It's so f'ing great to be alive!

[Orestes Munn]

My ride to work in a soft rain this morning:

Untitled.jpg

I've got about 30 more April 18ths to look forward to, if I'm lucky, and I'm going to treasure every one.

[bob perry]

Good for you Eric. Looks like a great ride.

[LarryHoward]

Nice ride Eric. I take it the back is feeling better?

[kimbottles]

I love a guy who rides a route to add miles instead of taking the direct route to work. Is the longer route a better bike route too?

[Orestes Munn]

Kim, the long way is a lot prettier with more vertical, small roads, and less traffic. Today it was just like the PNW without the mountains, the ocean, and the clean, evergreen-scented air.

Bob, you are one of my inspirations to make the most of every day I'm given and Larry, yes, I'm not 100% yet, but feeling pretty damn good, these days. I hope that, this Northern Hemisphere spring, everyone gets even a little flash of what I experienced so strongly this morning.

[Soñadora]

awesome

It's raining/freezing rain/sleet/snow/fire/brimstone here

[Orestes Munn]

awesome

It's raining/freezing rain/sleet/snow/fire/brimstone here

I'm sure it's building character and growing chest hair on someone. Today's gentle showers will no doubt bring the lawyers into full bloom here.

[Britches]

That's fantastic Eric, and a great way to start the day. As Rick mentioned, spring has not quite arrived here yet, but when it does I'm looking forward to some beautiful early mornings myself, hopefully sans chest hair!

On a side note, that route map reminded me of my one experience in Bethesda. I was presenting at an AANEM conference in DC a few years back and decided to take an afternoon to watch a Georgetown rugby match. I took a cab to the match which to my surprise was being held behind a Bethesda elementry (I think anyway) school. When I called to get a cab to take me back they informed me that I had to pay for the fare there and back, and as a broke recently out of college kid I didn't want to have to foot the bill in the event Mayo wasn't thrilled to cover an $80 dollar cab ride, so I walked. At least it was a nice day...Now that I'm looking back on it, I'm thinking "Are you sure there weren't any other options, Stacy?" Oh well. I made it back safe and sound.

[Orestes Munn]

That's fantastic Eric, and a great way to start the day. As Rick mentioned, spring has not quite arrived here yet, but when it does I'm looking forward to some beautiful early mornings myself, hopefully sans chest hair!

On a side note, that route map reminded me of my one experience in Bethesda. I was presenting at an AANEM conference in DC a few years back and decided to take an afternoon to watch a Georgetown rugby match. I took a cab to the match which to my surprise was being held behind a Bethesda elementry (I think anyway) school. When I called to get a cab to take me back they informed me that I had to pay for the fare there and back, and as a broke recently out of college kid I didn't want to have to foot the bill in the event Mayo wasn't thrilled to cover an $80 dollar cab ride, so I walked. At least it was a nice day...Now that I'm looking back on it, I'm thinking "Are you sure there weren't any other options, Stacy?" Oh well. I made it back safe and sound.

I've never heard of anyone being charged like that. Sounds like larceny. Are you a rugby player?

I gave a talk at an AANEM meeting once many years ago, having been a clinical neurophysiologist of sorts in a previous life. Might have been in DC, too, which would have made me a cheap speaker.

[Britches]

Small world! I was a part of a team doing a talk on Intra-op Neuromonitoring techniques. I felt bad for those poor volunteers. I don't think they knew what they were getting into. One of our PM&R docs stepped up to the plate when it came down to the motor evoked potential discussion/demo. No thanks! This was also the year I was propositioned by a man at the conference - he said he would give me $50k to give him a child. That was a strange trip...I haven't been back to DC since.

As far as being a rugby player, my husband played for the mens team in Rochester, and I would go to practice to help round out numbers when needed. I played in one memorial tournament, but otherwise I wasn't allowed. That was fine, it was more fun to tailgate and drink beer on the sidelines.

