MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!

Nothing much new around here - other than I broke a bone in my ankle a couple weeks ago. While downclimbing from a converted playgym I slipped and fell about 4 - 6 feet onto a buried log in the snow. I landed in such a manner that basically I have a severe spain of the left ankle. But, a tendon that connects to the bottom of the Fibula tore a chunk of bone away instead of tearing the tendon itself. Lucky me! It's been a couple of weeks of hobbling around and things are getting better. I can now walk mostly limp free.

My buddy at work has a place in the Sparta area and his kid has had one heck of a hunt this year. One buck bowhunting and one gun hunting. LUCKY KID!




Tosa East HS is packing up and readying themselves for their Trip to Paris for the New Years marching gig.

Good luck to all and Happy New Year too. More next year.

Deer Hunt 2008

This year's hunt started of on a cold note. It was -5 degrees on opening morning. I was able to stay in my stand until 10 AM at which point I headed back to my camp. I packed it all up - it was all frozen anyways, and headed down to Wild Rose to finish out opening day.

I was lucky enough to shoot this Doe at 3PM. We registered it and I was on my way back to MKE by 5 PM.

Now it's hanging in the garage waiting to be butchered - that's tonight's job. The local paper is saying reported numbers of kills are down 25% or so overall for opening morning - they blame the weather and extended hunting opportunities. I think the increased wolf population is doing it's job.



Loaded up and safely tied down.

It's been quite some time since my last post and much has occured. I found this interesting as it relates to the newly elected president. For everyone looking for change here's some food for thought

Additionally, as the US Congress and House of Reps have been controlled by the Dems for the past two years, how is it that all of our problems facing the nation are related to Bush???

Now we have a Democratic President and a Democratic controlled Congress and House - how are things going to change for the better? More taxes - cool! Less military spending - cool! Stockmarket taking a dump - cool! Making friends with our enemies - cool! I'm now looking forward to my government providing all the things I need to live now - Just saying....

Fellow Business Executives:

My business employees 14 people, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barrack Obama is our next President, and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way.

To compensate for these increases, I figure that the Clients will have to see an increase in our fees to them of about 8% but since we cannot increase our fees right now due to the dismal state of our economy, we will have to lay off six of our employees instead. This has really been eating at me for a while, as we believe we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who will have to go.

So, this is what I did. I strolled thru our parking lot and found 6 Obama bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the first to be laid off. I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. These folks wanted change; I gave it to them.

If you have a better idea, let me know.

We were out for dinner with Candy & Rob & Randy & Erica & Tessa too last night. We ate at AGAVE - a newly opened restaurant on Capitol Drive just east of Brookfield Road.

We had a great meal and gopod conversation to boot!

Now it's time for the final WORS race of the year at Sheboygan. Bring it on!

Race weekend in Shawano, WI.

John


Very Dusty course



Ben




Lynne didn't race - so she volunteered.

End of the week updates:

Lynne's been out on her road bike for the first time since the crash.

She & I hit the local trail in Tosa a couple of times this past week too.

Ben's been really giving his all at football the past couple of weeks. Too bad they don't have enough kids out for the team which means they can't play a JV schedule. This week they only had 4 kids to play lineman positions and a scrimmage was cancelled.

We're heading up to race our second last WORS race this weekend - located in Shawano. Lynne will be volunteering and NOT racing. Ben & I will be racing - coming toward the end of our season.

More later....

XRAYS are here! Healing nicely according to the Dr.

(1) Plate

(9) screws

Bone broken into four pieces

Great Dr to repair our booboos - priceless!

Lynne had a Dr appointment today and had the the bandages & stitches removed. He's still concerned about an infection at the surgical site. She's back on the bike as it's attached to the trainer in the front room. She took a couple of self-portraits too.

First one - looks painful indeed.



And another with a slightly different angle. No real bruising seems to be evident. Swelling seems to be non-existant too.

Now I think the election is going to get interesting!

WOW!

