Jackson WY

In Jackson Hole Wyoming, hanging with my friends Cade, Becca and Bradley :)

Happy times.

It was a looong ride up here (5hrs) from Salt Lake City... I'm not particularly looking forward to the ride back ;)... but that's later... focus on the now.

Weather's kinda dumpy so far, but threatening to improve. We'll see... should be able to get some nice flying in before I leave.

Guess I'll get some pics... this place reminds me of New Zealand. Very pretty and very touristy. Good stuff.

FB

Random thought... I logged into FB to blather about something... I'm jetlagged, so other random thoughts pop into my head.

One was all the anti-BF crowd stuff complaining about opening up your personal details to the world. And yeah, I can see that point. I'm generally pretty damn careful about what I put up there... I like the rule of only post something you'd like to see printed in the local paper.

Anyway... so I'm thinking though... there's plenty of people that refuse to use FB full stop cuz of "privacy" concerns.

So... um... if you're concerned... why not fill it with incorrect info?

See, I was trapesing through mine when I noticed it had a map thingy that had my hometown on it. Cool, I thought... "hey, that's accurate".... "um... duh, of course it is". I told you I'm jetlagged right now right?

Well, hell... it's accurate only cuz I told them. There's this "fix this" button on it and, an other random thought here, I figured... why not change it? I think I'll be from Pakistan today :)

Jim

5am

On the road again...

There's just nothing like getting a txt at 4:30am informing you that your domestic flight has changed. It's even more fun when the number listed to call routes to an inactive cellphone. I love trying to work out whether or not I'm getting a spam/crank text at 4:30am.

Of course, they have both my phone number and correct flight number. Joy. Sit on hold waiting for Qantas for 20min. "Looks like there's been a flight time change"... not good... "Which means you won't connect to your international"... very not good... "Let me put you on hold and see what options I can offer you"... better.
Yeah... 5-10min of not happy.
Fortunately they got me on an Air New Zealand flight that connects up with my international flight. It leaves a 1/2 hour earlier... big deal.

Nice.

Of course, the trick was that Qantas used JetStar for the domestic carrier... JetStar's the budget airline around here and delays/reroutes are not uncommon. So it's them covering for their partner's F-up... as they should.

Woulda been nice to fly ANZ in the first place, but I had some frequent flyer miles to burn. I also F'd up booking and which put the ANZ flights a bit out of reach.

Fun fun... silly willy.
Let the games begin.
(I guess they already have)

Jim

Feeling good.

My knee's doing great.

I smashed the other on a rock and it swelled up something fierce. They call it "bursitus". It sucks but it's not too painful. Just screws up your mobility. Fortunately I'm well versed in the ways of treating knee injury ;)
That seems mostly gone now. On the upside, it's "evened me out". I don't baby my ACL knee so much anymore.

Happily I seem to be back to "good health" status. This is a happy place.
I even stumbled over a scale at the thrift shop. It dawned on me that I haven't stepped on one in a while. Last time I was creeping up on 74kg. :(
I thought the scale might be a little off, cuz it was telling me 70... shoes and all? Later I was at the aeroclub and they've got a very accurate scale... same.

Cool.
I consider 70 my "fighting weight". I feel healthy at 70... which is certainly the case at the moment.
I won't go off on my "Whole Food" diet or gym routine for now, but I'm very very happy with them.

Jim

La de da

Just relaxing today.
The weather's kinda crappy. John left yesterday and my knee's still a little sore from banging it on a rock a few days ago. So, all in all, a good day for movies or something. It'll be right shortly so no worries.

It's been a fun but packed three weeks with John and his mates coming by. Back to a bit of a slower pace now. I'll miss having my brother around.

4 gigs worth of pics and videos... gotta weed through a bit of that. Lots of it's the same stuff as my camera shoots pics every two seconds... but there's some very interesting stuff in there. Esp our trip down to Milford Sound.

Watched an unexpectedly good movie yesterday... Speed Racer.
Yup, super campy, super over the top, insanely brightly colored, dizzying motion, over dramatic and simple plot... everything you should expect Speed Racer to be. Such a fun movie!

Gotta rearrange the room back into single guy mode. Still have it in two guy setup. That requires effort though and it's still early.

