option.What does "synovial fluid problems" mean--that My left knee bursa has bothered me since 1985. Peggy used to drain it, but the fluid would be back within hours. I had one surgery to “clean up” the joint, only to later learn that such surgeries are scientifically viewed as worthless except for the enrichment of surgeons. The doctor told me during the surgery that if he was me, he would never hike again (something I had loved to do), and I haven’t. It was hell to get used to that, but I’m since faced far worse from my back and shoulders. Now, I’ve gained from 160 to 172, and the bursa stays so swollen that I can’t even walk around the neighborhood most days, so it’s a case of either lose weight or get a new knee.
the doctor told me that "the fluid pumps" for my knee weren't working up to snuff so i needed to work the knee hard to get the fluid going. it all made sense because several years earlier i went back to karate and was worried about my knee but surprise, surprise. the knee never felt better. when the knee gets sore now i go for a real hard walk and pound the shit out of it resulting in a very sore knee for several hours but after a while it feels very good.
you got we laughing when you mentioned weight. several years ago i was diagnosed with the beginnings of osteoporosis in my lower spine and had to go on the fosovance and weight bearing exercises. the osteo doctor told me to put weight on for my bone strength but the doctor treating my knees keeps telling me to keep the weight down. one doctor says put on weight and the other says keep thin.
my current family doctor is from india and he's a real cool dude with different perspectives on health. he tells me to avoid surgery like the plague. right now the chilblains on my feet is acting up from walking rip in the cold so i'm sitting with a heating pad on my feet. i had to go 3 different doctors before getting the chilblains properly diagnosed.
and these are just my secondary health issues. but you play the hand your dealt and never let them see you sweat.
Hey Billy - Happy New Year! Excuse my comment absence... 2015 sucked for me. I'm trying to catch up with blog pals. Losing a friend to suicide is painful... you might question but still feel love for that person. If not, you weren't a friend at all. Sounds like the real pricks were those you contacted. Sounds like they don't know how to cherish a life, including their own. Be well, friend.
dixie - i be well. just bought 2 boxes of reese's peanut clusters so i'm happy as a clam.
eat candy and be merry for tomorrow we may die.
Hello Billy,
Very inspiring post. I am glad you could achieve your resolutions. This is something fantastic. I make resolutions but so far I have not been successful. I think I have a weak mind and perhaps lazy. This year I want to read as many books as possible and learn the key board. I would like to see where I have reached after three months.
I am sorry to read about your friend. I wish someone was with him when he decided to commit suicide because he could have been easily persuaded not to kill himself. It is only a momentary weakness and if there was someone to help him overcome this weakness he would be living today.
Wish you all success and happiness in the new year
thank you joseph, you're a true gentleman and probably the only person who makes me feel a wee bit of guilt for my occasional profanity.
happy new year
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