Pre Race Ritual

No! This isn't me!!!  I route for number 99.

Well my brain is fried and after working on policies for the last 12 hours, I'm in one of those sort of don't give a crap kind of moods.  So tonight, I'm swallowing all my pride (what there is of it) and hope to make you giggle a little.  I'm learning more and more who reads this stuff so if one of my referral sources, friends, enemies, whatever, and see me on the street after reading this, don't give me any crap.  To all of you who have a poor self image of yourself, I'm right there with ya baby. 

I'm not even sure how to start this, but here it goes.  This weekend I'm doing a mountain bike race in Fountain Hills.  Not a big deal, just another bike ride.  The funny part though, would have to be my usual pre-race ritual. 

Realize now, that I'm not the baldest guy in the world.  In fact, I can make Sasquatch look like he's thinning.  This is typically no big deal, after all that's what clothes are for..right?  My fear........losing my clothes.

Now, remember I spent the younger part of my life (dang that was a long time ago) working in hospitals.  When someone is brought into the ER in pretty rough shape, what's the first thing they do?  Cut your frigging clothes off (mind you, you have to be in pretty bad shape for this to happen, but I've seen it, heck I've cut clothes off of some people)!!  It's just easier for them to evaluate you and hook up all those wires if you are garmentless.(like that word? :) )

This is sort of going down the same road as the old adage your mom used to say, "make sure you have clean underwear on".   As a cyclist, I won't go into the underwear thing (they don't wear any).  

So!!!! Long story short,  I don't want to be racing, have a major crash, and whammo I'm in the ambulance struggling for my last breath.  I'm not worried about dying, you know what's on my mind???  Are they gonna cut off my shirt and say "holy crap look how hairy this guy is".    Now that people, is one of my biggest fears while racing.  Isn't that pathetic? 

A few years ago, one of my teenage employees turned me on to Men's Nair.  I'm sure it's the same as woman's nair, but it's a little easier to buy when it says "men" on the bottle".  Plus it was a teenage guy that told me about the stuff so I'm sure I'm not the only guy out here using it. 

Ok, I'm a pretty limber guy.  Problem is, I'm now 40, and one of my shoulders has pins holding it together and the other one I hurt last year and it hasn't gotten any better.  Needless to say, they just don't move like they used to. 

The hairy chest I can handle (minus the small amount of flubber that seems to be growing), but a hairy back......ugh!!  Not happening.  If I'm going to crash going down a rocky cliff, by God my back is going to be smooth as silk when I get to the hospital.  

I'm too self conscious to ask my wife to help me, so ya I nair my back by myself.  Even I get a laugh out of this while I'm attempting it.  So I hide out in the bathroom for about 1/2 hour with my latex gloves, bottle of nair, and some old towels that I'm throwing away when I'm done.   So I go to town squirting the stuff on my hand and gracefully (not really) putting it on my back.  I swear the stuff is always about 32 degrees cuz I about go into shock every time it comes into contact with my skin.  Ok......Low back....Piece of cake.  Upper back.........not too bad.   Middle back.......are you friggin kidding me!!!! There is one spot that I pretty much have to twist into oblivion to touch.  I look like the 40 year old virgin and the elephant man having some sort of weird seizure.  I truly look pathetic.  Every bit of pride I have is out the door when this is going on.  I'll tell my kids when their older just in case they have to go through the same thing, but for now, I'll just let them believe their dad is a manly man. 

After you put the Nair on, you're supposed to wait 15 minutes then wipe it off.  Well hell!!!  Now I have to try and reach all the same places that I cramped trying to reach the first time.   If my grandma is looking down from heaven, she is laughing her butt off while watching me attempt this pride less feat. 
If I really had guts, I'd post pictures, but not in this lifetime.:)

So there you have it.  My pre-race ritual.  Now if Newell reads this, and since he's racing with me, I'm sure to get a little bit of crap at the race.  I'm hoping he will be too busy until after we get back to read it. 

If you have issue with your body image, know that you're not alone.  This is something that has bothered me my entire hairy life.  As I get older, I don't quite care as much, but as you can see, I'm still willing to turn into a contortionist every so often to avoid any humiliation. 

Well there you have it.  Hope you had a laugh on my account.  Time for my glass of wine and little bit of TV.  Have a good night. 

My Weekend on Call

It's 10pm and I should be getting ready for bed, but seeing as how I'm working from home this week, I don't mind being a bit tired in the morning.  As soon as I'm done writing, I'm going to pour myself a small glass of wine, sit my boo'tay on the couch and watch "chopped" :)  I can't cook for crap, but I'm really enjoying the cooking shows lately. 

