High School Public Speaking Memory, Today's Early Morning Plans

 I remember, looking back on my high school times at Nova, how one of my female blonde classmates one day suddenly "saw the light" and underwent a speedy transformation into a glib, smooth public speaker.  She even got on the closed circuit school television and delivered a five-minute monologue to the school about how good and easy public speaking was, and that folks like little-old "almost subhuman" me had no excuses for not dazzling the world with my oratory skills.  A little later on ,we were introduced by a mutual friend, on whom she definitely had her eyes set.  I smiled and tried to look and sound nice, but she only came across as a rejecting snob who was fending me off...not that I was even remotely interested in her on the slightest level.  I could have tactfully (or brutally) put her in her proper place by interjecting that good speaking is only part of the equation, and that good listening skills are at least equally as important as well .  You can either esteem (or insult) your counterpart based on your attitude toward them as people, hopefully encouraging them in the process. That one speech I heard was special in one way: afterwards, and I could have brought this up to her, I couldn't think of a single section within the presentation that was of any use.  Oh well, I dealt with the snub in a dignified manner by henceforth avoiding her like the plague...I could see that she was grooming herself to be a finger-pointer later in life...probably launched into tr  ashing me soon after our greeting. So I arose at 3:30, brewed coffee, ran in place, and wrote this article. It's now a little past 5 and the day (March 8) lies ahead (we 'lept' ahead into Daylight Savings Time).  I'm still frustrated by my lack of endurance when it comes to going on modest walks. I want to continue hearing and implementing Jim Rohn YouTube podcasts, read a flawed fantasy novel by Josh Khan and study foreign languages.  And, now that I have that connecting cord, do some journal writing on my wonderful oldAlpha Smart processor before I nod off into an afternoon nap..

Early Rising, Good Saturday Morning

 Once again I got up early, this time between 3 and 4.  I ran in place for six minutes and listened to Jim Rohn's podcast against seeking others' approval and overexplaining.  The morning alarm should sound at five, and later on I'd like to go to Depot Park with Melissa to walk one or two laps there without expectations of receiving a finishing time.  Then I want to return home and rest some, without sacrificing the rest of the day.  Some self-imrovement podcasts on YouTube sound promising, and a little more cuddly (with Daisy Peewee) time will fit the bill nicely.  Thank you God for you presence in my heart and life, and I have much to be grateful for...

Day Progresses into Decline

Today, after my early morning rising and activity, progressed more or less into a span of rest and inactivity, me spending much of it in bed or on the living room couch.  I still ran in place for a few more minutes before leveling off.  Tomorrow morning they're staging another Depot Parkrun 5K.  I want to show up there and do at least one lap, with Melissa doing the valuable driving.  We're sitting right now in the dining room while AI Alexa is playing the piano version of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear...very pretty. Equally NOT very pretty is this overbearing missile war happening right now between USA, Iran and Israel...enough of that on the news! I suspect that the president dictator others elected will turn against his own people once he impatiently declares victory and moves on to new perceived enemies that challenge his egomania...he'll use his own handpicked cronies as proxies. I still think that people...especially some of the more creepy ones from Utah...have lost their minds with their violent  rampages against each other. And I include Florida's Dixie and Marion counties in that indictment. Not a nice picture at all.  Now for me to digest my last food of the day.  Either I'll get up tomorrow morning at a good, early time or we'll just put off the next Parkrun until another time...

First Anniversary of My Prostatectomy

 Today marks the one-year anniversary of when I underwent a radical prostatectomy operation at the UF Health Cancer Hospital on the south side of Archer Road.  My dear, late sister-in-law Krista was staying in the same building when I entered it, climbing up its winding stairway to the second floor.  The procedure went smoothly enough, but in the early evening when I fully awoke it was very sharply painful for me 'down there'.  Melissa promptly got me on my feet for a brief post-op walk around the floor, and the Foley catheter had already been inserted.  For the next ten full days I would have little trouble with my urinating and emptying the bag...on the 17h all pain disappeared when it was removed.  Dr. Joseph performed the meticulous surgery, which took a few hours.  We left the hospital for home early on the 7th.  Krista remained there until she was released into hospice in early July.  God bless her, I miss her so much.  A few weeks after the catheter was gone, I speed-walked another Depot Parkrun 5K. The Director, Shauna...who has yet to give me volunteer credit for the end of last September when she asked me go far up and beyond the call of duty for a simple tail-walker assignment...was not at all happy with my participation, claiming health concerns. Too bad she treats it all like a competitive race whenever she runs it.  So today I got up early, ran in place a few minutes, and brewed some coffee.  And what do you know, here's Melissa! And what do you know, it's 4:30...

Early Morning, Rohn Podcast

 Another morning early arisen...let's see what this one brings.  I ran in place for 12 minutes after brewing coffee.  Then I listened to a Jim Rohn podcast about the value of tackling things alone.  Now he's talking about designing your own day in the early morning and honestly reviewing it during the evening.  Rohn is a stoic advocate of picking a small number of things to focus on and is pragmatic about it all.  Sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed by all his information...what do I filter out?  Rohn wants me to grow and not regress.  So what do I plan for today?  In the news there's that war...oh, well.  For me I want to continue being intellectually active and commit myself to a reasonable degree of home exercise, with plenty of allowance for rest and recovery.  Should I get in the white Camry and try starting it, carrying my license and some money?  Walk around the block once or the back yard?  I know, let me enjoy the day without getting carried away with eating.  Enjoy life and appreciate it...

Up Early, Exercising, National News

 A day ago I stepped outside into the backyard to check the lunar eclipse's progress.  Turns out the entire sky was overcast, and the entire event was a washout.  I still wrote my blog article and listened to personal development influencer Jim Rohn on YouTube.  Later on Melissa took me down for my chemotherapy infusion.  I read through Chapter 5 in Shadow Magic. I studiously avoided TV updates about the US/Iran missle war.  I didn't start the conflict and have an instinctive aversion to so-called "faiths" that promote violence and whose adherents are only too easy to wear an "offended' pose if someone happens to disagree with their ideology and command structure.  John Cornyn won a close Republican Primary contest for the Texas US Senate seat being contested this year, and Roy Cooper easily won the Democratic nomination for the open North Carolina Senate seat after incumbent Thom Tillis' announced retirement.  I can't vote in either race this November, restricted to my Florida and assigned local districts as registered Republican. If registered Democratic voters actually display some initiative and vote in the general election, they have a chance of flipping those two seats their way, but i'm skeptical.  As for me today, nothing medical is scheduled.  But I'd like to see some progress, at least with little things.  I this were me in 1971 in the 9th grade I guess I'd be assembling my prepared homework for the grueling day ahead.May my eating today reflect an improved sense of judgment...

Early Rising, Lunar Eclipse, YouTube Guru, Chemotherapy Infusion

 This morning I woke up early, a little past four.  The Blood Lunar Eclipse is scheduled now, to peak in totality between six and seven as the sky begins to lighten just before sunrise.  Fog is expected to roll in, obscuring the view.  I ran in place ten minutes, read through chapter four in my dubious Shadow Magic book, and brewed some good-tasting coffee after I ran the heat through this chilly place for a few minutes.  Last night I listened to Jim Rohn dispense some hard-ass personal development advice on establishing self-discipline habits and a positive, productive mindset.  The dude says what needs to be said and heard, and although at times it seemed like a bitter bill to swallow, I got past the message's abruptness and am listening once again.  Getting my sorry ass out of bed and going to the bathroom is just step number one of a great time in my daily routine.  After adjusting the temperature, I brewed that coffee and did the ten minutes of ipfs, lightly of course on the living room rug...and now here I am. Early this afternoon, I'm to be at the UF Davis Cancer Pavilion for a lab draw and then have a chemotherapy infusion, thanks to my wonderful Melissa's driving and advocacy.  During this period I plan to listen to more of Rohn's YouTube channel.  His shows are usually around 40 minutes in length...I should get to hear maybe two of them before needing to recharge my phone after returning home.  After getting back home I'm usually physically and mentally spent and feel like crashing out on the couch or the bed.  God bless this day, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to "get busy living' in it, as Morgan Freeman says on his pharma TV ad. Maybe I'll venture forth and do some 'rock-running' exercise as well.  One thing for certain: I'll be steering clear of those war-obsessed news and opinion channels...

