What's After Work?

  For the past week or so Jan and I have been visiting her dad and sister in Evansville In. Or as Art calls it Heavinsville. We came up originally to help Mary with her house. She is painting and carpeting several rooms. Because of Covid Jan's dad Art has moved from his apartment into Mary's house. We came down to help Art while he stayed with us at a hotel and the house got recarpeted.  Well that all went sideways first day at the hotel. Art who is 96 started feeling poorly and eventually it was decided to call an ambulance to transport him to the emergency room for, as my daughter calls it a little heart tune-up. It was quite an adventure having a firetruck and ambulance arrive at our hotel and all crowd into our room.  At the hospital because of Covid only one other person was allowed in and it was decided that Jan would stay and I would head back to Mary's house. Now a funny story of events before the ambulance arrived. I had gone to take a rest in our hotel room whil...

 Traveling north on I75 Jan noticed that there were quite a few Amazon trucks on the road heading south. So like I often do when I'm driving I started counting. In a little more that an hour I counted more than 20 Amazon trucks heading south. People must be ordering a lot of things online. I also saw a lot of FedEx trucks also. I'll count them tomorrow.

 Here is something I've never done till today. Ridden in an Airboat.  For my retirement my kids got me a gift certificate to an adventure ride on an airboat. Today Jan and I along with Kent and Leslie cashed in that gift.  We made an afternoon by meeting the Voges for lunch at Backwater Fins . A quaint little fishing restaurant and bar fight up the road from the marina. Leslie likes the place because the inside reminds her of caban she use to go to as a girl. We sat out on the deck looking over the water. I had a BLT and it was very good. Jan watching Captain Billy docking our airboat. After lunch we headed over to the Ozella Boats and Airboat Tours. A rustic working small boat yard on Ripple Path in Ozella.  There we met our Captain and boarded our airboat.  Then it was off into the wilds of the St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve . We saw a lot of salt marsh grass and the paths cut through to connect the small lakes so the small fish can get into the lakes to h...

This has been a fun week. I started off on Monday with a Zoom call to Mrs. Zacek's 4th grade class. It was great to talk to and see some of my students. I made them a Google slideshow of things that I have been doing after retiring. The kids had the most questions about my trip to Hawaii.  Even though September is over I'm still riding my bike and I'm getting Jan out on her bike also. We took a nice morning ride on Tuesday.  After the ride we sat down to check off a few more episodes of The West Wing. I guess we don't get enough politics on the news.  Thursday we went out to General RV in Dover. We are toying with the idea of getting an RV and hitting the road. Still have some decisions to make. New, used, trailer, drivable. So many choices. We have rented two RV's  to get an idea about how we would get along in the smaller space....So far so good😃 Today I started a bike scavenger hunt around Safety Harbor. I got about 14 of the 20 or so spots found and photograp...

 It is October and I'm done with the Great Cycle Challenge. Jan and I spent the first part of last week RVing it. We rented an RV to travel north to visit Austin and Morgan in Raleigh. This was our first visit with Austin after he proposed to Morgan. We are very excited about the coming nuptials. Morgan is a nice girl and we are happy to have her become part of our family.  We rented an RV from a company called RVshare . It is kinda like Airbnb on wheels.   We chose for this trip a 24 foot class "B" RV. The family we rented from were quite nice and explained about traveling in an RV quite well. My favourite part of traveling in an RV is that packing you just carry clothes from your closet to the closet in the RV. My least favorite part was empting the "holding" tanks.  Click to see the inside of our RV This trip also gave us a chance to meet Austin's new dog Roo. Roo is an Australian Blue Heeler and is very active.  She likes to play and go on long walks, f...

  For the past 5 years I have ridden in June to raise money to  support of research to develop better treatments and find a cure for childhood cancer. This year because of Covid 19 it was moved to September. I began the month with the challenge of raising $500 and riding 250 miles. I'm still trying to ride 250 miles but because of my having very generous family and friends I have raised more than $1500. That is just  amazing. One of the other challenges I gave myself is to document each ride and share that with my friends, family and other Great Cycle Challenge riders. What follows is each of those posts that I placed on the GCC site. I started posting before September, kind of a prequel to the ride.

