Later Sunsets

As I was driving home yesterday after work around 5:30PM I noticed something strange - the sun had not set yet, there was still some daylight, the days are actually getting longer ! This winter has been blah for me. I stopped working out in November to let my elbow tendonitis heal and I really have not been able to get back into any type of consistent workout routine. My physical therapy sessions were $30 a session, even with my insurance covering the rest of it. I am not looking forward to my credit card bill next month. Shopping for winter clearance clothes is even depressing - everything is either black, gray, navy blue, dark green, or dark red. Winter colors are so boring. I need something to snap me out of the winter doldrums. Hopefully, more sunlight and an earlier Daylight Savings on March 9th will energize me.

Al Gore, No Inconvenient Truth Today

Al Gore, there is no"Inconvenient Truth" today, it is damn cold. Even though I should be acclimated to setting my thermostat at 69 degrees, it is a very cold 69 degrees. Here is a breakdown of what I am wearing today inside my house: Head - Nike baseball hat turned backwards; Upper Body - Reebok Play Dry compression T-shirt, Reebok Play Dry Thermal Long Sleeve Mock Turtleneck, cotton full zip front sweatshirt; Lower Body - Champion Duo Dry sports brief, Under Armour Cold Gear leggings, cotton sweatpants; Feet - wool socks, Nike running shoes.

Tennis Elbow Update

I saw my hand surgeon this morning for a re-evaluation of my tennis elbow after 6 weeks (12 sessions) of physical therapy. My Doctor measured my grip strength and said my strength had not dramatically improved. My Doc said it can take 6 to 9 months to fully heal. He gave me the options of allowing more time to heal by itself, or have a cortisone injection. He recommended the cortisone shot since my grip strength did not improve a lot. My physical therapist suggested 2 weeks (4 sessions total) of additional physical therapy and my doctor agreed to this. I will see my doc in one month to see if the cortisone shot worked. I will keep you updated.

Drive Time

No, this is not a post about being stuck in traffic on the Parkway. The second DVD drive that I installed in my PC died yesterday. It was a Sony DVD writer and only worked for almost 3 years. Of course, it only had a one year warranty, so I replaced it with a DVD writer drive that I was saving for my unbuilt new PC. I sent an e-mail to Sony tech support complaining about the quality of the drive. I doubt if they will even reply since I was not asking for tech support. The drive is dead, trust me. The very first DVD drive I installed 4 years ago was only a reader, not a burner. It was made by a no name company, Pacific Digitial, and died about one month after the one year warranty. My PC is seven years old and surprisingly the original CD writer drive still works. It is very slow compared to today's technology and makes a horrible grinding noise, but it still works. I also took some time to dust out my computer case, the cooling fans, etc. I will have to wait and see how long this drive will last.

Happy 2K8

Happy New Year to everyone!