[Orestes Munn]

Small world! I was a part of a team doing a talk on Intra-op Neuromonitoring techniques. I felt bad for those poor volunteers. I don't think they knew what they were getting into. One of our PM&R docs stepped up to the plate when it came down to the motor evoked potential discussion/demo. No thanks! This was also the year I was propositioned by a man at the conference - he said he would give me $50k to give him a child. That was a strange trip...I haven't been back to DC since.

As far as being a rugby player, my husband played for the mens team in Rochester, and I would go to practice to help round out numbers when needed. I played in one memorial tournament, but otherwise I wasn't allowed. That was fine, it was more fun to tailgate and drink beer on the sidelines.

That's a hell of a proposition! Probably a neurologist. Some of us are a percentile or two past "pleasant to be with" on the autistic spectrum. Did he have dandruff on his blazer and cheap shoes?

I assume those were electrical and not magnetic MEPs. They hurt!

[Britches]

Small world! I was a part of a team doing a talk on Intra-op Neuromonitoring techniques. I felt bad for those poor volunteers. I don't think they knew what they were getting into. One of our PM&R docs stepped up to the plate when it came down to the motor evoked potential discussion/demo. No thanks! This was also the year I was propositioned by a man at the conference - he said he would give me $50k to give him a child. That was a strange trip...I haven't been back to DC since.

As far as being a rugby player, my husband played for the mens team in Rochester, and I would go to practice to help round out numbers when needed. I played in one memorial tournament, but otherwise I wasn't allowed. That was fine, it was more fun to tailgate and drink beer on the sidelines.

That's a hell of a proposition! Probably a neurologist. Some of us are a percentile or two past "pleasant to be with" on the autistic spectrum. Did he have dandruff on his blazer and cheap shoes?

I assume those were electrical and not magnetic MEPs. They hurt!

Ha! I don't remember what he was wearing, all I remember was running into him in the lobby of the hotel, hearing his words and being absolutely shocked. I thought things like that only happened in movies lol. Oh how naive. I had seen him at a subsequent conference in Providence, but somehow managed to limit it to awkward eye contact...and as far as neurologists go, they are good in my book. It's the surgeons who get a little squirrelly.

Yup, electrical MEPs. I think I would need more than a bite block before I agreed to undergo them without sedation.

Clinical neurophysiologist in a previous life? What are you up to now?

[Orestes Munn]

Yup, electrical MEPs. I think I would need more than a bite block before I agreed to undergo them without sedation.

Clinical neurophysiologist in a previous life? What are you up to now?

When I was a postdoc, we used to use electrical MEPs in the lab regularly in conscious subjects, including me. Yowch!

With my gang of smarter, younger, people, I now use those tools, plus imaging and cognitive paradigms, to try and figure how humans learn skills and information and how to make it easier, especially after brain injury. That's about 75% of what I'm up to professionally. The rest is pretty administrative.

...and yourself?

[Britches]

When I was a postdoc, we used to use electrical MEPs in the lab regularly in conscious subjects, including me. Yowch!

With my gang of smarter, younger, people, I now use those tools, plus imaging and cognitive paradigms, to try and figure how humans learn skills and information and how to make it easier, especially after brain injury. That's about 75% of what I'm up to professionally. The rest is pretty administrative.

...and yourself?

Wow, Eric, how interesting! The brain really is awe-inspiring, and good on you for what you are doing. Amazing!

When I left Mayo 3 years ago to be closer to water I had a part-time contract job with Medtronic's neuromonitoring group lined up. A week before we moved, that fell through. No one here in Duluth really uses monitoring (at least not 3 years ago) and if they did they were already contracted out to another company. So, here I am working as an analyst/trainer for our EMR - Epic. I definitely miss a lot of aspects of what I used to do - feeling that I was actively having in a role in positive surgical outcomes, taking part in research, being mentally stimulated each and every day etc etc...Not saying that what I do now is bad, but it definitely isn't a passion like neuroscience was.

