Good morning All. Coffees on.

[Kylie]

@Jackie C. I know! It is like I woke up Sunday and the swelling disappeared! Now to just work on getting the two scars to dissipate some. But patience! Was hoping to avoid revision, but at least my surgeon is attentive to my aesthetics! 

[Ivy]

3 hours ago, Jackie C. said:

Not on me it didn't. My potassium levels cratered and my doctor put me on K-Tabs to make up for it.

It killed my sodium.  I can't take it (tried twice)

[Willow]

@Shaylol no not bikini, Bimini. Like the islands in the Bahamas.  A Bimini on a boat is a sun shade typically made out of canvas.  Not to be confused with a dodger.  Which is not a baseball team but a wind screen that also protects the sailors from spray, wind and weather.  It may connect with a Bimini but it’s further forward and since we are talking sailboats it is under the boom and a Bimini is behind the boom and may be taller.  
 

Sorry you asked right?  But if you don’t know how are you going to learn.  Ask questions.

 

Willow

[Heather Shay]

@Willow

Thank you. I guess one does not wear a bimini or watch the Dodgers.

[Bri2020]

1 hour ago, Willow said:

@Shaylol no not bikini, Bimini. Like the islands in the Bahamas.  A Bimini on a boat is a sun shade typically made out of canvas.  Not to be confused with a dodger.  Which is not a baseball team but a wind screen that also protects the sailors from spray, wind and weather.  It may connect with a Bimini but it’s further forward and since we are talking sailboats it is under the boom and a Bimini is behind the boom and may be taller.  
 

Sorry you asked right?  But if you don’t know how are you going to learn.  Ask questions.

 

Willow

OK, now how about a discussion on the names of stays on a tall ship

 

[Willow]

@Bri2020 I get blood work every three months to check my potassium levels .  My endocrinologist checked it before starting anything, then at first only spironolactone then after two more blood tests added progesterone.  He warned me no bananas or anything high in potassium which includes salt substitutes.  That makes it difficult cooking.  My wife isn’t supposed to have regular salt.  Thing is @Jackie C.we can have different reactions to the same drug.  For you, you tanked.  For me I’ve stayed pretty much the same but have cutout bananas and spinach.

 

most everyone gets estrogen or estradiol but my endocrinologist won’t give that to me, instead insists on progesterone.  For Most that’s the add on, not the first thing started.

 

Willow

[Willow]

1 hour ago, Bri2020 said:

OK, now how about a discussion on the names of stays on a tall ship

 

Sorry, I only sail single masted Bahama rigged boats.  I have a Genoa that’s a sail not a place or salami.  I also have a jib, a storm jib which doubles as a staysail and a mainsail which has four stays.  My boat is rigged for a spinnaker but I don’t have one. 
 

confused yet?  I know my wife is.  
 

Willow

[Heather Shay]

I sure am learning a lot about boats - THANK YOU

[Jackie C.]

1 hour ago, Willow said:

Sorry, I only sail single masted Bahama rigged boats.  I have a Genoa that’s a sail not a place or salami.  I also have a jib, a storm jib which doubles as a staysail and a mainsail which has four stays.  My boat is rigged for a spinnaker but I don’t have one. 
 

confused yet?  I know my wife is.  
 

Willow

 

Not really, I've never used a spinnaker outside of a race, unless you count the afternoons my grandfather taught me to fly one so I COULD fly a spinnaker in a race. We were always sailing a smaller lake craft though.

 

Hugs!

[Jackie C.]

4 hours ago, Kylie said:

@Jackie C. I know! It is like I woke up Sunday and the swelling disappeared! Now to just work on getting the two scars to dissipate some. But patience! Was hoping to avoid revision, but at least my surgeon is attentive to my aesthetics! 

 

I'm thinking about hiding them under a tattoo, but we'll see what they look like after my revision and they've had a chance to heal a bit. Mine don't have any, um, "cover" so they're pretty prominent.

 

Hugs!

[Willow]

@Jackie C.i started sailing a penguin which was used by Mid American Colleges sailing teams when I was 16.  I’ve sailed Comets and Interlakes, and a 24 foot rainbow.  The Rainbow was on the Chesapeake bay, my first time on salt water.  I crewed on a racing boat on Lake Erie.  I’ve owned  a Windrose 18 and now I own a blue water boat a Yachting France.Jouet 950 or in English a 32 footer.  While the racing boat had and flew a spinnaker that was never my job on the boat.  I’ve never had my own to raise or sail so for that you are up on me.  I was offered a 42’ Irwin ketch but turned it down.  I felt it was too much for me to handle.

 

Willow

[Jackie C.]

Oh, we owned a Sunfish, an Interlake and a Lazer (technically my uncle's, but he didn't mind if we took it out so long as we cleaned up after ourselves) and would sail all three on the lake (Portage Lake in Yipsi, it's a small chain and if you got a good speed up you could drop the mast on the Sunfish, go under the bridge, and raise it again on the other side without having to paddle). I used to teach a beginning sailing class on the Sunfish and I've been sailing since I was... six or so on that little boat. The Interlake was more work to set up and sail where you could just take the slip off the Sunfish, drop the daggerboard, clip on your rudder, raise the single sail and go. I'm in Michigan, so we had a lot of lakes. The Interlake had been on the Great Lakes, but I never got invited on those trips in favor of my cousin. I've never been on the ocean though. The one time I had the opportunity, I didn't trust myself to be the only experienced sailor on an unfamiliar boat for my first time in the ocean.

That was in South Carolina (Seabrook Island) oddly enough. It was really honking that day and I basically dissolve in salt water so it was probably the right choice, but I do wonder, "What if?"

