Nov 6 - more rubber meets the road

Well, I haven't ordered them yet, but did research the winter tires for the X5.  I also have to buy rims and TPMS sensors, so it adds up.  That said, since I will only use these at Christmas, they should last several years, perhaps even my lifetime with the car.  That's what happened with the old X5.  These ones will be stored here in Florida though, so they'll have the additional to/from Florida miles that the old ones didn't.

The good news is that I'll be changing rims in the warmth, not in the cold !  The major drawback is that I'll have to store them here, where I have less space.  My plan at this point will be to leave them in the 4x6 trailer when we're here and stash them in the garage when we're not. 

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I did some more work on the 1200k ride, laying out the logistics.  I'll need to do an email update for people shortly, and soon after that, open registration.

It just got a tad more complicated (and expensive) as I realized that we'll need a bus or something at each end to move riders from the hotel to the ferry in Fort Myers Beach and then the ferry to the hotel in Key West.  Sheesh.  I hope that it's not too expensive.  Taxis might be cheaper.

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I had my (annual) physical today.  My Doctor is quite the character.  She'd moved to this area from Ohio to get married and then bought into a partnership in Winter Park. The commute was brutal from here to WP so she left there and took over the practice of a retiring doctor here in NSB.  She said that in the process, she got a 40% raise ... so she didn't understand the financials at the partnership !  The practice here was owned by a company so she was an employee.  The office staff had one speed ... slow ... and they wouldn't hire more people so they cut her hours but kept the same salary -- that's why my appointment in May was cancelled.  I didn't realize it at the time.  Although they'd promised to upgrade the office etc. it was old, old, old and she finally decided to leave.  She's now in a new facility run by Florida Hospital.  She's still an employee but in charge of her own staff and destiny.

There are more stories about the transition but probably best not repeated.  Here's an example of her sense of humor though -- she was doing the usual check liver, spleen, neck etc. and I reminded her that she'd had my thyroid checked a couple of years ago because she thought that it might be enlarged.  (She doesn't have my chart yet from the old practice).  She said yes, that's because most people she does physicals on have large necks so the thyroid seems smaller.  Earlier her nurse said that the only people with blood pressure as low as mine are on medication.  I guess that here in older-people-country they don't have many active athletic clients ... and have to exist, mostly, on what Medicare pays them.

I talked to her about the problems with my right foot -- arthritis, numbness, and she gave me some thoughts on treatments -- chiropractic laser, acupuncture, some herbal remedies (curcumin) and possibly a rehab doctor.  She's great ... no pills.  I had thought podiatrist but she didn't think that would accomplish anything.  She's been through some of this herself and gave me the name of the herbal stuff that she takes, so I've ordered some.  We compared notes on mercury levels and fish intake, since she had the same problem.  My level is the lowest that it's been, about 1/3 of what it was when I first saw her. 

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Still on the doctor front, Sandy took Abby to see Dr. Cox this afternoon -- another hot spot.  She's always allergic to the pollen or something here.  If only she'd stop rolling in the grass.  I think that it's not pollen but perhaps small biting bugs, dog-no-see-ums, but who knows.  I'm not sure what Sandy came back with because she left before I had a chance to ask.

Sandy was out grocery shopping ... ah, more antibiotics.  Abby's had more antibiotics in her short life (of course in dog years she's older than me) than I've had in my lifetime.  We should feed her yogurt afterwards I suppose, to repopulate.

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Panko mahi-mahi + rice + asparagus for dinner.   Good as always. 

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We sort-of have a schedule planned for Christmas and I've updated the blog schedule.  I've also been looking into Florida brevets for next year, doing more planning.  Flights are booked for Europe but not hotel rooms yet, not pre-post PBP or during PBP.  Des Peres Travel in St. Louis has all the rooms in Loudeac locked up and hasn't opened registration on their site yet, although they were supposed to do that in September.  I talked to Jerry about PBP; he's got his daughter looking into things for him.  She's going as well as other friends.  Jayne is still unsure.

Hamid is doing well !  He's back spinning, although at low cadence.  He's finally off the Oxycontin, which he's had to take in the evenings just to get some sleep.  Once off that crap and spinning, he'll make rapid progress, I expect.  He's heading back to Florida this coming weekend and hopes to get out on his bike down there.

Speaking of which ... we may / should be going to Key West next week for a day or two.  We'll visit with Hamid and Shab on the way down or back.

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... and ... we may take Zoe off Sara's hands for a couple of weeks, either pre-Christmas, post-New-Years or both.  She's a crazy active kid and Sara's having a hard time keeping up with her and Matthew.  At least Emma is off to school during the day but she demands attention before and after.  She was an only child for so long.   Nothing concrete has been discussed yet.  They say that variety is the spice of life but what a contrast we have in just a few grandchildren ... Kylie vs Lauren; Megan; Emma, Zoe, Matthew (a book still to be written).  Alexander ... ahhh ... I feel guilty if I don't mention him.  I always say that we have seven grand-children. 

Speaking of grand-children, Jill Davies is due any day.  Jason, Lo and Kim head back north shortly; I think that their last day in Orlando is Saturday.  They know that they're welcome to stop here overnight on the way (well, not really on the way) back north especially if they want Sunday Brunch at the SYC. 

The weather continues to be great.  There hasn't been any rain since we arrived.  It's been just over two weeks but seems like a month.  I need to get in my November 200k, which I'll likely do on Monday.  I expect to ride today as well into a strong north wind and then sail back. 

I guess that's enough for now ... onward !