Early Morning, Looking at World

 Hi, here is another early morning for me.  This would be starting off another 9th grade school week, along with the accrued homework and test preparation.  Instead of sitting in my 1141 dining room with instant coffee,here comes day number three of US armed forces raining down missiles on areas the Blusterer-in-Chief deems to be enemy territory, that it, areas not under his personal control. I am tired of hitting up on channels that seem obsessed with this ongoing military adventure.  I'd like for things to start clearing up and people get back to their more normal existence, if the dramatists seeking absolute power can manage to cooperate.  We're now in March...it's Monday, the 2nd.  I can still study foreign languages and read my problematic fantasy book.  And maybe a trudge around the block is in order.  And maybe I'll try out some brief neighborhood driving of the white Camry.  Grateful for Anita and Jim's visit, and that they got back to Austin okay.  Speaking of the Texas capital city, I don't know what to think about how people in different places, near and far, who seem to have lost their minds and have yielded to their ownknee-jerk, violent tendencies. I am so, so tired of seeing ugly mug shots slapped across my TV-20 News screen. A little more pause for kindness, please...just quietly walking away can be an acceptable option, too.  I did some seven minutes of ipf so far today...

Good Early Morning at Home So Far

 It's now a little past five in the morning, I'm up, and my FitBit has so far given me a little over three hours of sleep credit.  Ran in place for 7 minutes, brewed coffee, and ate a couple of toaster strudels. unless we find ourselves going out today, I'm gonna be a homebody.  The news of this ongoing missile war is disconcerting and I'm tired of reaching news channels that dwell on it.  My hunger level is almost non-existent, so unless whether we go through a Dunkin' drive-through comes up from another in conversation, i'm planning to play it all cool.  Now back to my exercise and rest.  Oh, and Happy Rebecca Anniversary Day and Casimir Pulaski Day. So will I try taking out the white Camry for aa short neighborhood spin today? We'll see...

Showed Up, Trudged a Lap at Today's Depot Parkrun 5K

This morning, as almost always, I awoke hours before sunrise.  I put on some coffee and did some floor exercise on the living room rug, this time running in place for seven minutes.  Between six and seven I managed to talk my sweet Melissa into driving me over to Depot Park to be in time for their weekly race, involving four laps around that park just south of downtown, Gainesville.  I didn't feel up to the task but had decided beforehand to just attempt a slow one-lap, about .7 mile.  Well, she didn't feel good and remained in the car.  It was a grueling, punishing experience, walking that lap, and I felt my struggling, slow feet with their Brooks running shoes were hitting the asphalt too abruptly as if I were kicking into it.  I got through it feeling pretty crappy and angry, not at all happy with the social tribalism at the park.  Melissa was very positive and congratulated me on my efforts.  It's now mid-afternoon and I've recovered to the point that I think I could stand a little more exercise before resting for the remainder of the day.  No official result for me...I did it in 24 minutes.  Maybe next Saturday I'll try it again, if signs indicate a "go" for me.  I have no plans to push myself hard, though.  Tomorrow marks Rebecca's first wedding anniversary...love you, Sweetheart.

This month, today excepted, I totally skipped out on Parkruns, confining my exercise to the living room and always enjoying indoors climate control.  Running in place in socks (ipf) and rock-running (rr) were the two exercises I did, and I was careful to write down my times spent doing them.  I rested a lot and was careful not to overdo things.  If God permits and circumstances allow it, I plan to gradually increase my time and efforts in this direction.  And may future Parkruns go much better for both of us.  Yes, that one lap was indeed a "victory lap"...

Another Pleasant, Hopeful Early Morning at the "Base"

 Well, it's 6:36 am and I got myself up and out of bed, making some coffee and doing a little living room rug exercising.  It's not too cold outside, but the temps will rise later on.  For me, this is my base time and location.  Last night I already resumed taking the enhanced TMZ to fight off that tenacious gbm, and I already am at peace with extending my nighttime/morning fast without requesting donut shop stops.  I read the first 8 pages in Khan's Shadow fantasy book.  It's easy reading although the setting is brutal  and something I have difficulty  wrapping my propensity for imagination around all the negativity.  My internet research on the author and this series revealed that he hadn't grown much...if any...in stature over the past nine years.  I'll read some more today and mark the pages read.  Let me just keep Peewee from licking me today...she's such a  sweetie and I don't want her hurt!  I'm tired of watching those right-wing tv channels with their scare tactics, even if I tend to agree with their general political/social worldviews. I think I'll try out some of the foreign language stuff on that radio/[podcast channel.  Tomorrow morning another Parkrun is scheduled, and maybe Melissa and I will be ready to go for it, rain or not: just show up!. Yesterday Anita, Jim and I walked around 2nd and Charles, which is a thoroughly inadequate, disorganized used book store with few sitting opportunities and even fewer reading choices.  Maybe today we'll try out Book-a-Million or Barnes & Noble.  I've done ipf six minutes so far, and plan to go back to the bedroom in a few minutes after I try out some more. I'm still looking forward to trying out sitting on the front porch holding my Shaum's math book...

Early Rising, Optimistic About Day to Come

 Here I am on yet another earlier early morning, pre-dawn wakeup...it's 6:33...having run in place on the rug for about 11 minutes so far with a nice mug of hot flavored coffee in my hand.  I'm envisioning some meaningful, purposeful study ahead, particularly about foreign languages.  Melissa wants to begin my next cycle of enhanced TMZ treatments after a pharmacy visit. Then we should get to see Anita and Jim a little before they head on homeward.  Study, interaction, exercise and rest, each in good measure, should all do the trick for me (and us) today as I am more careful about what I eat.  Also, keep Pewee from licking me (like she loves to do) to protect her from the toxic (to her) medicine seeping out through my porous skin.  Oh, and some TV time is in store as well. And since I won't be scratching off any lottery tickets, then it's good fun, never could stand those tv commercials.  Now let's have some "good fun" surfin' them channels. Just don't forget to listen to that great music. How Soon is Now, by the Smiths, has my Song of the Month easily, followed by the metaphysically intense Zebra piece Who's Behind the Door?.  My favorite line from it: How much more do you think you really know about who's behind the door?. Yes. I'm also thinkin about sitting in a comfortable cloth folding chair in the front yard looking casually through one or more Shaum's math guides, checking for patterns to notice. No pressure and it's nap time whenever I choose...

Take Back That Data Center They're Trying to Build Outside My Door

 In 1987 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers came out with a wonderful, rocking singles hit titled Jammin' Me.  It's still my favorite of his, and I dig the sometimes cutting and always funny lyrics.  That last line about country clubs I just changed to reflect the billings insult that these new AI centers, which consume way too much electricity while often added to customers' bills without their permission, are a blight upon our community.  AI has done very little for me, and I don't see substantial improvement in it for the next two or three years, assuming that God is willing and I'm surviving well.  This morning I got up early and have already performed 20 minutes of floor c-v exercise, including 15 of running-in-place.  I'm still imagining plopping my day's homework on the dining room table to do alongside my nice instant coffee.  I'm determined to enjoy a good day today, practicing avoidance of schteool along with its myriad hassles.  i'd like to check out local bookstores while the Dawg's at Scenthound for foreign language books and change my voter registration to Republican, giving me more real choices during the approaching primaries in this 2026 off-year election.  Looks like i'm going to follow in the footsteps of fellow conservative old geezer voters in faithfully going to the polls! Trump delivered his State of the Union address yesterday evening.  The opposition response was personal and largely condemnatory, with obscenities against Trump freely flying about.  Don't know how that's going to transfer to voting attendance in November.  But get ready for yet another tired old local protest rally in a few weeks..."democracy in action" my ass when folks simply won't vote and then they complain later!   We're looking forward again to today to see Anita and Jim, and some real dining room table foreign language study looks like it is reallygoing to happen...maybe I can use Wikipeida articles in different languages like Russian, German, Spanish and even Chinese. Still, Chatgpt looks good for the moment.  Now time to listen to my TV music, languages and self-improvement podcasts. Oh, it seems like I slept well last night. I am not showing my exercise minutes on the blog,, preferring to write the figures in pen on the inside of a puzzle book...I've done 20 total combined ipf and rock-running minutes so far with some more planned to come.  Y'all have a wonderful day, too...

