No Spring Chicken #27

No Spring Chicken #27
19/November/2014 Ups and downs represent the last couple of weeks. First with an up - we had a pretty good row on Saturday the 8th. Then, a down when we sang at the ceremony for the passing of Hal Hoover, an early member of the Kitsap Chordsmen, and the director when I first joined. Hal was a giving man who would go out of his way to help anyone. He was a long time friend (since 1980), and one heck of a nice guy. His knowledge of singing and music was vast, and I enjoyed singing for him, and watching him perform. Sunday I went up to Port Ludlow for the T-37 Fall Regatta #3. I did OK the first few races, but fell off after that with a few problems at the start and some downwind problems and just plain bad luck with some of the flukey winds. Sigh. Monday, as usual, Janet went up to church to count money from the Sunday offerings. I went into town for some running around, and got a lot of things done. But I also came up with the plan to take Janet out to lunch at the Pub to celebrate the end of the Christmas Bazaar at her church (which she chaired). Unfortunately, when she came home for lunch it was a brief break and she was going back. But by then I had my heart set on a pub-burger at the Pub. So I went down for one alone. It was great, but I wanted to share with her. Sigh. Wednesday I wend back to Port Ludlow for the practice sailing with some changes made to my interior rigging to get more motion on the sheets. It turned out it worked, because my finishes in the races I ran were 3 x 1st, 1 x 2nd and 1 x 3rd. The third was because I missed the buoy on the start and had to go back around to hit it again. Of course, Lucas, Dan Darrow, Dan Newland and Jon Oliveira - my usual competitors were not there racing. But I did help two others with their rigging to help them sail faster, which is the purpose of the Wednesday practices. They have raised the level of competition in PTYC series of PNMYC to the point that PTYC took 2nd & 3rd at the nationals this year. If they'd had a 3rd member this year they would have won the Club Trophy for this year. Anyway, I had a great time (it is always more fun winning) and helping the others sail better. Friday we finally went out to celebrate the end of the Bazaar. We went down to Silverdale, hit what used to be the Sportsmen's Warehouse for some ammunition, the Trader Joe's for some booze, and Jo Anne's to check for various things. Then we went to dinner at the Olive Garden. We had a great dinner, but I should have taken more than one of the Lactade pills I take to counter lactose since I've developed an intolerance. All that cheese and butter came back to haunt me later that evening. Saturday this weekend we had a great row, again. Sunday we had a wonderful row, and I had John Lind in the launch with me. John was the UW Women's coach when I was rowing lightweight there, but had done much coaching at other places before that and has studied it over the world. I'm just a hack who has taken some coaching skills and added them to what little I know about rowing. John has a wealth of experience and knows so much more about rowing than I do that I learned a lot this ride (and will the next 20 times I get to go out with him). He learned about the Coach's Eye app that I use on both my iPhone and my iPad to analyze and review the rowers performance. So it wasn't all one sided. Anyway, this is going to change how I coach and what I'm looking for in the boat for a bit. I'm still trying to decide just how much to change at once. The Huskies and Seahawks have not been all that great of late, so sports events on TV haven't thrilled me as much as they could. But the popcorn I cook to go with them is still excellent! Agate Passage has been working at my place the last few weeks (we usually do meet at my house) with Rob Trostad (who will be standing in for me at a performance in December right after my next Chemo treatment). Rob has a lot of good things going for him. I've been doing coaching whenever they get together, and that is fun for me. But it does bring up another problem. For the last 3-4 Years I've been getting worse and worse at a given problem - a tremolo has been creeping into my voice. As the past few years have gone by, it has gotten more prevalent. I've tried many things to get rid of it. Breath Support (the first response from any coach). Singing louder. Singing softer. Nothing seems to effect it. Then, this fall, it has gotten significantly worse as the chemo has gone on and it suddenly occurred to me that it started about the time of the last chemo treatments. I've shown it to Chuck, Aleena, and the quartet, but no one has any other suggestions than things I've tried. I told Agate Passage that they can replace me when they get tired of it, but I could hear it clearly sticking out when the chorus sang at Hal's memorial. That is another reason I'm not singing with the chorus this fall. When the chemo goes away I'll see if the problem gets better or not. But I suspect this will be the end of my singing career. There are other ways I can help the chorus, though. Acting in shows, possible coaching, MC work for performances, etc. We'll see what happens. Chemo happens. There are a couple things I hate about the chemo. First, it almost always takes them two tries to get a good IV in for the infusion. That is very bothersome. The pain from any one needle is almost not problem, but each extra one is an extra pain. The second is that leaving the IV in overnight always has problems, but not so bad as getting another one put in the next day. My arms are getting sorer and sorer from all the IVs and blood draws (the day before so they can check the white count). Anyway, the human can live through almost anything if they want to. Tuesday's session was 10-2:15. Wednesday's was 10-11:15 (only one infusion and it was the short one). Consequently we caught the 12:20 ferry home today, picked up a couple of prescriptions and a maple bar for my hedonist streak. I've taken all of the medications that I have for this evening, and we'll see what tomorrow will be. But I've got a good feeling. Oh, and a good appetite, too, which at this time is remarkable. More adventures (or not) to come. Stay tuned.

