All seven Harry Potter books, Movies 1-5 after finishing each book, in 11 days.

Would have had them done sooner if I didn't need to go to work during the week.

This morning I had my follow up from the Cortisone shot with the doctor. I told him how my pain went, and he labeled me a "non-recoveror". Most people get hernia's throughout their life, and they heal up pretty quick. As mine hasn't over nine and a half months, it's time for the next step. I have an appointment with a surgeon tomorrow. At least my Orthopedic doc says if he had to have surgery he would pick this guy over any others in the state...

I'll let ya know when the surgery is.

Started book 7 last night. That is all.

I'd say this is the first book that had huge differences from the movie. All the other ones did too mind you, but not nearly as important as the ones in this book. It definitely was weird seeing The Doctor as a bad guy though...

I may be able to start book 5 tomorrow... depends on G.I. Joe!

Watched the 2nd movie.

Read book 3

Watched the 3rd movie

Started book 4 (150 pages in)

So last night I started. I'd been listening to one of my regular podcasts, and in preparation for the new movie they were discussing Harry Potter. I finally decided to read them. So last night starting at 10:30, I started book one. Went to bed at 12:30. Got up, and finished the book in another hour and a half. Book one done. After that I watched the first movie. Tonight after cooking up a couple burgers for dinner I went to work on book 2 at about 7:30. Just finished right at the stroke of midnight.

Tomorrow, book 3. After that though it will be much much slower going of course. With weekly obligations, along with the length... But I'll get through the rest really quick. At least then when Eric and Steve are talking they won't tell me a huge spoiler again...

Saturday night Eric and I went for a ride. We left shortly after 4 pm. Up and over Suncrest, then we took the Alpine Loop to Provo Canyon. Much better in the daylight than last year in darkness. We went up to Heber where we took a potty break. We made the decision then to ride past Strawberry all the way to Duchesne. It was the first time I'd been to that part of Utah. A different kind of pretty. I do prefer the scenery of the Alpine Loop better myself. So we got to Duchesne about 8 PM. Grabbed some dinner at a local cafe then headed out. Thunderstorms were headed our way so we knew we had to book it.

We headed North out of Duchesne then turned West towards Tabiona. Shortly after getting on that road we suddenly came upon a deer in the road. Easily stopped and scared it off. It was going to be like that. At this time it was pretty dark. Just a bit of light that we were racing towards. I could see the clouds starting to trap us in. I just knew we were going to get drenched. We kept going. To get as much light as possible I was riding either on the line, or on the wrong side of the road, so Eric could pull alongside and we could both have our brights on. A car would come up and Eric would drop back, we'd both turn off our brights, and I would swerve back into the correct position.

Shortly after Hanna we began the climb up and over the mountain towards Francis. Suddenly there was another object in the road! This time it was low, moving across the road very smoothly, with a thick long tail. We both slowed down to avoid hitting it. As we came upon the cougar it started to turn towards us. I punched it. Last thing I wanted was a cougar to leap on me, cause me to wreck, then eat me.

We continued over the pass using the same formation for maximum light, seeing 16 more deer along the side of the road. As we got closer to Francis I examined the sky again only to see stars. We had out run the storm! We stopped in Kamas to rest up a bit and examined the sky only to see more stars. We both couldn't believe we made it. After standing around a bit to rest up we finished the ride down Parleys and home. I got home about 11:45 PM. The bike read 247 miles.

Today I went and got a cortisone shot into my back. I got there at 11, and was out at 11:50. Very nice!

So they took me back into what appeared to be an OR. They had me lay on my side as the doc first numbed the area, then did the injections. The numbing shot kinda felt like a pin prick or a bee sting. After that I could totally feel them, but didn't feel any pain with them. After the shots were done I waited about 20 minutes to see how they affected me before they let me go.

There are two parts to the shot. The first part numbs the nerve. That one took affect immediately. Overall I'd day my pain down my leg was 30% less than normal. After about an hour it was getting back to the normal pain I feel. I was under the impression it would last longer... oh well.

The second part is a steroid to get the inflammation of the nerve and disc down. That won't take affect for a few days to a week. We'll see if it gets the pressure off the nerve. One thing that I'm going to have to watch for the rest of my life is the lifting. No more heavy lifting for me.