Arose Early, Day Going Well

 My habit of getting up early has taken hold, and I have been enjoying some pre-dawn exercising after making the necessary bathroom pit stops and brewing favorful coffee.  Later on we're going down to get my blood drawn at the lab, and Anita and Jim are to visit.  I'm still mindful of a need to rest and relax following exertion, and as a proper reaction to the day's progression and effect on my body and mind.  Time to get busy living and enjoying life.  Now if I can just figure how to better use my computer to generate printable text translations I can later practice on.

On this date in 2022 Putin began his country's unprovoked brutal invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which posed no threat to anybody and was just minding its own business. Also, later on this evening our glorious president will deliver his annual State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress.  Expect him to raz on the SCOTUS for their recent tariffs ruling and offend lifetime justices like Alito, Cavanaugh,Thomas, Gorsuch, Barrett and Roberts. As for Amy Coney Barrett, I objected to Trump picking her so close to the election he lost to Biden, but am gratified by how seriously she takes her job, doing the best that she can to deliver justice fairly...

Good-Looking Day Ahead

 On this fresh, brand-new day in late February, I am looking forward with optimism to how I am going to spend my time and attention with it.  The news is full of strung-out people taking out their frustrations and resentments on others, often with tragic results.  It seems that babies and toddlers are in the greatest state of danger, with grown-up negligence and even outright abuse threatening their fragile little lives.  Melissa is so kind, thankful, patient and generous.  Let's see if we can't generate a nice Dunkin' breakfast driv-throuh a little later! I have a computer appointment with Dr. Serendipity Rinonos this afternoon as we await my new chemotherapy prescriptions. Maybe I'll finally get to try driving the white Camry around the immediate neighborhood. Also, seeing and hearing from Anita and Jim sounds like a great idea.  And that home exercise. And, finally, I'll see if I can't get Melissa to take me down to change my voting party affiliation. Looks like I'm become bummed out on one of them while warming up to the other. In an event, I intend to alternate physical and mental activity with frequent rest breaks... 

ipf 58 min Early Morning Hope and Thanks for Day

 This morning I got up early...it's between 6;30 and 7.  I did 8 minutes of ipf, and feel encouraged to try some more.  Anita and Jim should come over for a while a little later...very much looking forward to that.  As the day goes on, I'd like to straighten out getting printed translations in Russian, German and French for me to practice on.  Doing some backyard walking on this day in which the weather temperature will be turning much colder will help out, I believe.  main thing is to be loving, content and grateful and enjoy life...

Arose Early Today, Saturday Morning

 It's already close to 5:30 on this Saturday morning, and I've been up just a little while with some good-tasting coffee on the brew.  I'm looking forward to a nice visit with Anita, who has traveled here from Austin.  I am 69 years old and feel betrayed by a sudden, dismal cancer diagnosis from four months ago following brain cancer removal surgery.  I'm committed to keeping up with treatments, but the oncologists don't give me anything to expect beyond maybe 14 months to live.  I just ran in place on the rug living room floor for two minutes, and plan to do some less intense cardio there.  The big ambitious personal achievement goals I once believed in are all gone now, with expectations in a social context almost extinguished...for good.  Just let's enjoy the day as it unfolds...and later on when I am weary and it folds back up.  I so much love Melissa and our sometimes wayward dog Daisy Sweet Peewee.  C'mon, girls, let's hang out!  Within the next few weeks, I'd like to get down to Depot Park near Gainesville's downtown to attempt the course, with four slow laps on the agenda. And then it's time for Dunkin' and some rest and recovery.  Right now the regular TV channels are on , along with the typical dubious community-based programming that calls for a more Woke approach.  And now, back to some home exercise and rest before the sun makes its appearance in the fog...

New Day Beckons New Direction

 Here we are again, at the start of a new calendar day. It is nearly five, and back in 2/71 I would again be waking and rising before sunrise to get a head start on things.  I just brewed a pot of nice-flavored coffee, sitting here to write this.  I have some ipf running to do.  Anita and family are to begin their long drive here from Austin, planned arrival some time late Friday...looking forward to seeing her.  I'm holding back on my invective against certain media figures...maybe I'll give them a chance to be more reasonable.  Were this 1998 att the post office, we'd right now be finishing up our incoming Gainesville scheme mail.  Since I'm not planning on going anywhere today, let's just see what the day brings without fanfare...

ipf: 34:00, Jeffries' Motives Questioned About "Islamophobia"

 USHouse minority leader Hakeem Jeffries angrily accused Randy Fine, a Republican Florida representative, of Islamophobia, leading into him taking action toward censureship.  For me, given the degree of violent extremist Islamic behavior targeting civilian Americans and Jews over the past few decades, this well-placed expressed suspicion is on the order for proper behavior, nothing at all deserving of criticism. Democrats act like they're the "good party" I'm supposed to automatically support, but what are they really doing in my interests? Actually, I strongly distrust the motives of Jeffries and wonder whether he isn't a two-faced closet Anti-Semite who secretly hates Jewish people and sympathizes with terrorists.  While avoiding ranting on the subject, this development in Woke mass censorship gives me serious pause as to which side I will support in upcoming elections.  Jeffries as the supreme Finger-Pointer? Well, back in your face, evil asswipe...

Now that I have vented about Jeffries, I'd like to walk it back a couple of steps without altering my opinion of him and his pristine party.  I feel about Democrats as I did about my union local...these groups act like I owe them my allegiance without any indication of support from them...and that union support has been very thin over the 37 years I worked at the Gainesville processing center.  Well, maybe using a little crude language isn't very effective, but I won't back off of my opinions...

Keep Quiet, and They Come After You

My lament: 

In the first Godfather movie, Don Vito Corleone refuses to enter the narcotics trade, staying quiet and put.  This only invites his enemy Virgil Solozzo to attempt assassination and start a gangland war.  In the same way I wonder whether calmly going about my postal duties on the job (back in 1998) wouldn't have welcomed harassment and bullying from the folks finding themselves with some floor supervisory authority over me at the time.  I refer here to Henry Lang., Art Green's Lorraine, Menal, Jose and the two Lisas. If I were Tom Petty or Bob Dylan I might add a few pointed lyrics for their great Jammin' Me song. Glad to be finally done with the lot of these bullies: completely useless people on every level  Oh, and near the end there was also Willy, a young, ignorant hyper-macho boo-butt bent on crushing people with his alpha-male persona and cutting, combative tongue.  Bye-bye, creepos.  Nothing wrong with me being reasonable and a good worker, but sometimes a little bluntness and confrontation can work well. Later today I have scheduled an infusion chemotherapy treatment at the Cancer Pavilion...I've reacted well so far to chemo in the past.  No ninth grade nonsense and discouragement today, and I've already done about 3 minutes of home exercise. Looks like the bigshots in state and nat'l government are at it again, trying to roll back my already-confirmed citizenship and voting status.  Leave me the eff alone, fascist jerks...

Now that that's off my chest, I'd like to shift a little into gratitude mode.  Those folks were probably, in their own minds, just doing their best and maybe to them I wasn't quite measuring up to their expectations.  Today I had a chemotherapy infusion session at the UF Health Davis Pavilion.  The techs seemed at first unable to find a stick in my arm or hand to draw the needed lab blood, but later all went well.  I'm tired after a long day and would like to rest under pleasant temperatures at home in this warmer than seasonable weather.  Tomorrow's hump day Wednesday.  I've concluded already that the Smiths' How Soon is Now is my Song of the month for February and for the year 2026 as well.  It's a profound anthem on asserting myself in the face of my shyness and deep feeling of social alienation: the ultimate Goth/melancholy song!  Go Morrissey, you hit it out of the park.  As for Bad Bunny, sorry but he just comes across to me more like a gangland hoodlum street pimp than a true musical artist with that phony woke demeanor of his.  Maybe someday one of these folks will produce something musically memorable...but maybe not.  As for Super Bowl halftime shows, though, that does it for me.  A close runner-up to How Soon is Now is Zebra's chilling Who's Behind the Door, with Tom Petty's 1987 Jammin' Me Right Behind in third with its relevant, funny and pointed lyrics.  What a rocker... Running-in-place (IPF) updated counter after today: 22 minutes...

