Heat, Smoke, Haze, Floods, High Winds

It's been a week since I last made it to the gym. I haven't been sick, other than the persistent ache and discomfort from my inflamed sciatic nerve bundle, but I've had other things to do. I did go dancing last Friday night so I'll consider that an hour or two of moderate cardio exercise. 

The band, Reality Bites, was great and effected appropriate costume changes for whichever band they were covering. Most of it was dance worthy, except for the Beastie Boys, a band I've never liked. Better yet, I scored a pair of free passes for the next Friday or Saturday show. Or I could take myself twice. The BBQ buffet wasn't as good as last time, but the band was better so there was more dancing. Very worth it. 

The weather has gone from an overcast orange haze due to the Canadian wildfires to blistering hot to flood watches and tornado alerts. The weather is too exciting lately. I would've gone to the gym yesterday but my sleep deprivation got the better of me. Every Monday I get up at 4:30 AM to drive my kid to the Metro North station to catch trains and connecting buses to the unpaid summer internship out in Long Island. There's only a few more weeks until that ends, then a few weeks before back to college!

It's hard to go back to sleep after the drive to and from, and then the subsequent dog walk once I get back home. And the sleep deficit appears to be cumulative because I'm unable to sleep more hours during the week to make up for Monday night's paltry duration. At some point I'll wind up napping with the dogs in the late afternoon when I just can't keep my eyes open. Meanwhile, I've decided I need to try actually reading a book again. Not an e-book or a story on my phone, but an actual paper pages book that I hold in my hands. 

I've found that I've fallen prey to device distraction: it's too easy for my attention to wander these days. The only downside is that I'm reading Christopher Buckley, an extremely erudite and witty writer with an extensive vocabulary. So every 5-6 pages I'm scrambling to look up a word definition. I've read Little Green Men before, but it was so long ago that I've forgotten a lot of the juicy details. It's actually quite a pleasure to reread this again. 

I got to the gym and expected it to be more crowded due to the bad weather. I was not expecting the gym to be so warm. Between my fatigue and the unpleasant warmth and humidity, I did not have a great cardio session on the Precor. But I did get 35 min done. Of course, the FitBit never registers this event as using the elliptical. It thinks I'm doing a leisurely stroll. It doesn't register weight lifting either. I have to manually enter that. And there's no category to apply my paltry pull-ups. I'm happy I made it past a dozen, but just barely. I'm sure if I increased my frequency, I'd see better numbers. But, well... 

The free weight area is at first super crowded and I glom a bench between a bunch of guys. I don't see any women or girls beyond a few cable machines and the treadmill. By the time I'm done with my routine, most of the guys are done as well. The weights feel okay. My sciatica feels okay. At least until I enter the warm and clammy Aerobics Room and get to Dead Bugs. Lately, those make my right foot numb and tingly. I'm not torturing myself with Bird Dogs. Doing push-ups is torture enough. 

The sun had come out and bright light was blazing through the big picture windows. By the time I'd done showering and changing, the skies had turned gray and it was raining when I walked back to my car. There are flood watch warnings. Not sure if we're really susceptible to tornadoes although some have touched down in the past. 

ShopRite is selling pitiful, light-starved Venus flytraps again in those protective plastic death domes that trap moisture and reduce light. These plants need full sun! The center plant doesn't even appear to have any traps at the end of its leaves. The plant to the far left has a flower stalk, an act of desperation when a plant will plow all their energy and resources into before succumbing. If the plant is happy, it'll also flower but that's not what's happening with these poor specimens.  

I'm not sure what's happening to major clothing retailers like The GAP, a store I trust to sell me good quality underwear and jeans. The email sales I'm seeing seem much more than just summer inventory clearance. Pants that retailed for $90 are being offered with massive discounts and can be purchased for roughly $20 and free shipping. I bought two pairs barrel-leg faded print jeans. Even better is that they come in a short length so I don't have to hem them. The pockets are reasonable but truthfully, they could be a skosh deeper. At least they're not faux finger-tip pockets. Those suck. 

