Here we are, practically halfway through March already–the older I get, the faster the calendar seems to whiz by. Speaking of that, something else that comes with advancing age that crept up and gave me some kind of wake-up smack on the behind.

A recent heart test revealed something that troubled my doctor, so he asked me to have what’s called a cardiac catheterization.  It’s where a tiny tube is injected into one of your arteries so that a dye can be sent into your blood stream, allowing an X-ray of the function of the heart.  The dye aids in determining which, if any, of your heart vessels may be blocked or otherwise compromised.  If there are problems, there are a number of treatments that can be done during the procedure as an alternative to surgery. 

Advised by most everyone, including my doctor, that the test was probably a false positive, I had the procedure done–only to discover that there was in fact one of my arteries that was about 75% blocked.  Since I had never had a single symptom of it–no chest pains, no shortness of breath, nothing–I was a bit surprised.  But they were able to immediately remedy the problem through what is called an angioplasty.  Through the same tiny tube, a balloon is inserted and guided to the blocked artery.  Once there, the balloon is carefully inflated to force the blockage apart and reopen the artery.  Then a tiny metal tube called a stent is inserted through the same tube to the same spot in the heart to support the portion of the artery that was affected by the blockage.  After an overnight stay at the hospital so my heart could be carefully monitored to be sure nothing had gone amiss during the procedure, I went home more or less none the worse for wear. 

Only now, I was part of a new reality–a cardiac patient, taking all those popular drugs like Plavix and Lipitor (not to mention a prescription for nitrogylcerin that I really hope I don’t ever need).  I also was recommended for outpatient cardiac rehab, which I learned was basically a well-supervised aerobic workout 3 days a week for 8 to 12 weeks.  It’s designed to improve heart health with increased activity while a physician monitors heart activity.  Best of all, it’s considered physical therapy and covered by insurance.  I had my first session yesterday and was very encouraged by the process.

Committing to an excercise program is never easy, and falling off the wagon is entirely too easy.  I was in need of a return to a regular  workout, and with the expectation that doctors and nurses await me regularly to help keep my heart ticking, I feel like it’s the jump-start I could really use.  I’m hopeful that I can transistion into a similar regimen at my neighborhood gym by the time my rehab is finished, and it will provide me with a number of benefits.  In other words, a near-heart attack will apparently help make me a healthier person.  Don’t you just love the way the world works sometimes?

Greetings,

Another gloomy late winter day here–I suppose ideal weather for the equally-gloomy news that Governor Elliot Spitzer, the state’s crusading and crime-fighting attorney general who was elected governor by almost 70% of the vote in 2006, resigned early today after being caught up in a prostitution scandal of almost horrifying proportion.

Spitzer’s fall from grace has both stunned and delighted people here, depending on your political bent or which side of the many business concerns he has brought to their collective knees.  Many of us are still trying to comprehend the immenseness of the revelation that he likely had been hiring high-priced call girls for some time, with reports of as much as $80,000 spent by him on varied pleasures of the flesh.  What may be even worse is that he had been trying to hide the fact financially by multiple transfers among various accounts–an illegal practice called "structuring" when done to deceive, which of course it was.  Then there is the sense of betrayal so many here carry with them, since Spitzer by all accounts was both an incredibly dedicated public servant and distinctly moral individual who seemed to personfity the notion of "walking the walk".  Now we know that the walk he was taking was on the wild side.

I’m plenty angry about this atom bomb of deceit dropped on me and everyone who believed in Spitzer, but I’m a whole lot sadder about it.  Not because I believed in him (which I did) or because of the damage this has done to his family (which it has).  It’s because of the hope his election held for a state that has long been run in perhaps the most convoluted and corrupt fashion imaginable to most Americans.  He seemed to me to be the promise that perhaps old way of doing things was beginning to end and that there was some hope for a real transperancy in the state’s politics, which regularly make the federal government look like a well-run machine.  In the end, Spitzer turned out to be just as self-invested, egotistical and corrupt as any who crowd the halls of power in Albany.  I guess it really shouldn’t be such a surprise, but it truly is.

That’s that–I really had to get that off my chest and out of my system. I look forward to the ascension of lieutenant governor David Patersen–the son of a powerful African-American politician who will be the state’s first black governor–and the nations’ first vision-impaired state chief executive.  It may turn out that Paterson will be the one with the vision for our state.