Anyway, I don't do it very often anymore, but I took call over the Thanksgiving holiday.  With Michael being out due to the accident, I had no problem covering for him.  I feel like every time I go on a call, its a major gut check.   I must admit, I'm horrible at practicing what I preach.  Live each day to the fullest.....I always say this yet I fail so frequently at doing it. 

My first call out was Thanksgiving morning.  I was asked to go pick up the equipment of a patient who passed away earlier that morning.  Normally we don't do pickups on weekends, but I didn't want the family to have to look at the equipment the entire weekend.   The gal who passed away had earlier moved down to the valley to be with her son.  Once her cancer was diagnosed as terminal, she told her son she wanted to pass away in the White Mountains.  Her son rented her the most beautiful little house for her to stay in.  This is where she stayed until the end.  What an amazing gesture by her son.  When I arrived, her two sisters were there trying to make all the arrangements.  They did their best to be strong, but by the time I left, there were no dry eyes in the place. 

My other pick up was the day after Thanksgiving.  I had never met this lady, but in the brief moment I spent with her spouse, I was heart broken.  These two had gone to high school together then lost touch once they graduated.  Just two years ago they met up again and fell for each other.  The moved in together and looked forward to a bright future together.  Just one month ago, she was diagnosed with cancer and given 6 months to live.  She barely made it one month.  The husband tried to be so strong, but you could see him fighting back the tears as he told me their story.  So very heart wrenching. 

Here most of us are getting ready to chow down on Thanksgiving meals yet there are so many out there dealing with such pain.  It's a stark reminder for all of us once again to cherish the moment.   Look around, there is usually someone that has it much worse.  I think it's our responsibility to recognize this struggle and do our best to help.  Put our selfish selves aside and go out of our way to make someone elses life a little bit brighter.  Make someone smile. 

I didn't want this to be a gloomy post, but just wanted to share a little more about the weekend.  Time for the glass of wine and the comfy couch.  Good night.  I'm too tired to proof read tonight so forgive me for any grammatical mistakes.

Dancing with God

Got this email this morning.  So OSSM!!!

Dancing With God

When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word.

I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.

The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,

both bodies begin to flow with the music.

One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back,

or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.

It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender, willingness,

and attentiveness from one person

and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.

When I saw "G: I thought of God, followed by "u" and "I".

"God, "u" and "I" dance."

God, you, and I dance.

As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust

that I would get guidance about my life.

Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God's blessings

and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday.

May you abide in God as God abides in you.

Dance together with God, trusting God to lead

and to guide you through each season of your life.

This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached.

If God has done anything for you in your life,

please share this message with someone else,

for prayer is one of the best gifts we can receive.

There is no cost but a lot of rewards,

so let's continue to pray for one another.

And I Hope You Dance!!!!!!!!

Good way to end the weekend.

I've decided to stay home all this week and finish updating all of my  policy and procedures.  My goal is to be finished by December 2nd.  This is a pretty lofty goal as I have no idea how many more I have to complete, plus I still have to submit them for approval.   Today I have overtaken the dining room table with about 4 notebooks of information, my laptop, a printer, a cup of coffee, and my lovely blackberry which continues to beep constantly with texts and emails.  I'm also listening to the sounds of Landau Eugene Murphy Jr.  This guy is amazing.  If you like Sinatra, you will love Landau Murphy.   Next up will be Bob Seger's greatest hits.  He doesn't allow his music on I-tunes so as soon as I saw the CD on my daily trip to Wal-Mart I just had to grab it. 

Well last week I told you I would post some pics of Michaels accident, here ya go.  I don't have any of Michaels broken teeth (they have since been fixed and he claims they look better now than before the accident) but heres a few of his truck and the car that hit him.  Sorry for the quality of pics on the car, I had to take them through the fence. 

In talking to the tow truck driver, I guess it took two trucks to pull the car away from the front of the grill of the Dodge pickup.  Now look at the gals car hit him.  She best be thankful for airbags.

Everything was smashed up to the firewall.  I think I'm going to have my son drive a 91 dodge pickup when he get's his license:).   That thing is a beast. 

Michael's wife is finally being released from the hospital today.  They diagnosed her with severe concussion syndrome.  She's had a lot of problems with nausea and dizziness.  Please keep her in your prayers as they move forward past very stressful week.  Oh and on top of all this, the other driver had no insurance.  When it rains it pours. 

