2007calendars, home



August 14, 2007 , Day 301


Friends,

Well, an even wilder week! Wednesday I had jury duty again, but was released about 10am. We then went all over town in our new car. I went to work with Menchie to try to straighten out my return to work details. We at least got the ball rolling. We also bought an antenna for our new car so I could set up a radio. We ate lunch in Kearny Mesa and I chipped a front tooth, so I called my dentist for an appointment which they gave me on Thursday. Then my work called and asked me to come in to an interview on Thursday also. It looks like I am going to be managing a project in Michigan and doing a lot of traveling to there. Thursday, Menchie stayed home and I went to the office for my interview. I was totally stressed! I had not been away from Menchie like that for over a year. It was a very weird feeling. Anyway, the interview went well, but then I had to finish tackling the return to work issues. I got them all sorted out so I headed for my dental appointment very tired but feeling pretty good. That's when the bombs hit. I checked in and was informed that my company had discontinued my dental coverage in February without telling me as they are supposed to do. I was pretty annoyed about that. I told them I would pay for the repairs anyway. The dentist looked at my teeth and told the technician to do a full set of x-rays on me, including one of those panoramic ones. All at no charge! Then he took another look and basically told me that I need to get some insurance because I need to get 10 cavities filled, I need 9 crowns, a root canal and a possible post. Then the business manager told me how much those would cost. It is something in the neighborhood of $8,000. Wasn't in my budget. My treatments in the last year have made my teeth crumble! I was very upset and Menchie wasn't there to support me. I went out to the car and cried for a while, having a great pity party. I guess the side effects of my treatments are starting. I was too depressed to go to spin, but as I was driving home Thursday afternoon, I got a call from a friend inviting Menchie and me to go for a ride on the 56 bike path. We decided to go. We had a great 14 mile ride up and down hills. It was wonderful and I felt great after the ride. My dental benefits will be reinstated when I return to work part time, which was officially today, although they don't have anything for me to do, so I will actually start next Monday. We are waiting for the customer to approve me as a manager for them. Menchie had an interview today, and her former boss told her they probably want to offer her a job too. Menchie is working this week, so in my spare time I am doing the laundry and cooking lunch and shopping.

Friday I started building Menchie's new desk and finished it on Sunday and Monday, except for some of the trim, which Menchie is working on. Saturday I had my biggest ride so far. It was a hard, hard ride. It was very hot and no breeze at all on most of the hills. We did 65 miles and 3800 feet of climbing. I made it up all of the hills, although I was a little ragged on some of them. On West Lilac, my heart rate the week before was 90% and this week it was 83. This is a remarkable improvement. I am getting stronger and stronger, and the pace of improvement seems to be picking up also. As I said, on Sunday I built the desk, finished it on Monday, and I installed the antenna on the new car, which was a lot harder than it sounds. Today I finalized my return to work details. It looks like I will start working on Monday! I also installed the power cable for the radio in the new car, and assembled our new bike rack today. I will install the hitch and bike rack on the car tomorrow. Also this evening we rode at Fiesta Island for about 15 miles. Our average was a nice 12.6 mph, but I was tired and didn't work too hard. It was really amazing. We were spinning along at 15 mph and my heart rate was 65%! 3 weeks ago I couldn't even go slow enough to get my heart rate below 70%.

My next doctor's appointment is on Friday the 17th, so look for a brief update on Friday. Menchie is mad at me because I have lots of cuts and bruises from installing the wiring for my radio. Except for a bout of intestinal problems yesterday, I am otherwise doing fine. Looking forward to taking fewer pills. ONE LESS!

I just signed up for Yahoo Messenger, so if anyone would like to chat, my user id is "Taydeko".

Have a great week!

Ted and Menchie
tw@wilcoxent.com
mench@wilcoxent.com
www.wilcoxent.com

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