Saturday, I drove out to Fort Worth NAS for the Thunder Over Texas airshow. I went there last year, too, and saw the Blue Angels perform for the first time since I was a kid. This time around, though, after about an hour of walking around, looking at some aircraft (including a C5 Galaxy, photo left) and watching a jet-powered glider swoop within inches of the runway, I decided I'd had enough, so I headed back home.
Part of that was due to the fact I'd already seen the Blue Angels last year (as well as the Aeroshell Aerobatics team at Oshkosh and Sun 'N Fun... something about seeing T-6 Texans performing some of the same maneuvers as the Angels is more awe-inspiring) -- but most of it came after I'd spent a half-hour getting into the show (after the hour-long drive to Ft. Worth) and the memory of being stuck in traffic for 3 1/2 hours trying to get home last year.
The airshow wasn't worth the hassle. I begged off after about an hour and a half, got home, did some writing and then went to ADS to watch the kind of planes I'm more familiar with. I got some good shots, too... including the one below, of a Bellanca Decathlon that seems to fly every time I go to watch planes at Addison.
Sunday, I did some more filming with Monk, out in Mesquite. Brought the bike, too, so I could keep up with him through some of the filming venues. Those weekend bike rides are becoming a nice diversion... one that I have to keep up on weekends we don't film, as well as during the week.
On that subject, Monday's monthly checkup went well. Last week's CT scan checks out, and the bloodwork should be fine, too. Dr. B spent some time chastising me about my weight, which was a concern of mine since last year... but has really shot up with the combination of forced bed rest earlier this year and a relatively sedentary lifestyle since. See above, getting out on the bike... that will help a lot. As everything else is progressing well, he says now is the time to work on that, too. Okay, doc.
What happened next was kind of cool. Dr. B asked me about my job... which turned into a 10-minute chat about airplanes, which was neat. This was a new side of my oncologist -- who's previously been very thorough, very clinical, but not very chatty in the past. I appreciated his effort to become more personable. I think he could see my nerves -- though improved significantly since my last appointment, I think -- were calmed further by talking about something I was familiar with. We also both agreed that today's Delta, well, sucks.
One last thing about my appointment: while my weight has gone up four pounds since last visit, my blood pressure has returned to near-normal for the first time since it was measured last December: 122 over 80. It was as high as 133/90 in February, right after my surgery... which gives me some sign that changes I've made to my diet have helped, at least. Now, more exercise.
And, more focus on my job, and my future. I've been in a holding pattern for awhile now... but I can feel myself getting antsy again, which I think is a good thing. I'm growing impatient, the way I was last year when I started at ANN. Time to kick my future plans into gear.
No comments:
Post a Comment