Real Men Do Love Cats

(PS:这个男的好有摇滚范儿啊)

最喜欢的一张:

The socket and bit set on the right is for the Park Took Torque Wrench I recently purchased.

Now, I’d better go take my bike apart and give a thorough wipe down.

(Look, what Erik Got me for birthday last year!)

P.S. I just realized that this probably looked more like a Father’s Day present than a birthday present to a wife.  Hahaha…

P.P.S. Erik asked me when I was fumbling with my new toys, “Can I have my toolset back now?” Hahaha…

When they had the one day layover at SFO, Erik and I picked Xin Ran up and we spent a day together. We took him where the group would have visited (Stanford and Golden Gate Bridge) and more. We had dinner at the Franciscan Crab Restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf for its view of the Alcatraz Island and the water. It was late when we got out and we needed to send Xin Ran back to the hotel for next day’s early flight. But both Xin Ran and Erik’s attention was drawn to a street performer who was already surrounded by a big crowd. Using spray cans, he could make amazing paintings at an amazing speed. Finally, failing to tear them away, I ordered one painting for each of them. (The price was surprisingly affordable!) I shot a video of the process using my little camera. I asked Paco, the artist, if he would be okay with me posting it on YouTube, he happily granted me the permission. However, the video does not capture the full excitement in real life. You have to find him on Fisherman’s Wharf and watch for yourself. You can email him at pacospray@yahoo.com if you want to get in touch with him.

Here is a simple shot of the painting Erik got.

Here is the YouTube video.

笨嘴拙舌，直接上片吧。

有猫猫爱的日子真幸福呀。


I normally do not advocate for any company or organization because I believe people are capable of making their own choices. But this time, I’d like to bring to everyone’s attention this simple method of supporting good causes of your choice by just being alive.  This can be done through Plus 3 Network. All you need to do is logging your daily activities there. The idea is, Plus 3 has secured a set of beneficiaries (causes) that people can choose to support as well as a corresponding set of sponsors (one-to-one relationship). Once you choose your cause to support, any activity you log (by hand typing or using your GPS) through their site will help raise money for that cause, which will be donated by the corresponding sponsor.

To be honest, in the beginning, I was a bit thrown off by the fact that Plus 3 was not a non-profit organization, so when I had trouble uploading my GPS data first time I tried a year ago, I did not try again. But I’ve come to terms with that grudge since. After all, it’s a great idea. We do these activities anyway, and this is a simple way to make them count. The people who came up with the idea and the platform deserve to be awarded. So, here I am, giving a shout out on their behalf. BTW, last night when I tried, uploading data from my GPS was extremely easy.

Disclaimer: I have no connection with Plus 3 at all other than being a member

Below is a list of the activities that can be logged as of today. Now, do you see what I mean by raising money by just being alive?

Updates:

March 11, 2010. This update is in response to Alison’s comment on my original post:

Call me cynical, but the Plus 3 network strikes me as too much of a waste of time. I’m happy to just plain donate the small amount of money they raise instead of bothering with their silly web site. How do you know if they really make the donation? Do you ever get confirmation from the group you elect?

Alison, I hear you. For a long time, I remained suspicious of the gig. And even today, I can’t say that I have found the answers to many of my questions. However, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Here are the reasons:

• I will not pretend that I do my sports such as road riding, mountain biking, and rock climbing, etc. because I want to help some charity. I sometimes push myself and suffer pain while doing these activities, but that’s only because I get some satisfaction out of it eventually.  (Alison, I’m sure you understand this all too well). So, you will never find me soliciting to friends and family “fund my miles, or climbs, and I’ll kill myself to go further because I have a higher purpose that goes beyond my own desires.” Yeah, call me cynical. However, looking at the Rates table on their FAQ page, I realize that pretty much any exercise I do can help raise some money. Since I’m doing these things anyway (for my own satisfaction) on a fairly regular basis, why don’t I make them count for something else as an extra, especially when that “something else” can help someone else.
• I know I will not be logging every thing I do. For example, I rode my mountain bike for 4 miles today, and it does seem a waste of my time to log that activty for a pathetic $0.12. I’ll be more motivated to log my time consuming activities. But, even if I’m disciplined enough (I doubt I will be) to log every single activity I do every day, I know that by the end of the day, or even the month, the total amount will still be pretty small. But I’ve been receiving their newsletter every since I signed up. I wish they had some accounting as to how much each organization (cause) has received funding. At the beginning of the their last newsletter, they did state, “we’ve raised over $97,000 for our Causes!” If it’s true, I guess that’s the cumulative effect. At this point, I’ll just give them the benefit of the doubt, believe that it’s a noble thing to do, and be happy to be a tiny part of it.
• I do have some questions for them just like you do, Alison. The information disclosure on their website has been limited or vague. But again, they are not a non-profit organization, so I can’t hold it against them. On the other hand, I don’t think they are hiding from anyone either. A couple of their founders have been very active in the Low Key Hillclimb series. So, maybe someday when I go, I’ll summon enough courage to ask them the questions face-to-face. Until then, I’m open to any genuine information anyone is able to share with us. I see this as a healthy discussion. If any reader who stumbles upon this post and has some thoughts to share, please leave a comment.

Again, until something changes my mind, I’ll remain a supporter of this fund raising mechanism…if only I’m more disciplined about logging my activities…

I just had an epiphany: A picture is worth a thousand words. So forget about a longer report. Here are the pictures. But first, thanks F4 for hosting the delicious hotpot dinner and the one of a kind birthday gift! Thanks munge for coming out to share a couple of drinks with Mr. Mud. And thanks all who were thinking of him.

Oh, the funny thing was on our way home from the bar after Mr. Mud had a couple of “Dirty Old Man” drinks, the audiobook we were listening to, a World War II memoir, had this in a dialogue: “I’m not a dirty old man; I’m a sexy senior citizen.”

Mr. Mud is not old yet. See how flexible he is in these poses?

He was not doing yoga though. He was just admiring the beauty of these early spring flowers at Pinnacles.

Mr. Mud would not have wanted to be anywhere else.

Wish you all could have been here.

The next day, Erik also had an epiphany on our short ride, “Alcohol is not a performance enhancing drug.”

We had four audio books in the car. Erik got those from the library and had been listening to some of them. One was a Mandarin Lesson; one was on China history; and two were on American history. All except the Mandarin lesson would have been nice to listen to, but right before we got out of the house, we opened a Christmas present Erik’s sister sent us. It was a book, The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition. Although both of us had read/listened to this book before, neither of us could remember the details; however, we both remembered it was a great book. I couldn’t help opening the first page, but I also couldn’t keep the pleasure of reading that book to myself, so I read it out aloud. I did it on the entire 16 hour drive and the subsequent nights before we went to sleep.

We took a break when we drove through LA. We met up with my friend Vivian from college when we stopped for lunch. She took great interests in Erik’s braces because she was going through some serious debates (with herself) about that. It was good to see her again. Now I can say, I read Erik bed time stories. Actually, when we get back, I will try to find other good books so we can read them together. It’s really fun this way.

When we pulled in the drive way at the rental house in Tucson, it was near midnight. Our friend Tom who arrived a day early was still up and about. Our vacation had officially started.

自从有了两个小丫头就没真正出过门了。想想不容易，当初和猫爸还是在户外认识的呢。以前看到当父母的有了小孩就一切以孩子为生活的重点，因而失去了自我， 对此不以为然，暗想自己肯定就不会这样。现在想想，理想和现实真的是有差距的。庆幸自己不打算要小孩，否则的话自己对parenting的一套套大道理自 己首先就做不到。好在猫猫再怎样宠也不会有什么样的后果（不像小孩会走邪道），所以我也就由着自己宠她们了。

扯远了。。。

终于在朋友大力游说下，我们决定出门一个星期。

干粮有自动喂食机每天分四次倒出来。丫头挨不到饿。何况已经请邻居每天或隔天来开罐头。小家伙会跑去藏起来，但是估计芒果听到开罐头声会跑到厨房来。希望她们至少知道她们没有被遗弃。