Choosing One's Response

 A few days ago, near the start of he '26 Winter Olympics, I was dismayed to hear on the news about Trump going on a "you're a loser" angry rant against an athlete who simply answered a politically-oriented question.  This president always has an open line to contact me and discuss anything he wants, and if the highly improbable were to happen and someone shoved a mike and camera before me with a highly charged question, that's how i'd reply.  You see, I can't always control what happens to me, but more likely I have the option of being able to choose how to respond. And it's within my chosen responses that I have the opportunity for personal growth, and perhaps being able to take a positive step to help this sadly progressively degrading world we live in...

ipf 10:00

 Exercising in an insulated, protective home environment has been a huge plus.  I love those soft, stable heavy rugs on the living room floor!  i'm looking forward to returning to the old 2022-24 pattern of increasing my fitness and endurance levels this way.  Also...but not least...Happy Birthday to my wonderful sweet, dear Melissa and many hopes and prayers for the future, both near and far...

2:00 ipf

 I find this incremental system to be working better for me now.  I did this in the past and think it will improve my overall running fitness.  I just measure the time spent running in place without getting carried away with the time...

3:00 min ipf

Tomorrow morning will be a return to the old weekday cycle of grinding-long days, with little hope of receiving positive public feedback for my efforts.  Since I will have a vast amount of free uncommitted time at my disposal, I think that starting small and taking many breaks to be the best approach. With my home exercise I started with a modest amount of measured running in place. Right now i'm making the house a little warmer...

110 Miles

56 Miles

 It sadly looks now as if I'm going to be deprived of being able to freely type out my opinions here for future blog articles.  My blogsite has built-in features that deliberately restrict my data entries, often preventing me from using capital letters.  I think back to being at the USPS plant in 1998 with arrogant, dismissive bullying supervisors waiting in ambush to impede my efforts and actively sabotaging me, running me down in the process either around others or behind my back, no matter what I do or say.   And so I will wake up and arise a little later this morning.  I can still study using my coiled notebook...maybe that's where I am going with this narrative.  And fill in today's coming vast time stretch with home exercise while working on keeping an upbeat attitude...

76 Miles

26 Miles; Little Context

 I have some more things to write for today's entry.  i', going to practice carefullyyping while working things out longhand on pape. My chief lament is what I see as a deplorable lack of meaningful context to what lies before me...

31 Miles

If it were feb/1971 and i was in the 9thgrade at nova, i’ still be struggling to survive getting through this long haggering day full of abuse and bullying. Time yett o start calling in sick?!! Somebody give me a break...

41 Miles 100 Miles

Skipped Parkrun. Song of the Month.

 Click HERE to view today's https://www.parkrun.us/depotpark/results/latestresults/parkrun  results. Melissa and i skipped the event this week. If we feel better and the weather cooperate, we'll consider returning to it. in the meantime I ipicked the 1984 alternative rock son How Soon is Now, bythe Smiths, as my Son of the Month fo January. I really enjoy hearing it over and over...Morissey's lyrics are profound...

41.1 Miles

61 Miles

 I feel like Frodo Baggins near the end of the movie Return of the King, tending to feel pain and unhealing wounds.  I continue today exercising a little and resting a lot. I value silence and resent loud haranguing.  I am still optimistically guarded about the future: still have an appetite...

100 Miles

79 Miles

30.4 Miles

64 Miles 182.6 lb

Miles:10

 Click HERE to view today's results. Like Melissa, we skipped this morning's Depot Parkrun 5K. exercised some at home in the living room and we walked around the neighborhood block.  Could have felt better, though. Maybe tomorrow will be good...

Dealing With Brain Cancer, ICE, Attitude Toward Trump

Many years ago I used to freely, and quite fluently, quickly type out blog articles using my offline word processing application program found on my desktop computer at home.  Lately, though, the whole process has deteriorated into  a frustrating grind, requiring lengthy revision. I look now at what’s going on with the current president and wonder how bad things will continue toget if i  don’t accord it a considerable amount of benign neglect. After all, he’s sure to step up immigration enforcement but now I'm concerned thar copters won’r soon be hovering over my street, ready to swoop meup into custody or murder me in th process, without proper due legal process or accountability.  Well, with this aggressive brain cancer diagnosis and super-duper oncologist doinglittle-to-no confirmed treatment so far and having no expressed plan, i might even bebetter off just going on about my business while keeping up with appointments and procedures.  And i include my daily exercise mileage in the blog, right?10 miles. Time to be relaxed,quiet and still...

Resuming home exercise, Resting More

ON this dreary winter weather day, Iwish you much enjoyment while avoiding its potential negative extremes.  yesterday I covered 12 virtual miles of home exercise.Try it out, on YouTube, Ralph's The Ageless Runner channel. His wisdom on the subject is well worth heeding. So I'll be doing more home exercise. God bless you...  

Lots   of mornings, if  not most of them, I get up pretty early according to the the world's standards and put on some regular flavored coffee to brew. Today so far I ran on the living room rug floor for 'my biased equivalent of eleven miles, helping me to gradually get back into some semblance of independent jogging that I hope can transfer well to Parkrun 5ks and neighborhood routines.  it would be nice to have  a regular slow-pqce jogging buddy, without all that tired old competitive ideology pushing for fast, punishing training and fast finishing times in races.     in other words, friend, just give me the course and your blessings to go with it.  i'd also like to gain confidence when I spill out my sometimes neqr-random thoughts on my good AlphqSmart portable word processor..     I can see myself getting real good at this before long.And then once I'v been typing and exerecising again a bit, I mIght want to take some little breaks. And then the're's the rest of the wide-open morning to look forward to, as well as the day beyond. Since my brain surgery almost 3 months ago, most of life's demands and pressures have lifted off me, AS this goes on, I'd like to feel freer to go on a sometimes lengthier rest breakperiodfrom time to time. Here's for a day like that...

 

 19.2 miles

Ralph's YoTube Running Advice Woorthy

 ON this dreary winter weather day, I wish you all enjoyi and avoid its potential extremes.  Yesterday I covered 12 virtual miles of home exercise.Try out, on YouTube, Ralph's The Ageless Runn channel. His wisdom on the subject is well with worth heeding. So I'll be doing more home exercise today. God bless you...  

 

my reflective reset:Where do I go from here

 MY reflective reset: Where do I go from Here?

Often lately I have been reminiscing of a specific time in my distant past, when I was returning to Nova High School as a ninth year student in the summer of 1970.  Back then it seemed th future was wide open and optimism was warranted. But soon the emotionally exhausting daily grind would settle in over me about having to contend with apathetic and abusive teachers and classmates, making even beginning to do the homework regularly dumped on me impossible. I even devised a workable strategy involving getting up before sunrise and doing it, with some instant coffee, qt the dining room table. Only problem is that my mother never trusted me and made it clear that I was the one she insisted hqd to prove myself to her,  when it was she who was the one who needed to gain my trust, with her often threatening to suddenly pull me out of NOva and send me to MAaArthur.O Well, I have my brain cancer diagnosis and once again I have to lean on Melissa for her to prove her own al-ready-proventrustorthiness for me.YET I'Ve only been provided an indeterminent, awfully inadequate span of time to remain alive until this gbm finally takes over, only to die out soon after I'm gone.I will use pen and paper to create my strategy for active survival. I really must be free to drive the white Camry, to go on weekly Pqrkruns when chances arise, and  dutifully and consistently perform the crucial home  exercises on the living room floor.   And, Melissa, thank you so much and God bless you...

vran2.4 miles

Mile exercised, yesterday& today

 my virtual miles for WED 1/14amounted to4.3. Maybe todayI'll do better...

