Just a couple little stitches

My right shoulder has three scars from surgical incisions. My left shoulder only got two. Hooray for improvements in technique! This time I didn't get a recording of the surgery either, not that I want to watch it... The Vicodin gave me terrible hiccups. I am not a big fan of pain killers, that just made me more apprehensive. Now I get to gradually start gaining back my range of motion. By the end of the week my arm should be able to reach over my head again.

I can't feel my arm

This morning Dr. Neal ElAttrache poked into my left shoulder and cut out the bursa. He stated that I had impressive bursitis and old damage had left my shoulder beyond the ability to fully heal without the surgical cleansing. Everything went well and, thus far, it looks like the future is bright for my left shoulder. Now it just need to get the feeling back in it...

Andy Worhol in Troy, AL

The first exhibit at the new Johnson Art Center in Troy, AL... Andy Worhol. I believe the new center will give many others to experience the inspiration I have felt through my many visits to Troy, AL. It deserves a distinction that proves it is a unique place unlike any other.

The only way to fly

The easiest why to get to Troy, AL is to fly into its tiny air strip. They are working on a new terminal at the airport. Surprisingly it has more character than the cheap mass production steal structures that get used for every other new building around.

Building Dedication

A new center for the arts just opened in my parent's hometown of Troy, AL. Thanks to a donation by my parent's foundation the center received its namesake after my grandparents, Holman and Ethel Johnson. Through my lifetime the downtown section of Troy, AL has seen the highway steal its thunder. With all the popular businesses like Wal-Mart building up along the main thoroughfare, there is no reason for passersby to visit downtown. With the old town post office, a spectacular Greek Revival building, sitting vacant, the mayor hopes to safe it and give it new life with the creation of a cultural draw. The idea for the Johnson art center is to bring new visitors into Troy. I really do hope it will be successful. The old downtown has so much potential to build a cafe and boutique filled downtown unique to rural Alabama.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Equinox

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Equinox

Recently I finally got the chance to drive the Chevrolet Hydrogen Fuel Cell Equinox (try saying that 5 times fast). Sitting still in the parking lot the vehicle emitted noises one did not expect to hear from an automobile, at least not yet. It produced a quiet whir and a bit of clicking from the power electronics. All it all it wasn't very audible over the sound of traffic driving by. Once inside though, with the doors closed, the exterior noise was blocked out. I took the passenger side initially, while a coworker took the wheel. I used the opportunity to poke around at buttons and listen to the vehicle. Mostly the interior followed that of a normal Equinox. Although in place of a tachometer sat a kilowatt gauge. As a reminder that this wasn't a typical vehicle, or even a mundane hybrid, the shift knob featured the GM water droplet badge and the navigation screen displayed the fuel cell power flow. When leaving the parking lot the Equinox accelerated up to the speed of traffic with no drama. The ride was also very smooth, no jarring shift points. After a few minutes of driving I swapped spots with my coworker and took over the helm.

Being an Equinox the vehicle was significantly larger than what I am used to. For just that reason I did not expect it to perform anything like my BMW 335i. Pulling out into traffic I got on the accelerator and, while by far not the fastest thing I have driven, it wasn't the slowest either. It weighed somewhere in the range of a decent mid-sized sedan in terms of get up and go, meaning I wouldn't fear for my life merging onto the 405. I stayed on the pedal for a little bit and it hit me that I had lost a connection to the vehicle. I am tuned to feel for speed through gear changes and audible rpm. However, a fuel cell vehicle does not have such feedback. The sound of the electric motor was somewhat audible, but with music playing and people talking it just wasn't enough of a factor. I had to glance at the speedometer to get my bearings back straight. The smooth, uninturrupted, acceleration was a great experience though. The one possibel downside was that when coming to a stop, the brakes required more input that I was used to. The system transitions from regenerative braking to mechanical braking depending on the amount of depal depression. I probably would have been more comfortable with the braking if I had not come from mainly driving a sporty vehicle with a stiff and sensitive pedal. The brakes were in line with those of a standard Equinox, not that that is necessarily a good thing.

