Catch Up: Part 2 - Hawaii

After my long weekend in SF it was time to pack up and drive down to Orange County.
The 6 hrs on I-5 is rarely fun, but driving it when you're coming down with a cold sucks.
Flying to Oahu was even worse.
(I apologize to all my fellow passengers that I may or may not have infected).

The trip to Oahu was a mixed bag:
The weather was great.
The mediation was successful.
I was able to have breakfast with Grant (the guy who saved my life on his jetski) and one of his sons.
But I was sick the entire time and rarely left the hotel room.

A big thank you to my mom and dad for coming out to Hawaii for this.

Right now I don't have a lot to say about resolving my legal case.
I am relieved that there are no more lawyers in my life, but money does not:
- give me back my hand
- give me back my arm
- stop the pain in my arm and remaining hand
- erase the images of what happened to me or what I've been through.

I have a working bike arm

I'm back from Portland where I had the folks at Advanced Arm Dynamics build me the socket for Will Craigs bike arm.  The arm works great.  I got in two rides while I was up there - one with Kerstin (the OT) around part of Lake Oswego and one solo ride along the river.  They wanted to finish the arm (make the socket out of carbon fiber and paint it to match my bike), but I wanted more time in the saddle (and socket) before we made the jump from working model to final product.

Last week I went out on two rides and everything worked great.
My left hand did get sore so I might get stuck with sub-1hr rides, but at least I'm out again.

Here's a short video (1 take with no editing so dont expect much) of me putting on the arm.

To see the inventor using the arm check the 3/3/13 post - "Trailblazer"

One fast Irishman

It's work to swim 400 yds in sub-4:56 (with hands and feet), but Darragh made this 400m look sooo good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al4kAsThBzg
(Paralympic champion swimming the 400m free in the S6 classification last year)

Part of me wants to believe that this is proof that there's no excuse for mediocrity,
but the reality is that he is just plain amazing.

More from Darragh
http://vimeo.com/66073908

My new ride

My buddy Shawn spec'd and built up an amazing bike for me at his shop (Surf City Cyclery in Huntington Beach).

 For the non-techies out there:
- the bike is carbon fiber (super light)

- has a single break lever that works for both front/rear breaks (they are independently adjusted)
- grip shifting (no need to take my hand off the handle bar)

  

- has hydraulic disc breaks (great stopping power even with my 3 finger grip strength)

 

- a rear cassette (rear gears) that gives me maximum range for hills/flats without using a double/triple front chain ring that would complicate shifting for me. 

...and it looks sweet.

Off to Portland soon to have my bike arm prosthetic made soon.

Thanks Shawn.
And thanks to all that donated to me. 
Getting back on the bike has been expensive, but with your help it is happening.

Board Short Mile 2013

The Board Short Mile is back!

When the guys organizing the event wrote me last year saying that they were looking for a reason to host an event (I've never had a tough time finding a reason to get in the ocean) I was happy to point them to CAF (http://www.challengedathletes.org).

The swim was great (my 1st ocean swim sans fins) - warm, flat water with lots of sunshine and lots of smiling faces (The SoCal crew are soooo spoiled).

I'm glad to see this swim back for its second year.
Here's the link:
http://beta.active.com/hermosa-beach-ca/water-sports/swimming/the-board-short-mile-2013?cmp=39-28&ltclickid=08_48815453_f65ea633-7972-46e1-a3e6-69c5f41b3e58&ltcmp=194590


Start: Saturday, September 14, 2013
Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA
The Hermosa Beach Pier | Hermosa Beach , CA
Registration Closing Date Friday, September 13, 2013 @ 10:00 pm

Still have my piggies

My franken-thumb started acting up a few weeks ago so had to make a trip to see the doc.
His comment?
"Know what would make this better?  A toe!"

Yep, he still wants to re-locate my toe.

I'm still not ready for

• a week in a hospital bed, 
• month(s?) in a wheelchair and 
• months without a hand.

It might happen, but I can happily report that I went under the knife today and came back with a slightly stubbier franken-thumb and all 10 toes. (and he does not think the bone infection is back).

Next couple of weeks will be out of the water and restricted hand use.
Luckily I have my mom up again to help out.

Default setting

I don't usually pass around links to speeches or videos, but I think this would be similar to what I would say to h.s. and college graduates if I was a better writer & speaker and it's a way of thinking that I've worked on since before my injuries.

http://www.theworldsbestever.com/2013/05/08/this-is-water/
David Foster Wallace 2005 commencement address

If you don't need the visuals, here's the full speech
http://web.archive.org/web/20080213082423/http://www.marginalia.org/dfw_kenyon_commencement.html

 I'd love to read or hear your comments on this (Even if you think he's an idiot)
==================

I was not familiar with the speech or the speaker, but I think at that moment he "got it".
The strange thing is that he reportedly suffered from depression for most of his life and hanged himself at 46 yrs old - only 3 yrs after giving this speech.

I'm grateful that my default setting is much different than his, but I constantly work to stay aware.