 September is a very exciting month for me. I will be participation again in the Great Cycle Challenge to help prevent childhood cancer. It is a bike ride and a fundraiser. This is the 6th year I have done this month long ride. I started after I had my heart surgery looking for ways to motivate my exercise and I just kept with it. In that time I have raised over $2000.00 and ridden over 1200 miles just in that one month. Usually the ride is in June but this year it was pushed back to September because of Covid 19.  Because of that extra time my friends have donated $860.00 to this cause. Maybe having a few extra months was a good thing. I'm going to try and post an update on my ride each day on either Facebook or on the Great Cycle Challenge webpage .  Below is a video that I created on my first ride that I started one minute into September. 

Dr. Galloway and the gang over at West Florida Radiation Therapy have developed a very efficient process of treating their patients. I arrive about 5 minutes before my scheduled treatment time. The waiting room is often empty in spite of having plenty of chairs. I have my temperature taken and wash my hands. Then within a minute or two I will have my name called. As I'm going back to the treatment room there is usually another guy just coming out of that room.  When the technicians are ready they call me in and I climb onto the treatment table. After I'm on the table my feet and legs are aligned using a hard pillow that is molded to my legs and feet. Then the table is moved into position and the technicians adjust me using lasers and my aiming tattoos.  The techs then leave the room and the machines take over. First two arm move into position to x-ray me to determine the position of my prostate. The table will make slight adjustments itself to move me into the best position. A...

How I look in the RapidArc machine. I'm two weeks into my nine week treatment for prostate cancer. So far it has not been too bad. The process leading up to my treatment was worse than the actual treatment. The biopsy and having gold markers placed in my prostate were invasive to say the least. I guess if I am ever abducted by space aliens I can tell them "been there done that"! Even though the actual treatment only takes about 4 minuets. If everything goes smoothly I am in and out of the office in about 10 minutes.  The preparation for the treatment takes quite a bit of time. I start the evening before with stopping drinking anything at about 7:30 PM.  The next morning I get up early, for retirement, at about 6:00 AM to start my morning routine. I start that early because I need to have all liquids I drink to clear my system by 9:00 AM when I start my bladder filling. I started this adventure drinking the requested 32 oz. of water in 15 minuets. Try it, it is difficult. ...

The summer time flag is flying at the Bliss household. It's a nice day today and not a cloud in the sky. I hope it stays that way till this afternoon so I can take a bike ride. We get to do something a little different today which is going to the Peach Truck .  Last year they came to Florida and the Tampa Bay area and Jan sent me over for a box. This is from a post on Facebook at the time and you can see it is a lot of peaches. Lats year we made several different kinds of peach jellies, jams and preserves.  Plus eat a lot of peaches when they get ripe, and they all get ripe at the same time.  

I knew going into retirement things would be different. Not just sleeping in and going places but also trying new things.  As you all have read in an earlier post Jan and I did go to Hawaii soon after my retirement and that was fun. But at about the same time I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. That was not one of the "new things" I wanted to try but at least I now have the time to deal with it. And 9 weeks is the time it will take. I started radiation therapy on June 3, 2020 and will continue for nine weeks 5 days a week. No missing treatments! The doctors office is not far from my house so travel time is not bad and once I get into the groove of things I think each visit will only be about 20 minuets.  I've had 3 treatments so far and the radiation technologists, nurses and staff at  West Florida Radiation Therapy  are all very nice and caring. They have quite an efficient system there for treating a bunch of old guys with prostate cancer.  Dr. Mic...

