180-Degree Turnaround: Last weekend, I was looking for and focusing on a few (outstanding) positives in an otherwise weird situation. This weekend, I’ve been bombarded with positives. Just a perfect blend of relaxed/detached and plugged in. A little racing, a little baseball, a little web stuff, a little walking and a perfect evening tonight to cap it all off. (And we have one more day to play!)

Gus is in town – it’s been over a year since I’ve seen him. Our friend Lucy is moving to Kauai next week, so we sent her off with our favorite pizza at Giorgio’s, joined by the delightful Marilyn and the perfectly demented Demery. The salad, pizza and chianti were delicious and we added to the enjoyment with a text message “orgy.” Gus texted a folk singer friend of his, Beth Patterson, who lives in New Orleans and was battening down the hatches for Hurricane Gustav. When Beth replied, Lucy texted her back. A different member of our party would follow and we passed Beth around “like a groupie,” as she put it, and the conversation was warped and hilarious. (At one point, I asked her if it was textual harassment…) I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. After dinner, we crossed the street to the Plough and the Stars Irish pub for a nightcap. (And we all agree that Clement Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues is the best block on earth.) There’s a stage for live music at the Plough, but this evening the musicians were casually seated around a table to play their reels and jigs. At one point, the bartender (a real authentic Irishman) sang a hilarious tune about a dubious Scottish barber and the unfortunate haircut he received from him. It was a terrific moment, so this Scotswoman forgave the insult to her fellow countryfolk.

And while I was reveling with my friends here, Diamond was hanging with the racers in Oswego and sent me a photo of himself and Davey:

Diamond and Davey Hamilton party it down in Oswego, 8/31/08

(Is that what beer goggles look like to the beholder? LOL!)

Just a perfect way to top the perfect evening.

Classic: Davey Hamilton qualified 4th for the Budweiser Classic supermodified race at Oswego Speedway in New York state. My buddy Diamond has taken good care of me this weekend, sending updates and photos, including this one from earlier today:

Davey in his HP fire suit, Oswego Speedway, 8/31/08

UPDATE: Davey brought the new car home where he started, in 4th. Awesome to see him racing again! His next event is September 12 at the Terre Haute Action Track, where he and other IndyCar notables, including Sarah Fisher, will race modified stock cars in the Race to Recover – benefiting the recovery from the June floods in the Wabash Valley in southwest Indiana.

Classic, Too: Once the painting is done and I re-floor the kitchen and bathroom, I want to fulfill a long time goal and buy a collection of wicker furniture for the bedroom. With its white woodwork and yellow walls, it’s perfect for creating a country cottage vibe and I’ve spent some time today looking for just the right white wicker. Of course, being a radio junkie who grew up in central Indiana, I can’t think of wicker without hearing a certain radio jingle playing in my head. A small shop near Tipton, IN, called “The Schoolhouse of Educated Wicker” advertised heavily on several local stations when I was growing up. It’s made wicker shopping pretty fun to hear that tune in my head again. *grin*

Classic, Again: House salad with Italian vinaigrette, Giorgio’s perfect New York style cheese pizza and a glass of chianti…I’m heading out at 6 for a walk to 3rd Ave and Clement (via a couple shopping districts) for dinner with Gus and Lucy.

Oswego’s Hopping!: My buddy Diamond Dave (Fixx fan and racing enthusiast) lives in Oswego and helps out a driver there (Andy Noto, whose dad is friends with Davey Hamilton). Andy’s on standby as a relief driver for a supermodified in the Classic due to an injury to the regular driver, so Diamond’s helping with prep and set-up and crawling the pit area. He sent me a couple photos a few minutes ago that just made my day:

Davey Hamilton (red) at Oswego, 8/30/08

Ready to Roll!

Last check, Davey was running second quick in practice, so it looks like that brand new #6 car is a good one! Go Davey!

The Weekend, That Is: Woke up early to hear the last practice before qualifying for the IndyCar race at Belle Isle. A technical glitch meant Kevin (“KO”) Olson’s audio wasn’t making the broadcast, and the booth didn’t seem aware of that. I dropped Mike King an email telling him we could hear the other pit reporters but not KO. Mike read the email on the air, saying “We’ll look into that, Bash, not sure why you’re not hearing it. Maybe San Francisco is a KO-free zone.” Dave Wilson chimed in, “Maybe Bash is a car owner – they’ve been ignoring KO for decades.” KO’s next reports were audible, so they figured it out, and I dropped another email saying we were being properly KO’d out here now (that got some chuckles from the booth) and that I was merely a cat owner.

