Splattered Angst

Having been a firefighter more 20 years, it was a tough decision to join the family and head out of town when the Rice Canyon Fire was taking out homes left and right in my town this past week. I must say that the authorities in San Diego County did an amazing job doing the reverse 911 calls and letting everyone know that it was time to split. Intense as it was, I am pleased to report that our house was not burned and everything is good, but there was an ominous black spot in the mulch in the back yard - an ember that apparently wanted to start the yard on fire, but didn’t. The fire was less than a mile away from my place. Intense. We were evacuated Monday through Thursday and found comfort in calling the house a few times a day and hearing that the answering machine was still working — meaning that there was still utilities to the house and it was still picking up and taking messages. Cool! We got back and the house didn’t even have a smell of smoke inside, but the ash around the house was pretty thick. Whew!

Went to the gym this morning and the stories were flying and few people there were actually working out, but it was great to hear from different people I always saw that were fine and there places were intact. The gym stayed open the whole time and was letting the firefighters use the showers.

My workout partner, Jerry, had a place in the neighborhood called "Valley Oaks" a spot that received a great deal of media attention during the fire due to the devastation. Initially his wife thought their place was gone, but they found out a day or two later that it was amazingly still there.

My thanks go out to all firefighters … seriously, you guys rock! The work done in holding the fire was amazing and while there were many places lost, there were loads more that were saved. I seen firefighters from as far away as Berkeley and other spots in Northern California at the grocery store yesterday. I shook everyone of their hands as I came across them.

Life is getting back to normal … but I am quite sure that this community will be much stronger and neighbors will be closer than ever before.

Nice! Weighed in this morning at 204 … one goal down, and after this week of join recuperation, I’ll start focusing more on the strength goals that are a part of the challenge with Jimif and the clan. No backing off the diet. I am liking the prospect of fitting into 34 size pants and looking forward to buying them! I’ll keep the diet going. It is the new norm. I am going to add a meal a day [currently at 6, moving to 7] this coming week. It does feel like I need it — particularly in the late afternoon.

Just a pound away from the goal for weight … nice! What to do after getting to 205 — perhaps tackle world peace?!

Icing the sore bicep the past week few days. Talked to the chiropractor about it and he recommended icing and rubbing on it in a particular way after checking it out. He told me nothing appeared to be seriously injured - and there has never been any kind of bruising that would indicate something more intense going on. It has been sore for the last couple of weeks and I have stopped bicep routines all together. Just did a back workout for the first time in a while, but only with cable machines and lighter weight. It is getting better.

The workout partner is going to be out of town for a few weeks and I am planning on taking a the better part of the week coming completely off from weight workouts. It is needed. I’m going to do a ton of aerobics and lost of ab routines, but stay away from the iron. I am sure by the time this coming week passes, I’ll be dying for a pump and getting back at it will be sweet. Just want to make sure that I give the bicep tendon which I have offended and other joints some recoup time.

Good … be safe out there -

After the trauma of a good friend of mine having a bicep tear in the gym, I have turned the knob down on the intensity. In all reality — I have been hitting it mighty hard the last few months and a couple of weeks of purposefully lightening things up seems like a good move. I have made some gains and lost a ton of weight. The work out planned this coming week is a lot of cable machines and aerobics. We’ll see how that goes. I am sure the drive to hit it hard will resurface after some time to allow joints to strengthen.