Sunset over the Muskingum River, Lowell Ohio
Well, it has been far to long since my last blog post, though I do try to keep things updated more on facebook (since it requires a bit less effort). I’ll also admit I’ve been having trouble with the combination of Firefox and the Flash picture uploader on the blog, hence authoring this entry using Google Chrome instead.
Where to begin? The 2 months since my last post have been pretty busy. I had my 20th High School reunion in Philadelphia at the beginning of May. It was good to see and reconnect with some of my old friends but I was left with one lesson, sobriety and reunions aren’t entirely compatible. The trip was also a good opportunity to show Nicole a bit more of Philadelphia. It turned out it was cheaper to fly to Laguardia in NYC and take the Bolt Bus (only $10!) to Philly than to fly there directly, so we also had a chance to stop in New York and catch up with friends there as well, which was great.
Jody & Erica on the firing line, Lowell Ohio
Mid-May was busy as well. My friends Jody and Erica came out for Memorial Day week-end and we had a proper all-American holiday with a visit to the range followed by grilling up the tasty treats we bought at the local farmer’s market! Now that we are officially members at the local range, we no longer have to shoot accross the driveway (or is that we no longer get to shoot accross the driveway?). I as also pretty busy throughout May with getting the El-Chapman foundation up and running on Salesforce.com.
Jody firing the .44, Lowell Ohio
Amagansett Beach, Long Island NY
The last week-end of the month the whole family went to Long Island for my cousin Sarah’s wedding (I left the pictures there for the hired professionals). Congratulations Sarah! It was a great event and I had a chance to see all of my mothers (6) brothers and sisters and most of my cousins as well!
As much as it was great to be at the wedding and get caught up with everyone, it was also a chance to show Nicole the area where I spent a lot of summer vacations in the 1970’s. Until I was about 8 we would go to visit relatives on Long Island for a few weeks just about every summer and I have many fond memories. We got to visit all of my old favorite spots, including the windmill and duck-pond in Amagansette, the Big Duck (which used to sell bbq duck but now is a souvenir shop) and Montauk Point. Montauk was particularly exciting since the lighthouse is now open to the public; in my youth it was still a restricted Coastguard facility. I only wish we’d had more than a day (or it was later in the summer) so we could go swimming.
Amagansett Beach, Long Island NY
Amagansett Windmill, Long Island NY
The Big Duck, Long Island NY
Dune Bogs, Long Island NY
Flowers, Long Island NY
Montauk Lighthouse, Long Island NY
Montauk Point from the Lighthouse, Long Island NY
Nicole @ Gossman’s Dock, Montauk, Long Island NY
June brought another type of excitement as I returned to work officially! I am now working 1/2-time remotely from Lowell and so far it seems to be working out ok. I probably get more actually in a half-day of un-disturbed work than I used to get done in a full day in the office in Hong Kong. I tend to work an hour or two between 11AM and 1PM, then 3-5 hours between 8PM and 2AM, allowing me to be relatively in synch with colleagues in Europe, the USA and Asia.
Health wise all seems well. I have my next MRI in early July and will definitely post an update after. In the mean-time I continue to feel well and continue to take my Chinese Herbs as well as drinking an anti-cancer soup made of daikon radish, burdock root, carrots and shitake mushroom. It tastes awful but I know of at least one person with a similar case to mine who drank it for a year and ended up tumor-free.
My work-schedule also gives me plenty of time to take long walks along the river and spend time with my family, which is probably as important as the medicine. That’s it for now, enjoy the pictures.
Cut Hayfield, Lowell Ohio
Muskingum River, Lowell Ohio
Muskingum River, Lowell Ohio
Sunset Over the Muskingum, Lowell Ohio