Scump's Planned Bullying of Americans for When He Turns 80

One of thmost visually unappealing US presidents i've seen is the current one, DonaldTrump,also very unpopular as a monster egomaniac, andwihout ny concience to speak of,is due in a couple of months to celebrate turning eighty, a spectacle that I imagine will go off with shameless overhype and overspending.In the meantime i'm predicting yet another tedious "No Kings"Saturday protest rally at a local city park which i plan to boycott. See you then, coppers, when  then you setyourselves up for your own police riot...                           coming over then to,roundus ofd geezers                                                                                                                                              off to jail9(if they don't shoot us irst). sountil then it's all ""HOOray for myself.''.this dude seems to rival convicted and executed serial killer Ted Bundywith his own death obsession, how many people he hates and how many he thinks he will get away with killing...beforea higher auhoriyintervnes in rescue. WithTrump, I truly seea villain of our times.hohewants to bring America to its knee and degrade our own lives.. I believe he has the heart of a murderer. BUT like Michael Corleone in the movie The Godfather PartII, OUR President feels he has to have his buffer between hi sown button-pushers and hi viictim. An it's always the victim's fault, right?                                                                                                            aa                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Showed up with Melissa to walk Today's Depot Parkrun5k

 I walked, with Melissa, this morning'sDepot Parkrun 5K, held just a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville.Click HERE to viewtoday's posted results...Next Saturday should be colder here, so showing up will be quite an accomplishment..I'm stiill taken aback at Parkrun's refusal to recognize my latest volunteering effort there, which would be my tenth overall... that sounds a lot like ghosting (or shunning) to me and sadly diminishes any trust I feel for this group's leadership...'

Atttention-Addicted President on the Warpath Again

  I am not at all looking forward to Donald Trump's next year in power as our 47th president.  The man seems to be doing everything he possibly can to degrade life for Americans like me and to lower my country's standing and status in the eyes of the world.  He s addicted to grabbing for headlines; there's always a deliberately outrageous announcement in the works from him. Early in 2025, just as I was about to get on my OPM website at the start of my postal retirement, h e had his henchman Elon Musk, cynically playing the DOGE role, suddenly show up in Washington with chainsaw and an insane maniacal expression as he invaded the OPM,sending out emailed threats to arbitrarily fire thousands of federal employees...I stayed away from there and Musk quickly became the most hated name in my country with widespread protests, Tesla boycotts and vandalism. Well, we'll see exactly what it will take before people begin to elect some polititionsfrom my own party this fall.My full expectation is that he will boastfully sell Ukraine down the river as it struggles to maintain its independent existence against invading Russia...

Reprint of 1/7/21 Article 5 Years After Fascist Attempts to OverthrowTrump's 2020 Electoral DEfeat

I looked up the definition of "facism" on Bing..."an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization".  So henceforth, in light of the attempted coup d'état instigated by Donald Trump and carried out by his personality-cult-transfixed worshippers when they stormed the Capitol during Congress's counting of the Electoral College vote certifying Joseph Biden as the next president, I am now classifying those senators and representatives voting to object to the count and thereby overturn our democratic election as "fascist", no longer Republican.  I am also calling Trump, who expressed approval of the defeat of his own party's US Senate candidates from Georgia, a "fascist" along the lines of Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco.  But not Vice-President Pence, who in the final hour has demonstrated courage in the face of God knows how much pressure to conform to Trump's dictatorial agenda.  Here is a link to the list of who I consider to be fascist traitors...including Kat Cammack, my own newly-sworn in (to uphold the US Constitution) representative and my senator Rick Scott: [Congressional Objectors List].  By the way, a poll recorded that 45% of Republicans at large approved of the insurrection yesterday: they're fascists as well, in my estimation.  After a little home exercise, I can report that I have reached 2.0  virtual miles for today...

About Bad Computer Keyboard, Running Training Plans

 In this world of expeted instant stimulation and gratification, i hope for the time in which I can just sit around somewhere and think, write and study...along with a nice little hot or decaf coffee.  I want to get back into regular journaling, where I type out my thoughts offline on my word processor and save them to computer without any need to be online.  Assuming I hopefully have10-15 years ahead of me to live on a decently mentally and physically active level, to start learning new language sounds like a good idea, as does getting back to long-distance running.  n participating in hal-marathons, along with training sessions focusing on my home and surrounding neighborhoods. I'm very tired of these defective old keyboards that don't properly translate my keying efforts to the screen or file. More to come, maybe. Today I exercised enough to pick I pick up1.0 virtual miles. Let's see what happens tomorrow...

At Depot Parkrun Today, Melissa and I Show Up and Walk a Lap

 My total virtual miles for today: 7.0. Melissa, who felt sore this morning, still drove me on down to Depot Park for their Parkrun.  After the first .7-mile lap, though, we agreed to end it for this week.Throughout today's event, I felt out of shape.  Later today I was up for a brisk walk around our block, and exercised while watching some YouTube. We're planning on going to the beach on Sunday, so we'll see how that goes. Writing blog articles on this Chromebook has become very frustrating for me because the keyboard has become almost impossible to type on.. it's probably time for a new computer with a decent keyboard...

Exercised Today, Rest and Eating Restraint Ahead

 4.8 total virtual miles.  That's my day's results.  I resisted inertia and exercised today...hooray! I didn't need to be anywhere medical, so I remained at home. Rest is on the agenda, as well as restraint regarding food intake.  Tomorrow morning will mark another Depot Parkrun.  I'm looking forward to walking this 5K event at a self-challenging, honest pace and anyone is welcome to pass me along the way.  May the weather go well for tomorrow morning and Melissa feel good and energetic. Well, I guess that's it for today...

Completed 100th Parkrun with Melissa this Very Chilly Morning

 For Gainesille's New Year's Day Parkrun 5K, the event organizers decided to combine the Depot Park and West End Community Park locations, holding our event at the latter.  For Melissa and me it was to be my 100th overall Parkrun finish (her 16th),and I was determined to show up (with Melissa driving), walk the distance and then write about it.  The people who greeted us there this morning a little past seven were very friendly.  When the timers started it at 7:30, Melissa...who was using walking stiicks pretty skillfully, in my estimation...confidently tackled the convoluted and confusing course with a moderately brisk walk. there were numerous twists and turns there making me suspect that we had lost our way, but toward the end of the 3.1-mile Parkurn I felt I had always been on course, alhough later the total covered distance seemed long, closer to the 3.48 miles figure i read on my Fitbit watch after a preview run last July.  We returned home and I rested. it was rough then looking for warm clothing as I could tell that it would be awfully cold out there...and it was.  Tomorrow morning Depot Park has a new 2026 Parkrun 5K, and I"m looking forward to walking and/or running, slow old geezer that I already imagine myself to be.  Meanwhile, I continue fighting cancer and try telling myself to get up more and exercise...

Final Radiation Round, Difficult LIves, Exercise

Yesterday marked the last scheduled round of radiation therapy, set to end at the close of six weeks just before the year's end.  Sweet Melissa drove me down there to the Davis Cancer Pavillion at UF Health and we saw two oncologist physicians nearly immediately afterwards.  Then I "rang the bell" to mark this minor milestone.  Before that I wrote a couple of sobering sentences into their guestbook. This is that text:

It is good to complete the six weeks of brain cancer radiation treatments, in spite of the headache side effects. My struggles against GBM continue, and it promises to be difficult and challenging. God bless you all!

The reactions I received to this somber message weren't exactly exuberant, but then again, I never asked or prayed for an easy life for myself.  After all, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee had a difficult go at it throughout their J.R.R. Tolkien-authored Lord of the Rings saga.  Harry Potter also had to undergo quite a bit of suffering throughout J.K. Rowling's excellent Harry Potter series,too. Yet these characters' experiences strengthened them and provided transformational growth because they showed up for the challenges and followed through.  This is the optimistic message I add to the first somewhat abrupt lines.  I didn't exercise this afternoon or evening, but I have confident hopes that I won' t let myself down and will dutifully perform some C-V exercise while watching virtual runs on TV..  More virtual miles to come.  Now it's eight in the evening and I just finished my daily exercise, closing out at 4.8 total virtual miles...