21 July 2026 12:58-2:43

Sciatic Tuesday

Stormy flood & tornado watch

Precor elliptical #1 (1:34)

Program 1

Time: 30 + 5 (5094)

Distance: 2.69

Cal: 289

Precor HR: 136, 196-109

Google Health: 44-140

HGPU 15

Sciatica makes this really painful

Skull Crushers/RipSkulls (1:45-2:16)

30 lbs x 24 reps x 4

S/s with

Standing DB Laterals w/ 10 lbs x 15 reps

15 x 15 x 3

S/s wit

Seated DB Alt Curls w/ 10 lbs x 12

15 x 12 x 3

No A/C in the Aerobics Room!

 

20 Piriformis/Hip flex 

15 Hamstring / nerve flossing

Dead Bugs 20 x 5 (numb foot)

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20 

Push-Ups 30

Air Squats 25

Neck Stretch / eye yoga (2:43)

Not Worse

Brownies

French boule

I have a chiropractor appointment this afternoon but figure I can squeeze in a quick gym session. I'm tired though from getting up at 4:30 to drive my kid to the train station to make it to the internship office bright and early. I won't see my kid again until Friday evening, but it seems to be working out. Only a few more weeks and then a few weeks at home before the long trek to school. This weekend, we were treated to a lovely French boule and very fudgy brownies, courtesy of a late night baking spree. I learned that the key to a beautiful crusty bread is to bake it inside a Dutch oven. I have a turquoise blue enameled one I bought on sale from Amazon some years ago. I should use it more often. 

It's nearly 1:30 by the time I get to the gym and it's surprisingly empty. The Senior class has long gone and it's reasonably nice outside. This is the week that a lot of families take vacations. The next heatwave is scheduled to start tomorrow and last for a few days. I'm not at all happy about it and have already decided to add an additional air conditioning unit to my house, probably later in the summer when they go on sale. Summers is slated to get hotter each year and I'm not good with persistent heat. Neither are my dogs. 

My sciatica has been persistent. At least it's not progressively worse. But that and the fact that my right shoelace has untied itself makes this elliptical session less than stellar. The sciatica intrudes during time at the Stretch Cage during pull-ups. I can only get 15 and those last 3 are ugly. I don't have time to push any weights and head directly to the Aerobics Room. There is a small Latina sweeping the floor there. I can never predict when she's going to be cleaning. I thought it was Wednesday but today is Monday. At least she doesn't attempt to mop the floor by my head when I'm laying on the mat doing hamstring stretches.

I added Dead Bugs back to my routine. It didn't aggravate my sciatica too much today, and I was bored with the crunches: they started to hurt my neck and right glute, so what was the point? I'm going to delete the flat hip rotations too. Rotating my lower body with knees bent to the right was okay, but moving to the left caused the right glute to ache a lot. It stays aggravated and the movement doesn't serve any good purpose. Push-ups makes the numb foot burn and the fire reaches up the side of my calf. It's become routine. It's painful but not debilitating. I haven't lost any strength although today's workout wasn't great. I'll probably try again later in the week, and maybe I'll have time to push some weights around. 

Meanwhile, I have to figure out how to glue one of my kitchen cabinet doors together after it split apart. It's cherry with an irregular tone. I like it but I've been told that it's considered a defect because of the uneven colors. These cabinets are about 35 years old and the manufacturer isn't around anymore. Wood glue and some clamps should work... 

13 July 2026 1:28-2:42

Abbreviated Sciatica Monday

Chiro appt spinal decompression

Pre Heatwave 85°F

Precor elliptical #1 (2:06)

Program 3

Time: 30 + 5 (5172)

Distance: 2.71

Cal: 294

Precor HR: 158, 180-116

Google Health: 44-122 (?!)

(Foot numb / ankle calf glute)

HGPU 15

Sciatica makes this really painful

20 Piriformis/Hip flex 

12 Hamstring stretches

Dead Bugs 20 x 5

Flat hip rotations 10 (numb foot calf!)

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20 (sciatica ramp up)

Push-Ups 30

Air Squats 25

Neck Stretch / eye yoga (2:42)

Temporary Reprieve

Dog park post storm

The heatwave has broken and we were inundated with torrential rain and high winds. Several localities reported damage consistent with intense micro bursts, or mini tornadoes. Trees are down everywhere and many areas are without power. Luckily for us, we only suffered a blip in our power hours after the storm had passed. A big limb fell at the dog park but otherwise, the only casualty was my outdoor Venus flytraps whose moat overfilled with rainwater and tipped over. I set them back up while it was still raining, and today the moat surrounding the plants is halfway up their pots. They'll be fine, especially since temps are lovely now, in the mid 60s, but promise to rise up into the 80s by week's end. 