On a much brighter note, we celebrated little Keevan's birthday last night.  3 years ago, the little guy was born on Thanksgiving day.  He's been such a little blessing.  Every morning he awakes with a smile and just makes the beginning of everyday a little brighter. 

His favorite things right now are Diego and Fire Trucks.  He got plenty of both but as you can see, Diego wore him out. 



Isn't he just adorable??

Well I best get some work done.  Will post again later about my weekend on call.  Eye opening weekend.  Time to refill the coffee cup. 
Hope you all have a great day.

Thanksgiving

I love this time of year. Out delivering meals right now. This year we help people in 4 different towns. Snowflake , Showlow, Cibecue, and Whiteriver. The Apaches are always so greatful.
Rusty-------Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

What a Night

Well it was a bit more of an interesting evening than I would typically like.  We're starting to run low on Oxygen Concentrators and with a 4 day holiday coming up I didn't want to risk being low on machines.  I was planning a last minute trip to Phoenix last night and as I was walking out the door I get a text from Michael.  Michael is one of my drivers and I depend on him a lot.  The guy is a working machine and always gives me 110%.   Looking at my phone it says, "Me and Tracy were just in a bad accident on our way to ER".

Ok, first I can't believe the guy was coherent enough to send me the text.  You have to know Michael.  He's a cowboy from Montana and when I say cowboy, this guy is the real deal.  From riding fence line while running cattle to sleeping every night in a bunk house.  The guy is just plain tough.  Before walking out the door, my wife was just getting home and says she just passed the accident and said it looked pretty bad. 

Apparently Michael was approaching the left hand turn lane (heading east) getting ready to turn left into Maverick gas station.  Coming the other direction, through the intersection, a young girl swerves directly into the turn lane (there is no reason to turn left coming from the west) and head on into Michael.   Michael later tells me that all he saw on his right was an Expedition with kids so he had no option  to swerve without possibly hurting those kids, so his truck took the full impact of the oncoming car. 

When I get to emergency room there are ambulances and fire trucks all over the place.  I didn't have to wait long before they let me in to see him.  The guy is lying there with a neck brace on texting on his phone:).  Front two teeth shattered the guy was rock solid (i'll post pics once I have permission).  All he was worried about was his wife who at the time I got there was having a CT scan done to check for any internal injuries. 

I just received a text from Michael and he says he feels like he got kicked in the face by a horse:).  I responded that he looks like he was kicked in the face by one.  Apparently Tracy didn't sleep well and is in a lot of pain.

Christy just let me know that she was able to get Michael in to see a dentist today (Thank you David Halls).  Maybe he'll be pretty again by Thanksgiving. :)   

Anyway, I'll keep you all informed as I learn more.  Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.  If anyone knows of an inexpensive truck for sale, please let me know. 

Seth

If anyone knows me, they know my kids are my everything.  Everything I do is typically in one way or another for them.  99% of the time, I never ever take them for granted (the other 1% is when they are driving me crazy). 

A few posts ago, I said to hug your kids today as you never know what tomorrow will bring.  I'm sure at some point in everyone's life, we ask God, why??   You look at little kids like Ronan and wonder, what is God's plan with this.  I'm sure you're wondering where I'm going with this......

Newell has given me permission to mention him so I'm taking this opportunity to do so.  Over the last year or two, Newell has become one of the best friends I've ever had.  We don't get to see each other very much, nor do we talk very much, but when we do it's an amazing conversation.  Whether it be about work, family, beliefs, opinions, whatever it may be, I leave the conversation in deep thought. 

I invite you to read a little of his blog then please keep him and his family in your prayers.  http://shamelesscyclist.blogspot.com/  is a brief story of what's going on with his kids.  I don't want to give false information or overstep my bounds, but even as I type this I get teary eyed thinking about it.  Imagine yourself, going to be every night wondering..........wondering what's next.  His blog doesn't even come close to showing what he's really going through.   Him and I have great talks about faith and God's role in this whole thing.  All I can say is that Newell has been the best example of Faith to me.  Break time....gotta take a walk for a few...........................

Does Seth go through this so that people like me can see God's work?   So that people like me are taught to be better, to expect more of ourselves, to live each day making a difference in the lives of others.  As usual I have no answers, like the rest of you, I can only assume.  

At the end of the day, most of us go to bed knowing that tomorrow is just going to be "another" day.  Newell doesn't have this luxury, tomorrow isn't something he takes for granted.   Please please please, when your head hits that pillow tonight, have Newell, his wife, and his kids in your thoughts and prayers.