Hill climb

In an effort to stay in some kind of decent condition for skiing I decided to climb up Blue for some exercise so Off Guinness and I went to meet up with some friends. I arrive at 11 as planned but somehow I missed the folks I was supposed to climb with so we were on our own. I decided to climb straight up Memory Lane and then come down Tranquility. The hill was partially covered in snow so I tried to stay on the grassy sections for traction. Guinness didn't have to worry about this and was off and running. That liitle dog can run like mad. I was huffing and puffing in short order and by the time I got to the steep section near the top I had worked up a good sweat. Guiiness looked unaffected other than the tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Guinness

Top of Tranquility

We made it to the top and then made our way one hill over to Tranquility and I took a couple of pictures before heading down. I decided against running down the hill, partly because it was slippery but mostly because I have done that once before and could hardly make it down the stairs for the next 2 days. I tend to learn things the hard way. It was tricky footing all the way down and I think it was harder on my legs than going up. By the time I got to the bottom my shoes weighed about 3 pounds each with clay. A good little workout though.
On Sunday I met up with Brian and we climbed up the hiking trail by the South lodge and then across the top to Happy Valley and back down again. Another nice little workout that has left my legs stiff and sore today but still capable of making it down the stairs. Next weekend it will be the same routine again. Guinness can't wait.

Hiking trail

Road to recovery

It's been a while since I've posted, partly because there has been little in the way of sports in my life due to the nasty little abscess on my side which has been a going concern for almost three weeks now. My last post discussed the efficiency of the hospital, in particular how fast I was in and out of my little surgery. It seems now the reason it took so little time is that the surgeon did a half assed job. Instead of cutting it open and draining it he just stuck a needle into it and tried to drain it by sucking out the crud. I could feel him putting the needle at different angles to get as much out as possible but you don't have to be Einstein to figure out that it would be virtually impossible to remove all of the goop with this method. Suffice to say it didn't work.
Within two days my side was red and swollen again and by four days (two Mondays ago) I took things into my own hands. I had to take another day off work, sat for two hours with a hot water bottle on it and then drained close to a shot glass full of crud out of it. Tuesday I was back at work and every evening for the rest of the week I tried to drain it myself. By Friday it was plugging up and looked bad so on Saturday morning it was back to emerg for another visit.
This time the emerg doctor (Dr. Pointer) was excellent and completed the surgery in 15 minutes while causing virtually no pain. I am now much better other than the hole in my side which is being tended to by a home care nurse every second day. The nurse showed up yesterday for the first time and changed the dressing and then ordered supplies which were delivered to the house today. I think this might be overkill for a hole that is only a 1/2 inch in diameter and a 1/2 inch deep.

What I am not looking forward to is that the original surgeon who screwed up is the guy who is supposed to remove the cyst that is the root cause of all the trouble. Apparently he does not have the best of reputations. Damn.

                                                                                                                                                                          

Not much happening

It's now November and I haven't really done much of anything other than some winterizing around the house and buying a new car. The Solstice will never see winter so I have bought a 2010 Pontiac Vibe to get me to the ski hill in the winter. My 98 Subaru Outback was a great car but it was leaking oil bad and wasn't sounding that great either so it is now in the automotive version of the happy hunting grounds. The Vibe will never equal the Outback in capable winter driving but with snow tires it should do all right.
I have also had to use the medical system in the last few days and I can safely say it was the fastest I have ever been treated. Last Sunday it was necessary to go to emerg to have a rapidly advancing infection on my left love handle (seldom used lately I might add) where I have a rather large cyst. This is the second time this has happened. I was in and out of emerg with a prescription in less than an hour which was pretty darn good. Then yesterday it was obvious things were still not looking good so it was off to see my doctor. I was in and out of there in 20 minutes with a letter to see the surgeon at the hospital. I got to the hospital, lined up for 5 minutes, was taken right in and was walking out of the place shortly thereafter for a total of 35 minutes. Not bad considering I had some surgery, albeit very minor surgery.  Other than the very painful part it was an altogether easy day. Kudos to the entire Ontario medical system. It worked like a charm for me and all the people were professional as anyone could ever hope.