I finally made it to the gym after a week. My sciatica has been aggressively difficult and I've spent a few days laying on a yoga mat on the floor while adjusting my hips and legs, to no relief. That sciatic nerve bundle has been so inflamed that more often than not, my big toe throbs as if it were stricken with gout. Which is not what is happening. I actually sought relief by hanging from the chin-up pair in my hallway. It does double duty as a place to hang wet delicates since there is some airflow there. Airflow is the enemy of mold and mildew. 

I got to the gym earlier than usual and immediately was able to access Precor elliptical #1. While I was pedaling, a woman I had waved at in the locker room (she was on the phone) stopped by to ask what was what. I still plan to go to a local venue in a few weeks where the theme will be 90s music. I went a few weeks ago to see the Meat Loaf tribute cover band, All Revved Up, and there was great energy with a lot of dancing. It is one of the things I miss most from my youth: club dancing. I'm still hoping to find a few locals to meet up with while at the Reality Bites show but a lot of folks have made other plans, ranging from an annual colonoscopy to the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. (Yeah, I'm going to the latter as well, but to see Les Mis mid-week in August.) 

My time on the elliptical was okay. Not great, but not horrible. My foot was numb, my calf burned, and my glute was sore. None of that felt better at the Stretch Cage. I got a set of pull-ups done: the first dozen were fine and the next four were much more difficult. Sciatica didn't start to hurt until I got tired and my body tried to compensate by curling my knees upward. Somehow that makes sciatica so much worse. 

Because I have a vague recollection of sciatic relief doing pullover movements, I decided that the Triceps routine would be best. School is out and there are pockets of young boys and lone teenage girls in the free weight area. There are also a variety of men from college to seniors. No older women, unless you count me. It works though: after the Tricep routine, I barely feel any discomfort in my leg or hip. It doesn't last though; as soon as I lay down in the Aerobics Room to do crunches, I feel my foot go numb and start to burn. I haven't even done anything to aggravate it except for lie on the floor with my knees bent and my feet flat. 

The button I should wear but

The only movement that's a bit of an expected struggle are the push-ups. I'm fine up to rep 20. Then each rep gets progressively harder and the last two make my lower back ache. It also aggravates my sciatica. I have a chiropractor appointment tomorrow where I'll lay on a table with weird restraints around the torso and hips to foment a sort of gentle traction on the spine. I'm still popping ibuprofen (and sometimes acetaminophen) like candy. 

I saw some cute buttons online and I'm tempted to buy some. I did buy a bumper sticker for my car. My car that I have never put a sticker on ever, but since I'll run it until it falls apart and never sell it, well, I can put this one sticker on it. It's for SAD: Stay Another Day. It's important. 

Planning on seeing a band on Friday with a friend at a different local venue. This group plays old favorites from James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Paul Simon. Yeah, I'm sure I've got scratched up vinyls of Browne and Simon & Garfunkel in my garage somewhere. I even bought myself a portable chair that won't aggravate my sciatica too much because being short means I don't fit into most regular seating without having the seat edge dig into the back of my thighs with my feet dangling. Turns out that "beach chairs" that sit low are perfect for us shorties. It hasn't arrived yet but I'm quite excited to test it out.  

7 July 2026 12:32-2:24

Aching Sciatica Tuesday

Post Floods Rainy Cool 65°F 

The button I like but shouldn't

Precor elliptical #1 (1:09)

Program 2

Time: 30 + 5 (5212)

Distance: 2.73

Cal: 296

Precor HR: 150, 203-109

Google Health: 42-124

(Foot numb / ankle calf glute)

Chatting while pedaling

HGPU 16

Sciatica makes this really painful 

I like this one too

Skull Crushers/RipSkulls (1:20-1:52)

30 lbs x 24 reps x 4

S/s with

Standing DB Laterals w/ 10 lbs x 15 reps

15 x 15 x 3

S/s wit

Seated DB Alt Curls w/ 10 lbs x 12

15 x 12 x 3

Skip every exercise that aggravates my sciatica. Sciatica not active; just the burning big toe

20 Piriformis/Hip flex (1:55-2:24)

12 Hamstring stretches

60 crunches knees bent feet flat (!!!)