Cancer Treatment Prospects After Radiation Rounds

 Today was one of those days that for me have been split up into appointments, mainly medical, in which I underwent a few minutes of radiation therapy to hopefully target and zap any glioma blastoma malignancy holding fort there.  Tomorrow should be the final time for my six-week prescribed radiation rounds.  Then I get to ring the bell.  I don't think for a moment that, with this, I will have thoroughly eradicated this extremely aggressive and dangerous pathogen, known to shorten life spans down to as few as a few weeks.  So I'll be entering the year 2026 with a great feeling of uncertainty, doubt and mistrust: do the oncologists there assigned to my case really know what they are doing, and do they practice their ptofessions proactiively to aggressively combat my afflictions?  I guess I'll just have to see about that.  In spite of the gloomy doomsday prognosis laid out before me after brain surgery, I have continued with my cardiovascular exercise, on the rug in our living room.  This evening I covered 5.1 virtual miles while watching a virtual ideo on YouTube of the 2022 NYC Marathon.  Now it's up to me to get myself comfortable on the couch and see whether I get some decent sleep tonight...

Songs of the Month and Year, Exercise and Cancer Treatments

 Today was an open Sunday spent at home, with me largely withdrawing to our living room couch.  I did exeerise a bit, doing a total of 3.1 virtual miles...don't feel like I did anything, though.  I have Steve Miller Band's minor 1968 singles hit Living in the USA as my Song of December.  Also, Garbage's 2025 song There's No Future in Optimism gets my nod for 2025 Song of the Year...more about that one later.  I'm due to get another round of brain cancer radiation treatment at the UF Health Davis Pavillion.  To all of you a very good and blessed day... 

Walked Nearly All of Today's Depot Parkrun 5K

SHOW UP,

FOLLOW THROUGH

Well, after what I thought was a reasonable night's sleep, Melissa drove us down to Gainesville's pretty Depot Park, located just a few blocks south of downtown.  The sky was overcast, the temperature was a tolerable 63 degrees, but the humidity was very muggy at 99%. Before today's "race" started I told Melissa that I was going to try to walk the 4-lap, 3.-mile course as fast as I could.  But once it was ongoing, it didn't take long for most of the Parkrun participants to walk easily ahead of me.  Even the more casual runners seemed much more physically fit than me, so before long I had to reassess my goals for today, which came down to simply crossing the finish line. For a substantial portion of the fourth and final lap, I broke into a casual, light run  That I did, with a personally timed finish of 54:26.  Click HERE to view the posted results, which I think the timers and processors in good faith botched to my disadvantage.  The New Year's Day morning Parkurn 5K will be a combination of Gainesville's two Parkruns.  West End Community Park will host this one, temporarily skipping Depot Park for this special event.  As for me, I am beyond being bound to a competitive spirit that involves me comparing myself to others...I no longer care.  I just want become more fit, and I have the means to achieve much of this in the face of potentially distracting and debilitating complicated medical treatment for my stated bummer of a diagnosis.  But today's Parkrun goes down as a  personal success story because I showed up and followed through. This was my 99th Parkrun finish.  To attain Parkun #100, my intention is to go with Melissa to walk their special New Year's Day Parkrun. For the precious two days I had been skipping exercise sessions, but this afternoon and early eveninI willed myself to "rock-run" up to a day's total of 12.5 virtual miles (added to the Parkrun distance) while following Peter's slow-but amazing exploits during the 2022 New York City Marathon.  And now the living room gym is closed for the night as I allow myself to enter rest/sleep mode.  With more activity anticipated for tomorrow, i quote Morgan Freeman from that recent pharmaceutical commercial,;"Time to get busy living"...

Merry Christmas from Me with a Minimal Appetite

 Merry Christmas, everyone! Today we greeted this holiday and visited our good friends, who live on the western outskirts of Gainesville. The food was wonderful and so was the company.  I had a very small appetite and filled up quickly, wanting to take a nap on their couch.  We went back home and I rested, skipping the exercise routine I had planned.  Later on I watchd, while resting, a couple of NBA games and some Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime channel.  Well, time to get a decent night's sleep. Happy holidays...

Latest Snowy Jigsaw Puzzle, Exercise Plans

 

Well, late yesterday I completed a cute 300-piece jigsaw puzzle of two snowmen with several sweet-looking little animals: a pony, two affectionate pigs, a cat, squirrel, horse and rabbit.  At the end it seemed I lacked a single piece.  Getting its finished photo uploaded to Google Fotos was a little challenging, but there you see it!  Now I've just finished my dinner with Melissa at Nopal...no residual hunger here.  I suffered from some level four headaches this morning, probably in major part stemming from cumulative effects of radiation treatments since Novmber 17rh.  Melissa has brought forth the idea of having my head capped with a special electronically-powered device to help fight the development and./or reproduction of glioblastoma multiforme cancer within my sensitive, sad little brain.  I forgot the name...refreshing with Google should properly inform me.  Yet for someone with such a bummer of a cancer diagnosis, I still feel pretty doggone healthy.  I'm still susceptible to tiredness from late in the day as evening and darkness approach. My plan is to exercise on our living room rug while watching Peter...back in 2022...as he struggles to cover that year's Nw York City Marathon on YouTube.  Should be interesting.  In the previous two or three days each my virtual mile totals haven't risen beyond one and a fraction...let's see if I can't beat that figure tonight. IT's now eight in the evening and I have finished my evening living room exercise session, with 5.0 total virtual miles. Merry Christmas!  By the way, if it's five til midnight and a humungous train with "POLAR EXPRESS" on its side pulls up in front of your house, then seriously consider getting on board, especially if the conductor looks and sounds like Tom Hanks...

Filling in the Blog Gaps to Cover Missing Days

For the most part, I have continued to be faithful in writing and posting daily blog articles.  Sometimes, though, a calendar day will come and go without any posted article from me.  But I have a way to get around that: backpost "yesterday's" article!  Which is exactly what I'm doing this morning.  The trick is for me to search my short-term memory for information I can write about, as if it were ongoing and not just something that happened the previous day.  "Officially", tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the 24th of December.  That's the date I'm posting this blog entry about filling in missing days with blog articles.  I looked up "back-posting" on Google and got answers related to crocheting, for all the good it did me.  Still, I fully intend to make use of this blogging ploy to fill in as many of my blogging gaps as possible.  Merry Christmas!

More Radiation, Headaches, TV Football...and About Sleep

 Today Melissa took me down to the UF Healh Davis Cancer Pavillion for another round of radiation treatment, after which an oncologist assigned to my case consulted with us.  Then, following a weekly lab blood draw, I talked with Amy, the nurse practitioner working under Dr. Rinonos, my chief oncologist.  We discussed the possibility of surviving a limited and pessimistic lifespan prognosis following diagnosis with an aggressive variety of brain cancer, which I just underwent.  I guess I"ll just live as long as I live...hopefully enjoying life as time winds on.  I did little-to-no home exercise, My virtual miles for the day being a little more than one.  The featured televised pro football was uninteresting, and I probably slept through much of it.  My FitBit has recently been very uninformative regarding my length of sleep time and my sleep quality...I don't know when or if it will resume being useful.  I have more radiation scheduled tomorrow.  I'm hoping that my headaches in the morning will be light...

Officials Hand Close Victory to Steelers Over LIons

 On this Sunday in the weekend preceding Christmas week, 2025, there were some NFL games being played, with teams on the outside of the postseason playoffs picture struggling to get themselves better positioned for eligibility.  One of these are the Detroit Lions, who were sensational in 2024 but have declined this season with their offense and defense.  They were 8-6 entering their home contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the last one for the 2025 regular season.  Pitt led for most of the game against the Lions, but the latter put on a furious comeback trying to win it in the end.  Then with just a few seconds left, quarterback Jared Goff threw a short toughdown pass in the front corner of the Steeler end zone and for a very short time Detroit had taken a shocking 30-29 lead, causing dejection along the Steeler sideline.  But an offensive pass interference penalty was promptly called, setting Detroit back.  But they held on and apparently scored "again" on a bizarre play...only to have it negated with a penalty: The officiating crew seemed to take pleasure in slapping down Detroit and handing Pittsburgh the victory, which makes the Lions' playoff prospects very doubtful.  I strongly dislike seeing this sort of mischief going on with penalties or non-penalities (or fast whistles) becoming directly responsible for a game's outcome.  It makes me want to turn off the TV in frustration.  In the long run it makes no difference whether "my" team wins a game or not, but the way the so-called authorities enforce their rules on the playing field can completely extinguish within me the feeling that they is any real level of intregity to the sport.  Why follow it any more...