 

I miss sailing in the summer. I hope to be able to tool around on the water again someday.

 

Hugs!

[Willow]

@Jackie C.my introduction to sailing was on Stony Lake which is between Brooklyn and Jackson. I spent the summer as a counselor at YMCA Camp Storer teaching kids to sail.  We have had the Jouet out on the ocean off Georgetown SC .  Our most exciting sail was in the Cape Fear inlet as the sun set.  I was motoring fighting a confused sea in 4 to 5 footers as we got closer to Wilmington it calmed down and we anchored just outside the city. I had to follow the range lights to stay in the waterway.  It’s easy to get lost in the dark. Then we spent two days docked in Wilmington before heading back south.  That was one year ago this week.
 

willow 

[Berni]

Hi all,

 

Can't add anything to the sailing discussion as I've only ever sailed a handful of times in my life. However, if you want to talk about cycling ....

 

Tomorrow will be two weeks post surgery. Here are my latest pics for those interested. Apologies for wet hair, no makeup and sun damaged skin ...

 

Have a great day everyone.

 

 

[KathyLauren]

@Berni Very nice contour.  I hope your healing continues to go well. 

 

At six months, I can just barely feel the scar from my trachea shave, and that's only because I know where it is.  There is nothing to see.  Dr. Brassard does his incision higher up, under the chin, so that any remaining visible scar is hidden in shadow.

[Jackie C.]

@Berni! That looks like it's healing up nicely!

 

Hugs!

[Willow]

Hi @Berni  sure we can talk about cycling.  According to our kids when they were teens, we forced them to ride on The weekends our longest ride was 100 miles for MS.  They both still ride and like it now.
 

 I’ve ridden everything from my grandfather’s 1880s Columbia high wheeled bicycle to recumbents.

 

what is your favorite bicycle?  Where do you like to ride?

 

looks like you are healing nicely.  

 

Willow

[Bri2020]

Bernie I loved cycling before my back injury. Used to race mountain bikes in the late 80s before suspension came out. Quit racing the year of Rock Shox after demolishing my bike and myself in a dual slalom race at the NORBA Finals.  Continued to ride recreationally and commuting for many years in So Cal.  I had a sweet setup of Mavic components on a Paramount steel frame (back when they were only hand builds among my collection of about 10 bikes.  Can't ride anymore but man I miss it.  Turns out that accident had broken my back in two places and eventually that got the better of me.

[Emily michelle]

I’m love cycling also I mostly ride local roads and the Katy trail. I’m hoping to buy a new carbon fiber road. Bike next year and enter in some rides.

[Berni]

@Willow

 

Never ridden a high wheel (I'm not crazy!) and I've only ridden a recumbent around a carpark for a few minutes (man, they are so cool though). Do you still ride recumbent?

 

@Bri2020I still have my 80s non-suspension steel mountain bike. I converted it to single speed years ago and I love using it for a quick 45min local circuit for exercise. Love the bullhorn handlebars! So sad you can't ride anymore. I gave up mountain biking after, while cycling alone, I came off and somehow caught my knee on the chain ring and tore the skin over my kneecap almost clean off. Had to bandage it up and walk out. Needed 40 stitches.

 

I cycle daily for most of my transport  needs as well as recreationally. I've never raced as I'm not a competitive person. I have cycled pretty much every day for abouts 15 years ... once my kids got old enough to take the bus to school.

 

I currently own seven, no eight  bikes. My favourites are restorations of old steel bikes. I love the aesthetics of steel, combined with Brooks leather saddles and leather bar tape

 

My favorite conventional bike is an early 80s steel road bike running Mavic wheels and full Shimano Ultegra groupset which I built up and restored myself quite a number of years ago.

 

However, my go to daily ride is a Bullitt Electric Cargo bike. The Bullitt is a true car replacement vehicle as I do almost all of my groceries and shopping with this as well as lugging stuff to and from work. This bike could solve the world's global warming problems ... if only people realised how cool they are and ditched their cars.

[Elizabeth Star]

I've never been on a sail boat.?It sounds so peaceful.

 

I did some BMX riding until my late teens. never did any competitions or anything but I could definitely hold my own on dirt and urban environments. I preferred working on bike more than riding.

 

Now sword fighting, I loved it. I was in the SCA for several years. I was a heavy fighter with straight black armor, shield and sword. I ended quitting due to an unrelated neck issue.

 

Since then I just make my chain-mail.

 

 

Your looking so good @Berni.

[Berni]

34 minutes ago, ElizabethStar said:

Now sword fighting, I loved it. I was in the SCA for several years. I was a heavy fighter with straight black armor, shield and sword. I ended quitting due to an unrelated neck issue.

 

Since then I just make my chain-mail.

 

 

Your looking so good @Berni.

Sword fighting! Now that is cool!!

 

There's a Japanese lady I see often who does Sword Dancing at a local park. Watching her is absolutely mesmerizing ... not as cool as actual sword fighting but beautiful to watch.

[AmberM]

@ElizabethStarI used to partake in LARP, not quite as intense as SCA, but it was still fun. I enjoyed the Role Playing piece. The sword fighting was still fun and my friend and I built custom PVC Boffer type weapons, one was a scimitar.

[Emily michelle]

Sword fighting would be really neat. 
 

I don’t get to ride as much as I would like. I have a specialized diverge gravel bike now. I’m debating about buying a frame and building my own. My wife and I purchased a nordictrack bike but we have yet to get it yet because of COVID. I plan on training on that this winter and hopefully be able to do a few competitions next summer.

[Elizabeth Star]

This is from the last event I went to. I had been asked to add some color to my “kit” so I painted my shield like a turtle.