UPDATE 9:45 p.m: I just got a message from a Danica fan on MySpace saying, “You must be the one who let IMS Radio know we couldn’t hear KO in the pits – how many Bashes can there be in San Francisco? Thanks for doing that.” LOL!

Not long after practice ended, I got an email from my friend Gus, whom I haven’t seen in ages. He’s here in the bay area and we’re going to get some pizza at Giorgio’s (best pie in SF!) with our friend Lucy tomorrow night. Woo hoo!

She’s a Belle Isle: Following practice for this week’s IndyCar race in Detroit on Indycar.com and via emails from Trackside Online. The Radio Network is now accepting email questions and comments during practice and I sent one to Mike King with a compliment for Arie Luyendyk, Jr., who’s subbing for Davey Hamilton this weekend as the driver analyst. (Davey’s racing in the Bud Classic at Oswego Speedway.) Mike prefaced reading my comment on the “air” by asking Arie if he had a relative named “Bash” in San Francisco, since my comments were so positive. Funny.

Good Fortune: I can never resist lunch at Panda Express, and I love the fortune I got yesterday and just now opened: “Participation in sports may lead you to a lucrative career.” Guess I better invest in some pro lenses. *grin*

3 1/2 Day Weekend: We’re about two hours from being sprung from the office for a long weekend. Other than following the IndyCars and baseball, I have made no plans. I like the idea of winging this one. Do whatever comes up, which may be nothing. *grin*

Meantime, it’s time for lunch, and there isn’t a Mary’s Pizza Shack to be found around here. I’m stuck with the usual salad/sammich/burger/soup and taco truck fare. Not much else available out here on Sierra Point.

Time Warp: Back in mid-June, I ordered a nice silk camisole and tap pant set from Wintersilks. No special occasion, just something nice for me. Our mailroom head, Mr. Z., said he left a package for me one day in late June, and that was the only package I was expecting, but it was nowhere to be found when I got to my desk. It appeared that someone had swiped it, and the item was sold out on the Wintersilk’s site, so I thought I was out of luck. I just now got back to my desk with takeout from Baysider Cafe to find the package waiting for me…two months later. Nice way to start the weekend. *grin*

My Best Marco: Here’s a link to my best shot of Marco Andretti’s Clone Wars car. To view full sized, you may need to click the photo in your browser and expand it.

http://www.bashful7.com/marcohuge.jpg

George Lucas was at Infineon for the race. I did not see him, but did hear an interview with him on the radio network, after which nearby Lucas Valley Road and Skywalker Ranch were mentioned. I had the good fortune to spend a weekend at the ranch once – here are a few pages of photos from my old website.

The Best Abs: Nice photo of Tomas Scheckter and Scott Dixon on Tomas’ MySpace page. Now, I’m not usually into the too muscled or “cut” look, but check out the bod on The Scheck!

Flickr to the Rescue!: It’s time for me to re-think my site layout and install some software that will enable thumbnails and full-sized photos to display easily. I’ll start working on that in the next day or so, but for now, check out some of my Infineon “people” photos (still have more!) courtesy Flickr. New to Flickr?  Here’s how to navigate it:

1. Click the larger photo of Roger Penske for the full-sized view.
2. Look for a box on the right side of the page. The box will contain text (You are at the first photo) and another picture. Click that picture to view it.
3. Continue clicking the photo on the right side of that box to go forward, or click the photo on the left to go back.

Trois Fleurs: Here are a few shots of my cottage in Sonoma:

Love the orange - one of my favorite colors

Living room, looking into the dining nook

Cozy love seat - just the right size for shorty me to curl up on

Loads of pillows...

The bedroom window box

I’m considering a return visit for my birthday or a weekend getaway soon. Can’t imagine staying anywhere else in Sonoma.

Sonoma Photos: There are too many good shots to post on a blog page, so I’ll have to build pages for them on my Bash*tography site. I code by hand, so it takes a little longer but will be clean and neat. I’ll post a link here when I get some pages up.