Jim

Mid Summer

Well, life was in full gear for a bit there :)
Still is, but I'm up early today and haven't updated my blog in forever... damn you Facebook! hahahaha

Figured I'd heave something up here about my knee. On the ACL blogs that I read, the postings seem to dwindle off near the end. I just figured it's cuz you're getting better and have less time to post. In the beginning, you're bedridden, so you've got nothing but time!

This has certainly been the case for me.
I'm over 6 months post op now (everything in ACL reconstruction is measured in "weeks post op").
Ever mindful of not cursing myself with overconfidence... I knock on wood anytime I post the type of stuff I'm about to get into... but...

Things have gone exceptionally well.
Living at the gym has paid off in spades. My knee is strong. Most of the swelling is gone. I just did two days of big mountain hiking (two hours each way, both days, steep unstable terrain) and feel fine. On the second one, coming down, I felt a tad "tender" so I slowed down and upped the "careful factor", but otherwise a non-event.

I still get to the gym as much as time allows. When it doesn't allow, it's cuz I'm out doing very active things, so I don't feel bad about that. I still get the itch to go shove some weights around, especially when the weather packs in, so all's happy on that front.

Eating my "whole food" diet has helped a lot too. I'm in great shape and owe a lot to that decision. I love that I'm off the junk food and more that the junk food tastes like just that... junk. I can barely walk past the banana section in the grocery without grabbing one. Hahahhahaha... the fruit isle is like the candy isle for me now. I love that!

John's showing up today for a three week stay.
I don't think I have to tell anyone how stoked I am about this :)
HELL YEAH!

He said he wants to "fly as much as possible"... hahahahahahahaha... little does he know what he's in for ;) I live in flying paradise. My world is flying. Oh, I think I can help with this goal. Yeah. Yeah, I might be able to line up a thing or two.

Jim

November and then some

Well life has picked up the pace a bit.
November went flying by... pun intended.

The weather was absolutely fantastic! Best November I can remember. Next to no rain, very little "windy days"... just happiness. Loads of flying.

Here we are and it's nearly half way through December?!
Wow.
The weather's settled back to a more normal "changeable" cycle as of late. We're still getting some absolutely spectacular days though. We're just now getting unflyable days as well... we were able to fly virtually every day in November... unheard of. We still seem to get some of the day in still even if it's pretty buggered otherwise.

Still hitting the gym when I can. Especially now that we've got some bad weather days, it's gotten a bit easier. It was a bit of a struggle in November. It seems now that I'm able to get back to an every other day schedule. It gets pushed back a day every now and again while waiting for some bad weather to help out.

Most of the company's crews are settled in for the season. Old friends are back. Most of the flats are sorted and everyone's pretty set up, so now it's just "work" and play.

Leg's going strong. Still have a touch of swelling below the kneecap, but I hear that that bit takes forever to go away. No worries.

Jim

Fun Fun

Ok, catch up time.
Weather went to piss today, so I've got an unusual bit of "time" on my hands ;)

I'm NOT complaining either.
The weather's been absolutely super fantastic lately. We've got some very changeable Springtime weather these days. So who knows? Very typically, we're sheltered in the mornings, then it goes bad in the afternoon. We'll see. Certainly the case today.

Happy times with my wind meter project!
Me and Keith started tackling the next bit of it... direction. We hit a design block for a bit, but Keith came up with a very nice and simple solution.

The current prototype ROCKS!
Had one company phone me today to see what it was saying... as the designer, I'm most tuned into reading it for now. Later, when they showed up on takeoff, they confirmed what I'd said to expect. :)

As we all get used to using it, it will save us from having to drive out on days like today where it's not flyable simply to find out that it's not flyable. It can also let us know when it is flyable, perhaps when we think it's not.

In any event, it's been a super fun project and continues to be. I'm so happy with it. I've learned loads about electronics and it's been a blast working with my friends on it.

Work's going well.
Things are ticking up, which is nice. We're always nervous about the level of work we have ahead. We're such a seasonal driven business.

I've got an MRI on Wednesday for my pilot medical (I do this every year) and I've got a bit of web-work to finish up, so the predicted bad weather doesn't bother me.