Walked with Melissa in Today's Chilly Depot Parkrun 5K

n

I'm writing this from the perspective of a tired guy early in the evening.  For the day, exercise-wise, I did a total o 8.4 virtual miles (v-miles). This morning,  after a lackluster night of fitful sleep, I awoke early and then went back to bed after Melissa administered my daily dose of Zofran. Planning to bundle up in order to withstand the low forties expected at Gainesville's Depot Park at 7:30 this morning, I had my alarm at a short snooze time span set to give me enough time to avoid getting there late.  But even with the clothing that was available, when today's (#317) Depot Parkrun 5K began, I felt very, very uncomfortable.  With no concerns about my energy level, I wondered whether the nasty cold morning conditions might force upon me the decision as to whether I should continue. Nevertheless, the two us stuck it out to the end, even though I thought that it was annoying that, from time to time, there seemed to be a lot of Parkrunners "sharing" the immediate course around me.  Toward the end of our walk I broke out ahead into my own modest version of race-walking.  My finishing time was 1:09:35...you can view the posted results by clicking HERE I've long given up on the hope of achieving fast finishing times at Parkrun events.  For me it's come down to two simple themes: SHOW UP and FOLLOW THROUGH.  This event marks the 98th one i've entered and finished since I began Parkruns in January 2019.  The goal is to do Parkrun #100 on New Year's Day at West End Community Park on January 1st, 2026. Be there or be square...

College Football Playoffs Commence...in the Evening

 Today we paid the UF Health Davis Cancer Pavilion another visit.  There I went through a radiation therapy round.  Later our dear friend Lisa paid us a visit and we had chili for dinner.  In the evening ESPN was overhyping their first broadcast college football playoff game for the 2025 season, with Oklahoma hosting Alabama in Norman.  The Sooner fans pregame seemed pretty smug about their team's superiority over the Crimson Tide, whose reputation for winning was tarnished following legendary coach Nick Saban's retirement.  Knowing that a Depot Parkrun 5K is scheduled for tomorrow morning and that Melissa is planning to walk it with me, I settled comfortably on the living room couch with the TV set on the game.  When I woke up toward midnight, it was late in the fourth quarter and Oklahoma was ten points behind, desperately trying to catch up before the game clock expired.  Twice they stopped their own drives to bring in their own placekicker, who missed both makeable attempts badly.  Then the camera panned out to the crowd of spectators, showing people looking aghast with their mouths open in shocked dismay.  So "Bama came from 17 points down to improbably win and advance. Next, they play Indiana on the road in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.  Tomorrow a lot of college playoff games are scheduled, and I'll probably be dutifully following them as well.  As for today's exercise, I had 2.4 virtual-equivalent miles...  

LifeSouth's Chronic Ghosting About its "Race Weekend"

 For my daily existence following the big diagnosis, exercise into Zone One is an important activity.  However, in rocking forward and backward simultaneously on my feet, I don't think that in doing so I am making it easier to run stretches of races, such as the Parkrun 5Ks.  Only actually getting out there and taking the steps will help me in this regard.  With winter almost here, I am also keenly aware of the seasonal time pressure to take advantage of the sparse opportunities offered for meaningful long distance races.  Several years ago I had as racing options the January Ocala Marathon/Half Marathon...they're long gone, sadly.  The LifeSouth Five Points of Life long distance events were consistently held from 2006 to 2020...until COVID hit and ruined everything.  When they resumed in 2022 with a half-marathon, the low number of entrants apparently disappointed the organizers and the non-profit blood-donation organization enough for them to stop holding it.  Only they never announced that the races were over, and didn't respond to queries about this decision.  That's called ghosting, and it's a highly disrespectful, deliberate breach in communication.  Earlier this year I had discussed with my cardiologist possibly going back to donating blood to LifeSouth...I'm O+, the "universal donor" designation, with my cardiologist.  But because of the medications he has me on, his answer was squarely "NO".  So when LifeSouth pestered me with another annoying plea for blood donation, I replied with my medical explanation.  No response.  Then I wrote them how I felt about their "race Weekend" cancellation and their refusal to be up-front and candid about it.  No response.  Hey, you bloodies, you can stop holding your running events, and I'll be disappointed but still supportive, if only you just make the expected announcements.  Now I'm seeing stuff on the Internet about how the Five Points marathon.half-marathon has been announced without any sign of detail regarding the February 2026 dates and sign-up information.  My take is that they're (expletive deleted) on us, or ghosting, and that they'll let the anticipated "race weekends" pass by with no communication from them. Yet they will still continue to harass me with accusatory emails and text messages emphasizing that (MY) desperately needed blood donations to them aren't just the most important thing: they're the only thing!  Well, with quickly fading hopes of getting some information about a potential Five Points Gainesville race in February, I went to my YouTube account and searched for information.  The answer directed me to a channel run by ultramarathoner Wes Plate.  Now I like ultramarathon runners like Dean Karanazes who are upbeat about promoting their sport: I like to hear their stories.  Plate's video was 8 minutes long, giving him plenty of time to mention LifeSouth and what their intentions were.  Only he did nothing of the kind, and all I got was a discussion of ultramarathon races to come, including a 300K event (180 miles) in steamy Tennessee.  Plate's video saddened me, and in my own state of medical health I don't see myself training up to being able to cover distances in excess of a marathon (26.2 miles) length.  The Florida Track Club Marathon next month to me is a dud event, and I resent the organizers' half-assed time restriction of six hours beyond which they reserve the right to refuse to time and post for entrants who are on the slower side of that figure.  My idea and estimation of public racing have greatly shrunk over the last two or three years, with LifeSouth going into Ghost Mode (aka giving us the Finger) and Florida Track Club dropping the ball, marginalizing runners and walkers while pampering those they regard as "elite".  And the non-profit side of FTC, along with its president, clearly holds aging people like me, fighting cancer and with diminishing athletic abilities, in contempt.  Well, ghosting can be a two-way street... 

I'm a Sick Billy-Boy, They Say

 Up until the October 21st ct-scan done on my head that determined a presumably cancerous, rapidly growing golfball-size tumor in my brain, my general state of health, medically speaking, was determined to be good.  But after the brain surgery done three days later, it was confirmed that I am afflicted with an aggressive variant of brain cancer called GBM, or Glioblastoma Multiforme.  It's an open question as to whether treatment strategies like chemotherapy or radiation will arrest the GBM development or reduce it, but I've been enthusiastic about going along with the prescribed program.  So far, my adverse reactions to treatment...mainly radiation...have been brain inflammation and headaches, partially remedied by steroid capsules and OTC capsules like extra-strength Tylenol.  But I'm still susceptible to getting tired over the course of a typically long day, and on weekdays I usually spend a substantial amount of time with Melissa meeting doctor and radiation therapy appointments at UF Health.  Doctors like my oncologist and the skillful surgeon who operated on my brain encourage me to be physically active while listening to my body in a cautionary way.  I've already scaled back my running training, avoid gym treadmills and show up consistently to Saturday morning Parkrun 5K events in which walking takes center stage, usually with Melissa and me.  Still, it can be a matter of testing my will power to cover the race's course from start to finish.  At home, I have been using my living room floor...with a lot of rug covering...to exercise while watching TV and dutifully record  my times spent in Zone One movement.  Today I covered (virtually) the equivalent of 4.4 miles before finally calling it a night.

