My team members are regularly posting about how they’ll be temporarily unavailable because they or a family member are heading in for their second dose of the Covid vaccine. Nice to see Washington catching up with Utah, where I did some vaccine tourism to hop ahead a little bit. It didn’t feel life-changing or anything, but it is nice to be able to have small group gatherings and be all, “We’re all vaccinated? Cool, masks off.”
One of my favorite memories of the excursion was working with Hayden to make his idea for the Mattie / Isabella graduation game a reality, and helping Dad adapt it for the Mattie / John party.
Also the little mini-road-trip Mattie and I went on out to the skydiving facility, only to find it closed due to high winds. Didn’t realize that was something you need to watch out for. In the words of Jayne Cobb, now I know that.
We got to see some helicopters train in transporting fire suppressant though, which was fun.
I tried and failed to bring the smart switches back under Alexa control, but we’ll figure that out eventually.
It was way cool seeing the trees in the side yard start to come down. At first I was as sentimental as ever on the trees going away, but one look at the mountains behind the first tree to go down and I knew the rest of the trees along that fence line needed to go as well. Looking forward to seeing the end result next time I’m there!
After this lovely stop-over at home base we siblings headed off to San Diego for a getaway. We were originally going to rent a car but decided to go pure-ride-hailing at the last second, and that turned out to be a great decision. No parking or gas to worry about, and our place was fairly close to groceries and other food.
First night food; Hayden joined us just in time and we had a ball. 
A couple days into the trip, I was minding my own business when my back decided that 20 months was too long to go without a relapse of the slipped disc issue. I spent all of Sunday indoors, taking it easy. Monday I nearly did the same, but I really didn’t want to miss out on sibling fun time, so I decided to just grin and bear it, and had a great time looking around the tide pools. It just so happened that the place we settled on for lunch was like 5 minutes’ walk from an Urgent Care, which itself was 5 minutes’ walk from a pharmacy. I was able to get in and get some real good drugs, including a direct shot of an anti-inflammatory that got me into great shape in short order – I was basically back to full strength that evening, and was able to enjoy the rest of the vacation just fine.
After I arrived back in Seattle though, recovery proved stubborn. More than once I woke up in pain during the night and had to pile up pillows on the couch to stretch out on. After a bit I realized it was my bed’s memory foam mattress topper that was to blame. Once I shifted to sleeping in the guest bedroom, with its more standard mattress, I’ve been sleeping so much better.
Our office is piloting a program where you can opt-in to come into the office on specific days, and they’ll give you a temporary desk on your assigned day. Tried it out on Thursday and Friday, and had a blast. Got to have some meaty whiteboarding sessions and an actual team lunch. Also got to try out some new buildings that had been finished during the last year.
This weekend was a real test of my recovery. On Friday I went on a date that involved a “scavenger hunt”, and it wasn’t clear until I was on the date that it involved parking somewhere in Seattle and walking around to various landmarks. Had fun, and was able to make it through everything before I started feeling it.
The next couple days I was playing tour guide to friends of a friend. They were in town and had never seen Seattle before, and my friend Kyle asked if I’d be able to show them the sights. It was actually nice that I’d gone on that walk-around date the night before since I hadn’t been into Seattle in a long while.
Before I picked them up though, I headed into a Relax the Back store in Bellevue to check out their inversion table offerings. They had one that was quite nice, with a massage-table-like hole in the table allowing face-down inversions. Should note that they advise against full 90° inversions, recommending more mild 15-30° angles.
Whereas normally I’d describe the feeling in my back as angry and red, hanging on the table it was replaced by a cool blue. Yes please, more of that thank you.
The table’s in a box in my garage, awaiting assembly. Mom will be in town this Sunday, we’ll have a good time with it 🙂
So, that errand wrapped up, I headed off to pick up these friends of friends and begin the tour. On the way over to Seattle they naturally asked me questions about the Tesla. When they asked me what it was called, and I said Shadowfax, they both busted up cackling, and I knew I was in good company. One of them also has very strong opinions on urban sprawl and bike transportation infrastructure, so bonus Hayden points.
We did Pike Place Market, the Chihuly glass museum, Monorail, Ballard Locks, and Hawaiian food near Alki Beach. There was a massive container ship blocking most of the view of the city, but everyone still had a great time.
The next day after church I picked them up and took them through Whidbey Island, hitting the usual stops. Much better weather this time around than when I took Mom and Dad through in October 🙂
So I was very heartened when at the end of that weekend of excitement, my back wasn’t screaming in pain. In fact, I actually biked to a nearby restaurant for dinner today. I was huffing and puffing way more than was appropriate, but I’ve been pretty sedentary for some time so it stands to reason.
Another thing keeping me literally grounded was my knee, which ever since my last skydive has been unwilling to completely support my weight without letting me know something’s up. I was finally able to get an MRI looked at this week and it appears I’ve gone and torn my meniscus, a cushion between bones in the knee.
There isn’t supposed to be any white in that black area. The tiny thread of white shows fluid that’s made its way into the tear. There are no blood vessels to the area, so the tear will not heal. The torn portion isn’t moving along with the rest of the meniscus.
The doctor presented two options: physical therapy or surgery. As the tear will not heal, physical therapy is just about making the knee as strong as it can be.
The surgical option involves getting in there and snipping out the torn portion of meniscus, allowing the rest of it to move around more freely. As there are no blood vessels in there, the meniscus will not grow back. However, the doctor indicated that beyond standard risks associated with any surgery, this procedure isn’t terribly dangerous, and in fact is somewhat common-ish for people who are involved in rough sports. I’d be able to walk out of the operating room the same day – though I’d be pretty high from the general anesthesia.
So I opted for surgery next month, after Mattie and John’s visit – which I’m very much looking forward to.
Till next time!