tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64316202008-08-19T15:47:02.138-05:00llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comBlogger495125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-6798272789122823512008-08-19T15:23:00.003-05:002008-08-19T15:47:02.151-05:00

WOW! I just filled up my CAV. I got 42.6 mpg on this tank of gas. That is amazing. That's better than the best highway mileage I ever got with the car. That's nearly 200 miles more than I would be getting without the Hypermiling techniques. At today's gas price, that's $23 saved. I'm not sure if I can improve on that, but I'll give it a try.

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-46712264202162595442008-08-19T14:21:00.002-05:002008-08-19T15:20:10.317-05:00

Sorry for the long break in posts dear readers. My grandpa's passing hit me hard and I still feel like my world is a bit off kilter. I was named after him and as a kid, he was always "Big Lou" and I was "Little Louie." My grandma would yell at him, "Lou go for bread," He'd nudge me and say "Which Lou," with a twinkle in his eye. My grandma would feign annoyance and repeat, "Big Lou." I spent

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-64181573817431786252008-08-09T09:24:00.002-05:002008-08-09T09:30:04.362-05:00

I just found out my Grandfather died. I called him a couple of weeks ago and he sounded like crap. He said he was getting over a cold. I called him a couple of days ago when they found out it was Pneumonia in both lungs. He refused to go to the hospital, so they had all his medical supplies shipped to his house. He was responding well to treatment. I can't believe he's gone.

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-75085890099900602042008-08-09T08:55:00.002-05:002008-08-09T09:24:16.884-05:00

After my little Ambulance ride on Tuesday, I knew that the surgery for the AV Fistula had to go through. My creatinine was 8.9 at the hospital, which means I could go in for Dialysis anytime I feel like it. I was hoping to wait until my creatinine got to 10, but this excess fluid that's interfering with my breathing might make me go sooner. If I had wanted to, I could have gone on dialysis a

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-84617902357899204832008-08-08T08:31:00.002-05:002008-08-08T08:37:10.135-05:00

So, I've been having trouble breathing in the mornings lately. Tuesday, it was pretty bad. Bad enough I had ABL call 911. They sent an ambulance and a fire truck. It freaked RJ out, but Q slept through it. I spent the morning in the hospital getting poked and prodded and in the end they didn't find anything. The doctors best guess is that while I'm lying down the fluid is building up in my

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-81061474666599486742008-08-06T19:49:00.003-05:002008-08-07T08:45:54.195-05:00

One of the reasons I want to go on Dialysis is to avoid the immunosuppressive medications. I've known from the beginning that Prograf (a drug meant to keep my transplant from being rejected) would damage the kidney. I've also known that being immune suppressed meant I'd be more susceptible to diseases and infections. I'm very grateful for the time I've had with this transplant. According to

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-9779951905979048302008-08-06T19:13:00.002-05:002008-08-06T19:46:11.016-05:00

John Hughes, the Managing Dictator Director of the UMCA had his contract renewed for 6 years. Part of me is surprised; after all, his recent tenure has been characterized by criminal conduct, lying, unethical behavior, and sheer incompetence. But the other part of me knows he had handpicked the Board for just this moment. If you haven't been following the UMCA Drama check out this site.So, with

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-31238622174526038512008-08-05T19:06:00.002-05:002008-08-05T19:21:12.229-05:00

It's no secret I enjoy going to the US Transplant Games, kickin some @ss, and bringing home some medals. Well, you know I couldn't go this year, but local boy Jon Hochstein picked up the torch and ran with it. If you think my story is special, check out his. He had a HEART Transplant at age 4, Survived Cancer as a fourth grader, lived through organ rejection a year later...All that before the

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-77799257510054708842008-08-03T22:08:00.004-05:002008-08-04T08:29:29.419-05:00

It was a beautiful day for a bike ride today; blue skies, white puffy clouds, cool temps, amazing views. I rode with Paul (Maggies Dad) out to Luckettsville, VA. I was suffering the whole way out, but not in the usual way. You see, I woke up at 2:30 AM unable to breath (uh yeah...again, blame it on McDonalds). I had to sit up for 2 hours before I felt well enough to go back to sleep (or so I

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-31542647693666959532008-08-03T12:46:00.001-05:002008-08-03T12:51:07.558-05:00

"Tax Collectors are bad...and oh yeah, Jesus loves me."

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-7393021217869006692008-07-29T13:13:00.004-05:002008-07-29T13:30:32.666-05:00

Recently, at a Critical Mass ride in NYC, Officer Patrick Pogan tackled a cyclist (Christopher Long). The officer is using the Uncle Jimbo defense, but you can clearly see the cyclist steering around the officer... The Officer is behind a desk until this gets cleared up. If he keeps his job, I hope he's required to do some sort of cycling related community service (teaching kids the rules of

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-36183908399648667932008-07-27T12:41:00.003-05:002008-07-27T13:43:02.565-05:00

I first got an inkling of this off of CNN's website, but they made it sound like the Critical Mass riders snapped, destroyed a Subaru and beat up the driver for no reason other than to assert their right to the road. This is a "Man bites Dog" story for me. Usually, I read the headlines and it says "Car plows into cyclists, 2 dead, 5 injured" In those cases, the driver is either: A) Drunk B)

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-69735349576105193482008-07-24T09:19:00.003-05:002008-07-24T09:22:25.857-05:00

I just realized that the mileage I was quoting for the CAV was based on the days before ethanol was added and as the news is fond of telling us, mileage with ethanol is much less than straight gas. So, I'll have to do some research to see if 31 mpg with the current gas/ethanol blend is equivalent to 35 or 37 mpg on straight gas.

