For those who have asked...

I am now about three and a half months post event. That is, my stroke happened on the Ides of March this year. The second hospital where I was seen, UC Davis Medical Center, admitted me with a "basilar artery thrombosis".  My search of the Internet yielded the following two paragraphs:

"Acute basilar artery thrombosis is associated with a poor prognosis. However, the advent of high-quality, reliable, and noninvasive technology (eg, magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) has made its diagnosis possible even in subjects with mild symptoms. This has illustrated that some patients have an acute partial occlusion or a slow progressive occlusion with limited ischemic injury and, therefore, a better prognosis.

"Although outcomes continue to be poor in patients with basilar artery thrombosis, advances in pharmacologic and mechanical thrombolysis and in endovascular therapy may reduce the mortality and disability rates associated with this disease. "

My discharge notes from UC Davis sounds a bit brighter. There it is stated the "patient's condition improving drastically."

At this point it might be good to get some background. How did this sudden change in my lifestyle come to be? First it should be said that I love to ride a bicycle. In fact I have six bicycles – an antique Peugeot, four road bikes, and one fat tire bike. I like sunny days in 60°F weather, but I've been known to ride in colder weather down to 18°F. What Katherine and I both enjoy is going to California - Santa Barbara County - in March of each year. There I get to ride in sunny weather. A little bit windy at times but still blue skies and warm temperatures. Kathy and I had been in Solvang, California, for two weeks. I had ridden my new bike every day. Kathy enjoyed th sun, did some volunteer work, and renewed some friendsips.  On 15 March of this year we headed for home in the Pacific Northwest after wonderful times spent with family and friends. We wanted to get to Redding, California, for the night so that we could go over the Siskiyou Mountains in daylight the next day. We didn't make it to Redding and were going to stop at a hotel in Corning, California. I got out of the car went into the hotel, checked us in, went back to the car, Kathy parked the car, and I got out to get the overnight bag. When I got out of the car to get the bag, I experienced a loud howling in my ears hundreds of times louder than the worst tinnitus I've ever had. The whole world began to swirl around me.  I remember grabbing the luggage rack on top of the car. Kathy told me to get back in the car. At first we thought was I was having a seizure. However, it was unlike any seizures I'd ever had.

About this time an employee of the hotel walked out into the parking lot. She later told Katherine, "Something told me I should go outside." As soon as Katherine saw her, Katherine told her to call 911. Within 10 minutes an ambulance was there. The EMT, George, had to decide between seizure and stroke. Fortunately he chose stroke. I was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Chico, California. At this point it seemed that the most often repeated phrase was "Time is of the essence." It was decided that because of my medical history the way that my diagnosis of stroke would have normally been treated was not available to them. And they couldn't do what I needed in that hospital. They started looking for a bed in one of the university hospitals. UC Davis responded first with an available bed. And because time was of the essence, I was flown by helicopter from Chico to Sacramento. All of this started around 8:30 Friday evening and by 12:30 Saturday morning I was in surgery.

Later that morning after the surgeons had done what they could, they told Katherine to be prepared to make some very difficult decisions. Katherine had already been on the phone with our oldest son. He was prepared to fly to Sacramento that morning. When he arrived he called local church officials who sent one of the Bishops from that area to help give me a blessing. From that point on I started making a recovery that the doctors had not been able to foresee.

I set a goal for myself to be home in the Northwest by the following Saturday. I met that goal. Goals are great, if you use them correctly. The problem with goal that I had made was that it was too short term. When I got home I'd reached that goal. I didn't have anything else in mind. I collapsed as soon as I got in the house. My second son Matthew had driven to Sacramento to help bring me home. He and Katherine decided to call 911. I was in the hospital again. 

This time it was Saint Anthony's in Gig Harbor. I stayed there for three days and then was transferred to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tacoma. I was admitted to the inpatient rehabilitation therapy unit and was there until 16 April. I got a three-week break and then started outpatient physical therapy and occupational therapy at Saint Anthony's. That brings us to the present.

