My lifetime ambitions Mission accomplished (sort of)

From a very young age I have had the same list of lifetime ambitions. The first is to marry a beautiful girl. Well as you can see from the above photo, mission accomplished and then some (My wife is the one of the left). Thing is about beautiful girls they make even more beautiful girls (My daughter on the right). My other daughter is equally as beautiful but I really liked this photo so I will feature her in another post.

Ambition number 2 was to win something big (Wimbledon, The Masters etc). Well thats me on the right after winning the 1994 Indy 500. Al took a swig of milk then handed it to me. I kind of fell into this one but I am going to count it as complete.

Next up, become a highly skilled golfer. I played the course and as you can see from the sign, it must be true. Seriously I hit the ball pretty good, I spent 5 years and thousands upon thousands of range balls learning to hit a draw (99% of golfers slice, almost all pros play a draw). I have shot 18 holes in 1 under par and can drive the ball 280 yards and can work the ball at will. My putting sucks but what the hell you cant have it all.

Number 4, become an extremely fit, ripped athlete. This is me on the right at the muscleman half iron man in 2008. A very nice and talented fitness instructor at my work is responsible for the abs. 20 hours of riding running and lifting a week is responsible for the 10% body fat. It is impossible to maintain this fitness and raise and family and hold down a full time job, so don't ask me to show you the abs now (There under there somewhere I promise).

Now for the incomplete ambitions
Play guitar - I tried. Developed carpal tunnel. Tried again and at the moment I am a bit stalled in my playing ability. I need lessons bad. That and I found out I have absolutely zero musical ability, have really poor hand eye coordination and motor skills for this and have very poor rhythm. Other than that it is going really well. NOT.

Learn a foreign language - My French is awful. Nes Pas. I need to learn Italian with my beautiful wife before my brain cant do it any more.

Become a martial artist -  I took some kickboxing classes at work. I sometimes work out with a Mixed Martial Arts guy at work. He brought in this 6 inch think pad which you hold as a target, he held it for me and I kicked it, I held it for him and he nearly broke my arm.

I should note that all these accomplishments pale in comparison to the joy I get from my beautiful family. I love you guys. Your success is what drives me. Love Dad.

Half Way

I am now half way through my chemo treatment cycles. Only 12 weeks to go.
Picture of me finished with Treatment #6

 Heres a highlight of my cancer related activities
1) I put a Livestrong band on my wrist before my first chemo treatment. It has not come off.and will not come off until I am cured. I gave bands to all my family members.

2) I get tons of support from my family and friends. This has really been a huge source of help for me. I really appreciate all the things and work my supporters are doing for me.

3) My hair has not fallen out, it has gotten softer though.

4) I gave up caffeine and coffee and meat. I told my Vegan and card carrying PETA member daughter EJ I was going Veggie, then started back on the meat, but I am planning to cut back again. Someone over at together cooking keeps making delicious pot roast and it irresistable.

5) I make homemade sushi every Sunday. The pickled ginger helps with the stomach and nausea. Other favorites include lemonade, lemon water and chicken noodle soup. The rice is pretty good and bland. No raw fish here just veggies and cooked crab.

6) My wife, kids and friends take me on bike rides. I love this, they love it too. I feel much better with exercise.We do a cancer survivor ride every other Monday at 6pm. I cant ride fast but I just go until I cant go anymore.

7) I thought I had this already, but I have really come to understand the value of my family and all the joy they bring to me. I love you guys. Keep up your great attitudes, hard work and dedication to the things you enjoy. I don't care if EJ wins a Marathon (She will)  or B wins the Masters (This ones a stretch, but hey, who would have thought I would win the Indy 500,  if you think it and believe it, it will happen) or DD becomes the most sought after psychologist in western NY (she will) or AM becomes a famous Chef on the Food Network (Iron Chef AM ala cuisine!), In my mind you are all there already. Love DAD.

Innovation

Definition: Great ideas you come up with that are mocked by the status quo, you are then persecuted, your idea is stolen and some else takes credit for it.

So here's an example. I have been following the NHL playoffs. I heard about this player who got hit in the mouth with a stick. He lost 9 teeth, and he was quoted as saying "It was good that I only missed one shift". I started looking at the players. They have a lot of missing teeth,

There is of course a very simple solution to prevent the loss of teeth.

Bring that up at an NHL players meeting. First you will be mocked. "Sissy" I hear them yelling . "How do you expect us to fight?" Well that was my next presentation "No more fighting allowed in the NHL" but since you called me sissy, I am forced to drop my gloves and challenge you to a game of Parcheesi.  Next thing you know your not the NHL player safety advisor anymore (Persecution). Then 5 years down the road, someone sitting in that same room the day you showed your power point on no more broken teeth, brings out the new NHL safety guidelines (Face guards mandatory) (Stealing). Of course change happens slowly. At one time, NHL players, including goalies wore no helmets at all. Of course there were some really bad innovative ideas that actually made it into play (see wikipedia under Cooperalls). But I am pretty sure adding full face guards is a good one and will some day be de rigour. Plus the no fighting thing. What am I a friggin psychic? We know these things will eventually happen, we just need time for the status quo agents to adapt to it and for someone to come along and steal the idea.

There you have it. This has actually happened to me more times than I want to remember. Being the first out of the box with an idea, and then trying to change the status quo is almost certainly a path into ruin. Being a status quo jockey or an idea stealer is almost certainly more financially beneficial, you just don't get to sleep at night.