40 crunches knees to chest

(Discomfort mud right back)

Flat hip rotations 10 (numb foot calf!)

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20 (sciatica ramp up)

Push-Ups 30 (ok until rep 20)

Air Squats 25

Neck Stretch / eye yoga (2:24)

We're Having a Heat Wave

When I got back to my car

Today is July 1st, and the first day of a heat wave that originated in the mid west. I finally went to the gym, but it was an abbreviated workout since I had an appointment later in the afternoon. Yesterday, I ran a bunch of errands which consisted mostly of driving to different stores, searching for items on a list, standing in line and then driving to another store. By the end of the day, my sciatica hurt so bad that driving was excruciating. The afflicted leg/foot is the driving leg/foot so controlling the gas & brake when people are acting like they've never operated a motor vehicle before can be maddening. 

The only relief I got was falling asleep on the floor on a yoga mat with my feet up on a footstool. It was some relief, and my leg stopped throbbing long enough for me to walk the dogs later. Today, my right side didn't hurt nearly as much, but it's a cumulative disorder. The more standing and walking around, the worse it hurts. Exercise helps mitigate some of the stress, especially when I avoid all the movements that aggravate it. 

The gym is relatively empty. The a/c is on but it's definitely not ice cold. The Senior class has concluded and I'm hoping the Aerobics Room isn't warm and humid. Although older folks don't generate a lot of heat, they are sensitive to overly warm environments. My leg and foot bothers me as I pedal the elliptical, but considering it's been a week and I felt quite incapacitated yesterday, I thought today was reasonable. 

I managed a decent set of pull-ups, but it's the sciatica that makes me quit. I have time for the Aerobics Room and a nice shower before making it to a chiropractor appointment where I will finally start spinal decompression therapy. I've made a point of skipping anything that aggravates my sciatica, so no Dead Bugs or Bird Dog planks. Because I didn't push any weights around, I felt confident that regular two-legged push-ups would be fine. They were fine. I even remembered to count aloud. 

The spinal decompression machine resembles a weird medieval rack where they secure your upper torso and then gently pull on your hips. Then there's a pause, then it pulls again, then a pause. This continues for about 10 minutes. I don't feel much different afterward. I'm not sure if it's more effective than just hanging from the Stretch Cage, but I can't actually do that for 10-15 minutes, so yeah, probably more effective. 

I did have a consultation with the acupuncturist last week. That doctor agreed that spinal decompression can be effective pain relief for sciatica. Unfortunately, even though my health insurance claims to cover acupuncture and even lists acupuncture providers, ultimately, buried in the fine print several levels down, are clauses stating that they, in fact, do NOT cover acupuncture or acupressure therapies. What the actual fuck?! It's infuriating. 

I'd like to file complaints for deceptive marketing and practices, but I also don't want to be kicked off my health insurance. Because mega corporations like giant healthcare companies can do awful things like that. We are such a wealthy nation and it's criminal that we don't provide basic standard healthcare for all citizens like all other industrialized, civilized countries. We are literally the only one. 

Meanwhile, it's scorching hot and will be for the next several days. The local day camp at the park actually closed at 12:30 (Early Dismissal) due to the heat warnings. I don't even know if they'll bother to open for the next two days. I've made it a point to bring the dogs to the Bark Park 30 minutes before camp starts so I don't have to deal with the hassle of camp staff and parents. 

The dog area is mostly shaded by big trees so has been decently comfortable, although my pups are a breed (Korean Jindo) that notoriously hates the heat. I always bring a gallon jug of water although not everyone else does, and they should. Today, we were there two hours and there were several other pups to play with. Even my stubborn boy (who spent most of the time laying in the dirt) was ready to go home by then. 

1 July 2026 12:49-2:05

Abbrev Aching Sciatica Wednesday

Heat Warning 96°F

Precor elliptical #1 (1:28)

Program 1

Time: 30 + 5 (5244)

Distance: 2.73

Cal: 297

Precor HR: 126, 182-105

Google Health: 43-127 

HGPU 15

Sciatica makes this really painful

20 Piriformis/Hip flex (1:39)

12 Hamstring stretches

Flat hip rotations 12 (numb foot calf!)

50 crunches knees bent feet flat 

50 crunches knees to chest

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20

Push-Ups 30

Air Squats 25

Neck Stretch / eye yoga (2:05)