The medical authorities say I'm sick with an aggressive variety of brain cancer and the prognosis for a reasonable number of years ahead to live is limited and subject to how my brain responds to the prescribed treatment regimen.  Yet, by all acounts, I do well with blood tests and vital signs.  I have a good appetite and food gets easily digested and passes though my body without trouble.  I don't know how much time I have remaining on Earth before my body dies...or the Earth around me from my own subjective point of view.  That far-reaching video by the alternative rock band My Chemical Romance titled Welcome to the Black Parade vividly presents this notion, and I recommend it if only to broaden your perspectives.  Just copy and paste the title, once you're on YouTube, into the site's search engine.  It is , in my opinion, that band's crowning achievement and can really bring on the tears for how the singer deeply honors his father.  As for my own life, I'll just carry on, although at this stage it seems like I'm in a decaying orbit, destined to burn up and crash.  Let sustained life and quality of life be my true destination, both short and long term...

Catching Up on Late Blog Articles

 I'm writing this article retroactively, by one calendar day, as I've slipped a little behind in my daily habit of posting blog articles.  With the cancer treatment regimen I'm in the middle of, the radiation therapy, now with 19 sessions behind me, appears to be causing the side effect of brain inflammation.  This can lead to pain, and Melissa has been great at communicating this with my physicians.  Now I have some medicine that should mitigate the symptoms.  The radiation treatments are scheduled to run to the end of 2025, and i'm fervently hoping (and praying) that I'll be able to sustain them without too much trouble on the side.  Tonight they had a college basketball game on TV between Florida State and Dayton.  The Flyers, playing at home, were clearly better shooters and ball handlers: it wasn't even close.  Well, let's see if I can't crank out today's article before midnight rolls around...

Latest Jigsaw Puzzle, Medical Visits, Home Exercise

If you're reading this article after seeing the picture at the top, then you're probably expecting something about the jigsaw puzzle I just finished putting together.  It is a cute picture of five smiling dogs, pretending to be human, outside having a fun picnic, 500 pieces in total.  For days I had the puzzle laid out on a plastic tabletop in the living room, the pieces stubbornly resistant to my eyes and pattern recognition.  I told Melissa of my goal of finishing it this evening, after a discouraging feeling of stagnation in making progress, and she gave me a crucially helpful hint.  So I set about the task and, now you see it!  This happened after coming home from UF Health radiation treatment and a visit with Dr. Koch, my very capable brain surgeon from October 24th.  He encouraged me to be active while listening carefully to my body...very reasonable and wise.  I've also been exercising in the living room, continuing to tally up virtual-equivalent miles, today's total being 9.9 miles.  Today I made use of the YouTube Runner's Digest channel's point-of-view video of the 2024 United Airlines New York City Half-Marathon.  It is inspiring me to check out some more virtual running videos, including some from that young Chinese athlete.  I still want to build up my own running strength and endurance to the point where I feel confident participating in some near-future middle-to long-distance events...   

Unstructured Sunday, Exercise, TV Football

 Today is Sunday, one of those unstructured days that depend on me to stake out a kind of personal schedule.  Still, over this day's span, time seems vast.  Yet it's only inevitable that the afternoon will creep on through, culminating in evening.  I took advantage of the early morning hours to exercise with virtual running in the living room, to a YouTube video of 2024's New York City Half-Marathon.  Later in the day I did a brisk (for me) 3.3-mile walk though my home neighborhood.  My daily mileage total for today came to 9.9 miles.  I followed some NFL football on TV, highlighted by an entertaining contest in Southern California between the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions.  I'd like to see both teams make the postseason playoffs, but I have my doubts about Detroit's prospects this time around in 2025.  Tomorrow it's back to UF Health cancer treatments and doctor consults...with a lab blood draw to top it off...

Covered Today's Chilly Depot Parkrun 5K

This morning when I woke up between three and four I could tell that I had been able to sleep a reasonable number of hours, for which my FitBit gave me due credit.  Then I decided to do rok-running exercises on the living room run while watching the final 1:33 of the NYC Marathon, from the perspective of a friendly and talented young Chinese athlete.  That accomplished, Melissa then awoke and furnished me my daily chemotherapy capsules.  My watch gave the temperature first at around 40 degrees, then jumping to 43 and sticking there thoughout our cold Depot Parkrun 5K experience...it's showing that figure now with the real temperature in the seventiies!  I walked the course with Melissa until the final two laps, when I did have to take a jogging break to the bathroom.  She suggested I finish the event by running some, which I did with a finishing time of 1 hour 4 minutes 58 seconds.  Click HERE to view the posted results.  We enjoyed some Dunkin' Donuts afterwards and I'v just risen from a mid-day nap.  The four-lap walk through the park on this cold morning, which stung my hands, wasn't a very enjoyable physical experience to endure, but I'm happy we did it and entertain hopes of injecting some more running into future possible Depot Parkruns,  I do think that indoor virtual training is helping me. Right now it's close to 7:30 pm and I've just eaten a modest dinner that friends brought over.  No more appetite for a while...maybe a little more living room exercise and it'll be time to close shop for the night...

Bucs Lose, and My Exercises for Today

 Last night it was approaching midnight when I decided to check in about how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were doing against their divisional rival Atlanta Falcons, who were suffering a disappointing season with a 4-9 record.  The Bucs had built up a solid 28-13 lead in the second half, but failed to score again as the Falcons made their fourth quarter comeback.  As the game was winding down toward the final two-minute warning, Tampa Bay had their opportunity to run out the game clock and win by two points by achieving two first downs, but as Atlanta used up their last time out, the Bucs fell short at the 2-minute break and had to punt the ball back.  Backup quarterback Kirk Cousins, for whom erratic sports commentator Stephen A. Smith rarely has a complimentary word regarding his level of play, then led his team to be within field goal range with a small number of downfield pass completions in spite of suffering a significant sack along the way.  Tampa Bay lost 29-28, due to that field goal as time ran out.  They are now 7-7.  For their last three regular season games, Carolina is the opponent in two of them and Miami in the remainder.  All the Bucs have to do is beat the Panthers in both of their games and they would automatically earn for themselves the tiebreaker advantage to enter the NFL postseason playoffs...Atlanta just needs to rebuild for next year. But I'm not so confident that this team has what it takes to advance deeply in the playoffs...winning just one game would be a great chore.  Baker Mayfield is a good franchise quarterback, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need more talent and cohesion.  Oh, later today I "kept the faith" and did some significant Zone One Exercises while watching a Chinese national's point-of-view video of his 2019 New York City Marathon race experience.  He is really quite the extraordinary athlete, humorous and extroverted, greeting and encouraging several (perceived) Chinese runners in Chinese on the interesting course just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out on in Wuhan before spreading across the world ( and causing more than a million USA deaths).  I followed the YouTube video (on Run Memory Flowers channel) from the start before pausing it at 1hour 53 minutes, planning to complete it tomorrow.  I amassed 12,9 virtual-equivalent miles before stopping for the night just a short time ago.  Tomorrow morning another Parkrun 5K is scheduled at Gainesville's Depot Park.  I'd like to go and cover it, as would Melissa.  I don't have high expectations for my sleep tonight, in terms of its length or quality.  Still, the alarm is set afor 5:45 and I am determined to show up and follow through...

The Weather Channel, Named Winter Storms, and My Day Today

 Sometimes in the morning I watch The Weather Channel, which disusses the ongoing national weather, a long with making forecasts.  This is especially pertinent to our current late fall/early winter season, and I enjoy seeing meterorologists like Paul Goodloe or Molly McCollum reporting from a windy, snowbound location such as Minnesota or the south Chicago beach on Lake Michigan.  I was concerned that the bigshots in the studio were deliberately shunning the channel's own system of naming winter storms...so far we've gone through "Chan", with "Devin" next in line.  I Googled this concern, and their response was that no one's avoiding anything, just applying a more rigorous standard to what constitutes a "winter storm" in their minds.  We'll I guess that before long we'll see some morning show headlines highlighting more named winter storms.  In the meantime temperatures here in Gainesville are slated to dip into cold zones, maybe down into the thirties.  Today I took my chemotherapy dose of capsules and showed up at radiation therapy, happily meeting with three different excellent oncologists.  At home I intentionally did indoor exercises for an equivalent distance of thirteen miles.  It's been a good day, and I'm looking forward to more of them...