Between March 21 and May 4th the beach on the Courtney Campbell Causeway was closed to the public. During that time I photographed the beach each day I rode my bike out there. I noticed some subtle changes on the beach.  The tire tracks and foot prints started to fade and there was much less trash. I also noticed that the birds were appearing on the beach. Not just a few seagulls but whole flocks of seabirds.  High-tide lines of seaweed also could be seen and the water appeared less cloudy.  Overall the beach quickly returned to a more natural state.  I had hoped that when the beach was reopened that they would limit the number of vehicles on the beach to fewer that had been allowed before Covid 19, that does not appear to be the case but they are limiting to just the number of spaces. 42 and no more closing off the entrance to the beach when that number is reached.  I wish that a parking lot could be built to move parking off the beach and a launch...

May 11 A little more that 2 months in quarantine. The days are starting to run together and I only really know what day it is because my pill minder has the days of the week on it. That is unnerving.  Right now the days are plan breakfast and drink some coffee, watch the news and read the paper.  Then I make a choice putter around the house or go for a bike ride. I ride a little over 10 miles each day.  In the past 2 months most of my rides take me out onto the Courtney Campbell causeway. During that time the beach has been closed. It was interesting to see the changes on the beach with no one going out there. May  23 Still in quarantine doing the same thing over and over. My pill box still helps me remember what day it is.  Today I did a little yard work and then sat down to watch some cooking shows. So far I have traveled from Greece to Italy and now I'm on the border of Mexico and USA. I'm thinking a trip there when this is all over would be great. The f...

6 weeks into social distancing and Jan and I are starting to fall into a routine. If you want to call mostly waiting a routine. Jan walks several times a week with a friend, keeping their distance from each other and wearing masks. I ride my bike most every day with a mask also. Those are our two big outings from the house. Two weeks ago I started to do some yard work, trimming up the bamboo palms in the back yard. These things grow like weeds and drop palms fronds all year long. I don't really like them but they do provide a good screen between us and the neighbor behind us. Well I started cutting some of the smaller palm trees down and filling trash cans. I got two filled ready for trash day and then we got the news that Safety Harbor was no longer picking up yard waste on Thursday. Well that's a kicker. I got trash with no where to go. So I took part one can full of palms and cut them smaller and hid it in our big trash can hiding the leaves and such under several trash ba...

I don't know if it is the need for a change or just cabin fever. Yesterday I decided to cut it all off. Jan had suggested that I trim my hair and some of my beard. It had also been bothering me by tickling my ears. Interesting thing though I realized that my hair and beard muffled the sound of the wind when I ride my bike. Today It was kinda windy when I rode my bike but the sound was more intense than it had been previously. I'm not going to start growing my beard out again to block the sound but I may be buying some Cat-Ears AirStreamz to help block the wind noise. I had seen these things advertised before and thought they were a gimmick but now I'm not so sure. Last night after cutting my hair I had to put a knit cap on because my head got cold. That feeling has gone away.

The days are starting to run together. Each day is almost the same. Ride my bike, watch some TV, discuss the state of the world with my quarantine partner Jan. Monday I mixed it up a little by going out to Walmart to have my by-monthly blood test for one of my ailments. Fortunately it was not a fasting test so I went later in the day and there was no crowd. This was the first time I had gone out except for my bike rides in 3 weeks. I'm really getting goods with this social distancing. Jan doesn't think I should be enjoying it this much. So I went to the Quest in the Walmart near our home. I wore my homemade mask and took anti-bacterial wipes with me. I used the wipes to wipe the door handle, key pad that I signed in on, and the armrests of the chair I sat in. As I sat there waiting to get stuck my mind started to wander, as it often does. I thought about all the people I has seen in the parking lot and in the store wearing masks. I wondered what would happen now if I went ...

We are starting to fall into a routine during our time of  social distancing. The one thing I try to do each day is to go on a bike ride. In the past I usually went out in the afternoon. It use to be after work and I don't mind the heat. But as of late the ride is getting really crowded. Everyone staying home from work or school and I guess by the afternoon they need to get out. I'm seeing lots of new bikes and walking shoes out there. It is good  that people are getting out for some fresh air and exercise. But they kinda crowd up the trail that I usually take. It is hard to keep my distance and pace when ya go three bikes side by side riding slow and talking. I ring my bell and begrudgingly they will move to single file so I can ride by. So today I got up early to ride in the morning. Not a fan, I would rather sleep in. But I went out at about 7:45, after the sun was up. It was nice. Not a lot of people and not much wind. Both good things. It is still strange riding out on...

