The Beach House

Beer Contest

So we bought 16 beers and are doing a bracket to see which one is the best. As you can see, not all the judges liked some of the beers.

All the pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jmcgonigle/OBXBeerContest
 

I will be back

 

And Nick plays in the sand

Angie Remembers the Beach

Off she goes...
 

Ugh...

Lynn leaves for a few minutes and I get this. She swears he hasn't done this before, I'm thinking it was a setup!
 

Back from the doc...

Got my stitches out and got to talk to the doc. He says there was some fraying on the MCL and some other gunk in the front. He thinks it will make a difference. That's good because I wasn't as sure as I was before the surgery. Really anxious about it though since if this doesn't fix it I'm pretty much screwed. Be selling bikes screwed I think... Oh well, I'll find out in a few short weeks.

Doctor visit today...

Going for the post-op visit this afternoon. I have to say I'm anxious about it mostly for the long term prognosis of solving my problem. Lynn got to talk to the doc for a sec after the operation and there was nothing obvious. Not that he will really know, but I'm curious if the doc thinks it will be fixed... Guess I really want know for a few weeks when I get on the bike and test it.

Swelling has gone down and I can walk w/o a limp, etc... but its still pretty sore. Even the kid realize that I physically recoil when they get too close. Don't need a swinging arm to hit it!

I'm assuming the stitches come out also, that will be nice.

And more fine pictures of my legs. :)

Swelling going down

Swelling has gone down alot since yesterday. I can also limp around which is nice since the crutches are a real PIA.
 

Bandages are off

Took the bandages off to see what it looked like, doesn't look really bad skin wise:
 
But boy is it all swelled up. It's sore and I can't bend it to far, but I guess that's all the swelling. Iced it for the first time also, hopefully that helps with the swelling.
 

Knee Surgery done

Pretty easy as far as it goes. Got there around 9:45. They had me in the pre-op room all prepped and ready to go by 10:30ish or so. Surgery was scheduled for 11:45pm. Talked to the doctors and nurses. Went to the room, they knocked me out and woke up an hour later. Knee is a little sore but doesn't really hurt and I can bare all my weight on it, but am using the crutches anyway. I had a local or something that should last around 24 hours so I'm guessing it will hurt more tomorrow.

For now, its more of stretch, strengthen and rest it as the pain dictates. Got some Vicodin, but I doubt I'll take it.

Lynn talked to the doctor after the surgery and showed her the pictures. Nothing obvious that was causing the issue, but he did some "cleaning" so hopefully that does the trick. I was really hoping it would be obvious, but nothing I can do now but to heal and see.

Thanks for all the good wishes.

24 hours to go...

Until someone slices and dices my knee. I'm excited about that, is that weird?

Playing around

Lynn and I finally broke down and bought a digital SLR camera. We've had a film SLR camera in our closet for years now and we haven't really used it since we got a digital. We had 2 lenses so we just bought a body... Even w/o trying the pictures are so much better than the pocket cameras can do. Looking forward to remembering again all the settings.

BTW, someone is watching you...
 

Sleeping in the jeep...

 

Proof that it can be done and at highway speeds no less!

A political post???

All this talk about Hillary becoming the VP... I can't stop thinking about the Scorpion and the Frog fable...

The Scorpion and the Frog
One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.

The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.

Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.

"Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"

"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.

"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"

Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"

"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"

"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.

"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"

So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.

Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"

The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog's back.

"I could not help myself. It is my nature."

Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.

Self destruction - "Its my Nature", said the Scorpion...

Fry 'em

Usually not much of a fan of Texas, but boy I'm glad this a**hole was in Texas when this happened. Killed at least one, critically hurt more while driving drunk/drugged up. Chance of him not being executed before the end of the year... NIL!

And yes, that's a police escort. Moron.

EDIT: It actually happened across the border in Mexico. Not sure if that's better or worse.

Knife day... June 19th

Going to do it... 9 days before we go to OBX. I'm so holding my breath that this solve this issue once and for all. I haven't even thought of being able to ride pain free for months...