Happy Tuesday all,

The world looks much brighter (and clearer) thanks to those new glasses I mentioned yesterday.  I am among many of advancing years that suffer from presbyopia (bifocal-itis), and learning to cope with lenses containing multiple types of vision correction can be a real pain.  "Progressive" lenses are a recent technological improvement that makes the transistion from focusing from distance to close-up and back a bit smoother, and a more recent upgrade to it has made it even better–not just further smoothing the transistion but widening my field of correctable vision.  All in all, pretty darn satisfying!  That, plus a little dessert from Cold Stone Creamery made a Monday night visit to the mall actually enjoyable.

I stayed up way too late last night watching the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, but enjoyed it immensely.  I managed to see The Ventures, Leonard Cohen, Madonna, John Mellencamp and The Dave Clark Five all get the (for some, long-overdue) attention they deserved. 

• The introductions were a mixed bag–John Fogerty rambled a bit bringing on the Ventures but spoke from the heart as a guitarist who definitely was inspired by them. 
• Lou Reed’s introduction of Leonard Cohen was almost painful as he felt the need to recite countless poetry and lyric excerpts. 
• Billy Joel’s intro for John Mellencamp was done like a guy telling tales about his best friend, including a pretty funny impression of singer/songwriter Randy Newman. 
• Justin Timberlake brought out Madonna with a combination of awe and cheesy innuendo, but he did have a great anecdote about her offering him a B12 injection by directing him to take down his pants.  His version of how it occured varied a bit from hers, which added to the humor. 
• Finally, Tom Hanks’ induction of The Dave Clark Five was almost sermon-like as he eloquently and emotionally railed about the young joys of listening to AM radio in the 1960’s and the impact DC5 had on his upbringing. 

The performances were another interesting trip.

• The Ventures were sharp reprising their memorable Walk Don’t Run and Hawaii 5-0 theme,
• John Mellencamp was predictably impressive with the added bonus of his teenage son playing guitar in the band. 
• Madonna chose Iggy Pop and the Stooges to perform a pair of her hits, which was bizarre at the very least. 
• An unknown (at least to me) soloist honored Leonard Cohen’s haunting and electrifying Hallelujah–one of my all-time favorite songs. 

By the time the Dave Clark Five hit the stage, I was stumbling to the bedroom.  But I did record the show (gotta love DVR!) and will report later about my impressions.  Toodles…

Hey there and hi.  Here’s the first of my weekday updates (at least I hope) from the Big Jim program and the world of Big Jim.  I can’t say I’m in love with the post title, but I will see.  I think I will keep it consistent from post to post, just so it is obvious what this is, as opposed to me on some other wild rant.

The weekend was pretty typical of most I’ve had lately–nowhere near enough time away from all the other stuff I do.  For example, it seemed my time doing PA (public address) work for basketball was done for the season.  However, the success of Colgate University’s men and an upset win by Bucknell University over Navy meant another tournament game at home for Colgate yesterday.  That meant my plans to reorder the garage a bit and just goof off went out the window.  Colgate is in beautiful Hamilton, New York, about an hour southeast of where I live.  The good news was that there was a huge crowd and the boys came through with a big win.  It did turn out to be their final game at home though, but they will be meeting American University Friday at 4:45 on ESPN2 for an automatic bid to the NCAA "big dance:".  Go Raiders!

More on the mundane side, I do have a new pair of glasses to pick up.  I’ve been wearing the frames with some temporary lenses that  are OK but don’t have all the required enhancements that had to be sent out to be done.  Everyone seems to like them, which is kind of surprising–my wife had nothing to do with selecting them.  She is the one with the sense of style in our house, and I usually do well by heeding it.  However, I liked how these felt on my face and I guess enough of that sense rubbed off to permit me to make this one decision without the earth coming to a halt.

I close with a tidbit from the local newspaper website:  a new Wal-Mart opened in a suburban community, and among the festivities was a little unexpected entertainment from a gentleman, er, enjoying himself in his pickup.  As the old saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them…

Welcome to another new feature of the world of Big Jim!  Even though I make a point of updating the site daily with fun content, it seemed like I was missing an opportunity to connect with my vast audience–both of you.   So I decided that I will supplement my daily posts with at least another post that connects in some way with me and what’s going on with me.  It may be family details, some event at work worth mentioning, or observations on general happenings around me.  So look out–here it comes…

Another change to the blog and site I’ve made effective with today’s posts is comment activation.  You should now be able to provide feedback to me on any posts from today forward.  I’m not sure if I have the settings quite correct on my blog, because I thought you should be able to just add your comments at the end.  For now, look for the "Comments" link at the top of each post to be able to make your comments.

I hope you enjoying bigjim.com, and will find the additions and improvements to your liking.  At least now, you have a way to let me know…