When I retired I figured that there would be less to do. Never expected it to be this laid back. The big event that Jan and I had today was the 60+ only visit to Walmart. Jan went this morning at 6 am with out me. She is worried that with everything else going on with my health I didn't need to be out rubbing elbows with the great unwashed People of Walmart . I was ok with that and stayed in bed while she braved the masses. Jan came back with everything on her list, and a little more. She said most people there were nice and thankful for what Walmart was doing. Except for one couple who felt the rules should not apply to them. Before all this happened we were planning on visiting Noah for his birthday. Now it seems that every shopping trip includes finding something else to send Noah for his birthday. I think she is mailing boxes and cards to him several times a week. This may be the best birthday ever for Noah. No school and gifts arriving daily to his door. They are gonn...

William Blake  /  Satan Smiting Job with Sore Boils c.1826 A lot has been happening over the last week or so. I try to find something funny or positive to write about. But what's been going on both in the world and in my own life that has been difficult. A little over a month ago I had a blood test that came back with an elevated PSA number. An indicator of prostate cancer. Seriously! It is said that God does not give you more than you can handle. I've read Job in the Bible and I really have no interest in discovering my limit. At the beginning of the month I thought we would be visiting both my daughter and her family and Austin and Morgan in North Carolina. Then travailing on to Evansville In. to visit Jans Dad. With my diagnosis it was decided that they would visit us. Then we decided Austin should not come because of the increasing threat of the Coronavirus and flying was not a good idea. Then we decided that it may not be a good idea for Jessica and Noah to tra...

Today I attended church in my PJ's. Sort of. Because of the Covid-19 outbreak and my many unique health problems Jan and I are quarantining ourselves as best as possible. Avoiding groups of people. Yesterday we got an email that both St Johns Episcopal in Tampa and the Washington National Cathedral would be streaming their services live on Sunday. Jan and I decided to take advantage of this offer and watch the service from St. Johns. It was nice to be back at the church we attended for many years before moving to Safety Harbor. It was not quite the same but according to Father Connelly it still counts. I'm hoping that things get back to normal soon.

Now that I'm retired I can devote more time to being a Papa At this time I only have one grandchild, Noah . So he gets all my attention. I'm hoping that next week he will be coming for a visit. That will all depend on how things are going with the VIRUS. His mother, my daughter Jessica is a nurse and as of right now she has the week off but that may change. Jarred my son-in-law works for the state in emergency preparedness/mitigation and may or may not be called to be on duty for the VIRUS. In preparing for Noahs visit I was thinking of things to do with him. Noah is now riding a bike so I thought we might ride down to Safety Harbor where there are several places he might like. I got him a gift card for Snow Beach . I figured he would like to have the option of buying a treat himself. There is also a candy store and ice-cream shop there too. I'm sure he will want to try that also. When Noah was little he called all lizards "Joey". Not sure why but that was th...

I've been noticing that a lot of people I know are retiring. I guess it is that time of my life. People my age are retiring. When I was a kid birthdays were the big party event. In elementary school I remember going to many of my friends birthdays. W, e would spend an inordinate amount of time discussing, planning and attending birthday parties. Having the best birthday party ever was always the plan. It never lived up to that ideal. I could never talk my parents into building a go-cart track in the back yard for the party. Sigh! Later in Junior High we were more interested in boy & girl parties. There me and my buddies saw a darkened living room with "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" or even "American Pie" playing and hoping not to hear " Gilbert O'Sullavan "Alone Again (Naturally). Then the big party was prom in High School. Oh we had plans....but as in most of life the expectations never live up to the reality. We did have part...