This morning I went in and reviewed my MRI with my Orthopedist. The images were pretty cool. (And they did a quick look for cancer which I greatly appreciate.) You can totally see how the disc is messed up. So on Wednesday during lunch I'll be going over and getting a Cortisone shot into my back. He said I should walk out feeling an immediate difference (due to numbing the nerve), then it will go back to how I regularly feel. In a couple days though it should reduce the swelling of the nerve and of the disc. It will be something that works more over time.

Next follow up is August 18th. Depending on how this goes surgery might be next.
(The doc was saying the surgery would be minimal with no fusion of vertebrae, just cutting the inflamed part of the disc out.)

Went to Tony & Chelsey's place last night to party. At 8:25 I got paged. Started work on them. I left about 2:20 am. At 2:40 I got 2 more calls right around Bangeter. My stupid sprint card didn't work. I could get on the internet, but not on my work VPN. So I sped the rest of the way home and got to work. Got a total of 7 calls all about the same server. Another night of going to sleep at 4.

Today is the last day on call.

Left Bountiful about 1:50. At 2:04 I got a call. Just went straight to the office. Just finished it @ 3:20 am. Going home. Tired.

Last Saturday was tons of fun. Eric and Natalie came over at about 10 AM. Eric took a few minutes to adjust the rear shock on his motorcycle, then we were off! We took Wasatch down to Draper then went up and over Suncrest. Dropped down into Alpine then headed towards the Alpine Loop before jumping off and heading South to Pleasant Grove. Down to Orem and up Provo Canyon. We stopped at Bridal Veil falls to rest our bums for a bit, then continued on. Up to Heber which looked like the place to be this weekend. First by the airport, where it looked like there was a small air show going on. Then on main street there was a classic car show that we rode by. We kept on going to Park City. Stopped and grabbed some lunch at Pizza Hut, then continued to Kimball Junction. As long as we were there I wanted to pick up some more shirts. Did our shopping and started heading back. Diverted off Parleys to the East Canyon exit, then took Emigration Canyon back to the Salt Lake Valley.

We headed back to my place to grab their backpack. We then talked about going to see a movie, found one and rode down to Jordan Commons. Watched The Proposal which I enjoyed. But I do enjoy most "chick flicks". After the movie we went our separate ways. They went home, and I went to Steve's. He just put his kids to bed and it was time for him to see Transformers. So we ran to the theater and got in to the next show. Fortunately I checked my phone, which I had left on silent, as Eric was calling. I called him really quick and he ran over and joined us. The movie was tons of fun again. After we stood around outside talking about it. Realized sitting outside was dumb when we could be talking at Belg. Down we went, ate some chow, chatted a bunch more, then finally called it a night. I got home about 12:30. It was a good, long, fun Saturday.

Yesterday after work I went to replace my headlight and take out the modulator on my motorcycle. I removed the modulator, and soldered the wires back together. Just for kicks (to make sure things were correct) I plugged the old bulb back in and turned it on. The high beam worked just like it did last night, and the low beam... worked. The bulb didn't go bad. So was it the modulator, or a loose wire? The kit used crimp on connectors, so now I'm wondering if it would work fine soldered together. That does mean unsoldering what I did yesterday and putting the modulator back in soldering each of the connections this time. So should I do it, or keep it out?

So yeah, I've been a total slacker.

Basically I've just been going to therapy for by back over the last couple weeks. Had an awesome BBQ with everyone... that rocked.

So last night I helped Rich some more on his home theater. This was the night to build the elevated platform. We picked up the wood, and rented a nail gun from Home Depot. Picked up the air compressor at home, then over to Rich's. Got it all framed up, then the nail gun started jamming. Cleared it, jammed again, rinse repeat... Eventually we took it to Home Depot, the guy cleared it, we went back and continued trying. Same thing. This time we exchanged the gun. Same thing. GRRR! So we took in a clip of nails with us as I felt they were just too thin. Turns out the lady before sold us the wrong nails. The guy was awesome though, helped us get the correct ones, and even gave them to us for free for all the hassles we'd been dealing with. Got back to Rich's place and finished the decking in no time. In the coming months he still needs to pull the carpet out of his office, put hard wood down in there, and use the carpet he pulls up to cover the platform.

