The Book of Rowdy. Chapter 3: Verse 6

I have a little nephew who quite possibly has a very rare cancer. Thankfully the mortality rate is very low, like 10%. But it is still a huge ordeal to be a little guy and have to have so many studies, surgeries on your skull and radiation treatments. His mom, my youngest sister, wow do I feel for her.

I think the hardest thing for a parent is not watching a kid make dumb mistakes, but seeing them deal with something so big and seemingly random as serious health issues. (and hell yes i like healthcare as we have it now, just for things like this. managed care could screw you otherwise. obamacare is a falsehood)

I won't post pics of him as he needs his privacy, being like 4 (5?) or whatever, but can you spot the issue from his x-rays? If so, do good in school. Go to medical school. Become a radiologist and do something to make the world better. Be active. Serve your fellow man with your brains and talent.


Reread that top photo now and have hope. Then move forward with action! Action is the best response to misfortune.

Stealthy Photo Project

Here they are, my TOP 10 pictures of people taking pictures, in Vegas, on a Thursday, at 11am.

Vegas by the numbers.

I just spent the last 4 days in Vegas for a medical conference. The second or third longest time I've spent in Vegas, with the longest being a week of radiation safety officer training before my Iraq job in 2007.

Let's get it out there right up front, I am not a fan of Vegas nor even remotely the city's target audience in a tourist. I don't drink, smoke, go to clubs or really shop. I am not a big spender and would almost rather use money as toilet paper than gamble it.

Vegas is basically one big s@#t hole if you ask me. I've been in nicer 3rd world countries than Circus Circus. I stayed at the Venetian but uh... Hello! I've been to Venice. And New York. And every other place that has a facsimile of it there in the name of gaming and tourism. None of them measure up to the real thing.

And now, Vegas by my numbers.

4- days in Vegas.

78.45- dollars in cab fare.

100, 50 and 25-the dollar amount spent on dinner over successive evenings with no real discern-ability in enjoyment.

60-the number of bullets I shot at the shooting range for practice while out of town.

107-number of pictures I took in an hour long photo project there of taking pictures of people taking pictures. while none of them are National Geographic level of awesome I'll share a few I like in the next post.

1- the number of bums/homeless dudes I told to "!^@k off" for overly hassling me.

2-how many times I was questioned by security.

90 and 40. The amount of money I put into slot machines over the 4 days, 90, and the amount I got back in "winnings" from that ninety, 40, for a total loss of $50.

Traveling and the needle.

I leave for 4 days in Las Vegas tonight. Education conference for medical stuff. Wooo, Vegas you think, right?!?! Well, as a teetotaler it's really not that fun for me there. And I've been before numerous times, so even just the novelty of the place is nothing new for me.

Not to say I won't have fun though! I'm still taking my camera, eating good food, going to shows and exhibits. If it was only a little warmer then I could do just reading by the pool as well.

I like to travel. I travel often. You could almost say I'm a travel junkie. I need it. Let's take a look at my schedule to see if I'm telling the truth or not.......

March: Las Vegas 4 days. Little Rock, Arkansas 3 days.
April: Phoenix 2 days. Austin and Houston, Texas 11 days.
May: Birmingham, Alabama 3 days. 12 day road trip of national parks from San Diego up into Canada at places like Bryce, Zion, Yellowstone, Glacier and so on.
June: Colorado for 4 days.

(small section of my travel and language book shelf)

Yeah, you get the idea. And I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff too. You could say wandering around and movement is in my veins.

You know what else gets stuck into me with a needle????

Humira. Yep, I am back on the injected drug for my Crohns disease. Meaning I can never be gone from the house now for more than 13 or 14 days at a time. It's kinda heart wrenching to me, the thing that should keep me healthy is something that kills one of my main joys in life. And my dream of living out of the country maybe as well.

See, the thing is Humira needs to be between 33 and 42 degrees F until you use it. And at $1,500 a shot, one doesn't just waste these things. Let me tell you, try traveling across the world with a medication you have to keep refrigerated non-stop for say 5 or 10 days until it is time for you to use it. Not very easy to accomplish.

