10/16/10

The key questions in life are often quite simple.  Today's question - good pop or bad pop?

After either a late lunch or an early dinner with my parents, depending on one's perspective, it was time for me to head to work.  My Irish weren't exactly setting the world on fire but I was content that they would have the game in hand.  Then I had a few chances to check out the second half on my FloTV while I was working.  Decent enough performance overall.

By the time I wrapped up a quick and easy shift, I had to take stock of my injury situation and decide how to approach tonight's workout.  That cramping in my calf muscle was still pretty intense, but I decided to go ahead with my full regimen anyway.  The cardio work was a little painful but I made it through.  The weight training was solid, as I expected that it would be.  This was my first chest workout since the brief hiatus at the end of last week.  With the extra rest and recovery time, my manboobs were pretty strong.

I was feeling pretty shitty by the time I got down the steps and into the locker room.  Whatever comfort I had received from working up a good sweat was quick to disappear once I had stopped.  The calf cramp was really bad, my thigh was mostly numb, and I still couldn't feel my foot.  The warm water in the shower seemed to provide some small amount of relief though, so I lingered a little longer than usual.  Then I got a bright idea.

There's a metal hand rail attached to the wall in each shower at my gym.  I don't know if it's one of those handicapped deals or whatever, but the metal hand rails are quite thick and sturdy.  I grabbed the rail with both hands and started to twist my torso as far as I could.  It didn't take long before I felt the tension starting to stretch my lower back.  I kept pulling.  Then I felt a quick jolt of pain in my ass.  The pain was gone almost immediately though.  I kept pulling.  Then something popped.  Oh shit... was that a good pop or a bad pop?

On the good side of the ledger - I started to feel my foot and my thigh again for a little while.  On the bad side of the ledger - what I felt was mostly pain.  There was a weird progression that followed.  My toes felt like they were on fire.  Then that went away and my back started to hurt.  Then that went away and the numbness returned to my leg and foot, but less than they had been before.  Then my hamstring started to hurt a little bit, while the cramping in my calf eased a little bit.

I've been back home for a little while now and it appears that today's question won't be answered just yet.  I'm feeling pretty similar to how I felt this morning, so maybe that pop was nothing.  Or maybe I injured myself further and I'll be sorry in the morning.  There's always hope though, right?  Maybe I accidentally popped my spine back into alignment and the symptoms will start to recede.  I suspect that we'll know a little more by the time I sit down to write tomorrow's post.

Flint, Mount Morris, and Essexville - be on notice.  I expect no shenanigans from you people tomorrow.  My shift starts at noon and my Redskins are playing at night.  I would like to be finished working in time to catch most of the game at a local establishment of my choosing.  You've been warned.

10/15/10

Do you think I should move to Latvia?  I'm starting to think maybe I should.  Surely they have use for another milk man over there... or something.  Life in Michigan continues to be boring so I don't know.  We'll see how it goes.  I do dig those Russian gals and, to my untrained eye, Latvians might as well be Russians.

It was a pretty easy day on the work front today, so that's nice.  My three stops were all quick and easy, such that my whole shift only took seven and a half hours.  Not too shabby.  Of course, when I have a Friday night off, my friends would have to be their usual lame selves.  I wonder if people in Latvia are more fun.

As a side benefit of my boring evening though, I did get a chance to experiment.  It turns out that, after several pints of beer, I can feel my toes again.  I'm no medical expert so I don't know what is the mechanism involved, but I can absolutely attest that my leg and foot felt just about normal for a couple of hours tonight.  Not anymore though.  My calf, knee, and hip are all bugging me at the moment.  I'm still trying to hold out hope for a natural recovery here, but it's starting to seem less likely as the days go on.  I don't know.  Maybe tomorrow.

5pm pull time for tomorrow and I'm supposed to have lunch at my parents' house beforehand, so I guess I'll get to watch the first half of the Notre Dame game before I head to work.  Since they're playing Western Michigan, there had better be no need to see the second half.

10/14/10

I've dated a few insane women in my day.  I'm not talking about the sort of insane where you get off a roller coaster, high-five your buddies, and say, "That was insane!"  Oh no, I'm talking about broads who were just batshit crazy.  Today I realized that having a major nerve that's on the fritz is sort of like dating a loony chick.  One day it's this and the next day it's that.  Even when it's not so bad though, you kinda know in the back of your mind that it's really pretty bad.

Last night brought the odd sensation that there was ice cold water running down the back of my leg.  That was interesting.  After I got a call from work this morning and agreed to take a Grand Rapids run on my day off, I climbed out of bed to see what my crazy leg would have in store for me today.  A little pain, for starters, but nothing too bad.  I'm always a little stiff and sore in the morning anyway, so I expected it to loosen up a little once I got moving.  The catch was that there isn't a whole lot of moving to do on a Grand Rapids run.  I drive to work, sitting on my ass along the way.  I grab a truck and go get a loaded trailer, then drive to Grand Rapids, sitting on my ass along the way.  I drop the loaded trailer and grab an empty, then return to Livonia, sitting on my ass along the way.  By the time I got back, my crazy leg was working on a new set of symptoms for me.