昨晚装好了新订购的自动清理卫生间。 网上反馈有人讲他们的猫无论如何不能接受。说明书上建议循序渐进，慢慢地撤去旧的砂盆。可是我们三天后就出门，没时间磨合了，我就直接把就砂盆清了放入地 下室，这样她们就看不到旧砂盆。今早没看到有成就，上班一天悬着心，晚上回家就看到盒子里藏着一猫的份额，还没起身出房间呢，小家伙就跳进去睁着大眼睛看 着我，当时就办了公。现在我彻底放心了。闺女就是让人省心呀。不给家长添难题。

可是我还是有些不放心丫头们呀。现在每天回家，她们都会到门口迎接，然后高高兴兴地跑前跑后。不知她们会不会很非常想我们。不知道等我们回来，她们还认不认识我们。

我最爱睡觉有猫猫的陪伴。今早没睁眼就能感受到丫头沉沉的重量。很幸福的。睁眼看到的是这样（中间是我的腿）：

我会想念这种感觉的。

我希望我们不在家时，她们能相亲相爱，就像这样（这是我抽身下床后照的她两个相偎相依的景象）：

Why does it bug me? Can’t believe you have to ask –  Don’t you see what’s wrong here? It’s asymmetric! Can that be even legal???

I even paused on my Henry Coe ride just so I can fix this messy situation:

There! This is better!

Haha… Just my rambling when it’s raining outside.

I think the rheumatologist likes me to think not, but he has asked me to go back to see him in four weeks so he can run some blood tests on me. See, he can’t know for sure!

The ankle so far has been getting better everyday. Last Thursday (4th day), it was still swollen like this (inserting the link instead of the actual picture to protect the foot-phobics). But on Monday, I was already able to walk slowly on my own without the crutches. By now (about 10 days after the onset), I can walk like a normal person. That’s good because I didn’t like the attention I got when I was walking like a 90 year old grandma. But of course, if you know me well, you know I’m not my normal self yet because I usually walk twice as fast as a normal person. The swelling has gone down substantially, but it looks purple now around the ankle and there is still discomfort in it when I move. But at least, I can walk now.

The doctor says having abnormal blood test results such as a high RA factor does not necessarily mean that I do have RA. After examining me up and down, he concludes I’m in a good shape. Most likely, the episode is just my body’s over reaction to a subtle injury I had that was not picked up in either the X-Ray or the MRI. I have been accused of being melodramatic occasionally by the hubby and now a doctor confirms it! Good grief!

When he told me, “Don’t worry. Go home and enjoy yourself!” I almost felt a little disappointed. To me, something had to be wrong when something as debilitating as that happened to a person. If the doctor could confirm what was wrong, it might sound awful or frightening  (e.g. RA), but at least we can start acting on that — diet, medicine, or anything — so it does not happen again. But now, nothing will be done or can be done, then how do I know that it won’t suddenly happen again and maybe even be worse next time? (The thought of that just sent a chill down my spine.) All right… I guess I’ll have to trust my doctor at this point. After all, he seems like a super nice guy, and he shares an office with Christine Thorburn, who came in 5th in the 2008 Beijing Olympics Women’s Individual Cycling Time Trial. (BTW, my doctor’s name is Andrew Rozelle and he asked me to call him Andrew. See, I told you he was super nice!)

- So, can I get back on my bike now?
- I’d rather you give it at least another week.
- But this is Bohlman-On Orbit, the only Low Key Hillclimb I had wanted to participate in badly! (Omitted here are some lengthy explanations on how painful this hillclimb is, which obviously sounded pretty convincing to the doctor.)
- Okay, if you really want to do it, fine. The worst case is it will swell up again…

Wow, so I might actually do it? Only a week after when I thought I might be disabled for life? Ha, that’s a twisty turn on my life’s path! Well, we’ll see what happens on Saturday!

Update (2 hours after I wrote the post): Erik just remembered to tell me that the rheumatologist called home in the evening. (I was not home because I went to watch Michael Jack’s This Is It by myself.) After I left the doctor’s office, he talked to the radiologist who took my MRI and got a hold of my MRI. (The MRI images in the CD I brought him were not very clear.) It turned out that the situation was worse than he had thought. He mentioned that there was lot of fluid and swelling around the tendons and ligaments. So, he did not think me riding on Saturday would be a good idea because pushing hard could have a good chance of tearing the Achilles Tendon or other ligaments. Oops, shut down! That’s okay though because in this case, ignorance probably would not be bliss.