A little KINDness: Had my chair massage today. I sent Sabina some Helio photos yesterday and gave her a brief overview (2-3 lines?) of the race weekend visitor situation. She shares everything with her sister Kathleen (from whom I’ve also gotten great massages) and after reading what I sent, they bought me a Sesame Peanut Chocolate KIND bar because they thought I deserved better – and for a laugh. (I’m laughing too – everything else last weekend was perfect and I can’t wait for Sonoma to come around again.) Proceeds from the sale of this little snack benefit Peaceworks.net – a yummy treat for a good cause with a kind (and funny!) intention behind it. Sabina and I always have a lot of laughs during massage time, but today I learned that she used to work as a producer at KCBS radio, where my dial is set most of the time. So I shared my radio background with her as well – just one more thing we have in common.

Tasty: One of my direct reports is a baking whiz and today she brought us her first cheesecake. It has a gingersnap crust with a thin layer of pear and then the cheesecake filling. Incredible. Thank goodness for the walking trail and the gorgeous 80-degree weather.

I’m heading out for a walk…

Back to Work: Buried in all my work email this morning was the sign-up times for this week’s chair massage. I replied, only to learn that all times were booked. I emailed the masseuse, Sabina, with whom I have had some great chats, to let her know I’d miss her this week. She is such a doll – she offered to come early or stay late to sort out my back muscles for me. She’ll be curious about my race weekend – I’ll have to take her some Helio pictures, and hooo boy, can’t wait until she asks me about how the weekend went with my visitor. I guess this is a chance to practice diplomacy. *grin*

Another email was waiting from the CEO, telling us we are being kicked out at 2 p.m. Friday for the Labor Day holiday. I like having another long weekend lined up. Maybe I’ll resume painting my place, or do my favorite cross-city walk to the beach if the weather’s warm enough. There will be baseball games and racing to enjoy, as well.

What Was I Thinking?: My camera’s frame count is off – when I left the track, I thought I’d shot about 1400 photos for the weekend. When I dumped them on the computer last night, the actual count was 2200 exactly! I have deleted over a thousand (mainly partial cars) and am still sorting the remainder into various categories. Then I can choose the best of those, crop them to a manageable size and post them. Here’s what you’ll see when they’re up:

• Cars, cars, cars of all kinds
• Bud Moeller, in the flesh! (Remember last year?)
• Helio and his hot new girlfriend
• Ryan Briscoe’s cute caboose
• Mama Ice, Papa Ice, Emma Ice and Ice
• Tomas “Hot Papa” Scheckter (and the world’s skinniest legs!)
• Daniker, Daniker, Daniker
• Marco’s newest movie theme paint scheme (better than Indy at Indy!)
• The best media folks, even if they’re a little hard on the lens (think RM, bless his heart)
• Owners and drivers and tires, oh my!
• Air show jets making smoke hearts
• Lollipops
• The World’s Cutest Cottage(TM)
• Did I mention cars?

I appreciate your patience as I dig out from under the photo blizzard. Got some good ones!

Drained: Long day at the track, highlighted by a hot lap ride courtesy the Jim Russell school at Infineon – wild ride in a pack of Toyota Camrys! Got a sunburn despite SPF 85, so I’m hurting. And the strange trip with my visitor was thankfully cut short – he’s hoteling it tonight instead of returning to my place. To say that aspect of the weekend was a failure doesn’t quite capture it – I’d like to borrow Pressdog’s standard: BLOWN UP, SIR! I have never seen and hope never to see again such self-absorption and self-focus. I did my very best to remain civil to the end (spending the second half of the weekend almost completely free of that vibe helped) and blissfully, The End has arrived.

I had pit access – except it wasn’t hot pit as I was led to believe. No biggie, but nice to know I can get the exact same credential through Indy Downforce, so I can grant myself access occasionally for great picture taking opportunities. Schweeeet!

I’ll be sifting through the 2200 photos I took over the next few days and sharing them here. Just have to share a couple now – this is the cutest thing I saw all weekend, followed by the other cutest thing I saw all weekend:

Davey Hamilton

Davey and a cute kid

*grin* I have tomorrow off and will work on getting more shots up here on the blog. Meantime, I’m starving and there’s an incredible cheese waiting for me in the fridge. I had it for dinner Friday night at The Girl and The Fig – it’s called Redwood Hill Bucheret, and it was the star of the cheese sampler at my table. I’ll be enjoying this one all week.

Stay tuned for more photos!