On with the show.
Jim

Sunny Weather

As my mom noted... "You must be having fun... your blog's gone quiet".
Yup.
Very much the case.

Weather's been obnoxiously good and my knee's been getting good and strong. Gym Gym Gym Gym Gym... I can't say it enough. Best thing I did was join the gym. It's made a huge difference.

Anyway
zzzzzzzzzzz.. gnight.
Jim

Visit to the surgeon

Had my "3 month" followup visit with my surgeon today.
(I'm a very small bit past 3 I think)
It took all of two minutes... which is a very good thing :)

You don't want to have a long visit... that means something is wrong.
Mine consisted of him checking my knee and saying "Well... that's rock solid".
Those are some very happy words to hear from your surgeon!

I asked him a very rhetorical question because I get it from many other doctors and nurses... How does *he* feel about my knee. I'm obviously thrilled. His answer was similarly over the top "I'm jumping for joy" was part of it... as he threw out a bunch of "I'm super happy" phrases to over-emphasise that he's quite pleased. The over the top bit was a bit of joking as we both understood how silly the question was.

One of the funniest bits of the day was the Taxi cab ride.
Hahahaha, I'm pretty sure I was getting this part right... there was this siren sound thingy that kept going off. I didn't catch it at first... but then I realised that it's a warning sign to the driver that he's speeding! HAHAHAHAHA. I picked it up cuz he seemed to be in a bit of a rush at first... then he chilled out and the noise went away.

Jim

The Gondi

We have a flying site at the top of the gondola in town.
The gondi doesn't take you all the way to takeoff though. You have about a 10 minute hike up a pretty steep path before you're there.

The gondi hike has always been my metric for my physical fitness.
I could always tell that I was turning into a soft American over the Summers in Maryland when I got back to Queenstown. I would take brakes hiking up the gondi. At the beginning of the season, I'd take as many as eight brakes. You're hiking up with a 40lb pack on your back, but since I've done it for many years, I've gotten a feel for what means what.

One year, I'd made a concious effort to stay in some shape in the Summer and I could definitely feel the difference, though I still took like three or four brakes.

I've been living at the gym since my accident, but I'm doing weight training. I've been very keen to get back to the gondi since it's such good cardio. And since I fly down, I've got heaps of motivation to climb it! But, like I said, it's a full-on hike. So even after I was fit enough to hike up, I still needed to be fit enough to hike down just in case I couldn't fly. Hiking down is immensely harder on my knee.

I'm just now at that level.

So today, I went up the gondi. I was very curious to measure how out of shape I was.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Zero brakes.

Made me feel even better about all that hard work at the gym :)
I wasn't steaming up the hill by any stretch, but I wasn't winded or sore either. I'd felt a good workout and had a good heartrate. I was feeling good.

Today's my gym day, so I went there afterwards.
There was something easier about it today.
Jim

Nice day

An other nice day :)
As is the way with Spring, it will end, but I'm soaking it up while it's here.

Hung around Flight Park (our landing field) showing friends how to pack parachutes and teaching a little bit of hang gliding. Nice mellow day. Sunny and warm.

Jim

Boo YA!

Let's see. Guess I'll fill in some details here.
(lot's of HELL YEAH! stuff over on Facebook)

I've been living in hell for 106 days now.
Take the thing you like the most in this world and don't do it for 3 and 1/2 months. Add to this, it's your livelyhood. And, you have to sit back and watch everyone else do it. And, you're crippled. You find ways to cope, but trust me, it ain't no picnic.

So I can't really tell you how freaking unbelievably happy it made me to be able to fly today. So I won't try. I'd prefer not to start crying.

Now, the good news is!
(Knocking on every blessed piece of wood I can find!)
I'll eventually be able to go back to work.
I've come to describe things this way... "I have the most amazing life... and I want it back!"
That keeps me going. Keeps me positive. I've had no trouble "finding the energy".

I go to the gym like it's my job. Every other day... you need to rest between workouts or you slow your progress. I get excited when I realise that "today's a gym day!" I eat extremely well now. Whole foods ONLY. If a sixth year old can't pronounce the ingredients, I don't eat it. "My program", as I call it, has been paying off in spades. I love the reaction I get from doctors that haven't seen me and my physio. My favourite phrase from my physio is "keep doing what you're doing, it's working". I've made it my personal goal to keep her saying that. She also gives me direction and education. I think of her as my coach... and indispensable.