Now my knee hurts and my calf muscle is all cramped up.  This may be the result of walking funny since I can't feel my foot, or it may just be the next step in a weird progression of symptoms from my original injury.  I don't know.  In any case, I don't like what my crazy leg is doing to me but I'm pretty curious to see what she it throws at me tomorrow.

The treadmill is off limits as long as I'm uncertain about my back.  In case I do end up having some sort of disk issue, I don't need to put my spine through any excessive pounding.  So my cardio work has to be of the low-impact variety.  Sitting on a bike, it turns out, is even less comfortable than sitting in a Mack truck.  So that's out.  The elliptical machines have seemed to work pretty well for me though.  Little or no impact, but I can still get my heart rate up and my legs moving.  I was using the ellipticals last week before the weekend of pain and then I got back on one last night with no problems.  Tonight though, not so much.  That cramping in my calf got worse within a few minutes of my starting, so I had to scrap the cardio and just knock out my shoulder workout.  (Pretty strong shoulders here though.  Ladies?)

Tomorrow's run is a pretty decent one - long enough to make a few bucks but not terribly difficult to pull off.  I'll be going to Saginaw, Midland, and Bay City.  All three stores have stock rooms that are spacious enough to handle whatever sort of deliveries I'll have to make, so I'm expecting a decent shift.  As for how I'll feel during that shift... my crazy leg will have to decide.

I'll wrap up tonight by saying thanks to those of you outside Michigan who will be chipping in for our new light rail line.  Since 2/3 of the $500,000,000 is supposed to be federal money, most of you will be paying at least a buck or two.  We appreciate it... or something.

10/13/10

Now that I'm a Democrat for the first time, I'm trying to learn a little bit more about my party.  Here in my district I don't get a whole lot of information, since the incumbent has been in office since the First Triumvirate and he gets re-elected every two years as a matter of entitlement. (Or does he?)  Anyhow, in trying to learn a little more, I've been checking out some ads from people outside my region.










As those silly kids on the internet sometimes say - lolwut? Maybe this new political party of mine is a little closer to my views than I had realized.  Especially if they can keep Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie from mugging women in parking garages... or something.




You'll have to forgive me, I suppose, but I find the whole spectacle to be simply hilarious. Two years ago we had Republicans lining up to have their pictures taken with The One™ and now we have Democrats trying to capture some of that John Boehner magic?  We, the voters, get the government we deserve.  Always have, always will.

On a less sarcastic (but somewhat related) note, is this jackass being serious?




As I told you folks at the time, I've gone to two gatherings that could in some way be described as Tea Party events. I'm not sure who did the official organizing in either case, but the nature of the crowds were fairly obvious. The first was on April 15th of last year and the second was on September 12th. Whatever you may or may not think about their political philosophies, the people at those rallies are some of the kindest and most generous people you will ever meet. Personally, I didn't find either event to be all that interesting. Sorta reminded me of the old parents' weekend at college when everybody shows up and gets introduced to everybody else, then goes back home on Sunday night. It's all well enough I guess, but I like a little more action.

As boring as I found those crowds to be, to portray the desire for a smaller and less corrupt federal government as some sort of barbarian disregard for human life is sick and twisted. As a fellow Democrat, I hope Mr. Matthews can find his way back to the real world. Trumka is a dishonest hack and always will be, but Matthews used to be somewhat coherent. I'll guarantee you that the "Tea Partiers" like my aunt and uncle would be the first ones working to help their fellow citizens in need while others sat on their asses and waited for a government bureaucrat to take care of them.  To me, this garbage goes a step beyond the knee-jerk tendency to imply that they're all just a bunch of inbred racists.  Alas, someone must be paying the advertising bills.  We get the media that we deserve.  Always have, always will.

Since my blog is officially about back injuries and ass pain though, I suppose we had better get back on topic now.  I had 222 miles of driving and five, count 'em, five stops on my one trailer today.  Swartz Creek, Saginaw, Saginaw, Bridgeport, and Frankenmuth.  The trip took eight hours in total and my leg/ass/back/etc. held up fairly well.  I was in a decent amount of pain when I got out of bed this morning, but it seemed to get better as the day progressed. 

By the time I finished work, I decided to press on and try my hand at getting back in the gym.  As was the case last week, before the weekend of excruciating pain rolled around, I felt better while I was working out than I had all day beforehand.  We'll have to see if there are any physical consequences to follow, but the workout was definitely helpful in a psychological sense.  Too much time between workouts can lead one to feel that he's backsliding a bit.  After an extra few days off, my muscles were quite well rested and I turned in a pretty strong performance, so now I can think I'm a tough guy or something.  Plus the folks at the Mayo Clinic say that regular exercise is supposed to be helpful.  They would know better than I would.