Strange Days: This has been some 4-day weekend for me, and it’s only half over. I’m trying to make the most of the positive bits – I’m staying in a cottage in Sonoma that is pretty much my dream home. I’ve never wanted a large space, and this place is a little gem. The full kitchen is small but there’s plenty of storage and work space. There’s both an indoor and outdoor dining space, and a lovely garden next to the house. The living room manages to be spacious and cozy at once. I’d make the bathroom slightly larger to accommodate a claw foot tub, and there would be one more large closet for storage and a washer/dryer combo. Everything else is perfect. I’ll share photos when I get home to my big computer. (Photo cropping and sizing is not a quick task on the Asus Eee PC.)

The exhaustion portion of my health condition is really playing havoc right now. Despite gorgeous weather, I’ve only spent 2-3 hours a day at Infineon Raceway so far for the IndyCar event. If I do everything I’m booked for tomorrow, I’ll get to the track around 7:30 a.m. and be there until at least 5 p.m. I’m due to take a hot lap ride around the track in a safety car, and that session begins at 8 in the morning – UGH. I’m sorely tempted to skip it, but it represents my one true thrill for the weekend, and I’d hate to miss that.

I’ve been given a credential that allows me access to the garage and pits, even during competition. That will be a first for me. So I’m snapping away, capturing cars, personnel, media folks, drivers, wives and girlfriends – a real kid in a candy shop experience for this race fan – one I’m grateful to my visitor for arranging.

The painting I’ve done recently has caused additional problems, in the form of very tight back muscles. Yesterday I carried a backpack and camera bag at the track, and it proved too much. This morning at about 3 or so, I awoke with spasms between my shoulder blades. I did as much yoga stretching as I could muster and eventually the spasms let up. But as the day in the pits wore on today, my lower back seized up, even though I’d left all bags behind and had only my camera with me. Once Helio Castroneves nailed his 26th career pole, I headed back to the cottage, stopping along the way for some take-out slices from Mary’s Pizza Shack (HIGHLY recommended). I have one pepperoni and two cheese slices remaining – a delicious evening snack and blissful breakfast ahead.

As far as the visitor goes, well, let’s just say it’s been a strange trip so far, and it will be done soon enough.

Just had a nice nap and I’m off to soak my back now…need to rest up for tomorrow.

Draggin’: My visitor got in last night, and true to form, headed straight for California’s favorite fast food joint – after slowing to about 10 mph so I could jump in the car for the ride. 9:30’s a bit late for me to eat, but we were in and out pretty quickly. We took a customary trip down Lombard Street with its turns and stunning views (customary for him – I’d never been on that block of Lombard) and then off to my house for a gab session. Didn’t sleep very well and I’m really dragging this morning…hoping to get to Infineon by noon.

Activatin’: There’s so much talk around the IndyCar series about the need for sponsor activation – I saw an example of it a couple weeks ago that I caught with my iPhone and sent to some interested parties as proof that it’s happening out here. Now, not everyone would think to push Enrique Bernoldi, but here he is, big as day on top of my favorite Indian restaurant. And apparently in other parts of SF that I haven’t seen – I’m hearing about various locations and different designs from this sponsor.

T.G.I.F: It’s my Friday – taking a four-day weekend to enjoy the IndyCar action at Infineon Raceway and to spend time in Sonoma with good food and conversation. First up, though – dinner in The City with a visiting friend. I’ve noticed a pattern after living here for over a decade – when folks come to San Francisco, they usually fall into three categories when it comes to dining out:

1. Foodie - they want to try the hottest restaurant in the Michelin guide, which of course will be hard to get into. Now I don’t mind a good meal, but I really hate the “see and be seen” scene that usually goes along with the “hot spots” in The City.
2. Tourist - the tour bus or gimmick restaurants are a nightmare. The line’s out the door to get in, the service is spotty and the food is inconsistent at best. And you can often expect a three-ring circus for atmosphere. These places exhaust me.
3. Enthusiast - doesn’t have to be fancy, or even a real sit-down place, although it might be. These folks like what they like and they go every time they’re here because you can’t get it where they live. This is more fun for me than the other two, even if I don’t particularly love the place they love. I have these places myself, back in Indiana, and it goes beyond food and into ritual to get a meal there. I enjoy seeing others have the same experience.