I guess I'm not supposed to be walking, but I am. And last Thursday my therapist had me walking around clinic without a walker or came. I'll admit I'm very wobbly and sometimes appear to be someone who works for the Ministry of Silly Walks… But I'm walking.

I've made a goal for myself – a long-range goal this time – to cross the new bridge in Portland when it opens in September 2015. And to be on bike tires. We'll talk about a return to California then.

Monkey Wards to Tanner Springs Park

As a child I loved going to the Montgomery-Ward store on NW Vaughn Street in Portland. We called the store, "monkey wards." But it wasn't the store that we loved. It was its location. It stood downhill and across Vaughn street from the Forestry Building. It didn't take much begging and pleading for us to visit that magnificent structure. The Forestry Building. It was touted as the world's largest log cabin. Actually, it was the last remaining building of the Lewis and Clark exposition of 1905.

Wikipedia describes the exposition this way:

"The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, commonly also known as the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and officially known as the Lewis and Clark Centennial American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair, was a worldwide exposition held in Portland, Oregon, United States in 1905 to celebrate the centennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. While not officially considered a World's Fair by the Bureau of International Expositions, it is often informally described as such; the exposition attracted both exhibits and visitors from around the world. During the exposition's four-month run, it attracted over 1.6 million visitors, and featured exhibits from 21 countries. Portland grew from 161,000 to 270,000 residents between 1905 and 1910, a spurt that has been attributed to the exposition"

The exposition was built on the site of Guild Lake. A lake that no longer exists. The forestry building was on the hill above and overlooking the lake.

That lake and others have been drained and filled in and are now an industrial area as well as Portland's well-known Pearl District. Tanner Springs Park in Northwest Portland is a nod to that part of Portland's history.

Yes, what is now known as the Pearl District was once a wetland and lake fed by streams that flowed down from the nearby hills in southwest Portland. These wooded hillsides provided a natural filter for the streams, cleansing the water as it made its way to the Willamette River. The springs from Tanner Creek, named for the tannery built by pioneer Daniel Lownsdale in 1845, flowed into the shallow basin of Couch Lake, now the area surrounding Tanner Springs Park. As the population of Portland grew in the late 19th century, Tanner Creek was rerouted through an underground system of pipes to the Willamette River. The lake and the surrounding wetland were eventually filled to make way for warehouses and rail yards which in turn were replaced by residences, shops, and public spaces. Today, the park sits about 20 feet above the former lake surface.

From the beginning of the planning efforts for the Pearl District in the early 1990s, the creation of a network of open spaces was an important goal of both the neighborhood and the city of Portland. In 1998, a conceptual plan for the new parks and open spaces was proposed by the Tanner Creek and Water Feature Steering Committee and approved by the Portland city council. Those recommendations served as a point of departure for planning the district's parks.

In June 1999, Peter Walker & Partners, a landscape architecture firm, was retained to provide concepts for three new parks between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the River District. They developed and refined plans for the parks with input from a Project Steering Committee and two public workshops. The final plan is characterized by a series of recurring elements which strengthen the connection between each of the three parks. Jamison Square was the first to be developed.

North Park Square was the working name given this second block to be developed. Planning for this park began in early 2003. Atelier Dreiseitl, a renowned German design firm, and GreenWorks, P.C., an award-winning, local landscape architecture firm, were selected to design the park. A series of community workshops were held between January and June 2003, allowing the public to participate in the design process. After committee review, the name Tanner Springs was adopted in April 2005. The springs connect the park to Tanner Creek that at one time flowed openly through this area; today it flows through large pipes beneath the city streets. Since the design of the park attempts to recapture the area's past with its native wetlands and flowing runnels, the name is fitting.
The Artwall runs along the east edge of the park. It is composed of 368 railroad tracks set on end and integrates 99 pieces of fused glass inset with images of dragonflies, spiders, amphibians, and insects. The images were hand-painted by Herbert Dreiseitl directly onto Portland glass, which was then fused and melted to achieve the final effect.