I've been thinking and scheming how to make it work, but being tied to a drug in my fridge, needing to have it every two weeks in order to be "normal" is putting a dampener on my travel daydreaming. Now I'm sure I will adapt and overcome, as excuses are for people who just don't want something that badly.

But right now the idea burns as badly as the injection of Humira into my butt or thigh does.

Goodbye old friend.... (edited with surprise ending!)

Well, I've killed another electronic device. First it was watches. If a watch lasted 90 days with me, then it surely was not going to last 6 months. None of them did. Thankfully I had a good friend who was in the marketing department for Freestyle watches, you know the one with the little shark fin symbol so impossible for me to pass up, and she gave me free or deeply discounted watches all the time. Thanks Terri!

Then I became a destroyer of mobile phones. My first cell phone I got in college in 2000. Wow, 12 years ago I was in college. Freak! So in that 12 years I've had over 18 cell phones. Toilets, chocolate milk, crushing, falling out the car window, falling out of my pocket on a motorcycle and so on. And yet I never buy the insurance.... Now that I have my first 'smart' phone we will see how this works out for me.

For a while point and shoot cameras were essentially disposable to me as well. The elements, crashing, dropping, falling off make shift mounts, being buried. You know, the regular things that happened to everyone else's digital cameras until they invented..... ....... .....

GoPro cameras. I've had three of them now. Yes, had, past tense. First one was the original Hero HD. Then I added the first gen as a second camera 'cause I was a filming fool! Then I sold both of them to get the HD Hero 2. Prime time or no time, right Andy and Matt?

Well after two years of heavy use on 3 different continents and a wide variety of sports and projects, my GoPro has died a death of a non functioning power button. Sad day in Rowdysville.

Now they just have the white, silver and black editions of the 3rd gen model. Starting at $200 and going up to twice that amount. Argh. I don't want to spend that money but I love having a small, action proof camera. Sad Sad Sad. And since I don't have a receipt from two years ago, I get no help from them on a warranty claim or help upgrading.

I'm sad this friend of mine is gone, we've shared sooooo much together.

You know what cheers me up when I'm sad though? Cute kittens on the internet. Like this. Well, at least until I break down and get a different camera.


**I'm not taking the cute kittens video away but there has been a twist in the plot. Peep this email I received just seconds ago:
Update for Case #581058 - "power button not working"

Hi Rowdy,

Unfortunately it sounds like there could be a fault with the camera, and we'll need to go ahead with replacing your unit under warranty. Update your address in the link below.

Enter Address Here.

Once we hear back, we'll be able to provide you with a RMA (returns authorization) and returns instructions.

Our apologies for the inconvenience, but we'll do our best to get you a fully functioning replacement as soon as possible.

Many Thanks,
Mark H.
GoPro Support

Now that's good service!

riding

well, actually these pictures are from pauses in the riding, not exactly the riding itself. but you get the idea.

ugh...

my new laptop is a piece of crap. i am sooo returning it. and i hate windows 8 with a passion. it is a totally dumb os for a laptop. maybe great for phones or tablets, but not for an actual working laptop.

i wish it was sitting on this pound of tannerite i shot the other week instead of a soon to be totally atomized honeydew melon.

splosion from rowdy matt on Vimeo.

and my gopro camera is broken, awaiting word from gopro on how it might be fixed. fingers crossed.

also i spoke too soon about feeling well. i actually emailed my gi doctor to see what she thinks.

i have a major idpa competition out of state each month for the next three months. i'm pretty ready. i could be even more ready though.... i was second in my class today out of over a dozen shooters and 5th overall out of 33 total competitors. and that is with one or two pretty major mistakes. so i just need to work on polishing up. reducing my deviation from my best possible ability.

vegas. yep, next week is 4 days in vegas for a conference. sadly the weather is not going to be anything special. and since i am flying not taking a bike, pistol or anything like that. i don't drink, smoke, gamble or stay out late so we will see what i do with a significant amount of free time in vegas. ideas?

so yeah, sorry for the crappy post, but i need a computer i like again and then the regular awesome rowdy blogginess will return. promise!