Well Lynne had the surgery to repair the collar bone today (1 plate and 4 -6 screws to repair) and the first person she talks to is her Mom - natural enough. Thank God for cell phones!

She's staying the night for observation - the pain was intensifying as the boys and I left the hospital. She's in great hands. The following photos are from a time prior to the medications from surgery wearing off. Notice the smile on her face - not there anymore :(



No X-rays to share as of yet.

Posted Update tonight:

Lynne is scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning (8/23) 9:30 to repair her broken collar bone. The same Dr who reworked Andrew's shoulder is doing hers too.

I heard that at sometime or another a cyclist will endure a broken collar bone. Tristen finally had his too this year and also needed surgery. Lynne is in good company. I'm guessing her right shoulder will look very similar to his. Her X-rays showed at least four main pieces. Thanks to all who have written, called, or generally passed along good wishes.

John

Today was shower day - heading to the Dr this afternoon for a followup visit. A couple of quick shots to give you an idea what she's dealing with.


Good side



Bad side




You can probably see the slight discoloration and the slight protrusion of the bone on her right collar bone. YUCKY!

Thanks to all for their good wishes and thoughts!

It's really amazing how much the new helmets stay together after they're busted up a bit. They don't call them brain buckets for nothing.





You may or may not see the crack on the helmet, thankfully she was wearing one!





How the Dr's remove clothing from injured riders: I'll call this one "Surgical Jersey".

Well, if you haven't heard already, Lynne crashed last night at our weekly mtn bike race in Franklin. Here are a couple of photos too.

Concussion and right collar bone busted.


Post Percocet snoozing:



Face rash to the max:

Earlier this summer I had the great furtune of meeting a climbing Sherpa from Nepal. In June, during my trip west to attempt to climb Mt Hood & Mt Rainier, I stayed at Whittaker's Bunkhouse on the final day. If you remember, I stayed there during last year's uneventful trip to Rainier too.

This summer after visiting Paradise and taking many photos prior to the storm moving in which thwarted our journey, my climbing partner and I headed back to Whittaker's for our last night in the mountains. While hanging out at the snack bar area Mike pointed to this fellow standing in line and mentioned he looked familar. I went up to speak with him and introduced myself.

He gave me one of his cards and we conversed a bit - quite difficult for a midwestern boy with little exposure to the outside world. It turned out to be Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa - considered by many to be one of the SUPER SHERPAS. I consider myself extremely thankful for this chance meeting - I even received his autograph on the business card. Unfortunately I had left the camera back in the room and don't have a photo to go with the story. Sorry. At some point I intend to get the Mt Rainier map and the business card framed for a token keepsake. My brush with fame was so fleeting, yet I really feel a connection to this fellow. After all I did buy he and his fellow guides a round of beers - for which they were much abliged.

Not much new happening around here the last couple of weeks as we have settled into our summer routine.

Lynne - Started back at St Joe's in L&D this week. After 2 + years working away from patients at corporate headquarters she found out how much she missed taking care of patients and has returned to bedside nursing.

Drew - he's preparing for life in the real-world (if you can call life at college REAL). We're preparing to send him out on his own as we intend to move him into his dorm room on August 25th. He's still hanging out with Jenni and enjoying the last summer home. We rarely see him as he is either working or gone with friends.

Ben - He's been participating in summer weight workouts for Tosa East football in addition to participating in his first year of mountain bike racing in the WORS series. Both activities have him at or near peak physical condition. He really is quite quick on the bike and I am looking forward to next year already and him racing in sport class with Lynne & I. Football begins on August 12th and we're looking forward to watching the high schoolers play.

John - having had a less than productive spring (hamstring injuries really do take quite some time to heal) I'm just now getting into some sort of fitness. Having a new job and all that is associated with that has also been challenging. Soon we'll be getting the sleds ready for another wonderful winter season. Already, the amount of daylight is dwindling and temps are moderating a bit.

Preiding tonight at Sunburst for the upcoming race this weekend, then volunteering at the Brewers game concession stand for church on Saturday night, and then racing WORS on Sunday at Sunburst. Not much going on right?