I was reading through some posts on Facebook looking for something from the family and came upon this headline: Bike rider killed in close pass on Mt. Baldy Road last Saturday with the accompanying link to the story:
http://bikinginla.com/2014/06/20/bike-rider-killed-in-close-pass-on-mt-baldy-road-last-saturday/

Mistakenly I assumed that this posting had something to do with Bald Peak north of Newberg, Oregon, where my oldest son lives.

A couple weeks ago I posted something on this blog about a ride that my son did and recorded for me to watch. We've done that before together. We've ridden it not record it. Part of what he recorded was the route used to go up Bald Peak. However, the post on Facebook deals with Mt. Baldy in Southern California. And although I've never ridden Mt. Baldy, I have ridden some beautiful areas in Southern California.

From what I read the rider in the story won't be riding again. I can somewhat identify with that. His days were stolen from him by the neglect of someone else and he will not be riding again. However, according to some people, I may be back on a bike in about a year and a quarter. His full story, or at least that part about the last few hours of his life, can be seen by clicking on the link below and then scrolling down to Saturday, June 14:

https://www.claremont-courier.com/mobile/article/t12126-crime

There you can read the following:

"A Fontana bicyclist suffered fatal injuries following a collision with a vehicle near Evey Canyon. The 77-year-old female driver was traveling southbound on Mt. Baldy Road around 7 a.m. when she attempted to pass the 59-year-old male cyclist on the left. The passenger-side mirror of the white Chevy SUV struck the cyclist, propelling the biker to the ground with a tremendous impact. Los Angeles County Fire responded to the scene and the cyclist was airlifted to USC Medical Center with severe head trauma. Although he was wearing a helmet, the cyclist’s injuries were too severe and he died at the hospital. The accident remains under investigation."

This reminds me of a fatality on Oregon state route 18 near Hebo junction during an organized ride, Reach the Beach, a couple of years ago. A 60 plus-year-old man and cancer survivor was struck by the passenger-side mirror on a Cadillac SUV as a driver of that SUV  attempted to avoid a rear end collision with the vehicle in front of him. That near-miss rear end collision was caused by the inattention of the SUV driver.

Now what I'm getting at is this, my riding days have been temporarily taken from me. I'm not going to be riding Seattle to Portland this year. I am, however, still registered to do that ride. About the same time that my riding days were cut short, an acquaintance of mine -Aaron Smeltzer - had his running and riding days permanently taken from him. And so I propose, although not actually authorized by the Cascade Bicycle Club, to dedicate my number to Aaron. I wish I could say friend, however I was not that close to him. The fault was mine.

So, if there's someone who is riding the STP and would like to carry my number as a memorial to Aaron - you'd have to have your own registration - please contact me. Then you and I would both present this dedicated number, this memorial to his widow.

Let's talk about propaganda which is a systematic effort to influence people’s opinions, to win them over to a certain view or side. We as Americans have been exposed to propaganda of various types for such a long time that the use of propaganda has crept into our everyday conversations and the posts we place on social network sites. Unfortunately, we do it without even thinking. At times those of us who have opinions attempt by coercion to persuade others - those of different opinions or those we view as having opposing or different opinions - to accept our view of things.

Often we spend so much time and effort quixotically opposing views that we forget to promote our own ideas, i.e., sell our own "product" or point of view. We become negative. Naysayers. We're viewed as people who tear down rather than those that attempt to build up. Never building, as in a positive endeavor. Demolition is easy. Construction is hard. Those who demolish leave a wasteland. Those who build or are constructive, produce an environment that we feel comfortable living in.