But, life as a whole is much better living in Duluth and that counts for a lot.

[LarryHoward]

My ride to work in a soft rain this morning:

Untitled.jpg

I've got about 30 more April 18ths to look forward to, if I'm lucky, and I'm going to treasure every one.

Back to the original topic :}

Eric,

I got home Wed about 2330 after a stressfull week on the road that finished with American Airlines delaying a 3 hour flight by 2.5 hours once we were aboard and then misrouting my suitcase. Long day at the office yesterday followed by a couple of hours of yard work. Poured a drink at sat down to the depressing Boston/Texas stories right about sunset.

Looked outside and decided the deck and no TV was a better option. Sat there in waning twilight, looking out on the water with a restless SW wind heralding today's coming cold front, listened to the Ospreys crying and settling down for the evening and watched the first magnitude stars appear and Ursa Major pointing toward the yet to appear Polaris as some moonlight lit up the dogwoods. Marveled at the renewal that's our springtime and felt the pressure drain away.

Thanks for the reminder to stop and enjoy the treasure that nature provides. Thanks for the post. Made a difference.

[Soñadora]

My ride to work in a soft rain this morning:

Untitled.jpg

I've got about 30 more April 18ths to look forward to, if I'm lucky, and I'm going to treasure every one.

Back to the original topic :}

Eric,

I got home Wed about 2330 after a stressfull week on the road that finished with American Airlines delaying a 3 hour flight by 2.5 hours once we were aboard and then misrouting my suitcase. Long day at the office yesterday followed by a couple of hours of yard work. Poured a drink at sat down to the depressing Boston/Texas stories right about sunset.

Looked outside and decided the deck and no TV was a better option. Sat there in waning twilight, looking out on the water with a restless SW wind heralding today's coming cold front, listened to the Ospreys crying and settling down for the evening and watched the first magnitude stars appear and Ursa Major pointing toward the yet to appear Polaris as some moonlight lit up the dogwoods. Marveled at the renewal that's our springtime and felt the pressure drain away.

Thanks for the reminder to stop and enjoy the treasure that nature provides. Thanks for the post. Made a difference.

Sweet!

Britches, you need to be sure to join us for some sundowners this summer. I especially think my girls would enjoy talking with you. My oldest is considering UMD. She loves Duluth. Frankly, we all do, but that whole money thing just gets in the way. At some point we'll just have little Celia with us and we've actually given some thought to a move there.

[BeauV]

The Admiral and I used to live in San Francisco which we'd each selected individually before we got together as the: "Best place to live in the world" (with Paris as a close second). Then.... one of our daughters announced she was getting married and going into grandchild production. The "beach house" in Santa Cruz became quite busy as we found ourselves with a full life getting ready to be YaiYai and Opa. After a while we looked at each other over the breakfast table and asked: "Why do we have that place in San Francisco, we only use it a few nights a month?"

Now, we have a really good relationship with the manager of a nice hotel in San Francisco, which is happy to take our old dog Romo as a guest. We're blessed with a health little granddaughter, and living at the beach has turned out to be pretty darned cool! While we do miss the wonderful restaurants, music and theater of SF, and I get a little tired of the 90 minute drive to the Yacht Club up there, being near the kids and our granddaughter has been well worth it.

Of course, Santa Cruz is hard not to like.

B-))

[Orestes Munn]

The Admiral and I used to live in San Francisco which we'd each selected individually before we got together as the: "Best place to live in the world" (with Paris as a close second). Then.... one of our daughters announced she was getting married and going into grandchild production. The "beach house" in Santa Cruz became quite busy as we found ourselves with a full life getting ready to be YaiYai and Opa. After a while we looked at each other over the breakfast table and asked: "Why do we have that place in San Francisco, we only use it a few nights a month?"