Congrats to my little sister and her husband - they're having a boy! Poor Grandma S -not many girls to go around.

That's all for now. Oh yah, 21st wedding aniversary this month too. Who could forget that?

Pictures from Danskin Race

Well, it has been a while since my last post so let's get caught up.



The climbing trip went well. Flights were on-time. Climbed Mt Hood to an elevation of around 10,500 feet. Not making the summit was a bummer. But I was able to a great photo of Mt Hood's shadown as the sun rose.



A combination of elevation gain, travel induced exhaustion, and my hamstring injury which prevented me from getting into top shape all conspired to keep me from the top. As every one says 'making it to the top in optional, making back down is mandatory'. The weather was fairly good for the Hood portion of our trip eventhough it was quite windy and cold at higher elevations. We guessed that the winds were gusting to over 30 MPH and temps in the low 20's. Wintery feeling nerver-the-less as experinced by my buddy Mike who is bundled up during a climbing break.



Me taking a break at the Hogsback on Hood just prior to turning around.






But the weather was forecasted to turn really ugly for our Mt Rainier portion of the trip as this photo can attest to. I took this photo on Saturday morning on our way to SETAC to fly home. Good call on our part. The forecast was for increasing winds, heavy snows, and avalanch dangers. We figured it was better to not head up into the storm and getting pinned down, for who knows how long, by the nasty stuff than to head for home.



So, after we re-booked flights, stayed at Whitiker's Bunkhouse for our last night, and enjoyed our last day in the mountains being tourists.




We visited Rainier's visitor center and the original lodge on Friday June 20th - which was not open last year due to renovations. Did I forget to tell you that Rainier had been receiving heavy spring snows with estimated 190" on the ground at the visitor center.




Is it a snow Devil or a snow Duck??? You be the judge.



We flew back home on Saturday June 21st. I made it home around 8 PM Saturday evening. I packed up my race kit in anticipation of heading to Green Bay for a WORS race on Sunday morning.

The GB Race went as well as can be expected after having blown up out on Hood only a couple of days prior. Lynne did quite well and if any of you have spoken to her recently she'll be more than happy to tell you she beat me by 2 + minutes in that race.

Since then we've been busy training for future races. One of which was Lynne's first triathon yesterday in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. She finished 429 out of 3650 women racers. This is a women's only event making it feel more comfortable for those ladies that might be a bit too intimidated having men racing alongside with them. It was the midwest version of The Danskin Triathlon Series. Congrats to her on a great finish!

Two Days and counting until I leave for the west coast and a climbing trip to Mt Hood & Mt Rainier. Last weekend while we were having torrential rains, the Cascades received 30 + inches of snow. The skiers and snowboards have been loving every minute of it.

You check the Mt Rainier web cam facing the mountain here.

The Web cam facing down the valley away from the parking lot at Paradise here.

The Web cam facing the parking lot here - I'm not certain what car we'll be getting as a rental otherwise you could have checked to see where we are parked.

The web cam and conditions at Timberline Lodge at Government Camp (Mt Hood) here.

Packing and getting ready for the trip tonight - wish me luck!

6-07-08 Another day that Tosan's will remember for a long time.

These photos were taken at the 70th Street bridge at Menomonee River just east of Hart Park - facing east then west towards the village area and Hart Park. The lights in the background are located at the parking lot for Hart Park. Shortly after we took these pictures, police shut down the area and kicked everyone off the bridge. Some people just don't realize how quickly things can change into something really ugly.





Click this link for Tosa flood video

Flood Video

Final Big Ring Picture of Ben - at the beginning of his race. 5th in age class and 23rd overall in Citizen. Way to go Ben!

Thanks to Dave Reich for having the proper camera equipment which enables him to take photos of moving objects without getting a blurry image.

Pictures from this weekend's race in Wausau - The Big Ring Classic

A few more pictures from Lake Geneva this past weekend.

John



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