For use when I really don’t have time to figure out to what category the post should belong.
Wordle 1,545 2/6
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It’s been a while since I’ve posted a run. The last time was on March 2nd. I had been doing quite a bit of running, with only short breaks lasting 4 or 5 days. But then, towards the end of July, my left knee acted up – again. It got so bad that I had to wear a knee brace just to be able to walk. Thankfully, I only needed the brace for one day. However, since then, both my knee caps have been aching.
Before going on about that, I have to add that I was prescribed a new statin to battle high cholesterol around the same time. I do not do well with statins. They cause severe lower back pain to the point where I can’t straighten up. I worked with my cardiologist and was taking a non-statin medication, but my new insurance company won’t pay for it. Hence, resuming a statin in July.
That brings me back to my knees hurting. My lower back is also aching. I’ve learned a couple of things about statins. One, do not take them just before bed. And two, take them with food. Now, it doesn’t eliminate the pain statins cause, but it sure as hell reduces it. So, despite taking the statin at dinner time, I still have low-grade aches and pains.
The knees have been more problematic since I committed to taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator. That means four flights of steps, sometimes five. And with my heart medications causing a need to urinate, I end up taking the steps often. The closest bathroom to my office, located on the fifth floor, is on the second floor. Most days, it results in the iPhone’s fitness app recording 30 minutes of exercise daily. So, I have been getting my exercise by taking the stairs instead of going for a run.
Well, today, I went for a run. I didn’t do too badly either. For a 63-year-old, overweight, and out-of-shape man, I managed to get two miles in 30 minutes. Now, I have over four months of running stats on Strava, so I’m not going to attempt to catch up on posting. I’ll just start fresh. So, here is the latest run:
I first read “The Stand” in 1978 or 1979, when we were living in the house across from what was then the High School. It was an old house that creaked and groaned with the slightest temperature changes. And as was my tendency, I couldn’t put a book down when it started to get good, which was pretty much right from the start with “The Stand.” Anyway, it was 3:00 AM. Stu Redman was trying to find his way out of the secret military/medical base that had imprisoned him because he hadn’t come down with the disease that wiped out 99% of the Earth’s population. He found a fire escape stairwell and was walking down when someone under the stairs grabbed his ankle. At that very moment, our house let loose a loud crack. Scared the shit right out of me. So much so, I got out of bed and checked the basement, where my bedroom was, to see if I was safe.
Why am I posting this? There are two situations in which you should not read a Stephen King novel. One is in a cabin in Maine, especially if the story takes place in a cabin in Maine, and the other is in the basement of an old, creepy house in the middle of the night. So, yes, I broke cardinal rule number two for reading a Stephen King novel.
It’s for Tina. And it was delicious! And not just because she said so; I ate some of it, too!
Do I have to go to work? But I don’t want to go to work. Don’t make me go to work. Please don’t make me.
Because, you know, I’m the Inconsistent Blogger.
So, some catch-up is in order.
First, on January 30th of this year, I hit 40 years of sobriety. After all these years, it has become just another day. Still, it is something worth noting. Oh, and I’m so dry that the DNR has a fire spotter following me around.
Second, Valentine’s Day was Tina and I’s 11th anniversary of living together. I had known her online since 2003, but we didn’t start dating until 2012, which initially was a long-distance romance as she lived in Green Bay, I lived in Rutledge, and then Willow River. This long-distance romance lasted 2 years until she finished her two-year college course then wrongfully fired from her job. Considering it was in Wisconsin, you’ve got to be a poorly run company to have that government find you’ve fired someone wrongfully.
Third, after not running since November 10th, 2024, I’ve resumed my exercise routine starting on February 22nd, 2025. Yes, I am in pain. But it is temporary, and I will make it through to the other side.
Oh fuck. I now have a Doors tune ear-worming me. Sigh.
Anyway, that’s it for now. Carry on as you see fit for the current apocalyptic time.
Above is a picture I took years ago with an earlier version of the iPhone. It was incidental—that is, I took it without much forethought. I looked, snapped a few, and moved on. Honestly, I don’t know exactly where I took this on the St. Louis River. I suspect it is right after crossing the swinging bridge in Jay Cooke State Park.
One morning, I was working at my computer, and Cinnamon, the cat who chose me on 10/23/2004, decided I was paying too much attention to the screen and not enough attention to her. One day, I will write about how she came into my life.
This is the original incidental picture. I was at the Como Conservatory in St. Paul early on a Sunday morning with Caleb, the son of my then-girlfriend. The flowers caught my attention, so I stepped back, held my digital camera (my first one) over them without even bothering to look through the viewfinder, and snapped a photo.
The sun shines on a rainy day. Snapped from the front door of the house I owned in Hastings, MN.
This is the water flowing over the dam on top of the Vermillion Falls in Hastings. Snapped the summer of 2024.
Here is the outside shot of the flow over the dam.
So, there you go—just some random images taken over the years, with little connection to each other.