Now, we have a really good relationship with the manager of a nice hotel in San Francisco, which is happy to take our old dog Romo as a guest. We're blessed with a health little granddaughter, and living at the beach has turned out to be pretty darned cool! While we do miss the wonderful restaurants, music and theater of SF, and I get a little tired of the 90 minute drive to the Yacht Club up there, being near the kids and our granddaughter has been well worth it.

Of course, Santa Cruz is hard not to like.

B-))

One of my best kept secrets is that I spent my first year of college at UCSC. Nice place, for sure.

Larry, if I had your deck, I'd sit out there a lot...and drink your collection of single malt.

[LarryHoward]

[

Larry, if I had your deck, I'd sit out there a lot...and drink your collection of single malt.

You know where the deck (and the scotch) are :}

Help yourself any time.

[BeauV]

Eric,

Well then, you know what I'm talking about. Hey, I got to really ride my bike yesterday for the first time. I went from the Harbor up to UCSC and cruised around up there for a while before FLYING down the hill passing all the cars. I love that ride back down! It looks like all the PT is getting my back into a condition that will let me start riding again, but big hills still remain difficult.

Beau

[Orestes Munn]

Eric,

Well then, you know what I'm talking about. Hey, I got to really ride my bike yesterday for the first time. I went from the Harbor up to UCSC and cruised around up there for a while before FLYING down the hill passing all the cars. I love that ride back down! It looks like all the PT is getting my back into a condition that will let me start riding again, but big hills still remain difficult.

Beau

That's a big hill in my book. It would be especially big on what I'm riding these days.

image.jpg

If I don't get the miles, at least I get the time!

[Britches]

Sweet!

Britches, you need to be sure to join us for some sundowners this summer. I especially think my girls would enjoy talking with you. My oldest is considering UMD. She loves Duluth. Frankly, we all do, but that whole money thing just gets in the way. At some point we'll just have little Celia with us and we've actually given some thought to a move there.

Absolutely Rick! Anytime (before June 29th and after August 9th is), you know where to find me!

[alx]

I've never heard of anyone being charged like that. Sounds like larceny.

I lived in the DC area for a year. $80 from Bethesda to Georgetown sounds accurate, sadly. While if you hail a cab, they don't have the right to charge you for the return trip, the company can just refuse to send a car unless you agree to pay for both ways. The Metro Red Line is probably your best bet, though it's still a walk from Dupont Circle to Georgetown.

[bob perry]

I heard a lyric in a song this morning that struck a chord with me:
"It's OK not to be OK."

[Orestes Munn]

I heard a lyric in a song this morning that struck a chord with me:
"It's OK not to be OK."

Has to be.

I'm OK; you need a shave.

[BeauV]

I heard a lyric in a song this morning that struck a chord with me:
"It's OK not to be OK."

Damn right!! Sometimes I just get pissed off and REALLY ENJOY BEING PISSED OFF! I have every right to not be f**k*ng "ok" if I don't want to be. Geeesh.

Don't tell me how to feel!

(Well, you guys who are friends can tell me if you like.)

Beau

[kimbottles]

Be happy Beau!

[Olaf Hart]

I yam what I yam.

Popeye

[Soñadora]

it's going to be in the 70s here this weekend. You would think it's the Second Coming the way people are behaving around here. The anticipation of the start of Brainwashing Season is palpable. All the girls in the Iron Range are dusting off their one-pieces.

[Orestes Munn]

it's going to be in the 70s here this weekend. You would think it's the Second Coming the way people are behaving around here. The anticipation of the start of Brainwashing Season is palpable. All the girls in the Iron Range are dusting off their one-pieces.

Been a cold Spring here, too. 45 F this am. Last weekend it was in the 50s during the day and we decided to wax the gelcoat and go for a ride instead of sail. Maybe hit 66 on Sat, but a dead calm. Sunday looks like the day.

Do Iron Range girls rust over the winter?