I've got a hell of a knee brace. I call it my "Forest Gump" brace. I've not really done much with it till today. You're not supposed to as it takes over the job of your muscles and they don't grow. I wear it for a bit of protection. Today being the first real use... and holy crap! That thing kicks ass! It's just help, so I need to continue to be careful.

Good winds, maybe three steps to takeoff, and then just happy, beautiful Spring air :) Spring is one of the best times to fly.. there tends to be a lot of the types of currents that allow you to fly for hours on end. And oh hell yes I did :)

There's a funny thing about ACL injuries... and they tell you this when you have one... "Now you're going to meet so many people that have done this... and you'll be amazed at how many there are". ACL is the most common knee injury by the way.

Well, I hitched a ride up the hill today... and as I explained my situation, the wife (husband and wife heading up to ski)... "Oh, I did mine 9 years ago, did you have the surgery?". We had something to talk about the whole ride up.

My last flight of the day (I had three) was with some good friends in exceptionally good air. We all played around for a good long time. When we all landed, we hung around outside the cafe (we have a cafe at our landing field) for a bit. It was so nice to be back.
(No, damnit! my eyes are just sweating!)

Jim

Down stairs

Walking down stairs is, and has always been, one of the most difficult tasks with this.
Your knee has to bend a lot and you use the muscles that have been decimated by surgery.

So I am extremely happy that I can go down stairs with ease these days.

And
The popping/cracking in my knee has migrated. This is apparently normal, and makes sense, as things reorganise. The swelling's going down and things are shifting around. Scar tissues tearing away and generally there's a lot going on in there.

The popping that used to happen when I straightened my leg came and went a long time ago. One day, I had it pop when I was sitting with my leg straight and shifted my weight a bit... that was weird.

These days it's when I'm walking down stairs.
It's great when it goes.
Before it lets go, I can feel a little resistance under my kneecap... sorta like an air bubble.. and my knee doesn't flex totally right. Once it pops, my knee moves normally. I've taken to walking up and down the tallest stairs in town like it's a treadmill ;)

Jim

11 Weeks!

"I go to the gym... like it's my job".
A buddy of mine put that saying in my head. I like it! (Thanks Bill)

It just rings true... it reinforces how good going to the gym has been for me and helps stir me up and keep me feeling good about going. A while back there, I was concerned that I'd hit the dreaded "Plateau" once I recovered from the major traumas of surgery. Knock on wood.. cuz this hasn't been the case. If anything, I've gone the other way. I love going to the gym. I get perked up when I realize that "HEY... today's a gym day!".

You're supposed to take a rest day between workouts. Since I'm not keen to devote every single day to the gym (it's across town), I don't do the typical "split" routine. I just do everything on one day and rest the next. I often wind up at the gym anyway, but I just go for the pool on "off" days.

So I'm 11 weeks post operation today :)
WOOO HOOO!
Working hard at the gym is definitely paying off! There's work ahead still, and there always will be, but it nice to smell the roses from time to time.

We had a guy stay at the house last night who's had three ACL surgeries. He echo'd what I've read and heard so many times... rehab (getting to the gym) is so vitally important. He said that the worst thing for him was the loss he always felt in the power of his hamstring. There are three different styles of surgeries, one is hamstring. He said that when he went through that one, he didn't focus on rehabbing it and has never felt the same. It felt so good to know how hard I've worked on mine and know that mine's come along so far.

I also run into people that aren't expecting me to be doing as well as I am now. Some of it is of course because some haven't seen me in a while, so their image of me is still from back then. Some however have, and some are medical professionals who know what shape I should be in. It's good knowing my "program", as I call it, is going well.

While it is nice to smell those roses, I also knock on a lot of wood. I'm by no means "fixed". Hahaha, I can't even run yet ;)

Fun at the beach

Been having fun as of late teaching friends to fly at "the beach".