Edward Filene helped establish the Institute of Propaganda Analysis in 1937 to educate the American public about the nature of propaganda and how to recognize propaganda techniques. Filene and his colleagues identified the seven most common "tricks of the trade" used by successful propagandists. These seven techniques or pillars are: 1) Name Calling, 2) Glittering Generalities, 3) Transfer, 4) Testimonial, 5) Plain Folks, 6) Card Stacking, and 7) Band Wagon.

 Below you'll find listed explanations and examples of each of the seven pillars of propaganda. My challenge to you is simply to identify any that you may use in your day to day interaction with others. By this I mean as used in personal conversation or less personally as you reach out to the world electronically. Are you smashing or mending? Tearing down or building up?

 So here they are:

1) Name Calling: Negatively charged names are hurled against the opposing side or competitor, in an attempt to arouse feelings of mistrust, fear, and hate in their audiences. 

Political example: “Warmonger” “Loser” “Fence-Sitter”
Advertising example: “Foreign car” instead of “Imported”—foreign may have unpleasant connotations 

2) Glittering Generalities: Surrounding a product with attractive—and slippery—words and phrases, often too vague to define and may have different meanings to different people.

Political example: “Vote for change, vote for progress” (What kind of change? What kind of progress?)
Advertising example: “Luvs diapers” “Joy liquid detergent”

 3) Transfer: Trying to improve the image of a product by associating it with a symbol most people respect, hoping that the prestige of the symbol will carry over to the product

 Political example: Political ads with a bald eagle, stars and stripes, the national anthem playing softly
Advertising example: Exxon Valdez & Wildlife benefits

 4) Testimonial: Similar to Transfer, this technique capitalizes on the admiration people have for a celebrity to make a product more appealing

 Political example: Oprah for Obama
Advertising example: Jessica Simpson for Proactiv

 5) Plain Folks: An approach appealing to the everyday person, essentially saying, “Buy this or vote for me because I’m just like you.”

 Political example: Candidate riding a tractor or wearing a hardhat
Advertising example: “Not actors, these are real people” “1-800-ASK-GARY”

 6) Card Stacking: One side may suppress or distort evidence, tell half-truths, oversimplify the facts, or set up a “straw man”—a false target—to divert attention from the issue at hand 

Political example: “Candidate changed his mind five times”—we tend to accept the claim and do not wonder if the candidate had good reason for changing his/her mind
Advertising example: “4 out of 5 doctors agree” “A better product than most competitors”

 7) Bandwagon: Advertising peer pressure, suggesting that “Everyone’s doing it. What’s wrong with you?” People generally want to fit in, not be seen as different, be on the winning team…

 Political example: “Vote for the ‘winning’ candidate”
Advertising example: “America’s favorite…” “Most people prefer brand X over other brands…”

 If you use any of these day-to-day, be honest with yourself and admit it. Understand what you're doing and don't become overbearing. Realize that success is not a destination but a journey. And that journeys require safe havens and friendly rest stops. Be open and honest; a warm, allowing person - allowing others to assist in the journey.

And with their help, if it's only playing opposition, you'll still be able to accomplish your goals.

Here's something my son gave me. I guess as an incentive. It's a video of about 26 minutes of some of the roads we used to ride separately and together above Newberg, Oregon. It's either the camera or his riding style, but the road seems to be a lot flatter than I remember it.

Little has changed this week. Except perhaps that I climb and descend the stairs independently. This of course has made me a bit more overconfident. That combined with impulsiveness caused a bit of a problem this past Tuesday. I was in the office and decided to leave. Instead of standing up and getting my balance, I stood up from the chair grabbed a cane and in my haste I rolled my left ankle. In doing that I was extremely off-balance and executed what I call a controlled collapse. Others would call this a fall. However, in an attempt to lessen the damage I sprained my left wrist. At least it wasn't the good one. 

When I saw Doctor Siler on Friday last. One of the things that we discussed was a splint. He okayed that. Something I have been considering is - and I invite your comments on this - acquiring a recumbent trike. I can get exercise and won't have to worry about balance. What you think? Of course I won't be on the main roads, but I'll ride around this residential area.