Fortunately, my visitor is an Enthusiast and we’ll be grabbing a meal at a quintessentially-Californian fast food place that I love as well. There will be plenty of time for more fancy food the rest of the weekend! *grin*

Speaking of Sonoma: I will be taking loads of pictures and trying to blog from Infineon. At the very least, I may get a report or a photo or two posted here during the weekend. A more comprehensive post will likely appear here on Monday.

Pretty Much Done: Just a few odds and ends to do, and a general weekly housecleaning, and I’ll be ready to receive visitors. I may actually get to bed at a normal hour tonight. *grin* Need to get some rest, since I’ll be spending three days crawling Infineon Raceway in 90-degree heat this weekend. The Sonoma evenings will be pretty low-key – dinner and conversation – but I have a feeling the gabbin’ could run late into the evenings. Better get some sleep while I can!

Well, Sorta: One of my direct reports is a first-time dad! His baby girl was born early yesterday morning – all are well. Baby Girl Baron didn’t have a name as of this morning, but her sleep-deprived dad was thinking it should be “Michael Phelps Baron”… *grin* (UPDATE: it’s Abigail Marlee Baron!)

Rounding the Corner: Got the bedroom all squared away last night, and cleaned the kitchen this evening. Tried to hang the towel bar and shelves, but the screws are too long for the drywall and whatever’s backing it. I’ll have to see if Cole Hardware has something shorter that might work – otherwise, it’s back to the old “over the door” towel rack. (grrrrr…)

Welcome, Joe!: My new boss started work today – he had orientation and lots of meetings, so I only saw him at lunch. We have our first meeting tomorrow and the brain dump will begin… Glad to have him on board!

Partially Painted: Got some things done in the bedroom, but the muscle pull from Friday night’s adventure will keep me from continuing – sustained overhead work is just too painful. I got some ceiling repairs done and sealed and the windows are painted. Also scrubbed the window blinds. But that’s the end of the painting for now – the rest can wait for a week or so. I need a break from the drop cloths, clutter and sore muscles! Today I’ll clean up in the bedroom and rearrange the furniture a bit. There are plenty of odds and ends to do after that, and I’ll have a Giants-Braves game and NASCAR at Michigan to supply a backdrop.

Fuming: Most of my longer-term readers will remember I had a medical condition that required surgery two summers ago. I could tell the condition was returning earlier this year because my weight shot up about 25 pounds over a couple months and NOTHING I do knocks it back down. That’s a lot of extra for a 5′2″ person to carry around and it makes me tired most of the time. On top of that, the condition causes periods of extreme fatigue (like right NOW, for instance). Overall effect – I’m always trying to conserve energy when I know I have physical activities coming – such as painting the bedroom this weekend.

After work, I picked up a computer accessory and about $25 worth of candy for my desk (Den Mom likes to supply the whole floor at work with chocolates). I also stopped at Cole Hardware and got bunch of items, including a gallon of ceiling paint. I was loaded down like a pack mule, so I wanted to catch a bus instead of walking home. The plan was to paint the bedroom ceiling and start on the woodwork this evening, so I needed to save energy for that. A few moments later a bus arrived, but the driver wouldn’t let me on. “You can’t bring paint on the bus.” Imagine me – a chubby mid-40s woman in her 92nd running Indy 500 event jacket – a threat with a new, sealed can of ceiling paint. Yup, I was surely gonna whip that can open, bust out a brush and start tagging “Danica Patrick” and “Tony Kanaan” on all over the bus interior. *sigh*

I knew from NextBus data that another bus was just a few blocks behind this one, so I dug my canvas bag out from under all that candy in my backpack, stuffed the gallon of paint in it, slung it over my shoulder and took that next bus home. But now I’m royally peeved….as I shuffled on and off the crowded vehicle with my haul, I managed to tweak a muscle in my upper back. No painting for me tonight – and I really needed to get a start on the job. Will be handling some smaller chores, catching some Olympics coverage and going to bed early. Tomorrow will be a very busy day.

Ready, Set, Paint!: Last two nights, I’ve spent an hour or so in the bedroom, sorting through the items I collected there and recycling most of it, and then taking the duster to all the woodwork. Tonight, I have some wall and ceiling repairs to make, then will paint the ceiling and start on the massive amounts of woodwork. Saturday, I’ll finish the woodwork, and Sunday’s a quickie – paint a lovely yellow color onto the center panels. (It’s an old Victorian – loads of woodwork, less wall.) Don’t want to spend the entire weekend painting – need to catch up with Olympic coverage and spend some time chatting with a friend who’s arriving next week. We have plans to make and laughs to generate!