In the end I wish I could have had more drive time. Maybe then I could have found some Priui (plural for Prius) to drag race.

Shoulder Surgery

Los Angeles Laker's player Kwame Brown has had the same shoulder problems as me. That is why I am going to see the same orthopedic surgeon for my procedure:
http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/Kwame_Shoulder_Surgery.html
If I don't do something about my left shoulder now, I will seriously regret it when I am 70. I already see the example with my aunt having enough shoulder problems without the athletic background. I should be go to go again come next year. I am eager to get to the rebuilding phase as opposed to the try not to break it worse and just hold out for a few more weeks phase...

Toyota Hilux

Bad Shoulder

I have been a bad blogger lately. That is my fault though because I push myself pretty hard and I have to let something give most of the time. I let the writing slip when I need a break because I would rather not spend my life stuck behind a computer or television. I feel guilty for only spending 9 hours at work most days. I also get down on myself when I am too drained to spend a couple hours at night scouring the internet for interesting automotive news to post on Autoblog. I am too busy during my day to keep up with all the posts and news going on, so I have to spend time catching up before I can even begin browsing for items that have yet to be covered. Now I also have two pets (the new one is pictured above) I don’t want to ignore. They grab my attention for a significant period every night. I have me time scheduled in everyday in the form of swimming or gymnastics after work though. Generally my workout time keeps me on my toes and re-energizes me for the evening. It is amazing though how everything can turn sour when things don’t go well in the pool anymore. For the entirety of the summer my left shoulder has been killing me. It has gotten me feeling a tad dejected.

My left shoulder problems first surfaced when I was 14 years old and a freshman in high school. It was hard to process the injury back then because the pain wasn’t so apparent. I just got to a point where I could hardly get my arm to keep turning over in order to make it through a 200 freestyle. My time kept going backwards and I was so devastated. The more I tried to push, the slower I would go. I was lucky enough to find a sympathetic physical therapist however. She had been a competitive swimmer herself. She was amazed I could even move my arm because my shoulder was so impinged and inflamed. Working long and hard though, we managed to get my left shoulder back into working order. In the end it ended up being my right shoulder that I eventually had surgery on in order to relieve inflammation (internal bleeding… no big deal…).

With all my shoulder experiences every doctor has commented on my shoulder geometry. I have pronounced protrusions coming out of my shoulders that are the connection points of my clavicles. This setup apparently naturally pulls my shoulders forward, reducing the size of the pocket available for joint rotation. Of course all that easily disposes me to impingement and inflammation. The fun part is that a tiny bit of inflammation can offset a chain reaction that takes weeks, even months to recover. Since having my right shoulder cleaned out in the middle of college, it has been going pretty strong. My left shoulder is a different story though. Lately it has been causing me agony. It seems that increasing my shoulder stretching, and thus increasing my shoulder flexibility, has awoken some old scar tissue. Tendons can’t move where they wanted to, they have become inflamed and of course that has created more scar tissue. Without taking action to break up the scar tissue I am stuck in an endless cycle. That is why, despite the cost, I have said screw this and have paid a few visits to various doctors.

I am currently in the midst of my 4th week of therapy on the shoulder. Thankfully I have been able to find the exact type of treatment I had hoped for, due to the recommendation of fellow Long Beach swimmers. Over this period I have been able to get back from crawling pace to cruising. I still have no speed though and that is very frustrating. Anytime I really try and grab the water pain shoots down the side of my shoulder. It takes a few strokes to recover from that jolt in order to find the right pace again. I had sights set on many ocean races this summer, but all have been put on hold for other years. I just want to glide through the water again without extreme calculation every time I place my left hand in the water. I am giving it until the end of August to further improve its condition. If not, then I think it is about time to send it under the knife. It wasn’t difficult for my right shoulder to recover, so I know what it involves. It just sucks getting dressed for a couple weeks and driving might be a tad difficult…