19/November/2014
Ups and downs represent the last couple of weeks.

First with an up - we had a pretty good row on Saturday the 8th.

Then, a down when we sang at the ceremony for the passing of Hal Hoover, an early member of the Kitsap Chordsmen, and the director when I first joined. Hal was a giving man who would go out of his way to help anyone. He was a long time friend (since 1980), and one heck of a nice guy. His knowledge of singing and music was vast, and I enjoyed singing for him, and watching him perform.

Sunday I went up to Port Ludlow for the T-37 Fall Regatta #3. I did OK the first few races, but fell off after that with a few problems at the start and some downwind problems and just plain bad luck with some of the flukey winds. Sigh.

Monday, as usual, Janet went up to church to count money from the Sunday offerings. I went into town for some running around, and got a lot of things done. But I also came up with the plan to take Janet out to lunch at the Pub to celebrate the end of the Christmas Bazaar at her church (which she chaired). Unfortunately, when she came home for lunch it was a brief break and she was going back. But by then I had my heart set on a pub-burger at the Pub. So I went down for one alone. It was great, but I wanted to share with her. Sigh.

Wednesday I wend back to Port Ludlow for the practice sailing with some changes made to my interior rigging to get more motion on the sheets. It turned out it worked, because my finishes in the races I ran were 3 x 1st, 1 x 2nd and 1 x 3rd. The third was because I missed the buoy on the start and had to go back around to hit it again. Of course, Lucas, Dan Darrow, Dan Newland and Jon Oliveira - my usual competitors were not there racing. But I did help two others with their rigging to help them sail faster, which is the purpose of the Wednesday practices. They have raised the level of competition in PTYC series of PNMYC to the point that PTYC took 2nd & 3rd at the nationals this year. If they'd had a 3rd member this year they would have won the Club Trophy for this year. Anyway, I had a great time (it is always more fun winning) and helping the others sail better.

Friday we finally went out to celebrate the end of the Bazaar. We went down to Silverdale, hit what used to be the Sportsmen's Warehouse for some ammunition, the Trader Joe's for some booze, and Jo Anne's to check for various things. Then we went to dinner at the Olive Garden. We had a great dinner, but I should have taken more than one of the Lactade pills I take to counter lactose since I've developed an intolerance. All that cheese and butter came back to haunt me later that evening.

Saturday this weekend we had a great row, again. Sunday we had a wonderful row, and I had John Lind in the launch with me. John was the UW Women's coach when I was rowing lightweight there, but had done much coaching at other places before that and has studied it over the world. I'm just a hack who has taken some coaching skills and added them to what little I know about rowing. John has a wealth of experience and knows so much more about rowing than I do that I learned a lot this ride (and will the next 20 times I get to go out with him). He learned about the Coach's Eye app that I use on both my iPhone and my iPad to analyze and review the rowers performance. So it wasn't all one sided. Anyway, this is going to change how I coach and what I'm looking for in the boat for a bit. I'm still trying to decide just how much to change at once.

The Huskies and Seahawks have not been all that great of late, so sports events on TV haven't thrilled me as much as they could. But the popcorn I cook to go with them is still excellent!

Agate Passage has been working at my place the last few weeks (we usually do meet at my house) with Rob Trostad (who will be standing in for me at a performance in December right after my next Chemo treatment). Rob has a lot of good things going for him. I've been doing coaching whenever they get together, and that is fun for me. But it does bring up another problem. For the last 3-4 Years I've been getting worse and worse at a given problem - a tremolo has been creeping into my voice. As the past few years have gone by, it has gotten more prevalent. I've tried many things to get rid of it. Breath Support (the first response from any coach). Singing louder. Singing softer. Nothing seems to effect it. Then, this fall, it has gotten significantly worse as the chemo has gone on and it suddenly occurred to me that it started about the time of the last chemo treatments. I've shown it to Chuck, Aleena, and the quartet, but no one has any other suggestions than things I've tried. I told Agate Passage that they can replace me when they get tired of it, but I could hear it clearly sticking out when the chorus sang at Hal's memorial. That is another reason I'm not singing with the chorus this fall. When the chemo goes away I'll see if the problem gets better or not. But I suspect this will be the end of my singing career. There are other ways I can help the chorus, though. Acting in shows, possible coaching, MC work for performances, etc. We'll see what happens.

Chemo happens. There are a couple things I hate about the chemo. First, it almost always takes them two tries to get a good IV in for the infusion. That is very bothersome. The pain from any one needle is almost not problem, but each extra one is an extra pain. The second is that leaving the IV in overnight always has problems, but not so bad as getting another one put in the next day. My arms are getting sorer and sorer from all the IVs and blood draws (the day before so they can check the white count).

Anyway, the human can live through almost anything if they want to. Tuesday's session was 10-2:15. Wednesday's was 10-11:15 (only one infusion and it was the short one). Consequently we caught the 12:20 ferry home today, picked up a couple of prescriptions and a maple bar for my hedonist streak. I've taken all of the medications that I have for this evening, and we'll see what tomorrow will be. But I've got a good feeling. Oh, and a good appetite, too, which at this time is remarkable.

More adventures (or not) to come. Stay tuned.

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