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-6151634558275649832008-07-20T18:21:00.004-05:002008-07-20T19:53:53.400-05:00

or "Why I Need A Roof Rack For My Trailer" Camping in the backyard was a dress rehearsal for the real thing. This past weekend, we loaded up our bike trailer and a trailer on loan to us from our friends Paul and Danielle and headed off. I thought it was going to be a rough day, I woke up feeling a bit like I did the day I went to the hospital (out of breath), but I figured if I rode a bit, I'd

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-49023082291187939572008-07-18T16:37:00.002-05:002008-07-18T16:59:52.514-05:00

On the recommendation of another Blogger - Frugal Dad, I took a look at CashCrate. The idea is you sign up, fill out a couple surveys and CashCrate will pay you anywhere from 25 cents to $1.75. The first survey I tried was extremely long, probably 30 or 40 pages of questions. It opened up several windows in the background for other surveys I could do. At some point, presumably after they've

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-83822554974216338562008-07-18T15:54:00.003-05:002008-07-18T16:13:38.481-05:00

I wonder how much air our 4 month old will get...

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-12683973492325883242008-07-14T08:37:00.003-05:002008-07-14T09:19:22.557-05:00

I've been hearing a lot lately about hypermiling, so much so that about 400 miles ago, I decided to give it a try with my Cavalier. Now, when the Cav was broken in, but not broken, I could get mileage as high as 40 mpg on the highway. My memory says the EPA estimate was 32/34. MotorTrend says the EPA estimate was 25/37. Lately though, the mileage has been closer to 30mpg. The wheel bearings

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-85827626512500840682008-07-14T08:11:00.002-05:002008-07-14T08:21:03.495-05:00

Saturday night, we tried a "Staycation". I really hate the word - staycation, in fact, I hate a lot of new "made up" words. In this case it applies. I set up a tent in the backyard and was supposed to sleep in there with RJ and Q. ABL and TG would sleep in the house. Q bounced in and out of the tent a couple of times, then proclaimed she was sleeping inside (she's afraid of the dark). RJ

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-84564691441422548052008-07-13T11:24:00.002-05:002008-07-13T11:52:36.911-05:00

I met up with CM on Saturday and his son G. I loaned him my trailer for G then we set out East on the W & OD. We stopped in Vienna for the train car, then again in Arlington for the train car there (near where 4 Mile Run Trail Splits off), then we stopped at a playground a mile or two down the road. We went to the beginning (or end depending on your point of view) of the W & OD and then turned

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-87329569244573489662008-07-13T11:19:00.003-05:002008-07-13T11:22:57.029-05:00

I spent Monday getting evaluated by the Inova Fairfax Transplant Clinic to be placed on the waiting list. As expected they took copious amounts of blood from me. I've been on pins and needles this week, hoping that blood loss wasn't the straw that would break the camel's back. I made it through the week and got two more shots of Procrit, so hopefully my hematocrit will improve. I'm not letting

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-91147221526723771232008-07-06T14:12:00.002-05:002008-07-06T15:47:11.171-05:00

I've obviously been retaining water, that's what landed me in the hospital this week. My legs are still showing signs of edema; so this morning, I hopped on my bike for a 4 hour ride out to Purcellville and back on the W & OD trail. I was looking to get myself a bit dehydrated, enough to pull some of that excess fluid out, so I restricted my fluid to one water bottle per hour on the way out. I

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-20857733471716928172008-07-03T22:01:00.003-05:002008-07-03T22:25:39.221-05:00

P.S. My official diagnosis was Renal Failure and Congestive Heart Failure, but I'm better now. I'm not the type of person who likes to waste my time And when I'm on the mic I just say my rhymes Because I'm out on bail the check is in the mail They can sentence me to life but I won't go to jail I'm cool calm collected from class I was ejected Just me, Mike D., and M.C.A. we're rarely

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-66563724924289465792008-07-03T19:55:00.002-05:002008-07-03T21:53:43.645-05:00

I woke up yesterday morning (around 5:30am) and had a bit of difficulty breathing. It felt a little like climbing a high Colorado Pass or that time I had pneumonia. When my surgery was canceled last week, the nurse at my nephrologist's office told me that if anything changed to get myself to the Emergency room. Well, difficulty breathing was new and also accompanied by some tightness in my

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-5701589851573454022008-06-30T10:23:00.007-05:002008-06-30T14:26:06.504-05:00

Wow. I'm shocked. What would be an appropriate title for this post? My first thought was some reference to "American Pie", maybe "The Jester stole his thorny crown", but nothing really appealed to me. I then thought something Depeche, but nothing seemed depressing enough (imagine that) as well as appropriate. Nina Simone's "Sinnerman", seems a bit more apropo, "Sinnerman where you gonna run to

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431620.post-47851967194591922642008-06-25T16:57:00.005-05:002008-06-30T14:43:43.804-05:00

I very nearly spent the night at the hospital and didn't get the surgery. I had blood drawn first and then went back to model the latest in hospital attire. The nurses were all expressing concern for my well being, above and beyond what I would normally expect. As I was getting an IV put in, the anesthesiologist explained why...My hematocrit is 16. No, there must be a OUCHAre you using a

llamourehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601574351565728123noreply@blogger.com