So we go to take all the equipment back to my place and I find that another light bulb has burned out on my motorcycle. So I'll be removing that headlight modulator. At $20 a bulb, replacing them monthly is bad.

So I got home and that is when it hit me. My back was hurting like nobody's business! I slept so badly last night. Then when I woke up I was hurting just as bad, plus my head was killing me. Pain all over.

So last week I went to see my doctor for the pain in my leg. He sent me to an Orthorpaedic specialist. Looks like I have a herniated disc at L5 (the bottom most vertebrae before the tailbone). That is what has been causing the pain in my left leg. This last week my lower back has started hurting as well. So he put me on some Prednisone. So I'll be on it for 7 days, and starting physical therapy to help my spine. After two weeks if I'm not feeling any better, I call them back and get an MRI scheduled. Then Cortisone shots. If that doesn't work... surgery.

I'm also going to do some other things to try to get it finally fixed. I think now that I have a better idea I can get other treatments specifically for it. So a visit to the Chiropractor on Friday, then I need to find an acupuncturist and try that stuff out.

I'll keep y'all updated.

Today Eric and I went for a nice cruise. We started up Emigration Canyon. Then up East Canyon, to East Canyon Reservoir. We went by that to Henefer, then past Echo Reservoir to Rockport Reservoir. Past there, and on our way to Kamas. We passed the Road Island Diner, and stopped. I asked if he wanted to try it out, so we turned around and went back and got lunch there. Had some BBQ, then continued on. Down through Kamas, Francis, and on to Heber. Cruised down Provo Canyon, past Deercreek, and into Orem. Stopped at a shop really quick for Eric, then headed up and over South mountain to get home. It was around 160 miles total for the day. Good riding.

So yesterday I went out to the sand dunes for the first time in almost six months. Jason came over about 7:30 and we headed to Macey's to get some lunch and snacks. Ran into Tony as we were putting the drinks in the cooler and chatted for a quick minute, then were off.

As soon as we got to the point of the mountain the rain started really dumping. To be safe Jason slowed down to 55 as the trailer felt like it would hydroplane if we went faster. We slowly made our way though Utah County, and by the time we got to Santaquin it was back to sprinkling. As we looked West we could see some blue sky, and knew it would be a good day.

On our way out we called Bryce and found that they ended with 3 bikes, not two like we initially thought. Jason asked if they filled them up, no. What is it with kids not filling up their gas tanks? Since we were still so far out we told them to drive into Nephi and gas up. We got to the Visitors center and waited. While we waited one of the rangers came over to check registrations. As he walked over I grabbed my temp out of the 4-Runner. Jason said his were good (5/09) and the guy said no, worrying Jason for a second, then said, oh, yeah, they're fine. Eventually Bryce and his friends arrived. They had gotten hungry and stopped at Arby's. One thing we noticed immediately. They had motorcycles, not quads. We definitely had enough gas for them, but as we thought they had quads, thought we would run short. Oh well.

We went though, and paid, then started down the road to Oasis. Just past the shack the ranger that checked our bikes was talking with another ranger in his truck. They didn't discuss our trailer. We got just past the White Sands turn off when the ranger in his truck came flying up lights on. We pulled over. As he came up Jason said "I bet this is about the registration on the white quad" as he handed him my temp. Jason mentioned the other guy checked it earlier, and the ranger said no problem, smiled and told us to stay safe. As he walked back, the other ranger went flying past to pull over Bryce's friends.

Jason and I drove to the Sand Mountain turnoff and waited. And waited. And waited. About 20 minutes later they pulled up. "Who got the ticket?" I asked. One of the kids had old stickers, and didn't have a temp with him. I just kinda laughed. We went on to Oasis where they led, and took us to a site in loop D. Kinda sucked to get out to the dunes from there.

We unloaded and set out to the dunes. One of the kids had little experience on the dunes, so went slow until he got the better feel for it. Found a jump and took a bunch of pics (In the gallery). Moved on. The boys wanted to find another good jump so we went looking. Finally found one that was pretty cool. On the first round of hitting it, the newbie didn't hit it small to feel it out. He went flying! He said that he was leaning so to correct it he basically did a Nac Nac with his right leg. He brought it back around, but didn't have it down when he landed. We all thought he was a gonner. BUT HE RODE IT OUT! It was crazy! When he brought his leg back around though he knocked off his flag, so we headed back to eat lunch and fix it.

