I was just thinking about what I was doing a year ago. Of course I was employed, working as a senior engineering consultant at a big telecom company. I was just entering the prime of my career and the hieght of my earning potential. Which is a fancy way of saying I finally new what I was talking about at work and I could afford a $30 bottle of wine once in a while.

My wife and I would get up early and go for bike rides before work. She was looking forward to the local Bike to Work Day. As for my my commute was far to far to consider a bike. I would have to leave the day before I wanted to be at work and get home the next day after my work day. We have always loved riding our bikes, both mountain and road. But this time last year we turned into a couple of real roadies. We started to train with some long rides in mind for this riding season. Colorado has some awesome multi-day tours through the Rockies. :bicycle:

We were also making plans as to which hikes and Fourteeners we wanted to climb in the summer and early fall. In Colorado a Fourteener is any peak that is over 14,000 feet tall and any connecting sadle must descend at least 300 feet from the summit. If I remember correctly we bagged 5 or 6 last summer. The last I heard there are 52 in Colorado. We dragged some good friends to the top of their first 14er and now have a couple of climbing partners. By the way. Climbing 90% of these peaks is just good hard hiking. The air gets thin but there are only a few that require technical pitches with rope, harness, SLCD's, chocks and other way cool mountaineering gear and gadgets that I must own even if I never use them. It's not that important that you make the summit; but if you die trying you want to have cool gear with you that the Search and Rescue team will envy. :death:

We were also planning a cruise in the Carribiean. We don't like the normal every day stuff so we went on a Windjammer Barefoot Cruise on the S.V. Mandalay Bay. See the ship. :boat: What an awesome trip that was. I will never forget the chills I got when at about sunset, with the sky and ocean turning orange, they would set full sail to the tune of Amazing Grace on bag pipes. Wow, I just got chills again. Did you know Amazing Grace was written by a sailor? Anyway a small ship like that gets into the coolest places and the snorkeling and beach parties and rum swizzles and Cuban cigars were awesome. It was not just a different kind of vacation it was like going into a different place and time. :cloud9:

We also replaced our beloved Honda Passport SUV with a brand new Honda Pilot SUV (see earning potential above ) We still have the Passport which we call Darth, he is black. The Pilot is called Shrek, he is green. I only got to drive Shrek for a few months but it was so cool. I have never owned a new car before. Our other cars were 12 and 15 years old and highly used when we got them. I thought I was related to The Donald driving around in that thing; of course now I'd like to send him the bill for filling thye gas tank. We went on many day and weekend trips to the mountains and took our neices with us also once. I think they weree about 13 and 8 years old. We have fond memories of the trip but I think we may have just blocked out the horror of sibling rivaly :BashHead: experianced in an enclosed space like a car.

Well anyway if at this time last year somebody would have told me that I was about to have several strokes that would permanantly change the lives of me and my family, that I would suddenly be on a fixed dissability income and unable to think in the highly technical abstract way I was so used to I would have said they were smoking crack and walked away. Well, here I sit, I have had strokes, the lives of me and my family are forever changed I officially lost my job two days ago so I'm now on a fixed dissability income. By the same token though, if 6 months ago when I had my strokes somebody had told me I would be sitting here looking forward to bike rides, cruises, hikes, breaking up sibling asaults and most importantly spending the rest of my life with the most awesome loving woman in the world I would have thought THEY were smoking crack. Somethimes it is true, things seem darkest before the dawn.

P.S. I would have believed the part where they told me I would be with my wife forever!