Looking back on 2024

 

January 3:  Canceled weekly pool service with Pool Solutions AZ LLC.  For reference only the monthly fee was $160.

January 10:  Received 2nd epidural steroid injection of lidocaine (numbing agent) and dexamethasone (steroid) into the epidural space.  The goal is to reduce the pain in my lower back.  Procedure was called L5-S1 ILESI (InterLaminar Epidural Steroid Injection) medial.

Note:  This 2nd injection was a further improvement in reducing back pain when walking and standing, but it seem to last only a few weeks.  

January 17:  Finished reading "Lone Rider" by Elspeth Beard, I read the Kindle book on my iPhone 12, I read this book based on a recommendation by friend Jimmy Jeffers.  The book is about one of the first women to ride a motorcycle around the world.  She left her family and friends in London and set off in October 1982 (starting her ride from New York City, to California) at 23 years old on her 1974 BMW R60/6 (600cc) and arrived home in London in November 1984 after covering 35,000 miles and 20 countries.  An incredible journey and an amazing story.  She was a very determined person.  The book wasn't published until 2017 (2018 USA), 33 years after her journey was over.  She carried a Pentax K1000 35mm SLR camera.

Above:  Cover of Kindle book.

January 21:  Finished reading and viewing the many excellent photos in "Jupiter's Travels In Camera" by Ted Simon.  This hardback book was published in 2013 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of his first round-the-world motorcycle trip that started in 1973.

Above:  Cover of book.

January 29:  Finished reading and viewing the many excellent photos in "Lone Rider-The Photographs" by Elspeth Beard.  This hardback book was published in 2021 and contains 450+ photographs from her 2 year round-the-world motorcycle journey (1982-1984).  I ordered the book on January 5th (before finishing reading "Lone Rider") and received it on January 24th.  Elspeth did an outstanding job on creating this book.

Above:  Cover of book.

June 23:  Went to the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame (AMEHOF) Induction Ceremony held at the Rhythm Room.  The inductees were Hans Olson, John Dixon (Johnny D), Jon Rauhouse, and the Rhythm Room (venue).

Above:  2024 AMEHOF inductee Hans Olson on stage at the Rhythm Room.

July 11:  Finished reading "Erik The Red" by Captivating History, I read the Kindle book on my iPhone 12.  I knew nothing about Erik The Red except a vague memory from one of my grade school history teachers that briefly mention him.  As an adult I remembered nothing about him except for the name and that he was a viking.  But now I know he was most certainly the first European to create a permanent settlement on Greenland, that he had at least 4 children, one of which (Leif Erikson) who is given the credit as being the first European to step foot on North America.

Above:  Cover of Kindle book.

August 8:  Finished reading "The Vikings in Greenland" by Charles River Editors, I read the Kindle book on my iPhone 12.  After reading the above book about Erik The Red I decided to read this book about the history of the vikings in Greenland. 

Above:  Cover of Kindle book.

August: 12-15:  Jean's 4 days at hospitals. 

August 20-Sept 4:  Jean's 10 rad.

Sept 5:  Jean's 1st PET scan.

Sept 7:  Jean's 1st Ibrance.

Sept 13:  Jean's 1st Zometa Infusion.

Sept 17:  Diagnosed with "Venous Stasis and Lymphedem" per Kim Hart.   Patient portal showed "Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI), Lymphedema tarda (which begins after 35 years of age), Edema, Hereditary lymphedema diagnosis.

Venous stasis, or venostasis, is a condition of slow blood flow in the veins.

chronic venous insufficiency and chronic venous stasis are two names used interchangeably for the same vascular condition.

Primary lymphedema is due to a genetic malformation of the lymphatic system during embryological development, and includes lymphedema tarda

October 18:  Finished reading "The Case for Trump" (original version published in 2019) by Victor Davis Hanson (military historian, conservative political commentator, and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think-tank in California), I read the Kindle book on my iPhone 12.  An amazing book, very informative!  I learned a lot of things I didn't know.    Hanson documents how a celebrity businessman with no political or military experience won the Republican nomination in 2016 over sixteen other Republicans, and went on to win the election and become a successful president for the first two years, which is where this version of the book ends.  Hanson released an updated version in 2024 but I don't know if it contains any information beyond Donald Trump's first two years as president. 

Above:  Cover of Kindle book.

October 23:  Received 3 vaccines, Flu (high Dose), COVID-19 (Pfizer), and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) at Safeway.

November 4:  Finished reading "Hey, Is That Your Bike?--Riding My Motorcycle Across The USA--A Dream Come True!” by Robert Cress. I read the Kindle book on my iPhone 12.  A very interesting story by a 71 year old man that purchases a used 2016 Honda Gold Wing in 2021 with about 22,000 miles on it, then rides across the country—for three weeks and 8,000 miles, from Melbourne, Florida to California, up into Oregon and then back to Florida. 

Above:  Cover from hardback book.

November 25:  Had first symptoms of COVID-19, Jean had hers on the 27th:  I tested positive on November with one of those COVID-19 & Flu A/B test kits.  I finally tested negative on December 6.  Jean had worse symptoms than I did, she finally tested negative on December 14.   Note that Jean and I both had our latest COVID-19 vaccines on October 23.

Above:  My COVID-19 test results.

December 10-12:  Purchased a new Mac mini M4 and BenQ 32" MA320OU 4K 3840x2160 monitor, as shown below.

Above:  Mac mini M4 and new BenQ 32" monitor.

December 16:  Had my first vein treatment (Radiofrequency Ablation on left leg), have more to go in 2025 (both legs).

December 19:  Started reading "Riding Soul-O" by Debi Tolbert Duggar, but probably won't finish it this year.  Debi was a 53 year old woman that made her first long distance motorcycle ride in 2008 from Florida up the east coast to Canada on a Harley Davidson Heritage.   Later she bought a Road King and toured the lower 48 states, Alaska, and six Canadian Provinces. The book is part memoir, part travelogue. 

December 24:  Had a DISH Hopper 3 with Sling installed.

Above:  Hopper 3 starting up...