Went in for a follow-up with my dermatologist. The squamous cell tumor had come back. Right there on my face. We went over the options. I elected for the most savage and barbaric of the choices. A deeper scoop with a sharp blade --- right there in the chair. The probability is that we got it all. The betting runs to 70-80% good chance. That leaves 20-30% chance of
try something else. What's left? Mohs Surgery. Been there once before on a different spot. Not so bad if it happens.
Dermatologist advised that I'd have a little divet where the offending intruder had been. I can deal with that; I'm not currently dating and my on-camera movie career never took off. On the upside, I know a beautiful plastic surgeon and she'd just love to fill in the pothole left on my face...
But any procedure is disheartening to a certain extent. It chimes with the distant sound of mortality. A creeping disintegration of the corpus. But at least I'm not battling sleep apnea, obesity, hearing loss, diabetes, heart failure, or any of the other common ailments of aging. I can still remember where I parked and how to compute compound interest. So I'm ahead in those regards.
But the tragedy of yesterday's run in with medical reality is that I've been advised not to swim again until Tuesday the 3rd of June. Almost a death sentence. That's five days out of the water. Five days of implied sloth.
But the CFO of VSL reminded me that I have running shoes and five miles of sweet running trails around downtown's lake. That I have weights and stretch cords. And a gym membership. I guess that will do fine until Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.
But I figure that if I'm not having fun then I'm certainly not going to sit down and write stuff so that you can have fun reading while I'm in the midst of hard core swim withdrawal. So....adios until Tuesday afternoon. But before I go I thought I'd share some images from this morning's massive walk through everywhere.... All with that puny Leica DLUX 8. I'd say it's growing on me but I've liked it since the day I pulled it out of the box.
Austin was the victim of a huge, quick storm last night. Hail the size of hen's eggs, wind gusts up to 70 mph, 2-3 inches of rain in less than an hour and lots and lots of subsequent damage. The big tree that sat in front of this old building was here two days ago. It's gone now. The power was off for 30,000+ electric utility customers. Whole streets are blocked off around town because the wind and hail tore down utility poles, branches and whole trees. And the low water crossings filled up quick.
I walked around downtown this morning to see what everything looked like. It was hit and miss. The VSL headquarters over here next other the house was spared. But there is more weather coming back tonight after midnight. This is the season for crazy atmospherics in central Texas.
this stuff fell off the roof of a six story apartment building.
The old power plant was unscathed. It was built to withstand hurricanes and bomb blasts.
And, at least for this afternoon, blue skies are back in fashion.
big and happy news for me today! I walked by the main library and there's a brand new café business in the spot that had the original café. The first one closed as a result of both Covid and a relentless hounding by homeless men. The new version, under new owners is polished and nice.
They just opened and have a limited menu of coffees. Both "real" coffee and espresso based coffee drinks. Also pastries. No surprise here because every coffee shop in town gets the exact same pastries from Quackenbush's bakery over in Hyde Park. Even the other bakeries are not above importing "anonymous" pastries...
I had a cappuccino. It made by face feel better. Fractionally.
the Leica DLUX 8 is attracted to fun t-shirts. In real life you can see every thread and every bit of fluff
and texture on every thread. It's really a nice camera.
the wind came through fast and furious and in my back yard, as I watched, it looked like swirling gusts. Like mini-tornados. No damage at my place. All our trees are equipped with titanium reinforcement rods, but look what the wind did to this tree down in front of the Hilton Hotel.
and this power pole.
And this tragic little minivan.
Changes have been made to historic East Sixth St. Now it looks like a crappy construction zone all the time. Thanks City Council. What next? Tear down the 20 year old Convention Center? Oh, that's right; that's already in progress. Or de-progress...
People still use the word, "Gnarly"? Amazing throw back. What's next?
"Groovy"?
And then, apropos of nothing, here is my favorite Parking Garage --- designed by M.C. Escher.
Radical.
So, I'm sitting by the pool (not in the pool) sipping Cuba Libres, hanging out with the busload of super models who came by to check on my progress, and counting the money I'm making betting on the TACO tariffs. Such a life.
Back in touch on Tuesday.
Hope you weren't in the doctor's chair when Wednesday's storm hit. Footage of that even made the BBC:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c706995ryego
Nothing as dramatic. I was driving through it. But, of course I was driving a Subaru so .... no damage occurred. Most of the bad hail was in the north part of the city while my appointment was far south. Ben reported lots and lots of hail and wind at his place but again, no lasting damage. Thanks for that link. That's really scary.
ReplyDeleteGreat opportunity to get caught up on TOP! Skin cancer is scary stuff, I feel for you.
ReplyDeleteGood reading there. Maybe pick up a Ctein print while you are there... And an ergonomic, programmable keyboard.
DeleteNot too scared yet...
DeleteThat video is something else. Not a storm you'd want to drive through. I'm dealing with a brutal 75 degrees and a partly cloudy sky here in Santa Fe.
ReplyDeleteI'll be right over....
DeleteThink of the lovely scars you might have from Mohs procedures. I've had nine (no sunblock when I grew up). What tattoos are to the young, my various scars are the story of my life. My latest is from Achilles surgery and a gastroc recession. And apropos of get out and photograph, 3 days after the surgery I was out on a knee scooter continuing a year-long photo project.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a speedy recovery. Re Welch
Bravo!!! I love to hear that you were back out shooting. More like this!
DeleteDoes anyone in your neck of the woods make café au lait? We used to have a coffee shop nearby that would use as a base a half cup or so of "real" coffee, as you put it, but then froth up some milk to add to the coffee, akin to how you make a cappuccino. Such a concoction might hit the spot for someone like you who has expressed some concern about espresso-based coffees. Btw, I only have 1 or 2 cappuccinos per week, I'm not a fanatic like some. Being Italian by ancestry, I have to drink cappuccinos now and then or I lose my privileges.
ReplyDeleteI never learned to swim so cannot really empathize with your withdrawal angst, but I do understand the feeling. The days will fly by. I've never really thought that people can actually swim though. Every time I go near water, I sink. I think it might be all be done with photoshop, or something.
Hi Robert, Austin has every kind of coffee imaginable. My preference for espresso based coffees would be a traditional French Café Créme. Used to drink those and get Beignets for a place around the corner from my favorite hotel in Paris; Les Argonauts. Just across the Seine from the Ile St. Louis...
DeleteBest of luck on a quick recovery and stay out of the water! Your swimming focus (compulsion?) reminds me of the time that I drove 60 miles to buy a new bicycle to cover for the week that my primary bike was out of service.
ReplyDeleteSimple message: wishing you a speedy recovery.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrew. Just milking it hard to take advantage of family and friends big hearts. Where's my ice cream? Oh? That's just for tonsils??? How was I supposed to know?
DeleteGood luck with the recovery, Kirk. I’m sure you’ll keep yourself busy out of the pool. Meanwhile, I’ve thought about the D-Lux 8 a number of times. But now prices for used examples have inflated along with MSRP. I guess I’ll just keep thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Biro! I seem to have bought my DLUX8 just in time. Lightly used and packaged with a bunch of accessories for around $1400. Haven't seen too many surface yet for less than $2K. But give it time and when the tariffs vanish the prices will most likely drop on the used stuff. What a great opportunity for camera makers to raise rates -- which may never go back down on new products... sigh.
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