This is a little flying spot we have at a park on the lake.
When the wind is from the West at the right speed, it's a fun place to train.
When it's a bit stronger, it's one of my favourite places to fly :)

Handily, it's right next to the airport. A bunch of my friends from the aeroclub are keen to learn to fly, so this works well. The wind doesn't come right in the Winter, but it does sometimes in the Fall. At the moment, we're in one of the right weather patterns for it. So it's happy times at the beach.

I had to take a day off from the gym to battle a headcold :(
Two actually, but I only workout every other day. You're not supposed to work out every day, so half the time I'm just in the pool.

I felt better today so I was able to go back... just for a "light" workout... just to "get back to it". Riiiiight. Damn it was good to be back.

Physio tomorrow.
I only go every other week now.

Jim

Seven Weeks

Wow... just realised when I came here to post something that I'm Seven weeks post op today. :)

Let's see.... swelling's mostly gone. I've got "most" of my range of movement back... they say the last bit is the hardest. I'm on the leg press at the gym, the single most effective tool for building my quads back up. Quads and hamstring's are the most effected muscled in ACL surgery.

I can jump on the exercise bike and just go. I can use the rowing machine and ellipital machine now too. There's an other bunch of machines and exercises I can do now too. I'm back in the hot tub without having to worry about overheating my leg. I still do the hot/cold routine cuz it works however. Suffice to say, things are going well.

This is the point people call the "plateau".
The dramatic "holy crap I can walk" moments are over. This crosses over into straight up body building land. The "gains" are "slower" and less apparent, so you can get discouraged. It's a lot of more of the same. It can feel like the improvements have stopped.

I won't lie, there was a day at the gym where I felt it creeping in. Then I realized that I hadn't ate properly and had gone to the gym tired. Big mistake. Especially as my workout routine has gotten kinda extensive. I've added a lot of machines and spend a long time there. Going on an empty tank just ain't gonna work.

The next time, I was prepared. I had a good feed at the right time and had more and more of the right stuff. Big difference. I've started bringing bananas and protein bars to the gym too.

I'm finding it important to track what I'm doing too. Without the markers, you don't see the changes. In the "holy crap I can walk" phase, there were built in markers. I think that makes a big difference. When you can't pedal all the way around on the bike, you've got a clear marker ;) As I pay more attention to them, it seems to help mentally.

Jim

Breakfast

Mmmmmm
Now that's a hearty breakfast :)
All whole grains. All ingredients your gramma could understand.
If I'm not careful, I'm going to start to look like I know what I'm doing.

Jim

Breakfast

I'm six weeks post op as of today :)
(can I get a "hell yeah!"?)

Feeling good, but I also know this is where you can screw up too. You feel good and forget that you're broken... maybe go out and do something stupid, maybe push a little too hard, or maybe just forget to protect your knee. Gotta keep that all in mind. But feeling good.

I can get around almost without issue. Even walking down stairs is starting to come right. Down is the hard one for those that don't know.

So.
Breakfast right?
This is a happy one for me. See, I've been curious about "eating right" for a while now. What exactly "right" means is not as straight forward as it sounds. There's a LOT of information to sort through. But thanks to a friend (hi Bill), I got on what seemed to be the right path.

Well, I'm six weeks in now, so I think I can "look back" enough to see some stuff.
One of the big ones is Breakfast.
We all know the old tome "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day".
That's never said a hell of a lot to me.
There's been times where I'd have a bowl of cereal every morning and sure, I maybe wouldn't eat lunch as soon or something. Big deal right? It all sounded like "an apple a day!" to me.

Ok, missing bits there... "A good" Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
One of the first bits I noticed when I started this was once you get onto truly good food, not just off the "junk food", everything else starts to taste like fluff.

The next bit though is that breakfast starts taking it's true role.
I eat a really good breakfast now. And if I miss it, I know I've missed it! It makes a big difference.

Eggs over whole wheat toast, rolled oats, a banana and orange juice.
All the real deal... not "orange juice like" drink, not wheat bread... WHOLE wheat bread. Not fu-fu cereal, rolled oats... you can get this wicked rolled oats and rasin mix cereal here... I'm a complete addict!

It tastes good and feels like lead :)

It's weird, though not "shocking", that once you know what to look for, you can see just how much bad food there is out there... and how hard it is to actually eat good food! It can be done of course, but man, if you don't know what to look for... good luck!

Knee

Doing much better these days.