An Apple A Day...

Finally! With the help of Ed Volk's apple tree care suggestions and Doug's squirrel mitigation plan, we have apples!!!

They don't look pretty, but they are delicious!

For the final score with apple counts, visit the Peach Picking 2021 blog post.

First Day of School

RJ heads to 4th grade and Julia goes to 1st.

Someone wasn't so happy about this and it's not the one who drew the frowny face!

And of course the mandatory back-to-school with Mom pictures...

 

#NotABranch

 

We had a really bad storm surprise us and the kids noticed a tree down in the backyard. The text conversation between us and Doug while he was still at work: 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say definitely not a branch...

We managed to find a tree service that was willing to come quickly to clean it up, 

but not before a little backyard soccer.

9 guys and 1.5 hours later, the tree was cleaned up!

Golf clubs have been freed!!! (The real reason we needed to get it off our 

shed is so we could get our clubs to attend the much anticipated family golf night.) 

We got to the course and just filled a bucket of balls to warm up at the driving range when Sara spotted lightning. We tried to wait it out, but they ended up closing because of so much rain. 

Biking to the Fish Market

What is the best part of biking in the city? Exercise? Clean air? Monuments? Bike friendly trails? Museums? Peoplewatching?  Nope ... the best part is the super-sugar drinks that you can get at the fish market.

With that in mind, Julia and Doug set off for a 12.4 mile ride from near Chain Bridge to the fish market and back.

The Route ...

The Reward ... 

Weekend at Whitetail

Renters, Summit, Kidney Stone, Surgery for Kidney Stone ... and finally a weekend for Doug to enjoy at Whitetail.

Saturday 

RJ and Sara went to McLean for Bradley Gray's birthday party. That left Julia and Doug to fend for themselves. Two hours of pool time and then a tough choice ...

• Hagerstown Speedway (Doug has been trying to get there all year)
• Clear Spring Carnival (Julia's choice)

View from top of Ferris Wheel

The ferris wheel had 'an incident' which closed it. We waited 20 minutes and were second in line when we decided to go on the neighboring tea-cup ride (lower right in picture). As soon as we got to the teacup ride they opened up the ferris wheel. According to Julia 'it was worth the wait.'

Another sick, dizzy-inducing ride

Julia maximized time on swings, teacups, bears, and other things that go in circles. Julia ate a well balanced meal of hot dogs and cotton candy. Doug ate a well balanced meal of ... water. Not exactly a gluten free environment. 

Sunday

Chill day with church, mini-golf, pickle ball, basketball, biking, and a cookout with neighbors.

Saunderosa mini-golf course was frustrating for those with little patience

Deer blocking the 7 ponds trail

Another 10,000 biking miles

Doug commemorated his first 10,000 miles of biking by freezing to death with a couple friends in January 2012. Read more about it in the 10,000 miles biking post. 

This time, I commemorated an additional 10,000 miles by almost dying of a heat stroke biking from work to pickup my car from Rosslyn Automotive. When I arrived to pickup the car, the guys told me that I looked like I was going to pass out. They were pretty close to the truth. I hadn't re-hydrated from the morning ride.

Calculations

About a year ago, I started using Zeopoxa Cycling to track my speed, mileage, and biking history. Fortunately, I kept my old speedometer in working order so I could figure out when I got to 10,000. Prior to the kidney stone incident, I knew that I was getting close. Unfortunately, the old speedometer is located beneath my cell phone, so I do not actually see it when I am biking.

On August 17, I was biking home from work in the pouring rain, so I decided that it would be a good idea to put the cell phone in a bag in my backpack. As a result, I could see my old speedometer for the first time in a while. When I looked down, I noticed that I had already flipped the odometer ... doh!.

Speedometer has a few more scratches than it did in Jan 2012.

Using my Zeopoxy history, I went back 52.9 miles from when I noticed that I had missed the odomoter flipping. Based on some extrapolation, I calculated that the 10K occurred somewhere heading eastbound near the red X below. No comments are needed regarding the average speed of 15.9. It was 97 degrees with 60% humidity. That's a heat index of 116.

X marks 10,000 miles ... I think.

s

Peach Picking 2021

Peach picking in 2021 involved a lot less squirrel drama than peach picking in 2020. The good guys had a plan and executed it skillfully. The bad guys (squirrels) got a few peaches, but the overall results were good.

A few highlights:

• 50 ft x 6 ft chicken wire fence proved a strong early deterrent
• 4 squirrels were relocated to a better place
• we let the peaches ripen longer on the tree

Kids took turns on the ladder

Lacrosse stick was a useful tool for the high ones

Notice the 30 rotten peaches sitting near the tree

Scoreboard

Going into the 4th quarter of the Apple Bowl the score was 10 to 5, but after the peaches were picked our hero (Doug) called a time out and moved the chicken wire and netting.

2021 Peach Bowl Doug       290   Final  Squirrels    20

2021 Apple Bowl Doug        45   Final  Squirrels    10

Although not listed, the Apple Bowl has a third participant which we will call "bugs, worms, and other vermin." Lack of spraying chemicals earned us organic status, but resulted in several holes and imperfections in our apples. For the apple harvest, see the An Apple A Day blog post.

Don't feel sorry for this guy ... he got half a peach, some peanut butter, and a free ride in the pickup

Kidney Stone - Chapter 2

History

Almost 3 years ago, I passed a 4mm kidney stone. While diagnosing the problem, the CT scan uncovered 2 additional stones of 2mm and 8mm. These stones were not in a position to cause any issues, so I ignored them. Turns out that ignoring them was not a great choice. 

Summer 2020 - Present

Over the past year after vigorous exercise, I felt like I had been kicked in the left groin ... after taking aspirin and sleeping all night the pain usually subsided. I attributed this pain to my gastrointestinal issues because it felt like gas that would not pass. 

Coming to this conclusion showed that my brain had gone through great efforts to forget what happened 2 years and 10 months ago. Had I gone back and read my kidney stone blog post, I would have noticed how I described the pain ... 

"The pain was a mix of really bad gas pressure mixed with being kicked in the groin."

Interesting description that perfectly matches the pain I was having ... doh! Between that and knowing I had 2 stones in my left kidney ... you would have thought that I could have figured it out!  

July 31, 11:00pm - Ouch

After being on the boat all day and eating a large meal, a level 9-10 pain started on my left side. This went on for about 5 hours with 2 breaks of level 5 pain for 30 minutes each. After throwing up and burping uncontrollably, I decided a trip to the ER was needed.

Aug 1, 6:30am - CT Scan

After waiting my turn (with a level 7-9 pain) behind an army of substance abusers, it was my turn to be seen by the ER doctor. He asked a few questions and ordered a CT scan. Lying flat on the machine exasperated the pain to the point that tears were flowing. 

Aug 1, 8:10am - Whew

The nurse came in with some morphine and asked for a urine sample. Wow. Instant (I'm talking 3 seconds) relief. Pain level 0. 

Aug 1, 9:13am - Newsflash

In a text to Sara I write 

"No results yet, but based on the request for a urine sample, I'm thinking that they might be tracking a kidney stone."

Wow ... it only took a little over a year and 6 pieces of evidence for my brain to process the obvious.

Waiting for Sara and the kids at 11:00am. May still have some morphine in my system.

Aug 5, 7:30am - Bye bye stones

Since the 8mm stone could not pass through the ureter, the urologist decided to laser the thing and pull out the pieces. While in there, he zapped the 2mm stone as well. 

In one week I end my stint with the stent in my ureter. And with no more stones in my kidneys, I'm hoping that there will be no Kidney Stones - Chapter 3 blog post.