A (Sorta) Breather: So tonight, I cleaned the kitchen appliances and scrubbed the floor and will move stuff back in tomorrow morning before work. Tomorrow night will be busy – I relocated all the stuff I didn’t know what to do with to the bedroom, and it’s time to deal with all that…

Gleaming White: So, I finished painting the kitchen this evening, then took a break to watch all the highlights of the Olympics I’ve missed the last two days. Next three evenings, more cleaning and purging, then Friday through Sunday I’ll be painting the bedroom. That’ll be the stopping point for a week or so.

You Left Me Sore: “You” would be the scrubbing, painting and lugging around of the last couple of days. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that my place won’t be completely painted before my friend hits town next week. Most of the worst of it is already done, so I’ll paint the rest of this week, pick a good stopping point, and tidy up. The rest can wait until after Sonoma. My muscles (many of them newly-discovered) can use a break! *grin*

Saturday: Got loads done – moved a bookcase, recycled a ton of stuff, cleared out dozens of books to donate or take to the office for our library. Got a ZipCar twice – first time, went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get bathroom hardware and some new dinner and drink ware. Didn’t have time for Petco, so got the ZipCar again in the evening to get new litter boxes and kitty food. Once home, set up the boxes (they’re covered and the kitties weren’t sure about them at first – too much like going into a pet carrier!) and took a bunch more recycling down to the basement. Sprinkled in, I caught up with the Trackside podcast, followed the IndyCar race on the radio network and listened to a terrific Giants’ victory over the Dodgers. Whew!

Sunday: Lots to do and here’s what’s happened so far:

• Speed-watched over 20 hours of Olympic competition (fast forwarded unless men in spandex were on!) with the opening ceremonies still waiting – gonna watch those in full
• Washed the kitties’ water fountain
• Washed, folded and put away 8 loads of laundry while rolling the TV broadcast of last night’s IndyCar race
• Washed dishes
• Scrubbed kitchen – ceiling, walls, woodwork and cabinets
• Spackled the dents and nail holes in kitchen walls
• Painted kitchen ceiling and walls
• Caught the wreck and last 8 laps of NASCAR at the Glen
• Heard another AWESOME Giants come-from-behind win over the Dodgers

Cabinets and woodwork tomorrow night and the kitchen’s DONE!

As the TK Turns: So, we’re learning that Tony Kanaan might indeed have been ready to jump ship to Ganassi but had a last minute change of heart last night (which made it into the Indy Star about a half-second later). Fandom’s all abuzz – how pissed is Chip? What turned TK’s mind? And folks are pitting Robin Miller (who reported TK to TCGR) against Curt Cavin (who reported TK’s signature on the AGR contract last night) against one another. “Robin gets p0wned” vs. “Robin got the story first” with a few folks speculating that Team TK may have played Miller to pressure AGR into what he wanted. Meanwhile, IMS Radio Network driver analyst Davey Hamilton has chimed in. Mike King was talking about Miller’s story and Davey chimed in with “who’d you say wrote that?” in a very “consider the source” tone and commented that it wasn’t a signed, sealed and delivered deal, so maybe Robin’s pen moved too soon. Davey also speculated that Robin was used as a tool to get TK what he wanted. On another deal that was announced and may be going another direction, Davey reported that the sale of Kentucky Speedway to SMI might be off. The KY Speedway folks seem to have had a change of heart, too.

UPDATE: TK tells Mike King that he never got directly involved in the conversation about driving for Ganassi, so it must have been his agent fielding those calls. And just now, he told Kevin Olson that he and Marty Roth discussed forming Roth-Kanaan racing…one night over dinner….and “a few drinks”… LOL! Also, word has it the sale of Kentucky Speedway to SMI is slated for October, so rumors of trouble might just be rumors.

As the Bashie Turns: So, with everyone else changing their minds, seeming to change their minds, or just being rumored to have changed their minds, I think I’ll join in. I’ll let you all know when I decide what to change my mind about…unless I change my mind. :p

Doggone It: So I’ve babied my bad left knee (by not exercising, mainly) to the point where stairs aren’t a problem anymore and I’m ready to start my walking program again. Of course, that means the left foot issue I had xrays for a few months ago has reared its head again. Pinched nerves – crikey…