After lunch we decided to hit the trails around the mountain next to Oasis. Cruised all around, Jason totally lost everyone, so we rode around trying to spot him. The quads did some nasty hillclimbs, and eventually we made our way to the back side of the mountain by all the drag trails. We hung out there as the clouds got darker and darker. Jason wanted to rush back and close a window he left cracked. When he got around the mountain he saw the uber nasty rain almost on top of us. He turned around to warn us. We all booked it back to the camp site. As we rode the rain would hit us on our lips, feeling like little pieces of hail. Short ride though and we were back quickly.

I got into the 4-Runner to check the radar on my phone. Looked like just a small cell, so we waited it out. Jason & I watched act 1 of Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog. The rain stopped after about 30 minutes, and we got back out riding. We were in the place where Jodi rolled when we had another flag break. Went and fixed that. Back out again. Didn't find much good stuff for a while, but just kept riding around. Eventually the boys said they were tired and ready to go home. Jason and I could have kept riding, but oh well. So we went back and loaded up.

The boys headed home, and Jason & I went to another place where we could shoot. We parked and did some walking. Thinking about it, it probably helped our legs after riding. I wasn't very sore at all in my legs the day after. Very stiff in my shoulders though. Jason wanted to try to call in a coyote, so we tried that for a bit. After a good long while with nothing we headed back to shoot some cans at least. Shot for a bit, heard some coyotes so went quiet and tried again for one, unsuccessfully. Took a couple longer distance shots, Jason hit a 46oz V8 bottle at 200 yds with 1 out of 3 shots, then put the guns away and drove home.

Good fun was had by all!

So time for Eric to get a new tire?

Pics in the gallery too...

Yesterday Eric and I took a cruise up to Logan. I met up with him over at his place about 10:45. After gassing up we hit the road. Nice steady cruise along I-15 until North Ogden when Eric got off the freeway. His hand was already killing him, so we went for some Advil at a gas station. So he got drugged up, so we continued on. Little did we know we were about to enter a war zone. There is a reason for full face shields, and I was grateful for them. So many bugs completely plastered out helmets. After we exited at Brigham City we stopped to regain full visibility. While we were there I opted to place my inner liner in before heading up Sardine Canyon. We proceeded up the canyon where I became very grateful for that lining. It wasn't freezing, but you could really feel the temp drop.

We made our way into Logan then stopped at the A&W so Eric could get some cheese curds. We ate some lunch, then continued up to Richfield, where his sister is moving to. We went up to their place and hung out and helped paint for a while. We didn't want to make the ride home in the dark, so we left about 4. We headed North a few miles to cross into Idaho. Took a some pictures in Franklin to prove it, then headed back home gassing up along the way. Stopped again in Brigham city, where I decided to keep the inner lining in. Then continued home.

My odometer said 236 miles. Not bad. Good experience. My recent additions definitely made a huge difference. I wouldn't have been able to make the ride on my old seat. And the highway bars were so nice to be able to move my feet around. My shoulder is still feeling it though. So I'll need to get some pullback risers, and possibly a cruise control of some type. Overall a great cruise!

Pics in the gallery.

Monday my new crash bars and highway pegs arrived, and were promptly installed. I rode it around all night playing with the position. Tuesday, after taking the loooong way home from work, I decided to take some pictures to post. Rather than show off my ugly pitted driveway, I decided to try to get some green grass in there. Just makes for a nicer picture! So I moved my bike up onto the walkway to the front door. Took the first picture.

Ok, now I gotta get something with the pipes, even though they are stock. So not sitting on the bike I turn it around. As I start to back it into place I start to lose it's balance. It falls away from me, gently, to the ground. Right before it hit I think, "Well, at least now I have the crash bars!" It went down on the highway peg, very lightly scuffing it. I look around to see if any of my neighbors are outside... Yes! Nobody saw that! I quickly lifted it back up, put the kickstand down, and parked it correctly.

So I've finally dropped my bike, I wasn't on it, and I'll never move my bike without me on it again.

Well, at least I got that out of the way! (I'm hoping to never get the accident out of the way...)